Podcasts about quiet giant

Jim hangs out with Ryan Lang, Owner and CEO of Middle West Spirits of Columbus Ohio. Ryan brings three of their core offerings to sample during this episode. Join in while we taste through the Middle West lineup and talk about the great expansion project underway at Middle West. There are some great whiskey things happening in Ohio these days! Thank you to our sponsors, Blanton's Bourbon Shop and Pints and Barrels. Be sure to check out our private Facebook group, "The Bourbon Roadies" for a great group of bourbon loving people. You will be welcomed with open arms!

Mike Allen is back in Nevada with Strikepoint Gold. He joins us from PDAC for a general introduction to the company and exploring back in the Walker Lane in Nevada. Mike talks about a huge resource announcement made at the Anglo projects which is shaping up to be the largest undeveloped resource in Nevada in many years.

In this episode, Victor is joined by his courageous friend, Dolo Yaseen, visiting from Kurdistan. Dolo's incredible work involves aiding women and children who suffered under ISIS. He shares his remarkable journey, including his medical visa experience and the different cultural aspects of Kurdistan. Their conversation turns to faith, sacrifice and their work with the Free Burma Rangers in conflict zones. They also share their experiences with Muslims who stand against extremism. Join us for this inspiring episode!Learn about some of Victor's work in the Middle East at victormarx.com/stories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast's most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes.  My name is Jon Birdsong and I'm with Atlanta Ventures.  Product Release of the Week: Who doesn't love a good product release and this week, after much anticipated industry coverage, Greenzie has pushed a major update to their software. Quick reminder about Greenzie, they are a software company that makes commercial lawn mowers autonomous. They have partnered with manufacturers including Wright Manufacturing and Bobcat to build the mowers with a few more bells and whistles so they can be activated into autonomous mowers. Landscapers love them, especially landscapers who mow big, wide open fields. This week, Greenzie launched a major update to their software including: Job saving and reloading: Map an area once and mow all season with the press of a button on an easy-to-use interface with no app download required. So now a lawn maintenance company can mow the perimeter of a property once and it's saved in the database so you don't have to mow the perimeter again. Before, you had to mow the perimeter each time. Not any more. Another major feature is job continuation. If your mower or job was interrupted now you can pick up where you left off with ease. Before it would start over from the beginning. These are huge workflow updates along with several other enhancements! Congrats to the Greenzie engineering team on delivering to the market.    Quiet Giant of the Week: This company just moved their HQ to 999 Peachtree Street which is 10th and Peachtree, right where Empire State South used to be. The name of the company is called FIXD Automotive. They have approximately 40 employees led by CEO, John Gattusso. Fixd is a hardware and software company that offers drivers the tools and resources that produce money saved and peace-of-mind over the life of their car. Their FIXD Sensor, which works with any gas-powered car since 1996 relays car problems from the vehicle to the FIXD App via Bluetooth. With the FIXD sensor, now you can translate 7000+ engine codes into plain English on your smartphone, see how severe your issue is, access detailed repair guides and how-to videos, monitor the health of multiple vehicles, and receive automated maintenance alerts. FIXD started out of Create-X and has been a Quiet Giant, growing steadily and quietly for years.  Question of the Week: We've been getting asked a bunch recently, what is Atlanta Ventures take on Artificial Intelligence? There is no question AI is a transformative evolution in technology. There will be several jobs and roles augmented and alleviated. From a pure consumer perspective, we are users of ChatGPT and Dall-E2 and explore those applications often. When it comes to pure investment in the space, it all depends on how AI is being applied. For example, last week, we invested in AdPipe out of Athens, Ga. They are Motion-First marketing platform that goes and finds specific types of clips in your video library, clips them into 2 second gifs, makes it easy to add overlays and copy, and then packages them up so marketers and sales reps now have a motion-first, customized piece of content. The engineering team is leveraging AI to find those specific clips. For example, one of their most well-known clients is Caterpillar. AdPipe now uses AI to find “videos of tractors” in Caterpillar's video library and within 30 seconds, AI has gone in and found dozens of videos from years of investment and delivered it to the AdPipe platform. Before AI, someone manually would have to go into the Caterpillar library, watch a lot of video for a few seconds to find tractor clips, clip it, and then upload it to AdPipe. Not anymore. One other point around narrative and storytelling on the fundraising side to highlight with AdPipe; they didn't brand themselves as a Generative-AI marketing platform when we first engaged with them. They were already solving a very real problem in the market with dozens of industrial customers. Instead, they are using AI to improve a specific use case and workflow. If we met a company that had no customers, limited product or revenue, and they positioned their product as an Generative-AI marketing platform, this is when our spidey senses would have heighted and immediately questioned if this was a spin on a piece of innovative technology looking for a problem to solve. All said and done, when it comes to AI, make sure the problem being solved is a real pain point and apply it smartly – a good example is the AdPipe product.  Annnnd that is five minutes! Links discussed: 

Don't you worry. We're highlighting the women of Celtic music for St Patrick's Day once again on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #595. Arise & Go, Sharon Shannon, Chambless, Taylor And Muse, Altan, Mary Beth Carty, Amelia Hogan, Fire In The Glen, Kellswater Bridge, Heather Dale, Shelli Le Fay, Emerald Accent, Lisa Schettner, Emma Langford, The Breath VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2023 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2023 episode.  Vote Now! Two weeks after the episode is launched, I compile your votes to update a playlist on Spotify and YouTube. These are the results of your voting. You can help these artists out by following the playlists and adding tracks you love to your playlists. Follow us on Facebook to find out who is added each week. Listen on Spotify and YouTube. GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Subscribe and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:02 - Intro: Heather Dale at GaFilk 0:17 - Arise & Go "Sheepskin and Beeswax, Le Voyageur, Roddy McDonald's Fancy" from Arise & Go -  EP Ellie Goud: fiddle 4:17 - WELCOME 5:42 - Sharon Shannon “The Ivory and the Quill” from Each Little Thing 8:23 - Chambless, Taylor And Muse "Jack Haggerty" from Live At Ntif Jil Chambless: flute and vocals 11:37 - Altan "Fermanagh Highland" from The First Ten Years: 1986 - 1995 MAIRÉAD NÍ MHAONAIGH: vocals, fiddle 15:38 - Mary Beth Carty "Mo Mhàthair" from Crossing the Causeway Mo Mhàthair Pronunciation: Moh wah - her Mary Beth Carty: Accordionist, guitarist, vocals 19:41 - FEEDBACK 22:14 - Amelia Hogan "Red Winged Blackbird" from Taking Flight 26:28 - Fire In The Glen "Whup Jamboree" from Cutting Bracken Amanda Wells: vocals, guitar, percussion 30:04 - Kellswater Bridge "The Wife of Usher's Well" from As The Story Goes Mare Edstrom (lead vocals, Celtic Flute, Keyboards, and Bodhran), Tracy Moraine (Vocals and Percussion). 33:47 - THE STORY OF OISIN BY HEATHER DALE Heather Dale calls her music “Celtic music for Modern Dreamers.” Her original music explores world legends and folklore. She finds contemporary themes within old material, and fuses folk traditions with blues, jazz, and world music influences. Heather's rich vocals are paired with more than a dozen folk instruments in her live performances with multi - instrumentalist Ben Deschamps. Today, she's gonna share the Irish story of the hero Oisin who falls in love with the fairy queen. But he's stuck in the past. He returns with tragic results. 34:48 - Heather Dale "Adrift" from The Road to Santiago A few weeks back, I shared Heather's song “Mordred's Lullaby”. Patrons of the podcast can listen to that story this week on the Patreon feed. 41:06 - THANKS 47:03 - Shelli Le Fay "False Spring" from Feral Heart 49:09 - Emerald Accent "Toss the Feathers / Oak Tree / Foxhunters" from The Oats Field Allison Talley (Low and high whistle, flute, keyboard, vocals), Alexis Frenette (fiddle, vocals), Temperance Babcock (fiddle, vocals). 53:49 - Lisa Schettner "Snowing Light" from Single 59:32 - Emma Langford "6 Foot 4" from Quiet Giant 1:03:53 - CLOSING 1:06:33 - The Breath "No You Keep It (Acoustic)" from Only Stories (Let the Cards Fall Revisited) Ríoghnach Connolly (ree - a - na): flute and vocals The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. Visit our website to subscribe to the show. You'll find links to all of the artists played in this episode. You'll get access to our Best of this Year Playlist. You can subscribe to our Celtic Music Magazine and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. Plus, you'll get 7 weekly news items about what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Best of all, you will connect with your Celtic heritage. Finally, please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME CELTOPHILE TO CELTIC MUSIC * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I'm a musician and podcaster out of Atlanta, Georgia. This Podcast is here to build our diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, please email artists to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. You can find a link to all of the artists in the shownotes, along with show times, when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com. Do you have the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast app? It's 100% free. You can listen to hundreds of episodes of the podcast. Download it now. Hey Celtic Bands, I'm looking for new music and stories in 2023. To submit your band, just complete the permission form at 4celts.com. You'll also find information on how to submit a story behind one of your songs or tunes. Get a free Celtic Musicians Guide to Digital Music eBook. email gift@bestcelticmusic THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! Because of Your kind and generous support, this show comes out at least four times a month. Your generosity funds the creation, promotion and production of the show. It allows us to attract new listeners and to help our community grow. As a patron, you get music - only episodes before regular listeners, vote in the Celtic Top 20, and you get a private feed to listen to the show.  All that for as little as $1 per episode. A special thanks to our Celtic Legends: Marti Meyers, Meghan Walker, Dan mcDade, Carol Baril, Miranda Nelson, Nancie Barnett, Kevin Long, Annie Lorkowski, Shawn Cali HERE IS YOUR THREE STEP PLAN TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST Go to our Patreon page. Decide how much you want to pledge every week, $1, $5, $10. Make sure to cap how much you want to spend per month. Keep listening to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast to celebrate Celtic culture through music. You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com. TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. In 2023, we're going on a Celtic Invasion of County Mayo in Ireland. We're gonna explore the area and get to know Grace O'Malley, the Pirate Queen. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticmusicpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can take a screenshot of the podcast on your phone. You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Or how about a picture you took of a band that you saw. How would you like to introduce an episode of the podcast? It's super easy. Contact me for details. Email me at celticpodcast@gmail, message me on Facebook, or contact me through Mastodon @celtfather@c.im. Tim Walker commented on Facebook: "I volunteer at the local hospital. I make little rocks out of big rocks, but with paperwork. Really, you could teach a monkey to do my job, but then it would be animal cruelty. It ain't much, but it's useful. Anyway, that's when I listen. Sláinte!" Kellyn Owens commented on Facebook: "I listen when I go on my long runs for half marathon training. I download two or three episodes and play them back to back to make the miles go by faster. Currently listening to #580." Andi Bishop commented on Facebook: "I downloaded the 2022 top 20 and listened to it on the plane on the way home from California!"

Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast's most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes.  My name is Jon Birdsong and I'm with Atlanta Ventures. Question of the Week: This past week I received a question from a friend who's company had raised a very large round at a significant valuation late last year. Back then, she was excited at the prospect of the company being worth that large number reported in TechCrunch. Having a validated and credible financial partner produced confidence in the direction of the business. Fast forward to today, rumblings around the office of upcoming layoffs in the weeks and months ahead persist around the water cooler. She has vested ¾ of her options but now wants to know what she should do. Should she stick around to help the company achieve the latest goals set to fulfill that exorbitant valuation? She is in sales and knows that growing into the valuation will take at least three years of strenuous work. Would it be better for her to stay there or move on to a new opportunity?  This is a timely and touchy topic. There is no question several companies who raised large rounds in 2021 at very high valuations are currently in a predicament. Most likely raised with the plan to grow at all costs, hire quickly, and achieve the 12-18 month plans to develop into that valuation. A few things have changed: first the macro-economy has shifted. Growing interest rates have made money much more expensive than this time last year. Secondly, valuation multiples on revenue have dropped precipitously from 12 months ago. We love to look at the Bessemer Cloud Index at the Atlanta Ventures office which gives a high-level barometer of current multiples among public cloud computing companies. As of this recording, the average multiple on revenue for publicly traded cloud companies is 7.4x with an average revenue growth rate of 35%.    Knowing this context, now let's apply it to my friend's company. First, every employee should know the strike price of their options. This way they can back into the value of those options once they would be exercised. Secondly, and we've talked about it before, but understanding the Rule of 40 (a concept we've discussed before) for your company is important to gain a perspective so you'll know how much your company is stepping on the gas to generate revenue. Lastly, finding out the valuation of the latest financing round will give you all the numbers needed for your equation to help make a decision. I won't go into specific numbers but if your company is way below the Rule of 40 and is burning a lot of cash each month to scale revenue, now you have an idea of ballpark revenue multiples on valuations – and pretty soon it becomes clear if and how long you should stay around. It could take years to get back to the last valuation of the company and then another 3-5 years to make any significant progress on those options. Would it be better for her to go work at another company and start fresh? Maybe.  Asking leadership when is the next time we're planning on raising is a good indication of how they plan to build moving forward. Remember, each new investor most likely has preferences over all other investors and common stock shareholders, which is also another factor. Regardless, if you work for a company that has raised a significant round at a seemingly high valuation, asking some probing questions around Rule of 40, growth rate, and revenue multiples is not a bad idea.         Quiet Giant of the Week: This week's Quiet Giant is Rev.io. With over 120 employees, they are used by thousands of companies for customized billing software to help your business grow. If you're looking to launch new product lines and quickly tailor your billing and subscription needs, Rev.io has you covered. Led by Brent Maropis, Rev.io continues to grow with health and swiftness. Keep an eye on them as they scale.       Acquisitions in the Air: First reported in Atlanta Inno this past week, Atlanta Tech Village Startup, Stellar Software was acquired by Austin based Storable. Stellar Software makes boat rental simple and easy through their software. If you own or rent a power or house boat, or a fleet of them, having software schedule, order, and process payments is now a must have in the market. Congratulations to Brent and team as they move on their next adventure.    Annnnd, that's 5 minutes.   Thank you for listening to Five and Thrive. We provide 5 minutes of quality information, so you can thrive in the upcoming week. Please subscribe to the show and spread the good word!    Resources discussed in this episode:   Quiet Giant: Rev.io Acquisitions in the Air: Stella Software Stella Acquired

Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast's most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes.  My name is Jon Birdsong and I'm with Atlanta Ventures. Y'all what a week! From TechStars to Venture Atlanta, to the cocktail parties, dinners, and happy hours, I can say it was so fun. And it was wonderful to meet so many investors who come to Atlanta once or twice a year and showcase the city and meet in person. Congratulations to Allyson Eman on another amazing Venture Atlanta.   Quiet Giant: I was reminded of this past week's quasi-Quiet Giant out of Durham, North Carolina called Spiffy. Their short tag line is on-demand car wash and detailing service. While that may seem obvious as there are several mom and pop shops willing to meet you in your driveway to give you the detail your car wants and needs, Spiffy has raised over $60M in funding around this fast growing, successful tech enabled service that washes cars for several enterprise fleets. Examples include trucking fleets, rental car services, and much more. And the best part, car wash and detailing services are just the beginning. CEO, Scott Wingo and team have figured out that these fleets need much more than to glean and be cleaned – they also need brakes checked, new tires, oil changes, and disinfectants adhered. The auto maintenance shop is now coming to you. Check out Spiffy and see if they are in your zipcode today and book your next appointment over the phone or through their mobile app.    Beta Product of the Week: I met this entrepreneur last week in a serendipitous lunch at Jack's Deli. He overheard what a friend and I were talking about in another booth, introduced himself and shared the product he's building. The name of the product is called Ambitious App. Their brand promise: Learn in-demand digital skills in 5 minutes a day. He is launching the private beta this week. The CEO, Alim Charaniya, is a technical founder who wants to deliver bit-sized educational content to our generation of short reels and tik toks but package it all up in a productive way so there is a quantified and gamified learning. One of the go-to-market strategies that I already admire and respect from Alim is that he's building community before the product has been launched. For example, if you go to the link in the show notes taking you Ambitious App's website, Alim and his team filter you into a slack channel where you are immediately introduced to other like-minded learners.  In a world that is changing so fast in an industry (education) that has hardly evolved from that traditional classroom setting in a century, this is another innovative angle to learn outside of the classroom rat race.  Product of the Week: We've covered this product before, especially this time of the year and definitely this time of the political season, but the product is a simple website called GeorgiaVotes.com. If you live in Georgia and love early voting analytics, Ryan Anderson (@GTRyan) on Twitter has you covered. Each night, GeorgiaVotes updates the early voting records from the Secretary of the State's website and analyzes who has voted and compared those voters to elections prior. We interviewed Ryan on The Atlanta Story Podcast last year and will make sure to link to that interview in the show notes.   Event of the Week: The ATDC keeps coming with some great programming. This time it is with entrepreneur Tristan Walker. If you remember, Tristan sold his company to Proctor and Gamble in 2018 and moved to Atlanta from California. He is speaking at the P&G alumni event which has joined forces with the ATDC. This will be a fireside chat with Tristan mixed with networking on Tuesday, November 8th – which is also election day!  News of the Week: Shout out to Clint Green and team who just launched Revenue Ready. This is the ecosystem at work as Clint spent seven and a half years at Salesloft and before then Pardot, not only selling and closing deals, but learning the systems and processes to put in place to scale. Now he and his team have packaged up their services to take your company. If you're looking to tighten up the opportunity process and cement your sales playbook check out Revenue Ready as they have been there and done it.    Annnnd, that's 5 minutes. Thank you for listening to Five and Thrive. We provide 5 minutes of quality information, so you can thrive in the upcoming week. Please subscribe to the show and spread the good word!  Resources discussed in this episode: Quiet Giant: Get Spiffy Beta Product of the Week: Ambitious App Product of the Week: GeorgiaVotes.com The Atlanta Story - Ryan Anderson Event of the Week:  Fireside Chat with Tristan Walker News of the Week: Revenue Ready

At 6 feet 6 inches tall Ellis is a commanding figure when he walks into a room. He is a quiet type though and lets his music and incomperable country voice do his speaking for him. We make the connection with Ellis who is a great songwriter with so much to say with his songs!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/songwriter-connection/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast's most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes.  My name is Jon Birdsong and I'm with Atlanta Ventures. Y'all we did shorten the intro as time is just too precious.  Product of the Week: There are two products of the week worth highlighting. First is a company call Nauvus which is one simple platform to book load, manage expenses and get paid when it comes to freight and trucking. Still early, but the grand vision is to be a universal freight network & payment solution for trucking companies and the independent dispatchers that support them all in an effort to maximize revenue and reduce cost. Check out Nauvus and if you're into logistics and payments.  The second product of the week is called Givsly. This company has created software that makes it really simple to infuse social good into your marketing. Let's say Arby's wants to promote a new sandwich and wants to put a social good twist on the campaign. Enter Givsly that provides the tools, services, and reporting capabilities companies can connect with causes and produces seamless campaigns to increase revenue and giving. Check out Givsly if you want to add a charitable spin to your go to market efforts. Quiet Giant: This week's QuietGiant raised a growth equity round in June and the company is called Inductive Health. According to LinkedIn there are approximately 60 employees and Inductive Health brings disruptive technologies to the public health informatics arena to lower the costs of integration and large-scale analysis of health data – probably a pretty timely tool over the last two and half years. From the looks of it, they have been bootstrapped and the PE firm that infused growth capital is called Diversis and they are out of Los Angeles. Another fantastic example of a Quiet Giant, right off Clairmont road, that is nearly another 10 year over night success story. All you folks out there building Quiet Giants, keep at it!  Question of the Week: Can billion dollar businesses be built on nice to have products? This is the question that was posed last week in a conversation with an entrepreneur we talked to in Miami. The call that was supposed to last 30 minutes and wove towards an hour as we shared our thoughts on the differences between nice to have products versus need to have products — which is such a fascinating discussion. The short answer is: at some point the product must become a need to have in the person or company's business, if not significant churn will result and it will not become an extraordinarily valuable business. I'll never forget the moment years ago, when I was speaking to a CEO who had about 30 sales reps at the time, share how Salesloft had transformed his sales team and that it was a must have for them to operate. Yet, for the 18 months beforehand, they piece-mealed the workflow on spreadsheets and free email accounts. So I asked: “when did you finally realize Salesloft was a must have for your business?” Two things had occurred in the business: one the pain point of having so many sales reps on his team that the manual process was costing the business too much not to have it. 2) It took a sales rep to uncover that realization and educate the company that there is a better way. Fortunately, Salesloft is tied directly to ROI which makes the case that much more compelling. There is a continuum of nice to have vs. need to have products but at some point in the customer's life span, the product must turn into a need to have.       Raise a Glass: Nashville based SoundStripe just raised their Series B led by TopMark Partners out of Tampa and includes existing investors most notably David Sacks of Craft Ventures. SoundStripe “keeps creators creating” with a plethora of royalty-free music, videos, and sound effects. Now, creators to corporations can pay a simple subscription fee and not have to worry about licensing rights, copyright infringements, and more. To date, the startup has issued more than 10 million licenses for tens of thousands of customers in more than 140 countries – cha ching! Started in 2016, SoundStripe out of Nashville, fills the seemingly ideal narrative for fast growing software company out Music City.  Annnnd, that's 5 minutes. Thank you for listening to Five and Thrive. We provide 5 minutes of quality information, so you can thrive in the upcoming week. Please subscribe to the show and spread the good word!  Resources discussed in this episode: Product of the Week: Nauvus and Givsly Quiet Giant:  Inductive Health Raises Money from Diversis Raise a Glass:  SoundStripe

Event on the Calendar:  This week's Event to put on your calendar is the Dell for Startups Pitch Event. Look I know there is a lot of startup theater out there with pitch events nearly every week. This one is a touch different because they are handing out a very real prize and that is $15k in Dell Rewards for the best 3 minute pitch. I wondered what Dell Rewards were so I put a link in the show notes to a more detailed description but you get $15k into select products and services without any catch. If you've got a dialed in Pitch, which I know several listeners do because they go to Friday's Pitch Practice with Jacey Lucus, put August 25th on your cal from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Atlanta Tech Village. A few minutes on stage could yield some sweet hardware.    Quiet Giant: This week's quiet giant is called Neighborly Software. Co-founders, Jason and Chris, of Neighborly Software have built a tremendous bootstrapped business with software designed for Housing, Economic, and Community Development program management. In the vicissitudes of political climates, Neighborly Software provides backbone sturdy software for municipalities, cities, counties, and states to manage and allocate community resources in a paper-less, secure, and efficient solution. They just posted #72 on Inc 5000's fastest growing companies so you know they are hiring. This week's Quiet Giant may not be so quiet any more.  Blog of the Week: This week's blog of the week comes from the Godfather of SaaS himself Jason Lemkin who is gearing up for his major conference, SaaStr next month. The blog title is like a Dear Abbey but instead it's a Dear SaaStr and the question is: Is a big market really better than a niche market? The answer is always yes but with a few caveats. First, one may think if it's a small market, that's better because there will be less competition and while that's true, you're have 12-16 hours a day to work on a business and so you might as well be working on one in a massive market as that will be a key defining factor or growth and success. Let's get to the caveats. First, small markets can grow into large markets. I touched on this in last week's episode in our “Market Ready for a Startup” segment. Pick a niche to get rich is true, but if you can get niche but a rapidly growing market, bingo. The article's other two buts include that small markets don't always mean there is less competition. And lastly, most entrepreneurs start in a small segment of a large market. Overall, study the market and trends just as much if not more than anything else before committing.  Product of the Week: Hazlnut - this company is out of Jacksonville, Florida is making a major evolution in their products and services as they navigate the ever-changing demands of restaurants. While their core product of providing beautiful and dynamic mobile experiences for food franchises continues to grow, they've discovered through customer feedback, that the unanswered phone order is a major area of opportunity for many restaurants to drive additional revenue. Approximately 30% of calls into restaurants don't get answered. Enter HazlVoiceLite. If a restaurant doesn't pick up the phone, there is an option to have the menu texted to the consumer to limit the number of missed orders. HazlVoice Pro is in the works which will include automated phone ordering all through voice, but for now check out Hazlnut and their rapidly growing suite of products in the restaurant industry. Shout out to co-founders Dick and Steven for driving stellar innovation. Raise a Glass: Ben Chestnut announced this week he is stepping down as CEO of Mailchimp after founding the company 21 years ago and recently selling it for $12B. For me and several other Atlantans, I've been fortunate enough to attend fascinating talks they've held over the years, use their product, and watched and respected how they built and scaled their way with their rules, on their time frame. Congratulations Ben! What a legacy and excited for what's ahead!  Annnnd, that's 5 minutes. Thank you for listening to Five and Thrive. We provide 5 minutes of quality information, so you can thrive in the upcoming week. Please subscribe to the show and spread the good word!  Resources discussed in this episode:   Event on the Calendar: Dell for Startups Dell rewards program Blog of the Week Big Markets vs Niche Markets Quiet Giant Neighborly Software   Product of the Week: Hazlnut Story  Raise a Glass: Mailchimp

Emma Langford is an Irish singer-songwriter from Limerick City. She released her debut album, Quiet Giant, in 2017 – for which she received the Best Emerging Artist award at the inaugural RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards. Emma released her second album, Sowing Acorns, in 2020. Emma also curates the Limerick Lady Festival, an initiative which aims to promote female musicians to tackle the issue of gender imbalance in the music industry.In October 2021, it was announced that Langford has been included on the longlist for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in two categories; Album of the Year and Song of the Year.Paul Dillon and Dan O'Neill talk with Emma about Sowing Acorns. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Occasionally, the world produces one of those rare thinkers that alter the course of history. Disney reinvented entertainment, Edison lit up our lives with the light bulb, … and Leo Fender revolutionized the sound of music. If you think about it, Leo Fender has influenced every person on earth today – at least everyone who has ever heard a song. Guitar Player Magazine declared that Clarence Leo Fender is the father of the solid body guitar. Not only did he invent it, but Leo's guitars were used by everyone from Elvis Presley to Eric Clapton and from Jimmy Page to Jimmy Hendrix.  Indeed, Rolling Stone Magazine published a list of the world's top 100 guitarists, and 90 of them used one of Leo's guitars on stage, and the others used guitars that copied Leo's inventions and concepts. The highest price ever spent for music memorabilia was not for Michael Jackson's glove or Elvis' jumpsuit. It was for a Fender Stratocaster, which sold for over $4 million. Our guest today is Dr. Randall Bell, we're going to get a rare look into the world of Leo Fender, The Quiet Giant Heard Around the World.

Occasionally, the world produces one of those rare thinkers that alter the course of history. Disney reinvented entertainment, Edison lit up our lives with the light bulb, … and Leo Fender revolutionized the sound of music. If you think about it, Leo Fender has influenced every person on earth today – at least everyone who has ever heard a song. Guitar Player Magazine declared that Clarence Leo Fender is the father of the solid body guitar. Not only did he invent it, but Leo's guitars were used by everyone from Elvis Presley to Eric Clapton and from Jimmy Page to Jimmy Hendrix.  Indeed, Rolling Stone Magazine published a list of the world's top 100 guitarists, and 90 of them used one of Leo's guitars on stage, and the others used guitars that copied Leo's inventions and concepts. The highest price ever spent for music memorabilia was not for Michael Jackson's glove or Elvis' jumpsuit. It was for a Fender Stratocaster, which sold for over $4 million. Our guest today is Dr. Randall Bell, we're going to get a rare look into the world of Leo Fender, The Quiet Giant Heard Around the World.

Occasionally, the world produces one of those rare thinkers that alter the course of history. Disney reinvented entertainment, Edison lit up our lives with the light bulb, … and Leo Fender revolutionized the sound of music. If you think about it, Leo Fender has influenced every person on earth today – at least everyone who has ever heard a song. Guitar Player Magazine declared that Clarence Leo Fender is the father of the solid body guitar. Not only did he invent it, but Leo's guitars were used by everyone from Elvis Presley to Eric Clapton and from Jimmy Page to Jimmy Hendrix.  Indeed, Rolling Stone Magazine published a list of the world's top 100 guitarists, and 90 of them used one of Leo's guitars on stage, and the others used guitars that copied Leo's inventions and concepts. The highest price ever spent for music memorabilia was not for Michael Jackson's glove or Elvis' jumpsuit. It was for a Fender Stratocaster, which sold for over $4 million. Our guest today is Dr. Randall Bell, we're going to get a rare look into the world of Leo Fender, The Quiet Giant Heard Around the World.

You, me, and the Green Man, kicking back listening to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Sounds like a great time, right?! The Munster Men, Robin Huw Bowen, Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, John McGaha, Emma Langford, Bill Mullen, Willowgreen, Andreas Transø, Bay Allen, Tallymoore, The Badpiper, Banda Gaites Camín de Fierro, Blue Alatar, Jennifer Cutting's Ocean Orchestra, SYR I hope you enjoyed this week's show. If you did, please share the show on social or with a friend. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is here to build our diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If a song or tune inspires you, please support the musicians. You can buy their CDs, digital downloads, shirts, pins, stickers and songbooks. You can follow them on streaming or see their shows. You can support more and more Celtic musicians on Patreon. And of course, I always appreciate it when you drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Every week, you can get Celtic music news in your inbox. The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Subscribe and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. Just list the show number, and the name of as many bands in the episode as you like. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2021 episode.  Vote Now! THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:05 - The Munster Men "Foot of the river" from Tasting The Waters 2:26 - WELCOME 3:21 - Robin Huw Bowen "Pibddawnsiau Sipsi Newydd" from Iaith Enaid Pronunciation: Pib-thawn-she-eye Sip-si Nay-oo-ith Iaith Enaid: E-eye-th En-ide Thanks to Timothy Hughes who offered Welsh pronunciations 6:20 - Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer "Jiggle the Old Bones" from Sleep Deprivation They tell the story about how that song came about on show #243 of Pub Songs & Stories 11:00 - John Mcgaha "Mischief in Shetland" from Origins 16:36 - Emma Langford "The Belle and the Ruin" from Quiet Giant 21:12 - FEEDBACK 22:28 - Bill Mullen "Molly Malone" from The Beginning 25:20 - Willowgreen "Cross over to Ireland / The Rights of Man" from Willowgreen 29:20 - Andreas Transø "If" from The Earth and Everything in It 32:15 - Bay Allen "Humours of Bailey Laughin'" from Celtic Whispers 34:59 - Tallymoore "Leave Her Johnny" from Drive 38:44 - THANKS 42:15 - The Badpiper "Saints Be Praised" from Tradical 44:41 - Banda Gaites Camín de Fierro "Criome mio ma M" from Rock & Fierro 49:13 - Blue Alatar "Dawn Ritual" from The Elements 53:06 - Jennifer Cutting's Ocean Orchestra "Green Man" from Song Of Solstice: Celtic Music For Midwinter 57:05 - CLOSING SYR "Tir n'Aill" from Sentinel The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. The show was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. Subscribe through your favorite podcatcher or on our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME TO CELTIC MUSIC * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I'm a musician and podcaster. Four times a month, I share my love of Irish and Celtic music from around the globe with you. I hope you find a new favorite Celtic band or musician or fall back in love with one. But I'm also here for the artists. The artists in this show need your support which you can do by buying their music or telling a friend about the band you found. You can find a link to all of the artists, along with show times for each song when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com. You can also support this podcast on Patreon. CELTIC CHRISTMAS PODCAST LAUNCH Celtic Christmas Podcast is back starting this Sunday, Nov 19. The first episode is actually the Christmas episode of this podcast from last year. But more than anything, it's a restructuring of podcast. You'll need to become a patron if you want the music-edition of the podcast. Instead, I plan to promote Celtic Christmas music playlists through the new podcast, while also sharing special features of Celtic musicians with Christmas music. I hope you will check it out and also subscribe and listen to the new playlists. THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! Because of Your kind and generous support, this show comes out at least four times a month. Your generosity funds the creation, promotion, and production of the show. It allows us to attract new listeners and to help our community grow. As a patron, you get to hear episodes before regular listeners. When we hit a milestone, you get an extra-long episode. You can pledge a dollar or more per episode and cap how much you want to spend each month over on Patreon. Song Hengers who pledge $5 or more per episode, also get the all new music-only episodes. Plus, you'll get access to hundreds of free MP3 downloads. Sign up in November or raise your pledge and I'll send you a free podcast sticker! A super special thanks to our Celtic Legends who pledge $25 or more per month on Patreon: Dan mcDade, Paul Crowley, Patricia Conner, Carol Baril, Miranda Nelson, Nancie Barnett, Kevin Long, Lynda MacNeil, robert michael kane, Tiffany Knight, Rian P Kegerreis, Annie Lorkowski, Travis Senzaki, Hank Woodward, Shawn Cali You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com. TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticmusicpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to celticpodcast@gmail.com. You can also tag your pic on social media with the hashtag #irishcelticpodcast. Perhaps I'll share it on the podcast. Santiago Alba emailed a photo: "Hi there, I've followed your podcast for years.  And what a better moment to listen while on a rainy day on a commuter train between Glasgow  and Edinburgh. I am part of the Climate Summit Canadian observers here at COP26,  and today you helped me by moving my eyes from the laptop to the window of the train."

Fill yourself up with grog and Celtic music this week on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Slan, The Gatehouse Well, Emma Langford, The Fretless, Sue Spencer, Achill Crossing, Bow Triplets, Niamh Parsons & Graham Dunne, The Guinness Brothers, Fir Arda, The Munster Men, Plunk Murray, The Langer's Ball, The Rumjacks, Turf Fire Liars I hope you enjoyed this week's show. If you did, please share the show on social or with a friend. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is here to build our diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, buy the albums, shirts, and songbooks, follow the artists on streaming, see their shows, and drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Every week, you can get Celtic music news in your inbox. The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Subscribe and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. Just list the show number, and the name of as many bands in the episode as you like. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2021 episode.  Vote Now! THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:06 - Slan "Si Beag si Mor/ Sally Gardens" from Footprints 3:14 - WELCOME 4:37 - The Gatehouse Well "Michael Goes Flatpickin' / Road to Errogie" from Bring You Ashore 9:05 - Emma Langford "Closed Book" from Quiet Giant 12:13 - The Fretless "Wing Commander" from The Fretless 15:22 - Sue Spencer "The Cliffs of Baccalieu" from North Shore 19:27 - FEEDBACK 23:23 - Achill Crossing "James Connolly" from The Rising of the Moon 27:35 - Bow Triplets "Calliope House" from Secret Signs 31:12 - Niamh Parsons & Graham Dunne "Shores of Lough Bran" from Kind Providence 35:12 - The Guinness Brothers "Black Is the Colour" from Live Craic 39:12 - Fir Arda "As I Roved Out" from Single 42:20 - THANKS 44:30 - The Munster Men "Every last drop" from Tasting The Waters 48:46 - Plunk Murray "All for Me Grog" from Another Drink 53:20 - The Langer's Ball "Mackey's Daughter" from The Devil or the Barrel 56:26 - The Rumjacks "Light in my Shadow" from Hestia 59:43 - CLOSING 1:01:04 - Turf Fire Liars "Straight Away" from Long Memories Short Fuses The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. The show was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. Subscribe through your favorite podcatcher or on our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME TO CELTIC MUSIC * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I'm a Celtic musician and podcaster. This show is dedicated to the independent Celtic musicians. Please support these artists. Share the show with your friends. And find more episodes at celticmusicpodcast.com. You can also support this podcast on Patreon. I'm looking for some good stories to share on our companion podcast. Pub Songs & Stories is a Virtual Public House for musicians to share the stories and inspiration behind their music. If you have a story that you'd like to share about a song, from a gig, or maybe even just a piece of Celtic history that you love. Drop me an email. Put “Pub Story” in the show subject. Tell me about your story. Maybe I'll ask you to record your story for the show. THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! Because of Your kind and generous support, this show comes out at least four times a month. Your generosity funds the creation, promotion and production of the show. It allows us to attract new listeners and to help our community grow. As a patron, you get to hear episodes before regular listeners. When we hit a milestone, you get an extra-long episode. You can pledge a dollar or more per episode and cap how much you want to spend each month over on Patreon. And if you pledge $5 or more per episode, you'll also get the all new music-only episodes. I introduce the show, play non-stop music for nearly an hour, and then close the show. Plus, you'll get access to hundreds of free MP3 downloads. A super special thanks to our newest patrons: Joe C, Margreta S You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com. TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticmusicpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to celticpodcast@gmail.com Jocie Hoch emailed a photo from Big Sur, California: "Hi Marc!  I listen to your podcasts at various times while doing ranch work, but always while milking goats; the girls seem to love the Celtic music as well! Thanks for all the great music!" Shepherd in Big Sur, California Cameron morgan emailed photos from 45,000 feet: "Marc, Greetings from 45,000' feet! I'm currently listening to your most recent episode while flying over these great United States (don't worry the music cuts out when we have to speak to ATC) I have been a fan since almost the beginning of the show and listen to every one. I just wanted to thank you so much for all the amazing music over the years and I have collected quite a few wonderful albums from artists because of this show. Recently I hiked the grand Tetons with my family while listening to “life is too short” and it was the perfect backdrop for the beautiful mountains and fun hikes. I can't wait for my little ones to grow up a bit more so we can join you on one of your Celtic invasion vacations! God bless you and your family and thanks so much again!" Shel O'Toole, Singer of Songs, Teller of Tales, Weaver of Webs emailed: "Hi Marc, Thanks for your company today as I was trying to work.  I love that you honour women's voices, their storytelling, the stories,  the melodies and harmonies. Thank you to each of the women I listened to today.  I felt myself embraced by the divine creative feminine.  Then came a connection to culture and in the last song by Amelia Hogan “Cornish Lads” the recognition my music is influenced by Celtic heritage. Here's a song of mine I'd love too share with you. Click here to listen. Have a great week Marc, Sliantè"

It's a summer with great Celtic women on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. The Gothard Sisters, The Bookends, Erin Ruth, Liesel Wilson, Emma Langford, Willowgreen, Elizabeth Sutherland, Anna Bosnick, Tullamore, The Darkeyed Musician & Grimwater, Norah Rendell, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Sora, Amelia Hogan #celticwomen #summerwomen #celticmusic I hope you enjoyed this week's show. If you did, please share the show on social or with a friend. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is here to build our diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, buy the albums, shirts, and songbooks, follow the artists on streaming, see their shows, and drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Every week, you can get Celtic music news in your inbox. The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Subscribe and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. Just list the show number, and the name of as many bands in the episode as you like. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2021 episode.  Vote Now! VOTE IN THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE PODCAST AWARDSThe 16th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards are now accepting nominations! You can nominate the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast by voting online, from now until July 31, 2021 at PodcastAwards.com for both the music category, and the overall people's choice category. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:06 - The Gothard Sisters "Hurricane Ridge" from Dragonfly 3:31 - WELCOME 5:21 - The Bookends "The Millhouse" from Chapter One Cait Watson: Whistle Miriam Hopf: Piano 7:56 - Erin Ruth "The Foggy Dew" from Erin Ruth 11:11 - Liesel Wilson "Horse Racing" from The Path 12:57 - Emma Langford "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" from Quiet Giant 16:12 - FEEDBACK 18:38 - Willowgreen "Tickle Cove Pond" from Inland Sea Sue Spencer: Guitar, Vocals, Button Accordion Georganne Hunter: Gaelic Harp, Whistle Mary Lou Williams: Vocals, bodhran Wendy Nelson: Hammered Dulcimer Liesel Wilson: Fiddle, Vocals Bridget Spencer: FIddle, Octave mandolin Ella Branca: Gaelic Harp 22:52 - Elizabeth Sutherland "Selkie Call of the Sea" from Forest Dreams 26:06 - Anna Bosnick "Eddy & Back / Where's Your Flipping Fiddle / Millenium Bridge" from The Ring 31:57 - Tullamore "Factory Girl" from Timber & Stream Rachel Gaither: Fiddle, Guitar, Vocals Mary Hanover: Hammered Dulcimer, Vocals 38:37 - THANKS 39:45 - The Darkeyed Musician & Grimwater "Wolf Dream" from Illumina 44:33 - Norah Rendell "Forty Fishermen" from Spinning Yarns 49:09 - The Merry Wives of Windsor "I'm a Rover" from Buy Yourself Another 52:28 - Sora "Away" from Ghostlines 56:59 - CLOSING 57:54 - Amelia Hogan "Cornish Lads" from Dispossessed The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. The show was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. Subscribe through your favorite podcatcher or on our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME TO CELTIC MUSIC * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. My name is Marc Gunn. I am a Celtic musician and podcaster. This show is dedicated to the indie Celtic musicians. Please support these artists. Share the show with your friends. And find more episodes at celticmusicpodcast.com. You can also support this podcast on Patreon. I have a very special request. In order to play bands on this podcast, I have to have their permission. In the past, I needed their permission for each individual album that they released. That's rather confusing for most artists. So, I recently updated my permission form. When an artist submits their music now, That permission form is good until 2025. So all new music they submit can be played on the podcast. I am slowly reaching out to past artists on this show who have new music. But of course, there are hundreds of artists who were played on this podcast. If one of your favorite musicians has released a new album in the past five years, can you do us all a favor and ask them to submit their permission to the podcast. After you email them, drop me an email and tell me the name of the band. I will reach out to them and see if I can get their new music on the show. ATTN Celtic Musicians. I'm looking for some good stories to share. You see, I also host the Pub Songs Podcast. I started sharing stories from musicians about their songs. I'd like to do more of those. So if you have a story that you'd like to share about a song, from a gig, or maybe even just a piece of Celtic history that you love. Drop me an email at marc@marcgunn.com. Put “Pub Story” in the show subject. Tell me about your story. Maybe I'll ask you to record your story for the show. THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! Because of Your kind and generous support, this show comes out every week. Your generosity funds the creation, promotion and production of the show. It allows us to attract new listeners and to help our community grow. As a patron, you get to hear episodes before regular listeners. When we hit a milestone, you get an extra-long episode. You can pledge a dollar or more per episode and cap how much you want to spend each month over on Patreon. And starting in August, Song Hengers will get talk-free episodes. A super special thanks to our newest patrons: Erica Portnoy, Michael Downerd, Peter Bengtson, Dave Howard Coons You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com. TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to celticpodcast@gmail.com Martin Donison emailed a photo: "Hey there Marc! Martin here, found out about this show from listening to your Songs from the Verse Firefly podcast! Remember? Supposed to have you guys on my show SiberCast to talk Firefly sometime! Thought I'd share this with ya...just bought an electric bike to commute to work to save on gas money and mileage on my Jeep. It's about 40km and an hour ride, so I bought a bike helmet with speakers built in and Bluetooth connectivity, so I can listen to stuff during the journey...well your show is perfect listening for the Alberta countryside as I ride and it's about the same length too! Thanks for coming along with me! :)"

