In this episode of The Next Door Entrepreneur, Chris Hardiman sits down with Doug Long, co-founder and former CEO of Pinnacle Financial Corporation and current CEO of Fusion Home Loans, to talk about a career built around entrepreneurship, leadership, and the mortgage industry.

Doug co-founded Pinnacle Financial in 1988 and helped grow the company from $68 million in first-year production to approximately $7 billion in annual production by 2006, becoming a top-50 mortgage lender along the way.

But this conversation isn’t just about numbers. Doug shares the lessons that come from decades of building businesses — choosing the right people, creating a strong culture, adapting through changing markets, learning from mistakes, and understanding what it really takes to lead.

Today, he’s bringing those experiences into Fusion Home Loans, where his vision goes beyond simply growing a mortgage company. It’s about creating an environment where loan officers and team members can grow, build meaningful careers, and define what success looks like for themselves.

From Pinnacle Financial to Fusion Home Loans, this is a conversation about what you learn when you’ve spent decades building — and why sometimes your next chapter can be your most exciting one yet.

🎙️ Watch the full episode of The Next Door Entrepreneur with Doug Long.

What does it take to turn an idea into a restaurant brand people truly connect with?
In this episode of The Next Door Entrepreneur, Chris Hardiman sits down with Chris Gannon, founder and CEO of Bolay, to talk about the journey behind the brand, his entrepreneurial roots, and the vision that helped bring Bolay to life.
Chris grew up with a front-row seat to entrepreneurship through his father’s experience in the restaurant industry, giving him an early look at what it takes to create, lead, take risks, and build something people love. Those experiences would eventually influence Chris as he set out to create something of his own and Bolay was born. 🥗
Chris also shares his approach to leadership and why a great company is about so much more than the person at the top. It takes a strong team, a clear vision, and a plan that gives people something to believe in and work toward together.
From restaurant roots to building his own brand, this episode is a conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, culture, and turning a vision into reality.

Katie Bean turned her passion for travel into a business but getting there took creativity, persistence, and a willingness to figure things out along the way.

In this episode of The Next Door Entrepreneur, Chris Hardiman sits down with Katie Bean of Katie Bean Travels to hear the story behind her entrepreneurial journey. Katie takes us back to the beginning: how the idea started, what it was like opening her first storefront, and how she found ways to market and grow her business before social media made reaching customers as easy as it is today.

She shares the grassroots marketing strategies she used, the importance of building relationships within the community, and the lessons she learned while turning an idea into something real.

It’s a conversation about starting small, getting creative with what you have, and having the courage to keep building your vision.