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McKinney Creative Ventures
Flagship podcast

East Side Enterprise

The people and stories behind the East Metro and St. Croix Valley business community.

Real conversations with the owners behind the businesses you see every day across the East Metro and St. Croix Valley. Produced locally by McKinney Creative Ventures.

Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts

Also from MCV: , quick marketing and tech wins for local business.

East Side Enterprise podcast cover art: a studio microphone over the combined Minnesota and Wisconsin state outline
East Side Enterprise logo Flagship show

East Side Enterprise

The people and stories behind the East Metro and St. Croix Valley business community.

Interviews with the owners behind the businesses you see every day across the East Metro and St. Croix Valley: their story, their work, and what it takes to build here.

Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts
Weekly series

Tech Tips

from McKinney Creative Ventures

Short, practical marketing and tech wins for local service businesses: local SEO, AI search, reviews, and automation. Usually under three minutes, posted on Tuesdays.

Episodes

East Side Enterprise Episode 7 with Jane Stobbie Keer of Keer Keer Creative
Episode 7 1:23:37 · September 1, 2026

Jane Stobbie Keer: Twenty Years in the Classroom, and the Business It Built

Jane Stobbie Keer got her first job at Apple because Apple put its UK office in her small Hertfordshire hometown. She spent twenty years running Train with Jane, teaching designers the software that was inventing itself around them, then started over in Woodbury with nothing when two women handed her their client lists. We talk about teaching, the story behind a name like Keer Keer, and the chronic pain condition she has run a business through for seventeen years.

Read the blog post Open episode page
East Side Enterprise Episode 6 with Elizabeth Yang of Better With Company
Episode 6 1:39:22 · July 16, 2026

Elizabeth Yang: The Deal Fixer on Trust, Decisions, and the $50,000 Price of Being Nice

Elizabeth Yang goes by The Deal Fixer. Companies call her when deals stall. She started her practice by accident, when a stranger asked how much she charged and she had no answer. We talk about trust, holding a decision under pressure, curing over-giving by raising prices, and growing by force versus growing on purpose.

Read the blog post Open episode page
East Side Enterprise Episode 5 with Mitch Bliven of Genius Network Solutions
Episode 5 1:43:28 · July 9, 2026

Mitch Bliven: Wonder, Burnout, and Finding the Work You're Wired For

Mitch Bliven washed out of two careers by the age of 24 before a 10-minute assessment explained a decade of burnout. Now he helps people find the work they are wired for. A conversation about wonder, alignment, and building a life that fits.

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East Side Enterprise Episode 4 with Gary Borglund of Generous Harvest and Land and Egg Solutions
Episode 4 53:11 · July 2, 2026

Gary Borglund: Where Land, Food, and Community Meet

Gary Borglund wears a lot of hats. Through his nonprofit Generous Harvest he gets fresh produce and eggs from local and Amish farmers to the food shelves that need them, and through Land and Egg Solutions he helps small towns revitalize the tired old buildings at the heart of their main streets. We talk about food access, saving small-town downtowns, and why he would rather feed people than draw a salary.

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East Side Enterprise Episode 3 with Henry Schneider of Open Window Productions
Episode 3 1:00:33 · July 2, 2026

Henry Schneider of Open Window Productions: Storytelling, Skate Shops, and the Business of Video

Henry Schneider builds video for East Metro businesses at Open Window Productions in Oakdale and co-owns Hangtime Board Shop in North St. Paul. We talk about learning through expensive mistakes, why story beats gear every time, when authentic beats polished, and building a business without losing your balance at home.

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East Side Enterprise Episode 2 with Tim Voit of LegalShield and IDShield
Episode 2 41:41 · July 2, 2026

Tim Voit: The Go-Giver's Guide to Networking and Life After Corporate

Tim Voit left corporate a decade ago and became one of the most connected people in the East Metro, running networking groups and building his LegalShield practice entirely on trust and referrals. We talk about the Go-Giver philosophy, getting through fear to clarity, the rise of the fractional workforce, and why it is never about you.

Read the blog post Open episode page
East Side Enterprise Episode 1 with Steve Grohn of AJ Alberts Plumbing and Water Conditioning
Episode 1 1:04:27 · July 2, 2026

Steve Grohn of AJ Alberts: A Winding Career and a Culture of Care

Before AJ Alberts, Steve Grohn went from dairy-farm roots to UPS, Gateway Computers, and the dot-coms. We talk about the winding path to owning one of Woodbury's most trusted plumbing companies, the culture of care he built, and why he is obsessed with getting one percent better.

Read the blog post Open episode page

Know a business owner whose story should be told?

East Side Enterprise spotlights the owners behind local businesses across the East Metro and St. Croix Valley. If that is you, or someone you know, we would love to have them on.

Be a guest, or suggest one

Want this working for your business?

We build the marketing systems we talk about: websites that convert, local SEO and AI search, reviews, and follow-up automation for local service businesses.

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