Between 2 Bridges - Audio

A parental leave mandate has Jerry and Joe looking at what happens when a small business has to cover the paycheck and find someone to cover the work. The conversation takes in county politics, rising costs and the temptation to move five minutes down the road, with a stop in the delivery room for a payroll call that could only happen to a business owner.

Jerry just spent a week and a half on federal jury duty, and he finally gets to talk about it. He was picked as an alternate on a fraud case out of the Western District of Pennsylvania: a guy named Seth who promised small business owners everything from truck tracking systems to trail cameras to a six figure CBD deal, took their money, and delivered almost nothing. Jerry walks Joe through the whol...

Jerry and Joe talk about the week jury duty turned a self-employed business owner into a federal summons, a silent courtroom captive, and a manager forced to trust his staff. They get into the cost of stepping away, why small conversations can fix big operational problems, what a nearly $30,000 wedding gown teaches you about premium service, and whether a vintage clothing drop-off can bring a new...

Jerry and Joe are both buried in the weeds, trying to run growing businesses, keep their teams moving, and remember what they were supposed to accomplish that day. They talk about building better service tiers, learning when not to buy another truck, the business value of acknowledging customers, and what happens when Pennsylvania changes the rules after people have already invested in skill games...

Jerry and Joe talk about what happens when software gets easy to build but real service, accountability, and customer trust still require somebody to show up. They get into insurance companies that are happy to take your money, small leaks that quietly drain a business, why every storefront needs somewhere for customers to complain, and the strange economics of growing a dry-cleaning operation. Th...

Jerry and Joe mark Episode 150 by talking about the things that keep business owners awake, from rising costs and outrageous service fees to customers who never knew a local business was right around the corner. They get into end-of-life planning, the brutal math of capacity, AI-assisted work, a 30-day operating reset, and why a company can have plenty of room to grow without burying its employees...

Jerry and Joe bounce from social-media detectives and customers who think business owners never clock out to sneaky $55 subscriptions and the strange economics of the scrapyard. Along the way, they swap stories about everyone picking sides, businesses held together by sheer stubbornness, and the dangerous little thought every entrepreneur knows too well: “What could I put in here?” By the end, the...

In Episode 148 of Between 2 Bridges, Jerry and Joe follow the money, the data, and all the little ways modern life seems designed to keep pulling you back in. They get into the growing reach of license-plate cameras and where useful technology crosses the line into surveillance, how driving data can find its way into the hands of insurance companies, and why our personal information has become one...

Getting paid shouldn’t be the hardest part of doing business, but sometimes it sure feels that way. This week, Jerry and Joe talk about chasing invoices, late payments, sponsorship requests, and why supporting local businesses needs to be a two-way street. Joe wraps up a contracting job and learns a few things about payment terms along the way, while Jerry discovers there are apparently a dozen wr...

The guys kick things off with a simple request for every courteous driver out there: stop trying to direct traffic and just drive your car. From left-lane campers and zipper merges to Pennsylvania’s new distracted-driving law, they make the case that sometimes trying to be nice behind the wheel just makes everything worse.   Then the conversation turns to business. With Flexsource winding down, Jo...

This week on Between 2 Bridges, Jerry and Joe talk about what your time is actually worth and why sometimes spending money is the smartest way to get more of it back. From laundry and the “wedding gown theory” to finding new opportunities, protecting quality as a business grows, and making things right when your company screws up, the conversation gets into what it really means to run a small busi...

Matt Plocki has spent more than two decades building an empire in the businesses most people never think about. From Pitt Specialty Supply and Penn Fixture to Friendly Wholesale, real estate, and a long history of acquisitions, Matt has built his career around finding opportunity in the essential products and services that quietly keep other businesses running. In this episode, Matt joins Jerry an...

