Anything But Typical

113: From Homelessness to Business Success with Christina Bartolotta

“It’s important to us to help people see that they matter.” – Christina Bartolotta

Christina & her husband, Titus, are no strangers to business success. From car sales to consulting, this dynamic duo seemingly does it all & very well. Today, you’ll find them in the kitchen of their newest endeavor & one of Lake Norman, NC’s newest & deeply loved restaurants, Rise Cafe.

Serial entrepreneurs with a passion for growing their bank accounts?

Not even close.

Behind every business the Bartolottas own & operate, a deep passion & love for people resonates. They simply have a heart for building businesses that richly improve lives & communities.

It’s a noble cause, one made even more exceptional once you hear Christina’s journey. With no exaggeration, she has endured & found purpose in one of the most traumatic childhood journeys we’ve ever heard.

Both Christina & Titus embody a favorite quote by Simon Sinek: “Profit isn’t a purpose; it’s a result. To have purpose means the things we do have real value to others.”

This one will leave you speechless.

To learn more:

👉Find her & Titus at Rise Cafe & Collaborative Solutions Group.

112: From Growing Up Together to Growing a Business Together with Jeff Wanner and Broc Buxton

“I love our business model. It’s one where we can be truly honest with our clients.” Broc Buxton

When cousins Jeffrey Wanner & Broc Buxton were growing up together, neither of them imagined that Broc would eventually join Jeff in building a company that would revolutionize the way other small businesses select professional employer organizations (PEOs).

But as they matured, they recognized important qualities in each other that would fuel that endeavor: diligence, integrity, & a mutual love for solving problems that plague business owners.

(If PEOs are unfamiliar to you, take heart. This episode will show you how you can outsource important HR functions, drive down costs, & how Jeff & Broc do it so differently.)

Jeff & Broc turned their love for people & business into their passion for simplifying clients’ lives. Their one-of-a-kind, free (yes, free!) service helps business owners just like you sift through the marketing noise & select the best option for their workforce.

Family, friendship, passion. How often do those collide?

Check out Pair PEO and try out their calculator.

111: Branding, Marketing, and Podcasting with Reece Arlin

“I want people to recognize my passion for things – my passion for living, my passion for ensuring other people’s success.” — Reece M. Arlin, MBA

When this car-loving, fitness-focused, self-proclaimed “terrible employee” graduated from college, he was certain buying & operating a gym was the path before him.

But like most entrepreneurs, his first big plan never materialized. When a good friend suggested they start a marketing company focused on fitness sales, Reece took the chance & said yes. Together, they’ve built something extraordinary.

Marketing geniuses? Not necessarily (though they certainly have the chops!). Passion for finding their niche, hiring the right people, staying true to their voice, pivoting in the face of adversity, & seemingly effortlessly growing a company with a totally remote workforce?

Absolutely.

Reece wasn’t born with all the answers. He was gifted with the passion to find them. And that has made all the difference.

Check out Business Marketing Solutions Group.

110: Purpose Driven Capitalism with Palash Desai

“I just want to be known as a good guy.” – Palash Desai

Most Ivy League business school graduates turned Silicon Valley execs aren’t known for their big hearts. Big profits, yes, but compassion & love for others take a distant back seat.

Not so with Palash. In the middle of a very lucrative engineering career, he dropped it all to buy a two-person cleaning company in Charlotte, NC.

Did he love cleaning? No. Was Charlotte home? No again. But that tiny cleaning company offered Palash a unique opportunity: to build a highly profitable & sustainable business that could address income inequality in a city known for lacking social mobility.

Purpose-driven capitalism. That’s the heart of The Organic Maids, which now employs over 30 cleaning professionals making more than the average new college graduate -- bringing people out of poverty & changing their families’ & communities’ futures.

That’s the work of a very good guy.

Palash must have been listening when Leonardo DaVinci said, “Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.”

Connect with Palash on LinkedIn and check out The Organic Maids.

109: Insights From A Private Investigator with Jan Barefoot

“So much of what I gain is from helping people in bad situations. Our clients, 95% of them are going through the worst time in their life.” – Jan Barefoot

It isn’t unusual to hear firefighters or police officers talk about serving others on their worst days. Still, Jan Barefoot doesn’t wear a uniform or jump into action following a 911 call. She isn’t a first responder at all.

But she just might be the brains behind figuring out who’s to blame for the chaos.

This former legal secretary with a passion for detective work & justice is the woman behind one of the Carolina’s most established & rapidly growing private investigation firms. Suspected adultery, fraud, missing persons, extortion, you name it, Jan’s team tackles it all & has earned the respect & admiration of clients & top law firms alike.

