There are two early defining moments that really shape the future of the business. One of those early moments is when you decide that you're going to go all in and make something actually into a business. Miko was a divorced, single mom, working full time, and found herself under a mountain of debt; she started going through the journey of getting out of that debt, and decided to share that journey on Instagram as 'The Budget Mom.' Over the years, she built a huge following and gave a lot of people a plan and hope on how to get out of debt, and we talk about that point where Miko realized that she had more on her hands than just a hobby. Enjoy!

Trust is everything with sales. That trust was especially critical for this episodes guest: Roger Proctor.

Roger had a meeting through an interesting set of events with a Sheikh who just happened to be the president of the largest bank in Saudi Arabia. Roger's an expert in marketing and branding, and when he got in front of the Sheikh, he started out kind of like I had done for so many years, assuming that the client had a particular level of knowledge and a particular set of problems and needed a particular solution set that Roger had to offer. And just a few minutes into the conversation, Roger recognized that he had grossly miscalculated why the Sheikh was there, what his experience with marketing and branding was, and had to pivot pretty quick. So today we talk about the importance of listening, how to ask amazing open-ended questions, how to be a better listener, and ultimately how to foster better relationships.

Why do we brag about working these 60, 80, 100 hour work weeks? I can't seem to remember when this became some kind of badge of honor...

Doreen Korba was terrified to leave the safety of the marketing world and make the leap into doing the work she knew she was passionate about. So today she's going to tell us that story. We're also going to talk about a bit of a of a hot button topic: Is it okay to ask somebody about their plans to have children in the future, and why is it that it seems like we tend to ask women that, but we never ask men about it?

Joe Sova, CEO of Ideal Payroll Services, shares his story about how he found himself prioritizing work over family. It all came to a head one day when he and his wife were visiting the OBGYN to get a sonogram. Joe's work phone kept ringing and he took the call - in the middle of the sonogram. Something had to change.

We also discuss the importance of delegation plus how to let go so your team can execute.

Cliff Skelliter, CEO of LaunchPad Creative, talks about his experience trying to land his first huge client despite the fact that he didn't have a solid portfolio to point to and how he leveraged a *very* botched paint job launched his career in marketing.

He and Mike also discuss Cliff's early days cultivating his persona as a "partying" entrepreneur and how it nearly destroyed his young company.

Ashley Altum, CEO of ProfitMatters, talks about going from a successful, multi-million dollar exit - to the brink of bankruptcy in only 18 months. She shares lessons about cash flows and leadership that you need to hear.

Ryan Narus, co-founder of Archimedes Group, talks about some of the things he went through while building his business from scratch.

Ryan tells about the catastrophe he had to deal with after he decided to go with "The Craigslist Guy" for a major renovation instead of the trusted name brand. The misstep ended up costing him upward of $60,000 at a time when $600 was hard to come by.

Gabrielle Mills, CEO of Sourced, talks about the importance of creating systems and processes in business and how finding your "why" is so essential.

Welcome to In the Trenches! In this episode we introduce you to our amazing host: Michael King. Don't forget to subscribe so you get new episodes right when they drop! We're amped to bring you our first full episodes on January 8th, 2020 if you'd like to appear on the show as a guest, please go over to www.inthetrenches.show and shoot us a note.