Empowering Entrepreneurs

As we enter into season 2 of our podcast, we enjoy getting feedback from you, our listeners, that you are getting value from our great guests sharing their stories on their "how," their "why," and their "would, could or should haves." It's been a great experience for us to sit across the table or sit on a Zoom call with them and really watch people have "aha moments." Because as entrepreneurs, we don't necessarily have time to sit back and reflect or have awareness of where we were and where we are. We've really made our guests take a moment, reflect, and be able to have those "Wow, I really did that" moments.And we know this is probably the only time that our guests don't have their phones on and working when they're doing the podcast with us. So they literally do have to focus and reflect.Thanks for a great season 1 in 2022, and we look forward to bringing you more insights on Empowering Entrepreneurs during season 2 in 2023.Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

From medical supply sales, to now interior design, Maura's entrepreneurial journey is one to learn from. As Maura notes, "Know that there's a whole world out there of other things you can do. You just have to be committed to that and to learning those businesses."We welcome Maura Ginnobile, the owner of The Home + Haven Co and Everwoods Cabins Rentals.Her start in medical supply sales (which she hated but loved the money), led her to her entrepreneurial career in interior design. And what a start - right before the COVID shutdown.She is now to a point, being a serial entrepreneur with her husband, adding staff. She talks about how she is approaching this, all the while keeping her brand strong. And how growing the team can be difficult.She is now delegating her work to accommodate what is important to her, her family, and her life. But when you gain the time, how do you NOT fill it with more business craziness?Brand building is a major part of both businesses. She goes into detail on how she has been true to her branding, all the while growing her businesses.Her superpower? Disarming personality, and great listener. These are two key traits that make a great interior designer.https://www.thehomeandhavenco.com/https://www.theeverwoods.com/Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

Today’s business landscape for entrepreneurs is complex and changing. Navigating and maneuvering it is critical. Having a mentor provides an opportunity for guidance and advice that will allow you to take on entrepreneurial opportunities that you otherwise may not have.Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

A big thanks to Ernie Villany from Boulder Valley CPAs for spending time with us on this episode.Little known fact - he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman not once, but twice!Ernie talks about his big move from NY to Colorado. It was a big chance, and he had lots of chances for it not to work - but he talks about HOW he made it work.Did you always want to be an entrepreneur? - According to Ernie, it was hard to avoid, as it was always a family thing.What would he say makes him successful in what he does? Advising his clients is key to his firm, but his days working for the IRS has been priceless.You can't do it all yourself (although that is what got him to where he is today). Ernie talks about when he finally recognized he couldn't do it all himselfOne of the most important parts of recognizing you can't do it all by yourself is when you surround yourself with people "that are smarter than you."What was your biggest fear when making that transition to being an entrepreneur?So what is Ernie's superpower? Nope, not being the go-to CPA for David Letterman, as most would think - it's just being honest with his clients.We all have an end game - or will have one - what is Ernie's?Don't miss hearing from Brittany from his firm, on our Working Moms podcast episode.And here is Ernie on Late Night with David Letterman.Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

In a recent Barna survey, working mothers shared that they are feeling overwhelmed, navigating workplace shifts, and desiring time to prioritize self-care.So we thought we talk to a group of working moms (and their kids!).We talk with...Nicole Thousand, from Thousand CPAJanel Sykora, from Thought Leader CreativeRebekah Scott, from Rebekah Scott DesignsBrittany Casarez, from Boulder Valley CPAsand our own Julie SmithRunning a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

Growing a business? It takes more than just a founder to make it happen. Learn how to build an internal and external team that will keep the business going strong.When you start out as an entrepreneur, you probably are going to need mostly an external team. And the external team would be the people that you've hired to navigate the spaces that you just have no idea about. And that would be legal, your business advisory, and accounting. You've got to have insurance people, you've got to have banking relationships. These are things that you may think as an entrepreneur, you can't afford to pay for that and you can do yourself. I assure you. The sooner you engage those individuals to help you, the quicker you'll reach your successful point.How about the internal team?It's based on a need, not necessarily a want. So what do you need? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses and can you bring in someone to take you to the next level? Should it be exactly who you are? And they should think exactly like you, a clone? That's what everybody I think thinks, right? If you could just have a clone of yourself, this would be great. But if you get someone with a little bit different mindset who can see things in a little bit of a different light, has a little bit of a different experience, is able to bring a little bit something different to the table, you start to grow in scale. And also you're able to have two different conversations and see things a little bit differently as you go through hiring even more teammates.Here's a link to the episode we mention featuring Janel Sykora - CMO | Entrepreneur | StoryBrand Certified Guide.Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

How can structure equal freedom?Dave Lukas is our guest, and he dives into this and more.You'll find with a lot of successful entrepreneurs and even those that you see and look up to as top entrepreneurs and visionaries and founders. Structure equals freedom. And a lot of people don't understand that. They hear that and like, what do you mean structure equals freedom? The more discipline and structure you have in your regiment, the more you can get done, and the more productive you can be. So I'm highly structured and how I do things.But there is a second part to structure equalling freedom...It's one thing to be structured, but it's another thing that you hit the ground running and know what you're going to do. So the other side of it is planning. So every Sunday I sit down and I actually am old school. So I actually sit down for half an hour and I write out by the day for the week coming what I'm going to do and what I need to do. So my top things that I need to get accomplished every day.How does he put this in play when he coaches leaders?I sat down with about a $100 Million business a couple of weeks ago with their leadership team. And we went through how they run their business and their day. And it was just all over the place. There's no plan. There wasn't any structure for how they even do their meetings or any of the type of stuff. And by the time we were done with a day session, you know, they had things dialed in and set.When it comes to planning and structure, what can entrepreneurs do to help themselves?One of the most important things that an entrepreneur can do for themselves is to learn to play the long game. And so you have to take the step back and you have to be able to sit there and say, okay, what do I actually need to do? Three months ahead? A year ahead, right? And how do I start putting things in place to get that in process today?We all experience the "highs" and the "lows" of being an entrepreneur. But where is the sweet spot?As entrepreneurs, we spend a lot more time in a series of peaks and valleys. But we spend a lot more time in the valleys than we do the peaks. But the valleys are where the gold is. The peaks are sweet, they're so nice. But that's where you really get better and you learn is in the valleys. And so, you know, advice to anybody out there, embrace those valleys that you go through and everything. Because that's where I learn these things. That's where I learn to be better discipline.Dave dives into what he calls DCPIt stands for discipline, consistency and persistence. But what does it really mean, right? Discipline is doing the things that you know, you need to do even when you don't want to do them consistently. Consistency is doing that day in and day out without fail. And then persistence is no matter, no matter what, even if you're disciplined and consistent, you're going to hit these walls, you're going to hit these insurmountable things that don't seem like you'll ever be able to pass them. And if you're not willing to persist through that and persevere through it, that's we're going to stay, that's we're going to plateau.Misfit Entrepreneur PodcastDave M. Lukas is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, investor, and Founder of the Misfit Entrepreneur Podcast. His companies have been ranked on the Entrepreneur 365 and INC 5000 List 7 times. He has been featured on radio, TV, and many top trade publications and web such as Forbes, INC, Yahoo! Finance, BTN, BTE, and others.Dave is also the author of the amazon best-seller “The Ten Year Career, The Fast Track to Retiring Young, Wealthy and Fulfilled.” The book is a culmination of 5 years of dedicated research into the mindset and habits of high performers, and gives the reader the missing links and path to greater success and fulfillment. He is also the founder and host of the Misfit Entrepreneur, a top-rated podcast devoted to giving the audience incredibly useful and unique insight from the world's top entrepreneurs and highest performers with a focus on their non-traditional methods for achieving success, their Misfit side. The show is listened to weekly in over 140 countries and reaches over 90,000 per month.An accomplished investor in real estate and stock investing, through his 12 Minute Trading System, Dave has mentored, educated, and trained thousands of students worldwide on how to create income from the stock market. He has spoken extensively in front of a wide array of organizations from many of the Fortune 500 to top Universities and Trade Groups with an emphasis on teaching individuals the strategies to reach their true potential and deliver exponential results. He lives with his wife and daughter in Columbus, Ohio.Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

