Shows / Small Business Stories
Small Business Stories
Welcome to Small Business Stories, the podcast where we celebrate the real-life journeys of small business owners. We dig into inspiring tales of triumphs, challenges, and the tough lessons we learned along the way. Each episode is packed with relatable anecdotes and practical tips that you can use to fuel your own entrepreneurial dreams. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your business, you'll find motivation and insight in every story. Tune in and get ready to be inspired by…
Episodes
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Enrique Morgan
Accolade Wines is innovating everything from its bottles to its technology and production processes. Like bubbles? They have a new Prosecco ... and there are…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Colin Darretta
Colin Darretta is a "reformed investment banker," serial entrepreneur, investor, and a journalist for Forbes, Inc, TechCrunch, plus other major media. He is…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Christine Spang
Christine Spang, founder & CTO of Nylas, has evolved over the last decade growing her software company which is essentially like "the plumbing for the…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Christina Richards
Christina Richards is the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Virtana - a software company specializing in cloud services. She took the road less traveled…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Dr. Deborah Jonas
Dr. Deborah Jonas is the director of SRI's Center for Education Research & Innovation. Yes, she has access to astronauts and researchers of the highest caliber…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Jeanelle Ditto
What a breath of fresh air! It's so easy to feel intimidated, especially when it comes to things like interior design, "Will my home meet your standard?" But…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Lorrie Thomas Ross
Lorrie Thomas Ross is a breath of fresh air. She's The Marketing Therapist(R) and founder of Wild Web Women and Web Marketing Therapy. She understands the…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest John Glowacki
John Glowacki, CEO of Combat Control Foundation, shares some deeply personal insights on life, loss, and leadership. He served our country in the role of…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears - live from Collision
For something a little different, Loralyn Mears recorded this podcast live from Collision Conference in Toronto. She highlighted some of the key insights…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Chris Beck
Chris Beck is the VP of the Family Law division of Soberlink. Their mobile sobriety technology helps document sobriety in real-time to ensure that a child is…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Josh York
Josh York, founder of GYMGUYZ, the global leader in personal fitness. He's elevated in-home training to a new level. But he had a rocky start and he openly…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Lucas Stoltze
Meet Lucas Stoltze of ExitLag - the company behind-the-scenes of hundreds of games in countries around the world. They make your game connections faster so…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Nick Grewal
Nick Grewal, serial entrepreneur and investor, is on a mision to make electronic vehicles more efficient and sustainable. He shared a key tip for…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Ahsan Rizvi
Meet Ahsan Rizvi, founder & CEO of Kiddom, who is transforming digital education to bolster the success of the next crop of learners. He's got a lot of wisdom…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Norring
Learn. Teach. Serve. That's a powerful motto and corporate culture that GCSIT's CEO, Michael Norring, has instilled in the workplace. It's more than a motto -…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Peres
Michael (Mikey) shares some details about his "unusual" background and gives us a glimpse into how he, as a serial entrepreneur and software engineer, frames…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Bryan Fried
Bryan Fried is the founder and CEO of Pangea Global Technologies. They're been around for more than two decades, but they've never stopped innovating. They're…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Esposito
Meet Michael Esposito - a family man on a mission to be better and to do more. His inspiration, dedication to self-improvement, and commitment to his customers…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guests Alex & Daniel
Meet the co-founders of Branch Energy: Alex Ince-Cushman and Daniel MacDonald. They're making it easy for consumers to be smart about their energy consumption…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Teresa Heath-Wareing
Teresa Heath-Wareing found her calling to inspire others when they get "stuck." She faced her personal challenges head-on and emerged stronger than before…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Genecia Alluora
This is a MUST-listen episode. Genecia Alluora, founder of Soul Rich Woman, will inspire and motivate you. At the brink of death, on the ledge of a 10-story…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Yulia Mamonova
Yuliia Mamonov is the Head of Content for Lemon.io, an innovative platform connecting clients to software developers on demand. Here's something you may not…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Andrew Kashian
Hair loss? Hair transplant? The field has shifted far from the era of late night infomercials touting the latest miracle cream. Andrew Kashian and his team at…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest James Barrood
Jim Barrood is the founder of Innovation+ and he's always on the cutting edge of what's new. The latest? Psychodelics - an industry which is still years behind…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest David Lokshin
David Lokshin - and his father - have taken a road less traveled in entrepreneurship. With tenacity times ten, they adopted a "missionaries not mercenaries"…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Justin Huddy
Justin Huddy founded Radius Care to help family members manage the care of their loved ones. What's even more exceptional is that Justin has made his app free…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Jim Kniest
Jim Kniest is a gamer, software developer, and entrepreneur. For the last five years, he's been building a unique app which helps people discover their sexual…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Muddu Sadhakar
Muddu Sadhakar is an innovator and a serial entrepreneur pushing boundaries around personalization at the intersection of technology and humanity. He's the…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Lauren Prager
Lauren Prager is the Chief Strategy Officer at Synapse, focused on building a tech ecosystem in Florida. She offered wonderful advice about aligning your heart…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Mo Fathelbab
Mo Fathelbab just has a special way of engaging with his audience. He's a best selling author of two books with an incredible client list of who's-who. Mo is…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Victoria Loskutova
Victoria Loskutova recently founded, "Bad Ass Bureau," an online agency to help amplify the voices of female founders in particular (although not exclusively)…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guests Max & Patrick
Maximilian de Melo and Patrick Niederdrenk operate MxP Group, which includes America One Luxury Real Estate in Arizona. With an exceptional work ethic and…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Abby Match
This episode was both extra special and challenging to produce. As a breast cancer survivor myself, it was beautiful to hear Abby Match recount her dance with…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Sachin Jhangiani
Sachin Jhangiani co-founded Elevate Money after learning a thing or two on Wall Street. He wanted to find more purpose in his work so he created a platform…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Valeria Kogan PhD
Dr. Valeria Kogan is the co-founder of Fermata diagnosing plant health. Each year, millions of crop harvests are wasted and the world is increasingly seeking…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Claire Gunter
Claire Gunter has extensive experience in customer support, leveraging emotional skills to build relationships that last. She's worked at ZenDesk and is now…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Luke Ryan
The Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) gets into the gritty backstory of US Army veteran, Luke Ryan, a war poet and author. Luke recently published his…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Kanika Wahi
Kanika Wahi took over the responsibility of developing a topical product originally designed by her father to better manage her sister's allergies. Since then…
Small Business StoriesThe Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Brittany Woyma
The Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) with Loralyn Mears & Guest Brittany Woyma features the Startup Stories of WhereToBuy.io which offers the modern…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Dr. José Morey
Dr. José Morey is on a mission to make STEM accessible to everyone. As the Intergalactic Doctor, born in Puerto Rico but traveling the world supporting amazing…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Ryan Walker
Ryan Walker founded one of the most successful social media management companies on the planet: TSMA. As in, "The Social Media Agency." His team pioneered the…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Dr. Tommy Watson
Need some inspiration? Maybe along with a side of motivation? Dr. Tommy Watson faced incredible hardships growing up with his five siblings and parents who…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Carole Burton
Carole Burton isn't afraid to tackle big initiatives within an organization. Like equity. She thrives on helping create lasting change. At her core, Carole…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Todd Belveal
Todd Belveal is a serial tech entrepreneur. He exited Silvercar, which he founded as one of the first connected car companies fully enabled by smart phones…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Trung Tran
Trung Tran is an exceptional serial entrepreneur. Not only has he raised millions and generated billions of dollars with his product ideas, but he also served…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Andrea Iervolino
Andrea Iervolino, international filmmaker and founder of TaTaTu, a social media platform that rewards you for being entertained by up and coming talent, was…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Tracy Rookard
Meet Tracy Rookard, an army veteran and former US medic. This week's Grit Daily Like a Boss podcast guest trained to be a respiratory therapist, but then…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Nadia Okhunova
Meet Nadia Okhunova, co-founder of K917 media. Two is better than one, right? She's combining brands and linking efforts in NYC + Moscow for a new edge in…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Tatiana Fofanova PhD
Dr. Tatiana Fofanova is the founder of Koda Health which is a digital solution enabling people, particularly the lower income and overlooked population, to…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Luciana Carvalho
Luciana Carvahlo is the VP of People and Performance at Movile, Latin America's largest tech investment group and accelerator. She's the engineer of The Movile…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Katherine Jin
You may think that you're "cleaning" your surfaces with bleach wipes ... but you may not realize that coverage and contact time (up to 5 min) may be required…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Erik Huberman
It only took seven years for Erik Huberman to build an $80 million marketing company with 220 employees supporting more than 3,000 brands. Big brands, too…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Lynn Wood
Lynn Wood is the Chief Idea Spy at IdeaSpies. It's a tech platform for sharing good ideas and making them better. Students to seasoned entrepreneurs are…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Miriam Rivera
Miriam Rivera is one of fewer than one percent of Stanford University graduates to be decorated with a Stanford Medal. She earned both her MBA and JD degrees…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Katie Ferraro
Katie Ferraro is a tour de force! She is the founder of Fortified Family and wildly popular Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy Podcast. As a registered dietician with…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Consuelo Valverde
Consuelo Valverde is the founder and managing partner SV Latam Capital. She is the driving force behind making capital more accessible to more founders: "SV…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Simon Cohen
Meet Simon Cohen, Chairman of Henco Global, a happy company that "just happens to do supply chain and logistics work." After a life-threatening cardiac event…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Amanda Jacobson
Amanda Jacobson is the Chief of Staff for Oyster Financial, a neobank for SMBs that's co-headquartered in Mexico City and San Francisco. Prior to joining…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Bill Gladstone
Bill Gladstone, founder of ViCiNFT, is doing good in the world and for the world with non-fungible tokens. They require a minimum of a 25% contribution to a…
Small Business StoriesLike a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Christine McKay
Christine McKay is known for a few things. One, international recognition as one of the world's leading negotiators. Two, her vibrantly colored hair which…