Podcasts about Empire Builders

Cindy Wilson returns to the podcast to discuss this amazing episode Check out Cindy’s newest book, We Suffered Much: Charles Wood Irish and the Dakota Territory Railroad Survey of 1879-1881 https://www.amazon.com/We-Suffered-Much-Territory-1879-1881-ebook/dp/B0D3S7ZTMH Episode: The Empire Builders (Season 9, Episode 9) Air Date: November 22, 1982 Writer: John T. Dugan Director: Joseph Pevney IMDb Rating: 7.5/10 In The Empire Builders, Walnut Grove buzzes with excitement over a new railroad depot, promising jobs and growth. However, the Minneapolis and Western Railroad, led by Spencer Hollingsworth, plans to seize farmers' lands, including Almanzo Wilder's and John Carter's, via eminent domain. Initial enthusiasm sours as the town realizes the cost: evictions and a rowdy railroad camp complete with a saloon. Almanzo and Carter, backed by Isaiah Edwards, resist, facing threats from railroad enforcer Wilkins. Laura rallies the women to join the men in a standoff at Carter's farm, while surveyor Hobson proposes rerouting the tracks through Tracy. The community's united front forces Hollingsworth to relent, sparing Walnut Grove. The episode, a blend of drama and defiance, showcases the power of collective resistance against corporate overreach, with Laura's fiery leadership and Carter's final triumph underscoring the town's love for their land. Some Quotes I Chose “Money won't buy happiness, but you can look for it in fancier places.” “Property is property. What we own is what we work and sweat for.” “What we own is a part of us.” “This land… It's part of us now.” “I'm a lot tougher than you think, Mr. Wilder.” “This is our land, and we fight for it together.” The opening song “Albert” is written and performed by the amazing Norwegian band, Project Brundlefly and is used with permission. Check them out at: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectBrundlefly Become a Patron! The post Revisiting The Empire Builders first appeared on The Little House on the Prairie Podcast: Walnut GroveCast.

CEO, board member, best-selling author, and acclaimed international speaker, Adam Coffey is a visionary leader who drives transformative growth and fosters high-performance cultures. With 21+ years of experience as CEO, Adam built three national service companies for nine private equity sponsors. Completing 58 acquisitions, his track record includes notable outcomes measured in billions. Adam is a respected mentor to MBA candidates and a sought-after speaker at top business schools. He brings diverse expertise from commercial and industrial service businesses, alongside being a licensed general contractor, pilot, former GE executive, and US Army veteran. As an author, Adam's books The Private Equity Playbook, The Exit Strategy Playbook and Empire Builder all became #1 Amazon Best Sellers. He founded the The Chairman Group in 2021, providing consulting services to private equity firms, their portfolio companies, and to founders seeking to scale, do M&A, and exit.

• David Roach • The Johnsons • Bleibtreu Revue • Hubert Kah • Buoyant Blue • Tiny Town • Kenny Pore • Steps Ahead • Helen Watson • Passport • Teresa De Sio • Peter Buffett • David Collini • Elements • The Wygals • Alice

Ever feel like your business is running you instead of the other way around? In this episode of Scalpel of Truth, Leisa Krauss slices through the noise to drop a brutal—but brilliant—truth bomb about what it really means to lead with CEO energy. If you're still clinging to burnout as a badge of honor, this episode might be the wake-up call you didn't know you needed.Listen in for a taste of the empire-building blueprint Leisa shares with her inner circle—then get ready to rethink how you show up for your business, your team, and most importantly, yourself.Not a member yet? No worries! Just head over to ScalpelOfTruth.com and sign up today! Get the full episodes in your own private, personal podcast feed all while ensuring this show continues to grow and thrive! Thank you!Links & NotesScalpelOfTruth.com • Join Club Bitchacho for full episodes today!Check out our MedSpa Workshops and Trainings and schedule a discovery call today!

The Empire Builders 30-12-29 (66) Girl Leaves Boy for Singing Job in Seattle

In this episode, Blaine compares the two different appraisal company business models: the one person business, or solopreneur, and the team builder model, which is the business model whereby the appraiser has additional income generators within the business so that all of the income is not dependent on just one person. 

Check out this week's episode with Amanda Taylor from Expand Your Empire, where she shares ways to find and grow your community to compound your growth. With so much information coming at us at once, it's even more important that we surround ourselves with the right team of people. How you go about it is important. You won't want to miss her tips!

Adnan Saani Dangote shares his journey from drowning in $100K debt to building a $50K monthly Airbnb empire through financial literacy and strategic business management.• From panic attacks to financial freedom through discovering the Airbnb business• Applying lessons from previous business failures to succeed in the Airbnb space• Understanding the critical difference between revenue and income for building wealth• The "Jose Mourinho Strategy" of hiring people who are better than you in specific roles• Why giving more value than you receive is the key to sustainable business growth• How monthly investing creates inevitable financial growth through compounding• The importance of consistency and discipline over motivation• Positioning yourself for future success in an AI-dominated world through personal branding• How reading books like "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "The Game of Life" shaped his financial mindset• The power of focus as the most important trait for business successIf you're serious about changing your financial future, start by focusing on increasing your income (what's left after spending) every month, giving more value than you take, and building your personal brand.Support the showWatch the video episode of this on YouTube - https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds

Adam Coffey is a visionary leader who drives growth and builds great cultures. Adam is an Army veteran, a former GE executive, and served as CEO of three service companies for over 20 years. He is the bestselling author of four books, including Empire Builder and The Private Equity Playbook. Adam is currently Chairman of The Chairman Group, a world class consulting business. Adam joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to talk about leadership lessons from two decades as a CEO, GE's approach to leadership training, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Montana currently has only one passenger train line: The Empire Builder, which runs along the Hi-Line in the northern part of the state. That wasn't always the case – and the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority is looking to reinstate a former southern route that would connect towns and cities to each other and neighboring states.This week the commissioners were joined by Dan Bucks to discuss the status of expanding passenger train service, the potential economic benefits and much more. Text us your thoughts and comments on this episode! Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!

What if you could build an empire from scratch, navigate the world of private equity, and exit your business for millions? How would you make it happen? Imagine if you had the opportunity to earn the strategies and secrets of entrepreneurs who have successfully built empires, thrived in the competitive landscape of private equity, and eventually exited their businesses for significant wealth. These individuals have blazed a trail, overcoming obstacles, and achieving remarkable success. One such entrepreneur, Adam Coffey, founding partner of CEO Advisory Guru LLC, a best-selling author, and an acclaimed international speaker, has a story work exploring. His journey from startup struggles to navigating the intricacies of private equity and ultimately achieving his exit strategy serves as an inspiring example of what can be accomplished with determination, strategic thinking, and unwavering commitment. In this episode of The Greatness Machine, Darius and Adam explore the world of entrepreneurship, private equity, and business success. Adam shares his journey from youthful exuberance to seasoned expertise, emphasizing the importance of mindset in overcoming challenges. They discuss building and exiting businesses, the power of embracing risk, and Adam's mission to mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs. This episode is filled with valuable insights for aspiring business leaders, regardless of their stage in the entrepreneurial journey. Topics include: How Adam's journey into entrepreneurship and private equity began Adam looks back on the things he learned during his military service and GE tenure The importance of treating employees well and fostering a strong culture in today's workforce Adam explains the importance of the lower middle market in private equity The strategy of “buy and build” in the private equity world Adam advises looking for opportunities to expand revenue streams and diversify offerings within the core business How youthful exuberance and energy can help you navigate challenges Adam shares what his newest book, Empire Builder, aims to educate and provide And other topics… Connect with Adam: Website: https://adamecoffey.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamecoffey/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/adam_coffey  Connect with Darius: Website: https://therealdarius.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariusmirshahzadeh/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whoompdarius/ YouTube: https://therealdarius.com/youtube Book: The Core Value Equation https://www.amazon.com/Core-Value-Equation-Framework-Limitless/dp/1544506708 Sponsored by: Indeed: Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com/DARIUS. NPR Tech Unheard Podcast: Tune into Tech Unheard from Arm and NPM—wherever you get your podcasts. ShipStation: Go to shipstation.com and use code GREATNESS to sign up for your FREE trial. Shopify: Sign up for a $1/month trial period at shopify.com/darius. Stash: Don't let your savings sit around - make it work harder for you. Go to get.stash.com/GREATNESS to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures.  Write a review for The Greatness Machine using this link: https://ratethispodcast.com/spreadinggreatness.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At first everyone is excited about the news of a railroad building through the Walnut Grove area. It is then cursed when it's scheduled constructoion puts two of Hero townships most famous houses right in its crosshairs. Is this the same railroad company from The runaway caboose? Why is John Carter the biggest drama queen in the episode? Who wants a posse of armed Prairie wives? Spotify Playlist Episode Track List ——————Elegance - hello dollySouthside  - Moby Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas mOBSCENE - Marilyn Manson Part Of Me - Katy Perry You Are Not Alone - Michael Jackson Tracey in My Room  - Everything But The Girl , Lazy DogBattle without Honor or Humanity  - HOTEI

