What if the way you're wired is actually the key to unlocking your financial confidence? In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Abby Lininger of Drake Financial Group to talk money mindset, personality-based financial planning, and why building wealth doesn't have to be complicated, iit just has to be consistent.

In This Episode You'll Discover:

• Why good financial advice isn't reserved for the already wealthy
• What the Money-Agram is and how your personality type shapes your money habits
• The difference between the obsessor, the avoider, and the helper — and how each shows up in your business finances
• Why simplicity and consistency always win when building wealth
• How to use goals to make the "boring" financial habits actually feel exciting
• What "work optional" means and why it might be a better goal than retirement
• How Abby helped build the life that allowed her husband to finally chase his own dreams

Connect with Abby Lininger:

• Instagram & Facebook: @LifeandMoneywithAbby
• LinkedIn: Abby Lininger
• 🎁 Free Consultation + Money-Agram Handbook.

Abby Lininger represents her family's company Drake Financial Group, a modern advisor who proves that financial confidence isn’t reserved for Wall Street. it’s built on Main Street, one family at a time. Named one of Grand Rapids’ top financial advisors by West Michigan Women and a five‑time GR Kids Grandtastic Award winner, she blends heart, strategy, and straight talk to help everyday people rewrite their money story. Known as “not your mama’s financial advisor,” Abby’s mission is simple: empower communities to build wealth with clarity, courage, and a plan that actually works.

Meet Your Host

Women Entrepreneurs hire Jennifer as their business consultant to scale their profits. I help service-based business owners increase their net income by up to $4000 more every month without hustle and burnout and following my 3-step framework.

Join Jennifer for her free live masterclass, The Profit Leak, and identify the hidden habits and patterns that may be costing your business money — plus the first thing to change.

Register here: https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/masterclass

Scale Your Business:

Focused Growth Collective:

Connect with Jen: Website

Instagram: @nextwavewithjen

Book: Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting, Start Profiting, and Build a Business That Lasts

FREE BONUS GUIDE:Five Questions Every Woman Entrepreneur Should Ask Before She Says Yes

Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a fellow woman entrepreneur and please leave a 5 star review.

Meet Your Host:

Jennifer Kok, Profit and Growth advisor for service-based women entrepreneurs. Women Entrepreneurs hire me to scale and grow their businesses profitably without burnout. I bring financial clarity, strategic focus and structure to the decision-making process.

My clients, on average, see anywhere between $1k-$4k increase in net income each month without hustle, overwhelm, and burnout.
Learn More about my Programs.

Get your copy of Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting. Start Profiting and Build a Business That Lasts.

Find My Profit Leak FREE Masterclass:
Your business can be making money… and still be leaking profit.
I’ll help you uncover the daily habits and patterns quietly draining your profit and identify what to change first.
Save My Free Seat

Connect with me:
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Your biggest profit leak may not be payroll, marketing, or even pricing.

It may be the way you’re operating your business every single day.

In this episode, Jennifer breaks down the four stages of business ownership — the Octopus, Elephant, Lion, and Eagle — and shows how the habits that helped you build your business can eventually become the same habits limiting your profit, time, and freedom.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why doing everything yourself creates a ceiling on profit
• How becoming the “bottleneck” can quietly cost you sales
• Why hiring a team doesn’t automatically create freedom
• The difference between managing a business and truly owning one
• How perfectionism, control, and fear of letting go affect profitability
• Why owner dependency can make a business harder to grow — and eventually harder to sell
• The one question that can help identify your current stage of ownership

Which stage are you in?

The Octopus: You’re doing everything yourself.

The Elephant: You have a team, but every decision still comes back to you.

The Lion: Your team can operate, but the business still performs best when you’re present.

The Eagle: Your systems and leaders keep the business moving while you focus on strategy, opportunity, and the future.

Ask yourself:

If you stepped away from your business for a week, two weeks, or even a month, what would happen?

Your answer may reveal one of the biggest profit leaks in your business.

Ready to find your profit leak?

Join Jennifer for her free live masterclass, The Profit Leak, and identify the hidden habits and patterns that may be costing your business money — plus the first thing to change.

Register here: https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/masterclass

Learn More
Focused Growth Collective:https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/focused-growth-collective

Next Wave Business Coaching: nextwavebusinesscoaching.com

Instagram: @nextwavewithjen

Book: Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting, Start Profiting, and Build a Business That Lasts

If this episode helped you recognize where you are in your business journey, leave a five-star review and share the biggest takeaway you’re putting into action.

Women Entrepreneurs hire me as their business coach to scale their profits. I help service-based business owners increase their net income by up to $4000 more every month without hustle and burnout and following my 3-step formula.

