The Philosophy of Renovation

Join host Jeremy Rivera for a deep dive into the world of residential construction with Alec and Josie Davis, the husband-and-wife team behind H&H Construction in Cookeville, Tennessee. This two-part conversation explores how they've built a thriving renovation business focused on relationship over transactions, creativity over cookie-cutter solutions, and preserving the beauty in old homes while bringing them into the modern age.

Josie shares her unique perspective on what makes home renovations special: "You're taking something that's already there and already has flavor. It already has its own embodiment, and you are tweaking it, aesthetically smoothing it out, maybe changing some of the rhythms there in the space, but you're ultimately still keeping the foundation and the bones the same."

Discover why she believes the most beautiful spaces happen when you marry older charm with newer aesthetics.

"To me and Alec, there's no small job. Every job has an impact to the customer and to the family that's living in the home."

Learn how H&H Construction builds long-term client relationships by starting with small repairs—drywall holes, baseboard fixes—and growing trust over time into major kitchen remodels, bathroom transformations, and home additions.

"How you're wanting a space to feel should often dictate how you develop this space."

Josie reveals her signature question for every client: "What do you want it to feel like when you walk in?" This approach moves beyond standard kitchen triangles and bathroom layouts to create truly personalized spaces.

The Davis team offers honest consultation about when to invest in customization versus following market standards. "If you're planning to be there forever, then we really want to customize it to what you're wanting to feel."

Josie describes her love for wet rooms—bathrooms where the entire space becomes the shower with seamless tile work that's "almost like artwork." She also shares stories of renovating homes from the 1930s and 40s, preserving original hardwood floors and historic fireplaces while upgrading everything else.

Josie offers refreshingly honest advice: "Some houses, the way that they're structured, they're just perfect the way they are. Sometimes it's meant to be that way. And so adding onto that changes the feel of that home. I would say, 'Nah, friend, just go ahead and find a new place that you can grow into.'"

But when an addition IS right? "You get the right contractor and the right budget, and you can do just about anything."

"A sunroom is being outside and enjoying outside without being outside."

Alec and Josie explain the difference between sunrooms and covered patios, climate-controlled versus non-conditioned spaces, and how they've transformed decks, porches, and even sheds into beautiful year-round living areas.

"We're in Cookeville, Tennessee. There's a lot of mountain ranges. You can't have a patio without flat land."

Alec shares his passion for custom deck designs: "I love anything that's out of the norm, anything that's different." From multi-level decks to grand staircases, fire pits to octagonal desig...

Listen: unscriptedsmallbusiness.com Host: Jeremy Rivera Guest: Chad T. Jenkins, Founder of SeedSpark & The CoLAB

Chad T. Jenkins grew up on a small farm in South Carolina, started his first real estate deal at age 11, and spent 25 years building over 50 businesses across wireless phones, data centers, construction, HVAC, GPS leasing, and more. Then he stopped. Not because he failed — but because he found something better: engineered collaboration.

In this episode, Chad breaks down the framework he calls the VCR Formula (Vision + Capability × Reach = Success), explains why most entrepreneurs suffer from a WHO deficiency, and shares how his CoLAB community grew to 700+ collaborations in just 18 months — outpacing his entire 25-year history of starting companies.

Jeremy and Chad also dig into the real role of AI in entrepreneurship, how to structure collaboration outcome splits, and why "showing up at the receiving dock" is the ultimate growth strategy.

