1 / Vincent Carrie, CEO of Purple Media 2 / I run a digital growth studio where we help clients break through plateaus with a mix of strategy, content, and smart use of AI. I'm French, but I bounce between Barcelona and Paris, usually with a laptop in a cafe and some new tool I'm putting through its paces. 3 / I'd talk about how we started using AI not to replace conversations but to make them stronger -- and how that shifted the way one of our clients approached customer success. I'd also share my habit of cutting any tool that slows me down, no matter how hyped it is on LinkedIn. Under all the shiny tech, there's always a person just trying to make things work without burning out. 4 / https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-carri%C3%A9-7725b417
My name is Rania Stone, and I'm the co-founder of Imagine Greece Retreats. We offer life-changing literary experiences in Greece. Part of what we do includes writing retreats, where we teach novel writing, and reading retreats, where we host well-known authors, such as Ruth Ware, for a week of meaningful connection with readers. Most of our guests are solo travelers who bond through a shared love of literature. Our website is https://imaginegreeceretreats.com/
Alena Sarri, Owner Operator, Canberra swim school focused on early childhood aquatic education and drowning prevention. I run a local, family-owned swim school in Canberra with a strong community-first mission. My work is helps families build real water confidence and safer habits for both children and adults. I care deeply about teaching in a calm, practical way that supports parents rather than judging them. A big part of what I do happens beyond the pool through local outreach and education. I'd like to share what it looks like to lead a purpose-led small business where the mission is prevention, not just services, and where trust is built through consistent community engagement. I can also share lessons on supporting anxious parents and adult learners, and why having parents in the water with toddlers strengthens both safety and connection. https://aquatotscanberra.com.au For further communications, please contact my PR team: chad@ottomedia.com.au
1 / Hans Graubard, Co-Founder and COO of Happy V 2 / My roots are in engineering and manufacturing, and over the past few years I've shifted that focus toward developing nutritional products designed for women's health. At Happy V, I work closely with our R&D and operations teams, making sure what we build is transparent, clinically grounded, and true to the ingredients we stand behind. 3 / I'd like to share what it's been like working where wellness and science meet--how careful manufacturing, real testing, and actually listening to customers can raise the bar for women's health products. I've learned that even small, thoughtful changes, whether in the formula or the way we educate, can build trust in a way marketing alone never will. 4 / https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansgraubard/
I'm told this is quite an interesting 'turning it around' story. If you'd have asked most people that knew me in the 90s or 2000s, the reply would have been that I was destined for prison or worse. I was expelled from school (my mother was even asked not to bring me back to play school/nursery, so this began early) after being suspended multiple times, I was in frequent trouble with the law and had a long criminal record - serving community service, being sent to what I believe is now referred to as a 'secure training centre' for under 18s, lots of nights in the cells, lots of standing in front of magistrates and judges - by the time I was 19 in was put on an ankle tag. I kept getting into fights, I was getting drunk every weekend, had some years of using a variety of class A drugs. I tried to go to college, but was kicked out of there too - for getting into a physical altercation with the college bus driver. I was working dead end jobs which never lasted more than a few days until I quit or was fired. I therefore spent much of my time out of work. I had no qualifications, and no prospects. However, some years later I learned what ADHD was. I learned that I had undiagnosed ADHD - and things began to change. I started a weekly evening class at a college (through the government's 'New Deal' programme that was running at the time), that helped me get into university - because I was 24 at that time, I didn't need the school GCSEs to get in. I got a Bachelors Degree, 1st Class (Hons). That led to me being able to start a career. I met my now-wife, we had two children, and got a house. Then I did a Masters Degree part-time while working, and now I'm in the middle of doing a PhD - and the PhD I'm doing is about ADHD. As long as I don't fail it I'll be 'Dr Steve' this year... that's something nobody a decade or two ago would have seen coming, including myself. I managed to turn things around, but the start of my story is not a unique one. The school-to-prison pipeline (which I was in) is filled with ADHD kids and teens. More can get out of that pipeline if there was greater awareness and understanding of how society's systems are tailored for others not them, limiting their pathways, and forcing them to carve their own alternative paths without guidance on where those may lead. Regarding the website link - I write about my research thoughts and learnings here: https://adhdworking.co.uk/adhd-news-and-views/
Head of Business Development at Octopus International Business Services Ltd
Answered 3 months ago
1 / Phil Cartwright, Head of Business Development at Octopus International Business Services 2 / I work with founders, legal teams, and investors to shape corporate structures that can survive shifting regulations and the realities of operating in multiple countries. I'm usually brought in when a business wants something sturdier than a quick fix--systems that stay clear, practical, and legally sound as they grow. 3 / I'd like to talk about a few principles we've picked up while helping companies expand abroad without losing sight of compliance. It's surprisingly easy to chase short-term tax or cost benefits and end up with a structure that wobbles the moment things change. The slower, more deliberate approach--asking what gives you visibility, accountability, and real resilience in places you can't fully control--tends to hold up far better over time. 4 / https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-cartwright-88051217/