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Without Jonathan and the London-based international Match Bar Group he built, spanning 40+ venues at one time or another, cocktails in the UK would look very different today. Jonathan, a cheerful Mancunian former lawyer, invested heavily in bartending expertise when building his group: his first head bartender for Match bar was the legendary, late Dick Bradsell, he hired Dale de Groff to be a training consultant and partnered with the much-missed Sasha Petraske to open only the second-ever Milk & Honey, in London. Match Bars opened in Ibiza, Chamonix and as far afield as Melbourne, shaping the careers of literally hundreds of bartenders including Kevin Armstrong, Tim Phillips and Sam Jeveons.His second act was pop-up street festivals, and last time we had lunch he was referring to himself as semi-retired - but now he's getting back in the game, opening two big new places in London soon. I love chatting with Jonathan, and this one - uncharacteristically short, as he had to go to his Pilates class at 730pm on a Friday(!) - was pure gold, as ever. Apply for a job with Jonathan: jd@londonunion.comJonathan on X/Twitter: https://x.com/DowneyJD?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorJonathan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/downeyjd/?hl=en Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org (PR friends: we're only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. They need to be able to hang. Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won't supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.) Retain Philip's consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.orgPhilip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/ Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

The Empire Builders 30-12-22 (65) Columbia River 

Think charging premium prices as a new coach is impossible? I'm here to tell you that it can be done! The secret to commanding higher rates isn't about your years of experience or what certificates you have plastered on your walls or hidden in the back of some cupboard - it's about mastering the art of value perception and speaking directly to your dream clients' deepest needs. In this episode, we're cracking open the vault on what really makes clients happy to invest thousands in coaching programs (hint: it's not about cramming in more content!). We'll explore how understanding impact, odds of success, exclusivity, and ROI can transform the way you package and price your expertise. Plus, discover why a $3,000 program might actually be easier to sell than a $300 one! Whether you're hovering around those lower price points or dreaming of scaling up, you'll learn exactly how to position yourself as the premium choice in your market. Because the truth is, high-paying dream clients are out there right now, ready to invest in solving their problems - they just need you to show up with an irresistible offer that speaks their language. -------------------- Craving more freedom, flexibility, and fulfilment? We should hang out! Come along to my FREE live training: Empire Builder 4 steps to turn your existing skills into a purpose-led business that scales your income and impact so you can do life on your terms. Save your seat now https://www.badassempires.com/live -------------------- Want to create empathy-driven content that brings in aligned followers, nurtures your current audience, and lands you paying clients… on repeat? Let me introduce to you Content that Converts: Done-For-You 90-Day Content Plan. Let's accelerate your content machine! Claim your title as Digital CEO with Your First 100k Roadmap - 6 steps to make your first $100k online as a brand new coach, consultant, or course creator. -------------------- LET'S CONNECT

Want to know why some content creators seem to effortlessly attract thousands of views while others struggle to get noticed? Here's the thing: being amazing at what you do isn't enough if nobody can find you. In this episode, I'm breaking down the psychology behind what makes content truly irresistible (and no, it's not about fancy editing or following trends!). From understanding the three C's of hook writing (Connection, Clued-in, and Curiosity) to mastering the psychology that makes people stop scrolling, we're diving deep into what actually makes content perform. You'll learn why warnings often outperform positive messages, how to create that addictive curiosity gap, and why "you" might be the most powerful word in your content arsenal. This isn't about cheap tricks or gaming the algorithm - it's about understanding human psychology so deeply that your content becomes impossible to scroll past. Because when you know what makes people tick, you can package your brilliant ideas in a way that actually gets seen. Let's dive into the science behind scroll-stopping content! -------------------- Craving more freedom, flexibility, and fulfilment? We should hang out! Come along to my FREE live training: Empire Builder 4 steps to turn your existing skills into a purpose-led business that scales your income and impact so you can do life on your terms. Save your seat now https://www.badassempires.com/live -------------------- Want to create empathy-driven content that brings in aligned followers, nurtures your current audience, and lands you paying clients… on repeat? Let me introduce to you Content that Converts: Done-For-You 90-Day Content Plan. Let's accelerate your content machine! Claim your title as Digital CEO with Your First 100k Roadmap - 6 steps to make your first $100k online as a brand new coach, consultant, or course creator. -------------------- LET'S CONNECT

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In today's episode, we chat with Kevin Boehm, a James Beard Award-winning restaurateur.With a career spanning three decades and over 40 restaurants opened, Kevin has redefined the dining experience. From launching his first six-table restaurant at 23 to co-founding the acclaimed Boka Restaurant Group with his partner Rob Katz, Kevin's influence is undeniable. Boka has earned 13 consecutive Michelin stars, and Kevin and Rob have been named TimeOut Chicago's Restaurateurs of the Year, Eater National's Empire Builders of the Year, and won the James Beard Award for Best Restaurateur in 2019.Join us as we explore Kevin's inspiring path from small-town dreamer to hospitality visionary, how he builds award-winning restaurants, and his insights on the future of dining.

✅ Get a Custom Roadmap to become a better husband, father and man: https://bit.ly/Podcast-Ep-130————————————Watch this training to find work-life balance and fix your marriage: https://www.elitebusinessman.com/fix-your-marriage ————————————Follow Me On:Instagram: / https://www.instagram.com/toniempoweredman/ LinkedIn: / https://www.linkedin.com/in/toni-versic/Facebook: / https://www.facebook.com/toniversicempoweredman/ TikTok: / https://www.tiktok.com/@iamtoniversic————————————Follow Morgan T Nelson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morgantnelson/

“One of the most precious public possessions of the empire” [BERY]    Joel Meadows began what eventually became Sherlock Holmes and the Empire Builders: The Gene Genie in 2002 while working on Tripwire as a quarterly print magazine. He tells us the story of how it took two decades to bring this vision to life with illustrator Andy Bennett, and what the plans are for part two of the story. The initial Kickstarter for part one was wildly successful, and the Kickstarter for the sequel is under way.  The praise has been effusive:  “A darn good romp” – Guillermo del Toro, Oscar-winning director “Classic Sherlock Holmes! You can smell the chimney-smoke and feel the clatter of hooves. Here's the character we all know and love, given a fresh polish for the 21st century!” – Ian Rankin, Rebus The fusion of history and mystery form Joel's perfect nexus, and he's extending his efforts from graphic novel to a novella next.  We've moved the Sherlockian News to an exclusive monthly bonus track for  (watch for that to drop), and added a new segment: "The Learned Societies," all about activities going on in in Sherlockian groups. In this episode, we cover some of the BSI Weekend activities. Madeline Quiñones had diligently prepared an installment of "A Chance of Listening," her review of Sherlockian podcasts, that we missed last epsiode, so we make up for it this time. And of course the Canonical Couplet quiz awaits to test your Sherlockian knowledge. The winner, chosen at random from all correct answers, will receive Sherlock Holmes and the Empire Builders. Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by February 14, 2025 at 11:59 a.m. EST. All listeners are eligible to play. If you become a  of the show, not only will you help to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services, but we have thank-you gifts at certain tiers and ad-free versions of the episodes for all patrons.     Leave I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere a five-star rating on  and ; listen to us .     Sponsors Exclusive for IHOSE listeners from : codes for .   Would you care to advertise with us? You can find . Let's chat!     Links (Kickstarter) Social media links: Joel Meadows on , , Sherlock Holmes and the Empire Builders , Tripwire Magazine on  Previous episode mentioned: Find all of our relevant links and social accounts at .     And would you consider leaving us a rating and or a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Goodpods? It would help other Sherlockians to find us.   Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at 5-1895-221B-5. That's (518) 952-2125.    

