Featured Guest Series Episodes
Welcome to the Guest Series on The Bliss Business Podcast! In this series, we spotlight exceptional leaders of companies that embody the core values of Belonging, Love, Inspiration, Service, and Sustainability. These organizations set the standard for empathy and people-centric business practices, creating positive and inclusive work environments.
Join us as we explore the stories and strategies of these remarkable companies, and gain valuable insights on integrating BLISS principles into your own business practices. Subscribe and follow us to stay updated on the latest episodes and be inspired by leaders who are making a difference.
Join us as we explore the stories and strategies of these remarkable companies, and gain valuable insights on integrating BLISS principles into your own business practices. Subscribe and follow us to stay updated on the latest episodes and be inspired by leaders who are making a difference.
June 18, 2026
Paws & Purpose: Building Community in Pet Franchising with Michelle Sandonato
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Michelle Sandonato, co-founder and president of Bowie Barker Bath + Groomerie, shares how building community in pet franchising helps dog grooming feel less transactional and more like trusted, joyful neighborhood care as the brand expands nationwide.
Guest: Michelle Sandonato
June 16, 2026
Inside Move America Initiative: Culture in Action with Alicia Hart and Jeanine Charlton
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we continue our conversation with Merchants Fleet, joined by Alicia Hart, Chief People Officer, and Jeanine Charlton, Chief Technology Officer, who show how culture in action turns Move America from strategy into daily leadership behavior.
Guests: Alicia Hart , Jeanine Charlton
June 11, 2026
Profit and Social Responsibility in Mission-Driven Startups with Mike Ma
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Mike Ma, Managing Partner and Head Coach at Sidecut Ventures, explores profit and social responsibility in mission-driven startups: why coachable founders, not fast capital, build companies that scale responsibly and create lasting impact.
June 9, 2026
Empathy, Community, and Connection in Franchise Leadership with Larisa Walega
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Larisa Walega, Chief Growth Officer of Ziebart International Corporation, explains how empathy in franchise leadership starts with listening to franchise owners, treating customer experience as emotional, and building systems that protect trust instead of replacing it.
Guest: Larisa Walega
June 4, 2026
Civilization Advances When Compassion Becomes Infrastructure
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa argue that civilization advances when compassion becomes infrastructure, not when individual leaders occasionally act with care, and explain why AI will only amplify whatever culture a company already has.
Guests: Stephen Sakach , Tullio Siragusa
June 2, 2026
Building Community Through Empathy in Pet Care Franchising with Shaina Denny
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Shaina Denny, Founder and CEO of Dogdrop, explains how empathy in pet care franchising starts with training the care team first, and how a membership model and small-footprint locations keep personalized care realistic at scale.
Guest: Shaina Denny
May 28, 2026
Value DRiVEN: Scaling Brands Through Connection with Adam Sutton
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Adam Sutton, CEO of DX3 Brands and RNR Tire Express, shares how scaling brands through connection turns transactional service into real relationships, and why culture, customers, and community are the three C's driving sustainable franchise growth.
Guest: Adam Sutton
May 26, 2026
EQ and Empathy: The New Standard for Franchise Success with Roxanne Conrad
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Roxanne Conrad, Chief Operating Officer of Premium Service Brands, explains why emotional intelligence at scale means matching people to the roles where they succeed naturally, and why clarity, not sentiment, is what makes systems feel supportive instead of rigid.
Guest: Roxanne Conrad
May 21, 2026
Ethical Community Growth: The Future of Innovative Franchise Models with Nick Ridgway
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Nick Ridgway, Vice President of Franchise Development for Service Experts, explains why ethical community growth means selecting franchise owners who want to belong to a community, not simply extract from it, and why trust has to be built the same way in every phase of ownership.
Guest: Nick Ridgway
May 19, 2026
Building Purpose-Led Marketing Systems with Gareth Bain
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Gareth Bain, fractional CMO and founder of Got Legs Digital, explains why reactive marketing systems break down as businesses scale, and how founders can replace chaos with clarity.
Guest: Gareth Bain
May 14, 2026
Sustainable Business Practices and Ethics with Sam Berman
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Sam Berman, Founder and CEO of LARC, explains how sustainable business practices replaced one-time wood shipping crates with a reusable system, and why the company funds the fight against human trafficking.
