Breaking Business Barriers

Myers Jackson, Accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate, Certified Auctioneers Institute, Certified Estate Specialist

Matt Allbritton joined Brent & Jared on Breaking Business Barriers sharing his motivation to own a business. Why did he choose roofing and restoration? What challenges and obstacles does he see? How did he prepare financially for his start-up? Matt openly discusses these topics and more on this episode of Breaking Business Barriers.

Check Out DFW is a first-of-its-kind real estate and local recommendations product that helps locals live more enjoyable lives. For those looking to move, we take the stress out of the home buying and moving process, with answers directly from realtors and community experts, as well as helpful content on real estate and home design trends, relevant home tours and buyer/seller/realtor profiles. Our content also helps both longtime locals and those new to town discover all the unique things their cities offer through a variety of community resources. David is the co-founder and chief content officer of Check Out DFW and has spent more than 20 years in newsrooms as a reporter, editor, consultant, and executive developing transformative digital strategies that have led to significant audience growth. He has won and led newsrooms to national journalism awards and has served on boards for local and national media associations. Jed is the co-founder and chief revenue officer of Check Out DFW and has 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, operator and strategist across digital media and marketing. Most recently he co-founded and built a local digital media news company in California. He also teaches Media Entrepreneurship at UNC-Chapel Hill. His insights have been cited by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Digiday, FOX Business, and the BBC.

Josh DeBlase joins Brent Duhaime and Jared Tye on this episode of Breaking Business Barriers. As most entrepreneurs that we've interviewed, Josh had to work for everything that he's received. In other words, he had his fair share of head winds but stayed the course as a results driven individual. There's no hill too big for climbers. Josh openly shares his story, life challenges and the importance of family and trust.

Jayme has goals and ambitions second to none. Successful entrepreneurs make significant sacrifices and Jayme shares his. Financial freedom has costs and investments - all come with a deep commitment to success. Jayme lays it on the line for all of us to hear. Enjoy.

Landon is a Marine Corp veteran and business owner. He took his passion for exotic cars and turned it into Aqualux Auto Detailing. He credits a mentor that helped him see the possibilities and he launched his own business with pride and vigor. He started the business with a few bucks in his pocket and a very supporting wife. Landon's story really defines the American dream. Love what you do and put all of your energy into being successful. Enjoy Landon's personal story.

Kyle Draper unpacks some of his proven social media concepts. He's a highly sought after professional in this space. Kyle is a sought after coach, consultant and speaker.

Matthew Dompreh is the Assistant Director of Video at Vanderbilt University. He's diverse and experienced through the Football Video Industry. Matthew has worked with some nation's best from schools across the country. Heavily inversed with the Adobe Creative Suite, XOS Thunder & Thundercloud Software, Avid Media Composer, Microsoft & iPad Distribution.

Matthew Dompreh is the Assistant Director of Video at Vanderbilt University. He's diverse and experienced through the Football Video Industry. Matthew has worked with some nation's best from schools across the country. Heavily inversed with the Adobe Creative Suite, XOS Thunder & Thundercloud Software, Avid Media Composer, Microsoft & iPad Distribution.

A military veteran to entrepreneur shares his professional story. John talks about his path and the importance of having quality relationships. John has a people passion that's genuine. He loves to build relationships and learn from them. He works tirelessly on his craft and what curiosity has enabled him to achieve.

Top of Mind Networks, a leader in customer relationship management and market automation software for the mortgage lender and real estate industries was founded in 2003 by Mark Green. “I started Top of Mind with a dream of creating something new, and we've accomplished that,” says Green. Like many business creations, Mark was solving a problem that he personally experienced in the residential lending and real estate space. In his interview, he explains what he saw and began to build an amazing team to help him deliver a world class product. Green founded Top of Mind by leveraging his professional experiences in building and maintaining customer loyalty to create post-close communications programs for mortgage lenders. The flagship product, Surefire, is the industry's leading online CRM platform. Top of Mind's success attracted the investment of Primus Capital, a growth-oriented private equity firm, in April 2018. Mark recently exited the company that he bootstrapped. In this episode of Breaking Business Barriers, Mark humbly shares his story and gives praises to his team members and the clients that believed in him.

