Better Business for Small Business Leaders

Send us Fan Mail Your revenue can look “fine” and still leave you wondering why the business is not throwing off the profit it should. That frustration is usually a signal that something deeper is happening underneath the numbers. We sit down with Peter Geis, Akron Area President of Focus CFO, a fractional CFO leader and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt who has helped everyone from Fortune-scale teams to...

Send us Fan Mail Your team doesn’t need another shiny AI subscription, they need clarity. We sit down with Heather Terry, CEO and chief content architect of Curious AI, to unpack why so many small businesses feel overwhelmed after buying “all the tools” and still can’t point to real results. The heart of the problem is simple: when you start with platforms instead of priorities, you create noise,...

Send us Fan Mail You can make a smart growth move and still create a risk you never saw coming. That is the tension we dig into with attorney CJ Meager of Brennan Mana and Diamond, who works with companies as fractional chief legal counsel. When you are past the startup stage, the margin for error gets smaller, and the goal is not just growth. It is protecting what you have built while you keep sc...

Send us Fan Mail You promote your top performer, give them a new title, and expect the team to level up. Instead, sales dip, conflict rises, and your once-reliable employee looks exhausted and unsure. That whiplash is more common than most leaders admit, and it usually has one root cause: we reward technical excellence with a management role, then provide little to no leadership training. Julie Wh...

Send us Fan Mail Your health insurance renewal hits, and suddenly the math doesn’t work: premiums climb faster than inflation, one big claim can blow up a small group plan, and specialty drug costs keep stacking the deck against predictability. We talk through why this trend is not a quick blip and why more business owners are getting cornered into hard choices that can even block raises. If you’v...

Send us Fan Mail The next big break in your career probably won’t come from a perfect strategy deck. It’ll come from a person who trusts you, remembers you, and is willing to make an introduction when the moment is right. That’s why we dig into relationship building as a real leadership skill, not a cringe networking chore.  I’m joined by Stephanie Smith, Director of Engagement and Impact at Leade...

Send us Fan Mail Your business starts growing, and you think the hard part is sales, operations, and delivery. Then the real friction hits: the people side. The mood changes, long-time employees get uneasy, new hires shift the dynamics, and suddenly, “we’ve always done it this way” becomes the loudest voice in the room. We sit down with Julie Wheeler, HR business partner at Clarity HR, to unpack w...

Send us Fan Mail Your health insurance renewal shows up, and the numbers feel unreal. The cost jumps again, nobody can clearly explain why, and you are left trying to protect your team’s benefits while your budget gets squeezed. We sit down with Alice Rhodes, VP of Benefits at AUI, to unpack the real mechanics of self-funded health insurance for small and mid-sized employers and to explain why “se...

Send us Fan Mail Growth feels great until it starts to choke your cash and your calendar. We sit down with Jim Bartlett, Navy mission commander turned e-commerce founder and now Area President at Focus CFO, to unpack how owners stop firefighting and start leading with forward-looking finance. Jim’s path from scaling a sporting goods brand on early AdWords to exiting as Amazon rose gives him a rare...

Send us Fan Mail Quit a stable job, tell your boss you’re going home, then get asked if they can become your first client—how’s that for a plot twist? We sit down with communications leader Sue Grabowski to chart a three-decade journey from magazine keylining to AI-era strategy, and the common thread is relentless clarity. Sue shares how she built an agency that outlasted trends by shifting from p...

Send us Fan Mail What if one smart hire could flip your business from constant scramble to controlled scale? That’s the spark behind our conversation with Zhao Liu, the operator-turned-founder of ZL Workforce, who transformed an eight-year solo grind into a data-driven, delegation-first machine after hiring a single virtual assistant. We walk through the pivotal moves: quitting corporate while run...

Send us Fan Mail The myth says a creative life runs on inspiration; the truth is that it runs on timing, resilience, and a reliable system. We sit down with guitarist and former VP of Sales Marc Lee Shannon to map the dirt roads that led from LA session work to corporate leadership and back to a purpose-driven creative practice. Along the way, Mark explains how he learned to read industry headwind...