Guest: Sam Berman
May 12, 2026
Why Franchising Breaks Founders and How to Fix It with John Francis
In this milestone 200th guest episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, John Francis, known as "Johnny Franchise" and founder of Fathers Eve, breaks down the franchise leadership bottleneck: why founders unintentionally become the ceiling on their own growth, and how structural accountability and clarity fix it.
Guest: John Francis
May 7, 2026
The Role of Empathy in Leadership with Sarah Feely
Sarah Feely, Chief Learning Officer of Compassionate Leaders Circle, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to unpack empathy in leadership: why self-fulfilling prophecies shape culture, why authenticity starts with self-awareness, and why compassionate systems, not just compassionate people, are what make leadership impact last.
Guest: Sarah Feely
May 5, 2026
Empathy, Emotional Intelligence and Connection in Business with Mike Weinberger
Mike Weinberger, co-founder of Replay Sports Cards, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to unpack emotional intelligence at work: why the product is the experience, why community curation beats pure profit motive, and why the highest-leverage leadership habit is simply to listen.
Guest: Mike Weinberger
April 30, 2026
The Power of Emotional Intelligence in Business with Angela Coté
Angela Coté, Founder and CEO of AC Inc., joins The Bliss Business Podcast to unpack emotional intelligence in franchising: why field coaching beats compliance, how top performers stop blaming the system, and the one question that turns dependent franchisees into confident owners.
Guest: Angela Coté
April 28, 2026
Building Community and Connection in Business with Ruth Ellen Elinski
Ruth Ellen Elinski, Associate State Director of the Arizona SBDC Network and co-founder of PinDrop Travel Trailers, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to explore community and connection in business, showing how local networks, free advising, and simple visibility turn isolated founders into resilient, growth-ready businesses.
Guest: Ruth Ellen Elinski
April 23, 2026
Building Community and Connection in Business with Matt Dyer
Matt Dyer, CEO and President of Merchants Fleet, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to explore community and connection in business, showing how trust, clear KPIs, and horizontal teamwork turn 165,000 vehicles and one client promise into 99 percent retention.
Guest: Matt Dyer
April 21, 2026
The Role of Empathy in Leadership with Greg Essenmacher
Greg Essenmacher, CEO of GnA Consult, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to explore empathy and case acceptance in fixed full arch dentistry, showing how a trademarked call framework and measurable empathy scorecards turn shame-based hesitation into trust.
Guest: Greg Essenmacher
April 16, 2026
The Role of Empathy in Leadership with Alberto J. Ortiz
Alberto Ortiz, CEO and President of ATAX, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to show how leading with empathy at scale, through availability, get-to-know-you sheets, and a willingness to say yes, built a 2,700-office franchise culture.
Guest: Alberto J. Ortiz
April 14, 2026
Building Community and Connection in Business with Leslie Youngblood
Leslie Youngblood, Founder and CEO of Youngblood MMC, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to explore community and connection in business, showing why a thousand real fans beat a million passive followers.
Guest: Leslie Youngblood
April 9, 2026
Service as Infrastructure: The Heart of a Blissful Business with Julie Budkowski & Brian Baird
Julie Budkowski, Managing Director, and Brian Baird, Founder and Executive Director of the National Museum and Center for Service, join The Bliss Business Podcast to make the case that service as infrastructure, not charity, is what holds teams, culture, and democratic society together.
Guests: Brian Baird , Julie Budkowski
April 7, 2026
Building Community and Connection in Business with Vince Quinn
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Vince Quinn, Founder of SBX Productions and a former national radio host, shares how building community and connection turns podcast listeners into real relationships, not just an audience, through intention, systems, and authentic conversation.
Guest: Vince Quinn
April 2, 2026
The Role of Empathy in Leadership with Steph Porter
Steph Porter, Founder of Ink and Iron PR, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to describe people first crisis response from the inside: the day a shooting killed an employee and a customer, why the executives went to the site, and what empathy costs when the clock is running.
Guest: Steph Porter
March 31, 2026
Building Community and Connection in Business with Noah Smock
Noah Smock, Director of Resource Development at ToolBank USA, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to explain radical sharing: a lending model that takes equipment costs off nonprofit budgets and, more importantly, changes what those organizations think they can take on.
Guest: Noah Smock