Authentic Business Adventures Podcast

Dustin Heiner - Master Passive Income

On the Game of Entrepreneurship: "I love building businesses. One of my favorite things, like it's a game. So I just keep trying to do better at that game."

Passive income seems to be one of the most underrated ways to fulfill your dreams.  Maybe that seems like a stretch, but it has been proven again and again.

There are a few tricks to mastering passive income: 1) Realize it takes time- it is a get rich slow game, 2) Many others have done it and many of them share how they did it, and 3) Just about anyone can do this.

Dustin Heiner joins us for the second time to discuss how he has created his passive income dynasty and how he shares his wisdom with other investors.  The hardest part about anything, investing included, is just getting started.  Dustin explains how he shifted his mindset to get out of the job world and move into the, ironically, more stable real estate investment world.

Listen as Dustin explains the steps for starting your passive income journey, how to start small and build upon your success.  The goal is that one day in the future, think 10ish years, you will not have to work.  You'll still want to, for the love of the game.

Enjoy!

Visit Dustin at: https://masterpassiveincome.com/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Traditional Career Path Critique

05:08 Awaiting News: Anxiety in Office

12:20 Avoid Property Management Pitfalls

18:26 "Understanding Financial Independence How-Tos"

22:23 "Slow Hiring, Fast Firing Strategy"

27:01 Understanding Property Financing Options

33:58 "1% Rent Rule for Purchases"

41:40 Real Estate Tax Strategy Insights

47:13 Real Estate: Unlocking Business Benefits

48:30 Out-of-State Real Estate Investing

56:54 "Free Real Estate Investment Course"

58:58 "Debt-Free Investing Foundations"

01:04:49 Supporting Others' Success

Podcast Transcription:

Dustin Heiner [00:00:00]:

I get a call from the boss's bosses, boss's secretary, like top dog. And she says, Dustin, would you please come in the office? And I paused for a second. Sure. I hung up the phone. I said to myself, why are they calling me the office? Like this isn't normal. If I get laid off, does that make me a failure as a father? The last time I walked to my car, I felt like I was walking on clouds because I knew I would never ever need a job again. If you build the business first, then you have the experts that are doing it as opposed to you hoping that you're doing it right. Especially if you're investing out of state.

Dustin Heiner [00:00:27]:

Anybody that you hear, let's say Instagram or TikTok, the people that have been around since 2020, 2022, they started, oh, I bought three properties and I'm a millionaire, blah blah blah. I've now taught my 16 year old daughter to buy her first property. So she bought her first property three months ago. It's an active loss for you, so you can depreciate. $100,000 is what I did. Everything around real estate, I figure, well, shoot, what else can we do? Well, people need homeowners insurance, maybe I might go down that route. Do you mind if I just give everybody my course for free?

James Kademan [00:00:54]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at https://drawincustomers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie Calls On Call Extraordinary Answering Service as well as the Bold Business Book. And today we are welcoming slash preparing to learn from Dustin Heiner, the founder of Master Passive Income. And today with Dustin, we're talking two of my favorite subject, business and money. So Dustin, how is it going today?

Dustin Heiner [00:01:29]:

James, I'm blessed man. Thank you so much for having me on the show. Yeah, it's great business and money. I find it's almost a game. Like if you play well, you're rewarded by making money in business. And so I invest in real estate, have lots of properties, apartment complex and all that sort of stuff. And with that I have cash flow that allowed me to quit my job and I like the term successfully unemployed. And now I use the rest of my time to build businesses.

Dustin Heiner [00:01:55]:

I love building businesses. One of my favorite things, like it's a game. So I just keep trying to keep trying to do better at that game. But thank you so much for having me on the show.

James Kademan [00:02:03]:

Yeah, super cool. I appreciate you being on here. It's interesting because I wrote in my book about how money is just a way, one way to keep score. That's all just a game. Money's a tool and it allows you to do certain things that people without money just can't do. So besides time and effort, I guess money is the other tool. So time is finite money, there is no ceiling. So away we go.

James Kademan [00:02:29]:

But let's get started talking with you about how you got started. You're in a position now where a lot of people are fighting to be ant. So how did you get there?

Dustin Heiner [00:02:38]:

Yeah, yeah. So I started just like everybody we're taught from, you know, when we're born, you, you go to school, you get good grades and you take those good grades, you go to a college or university and hopefully, you know, get a degree and get in thousands and thousands of dollars into debt. And then you take that degree and you go to companies or you know, other places, organizations to try to get a quote unquote career there. Then you work 40 plus years of your life and then retire at 65, 70 years old on 40% of what you managed to save that entire time working that job, that just over broke job I call it when you work at a job. So I'm doing the exact same thing. In fact I get the most stable, secure job you can ever think of. It's I'm working in California for a local county government doing technology. But California is not going away.

Dustin Heiner [00:03:27]:

Government's definitely not going away. And technology so stable, secure job. But then I bought one rental property back in 2006 before the crash, bought one rental property and that property made me money without me working because my property did all the work. And I realized I needed to become an investor. But you know what happens, James? Life just got in the way. My wife and I started having kids. Eventually this is what happened that shoved me to become a real estate investor and a business owner was when my wife had our fourth child, I went on paternity leave. That's where the dad stays home with the mom, changes poopy diapers and all that good stuff and you know, bonds with the baby.

Dustin Heiner [00:04:05]:

Well, after about two weeks I go back to work and in that same week I go back to work on a Friday at 3:30 in the afternoon, I get a call from the buses, buses boss's secretary, like the top dog. And she says dustin, would you please come in the office? And I paused for a second. Sure. And I hung up the phone. I said what to myself, why are they calling me the office? Like this isn't normal.

James Kademan [00:04:25]:

Give you a raise?

Dustin Heiner [00:04:26]:

Yeah, hopefully. But I. But It's Friday at 3:30 and I've seen plenty of movies and that's never a good sign. And I started thinking a couple months before I went on paternity leave, there was rumors or some rumbling going on that there could potentially be layoffs because the county was having trouble. I immediately shook it off. I said, there's no way. I have great seniority here. My boss isn't going to do a great job.

Dustin Heiner [00:04:46]:

So I shake it off. But then I get up and I walk down the hallway to my boss's office. Well, this hallway isn't very long. In fact, it's kind of short. But every single step I took felt like the hallway got longer and longer and longer. And it felt like my feet became lead bricks because the weight of potentially losing my job was starting to weigh down on me. Well, I get down the hallway and I turn the corner and I see my boss's door. His door is closed.

James Kademan [00:05:08]:

And.

Dustin Heiner [00:05:08]:

And I see a secretary there. Super sweet, nice old lady. And she says, dustin, would you please have a seat? And she's kind of sheepishly grinning at me, trying to console me with her eyes because she knows everything about what's going on. I know nothing. Well, I go and I take my seat and I start thinking about my life. Like, oh my goodness, if I get laid off now, this entire plan that other people told me to do, did I just waste my life doing this? And then we just had our fourth kid. If I get laid off, does that make me a failure as a father? Does it make me a failure as a husband? As a man trying to provide for his family? Well, as I'm sitting there, my hands get all clammy, my forehead gets all sweaty because the nerves are just crushing down on me. Well, then a door in my boss's office opens up and out walks a co worker of mine with a piece of paper in her hands.

Dustin Heiner [00:05:53]:

She's devastated, you can tell. And she passes by me and my boss says, dustin, would you please come in the office? So I get up and I go into his office and I get laid off. And remember, this is the government. Nobody gets fired or laid off the government. But I did. And this is the reason why I tell the story. So I take that layoff notice and I go back and I sit at my desk and I realize two things. Number one, I need to get another job.

Dustin Heiner [00:06:17]:

I need to have another way to provide for My family. So I was really blessed, praise the Lord, to find another job in the same county, a different department. Wasn't having those issues. So check. Got that. Then the second thing I realized sitting in that chair, I need to make sure that this never ever happens to me again. I need to make sure that nobody can take away my ability

Lisa Grulke and Cat Munson - Animal Center for Emergency and Specialty (ACES)

On the Reality of Working in Veterinary Medicine: "You're gonna have to talk with the family that can't necessarily afford to take care of their animal all the time. You're gonna have to lift a 80 pound dog. There's just certain things where we can make your life easier and better financially, but there's certain things that are just part of the job."

The veterinary field is a challenging one.  For those that are working in the field, you need to work with animals that cannot necessarily tell you what hurts.  On the same side, they are communicating with the variety of pet owners.  Another significant issue comes down to the money.  Many people have left the veterinary profession for other, arguably easier, jobs for similar pay.

The veterinary field is a business that requires the love of pets to be accepted as part of the reason you are in the field.

Add onto the issue of growing demand as populations climb and pet ownership grows along with it and the declining or typically static existence of veterinary care facilities makes the business of veterinary medicine interesting, to say the least.

Lisa Grulke and Cat Munson saw the need, and decided to build from scratch a veterinary practice of their own, the Animal Center for Emergency and Specialty (ACES) in Madison, Wisconsin.  They went full in with a new building, new equipment and processes for everything gained through their individual veterinary paths.

Listen as Lisa and Cat explain how they got to be the admirable veterinary entrepreneurs they are and how they came to make the decisions they did.  The process was seemingly clinical in execution and the result has been nothing shy of amazing.

Enjoy!

Visit Lisa and Cat at: https://acesvetmed.com/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Following My Husband's Career Path

06:02 Career-Specific Tracking Schools

08:36 Farm Production Challenges

11:37 Wildlife Conservation Career Challenges

14:48 Veterinary Staff Shortages Escalate

17:31 "Valuing Licensed Technicians' Worth"

20:59 Building Trust Through Relief Work

24:34 Evening Urgent Care Focus

26:34 Demographic Survey for Market Analysis

29:26 Collaborative Emergency Care During Pandemic

33:33 Chemotherapy Misunderstanding Explained

37:14 Optimizing Veterinary Clinic Layout

39:22 Building Transformation Insight

45:24 Networking Through University Program

46:07 Overconfident Small Business Owners

50:46 Relying on Unreliable Fax Machines

55:25 Office Troubleshooting & Cloud Solutions

Podcast Transcription:

Speaker [00:00:00]:

I got into an argument with one of my friends on the playground and said, screw this. I'm not working with people because people are awful. And so then I was like, well, I'm gonna work with animals instead. And I stuck with it.

Speaker [00:00:12]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link [email protected] we are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie, and today we're welcoming, preparing to learn from Cat and Lisa of ACEs Veterinary. So, Cat and Lisa, how is it going today?

Speaker [00:00:37]:

Good.

Speaker [00:00:37]:

Pretty good. A little bit tired, but we're good.

Speaker [00:00:40]:

We're here.

Speaker [00:00:41]:

Let's start out with foundation. Tell us what ACEs is.

Speaker [00:00:44]:

So ACEs, or Animal Center for Emergency and Specialty, is a brand new after hours urgent care in the Madison area. We also have oncology during the week. But our primary focus and where it was born from was extending the reach and availability of care for sick or injured pets.

Speaker [00:01:03]:

All right, does ACEs stand for something? It's an acronym, right?

Speaker [00:01:07]:

Yep, yep, yep. All right, so our full name is Animal Center for Emergency and Specialty. ACEs for short.

Speaker [00:01:12]:

All right, so let's start there. How did you come up with the name?

Speaker [00:01:16]:

Oh, that was a long process.

Speaker [00:01:19]:

Four letters and it took so long.

Speaker [00:01:20]:

Yeah, we found the acronym first and then we fit the words too.

Speaker [00:01:24]:

Yeah, we wanted to have some. A name that you could say, like a shortened name that you could say versus just like a few letters that you had to spell out.

Speaker [00:01:34]:

So we came up with a list of. We went through things like Nova or I don't even remember. Nova's the one I remember off the top of my head, but. Yeah, and we stuck with Acers, like. Nope, that's it.

Speaker [00:01:45]:

Yeah.

Speaker [00:01:46]:

Okay, now how do we make it work?

Speaker [00:01:47]:

That's funny.

Speaker [00:01:48]:

Yeah.

Speaker [00:01:48]:

Well, it worked out well.

Speaker [00:01:49]:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker [00:01:51]:

So tell me, how do you two know each other? I mean, shive you own a business together now, but I imagine it wasn't born that way.

Speaker [00:01:57]:

Yeah, we worked at the same company we started back in 2020, so right in the middle of the pandemic.

Speaker [00:02:03]:

Oh, perfect time.

Speaker [00:02:04]:

Yup, yup.

Speaker [00:02:05]:

Everybody's getting pets.

Speaker [00:02:06]:

Exactly.

Speaker [00:02:07]:

As brand new graduate doctors.

Speaker [00:02:08]:

Yeah.

Speaker [00:02:08]:

So we graduated and then started working together.

Speaker [00:02:10]:

Oh, interesting.

Speaker [00:02:11]:

Yeah, and I had been working there for a few years as an assistant prior and then became a doctor and kept working for them. But they pulled Cat from Washington to come work for us.

Speaker [00:02:22]:

Yep. I came about 2,000 miles just to work With Lisa? Yes, absolutely.

Speaker [00:02:29]:

We didn't know it, but yep, that's what that was for.

Speaker [00:02:31]:

How did they find you?

Speaker [00:02:33]:

So I actually came over. So my husband is a air quality permitting engineer with the state dnr, and he graduated a little bit before I did, so he knew he wanted to work in public sector of engineering instead of private. But so I was like, all right, you pick a job, and I will follow you. Because I don't think there at that time, I was like, I don't think there's a clinic that's gonna turn down a doctor. So he ended up out here, and I followed, and I was like, all right, well, here's where we're gonna go.

Speaker [00:03:04]:

Oh, nice. Okay. All right. How did you. Let's start with you, Lisa. How did you decide you were gonna be a veterinarian?

Speaker [00:03:12]:

Well, that was a little. I didn't know from the start I was going to be a veterinarian. Some people say, oh, I knew back in elementary school I was going to be a veterinarian. I took a long path of following my best friend in middle school. Anything she wanted to be, I wanted to be.

Speaker [00:03:27]:

Oh.

Speaker [00:03:28]:

So it probably started as lawyer first, then I can't remember what came after that. At some point, it was, meet scientist meat. And that's what she actually is today. Yeah. But there was a point at which she wanted to be a veterinarian, so I did, too, and just never strayed away from that. All through high school, I took veterinary science courses and animal science courses and shadowed veterinarians. And from that point, I pretty well knew that's what I wanted to do in undergraduate school. I explored a lot of different pathways.

Speaker [00:04:09]:

College has a. A way of making you think about things like that, about all the different things that you can do with an animal science degree. And then probably like, junior, senior year in college, I very much so knew that veterinarian was the path for me. So I didn't know right from the start it had to come on for a while.

Speaker [00:04:28]:

You said junior, senior year of college. Yeah, that's when. Oh, wow. Okay. Were there other paths you were pursuing?

Speaker [00:04:36]:

Yes. Not super seriously. There was a point at which I took a course for equine breeding, and that was really cool. But I think kind of through that course and through the other classes that I took, veterinary medicine really stood out.

Speaker [00:04:57]:

All right.

Speaker [00:04:57]:

So, yeah, there were some other pathways that I were. That I was exploring, but not as seriously as vet medicine.

Speaker [00:05:05]:

Okay.

Speaker [00:05:05]:

Yeah.

Speaker [00:05:06]:

Tell me a story. Just for me and the people at home that may not necessarily. Know how long do you have to go to school to be a veterinarian? Doctor?

Speaker [00:05:13]:

Yeah. So you do have to do undergraduate school. You don't actually have to graduate with a degree from undergraduate though.

Speaker [00:05:20]:

You just have to hit a certain number of classes. So typically the minimum ends up being about seven years.

Speaker [00:05:28]:

Usually at least three years of undergrad and then a full four years of veterinary school.

Speaker [00:05:32]:

There's no way to show cut that one. Yeah.

Speaker [00:05:35]:

And with the veterinary school, are you focused on feline or canine?

Speaker [00:05:40]:

It depends on the school. So the school I went to, Washington State, is what's called a non tracking program. So you learn small animal, large animal, you can learn exotics, things like that, all if you want to. You're tested on everything. You're required to know everything. Okay. Some schools, I think Texas A and M is one of them. I think one of the ones in Florida is one of them.

Speaker [00:06:02]:

They're called tracking schools. And so I think most of those ones, your first year is still kind of all together. And then you decide, am I gonna be a small animal, am I gonna large animal?...

Amanda Marek - Active Youth Wisconsin

On Getting the Style Right: "I always like to say that, from an unbiased standpoint, our events are really, really awesome. And I say it's unbiased because I got to experience the events before I was an employee of active youth Wisconsin."

It seems kids have all sorts of gadgets and ways to watch, listen and play while sitting in a chair and staring at a screen.  While this may be entertaining, it is also not great for their bodies.  Every body needs to move and be active.  That is a habit that should start early.  But how do you get kids off the couch and off their screens?

Amanda Marek is the director of Active Youth Wisconsin, a non-profit that helps get kids moving through many programs.  These programs include donations to schools for physical education equipment, after school programs, triathlons for kids and even some adult fund-raising to get adults active.

Discover how Active Youth Wisconsin removes barriers, from providing "no questions asked" financial aid for entry fees and gear, to carting bike trailers to schools so every child can experience the freedom and confidence that come with moving their bodies.

Amanda opens up about the challenges and triumphs of running events, working with schools, wrangling city permits, and, most importantly, ensuring that every child—regardless of means—has the opportunity to build healthy habits and a sense of community through activity. Whether you’re a parent, educator, entrepreneur, or just someone who believes in the power of movement and inclusion, this episode is packed with heartfelt stories and valuable insights.

Listen as Amanda details how they are helping get kids moving and making sure the opportunity is available to everyone.

Enjoy!

Visit Amanda at: https://www.tri4schools.org/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Early Specialization in Youth Sports

05:22 Pandemic Sparks Outdoor Education Shift

08:45 Event Planning Logistics Explained

09:58 Supportive Community Partnerships

14:25 Youth Sports: Financial Barriers

18:58 "Full Entry Fees Donated to Schools"

22:47 Exceptional Event Experiences

24:01 "Team Effort Boosts Kids' Triathlon"

27:44 Modified Triathlon Course for Kids

30:09 Comprehensive Event Insurance Essentials

34:36 "Abandoned Fancy Bike On Trail"

37:44 "Adopting Business Approach for Survival"

41:59 "Short Attention Span Challenges"

45:09 Active Youth Wisconsin Structure

48:06 "Grants for Wisconsin Schools Open"

51:09 Goggle Donation Success Story

Podcast Transcription:

Amanda Marek [00:00:00]:

Or now more and more is starting to become. Kids are specializing earlier. Right. So when you're six years old, they're saying, all right, football's your sport, you know, and so we're gonna go do the elite program at the gym and we're gonna do the weightlifting and all of these. Right. It's amazing to see these kids developing as athletes. I think it's really awesome. But it's so exclusive that you have this big chunk of kids, kids that are being essentially left behind.

Amanda Marek [00:00:30]:

Right.

James Kademan [00:00:33]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link [email protected] we are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, and today we're welcoming, preparing to learn from a. Amanda Merrick, the director of Active Youth Wisconsin. I had to double check the name because you guys changed recently, right?

Amanda Marek [00:01:01]:

That's right. Big, big, big changes.

James Kademan [00:01:03]:

Big change.

Amanda Marek [00:01:04]:

Yeah. So we just, In December of 2024, transitioned from Tri 4 Schools to Active Youth Wisconsin.

James Kademan [00:01:13]:

All right, so let's lay the foundation here. What is Active Youth Wisconsin?

Amanda Marek [00:01:17]:

Absolutely. So Active Youth Wisconsin, we are a nonprofit, so we operate in Wisconsin. Our whole mission is get kids access to opportunities to be active, to move. That's right, to move. We know how important that is for physical health. We also know how important it is for mental health.

James Kademan [00:01:35]:

Oh, true story.

Amanda Marek [00:01:37]:

Yeah, very, very much so. I think a lot of us have both personal experience with that. There's also a ton of science behind how important it is too. And unfortunately, there's not enough access to activity, whether that's because there's are too few programs or financial reasons. So a lot of our mission is make sure we're kind of combating all of those different barriers and getting kids involved in after school programs and events. Triathlons, strength training, anything and everything.

James Kademan [00:02:10]:

All right, and you say kids, what is the age range?

Amanda Marek [00:02:14]:

So our programs and events spread between 3 and 14 years old.

James Kademan [00:02:19]:

Okay, so that's a big spread.

Amanda Marek [00:02:20]:

That's a big. Yeah, it's a big. It's a big range. And intentionally. Right. That allows us to really capture those kids when they're teeny tiny and just getting going all the way to the kids that, like. Right. You're starting to develop those lifelong habits that, like, now is kind of the time.

Amanda Marek [00:02:33]:

Like, let's instill positive values, positive habits, so they could continue that through adulthood.

James Kademan [00:02:41]:

So I interviewed Kitty Hensel, the founder.

Amanda Marek [00:02:44]:

Of Try for schools forever ago. 2011 is when try for Schools was founded.

James Kademan [00:02:49]:

Was it really? Holy cow. I should know that. I would have failed that quiz. But tell me your second director then.

Amanda Marek [00:02:56]:

Second director? Yep.

James Kademan [00:02:57]:

Since 2011. That's a long time.

Amanda Marek [00:02:59]:

Well, no, no. Try for school started in 2011.

James Kademan [00:03:02]:

Okay.

Amanda Marek [00:03:03]:

Katie was here for 10 years. I took over in 2021.

James Kademan [00:03:06]:

Great. But still, to only have two directors in that time frame.

Amanda Marek [00:03:10]:

Yep. That's.

James Kademan [00:03:11]:

That's not that many, I guess, in my world.

Amanda Marek [00:03:14]:

No, it's not. I think. I think that's one of those things that it speaks to how passionate, you know, obviously how passionate Katie was and just in general, how passionate our entire staff is about the organization.

James Kademan [00:03:27]:

You as well.

Amanda Marek [00:03:28]:

Oh, absolutely. And I mean, I've been involved since I. Since I moved here in early 2017.

James Kademan [00:03:36]:

Okay.

Amanda Marek [00:03:37]:

So to some extent, I've been involved for, you know, going on eight, nine years now.

James Kademan [00:03:41]:

Wow. How do you end up being the director of something like this?

Amanda Marek [00:03:46]:

Yeah, yeah. So I was first kind of exposed to Try for Schools when I started working at the local event management company here. So they help with all of our different equipment, timing to help us produce those events. And being a triathlete myself, being somebody who's always been heavily involved in fitness, heavily involved in sports, I started working the events and was instantly just like, fell in love.

James Kademan [00:04:17]:

Nice.

Amanda Marek [00:04:18]:

You know, I had this moment. I was a timer for one of the races. And so I timed from like the press box, right. So I could see the track.

James Kademan [00:04:27]:

Okay.

Amanda Marek [00:04:29]:

And I'm watching these kids run around this track doing this awesome triathlon. Some of them, Right. Three years old, like teenagers, teeny, tiny.

James Kademan [00:04:36]:

Like, I know, it's amazing.

Amanda Marek [00:04:37]:

They learned how to walk a year and a half ago. And I had this moment where I was like, almost like tearing up just watching this happen, thinking about, like, wow, if all kids had programs like these when they were young, like, if I had this when I was young, like, how incredible would that be? And so instantly fell in love with it. So, you know, in addition to working the events, obviously at that time, that was my job, but I started volunteering, I started donating. And then in 2020, I had the opportunity to coach one of our after school programs. Because Covid. It was after school.

James Kademan [00:05:17]:

I was just gonna ask you. That's Covid times, right?

Amanda Marek [00:05:19]:

That's right.

James Kademan [00:05:20]:

2020 is a four letter word.

Amanda Marek [00:05:22]:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was 2020, so obviously we couldn't have programs at the school. What was nice is it allowed us to have programs at parks. You know, we did the social distancing mask, all of that. But instead of just having teachers coach the program, we were able to kind of open the door to any of our other supporters that might be interested. So me at the time, you know, I was working a quote unquote, 9 to 5 job, and I was like, heck yes, I would love to jump on and start coaching. So it was just kind of like one more opportunity for me to get in the door there.

Amanda Marek [00:05:58]:

And. And then Katie had decided in early 2021 that it was maybe time for her to pass the torch. And everything kind of fell in line from there. And suddenly I found myself as director of Try for Schools.

James Kademan [00:06:17]:

Nice. So do you get voted in or how does it. Or does Katie just say, hey, this is all yours?

Amanda Marek [00:06:26]:

It's not quite like that. It's very similar to, like a. A normal hiring. Right. You know, there's resumes and interviews, and then the board has to vote.

James Kademan [00:06:35]:

Okay.

Amanda Marek [00:06:36]:

...

Anya Chang - Taelor.Style

On Getting the Style Right: "We tend to know about the best performing clothes and also those brands from all over the world that are high quality and really, really good be able to find a home here."

Men's clothing styles can be challenging.  As professional people, going around meeting other professionals, we want to look professional.  But when it comes to shopping, many men aren't interested in running around and having to decide what looks good.  We want the clothes to just show up at our doorstep.

This is a problem that Anya Chang of Taelor.Style has solved.  Utilizing AI to help men get the clothes they want that fit the style they are going for, Anya helps these men rent clothes.  Much like Netflix DVD's from back in the day.  This allows her clients to enjoy the clothes and keep a fresh and new wardrobe.  Pretty clever, right?

The beauty is the combination of clothes showing up, then they can be shipped back without washing them.  Then more clothing shows up.  This is an ideal way to stay fresh, trendy and noticed, while maintaining working as a busy professional looking for a minimum maintenance lifestyle.

Anya discusses her past in Silicon Valley and how she developed Taelor.Style to help the busy professional man.

Listen as Anya discusses her entrepreneurial journey, her wins, along with a few losses, and the learning curve that comes with delving into the garment industry.

Enjoy!

Visit Anya at: https://taelor.style/

Anya Cheng is the Founder and CEO of Taelor, a leading men's clothing subscription service that provides personal styling and curated rentals, powered by expert stylists and AI. A Girls in Tech 40 Under 40 honoree, she previously led eCommerce and digital innovation teams at Meta, eBay, Target, and McDonald's.

Experience effortless style with rental and personal styling services:

Taelor: Get 25% OFF your first month of men's clothing subscription.

Use code: PODCAST25

Sign up at: https://taelor.style/pages/membership

Armoire: Get 50% OFF your first month of women's clothing subscription.

Use code: ArmoirexTaelor

Sign up at: https://www.armoire.style/refer/ArmoirexTaelor

Give the gift of time, convenience, and effortless style:

Taelor Gift Cards: Get 10% OFF

Use code: PODCASTGIFT

Purchase at: https://taelor.style/products/menswear-rental-gift-card

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 AI-Driven Men's Clothing Service

05:49 AI-Driven Personalized Styling Service

06:59 AI-Enhanced Fashion Styling Data

11:25 Airport Attire: Casual Evolution

13:57 Pushing Fashion Boundaries

18:24 Fashion Sustainability and Concierge Expansion

21:29 Startup Success in Men's Fashion Industry

24:17 "Rivalry: Northwestern vs. UChicago"

27:51 Early Struggles of a Startup Launch

31:37 Innovative, Sustainable Startup with Local Support

36:02 AI-Enhanced Fashion Styling Service

37:44 Eco-Friendly Clothing Rental Practices

43:04 Efficient Travel Clothing System

43:58 Emerging Taiwanese Textile Brands

47:11 Future Unicorn Exploring Potential Sale

50:25 Overcoming Self-Doubt and Rejection

54:28 "Appreciation for Package Logistics"

Podcast Transcription:

Anya Chang [00:00:00]:

Typical. AI doesn't know the future. AI know the past. But then those 300 brand, they are designing the collection two years down the road. They are trendsetters for the work. We are like the executive assistant, they are concierge, they are butlers. So we really is helping them to get ready for their week. They are buying the MySpace, they are buying the time.

Anya Chang [00:00:18]:

They don't want to look good actually, but they want to be successful. Our customers tend to start trying something new than before. A lot of guys when they signed up, we open their closet only blue. There's nothing else, just blue. And they only have the same dress shirt, the same brand in the last 10 years. No one is going to interview us since we are so small. So I wait outside of a press room. When the reporter came out, I delivered my business card and said hey, this is our business which we haven't started.

Anya Chang [00:00:44]:

At the time it was just idea. I follow up a few times. She said I'm really not interested in these stories. Please stop emailing me. Apple box come in. It does not come in with the name Apple outside because what they want to achieve is they want to prevent thief. They don't want anyone steal those things.

James Kademan [00:01:00]:

Have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link funded drawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie Calls on call Extraordinary Answering Service as well as the Bold Business book. And today we're welcoming Slash preparing to learn from Anya Chang of Taelor Style. And Anya is going to tell us about the business of I'm going to dare say looking good but I guess you can tell me if that's in the right realm here. So how's it going today? Anya?

Anya Chang [00:01:35]:

Hello. Hello, this is Anya Chen from Silicon Valley, Founder and CEO of Taelor we are we use AI to pick clothes for men and after we pick the clothes we send you real clothes for you to wear for a couple weeks. Once you're done you can buy the clothes or return the dirty clothes and get next shipments. No more shopping or laundry. Before starting the company two years ago I was mostly leading e commerce at big tech company most recently Meta where I helped build out Facebook Instagram shopping as a eBay's head of product helped them to build out new business in the US new market in Latin America, Africa, Asia. Was a senior director for McDonald's helped them to build a food delivery business when Ube just started and helped Target to launch his tech office here in Silicon Valley. I I'm excited to share more.

James Kademan [00:02:22]:

Yeah, that's incredible. Tell me how did you end up going from the big players there to starting your own thing?

Anya Chang [00:02:29]:

You know the when I was working for those big tech company I felt a little bit imposter syndrome. I'm a woman in technology. I'm an immigrant from Taiwan. So sometimes I feel like and people thinking that I'm amazing boss and really want to feel confident and ready for the day. So I want to do great. I try some subscription boxes like Stitch Fix which you have to buy from every single shipment and I start using some rental company like I rent this from Armore Rent the Runway newly by Urban Outfitter which is a profitable unicorn. But all of those women's rental company will mostly require women to pick clothes. So you have to browsing through thousands of garments.

Anya Chang [00:03:10]:

It was a hard moment for me that I realized most fashion companies are designed for people who are into fashion. Not for lazy people like me who just want to get ready for the day and be successful. So I research on who else think like me. Hey shopping. Hey laundry. Turn on this are those people they are single guy salespeople, podcast host, recruiter, pastor, professor who are not into fashion but need to look good because they are socially active and that's why Taelor was born nice.

James Kademan [00:03:41]:

So when you when you started this was it geared specifically towards men or is it men and women?

Anya Chang [00:03:48]:

We only offer menswear but we do have 10% of our customer who are women who either signed up for their husbands or managers or for Hollywood studio or photo studio for the shows or they are husband wife to sign up for their husbands. Those wife used to be the person who have to do the shopping. They they hate doing those shopping too but their husband hate it even more. So now their wife actually signed up for the service for their husbands and sometimes even manage their accounts. Or we also have women who wear menswear and they are able to get those high quality menswear from 300 brand and they don't have to go to the store. Sometimes they for women who wear menswear they feel when they go into menswear store so then now they have the customer service for them.

James Kademan [00:04:34]:

All right? Now if I'm understanding this correctly, you must have to warehouse a lot of clothing, is that right?

Anya Chang [00:04:40]:

That's not true. Because keep in mind we are like a circular fashion. So most of our clothes are with customers or either on the way to the customer or back to our House. So we have a small warehouse. We do have 20,000 garments but then they are distributed to the customers all over the country. And so it's like library, not every book in the library. And once you get into a library, those book it rent like borrows again the same thing. Your Uber, you get off the car, someone else get on the car.

Anya Chang [00:05:10]:

Share economy.

James Kademan [00:05:11]:

All right, tell me from an I guess help me understand how long have you been doing this on your own.

Anya Chang [00:05:17]:

Here we we launched about two years ago. So we now serve us nationwide and work with over 300 brands both in the US also and also globally.

James Kademan [00:05:27]:

All right, interesting. Okay, so tail end of the pandemic. Help me understand you have all these clothing pieces that people like. I don't know what I'm buying as far as besides a T shirt or something like that. Help me understand who you have or maybe it's you figuring out what pieces of clothing to actually offer people.

Anya Chang [00:05:49]:

Yeah. So we use technology like AI and also we have human stylists. So when customers sign up they will fill out a simple quiz. They the quiz will tell us about their a lot of information such as the high end weight which we don't use a lot because most of a guy think they are taller and thinner and their high end weight tend to be wrong....

Bradley Fish - Bradley Fish Guitar

On a Being the Guy That Helps the Guy: "I remember at one point, he was like, dude, do you wanna do some more loops? I'm the number two producer in the world."

There are two levels of cool: Those that know how to play guitar and everyone else below them.

Playing guitar is a skill that many want, some achieve and a few master.  But how do you learn how to play a guitar?

Bradley Fish knows how to play guitar and has been doing it for decades.  He has travelled the world and played instruments in all corners of the globe.  On top of that, he has trained hundreds of students to play guitar.

But what is your goal with learning how to play guitar.  As a professional musician, the business can be tough.

Bradley opens up about the realities of making it in the music business, the changing landscape for artists, and why so few bands ever achieve major label success. He dives into his teaching philosophy, the evolution of technology in music education, and how he’s adapted his business to offer one-on-one guitar lessons both in person and online. Plus, Bradley gives us an exclusive peek inside his state-of-the-art music studio filled with unique instruments from around the world, and talks about his innovative approach to connecting with students.

Listen as Brad details how he trains people to play guitar, and what he has learned in the 40 plus years of teaching people the fine art of guitar playing.

Enjoy!

Visit Bradley at: https://bradleyfish.com/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 High School Audiophile Nostalgia

09:19 Unexpected Discoveries in Madison Clubs

11:31 Odds of Band Success

15:45 Simple Songs, Complex Insecurities

25:21 "Unexpected Gig Opportunity"

29:01 Experience Quality, Higher Cost

34:45 "Exploring Diverse String Instruments"

37:22 Music Recomposition and Innovation

43:37 Affordable Home Recording Revolution

48:43 Music Lessons: No Judgments

54:38 "Musician's Improvised Summer Journey"

57:45 Bicycle-Powered Musical Setup

01:05:17 Interactive Online Music Lessons

Podcast Transcription:

Bradley Fish [00:00:00]:

One in 40,000 bands will get a major label deal, and of the one in 40,000, one in 12 will actually make money at it.

James Kademan [00:00:08]:

So how long have you been in the music game?

Bradley Fish [00:00:10]:

Thirty years ago. And I started teaching guitar when I was 16. I saw Jethro Tull. I love them as a teenager. Yeah. I love them. And when I saw them live, it was like, like, they're really human. It wasn't that great.

Bradley Fish [00:00:24]:

It was okay. A lot of these bands, they're spending so much to promote, to produce, all that stuff that they're not really making up with.

James Kademan [00:00:31]:

You've seen so much of different people with finger styles, different guitars, different likes as far as music and stuff like that. So, you know, like, oh, you wanna play this? This is what you gotta do.

Bradley Fish [00:00:41]:

So much of the stuff, the instrument makes a big difference. Alright. You know? You play the sitar and it sounds like Indian music just right off the bat.

James Kademan [00:00:49]:

So from a business point of view with you teaching, how long have you been doing this?

Bradley Fish [00:00:53]:

It's my fortieth year. Fortieth year, dude. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:00:57]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. We are locally and written by the Bank of Sun Prairie, Calls on call extraordinary answering service, as well as the bold business book. And today, we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Bradley Fish of Bradley Fish Music. So, Bradley, how Fish it going today?

Bradley Fish [00:01:19]:

Awesome. Thanks for having me.

James Kademan [00:01:20]:

Man, we are in your studio, and holy cow. We got all kinds of stuff going on.

Bradley Fish [00:01:25]:

Yeah.

James Kademan [00:01:25]:

Chris, I mean, you're teaching me how to play guitar, which is great. And let's just start with what is Bradley Fish music, and then we'll take it from there.

Bradley Fish [00:01:33]:

Okay. It's me, really. It's just a big name to make

James Kademan [00:01:38]:

it really important. Yeah.

Bradley Fish [00:01:39]:

We're done. I'll talk to you later. Yeah. Yeah. You'll have to give him some b roll of the of the studio later. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:01:46]:

That's awesome.

Bradley Fish [00:01:47]:

There's some there's a live stream room. You can kinda see through the window, maybe. I don't know if the camera will show it. But, back there, there's, like, like, kinda like a dozen cameras and then lots of weird ethnic instruments from all over the world.

James Kademan [00:01:59]:

Yeah. So lots of strings.

Bradley Fish [00:02:00]:

Lots of strings. Lots of grand percussion. You know? And then back there Fish, like, a jam room with, like, you know, a rock band setup, a couple Marshall stacks, couple drum sets, couple PA systems, all that kind of stuff. Awesome. Thanks. And then, this room is actually you were asking me about the speakers. It's a Dolby Atmos setup. So there's, like, 11 speakers and a subwoofer.

Bradley Fish [00:02:23]:

And hell. There's, like, it's like a new three-dimensional I mean, not super new, but it's it's just kinda getting out there. It's a newer format where there's you can do, like, a surround sound in three dimensions. So Oh, very cool. Yeah. And so, like, the, some of the new movie theaters and some of the new electric cars, have the fancy electric Calls. They'll have them. It'll translate to that.

Bradley Fish [00:02:48]:

So if you're doing a mix and you want things to move around in three d

James Kademan [00:02:51]:

Yeah.

Bradley Fish [00:02:52]:

That lets you do it.

James Kademan [00:02:53]:

So So this is a step above or beyond THX?

Bradley Fish [00:02:56]:

I don't know what THX is. Is that because

James Kademan [00:02:58]:

remember the the movie theaters? I used to work at the theater years ago, and it was a big deal when THX came out.

Bradley Fish [00:03:03]:

Probably. I know, like Call, there's, what's really common, like, a a surround sound like a five one surround Fish common. So this is, like, the next dimension where you also have height. So yeah. And you Call see and you've got things behind you also. So you got speakers behind you, above you. Yeah. Alright.

Bradley Fish [00:03:22]:

So, yeah, three d. Pretty cool. It's like a globe.

James Kademan [00:03:25]:

So it's funny because when I was in high school, I was a little audiophile. I read the magazines, but I didn't have the money to pursue. So I just bought some used Erwin Vega speakers. I thought they were the best in the world. I still think they're pretty awesome. And they had I remember the big ones up front, and then you had little guys in the back for surround sound.

Bradley Fish [00:03:44]:

Yeah.

James Kademan [00:03:44]:

And then center channel came out and, oh, and then subwoofers, blah blah blah. So this is next level.

Bradley Fish [00:03:51]:

Yeah. Call give level. I'll give you a tour later. But, yeah, like, that's your center, left, right, and you can probably if the camera shows it, but in the tops, you've got left, right, and then on the sides, left, right, and then behind you, left, right, if you're facing that way. Yeah. And then you've got yeah. At the ceiling so, yeah, it goes all around.

James Kademan [00:04:09]:

And these are all the same seating? Yeah. Okay.

Bradley Fish [00:04:12]:

Yeah. So you get the same kinda they're they're you're not getting color from having different brands or whatever.

James Kademan [00:04:19]:

Oh, interesting. That's awesome. So how long have you been in the music game?

Bradley Fish [00:04:23]:

Well, I'm getting old. So this is And we Call are. Oh, let's see. So I'm 300 now. That's awesome. The I I started t well, I guess I played my first gig when I was 14. I was Really? Yeah. I wouldn't wanna subject anybody to that gig, but I did.

Bradley Fish [00:04:45]:

Okay. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. And then I started teaching guitar when I was 16.

James Kademan [00:04:51]:

Holy cow.

Bradley Fish [00:04:52]:

And I did a degree in guitar, you know, in college. Alright. And I was doing all sorts of different types of gigs, like theatrical accompaniment dance accompaniment, you name it. You know, rock bands, folk bands, all sorts of stuff. I don't know if you can imagine. And then, yeah. I've just been doing it the whole time. I got into music production.

Bradley Fish [00:05:16]:

I got into a lot of the kind of teaching coaching stuff. And I used to tour, like, with, acoustic type of stuff, sometimes solo, sometimes bring some bands and do, like, college gigs.

James Kademan [00:05:27]:

Okay.

Bradley Fish [00:05:28]:

Or whatever gigs we got.

James Kademan [00:05:30]:

Yeah. Anything that would

Bradley Fish [00:05:31]:

be Whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And I just kept falling. Call, it seemed like whether I was, like, half half my income would come from performing and half teaching, or half would come from producing and half teaching. And eventually, I kinda realized, like, the teaching part was kinda it just it just kinda fit me. And, you know, more and more, I've kinda gravitated into that, I think, for just my personality.

