How I Built My Small Business

Let's dive into a topic that affects all of us - how cellphones, social media, and AI are fundamentally reshaping the way we consume news and engage in politics. Jack Brewster is the Founder and CEO of Newsreel , an app designed to make news more accessible for young people and those that are digitally exhausted. As a Fullbright scholar in Germany, he researched how young people consume news...

Jason is the Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine and is widely recognized as an authority on business and adapting to change. He's the author of the bestselling book Build for Tomorrow , host of the Help Wanted and Problem Solvers podcast and has been named a "Top Voice in Entrepreneurship" on LinkedIn. With decades of experience in national media, Jason has held editor roles a...

Ana Homayoun shares insights gained from over two decades of working with young people. Ana is the founder of Silicon Valley-based Green Ivy Educational Consulting and the executive director of Luminaria Learning Solutions , a non-profit focused on developing executive functioning skills in classrooms. She’s the author of four books, including her latest, Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint...

Today, we're joined by Duran Morley, an action sports enthusiast who has built a thriving business centered around adventure living. Duran is the founder and CEO of VanSpeed , a company that converts sprinter vans into recreational vehicles for adventure-seeking customers. College wasn't the right path for Duran, and he found that he learned best by doing. At just 17 years old, he opened...

Sophie Milliken is a remarkable entrepreneur and leader with contributions that extend far beyond business. She co-founded City Ladies Networking , chairs the UK Charity Smart Works Newcastle , and serves as a Founding Ambassador for Every Child Needs a Mentor .  Her dedication was recognized in 2023 when she was awarded an MBE by the Order of the British Empire for her services to Business and Ed...

Today we have Dr. Harshal Chokhawala chatting with us about starting a biotech company. Harshal is the CEO and Co-Founder of Zymochem , which he founded in 2015 and recently celebrated a major milestone by closing a Series A funding round in January this year. As a speaker at the SynBioBeta conference in San Francisco and the Rethinking Materials conference in London, he is passionate about about...

Kimi Chadwick chats with us about running a pumpkin patch without any farming experience! Kimi is the co-owner of Craven Farm , winners of the Best of Snohomish County two years in a row. She and her husband are incredibly savvy business owners who are utilizing vertical integration in nearly all aspects of their business, including a fleet of in-house concessions and floral design. It's no s...

Collin Hathaway shares strategies for scaling small businesses to mid-sized enterprises. Collin is the founder of Skylight Capital , a micro-private equity investor that acquires companies in the U.S. with $500,000 to $4m EBITDA.  As part of his journey, he founded Flint Group , a collection of seven small residential home service businesses in HVAC and plumbing across five states, more than doubl...

Sandi Carter calls in from New Zealand to share her story starting a skin clinic. Sandi is the founder CEO of Blush Skin Clinic , which she started in 2017 at the age of 22. Just three years later, she won a prestigious national award " New Zealand's Beauty Salon of the Year ," which also landed her a feature in the national newspaper, the New Zealand Herald. At just 29 years old, s...

Today we have Jak Wonderly in the studio chatting with us about his journey to becoming a National Geographic photographer. Jak is an award-winning commercial and editorial photographer based in Northern California. His remarkable work has been featured in esteemed publications such as Smithsonian Life and the New York Times , with over a thousand images in the National Geographic Image Collection...

Naomi Crawford is the visionary founder and CEO of Lunchette .  Naomi has been at the forefront of the sustainable business movement, transforming Lunchette into a model for eco-friendly and socially responsible practices. Lunchette has become Petaluma, California's go-to lunch spot and is renowned for its engagement in community building, zero-waste policies, commitment to paying living wage...

Today we have a special guest, Karan Singh, chatting with us about his journey in starting and growing a business in the mental health space. Karan is the co-founder and former chief operating officer of Ginger , a leading mental health and coaching platform that merged with Headspace in 2021 to form Headspace Health in a multi-billion dollar transaction. Although Headspace Health is far from a &q...

Rachel Platten chats about the business of being a singer-songwriter. Rachel is the Emmy Award-winning, multi-platinum singer-songwriter of the global sensation Fight Song , which has been streamed over a billion times worldwide. Stand By You was certified platinum in the United States, and Better Place has been a ballad at countless weddings. Her songs have literally been anthems for millions. Ra...