Man up the music around the house with the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free! Brad Reid, Flook, ÚLLA, John Mcgaha, Emma Langford, The Gothard Sisters, Old Man Flanagan's Ghost, The Darkeyed Musician & Grimwater, Duncan McLauchlan and Glaucia Carvalho, No Murder No Moustache, Count Beetle, Camin de Fierro Pipe Band, Tuatha de Danann, The Badpiper I hope you enjoyed this week's show. If you did, please share the show on social or with a friend. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is here to build our diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, buy the albums, shirts, and songbooks, follow the artists on streaming, see their shows, and drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Every week, you can get Celtic music news in your inbox. The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Subscribe and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. Just list the show number, and the name of as many bands in the episode as you like. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2021 episode.  Vote Now! VOTE IN THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE PODCAST AWARDS The 16th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards are now accepting nominations! You can nominate the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast by voting online, from now until July 31, 2021 at PodcastAwards.com for both the music category, and the overall people's choice category. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:04 - Brad Reid "Trip to Peggy's Cove" from New Scotland 3:24 - WELCOME 4:10 - Flook "Flutopia" from Flatfish 12:07 - ÚLLA "Peggy Gordon" from Ulla 16:34 - John Mcgaha "Man of the House / The Silver Spear / The Blue Idol" from Origins 21:24 - Emma Langford "The Seduction of Eve" from Quiet Giant 27:25 - FEEDBACK 31:02 - The Gothard Sisters "Wise One" from Dragonfly 35:12 - Old Man Flanagan's Ghost "Fisher's Hornpipe" from LIVE 38:39 - The Darkeyed Musician & Grimwater "The Faerie Ring" from Illumina 42:19 - Duncan McLauchlan and Glaucia Carvalho "The bog down in the valley" from McLauchlan's Celtic Brew 45:47 - THANKS 48:29 - Count Beetle "The Rising of the Moon" from Night Blue 51:37 - No Murder No Moustache "Sing! Fight! Run! Survive!" from The Odds Are Stacked Against 54:05 - Camin de Fierro Pipe Band "Enredando" from Rock & Fierro 58:56 - Tuatha de Danann "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" from In Nomine Éireann 1:02:26 - CLOSING 1:04:05 - The Badpiper "Pipe 'n' Slippers" from Tradical The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. The show was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. Subscribe through your favorite podcatcher or on our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME TO CELTIC MUSIC * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I am a Celtic musician and podcaster. This show is dedicated to the indie Celtic musicians. Please support these artists. Share the show with your friends. And find more episodes at celticmusicpodcast.com. You can also support this podcast on Patreon. ATTN Celtic Musicians. I'm looking for some good stories to share. You see, I also host the Pub Songs Podcast. I started sharing stories from musicians about their songs. I'd like to do more of those. So if you have a story that you'd like to share about a song, from a gig, or maybe even just a piece of Celtic history that you love. Drop me an email at marc@marcgunn.com. Put “Pub Story” in the show subject. Tell me about your story. Maybe I'll ask you to record your story for the show. THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! It is because of you that I release this show almost every week. But I want to let you know about a big change this coming to the Song Hengers on Patreon. I started Song Henge in 2006. It was a way to support the podcast when amazing services like Patreon were not available. I sent Song Hengers an album per month of free MP3s from some of the artists on the show. I released 168 of those albums over the past 15 years thanks to the generosity of the musicians on this show. When I started the Patreon page, I continued that feature for everyone who pledged $5 or more per episode. There are over 60 albums currently available for Patrons. However, the world seems to be moving away from MP3s. So I decided to discontinue that service at the end of this year. It's time for a change. I still want something special for Song Hengers. That has finally come. Starting in August, Song Hengers will get a talk-free episode, much like the Sleepytime episode that was released in May. I'll introduce the show, you can listen to the music straight through for about an hour, then I'll remind listeners to look up the artists. Each episode will also include complete shownotes and chapters so you can easily skip around to the artists you enjoy, just like regular episodes. Because I DO want you to keep visiting these artists. But it'll be much more music focused. You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com. A super special thanks to our newest patrons: Thomas B, Chris S, Jennifer W, Emilia L, Solis TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to celticpodcast@gmail.com Peter Bengtson emailed: "Hi Marc, Thanks for the personal message welcoming me to the magazine & Podcast.  I only bumped into the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast a couple of weeks ago.  I'm retired and listen to music quite a lot. I started out listening to folk & bluegrass music.  Sometime in the 90s I sort of switched to classical music and opera. The Covid restrictions have pushed me into taking long walks every day.  I live in Tucson AZ, so these days I have to start walking at sunrise (5:30) these days.  I usually walk for about 2 hours.  Yesterday I listened to your Celtic Women #503 on the first half of the walk.  The second half to Aria Code (opera).  On the drive home I listened to Symphony Hall on SeriusXM.  I enjoyed all three. I really don't like "recurring donations"  If you are a tax deductible organization with a Tax identification number, I can make a donation from my charitable account.  If you are not a tax deductible organization, I can send you a check. I'm looking forward to reading the Celtic Music Magazine and listening to your podcast." He emailed a photo: "Guard Chickens during this morning's hike listening and enjoying episode 510" Make a donation. Juan Manuel Herrera emailed: "¡Hola, Marc! I'm listening to the #509 while trying to organize the rest of my year activities, in a cold night here in Tandil, Argentina. I always loved celtic sounds. When I listened to your podcast for the first time last year I immediately liked it. It's wonderful! Thank you! ¡Muchas gracias! ¡Saludos!" Shel O'Toole emailed: "I thoroughly enjoyed today's show. From the opening tune to the beautiful song that you left us with. As I soaked up the sun through my front window the sounds of my culture brought my soul alive and my whole being smiles. Thank you. Warmly, Shel"

This is part one of a two-part podcast looking at one of the regions quiet giants of industry and business. A 26-acre worksite in the middle of the Capital Region employing up to 1400, we take a look inside the gates of Seaspan Victoria Shipyards to understand more about the work they do with VP-GM Joe O'Rourke.

In conversation with a 2020 Forbes Africa 30 under 30 honoree, Newman Tshepo Ramatokwane, we hear how the young people of Botswana are attempting to make their mark in the economy, how the tourism sector has undermined the locals and how the pandemic has exposed wounds in the nation that have for a long time been ignored. https://linkedin.com/in/newman-ramatokwane-a004a83a --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Season 1. Episode 45. Another in our series of U.S. Sake Brewer interviews takes us to Virginia to talk to Andrew Centofante, Toji and Master Brewer of North American Sake Brewery. Andrew told us about his discovery of premium sake in Japan and then, following his home brewing instincts, he soon found himself propagating koji in his attic and fermenting sake mash low and slow in the basement. By 2018, Andrew was out of the basement and had opened his own brewery - the North American Sake Brewery, which is the first and only kura in Virginia. Taking his cues from the craft brewing industry, Andrew developed some classic sake styles from Superdry to silky super premiums. Today, we had the honor to phone a brewer-friend to get a guided tasting with Andrew and explore their "Quiet Giant" Genshu, and the lux "Serenity Now!" Join us as we explore another cool corner of the USA sake scene: North American Sake Brewery with Andrew Centofante.

