エピソード

  • Episode 1222: From Boardroom to Cell Block and Back with Jeff Martinovich
    2025/12/08
    What happens when doing the right thing costs you everything and teaches you more than success ever could? In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Jeff Martinovich, Author of When Not If: A CEO’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity, who shares his astonishing journey from the boardroom to federal prison and back. Wrongly targeted during the 2008 financial crisis, Jeff refused three plea deals on principle and paid a heavy price. His story of resilience, redemption, and reinvention reveals hard-won lessons about leadership, integrity, and rebuilding after unimaginable loss. Key Takeaways: → The cultural principles and “A-player” mindset that fueled his firm’s explosive growth. → What really happened when regulators came for smaller financial firms after 2008. → The meaning behind When Not If—why every leader must prepare for crisis before it strikes. → How a childhood fascination with investing led to a billion-dollar wealth-management empire. → How helping others in the prison law library became his unlikely path to freedom. Jeff Martinovich earned his B.S. in Business Management from the United States Air Force Academy and his MBA in Finance from The College of William and Mary. He had the honor of serving his country during The First Gulf War at Tactical Air Command Headquarters, Langley, Virginia. Pursuing a second career in financial services, Jeff was Founder and CEO of MICG Investment Management, a billion-dollar wealth management firm nationally recognized for its rapid growth, WoW service and A-Player culture. Following the 2008 Financial Crisis, MICG’s proprietary hedge funds experienced regulatory scrutiny and allegations. As CEO, Jeff vigorously defended his firm, refusing three separate plea offers and instead choosing to defend his employees and himself in federal court. In a bizarre narrative, Jeff was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. Yet, then representing himself, the court decisions were reversed twice by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, two separate U.S. District Court Judges were removed, and his successful federal suit liberated him from a higher-security, violent prison. After nearly 7 years, Jeff was finally released to begin his journey of rebuilding, restoring, and turning disadvantages into advantages. His life has been a continuous string of business and family miracles ever since. His perilous journey and miraculous restoration are the topics of national publications, to include When Not If: A CEO’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity, Forbes Books, January 2024. He spends his days helping CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders not make the mistakes he made on the way up, as well as teaching trench warfare tactics necessary to achieve victory when the black swan shows up at your office. He lives in Norfolk, Virginia with his wife, son, and new little girl. Connect With Jeff : Website: https://www.jeffmartinovich.com/ X: https://x.com/JeffMartinovich Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeff.martinovich.2023/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-martinovich/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    21 分
  • Episode 1221: How to Exit Your Boutique Fitness Studio for Maximum Value with Mitch McGinley
    2025/12/05
    Thinking about selling your fitness studio one day? The smartest move is to start preparing long before you’re ready. In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Mitch McGinley, Founder and CEO of Boutique Fitness Broker, who has guided countless entrepreneurs through one of the biggest transitions of their lives—selling their business. With experience spanning studios, spas, gyms, and beyond, Mitch brings both empathy and expertise to the exit process. In this episode, he shares common mistakes to avoid, trends shaping boutique fitness, and how to set up your business so it sells for the maximum value. Key Takeaways: → How selling a yoga studio opened the door to advising others. → The difference between being a broker, consultant, and advisor. → How biggest mistakes business owners make include having messy books, unclear HR, and being too tied to the business. → Why talking openly about selling makes deals easier and better. → How to turn a dragged-out deal into a multimillion-dollar exit. Mitch McGinley is a former studio owner, business broker and exit planning advisor specializing in boutique fitness. He originally worked in hotel management with Omni Hotels, and then with an investor who was flipping boutique hotels in San Diego. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife Karson bought their favorite yoga studio. During that time he began consulting in the boutique fitness industry, teaching seminars at Mindbody University and other fitness conferences all over the world, helping studio owners make better business decisions. After successfully selling his studio in 2019, he merged all of his worlds to create Boutique Fitness Broker, helping other entrepreneurs in this industry maximize their biggest payday. He has helped facilitate over 60 transactions in the past five years, with over $10M in transacted value in 2024 alone. Connect With Mitch: Website: https://boutiquefitnessbroker.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boutiquefitnessbroker/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchmcginley/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    16 分
  • Episode 1220: Pricing, Margins, and Cash in a Chaotic Economy with Karl Maier
    2025/12/03
    If your revenue has stalled despite strong demand, this playbook shows how numbers, systems, and leadership, not bigger ad spend, restart explosive growth. In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Karl Maier, Founder of Abunden, an experienced CEO and business advisor who has played a key role in doubling sales at 5 companies in just 2 years. In this conversation, Maier explains how installing a 13-week cash forecast, building repeatable operating systems, and developing leaders unlock capacity so growth sticks. He also shares his Abundant Framework, insights from his book Surfing Economic Chaos, and what actually changes when you scale from $10M to $100M. Key Takeaways: → Why growth stalls after early success, and how shifting from heroics to repeatable systems and delegation restarts momentum. → The 13-week cash flow cadence: a simple weekly forecast that prevents surprises and fuels confident decisions. → When marketing isn’t the first lever: fix finance, ops capacity, and delivery so sales gains don’t break the machine. → “Every time you double, everything breaks”—what to upgrade (process, tools, roles) before pressing the gas. → The hardest part of $100M isn’t spreadsheets, it’s people, alignment, and leadership bench strength. Karl Maier is the founder of Abunden, where he helps CEOs transition from survival mode to achieving predictable, profitable growth. Specializing in energy-related companies, Karl turns financial blind spots into powerful growth engines, guiding both organic and acquisition-led expansion. He has extensive experience in private equity, family office roles, and capital raises, including supporting a $10M fracking water cleaning project and raising debt and equity for a $192 million EV private equity acquisition. Karl's expertise spans mergers and acquisitions (M&A), including buy-side support for international expansions and a $45 million B2B distribution company. He has also been instrumental in turnaround situations, such as guiding a healthcare services company to 40% growth and helping a coffee company pivot to hand sanitizer during COVID, generating $400K in just five months. With global CFO experience, Karl has led teams across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Asia. Connect With Karl Maier: Website: https://abunden.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlkmaier/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    16 分
  • Episode 1219: Filling Your Calendar with Qualified Leads with Alleyoop with Gabe Lullo
    2025/12/01
    What if your sales team woke up on Monday to a calendar already full of qualified discovery calls? In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Gabe Lullo, CEO of Alleyoop, who has helped companies from startups to giants like Microsoft, Peloton, and ZoomInfo transform their sales pipelines. Under his leadership, Alleyoop.io has pioneered a two-step model that separates prospecting from closing—backed by 11 million cold calls a year and a focus on authenticity in outreach. In this episode, Gabe shares the systems, stories, and strategies that have fueled Alleyoop.io’s rapid growth and its role in scaling billion-dollar brands. Key Takeaways: → The two-step approach that separates prospecting from closing. → How Alleyoop.io serves both startups and global enterprises. → The “hot lead vs. warm lead” model—and why timing matters. → What really causes sales teams to stall (hint: it’s not always leads). → Why most “lead gen companies” aren’t actually prospecting. Gabe Lullo’s expertise in sales, marketing, recruiting, and management began when he started his own business after graduation from the Barney School of Business at the University of Hartford. He owned and operated his own sales, training, and marketing firm for more than a decade. He excelled in training sales and marketing professionals, and additionally, Gabe has had a successful career in executive recruiting. He has been instrumental in expanding the company’s search and placement for IT, Software Development, Sales, Customer Success, Marketing, and Executive leaders. Gabe's most recent success has been with us here at Alleyoop. For many years he has been working to build and grow the company by focusing on our culture, environment, customer success, and sales. Connect With Gabe Lullo: Website: https://alleyoop.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alleyoop-io/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    19 分
