Business Decoded

In this episode of the Business Decoded podcast, host Ronnie Spellman interviews Tina Loyd, the owner and CEO of Terry Costa in Dallas, Texas. Loyd shares her journey from growing up on a small Missouri farm to leading one of the nation's most successful formalwear institutions. They discuss the unique "mom and pop" nature of the bridal industry, the store's massive expansion, an...

Grant Moise, CEO of Dallas News Corporation, discusses the evolving media landscape and the vibrant economic growth of North Texas, highlighted by the upcoming 2026 World Cup and a strategic merger with Hearst. He emphasizes the importance of civic engagement, such as revitalizing the urban core of downtown Dallas, and shares a personal leadership philosophy centered on work ethic, mentorship, and...

In this episode of Business Decoded, host Ronnie Spellman interviews Philip Sarnecki, a multifaceted entrepreneur from Kansas. Sarnecki shares his journey from starting an insurance business at age 19 while in college to building a diverse business empire. He also discusses his significant career shift: selling his primary financial firms to run for Governor of Kansas, driven by a desire to apply...

Taylor Price, a prominent Gen Z financial activist and founder of Priceless Tay with one million followers in TikTok, joins host Ronnie Spellman to discuss her mission of eradicating global financial illiteracy. Drawing from personal health challenges and a background in a small family business, Price explains how she transitioned from pre-med to corporate finance to help her generation build weal...

This interview features Jay Rodgers, founder of Business Owners Ed, discussing his organization's mission to help serious, committed entrepreneurs grow their companies. Rodgers emphasizes the critical role of small businesses in economic growth and details the structure of his program, which targets business owners with a minimum of $1 million in annual revenue and are serious about growth. He...

The interview with entrepreneur Rick Hopper, founder of the magnetic eyeglass holder Reader Rest, provides an in-depth look at his journey from a window guy to a business mogul with high brand visibility. He discusses securing a deal with Lori Greiner on Shark Tank, which led to massive success on QVC, selling out in five minutes during their first appearance for $300,000. Rick shares crucial busi...

This interview with Andy Dastur, President of North American Insurance Services, centers on two main themes: leveraging social media for massive organizational growth and the complexity of the U.S. healthcare industry. Dastur shares his experience of scaling his broker network from two to 4,000, attributing part of this success to a disciplined, platform-specific social media strategy, using Faceb...

Rabbi Shaya Fox, CEO of the Dallas Area Torah Association (DATA), discusses his role as a spiritual mentor to business leaders, emphasizing the pursuit of spiritual health and life fulfillment beyond financial success. He runs the "Fulfilling Life Cohort" for CEOs, providing a safe space for both Jewish and non-Jewish leaders to discuss values, personal growth, and accountability, partic...

David Cabrales, an attorney and lobbyist, discussed his multifaceted career, highlighting three key areas. First, his legal work involved representing market makers in the securities industry, defending them against short-selling litigation by emphasizing their role in creating market liquidity. Second, he detailed his extensive involvement in Texas economic development as a former Chairman of the...

In this third interview, host Ronnie Spellman and chef John Coletta, founding chef and partner at Cortina restaurant, delve deeply into the philosophy of quality eating, nutrition, and its connection to overall well-being. Coletta champions the use of superior, natural ingredients, arguing that prioritizing product integrity over immediate profitability leads to business success. The discussion co...

Jeff Bednar, founder of Profound Foods, returns to the podcast to discuss the evolution of his farming business, from starting with $2.6$ acres in North Texas to pivoting his model. Initially driven by a personal health journey, Profound Foods grew into a collaborative food hub to help small local farmers and ranchers overcome the high costs of distribution and marketing. Bednar details the transi...

In this interview, Ronnie Spellman speaks with Anisha Holla, founder and CEO of Foodify, an automated matchmaking platform connecting small, local restaurants with food influencers. Holla explains that her business was founded on the principle of determining who she wanted to become, leading her away from pre-med and politics. Foodify addresses a crucial marketing need for small businesses by faci...

