The Entrepreneur's Logbook: Lessons from Growing Businesses

Designing Systems, Not Managing People: Modern Leadership by Anne McGhee-Stinson at InteraWorks

In this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Logbook, Zachary speaks with Anne McGhee-Stinson, co-owner and managing partner of InteraWorks, a global leadership and performance firm dedicated to helping organizations strengthen alignment, build trust, and create a culture for performance.  Drawing on over 30 years of executive coaching experience with clients like Dell, Microsoft and Deloitte, Anne challenges the startup playbook’s overemphasis on spreadsheets and conventional tactics. Instead, she introduces listeners to the idea that an organization’s invisible energy, its collective intuition and relational dynamics, drives the results leaders really want.  Through a deep-dive discovery process, Anne shows how asking better questions uncovers hidden drivers of productivity and performance, steering teams away from “checklist” solutions toward the underlying behaviors and beliefs that make or break success. Anne and Zachary then unpack the neuroscience behind the fight-flight-freeze instinct and share simple, high-impact techniques, like “name it to tame it”, that help leaders gain mastery over emotional reactions and adopt new, adaptive habits.  They explore why leaders must shift from command-and-control to designing living systems that embrace complexity and uncertainty, and they discuss how AI can serve as a force multiplier and thinking partner rather than just another taskmaster. To make these ideas immediately actionable, Anne encourages listeners to expand their perspectives by seeking fresh input, to let go of the myth of predictability, and to lean into complexity as the new normal.  Timestamps 1. Focusing on organizational energy and intuition over just strategy – 01:50 2. Conducting deep discovery to uncover the real root causes of performance issues – 03:19 3. Recognizing and managing fight/flight/freeze instincts under pressure – 07:52 4. Applying neuroscience tools like “name it to tame it” for emotional regulation – 11:53 5. Shifting from industrial-age command-and-control to designing adaptive systems – 16:43 Connect with Anne https://www.interaworks.com/ [https://www.interaworks.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-mcghee-stinson-474a5a1a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-mcghee-stinson-474a5a1a/] Sponsored by We Feature You PR - Helping entrepreneurs build thought leadership through strategic podcast placements and launching their own shows. Ready to amplify your voice? Get in touch today. Subscribe & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

People First Fintech: Jimmy Moore on Payments, Payroll & HR at FLO Business Solutions

In this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Logbook, Zachary speaks with Jimmy Moore, co-founder and CEO of FLO Business Solutions. Jimmy shares the pivotal “would-do-differently” lessons learned while building FLO, namely, a bolder recruiting strategy and bringing on dedicated operations and rev-ops leadership much sooner.  He recounts how a people-first mindset, honed during his years as an Army veteran, championship coach and martial-arts competitor, underpins every decision at FLO, from sales incentives and client onboarding to the weekly leadership huddles that keep the team aligned and energized. They dive into FLO’s simple yet thorough client journey, discovery calls, tailored tech builds, menu or catalog setup, staff training, and ongoing white-glove support, and Jimmy unpacks the often-confusing world of cash discounting versus surcharging.  He explains the compliance pitfalls that have landed more than 160,000 U.S. businesses with steep fines, and highlights the importance of choosing the right pricing model (interchange-plus, cash discounting, or surcharge) and staying PCI-certified to avoid hidden fees. Wrapping up, Jimmy speaks to the power of “win or learn” competition, the strength of a flexible, multi-vendor approach and the impact of FLO Cares, the company’s private foundation supporting youth sports and community outreach.  Timestamps 1. Jimmy Moore’s Background & Founding of FLO Business Solutions – 00:46 2. Key Early Mistakes: Recruiting Strategy & Missing Rev-Ops Hire – 02:42 3. FLO’s Client Onboarding Process: Discovery to Ongoing Support – 06:41 4. Cash Discounting vs. Surcharge: Compliance Requirements & Fines – 12:10 5. Common SMB Mistakes in Payment Processing & Payroll Setup – 19:04 Connect with Jimmy https://flobizsolutions.com/ [https://flobizsolutions.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/moorejimmy/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/moorejimmy/] Sponsored by We Feature You PR - Helping entrepreneurs build thought leadership through strategic podcast placements and launching their own shows. Ready to amplify your voice? Get in touch today. Subscribe & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

Sustainable Local News Solutions with Jen Austin of Riply

In this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Logbook, Zachary speaks with Jen Austin, founder of Riply. With more than three decades of experience across every role in radio, from board operator and host to news anchor and executive, Jen has witnessed firsthand the steady erosion of local newsrooms even as community demand grows.  That observation led her to build Riply, an AI-assisted intelligence platform designed specifically for local radio stations. Riply combines advanced, automated story gathering with human editorial oversight, delivering broadcast-ready, hyper-local news content faster and more sustainably, without sacrificing journalistic quality or credibility.  Jen explains why AI won’t replace radio professionals but instead frees them to focus on connection, creativity, and truly local storytelling, helping stations close information gaps in news deserts, reclaim lost community trust, and deliver the timely coverage their listeners rely on. Timestamps 1. Guest Introduction & Riply Overview – 00:49 2. Riply Onboarding & Customization Process – 03:02 3. Ensuring Credibility: Human-in-the-Loop Oversight – 06:21 4. Addressing Local News Deserts with AI Reporting – 11:18 5. AI as an Augmenter, Not a Replacement, for Radio Pros – 17:22 Connect with Jen https://riplymedia.com/ [https://riplymedia.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinjen/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinjen/] Sponsored by We Feature You PR - Helping entrepreneurs build thought leadership through strategic podcast placements and launching their own shows. Ready to amplify your voice? Get in touch today. Subscribe & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

Why Proactive Tax Strategies Matter: Boris Musheyev of BORISMTAX Explains

In this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Logbook, Zachary speaks with Boris Musheyev, founder of BORISMTAX, a tax planning and advisory firm. Boris, a CPA and certified tax strategist whose firm has landed on the Inc. 5000 two years running, has helped over 40,000 business owners stop overpaying the IRS through proactive tax strategy.  He shares his journey from building a national practice across 40 states to focusing exclusively on helping entrepreneurs shift from mere tax compliance to tax strategy, a shift he says can be worth six figures. Throughout their conversation, Zach and Boris unpack why so many business owners wait until year-end to file returns and end up surprised by hefty tax bills. Boris explains the critical difference between traditional accountants, who simply prepare returns, and tax strategists who proactively plan deductions, credits, and incentives throughout the year.  He outlines his firm’s client process: from an initial profitability assessment to monthly “welcome” calls, where they apply 15 core strategies that routinely save business owners between $20,000 and $50,000 (or far more, depending on profit brackets). Along the way, they spotlight common pitfalls like missing the Qualified Business Income deduction, failing to document real-estate cost segregation studies, or simply not seeking specialized tax advice early enough.  To wrap up, Boris emphasizes that the U.S. tax code is rife with Congress-approved incentives, child-care credits, research and development tax credits, accelerated depreciation for real estate, and that the IRS’s role is merely to enforce these rules, not to intimidate compliant taxpayers.  His top takeaway for entrepreneurs: get educated and get proactive. If you’re generating profits today, start planning today, you might be leaving tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table.  Check out Boris’s free guide, “7 Tax Write-offs Every S Corporation Owner Must Know” at 7taxwriteoffs.com [http://7taxwriteoffs.com], and follow him on YouTube and social media for more practical tax-saving strategies. Timestamps 1. Avoiding “shiny object syndrome” in business growth – 02:01  2. Overview of Boris’s tax-planning process and core strategies – 04:00  3. Difference between a traditional accountant and a tax strategist – 07:19  4. Common tax-planning mistakes (lack of proactiveness, missed deductions) – 15:01  5. Understanding IRS incentives and the legitimacy of aggressive strategies – 22:14 Connect with Boris https://borismtax.com/ [https://borismtax.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/boris-musheyev-cpa/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/boris-musheyev-cpa/] https://www.youtube.com/@borismusheyevcpa [https://www.youtube.com/@borismusheyevcpa] https://www.instagram.com/boris_musheyev_cpa/?hl=en [https://www.instagram.com/boris_musheyev_cpa/?hl=en] Sponsored by We Feature You PR - Helping entrepreneurs build thought leadership through strategic podcast placements and launching their own shows. Ready to amplify your voice? Get in touch today. Subscribe & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

Malinda Sanna of LookLook on Disrupting Luxury Market Research Through Cultivated Communities

In this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Logbook, Zachary speaks with Malinda Sanna, founder and CEO of LookLook, a boutique consumer-insights platform that has quietly become the go-to partner for some of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands.  Malinda recounts her years at top New York agencies, when she realized that traditional market research, panels, focus groups in strip-mall meeting rooms and endless surveys, was failing even the savviest clients.  Driven by a “no regrets” philosophy, she began recruiting participants one relationship at a time: spotting well-heeled women over cocktails at Barneys, striking up conversations at Bergdorf Goodman’s shoe department, then weaving those connections into “cultivated communities.” Fifteen years later, Look Look has conducted more than 900 studies with over 30,000 real consumers including high-net-worth women, beauty aficionados, automotive enthusiasts and more, who are eager to share honest feedback and shape the brands they love. Zach and Malinda dive into the pivotal decisions that fueled Look Look’s growth, and the one change she might have made sooner: shifting from a mobile app to a web-based platform for greater flexibility and faster updates.  They explore how Look Look’s hybrid qualitative-quantitative approach feels more like a friendly group chat than a sterile survey, why real-time text conversations unlock deeper insights, and how that intimacy turns participants into brand evangelists. Malinda also opens up about expanding into China via a bespoke WeChat mini-program that lets her team engage luxury buyers at “China speed,” and she teases Look Look’s next evolution: a three-part offering that blends insights, media and experiential activations to ignite desire and deliver measurable business impact.  Whether you’re wrestling with siloed research teams or trying to crack a new market, this conversation offers a master class in modern consumer discovery, proving that when you treat people as more than data points, everyone wins. Timestamps 1. Lessons learned: migrating from a mobile app to a web-based platform – 02:21 2. Cultivated communities vs. traditional panels for consumer insights – 04:36 3. Barney's grassroots recruiting story and building a high-net-worth network – 08:08 4. Changing luxury consumer behaviors and emerging global players – 12:57 5. Modern qualitative methods: immersive digital experiences & peer-to-peer influence – 18:55 Connect with Malinda malinda@looklook.app [malinda@looklook.app] https://www.looklook.app/ [https://www.looklook.app/] https://newsletters.looklook.app/ [https://newsletters.looklook.app/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceolooklook/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceolooklook/] https://www.instagram.com/luxuryverse100 [https://www.instagram.com/luxuryverse100] Sponsored by We Feature You PR - Helping entrepreneurs build thought leadership through strategic podcast placements and launching their own shows. Ready to amplify your voice? Get in touch today. Subscribe & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!