Traci joins Host Brent Duhaime on this episode of Breaking Business Barriers. She shares her story about being enlisted in the National Guard immediately following high school (her Dad is a Veteran), becoming a Nurse Practitioner along with being a business owner. Throughout her career she's approached many forks in the road. She credits her family for the support as well as the being raised in small town USA (Elk Point, SD) where working as a youngster wasn't an option. Traci isn't just hard working and driven to be her best, she's kind, generous and inspiration to her children. Enjoy getting to know Traci and her professional career path.

Mark Weisman, former power five division one athlete, joins Brent Duhaime and Jared Tye on this episode of Breaking Business Barriers. Mark talks about a fork in the road decision that was very difficult for him as a teenager. He makes the decision to leave a military academy after his first year. Why you might ask? He'll explain his incredible focus to be at his best and that's what led him to making a change. Mark's fork in the road choice led to betting on himself and those payoffs opened many doors. He's detailed, hard-working, disciplined and a great student of some of the best mentors one could only wish for in life. Today, he's passing on those life lessons. Mark's book recommendation - The Slight Edge written by Jeff Olson

Jason Shutt, co-owner of Hollywood Bus Tours, joins Brent Duhaime on this episode of Breaking Business Barriers. Jason has been on the show previously and shared his personal story of learning via the school of hard knocks - also known as the prison system. Jason made a life changing decision in his mid-thirties and he's never been happier. He now is the co-founder of Hollywood Bus Tours. He talks about the challenge of opening a new business and how he found the pandemic to be an opportunity to make tactical improvements. Jason exudes all the good that can happen with a personal commitment and the happiness of being a proud, American business owner.

Award winning entrepreneur, Rex Kurzius, joins Jared and Brent on the Breaking Business Barriers podcast. Rex's entrepreneur journey started well before his teenage years. A traumatic life event occurred when Rex's father suddenly passed away leaving his family with no income. Facing the reality of being homeless, Rex's grandparents welcomed his family into their home. Overcoming life's challenges fueled his entrepreneurial spirit. He could be a provider by relying on a tireless work ethic, creative instincts and the will to win in business. Rex was kind enough to share his story of where he's been and where he's headed. He passes along some lessons that he's learned on his path as a serial entrepreneur.

Rebecca Valera joins Jared Tye and Brent Duhaime on this episode of Breaking Business Barriers. Rebecca made a career change from being a school teacher to being a real estate professional. She greatly puts forth the efforts relying on her background as a teacher to being a homeownership educator. This passion has served her well as an agent. Rebecca offers some tips to those who are either thinking about being in real estate or those that are relatively new to the profession. She definitely likes to openly share her experiences.

Jeff shares his journey from college to being President of his own company. Building his business from scratch to employing over 50 people was a journey that included business travel around the US and to different countries around the globe. Jeff offered some very important advice when talking about his business fork in the road. That fork included selling his company and deciding to make a life change. There are many lessons to be learned in the interview with Jeff. One of which includes a battle with a severe case of Covid. His hope is that his experience sheds light on this terrible disease and by doing so, save others from suffering.

Eric Hoffberg spent 16 years coaching hockey, college, then pro. Originally from Rochester NY, Hoffberg was the head coach at RIT all through the 90’s. In 2002 Eric made a shift in his work as a coach and brought his experience and passion to his role as a Corporate Coach for leaders and executives that are committed to building High Performance Team Cultures and as a Mental Toughness Trainer for athletes that are committed to being the best version of themselves when it matters most, particularly when they feel under pressure. Always happy, proud and grateful for the diversity of his clients, Eric has worked as a 1-1 performance coach with athletes that have been Olympians, with professionals at the highest levels, with National Champions, World Champions and with many that deserve star recognition just for the way they achieved their own personal dreams. He has spent time in a Corporate Coaching role working on Leadership Training, Culture Building and High-Quality Mind Management with leaders and executives at Heartland Financial, Experian, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Unilever, Stryker, Paychex, Merck, Union Bank, Marriott Hotels, ADP, Salesforce, Bank of Hope, Guaranteed Rate, Loan Depot, TBP, Paylocity, The Kraft Heinze Company, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Canada Post, Microsoft, The Compass Group, the F.D.A., and with Special and Elite Forces in both the military and in law enforcement, just to name a few. For many years now Eric has worked in the NHL (National Hockey League), seen as a resource for culture building and mental toughness training. His clients have included the Nashville Predators, the Washington Capitals including the 2018 Stanley Cup Championship season, the Dallas Stars, the Arizona Coyotes and the NY Islanders. During this time, he also has worked with hockey teams in the AHL, ECHL, NAHL, USHL, WHL, OHL and in the top leagues in Switzerland and in Austria. Eric is the author of two great books for training attitude and mindset, THINK STRONG for Athletes and THINK STRONG Reminders.

Crystal has been in design and marketing for over 20 years. Her marketing career began with a passion for design and this led her to a graphic design degree first. She had the opportunity to start working in the field of graphic design; started in print and then into an advertising agency. After being in that industry for a while, she decided to educate herself in the field of marketing and business by acquiring three additional college degrees. Knowing that the print industry was likely going to start losing market share, she she made the move into marketing and digital advertising. She had the opportunity to teach marketing/design at a local college for years and moved into the world of financial marketing. All of this experience allowed her to start building her media/design business which has led to the Digital Dot. In addition to her marketing business, Crystal and her husband own rental properties in Florida. She's an entrepreneur at heart. In her spare time, she enjoys boating, hockey and putting her toes in the sand on a warm beach. These are all very important to her family as well. Her family includes her husband, Joel, and two teenage sons. They enjoy boating on Lake Superior and the Gulf of Mexico, and watching her son play hockey.

VaFeltre Tours is a family-owned company based in both Northern Italy and Washington, DC. We are Professional Tour Guides, with years of experience working with a variety of ages and backgrounds. One of our main selling points is that we create itineraries based on what YOU want to see, instead of forcing you to follow a generic itinerary. What really makes us special is that we come together as part of your tour package, giving you even more personalized attention. We can separate ourselves into groups, and have a pizza party with the kids, while the adults enjoy a romantic dinner in a restaurant. Lorna Holland - Tour Director/Guide With over 20 years experience in tourism in over 30 different countries, Lorna is the main tour guide of Vafeltre.com specializing in family based tours as well as large student groups. ​If you have any questions regarding any upcoming tours feel free to contact her directly at Lornanpep@aol.com or call her at 571-239-3889 - I am always available to talk! Dante Zambrano Cassella - Tour Director/Guide Dante is what you call a Global citizen, born in Venezuela from Italian parents, grew up in multiple countries, but makes Feltre his true home where he lived the most with his grandmother and his love for this region is what started his passion to promote this unique place. With years of experience in European & US Tours along with his wife Lorna they enjoy bringing people to discover the beauty of this city.

There's no substitution for the combination of goal setting and hard work. Don spent over 25 years in the technology space and made the decision to sell his business. He enjoyed his freedom following his exit but golfing every day got boring. Don shares his fork in the road and he seized an opportunity that was presented to him. He hasn't looked back since. He shares some of his experiences, passes out some pointers, along with sharing a few laughs with Brent and Jared.

Born and bred in California, Dan ignited his passion for adventure travel in 1976 as partner of a rafting company in the Pacific Northwest. His travels soon took him to Alaska, where he owned and operated a mid-size construction company. Here he gained valuable experience working out difficult logistics and long-distance problem solving. His company completed projects from the most remote Alaskan village to the military bases of Hawaii and The Azores. Looking for a new challenge and having experienced small group adventure travel as a guest, Dan and a partnership group bought Backcountry Tours of Bozeman, Montana in 1994. Established a decade earlier, Backcountry Tours was a well recognized purveyor of small group, multisport tours throughout the western United States. As the full time Director, Dan was responsible for a 50% increase in bookings the first season and for “systemizing” and establishing solid policies and procedures that would propel Backcountry to become an industry pacesetter in product quality and client service. Over the last 20 plus years Dan has Acquired 10 or so adventure travel companies, all adding up to what Austin Adventures is today. Most recently taking advantage of the down turn in travel as a result of COVID Dan acquired Wildland Adventures, a leading safari expert. Dan lives in Billings, Montana with his wife Carol and two very active young adults, Kasey and Andy. When not in the office, the Austin’s are all out doing what you would expect, traveling the world, biking, hiking, fishing, and climbing mountains.

