Tag: Business Owners
Leadership Lessons with Coach Matthew Mitchell (Ep. 89)

Leadership Lessons with Coach Matthew Mitchell (Ep. 89)

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Leadership isn’t just about giving orders. It’s about inspiring, guiding, and sometimes, learning from everyone around you. 

Are you ready to elevate your leadership game and drive your team to new heights? 

This week on Smart. Money. Simplified, Brent Mekosh welcomes Matthew Mitchell, the winningest coach in the history of the University of Kentucky Women’s Basketball Program. Matthew shares his incredible journey from high school coaching to becoming a top college coach, his principles of leadership, and how he applies these lessons to the corporate world today. 

Episode talking points include: 

  • His transition from high school to college coaching
  • What role did the ‘winning tools’ – honesty, hard work, and discipline – play in the team’s development and success
  • How was a bottom-ranked team transformed into champions through process-driven leadership
  • What challenges arose when transitioning from sports coaching to corporate leadership consulting
  • And more!

Resources:

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About Our Guest:

Matthew Mitchell is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, speaker, three-time SEC Coach of the Year, and the winningest head coach in the history of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program. The foundation for his teams’ achievements is the Winning Tools principles – honesty, hard work, and discipline. Through Mitchell’s focus on the fundamentals, he led the program to new heights―seven 25-plus winning seasons and the UK’s first SEC Championship in 30 years. Mitchell now leads the Winning Tools leadership platform, sharing the proven value of these principles with executive teams across the country.

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Avoiding Regret: How to Plan Your Business Exit with Geoff Eliason (Ep. 87)

Avoiding Regret: How to Plan Your Business Exit with Geoff Eliason (Ep. 87)

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Did you know that over 70% of business succession efforts fail, and even successful entrepreneurs often regret their decisions a year later?

This week on Smart. Money. Simplified, Brent Mekosh sits down with Geoff Eliason from SDR Ventures to delve into the critical aspects of business succession planning, the importance of having a coordinated team, and how to prepare for a successful exit strategy. 

Geoff’s extensive experience in investment banking and understanding of the entrepreneurial landscape provide invaluable insights into preparing business owners for the most significant financial decisions of their lives.

Episode talking points include: 

  • The importance of a holistic succession plan for business owners
  • Key reasons behind the regret and dissatisfaction post-business sale
  • The role of financial advisors in successful business transitions
  • How to assemble a supportive team for a seamless succession process
  • And more!

Connect with Geoff Eliason:

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About Our Guest:

Geoff Eliason joined the SDR Ventures team in 2021. In his role as Principal, Geoff brings 16 years of industry experience to the organization and its clients. His primary responsibilities are building and sustaining operational efficiencies across the firm and maximizing the client service model. Geoff is dedicated to providing strategic solutions specific to the complexities of the M&A process. Embracing SDR Ventures’ firm-wide commitment to serving its clients, Geoff channels his years of experience and strategic relationships towards enhancing business valuations and providing thought leadership to the entrepreneurial community. Geoff holds his Series 79, 24, and 63 securities licenses and serves as SDR Capital Markets Chief Compliance Officer. Geoff is passionate about teamwork, given his commitment to both education and athletics.

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Beyond the Sale: Finding Purpose After Exiting Your Business with Jerome Myers (Ep. 72)

Beyond the Sale: Finding Purpose After Exiting Your Business with Jerome Myers (Ep. 72)

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Are you financially and emotionally prepared for life after selling your business?

What strategies can you implement to design a life that aligns with your values and aspirations beyond business success?

This week on SMART MONEY. SIMPLIFIED, Brent Mekosh speaks with Jerome Myers, America’s Leading Exit Authority and founder of Exodus, The Myers Development Group, and Dream Catchers. 

Jerome recounts his transition from corporate life to a period of deep self-reflection and the subsequent discovery of a meaningful path forward as he advises those exiting their own business.  

Listen in as Jerome underscores the significance of nurturing love, maintaining faith, and intentionally crafting a life of fulfillment beyond the business realm.

Brent and Jerome discuss:

  • The psychological challenges of successful business owners after an exit
  • How does one transition from being a business owner to a newly exited operator
  • Jerome’s personal experience with exiting a business and the journey to finding a purposeful life afterward
  • The value of finding a greater purpose and positively impacting others after exiting a business
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Jerome Myers:

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About Our Guest:

Jerome Myers is a developer of people and places. He is the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of DreamCatchers and The Myers Development Group.

Through these entities, he gets to live out his childhood dreams of helping people manifest the things they imagine and create social proof that dreams should be real.

