Inspired Insider With Dr. Jeremy Weisz | Ecommerce Interviews | Entrepreneurship | Inspirational Stories | Business Lessons

Richard Walker is the CEO of Quik!, a provider of forms automation and management solutions for companies looking to maximize efficiency and productivity. He started Quik! in 2002 to help people spend less time on paperwork and more time on what they do best. Before Quik!, Richard was a business consultant with Arthur Andersen. He is a published author of two books and a father of three boys.  In this episode… People lose focus on what they are best at because they spend so much time designing, managing, and filling out forms. So, how can you automate forms to save time, reduce effort, eliminate errors, and improve revenue? According to business consultant and entrepreneur Richard Walker, "forms" is not a career. So, to maximize efficiency and productivity, people need to spend more time working with clients and not filling out forms. In this episode, Richard shares how he provides forms automation and management solutions, reducing the time and hassle of paperwork and empowering firms in the financial indust

Johann Nogueira is the Co-founder of Comet Suite, an artificial intelligence, one-stop marketing tool that helps you grow your business by generating leads, closing sales, creating content, and more. Additionally, Johann is the Co-founder of White Label Suite, a partnering software in conjunction with Comet Suite. With White Label, companies can use the software as their property to attract more leads and grow the business. A technology and marketing expert, Johann has over 20 years of experience building, growing, and selling multiple companies. In this episode… It’s rare that a multimillion-dollar idea falls into your lap, as with serial entrepreneur Johann Nogueira. Though he knew the product was a gold mine and would benefit hundreds of people and businesses, it wasn’t easy to sell to potential buyers. So what can you do when you develop an idea or product that you’re sure will benefit others but your pitches fail? Per Johann’s advice, the first step is to change the messaging behind the product or servic

Serial entrepreneur Joe Mindak is the Founder of The Connective. The Connective is a high-level networking community of purpose-driven connectors helping open doors for entrepreneurs and subject-matter experts through warm introductions. Joe has started and grown several businesses, including a magazine, a beer company, and a marketing company. His latest venture is Nolodex, a software company that powers The Connective and is available for public use.  In this episode… Are you someone always looking for recommendations? Or, maybe you’re the person everyone calls for a recommendation or connection. The trouble with being the connection liaison is that sometimes people can be unreliable and ruin your reputation. What if there was an elite networking community where the entire group was connected and vetted? Look no further! Thanks to business leader Joe Mindak, a community of this caliber exists for echelon executives, founders, entrepreneurs, and experts. The piece de resistance? You can get paid for making c

David Hernandez is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of lotus823, a full-service digital marketing agency serving clients from consumer tech to lifestyle to home goods. Popular brands that the agency partners with include Audio Technica, Roborock, Bamboozle, Skordo, and Telemundo. Outside of his professional life, David is a husband and father of three sons and has recently added speaker to his resume, having the opportunity to speak at TED Talk. In this episode… In the early years of Facebook, it was all about reconnecting old friendships and keeping in touch with long-distance relatives. However, it slowly became a cutting-edge marketing tool for companies. Now social media has evolved into a premier platform for branding and marketing. But how else has it changed? According to top agency leader David Hernandez, social media paved the way for one-stop agencies to provide several services such as communications, public relations, and digital marketing. The ability to integrate such services allows for stro

Seasoned business leader Mark Scrimenti is the Fractional COO and leadership coach at Vivid Path Consulting. Vivid Path Consulting is a firm committed to growing purpose-driven businesses for sustainable profitability and maximum impact. Mark has over 20 years of experience in business and has worked in e-commerce business operations, software product development, digital marketing, content strategy, and customer service. Additionally, Mark spends his time as the COO at Netconcepts, a cutting-edge digital marketing agency dedicated to achieving results for its clients. In this episode… Many companies in the infant stage need business coaching. The popular saying “what got you here won’t get you there” is usually the mentality to take an organization to its next level of growth. The person that usually helps a company reach higher stages of success, including profitability, is an operations professional.  So why does a company need an operations professional? Veteran business leader Mark Scrimenti explains tha

