Personal Bets

Christian Slupe: From The Ledgers To The Cellar, Lakeridge Winery

Fri, 22 May 2026 10:00:00 -0400

We sit down at Lakeridge Winery over a bold Napa Valley Cabernet and trace how a backyard vineyard experiment turns into one of Florida’s biggest wine operations. We talk candidly about leadership pressure, long-tenured teams, and the hard problem of keeping wine consistent while customers keep changing.

• the family history from Tallahassee to Clermont and the launch of San Sebastian
• what it takes to run production, retail, wholesale, and vineyards as separate departments
• the path from tennis scholarship and public accounting to winery operations leadership
• why employee tenure is so rare here and how culture carries through transitions
• learning every job on the floor to earn credibility as a young COO
• harvest logistics, dormant vines, bud break timing, and what freezes really impact
• old muscadine vines, blending strategy, and why non-vintage consistency matters
• festivals after COVID, hands-on winemaking, and where AI may fit
• the next risks including shifting loyalty, pricing pressure, and succession planning

Checkout Lakridge Winery here: https://www.lakeridgewinery.com/

ABOUT PERSONAL BETS

Person Bets is a podcast for the people actually running the business, not the investors, not the board, not the consultants on the sideline. Hosted by Chance Sweat, business broker at FitzGibbon Alexander, Inc. and founder of Foundry Leadership.

🔗 Personal Site: chancesweat.com
🔗 Brokerage Site: fitzgibbonalexander.com
🔗 Follow Chance: @itschancesweat

Brody Vinson: Business Is "My Pleasure," From Chick-fil-A To LOI's

Fri, 15 May 2026 10:00:00 -0400

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We talk about why “fewer better deals” beats chasing every opportunity, especially as AI makes it easier to move fast without real alignment. We trace Brody's path from early entrepreneurship at home through a startup exit and into micro private equity, with practical lessons on buying businesses, building trust, and planning for the day after the wire hits.

• Building a personal brand through long-term relationships and shared values
• Using “fewer better deals” as a filter for partners and opportunities
• AI in commercial real estate and outbound sales while protecting human connection
• What micro private equity looks like in the real world and why operations matter after closing
• Due diligence, SBA financing, working capital, and investor pressure behind the scenes
• Early entrepreneurship lessons from a family business and first jobs
• Pivoting from fitness to digital marketing, SEO, and consulting during COVID
• The Chef on the Fly story, validating before building, and learning through a startup sale
• How valuation changes with certainty, client concentration, and seller involvement
• Startups versus acquisitions, deferred gratification, and matching risk to your life situation
• Scaling in home services and construction in Orlando, plus what “next” looks like

Find Brody here: https://linktr.ee/brodyvinson

Bobby Davidowitz: Building Wealth Beyond Money, From Bag Boy to CEO

Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:00 -0400

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Today we talk with a new friend, Bobby Davidowitz. Who started his career as a Publix Bag Boy, but pivoted to Real Estate in the early 2000's. Navigated the great financial crisis and is currently building the first of its kind, Culture Center. We talk through how a real estate brokerage wins on culture, not control, and why influence is the only thing you truly own as a leader. We trace the winding path from early jobs and career panic to mortgage lending, real estate investing, and building a community-first model inside eXp Realty while redefining what “wealth” really means.

• Influence as the real asset in real estate leadership
• Culture as a belief system built on sharing, growth and community
• Why eXp Realty can help scale culture and residual income opportunities
• First jobs, college drift and the pressure to follow a “logical” path
• Faith, purpose and bringing spiritual principles into business
• Mortgage lending before the financial crisis and choosing integrity
• Real estate investing basics like phase-one pricing and built-in equity
• Wholesaling versus listings and finding the right long-term lane
• Entrepreneurship versus intrapreneurship and coaching versus managing
• Building a culture center program with training, events and accountability
• Redefining wealth beyond money and learning to own the progress

Bobby's Website: https://investorseason.com/

Bobby's Email: bobby@investorseason.com

Justin Maxwell: From Ditches To Riches

Fri, 01 May 2026 10:00:00 -0400

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We sit down with Justin to trace the long road from sweaty manual labor to building a life where he does not depend on anyone else to sign his paycheck. Along the way we talk about big bets, bad bets, and the mindset shifts that turn money into time, options, and freedom.

• cutting grass and digging ditches as early motivation to level up
• hitting the Calculus Two brick wall and pivoting into a business degree
• first trades that hooked him and losses that taught humility
• buying Google early and thinking in decades not days
• getting burned by corporate America and learning you are a number
• the COVID SPY bet, drawdowns, and why he stopped looking
• risk tolerance, overleverage, and staying calm in a big Meta swing
• a bourbon investment that got blindsided by tariffs
• why money is not the goal and how to work backward from expenses
• investing in people, trust signals, and the one-lie rule
• selling Google shares to buy a cash lake house with zero regret
• book picks for investing psychology and mindset

Mr.Moneymaxwell.com

Jorge Sevilla: When The FBI Said No And The Bar Said Yes

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0400

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One medical test can erase a “sure thing” career plan. Jorge thought he was on track for federal law enforcement until a color vision deficiency ended the process overnight, forcing a hard reset and a new question: now what?

Jorge walks us through the pivot from criminal justice to the LSAT, law school, and early work that blended immigration law with the real mechanics of business building.

We also talk entrepreneurship, because earning a JD is not the same as learning to run a firm. Jorge shares the fear of starting from scratch, how client relationships created his early foundation, and why expanding your services is really about staying curious and continuing to learn. After moving to Ocala and building a practice shaped by the region’s growth and equine economy, he brings it all back to legacy: succession planning, trusts to avoid probate, and planning for incapacity so your family and your company are protected.

