When businesses are covered in the media, often there is a lot of focus on the initial idea, the genesis moment. Then they almost brush over the middle part – the scaling up part – and arrive at how big and awesome the business is today. It makes for a fun read or in the case of a movie or show an entertaining watch, but it’s also a missed opportunity. The middle part – the scaling up part is where so many small business owners get stuck. It’s the part so many of us need more guidance with and so we wanted to get conversations going on the topic of scaling up. 

Paige Mejia

While many businesses begin by building a local client base before expanding to national or international recognition, Pyrotex experienced growth in the opposite direction. Founded by Randy Beckham, the company began in the world of concert pyrotechnics after securing the Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive Tour in 1979. Read More>>

Enrique Zambrano

Well, I am from Venezuela, that’s a crucial matter when we talk about filmmaking business. There is no industry as such here, therefore everything is more complicated than other countries or regions with facilities to belong inside an industry. It is only now that things are starting to take off, because people are beginning to notice the importance of video thanks to social media. Read More>>

Sam Frontino

Aerial Pointe Drone definitely didn’t grow overnight. Like most small businesses, it started with a genuine passion before it became anything close to a scalable business. I’ve always loved photography, aviation, travel, and storytelling, and drones allowed me to combine all of those things into one creative outlet. Read More>>

Sarah Winters

When I studied photography in college, I never imagined myself owning my own business. The idea felt overwhelming to me, the uncertainty of consistent income, finding clients, marketing, and handling all the behind-the-scenes work seemed un achievable. My plan was always to work in the photography industry under someone else’s company, which is what I did for over four years. Read More>>

Wendy Gomez

Knots and Found has been in business for eight years now and we have seen several growth spurts that have allowed us to thrive. It all began with my mother-in-law who started this shop in her retirement to bring her passion for plants to the public. Read More>>

Kyle Hollenbeck

AZ Lemonade Stand’s growth happened in phases. Every stage required a different level of production, infrastructure, and operational thinking. In the beginning, everything was cold filled by hand in small batches. We produced primarily for local events, farmers markets, and catering, learning the realities of food production in real time. Read More>>

Dr Erika McCormick

When people look at Abundant Living Consulting Corporation today, they often see the polished brand, the multiple business divisions, the successful clients, the speaking engagements, the real estate ventures, and the financial literacy initiatives. What they do not always see are the years of building, restructuring, learning, sacrificing, and surviving that happened before any of it looked successful. Read More>>

Ayad Mirjan

We did not scale OrangeBag the way startup books tell you to scale a company. There were no funding rounds, no hockey stick growth chart, no viral moment. The honest version of our scaling story is a series of slow, expensive decisions that compounded into something bigger. The first decision was the most important. We owned production from day one. Read More>>

Kym Jenkins

People see the rooms now. The stages. The campaigns. The brands. The strategy. The confidence. The results. But baby… they did not see the years where I was building systems with duct tape, faith, instinct, and five dollars left after paying bills. Nothing about my journey was overnight. Read More>>

Ben Millan

One of the biggest lessons I learned about scaling is that growth often requires letting go of the identity that first made you successful. For years, I saw myself as a traditional advisor focused primarily on accumulation. But scaling required specialization, technology, systems, and the willingness to evolve with the market instead of resisting it. Building my firm was anything but an overnight success story. Read More>>