Tara-Nicholle Kirke is the Founder and CEO of SoulTour. SoulTour is a personal growth school where entrepreneurs and companies realize their full potential through uplifting transformation programs, curriculums, and coaching. Before founding SoulTour, Tara honed her entrepreneurial chops as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Before that, she served as MyFitnessPal’s and Under Armour’s Vice President of Marketing, growing the platform from 45 million users to 120 million users. Additionally, Tara is an author, penning The Transformational Consumer: Fuel a Lifelong Love Affair With Your Customers by Helping Them Get Healthier, Wealthier, and Wiser. Her accolades have garnered her features in Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, and the New York Times.  In this episode… Though life’s expectations are slowly changing, for decades, the order of life has always been to go to school, study hard, make good grades, graduate from a good college, and get a good job. But what happens when you do

Len Bland is the CEO of Nano Gas Environmental. Nano Gas Environmental provides a patented nanobubble technology that cleans and energizes water with tiny bubbles. This solution is one of the best ways to treat dirty water. Additionally, Len is the CEO of Nano Gas Technologies and the CEO and Capital Matchmaker at Concept Equity Group.  In this episode… In small communities that rely on sewage lagoons, the pond water can quickly become riddled with sludge, algae, bugs, and other harmful debris. Additionally, this type of waste cleanup can cost communities millions of dollars. But thanks to modern-day technology, there are options to disinfect these types of lagoons without devastating the bottom line.  When world-changing technology was introduced to entrepreneur Len Bland, he knew he had to share it with the public. This technology has the potential to clean sewage lagoons, oil industry wastewater, and water wells without impacting the environment. So, what is this new technology, and how can you access it?

Brian Cosgrove is the Principal and Chief Data Strategist at BrainDo. BrainDo provides a diverse mix of digital services, including marketing, experience, and partnership. Over Brian’s 15-plus-year career in the digital marketing space, he's created innovative strategies for Fortune 500 brands, including Digitas and Razorfish. He also co-founded the digital marketing application at TPG, garnering over $1 million in revenue his freshman year. Susan Brake is the Senior Vice President at Development Counsellors International (DCI), a 60-year leader in marketing destinations. Additionally, DCI specializes in economic development and tourism marketing. Before taking on the Senior Vice President role, Susan served as DCI’s Vice President, where she was responsible for growing the digital department. Philip Hill is the CEO and President of Purebred Marketing. The Atlanta-based marketing agency creates digital marketing strategies and provides services such as SEO, web design and development, and email marketing. Phi

Veronica “Niki” Fielding is the CEO and President at Digital Brand Expressions (DBE). DBE is a marketing agency with 22 years of experience, helping companies with services such as SEO, paid search, social media, and more. Additionally, Niki and her team have worked with manufacturers, B2B brands, and Fortune 500 companies, including Aleve, the Ritz Carlton, Mitsubishi, and the Wall Street Journal.  In this episode… Though the concept isn’t a new one, the height of the Covid pandemic made working from home essential. Albeit conditions are safe to return to the office, managers and leaders have realized that remote workers are just as productive working from the comforts of home. But how does the isolation affect company and employee morale? Executive leader Niki Fielding says that with plenty of team effort and brainstorming, company culture can be fun — even when the work environment is entirely remote. When employees are happy and having fun, that energy transfers to partnerships. Therefore, when a team of

Marinés and Andres Romo Obregón are the Co-founders of Swums Candy, a Three Siblings Company, along with their brother. Swums Candy is a neon-colored, fruity-flavored gummy candy brand inspired by the unlimited power of the mind and creativity. In this episode… What does it sound like when chewing gummy candy? We’ll let you ponder on that question for a while. But the newest candy sensation is a fruity-flavored gummy candy for kids and the kid at heart.  Children of an entrepreneur, the Obregón siblings knew they only wanted to work for themselves, so they conjured up a company brand. What came next? The Guadalajara, Mexico natives packed up and moved to Austin, Texas. Now the siblings are living out their American dream. So, what’s next for the Obregón siblings? In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz is joined by two of the three siblings of the Three Siblings Company, Founders and CEOs of Swums Candy Marinés and Andres Romo Obregón. Together, they discuss the origins of their comp

