Often we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to learn something new – we can just ask experts in the field who can draw on their experience to enlighten us. Below, we’ve shared insights insiders from various industries have shared with us.

Blye Donovan | Award-winning Author

Oh, this is a great question. As an indie author, my books are self-published. When most people hear “self-published” they think the product (book) is going to be unprofessional or even “hack”. But that’s not what being an indie author means. Our books still go through editors, formatters, and proofreaders. We still use cover designers for digital covers, jackets and paperbacks. The only difference is, we’re doing the work to find and hire those professionals ourselves instead of having them incorporated within a big publishing house. So don’t be afraid of a book just because it didn’t come from a well-known publisher. Read more>>

Lacey Eibert Keigley | Travelers Rest Here Owner & Writer

I think the biggest thing that people outside of the industry might not realize is how much of this business is built entirely upon relationships. A lot of my time is spent in ways that are unbillable – which is perfectly fine, of course. A lot of helping other small businesses succeed is spending time getting to KNOW that business and the people behind the business. Read more>>

Desiree Riniker | Veterinary Professional

Veterinary Medicine is riddled with challenges. Our biggest challenge we face at the moment is loss of our professionals to suicide. Recently, the CDC listed veterinary medicine as one of the worst for suicide rates. The struggle with this is due to poor management among teams leading to toxic work environments, burnout and overworking, financial struggles due to wage disparities, and an alarming level of hostile clients. Hostile clients have become a serious problem in vet med. People become “key board warriors” and employ cancel tactics along with mob tactics to destroy a small business or a doctors reputation within hours. It is happening to practices all over the country. Read more>>

Rachel Gibbs | Financial and Tax Strategist

Many people are unaware of how to hire a compliant professional tax preparer. There are many people operating as tax preparers but they are not compliant with the IRS. These type of tax preparers are referred to as ghost preparers. A compliant tax preparer has a valid PTIN that is issued by the IRS. If a tax preparer does not have a valid PTIN that is a huge red flag that they are a ghost preparer and you should not work with them. Another thing a professional tax preparer should have is Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O) aka Professional Liability Insurance. That is not only good to protect the tax preparer from harm but also to protect the taxpayers. I promise you, a ghost preparer will not have E&O Insurance. Read more>>

Vincent Dalessio | Moving Company Owner

Moving Companies are the most common type of small business in this country. We should all be conscious of how vital this industry is to our overall economy and be strategic not to over regulate and over tax an industry that comprises of the most small business owners from every race and background, and employs millions of low income workers across the country. A lot of Dads who are short on bills or Veterans who are between jobs, that’s who always made up our team. I know many other companies can relate it’s not just Makin Moves, that’s just the reality of the economy. We must protect the moving industry to protect the most vulnerable in our society. The best way to protect it is to leave it alone and don’t over regulate and over tax how people move their belongings. Read more>>

Laura Gutowski | Professional Organizer

Organizing as an industry really began in the 1980s, but it has only become well known in the past decade, with the likes of Marie Kondo and The Home Edit popularizing the profession. Because of the relative newness of the industry, there is a lot that people don’t know, first and foremost the four different levels of organizers. To start with there are people who love organizing and decide to help others with it, and we simply call them organizers. Once you begin pursuing training and working towards qualifications, you become a Provisional Organizer. And after you complete all the courses, pass all the tests, work for over one year in the business, and agree to a code of ethics and standards, you become a Professional Organizer. Read more>>

Rachael Nerney | Muralist + Artist

People outside of the arts often try to get deals or trades on work from artists. There is a misconception that because an artist enjoys their work it is inherently less valuable. Does an accountant make less because he enjoys organizing numbers? “If you’re engaged by your work – for the independence it allows, for the sense of completion when you’re done, for its contribution to making the world a better place – passion is likely to follow. Passion isn’t the catalyst that creates success, but more often what develops after success is achieved.” – Paul Jarvis, Company of One. Read more>>

Mary Ware | Licensed cosmetologist & hair braider

Most people may think that just because I “do hair” that it doesn’t require any real work or thinking but it does. A stigma that outsiders believe is that being a hair stylist/braider isn’t a REAL job. But let me tell you… it is! I still have to balance my finances, decide how much money to distribute to my business and my personal needs. I have to figure out pricing, marketing, and scheduling. What I do may look like an easy task but there’s alot more that goes into this business just like any other. One week I may make really good money. The next week,… not so much. So learning how to save & make money stretch is also skill that I must learn & learn how to utilize. Read more>>

DJ Apollo | American DJ

When people see a DJ they think its an easy job because we may be having fun and people are enjoying themselves through the music, but we just make it look easy because of the time we’ve put into perfecting the craft. Read more>>

Chris Caporuscio | Owner, DJ, Sound Engineer, Teacher & Entrepreneur

You hear the phrase “What does a DJ actually do.” Everyone has a different prospective of what a DJ actually does. Let’s start from the DJ’s view point. As a veteran DJ (and I don’t mean that as an aged person) I have learned that the devil is in the details. I ask so many questions from my clients. I do this because I want to create the exact vision my clients have in mind without them having worry if it can or cannot be achieved. As a DJ I will spend about 16 hours or more building a custom playlist of music based off of our clients wishes, likes, and dislikes in music. We then compose the music in chronological order. There are many factors involved with this task. Read more>>

Dereck Malone | Viral food reviewer/ content creator

How much really goes into it all. Being a fulltime content creator seems glamorous to the naked eye! Most people just see the rewards and give no validation towards the structure of it all. They don’t see all the behind the scene stuff we do! For my niche I travel the United States and eat food showing off mom and pop shops. I literally eat for a living. Most tend to think I just turn on a camera and eat then supply my review. I’m all reality i work 60-80 hours a week, between traveling, recording, editing and meetings. On top of that im in a gym 2.5 hours daily 6 days a week just to maintain. No one understands the mental strain of working out so much at the age of 41 for next to no improvements. You have to have a grinders mentality while being in the best mental state possible. Read more>>