You might say (or even sing) that Beth Kendall and her husband Bill are as lucky as lucky can be.

The couple, after all, have co-owned All Out Chimney Sweep in Charlotte, North Carolina for the past 35-plus years.

With all due respect to Mary Poppins and her friend Bert, successfully running and maintaining a 21st Century chimney sweep business in the face of advancing technologies and changing consumer tastes is no song and dance.

This week Beth, who earlier this year was elected as the first female president of the North Carolina Chimney Sweep Association, takes host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart up where the smoke is all billered and curled, and shares some smokin’ lessons that any business owner can readily profit from.

Photo: Beth Kendall, All Out Chimney Sweep
Posted: March 25, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 33:05

Since he co-wrote The One Minute Manager in 1982, Ken Blanchard has rarely been off the bestsellers list, having authored or co-authored 60 books and landed a spot in Amazon.com’s  Hall of Fame, as one of the 25 top revenue generators of all time.

One of Dr. Blanchard’s favorite topics over the years has been customer service and how businesses can excel at it. He recently reissued his 2005 book, The Simple Truths of Service, which has sold more than 5 million copies. This week he joins host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart to share some of the common-sense wisdom that the book imparts.

By the way, Dean, who teaches the Reputation Tool Chest workshop at Wizard Academy, took the opportunity with Dr. Blanchard to make a couple of his own reputation recommendations to the legendary author. No one ever said that Dean, a former investigative reporter, isn’t dogged.

Photo: Dr. Ken Blanchard, Author
Posted: March 18, 2019
Monday Morning Run Time: 28:44

This week’s special guest, Matt Mason, was recently appointed by Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts to be the state’s official poet.

It’s a position whose roots date back to 1921 and highlights the fact that the Cornhusker state is quite fertile ground for literary creativity.

For almost ten years, Matt has served as executive director of the Nebraska Writers Collective, a nonprofit group that promotes poets in the schools and organizes quality poetry programs for adults.

As the Nebraska State Poet, Matt plans to travel the state – from schools to prisons – sharing his love of poetry, supporting the state’s writers, and inspiring Nebraskans from all walks of life to express themselves creatively.

As Monday Morning Radio host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart – himself a Pulitzer Prize nominee when he wrote for The Wall Street Journal – points out, Matt joins a lengthy honor roll of Wizard Academy graduates who have been recognized globally for their creativity and professional excellence.

Rotbart explores the role of creativity in society with Matt and asks him to explain why the arts matter.  You’ll want to hear his answer.

And, you’ll also want to hear his exclusive reading of a chapter from his latest book, The Baby That Are Cincinnati. So be sure to listen – or if time is short, skip – to the end of this week’s episode.

Photo: Matt Mason, Nebraska State Poet
Posted: March 12, 201
Monday Morning Run Time: 38:22

For a business to be truly successful, it requires executives who excel at managing their employees and, according to Andy Singer, employees who excel at managing their executives.

Andy is the founder and CEO of Singer Executive Development, a Florida consultancy that trains both executives and employees on ways to maximize their performance, including managing each other well.

As Andy tells host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart, employees who “manage up” are not suck ups – they’re savvy career strategists who understand that when their bosses look good, their career prospects look even better.

Photo: Andy Singer, Singer Executive Development
Posted: March 4, 2019
Monday Morning Run Time: 36:11

With roughly 90 million dogs in America and tens of millions of dog-lovers, it probably was inevitable that Happy Tails Canine Adventure Tours would emerge – offering eco-tours designed especially for dog lovers and their companions.

David Blank, who along with his wife Claudia co-founded the company in 2018, is a veteran of the travel tour industry as well as a professional dog trainer. He’s decoded the labyrinth of logistics necessary to safely and happily take a couple dozen dogs and their humans on travel adventures – including bus transportation, motels, restaurants, and even medical care.

You may not be a pet lover, but you’ll feel like a lucky dog after listening to David’s interview with host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart and discovering David’s formula for tapping into the robust pet market.

Photo: David Blank, Happy Tails Canine Adventure Tours
Posted: February 25, 2019
Monday Morning Run Time: 40:46

Despite all of the television viewing options open to today’s consumers – broadcast, cable, satellite, and streaming – surprising little of the available programming is local, much less hyperlocal, in nature.

Simon Bray, a veteran Fort Wayne entrepreneur, is on a mission to change that. Simon is the founder and CEO of Streaming Television, which is rolling out laser-focused local programming channels in more than 190 markets nationally. STV programs are available on major streaming platforms – including Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV, as well as directly from dedicated websites. 

Whether you’re a dry cleaner, plumber, accountant, dentist, or pizza shop owner, Simon tells host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart that STV aims to provide you the opportunity to reach your customers where more than 150 million Americans watch their other streaming programs and movies.

Photo: Simon Bray, Streaming Television, Inc.
Posted: February 18, 2019
Monday Morning Run Time: 39:40

The days when men shaved with safety razors – where the user inserts a single double-edge blade into a shaving implement – are long gone, made obsolete by cartridge blades and electronic razors.

Or are they?

Since 2012, Douglas Smythe, founder of Phoenix Shaving, has seen demand for his safety razors, blades, and other related grooming products for men boom. Douglas attributes the success of his business to three main factors: 1.) safety razors provide a more comfortable shave, despite all the hype around 3-blade and 5-blade cartridges.  2.) The replaceable blades cost only a fraction of cartridges.  3.) Men fondly remember their fathers or grandfather’s using a safety razor.

As Douglas tells host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart, he is using 21st Century marketing – including a YouTube breakfast-hour show called I’d Lather Be Shaving – and an annual confab of hobbyists and other shaving enthusiasts, to drive sales and an expanding line of related products.

Believe it or Not: Rotbart brand razors, blades, and accessories were the best-selling shaving products in Germany in the early part of the 20th Century. In fact, in about 1927, Gillette bought out Rotbart and for many years thereafter used Rotbart’s designs and patents.

Photo: Douglas Smythe, Phoenix Shaving
Posted: January 28, 2019
Monday Morning Run Time: 41:53

Not for the first time, or even the second, or the tenth: Dean Rotbart’s scheduled guest on this week’s edition of Monday Morning Radio was a no-show.

You absentee guests know exactly who you are.  Shame on you!

The good news is that without a guest, Dean is able to reach into his Reputation Tool Chest and share three self-marketing gems for companies and individuals who seek the attention of journalists and other influencers. 

Dean has taught at The Wizard Academy since the early 2000s, first sharing his Newsroom Confidential insights, then Buzz Snatching, and most recently Reputation Tool Chest.  All three workshops have this in common: they defy the conventional wisdom of how influence is created, relying instead on deconstructing real-world success stories.

When they show up, Dean always enjoys interviewing business owners and experts, because he can not only share their wisdom with listeners, he can learn from his guests himself. This week, alas, he can only pass on what he already knows.

Photo: Dean Rotbart, Host, Monday Morning Radio
Posted: January 14, 2019
Monday Morning Run Time: 10:00

If the most popular episodes of Monday Morning Radio in 2018 are an accurate barometer, then last year was one filled with both hopes and anxieties for America’s entrepreneurs.

Listeners by the thousands tuned to the weekly podcast, hosted by Wizard Academy alumnus and faculty member, Dean Rotbart, to learn how fellow entrepreneurs were succeeding, overcoming their mistakes, and discovering means to avoid making those errors in the first place.

Join guest host Maxwell Rotbart as he counts down the Top 10 Monday Morning Radio episodes of 2018. Maxwell is the 26-year-old son of host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart, and himself an entrepreneur and radio veteran.

Photo: Maxwell Rotbart

If you missed any of these ten amazing episodes, now is the perfect time to catch up. 

10. Your Company May Very Well Face Opioid-Related Liabilities, Even If You Don’t Sell or Distribute the Painkillers

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Opioid_Crisis.mp3

9. The New Tax Code Will Save Most Listeners to This Podcast Thousands of Dollars
   http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Tax_Savings.mp3

8. Forget About Email and Social Networking Marketing: Text Messaging Is Where It’s At

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Mobit.mp3

7. You Can Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Your Organization

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Sexual_Harassment.mp3

6. How Influence and Thought Leadership Are Manufactured in the Competitive Marketplace

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Adam_Witty.mp3

5. If This Company’s Stock Was Publicly Traded – It’s Not – Would You Invest in It?
   http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Luminora.mp3

4. Sears Once Resembled the Amazon Juggernaut – What Happened?

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Sears_Bankruptcy.mp3

3. The Time to Call in the ‘Swat Team’ is Before You Ever Need Them

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Armoured_One.mp3

2. CEOs, Celebrities, and Politicians Turn to One Man When Their Reputations Are on the Line

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/The_Fixer.mp3

1. Carl Schramm, “The Evangelist of Entrepreneurship,” on the Proven Formula for Success

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Carl_Schramm.mp3

Photo: Maxwell Rotbart, Guest Host
Posted: January 7, 2019
Monday Morning Run Time: 14:35

After almost 30 years in business, Roland “Buddy” and Dixie Huthmaker, owners of Huthmaker Violins – one of the finest violin and string instrument stores in the country – faced a choice that many owners do after pouring their hearts and souls into a business: sell it, close it, or pass it on to a willing heir.

Fortunately for the Huthmakers, their daughter Anna (photo), a gifted musician and entrepreneur, stepped up, and in January 2019 will officially become the new owner of their beloved shop.

All three Huthmakers attribute some of their success to the classes they’ve taken at Wizard Academy, including host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart’s “Buzz Snatching” course on reputation building.

This week on Monday Morning Radio, Anna shares the planning that went into the ownership transition and what she plans to do differently now that her parents report to her.

[You may also wish to here our interview from September 2014 with Buddy, Dixie, and Anna. Click here.]

Photo: Anna Huthmaker, Huthmaker Violins
Posted: December 17, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 30:23