To find success in business, you have to first figure out what your target market wants and respond to it. As society and the technology we depend on changes at breakneck speed, it can be challenging for traditional businesses to keep pace. Breathing new life into a service as timeless and constant as the library takes innovation, grit and the support of the surrounding community to pull off. Advancing technology had the potential to make libraries obsolete, but instead brilliant leader...

To better understand why your business isn’t meeting its full growth potential, you sometimes have to look from the outside in. Getting an outside perspective into your business can give you helpful insights to make decisions that accelerate growth. Venture capital firms often perform deep dives into prospective businesses during due diligence, which helps uncover a company’s strengths and weaknesses. After examining so many businesses, investors understand what separates a successful busines...

How does a 70-year-old PBS station evolve new approaches to public media to remain relevant and impactful even as the media landscape around it changes? Through innovative new approaches and a commitment to its community! Nine PBS is a St. Louis cornerstone with a long history of adapting to fit the changing times, and that constant evolution helped it become the most watched PBS station in the country, as a percentage of households watching. But Who's Counting? hosts Dave Hartley and ...

Innovation in the workplace doesn’t happen spontaneously; it needs to be encouraged and cultivated for change to truly take place. Before your company can make transformative use of emerging technologies such as AI, you must carefully examine your organization’s culture and leadership’s reaction to failure to make the jump to the next level not just feasible but inevitable. Missy Kelley and Dave Hartley, hosts of But Who’s Counting?, welcomed Stefanie Thelen, Chief Innovation Officer fo...

The speed of innovation and technological advances over the past decade has been transformative for all businesses, 100-year-old companies and growing startups alike. Baseball’s storied history in America has played a huge role in its popularity, but like any other business, it’s had to evolve to keep up with technology and customer expectations. St. Louis Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III and the MLB understood that their audience and their expectations were changing, and competition...

Fostering a healthy workplace creates an environment where the best, smartest ideas can flourish. What are the signs of a healthy workplace and how can leadership create an atmosphere where constructive debate leads to better results? A healthy organization minimizes the corporate politics that restrict innovation, promoting honest, yet difficult, conversations and debates centered on reaching the best ideas. Creating strategic alignment not only in your leadership teams but throughout your o...

Artificial intelligence is continuing to advance at an exponential pace, mirroring the advent of the internet in some ways. Like the early days of the internet, some businesses are assuming AI is just a fad that’ll fade with time while others are taking full advantage of this emerging technology to reduce costs while improving efficiency. Ed Morrissey, Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Integrity Web Consulting, joined co-hosts Dave Hartley and Missy Kelly to talk about the latest ad...

When a company is thriving, no one wants to think about potential roadblocks or dangers ahead. But when disaster strikes, the right response can be the difference between a business closing its doors or fueling future growth. Whether it’s a new competitor in the market, shifting consumer patterns or even a global pandemic, how can you quickly adapt to the unexpected? Kicking off the first episode of season three of But Who’s Counting?, longtime host Dave Hartley is joined by his new co-host, ...

Hospitality is often one of the first industries to feel the sting of global events like the COVID-19 pandemic or, looking further back, the 2008 recession. For a business like a hotel to survive the highs and lows, it must rely on a combination of ingenuity, forward-thinking and just a touch of audacity. For the final episode of season 2 of But Who’s Counting?, host Dave Hartley met with Dave Parmley, founder and owner of Chesterfield Hotels, Inc., to discuss the lessons the hotel mogu...

Reinvention. It’s what keeps businesses going and allows entrepreneurs to come up with creative solutions to increase profits and abandon strategies that don’t bring value. At the same time, business leaders must realize they can’t reinvent the wheel alone. It takes a team with a strong company culture to continuously find new ways to innovate. Host Dave Hartley sits down with Eric Termansen, Founding Partner of Western Retail Advisors, on this episode of But Who’s Counting? to discuss ...

