Unlikely Success

Ep. 10 Bad at Assessing Risk, Great at Starting a Company: Mike Konrad

Mike Konrad never set out to be an entrepreneur. In 1992, he founded Aqueous Technologies, an equipment manufacturer for the electronics assembly industry, not because he had a business plan but because he had designed a product he believed in and couldn't convince his employer to build it. The only path left was to build it himself. He walked into that decision with strong technical skills but zero formal business training, and with a set of traits that would sound like liabilities on any resume: ego, passion, arrogance, ignorance, and a genuinely poor ability to assess risk. Ironically, those are exactly the traits that got him off the ground. Ignorance can be bliss, and bliss is sometimes what it takes to leap.

But the same qualities that launched the company nearly took it down. Mike had to recognize that his early recklessness carried real limits, then rebuild himself around business acumen, disciplined strategy, and sustainable leadership instead of raw enthusiasm. That transformation extended into how he thought about marketing itself. He started out with the chest-thumping, hype-driven advertising typical of his industry, but came to reject it in favor of what he calls conscious marketing: building authority through genuine value instead of empty claims, an approach he's found resonates especially with younger decision-makers who want substance over noise. Today he splits his time between technical circles, lecturing on electronics reliability at industry conferences, and academic ones, speaking candidly to engineering students about the realities of starting a business. He's also written The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Anatomy of a Business Startup, From Uncertainty to Unstoppable.

Mike's story is proof that the instincts which make someone reckless enough to start a company are rarely the same instincts that let them keep it alive.

Connect with Mike > https://www.mikekonrad.com/

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Ep. 9 Built for the Job by the Last Place You'd Expect: Eric Robinson

Eric Robinson's path to the FBI began somewhere no one expects: ministry. The principles he learned there didn't get left behind when he became a Special Agent. They became the foundation he leaned on through 15 years as a SWAT operator, tactical and firearms instructor, and investigator working Human Intelligence and National Security cases. It's an unlikely combination: a man grounded in spiritual formation, operating in a world of informants, terrorists, and exploited teenagers. But that grounding is exactly what let him thrive where the job breaks most people.

Two of Eric's cases earned the Attorney General's Award, though the recognition isn't really the point of his story. The point is how someone finds the resilience to sit across from a terrorist in an interrogation room, or confront the reality of trafficked teenagers, and still hold onto their humanity. Eric talks candidly about both sides of that work: the grit and the darkness, and the human and spiritual core that kept him steady through it. He also brings a rare, ground-level perspective on how law enforcement actually engages with subjects, cutting through a lot of what gets lost in today's headlines.

His story is proof that the most unlikely preparation for a career can turn out to be the most important.

Connect with Eric:I think

Website > https://www.preachertobreacher.com/

Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/_eric_robinson/

LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-robinson-9220053a4/

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Ep. 8 No Three Strikes: Jack Oujo on Money, Baseball, and Second Chances - Jack Oujo

At 30, Jack Oujo was broke, watching his professional baseball dream end, and about to become a father. Most people would have called that rock bottom. Jack calls it the foundation of everything that came after.

In this episode, Jack — founder of Oujo Wealth Strategies, now one of the largest tax-focused wealth management firms in the country — walks through how he rebuilt his life and career from nothing using discipline, relentless self-education, and a philosophy he now teaches to everyone he works with: always have a Plan B. He explains why consistent processes beat lofty goals every time, and why trust and customer service, not returns alone, are what actually build a business that lasts.

Before wealth management, Jack spent eight years as a professional baseball umpire, and it's there he picked up the line that anchors his approach to money: unlike ballplayers, most people don't get three strikes when it comes to their finances. This conversation is about what changes when you treat every financial decision like it might be your last shot.

Connect with Jack Oujo:

Website > http://www.toosmarttobeanumpire.com/

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Ep. 8 His Leap of Faith Landed Him in a Distillery. - Matt Estrin

Matt Estrin spent 15 years on staff at churches across Colorado, most recently as worship pastor at Journey Christian Church in Greeley, before he ever thought about running a business. The distilling started as nothing more than an experiment in his garage, a way to unwind after a career built around walking other people through their hardest days. He had no exit plan from the ministry and no business background.

