The Entrepreneurs' Guild Podcast

Ken's career spans over four decades, during which he has worked in the public and private sectors, helping small to medium-sized closely held businesses start, grow, and become more profitable. He possesses a unique skill set that encompasses finance, strategic and business planning, administrative management, technology planning and implementation, HR management, and labor relations. Ken began his work as a Management Consultant in 2005. Since then, he has also served as the Chief Financial Officer and Acting CEO/CFO in two client companies. He was one of the founding Members of The Entrepreneur's Guild. Ken has taught several adult education courses for existing and aspiring entrepreneurs and has given lectures and seminars to several small business organizations and Chambers of Commerce. Ken holds an MBA Degree and Certificate of Health Services Administration from Cornell University and a BS degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Jill is a trainer, coach, speaker and founder of POP! More, where she helps individuals and organizations build confidence, strengthen communication, and develop the power skills needed to show up more effectively in work and life. With more than 30 years of experience spanning sales, marketing, fundraising, community engagement and entrepreneurship, Jill brings real-world experience and practical strategies to her work. Her own journey through plenty of life's potholes inspired her signature concept of CANfidence: the belief that confidence isn't something you either have or don't have. It's something you can actively build.

Too many entrepreneurs don't comprehend the idea that you can have a very successful business and still fail because of stupid decisions regarding expenses and cash flow. When a business experiences a period of solid income and a strong revenue stream, what do you do with the extra cash? A wise entrepreneur has already built a strategic plan that answers that question and prioritizes spending in various revenue cycles – up and down. Unfortunately, too many people squander that extra cash on some unessential or vanity-driven acquisition, and damage their cash flow, and their business in the process. What can be done about that? Listen here.

Amy works with women who've been told they're too much — too direct, too ambitious, too intense. Her work starts from a simple premise: they're not.

As founder and CEO of Amy Kemp, Inc. and a certified Habit Finder coach, Amy guides high-achieving women through the subconscious thought habits that unknowingly cap their income, their leadership, and their lives. More than 400 women have gone through her four-month small-group coaching engagements, with hundreds more in one-on-one work. Her methodology also drives two annual in-person experiences — a retreat called Pause, built for deep work … and a trip called Refresh, built for connection and play. Her first book, I See You: A Guide for Women to Make More, Have More, and Be More — Without More Work, distills her work into one line: you can't outwork your thought habits. Amy speaks and writes for one reason: to hand other capable women the permission they've been waiting for.

In over two decades of working with entrepreneurs, we agree that the most common operational problem in the majority of small businesses is sales. There have been hundreds of books written, and scores of processes espoused, and countless methodologies endorsed, yet the vast majority of small businesses struggle with this one topic, which results in massive numbers of business failures every year. Consumers detest sales processes because most of them are insincere and focused on generating business as opposed to meeting a need or desire. Most sales conversations are focused on convincing people to buy versus demonstrating value or solving a problem. How many "salespeople" do you know that you enjoy working with? Probably very few, perhaps none! In today's program we discuss this very significant problem and consider many aspects of sales - the good, the bad and the ugly. Perhaps some of the methods we have found to work for us, will solve the sales dilemma in your business!

Krissy is the Co-Founder & Executive Director of Student ACES, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring & developing student-athletes of character, honor & integrity. The organization's mission is to create CHAMPIONS … which is an acronym that guides their core values: Command Respect, Honor Your Word, Aspire to Greatness, Maintain Courage, Possess a Work Ethic Second to None, Inspire Others, Own a Winning Attitude, Never Settle, and Sacrifice for Self and Team. Krissy has been in leadership positions in the non-profit sector for over 12 years. She is a certified instructor of Mental Health First Aid and has dedicated her career to inspiring a new generation of leaders. Through Student ACES, she has positively impacted over 50,000 high school student athletes and has taught them leadership skills, values, and character education to be successful men and women in the classroom, the athletic fields and in their communities.

Nick opened Nick's Furniture in Sugar Grove, Illinois over 20 years ago with a simple passion, he liked to sell and give customers honest advice and quality furniture without the pressure. What he didn't expect was that his passion for educating customers would eventually take him beyond the showroom floor. Nick became an early adopter of social media for business, building a following across Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube with content. His honest, no-gatekeeping approach to furniture buying resonates with audiences nationwide. Now Nick is pivoting from store owner to industry speaker and consultant, helping other retailers use social media to compete and grow. His story is about adaptation, resilience, consistency.

Christina is the founder of Digital Heights Marketing (DHM), a boutique social media management agency based in Chicago. She specializes in industries that most people think are too boring to be on social media - industries like highly regulated financial, insurance, and legal spaces- and then she proves those people wrong every day. Her strategy is simple: build meaningful connections and trust. That will always outperform automated tactics. In a world chasing algorithms and vanity metrics, Christina focuses on community, consistency, and authentic storytelling that turns an online presence into a long-term business asset. DHM works with clients who understand that showing up online is a long game worth playing.

Excellent communication with your clients, your suppliers, your staff, and any other faction among your interested parties is essential to success. But many entrepreneurs don't pay enough attention to this critical skill, resulting in lost business, annoyed customers, limited growth, or worse. In today's program, we discuss some common screw-ups and draw attention to the critical communication you need to master if you are to succeed at the highest level. No matter how long you've been in business, or how successful you are, you might still learn something in this program and fix an error that will further boost your success. They are simple changes … which means they are also easy to overlook!

Managing your staff (or suppliers) with efficiency and great communication – and having them appreciate and learn from the process – is one of the best lessons learned in the book "The One Minute Manager". The book is filled with small bits of insight that power organizations and is itself is an excellent example of ideal communication … simple and elegant! In this program, we discuss one of the key learnings and how we have seen it applied – or misapplied – in organizations that we have worked in. Organizational management and development can be dramatically simplified and much more effective by applying these lessons learned!