Small Business Stories

This is a MUST-listen episode. Genecia Alluora, founder of Soul Rich Woman, will inspire and motivate you. At the brink of death, on the ledge of a 10-story building, she changed her life. Her mother pulled her back from the edge and said, "Turn your mess into your message." And she's never looked back.

Yuliia Mamonov is the Head of Content for Lemon.io, an innovative platform connecting clients to software developers on demand. Here's something you may not know - Lemon is based in Ukraine. Hear a first-hand account about some of the struggles trying to navigate the Russian war of aggression - and please do whatever you can to support Lemon and their staff.

Hair loss? Hair transplant? The field has shifted far from the era of late night infomercials touting the latest miracle cream. Andrew Kashian and his team at Solve Clinics are working hard to make the industry safer and more transparent to enable consumers to make better choices. Most entrepreneurs on our show struggle with growth - Andrew is struggling with hyper-growth and shares his inights on...

Jim Barrood is the founder of Innovation+ and he's always on the cutting edge of what's new. The latest? Psychodelics - an industry which is still years behind the CBD industry but there's a lot of research in this area. 

David Lokshin - and his father - have taken a road less traveled in entrepreneurship. With tenacity times ten, they adopted a "missionaries not mercenaries" philosophy until they found product market fit then never looked back. Trace is a wildy successful personalized sports memories solution: why watch every move by every member of the team when you only want to see your child or the one player y...

Justin Huddy founded Radius Care to help family members manage the care of their loved ones. What's even more exceptional is that Justin has made his app free; it ties into Medicare and helps people find the most cost effective care solutions. Justin shares his thoughts on what he would have done differently as entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey.

Jim Kniest is a gamer, software developer, and entrepreneur. For the last five years, he's been building a unique app which helps people discover their sexual play styles. You can find his app, Halos & Sins, on Amazon. https://www.amazon. com/gp/product/B09R9BHFPR

Muddu Sadhakar is an innovator and a serial entrepreneur pushing boundaries around personalization at the intersection of technology and humanity. He's the co-founder and CEO of Aisera.ai; a digital and voice assistant for enterprise companies who offer support to their customers. Muddu's team trained their tech on 1 Trillion words! And I loved his inspirational quote, "Your history is not an indi...

Lauren Prager is the Chief Strategy Officer at Synapse, focused on building a tech ecosystem in Florida. She offered wonderful advice about aligning your heart with your purpose and how the community in Tampa is there for each other. When people align with what matters, and treat each other with kindness and respect, amazing advances are possible. Read more at: https://gritdaily.com/lauren-prager-...

Mo Fathelbab just has a special way of engaging with his audience. He's a best selling author of two books with an incredible client list of who's-who. Mo is also the executive director of the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO). His focus is helping others connect with their vulnerability to enable people to grow.

Victoria Loskutova recently founded, "Bad Ass Bureau," an online agency to help amplify the voices of female founders in particular (although not exclusively) as we all know that ALL voices matter!

Maximilian de Melo and Patrick Niederdrenk operate MxP Group, which includes America One Luxury Real Estate in Arizona. With an exceptional work ethic and attention to detail, the co-founders and friends bring complementary skills to the table. They share how their grit and professionalism meet - and exceed - the expectations of demanding clients. 

This episode was both extra special and challenging to produce. As a breast cancer survivor myself, it was beautiful to hear Abby Match recount her dance with cancer and to learn about the advocacy work that she's doing to promote screening for Ashkenazi Jews who are carriers for the BRCA1 mutation. She's a force - leopard fierce! And she shares tips for building resilience and taming the Fear Mon...

Sachin Jhangiani co-founded Elevate Money after learning a thing or two on Wall Street. He wanted to find more purpose in his work so he created a platform where individuals can pool their resources and grow their assets together. Fractional everything is the current trend, and he's fully dialed into it to do good in the world and move towards equality. Sachin offers some extremely wise - and cand...

Dr. Valeria Kogan is the co-founder of Fermata diagnosing plant health. Each year, millions of crop harvests are wasted and the world is increasingly seeking foods grown without chemicals. AgTech is not the industry you'll typically find young, female founders - but Valeria isn't letting that hold her back. She's got the grit and talent needed for startup success and shares what she's learned alon...

Claire Gunter has extensive experience in customer support, leveraging emotional skills to build relationships that last. She's worked at ZenDesk and is now the Latin America global manager of sales at eBanX, which is Brazil's first unicorn. Claire shares some tips on how to connect with customers and how to speak up to create opportunities for yourself. And she's vowed to never wear uncomfortable...

The Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) gets into the gritty backstory of US Army veteran, Luke Ryan, a war poet and author. Luke recently published his first novel, "The First Marauder." His day job keeps him hopping as the social media manager for the fastest growing coffee company in America. Tune in!

Kanika Wahi took over the responsibility of developing a topical product originally designed by her father to better manage her sister's allergies. Since then, Trutek Corp. has grown and Kanika talks about the dynamics of being an executive - and a relative - in the world of formulation chemistry and business.

The Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) with Loralyn Mears & Guest Brittany Woyma features the Startup Stories of WhereToBuy.io which offers the modern way to find the products you love on retail shelves. As a mother of three and former advertising agency executive, Brittany has embraced entrepreneurship and shares some tips on why she ditched advertising for startup tech.

Dr. José Morey is on a mission to make STEM accessible to everyone. As the Intergalactic Doctor, born in Puerto Rico but traveling the world supporting amazing projects like Elon Musk's Hyperloop, NASA, artificial intelligence for health at IBM Watson and more, his message is that STEM is for everyone because, in his words, "representation matters."

Ryan Walker founded one of the most successful social media management companies on the planet: TSMA. As in, "The Social Media Agency." His team pioneered the influencer economy engaging in celebrity social media management long before it became trendy to do so. He offers listeners some valuable insights and tips into how to grow your social media presence.

Need some inspiration? Maybe along with a side of motivation? Dr. Tommy Watson faced incredible hardships growing up with his five siblings and parents who were drug addicts and repeatedly incarcerated. He moved around a lot from one foster home to another, lived in motels, and lived apart from his siblings, but he grew strong fueled by the desire to be free to make choices. Check out his story he...

Carole Burton isn't afraid to tackle big initiatives within an organization. Like equity. She thrives on helping create lasting change. At her core, Carole understands people. And she's developed a model that helps people evolve their thinking and behavior to be more inclusive towards meeting the global goal - and need - for equity and cohesion.

Todd Belveal is a serial tech entrepreneur. He exited Silvercar, which he founded as one of the first connected car companies fully enabled by smart phones. His current venture, Washlava, brings tech to public laundromats - seemingly on a mission to put the quarter coin out of a job. He has some great advice for entrepreneurs.

Trung Tran is an exceptional serial entrepreneur. Not only has he raised millions and generated billions of dollars with his product ideas, but he also served as a Captain of the United States Air Force. His latest venture is Amplio.ai - an artificial intelligence wellness solution that creates your digital twin to track your emotional, mental, and physical health. The AI wellness solution assesse...