Ramon Van Meer is the Founder and CEO of Alpha Paw, a pet-focused company that creates unique, honest products that contribute to the health and happiness of pets everywhere. Alpha Paw has been featured on FOX, NBC, Allure, and many other popular sources. As a serial entrepreneur who specializes in growing and selling businesses, Ramon is also the CEO of Growth Hacker TV, the Founder of Van Meer Capital, and the Co-founder of Toodledo. His life goals are to become the Marcus Lemonis for tech companies and to finally beat his son at chess. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: Ramon Van Meer discusses the driving forces behind his success The importance of checking your ego at the door when starting a business How Ramon found the courage to ask for help and advice despite his introverted personality Ramon talks about reverse engineering the process of selling his business for $100 million Why Ramon decided to bring his fulfillment in-house instead of outsourcing to a 3PL Growth through acquisition vs. growth through SKU expansion Why Ramon doesn’t use Amazon for his business Ramon shares his 10-year-old son’s goal to feed every shelter dog in the world How Ramon and his son, Victor, bought a business through Craigslist that later became Victor’s Doggy Cookies In this episode… Are you eager to take your business to new heights, but don’t know where to start? If so, you’re not alone—and today’s guest may just have the strategies you need to overcome your fears and turn your growth potential into growth prospects. Serial entrepreneur Ramon Van Meer knows the value of real growth opportunities, in business and in life. After experiencing homelessness as a teenager, Ramon moved to the United States as a single father without a college degree. Despite the odds, Ramon slowly began to build his now staggering entrepreneurial career by growing multiple businesses to exponential success. After following positive growth trends and investing in future opportunities, he was able to achieve a million-dollar exit—and now he wants to help other entrepreneurs do the same. In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley sits down with Ramon Van Meer, the Founder and CEO of Alpha Paw, to discuss his inspirational journey toward entrepreneurial growth and success. Listen in as Ramon talks about the importance of authenticity when networking, how to cultivate growth opportunities that result in million-dollar exits, and his son’s goal to feed every shelter dog in the world. Stay tuned! Resources Mentioned in this episode Ramon Van Meer on LinkedIn Alpha Paw Victor's Doggy Cookies Joe Valley Quiet Light Brokerage "Incredible Exits: Ramon Shares Story of his High 9-Figure Sale" on the Quiet Light Podcast “Blogging His Way To $9M in Cash - Ramon Van Meer†on the My First Million Podcast with Sam Parr Hustle Con Bill DAlessandro on LinkedIn Sponsor for this episode... This episode is brought to you by Quiet Light Brokerage, a brokerage firm that wants to help you successfully sell your online business. There is no wrong reason for selling your business. However, there is a right time and a right way. The team of leading entrepreneurs at Quiet Light Brokerage wants to help you discover the right time and strategy for selling your business. By providing trustworthy advice, effective strategies, and honest valuations, your Quiet Light advisor isn’t your every-day broker—they’re your partner and friend through every phase of the exit planning process. If you’re new to the prospect of buying and selling, Quiet Light Brokerage is here to support you. Their plethora of top-notch resources will provide everything you need to know about when and how to buy or sell an online business. Quiet Light offers high-quality videos, articles, podcasts, and guides to help you make the best decision for your online business. Not sure what your business is really worth? No worries. Quiet Light Brokerage offers a free valuation and marketplace-ready assessment on their website, quietlightbrokerage.com. That’s right—this quick, easy, and free valuation has no strings attached. Knowing the true value of your business has never been easier! What are you waiting for? Quiet Light Brokerage is offering the best experience, strategies, and advice to make your exit successful. To learn more, go to quietlightbrokerage.com, email inquiries@quietlightbrokerage.com, or call 800.746.5034 today. Episode Transcript Intro  0:07   Hi, folks, it's the Quiet Light Podcast where we share relentlessly honest insights, actionable tips, and entrepreneurial stories that will help founders identify and reach their goals. Joe Valley  0:24   Hey, folks, thanks again for joining the Quiet Light Podcast. Today's episode, as always, is brought to you by Quiet Light Brokerage, where each and every advisor on the team has built, bought or sold their own online business, I've sold close to 100 million now. And that used to sound like a big number. But you know, Walker and Brian got one closing in a couple of weeks for 20 million, Brad's working on it, believe it or not pocket deal for close to 25 million where he's got two offers on it. Don't be overwhelmed though, if you've got something for half a million or 2 million in value. That's kind of our sweet spot. And we're here to help. First and foremost, if you don't understand the value of your online business, you probably don't understand the value of your greatest asset. So I would advise you strongly to reach out go to who quietlightbrokerage.com click on evaluation form and let us help. That's what we're here to do. First and foremost, most of the people that we help we talked to for months or years at a time before they begin to before they list their business for sale. And one of those folks that I've helped is this guy on the line now his name is Ramon Van Meer. And let me tell you a little about him. He's actually a good friend of mine now. I was sitting outside a dojo my son was working out. And I get a call from a former advisor here in the team says hey, look, I sold this business for this guy. Ramon you remember him is great guy loved him. And he's looking to sell the next business. Let me just tell you how the numbers went in Ramon’s history and a little bit of background. And yes, I'm gonna maybe embarrass you a little bit here. Ramon. Ramon is from Holland, he was homeless at one point as a teenager, a serial entrepreneur, not college educated. A single father came to the United States first business he sold it I may not get these numbers exactly right. But somewhere around $7,000 second business he sold somewhere in the $20,000 range third business he sold somewhere in the $220,000 range. And the next this is the one that I got the call from and we achieve was in the just under $9 million range. And he's not done yet. For those watching on video, there's an image behind Ramon’s head that says Alpha Paw and there's a picture of a unicorn back there. And he just explained to me what a unicorn is and what his goal is a unicorn valuation for those that don't know, is a business that is valued at a billion dollars not sold for but valued. Is that right? valued at a billion dollars. Ramon Van Meer  3:07   Yeah, value. But of course my goal is to exit the you know, have that unicorn exit. Joe Valley  3:15   Yeah, one day. So all round guys here. Not only is the entrepreneurial journey, the personal journey, the triumphs, there's a few tragedies along the way as every entrepreneur and individual has in life. Are they not just all impressive, but on top of it all? He's actually just a humble nice guy. He had to clean up his office in the background before we started recording. Yes, he's actually just like the rest of us. It's usually a mess. My camera is zoomed in on only the clean things in my office. I had to ask my dog to leave before we got stuck in the carpet before we recorded I thought that would be an interesting part of recording. But I passed on it. Anyway, Ramon, welcome back to the podcast. One of the one of the reasons we're having you here again, and having you and thanking you for tolerating us taking more of your time is that we've produced a video a little mini film on your story called Quiet Giants. And you tolerated Chris Moore coming out and getting you up at the crack of dawn not that you're up at the crack of dawn anyway, not up to the crack of dawn anyway, but that's going to come out folks on October 8. In conjunction with this podcast. Thank you for listening if you're listening right now, after the recording, I'd suggest you go to Quiet Light Brokerage and do the search for Quiet Giants or go to our YouTube page and look for Quiet Giants you're going to see and hear and get to know remotes full story and it's just simply motivation is what it is. And that's the purpose of this episode anyway and he stopped flapping my jaw. Ramon, how are you today? Ramon Van Meer  4:55   Doing great. Thank you so much for having me. Again. Joe Valley  4:59   Again. Thanks for joining Joining us again. Look, what is it that drives you? What is it that motivates you in in Victor's what, 10 years old now your son in the, in the last 10 years, you've gone from a negative net worth to a pretty positive one are now shooting for a unicorn valuation? What is it? Is it simply money that drives you? Or is it the, you know, achieving that next hurdle and the learning and the knowledge? What is it? Help me out? Unknown Speaker  5:30   Yeah. Ramon Van Meer  5:32   It's definitely not just money. Of course, money is a part of motivation. But if it was just money, I would have retired probably after, you know, selling the soap opera blog, I put everything in boring as you know, index funds, and you know, live happily close, quiet. It's more of a journey, it is building cool things, helping you know, other people. And, and also see, like, see if you can pull it off, basically. So, I in my career as an intrapreneur, most were failures, but it's all across the board. It's not like I was passionate about, you know, one thing and I just, you know, dedicated 20 years of my life on, you know, becoming the best knitter or like writer or whatever it is, it's for me, it was always across the board from selling custom eight, pin Jada's online that I sold, you know, for $20,000 that website to a stock broker software that I, you know, helps build and then, you know, sold subscriptions to, to a soap opera blog that, you know, I never actually watched a soap opera episode in my life. So it's more also like the challenge and see if you can pull it off. And learning along the way I'd love to learn. Joe Valley  7:03   What's fascinating is that you you're not Hispanic with pinatas as part of your life growing up, you're not a stockbroker or trader, you don't know how to do that. It's not what your skill set is. You've never watched a soap opera. I'm assuming now because Alpha Paw is a pet related business that you have. I know you do. You've got it. You've got a dog, I assume you've got pets. But that doesn't mean that you then become an expert on the subject. How is it that first and foremost that you? What do you say to somebody that just has a fear of their lack of experience or knowledge, they say I don't know how to do that. You don't know how to do this either yet you're doing it you don't have experience in all those things that you've successfully built and sold in terms of the the niche itself. You I would want to say you don't know how to build a value a billion dollar valuation company because you didn't work for one and you don't come from the private equity world. You know, you're just a guy hustling and working hard. And you said something in there that was helping others mean meaning you're a good human. And I think that makes a difference. But how do you? How do you get beyond that? I don't know how to do that, too. I'm not afraid to ask kind of thing. Yeah. Which is a major challenge and roadblock for a lot of people. Ramon Van Meer  8:24   Um, yeah, I think it comes natural that I'm having like zero ego go into something and try to ask advice and help from people that have been doing it already, or have done it in the past. And then not, you know, my ego was busted 20 years ago, like when I had these big failures, like, you know, I was, I had a, I was promoting, like parties, like rave parties, like these EDM, like so I rented a big hall, got famous Dutch DJ, playing EDM, and, you know, was bragging to everybody that's going to be the party of the century, everybody should come. I was able to get on local TV and newspapers with interviews and boasting like, oh, man, if you're not going to be there, you know, you're gonna miss out. I need a 2000 people to break even. And it was a huge, huge square footage, like a huge Hall. And at the end in the middle of the night, basically, there were like 200 people there. hundred of them were friends, family, you know, people that I knew. So basically hundred sold tickets, and I still have to do a freaking TV interview within the background and empty hall. And like I was early 20s and I was so sick to my stomach of embarrassment like fog like Yo, what's wrong and like, what Like, I worked my ass off for months, and this and I really believed in it, and then I still have to stick around and do this freaking TV interview. So long story short, my ego has been, you know, humbled many, many years ago. So, not to be afraid or embarrassed to fail or to make mistakes, or, you know, I think that really helps me today to just, you know, fucking anything worse than that is not going to happen anymore. So like, yeah, Joe Valley  10:29   I think failure is part of the entrepreneurial journey, or, you know, athletic journey or political journey, whatever it might be. Failure is just part of it. And you've got to accept it and not take it personally. But personally, have you ever approached someone and said, Hey, can you help me with this? Can I pick your brain on this? And they were rude and said, Hell no, go away? Ramon Van Meer  10:57   Um, that's a good question, actually. Uh, well, definitely. Now, it's easier because I think, you know, the more, Joe Valley  11:07   you've had some success, they know who you are. Ramon Van Meer  11:08   Yes, exactly. Or I can ask, you know, I'm friends know, with people that have, you know, big network. Yeah, if they Google me my name, there's some stuff coming up. So now it's becoming easier. And then I always say the biggest asset is your network. And you have to really build that up. And it takes time. Let me Joe Valley  11:28   give you let me give you an example, though. The last time we saw each other was in St. Pete at the Blue Ribbon mastermind event. And I remember one of the presenters, there was a young woman, I can't remember the business that she was talking about. But she was Lord to come be the CEO of the company. And she could have talked about it. Later in an event I saw you down at the luncheon just picking her brain walked right up, started talking to her out of the blue. And I think 90% of the people in the room wouldn't feel comfortable with that, because she was such a great speaker and so impressive. And her pedigree you walked right up and had a long conversation with her and pick your brain about that. Is that a certain courage that comes with your success? Or have you always been that way? Ramon Van Meer  12:15   No, actually, as you know, like, I'm taking my personalities the opposite. I'm a very introverted person. I don't like public speaking. I don't like to be on stage. I don't like to be on camera to be honest. I will typically not just walk up to people, I don't know. Unknown Speaker  12:35   But Ramon Van Meer  12:38   again, those cases I think is, especially if you've come from a position like hey, I, you know, you're doing a great job. I want to learn from you. What I've learned myself is that 90% 90 plus percent, especially in the industry, we are in, people love to help other entrepreneurs. And especially if it comes across authentic, not just like, Hey, you know, I just want to use you for your information, but no, like if it's an authentic request. That's how I met Sam Parr and part at Ron he’s the founder of Hustle Con and the newsletter, the hustle. And I went to his first conference, many, many years ago, I was like, 300 people. This was before his big newsletter success. But I find them on Facebook. just messaged him, too. Hey, I just went, Oh, I bought a T shirts actually. Say the hospital or whatever. took a picture of myself. Send him to Facebook Messenger. Hey, I was yesterday. They're big fan. I got the T shirt. Check me out. I would love to invite you for coffee. And he said yes. And I ended up actually investing in his company. We became really good friends. He now advises me and all my companies. And I got a lot of really good relationships through that friendship. And it was just me messaging him Joe Valley  14:14   and just putting yourself out there. Yeah. And I love the part where you're not just trying to you know, make it one sided. You're helping Sam as well you guys. You know, you obviously become friends. Sam's a great guy for anybody that hasn't checked out the hustler trends or hustle con or any of that please do yourself a favor and check it out. Sam's one of the other folks that I would you know, you know be part of the good human club if if I was to create such a club hippie hippie right there at the top with with Ramon but putting yourself out there it's funny the sending the picture. Like the reason we do video like this is because it just breaks down barriers and you took a picture of yourself and you sent it to them. I had a Conversation with. I think it was Scott Volker a few months ago that he was trying to early on reach somebody. And instead of just reaching out cold, he actually shot a quick video of himself on the screen. He said, Hey, so and so I love your book. This is what I think I could help you with and, you know, not looking for anything in return. I don't even know if that's exactly what he said. But it was the breaking of the barriers and reaching out and being human and not necessarily being afraid of. What if they say no, we're not teenagers anymore, right? I've got two of those. And, you know, asking a girl on a date is horrifying. What if they say, Oh, yeah, yes. It's okay. rejection is part of life failure is part of being an entrepreneur. So put yourself out there, but help first is what you're saying. Right? Ramon Van Meer  15:43   Well, yeah, or be authentic, like so now, after our podcasts, and I did a podcast with Sean it's The Hustle as well. So I get some people asking, you know, questions to me to like, especially through LinkedIn. And if I don't answer to them all because I just don't have the time but if I noticed, it's just like, or you're just out there just like for yourself basically, I don't respond. But other messages that are more sincere and you know, authentic. Then I jumped on a call with as many people as Joe Valley  16:20   you can and help them so blanket candy emails, stopped doing it people get person Yeah, make it sincere, make it authentic. The other podcast that Ramon just mentioned is called My First Million with Sean Parr, I would definitely recommend listening to that. It's part of Sam's group as well. And it's it's fantastic. You'll get much deeper, fuller detail a remote store there. If you if you like listening to podcasts, I'd go to that one as well. Ramon Van Meer  16:45   Yeah, let's not very quick plug sent too much. But he has like, he taught me actually how to cold email really good. Like he's the master. But all his speakers, he doesn't pay actually for his conference. They all come for free. And I think he has an article there like he's just Google Ads, I think, or video where he breaks down like, Okay, this is if you want to reach somebody doesn't matter if it's a CEO of Pandora or the founder of you know, then he, you know, this is how I did it. And it's pretty, pretty simple. So Joe Valley  17:22   definitely check it out, folks in Sam, if you're listening, we're happy to plug in because you're a great guy, and you're helping so many people with what we do every day. Let's talk about your your unicorn. Back there in the background. One when you sold. Thank you. Yes, he's for those not on video. He's pointing to it. When you sold your last business require like you had never really done physical product e commerce businesses. You found this one. You took what was a business doing less than a million dollars in year a year in revenue, and doing some amazing, amazing things. A friend of ours in common. Matthew DeWalt, who's a former and I get this wrong. He wasn't the CFO of Priceline, but he was up there. He calls you one of the top five digital marketers he's ever met. And being a guy at Priceline, he could tell he's met a lot of people Ramon’s trying to be humble, shaking his head back there going. That's just you know, I, I give him too much beer. That's why he says that that's not the case at all. Um, you you you make the leap into e commerce. You're How is it that you go about saying, you take this business is doing less than a million in revenue, and you're trying to shoot for a billion dollar valuation? How long does it take? How do you figure out? How do you we talked about this in the interview for the book? How did you reverse engineer what it takes to sell your business for 100 million dollars, which I think is your goal, which may be changing and growing? How did you do that? Was it again more conversations? Do you read? How does it work? Ramon Van Meer  19:06   Yeah. Um, so yeah, this case, I bought this business. I'm a and so there was already an existing supply chain and existing product. And so then I can just focus on the growth, but because I never really done it. So I had to learn along the way is go look at other companies that you admire. And first, actually, Sam again. Again, I hate to be broken record, but he introduced me to another friend of his Roman Roman con. And he is also like a legend in e commerce. And I asked like, Hey, can I pick your brain? I like how do you do this? How do you do that? Then, after first meeting, I sent him an email, say, Hey, you know, I've never done this. I don't know how to ask this properly or like, for sure you get many of these emails requests. Do you want to be come my mentor? Like, is it okay to mentor? And? And, you know, he said yes. So he started mentoring me, Joe Valley  20:22   what's in it for him and the mentoring aspect. Ramon Van Meer  20:26   So we go back and forth. It's like, I want to give him equity. So typically, in mentorship or an advisory role, you give up equity or Phantom units. So but up to today, he has not accepted it yet. So we're gonna have to fight for it later that he's gonna accept my, my equity, but typically, an advisor, mentor, you give equity in your company? Joe Valley  21:00   Did you offer that right away? Or did you just go the humble, please? Would you consider being a mentor, can I pick your brain? Ramon Van Meer  21:06   No, I offered right away, because, and if you accept this or not, he's gonna get it, I'm just gonna deposit it into his, you know, son's bank accounts or wherever. But I think if I approach everything that if you help me become a better or, you know, learn or helping the business to get more revenue, I want to share that with you, I have to share it with you has to be a win win. Unknown Speaker  21:38   situation, Joe Valley  21:40   your situation with with gold planning and things of that nature, I'm thinking back to the sharing of, you know, wealth and goals. In last exit. I know you wrapped up some employees and you they benefited from it as well. But I remember the one of the one of the buyers visited you personally and said that your goals on the whiteboard behind the conference table that you guys were meeting at, were just incredible. And it was more about the number of people that you wanted to help. When it comes to I mean, I we get the the connection and asking for help and mentoring. And in this case, saying, hey, look, I'll give you some, you know, a small share in the business and, and of course, there's like, Come on, let me just buy you a beer. And we'll have some conversations, and it leads to a great friendship. And I love that you're going to just deposit money to his son's account, whether he likes it or not. That again, good human doing the right thing, thinking about others first. But goal setting, like how did you pick a number of the exit that you wanted? And how do you manage your day to day tasks to get not wrapped up in just responding to emails and always looking at that bigger picture? It's challenged, I would imagine. Ramon Van Meer  22:53   Yes, but I like for me personally, and everybody has different styles or opinions about it. But for me, personally, I like to have an exit strategy when I start something, because