Creating a business from scrap requires you to accept the risks that come with entrepreneurship, overcome ever-changing challenges and above all else nurture the passion that drove you into the business in the first place. In this episode of But Who’s Counting?, host Dave Hartley is joined by Jimmy Sansone, Brother and Co-Owner of The Normal Brand, a St. Louis-based clothing startup success story. Dave and Jimmy discuss how they grew The Normal Brand from their parents’ basement to eigh...

Competition is nothing new for startups, but following the end of the pandemic, competition for funding has become even more intense. To stand out, particularly to venture capital firms looking to invest, early stage startups have to bring metrics that will entice VCs to fund them over the more mature companies they’re competing with. Brad Luttrell, Co-Founder and CEO of both Holler Commerce and GoWild, a social media community for outdoor enthusiasts, sits down with But Who’s Counting?...

Moving from a role in a traditional business to a startup can take some adjustments, but learning how to automate, integrate and build a team from the ground up can empower those who make the switch. On this episode of the But Who’s Counting? podcast, host Dave Hartley sits down with Jane-Ellis Griggs, the VP of Finance and Operations at St. Louis startup turned bestselling sustainable swimwear brand Summersalt. Jane-Ellis shares Summersalt’s origin story, including a life-changi...

Flexibility has quickly become a buzzword in today’s post-pandemic society, and most companies can “talk the talk”, but do you “walk the walk”? Even before it was cool or mainstream, Ballyhoo Workshop empowered their small (but mighty) team with the flexibility needed to take care of business, both at home and at the office. Katie Schenck, founder and “Chief of Everything” at Ballyhoo Workshop joined host Dave Hartley on this week’s episode of But Who’s Counting to discuss the reasons ...

Between a labor shortage and the Great Resignation, hiring and retaining experienced talent has been difficult – and employers are tired. But how can companies find the talent they need while staying true to their culture and values? In this episode of But Who’s Counting?, host David E. Hartley met with female founder and HireLevel. CEO Teresa Katubig to discuss the ways that leadership can hire, train and take accountability for employees, whether they’re in temporary or permanent positions....

Understanding the connections between your overall wellbeing and your level of success as an entrepreneur can unleash better business decisions. It’s generally assumed that success in business drives happiness, but what if the formula works better the other way around? But Who’s Counting? host David E. Hartley met with Erin Joy for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to find success as an entrepreneur, and more importantly how it feels. The founder and executive consultant b...

Leading an organization is filled with challenges, particularly over the course of a merger or acquisition. Business leaders must balance the creation of new processes and the introduction of new policies with maintaining the same qualities that drew them to acquire that business in the first place. But Who’s Counting? host David E. Hartley sat down with Jeffrey Promnitz of Zeffert & Associates to discuss practicing effective leadership, the “secret sauce” to constructive goal setti...

Hackers and cybercriminals’ methods have become more sophisticated within the last 10 years, but not every business has the updated cybersecurity network necessary to reduce their vulnerability to attack. But Who’s Counting? host David E. Hartley discussed the need for businesses to overhaul outdated security systems to a strong cybersecurity policy with Anders Principal and Director + Technology Jason N. Gotway. Topics discussed include: · How your 2010s cybersecurity str...

Running a family business is difficult but ensuring that the business grows and thrives through generations can feel impossible. Developing a sense of balance, settling on a vision and making hiring decisions to work smarter, not harder helped turn Gioia’s Deli into a multi-generational St. Louis institution. In this episode of But Who’s Counting?, host David E. Hartley talks with hot salami royalty, Gioia’s Deli owners Amanda and Alex Donley to discuss the challenges they’ve faced as ...

To set your business apart from your competition, it will take ingenuity and innovative thinking. Customers expect a continuously improving experience and to provide it, businesses must invest in the teams and technology necessary to retool their company to thrive in change. In the Season 2 premiere of But Who’s Counting?, host David E. Hartley sat down with changemaker and Integrity CEO John Simanowitz to seek his advice on ways businesses can innovate to improve their processes and co...