Real Life Decisions We believe that choosing to go all-in is the only way to create true freedom in your carrier. There will be barriers that require making difficult decisions to a happier life.

Branding is a language that is universally understood. All companies in the world have their own identity, but very rarely are they clearly conveyed with unique elements. What a brand does for your company is emphasize its unique selling points and offer a point of reference for people to associate your business with. The field of branding is best understood by digital marketing agencies that specialize in brand management services, as they are the ones who are well-versed in the technical know-how and best practices of the industry. While many of the larger businesses already have an established brand identity, this does not mean smaller enterprises have to miss out on the entire branding scheme. With the help of brand management services, you can create a name for your business with a set budget, unlike how it used to be decades ago without the internet.

Bryan Bergjans joined Brent and Jared on the Breaking Business Barriers podcast sharing his experience helping active military and veterans gain home ownership using their benefits. He's extremely passionate about helping those who help us as Americans due to their service for country. You can listen here or on your favorite podcast platform.

Cory Stone founder of Ultimate Choice Roofing and Remodeling, LLC. joins Brent and Jared on Breaking Business Barriers Episode #88. Cory shares his entrepreneurial journey from 12 years ago building his business until now. He emphasizes sacrifices aren't options, they're required whenever you are building a business. What's next for Cory and his team you may ask? Not only is he committed to continued business growth for he and his team, he's passionate about creating a non profit that focuses on mental health. He has a strong desire to give back to the community. Corey and his company Ultimate Choice Roofing and Remodeling can easily be found on social media.

Have you been on the receiving end of those annoying robo calls? Those scam artists that prey on unsuspecting consumers and those scammers pocket millions of dollars every year illegally. Doc Compton has dedicated his life as a consumer advocate and he shares his experiences in fighting these fraudsters. Doc has appeared in the national news media, he's a sought after speaker and he's found time to be an author.

Breaking Business Barriers podcast Co-host Jared Tye interviews Host Brent Duhaime. Brent shares his story about life growing up on a farm in South Dakota, big city opportunities, entrepreneurship and learning from failure. Brent also shared one particular fork in the road where a choice was made to become a business owner.

Rick Kirkham has lived a life fit for a novel and/or a movie. As a youngster, he was a natural journalist. He began by documenting his daily activities via film. Rick was well ahead of his time. He was a regular on American Bandstand as a teenager. Rick was a dancing machine and loved every minute of it. The taste of television led him on his way to a broadcast journalism degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. Fresh out of college, Rick was a crime reporter and accompanied police on drug busts. He had no fear. Rick's career continued to blossom and he landed on the TV show Inside Addition. He met and interviewed famous people as well as pulled off stunts of different sorts such as being shot out of a cannon, wrestling an alligator and even being lit on fire. After nearly eight years on Inside Addition, Rick's career hit a fork in the road as he battled drug addiction. Life took a turn but Rick fought back and has since been open about those personal struggles and is an outspoken advocate for sobriety. To learn more about Rick and his life, check out Rick's documentary TV Junkie.

Mike Di Leo is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder of Ski Daddy, a specialized travel agency and the director at Princess Project. Princess Project is a way out for girls trapped in vulnerable and abusive situations in Sierra Leone, Africa. Ski Daddy is a family owned company dedicated to providing the best ski experiences possible in Colorado and New Mexico. They have the perfect package for both small and large trips. Whether you are planning a ski trip with the family or a ski retreat with your church group, they have the experience necessary to create the perfect tour package. They are a group of dedicated Christians who desire to bring glory to God through everything they do. It's their driving purpose and the reason they offer some of the best tour packages available at affordable prices. They believe that everyone deserves a memorable time on the slope and they've built their business by giving all customers just that.

