Cold calling does not look anything like it did 20 years ago...honestly, even 5 years ago.

If you are relying on high-velocity, unpersonalized AI spam to hit your sales numbers, you are going to get ignored.

Meet Ashley Beck Cuellar (Kway-ar), she spent 17 years in automotive marketing....

Then she walked away. No plan. Just knew it was time.

What happened next? She ended up running the entire go-to-market motion for a commercial roofing company.

Without ever planning to be in roofing.

Ashley explains exactly how she researches her Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), why she uses Google Earth before she ever picks up the phone, and why telling a prospect they can hang up on her actually builds immediate trust.

Ashley breaks down how she built a $50 million book of business in her last career, through (wait for it)...cold calls and relationships, and o she never sits across the table from her clients.

We also talk some LinkedIn strategy and why video DMs are so powerful.

If you do any kind of cold outreach....or, like me you've been avoiding it because it feels icky...well, this episode will change how you think about it!

---------------

Connect with Ashley

Website: https://www.seamlessroofingllc.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-beck-cuellar/

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/reanimated-stories/

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:27 Meet Ashley Beck Cuellar

00:41 Name Pronunciation Banter

03:31 Ashley’s Career Pivot

05:28 Joining Commercial Roofing

06:51 CRM Chaos in Construction

08:49 Direct Mail Lessons Learned

10:01 Building Relationships Remotely

11:27 First Cold Call Win

14:05 Follow Up Strategy Breakdown

15:03 Finding Your ICP and Lists

17:31 Research Workflow and Video DMs

19:12 Google Maps Sizing and Targeting

21:23 Sports Research Hook

22:52 Warm Intros Via Network

24:12 Value First Follow Ups

24:52 Cold Call Trust Tactic

26:51 Human In An AI World

30:32 SEO And AI Discovery

33:54 Always Be Learning

35:14 Personality Assessments

37:43 Outro

"I had never realized how much of my own self-identity and self-worth was tied up in what my title was and who I worked for."

Melissa Cohen spent 30 years in fashion where she was a VP at Ralph Lauren.

She thought that's where she'd retire.

Then 2020 hit.

The whole industry shut down and Melissa lost her job.

What she didn't expect? Losing her sense of self right along with it.

Suddenly, the title that defined her was gone. Facing ageism in the corporate job market and getting ghosted after final-round executive interviews, Melissa decided to stop fighting a broken system.

So...She turned to LinkedIn.

In this episode, Melissa shares how she went from a corporate fashion exec who never used LinkedIn to becoming a personal branding strategist helping executives, founders, and business owners stand out.

She talks about the first post she ever wrote (and almost deleted..honestly I felt this one to my soul), the hard truth about ageism in hiring, and why your LinkedIn profile is doing more for...or against...you than you might think.

She also opens up about her new collaborative book, Letters to Lily, an anthology of letters that people from all over the world wrote to their younger selves and where she wrote a deeply personal letter to her younger self about the heavy guilt of traveling for corporate work while raising a family....It's powerful. And it's worth your time.

---------------

Connect with Melissa Beth Cohen

Website: melissabethcohen.com

Letters to Lily: https://a.co/d/02ajely9

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-beth-cohen/

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/reanimated-stories/

---------------

00:00 Intro

01:07 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:36 How They Met at SCN

02:44 Melissa’s LinkedIn Mission

03:20 Letters to Lily Book

05:49 Feeling Alone in Leadership

06:39 From Fashion to LinkedIn

09:47 Personal Branding Explained

12:24 Turning LinkedIn Into Business

16:59 Who She Helps Most

18:43 Stand Out With Insights

20:18 Letters To Lily Origins

22:19 Connection In A Digital Age

23:28 Letter One It Works Out

24:35 Letter Two Working Mom Guilt

27:41 Personal Branding Not Influencing

28:54 Avoid AI Sea Of Sameness

30:56 People Hire People

33:03 LinkedIn Nuggets And Community

34:10 Where To Find Melissa

35:31 Outro

"We had this crazy thought that if they could have advertising taken off their plate... they could go spend some time with their children and be present, guilt-free."

Anneliese is a fourth-generation entrepreneur who never planned on running her own business. After 14 years in the corporate advertising world, the pandemic hit.