Send us Fan Mail What if your best marketing isn’t marketing at all, but the way you show up when it costs you? That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with Alicia Jarboe, the Worcester-based realtor and nonprofit leader who proves that relationships, not transactions, build businesses that last. We dive into the practices that turn clients into community: thoughtful follow-up, handwritten cards,...

Send us Fan Mail What if the difference between a resilient culture and a fragile one is a single intentional choice? We sit down with Janet Kendal White, author of Unshakable Leadership and founder of Berkshire Group, to unpack how real leadership moves beyond titles, clever slogans, and “crappy wall art.” From a jarring early career story to building a company that equips managers with practical...

Send us Fan Mail Collaboration only works when both sides win—and when you can prove your value every single day. That’s the lens Chris Canova brings as he walks us through how Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) scaled from a small team to 70+ staff across ten counties, serving youth, specialized populations, and now adults in manufacturing, business, and the growing polymer sector. We unpack the har...

Send us Fan Mail Confidence doesn’t show up on command; it grows after courage. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with Erica Hill, the creator of Positioning Self—a coaching framework that turns soft skills into daily, practiced habits for interns, first-year hires, and emerging leaders. We dig into a two-sided model that pairs early-career professionals with mentors or supervisors who acti...

Send us Fan Mail Do you know what your health insurance broker actually does? Most small business owners assume their broker simply shops for the cheapest rates, but that's just skimming the surface of what a true strategic benefits advisor should provide. Alice Rhodes from AUI breaks down this misunderstood role, revealing that for businesses with fewer than 50 employees, benefits aren'...

Send us Fan Mail Do your employees dread Sunday nights because they have to return to your workplace on Monday morning? That's one of the clearest signs your company culture needs attention, according to HR expert Julie Wheeler. In this eye-opening conversation about workplace culture, Julie cuts through the superficial trappings that many businesses mistake for culture—ping pong tables, pizz...

Send us Fan Mail "There's always a solution. It might be over, might be under, might be around, or straight through." These words of wisdom from Adrienne Wilkerson, co-founder of Beacon Media + Marketing, perfectly capture the mindset needed to navigate what she calls "the messy middle" of entrepreneurship. From her beginnings as Alaska's first full-service digital ma...

Send us Fan Mail Reaching that 15-30 employee threshold brings a crucial decision for business owners: is it time to hire a dedicated HR person? Before taking that leap, Julie Wheeler of Clarity HR makes a compelling case for considering fractional HR services as a strategic alternative that could save your business money while providing superior expertise. When businesses cross this growth thresh...

Send us Fan Mail The difference between a struggling small business and a thriving one often comes down to how they approach employee benefits. Most business owners think they have benefits figured out—but as Alice Rhodes, Vice President of Employee Benefits at AUI reveals, they absolutely do not. Benefits shouldn't be treated as just another monthly expense. When employers make drastic chang...

Send us Fan Mail Are you unwittingly turning away potential customers because of an inaccessible website? Digital marketing expert Elizabeth Orley shares her personal awakening to the importance of accessibility after breaking her arm and suddenly finding herself unable to use a computer mouse with her dominant hand. This eye-opening experience transformed her understanding of how digital spaces c...

Send us Fan Mail Ever find yourself dreading those human resources responsibilities that come with running your business? You're not alone. Many small business owners view HR as a necessary evil – a department that exists to say "no" and create endless rules. Julie Wheeler of Clarity HR is on a mission to change that perception. In this enlightening conversation, Julie shares how sh...

Send us Fan Mail Ever wonder why finding a good health insurance broker feels impossible, especially as a small business owner? Alice Rhodes from AUI pulls back the curtain on the often-mysterious world of employee benefits with refreshing candor and deep expertise from her 25-year career. "I never just send stuff because their head's going to pop off," Alice explains, highlighting...

Send us Fan Mail Bill Snow's entrepreneurial journey begins with a moment many of us can relate to—a family vacation derailed by car trouble. That frustrating experience sparked a revelation that transformed his career path and led to multiple successful businesses. "When you're saying no to something, you're saying yes to something else," Bill shares, highlighting one of...