Through the Dip

This conversation with Jimmy stuck with me because it wasn’t really about retail, or gear, or even business strategy. It was about finding the thing you’re meant to play, and having the discipline to keep playing it when it feels like no one is listening. Feral didn’t work right away. There were moments where the numbers didn’t make sense, the market tightened up, and the timing felt brutal. Movin...

“I don’t know that I believe everything happens for a reason.” Courtney Clark didn’t say that lightly. She said it as someone who survived cancer. Then survived it again. And then survived a brain aneurysm that doctors say would have killed her if they hadn’t found it in time. Courtney isn’t interested in shiny optimism or motivational slogans. She’s interested in what actually helps when life bre...

What happens when your passion collides with reality? In this episode of Through the Dip , I sit down with Mark Kuster, founder of Work Lab in Grand Rapids, to talk about the highs and lows of building a coworking business from the ground up. Mark shares openly about the massive risks of launching Work Lab, the financial and personal strain it created, and the unexpected challenges of opening a sp...

For a long time, I thought being professional meant holding it all together. Smile. Deliver. Keep your personal stuff out of it. But in talking with Jude Charles, I realized something different: Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do… is stop hiding. Jude shared a moment I can’t stop thinking about. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands, watching his car get repossessed f...

What if the thing that looks like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… is actually a trap? When starting Jackson Hewitt, John thought he struck gold: a deal that would double his company’s footprint overnight. Instead, he inherited unpaid employees, sabotage from the inside, and a cashflow disaster so brutal it nearly took the company down. But here’s the thing, he didn’t quit. He didn’t even flinch....

Doug Booth’s company started in a storage unit that was robbed before day one. There was no insurance, no justice, but a new mindset he calls cheerful expectancy, the belief that you show up, even when you don’t know how it’ll end. A decade later, his company was thriving. Then a major client cut a key contract. Layoffs followed. Fear set in. Doug could’ve let the whole thing crash,but he didn’t....

What do you do when the floor caves in right after you’re handed an award for being the best? That’s what happened to Dr. Andy Neillie.  One moment he was flying around the world as a top-tier keynote speaker. The next, he couldn’t afford a plane ticket to the ceremony where he was being honored.  The speaking gigs dried up, the money disappeared, and the future turned to fog. So what did he do? H...

Hi there, my business friends 👋 I sometimes reach a point where I think, “Can I even keep doing this?” When it’s hard to get out of bed, hard to feel creative, hard to show up. When the voice in your head whispers that maybe you’re just faking it. I never had a name for that feeling. But Brian Town gave me one. In our latest chat, he shares how The Resistance, a term he borrowed from Steven Press...

In this episode, I talk with Salem Thine about his journey from high school dropout to nuclear Navy success to launching EVA, America's most advanced virtual reality gaming center. Salem shares how he faced a devastating financial crisis when expansion plans fell apart, losing nearly a million dollars in investment commitments, and how he navigated through these challenges with radical transparenc...

I talk with Daryl Starr about his journey from crop consultant to dairy farmer. Daryl shares how his quest to maximize farm profitability led him to create a seasonal dairy operation, only to face plummeting milk prices and mounting debt. His story reveals the emotional and financial toll of entrepreneurial risk, and how faith, grit, and humility helped him navigate through his darkest moments. Re...

In this episode, I talk with Robert Hunt about his journey from corporate marketing to leading CEO peer groups. Robert shares how discovering his purpose at 50 led to financial crisis—$90,000 in debt—and the pivotal moment when selling his home and taking full ownership transformed his life. His story reveals how accountability can help anyone get unstuck from seemingly impossible situations. Key...

Starting a company in your kitchen and watching it grow into a multimillion-dollar enterprise is a dream for many entrepreneurs. But what happens when that dream starts to feel more like a weight on your shoulders? In this episode of Through The Dip, we hear from Brittany Whiteneck, founder of Antique Candle Co., about her journey of scaling a passion project, reaching new heights of success, and...

Every business owner hits that inevitable moment. You know the one—progress stalls, goals start slipping, and you begin to question if it’s all worth it. No matter how much effort you put in, the results just aren’t showing up. The truth is, the dip isn’t avoidable, it’s an inevitability, and it’s actually there to help you get to where you are going. The dip isn’t just a roadblock in your journey...