The Hot Mic @ Arch DevOps

Paul Benigeri recently had his company go through a name and brand change, and now they're called Archive. Their focus is to blend automation, artificial intelligence and relationship building, to help people grow their brand on Instagram through nano-influencers. We get into some cool stuff in this episode, and dig into Paul's journey as an entrepreneur. Find more about Archive by going to archive.ai 

Kuda's cookie company called Nunbelievable is a philanthropic venture designed to help fight hunger, especially in his home country of Zimbabwe. At around 6 years old, his area suffered severe drought, and he experienced food insecurity. So, he grew up never wanting anyone--especially kids--suffering the same way. He's on his path to fix that problem now. Next time you have a cookie of any kind, remember Kuda's mission. And, find out more about his journey by going to spearmethod.com. 

Guest Antoan Rusinov has a couple interesting things going on. First, he's the founder of the company Levels Up, but he also has another company called You Lead Brand, where he not only helps small business get their marketing message right, but also created a board game about business strategy. Check him out at https://www.facebook.com/youleadbrand and https://www.instagram.com/youleadbrand. 

Terry McDougall and I met up on Matchmaker, where she filled me in on all the different aspects of her coaching business. Starting her new thing up in 2017, she's carved out a unique niche of helping executives and career seekers figure out how to lead well, and what fits best in their life, respectively. She's always down to mentor her staff, and has a history of lifting others up. Listen for tips about what entrepreneurship really takes (and here's a hint: it's not for sissies!), dealing with the emotional flood that comes with starting up a business, balancing instability with stability, and more at the end. Find her at terrybmcdougall.com, or on LinkedIn too, and also check out Amazon for her book called: Winning the Game of Work. Let's get started now. 

Kate and Natasha Trusova crossed paths with my wife Charlotte and I recently with our company Exactly Zero. They founded their company Kiwi Eco Box in April of 2020, right in the heat of the pandemic. It's a company whose mission is to help people adopt the zero-waste lifestyle easily, by providing a monthly subscription to receive a variety of these kinds of products at their door, sourced from all over the US. Based in Austin Texas, they saw a prime opportunity to start a company even though it was during the pandemic, because they noticed a big uptick in purchases of things that create a lot of wasteful packaging. The timing was perfect, and they're quickly growing into a company that can make a big environmental impact on the world. If you're interested in learning more about the zero waste movement, check out kiwiecobox on Instagram, kiwiecobox.com and their online store at kiwiecoshop.com. Enjoy the listen. 

Fellow entrepreneur, and also entrepreneur coach Purdeep Sangha joins me today to talk about his journey on the entrepreneurial path. He's learned a lot about balancing altruism with business, and why it's not terrible to raise your prices. It felt weird for him the first time he did it, but the client still said yes anyway. Making the mental switch to value-based pricing is a big part of how a business makes it in this world. There's plenty of mindset involved in it, and today's episode will help you learn more about his unique approach to helping businesses help themselves. If you're just starting on your own entrepreneurial journey--or you've been on it for awhile and could learn something new--listen into this episode. Afterward, get to know Purdeep by by visiting his site purdeepsangha.com or email him at [email protected]. 

A good friend of mine got me introduced to today's guest, and after hearing what he's got going on, I'm sold on the mission. Robert Hall is the founder of So-B and he's answering the call to improve lip health for everyone. Every year 45 million suffer from ailments causing unsightly lip health, and growing up it affected him in a negative way. He shared with me how he started the company in October 2020 and what the journey's been like. Many of the lessons he's learned center around actively listening to customers, and finding out ways to fold in suggestions from a small segment of those customers. The real treasure, and a great way to improve your offering, is figuring out the best blend of all the data to create a wonderful experience across the whole customer base. Not many companies do this on purpose, because it's hard, but the road less travelled is the most rewarding. Find more about Robert on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn by searching for 'sobliphealth'. Enjoy the listen. 

Got introduced to today's guest by a mutual friend and former podcast guest. Dr. Denise Dennis is a marketing automation guru who started her company Action Accelerated after a surge of people kept asking her about her process and how she gets webinars set up. From there it's become a series of projects helping fellow coaches automate big chunks of their process, so they can free up more time and help more people. There's always some way to get a little more efficient and start getting a return on your time investment, especially if coaches are feeling overwhelmed. She shares with me what the journey's been like, what she's learned about herself and some principles of building the know/like/trust factor using some established tools. Dr. Denise has a heart to serve others, and has some free resources out at automate25things.com where you can find what 25 things you should automate in your process. Or reach out to her by visiting her website, drdenisedennis.com. If you're a business or leadership coach feeling like you're chasing your tail and not making much progress, might be time to get some automation in place somewhere. Let's listen in now. 

Second-time guest Noah Pusey joins me today to catch up about what he's got going on with Ripple. Last time we talked it was clear that there's a big problem with how most companies handle performance reviews. If you've ever worked at a place where there's a week-long yearly review that leaves you feeling stressed: that's exactly what Noah and his team are working to do away with. There's so much wasted time and reactive changes when you only find out about problems a year later, and the result is a pretty stressful work environment. In catching up, we talk about what we've learned in the past year, how we've grown and what new goals are on the horizon. Got a lot of great tips for you if you're just starting out or are pretty far on your entrepreneurial journey. If you're wondering if your yearly performance review is working for you, why not take Ripple for a test drive? Head over to ripplecrew.com and see how it works. Let's get started with the show. 

Today's guest is an energetic lady who got her start in marketing years ago, and found her calling later in cake decorating of all things. It's actually another way for her to exercise her eye for design that she's refined over the years. Amber Comadira-Smith is the founder of Commie's Cupcakes, an exclusive cake decorating boutique located in Australia, and she spends her days crafting amazing work that's good enough you might not want to eat it. But you should because, well, you paid for it and that's what cakes and cupcakes are for. In this episode we talk about what it was that made her go that direction, and the struggles she had starting up her new dream, learning about leveraging social media and treating the business like a business instead of a hobby. There are a lot of sweet angles to the conversation that entrepreneurs of any experience level would learn a lot from. After listening, check out her amazing website over at commiescupcakes.com, or follow her on Instagram @commies.cupcakes. Conversation's already baking now, come on in.