Audra Brehm is the Founder and CEO of Brehm Media, a digital marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado. The agency specializes in sales funnel via social media in fashion, beauty, and entertainment. The birth of her second child inspired her to convert her expertise and passion into a digital marketing agency. Audra also lends a voice to small and mid-sized businesses through speaking engagements across the country. Before starting Brehm Media, Audra helped grow brands through social media as an operations and marketing specialist. In this episode… The only constant in social media is change, which seems to evolve from month to month. Although fundamentals are in place, what could have worked for brand marketing yesterday can easily change today. So how do brands stay relevant on platforms that constantly transform? It’s not easy, but definitely doable, according to social media expert Audra Brehm, who says digital platforms keep her on her toes 99% of the time. But the crucial element to surviving social me

Experienced strategist Ryan Redding is the Owner of DP Marketing Services, a digital marketing agency for plumbers and HVAC professionals. As a veteran business consultant, Ryan has helped small and large organizations overcome challenges as well as achieve and exceed goals. When Ryan isn’t strategizing a plan for his clients, you can hear him sharing expertise on his podcast, Blue Collar CEO.  In this episode… If you own a business, it would behoove you to invest in a website and a marketing specialist. But when it comes to hiring a specialist, where do you start? First, you want to find a professional who understands that marketing is more than a beautiful website and a play on words. Instead, according to marketing strategist Ryan Redding, you want someone who understands you and your profession. And, as Ryan explains, far too often business owners and marketers disregard appealing to their customers’ needs and emotions. So, what does that have to do with marketing? More importantly, how do business owners

Marketing professional Erik Huberman is the Founder and CEO of Hawke Media. Hawke Media is your outsourced CMO and one of the fastest-growing marketing agencies. The company is valued at over $150 million and is responsible for growing over 3,000 worldwide brands. Erik is a captivating speaker, storyteller, thought leader, and writer. His published writings can be found in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, and Rolling Stone. Erik is also the author of a national best-seller, The Hawke Method: The Three Principles of Marketing That Made Over 3,000 Brands Soar.  Additionally, Erik is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, including The International Business Awards’ Entrepreneur of the Year, a Telly Award, Forbes’ 30 Under 30, CSQ’s 40 Under 40, and Inc. Magazine’s Top 25 Marketing Influencers. In this episode… Founding and operating a company is no easy feat. Furthermore, heading a company becomes more challenging as it grows and profits. But what happens when one company evolves into two or more? By

Dr. Kristin Oja is the Founder and CEO of STAT Wellness, a one-stop wellness shop that focuses on both functional medicine and movement. Dr. Oja obtained her Doctor of Nursing Practice and MS in Nursing with a Family Nurse Practitioner focus from Georgia College & State University. She’s an entrepreneur and nurse practitioner, and her mission is to transform healthcare one patient at a time.  In this episode… The food quality of a typical American diet is grounds for health concerns. We are getting a lot of high fructose corn syrup and sodas, which makes our fat cells very plump and impacts how our pancreas makes insulin and how our body stores fat. These days, we’re much more sedentary, and our energy, carbohydrates, and glucose exceed what we can fit into our cells. Instead of pushing glucose into muscles, which happens in an active state, we’re pushing it all into our fat cells. We're also beginning to store this fat around our liver and kidneys. More concerning is that we are seeing this in children a

Payman Taei is the Founder and President of Visme, a platform that creates engaging presentations, infographics, and almost any other type of visually engaging content. Payman started Visme in response to the need for an easy-to-use platform that allows non-designers to speak visually. Since 2013, Visme's user base has grown to over 16 million businesses, nonprofits, and individuals from over 100 countries.  In this episode… We are in a business world that can't do without producing and consuming visual content of different forms. The problem is that there aren’t nearly enough affordable pro-designers for hire. So, how do small business owners compete to create visually appealing designs for their brands — even if they don't have design skills? Visme was created for that purpose. Unlike any other SaaS design solution, Visme is the bridge between simple and super-sophisticated design. From top brands like IBM and Netflix to startups, everyone can use Visme. But what's their brand story, and how did they become