Will Hill Consults was started from a passion for seeing firms and firm leaders make positive change come to life.Will has spent over 20 years working with firms to operate more efficiently, and in ways that drive value to their customers. This experience combined with a passion for truly seeing change take place led Will to launch Will Hill Consults in 2022. As Will explains in this episode, the coaching and consulting services from Will Hill Consults are separated into 2 categories: What they can do for your firm, and what they can do with your firm.So for any firm I'm able to help with working through their processes and being kind of technology independent in that regard, but really saying what do we need to do to fix that process? A lot of it around things that touch both the staff and the clients.Here is what Will sees in his clients...They have hearts of teachers and they actually care about their clients and the welfare of their clients. And that's why I enjoy working with them and knowing that if I can help them, they're going to truly turn that into the benefit of their customer. When we talk to entrepreneurs who go from corporate to being on their own, there's a little piece of you that misses a little bit of that collaborative culture that sometimes corporate breeds.I had already been used to very much remote interactions now that were still the team that I worked with in the office and some other peers that were there. But I've been quite used to forming and building relationships when you're not sitting right next to each other for quite a while. And so that that to me was not as big of a step.Do you feel like when you decided to ultimately make the jump and go full entrepreneur, do you have any thoughts like, "Oh man, I wish I'd have done it earlier"?I would say, if you are married and you're going to pull this trigger, the spouse has to be in agreement that the time is right enough that it's time to go and do it. And you've got to jump before it's no longer a great choice and you've just got to feel comfortable with the downside. As Glenn states about making the jump into entrepreneurship...It seems like this holds true. That if you wait until you can afford to buy a house. Wait to afford you can have kids. Wait to afford to be an entrepreneur, wait to do everything. You can spend a lot of time waiting and a lot of inaction. And again, the best, worst case scenario. Everything's going to work out. It always does. It may not be what you wanted, but it's going to work out and you will be fine.Glenn continues...What's the worst that can happen? The longer you wait, the less confident, perhaps the less fire you'll have, the more doubt will show up. And those things are not conducive to a healthy entrepreneur relationship with yourself. I mean, you have to be mentally in a place where you have the eye of the tiger and you're ready to roll.There's a huge difference between "owner-operator" and "owner-investor" as an entrepreneur. Will explains the steps he sees that get you from operator to investor in your business.As an entrepreneur starting out, we tend to say yes to almost everything. But Will has some great advice on that challenge.So I need to say yes to things after we're deep into conversation. But I need to consistently represent where my strong core value is that I'm bringing to my target customers and not try to guess at to what their needs are and shift how I portray my value. I want to come in consistently and let them interpret how that extends out to their needs. Because if I try to guess how my skill extends to their needs and I get way over to the side, I'm going to swing and miss. And later, when they say, well, that's not really our need, our needs over here, I'm going, well, I can do that too. At that point, I don't sound like an expert. Now I sound desperate. So you've got to be consistent in that messaging, even though you're going to say yes to a lot of stuff, whether you can outsource it or not, you have to stay really consistent with that initial messaging.Learn more about Will on his website. All his contact information is there at your fingertips.Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.https://empoweringtheentrepreneur.com/ Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

She's a driving force for promoting and helping individuals identify and achieve their physical fitness, nutrition and bodybuilding goals. Her social media platforms have been growing and influencing countless followers. We welcome Lexie Maitland as our guest.You're a fitness fanatic, which is kind of exciting. How did you get involved with that?I've always been athletic. Growing up, it's kind of been like my identity. Everybody has always known me to be a very active, sports-driven individual. So I was a competitive gymnast starting when I was seven. And then throughout high school I was I joined the cheer team. But on top of that, I also started running with my mom and we did a couple of half marathons together. My dad basically one day was like, Lexi, you need to try something else out. So he got me a personal trainer at the local gym, and so I started with that. He started teaching me the proper way to actually weight lift, I just grew to really love it and started doing my own research and kind of went towards that route where I was doing more weight lifting rather than just cardio and it was just really something I enjoyed.When you're coaching these girls or, you know, people from all walks of life, how do you get these people to get out of their own way? Because essentially you are coaching them to get out of their own way. How do you help change their mindset and help shift some of those mental blocks that people have in regards to that?All of my coaching is done virtually. How do I make it personable? So I always send video responses back to my clients so they kind of see me on their computer screen talking to them. So they get that personal aspect. I also think like as a coach. I have to make sure I'm extremely upfront and direct right off the bat before somebody wants to sign up with me. Not only what my expectations are as a coach, but also telling them what to expect.Is there anybody else, or were your parents the driving force that kind of gave you the confidence to say, I can do this?I joined an entrepreneurial group in high school and they held pitch competitions a couple of times per year, and I, on a whim, just decided to enter one. And so when I did the pitch competitions, it really pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I had to like publicly speak in front of all of these like high-level entrepreneurs in St Louis. And that really gave me the confidence to actually like fulfill public speaking.As Glenn notes, what is really key for our entrepreneurs is you have to get uncomfortable to then get comfortable to achieve anything. If you sit in your safe space, it's just never going to happen. You have to get uncomfortable.Lexie Maitland LIFESTYLE & COMPETITION PREP COACH SUIT STYLIST YOUTUBER @lexiemait on Instagram Lexie's Website Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.https://empoweringtheentrepreneur.com/ Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper

Contract Diagnostics is a nationwide consulting company, not a law firm, and the ONLY company that specializes 100% in physician contract review. Jon's team of contract review specialists has served many thousands of physicians in all specialties across all 50 states.Contract Diagnostics was formed in 2011 and has been Jon’s passion ever since. He is dedicated to the education of physicians in the non-clinical (business) aspect of medicine. Had you been an entrepreneur before? Growing up as a kid?Oh, funny enough. So I started a stereo company Car Stereos when I was 17, not because I wanted to have a big company and make a lot of money. There were certain brands of stereo equipment that we wanted in Brookings, and there was one, one small stereo company, and they didn't have the good brands and we didn't feel like they gave the customer a good deal. And so my friend and I started a company at 17 just so we could get our brands, and it did well. It's still going successfully under separate ownership.How did Contract Diagnostics start?I was looking at this market, you know, 12 years ago or so, there really wasn't like there wasn't like a national brand. And I had lots of friends who were physicians who could kind of give me guidance. I said, Well, who'd you use for this service? And, you know, they didn't know they should, or they called some local attorney who didn't understand physicians and physician contracts. But how do you sell a service or product to someone who doesn't even know they need it?Now we have a new product that I feel hundreds of thousands of physicians need. And now we're back in the process of telling them, you know, teaching them that they do absolutely need this product. And I mentioned to my team all the time that I feel like we're trying to sell an iPhone in 1984, you know, and you should try it. You need this in your pocket. It's going to revolutionize the way you live. And people would say, What are you talking about? There's no way I need this thing, you know? So it's it's fun and challenging at the same time.So what does your team do to help physicians?So we've got great attorneys that work here, but we don't operate like a law firm, so we don't give legal advice. We're consultants if you will. So we understand the way that a physician should understand risk in a contract so we can go through it with him or her and really kind of explain it in plain English.And what Jon sees as the "secret" to success...It's still one of those things that, you know, you find something that you really enjoy. You put your heart soul into it and and you work it till you're blue in the face. And you don't give up and you provide good products and then and things happen.In an unusual growth pattern, Jon hires his first employee for his "side gig" before he even left his corporate job. Why?The business was strong and my time was was kind of capped. And I realized that it has to get bigger than just me.Do you have any regrets or son of a moments that you wish you could do it over again, that you would have changed to get you where you are quicker?Maybe the one thing that I would change was, is the the way that you that you prioritize initiatives. I think still 32 ideas on ways that we can make the company better. But I think I would have maybe started prioritizing that list maybe a little bit different years ago.What's been key to Jon's growth is relationships. They have been the key to where he is today. No matter if it's been in his business and corporate, in and around that area, it seems like he's really been able to solidify, grow all the relationships that he has to in order to get to where he is today.My team ensures physicians and their families get the best possible employment compensation through information, consulting, and coaching on their employment contracts. Jon's Website Jon's Facebook page Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.https://empoweringtheentrepreneur.com/ Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper