Today we're discussing the F-Word...in entrepreneurship, "franchising." Sometimes it can feel like a four letter word without the proper mindset.

So says our guest today, Dru Carpenito. He is a consultant on franchising and has a ton of insight into a business venture that can be full of great promise and great pitfalls. We have an open conversation about the challenges and benefits to owning a franchise and he gives you tips on which franchises opportunities you aren't thinking about that could reel in big returns. 

I hear a lot of feedback from listeners that are tired of working for a corporation. "I hate my boss. I don't know what to do. I have a family, I have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay, but I feel trapped."  Your situation might be the product of the corporate and education system we have created in America. Go to school, get good grades, go to college, get a job, work 50 years, sock 10% away and retire. Drew Carpenito is here to tell you there might be another way.

On today's podcast...

2:52 - Drew got into franchising by accident 5:03 - Sales is the endgame 7:44 - The misconceptions around franchising: it's more than waffle fries 9:53 - It's harder to get into Chick Fila than into Harvard 12:35 - How do you instill culture and leadership into a franchise? 15:56 - The education system in America leads down a path away from franchising 18:00 - Are you one of the three types of people that join the franchise world? 21:26 - "Your franchise failed because you didn't follow the system." is TOTAL B.S. 26:11 - Can anyone open a franchise? 28:54 - Getting over the perception of investing in "unsexy businesses" 32:30 - What kind of financing do you need to get into franchising? 37:33 - Sexy franchise opportunities you might not be thinking about. 41:48 - Franchising is a strategy

More about today's guest...

Dru provides guidance and consulting to people who are considering investing in a franchise. Having worked with thousands of people exploring franchising as a path to achieve their goals - both functioning as an executive with two respected franchise brands and as a consultant working with individuals - Dru has a fundamental knowledge of franchising that candidates benefit from. Learn more about his services here.

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Grief. Loss. None of us are spared from these feelings and yet, they are some of the least talked about. We're constantly barraged with images of senseless violence and pain everyday on television and media, the results of which, reaches down into our community and the communities of others. 

It's a real struggle for many of us that have ever connected with someone who is going through loss. We want to say the perfect thing but it is hard and, at the cost of that perfection, we end up paralyzed, not saying anything at all.

In today's episode, we talk with Emily Barnhart who co-authored a book on grief called, The Grief Diaries, and the wisdom she shares as a 28-year old is astounding. While it's painful to think of what she has endured to gain that wisdom, I'm very grateful for the experiences she shares with us when we have a friend or loved one grieving. We discuss these difficult topics and the work she is doing with The Dinner Party, a private dinner party group for people who are dealing with a loss in their life. 

This episode will open your eyes about grief and the grief process with the understanding that everybody is going to grieve a loss differently. Emily shares how we can best be there in support for our loved ones.

If you know anyone who is grieving, struggling with a loss and could benefit from listening to this episode, reading Emily's book or building relationships with others at a Dinner Party, please share this with show with them. For more information on joining, hosting or a list of frequently asked questions, go to: https://www.thedinnerparty.org. 

On today's podcast... 04:50 - Emily's latest project deals with human trafficking, a surprisingly growing problem in North Carolina 08:10 - What's a Trauma Bond? 11:11 - A "Dinner Party" that isn't about the food 14:12 - Why would I go to the Dinner Party? 18:59 - How Emily connected with the Dinner Party 22:53 - What does 'holding space' mean? 25:15 - Significant loss means different things to different people. 26:26 - Emily's personal significant loss story 29:56 - One size does not fit all 34:11 - How writing and journaling led Emily to write the Grief Diaries. 37:18 - The unhealthy ways people cope with grief 42:16 - How do you show up and be there for someone who's grieving? 47:21 - Prioritize your presence over your words 52:10 - What encouragement would you give to a person unsure about joining a Dinner Party? 54:53 - Emily's hopes for the future of Dinner Parties

More about today's guest...

Emily Barnhart works in HR as a training specialist, maintaining and managing compliance training. She volunteers with a non-profit called Justice Ministries here in Charlotte that helps survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation with a focus on emergency response - victim recovery, emergency transportation, and emergency case management services.

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

This episode is very special and very personal to my family. My family has a genetic kidney disorder known as polycystic kidney disease - it basically squeezes the life and function out of your kidneys over your lifetime. Without properly functioning kidneys, the waste and toxins in your blood end up poisoning your body and there's no cure, so you are left with two options, dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Today I'm talking to my Aunt Kenne, who was struggling with the disease, and to her kidney donor, Desirae Linden. Desirae tells us her reasons for being a donor and what all it takes to become one.

Desirae is the type of person that gives you hope. She's the type of person that makes you think human beings still have a fighting chance for compassion, empathy, generosity, love and care in this world. She has an incredible kind of person and she's giving the gift of life to more than just Kenne.

On today's podcast...

