Lay the Course Podcast

Kim Fischer is the founder of 13 Emeralds Marketing with an MA in digital marketing. She helps business owners optimize their SEO so they can achieve long-term results with ease. Kim’s goal is to help business owners gain more clients, grow their businesses, and give them the ease of having leads come to them.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Kim’s course of her entrepreneurial journey
• SEO tips for both local and global leads
• How you can optimize your website today

"Being able to help small businesses make big changes is the biggest win to me,” said Kim.

Kim is passionate about making SEO accessible for everyone, and she walks her clients through ​​balancing intuition with data to make data-driven decisions in their business. She believes in community over competition and emphasizes the importance of finding your people in the business landscape.

Shara Ruffin is an independently licensed clinical social worker, a board-certified tele-mental health provider, and a former psychotherapist from Philadelphia, PA. She specializes in grief, personality disorders, family trauma, compassion fatigue, military counseling, mindfulness meditation, ADHD, and anxiety. Joined by our host Kelsey Stine, Shara discusses what fostering mental health in the workplace looks like for business owners today.

 In this episode, you will hear:

• Shara’s mental health advice for business owners

• Techniques for mitigating burnout

• The human aspect of reaching and achieving goals

“When you aren’t pouring into yourself–you can’t pour into others what you don’t have,” said Shara.  

Quinn Driscoll, CPA/ABV is a money management coach for small business owners. As the founder of Value Gal, she teaches successful business owners how to follow a money management system so they can stop feeling confused, anxious, or broke.

• In this episode, you will hear:
• The peace of mind that comes with having a clear view of your finances
• Balancing your growing business and paying yourself
• Quinn’s C.L.E.A.R. strategy

“Wherever you are, you can have a great grasp on your finances, and that’s going to take you so far,” said Quinn as she talked about the range of clients she works with, both big and small.

Prior to Value Gal, Quinn spent more than a decade as a sought-after financial expert witness who worked in the high stakes world of litigation consulting. She is a frequent speaker and guest expert on financial topics including building a valuable business, money mindset, and goal setting for business owners.

Accidental entrepreneurs, creatives, and former 9-to-5ers love Quinn’s calming presence and simple methods that empower them to replace money guilt and dread with clarity and confidence.

Yong-Soo Chung is a serial entrepreneur bootstrapping his business from $0 to $20m in just over 8 years. Now, he's on a mission to help founders & creators build an audience, create irresistible product offers, and grow their businesses sustainably.

In this episode, you will hear:

• A successful mindset behind a career shift

• Clear steps to mapping your success 

• Yong-Soo’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur 

  
  

“Every single experience you’ve had in the past shapes who you are in this present moment,” said Yong-Soo, touching on the fear of changing careers. 

After establishing a career in finance, Yong-Soo bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco to try his hand at a start-up and see if the life of an entrepreneur was the right path for him. He found success in not just one but two businesses. Now, he is the host of a newly launched podcast on a mission to share his strategy and see other entrepreneurs succeed.  

Lizzie Mattson left the human services field in 2018 in search of better boundaries and a healthier work-life balance. Today, she is the founder of Wildfeather Co., a boutique Instagram marketing agency that focuses on intentional strategy and beautifully designed organic content.

In this episode, you will hear:

How a process can help build consistency in your content creation

Important pillars of social media strategy

What set Lizzie on the path to starting Wildfeather Co.

“People are hungry for more thoughtful engagement,” shared Lizzie as she touched on showing up authentically on social media versus worrying about your follower count.

With her team by her side, Lizzie serves women in the online business space who desire freedom from their social media to-do list. Outside of work, Lizzie is passionate about fiber art, sweater weather, and the perfect cup of chai. In her downtime, she spends as much time with her family and friends as she can.

After finding that her values in life didn't connect with the social media tech industry she was working in, Izzy Waite decided to ditch the normal 9-5 to pursue a passion-filled career aiming to help driven entrepreneurs get seen and heard. Izzy joined our host Kelsey Stine for a conversation diving into the details of her work as a brand designer.

In this episode you will hear:

• The power of branding in today’s business landscape

• Showing up, front and center, in your brand

• Izzy’s passion for diving deep with her clients to bring their personalities to life

“I love helping people make sure their personality shows up, front and center, in their branding,” said Izzy, sharing what brought her to work in branding. 

By blending her graphic design and business degrees with her natural skill of seeing what makes people special – Izzy has been able to create strategic, stand-out brands that capture her clients’ souls, goals, and values. Izzy specializes getting to know her clients on a deeper level from the start so she can better understand their values and energy and make it shine through their branding and website.