Today we have Jeremy LaDuke with us on the show. This interview is, in part, about Jeremy's journey starting a boutique marketing firm, but it's also an opportunity for him to share advice that could help anyone improve their do-it-yourself marketing. Jeremy is the founder CEO of Epic Nine Marketing Outfitters , a 15-person boutique marketing firm with two goals in mind to help great loc...

Jenny Sauer-Klein's journey as a serial entrepreneur has seen her start four influential ventures, including AcroYoga , Scaling Intimacy School of Experience Design , Play on Purpose and The Culture Conference . Jenny co-founded AcroYoga, a global phenomenon blending acrobatics and yoga, which has captivated millions worldwide, including Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and Silico...

Will Stultz chats with us about the ups and downs of starting an e-commerce business. Will is the co-founder of Dumb Wireless , an e-commerce site that consolidates all of the world's best non-smartphones and accessories and sells about $100,000 worth of dumb phones and accessories per month. They also offer their own SIM cards, their own MVNO network and have collaborated with the Unplugged...

Amy Wilkinson talks with us about the skills needed for the future and gives a glimpse into what is being taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Amy is the founder and CEO of Ingenuity , a lecturer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business and the author of the international bestseller The Creator's Code . She has written articles for Forbes , the Wall Street Journal , the E...

Eric Henry is the owner of TS Designs (a 12-employee business) and Solid State Clothing and a trailblazer in environmentally friendly supply chain practices WhereYourClothing.com . His commitment to sustainability has extended to a TEDx talk he gave at Elon University, where he educated the crowd about the state of the apparel industry. He was awarded the 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year by his local...

Danielle Connor shares her story and what she has learned going from employed barista to starting her own cafe and coffee roasting brand. Danielle is the co-founder of Retrograde , a popular local cafe Sebastopol, California and with a separate roasting facility in Petaluma. Retrograde was the first Certified Green coffee roaster and cafe in Sonoma County. Danielle takes a value-based approach in...

Jacques Spitzer shares the secrets of how to create high performance marketing content that people actually enjoy watching. Jacques is the founder-CEO of Raindrop , an eight-figure, four-times Emmy Award-winning and two-times Super Bowl ad-producing creative agency that is also behind the top-performing ad in YouTube history. Their ads combine the best of entertainment and advertisement and have g...

Amanda is the CEO, founder and lead designer of Untamed Petals , a bridal jewelry and dresses brand that started as an Etsy shop and is now tipping 8-figures a year with a direct-to-consumer e-commerce site, over 250 wholesale accounts nationwide, and an emerging presence internationally. Her business has collaborated with Nordstroms, Anthropologie, and the costume designer for the CW drama Reign...

Joe Allen is the owner of Jumpin' Jacks , a family owned and operated event rentals company that offers bounce houses, inflatables, and other event entertainment in Sonoma County.   Majority of rentals take place within a 6 month window from the end of April until the end of October, providing for a great lifestyle and very comfortable, livable income for Joe and his family. Listen in as he s...

Today we have Nicole Stevenson talking with us about what it takes to start and run a street fair. Nicole is the co-founder CEO of Dear Handmade Life , a company that produces Patchwork Show Festivals in nine cities twice a year, reaching over 500,000 attendees in a marketplace for over 15,000 artists and small business owners. Her business also produces the Craftcation Conference , an incredible...

Alex Salz and Buzz Bonneau talk with us about their journey starting an international wetsuit brand. Alex and Buzz are two avid surfers who started and still run FERAL Wetsuits , a mostly direct-to-consumer brand from Ocean Beach in San Francisco. FERAL designs and produces the Vans Surf Team wetsuits , has collaborated with Volcom, and Stab's editor-in-chief, Michael Chiaramella, was quoted...

Alison Hotchkiss is one of Vogue’s top 50 “Best wedding planners around the world,” and has topped over half a dozen other prestigious lists. Alison is the founder CEO of Alison Events . She is a destination wedding planner, event producer, luxury concierge, and now a third-time author of “Gorgeous Gatherings” a large format coffee-table book that showcases some of her most stunning events and is...