Distance used to be a hurdle for most with all kinds of business and personal connections, including romantic ones.  Business owners are wise not to get too sucked into working too much at the expense of investing in personal relationships.

With so many communication apps available now, distance may no longer be an obstacle to having a long distance relationship (LDR). Staying in touch has never been easier; however, actually connecting with someone living a few hundred — or thousand — miles away is still no easy feat. Add that to the normal ups and downs of being in a relationship it's no wonder that LDRs don't work for everyone. However LDRs can and do work — it just takes some creativity, communication, planning, and sometimes, even mentoring.

Our guest in this episode is the founder of Undivided, a professional mentoring business specially made for people in long distance relationships. Undivided focuses on personal development, mutual growth, and unlocking for their clients, a rock-solid bond with their partner that not only withstands the tests of distance, but the tests of time.

Johnathan Jena was in a long distance relationship himself for over 3 years, bridging the 3,100 miles distance. He and his partner developed ways to help them cope with many of the common issues long-distance couples face (such as loneliness, conflict resolution, intimacy, jealousy, personal growth, etc.). 

In a world where long distance love is still often seen as "illegitimate" or "not worth the risk", Johnathan, through his company, wants to show people that there is an easier way to feel close when you're far apart.

In this age of infinite choices, small business owners need to be creative in finding ways to stand out in a crowded marketplace. But how do you do that? One way to do so is via brand photos.

Photography can help you represent yourself to the world in a way that’s positive, genuine and, most importantly, unique to your business. After all, you and your business are more than a logo.  You as the business owner are the face of your business. It’s important to have a visual brand that presents you in the best light, with an up-to-date look that you feel fabulous about. Needless to say, how a brand is perceived affects its success!

Our guest in this episode spends just as much time identifying your brand as she does behind the camera.

Stephanie Simpson, owner of branding photography company Simpson Portraits, has years of experience in marketing, image making, and visual storytelling. That combination of skills makes her uniquely qualified to help you to build your business and your brand.

Stephanie helps people feel good about themselves. She can see the real you inside and helps bring that to life. Many of her clients are uncomfortable being in front of the camera, but Stephanie guides them through every pose, expression, and mood to shape a cohesive brand story.

Personal branding used to include nothing more than a simple business card with your name on it. But with the development of social media and an increasingly individualized society, the brand you build around yourself is perhaps the single most important way to stand out in your spheres of influence. If you’re interested in becoming a leader in your field or landing your dream job, you need to set up and maintain a digital presence and in person presentation that tells people who you are and why you’re special.

But for some reason, many of us aren’t comfortable with developing our personal brand. For some, especially for beginner entrepreneurs, it could feel forced. Or some don’t want to put themselves out there. Or they feel like they’re selling out.

What exactly is personal branding and how do you establish an awesome personal brand?  

Our guest in this episode, JuliAnn Stitick, is a Personal Brand Strategist with over 22 years of experience working with trusted brands such as Lexus, Nordstrom, Disney, LAPD, Kaiser Permanente and Caruso Affiliated .

Her expertise in helping her clients connect with their audience has also attracted notable Oscar and Golden Globe winning clients.

It doesn’t matter what products or services you offer. In this age of countless options, being able to differentiate yourself from your competitors and position yourself as the person or business most suited to serve them is vital to your success.

The secret to getting noticed is authority. When you have authority, people will pay attention. When you are perceived as an expert in your industry, people will naturally want to work with you. They will seek you out instead of you chasing them.

Our guest in this episode talks about the importance of first and foremost establishing yourself to be an authority figure in your industry rather than focusing on generating leads and converting those prospects into clients.

Weston Lyon is the author of 19 books and one of the only authors to ever write nine books in eleven months. Weston also founded Plug & Play Publishing, a Pittsburgh-based authority-positioning company that teaches coaches, consultants, speakers, and other education-based service providers how to write a book to grow their business.

Lacking the “grit”. Silencing the inner critic. Procrastination. Beginner entrepreneurs are very much guilty of these self-sabotaging roadblocks that drive them further away from their goal of thriving in their business.

You may not be aware of it but some of those are inherited roadblocks and patterns that once recognized and released will lead to awakening of your life.

Our guest in this episode is an intuitive life coach and transformational energy healer. Lisa Thomas has had the privilege of working with talented people from all walks of life. She empowers individuals to reach their full potential by removing inherited emotional blocks such as fear of success, fear of failure, anxiety, procrastination, fear of public speaking, false money beliefs, relationship drama and business stagnation.

Lisa's expertise in removing inherited patterns within the epigenetics empowers people to get their gifts, talents and bright ideas out into the world, confidently and in alignment with their Soul's purpose.

This episode focuses on a specific niche, which is dancing, but make sure to tune in as we discuss everything involved in owning a commercial venture that requires capital and business savvy.

Our guest in this episode owns a dance school that helps instructors set up classes on-site in schools. Jeannette Sermak-Proulx  has been teaching since 1981. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from California Institute of the Arts, a Bachelor of Arts in English/Dance from Loyola Marymount University, and a Polish Folk Dance Teaching credential from Bursa Szkol Artystynych Lublin, Poland.

Jeannette has built her business from the ground up by mastering cold calling.  She is in the process of writing a book teaching others how to have cold calling success.

The strengths approach says that when it comes to developing people, there is more to be gained by building on their existing strengths than on trying to correct or make  good their weaknesses.

Too many people focus on fixing what's "wrong" with themselves, instead of appreciating and leveraging the unique, innate talents they already possess.  

Our guest in this episode, Brea Roper, is a coach who uses the  power of CliftonStrengths. Learn more about this type of coaching in this episode.

Have you heard of the adage that says, “Leaders aren't trained, they're developed”?

This is a subtle yet very important distinction lost on many. In this episode, our guest David M Robertson explains the distinction between leadership coaching and leadership development and how one is better than the other.  

David M Robertson is a Leadership Development Practitioner with GrassFire Industries LLC in Wichita, Kansas. He developed and continues to refine the several programs now being taught at GrassFire and has been teaching leadership development in various roles since 2009.

In last week's episode, we talked about tithing and how doing so can actually lead you to a six-figure income.

This week, returning guest Michael Holmes, founder of tithehacker.org shares with us the stories, patterns, and strategies employed by wealthy Christian entrepreneurs and how everyday business owners like us can learn from those habits.

An old saying goes, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”. But what if you are told that you do not just give, but to give a percentage of what you are actually earning? The first ten percent, to be specific. This is called tithing.

When it comes to topic of tithing, many Christians want to rationalize. For those who find themselves in financial trouble, tithing doesn’t make sense from an economic standpoint.

One person who found himself questioning the Bible teaching of tithing led him to an experiment that changed the course of his life.  

Michael Holmes, founder of tithehacker.org, shares how a ”tithing experiment” took him from unemployed, broke, and in debt to a six-figure income in a matter of 2 years.