Building Community Through Empathy in Pet Care Franchising with Shaina Denny

Scaling Wellness Through Purpose and Community with Jolita Brilliant

A wellness business can begin with one practitioner, one room, and one deeply personal commitment to helping others. Scaling that care requires more than ambition—it requires resilient leadership, repeatable systems, and a community-centered purpose. In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we welcome Jolita Brilliant Sakmanaite, Founder of Brilliant Massage & Skin and author of From Solo Therapist to Spa Empire. Since opening her independent massage practice in Burlington in 2017, Jolita has grown the business into a multi-location spa brand where soul meets technology. In this episode we’ll explore: • The importance of connecting automation with human skills • Why wellness businesses need both empathy and strong systems • How franchising can create ownership opportunities for spa professionals • What Jolita’s personal journey taught her about resilience and purpose • How local wellness businesses build trust and community • Why sustainable growth begins by empowering others 🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa 🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta A wellness brand becomes truly scalable when its systems protect the care, trust, and human connection that made it meaningful in the first place.

Paws & Purpose: Building Community in Pet Franchising with Michelle Sandonato

Pet care is personal. When people trust a brand with their dog’s grooming, wellness, and comfort, they are trusting that business with a beloved member of the family. In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we welcome Michelle Sandonato, Co-Founder and President of Bowie Barker Bath + Groomerie, a modern dog grooming brand offering full-service grooming, self-serve wash stations, wellness checks, membership-based care, and a convenient booking experience. Bowie Barker was founded in Los Angeles and is expanding through franchising with a mission to elevate the traditional dog grooming experience. In Paws & Purpose, we explore: • Why trust and empathy matter in the pet care industry • How Bowie Barker is modernizing dog grooming and wellness • Why pet businesses can become powerful local community hubs • How franchising can help bring high-quality pet care to more neighborhoods • What it takes to scale a service brand without losing personal connection • Why community-centered experiences are the future of pet care 🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa 🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta The future of pet care is not only about services. It is about creating trusted, joyful spaces where pets, people, and communities feel cared for.

Marketing With Purpose Kit: Breaking Down Silos Across Teams

Growth happens faster when teams stop working in silos. The strongest marketing strategies are built when digital, ecommerce, creative, operations, sales, and customer insights are connected around a shared goal. In today’s complex marketing landscape, brands need more than strong individual channels. They need cross-functional alignment that turns fragmented efforts into a unified customer experience and measurable business growth. In this week’s Marketing With Purpose Kit from The Bliss Business Podcast, we’re joined by Sara Whiteleather, Senior Director of Marketing at Batteries Plus. Sara brings deep experience across digital strategy, growth marketing, ecommerce, and customer engagement, with leadership roles spanning consulting, agency, and brand-side organizations.  🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach 🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta 🧭 In this episode, we explore: • Breaking down silos across marketing, digital, ecommerce, and operations • Creating shared goals that align teams around business growth • Turning customer insights into better cross-functional decisions • Building marketing systems that connect performance, experience, and purpose 🎧 If you’re looking to create stronger alignment across teams and build marketing strategies that serve both the business and the customer, this conversation offers practical insight into what it takes to make collaboration a true growth driver.

Inside Move America Initiative: Culture in Action with Alicia Hart and Jeanine Charlton

After our conversation with Merchants Fleet CEO Matt Dyer, we wanted to go deeper into the company’s Move America initiative — a multi-year vision grounded not only in business strategy, but also in the culture, values, and leadership behaviors required to bring that strategy to life. In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we welcome two of the initiative’s internal sponsors: Alicia Hart, Chief People Officer, and Jeanine Charlton, Chief Technology Officer. Together, they explore why culture is not simply the responsibility of HR. It requires leaders across every function to create alignment, model shared values, and help employees understand how their work contributes to the larger vision. In Move America, we explore: • Why culture must be owned by leaders across the organization • How strategy becomes meaningful through daily leadership behavior • The role managers play in creating alignment and connection • Why cross-functional commitment is essential during growth • How values move from presentation slides into everyday decisions • What it takes to turn a company vision into a shared movement 🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa 🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta Culture is not a department. It is the collective result of how leaders communicate, make decisions, and show up for people every day.

Profit and Social Responsibility in Mission-Driven Startups with Mike Ma

Can startups scale with ambition while staying grounded in responsibility? In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we welcome Mike Ma, Managing Partner and Head Coach at Sidecut Ventures, to explore Balancing Profit and Social Responsibility in Mission-Driven Startups. Mike invests in and coaches what he calls “coachable superheroes”: early-stage, mission-driven founders tackling systemic challenges in areas like economic mobility, healthcare, climate, and education. Sidecut Ventures uses a “coach first, capital second” approach, combining investment with hands-on operational support and mentorship. In this episode, we explore: • Why mission-driven founders need both purpose and discipline • How investors can support impact without sacrificing scale • Why coachability is essential for early-stage founders • How social responsibility becomes part of venture building • What adaptive snow sports can teach us about unlocking potential • How founders can grow companies that serve both markets and humanity 🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa 🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta The future of venture is not only about backing companies that grow fast. It is about coaching founders who can build responsibly, scale meaningfully, and create lasting impact.