Small Business Stories

Loralyn Mears, PhD

Welcome to Small Business Stories, the podcast where we celebrate the real-life journeys of small business owners. We dig into inspiring tales of triumphs, challenges, and the tough lessons we learned along the way. Each episode is packed with relatable anecdotes and practical tips that you can use to fuel your own entrepreneurial dreams. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your business, you'll find motivation and insight in every story. Tune in and get ready to be inspired by the heart and hustle of small business owners just like you! We say it like it is - no filters. Being an SMB owner isn't easy, but we're compelled to do it.

  1. 8h ago

    What to Do When Your Business Is in Financial Trouble with Jim Martin

    S6:E73 "If you were just here sooner." Jim Martin has never forgotten those words. They came from an employee of a 125-year-old company with approximately 1,800 employees that ultimately had to be liquidated. Jim had been brought in during the crisis. But by then, many of the options that might once have existed were gone. Queue up this episode of Small Business Stories for a candid conversation about what happens when businesses get into financial trouble and what owners can do before the situation becomes irreversible. Jim Martin, founder of ACM Capital Partners, has spent roughly 35 years restructuring companies, working through difficult financial situations and helping owners, investors and lenders find a path forward. His advice begins with something deceptively simple: Know where you are. Not where last month's financial statement says you were. Not where you hope you'll be. Where the business is now. If people don't trust the information coming from a business, every subsequent decision becomes harder. Jim explains why hiding information from lenders can actually make a distressed situation worse and why alignment among owners, management, employees and lenders becomes particularly important when the pressure rises. 👤 Guest Jim Martin Founder, ACM Capital Partners Turnaround management, restructuring and recapitalization ⚠️ Core Problems Cash-flow problems identified too late Financial statements that are already stale when owners receive them Avoiding difficult conversations with lenders Making fear-driven decisions during distress Hiring friends or family instead of the expertise required Weak financial controls creating additional risk 🥡 Practical Takeaways Cash is the first truth to understand in a distressed business. Build a rolling 13-week cash-flow forecast. Create a weekly "flash report" around the few indicators that actually tell you how the business is performing. Compare trends rather than looking at numbers in isolation. Talk to lenders before the situation deteriorates further. When asking for concessions, bring a credible recovery plan. Put financial controls in place before you desperately need them. Seek experienced outside help early. ⏱️ Timestamps 03:59 The turnaround that preserved approximately 900 jobs 08:08 From $110 million exit to serious financial trouble 15:35 Why distressed companies shouldn't hide from lenders 18:47 Cash-flow forecasting and spotting trouble 22:22 "I don't care if you're doing it on a napkin" 27:50 The $1 million internal-control disaster 32:58 The cost of asking for help too late 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Business owners facing cash pressure, declining sales, growing debt or difficult lender conversations and leaders who want to recognize those conditions before they become a crisis. At STEERus, Jim's stories expose another dimension of misinterpretation risk: bad decisions often begin when the picture we're using to understand a business no longer reflects reality. Misinterpretation isn't always external. Sometimes the first person who needs a clearer signal is the owner making the decisions. Subscribe and share Small Business Stories for grounded lessons from people who have lived through the situations most business books merely describe.   ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io   #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast #finance #cashflow

    What to Do When Your Business Is in Financial Trouble with Jim Martin
  2. 8h ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

    Introducing The Real Reason Why We Can’t Stop Scrolling with Oprah and Dr. Anna Lembke from The Oprah Podcast. Follow the show: The Oprah Podcast BUY THE BOOK! Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke https://amzn.to/4xniLB7 Tech addiction or the compulsive, excessive use of digital devices for online activities like social media, shopping, gaming or gambling impacts an estimated 27% of the global population. On this episode Oprah sits down with Dr. Anna Lembke, Stanford addiction expert and the author of the New York Times bestseller Dopamine Nation, to understand what is driving these addictions and what we can do about it. We hear from a young woman whose online shopping habit caused her to rack up $30,000 in credit card debt, a young gamer who spends up to seven hours a day playing video games and a young man whose online gambling addiction led him to drop out of three colleges, steal from his family and lose over $100,000 on sports betting apps. 00:00:00 - Welcome Anna Lembke, author of “Dopamine Nation”  00:07:00 - When does tech use cross into addiction  00:09:45 - The dopamine crisis  00:11:20 - Addicted to online shopping  00:14:45 - Highs and lows of online shopping  00:17:00 - Self-binding  00:19:15 - Self-regulating cravings  00:22:16 - Addicted to gaming  00:24:50 - Long-term impacts of gaming addiction  00:27:30 - You will feel worse before you feel better  00:28:30 - Gambling addiction  00:37:50 - How strong is the addict mind?  00:42:30 - Addiction and your moral compass  00:44:07 - First step in curbing your addiction Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast:  https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381 DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast
  3. 1d ago