then it's for me easier to reverse engineer. So to give you an example, my initial target was to sell alpha pa $400 million. Unknown Speaker  23:21   Then Joe Valley  23:22   mind if you know, it's not too big of a goal, okay, Ramon Van Meer  23:25   yeah. But, uh, and to be honest, like, even if it, if I didn't hit it and still sell for 60 million, it's gonna be great exit. So it's not like, if I don't use it, like, oh, if I don't hit that target, then I'm a loser. It's a failure. I think it's just, if you reverse engineer from your ideal target, so hundred million, you kind of know, okay, selling on on, you know, a marketplace online is not going to the buyer is not going to be that like, you know what type of buyers you have to go after, then you can do research, okay. $400 million pet company, what type of company or who would be our ideal buyer or potential buyers, so you can make a hit list. I have one here too. And you can make a hit list of potential buyers, then you can look and do research. What other similar companies did they bought in the past? And what did they look at? Did they look at revenue? Did they look at profit? Did they look at just brand too delicate user growth, like the different metrics and every I think in every different level, like maybe you know, a website, up 2 million is more focused on EBIT our 10 million like there's specific ranges where for example, the metric is just ever like profit last 12 months profit, a you know, put a formula on it but you know hundred million dollar acquisitions, they also look at other things. So in the pet space, for example, and other spaces, they look more often at revenue. And you know, doesn't really matter if you have 12% profit or 18%, it's more revenue. So then you can reverse engineer, okay? In order to sell 400 million, I need to, we need to have our metrics at XYZ. So we need to do 30 million in revenue, 10 10 million, whatever those those numbers are. Now that creates, but you know, what's revenue, what profits what to focus on? Unknown Speaker  25:39   And then Ramon Van Meer  25:41   they start talking to like, I'm already talking even though I don't have an exit date in mind, I already start talking with bankers and private equity and try to talk, I reach out to people that work at my kill list companies, and just try to pick their brains and just to you know, like, how many acquisitions like what was what was the last acquisition, what was the valuation? You know? Why did they bought XYZ company and why not start a company like things like that. So you can already you know, basically, steer the universe basically, to that outcome. Joe Valley  26:27   If that makes sense, and, and you can do that while juggling the company that you're growing as well obviously. For those that are listening, instead of watching, I want you to understand that Ramon is sitting there in jeans and a T shirt I'm sorry, shorts and a T shirt. He lives in California. Fortunately, safe from the firefight. forest fires in the moment. regular guy you're not in a big corporate office with a team of 100 employees. All and let's let's talk about staffing and whatnot all in with employees and VA. How many do you have today? All Park I know, I get hard to keep track of them all. But sometimes I know. Ramon Van Meer  27:15   So we made a decision two months ago to bring fulfillment in house. So for people that are not in e commerce, when you sell a physical product, a big part of your you know, operations is like you need to store all your products in a warehouse. And you need a company or team to put it in shipping boxes and ship it you know, ship your product to the customer. So I decided to bring it in house. And so we have a warehouse in office in Las Vegas. And including the warehouse team we're now in VHS you know less than 20 people Joe Valley  27:58   less than 20 people including the warehouse folks, how many how many folks are at the warehouse? Ramon Van Meer  28:02   A nine Joe Valley  28:04   nine So prior to that you were like 10 people Yeah. Which is pretty amazing. And in regards to the warehouse you know it's you're not a warehouse operator, you know running the fulfillment center you're choosing to do that why did you make that choice? versus outsourcing to a 3PL Was it because of that big picture goal and growth that you needed in margins? Or is it just a need to control all of these touch points of your business? Unknown Speaker  28:39   Yeah. Ramon Van Meer  28:41   It's like the fulfillment in house versus using a 3PL and other company to do it for you is an ongoing debate basically, typically people don't advise you to bring it in house because and I've learned now as well like I still don't regret the decision but I am living it now that it is it took it's like basically running a separate totally different business with different challenges, issues, etc. But three reasons I think having control over the user experience of getting your packages on time and you know the correct products that's a huge benefit. Versus you know, going with a three PL doesn't mean there's no headache to like I had to have a full time person basically not full time but like, like every day to where issues of the wrong product sands or they they had delays and they were like four days behind like people ordered last week and still products were not shipped out or they suddenly found six pallets of my product. In warehouse like they Unknown Speaker  30:02   just like sounds like Amazon. Oh my goodness. Ramon Van Meer  30:04   Yeah, exactly. So having more control over when the products go out like now for example, we get emails, because sometimes we're often now you order in, you placed an order in the morning, you already get your tracking them in afternoon, and we get emails saying like, Oh my god, this is amazing, so fast, you know, appreciate it. And cost saving. Definitely, you know, three pills a day make money on a lot of things, you know, pick and pack fee really adds up. Unknown Speaker  30:45   So Joe Valley  30:46   for the person, when you decided to open up your own fulfillment center, you're nuts, by the way, but good for you. It's obviously gonna work out. Did you? Did you bring somebody on with a ton of, you know, fulfillment experience, obviously, to sort of run that ship for you? Ramon Van Meer  31:01   Yes. So when I made the decision, all my friends and advisors advised me not to do it. And but I'm a little stubborn, in that sense of like, I want to try it. Like, my mindset to I think this is also important is that 99% of your decisions, you can always go back from the only thing I won't be heard is your ego basic. And really, we don't carry ego, okay, we'll bring fulfillment in house, it's a shit show headache, fuck it, which is the back, I will just hire a couple trucks and ship all my products back to the same three people that I've worked with. Like, there's not really it's not the end of the world basically. And, you know, I like it, I learned a lot. I the big thing is, is to is when you do it yourself, and the whole team, everybody in my team, including my myself, it's like we're trying to find ways how can we ship this more efficient? How can we ship? How can I make this box? Smaller? How can we maybe put this package in this other package? So we don't have to pay double shipping? And we just do. So everybody's mindset is about like how can we make the user experience better? And how can we make this cost more cost efficient? Joe Valley  32:24   to necessarily get that from a 3PL? No, Ramon Van Meer  32:27   it doesn't matter. I have friends that are huge. econ brands work with a 3PL and they're still just a number, like four to 3PL like they don't have. Joe Valley  32:40   So it makes sense. You know, we I think you've met build elisandra we had him on the podcast, he's a friend of quiet lights down a Sharla elements brands, by the way, they have a pet related brand as well, a pet food related brand as well, and do the same thing they fulfill on their own because they can they can do it better than the people in the fulfillment center care. It's not for everyone. Obviously, we're not advocating everybody go develop a fulfillment center. I like to say be careful of promoting yourself to your own level of incompetence. Ramon has yet to determine what that level of incompetence is obviously because your your heights keep growing and it's pretty damn amazing. Let's talk about growth through acquisition versus growth through skew expansion. Mm. Which approach Are you taking? Because when you started this journey, you bought one brand, which had more or less one skew? If I recall that did the bulk of the revenue. Have you simply expanded skews for the most part? And that's accounting for most of your growth? Or have you continued to acquire other brands to put into the Alpha Paw portfolio and that's helping you grow more? Unknown Speaker  34:00   Yeah. Ramon Van Meer  34:02   In my case, I've done both. So I bought when I bought this business, it was just one product lines, whew. But the product has or has a ceiling. Basically, there's only X amount of potential customers that needs this product. You know, so it was not this is not a product for all dogs. It's for you know, specific breeds. So there's there was a ceiling. So, you know, I knew I cannot get to 200 million or a unicorn status or whatever, with just this one product. Right. So then I bought a couple other smaller brands that actually were only selling on Amazon Unknown Speaker  34:57   and Ramon Van Meer  35:00   Took them over and then brought them off Amazon and just added rebranded rebranded those products to Alpha Paw, and started selling them in our on your own Shopify. In our Shopify store, Joe Valley  35:15   hey, in that regard before I forget, Ramon Van Meer  35:18   yes, Joe Valley  35:19   Amazon versus Shopify or your own website, you're really not an Amazon guy here, you're driving most of this revenue through your own traffic, owning the customers creating repeat experiences and things of that nature. Is that is that an accurate statement? Ramon Van Meer  35:36   Yes. And I know, several people, and we are both friends with several people that are very successful on Amazon. Sure. Me personally, I think, if you want to build a brand, like a real big brands, eventually you're going to have to go off of Amazon, in my opinion, you know, Amazon owes your customers. And I think there's more value if you own your customer and customer data. No, you know, I know, Joe Valley has two dogs. One is called gotcha dogs named yafei. Joe Valley  36:24   Dasher and Willow, for those that want to know that Ramon Van Meer  36:26   show Willow, and they're excellent, you know, they're one is two years, one in six years, whatever, the and the breeds, then, you know, I think there's a huge asset, if you build a customer database of you know, that information, that's going to be value. This can be a high value for potential buyer, Joe Valley  36:48   when you have that customer database of information, does it help inform your decision on your next cue expansion or purchase in terms of brands? Ramon Van Meer  36:57   Yeah, so especially when you already have a customer base, or have a huge following on social media, instead of, you know, making an assumption, Oh, for sure, people will love, you know, XYZ, you know, let's just start this product and buy a cup of containers, what we typically do is, is following we first ask our current customer base, is this a product that you use? If so, how many? How often do you buy it? Where do you buy, like a survey about a product idea. And we share it across social media, our email list, etc, etc. Then, if that's a positive, positive signal, and I know, you know, surveys are not waterproof, you know. But if there's a positive signal, we try to drop ship first, that same product, so we can learn the economics behind how Oh, face running Facebook ads for days products, without buying, you know, hundred thousand dollars, a million dollar, whatever the is an inventory, run Facebook ads, email marketing, all kinds of stuff. And then we can see how much it costs to acquire customer and what's the return on adspend, etc. If those are also positive, then we start looking at to sourcing, you know, the product herself, and then that whole process starts of sourcing ourselves. Joe Valley  38:39   That's a great way to do it so that you're not investing a ton of money and inventory and have it be a bust each and every time. Yeah. Unknown Speaker  38:46   quick questions back to the Joe Valley  38:49   skew expansion versus buy and bolt on what what percentage of your and ballpark numbers current revenue is from businesses that you've bought versus maybe expanded skews from those businesses? And that's probably an impossible question to answer. Ramon Van Meer  39:09   Yeah, well, I could answer this is that in the beginning, I to increase revenue. I acquired several Unknown Speaker  39:19   brass. Ramon Van Meer  39:20   Yeah. Now I'm more on the other side where I just try to develop because a couple things like you never know. I'm still looking but like, I want to you know, we're working on healthy doggy dog cookies, right for my son is involved in that project. But there's no dog cookie business for sale at the moment, right. So as often we come up with ideas and you know, there's no company that you can buy, right? So we're not going to wait for an acquisition to get into Product skew, which is then start ourselves. But I'm a big believer in growth by acquisition because especially if it has other assets, besides, you know, sales data or sales history, if they have an email list, if they have a customer base database with addresses that you can send, you know, direct mail to, maybe they are also an Amazon and have a huge history and alar, large, you know, a lot, maybe many reviews, things like that. So we do the approach, basically both. But at this stage, because we need to add a lot more products, we were actually launching most of our products ourselves. Yeah, it's like, it's not a like acquisition. Joe Valley  40:51   Yeah. How important in your unicorn valuation your your personal exit goal is the recurring revenue aspect of the business model that you have, versus this is for folks, I'm talking about a one off sale of a growing apron versus you know, the propane that people have to get on a regular basis of course, get that luckily for the tank, but recurring revenue versus one off sales in this large valuation approaches. Is it critical that you serve shooting shooting for a certain percentage of total revenue being recurring? Or is it just case by case basis? Ramon Van Meer  41:30   Most of our decisions are basically have to answer yes to the question, will this eventually get us more recurring revenue basically. So it's very important, I think it's going to help lower your valuation. It's, it's good for your own revenue, because it compounds right your revenue growth, especially if you have a good product that people will keep buying. Unknown Speaker  42:02   So Ramon Van Meer  42:05   I Yeah, definitely. When we look at new products, the number one question is is a recurring product, this is a product that everybody needs, you know, because we need every day, every week, every month, whatever that answer is, okay. But it's not if it's not If the answer is no, this means that we right away scrap that idea, but then it really has to have some other things like a high margin or like super, you know, a big ARV or other questions. But yeah, recurring is Unknown Speaker  42:46   very important for us Joe Valley  42:48   at it. Got it. For again, for folks that are hearing this for the first time, I want you to definitely check out the quiet giants episode, where our cmo and filmmaker Chris Moore, dragged Ramon out of the bed at the crack of dawn bored him to death with preparations and questions and all that we get to see Ramon in his real world and his real story, and it's inspiring Simply put, I think, I think that the title one of the words is the fighter in there because a little bit of bit of your background but also because you're just focused on never giving up and fighting for success while being good human at the same time. Being a single father to Victor and doing what you're doing in terms of that you know, the organic cookie business their dog dog biscuit does this is by the by the way is that is that website live yet? Ramon Van Meer  43:52   His life. So yeah, you watch this. Here it is you have a dog. This is going to be my first plug I ever did. But this one my son so I don't feel that bad. But yeah, victorscookies.com. And he is going to donate for each bag of cookies that he sells. he donates one meal to a shelter dog. Wow. So his mission is actually pretty simple. It's like his mission is to feed every single Joe Valley  44:22   shelter dog in the world. There's victorscookies.com feed every shelter dog in the world pretty. Again, the van Meir ambition is so damn impressive. I mean, he's 10 he wants to feed every dog shelter in the world. The goals you don't set them lightly, that's for sure. Unknown Speaker  44:45   But he can Ramon Van Meer  44:47   you know a little bit very proud of that little bit. But yeah, he came up on a within itself. So one of my co workers shot a video. Like an like a commercial like An ad with him. And I didn't read the script. I didn't saw anything until it was a finished product. And then yeah, he came up with idea like, yeah, my mission is to feed every single shelter doc in the world Joe Valley  45:16   at an incredible rate. I told remote folks, I told them a month or so when I got when I heard about this that I wanted to have Victor on the podcast, and I'm going to make good on that. Victor is probably more of an introvert than Ramon. So it may be cute and shy and stumbling, and I'll pull as much information out of them as time comes. I think everybody here should go to victorscookies.com. And and buy some, buy some dog biscuits, organic dog biscuits for your pet, or your neighbors to do that today, please, I'm gonna guess Ramon Van Meer  45:52   we make it ourselves. So it's not like a like a white label. You know? You know, that's another company Vic Baker's making its own or whatever. It's like we actually it's our own recipe that we own. And we have a professional kitchen. And of course, he has a baker actually has an employee already. Helping. Unknown Speaker  46:15   Good employee. Ramon Van Meer  46:16   Yes. And she's amazing. Joe Valley  46:18   Let's, let's, if I recall the story, you Yeah, you didn't go out and buy equipment raw from a you know, manufacturer or anything like this. You put in you found a business that was established and but older and modified it and or is that still hold true? Where you found this through Craigslist originally? Yeah. This is this is I I just want you to just cover this real quickly. But this is what entrepreneurship is all about folks, is it you have to go out and and seek it and find it and attack it and climb that hill? And don't let the traditional ways get in your way and these obstacles that you know, you're like, I don't know how to do that, or I've never done that. Or, you know, they're gonna say no, just you got to go out and find a way to do it. And that's exactly what you did in this situation. Okay, I'll be quiet now tell us what you did to actually find this business. And Ramon Van Meer  47:15   yeah, so I don't know anything about baking, cooking, especially in a dark cookies. So I just put an ad out on Craigslist, looking for somebody that knows knows something about doc cookies that will pay for your time to pick your brain. I forgot like hundred dollars for an hour or something just or half hour just to jump on a call. And you know, sometimes you don't get anything at all. But in this case, in the same day, I got an email back from a very nice gentleman said saying that he used to have a doc cookie company very small but still was selling in some local supermarket chains and pet stores. And he was actually also an author turned out to be an author of a book about healthy dog foods like you know, what should you give your dog whatnot it was really important that you know the cookies Victor's going to sell or healthy and yeah, jumped on a call with him not actually with the mindset all I want to buy it is I just went very open minded to it just trying to learn as much as possible. And just in that conversation, I just asked him Hey, like, do you still own this company and recipes and he said yeah, so everything. Oh, are you open to selling it so and he was so we bought eight original recipes that we own now. And alongside with everything and very sweet man he even sent us his actual cookie cutters and his dough roller like he's he said this The package is all his his whole thing. In the same thing, okay, now we have the recipe and we know a little bit more about it like you know what to do what not to do with licensing permits. He taught us everything. Now we need to find somebody to make you I cannot make you know, hundred bags a day or victory neater you still have to go to school for a couple years at least and put an ad out looking for you know, this is idea. My son and I are working on a doc cookie company and turned out the first or second email we got was Jamie who is the head pastry chef at Caesars Entertainment So, not only knows she knows how to make anything pastry, like from cookies to whatever, she also knows the economics like calculating how much up to the sense, you know, of ingredient goes into each cookie. If we just do one cookie less then we can, you know, save X amount of dollars per bag. So also like the economics behind it. And yeah, amazing, amazing fight. Joe Valley  50:33   Brilliant. I love it. You just didn't know where that journey was going to take you when you put an ad in Craigslist. Or where the journey was going to take you when you bought your first business on Flippa which is I think where you started and eventually sold it at first one for twice what you bought it for, which was a big sale of $7,000 or so give or take. It's It's It's an amazing journey, Ramon you're you're you're good man, a good heelan a good great entrepreneur and a good friend. I appreciate you tolerating another 15 minutes of me poking you with questions. Oh, I'm sure I'm really excited to have the public. See the Quiet Giants episode with a fighter you Ramon Van Meer, because it's motivating and inspiring. And I think it'll get some people off the I wish, I wish I wish and on to the I'm doing it. I'm taking some action and moving forward. I expect to succeed even though I will fail along the way here and there. And that doesn't bother me at all. I'm still going to do it. If remote can do it. I'm going to do it to kind of attitude. So you're good man. I'm gonna as soon as this is over, I'm going to victorscookies.com and look for an order. So you tell him to look for an order to send a North Carolina here shortly. I beg everybody else to do so as well. And check out alpha pi is it alpha pod.com? Yeah, check out Alpha Paw all the products and sign up folks see how see how Ramon does the marketing become a customer pay attention if you want to learn something, become a customer and you're going to see how they treat you and how they reach you and how they inspire you and, and and help you first and foremost and and then you become a customer as well. And maybe someday you too will have a unicorn valuation a billion dollars. We're gonna have to have you back on as long as you promise when you and I, I yes, I just said, I'm sorry for taking up more of your time. And now I'm saying I'm gonna have to have you back on. But as long as you promised that when you hit that hundred million dollar exit, or whatever the number might be, that's going to have so many zeros, it's going to make most people's head spins, that you'll still be wearing. shorts and a T shirt and your high tops and you're not going to change it all. Promises, of course. Alright, last question. What's your favorite type of drink? Beer, whiskey and what's your what's your, what's your vice there? Ramon Van Meer  53:13   Well, you should know because we've been, you know, down that rabbit hole a couple times, but I typically if I don't drink often, but if I drink it's it's vodka. Joe Valley  53:27   Okay, random question. There's the answer, folks. Ramon, you're a good man. Appreciate it. Everybody. Look for the Quiet Giants episode coming out. Same day as this October 8. Extra. Outro  53:43   today's podcast was produced by Rise25 and the Quiet Light Content Team. If you have a suggestion for a future podcast subject or guests, email us at podcast@quietlightbrokerage.com. Be sure to follow us on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to this show wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.

