AmiSights: Financing the Future For Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews Megan Bruneau, M.A., therapist, executive coach, writer, speaker, and podcast host about emotional issues and mental health among entrepreneurs coming out of the pandemic.

Megan has a master of arts in counseling psychology and a bachelor of arts in psychology and social work. With 12+ years experience providing crisis support, therapy, and coaching, she's a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC #6420) in the province of British Columbia and sees clients globally as a coach. By sharing her personal experiences alongside her professional expertise, Megan seeks to change the way people relate to their inner and outer worlds.

Quoted by Deepak Chopra as the "Millennials' therapist," Megan's no-BS, relatable voice has garnered over 30MM views and landed appearances on The T.D. Jakes Show, Good Morning America and New York 1 Morning News. Transparent about her own mental health, eating disorder history, frequent heartaches and uncertain entrepreneurial life in New York City, Megan's vulnerable and humorous writing-style has inspired dozens of viral articles – making her a Huffington Post – homepage regular, MindBodyGreen, and Forbes favorite.

After years of struggling with depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, she came to realize she was the one getting in her own way. She healed her relationship with herself and now teaches entrepreneurs and high achievers how to do the same – so they can do the sh*t that scares them and create the life they deserve. Find her book, How To Be Alone (And Together): 72 Lessons on Being at Peace With Yourself on Amazon, and follow her on Instagram @meganjbruneau.

Recorded 07/13/2021.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar sits down with Megha Kulshreshtha to learn all about her nonprofit, Food Connect!

Megha is the Founder and Executive Director of Food Connect, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging the gap between surplus food and hunger through collaboration and technology. Food Connect has helped distribute over 3 million on-demand meals through their last mile transport and logistics support in the hunger relief space. Megha has over 10 years of experience in data, technology, and process solutions. She started her career in Finance as a Data Analyst and then as a Portfolio Analyst for US Equities at Aberdeen Asset Management. For the last 7 years, Megha has dedicated her technical background towards streamlining inefficiencies in the hunger relief space. The Food Connect app has helped over 800+ food vendors across the country donate their surplus food in real time. Over 750+ shelters have received free food donations through the app. Currently, Food Connect helps deliver on average 30,000+ meals a week.

Megha continues to lead Food Connect's product testing and development to help track and understand real time shelter needs. Food Connect's work has been recognized nationally in the hunger relief space for its innovation in collaboration, integrations, and food equity initiatives.

Recorded 07/13/2021.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews David Anderson, CEO of Off Madison Ave, Founder of LighthousePE, Global Board Chair of Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), Author, Speaker, and Executive Coach, on what he learned leading EO through the pandemic and his positive outlook on this rare opportunity.

David is an experienced entrepreneur whose leadership path has taken him from president of his college fraternity to the White House. Along the way, David has seen leadership at the highest levels and the lowest. He has experienced success, but also failure. Having learned from many successes and the hard knocks of business and life, his focus is now on building businesses and sharing his expertise to allow others to learn, grow and prosper.

For over 20 years, David lived the entrepreneurial dream by starting and operating his own businesses. What started as two people working out of a garage with VC funding (that is Visa Card funding!) has resulted in a winding, and sometimes bumpy road that includes the 20+ year-old marketing agency Off Madison Ave with multiple mergers and acquisitions, a publishing company startup (which was a big failure), several real estate ventures and most recently, starting and building a SaaS-based software company, LighthousePE.

David also serves in leadership for the member-driven global Entrepreneurs Organization, EO, and has published his first book, Leader is Not a Title. Additionally, David coaches and mentors entrepreneurs all while putting two sons through college and being somewhat of a good husband to my wife of 25 years.

Recorded 06/21/21.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews Beth Hoff Blackmer, Owner and President of Aspen Rent-All, Inc. on lessons learned as president of the ARA through the pandemic.

Her father decided to sell the business in 1999 after his manager became ill. With urging from some family friends, Beth decided to step into the business in August of 1999 with absolutely no background in the rental industry. Taking a big step into the great unknown, she purchased the business from her father in January of 2000. Thankfully in the fall of 1999, she attended a regional ARA event as well as the Alert software user conference and met many wonderful people who helped her tremendously over those first few years.

