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We chat with former RuPaul's Drag Race contestant and all around  Drag Queen extraordinaire Miz Cracker. She tells us about how she got her start with drag, being on the show, building a brand and so. much. more.

We first crossed paths with Michael Barber during not one, but two, sessions and workshops he led at Digital Summit Los Angeles. There, we saw him host a four-hour workshop on email marketing that kept us riveted and again for a workshop on marketing lessons from his mum. We enjoyed him so much we asked for more and invited him to be our guest on the Heart of Business. We talk marketing agencies, what makes great content, the importance of email marketing and more.

We love a good story here on the Heart Of Business and Vaibhav Namburi is no difference. He left India for his education and found a career, starting a company, Five 2 One, dedicated to helping people make their dreams come true by creating apps and AI for businesses across the globe. They've even worked with the UN!  This episode is packed with lessons Vaibhav has learned along the way and advice for others looking to pursue their own passions.

Rodney Couch doesn't just have the typical story of going from the dishwasher in a restaurant to running the whole place. He worked his way from the ground up and found a way to do things differently in the service industry. Now, with transparency on their side, his company Provider is disrupting the contract foodservice industry.

Armando Veve is an incredible illustrator who has worked for the New York Times, New Yorker, Wired and many more publications. He's also a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. We enjoyed our conversation with this very talented artist about how he made his dream career a reality.

Bob Morris was looking for the next step after coming off the road from world tours with The Hush Sound. He took the need to walk and care for his own dog and turned into a business. Yo! Dog Walker has grown into one of the most sought out dog walking and sitting businesses in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. Listening to Bob, it's not hard to see why he's doing so well. He cares about the dogs and their owners in a manner that creates loyal customers and happy pets.

We talk about the origins of the site he collaborates on, Really Good Emails. We discuss what makes an email really good, the evolution of email marketing and being passionate about email marketing. We also talk about how an entirely remote team can work together. Check it out!

The creation and launch of Benchmark CRM has been a process years in the making. We talk to Director of Product Development Paul Rijnders, who has been at the head of the team since day one. We got to hear everything that goes into the development of a tool like a CRM. If you're looking to get clued into the world of CRM, this is a great place to start.

Tirthak Saha is only 26 years old. He's been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, worked with NASA on origami-inspired satellites and won American Electric Power's Spark Tank Innovation Challenge. You may not have heard of him yet, but he believes that will change. So do we.

Jack Wrigley has built a career as an entrepreneur, working with various startups along the way. We talked to him about his journey, as well as his current experience with Kickbox and the email marketing world. He shared some great lessons for startups and those looking to follow their dreams.

Clayton Wood is an SEO expert who has helped build multi-million dollar businesses. He's also an incredibly interesting person who took the leap and left the corporate world to blaze his own path. It took him to Puerto Rico, the Philippines and even the pages of Playboy.

In late February, Rand Fishkin announced he was leaving Moz, the company he co-founded. We reached out that day, wanting to hear more about his new endeavor: SparkToro. It was great to catch up with him and hear more about his new business. Plus, we fell into an incredible conversation about creating quality content.

Eliot Crist turned a part-time opportunity into a career as a football analyst. It's the dream of most football fans and fantasy football players across the country. Tune in and listen to find out how it became his reality.

We return to the Heart of Business with Chad S. White, who is the Research Director at Litmus and the author of Email Marketing Rules. We discuss the evolution of email marketing and its longevity and how he found his way into the industry. It's a fun conversation with three email marketing veterans.

It seems more important than ever to tell a story like that of Drive Change. A force for good in our society aimed at improving the lives of its employees, maintaining a conversation on social justice and serving delicious food. Drive Change brings its cause straight to the people taking it's food truck, Snowday, on the move with a message. You see, the food truck employs formerly incarcerated young adults and gives them support, on the job training and assistance in achieving the future they desire. Did I mention the food is amazing? I don't have to because the awards are piling up ... as are the mentions in every "best of NY" list on food trucks. Drive Change co-founder Roy Waterman and his team deserve all the accolades their food has received and more. In a world of hashtag activism, it seems as important as ever to give a platform to the individuals taking action to work for a better tomorrow.

Paul Akers had to go to Japan to become fully immersed in Lean culture. Thanks to him, all of us need not leave our desks. To say we were excited to speak to Paul and hear his story is an understatement. His Lean Journey is one of positivity and joy, albeit not with a few bumps along the road. We talked to him about his own company, FastCap, and how they have benefited from implementing Lean. Despite speaking, consulting, authoring books and so much more, we managed to ask Paul one question he said he's never been asked before. Plus, we got the scoop on Paul's yet-to-be-announced fourth book. This is a must listen for any entrepreneur looking to maximize efficiency and eliminate waste (which should be all of us). Listen and enjoy!

Think about all of the things for which you use your smartphone. Calls, email and texting, sure, but what else? You calendar, the internet, social media. Shopping? Transportation? Business? These days the list can go on and on. EasilyDo is like having an assistant that lives in your phone. It integrates with all of the tools you use in your life to stay organized and get things done. We had a great talk on how the tools in your life can be used more efficiently. It's something all of us can stand to do.

Yes. The Heart of Business podcast and its hosts hail from an Email Service Provider, but we very rarely touch on the topic of email marketing in our episodes. So, when we get the chance we let our inner email marketing nerds out to play. The importance of list verification and list hygiene and best practices for email marketing overall were discussed. We also talked about how much more educated marketers are nowadays.

It may take a village to raise a child ... and it takes a community to build a startup. Enter the Expert Dojo. Brian MacMahon has long been a champion for small businesses and startups and he's found a home in Silicon Beach with the Expert Dojo. There's he offers training and resources to the individuals seeking it and has built a community of like-minded folks to help one another grow and achieve success.

It was easy to hear when talking with Susan Dewhirst and Nancy Pak from Tom's of Maine and know that they love what they do and the company for which they work. Yes, they work for a company which has been producing natural products that was doing it long before it was trendy to do so. However, each person at Tom's of Maine believes in what they do and lives and breathes the cause. They take pride in their community and enjoy their surroundings. It was an excellent conversation in branding, building trust with your audience and more.