Growing and scaling a business is hard and we wanted to hear from business owners who have successfully scaled a business. Below, you’ll find our conversations on scaling with some very talented and insightful folks.

Maria Michael

When I started MIRootsCreations, I started with a Cricut and a dream of owning 1 acre of land with a home, a small store downtown, and a second store on Mackinac Island (MI). I started out selling at our local farmers markets on the weekends, started to build my social media presence on Facebook, and opened an Etsy shop.  There are many crucial steps to growing a successful business. I was naive and thought my Etsy shop would bring in thousands of orders and that I would be running a fully substantial business within a year. I was mistaken and quickly brought back to reality. Growing a business is a marathon, not a sprint. Read more>>

Brandon James Rose

I definitely agree the world needs to hear more stories about growing and scaling a business than just the success. The success of WIS started with the struggles of my 4 previous businesses. Cumulatively I compounded my experience from previous ventures and started a digital marketing agency. After successfully scaling other people’s businesses into the 7 figures, I decided I can do it for myself in an industry that I am passionate about, timepieces. With my extensive digital marketing experience, I started to identify the niche, the TAM (total addressable market) and margins, and marketing avenues. Since I am already engrained in the horology industry, I understood the customer, their pain points, and where they live. Read more>>

Ashley Loute

When people see the success of Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County today—serving thousands of children and families, expanding facilities, and thriving in a competitive nonprofit landscape—they often assume this level of achievement came easily or quickly. But our story, like so many others, is one of grit, resilience, and strategic thinking. The truth is, it has taken years of hard work, dedication, and countless lessons learned along the way to lay the foundation for the success we see now. Read more>>

Allison Maslan

When I started my first business—a personalized greeting card service that grew into a full service advertising and PR agency—I had passion and marketing skills, but no understanding of scalability. I had a small team, but I still tried to do everything myself, which led to burnout and ultimately walking away from that business. That experience became the foundation for what I teach today through the SCALEit Method. Scaling my current business, Pinnacle Global Network, meant shifting from being the bottleneck to building a strong, team-managed company. I hired high-level CEOs as mentors to work directly with our clients, creating a ripple effect that allowed us to multiply our impact without sacrificing quality. Read more>>

Stormy Tripp

When we first started, we only had one public venue where we held our painting events, and it felt like a huge milestone to get that first partnership off the ground. But as we started to build relationships with other venues, we realized that expanding our reach was the key to growing the business. The best strategy for us turned out to be something simple but incredibly effective: just asking around. We reached out to venues that were already hosting painting events and asked if we could join in. This not only gave us the chance to test different spaces, but it also allowed us to gain credibility in the market. Read more>>

Lucy Bedewi

My Write Hand Woman started in my childhood bedroom in the pandemic. I was taking client calls with Beanie Babies in the background and trying to navigate the weird side lighting that would inevitably hit my desk every day around 1 pm. 

But I showed up every day— providing value in entrepreneurship FB groups, reaching out to my network, and DMing people who said they were looking for a copywriter until I found my first few clients. 

This was fun. It was intense. I’m talking 18 hours of a day of just trying to talk to anyone who would talk to me whether it’s for a $200 sales page or some words of advice. But then Instagram unleashed Reels and this was the strategy I decided I’m going to go all in on. 

In 2021, I blew up on reels. And by blew up, I mean created a daily reel, danced, pointed, acted ‘cringy,’ and experimented to see what resonated. It was terrifying putting myself out there in this way because I started this business to be a writer, not a content creator, and definitely not a dancer who the whole Internet sees. Read more>>

Pezzzo Pezzzo

In high school i was always nervous and a shy kid, i always new I wanted too become something great but always held back because of myself and thoughts. I new once I got over my anxiety and nerves it was only up hill.. especially since I knew I wanted too be a vocalist or someone that has a voice.. something had to be done… I then proceed too dance everywhere I can (lunch lines, passing periods etc, and jus by me being my silly self it made me comfortable with that energy of anxiety and nerves because people where staring at me constantly so it was a perfect balance Read more>>

Daeve Combs

Photography has been a lifelong passion of mine, and I’ve intentionally avoided formal education in the field, fearing it might stifle my creativity. Instead, I’ve allowed my craft to evolve organically, from capturing production stills in intimate settings to thriving in larger, more dynamic environments, always with a camera by my side. I believe the most significant challenge I have encountered is being hindered by self-doubt. Although I am aware that my work is exceptional and impressive to some, I consistently feel that I can improve further. I recognize that I should not be overly critical of myself as an artist, but I fear that I may never attain the level of excellence required to garner long-term appreciation for my work. Read more>>

Mona Marandy

Absolutely! When I first started, I didn’t charge for my shoots—but I never thought of my services as “free.” Instead, I saw it as a chance to practice and really get to know myself, my lighting, and my equipment. It was like a hands-on training period where I was building my foundation. My strategy early on was to evaluate my progress after every few sessions. For instance, after every 4 or 5 shoots, I’d begin experimenting with pricing, albeit somewhat randomly at first. By the time I completed about 10 shoots, I started researching others in my field who had a similar style to mine. I wasn’t confident enough at that point to charge the same rates they did, so I set my prices below theirs. Read more>>

Rita Pinto

After Covid we expanded the salon to a second floor inh the same location. Our salon now seats 26 tables. Read more>>

Ana Karina P.

Overnight success takes 10 years! This is a quote I read a long time ago and it resonates with me because we are so used to having everything in matter of minutes, days, or months but things that really matter the most in life take years to accomplish. In my case, we prepared our selfs with a strong foundation mentally. I started reading about successful people and learning their routines, habits, and their mentality. I know this is information needed to improve and by learning from others I can confidently say I have been on an eventful journey of personal growth. While there’s still things or skills I need to learn, I’m just grateful for being brave, consistent, and doing things outside of my comfort zone. Taking these risks as a business owner remind you that you have to be comfortable being criticized and It’s all about learning how to be better than before even if you thought your “before” was your best! Read more>>

Amanda Miles

How I Scaled My Photography Business: Lessons from the Journey Starting a photography business was one of the most exciting and challenging decisions I’ve ever made. What began as a passion for capturing moments turned into a career I deeply cherish. Scaling up, however, was not an overnight success—it was a journey of trial, error, and growth. Here’s how I took my business to the next level and what I learned along the way. Read more>>