Yes, another Sherlock Holmes book! The longtime EIC of Tripwire, Joel Meadows, joins the Bandits to talk about the second volume of his Sherlock Holmes and The Empire Builders story. You may know Joel as a journalist, who's written extensively about comics, film, and genre narratives throughout the UK. He's written two books about comics: Studio Space (as co-author) about where and how 20 of the world's best comic artists work, and Masters of Comics, which covered more comic artists and their workspaces. Part II of The Gene Genie finds Holmes at his lowest ebb, having lost his closest friend and confidante to prime minister Oswald Mosley's thugs.The Gene Genie Kickstarter has ended, but you can still late-pledge for both volumes of the story at http://kck.st/4foyZko. And you can follow Joel on X @joelmeadows1 and on Instagram @tripwiremag.____________________Check out a video version of this episode on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/dollarbinbandits.If you like this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. And if you really like this podcast, support what we do as a member of the Dollar Bin Boosters: buzzsprout.com/1817176/support.Looking for more ways to express your undying DBB love and devotion? Email us at dollarbinbandits@gmail.com. Follow us @dollarbinbandits on Facebook and Instagram, and @DBBandits on X._____________________Dollar Bin Bandits is the official podcast of TwoMorrows Publishing. Check out their fine publications at twomorrows.com.Hombres en crecimientoSi has estado buscando un lugar que te ayude a crecer, simplificar tu vida.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

The Empire Builders 30-12-01 (62) Armistice Day Reunion

Today we're joined by Grace Gudenkauf, a real estate investor who took a leap of faith in 2021, leaving her engineering career to build a thriving rental business (including short, mid, and long-term rentals). Now owning and self-managing over 25 units across multiple states, Grace is a master of remote management and a champion for women in real estate. She's here to share her incredible journey, from taking the plunge to building a team and empowering others through her book and community. Get ready for an inspiring conversation packed with actionable advice for aspiring and seasoned investors alike!Sleep easy, host confidently with Hospitable. Automate your guest messages, sync your calendar across booking channels, and protect yourself from bad direct booking guests.Sign up today at hospitable.com/podcast and get 25% off your bill for 3 months.

Ever feel like your past defines you? Meet Brittany, who transformed her deepest struggles into an incredible 8,000 square foot fitness facility, proving that rock bottom can be the foundation for your empire. Whether you're rebuilding after trauma, navigating complex family dynamics, or dreaming of turning your passion into a business, this episode will show you what's possible when you decide to bet on yourself.In this episode, you'll discover:The "gateway drug" to success that changed everything (hint: it's not what you think) and how you can tap into it tooWhy building a business can be the ultimate form of healing - and how to leverage your struggles into strengthsThe truth about building community, maintaining boundaries, and knowing when to let go of controlA powerful mindset shift for bonus moms and blended families that transforms chaos into clarityResources Mentioned:

Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is... Well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients, so here's one of those. [Out Of This World Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders podcast. Dave Young here along with Stephen Semple. And as we record this, it is the morning. Stephen Semple: You're not excited on this one! Dave Young: Dude, come on. Come on. It's the morning of November 4th. Stephen Semple: And what happens tomorrow? Dave Young: Tomorrow we have a little election in the United States. The topic that Stephen whispered into my ear just as we started was Twitter. Let's talk about Twitter. Stephen Semple: Twitter. Dave Young: And I go to Elon Musk. I'm like, oh God. So please, let's do talk about Twitter and let's talk about their origins and not their demise. Stephen Semple: See, I thought you would be more excited. Because the real driver behind Twitter is a guy by the name of Evan Williams, and he grew up in Nebraska. Dave Young: Did he really? Stephen Semple: Yes! You didn't know about that. Dave Young: I thought he was a New York City guy. Because he started it with... It was like an emergency alert thing. Stephen Semple: Well, that's one of the things that kicked it in the high gear. But no, he grew up in a farm in Nebraska. Dave Young: Where? What town? Stephen Semple: Oh God, of course you're going to ask me that. I don't know what town. Dave Young: Because I know people everywhere. Stephen Semple: I automatically assume that you would know this part. Dave Young: I didn't know that. Every Nebraskan knows someone who knows every other Nebraskan. That's just like, it's a third degree of separation. Stephen Semple: But I figured in a place like Nebraska, everyone would know where this dude was from because of how big Twitter is. Dave Young: No, I don't. Please do tell. Stephen Semple: Okay. So the primary driver was Evan Williams, but also Jack Dorsey and Noah Glass and Stone played very, very big roles in the starting of Twitter. But Evan grew up, as I said on a farm in Nebraska, and he wasn't into sports, but he always knew he kind of wanted to do a business. And because of that, he read a lot of business books. And in particular, he read some marketing books, and he decided he wanted to learn more as he read a book by pretty famous marketing guy named Gary Halbert. And he said, "You know what? I want to learn more." So he literally drove to Key West Florida and basically walked into Gary's office and said, "I want a job working for you." Dave Young: I'm telling you, that's a bit of a drive from Nebraska. Stephen Semple: Yeah, it is. It is. So here's this farm boy from Nebraska showing up at Gary Halbert's office. And Gary basically gave him a writing assignment, said, "Fine, here, do this writing assignment. See how you do." And it was so good, Gary actually thought he had someone write it for him. He's like, no, no, no. Dave Young: This is before AI. Stephen Semple: Yeah, exactly. Actually, if it was written by AI, he wouldn't have accepted it. But anyway, that's a whole different issue. So Gary hires him, and he works there for about seven months. Learns a whole bunch of stuff and returns to Nebraska. And he returns Nebraska, it's the early nineties, and he decides he wants to start a website business. So he's trying to sell websites to local businesses. Now, at this point, he's in Lincoln, Nebraska. I don't know whether that's where he's from,