Chris Craddock's passion is his fuel to success. A nationally certified Life Coach and member of Gary Keller's Top 100 with a Doctorate in Leadership, Chris Craddock is the host of the Uncommon Real Estate Podcast, a Realtor, and entrepreneur who runs multiple successful businesses in the Washington DC Metro area (and Richmond, VA). Chris is a consistent NVAR multi-million dollar producer who produces over $2 Million in commission each year. His team, The Redux Group, sold just under $120 million in volume in 2019. Chris has been married for 20 years and is the proud father to six beautiful children.

Coach Bill Hart joined Brent and Jared on Episode 81 of Breaking Business Barriers. Coach Bill is a well known executive coach, speaker, author and a fan of life. He's a three-time cancer survivor, so he's certainly accustomed to adversity. Coach Bill has been a key member of Building Champions since 2003. His life's work has been helping others reach their goals and aspirations. Each guest of BBB suggests a book to read and Coach Bill recommends The Conversion Code written by Chris Smith. Capture more leads that lead to sales. Coach Bill can easily be found on social media and he is the podcast host to "All in with Coach Bill." This episode of Breaking Business Barriers can be heard here, iTunes, Spotify or wherever your favorite platform for podcasts reside.

Henry Sims joins Brent and Jared on the Breaking Business Barriers podcast. He's talented, well schooled in the basics of business and has deep understanding of what helps businesses succeed in the social media space, Henry has grown up in a successful entrepreneurial family that has allowed him the opportunity to see behind the scenes (the good and the ugly) and work on projects for multiple businesses in varying industries. His formal education began in the fields of Mechanical Engineering and Kinesiology, but he quickly understood that a career in either of those fields wasn't going to fulfill his soul. That’s when he discovered how his talents and mindset are an advantage within the social, marketing, and branding world. His goal is to bring clarity to each client’s current business goals and implement a social media marketing and branding strategy into the picture. He's helped clarify and implement different tactics for consultants, coaches, mortgage professionals, concierge services, mobile apps, and politicians. The industries change, but the process of testing, analyzing, and implementing does not. Henry can be found on all social media platforms @ HenryDSims. This episode can be heard on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify or any of your favorite podcast platforms as well as YouTube.

ON THIS EPISODE OF BREAKING BUSINESS BARRIERS OUR GUEST EXEMPLIFIES HOW OPPORTUNITIES ARE CREATED BY BREAKING THROUGH THE PERSONAL COMFORT ZONE. SHE'S NOTHING SHORT OF A BUDDING SUPER STAR. LUCY ROHDEN IS A SPORTS CONTENT CREATOR WITH A PASSION FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, COMEDY, AND VIDEO PRODUCTION. LUCY GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IN MAY OF 2020 AND IS LOOKING FOR HER NEXT OPPORTUNITY IN THE SPORTS WORLD. ​YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE LUCY FROM HER VIRAL VIDEO PRANKING IOWA STATE, HER TIK TOKS IMPERSONATING NCAA POWER FIVE CONFERENCES AS IF THEY WERE DRUNK GIRLS IN A BAR, OR YOU MIGHT FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER, WHERE SHE IS ONE OF THE MOST FOLLOWED MEDIA PERSONALITIES IN THE STATE OF IOWA. LUCY LOVES TO HAVE FUN TELLING JOKES AND STORIES ABOUT SPORTS, AND SHE CAN'T WAIT TO FIND A PLACE TO DO JUST THAT. LUCY CAN EASILY BE FOUND ON TWITTER, LINKEDIN, TIK TOK AND FACEBOOK AND ON LUCYROHDEN.COM

What separates Hoss from all other coaches, real estate trainers, and so-called ‘gurus’ is his ability to get results FAST. He’s presented over 1,100 sold-out webinars and online events, conducted over 1,300 live seminars in 48 states, knocked on over 100,000 doors, made over 200,000 prospecting/sales calls, presented at 2,150 kitchen tables, and personally trained thousands of successful agents and industry professionals. Hoss is also an in-demand keynote presenter and trainer at major real estate conventions and live events, where he shares the stage with other nationally recognized industry leaders. Hoss Pratt is the CEO and founder of Hoss Pratt International, the premier resource for agents and firms that want to take their business to the next level. This renowned coaching and training firm helps clientʼs build better real estate businesses. Nothing is more important to Hoss than his family. He takes every opportunity to spend the majority of his time with the love of his life, wife, and best friend, Mykanna and their three young daughters.