Khalid Saleh is the CEO of Invesp, one of the first conversion rate optimization (CRO) agencies in North America. They work with large companies like eBay, 3M, Target, and Special Olympics as well as smaller startups. Before co-founding Invesp, Khalid was an e-commerce software architect. He built his career devising e-commerce and optimization solutions for companies like American Express, Motorola, and Citrix.  In this episode… Gone are the days when website traffic is the be-all and end-all. More than ever, brands seek quality traffic that converts to tangible revenue. A great way to drive traffic is through websites anchor emotion-laden copy with functionality. It is about guiding your customers along their buyers' journey through your website by addressing their pain points.  Yet how do you dig up these pain points? What are the necessary website improvements you need to make? It begins by understanding why people buy, listening to customers, experimenting, and much more. Ready to find out more?  Listen

Robert Dodd and Joe Solano are co-founders of XL Technologies, a digital agency with over 20 years of experience helping US-based real estate brokers grow and scale their brokerages. As CEO, Robert works with real estate agents and brokers to execute sophisticated omnichannel advertising and recruiting campaigns. On the other hand, Joe is the COO and oversees all of XL Technologies’ research, development, and engineering groups.  Robert and Joe created proprietary software for brokerages called eCampaign Pro, a system that helps build targeted agent-to-agent email marketing lists. In this episode… Cold emailing is a powerful marketing strategy for b2b companies but is often misunderstood. One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is getting too aggressive with the frequency of emails and giving out too much information to an indifferent audience.  You need to have the right balance of cadence and messaging in your cold emails to get the traction you want. That includes setting up an email sequence, pain poi

From being expelled from school to $30M in revenue, Orrin Klopper has become a recognized and successful entrepreneur. He is a Co-founder and the CEO of Netsurit, a Managed IT and Security Services company founded 24 years ago during the lead-up to Y2K. Since then, he's grown the company to 100 people and over $30 million in revenue through acquisitions and organic growth.  Orrin is also a founding member of EO South Africa and a member of YPO. In this episode… Many businesses have invested a lot in technology, but most users have not caught up to the changes. Much worse is that some companies fail to educate their people about technological vulnerabilities and how to protect themselves against cyber attacks.  You can have all the security in the world, but if your users are unaware, they may become a window for a security breach. How do you respond if your tech system is breached? Equally important, how do you maximize the total value of your tech stack? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast

Farzad Rashidi is a Co-founder of Respona, a link-building outreach platform that helps businesses increase organic traffic from Google. He previously ran the marketing efforts at Visme as Director of Marketing, where he helped the company gain over 16 million active users and 3 million monthly organic traffic. He graduated from Truman State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration.  In this episode… Link building for SEO is not an easy task. Although tools like Respona simplify the outreach process, there’s more to link-building than outreach. There’s the overlooked strategy component to determine if SEO is the best acquisition channel for your business. There is also the on and off-page SEO strategies that brands should consider.  You need to get your keyword research, page speed, content, and more dialed in for on-page SEO. But that’s only a few pieces of the puzzle. Unfortunately, many brands drop off when they don’t get immediate results after spending resources for on-page SEO. The real dif

Jim Huffman is the CEO of GrowthHit, a growth marketing consultancy specializing in running customer-centric growth experiments. He is also the Co-founder of One Day Design, Handsome Chaos, and is the Host of the podcast If I Was Starting Today. Jim is the author of the Amazon bestseller The Growth Marketers Playbook using his experience from growing two startups to over $10M in sales. In addition to these accomplishments, he has led workshops at Fortune 500 brands, including FedEx, Oreo, and Intuit.Jim is a Startup Mentor at Techstars. In this episode… Growth marketing is one of the most essential services agencies can offer their clients. However, to provide professional services, you must develop a structured growth plan for your agency. So how can you scale your business to optimize your services and maximize sales?  When structuring his agency for growth, Jim Huffman referenced Nathan Barry’s framework for wealth creation. This model regards agency growth as a ladder in which you begin as an employee, st