The Unshackled Owner

In the crazy world that we’re thrust into, it can be difficult to even think about success when almost everyone just wants to get by. Joining Aaron Young in this episode is eCommerce veteran Jim McCarthy, who will share the things he has learned in adapting to an industry that’s been incredibly hit hard—live events and live entertainment. He talks about the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and how much...

When you are working with your natural genius, you’re working smarter and not harder. You build a business that works harder for you than you have to work for it. However, not everyone is aware of what their true potentials are. Fortunately, through this episode’s guest, the answer may not be far off. Aaron Young interviews Amilya Antonetti, the woman behind Genius Key—a science-based tool that gives an honest and actionable evalua...

We can impact the world in each of our own little ways, but there is no denying the fact that you can do a lot more with more value. Steve Little believes that the best way for your business to make an impact on the world is to generate value, accelerate growth, and use it to invest in things that you care for. Steve is an acclaimed serial entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, mergers and acquisitions expert, and the CEO of Zero ...

One thing Aaron Scott Young is passionate about apart from coaching business owners is the cowboy culture. In this episode, Aaron shares with us a fresh story of visiting Elko, Nevada for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering with his dad, Richard Young. He takes us into the world of spurs and jingle bobs and gives great nuggets of wisdom about delivering products and doing the work with great pride and joy. Allow Aaron to inspire y...

We can only do so much in our business. That is why many successful entrepreneurs know the importance of focusing only on what they are good at and having other people help with the rest. This episode’s guest, John Lee Dumas, the host of Entrepreneurs on Fire Podcast, is a powerful example of building a great business around his genius. Sharing his podcasting journey, he relates how he has been providing solutions to his audience’s...

What many often don’t see with entrepreneurship is how it takes a lot of work. Thinking that it is a mystical world full of unicorns and rainbows is why most people never get out of startup mode. In this episode, we have someone who has an unvarnished perspective of entrepreneurship. Sharon Lechter – entrepreneur, international speaker, best-selling author, mentor, philanthropist, licensed CPA, and a Chartered Global Management Acc...

As the famous adage goes, life is an adventure. This applies to everyone who aims at making their own trail towards success. Aaron shares his unexpected adventure with his wife while on a countryside drive in France. He talks about how they found Flavigny, the town where the movie Chocolat was shot. He shares interesting details about the town’s history, including how the people have been operating a candy factory and shop for year...

How do you build a business that works harder for you than you have to work for it? How do we build a business that can grow beyond you so that it gives you not only wealth and opportunities but also a tremendous amount of freedom? As an army kid, moving from one country to another and learning varied cultures and languages influenced Ken Rochon to become the entrepreneur that he is today. Ken is the co-founder of The Umbrella Synd...

Change is constant, but if we are to change, it must be for the better. We have to try a little harder to be better. Aaron is excited to share his new office, a relatively large conference room that has been turned into a studio where he’s invested in building the backdrops, the sets, and in getting sound equipment. Elevating your environment and having better guests will make your podcast even better and more valuable and have gre...

It is essential to keep moving on the path you’re on to be able to find, grow, and eventually succeed in this lifetime. Betsy Westhafer, the CEO and founder of The Congruity Group, shares her entrepreneurial journey as she keeps moving and trying to figure out the right place for her career. She has explored different things and started to feel a little pressure but was able to get her “lucky break” after meeting and getting her fi...

Proving that multiple career changes could take you to where you have to be, Michael Silvers, managing partner of The Vertical Group, shares his journey across different fields to arrive at the biggest pivot in his life. Going from clinical psychology, law enforcement, and the nursing profession, to personal development and network marketing, Michael has worked all for service. He takes us into these moments and how he said ye...

Success is more than being in the right place at the right time. The key to it is perseverance and resilience. Digital marketing speaker, consultant, and entrepreneur, Dave Conklin, surely had his ups and downs, twists and turns loses and wins on his way getting to where he is right now. From his problematic childhood, he lived up to his potentials, used his gifts and never gave up. He tells his story of how he has grown his busine...

It is reasonably common for one to find it such a struggle to juggle different things like career, parenting, and other responsibilities. That’s why it’s motivating to hear success stories of people who were able to manage things gracefully. Amber Vilhauer, CEO of NGNG Enterprise which stands for No Guts No Glory, holds an important role in her organization. She is also a mom to a two-year old toddler and a wife to a firefighter wh...

Peter Sage, owner and the director of Sage Academy, has got a great slant on how to become wildly successful, productive, engaged, and the leader that you want to be. He takes us on his personal journey from flea market to being in the Fortune 500. Growing up amidst contradictions, he has found the value of being able to have a huge amount of tolerance for understanding different things in the world. He defines leadership as being ...

Setting out the mission of the Unshackled Owner Podcast into motion, Aaron Young answers some questions from listeners – from business to personal – helping them figure out the things they need to know to become a successful business owner. He answers a question about how his faith worked with his business, putting forward how we must ultimately continue to be nice with one another and acknowledge a bigger force than us. He also gi...

Sharing his journey from swimming against the hard currents of life in Brazil to buying that American Dream, Marcos Jacober – teacher, speaker, and life hacker – shows how to be a truly unshackled owner, someone who goes out and do something out of the box. Just a year and a half after arriving in the United States, he has his own restaurant with thirteen employees, and Marcos talks about how it happened. He also touches on the pri...

We can’t keep on grinding for something that is not our cup of tea. Sometimes, what we really need is to pursue our passions and know your genius. Someone who has been through that journey is USO Alumni, Todd Thompson. He shares his own journey towards finding and applying his genius from when he was growing up and seeing his entrepreneurial disposition. Todd talks about the rules that he has adopted in his life that made it possib...

At nineteen years old, Jason Munson was making $10 an hour plus commission repairing hot tubs, pellet stoves, gas fireplaces, and the like. Ten years later, he was at the top of the industry as a repair technician and owned his own company. You could say he was a successful entrepreneur, but it’s not where he wanted to be. Following the crash of 2008, all that he had left to support his family was a little eBay business selling mot...

The world is full of so many opportunities. Yet, we constantly let them pass by. A person who knows how to grab opportunities by the reigns is David Buurma of LaSalleAgri Fertilizer. Unshackling farmers nationwide, he has taken an old-fashioned business and diversified it. He shows us how he built up this business, taking byproducts of farming and turning them into productive companies. He talks about the farm and the biofertilizer...