Artificial intelligence is continuing to advance at an exponential pace, mirroring the advent of the internet in some ways. Like the early days of the internet, some businesses are assuming AI is just a fad that’ll fade with time while others are taking full advantage of this emerging technology to reduce costs while improving efficiency.

Ed Morrissey, Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Integrity Web Consulting, joined co-hosts Dave Hartley and Missy Kelly to talk about the latest advances in generative AI and explain why it’s so critical for businesses to take time to explore and embrace AI applications. The trio also took a detour from AI to discuss how a “holacracy” management framework empowers everyone at Ed’s company into a decision-maker, as well as the following topics:

• The common mistake business leaders make when trying to innovate their workplace
• The importance of being leading edge but not “bleeding-edge”
• Why caution and incremental changes are vital when introducing new technologies How to manage quality control under a holacracy model and why the best workers love the organizational structure
• Resources to use if you’re interested in exploring AI

“The most successful strategies to adopt new or innovative technologies, take AI for example, begin with incremental changes.” – Ed Morrissey

Resources to Count On

Check out these additional resources for more insight into the conversation:

• Connect with Ed on LinkedIn
• Follow Ed on Twitter/X
• Learn more about Integrity
• Keep up with Integrity on Facebook[AB1] [BM2]
• Check out Squad of Bulldogs for AI and Web3 application development
• Explore Scribble AI, the artificial intelligence blog writing assistant
• Discover XDHoldings, an investment and innovation partner for market leaders
• Take a peek inside the Tivoli Offices, home to Integrity

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When a company is thriving, no one wants to think about potential roadblocks or dangers ahead. But when disaster strikes, the right response can be the difference between a business closing its doors or fueling future growth. Whether it’s a new competitor in the market, shifting consumer patterns or even a global pandemic, how can you quickly adapt to the unexpected?

Kicking off the first episode of season three of But Who’s Counting?, longtime host Dave Hartley is joined by his new co-host, Missy Kelley, for a conversation about grit and perseverance with Michael Weiss, owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company in St. Louis, Missouri.

This episode digs into how Michael took his business from chasing demand to creating it. He explains how his company took proactive steps to embrace the sudden surge in demand during the pandemic while still looking ahead to solve issues before they created roadblocks. The wide-ranging conversation also included:

• Why businesses should examine their relationship with demand: are you driving it or is it driving you?
• Weaknesses of big box retailers and how small retailers can differentiate themselves
• How Big Shark Bicycle Co. was able to take advantage of timing and luck to get ahead of consumer trends
• The importance of understanding your business’s vertical while also being instinctual to recognize opportunities
• The key to connecting community efforts to business goals
• How a passion for expanding outdoor culture turned into working on a festival-length film that celebrates American Criterium Racing

“If you’re just doing things at a zero-revenue model, you’re not valuing yourself, you’re not investing in the future of growing a business or growing the market.” - Michael Weiss

Resources to Count On
Want more insight into the conversation? Check out these resources to learn more:

• Connect with Michael Weiss on LinkedIn
• Check out Big Shark Bicycle Company’s website
• Learn more about We Are Rock n Roll from the official trailer
• View the American Criterium Cup’s 2024 Series Calendar

Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
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Hospitality is often one of the first industries to feel the sting of global events like the COVID-19 pandemic or, looking further back, the 2008 recession. For a business like a hotel to survive the highs and lows, it must rely on a combination of ingenuity, forward-thinking and just a touch of audacity.

For the final episode of season 2 of But Who’s Counting?, host Dave Hartley met with Dave Parmley, founder and owner of Chesterfield Hotels, Inc., to discuss the lessons the hotel mogul learned over his long career in hospitality. Parmley details how he deviated from convention to choose his locations, what he’s done to retain talent post-COVID and the guiding philosophy that enables him to remain proactive, even under unexpected and unforeseeable circumstances. The discussion also covered:

• The story behind Parmley’s purchase of the former Campus Inn in Columbia, Missouri
• Why he made the move from real estate to the hospitality industry
• How the impacts of the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic compare and their differing effects on the industry
• Why it’s so important for business owners to establish a solid banking relationship

“Try to find a location that has high barriers to entry. It’s probably going to cost you more, it’s going to take you longer, but at least at the end, you’ve got something that somebody else can’t duplicate easily.” – Dave Parmley

This episode marks the end of season 2 of But Who’s Counting? The podcast will return in 2024 for season 3 with more episodes, guests and valuable insights.

