The Savvy Entrepreneur

Andrea Herran, an experienced Human Resources consultant, shares tips on things for startups and small businesses to consider before hiring their first employees. Some of the most common mistakes are: Andrea’s company, Focus HR, provides not only question- and project-specific H.R. assistance, but is also the outsourced H.R. department for several small companies. She brings … Continue reading "What You Need Before Hiring Your First Employee(s)"

Everybody knows video is hot. It continues to draw viewers and potential customers. Nathan Wiens joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share tons of practical video marketing tips. He’s a video marketing expert with more than 20 years’ experience. He runs two video-related companies, NWC Media, a full-service digital marketing company, and UAV Chicago, which provides … Continue reading "Video Marketing Tips"

Charlotte Trecartin founded CharCharms while a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign. She’s proof that Covid actually had many silver linings. So, she took advantage of some of the many resources that the U of I, an engineering and business powerhouse, offers. And, when Covid hit, she decided to use the extra time … Continue reading "CharCharms: Cool Water Bottle Accessories & More"

Since 2004, Wisconsin’s Annual Governor’s Business Plan Contest has been fostering startups. More than 4500 startups have participated. Category winners have gone on to raise more than $300 million, win more than $2.5 million in prizes. Even more amazing, 77% of the competition finalists are still in business, a statistic that defies the notoriously high … Continue reading "Annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest"

Lori & Traci Tapani are true unicorns. There still aren’t many women in senior manufacturing positions, and even fewer who own a manufacturing business. There are still fewer that whose companies thrive in small towns, and when you add in the fact that both are blond and beautiful and uber-competent besides, they are rare indeed! … Continue reading "Wyoming Machine: Innovation in Manufacturing"

Jill Salzman, Founder of Founding Moms, didn't intend to create the organization.  She was managing bands and also running her baby jewelry business.  But she said she "freaked out" when she was pregnant with her second child, trying to figure out how to juggle everything.

She created a simple local Meetup group for moms who were also entrepreneurs.  The group kept growing, and she tells The Savvy Entrepreneur that about six months in, she realized she was onto something.  From there, she formally founded Founding Moms.

In time, it grew to chapters in 30 cities, and eventually incorporated an online platform with virtual events and on-demand training.  The Founding Moms has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, Business Insider, and a host of others.

Jill is sassy, smart, and funny.  We laughed our way through the interview, and you will, too!

Click on the arrow to listen!

Heather Wentler, Co-Founder of The Doyenne Group, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about how the group was founded to help women entrepreneurs.

Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Heather and co-founder Amy Gannon, Doyenne was born when Amy and Heather’s husband organized a Startup Weekend.  And they notice that of the 130 attendees, only 10 were women.

Amy and Heather started on a quest to find a way to change that.  They organized a women’s business breakfast during Madison’s Annual Forward Fest, a 5-day event for entrepreneurs.  The breakfast sold out rapidly.  At the breakfast, they polled the attendees about what they were looking for and needed help with.

From there, Doyenne took off.  Today, it consists of workshops, online courses, mentoring, and connecting women entrepreneurs with all of the many groups and resources that already exist.  Plus, their signature Triple Threat Venture training, which is similar to an accelerator program.

Heather candidly shares how Doyenne has morphed over it’s 10+ year history, from changing its funding model to moving to online offerings.  Its members are enthusiastic champions (see my interviews, for example, with Richelle Martin and Karen Renee), and it boasts numerous success stories. And it’s creating a cadre of self-described “badass women entrepreneurs” who clearly love helping each other.

Click on the arrow to listen to this inspiring interview!  It’s a testament to what two women can do who are on a mission to create change.

Jordy & Jahna McNamara took a novel approach to starting their app company, Critter.  They decided to quit their jobs, pack up everything and take a cross-country road trip in a van.  Their road trip allowed them the focus and freedom to finally start the business they’d dreamed of.