05:00 - A little background on Kenne and her family 08:25 - What is polycystic kidney disease? 10:12 - What are your options? 13:03 - How did you find out you had it? 16:14 - What's it like on dialysis? 22:22 - How do get on the list for a donor? 26:24 - Meeting Desi, Kenne's donor. 30:35 - What's it like to work in oncology? 37:20 - How did you find out Kenna had the disease? 43:07 - Figuring it out for yourself. 47:30 - What did you have to do to prepare for being a donor? 51:31 - How did you tell Kenne you were approved as a candidate? 59:49 - I said Yes! to the kidney. 1:07:54 - You'll have 3 kidneys for a while? 1:14:48 - Desi feels lucky to be able to donate her kidney. 1:19:52 - Desi says "Why not?" It's not just a kidney, it's a life. 1:22:10 - What does it mean to you to have Desirae donate this kidney to you?

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Selling with Soul

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Street Smarts with Harvey Mackay

When I started this podcast, I knew I wanted to have a guest like Andrew Au on the show. Andrew is expecting his first child any day now. Andrew brings that excitement of being a first time parent that I know some of us with older kids would benefit from hearing. It is a reminder of the thrill, nerves, naivety, and joy of having your first child. You'll enjoy hearing what Andrew has researched about the birthing process and you will learn about the vlog (video log) he has set up that you can find at Andrew-AU.com. He has a series blog posts for first time dads. If you've ever considered starting a vlog about your field of expertise or everyday life, Andrew offers up some invaluable tips to getting started. If you are a parent already or know a parent, consider sharing this episode with them. 

On today's podcast...

3:10 - Andrew's preparation for the big birth day 6:18 - Expecting mothers are amazing...and they don't need expecting fathers' advice 9:44 - The pains of the birthing process and Andrew's role in the decision making process 12:00 - What's the deal with doulas? 15:15 - Pop quiz, hot shot. It's 1:00 AM and your wife's water breaks. What's your plan? 19:52 - Andrew's baby Vlog and the one moment he absolutely wants to capture 24:41 - Why did Andrew decided to start a Vlog about his family? 28:48 - Some tips for starting your own Vlog 34:11 - The core values Andrew wants to instill in his children 36:33 - Andrew's wife Laura is stubborn in the best way 38:25 - Rapid Fire Round: First Time Dad Edition

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Selling with Soul

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Street Smarts with Harvey Mackay

John Spence is one of, if not the most well read business mind in the world today. His thoughts on business, relationship building, management, leadership and a variety of other subjects are in-depth and on the money. 

John was named by the American Management Association as one of America's Top 50 Leaders to Watch along with Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google and Jeff Bezos of Amazon. As a consultant and coach to organizations worldwide, from startups to the Fortune 10, John is dedicated to helping people and businesses be more successful by "Making the Very Complex… Awesomely Simple."

Today we discuss his life, legacy and his hidden story of being laughed out of a room only to become a 26 year old CEO. 

On today's podcast...

3:22 - How reading transformed John's career at a very young age

5:06 - Be so good they can't ignore you

11:10 - Keeping Things Awesomely Simple

14:13 - IQ, AQ and EQ

19:16 - Do you need to be a change ninja or a stable samurai?

23:28 - Where do relationships and culture fit into the habits of high performing teams?

28:37 - Attacking culture in the hiring/onboarding process

32:20 - Why do people who can work ANYWHERE choose to stay where they are?

34:31 - The secret to winning the war for talent?

37:28 - John Spence's hidden story of success begins with getting laughed out of the room

44:05 - The mentor/mentee relationship

47:05 - Can multiple leaders within one organization have different leadership philosophies?

49:08 - Why do leaders still fail despite all of the resources that exist today?

More about today's guest...

Visit John's website and read more from his incredible blog: https://johnspence.com/

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Selling with Soul

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Street Smarts with Harvey Mackay

On October 31st, 2017 Alisa Stevens got a call straight out of a nightmare while her kids were trick or treating. The call revealed she had breast cancer.

Alisa is a strong single mother of five children. She's an English teacher at Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools and her passion is educating youth, inspiring her children to continue to learn and grow. She will discuss her battle and how community organizations like the Go Jen Go Foundation filled critical gaps on her road to recovery. The Go Jen Go foundation is a nonprofit organization in Charlotte dedicated to providing critical financial assistance to local individuals and families who are battling cancer. Jessie Laney is the Race Director for one of the Go Jen Go Foundation's signature 5K race events. She will also join us to discuss what specifically the organization does to help by providing aid to patients so that they can focus on recovery. They are giving the gift of life. 

On today's episode...

5:35 - A routine physical changes Alisa's life 10:12 - Halloween night makes Alisa's worst nightmare a reality 14:24 - Alisa is confronted with the fear of cancer confusion 16:35 - Alisa begins advocating for herself and takes control of her treatment course 20:47 - "I'm sitting there looking at my body and thinking, 'I should just die' because I didn't look right." 24:00 - The perils of going through cancer alone 26:35 - The Go Jen Go foundation steps in to help Alisa 29:23 - The Jen behind Go Jen Go 39:20 - Ways to support the Go Jen Go foundation. 42:46 - Cancer is NOT going away

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Selling with Soul

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Street Smarts with Harvey Mackay

Being a parent can be the most amazing, difficult, rewarding, challenging, engaging, overwhelming, life changing experience any of us ever go through.

