The Entrepreneur’s Studio

S3 Bonus | Discussion | Building High-Performance Teams P1

What if the greatest resource in your businesses isn’t a strategy, technology, or particular skillset—but the health within your teams and cultural dynamics?  
In this 2-part roundtable, we are exploring the value systems of building high performance teams. Building on the foundation of our previous roundtable on transformational leadership, we’ll be discussing what it takes to implement transformational leadership on an organizational level, in our businesses and in our teams. 
Joining host and Global Payments HOM, Chris Allen are three seasoned leaders whose diverse perspectives bring a wealth of experience and insight: Vince Lombardo, a multi-dimensional leader and fortune 500 executive as the President of Heartland. Celine Williams, Founder and Chief Strategist at reVisionary, a boutique consulting firm providing executive coaching, leadership development, and culture services to human-focused businesses around the world and Josh Linkner, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Mudita Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. 
Key Points:
The courage it takes to change 
Lived vs. aspirational values
Understanding the difference between healthy and unhealthy tension
 
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about our guests:
VinceCeline 
Josh  
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers.

S3 Bonus | Shop Small | The Story Behind Small Business Saturday

Shop Small is a year-round effort that encourages people to support local businesses and communities, with a special focus on Small Business Saturday. Founded by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday has become a nationwide celebration of small businesses. In 2023 alone, U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday spent an estimated $17 billion.
In today’s episode, Erin Sweatman of American Express joins us in the studio to share the incredible story of how Shop Small evolved from a single idea into the expansive movement it is today. We’ll also explore how social media plays a crucial role in connecting small businesses with the next generation of shoppers. Based on a study from American Express, 73% of Gen Z say they are more likely to shop with a small business when they see them on social media. Tune in to learn practical ways you can get involved by shopping small and how to participate with Small Business Saturday on November 30th, 2024.
Key Points:
How we can support small businesses 
Connecting communities and customers
How to get involved with Shop Small 
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about Shop Small 
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers. 
Disclosures:
[3:05] The total reported projected spending of U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday in 2023 reached an estimated $17 billion.
[10:10] Based on a study from American Express, 73% of Gen Z said that they are more likely to shop with a small business when they see them on social media.

S3 E20 | Marcus Lemonis | People, Process and Product

In a world where business leaders are lauded for being cutthroat, Marcus Lemonis does it all with heart and compassion for the “people, process, and product” he aspires to elevate. Marcus Lemonis is a Lebanese-born American businessman, philanthropist and television personality best known for hosting The Profit on CNBC. He has helped numerous companies find success while also expanding his personal brand as a business expert and advocate for entrepreneurs. 
In this episode, Marcus shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey and mission to help small businesses thrive. We explore the highs and lows of his career, and how his emphasis on building strong relationships has shaped his business philosophy.
Key points:
Reshaping how business is done 
Betting on yourself, taking chances on people 
How recognition and admission of mistakes lead to success
Resources/Links: 
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers.

S3 E19 | The Inner Work of Transformational Leadership

We often think of leadership in terms of externals such as ethical behavior, good communication skills and sound decision making. But true leadership begins from the inside out. Leaders must first recognize and deal with the uglier parts of themselves — emotional blind spots, ego and insecurities. This requires a significant commitment to doing the inner work of transformation. 
In this episode of The Entrepreneur's Studio, we are tackling this subject with three remarkable guests: Ryan Estis, a sales and leadership expert who champions human-centered growth for sustainable success; Stephanie Spencer, an Enneagram coach known for guiding individuals and teams through life's toughest challenges; and Dr. Olivia Audrey, a board-certified naturopathic doctor, whose holistic approach to leadership and healing has transformed the lives of CEOs, Fortune 500 executives and global leaders. 
Each of our guests, along with The Entrepreneur’s Studio host, Chris Allen, share a candid conversation geared to help leaders develop practices that not only modify outward behaviors but foster transformation from the inside out.  
Key Points:
Developing Self-Awareness
Trauma’s impact on how we lead
Best practices for transformational leadership
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about our guests.
Ryan Estis
Dr. Olivia Audrey
Stephanie Spencer 
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers. 

S3 E18 | Stephanie Spencer | Team Development and the Enneagram

Stephanie J. Spencer is a personal and leadership development coach who utilizes the Enneagram to help clients find new ways forward. She has spent years coaching individuals and teams from around the country, including major universities, local churches, Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and more. 
In this episode, Stephanie shares why understanding our core motivations and ways of operating are vital to the success of our businesses and team relationships. 
 
Key Points:
Why knowing the way we work can help us improve our work
How to Leverage our team’s unique contributions to reach common goals 
How the Enneagram helps us resolve conflict
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about Stephanie J. Spencer
Download the free PDF resource mentioned in this episode
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers.

S3 E17 | Ryan Estis | Human-Centered Leadership

Ryan Estis is a sales and leadership expert at the forefront of the human-centered growth movement. He has spent his career in the trenches building high-performing teams and a client roster of category-leading brands. As a strategic advisor and former Fortune 500 CRO, he understands that the key to meaningful results lies in elevating people to their highest potential.
In this episode, Ryan shares how individuals and organizations can leverage change as a catalyst for growth and maximize their impact by embracing a human-centered approach to sales, leadership and life.
Key Points:
3 principles of human-centered leadership
How our darkest moments can become our defining moments 
Why the best leaders build other leaders
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about Ryan Estis
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers. 

S3 E16 | Mignon Francois | Made From Scratch

The path of the entrepreneur requires taking calculated risks, developing resilience and an unwavering commitment to strong personal values.
Today’s episode features a business owner whose Made From Scratch entrepreneurship embodies each of these qualities along with a deep-rooted faith that led her from investing her last five dollars — to creating a multi-city cupcake empire known as The Cupcake Collection.
Mignon Francois is known for developing an iconic cupcake flavor that drew long lines of people to her historic Germantown neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee. The success of her business ignited a new movement to the area for other businesses to move in and take root as well. Mignon’s business savvy earned her the titles of “Woman of Legend and Merit” by Tennessee State University, “Family Business of the Year” by Black Enterprise Magazine and “Emerging Business Leader of the Year.”
Tune in to hear Mignon’s amazing story of courage and resilience and how maintaining the right perspective turns scarcity into opportunities for learning. 
Key Points:
Financial principles for long term success 
How perspective changes the outcome of the experience
The essential ingredients for making a great leader
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about Mignon Francois and The Cupcake Collection 
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers. 

S3 E15 | Josh Linkner | Frameworks For Entrepreneurial Success

Many people think of innovation as taking large, high-risk leaps with no certainty of the outcome. 
But what if our big, breakthrough moments were the result of cultivating daily micro-innovations? 
Accomplished jazz guitarist and managing partner of Mudita Venture Partners, Josh Linkner believes it’s possible. 
Josh Linkner is a creative troublemaker. He passionately believes that all human beings have incredible creative capacity, and he’s on a mission to unlock inventive thinking and problem solving to help leaders, individuals and communities soar.
Josh has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million and is the author of four books including the New York Times Best Sellers, Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention. He has invested in and/or mentored over 100 startups and is the founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners.
In this episode, Josh shares the fascinating connection between jazz and entrepreneurship and how implementing his simple frameworks can help businesses win at the highest levels. 
Key Points:
Jazz as the perfect metaphor for business
Frameworks for problem solving
Mindsets and habits for creating a culture of “micro-innovations” 
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about Josh Linkner
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The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers. 

S3 E14 | John Mark McMillan | The Art of Meaningful Connections

John Mark McMillan is a Platinum-selling singer-songwriter whose career in music spans across two decades. He has worked as an independent artist under his own Lionhawk records with three albums in the Top 200 U.S. charts and four albums in The Top 10 Christian charts. His voice has been featured in film and television, including the trailer for “Terminator: Dark Fate” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” 
Alongside creating heartfelt lyrics and genre-bending compositions, John Mark is a savvy entrepreneur whose business acumen transcends the music industry and offers applicable insights to business owners and brands alike.
In this episode, John Mark drills down to the foundation of what differentiates flourishing businesses from those who don’t succeed: Making meaningful connections.
Key Points:
Operating from your ‘why’ as the driving force in business 
Growing your social media presence
Addressing the loneliness of entrepreneurship 
Resources/Links: 
Learn More about John Mark McMillan
Read The Episode Transcript 
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Credits: 
The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers. 

S3 E13 | Cynt Marshall | Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion

When Cynt Marshall was hired as the new CEO of the Dallas Mavericks in March 2018, she set her sights on cultural transformation. She envisioned the Mavericks becoming the NBA standard for inclusion and diversity. Her values-based leadership style brought a new level of transparency and evolved the company culture within her first 100 days.
In this episode, recorded live at Heartland’s Diamond conference, Cynt shares her story of overcoming incredible adversity, from childhood trauma to fighting cancer to becoming the first female CEO in the NBA. 
Tune in to hear an inspiring story encouraging you to tackle challenges head-on, embrace diversity and cultivate the resiliency needed to achieve your dreams. 
Key Points:
Foundations of strong leadership 
Facing challenges with integrity
Handling criticism with resilience 
Resources/Links: 
Read The Episode Transcript 
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Credits: 
The Entrepreneur’s Studio is powered by Heartland Payment Systems. Providing nearly 1 million entrepreneurs with the technology to make money, move money, manage employees and engage customers.