• Why an 8-year-old riding horses at auction is the perfect metaphor for understanding leverage
• The John Baptiste Say definition of an entrepreneur — and how it reframes everything
• The WHO deficiency: what's really blocking growth for most entrepreneurs and business owners
• The VCR Formula (Vision + Capability × Reach = Success) — and how to map your P&L to it
• The four types of Capability: ownership, ability, capacity, and cash
• The four types of Reach: eyeballs, minds, hearts, and DNA-level
• Why "Future Backward" planning beats "Current Forward" every time
• How to structure a collaboration outcome split (the 10-20 / 60-80 / 10-20 rule)
• What Chad calls the "Idea Economy" — and why the task economy is over
• How to use AI as a PhD-level assistant without losing your human competitive edge
• The "Name the Baby" tool for creating intellectual property from collaborations

"A true entrepreneur is someone who relentlessly seeks leverage." — Chad T. Jenkins

"Stop trying to grow through effort. Start focusing on what you have, combining it with what others have, and ask one question: How do you want to split the outcome?" — Chad T. Jenkins

"The only thing cash does is pay for somebody's vision or buy somebody else's capability." — Chad T. Jenkins

"Always show up at the receiving dock, not the procurement office. Future money is always up for grabs." — Dean Jackson (via Chad T. Jenkins)

Chad T. Jenkins / SeedSpark

• Website: seedspark.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chadtjenkins
• CoLAB Programs: seedspark.com/programs
• CoLAB Partner™: seedspark.com/colab-partner
• Kickstarter Events (twice monthly): seedspark.com/colab-kickstarter
• CoLABcon (October, Charlotte NC): seedspark.com/events
• Tools (Name the Baby, Future Backward): seedspark.com/tools
• Books (Friction Fuel, Just Add a Zero): seedspark.com/resources/books
• Blog: seedspark.com/resources/blog
• Real Collaborations: seedspark.com...

Sara Nay, CEO of Duct Tape Marketing, joins Jeremy Rivera to discuss why strategy must come before tactics in small business marketing. With 15 years at Duct Tape Marketing—starting as an intern and rising to CEO—Sara shares the agency's proven approach to building trust through transparency, education, and true partnership.

This conversation covers the evolution of SEO in the age of AI, why customer interviews are non-negotiable, how to structure content for both humans and LLMs, and why quarterly planning beats annual marketing plans in today's rapidly shifting landscape.

Sara Nay is the CEO of Duct Tape Marketing, where she has spent 15 years helping small businesses build effective marketing strategies. She recently authored Unchained: Breaking Free from Broken Marketing Models, offering a fresh perspective on escaping outdated marketing approaches that no longer serve today's businesses.

• Website: ducttapemarketing.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/saranay
• Book - Unchained: unchainedmodel.com

• [00:00] Introduction and Sara's journey from intern to CEO
• [01:20] The reporting problem: cutting through vanity metrics
• [04:14] Why beautiful websites fail without customer journey mapping
• [06:07] SEO evolution: from keywords to questions in the AI era
• [08:50] Showing up in AI search results and LLM citations
• [11:57] Local SEO strategy for service businesses
• [13:26] The strategy-first process: interviews and customer journey mapping
• [15:12] The power of leadership and customer interviews
• [19:15] E-commerce vs. service business strategy differences
• [21:16] Year one to year two: evolving campaigns with quarterly sprints
• [24:38] Content strategy for AI visibility
• [26:50] The future of authority and backlinks
• [27:30] Co-marketing as a multiplier for small businesses

"A website should help people get to know, like, trust, and even be able to try your services and buy your services. Yes, it should look nice—that is important. But the content and the journey that you're guiding people on is what I would argue is the most important piece of the puzzle."

"We're not just creating marketing strategy for people anymore. We're creating marketing strategy for people AND AI."

"When people skip over leadership interviews and ideal client interviews, that's where they waste time, energy, and money on marketing in the long run."

"Gone are the days where you can just publish content and hope it shows up. You have to be very focused on what you're putting in the content, but also how you're structuring it."

"I believe you can't really plan for marketing further than three months at this time because it's changing, shifting, and evolving so much."

• Duct Tape Marketing Homepage
• Fractional CMO Services
• The Marketing Hourglass / Customer Journey
• Marketing Hourglass System
• Ideal Customer Development
• Google Business Profile Optimization