Coffee & Grit

John and Danette Bell of Empowering Futures are not just talking about mindset. They are talking about identity, programming, transformation, and what it looks like to stop living on autopilot. This conversation goes deep into the patterns we inherit, the stories we rehearse, and the ways we unknowingly give our power away in our relationships, leadership, businesses, parenting, sales conversation...

Barbara Walker has spent decades building Hartland Insurance into something much bigger than an insurance agency. This conversation is about what it really looks like to build a business that lasts—through hard seasons, changing times, family dynamics, growth, adversity, and the daily responsibility of taking care of people. Barbara takes us all the way back to the early days, when building the bu...

This is one of the most important conversations I’ve ever had on Coffee & Grit… and it’s been sitting in the vault since January 14th. I didn’t rush this one out, because some conversations you don’t just post. You sit with them. You respect them. And when the time is right—you release them. This is that conversation. Before anything else, this is a conversation with a dad. Robbie Parker is Em...

I hope you all love this episode as much as I do! This is the official kick off to the Difference Maker Bootcamp series of interviews and I knew these episodes were going to go another level. After all, these are people Making A Difference, and because we go beyond the surface in bootcamp I know these Difference Makers very intimately.  Going back to my first conversation with Brian he told me he...

Featuring Dennis Rozma, licensed professional counselor, crisis therapist, and a man who has spent a lifetime helping people navigate their hardest moments… and is now living one of his own. At 80 years young Dennis is walking through life as a full time caregiver for his wife as dementia continues to take hold. And instead of shrinking, instead of retreating he is asking a different question: How...

Featuring Darin Ureche, 30 year top producing real estate agent who built his career without the flash, the ego, or the “look at me” energy — just consistency, trust, and doing the work the right way. This episode hits hard for those that want to build a consistent success in sales and business development. The whole episode is filled with Data As Soul for Darrin success career. Not a good year. N...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit. This one right here is a conversation about what it really looks like to build something the right way. Listen in as I am joing by Brandon Sacker of TCI Home Services & Precision Pro Sprayers, and from the outside, you might think this episode is about insulation, mold remediation, and home services. It is. However it...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit. This week I’m sitting down with Steve Koch, and this conversation is going to hit a lot of you right where you live as business owners. Because here’s the truth… Most of us didn’t start our business because we love numbers. We started because we love what we do. We love serving people. We love building something. But at so...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit where this week I am sitting down with Brandon Miller, founder of Inspired by Design Painting in Brighton, Michigan. This conversation gets into something every entrepreneur eventually has to face. Are you building a job or are you building something that lasts? Brandon’s story started pretty humbly. Picture a power washer,...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit! This week I’m sitting down with Brenda Lindsay, founder of Mind Transformations, and we dive into something that affects way more people than we like to admit… the internal battles that keep us stuck. Brenda shares her journey from complete paralysis around public speaking to becoming someone who now teaches mindfulness, r...

What is up everybody?!?Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit! I’ve got a returning guest in the studio today my friend Desiree Martinez, fresh off writing her new book Stop Marketing and Start Belonging… and this conversation is a wake-up call for every business owner who feels like they’re doing “all the marketing things” but still not getting the traction they want. We get into th...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit. I’ve got my guy Steven Betel-The Mortgage Family Man-back in the studio for round two, and this one goes way deeper than we planned. It starts with “the little things” such as mics, systems, daily habits and turns into a real conversation about life, presence, relationships, and what it actually means to build something th...

Featuring Siobhan Reigle, entrepreneur, sports mom, and purpose-chaser who went from “I don’t even know what a Reel is” to building a brand (and a business) online.  One uncomfortable post at a time.  This one hit different because Siobhan isn’t just a Difference Maker out in the wild.  She’s family. And what I love about this conversation is that it’s not some polished “overnight success” story....