What I learned from rereading James J. Hill: Empire Builder by Michael P. Malone. ----Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. ----Founders Notes gives you the ability to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----Notes and highlights from the episode: —He had unlimited energy, was stubborn, had a temper, was supremely arrogant and he did more to transform the northern frontier of the United States than any other single individual.—One of the things he learned from history and biography: The power of one dynamic individual: Like so many other nineteenth-century youths, young Jim Hill fell under the spell of Napoleon. He came to believe in the strength of will, the power of one dynamic individual to change the world, the conquering hero. (He says that the railroad entrepreneurs conquered the distance between remote communities in the American west)—He accustomed himself to handle a large workload.—If you want to know whether you are destined to be a success or a failure in life, you can easily find out. The test is simple and it is infallible: Are you able to save money? If not, drop out. You will lose. You may think not, but you will lose as sure as you live. The seed of success is not in you. –James J. Hill—He held people's attention as he engaged them in characteristic rapid-fire, highly animated conversation, gesturing expansively and driving home his point with jabbing motions of his hands—the embodiment of high energy.—He worked incredibly hard, sometimes laboring late into the night, falling asleep at the desk, then getting up for a swim in the river and a cup of black coffee, then going back to work.—“Rebates existed in other industries. I just applied them to oil.” Rockefeller said. [Don't copy the what, copy the how]  —John D: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers by David Freeman Hawke. (Founders #254)—"The very best employee at any job at any level of responsibility is the person who generally believes that this is their last job working for someone. The next thing they'll start will be their own. — Max Levchin in The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni. (Founders #233)—Hill drank little, worked hard, and confined his socializing to respectable settings. As always, he read incessantly. He permitted himself few distractions in his relentless drive to achieve wealth and status.—Inefficiency disturbs him greatly.—James J. Hill loved eliminating steps.—Genius has the fewest moving parts.—Hill limited the number of details. Then he makes every detail perfect.—Hill called vertical integration, rational integration.—Hill always gets out quickly in front of the emerging trend.—Hill had an entirely pragmatic business personality. When competition suited him in a market, he competed fiercely. But when competition became wasteful to him, he did not hesitate to end it, even if this meant joining with old enemies and creating a monopoly.—Hill was making profits owning steamboats. Then a competitor from Canada starts running the same route and the rates and profits dwindle. Hill discovers a neglected maritime law that prohibited foreign ships from operating in American waters. Hill then persuades the US Treasury Department to enforce the law against his competitor. The competitor has to transfer ownership to an American. After that Hill then merges with that competitor and forges another monopoly.—This railroad is my monument. — James J Hill—As man emerged into history, he became a road maker; the better the road, the more advanced his development. — James J. Hill.—By 1885 Railroads brought in twice the revenue than the federal government.Railroads were the nations largest employer.The railroaders were the largest private land holders in the country.They owned more than 10% of land in the United States.—Hill identified an opportunity hiding in plain sight: Unlike most who viewed the Saint Paul and Pacific as a near-worthless derelict, Hill viewed it as a miracle waiting to happen, a potentially wondrous enterprise simply lacking competent leadership. He studied the road constantly, reading every scrap of information he could find about it and boring anyone who would listen with endless detail as to what it could one day be.—He possessed a priceless advantage compared with most other nineteenth-century rail titans. Rather than coming from the outside world of finance, as most of them did, he arose from the inside world of freighting and transportation, and he knew this world in all its complexities. He was about to demonstrate how certain well-established, regional capitalists on the frontier could challenge and even best larger eastern interests.—Being obsessed is an edge. Hill was obsessed getting control of the bankrupt Saint Paul & Pacific rail line:  Hill, who knew the road better than anyone else, constantly argued to his friends, the potential prize defied description. He seemed completely fixated on the project. Many years later, his friend recalled that Jim had spoken of it to him “probably several hundred times” during the mid-1870s.—James J. Hill finds what he is best at in the world at, at 40 years old, in a field where he had no direct experience.—“It pays to be where the money is spent” — James J Hill—James J. Hill was very easy to interface with. He had an easy to understand organizing principle for his company. Hills credo: What we want is the best possible line, shortest distance, lowest grades, and least curvature that we can build.—He had appreciation for those who had dirt underneath their fingernails.—Many observers would later compare Hill with Villard. The comparison was inevitable. “While Hill was building carefully and checking his costs minutely Villard built in ignorance of costs.” Like other transcontinental plungers, Villard did in fact build rapidly and poorly, much of his main line would later have to be torn up and rebuilt. He had rushed to get the massive land grants. Amid mounting deficits and acrimony, Villard was then forced to resign the presidency of the NP in 1884.—Find what you are good at and pound away at it forever.—He simply could not delegate authority and live with the outcome.—Hill on how to build a railroad: Work, hard work, intelligent work, and then more work. — James J Hill.—They managed the finances of the railroad in a highly conservative and prudent manner.  Hill advocated and practiced a policy of plowing large percentages of profits directly back into the property, knowing that the best defense against invading railroads was a better-built system that could operate at lower rates.—Give me Swedes, snuff and whiskey, and I'll build a railroad through hell. — James J. Hill—From the Hour of Fate: James J. Hill had built the Great Northern with deliberate thrift and brutal efficiency. His railroad would become among the most profitable in the Northwest. He didn't need JP Morgan the way other railroad executives did. (Financial strength was kryptonite to JP Morgan)—He cared most about freight, never frills.—The life of James J. Hill certainly demonstrates the impact one willful individual can have on the course of history.—I've made my mark on the surface of the earth and they can't wipe it out. — James J Hill.----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

The Banana's asked one fundamental question to revive a defunct minor ball team. What do fans hate about going to a game? Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick in business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients, so here's one of those. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders podcast. Dave Young here alongside Stephen Semple, and as you know, this is the time when we usually have Stephen whisper the topic of the podcast into my ear. But today I'm turning the table, Stephen. Stephen Semple: You are? Dave Young: Uh-huh. We're going to talk about one that I'm sort of interested in right now. Stephen Semple: Yeah, and I'm excited. Dave Young: I did tell you what it was. I mean, honestly, I will admit I told you what it was before. Stephen Semple: Well, we had a conversation last time I was in Austin and you mentioned this business, and I started doing a little bit of looking into it and I thought, "Wow, we should talk about this." But since you had already had a lot of knowledge on it, I was like, "Dave, we should talk about this." Dave Young: I mean, cool, huh? Stephen Semple: Yeah, Dave Young: It's really kind of interesting. Stephen Semple: So let everybody know what we're talking about. Dave Young: We're talking about baseball, sort of. Sort of baseball. It's a new form of baseball called Banana Ball. Stephen Semple: Just before you had told me about it, I'd heard about someone else had mentioned it to me and I thought it was pretty fascinating. But give us a background on Banana Ball. Dave Young: So this guy named Jesse Cole and his wife buy this summer baseball league team in Savannah, Georgia that had gone belly up, I think before maybe they were called the Sand Gnats or something like that. Stephen Semple: Okay, so basically it was a defunct, bankrupt out of business junior baseball team. Dave Young: I think the kind of league that plays summer times with college kids. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: So it came with the stadium, right? Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: Whoever owns the franchise gets use of the stadium. So they spent a couple of years just trying to figure out how to make baseball more interesting. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: Here you've got this weird little baseball team that nobody's been able to make succeed. Stephen Semple: Okay, before you go any deeper, Dave, how sold out are they? Dave Young: Dude for the 2025 season, they've got more than a million people on their waiting list. Stephen Semple: On their waiting list. Dave Young: These are people that are saying, "Please, please let me buy a ticket." Stephen Semple: Right, right. Think about this. Wouldn't you love to have a baseball team that not only is sold out, you have a million people on the waiting list hoping for tickets. And this is not a major league team. Dave Young: This is in Savannah, Georgia in a stadium that's just basically, it is not even fully surrounding the field. Stephen Semple: I just wanted people to understand the success this team is having. Dave Young: Here's the really cool thing. Their success is not based on wins and losses. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: It's based on entertaining people. This guy understands customer experience to a deep, deep level. And what he was looking at, and he's a baseball player, he coached. Baseball flows in his blood, but he looked at it and he is like,

I have often been told that I have a strong personality and it kind of came through in my business but I never really thought about the fact that all businesses have personality. Guest Naomi Gora talks about the  importance of including ourselves in our business strategy. So many business schools teach us to get to know our ideal customers and competitors but none that I've seen start the process of looking at ourselves first – how can our businesses thrive based on what works for us as well as our customers. Yes, your business has a personality, and how you understand and align with it can make a huge difference.  As a self-identified Torchbearer personality type, Naomi spent years in media and advertising, feeling like an outsider until she embraced her own strengths and values to build a business that truly fit her.   She  begins by explaining that business personalities aren't always discussed, but they're crucial. Too often, entrepreneurs build businesses that cater to their ideal clients or competitors, but end up hating their own creations. She urges business owners to first look inward, asking themselves, “Can I do this every day?” She introduces the concept of business personality types—like her own, the Torchbearer, and others like the Empire Builder or Station Master. These types reveal how you naturally operate. Some people thrive on systems and structure, while others, like Naomi, find those elements exhausting. When entrepreneurs try to mimic personalities that don't match their own, they often face burnout. Naomi explains that knowing your business personality helps you work more authentically and reduce stress. She uses a metaphor called the “car model,” where your brain is like a car with a driver, co-pilot, and backseat passengers (a 10-year-old and a 3-year-old). If you let the backseat drivers (stress and overwhelm) take control, your business suffers. By understanding your strengths—your “driver” and “co-pilot”—you can operate in your genius zone, making your business flow more easily. Naomi's advice? Don't fight your nature. Align your business with your true self, and you'll find running it becomes more enjoyable and sustainable. If you enjoyed this conversation, subscirbe so you never miss another episode https://morethanafewwords.com/avoid-fomo/

Show Notes: Featuring Adam Coffey About Adam Coffey Adam Coffey is a dynamic CEO, Board Member, best-selling author, and international speaker renowned for driving transformative growth and fostering high-performance cultures. With over 21 years of experience, Adam has built three national service companies for nine private equity sponsors, completing 58 acquisitions with outcomes measured in the billions. His books, "The Private Equity Playbook," "The Exit Strategy Playbook," and "Empire Builder," are #1 Amazon Best Sellers. A former GE executive and US Army veteran, Adam now consults through CEO Advisory Guru. Topics Covered in This Episode   Book Insights: What's changed since his first book, and who his latest editions aim to help. Evaluating Private Equity: Tips on assessing private equity groups, especially new firms without established ratings. Platform vs. Add-on: Differences, and what companies should strive to become. Target on the Back: Explanation of what it means for platforms in the market. Evaluating Offers: Balancing higher numbers with potential risks. Pooled Investments: Potential issues and pitfalls. Old Gomer: Insights into this character mentioned in his book. Competent Counsel: Importance during negotiations. Connect with Adam LinkedIn: Adam Coffey Join us as Adam Coffey dives deep into these topics, sharing his expertise and insights that can help you navigate the complexities of business growth and private equity!

