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

In her 1957 classic, Atlas Shrugged, author Ayn Rand argued that the business of business is to make money – nothing more.

In her new book, The Conscious Professional: Transform Your Life at Work, due out next month, Jennifer Hartung pointedly disagrees.

There is much more to business than pursuing profits and earning a paycheck, Jessica argues. Founder and CEO of Integrated Work, a Boulder, Colorado-based consulting firm, Jessica is an evangelist for purpose-driven workplaces, where owners and employees alike strive to integrate their personal values into their workday.

In fact, Jessica believes that professionals who embrace a mission that goes beyond making money are more influential, effective, and fulfilled on the job.

As Jessica tells host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart on this week’s edition of Monday Morning Radio, even those with the most mundane jobs can find meaning in their everyday tasks.

Photo: Jessica Hartung, Integrated Work
Posted: December 10, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 41:43

If Jeremy Dale hadn’t spent the last eight years as a vice president of Microsoft Corp., people might dismiss his new book, The Punk Rock of Business: Applying a Punk Rock Attitude in the Modern Business Era, as a flight of fancy. 

But Punk Rock and successful businesses have much more in common than you might imagine, starting with authenticity and a refusal to conform.

Coincidentally, Jeremy’s interview from London with host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart comes on the very day that Jeremy is officially launching his latest venture – Otro, a global digital club for soccer fans that is designed from the ground up to be a Punk Rock business.

Do you have what it takes be a fast-paced, hard-edged business punk rocker?  Find out this weeks, only Monday Morning Radio. 

Photo: Jeremy Dale, Punk Rock of Business
Posted: December 3, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 37:26

Imagine if 95 percent of your marketing messages were opened, and not merely opened, but read within three minutes of you hitting the ‘send’ button.

What would you call that kind of turbocharged email? 

Jim Koch calls it text message marketing – and he built a budding global empire on the fact that while email and social network marketing are now saturated and largely ignored – few people ever ignore their text messages.

Jim launched Mobit, his text-marketing platform almost five years ago, and having recently sold it, continues to head its North American and UK operations.

 This week he shares with host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart, poolside in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona, the rules of successful text message marketing – as well as its limitations.

[Monday Morning Radio listeners who wish to learn more, without obligation, can text the word “Mobile” to 72000. They will then get access to a 30-minute strategic presentation on how mobile marketing for businesses works. In addition, they will have an opportunity to book a 30-minute free one-on-one consultation with a Mobit marketing specialist.]

Photo: Jim Koch, Mobit
Posted: November 26, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 45:28

Can two entrepreneurs with limited previous online retail experience take a meaningful chunk of business away from Amazon?

The concept of XYZBuys is a good one: to serve as an “online mall” with Amazon, Best Buy, and dozens of other leading retailers as so-called tenants. While consumers may be drawn to the mall by one anchor store, in theory they’ll buy from other retailers – big and small, while they are already there.

Will it work? 

The odds are against it. But after interviewing Dan Thomas, VP Marketing, host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart says that XYZBuys’ audacious business model does offer innovative ideas that any online retailer or service provider may want to adopt for themselves.

Photo: Dan Thomas, XZYBuys
Posted: November 19, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 37:24

Host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart is talking trash this week, but even those with delicate ears will want to listen in.

His guest is Patty Penke, the CEO of an Omaha estate sales company who has been selling collectibles and antiques for more than 20 years. Patty is the author of “Stop Throwing Cash in the Trash,” a book that shines a spot light on the hidden treasures that so many people, literally, dump in the trash – especially when disposing of the estate assets of a loved one who has recently died.

Beyond recognizing your family’s own undiscovered heirlooms, Patty and Rotbart talk about the abundant money-making opportunities that arise by discovering hidden treasures at garage sales, flea markets, neighborhood auctions, and in your own attic. 

Photo: Patty Penke, Stop Throwing Cash in the Trash
Posted: November 12, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 38:47

Most people hope the day will never come when the SWAT team arrives at the door of their business, school, or house of worship.

But calling in the Calvary – before they are actually needed – could very well prevent, or at the very least mitigate, the kind of massacre of innocent lives that occurred on October 27th at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and just last Friday at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida.

Tom Czyz is a SWAT team operator and former homicide detective who launched his company, Armoured One, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack in 2012. Joining him in advising business and community leaders on security measures are homeland security active shooter experts, a former Navy Seal Master Chief, a Delta Force team leader, and former FBI and CIA agents.

Tom has personally has investigated what happened at more than 50 gun attacks – including the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 58 people and injured more than 850 others. His goal: how to protect more people in the future.

As Tom tells host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart, there are steps everyone can take to prepare for the unlikely event of a live shooter at your facility, as well as life-saving instructions to follow if an attack is actually in progress.

You won’t want to miss this week’s episode of Monday Morning Radio.

Photo: Tom Czyz, Armoured One
Posted: November 5, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 31:41

There are plenty of lessons to be gleaned from the bankruptcy filing of Sears last week, and Steven D. Goldstein is just the expert to articulate them.

Steve, a one-time chairman of Sears Financial and member of the company’s executive committee, is an expert on management disengagement and the problems that ensue. He is currently president of Engaged Leadership Advisors, advising corporate leaders on ways to drive change, accelerate innovation, and assemble highly effective teams.

You may recall that in 2016, Steve was featured on Monday Morning Radio after he wrote the book, Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami?, which detailed how Sears continued to stock snowblowers in its Florida garden centers even though it hasn’t snowed in Miami since 1977.

Host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart caught up with Steve to get his advice for other retailers and businesses that seek practical recommendations on how they can avoid Sears’ missteps. 

Photo: Steven D. Goldstein, Engaged Leadership Advisors
Posted: October 22, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 24:01

Elliott Neff, a United States Chess Federation National Master, is passionate about helping others – especially young people – discover valuable life lessons through the game of chess.

Elliott is the author of the just-released novel, A Pawn’s Journey, a motivational speaker, and the founder and CEO of Chess4Life, which teaches sportsmanship, good decision-making, patience, planning, and how to learn from mistakes.

Would you like to gain greater insight into your colleagues or rivals? Why not challenge them to a friendly chess match?

 Indeed, you’re quite likely to gain fresh insights into your own strengths and weaknesses if you regularly mind your knights and bishops.

Pairing Elliott’s insights about life and business, against the inquisitive skills of host and veteran reporter Dean Rotbart, is a match you don’t want to miss. 

Photo: Elliott Neff, Chess4Life
Posted: October 15, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 48:30

Shay Myers is general manager of his third-generation, family-owned business – Froerer Farms – winning national acclaim for the innovation he’s brought to his company. 

Just about any entrepreneur can profit from hearing Shay’s story of breathing fresh life into a long-established business.

In Shay’s case, the business is produce - onions, asparagus, sweet potatoes and yams.

Do you think you could find a way to make onions sexy – more than a simple commodity?

Shay did.

Hear how this week on Monday Morning Radio as Wizard Academy alumnus Lem Lewis stands in for host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart down on the farm.

To learn more about Lem Lewis, be sure to visit his website TheRanchBroker.com or hear all of his RANCHAST episodes at www.Ranchcast.com.

Photo: Shay Myers, Owyhee Produce
Posted: October 8, 2018
Monday Morning Run Time: 40:43