Business Owner Tales from the Trenches

Running a business is hard. Building lasting wealth while doing it can be even harder. This podcast brings you candid conversations with entrepreneurs who’ve navigated both—sharing real stories, practical strategies, and lessons learned along the way. Hosted by Cannon Carr, former CEO and business owner turned Regional Director and Partner at EP Wealth Advisors, each episode dives into how to sustain business success while creating the financial independence that makes it all worthwhile.

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Business Owner Tales from the Trenches

Running a business is hard. Building lasting wealth while doing it can be even harder. This podcast brings you candid conversations with entrepreneurs who’ve navigated both—sharing real stories, practical strategies, and lessons learned along the way.

Hosted by Cannon Carr, former CEO and business owner turned Regional Director and Partner at EP Wealth Advisors, each episode dives into how to sustain business success while creating the financial independence that makes it all worthwhile.

Recent Episodes

April 10, 2026

The Balance Every Owner Faces: Performance, Culture, and Wealth with Caroline Wilbert

Caroline shares her path from 10 years as a business reporter to co-founding The Wilbert Group with her then-husband, then buying him out after their divorce and becoming the day-to-day leader. She explains how the agency expanded from traditional media relations into digital storytelling across LinkedIn, Instagram, podcasts, blogs, websites, and influencers, creating a dedicated digital team. Caroline describes balancing a hard-driving culture with wellness and grace, defining success as gre

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March 6, 2026

Listening to the Market: Bryan Clayton’s Path from Start-Up to Scale

Brian recounts starting a lawn-mowing business in high school, learning leadership through hiring and realizing he was ultimately in the sales business, then scaling to about $10M in revenue, 150 employees, and selling the company after two years of preparing it for acquisition. After a brief, unfulfilling attempt at retirement, he founded GreenPal, a DoorDash-like platform for lawn care, naively expecting it to be easy and spending two years learning to code and run a tech business. He explai

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Jan. 20, 2026

Beyond Revenue: The Entrepreneur's Journey to Freedom and Purpose

Creating Financial Freedom and Fulfillment with Shaun Enders | Business Owner Tales from the Trenches In this episode of Business Owner Tales from the Trenches, Cannon Carr is joined by Shaun Enders, the CEO of Transition Staffing Group, a recruiting firm specializing in finance, accounting, and tech roles. Shaun delves into his 20-year journey of building a business rooted in mentorship, culture, and growth. He also discusses his concept of the 'Freedom Fund' for achieving financial independen

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Dec. 16, 2025

Thrive Through Service: Randy Hain's Approach to Leadership and Coaching

Unlocking Leadership Success: A Conversation with Randy About Coaching and Building Effective Teams In this episode, Randy joins the show to discuss his extensive experience in leadership and team development. After a 25-year career in corporate America, including senior executive roles and co-owning a national executive search firm, Randy transitioned to entrepreneurship. He founded Serium Partners and The Leadership Foundry to focus on executive coaching and leadership development for Fortune

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Nov. 18, 2025

Blending Profit and Purpose: A Coffee Entrepreneur's Tale

In this episode, Cannon Carr interviews M-Cultivo CEO David Paparelli about his entrepreneurial journey, focusing on the founding and growth of his coffee business. From his early inclination toward entrepreneurship, through various mentorships, to his unique approach to starting and scaling his company, David shares valuable insights. He explains how he identified a gap in the specialty coffee sector and used a mix of technology and customer engagement to fill it. David talks about the challeng

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Oct. 21, 2025

The 95% Rule: Building a Culture of Accountability with Todd Stanton

💡 Episode Summary What if 5% of your employees are creating 95% of your problems? This week, Cannon and Claudia sit down with Todd Stanton, founder of Stanton Law and author of The 95% Rule: 29 Employment Law Axioms for Owners, Execs, and HR. While the title suggests employment law, this conversation goes much deeper — into the heart of leadership, ownership, and building a culture of accountability. Todd explains how a victim mentality in both leaders and employees erodes company health — and h

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Sept. 2, 2025

Tales from the Trenches: The Competitive Advantage | Justin Roeth's Journey to High Performance

In this episode, Cannon and Claudia sit down with Justin Roethingshofer, founder of Own It Coaching, to explore how health can be a significant competitive advantage for business owners. Justin shares his personal and professional journey, from striving to be an NHL player to becoming a high-performance health consultant. Learn about his unique methods that empower clients to heal and thrive, and how he integrates clarity of vision and commitment to transform both personal health and business pe

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June 5, 2025

How Intrapreneurship Can Help Validate and Scale Your Business

The Power of the Inside Innovator: Why Intrapreneurs Are the Key to Corporate Growth with Louis Gump Inside every great company is an innovator quietly reshaping the future. In this edition of Business Owner Tales from the Trenches, author and strategist Louis Gump joins Cannon Carr to spotlight the often-overlooked role of the intrapreneur—those who drive growth, transformation, and value creation from within. Drawing from original research and dozens of interviews for his book The Inside Innov

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May 29, 2025

Growing 10X: Building a Business That Feels Small at Scale

How do you grow a business 10X—without losing the personal touch that made it special in the first place? In this episode of Business Wonder Tales from the Trenches, EP Wealth CEO Cannon Carr unpacks the art of scaling with intention. Cannon shares the real-life challenges of growing a boutique firm into a national powerhouse—while preserving the human element, internal culture, and client intimacy. Whether you're a startup founder, seasoned executive, or aspiring entrepreneur, this is a master

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July 23, 2024

Navigating Transitions and Why Your Story Matters with Michelle Prince

Changing careers can be a scary and often necessary move as your needs, interests, goals, and skills transform over time. In this episode, you’re going to hear about how you can succeed as an entrepreneur in your SECOND career. You will also hear about how to differentiate yourself from other people while building trust at the same time. Michelle Prince went from a career at Zig Ziglar to corporate IT consulting and then continued on to be a motivational speaker, author, coach, and now owner of

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