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Dawn talks with Garrett Maroon, a Southeast Virginia real estate agent of 12+ years, about weighing key variables to build a business aligned with who you are rather than following cookie-cutter industry advice like cold calling or buying leads. Garrett explains he filtered every tactic through whether it fit his wiring and whether it gave or drained energy, ultimately mastering a relationship- and referral-based system that he refined over three and a half years while still achieving early success (27 homes year one, 50 year two) despite being told it wasn’t possible. He credits consistent inputs, building trust through consistent care, and asking better, constrained questions—sparked by his wife’s “under 40 hours” challenge—for sustainable results across market shifts. He also discusses coaching, cutting nonessential activities, and changing entrenched habits with patience and focus.

Who is Garrett Maroon and whom does he serve? (00:45)

Rejecting Cookie Cutter Real Estate (01:24)

Energy Audit and Personal Fit (02:58)

Early Wins and Long Runway (04:25)

Pushing Back on Shoulds (09:02)

Markets Change Trust Stays (12:00)

Proving 50 Deals Under 40 Hours (15:46)

Define Success With Constraints (19:21)

Naivete That Sparked Focus (21:57)

Guardrails Create Freedom (22:43)

Question the Hours Myth (23:29)

Resetting a Busy Business (25:21)

Why Change Takes Time (28:39)

Belief and a North Star (31:46)

Elimination Beats Guessing (36:04)

Rebuilding the Titanic (38:47)

Ten Year Overnight Success (41:55)

Where to Find Garrett (42:37)

Garrett Maroon's Information:
Website: https://www.garrettmaroon.com/about-garrett

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-maroon-50b06135/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@faithfulagent

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/gmaroon/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garrettmaroon/

Podcast: https://thefaithfulagent.buzzsprout.com/

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Dawn talks with financial planner Brian Thompson of Brian Thompson Financial about founders staying in control of their businesses without fusing their identity to the company. Brian explains that businesses can start “driving the ship” on their own momentum, so leaders should build with intention by clarifying mission, vision, and values—both personally and for the business—and repeatedly testing them in everyday decisions. They discuss what to do when personal values evolve out of alignment with the business, including changing the business or letting it go without viewing it as failure, and how to handle external pressure from family and others. Brian emphasizes focusing on process over results, celebrating progress, using practices like journaling and gratitude, embracing emotional humanity in leadership, and recognizing that AI can’t replace genuine connection.

00:49 Who is Brian Thompson, and whom does he serve?

02:06 Founder Identity Shift

03:13 Personal Values Work

04:18 When Values Change

07:02 Handling Outside Opinions

10:47 Revisiting Values Often

12:28 Build Measure Learn

14:16 Process Over Results

17:13 Celebrate the Climb

19:17 Gratitude and Journaling

24:18 Authentic Leadership

26:40 AI and Human Connection

33:02 Evolving Relationships

34:18 Wrap Up and Where to Find

Brian Thompson’s Information:

Website: https://btfinancial.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianthompsonfinancial/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063574958343#

X: https://x.com/BrianFinancial

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Dawn talks with Graham Skidmore about keeping humanity at the center of business amid rapid AI adoption. Graham argues AI should augment human agency like a calculator, not replace people, and warns that capitalism’s push for efficiency can overlook effectiveness, empathy, and stewardship. They discuss how one-size-fits-all systems in education and workplaces stifle human potential by forcing people into a “box,” and how companies often treat empathy as a tool to persuade others to conform rather than truly valuing different perspectives. Graham suggests using AI to remove heavy-lifting tasks so employees can contribute to creative problem-solving, and recommends making idea-sharing a requirement through mechanisms like innovation days or internal “shark tank” pitches. They also address ethical concerns about job displacement and the need to define limits on profit-driven automation.

Who is Graham Skidmore and whom does he serve? (00:49)

AI as a Tool (01:11)

Empathy and Stewardship (03:24)

Breaking the Box (03:48)

Personalized Potential (06:41)

Bridging Perspective Gaps (09:32)

Empathy as a Mask (12:21)

Unlocking Innovation Safely (15:31)

AI to Free Thinking (17:32)

Making Input Required (21:20)

Individualized Learning Example (25:02)

Grow the Box (27:02)

Where to Connect (27:51)

Ethics Beyond Optimization (29:17)

Graham Skidmore’s Information:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-skidmore/

Website: https://harmonyhealthinstitute.com/meet-your-facilitators/

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Dawn talks with Carolyn Haeler, CEO and founder of Mightylicious, a gluten-free cookie company, about using crowdfunding as a nontraditional way to finance growth in CPG. Carolyn shares how she bootstrapped early production, landed Whole Foods quickly, used personal credit lines to manage early cash flow, then secured TD Bank loans as purchase orders grew and co-manufacturing introduced net-30 payment gaps. She explains why growth in grocery often requires significant upfront capital for inventory, distributor requirements, and costly free-fill programs, creating a chicken-and-egg challenge with national distributors and anchor accounts. After unsuccessful angel outreach during COVID, she launched a regulated crowdfunding campaign, warning about unprofitable marketing agencies, built a base of 4,000 equity investors, and raised $5M, which helped her access major distributors, brokers, and broader retail expansion across 43 states.

Who is Carolyn Haeler and whom does she serve? (00:42)

Bootstrapping To Whole Foods (01:26)

Loans And Growth Ceiling (03:21)

CPG Cash Flow Reality (04:53)

Shelf Fees And Free Fill (06:14)

Choosing Crowdfunding (08:32)

Marketing Pitfalls (10:29)

Running A Reg CF Raise (11:4)

Equity And Investor Terms (15:00)

Raising Five Million (15:59)

Doors Open With Distributors (16:22)

Crowdfunding Legitimacy (19:31)

Where To Buy Cookies (20:42)

Carolyn Haeler’s Information:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cpotz/

Website: https://republic.com/mighty-monkey

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Dawn talks with strategic planning coach Marc L. Daniels about why annual planning no longer works for small and medium businesses in a fast-changing economy and technology landscape. Mark shares his background in building and selling businesses and argues that plans fail without disciplined execution. He contrasts spreadsheet forecasts and overly thick binders with a focused quarterly plan built around four elements: strengths, weaknesses, trends (instead of a long list of opportunities), and the biggest obstacle. He explains how trends—positive or negative—can be leveraged, citing examples from the 2008 financial crisis, tariffs affecting a pool company, and COVID. Mark recommends using AI tools to identify trends, reviewing customer and geographic data, assigning project leaders, setting weekly milestones, holding weekly leadership meetings, and tracking leading metrics to keep quarterly projects on track.

Who is Marc L. Daniels, and whom does he serve? (00:51)

Strategic Plan Basics (03:02)

Strengths And Weaknesses (04:56)

Trends And Obstacles (07:09)

Surfing Trends Quarterly (08:54)

Negative Trends Case Study (10:03)

Broader Economy Signals (12:35)

Coffee And Macro Trends (17:01)

Tariffs COVID And Discipline (21:27)

Finding Trends With AI (26:27)

Execution Weekly Cadence (32:57)

Where To Find Mark (39:57)

Marc L. Daniels's Information:

Website: https://marcldaniels.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-l-daniels-231456a3/

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/people/Marc-L-Daniels/61566554887388/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcldaniels/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarcLDaniels

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Dawn talks with Ricky Ho, founder of San Francisco AI startup SourceReady, which helps retailers, brands, and importers automate product sourcing from idea to factory by identifying suppliers globally (including some in the US), calculating tariffs, and even negotiating with factories using AI trained on millions of factory records, supplier disclosures, shipment records, and customs data. Ricky explains that most small businesses misuse AI like Google search, while the real power is in reasoning and execution through persistent AI “agents” with memory that can work toward goals using tools. They discuss trust and verification, emphasizing AI shouldn’t make high-stakes decisions yet, but can do substantial work with human oversight like managing an employee. They also cover AI’s growing role in customer service, recruiting, accounting, legal, sales/marketing, and retail, and suggest staying current by asking AI for updates and sources.

Who is Ricky Ho, and whom does he serve? (00:52)

Sourcing Pain Points (01:44)

Domestic vs Overseas (02:26)

AI Not Google Search (02:57)

Chatbots vs Agents (04:59)

Trust and Oversight (07:53)

Managing AI Skills (11:14)

Customer Service AI (14:26)

AI Sourcing Workflow (20:48)

Industries Up Next (24:34)

Vibe Coding Boom (26:34)

Adoption Barriers (29:16)

Stay Updated Using AI (30:43)

Ricky Ho’s Information:

Website:https://www.sourceready.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-ho-a25a05104/

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Dawn Kennedy talks with Jenna Nelson, founder of HerAIgency, about adopting AI in business in a supportive, non-threatening way, especially for female founders and women-led companies. Jenna outlines practical AI use cases in marketing, operations, data analytics, and market research, emphasizing that results depend on the quality of inputs (“slop in, slop out”) and that AI must be trained with a robust brand knowledge base such as briefs, past content, and transcripts. She recommends choosing one platform to train deeply, using paid features like custom GPTs, and reinforcing learning by feeding edits back into the tool. They discuss privacy and trade-secret concerns, advising careful platform settings and guardrails, and stress a human-in-the-loop review process. The conversation also highlights AI for lead intake, pre-qualification, and faster response to improve conversion and client experience.

Who is Jenna Nelson, and whom does she serve? (01:06)

AI Use Cases Overview (01:36)

Brand Voice Concerns (03:23)

Align Before Automate (05:22)

How to Train AI (07:32)

Tools and Paid Plans (09:39)

Market Research Faster (12:25)

Privacy and Trade Secrets (16:14)

Human in the Loop (19:56)

Trust and Disclosure (23:23)

Content Volume Reality (27:04)

Lead Intake Automation (31:09)

Where to Find Jenna (37:35)

Henna Nelson’s Information:

Website: https://heraigency.com

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@heraigency

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennalnelson/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heraigency

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herAIgency/

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Dawn talks with Curt Moore, founder of Moat Title Security (headquartered in Oklahoma City and operating in nine states), about what businesses must consider when expanding into new states, especially in regulated industries like real estate and public document recording. Kurt explains the need to register as a foreign entity with each state’s Secretary of State (with varying fees and annual requirements), maintain proper insurance and risk-aligned terms of service, and understand county-by-county recording rules and acceptable document nomenclature. He emphasizes consistency in entity structure, getting legal advice, researching state statutes, and proactively calling state offices or county clerks for guidance. Curt describes how Moat modifies contract language in some states to coordinate with state fraud statutes, and how Moat prioritizes expansion states based on target demographics and regulatory complexity to avoid costly compliance surprises.

Who is Curt Moore and whom does he serve? (00:53)

Foreign Entity Registration (02:48)

Research County Recording (03:59)

Entity Structure Consistency (06:30)

Insurance And Risk (08:33)

State Specific Disclosures (11:06)

Contracts And Statutes (14:24)

Choosing Which States (22:09)

Fraud Concerns And Consumers (28:45)

Key Takeaways Recap (32:23)

Where To Find Curt (35:21)

Curt Moore’s Information:

Website: https://moattitlesecurity.com/moat-specialist/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moat-title-security/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moattitle

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