When she was wrongfully terminated for refusing to make 50 cold calls a week while raising an infant, she took her settlement money and launched an ad agency with her husband.

Her mission and driving force?

What if being present online was the whole reason you could be present at home?

That's not just a tagline for Anneliese. It's her whole mission.

In this episode of Reanimated Stories, I chat with Anneliese as she shares why she niched down to dads, what it really means to be a marketing vendor broker, and how she helped one client catch bots eating 40% of his ad budget...before it put his family's livelihood out of business!

She explains her transition from Never Miss a Moment Consulting to Be Present Advertising, highlighting her mission to take the burden of Google Ads off the shoulders of family-oriented business owners.

We also discuss why you should never run Google Ads if you do not know where your clients are actually hanging out, why bots are eating your advertising budget, and what it means to be a "Marketing Vendor Broker."

---------------

Connect with Anneliese

Website: www.bepresentads.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneliesemvance/

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/reanimated-stories/

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:42 Show Intro and Networking

01:11 Anneliese Background and Niche

02:23 Family Entrepreneur Roots

03:46 Parents Pivot to Business

06:21 Childhood Lessons on Presence

08:12 Corporate Sales and COVID Clash

10:19 Wrongful Termination to Startup

11:44 Homeschooling and New Roles

12:32 Rebrand to Be Present

16:05 Why Niche Down to Families

16:58 Client Story Moving Company

18:57 Generational Growth Mindset

19:15 Helping Clients Grow

20:18 No Contracts Results First

22:17 Marketing Vendor Broker

26:10 Data Driven Ad Strategy

30:45 Lead Quality Call Tracking

33:12 Outro

"It is a whole different skillset to be a leader than it is just to be good at your job. Technical skills are about looking at the work of one... leadership skills are about amplifying the work of many."

Dana Echert is the founder of Inspire, where she helps grow leaders with high emotional intelligence.

Her background is in HR and learning and development. After years of watching companies build trainings to fix "accountability issues" and "conflict issues," she figured out what was actually broken.....

It wasn't the people. It was the system.

In this episode of Reanimated Stories, I talk with Dana as she breaks down why the traditional model of promoting top performers into management roles is broken, and why Technical Intelligence (TQ) does not automatically translate to Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Dana explains how the pandemic and the rise of remote work completely shifted the weight of organizational policy onto the shoulders of mid-level managers.

If you want to stop treating emotional intelligence as a "nice to have" and start using it as a data-driven tool for business growth, listen to Dana's insights.

---------------

Connect with Dana

Website: www.INSPIREskillstraining.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-echert/

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/reanimated-stories/

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:25 Meet The Host And Guest

01:09 Dana And Inspire Mission

02:19 Leadership Shift Since 2020

06:54 EQ Versus Technical Skills

09:39 Trust And Retention Costs

13:48 Assessments And EQ Lab

17:11 Lead Yourself First

18:50 Leadership Pipeline And Burnout

24:27 Unlimited PTO Example

26:13 Getting Started And Snapshot Tool

30:07 Connect And Spotlight Series

31:35 Outro

What time do you wake up?

Well if you like waking up before the crack of dawn, you're in luck!

So does my next guest Jayme Shiarla!

Jayme is an executive wellness coach, NLP practitioner, and community builder.

She wakes up at 4:03 AM every day to train her body and her brain. (Ya she is into Crossfit!)

She explains how pushing through a grueling CrossFit workout sets the tone for the rest of her day. If she can conquer her own demons first thing in the morning (because let's face it...that is EARLY!, nothing the day throws at her feels insurmountable.

We chat about how she uses Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) to help high-performers rewire their brains. She specializes in coaching leaders who look incredibly successful on the outside but feel unfulfilled on the inside.

On top of all that, Jayme also shares the heart behind her book, 123 Quotes.

A deeply personal collection of the words that saved her life through her darkest moments.

Then to wrap it up we talk about her role helping organize The Table Network here in Austin.

This is a great episode and one you will have a hard time walking away from feeling anything less than energized!

---------------

Connect with Jayme:

Website: www.coachjayme.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaymethecoach

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymethecoach/

Book: Beyond the Words: 123 Quotes to Inspire Action and Growth

Discovery Call: https://jaymeshiarlacoaching.com/client-application

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/reanimated-stories/

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:23 Meeting Jayme at Table Network

01:44 Jayme’s Coaching Background

02:42 What NLP Really Means

04:18 How Jayme Got Into NLP

05:46 Coaching High Performers

07:47 CrossFit as Mental Training

10:41 Challenge Creates Change

13:07 Book Born From Darkness

17:02 Book Concept Wrap Up

17:29 Joining Table Network

18:47 Why It Feels Different

20:28 How The Event Works

22:18 Host Perspective

24:45 CrossFit Midyear Workshop

26:07 Big Vision For Tables

28:37 Challenge & Outro

Everyone talks about the freedom of owning a business.

Nobody talks about what it actually costs you.

Stephen Crockett has been in telecom sales since the beginning.

Entry-level rep.

A hundred cold calls a day.

All the way up to VP at a large corporation.

Then Stephen realized that playing corporate politics was not for him.

So, he decided to build his own thing: Evolve Network Solutions, a cloud-based communication provider built specifically for small and mid-size businesses.

In this episode, Stephen gets real about entrepreneurship and owning a business.

The freedom is real. But so is the accountability.

Nobody's grading you. Nobody's setting your KPIs.

You have to do that yourself. Every. Single. Week.

On top of that, we also dive into the massive evolution of the telecom industry.

Stephen explains how the pandemic turned platforms like Zoom into household names and making enterprise-level tools accessible to small businesses.

COVID didn't just change the way we work. It accelerated 10 years of tech adoption into about 10 months!

If you are a business owner trying to scale your operations or someone debating leaving the 9-to-5 grind to start your own company, Stephen's advice is a must-listen.

---------------

Connect with Stephen

Website: https://evolvesolutionsinc.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-crockett-111b2215b/

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/reanimated-stories/

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:20 Welcome and Networking Guest

00:50 Texas Ice and Driving Lessons

04:08 Telecom Career Origin Story

05:47 Cloud Shift and Channel Sales

07:45 Cloud Misconceptions and Servers

09:42 Corporate vs Entrepreneurship Reality

14:08 Honoring Your Business KPIs

16:20 COVID Accelerates Cloud Work

18:22 Cloud Boom After COVID

18:44 APIs and CRM Integrations

19:49 Zoom Becomes a Verb

20:52 RingCentral vs Zoom Story

22:18 Telehealth and New Use Cases

23:23 Mobile App for Sales Teams

25:47 Business Texting Ring Groups

27:07 Should You Switch Providers

30:43 Onboarding and Ongoing Support

32:17 Where to Find Stephen

33:31 Outro

I am sure you have the expression: 'He had it all'....

Well, Dan Dowdy did have it all:

A successful family plumbing business, a dream home, and a comfortable life...

Then, he sold it all, moved his wife and four kids into a camper, and launched a coaching business for tradesmen in January 2020....yup, then the world shut down.

In this episode of Reanimated Stories, I chat with Dan to talk about why he built Built for the Trades.

We talk about why the blue-collar world desperately needs leadership coaching that focuses on more than just profit.

As well as discuss the trap of sacrificing your faith, family, and health to scale a business, and how to build a company that can actually run without you.

Dan also shares his personal testimony, explaining how a series of tragic losses led him to a radical faith in God, and how a John Maxwell audiobook on a morning run changed the entire trajectory of his career.

If you are a plumber, roofer, electrician, or any other small business owner who feels like you have hit a wall, this episode will show you how to beat the bottleneck and reclaim your time!

---------------

Connect with Dan

Website: https://builtforthetrades.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuiltForTheTrades/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builtforthetrades/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@builtforthetrades

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dan-dowdy-989b8111a

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@built4trades

X: https://x.com/Built4theTrades

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/reanimated-stories/

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:34 Meet Dan Dowdy

01:17 Built For The Trades Origin

02:58 Launching During Covid

05:15 Why Trades Need Coaching

07:04 Leadership Lessons Learned

10:27 Faith Driven Mission

15:38 Programs And Community

19:53 Systems For Self Operating

23:42 Is Coaching Right Now

26:07 Who Fits The Trades

28:15 Where To Find Dan

29:11 Outro

When people hear "accessibility," they think disability ramps and screen readers.

Rebecca Prejean thinks bigger than that.

