ElevatePolk

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk with the founder of Help(Her), Teresa O’Brien, and enjoy listening to her incredible story. Teresa is a mother of three adopted children, all the same age. She wanted to find the middle-ground between being a stay-at-home mother for her family but wanting to feel fulfilled and impact others. After making the decision to quit her dream job to happily raise her three children, Teresa felt that she needed to dream in a different way! So, she took to creating opportunities for women like her: women who want to stay home still with their kids but have the college degree and skillset to gain some money and help other people. Thus, Help(Her) was born.

When you fall in love with the city of Lakeland, the city will fall in love with you right back. Through the support of the community of women like her and connection after connection, Help(Her) has given many opportunities for both the clients and the help(hers)! After listening to this episode, they hope to remind you that you are valued, what you do matters, and it's always okay to ask for help. You are going to LOVE this episode!

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk with Clarke Freed about entrepreneurial growth coaching and the aspects of both having a coach and being a coach to others. Clarke, having been Chrissanne’s coach for years, tells listeners his story of how he became a coach to others.

Initially working in the Navy and leading young men and women in their day-to-day life, Clarke was encouraged by his wife to pursue coaching. After earning his coach certification, Clarke tells the audience that his goal is to always get better at providing value to his clients, and has his own coach to this day to do so!

Chrissanne and Clarke share the heartwarming and valuable experiences they’ve learned working together over the years, while also discussing some of the greatest challenges they’ve come to face and overcome. Who knows, you might be looking for a coach after this episode!

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne talks with business owners Jeanna and Mark Parker about the growth of their business as not just a mindset, but what they refer to as a "heartset".

Six years after opening Bella Visage Medical & Aesthetic Rejuvenation, Jeanna and Mark have come an incredible way from living off welfare to running the fastest growing spa in Central Florida. Through their story, we learn that when you’re in the middle of this rut of helplessness, not to sit and wallow in your misery, but to work harder than you ever have before to dig yourself out.

Jenna and Mark exclaim to listeners that their success would not have been possible without the support of the Lakeland community, and because of this, they are always giving back to the community and helping others achieve their goals.

You are going to love their story!

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and bestselling author Peter Kageyama meet for Elevate Polk’s first-ever remote podcast. 🖥

Chrissanne and Peter discuss the importance of not only acknowledging, but thanking and expressing our gratitude to the incredible entrepreneurs and “co-creators” in Lakeland. It’s through their work they pour into the community that makes us proud of our city! Lakeland is a city where hyperlocal support is always on full display, and this love for Lakeland is expressed through their hard work.

Our challenge for you this week after listening to this podcast: Give love to small business creators and express your gratitude for them. Whether it’s posting a great review for their business, choosing a local restaurant rather than a chain, or sharing a post thanking a co-creator on a recent purchase - Appreciate the people doing something meaningful in the community.

In this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk about looking at marketing from the angle of prioritizing data, because the facts are that numbers never lie. In marketing, one of the big components of strategically helping businesses grow is in helping them build systems that help them track and measure their success. While using third-party companies to jumpstart can help, Chrissanne explains that your business needs to be able to stand on its own, otherwise you're at the mercy of what they decide to do with your products in their algorithm. Data doesn’t have an ego, it doesn’t have emotions, it doesn’t have feelings: it’s just numbers and it’s real. Data is the secret that will tell you if your product is going to fit into the marketplace, and it leaves clues to find more success if you’re willing to take the time to look into it. This podcast analyzes the key factors in keeping customers long-term and finding the steady pace you want to take your business to bring the most success.

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk to TJ Zimmerman from Concord Coffee about how they became one of Lakeland’s favorite local coffee shops. TJ dives into the dream behind Concord - we bet you didn’t know the original concept envisioned for the coffee shop that meets hot dogs and shaved ice! With the desire to create something to bring the community together, TJ tells Chrissanne and Nate about the detailed intentionality of Concord Coffee’s branding, down to their name and logo symbol. Their origin story is one that teaches the importance of relationships and genuinely connecting with people over the years. Through trial and error, Concord became a place for community and building relationships over the unique experience of craft coffee. In its 6 and a half years of business, Concord Coffee collaborated with other community businesses and brought in many award-winning roasters, to where they now roast their own coffee too!

This podcast dives deep into the truth behind successful entrepreneurship and how to take your own business to the next level while staying true to your goals and values. You won't want to miss this!

Hello Polk County!

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk about the importance of understanding when it is (or isn’t) time to scale your business. No matter how big or small your business starts, the ultimate goal is to grow your business as far as you want it to. But in order to do so, you have to figure out the processes that must be built on the backend of your business in order to have a better workflow. That way, as your business grows and you want to add to it, it doesn't break. Chrissanne and Nate highlight the best approach to selecting the right tools that are equipped to scale WITH your business, and discuss the benefits of setting expectations a bit lower at first to see how the market responds, and then adapting based on the response. The point of entrepreneurship and innovation is doing things that may not work correctly, so you've got to take that risk - but take a mitigated risk. By being self aware of the nuances and challenges of growing a business, you can learn to be proud of small milestones and appreciate all the successes, both big and small, to come!

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk about entrepreneurship’s platform for making a difference, and its effect on employers and their businesses. This pandemic and its negative effects have been on full display, with “Apply here” signs scattered down every main road and businesses struggling to keep up with fewer employees willing to work. Workers are less likely to take on these “smaller roles” due to the systematic label shaming of different generational classes. Boomer, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z grew in vastly different worlds of business. Where the older generations are less willing to adapt to new and more advanced business models, the younger generations are being pressured to learn these old ways of business. Chrissanne and Nate talk about how entrepreneurship IS change: bucking the system and continuing to grow and develop society’s business mindset as the world around us grows as well. In a time where people feel most divided, we must acknowledge the importance of not pin-pointing these challenges onto younger generations, as well as encouraging our community to develop a growth mindset that will allow businesses and their teams to advance alongside technology and the up and coming generations.

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk about the importance of content! Chrissanne and Nate explain that a customer’s first impression of your content will determine whether or not they are going to keep coming back. Therefore, delivering consistently unique and quality content is crucial for every business’s success. Content comes in a lot of different variations. And Chrissanne and Nate break it down for you so you can start building your business with a solid content strategy, no matter what type of business you have! Thinking about your business from the consumer's perspective is a powerful way to build a strategy.

We've grabbed the links to some of the exciting content that the hosts are creating on their Websites or Facebook. Nate and Mike and Mike’s will be at the next Buena Market and Chrissanne has a new video series on Strategic growth! Visit the show notes for more information!

This week on the Elevate Polk Podcast, Chrissanne and Nate host Emerson Bamaca, owner of Bar 61 in Downtown Lakeland’s popular restaurant, 1961. Emerson tells his story of immigrating from Guatemala to the United States. He shares some of the personal experiences he had moving to San Francisco, where he worked doubles on top of schooling to pay his family back and find success in the US. Starting as a club owner in San Francisco, he had to learn how to assimilate into the American culture. He decided to stop trying to fit in and instead, stand proud of who he is! Emerson met a native of Lakeland and fell in love! They moved to start a family in our amazing community and that is when he met Marcos, the owner of 1961, and has since worked alongside him making cocktails and creating unique drink selections to best fit the restaurant’s menu. He expresses his gratitude that on his path to success, the city of Lakeland, overall, has met him with the most love and acceptance. Chrissanne and Nate full-heartedly agree!