Nicole Parker runs Lifeline Global Consulting in Detroit, helping entrepreneurs, especially women and economically disadvantaged founders. She's known online as the Business Doctor.

She spent years homeless, went through three divorces, and once had to rebuild a business from nothing during the pandemic.

Entrepreneurship found her at 26, and she calls it an invitation into another life. One night, alone on her bathroom floor, she surrendered everything she thought she had to control. That surrender became the foundation for how she coaches, builds teams, and defines success today, not as a destination, but as the process itself.

What we covered:

→ Why she believes poverty is an illness, and healing starts in the mind

→ The night on her bathroom floor she calls her surrender

→ Why success is the process, not the outcome

→ How she builds boundaries using a simple framework

→ What's actually happening in Detroit's economy right now

Real success was never the end result. It was every hard, unglamorous step that got her there, and she'll tell you that without blinking.

Thank you Nicole for making the time and for being this honest about a road most people would rather not talk about. Glad to have you in this podcast!

*Chapters*

00:00 Intro

01:38 Why Are You on This Planet? Nicole's Origin Story

03:03 Foster Care, Pregnant at 14, and Facing Life Alone

06:36 The Door That Opened at 26: Entering Entrepreneurship

13:27 Surrender: Wrestling With God on the Bathroom Floor

22:09 Thinking With Your Heart, Not Your Brain

26:26 Lifeline Global Consulting: Healing the Mindset of Poverty

39:34 The Spirit of Detroit Right Now

45:38 Success Is the Process: The Frying Chicken Story

1:03:43 Boundaries, GWC, and Letting the Right People Show Up

*Connect with Nicole*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnicolesparker/

https://www.instagram.com/drnicoleparker/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/lifeline-global-consulting/

https://www.instagram.com/lifelineglobalconsulting/

https://www.facebook.com/LifeLineglobalconsulting/

~~~

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolutionhttps://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

*Prefer to listen?

*Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo

Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com

Brian Katz grew up in Detroit, graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA, and told a job interviewer at 23 that he wanted to be a movie producer.

He didn't get the job.

What followed was two decades of winding roads - AmeriCorps, tech sales, a failed business partnership, a move to LA that didn't work out, and a film deal in New Mexico that nearly came apart at the seams and cost a trusted friend $700,000.

Today he's produced and financed up to 20 films, built sales channels for tech companies, and runs Umbrelic - his film development and finance company out of Detroit.

We covered:

→ How films are financed

→ The difference between selling, networking, and connecting.. and why most people get all three wrong

→ What a $700,000 film deal gone sideways taught him about fiduciary responsibility

→ Staying centered under pressure

Brian never stopped asking why… Why does this deal work? Why do people buy? Why do some relationships last and others fall apart?

Thank you Brian for making the time to sit down with me and share all of this so openly!

*Chapters*

0:00 - Introduction

1:00 - Brian's Story: 1.8 GPA to Film Sets

7:00 - AmeriCorps, Asia, and Finding His Way Back

13:00 - How Film Finance Actually Works

18:00 - When a Deal Falls Apart and You Own It

23:00 - The Biggest Lesson: Keep Your Structure

25:00 - How Brian Stays Centered and Present

28:00 - Selling, Networking, and Connecting

33:00 - Uncovering Alignment - The Right Way to Sell

43:00 - Legacy, Fatherhood, and the Best Version of Yourself

53:00 - Final Thoughts: Let Things Flow

*Connect with Brian*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-katz-b5537620/

~~~

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution

https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

*Prefer to listen?*

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo

Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com

Terra Csotty walked into an awards ceremony still in a fog. Minutes earlier, her car had rolled three times on a Chicago expressway. Everyone lived. And standing on that stage, collecting an award she barely registered, she had one thought. I could have died and nobody knows who I am.

That moment didn't break her. It aimed her.

Terra owns four Real Producers publications across Michigan. She built all of it from scratch, starting from a stay at home mom with a Cutco knives background and a partner who didn't want to be on camera.

She's not running a magazine. She's running a community that happens to print one.

Things we tackled in this episode:

→ How Real Producers actually works and why realtors don't pay a dime

→ The difference between connecting people and selling to them

→ What it really takes to stay top of mind without overkill

→ Why she'll turn down a potential partner without burning the bridge

→ What success looks like when you stop tying it to a number

Terra's been doing this for eight years because she loves it. That's the whole story. And she told it straight.

Thanks, Terra! The rollover story alone was worth the whole conversation. Appreciate you bringing it.

