Will had the opportunity to have a conversation with Sharon Krumm, President and Owner of 4U, Inc., a consulting firm. Sharon's journey began with a passion for math, leading her to pursue accounting in college. However, she discovered a broader interest in finance, especially during globe-trotting M&A deals. Throughout her career, Sharon navigated challenges. As a woman in predominantly male environments, she faced unique challenges but lived by the mantra of “work harder and smarter.” Shar...
Nov 21, 2023•17 min•Ep. 68
Aimee Korch, Director of Relationship Management at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, joins Will today to discuss fixed income. Aimee says fixed income is the “most interesting” area of work for her. According to Aimee, there are so many ways the financial system can create debt, which fuels the economy. There are a lot of conversations on stocks, but not fixed income, so it tends to not come to mind for most people. Public stocks also tend to be more straightforward, whereas bonds work more invers...
Nov 07, 2023•23 min•Ep. 67
Today, Will sits down the Matt Smith, a jack of all trades. Matt has experience in the military, owning his own gym, and becoming a realtor. How did he decide to go from one thing to the next? Right out of high school, Matt knew college wasn’t the route he wanted to go on. He was drawn to the army, since his father and grandfather had served. Around his time in service circa 1993, he was deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia. In the army, he didn’t have the luxury of Facetiming family members. He had t...
Oct 17, 2023•22 min•Ep. 66
Will had the opportunity to interview Cameron Massey, Executive Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, before the beginning of their season! Cameron got started at the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra after volunteering while running his own marketing firm. Eventually, his role at the Orchestra turned into a marketing position, and eventually Executive Director. He has always had an interest in instruments, as he plays piano, guitar, bass, and much more. But his passion lies on the stage....
Oct 03, 2023•24 min•Ep. 65
Today, Will sits down with Joseph (Skip) Simms to discuss angel investing and his journey to becoming Managing Partner of the MI Angel Fund. Skip mentions how he started in venture investing in 1999, went through the dot-com boom and bust, and later got involved with Ann Arbor Spark, an economic development organization. Skip also talks about the growth of angel investing in Michigan and the importance of honesty and transparency in investor-founder relationships. He shares a success story with ...
Sep 12, 2023•25 min•Ep. 64
Will sits down with very special guest Johnathan Rand, author of the Michigan Chillers and American Chillers series, as well as various other books. Michigan-native Johnathan originally wanted to work in conservation, keeping reading and writing as a hobby. His journey took him to radio commercials, where he practiced telling stories. Johnathan self published in 1987, and his career took off. He found a passion for recordings and audio, eventually releasing audiobooks on cassettes. Eventually, t...
Aug 08, 2023•18 min•Ep. 63
Did you know July is National Ice Cream month? In this episode, Will sits down with three ice cream connoisseurs of Michigan to discuss how they make their business as sweet as can be. Tim Mangan of Michigan Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Company in Bay City discusses moving from creating menus at Horizons Conference Center to managing their new ice cream shop in the midst of the pandemic. Cream & Sugar is known for sourcing Michigan ingredients, ranging from sugar made by Michigan Sugar Compan...
Jul 18, 2023•32 min•Ep. 62
BSA Officer Cindy Holliday and Owner of Blue Thumb Kip Northrup walk us through their journey today of encountering check fraud. Kip had a first-hand experience with check fraud, as one of his checks was intercepted by a third party. He reached out to Cindy for the next steps on how to handle the interaction. With Cindy's help, they were able to stop the deposit of the check. Check fraud is one of the most common types of fraud back on the rise. Kip and Cindy used Positive Pay, a fraud managemen...
Jun 27, 2023•15 min•Ep. 61
Today we are joined with 1st State Bank's Executive Vice President & Chief Lending Officer, Todd Gregory, and Saginaw Bay Underwriter's President & CEO, Peter Ewend, to discuss the rise of check fraud. Fraud is back on the rise. Changing checks - whether it be tampering the dollar amount or duplicating a check - is becoming very common in the banking world. The level of information provided on a check and the technology we have makes them an easy target for fraud. Another form of fraud g...
Jun 20, 2023•26 min•Ep. 60
In this episode, Lizzi shares her personal story of returning to Michigan and seeking opportunities for work. Lizzi reached out to her alma mater, Saginaw Valley State University, and eventually found herself working in their Career Services office. The Career Services office at SVSU goes beyond providing support solely during the college years; they offer lifelong services to alumni. Lizzi explains that the office has noticed an increase in alumni returning for assistance in tweaking their resu...
Jun 06, 2023•20 min•Ep. 59
On today’s episode, we sit down to chat with Wendy Groll and Dan Handley from Dale Carnegie Training of Mid-Northern Michigan. Wendy got her start in Dale Carnegie after emerging into a leadership role of her previous job, and Dan followed his family in the business after graduating college, working alongside his father. Dale Carnegie offers educational courses to enhance your leadership skills to use in the workplace and your personal life. Training at Dale Carnegie is very accessible, with ove...
May 23, 2023•21 min•Ep. 58
Saginaw-native Mike Ball has been doing comedy for 11 years, yet he hadn’t seen live comedy until he was about 21 years old. He eventually started going to LA during his lawn business’s off season, and eventually interned for comedian Pauly Shore. Since then, Mike’s career has taken off with his own comedy show, “The Future of Comedy Show.” While comedy is ever-changing, Mike says the basics are still the same. According to Mike, comedy is “the last form of free speech.” Through his career, he h...
May 09, 2023•20 min•Ep. 57
Right before the pandemic, Ali Huntoon decided she wanted to quit her corporate job to start her own HR consulting business, Allied HR Solutions. During the pandemic, Ali began scouring the internet for freelance jobs, but soon began working for people all over the country. Every engagement is different for Ali and the small businesses she works with. Her work involves anything from attending staff meetings to working with budgets and recruiting for small businesses. Ali’s business not only offe...
Apr 25, 2023•20 min•Ep. 56
Dakota and Garret Porter started ActionGlow over 10 years ago. The idea began when they were snowboarding on a dark ski slope and had the idea to tink around with their gear to include LED lights. It originally didn’t start as a business venture until other boarders were interested in the product. The brothers built up inventory and sold out within 48 hours. Around this time is when Shark Tank producers reached out to have them apply to the show. ActionGlow at that point was too new, but they tr...
Apr 11, 2023•21 min•Ep. 55
This week’s episode, we sit down with some members of the Tri-Star team to discuss some financial mistakes we’ve experienced in our lives and have grown from the most. Sandy Worner delves into the repercussions of borrowing from your 401(k). For every dollar put in, it took about $1.30 to get back to where she was. Lee Reimann recalls not knowing what she really wanted before talking to an insurance salesperson, spending a lump sum on yearly premiums. Kevin Scorsone recounts his 3-step process o...
Mar 28, 2023•11 min•Ep. 54
Today, we sit down to talk to Kyle DeWees, Interim Executive Director of Valley Lutheran High School. Kyle was involved with the school’s biggest capital campaign, raising over $12 million in 5 years and reaching out to 1,700+ donors. DeWees originally never saw himself at Valley Lutheran – he started just 1.5 years before their biggest capital campaign. But as soon as he started on the staff, it was made clear it would be his responsibility to oversee it. The level of success of the campaign wa...
Mar 14, 2023•15 min•Ep. 53
This week’s guest is Arielle Patrick, Chief Communications Officer of Ariel Investments, who sits down with us to discuss a mini “master class” of crisis management, relationship building, and rebranding. A graduate of Princeton University, Arielle was first interested in journalism, which eventually led her into consulting, and eventually corporate strategy and finance. With crisis management comes many factors. Of these factors, Arielle touches on the human side of mistakes; the word “humility...
Feb 28, 2023•23 min•Ep. 52
In this week’s episode, Michelle Burkhard, Owner of Grow by 1, LLC, sits down with us to discuss the ins and outs of life coaching. Michelle’s point of change happened about 15 years ago when she calculated how many people she affected as a teacher and wanted to go beyond that number. Michelle delves into how people struggle with change not because the fear of failure, but the fear of success. Fear of success can mean results such as pulling away from other duties or making others in your life u...
Feb 14, 2023•20 min•Ep. 51
In this week’s episode, Joe Ruth joins us to discuss how roles in healthcare has evolved into today’s standing from experience at the loading dock at Saginaw General Hospital to being the Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Sparrow Health System. During their conversation, Joe goes into depth about how the healthcare industry as a whole has been operating since the pandemic. Joe touches on the diverse job opportunities within healthcare; anything from food service to IT staff to acco...
Jan 31, 2023•19 min•Ep. 50
In this week’s episode, we speak with Kip Northrup of Blue Thumb Water Features. The self-professed “Fish Geek” has turned his water feature installation company into a national wholesaler. Kip shares his tips on how mergers and acquisitions helped grow their small aquarium cleaning company to a network of dealers for water features throughout the U.S. Since 2005, Blue Thumb has been through multiple challenging financial situations between the 2008 recession and the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic. Thro...
