Evolvepreneur® (After Hours)

EPS07:055 [Scott Montgomery] ​​​​​​​How Unconventional Success Can Be Yours Too

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Richard Wray Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Scott Montgomery ... In this episode, Scott Montgomery discusses his unconventional path to success in building his company Worldgate, which now has over 100 employees. He did not have a traditional education but found opportunities by partnering with others and building trust. His relationships with mentors and customers helped his business grow organically over time. Scott emphasizes the importance of having a supportive partner and knowing your customers' needs before launching a business. While he struggled in school, Scott was able to leverage his self-awareness and people skills to create success unconventionally. He has now written a book capturing lessons learned and wants to pay forward guidance to help others pursuing entrepreneurship. Key Moments: Scott found unconventional success through relationships and trusting partnerships, despite not having a traditional educational background. He started in real estate but was drawn into corporate consulting through connections, leading to the founding of his company Worldgate. Worldgate supports school districts by implementing business systems and providing staffing/project support. Scott attributes much of his success to the people he surrounded himself with and trusting relationships where they learned and grew together. His book outlines lessons from his unconventional path to success, focusing on relationships, partnerships, and self-awareness. Scott sees value in "paying it forward" through coaching and mentoring others now in his career. Having ADHD was initially challenging but taught him self-awareness that helped him succeed professionally. Strong partnership with his wife was also important, including in raising their family. Common mistakes of entrepreneurs is assuming people automatically want what they're offering without testing interest first. It's important to have some customers and product viability tested before fully launching a business. Read more

EPS06:60 [Sally Higoe] ​​​​​​​Lead Fully to Fully Live

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Mechelle McDonald Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Sally Higoe ... Sally leverages over two decades of immersive experience in diverse cultures, high-pressure environments, and remote locations to guide leaders in embracing their roles authentically. Her pragmatic and worldly approach, combined with research-based coaching and interactive training, equips individuals with the skills to cultivate team culture, align values, and lead with energy. Sally is a Certified Coach, Trainer, Extended Disc Behavioral Profiler, and Emotional Fitness Consultant on a mission to enhance trust, certainty, and self-awareness for leaders. Her personal life is marked by adventure alongside her husband Ant, with their children Zander and Skyla destined for greatness. Sally's goal is to simplify decision-making and improve leaders' lives across all aspects. Read more

EPS06:59 [Lori Highby] ​​​​​​​Meeting Overload - Focusing On What’s Important vs Urgent

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Mechelle McDonald Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Lori Highby ... Lori Highby, a podcast host, speaker, educator, and founder of Keystone Click, a digital marketing agency, possesses extensive cross-industry expertise. Leveraging her knowledge, gained through experience and education, she excels in identifying the untapped potential in businesses. From Fortune 500 companies like ABB and Syngenta to small businesses, Lori employs strategic actions to help clients attain their marketing objectives. She infuses her professional endeavors with energy and dedication to empower and educate fellow lifelong learners. Beyond her work guiding clients and teaching agency account executives to excel professionally, Lori enjoys hobbies such as playing hockey, brewing beer with her husband Andy, and embarking on long bike rides for personal challenge. Read more

EPS07:054 [Katherine Pomerantz] ​​​​​​​How Your Big Idea Can Change the World

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Richard Wray Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Katherine Pomerantz ... Katherine started her career as an actress but found it difficult to pursue her creative passions living in rural Oklahoma. She realized she had a talent for accounting and helping others understand personal finances. Katherine created the Money Storyteller Method to make financial conversations more accessible and fun by linking them to the power of storytelling. She helps clients examine their underlying beliefs about money in order to support their values-driven goals and ideas. Katherine discussed how shame around money success can be overcome by understanding one's motivations. Her approach has helped many creative business owners gain financial stability while staying true to their missions. Read more

EPS07:053 [Nicholas Kemp] ​​​​​​​Dealing with Impostor Syndrome

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Richard Wray Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Nicholas Kemp ... Nick Kemp is the author of a book on ikigai, a Japanese concept meaning a reason for living. He discusses how ikigai is misunderstood in the West and explores its true meaning of finding things that make life worth living. Kemp talks about dealing with imposter syndrome and how living in different countries gives perspective. An interesting case study is discussed of a woman who combined her careers in psychology and modeling to help others' body image. Kemp advises listening to your intuition over others' opinions when making important decisions. The takeaway message is that finding ikigai is not about being the best version of yourself but focusing on what you care about. Read more

EPS06:58 [Ashutosh Malgaonkar] ​​​​​​​Applying Data Science to Your Business Strategies

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Mechelle McDonald Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Ashutosh Malgaonkar ... In the episode, Ashutosh Malgaonkar, a senior data scientist, discusses the role of data science in business growth through automation. He shares a case where he used data modeling to optimize pricing for a tire company, stressing the challenge of aligning data models with business problems. Ashutosh advises entrepreneurs that automation complements human efforts and underscores the need to tailor data science solutions to each business. The episode highlights the significance of data science in maintaining competitive pricing strategies for companies. Read more

EPS06:57 [Monique Cunningham] ​​​​​​​The Money Is In Your List

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Mechelle McDonald Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Monique Cunningham ... In this episode, Monique Cunningham highlights the significance of email list engagement and cleaning for business owners. She stresses the importance of identifying genuinely engaged subscribers while removing inactive ones to ensure effective email delivery. Building and nurturing client relationships through consistent communication is a key strategy. Monique advises removing subscribers who don't open emails to prevent potential clients from being blocked. She underscores the importance of delivering valuable and relevant content to maintain subscriber engagement and suggests seeking feedback from the list to meet their needs. While social media is useful for promotion, Monique emphasizes that email remains vital for regular communication. Cleaning the email list creates room for growth and helps attract subscribers who genuinely value and act on the content. Read more

EPS07:052 [Chris Anderson] ​​​​​​​No Plan 'B'

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Richard Wray Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Chris Anderson ... Chris Anderson started his company Elevate Media Group after leaving his job in 2020 with just savings and no other income. He helps businesses grow through video podcasting and content creation services. Anderson discusses his journey of taking the leap of faith to become an entrepreneur. He also provides advice on getting support from mentors rather than trying to convince skeptical family members. As an example of success, Anderson mentions a client who has gained 3-4 new clients each month through their podcast. Elevate Media works to fast track their clients' skills in podcasting and public speaking so they can build confidence and see business growth. Read more

EPS07:051 [Amy Cook] Weathering The Storm - Being A Small Business

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Richard Wray Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Amy Cook ... Amy Cook, founder of Stage Marketing, discusses how her agency helps businesses with full-funnel marketing, digital strategies, and experiential marketing. She emphasizes the importance of understanding customer data and not getting distracted by hype around new technologies. While AI tools can help with efficiency, Amy notes that human creativity and personal touches are still needed to build strong connections with customers. Small businesses are discussed, with advice about carefully managing budgets, researching industry benchmarks, and avoiding too-rapid expansion. Amy also talks about how her agency assists healthcare companies in acquiring new facilities to help them grow while maintaining their mission of improving patient outcomes. Read more

EPS06:56 [Evgeniy Kharam] ​​​​​​​Soft Skills In Business

Welcome to the Evolvepreneur (After Hours) Show I am your Special Host Mechelle McDonald Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Evgeniy Kharam ... Evgeniy is an experienced cybersecurity professional with over 40,000 hours in pre and post-sales support as an architect and consultant across various technologies. He's worked with medium to large enterprises, emphasizing cybersecurity technology, vendor relationships, and connected infrastructure. His expertise covers numerous cybersecurity domains, such as Endpoint, Network Security, SIEM/SOC/SOAR, and Cloud Security, among others. Evgeniy excels in speaking on these technical topics and brings in-depth knowledge of VAR, MSSP, and technical pre-sales. Read more