[Top Resource Series] Tools and Ideas Behind Smarter Growth With Douglas Feller and Tom Ruwitch

Douglas Feller is the Founder of MyHarvest, a personal growth platform offering free courses, career resources, housing support, and tools to help people build stability and opportunity. An entrepreneur with experience in real estate investing and asphalt business ownership, he rebuilt his career after serving time in federal prison, later building and selling his asphalt company. His own experience with the challenges of reentry helped inspire MyHarvest’s mission. Today, Douglas focuses on creating resources that support personal growth, skills, second chances, and stronger paths forward for people from diverse backgrounds.

Tom Ruwitch is the Founder and CEO of Story Power Marketing, a marketing company that helps experts create compelling, client-attracting content through storytelling. A content marketing pioneer with more than 30 years of experience, he helps business leaders turn expertise into clear messaging, stronger connections, and business growth. He is also the Founder and CEO of Implementum, which combines strategy, technology, and done-for-you teams to simplify and accelerate growth. Earlier, Tom founded email marketing company MarketVolt in 2001, expanding his work in digital marketing, automation, and business growth.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [3:32] Douglas Feller explains MyHarvest and its mission to support positive personal growth
• [5:02] How MyHarvest uses expert-led lessons to teach practical life and career skills
• [6:32] Why Douglas chose a free platform model supported by strategic partnerships
• [8:25] Partnering with nonprofits, correctional facilities, recovery centers, and reentry organizations
• [12:54] Business books, mentors, and principles that have shaped Douglas’s entrepreneurial journey
• [19:47] Lessons from Douglas’s early businesses and the value of choosing a focused niche
• [31:18] Tom Ruwitch explains how Story Power Marketing and Implementum help businesses grow
• [33:06] How Tom combines marketing automation, AI, and customized systems to improve performance
• [40:27] Strategies for turning books and content into leads and long-term relationships
• [58:24] Why curiosity, listening, and noticing are essential skills for better marketing and leadership

In this episode…

Sustainable growth rarely comes from adding more tools, tactics, or ideas just for the sake of doing more. The real advantage comes from choosing resources that sharpen your thinking, strengthen your systems, and help you act with greater intention. So what does smarter growth actually look like in practice?

Douglas Feller and Tom Ruwitch suggest that smarter growth comes from combining the right resources with focused systems, practical learning, and a willingness to keep improving. They highlight the value of mentors, specialization, proven frameworks, technology, and curiosity as tools for making better business decisions. Douglas emphasizes learning through experience, surrounding yourself with strong mentors, and knowing when to focus on a specific niche, while Tom stresses connecting strategy, technology, and team into one cohesive system. Tom also explains how customized AI and automation can turn conversations and existing content into useful marketing assets rather than generic output. Together, their insights show that sustainable growth is less about chasing every new tactic and more about building systems that help ideas translate into consistent action.

In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz speaks with Douglas Feller and Tom Ruwitch about the tools and ideas behind smarter growth. They explore valuable business resources, stronger marketing systems, and practical uses of AI and automation. Douglas and Tom also share lessons on mentorship, storytelling, curiosity, and turning knowledge into action.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Douglas Feller on Instagram
• MyHarvest
• Tom Ruwitch on LinkedIn
• Story Power Marketing
• Implementum
• Story Power Marketing: Proven Methods to Create Client-Attracting, Profit-Generating Content—Without Getting Stuck by Tom Ruwitch
• Total Action for Progress (TAP)
• Saint Louis University
• SLU Transformative Justice Initiative
• Missouri Department of Corrections
• Paul Gregory Media
• Don Soderquist on Wikipedia
• David Glass Wikipedia
• Zig Ziglar
• Tony Robbins
• Grant Cardone
• Titans Mastermind
• Perry Marshall
• Bob Burg
• Ann Handley
• Austin Kleon
• Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton
• The Wal-Mart Way: The Inside Story of the Success of the World’s Largest Company by Donald Soderquist
• The Go-Giver 
• Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts Into Sales by Bob Burg
• The Art of Persuasion: Winning Without Intimidation by Bob Burg
• Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
• Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
• Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon
• Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon
• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
• Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again by Austin Kleon
• The Art of Noticing: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday by Rob Walker
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• HighLevel
• Claude
• Fathom
• Notion

Special mentions:

• Paul Feith on LinkedIn
• Brian Kurtz on LinkedIn

Related episodes:

• “Automation Solutions with Wade Foster Founder of Zapier” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[SaaS Series] Revolutionizing Online Forms and Productivity With Aytekin Tank of Jotform” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “How Tom Vozzo Went From President of a Billion-Dollar Company to CEO of Homeboy Industries, The Largest Gang Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program in the World” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “Why Most Brands Fail and How to Build One That Wins With Mark Rampolla” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “Mentor to Millions with Mark Timm” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[SaaS & AI Series] Smarter Way To Turn Meetings Into Outcomes With Artem Koren” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Top Author Series] Bob Burg: Transform your business and life by being a Go-Giver?” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Top Author Series] Adversaries Into Allies: Win People Over Without Manipulation or Coercion – with Bob Burg” on the Inspired Insider Podcast

Quotable moments:

• “I got out there; I started my first business when I was 16 years old, and I just learned business.”
• “I think that’s super important for people to really specialize and do kind of one thing and do it well and have that niche.”
• “We’re not going to steal their intellectual property just because we stumbled onto it.”
• “What digital transcript collection and AI analysis can do is it can get you from conversation to implementation in warp speed.”
• “Great marketers are the ones who are more listen and less tell, who are more noticed and less show.”

Action steps:

1. Specialize in one area and do it well: Focusing on a clear niche can help you serve clients more effectively, sharpen your positioning, and build expertise that stands out.
2. Connect strategy, technology, and team into one system: Aligning these three elements can reduce operational friction and create a more scalable approach to attracting and serving clients.
3. Train AI with proven frameworks before using it: Customizing AI around your own methods and standards can produce more useful, relevant content instead of relying on generic outputs.
4. Repurpose existing content into new marketing assets: Turning books, conversations, and other material into emails, videos, and social posts can extend their value and support consistent lead generation.
5. Practice curiosity and listen more than you tell: Paying closer attention to your audience helps you understand their needs, communicate with greater empathy, and create more effective marketing.

Episode Transcript

Intro: 00:15

You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 00:22

Dr. Jeremy Weisz here, host of InspiredInsider.com. This is a special episode where I have some amazing leaders and entrepreneurs share some of their favorite resources, so stay tuned. This episode is brought to you by Rise25. At Rise25, we help B2B businesses give to and connect to their dream 200 Relationships and partnerships. We do this in two ways. Number one, we are an easy button for a company to launch and run a podcast for ROI. We do the strategy, accountability and full execution and production. Number two, we are also an easy button for your company’s corporate gifting. We make gifting and staying top of mind to your clients, partners, and prospects simple and seamless and affordable. Some companies even send gifts to staff from a culture perspective. All you have to do is give us the list of people you want to follow up and keep in touch with, and we do everything else from there. From gift selection to the card to your branding on the box. We call ourselves the magic elves that run in the background to make it as stress free as possible for companies so they can build relationships and run their business.

For me, the number one thing in my life is relationships. And I am always looking at how to give to my best relationships. And I’ve found no better way over the past decade than having them on my podcast, featuring what they are working on and sharing it with the world, and also sending delicious treats in the mail every few months for years. If you have thought about starting a podcast or gifting, do it. If you have questions, email us at [email protected] or go to rise25.com to learn more.

I have Douglas Feller. You can check him out at MyHarvest.org. And Douglas, we’re going to geek out on some of your favorite tools, software, resources, and we’ll dig into what MyHarvest. Before you do, I always like to point out other episodes of the show, and this is, I don’t know if it’s, you know, a SaaS model, but other episodes I had the, one of the co-founders of Zapier on talked about the journey with Zapier. Also talked about Jotform, and how he got to 25 million users. That was incredible. And it was a freemium model. So you know, Douglas, it takes money to fund this thing. And he was, you know, some of these users are free and it cost him money, but he’s hoping some of them will actually get their more premium offerings. And so it’s super interesting. That and many more on InspiredInsider.com.