Meet Your Host:

Jennifer Kok, Profit and Growth advisor for service-based women entrepreneurs. Women Entrepreneurs hire me to scale and grow their businesses profitably without burnout. I bring financial clarity, strategic focus and structure to the decision-making process.

My clients, on average, see anywhere between $1k-$4k increase in net income each month without hustle, overwhelm, and burnout.
Learn More about my Programs.

Get your copy of Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting. Start Profiting and Build a Business That Lasts.

Find My Profit Leak FREE Masterclass:
Your business can be making money… and still be leaking profit.
I’ll help you uncover the daily habits and patterns quietly draining your profit and identify what to change first.
Save My Free Seat

Connect with me:
Website:
Facebook:
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
YouTube:

What happens when a simple idea at the kitchen table grows into a multi-location, experience-driven brand?

In this episode of Main Street Success Stories, Jennifer Kok sits down with Jackie Garrett, founder of Viola Bloom, to talk about the real journey behind building a business that has evolved over 16 years.

Jackie’s entrepreneurial story began as a new mom who kept forgetting wet wipes while working remotely and caring for her daughter. That everyday frustration sparked the idea for a diaper bag that dispensed wipes — a product she first sewed herself at her kitchen table. What started as a personal solution slowly grew into an award-winning product, eventually catching the attention of major retailers like Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Buy Buy Baby.

But Jackie’s story is not a quick-growth highlight reel. It is a reminder that sustainable business growth takes patience, grit, timing, and the willingness to let your customers show you what they need next.

Over time, Viola Bloom evolved from a diaper bag company into a premium handbag and accessories brand featuring customizable bags, charms, jewelry, monogramming, and the signature Bag Bar experience. Jackie shares how listening closely to her customers helped guide her next decisions — from adding handbags to creating an in-store experience where customers can build something personal, joyful, and completely their own.

Jennifer and Jackie also talk about what it really takes to expand into multiple storefronts, including staffing, systems, community support, partnerships, and learning how to trust a team with your “baby.” Jackie shares how Viola Bloom now serves customers through retail stores, private parties, bachelorette events, corporate activations, and brand partnerships.

This conversation is full of encouragement for any business owner wondering why growth is taking longer than expected. Jackie’s story proves that timing matters, customer feedback matters, and the business you start may not be the business you are meant to grow forever.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

How Jackie turned a simple mom-life problem into an award-winning product
Why growth often takes longer than entrepreneurs expect
How Viola Bloom landed major retailers early in the business
Why timing played such a key role in the evolution of the brand
How customer feedback led Jackie from diaper bags to handbags, charms, jewelry, and the Bag Bar
Why experience-based retail can create new revenue opportunities
What it takes to open and manage multiple storefronts
How community, family, faith, and support systems helped Jackie stay the course
Why listening to your customers may be the smartest strategy for your next decision

Jackie’s story is a beautiful example of what happens when you solve a real problem, stay open to what your customers are asking for, and allow the business to grow in the direction it is meant to go.

Connect with Jackie Garrett and Viola Bloom:

Website: violabloom.com
Instagram: @vilahbloom
Locations: Walloon Village, Traverse City, and Parker’s Alley in Detroit

Meet Your Host:

Jennifer Kok, Profit and Growth advisor for service-based women entrepreneurs. Women Entrepreneurs hire me to scale and grow their businesses profitably without burnout. I bring financial clarity, strategic focus and structure to the decision-making process.

My clients, on average, see anywhere between $1k-$4k increase in net income each month without hustle, overwhelm, and burnout.
Learn More about my Programs.

Get your copy of Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting. Start Profiting and Build a Business That Lasts.

Find My Profit Leak FREE Masterclass:
Your business can be making money… and still be leaking profit.
I’ll help you uncover the daily habits and patterns quietly draining your profit and identify what to change first.
Save My Free Seat

Connect with me:
Website:
Facebook:
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
YouTube:

Bouncing her employees' paychecks on a Friday afternoon in July was one of the lowest moments of Jennifer Kok's 20+ years in business and one of the best things that ever happened to her.

In this episode of Main Street Success Stories, host Jennifer Kok shares the raw, real story behind the "hustle harder" moment that almost broke her and the mindset shift that actually saved her business. Jennifer opens up about walking away from a corporate career, buying into a cookie-gifting franchise, and quietly believing that asking for help meant she wasn't cut out to be an entrepreneur.

Then came the phone call in the minivan on the way to a family weekend away: payroll had bounced. What followed wasn't a hustle-harder fix it was a wake-up call that led Jennifer to rebuild her business around cash flow clarity, boundaries, and one game-changing idea: you don't build something that lasts by going it alone.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why "hustle harder" often isn't the real problem, and what is
• How to shift from reactive decision-making to proactive strategy
• Jennifer's "Fab Five" framework for building your own personal board of directors
• Why asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness
• How to stop avoiding your numbers and start understanding them

About Your Host
Jennifer Kok is a business owner, author, and entrepreneur coach with 20+ years of experience building and scaling a business from the ground up. After leaving a corporate career and relocating her family three times in six years, Jennifer bought into a franchise business and learned, the hard way, how to turn reactive chaos into sustainable, profitable growth. She's the author of Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting, Start Profiting, and Build a Business to Last, and the founder of Focus Growth Collective, a membership community and mastermind for women entrepreneurs who are ready to stop going it alone and start building with the support of the right people around them.

Get the Book
Ready to find your own "Fab Five" and build a business that lasts? Jennifer's book, Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting, Start Profiting, and Build a Business to Last, dives deeper into the framework from this episode.

Join Focus Growth Collective
You don't have to build alone. Focus Growth Collective is Jennifer's membership community and mastermind for women entrepreneurs who want real strategy, real support, and a real community of people who get it. Learn more

Enjoyed This Episode?
If this story resonated with you, share it with one of your "who's" the person who needs to hear that asking for help isn't weakness, it's strategy. And don't forget to subscribe to Main Street Success Stories so you never miss an episode.

Meet Your Host:

Jennifer Kok, Profit and Growth advisor for service-based women entrepreneurs. Women Entrepreneurs hire me to scale and grow their businesses profitably without burnout. I bring financial clarity, strategic focus and structure to the decision-making process.

My clients, on average, see anywhere between $1k-$4k increase in net income each month without hustle, overwhelm, and burnout.
Learn More about my Programs.

Get your copy of Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting. Start Profiting and Build a Business That Lasts.

Find My Profit Leak FREE Masterclass:
Your business can be making money… and still be leaking profit.
I’ll help you uncover the daily habits and patterns quietly draining your profit and identify what to change first.
Save My Free Seat

Connect with me:
Website:
Facebook:
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
YouTube:

What if the habit you rely on to “take the edge off” is actually the thing keeping you stuck?

In this episode of Main Street Success Stories, Jennifer Kok sits down with Cari Walters, a sober curious life coach, to explore the powerful connection between habits, emotions, and the way we cope as busy entrepreneurs.

Cari shares her personal journey from years of habitual drinking — not out of addiction, but out of routine — to becoming alcohol-free through a process of curiosity, awareness, and intentional change.

If you’ve ever reached for a glass of wine after a long day, scrolled your phone to unwind, or found yourself stuck in patterns that no longer serve you, this conversation will open your eyes in a powerful way.

Jennifer and Cari dive into:

• The difference between alcohol dependence and being “sober curious
• How everyday habits form through the cue → action → reward loop
• Why high-achieving entrepreneurs often avoid their emotions — and what it costs them
• A simple but powerful tool called The Pause to interrupt unhealthy patterns
• Cari’s “3 F’s” framework: How do I feel? How does this feed it? Can I find another way?
• Why breaking habits isn’t all-or-nothing — and how to embrace the “gray”
• How long it actually takes to build new habits (and why it’s longer than 21 days)
  
  

This episode is a powerful reminder that the habits you build are either working for you… or against you.

Meet Our Guest:
Cari Walters is a sober curious life coach who helps individuals move from autopilot habits to intentional living. With a background in education and years of experience working with people through behavior patterns, Cari guides clients to understand their emotions, interrupt habit loops, and build healthier ways to cope, unwind, and thrive.

Connect with Cari:
Website: sobercuriouslifecoaching.com
Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn: Cari Walters – Sober Curious Life

Meet Your Host:
Jennifer Kok is a Profit & Growth Advisor and founder of Next Wave. A serial entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience, she helps service-based women entrepreneurs increase profitability through financial clarity, strategic decision-making, and systems that support sustainable growth.

www.nextwavebusinesscoaching.com

Focus Growth Collective
Author of Make Waves

If this episode made you pause and think about your own habits, share it with a friend who might need this conversation too.

And remember — awareness is the first step to real change.

Meet Your Host:

Jennifer Kok, Profit and Growth advisor for service-based women entrepreneurs. Women Entrepreneurs hire me to scale and grow their businesses profitably without burnout. I bring financial clarity, strategic focus and structure to the decision-making process.

My clients, on average, see anywhere between $1k-$4k increase in net income each month without hustle, overwhelm, and burnout.
Learn More about my Programs.

Get your copy of Make Waves: How Women Entrepreneurs Stop Reacting. Start Profiting and Build a Business That Lasts.

Find My Profit Leak FREE Masterclass:
Your business can be making money… and still be leaking profit.
I’ll help you uncover the daily habits and patterns quietly draining your profit and identify what to change first.
Save My Free Seat

Connect with me:
Website:
Facebook:
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
YouTube: