The Real Bottom Line Wendy Brookhouse

Have you ever been fearful of public speaking? Of taking the stage in front of an audience?


My guest, Corey Poirer is now known as That Speaker Guy – but he had a huge fear of both of those things. We talk about how his fear of having regrets, of looking back and wishing he had done something was great than those fears.


And that set the stage for some pretty interesting and philosophical topics like: 


Who do you have to become to achieve your milestonesWhat if the journey is the destinationThe power of passion and purpose. 

It is such a great discussion, I know your thinking will be sparked!

Building a business over 35 years and then recognizing a niche and then going for it – that is Larry Keating story.


In this episode, we talk about 


How to stay excited about businessRecognizing opportunitiesThe importance of getting out of your comfort zoneHiring to keep people at least 2 yearsThe importance of recognizing teachable versus non-teachablePersonal blocks vs. World blocksWe also got into the subject of confidence and over presenting.  I really enjoyed this conversation.

The importance of being true to yourself and energy is what Lisa Drader Murphy is all about. Lisa is the founder of LDM Group of Companies – which encompasses her namesake fashion line, Studio, Willow Vale Estate, and coming soon a fabric enterprise. 


Lisa is a force of nature, extremely focused, and a true businesswoman. She has always carved her own path and is unique in the fashion world – she designs, manufactures, and retails all her own products. The pandemic resulted in a hard stop for all her businesses and the first pivot was to manufacturing face masks – over 55,000 of them! We talked about the slow return to normal – and how that may have shifted.


We cover some really juicy topics like:


When a good opportunity really isn’tThe importance of observationCreating space for creativity

Enjoy the episode!

It was time to turn the tables!  In this episode, Andre Brisson is the host and I am the guest! 


After 100 episodes where I ask all the questions of my guests, we flipped the script so that you could learn more about me.  Andre was able to get some pretty interesting stories and philosophies out of me. My favorite story is one that I haven’t spoken of in years – and it is about my mother. I lost my mother to cancer just over 17 years ago. She was and is a driving force in my life. When I was around the age of 5 or 6, she was declared legally blind. But that did not stop her in the least. I think I have a lot of her characteristics – including the fact that the older I get, the more my filter is fading!  Enjoy this episode.

2 years and 13 days later, we are at Episode 100 of The Real Bottom Line. Along with co-host Donna Alteen, we are featuring clips from 12 previous guests:


Ross SimmonsAnthea MumbyKatelyn BourgoinDiana LidstoneShelagh CumminsLaural CarrCynthia MasonJohn SwainMichael DevenneyMonique BryanTeresa EaslerPaul Fitzgerald

The lessons from the past 100 episodes are almost too many to list - and were certainly super hard to narrow down! The big takeaway I had after reviewing a few hundred pages of transcripts is that as business owners we know more than we realize. It has been an absolute privilege to highlight the ones on this episode and the others along the way!


I truly appreciate all my guests – they have freely shared their stories and provided some amazing lessons – who have helped me learn and hopefully the audience as well.


In this episode, we have built the clips around


OperationsMarketing/BrandingThe Inside Game – mindset.

Donna and I provide some great commentary along the way! It’s a little longer than normal, but well worth the time!


And check out the gifts from the featured guests at https://www.blackstarwealth.com/100

I am too small….it won’t happen to me. Thoughts that a lot of small business owners have when they think about Cyber Security. You aren’t.


Cyber theft is big business and we cover a lot of ground in this interview.


We talk aboutThe dark web.The importance of cyber insurance and the way it works.The importance of ongoing training and awareness for all your staffWhat is your cyber security stack

Darryl Cresswell is the founder of MYDWARE a firm that specializes in helping small businesses prepare.


For listeners of this episode, he is offering a gift of a free security assessment. www.blackstarwealth.com/cyber to sign up.