Catalytic Conversations

This interview took place at BB’s place of business, The Executive Grooming Lounge.  That night was rainy, cold and yet- the shop was packed, the only space for us to have this conversation was the back room- music, members of the community and the fruits of BB’s leadership evident everywhere we looked.  Mr. BB Hamilton discusses the return on investments like leadership, mentoring, and modeling.  BB has an established apprenticeship program where aspiring barbers learn how to be ambassadors of the Executive Grooming Lounge, and the men they were created to become.  BB discusses the myth of work/life balance, personal development and building successful, profitable teams.  He recommends books that he uses with his team: Who Moved My Cheese and The Four Agreements.  There is a lot to aspire to here!

Meet Tommy Howard, former President and CEO of Sqwincher, based in Columbus, Mississippi. Tommy shares his experiences of assuming leadership of his family’s business, gaining a private equity partner and then, his exit from the company after selling to a strategic buyer. Tommy had 3 priorities in the sale: legacy, the well-being of Sqwincher employees AND purchase price. In our offline conversation Tommy said that “this is a small town, it’s not like those people can just go out and get another job”. He went on to say that he feels really good about the outcome and continues to see Sqwincher grow while making a positive impact on the Columbus community.

Phil Pietrandrea, Sales Director- Infrastructure at UNITRAC Railroad Materials, Inc. / Wabtec is my guest for this interview. Phil is a veteran of mergers & acquisitions. He shares key leadership strategies for leading a team through the M&A process, with integrity and authenticity. Phil makes a strong case for ownership transparency to gain company wide buy-in. Phil utilized his team of external advisors to successfully lead UNITRAC across the finish line - and gained trusted friends along the way.

How many of you are willing to put peace of mind ahead of profit? My guest, Dry Farm Wines founder, Todd White, is one of the few. In this interview we learn about clean wine, fear based leadership, and the rewards of failure. Todd tells us about his entrepreneurial journey which started at age 17. Todd founded 2 companies that he sold successfully. Todd also defines success; his perspective may surprise you. Todd labels his 3rd company a resounding failure that brought about his greatest wealth- peace. This interview focuses on the 4th of Todd’s creations - Dry Farm Wines. White has resiliently created DFW with a growth mindset, and expanded sense of awareness. Todd looks for those ready to embrace personal responsibility, while being part of a community - a key to the DFW Peace & Profit Manifesto. Check out to the DFW site: https://www.dryfarmwines.com

Rhonda and Jim Leavitt candidly share their conversations. They start with the one they had when Jim wanted to leave his Wall Street career to start their business. The money in savings, division of labor with a family of four young children and, how to eventually exit the business, are discussed in this interview. Jim and Rhonda are the founders of Grand Cayman Villas and Condos. Natural disasters, along with the issue of distance, are factors both Rhonda and Jim navigate in running the business and their household. Check out the company on their website: www.grandcaymanvillas.net. Listeners, if you’d like to learn more about working with me as your coach, feel free to call me at 804-372-7575 or go to my website, Ascend To Sell.com. I would love it if you would leave a review on iTunes and share this podcast with your contacts.

This episode focuses on creating value through climate optimization. Anne Waple, Vice President & Co-founder of Climate Optimize shares strategies for acquisitions. Climate Optimize, Inc “CO”, was founded on the fact that climate change presents both risk & opportunity to enterprises worldwide. Markets increasingly reward those that include climate assessment in their governance. CO takes climate assessment to the next level: Climate Optimization. Uniquely positioned to add enterprise value against a backdrop of climate change, CO will climate optimize by: ● Identifying, & acquiring, profitable companies with significant climate optimization potential. This may offer opportunities for outside capital partners. ● Assessing & advising third party clients using a CO-developed proprietary climate optimization platform to maximize enterprise value. Contact the CO team by visiting their website: climateoptimize.com . Contact Wendy Dickinson, the M&A Coach at: ascendtosell.com

Today's guests look back on the sale of their business. This partnership weathered each transition life had to offer. Marriage, a growing family and what became a large, profitable, organization- Mike and Patricia managed it all.

As an Amazon seller veteran, eCommerce expert, and outsourcing guru, Connor Gillivan is passionate about building profitable businesses that address specific customer needs within the eCommerce world. Starting out of his college dorm room, Connor spent 4 years working with his business partners to build an eCommerce business selling on Amazon.com. With the venture, he’s sold over $25 million online, have worked with over 1,000 suppliers, and have managed over 500,000 products. After hiring and firing hundreds of remote freelancers and virtual assistants with his Amazon venture, Connor and his business partner started FreeeUp.com to address the frustrations they were facing on other marketplaces like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer: (1) too much time interviewing and vetting freelancers and (2) too much turnover. FreeeUp receives hundreds of applications from freelancers each week, interviews them for skills, communication, & attitude, then only allows the top 1% into the network.

Libby Dishner, MLHR, ACC, is a Founding Partner of Cresco Coaching and Consulting. As a sought-after leadership coach, human resources strategist, and speaker she helps people find success and happiness by reaching for their full potential. Libby, a veteran navigator of acquisition integration, shares her tools for building resilience during disruption.

Many owners plan to either grow through an acquisition or, sell their company one day. But, are they ready? Have owners prepared for future disruptions? My guest, Courtney McBean and her partner, had two unexpected buyers come calling. Today, Courtney shares with us the tenets of the partnership, how it all began and the amazing results of the deal. Courtney is an entrepreneur and constant innovator looking for new ways to solve problems in clinical trials. With over 20 years experience in clinical research, her mission is to build strategy, processes, and technology that bring clarity, focus, and efficiency to organizations enabling teams to perform and trials to succeed. Checkout Courtney’s latest work. Cascadia Global Research

Ellen is a B2B CFO Partner, with an interest in helping the owners of privately-held businesses reach their goals, both personal and business. For almost twenty years as a CFO in the private sector, Ellen helped to add value to a company which experienced a long period of robust growth. Ellen provides fractional CFO services on an as-needed basis. Ellen's new book, "The Big Turnaround-How Bad Management Nearly Destroyed an Exceptional Company", will be out in late March.

Martha Moore, Business Development Manager at LiveWire LLC, shares her experiences as a former business owner whose lessons learned provide valuable insight on turning obstacles into successes. Martha has developed her abilities to create opportunities in different industries. Her story is one of resilience and readiness.

Kevin is a former Navy Seal and business owner who shares his experiences all of which led to his current position as a financial advisor and retirement planner with VA Asset Management.

Catalytic Conversation with Christin Bonomonte • Catalytic Conversation with Christin Bonomonte • Catalytic Conversation with Christin Bonomonte • Catalytic Conversation with Christin Bonomonte • Catalytic Conversation with Christin Bonomonte