Happy New Year everybody, as we kick off the 1st episode recorded in 2026. In the conversation with Noreen Owens is one of those conversations that reminds me why I started Coffee & Grit in the first place. Because yeah… we literally had to re record it... Technology did what technology does sometimes, and I had that “kicked in the stomach” moment where you realize you just burned an hour of a...

Featuring Kristie Risner, Regal Payments This one started as a content session out of Difference Maker Bootcamp… and it got way too real, way too fast to keep it tucked away. Because what you’re about to hear isn’t “a credit card processing episode.”It’s a story about becoming someone new. It’s about walking out of corporate survival mode and into community, purpose, and conviction.  Kristie came...

What is up to all my Difference Makers out there? This week it’s just you and me in the studio. A meeting got rescheduled, the room was quiet, and I had two stories sitting heavy on my heart so I hit record. What came out is part networking smackdown, part mindset reset, and part faith-filled gut check for anyone stuck in their own head right now.  We start with a moment from a recent networking g...

Featuring Sparkle Lindsay| Worldwide Trainer, Coach, Author, Speaker & Founder of Sparkle LLC What happens when you sit down in person with someone who’s been walking this journey with you for years… and you finally get to throw the virtual world aside and dig into the real stuff? This is Part 2 of our in-studio conversation with Sparkle Lindsay, recorded during her visit to Loud Mouth Studios...

Featuring Steve Livingway, Director at Reaching Higher for Youth What if we stopped trying to fix kids and started helping them return to who they were before fear took over? In this powerful episode, Steve Livingway joins Jason Tracey to share the mission behind Reaching Higher.  A leadership program that doesn’t hand out answers, but helps students rediscover the truth they were born with: that...

Featuring Michelle Allen, Community Outreach Manager & Cannabis Consultant at Planted Provisioning After surviving a traumatic car accident the day before her wedding, Michelle Allen learned firsthand how pain can either destroy or transform us. Her journey from hospital patient to healing advocate is nothing short of miraculous, and her story is reshaping how we view cannabis, community impac...

Featuring Andrew Black, Visionary Founder of Inside Out Concierge Services What do you get when you blend relentless vision, deep emotional intelligence, and a commitment to doing things differently? You get Andrew Black. In this episode, I finally sit down with the man who’s been a silent force behind so many amazing Coffee & Grit guests.  A connector, a truth-teller, a seed-planter, and a Di...

As Difference Makers, we all hit that wall. That moment when the system we’ve been living in no longer makes sense, and no one around us is saying it out loud. Melissa Merem hit that wall. And instead of turning back, she started building something different. In this episode, Melissa shares what it looks like to deconstruct the lies, tune into your calling, and walk forward in obedience — even whe...

Nine years ago, Jennifer walked away from everything — two kids in tow, no job, no insurance, and nothing but two garbage bags. She wasn’t supposed to make it. But not only did she survive, she’s now leading the charge to make sure others don’t have to walk that same road. As Development Manager for Livingston County Habitat for Humanity, Jennifer doesn’t just raise money. She builds stories. She...

Robert Pierce doesn’t just clean houses. He cleans hearts, lights up rooms, and sets fires in the souls of the people around him. In this powerful return to Coffee & Grit, Robert joins me years after our first conversation back when I was rocking a single mic and a GoPro at Grit and Lavender. Back then, he was just launching his cleaning business. Now? He’s letting his life be the sermon. Ever...

Stop Settling for “Fine.” Because You Deserve to Feel Amazing... Meet Beth Smith – Designer, Disruptor, and Founder of Beth Smith Couture Back in January I walked into Single Barrel Social for a Howell Chamber Happy Hour and that is when spotted Beth Smith across the room.  I didn’t know who she was.  I didn’t know what she did. But I knew she was a Difference Maker. Nine months later, we finally...

Being a engineer Glenn Nixon never imagined a career in sales. He walked into a room full of closers fresh out of training, scared out of his mind, with no real plan and zero belief in his abilities. But he had something most people miss the drive to figure it out, the humility to keep learning, and the heart to actually care about people.  That was 23 years ago. Now he is the guy business owners...