    Why Dating Apps Make It Harder to Find the Right Person with April Davis

    S6:E72 Dating apps give us more choices than we've ever had, so why does finding the right person feel harder? Some people have given up, saying that it is "impossible" to find a mate! Matchmaker April Davis says too many options may actually be part of the problem, encouraging people to filter potential partners by features instead of recognizing the values that sustain a relationship. Indeed, the "paradox of choice" problem. Loralyn Mears, PhD, aka "Dr. LL," brings you thoughtful conversations with entrepreneurs and small business leaders navigating visibility, leadership, and growth. Thank you for being here. This episode takes Small Business Stories somewhere we haven't gone before: relationships. But for entrepreneurs (whose businesses, devices and packed schedules can consume enormous portions of their lives) the conversation about human connection feels especially timely. April describes a dating culture shaped by apps, algorithms, curated images and endless choice. We can specify height, income, occupation and interests as though ordering the perfect product. Yet the qualities that actually determine long-term compatibility may be far harder to put into a search filter. And we can be missing out on people who are actually a terrific match for us, even though they don't meet our height or weight criteria. 👤 Guest April Davis Founder, LUMA Luxury Matchmaking Professional matchmaker specializing in intentional, personalized relationships ⚠️ Core Problems Discussed Too many dating choices making commitment and decision-making harder Confusing superficial preferences with genuine relationship values Online profiles, filters and AI creating unrealistic expectations about real people 🧠 The Bigger Pattern Dr. LL Sees Filter Distortion Dr. LL sees a fascinating parallel between dating and business: what's easiest for an algorithm to categorize isn't necessarily what matters most. When searchable features become proxies for deeper value, people—and businesses—can be filtered out before anyone has the opportunity to understand what they actually offer. 🥡 Practical Takeaways Separate values from preferences and features. Get offline: real-world interaction reveals things profiles and algorithms cannot. Verify that online matches are real, particularly as AI-generated identities become more convincing. Don't expect one partner to satisfy every interest or need. Ask whether your checklist reflects what you genuinely value—or what you've been conditioned to want. ⏱️ Timestamps 01:15 Why too many dating choices can make choosing harder 06:43 Dating safety, catfishing and AI-generated identities 11:54 Features vs. values: what actually matters? 17:30 Filters, AI and our increasingly unrealistic expectations 23:47 Dr. LL connects dating algorithms to misinterpretation risk 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Entrepreneurs and professionals navigating modern dating, anyone frustrated with dating apps, and people wondering whether their checklist is actually helping them find the relationship they want. ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io   #dating #relationships #singlesmatch #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast

    Why Dating Apps Make It Harder to Find the Right Person with April Davis
  4. 5d ago

