Through the Storm

Gabe Pluguez started a fitness business at 19 with a simple goal: freedom. What he got instead was two failed business partnerships, a revenue collapse, and a forced rebuild, twice.This isn't a story about avoiding partnerships. It's about what happens when you skip the hard questions, overlook misalignment, and let urgency override clarity.Gabe walks through both splits, what caused them, what he missed, and what changed the second time around. He also shares how a crisis forced him to separate identity from outcome, rethink faith under pressure, and rebuild with a clearer sense of mission.If you're in a partnership or considering one, this conversation will save you time, money, and heartache.

Business failure isn't always about making the wrong moves, sometimes it's about not making any moves at all. Kurtis and Travis break down a real client engagement that didn't work out, exposing the structural issues, team dysfunction, and owner disconnection that killed what could've been a viable business. This isn't theory, it's a transparent look at what happens when cashflow bleeds, AR piles up, and no one takes ownership of the fundamentals.

Clifton Sellers, CEO of Legacy Builder, shares his journey from zero to a $3M run-rate agency in five years. The conversation covers the brutal realities of agency growth including losing half his clients in six weeks, working 16-hour days, and the faith that kept him moving forward. Clifton breaks down the difference between growing and scaling, the professionalization moment that changed everything, and why most agencies fail at retention before they even onboard a client.

Nahuel Hilal built Iris Tattoo from a $7,000 side hustle in Buenos Aires to a multi-million dollar operation across three countries without ever doing a tattoo himself. Then a $400,000 buildout turned into a $1.2 million nightmare, revenue dropped 25%, and he nearly lost everything.This is the story of how he and his wife fought back, firing the architects mid-project, managing permits themselves, and opening a second U.S. location while Miami burned. No business degree. No construction experience. Just urgency, grit, and a refusal to turn back.

Ryan Ray joins Kurtis Hanni to share his journey through one of the worst storms a business can face: selling a family oil and gas surveying company during the catastrophic March 2020 price collapse and COVID-19 shutdown. Ryan walked into March 2020 with international deals lined up, a diversified strategy in place, and a business that finally didn't require him day-to-day. Within two weeks, every lever he'd built was gone—China deals canceled, oil prices cratering to sub-$10, and projects being pulled left and right. What followed was a masterclass in clarity under pressure: knowing when to shut down, how to use PPP strategically, and ultimately how to exit to his own team. Ryan breaks down the emotional weight of laying off employees, the practicality of owner dependency as the ultimate business lever, and why understanding "the game you're playing" is more valuable than any 10-year plan.