Bradley Fish [00:05:54]:

And you get older, you're like, I don't know if I wanna drive to the University of North Dakota this week. You know, it sounded like a great idea when I was 26. Right now, I was like, yeah. So That kinda

James Kademan [00:06:06]:

So when you would perform

Bradley Fish [00:06:07]:

Mhmm. How do you get the gigs? Wow.

James Kademan [00:06:10]:

You just call them up and you're like, hey. I got a guitar and a personality?

...

Brandon Lang - Lang Lighting and Decor

On a Knowing What People Want: "And people like quick. They want their stuff done yesterday."

The evolution of how a business came to be and grow is always interesting.

With Brandon Lang, of Lang's Lighting and Decor, he started making elaborate haunted houses for the neighborhood and now runs a successful lighting and decor business.

Brandon shares how an epic backyard haunted house for Halloween—built with his brother Dustin, a pile of recycled cardboard, and a garage full of ambition—sparked their passion for decorating and community connection. After their mega-popular haunted house was shut down for safety reasons, the brothers channeled their creative energy into a new business: helping families transform their homes with professional-grade Christmas and landscape lighting.

Listen as Brandon pulls back the curtain on launching their company out of their dad’s garage, facing the countless challenges of growth (from tangled bins of holiday lights to wrangling their first employees), and figuring out how to scale quality work without losing the personal touch. If you’ve ever wondered what goes into making neighborhoods dazzle during the holidays—or dreamed of turning your favorite hobby into a full-time pursuit—this episode will leave you inspired, entertained, and maybe ready to up your own lighting game.

Enjoy!

Visit Brandon at: https://langlightingllc.com/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Neighborhood Halloween Maze Tradition

05:48 "Haunted House Dream Deferred"

08:00 Haunted House Revival Idea

09:24 Classy Holiday Light Installation

14:25 Festive Neighborhood Light Rivalry

16:00 "Lang Lighting's Commercial Expansion"

20:10 Seasonal Income Solutions Pursuit

23:46 Investing in Quick Product Turnaround

27:54 Streamlining Quoting Efficiency

30:25 Hiring Decision: Seasonal Part-Timer

33:59 Dad Joins Family Business

35:30 Hiring Struggles and Decisions

40:46 Business Growth Through Networking

41:29 "Embrace Strengths and Delegate"

46:50 Training Challenges for New Employees

50:39 Lighting Services

Podcast Transcription:

Brandon Lang [00:00:00]:

Yeah. I think the what's great about the work that we do is like we get to see almost instant gratification. You put lights on the house, you turn it on and boom.

James [00:00:11]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumph and successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found On the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com. We are underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, and today, we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Brandon Lang of Lang Lighting and Decor. So Brandon, how is it going today?

Brandon Lang [00:00:37]:

Today is going good. Weather's weather's nice.

James [00:00:40]:

It's a good day for lighting and decor.

Brandon Lang [00:00:42]:

Yeah. It's always a good day for lighting and decor.

James [00:00:44]:

Nice. Tell us really quick. How long has Lang Lighting been around?

Brandon Lang [00:00:48]:

So, we established the company in 2018. Okay. And, it was just me and my brother starting off as a hobby and today, we have three full time employees, two part time and then Dustin and I.

James [00:01:04]:

Nice. So. How do you get into the lighting business?

Brandon Lang [00:01:08]:

Wow.

James [00:01:09]:

I didn't mean to be that extreme but

Brandon Lang [00:01:12]:

Where to begin? Alright, so, Dustin and I, we started off essentially decorating for the holidays. That was kind of, where the love and the passion came from.

James [00:01:24]:

Your own houses?

Brandon Lang [00:01:25]:

Yeah. So, just growing up, dad's house, mom's house, we just had this love of like, most of the time parents would handle the indoor stuff and we were like we're On to just tackle the outdoor stuff. Like Lang Christmas lights, you know, the store bought stuff, either on the roof lines. A lot of times we would put up big trees or wrap the trunks, the bushes, you know, very simple simple stuff like that.

James [00:01:51]:

What are we talking about age wise? Are you five, 10?

Brandon Lang [00:01:55]:

Age wise as far as

James [00:01:56]:

Yeah. Like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

Brandon Lang [00:01:57]:

oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, man.

James [00:01:59]:

Like you're two years old barely walking. You're like, dad give me that ball of lights. We're gonna make this happen.

Brandon Lang [00:02:04]:

No. I would say it's, it's close to almost like the Christmas vacation, you know, where he has boys come out to help him. It was like probably eight to ten is kind of where it all started from. Alright. Yep. So, we just, we love decorating for, and it actually started off as decorating for Halloween.

James [00:02:21]:

Oh. That

Brandon Lang [00:02:21]:

was kind of our main gig. So Okay. Halloween and then obviously Christmas. So, what had happened was is every year we would have a Halloween party, for the neighbor kids, and we would have these games Call, like, you know, put the spoon in your mouth and like have, like egg runs and all that stuff and pin the pin the tail On the donkey and, bob for apples, all that stuff. So, we would decorate for this, for this Halloween party. So, we actually started putting up a haunted house out of my dad's house. Right? So, cardboard boxes that we'd get down the street in the recycling bin. And we ended up creating this like elaborate maze, for the first few years and then we actually bought tents and so from like I think 02/2005 to 2010 we were creating this huge elaborate maze.

Brandon Lang [00:03:11]:

Right? So, and then we would have it through, Halloween and then, we actually ended extending it for a couple days. So, anyway, so we had this Halloween, this haunted house for like ten years. Right?

James [00:03:24]:

Alright.

Brandon Lang [00:03:24]:

And, the last year that we did it was in 2014. And, we we would blast it to the public. It was open for five days, including Halloween. In that five days, it was free to the public and we ended up sending 2,000 people through this thing.

James [00:03:40]:

You're kidding.

Brandon Lang [00:03:41]:

I'm not kidding. Yeah. And

James [00:03:42]:

this is On driveway

Brandon Lang [00:03:44]:

or garage?

James [00:03:44]:

It is in

Brandon Lang [00:03:44]:

a residential home.

James [00:03:46]:

In the house?

Brandon Lang [00:03:47]:

In the house in Oregon, Wisconsin. It's called the Lang Family House Of Terror.

James [00:03:51]:

Alright.

Brandon Lang [00:03:51]:

So, so we would, set up this huge probably, 15 by 25 foot tent in the front in the driveway. So, they would go through that, through the garage that we created the maze, then up through the house. And then we actually had a whole pallet Kademan then two big tents out in the back. Back. It was like a twenty to twenty five minute walk through. Woah. Yeah. So, yeah.

Brandon Lang [00:04:13]:

Two two thousand people, we ended up raising $5,000.

James [00:04:17]:

Just donations?

Brandon Lang [00:04:18]:

Yeah. Yeah. So, obviously, it was free

James [00:04:19]:

and we were just

Brandon Lang [00:04:20]:

taking donations at the end. It was all volunteer based. At one point, I remember one night we had 55 actors.

James [00:04:27]:

50 five people Lighting?

Brandon Lang [00:04:28]:

55 people acting in the house and in the tents and pallet James and all

James [00:04:34]:

that stuff. In the world.

Brandon Lang [00:04:34]:

Yeah. So, that's kind of where essentially like the love for decorating started, decorating for the holidays. Then we started doing this haunted house thing. Right? So, anyway, last year 2014. So, in 2015, we're, we're starting to decorate and this is going to be the It's called the final chapter. Because we're like, oh, we're out doing it. We might have to get a bigger space. So we labeled it the final chapter.

Brandon Lang [00:05:01]:

The town knew about it. So, On, August So, we start building this thing in like April.

James [00:05:06]:

Holy cow. Okay.

Brandon Lang [00:05:07]:

Right? So, the garage starts first. Cars go out and they don't come back in until like November, December. Right? So, we started in April. We're starting to build some of the outdoor stuff. And in August, the town of Oregon, ended up coming in and they were like, hey, some of this stuff isn't,

James [00:05:26]:

Fire code. Fire Call

Brandon Lang [00:05:28]:

that stuff. Yep. So, we we essentially, met with the city and we said, hey, what what would it take to kind of get this thing going for our last final hurrah? And we weren't able to have have it. And then, they shut us down and it ended up taking us about a month to take down all this stuff.

James [00:05:47]:

Holy cow.

Brandon Lang [00:05:48]:

Yeah. So What a heartbreaker. I know. 2014 was our big finale. You know, it's always been kind of our dream like when it got shut down it was heartbroken. Right? But it Call always actually kind of been our dream On the back of our mind to actually have a haunted house. We would obviously charge money and we would have a like a place with fire code safety and you know Right?

James [00:06:14]:

Exit signs and all that. Yeah.

Brandon Lang [00:06:15]:

Yeah. For sure. It would be it would be a Call, like a full business for sure.

James [00:06:19]:

Yeah. It's interesting. It's one of those things where you're like, I kind of see where they're coming from. But on the flip side Right. If someone can't figure out how to get out of the house through cardboard, they've probably

Brandon Lang [00:06:28]:

For sure.

James [00:06:29]:

Darwin's working right there, you know. Just let it happen.

Brandon Lang [00:06:32]:

Yeah. Yeah....

Hannah Klassy - Dementia Dimensions

On a Knowing What is Good For You: "What is good for your heart is also what's good for your brain."

What is dementia?  Do you know someone with dementia?  How can you help someone with dementia?

These are some of the questions that people often ask when confronted with a loved one, parent or sibling that may be having a hard time.  These are the questions that Hannah Klassy can help you answer.

Hannah Klassy started Dementia Dimensions to help people navigate the confusing world of dementia, helping her clients help their loved ones to stay sharper, longer.

Hannah shares her journey from working as a speech-language pathologist in memory care facilities to founding her own business dedicated to helping individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Together, they break down common misconceptions about dementia, discuss the different stages and types, and highlight the emotional challenges faced by both patients and families. Hannah stresses the importance of early planning, maintaining independence, and building a strong support team—while also sharing practical advice on brain health and daily living strategies.

If you or someone you love is affected by dementia, or if you're simply curious about how one business is making a difference in the world of elder care, you won't want to miss this insightful and compassionate conversation with Hannah Hammond of Dementia Dimensions.

Listen as Hannah shares some insights she has gained so that you are prepared when you find others, or maybe even yourself, heading towards a life with dementia.

Enjoy!

