Free Agent with Meg Schmitz

Have you ever had a business idea you didn't act on? We all have! But this week's guest took action, and I’m excited to share her story with you. Over the course of 23 years, Colette Bell and her husband took a handyman business that started in their basement and built it into an attractive franchise system other entrepreneurs wanted to invest in. When their success caught the attention of Ace Hardware Corporation, an unstoppable partnership and a bigger opportunity was born. In this week's episode, Colette shares the whole story, from the early wins, to the discoveries and pivots that took them from basement to boardroom. You’ll learn; How your choice of franchisee impacts the results of the entire organization and how you can set everyone up for success. How to keep your carefully-cultivated culture and intellectual capital intact as you expand What makes a larger company the perfect vehicle for impact, opportunity and market domination. The key shift that helped the business survive both the recession and the pandemic I love the passion Colette has for her role as a franchisor, and her perspectives on this will be valuable to anyone interested in the franchise world. You’ll enjoy this rare and delightful insight into the life of a franchisor, and get inspired to start seeing more entrepreneurship opportunities around you! Guest Bio Colette Bell is the VP of Franchise Development at Ace Handyman Services, and her husband Andy is the CEO. The first Ace Handyman Services office was in the basement of Andy and Colette’s Denver home, where they conducted business from a sheet of plywood placed atop an unused pool table. In the two decades since they started, The Ace Handyman Services Franchise Organization has expanded from coast to coast in 200 territories while continuing to embrace the same values and concepts. For more information, visit https://www.acehandymanservices.com/.

What if the stories you tell yourself about the past are sabotaging your success right now? That’s the key question I took from our latest podcast conversation. We all have these stories we believe are true, even though they aren’t. Stories we created around the events of our lives. But it’s what we do with those stories that determines our level of success. Our guest is Sue Schultz, corporate recruiter turned career and life coach, and our conversation is all around the stories we tell ourselves and how to break free. Sue opened up about her own life and coaching experience, sharing... The one thing you can do every morning to ensure your tank is full and you’re ready for the day ahead. How to build “non-negotiable” activities into your day to refill your emotional piggy bank How the stories you created around past events are sabotaging your success right now As Sue said, we can’t change the past, but there’s a lot of good that came from the past that we can use to drive ourselves forward. Get your free digital copy of Free Agent: From Corporate Refugee to Being the Boss. Click here to download. Guest Bio Sue Schultz is a Career & Life Coach and the founder of Inspired Integration. She helps women align their career and life so they can finally feel the success that is filled with passion and purpose. Her holistic experience helps her clients overcome the fear, and self-doubt interfering with their life choices. Over the years Sue has built her career on helping others understand who they are, where they’re at, what is standing in their way and “what they really want to be.” As a Career Development Coach, she helps people create opportunities to take control of their careers. For more information, visit https://inspiredintegration.org/ and connect with Sue on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-schultz-inspired/ and follow @inspiredintegration on Instagram.

How do you go from veteran landscaping business owner, working 18 hour days outside in the elements for decades, to business coach working just 2.5 days per week? That’s what I asked our latest guest, Todd Ruedt. Todd is a business coach and franchise owner of ActionCoach in Brookfield and Fox Cities, and was named ActionCOACH Americas #1 Coach of the Year in 2018. And he hasn’t been slacking since then, either. Todd continues to help free agents build multiple streams of income and delegate the right things so they can work on their business, not in it. Todd pulled back the curtain on his own journey, sharing some incredible insights along the way, including: How to use collaboration to build confidence and expand your business, whether you’re in the initial stages or getting to the next level The biggest pitfall new franchise owners fall into (and how to avoid it) How to leverage franchise systems to drastically reduce your learning curve and get results in your business faster As a business coach, Todd is known for asking great questions, and you’ll find a hidden gem in this conversation, where he shared one simple question you can ask yourself to bring positivity to any situation. One of the key steps for any free agent is building a support system around you, including mentors. You can’t go wrong looking to someone like Todd for coaching, mentorship and support. Enjoy the conversation and reach out to Todd if you get value from his insights! Guest Bio Todd Ruedt is a business coach and the owner at ActionCOACH of Brookfield, ActionCOACH of Fox Cities and The Offsite Collaboration Center in Brookfield/Neenah. At the onset of his experience as a business coach, Todd Ruedt hit the ground running. He was named 2018 ActionCOACH America’s #1 Coach of the Year. As a certified ActionCOACH Business Coach for 4 years, and part of the ActionCOACH community for another 10, Todd is an expert in education, training & growing businesses. Add to that his experience as a veteran landscape designer and horticulturist with more than three decades of industry expertise. Todd is also an avid organizer of more than 21 golf events for notable charities throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. For more information visit, https://coachingwisconsin.com/. Learn more about Todd’s upcoming Growth Club Mid-Year Extravaganza on June 17th and 18th here.

