The Grit to Growth Podcast

In this inspiring episode, host Levi Te Slaa sits down with Trisha Dohn, founder of Well365, a workplace wellness company on a mission to transform how businesses support their employees' physical and mental health. Trisha shares her journey from working in major health systems to launching Well365 from her basement, all while navigating personal challenges including infertility and financial uncertainty. Her story is one of passion, purpose, and perseverance.     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this heartfelt episode of The Grit to Growth Podcast, Levi Te Slaa sits down with Alex Peterson, the culinary mastermind behind Baking Up a Storm at Lake Lorraine in Sioux Falls. From humble roots in Iowa to becoming a staple in the Sioux Falls baking scene, Alex shares how his lifelong passion for baking turned into a thriving business. Alex opens up about the challenges and triumphs of launching his own bakery during a pandemic, the value of taking calculated risks, and why learning to ask for help has been one of the most important lessons of his entrepreneurial journey. He also shares his go-to tools, family traditions, and how staying connected to his community fuels his purpose. Whether you're dreaming of starting your own business or just love a good story about food, family, and grit—you won’t want to miss this episode.     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this powerful and personal episode, Levi Te Slaa talks with Tim Winders—executive coach, author, and host of the Seek Go Create podcast. From building a $20M real estate portfolio to living in a 39-foot motorcoach after financial collapse, Tim shares the deeply human story behind his reinvention. Tim opens up about his early entrepreneurial journey, his drive for success, and how 2008’s crash forced him to confront his ego, faith, and purpose. We explore what it means to truly “slow down to speed up,” and how redefining success has led Tim to a more fulfilled life of coaching, creating, and leading with intention.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

What happens when grit, service, and small-town values meet leadership and innovation? Christine Vinatieri-Erickson knows the answer firsthand. In this episode of The Grit to Growth Podcast, Levi Te Slaa sits down with Christine, a lifelong South Dakotan who’s worn many hats—from small business owner and City Council member to her current leadership roles with the South Dakota Auto Dealers Association and the South Dakota Trucking Association.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this episode, Levi sits down with Anders Barton, whose journey has taken him from a childhood rooted in faith, through the ups and downs of sales in Austin, Texas, to stepping into leadership roles in his family’s business, and finally to co-founding Temple—a faith-forward health and fitness company with his brothers. Anders shares a powerful early-life experience that sparked his walk with God, the lessons he learned in the trenches of commission-based sales, and how a vision during a long drive changed the direction of his life and career. He opens up about what it means to truly listen for God’s direction, and how we can integrate faith into our work in practical ways.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

On this episode of The Grit to Growth Podcast, host Levi Te Slaa sits down with Seth Uschuk and Melissa Anderson, co-founders of Cubby — a childcare communication platform built with heart and hustle in Sioux Falls. What started with a conversation at a daycare open house turned into a four-year journey combining Melissa’s deep experience in childcare with Seth’s tech expertise. Together, they’ve built Cubby from the ground up to solve the real, everyday challenges that childcare centers face — from simplifying parent-teacher communication to streamlining admin work so staff can focus on what matters most: the kids.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

What happens when 30 years of leadership experience meets humor, wisdom, and a deep passion for helping people? In this episode, Levi sits down with Jason Boutwell, a seasoned business leader who’s navigated corporate roles, embraced failure, and now leads with intention at Pro Resources—a growing HR outsourcing firm rooted in the Midwest. Jason shares his journey from college football at NDSU to becoming a trusted advisor in HR and business strategy. Along the way, he reflects on how failure shaped his mindset, why the "delegate and elevate" model matters, and why an abundance mindset isn’t just a feel-good phrase—it's a business necessity.     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

What happens when you take a personal trainer with a deep love for movement and hand him the reins to a rapidly growing golf and fitness brand? You get Nick Ovenden—an operations leader who’s just as comfortable helping clients do sandbag workouts as he is guiding a company through an ESOP transition. In this episode, Nick shares his journey from personal trainer to operations leader at Great Life, a unique fitness and lifestyle brand with over 24 locations across South Dakota and Minnesota. He talks about his passion for building teams, helping people live healthier lives, and making fitness fun and accessible—whether through functional gym spaces, creative childcare programs, or family-friendly golf experiences.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this episode, host Levi Te Slaa sits down with Mason Leiseth—a South Dakota native, mechanical engineer, and manufacturing leader—to explore how the U.S. can reclaim its place in the global industrial economy. Mason shares how his upbringing on a family farm and early exposure to fabrication set the stage for his passion for manufacturing. From his work at Twin City Fan to growing a machine shop in Huron, SD, Mason has worn many hats and now helps companies as a consultant focused on scaling, streamlining, and solving complex operational problems.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this episode, Levi Te Slaa sits down with Meg McNeese — South Dakota rancher turned organizational change expert — to explore what leadership really means in today’s fast-moving world. Drawing from her deep experience across industries like mining, construction, and hospitality, Meg shares how she’s learned to balance the “in-the-dirt” work with high-level strategy. She opens up about how Rose Group International began almost by accident, how their proprietary Helix assessment helps teams process change, and why clear succession planning is essential for organizational stability. Meg also talks about humanizing leadership — from wearing jeans on Fridays to having honest conversations that break down hierarchy.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

From small-town roots in Minnesota to high-tech entrepreneurship in Sioux Falls, Noah Vandal shares how his hands-on curiosity and engineering background led him into the world of AI and healthcare. Joined by Dr. Joseph Yoon — a physician and health informatics expert — the two reveal how faith, shared vision, and innovation led to the creation of Speech Sage, a company using AI-powered conversational tools to improve patient communication and clinic efficiency.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this episode, Levi Te Slaa sits down with Jacob Limmer, founder of Cottonwood Coffee in Brookings, South Dakota, and consultant with The Prosper Group. Jacob shares how a passion for sustainability led to farming, which eventually brewed into a successful coffee business. He opens up about the early struggles with funding, lessons learned from expanding too quickly, and how he evolved from barista to business strategist. Jacob also shares his philosophy on consulting and how 20 years of entrepreneurial ups and downs have positioned him to help other business owners grow smarter, not harder. They discuss universal business truths, the power of patience, and why the "boring" fundamentals might just be your business’s biggest opportunity.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this powerful episode, Levi sits down with Nick Yost, the founder and medical director of BodyOpt, to explore her extraordinary path from a small-town South Dakota farm to launching one of the region’s fastest-growing wellness and aesthetics clinics. Nick shares how her early days living on yachts, flipping homes, and running a craft beer bar evolved into a full-blown commitment to functional medicine and regenerative health. You’ll hear the personal story that pushed her into nursing, her frontline work in Brooklyn during COVID, and how she built her clinic from a single rented room into a booming, multi-location practice. From hormone therapy to stem cells and peptides, Nick explains how she's redefining healthcare with a model rooted in patient empowerment and deep listening.     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

Kelly Ewart grew up in Texas, served as an Army nurse, and later put down roots in western South Dakota. In 2019 she took a leap from ER shifts to business ownership, investing her savings into a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Spearfish so she could build something alongside her kids. She walks us through validating a rural market, leveraging a veteran franchise discount, battling through an SBA loan (and a major injury), insisting on a drive-thru, and opening… four months before COVID hit. Kelly talks candidly about staffing during a labor crunch, why she hires and mentors teens and adults with special needs, and the community partners and resources that kept her going. Her advice is simple and powerful: ask questions, use your network, and always be honest, work hard, and be kind.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this uplifting conversation, Tia walks us through her unconventional career path—from selling jeans on commission to landing an entry-level dental assistant role with zero experience, then earning credentials at night and stepping into leadership. She explains how Neighborhood Dental Care scaled to 11 locations while keeping patient-first care and quality at the center. Tia also opens up about sending her oldest to college, why “one day at a time” is her life mantra, and how positivity is a daily choice, not an act of denial. What You’ll Learn How Tia navigated young motherhood, school, and work—one day at a time The decision that traded short-term pay for long-term purpose (and how it paid off) Building systems, standards, and a culture that truly puts patients first Scaling with technology: same-day crowns and other investments that respect patients’ time Leadership in real life: turning the light on for others and building bigger staircases Practical ways to reduce dental anxiety (hello, comfort menu!) Why positivity isn’t ignoring reality—it’s choosing what you focus on ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

Host Levi Te Slaa sits down with Barry Sackett, managing partner and long-time advisor to business owners across the Midwest. Barry traces his path from a family of lawyers to roles as in-house counsel, controller, CFO, and now managing partner. He explains why his work is really about building trust in every transaction—often before legal issues turn into lawsuits. Barry digs into the realities entrepreneurs face: scaling themselves as the business grows, avoiding “inventor’s disease,” and not snapping back to old roles when growth gets hard (the “rubber band effect”). He also unpacks the shift toward fractional general counsel services, what AI can and can’t do for legal work, and why the Midwest’s lawyer shortage is both a challenge and an opportunity for innovative firms. You’ll hear a favorite client story that went from humble beginnings to a $60M private equity valuation—and then into meaningful community philanthropy. Throughout, Barry returns to one theme: grit as the through-line of every successful founder.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

Joel breaks down how Five Star Call Centers supports companies as a true BPO partner—sometimes supplying full-stack customer experience (recruiting, training, tech, QA), other times filling specific gaps like staffing or process design. He explains the five traits they look for in great partners, why seasonality matters, and how their 99% work-from-home team across small-town America delivers world-class care. We dig into practical AI: avatar-based interviews, adaptive training, real-time speech analytics, “Agent Assist,” and when to deploy modern digital agents (not the old, frustrating chatbots). Joel also shares their growth story—from a single site to a remote-first U.S. team with expansion to Guatemala and the Philippines—and what it takes to get data, teams, and systems truly AI-ready.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

What happens when a fifth-generation South Dakota farmer and a former Air Force operations leader come together to tackle one of agriculture’s most misunderstood crops? In this episode of The Grit to Growth Podcast, Levi Te Slaa sits down with Johnathan Peterson (CEO) and Karll Lecher (COO) of Dakota Hemp to unpack the true potential of industrial hemp in South Dakota and beyond. John shares how Dakota Hemp got its start in 2021, the early lessons they learned growing and harvesting hemp, and how the company is about to open a major fiber processing plant. Karll brings insight into how operations and efficiency are driving the business forward — and how military discipline plays a role in their approach. They also break down the misconceptions around hemp, the plant’s impressive versatility (from clothing to animal bedding), and how small towns across South Dakota can benefit from hemp-based manufacturing.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

Levi sits down with counselor and community leader Shane Gerlach to explore the heart behind his work at Carroll Institute and his longtime passion for youth mentorship. Shane shares the moment his wife nudged him back to school, the three traits he believes drive lasting success — honesty, humility, and vulnerability — and how he helps clients take ownership of the only things they can truly control: how they think, feel, and act. They dig into addiction as a brain disease, the language shift from “I’m an addict” to “I’m a person in recovery,” and why that change builds hope. Then the conversation pivots to SuperCon — from a seven-person volunteer crew and maxed-out credit cards to thousands of attendees, dozens of sponsors, and more than a hundred volunteers each year. Shane explains how local partnerships fueled growth, why “nerd culture” went mainstream, and what family-friendly fun to expect at the event weekend.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this episode of The Grit to Growth Podcast, host Levi Te Slaa sits down with architect and Bush Fellow Patricia Acevedo Fuentes to explore how design can shape more inclusive and connected communities. With over 20 years of experience, Patri shares her journey from Puerto Rico to South Dakota and the lessons learned from working across diverse cultures. You’ll hear Patri’s perspective on why architecture is not just about the final product, but the process of collaboration and community input that makes design meaningful. She talks about the challenges of bridging vision and reality, the importance of humility in her profession, and how buildings can either welcome or exclude. Patri also shares insights on current projects and the critical role of community voices in shaping schools, parks, and public spaces that reflect shared values. From her work with Indigenous communities in the Black Hills to her call for public engagement in city planning, this conversation will leave you thinking about how design can strengthen the places we call home.     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be A Guest Are you a successful business owner or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest on https://grittogrowthpodcast.com/guest and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.