Visit Hannah at: https://www.dementiadimensions.org/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Understanding Alzheimer's and Dementia Progression

04:26 Understanding Alzheimer's and Dementia Types

07:20 Complexities of Daily Hygiene Tasks

10:50 Respecting Wishes in Cognitive Decline

14:05 Health Care Communication Challenges

18:56 Heart-Healthy Lifestyle Boosts Brain Health

19:52 Diet, Brain Stimulation, and Sleep

24:00 Networking for Caregiver Business Growth

27:48 Supporting Dementia Communities Together

29:40 Brain Scans for Alzheimer's Diagnosis

34:45 "Importance of Seeking Support"

36:25 In-Home Care Challenges and Solutions

41:36 Speech Therapy and Business Growth

44:28 Building Trust Through Familiarity

45:42 Free Home Safety Consultations

48:56 Elder Law and Financial Planning

Podcast Transcription:

Hannah Klassy [00:00:00]:

Cognitive activities. So just stimulating your brain, turning it on. I I you know, people are like, well, what can be good for my brain? If if your brain's feeling challenged or, say, even learning a new recipe, learning new things, as long as your brain is getting turned on and you're thinking, that's good for you.

James Kademan [00:00:19]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast podcast link found at drawincustomers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie. And today, we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Hannah Klassy of Dementia Dimensions. So, Hannah, let's, start with what is Dementia Dimensions.

Hannah Klassy [00:00:45]:

Sure. Thanks for having me.

James Kademan [00:00:46]:

Yeah. Thanks for being on the show.

Hannah Klassy [00:00:48]:

Yeah. Yeah. So I am sole owner and founder of Dementia Dimensions. It really is where I help, people navigate the challenges through dementia and dementia care. That could be those living with dementia, families, caregivers. That's kind of the simple version of it.

James Kademan [00:01:05]:

Alright.

Hannah Klassy [00:01:06]:

There's a lot to Dementia, dementia care, especially if you receive a diagnosis. And so because there are so many challenges in just the navigation of it, I have started my business to really help these families.

James Kademan [00:01:20]:

Nice. Yeah. Now you raise an interesting point right off the bat here Yeah. Because I guess in my head when somebody says, hey, I have dementia or my mom has dementia or something of that nature Mhmm. You assume that's a light switch. Like, you either don't have dementia or you do have dementia. But it sounds like you you mentioned something about people being diagnosed Mhmm. And then saying, oh, I need help.

James Kademan [00:01:39]:

Mhmm. So that I imagine you're on a scale, a lesser scale of being having dementia or something like that. Sure. Yeah. Tell us about that.

Hannah Klassy [00:01:48]:

Yeah. And that's a very common question. So thanks for bringing that up. Really, there are stages of Dementia. And even before dementia and let me just start with what dementia is. Yeah. It's really a term for your brain changing. So, it's changes in your memory, your thinking, and your reasoning.

Hannah Klassy [00:02:08]:

So, a lot of people think, oh, it might be a disease but really it's just a term. So different, conditions and diseases can cause brain changes, which is the dementia.

James Kademan [00:02:19]:

Alright.

Hannah Klassy [00:02:19]:

So that's where you come into play with all Alzheimer's disease. Because of Alzheimer's, that is making your brain change, which in case then you have dementia. So different conditions and diseases can cause your brain to change in different ways. And so a lot of times with dementia, there's earlier stages too which then isn't considered quite dementia yet. When you're diagnosed with dementia, it really means that, your daily life activities are a challenge for you. You're not independent anymore. Some people, as they notice brain changes and they go to the doctor, they may hear the word mild cognitive impairment, which typically is before you lose that Dimensions. So you may notice some brain changes, but you're still maybe independent at home driving.

Hannah Klassy [00:03:09]:

You may notice that your memory is not great anymore but you can still do those daily life activities. As dementia progresses, you lose those abilities. So, yes, that even in the beginning is a lot to kind of learn and understand Hannah sometimes even if people go to the doctor, they don't get this huge explanation. So I try to help with that too with families and caregivers. I do think it's really important to educate yourself on it even if you are a caregiver so you understand, you know, maybe as they are progressing or what to look for that you have an idea and that can be helpful to that person living with dementia.

James Kademan [00:03:45]:

Alright. Yeah. So it's almost a a symptom of a a deeper problem typically.

Hannah Klassy [00:03:51]:

Right. And, you know, a lot of families that may reach out to me or even the person living with dementia, they say, you know, they may notice brain changes. Is it even worse worth the diagnosis? Should I go in? I'm a very, it's it's really up to them. I give them reasons of of why it may benefit them as well as maybe why in your choice if you don't wanna go to the doctor and get receive receive a diagnosis. That's your choice. Yeah. I'm really here to help them of their wishes and their best interest. But because there are over a hundred different conditions that can cause dementia

James Kademan [00:04:26]:

Wow.

Hannah Klassy [00:04:26]:

You know, you're really looking at you know, once you maybe get a diagnosis. And why we hear Alzheimer's a lot is because that's the, that's eighty percent of what dementia is that people get diagnosed with. So if you know what is Alzheimer's disease, there's different characteristics that come with it. There's Lewy body dementia. There's different types that, a lot of times you see different brain changes within that. So it can be helpful to know, you know, what what it may start to look like as you progress and what maybe comes with it. Not that it's always the same, but it can be helpful to really see, like, what what may come out of this. What should I be looking for, that can be helpful.

James Kademan [00:05:08]:

So I guess, man, you're opening my eyes here because no. It's very good. It's very good. Because I guess in my head, I'm like, oh, dementia is whatever. You're having a rough time with your brain.

Hannah Klassy [00:05:16]:

Yeah. But in

James Kademan [00:05:17]:

the end, I imagine it could be different segments, memory or even cognitive thinking.

Hannah Klassy [00:05:22]:

Yep.

James Kademan [00:05:22]:

I don't know. Dealing with numbers or something like that or spatial recognition. Yep. And it doesn't necessarily

Hannah Klassy [00:05:28]:

have to be

James Kademan [00:05:29]:

all or nothing.

Hannah Klassy [00:05:29]:

Right. Right. And Okay. Even then physically, you know, it affects you too. So, that's an important part too is, when families come to me of they ask me like, well, what can you help me with? Oh. Right. It's just like, like yeah. Yeah.

Hannah Klassy [00:05:44]:

It's there's so much to it that I really, you know, start to ask them questions of where they are at now, what their wishes are, how do we plan for the now as well as for the future because I really wanna help prevent a crisis Okay. From happening. What would

James Kademan [00:06:01]:

a crisis be in this regard?

Hannah Klassy [00:06:02]:

Sure. So a lot of times, I think of a crisis as, say, they wanna stay at home and families are like, I don't Hannah, you know, I wanna keep them home. The biggest thing is keeping them safe. Sometimes with dementia, as your brain changes, wandering can happen. You come into play with, as your brain changes, even driving, leaving the house, cooking becomes hard. So Gotcha. That could become dangerous. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:06:29]:

Okay.

Hannah Klassy [00:06:30]:

Yeah. So different aspects in that, as well as preventing falls....

Dean Vance - Vance and Associates CPA

On a the Brutal Truth About the CPA World: "It's the people who are not part of the orthodoxy who are outside the box that ask those, quote, unquote, 'silly questions', that actually dig in. 99% of this space has been following a fallacy about things."

As an entrepreneur, the government rewards you, kind of, for building your business to create jobs and keep the economy moving.  But these rewards are typically given as tax breaks that are not at the forefront of the minds of accountants.  You know them the professionals that you trust to know the tax code to help minimize your tax burden.

Dean Vance is a CPA that comes at this from a different angle.  Dean has an eye and a mind for helping business owners navigate the tax code to make sure they are taking advantage of the opportunities the tax code offers them.

Dean Vance of Vance and Associates CPA talks taxes, accounting, and small business finance. As a seasoned CPA with nearly thirty years of experience, Dean shares the ins and outs of tax strategy, the importance of tax planning, and why having someone regularly “look under the hood” of your business books can make all the difference. The conversation covers everything from the often-overlooked tax opportunities for small business owners—like paying your kids to work in your business—to the crucial role of systems, checklists, and company culture in building a successful business.

Dean also gives listeners a peek behind the scenes of his own firm, discusses the value of industry specialization (“riches are in niches!”), and highlights the human side of accounting, including personality fit and team building. Along the way, James and Dean swap stories about navigating the real challenges and triumphs that come with entrepreneurship, making this episode a must-listen for business owners who want to stop leaving money on the table and start running a leaner, smarter operation. Whether you’re dreading tax season or just want to better understand the numbers driving your business, you’ll find plenty of practical wisdom—and maybe a little inspiration—in this week’s conversation.

Listen as Dean shares some tax tips, as well as offers you things to look for when searching for a professional to help you with you tax strategy.

Enjoy!

Visit Dean at: https://www.deanvancecpa.com/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 "From Bakery Job to Business Owner"

05:40 Atypical, Big-Picture CPA

12:48 Decoding Business Patterns Mystically

16:47 "Fridays: Cakes, Beer, and Nostalgia"

23:55 Law School Decision and Karma

30:43 "Tax Return Amendment Review Process"

33:21 Bookkeeping for LLCs and Corporations

38:16 "Bimonthly Financial Meetings Routine"

46:38 "Inside vs. Outside the Box"

50:56 Leveraged Medical Supply Deduction Strategy

56:37 The Rosetta Stone's Impact

01:02:57 Choosing a Trained Tax Strategist

01:04:03 Captive Insurance Company Basics

01:12:20 S Corp vs. C Corp for E-commerce

01:15:47 Client Assessment and Discovery Process

01:19:54 "Entertainer Computes Cost of Labor"

01:27:50 "Creedal Country: Merit Over Origin"

01:33:57 Basement Drywall Experience

01:35:56 "Opportunity and Ambition Dynamics"

01:44:42 "German Cultural Traits & Influence"

Podcast Transcription:

Dean Vance [00:00:00]:

Third would be tax planning, I guess, generally. You want a professional who knows what they're doing to In go through your books and say, hey. Just like I mentioned with my with the the the prospect that that turns into a client was, you know, just have somebody who does this all the time. Right? Take a look at your books and take a look at your tax returns. Okay? Is there is there a fidelity between the closing of your books and your tax return? So you check all these different things, one. And then two, you can look at how they're situated legally, how how their entity is set up legally. Right?

James [00:00:35]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com. We are locally and written by the Bank of Sun Prairie, Calls on call extraordinary answering service, as well as the bold business book. And today, we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Dean Vance of Vance and Associates CPA, and we are talking taxes. So, Dean, how is it going today?

