THE STERN TRUTH: Business Unfiltered

There are a lot of business coaches, podcasters, mentors, and entrepreneurs out there. Michael Morrison has done all of it. Michael is a business coach, business loan officer, and podcaster from Oklahoma. His main goal is to get business owners unstuck when they reach a point that they just can’t grow anymore on their own. I saw so many similarities between his story and mine – starting businesses...

It’s another Business Therapy Thursday. This is a story so many small business owners will recognize. I sit down with Steve Hayek, a home inspector in year seven of his business, and he is still doing almost everything himself.  He’s got real growth happening for his company, All Branch Inspections, along with a solid reputation, and referrals coming in organically. But like so many entrepreneurs...

You’ve already seen the title. This episode is a DOOZY, I promise you.  We always default back to spending, spending, spending on marketing. Facebook Ads, Google Ads, money on your storefront or your interior. But there’s a huge gap that stops you from closing sales.  That’s the failure to connect with your prospects.  Are you connecting with your customers? Let’s even take a step back from that -...

 As a Fractional CMO, Meghan helps clients make their marketing roadmaps on a part-time basis. She connects the dots between their CRMs, qualified leads, social media, and email marketing. From click to close, Meghan is there. She started out as an entrepreneur in her 20s. She bought a franchise, sold it all across Canada, and learned about business along the way. She’s also had retail stores, has...

Kelly Kennedy started his company, Capital Business Development, five years ago, and he hasn’t stopped since. As an expert in business development, he has the itch to talk about it—like so many of us podcasters, he started his own, the Business Development Podcast. What is business development, though? Kelly says that it strategically brings in new revenue to your business by first focusing on the...

I’ve seen business owners throwing a lot of money at their marketing. But when prospects come to their door, their systems aren’t there. The experience doesn’t measure up to what was advertised. So how can we wow our customers SO much that they come back over and over again? The people and systems that create the experience hold so much weight. If you’re pushing out marketing without the processes...

It’s been a while since our last Business Therapy Thursday session, but we’re back. Our guest on this episode is Hanan Alameh, who’s looking for guidance on where to take her business next and the steps to do it. Hanan has a luxury charcuterie board business she runs in Ottawa called Pretty Eats by Hanan. And she knows exactly where she wants to go—by the spring of 2028, she wants to have her own...

I sit down with Doug C. Brown of CEO Sales Strategies in this episode. He and I talk about how to increase your revenue and increase the growth trajectory of your business. He first started his business journey when he was a kid working with his dad. That turned into working for a company owned by Tony Robbins. During his time there, Doug was able to do something amazing – look at the numbers, see...

Audree McIvor went from running a cannabis store to owning a counselling clinic. And this isn’t her first time around the business block - this is her third business, so she has a lot of golden nuggets to share. She’s quite comfortable with being active, moving from industry to industry (maybe it’s the mom in her). Audree even works part-time at another clinic to make sure she’s growing and learni...

What’s next for the new year? You’re probably thinking that every January. I have a suggestion for you that so many business owners don’t utilize.  Would you like to improve your results this year? (You probably do.) Do you have times when you feel lonely in your business and you’re doing everything yourself? (I bet you are. I know I’ve felt that.)  My suggestion is to have an inner circle. Not a...

In this unique episode, I sit down with a dynamic duo, Alison and David Setton, who are not just business partners but life partners as well.  For over 10 years, I've watched both of them navigate their entrepreneurial journeys, and now they've joined forces in financial services with an ambitious vision to build an agency of 100 associates. Alison shares her move from engineering to fin...

Welcome to your year in review! In this episode, I encourage you to look back at the year, see what you achieved, or what you didn’t, and why that happened. Looking back is the only way that we can move forward. Even if you didn’t have a plan or didn't write down any goals, I want you to reflect on your year. Think about the goals you set out, if you achieved them, and how you did that. Were...

