How a Storage Unit Hobby Became an Eight Figure Global Company

Jess never set out to be “the barrel girl.” Her husband, Barrel Ben, started Midwest Barrel Co. as a side hobby he ran out of a storage unit. Then it grew. Fast. Orders piled up. Systems didn’t exist. Operations were duct taped together. It needed intentional leadership.

Jess stepped in and transformed a messy side hustle into a real business. She brought digital strategy, e-commerce and systems into a legacy industry that had not changed in decades. She moved her family from Nebraska to Kentucky, the heart of bourbon country. She scaled the company into eight figures and earned national recognition while raising kids and leading through seasons that would break most founders.

Because the truth is simple. The real lessons come from the parts no one sees.

POPULAR FOUNDER TOPICS:

High Growth Startup on a Bootstrapped Budget
How to create momentum with no outside money, no big team and no safety net.

How to Make Sustainability More Than a Buzzword
How Jess built #SaveTheStave and made sustainability real inside a legacy industry.

Just Start: Why Perfect Plans Don’t Build Businesses
Jess loves a good strategy and detailed roadmaps. But here's what she learned: meetings about goals and vision don't sell products, deliver services, or get you customer feedback. At some point, you have to stop planning and start doing. In today's digital world, by the time you make one decision, the game has already changed. But that's exactly why you can't wait. The businesses that win aren't the ones with perfect plans. They're the ones that start with good enough and adapt as they go.

The Mental Game That Builds and Breaks Leaders

Every leader eventually faces the same moment. The strategy stops working. The numbers don't add up. The pressure hits all at once. And you are left with the question: Am I built for this?

Being Unhinged On Purpose is not reckless. It is necessary. It is clarity. It is identity. It is the process of letting go of outdated beliefs, heavy expectations and the pressure to do everything the way others tell you to.

Jess teaches how to operate from your future self instead of survival mode. She speaks from real experience. Seasons when everything demanded more than she thought she had. Times when identity, money and confidence were all on the line.

This is about the internal game of leadership. Resilience. Mental health. Founder wellness.

POPULAR UNHINGED TOPICS:

Founder Wellness
Mental, physical and emotional capacity for leaders in high pressure seasons.

Women and Wealth
A candid conversation on financial confidence, ownership and money without apology.

Crisis Leadership & Change Management
Making fast decisions under extreme pressure.

Resilience
How to navigate the messy middle when the playbooks fail.

How to Build Teams That Grow the Company With You

The workplace is shifting faster than ever. AI is reshaping, eliminating and creating roles, remote work is redefining culture, and entire industries are being disrupted. Add to that a generation that prioritizes personal fulfillment over company loyalty, and you've got a leadership challenge no MBA prepared you for.

Jess has a degree in Human Resources, an MBA and began her career coaching CEOs how to interview, select and develop top talent. She learned early what most founders learn late: Great companies come from great teams. Great teams come from great humans. And great humans rarely show up by accident.

In this career crisis moment, smart leaders stop fighting human nature and start leveraging it. Jess teaches how to hire, manage, and unlock human potential in people who put themselves first - using strengths management and individual motivations to drive results. Why meeting people where they are might actually be your competitive advantage.

TEAM CAREER CRISIS TOPICS:

Hiring for the "Me First" Era
How to interview with precision and hire for alignment when loyalty isn't guaranteed.

Strengths-Based Leadership
Unlocking human potential by focusing on what each person does best.

When Core Values Meet Individual Goals
How to build culture people want to be part of while honoring personal fulfillment.

FOUNDER CAREER CRISIS TOPICS:

The Ten Dollar Trap
Why founders get stuck doing low value tasks and how to double your capacity with the right support structure.

I'm Trapped In My Business
You started for freedom and impact. But now...you're trapped. Maybe you still love what you've created? Or, perhaps you're starting to resent it? Either way, you have other dreams, other goals, other ways you want to make a difference in the world. How to design your life so you can start what excites you, stop what drains you, and keep what serves you.