Episode 100 of the Simply Business podcast marks a major milestone and a moment to pause, reflect, and simplify.

In this solo episode, host and business coach John Jennings looks back on the journey of recording nearly 100 conversations with business owners. Along the way, he’s collected countless lessons about leadership, resilience, and what it really takes to build a business.

To celebrate the milestone, John shares one of his favorite coaching tools: Stop, Start, Continue, a simple framework he uses with clients to evaluate progress and identify what needs to change moving forward.

In this episode, John applies the framework to the podcast itself and invites listeners to use it in their own businesses.

The result is a powerful reminder that business success doesn’t come from perfection it comes from clarity, consistency, and learning from experience.

If you’re a business owner, leader, or entrepreneur looking for a simple way to reflect, refocus, and grow, this episode will give you a practical tool you can use immediately.

Listen in and consider:

What should you stop, start, and continue in your business?

What happens when you finally act on the idea you’ve carried for years?

In the 99th episode of Simply Business, John Jennings sits down with Derek Shelton, Owner and Provider at Optimize You in Evansville (now Newburgh), Indiana. With over 20 years of experience as a nurse practitioner and leadership experience as a Chief Operating Officer in orthopedics, Derek shares how COVID accelerated innovation — and pushed him to pursue his long-standing vision of opening a health and wellness center serving both men and women.

They discuss:

• Why men’s health is often overlooked in traditional medicine
• The realities of launching in healthcare from pharmacy contracts to compliance
• The difference between building from scratch vs. leveraging a franchise model
• Why belief in your product is non-negotiable
• The power of finally acting on the idea you’ve carried for years

Derek’s message is simple: Don’t hesitate.

If you’ve been sitting on an idea, this conversation may be the push you need.

Subscribe, share, and join us for more real conversations about business, leadership, and making meaningful impact.

In the 98th episode of Simply Business, we sit down with Scott Noonan , President at Spear AI Analytics, for a powerful conversation about ownership, resilience, and the leadership advantage hidden inside your personal story.

Too often, leaders carry silent narratives past setbacks, failures, missed opportunities that quietly shape their decisions. But what if those same experiences are the foundation of your authority?

In this episode, we explore:

Why owning your story changes how you lead

How adversity can become your competitive advantage

The discipline of self-awareness in business

Moving from blame to responsibility

Leading authentically in uncertain times

This conversation is raw, practical, and deeply relevant for anyone building a business or leading a team.

If you’re ready to stop being shaped by your past and start using it as fuel this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now, subscribe, and share with a leader who needs to hear this.

In the 97th episode of Simply Business, we explore what it really takes to lead effectively in complex environments without becoming overwhelmed or overcomplicating the journey.

Our guest shares practical insights on how clarity, personal responsibility, and disciplined thinking drive sustainable growth in business and leadership. Instead of chasing complexity, we dive into the power of simplifying decisions, focusing on what truly matters, and building consistent habits that compound over time.

Key themes include:

Why simplicity is a competitive advantage

How leaders create clarity that drives performance

The role of ownership in personal and business growth

Why consistency outperforms intensity

How identity shapes leadership impact

If you're building a business, leading a team, or striving to become a more grounded and effective leader, this conversation will challenge and inspire you.

🎧 Listen now and discover how simplifying your leadership can amplify your results.

Don’t forget to subscribe and share this episode with someone who values clarity over chaos.

In the 96th episode of Simply Business, host John Jennings sits down with Neil Young, President of Two Ladders, to explore what it really means to build a business that lasts.

Eleven years in, Two Ladders still feels like a startup and that’s no accident. Neil shares how the company evolved from a traditional marketing agency into a business focused on uncovering the operational truths that marketing spend often reveals.

This conversation dives into the dangers of chasing growth without fixing internal processes, the power of simplicity in leadership, and why understanding your starting point is critical to making smart decisions as you scale.

If you’re a business owner or leader trying to grow without losing focus, this episode delivers practical insight and grounded wisdom.

👉 Listen in, subscribe, and join the conversation.

In the 95th episode of Simply Business, host John Jennings sits down with Dan Ratterman, Co-Founder and CEO of Shady Rays, to unpack how a simple idea turned into a powerful brand.

Dan shares the founding story behind Shady Rays identifying a gap in the market where sunglasses were either overpriced or disposable, and choosing to build something better by focusing on real customer behavior.

This conversation explores what it means to build a business that listens first, keeps things simple, and grows through trust rather than noise. Dan’s insights are a reminder that strong businesses aren’t built by chasing trends they’re built by solving everyday problems well.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, leader, or business owner, this episode will challenge you to rethink how simplicity, empathy, and consistency can become your greatest competitive advantages.

🎧 Tune in, subscribe, and discover how doing less better can drive more impact.

In the 94th episode of Simply Business, host John Jennings sits down with Eric Lowe, Co-Founder and CEO of Aptiva Health, to explore how one company is redesigning healthcare around people not systems.

Eric shares the story of how Aptiva grew from a single practice in Lexington, Kentucky, into a multi-location, multi-specialty healthcare group. Their model brings orthopedic, MSK, concussion care, rehab, and mental wellness under one roof, so patients don’t have to wait months or bounce between four different specialists to get real help.

You’ll hear how Eric’s background in revenue cycle management and contracts shaped his view of what’s broken in healthcare and how that led to a radically more convenient, transparent experience for patients. From integrated mental health for concussion patients to up-front pricing and the upcoming Aptiva Health Learning Hub, Eric explains how they’re trying to remove friction at every step of the patient journey.

The conversation also dives into leadership and life outside the clinic. Eric talks about coaching youth football, using AI and automation as a force multiplier for his team, and why he sees work as part of a single, purpose-driven life not something separate from it. He also previews his upcoming book, Be the Broker, and unpacks the idea of “relational currency” as a key to long-term success.

If you’re a healthcare leader, entrepreneur, or anyone interested in building businesses that actually serve people better, this episode is for you.

Listen in to learn:

How Aptiva Health is rethinking the entire patient journey

Why integrating mental health into injury care changes outcomes

Where AI and automation can truly help (without replacing humans)

How to think about work, purpose, and life as one integrated whole

Why “relational currency” might be the most important asset you build

Tune in, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who cares about fixing healthcare or building a business that genuinely puts people first.

What if powering an intelligent building was as simple as running speaker wire?

In the 93rd episode of Simply Business, host John Jennings sits down with Matt Laherty of Cinch IoT, a company building a two-wire, low-voltage intelligent building platform that powers and connects lighting, sensors, air quality monitoring, people counting, and more — all over a simple, safe cable.

Matt shares his unconventional path from a history degree and tech recruiting, to Cisco, where he worked on service provider routing and became one of the early leaders behind Power over Ethernet and Cisco’s digital ceiling initiatives. That journey ultimately led him to ask a big question: If all these networks end up in buildings, why are we still using complicated, high-voltage infrastructure to power them?

Together, John and Matt dig into:

How Cinch IoT uses a low-voltage, two-wire platform to dramatically simplify smart building design and installation.

Why simplicity, safety, and lower total cost beat “cool but complicated” when it comes to real-world adoption.

The realities of building and scaling hardware: designing boards, managing supply chains, and preparing for big orders.

Go-to-market lessons for selling disruptive tech into a traditional electrical and construction ecosystem.

New applications like continuous thermal monitoring in data centers, and why overheating and power cycling are such big risks.