Coffee & Grit

Barbara Walker has spent decades building Hartland Insurance into something much bigger than an insurance agency.

This conversation is about what it really looks like to build a business that lasts—through hard seasons, changing times, family dynamics, growth, adversity, and the daily responsibility of taking care of people.

Barbara takes us all the way back to the early days, when building the business meant living on chicken noodle soup and macaroni and cheese, and walks through the journey of growing from a small family operation into three locations and 38 employees. But what makes this episode po...

This is one of the most important conversations I’ve ever had on Coffee & Grit… and it’s been sitting in the vault since January 14th.

I didn’t rush this one out, because some conversations you don’t just post. You sit with them. You respect them. And when the time is right—you release them. This is that conversation.

Before anything else, this is a conversation with a dad. Robbie Parker is Emilie’s dad. Before the headlines, before the narratives, before the world decided what his story meant, he was a father sitting in a room, wai...

I hope you all love this episode as much as I do!

This is the official kick off to the Difference Maker Bootcamp series of interviews and I knew these episodes were going to go another level. After all, these are people Making A Difference, and because we go beyond the surface in bootcamp I know these Difference Makers very intimately. 

Going back to my first conversation with Brian he told me he believes everyone has an artist inside them. The only Difference between he and them is no one ever told him he couldn't. That c...

Featuring Dennis Rozma, licensed professional counselor, crisis therapist, and a man who has spent a lifetime helping people navigate their hardest moments… and is now living one of his own.

At 80 years young Dennis is walking through life as a full time caregiver for his wife as dementia continues to take hold. And instead of shrinking, instead of retreating he is asking a different question: How do I still make a difference from here? That question is the heartbeat of this episode.

We talk about what it actually looks like to love someone through dementia. The mo...

Featuring Darin Ureche, 30 year top producing real estate agent who built his career without the flash, the ego, or the “look at me” energy — just consistency, trust, and doing the work the right way.

This episode hits hard for those that want to build a consistent success in sales and business development. The whole episode is filled with Data As Soul for Darrin success career. Not a good year. Not a hot streak. Decades of it.

And what is powerful is he has now turned that into something teachable. A framework that anyone in sales or busine...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit. This one right here is a conversation about what it really looks like to build something the right way.

Listen in as I am joing by Brandon Sacker of TCI Home Services & Precision Pro Sprayers, and from the outside, you might think this episode is about insulation, mold remediation, and home services. It is.

However it is also about integrity. Ownership. Leadership. Standards. And what happens when somebody decides they are not going to cut corners, not going to play the short game, and...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit.

This week I’m sitting down with Steve Koch, and this conversation is going to hit a lot of you right where you live as business owners.

Because here’s the truth…

Most of us didn’t start our business because we love numbers. We started because we love what we do. We love serving people. We love building something.

But at some point… if you ignore the numbers, the business starts working against you. And that’s exactly what we get into...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit where this week I am sitting down with Brandon Miller, founder of Inspired by Design Painting in Brighton, Michigan. This conversation gets into something every entrepreneur eventually has to face.

Are you building a job or are you building something that lasts?

Brandon’s story started pretty humbly. Picture a power washer, a ladder sticking out of the trunk of an old Malibu, and one guy grinding it out washing six houses a day while trying to figure out how to build a real bu...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit! This week I’m sitting down with Brenda Lindsay, founder of Mind Transformations, and we dive into something that affects way more people than we like to admit… the internal battles that keep us stuck.

Brenda shares her journey from complete paralysis around public speaking to becoming someone who now teaches mindfulness, resilience, and emotional regulation to others. And this isn’t some fluffy “woo woo” conversation about meditation. This is about what actually happens in the brain and nervous system when we’re living in fight or fli...

What is up everybody?!?Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit!

I’ve got a returning guest in the studio today my friend Desiree Martinez, fresh off writing her new book Stop Marketing and Start Belonging… and this conversation is a wake-up call for every business owner who feels like they’re doing “all the marketing things” but still not getting the traction they want.

We get into the real stuff:

-Why community still beats content
-Why the old-school “boots on the ground” approach is more powerful than ever
-How we’re entering a ne...

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit.

I’ve got my guy Steven Betel-The Mortgage Family Man-back in the studio for round two, and this one goes way deeper than we planned. It starts with “the little things” such as mics, systems, daily habits and turns into a real conversation about life, presence, relationships, and what it actually means to build something that matters.

This episode is about breaking autopilot. About realizing that the little things aren’t small at all...they’re the difference between life flying by and life actually b...

Featuring Siobhan Reigle, entrepreneur, sports mom, and purpose-chaser who went from “I don’t even know what a Reel is” to building a brand (and a business) online.  One uncomfortable post at a time. 

This one hit different because Siobhan isn’t just a Difference Maker out in the wild.  She’s family. And what I love about this conversation is that it’s not some polished “overnight success” story. It’s a real, human journey: Ireland ➝ Grand Cayman ➝ Key West ➝ the Coast Guard life across the country ➝ back home to Michigan… and now stepping into a new chapter where faith, grit, and...

Happy New Year everybody, as we kick off the 1st episode recorded in 2026.

In the conversation with Noreen Owens is one of those conversations that reminds me why I started Coffee & Grit in the first place.

Because yeah… we literally had to re record it...

Technology did what technology does sometimes, and I had that “kicked in the stomach” moment where you realize you just burned an hour of another entrepreneur’s time. But here’s the funny part. Every time I’ve had to re record an episode in the last six years, it ends up be...

Featuring Kristie Risner, Regal Payments

This one started as a content session out of Difference Maker Bootcamp… and it got way too real, way too fast to keep it tucked away. Because what you’re about to hear isn’t “a credit card processing episode.”It’s a story about becoming someone new. It’s about walking out of corporate survival mode and into community, purpose, and conviction. 

Kristie came into Bootcamp as the behind the scenes problem solver. The “fix the mess sales made” person. The wallflower. The one who would sit in her car outside a networkin...

What is up to all my Difference Makers out there?

This week it’s just you and me in the studio.

A meeting got rescheduled, the room was quiet, and I had two stories sitting heavy on my heart so I hit record. What came out is part networking smackdown, part mindset reset, and part faith-filled gut check for anyone stuck in their own head right now. 

We start with a moment from a recent networking group.
A nervous guest blows past her one-minute intro… and keeps going… and going… and going.

Some...

Featuring Sparkle Lindsay| Worldwide Trainer, Coach, Author, Speaker & Founder of Sparkle LLC

What happens when you sit down in person with someone who’s been walking this journey with you for years… and you finally get to throw the virtual world aside and dig into the real stuff?

This is Part 2 of our in-studio conversation with Sparkle Lindsay, recorded during her visit to Loud Mouth Studios on September 11th. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 (released September 24th), you’ll want to catch that one too, but this episode stands strong on its own.

And...

Featuring Steve Livingway, Director at Reaching Higher for Youth

What if we stopped trying to fix kids and started helping them return to who they were before fear took over?

In this powerful episode, Steve Livingway joins Jason Tracey to share the mission behind Reaching Higher.  A leadership program that doesn’t hand out answers, but helps students rediscover the truth they were born with: that they matter, that they belong, and that they have the power to lead.

After two decades as a principal, Steve walked away from the office to step back int...

Featuring Michelle Allen, Community Outreach Manager & Cannabis Consultant at Planted Provisioning

After surviving a traumatic car accident the day before her wedding, Michelle Allen learned firsthand how pain can either destroy or transform us. Her journey from hospital patient to healing advocate is nothing short of miraculous, and her story is reshaping how we view cannabis, community impact, and what it means to live with purpose.

In this powerful and eye-opening episode, Michelle joins Jason Tracey in the Loud Mouth Studio to share her deeply personal story: surviving a collision that made the evening news, getting...

Featuring Andrew Black, Visionary Founder of Inside Out Concierge Services

What do you get when you blend relentless vision, deep emotional intelligence, and a commitment to doing things differently?

You get Andrew Black.

In this episode, I finally sit down with the man who’s been a silent force behind so many amazing Coffee & Grit guests.  A connector, a truth-teller, a seed-planter, and a Difference Maker who’s rewriting the rules of business, relationships, and life.

Andrew’s story isn’t just about building a company. It’s about building a life — one rooted in...

As Difference Makers, we all hit that wall.

That moment when the system we’ve been living in no longer makes sense, and no one around us is saying it out loud.

Melissa Merem hit that wall. And instead of turning back, she started building something different.

In this episode, Melissa shares what it looks like to deconstruct the lies, tune into your calling, and walk forward in obedience — even when it’s messy, even when it’s uncomfortable, and even when the world doesn’t clap.

What started as a lighthearted father-dau...

Nine years ago, Jennifer walked away from everything — two kids in tow, no job, no insurance, and nothing but two garbage bags.

She wasn’t supposed to make it.

But not only did she survive, she’s now leading the charge to make sure others don’t have to walk that same road. As Development Manager for Livingston County Habitat for Humanity, Jennifer doesn’t just raise money. She builds stories. She builds connection. She builds purpose. And in this episode, she brings all of that to the mic with grit, laughter, and truth that hits like a ham...

Robert Pierce doesn’t just clean houses.
He cleans hearts, lights up rooms, and sets fires in the souls of the people around him.

In this powerful return to Coffee & Grit, Robert joins me years after our first conversation back when I was rocking a single mic and a GoPro at Grit and Lavender. Back then, he was just launching his cleaning business.

Now? He’s letting his life be the sermon. Every room he walks into business, brotherhood, or community becomes a place where His purpose shows up.

This episode is not just...

Stop Settling for “Fine.” Because You Deserve to Feel Amazing...

Meet Beth Smith – Designer, Disruptor, and Founder of Beth Smith Couture

Back in January I walked into Single Barrel Social for a Howell Chamber Happy Hour and that is when spotted Beth Smith across the room.  I didn’t know who she was.  I didn’t know what she did.
But I knew she was a Difference Maker.

Nine months later, we finally made it happen and it was worth the wait. Beth is on a mission to help women feel as incredible as they are...

Being a engineer Glenn Nixon never imagined a career in sales.

He walked into a room full of closers fresh out of training, scared out of his mind, with no real plan and zero belief in his abilities. But he had something most people miss the drive to figure it out, the humility to keep learning, and the heart to actually care about people. 

That was 23 years ago.

Now he is the guy business owners turn to when their sales process is a mess, their confidence is shot, and nothing is clicking. He is t...

Some people survive.

Some people shine.

And some people walk through the fire and become the damn fire.  That describes Sparkle Lindsay perfectly!  Because this is not just another episode. It is a reunion, a revelation, and a reminder of what happens when you stop waiting and start walking toward your calling. Sparkle returns to Coffee & Grit five years after we first connected on LinkedIn. Back then, she was barely a year into sobriety and unsure if recovery coaching would even be a real path. Now she’s built a national movement, trained over 1,300 coaches, launched mult...

Let’s get one thing straight this isn’t just another story about surviving.

This is a story about choosing to rise differently with love, with grace, and with fire. Joni Woods came back into the studio just weeks before her book Burned, Blocked & Better Than Ever drops. But this conversation?

It went way beyond a book launch. Joni doesn’t just talk about resilience. She lives it.
From sleeping in her car after escaping a toxic marriage…
To raising her kids in the aftermath of generational trauma…
To surviving abuse, shame, religious judgment, b...

Let’s talk real...

If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, inconsistent with your content, or questioning whether your marketing efforts are even working… this one’s for you.

Because I’ve been there too!

In this solo episode of Coffee & Grit, I step back into the studio—Loudmouth Studio—to catch you up on the wild journey of building something from scratch while still trying to coach, create, lead, and live.

We dive into:
How my dream of having a content studio went from 3-year vision to reality in 3 monthsWhat it really look...

Ever feel like you were lazy, unmotivated, or just... broken—because the traditional path never lit you up?

You sat in the back of the classroom, zoned out in office meetings, watching your peers climb ladders you didn’t even want to lean against...You weren’t the problem!  You were a visionary stuck in a system that couldn’t hold you.

That is exactly what fueled this impromptu recording of Coffee & Grit after a trust builder meeting at Loud Mouth Studio that went 10 layers deeper.  Listen I as I talk with a young and hungry entreprene...

What’s up, everybody?! Welcome back to another episode of Coffee & Grit — and you already know I’m fired up for this one!

It’s not every day I get to jam in the new studio with a three-time guest, a true friend, and one of the biggest difference makers I know — the Godfather of Connecting People, Steven Zyskowski, founder of Caerusnet Michigan.

Steve’s was back in Michigan last week from sunny Arizona for the annual Caerusnet Breakfast — and this year, I got the honor of emceeing the event. Let’s just say, when Steve’s in town, the ene...

This episode features a powerhouse Difference Maker—Rhonda Trask, founder of Hearts CRi Michigan (HCRi)—who’s rewriting the story for foster, adoptive, and kinship families across the state.

If you’ve never walked alongside a foster, adoptive, or kinship family—you probably have no idea just how isolating, exhausting, and misunderstood the journey can be. But Rhonda does. And she’s made it her mission to see these families, hear them, and empower them with real tools to heal trauma and build confidence in kids and caregivers alike.

In this powerful conversation, we talk about:
🔥 What...

What happens when you combine Southern grit, global business leadership, a little Café Du Monde, and a whole lot of faith?

You get Tom Rivers.

In the very first episode recorded in our new content studio (after a few hard lessons and black screens, of course), Tom and I dive into a rich conversation about starting from scratch, chasing vision, and building a life and business with purpose. From his Cajun roots and coffee memories in New Orleans, to launching products across continents with Ford and Harmon, Tom shares what it really looks like to persevere—not...

Karyn Kokeny didn’t just pivot careers—she flipped the whole damn script.

In this fire-packed conversation, we talk about what it really takes to build a business, develop confidence, and 10X your life from the inside out. From her early days coaching gymnastics to climbing the corporate ladder to aligning with the Grant Cardone team, Karyn’s journey is a full-circle transformation fueled by mindset, mentorship, and straight-up grit.

This isn’t a story about leaving something—it’s about stepping into your power and choosing more.

We dive into:Why most people misunderstan...

What does it take to turn a life-shattering diagnosis into a mission that empowers millions? 

In this deeply personal and raw episode, Heather Ruby, founder of With Haven AI, shares how she transformed her husband’s cancer battle into a lifeline for caregivers.
Heather takes us on a powerful journey—from the panic of an unexpected diagnosis to the overwhelming weight of being a caregiver, while running a business and raising a family. She reveals how she built With Haven AI, a first-of-its-kind app that uses AI’s emotional intelligence to support caregivers around the clock.

He...

Ready to turn relentless curiosity into real-world freedom?

In this high-voltage conversation, Jason sits down with Audrey Schultz—“Modern Frontierswoman,” successful blogger, vacation-rental investor, interior-designer-turned-realtor, and self-taught Spanish speaker—just days after they first met in Difference Maker Bootcamp. 

Audrey peels back the curtain on her three-year, no-pay grind to monetize her gardening blog, the burnout fights and mindset shifts that kept her pressing “publish” when nobody was reading, and the Pinterest traffic tsunami that finally changed everything. She shares how translating a Spanish memoir on a whim led her to write her own 111-k-word fantasy novel, and wh...

What does it take to build a business that doesn’t just survive, but thrives on trust, integrity, and the power of human connection?  

In this weeks episode, Nate Varilone, founder of Varilone Construction, takes us behind the scenes of his journey from laying tile in his first winter to building a thriving construction company known for its tight-knit team, meaningful relationships, and unwavering commitment to doing things right.

Nate’s story isn’t just about construction—it’s about building a culture of trust and loyalty. From learning the trade with a mentor, to turning every chall...

What if the very thing you’ve been hiding could become your greatest source of power?

In this unforgettable episode of Coffee & Grit, Jason sits down with Lindsey Hall—a passionate artist, photographer, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate—whose journey will both break your heart and light your fire.

From the early days of shooting portraits with a hand-me-down camera to building not one, but two thriving photography studios, Lindsey shares the raw truth about chasing a dream while managing bipolar disorder, raising two daughters as a single mom, and helping others uncover their own self-worth.
<...

Ever had that whisper inside telling you there’s more?

This solo episode flips the script and takes you deep into The Alchemist—not as a book review, but as a mirror to the entrepreneur’s journey. From dreams that won’t let go, to fears that keep us stuck, to the wild synchronicities that show up once we commit—this is about the power of owning your story, stepping into your Personal Legend, and trusting that the universe is conspiring in your favor.

Jason gets raw and real about his own journey—leaving comfort for calling, fig...

What if the “boring” routine is the secret to living your wildest dreams? In this powerhouse return to the mic, Mary Vance is back—and she’s more grounded, fiery, and energized than ever. Two years after her Wake the F** Up* episode, we reunite for an unforgettable conversation about what it really means to live the lifestyle, not just preach it.

Mary’s not just a coach—she is the billboard for Mary Vance Lifestyle. And this episode is a full-body reminder of what’s possible when you show up consistently, stay rooted in your habits, and live in radica...

What if you never came back home—how different would your community be?

In this heart-centered episode of Coffee & Grit, I sit down with Erika McNamara—attorney, entrepreneur, and absolute Difference Maker—to unpack a journey that feels like a real-life version of It’s a Wonderful Life. From international business in China to solo law practice in Brighton, Erika’s story is one of reinvention, resilience, and relentless service.

This conversation goes deep into what it means to build a business with purpose. Erika opens up about the reality of starting her practice in the 2008 recession...

What happens when you trade in your classroom for the coaching seat — and let your story fuel your impact?

In this powerful episode of Coffee & Grit, I sit down with Julia Keider, a former teacher who turned her passion for people and purpose into a thriving coaching and consulting career. Julia’s journey isn’t just about making a career move — it’s about honoring your life experiences, embracing your full story, and realizing that the next chapter can be even more fulfilling than the last.
From growing up in an immigrant family in Brighton...