We love everything about a family business because we are a family business. Our company has endured the difficult start-up years, the highs of growth, and the lows of a family breakup.
As family business owners, we often feel like we are on an island. We believe the challenges we're facing are unique to only us, but the reality is a large percentage of family business owners struggle with similar challenges:
-Not enough time to get everything done
-Wearing too many hats
-Family members in the wrong seat in the business
-Struggling with retaining employees
And so on…
We don't want you on an island. We want you to join our podcast community where family business owners can connect, share, learn, vent, cry, laugh, and gain insights that can help them make their businesses thrive.
Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or a newcomer to the family business lifestyle, this podcast is for you.
We'll be bringing you expert insights, business owner interviews, success and failure stories, family business resources, and practical tips that you can consider for your own family business.
The VP of Sales Strategy, Without the VP of Sales Salary: Patrick O'Donnell on Fractional Leadership
What exactly does a Fractional VP of Sales do, and when does a business need one?
In this episode of Up In Your (Family) Business, Todd Rimer talks with Patrick O'Donnell, founder and president of Top Tier Selling Solutions and a licensed Sales Xceleration Advisor based in Indianapolis.
Patrick brings 30 years of award-winning sales leadership experience to small and mid-size businesses that are ready to grow but aren't sure what's holding them back, collaborating with owners across industries like healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and technology to build the sales strategy, structure, and talent needed to move from unpredictable revenue to sustainable growth.
Patrick shares how he evaluates a company's sales strategy, process, talent, technology, and infrastructure before developing a custom plan tailored to its needs. He explains why fractional leadership goes beyond traditional consulting. Through his approach of diagnose, prescribe, and implement, he works alongside the sales team rather than simply providing recommendations from the sidelines.
Todd and Patrick also discuss the importance of owner self-awareness, why sales and marketing need to remain aligned, the value of giving every voice on a sales team a seat in the assessment process, the challenges of changing long-standing sales habits, and AI readiness. As a business owner himself, Patrick speaks to what it means to be a true critical partner who is willing to tell a business owner what they need to hear.
Patrick also shares examples of successful engagements that ultimately resulted in his helping clients hire a full-time sales leader to take over the organization he helped build.
29 Sept 2026
Stepping Into a Century of Shoes: Anna Lokers, 5th-Generation Owner of Lokers Shoes
What does it mean to step into leadership of a family business that has been serving its community for more than a century?
In this episode of Up In Your (Family) Business, host Todd Rimer talks with Anna Lokers, fifth-generation owner of Lokers Shoes located in downtown Holland, Michigan.
Anna's journey with the family business began as a middle schooler working part-time alongside her father. She officially joined Lokers Shoes full-time in 2010 and became an owner in 2019, making her the first woman to lead the business and the first to bring a non-family business partner into ownership.
Founded in 1913, Lokers Shoes has evolved through five generations while staying grounded in what has always mattered most: people. Anna shares the lesson from her grandfather that continues to guide her: "Every customer is a blessing." And she talks about the relationships with customers and employees that make the business special.
This fun and wide-ranging conversation explores Anna's unexpected path to ownership, what she has learned along the way, the traditions she has carried forward, the things she and her business partner are doing differently, and what it means to run a family business in a community like Holland.
Anna also shares what goes into choosing the brands and products Lokers Shoes carries, why she personally wears many of them, and what she hopes people experience when they walk through the store's doors.
It's a personal look at the people, personality, history, and heart behind Lokers Shoes, and the fifth generation carrying its legacy forward.
5 Aug 2026
The LadyBug Way: Jaclyn Ricci on Building a Business and a Career People Stay For
Jaclyn Ricci had no formal business training. What she had was street smarts, an entrepreneurial spirit, a strong lifelong work ethic, and a determination to succeed.
She shares how she built The LadyBug Pest & Wildlife Control from the ground up into a six-time IndyStar Best Pest Control award winner, and how she's created a workplace people don't want to leave.
Jaclyn is a licensed structural pest control and nuisance wildlife operator who now speaks at conferences across the country and sits on planning committees for Purdue's Pest Management Conference and the Indiana Pest Management Association.
She talks about what it's like leading in a male-dominated industry, the lessons from her first year in business, and the story behind releasing over 1,000 bats from a church in Zionsville.
Jaclyn also opens up about running a family business with her husband Johnny, and son Jadin, and her plan to scale The LadyBug from $3M to $5M in the next two years.
She also breaks down the systems and culture behind her team's growth, from onboarding to promotion, and why so many of her employees choose to build a career at The LadyBug.
If you're a family business owner figuring things out as you go, or you're looking for a place to work where you can grow professionally and build a career, not just clock in for a job, this conversation is for you.
Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100
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Questions about Up In Your [Family] Business
Who hosts Up In Your [Family] Business?
Jake Burgess host the show. Published by Todd Rimer, Tammy Coleman.
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The show publishes bi-weekly, based on its RSS feed.
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