Dean Vance [00:01:06]:

I am well, James. How are you? Thanks for having me.

James [00:01:08]:

Very well. I'm excited. We're we're towards the April here. I guess, really April, which is always the the month of Calls. Love it or hate it.

Dean Vance [00:01:17]:

That's right.

James [00:01:19]:

And I am excited to have you on the show because I can tell you before I got what I would consider to be, business aware accountant, I have paid what I feel like is way more than I should Dane in Calls, and no one's ever proud of that.

Dean Vance [00:01:36]:

So I'm

James [00:01:36]:

happy to talk to you. So let's just start with the baseline. What is Vance CPA?

Dean Vance [00:01:42]:

Vance is such a CPA. We're a CPA firm. We're located in Blue Call, Pennsylvania, which is right outside of, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And, where it's four of us, and, we do small business accounting and tax work. So, we have three basic offerings, transactional controller and CFO, services, and we have got a couple niches. One is the home care, home health niche. The other In and engineering niche. I guess you'd say the third would be a, ecommerce niche.

Dean Vance [00:02:12]:

Alright. So yeah.

James [00:02:14]:

Well, that's pretty you know, you're clever right there to pick your verticals.

Dean Vance [00:02:18]:

Yeah.

James [00:02:19]:

The target instead of saying we're the accountant for everyone that has money

Dean Vance [00:02:22]:

That's right.

James [00:02:23]:

Or pays taxes because

Dean Vance [00:02:25]:

That's right.

James [00:02:26]:

I interviewed a guy this was years ago, and he said niches bring the riches. Yep. And it was interesting that conversation with him. So I'm like, what Dane you talking about? Why would you cut down on your potential customer base? But the more I Call to him, the more I realize this guy's a genius. And I guess that's why we do this, right, to learn stuff from from people.

Dean Vance [00:02:45]:

Yeah. And you do it long enough, James. You you you you're you're In a you know, if you're in a location long In, like, Eskimos have what? Ten, fifteen different adjectives for snow? You know, we've got two. Right? Yellow and plain. Right?

James [00:02:56]:

Yeah. Right.

Dean Vance [00:02:59]:

So so the longer you're in some place if you ever you remember the book, Wealth of Nations. Right? Adam Smith?

James [00:03:04]:

Yeah. Yep.

Dean Vance [00:03:05]:

He had the, the needle factory example of economics In you remember that. You know? And you and the thing is, I mean, you you spend more time in one place, your learning curve just kind of goes like that. You know? If you don't, your learning curve is and of flat. Mhmm. And so to to to your point, yeah, you you riches are In niches. Absolutely.

James [00:03:25]:

I love it. I love it. So how long have you been in the CPA game?

Dean Vance [00:03:29]:

Kinda got my CPA In '96. Okay. So, you know, it's been four almost thirty years.

James [00:03:35]:

Alright.

Dean Vance [00:03:36]:

Yep.

James [00:03:36]:

And tell me about being a CPA. Is it common? Like, I see a lot of CPAs that are just one person shows.

Dean Vance [00:03:44]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

James [00:03:45]:

Is that common to go down that road like a chiropractor, or are most of them working for companies and just a handful of them are owners?

Dean Vance [00:03:53]:

I think most in terms of numbers, I think most are probably in the government

James [00:03:59]:

and in, you

Dean Vance [00:04:00]:

know, Fortune 50, Fortune 100 companies. They're they're they're working for companies. And then some entrepreneurial types, you know, are have their own business. Like, you know, I worked I worked at, I worked at a CPA firm when I had gone to I was Dane Joe's undergrad, went to directional grad school, and, actually, I was gonna get a master's in taxation. I was bored out of my mind. But, anyway, I went to a c local CPA firm, worked there for for a season, and then worked worked with, Tasty Baking Company, the makers of Tasty Dane, if you ever heard of that. Yeah. They're actually Pennsylvania based.

Dean Vance [00:04:36]:

In like little w's in a sense. Got all kinds of little, you know, cakes and so forth. So I worked there for about four years, and then I got tired of being there. And, even my my manager said, you're you're kind of she said she said, you're kind of a, what did she say? She said, you're kind of a partner type. You know? You you have that kind of vibe that you're, you know, of a lot of the partners that, you know. And so I left there, and I formed my own business, you know, after four years. And, you know, first, I just started doing tax returns. You know, people needed tax returns.

Dean Vance [00:05:05]:

And then from there, it just kinda grew. You know? But but but yeah. But to your point, yeah, I think I think most CPAs are one person shops. They might hire tax preparers On tax season, but most CPAs are who are on their own are are one person shops.

James [00:05:20]:

So tell me a story just about the mindset of a CPA. Because from my point of view, this seems like crazy boring. But most of the people that I know that are in the CPA industry, they're like, how do you not understand numbers? How do you not

Dean Vance [00:05:35]:

That's right.

James [00:05:36]:

So I just wanna try to wrap my head around understanding the mindset of a CPA.

...

Tammy Cho - Path to the Heart

On a Question Every Entrepreneur Should Routinely Ask Themselves: "Where are you not allowing yourself to be yourself, your authentic self?"

We push and we grind and we hustle and we push some more.  As entrepreneurs we do all of this in the name of success, freedom, happiness and perhaps a bit of stubborn ego.  Pushing this hard can sometimes put us in a position of forgetting who we truly are.  Even forgetting what we really want out of life and our business. Without realizing, or remembering what we are pushing for can lead to less success than we are capable of achieving, and possibly even worse, often in the form of health and wellness issues.

Tammy Cho, founder of Path to the Heart, went down this path and realized it.  She got up, changed course and now helps others explore the powerful intersection of personal healing and authentic leadership.

Tammy shares her remarkable transition from working as a high-achieving nurse—who ultimately faced burnout and a life-changing panic attack—to creating a unique business dedicated to helping high achievers reconnect with their authentic selves. We’ll hear how her personal story of emotional struggle, navigating therapy, mastering NLP, and discovering energy work and psychosomatic therapy inspired her mission to serve entrepreneurs searching for more meaning and alignment in both their personal and professional lives.

Tammy discusses the importance of self-awareness, energy leadership, and recognizing the masks many of us wear as business owners. Tammy opens up about her face and body analysis work, explaining how our physical features can reveal invisible blocks to our potential, and how aligning our mind, heart, and body can amplify our presence and leadership in any room.

Listen as Tammy shares some powerful insights that will have you taking a moment to think about what you want, so you can focus on achieving exactly that.

Enjoy!

Visit Tammy at: https://pathtotheheart.com/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Awakening to Emotional Disconnection

05:20 Face & Body Analysis for Healing

14:26 Entrepreneurial Growth Through Mindfulness

19:07 Embrace Unplanned Exploration

25:39 Face Analysis for Personal Empowerment

28:25 Facial Changes from Emotional Shift

35:42 "Uncovering Authentic Leadership"

42:31 Alignment: Mind, Heart, Soul, Will

47:49 Face Analysis Insight Session

48:41 Exploring Authentic Self Through Reflection

57:48 Grounding and Alignment Guidance

01:04:36 "Exploring Spiritual Expression"

Podcast Transcription:

Tammy Cho [00:00:00]:

What makes someone when we go into a room actually command the room? Like, what what is that? It's when they're actually aligned in their mind and their heart and their soul and their will. Like, when you are in alignment in all these places, that's when your energy essence, you're leading the room by that. And it really doesn't matter what strategy, what words you're using because you're in alignment. It's just like you're in conviction.

James [00:00:32]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggles, stories, and triumph and successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found In the podcast link On at drawincustomers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, calls on call extraordinary answering service, as well as the bold business book. And today, we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Tammy Cho of Path to the Heart. So, Tammy, how is it going today?

Tammy Cho [00:01:00]:

It's going very well. Beautiful weather over here, James. I'm Cho delighted to have this conversation with you.

James [00:01:06]:

Yeah. I'm excited because you I know NLP is a part of what you to, but just for the audience here, how about you let us know what is Path to the heart?

Tammy Cho [00:01:14]:

Yeah. I'd love to. Path to the heart to the heart was essentially, yeah, birth from, up above. Essentially, I was going through my own healing journey, and it, you know, really literally downloaded into while I was in the retreat, sitting there that I meant to do this type of work. And, you know, that really instigated a lot of it. And In addition to me being on my healing journey, it's a big part of what I support, you know, entrepreneurs through. And so, for myself, maybe I'll start with a bit of my story In that's okay, James.

James [00:01:47]:

Sure. By all means, please.

Tammy Cho [00:01:49]:

Yeah. So, I essentially, I was a nurse for about twenty Heart, and, I essentially, you know, went to work one Draw, and I had heart palpitations and chest pain. And I was having a hard time, you know, like, really hearing sounds around me. My ears were getting fuzzy, and I had this metallic taste of fear in my mouth. I was like, oh my goodness. I'm having a heart attack. And, that day, I ended up being wheeled off to emergency in front of everyone at work. And yeah.

Tammy Cho [00:02:19]:

And so there was, like, no turning back then. And, at that point, you know, like, I I knew I wasn't doing well and all the those kind of things. I knew I was losing, Billy to concentrate and all these things. And when, I I I couldn't really get myself to let go at that point. I kinda knew intellectually what I needed to do. I In got a doctor's note to actually take time off, but also overcommitted and to everyone, you know, the doctors and the nurses, the patients, and all those things that I couldn't emotionally let go. And so that was a big part of my path, and that burnout essentially, slowed me down. But it didn't, really land within myself until I had my first daughter.

Tammy Cho [00:03:06]:

She was six months old, lying down on one of those baby Einstein mats. And James, for the first time, she hit one of those dangling toys for the first time intentionally, right, as a six month old. And I just looked at it, and I I couldn't connect to any joy. And it really honestly, if it wasn't for this, community nurse that was actually visiting me as at the exact moment witnessing this. And pointing that out, like, I I wouldn't even notice how disconnected I was to my own child. You know? And and so in that moment, I realized I was turning into, you know, my mom who had physically abandoned me at 20 old. But then I I was replaying it at emotional level, and that really woke me up to really start my whole healing journey, and the birthing of Path to the Heart. And, yeah, like, that was the instigator because literally, there was no one in my family that was in business.

Tammy Cho [00:03:56]:

So I was really breaking through a lot of things. But, essentially, at that point, you know, obviously, I went to do all the therapy. I did I started investing in a lot of personal development. Literally had a workshop every other week or something like that. And, I tried to master the mind. I actually learned NLP way back when trying to figure everything out. And, of course, the answer is not in the head. And I ended up going into, you know, discovering energy work.

Tammy Cho [00:04:22]:

And I did a a variety of modalities, from Reiki, became a shaman at that point, vile energy, healing, all these different things. And when I was going through all that, like, I felt better because, you know, underneath everything was, like, I was struggling with anxiety and depression and things like this. And, I had felt better, and yet when I noticed I wouldn't exchange healings, you know, with other healers, which I was doing, like, two to three times a week as a way of practice and everything. I noticed everything was still there, James. And, when that happened, like, I realized that I need to look a little further into the truth here. You know? And, and so being the truth seeker that I am, I kept on going, and I ended up tracking into my life four years of emotional and spiritual healing. And I came across something called psychosomatic therapy. Long story short, this is a study of the body, mind, heart, soul together.

Tammy Cho [00:05:20]:

Prior to this point, I was essentially doing things in a box trying to, you know, heal myself, so to speak. And, yeah, psychosomatic therapy essentially was a study of all these parts as it's expressed through our physical face. So So I'm not sure if you read my bio, but I'm a face and body analysis expert as well. Help people with, worthiness, with, leading their energy, energy leadership, I like to call it. And this is where I help people see through the physical features of their face, how to identify, you know, invisible blocks that are in their way, where places that they're not looking, that is really keeping them out of alignment for success, places that, they may see themselves in a very, disillusioned way, because the left side of our face is the private world In the right side is our public face. So it's it's very interesting what transpires when we look at the truth In our our body doesn't lie, James. So, that was a long convoluted way of sort of, you know, this is how I came to be doing what I love. I believe this is, a big part of my purpose, and there's always, you know, challenges and loopholes that I've learned now to use my own face and body to navigate that.

Tammy Cho [00:06:32]:

And so so yeah. Thank you for the space, and I'm curious what's coming up for you, Gina.

James [00:06:38]:

Yeah. Well, you touched on a lot of things that I wanna address. Initially, the first one where you're getting wheeled off to the emergency room when you're a nurse, what did they attribute that to? Was that stress? Was that I don't just help me out with what is that because it sounds like you're pretty young when that happened.

Tammy Cho [00:06:56]:

Yeah. Well, I I was essentially, going through a panic attack, and panic attacks could feel very much like a heart attack. It felt like a heart attack when I was going through In,...

Jose Berlanga - Experienced Entrepreneur

On the Skills to be a Successful Entrepreneur: "You have to be a little bit crazy, a little bit of a gambler, a little bit of a dreamer."

Advice for an entrepreneur from an experienced business owner with years of dealing with the ups and downs of multiple businesses is invaluable.  The simple fact is that we do not know it all, and sometimes a story from someone that has lived to tell a tale is a great example, or warning, for us.

Jose Berlanga, the entrepreneurial force behind many businesses, from Italian Coffee Shops, to real estate investing. Jose opens up about his journey from launching his first business at just 17 years old in the oil and gas industry, to navigating the highs and lows of real estate development with his brother as a partner. Together, they discuss the realities of entrepreneurship—shedding light on the risks, sacrifices, and the unexpected learning curves that come with building businesses from the ground up.

Jose also shares insights from his new books, including “The Business of Home Building,” “Dirt Rich,” and “Quantum Entrepreneurship,” each offering a candid look at what it truly takes to run successful companies and develop the entrepreneurial mindset. You will get an inside look at the importance of choosing the right partners, protecting your business during industry downturns, and why understanding your personal strengths (and weaknesses) are just as critical as managing cash flow.

Listen as Jose shares some of his behind-the-scenes struggles and triumphs of business ownership, his hard-earned wisdom and actionable advice straight from someone who’s lived—and survived—it all.

Enjoy!

Visit Jose at: https://joseberlanga.com/

 

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Entrepreneurship: Risks and Lifestyle

06:18 Entrepreneurship: The Crazy Gamble

13:44 Balancing Passion and Practicality

16:30 Balancing Professional Dress Codes

23:36 Partnering for Business Success

27:52 Business Debt and Survival Struggles

31:50 Accidental Real Estate Journey

36:58 "Successful Partnerships Require Compromise"

42:28 "Saturday Night Live Skit Memory"

49:58 Prepare for Economic Shifts

57:47 Youthful Business Risk-Taking Insight

01:00:17 Guidance Lines of Credit Explained

01:07:48 Understanding Your Business Role

Podcast Transcription:

Jose Berlanga [00:00:00]:

The biggest mistake that that some of us entrepreneurs make is that when we start making some money and we experience a handful of good years, we get very, very On, and we think that those good years are never gonna end. And instead of putting some money aside, paying paying off some debt, consolidating our operation, we continue to grow and we continue to leverage and expand recklessly.

James Kademan [00:00:31]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found In the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, calls On call extraordinary answering service, and, of course, the Business book. And today, we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Jose Berlanga of the McCall Media Group, and we're talking real estate, business, and a couple of mistakes along the way. Is that safe to say, Jose?

Jose Berlanga [00:01:05]:

That's right. How are you, James?

James Kademan [00:01:07]:

I'm doing very well. I'm doing very well. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Jose Berlanga [00:01:11]:

Part of my reinvention now, I'm starting to write. I'm already on my third book, having a blast doing In, something that I've been wanting to do for a very long time and finally got around to it. But, but really the my my companies, are several others and umbrella of companies, mostly real estate related. Houstonian Capital, Onyx, Land Partners, On Homes, so on and so forth. But In in the bulk of our activities are are residential single family, developments from land development, single family homes. We do a lot of multifamily and some commercial and whatnot. So real estate, I would say, is where I'm at, where where the the majority of my activities. Not to say that I haven't In, an entrepreneur in so many other industries, which is the fun part about my my my my career that is very very versatile.

James Kademan [00:02:10]:

Nice. Tell me we talked to or you touched on a lot of stuff there, but let's tackle a couple here. Tell me about your books. You said three books?

Jose Berlanga [00:02:18]:

Yes. This the first one is the Business of home building, which, it is not about how to build homes, but how to build a company, not only a construction company, a company that builds homes, but just a company in the real estate business. It's very interesting. It's I try to made it make it fun. I realized that after a decades being in this business, there wasn't one single place where you could go and learn how to start a company in the construction business, not just the technical aspects, but everything that happens behind the scenes. So I I wrote that book. It was, it's it's published. It's out there on Amazon and everywhere else.

Jose Berlanga [00:03:00]:

But but I I I didn't do it just because I was interested in in In, publishing books. It just it was more of a cathartic process to unload all this information that I had been piling, adding up throughout my career. The second one is about land development, land investing, land speculating by the name of DIRTTICH. That is coming out

James Kademan [00:03:24]:

of the Dirt Rich?

Jose Berlanga [00:03:25]:

Yes. Yes.

James Kademan [00:03:26]:

Oh, it's a great name. Oh, I love it.

Jose Berlanga [00:03:28]:

Yeah. And and it has a dual, meaning because it's not necessarily rich, in in the sense of wealth, but it's rich in your blood, in our nature, in our culture, in our history. What what it means to select a piece of land, and develop it and how everything in the world is this, multi trillion dollar industry around the world of real estate, it all begins by the proper selection of a piece of land.

James Kademan [00:04:04]:

Mhmm.

Jose Berlanga [00:04:05]:

And and and so I get a little bit deeper on the second book, that I had a lot of fun writing. And the third one is, the name is On entrepreneurship, which is dealing with the fundamentals of what it means to be an In, the risk, the lifestyle, the identity, the anxiety that an entrepreneur goes through, the life choices that one must make in order to choose that career and live that type of life. So my my whole life has In, very, very involved in entrepreneurship. I've I've owned businesses since I was 17 years old and, in many different sectors. So I I have a a passion for understanding that particular lifestyle of not, working for someone, but most of all, always living under that uncertainty of not knowing where your where where where your next payday will come from or if it will come at all. So so that is something that I hold very dear, very deep in my in in in my heart, in in in my in the history of my career.

James Kademan [00:05:25]:

Yeah. So that the On entrepreneur was it On entrepreneurship? Or what was the title?

Jose Berlanga [00:05:30]:

Quantum Entrepreneurship.

James Kademan [00:05:32]:

Alright. So that book, is that geared towards people that are On?

Jose Berlanga [00:05:36]:

Or is

James Kademan [00:05:36]:

it more of a warning for someone that's thinking about becoming an entrepreneur?

Jose Berlanga [00:05:40]:

No. It's it's it's not a although I have plenty of, cautionary tales of what what not to do, it it really allows you to understand what it truly means to be and to become an entrepreneur, to remove the emotional aspects, to remove the the romanticism about owning a business and the misconceptions. A lot of people associated with freedom, with fun, with wealth, with growth, and it's not quite like that at least in the early stages. It's a

James Kademan [00:06:16]:

very, very Not a guarantee?

Jose Berlanga [00:06:18]:

Correct. Correct. It has a touch of craziness, to become your own boss because you have to sacrifice and devote your time, your money, you have to invest, you have to work for a prolonged period of time without getting paid. You have to even borrow money from In, from bankers, get in debt, compromise your credit for a promise, for the hope of getting some money in return and then some In building a career out of it. So you have to be, you know, a little a little bit crazy, a little bit of a gambler, a little bit of a dreamer. So so in this book, I talk about all of the characteristics that might help you understand what it means And then make a better choice as to not only whether this is for you, but also what type of entrepreneur you are. Because within the modern world, it's not defined as one type of identity or personality. It it's become very, very diversified, a very broad audience that is interested in starting their own Business, and there are so many ways to go about it these days.

Jose Berlanga [00:07:32]:

So I dig into the entire world and the different classifications and the different ways in which you can identify yourself as an entrepreneur.

James Kademan [00:07:44]:

Fair. This sounds like a very interesting book. I'm not to chase it out.

Jose Berlanga [00:07:49]:

I I I it it will come out soon. And and I'm, I'm excited. At some point, I I plan to devote a little more time to doing, convey, you know, presentations and and to discuss them. Right now, it's almost just a side project, just a fun project, while I still have a daytime job, which

James Kademan [00:08:10]:

Oh, I get it. I get it. I wrote I wrote a couple books, and those are fun, and it's interesting. Once you get in the zone of writing,...