Today, we're joined by the wonderful ladies of our sister podcast, “Empire Building” Seychelle Van Poole, Sarah Reynolds, Kymber Lovett-Menkiti, and Tiffany Fykes are here to discuss the best way to construct a business plan for the new year.We review the importance of preparation and how to “check yourself before you goal yourself.” We differentiate between leading indicators vs. lagging indicators. We also discuss the importance of progress over perfection. And, of course, we get into the cold, hard numbers.These women are master strategists and tacticians. They share with us the exact tools they use to keep business plans thriving as living, breathing documents throughout the year. Do yourself a favor and listen to this episode as you prepare for your annual business planning meeting.Resources:Listen to the “Empire Building” podcastVisit HerBestLife.comConnect with the Empire Building hosts on Instagram: @seychellevp, @sarahreynoldsoji, @wendypapasan, @kymbermenkiti, @tiffanyfykesRead “The Road to Less Stupid”Read “The Gap and the Gain”Check out the 411 and GPS toolsListen to Episode 34. Living a Life by Design With Tiffany FykesListen to Episode 55. Foolproof Math for Your Business Plan with David HuffakerOrder the Millionaire Real Estate Agent Playbook | Volume 2Connect with Jason:LinkedinProduced by NOVA MediaThis podcast is for general informational purposes only. The guest's views, thoughts, and opinions represent those of the guest and not KWRI and its affiliates and should not be construed as financial, economic, legal, tax, or other advice. This podcast is provided without any warranty, or guarantee of its accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or results from using the information.WARNING! You must comply with the TCPA and any other federal, state or local laws, including for B2B calls and texts. Never call or text a number on any Do Not Call list, and do not use an autodialer or artificial voice or prerecorded messages without proper consent. Contact your attorney to ensure your compliance.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Send us a textHey, welcome to another episode of Making Billions, I'm your host, Ryan Miller and today, back by popular demand, I have my dear friend Adam Coffey. This show is the first of a two part mini series doing private equity deals from the deal whisperer himself, Adam Coffey. So Adam is a three times best selling author of Empire Builders: The Exit-Strategy Playbook and The Private Equity Playbook. He's a frequent contributor to Forbes, and has sold over two and a half billion dollars in private companies. He's recently released the updated, expanded edition of The Private Equity Playbook that further outlines strategies that work in today's market. So what does this mean, well this means that Adam understands how to buy companies for no money and sell them for insane profits.Subscribe on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTOe79EXLDsROQ0z3YLnu1QQConnect with Ryan Miller:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rcmiller1/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingbillionspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_MakingBillonsWebsite: https://making-billions.com/[THE GUEST]: Adam is a three times best selling author of Empire Builders, The Exit-Strategy PlayOWNR OPS PodcastStarting a business by offering a service to your local community is one of the...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showDISCLAIMER: The information in every podcast episode “episode” is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. By listening or viewing our episodes, you understand that no information contained in the episodes should be construed as legal or financial advice from the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal, financial, or tax counsel on any subject matter. No listener of the episodes should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, the episodes without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer, finance, tax, or other licensed person in the recipient's state, country, or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction. No part of the show, its guests, host, content, or otherwise should be considered a solicitation for investment in any way. All views expressed in any way by guests are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the show or its host(s). The host and/or its guests may own some of the assets discussed in this or other episodes, including compensation for advertisements, sponsorships, and/or endorsements. This show is for entertainment purposes only and should not be used as financial, tax, legal, or any advice whatsoever.

Going from public domain toys to Spin Master Originals was a must. How did Harari, Rabi and Verity do it? It wasn't with the devil sticks. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. Here's one of those. [Seaside Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders podcast recording live this morning from the North Patio at the Wizard Academy classroom tower. Stephen Semple: I always get turned around. So this is north, is it? Dave Young: That's north. Stephen Semple: Okay. All right. I always get turned around here. Dave Young: The causeway, the ditch thing that runs- Stephen Semple: Oh, right. Of course. That's east-west, of course. Dave Young: No, that's north-south. Stephen Semple: Oh, right. Dave Young: North-South. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: If you stand in the middle of it and look up, you can see the North Star over the, and so we're on the other side. Stephen Semple: Right. Of course we are. Okay. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: I always get turned around. Dave Young: Yeah, that's okay. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: It has taken me a while. Anyway, we're recording a podcast. Stephen Semple: Yes. We talk. Dave Young: And we're sitting outdoors. And just as I was hitting the record button, you said Spin Master. Stephen Semple: Spin Master. Dave Young: This is an exercise bike. Stephen Semple: Toy company. Dave Young: Toy company. What am I thinking, spin cycle? First of all, I don't play with toys and I don't ride exercise bikes, so I'm at a loss. Stephen Semple: They're best known for Paw Patrol. And you wouldn't know about that either 'cause you don't have any little kids in your life. Dave Young: No, my little- Stephen Semple: Anybody who's got little kids in their life know Paw Patrol. Dave Young: All right. Well, I am all ears. Stephen Semple: Give you an idea how big the Paw Patrol franchise is, 14 billion. Dave Young: Wait. 14 billion? Stephen Semple: Billion in sales when you add all their stuff up. Dave Young: Wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And these are toys? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: They are toys and they are a Canadian company, and my niece used to work for them. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: This was actually a little extra fun to do. Dave Young: Some insider info. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, not really, but yeah, they're a Canadian company in quite a little success store. Dave Young: Little, yeah. Stephen Semple: Then we'll talk about later, they also went on to have bought some other brands such as Rubik's Cube. They now own Rubik's Cube. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Yeah. It was founded by Ronan Harari, Antoine Rabi and Ben Verity. They started the business in the late 1990s. And around that time, patterns of play does not change. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Toys may change, way kids play with things, the way even adults play with things don't change. And so the key is to find things that fit into those play patterns. That idea has basically led this company to be one of the greatest success stories in the toy space in the last 20 years. Yeah. And this whole idea, the key to find things that fit in those play patterns basically led to the creation of Paw Patrol,