I’m excited to introduce Douglas Feller. He’s the Founder of MyHarvest. MyHarvest is a faith based platform designed to create a cleaner, more intentional online community, which we’ll get into. He’s also built multiple companies from the ground up into multimillion-dollar organizations. He’s had failures along the way as well, and that’s why he’s passionate about building systems that help people move forward through community, faith and practical support. So Douglas, thanks for joining me.

Douglas Feller: 03:19

Hey, thanks for having me. I’m glad to be on here.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 03:22

I’m going to share my screen with MyHarvest. But why don’t you just start off? Before we get into some of your favorite tools, software, resources, talk about MyHarvest and what you do.

Douglas Feller: 03:32

So MyHarvest, as you said, is a faith-based platform. It’s kind of a faith-centered, but we have, you know, all the tools to help you with life skills, finding jobs, finding housing that you need. It’s a whole social media element wrapped around it. That’s all positive living. You don’t have to, you know, go to Facebook, Instagram and what I like to say have the doom scrolling that everybody has, but we call it bloom scrolling at MyHarvest because everything around it is positive living and just a positive influence for you to better yourself.

So we have all those DIY hacks of, you know, how to improve your golf swing or different cooking things and so on and so forth. Recipes and on down the line, everything you can imagine that’s on the other platforms we have on the MyHarvest platform. But along with that, again, we have real jobs for individuals trying to reestablish themselves. We have housing opportunities for individuals as well. If you’re looking for rentals and that. And then there’s just tons of lessons on there that are either taught by experts in the field or lived experience from individuals. So just an all in one platform to really just be that positive platform for you in your life.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 04:52

I know that you took it a step further, and you flew in over 60 thought leaders and recorded sessions with them. What was the idea behind that?

Douglas Feller: 05:02

Yeah, the idea behind, you know, so far to date, we’ve had over 65 different thought leaders. These are individuals that have lived experience of going through struggles in their life, but they’ve come out the other side. And so this is, you know, men and women of all different walks, talks, backgrounds that can say to you, you know, man, I’ve been homeless or I’ve been on SNAP or I know what it’s like to struggle with addiction or I know I’ve, you know, I’ve worn those shower shoes in that jumpsuit and, you know, so they teach success and confidence and different employment readiness and life skills courses for us. And so again, we’ve flown them into our studios here because we wanted to control those, that content of those lessons.

And so these are about ten minutes. Each lesson is about ten minutes long. It’s very master class style. They’re very engaging and entertaining, but yet they’re educational. You really get a quick win. You get something out of it by watching those little ten minute lessons. And so and you get a certificate of completion, and this can help you with your job and going on. So yeah, that’s a, that’s the reason that we brought in all those thought leaders and we continue to bring people in. And we’re always looking for additional people to bring in as thought leaders onto the platform.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 06:17

I’m curious, you know, obviously master class, you have to pay for a subscription. What made you decide that yours is free to go on and sign up? What made you decide to kind of have that model as opposed to kind of like a master class model?

Douglas Feller: 06:32

I mean, I wanted that, yeah, that was a main thing from the beginning. I was, I’ve been involved with another platform, a couple different things. As you said, I’ve had a lot of businesses that I’ve helped build up and sold off and so on and so on in the years. And, you know, it was really important for me that when I’m working with a lot of these underprivileged communities that we work with individuals that again, have been in, you know, had in recoveries of different substance, domestic abuse, so on and so forth, or have been justice involved or, you know, those individuals that are struggling, they really need these resources and all these tools. And, you know, a lot of them don’t have the money they don’t have. It’s not like, hey, give me, you know, 9.99 a month.

