Succession Stories

Episode Description What does it truly take to keep a family business thriving across generations? Succession is often framed as a simple handoff, but successful transitions require aligning owners, preparing leaders, preserving relationships, and sometimes rethinking what it means to be a family business. In this episode, host Laurie Barkman sits down with Kristi Daeda, President and CEO of the F...

Description: "If you'd like to begin the year with $3 to $5 million in revenue already for you to do, then you should be investigating this." Bryan Mitchell helped transform a struggling commercial roofing company into a $70M business by building something the industry said couldn't be done: meaningful recurring revenue in a project-based business. What started with one service truck grew to 32, g...

Podcast Episode Description "It is never too early to come and talk to a lender." SBA lending rules are changing in ways that every business buyer, seller, and advisor needs to understand before they get to the closing table. Aaron Aldrich of Northwest Bank breaks down what is new, what it means for deal structure, and why a conversation with a lender three to five years before a transaction could...

Description "We build the business for freedom and then we become the slaves of it."  Michele Hecken built a global language services company from a fax machine and a kitchen table in 1993, grew it while raising two kids under three, and eventually got it down to four to ten hours a week for fifteen years before selling it to a strategic buyer at seven times EBITDA in an all-cash deal.  The turnin...

Podcast Episode Description "You are the leadership lid of your company. If you don't grow yourself, you will top out the growth of the company." Host Laurie Barkman sits down with Patrick Thean, co-founder of Rhythm Systems and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Rhythm and The Journey to CEO Success. Patrick started his career at Oracle, founded Medicis — a supply chain software company...

Podcast Episode Description "A successful exit isn't about leaving your business. It's about leaving the world a better place after you leave it." Host Laurie Barkman welcomes back Scott Snider, President of the Exit Planning Institute — the organization behind the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation and the Value Acceleration Methodology — for a return conversation four years in the makin...

Podcast Episode Description: "It's an exit plan, not an exit due." Host Laurie Barkman sits down with Alan Bennett, founder of Trust Built Solutions and exit planning coach who has lived through three very different business exits — a retail meat market that he closed in 2008, a contract catering business that a seller-financed deal and COVID unraveled in 2020, and a psychiatric practice exit to p...

"These are long-term decisions that have far-reaching impacts — not just for us, but for future generations." Host Laurie Barkman sits down with Jennifer Wilson, founder of Oak Bay Coaching and Consulting and former CEO of the Canada Homestay Network — a family business her mother started in 1995 from a bed and breakfast in Toronto that has since placed over 100,000 international students across C...

"There's a time when an exit is going to be inevitable — there may not be a time certain, but there is a time." Host Laurie Barkman reunites with Chip Scholz, founder of Scholz and Associates and author of Small Decisions, Big Shifts and the upcoming Handoffs, for a deeply personal and insightful conversation about the hidden leadership mistakes that quietly destroy business succession plans. Chip...

"Don't just sit there and coast along thinking your financial prowess is going to win the day." Host Laurie Barkman sits down with Susan Latremoille, Founder of Next Chapter Lifestyle Advisors, and discusses the retirement myth and the conversation that the advisors are missing. Susan spent nearly four decades in financial services watching well-prepared clients fall apart emotionally after sellin...

"Don't do what you think the world needs, do what makes you come alive." Most entrepreneurs sitting on decades of hard-won expertise have no idea that knowledge alone could be their next business. James Allen is the founder of Profit Your Knowledge, a platform helping coaches, creators, and experts turn what they know into scalable, freedom-based online businesses. He left a six-figure union const...

"Exit planning is good business, not just about exits. Doing exit planning is going to help your business today." Too many founder CEOs pour years into scaling their company without ever building a plan for what comes next — and it costs them. Bruce Eckfeldt is a former Inc. 500 CEO who scaled, led, and exited his own company, and now coaches founder CEOs to do the same with intention. He faced th...

"The day you start your business, you should know your exit strategy."  Host Laurie Barkman sits down with Amy Veltri, Co-Founder and CEO of NGE, an environmental and geotechnical engineering firm. Amy built the company with her brother nearly 20 years ago, and made the deliberate choice to transition to 100% employee ownership through an ESOP. Amy shares the personal journey of weighing a third-p...

