By Christine Price
Columnist
Amidst all the stress, anxiety, craziness and bad news, my goal is to spotlight and share the good news in our community.
When you picture a small business owner, what comes to mind? Success. Flexibility. A beautiful home. Financial freedom. The assumption that they’ve “made it.”
But according to Tom Szabo, that picture only tells part of the story.
Tom sees small business owners as a unique breed. They often love what they do and genuinely enjoy their work. But behind the scenes, they also carry enormous responsibility. The challenges are real. The setbacks can be heavy. And at the end of the day, they are often the only ones they can truly count on.
That reality is what inspired Tom’s new podcast, Your Biz Story!
Tom understands the entrepreneurial journey firsthand. Over the years, he has owned and operated a photography company, created exotic custom jewelry and worked for many years as a certified scuba instructor. He knows the excitement of building something from scratch – and the pressure that comes with it.
Recently, Tom semi-retired. He stepped away from his photography business, liquidated his handmade jewelry inventory and suddenly found himself with something unfamiliar – time.
“So now what?” he remembers thinking. “Maybe I’ll launch a podcast.”
Inspired by his hero, Mike Rowe – the Emmy award-winning host, producer, narrator, bestselling author and creator of “Dirty Jobs” – Tom began shaping his idea. He has listened to every episode of Rowe’s podcast and admires his straightforward, conversational style. That format became the model for Your Biz Story!
Tom’s approach is intentionally simple. There is no editing. No cuts. No heavy production. Just conversation – “chitchat over a cup of coffee,” as he calls it – with local “Biz”ness owners in northeast Ohio sharing their story.
Each episode follows four basic elements:
First, Tom introduces the business – what products or services they offer and who they serve.
Second, he asks how the business began. One guest started with just $200 and a tackle box. Curious what that business became? You’ll have to listen to the podcast.
Third, he explores the challenges. What obstacles did they face? What surprised them? Did they truly understand what they were getting into when they started?
Tom suspects common themes will emerge: funding hurdles, employee recruitment, customer acquisition and the transitions that come with growth. The daily pressures, and the long-term ones.
Finally, each guest shares anecdotal stories. The moments that felt like complete fiascos at the time but, in hindsight, have become charming – or at least survivable – memories.
With a goal of releasing two episodes per month, Tom already has two under his belt. His first guest was Katrina March, executive director of the Eastern Lake County Chamber of Commerce. Approaching 11 years in the chamber industry, she believes “Small businesses are the backbone of our community.”
As a representative of an organization made up of many small businesses, she offered insight into what business owners are facing today and how the chamber supports them.
Tom’s second guest was Matt Gollini, owner of Mentor iPhone & Computer. He shared his inspiring journey and what it took to get his business off the ground, speaking candidly with Tom about both the risks and rewards. His store provides in-house hardware repairs for phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers.
The official producer of Your Biz Story! is the Madison Public Library, which provides access to a full-service AV studio equipped with everything needed to produce a podcast.
True to Tom’s vision, the episodes are presented exactly as recorded – authentic, unfiltered and real.
You can find Your Biz Story! on whatever platform you use to stream podcasts.
Because behind every small business is more than a storefront or a service – there’s a story!
When you see good news, and you will, please let me know. I would love to share it. Please include your name, phone number, city you live in and email.
