Inside Episode 15 of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath sits down with Nikki Pennell, owner of Infinity Contracting and the woman behind The Contractor Chik, for a conversation about building something once, walking away, and getting the opportunity to build it again with a completely different perspective.

Nikki’s path into construction was anything but traditional. Her career began in accounting and finance, eventually leading her to become the CFO of a $60 million manufacturing company. But after a frustrating experience building her own custom home, Nikki found herself increasingly involved in the project... asking questions, managing details and solving problems until the tradespeople on site started asking why she wasn’t the general contractor herself.

That experience eventually became Infinity Contracting in North Carolina. Nikki built a strong brand, systems and processes, but when she and her husband adopted three children from foster care and she needed to step away, she learned the important lesson that having systems is not the same thing as building a business that can function without you.

Years later, after relocating to Florida and watching homeowners navigate difficult contractor experiences following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Nikki felt the pull back into construction. This time, she isn’t starting from scratch. She’s bringing experience, hard-earned lessons and a clearer understanding of the company she wants to build.

Sheri and Nikki talk about transferring ownership instead of simply transferring tasks, building a company that can eventually operate without its founder, and choosing the right people to help carry the work.

They also dig into Nikki’s relationship-first approach with clients, subcontractors, employees and even competitors...and why one of the best questions you can ask before entering a long-term business relationship might be - Can we fight well together?

The conversation explores reputation, integrity and why doing something faster or cheaper is not always worth the tradeoff. For Nikki, the goal is to build work she can stand behind and a company people can trust.

At the heart of the episode is a bigger story about starting again.

Nikki reflects on choosing family when that season required it, returning to entrepreneurship later in life, and what she hopes her children learn from watching her rebuild: ambition and family can coexist, setbacks do not define the rest of the story, and it is never too late to begin again.

An honest conversation about founder dependency, trust, leadership, delegation, family, and using everything the first version taught you to build the next one better.

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Connect with Nikki: www.contractorchik.com

Take the assessment mentioned in this episode: OpsEdgeCo.com/assessment

Apply to become a guest of the show: www.OpsEdgeCo.com/Podcast

Connect with Sheri Horvath and Operator's Edge: www.OpsEdgeCo.com

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Intro & Outro Music Credits: "Bottleneck" by Neon Beach

Inside Episode 14 of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath (Operator's Edge Co.) sits down with Dr. Carolyn Norton, founder of Chrysalis Cosmetic & Restorative Dentistry, for a conversation about what happens when someone stops accepting the way an industry has always operated and decides to build the environment they believe should exist instead.

Carolyn shares how years in corporate dentistry eventually made one thing clear... she wanted more control over the quality of her work, the time she could spend with patients, the specialists she trusted, the materials she used, and the overall experience people had in her care. Rather than spend her career wondering what she might have been capable of on her own, she chose to build Chrysalis from the ground up.

Sheri and Carolyn talk about the reality behind that decision, and being highly trained as a dentist but suddenly responsible for insurance, systems, equipment, hiring, patient communication, business decisions, and all of the unseen work required to keep a practice running. Carolyn opens up about working what feels like two full-time jobs, learning to figure things out as she goes, and discovering just how resourceful ownership requires her to become.

They also explore the tension between artistry and entrepreneurship. Carolyn describes herself as an artist before anything else, and that attention to detail shows up everywhere...from the way she designs a smile to the way she designed the physical office itself. She talks about holding an incredibly high clinical standard, knowing when to tell a patient no, protecting the quality of work she is willing to put her name on, and accepting that not every patient (or every team member) will be the right fit.

The conversation also gets into building culture, creating a patient experience rooted in genuine care, learning what can and cannot be taught, and designing the patient experience at Chrysalis in a way that aligns with the culture, standard of care and longevity she is building toward.

At the heart of the episode is the lesson that what looks effortless from the outside is often the result of hundreds of deliberate choices. Carolyn reflects on the way every detail of Chrysalis Cosmetic & Restorative Dentistry was chosen with intention.

It wasn’t luck. It was intentional.

An honest conversation about betting on yourself, building from scratch, holding the standard, learning to lead, trusting your instincts, and creating a business where every detail reflects what you believe good work should look like.

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Connect with Carolyn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrysalisdentistry

Visit her website: www.ChrysalisSmiles.com

Connect with Sheri Horvath and Operator's Edge Co: www.OpsEdgeCo.com

Take the assessment mentioned in this episode: www.OpsEdgeCo.com/assessment

Intro & Outro Music Credits: 'Bottleneck' by Neon Beach

Operator's Edge Co. is an operations consulting firm dedicated to helping owner dependent businesses of all sizes reach operational freedom. If your business would struggle to survive for two weeks without you, our services are for you.

Inside this special Episode 13 of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath steps away from the guest interview format to introduce a new recurring series: Debriefing the Dozen.

Every 13th episode, Sheri will look back at the twelve conversations that came before it to reflect on the lessons that stayed with her, the ideas she keeps carrying forward, and the patterns that begin to emerge when you listen closely to people who are actively building businesses, careers, teams and lives.

In this first debrief, Sheri revisits the lessons from Episodes 1–12: burnout before scale, caring for the person leading the business, having the courage to change direction, sharing the story while you are still building it, recognizing that capacity is not the same as obligation, growing without losing the heart, protecting your joy, starting again without starting from scratch, learning to stop being the hero, rebuilding after 30 years, creating an alternative instead of simply criticizing what exists, and discovering that the detour may have been part of the training all along.

What emerges is something even bigger than twelve individual lessons. There is no single version of a builder.

Some people are just beginning. Some are rebuilding. Some are learning to let go. Some are changing direction entirely. And nearly everyone is trying to figure out how to grow without losing the people, values, purpose or parts of themselves that made the work worth doing in the first place.

Debriefing the Dozen is a reflection on the first chapter of Work Hard. Be Nice. and the realization that sometimes the thing one person had to learn the hard way is exactly what another person needs to hear today.

Twelve stories down. Another dozen ahead. Work Hard. Be Nice.

www.OpsEdgeCo.com/Podcast