Maturepreneurial Podcast: Interviews with Older Entrepreneurs | Online Business Tips | Learn From Those Who Have Succeeded

Douglas Burdett is the principal of Artillery, a business-to-business marketing agency he founded in 2001. He is also the author of two blogs: Fire Support and Forward Observer and the host of The Marketing Book Podcast.

Launched in January 2015, The Marketing Book Podcast was listed on iTunes as the #2 Business Podcast two months later. The podcast is a weekly show that interviews bestselling authors about their books to help listeners keep up with the smartest thinking in the quickly changing field of modern marketing.

Douglas began his career in the world of New York City advertising, where he spent ten years working for industry giants J. Walter Thompson and Grey Advertising. Douglas worked another four years at a Virginia Beach advertising agency before deciding to launch his own business.

Before his business career, Douglas graduated from the Virginia Military Institute. He served as a U.S. Army artillery officer in Germany for three years. When he got out of the army he went back to school to earn his MBA.

Douglas tells me that, in lieu of a mid-life crisis, he started performing standup comedy!

Dave Mancuso launched his business, Mancuso Communication Strategies, in 2012 to leverage 25+ years of experience in government advocacy, public affairs, public relations and media relations for Fortune 50 companies, start-ups and non-profit organizations. Dave develops and implements communication plans that influence public and political relationships in order to advance his clients’ mission-critical objectives. He personally delivers or oversees a variety of cross-discipline communications, advocacy and lobbying services tailored to the specific needs of his clients.

Although he enjoyed a successful career as a senior executive with broad responsibilities across many different geographies, Dave reached the point where he need to go out on his own to fulfill his dreams.

He founded his entrepreneurial venture upon the experience and acumen he cultivated in senior leadership positions with AT&T, VOX Global Mandate, Watercove Networks - a venture capital-backed wireless telecommunications infrastructure company acquired by Alcatel in 2004 - and Cunningham Communications, where Dave served as IBM account manager.

Dave has a successful track record of developing and implementing strategic outreach programs for individuals and enterprises in the fields of technology, government, energy, healthcare and education.

He graduated from the State University of New York College at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Communications and he is an active member on several boards.

At the young age of 18, Mickie Zada married a golf pro and during the years that followed, she and her husband became entrepreneurs. Together they owned golf courses and a marketing analysis and feasibility company that worked with municipalities and developers. She had a lot of fun then, in those early years, as she learned how to be an entrepreneur.

After 34 years of marriage, Mickie and her husband divorced. That's when her solopreneurial adventures began. She became a network marketer selling jewelry. She became a certified Life Coach. And finally (her favorite so far...!), she became a podcaster!

The mission of Mickie's podcast, The Second 53 Years, is to inspire women over 50 to move from where they are to who they are. The podcast shares both Mickie's own stories and the stories of other women who are on the Path of Discovery.

Mickie is a go-getter who wouldn't be deterred by the fact that she had never even heard of podcasting until a few months before she launched her own. She is not afraid of taking risks, she is willing to learn and she can easily adapt and try new things. This is all a part of her Second 53 Years.

Mickie believes that life is an amazing journey and we must remain open to opportunities. She wants all of us to expect magic in our lives, too!

Lisa Vogt is a wife, mom, and career woman who has deep experience in business and in life. A successful telecommunications executive with a son and a stay-at-home husband, Lisa eventually found her corporate work unfulfilling and the environment toxic.

At that point, Lisa and her husband took their time and some care to identify a next step for them and for Lisa’s career. They ultimately launched what quickly became a very successful business, although as Lisa puts it so eloquently on her website:

“And then the economy tanked.”

After further soul-searching and taking the time and care to look around - again - Lisa attained another successful, some might say, “glamorous”, and rewarding position with a non-profit organization that provides long-term, stable homes for orphaned, abandoned and abused children.

When she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, Lisa’s prior life and business experience had well prepared her for identifying the necessary actions she needed to take in order to move forward to wellness and greater resilience.

Today, Lisa devotes her time to helping other women take the next step in their lives through coaching, public speaking and through her weekly podcast, Ever Better. But this is just a summary. Check out Lisa’s about page to be moved and inspired by her full story and to learn how she might help you identify and navigate your next life adventure.

In the final two years of her service as a Writing and Business Communication instructor at the University of Maryland’s Professional Writing Department and at the university’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Connie Inukai faced a problem most us do when we get older and our eyes stop cooperating: "Reading the small print in dimly lit restaurants". While that might not seem like much of a problem to many, those who have faced it know very well how inconvenient it can be.

Well, luckily for us, Connie didn’t just let the problem go. Instead, she set out to create a solution.

After a great deal of time, effort, and a challenging search for the right manufacturer, Connie launched her invention, the ‘Tip ‘n Split®, an inexpensive, multi-functional device that not only illuminates and magnifies restaurant checks and receipts, but calculates the tip and divides the bill among table partners!

Today, Connie has retired from her lifetime career as a university professor and pursues full time her entrepreneurial passion to take her dream product to every single restaurant patron it can benefit. With its launch in 2015, Connie and her device were featured on QVC, where she sold 800 Tip 'n Splits® in five minutes. In addition, Tip 'n Split® is used by numerous celebrities and won first place in The Final Pitch competition at the Women’s Power Conference, August 25, 2016.

Connie is a living example to those of us who wait for the right time and inspiration to birth an idea or a business and who believe there's no deadline to miss when it comes to pursuing our dreams. Her story demonstrates that our passion will lead us to our path and that, in true Maturepreneurial fashion, it is never too late to succeed!