In this interview, Ronnie Spellman and Ken Malcolmson, President and CEO of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, discuss the chamber's strategy for driving regional prosperity and effective leadership. Malcolmson details how the chamber, which prefers to call its members "stakeholders," focuses on the entire Dallas region, working to address economic imbalances like the funding disparity between...

In this second interview with Monica Paul, Executive Director of the Dallas Sports Commission, the conversation focuses on the monumental effort to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North Texas. Paul details the successful bid, which leveraged the region's strong infrastructure, corporate base, and central location. The discussion highlights the massive economic impact, now projected between $1.5 to...

In this Business Decoded episode, host Ronnie Spellman interviews Brittany Huber, Director of Collaboratives at Philanthropy Southwest, to explore the vital intersection of business, government, and the nonprofit sector. Drawing on her extensive experience in university development and her recent Master's in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University, Huber discusses the evolution of philanthro...

In this episode of the Business Decoded podcast, host Ronnie Spellman sits down with Steve Reed, founder of Steve Reed Solutions, a life and executive coach with over 30 years of experience. Steve delves into the practical applications of the DISC personality assessment for business leaders, explaining how understanding the four temperaments—Dominant, Inspirational, Supportive, and Compliant—can r...

The interview with Dave Copps, co-founder and CEO of Worlds and an internationally renowned futurist, explores his decades-long journey pioneering the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, including his past companies, Ingenium Corporation and Brain Space. Copps, who embraces risk and curiosity as guiding forces, emphasizes that entrepreneurs should "fall in love with the probl...

The interview with Kevin Richardson, a veteran of the film and video game industries, traces his career from sharpening pencils for Sesame Street in high school to producing games for Mattel and pitching films to major studios like Netflix and Warner Brothers. Richardson details his early technical roles at major studios, including Industrial Light and Magic for Return of the Jedi and the core pre...

The interview with Andrea Bednar, founder of AndreaBednar.com and a master integral coach, delves into her unique "backdoor" approach to helping businesses achieve discontinuous breakthroughs. Bednar's philosophy centers on the idea that people are often resistant to change despite professing a desire for it. Her work involves thought partnering and using systems thinking to guide cl...

This episode features an interview with Megan Fenton, Center Manager for the Richardson Gymnastics Center. Fenton, a former elite gymnast and UCLA alumna who achieved a perfect ten on the uneven bars, discusses the unique nature of her city-run, high-quality gymnastics facility and the immense value of youth sports in developing successful adults. She shares her coaching philosophy, which focuses...

This interview with Paul Morinville, Executive Director of Spark US Innovation, focuses on the critical degradation of the U.S. patent system and its profound negative impact on entrepreneurship, national security, and global technology leadership. Morinville, an inventor himself, details how two major changes—the 2006 eBay v. Merc Exchange case, which made injunctions against infringers nearly im...

The interview with Steve Haro, founder of Haro Solutions, offers an inside look at the world of government affairs and lobbying. Haro, a veteran with 25 years of experience across politics, policy, and media, explains that his firm acts as a bridge between businesses and government. He emphasizes that effective lobbying is about education: helping businesses understand government and vice versa. H...

The interview with Jonathan Marques, founder of Driving Academy and JM Growth, provides a comprehensive look at his unconventional and highly successful journey as a serial entrepreneur. Starting as a college student and D1 athlete, Marques learned valuable, albeit harsh, lessons from his first venture, a restaurant business that grew to 14 locations before 13 of them failed. This experience taugh...

In this episode of the Business Decoded podcast, guest Rick Hopper, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Readerest, shares his remarkable life and business story. The interview traces his journey from a career in construction and a battle with drug addiction to becoming a successful inventor and appearing on Shark Tank. Hopper emphasizes that his path was not linear, marked by both personal strugg...

The podcast interview with Anisha Holla, a Gen Z entrepreneur, delves into her journey of creating FoodiFy, a business that acts as a "matchmaking app" connecting local restaurants with food influencers. Holla, a University of Texas at Dallas graduate, started as a food influencer herself, observing the immense impact a single post could have on a small business's traffic and sales. Driven by the...