Our guest is Scott Brusaw, owner of Solar Roadways, a company that proposes to turn highways and parking lots into giant solar-energy arrays. The company got a huge boost when George Takei, who played Star Trek's Sulu posted about the company to his 8 million plus social media followers. Solar Roadways, which is being crowdfunded on Indiegogo, saw their campaign pass the $2 million mark as the post went viral, making it the most successful project in Indiegogo’s history. Learn more about the Sol...
Jun 13, 2014•26 min
In this episode, Heather Schuck, CEO and founder of the leading children’s brand Glamajama, shares how her children's fashion line has become a favorite of celebrities, how she's been able to get hundreds of boutiques throughout the states and overseas to carry the line, and how she got exclusive with Target, JCPenney, Sears, BuyBuyBaby, BedBathandBeyond, Amazon, Nordstrom, and Barneys. Heather is a well respected and admired mom entrepreneur. Despite her lack of fashion or business experience, ...
Jun 06, 2014•30 min
Meet J.D. Gershbein, the man best known as the "LinkedIn Catalyst." Gershbein is CEO of Owlish Communications and the author of the upcoming book, “The LinkedIn Edge:Creating a Psychological Advantage in Social Business.” In this episode, J.D. will share insights for making the most of your time on LinkedIn, including how to: Create a great LinkedIn profileAvoid some of the biggest mistakes people make on LinkedInUse Groups to your advantageDevelop effective Company PagesLeverage LinkedIn's new ...
Jun 06, 2014•29 min
With a sea of emails swelling in our inboxes, you'd think email marketing would be the last way to get your company's marketing message across, right? Not so, says Jessica Best, the Digital Marketing Evangelist at emfluence, who notes that email marketing is still one of the most effective tools for communicating to customers and prospects. But, there's a right and a wrong way to do it. Tune in as Jessica provides tips and strategies on how to create effective email marketing campaigns that peop...
May 30, 2014•25 min
Gabriel Weinberg founded search engine Duck Duck Go in 2008 with one key differentiator from his other powerful competitors: Duck Duck Go does not track its users: they don't collect or share personal data. The search engine also puts "instant" answers above any links and ads; features a clean design; does not bias search results towards what they think particular users would already agree with; and is driven by community, not just algorithms and servers. Tune in to hear the story of Duck Duck G...
May 30, 2014•28 min
This week's guest is Susan Spaulding, the founder and leader of Recalibrate Strategies. The consultancy leverages her vast experience as a business owner and strategist, as well as her expertise in marketing, communications and insights to help organizations recalibrate their business and brands. In this episode, Susan will be sharing the highlights of her recently released book, Recalibrate: A Strategic Guide for Accelerated Growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
May 23, 2014•28 min
Joining host Kelly Scanlon is Linda Rutherford, vice president of communications and outreach at Southwest Airlines. Linda has been with SWA since 1992 and guides media relations, employee relations and communications, as well as emergency response and strategic public relations. Today we'll hear how SWA has built its culture and become one of the most successful brands in business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 23, 2014•28 min
Jeanne Mackay, owner of The Tasteful Olive, shares the story behind the specialty food retail store she opened in Overland Park a few years ago. The Tasteful Olive was named the Kansas Women-Owned Business of the Year, Retail Firm; the 2010 Downtown Overland Park Business of the Year; and the 2012 Purveyor of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chefs Association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 16, 2014•27 min
Our guest Becky Sheetz-Runkle is a business author and writer, speaker, strategic marketer and martial artist. She’s with us to talk about her newest book, The Art of War for Small Business and how small business owners can apply the principals of Sun Tzu to achieve success in their companies. Her previous book, Sun Tzu for Women: The Art of War for Winning in Business, has been called a “must read” by Today’s Chicago Woman, recommended by Baseline magazine to their C-level readers, mentioned in...
May 16, 2014•30 min
Joining host Kelly Scanlon is Brandy McCombs, who shares her less-than-traditional route from the restaurant business in Ohio and Florida to founding International Builders & Consultants Inc. IBC specializes in high-end architectural millwork installation in the casino, amusement and health care fields and has participated in several high visibility projects in the Kansas City area. The daughter of an entrepreneur, Brandy knew she wanted to own her own business by the time she was six years ...
May 09, 2014•25 min
Our guest, Belinda Savage, developed her roots as one of the first 10 women traders on Wall Street back in the 1960s. Savage has extensive experience and expertise within the financial markets and alternative assets—RE, private equity/debt, intellectual property—permitting her to network with professionals and associations throughout the United States. Tune in as Belinda discusses the current leading growth sector, Alternative Assets, for American investment portfolios, more specifically retirem...
May 09, 2014•29 min
Kansas City entrepreneurs Nick and Maddie Paradise talk about their budding business ThreadBuds. Playing around one day, Maddie wrapped her headphones with some friendship bracelet thread and discovered they no longer tangled. Soon after, the couple discovered they had a full-fledged business on their hands, with product orders rolling in. Tune in to discover how, at a time when function and functionality get lost in bright colors and hype, ThreadBuds is changing the way we listen to our world. ...
May 02, 2014•27 min
How many of you are working with multiple generations of employees within your companies? How’s that going? Is everyone getting along? Understanding what they can learn from each other? At no other time in history have we had so many generations of workers active in the workforce. That brings challenges, and it also bring opportunities. Our guest today, Cheryl Cran, the CEO of Evolutionary Business Solutions, teaches how to leverage the talents, skills and experiences of all those generations, w...
May 02, 2014•30 min
Kelly talks tech with Matthew Barksdale, the president of Engage Mobile, a company that has seen significant growth in its business of mobile apps and software applications. Engage Mobile was one of the first in the world to beta-test and build software for Google Glass. The company is considered to be one of the most promising enterprise mobility companies in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 25, 2014•29 min
Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard joins us to discuss his new book The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success. Rich stresses that although shrewd strategy and execution are crucial to success, companies can't achieve sustainable success unless they embrace what he calls the "soft edge" on the Triangle of Lasting Success. As the publisher of Forbes, Rich also writes a column called "Innovation Rules," known for its witty assessment of business and leadership issues. He has been a reg...
Apr 25, 2014•29 min
Storm season is upon us. Is your business ready? And are you prepared with an emergency plan for other disasters, natural or otherwise, when they strike? Kelly interviews Sara Croke, founder and CEO of Weather or Not. The Shawnee-based company provides business owners with precise weather forecasts and severe weather alerts 24/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 18, 2014•31 min
Shared work spaces—what are they exactly and why are they popping up across the country? Liz Elam is the founder of Link Coworking, a coworking space located in Austin, Texas. Besides her day-to-day duties at Link Coworking, Elam is the president and founder of coworking network group The League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces and producer of the Global Coworking Unconference Conference, which will be held May 1 – 3 in Kansas City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Apr 18, 2014•26 min
Host Kelly Scanlon talks with Lisa Bodell, the founder and CEO of futurethink, an award-winning innovation firm that helps businesses embrace change and become world-class innovators. Lisa is the author of Kill the Company: End the Status Quo, Start an Innovation Revolution, awarded the 2012 Best Business Book of the Year by Booz & Company’s strategy+business magazine. Bodell will be the afternoon keynote speaker at the Central Exchange's Leadership Lyceum in Kansas City on April 23. She wil...
Apr 11, 2014•31 min
The co-founders of Barefoot Wines, Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey, stop by to talk about how hardship, hustle and heart built American's #1 wine brand, plus they'll talk about the entrepreneurial lessons in their NY Times best-selling book, The Barefoot Spirit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 11, 2014•25 min
What can you do to create a Cracker Jack experience for your customers? One that offers them an unexpected free prize inside? In this episode, host Kelly Scanlon sits down with customer loyalty expert Chip Bell to talk about his new book, The 9 1/2 Principles of Innovative Service and ways to heighten your customers' astonishment and amazement with every encounter with you. A keynote speaker and senior partner with The Chip Bell Group, Chip is the author or co-author of 20 best-selling books, an...