After 27 years in the classroom, retired Riverview teacher Steve Rowe has learned a thing or two about what it takes to raise good kids. Steve joins Jerry and Joe to talk about how parenting and education have changed, the impact of screens and social media, teaching accountability and leadership, and why being present still matters more than anything else. They also discuss Steve’s new project, G...

Before you think about growing your business, ask yourself one question: what happens if you’re no longer there to run it? This week, the guys tackle one of the most overlooked responsibilities of business ownership: succession planning. From operating agreements and business partnerships to protecting your family, employees, and legacy, they share real-world stories of what happens when the prope...

In this episode of Between 2 Bridges, Jerry pulls back the curtain on FORTIVO, the AI-powered platform he’s been building to help small business owners finally understand what their numbers are actually telling them. FORTIVO securely connects to your QuickBooks Online account using Intuit-approved integration, giving it access to your real financial data so it can answer questions, analyze decisio...

Success in business isn’t always about knowing when to push harder. Sometimes it’s about having the courage to stop.   This week, the guys discuss one of the toughest decisions an entrepreneur can make as Joe shares why he’s shutting down the manufacturing side of his business after nearly two years of fighting to make it work. They explore the emotional weight of closing a company, the responsibi...

Everyone woke up to the headline that Kroger is buying Giant Eagle, but the real story started long before the announcement. This week, the guys break down why major acquisitions don’t happen overnight, the warning signs businesses often give before they’re sold, and what entrepreneurs can learn from reading between the lines.   From balance sheet cleanup and billion-dollar valuations to shrinking...

Everyone woke up to the headline that Kroger is buying Giant Eagle, but the real story started long before the announcement. This week, the guys break down why major acquisitions don’t happen overnight, the warning signs businesses often give before they’re sold, and what entrepreneurs can learn from reading between the lines.   From balance sheet cleanup and billion-dollar valuations to shrinking...

From flat tires and Father’s Day to Buc-ee’s, black bears wandering the neighborhood, and the realities of business ownership, this episode goes everywhere in the best way. The guys swap stories about raising kids, the changing value of college versus the skilled trades, and why mechanics, plumbers, and other hands-on professionals are becoming more valuable than ever. Along the way, they share le...

From flat tires and Father’s Day to Buc-ee’s, black bears wandering the neighborhood, and the realities of business ownership, this episode goes everywhere in the best way. The guys swap stories about raising kids, the changing value of college versus the skilled trades, and why mechanics, plumbers, and other hands-on professionals are becoming more valuable than ever. Along the way, they share le...

Nobody talks enough about what happens when things go wrong.   In this episode, Joe and Jerry dive into one of the most valuable assets any business can build: trust. From lost garments and tax mistakes to difficult customer situations and hard conversations, they share real stories about accountability, reputation, and what it takes to keep customers coming back when perfection isn’t possible.  ...

Nobody talks enough about what happens when things go wrong. In this episode, Joe and Jerry dive into one of the most valuable assets any business can build: trust. From lost garments and tax mistakes to difficult customer situations and hard conversations, they share real stories about accountability, reputation, and what it takes to keep customers coming back when perfection isn’t possible. Alon...

What starts with a trip to the emergency vet and a rant about insurance quickly turns into a spirited debate about one of the biggest questions facing business owners today: should anyone be regulating AI? Joe and Jerry discuss government oversight, the fear of job displacement, and why they believe innovation should be embraced instead of slowed down. Along the way, they share real-world examples...

What starts with a trip to the emergency vet and a rant about insurance quickly turns into a spirited debate about one of the biggest questions facing business owners today: should anyone be regulating AI? Joe and Jerry discuss government oversight, the fear of job displacement, and why they believe innovation should be embraced instead of slowed down. Along the way, they share real-world examples...

A new hands-free driving law in Pennsylvania kicks off a conversation about distracted driving, common-sense enforcement, and whether technology should solve the problem before lawmakers do. From there, the guys dive into summer break, raising kids without turning every day into an expensive adventure, and the surprising reality that children seem to behave a little differently when mom leaves tow...