*Chapters*

0:00 - Intro

1:00 - Who Is Terra the Connector

3:45 - How Real Producers Works

5:40 - From Stay at Home Mom to Four Publications

6:40 - What Covid Did to the Business

9:00 - Being Referable and Why It Matters

11:20 - You Can't Sell Something You Don't Believe In

15:00 - The Business Model Behind Real Producers

20:00 - The Book, the Speaking, and What's Coming Next

21:40 - Where the Drive Actually Comes From

23:05 - The Rollover and the Moment That Changed Everything

28:40 - Patience, Parenting, and Getting Your Priorities Straight

30:50 - How She Defines Success

*Connect with Terra*

linkedin.com/in/terra-csotty-60a2661

https://www.instagram.com/terratheconnector/

~~~

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution

https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

*Prefer to listen?*

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo

Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com

Jocelyn Ho didn't plan to start a business. She planned to keep her plants by the window.

She was a new immigrant. Covid hit. No jobs, no path forward, and a south-facing window full of rare tropical plants her husband kept complaining about. So she sold them. Made $1,000 in a weekend. Kept going.

What we covered:

How she went from accidental plant seller to running a full-scale rare plant operation

What EO Detroit gave her that no business book could

The "arrival fallacy" and why hitting the goal often leaves you emptier than you expected

Staying the visionary when the business starts to need process

Why she thinks right now is the best time in history to build something

This conversation reminded me that the best businesses start as something you'd do anyway. Jocelyn was just honest enough to follow that.

Jocelyn, thank you for being so open about the real stuff. The struggle, the doubt, and the joy you've found on the other side of it. That's the episode right there.

*Chapters*

00:00 Intro

01:00 Meet Jocelyn Ho and Rare Plant Fairy

02:07 How the company name came together

03:20 Why people buy plants and what they get back

06:03 Defining entrepreneur and visionary

07:36 Staying creative when the business needs process

10:13 What EO Detroit did for her as a founder

13:48 Who buys rare plants and how the business works

14:32 From Hong Kong to Detroit: her immigration story

17:27 The arrival fallacy and redefining success

21:32 Antifragility and what it means to build something real

25:16 Growth mindset, abundance, and optimism

27:26 Why she's on this planet and what legacy means to her

*Connect with Jocelyn*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-ho-rpf

https://www.instagram.com/jocelynho313/

https://www.facebook.com/rareplantfairy/

~~~

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution

https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

*Prefer to watch?*

https://youtu.be/En61dyIb7so

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com

Mark Winter has been in PR for 30 years.

He started Identity in 1998 with a one-year-old at home, no money in the bank, and his wife's 401k funding the whole thing.

The harder story came later. Mark told me he had built something real, 40 people, offices in Michigan and Tampa, a client list most agencies would envy. And he almost broke it by staying too deep inside it. Letting go of the day-to-day wasn't a decision. It was a three-year process that tested his ego, his trust, and his identity.

What came out on the other side was a man who finally knew what he was actually good at.

We covered in this episode:

→ How Mark's "give before you get" philosophy shaped Identity's entire culture from day one

→ What it took to step back from running his own company and why it nearly didn't work

→ Why vision boards aren't just a motivational tool but a system Marc has used for 15 years to build his life

→ How a single EO referral saved his agency during Covid, replacing over $1M in lost revenue in two weeks

→ What modern PR actually means, and why human relationships are still the strategy that no AI can replace

There's a moment in this conversation where Mark says he didn't even know what he was good at until his team told him to stop doing everything else. That part hit me... Most of us are so deep in the work that we never stop to ask what the work is actually for.

Mark, thank you for showing up with zero pretense and total honesty. You've built something worth celebrating. And watching you figure out what comes next is the best part of knowing you.

*Connect with Mark*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markawinter/

https://www.instagram.com/markwinter1998/

https://identitypr.com/

~~~

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution

https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

*Prefer to listen?*

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo

Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com

Dr. Mark Young has a PhD in psychology and neuroscience, holds a Guinness World Record in pro racing, runs a leading consumer packaged goods agency, and has built over 250 brands.

He's a lot of things. But what struck me most was how he got there.

Mark grew up in a blue collar town. His dad was a plumber. And if he had told anyone at 18 what his life would eventually look like, he said they'd have either laughed him off or assumed he was on something. He would have probably agreed with them.

The shift happened when he stopped asking "why me" and started asking "why not me."

That one question changed everything.

Here’s what we covered in this episode:

→ Why he replaced the word "control" with "influence" and how that changed his business and his racing

→ The moment he stopped blaming other people for his failures and what happened next

→ How modern medicine treats symptoms while functional medicine hunts for root causes

→ Why 80% of all consumer products still sell through brick and mortar, not Amazon

→ What AI is going to do to entry-level workers, and who benefits

Mark has this way of cutting through the noise that I don't come across that often. He's honest about what things cost, what they take, and what you have to be willing to let go of.

Thank you to Mark for sitting down with me and sharing all of it. The racing story alone was worth the whole conversation!

*Chapters*

0:00 - Introduction: Meet Dr. Mark Young

1:09 - Building a Universe That Fits Your Mind

2:01 - Free Days, Focus Days, and the Dan Sullivan Framework

2:17 - Pro Racing as a Second Career

3:04 - Racing as a Metaphor for Business and Life

6:01 - Replacing Control With Influence

8:31 - Flow State on the Track and in Work

12:07 - The 27 Unbreakable Rules: New Book Overview

16:41 - Firing Clients and Setting the Floor

19:51 - Endurance Racing vs. Playing to Win

21:38 - The Three Things Jekyll and Hyde Labs Does

23:02 - Health, Longevity, and Advocating for Yourself

33:18 - Functional Medicine vs. Treating Symptoms

36:14 - Hypnotherapy and How It Actually Works

41:49 - AI, Automation, and the Future of Work

51:57 - The "Why Not Me" Mindset That Changed Everything

59:27 - How to Connect With Dr. Mark Young

1:05:32 - Viva La Visionary: Celebrating the Crazy Ones

*Connect with Dr. Mark*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markyoungwci/

https://jandhlabs.com/

