You’re Not Hireable, You’re an Entrepreneur | The Business Beat | Episode 46

Hosted by Janelle Smith, President of the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce, this episode of Business Beat features guests Amy Zander of Zeedia Media and Kevin Suboski, founder of The Fastest Route and Livingston Entrepreneurship Academy, for an honest conversation about the realities of entrepreneurship. Amy shares her journey from side hustles and failed ventures to burnout, reinvention, and ultimately redesigning her business around her strengths. Together, the conversation explores entrepreneurship mindset, mentorship, isolation, finding your “superpower,” and what it really means to build a business that aligns with who you are. The episode also highlights the growing entrepreneurship ecosystem in Livingston County through the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce and Livingston Entrepreneurship Academy, and the importance of intentional community, collaboration, and support for entrepreneurs at every stage. 00:00 Introduction to Amy Zander and entrepreneurial background 02:00  Failed brewery venture and lessons learned 04:00  Discovering marketing and finding a mentor 06:00  Chamber involvement and early business growth 08:00 Burnout, considering closing the business, and job searching 11:00 “You’re not hireable—you’re an entrepreneur” breakthrough moment 13:00  Redesigning the business around strengths and consulting 16:00 Finding your entrepreneurial “superpower” 18:30  Isolation, entrepreneurship mindset, and cohort learning 21:00  Why entrepreneurship is different from business management 24:00  Hard conversations, uncertainty, and entrepreneurial personality traits 27:00 Howell entrepreneurship forums and building community 30:00 The value of entrepreneurial networking vs traditional networking 34:00 Solopreneur struggles, self-marketing, and honest feedback 37:00 Chamber programming and entrepreneurship support ecosystem 41:00 Entrepreneurship as identity and organizational culture 45:00 Final reflections on mentorship, transformation, and entrepreneurial growth Thank you to the sponsors of this episode: Lake Trust - https://laketrust.org/ Brighton Ford - https://www.brightonford.com/ Northstar IT - https://www.brightonford.com/ Stay connected Show Links - Facebook-  https://www.facebook.com/howellchamber Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/howellareachamber/ LinkedIn -   linkedin.com/company/howellchamber     YouTube-    https://www.youtube.com/@howellchamber Website- https://howell.org/  Guest Links -  Kevin Suboski Facebook-  https://www.facebook.com/fastest.route/ Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/kevin_suboski/ LinkedIn -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsuboski/ Website- https://fastestroute.co/ Amy Zander Facebook-  https://www.facebook.com/ZeediaMedia/ Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/zeediamedia/ LinkedIn -   https://www.linkedin.com/company/zeediamedia/ Website- https://zeediamedia.com/ Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@zeediamedia