Technology in infiltrated all sectors of the US economy in 2023 - including the AEC space.  Not familiar with the term?  Neither was I until I met Justin Neagle.  Justin is part of the leadership team and the Chief Storyteller at Spot Migration.  Justin and the team at Spot Migration focus on the intersection of People, Process, and Technology and how that comes together for their clients.  Justin also co-hosts his own podcast, Building Scale, that helps bring resources and experts around the AEC space together.

My guest this week is Certified Public Accountant, Rachel Siegel.  Rachel is the founder and owner of Go Figure Accounting.  They are a small, specialized firm that those that Serve Us - nationwide.  Rachel and her team operate under the Profit First model.  Profit First is a cash management technique developed by Mike Michalowicz that treats profit as part of your budget, rather than the lucky leftovers. Using intuitive methods that work with human behavior, people develop money-saving habits that actually stick.  Rachel and her team pride themselves providing quality counsel and advice for their clients.  Enjoy my conversation with Rachel Siegel

It's hard to believe that I launched this podcast 9 months ago now.  Nelson Bradshaw was my very first guest on the show and I am happy to be able to bring him back this week.  Last time, we talked a lot about Nelson, his career, and his deep involvement in the community.  This time, I thought we would talk a lot more about Farther, his role there as the Managing Director of Bank Strategies, and what makes their offering different in a very competitive landscape.   Farther's motto is "move your wealth forward".  Enjoy the conversation with Nelson and learning more about how the team at Farther does just that.

This week we are traveling across the pond to talk with the UK's own Sales Marvel, Keith Rozelle.  Right of the bat, he'll share with you why he is the Sales Marvel.  The globe is getting to be a smaller place every day.  Tools such as LinkedIn connect our global business community and give us ways to share ideas and lessons that we used to have to seek out.  Keith is a mentor, a writer, a coach, consultant, a resource, and so many more things to so many people.  To sum it all up, he's a Sales Marvel!

Ben Hippeli - Founder of Benchmark Training is my guest this week.  Benchmark Training working with their clients to build a culture of profitability through people development.   Ben has successfully started multiple businesses.  As you will hear, not only does he work with leaders and sales professionals, but he is also a Professor of Professional Selling at the University of North Florida.  To steal a line from their website, Ben helps bridge the gap between college graduates and the business community.

This week's guest is Bruce Breedlove.  Bruce has a great story that I am happy to share with you.  He is a self-made person that was able to put himself through nursing school and found ways to exponentially grow his personal wealth by putting his money to work for him in the background while he has continued to do the same.  This is no knock on Bruce whatsoever - but these are things that we all can do and take advantage of.  You don't need to be the smartest guy in the room and you don't need to make a million to be worth a million.

This week I am bringing you my conversation with Bob McKenzie of McKenzie HR.  Bob has been in the Human Resource side of business in various roles since 1977.  In 2002 he founded McKenzie HR where he provided Full-service HR for small to medium businesses. Mr. McKenzie was named the 2012 Ultimate Human Resources Executive of the Year by the Jacksonville Business Journal and won the “Man of Steel Award” by Entrepreneur Anchor Magazine for his contribution to the small business community in Jacksonville.  He doesn't do it as much today, but he was a regular contributor of articles to many publications through his career.

I first had Brittany Bode and Sam Schweitzer on the show earlier this year to talk about Franchising.  We talked about their business, FranPath Consulting, and what they do for their clients - how they find Franchises and business models that best fit their needs and how they want to run a business - but I felt like we left a lot on the table.  So this is our 2nd bite at the apple if you will.  The market has absolutely changed this year.  Interest rates have increased and inflation has made people make choices they didn't have to make a few years ago.

My guest this week is LaSean Smith.  He runs CAGR Investments (CAGR).  It is a micro-private equity firm. LaSean operates out of Seattle, WA with a small, distributed, twelve-person team. The firm allocates permanent capital to buy, own and operate profitable businesses. His focus areas include digital goods, membership sites, and SaaS. As you will soon hear, LaSean sees this digital revolution that we are in the middle of as a perfect time to invest in small, nimble, technology driven businesses that are poised take advantage of the current environment but need a capital injection to get there.

The subjects of Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and automation continue to come up in every conversation and in every industry - so I wanted to have a more direct approach this week.  My guest this week is the CEO of Elevare Technologies and White Thorne Holdings - Steve Beaman.  Steve is a life-long entrepreneur.  He co-founded, built, and sold Chicago Investment Analytics to Charles Schwab & Co.  He has funded and helped start numerous companies and has even hosted his own radio show helping people get more out of life. He us the author of over 600 articles on better living; "The Path to Prosperity: Financial Literacy for the new Century"; Two E-Books, and "The American Dream Under Fire". He is an acclaimed public speaker and has spoken at industry conferences, trade shows, and has been featured as the primary entertainment on the Path to Prosperity Tour.

