If you’re a small business owner who is unsure about whether they should be concentrating on building a personal brand, then this episode is for you! Our guest today, Jillian Flodstrom, is a Small Business Strategist, Speaker, and serial entrepreneur who has built five different booming businesses in three separate industries. Her latest venture is called Scale Your Small Business and is the result of all the lessons she’s learned throughout her career. In our conversation, we discuss the chaos and overwhelm that many small business owners experience, how to revolutionize your operations, and some of the first steps you can take to get organized and thrive. Tuning in you’ll hear Jill share practical tips on how to get your business to where it needs to be, from how to reach Inbox Zero, to finding the management software that’s right for your business. Learn why consciously building your brand as a small business owner is essential, and how people may perceive you if you’ve done it without intention up until this point. Jill also describes why she is a firm believer in hiring before you’re ready and how it drives business owners to take their business to the next level. Jill’s business was born out of a desire to help other small business owners get organized and thrive because when entrepreneurs consciously support and help one another, the results are life-changing. To learn more about being a small business owner and building a personal brand, make sure you tune in today! 

In today’s special recap episode, Rory revisits his conversation with Chris Norton, the subject of the new documentary, 7 Yards: The Chris Norton Story, which can now be found on Netflix. Chris’s life was changed forever when he suffered a severe spinal cord injury while playing college football. Since then he has gone on to have a thriving speaking career, along with a beautiful family of six kids that he adopted with his wife Emily. Tuning in, you’ll hear Rory share his top takeaways from the conversation. He reflects on the importance of being grateful for what you have, the significance of focusing on what you can do, rather than what you can’t, and why excellence is not an accident, but a decision. To learn more about Rory’s thoughts on his conversation with Chris, make sure you tune in today! 

When Chris Norton went out to play his sixth game of college football, he had no idea the life-changing effect that game would have on his life. On the field that day he contracted a spinal cord injury that would alter the course of his life and leave him with a three percent chance of ever walking again, or doing any other type of small movement, like scratching his face. In our conversation, Chris shares what a dark and difficult time this was in his life and how he was motivated by his determination to overcome the odds and walk again. What he didn’t know at the time was that years later he would walk across the stage at graduation and that a video of that moment would go viral around the world. Since then, his story has been published and has also been recorded in the documentary, 7 Yards: The Chris Norton Story, which can now be found on Netflix. Chris describes what he has learned in the years since his injury and how you can still live a meaningful life, even if you’re bound to a wheelchair. He talks about the incredible relationships he has formed during his life, and how he and his wife Emily have come to adopt six kids and foster nineteen. We also spend some time talking about Chris’s first public speaking opportunity and how he realized that it was possible to pursue speaking as a career. He shares what speaking has meant for him and his family, how he’s honed his craft through study and coaching, and what he’s done to sustain his speaking career long-term. Today’s episode is deeply inspiring and a testament to appreciating and fully embracing the life you have! Tune in to hear more of Chris's story and what it means to live a meaningful life. 

In today’s recap episode AJ revisits her conversation with Tiffany Taylor and Leon Chen, the founders of Tiff’s Treats. Tuning in, you’ll hear AJ share her top three takeaways from their conversation and why she found them so valuable. For her first takeaway AJ reflects on the value of having someone in your company who is dedicated to looking out for the reputation of you and your company’s brand, and why saying ‘no’ is sometimes necessary to stop your brand from becoming diluted. She also explores some of the ways we can open ourselves up to opportunities, why you don’t need that much to get started, and how we can learn a tremendous amount from simply getting to know our customers and why they use our brands. To hear more about what AJ learned from Tiffany and Leon, make sure you tune in today! 

Starting a business is a huge undertaking, especially if you want to take it from a side hustle to a smashing success. Our guests today are all too aware of the sacrifices you need to make to build and grow a business but were much more naive when they first began their business 23 years ago. Today on the show, we talk with the wonderful Tiffany Taylor and Leon Chen about their company, Tiff’s Treats, how it all started, and what it's been like being a married couple in business together. Learn the surprising story of how they started their business as a result of Tiffany standing Leon up for a date, and how they grew their cookie delivery service over the past two decades. Tuning in you’ll learn how they built their brand, how it was inspired by their customers, and why having a brand protector within your company is so important. We also discuss their new book It's Not Just Cookies: Stories and Recipes from the Tiff’s Treats Kitchen. Tiffany and Leon share what the writing and publishing process has been like, what they’d want to put in the next book, and why this book is for anyone interested in business. It was such a treat having Tiffany and Leon on the show, and we really appreciate their honesty on what it’s like to be a husband and wife in business together. Make sure you tune in to learn more about their new book, what it takes to start a business, and much more! 

Often the guests featured on this podcast are figures who are already recognized and highly esteemed in their field. In this special recap episode, Rory revisits a conversation with a Brand Builders Group client who is in the earlier stages of building a personal brand. Tuning in, you’ll learn about Jesse Terranova and his business along with some of Rory’s key takeaways from that conversation. Rory reflects on what it’s like to be in the initial stages of building a personal brand, from identifying your uniqueness to learning how to serve your audience in the most meaningful possible way, to how to grow and scale your business. Learn about some of the biggest stumbling blocks clients are currently facing, why your next customer is unlikely to come from social media, and why finding alignment in your business is the key to long-term success. For all this and more, make sure you tune in today! 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, levels of isolation and loneliness were already at alarmingly high rates. Since the onset of the pandemic, those numbers have risen ever higher and broken new records. But once you identify a problem, you can begin to solve it. Our guest today, Jesse Terranova, is no stranger to loneliness and has made it his mission to have a positive impact on this issue, one connection at a time. In our conversation, we talk about how Jesse first discovered Brand Builders Group and why it entered his life at the perfect time. We hear how traveling the world has shaped Jesse’s outlook, the lessons you learn when you exit your comfort zone, and the challenge of implementing those lessons when you return home. Tuning in you’ll hear Rory’s advice for the challenges that Jesse is currently facing, from how to scale his business to the best way to grow his reach. We also unpack how giving customers an unparalleled experience can help you gain referrals, and why your next connection won’t come from social media, but from an existing client’s cellphone. To learn about finding an aligned business model, tune in to this very special conversation with a Brand Builders Group client who is doing the work and making it happen! 

A musician turned entrepreneur shares insights on building a thriving membership site alongside a successful YouTube channel. With over 10,000 active members and 70 million views, he discusses the significance of audience relationships and leveraging YouTube for growth. Key strategies include creating valuable content, repackaging ideas, and leading with your best work. The importance of giving before asking is emphasized as a way to connect authentically. Listeners can gain actionable advice to scale their own digital businesses!

Today we are so happy to invite Nathan Chan, CEO of Foundr, to talk about how he turned his online magazine into a digital media empire. We hear about how Nathan decided to start Foundr as a side-hustle after finishing his marketing degree that he worked on when he wasn’t at his real job. He talks about how he chose to go full-time when he realized that staying at his job was actually losing him money. Our conversation takes a deep dive into the strategy Nathan used to grow the magazine into a media and online education company, and he talks about the models he uses for revenue generation and customer acquisition. Here Nathan speaks about his omnichannel marketing approach, the difference between customer acquisition and profit-generating products, and why he is using a subscription model to build Foundr into the world’s premium learning platform for entrepreneurship. Our discussion also touches on personal brand building and Nathan talks about why he has always focused on building Foundr first, but how his own brand has grown very successfully along with his company. Tune in today! 

The rise of remote work has changed businesses in many ways. One of the most notable consequences has been its effect on the way employees behave and work. Not only is the line between work and home life becoming increasingly blurred, but the distinction between our work and personal devices has also become less clear than ever. While it may seem simpler and cheaper to allow your employees to work on their own devices, the truth is that the laxness around regulated devices and passwords is creating a huge security risk at a time when the threat of cybercrime attacks, like hacking and ransomware, has never been higher. Here to help us tackle this important topic is Denis O’Shea, Founder of Mobile Mentor, a company that provides its clients with invisible securities that aren’t disruptive to their employees’ workflow. In our conversation, Denis describes the challenge that companies currently face in attempting to create a robust security system, while also ensuring a seamless employee experience, and what can be done about it. We also discuss their surprise win of the prestigious Microsoft Partner of the Year award, how it was all thanks to several innovative shifts they’d instituted over the past two years, and what they’re doing to make sure they win again next year. To learn more about security in 2022 and how to leverage the power of an award to scale effectively, make sure you tune in today!