When you need the chocolate you find creative ways to make the deal work. See the best of both worlds. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from Mom and Pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Stephen Semple: Welcome to part two of the Mars episode. If you haven't listened to the first part, I suggest you go back and give it a listen because those are really the early days of Mars. But the Mars story was so interesting we had to break it into two parts, and there's some really fun and surprising things that are going to happen in Phase 2 of this story. The Mars Bar was this big success. He's now had a couple failures. He needs a success. It's 1934. His father, Franklyn, passes away. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: At the age of 50, and the future of the company in the U.S. is now in doubt, and there's a small number of shares go to Forrest. But most of the shares go to his stepmother who does not like Forrest. Dave Young: Ouch. Okay. Stephen Semple: Forrest is pissed. And basically he decides that what he needs to do is just go on a vacation and cool off. So he takes a vacation to Spain, and he saw these chocolate candies made by Rowntree that are called Smarties. Dave Young: Um, okay. Stephen Semple: That don't melt, and he had never saw a candy coating on chocolate. So he decides to take Smarties to America. He returns to the U.S., leaves the UK company in the hands of the number two, but he needs a supply of milk chocolate. And where does he need to get that is Hershey's. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: But he's brand new. Hershey's is not super interested in doing it. So what he does is he knows the president of Hershey's. His son Murray, is never going to make it in the Hershey's business. So he offers Murray. He says, "Hey, you guys, sell me this chocolate. I'll make Murray, I'll give him an executive position plus 20% of the company." Dave Young: Wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: So they go, done. Murray's now set up. Dave Young: Murray's out of our hair. Stephen Semple: Murray's out of our hair. Dave Young: Not our problem anymore. Stephen Semple: What they do is they create this candy based upon Smarties. Dave Young: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Murray? Stephen Semple: Murray. Dave Young: Mars. Stephen Semple: Mars. Dave Young: MM. And the candy-coated chocolate? Stephen Semple: Is M&M's. Dave Young: M&M's, yeah. Oh, wow. So it was the son of Mars and the son of Hershey's. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Who knew? Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: That's amazing. Stephen Semple: So they need to build a factory and they want to make it stand out. So how they first package M&M's is instead of in a little bag, remember where they used to always come in a tube? Dave Young: Oh, I remember them coming in a tube, but not in my childhood. That was sort of a theater thing later on. Stephen Semple: But that's how they first came was in a cardboard tube. That was how they first came. Dave Young: Oh. You know, I kind of do remember that with like a folded wadded piece of paper at the end to hold it shut, yeah. Okay. Stephen Semple: Yeah, it was first in this... In Canada I remember them with a little plastic thing on the end, but yeah, they're originally in the tube. So it's 1941. War breaks out in the United States. Factories all across, all industries are dedicated to the war effort.

In this episode of the Private Capital Mastery podcast, host Brian Franco interviews Debra Kaye, CEO of V&A Consulting Engineers. Debra shares her journey from joining the firm to becoming its owner, discussing the challenges and successes along the way. The conversation delves into the acquisition process, the implementation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), and the importance of maintaining company culture and employee welfare. Debbie also offers valuable advice for founders and CEOs based on her experiences in the consulting engineering industry. Continue the conversation with Jacob Franco: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jacob's Calendar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about Brian Franco by visiting: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email Me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Debra: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠

In this episode, I interview Craig Ballantyne, renowned business coach and author, about the importance of discipline, intentionality, and time management in achieving entrepreneurial success. Craig shares his journey of building a life of freedom by delegating low-value tasks, focusing on high-leverage activities, and surrounding himself with opportunities. He explains why living like a billionaire, through outsourcing and strategic investments in people and environments, is crucial for scaling a business. The conversation also dives into personal branding, social media strategies, and how prioritizing the right tasks can transform both your business and personal life. About Craig: Craig believes that anyone has the potential to create their ideal life and build a thriving empire. His own journey began as a broke, anxious farm boy from Ontario, Canada, stuck in a cycle of binge drinking and working as a personal trainer. Through the guidance of mentors, Craig transformed into an Empire Builder, mastering the discipline, clarity, and systems needed for success. Since then, he has founded five 7-figure businesses across different industries, authored three books (including a Wall Street Journal bestseller), and mentored thousands of entrepreneurs—from 9-figure CEOs to busy parents and high school teachers. Craig has helped over 260 entrepreneurs reach their first 7-figure milestones and has guided countless others to achieve more while working less.   ---   Connect with Craig!   Instagram - @realcraigballantyne Website - www.craigballantyne.com   ---  

Alfred Butts worked on this game from 1938 until 1949 and then gave up the rights to James Brunot for royalties. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [JS Pest Control Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to Empire Builders podcast. I'm Dave Young. I'm sitting here with Stephen Semple. Well, I'm not sitting here. We're recording this. He's in wherever he is, and I'm wherever I am. You know this world, you know how it all works, the Zoomee River. Anyway, boy, I've led us right off into the weeds right from the start. Stephen Semple: Well done. Dave Young: Stephen told me the topic for today. It's another game. Stephen Semple: Yes, another game. Dave Young: A lot of empires in the game world. Stephen Semple: Completely. Dave Young: This one, I'm interested in the story. I'm not a very good player of it because I don't have very much experience with it. This is another one of those that we just didn't play that much, but I was aware of, and there are people that are just fanatics for Scrabble. They play all kinds of word games, and I probably got into word games a little late in life. I don't know if my family was ... I don't know what it is, Stephen. Maybe we were just Chinese Checkers people. Stephen Semple: And I'm with you. Now it's interesting how you started this podcast because as soon as I said Scrabble, your brain got a little bit scrabbled. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: But I didn't play Scrabble much. It's not a game that I enjoyed and I found actually almost frustrating. Dave Young: Kind of stressful, right? Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yes. But it's surprising how big a game it is. As of 2008, which was the most recent information I could find on this, it was sold in 121 countries, 30 languages. Although how do you do 30 languages? It's like, yeah, but 150 million sets have been sold worldwide. But here's the one that surprised me. It's roughly one third of American homes and half of British homes have a Scrabble set. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Yes. And there's 4,000 Scrabble clubs around the world. It is everywhere. It is literally everywhere. Dave Young: It really is a game of skill, at least when it comes to having a vocabulary and keeping an eye out for possibilities and the different points on letters and things like that. And just I'm looking for reasons that maybe I didn't play it very much. Stephen Semple: And I'm with you. I didn't play it much either. Dave Young: I've enjoyed it when I've played it. It's always been somebody else's Scrabble set. I've never owned a set. So tell us how it started. Stephen Semple: It's quite an old game, actually. I was surprised when I came across it. It was invented by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1938. Dave Young: 1938. Stephen Semple: So it's actually a very old game. I was quite surprised by that. And he was an architect, and he lost his job because think about 1938, late '20s, early '30s, Great Depression, how many architects, how many buildings are being built? Dave Young: By '38, we started thinking about how we're going to have to be building tanks soon. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, it would have been a very, very tough time. And so he's struggling to make ends meet, and he starts to notice the increased popularity in board games. But he doesn't have money to go out and do things or money to buy games, so he's trying to find ways to pass time, but he also then starts thinking about,

Mark Hummel is the CEO and Lead Business Coach for Pest Empire Builder (www.pestempirebuilder.com).Want to join the Pest Discussion Round Table?: info@pestempirebuilder.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.hummel.501Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-hummel-mba-83232672/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markohumm_/Gorilla Desk Free Trial: https://gorilladesk.com/?fpr=jonas-12The Pest Control Millionaire Podcast is all about helping small business owners scale their lawn and pest companies by talking to experts in the service industry.For business coaching and mentorship, visit pestcontrolmillionaire.com.Send your business and entrepreneurship questions to info@pestcontrolmillionaire.com and we'll answer them on the show!Produced by Sofia Salaverri and Dalton Fisher, Fisher Multimedia LLCFisherMultiMedia.com

A one point more TMNT action figures where sold than Snickers chocolate bars. Instantly qualifies as an Empire. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients, so here's one of those. [Tapper's Jewelry Ad] Stephen Semple: Dave, if I say to you the names Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael, what do you think of? Dave Young: I'm guessing that we're not talking about Renaissance artists. Stephen Semple: Not really. Dave Young: We're heading off into Turtleland. Stephen Semple: We're heading off into Turtleland, exactly. But isn't it interesting? That speaks to how big Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are. Where you can say to pretty much anybody those names and yeah, you don't go to Renaissance artists. You go, oh, we're talking about the turtles, right? Dave Young: Yeah, for sure. Especially people a little bit younger than us, but absolutely. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, and they went through a revival just recently. There was another one of the movies out, and it's really interesting. That movie was an illustrated movie, and I went and saw that with my oldest daughter, Crystal, who's an illustrator. Man, the illustration style in it was amazing. When you talk about emotions, they really captured that teenage boy chaotic energy. You could really feel it, but that's what it's supposed to be. It was actually really, really well done. Really well done. Dave Young: Well, cool. Now, I have to confess, I don't know, other than I recognize the names and there's the cowabunga thing, the big catchphrase, but honestly, I raised four daughters that weren't into it, and it's after my childhood, so I didn't get into it either so I'm excited to hear the story. I've watched these turtles from afar. Stephen Semple: That's even interesting. When you think about that, and yet you still instantaneously knew what I was referring to, which tells you how strong a presence it had in culture given the fact that you've never seen the comics, you've never seen the movie. It didn't hit you at the right time, didn't hit your kids, and yet you were like zero hesitation. Dave Young: You couldn't hide from it. Stephen Semple: Correct, yes. Dave Young: It was so big. You couldn't hide from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Stephen Semple: But that just in itself captures how big it was. Dave Young: I'm trying to think of what else. Oh, they ate pizza. They eat a lot of pizza. Stephen Semple: That's it. The first comic was published by Mirage Studios, and Mirage Studios was started by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The first comic was published in 1984. Today, Mirage Studios is like a $17 billion multimedia franchise. In 1990, just give you an idea, at the peak, Target sold more Turtle action figures than Snickers bars. Yeah, isn't that crazy? Dave Young: More than Snickers bars. Stephen Semple: More than Snickers bars. Dave Young: These weren't even chocolate turtles. Stephen Semple: No, these were the action figures. No, not the chocolate turtles. Very good. Dave Young: See what I did there? Stephen Semple: Yeah, yeah, I did. In 2009, it was sold to Viacom for $60 million bucks. Dave Young: Man. All right. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, they did well. They were artists, and they wanted to create this comic and it sort of started as a joke. In the eighties, if you think in the eighties, there was these tacky martial arts movies that ran overnight.