This week I have Amy Fargo and Brett Carneiro from V2 Strategic Advisors.  V2 Strategic Advisors is a boutique management consultancy firm that specializes in Salesforce implementations for clients around the globe.  Specifically, for this conversation, we are talking about implementing Salesforce for Retail organizations.  I've always thought of Salesforce as a CRM Tool for sales organizations - but it is so much more.  Just to hit a few of the highlights - Creating a Retail Media Network, Inventory Management, Personalized Shopping Experiences for customers, Customer Engagement, Implementing Customer Loyalty Programs, and creating a unified customer view of your company...Retail shopping has become so much more than just a store front in todays world.  V2 Strategic Advisors are the behind the scenes crew that improve the virtual environment and experience for you as a customer.

My guest this week is Kelly Hill of Sales Advisors of Florida LLC.  Kelly is a Fractional VP of Sales that helps second stage B2B improve sales teams' performance.  She works directly with CEOs to help build actionable strategies and plans that assist in helping realize their vision of success.  If you are like me, several things I just said evoke questions - mainly, what is a fractional VP of Sales?  She answers that for us!Sales touches every industry.  Some might say it is the life-blood of a company because without sales...you have nothing to work on.  This is a conversation that crosses all industries and is beneficial to anyone looking to increase their bottom line.

So this week on Making Cents of It All, I have Christopher Wood back on the show.  He is the Senior Editor at Thomson Reuters Checkpoint where they discuss all things payroll related and he has brought Tiana Neal with him.  She is the Director of Client Success at Enhance HCM.  As you will hear, we are going to discuss some topics that are current and relevant to all people that work or employ people in the United States.  Yes Artificial Intelligence will rear its head again as facets of it are being implemented by payroll providers and the IRS.  We will also talk about some legal changes within the department of labor and internal revenue service as well as how companies are trying to attract and retain talent in a very difficult environment to do so.  Enjoy the conversation - Let's jump into it!

My guest this week is the Podcast Lawyer, Gordon Firemark.  I met Gordon through my research and preparation in starting this show, Making Cents of It All.  He provides a tremendous number of resources and knowledge to folks, like me, that are looking to wade or dive into the water that is the Podcast Industry.  Gordon has been involved with the entertainment industry in one way or another since childhood.  He has done it all at one time or another from lighting and sound to being the talent on stage or behind the mic!  As he so eloquently states on his website - "Gordon Firemark helps artists, writers, producers and directors achieve their dreams in the fields of theater, film, television and new media.  Since his admission to practice in 1992, he has focused his attention on providing sound practical, legal and strategic advice to his clients so they can make smart deals, grow their businesses, and do great things."

My guest today is Kristin Couch.  She is the Vice President in charge of the CRA Program for United Community Bank, headquartered in Greenville, SC.  She is going to go way beyond just giving you a history lesson and defining a piece of legislation.  In order to understand where we are, I believe it is important to understand why and how we arrived here in the first place. The CRA followed similar laws passed to reduce discrimination in the credit and housing markets including the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (HMDA). The Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or other personal characteristics. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires that financial institutions publicly disclose mortgage lending and application data. In contrast with those acts...The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) encourages certain insured depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they are chartered, including low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods, consistent with the safe and sound operation of such institutions.

We are diving into fundraising and capital acquisition for faith-based organizations with Russ Priddy - the founder of Ascend Stewardship and Consulting.  There are many paths we take as people in this world and, many times, the path that we travel is a more enjoyable walk when we are serving a purpose that is higher than ourselves.  Enjoy the conversation with Russ!

CrossFit gym was only opened in 2000 in Santa Cruz. Since then, it has spread to over 150 countries worldwide with hundreds of thousands of devoted followers.  It evokes a passion and allegiance that other forms of fitness training wish they had.  My guest this week is Justin Henderson.  He and his wife own 2 CrossFit gyms in the greater North Florida area, CrossFit Jax Bch and CrossFit Duval.  Enjoy the conversation as we talk about his journey with CrossFit.

The Power Tee is the world’s best performance automatic teeing system for the Indoor environment, driving ranges, and country clubs. As the world-leading automatic teeing system manufacturer, our Power Tee has been installed in thousands of golf ranges globally, including the USA, UK, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.Power Tee is the fastest way to a better golf swing. Our automatic teeing system greatly increases efficiency through streamlining, automation, and labor-saving methods.Power Tee has proven its value, reliability, and ease of use at driving ranges worldwide. As a matter of fact, Power Tee tees up over 6 million golf balls per day across 18 different countries worldwide.

This week, my guest is Brent Durban.  His companies - Better Exterior Solutions and First Coast Hurricane Shutters - apply technology in the residential sector.  Hurricane Shutters, screens, pergolas, and other residential applications have been around for years, but they've gotten a substantial make over in recently.  The finished product works far better and more efficiently - while being aesthetically pleasing and being something that you are proud to have as part of your home - and many times they work in conjunction with your devices for ease of use!

Jack Ducanis was one of my first guests when I started Making Cents of It All this year.  IF you want to learn more about Jack and his career, check out our first conversation, on the January 10th.  Today - we are talking all about Sales Management.  When I say Sales Management - I am sure that it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  So - specifically - we are talking about the Profession of Sales Management.  We are going to dive into what it looks like to be responsible for Recruiting, Training, and Maintaining a sales force.  We will get into some of the differences between Management and Leadership and how much the profession has changed over the years.