"Profitability rewards the founder. Transferability rewards the future." In many founder-led businesses — especially those under $10 million — the owner is the strategy, the rainmaker, and the decision-maker. But what happens when the business can't operate without you? In this episode of Succession Stories, Laurie Barkman is joined by Steve Preda, Founder, Summit OS Group, to explore the role of...

"No one's promised tomorrow." Host Laurie Barkman talks with Scott Arden, Chairman of Controllers Ltd and Managing Partner of Generational Wealth Solutions, about the intricacies of financial strategies for business owners. Controllers Limited focuses on advanced strategies for asset protection and generational wealth.  Focusing on growth, succession planning, and the importance of legacy, Scott e...

🎙️ Business growth and succession planning start long before an exit. In this special Succession Stories swapcast, Laurie Barkman introduces the B.U.I.L.T.™ Method, a practical framework for building value and preparing for business transition. 🔓 This episode features Laurie's guest appearance on The B2B Growth Podcast with Mark Osborne, where the mic is turned around and she shares the thinking...

In this episode, Laurie Barkman is joined by Dr. Brianna Rhue, optometrist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Dr Contact Lens. Brianna shares her journey from a private practice owner to a tech maven, driven by the need to solve a critical "leaky bucket" problem: doctors losing contact lens sales to online retailers. She discusses the "entrepreneurial gene", the power of a "chip on your shoulder", a...

🎧 Tune in to learn the realities of entrepreneurship through acquisition, from the search process to surviving economic uncertainty in the first year.  Laurie Barkman sits down with Aashay Kumar, owner of Tri-Form, Inc. Aashay shares his story of leaving a corporate career to buy an existing manufacturing business. He demystifies the process of entrepreneurship through acquisition. Listen in as A...

What does it take to finance a business transition or acquisition? In this episode, Laurie Barkman sits down with David Miller, Executive Vice President at Enterprise Bank, to demystify lending for business owners — from SBA loans to insider buyouts. David shares how banks assess deals, why management continuity matters most, and how entrepreneurs can become "bankable" when it's time to grow or ex...

Host Laurie Barkman welcomes Brandon Stanchock, CEO of SWF Industrial Inc. Brandon discusses his journey to take the helm of a family business. He emphasizes the importance of leadership, employee development, and implementing innovative collaboration strategies in the industrial sector. The conversation also highlights Brandon's commitment to providing support for employees and internal promotion...

Host Laurie Barkman welcomes Larry Whiteside Jr., an expert in information security, risk management, and entrepreneurship. Larry discusses his journey from cybersecurity to becoming the Co-Owner of Lifesaver Pool Fence of Tampa and Co-Founder of Confide.  Larry emphasizes the importance of passion, operational efficiency, and overcoming challenges in business. They delve into key trends in cybers...

" Treat people well, work hard, have a plan." Host Laurie Barkman welcomes Travis Howerton, a technology and security expert with over 25 years of experience. Travis shares his journey from federal service and the nuclear weapons program to becoming the Co-Founder and CEO of RegScale. They discuss the entrepreneurial gene, personality assessments in team dynamics, and the challenges of scaling a b...

" Don't be a jack of all social media sites, master of none." Host Laurie Barkman interviews digital marketing expert Corey Perlman of Impact Social. They discuss Corey's entrepreneurial journey influenced by his parents' careers, the evolving landscape of digital marketing, and the role and potential of AI in the industry. Corey shares insights on building and managing successful teams, the impor...

"We're in the business of making people happy!" John and Mark X. Cronin are father-son co-founders of John's Crazy Socks. Host Laurie Barkman talks with John and Mark about the inspiring story of their unique business model, inclusion, and commitment to spreading happiness. Over half of their employees have differing abilities.  The discussion covers innovative approaches to customer satisfaction,...

What's the most important value to have when you're running your own business? According to Molly McGrath, Founder of Hiring and Empowering Solutions, it's accountability. Listen in as Host Laurie Barkman talks with Molly about her unique perspective on the entrepreneur gene - a desire for control and freedom, stemming from an anti-authoritarian mindset. Molly highlights the importance of teaching...