I wanted to make it free to them. And so how we make our money is our partnerships. You know, I, we are working with different housing partners, employment partners, brand partners. And that’s what helps fund our program and the platform so that we can offer all these tools, all these resources for free. And so it’s, you know, that that was the real reason that I wanted to do that that way and make it that there, it’s not a subscription based, make it be that freemium model where this platform is available for all those individuals that really need it most.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 07:44

Yeah. And people could check out MyHarvest.org to learn more. On the resources side, Douglas, you know, it makes me think of a resource. I had on a guest, who was the previous CEO of Homeboy Industries, which was, is the largest, maybe it is still, I don’t know, the largest gang rehabilitation and reentry program in the world based in California. Are there any other, I mean, it could be, we’ll get into maybe some of your favorite books or podcasts, but any organizations, you know, that are near and dear to your heart that are, you know, kind of related to what you’re talking about with MyHarvest?

Douglas Feller: 08:25

Yeah. We’re, you know, look, we’re starting to partner with a lot of different, other nonprofit groups. You know, we’re not in competition. We’re not a nonprofit group, but we are working with a lot of nonprofit groups and starting to. And because we complement them, we are working with, you know, reentry facilities. We’re working with state DOCs, we’re working with county jails. We are working with halfway houses, recovery centers. And so a lot of these other organizations, and some of them are nonprofits and some of them are government entities and so on. We come up alongside them and we complement them.

The tools of MyHarvest really helps all those other organizations, actually just give another resource and thrive to what they’re already doing. Right. So, you know, give you an example. I don’t want to name some names here of some different people that were in the middle of stuff with, but, I want to kind of be.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:21

I mean. If there are some, you know, interesting nonprofits people should check out.

Douglas Feller: 09:26

Yeah, I mean, well, there’s, there’s tons of them. So, you know, TAP, for example, in, that’s up in West Virginia, I believe Virginia or West Virginia. Forgive me if I get it wrong, but Total Action for Progress. It’s called TAP up there, a great nonprofit organization up there. We are in works with them on using our platform.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:47

Is this them there?

Douglas Feller: 09:47

That’s them.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:49

Okay, cool.

Douglas Feller: 09:50

You got it. And so this is a great organization from everything. I’ve been able to know and learn and my team is working on right now. And, you know, they help so many individuals. They’ve been around so long, 60 years. But Harvest is a way to come up, you know, to work with TAP to come up alongside. Right? We’re not in competition. It’s like, how can we, how can they use, have their individuals and ours kind of work together to give the, you know, they still are those boots on the ground and directly dealing with individuals. But then the Harvest platform can really help with some incentivized learning for those different, for their different, you know, individuals that are coming through their platform. So that would be one, just as an example there, right?

Saint Louis University has a non-profit that I think is just really good too. If you look them, SLU, see if you can find it and you can share it here. But another great non-profit organization, they really are just working in the state of Missouri and with the Department of Corrections in the state of Missouri, but they’re just a fantastic organization as well. That is really, you know, teaching and helping place, men and women that are coming out of prison into actual like job, you know, giving them job placement. But again, MyHarvest comes up alongside an organization like that.

And we really complement and give some extra tools and resources, at no cost for those individuals that are, you know, that they’re working with. Right. So again, these are, this is, just a couple little examples of how we can work with other nonprofits and other groups that are out there. And I could just go on and on and on, But that’s just to kind of give you a couple little snippets of that. So I guess my point is, if you are someone working for a nonprofit and you’re listening to this or you’re running.

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Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 11:43

This may be it, I don’t know if it is.

Douglas Feller: 11:45

You’re on it. You’re on it 100%.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 11:46

Transformative Justice Initiative.

Douglas Feller: 11:48

Yep, yep, yep. You’re on it with their mission and a great team running this. You know, they’re not a big thing. They’re a smaller team, but they’re making a really big impact with a small team, which is super cool. And, you know, so any organization like this, if you’re part of that, you know, reach out to us at MyHarvest, there’s a lot of ways we can work together and, we can help what you’re doing and just kind of come up alongside you and, and actually have the same mission of trying to help these men and women from all these different other walks that we’re talking about.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 12:21

And on the resource front, any, I don’t know, books or podcasts could be business related. I’ll mention. Paul Feith, runs an organization and it’s really for helping nonprofits, right? So hopefully he’ll watch this episode and check out what you’re doing. But, they help a lot of different nonprofits with their messaging and marketing to get their, you know, the word out on what they do. So, what are some, any favorite books? It could be business related. I know you’ve had a lot of different businesses, books, podcasts.

