In this episode, Lauren Sparks shares her story of founding two businesses, walking away from one of them, and trying to change an industry from the inside. You’ll hear how she went from bank teller to founder of a women-led bank, what she'd tell anyone going into business with other people, and how she continues to empower women in business today.

Topics discussed:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:52) From New York and to Houston

(03:09) Why banking is hard for women

(04:39) The appeal of consulting

(07:18) Starting Third Party Resources

(10:21) Building an all-women team

(12:00) AI’s impact in banking

(13:53) Co-founding Agility Bank

(16:00) Why they struggled to raise $44 million

(17:10) The business plan: a women-owned, women-led bank

(19:23) Why she left the bank

(20:45) Women's struggle to be taken seriously in business

(26:00) Advice for going into business with others

(28:41) Would she do it again?

(30:07) How she's helping women and minorities now

(33:30) What makes a successful bank (and where things goes wrong)

(36:46) AI’s impact in banking

• Home › Agility Bank
• Third Party Resources
• Home

Candus Hinderer and Carrie Ferroukhi are the co-founders of Arcus Advisors, a business consulting firm dedicated to helping Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies improve results by optimizing the accounting and finance functions through strategic guidance and practical solutions. For more information and resources, visit Arcus Advisors: https://arcusadvisors.com/home

This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com

When you're scaling fast, success can feel a lot like chaos. For most founders, the wins start coming in faster than the systems to support them.

In this episode, Craig Ceccanti shares how he and his co-founders built Pinot's Palette from a single Houston studio in 2009 into a 150+ location franchise. You'll learn the system that helped them regain control after scaling too quickly, how they built a business worth selling, and what most founders don’t think about before they exit.

Topics discussed:

● Pinot's Palette origin story and the early hustle

● How they scaled so quickly in a new industry

● Benefits of the franchise model

● What they learned from implementing EOS

● Why they decided to exit the business

● How they pivoted through the pandemic

● Becoming an EOS Implementer

● Advice for founders scaling fast

Candus Hinderer and Carrie Ferroukhi are the co-founders of Arcus Advisors, a business consulting firm dedicated to helping Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies improve results by optimizing the accounting and finance functions through strategic guidance and practical solutions. For more information and resources, visit Arcus Advisors: https://arcusadvisors.com/home

This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com

Ask Page Parkes what she does for a living and she won't say "talent agent." She'll say that she changes people's lives — and she's been proving it for 45 years.

In this episode, she shares how she built a multi-city agency that launched the careers of Channing Tatum, Alexis Bledel, and thousands of others. You'll hear why her approach has stayed the same even as the industry has changed, and how her natural instincts (not strategy or training) helped her build a business around seeing potential before anyone else did.

Topics discussed:

• Starting a talent agency at 20 with no experience or connections

• Her talent philosophy and what she sees that others miss

• How she strategically built her team (and why some of her best people left)

• Expanding from Houston to Dallas to Miami

• How beauty standards have shifted over 45 years

• The real cost of giving everything to the business

• Succession and legacy

• Arcus Advisors | Business Advisory for Private Equity Companies
• Pucci
• Page Parkes Modeling and Acting School - Discover Your Stage

Candus Hinderer and Carrie Ferroukhi are the co-founders of Arcus Advisors, a business consulting firm dedicated to helping Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies improve results by optimizing the accounting and finance functions through strategic guidance and practical solutions. For more information and resources, visit Arcus Advisors: https://arcusadvisors.com/home

This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com