Rooted In Revenue

This episode of Rooted in Revenue takes an enlightening turn in a world that often pushes us to look outside ourselves for validation and success. Join host Susan and her guest, Chris Champion, as they explore how starting each day with intention and finding your inner peace can transform not just your personal life but your business success as well. From morning walks to barefoot moments in nature, discover simple yet powerful practices that successful leaders use to stay grounded. Chris shares his journey of transformation after a life-changing health challenge, and together they discuss how developing a strong foundation of self-belief, combined with faith, creates the roadmap to both personal and professional fulfillment. This conversation goes beyond typical business metrics to explore the real revenue of life – peace, purpose, and possibility.
Links from this episode:
Twitter @ImChrisChampion
IG: IamChrisChampion
www.championexperiences.com
https://www.crocs.com/
https://binkypatrol.org

Susan Finch sits down with Patty Parobek from Mod Op to explore the strategic implementation of AI in business. They discuss the concept of an "AI Playground" - a structured approach for organizations to test and evaluate AI tools before full deployment. The conversation covers essential topics, including developing responsible AI use policies, forming cross-functional AI councils, and protecting sensitive data when using AI platforms. Patty shares valuable insights on how businesses of any size can thoughtfully integrate AI while maintaining security and client trust, making this episode a must-listen for organizations navigating the AI landscape.
 
Here is the Leader Generation Episode:
About Patty Parobek:
As Vice President of AI Transformation, Patty leads Mod Op’s AI practice group, spearheading initiatives to maximize the value and scalability of AI-enabled solutions. Patty collaborates with the executive team to revolutionize creative, advertising and marketing projects for clients, while ensuring responsible AI practices. She also oversees AI training programs, identifies high-value AI use cases and measures implementation impact, providing essential feedback to Mod Op’s AI Council for continuous improvement. Patty can be reached on LinkedIn or at [email protected].
 

Join Susan Finch as she interviews Ashley Schultz of Modest Mystic Healing, a Reiki practitioner transforming lives in Southern Oregon. After experiencing the healing power of Reiki firsthand, Ashley transitioned from a troubled past to building a thriving practice. Now part of a women's business accelerator program, she shares her journey from skeptic to practitioner and her ambitious plans to expand across Oregon.
About Ashley Schultz:
Ashley is a Reiki Master and Intuitive reader who discovered her healing path three years ago. She felt a lifelong calling to help others and found her purpose in the ancient Japanese practice of Reiki. With two years of professional experience, Ashley combines energy healing with intuitive abilities to address clients' emotional, physical, and mental challenges. Her practice focuses on creating a compassionate space where individuals can find balance and peace. Ashley believes that global healing begins with self-healing and guides her clients through personalized, transformative experiences.
Learn more at ModestMysticHealing.com

As part of Rooted in Revenue's Accelerator series Susan Finch sits down with Michelle Calascibetta, an innovative entrepreneur who transformed a school bus into a mobile educational kitchen called "Flora the Farm Bus” for her business Farm Bus Bistro. Michelle combines her background in environmental education, farm-based learning, and her family roots in Montessori teaching to bring hands-on culinary education to students across the Rogue Valley. Learn how she's built her unique business, FarmBusBistro.com, and why she's joining the Accelerator program to take her venture to the next level. From teaching forest ecology to empowering children with essential life skills through cooking, Michelle shares her journey of turning her passion for food, plants, and education into a thriving mobile business.
LINKS
https://www.farmbusbistro.com/home
https://www.instagram.com/farmbusbistro/
http://facebook.com/farmbusbistro
 
About Our Guest:
Michelle Calascibetta is an innovative culinary educator who seamlessly weaves together her experience in organic farming and teaching through The Farm Bus Bistro. After developing educational programs at Jean's Urban Forest Farm while pursuing her graduate studies at Portland State University, Michelle found her calling in sharing the joy of growing, cooking, and eating good food. She has since created unique Culinary Arts programs at both the Medford Montessori School and The Valley School of Southern Oregon, where students collaborate to prepare nourishing meals for their school communities. Through The Farm Bus Bistro, Michelle continues to inspire learners of all ages to connect with and celebrate the abundant local food landscape of the Rogue Valley.