What’s her secret? Serving clients with humility & never allowing ethics to take a back seat to financial success. That’s a lesson for any entrepreneur. 

Check out Barefoot PI and connect with Jan on LinkedIn.

108: How Automation Can Give You Back Your Time with Wilton Rogers

“I love life. I love to make people smile.” – Wilton Rogers III

Growing up on a farm, Wilton got his very first taste of entrepreneurship: selling eggs to his mother’s friends at church.

But it wasn’t the money that made his heart soar ($2 was his weekly profit!). It was the happiness he felt providing something people needed. That joy became his greatest form of payment.

Multiple business opportunities would come & go throughout his life, but getting to know people, identifying their pain, & providing real solutions to better their lives was the common thread to them all. It still is.

But what makes this story unexpected is that Wilton applied the same passion for people & service that inspired him as a kid to one of the coldest, most robotic industries on the planet: artificial intelligence.

If stories of infusing purpose into unexpected places make your heart soar:

Find him on LinkedIn, on his web site at Simply Automate, or listen to his podcast, Automation Nation.

107: How To Rebound From Losing Everything with Bob Williams

“When you don’t have a choice…the one thing you do get to choose is who you get to do it with, so don’t do it alone.” Robert F Williams

In the 1990s, when financial deals & payouts came easy, Bob’s life looked like a page from a storybook: beautiful family, a booming investment business, and thousands of successful deals.

But his story, like any good one, contained a plot twist: Struggling with frequent travel away from his family, Bob lost everything when a trusted entrepreneur made off with millions he’d personally invested & encouraged others to invest. The suspect then died, dodging all accountability. Bob was crushed financially & his zest for life was destroyed.

Thankfully, another plot twist was coming in the form of a good friend who wouldn’t let Bob “do it alone.” He got him back into business & life.

Now for the ultimate surprise: Bob did the same for Gary years later when troubles came his way. 

106: SEO, LinkedIn Leadership, and Author Damon Burton

“People follow me for advice, but when I get feedback, it’s more about something business unrelated.” – Damon Burton

If you don’t know Damon, you may be wondering why over 32,000 people follow him for advice on LinkedIn or flock to read his book, “Outrank.”

If you do know him, you’ll know why seeking his advice is a no-brainer. This SEO expert has beat million-dollar companies at their own game & offers proven strategies for his audience to grow their companies.

But good SEO advice isn’t all. That “something” he speaks of makes being in his presence genuinely unique, & it’s the absolute love, adoration, & praise he shares for his wife & children, mirrored in how he sees, commends, & nurtures his team.

If you’re encouraged by industry leaders who not only upset their industry but unabashedly honor their lives & the people in it, this is the episode for you.

105: Renee Breazeale Dominating A Male Dominated Industry

It’s easy to look at Renee & think that the comforts of Easy Street & a golden parachute allowed her to build the 13th largest woman-owned business in the Charlotte area & the only woman-owned industrial business in Union County (not to mention authoring a book & forming a foundation), but nothing could be further from the truth.

A small-town girl introduced first to banking & then manufacturing sales, Renee created a name for herself in a male-dominated industry by working hard & maintaining her integrity. Where others took shortcuts (morally & otherwise), she sought higher ground.

Amidst incredible challenges, including domestic violence, a brain tumor that put her in a wheelchair, and the harsh economies of the Great Recession and COVID lockdowns, Renee forged her business into the industry forefront. Perhaps most importantly, she retained her humanity, positivity, & love for good – qualities fueling the purpose of her life’s next chapter: giving back.

104: Operating Businesses Through Private Equity

A quick message first: We had audio issues for the first 16 minutes of the show. We cleaned it up as much as possible, but you'll notice a difference. Apologies for that!

"It's really about fit & relationship." — Brad Batten

When Johannes Zwick & Bradley Batten first met at Davidson College, neither imagined a future as partners in private equity. But these fraternity brothers turned friends had important partnership traits in common: integrity, ambition, diligence, & love for people.

Most importantly, they recognized & respected those qualities in each other.

(By the way, if you can't believe these traits are being used to describe private equity investors, you're in for a treat. These guys are unexpected—you know, “anything but typical!”)

Johannes & Brad turned their love for business & their focus on fit & relationship into a one-of-a-kind private equity firm. Today, they invest financially & operationally in small businesses eager to scale & do so while preserving each company's employees, culture, & core values.

Forget everything you know about rip, strip, & flip private equity firms. These guys represent "investment with heart & purpose."