Central Illinois Business Leaders Podcast

Do you want to grow your business through marketing, but don't know where to start?  Does marketing overwhelm you?    

Join us in this CIBL BIZ TIPS series with Cassie Yoder, owner of Cass Concepts in downtown Decatur, IL.  Cassie is also the founder and owner of Prairie Commons Business Collective and Co-Host of Left At The Door Podcast.      

In our third and final session with Cassie, she teaches us about the ABC's of marketing.  If you want to simplify your marketing strategy, Cassie will show you how in this BIZ TIPS session!  

Check out Cass Concepts Marketing at https://www.cassconcepts.com/

Katie VandenBerg joins the CIBL Podcast to tell us about her unique journey as a Central IL entrepreneur.  Katie is the owner of Focused Forward Divorce Coaching, MUSE Morton, and VanHaus Rental Property Management.    

Katie kicks off the show by explaining how her entrepreneurial journey started.  After graduating from Colorado State, she moved back home and started a job in the banking industry.  Her entrepreneurial dreams came to fruition when she started Eli's Coffee Shop at age 24.  After opening the coffee shop, Katie went through a divorce.  Although this was a difficult time for Katie, she felt like she could use her experience to help others navigate through a separation or divorce.    

Katie talks about how her rental property management company started.  As a young couple, Katie and her husband purchased a duplex and rented out the other side.  They then expanded their portfolio into several multi-family units.  They now own and manage over 40 rental units!  

Katie began to build her divorce coaching business by researching and polling friends to see if it would be a sought-after service.  The response she received was overwhelmingly positive, so she became a certified divorce coach and began helping others through their difficult divorce and separation journeys.  She provides her coaching services to anyone across the country.  Katie is also working on developing an online course that will help people through the divorce process.  Although divorce is a difficult topic, Katie has found a niche of people she can help and be a resource to.    

We finish up the show by talking about Katie's newest venture, MUSE Morton.  MUSE is an art studio in downtown Morton that offers studio and photography rental space for local entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, and photographers.    

Katie has an awesome story and you'll find tons of inspiration from her journey!

Do you want to grow your business through marketing, but don't know where to start?  Does marketing overwhelm you?  

Join us in this CIBL BIZ TIPS series with Cassie Yoder, owner of Cass Concepts in downtown Decatur, IL.  Cassie is also the founder and owner of Prairie Commons Business Collective and Co-Host of Left At The Door Podcast.    

In session 2, Cassie explains how to post with purpose.  Most business owners fall into the trap of inconsistency when it comes to marketing.  Cassie will teach you how to consistently drive brand awareness in this episode.

If you want to improve your marketing efforts and expand your business reach, this series is for you!!  

Check out Cass Concepts Marketing at https://www.cassconcepts.com/

Do you find the short-term rental and "Airbnb" concept intriguing?  Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes to make a vacation rental operate efficiently?

Tune in as Allison Hasler joins the CIBL Podcast to share her unique story.  Allison is the owner of Southern Illinois Vacation Rentals and the co-host of Small Town Big Business Podcast.  

Allison kicks off the podcast by explaining her time serving our Country in the National Guard.  She then talks about her move to Southern IL with her husband where she worked in several different occupations before falling into the hospitality industry.  Allison explains that her first experience in hospitality occurred when she and her husband purchased a 50 foot motor yacht and chartered the boat on Kentucky Lake.  

After the experience of chartering a boat on Kentucky Lake, Allison jumped into the property management game by building vacation cabins on their home property in Southern IL.  She fell in love with the back-end of property management.  Building processes and systems became her knack, so she ran with the opportunity and started managing other people's vacation properties.  She now manages over 20 short-term rental properties in Southern Illinois. 

Allison shares a ton of information on the short-term rental industry in this episode.   You'll also be able to take the info you learn in this show and apply it to whatever business you are involved in.  Some of the business topics we discuss are automation, team building, client selection, and delegation.  

We wrap up this interview by spotlighting Allison's podcast, The Small Town Big Business Podcast.  The goal of the STBB Podcast is to retain and grow businesses in the Southern IL area.  

Southern Illinois Vacation Rentals: https://sivr.rentals/

Small Town Big Business Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@smalltownbigbusiness

Do you want to grow your business through marketing, but don't know where to start?  Does marketing overwhelm you?  

Join us in this CIBL BIZ TIPS series with Cassie Yoder, owner of Cass Concepts in downtown Decatur, IL.  Cassie is also the founder and owner of Prairie Commons Business Collective and Co-Host of Left At The Door Podcast.    

In the first episode of this three-part series, Cassie explains how business owners can expand their business through the use of intentional marketing.  She also shares how businesses can partner with a marketing firm to multiply their success.    

If you want to improve your marketing efforts and expand your business reach, this series is for you!!  

Check out Cass Concepts Marketing at https://www.cassconcepts.com/

Do you have a hobby that you've considered turning into a business?    

Check out this interview with Ben Funk, co-owner of Funky Brew in Gridley, IL.   Ben is also a Financial Advisor with LPL Financial in Bloomington.  

In this episode, Ben talks about how he and his dad started brewing beer as a hobby on their family farm.  He explains how they developed a local following from the Gridley community with some of their brews.  

Their beer finally became so popular that they decided to purchase an old building in downtown Gridley and turn it into their brewery.  Ben shares some of the struggles they've experienced during the remodel.  Once the building is complete, they'll move all brewing operations to the new location and will soon build a taproom where the community can come to enjoy some Funky Brew.  

The brand new brewery is expected to be open on the first Friday of March.  If not that Friday, then it'll be the next...  

Check out this cool story to learn how a handful of Central IL hobby brewers are taking their beer business to the next level!

Have you ever wondered if you should start an LLC for your business?  Do you know how an LLC works?

Tune in to this three-part BIZ TIPS series with Cari Rincker to learn the what, how, and why of LLCs.  Cari is the owner of Rincker Law, PLLC in Champaign, Shelbyville, and New York City.

In part three, Cari explains how to maintain your corporate formalities to make sure your legal protection stays intact.

This is great info for any business leader to know!

Rincker Law: https://rinckerlaw.com/

Check out this throwback to a 2022 top performing podcast with Colt McLeod!!

Tune in as Colt McLeod joins the CIBL Podcast to share his experience and background as the President of McLeod Express in Decatur, IL.

Colt starts off the podcast by explaining how McLeod Express started.  His father initiated the business in 1986 as a "side gig" with a few idle farm trucks during slow months.  What started as a side hustle turned into a booming trucking operation that grew to around 200 trucks running from the McLeod family farmhouse.  Due to their incredible growth, McLeod Express moved from the Assumption family farm to their current location in Decatur in 2002.

Colt shared that he started in the family business at the age of 13 by washing trucks.  After his college years and a few extra years in the St Louis area, Colt was drawn back to the Central IL family business and is now the President of the operation.

At the end of the interview, Colt talks about how McLeod has adapted to all the technology advancements in the trucking industry.  He also explains his passion for introducing young people to the industry.

This a super cool story about an awesome Central IL business leader.  Don't miss this one!

Have you ever wondered if you should start an LLC for your business?  Do you know how an LLC works?  

Tune in to this three-part BIZ TIPS series with Cari Rincker to learn the what, how, and why of LLCs.  Cari is the owner of Rincker Law, PLLC in Champaign, Shelbyville, and New York City.   

In part two, Cari explains the LLC application process.  She discusses the recommended steps and strategies to set up your new LLC correctly.  Cari also reviews a few different scenarios that business owners commonly experience when applying for an LLC.  

This is great info for any business leader to know!    

Rincker Law: https://rinckerlaw.com/

Have you ever had an interest in real estate investing but don't know where to start?  Are you interested in investing in small-scale development?

Tune in as David Lee joins the CIBL Podcast to share his experience in real estate development in downtown Springfield.  

In this episode, David explains why he decided to invest and develop real estate in Springfield.  He talks about the planning, rehab, and occupancy process for his buildings and the hurdles and triumphs he experienced along the way.  David discusses that he listens to podcasts, mainly Bigger Pockets, to learn about the real estate investing game.  He plans to continue to expand his real estate portfolio in the Springfield area in the near future.  

David shares his experience playing college athletics and how it translates to his professional success.  David actually broke multiple passing records as a quarterback at Augustana College!

He goes on to talk about his career in medical device sales with Stryker Medical.  His main focus is on life saving equipment, mainly for fire departments and emergency medical services.  David explains which sales tactics work best for his target market and how he has found success in the medical sales industry.  

David is a very motivational business leader to listen to and you're guaranteed to learn something from this interview!