Ever wonder how a $25 rescue dog could change someone's life forever? That's exactly what happened to Ryan Wimpey, who transformed his obsession with fixing his troubled pup's behavior into Tip Top K9. Now a thriving franchise with 24 locations across the country.

In this conversation, Ryan reveals the three pillars that took his business from struggling startup to scalable success story: marketing, branding, and systems. With refreshing candor, he admits that the entrepreneurial journey wasn't always smooth. "For years I wished I worked for someone else again," Ryan confesses, highlighting how building a business initially pulled him away from what he loved most, which was the hands-on dog training. Yet perseverance paid off as he gradually developed repeatable processes that allowed others to deliver the same high-quality training he provided.

What truly sets this episode apart is Ryan's fascinating insights into content marketing. After discovering that a potential franchisee trusted a YouTube dog trainer with just two employees over his established company, Ryan went "full court press" on video content, resulting in 130,000 new subscribers in just four days. His practical advice on creating engaging content that resonates with audiences is gold for any business owner looking to build their brand online.

Perhaps most valuable is Ryan's perspective on relinquishing control. "I was my biggest limiter," he reflects, describing how his wife joining the business forced him to let go of his "Ryan show" mentality. This hard-earned wisdom extends to his franchise model, where he provides extraordinary support, including professional video editing services, while empowering owners to run their businesses with appropriate autonomy.

Whether you're a dog lover, aspiring entrepreneur, or established business owner looking to scale, this episode delivers practical wisdom wrapped in entertaining stories from the trenches of building a nationwide brand. Tune in to discover how passion, persistence, and the right systems can transform any service business into a market leader.

Building a brand from scratch can feel like standing at the base of a mountain without a map. With endless opinions and advice available online, how do you know where to begin? Should you jump straight into designing a logo and picking colors? Or is there a more strategic approach?

The journey to building a powerful brand starts with understanding your audience. As our lead brand designer Andrew Wiseman explains, "They're going to start telling you who you are and they're the important voice because they're your customers." Rather than trying to force your self-perception onto the market, listen to what your customers say about you. Interview people who've already purchased from you. Even just three to five conversations can provide invaluable insights that shape your brand foundation.

A critical revelation for many founders is accepting that your brand is a living, breathing entity that will evolve throughout your company's life. The strongest brands in the world, like Liquid Death, continuously evolve through customer interaction. This perspective relieves the pressure of creating a "perfect" brand from day one. Your brand needs to be clear about what it stands for and the one thing you want to be known for. Entrepreneurs often struggle with this, wanting to offer multiple services, but trying to be everything to everyone leads to confusion. Define exactly who you help, the transformation you deliver, how you differ from competitors, and why you stand apart.

Before touching a single visual element, develop your verbal identity...how your brand sounds, the tone you use, the language that reflects your culture. These verbal elements create what Wiseman calls "visual words" that later guide design decisions around colors, typography, and overall brand expression. Your visual identity system goes far beyond just a logo, encompassing consistent color palettes across different applications, typography, and brand expression guidelines. When all these elements work together across your website, social media, and other touch points, you create a cohesive brand experience that resonates with your audience and drives business growth. Remember, strategy before design. Always.

What happens when entrepreneurship meets ancestral intelligence? Gary Johnson III's journey reveals how reclaiming our innate creativity can build powerful businesses with purpose.

Gary wasn't always destined for business. Growing up watching his mother hustle as a single parent, renting U-Hauls and cleaning out properties across Philadelphia with her children in tow, planted seeds of entrepreneurship that would later flourish. While studying exercise science at the University of Delaware, Gary found himself drawn to entrepreneurial resources on campus, despite being one of few Black students in these spaces.

The path became crystal clear after a life-changing moment: being robbed at gunpoint while working as a pharmacy cashier. "If I'm gonna die for anything, why am I gonna die for this company that doesn't even care about me?" This revelation cemented his commitment to building his own legacy rather than contributing to someone else's.

BVP Coffee Co. emerged from Gary's time at Howard University, where he went seeking the HBCU experience. The brand's name, Bison Venture Partners, honors Howard's mascot while embracing the Black cowboy aesthetic of "blazing your own trail." Every bag features "1867," the founding year of Howard, Morehouse, and several other HBCUs, with one dollar from each sale supporting HBCU scholarships.

What makes this venture truly special is its connection to heritage. Coffee originated in Ethiopia, it's Black history at its root, yet the wealth it generates rarely benefits Black communities. After visiting coffee farms in Kenya, Gary established direct trade relationships with operations primarily run by African women, ensuring fair wages that enable farmers to educate their children and improve community infrastructure.

Now, Gary invites the community to join his vision through WeFunder, letting supporters invest as little as $100 to own equity in the company. His ultimate goal? Complete supply chain ownership—farms, roasteries, and community spaces that combine cafes, bookstores, and co-working environments.

As Gary powerfully states: "It's not artificial intelligence that we need to care about, it's ancestral intelligence." Ready to support this movement? Visit bvpcoffee.co to learn, shop, or invest in building this pyramid of Black excellence.