As business owners, we're used to figuring things out.
Something isn't working? We change the strategy.
Revenue is down? We look at the numbers.
There's a problem? We find someone who knows the answer.
But what happens when there isn't an answer?
What happens when you're facing a storm in your business—or your life—that no amount of strategy, hard work, or Googling can fix?
Today's episode of The Visibility Podcast is a little different.
I'm sitting down with Bill Derrick, President of Derrick Companies in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and author of Restored by the Storm: Navigating Through Life's Unexpected Challenges.
Bill has more than 50 years of experience in the construction industry and has spent the majority of his career leading Derrick Companies.
In 2008, Bill helped lead the company through one of the most devastating economic downturns since the Great Depression. For five years, they navigated an incredibly difficult business climate, not knowing exactly how—or if—they would come through it.
And just as the storm began to clear, Bill and his family were hit with another one.
Bill was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer.
Today, Bill can look back at these seasons with a perspective he couldn't possibly have had while living through them.
And that's what we talk about.
This isn't an episode filled with five-step strategies or another list of things you need to do.
It's a conversation about:
- Leading a business when you don't have all the answers
- What the 2008 recession taught Bill about leadership and perseverance
- Walking through fear and uncertainty when the outcome is beyond your control
- Faith and learning to trust when you can't understand why something is happening
- How life's hardest storms can change the way we lead and live
- Building a business and reputation that lasts for generations
- Succession and what it means to hand something you've built to the next generation
- How Bill's definition of success has changed after more than 50 years in business
- Finding meaning and purpose in seasons you never would have chosen
- The legacy we leave behind, not just through our businesses, but through the people we become
We do talk openly about faith in this episode.
I'm not here to preach or tell you what you should believe. But faith plays an important role in my own life, and I've experienced seasons when I've been brought to my knees asking questions I couldn't answer.
Sometimes we don't get to understand the why while we're standing in the middle of the storm.
Sometimes that understanding comes much, much later.
And sometimes leadership isn't about having the answer.
Sometimes it's about continuing to show up, leaning on the people around you, trusting, and taking the next right step—even when you can't see where it's leading.
Whether you're in a beautiful season of business right now or navigating a storm of your own, I hope you'll make some space for this conversation.
- Take a screenshot and share it to your IG stories. Tag me @ms_melissa_rose
- Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcast!
- Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast.
In 2009, Melissa Rose started her business,
The Dancing House, in the basement of her home. There, she taught the art of dance to students of all ages while her babies were right along with her, in the pack and playing. With passion, resilience, and tenacity, she created a business that has become "The Highlight of Your Week" for her tribe, her team, and her community, along with running a successful brick-and-mortar business and an
online dance membership.
When she’s not leading her studio team or recording The Visibility Podcast, Melissa helps business owners stop spinning and start positioning, so they become the clear, confident choice in their community.
Off the clock? She’s clinking glasses of Sauvignon Blanc with her partner, loving on her five amazing kids, hiking the trails, or digging in the dirt.
What is The Visibility Podcast?
Helping small business and service-based business owners get FOUND, LIKED, and TRUSTED so they can become the GO-TO in their industry.
Hosted by business growth strategist Melissa Rose, each episode brings practical strategies for small business marketing, Google Business Profile optimization, local SEO, messaging, visibility, AI search, and business growth, without adding more random marketing to your plate.
Because you don’t need to be everywhere. You need your Google presence, website, social media, reviews, and messaging working together so the right people can find you, trust you, and choose you.