A favorite holiday tradition at Smart Companies Radio...part of the Christmas season as guest Chanda Bell, co-founder and co-author of the holiday phenomenon “The Elf on the Shelf,” gives us the inside story on how she, her mother and her twin sister turned a cherished family tradition into a best-selling brand, delivering holiday magic to parents and children across the country. Bell and her mother and sister were named the Georgia Small Business Person of the Year by the Small Business Adminis...
Dec 25, 2015•18 min
On Smart Companies Radio, meet speaker, author and luxury marketing expert Pam Danziger. Gain new insights and understanding about the HENRYs, the high-earners-not-rich-yet mass-affluent customers, who are the new mass-market consumers with discretion & future target market for luxury brands. Post-recession middle-class consumers lost discretionary spending power, but HENRYs still have it! Find out why Danziger says this new demographic is important to brands and how to connect with this hig...
Dec 25, 2015•26 min
Dare to Dabble’s mission is to unleash the creative potential of every individual. Co-owner and Creativity Coach, Sheryl Godsy joins Smart Companies-KC host Kelly Scanlon to talk about her business in North Kansas City. Godsy says her company offers a little bit of something for everyone. Luna Coffeehouse is located in the front space. They also feature a Local and Handmade market where you can purchase artwork by artists in the Kansas City area. They offer classes and workshops in subjects such...
Dec 18, 2015•28 min
The average tenure for a CEO is 5-1/2 years—and nearly 40 percent are fired wtihin their first 18 months. Successful CEO and entrepreneur Joel Trammell has defied those statistics and now shares his insights in a brand new book called The CEO Tightrope: How to Master the Balancing Act of a Successful CEO. In this episode, Joel joins host Kelly Scanlon to share these timely and practical insights: The top three challenges CEOs faceThe best metrics for measuring performanceHow aspiring CEOs can be...
Dec 18, 2015•25 min
Discover how to streamline your shipping needs on this episode of Smart Companies KC. You'll meet Jason Roberts. Freightview's Managing Director and Co-founder. He'll explain how he's saving companies money no matter how little or large their shipment is and you'll hear the unique story on how Freightview came to be. It's not your ordinary startup. C.H. Robinson acquired Freightview® in January of 2015. The cloud-based transportation management system (TMS) software platform cuts the time and mo...
Dec 11, 2015•28 min
They call them Grommets and define them as products with purpose, invented by people with stories. And on this episode of Smart Companies Radio, you'll meet the two women behind all of those grommets or consumer products, more than 2000 since 2008. Julies Pieri, Co-founder, and CEO of The Grommet says she and Co-founder Joanne Domeniconi grew tired of watching fewer and fewer remarkable consumer products making it to the marketplace and decided to do something about it. The Grommet is Pieri's th...
Dec 11, 2015•29 min
Meet the guys behind Idle Smart. Jeff Lynch and Ryan Bennett sit down with host Kelly Scanlon and discuss the idea behind their new startup company that provides both a hardware and software solution that automatically starts and stops diesel engines based on battery voltage levels, cold weather conditions, and excessive engine idling. Idle Smart was recently named a semi-finalist in the Kaufman Foundation’s One in a Million competition. Not impressed? You would be if you were an over-the-road t...
Dec 04, 2015•29 min
Meet Linda Losey, author of the best-selling book, "The Great God Hunt". She has crossed the country on horseback – alone and through all sorts of weather including a hurricane. Losey is also the co-owner of Bloomery Plantation Distillery. The mini-distillery sits upon 12-acres in West Virginia and is home to award-winning handcrafted cordials sold nationwide. More than 45,000 unique visitors have passed through Bloomery’s doors since 2011, hailing from across North America and, indeed, from aro...
Dec 04, 2015•31 min
Matt Trent, the CEO of Silver Arrow Technologies joins host Kelly Scanlon on Smart Companies-KC this week. Trent was previously head of Infrastructure Architecture at CenturyLink where his team focused on evaluating new technologies. Prior to CenturyLink, Matt served in a leadership role at Hitachi Data Systems where he established himself as a leader and innovator for developing best practices in storage management. Matt began his IT career at Sprint, where he established Sprint’s first Service...
Nov 27, 2015•31 min
It's Tea Time on this episode of Smart Companies Radio. Host Kelly Scanlon visits with thePresident and CEO of Wystone’s World Teas Holding, Inc. The tea enterprise consists of a tea bar, café and retail establishment, wholesale, product development, special events and promotions and a franchise division. Prior to beginning her adventure in tea, Livingston served as the Senior Vice President of Operations for Pulte Homes, the largest homebuilder in the country. While at Pulte she managed as many...
