THE STERN TRUTH: Business Unfiltered

Today's episode is completely different from our regularly scheduled podcast. Recently, I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Coala Studio Podcast with Rounak Sardesai. Rounak and I talked about all things small business and entrepreneurial growth, the “Ted Lasso” way. I liken myself to Ted Lasso because his coaching philosophies are always true golden nuggets. I do encourage you to Goog...

Grab a pen and piece of paper. You’ll want to get all the golden nuggets from this episode. It is my pleasure to have my good friend, David Greaves, on this episode of the Stern Truth. We have known each other for nearly 50 years and have seen each other go on some amazing journeys. David and I were in the lawn care business together at one point. Throughout his journey in business, David found hi...

Should you focus on your local community or scale online to reach a broader audience with bigger budgets? This is the crossroads many small business owners face, and it's what this Business Therapy Thursday session is all about. I sit down with Alicia McKee this episode. Alicia is a digital marketing specialist, and she’s been toying with this decision for over a year. In her previous job, sh...

Are you showing up in your business and in your life? I recently hosted a masterclass about the ONtrepreneur Method. In that masterclass, we went over the four shifts and the foundation for this method. The participants were wonderful, but there were multiple people who signed up and were no-shows. It happens. Life happens. It was a free event. But at the end of the day, it’s their loss. They didn...

Karnye Bailey started Oceanside Entertainment from $20 and a dream. 20 years later, she has two stores, 5 employees, and is still growing her business. When Karyne started her journey, she asked herself, "What’s my passion? What do I love to do?" She was inspired to start something out of what brought her joy. Not only is she an expert in games, but she’s also an expert at gamifying her...

I spent almost an hour and a half on hold with my cable company the other day. Marshall, what a waste of time, you might be thinking. But it was costing me and my family an extra $20 a month. I was cancelling an extra channel. It just isn’t something we need anymore. I prepared myself, put the phone on speaker, and waited almost an hour and a half to talk to someone.  They need to take a note out...

Megan Fraser has got it maid. Yes, you read that right – M-A-I-D. She’s the owner and CEO of Maid Fantastic, a cleaning company that services the Fraser Valley. I sit down with Megan to see how she’s faring in business six years on. It’s a huge milestone for her as an entrepreneur. We dive into how she grew up with entrepreneurs in her life as role models and how that set her on her path. Megan wa...

I sit down with Bonnie Fitz, founder of Differentiate Marketing, in this Business Therapy Thursday session. We define what would move the needle most for Bonnie and her business. She's unsure of where to take her marketing agency and turned to me for help to find the best place to start. She’s been in business since 2022 because she wanted to make an impact while feeling free as an entreprene...

What is Business Therapy, really? If you’ve listened to the Stern Truth before, you may have listened to a Business Therapy Thursday episode before. The long and short of it came from a deep coaching session months ago. I was with a client, and she mentioned how it felt like “business therapy” and not just coaching. What a compliment! I got to thinking after this. As business owners, and even as p...

My guest on this episode is Sandra Flora of Sandra Flora Home Design. Sandra wears many hats as a business owner and interior decorator. It was during the pandemic when she had that lightbulb moment of starting her own business.  She initially had doubts when starting out and even kept it a secret from her family and friends. Since then, she’s been off and running. Sandra navigated the challenges...

I share a rather interesting story on this episode of the Stern Truth. It’s the true story of when I went to a horseback riding ranch years ago. The day started off with the instructor teaching us how to guide the horse. As we ride, I’m in the middle of the pack. We reach a big open field, and I end up passing a big oak tree to the right. I wanted to go into the field, but the horse turned right,...

On this episode, we have Norm Hayes, founder of Genie Senior Services. He’s the CEO, or Chief Enthusiasm Officer, of Genie, and especially good-natured about the callouts he gets when he walks into a bar (a bit of an old “Cheers” joke). Norm saw a huge gap when it came to the process of moving his mother into a retirement home. Packing, downsizing, setting them up in their new home, even down to h...