Resources to Count On
Want more insight into the conversation? Check out these resources to learn more:

· Check out The Broadway in downtown Columbia

· Learn more about Chesterfield Hotels, Inc. and its properties

· Connect with Chesterfield Hotels, Inc. on Facebook

Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
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Reinvention. It’s what keeps businesses going and allows entrepreneurs to come up with creative solutions to increase profits and abandon strategies that don’t bring value. At the same time, business leaders must realize they can’t reinvent the wheel alone. It takes a team with a strong company culture to continuously find new ways to innovate.

Host Dave Hartley sits down with Eric Termansen, Founding Partner of Western Retail Advisors, on this episode of But Who’s Counting? to discuss his journey from the corporate world of PetSmart to running his own commercial real estate brokerage. Eric shares inventive ways to shape company culture and encourage employees to take ownership of it. The conversation ranged from Eric’s beginnings at PetSmart to the struggles he endured while starting his own business to his outlook on commercial real estate. Topics discussed also include:

• Building company culture and making it more than just one big event, but rather dozens of little things leaders can do every day
• Handling the stress of being an entrepreneur while facing complications in your personal life
• The impact team sports had on his life and how it prepared him for challenges on and off the field
• How his involvement in the Vistage executive coaching group helped him evolve as a leader
• Eric’s retail outlook and insights around grocery stores, quick-service restaurants and online retailers

“If you ever have an opportunity to own your location, that’s a fantastic way to deploy your capital…owning your own location or locations is always a good strategy for building long term wealth.” – Eric Termansen

Resources to Count On

Want more insight into Dave and Jimmy’s conversation? Check out these resources to learn more:

• Learn more about Western Retail Advisors via their website
• Read more about how Eric overcame adversity to be selected as one of Globest’s Best Bosses in commercial real estate for 2023
• Follow Western Retail Advisors on LinkedIn for more insights

Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
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Creating a business from scrap requires you to accept the risks that come with entrepreneurship, overcome ever-changing challenges and above all else nurture the passion that drove you into the business in the first place.

In this episode of But Who’s Counting?, host Dave Hartley is joined by Jimmy Sansone, Brother and Co-Owner of The Normal Brand, a St. Louis-based clothing startup success story. Dave and Jimmy discuss how they grew The Normal Brand from their parents’ basement to eight stores across five states with ups and downs along the way. The conversation dives into:

· Overcoming sudden adversity and leading your team to the other side intact

· Putting family first in the family business and why Jimmy’s most important title is “Brother”

· Managing supply chain disruptions and keeping shipments on schedule

· How to build a business that scales even once it leaves your home state

“Action is the best response [to an unexpected disaster]. We couldn’t control everything, the one thing we could control was our reaction to it. Action is the best antidote to anything and so getting to action right away instead of sitting and stewing about it is something that my mom, my dad, my grandparents always encouraged.” -Jimmy Sansone

Resources to Count On

Want more insight into Dave and Jimmy’s conversation? Check out these resources to learn more:

· Check out The Normal Brand’s lineup of elevated clothing that fits your normal

· Connect with Jimmy on LinkedIn

· Follow The Normal Brand on Instagram

Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
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Competition is nothing new for startups, but following the end of the pandemic, competition for funding has become even more intense. To stand out, particularly to venture capital firms looking to invest, early stage startups have to bring metrics that will entice VCs to fund them over the more mature companies they’re competing with.

