Kanawha Valley Hustlers
The Kanawha Valley Hustle podcast is your source for inspiration and insights from the creative minds and hardworking hustlers who call the Kanawha Valley area home. Whether you're looking to start your own business, pursue a creative passion, or simply want to learn more about the movers and shakers in your community, the Kanawha Valley Hustle has something for you.
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AI, Manufacturing, and the Future of Business with Madhur Bedre
<p >Building a business takes more than having expertise in an industry. It requires making decisions, learning from mistakes, developing relationships, and adapting when circumstances change. In this episode of Kanawha Valley Hustlers, I chat with Madhur Bedre to discuss his experience building a company that helps manufacturers improve production through process control and artificial intelligence. We explore the challenges of entrepreneurship, the role of technology in manufacturing, and the importance of building a network of people who can help along the way.</p> <p >Madhur has spent about 15 years working in process control, including time working in Charleston before...
Networking, Accountability and Better Sales with Haley Merritt
<p >My conversation with Haley Merritt focuses on what sales looks like once you move past the idea of pitching products and start building relationships. Haley works as an account manager at ProSource, where she helps businesses with office equipment, printing, document management, and other technology needs. Much of our discussion centers on how her understanding of sales changed once she entered business-to-business sales and learned that people are rarely waiting for someone to walk through the door and sell them something. Instead, earning business takes trust, networking, listening, and time.</p> <p >Haley entered sales believing that potential customers...
The Three-Step Process for Building a Stronger Team
<p >A common problem I hear from entrepreneurs is that employees do not always follow through on assignments the way the owner expects. A task gets assigned, the instructions seem clear, and when the work does not get done, the first assumption may be that the wrong person was hired. I believe the problem often begins with leadership instead. Leading a team is a skill, and like any other skill, it can be learned and developed.</p> <p >I have spent more than 25 years working with creative and business teams, including more than eight years as the marketing director of...
10 Years of Fear with Lee Jordan
<p >I talk with Lee Jordan to talk about Fear on the Farm, a West Virginia haunted attraction celebrating its 10th year in business. What started with Lee’s love of Halloween grew into an operation that brings families and visitors to Winfield each fall. Over the past decade, Fear on the Farm has expanded several times and now includes ten separate attractions. Our conversation covered the growth of the business, staffing, marketing, reinvestment, team culture, and the lessons Lee has learned from running a seasonal attraction.</p> <p >Lee’s interest in Halloween goes back to childhood. He spent year...
What Custom Woodworking Teaches About Business with Austin Taylor
<p >Austin Taylor built AT Woodwork around a lesson that many business owners learn after they get started: running a business looks different from the outside than it does from the inside. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Austin saw business owners with money, freedom, and time for vacations. Once he started his own company, he found long work hours, months with little money, and other months when the business provided room to spend. His experience shows that entrepreneurship requires work, patience, and the willingness to continue through changes in income.</p> <p >Austin owns AT Woodwork, a custom woodworking company based...
The Story of Never Deer with James Stanton
<p >James Stanton built Never Deer around a problem that started at home. His wife’s plants were being eaten by deer, and he began looking for a solution. That experiment grew into a West Virginia business producing a deer repellent designed for homeowners, landscapers, forestry professionals, and others who need to protect plants. Our conversation covers how the product developed, what James has learned about running a business, and why sales, relationships, and asking for help matter as much as the product itself.</p> <p >James comes from a background in wildlife and fisheries management and has worked in st...
The Difference Between AI and Human Intelligence
<p >In this episode, I step away from business development and marketing to look at how artificial intelligence works, how computers solve problems, and how human reasoning differs from both. My goal is to explain why AI can produce useful results without thinking or understanding the world the way a person does. The difference matters because AI is becoming part of the tools people use to make decisions.</p> <p >I begin with three forms of reasoning: deductive, inductive, and abductive. Deductive reasoning works from established facts. If A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C. The...
The Business Behind the Camera with Frank Miller
<p >My conversation with Frank Miller explores how a photography and filmmaking business can change as the owner learns what the market needs. Frank entered the business expecting most of his work to come from families, weddings, and other consumer clients. Instead, he found himself moving into business-to-business and commercial work. That shift gave him a chance to build relationships with clients over time, create contracts that provide repeat work, and reduce the pressure of filling his schedule from scratch each month.</p> <p >Frank’s experience also shows how easy it is for a business owner to spend money fo...
How Taste of Appalachia Is Helping Local Food Businesses Grow with Terrell Ellis
<p >Taste of Appalachia is entering its second year with a focus on helping small food producers across the region reach more customers while giving people a way to share West Virginia products during the holiday season. I spoke with Terrell Ellis of Advantage Valley about what the organization learned during the first year, how the program is growing, and the broader work being done to support entrepreneurs throughout the Charleston and Huntington region.</p> <p >Taste of Appalachia began as an Advantage Valley initiative to promote small food producers from across the region. The program brings products from different...
What It Takes to Sell a Great Product with Mary Beth Smith
<p >In this episode of Kanawha Valley Hustlers, I talk with Mary Beth Smith, co-owner and co-founder of Tipsy Roo’s Barbecue Sauce, about what it takes to build a product-based business. Our conversation focuses on the gap between what people expect when they start a company and what happens once they begin trying to sell. Mary Beth explains that creating a product is only one part of the work. Business owners also have to promote it, meet customers, attend events, offer samples, build relationships, and keep showing up. Her experience with Tipsy Roo’s shows how direct contact with cust...
