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Denise Brown took her caregiving experience and turned it into a business — one that trains other caregivers to turn their own experiences into a business.  Graduates of The Caregiving Years Training Academy have turned the business of caregiving into careers in speaking, coaching mentoring, leading support groups, and many other things.

The business of caregiving is set to increase, because the need for caregivers is increasing.  This is due to our aging population, growing health risks and healthcare disparity, as well as the ongoing shortage of healthcare workers of all types.

And those caregivers will need help and support as well, leading to lots of business opportunities.  There are and will continue to be plenty of opportunities to create valuable businesses, but also provide meaningful help and support to others.

Denise shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur some of the many challenges of being a caregiver, as well as the challenges of being an entrepreneur.  Hers is a meaningful and heartfelt startup journey.

Click on the arrow to listen, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the interview.

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Huan Xia is on a quest to provide better plant-based foods.

Her company, LusOasis, makes and sells a variety of gluten-free, keto-friendly pancake mixes. And her latest venture, Alchemeat, produces a plant-based meat substitute that — unlike what's currently on the market — mimics the texture of real meat.

Her journey hasn't been easy. She came to the U.S. as an immigrant with only two suitcases and a smattering of English. But her drive and focus helped her succeed in big corporate America first, and now is helping her in her journey as an entrepreneur.  And it turns out that being an immigrant has some advantages when it comes to entrepreneurship.

How did she do all this? You need to “unleash yourself,” she says.

We talk about what this means, and ways you, too, can “unleash yourself!'

Listen to her inspiring story on The Savvy Entrepreneur Show! Click on the arrow to listen to the interview, or go here if you'd rather read a transcript!

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Professor Mukila Maitha from Harper College in Palatine, Illinois talks with The Savvy Entrepreneur about the many business opportunities that drones will offer.  Harper is one of a small number of colleges & universities with a drone certificate program.

Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, have been around for a few decades and were used mostly in military operations.  Today's drones come in a huge range of sizes, and their uses in commercial applications are limited only by people's imaginations.

The most popular uses for drones today are in photography, real estate, and monitoring.  Soon, however, they will be used commonly for deliveries of all sorts.  In Singapore, they are even being tested to carry people — look out, Uber & Lyft!

Mukila & I chat about some of the many, many current and future business opportunities that drones present.  And many of these are suited to small businesses.  Drone business opportunities including building and repairing drones, as well as programming them.  And most needed of all are people to create the concepts for using drones, and people to translate the data from the drones into useful graphics or other presentations.

The people, Mukila says, who can straddle 2 different areas of expertise, such as environmental monitoring and drone programming, or photography and real estate, will have many drone business opportunities.

But as you listen to Mukila start to envision our drone future, you will start to realize drone business opportunities are everywhere, and present lots of opportunities to people with interest and skills (or willingness to learn those skills).

Click on the arrow to get a glimpse of our drone-filled future, or go here if you'd rather read a transcript of our interview.

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Did you know there are astrologists who focus exclusively on money matters?  I didn't, until I re-connected with Susan Abbott Gidel, an old high school mate.

Susan, a Financial Astrologer, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share her journey from commodities trading and journalism to a self-employed astrologer.  You'll hear how to become an astrologer, and what financial astrologers do.

You'll also hear how one entrepreneur methodically and internationally pivoted her career into something entirely new, and some tips for coping when your planned side hustle becomes suddenly becomes your full-time business.

Click on the arrow to listen to the interview, or if you'd prefer to read a transcript, go here.

 

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Laura Barnard, CEO of BREAKTHRU Brands, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur show to talk about personal branding.  She shares what personal branding is, how to tell if your brand is strong or weak, why a strong personal brand is so powerful, and tips for helping build a stronger brand.

Laura works with women to help them find their voice — their passion, their purpose.  Then she helps them craft that into a powerful story and then shows them how to amplify that voice.  And she helps them uncover hidden obstacles that stand in the way and how to power through them.

We chat about some of the things that hold women entrepreneurs back, including self-confidence and the imposter syndrome.  And talk about some of the ways to overcome those fears and voices inside our heads.

Laura's passion for what she does is clear from the first few minutes of our interview.  She offers tons of tips and suggestions to help women entrepreneurs — all entrepreneurs, really — improve their personal branding.  And to find and amplify their voice and make a bigger impact in whatever they're doing.

Don't miss this episode!

Click on the arrow to hear the interview, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript.

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