Nov 27, 2015•30 min
Founded in Kansas City by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world's largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth, and expand human welfare. During one week in November, more than eighty events inspire, engage, and connect entrepreneurs across our Kansas City community while connecting them to potential collaborators, mentors, and resources to help them succeed. On this episode of...
Nov 20, 2015•26 min
On this episode of Smart Companies Radio, you'll learn how to simplify your strategies. Host Kelly Scanlon talks with Brainzooming's Mike Brown about Creating strategy – If you can pin down what you are trying to achieve, you can apply innovative thinking on how to accomplish it. Discover how to prioritize and focus your efforts on what matters and how to produce metrics to know if you are indeed on the right track. To learn more about how to simplify your strategy download the free e-book at ht...
Nov 20, 2015•27 min
On this episode of Smart Companies-KC, you'll meet Pamela Potts. She is the co-founder and VP of the ICOR Impact division at Mersoft. Pamela talks with host Mary McKenna about the work being done at the company included new technology that makes your security system more secure and your smart home a whole lot smarter without the huge price tag. You'll also discover innovations Mersoft is taking into the classroom here in the Kansas City area and nationwide. To hear more shows, please visit our a...
Nov 13, 2015•24 min
Richard Haasnoot, President, of Innovate2Grow Experts/i2ge.com, a leading front-end innovation consulting company is this week’s guest on Smart Companies Radio. Haasnoot is the host of 'Innovation Best Practices" podcast with listeners in 72 countries. He is also President of Blue Sage Creative a highly innovative, rapidly growing, client focused graphic design company. He talks to Mary McKenna about High Success Innovation: ideas with proven higher chances for long-term success. Discover how to...
Nov 13, 2015•28 min
Joining host Kelly Scanlon is W. Kenneth Yancey, Jr., CEO of the SCORE Association, a position he has held since 1993. During his tenure with SCORE, Mr. Yancey has been responsible for developing SCORE into one of the most efficient, effective job creation and business formation engines in the nation. Yancey speaks across the country on the topics of entrepreneurship and small business trends and serves as a member of the HuffPost Small Business Board of Directors. He’ll visit with host Kelly Sc...
Nov 06, 2015•27 min
Host Kelly Scanlon this week on Smart Companies Radio talks with Jeff Beals, the award-winning author of Self Marketing Power: Branding Yourself as a Business of One and Selling Saturdays: Blue Chip Sales Tips from College Football. Beals is a member of the National Speakers Association and sits on the board of directors for the Kansas City chapter of the National Speakers Association. Kelly and Jeff will discuss his new e book “Goal-Based Networking” Learn how to turn your socializing into prof...
Nov 06, 2015•26 min
Deena James, the President of Krueger & James talks with Smart Companies-KC host Kelly Scanlon this week about insurance. James will discuss what makes Krueger and James different. You'll discover the 3 things you need to look at for when selecting a trusted advisor like K&J, and how do you make sure the right coverage is provided. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 30, 2015•27 min
The Wonderful World of Creatures & Code is an A-Z style book with the purpose of introducing kids to code. But it’s only available for purchase during the waning days of its Kickstarter campaign. On Smart Companies Radio with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll meet one of the authors, Heather O. Petrocelli. She and her wife and co-author Amie Pascal discuss the origin of the book and the need to strip away the mystery of coding for kids of all ages from 1 to 91. To hear more shows hosted by Kelly Sc...
Oct 30, 2015•26 min
Four years ago the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce launched The Big Five Initiatives and one of the five was making Kansas Ctiy one of America's most entrepreneurial city. Maria Meyers with KC SourceLink joins host Kelly Scanlon this week on Smart Companies-KC. Find out where Kansas City stands in year 2 in KC SourceLink’s report, “We Create”.Is Kansas City the most entrepreneurial city? To listen to more shows hosted by Kelly Scanlon, visit our archives. Learn more about your ad choices...
Oct 23, 2015•26 min
On Smart Companies Radio with host Kelly Scanlon.... Businessman and Life Coach, Aaron T. Walker, has inspired many through his leadership, mentorship, and consistent pursuit of excellence. Thirty-five years of entrepreneurship and marriage have given Aaron a wealth of experience. For 19 years and counting, Aaron has taken classes from and has been coached personally by his friend, financial guru, Dave Ramsey. In turn Aaron mentors and coaches others. Find out why those others are exclusively me...
