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

Inside this episode of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath (CEO & Founder of operations consulting firm, Operator's Edge Co.) sits down with Brett Shagen, founder of Gravity Lens, for a conversation about what happens when the career path you once thought was a detour turns out to be part of the training.

Brett shares how he originally studied filmmaking and worked in music television before spending years in IT, supporting creative businesses and learning how companies operate from the inside. For a long time, he viewed those years away from filmmaking as lost time. Only after starting Gravity Lens did he begin to recognize how much those experiences gave him - technical problem-solving, client communication, business awareness and a much stronger understanding of how to serve other companies.

Sheri and Brett talk about what it really takes to build a creative business, from figuring out how to price work and understanding the true cost of running a company to building a network from scratch in a new market. Brett also opens up about underbidding projects, navigating scope creep, managing client expectations and learning that great creative work still has to be financially sustainable.

They also explore the tension between the artist and the business owner knowing when something is good enough to ship, when perfection stops adding value, and how to protect your creative standards without turning every client project into your own art project.

The conversation also looks at how AI is changing creative industries, where Brett sees technology as genuinely useful, and where he still believes the human part of creative work matters most.

At the heart of the episode is a lesson about reinvention:

Sometimes the years you thought pulled you away from the work you were meant to do are exactly the years that prepare you to come back and build it better.

An honest conversation about creative work, pricing, perfectionism, business ownership, technology, starting again in a new market, and taking the long way back with a much stronger set of tools.

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Connect with Brett Shagen, Gravity Lens here:

• Website: www.gravitylens.co
• Email: info@gravitylens.co
• Gravity Lens On Facebook
• Gravity Lens on Instagram

Connect with Sheri Horvath, Operator's Edge Co.

• Website: www.OpsEdgeCo.com
• Email: Edge@OpsEdgeCo.com
• Become A Guest of the Show: www.OpsEdgeCo.com/Podcast

Free Assessment mentioned in this episode: www.OpsEdgeCo.com/Assessment

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

Ep. 11 - Build It Better, Not Just Bigger w/ Dr. Angela Mineo, DNP

Inside this episode of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath (founder & CEO of Operator's Edge Co.) sits down with Dr. Angela Mineo, founder of Cheval Wellness, for a conversation about what happens when you leave a system that no longer reflects how you believe people should be cared for...and then have to learn how to build something better from the ground up.

Angela shares how years in nursing and primary care eventually pushed her to create Cheval Wellness after becoming frustrated with insurance restrictions, rushed visits, and the pressure to check boxes instead of truly addressing what patients needed. What began as a direct primary care model has since evolved into a more focused practice centered on integrative care for women.

Sheri and Angela talk candidly about the difference between being a great clinician and being a great business owner, the challenge of building a team, and the expensive lesson that came from trying to operate two locations too early. Angela shares how closing one location felt like a failure in the moment, but ultimately created more clarity, better focus, and even stronger revenue.

They also explore what Angela learned when a longtime team member left and she realized too much of the business lived in one person’s head. That experience pushed her to create stronger systems, document processes, give her team more decision-making authority, and begin building a practice that can continue to operate even when she is not the one holding everything together.

The conversation also touches on narrowing the business, saying no to work that no longer fits, protecting the quality of care as Cheval Wellness grows, becoming more decisive as a leader, and learning that being kind does not require avoiding boundaries or difficult decisions.

At the heart of the episode is a lesson that More is not always growth. Sometimes the strongest next step is focus.

And no matter how large Cheval Wellness becomes, Angela is clear about what must remain true: the care must stay personal, unrushed, and centered on the woman in front of her.

This is an honest conversation about building differently, learning from expensive mistakes, creating a business that does not depend on one person, holding your boundaries, and growing without losing the reason you built it in the first place.

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Connect with Dr. Angela Mineo, Cheval Wellness here:

• Website: www.ChevalWellness.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chevalwellness
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chevalwellness/

Connect with Sheri Horvath, Operator's Edge Co here:

• Website: www.OpsEdgeCo.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OperatorsEdgeCo/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opsedgeco/

Take our FREE Operational Freedom Readiness Assessment: www.OpsEdgeCo.com/assessment

Fan of this podcast? Review us on this platform!

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

Inside this episode of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath sits down with Kelly McCarthy, founder of Ignite Dance Company, for a conversation about what it takes to keep building the same dream for 30 years and still be willing to change how you build it.

Kelly shares how dance became a safe place for her as a child and eventually inspired her to create that same sense of belonging for generations of students. What began as a love of dance grew into something much bigger. Kelly built a business around confidence, leadership, community, and giving kids a place where they can feel like they matter.

Sheri and Kelly talk about the standards Kelly refuses to compromise, even when those standards have cost her customers. They explore the seasons that nearly drained the joy out of the work, and what it looks like to rebuild by returning to the parts of the business that mattered from the beginning rather than chasing bigger.

They also dig into one of the biggest shifts for any longtime owner... learning that your way does not always have to be the only way.

Kelly shares how she has learned to trust her instructors, allow other people to lead from their strengths, step back from work she once carried herself, and recognize that a strong team does not have to care for the business exactly the way the founder does in order to care deeply about it.

The conversation also explores customer relationships, follow-up, community service, protecting the people you serve, and the complicated reality of sometimes having to choose what you believe is right over what a customer wants.

And when Sheri asks Kelly what she hopes people will someday say about what she built, her answer is:

“She believed in me.”

This is an honest conversation about longevity, leadership, rebuilding, holding your standards, trusting other people, and remembering that sometimes the most important thing a business builds is not the product or service at all - it is the people who walk away believing a little more in themselves.

Connect with Kelly here:

• Facebook: Ignite Dance Company
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ignite.dance.company/
• Website: www.ignitedancers.com
• Email: ignite4dance@gmail.com

Connect with Sheri here:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OperatorsEdgeCo/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opsedgeco/
• Website: https://www.opsedgeco.com
• Email: edge@opsedgeco.com

Assessment promised at the end of the episode:

https://www.opsedgeco.com/assessment

Apply to become a guest:

https://www.opsedgeco.com/podcast

Music Credits: "Bottleneck" by Neon Beach

Inside this episode of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath sits down with David Geiger, founder of SPUR IT Services, for a conversation about what happens when being the person who can fix everything is no longer enough to build the business you actually want.

David shares how years of technical expertise prepared him to solve complex problems, but not necessarily to lead a company. He talks about the shift from being the “superhero” who handled everything himself to becoming a business owner who had to trust other people, define what good work actually looks like, and let smart people solve problems differently than he would.

Sheri and David also dig into the moments that shaped SPUR; the decision to leave traditional employment, the seasons when he questioned whether entrepreneurship was worth it, the impact of hiring administrative support, and a costly client situation that changed the way he thinks about responsibility, integrity, and the true definition of “done.”

They explore delegation, accountability, hiring for the person instead of only the skill set, learning to become less apologetic as a leader, and the tension between being highly capable and becoming too necessary to the business.

At the heart of the conversation is a lesson many founders eventually have to learn...

The goal is not to be the hero of the business. The goal is to build a business full of capable people who do not need you to rescue everything.

An honest conversation about technical skill, leadership, integrity, letting go, and building a company that can eventually operate without depending on you for every answer.

Connect With David here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wow.its.dave
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wowitsdave/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spur.it.services/

Website: https://www.spursystems.com

Connect With Sheri here:

www.OpsEdgeCo.com

Become a Guest of this podcast:

www.OpsEdgeCo.com/Podcast

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

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

Ep. 08 - Find What You Love, Then Build Around It w/ Nicole Atwood

Inside this episode of Work Hard. Be Nice., host Sheri Horvath (Operator's Edge Co.) sits down with REALTOR® Nicole Atwood for a conversation about reinvention, entrepreneurship, relationships, and what it looks like to finally build something for yourself after years of building for everyone else.

Nicole shares how her career path moved from interior design to manufacturing, bookkeeping, school operations, leadership, and eventually real estate, all while raising three children and spending more than a decade helping run a Montessori school. Looking back, she realized she had been building businesses and leading people for years before she ever saw herself as the builder.

Sheri and Nicole talk about starting over in a new state without actually starting from scratch, learning to trust the experience you already have, becoming a beginner again after being competent in other careers, and the mindset work required to keep going when it feels like nothing is happening.

They also dig into the difference between planning and doing, collaborative leadership, learning in real time, building genuine relationships with clients, and why Nicole believes some of the best business development happens when you find something you genuinely enjoy and use it to connect with people.

Nicole also shares what she and her husband are building next through real estate investing, and what she hopes her children learn from watching their parents continue to take risks, build businesses, and create new opportunities.

At the heart of the conversation is a beautiful lesson -

Find what you love. Then figure out how to build around it.

An honest conversation about starting again, taking action before you have every answer, building through relationships, and recognizing that sometimes you’ve been a builder long before you ever gave yourself credit for it.

Connect With Nicole Atwood

• Email: nicole.atwood@kw.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-atwood1818
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicoleatwood2
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleatwood2

Connect With Sheri Horvath & Operator's Edge Co.

• Email: sheri@opsedgeco.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/operators-edge-co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OperatorsEdgeCo/

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

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