Karen Crnkovich, owner of mechanical service contractor DMC Service, joins Smart Companies host Kelly Scanlon to discuss her entrepreneurial journey. Founded in 2004, DMC Service (which stands for Diamond Mechanical Contractors) focuses on repairing and maintaining existing building and industrial systems,such as HVAC and plumbing. Tune in as Karen discusses her transition to owner of the company and the core values that drive company culture, their relationships with customers, and their commun...
Feb 16, 2018•22 min
Marvin Carolina, the president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Greater Kansas City, joins Smart Companies host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how the organization works with businesses to gain credibility and avoid scams. Tune in to learn: The advantage of becoming a BBB member.What's involved in the process of becoming a member.How the BBB assists with complaint resolutions.How to understand BBB ratings.About the BBB's scam awareness program. Visit the archives to listen to all the show...
Feb 16, 2018•20 min
Partners N Promotion founder Vicki Clayman joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss her entrepreneurial journey. Clayman is the founder and president of Partners N Promotion, a boutique promotional, premium incentive and online recognition products company that she founded in 2008. When she founded the company, Clayman had more than 25 years of experience selling and servicing promotional product and recognition program customers around the country. But her entrepreneu...
Feb 09, 2018•21 min
Real estate entrepreneur Justin Brooks joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share the ups and downs of his entrepreurial journey, including how investing in his education was a turning point. Brooks came from a working-class family in Kansas City and served in the United States Navy. Brooks always knew entrepreneurship and real estate would be his path to personal and professional satisfaction. In fact, he had dreamed of being an entrepreneur and real estate developer sinc...
Feb 09, 2018•19 min
Kalon Breckenridge, the founder and CEO of B’Ridge Development joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss his journey as a real estate developer and entrepreneur. He'll discuss his entrepreneurial journey from vending machines to real estate, the personal hurdles he's overcome with his health, and how he battled through his roughest times. He'll also share his business philosophies and why he puts a special focus on helping children excel in science when he's not working...
Feb 02, 2018•19 min
Calli Green, founder and fashion director of Local Fashion Link joins Smart Companies Radio host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how her company is linking the local fashion community to Kansas Citians. Local Fashion Link hosts fashion shows and events, shares photos and produces publications. For the shows and publications, Calli and her team source local trends and garments from partners who support the fashion community. Calli likes to think she's come a long way since writing the fashion column in ...
Feb 02, 2018•17 min
High Prairie Landscape Group founder Robyn Schmitz joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss her passion for educating consumers and landscaping professionals and how she's grown her own landscaping company. As a green industry educator and landscape consultant, Robyn has written a book called "Outdoor Living: A Guide to Design, Construction and Budgeting." The book's purpose is to educate consumers and landscaping professionals as a way to improve the industry. She bel...
Jan 26, 2018•23 min
James “Doc” McEntire is known in automotive racing circles for his focus on winning. Dr. McEntire, a Lee’s Summit, Mo.,pediatrician who’s been racking up racing accolades since the early ‘80s, holds international world records for drag racing performance on street legal cars. He and his red 1968 Camaro—the same one he used to take his driver’s license test—have been featured in Hot Rod, RPM and many other industry magazines. He brings that same competitive streak—and winning record—to his practi...
Jan 26, 2018•26 min
Jon Dwoskin joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss his new book "The Think Big Movement." Dwoskin has made a career out of his passion of grow companies big.Listen in as he shares: Whether "big" is always better.What gets companies stuck and prevents them from growing bigger.How companies can get unstuck.How to determine whether your company's culture is productive, and how to reset it if it's not.The biggest mistake executives make. "The Think Big Movement" is writt...
Jan 19, 2018•22 min
Serial entrepreneur Cliff Cole joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share the lessons he's learned three decads of business ownership. Cole, currently the owner of More Floods Inc., got started in the cleaning and restoration industry as a technician in 1987, Within a year, he was promoted to manager of the Omaha office of a national company. Feeling the entrepreneurial bug, he started his own cleaning and restoration business soon after, as well as a supply house for othe...
Jan 18, 2018•23 min
Jeremy McDowell, founder of Midwest Sports Productions, joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share his entrepreneurial journey. MSP promotes youth fastpitch and baseball across the Midwest through tournaments and other events create lifetime experiences. McDowell got his start in fastpitch in 2001 when he became a volunteer. By 2007, he had joined the USSSA as State Director of Kansas. Currently, in addition to running MSP, McDowell is the executive vice president of USSSA...
Jan 12, 2018•30 min
KC Restoration specializes in metal refinishing and stone and wood restoration. Experts at preserving iconic spaces and restoring custom pieces, the company's owners know a bit about fresh starts themselves. Co-founder LeAnn Luemmen joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share her entrepreneurial journey. You'll learn how she and her husband and co-founder Bill Luemmen spent most of their lives as civil servants in California before striking out for Kansas City in late 2010,...
Jan 12, 2018•19 min
When Thomas Shyver was asked to close out a fledgling company in 1993, he answered the call. But after assessing the situation, he and his wife Charlene decided to buy the company—then called Royal Mechanical Services—rather than close it. Brad Shyver, the couple's son and current co-owner and CEO of the company—now called Royal Services—joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how his parents grew a turnaround company that sold home warranties into a company that prov...
Jan 05, 2018•19 min
Amy Goode, co-founder of Meridian Business Services, joins Smart Companies host Kelly Scanlon to discuss her entrepreneurial journey. Amy founded the consulting company in 2003 with Heather Wright, in Louisburg, Kansas, the community outside of Kansas City where she grew up. She knew that tax and accounting services were lacking in Louisburg and the surrounding area, so providing those services seemed like a good business idea and a way to give back to the community. Fast forward 15 years, and M...
Jan 04, 2018•18 min
KC Crew founder Luke Wade loves playing sports. But as an urban dweller, he tired of driving to the suburbs to play in organized leagues. So, he started forming leagues for fellow downtown Kansas City residents who wanted to participate in leagues closer to where they lived. In its first year, KC Crew signed up nearly 1,000 participants. That was in 2012. During the next two years, the company saw a 32 percent increase in sign ups. Luke finally quit his full-time job in 2015 and turned all his a...
Dec 29, 2017•21 min
Former Kansas Citian Jeanne Johnson joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss what it's been like to be the "only woman in the room" during her tech career, and she passes along the insights she's learned to create a pathway to success. Johnson is currently Americas Azure Strategist in the Global Black Belt organization at Microsoft focused on Azure. She has spent her career in the technology industry, founding her own tech companies and also helping others build theirs...
Dec 29, 2017•27 min
Lisa Sackuvich, the owner and president of ARJ Infusion Services, Inc., joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share her entrepreneurial journey and the importance of her WBE certification to her company's growth. ARJ Infustion Services offers in-home infusion expertise and dispensing of specialty pharmacy medication to patients with chronic conditions. Sackuvich has been able to leverage her WBE status to grow her business, including securing contracts with major insurance ...
Dec 22, 2017•26 min
Best-selling business author and consultant May McCarthy joins Smart Companies host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how finding your company's purpose can lead to more profits. She'll discuss: Creating a purpose or a “why” for your companyExamples of successful companies and their “why”Emphasizing your company’s purpose through demonstrative actionStrategies for using purpose as a driver of strategy and decision makingHow purpose creates profits McCarthy is an author, speaker, university lecturer and a...
Dec 22, 2017•23 min
Al Hess didn't know it at the time, but the purchasing skills he learned as a young man buying cows with his cattleman father gave him a strong foundation for building and growing Wholesale Trucks of America. Hess joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share his entrepreneurial journey. He not only discusses how he's built WTA, but also how he and others created an industry association to raise the standards and repuation of his industry as well as educate newcomers to the i...
Dec 15, 2017•17 min
Daniel Burrus, one of the world's leading futurists on global trends and innovations, joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss his New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller "The Anticipatory Organization: Turn Disruption and Change Into Opportunity and Advantage." Burrus discusses: What an "anticipatory" organization isThe difference between hard and soft trendsThe three types of hard trendsHow to use hard trends to create positive disruption and innovation Bu...