On today's episode, we're going to be talking to Ben and Dora Lastra, professional parents, about managing and balancing their 3 amazing kids while working full time.

Their pride for being parents shines through as they share great parenting advice. These are parents who are living in it right now. Whether you are about to have your first child or your seventh child, this episode will encourage you to love on your kids that much more, but also love and appreciate being a parent.

More about today's guest...

Ben is a realtor with Allen Tate and serves both North and South Carolina. If he can help you, please reach out to him at [email protected].

On today's show:

01:08 - The 2 questions Jeremy gets asked the most.

03:01 - Why didn't anyone tell us parenting would be this hard?

11:10 - 3 kids in daycare? Cha-ching!

13:44 - What's it really like going from 2 kids to 3?

17:14 - Do you ever sleep?

20:40 - The first day home from the hospital was not a normal one.

24:41 - What's the difference in having your first child vs. your third child?

27:53 - The difference between knowledge and understanding.

33:40 - How has having children changed your perspective on life?

37:55 - What core values do you want to instill in your kids?

44:00 - Jeremy reflects on being present in the moment.

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Selling with Soul

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Street Smarts with Harvey Mackay

When we shine a light on the struggles of people in our community, our friends, neighbors, co-workers...it's a lot more difficult to demonize them. 

Today we're shining a light on the story of someone who now devotes his life to helping people use light to power their everyday lives. Costa Nicolaou, CEO of PanelClaw, a solar energy company. As interesting and timely as renewable energy is, his story of immigrating to the United States and the hardships he faced attempting to stay and thrive in the country he loved is heart wrenching and thought provoking.

Costa's story is one of thousands of people who look to this country for a better life. It's a journey filled with empathy, hope, despair roadblocks, justice and injustice. 

On today's podcast...

4:00 - Costa risks sounding corny to tell us why he's all-in on solar energy 7:00 - Political revolution forces a young Costa to a life far from home 13:04 - A family of five, no income and no way out 15:59 - A chance run in with a former guest of Hidden Stories is one part of a love of education 19:13 - Costa's community and legislators get involved to help keep his family from being deported 23:17 - Costa's thoughts on the current state of immigration in the US and what it is like to be undocumented in America 26:00 - Costa develops his passion for changing the world for the better 32:00 - What's holding people back from transitioning to solar? 35:50 - The train has left the station on solar

More about today's guest...

Costa is the CEO of Panelclaw, Inc. PanelClaw is the #1 US supplier of photovoltaic mounting systems for flat roof applications. Every PanelClaw flat roof system is backed by a state-of-the-art testing and certification program and engineered to deliver superior design flexibility and ease of installation. With millions of solar panels deployed on flat roofs worldwide and a 99.99% reliability track record, PanelClaw is committed to advancing standards of safety and performance while delivering the lowest life-cycle cost to every partner. 

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die

The Why and The Buy

Selling with Soul

Wheelbarrow Profits

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Street Smarts with Harvey Mackay

He's back. One of our first guests on the podcast, Jeffrey Gitomer returns to the Hidden Stories stage to discuss his new book and take us on a deep dive into his sales and life philosophies. The wisdom that he shares in this podcast has led him to bestselling books, millions of fans and a prosperous life for himself and his family. He's the king of his field and today he'll share some of the keys to his kingdom.

Buy Jeffrey's new book Sales Manifesto here.

On today's podcast...

5:21 - What helps the King of Sales write?

7:26 - The books that you'll read, the places you'll go

11:59 - The secret to Truthful Living

16:03 - If your mind is cluttered, you can't create clearly

21:19 - Execution is the strategy

23:20 - You can't "manage your time" but you can allocate it

25:45 - The hard work that makes your life easy

31:47 - Why the time has come for a Sales Manifesto

40:13 - Jeffrey answer sales question from fans of the show

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die Podcast

Street Smarts with Harvey Mackay

The Why and The Buy Podcast

Selling with Soul

Women Your Mother Warned You About

Wheelbarrow Profits

Time for a little something different...and a little something tastier. Today's guest is Lewis Donald, who went from executive chef at a fine foods store to owner of his own BBQ restaurant. Lewis is obsessed with success and dedicated to the craft of tasty meat and customer experience. We scour his menu to learn the secrets to down home cooking and how his convictions affect the way he operates every facet of his business. 

Grab a plate as we fire up the smoker and find out the hidden story behind the barbecue. 

Find out more about Lewis' Charlotte restaurant here.

On today's podcast...

3:00 - Lewis is really cooking with wood

5:00 - BBQ scarcity philosophy

7:37 - Inside the smoking process

10:11 - The golden chop to pull ratio

11:50 - To sauce, or not to sauce...that is the question

15:40 - Why do the pro-poultry makers brine?

17:27 - With Lewis, it is ALL about the meat

18:44 - Lewis is anti-BBQ technology

21:15 - The BBQ process is hard, if you want good meat

23:00 - The science of super selling sides

26:30 - Opening a restaurant business

Hidden Stories is a production of the Sell or Die Network, a collection of the best podcasts on sales and personal development on the planet. Check out what else we have to offer:

Sell or Die Podcast

The Why and The Buy Podcast

Selling with Soul

Wheelbarrow Profits