Business Mastery Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with Matt Watson, CEO of Full Scale, about founder-led marketing and how to build trust in a low-trust environment where reviews and feedback can be manipulated. Watson explains that buyers look for trust signals beyond company reputation, making founders’ personal brands and thought leadership increasingly important, especially for smaller companies competing with big-...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with  Garrett Maroon, a Southeast Virginia real estate agent of 12+ years, about weighing key variables to build a business aligned with who you are rather than following cookie-cutter industry advice like cold calling or buying leads. Garrett explains he filtered every tactic through whether it fit his wiring and whether it gave or drained energy, ultimately mastering...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with financial planner Brian Thompson of Brian Thompson Financial about founders staying in control of their businesses without fusing their identity to the company. Brian explains that businesses can start “driving the ship” on their own momentum, so leaders should build with intention by clarifying mission, vision, and values—both personally and for the business—and r...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with Graham Skidmore about keeping humanity at the center of business amid rapid AI adoption. Graham argues AI should augment human agency like a calculator, not replace people, and warns that capitalism’s push for efficiency can overlook effectiveness, empathy, and stewardship. They discuss how one-size-fits-all systems in education and workplaces stifle human potentia...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with Carolyn Haeler, CEO and founder of Mightylicious, a gluten-free cookie company, about using crowdfunding as a nontraditional way to finance growth in CPG. Carolyn shares how she bootstrapped early production, landed Whole Foods quickly, used personal credit lines to manage early cash flow, then secured TD Bank loans as purchase orders grew and co-manufacturing intr...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with strategic planning coach Marc L. Daniels about why annual planning no longer works for small and medium businesses in a fast-changing economy and technology landscape. Mark shares his background in building and selling businesses and argues that plans fail without disciplined execution. He contrasts spreadsheet forecasts and overly thick binders with a focused quar...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with Ricky Ho, founder of San Francisco AI startup SourceReady, which helps retailers, brands, and importers automate product sourcing from idea to factory by identifying suppliers globally (including some in the US), calculating tariffs, and even negotiating with factories using AI trained on millions of factory records, supplier disclosures, shipment records, and cust...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Jenna Nelson, founder of HerAIgency, about adopting AI in business in a supportive, non-threatening way, especially for female founders and women-led companies. Jenna outlines practical AI use cases in marketing, operations, data analytics, and market research, emphasizing that results depend on the quality of inputs (“slop in, slop out”) and that AI must b...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with Curt Moore, founder of Moat Title Security (headquartered in Oklahoma City and operating in nine states), about what businesses must consider when expanding into new states, especially in regulated industries like real estate and public document recording. Kurt explains the need to register as a foreign entity with each state’s Secretary of State (with varying fees...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn welcomes back Stacy Brown-Randall (previously featured in 2022 on “Generating Referrals Without Asking”) to discuss her updated work on referrals, including her second book, The Referable Client Experience. Stacy explains that referrals exist within a business “ecosystem” and outlines three foundational referral plans: generating more referrals from people who already refer y...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Holly Hoffman (“the sales tax lady”), founder of Sales Tax Advisory Network, who serves businesses of any size and industry with sales and use tax training and guidance. Hoffman explains the difference between sales tax (seller’s liability) and use tax (purchaser’s liability) and notes audits often focus more on untaxed or undocumented purchases than on sal...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with financial architect Linda Hunt about “financial architecture” and why a P&L alone can hide what’s really happening in a growing business. Linda explains that many companies operate with disconnected financial pieces and misaligned workflows, causing inaccurate revenue, inventory, and cost of goods data—especially when industry-specific systems integrate poorly...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with Leisa Reid, founder of GetSpeakingGigsNow.com and the author of Get Speaking Gigs Now. Dawn and Leisa talk about how you can use speaking engagements to enhance the credibility of your business.  Lisa explains that “speaking” isn’t only keynotes; it can include facilitation, workshops, and even Facebook Lives, and she shares early steps for local businesses such as...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with George Csahiouni. With over 23 years of experience in sales to the fintech industry,  with a specialized focus on payment processing, and as a sales expert and chief revenue lead, George has been instrumental in driving sales and revenue growth for ISOs and various businesses. Dawn and George talk about payment processing costs and small-business financing In this...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with Mike Matalone, founder of the XP3 Talent System and author of “Hire, Train, Retain,” about creating a “people operating system” that improves hiring, onboarding/training, daily management, and retention so other business systems execute effectively. Mike argues many business problems presented as financial, marketing, or operations issues are often people issues in...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn talks with James M. Powell, an expert on the science of intuition, about tapping into our intuition and using it to make better business decisions.               In this episode… Who is James M. Powell and whom does he serve? (00:57).  In everything we learn about running a business, why don’t we learn about tapping into our intuition in business school? (2:26) The meaning of...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with George Bakalov, a cybersecurity professional and virtual CISO, and founder of Executive Solutions USA. They talk about small business “information security,” emphasizing that risk extends beyond phishing to protecting all business assets, reputation, and expanding attack surfaces across devices, cloud, and email. George explains common scenarios such as cri...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Francie Jain, founder of Terawatt, a platform that connects employers with coaches for group coaching and training, to discuss psychological safety and its ROI through reduced turnover. Francie defines psychological safety using Dr. Amy Edmondson’s work as a group-level climate where people can speak up without fear of repercussions, enabling error reportin...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Jake Isham,a filmmaker-turned-brand strategist and creative director who helps founders and entrepreneurs turn their expertise into authority through powerful storytelling. They  delve into the significance of personal branding, especially in today's low-trust environment. The discussion highlights the impact of social media posts on perceptions, the i...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Cat Holt, Founder, CEO & Pres @ Coologee, Inc. They delve into the essential strategies for building a durable, sustainable brand. Cat Holt, shares her extensive experience in marketing, consulting, and branding, along with insights from her work with Progressive Insurance. They discuss the evolution of branding, the importance of customer retention, an...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Adrienne Wilkerson, Co-Founder and CEO of Beacon Media + Marketing, to discuss the transition from being a business founder to taking on the CEO role. The conversation touches on the challenges of moving from a practitioner to a leader, the importance of delegation, the evolution of company culture, and the necessity of trust and communication in building a...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Kevon Saber, a partner and transition architect at Legacy Outcomes, to discuss the intricacies of selling a business. They delve into the importance of succession planning, the differences between mergers, acquisitions, and outright sales, and the critical red flags to watch for. Kevon shares his experience selling two mobile software companies and the less...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Adam O'Connor, the Chief Commercial Officer at Gear Inc., about the intricacies and benefits of outsourcing customer service and integrating AI solutions. The discussion covers the pitfalls of implementing AI in flawed systems, the irreplaceable value of human empathy in customer service, and the importance of balancing AI with human intervention to ma...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with  Jimi Gibson to delve into the challenges and solutions that businesses face in the age of AI-driven search engines. Jimi, the VP of Brand Communication at Thrive Internet Marketing Agency, returns to discuss how the advent of AI like Chat GPT and other large language models (LLMs) is reshaping the way people find websites. Key topics include the shift from...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Kennedy talks with Jimi Gibson, VP of Brand Communication at Thrive Internet Marketing Agency, to explore the critical importance of personal branding. The discussion delves into the evolution of the internet from 2005 to the present, highlighting key changes in digital marketing strategies, including the shift from traditional SEO to leveraging AI and large language models (...