With a decade of experience in People Operations within the corporate world, Kira La Forgia is no stranger to the sensitive issues involved in the human side of running a business. There’s a lot to learn from hiring, onboarding, training, and managing the performance of over 500 employees for a multimillion-dollar business. She joined host Kelsey Stine to discuss the strategy behind growing your team to grow your business.

In this episode you will hear:

• Kira’s experience with burnout that led her to start her own company, Paradigm
• Advice for strategizing a holistic approach when hiring for your business
• The growth you gain from hiring your first employee
  

“Your people are going to help get you to where you want to go, and it’s so much more fun to run a business with a functional team,” said Kira explaining the power of hiring for your overall goals to grow.

Kira founded Paradigm to bridge the gap between corporate HR policies and the modern needs of entrepreneurs. Google might have almost all the answers, but it doesn’t have what your unique business needs.

Ellen Pustejovsky is a Black Hills based entrepreneur, content creator, creative director, portrait specialist, and landscape artist who is passionate about sharing ways on building a lifestyle by design. She believes that a life lived simply is a life worth living, and she helps clients create simple yet effective high-quality branded content. 

In this episode you will hear:

• Ellen’s path to becoming a full-time content creator
• Advice for pushing through barriers to grow in your field
• The power behind branded content for your business

“You are showing up for your audience; you’re creating value for them, and that is what they are going to thank you for,” said Ellen as she disclosed that content creation can feel awkward in the beginning.

She is an award winning photographer showcased in publications such as Outside Magazine. Through her 13 years of experience, she has produced content for big brands all around the nation including, Fabletics, Born Shoe, C4 Fabrication, and more. Her teachings and mindset derive from the concept that time is the most valuable thing as it is the only non-renewable asset. Since beginning her first business as a sophomore in high school, her long-term mission is to help other aspiring solo-pressures to achieve their goals in a fraction of the time.

After spending 10 years in corporate America helping build multimillion-dollar businesses as the "go-to numbers girl," Octavia Connor decided to ditch the 9 to 5 in 2011 and build her dream business instead. Her passion led to the birth of Say Yes To Profits, a virtual CFO firm that helps businesses have more money, more profits, and pay less taxes. She joined host Kelsey Stine to talk about all things business.

In this episode you will hear:

• Octavia’s strategy to get out of debt and achieve her goals,
• How to identify mindsets that may be holding you back,
• and the unique way she helps her clients see more profit in their businesses.
  

“If you don’t tell your money where to go, it’s going to end up telling you where to go,” said Octavia, while sharing a story of client success.

Octavia’s mission is to eradicate small business failure in North America and help businesses earn their first (or next) million dollars sooner than they think. Say Yes to Profits does this by offering a unique combination of offering their clients accounting services, as well as business and money coaching.

Sarah Greener is passionate about businesses – mostly small ones. For the 

past 7 years, Sarah has been helping busy, stressed, and overworked business 

owners transform their businesses and reignite the passion they had when they 

started out. Sarah enjoys providing actionable insights to audiences of all sizes to help 

them in immediate ways to strike a necessary balance and stop the feeling of being overwhelmed.

In this episode you will hear:

• Sarah’s early career experience that put her on the path to coaching women in business
• Her experience with burnout, and how she found her way out of it
• And the steps Sarah encourages her clients to take to find clarity within their business 

“Stop, and take a break! You’ve got permission,” said Sarah, talking about her experience navigating burnout.

Adriana Monique Alvarez is the CEO and Founder of AMA Publishing. She teaches women how to start highly profitable publishing companies and has written How to Start a Six Figure Publishing Company (available on Amazon). She’s a USA Today bestselling author and her most recent book, The Younger Self Letters, debuted at #1 on bestseller lists internationally.

In this episode you will hear:

• What inspired Adriana to start her own publishing company
• The power of sharing your own story
• And how she embraces slowing down over hustle culture
  

“Every time you tell your story, you help somebody else make sense of their life,” said Adriana.

Adriana has been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, International Living, America Daily Post, Daily Grind, Addicted2Success, Elephant Journal, London Daily Post, Entrepreneur, FOX, ABC, and NBC. She is currently living in the middle of nowhere in Colorado where she is renovating her grandparents’ home – learning how to homestead with her husband, Derek, and two sons, Sam and Grant.

Vickie Leuenberger is a nomad freelancer currently living in the Caribbean on a yellow sailboat. She is passionate about teamwork, the human mind, and making every day special and fun. Vickie is trained in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), pedagogy, body language, and more. 

She collaborates with other entrepreneurs, hosts retreats and workshops, and assists clients in addressing their daily mindset for long-term success. 

In this episode you will hear:

• Vickie’s background in sports, and how she transitioned into mindset coaching
• How living on a sailboat lets Vickie embrace her own challenges and apply mindset practices on a daily basis
• And the ways Vickie is helping her clients create a mindset practice that works for them 
  

“A good business coach is the coach that helps you feel safe when you aren’t doubling profits monthly,” said Vickie as she explains what a positive mindset in the world of business means to her. 

Monique Allen, Founder, CEO, & Creative Director of the Garden Continuum, is a master creator, interactive employer, published author, and fierce industry advocate. Over the last three decades, Monique watched as the growing commercialization and commoditization of the landscaping trade undermined the benefits of its increased accessibility to those looking to improve their land and their mental states. With this in mind, she founded the Life-Scape Method.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Monique’s aha moment to start her own business over 30 years ago
• The way nature can act as a powerful tool to regulate one’s self
• How Monique developed the Life-Scape method

“How can we look at business as something that feeds us, as opposed to something that depletes us?” —Monique Allen 

As a lifelong gardener, business developer, and educator, Monique has dedicated her career to creating an alternative approach and sharing actionable information on how to spread a positive message, about how we can all improve our land, our lives, and our professional satisfaction through Life-Scaping and compassionate business building. 

In 2014 Catherine Greseth was hired as the first Executive Director of the Workforce Diversity Network of the Black Hills. An organization that educates businesses on hiring and retaining people that are, or have, become disabled. Through these efforts, Rapid City, South Dakota, is now ranked 3 in the Nation for the employment of people with disabilities. Catherine received the 2018 - 2019, South Dakota Governors award for Outstanding Citizen.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Catherine’s journey to becoming an advocate for people with disabilities.
• The work she has done to create inclusion in the workplace.
• The importance of seeing people’s abilities beyond their disability when hiring.

“Inclusion is not just being hired, it's being a part of everything.” —Catherine Greseth

She has been the president of the Rapid City Mayor's Committee for People With Disabilities, has been appointed by the Governor to Chair the Governor's Board for Service to the Blind and Visually Impaired. She also serves on the Governor's Board for the State Independent Living Council; out of 100’s of applications, the ADA has selected Catherine as the Rocky Mountain ADA Ambassador for South Dakota.

Catherine Manangu is the owner/operator of Chu Sweet, a specialty Bakery in Box Elder South Dakota. Catherine was born and raised in the Philippines, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management with a specialization in Cruise Line Operations in Culinary Arts. After moving to America with her family, and meeting her husband, she and her husband moved to Rapid City South Dakota where her husband is stationed in the United States Air Force. Catherine took the leap and started her own bakery from her home in 2019 and has seen an explosion in growth over the last two years.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How Catherine honed her culinary skills and found her love for baking
• The work she has done to be confident in herself and her business.
• The power of community and making connections that open new doors for opportunity.

“Keep going, even if no one notices you.” —Catherine Manangu

Catherine specializes in custom cakes, macarons, holiday specialty boxes, and more. She sells her sweet treats locally in the Black Hills, across the state of South Dakota, and Wyoming, and you can also find her creations Antuñez grocery in Spearfish. She has her eyes set on growing and opening a full storefront for her Bakery in the future.

Ciara Stockeland has owned and operated businesses since her early teens. As a serial entrepreneur, her business mindset and tenacity led her to open her first store, Mama Mia, a high-end maternity store located in Fargo, ND in 2006. Shortly after, she developed and opened MODE, a designer outlet store located next to Mama Mia. In 2008, Ciara chose to merge her two concepts into MODE and developed the concept into a franchise.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How she created a space for retail entrepreneurs to ask questions and find community
• The freedom in choosing to change your business concept.
• The power in buying with a purpose and managing inventory in your business

“It’s okay to change concepts or to downsize if that’s what you feel a lot more joy in.” —Ciara Stockeland

Her vast experience in both retail and wholesale industries led her to launch the first to market wholesale subscription box for boutique retailers, which she built and sold within 18 months. Most recently Ciara has launched the Boutique Workshop, a coaching program for retailers.

As owner and creative director for Tout Advertising, Tracy provides strategic media planning, negotiates media acquisitions, determines marketing endeavors, oversees design and production, and ensures brand integrity. She is passionate about supporting locally owned businesses, and in addition to this has launched and run 3 magazines during her career, spanning over a decade of successful publishing.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Tracy’s path to being named one of the Top 25 Women in Business by Prairie Business Magazine.
• The ripple effect her work with Black Hills Women’s Magazine has had in the community and beyond.
• Advice for anyone looking to be truly successful in the field of marketing. 

“You’re helping small businesses survive, and really thrive.” -Tracy Bernard

Prior to starting Tout Advertising, Tracy was an intern at the White House Office of Public Liaison, an account executive for the largest ad agency in the world (at the time), McCann-Erickson Worldwide. She is married and a mother to three grown boys. She is an avid runner and dabbler of mixed media art and interior design.

Kristin Burke is a goal achievement coach who collaborates with women, entrepreneurs, and leaders to help them maximize their potential and achieve their definitions of success. After gaining over a decade of experience in a Fortune 200 firm, Kristin set out on her own to launch a coaching practice. She is passionate about advancing women professionally and holds a curiosity for work-life integration. This blossomed in graduate school where she authored a thesis on women and work-life balance. After concluding that the word balance communicates an unrealistic reality, she is now on a quest to help women thrive both personally and professionally.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How Kristin achieved her own goal of becoming a coach and owning her own practice.
• Tips and techniques for reaching that next goal in life, professionally and personally.
• The power of writing down your vision.

“Grow the courage to write down a long term vision.” –Kristin Burk

Along with Kristin’s coaching practice, she is also a co-facilitator of the Honor Your Ambition Mastermind–a 12-week program designed to create a community of ambitious women, and give them the tools to trust in themselves, believe that they can, and achieve what matters.

Bridgett has been working with fabrics since a young age, originally taught in the art of sewing by her mother. As she grew older she pursued a degree in Fashion Design at Kent State University. After graduating, she returned back to Rapid City, where she met her future husband, Stephan, and together they started the Seraphim Theatrical Entertainment Company. Through this company, they have created a variety of theater programs in-house, for all ages, as well as hold a season of plays and murder mystery dinner parties every year.


In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Bridgett’s passion for sewing and costume design 
• How she has incorporated her skills and passions to open a theater
• Her love for cosplay and the community she has found in it

A member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and a South Dakota resident, Fabiana was introduced to soccer at a young age in Vermillion, SD. She immediately fell in love with the sport and she has described herself as “In it for life”. Fabiana continued on through high school and college, and the game took her internationally where she saw and was inspired by how soccer is approached in other countries. This led her to develop Community Soccer, a program that focuses on creating more mentorship within soccer, and a focus on community and fun before competition.


In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How Soccer has played a central role in her life
• The inspiration to approach Soccer from a different perspective
• What she loves about the sport and lessons she has gained from the sport

Rebecca Stucke is an instructor and the owner of The Yoga Studio, Rapid City’s oldest yoga studio which just celebrated its 21st year in business. Rebecca fulfilled a years’ long dream of owning the Yoga Studio and purchased it in January of 2020. 

Just months after purchasing the studio, she navigated her first year as a business owner during a global pandemic. One of her students' shares, “Rebecca made sure the Yoga Studio was an absolutely safe space to practice during very uncertain times. When we were not able to meet in person, she held zoom classes, ensuring we never had to lose our time on our yoga mats.”

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Her journey of becoming a business owner during a pandemic
• The personal path that brought her to yoga
• And what she loves about the community and friendships within The Yoga Studio. 

“I realized if I took care of my body, it would take care of me.”

Along with owning her own business and teaching multiple classes weekly, Rebecca also studied Psychology and is working towards being a Certified Addiction Counselor. She works at Lifeways full-time as the Adolescent Outpatient Counselor. When she isn’t working and teaching, she loves spending time with her husband Mark, their doggo Adho, and daughter Raleigh. Things she loves include food, nature, plants, and movement.

Jenell Alward, along with her husband David, is the owner and head artist of Swish ‘n Flick Entertainment: an entertainment provider for face painting, balloon arrangements, balloon installations and more for every occasion. Jenell’s love for face painting sparked in her years in the theater department in high school, and she has taken this love and started a business that has grown exponentially over recent years.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How Jenell took her artistic passion, and fostered a successful business, allowing her to step away from the corporate world. 
• Swish ‘n Flick’s pivot during the pandemic to begin offering intricate balloon installations when face painting wasn’t an option. 
• Jenell and David’s next step to take their talents on the road with a new nonprofit. 

“We like to say we entertain the young, and the young at heart.”

After a big move from California to South Dakota in 2020, Jenell and her husband took the leap to renovate an RV and take their talents on the road to start a nonprofit: Smiles for Miles. Smiles for Miles is aimed at providing pro bono entertainment to help raise money for various causes and partnering with local businesses to create fun events that will bring more joy in a time when it is dearly needed. 

Madison Reeves is a 20-year-old entrepreneur, up-and-coming author, and business owner. She is a full-time real estate agent in the Black Hills of South Dakota, focusing on helping buyers, sellers and investors build wealth through real estate. She is also a productivity coach for real estate agents. She shares with us her passion and her “why” that has taken her to a place of success at only 20.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Madison’s entrepreneurial journey, which began at age 17
• Her upcoming book, Project Badass, due to be released in November of 2021 
• The power of having a good mentor

Sara Jamison is an entrepreneur and owner of Terra Shepherd Boutique– a boutique in Sioux Falls South Dakota that focuses on slow and sustainable fashion.

Sara opened Terra Shepherd Boutique in downtown Sioux Falls in May of 2019 with the goal of taking the legwork out of finding clothing and goods for everyday living that are good for the planet and the people who make them. Everything in her store is chosen with sustainability in mind, and she is a champion of slow fashion.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Sara’s journey to becoming a business owner.
• What it means to source clothing and personal items ethically and sustainably.
• The meaningful relationships between community and fellow business owners surrounding Terra Shepherd

In this episode, we sit down with guest Kelsey Parffit to discuss her work and inspiration as a professional photographer. She discusses what inspires her, and how color plays a key role in her creative work.

 Kelsey Parfitt is a professional editorial photographer, based out of Boise Idaho. She attended college and Black Hills State University and The Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Professionally, she works with businesses of all kinds and sizes to bring their print and branding ideas to life. She has worked in a variety of environments from a team setting, to freelance solo work.

Kelsey Specializes in Product and portrait photography and is drawn to fashion and editorial styles. She believes that what you portray to people is your personal brand, and helps her clients clarify what your brand is through fashion, color, and emotion.

In this episode, we sit down with guest Molly Barari and discuss her work as a freelance writer, creative writing educator, and her work at Vitalant. 

Molly is originally from Kearney, NE, but has called Rapid City home since 2008. As a freelance writer and teacher, Molly keeps people’s stories at the center of her work. She teaches creative writing classes for adults through Community Education of the Black Hills and the South Dakota Humanities Council. Molly specializes in life-writing classes, helping people share their life stories. She talks with us about her love of learning people’s unique life stories, and the power of putting pen to paper. In 2021, Molly plans to graduate with her doctorate in Adult & Higher Education from the University of South Dakota.

Molly is also a Donor Recruitment Representative at Vitalant, the local blood donation center. In this interview, Molly discusses what she loves about Vitalant's mission to help patients in need, and why she is passionate about educating the community on blood donation. Did you know that one blood donation can save up to three lives?

In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Duet, and discuss the power of the enneagram system, and what it can teach us about human connection, and about ourselves. 

Sarah Duet is an artist, writer, and speaker from Shreveport, LA, whose work explores who we are, how we’re connected, and why it matters. In this conversation, she talks about the way the enneagram system stands apart from other personality typing systems because it focuses on motivation vs. behavior. Not just what we do, but why we do it. 

In this episode, we sit down with guest Katie Underwood, owner and head flocksteress of Happy Hillside Collective, a small farm in Montana specializing in rare breed chickens.

Katie shares her story of how Happy Hillside Collective started from a desire to live the farm to table life that turned into breeding chickens. Hear what makes Mosaics chickens unique, what “chicken math is,” what a day in the life of a flocksteress looks like, and more all in this episode!

In this episode of the Lay the Course podcast, we sit down with Rhonda Pearcy to discuss creating community connections through sharing a meal together. Rhonda is the Owner & Founder of Fork Real Community Café.

In this episode of the Lay the Course podcast, we sit down with Shaina Hargens. Shaina is the owner, Encourager, and Director of ISO: Prosperity. She is an Appreciation Consultant and her goals are to help business owners, companies, and organizations develop solid personal and professional relationships.

In this episode of the Lay the Course Podcast we sit down with Alyssa Tanner and discuss her work as a caricature artist and how she took the leap to take her career as an artist full time.

In this episode of the Lay the Course Podcast, we sit down with Italia Elena and discuss her work in the world of copywriting.

In this episode of the Lay the Course podcast, we sit down with Herbalist Sarah Miller, and discuss her craft and her business Little Oak Apothecary.

In the premiere episode of the Lay the Course podcast, we sit down with Angela Miller, and discuss her work as a makeup artist here in South Dakota.