How That Happened

Heather Nelson is Co-founder and President at Seal Solar, a solar energy construction company which designs and installs solar energy systems for both residential and commercial applications. Seal was founded in 2012 and has grown quickly into one of the leading solar energy system providers in Arkansas.

Heather started her career in the banking industry and served many years as a commercial lending officer until she co-founded Seal Solar with Josh Davenport.

Heather was named the 2021 Business Executive of the Year. She holds an MBA at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Marketing degree at the University of Arkansas.

Her community involvement is extensive. Currently, she sits on the board of Junior Achievement of Arkansas; she is a Commissioner at the Arkansas History Commission; and she serves at The Excel Center at Goodwill School Advisory Council.

In this episode, Heather discusses her foray into the solar industry after nearly two decades of working in the banking and corporate lending space, and how she and co-founder Josh found success in spite of a lack of knowledge in energy efficiency at the beginning.

She says that the tipping point for solar—when virtually every built environment will factor in solar energy systems—depends on "how good we educate the public" alongside how soon an accessible spread of financing options becomes available.

Heather speaks on how she runs the ship, from how Seal has managed to stay afloat during the turbulent circumstances of the last year-and-a-half to a description of the company's supply chain.

This episode is now on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen via the podcast player embedded above.

Make sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit blog.hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened/heather-nelson.

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Misti Staley is an artist by education and training and is also an inventor, having provided health industry aid and at-home medical equipment through the FreeArm Tube Feeding Assistant and the FreeArm Muscle. She is the founder and CEO of Staley House, LLC, and Director of the nonprofit Freeman Foundation.

Misti was recently featured in the Success Stories section of Arkansas Business, the weekly business newspaper for the state of Arkansas. In 2019, she was named an Arkansas Business's 40 Under 40 honoree.

In this episode, Misti reflects on how heart and lung complications suffered by her son Freeman in 2015 inspired her to develop what would become the FreeArm and the feeding tube's advantages over the traditional IV pole. She speaks frequently on the road, discussing perfecting the design through customer discovery with a current goal to get the FreeArm covered by insurance.

Additionally, Misti discusses how her art background informed the design process behind the FreeArm, what she has learned about entrepreneurship and business throughout the journey so far, and her global expansion plans for the company.

This episode is now on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen via the podcast player embedded above.

Make sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit blog.hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened/misti-staley.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit www.hogantaylor.com/terms-conditions.

Dr. Terry Neese is a serial entrepreneur who has founded numerous for-profit and nonprofit organizations, two of the most successful today being Terry Neese Personnel Services (which is now being run by her daughter, Kim) and the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW)—the latter of which discuss in-depth in today's conversation.

Dr. Neese made history in 1990 when she became the first woman nominated by a major political party for the seat of Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma. She was named an Outstanding Business Leader by the Northwood University Board of Trustees in 2006 and received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the university in 2008.

In 2013, she received the Enterprising Women Legacy Award from the National Women Business Owners Corporation, and was among those featured at The Journal Record's Fourth Annual Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs. In 2014, Dr. Neese was only the second woman to be honored with the Sister Cities' Global Vision Award.

In this episode, Dr. Neese shares how she made her foray into entrepreneurship, why she believes that business owners ought to "Get Involved In Politics Or Go Out Of Business" (GIIPOGOOB), the impetus behind and the ongoing initiatives around her work at the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, and why creating businesses is a big step toward creating peace and economic stability.

This episode is now on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen via the podcast player embedded above.

Make sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit blog.hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened/terry-neese.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit www.hogantaylor.com/terms-conditions.

Rick Lazio and Tyler Noesser sit down for an in-depth discussion of alliantgroup, a leading tax specialty services provider working with CPA firms and their clients to ensure American companies receive the full benefit of federal and state tax credits, incentives, and deductions available to them.

Alliantgroup is partnered with around 5000 CPA firms across the U.S. and is staffed by a wide variety of specialists from multiple sectors including technology, finance, and the public sphere.

Alliantgroup's decision to partner with professionals in these different fields is in line with their three-pronged approach to helping clients pinpoint the tax incentives that are applicable to them. That is, from the financial, political, and legal angles.

In this episode, Rick and Tyler share how alliantgroup effectively serves as an "in-house tax advisor" to small businesses, helping them take advantage of the same tax strategies used by some of the largest businesses in America. This allows these organizations to reduce their tax liability, freeing up more capital that they can then reinvest into the company.

Rick also offers his thoughts on what to expect from President Biden's CARES Act and American Jobs Plan. He and Tyler then list specific types of businesses that easily qualify for tax deductions or credits (such as the federal R&D tax credit), as well as actionable steps that any business can take to increase their likelihood of availing tax incentives.

Be sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit https://hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened-episode-51/.

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Tim Thornton is the founder and owner of Tactical Electronics, which provides EOD tools, CIED Training, and Tactical Inspection Cameras for military and law enforcement agencies. Not only is he a founder, he is also an inventor, international spy, and subject matter expert in terrorism.

