From Broken Solopreneur To Trusted Entrepreneur - Mark Stoner

The Decision by EO Nashville

Mark Stoner is the Founder and President of Ashbusters Chimney Service, a Nashville-based multimillion-dollar chimney sweep business. As a serial blue-collar entrepreneur, he is the past President of the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), an industry-renowned, nonprofit organization that educates chimney professionals and homeowners about fireplace and chimney safety. Mark is also a public speaker and the author of Blue Collar Gold: How To Build a Service Business From the Dirt Up.

In this episode…

Despite widely held beliefs, entrepreneurship is not always a one-person operation. Once you’ve built an established and well-recognized business, you must be willing to accept help to expand further. How did a headstrong entrepreneur propel his business forward after realizing he couldn’t do it alone?

Mark Stoner — the brain behind a nationally praised chimney sweep company — built a reputation as a respected solopreneur for 17 years. Yet after falling from a roof and injuring himself and his client, his solo operation suddenly lost value in the marketplace, and he couldn’t land a job for more than $10,000. With the help of mentors in the blue-collar space, Mark scaled his business to 17 employees, and despite losing high-quality talent and almost forfeiting the company during the 2008 recession, he became a thought leader in the field. He asserts the value of EO forum experience shares, maintaining that you can connect and grow through similar entrepreneurial struggles.

In this episode of The Decision, Robert Hartline welcomes Mark Stoner, the Founder and President of Ashbusters Chimney Service, to discuss how he transformed his business. Mark describes how he navigated toxicity from top employees, the EO core value he resonates with the most, and his approach to serial entrepreneurship.