Jan 17, 2023•24 min•Ep. 49
Upwards of 2,000 cyberattacks happen per day to businesses, yet they may not know how to fix this problem as they don’t have an IT specialist to look over their programs on a day-to-day basis. On the podcast, Will Zank speaks with Chad Paalman, CEO of NuWave Technology Partners. Chad faced the unexpected early in life. In high school, he suffered an injury causing him not to be able to join the air force dashing a lifelong dream. This problem led him to go to college and become the entrepreneur ...
Dec 13, 2022•26 min•Ep. 48
In this episode, Will Zank interviews Kim and Daniel Guest, the proud owners and hosts of the Little Yellow Cottages in Port Austin, Michigan. Kim and Daniel have worked in corporate America for many years now. They endlessly aim to be their own bosses and increase their financial freedom. What turned out as a hunt for their own house turned into purchasing a unit of 6 vacation rentals and turning them into a must-see vacation destination, the Little Yellow Cottages. In their conversation, Will ...
Nov 29, 2022•21 min•Ep. 47
This week we spoke with our very own Andy Bethune. Andy is a master networker, and this week he talks with Will Zank about the art of networking. A key to unlocking your potential is confidence. No matter what you’re doing or where you are, networking is essential to any work or social environment. It is about working with those who will not only help with your work but also will help build the community together. One of the biggest problems people face is networking as an introvert. For extrove...
Nov 15, 2022•12 min•Ep. 46
The cost of living has become expensive lately. Inflation is driving up prices of everyday essentials like groceries, utilities, transportation, and now the housing market. You’re probably thinking, “tell us something we don’t already know.” On today’s episode, host William Zank speaks with Jeff Southcott, Senior Vice President at 1st State Bank. Jeff and Will talk specifically about the housing market. Jeff has been working as an expert in the housing market for years. He shares insight on wher...
Nov 01, 2022•24 min•Ep. 45
On today's podcast, we spoke with Beth Thieme, President, and CEO of Amigo Mobility International, Inc. If you are looking for an episode that will recharge you with ideas for success and an entrepreneurial flair, look no further. Beth's energy, passion, and wisdom are fully displayed in this episode. This week we discussed how Amigo got started and the motivation behind why it began, and how the business can keep pushing through its rough times. Beth explains how Amigo is a relationship-built c...
Oct 18, 2022•18 min•Ep. 44
On today’s episode, we speak with Gene Pickelman, President and CEO of Tri-Star Trust, and Catherine Allen, Co-Founder and CEO of AO People Partners. This episode is about developing a conscious culture of learning and developing your employees. Gene and Catherine have a lively discussion about leadership. They have learned and recognized that having strong leadership at the core of your business is a competitive difference. And valuing and developing your people will determine the success of yo...
Oct 04, 2022•30 min•Ep. 43
Have you ever wondered what separates companies that perform well during bad times? It’s simple – they have the same quality that a castle has. It’s a moat. We got to speak with the President and CEO of Argus Research Group, John Eade. Based all the way out in NYC, it was a pleasure to get the chance to talk with him about how businesses can better prepare for a possible recession. With 75 total employees, 20 are analysts and portfolio strategists who forecast the US economy. As you can imagine,...
Sep 20, 2022•19 min•Ep. 42
Today we got the chance to speak with Bob Hagen of Hagen Ford, which was established in 1961 by Bob’s father. Bob and his brother are the current owners of Hagen Ford and are very active within the community and the Ford industry. He talks about the future and evolution of the car industry and how soon enough, everyone will have an electric vehicle in their garage in the near future. Electric vehicles are going to be the “norm” soon enough, and there are already people grabbing the new Ford F-15...
Sep 06, 2022•16 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Her life was just progressing at Dow, and she decided that after eight years of commitment to them, she wanted to grow into something more and something bigger that would be able to help others the same way others had helped her. Please welcome Executive Director and Founder of Self Love Beauty, Lisa Thomson, this week on how she was inspired to grow her non-profit organization to inspire people across the state to be self-aware and confident both in the workplace and in this world we live in. W...
Aug 02, 2022•18 min•Ep. 40
“Architecture is as much about understanding why a building needs to exist as it is the relationships of its forms. Creating graceful space that enhances life is part of a fundamental belief behind our work at WTA Architects.” This is what guest speaker Paul Haselhuhn, Architect, Partner, and President of WTA Architects, speaks on in this week’s podcast. Employers and people, in general, tend not to recognize the importance of architecture and what effects it can have on an employee or family. T...
Jul 05, 2022•27 min•Ep. 39
