Better Together

Adam Nelson left corporate tech with an idea for a children’s night light and no idea how hard the next 20 years would be.

In this episode of Better Together, Adam shares what it took to go from an invention to a real product: designing it, manufacturing it in China, protecting it with patents, and surviving the setbacks along the way. He talks candidly about what working across cultures taught him, why communication matters so much in global manufacturing, and how he had to pivot when COVID-19 disrupted exports.

He also gets into the mindset side of entrepreneurship, including fail fast and fail cheap, how his relationship with risk has changed, and why unlearning old habits is part of growing as a founder. He credits family support as a major reason he kept going, and he talks about the humility and collaboration that came with learning from his mistakes.

For inventors, product founders, or anyone thinking about leaving a corporate job to build something of their own, this one is full of lessons learned the hard way.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Adam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-nelson-7107961/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they’ve built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #Entrepreneurship #ProductDevelopment #Manufacturing #Innovation #StartupLessons #AdamNelson #GoldBearMedia

Ralph Brewer didn’t set out to build a business. He was a single father starting over, looking for answers, and what he found became a global community helping men improve their relationships.

In this episode of Better Together, Ralph shares how Help for Men began, how he grew it online, and why focusing on one specific topic, the dead bedroom, helped him gain momentum while others stayed too broad. He also gets into the marketing side: why that topic gets men in the door, how his book The Dead Bedroom Fix took off, and why diversifying content across channels matters for long-term growth.

He talks about the parts of entrepreneurship that don’t get enough airtime, including balancing discipline with burnout, the role of luck and skill stacking, and the importance of putting yourself out there. He also speaks openly about men’s mental health, emotional intelligence, and why community support matters.

For entrepreneurs building an online audience, anyone figuring out their niche, or anyone who wants to hear an honest take on vulnerability and growth, this one is worth your time.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Ralph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralph-brewer/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they’ve built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #HelpForMen #Entrepreneurship #NicheMarketing #EmotionalIntelligence #MensMentalHealth #RalphBrewer #GoldBearMedia

Cory Jenks spent years in a traditional pharmacy career, and something about it wasn’t working. Then he took an improv class.

In this episode of Better Together, Cory shares how improv changed the way he communicates, connects with patients, and thinks about health. That led him to leave pharmacy and become a diabetes coach focused on lifestyle change, not just medication.

He talks about the first month of entrepreneurship, including the loss of structure and the identity shift that came with leaving a career he’d known for years. He also explains why owning your time matters, how he balanced risk with family support, and why he believes real health starts with who you see yourself as.

Cory is also an author, with books on healthcare culture and on fatherhood for new dads, and he brings humor into everything he does. His goal is to help reverse diabetes and educate the public along the way.

For anyone thinking about leaving a career that no longer fits, or curious how improv can change the way you communicate, this one is worth your time.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Cory: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-jenks-3ba17314/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they’ve built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #Diabetes #Improv #Entrepreneurship #Healthcare #CoryJenks #PersonalGrowth #GoldBearMedia

Bill Walters watched his mother go through dementia without a plan in place. And he made a decision that shaped everything he built after - no family he could help would ever go through that without one.

In this episode of Better Together, Bill shares the deeply personal origin story behind his financial planning practice, built specifically for families navigating complex situations - aging parents, special needs dependents, caregiving responsibilities, and the unique pressures that come with all of it at once.

He gets into why generic financial templates fail the families that need help most, what personalized planning actually looks like in practice, and how he’s helped real people - including blue-collar workers who never thought retirement was possible - build a future they can actually count on.

Bill also talks openly about the role of faith and mindset in his work, the joy he finds in making a real difference in his clients’ lives, and the challenge of growing a practice built on deeply personal relationships in a world that rewards volume over depth.

For anyone caring for an aging parent, planning for a family member with special needs, or simply trying to build a financial future without a cookie-cutter approach - this episode is worth every minute.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Bill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/returnonwealth/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they’ve built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #FinancialPlanning #FamilyCare #Dementia #Retirement #BillWalters #GoldBearMedia #PersonalizedPlanning #SpecialNeeds

95% of AI initiatives fail to achieve their goals. Not because the technology doesn’t work - because most businesses apply it to the wrong problems.

In this episode of Better Together, John Michael Thomas - fractional Chief AI Officer and problem-solving expert - breaks down exactly why most AI projects fall flat, what the 5% who succeed do differently, and how leaders can cut through the hype to actually leverage AI in ways that create real business value.

John brings decades of problem-solving experience to AI transformation - and his perspective is refreshingly grounded. He’s not here to sell you on AI. He’s here to help you stop wasting money on it.

He covers the most common failure modes of AI projects, why most initiatives are solutions in search of a problem, how to identify where AI genuinely fits in your business, and why the difference between functionality and eye candy is the thing most teams get completely wrong.

He also shares a take on the future of AI leadership that every executive needs to hear - the role of Chief AI Officer may be evolving into something much bigger.

For business leaders navigating AI overwhelm, founders trying to figure out where to start, or anyone tired of the hype and ready for practical direction, this episode cuts straight to what matters.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmichaelthomas/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they’ve built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #AI #AItransformation #Leadership #BusinessStrategy #JohnMichaelThomas #GoldBearMedia #AIstrategy #Technology

Most small business owners become leaders by accident. Nobody hands you a playbook when you hire your first employee - and the gap between managing people and actually leading them is where most businesses quietly lose their best people.

Pamela Fritz spent years in corporate HR watching that gap cost companies more than they realized. So she left - and built Savvy Resources to fix it for small and mid-sized businesses that can't afford to get leadership wrong.

In this episode of Better Together, Pamela shares her journey from corporate HR to entrepreneurship, the moment that made her realize she had to build something of her own, and the framework she developed to help leaders actually connect with, develop, and retain their teams.

She calls it the company car framework - built around communication, accountability, and recognition. Three things that sound basic until you see how rarely they're actually done well in growing businesses.

Pamela also gets into practical tools most leaders overlook - walking interviews, resource guides, and strategies for leading a multi-generational workforce without losing people to disengagement or misalignment.

For founders who've realized that leading a team is a completely different skill than running a business - this episode gives you the foundation to get it right.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Pamela: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-fritz/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they've built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #Leadership #HR #SmallBusiness #TeamManagement #PamelaFritz #SavvyResources #GoldBearMedia #LeadershipDevelopment

Most businesses hire based on experience and gut feeling. Jeff Sophiea built an entire company around proving why that's the wrong approach.

In this episode of Better Together, Jeff - co-founder of Ideal Traits - breaks down why emotional intelligence consistently outperforms IQ in predicting job success, how AI-driven assessments are transforming the way small and mid-sized businesses find and filter talent, and why slowing down the hiring process is the single most important thing a growing business can do.

Jeff shares his own story - navigating low ACT scores, ADHD, and early work experiences that shaped his understanding of people in ways traditional education never could. And he brings that perspective directly into what Ideal Traits does - helping businesses stop making expensive hiring mistakes by adding structure, data, and emotional intelligence to a process most companies handle on instinct alone.

He also gets into building candidate pipelines before you desperately need them, why gut feeling and data work better together than either does alone, and how one assessment identified a top performer a traditional hiring process would have overlooked completely.

For business owners who've ever made a bad hire - or are about to make one - this episode is essential listening.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Jeff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsophiea/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they've built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #Hiring #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ #Recruitment #IdealTraits #AI #SmallBusiness #JeffreySophiea #GoldBearMedia

Everyone has lost five minutes of their life trying to find the end of a packing tape roll. Doug Bard decided to fix it.

In this episode of Better Together, Doug shares the origin story behind Wave Tape - a deceptively simple product solving one of the most universally frustrating problems in packaging. From the first idea to market validation, Shark Tank application, and everything in between, Doug pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to bring a product to life.
Connect with Doug - https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasbard/

He gets honest about the zigzags - the setbacks, the pivots, the moments where most people would have quit. And he talks about what kept him going: family support, genuine belief in the product, and a stubbornness about solving a problem that millions of people deal with every single day.

His background in digital marketing gave him a unique lens on branding and storytelling - and the way he built Wave Tape's identity around family and authenticity shows exactly how a simple product can become something people genuinely connect with.

For aspiring inventors, entrepreneurs balancing a full-time job with a startup dream, or anyone who's ever had a product idea and wondered if it could actually work - this episode is for you.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they've built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #Entrepreneurship #ProductInvention #WaveTape #SharkTank #Innovation #StartupJourney #DougBard #GoldBearMedia

Most people assume professional athletes are set for life. The reality is far more complicated - and far more costly when nobody's paying attention.

In this episode of Better Together, Zac O'Brien pulls back the curtain on what managing the financial lives of professional athletes actually looks like. The mistakes nobody warns them about, the tax planning opportunities most high earners miss completely, and why building a legacy requires a lot more than a big paycheck.

Zac breaks down the invasive approval process required to work with NFL players, why athletes consistently outspend their income without proper financial education, and how understanding someone's financial DNA - the relationship with money they developed in childhood - shapes every decision they make as adults.

He also gets into what happens when the career ends. The transition out of sports is one of the most financially dangerous moments in an athlete's life - and proactive planning is the only thing that changes the outcome.

For high earners, business owners, or anyone serious about building wealth that actually lasts - this episode is packed with insight that goes well beyond sports.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Zac: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-obrien/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they've built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #FinancialPlanning #Athletes #WealthManagement #Legacy #TaxPlanning #ZachOBrien #GoldBearMedia #SportsFinance

Valerie Bowden backpacked across Africa, fell in love with Ethiopia, stayed for eight years - and built a thriving outsourcing company that's changing how the world thinks about global talent.

In this episode of Better Together, Valerie shares the story behind Cradle - how she started it while pregnant, scaled it to explosive growth, and built a team of talented women across Africa that's outperforming every expectation.

She gets honest about the misconceptions Western media has created around Africa, why many African countries are actually safer than the US, and how hiring her first assistant tripled her business in three months.

She also talks about the real challenge nobody prepares you for - balancing motherhood with building a company, transitioning from founder to CEO, and learning to let go so the business can actually grow.

For entrepreneurs building remotely, founders navigating growth and personal life, or anyone curious about the untapped potential of global talent - this one is a must listen.

Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below.

🔗 Connect with Valerie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriebowden/

Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they've built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way.

Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media.

#BetterTogetherPodcast #Outsourcing #Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #Africa #RemoteWork #BusinessGrowth #ValerieBowden #GoldBearMedia #GlobalTalent