In Episode 7 of The Founder’s Backroom, Bo Grant of Blaze Home Loans shares the unconventional path that took him from feeling like an imposter to becoming the broker-owner of a mortgage company.

At 24, Bo was walking into car dealerships wearing one of the three suits he had bought specifically to look the part.

He did not always feel confident.

So he learned how to own the room anyway.

Later, after running a business for more than a year, the funding he expected to be available suddenly was not.

Then came another major shift.

What had once been a part-time opportunity with freedom became overtime as Bo entered an entirely new industry and tried to figure it out in real time.

Very few people go from zero mortgage experience to owning a mortgage brokerage.

Bo did.

And his philosophy is straightforward:

If you are not doing everything you can to stack the odds in your favor, you cannot expect success.

In this episode, Bo talks about:

• Imposter syndrome and learning to look the part before you feel the part
• What happens when expected funding disappears
• Trading freedom for the grind of building something new
• Entering the mortgage industry with virtually no experience
• Taking ownership of the outcome instead of blaming circumstances
• Why preparation, effort, and stacking the odds matter
• The mindset behind expecting success

Bo’s story is a reminder that confidence does not always come before action.

Sometimes you move first.

Learn fast.

Take responsibility.

And become the person capable of handling the opportunity along the way.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full episode here:
https://thefoundersbackroom.com/

▶️ Subscribe to The Founder’s Backroom on YouTube:
  / @thefoundersbackroom 

🤝 Sponsor the podcast or sign up as a guest:
https://thefoundersbackroom.com/be-a-guest

🏠 Learn more about Blaze Home Loans:
https://blazehomeloans.com/

#TheFoundersBackroom #BoGrant #BlazeHomeLoans #MortgageBroker #Entrepreneurship #ImposterSyndrome #BusinessGrowth #FounderStory #MortgageIndustry #Leadership #EntrepreneurMindset #SmallBusiness

In Episode 6 of The Founder's Backroom, hosts Philip and John sit down with Emily Petroff, Founder & CEO of Switch Society, to explore the courage it takes to challenge expectations, embrace your authentic self, and build a business that challenges an entire industry.

Emily shares her journey of learning to enjoy her own company, surrounding herself with people who think differently, and discovering what it feels like to truly come alive as an entrepreneur.

But her story doesn't stop at personal transformation.

Starting in Billings, Montana, Emily built Switch Society, a community-driven business that's changing how women think about fashion, clothing ownership, sustainability, and connection. Now, she's working to bring that vision to other communities through franchising.

In this episode, we explore:

🔥 Breaking Away From Expectations: Why following the crowd can keep you from discovering who you really are.

💡 The Power of Authenticity: Learning to appreciate yourself and build meaningful relationships.

🚀 Finding Your People: How connecting with entrepreneurs and unconventional thinkers can transform your perspective.

👗 Building Switch Society: Turning an unconventional idea into a community-powered business.

🌎 Thinking Bigger: The challenges and opportunities of expanding into new markets through franchising.

❤️ Building a Life That Feels Alive: Why success means more than meeting everyone else's expectations.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, business owner, or someone questioning the path you're on, Emily's story challenges you to rethink what's possible when you stop asking for permission to be yourself.

🎙️ WATCH OR LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE

https://thefoundersbackroom.com/

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO THE FOUNDER'S BACKROOM ON YOUTUBE

  / @thefoundersbackroom 

🎤 WANT TO BE A GUEST OR SPONSOR THE PODCAST?

https://billingspodcast.com/

👗 CONNECT WITH EMILY PETROFF & SWITCH SOCIETY

Switch Society: https://www.switchsociety.org/

Emily on Facebook:   / emily.calhounpetroff 

ABOUT THE FOUNDER'S BACKROOM

The Founder's Backroom takes you behind the scenes of entrepreneurship, featuring real conversations with founders, business owners, and community leaders about their journeys, challenges, lessons, and the decisions that shaped their success.

Hosted by Philip and John and produced at BLP Creative Studio in Billings, Montana.

Real stories. Real challenges. Real entrepreneurs.