Apr 04, 2014•29 min
When most people think of the NCAA’s Final Four, they think basketball players, not entrepreneurs. Well, at this weekend’s tournament, two entrepreneurs from Kansas City, Davyeon Ross and Bruce Ianni, will be at center court. Or at least their latest invention – ShotTracker – will be, as fans get a chance to try out the innovative new product. Kelly sits down with Davyeon Ross, the co-founder and COO of ShotTracker, the first piece of wearable tech for basketball players of all ages who want to ...
Apr 04, 2014•24 min
Kansas City writer, artist, business strategist and philosopher of creative, adventurous living, Becky Blades Phillips, joins Kelly to talk about her new book: Do Your Laundry or You’ll Die Alone: Advice Your Mom Would Give if She Thought You Were Listening. Since selling her award-winning public relations firm, Becky has served on corporate boards, as a civic advocate for the arts and entrepreneurship, and as a consultant and mentor to businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...
Mar 28, 2014•27 min
Our guest today is best-selling author Paul Brown, who joins us to discuss his latest book, due out in June 2014, Own Your Future: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur and Thrive in an Unpredictable Economy. Paul is a former writer and editor at Business Week, Inc. and Financial World, in addition to Forbes. He's written, co-written and ghosted numerous books, including Customers for Life with Carl Sewell. His books have sold more than 3 million copies and made nearly every best-seller list. Paul i...
Mar 28, 2014•27 min
Entrepreneur LeAnn Carlson, founder of Lauren's Hope Medical ID, joins us today to talk about the inspiration for her company, which is famous for its stylish medical IDs — and is saving lives too. Among Lauren's Hope's 400,000 customers is Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry, who wears the stylish bracelets on national talk shows, to media events, and even during a Vogue magazine shoot. The company has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Family Circle, People, Woman's World, InStyle magazin...
Mar 21, 2014•29 min
Nellie Akalp, the founder and CEO of CorpNet.com, helps entrepreneurs start businesses, incorporate, form LLCs, set up sole proprietorships (DBAs) and maintain businesses in compliance with state filing requirements. Today she joins host Kelly Scanlon to discuss the power of naming your business, beyond the brand considerations. Nellie has contributed to or appeared in a host of national media, including Entrepreneur, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Mashable and Inc. Learn more about your ad choice...
Mar 21, 2014•27 min
There are more than 10,000 entrepreneurship classrooms in the U.S., reaching more than half a million students, but the vast majority of educators are teaching entrepreneurship from a textbook rather than letting students experience it for themselves. Diana Kander, an entrepreneur and senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, hopes to change that. Diana joins us today to talk about "All In Startup," her new novel about the trials and tribulations of starting a business, and accompanying curricul...
Mar 07, 2014•28 min
This week’s guest is Patricia Greene, professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College. As a founder of the Diana Project, she is one of the world's foremost experts on women's entrepreneurship. She’s also the national academic director of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses initiative. The half-billion-dollar investment aims to help small entrepreneurs by improving access to education, capital and business support services. She talks with us today about the findings of the organization's rece...
Mar 07, 2014•29 min
On November 22, 1978, Danny O’Neill picked his first batch of coffee beans in the mountainous coffee-growing region around the Poás volcano while studying abroad in Costa Rica. Right then and there, he fell in love with the country, the people and the coffee — especially the coffee. Fifteen years later, Danny founded The Roasterie in his basement in Kansas City and to this day partners directly with farmers and pays above-market values to get the best of the best coffee beans. Danny "The Bean Ba...
Feb 28, 2014•31 min
Joining host Kelly Scanlon is noted author and speaker Meg Hirshberg. Meg talks about her latest book, For Better or For Work: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs and Their Families. Hirshberg is a contributing editor and former columnist for Inc. magazine. Meg’s column, Balancing Acts, explored the intersection of family and business and work-life balance issues in an entrepreneurial setting. Entrepreneur magazine selected Meg’s book as one of the five best business books of 2012, and Axiom Busi...
Feb 28, 2014•25 min
Joing Host Kelly Scanlon is the first president of the Kansas City Minority Supplier Development Council, now known as the Mid-American Minority Supplier Council. Baker explains why the council was so important for Kansa City at that time and why it remains relative today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 21, 2014•29 min