Troy is a well known lawyer in the world of finance. He broke away from a firm that he adored to create something even better. It's never easy starting your own business no matter how much experience one may have but Troy made a firm decision that building something unique to an industry that basically has done the same thing for generations. On this episode of Breaking Business Barriers, Troy offers advice to those out there thinking about building their personal brand and breaking free of working for others. There are decisions to be made and many represent a fork in the road. Troy is Founder and Managing Member of Garris Horn, PLLC. Finance lawyer with demonstrated track record of success and business focused legal strategies in the mortgage banking industry. You can easily connect with Troy on LinkedIn and YouTube. https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-garris-6118785/ ttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf4m87Zof1gpvj85kn2EEug

Matthew Dompreh joined Brent and Jared on Episode 76 of Breaking Business Barriers. Seeking that extra edge today? Well, Matthew delivers positive energy by the bucket loads on this show just as he does every day. Matthew shares his "fork in the road" and embraces the challenge ahead with a positive mindset. Matthew currently works for The University Iowa Hawkeye Football Video Department. His creative abilities and an eye for the best video shots have led him to his dream job. See some of his amazing work by clicking the link below: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eitjgAFwxMKpFt2MLj7Ed96qCDynGLIT?usp=sharing Matthew can be found on social media: Twitter @mattdexterdomps Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdompreh/ Instagram Shadydomps

Loe and Austin join Brent Duhaime and Jared Tye on Episode #75 of Breaking Business Barriers. These gentlemen share their entrepreneurial journeys in real estate. Loe Hornbuckle is a Self-Employed Real Estate Investor and is the Co-Founder at GoodHorn Capital and Founder and CEO at Sage Oak Assisted Living. AUSTIN GOOD is founder of ANG Development Group. Over his real estate career he has bought and sold over 1000 properties and has over $60MM in real estate assets under management with an additional $40MM of real estate currently in development. While having a strong emphasis on traditional single and multi-family, his experience is broad-based, including land, retail, and mixed-use housing. Austin is also involved with other investment ventures, most notably being partner at State Storage Group. It is a top 100 self-storage operators in US. In addition, Austin is partner at State Storage Group. To connect further with Loe & Austin, you can find them on Facebook, LinkedIn and beyond.

Maylee Thomas-Fuller and George Fuller joined Brent Duhaime and Jared Tye on the Breaking Business Barriers podcast. Maylee is the Owner at The Sanctuary Music & Events Center, Owner at Maylee Thomas Band and Radio Talk Show Host at Texas Homegrown Music. Her husband George is the Mayor of Mckinney, Texas a large suburb located North of Dallas. Additionally, he's an entrepreneur, home builder and a musician in the Maylee Thomas Band. Not only are they wonderfully talented and humble, each will put a smile on your face when you listen to their story here on BBB. Enjoy!

On this episode of Breaking Business Barriers Brent & Jared take some time to reflect upon the first half of 2020. There's been plenty of challenges and there has been opportunities as well. BBB podcast can be heard on Itunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, etc.

Brent and Jared welcomed Ron Bultongez to episode 72 of the Breaking Business Barriers podcast. Ron shares his story of what his early years were like as a child growing up in the Congo (Africa). He recalls a deep sense of community along with very difficult living conditions-even life threatening. There was a great amount of unrest in his homeland and he along with others made their way to the United States - New York city specifically. Can you imagine not even being a teenager moving across the globe to an advanced foreign land? Ron's story is nothing short of breathtaking along with being filled with inspiration. From the Congo to American Idol and beyond, Ron isn't just a talented musician, he's a college student, parent and someone focused on being a difference maker. Ron can be found across all major social media outlets. Preview Ron's newest single here: Fanlink.to/GetBackUp

