Given everything going on in the world, you might expect a rough start to the year. But for Paul Downs, Jennifer Kerhin, and Jaci Russo, 2026 has actually begun quite well. In fact, Jennifer and Jaci say they’re finally climbing out of what many owners call the Valley of Death—that long stretch when the business depends on you for everything and when it starts to outgrow your people and your systems. Exiting the valley can take a lot longer than people expect. Jennifer is seeing daylight in year 17. Paul says it took him 25 years, a quarter of a century. “Most of that time,” he admits, “I was just wallowing in ignorance.” One lesson they’ve learned the hard way: growing too fast can do real damage. “You burn out your employees,” Jennifer says. “You provide poor quality control to your clients. You make everybody upset and angry.”

Along the way, the three owners cover a lot of ground: what actually makes trade shows worth the investment (hint: it’s what you do before and after), why you may not be able to copyright that graphic design, why your logo needs a trademark, why Paul’s Google traffic is holding up but his Middle East expansion is on hold, what Jaci has uncovered about the shocking cost gap in health insurance for her female employees, and why it’s insane that business owners have to manage their employees’ health insurance in the first place. It’s a wide-ranging conversation—but underneath it all is a theme most owners will recognize: Progress doesn’t always come from big breakthroughs. Sometimes it comes from surviving long enough to figure things out.