Diana Dinh, mom of four, financial strategist, and business owner, is my guest on this episode. In her life she has found that when trying to make everything easier, that’s what can actually make things harder. Her advice is to take things as they come. Diana is a great example of that, with four kids, a husband, and her own business. She says don’t fight the chaos. See it as it comes and deal wit...

What’s on your Business Bucketlist, the things that you want to achieve in your business? Maybe you haven’t even looked at it for a while. In this episode, I talk about my own Business Bucketlist item that came to fruition in 2025—this very podcast. I talk about the lessons that I’ve learned over 50 episodes of the Stern Truth. As some of you might know, about 10 years ago, I had another podcast....

It’s the 50th episode of the Stern Truth! I almost can’t believe it. The guests I have are a bit different than my usual guests. For this special 50th episode, we have Jordan Eaton, CEO and founder of BOSS Assistants (who was also on episode 13,) and Lindsey Molyneaux, BOSS’ social media manager and podcast manager. They have helped me make the podcast what it is. I had a podcast about 10 years ag...

Aside from having one of the coolest names, Leslie Hacker has a keen business sense. Leslie started her marketing and PR business in 2015 while taking care of her sick parents. She prefers to call herself a consultant and a communicator, since that’s really at the core of what she does. The episode gets into the idea of being uncomfortable, which, let’s be real, no one really likes. But for Leslie...

We’re coming up to the beginning of a new year. I often hear “I will when” around this time of the year.  Oh, but you’re waiting for the economy to get better, holding on until the new year, or hoping the timing will be better when the kids are grown. There’s so many excuses to not do it. The question I have to ask you is, “If not now, when?”  The “I’ll do this later” mindset quickly turns into pr...

This might be the shortest episode of the Stern Truth yet, and maybe even one of the most important. 2026 is right around the corner. This is your wake-up call. It’s a Stern Truth, and it’s saying, “It’s not your goals that are causing you to fail; it’s the unmanaged chaos in your business.”  I’m introducing you to the Kickstart Growth Lab 2026. It’s a new six-week group experience to build a powe...

Grit. Determination. A little bit of delusion. These are the things that our guest, Melissa Guenette, says help make businesses successful. On the other side of the coin, self-doubt was one of the things that Melissa initially faced when she created her company, A-List Media Solutions. But she didn’t let that stop her from growing.  Melissa also started her business quite suddenly, without laying...

What holds you back in your business? I bet that the first thing that comes to mind is money. But often, that’s not what’s really holding you back. In today’s episode, I go over the two things that stall your business - perfectionism and procrastination. As a small business owner, of course you want everything to be perfect. You want your business to look great online. You want your processes comp...

In this powerful episode, I sit down with Elle Jimeno of Ellevate Creative. I have to say, this conversation absolutely blew me away.  Elle shares her journey of building a business after being laid off. Her former employer actually ended up becoming her first client. Talk about life handing you lemons!  The real, unfiltered challenges of being a small business owner while raising children don&apo...

It’s another entrepreneur deep dive in this Business Therapy Thursday session. On this episode, we sit down with JC Valeros to see where her blocks are and how we can unblock them. JC had been in the world of business operations for years. She launched her new business last year. When I ask JC what she thought was holding her back, her answer was the lack of belief in herself. JC tells us how it s...

Before I recorded this episode, I was in a Momentum Accountability group session. This group of business owners always amazes me with their support and their stories. This session was no different and actually had me change gears about the topic of the episode. The conversation we had was around time blocking, boundaries, and being intentional with your time. Specifically, saying “no.” One of our...

Flora Gordon has always been creative. As a child, she started off drawing, and that led her to become a graphic designer. She drew her entrepreneurial inspiration from her aunt and ended up launching her own business in 2015. We get into how she got started with her graphic design business and wind up talking about the challenges that can come with entrepreneurship, like operating while dealing w...

I’m going to get real with you. Businesses are struggling right now. Brick and mortars are having a challenging time with their sales. You have probably seen how the economy is struggling, and you’re experiencing that struggle too. Or maybe you’re thriving. That’s awesome, and I really applaud you for that. Small business growth is something to be proud of. In this episode, I talk about the three...