  • Episode 1218: Think and Grow Rich: The $5 Million Secret with John Mitchell
    2025/11/28
    What if just 12 minutes a day could completely rewire your subconscious and transform your success? In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews John Mitchell, Entrepreneur and Professor at the University of Texas, who turned a lifetime of “average” results into extraordinary success by unlocking what Napoleon Hill left unsaid. Through his 12-minute-a-day method, John multiplied his income 25x, attracted his dream relationship, and now teaches his framework at the University of Texas and to top coaches and entrepreneurs. In this episode, he shares the full secret, the science behind it, and why only the most driven 2% are willing to apply it. Key Takeaways: → How rereading Think and Grow Rich 20 times revealed the missing half of the secret. → The role of the subconscious in controlling 95% of daily actions. → Why most people falsely believe they consciously control their choices. → The full secret: envisioning in detail with emotion every day. → The three stages of transformation: control, confidence, and automatic right actions. At 50, John Mitchell realized he wasn’t as successful as he had hoped, prompting him to turn to Think & Grow Rich, the world’s most renowned success book, read by over 150 million people. While the book reveals a secret to success, John uncovered the full secret and developed a groundbreaking 12-minute daily technique to apply it. As a result, his income skyrocketed 25x, surpassing the $200K he had earned annually for the previous 20 years. John's methodology, rooted in neuroscience and powered by an AI-driven algorithm, personalizes the success formula for each individual. He teaches this system at the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business and serves as the mental coach for UT’s 18 head athletic coaches. John shares his powerful system in his book, The Missing Secret of the Legendary Book Think & Grow Rich, offering insights on working smarter, not harder, and rewiring the autopilot that governs 95% of our thoughts and actions. Connect With John: Website: https://thinkitbeit.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkitbeitcompany/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/think-it-be-it-llc/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    22 分
  • Episode 1217: Scaling Service Businesses from Zero to Seven Figures with Teddy Slack Jr.
    2025/11/26
    What does it really take to scale a home services business from a shoestring budget to seven figures and then do it five times over? In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Teddy Slack Jr., Founder of BizScore.ai, who has built and scaled five different service-based businesses from scratch to seven figures. He’s a serial entrepreneur who transformed an $8,000 startup into a company generating 43% EBITDA—before selling it at a five-times multiple. In this episode, Teddy shares his journey, his lessons on marketing, pricing, and leadership, and why he’s now documenting his newest venture in real time for contractors everywhere. Key Takeaways: → Why flat-rate pricing revolutionized his industry and boosted closing rates. → The importance of tracking marketing ROI instead of “throwing spaghetti at the wall. → Why getting out of day-to-day operations is the key to scale and freedom. → The mindset shift every contractor must make to turn a job into a business. → The challenges and opportunities of entering a brand-new industry from scratch. Teddy Slack Jr. helps blue-collar business owners turn chaos into clarity and profit. Over the last 20 years, he has successfully built five service-based businesses from scratch to seven figures, all within their first 12 months. Most recently, he scaled and exited his home service business for a 5x multiple, growing it to $1.6 million in annual profit with zero owner involvement. Today, Teddy partners with select owner-operators as a strategic growth operator, bringing the systems, financial discipline, marketing power, and leadership infrastructure necessary to scale businesses without burnout or guesswork. Unlike traditional coaching, Teddy works hands-on in the trenches with business owners to turn their operations into streamlined, profitable machines that can run and eventually sell without them. Teddy is also the creator of BizScore, an AI-powered financial health tool that helps service businesses assess their financial situation and take action to plug profit leaks and grow with confidence. Connect With Teddy: Website: https://www.bizscore.ai/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@teddyslack LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddyslack/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    17 分
  • Episode 1216: Mindfulness in a Can: The Moment Story with Aisha Chottani
    2025/11/24