WARNING!!! explicit high level opinions: it's about time artists like Silas get paid I hope Bethesda donates some of today's MASSIVE PAYDAY to the Silas family, today Microsoft paid respects to the creator of Wolfenstein in CASH and hopper goes into Angry MBA mode... if you're listening MSFT/id/Bethesda, etc. PLEASE PAY the Silas family a large TIP to make up for the paltry $5,000 the broker sold Wolfenstein #1 in the late 80s... under the 1st Amendment Freedom of Speech this podcast is for educational & entertainment purposes only as this podcast is Ad-Free not for profit this episode's cover art is owned by Polygon under fair use for commentary only as this episode is Ad-Free not for profit

My guest on this episode of The Richard Robbins Show has gone from center ice in the USACHL to center stage in the real estate industry. After only his 7th year in the industry, Mark Faris became Royal LePage's number one agent in the country and held that distinction for 5 consecutive years. Last year, Mark, with the support of his team and wife Joanna, achieved over 1000 transactions and has since opened his own brokerage, The Faris Team. As a self-proclaimed quiet guy, a sales career wasn't tailor made for Mark. “At the time when I started, just putting food on the table was the [goal].” You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3cXROcY

Welcome back to the Quiet Light podcast. Chris Wozniak is the newest member of our team and we thought it would be a great idea to sit down and chat with him. He has built, bought, and sold online businesses, in addition to brick and mortar brokerage firms. Chris has more experience than anyone on our team and we are excited to have him on board. Tune in to hear us talk with Chris about what buyers and sellers should do to come out on top.   Topics: An abbreviated version of Chris' work history. Earning a CBI after becoming a board certified broker. Chris' buy-side brokering experience. Potentially creating short films about clients. Tips for sellers. How he leads buyers through the process. Why Chris spends time with and coaches buyers.  Transcription: Mark: I'm really excited to announce that we have a new member to our team, Chris Wozniak. Now you hear Wozniak and we think Steve Wozniak from Apple, is there any relation? Did you ask him that? I know you talked to him this week and that would have been my first question, how is he related to Steve Wozniak? Joe: I did and I'm not going to tell you the answer. Mark: So we don't know. Joe:    I know. I asked the question. Mark: Then I'm going to listen. Joe:    All right. Mark: You have to listen to the pod. You got to listen. Joe: How many shares of Apple he actually owns and whether he inherited them or bought them? Mark: Oh, there's a bit of a tease right there. Joe: All sorts of tease. Mark: Chris Wozniak, the guy, he's new on our team but he's; Chris is new on our team but he's not a greenhorn by any means. Joe: Not at all. He's got more experience than anybody that's ever joined our team before. I think he comes to the table with more experience. He's built, he's bought, he's sold his own online businesses, and he's run two brick and mortar business brokerage firms and sold one of them as well. His top year is probably selling 15 million dollars worth of businesses. The guy's just ridiculously qualified. He's got all sorts of certifications behind his name in his LinkedIn profile. We talked about that; jokes about that quite a bit, actually. But it's not just talking about him and his experience. I asked him a lot of questions about what sellers should do, what buyers should do throughout the entire process of building a business to eventually exit or looking to buy a business, and then build it so he gives lots of advice throughout. Mark: Well, let's go. I'm excited to introduce him to our listeners, and I'm really excited to get him as a part of the Quiet Light team. Joe: Oh, and there's one thing that we do tease something that's coming in the future at Quiet Light and Chris is helping us bring that to the table. It's something people have been asking for for years. We talked about it briefly, so be sure to listen in to that as well. Joe: Hey, folks Joe Valley here with Quiet Light Brokerage, and today I have the Woz with us. How are you doing today? Chris: I'm doing good Joe. How are you doing? Joe: Good. How many Apple shares do you own? Chris: None. Joe: None? Grandfathered in by uncle… Chris: None and we've never really investigated it either so maybe we do. I don't know. Joe: So you're not… Chris: I knew that I wouldn't work as hard as I do. Joe: You're not a descendant then of the great Wozniak? Chris: I have to be a descendant. I just don't know how far down the line that stretches. Joe: You know, I actually have a client now who is the; we were having just a casual conversation and he said, hey, you want an interesting fact? I'm actually the great, great, great, great-nephew of Teddy Roosevelt. And when he told me, I was like, that's an odd Segway into telling me this, but I've repeated that story and now it is interesting. I find it fascinating that we… Chris: Oh yeah, everybody does. Yeah. Joe: Even with what's going on in the world and some folks wanting to take down the Teddy Roosevelt statue outside of the museum, but yeah, fascinating. So, no relation the Steve Wozniak of the world? Chris: I honestly don't know. Joe: Okay, enough with the jibber-jabber, folks. This is the real Chris Wozniak, the newest member of the Quiet Light Brokerage team, a ton of experience, but I'm going to let him talk about it. I've got your LinkedIn profile open here but why don't you talk to us, tell the folks listening, Chris, about your background and how you ended up coming to Quiet Light. Chris: Sure. Well, first, I want to say that I'm not used to podcasts and I got an email from Joe yesterday saying, hey, just be ready at eight in the morning tomorrow and give your entire professional life history. So I said, okay that sounds like fun. So this is going to be off the cuff and obviously coming from the heart. But yeah do you want the long kind of version of my… Joe: I think people want the shorter version. Chris: Okay, that's going to be hard to do but the short version of the long story is I graduated college. I was in commercial real estate for several years, even in college as an intern. Then I joined my dad as a business broker. We had a company called Lesdon & Associates that was in 2002, 2003. Joe: Brick and mortar business broker or online business broker? Chris: Mainly Main Street brick and mortar which we graduated to smaller deals and we had initially started and graduated to larger and larger deals, we eventually sold Lesdon & Associates, I think in 2008, 2009. And then we started The George Ryan Group, which was a company focused on lower middle-market businesses. And so what we define that as is anything over a million dollars and then we never had an engagement over 12 or 13 million. So we own that company and going backwards in 2002, I started my first e-commerce business. Joe: That's a long time ago. Chris: Yeah. Joe: 18 years ago. How much did the website cost you? I love the answers to this question. Chris: I had to hire somebody to create and code it for me. I had the idea of what I wanted to sell; the product line, which was actually non-precious gemstones in 14-carat gold settings. Joe: Wow. Chris: So kind of a very niche-y product. But anyway, we built that for I think $5,500, $6,500. Joe: Wow. That's a lot of dough. I ask the question just because I like to say mine was $50. Chris: Oh yeah. I guess then there is no Shopify, there is no platform that you could just point click. Joe: No. No Amazon fulfiller accounts, very different. Chris: Yeah. Joe: Okay. Chris: So I sold that. I sold the e-commerce site about a year and a half later and did pretty good with. It was 22, 23 years old so it was a big chunk of money for me and my wife. And so fast forward, I've been selling businesses for 17 years. Some of those are online businesses, but through the years I've created and run and sold online businesses of my own. And so I guess five years ago or about six years ago, my wife and I decided we wanted to get out of the United States and kind of change our pace of life. And the only way I was going to be able to do that was to be able to have some type of income where I could do business brokerage because of the situation. So we ended up moving to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. We were there for two years. And so winging it for about a year and a half to two years leading up to that move, I created an Amazon FBA business. And when we got to St. Croix, I purchased with a partner an affiliate business in the finance niche. Joe: So just to be specific here folks, Chris, has built, bought, and sold his own online businesses. Okay, go on. Chris: Yeah, and then I've also created and still own several content sites and still own my Amazon FBA business as well. Joe: Okay, as I look at your LinkedIn profile, you've got a lot of acronyms here M&AMI, CBI, all sorts of different things, BCB. You come to us with things that I think most of the team does not have. Chuck is now certified in some way and these certifications folks are normally designated for a local brick and mortar business brokers. There's no specific certification for online business brokers. Walker's got some as well. Specifically, I think he got it prior to writing the book that you all hear us talk about, which is Buy Then Build. But what are some of these credentials that you have, Chris? Chris: Board Certified Broker is a designation that's awarded by the state of Texas. I earned that I don't remember when; maybe 2006, 2007. I've also got a CBI, which is the Certified Business Intermediary. That's awarded by the International Business Brokers Association. I got that shortly after my board-certified broker designation. And then I also carry the Merger & Acquisition Master Intermediary designation. That's the M&AMI given by the Merger and Acquisition source, which is kind of a sister program to the International Business Brokers Association. And to maintain that designation it's pretty difficult. I don't know now how many there are throughout the United States, but at the time there was maybe between 100 and 150, I believe. I don't know if that's still true or not, but it's difficult to achieve that designation because you have to have done a deal over a million dollars and then you had to maintain that. You have to do a deal over a million dollars at least once a year and believe it or not, in our world, Quiet Light's world, and my world that doesn't seem like a lot. But in general; in brokerage in general, that's tough to do. Joe: Yeah. So, folks, if you haven't visited the Quiet Light website lately, you'll see that it is new next time you go visit it. And it says right there on the homepage, sell your online business with a team that has a crazy amount of been there, done that experience. And obviously, the Woz here, QLB's Woz. We have three Chris's now so his email is actually Woz@QuietLightBrokerage.com because he has that experience. Chris: By the way, I had to clarify to the team because Joe introduced me as, hey, check this guy's email out. He's our new member, Woz@QuietLightBrokerage so I immediately; my first reach out to the entire team, all the other brokers was guys I'm not trying to be cool with Woz. There's already two Chris's. I didn't want to get anybody confused with the other two Chris's. My name is too difficult to spell in its entirety so I went with Woz for simplicity purposes only, not to be cool. Joe: You're cool by default just because the email address is accepted. But you do have a crazy amount of been there, done that experience, but let's segue way to one of the reasons why you are on the team amongst all of the others. And buyers and sellers this is important for you to understand in terms of one of the things that we're going to do at Quiet Light in the coming months. We're launching this podcast sometime in the month of July 2020. And you've got, Chris, some buy-side brokering experience. For the last decade or more we've had requests for buy-side services and we've always said, no, we don't do that. Because of your experience with it and experience with a close friend of mine that you worked with we're going to move in a direction where we're going to offer this. Don't start sending us e-mails here folks. We will announce it. We'll give you the details. We're going to start with a small pilot program and make sure that we serve you properly. And we will not be helping you buy businesses that are listed by other business brokers. These will be unlisted businesses that we will search and find for you, given the criteria that you're looking for. But what made you go into or get pulled into the buy-side part of the brokering Chris? Chris: Yeah, that's the right way to say it. I kind of got pulled in to it wasn't necessarily a proactive decision on my part to get into it. There was demand there for it and so I just tried to get that demand and service those people that needed that service. So we had buyers that we're looking at online businesses, we had buyers that were looking for any type of service business, we had buyers that were specifically looking for manufacturing, all these things over the years and so we just developed the process on trying to uncover businesses that were not on the market, which is that's the kind of grassroots kind of guerrilla effort that we use to uncover these types of businesses. Joe: Yeah, and it's an exciting one for us because it's one that everybody's constantly been asking for and sort of pulling us in that direction. But with Chris's experience, the vast amount of experience that he has here we formulated a plan, we're starting to put it into action and we will test it out in the coming months. And we will make an announcement both via the website, email address, this podcast again, and an official, probably podcast specific to the buy-side brokering and what services we'll be offering. So keep that in mind for the future, and we're excited about it for sure. So, Chris, with your experience, I'm going to ask you random questions because you've been doing this for so long. As everybody knows, Mark and I don't script these. We're just flying by the seat of our pants here and hopefully, it gets across good information to you folks. Let's talk to the sellers out there in the audience, in your experience; the vast amount of experience that you have, what are the top one or two things that a seller should understand about a business that they own, and a path toward exiting that business? And when I say understand, I mean understand and do. Chris: Understand and do, yeah. Well, I think something that kind of gets overlooked when we're speaking with sellers and trying to coach them and advise them is they should know that it's going to be an emotional experience because of the nature of what it is we're about to do, which is the biggest transaction in their life. It's bigger than purchasing your home. It's bigger than the most expensive car or boat you're going to buy or sell. And so this transaction is going to be a monumental change and it's going to be an emotional ride because they typically have some blood, sweat, and tears poured into this business and a lot of times it's their baby. So to not address that when you're speaking with them, because they may not realize they're going to go through these different waves of emotions, that's why a lot of times I know you've talked about it, too, and I've said it a million times, we're just as much psychologist or therapist as we are advisors because it's 100% going to happen that there's going to be these waves of emotion and anxiety and things of that nature that happen. And so I think if the sellers just know that and we can kind of tell them what to expect a little bit and why they're probably going to be feeling this way and why it's natural and why everybody else goes through it too, that I think helps ease that burden a little bit. Joe: Yeah, I think that's a huge one. I was reading some content that's being created now that describes what we do and it said something like entrepreneur, advisor, broker, mentor, friend to online business owners and become all of those things and the friend part at the end because we spent a lot of time with clients. And I'm sure you've experienced that, especially if you've been working with somebody that lived in the same hometown as you or a neighboring area where you actually get to see them more. In our situation with the online world, we get to see them now with Zoom and we see them at conferences and things of that nature, but not as much. So the business folks know the name Joe Cocker, and if they've been listening to the podcast and I've been talking to Joe for two and a half years, I've never met him face to face. I sold his business in Q1, we had him on the podcast. He told a story. This is somebody, folks, that his first child, two days after his 17th birthday, he was in high school working full time and still graduated high school; hustled, worked hard, sold his car. This is the title of the podcast, he sold his car to buy inventory and then sold his business for seven figures. That was the process, a hell of a story. But, you know, I consider Joe a friend, even though I've never met him face to face. I can't wait till COVID goes away so I can get down to Florida, go visit with him and go fishing because he's got a new boat and he goes fishing all the time. And he's very, very good at it apparently. But that's a big part of it. And one of the things that you're going to see, folks, is a new series that Chris Moore actually has been working are called Quiet Giant and we are sharing some experiences with our clients and doing a quarterly short film, if you will, about them. And the second one is already produced and one of the things that the person featured in that series said was just reiterating what you said, Chris, which is at times the advisor mentor, broker, friend is a therapist because whether it's 250,000, a million, quarter of a million, or ten million that you are two weeks away from and you're negotiating the asset purchase agreement and it goes off the rails because it will. And the difference between a good and great advisor is that the great must get it back on track towards closing. But you are going to be in a very emotional state and if you all can see Chris on YouTube, he's very calm and collected. And obviously, I'm not hyper myself, the tone of my voice is this is about as excited as I get some time. So we're here to support, advise, and help and sometimes that comes across in therapeutic sessions if you will. And we've all been there and done that so we know. When we were selling, we're in the same situation, right? You've done it dozens and dozens of times with clients as well. Chris: Yeah. I sold a non-durable medical equipment company that was one of my largest sales of my career in 2014 for right around ten million dollars. And I shouldn't say the name of the business, but I'll say the first name of the seller's name is Ralph. And he actually reached out to me on LinkedIn a month and a half ago just to see. He saw my name and it kind of; I don't know why it popped up or how it came into his point of view, but he reached out and said hey, how are you doing? And I mean, we spent a lot of months getting his business marketing and getting it sold and we developed just a great relationship. And he's just one of honestly a ton of sellers that I've had that we still maintain relationships and we get along great. And that's one of the things I love about the business. It's transactional, but it's very intimate and there's so much at stake that you bond. Joe: Yeah. Chris: Or it's almost you just bond. Joe: Yeah, one of the things I like least about the business is the stigma of being a quote-unquote broker. But once I got over that and realized and became that entrepreneur, advisor, broker, mentor, therapist, friend, it is what we are. And those that want to put a label on us as just a broker, they can just go somewhere else. Chris: You know all those letters we were talking about earlier. Joe: Yeah. Chris: I probably got those because of insecurity. Joe: Right. I'm incredibly secure because I don't have any of those letters. Chris: Right, exactly. Joe: No, you're just lazy. Chris: I'm the most insecure, yeah. Joe: All right, let's talk. We're going to keep this episode relatively short, folks, just simply because you don't want to learn too much about Chris until you get to know him personally. But let's talk about some things though that buyers can do. One of the things that sellers can do is prepare themselves emotionally. Well, actually, I'll follow up on that first, how do you prepare yourself emotionally? I've got some thoughts on that, but I want to hear from you. Chris: How do I or how does a seller? Joe: How does that seller prepare themselves emotionally? You said that is one of the biggest things they need to be prepared for, that it is emotional. How do they get prepared for that? Chris: I think broadly speaking and yeah just talk to them about the process. What is this going to look like for you from day one and then all the way to the exit day? And as long as you're very upfront about that and you're detailed about your explanation of what that process looks like, it reduces the amount of question in the seller's mind. And then if you're also honest with them and you're not selling a bill of goods that you can deliver, which is we're going to get you a buyer in the first week and that buyer is going to be the one that buys your business, they're going to close, it's that easy. If you create those kind of expectations, you're not going be able to deliver. Joe: Are you saying from a seller standpoint, it's actually hard to sell a million, two million dollar business? Chris: Yeah, it's a little bit difficult. And believe me, as that day gets closer and closer you're not going to get more calm. As you get closer to that million or two million dollars, you're going to start to tighten up a little bit. I won't say what I want to say, but you're going to tighten up a little bit and it's going to get more real and it's going to get daunting there for a little bit. But you just got to hold on and listen. That's the other thing, you asked what are two things you would do as a broker or what two things to consider with a seller. My second thing instead of going with the normal answer would be if I'm talking to a seller right now, listen to our coaching. And it's not because we're rocket scientists, it's not because we're smarter than you. You're an entrepreneur. You probably have certain personality traits that have gotten to where you are and why you're successful and we get that. We're entrepreneurs also, but we're not trying to say we're smarter than you or no more than you. But we actually have the knowledge of selling a business, not running your business, but selling a business. So if you're going to hire us, just trust us because we're there to coach you. We know the pitfalls. We know the traps. We know that things are not going to go perfectly all the time. That never happens. You're always going to get sidetracked. So if you just listen to our coaching, if you listen to our coaching when you're dealing with buyers, that's a huge part of it. So my second point of advice would be just trust us and allow us to coach you. Joe: And the sooner we can begin that process, the better. You don't want to talk to somebody, sign an engagement letter the next day, and then list the business for sale a week later. It's better really for everyone involved to start that process of building that trust and that relationship as early on in your business as possible. I love it when somebody calls and sets up a meeting with somebody on the team that says I'm tracking toward selling in Q1 of 2021 or 2022. Let's get started. I want to do a review. And we do that, we will look at the profit and loss statement, we'll look at the financial key metrics, we'll see what the strengths and weaknesses of the business are. We'll go over the process and educate you, help you set an exit goal. You're going to pick that number, not us. But we're going to help you understand what you're leftover with after the sale. It's not necessarily important what you sell it for it's what you could keep. And then ideally reverse engineer a path to that goal. And the longer you are from reverse engineering that path to the goal, the more likely you are going to achieve it or overachieve it or beyond that. Chris: Yeah, I agree. Joe: All right. Let's talk about bias. You've worked with a lot of them, both as the sell-side broker but you're working with buyers and then as the buy-side broker as well. Any advice for buyers when they come to you or anybody on the team or any broker period or actually to a seller directly for that matter, what should they be bringing to the table? Is it a Wall Street type negotiation, is it just come in and pay all cash, what are the secrets to being a great buyer? Chris: I think part of being a great buyer is also listening to the advisor because obviously there's two sides to the coin. So part of our job if we're representing a seller, is to get their business sold. And one of the ways we can do that and ensure that that happens is we lead the buyer through the process. And so that's no different. I interview buyers when we have a business for sale, we have a buyer that approaches us we basically interview the buyer as well. And one of the things that we coach them on is transparency, I think is a big one, because, in a lot of transactional environments, you're quote-unquote negotiating so you want to keep your cards close to the vest. In this sort of situation, we were talking about bigger dollars. Sellers need to know that you're financially capable of getting this transaction done. And so eventually you are going to have to be transparent, not only with your financial situation but also your experience. That's a big one because quite frankly, a lot of the time they're seller's notes, there's earn-outs in some situations and so your ability to pay that owner back is huge. And so when you're going through the process, that transparency is a big deal and a lot of buyers don't understand that. It's counterintuitive. Joe: It is. Instilling confidence and use the advisor first and foremost and then the guy that's going to be selling you the business is critical. Mr. Buyer. I had a call yesterday where I had to go through this process of; the first call I had with this particular buyer, first, he talked about the multiple and how high it was, and he only thought the business was worth X. It's all right. Well, they're not willing to sell it for even close to X, so maybe this one isn't for you. He did move on. In the same conversation, he talked about raising funds. He didn't have the capital for it. So two strikes did instill confidence in me that he thought the business was even close to what it was worth, close to what it was listed for. And two, he didn't have the capital. And so he's going to be raising the funds during a worldwide pandemic with a looming recession where banks are tightening things up. And from that, we had a good call. We had a call yesterday. I would say it was a good call, it wasn't a great call. The first call was a great call because it ended with maybe this doesn't make the most sense for you, but then he followed up with he really did a very thorough job reviewing the package and asked a lot of great questions. Yet there's not confidence in me or I have to reveal who this person is in detail to the seller of the business and neither one of us have a great deal of confidence. So I had a good call with him yesterday where I had to be honest and I think I'm slightly offended him saying, look, man, it happens. You spend a lot of time on this, yet you don't think the value is there and you're trying to raise money. My question was what are the odds? Give me a percentage, in your opinion that you will be successful in raising the capital to make this purchase? He goes, I think the odds are better good than not. I'm like, really? Come on, instill some confidence in me. I'm sorry if you're listening buyer, but I said some very nice things about you as well and I do have a lot of respect for you. I think it's just; and we talked about that, the instilling in confidence. Chris, you're human, right? I'm human. We're spending time trying to help both buyers and sellers get to a successful transaction and we're going to give both parties some advice that they're not necessarily going to like. But it comes from a place of experience; crazy, been there done that experience, and sometimes it's hard to get that across in a way that makes you feel warm and fuzzy when we're telling you. Chris: Oh definitely. Joe: Yeah, it's hard. Chris: One of the things I tell sellers every time we get an engagement is you're not going to hear from me unless I have somebody for you and I'm going to be spending 90% of my time with buyers. And a lot of the time they don't like the sound of that right off the bat. But I let that sink in for a minute and say, look I've got to establish a relationship with these buyers. I've got to establish trust with them and that's why I'm spending all my time with. And it's for you, Mr. Seller or Mrs. Seller. That's why I'm spending all this time with these buyers is establishing that trust and coaching them and letting them know what the process is and how we don't deviate from that process. It's the same thing every time. Every business is different and certain things will happen but we do not deviate from our process and the process is because of experience. That's all it is. Joe: Can you see, folks, why Chris is joining the team here? Bringing a great deal of experience and wisdom, credibility and a lot of credentials, as you can see, because of his insecurity to the team and helping us move in a direction on that buy-side that I think will help serve some of you in the audience to find things that are not listed. We as a company have never practiced spamming emails and reaching out to buyers to say, hey business owner, we've got a buyer for you when we really don't. Chris: Right. Joe: This will allow us to go ahead and reach out to buyers in an honest, sincere, and ethical; I'm sorry sellers. Chris: Sellers, yeah. Joe: Honest, sincere, and ethical way with 100% of the truth. So I'm looking forward to that, Chris. I'm looking forward to having you on the team for many years to come. I appreciate your time today. Chris: I'm so excited. I'm so glad to be with you guys and I appreciate the opportunity. Joe: Woz@QuietLightBrokerage.com, we've got the Woz on the team, guys. Thanks, everybody. We'll talk to you soon. Chris: Thank you. Resources: Woz@quietlightbrokerage.com Quiet Light Podcast@quietlightbrokerage.com

