Business Mastery Podcast

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Dawn talks with Carol Schultz, founder and CEO of Vertical Elevation, who shifted from executive recruiting and coaching to serving as an organizational strategist for mostly privately held SMB companies (roughly 5M–300M) and typically exits within three to six months after backfilling with roles like chief of staff or COO. Schultz explains how she identifies business “gaps” through separate discovery meetings with executives, boards, and select contributors, listening for what is said and unsaid to build a roadmap. She says the most common root issue is ineffective communication, which often reveals missing internal structures such as SOPs, employee handbooks, org charts, leadership teams, and predictable feedback loops—problems that can keep companies stuck (e.g., at $5M). The conversation highlights that funding or hiring alone won’t fix issues without CEO buy-in, behavior modeling, and patient change implementation, and emphasizes bringing in experts rather than founders doing low-value work.

Who Is Carol Schultz And Whom Does She Serve? (00:47)

Gap Analysis Discovery (01:56)

Communication As Root Cause (03:09)

Wild West Operations (04:00)

Founder Leadership Bottleneck (04:42)

VC Money Isn’t Competence (05:16)

Buy In And Accountability (09:41)

Change Takes Time (11:41)

Building Leaders And Language (15:12)

Multigenerational Communication (17:21)

Feedback Loops And SOPs (19:32)

Fractional HR Fixes (19:50)

Building Feedback Loops (20:23)

Leading Across Generations (22:01)

Founders Need Experts (23:19)

Carol Schultz’s Information:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolbschultz/?isSelfProfile=false

Website: https://verticalelevation.com/

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Dawn talks with Rich Kahn, CEO and co-founder of Anura.io, about why ROAS is dropping as ad fraud rises across digital channels. Rich says global digital marketing spend is about $750B, with a conservative estimate of $165B (22%) lost to fraud; in Anura’s client data, fraud ran 25–28% last year and recently spiked past 40%, meaning up to two out of five ad dollars may reach bots, malware, or fraud farms rather than real buyers. He explains how fraud is monetized via ad networks/“partners and networks,” fake profiles and bought engagement (e.g., Fiverr), and how AI tools like FraudGPT lower the barrier to creating and deploying bots. They discuss how bad traffic corrupts KPIs, can cause teams to “optimize for fraud,” and can also create TCPA risk when fake form fills trigger outbound calls. Rich outlines Anura’s approach: a free traffic quality audit to quantify fraud and sources, then a phased mitigation plan, with educational resources available at anura.io and on LinkedIn.

In this episode…

Who Is Rich Kahn And Whom Does He Serve? (00:43)

Fraud Rates Rising (01:17)

What Forty Percent Means (04:07)

How Google Fraud Works (06:28)

Cheap Traffic Trap (07:40)

Fake Likes Still Thrive (09:25)

Meta Fake Profiles (11:51)

SIVT And Law Gaps (13:38)

Fighting Fraud Per Client (17:08)

AI Lowers The Barrier (17:56)

Bad Data Optimization (22:04)

Fraud Since Day One (24:22)

Headers That Hook (24:38)

Google Ads Fraud Loop (24:46)

Agency Incentives And Wins (25:40)

Proof From QuinStreet (26:10)

Why Nobody Talks Fraud (26:58)

TCPA Lawsuit Risk (27:48)

Lead Gen Fraud Example (28:54)

Insurance Scale Nightmare (30:22)

Traffic Audit Game Plan (32:29)

Fraud Threshold Benchmarks (35:36)

Learning Center Resources (36:36)

Origin Story And Growth (38:59)

Accuracy Guarantee Model (41:27)

Where To Follow Next (43:02)

Final Takeaways (44:17)

Rich Kahn’s Information:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richkahn/?isSelfProfile=false

Website: https://www.anura.io/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/anuraio

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anura.io/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anurasolutions/

X: https://x.com/anuraio

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New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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Dawn talks with Javier Lozano Jr., a fractional CMO/CRO who helps $1–15M revenue companies with product-market fit build cohesive, repeatable marketing and sales engines. Javier explains that marketing must evolve as companies grow, and he starts engagements with a 360 go-to-market audit covering acquisition, customer journey, data/CRM, website, SEO/AEO, and competition to define the right KPIs for that specific business. He distinguishes funnels from pipeline predictability by assigning dollar values, tracking stage conversions, and using customer insights and strategic channel “bets” to create repeatable outcomes. He discusses focusing on a single wedge offer and avoiding too many go-to-market motions, using vanity metrics directionally, and improving sales cycles through better tracking, automated sales-style communications, and lead scoring.

In this episode….

Who is Javier Lozano Jr. and whom does he serve? (00:46)
From Founder Hustle To Scale (01:35)
360 Go To Market Audit (03:06)
Pipeline Versus Funnel (04:50)
Building Predictable Pipeline (07:26)
Focus One Wedge Offer (10:52)
Staying Consistent Not Bored (14:07)
Vanity Metrics Versus Revenue (17:18)
Shortening Sales Cycle With Data (18:53)
Marketing Sales Task Split (22:16)
Sales Emails Lead Scoring Loop (26:29)
AEO Reality And Buyer Journey (30:03)
Architecture Mindset Adoption (34:16)
Where To Find Javier (37:39)
Final Takeaways And Goodbye (39:42)

Javier Lozano Jr.’s Information:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javierlozanojr/?isSelfProfile=false

Website: https://boldermediasolutions.com/

Podcast: https://predictableb2bgrowth.buzzsprout.com/

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/javykixs/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

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New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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Dawn talks with Steve Turner of Solomon/Turner PR, a St. Louis firm in its 36th year, about making PR work for businesses. Steve explains how PR has shifted from relying mainly on newspapers, TV, and radio to choosing from many “delivery systems” (social media, podcasts, niche outlets) and emphasizes targeting the right audience for stronger ROI. He outlines a five-step PR process from his book PR That Works: define measurable objectives, identify the audience, craft differentiating messaging, choose the best delivery systems, and measure results to adjust strategy. Steve contrasts PR’s long-term trust-building with short-term advertising, discusses extending “legs” from media coverage across channels, and stresses having a crisis communications plan, designated spokesperson, and media training in place before problems occur.

In this episode….

Meet Steve Turner (00:44)

PR Then Vs Now (03:02)

Five Step PR Framework (06:14)

Objectives And Audience (06:33)

Messaging Channels Measurement (07:45)

PR Timelines And Expectations (11:32)

Giveback Stories With Legs (13:47)

PR For Recruiting Culture (15:46)

Sales Enablement With Third Party Proof (19:11)

Crisis Communication Basics (21:25)

When News Crews Arrive (23:37)

Rogue Social Media Fallout (24:11)

Is It Really A Crisis (26:22)

Pick Your Spokesperson (27:37)

Fire Drill Media Playbook (28:30)

Industries That Need Plans (30:56)

PR Is A Long Game (33:35)

PR That Works Book (37:19)

Penny The Pig Case Study (38:55)

Jeep Book Marketing Wins (40:50)

Where To Find Steve (44:00)

Final Wrap And Thanks (45:04)

Steve Turner’s Informations:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveturnerpr/

Website: https://rockstarpublicist.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steveturnerpr/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockstarpublicist

X: https://x.com/steveturnerpr

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New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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Dawn talks with Barry Molin, a speaker, trainer, and author of Connect: How to Quickly Collaborate for Success in Business and Life, about influence, persuasion, and doing business ethically over the long term. Barry distinguishes influence as broad trust in a person and persuasion as focused movement toward a specific idea, product, or service. He defines ethical persuasion through three elements: it must be true, make common sense, and be wise—something the persuader genuinely believes in and would recommend to close others—while also being transparent about unknowns. He argues effective persuasion is matching solutions to people’s needs, not pushing for short-term goals. Barry then outlines three categories and tactics: improving relationships (reciprocity, liking, unity), reducing uncertainty (authority, social proof), and motivating action (consistency, scarcity, reducing friction), noting where misuse can become unethical.

In this episode….

Who is Barry Molin amd whom does he serve? (00:47)

Influence vs Persuasion (02:59)

Ethics First Framework (04:40)

When You’re Not Sure Yet (08:40)

Asking Better Questions (11:04)

Sales Mindset Shift (16:12)

Short-Term Pressure Trap (20:33)

The How Three Pillars (28:35)

Reciprocity As Karma (30:14)

Friendship Reciprocity Example (30:49)

Liking Through Questions (33:00)

Unity And Shared Identity (34:12)

Spotting Authenticity (36:45)

Reducing Uncertainty (38:26)

Authority And Social Proof (38:35)

Motivating People To Act (42:29)

Consistency And Commitment (42:43)

Scarcity Done Right (45:08)

Reducing Friction To Buy (47:19)

Wrap Up And Where To Connect (49:07)

Barry Moline’s Information:

Book: https://a.co/d/085XWhFT

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-moline/

Website: https://barrymoline.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barryjmoline

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsaUixOhhTSataYQv4oSlgQ9FAugN3I6H

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Links and Freebies: https://dawnkkennedy.com/resources 

New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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Dawn talks with fractional CFO Nate Littlewood, who supports early-stage e-commerce and CPG founders with physical-goods challenges like inventory financing and growth strategy guided by financial statements. Nate explains why founders avoid finances through cognitive dissonance—financial reports can contradict the success story they want to believe—then outlines four phases of relating to money: denial, overwhelm, intrigue, and enlightenment, and the “context vacuum” that makes metrics meaningless without industry benchmarks. He argues you can over-invest in finance too early; before product-market fit, founders mainly need a unit economics model and a cashflow forecast (e.g., 13-week model), plus basic bookkeeping and tax compliance. As decisions multiply, tools like three-statement financial models, ROI and capital-at-risk analysis, bottleneck identification, and aligning strategy to the team’s “zone of genius” help prioritize and focus.

In this episode….

Meet Fractional CFO Nate (01:00)

Why Founders Avoid Numbers (02:04)

Pain Points That Trigger Help (06:16)

Four Phases With Finance (09:28)

Context and Benchmarks Matter (12:02)

When Finance Becomes Useful (14:31)

Early Tools Unit Economics Cash (16:07)

When You Need a CFO (21:19)

Models and Decision Frameworks (26:13)

Bottlenecks and Zone of Genius (29:31)

Founder Story Focus Wins (34:56)

Wrap Up and Where to Connect (38:28)

Final Thanks and Next Episode (39:47)

Nate Littlewood’s Information:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/

Website: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/

Support the show

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New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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Dawn talks with South Florida business attorney Matthew Fornaro, licensed in Florida, New York, and DC, about legal vulnerabilities that can arise as businesses grow. Key risks include failing to update foundational documents, operating without written contracts for business relationships, falling behind on industry regulations, lacking scalable documentation like employee/contractor agreements, handbooks, and operations manuals, and being under- or incorrectly insured. Matthew emphasizes proactive “legal checkups,” explains vicarious liability, and warns that businesses generally must be represented by an attorney in court (with limited small-claims exceptions in Florida). They discuss how owners and entities are often sued together, why ignoring service can lead to defaults, and immediate steps after being served—especially tendering claims to all insurance policies. They also highlight corporate-formality failures, commingling, and employee misclassification (1099 vs W-2) as major exposure points, and recommend finding business counsel via trusted referrals.

In this episode…

Who is Matthew Fornaro and whom does he serve?  (01:05)

Hidden Legal Vulnerabilities (01:16)

Outdated Docs and Contracts (02:40)

Insurance and Liability Risks (04:51)

Lawyer as Business Advisor (09:02)

When Your Business Gets Sued (14:48)

Responding to Service Properly (19:09)

Corporate Shield and Formalities (21:43)

Employment Compliance Pitfalls (26:01)

Penalties and Non Dischargeable Debt (31:42)

Affordable Legal Support Options (34:46)

Finding the Right Business Lawyer (40:12)

Wrap Up and Where to Find Matthew (42:32)

Matthew Fornaro’s Information:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewfornaro/

Website: https://fornarolegal.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fornarolegal/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZn4sEROz6hErV5Fb5vvOtQ

X : https://x.com/FornaroLegal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fornaro_legal/

Support the show

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For weekly in-depth articles, tips, and strategies: https://getinweredoingbusiness.substack.com 

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Links and Freebies: https://dawnkkennedy.com/resources 

New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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Dawn talks with Len Ward, Founder and Managing Partner at Commexis, about shifting from a “search and retrieve” world to a “solve-my-problem” world where consumers use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to reach solutions before contacting a business. Len argues this will compress or eliminate traditional funnels, raise conversion rates, and force businesses—especially law firms—to adapt their websites, sales processes, and marketing by building visible personal brands through social media and podcasts. He predicts AI-to-AI (agent-to-agent) marketing will grow, while PPC and ranking tactics will matter less as models keep users inside their platforms. Len recommends building organized, secure company “data rooms” so any LLM can answer from internal knowledge, stresses “AI generated, human approved” guardrails, and advises prompting models to challenge users rather than validate them.

In this episode….

Who is Len Ward and whom does he serve? (00:51)

Search Retrieve vs Solve (01:39)

Law Firms Reality Check  (03:14)

Optimizing for New Buyers (06:02)

Agent to Agent Marketing (11:08)

Brand and Social Proof (13:02)

Funnels Ads and AAET (16:40)

Algorithms vs Tokens (19:14)

Prompting and Guardrails (22:14)

Challenge Me Prompts (23:43)

Consumer Education Next (25:38)

Challenge Your AI Answers (26:01)

Humans as AI Pilots (27:21)

AI Generated Human Approved (29:12)

Company AI Training Strategy (29:59)

Data Rooms Beat Model Lock-In (30:49)

How LLMs Actually Work (33:16)

Synthetic Content and Superintelligence (37:04)

Business Responsibility and Legal Risk (41:08)

Stay Visible on Social Media (44:17)

Where to Find Len (45:15)

Closing Thoughts and Wrap Up (46:40)

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New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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Dawn welcomes back accountant and Incite Tax founder John Briggs, whose firm has grown to about 250 team members serving small business owners with bookkeeping, tax filing, and tax strategy. Briggs shares a key tax update: the 20% Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction, emphasizing that eligibility and optimization depend on specific circumstances, including wage and self-employment income considerations. He introduces his book, Take Breaks, Work Better, arguing hustle culture drives burnout and is mismatched with how brains naturally cycle between focus and distraction. Briggs explains his “3.3 rule” (work up to three hours, then take a 30% recovery break) and says implementing it increased his firm’s profit by 492% over three years while improving productivity, retention, and role fit, and he outlines practical recovery breaks and how leaders can reinforce the culture.

Who is John Briggs and whom does he serve? (00:37)

Tax Updates QBI (01:03)

Book And Hustle Culture (03:05)

Science Of Breaks (07:19)

Recovery Break Ideas (12:44)

3.3 Rule At Work (14:40)

Resistance And Coaching (17:30)

Self-Awareness Training (21:07)

Role Fit And Energy (24:59)

Courses And Freedom (27:37)

Turnover And Leadership (31:01)

AI And Tax Firm (36:53)

Wrap Up And Release (40:30)

John Briggs’ Information: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therealjohnbriggs/

Website: https://takebreaksworkbetter.com/

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New Book: Before You Decide: The Field Manual for Durable Decisions Under Pressure https://dawnkkennedy.com/byd/

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