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She Built the Gilbert Chamber’s Business Resource Center Used by 800+ Businesses in 18 Months | Sarah Watts

Jän Simon interviews Sarah Watts, president and CEO of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and newly appointed chair of Arizona Chamber Executives, about leading the community where she grew up. Sarah shares her East Valley upbringing in Chandler, her long relationship with her high school sweetheart Sean, and early leadership through choir and color guard, including a year at ASU. She explains studying journalism with a PR emphasis, switching away from hard news after covering a disturbing Ahwatukee murder case, and working in communications at St. Mary’s Food Bank. Sarah details joining the Gilbert Chamber in 2008, building programs and the Chamber Foundation in 2016, and defining “leading with love” while balancing nonprofit demands, advocacy, and motherhood. She also describes the Catalyst business resource center launched after COVID, used by 800+ businesses in 18 months.

00:00 Student Journalism Shock
00:45 Meet Sarah Watts
02:47 East Valley Roots
05:00 Chandler High Memories
05:59 Color Guard Captain
11:04 College and Career Pivot
13:24 Early Mentors and Responsibility
16:58 Leading With Love
21:15 Finding the Chamber Path
25:39 Evolving as CEO
27:09 Mom First Leadership
31:01 Chamber Mission Today
34:36 Town Partnership Explained
36:17 Representing Business Voice
38:15 When Council Disagrees
40:45 Building Relationships With Electeds
41:45 Solving Zoning Roadblocks
43:27 Chamber Programs And Networking
45:27 Foundation Workforce Pipeline
47:57 Catalyst Origin Story
52:04 Family And Parenting Teens
54:14 Leadership At Home And Work
56:20 Unplugging And Self Care
59:19 Future Of The Chamber
01:02:21 Legacy And Leading With Love
01:08:46 Truth Telling And Community Involvement
01:10:41 Dream Vacation And Closing

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What if the path to freedom isn't found in following the traditional playbook, but in learning how to own your decisions, your time, and your future? 

In this episode of Above & Beyond, host Jän Simon sits down with Steve Rolle—entrepreneur, investor, US Army veteran, and author. Steve grew up in a low-income environment in Washington, DC, and went on to build, scale, and exit multiple companies across e-commerce, manufacturing, and distribution, with over $100 million in combined sales.

Steve shares his "Freedom First" business mindset, explaining why most entrepreneurs get stuck being "operators" when they should be striving to be "owners." He breaks down his four-part system for business success and shares the "Rule of 100" that helped him master everything from engineering to e-commerce.

Topics Covered:
• Rejecting the "future chosen for you" and taking agency
• The Rule of 100: Why repetition beats talent
• Why "Product" is only 25% of the business game
• The 4 Pillars: Product, Margin, Distribution, and Customer Acquisition
• Moving from CEO to Owner: How to delegate using SOPs
• Balancing "building the kingdom" with being a present father
• Why failure is the ultimate building block for success

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What if the path to freedom isn't found in following the traditional playbook, but in learning how to own your decisions, your time, and your future? 

In this episode of Above & Beyond, host Jän Simon sits down with Steve Rolle—entrepreneur, investor, US Army veteran, and author. Steve grew up in a low-income environment in Washington, DC, and went on to build, scale, and exit multiple companies across e-commerce, manufacturing, and distribution, with over $100 million in combined sales.

Steve shares his "Freedom First" business mindset, explaining why most entrepreneurs get stuck being "operators" when they should be striving to be "owners." He breaks down his four-part system for business success and shares the "Rule of 100" that helped him master everything from engineering to e-commerce.

Topics Covered:
• Rejecting the "future chosen for you" and taking agency
• The Rule of 100: Why repetition beats talent
• Why "Product" is only 25% of the business game
• The 4 Pillars: Product, Margin, Distribution, and Customer Acquisition
• Moving from CEO to Owner: How to delegate using SOPs
• Balancing "building the kingdom" with being a present father
• Why failure is the ultimate building block for success

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In a roundtable on business and life pivots, host Jan Simon talks with LJ Richardson, Bob Flecken, and Ted Bliefnick about leaving corporate paths for entrepreneurship and the motivations behind those decisions. LJ describes abruptly quitting a 16-year career at Discount Tire to launch ventures including golf apparel and later a mobile tire business funded by a HELOC, driven by culture shifts, refusing to return to school, and a desire to control time and prioritize family and faith. Bob recounts career pivots after a mentor’s death, roles with private equity, becoming a CEO, selling a company, moving back to Arizona, and starting independently to regain fulfillment and family time. Ted shares a slower transition from corporate/VC roles, panic attacks from performance pressure, and the belief that hating corporate life isn’t enough without passion and a clear “why.” They discuss comfort and fear, authenticity, sales, leadership, spouses’ influence, raising kids, and defining success as family, time, character, and faith over money.

