Small Strides BIG Business

In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, Krystal Small sits down with Sonja Kuhn, founder of Mint Cover, an education-first insurance marketplace designed for Gen Z consumers. Sonja shares her entrepreneurial journey from working in consulting to launching her own startup, the challenges of building in the insurance industry, and how AI can improve customer experiences without removing the h...

What happens when AI transforms healthcare, leadership, and the way we make decisions? In this powerful episode of Small Strides Big Business, Krystal Small sits down with Mark Seghers, CEO & Co-Founder of Inspire Health Tech, to discuss the future of AI in healthcare, entrepreneurship, transparency, and the growing challenge of finding truth in a digital world. Mark shares his journey from pr...

In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, Krystal Small welcomes Travis Yoh — entrepreneur, financial educator, and CEO of FTG Financial — for an eye-opening conversation about entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and creative wealth-building strategies. Travis shares his journey from working within large MLM organizations to building his own company focused on education, relationships, and...

What does it really take to build a $40–$50 million business in an industry people don’t even like? In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, Krystal sits down with Tad Nottage, founder of Aloha Insurance, to break down a 30+ year journey of resilience, smart decisions, and one powerful philosophy: 👉 People don’t need to love your product—they need to love working with you. From surviving a...

What if insurance wasn’t about selling… but about serving? In this episode, Mark Zimmerman, Founder of Aurifex Financial, shares the powerful moment that changed his perspective forever—delivering an insurance check to a grieving widow. That experience shaped his mission: 👉 To help families protect what matters most 👉 To guide people from paycheck-to-paycheck living to financial stability 👉 To...

What does it take to build a 50-year career in insurance—and stay relevant through every major industry shift? In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, we sit down with Michael Wish, an independent insurance advisor and educator with over five decades of experience. From starting at just 18 years old to building his own agency at 26, Michael shares real-world lessons on: ✔️ Adapting to indus...

What if the way you’ve been taught to use money… is costing you more than you realize? In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, Krystal sits down with Jeremiah and Jonah Dew—better known as the Banking Bros—to unpack the concept of infinite banking and how it’s helping families rethink the way they save, spend, and build wealth. They break down: The difference between “if” vs. “when” financi...

In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, we sit down with James Ahearn, an attorney, therapist, and entrepreneur who built a unique career at the intersection of law, mental health, and business leadership. James shares his unconventional journey from law school to becoming the founder and clinical director of Sonder Counseling, where he now leads a growing team of clinicians. We dive into t...

 In this episode, William Allison — founder of Modern Healthcare Plans of America and a 40-year insurance industry veteran — shares what most people don’t know about medical billing, private health plans, and how to shop smarter in today’s healthcare system. From rising marketplace premiums to negotiating hospital bills, this conversation dives deep into practical strategies that could save indivi...

What do you do when your business launches straight into a crisis?   In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, Dave McFadden shares how he and his wife Cindy turned a devastating start — hurricanes, a shrinking captive carrier, and two years of losses — into a 20-year success story as independent agency owners.   Instead of quitting, they pivoted.   They left the captive model, went independe...

From $9K to $1K: AI Is Transforming Healthcare Costs | Frajman Medical bills are one of the leading causes of financial stress—and often, they’re wrong. In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, Krystal Small sits down with Assaf Frajman, a physician-turned-entrepreneur and Co-Founder of OctiHealth, to explore how AI is transforming the way medical bills are reviewed, reduced, and understood....

What does it really take to build a successful insurance agency from scratch — in a new country — while serving an underserved community? In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, we sit down with Lidia Rodriguez, Co-CEO of Rewarding Insurance Agency in Holyoke, Massachusetts. From knocking on doors in freezing temperatures to building a referral-driven agency rooted in trust, Lidia shares ho...

Success isn’t built overnight — it’s built in the quiet moments no one sees. In this episode of Small Strides, Big Business, Krystal sits down with Dillon Taylor, Founder & CEO of Ascent Financial Solutions, to talk about what entrepreneurship really looks like behind the scenes. From spending nearly a decade in construction to building a thriving financial brokerage, Dillon shares the mindset...

In this episode of the Small Strides Big Business podcast, host Krystal Small and Tiffany Peak interview Charley Tinsley, managing partner of TIG Thomas Insurance Group. Charley shares his journey from a family farming operation to building one of the largest Medicare agencies in the country, with over 1000 FA and P&C agents (Medicare agents and Employer Benefits agents). He emphasizes the imp...

In this eye-opening episode of Small Strides, Big Business, hosts Crystal Small and Tiffany Peak sit down with Ted Reardon—a 40+ year insurance veteran, owner of Reardon Insurance (founded in 1920 by his great-grandfather), and managing partner of Virtual Agent Consultants.   Ted shares how he transformed his traditional brick-and-mortar agency into a fully virtual, service-center-driven model—eli...

What if the key to massive business growth wasn’t selling more… but selling less? In this episode of Small Strides Big Business, we sit down with Jeff Arnold — entrepreneur, founder of two highly successful insurance companies, and acquirer of 40+ agencies — to unpack the mindset shifts that transformed his career. Jeff didn’t start in insurance with a grand vision. In fact, he calls himself a “fa...

Welcome to Small Stride BIG Business Podcast — a podcast where we talk about the ups and downs, what has worked, and what has been great learning experiences, and talks about the trends over the past decade, and what is to come in the world of insurance. New episodes coming soon. Make sure to follow/subscribe so you don’t miss the launch!