Cultivate with Alex Canavan

Scott Grates has built multiple businesses from zero that now generate millions annually. He is a national bestselling author, TEDx speaker, sales trainer, podcast host, and the founder of Scott Grates Consulting. But in this conversation, we skip past the highlight reel and get into the real stuff. We talk about what it actually took to build from nothing, the inner critic that showed up along th...

Ryan Novak started washing dishes at his hometown chocolate shop in Marcellus when he was just fifteen. Six years later, while still a student at Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management, he became the owner. Since 2010, Ryan has grown Chocolate Pizza Company into a nationally recognized gourmet chocolate brand that ships across the country and around the world, with features on ABC...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Jennifer Wilber and Marissa Rothschild — co-hosts of Crazy Real with Bougie and Zog — for a conversation that is exactly what it sounds like. Real, honest, funny, and the kind of chat that reminds you why connection matters and why sometimes the most important thing you can do for yourself is just decide to have fun again. Jennifer is a wife, mom of two, S...

In honor of National Women's Small Business Month, this one is just me, and it's a little different from our usual conversations. I'm sharing the story of how I stumbled onto The Scout Guide in a bathroom in Franklin, Tennessee, and why I think it could be a huge opportunity for someone in Central or Upstate New York. Then we dive into the real state of women's entrepreneurship in...

In this episode, host Alex takes the show on the road and films on site at Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards in Lafayette, New York for a conversation with Eddie Brennan — fifth generation co-owner and President of Beak and Skiff, 1911 Established, and Ayrloom — about what it really means to carry a legacy forward without losing what made it worth carrying in the first place. Eddie did not grow up pla...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Jennifer Bisson and Aimee Tarin — Chief Legal Operating Officer and Chief Impact Officer of Nave Law Firm — for a conversation about what it really looks like to lead at the highest level behind the scenes, build a life you are proud of, and show up fully in both without apologizing for any of it. Jennifer came up through retail management, earned her para...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Stephanie Cartin — co-founder of Entreprenista, co-founder of Socialfly, angel investor, author, podcast host, and one of the most generous community builders in the game — for a conversation about what it really takes to build multiple companies, scale yourself out of the work, and create a community that changes people's lives every single day. Steph...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Sara Brooks — co-founder of Goldilocks, a CPG brand strategy and marketing consultancy, co-founder of Plainspeak, and one of the most respected voices in consumer brand building — for a conversation about the shift happening right now in how women consume, who they trust, and what it actually takes to build a brand they will actually buy. Sara founded Cove...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Nathan Cronk and Brian Harvath — co-founders of Big River Film Co., a nationally recognized production company that has spent the last decade helping brands tell stories that actually resonate — for a conversation about what it really takes to build a creative business. Not the aesthetic pics or highlight reel version. The real one. Before founding Big Riv...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Dr. Kristen Eichhorn — Interim Provost, Dean of Graduate Studies, Interim Dean of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship at SUNY Oswego, published relational scholar, and co-author of Interpersonal Communication: Building Rewarding Relationships — for a conversation about what it really means to communicate well, why most of us are doing it wrong, an...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Dr. Kaushal Nanavati — Assistant Dean of Wellness at Upstate University, motivational speaker, author, and Integrative Family Physician — for a conversation about what human flourishing actually looks like, why our relationships are the mirror we're not looking in, and what it really means to fill your own cup before you pour into everyone else's....

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Beth Trunfio — President and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Central New York — for a conversation about what it really means to lead a mission-driven organization for nearly three decades, and show up every single day for families in the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Beth joined Ronald McDonald House Central New York in 1999 when it was a $300,000...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Sydney Dumler — founder and CEO of Forza Pilates, Nashville's most talked-about wellness brand and cult-following luxury studio trusted by Kelsea Ballerini, Sabrina Carpenter, and Kacey Musgraves — for a conversation about what it really means to build a brand that doesn't just look like luxury, but feels like it from the moment you walk in the doo...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Christy Ford and Susie Matheson — co-founders of The Scout Guide, a nationally recognized franchise publishing company now spanning more than 100 markets across the country — for a conversation about what it really means to build something deeply human at massive scale, and why the most powerful things are often started over a cup of coffee with no money a...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Lisa Marie Newcomb — founder of Thrive in Healing, co-founder of the Syracuse Yoga Collective, Lululemon Ambassador, and author of A Life Imagined . The conversation is about what it really means to heal out loud, show up for your community, and build a life that looks different than the one you imagined — and find that it's still beautiful. Since launchin...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Erika Ayers Badan — CMO of AOL, first-ever CEO of Barstool Sports, board member, author, and now founder of Mule Media — for a conversation about what it really means to bet on yourself when the data says don't, build something that didn't exist before you showed up, and lead with the kind of conviction that turns a regional blog into a media empir...

In this episode, Alex sits down with Sean Kelsey — CEO of Nave Law Firm, foster care alumnus, community builder, and author of The Uneducated CEO — for a conversation about what it really costs to become who you're trying to be. Not in theory. In practice. In the space between the trigger and the reaction. Sean walked into one of the largest DWI law firms in Central New York with no law degree...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Lauren Makler — Co-Founder and CEO of Cofertility, a human-first fertility ecosystem that allows women to freeze their eggs for free when they donate half — for a conversation about turning personal pain into public purpose, building something counterintuitive in an industry that needed disruption, and what it really means to show up for women at one of th...

Alex is back solo, and this time she's tackling the topic every woman in this community asks her about: networking. Not the awkward, business-card-collecting kind. The intentional kind, the kind that actually turns conversations into community. This episode is the best of a recent Collective call, expanded and made even more tactical. Alex breaks down why most networking advice leaves people f...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Sarah Pellegrini — Syracuse native, real estate veteran, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Noble Cellar — for a conversation about what it really means to bet on yourself, bet on your community, and build something that didn't exist before you showed up. Sarah has spent over 20 years executing across real estate, sales, business development, and hospitality....

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Barbara Stone — entrepreneur, author, TEDx speaker, leadership development coach, and founder of Build Your Path LLC — for a conversation about what it really costs to spend 25 years chasing someone else's version of success. And what it takes to finally walk away from it. Barb did everything right. She earned her MBA, climbed the ladder in manufacturi...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Kennedy Myers — former corporate professional, founder of The Graze Catering and The Graze Management, and one of the most honest voices on the internet right now — for a conversation that is raw, courageous, and impossible to forget. Kennedy was doing what so many of us do: working a nine to five, building two businesses on the side, and grinding through...

In this week’s solo episode of Cultivate , Alex reflects on a transformative dinner with her advisory board and the powerful realizations that came from being in a room full of women who lead, build, and understand the weight of ambition. This episode explores: Imposter syndrome and self-doubt in entrepreneurship Why successful women still question themselves The importance of relationships that r...

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Erik Ramstad — COO of Farmwell and part of the family behind one of upstate New York's most purposeful food and beverage brands — for a conversation that is grounded, genuine, and quietly refreshing. Erik and his family didn't set out to build a beverage company. They set out to grow something real. What started as a family dream rooted in the aron...

In this episode, Alex sits down with Andrew Lunetta — Founder and Executive Director of A Tiny Home for Good — for a conversation that is honest, grounding, and genuinely inspiring. Andrew has spent the better part of his life close to homelessness — first as a shelter worker, then as someone who literally lived alongside the men he was trying to help, and now as the leader of one of Central New Y...