(1) Damien Zouaoui - Co-Founder, Oakwell Beer Spa (2) I'm a French-American entrepreneur who helped bring Oakwell Beer Spa to life in Denver. I've lived and worked in places ranging from Costa Rica to Thailand, but this project stuck with me -- a blend of the wellness culture I grew up with in Europe and the craft scene that defines Colorado. I love creating experiences that genuinely make people feel good. (3) I'd like to share what it actually took to launch a niche wellness spa in the middle of a pandemic and still have it take off. Those first months weren't pretty: hauling beer kegs in the back of my hatchback, scrubbing tubs myself, and answering every customer email long after midnight. But those scrappy moments ended up shaping the heart of the business. (4) https://linkedin.com/in/damienzouaoui
1 / Tom O'Brien, founder and operational lead at DRM Healthcare 2 / I help clinics get off the ground and grow in a way that holds up structurally and stands up to regulators. My background is in healthcare operations, and our team works with providers on setup, staffing, CQC compliance, and day-to-day governance. We support clinics across private medical, aesthetics, and mental health. 3 / I'd like to share some of the tougher lessons that come with building systems that genuinely support safe care while still meeting regulatory demands. A lot of founders come from clinical roles and underestimate what it takes to build a compliant, scalable operation. I've worked with teams in all kinds of high-pressure moments--right before inspections, during rapid expansion, and after incidents--and I've seen what tends to hold together and what falls apart. If sharing those experiences helps others get their foundations right early on, it's worth it. 4 / https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-o-brien-ab4526391/
**Daniel Welch** - Owner, Near You Pest Control (North Sacramento) Started my pest control company after six years doing the same work for the DoD in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Came home wanting to serve people who actually said "thank you" and never answer to a boss again. Launched fully analog with graph paper customer tracking and cash-only payments--now running a team with digital systems that customers genuinely appreciate. I'd like to share the unglamorous truth about going from military contractor to small business owner: the technical skills transferred, but nobody prepared me for being the guy who has to fix the truck, answer angry calls, AND show up to jobs on time. Also how community visibility--not marketing budgets--built everything we have. The turning point was getting involved locally instead of chasing online ads. We started doing bug education sessions at the Rio Linda Country Faire, joined Christmas parades (dressed as "Spidie-Claus"), and awarded three scholarships when we'd only budgeted for one. Our schedule filled from word-of-mouth because parents who watched us teach their kids about insects trusted us in their homes. The "Lego Dan" mini-figure giveaway we started as a joke became our most effective retention tool--customers send photos of it everywhere and we give away a free service monthly, which keeps us top-of-mind without spending a dollar on ads. What nobody tells you: going from employee to employer means your hardest pest control job is managing humans, not rodents. I've learned more about business from hiring wrong twice than from any certification course. nearyoupest.com
**Louis Ezrick, MSPT** - Founder & CEO, Evolve Physical Therapy I'm a physical therapist who started my career treating terror attack victims and wounded soldiers in Tel Aviv, then built Brooklyn's leading holistic PT practice. I left a traditional high-volume clinic model because I was tired of watching patients get 10-minute appointments and generic exercise sheets that never addressed their actual problems. I'd like to share how rejecting industry norms created better patient outcomes and a more profitable business. Most PT clinics operate on a "churn and burn" model--therapists juggling 3-4 patients simultaneously, billing insurance for minimal hands-on time. We flipped that by offering hour-long one-on-one sessions focused entirely on manual therapy and root cause treatment. The turning point was specializing in cases other clinics wouldn't touch--complex chronic pain, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, patients who'd failed treatment elsewhere. When we launched our Rock Steady Boxing program for Parkinson's patients, NBC News featured us, but more importantly, those patients became our strongest referral source because we gave them hope when traditional medicine offered maintenance at best. My advice: find the patients or customers everyone else is turning away and become exceptional at serving them. Our specialty cases now represent 40% of our practice, command premium rates, and have virtually zero competition because most therapists avoid complexity. evolveny.com
**Jacob Reese** - VP, Standard Plumbing Supply I'm a third-generation leader at Standard Plumbing Supply, which my grandfather founded in 1952. I started at eight years old sweeping warehouses and have worked nearly every role in our 150+ location operation across the Western U.S. Now as VP, I focus on helping contractors operate more profitably through programs like our Vendor Managed Inventory system. I'd like to share how we've stayed relevant for 72 years by solving the problems other distributors ignore--specifically, how treating inventory as a service (not just a sale) has built loyalty that survives every economic downturn and competitor discount. The biggest shift came