Since leaving corporate America after building a 20MM division at a Fortune 550 company, J has become one of the most sought-after thought leaders in the multifamily development space. His company, The Myers Development Group, built a multi-million-dollar portfolio following the principles of Myers Methods.

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Visionaries at Work, Partners at Home: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to a Successful Marriage with Rachel Lebowitz (Ep. 66)

Visionaries at Work, Partners at Home: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to a Successful Marriage with Rachel Lebowitz (Ep. 66)

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The entrepreneurial lifestyle can be thrilling, but it also brings unique challenges to a marriage. 

Whether you’re an entrepreneur yourself or married to one, it can be a struggle to navigate the complex relationship dynamics that come with it.

In this episode, Brent Mekosh speaks with Rachel Lebowitz, a Professional EOS Implementer®️, speaker, and author who also describes herself as the wife of a driven entrepreneur and the mom of three entrepreneurs in the making.

Listen in as they explore the impact of entrepreneurship on marriage and family life, with practical advice for fostering a healthy balance.

Rachel discusses:

  • The psychology of entrepreneurs and their spouses (WHY they behave the way they do)
  • The significance of open communication between partners
  • How to tackle barriers like narcissism, compulsivity, resentment, and jealousy
  • Actionable steps for both spouses to manage stress and promote mutual growth
  • An introduction to the Driven Spouse Forum
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Rachel Lebowitz:

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About Our Guest:

Rachel Lebowitz is a third-generation female entrepreneur. Since the age of 10, the school bus dropped her off every day at her parents’ school supplies store, where she helped out and punched a time card. By the age of 12, Rachel asked for a raise, and at 15, she convinced her parents to take their business on to Amazon and helped them build their website. But the most interesting part was observing the employees when the boss wasn’t around.

Fast forward to 2015, Rachel and her husband acquired a flexible packaging printing business. They were doing well, but inevitably, with the rapid growth, they hit the ceiling. In 2018, they discovered EOS and implemented it into our business. They have since grown their business from 17-30 million in revenue and from 30 – 100 employees. As a partner in business, Rachel got a unique vantage point into the day-to-day stress and struggles of running a company. Therefore, she is passionate about sharing those EOS tools they discovered to help businesses like yours get more peace of mind and your life back, like they did!

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A Navy SEALs Entrepreneurial Journey with Mack Alexander (Ep. 48)

A Navy SEALs Entrepreneurial Journey with Mack Alexander (Ep. 48)

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Transitioning from the Navy SEALs to a civilian can be physically and emotionally hard. 

For some, finding a passion can help bring them a sense of peace and create a path toward their next phase in life.

In this episode, Brent Mekosh is joined by Mack Alexander, the founder and CEO of Macks Belts™ and a retired Navy SEAL. Mack reveals his journey from a Navy SEAL to a business owner while diving into the life lessons he learned as a Navy SEAL, how they translated into his daily life, and how he helps others (like him) through his business. 

Mack discusses:

  • Why he decided to join the Navy SEALs
  • How his experience with the Navy SEALs impacted his motivation and perseverance
  • The financial and personal struggles he faced after returning home from duty
  • How he started selling dog collars and grew that business into a belt company
  • Why he markets his products on LinkedIn instead of other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook
  • And more!

Connect with Mack Alexander:

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About Our Guest:

Mack Alexander serves as the CEO, Owner, and Founder of Macks Belts™, headquartered in Tampa, FL. The company specializes in steel and leather manufacturing and is one of the largest producers of American-made belts. Previously, Mack served as a Navy SEAL Assaulter and Breacher deploying to Africa and Yemen. He retired early after sustaining a major TBI while deployed. He is devoted to supporting all who have served and has been an advocate for many military, first responder, and law enforcement charities and is an official partner and advisor to Support Our Troops®.

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Direct Indexing: The Next Big Thing in Investing? with Sirion Skulpone (Ep. 43)

Direct Indexing: The Next Big Thing in Investing? with Sirion Skulpone (Ep. 43)

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With tax season being over, you know how much your investments cost in terms of tax losses.

Thankfully, there are ways to mitigate those losses next year.

In this episode, Brent Mekosh speaks with Sirion Skulpone, the managing director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Sirion explains everything you need to know about direct indexing, tax management, investment planning, and capital gains.

Listen in as Sirion shares the strategies you need to leverage acceptable losses and focus on future gains while shedding light on the role of technology and data when it comes to supporting different investment alternatives.

Sirion discusses:

  • The truth about tax management
  • How investors can benefit from market volatility
  • Ways business owners can decrease the taxation on the future sale of their business through existing losses
  • Ways to incorporate existing stocks within your investment plan without a high taxation
  • And more!

