Small Business Miracles Podcast

Wagner Logistics celebrates 80 years of warehousing and logistics excellence this year. To celebrate, Joe Oliaro joins the show! Joe is the Strategic Real Estate & Business Development Executive with Wagner Logistics. Joe talks about being a strategic partner, giving manufacturers the ability to focus on strategy. Oh, and Joe brought a guitar to play us into the lightning round… you can’t miss that!

And when he’s not talking logistics, Joe brings the music. Check out his band, Just Add Water.

This week, we sit down with real rock stars among the elementary school crowd — Dr. Ben and Hali of Hello! Pediatric Dentistry. As a service business, they’ve curated an experience that puts kids at ease. That’s no accident. It takes hiring the right personnel, environmental design, and a carefully orchestrated office flow — and so much more! Listen in as we dive into the secret to pediatric dentistry success in Blue Springs, Mo.

Angel Flight Central started in 1995, arranging charitable flights for health care or other essential services. Their pilots donate their time, skill, and aircraft to ensure those in need can get to remote appointments. Joining the podcast this week is Jenna Gerdes, the Outreach Director & Development Coordinator for Angel Flight Central. Listen to the episode, and please spread the word so those in need know about this incredibly valuable resource for those in need!

Family Center Farm & Home has it all, earning the nickname “The Everything Store.” Co-owner Blake Mills drops in to talk about growing from one to seven locations serving communities across Kansas and Missouri. From overcoming challenges of opening a new store during COVID, to engaging with local communities, Mills shows what it takes to build it the right way.

Family Center Farm & Home Timeline:

• April 24, 1965: Grand opening as “Tractor Parts and Farm Supply"
• Jan 18, 1981: Name changed to Family Center Farm & Home
• November 1990: Rolla, Mo. store opens
• September 2002: Paola, Kan. store opens
• May 2006: Butler, Mo. store opens
• November 2016: St. Joseph, Mo. store opens
• April 2018: Ozark, Mo. store opens
• July 2020: Sedalia, Mo. store opens

Ellie Boyle and John Meyer literally grew up at Meyer Music, becoming the 3rd generation of family owners. From the early days of tagging trombones and answering phones to joining the family management team, Ellie and John share their stories, lessons learned, and give their perspective on what works when working with family.

Eileen Weir is the Development Executive with Centric (you may have seen a crane or two assembling a building near you). And she’s no stranger to building throughout her career — from her time in public relations with the Kansas City Chiefs to helping Independence, Missouri adopt a new strategic plan, vision, and build the Independence Uptown Market, she’s helped build quite a few amazing things.

Led by CEO and founder Marielena Marroquin, Cultura Consultants KC is deeply connected to community-rooted work. Not only that — Marielena is also a TEDx speaker, she’s most likely to be your biggest hype girl, and is the founder of the KC Latina Book Club, where she creates spaces for resistance and radical joy. On this week’s episode, you’ll feel the energy of the important work she’s doing to bring change to the world.

https://www.culturakc.com | https://www.instagram.com/conculturakc/

Carefully curated and crafted by Café Corazón, culture is never left to chance. It drives everything from hiring to creating the ideal environment for coffee. It’s easy to see why Café Corazón won the 2026 Mr. K Small Business of the Year award from the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. We had an opportunity to sit down with CEO Dulcinea Herrera to talk culture, coffee, and what continues to drive her — in and out of the cafe!

Julie Cortés is widely recognized as a rockstar. So much so, that she adopted it as part of her brand and figured out how to live up to that label! She’s a business coach for creative freelancers, a speaker, copywriter, and founder of the Freelance Exchange of Kansas City. We catch up with Julie to hear about her business and her advice for entrepreneurs, freelancers and solopreneurs.

Reda Ibrahim wants to make sure you feel accepted as part of the community — and he has built an amazing community. In this interview, we have the most amazing conversation with Reda, the Founder and CEO of RK Contractors. They’re a Top 10 Small Business this year, set up as an ESE: An Employment Social Enterprise, where they give that first employment opportunity to refugees and immigrants seeking asylum, among others. Research shows ESEs more than double job retention for their employees, with a social return on investment of $2.23 in benefits for every $1.00 invested. We dive deep into the wisdom this episode - and you don’t want to miss the conversation!