Small Business Stories

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https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness
48 shares
https://www.youtube.com/@Midlifesuccess
47 shares
https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCvrZRt5LdAOshCwpstvVxWQ
11 shares

https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus
93 shares
https://www.linkedin.com/in/publicity/
2 shares

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How to Run a Small Business Better With Less Chaos Featuring Dan Norcross

Season 6 · Episode 40

Saturday, April 18, 2026 • Duration 07:56

S6:E40

Most businesses either have a revenue problem or an operating problem.

In this episode, Dr. LL explores why capable founders often stay trapped inside businesses they built: overloaded, reactive, and too central to everything. "Founder fatigue" is real, folks.

If people can't move without you, the company is constrained.
If every issue escalates to the founder, scale is fragile.
If systems are weak, growth becomes expensive.

Dan Norcross shares a grounded perspective on building businesses that function with more discipline and less drama.

Guest
Dan Norcross
Entrepreneur / Operator

Core Problems

Founder dependency
Poor delegation structures
Operational chaos
Growth without leverage

Practical Takeaways

Systemize recurring decisions
Build accountability into roles
Reduce founder dependency
Mature operations before forcing scale

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
05:00 Why chaos persists
11:00 Systems and leverage
18:00 Accountability culture
26:00 What mature businesses do differently

Who This Episode Is For
Founders ready to run a company, not just carry one.

This conversation reinforces a core STEERus™ principle:
When the founder becomes the business, the business cannot fully grow.

✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship

🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard

Follow STEERus on social media:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness

Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus

Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io

#burnout #entrepreneurship #growth #growthmindset #smallbusiness

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How to Build Trust as an Entrepreneur When No One Knows You With Kira Shishkin

Season 6 · Episode 39

Sunday, April 12, 2026 • Duration 11:29

S6:E39

Trust isn't built by showing up more. It's built by being understood.

In this episode, Dr. LL explores a recurring challenge facing entrepreneurs: why visibility alone isn't translating into credibility or growth.

If people don't trust you, they don't buy.
If they don't understand you, they can't trust you.
And if your signal is inconsistent, you remain invisible, no matter how often you show up.

Kira Shishkin brings perspective on what it actually takes to build trust in modern business environments, where attention is fragmented and skepticism is high.

Guest
Kira Shishkin
Entrepreneur

Core Problems

Confusion between visibility and trust
Weak or inconsistent messaging
Lack of intentional relationship-building
Difficulty standing out in crowded markets

Practical Takeaways

Trust requires clarity before consistency
Messaging must be simple enough to repeat
Relationships drive conversion—not exposure
Credibility is earned through alignment

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
04:00 Trust challenges today
09:00 Visibility vs credibility
15:00 Relationship dynamics
22:00 Converting trust into growth

Who This Episode Is For
Founders and operators trying to strengthen credibility and build trust with their audience.

This conversation reinforces a core STEERus™ principle:
When your signal is unclear, trust breaks and growth stalls.

Humble Influence, Followership, and the Culture Behind Leadership with Jim Matuga

Season 6 · Episode 30

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 • Duration 13:22

S6:E30

What happens when leadership is treated like status instead of stewardship?

In this episode, Dr. LL sits down with Jim Matuga, founder of Interaction Media, longtime entrepreneur, podcast host, spirit "ambassador" for West Virginia, and author of Humble Influence. We had a grounded conversation about culture, followership, faith, community, and what it really takes to lead people well in a turbulent era.

If people don't trust you, they won't follow you.
If they don't feel seen, they won't stay.
If leadership is performative instead of relational, culture eventually breaks under pressure.

Jim brings a perspective shaped by entrepreneurship in West Virginia, decades in media and marketing, and the lessons behind his book Humble Influence. The book is especially compelling because it pushes against a familiar leadership distortion: the idea that everyone must be the leader, or that followership is somehow lesser. Instead, Jim makes a thoughtful case that healthy followership is a choice, humility is strength, and better leadership often begins with understanding how to support, empower, and elevate others. Faith is part of that foundation too, not in a heavy-handed way, but as a steady moral center around service, love, and responsibility. I thoroughly enjoyed his book and read it cover to cover.

Guest
Jim Matuga
Founder, Interaction Media
Host, Positively West Virginia
Author, Humble Influence

BUY HIS BOOK HERE 👇

https://www.amazon.com/Humble-Influence-Strength-True-Followership/dp/B0F9WJFTSJ

Core Problems

Founders assuming titles create followership
Culture being treated as branding instead of operating discipline

The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Ahsan Rizvi

Season 3 · Episode 112

Sunday, May 22, 2022 • Duration 29:10

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 to share about managing startup fires and digging in to gut through those infamously tough and gritty, early days of entrepreneurship. He'd know - he built Kiddom from the bathroom of a studio apartment.

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The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Norring

Season 3 · Episode 111

Wednesday, May 18, 2022 • Duration 26:05

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 - people stand behind it - and employees are proud of the culture that they're helping create. Michael joins our show and shares some insights around digital transformation and how to lead an organization for growth. Here's the TL;DR - build awesome teams!

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The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Peres

Season 3 · Episode 110

Sunday, May 15, 2022 • Duration 34:46

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 new ideas. As a neurodivergent, he has an insatiable appetite for learning new things and offers a fresh approach on how to combine the new ideas he learns - and that's what makes him an incredible ideator and entrepeneur.

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The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Bryan Fried

Season 3 · Episode 109

Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Duration 18:01

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 taking LED lighting to the next level embedding private broadband internet access and enabling the commercial scale of crops - indoors - to address the global supply chain and hunger challenges. So, how many lightbulbs does it take to change the world? Tune in!

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The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Esposito

Season 3 · Episode 108

Friday, May 13, 2022 • Duration 29:45

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 of DenTen insurance isn't something that you see much of these days. Tune in to get inspired.

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The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guests Alex & Daniel

Season 3 · Episode 107

Monday, May 9, 2022 • Duration 24:50

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. They're growing quickly and offfered great advice for founders enduring "slogging through the minutia." They said, "Entropy of the world wants companies to come apart," and they offer advice how to manage it.

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The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Teresa Heath-Wareing

Season 3 · Episode 106

Monday, May 2, 2022 • Duration 29:02

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. Today, she's a TEDx speaker, coach, entrepreneur and best-selling author. Anything is possible!

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