Inventive Journey | The Startup Rollercoaster 🎢

🚀 In this Inventive Journey episode, Richard Turcott walks us through his path from Liberal Arts major to seasoned marketer, dot-com operator, CMO, and now small-business consultant. Learn how clarity, fundamentals, and internal collaboration shaped his career—and why he now empowers small businesses through Collaborative Growth Partners.

🌟 Topics include marketing fundamentals, clarity of customer, startup experiences, big mistak...

🎙️ From broadcast dreams to corporate healthcare to a purpose-driven agency, Jaime Ellithorpe shares how mindset, marketing, and intentional systems built a reliable LinkedIn pipeline.
✨ Highlights: quitting without “the moment,” finishing one system, side-hustler strategies, and her Triple-M framework.
🔗 Guest: 540strategies.com • jaimeellithorpe.com
➡️ Be a guest: inventiveunicorn.com
🛠️ Patents & trademarks: s...

🎙️ Join Devin Miller on The Inventive Journey as he chats with Jeremy Ames, a former teacher-turned-real-estate-entrepreneur who discovered success through adaptability, mentorship, and self-awareness.

👨‍🏫 From Teaching to Entrepreneurship:Jeremy began his career path in education, but quickly realized the classroom wasn’t where his long-term passion lay. After navigating early uncertainty, he transitioned into the restaurant...

🚀 Meet Dianne D. Campbell, a powerhouse who transitioned from decades in corporate tech sales with Fortune 50 companies to founding her own business,Your Productivity Pros.

🎓 Her JourneyDianne’s career began at Long Beach State University, where she earned her degree in business and marketing. After discovering her passion for connecting people and solutions, she pursued a career in sales — eventually becoming a key player during ...

In this episode of The Inventive Journey, host Devin Miller talks withDarrin Wurz, a former high school science teacher who transitioned into the world of finance and became a trusted advisor to law firm owners.

Darrin shares how his early passion for education and curiosity led him from teaching ninth-grade biology in Cincinnati, Ohio, to building a successful financial advisory business that serves attorneys nationwide. After year...

Avy Schondorf’s inventive journey is one of adaptability, insight, and purpose. From social services and nonprofit fundraising in Israel to founding a U.S.-based virtual assistant agency, Avy’s story illustrates how resilience and systems thinking can turn disruption into innovation. After relocating from Israel to the U.S. just before COVID-19, Avy transformed uncertainty into opportunity by identifying a powerful niche: supportin...

Annie Davis’ career began far from boardrooms and tech startups — it started at IKEA and McDonald’s. In this episode of The Inventive Journey, host Devon Miller sits down with Annie to explore how her bold move from Reno to Utah on a whim evolved into a thriving entrepreneurial career.

Annie shares how she learned to lead teams across borders, embrace remote collaboration long before it was mainstream, and grow from project manager ...

My single, non-negotiable rule is simple: listen more than you speak. Equally important for anyone entering business is to understand that government is typically not an ally. Speaking from years of experience buying and selling a wide range of businesses — car washes, gas stations, convenience stores, development and operating companies, trucking firms, woodworking shops, and more — I’ve found government involvement often creates ...

I’ve learned that businesses rise and fall with people, not spreadsheets. When I started with a couple of partners, those relationships proved invaluable—mentorships, the right connections, the right centers of influence. You can’t figure it all out on your own. There’s a saying: nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. That applies to both your internal team and external partners. If you want to build some...

Forget about having a traditional work-life balance. I’ve heard this echoed by many other startups and small business owners, and even a few well-known entrepreneurs. Personally, I set boundaries on only a handful of things—like my birthday and Christmas—but beyond that, most of my “social life” happens at conferences or networking events. I often work weekends, and it’s not unusual for me to be up working until 3 a.m. The night-ow...

A key rule of thumb is to test as much as possible before officially launching. Market research can be tricky—asking people “Would you come if I opened an Italian restaurant here?” doesn’t always give reliable answers. But for certain types of businesses, especially low-cost ones like cleaning services, you can start small and validate demand right away. Go out, find a few clients, and talk directly to potential customers. Many bus...

If you’re starting a business for the first time, one of the most important steps is to carefully decide what kind of product or service you want to offer. Take the time to really think it through and brainstorm your ideas thoroughly.Many people see an opportunity and jump in right away without proper preparation. They often don’t fully understand why they are selling a particular product or offering a certain service. This lack of...

If you're just starting a startup or small business, the most important thing—based on my experience and those I've worked with—is to focus entirely on your product or service. Whether you're offering a service, selling a physical item, or building a SaaS platform, make sure it's something people genuinely want. Then, identify exactly who those people are. Spend 99% of your time refining your product or service and understanding yo...

My biggest advice to anyone starting out is to avoid setting expectations for how long it will take to experiment and find your footing. Unless you're following a franchise model, no one has done exactly what you're trying to do—so there’s no set timeline. And since time is money, the more you can explore, test, and learn while working another job or having some financial support, the better. Giving yourself that buffer wil...

Don't start coding, hiring, or building anything until you've sold the idea. Your first job is to talk to potential customers, deeply understand their problems, and validate that a real solution is needed. This is a lesson I’ve learned over multiple ventures—this being my third. In fact, we didn’t write a single line of code until we had a signed contract in hand. That shift has fundamentally changed our company culture: we...

One of my mentors shared something I always come back to — it comes down to three key things. First, self-motivation. You’ve got to have that inner drive to go after what you truly want. Second, prioritization. You need to know what matters most and what can wait. And third, mentorship. Find someone you trust, someone who can guide you. And along the way, don’t forget to trust yourself too — if something feels off, listen to that i...

The rule of thumb I followed—and one I still believe in—is that it's perfectly fine to change direction, to explore different paths, or even juggle multiple interests at once. If you don’t have everything figured out from the start, that’s completely okay. What matters most is getting out there and gaining real experiences. Don’t fear trying, and don’t fear failing. Every attempt, every bit of exposure, teaches you something new—an...