    Why AI Is Making Your Marketing Easier But Not Better with Gee Ranasinha

    S6:E71 AI has raised the floor. But has it raised the ceiling? Gee Ranasinha doesn't think so. AI has democratized content production, giving small businesses access to capabilities once reserved for larger organizations. But Gee argues that we're simultaneously creating what he calls a greater "preponderance of mediocrity" meaning more acceptable content, more quickly, from more companies, increasingly saying similar things. Queue up this episode of Small Business Stories for a thoughtful (and occasionally provocative) conversation about what marketing actually is, why businesses confuse marketing with promotion, and why understanding human behavior matters more than simply mastering the latest tools. Gee brings behavioral science into the discussion because people don't make buying decisions through purely rational analysis. Context, emotion, unconscious biases and mental shortcuts all affect how messages are interpreted. And that's where Dr. LL sees an important connection to misinterpretation risk. Businesses communicate what they intend to say. Customers respond to what they actually understand. Those aren't necessarily the same thing. 👤 Guest Gee Ranasinha Founder & CEO, KEXINO Global marketing strategist working primarily with B2B small and midsized businesses and startups ⚠️ Core Problems Mistaking promotional activity for marketing strategy Optimizing output rather than outcomes Using AI to manufacture more undifferentiated content Assuming business owners understand buyers because they once were buyers Allowing disconnected customer touchpoints to communicate inconsistent signals 🥡 Practical Takeaways Effectiveness asks whether something worked. Efficiency asks how cheaply or quickly you produced it. You are not your target market. Talk to your best customers; they can reveal why people actually choose you. Technology changes marketing tactics. Human psychological and emotional drivers change far more slowly. Creativity and distinctiveness become more valuable as inexpensive content proliferates. Customers experience one organization, regardless of which department created each interaction. Trust makes virtually everything that follows easier. ⏱️ Timestamps 04:40 AI, content democratization and the rise of mediocrity 07:24 Why buyers don't make decisions the way they think they do 13:28 Your pricing, delivery van and phone manner are all marketing 17:38 Efficiency versus effectiveness 22:11 The simplest customer research strategy 28:40 Gee's provocative argument against "authenticity" 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Entrepreneurs, founders, B2B leaders and marketers who suspect that doing more marketing isn't necessarily creating more business. At STEERus, the adjacent problem is misinterpretation risk. Gee approaches the issue through marketing effectiveness and behavioral science; we examine what happens when the total digital signal a business produces fails to create an accurate understanding of what that business is, why it matters and when it should be recommended. Invisibility is the outcome. Understanding is the issue. Subscribe and share Small Business Stories for grounded conversations with entrepreneurs and experts willing to challenge conventional business thinking. ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io   #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast #digitalmarketing

    Why AI Is Making Your Marketing Easier But Not Better with Gee Ranasinha
  5. Aug 18

    How to Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone with Christine Blosdale

    S6:E70 Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone with Christine Blosdale You can be extraordinarily talented and still make yourself almost impossible to hire. Christine Blosdale sees it constantly: entrepreneurs with multiple skills, multiple offers, multiple audiences and multiple platforms trying desperately not to leave any opportunity on the table. The result? People don't know what to hire them for. So she helps them define their personal brand. Queue up this episode of Small Business Stories as Dr. LL talks with Christine Blosdale, The Expert Authority Coach™, about simplifying your message, establishing authority, choosing the right visibility channels, using podcasting strategically—and remaining unmistakably human in a marketplace increasingly filled with AI-generated communication to build your personal brand. Christine spent 20 years in broadcast journalism before becoming an early adopter of podcasting more than a decade ago. That experience gives her a particularly useful perspective on something many entrepreneurs misunderstand: you need to become known for something. If people don't understand what you do, they can't confidently choose you - which is exactly what STEERus studies and helps our clients with. And today that same clarity matters to AI systems. When your website, content, offers and appearances continually describe you differently, machines receive the same conflicting evidence humans do. 👤 Guest Christine Blosdale The Expert Authority Coach™ Broadcaster, podcaster, bestselling author and coach helping overwhelmed women in business get seen, trusted and paid for what they already know. She builds your personal brand. ⚠️ Core Problems Multi-talented entrepreneurs communicating everything they can do Visibility activity without a clear positioning foundation Generic AI-generated communication weakening trust Podcast guests treating interviews like sales pitches Creating content once and failing to harvest its long-term authority value   🧠 The Bigger Pattern Dr. LL Sees Christine approaches this from the perspective of expert authority: simplify what you offer so people know why they should choose you. Dr. LL sees a related but different problem across businesses: when companies communicate too many competing signals, customers—and increasingly AI systems—can misinterpret what the business actually represents. The issue isn't simply being seen. It's being understood correctly once you're seen.   🥡 Practical Takeaways One clear message doesn't diminish your capabilities. It gives people somewhere to enter. Don't choose every marketing channel; choose the ones suited to your strengths. Make booking, understanding and paying you easy. Repurpose your accumulated expertise instead of continually starting from zero. Don't pretend you've listened, researched or personalized something when AI did it for you. Being unmistakably yourself is increasingly a competitive advantage. ⏱️ Timestamps 03:07 Podcast host or podcast guest? 09:13 The AI-generated pitch Christine immediately deletes 13:29 Why podcast guests should actually promote their appearances 17:21 The overwhelmed entrepreneur problem 20:08 Too many choices = no choice 24:23 Building a message you can say in your sleep 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Experts, coaches, consultants, authors, speakers, multi-passionate entrepreneurs and anyone whose business has become harder to explain as their expertise has grown. At STEERus, we see this repeatedly as misinterpretation risk: the entrepreneur keeps adding evidence of capability while unintentionally reducing clarity about what the business should be known for. Invisibility becomes the outcome not because there isn't enough information but because there are too many competing signals to form a clear understanding. Subscribe and share Small Business Stories for grounded conversations about building businesses people can understand, trust and choose. ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io   #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast

    How to Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone with Christine Blosdale
  6. Aug 17

    Why Good Products Fail After Launch with Lon Riley

    S6:E69 When a Better Product Isn't Enough with Lon Riley This is stronger for streaming than a generic "Lessons from a Product Launch." It captures the central contradiction of his experience and makes Lon's hard-earned lesson the authority proposition. "Everybody loves your idea until it's time to separate them from their cash." That line from Lon Riley could probably hang above the desk of every product developer. Queue up this episode of Small Business Stories for an unusually candid look at what happens after the launch plan meets reality. Lon Riley and his team launched Catalyst Printers in January 2025 into a market dominated by established competitors. They had industry expertise, customer research and what they believed was a compelling proposition: address customers' frustrations with existing technology and deliver better performance at a competitive price. Then they learned something important. Customers weren't evaluating the decision the same way they were. If buyers don't trust your company, proving that your product has better features doesn't necessarily resolve the concern. And if the signals you're emphasizing don't correspond to the criteria buyers are actually using to make decisions, genuine value can become misinterpreted. 👤 Guest Lon Riley Founder, DPI Laboratory & Catalyst Printers Engineer, manufacturer and product-development entrepreneur ⚠️ Core Problems Underestimating incumbent brand power Confusing expressed customer interest with purchasing behavior Selling features when buyers are evaluating switching risk Maintaining focus while adapting a young company Carrying the emotional responsibility of decisions that affect employees 🥡 Practical Takeaways "Better" only matters if buyers understand why it matters to them. Ask existing customers what would make them switch—not simply what features they want. Brand power is ultimately a form of trust. Repeated market feedback deserves examination, not defensiveness. Don't wait for perfect; launch when you're ready to deliver and continue learning. Making a mistake isn't the real failure. Repeating it after you've recognized it is. ⏱️ Timestamps 01:46 What actually happened after launch 06:16 Action, uncertainty and iteration #31 10:31 Underestimating brand power 15:26 Research versus actual buying behavior 22:48 The pricing decision Lon still thinks about 26:03 When founders misread market signals 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Product founders, manufacturers, technology entrepreneurs, engineers moving into business leadership, and anyone whose market response hasn't matched what the research predicted. At STEERus, this is precisely where misinterpretation risk becomes consequential. A business can possess real value while emphasizing signals that aren't aligned with how buyers—or increasingly AI systems—categorize, evaluate and understand that value. Invisibility is the outcome; understanding is the problem. Subscribe and share Small Business Stories for candid conversations about what entrepreneurship actually looks like after the plan meets reality.   ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io   #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast #launch #marketing #sales

    Why Good Products Fail After Launch with Lon Riley
  7. Aug 13

    How to Build Confidence When You're Afraid to Put Yourself Out There with Patty Aubery

    S6:E68 Sometimes you meet someone whose work you've known for years and then discover that the story behind the success is even better than you expected. This was one of those conversations. Dr. LL openly admits to a little fangirling (okay - a lot - I cannot even tell you what an honor and privilege it was to have her on my show!) as she welcomes Patty Aubery, longtime business partner of Jack Canfield and former President of Chicken Soup for the Soul. But what follows isn't a highlight reel. Patty talks about confidence, fear, collaboration, success, publishing, speaking, the extraordinary growth of Chicken Soup for the Soul and the surprising truth that while she was helping build an international phenomenon, she was also a self-described "professional hider." She turned down enormous speaking opportunities. She stayed behind the scenes doing what she already knew she was good at. Until her mother, while in hospice, told her: "Promise me that you won't be invisible. I didn't raise a daughter to be invisible." Three months later, Patty gave her first workshop. If people don't know what you know, what you've accomplished, or what you can contribute, they cannot recognize your value. And today, the same problem extends to AI systems: authority that isn't expressed clearly and consistently becomes authority that can be misunderstood or never recognized at all. 👤 Guest Patty Aubery Former President of Chicken Soup for the Soul Longtime business partner of Jack Canfield Author, speaker, transformational coach & founder of Permission Granted ⚠️ Core Problems Waiting to feel confident before stepping forward Remaining behind someone else's success despite your own contribution Confusing visibility opportunities with meaningful positioning Paying for exposure without knowing whether the audience is right Treating collaboration as competition 🥡 Practical Takeaways Confidence follows action. Take the risk, survive it, repeat. Anything new feels awkward until it doesn't. Learn your craft before trying to amplify it. Connect the dots among your book, speaking, message and audience. There is enough room for other people to succeed beside you. Don't wait for someone else to give you permission to be seen. ⏱️ Timestamps 01:33 Consistency, adaptability and what successful people actually do 06:15 "Confidence is surviving risks" 12:44 What Patty learned about success from the inside 17:13 How speaking helped build Chicken Soup for the Soul 30:23 The promise to her mother that changed Patty's life 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Entrepreneurs, women leaders, authors, speakers, coaches, experts, and anyone who has ever quietly wondered whether they're really ready to step forward. At STEERus, we study what happens when genuine value becomes misinterpreted or invisible. Patty's story is a beautiful human example of something I've now seen repeatedly: sometimes the market isn't overlooking our expertise. We haven't given it enough evidence to see us yet. Subscribe and share Small Business Stories for more honest conversations with people who've lived the lessons they teach. ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io   #leadership #personaldevelopment #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast #chickensoupforthesoul

    How to Build Confidence When You're Afraid to Put Yourself Out There with Patty Aubery
  8. Aug 11

    How Bad Credit Can Limit Your Business Funding Options with Daniel McDavid

    S6:E67 The worst time to discover you have a credit problem may be when your business desperately needs money. An unexpected expense hits. Cash flow tightens. Payroll is coming. Suddenly, the entrepreneur isn't shopping for the best financing; he or she is searching for any financing. Queue up this episode of Small Business Stories as Dr. LL talks with Daniel McDavid, founder of Move Mountains Credit Repair, about credit, business funding, unexpected expenses, financial habits, and what happens when entrepreneurs wait too long to prepare. Daniel introduces the idea of "phantom expenses" which are the unplanned costs that can suddenly destabilize an otherwise functioning business. They also explore different funding structures, the disproportionate impact negative credit events can have, and why repairing someone's credit without changing their financial behavior isn't a lasting solution. If people don't trust a credit-repair company, promises of quick fixes can actually deepen skepticism. Daniel's approach is refreshingly simple: tell people the truth, including what they don't want to hear. 👤 Guest Daniel McDavid Founder, Move Mountains Credit Repair Credit repair, financial education, and business funding preparation ⚠️ Core Problems Businesses failing to prepare for unexpected expenses Seeking financing after financial distress has already begun Confusing a credit score with the entire credit profile Expecting a repair service to substitute for behavioral change 🥡 Practical Takeaways Financial readiness should begin before a crisis. Credit history can influence which financing options become available. Understand the repayment structure—not merely the amount you're offered. Repair and rebuilding are different parts of the process. Credibility is strengthened by realistic expectations rather than extraordinary promises. ⏱️ Timestamps 01:27 What are "phantom expenses"? 03:12 Three approaches to business funding 11:48 Why good people can end up with bad credit 19:13 Repairing credit versus changing behavior 23:10 The trust problem in credit repair 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Entrepreneurs, founders, self-employed professionals, and small business owners who want to understand the relationship between personal credit, business financing, and financial preparedness. At STEERus, we see a parallel across many parts of business: problems that remain invisible during good times suddenly become defining signals during stressful ones. Financial preparedness is another reminder that what the market eventually sees often begins with decisions made long before anyone was looking. Subscribe and share Small Business Stories for grounded conversations about the realities behind entrepreneurship. ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io   #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast #financing

    How Bad Credit Can Limit Your Business Funding Options with Daniel McDavid
4.8
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

Welcome to Small Business Stories, the podcast where we celebrate the real-life journeys of small business owners. We dig into inspiring tales of triumphs, challenges, and the tough lessons we learned along the way. Each episode is packed with relatable anecdotes and practical tips that you can use to fuel your own entrepreneurial dreams. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your business, you'll find motivation and insight in every story. Tune in and get ready to be inspired by the heart and hustle of small business owners just like you! We say it like it is - no filters. Being an SMB owner isn't easy, but we're compelled to do it.