When the garage hobby got serious, Matt enrolled at Moonshine University in Kentucky to learn the craft properly, then opened 477 Distilling in downtown Greeley in 2019, named for the 477 votes that ended the city's decades-long prohibition in 1969. A single tasting room grew into two locations, with a second following in nearby Loveland, and Matt kept saying yes to the next idea. He co-owns Greeley Hatchet House, an axe-throwing venue that opened in the middle of the pandemic, runs After Hours Cocktail Bar in Fort Morgan, and launched Oak and Maple, a waffle and boozy-brunch concept that marked his first foray into running a restaurant. By his own count, seven businesses in seven years, each one built on the same instinct that got him into a garage full of stills in the first place.

Somewhere in the middle of running all of it, Matt decided to write a book. He is dyslexic, which made the process far harder than it sounds, but he wrote I Know the Owner: From Holy Water to Happy Hour himself anyway, documenting the sleepless nights, the ventures that did not work, and the stretch where a global pandemic threatened to take down everything he had built.

Matt's story pushes back on the idea that a calling and a career have to be permanent, or that changing direction later in life means starting from zero. He took what 15 years of leading a congregation had taught him, patience, people skills, the ability to sit with someone else's hard day, and pointed all of it at a completely different kind of business. It is a reminder that the skills that make someone good at one thing rarely stay confined to it.

Connect with Matt Estrin:

Website > https://www.mattestrin.net Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/mattestrin/ LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-estrin-223125113/

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Episode 7: No Dirt. No Contacts. No Problem. - Chris Corkery

Chris Corkery had no farming background, no contacts in Milwaukee, and no soil. He built a farm anyway.

Corkery's path started in marketing, then took a turn into professional kitchens as a chef in New York City. When he decided to build something of his own, he didn't look for open land. He looked for an empty industrial building in the middle of an inner-city food desert, on a brownfield site where a shuttered auto parts plant once stood, and moved to Milwaukee to build it, knowing no one there. That building became Hundred Acre: a hydroponic farm that grows leafy greens, herbs, and pesto indoors, year-round, without a single patch of dirt.

What started as an experiment in a reclaimed factory has grown into shelf space at Kroger, Metro Market, Pick 'n Save, and Festival Foods locations across the state, along with partnerships feeding local schools and donations to Feeding America along the way. Corkery talks through the leap from chef to founder, what it took to convince a city to believe in a farm with no fields, and how a former industrial wasteland turned into a working farm feeding its own neighborhood.

If you've ever assumed you needed the right connections, the right land, or the right background to build something real, Chris Corkery is proof that all you actually need is a building and the will to figure the rest out.

Connect with Chris Corkery: Website > https://www.hundred-acre.org Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/hundredacre_mke/ YouTube > https://www.youtube.com/@hundredacre4177 LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/company/hundred-acre-empowered-by-planet-to-plate/

Know someone who would be perfect for the show or want to reach out? > https://unlikelysuccesspodcast.com

Episode 6: He Asked for One Shark. He Got Three. - Tom Burden

Tom Burden spent his time in the Air Force keeping F-16s in the air, not building consumer products. But it was exactly that work, wrestling tools across the curved, awkward surfaces of a fighter jet, that led him to invent Grypmat, a flexible, non-slip mat that keeps tools locked in place no matter the angle.

He built the first versions in his own garage, funded early production through Kickstarter, and eventually landed a spot on Shark Tank. Burden walked in seeking $200,000 for 10% of his company. He walked out with something rarer: a combined offer of $360,000 for 30% equity, split between three sharks, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Sir Richard Branson, all at once.

In this episode, Tom talks about the years of grinding it out in a home workshop before that appearance, the sales realities of going from a single garage operation to a nationally recognized product, and what it actually took to get three sharks in the tank to agree to team up instead of compete for one guy's tool mat.

If you've ever wondered what it takes to turn a workplace annoyance into a business several sharks wanted a piece of, this is that story.

Connect with Tom Burden: Website > https://www.grypmat.com LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/toburden

Know someone who would be perfect for the show or want to reach out? > https://unlikelysuccesspodcast.com

Episode 5: He Started as a Clown. He Built an Empire. - James Sinclair

Most business empires don't start with face paint and balloon animals. James Sinclair's did.

