#5: Ramsey Duqum. Professional vs. Provider: Why Knowing Your Worth Changes Everything
Release Date: 07/23/2025
#12: Stop Wasting Time Hiring — Build a System That Filters for You
Better Lives Better Business
Show Notes: Hiring is one of the biggest headaches for small and mid-sized business owners — and one of the biggest opportunities. If you want a business that gives you time to pursue your life goals and live with purpose, you must build the right team around you. In this episode of Better Lives Better Business, host Steve Arendt shares a practical framework for streamlining your hiring process through automation, clarity, and culture-based filtering — so you spend less time sorting through unqualified candidates and more time interviewing the right ones. This episode gives you the...
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#11: The Band-Aid of Scaling — Why Growth Isn’t Always the Answer
Better Lives Better Business
Show Notes: Is scaling your business really the solution… or is it just a distraction from something deeper? In this episode, Steve Arendt challenges the glorified idea of "scaling at all costs" and explores a truth many entrepreneurs quietly feel but rarely say out loud: More money won't fix what’s broken inside. Drawing from personal experience and raw honesty, Steve unpacks: Why many business owners chase revenue without asking why How money is often a band-aid for unresolved fears, insecurities, or past wounds The difference between healthy scaling and reactive scaling How to...
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#10: The Fisherman, the Businessman & the Life You Actually Want
Better Lives Better Business
In this episode, host, Steve Arendt, explores the tension between business growth and personal purpose through the lens of a simple but powerful parable — the story of the fisherman and the businessman. This short story has stayed with Steve for years, and toady he unpacks its meaning for small and mid-sized business owners who are stuck on the treadmill of constant scaling, never stopping to ask: Why am I really doing this? Steve challenges listeners to reflect on their life goals and purpose—and to ask whether their business is serving those goals… or replacing them. He doesn’t...
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#9: Aligning Your Values with Your Spending
Better Lives Better Business
Steve shares a candid story about how a big financial decision—buying a boat—revealed a deeper misalignment between his stated values and his actual spending habits. What started as an attempt to create family memories on the river turned into frustration, debt, and hard lessons about ego, priorities, and reinvestment in business. Through this reflection, Steve explores how entrepreneurs can unintentionally sabotage both their personal lives and their businesses when money isn’t aligned with core values. He reveals how quickly ego-driven purchases can derail financial stability, steal...
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#8: Leadership, Emotion, and the Courage to Own Your Mistakes
Better Lives Better Business
In this vulnerable solo episode, host Steve Arendt revisits a recent leadership experience that went completely sideways—and how he used it as an opportunity for growth through the three levels of work (framework from Episode 6): The cogs and wheels—getting things done The deep work—stepping back to improve the system The deepest work—doing the inner work as a leader Steve shares what happened during a frustrating nonprofit meeting he was leading: unclear leadership, a lack of direction, no measurable deliverables, and confused team dynamics. The result? Frustration, anger, and...
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#7: Letting Go to Grow — A Father-Son Journey with Walberto Vasquez
Better Lives Better Business
Steve sits down with Walberto Vasquez of The Tent Company in Houston to unpack the full-circle story of a family business built on resilience, hard work, and deep-rooted values. From humble beginnings—including Walberto’s father immigrating from El Salvador during a civil war—to co-founding a growing tent manufacturing business, Walberto shares how trusting others, delegating, and stepping away at the right times allowed their company to grow. They discuss the emotional weight of entrepreneurship, balancing family and business, and the importance of giving yourself permission to breathe....
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#6: Better Lives Better Business - Hard Work vs. Deep Work
Better Lives Better Business
In this solo episode, Steve Arendt addresses listener questions about the podcast's new tagline that distinguishes between "hard work" and "deep work." He provides a comprehensive framework for understanding these different types of work and their roles in building a sustainable business. Key Topics Covered Hard Work: Making the Gears Turn The essential daily operations that keep business running Activities that must happen consistently: production, delivery, billing, accounts receivable/payable If any "cog" stops working, the business can halt immediately Leaders often spend all their time...
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#5: Ramsey Duqum. Professional vs. Provider: Why Knowing Your Worth Changes Everything
Better Lives Better Business
In this powerful and deeply personal episode, host Steve Arendt sits down with longtime friend and fellow entrepreneur Ramsey Duqum, CEO of AABLE Rents and founder of Forcey software. This marks the first guest episode since the podcast's rebrand from "Teeco Steve" to "Better Lives Better Business." This isn't just another business success story—it's a raw, honest look at what it takes to build companies that serve both profit and purpose. Ramsey opens up about the winding road of leadership, the importance of truth in all aspects of life, and why technology should ultimately give us more...
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#4: A Pause for Gratitude and What's Next - Quick Update from Teeco Steve
Better Lives Better Business
In this brief but heartfelt episode, Steve expresses overwhelming gratitude for the incredible response to the podcast launch. The feedback and community support has been so tremendous that the team is taking a two-week pause to rebrand and improve the show based on listener insights. What's Coming: Rebranding: Moving toward "Better Business, Better Life" to better reflect the podcast's true mission beyond tent washing equipment Next Guest: Ramsey Duqum from Forcey and AABLE Rents will share his personal story of living out the "better business, better life" philosophy Community Building:...
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#3: From Drill Sergeant to Magnet: How Personality Profiles Transformed My Team (and Family)
Better Lives Better Business
In this third episode, Teeco Steve addresses one of the most common challenges facing growing businesses: the shift from startup-mode leadership to mature business leadership. He explores why successful business owners often feel frustrated and stuck despite meeting their financial goals, introducing the concept that "what got me here will not take me there." Steve presents personality profiling (specifically the DiSC assessment) as a practical tool for becoming a better leader, sharing detailed examples of how understanding personality differences transformed relationships with his employees...
info_outlineIn this powerful and deeply personal episode, host Steve Arendt sits down with longtime friend and fellow entrepreneur Ramsey Duqum, CEO of AABLE Rents and founder of Forcey software. This marks the first guest episode since the podcast's rebrand from "Teeco Steve" to "Better Lives Better Business."
This isn't just another business success story—it's a raw, honest look at what it takes to build companies that serve both profit and purpose. Ramsey opens up about the winding road of leadership, the importance of truth in all aspects of life, and why technology should ultimately give us more time for what matters most.
Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur, a family business owner, or someone struggling to balance business growth with personal fulfillment, this conversation offers both practical wisdom and profound inspiration.
"There's no space in memory for regret when it's filled with a lesson learned." - Ramsey Duqum
This episode exemplifies the podcast's core philosophy: that better business and better life are not competing priorities but complementary forces that strengthen each other when properly balanced.