Amplify Your Business

Amplify Your Business Weathering the Storm with the Robert Spencer Hospitality Group

For Episode 207 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Paul Shufelt, the founder and Head Chef at the Robert Spencer Hospitality Group. The Robert Spencer Hospitality Group runs six restaurants throughout Edmonton: Workshop Eatery, Hayloft, Woodshed Burgers, The Greenhouse Restaurants at Victoria, Riverside, and Rundle.
 
During his interview, Paul discusses what success has looked like for him, how he’s managed to open and operate six full-service restaurants and a catering business, and the things that he learned about hospitality through the Pandemic. Unlike many businesses, Paul was able to keep roughly 90% of his employees on staff during the pandemic, through a combination of ingenuity and pivoting the way his restaurants sold food. To learn more, visit https://robertspencerhosp.com/. 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:25 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know?
06:32 - What’s been the secret to your success and growth?
09:40 - What was going through your mind with each restaurant you opened?
14:11 - What did you learn from COVID?
20:16 - What would you say is going to be the key to your success?
22:31 - Do you have some strategies that you’re planning on rolling out to address those concerns?
23:56 - If you had the ability to write your younger entrepreneurial self a letter, what would it say?
25:13 - If any of our audience wanted to connect with you, what’s the best way to do so?
26:20 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Signature Guest Ronak Sheth

For Episode 207 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ronak Sheth, the CEO and Founder of LIT Videobooks. Videobooks are a new consumable category that makes reading as easy, accessible, engaging, and fun as watching a movie. In a world where over 100 million Americans haven’t bought or read a non-fiction book in the last year, LIT Videobooks’ goal is to make reading non-fiction books as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.
 
With LIT Videobooks, consuming something from the world of non-fiction is as easy as watching a video on your smartphone. They partner directly with authors to create these hour-long videobooks that include animation, interviews, data presentations, archives, etc. It’s like you’re watching a Netflix documentary, but it’s actually a book. The all-access subscription at LIT Videobooks gives you access to 28 videobooks running the gamut from potty training to business leadership and everything in between.To learn more and to receive an exclusive discount provided to our audience by Ronak, visit https://litvideobooks.com/all-access and enter the promo code AMPLIFY to get 50% off your first year-long subscription. And don’t forget to check out Ronak at the BX Networking Event later this month to get your hands on a free copy of Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. Register for the event here: https://link.amplomedia.com/s/TJ8FRy6yWgFiOUjeregu 
00:00 - Intro
00:50 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know?
01:29 - Give me an example of one of these three things that you’ve had to face in the last three years.
02:49 - Can you tell me a little bit about LIT Videobooks?
06:23 - Where did the idea for LIT Videobooks come from?
12:30 - What is your business model?
15:32 - In the early days of LIT Videobooks, was the idea of this platform cannibalizing other sales a worry for potential authors or their agents?
17:52 - How do you, as a startup, grow both the supply but also the demand when you don’t yet have the supply?
24:50 - Have you looked into the ad tier subscription model?
28:06 - How do you pick the books you’ll focus on creating into video books?
32:30 - What are the biggest challenges that you think you’ll face in the next year?
35:28 - What’s easier today for your business than in the early days of LIT Videobooks?
38:20 - What videobooks would you recommend to our listeners?
41:01 - Of all the interviews you’ve conducted for your videobooks, who were the ones you were most excited about?
42:37 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would it say?
46:19 - If someone wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that?
46:45 - GIVEAWAY!! Watch for a special discount code!
47:35 - Special Announcement and a second giveaway!
48:36 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Financial Advice That Bears Repeating

For Episode 205 of Amplify Your Business, we’re presenting an ENCORE episode of the Amplify Your Business Podcast, and it’s truly outrageous! For this encore presentation, we’re joined by Sandeep Todi, the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Truly Financial. Truly Financial is an online digital bank, built exclusively for smaller businesses that helps them grow globally. In a world where many businesses - and especially startups - are using business practices that allow them to hire employees anywhere in the world, these organizations are seeking out new and cost-effective ways to pay their employees and handle international transactions. Truly Financial is the solution.To learn more, visit Truly Financial’s website.
 
00:00 - Intro
02:10 - What should every entrepreneur know as they embark on their entrepreneurial journey?
05:37 - What problem is Truly Financial solving?
12:34 - How long has Truly Financial been in operation?
14:13 - Is your business model similar to other financial institutions?
18:25 - Where does Truly Financial fit in the fintech landscape?
22:16 - How do you navigate the challenges of security?
24:44 - What are the next steps for Truly Financial? Do you plan to explore cryptocurrency?
29:05 - What advice would you give your younger self at the start of his entrepreneurial journey?
34:18 - How can anyone watching connect with you?
34:56 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Not Your Average HR Consultancy

For Episode 204 of Amplify Your Business, we’re presenting an ENCORE episode of Amplify Your Business Podcast, and it’s going to be a shocking one. For this encore episode, we’re joined by Lindsay White, the founder of High Voltage Leadership. High Voltage Leadership got its start in 2017 when Lindsay found herself working for a toxic leader at a financial institution. She decided that she couldn’t handle it any longer and ultimately left that job. Lindsay went from her corporate job into coaching certification training for a year, and from there, dove in with both feet and started her own coaching practice.To learn more, visit their website at https://highvoltageleadership.ca/ 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:40 - Tell me a little bit about High Voltage Leadership.
04:40 - You call yourself a People Operations Expert. What does that mean?
06:39 - What are some of the secrets to becoming a high-voltage leader?
07:59 - How do you merge the coaching and leadership training to help businesses navigate through leadership development and HR processes to have a successful business?
12:02 - How do you help business owners navigate through that?
14:18 - What is “positive intelligence”?
16:44 - Are your programs something that you see business owners taking on themselves, or are they incorporating team training as well?
19:40 - How can our audience connect with you?
20:33 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Just as Sweet the Second Time Around!

For Episode 203 of Amplify Your Business, we’re presenting an ENCORE episode of Amplify Your Business, and it’s just as sweet the second time around. For this encore episode, we’re joined by Trisha Bower, the Chief Baking Officer at Eat My Shortbread.
 
A discovery of a long-held family recipe one Christmas led to Trisha filling her pockets with delicious shortbread treats and squirreling away to an empty room to devour them. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Trisha had always known that one day, she would want to start her own business too, but it wasn’t until that Christmas that inspiration struck and she knew that she could turn her family recipe into something incredible for the world to enjoy.To learn more, visit www.eatmyshortbread.com 
 
00:00 - Intro
02:00 - Can you dive a little into the backstory of Eat My Shortbread?
03:33 - What inspired you to do so many things with the shortbread, rather than just the typical shortbread cookie?
05:28 - Is the salted caramel a signature flavour?
08:27 - How did you come up with the name Eat My Shortbread?
10:00 - Was it a concern that although the word “Shortbread” is in your name, you do create multiple other products?
11:17 - What was holding you back from jumping in with both feet with Eat My Shortbread?
17:20 - What is the secret to your success thus far?
18:26 - What pieces of advice have you picked up along your journey that have had an impact on what you’re doing today?
22:06 - What mistakes have you made along the way that you’ve learned from?
28:00 - If you had the ability to go back in time and visit your younger self from a previous time, what time would you go back to, and what advice would you give yourself?
31:51 - How do people find Eat My Shortbread?
34:54 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Changing the IT Game with Shift.Support

For Episode 202 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Morgan McCollum, the managing partner at Shift.Support Inc. Shift.Support has spent the last 12 years trying to change the IT game, trying to change the mentality of their clients and the industry as a whole. They take a proactive approach to managed IT services, rather than a reactive one, to help their clients drive efficiencies in their businesses and get their IT back on track.To learn more, visit their website at https://shift.support/. 
 
00:00 - Intro
00:48 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know?
03:14 - When do you usually do your planning?
05:52 - What problems are Shift.Support trying to solve?
08:11 - Have you taken this approach since the beginning?
11:32 - Has the move to more remote workplaces changed anything for you or your clients?
13:06 - What made you decide to bring in a partner externally as opposed to someone from within?
15:53 - Working with your best friend, have there been some challenges? And how did you navigate through them?
18:10 - What will be the biggest obstacle to achieving your Big Hairy Audacious Goal, and how will you overcome it?
22:19 - What do you do to market yourselves?
26:23 - What is easier to do now than it was when you first started Shift.Support?
29:08 - Where do you find inspiration?
31:50 - From a personal standpoint, as an entrepreneur, what does success look like for you?
33:34 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what advice would you give yourself?
35:48 - If someone watching this wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?
36:21 - Outro

Amplify Your Business 200 Episodes Special!

For Episode 201 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by… Lance Johnson! Yes, the Interviewer Extraordinaire himself is front and center for this very special episode of Amplify Your Business, as he looks back at some of his favourite interviews over the last 200 episodes.To learn more or be a guest on the Amplify Your Business podcast, visit www.amplifyyourbusiness.ca 
 
00:00 - Intro
02:06 - Maxim Atanassov – Founder, Vinterre
03:55 - Nicole Janssen – Co-Founder & Co-CEO, ALTAML
06:04 - Barry Ehlert – CEO, Windmill Golf Group
09:53 - Ted Kouri – Founder & President, Incite Strategy
13:06 - Sarah Goodman – CEO, Chiwis
18:17 - Ally Stone – Founder & CEO, The Inspired Leader
22:21 - Outro: Keep an eye out for our eBook in the New Year!

Amplify Your Business Varme Energy

For Episode 199 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Sean Collins, the CEO of Varme Energy. Varme Energy develops waste energy facilities built with integrated carbon capture and storage. Essentially, large industrial process facilities that use two-stage combustion technology to combust municipal solid waste that would otherwise be going to a landfill. These facilities burn the waste, extract all of the energy out of it, and with carbon capture and storage, they capture all of the post-combustion CO2 and sequester it underground. This sustainable, environmental solution eliminates landfills long-term, recovers the energy in the waste, and puts all of the carbon underground.To learn more, visit their website at https://www.varme.ca/ 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:04 - Did people in the audience at Edmonton Unlimited’s Launch Party show any interest in your pitch?
01:49 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know?
04:35 - Any suggestions that you have for other entrepreneurs for turning off the entrepreneur when they get home?
06:39 - Can you tell us a little about Varme Energy?
07:44 - Why is this something that is new tech being introduced to Western Canada? 
09:11 - Why is now the right time for this kind of tech in Canada?
12:57 - How do you face the complexities that come with bringing this kind of technology into Canada as an entrepreneur?
15:49 - How did the partnership with the Norwegian company you’re working with come about?
18:09 - Could you explain what you meant by the term “venture studio” that you used during our conversation prior to recording?
20:06 - How long ago did you start your first entrepreneurial venture?
20:25 - What do you find easier now that you’ve been at this for 14 years than you did at the beginning?
23:47 - In the future, do you think the greatest opportunities for sustainability and environmental protection will be with First Nations populations?
25:35 - If you could write your younger self a letter, what would it say?
28:01 - What do you consider to be success?
30:04 - If someone in our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?
30:56 - Outro