38 Years in Business and Still Going, The 4 A's of Change with Melih Oztalay

Maile Arsenault founded SmartFinds Marketing in Detroit in 1986. She survived the 2009 financial crisis when the Big Three automakers filed for bankruptcy in her backyard. Then she survived COVID. Then she used the downtime to rebrand everything. That's not luck, that's a system. In this episode, Maile and co host Javanka McGee break down the Four A's of Change that have kept SmartFinds alive and thriving for nearly four decades, why accepting change is the hardest step most people skip, and what it really means to shift from building a business to becoming a leader. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly entrepreneur interviews and real business strategies. 0:00 - Introduction & Maile's background 2:00 - Surviving the 2009 financial crisis in Detroit 5:00 - How COVID became an opportunity to rebrand 8:00 - CEO vs. Founder: how your title evolves with you 11:00 - What SmartFinds Marketing actually does 15:00 - B2B vs. B2C: why the switch changed everything 19:00 - From making money to becoming a leader 22:00 - The Four A's: Anticipate, Accept, Adapt, Adopt 27:00 - Why your competitors move while you're still fretting 30:00 - Maile's why: challenging outdated thinking#VisionProsLive #MarketingStrategy #MaileArsenault #SmartFindsMarketing #BusinessLongevity #B2BMarketing #LeadershipMindset #EntrepreneurLife #ChangeManagement #JavankaMcGee