Roger and Rebecca sit down to talk about why most corporate training fails.

Rebecca had no lens for accessibility until her son was diagnosed with autism. Now, she runs EB Graphics and Consulting, helping companies fix their broken training, onboarding, and internal communication.

But the goal is always the same: make sure people can get the information, understand it, and act on it.

That's just good business.

Accessibility is not about shaming business owners or jumping into "cancel culture." It is about making sure your customers and employees can actually digest your information.

---------------

Connect with Rebecca

Website: https://www.ebgc.net

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbprejean

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:40 Meet Rebecca In Austin

01:38 What She Does

02:29 Why Accessibility Matters

03:26 Inside Corporate Fixes

05:24 Beyond Disabilities

06:40 Overlays And Quick Fixes

08:31 Diagnosing The Real Problem

10:06 Building Empathy And Awareness

13:42 Personality Tests Limits

16:36 Humans Have Layers

17:41 Work Personas and Change

18:43 Employer Support and Boundaries

20:05 Accessibility Beyond Websites

21:15 Audit the Journey

23:30 Intentional Processes Not Tribal Knowledge

25:41 Accessibility as Smart Business

29:05 Fear of Getting It Wrong

29:53 How to Connect with Rebecca

31:17 Outro

"What AI has done is brought a salesman into the room."

People aren't Googling things the same way anymore.

They're asking AI. And if you're not showing up there, someone else is — even if they're less qualified than you.

Kevin Vaughan is an AI visibility specialist and the founder of KTV Digital. He helps small and medium-sized businesses get found in AI search and turn those educated, ready-to-buy visitors into actual customers.

In this episode of Reanimated Stories, I sit down with Kevin Vaughan from KTV Digital to break down the differences between SEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization).

We talk about how if you want your business to show up in those summarized answers, you have to stop writing for keywords and start writing to train the AI.

---------------

Connect with Kevin

Website:

Website:https://ktvdigital.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/texaskevin/

Free SearchScore: https://searchscore.ktvdigital.com/

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reanimationdesign

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:47 Meet The Hosts

00:53 How Roger Met Kevin

02:37 Kevin And KTV Digital

04:20 AEO Vs GEO Explained

06:33 AI Search Shoe Store

08:37 Visibility And Touchpoints

11:49 How AI Visibility Works

17:19 Common Mistakes And FOMO

22:14 Free AI Search Score Tool

23:52 Big Tools Vs Consultants

27:39 Where To Find Kevin

29:36 Outro

Most business owners don't need more tactics. They need someone to help them think.

Mike Nasche spent years jumping out of airplanes with the 82nd Airborne Division before getting his MBA and becoming a business coach.

Now, he helps small business owners make better decisions faster.

We sat down to talk about why so many entrepreneurs are "corporate escapees" and how military tactics (like standard operating procedures and "battle drills") apply directly to running a small business.

Mike explains why he skips the traditional suit-and-tie for a backwards hat and whiskey chats, proving that authenticity attracts the right clients.

And why waiting three years to get help is one of the biggest mistakes he sees business owners make.

If your business feels stuck at a level you cannot beat (Remember those video game boss's you couldn't get past?) Well ,Mike breaks down exactly how to overcome that plateau without signing up for endless coaching retainers.

---------------

Connect with Michael

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelpnasche/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpnasche/

---------------

About Reanimated Stories: Hosted by Roger Jorns, I talk with awesome business leaders about their story and we explore how to reimagine work, life, and design.

Connect with Roger:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roger-jorns

Website: reanimationdesign.com

---------------

00:00 Intro

00:18 Meet Mike Nash

01:25 Coaching Entrepreneurs With ADHD

03:11 Corporate Escapee Mindset

04:30 Meetings and Military Lessons

06:21 MBA and Coaching Origins

09:18 Coach First Consultant Second

11:37 Blue Collar MBA Vibe

12:49 Whiskey Chats and Networking

15:17 Authenticity and Personal Branding

17:14 Style as Conversation Starter

17:58 Fun Socks Banter

18:23 Decision Clarity Framework

20:01 Values Versus Profit Calls

21:28 Coach As Thinking Partner

24:13 Military Lessons For Business

28:50 When To Hire A Coach

33:36 Ego And Outsourcing

34:51 Where To Find Michael

35:35 Outro