Nicole Holland started her entrepreneurial journey at the tender age of eight, when she and her brother worked with their father selling his home-grown fruits and vegetables locally. She continued on this path as she grew older, maintaining her independence and autonomy pursuing different ventures, including as a mother’s helper and later as a corporate trainer. For a time, Nicole left the challenges of the entrepreneurial world in search of greater security. But after a series of unfulfilling jobs she could not enjoy, she eventually quit the 9-5 and returned to her entrepreneurial roots.

For the past 12 years, Nicole has been a master business coach and marketing strategist, known for stretching her clients slightly beyond their comfort zones to achieve business progress they hadn’t realized was even possible. Most recently, Nicole founded the Building Business Rockstars Show: a podcast of frank and unscripted interviews with successful entrepreneurs across a wide range of niches that provide new entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs with the insights and the time- and money-saving value of lessons learned from others. She then launched the associated annual online Business Building Rockstar Summit.

Nicole's newest business - just launched in December of 2016! - is InterviewsThatConvert.com, a full service agency that positions busy C-suite executives, authors, and subject matter experts as guests on podcasts appropriate for their markets, audience, and expertise. Nicole believes quality of exposure is far superior to quantity, and leverages the ease, convenience, and economy of podcasts to increase her clients’ visibility, influence, and income.

In recognition of the value she is creating, Huffington Post has named Nicole one of "50 MUST-FOLLOW WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN 2017”. And her podcast, Business Building Rockstars Show - just launched last spring - quickly made iTunes’s esteemed list of New & Noteworthy Podcasts.

Joel Boggess is the go-to guy for clarity, confidence and direction. He’s the guy people call when they’re feeling stuck, under-challenged or overwhelmed. He teaches people how to find productivity, meaning, and success using multiple platforms, including public speaking, podcasting, and publishing. His latest book, Finding your Voice, hit the #1 spot on Amazon in the success and the self esteem categories.

Among his recent accomplishments, Joe’s podcast, ReLaunch, was named by Podcasters’ Paradise as “Best Overall” podcast of 2014 and “Most Inspirational” podcast for 2014 and 2015. The Relaunch podcast has surpassed over one million listens.

Joel is a contributor to Networking Times, Huffington Post, and Success.com.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Joel earned his undergraduate degree at Texas Tech University, an MBA from Amberton University, and a Master’s in Counseling. Today, Joel and his wife Pei live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with their two dogs: Bubba, a Golden Retriever retired therapy dog, and Happy, and a Golden rescue.

Dinesh is a founder, mentor, speaker and—above all else—an entrepreneur. He encourages founders to ask the right questions, navigate challenging decisions, and find those tough answers that are sometimes difficult to face. Dinesh has built, bought, sold, led, and/or invested in over 13 companies, and he knows what it takes to transform a business.

In love with capitalism, Dinesh loves the prospect of making business connections even more. Some of Dinesh's most valuable business relationships have started over a casual chat at a local shop. In fact, he believes every meeting is an opportunity—and a single cup of coffee can have the power to change your business. He likes to say he believes in transformative coffee!

As an entrepreneur and operator of Macadamian, Dinesh leads business development at one of the hottest product consultancies in Canada. As a speaker and mentor, Dinesh provides actionable insight to fellow leaders growing their businesses, shedding light on the nuances of product creation, organizational leadership, sales management, product marketing, contract negotiations, public relations, and more.

One of the big lessons Dinesh learned in his early days as an entrepreneur is: The money you earn is a measure of the value you create for customers, not an outcome. An MBA later, and a PhD from the school of “hard knocks,” today he is proud to say he has created a ton of value with some awesome people.

Henry Lopez has over 34 years of diverse business experience, including successful careers in the information technology industry, sales, sales training and business ownership. He has now been part of 10 different business ventures. He is currently the Managing Partner of Levante Business Group – dedicated to helping people start, run and grow a small business.

Levante Business Group produces The How of Business podcast, and Henry is the co-host of this show. He is also currently co-owner of iTopIt (a self-serve frozen yogurt restaurant in Colorado Springs), L3 Destinations (a Travel Agency co-founded with his wife), and is currently in the process of building a car wash with his business partner in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. Henry currently resides in a suburb of Dallas, Texas with his wife Pam and their daughter (who just started her freshman year of university).

Jason Treu is a business and executive coach and sales leadership trainer. He is also the author of Social Wealth [link] and a leading expert on human behavior, social influence, and relationship building.

At the heart of his strategy is the understanding that people and relationships are our true “wealth.” Everything we accomplish in life is with or through other people.

Jason graduated with law degree and a Masters in Communications from Syracuse University. He spent seven years in Silicon Valley working with transformational leaders such as Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban, Mark Hurd and others at companies such as Apple, HP, Microsoft, Oracle, Pixar, Yahoo! and many others.

He has helped his clients meet top influencers, such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Peter Diamandis, Chris Anderson and others. Jason's book has been a #1 best seller; has ranked #1 in four business categories on Amazon; and sold over 45,000 copies. In the past year, Jason has been a guest expert on more than 400 podcasts, radio, and TV shows.

He has studied with and learned hands-on from some of the world's greatest experts, such as Tony Robbins, Marie Forleo, Mastin Kipp, and Brene Brown, and at leading institutions such as Harvard, University of California Berkeley and Ken Blanchard Companies. Over the past three years, Jason has helped his clients generate over a billion dollars in wealth.

Jason lives in Dallas, Texas with a curious and energetic 15 year-old Jack Russell Terrier. He is active with charity events and cultural organizations (think, Dallas Museum of Art) and he is a huge sports fan (think, Cowboys and Mavericks). Jason also loves champagne and barbecue. Separately.