Oct 23, 2015•27 min
In today’s fast-paced market, leaders are experiencing challenges that don’t respond to yesterday’s solutions; long-term customers are buying less, and margins are tightening. Leaders face more game-changing decisions in a shorter time span. Discover on this episode of Smart Companies-KC how to Reignite the dynamics behind the ever-increasing market challenges. Author Margaret Reynolds visits with host Kelly Scanlon about her new book, "Reignite: How Everyday Companies Spark Next Stage Growth" R...
Oct 16, 2015•28 min
Learn today the hard and fast differences between Start-Ups and Scale-Ups and what you as an entrepreneur need to do to make the leap from one to the other as you grow your business to the next level of success. .Joining host Kelly Scanlon is Verne Harnish, founder of the Global Entrepreneurs’ Organization. The author of “Scaling Up” and “Mastering The Rockefeller Habits” Harnish is the Founder and CEO of Gazelles, a global executive education and coaching company with over 150 coaching partners...
Oct 16, 2015•28 min
On this episode of Community Investor with Host Matt Benson, Discover what’s hot and what’s not in the real estate market. Jeffery Tesch, Managing Director of RCN Capital, a national direct private lender established in 2010 joins Matt on the show to discuss real estate investment strategies and the difference between fix and flips and buy and hold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 09, 2015•39 min
There’s money available for women entrepreneurs, but you have to know where to look. Joining Host Kelly Scanlon on Smart Companies Radio-KC, is Kelly Pruneau with the Women’s Capital Connection and Brande Stitt, Program Director of the Women’s Business Center. They’ll discuss debt and equity funding, microlending for micro enterprises and a new WE-Lend Initiative. Discover the continuum of funding products available in the Kansas City market and at what stage or type of company might need differ...
Oct 09, 2015•25 min
On this week’s Smart Companies Radio, discover how a multibillion dollar grocery store chain inspired fervent loyalty and the lessons that can be learned from what happened. Dr. Daniel Korschun, Associate Professor at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business joins host Mary McKenna to discuss his book, “We Are Market Basket” Korshun who co-authored the book walks us through the historical context and how the story challenges many common beliefs about business. To hear more shows, Please lis...
Oct 09, 2015•27 min
The best entrepreneurial stories begin with a personal moment of inspiration. For Sam Unruh, it was a desire to impress his significant other with a piece of furniture he’d designed, crafted and assembled by hand in his workshop. That “significant other” went to become Mrs. Unruh. And that “workshop” has grown into Kansas City’s premiere boutique furniture line. Since 2010, Unruh has been outfitting homes with its trademark furniture designs. Some call it a reclaimed modern style, while others d...
Oct 02, 2015•28 min
Mark LeBlanc is the author of Growing Your Business and Never Be the Same. He is also a past President of the National Speakers Association and his new book When YOU Are the Business will be available early next year. He speaks and writes on the core issues that small business owners and independent professionals face every single day and is speaking in Kansas City in a few weeks. He joins host Kelly Scanlon this week on Smart Companies Radio. Mark will walk you through the biggest mistake of hi...
Oct 02, 2015•29 min
Kansas City often referred to as the heart of America, is stealing the hearts of foodies. The rapidly expanding food truck industry is bringing residents tasty treats in the streets. One such truck is Jazzy B's Food Truck & Catering. It’s rolling through Kansas City and serving up mouth-watering recipes exclusively from the owner's own collection, with styles ranging from Jazzy Soul to Cajun and BBQ Classics On this episode of Smart Companies–KC, Mary McKenna fills in for host Kelly Scanlon ...
Sep 25, 2015•31 min
Host Kelly Scanlon's guest is Charlotte Clary, one of the two "granny" entrepreneurs behind Ice Chips Candy. Charlotte will talk about life as a serial entrepreneur and share why their appearance on “Shark Tank” was the best thing that could have happened for their business - even though they didn't take the offer! You'll also learn the behind-the-scenes story of Ice Chips Candy, including how it started in a kitchen sink and is now sold in grocery stores and other national outlets. Learn more a...
Sep 25, 2015•27 min
Christian Arnold, co-founder of Clockwork Architecture and Design joins host Kelly Scanlon for Smart Companies KC. The Clockwork AD team came together in 2004 and is comprised of designers who work fast and smart within diverse markets and to date have never missed a deadline. Located in Kansas City’s River Market, Clockwork is a growing company. The firm invested an additional one million dollars in 2013 to enlarge its footprint in Kansas City and hire additional staff. Listen in and discover t...
Sep 18, 2015•27 min