Chris joined Brent and Jared on Breaking Business Barriers. He tells us about growing up in the United Kingdom (UK), joining the Royal Marines, coming to the United States and making his way to entrepreneurship. It's a fascinating story of world travels, endurance, perseverance, and personal growth. He has a passion for his family, marketing & sales, real estate and exotic cars. Chris can easily be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-stockdale-7146699/ or he can be reached at https://real-revolution.com/ Enjoy this episode of Breaking Business Barriers

Allie Van Wagoner is co-founder and CEO of Metroplex Social. An online magazine putting Dallas Fort Worth businesses in front of 2+ million potential customers every month.

Brent and Jared, hosts of Breaking Business Barriers, had an opportunity to meet with Karen Klassen, owner of Spoons Cafe and The Garage. North Texas businesses located in McKinney. Karen shares her story that includes moving on from a very good job in corporate America to finding happiness and fulfillment as a small business owner. While hard work and perseverance fueled her success, along came COVID-19. Karen openly talks about the challenges of starting these businesses as well as dealing the unforeseen hurdles of recent times. A truly inspiring story that can be heard here or any of the podcast platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, etc.

Social media is changing and you (as a sales/service person) are one of two people...#1, you post way too much on social media about crap no one cares about and you constantly spam your sphere with terrible sales posts. Or you are #2, you are so afraid of being person #1, you do nothing. Whether you are #1 or #2, you are leaving so much business on the table. Your sphere should be a huge source of business and even more so, referrals! How to you successfully leverage your sphere? You must become a storyteller! Give people reasons to love you that have nothing to do with your business. Use your business to add value. Become the person people remember when you leave the room. At KyleDraper.com, I empower you to not just understand social media, but grow to love it. I will expand your abilities to market yourself and expand your reach. Then you'll be ready to leverage your new found influence to grow your business and make a difference in people's lives.

Jared Tye joins Brent Duhaime as co-host of the Breaking Business Barriers podcast. Over the last year, Jared has been on the show either as a guest or as a guest co-host. His background includes being a small business owner, real estate finance and as a real estate agent located in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. Here's an opportunity to get to know Jared. Breaking Business Barriers podcast can be heard on any of the platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, etc.

Antonio Lopez joins Brent Duhaime on Breaking Business Barriers. He talks to Brent about the decision process of making a change. One that he put careful thought and consideration into with the expectation to better fit his career. Are you considering a change, Antonio shares some advice.

Brandon Straza joined me on this episode of Breaking Business Barriers to talk about leveraging this particular time in history (COVID-19) to get closer to family, create a new working environment, self evaluation, and to try new things. He had a startup business that was getting off the ground during the great recession of 2007 thru 2009. That business continues to grow and thrive even against the headwinds of today. I've included a picture of my work from home team. My wife Melanie Duhaime, Andre'a (nursing student) and my son Brandon (Senior in high school). The schedules are full between work and being students. We're definitely trying to make the best of it. Join Brandon and I on episode #64 of Breaking Business Barriers.

Whether you are buying or selling a home in today's market place, the climb may not be as steep as you'd think. Jared Tye joins the show and breaks it down for us. Jared's career in finance and real estate spans greater than 14 years.

I share a short story that was given to me by someone that I consider a mentor to this day. He told me to be sure that I kept it close because it'll be needed from time to time. Keep in mind, it was handed to me on a piece of paper well before the digital age. I managed to save it in a safe place and he was right that it would be something that I'd reference many times over. This piece of paper looks like a relic by now but it'll stay with me forever. I hope you enjoy the story about the owner of a hot dog stand and maybe you'll also believe that attitude is more important than fact. Onward & Upward

Brent and Brandon share their experience of leading organizations through the great recession and how those experiences apply to the challenges that we're experiencing today. There were mistakes made and they found ways to learn and recover. Join the guys and hear their thoughts about taking on COVID-19 and the impending disruption to businesses. The Breaking Business Barriers podcast can be heard on ITunes, Spotify or any of your other favorite platforms.