2020 was a pivotal departure from work as we knew it before the pandemic. It wasn’t just an interruption - it was a full scale disruption. We made huge strides in bringing more freedom and autonomy to the workplace, and it’s evident that how we feel about the work we do definitely impacts the bottom line. We don’t have to return to the “normal” so many people hated. 2020 taught us that the desire for more autonomy, flexibility and freedom resonates across industries, job titles and career levels. We have the opportunity to create just that. How has 2020 changed the way employees engage with their jobs, and what should employers be doing in response? What is the roadmap to being a happier employee? In this episode, I’m joined by author and speaker, Josh Allan Dykstra, business owner, Pamela Belyn, and executive recruiter, Corbin Beastrom. They share the perspectives of thought leaders, recruiters, and entrepreneurs as we discuss why returning to the pre-pandemic work paradigm would be a big mistake. Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode Why working from home made many people happier Working from home gave people more flexibility, autonomy and balance. We were able to share more of our humanity in the virtual workspace. This led to a reduction in workplace disengagement, and made employees more productive. Going forward, we need to create work environments that make people feel comfortable with sharing their humanity. Forcing people into the silo of just being a worker, and nothing else, won’t cut it anymore. The job market shifts we’re going to see as more people return to the office Recent stats show that 52% of the workforce is looking for a new job. With work-from-home coming to an end, a lot of people are looking at the culture they left at the office, and dreading to return. If people are dissatisfied at work, it will trigger movement in the market. If employers don’t focus on their people, and make the work environment better, they will lose good employees. Why we don’t have to be victims of a new paradigm, but creators Calling something “the new normal” is passive. It takes away the power and autonomy we all have in creating The Next Normal. We all have the agency and power to create the next iteration and culture of work. The future isn’t a defined thing that just happens to us, it’s what we create it to be. Guest Bios Josh Allan Dykstra Josh Allan is an author, speaker, thought leader and co-founder and CEO of Helios, a community of leaders and work revolutionaries committed to creating a world where everyone can love work. His articles and ideas have been featured by Fast Company, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and Business Insider and he's worked with some of the most iconic brands in the world (Apple, Sony, Genentech, Microsoft, among others). He holds an MBA in Executive Leadership from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his latest book, Igniting the Invisible Tribe: Designing An Organization That Doesn’t Suck, is available on Amazon and Audible. He lives with his family in beautiful Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshallan/. Pamela Belyn Pamela Belyn is the owner of Zoom Drain of Chicago. In her work as an attorney, she often represented clients in the home services industries. She was inspired by these trade clients and eventually left her law career behind to become President and Owner of Men In Sewers (MBE/WBE Certified), learning the trade and exploring ways to innovate and improve the business side of the industry. In early 2020 she opened Zoom Drain of Chicago, doubling its staff, growing apprentices to technicians, and expanding commercial and residential business month over month. You’ll often find Pamela alongside her crew in the field (look for the purple steel toed boots), at home with her family, or avidly supporting the Bears. For more information, visit https://www.zoomdrain.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-b-a095677/. Corbin Beastrom Corbin Beastrom is an Accounting and Finance Executive Recruiter and Search Partner at SkyWater Chicago. Corbin currently works with a “full desk” on the Accounting and Finance recruiting team. The SkyWater Accounting & Finance team focuses on growth-oriented, middle-market companies based in the Midwest. Corbin lives in Chicago, IL, and primarily serves clients in that area. Within Accounting and Finance, Corbin specializes in recruiting & placing talent in full-time, permanent positions at various levels & titles: CFO, Controllers, Accounting Managers, Senior Accountants, VP Finance, Finance Directors, Finance Managers, Senior Financial Analysts, Audit Directors, and Audit Managers. His team also has the capability to work on staff-level accounting and finance roles. For more i...