Can Do: Lessons From Savvy Montana Entrepreneurs

Paige Williams, founder and CEO of Audience Awards, launched her business by googling "how to start a tech business" five years ago. With three degrees, one in philosophy and two in the arts, she launched a company specializing in connecting aspiring filmmakers with sponsors, festivals and media outlets.

"At the end of the day what we are really doing is we are democratizing entertainment, we are giving everyone a chance to get discovered and we are letting the global audience say: 'This is what we love,'" Williams says.

In the rapidly changing world of retail sales, Amazon.com and other online marketplaces are drastically reshaping the shopping world. Businesses are struggling to understand and adapt to this fastest growing segment of e-commerce. 

Today on "Can Do: Lessons from Savvy Montana Entrepreneurs" you'll hear from Peter Kearns, head of Client Solutions for 180Commerce. Peter is a former Amazon Marketplace leader who shares his experience working with hundreds of sellers generating $300 million and counting in online sales.

"We just showed up every day for two to three hours when no one was asking us and we pushed the ball forward a little bit and I think that’s the difference. It’s not about getting rich, it’s about enjoying doing hard, weird things - potentially for years and years."

That’s Michael FitzGerald, the co-founder and CEO of Submittable.com, a software management company based in Missoula, Montana. Since Michael and his colleagues launched the company in 2010, it has provided an organized, online submission system to more than 10,000 businesses including NPR, Nike and Airbnb.

On this episode of "Can Do: Lessons From Savvy Montana Entrepreneurs," Michael FitzGerald joins host Arnie Sherman to talk about the genesis, growth and future directions Submittable.

"Challenges can be construed as opportunities. Challenges can also be construed as obstacles. The one thing that I learned when we first started this company was that everything was an opportunity, and every opportunity we needed to chase."

That’s Larry Kolb, the co-founder and U.S. president of TSI Health Sciences, a manufacturer of functional health care products sold in over 35 countries across the world.  In this episode of "Can Do," Larry shares how he co-founded and grew a multifaceted, international business from Missoula, Montana.

“One of the really great things about Montana entrepreneurs is, because it is a small community, there is this feeling of, ‘We are all in it together.’ So, I’ve found that in Montana it’s more accepted to say stuff like, ‘I totally screwed that up’ or, ‘God I hope my business makes it.’ Having the ability to talk like that and be so transparent is really powerful,” says Stefanie Sample, a Montana entrepreneur and neuroscience-based leadership coach, and this week's guest on "Can Do."