Emma Langford is a singer, songwriter and performer from Limerick, Ireland. She released her first album Quiet Giant, in 2017 and recently released a single Mariana and donated all the proceeding to Safe Ireland. She has received several awards including Best Emerging Folk Artist of the Year' at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards and from Limerick Mayor an award for her work with mental health awareness. You can find out more about Emma on https://twitter.com/ELangfordMusic (Twitter), https://www.instagram.com/emmalangfordmusic/ (Instagram) or on her https://emmalangfordmusic.com/ (Website) Emma's Music Choice On My Own - Les Miserables Vieni, Vieni o mio diletto - Vivaldi My Funny Valentine - Chet Baker Sarah - Declan O'Rourke Birdhouse In Your Soul - They Might Be Giants  Why -Cranberries The Temptation of Adam - Josh Ritter __________________________________ All music is available on Spotify in the https://open.spotify.com/user/asplendori/playlist/52RfJG6gxwmVUazdOX8m9G?si=Wcl3A8-QSHa3J_K29yzWzQ (Social Fabric Playlist) ______________________________ Title Music Alice by https://open.spotify.com/artist/2P2hOITnqH0Zagxj2B2elc?si=2PoaesVgSq2pq5ERf3_nGA (Lucky Bones ) __________________________ Support this podcast

With 165,000 patients, Empower Clinics (CBDT:CSE) (EPWCF:OTCQB) has a database that almost every medical cannabis and CBD company would kill for. Patient visits increased 800% in February. 590% in March and 480% for Q1. These are actual patients that are suffering from: Anxiety Depression Chronic Pain PTSD … and need CBD medication to cope with life, as well as, life’s biggest curve ball in modern history …. COVID-19. To this end, Empower Clinics has not only been administering COVID-19 tests in their clinics way ahead of anyone, they are simultaneously onboarding more employees than anytime in history. But it gets even better. Empower is now moving into the lucrative Phase 3 of their COVD-19 testing roll-out …. mass testing of employees for business. Companies are already signing up en masse on the Empower website and paying in advance for Empower teams to show up at their place of business to test employees. We’re not even going to talk about Phase 4, which you’re going to have to hear for yourself in this interview. PSYCHEDELICS – DOSED MOVIE With this kind of platform (6 clinics + tele-medinice platform) and execution, is it any wonder to you that Empower Clinics has launched “Dosed Wellness” to incorporate Psychedelics into its platform? Don’t take our word for it, believe Tyler Chandler, Director of DOSED Movie, an award-winning documentary about treatment using psychedelic medicine who stated: “Empower Clinics has the strategic vision, existing client base and clinic network to continue to lead the plant-based medicine industry” This platform and deployment demonstrates a military precision process that few small cap CEO’s could handle. But Steven McAuley is no ordinary small cap CEO. He is Six Sigma certified under the quality initiative of legendary GE (General Electric) Chairman Jack Welch. We’ve never seen a Six Sigma certified CEO in the Canadian small cap markets. Never …. which explains how McAuley has been able to guide Empower Clinics through the most disruptive retail environment in recent history and turn it into significant growth. Forget NetFlix Tonight. Watch this. Watch this interview or listen by Podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify or your favourite podcaster.

Singer-Songwriter Emma Langford joins us to talk about the queen of pop-punk Avril Lavigne. There’s a lot of talk about early 00s fashion, growing up, and we wonder if maybe Avril was secretly a country artist all along. Emma is @ELangfordMusic. Her first album Quiet Giant is out now and her next album Sowing Acorns is available to pre-order Here Alan is @alan_maguire. Juvenalia is his main thing but he does standup sometimes too. Sarah is @griffski. Sarah won Best YA book at the Irish Book Awards! She’s great. Juvenalia is on all of the social medias, if you search for Juvenalia, you'll find us. Juvenalia original artwork by Dee McDonnell This episode was produced by Cassie @Tall_Tales_Podcasts. Thank you Cassie. Also we have a Patreon! We have good rewards! It’s patreon.com/juvenalia

This is ISPod Mini, a short insight into the work of one of the participant writers on the Irish Songwriters Podcast This time, it's based around Limerick writer, Emma Langford, and her "Quiet Giant" album. The album is available to purchase from her bandcamp page https://emmalangfordmusic.bandcamp.com/ or you can download it if you become a patron of her new project at https://www.patreon.com/emmalangford Please feel free to 'like' if you like it, subscribe to the Irish Songwriters Podcast should you wish and share if you care to .

Susan Dorsch, who co-founded Office Nomads, the longest running coworking space in Seattle, is a quiet giant of coworking (and a dear friend of mine). I’m thrilled to have Susan as my first guest as the Coworking Out Loud Podcast The post Coworking Out Loud Podcast 014 – Susan Dorsch, a Quiet Giant of Coworking appeared first on Cat Johnson Co.

Leo Fender invented the electric guitar. But what made him even more special is that his guitars were used by giants spanning decades of music from Elvis to Eric Clapton to Jimi Hendrix to Keith Richards all the greats of rock and roll!  When Rolling Stone Magazine published a list of the world's top 100 guitarists, 90 of them used one of Leo's guitars and the rest used guitars that basically copied Leo's invention.While Fender guitars were recognized around the world, few people knew much about the man behind the legendary guitar. Leo Fender grew up in California, where an interest in electronics led him to open up a radio repair shop in 1938. But he didn't just work on radios; his reputation earned him the respect of musicians and band leaders who trusted him to repair their equipment. As time went on he founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company and later, G&L Musical Instruments.Leo's wife Phyllis, along with Randall Bell, Ph.D., give music fans a memory-filled look into the remarkable world of this quiet genius in their latest book, Leo Fender: The Quiet Giant Heard Around the World. Randall Bell also grew up in Leo's neighborhood and his father was the head of the R&D department at Fender's company. Fender's game-changing contributions to the music world have been widely recognized. He was presented with the Country Music Association Pioneer Award in 1981, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock Walk of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His accomplishments were also acknowledged with a Technical Grammy Award in 2009. Leo Fender died in 1991. Today, Phyllis Fender volunteers at the Fullerton Museum where she shares with visitors stories about her life with Leo.   

Emma Langford self-released her debut album, Quiet Giant, in October 2017, subsequently embarking on a month-long trek of Germany and Switzerland. She talks about how she recorded the album, how the tour went, fitting it all in with writing a thesis, the importance of shining a light on women in music and the arts, her (extensive) plans for 2018 - and being named Limerick Person of the Month for January.

FolkCast: the podcast that brings you the worlds of folk, folk-rock, singer-songwriter and roots music. THIS EDITION: A whale of a show! We meet a British naval hero who wasn’t Lord Nelson; hear topical songs about tragedies averted; and play songs that put the “FUN” into funeral. We get Insanely Mental with an Underground Instrumental, and we find out what happens when you mix bluegrass with thrash metal to create a folkie Frankenstein’s monster! All that, and Stories Behind two Songs recorded just for us by the people who wrote them. FolkCast is produced and presented by 'Folkie' Phil Widdows Music featured: The Intro… GREENLAND WHALE by Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys from the album “Pretty Peggy” (2017) ADMIRAL BENBOW by John Dory from the album “Street Songs” (1996) YouTube BRAVE BENBOW by Laura Smyth & Ted Kemp from the album “The Poacher's Fate” (2017) The Story Behind My Song Jon Bennett tells us about… THE SINGER by Moonrakers from the album “Tides” (2017) ADRIFT, ADRIFT by Rosie Hood from the album “The Beautiful & The Actual” (2017) DARK WATER by The Young ‘Uns from the album “Strangers” (2017) The Insanely Mental Instrumental MIND THE GAP by Assembly Lane from the album “Northbound” (2017) THUNDERHEAD by The Native Howl from the album “Thrash Grass” (2017) FINAL ARRANGEMENTS by The Stoned Cherries from the album “Baked In A Pie” (2017) I WISH I WAS IN HEAVEN SITTING DOWN and A NEW ROAD by Mark T. from the album “From Blues To Rembetika” (2017) QUIET GIANT by Emma Langford from the album “Quiet Giant” (2017) The Story Behind My Song Ian Churchward tells of the mystery of... THE DUBLIN KING by The Legendary Ten Seconds from the album “Murray And Blue” (2017) THE ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN by Leatherat from the album “Garden Of Eden” (2007) Leatherat play their final gig on December 16 2017 JOHNNY SANDS by Peter Fergus McClelland from the album “The Turn Of The Tide” (2017) …and The Outro THE ROSE by Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys from the album “Pretty Peggy” (2017) For full details see the Shownotes at www.folkcast.co.uk