    Discover how a simple daily ritual can transform your energy, focus, and overall well-being. In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Aisha Chottani, Founder and CEO of Moment, a mood-boosting botanical beverage brand, who shares her journey from high-pressure management consulting to creating a product that supports mind-body health. With a focus on functional ingredients, mindfulness, and ritual-building, Aisha has grown Moment into a movement with thousands of daily users across the country. In this episode, she reveals how thoughtful design, intentional habits, and innovative wellness solutions can help anyone reset, recharge, and thrive. Key Takeaways: → How Moment transforms a beverage into a full mind-body experience. → Why meditation and functional ingredients became central to her brand. → The role of ritual and routine in managing stress and energy. → How packaging and design influence consumer wellness experiences. → Insights on creating a brand that changes culture, not just habits. Aisha Chottani is the founder and CEO of Moment, a pioneering brand at the intersection of wellness, adaptogens, and mindful living. A true global citizen, she grew up in Saudi Arabia and has lived across Pakistan, South Africa, Denmark, and the U.S., gaining a deep appreciation for diverse cultures and holistic traditions. Grounded in South Asian wellness principles, Aisha’s lifelong curiosity about natural ingredients like Tulsi, Turmeric, and Chaga fuels her mission to enhance mind-body health through nature. A graduate of Harvard Business School, where she studied leadership and entrepreneurship, Aisha launched multiple ventures and collaborated with international brands before joining McKinsey & Company, where she led global consumer projects. Today, she’s recognized as a keynote speaker across e-commerce, food, and adaptogen conferences. Outside of business, Aisha is an avid swimmer, boxing enthusiast, and proud New Yorker who lives life with balance and purpose. Connect With Aisha: Website: https://drinkmoment.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinkmoment/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drinkmoment X: https://x.com/drinkmoment Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drinkyourmeditation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    15 分
  • Episode 1215: Real Magic for Entrepreneurs with Anders Hansen
    2025/11/21
    What if the biggest thing holding you back in business isn’t the market, your offer, or your skills, it’s the illusion you’re living in?. In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Anders Hansen, internationally recognized Illusionist, speaker, and 7-figure CEO of Real Magic LLC, who shares how he went from being a broke burnout with failing health and debt to building a multimillion-dollar business that’s helped over 10,000 people. Anders explains the five core “illusions” that keep entrepreneurs stuck (like hustle, fear, and limitation), and how to dissolve them so you can create quantum leaps in income, freedom, and identity. He also talks about continuing Bob Proctor’s legacy, building transformation-driven live experiences, and why your job is not to “figure out how,” but to align with who you’re becoming. Key Takeaways: → How you can rebuild your entire life and business by changing your mindset. → How entrepreneurs can “rewire reality” through Real Magic Live and ongoing programs rooted in mindset, identity, and universal laws. → Why most entrepreneurs are trapped in mental illusions they mistake for reality. → What the five dominant illusions are and how most people are stuck in at least one. → Success doesn't come from working harder, but from alignment and belief. Anders Hansen is an internationally recognized Illusionist, speaker, and 7-figure CEO of Real Magic LLC —an immersive personal development experience that blends transformational coaching with the art of illusion in the award-winning Real Magic LIVE experience. With over 20 years of study in quantum physics, spirituality, and mindset, Anders has worked alongside some of the greatest thought leaders of our time, including his close friend and mentor, the legendary Bob Proctor. That relationship was sparked in 2016—an event Anders considers a real-world example of intentional manifestation. Through his groundbreaking programs and Real Magic LIVE events, Anders has helped over 10,000 people, incl. countless entrepreneurs and leaders break through mental limitations, expand their vision, and create extraordinary results. His unique approach fuses powerful mindset training with live illusions that make abstract concepts tangible and unforgettable. Anders’ mission is to awaken individuals to their true potential by helping them lead and live happier, healthier and wealthier lives. With a global community and a rapidly growing brand, he continues to lead a movement that proves transformation doesn’t have to be dry—it can be real, engaging, and even magical. Connect With Anders: Website: https://www.andershansen.com/en/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.anders.hansen/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAndersHansen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theandershansen/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    21 分