when we stopped asking "what can we sell you?" and started asking "what's slowing you down?" We expanded our VMI program to over 60 customer locations, meaning we stock their job sites and trucks directly. One contractor told us he gained back 8 hours per week--time he wasn't driving to pick up forgotten fittings or counting stock. That time became billable hours, which became profit he could actually keep. What I've learned through three generations is that relationships outlast price wars. When supply chains collapsed during COVID, our customers didn't jump ship for a 5% discount because we'd already proven we'd show up when it mattered. The contractors who win long-term aren't chasing the cheapest supplier--they're partnering with someone who makes them faster, and that's been our edge since 1952. standardplumbing.com
**Scott Kasun, Founder of ForeFront Web** I've run a digital marketing agency for 23+ years after a career in journalism, and I've learned that the biggest gap between businesses that convert visitors and those that don't comes down to one thing: they forget to make the customer the hero of the story. **What I'd share:** How journalistic principles--citing sources, showing your math, humanizing data--build trust that converts better than any design trend. Most businesses write "about us" pages that scream "we're amazing!" when they should be documenting "here's how we solved someone's exact problem." **Real example:** We had a client rewrite their homepage to stop leading with awards and instead open with "tired of vendors who disappear after the sale?"--their actual customer complaint. Conversions jumped 47% in two months because visitors finally saw themselves in the story. The transparency principle from my journalism days applies perfectly: if you acknowledge a failure and show how you fixed it, people trust you more than if you pretend you're perfect. **What makes this different from typical marketing advice:** I teach companies to write like investigative reporters--cite real data, include case studies with actual numbers, even admit when something went wrong. Google rewards well-researched content, but more importantly, skeptical buyers in 2024 can smell propaganda from a mile away. **forefrontweb.com**
**Cory Bettinghouse** - Owner, Cory's Lawn Service I'm a civil engineer turned lawn care entrepreneur who started mowing lawns in college in 2005 and built it into Reno's leading residential lawn service with 800+ five-star reviews. I finished my MBA in 2014 while running the company, and that combination of technical training and business education shaped how we operate--efficient, detail-driven, and built around systems that scale. I'd like to share how removing contracts completely transformed our business model and why betting on your service quality is more profitable than locking customers in. Most lawn care companies require commitments, but we dropped contracts entirely because I knew our work would speak for itself--and it forced us to earn every customer every single week. The turning point was realizing that sharpening blades daily wasn't just good practice--it became our differentiator. Average homeowners mow 20 times per season; our crews mow 20-30 homes per day. When we started communicating "a good blade is a blade sharpened daily" to customers, they understood why their lawn looked better than their neighbor's DIY job. That one operational detail became a marketing message that built trust before we ever showed up. coryslawnservice.com
**Jake Bunston, Founder & Director at Make Fencing** I started Make Fencing 7+ years ago in Melbourne after watching too many tradies burn clients with dodgy work and zero communication. I built the business around one simple rule: treat every job like it's your own home, because that's the standard I'd expect if someone was working on mine. **What I'd share:** How showing up when you say you will--and actually communicating--can separate you from 90% of competitors. Sounds basic, but in trades, reliability IS your brand. Our clients tell us constantly that just answering our phones and keeping them updated is what made them choose us over cheaper quotes. **Real example:** Early on, we took a residential job that went sideways fast--hidden boundary issues, unexpected rock under the soil. Instead of going silent or making excuses, we called the client immediately, walked through options with photos, and adjusted the timeline honestly. They ended up referring three neighbors within a month because we didn't leave them guessing. That experience taught us that problems don't kill trust--poor communication does. **makefencing.com.au**
**Joseph DePena** - Franchise Owner & Fitness Entrepreneur, VP Fitness I'm the founder of VP Fitness in Providence, RI--a boutique gym I started in 2011 as a master trainer and franchised in 2023. Over the past decade, we've grown by focusing on relationships over reps, proving that personalized coaching in a tight-knit community beats cookie-cutter corporate gyms every time. I'd like to share how we've sustained growth through economic shifts, franchise expansion, and the post-pandemic fitness landscape--specifically by treating mental breakthroughs as seriously as physical ones. Our approach combines powerlifting roots with holistic wellness (sleep, stress, mindset), and we've seen members hit PRs after addressing burnout, not just adding sets. What I've learned is that progress isn't linear, and coaching isn't about perfection--it's about showing up when motivation tanks. After 10 years, our biggest lesson is this: the scale doesn't tell the whole story. We track strength gains, energy levels, posture improvements, and confidence shifts because those metrics keep people coming back when the number on the scale doesn't move. One member returned after a two-year injury hiatus and deadlifted more than ever--not because of a perfect plan, but because we focused on what mattered: consistency, compassion, and celebrating non-scale victories. vpfitness.net
**Jose Grados** - Owner, A Better Fence Construction I'm an aerospace engineer who left defense manufacturing to buy and rebuild a fencing company in Oklahoma City. I spent nine years designing precision-critical systems at companies like Kratos Defense and Textron Aviation, then applied that same structural rigor to an industry that rarely sees engineering discipline. I'd like to share how technical expertise from a completely different field can transform a traditional trade business. Most people think fencing is simple manual labor, but when you apply aerospace-level quality control, materials analysis, and process optimization, you create something customers can immediately feel--fences that don't sag, gates that don't bind, and installations that last decades instead of years. The biggest lesson I've learned is that overengineering in construction isn't wasteful--it's insurance. We use commercial-grade steel posts that are 40% thicker than big-box store standards because I calculated the long-term stress loads and corrosion rates. Our 1-year workmanship warranty has cost us almost nothing in claims because we build like we're launching something into orbit: measure obsessively, install once, never revisit. abfclok.com
**Michael Catanzaro** - Owner, Catanzaro & Sons Painting I'm a second-generation painting contractor in Rhode Island who took over my father's business after he built it from the ground up starting in 1996. We specialize in residential, commercial, and historic home restoration with hand-picked craftsmen who treat every project like it's going into our own family album. I'd like to share how we turned a commodity service into a legacy business by making customers feel like family, not transactions. Most contractors chase volume--we chase relationships that span generations. The turning point came when I realized my written guarantee meant nothing compared to looking someone in the eye and giving my word. We started documenting our process with customers present, showing them the prep work most painters hide. One historic home owner in Barrington told three neighbors about us before we'd even finished--not because the paint job was flawless, but because her 80-year-old mother watched our crew protect her antique floors like they were our own grandmother's. What separates us is this: people don't buy painting--they buy trust that you won't cut corners when they're not watching. Train your team to work like the homeowner is standing right there, because eventually word spreads about who actually does. catanzaroandsons.com
**James Bernard** - Founder, Castle of Chaos & Alcatraz Escape Games I've spent 20+ years building immersive horror attractions and escape rooms in Utah, starting from a college senior project that became an award-winning haunted attraction. In 2007, I pioneered the "touch levels" system that lets guests customize scare intensity--our Level 5 experience pushes fear to its absolute limits through personalized, actor-driven encounters. I'd like to share how we turned seasonal entertainment into year-round revenue through adaptive business models, and how training actors to read guests in real-time created experiences competitors couldn't replicate. Most escape room operators focus on puzzles--we focus on the human element that makes each visit completely unique. The biggest lesson came when I realized the room itself isn't the product--the story people tell afterward is. At Alcatraz Escape Games, we stopped obsessing over puzzle difficulty and started designing moments teams would remember. Our Zombie Panic room (14+ only, up to 14 players) has lower completion rates than easier rooms, but generates triple the word-of-mouth because groups bond over shared adrenaline. What I want people to understand: you're not selling what happens in the room. You're selling what participants say at dinner that night. Design for retelling, not just winning. alcatrazescapegames.com
**Paul Nebb, Founder of Titan Technologies** I've been protecting New Jersey businesses from cyber threats since 2008. I've spoken everywhere from West Point to the Nasdaq podium, but my real education came from sitting with business owners after they've been hit--watching a developer explain how he wired $450,000 to a fake contractor, or a CPA's face when they realize client data leaked to the dark web. **What I'd share:** How AI has completely changed the scam game in the last 18 months, and why the smartest people get hit the hardest. I tracked a case where a financial advisor with 20+ years experience lost $50,000 because the scammer's AI-generated voice clone sounded exactly like her bank's fraud department. She had journalist training, financial expertise, and still got cleaned out. **The pattern nobody talks about:** Every business owner I meet thinks they're too smart to fall for it. That confidence is exactly what makes them vulnerable. When we do dark web scans for companies, we find their CEO's personal info for sale 87% of the time--hackers buy that data for $3-15 and use it to craft attacks that reference your kids' names, your recent purchases, your actual vendor relationships. **timefortitan.com**
**Adam Schuh** - President, Clinical Supply Company I run a national dental supply distributor based in Ohio. Started in medical-grade manufacturing and logistics, now leading a company that survived tariff surges, pandemic shortages, and brutal supply chain chaos while keeping prices stable for dental practices across the country. I'd like to share how we turned regulatory compliance into a competitive moat. Most distributors treat FDA verification and ASTM standards as checkboxes--we made them the foundation of our product development strategy. When we launched EZDoff accelerator-free nitrile gloves, we didn't just meet regulations; we used patent support and contamination testing (73% risk reduction) to create something competitors legally couldn't copy quickly. The lesson: compliance isn't overhead when you're in a regulated industry--it's R&D infrastructure that keeps you ahead while others play catch-up with paperwork. clinicalsupplycompany.com