Business Under Fire

In this episode of Business Under Fire, host Tommy sits down with Hobart Doyon, owner of HD Pools & Landscaping, to talk about his journey from earning a Master's Degree in Accounting to building a successful landscaping and pool construction business.

Hobart shares how a side hustle mowing lawns grew into a full-time career, why he left the corporate world behind, lessons learned from scaling a service business, the realities of the pool industry, hiring and retaining employees, networking, sales, and what it really takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Whether you're a business owner, contractor, tradesperson, or someone thinking about taking the leap into self-employment, this episode is packed with practical insights and real-world experience.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction to Hobart Doyon & HD Pools & Landscaping
01:10 - Leaving accounting to work for himself
02:25 - How mowing lawns became a business
04:00 - Growing from a few yards to dozens of customers
04:43 - Turning hobbies into businesses
05:17 - Lessons learned in the landscaping industry
07:34 - Managing seasonal business challenges
08:20 - Why landscaping installations became the focus
09:08 - The process of a landscaping project
10:09 - Using ChatGPT for landscape design and estimating
11:35 - The biggest challenges in landscaping
14:27 - How Hobart got into pool construction
15:25 - Building his first pool from scratch
16:06 - Pool automation and water chemistry
17:08 - Continuing education in the pool industry
18:33 - Winning business by showing up and moving fast
19:24 - Landscaping vs. pool construction today
21:31 - Finding new customers and staying busy
23:48 - Why Hobart still loves building pools
24:23 - Pool renovations and modern pool trends
26:47 - What the pool-building process looks like
28:18 - The real cost of adding a hot tub
30:33 - Pool maintenance and warranty work
31:11 - The hardest part of the pool business
33:33 - Construction labor and workforce challenges
37:02 - From janitor to accountant to entrepreneur
38:05 - Observations from Orlando and business growth
43:47 - Why success starts with showing up
45:16 - The power of networking and relationships
48:18 - What entrepreneurship has made possible
50:00 - The biggest challenges of working for yourself
52:00 - Setting boundaries as a business owner

📢 Connect with Hobart Doyon & HD Pools & Landscaping

Website: High Definition Pools & Landscaping
Phone: (210) 632-0576
Email: [email protected]

👍 If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE with another entrepreneur or business owner who could benefit from the conversation.

In this episode of Business Under Fire, we sit down with Dr. Mark Haverkorn — a rare dual-credentialed DDS and MD — who runs River City Oral Surgery in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Haverkorn breaks down what oral and maxillofacial surgery actually covers (spoiler: way more than pulling teeth), shares his path from a self-described math-team nerd to a surgeon who reconstructs faces, and gets real about the business side of running an independent medical practice — including the wild "cupcake marketing" story that helped generate $1 million in referrals, and why his practice refuses to take insurance and posts every price on its website.

Whether you're in healthcare, running your own business, or just love a good entrepreneurial story with some surgery talk mixed in, this one's got it all.

In this episode of Business Under Fire, Tommy Bonner sits down with leadership coach, speaker, professor, and talent development expert Dr. Colby Jubenville for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, confidence, coaching, culture, personal growth, and what it really takes to build successful organizations and successful lives.

Dr. Jubenville shares lessons from decades of coaching, consulting, higher education, athletics, and leadership development. Together, Tommy and Colby explore why so many people feel stuck, how great leaders build trust, why culture matters more than most organizations realize, and how anyone can create momentum by taking ownership of their personal development.

Whether you're a business owner, manager, entrepreneur, coach, or someone simply looking to become the best version of yourself, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and powerful stories.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction & Colby's Journey to Tennessee
03:35 The Power of Coaching and Mentorship
05:15 Helping People Make Sense of Their Lives
07:00 Earning a PhD and Learning Through Adversity
10:00 The Coach-Athlete Relationship Explained
13:15 Agreed-Upon Reality vs. Agreed-Upon Future
15:20 Building Culture Inside Organizations
17:00 Leadership, Trust & Difficult Conversations
20:00 Why the First 90 Minutes of Your Day Matter
22:30 The Three Reasons People Don't Perform
24:00 Creating the Best Version of Yourself
26:00 Unlocking Greatness Through Leadership
28:00 Running Restaurants & Building Teams
31:00 Coaching Through Everyday Life
34:30 Lessons From Cutting Grass and Entrepreneurship
38:30 Why Young People Feel Stuck Today
42:00 Defining Success and Pursuing Your Own Dream
45:00 The Power of Handwritten Notes
47:00 Emotional Intelligence & Self-Awareness
49:00 Learning Complex Skills One Step at a Time
51:00 Competence Motivation Theory Explained
53:00 Talent Development Framework
55:00 Lessons from The Bear and Building Winning Teams
57:30 Defining Leadership & Developing Leaders
01:01:00 The Peter Principle and Career Growth
01:05:00 TED Talks, Reinvention & Growth
01:12:00 AI, Talent Development & the Future
01:16:00 Progress vs. Purpose
01:23:00 Using Adversity to Accelerate Growth
01:42:00 Advice for 20-Year-Old Colby
01:44:00 Four Rules of Talent Development
01:47:00 What Success Really Means
01:51:00 Family, Reinvention & Fulfillment
01:54:00 How to Connect with Dr. Colby Jubenville

Connect with Dr. Colby Jubenville

📞 Phone: (615) 498-6802

🌐 Website: Dr. Colby Jubenville

On this episode of Business Under Fire, we sit down with Jacob Carroll, founder of Till Death Digital Media, a wedding photography and videography business based in Seguin, Texas — just 11 months into the game and already turning heads.
Jacob's path here wasn't typical. Before picking up a camera, he spent years working as a correctional officer, starting as an 18-year-old control room operator and working his way up through general population, lockdown, psych units, and a prerelease parole unit. He opens up about growing up around the live music security industry, watching his mom battle addiction (and later become a substance abuse counselor herself), failing out of the police academy by two points, and how years inside a jail shaped — and jaded — his view of people.
We talk about the leap from law enforcement to full-time creative entrepreneur, starting Till Death Digital Media the same day his daughter was born, landing his first paying client through a wedding planner connection, teaching himself videography through YouTube, and the biggest lessons from his first year in business — including why raising his prices actually helped him close more sales. We also get into his FAA Part 107 drone license, the DJI import ban, and how he's building his reputation through local think tanks, craft shows, and word of mouth in Seguin.
If you're thinking about starting a creative business, working for yourself, or just want a raw conversation about life, jail, and entrepreneurship — this one's for you.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Intro: Meet Jacob Carroll & Till Death Digital Media
00:47 – Why "Till Death" Digital Media?
01:35 – 11 months in business (started the day his daughter was born)
02:26 – Background: growing up around live music security
03:07 – From Jimmy John's to the Sheriff's Office
03:35 – First job: control room operator in a county jail
04:39 – Talking to inmates through the intercom
05:00 – His mom's struggle with addiction and eventual recovery
07:45 – Promotion to correctional officer & the police academy
08:01 – Failing the police academy by two points
09:03 – Life inside the jail: the daily grind
11:19 – Working the prerelease parole unit
11:49 – Does the justice system actually rehabilitate people?
13:24 – Losing his creative spark working in corrections
13:59 – "Your reality is not my reality"
16:09 – Staying jaded vs. staying open
19:32 – Advice for anyone considering a career in corrections
19:56 – Starting a pressure washing business on the side
21:26 – What scares people about starting a business
22:05 – Getting the paperwork done & landing the first client
23:14 – Learning videography from YouTube
25:13 – What sets Jacob apart from other photographers/videographers
28:04 – His artistic background and how it shows in his work
31:07 – Becoming an FAA-licensed drone pilot
32:21 – What it takes to get a Part 107 license
33:01 – The DJI drone ban and its impact on the industry
38:04 – Biggest business lesson: closing sales
38:47 – Why raising his prices actually increased sales
40:07 – Marketing: Facebook ads, Instagram, and craft shows
41:33 – Becoming "the person of interest" in your local market
42:05 – Getting his work into local shops (Guadalupe Trading Company)
43:15 – The value of joining a local entrepreneur think tank
47:06 – Balancing family life with running a business
48:29 – The real difference between working for someone and working for yourself
50:00 – Hardest lessons from year one
50:49 – Jacob's goal: opening his own photography studio
51:52 – How to find and contact Jacob
53:26 – Outro
CONNECT WITH JACOB CARROLL / TILL DEATH DIGITAL MEDIA
📍 Based in Seguin, TX — available to travel anywhere
FOLLOW BUSINESS UNDER FIRE
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes
👍 Like this video if you enjoyed it
💬 Drop a comment — what part of Jacob's story hit home for you?

In this episode, Tommy sits down with Brittany, founder of Cloud Ten Events, to discuss her journey from teaching and owning a nutrition shop to building a thriving event business with seven mobile event carts and a growing corporate events division. Brittany shares how a simple cotton candy cart turned into a full-scale business, the lessons she learned from failure, the cease-and-desist that forced her to rebrand, and why saying "yes" to opportunities helped her build a company that's growing across Texas.

In this episode, we sit down with TikTok creator and entrepreneur Rooster Vance, a guy who’s built a powerful personal brand by leaning into authenticity, alter ego, and real-world business experience. We go deep on what it really takes to turn content into cash, why most people fail at personal branding, and how today’s shifting economy is exposing weak business models.

Rooster doesn’t hold back — from calling out fake “views = success” culture to explaining why your offer matters more than your content, this is a no-BS conversation for creators, business owners, and anyone trying to build something real.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro & who is Rooster Vance?
02:10 – The “Rooster” alter ego vs real life identity
05:30 – Why people are afraid to post content
06:35 – Stop caring what people think
12:40 – Why views don’t actually make you money
13:35 – The importance of having a real offer
18:50 – Turning attention into actual business
21:10 – “Everyone is broke” — what’s happening in the economy
22:20 – Real estate, land, and market shifts
26:45 – Adapting your business in a downturn
30:10 – Employee mindset vs entrepreneur mindset
34:00 – Building a brand that actually converts
38:20 – Final advice for creators and business owners

🔑 Key Takeaways
Views don’t matter if you can’t monetize
Your offer is more important than your content
Personal branding requires risk and authenticity
The economy is shifting — and weak businesses will struggle
Attention is only valuable if you know how to convert it

What separates the entrepreneurs who make it from the ones who burn out? Tommy Bonner has 26 years and 240 employees worth of answers. In this solo episode of Business Under Fire, Tommy gets real about what it actually takes to build and sustain a business — from mowing lawns out of an Acura Integra to owning restaurants, a nursery, and flying private jets. No guest, no filter — just hard-earned lessons and straight talk.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00:19 – Intro & surprise call from Blake Burt (first-ever podcast guest)
00:03:11 – Why Tommy recorded a solo episode today
00:04:07 – What separates the men from the boys: doing it anyway
00:05:00 – Tommy's backstory: 26 years of entrepreneurship, starting at 19
00:06:08 – How it all started: a black Acura Integra, a push mower, and $500/week
00:08:17 – Lesson #1: The Buck Stops Here — you are the fixer, bulldozer & firefighter
00:14:50 – Lesson #2: The Smartest Person Might Not Be the Owner
00:18:07 – Lesson #3: The Key to Success Is People — the Beer House hiring story
00:27:31 – Lesson #4: Speed Wins — Perfection Kills Momentum
00:30:25 – Lesson #5: It's Going to Be Harder and Take Longer Than You Think
00:31:17 – The baseball analogy: aim for singles and doubles, home runs will come
00:34:19 – What Tommy wants from the podcast & his businesses going forward
00:38:36 – The hardest three years of his life — and how they came out the other side
00:40:26 – What's next: buying businesses, construction projects & flying
00:42:17 – Closing thoughts & restaurant recommendations in Port Aransas


📍 Mentioned in This Episode:

Beer House – Port Aransas, TX
Seafood & Spaghetti Works – Port Aransas, TX
Burnt Bean Co. (referenced)


📬 Connect with Tommy Bonner:

✉️ [email protected]


If you enjoyed this episode, text or email Tommy directly — he reads them. New episodes dropping regularly on Business Under Fire.

In this episode of Business Under Fire, we sit down with Rob from First Fidelity Wealth Management for a raw, unfiltered conversation about what it really takes to build, grow, and sustain a business over the long haul.

From marketing failures and scaling struggles to leadership challenges and personal discipline, this episode dives deep into the realities most entrepreneurs don’t talk about. If you’re a business owner (or want to be one), this is packed with hard-earned lessons you won’t want to miss.

What happens when a 40-year highway construction worker picks up his phone, walks into an African café, and accidentally goes viral? You get Dine with Kent — one of the most authentic food platforms on the internet. Host Tommy sits down with Ken Burns, the Port Aransas-based food influencer behind the massively popular TikTok and Instagram page "Dine with Kent," to talk about his accidental rise to fame, his philosophy of "for me or not for me," and why real people are hungry for real reactions.

From small business advocacy to upcoming appearances on the Tamron Hall Show and a feature in the New York Times, Ken's story is proof that passion + authenticity can take you anywhere — even if you started by leaning your phone against a glass of water.

This episode, we're joined by Jereme Ragsdale, owner of Sign Design in Lubbock, Texas. Jeremy started his company in 2002 after being let go on a Friday — and was knocking on doors by Monday. Over 23 years later, he's built one of West Texas's most trusted full-service sign and design companies, with a team that's been with him for decades. From vehicle wraps and building signs to becoming the mini ad agency for small businesses all across the region, Jeremy's story is one of grit, craft, and small-town pride done right.