Dec 15, 2017•24 min
Hosea Haywood III, owner of Computerized Auto Search, joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share his entrepreneurial journey. He founded Computerized Auto Search in 1988 to help individuals purchase automobiles. Haywood's company works to find the best quality vehicle for the customer's budget and also helps with financing. As the company grew, it started offering customized service to corporations, auto manufacturers, automobile dealerships, insurance companies, governmen...
Dec 08, 2017•23 min
A favorite holiday tradition at Smart Companies Radio ... enjoy a replay of our Elf on the Shelf episode during the holiday season. 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 that delivers holiday magic to parents and children. Visit the archives to listen to all the shows in the Smart Companies Thinking Bigger lineup. Lea...
Dec 08, 2017•18 min
Rocky Romanella joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss his book "Tighten the Lug Nuts: The Principles of Balanced Leadership." Rocky will explore how to motivate and develop people to optimize business results. Rocky believes that a true leader can add value as a trusted advisor, mentor and visionary. Learn the two principles his dad taught him that helped propel his career, where the inspiration for "Tighten the Lug Nuts" came from, how a leader can help others buil...
Dec 04, 2017•24 min
Joey Kramer, the co-founder and CFO of Apple Pie Painting, joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss the company's twist on painting parties and their expansion. Joey and his wife April launched Apple Pie Painting as an alternative to the painting parties where participants go to a studio to paint as a group. Instead, an Apple Pie Painting instructor goes to the party host's home or other venue of choice. Apple Pie Painting is the third company Joey has started since 20...
Dec 01, 2017•22 min
Sheila Ohrenberg, founder of specialty contracting company Sorella Group, joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share her entrepreneurial journey. Ohrenberg discusses: Her inspiration for starting the company.How she learned the "business" side of running a business.The company's secret sauce for success.Why delegation is so important if you want your business to grow—and tips on how to delegate effectively.What the future holds for Sorella Group. Sorella Group is a nationa...
Nov 24, 2017•20 min
Justin Lokitz, the co-author of the best-selling book "Design A Better Business: New Tools, Skills, and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation," joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss new strategies for designing a business. Justin addresses why companies of any size will benefit from using a "design thinking" approach to creating strategy, leads us through what a typical strategic design process looks like, and explains how design thinking for strategy is different tha...
Nov 24, 2017•24 min
North Kansas City-based Inspired Homes doesn’t want to be just any homebuilder. The company founders‘ businesses included local real estate and construction busineses spanning more than 50 years. They are now working to revolutionize the home building industry. Inspired Homes' president Todd Lipschutz joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to talk about the genesis for Inspired Homes and how the company's efforts are producing more affordable, safe, energy-efficient homes. List...
Nov 10, 2017•18 min
Colleen Stanley, founder and president of SalesLeadership, Inc., joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how to close more sales using Sales EQ. Among the points she addresses are: Sales EQ vs. Sales IQ and why the distinction is importantWhy we often lose prospects to our competitorsHow to use EQ for greater sales successThe difference between a nurturing culture and a caretaking cultureWhat organizations can start doing now to improve the sales success of their orga...
Nov 10, 2017•21 min
Are you a non-marketing executive or business owner tasked with creating a marketing team? Melissa Hendricks, the vice president of marketing at Cerner, joins host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how to build a high-performance marketing team from the ground up. Hendricks shares: Why marketing is importantHow to determine who you needHow to find who you needWho to look for and why to lead the teamHow to manage and hold someone accountable when you have little to no marketing experience yourselfWhat kin...
Nov 03, 2017•20 min
Entertainer Clyde Riddlesbrood joins Smart Companies Thinking Bigger host Kelly Scanlon to share how business owners can enhance their businesses by leveraging tactics that entertainers use. He covers: How to use storytelling to help your small businessHow entrepreneurs can use the lessons of acting to propel their success.How writing can help you stay focused on your success Clyde is the founder of Riddlesbrood Touring Theater Company. He grew up in the entertainment industry working with his f...
Nov 03, 2017•22 min