Dave Dave Young had no recollection of this game. Really, he didn't know. But after hearing this story he applauds Howard Wexler for knowing himself. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [JS Pest Control Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast. Dave Young here with Stephen Semple. And we're telling the stories of empires that were built up by people with an idea, business people. And Stephen just whispered today's topic into my ear and I don't know. Stephen Semple: You know the game. Connect Four. Dave Young: Connect Four. I don't think I've ever played Connect Four. It's a game? Stephen Semple: You've never played. Dave Young: You're telling me it's a game. Stephen Semple: It's a game. I'm telling you it's a game. Dave Young: Is it a computer game? Stephen Semple: No. Dave Young: It's a board game. Stephen Semple: No, no, it's not a board game either. And that's what makes it interesting. It's the one which is a vertical game and you connect four, you drop them in the top and you connect ... Dave Young: Oh, you drop those little things. Yeah. No, I've never played that. Stephen Semple: You've never played it? Okay. Dave Young: No, I never have. I've seen people doing it and I thought it was, well, it's just sort like cornhole or some stupid thing. Stephen Semple: But now you the game ... Dave Young: I've seen people playing it with a giant set and beers in their hands. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Okay. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: All right. Dave Young: It's that game. Stephen Semple: It's that game. Well, despite the fact you've never played ... Dave Young: Let me guess, let me guess. Stephen Semple: It's done pretty well. Dave Young: Let me guess. You have to have four colors in a row. Stephen Semple: You have to have four colors in a row. That's it. That's it. Connect Four. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Despite the fact that you've never played the game, it has done pretty well. Sorry. Dave Young: How many do they sell? Let's get that in. Stephen Semple: About 10 million a year. Dave Young: All right. That's it. Thanks for joining us on the Empire Builders. Stephen Semple: Wow. It's amazing how many times we do this stuff and you know something about the company. I would never have guessed that this is the one that you would not know it. Dave Young: Look, I don't even know if I want to admit this, but yeah, I don't have friends that invite me to play games. Stephen Semple: But I would've thought you would've at least remembered the advertisement. It's a pretty iconic ad that has been done. It was back in the late seventies and it was two kids playing. Dave Young: This was around in the 70s? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Did I just wake up from a coma? Stephen Semple: You must have. There was a really iconic advertisement where the two little kids would be playing and the girl would say, "I won." And the boy would go, "I can't see it. Where?" And then she would point out the four in a row and he'd be like, "Pretty sneaky sis," and then pull a little thing and all the pieces would fall. Dave Young: Yeah. I have no memory of this. Stephen Semple: Where were you from? Nebraska. Dave Young: That's basically it. We were too busy working on cornhole technology. Stephen Semple: I guess. Anyway,

Conrad Hilton, despite being unlucky, created what we now know to be the hotel experience. Always improving customer experience. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Tommy Cool HVAC Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back To the Empire Builders podcast. Dave Young here with Stephen Semple, and we're telling the stories of empires, people that started with a little idea that ended up being huge. And as we got started here, Stephen whispered in my ear that we're going to talk about Hilton. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And we're not talking about Conrad's granddaughter Paris Hilton who made a big name what in the '90s? Stephen Semple: I was wondering if you were going to go there. Dave Young: She's like chapter three of this story, I think. Stephen Semple: We don't have time for that story. Dave Young: For her to have that lifestyle, grandpa's got to make a lot of money. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, Conrad Hilton, I mean, Hilton is huge. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: They now have over a million rooms. They have like 7,500 locations in 124 countries. But the interesting thing is Conrad Hilton really invented how we look at hotels today. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: He really is the founder of that idea. And as we go through this story, one of the things that really captivated me about this story, a lot of times when we're covering these things, yes, people have an observation, and yes, they're brilliant. But there's always this bit of element of luck. There's a little bit of this catching lightning in a bottle. Conrad Hilton was terribly unlucky and it's amazing the things that he had to overcome. Dave Young: Oh wow. Stephen Semple: This guy did not have luck on his side. So I want you to keep that in mind as we go through this story, which makes me admire him more actually. Dave Young: Sure. And as I think about what that brand means to me, before I know the story. I don't think in my youth I had a whole lot of experience staying at a Hilton hotel, but there were certain hotel brands that meant something, that people understood. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: If you knew if you were staying at a Holiday Inn on an interstate highway, if it had the word Holidome on it, you're in for a nice swim and a good time in an air-conditioned big space. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And if you had the money and you were traveling for business or something, you knew that the Hilton brand- Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Would be a consistently better experience than most one-off hotels. Most. But there was always, every downtown always had one grand hotel. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: But then if they had a Hilton too, you'd say, "Oh, well the Hilton, right?" Because the other ones have their quirks. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And I think- Dave Young: The Hilton was always going to be a traveler, a business traveler's hotel. Stephen Semple: I travel a fair bit and I like staying in Hiltons, but I think before we go into the story, I think there's one mistake though that the, and hopefully somebody from Hilton listens to this and calls us and we can help them clean this up for them. They have one mistake that I think they've all done because they all now have all sorts of different brands. Hilton's got like 24 different labels or whatever. Here's the thing that they need to do. They need to look at each one of them and make them ...

A special thank you goes out to Al Hirsch for providing the music for the podcast, check him out on YouTube.Find merchandise for the podcast now available at:     https://washington-history-by-jon-c.creator-spring.comIf you enjoy the podcast and would like to contribute, please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/EvergreenpodIf you have any questions, episode ideas you'd like to see explored, or just have a general comment, please reach out at Historyoftheevergreenstatepod@gmail.comTo keep up on news for the podcast and other related announcements, please like and follow:https://www.facebook.com/HistoryoftheevergreenstatepodcastFind the podcast over on Instagram as well: @HISTORY_EVERGREENSTATEPODCASTYou can also find the podcast over on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/@historyoftheevergreenstatepodThank you for listening to another episode of the History of the Evergreen State Podcast!

