Episodes

Brian Cook is a force to be reckoned with and figured out how to redefine in-person service during a pandemic. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-So-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, b...

A failed suspension idea for the navy, slinky becomes a toy so popular they sell over 300 million of them. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but ...

Taking a true look at where your business is taking you and working hard to give customers what they want. Bill Rosenberg, way to go. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, whi...

Building trust is not easy, but when you are consistent, unique and true to yourself people take notice. No Bull RV has done this very well. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our spons...

The marketing for Anacin was brilliant and studied. Creating emotion around how you make others feel was a master class of messaging. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor whic...

California joins the union and messages need to be delivered. UPS had a solution and decided it needed to be luxury and efficient. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast. Teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop, to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which...

Stephen and Dave right a wrong from a previous episode and dive deep into the history of franchising. A system for making millionaires. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, w...

The amazing rise of Kodak was due to innovation after innovation and you’ll never guess why George Eastman called it Kodak. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, wel...

Martha had a great idea. Xavier had a bigger dream. Roger knew what to call them. The story of the Cabbage Patch Kids will surprise you. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor,...

How to build a tech company without being techy! No seriously, Rob Kalin, an artist, started Etsy and then polled more artists to make it awesome. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from ou...

How does a serial entrepreneur turn into the owner of one of the largest shoe companies in the minimalist category? One shoe at a time… Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, w...

Fred Smith came up with the idea of hub based courier service in school and the teachers gave him a “C”. Jokes on them! Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, ...

Xerox had an innovation department that put out some of the tech that we use on a daily basis, but never truly capitalized on it. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which ...

FedEx purchased Kinko’s for 2+ Billion Dollars. Kinko’s doesn’t exist any more, but I think we can all agree that Paul Orfelea built an empire. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our s...

We all think about the pop pop pop. But it works best when it doesn’t make a sound. Here is the beginning of Bubble Wrap and the Sealed Air Corporation. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word fro...

Being willing to expose a weakness or a flaw or admitting a mistrake… uhm, sorry, A mistake allows people to know you are real. And real matters when building trust. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s epis...

A Canadian invention that sold for $80,000,000 to Hasbro in 1993. Now it is a worldwide sensation. Come on, you’ve played it. Dave Young: … welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is...

Travelling is fun, but stressful. Is the destination going to look like the pictures on the website? Voila, Trip Advisor. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well...

Labor shortages are affecting the hiring of good people. How does business change their recruiting practices to get the best workers? Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Yum. Before we get into today’s episode, a Young from our sponsor, whi...

The real liquid solid for adults turned into Silly Putty for the kid inside all of us. Natural rubber was hard to get and Silly Putty was the mistake that created an empire. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today...

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a better built backpack that cost the same? The beginning of Herschel. How to feel established from day one? Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our spons...

The Randolph brothers busted a hole in the wall of their bakery to accommodate factory worker’s short break time. That was the first of 3 ways to create word of mouth. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from Mom and Pop to major brands. Steven Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Steven sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episod...

While struggling in the great depression, Margaret Rudkin was brave enough to offer her healthy bread, made for her son, to the local baker. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our spon...

Stephen had a chance meeting that lead to an adventure in A.I. development. The recreation of the human brain? Let us know your thoughts. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor...