In this powerful episode, we sit down with Mike Fata — a high school dropout turned health advocate, founder, investor, and bestselling author — to explore his journey from personal transformation to building and exiting Manitoba Harvest, a $400 million hemp food company. Mike shares how adversity shaped his entrepreneurial grit, how he scaled a business in a niche industry, and how he evolved from a startup founder to a respected CEO and mentor.

What You'll Learn:

• How Mike's 100-pound weight loss sparked a passion for health and entrepreneurship
• The early challenges of marketing hemp foods in a skeptical market
• How Manitoba Harvest scaled from $10M to $400M through strategic growth and industry timing
• The importance of quality, vertical integration, and values-driven leadership
• Mike's advice for entrepreneurs preparing for an exit

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In this episode of Find Your Exit, host Mark Kravietz interviews Alexis Sikorsky, a strategic advisor and entrepreneur who successfully navigated a nine-figure exit to private equity. Alexis shares his journey from starting a software company to selling it, the lessons learned during the 2008 financial crisis, and the importance of due diligence and negotiation in the sale process. He introduces his APEX methodology, a framework designed to help business owners grow and prepare for successful exits. The conversation emphasizes the evolving relationship between founders and private equity, the significance of having a strong exit team, and the challenges founders face post-exit.

Notable Quotes:

• " It's easier than you think. Don't get overwhelmed growing and selling your company."

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In this episode of Find Your Exit, host Mark Kravietz interviews Justin Goodbread, a successful entrepreneur who built, grew, and sold multiple businesses, becoming a millionaire before the age of 40. Justin shares his inspiring journey from growing up on a dirt road in Brunswick, Georgia, to becoming a bestselling author and award-winning exit planner. He discusses the importance of having a clear vision, the power of coaching, and the value of an abundance mindset in achieving business success.

Key Takeaways:

• Justin's Background: Growing up in rural Georgia, homeschooled, and influenced by five key mentors.
• Entrepreneurial Journey: Starting a successful landscaping business at 15, transitioning to financial advising, and eventually founding Heritage Investors.
• Leadership Style: Emphasizing "servant leadership," delegation, and empowering his team.
• Exit Strategy: The pivotal moment when Justin decided to sell his business, influenced by his wife's health scare and the advice of his coach.
• Lessons Learned: The importance of having an abundance mindset and a clear vision for the future.

Notable Quotes:

• "If you had unlimited time and unlimited resources, what would you do tomorrow that you're not doing today?"
• "Focus on value first, and profitability will follow."

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The path to building a successful business is rarely a straight line. Our latest guest, Kerry Siggins, overcame a series of personal and professional trials and tribulations to go from jobless to the c-suite.

Kerry Siggins is the CEO of StoneAge, a fast-growing, employee-owned manufacturing and technology company based in Colorado. Kerry hosts Reflect Forward, a popular leadership podcast and she recently released her first book, The Ownership Mindset: A Handbook for Transforming Your Life and Leadership.

Today, Kerry joins the show to share her experiences and how mindset and leadership can take your business to the next level.

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You have built up your business and may be prepared to exit and move forward, but do you know how much it is worth? Our latest guest, Scott Gabehart, is a business valuation pro with over 30 years of experience doing valuations.

Scott has an alphabet of accreditations—six in total. He has a BA, MIM, CBA, CVA, BCA, and CBVS. He has served as Chief Valuation Officer with BizEquity, LLC, a patented "software as a service" online business valuation tool, since 2006. Scott also has over 30 years of experience in private firm valuation and transactional representation. He is a Certified Business Appraiser, having worked at his firm called Gabehart Valuation Services since 2000.

Today, Scott joins the show to give us a look behind the curtain at the business valuation process and BizEquity technology.

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Business owners are always searching for an edge to help them maximize growth and business value. Our latest guest Marc Adams literally wrote the book on secrets to increasing your business multiple.

Today, Marc joins the show to share how he empowers business owners to tap into new revenue streams, optimize operational efficiency, and elevate brand awareness. From digital marketing mastery to harnessing the power of social media and executing seamless acquisitions, Marc's book offers actionable tactics to drive growth.

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An entrepreneur undoubtedly takes risks, but they also require vision and determination. They are skilled in various disciplines and quick to learn and adapt. An apt description for our latest guest and the 'renaissance man of business' himself, Dan Donnelly.

Today, Dan joins us to share how he built up his company from a small-scale operation out of a basement in Queens to a successful business he could sell.

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Sometimes the greatest business ideas are a byproduct of our personal passions. That was certainly the case for Mary Waldner when she decided to start Mary's Gone Crackers, a wildly successful gluten-free organic cracker and snack company. A company that she would go on to grow and eventually sell.

Today, Mary joins us to discuss how she made a successful business out of a passion project and then prepared her company for sale.

INSPIRING QUOTE

"Think big. It takes the same amount of work to build something small as it takes to build something big." – Mary Waldner

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You're considering selling your company and you hear about a concept to defer or even possibly not pay capital gains—instantaneously creating tax advantages for your company. All that might sound too good to be true, however, Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) are a viable alternative when one is ready to sell their business. Larry Kaplan has built a career advising business owners on the benefits of ESOPs.

Larry has built the nation's leading ESOP investment banking practice at CSG Partners. Since 2000, his team of employee stock ownership plan advisors has guided hundreds of middle-market companies through the building and financing of leveraged ESOPs. Employee-owned companies nationwide also trust CSG with secondary sales, plan maintenance, and M&A transactions. Prior to starting CSG, Larry co-founded two growth companies, which he developed and sold.

Today, Larry joins us to discuss what he calls one of the best-kept secrets in the business—ESOPs.

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When her father passed very suddenly, Wendy Federman was thrust into the role of family business owner. In her true entrepreneurial spirit, Wendy was able to meet the challenge head-on and eventually fulfill her childhood dream on the Broadway stage.

Wendy Federman is a thirteen-time Tony Award-winning theatre and film producer. She has also received two Olivier Awards, eleven Drama Desk Awards, nineteen Outer Critics Circle Awards, eighteen Drama League Awards, and three GLADD Media Awards for many of her over ninety co-productions. Her current and upcoming shows on and off-Broadway, on US National Tour, and in London & Australia include Company, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ain't Too Proud-The Life and Times of the Temptations, Beetlejuice, Moulin Rouge!, Jagged Little Pill, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, The Minutes, Sing Street, Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Funny Girl, The Play That Goes Wrong, Little Shop of Horrors, The Piano Lesson, and The Devil Wears Prada Musical.

Today, Wendy joins us to share her unlikely path from her father's floral factory to Broadway.

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