Business RadioX ®

Working Yet Homeless in North Fulton

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Nesha Mason, The Drake House, and Joy Monroe, SPARC, on Attainable Housing, Working Families Experiencing Homelessness, and the Economy Hotel Evacuation, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
Working Yet Homeless in North Fulton
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Nesha Mason, The Drake House, and Joy Monroe, SPARC, on Attainable Housing, Working Families Experiencing Homelessness, and the Economy Hotel Evacuation, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

Nesha Mason, The Drake House, and Joy Monroe, SPARC, on Attainable Housing, Working Families Experiencing Homelessness, and the Economy Hotel Evacuation (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 919)

Nesha Mason, President of The Drake House in Roswell, and Joy Monroe, founder of the Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC), join host John Ray to discuss the crisis of working families experiencing homelessness in North Fulton and the broader Metro Atlanta region. The conversation explores the challenges facing single mothers and their children who are living in extended-stay motels, the barriers to attainable housing, and the impact on the local workforce and business community.

The discussion highlights the May 2025 evacuation of the Economy Hotel in North Fulton, which displaced over 100 families, and the book There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone. Nesha and Joy explain why families become trapped in extended-stay motels despite working full-time jobs, the devastating effects on children living in these conditions, and the urgent need for more attainable housing solutions in North Fulton.

They also discuss the Motel to Home Alliance, the North Fulton Improvement Network, and practical ways community members can get involved, including participating in comprehensive planning processes, listening to the North Fulton Voices podcast, and supporting nonprofit collaboration to address this growing crisis.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

  • Single mothers and families experiencing homelessness in North Fulton are often employed full-time but cannot afford the security deposits and first month’s rent required to move from extended-stay motels into apartments, creating a trap that keeps them homeless despite working.
  • Extended-stay motels were originally built for traveling salesmen, not families, yet they now house families in 200–250 square feet with no kitchens, inadequate sleeping arrangements, and exposure to crime, violence, and other adverse childhood experiences that impact children’s health, education, and well-being.
  • The May 2025 evacuation of the Economy Hotel displaced over 100 families, and none could be relocated within North Fulton, disrupting their jobs, children’s schools, and entire support systems while removing essential service workers from the local workforce.
  • North Fulton’s attainable housing shortage affects the entire community, as CNAs, home health aides, daycare workers, teachers, servers, and other essential workers cannot afford to live where they work, reducing workforce availability and increasing costs for businesses and residents alike.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:20 John Ray introduces the show and guests, Nesha Mason and Joy Monroe
02:21 Nesha Mason introduces The Drake House and its mission to support single mothers experiencing homelessness
03:12 Joy Monroe introduces SPARC and its housing stability and economic mobility programs
04:54 Joy Monroe shares her personal experience as a single parent living in an extended-stay motel
06:41 The federal classification of families in motels as homeless
08:12 How extended-stay motels become traps for working families
09:07 SPARC’s motel-to-home program and the Motel to Home Alliance
10:42 Barriers to qualifying for apartments, including evictions and credit scores
13:00 The book There Is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone and the Drake House book club
15:09 The May 2025 evacuation of the Economy Hotel in North Fulton
21:50 The trauma of relocating families outside of North Fulton and its impact on their jobs and children’s schools
23:27 Dispelling myths about families experiencing homelessness
26:39 Effects on children living in extended-stay motels
29:39 Principals allowing children to sleep in class because motels prevent adequate rest
31:08 Extended-stay hotels were never designed for families
33:27 The lack of attainable housing as the root cause of working homelessness
36:02 The cost to North Fulton businesses of losing service workers
39:02 A teacher who cannot afford to live in North Fulton on her salary
40:22 The need for creative housing solutions beyond just apartments
43:16 How community members can get involved through comprehensive plans and the North Fulton Improvement Network (NFIN)
45:35 The importance of engaging at the local level in zoning and comprehensive plans
46:15 How to connect with The Drake House and SPARC

Nesha Mason, President, The Drake House

Nesha Mason, President, The Drake House, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
Nesha Mason, President, The Drake House

Nesha Mason brings a diverse skill set with more than 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. Nesha worked as an operations director in the private sector before transitioning to public service, serving as Mayor for the City of Abilene, Kansas. After her tenure as an elected official, Nesha served as program director for a county-wide nonprofit developing programs that united the medical and early childhood communities. Upon relocation to the Atlanta area in 2013, she served as a Fulton County educator and then transitioned to executive director of a statewide educational foundation focusing on unifying education and workforce development.

In her current role as President of The Drake House, Nesha Mason combines her leadership skills, educational expertise, and commitment to community welfare to lead and support initiatives that empower families and create lasting positive change. Under her leadership, the organization has expanded from housing and support to offering a comprehensive pathway from homelessness to stability. She has enhanced programming, upgraded facilities, and forged vital partnerships to create a community of support for families in need. Nesha also spearheaded the North Fulton Housing Collaborative, uniting nonprofits for greater impact. Her fiscal expertise has grown The Drake House’s budget by 78.5%, ensuring quality care and lasting change for vulnerable families.

LinkedIn

The Drake House

The Drake House provides a short-term crisis and an affordable housing program for single mothers and their children experiencing homelessness in North Metro Atlanta. Their educational, empowerment and mentoring programs assist families in becoming financially self-sufficient and contributing members of the community. The Drake House is the only agency in the area offering an emergency residential program, serving approximately 50 families with 100 children per year. The Drake House envisions a community where every family has the opportunity to recover quickly with dignity from their homeless situation.

Website | Facebook | LinkedIn

Joy Monroe, Founder, Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC)

Joy Monroe, Founder, Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC), on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
Joy Monroe, Founder, Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC)

Joy Monroe is the founder of the Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC). Joy started SPARC after moving to Georgia from New York and realizing that her support system had been essential to her success as a single parent. When she relocated to Atlanta with what she thought was a solid plan, she discovered that Atlanta requires employment before securing housing, unlike New York, where cash payments are accepted. The situation led to Joy and her sons living in an extended-stay motel while she secured employment and housing.

On the morning they were scheduled to move into their new apartment, Joy and her sons were hit by a truck. Though they only stayed in the motel for an additional week, that experience galvanized for her how precarious life is for families at extended-stay motels. Even when doing everything right with a solid plan, one unexpected event can trap families in a cycle they cannot escape. Joy also learned that families living in extended-stay motels are federally classified as homeless, even though she did not feel homeless at the time. This personal journey inspired her to create SPARC, which began as a support group in her living room and has grown into an organization serving single parents throughout Metro Atlanta with programs focused on housing stability, economic mobility, and family well-being.

LinkedIn

Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC)

The Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC) helps single parents, strengthens families, and builds futures through programs that focus on housing stability, economic mobility, and family health. SPARC’s Motel to Home program helps families transition from extended stay motels into stable, permanent housing through outreach, housing assistance, and aftercare support. Families receive help overcoming barriers such as deposits and moving expenses with ongoing guidance to maintain stability. The Motel to Home Alliance, a coalition of partner agencies, ensures that 88% of families receiving housing assistance maintain stable housing after a year.

The Financial Achievement Club is offered as part of SPARC’s aftercare services, where families that have been housed participate in a program to encourage savings and build an emergency account to guard against future homelessness. SPARC also brings programs and services directly to where families live and play, including free afterschool programs at apartment complexes and community events like SPARC in the Park where single parents can participate in educational workshops and build their support networks.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, having started in 1904 as a $100,000 bank located in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown into one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, boasting over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 offices offering banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which in turn helps them better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

Whether you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their respective markets, communities, and professions. There is no discrimination based on company size, and there is never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, which is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the entire archive of shows by following this link. The show is accessible on all major podcast apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

Ben Benson on M&A Pitfalls That Cost Sellers Millions

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Ben Benson, Apexion Advisors, on M&A Advisory, Transaction Pitfalls, and Preparing Business Owners for Successful Exits, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
Ben Benson on M&A Pitfalls That Cost Sellers Millions
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Ben Benson, Apexion Advisors, on M&A Advisory, Transaction Pitfalls, and Preparing Business Owners for Successful Exits, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

Ben Benson, Apexion Advisors, on M&A Advisory, Transaction Pitfalls, and Preparing Business Owners for Successful Exits (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 918)

In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Ben Benson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Apexion Advisors, to discuss the flaws in the traditional M&A advisory model and how these issues can cost business owners millions of dollars. BBen explains the information asymmetry trap, which gives sophisticated buyers, who regularly execute transactions, a significant advantage over business owners who may only sell once in their lifetime.

Ben shares specific examples of how buyers use working capital adjustments to claw back value after closing, sometimes recapturing a million dollars or more through accounting mechanisms that sellers don’t fully understand. He discusses how legal structures like reps and warranties shift risk back to sellers and reveals the hidden costs of deal fatigue, where buyers strategically extend timelines to wear down sellers and create leverage for price reductions.

Ben explains how Apexion takes a different approach by building relationships with business owners years before a transaction, helping them prepare in advance, and creating flexible pricing models that align incentives properly. He covers when business owners should start thinking about M&A preparation, the benefits of alternative structures, like the European lockbox method, and why starting early can help retain significantly more value in a transaction.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

  • The traditional M&A advisory model creates misaligned incentives where bankers are motivated to close deals regardless of whether they serve the seller’s best interests, and sellers subsidize failed transactions through higher fees
  • Information asymmetry heavily favors institutional buyers who execute transactions professionally while most business owners go through the process once in a lifetime, allowing buyers to use mechanisms like working capital adjustments to recapture millions in value post-closing
  • Hidden costs include deal fatigue from extended timelines and data requests, which buyers use strategically to wear down sellers and create leverage for price reductions
  • Starting M&A preparation early, using alternative structures like European lockbox methods, and understanding reps and warranties in advance can help business owners retain significantly more value in transactions

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:20 John Ray introduces the show and guest Ben Benson
02:13 Ben Benson introduces Apexion Advisors and their M&A advisory services
03:18 Ben’s career journey from CPA to private equity to M&A advisory
05:57 Why the traditional M&A investment banking model is broken
08:36 Misaligned incentives in traditional M&A advisory
09:17 How Apexion builds relationships early to create better outcomes
12:30 The information asymmetry trap in M&A transactions
16:02 How working capital adjustments are used to shift value to buyers
21:21 Legal structures, reps and warranties, and risk allocation
23:26 Hidden costs, including deal fatigue and advisory sprawl
26:18 How Apexion does M&A advisory differently
29:49 When business owners should engage with M&A advisors
31:02 Success stories, including partnership buyouts and debt refinancing
33:16 Contact information and closing

Ben Benson, Co-Founder / Managing Partner

Ben Benson combines extensive experience in finance, strategy, and M&A, shaped by hands-on experience in private equity, investment banking, and corporate strategy & development. After launching his career at PwC, he later managed financial operations and led investment analysis at a $250 million private equity fund. Afterwards, he executed M&A mandates at KeyBanc Capital Markets and Harris Williams. Most recently, he spearheaded strategic initiatives at Corpay and Agilysys, including the $150 million acquisition of Book4Time, Inc. Ben holds a BS in Accounting and an MBA from the Marriott School of Business at BYU and is a licensed CPA in California.

LinkedIn

Apexion Advisors

Apexion Advisors is a boutique M&A advisory firm with a clear mission: to guide businesses through pivotal moments and drive strategic transformation.

Website | LinkedIn

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, having started in 1904 as a $100,000 bank located in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown into one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, boasting over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 offices offering banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which in turn helps them better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

Whether you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their respective markets, communities, and professions. There is no discrimination based on company size, and there is never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, which is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the entire archive of shows by following this link. The show is accessible on all major podcast apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

Bill Cates on How Your Money Story Shapes Your Pricing

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How Your Money Story Shapes Your Pricing: Bill Cates on The Hidden Heist, on The Price and Value Journey podcast with host John Ray
North Fulton Studio
Bill Cates on How Your Money Story Shapes Your Pricing
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How Your Money Story Shapes Your Pricing: Bill Cates on The Hidden Heist, on The Price and Value Journey podcast with host John Ray

How Your Money Story Shapes Your Pricing: Bill Cates on The Hidden Heist (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 154)

Many expert-service pros quietly carry money worries into every pricing decision they make. They undercharge, hesitate to raise fees, or avoid looking too closely at their finances, even while they help clients make sound business decisions. In this episode of The Price and Value Journey, John Ray talks with referral and money-story expert Bill Cates about how the stories you absorbed about money early in life still shape your business today.