Douglas Feller: 12:54

Yeah I had a lot of businesses, man. I’ve read so many books. I’m trying to think of some great ones. I can tell you. A dear friend of mine, he’s no longer with us and mentor. His name was Don Soderquist. He was the former CEO of Walmart. And Don, you know, is really known for, was known and still is for his just integrity. Integrity in business and doing the right things. And so he, you know, he has a small little book that you can read that it’s not a big read. It’s an easy read. If you look his up with Don Soderquist. SODERQUIST. He’s originally from or was down in Bentonville, Arkansas is where he, you know, was living the whole time I knew him and passed away. So Don’s the former, was the former CEO of Benjamin Franklin stores, if you can remember the Benjamin Franklin.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 13:46

You know, I, I actually, I listened to Sam, there’s a Sam Walton biography on audible and I’m sure they mentioned Don in it, but yeah, he tells the whole story.

Douglas Feller: 13:59

Sam. So Sam hired. So Sam went and tracked down Don when he was the CEO of Benjamin Franklin stores and hired him to be his right hand man. And, you know, after Sam Walton passed away, David Glass and Don Soderquist, basically they each took the company, split it in half, and David Glass was the CEO and Don was the COO and David Glass took all the Walmart or all the Sam’s Club stores and managed and ran them. And Don took all the Walmart stores and ran them.

And together they, you know, really just worked hand in hand. And that’s when Walmart had its biggest like growth and success was during that whole time of, of Don, and, David Glass that was, you know, really at the helm of the company. And so, you know, just, you know, Walmart has had so many great leaders in that organization and continues to. And Don was one of those that was really the keeper of the gate after Sam passed away.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 14:57

I think it’s, I’m looking at Don Soderquist The Walmart Way. Is that the book you’re talking about? The one I listened to is Sam Walton’s. It’s called Made In America by Sam Walton.

Douglas Feller: 15:09

Another good one. I’ve actually I’ve read that.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 15:12

I’m going to get The Walmart Way. That’s great.

Douglas Feller: 15:14

And I, you know, I know Don was a personal friend and a mentor and, you know, I just think he was a tremendous man who had a big impact on my life. And, you know, so that one’s, I think, just a great one. And, you know, I’m not a guy to want to read big, thick, long books. My daughter does. My daughter’s like, she reads, you know, 50, 60, 70 books a year and is just a bookworm.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 15:36

And what is she into business related or what?

Douglas Feller: 15:39

No, no, she, I don’t even know all the stuff. She has a wide plethora of variety of what she likes, you know, but it’s not business. But, you know, she’s just a bookworm and she’s great. She’s 18 years old and just starting college and, I don’t ever, I don’t have that right. I like a quick read on a little thing. So the Don Soderquist book, I think is a, is a great one.

Yeah. And, you know, look, you know, MyHarvest is a faith-based platform. It’s not like mandatory, it’s not in your face. But I think that having, you know, a spiritual piece to, you know, recovery or in your life for sure is just such an important part. And so on MyHarvest, we have the Bible on there, and it’s in multiple different versions. There’s a prayer board, there’s a verse of the day. There’s just a couple things that, you know, look, it helps keep that part kind of aligned. And so if you’re talking about another good book, I mean, you know, the Bible for me is, you know, honestly, it’s just like, still the most popular book, I think in the world.

And, you know, I think that’s one for people to do. My challenge there would be, you know, take at least once a year and go with your employees and read one verse of Proverbs every day. You know, there’s, there’s, I’m going to say it wrong. I don’t want to be wrong here. 30 or 31, 30 books in Proverbs and 31 chapters, I should say in Proverbs. So read one chapter, you know, of Proverbs a day. And you know, if you just read the book of Proverbs and nothing else out of the Bible, in my opinion, that gives you everything you need to, you know, to really live your life and just get so much out of. That’s one of my favorite books of the Bible is Proverbs. So again, not to try to go on some spiritual whole faith thing, but like, for me, that’s a main, you know, important part.

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