~~~

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution

https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

*Prefer to listen?*

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo

Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com

Bob Thomas has been at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce for nearly 30 years. Along the way, Bob had to figure out who he actually was as a leader.

He realized he was an Integrator. Good at execution, process, and holding things together. What he didn't expect was to find genuine visionary tendencies underneath all of that. Working inside a framework that gave him permission to think bigger changed the way he showed up, both in business and at home.

He built something big. But he had to learn how to let it go.

What we talked about in this episode:

→ What the Michigan Chamber actually does (and why most people have no idea)

→ The 3-3-1 morning practice that keeps Bob focused on what matters most

→ Why most leaders resist "letting go of the vine"

→ How visionary tendencies and integrator skills can live in the same person

→ Why AI is creating more room for humans to do what machines can't

The big takeaway: vision is something you practice and build a system around. And it starts with getting honest about what matters most to you, beyond the business.

Bob, thank you for being so open in this one. Thirty years in a mission is its own kind of vision. I'm grateful you shared it.

*Chapters*

0:00:00 - Welcome to Vivá La Visionary

0:00:22 - Visionary vs. Integrator: Where Bob Lands

0:01:44 - How EOS Unlocked Entrepreneurial Thinking Inside a Nonprofit

0:03:35 - What the Michigan Chamber of Commerce Actually Does

0:07:45 - Not Your Grandfather's Chamber

0:17:02 - What Vision Really Means for Leaders

0:20:26 - How Many Business Owners Are True Visionaries?

0:24:15 - The 3-3-1 Morning Practice

0:27:59 - Letting Go of the Vine

0:38:24 - Why Bob Has Stayed at the Chamber for 30 Years

0:42:05 - The Next Generation, AI, and the Case for Being Human

0:52:26 - Spirit, Surrender, and What Really Drives the Work

*Connect with Bob Thomas*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbob/

https://www.michamber.com/

~~~

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution

https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

*Prefer to listen?*

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo

Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com

Rich Homberg has spent nearly 50 years in broadcasting. He worked his way up through all-news radio in New York, Pittsburgh, and eventually Detroit.

Then he got fired.

He was 33, running sales for one of the top radio stations in the country, left to chase ownership, and two years later it was over. At 50, he walked away from a VP role at CBS Radio and took over Detroit PBS.

He hasn't looked back in 18 years.

Things we covered in this episode:

→ How getting fired at 33 led to a career he'd never leave

→ What it means to be a visionary who learns to leave the room

→ Why nonprofits need entrepreneurial leadership more than most companies

→ How Detroit PBS grew from 67,000 to 81,000 members while losing federal funding

→ What Rich tells his college students about integrity, plans, and treating people like people

Most of us spend years trying to prove we belong in the room. Rich spent the second half of his career figuring out which rooms he needed to walk out of. And that's what made him great at this.

Thank you, Rich! You brought a very tangible energy to the conversation; I greatly appreciate you!

*Chapters*

0:00 - Welcome & Introduction to Rich Homberg

2:10 - How Rich Got His Start at NBC

5:30 - All-News Radio and the Road to Detroit

8:45 - Why Rich Left CBS to Run Detroit PBS

12:00 - Getting Fired at 33 and What It Taught Him

17:30 - Hiring a Life Coach and the Enneagram Moment

22:00 - What It Means to Be a Visionary Leader

28:15 - Running EOS Inside a Nonprofit

34:00 - Detroit PBS's Five Pillars of Programming

41:20 - Growing Membership During a Funding Crisis

47:00 - Advice for Entrepreneurs and Visionaries

52:30 - Integrity, Plans, and Treating People Like People

57:45 - Final Words and Sign-Off

*Connect with Rich*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richhomberg/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/detroitpbs/

*Connect with Coach Bob*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt

https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution

https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution

https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob

~~~

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders!

Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact?

🌐 https://www.imatter.com