Have you ever felt lost when managing your website’s domain? You’re not alone. Some tech professionals keep these concepts vague to maintain control over their clients. Let’s break down what you need to know and document to stay in control of your digital property. Remember, your domain for your company is YOURS. Do not let an outside contractor register a domain for you, even if they are trying to save time, money, etc. You need to create this login and invite them in to manage it. You never want to lose control of your domains. This short episode gives you an initial action list to take inventory of what you have, who has access, and when your domains renew.The next episode in this series will be about moving domains, testing your domains and SSL certificates.
This is tied to a course series Susan has available with free real estate broker focused tips emailed q-r.to/sfsreo8, and a paid workshop group. q-r.to/sf8weeks

Are you dreaming of turning your side passion into a thriving business? In this episode of Rooted in Revenue, host Susan Finch sits down with Becky Esquibel, founder of Experience Joy, who's doing exactly that. As a nuclear medicine technologist by day and travel consultant by choice, Becky shares her remarkable journey of transforming her love for travel planning into a business that's seen a staggering 1600% growth in just one year.
What makes Becky's story particularly compelling is her practical approach to business growth. Rather than making a risky leap, she's strategically building her travel consultancy while maintaining her stable hospital position. She opens up about navigating the challenges of a growing client base, the importance of investing in professional services from the start, and how joining a women's business accelerator program is helping her plan her transition to full-time entrepreneurship.
Whether you're considering starting a side business or looking to scale your existing one, Becky's insights on balancing growth with stability, setting professional boundaries, and the value of women's business networks offer a realistic roadmap for success.
Experience Joy

In this episode of Rooted in Revenue, we explore the powerful role of community in business growth with Jessica Monarch, a women's health empowerment coach. As she transitions from stay-at-home mom to business owner, Jessica reveals why she chose to step out of isolation and into a women's business program called The Accelerator – despite her initial hesitation about whether she "belonged" in such a space. There is no doubt now.
Through our candid conversation, Jessica shares how finding the right community has helped her move beyond generic business advice to develop authentic marketing strategies aligning with her healing values. She offers a refreshingly honest look at the difference between working in and owning your business, emphasizing how peer support helps navigate this crucial transition.
Whether you're questioning if you should invest in yourself through community programs, struggling to find your authentic voice in business, or simply feeling alone in your business journey, Jessica's story illuminates why real growth requires more than just solo effort – it takes the right support system and community of fellow women business owners who understand your challenges.
Find Jessia Monarch here.
Learn more about the Elevated Networking Society here.
Susan Finch on LinkedIn
 
Business Development & Identity:
#WomenInBusiness
#SmallBusinessOwner
#BusinessGrowth
#WomenOwnedBusiness
#SmallBizGrowth
Community & Support:
#WomenSupportingWomen
#BusinessCommunity
#WomenInBizNetwork
#BusinessMentorship
#WomenEntrepreneurship
Personal Growth & Development:
#BusinessConfidence
#PersonalGrowth
#ProfessionalDevelopment
#BusinessJourney
#GrowthMindset

Today, we're challenging you to conduct a Professional Presence Audit—a critical look at how you appear across the digital landscape to ensure your professional image remains consistent, current, and compelling. This is Part 2 of our Digital Brand Checkup series on Rooted in Revenue. Our last episode covered the essentials of managing your digital real estate—from domains to infrastructure. 
Essential action items from this episode:
Google Audit:
Search yourself/company in an incognito window
Review up to page 8 of the search results
Document outdated or incorrect listings
Look for unauthorized or outdated profiles
NAP (Name, Address, Phone) Consistency:
Ensure the company name format is identical across all platforms
Standardize address formatting (abbreviations, punctuation)
Use consistent phone number format (preferably with hyphens)
Document the exact format to be used by all team members
Professional Profile Management:
Review all directory listings (industry, membership groups, associations)
Update bios across all platforms
Verify current memberships and certifications
Remove or update outdated affiliations
Create platform-specific bios for different purposes
Website and Landing Pages:
Create specific landing pages for different audiences/purposes
Ensure all domain redirects lead to valuable content
Update professional credentials and certifications
Review and refresh all bio pages
Call-to-Action Consistency:
Define 1-2 primary destinations for all profile links
Maintain consistent messaging across platforms
Ensure all CTAs lead to current, working pages
Document preferred CTAs in your asset depot
Bio Management:
Create a master bio document with variations
Include links to where each bio appears
Update bios to reflect current focus and achievements
Have others review bios for clarity and impact
Consider professional help for bio writing/updating
Documentation:
Create an "Asset Depot" to store all digital presence information
Document all profile locations and login credentials
Please keep track of all bio variations and their purposes
Set up regular review schedules (quarterly/annual)
Regular Maintenance:
Schedule annual comprehensive audits
Set quarterly review reminders
Update profiles when significant changes occur
Regularly test all links and redirects
Remember to resist the urge to use AI for writing bios. While it can help with organization and redundancy checking, your authentic voice and personality should shine through in your professional profiles.