Connect with Sirion Skulpone:

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About Our Guest:

Sirion Skulpone serves as the managing director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. She’s also the head of client portfolio management, custom equity, and direct indexing. 

Sirion is highly focused on client engagement and education, portfolio customization, business strategy, and product development.

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Mastery in the Air, Leadership on the Ground: Ron Higgs Takes Flight (Ep. 42)

Mastery in the Air, Leadership on the Ground: Ron Higgs Takes Flight (Ep. 42)

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Changing careers after years of hard work can feel like walking away from what you have built. 

But those experiences can help build a foundation for the next phase of your career.

In this episode, Brent Mekosh speaks with Ron Higgs, the founder and owner of Wolf Management Solutions, about his journey from being in the US Navy (as a naval flight officer, aerospace engineer, and technical program manager) to now being a business consultant. 

Listen in as Ron uncovers the experiences he gained along the way and the strategies he uses to share them with CEOs and business owners.

Ron discusses:

  • Why he joined the Naval Academy
  • How his graduation transformed the next phase of his life
  • The priorities of pilots and how they help maintain focus when experiencing fear or loss of control
  • How he shifted away from flying planes to becoming a leadership and business consultant
  • Valuable lessons he has learned from working in startup environments 
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Ron Higgs:

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About Our Guest:

Ron Higgs is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and served in the US Navy as a Naval Flight Officer, Aerospace Engineer, and Technical Program Manager. There are four primary skills, along with many others, that were forged and refined while he served our country that he now uses to help business owners and CEOs seeking to scale their businesses:

  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Teamwork
  • Adaptability

As a veteran, engineer, business executive, and published author, Ron has more than 25 years of experience in leadership, operations, engineering management, and program management. He has worked in several industries and held leadership positions in startups, small companies, and large corporations.

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The Art of Business Transition: Maximizing Value in Your Company Sale with Jeffrey Feldberg (Ep. 40)

The Art of Business Transition: Maximizing Value in Your Company Sale with Jeffrey Feldberg (Ep. 40)

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Business owners, it’s no secret that you will exit your business eventually, whether you sell or pass it on.

So, how to ensure your company is at peak performance when you plan your exit?

In this episode, Brent Mekosh speaks with Jeffrey Feldberg, the co-founder of Deep Wealth. Jeffrey talks about optimizing your business value when building your exit plan and selling your business. Listen in as Jeffrey reveals how building a narrative outside of the standard evaluation can increase the value of your company and get you a nine-figure sale. 

Jeffrey discusses:

  • Deep Wealth’s nine steps to building a business roadmap 
  • The biggest pitfalls business owners encounter when looking to sell their business
  • How understanding the buyer’s mindset creates effective seller strategies
  • When (and why) to build your exit strategy
  • The role of team well-being and financial freedom when it comes to planning your business exit
  • And more!

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About Our Guest:

Most business owners make the fatal mistake of believing the skills that built the business are the same ones to sell it. Jeffrey Feldberg shares from first-hand experience that the skills are entirely different. While running his eLearning company, Embanet, full-time, he dove into the crazy and wacky world of mergers and acquisitions. Jeffrey focused on business owners who either won big or lost big. He learned what to do and what not to do in the process. Countless hours and dollars went towards creating the 9-step roadmap of preparation. What was the result? He increased Embanet’s value 10X even though he had the same team and service.

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Turning Business Owners Into Firefighters of Burnout with Becky Wolfe (Ep. 35)

Turning Business Owners Into Firefighters of Burnout with Becky Wolfe (Ep. 35)

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Over 65% of physicians have experienced burnout. The percentage for businesses, leaders, and their teams is likely higher.

In this episode, Brent Mekosh speaks with Becky Wolfe, the founder of BW Consulting Solutions. Becky unveils the impact of burnout within the workforce while revealing how the pandemic has changed the way we think about mental health and how burnout relates to the current turnover rate in businesses.

Becky discusses:

  • Why she changed careers to focus on mental health
  • Strategies for business leaders to identify burnout and provide support 
  • Reasons mental health has become so important and its impact on business planning
  • Proactive steps to addressing burnout and stopping it from growing
  • Burnout from a family and work-from-home perspective
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Becky Wolfe:

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About Our Guest:

Becky Wolfe is a Leadership Development Specialist focusing on organizational change, specifically within teams experiencing burnout. She is a certified Coach/Consultant with GiANT Worldwide and has a background in healthcare.

Becky started her career as a Physician Assistant in 2006, initially working in the ER. She then transitioned to Cardiology, where she spent the bulk of her career. Becky started working with a health coaching company in 2020 and started her leadership development company later that year. Becky now is a full-time entrepreneur focusing on helping teams move forward from burnout.

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