Bill shares ideas from his new parable, The Hidden Heist: Stop Robbing Yourself of Lasting Wealth, and explains why so many professionals operate from scarcity, money anxiety, and what he calls “money denial.” He and John connect those mindsets to common pricing traps, like discounting by reflex, staying in “satisfied” territory instead of becoming truly remarkable, and quietly resenting clients while never asking for referrals.

Listeners will hear how to think of money as something that flows toward value, why you cannot become someone you secretly resent, and how inherited beliefs about “people with money” can cap your earning potential. Bill also talks about building “business friendships” that lead to advocacy and why curiosity and empathy are the best tools you have to uncover a client’s own money story.

If you want to strengthen your pricing, feel more grounded talking about fees, and stop letting old money narratives run your firm from the shadows, this conversation will help you start that work.

The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of the Business RadioX® podcast network.

Key Takeaways You Can Use from This Episode

  • Notice the money messages you grew up with and how they still show up in your pricing, discounting, and growth decisions.
  • Shift from a fixed-pie view of money to seeing it as something that flows toward genuine value and outcomes.
  • Move from “my clients are satisfied” to “my clients love me” and then to being truly remarkable and referable.
  • Build “business friendships” with clients, where strong results and genuine personal connection sit side by side.
  • Use curiosity and follow-up questions to surface a client’s hidden money beliefs so you can serve them better and avoid false assumptions.
  • Stop money denial by taking responsibility for your own financial clarity instead of abdicating everything to advisers.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Bill Cates
01:59 Bill Cates’ Background and Adventures
03:05 The Hidden Heist: A Unique Approach to Financial Literacy
04:56 Understanding Money Stories and Limiting Beliefs
07:31 The Scarcity Mindset and Its Impact
10:47 Getting into the Flow of Money
17:41 Inherited Money Stories and Their Effects
22:32 The Power of Awareness and Money Stories
22:45 Basic Financial Principles
22:59 Working with Financial Professionals
23:16 Understanding Money Mindsets
24:53 The Importance of Masterminds and Advisory Boards
27:05 Money Denial and Its Impact
32:17 The Role of Financial Advisors
37:04 Empathy and Client Relationships
41:15 Conclusion and Resources

Bill Cates, Referral Coach International

Bill Cates, Referral Coach International
Bill Cates, Referral Coach International

Bill Cates is an internationally recognized expert in relationship marketing and referrals, serving as the president of Referral Coach International and the founder of The Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing, where he assists financial advisors and other professionals in achieving exponential growth by multiplying their best clients through warm introductions rather than traditional prospecting.  He is a Hall of Fame keynote speaker and bestselling author of books such as Get More Referrals Now, Beyond Referrals, Radical Relevance, and The Language of Referrals. Additionally, he hosts the Top Advisor Podcast, interviewing top performers about client acquisition and growth strategies.

Referral Coach International is Bill Cates’ consulting and training firm dedicated to helping advisors, teams, and organizations build a referral‑driven, relationship marketing culture based on how clients actually prefer to meet new advisors: through recommendations and introductions from people they already trust.  The firm’s unique Bill Cates Relationship Marketing System and the “3 R’s of Relationship Marketing” focus on identifying a specific target market, clearly communicating valuable information, building a strong reputation in a niche area, and then using that reputation to generate a steady stream of suitable client referrals and introductions.

RCI delivers its work through video-based training, one‑on‑one and team coaching, live workshops, and consulting, with a particular emphasis on financial advisors and advisory firms that want to increase revenue without increasing their marketing budget.  Across these programs, the aim is to help professionals become “super referrable,” systematize how they ask for and receive introductions, and create a business where high-trust, high-conversion referral opportunities are a primary engine of growth.

Website | LinkedIn | YouTube

John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey

John Ray, Author of The Generosity Mindset and Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray, Author of The Generosity Mindset and Host of The Price and Value Journey

John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.

John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is a podcast show host and the owner of North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their podcast using The Generosity Mindset® Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.

John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 900 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.

John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices

John Ray at Barnes & Noble with his book, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray is the author of the five-star rated book The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to them. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset®, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.

Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver outstanding value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.

Your combination of these elements is unique in your industry. There lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.

If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.

The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Email

Business RadioX®:  LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

The Music Studio Atlanta Opens in Johns Creek

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Cecilia Rowe, The Music Studio Atlanta, on Music Education and Opening a Third Location in Johns Creek, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
The Music Studio Atlanta Opens in Johns Creek
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Cecilia Rowe, The Music Studio Atlanta, on Music Education and Opening a Third Location in Johns Creek, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

Cecilia Rowe, The Music Studio Atlanta, on Music Education and Opening a Third Location in Johns Creek (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 917)

North Fulton Business Radio host John Ray welcomes Cecilia Rowe, CEO of The Music Studio Atlanta, one of Georgia’s largest privately owned music schools, serving more than 1,500 students across Metro Atlanta. The company offers instruction in piano, voice, guitar, drums, strings, and select woodwinds through both studio locations and in-home lessons.

Cecilia discusses her family’s four-generation musical legacy, the company’s rigorous hiring process for educators, and how performance opportunities like open mics and recitals build student confidence. She shares a transformation story of a young student who went from crying at her first recital to confidently performing at The Strand theatre, illustrating how music education develops discipline, perseverance, and self-confidence that benefit children throughout their lives.

The Music Studio Atlanta currently operates studios in Vinings and East Cobb and is opening its third location on State Bridge Road in Johns Creek in December 2025. Cecilia also discusses her book, Don’t Miss Your Child’s Musical Window, which addresses when to start music education, how to choose the right instrument, and how to make music a lifelong love.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

  • Starting music education early creates stronger neural pathways similar to learning a second language, increasing the likelihood of a lifelong musical journey
  • The relationship between student and teacher is the most critical factor in sustained engagement with music lessons, more important than temporary motivation lapses
  • Performance opportunities in family-friendly, low-pressure environments help students develop confidence that translates to presentations, public speaking, and other areas of life
  • Music education builds foundational life skills, including self-confidence, discipline, commitment, and perseverance, that benefit children in all aspects of their development

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:19 John Ray introduces the show and guest Cecilia Rowe
02:20 Cecilia Rowe introduces The Music Studio Atlanta and its locations
02:38 Cecilia’s family musical legacy from 1920s UK to present day
04:11 How Cecilia transitioned from corporate work to teaching music
05:41 What music education brought Cecilia as a student: confidence, discipline, and risk-taking
07:38 Cecilia’s love of teaching beginners and starting the family business
08:35 Instruments offered: piano, voice, guitar, drums, strings, and woodwinds
09:18 How parents choose the right instrument for their child
10:08 Discussion of Cecilia’s book Don’t Miss Your Child’s Musical Window
11:14 The studio experience: homey, safe, and child-friendly
12:10 The rigorous hiring process for educators who are musicians
13:52 Matching students with the right teacher for their style and goals
14:32 Open mics at Cecilia’s husband’s pizzeria and their purpose
16:05 Recitals as “fancier open mics” with themes and formal performances
17:30 In-home music lessons: 30 years of service to Atlanta families
18:34 How parents decide between studio and in-home lessons
20:04 Service radius for in-home lessons in Johns Creek area
21:37 Signs that a student needs to change teachers or programs
23:23 The importance of not quitting: commitment and perseverance in music
24:40 Who should engage with The Music Studio Atlanta
26:18 Success stories: improved reading skills and confidence transformation
28:59 New Johns Creek location details and ribbon-cutting event

Cecilia Rowe, CEO, The Music Studio Atlanta

Cecilia Rowe, CEO, The Music Studio Atlanta
Cecilia Rowe, CEO, The Music Studio Atlanta

Cecilia is a seasoned marketing and child-focused business professional with over three decades of experience and the owner of the multi-award-winning company, The Music Studio Atlanta. One of Georgia’s largest privately owned music schools, currently teaching more than 1,500 students both in-studio and at-home, the Music Studio Atlanta currently has locations in the Vinings and East Cobb areas and has expanded to open a third location in December 2025, in Johns Creek/Alpharetta.

After moving to Atlanta in 1989, Cecilia and her family started an in-home music lessons business, Courtnay & Rowe In-Home Music Academy, and spent 20 years teaching piano, voice, and guitar. She later became sole owner, and she merged it with the studio locations of The Music Studio Atlanta to create its current multi-location model. The Music Studio Atlanta is proud to have received five community awards last year, and this year the company has already been honored with four more.

Cecilia is passionate about creating safe spaces and family-friendly experiences for music education and aims to inspire children of all ages to build self-confidence, experience joy, and learn valuable life lessons through music. She recently was honored by the Cobb County Chamber with Women’s Owned Business of the Year as well as her third year in a row being awarded with Top 25 Business in Cobb.

In addition, Cecilia wrote a book as a musical resource for families, but also highlighting her musical journey and her family’s musical legacy. The book, Don’t Miss Your Child’s Musical Window, is also the motto of Cecilia’s life.

LinkedIn

The Music Studio Atlanta

The Music Studio Atlanta is one of Georgia’s largest privately owned music schools, teaching more than 1,500 students both in-studio and in-home across Metro Atlanta. The company believes that music lessons should be fun while encouraging self-confidence, self-expression, and proficiency through performance opportunities. Students learn to focus, take risks, and persevere when the going gets tough and are rewarded for these efforts with an exclusive proprietary reward system as well as recognition for recital and other performance achievements. The Music Studio Atlanta sets goals like recitals and open mics to inspire students to practice more, learn faster, and gain self-confidence through performance opportunities. The company currently operates studios in Vinings (the flagship location since 2011) and East Cobb/Marietta (since 2022) and is opening a third location in Johns Creek/Alpharetta in December 2025 at 10945 State Bridge Road.

The Music Studio Atlanta offers comprehensive music education in piano, voice, guitar (including bass, ukulele, acoustic, and electric), drums, strings (violin, viola, and cello), and select woodwinds, with approximately 85 teachers across the organization. The Music Studio Atlanta has received multiple community awards and is proud to be affiliated with the National Association for Music Education, Georgia Music Educators Association, and Music Teachers National Association.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, having started in 1904 as a $100,000 bank located in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown into one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, boasting over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 offices offering banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which in turn helps them better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

Whether you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their markets, communities, and professions. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, and it is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the complete archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

Meisha Marshall on Helping Couples Reconnect and Trust Again

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Meisha Marshall, Renew Mindset Coaching, on Rebuilding Trust and Connection for Adult Children of Divorce, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
Meisha Marshall on Helping Couples Reconnect and Trust Again
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Meisha Marshall, Renew Mindset Coaching, on Rebuilding Trust and Connection for Adult Children of Divorce, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

Meisha Marshall, Renew Mindset Coaching, on Rebuilding Trust and Connection for Adult Children of Divorce (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 916)

On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Meisha Marshall, a marriage and relationship coach and the founder of Renew Mindset Coaching, where she helps couples argue less, trust more, and feel like a team again. Known for her non-clinical approach, Meisha specializes in helping adults from divorced families build the kind of closeness and stability they always wanted growing up.

In this episode, Meisha discusses how early experiences with parental divorce shape how adults show up in their relationships today. She shares practical tools couples can use to de-escalate conflicts, return to difficult conversations without turning them into arguments, and rebuild connection after trust has been damaged. Meisha also explains the common misconceptions people have about what makes relationships last and what real progress looks like for couples working to improve their connection.

Meisha describes her Renew Together Membership program, designed to give couples ongoing support and simple, everyday strategies they can use in real life rather than abstract theory. Her coaching focuses on making change feel doable for couples who feel stuck or disconnected.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

  • Adults who grew up in divorced families often bring specific patterns and fears to their own relationships, including hypervigilance around conflict and difficulty trusting that problems can be resolved without ending the relationship.
  • Real progress in relationships shows up in small, everyday moves like taking breaks during arguments, returning to conversations with less defensiveness, and feeling more like teammates than opponents
  • One practical step for couples feeling stuck or like roommates is to ask each other “What’s one thing I could do this week that would make you feel more connected?” and then actually do that thing
  • The Renew Together Membership offers couples ongoing coaching and tools focused on practical application rather than theory, with support designed to maintain closeness long-term

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:20 John Ray introduces the show and guest Meisha Marshall
02:24 Meisha Marshall introduces Renew Mindset Coaching
04:11 Meisha’s passion for helping adult children of divorce
06:31 How divorce impacts people without them realizing it
08:05 Effects on relationships beyond marriage
08:57 How divorce shows up differently based on age
13:36 Trust issues and the “trust recession”
15:27 Death by a thousand cuts vs. major betrayals
17:21 Common misconceptions about relationship coaching
19:22 How people engage with Meisha’s coaching
21:12 The Renew Together Membership program
23:47 Signs you need relationship coaching
25:02 Success stories from Meisha’s practice
27:25 Closing thoughts and contact information

Meisha Marshall

Meisha Marshall is a marriage and relationship coach and the founder of Renew Mindset Coaching, where she helps couples argue less, trust more, and feel like a team again. Known for her non-clinical approach, Meisha specializes in helping adults from divorced families build the kind of closeness and stability they always wanted growing up. Her coaching blends practical tools with honest conversations that make change feel doable, not distant.

LinkedIn

Renew Mindset Coaching

Renew Mindset Coaching helps couples find their way back to each other when conversations get hard. It’s built on the belief that real change happens through simple, everyday moves like knowing when to take a breather, coming back to talk without it turning into another argument, and finding small ways to feel close again after things go sideways. The coaching focuses on giving couples tools they can actually use in real life, not just theory. Many of the people they work with experienced parental divorce and are now determined to build something stronger and steadier for themselves and their kids.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which helps them better understand the people. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

Whether you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their markets, communities, and professions. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, and it is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the complete archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

Quantifying Small Business Cyber Risk with CYBERISKIQ

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CYBERISKIQ from the CARE-Report: Quantifying Small Business Cyber Risk with Ralph Pasquariello and Craig Sekowski, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
Quantifying Small Business Cyber Risk with CYBERISKIQ
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CYBERISKIQ from the CARE-Report: Quantifying Small Business Cyber Risk with Ralph Pasquariello and Craig Sekowski, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

CYBERISKIQ from the CARE-Report: Quantifying Small Business Cyber Risk with Ralph Pasquariello and Craig Sekowski (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 915)

On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes cyber risk specialists Ralph Pasquariello and Craig Sekowski of the CARE-Report. Ralph and Craig explain why small and mid-sized businesses are far more exposed to cyber threats than they realize, not only from data breaches, but also from business interruption and extended downtime that many leaders never quantify until after an incident happens.

They describe how the CARE-Report’s CYBERISKIQ offering gives owners and CFOs a quantitative look at their exposure, translating cyber scenarios into dollars and days. Instead of selling IT services, the CARE-Report sits between cybersecurity and cyber insurance, running thousands of simulated scenarios, analyzing policies for exclusions and gaps, and helping clients right-size coverage based on real risk rather than guesswork.

Ralph and Craig also share why traditional “assessments” often stop at a technical checklist and how their work complements MSPs, attorneys, and insurance brokers by giving everyone a financial risk model they can work from together. They offer examples of companies that believed they were protected because they carried a certain cyber limit to satisfy contracts, only to discover that a serious incident could quickly exceed that limit once business interruption and remediation costs were added.

This conversation serves as a practical guide for any owner, CFO, or advisor seeking to safeguard revenue and enhance cyber coverage prior to an attack.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

  • Why small and mid-sized businesses often underestimate cyber risk when they focus on compliance instead of financial impact
  • How the CARE-Report’s CYBERISKIQ models thousands of cyber scenarios to put a dollar value on potential losses and downtime
  • The difference between a technical cybersecurity assessment and quantitative cyber risk analysis
  • How the CARE-Report works alongside MSPs, attorneys, and insurance brokers to align cybersecurity, contracts, and cyber insurance
  • Common policy gaps and exclusions that can leave companies exposed after a breach, especially around business interruption and recovery costs

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction and Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
00:28 Guest Introduction: Ralph Pasquariello and Craig Sekowski
01:54 The CARE-Report: Cyber Risk and Coverage
02:31 Cyber Risk IQ: New Product Launch
02:53 Understanding Cyber Risk Assessments
05:41 The Importance of Cyber Insurance
08:14 Challenges in Cyber Insurance Policies
11:15 Ensuring Proper Coverage
14:58 Real-World Examples and Solutions
17:31 Cyber Insurance Coverage Gaps
18:04 Evolving Cyber Threat Landscape
18:38 Impact of Cyber Attacks on Businesses
21:37 Cyber Risk Assessment Process
27:50 Success Stories in Cyber Risk Management
29:58 Conclusion and Contact Information
30:37 Additional Resources and Closing Remarks

Craig Sekowski, Managing Partner, The CARE-Report

Craig Sekowski is a seasoned executive with almost 30 years’ experience in IT and FinTech.

Craig’s strategic collaboration with corporate CIOs drives innovation, product delivery, and key partnerships with companies like Enlace Health, Fiserv, Truist, Ethos Labs, TIAA, Home Depot, AT&T, Carrier, and British Telecom.

Craig’s results-driven approach makes him a respected leader in IT innovation and strategy.

LinkedIn

Ralph Pasquariello, Managing Partner, The CARE-Report

For the past 16 years, Ralph Pasquariello has been moderating and speaking at dozens of conferences and panels on cyber liability & data breach risk management. He has hosted educational seminars on cyber exposure for professional associations of all industries, including operational technology and intellectual technology. Ralph’s cyber liability expertise has qualified him to present at over 100 events.

Ralph works with the FBI, GBI, and US Secret Service on the Atlanta Cyber Fraud Task Force. He is the former Executive Committee Chairman for the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Tech400 Board and Cyber Symposium and an advisor to the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

LinkedIn

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which helps them better understand the people. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

Whether you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their markets, communities, and professions. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, and it is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the complete archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

Darlene Drew: From Warden to Consultant on Pricing and Grief

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From Federal Warden to Leadership Consultant: Darlene Drew on Building Your Practice, Pricing Mistakes, and Running a Business Through Grief, on The Price and Value Journey podcast with host John Ray
North Fulton Studio
Darlene Drew: From Warden to Consultant on Pricing and Grief
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From Federal Warden to Leadership Consultant: Darlene Drew on Building Your Practice, Pricing Mistakes, and Running a Business Through Grief, on The Price and Value Journey podcast with host John Ray

From Federal Warden to Leadership Consultant: Darlene Drew on Building Your Practice, Pricing Mistakes, and Running a Business Through Grief (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 153)

Do you want to know how to build a professional services business when you have deep expertise but no client base? Darlene Drew shares exactly how she did it after retiring from 32 years in federal corrections, including her time as the first and only woman to serve as warden at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta.

Darlene didn’t join the John Maxwell Team for certification. She joined for resources, guidance, and a roadmap to build relationships in a world entirely different from the one she knew. She reveals her strategic approach to launching her speaking, training, and coaching business, including how she used free speaking at Rotary Clubs within a 90-mile radius to build visibility and generate paying clients. You will learn why she initially wanted to leave “Warden Drew” behind and how her clients taught her that her unique background was actually her greatest asset.

This conversation gets practical fast. Darlene shares the underpricing mistakes she made early on, how demanding clients helped her recognize she was undervaluing her work, and the internal signals that told her it was time to raise her rates. She discusses client red flags she missed, the one engagement she deeply regretted taking, and why giving yourself grace to say no is critical to building a sustainable business.

The second half of the episode shifts to navigating one of life’s hardest challenges. Darlene opens up about losing her husband to pancreatic cancer in 2024 and what it’s been like to rebuild her business while grieving. She shares what helped her, what didn’t, the language that serves grieving people versus the well-intentioned phrases that fall flat, and why “moving forward” isn’t the right frame. If you’ve ever supported a colleague or client through loss or faced it yourself, this part of the conversation offers real wisdom on presence, boundaries, and incremental steps back to work.

The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of the Business RadioX® podcast network.

Key Takeaways You Can Use from This Episode

  • Speaking for free at the right venues can build your business faster than waiting for paid gigs. Darlene used Rotary Clubs within a 90-mile radius to showcase her expertise, build relationships with business leaders, and generate training contracts.
  • You don’t need certification to start. You need resources, guidance, and a way to meet your ideal clients. Darlene joined the John Maxwell Team not for credentials but for content, community, and a roadmap to build her business outside corrections.
  • Clients will tell you what they value, and it’s often not what you think. Darlene wanted to retire “Warden Drew,” but corporate clients saw her corrections background as a unique asset for leading difficult conversations and motivating teams under pressure.
  • Underpricing reveals itself through client behavior. When clients who barely paid demanded more than those who invested significantly, Darlene realized she wasn’t valuing her own work and adjusted her pricing accordingly.
  • Red flags in client conversations matter. If a potential client does not invest time in understanding the problem or co-creating solutions, they are likely seeking a quick fix rather than a solution. Trust those signals early.
  • When supporting someone through grief, presence beats advice. A weekly card, an offer to help without expectation, or simply waiting to listen means more than advice, scripture quotes, or questions about “moving forward.”
  • It’s okay to set boundaries around your grief and ask for what you need. Darlene paused her workaholic tendencies, took incremental steps back into client work, and communicated clearly with her network about what “navigating grief” looked like for her.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

Darlene Drew
Darlene Drew

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
02:02 Darlene Drew’s Career Journey
04:01 Transition to Leadership Training
07:23 Joining the John Maxwell Team
18:38 Building a Speaking Business
26:29 Networking and Referrals
29:17 Developing Pricing Strategies
31:19 Using Google as a Starting Point
33:22 Recognizing Underpricing Signals
35:30 Identifying Poor Fit Clients
37:51 Lessons from a Difficult Client
40:54 Coping with Personal Tragedy
44:35 Navigating Grief and Business
45:28 Support Systems During Grief
52:05 Healing Routines and Self-Care
59:28 Future Plans and Moving Forward
01:01:28 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

Darlene Drew, CEO, Leadership Conditioning, Personal & Professional Development

Darlene Drew, speaking at the 2024 GNFCC BOLD Women's Leadership Summit
Darlene Drew, speaking at the 2024 GNFCC BOLD Women’s Leadership Summit

Darlene Drew is the CEO and Founder of Leadership Conditioning, Personal & Professional Development, LLC. She is also a certified & independent leadership trainer, professional speaker, and executive coach with the Maxwell Leadership Team.

Darlene serves businesses, companies, and organizations by helping leaders develop leaders. Through her training sessions, she equips, engages, and energizes participants with leadership and professional development training by providing them with tools that can immediately be applied in their personal and professional lives.

As an authority in leadership, building relationships, and communications, she helps organizations develop their staff in a manner that improves their bottom line of first valuing people, which improves the operation of their business and the performance and production of their staff.

She has been recognized in the Maxwell Leadership Team as one of the Top 20 Nominees for the Maxwell Leadership Team Culture Award. She’s a 2019 Stage Time Winner. Darlene has been featured in the Peachtree City Magazine on two occasions.

More recently, in 2023, Darlene was one of only 10 recipients of the Culture Award from the John Maxwell system. Her specific award was on “Lead and Lift.”

Her prior career began in the federal government at the entry level as a correctional officer, promoted up to a Senior Executive Service Appointment to the position of Warden. One of her most groundbreaking accomplishments was becoming the first and only female to serve as warden at the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, GA. She served as warden of three federal prisons after being told early on in her career that she would never make it!

These dynamics brought leadership expertise that has positioned her to help those she partners with in their growth.

Website | Facebook | Darlene’s LinkedIn

John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey

John Ray, Author of The Generosity Mindset and Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray, Author of The Generosity Mindset and Host of The Price and Value Journey

John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.

John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is a podcast show host and the owner of North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their podcast using The Generosity Mindset® Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.

John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 900 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.

John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices

John Ray at Barnes & Noble with his book, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray is the author of the five-star rated book The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to them. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset®, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.

Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver outstanding value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.

Your combination of these elements is unique in your industry. There lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.

If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.

The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Email

Business RadioX®:  LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Housing Affordability Tops Metro Atlanta Concerns

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Housing Affordability Tops Metro Atlanta Concerns: Inside the Metro Atlanta Speaks 2025 Survey, on the North Fulton Voices podcast
North Fulton Studio
Housing Affordability Tops Metro Atlanta Concerns
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Housing Affordability Tops Metro Atlanta Concerns: Inside the Metro Atlanta Speaks 2025 Survey, on the North Fulton Voices podcast

Housing Affordability Tops Metro Atlanta Concerns: Inside the Metro Atlanta Speaks 2025 Survey (North Fulton Voices, Episode 15)

For the first time since the Metro Atlanta Speaks survey began in 2013, housing affordability has emerged as the region’s top concern, edging out longtime leaders like traffic, crime, and the overall economy. In this edition of North Fulton Voices, hosts Jack Murphy and Kathy Swahn have a conversation with Ann Carpenter, Chief Research and Innovation Officer at the Atlanta Regional Commission, and Bill Huang, ARC data scientist and lead analyst for Metro Atlanta Speaks 2025.

Ann and Bill walk through how the survey is conducted across 11 Metro Atlanta counties, what has changed in this year’s results, and why residents are feeling the squeeze. They discuss numbers that catch your attention: more than 4,100 respondents, a sharp rise in pessimism about the next three to four years, and a striking share of renters who say they simply cannot afford to move within their own neighborhoods. They also highlight where the public sees causes and solutions, from zoning and investors to infill development and transit investment.

The conversation then shifts to North Fulton. Kathy and Jack connect the data to the on-the-ground reality of trying to obtain a home under four hundred thousand dollars or a rental under twenty-five hundred a month on a one hundred thousand dollar household income. They offer a concrete call to action for listeners: pay attention to comprehensive planning in cities like Alpharetta and Roswell, and use this data as a starting point for informed, practical conversations about housing affordability and missing middle housing.

To access the complete 2025 Metro Atlanta Speaks survey, follow this link.

North Fulton Voices is presented by the North Fulton Improvement Network. The show series is proudly sponsored by John Ray Co. and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

  • Housing affordability is now the top concern in the Metro Atlanta Speaks 2025 survey, ahead of traffic, crime, and the broader economy.
  • Renters are feeling the strain most acutely, although homeowners also report rising pressure on housing affordability as well.
  • The ARC team prefers “housing affordability” rather than “affordable housing,” since the challenge spans a wide range of incomes and situations, not just subsidized units.
  • Residents express openness to solutions such as infill development, housing near job centers, and better transit options.
  • Vocal opposition to new housing often sounds louder than it is, and the broader public may be more supportive of change than public meetings suggest.
  • For North Fulton, the data helps frame the difficulty of finding attainable homes and rentals for the workforce that powers the local economy.
  • Local comprehensive planning is a key lever for shaping future housing options, and residents have an opportunity to bring real data into those discussions.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction to North Fulton Voices
00:35 Overview of the Metro Atlanta Speaks 2025 Survey
02:06 Key Findings from the Survey
04:00 Introducing the Guests: Ann Carpenter and Bill Huang
05:34 Deep Dive into Survey Methodology
07:12 Housing Affordability: A Growing Concern
12:05 Public Perception and Policy Implications
15:00 Traffic, Transportation, and Regional Growth
17:14 Future Directions and Community Engagement
33:39 Conclusion and Call to Action

Atlanta Regional Commission

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the official planning agency for the 11-county Atlanta Region, including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties, as well as the City of Atlanta and 74 other cities. The Atlanta Regional Commission’s mission is to foster thriving communities for all within the Atlanta region through collaborative, data-informed planning and investments.

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X (Twitter)

Ann Carpenter

Ann Carpenter, Atlanta Regional Commission
Ann Carpenter

Ann Carpenter is the Chief Research and Innovation Officer at the Atlanta Regional Commission. She leads the team responsible for producing data, analysis, and applied research to inform long-range planning for the eleven-county Metro Atlanta region. Ann has a strong background in housing and community development research and focuses on connecting high-quality data to real-world decisions related to transportation, housing, and regional growth. Before joining ARC, she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank as Assistant Vice President and Director of Community Development Research, where she addressed issues like affordable housing and community resilience. Ann has also worked closely with ARC during the COVID-19 pandemic and serves on regional advisory boards. She graduated from Georgia Tech and is deeply committed to enhancing the Atlanta region through data-driven planning and innovation.

LinkedIn

Bill Huang

Bill Huang, Atlanta Regional Commission
Bill Huang

Bill Huang is an urban data scientist at the Atlanta Regional Commission and the principal analyst for the Metro Atlanta Speaks survey. He designs and maintains data tools and analytical models that give practical advice to local governments and community leaders, helping them understand public sentiment, quality-of-life trends, and regional challenges like transportation, economic issues, artificial intelligence, and climate shifts. Holding a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Urban Analytics from Georgia Institute of Technology, Bill combines technical expertise with a multidisciplinary, people-centered approach to urban planning. He is also active in mentoring emerging urban planners, encouraging curiosity and strategic thinking in their work.

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North Fulton Improvement Network

The North Fulton Improvement Network (NFIN) is a think tank made up of community leaders from a variety of sectors, focused on missing middle housing and the livability challenges confronting North Fulton. We come from the six cities making up the northern half of Fulton County, Georgia—Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Mountain Park, Roswell, and Sandy Springs—and are working to address the widespread yet little-known financial vulnerability across the region. With stakeholders from sectors including business, nonprofit, faith, government, and citizens, we center our work on five areas of impact, seek to educate the public about these issues, build a network of individuals and organizations with innovative private and public solutions, and connect resources to those in need.

The leadership team of NFIN is Jack Murphy, Nancy Diamond, and Kathy Swahn.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

Jack Murphy

Jack Murphy
Jack Murphy

Jack Murphy is a volunteer with The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and is Chair of the North Fulton Improvement Network. He is also in his 21st year of working for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to the Chamber, Jack worked for and with Fortune 500 companies in operations, human resources, training, and quality areas. Jack was a senior adjunct professor for Quality & Operations Management at Keller Graduate School for 14 years.

He has served on both the National and Georgia Boards of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, responsible for Diversity, Advocacy, & Systemic Change. Jack is currently the national SVDP chair of Systemic Change and Advocacy.

Jack received a BA in psychology from Belmont Abbey College and a M.Ed. from UNC-Greensboro.  Jack and his wife, Nancy, a retired elementary school principal, have two grown daughters and two grandchildren. They live in Alpharetta, Georgia.

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Kathy Swahn

Kathy Swahn, President Emeritus, The Drake House
Kathy Swahn

Kathy has resided in the North Fulton area for almost 45 years. She has watched the community evolve from what was “unincorporated Fulton County” to a six-city bustling suburban community. Her history has been characterized by a focus on children: she was a stay-at-home mother who raised two daughters, she spent years in leadership roles in school PTAs and Girl Scouts, the National Charity League, the North Fulton Council of PTAs, and she served as chair of the Superintendent’s Advisory Council.

Kathy transitioned back to work by jumping into the non-profit world. She joined the team at North Fulton Community Charities, running their Holiday Program, becoming Development Director and successfully managing the $3 million capital campaign for their Elkins Road location. Along the way, she also served on the DFACS Board and chaired the board of the Fulton County Continuum of Care for four years.

After having the opportunity to join in the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program, Kathy was surrounded with a dynamic group of folks who worked to create The Drake House. Since 2004, she served as board chair for the first four years, executive director for nine years, and is now retired. Over those years, The Drake House served over 500 single mothers with over 1,000 children and grew the assets of the organization to over $4 million.

Kathy continues to serve The Drake House on the Advocacy Committee, along with her work for NFIN.

She spends much of her time traveling to the DC area, where her children and grandchildren reside.

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Sponsor for North Fulton Voices: John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC

The North Fulton Voices show series is proudly sponsored by John Ray Co. and the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX®.

John Ray
John Ray

John Ray is a podcast show host and producer and owns North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, the North Fulton (Georgia) affiliate of Business RadioX®.

John also operates his own business advisory practice, Ray Business Advisors. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the #1 nationally best-selling book, The Generosity Mindset:  A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

John is the host of North Fulton Business Radio and The Price and Value Journey. North Fulton Business Radio, the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton region of Georgia, features a wide range of business and community leaders. The Price and Value Journey is devoted to solo and small-firm professional services providers and covers issues such as pricing, value, and business development.

Eric Brown on AskOtto.ai and AI That Waits on Hold

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Eric Brown on AskOtto.ai and AI That Waits on Hold, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
Eric Brown on AskOtto.ai and AI That Waits on Hold
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Eric Brown on AskOtto.ai and AI That Waits on Hold, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

Eric Brown on AskOtto.ai and AI That Waits on Hold (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 914)

On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Eric Brown, CEO of InSearchX and creator of AskOtto.ai, a digital concierge that changes how people and companies connect by phone. Instead of replacing humans with bots, AskOtto.ai uses AI to remove the layers of friction that keep people from actually talking to each other.

Drawing on his background in marketing, advertising, and behavioral analytics, Eric explains how he first saw the problem in clickstream data: abandoned forms, missed follow-up, and prospects who never made it past a phone tree. Today, AskOtto.ai quietly does what a great assistant would do. It navigates IVR menus, waits on hold with companies like banks, auto dealers, Amazon, or even the IRS, and only rings the customer when a live person is ready to talk.

Eric and John talk through real-world use cases in automotive retail and beyond, why texting and chat are often just workarounds for broken phone experiences, and what happens when software talks to software so humans can talk to humans. Eric also shares his view of where phones are headed, why phone numbers themselves may become obsolete, and how a simple, human conversation is still where trust and business get built.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

  • How AskOtto.ai works as a digital concierge that calls businesses for you, waits on hold, and connects you only when a live person is ready
  • Why Eric believes AI should remove friction between humans instead of pretending to be human itself
  • What years of behavioral data taught him about abandoned forms, poor follow up, and “leaky” sales funnels
  • How automotive dealers and other businesses use AskOtto.ai to turn more inquiries into real conversations without burning staff time on outbound calls
  • Why Eric thinks the future of phones is assistant-to-assistant communication, with humans stepping in only for the conversations that matter

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction and Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
00:33 Meet Eric Brown, CEO of InSearchX
01:53 Understanding AskOtto.ai
02:09 How AskOtto.ai Removes Friction
05:14 Eric Brown’s Background and Career Journey
07:08 The Future of AI in Communication
08:42 Real-World Applications and Benefits
11:44 Consumer and Business Use Cases
16:04 Inverted Customer Experience
16:11 Streamlining Insurance Renewals
16:59 Reducing Employee Hold Time Costs
17:52 Complexity in Company Bureaucracy
19:03 AI and the Future of Customer Service
20:10 Revolutionizing Phone Systems with AI
25:02 Success Stories and Real-World Applications
28:13 Conclusion and Contact Information
29:13 Final Announcements and Acknowledgements

Eric Brown, CEO, InSearchX

Eric Brown is the CEO and co-founder of InSearchX, a pioneering company in AI-driven automotive search and behavioral analytics. With a strong background in technology and data, he has built a reputation for driving innovation in the automotive industry through the development of the AskOtto platform. This platform leverages artificial intelligence and large language models to streamline vehicle search and provide personalized service notifications to millions of users. Brown’s leadership at InSearchX has positioned the company as a key player in automotive data solutions, serving prominent publishers, point-of-sale systems, and a broad client base across automotive sales, insurance, and service sectors.

Before founding InSearchX, Brown successfully led Dataium, a behavioral analytics company focused on automotive consumer insights, which was acquired by IHS/Markit (now part of S&P Global). Throughout his career, he has garnered recognition for his ability to establish and expand high-impact technology companies, particularly in the fields of adtech, AI, and data analytics. His innovative work has earned him accolades such as Nashville’s Innovator of the Year, underscoring his influence and commitment to advancing technology-driven solutions that enhance consumer experiences and business intelligence in the automotive market.

LinkedIn

InSearchX

InSearchX is a technology company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven automotive search and marketing solutions. The company’s core innovation is AskOtto, a generative AI-powered platform that connects consumers with automotive marketers through an intuitive, frictionless interface. AskOtto allows users to engage with AI to explore vehicle options, service information, insurance, financing, safety recalls, and repair services—all without needing to navigate traditional search engines or call centers. This AI-driven approach reduces the cost of customer acquisition and marketing while dramatically increasing consumer engagement and conversion rates. Major publishers license the platform to support a perpetual search experience, and it integrates into point-of-sale systems, reaching over 150 million consumers monthly.

InSearchX revolutionizes how automotive companies interact with buyers and owners by removing typical barriers like hold times, complicated phone menus, and fragmented digital experiences. The company’s solution enables real-time, personalized outreach and seamless communication between consumers and dealers or service providers, driving higher sales conversion and improved customer satisfaction. Founded in 2019 and based in Nashville, Tennessee, InSearchX leverages extensive behavioral analytics and AI expertise to help automotive businesses lower marketing costs and grow revenue with innovative technology tailored to the automotive ecosystem.

Website | LinkedIn | AskOtto.ai (for consumers) | AskOtto.biz (for business)

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which helps them better understand the people. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

Whether you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their markets, communities, and professions. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, and it is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the complete archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

Our Mission

We help local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession.

We support and celebrate business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignores. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

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