We’re back with another Business Therapy Thursday session. My guest on this episode is Laura Hudson of La Alegria Media. Laura started her journey as a clothing business and moved on to digital marketing. After launching her own business in October 2024, she wanted to feel more stable as an entrepreneur. She jumped at the opportunity to connect through a Business Therapy Thursday session. Laura to...

A few weeks back I did a Part 1 of a three-part series, “Have You Lost the Passion for Your Business?” This episode is Part 2, and it’s a little different. I have a guest joining me to share her own story of getting the passion back. Jessica Weismiller of Your Steel Toed Bookkeeper is my special guest on this episode. Jessica started her company in 2014 as a single mom. After coming back after a m...

On this episode of the Stern Truth, we have Kendra Vyse, founder of Clear Direction Advisors. Kendra takes us through her journey of starting as an accounting practice that eventually turned into a business strategy and consulting firm.  Accounting itself can be taxing (pun intended), but Kendra tells us how she found a way to take her knowledge and put it towards a new passion. She and I talk abo...

Have you fallen out of love with your business? Or do you feel like you lost the passion for your business? You aren’t alone in that feeling. In Part 1 of this series, I explore what I believe are the two main reasons we end up losing that passion.  The first is the drains that we feel from all the things we do for our businesses. Certain aspects of our businesses can zap us of energy and keep us...

It’s been over 5 years since the pandemic. We all know what happened then. Businesses and business owners struggled. Some shut down while others thrived. David Wallace, owner of Around the Block Butcher & Market, sits down with me to talk about that time. For his business, the pandemic only brought more people in. The safeguards and the media attention helped increase their customer base, whic...

It’s another Business Therapy Thursday Session! In this powerful episode, I sit down with Jessica Lowen, founder of TM Events and Promotions, for an unfiltered deep dive into a familiar challenge small business owners face. That critical time when you make the leap from solo entrepreneur to employer. As a small business owner running her event planning and staffing agency single-handedly for eight...

What do you want to achieve? Is it what you SAY you want to achieve? Be honest.  Now ask yourself, what is holding me back from achieving what I truly desire? In this episode, I go over the common hurdles that small business owners and entrepreneurs face in achieving their goals. The struggles that hold them back are all too common. If you do every role under the sun to make your business work, yo...

Mindset matters, especially when it comes to being an entrepreneur. Your strategic edge comes when you get to those limiting beliefs, embrace your fear, and run with it. We welcome accountant Alma Tarelli to this episode of the Stern Truth. Alma has been an accountant for 23 years and shares her passion of a true winning mindset, especially when it comes to money.  She captivated the audience at t...

Have you ever found yourself believing that someone is incredibly successful? You visit their website and are wowed, but also feel… intimidated? Out of their league? Just not good enough? That’s imposter syndrome. Small business owners often think they’re going to fail, or that they can’t even do it to begin with. So many people underestimate what they can’t do that they don’t focus on what they c...

Jenny Randhawa is a small business owner and entrepreneur. She owns three blow dry bar locations, aptly called Blo, in the Lower Mainland. Her entrepreneurial journey started in 2007 but hasn’t stopped yet.  I talk with Jenny in this episode about juggling her early years with her kids with balancing her franchise. She talks about building the business by leading her team and how putting the syste...

In this Business Therapy Thursday session, I sit down with Aubrey, a small business owner who runs both a digital marketing agency and a dog waste service company. As an entrepreneur managing multiple ventures, Aubrey faces a challenge that many founders know all too well – she excels at delivering for her clients but struggles with accountability when growing her own business. The interesting psy...

I know how challenging summer months can be for entrepreneurs. In this episode, I share eight proven strategies that have helped me and countless other founders maintain momentum when clients and prospects are off enjoying their vacations. Focusing on systems, new marketing plans, and furthering your leadership development is the name of the game in the summertime. I talk about batch learning and...

In this raw episode, I sit down with Chanel from Success Story Marketing to pull back the curtain on what it's like being a small business owner in the marketing world. As a solopreneur who transitioned from partnership to running her business solo, Chanel shares the brutal honesty that most entrepreneurs are afraid to discuss. She and I go over the all too familiar imposter syndrome that pla...