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In this episode of "Above & Beyond: Where Excellence Meets Elevation," host Jän Simon sits down with Brett Johnson, a licensed real estate professional serving the Phoenix and Denver metro areas. Brett shares her journey from a competitive sports background in Colorado to becoming a leader in real estate and a champion for foster youth.
 
 We dive deep into:
 • The origin story of her unique name and growing up in a fiercely athletic family
 • How a traumatic line drive injury in 8th grade taught her the resilience needed for the ups and downs of real estate
 • Her transition from a Master's in Sports Law and Business at ASU to finding her true calling in property
 • Why she's passionate about building generational wealth and helping first-time homebuyers
 • Her philanthropic work with "All-In Empowering Futures" and using golf as a platform for impact
 • Practical advice for anyone looking to enter the real estate market or make a major life pivot 

 Connect with Brett Johnson:
 Instagram: @movewithbrett
 Website: allinempoweringfutures.org

🎧 Subscribe for more stories of excellence and elevation!
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#RealEstate #PhoenixRealEstate #DenverRealEstate #WomenInBusiness 

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Eric Lopez shares his journey from growing up in small-town Illinois with an absent father to being raised by his mother, stepfather, and influential older brother, including a turbulent period living with his dad in California that led to drugs, quitting other sports for bowling, and eventually college bowling. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he was kicked out of MBA school and earned a felony after being arrested with marijuana, which pushed him into entrepreneurship when traditional jobs were unavailable. He built a logistics book of business, worked from home, and later sold it for $1.4 million due to rising fraud in trucking. He then pivoted into AI Agency USA, focusing on inbound/outbound AI voice systems for businesses, while also pursuing fulfillment through a baseball-focused podcast, The Pen, and emphasizing family, resilience, and legacy.

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In this episode, Dallas Sloan shares her journey from growing up on acreage in southern Alberta to moving to Arizona at just 23 years old to pursue her dream of building a multi-modality beauty business.

She opens up about launching Colair Beauty Lounge & Medspa in 2017, growing from hair and spa services into cosmetic injectables, and building a team culture rooted in character, care, accountability, and integrity.

Dallas also reflects on leadership, divorce, navigating COVID, protecting her peace, and creating a business that supports community, family, travel, and quality of life.

This conversation is about courage, resilience, reinvention, and building something meaningful — both in business and in life.

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Recorded remotely from Brian Riley’s garage pub hangout, this episode follows Brian’s path from growing up in Enfield, Connecticut and playing football and baseball to a life shaped by “saying yes,” including a chance retail interview that launched a 20-year career with Structure/Express, where he met his wife Cheryl and focused on developing teams. Brian contrasts today’s club “super team” sports with neighborhood development, explains why time and relationships matter more than money, and shares how COVID pushed him into business development and restoration. He discusses prioritizing trust over selling, rejecting referral-fee kickbacks in trades, helping customers avoid unnecessary insurance claims, and Built Different Restoration’s emphasis on accessibility, ownership, and doing the right thing. Brian defines legacy as being a good person and a great dad, advocates kindness, community, and travel, and describes his dream of owning a community pub.

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Elisha Kameyama, CEO and co-founder of Red Crane Digital in Phoenix, shares how embracing discomfort fuels growth, then traces his journey from growing up in California and Colorado as a pastor’s kid through joining the Navy two weeks after high school, serving eight years with deployments tied to 9/11-era operations and later humanitarian work in South America. He explains how a separation from his wife led him back to faith, inspired by the film “Fireproof,” ultimately restoring their marriage after months of intentional courtship, and why he left the military to prioritize family. Elijah discusses therapy, self-development, CrossFit and completing around 20 Spartan races in 2024, leading men’s ministry during a church plant and COVID, and pivoting from a failed wholesale real estate attempt into launching a video marketing agency that helps service businesses and events with social media, ads, and content systems, now beginning to scale with a first full-time hire

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Tank Giles, a Daytona Beach native, shares how sports helped him navigate a challenging childhood, including family violence that led to being taken from his parents twice and periods living with a football coach and later with his sister. He explains earning the nickname “Tank,” excelling in football, missing a Division I opportunity due to credits, taking a gap year, then moving to Arizona in 2012 to play at Mesa Community College, where an ankle injury ended his playing career and led to a dark period. Tank describes finding purpose coaching at Athletes in Training, eventually becoming owner after serving as YMCA sports director and returning during COVID, and outlines AIT’s recess and after-school multi-sport programs across 73 schools. He also discusses Humble Savage club basketball, Humble Cares nonprofit support for kids in need, leadership challenges, and his mission to teach hard work, discipline, respect, and character.

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