Shaun Thornton - Shackleton, Steel, and Proof of Funds

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0400

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Today we talk to a mentor of mine, amazing business broker, and Shackleton enthusiast, Shaun Thornton - Business Broker with FitzGibbon Alexander Inc.

Shackleton’s ship gets crushed by Antarctic ice, his crew ends up stranded, and the only path to survival is a tiny boat crossing through some of the worst water on earth. That sounds like pure history, but we keep circling back to why the Endurance story still matters: real leadership is knowing what matters, staying calm when plans collapse, and having the discipline to turn back before pride turns into disaster.

From there we shift into a very different kind of endurance: building a long career that spans post war northern England, steel mills, engineering, and the moment you finally admit what you really do for a living. We talk about old school sales, making your own appointments, earning trust fast, and leading complex solution work even when you’re still learning the industry. If you care about entrepreneurship, sales craft, and leadership, there are a lot of hard won lessons packed into these stories.

Then we get practical for small business owners, buyers, and anyone thinking about selling a business in Florida. We dig into what it actually means to “bet on yourself,” why preparation beats hype, how to screen buyers, and why proof of funds matters. We also talk valuation multiples, sellers discretionary earnings versus EBITDA, co brokering in Florida, and the hidden deal hurdles that can derail a closing, including licensing, insurance, landlords, and private equity driven timelines.

Keenan Crowley - Therapy As A Business

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400

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A lot of people think therapy is just great conversations in a calm room.

The truth is, being a counselor is also running a business, carrying other people’s pain with care, and then walking back into family life like you didn’t just spend all day inside trauma stories. That’s why I wanted to sit down with Keenan Crowley, a Central Florida Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern building a practice that prioritizes freedom, authenticity, and ethical work.

We talk through the less-discussed side of mental health counseling and private practice. Keenan shares what actually keeps clients coming back, why admin work drains him even when sessions energize him, and how learning and supervision keep him growing without burning out. We also get into community and men’s mental health, including why having a core group matters for your sanity, your marriage, and your ability to lead at work.

The story goes deeper than business. Keenan reflects on his path from youth ministry, culture shock jobs, and a derailed college plan to grad school, becoming a dad, and raising support to pay for school without loans. We close with practical wisdom on self-care rhythms, prayer and decompression after hard days, parenting with grace, and how to break cycles instead of repeating them.

If you’re building a business, raising kids, or trying to strengthen your mental health, you’ll take something useful from this one. Subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Keenan can be found over at his personal website: https://keenancrowley.com/

And writing over on substack: https://keenancrowley.substack.com/

John King: From Music Startups To EOS Leadership Coaching

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0400

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This week we sit down with John King, an EOS implementer and business coach, to unpack how he learned to spot misalignment early and help leadership teams get back in rhythm without blowing up the culture. His story moves from band leader to a venture-backed music tech startup, through a decade in ministry, and into building a coaching practice for second-stage companies that need real structure and traction.

We get concrete about the hard moment every founder hits: deciding to raise the standard when your team feels like “volunteers” who can walk anytime. John breaks down why the first fix is almost never tighter control. It’s clearer leadership. That means explaining the why behind the change, enrolling key people before you try to move the whole company, and being honest about what’s required to level up. We also talk about visionary and integrator dynamics, and why the right partner can turn ambition into alignment across the organization.

Then we go into the unglamorous engine behind consistent growth: relationship-based outbound done with discipline. John shares how he rebuilt his identity, found the right rooms, and created a simple flywheel built on talks, follow-up, and getting on the phone. He also challenges the usual entrepreneurship narrative by reframing risk: one employer can be “one customer,” while a diversified client base can actually reduce downside once you build momentum.

If you’re building a business operating system, exploring EOS, trying to improve company culture, or wondering whether to bet on yourself, this conversation will give you language and moves you can use immediately.

—
🔗 John King: https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/john-king/
🔗 Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkingeos/—
ABOUT PERSONAL BETS

Person Bets is a podcast for the people actually running the business, not the investors, not the board, not the consultants on the sideline. Hosted by Chance Sweat, business broker at FitzGibbon Alexander, Inc. and founder of Foundry Leadership.

🔗 Personal Site: chancesweat.com
🔗 Brokerage Site: fitzgibbonalexander.com
🔗 Follow Chance: https://www.instagram.com/chancesweat

H&H Products - The production of a culture

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:00:00 -0400

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Jimmy Hartley's grandfather Len started H&H Products Company in 1964 with a $200 loan co-signed by his father, mixing syrup at home while his wife Betty Jean taught school during the day and bottled products at night.
Sixty years later, H&H manufactures over 3 million gallons of beverages and syrups annually out of Orlando, FL, supplying theme parks, restaurant chains, cruise lines, hospitals, and convenience stores across 22 states and 12 countries. Now Jimmy, the third generation at H&H and fifth generation in the beverage industry, is running operations, navigating the real tension between honoring a legacy his family spent decades building and modernizing the business for what comes next.

In this episode, we talk about:
→ The origin story most family businesses wish they had
→ Why his grandfather made his dad work somewhere else before coming back
→ What it's like walking onto the production floor as the founder's grandson
→ Faith, family, and what he wants his kids to see when they're old enough to listen

This is one of the most honest conversations about generational leadership.
—
🔗 H&H Products Company: https://hhproductscompany.com
🔗 Connect with Jimmy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-hartley-b40173130/
—
ABOUT OWNER OPERATED
Owner Operated is a podcast for the people actually running the business, not the investors, not the board, not the consultants on the sideline.

Hosted by Chance Sweat, business broker with FitzGibbon Alexander, Inc. and founder of Foundry Leadership.
🔗 Personal Site: ChanceSweat.com
🔗 Brokerage: fitzgibbonalexander.com
🔗 Follow Chance: https://www.instagram.com/chancesweat