LifeBlood: We talked about the private equity playbook, how to successfully work with private equity firms, the growth of the space over, how many entrepreneurs beat the odds but still have blindspots, how to manage ego and opportunity, and the value of experience, with Adam Coffey, Empire Builder, CEO Coach, three-time bestselling author, CEO, and servant leader.        Listen to learn why the amount of private equity investment has doubled over the past four years! You can learn more about Adam at AdamECoffey.com, YouTube, X, and LinkedIn. Get your copy of The Private Equity Playbook here: https://amzn.to/4dxpUEM  Thanks, as always for listening! If you got some value and enjoyed the show, please leave us a review here: ​​https://ratethispodcast.com/lifebloodpodcast You can learn more about us at LifeBlood.Live, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook or you'd like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood.Live.  Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffee. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeblood

Russell Brunson, the mastermind behind ClickFunnels, joins Nick James on Empire Builders to give UK entrepreneurs an exclusive preview of his Expert Empires presentation. Discover why ad costs are skyrocketing and how to combat them, learn about AI-powered personalised funnels, and get a sneak peek at Russell's $2,000 'Magnetic Story Selling' book (free for all Expert Empires attendees). This episode is packed with actionable insights that could revolutionize your marketing strategy. Join Russell at Expert Empires: https://www.expertempires.com/october2024-tickets/Connect with Nick James: https://www.instagram.com/nickjamesevents/?hl=en

Learn the secrets behind going from $0 to $50,000+ in just 4 months with digital dropshipping funnels! In this detailed review, we dive into how these innovative strategies and methods can transform your e-commerce business. Watch and uncover the powerful techniques that can accelerate your online business growth. Perfect for both beginners and seasoned entrepreneurs looking to scale their e-commerce ventures quickly. Discover actionable insights and start building your own successful digital dropshipping funnels today! #DigitalDropshipping #DropshippingSuccess #OnlineBusinessGrowth

Sol Price had and idea that he was not going to let go of. No matter how many times others tried to take it away. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders podcast. Dave Young here with Stephen Semple. And Stephen, shoot, just as you hit the button, I was compiling a list because Julie and I, we've got to go pick some stuff up and you reminded me about it. Stephen Semple: Glad I can help. Dave Young: Right? We have a Google Keep list. I don't know if you use Google Keep. It's just sort of a list software that you can share with other people. And so that's where we keep our Costco list. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: And it's actually a Costco/Sam's list, but we hardly ever pick up anything from Sam's. Sam's has some things that Costco doesn't and vice versa. Anyway, we're going to talk about Costco, to try to make a short story long. Stephen Semple: I hope we still have some listeners at this point. Dave Young: Right? Come on, we're only a minute in, so I think we're okay. Stephen Semple: Here's the thing I find it's really interesting about Costco. Today, they have basically almost 900 locations. They do like 243 billion in revenue. They have over 130 million members, and they have over 300,000 employees. They have a reputation of paying and treating employees very, very well, especially for a discount outlet. But to put in perspective, they do a little bit more than half the revenue of Walmart. But Walmart has like 10,000 locations. Costco is like 900. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Think about that volume that they do. Dave Young: Do. The product turn has to be amazing. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Unbelievable. It's just mind-boggling. It's just mind-boggling. And it's really interesting to stand outside of Costco and just look at carts full of stuff. Nobody goes to Costco and buys two things, right? It's just incredible. There's some legal things that we need to talk about to really understand the history of Costco, because back in 1936, there was this Robinson-Patman Act that was passed and it prevented the discounting of goods below the manufactured list price. So when we see manufacturers list price, it used to mean something. And what it used to mean is you could not go below that price. And this was to protect manufacturers and small retailers, and you could not do large purchases at discounts. It didn't matter how much you were buying, couldn't go below that price. And in the 1960s, these laws started to change, but large retailers still resisted this idea of lowering prices, because they'd sort of gotten very used to that. Along comes Sol Price, and it's the early 1950s and he's working as a lawyer in San Diego, and he has a client in a jewelry business that's selling watches to non-profit member owned retail operation in LA called Fedco. And Fedco was a non-profit, like basically it was founded by 800 postal workers in LA, and they were leveraging the buying power to negotiate with distributors and eliminate store markups. And there was a membership fee. It was $5 for a lifetime membership for federal employees. And Sol visited Fedco and he noticed that the property was really similar to one that his mother-in-law had inherited in San Diego that sat empty. So he suggested the location to the client of his and his mother-in-law, and they agreed, and they opened under a different name instead of Fedco.

David McConnell ditched his door to door book selling gig to pursue the bribe that he we giving for attention. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the Not-So-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Travis Crawford HVAC Ad] Stephen Semple: Ding dong. What makes you think of when the doorbell rings, what ad? Ding dong. Dave Young: Ding dong. Well, I was expecting a topic, first of all. Stephen Semple: Okay, well work with me here. What do you recall? Dave Young: Shoot, in the last five years, just chasing people away from my front porch. Stephen Semple: Oh, okay. Dave Young: Avon calling. Stephen Semple: There you go. Avon calling. That's who we're going to talk about. Dave Young: Yeah, I don't think they're doing that anymore. Stephen Semple: No, they aren't. But that recall is really, really interesting from the fact that you were able to remember those ads. Because those ads have not run, they stopped running in the late sixties. We were like... Dave Young: Oh my gosh. Stephen Semple: We were really young when those ads stopped, and yet you were still able to recall it. Dave Young: And I'm probably recalling it as a persistent meme in our culture that Avon calling, it became, not, it was woven into probably movies and TV and mass culture, so that for the next decade or decade and a half, it was still echoing, right? Stephen Semple: Correct. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Stephen Semple: So think about how powerful that was. We're going to talk about Origin, a little bit about Avon. Dave Young: I think that's a fascinating phenomenon. I'm anxious to hear the Avon story. It reminds me of cigarette jingles as well that ended when they banned cigarette advertising in the mid-seventies. Yet for the next 20, 30 years, I mean, anybody that was alive then could still tell you Winston tastes good like a cigarette should, right? There's so many of those. So yeah, they just become a part of us. Stephen Semple: And they're powerful enough that they're, as you said, spoofing them on Simpsons and things along that lines. But back to Avon. So Avon's a really old company. It was founded in 1886 by David McConnell, and today, it's still around today. They do 9 billion in sales, they have 23,000 employees. There's over 6 million representatives of Avon, and it's still privately held by Natura Holdings out of Brazil. And they're giving you an idea, there are four Avon lipsticks sold every second. Dave Young: Dang, that's a lot of lipstick. Stephen Semple: Boom four, boom four, boom four. Isn't that incredible? Isn't that amazing? Avon's founder, David McConnell, started in sales back in the 1880s as a door to door book salesman. And so we've heard this happen with other businesses because he then used a popular gimmick. Remember Wrigley's? Remember how Wrigley's didn't start by selling gum? The gum was the free giveaway? McConnell offered a free gift in exchange for a moment of the customer's time. So it was a gift with appointment. And guess what he gave away? Perfume. Dave Young: Oh, okay. Stephen Semple: Most of the customers McConnell dealt with were housewives who were home in the afternoon hours while their husband was away at work. And so he decided to work with a local pharmacy to create a fragrance that he could give away, little quantities for anybody who was willing to listen to the book pitch. But a funny thing happened, they were way more interested in the perfume than the books. So just like Wrigley,

Dive into the inspiring journey of Kamal Hotchandani, founder of Haute Media Group, as he shares his path from immigrant to luxury media mogul. Learn how he built a world-class network, partnered with A-list celebrities, and created an iconic brand in the luxury space. Discover valuable insights on building successful businesses, cultivating gratitude, and living a fulfilling life. Don't miss this episode packed with entrepreneurship wisdom, networking strategies, and life lessons from one of Miami's most influential figures.

Today, we're talking about a topic close to my heart - overcoming workaholism and hustle culture.  This episode is aimed at my fellow Ruler Money Archetypes, who want to build an empire without burning out.  Even if you're not a Ruler, today's episode will give you some great insights into your friends, partner, or clients and help you understand the motivation of Rulers.

Here at Empire Building, we're all about building a big business, and more importantly, a bigger life. So today we dive into how to live a big, long, healthy, robust life. We are talking Blue Zones.Blue Zones are parts of the world where people live the longest. Dan Buettner came up with the term while studying the places that have the highest life expectancy or with the highest proportions of people who reach age 100: Barbagia region of Sardinia; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda California; and Okinawa, Japan. In this episode, we review the 9 daily habits that Dan identified across these communities. They are: Move naturally, have purpose, down shift, eat to 80% full, stick to a plant-based diet, drink alcohol moderately, belong to a community, put your family first, and find your circle of support.We dive into the details of each one and talk about how we can find space for them in our own lives as Empire Builders.Resources:Learn more at the Blue Zones Project Listen to Simon Sinek's podcast episode with Dan Buettner Read Peter Attia's book “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity” Connect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanKymber Lovett-Menkiti: @kymbermenkitiTiffany Fykes: @tiffanyfykesProduced by NOVA Media