#TheFoundersBackroom #EmilyPetroff #SwitchSociety #Entrepreneurship #BillingsMontana

In Episode 5 of *The Founder's Backroom**, we sit down with **Willy Johnson* for one of our most raw, emotional, and thought-provoking conversations yet.

Willy shares a deeply personal account of the moment that changed his life, his encounter with God, and the painful reality of facing consequences that can never be undone.

But this conversation goes far beyond one man's story.

It's about the people behind prison walls. The childhood trauma many have experienced. The opportunities they never had. And the missing tools that can make rebuilding a life feel impossible.

Willy challenges us to look beyond judgment and ask a different question:

*What if we stopped focusing only on who's to blame and started asking what we can do to break the cycle?*

Through his work connected to Montana Reentry and Image Bearers Coffee, Willy is helping bring attention to second chances, meaningful opportunities, and the importance of giving people the tools to choose a different path.

In this episode, we explore:

🔸 The devastating moment that changed Willy's life forever.

🔸 How faith, accountability, and redemption shaped his journey.

🔸 The childhood experiences that can contribute to cycles of incarceration.

🔸 Why wanting to change isn't always enough without the right support.

🔸 How communities can help create opportunities for people rebuilding their lives.

🔸 What it really means to take responsibility while believing in the possibility of change.

This isn't a conversation about excusing the past. It's about taking responsibility for it—and asking what comes next.

Whether you're a business owner, community leader, entrepreneur, or someone who believes people can change, this is a conversation worth hearing.

🎧 WATCH OR LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE:
https://thefoundersbackroom.blpcreativestudio.com/

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO THE FOUNDER'S BACKROOM ON YOUTUBE:
  / @thefoundersbackroom 

🎙️ WANT TO BE A GUEST OR SPONSOR THE SHOW?
https://billingspodcast.com/

☕ LEARN MORE ABOUT IMAGE BEARERS COFFEE:
https://imagebearerscoffee.com/

🤝 LEARN MORE ABOUT MONTANA REENTRY:
https://montanareentry.org/about-us/

💬 JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Do you believe people can truly change when they're given the right support and opportunities?

Share your thoughts in the comments. 👇

👍 Like this episode if the conversation made you think.

🔁 Share it with someone who believes in second chances.

*The Founder's Backroom* brings you the real stories behind the people building businesses, organizations, and communities. Hosted by Philip and John in Billings, Montana.

#TheFoundersBackroom #WillyJohnson #SecondChances #Redemption #MontanaReentry #ImageBearersCoffee #PrisonReform #FaithAndRedemption #BreakingTheCycle #BillingsMontana #MontanaPodcast #Entrepreneurship #CommunityImpact #RealLifeStories #PodcastInterview

In Episode 4 of The Founder’s Backroom, William B. Henry challenges the way entrepreneurs think about failure, security, consulting, and taking the leap into business ownership.

After leaving a senior executive role, William experienced the kind of transition many people would immediately label a failure—earning only a fraction of what he had made the year before.

But his question is simple:

Was it actually failure?

In this conversation, William breaks down why entrepreneurship often requires redefining success, letting go of the security of a steady paycheck, and accepting that the “perfect plan” you are waiting for probably does not exist.

He also shares a different philosophy on consulting.

Instead of creating clients who constantly depend on the consultant, his goal is to teach people how to solve the problem themselves:

“I want to teach you how to build a watch and walk away.”

This episode gets into:

Why failure is often defined too narrowly.

The psychological pull of a predictable paycheck.

Why waiting until you feel completely ready can keep you stuck.

The danger of overplanning in a world that keeps changing.

Why good consultants should build capability, not dependency.

And what it really means to take the entrepreneurial jump before everything feels certain.

Because the reality is, the moment your perfect plan is finished, something has probably already changed.

Sometimes progress starts when you stop waiting for certainty and start moving.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full episode here:
https://thefoundersbackroom.blpcreativestudio.com/

▶️ Subscribe to The Founder’s Backroom on YouTube:
  / @thefoundersbackroom 

🤝 Sponsor the podcast or sign up as a guest:
https://billingspodcast.com/

#TheFoundersBackroom #WilliamBHenry #Entrepreneurship #FounderStory #BusinessLeadership #BusinessConsulting #EntrepreneurMindset #TakingTheLeap #BusinessGrowth #Failure #Leadership #SmallBusiness

In Episode 3 of The Founder’s Backroom, Tenika Miller, owner of Little Legends Therapy in Billings, Montana, shares what happened behind the scenes as she went from working out of a small 500-square-foot space with a foldable table and a computer to building a growing pediatric therapy practice with a team of six.

Tenika opens up about the parts of entrepreneurship people do not always see.

Wearing too many hats.

Feeling like you can never fully shut off.

The pressure of leading employees while still understanding the realities of the work.

The mental strain of carrying a business every day.

And how one negative comment can sometimes outweigh dozens of positive ones in your mind.

She also explains why she believes clinic owners who have actually done the therapy work can better understand their employees, set more realistic expectations, and reduce the risk of burnout and turnover.

This is not just a story about business growth.

It is about what growth can cost the person behind the business—and what it takes to keep going while building something meaningful for families, employees, and the community.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full episode here:
https://thefoundersbackroom.blpcreativestudio.com/

▶️ Subscribe to The Founder’s Backroom on YouTube:
  / @thefoundersbackroom 

🤝 Sponsor the podcast or sign up as a guest:
https://billingspodcast.com/

#TheFoundersBackroom #TenikaMiller #LittleLegendsTherapy #Entrepreneurship #FounderStory #BusinessGrowth #MentalHealth #Leadership #PediatricTherapy #OccupationalTherapy #SmallBusiness #BillingsMT

In this episode of The Founder’s Backroom, we sit down with Sherry Hanson-Smith, owner of Shine Montana, to talk about the experiences that shaped her journey.

After going through divorce, becoming a stay-at-home mom, working part-time from home, and finding herself in the food stamp line wondering how she would keep the power on, Sherry began to see something differently:

The businesses, founders, and organizations around us do far more than simply make money. They help create jobs, support nonprofits, fund community programs, and provide resources that families depend on.

Years later, personal loss would push her toward an even bigger mission.

After a close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer—and her friend’s brother was diagnosed with throat cancer and later passed away—Sheri reached a point where waiting was no longer an option.

“We have to do this. We have to do it now.”

That sense of urgency became part of a larger journey into marketing, nonprofit events, community-building, and the work she now does through Shine Montana.

In this conversation, Sherry shares the struggles behind the work, what changed her perspective on business, and how painful life experiences can become the catalyst for serving something bigger than yourself.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full episode here:
https://thefoundersbackroom.blpcreativestudio.com/
 

🤝 Sponsor the podcast or apply to be a guest:
https://billingspodcast.com/

The Founder’s Backroom goes beyond the highlight reel to uncover the struggles, sacrifices, decisions, and personal transformation behind the people building businesses and making an impact in their communities.

#TheFoundersBackroom #ShineMontana #SherryHansonSmith #BillingsMontana #MontanaBusiness #Entrepreneurship #FounderStory #CommunityImpact #NonprofitLeadership #SmallBusiness #BusinessLeadership #BillingsMT

In the first episode of The Founders Backroom, hosts Jon Biddle and Philip Agyeman-Budu sit down with Michaela, founder of Rent Montana and other growing businesses.

Michaela opens up about facing addiction at an early age, going to rehab at 16, carrying the weight of other people’s opinions, and discovering that some of the people around her expected—or even wanted—her to fail.

This is not just a conversation about business success.

It is a conversation about becoming the person capable of building something meaningful.

Inside this episode:

Michaela’s early experience with addiction and recovery
Why quitting would have been the easier choice
The pressure of being judged and underestimated
How personal transformation affects business growth
Building successful companies without seeking the spotlight
Why no problem is truly unsolvable
The resilience, faith, and mindset behind entrepreneurship

The Founders Backroom goes beyond revenue, recognition, and polished success stories to uncover the personal battles, sacrifices, decisions, and transformations behind the businesses people see.

Subscribe for honest conversations with founders from Billings, Montana, and beyond.

Presented by BLP Creative Studio.

#TheFoundersBackroom #FounderStory #Entrepreneurship #BusinessLeadership #AddictionRecovery #RentMontana #BillingsMT #BLPCreativeStudio