Brad Luttrell, Co-Founder and CEO of both Holler Commerce and GoWild, a social media community for outdoor enthusiasts, sits down with But Who’s Counting? podcast host Dave E. Hartley to share his experience steering his companies through the COVID-19 pandemic and how they recovered after their business model crumbled in 2020. Their conversation touched on many of the struggles experienced by startups during the pandemic as well as how the startup market has changed in response. Also covered in this episode:

• How Brad built an e-commerce site in just 90 days after losing $750,000 in one week
• What entrepreneurs can do to power through the “trough of sorrow”
• Actionable advice for startups attempting to fundraise in the current competitive environment
• The three L’s of going live with a product: Launch early, Listen to what’s happening and Look into the data
• Ways to eliminate meeting fatigue and creative company-wide policies that can help
• Why getting fired turned out to be a blessing in disguise

“What has made this really competitive if you’re in a seed stage round, you’ve got companies who should be raising a Series A downshifting and raising in that same size. VCs are going to look at this from a metrics perspective of, ‘How much revenue are they doing, what’s the valuation?’ Their thesis is going to be built around that to some degree.” – Brad Luttrell

Resources to Count On

Check out these additional resources for more insight into Dave and Brad’s conversation:

• Keep up with Brad on LinkedIn
• Read Brad’s free newsletter here for more insights
• Check out Holler Commerce, a turnkey, AI-powered social commerce platform
• Make connections on GoWild, a free social community for outdoor enthusiasts

To help gauge how startups and investors have been impacted by external pressures and how they plan to move forward, the Anders Startup team is inviting startup founders, entrepreneurs, investors and funding sources to take our inaugural St. Louis Startup Funding and Outlook Survey. The survey will get a pulse on the region’s ever-growing startup ecosystem and see if visions align for entrepreneurs and funding sources.

Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
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Moving from a role in a traditional business to a startup can take some adjustments, but learning how to automate, integrate and build a team from the ground up can empower those who make the switch.

On this episode of the But Who’s Counting? podcast, host Dave Hartley sits down with Jane-Ellis Griggs, the VP of Finance and Operations at St. Louis startup turned bestselling sustainable swimwear brand Summersalt. Jane-Ellis shares Summersalt’s origin story, including a life-changing meal at Chipotle and why she made the drastic career transition from a corporate workplace to a startup. She also divulges how her background in public accounting built a foundation for setting processes and becoming a subject matter expert. The two also discussed:

• How Summersalt is helping to redefine beauty
• What it takes to build a finance and accounting team from the ground up
• What startups and large companies alike should consider when selecting a new platform for their tech stacks
• Lessons on integration and automation for lean teams

“Rehearsing your successes and your wins and always taking a step back to really celebrate the whole trajectory of what you’re accomplishing is really important.”
-Jane-Ellis Griggs

Resources to Count On

Check out these additional resources for more insight into Dave and Jane-Ellis’ conversation:

• Check out Summersalt’s swimwear for everybody
• Follow Summersalt on Facebook
• Connect with Jane-Ellis on LinkedIn

To help gauge how startups and investors have been impacted by external pressures and how they plan to move forward, the Anders Startup team is inviting startup founders, entrepreneurs, investors and funding sources to take our inaugural St. Louis Startup Funding and Outlook Survey. The survey will get a pulse on the region’s ever-growing startup ecosystem and see if visions align for entrepreneurs and funding sources.

Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
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Flexibility has quickly become a buzzword in today’s post-pandemic society, and most companies can “talk the talk”, but do you “walk the walk”? Even before it was cool or mainstream, Ballyhoo Workshop empowered their small (but mighty) team with the flexibility needed to take care of business, both at home and at the office.

Katie Schenck, founder and “Chief of Everything” at Ballyhoo Workshop joined host Dave Hartley on this week’s episode of But Who’s Counting to discuss the reasons she purposefully keeps her team small and how she built a marketing agency from the ground up to empower working parents. Katie explains why she embraced workplace flexibility long before it was mainstream to do so. The conversation also touches on:

• The importance of being authentic and genuine in a polished world
• Leveraging video and marketing pieces to share your story with your customers AND your employees
• Advice for executives nervous about taking the leap and getting behind a camera to produce video messaging
• How to find your balance with flexibility
• Finding opportunities to leverage ChatGPT

“I wanted to create a space, largely for women and working moms…Ballyhoo was really created in order to give people an opportunity to do what they love but in a much more flexible timeframe and environment in order to be able to live life the way that they want to live life.” - Katie Schenck

Resources to Count On

Check out these additional resources for more insight into Dave and Katie’s conversation:

• Contact Ballyhoo Workshop
• Follow Ballyhoo Workshop on LinkedIn or Facebook
• Connect with Katie Schenck on LinkedIn

Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter