Steve Wiideman, founder of Wiideman Consulting Group joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to share his entrepreneurial journey discuss the latest trends in digital marketing, include voice search, SEO, SEM and inbound marketing. Prior to launching his own firm, Wiideman's career highlight was working at Disney, where his manager challenged him to rank #1 in Google for "SEO expert."

Tune in to discover:

 WHAT WE SHOULD BE TALKING BUSINESS NOW ABOUT

Understanding how customer behavior has changed

MORE ABOUT STEVE WIIDEMAN

Wiideman confesses that he lives, breathes, and eats SEO, SEM, and inbound marketing. He also enjoys teaching others about digital marketing. As an adjunct professor at UCSD and CSUF, Steve is building the Academy of Search, online courses for SEO marketing. He also volunteers to help improve transparency and industry standards as an agency trainer.

An award-winning SEO strategist, Wiideman has worked with brands large and small for more than 22 years to improve their inbound marketing results. Among the larger brands Wiideman has assisted are Disney, Linksys, Belkin, Public Storage, Honda, Skechers, Applebee's, IHOP and Dole.

He conducts online video and in-person presentations at conferences and tradeshows around the country on topics as the history of SEO, link-earning, multi-location ranking factors, pay-per-click advertising, responding to search engine updates, and others. He's also a frequent panelist and speaker at online marketing events, meet-up groups and networking events. 

CONNECT WITH STEVE WIIDEMAN

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Manik Suri, founder of climatetech company Therma, joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to discuss the ways companies of all sizes can adopt tools and processes that are better for our planet—and help create efficiencies that lead to more sustainable enterprises.

Therma is a smart cold-chain technology startup that builds safety and sustainability tools such as sensors to eliminate food waste, energy inefficiency, and refrigerant emissions to protect consumers. The company's mission aligns with Suri's passion: combating climate change by protecting our food, health and planet.

Therma's technologies are used around the globe by several major restaurant chains, manufacturers, and logistics operators, including McDonalds, Taco Bell, NOW Foods, 7-Eleven, and Wyndham Hotels.

Tune in to find out:

WHAT WE SHOULD BE TALKING BUSINESS NOW ABOUT

Why it's important to make sure the work you do matters

MORE ABOUT MANIK SURI

Before founding Therma, Suri co-founded the Governance Lab, an innovation center at NYU that developed technology solutions to improve government. A former affiliate of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Suri has held positions at D. E. Shaw & Company and the White House National Economic Council. 

He has a bachelor's degree in government from Harvard College, a master of philosophy degree in international relations from Cambridge University, and a law degree from Harvard Law School. Suri has published in leading academic journals, edited volumes, and national media outlets, and he was a visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and a Truman Security Fellow. He writes on technology, climate change and public policy.

CONNECT WITH MANIK SURI

RESOURCES

Transcript of this episode: https://interrobangsolutions.com/climatetech-entrepreneur-protects-food-planet/

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Josh Christopherson, founder of iCUE Technology and Achieve Today, joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how integrating people with cloud-based technology invites and enables employees to learn in a new way.

Tune in to find out:

WHAT WE SHOULD BE TALKING BUSINESS NOW ABOUT

The role of technology in the future of education

CONNECT WITH JOSH CHRISTOPHERSON

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

RESOURCES

Transcript of this episode: https://interrobangsolutions.com/technology-solution-spins-out-new-edtech-company/

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Stephan Aarstol, founder of Tower Paddle Boards and author of "The Five-hour Workday," joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to discuss his company's experience implementing a shortened workday.

Tune in to find out why Aarstol decided to promote a 5-hour workday; the lessons he learned from it, including the ways in which it failed and succeeded; and why he reintroduced a shortened workday in 2020 with a "twist."

Aarstol also shares his Shark Tank experience, how his company recovered from near bankruptcy and the loss of half its employees, and the value of creating "artificial constraints" in a business,

WHAT WE SHOULD BE TALKING BUSINESS NOW ABOUT

How to build an "anti-fragile" company

MORE ABOUT STEPHAN AARSTOL

A serial entrepreneur, Aarstol founded Tower Paddle Boards in 2010 and later founded the No Middleman Project, Tower Electric Bikes, and other companies,

When Aarstol pitched on Shark Tank in 2011, Mark Cuban invested $150,000 in the company when it had lifetime sales of just $100,000. Since then, the company has achieved more than $40 million in sales.

In 2014, the San Diego Business Journal named Tower Paddle Boards the #1 fastest growing private company in San Diego. Just a year later, the company ranked #239 on the INC 500 list of America's fastest growing companies.

Tower Paddle Boards was the #1 brand of more than 2 million third-party sellers that signed up for the pilot Amazon Exclusives program. Tower was named to Internet Retailer's 2016 "Hot 100" list of the world's most innovative e-retailers.

CONNECT WITH STEPHAN AARSTOL

Website: https://www.towerpaddleboards.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Towerpb

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

RESOURCES

Transcript of this episode: https://interrobangsolutions.com/work-less-and-paddle-more/

The Five-hour Workday book: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Hour-Workday-Differently-Productivity-Happiness-ebook/dp/B01FGAFDBO

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Claudia Harvey is an avid gardener. But she was also a businesswoman who liked having her nails and hands in good shape at the office. After mentioning her frustration to a friend at a backyard Labor Day BBQ in 2007, she realized there was a marketplace need for gloves and other products that would protect women as they gardened. With that conversation, the seed for Dig It Apparel, a line of outdoor living products, was planted. After a year of research in which Harvey discovered that both the gardening industry and the nail salon industry were growing—and that the same women were customers in both industries—the company launched in spring 2009 in Canada. Initially, Dig It Apparel offered one product—a line of niche handwear. The company has since expanded its product line and its geographical reach.

Harvey joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to share her entrepreneurial story, which has taken her on a journey from a small town outside Toronto, Canada (where Dig It is headquartered) to global serial entrepreneurship with products in Home Depot Canada, Lowes Canada, nurseries, lawn and garden centers, pharmacies, hardware stores and other outlets throughout the world and offices in Buffalo, New York, and Brisbane, Australia.

In late 2020, Dig It purchased Suncayr and its product SPOTMYUV, the world's first clinically proven UV detection sticker that provides users with a reminder of when it's time to reapply sunscreen based on personal indicators. Claudia is also an investor, best-selling author, speaker, and philanthropist.

Tune in to discover:

WHAT CLAUDIA HARVEY IS TALKING BUSINESS NOW ABOUT

Amplification

CONNECT WITH CLAUDIA HARVEY

□       Facebook: https://facebook.com/claudiaharveyinc

□       Twitter: @CHarveyInc

□       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiaharvey/

RESOURCES

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Excy co-founder and CEO Michele Mehl joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to share the story behind her company's 2014 launch and the lessons she's learned as she's steered it into a national brand.

The Seattle-based startup develops, manufactures, and sells portable, total-body exercise bikes. Mehl's mission is to eliminate barriers to people getting enough exercise—health conditions, injuries, and lack of time and space—so people can conveniently connect exercise to the circumstances of their everyday lives. The 14-pound bikes provide cardio, strength training, and full-body physical therapy cycling. The company also offers a mobile coaching application.

Excy (short for "exercise cycling") grew out of Mehl's own life circumstances, more specifically her personal fitness woes, a challenging work schedule as the owner of a PR company that helped launch brands such as Zulily and OfferUp into market leaders, and a family history of heart disease. As she thought about how to create a better, more convenient way to exercise for a healthier quality of life, she recruited her co-founder, Mike Rector, to begin prototyping a portable stationary exercise bike, one that offered the same quality of exercises people could find at a gym or spin class but that was portable enough to use anywhere.

An injury Mehl suffered shortly before product launch, though unfortunate, proved to be timely. Her badly broken leg required a rod, screws, and a plate, and resulted in a blood clot. Facing surgeries, months of wearing a boot, and a crooked leg for the rest of her life, the duo used the injury as inspiration to innovate the bike's design and create a product that has become essential to rehab patients and people with diseases and disabilities that keep them from accessing traditional exercise equipment and routines.

Today, the multimillion-dollar company employs dozens of associates and has been featured in Inc., MSNBC, The Huffington Post, the Sacramento Bee, the Seattle Times and several other regional and national media outlets.

Tune in to find out:

WHAT MICHELE MEHL IS TALKING BUSINESS NOW ABOUT

Connection, Not Perfection - listen in near the end of the episode to find out why she thinks this is so important.

CONNECT WITH MICHELE MEHL

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/excyfit

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

RESOURCES

Episode Transcript: https://interrobangsolutions.com/exercise-bike-builds-strong-bodies-strong-business/

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On this episode of Talking Business Now, Southern Caramel founder Sarah Smith joins host Kelly Scanlon to share the entrepreneurial journey that has taken her from the Space Coast of Florida to caramel industry entrepreneur.

Employed as a project manager and scheduler in the aerospace industry, Smith enjoyed making caramels as gifts for her family and friends. After the birth of her daughter, she decided to launch a business making and wholesaling the caramels. Sales rocketed, and soon she moved from her home-based operation to a commercial kitchen. The Central Florida company's growth trajectory included expanding into local grocery markets, online sales, and eventually retailers across the country.

Tune in to discover insights into:

Southern Caramel has been featured in Forbes, Cooking With Paula Dean, Authority Magazine! and several other media outlets.

CONNECT WITH SARAH SMITH AND SOUTHERN CARAMEL

RESOURCES

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As businesses and individuals struggle with an uncertain future from the coronavirus pandemic, aviation entrepreneur Barry Alexander, founder of Hartford, Connecticut-based Aquiline Drones, has a clear vision for success.

Through his latest innovative endeavor, Alexander has created a full-service drone manufacturing and cloud technology company that's poised to change the global landscape as it takes drone technology to the next level. He's also helping others learn a skill and create companies of their own.

A native of St. Lucia, Alexander is a veteran aerospace professional who has more than 25 years of experience as an aviator. A licensed aircraft technician for both airplanes and helicopters operating at the highest technical levels, Alexander has more than 20,000 hours of flight time logged in global commercial aviation. He spent most of his aviation career as an airline captain, but he's also served stints as a flight instructor, chief pilot, and director of operations and transport pilot of a Boeing 747 aircraft globally.

Alexander migrated to the U.S. as a teenager to pursue his interest in flying. After receiving airplane and helicopter certifications, he returned to the Carribean to establish Aquiline Air Ambulance, an air ambulance transportation network, in concert with the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the Caribbean Ministers of Health, the Caribbean Common Market, and regional Governments to help implement a regional project known at the time as Health Sector Reform.

A serial entrepreneur, Alexander has owned several businesses over the years in the fields of construction, digital media, and electronic payment services.

RESOURCES

• Episode Transcript:

https://interrobangsolutions.com/drones-provide-flight-path-to-entrepreneurship/

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CONNECT WITH BARRY ALEXANDER & AQUILINE DRONES

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aquiline-Drones-104820991044367/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AquilineD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/51706826/admin/

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Stacia Guzzo, founder of SmartyPits, a manufacturer of aluminum-free deodorant, joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, including the practical growth strategies that allowed the company to evolve from a kitchen sink and sales at farmers markets endeavor to having a retail presence in more than a 1,000 stores nationally.

Inspired to create an aluminum-free deodorant after her mother's breast cancer diagnosis, Guzzo began making the formula in her kitchen sink in 2014, used herself as the guinea pig to test its effectivness and started selling the hand-poured and labeled product at farmers markets. Before long, she attracted the attention of major retailers, including HEB, TJ Maxx, Marshall's and others, as she attended national gift shows. Tune in as Guzzo shares her journey from classroom teacher to deodorant manufacturer and her insights into achieving steady, sustainable business growth, including:

RESOURCES

Episode Transcript

CONNECT WITH STACIA GUZZO

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Retail pioneer Bob Fisch learned a lot about younger generations while at the helm of fashion giants like Casual Corner and rue21.

Now, after exiting the industry, he's helping to transform workplaces using the Millennial Baby Boomer concept he developed and explains in his book Fisch Tales: The Making of a Millennial Baby Boomer, featured by ForbesBooks.

Fisch made a name for himself in value-priced, fast-fashion retailing, rising to president at Casual Corner and later becoming CEO of rue21, a retailer of women’s casual apparel and accessories. Fisch took took rue21 from bankruptcy to a fast-track winning streak and a hot-stock IPO, Along the way, he built out a national network of 1,200 stores, and a billion-dollar-plus valuation. Bob earned the reputation as a “disrupter” in the retail industry, and he’s at it again as he works to expand what he calls the Millennial Baby Boomer brand and mindset.

In this episode of Talking Business Now, Bob discusses his book and how Baby Boomers and millennials can mentor each other in an ever-evolving workplace. Tune in find out:

RESOURCES

Episode Transcript

CONNECT WITH BOB FISCH

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