In this episode, James traces a career that began as a children's entertainer and grew into one of the most deliberately integrated business portfolios you'll find anywhere. Real estate holdings, children's entertainment attractions, Rossi Ice Cream, food distribution, kids toys, ecommerce brands - these aren't random bets. They're a vertically integrated empire where each piece feeds the others, built by someone who saw connections where most people would have seen chaos.

James talks about how he built it, what drives him, and the business philosophy behind a career that has defied every conventional expectation along the way.

If you've ever been told your starting point was too small or too silly to matter, James Sinclair is proof that it isn't where you start - it's what you build from there.

Connect with James Sinclair:

Website > https://www.jamessinclair.net

Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/jamessinclairentrepreneur

YouTube >https://www.youtube.com/@JamesSinclairEntrepreneur

LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamessinclairpartyman/

Know somoene who would be perfect for the show or want to reach out? >https://unlikelysuccesspodcast.com

Episode 4: Nobody Wanted Detroit. Nick Did. - Nick Sanborn

Nick Sanborn didn't inherit a construction empire. He built one from scratch in a city that most people had already written off.

In this episode, Nick talks about starting Sanborn Construction Group from zero in Detroit - a city with no shortage of opportunity if you're willing to do the work others aren't. While most contractors were looking elsewhere, Nick leaned in, taking on a high volume of construction, maintenance, and development projects in a market that rewards persistence over pedigree.

We also get into something most construction business owners haven't figured out yet: social media as a legitimate marketing tool. With nearly 200,000 YouTube subscribers, Sanborn Construction Group has built an audience that most media companies would envy - and Nick talks about how that happened and what it means for the business.

If you've ever thought about betting on a place or an idea that others have given up on, this conversation will resonate.

Contact Nick on his Website > https://www.sanbornconstructiongroup.com

Watch Nick on YouTube > https://www.youtube.com/@SanbornConstructionGroup

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Episode 3: By Day He Saves Companies. By Night He Writes Thrillers.

Jeff Hyland doesn't fit neatly into one box - and that's exactly what makes him worth listening to.

He started his career as an auditor at Deloitte, which is about as conventional a beginning as you can have in finance. What followed was anything but. Over the course of his career, Jeff moved through financial planning, consulting, and ultimately landed in the role he's become known for: stepping in as CEO when a company is in trouble and needs someone who can stabilize, restructure, and rebuild.

In this episode, Jeff talks about what turnaround work actually looks like from the inside - the decisions, the pressure, and what it takes to walk into a broken organization and find a path forward. He also talks about his work as a teacher, passing on decades of hard-won experience to the next generation of business leaders.

And then there's the other side of Jeff Hyland - the one that sits down after a day of boardrooms and balance sheets and writes espionage thrillers.

If you've ever wondered what it looks like to build a career out of solving problems nobody else wants to touch, this is the episode for you.

Follow Jeff > https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-hyland-4b9a053/

My Website > https://jeffreykoenig.com/

My LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreylkoenig/

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Episode 2: He Built the Homes. Then He Started Selling Them

Before Richard "Rick" Ruvin's team was selling $200 million in Milwaukee real estate every year, he was a kid in a men's clothing store - impressing salesmen twice his age and not fully understanding why it came so naturally.

In this episode, Rick traces a career path that most people couldn't have drawn in advance. From men's fashion to residential construction, from selling out condo developments to buying into one of Milwaukee's most recognized luxury real estate teams, his story is less about following a plan and more about recognizing what he was good at and leaning into it at every turn.

We also get into the side of Rick that doesn't show up in the Wall Street Journal write-ups - his commitment to mentorship and giving back to the next generation of real estate professionals, and what drives that.

Rick is the author of The Attractive Agent and a frequent speaker at national real estate conferences. If you've ever wondered what separates the top producers from everyone else, this conversation is a good place to start.

Rick's Profile > https://www.thefrgteam.com/agent-profile/richard-ruvin-102264740

My Website > https://jeffreykoenig.com/

My LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-koenig-36538887/

Reach Out or Join us on an Episode >https://unlikelysuccesspodcast.com