Growing with Purpose

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Andy Fowler, CEO of Nutshell, an all-in-one CRM and email marketing platform based in Ann Arbor, MI.  

“My trajectory in life was never to start a business, or even to lead a business,” says Andy. “I was always motivated by my own curiosity and making things, that’s what always made me tick.”

This curiosity for learning was instilled in Andy at an early age. He was homeschooled by his mother all the way through high school, which gave him the flexibility to really dive into topics that he was most curious about. One of these was computers, which led him to intern, and later work at a local dialup internet company. It was there that he learned the fundamentals of computers and software, and where he met three friends who ended up being his co-founders in eventually creating Nutshell.

One of these friends, Guy Suter, was CEO until other business ventures took more of his time. They then brought in a CEO from the outside, and just a couple of years ago, Andy stepped into the role. He claims that even ten years at the company didn’t fully prepare him for the responsibilities, but that his passion for continued learning and for helping people through his problem-solving are what drive him on his leadership journey.

“The reason I ended up starting companies and being a part of them in early stages was because of what I like doing, and that was solving problems, and often for businesses.”

Andy had the impeccable timing of becoming CEO just a couple months before the start of the pandemic, which has brought about its own challenges and questions, such as the concept of remote work after having developed a strong office culture over the past decade. But Andy said it’s also allowed them the space to hunker down and develop new products, and start redeveloping their company vision. Some things that Andy will always keep at the core of his leadership and of Nutshell, is the integrity of their products, and developing people with potential. After all, the owner of the dialup internet company back in his hometown took a chance of Andy based solely on potential. 

“When you find someone who is interested in what you’re doing, and you treat them well, and they stick around because they’re excited about the mission and what’s happening, you can go far.”

In this episode, listen as Andy tells Paul about his early days of getting into the world of CRM when it was just beginning, how his lifelong curiosity led to him being an accidental entrepreneur, and why everything at Nutshell starts with a well-designed product. 

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Kate McCrea, CEO and “Chief Caramel Visionary” of McCrea’s, a quality candy confectioner. Kate is also a longstanding member of the Small Giants Community. 

At a glance, Kate’s road may be a very windy one. From being an avid dancer as a child, to training as a scientist and living in places like remote Alaska to conduct fieldwork, to now being at the helm of a rapidly growing candy company, Kate has worn a lot of hats in her life. But to her, these transitions haven’t been huge leaps, but rather, stepping stones.

After Kate’s husband, Jason, a fellow scientist, lost his job in 2008, he started making caramel in his kitchen, working with sugar molecules to stabilize the candy rather than using preservatives. Before long, it turned into a family business.

“It’s easy to look back now, and see we had this itch to step into the business world to be makers,” says Kate. “Once Jason had this amazing formulation… it was not a huge step to taking it to markets.”

In this episode, listen as Kate discusses with Paul how she and her husband successfully run a business together, how their scientist background prepared them to have an innovation mindset in their company, and how recently creating a human-centric vision for McCrea’s has gotten her excited for their future. 

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Angela Barbash, CEO of Revalue Investing, a values-based investment advisory firm.  She is also a current participant in the Small Giants Leadership Academy as well as a recipient of our inaugural LIFT scholarship.

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Mel Gravely, majority owner and CEO of TriVersity Construction. He is also the author of nine books, including his most recent, Dear White Friend.

As a self-proclaimed product of Affirmative Action, from an early age Mel understood not only that his presence as a black man in professional settings was met with negative perceptions, but also that the intentionality of inclusion offered him opportunities that the systems in this country would not have naturally led to. After a successful career at IBM, earning his PhD, and starting several other companies, Mel went on to lead TriVersity Construction, which is a consistent member of the Deloitte 100 list of the largest privately owned companies. 

After writing eight business books relating to his PhD in entrepreneurship focused on African Americans, Mel felt compelled to contribute to the social justice movement with his book Dear White Friend (in which he intentionally left out his PhD). Through a series of letters to his white friends, Mel cites extensive research and data to support his own sentiments around race, and how our country’s history and systems have led us to this point in history, but has not prepared us for it. As he says, “If we can’t figure out how to talk about what we’re feeling and experiencing and what we see, how can we hope to solve it?”

In this episode, hear Mel tell Paul his approach to this book and what kind of impact he hopes it can have on future discussions around race. Plus, hear how Mel’s parents helped prepare him to be a successful leader, and what his definition of success is for his company.

Listen to Mel’s story below: 

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Conni Reed, founder and CEO of Consuela.

Starting with a computer science degree, Conni had a steady career in the corporate tech world. But she was feeling uninspired, unhappy, and, in her own words, “I was pretty much just un.” After a self-proclaimed “early mid-life crisis at 35,” she left her job to start her own business. What began as making one-of-a-kind art in her garage has grown into a multi-million dollar company selling joyously colorful handbags, as well as the mission “make today ridiculously awesome!”.

In this episode, Conni explains how hearing many “no’s” helped her to understand her values even more, the personal importance of working with artisans in Mexico, and the strength that empathy has given her throughout her life. After you listen, head on over to the Consuela website for some accessory eye candy and heartwarming messages.

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Drew Patrick, owner and CEO of Skidmore Studio in Detroit, Michigan. In March 2020, Drew also founded Michigan Fields, an online specialty market that delivers the best of Michigan food and beverage directly to Metro Detroit homes.

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Sabrina White, Head of People & Customer Experience at Text-Em-All, and Leslie DeMent, Managing Director at Tailwind. Sabrina and Leslie are graduates of the Small Giants Leadership Academy who found lifelong friendship in one another and with the other leaders in their class.

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Torey Carter-Conneen, CEO of the The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and a graduate of the Small Giants Leadership Academy, to talk about his leadership journey, his experiences as a Black leader, and his perspective on the important role business can play in our nation's fight for racial justice.

Like all of us, Torey and his colleagues at ASLA were deeply impacted by the murder of George Floyd last summer. "The 8 minutes and 46 seconds murder of George Floyd brought ASLA — and the world, quite frankly — to a full stop and reminded us all that the road to a more just and fair society is long and winding," says Torey. 

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Colin Quinn, Founder/Co-Director at Be Positive in Edinburgh, Scotland. Be Positive is an IT services company that provides consulting, staffing, and training in the area of business analysis.

On this bonus mailbag episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman answers listener questions all about small business finances with special guest Mackey McNeill, CPA, PFS, and Founder and CEO of the private business financial coaching firm, MACKEY.

If the events of the last year taught us anything, it's that unexpected things happen and as business leaders, we need to be prepared for them. Right now, many leaders in the Small Giants Community are facing more questions than answers, especially when it comes to the economy and financial planning.

That's why we’re doing a special mailbag episode to answer your questions about how Small Giants can expect the best and prepare for the unexpected in the year ahead. Listeners of this podcast submitted their questions and we've invited special guest Mackey McNeill to lend her expertise.

Mackey is a Small Giants Community Summit sponsor and those who registered early will receive a copy of her book Prosperity Playbook. Want to learn from and meet inspiring purpose-driven leaders like Mackey?

Register for the 2021 Small Giants Community Summit where you'll connect with hundreds of purpose-driven business leaders for meaningful relationship sharing and interactive learning.