Since 2007, she has been very involved with different aspects of the ARA where she has gained insights, found valued colleagues, and discovered a treasured circle of friends. When she started, she had little or no experience with any of the equipment; now she is proud to say that she can operate all the equipment in the fleet. She has tripled the revenue of the business since purchasing it.

Beth is married to Kent Blackmer and resides in a rural and mountainous setting. They have two Labrador retriever dogs and two horses. She enjoys skiing, riding horses, cycling, diving, and traveling with Kent.

Recorded 06/11/2021.

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Kathleen Quinn Votaw, Founder and CEO of TalenTrust on how businesses need to be rethinking their people strategies as we get back to the "new normal".

Kathleen is the Founder and CEO of TalenTrust, a strategic recruiting and human capital consulting firm that has helped companies nationwide address immediate needs and drive long-term growth since 2003. She is the author of Solve the People Puzzle and a regularly published columnist and popular speaker on topics related to HR strategies and workplace culture.

Kathleen has overcome a multitude of personal and business challenges in becoming a strong leader who was able to exceed TalenTrust's growth goals throughout the Great Recession and become one of less than 2% of women business owners to break the million-dollar mark. Along this journey, she has formed the core belief that people-centric, relationship-based workplaces are the key to attracting and retaining the talent to take businesses to the next level. Based on her knowledge and experience, she is a key disrupter in her industry, with a mission to help HR professionals attain the skills needed to provide strategic value to their companies.

She has helped more than 1,000 companies across multiple industries navigate uncertainty and continuous change to develop purpose-based, inclusive cultures; targeted recruitment strategies; and, most importantly, inspired employees who want to come to work each day.

From proactive hiring processes to human-centric leadership, Quinn Votaw's practical insights and actionable recommendations have impacted diverse organizations, including: John Hancock, Kaiser Permanente, the United States Department of Veteran's Affairs, Renaissance Executive Forum, EO, the Association of Corporate Growth, and Vistage International.

Kathleen recently completed a Stanford Graduate School of Business program focused on strategy, innovation, and organizational design. She has received many awards, including the coveted Inc. 5000 for two consecutive years; 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year from Enterprising Women Magazine for her work to fuel lasting change in companies across the nation; and multiple achievement awards from Colorado Women's Chamber, ColoradoBiz Magazine, and Denver Business Journal.

Recorded 06/11/2021.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews Bill Gallagher, Scaling Up Business Coach and Podcast Host, on how companies are repivoting.

Bill is a business coach and master facilitator with over 30 years of entrepreneurial and executive experience. Bill has spent the last 15 years coaching and training others in leadership and performance and previously led 4 companies of his own and been a partner or executive in 2 others. Bill discovered the Rockefeller Habits and Scaling Up 20 years ago, has used them in his own companies.

Today, Bill coaches leaders and teams across more than 25 cities in 11 countries and the host of the Scaling Up Business Podcast. He is a passionate and playful presenter and his clients, at all stages, share a hunger to grow successfully with an openness to new approaches and thinking.

Bill Gallagher is the guy you want around to sustain growth, when you need to build consensus, or even when things explode and you need to get the team in action. Working alongside an entrepreneur, Bill is able to inspire people and companies, and then get them pulling together.

An experienced entrepreneur and executive, he has created and run companies and business units ranging from startup to over US $500 million.

Happily married for over 20 years, Bill and his wife, Lori, live in the Oakland hills. Their grown children, Jack and Sophie, are also entrepreneurial and live nearby.

Recorded 06/08/2021.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews Greg Crabtree, Partner at Carr, Riggs & Ingram, on how he helps companies manage their books, and what's different about his unique approach.

Greg Crabtree has over 40 years of in-depth experience, not only as a CPA, but also as a speaker, author, entrepreneur and financial expert. He is known for working with his clients on cash flow planning, business consultations, strategic planning facilitation, success planning, and transaction advisory services. Greg's firm, Crabtree, Rowe & Berger, recently merged with Carr, Rigs, and Ingram, where he is now Partner in Charge. The CPA firm is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build the economic engine of their business.

In 2011, Greg released his first book "Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits" which shares his core principles of how to turn your business into a wealth building engine. In 2014, Greg contributed a chapter to Verne Harnish's book, "Scaling Up" on how to improve profits though labor efficiency. In 2020, Greg released his newest book, "Simple Numbers 2.0: Rule for Elite Profit and Cash Flow". Greg has also launched a new Executive Education program for EO in 2020 called Functional Finance for Entrepreneurs that will teach any entrepreneur the basics to understand their financials and use the data to drive exceptional business performance.

Recorded 06/01/2021.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews Dale Robinette, Business Growth Strategist, Founder of the RevX Formula, Vistage Master Chair, and certified Scaling Up Gazelles Coach to discuss what Dale has learned coaching business owners through the pandemic.

Dale Robinette has a 25-year history of successfully helping companies, across multiple industries ranging from start-ups to Fortune 50, achieve exponential growth. He is an expert at developing concise and actionable strategies that will allow your company, and its management team, to achieve results previously considered unattainable.

Dale's career originally focused on penetrating the electronics industry. He joined the U.S. Navy as an Electronics Warfare Technician to obtain technical expertise. After four years of military service, Dale completed a business degree with an emphasis in Marketing and was fortunate to be recruited as a Sales Executive by AMP Incorporated which was ultimately acquired by Tyco Electronics, the industry's largest passive electronics company at $13 billion in revenue.

After a few years, he became the leading salesperson out of 500 when promoted to Sales Manager, becoming the youngest Sales Manager in the 50-year history of the company. Two years later, Dale became the leading Sales Manager out of 14 in the U.S. and placed into an executive rotation with a wide variety of leadership positions.

After 15 years at Tyco Electronics, Dale joined Peregrine Semiconductor as a Director of Product Marketing (GM) of the High Reliability Products Division. He built the business achieving a CAGR of 129%. After three years, he took on the role of Global Sales Director to help build out a global sales footprint. After three years, Peregrine was able to achieve 3X growth and get the company public. This allowed for an exit.

Looking for a way to give back, Dale became a Vistage Chair to help fellow executives achieve business and personal success, while maintaining work/life balance. He built two Vistage groups within a record 7 months with high demand to participate in these exciting groups. The same year Dale started a company called EPIQ Space and became the leading website for the Satellite industry to promote their products and services. A year later, he became the Best Practice Chair or "Chair of local Chairs", working with fellow Chairs to help develop their skills. He continues to further his passion of working with fellow executives to become better leaders, make better decisions and achieve better results. Dale became a certified Scaling Up Gazelles Coach, to help CEOs and their executive teams execute on achieving their growth goals with proven tools and enviable results.

Recorded 05/03/2021.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews Casey Brown, President of Boost Profits, on pricing - specifically, has the pandemic changed how businesses should think about pricing, if at all?

Casey Brown is the President of Boost Profits, a firm that helps companies generate more sales at higher prices for improved profits. For over two decades, she has formulated and executed pricing strategies, pioneered innovative pricing content, and coached and trained teams to drive culture change and dramatic, sustainable results.

With degrees in Chemical Engineering, Spanish and Business and career experience in engineering, Six Sigma and pricing strategy for multiple Fortune 500 companies, Casey brings unmatched expertise to help clients discover their true pricing power—and watch their profits rise as a result.

Knowing it's about so much more than numbers, Casey's approach is insightful, empowering and proven to deliver results.

Casey volunteers hundreds of hours annually around the world, focused on meeting children's basic needs, including cleft lip and palate repair with Free to Smile Foundation.

Recorded 04/12/2021.

On today's episode, Ami Kassar interviews Bo Burlingham, contributing writer for Forbes and author of five books, about Small Giants, how these companies have performed during the pandemic and what we can learn from their philosophy.

Bo has been writing about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship for 38 years, mostly for Inc. magazine, where he served as executive editor and then editor at large. He is currently a contributing writer for Forbes. Along the way, he has authored five books, the most recent being Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top. He previously authored Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, which was a finalist for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award. That book inspired the Small Giants Community, which he cofounded with Paul Spiegelman. He has written three other books with coauthors, including two with Jack Stack, CEO of Springfield Holdings Corp. and the pioneer of open-book management—The Great Game of Business and A Stake in the Outcome— and one with serial entrepreneur Norm Brodsky entitled Street Smarts.

Recorded 01/25/2021.