Kate Teague is committed to making music. She can't help it; it's what she does. She lives in the hyper-comptitive music scene of Nashville where every street corner has an aspiring musician or singer-songwriter trying to get noticed and make it big. Kate is doing the things necessary for her career to catch on fire, from performing to writing to shooting music videos (featuring her non-actor father in a role to save money) to keeping a regular job to pay the bills. How does one get the attention in the Nashville music scene? You'll enjoy hearing Kate tell us and how struggling musicians find a way to survive and, just maybe, earn a buck or two.

See Kate's videos:

• "Actor"
• "Poison Mind"

Kate's music library is here on Spotify.

Show Sponsors:

• Roy Lewis Construction
• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• First Horizon Bank's "Bucket List-ening" Podcast
• Seth Cherniak- Jeffrey Matthews Financial
• Persons Services Corp
• Trey Langus - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Mason Hills Farm - True Farm to Table

Find What Works: The Ten Best ides of the First Two Hundred Episodes at Amazon.com.

Friend of What's Working, Brent Barkin, is back to update us on his journey. After selling the family business about sixteen months ago, Brent had the luxury to spend time and consider his next move. Not ready to stop working, Brent evaluated what he liked doing and what he was good at and made his decision. Hear how he assessed his talent and made his choices and what lessons you and I can take from his journey.

Show Sponsors:

• E3 Pest Control
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Persons Services Corps
• Roy Lewis Construction
• First Horizon Bank's "Bucket List-ening" podcast
• Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial

Buy What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two Hundred Episodes at Amazon.com.

It's simple. To do anything you must begin. Joe Calloway understands that one of the many barriers to success for an entrepreneur or any business leader is simply to get started. To begin. We can create lists of reasons to delay, to wait, to push off till tomorrow. Success, however, starts no other way than to begin. Meet Joe Calloway. Hear his enthusiasm. Let it take hold. And lets all...begin.

Show Sponsors:

• Roy Lewis Construction
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• First Horizon Bank's "Bucket List-ening" Podcast
• E3 Termite and Pest Control
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors
• Persons Services Corp
• Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial

Find my book outlining the ten best ideas through the first 200 episodes of "What's Working," called What Works, at Amazon.com.

AI is changing everything it touches. Why not supply chains and logistics, too? Shashank Rao leads teams of students working with companies to combine the two in unique ways. Shashank gives me some insights into the projects they're working on and what the results have been and how AI will continue to impact logistics. It's fascinating stuff to an outsider like me. To Shashank and his team, though, it's just another day at work. Shashank, by the way, is the Jim W. Thompson Professor at the Department of Supply Chain Management at Auburn's Harbert College of Business.

Show Sponsors:

• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• Roy Lewis Construction
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Persons Services Corp
• First Horizon Bank's "Bucket List-ening" Podcast
• Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial

Buy my book What Works - The Ten Best Ideas from the First 200 Episodes on Amazon.com.

Not being beholden to tradition or industry norms has helped Joey Mason make Mason Hills Farms a premium provider of beef for the discerning consumer. His cattle are grass fed and grain finished on his own farm near Grand Bay, Alabama. Never farming before, Joey has learned the business from the ground up, from how to prepare the cattle to how to process and package them to retain the best flavor in the meat. He's now selling it direct to the consumer and is adding a line of ready to cook burgers. And with the scraps? A premium dog food. Joey (like his cattle!) is all in.

Show Sponsors:

• First Horizon Bank's "Bucket List-ening" podcast
• Seth Cherniak of Jeffrey Matthews Financial
• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• Roy Lewis Construction
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Persons Services Corp
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors

Buy What Works - The Best Ideas from the First 200 Episodes on Amazon.com.

A circuitous route delivered Hastings Read from England to Mobile, Alabama where he learned custom woodworking after a successful career in management consulting. Today he leads the team at Oakleigh Custom Woodworks as they build beautiful doors, windows, and shutters, employing a team a craftsmen who take great pride in their work. Deadlines matter but the work of a craftsman should not be rushed. Hastings details his story, how he's applying his lessons as a consultant to his own small business, and how he leads a small team that builds exquisite products.

Show Sponsors:

• Roy Lewis Construction
• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• First Horizon's "Bucket List-ening" Podcast
• Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial
• Persons Services Corp
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty

Find my book, What Works, at Amazon.com.

If you buy commercial insurance you've certainly noticed the rate increases. Brian Tanner is Managing Principal at EPIC Insurance's Birmingham, Alabama office and is our monthly Business Alabama magazine deep dive interview. He explains why rates are up, how AI is making creative crooks more clever, and why the art of cold calling is not dead. Brian is high energy and this interview is a thrill. Enjoy.

Show Sponsors:

• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Roy Lewis Construction
• Persons Services Corp
• First Horizon's "Bucket List-ening" Podcast
• Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial

Find What Works for sale at Amazon.com.

Foodservice is typically full of high turnover. Unless you work for PP Hospitality Group. Panini Pete and his sister, Cheryl Blohme, have created a rapidly growing organizaiton due, in part, by their ability to find and keep good people in jobs typified by high turnover. Pete and Cheryl and their leadership team have figured something out. It begins with Pete, Cheryl, and the leadership team living and breathing and acting out the culture they preach. No one can deny they don't mean it or that their culture is just words on paper. It's evident to the customers and, most importantly, to the employees. Learn how they do it and what it could mean for your workplace.

Show Sponsors

• Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial
• First Horizon Bank's "Bucket Listening" podcast
• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Persons Services Corp
• Roy Lewis Construction
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent

Buy What Works on Amazon.com.

There is a big difference between a skills shortage and a labor shortage. Employers used to worry about lack of applicable skills. Today employers just need people with some of the skills demanded. Elizabeth Crofoot is an economist with Lightcast. Based in DC, Elizabeth knows how to mine the data our Federal Government provides and "read the tea leaves." She and I talk about the tops skills employers are searching for today, how these skills are becoming "disruptive skills" and how workplace leadership is needing to change to accomodate these new skill demands.

Show Sponsors

• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Allison Horner - State Farm Agent
• Seth Cherniak & Jeffrey Matthews Financial
• Roy Lewis Construction
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• "Bucket List-ening" by First Horizon Bank
• Persons Services Corp
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors

Find What Works on Amazon.com.

There are basics to marketing your business. Before business owners get into the weeds of fancy marketing tactics, they need to make sure the basics are covered. Gayle Rogers of The Atomic Agency works with owners of new businesses as well as business veterans to make sure the fundamentals are well taken care of before anything sophiticated can begin. Hear Gayle's advice for what bases you need to make sure are covered.

Click here to get the Checklist Gayle offers listeners.

Show Sponsors:

• First Horizon Bank's "Bucket Listening" Podcast
• Seth Cherniak & Jeffrey Matthews Financial
• E3 Termite and Pest Control
• Trey Langus - Transworld Business Advisors
• Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty
• Persons Services Corp
• Roy Lewis Construction
• Allison Horner - State Farm

Find my book, What Works, at Amazon.com.