Amplify Your Business

Amplify Your Business The Public Food Hub Co.

For Episode 191 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ken Bautista, the co-founder of the Public Food Hub, and founder and co-partner of Makespace. The Public combines the community of farmer’s markets with the innovation of drop-shipping to bring delicious food makers and mixologists into industrial kitchens where they can make their wares and food lovers can come to get their favourite dishes or brands. It’s a small food hub for those who want their favourites but don’t want to have to trek all the way downtown to a restaurant. 
 
In short, The Public is a Facebook marketplace or Etsy for makers. Through a combination of physical retail spaces, neighbourhood pickups, and popup markets, The Public is helping more than 400 brands reach a growing community of customers.To learn more, visit https://publicfoodhub.com/ or https://www.makespacegroup.com/ 
 
00:00 - Intro 
01:18 - What are three things that every entrepreneur needs to know?
05:20 - Do you have any advice for new entrepreneurs about how they can balance having hope but also understanding the math of entrepreneurship?
07:21 - Can you tell us a bit about the problem that the Public Food Hub is trying to solve?
10:22 - What is the makeup of these food hubs?
13:31 - Is all of this done through a centralized ordering application?
16:25 - This seems like a way for these makers to move into new locations and consumer demographics without having to physically open new locations.
20:42 - How does the Public Food Hub fit into the broader Makespace initiative that you have?
24:23 - Where do you find this limitless energy to constantly be boosting the entrepreneurial community, and where do you get your inspiration?
28:34 - With all of the experience you have, what’s easier for you now than it would have been in the earlier days of your entrepreneurial journey?
31:27 - Do you get bored easily? Or is it just that you have this curiosity and desire to learn?
34:04 - What does success look like to you?
36:59 - If your wife were to describe you as an entrepreneur, how would her description of you be different than that of one of your co-founders or collaborators?
40:59 - If you had the ability to send a letter back in time to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what would it say?
44:41 - If any of our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they go about doing that?
45:27 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Bladeflex

For Episode 190 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Derek Nolt, the founder, and CEO of Bladeflex. Bladeflex is an upper-body rehabilitation device. Muscles can adapt to the direction in which the force is applied, which is why the resistance on the Bladeflex divide is built right in. Bladeflex helps the shoulders, back, and neck area adapts to better form. The beauty of Bladeflex comes from its ability to be used wherever and whenever you need it, whether that’s at home, in the office, or anywhere you might need that extra support.To learn more, visit Bladeflex’s website at https://bladeflex.com/ 
 
00:00 - Intro
00:50 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know?
03:37 - Tell me a little bit about Bladeflex. What are you guys doing over there?
04:33 - Did the development of this device come from problems that you, yourself, were having with your shoulders and neck?
06:24 - Who is your target audience?
08:56 - How long have you been in development and commercializing the product?
09:50 - What is your go-to-market strategy?
11:09 - What are some of the challenges you see going forward with the growth of Bladeflex?
12:26 - From a manufacturing standpoint, is this product manufactured offshore and then imported, or is it manufactured here?
13:20 - How have you been handling the supply chain management issues that many companies have been facing recently?
14:27 - What percentage of your sales would be direct to consumers vs through retail from physiotherapists, massage therapists, or other distributors?
15:21 - When you were making the decision of selling through retail outlets vs direct to consumer, why did you choose to go more into direct to consumer vs traditional distribution channels?
16:35 - Have you been in any of the accelerators within the startup community? What kind of support have you received through the community?
18:20 - If you could write a letter to your past self, from before you started Bladeflex, what would that letter say?
19:46 - How do you know when to add another product to the SKU?
22:01 - What inspired you to take the leap of faith and create this product and business?
23:45 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Project Forest

For Episode 189 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Mike Toffan, the founder and executive director of Project Forest. Project Forest is a non-profit organization that helps other companies solve their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance), CSR (Corporate Social Responsiblity), and carbon reduction challenges. To do this, they identify non-productive agricultural land that’s found within Indigenous community land or with conservation groups. Once the land has been identified, Project Forest’s financial partners then fund the rewilding work to restore and protect the natural processes and wilderness areas of that land.
 
Project Forest has developed a platform where companies small and large, whose core values include the importance of sustainability, can partner with them to help provide meaningful, tangible, on-the-ground impact. To learn more, visit Project Forest’s website.
 
00:00 - Intro
01:03 - In your opinion, what are three things every entrepreneur should know?
02:39 - Is Project Forest a non-profit or a for-profit organization?
02:48 - Can you tell us a little bit about what you do at Project Forest?
06:49 - What’s your background? How did you get into doing this?
08:44 - Why did you start Project Forest in the midst of a pandemic?
10:09 - What are some of the challenges that you’ve had to overcome since starting Project Forest?
11:51 - You work with both huge corporations as well as solopreneurs. Do you find that you’re chasing after the big ones because they’re easier to land? Tell us about the mix of your customer base.
16:28 - When you were setting up the company and making the decision to be a not-for-profit vs a for-profit, can you walk me through that decision?
18:05 - Is there anything unique or different about managing a non-profit vs a for-profit?
20:30 - What are some of the things that you think are going to be most challenging going forward?
23:39 - If you could write your younger self a letter, what would it say?
25:57 - What keeps you up at night right now?
27:46 - If people wanted to reach out to you, what’s the best way to do that?
30:26 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Kidney-Chek

For Episode 188 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Hillary Sweet, the co-founder, and CEO of Kidney-Chek. Anyone who’s ever owned a pet knows that they are very good at hiding when they’re not feeling well. As pets age, vets start to offer regular bloodwork and wellness checks and tests to ensure that everything is still functioning normally. The problem is, many pet owners find these tests too expensive or unnecessary, as their pet has shown no sign of illness, so they opt not to have them done. Kidney disease is one of the most undiagnosed health problems animals face. One in three cats and 1 in 10 dogs will have kidney disease that goes undiagnosed or undetected.
 
Kidney-Chek wanted to come up with a solution to combat this often deadly health issue, so they invented a quick, affordable screening tool that uses your pet’s saliva to test for kidney disease.To learn more, visit their website and check out their products at https://kidneychek.com/ 
 
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know?
03:51 - What is it that Kidney-Chek does?
04:59 - Why did you decide to focus on pets versus humans?
06:14 - Is kidney disease in animals a problem that you discovered first and then built on it from there, or were you searching for a problem that needed to be solved first?
07:26 - What made you decide that you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
09:26 - Despite having a Ph.D., you had no intention of staying within academia?
10:41 - What have been some of the biggest challenges that you’ve had to overcome as you transitioned from academia into starting, running, and growing a business?
12:33 - Can you tell me a bit about the last three and a half years?
15:45 - Can you walk us through the competitive landscape that you’re facing right now?
16:19 - With no direct competitors, how do you address pricing? What methodology did you use?
19:28 - Is your long-term plan to continue to sell online and in retail stores or do you plan to skew towards one or the other?
22:48 - When you talked earlier about wishing you had done more customer validation earlier on, was that beyond the pricing? Was it in the messaging? Can you expand upon that a bit?
28:29 - What’s easier now for your business at this stage than it was before?
30:09 - What are the biggest hurdles or challenges that you’re going to have to overcome to get Kidney-Chek to its next level?
33:00 - If you were to write a letter to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what would that letter say?
36:50 - If our listeners wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that?
37:27 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Equinox Sound & Entertainment

For Episode 187 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jim Parsons, the founder, and owner of Equinox Sound & Entertainment. Through Equinox, Jim not only writes, produces, hosts, and entertains through a variety of avenues, but he has also created online courses to teach others to do the same. As well, he helps his clients with all of their video, editing, and content needs. 
 
Through his other entrepreneurial venture, Sports Side Hustle, he runs digital courses that teach students how to use their passion for sports to get off the sidelines and into the game through courses on writing blogs, producing podcasts, and more.To learn more, visit the Equinox Sound & Entertainment website.
 
00:00 - Intro
01:42 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know?
05:11 - Can you tell us a bit about Equinox?
10:08 - As an entrepreneur, how do you manage the emotional side of the ups and downs we face, like what happened to the entertainment industry during the pandemic?
13:01 - A lot of entrepreneurs get bored easily and have the tendency to switch from one challenge to the next. Do you find yourself doing something similar?
15:44 - What is the Sports Side Hustle?
21:12 - Would what you’re doing with Sports Side Hustle have been possible 10, or 15 years ago?
23:01 - What are some of the challenges that you think you’re going to face between now and the next couple of years in order to continue to scale your business?
25:46 - How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? And how did you work through that process of being different?
27:50 - Are there any podcasts, books, other entrepreneurs, or famous people that you follow that you’re leveraging for inspiration? Where do you get your inspiration?
30:40 - If you could write a letter to your younger entrepreneurial self, what would it say?
32:24 - Do you have a goal that you’re trying to strive for, or do you just approach it day by day?
33:54 - Who is the best hockey player in the history of the Edmonton Oilers franchise?
34:45 - Who is your favourite player to watch on the ice?
35:49 - What’s your prediction on who’s going to win the Stanley Cup this year?
36:12 - If anyone wants to connect with you or learn how to get involved, what’s the best way to connect with you?
36:54 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Impirica

For Episode 186 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by PJ Barclay, the President and CEO of Impirica. Impirica develops risk assessment tools for companies to accurately measure impairment risk as it relates to driving and operating in other safety-sensitive environments. Impirica gives organizations and individuals the peace of mind that employees and individuals can operate safely in a given environment. They provide easy-to-use and cost-effective in-depth risk assessment solutions to ensure that commercial drivers are healthy, productive, and able to continue to work for years to come.To learn more, visit the Impirica website.
 
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - What do you think are three things every entrepreneur needs to know?
03:25 - What are some of the superpowers that you think you bring to the table?
05:19 - Can you tell us a little bit about Impirica? What are you doing? What problems are you trying to solve?
06:57 - What motivated you to become a partner in this company?
09:26 - Is there anything that you can share about things that you were looking at when making the decision to join this company?
12:01 - Your gust instinct, was that something that was borne out of a history of entrepreneurship?
17:46 - How do you stay focused in a particular kind of space when you have so many opportunities out there?
23:19 - What is easier for you or your company, now at this stage in its business life?
25:39 - What keeps you up at night right now?
28:56 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would it say?
31:05 - What inspires you, who inspires you, or where do you get your inspiration from?
34:42 - What would be the best way for our listeners to reach out to you?
36:38 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Ordr

For Episode 185 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Evan Wain, the co-founder of Ordr. Ordr is a company that is changing the way we enjoy sporting and local events by affording the public the option for premium service, even in the “cheap seats”.
 
Following Edmonton Unlimited’s Launch Party 13, we delved into the ups and downs of starting a service-oriented startup in the middle of a pandemic.To learn more, you can visit Ordr’s website or check out their Instagram.
 
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - Tell me about the experience of pitching your company at Launch Party 13, held by Edmonton Unlimited.
01:52 - How unnerving was it to get up in front of everyone at Launch Party 13 to pitch your business, Ordr?
02:49 - What are three things that every entrepreneur needs to know?
06:43 - Can you tell us a little bit about Ordr? What problem are you solving?
08:46 - What was it like starting a business like Ordr in the middle of COVID when there were no large venues open?
11:32 - Where are you now in terms of the business? Walk me through the last year.
14:45 - How did you manage to land such major investors?
19:27 - What is the best advice you have received from your mentor?
23:05 - What keeps you up at night?
24:15 - What challenges have you had to overcome?
25:59 - With the threat of big names like Uber Eats or Doordash possibly moving into this space, how are you mitigating this?
28:30 - What advice would you give your younger self?
30:36 - How can our viewers get in contact with you?
31:14 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Charm City Integrative Health

For Episode 184 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Dr. Tom Ingegno, the owner of Charm City Integrative Health. Charm City Integrative Health is a health and wellness center in Baltimore, Maryland, that offers health services that combine both Eastern and Western medical practices to help their clients achieve their greatest level of wellness. 
 
Some of their services include whole-body cryotherapy, acupuncture, salt therapy, red light therapy, therapeutic massage, clinical counseling, and more. To learn more, visit the Charm City Integrative Health website.
 
00:00 - Intro
01:22 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know?
5:50 - Can you tell us a little bit about Charm City Integrative Health?
10:24 - Is it unique to be as integrated as Charm City is?
13:37 - Do you have multiple clinics? Are you franchising?
18:02 - In terms of COVID, how were you able to, as a business owner, accommodate that all within one physical space?
20:01 - What do you think are some of the biggest challenges you’re going to have in terms of the growth plans you have?
22:07 - How are you overcoming the challenges that come with rapid growth?
24:37 - Where do you find the inspiration to help people with their health?
27:14 - Do you have other mentors as well?
28:36 - What are the secrets to creating the kind of amazing culture you’ve curated at Charm City?
30:10 - If you could go back in time and write your past self a letter, what would it say?
32:23 - What is it that you are currently losing sleep over? What stresses you out right now about your business?
34:54 - How do you manage the desire to tinker with and change your business?
37:07 - What do you see that is a common thing that you advise entrepreneurs to do that maybe is a little different than what you advise other people?
38:30 - How can people contact you?
39:49 - Outro