Your business runs on digital - but when was the last time you gave it a proper checkup? This week on Rooted in Revenue, we're getting real about the nuts and bolts of your digital foundation. Susan Finch and Lany Sullivan share their hands-on experience managing domains (including those late-night wine-inspired purchases we've all made), keeping backups current, and yes - discovering that even storage facilities need retention policies. No fluff, just practical advice on protecting your digital assets and organizing them in a way that actually makes sense. Whether you're a tech pro or still figuring out what DNS means, we've got you covered with straightforward talk and simple solutions for keeping your business's digital world running smoothly.
Here are the key points from the episode:
Domain Management Essentials:
Consolidate all domains to one account/provider
Document registration and renewal dates
Verify owner, admin, and tech contacts are current
Have a clear purpose for each domain
Make every domain work for you - forward unused ones to active properties
Never respond to mail-based domain renewal solicitations (they're scams)
Export and document DNS settings as a backup
Website Security:
Ensure SSL certificates are current and test your site in incognito
Verify site works securely with and without 'www'
Keep security protocols updated
Documentation & Organization:
Create an "Asset Depot" to store all digital asset information
Include backend links, affiliate info, products/services details
Keep all access credentials organized and updated
Document all processes and systems
Backup Systems:
Implement regular backups not stored on the same host
Verify backups are actually working
Test restoration process periodically
Organize files for efficient backup
Retention Policies:
Understand your industry's specific retention requirements
Only retain what's legally required
Create organized folders with destruction dates
Set calendar reminders for data destruction
Be careful with development/test data retention
Regular Auditing:
Make this a yearly review process
Get an outside perspective on systems and processes
Test all systems and access points
Verify all contact information is current

Welcome to a special series on Rooted in Revenue, where we're documenting something extraordinary happening in Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley. Today we're kicking off our coverage of an innovative women's business accelerator program that's transforming lives and businesses in the region.
We're sitting down with the four remarkable women behind this initiative: Arin Fugate, who transformed a local networking group into a thriving community; Lisa Manyon, a global marketing strategist and content expert; Angelica Owens, a business strategist specializing in delegation and authentic sales; and Lany Sullivan, a systems and growth expert who helps tie it all together.
What started as a casual monthly meetup has exploded into a 2,000-member strong community of women supporting women, and now they've launched an intensive business accelerator program called, "The Accelerator." Over the coming months, we'll follow the journey of their first cohort of 16 participants, documenting their transformations, challenges, and successes.
This is more than just business education – it's about breaking down barriers, challenging money mindsets, and creating a sustainable model for women's economic empowerment that starts at the local level but has global implications.
Stay with us as we begin this journey, starting with our conversation with the four visionary women who brought The Accelerator to life.
Learn more about the Elevated Networking Society here.

Susan Finch and Lany Sullivan plunge into the muck of a crucial but often overlooked aspect of business operations: the client intake process. Coming fresh from their previous episode on intellectual property, they explore how even successful businesses like Susan's (with 20 years of experience) can benefit from implementing structured intake systems.
Whether you've been in business for six months or two decades, this episode reveals why having a clear, systematic approach to onboarding clients isn't just about organization – it's about increasing revenue, saving time, and working with clients who bring you joy. You'll learn practical tips for creating effective intake forms, structuring service packages, and avoiding common pitfalls that lead to scope creep and revenue loss. If you're tired of "winging it" with clients or want to streamline your business processes, this conversation offers actionable insights to transform your client onboarding experience.
Get a peek at Lany's here.

Join Susan Finch and Lany Sullivan in this eye-opening episode of Rooted in Revenue as they dive into the crucial topic of intellectual property. Discover what IP really means for your business, how to protect your creations, and why holding someone's intellectual property hostage is a major business faux pas. Whether you're a content creator, business owner, or working with contractors, this episode offers valuable insights to help you navigate the complex world of IP.
Disclaimers: Lany and Susan are not giving legal advice and are not attorneys. They are sharing what they have learned from their experiences and that of their clients.
Tips/Recommendations:
Lany:
Intellectual property includes anything you create, not just patents and trademarks.
Consult with an attorney about protecting your IP through trademarks and copyrights.
Include clear IP ownership clauses in contracts with contractors and clients.
Don't put sensitive intellectual property into open-source AI tools.
Susan:
Be cautious when using services like Fiverr for logos - ensure you get vector files and ownership rights.
When rescuing clients from IP hostage situations, try to hear both sides of the story.
For creatives, consider retaining copies of client files as an archive, not to hold hostage.