Tim started in this industry 20 years ago as an Instructor at Independent Intelligence Agency, where he taught special forces techniques, and noticed a lack of tools needed to achieve intelligence and military objectives. He then started making black boxes in his garage to meet those diagnostic needs, with the intent to help responders and government agencies stay safe. These products help pick locks, bypass security systems, disarming explosives, hotwire cars, and more.

In this episode, Tim shares how he got his start and learned to quickly adapt to this unique Industry, some of the amazing product categories that they focus on and how they source them to government agencies, and what it means to be an international spy.

Be sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit https://hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened-episode-50/.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit

John Vuong is the founder of Local SEO Search, a full-service Search Engine Optimization company based in Toronto.

The fourth child of Vietnamese immigrants to Canada, John began his work life at the age of ten with a paper route. Early in life, he realized that he had a passion for people and relationships. After graduating from Western University in Ontario, John held sales-related positions at RedToronto.com, Yellow Pages Group, and Jatheon Technologies.

In 2013, after ten years as an employee, John took the leap into business ownership, launching Local SEO Search.

In this episode, John shares an upbringing influenced by Vietnamese parents who had only recently immigrated to Canada in the wake of the Vietnam War. He then does a deep dive into the basics of SEO, why even the smallest or newest business needs to prioritize their SEO from the start, and the steps they can take to establish themselves as thought leaders in their space. Finally, John touches on how to outsource your SEO, the pitfalls of perfectionism, and actionable steps that every business owner can take today.

Be sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit https://hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened-episode-49/.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit

George McGehrin is the Founder and President of The McGehrin Group, an executive search and personal branding firm based in the New York City metropolitan area.

The McGehrin Group works with a wide variety of businesses from small firms to Fortune 1000 companies, placing C-suite executives and other top-level professionals. They also offer the most comprehensive and customized CEO professional branding and writing services, producing targeted LinkedIn profiles, resumes, and biographies that maximize their clients' potential.

To say that George is well-connected and well-networked would be a drastic understatement: He is the 125th most connected person on LinkedIn and ranked in the top 30 most connected recruiter in the United States.

In this episode, George shares what sets his organization apart in the talent acquisition industry, questions to ask when considering a new hire, whether remote working is the future for C-suite executives, how introverts can be great candidates, and whether AI will inevitably replace human recruiters.

Be sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit https://hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened-episode-48/.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit www.hogantaylor.com

Carmen Portillo is the founder of Cocoa Belle Chocolates, an ethically sourced chocolate store in Little Rock, Arkansas. She initially pursued a career in finance before opening up Cocoa Belle and is now working with cannabis companies like CBDolce and Native Green Wellness.

At the age of 19, Carmen set out to live in London. During her time there, she found herself feeling disheartened and solus with only chocolate to provide a sense of comfort. Here is where she fell in love with chocolate, wanting to dig into a passion; chocolate seemed like the only logical next step.

In this episode, Carmen dives into the three parts it takes to run a good business: technician, manager, and entrepreneur. She shares where her weakness lies within the three, as well as her strong suits. From this, Carmen goes into how she markets and brands her small business, including the creative avenues she came up with during the pandemic.

Be sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit https://hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened-episode-47/.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit www.hogantaylor.com

Steve Harrison is the CEO of Natural State Laboratories, which was founded in 2018 to be a state-of-the-art molecular genetics and toxicology reference laboratory serving the needs of physicians and patients in Arkansas and throughout the United States.

Having been in the laboratory space in and around Arkansas for the past several years, Steve came to realize throughout his journey that the customer service element was severely lacking in the industry as a whole.

Because of this, the focus and purpose of both Steve and his business partner Jeff Weeks was “to redefine the lab industry and, by doing so, we wanted to make sure that there was a true obsession with our clients and customers.”

In this episode, Steve shares where he acquired his passion for entrepreneurship, how Natural State Labs was able to become the preferred vendor of the Arkansas Department of Health for distributing COVID tests, the key factors in reducing COVID testing times from days down to hours, and what he learned about leadership in the past couple of years.

Be sure to subscribe to “How That Happened” to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit https://hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened-episode-46/.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit www.hogantaylor.com

Jeff Moore is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, or OKPOP, a forthcoming museum that that will honor the state's greatest creative talents. When OKPOP opens its doors in late 2022, it will be the culmination of 15 years of planning and Jeff has been there since the beginning.

OKPOP has been developed in partnership with the Oklahoma Historical Society, the institution where Jeff began his career as a curator. In 1995, Jeff had the opportunity to work on the Historical Society's first new museum in decades, the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Okla. The vibrant and contemporary project was transformational for Jeff, who knew from that moment that he wanted to be a part of these types of endeavors.

In this episode, Jeff talks about the origin for his love of history, the relatively recent challenge of looking at pop culture from an intellectual standpoint, and the process of collaborating with Oklahoma creatives to capture their lasting legacy for future generations.

Be sure to subscribe to "How That Happened" to receive our latest episodes, learn more about our guests, and collect resources on how to better run your business.

For additional show notes, visit https://hogantaylor.com/how-that-happened-episode-45/.

Copyright 2021 HoganTaylor LLP. All Rights Reserved. To view the HoganTaylor general terms & conditions, visit www.hogantaylor.com