Traveling for months out of a van isn’t the easiest way to start a business.  But it got them out of their old routine and into a new one. And they were disciplined enough to work hard almost every day on their new business.  It also had the unexpected benefit of getting lots of in-person customer feedback, with a geographic and demographic breadth that would be hard to do any other way.

Critter was born because Jordy & Jahna wished there was an easy way to summarize everything their dog Lucy needed for various caregivers.  They found themselves writing the same information over and over on scraps of paper.  They knew there must be something easier.

Creating a new app and a company around it was right up their alley – Jahna has a software background, and Jordy a consulting and business background.

The app launched in October 2022, and for now is free.  But they are exploring “freemium” tiers and other options to help monetize the business.  Their long-term goal is to create a suite of apps that would also include pet professionals as well, such as vets, groomers, and boarders.

It’s a fun story about how to navigate the hassles of living in close quarters and moving constantly while trying to start a business together.  It’s the ultimate challenge in being flexible.

But then, that’s what the couple says is one of the keys to a successful road trip, but also building and marketing an app from scratch – have an overall plan, but stay flexible!

Click on the arrow to listen to this fun interview!

Ed Dernulc. He is the Foundation Director of something called Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs (or "NBT," for short). It's the foundation arm of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA).  He joined The Savvy Entrepreneur recently to talk about future manufacturing talent, including entrepreneurs.

NBT's mission is to connect that next generation of entrepreneurs and manufacturers to consider careers in the manufacturing industry.

Ed says that the number one thing that keeps him up at night, along with NBT's and FMA's members, is not supply chain, it's not the cost of raw materials, and it's not finding parts.  It's is human resources.

The U.S. today has about a 2-million-person manufacturing skills gap -- meaning there are 2 million jobs in manufacturing that employers can't fill. And it's only growing, so the need is definitely there.

Truly, Ed says, one of the biggest things that Nuts Bolts & Thingamajigs tries to tackle is to change perceptions about manufacturing.  Manufacturing has changed dramatically over the past few years.  It is no longer the dark and dangerous place people might envision.  There are also misperceptions about salary, and skills needed, as well as expected salaries and career paths (hint: the growing labor shortfall has driven up salaries, and by quite a lot for certain skillsets).

To help address those gaps, Nuts Bolts & Thingamajigs offers scholarships, education, and outreach.  But it's probably best known for the week-long camps that it hosts to expose 12-16 year-olds to the world of manufacturing.

In 2022, NBT has grown to 165 camps in 25 states and Canada.  The camps are structured building some kind of project, and also around local industry sponsors, who give students insights into what it's like to work in manufacturing.

NBT also offers Glow & Gadget camps for young women.  Today, women represent only about 12% of manufacturing employment.

The overall goal of both camps is to spark curiosity and open students' minds to the possibility of careers in manufacturing, including many different types of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Learn more about the important work of the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation in fostering future manufacturing talent by clicking the arrow.  You can also read a transcript of the interview here.

Ashley Moy joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share how Cast21 is making radical improvements on the traditional orthopedic cast for breaks & fractures.

The novel cast is lighter, waterproof and more comfortable than traditional plastic and fiberglass casts. It takes only three minutes to apply, and has a open lattice net-like design.  That design is hard for support, yet open so that the skin is accessible and air can circulate.  Plus it comes in several cool colors!

The idea came about when Ashley and her co-founder participated in an accelerator program at the University of Illinois.  Her co-founder, a gymnast with a birth defect, had been in 60 different casts, and knew first-hand how miserable they can be.

Their flagship product is a wrist or arm cast and sold in the U.S., but as you'll hear in Ashley's interview, the opportunities for new products and new markets are enormous.

That said, creating a novel new medical device -- especially in the U.S. -- is no easy task.  Designing, manufacturing, marketing, and dealing with a host of regulatory issues, Ashley and her co-founder have carefully but determinedly pushed on.

Cast21's story is inspirational and Ashley's interview is full of great tips.

Click on the arrow to listen, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the show!