Melanie Walker spent nine years as a paralegal supporting attorneys in the Fargo area, mentored early in her career by well-known personal injury attorney Dave Bosard and his team. When her law firm bosses needed a cleaner they could trust around confidential files, Melanie stepped up after hours and started cleaning the office herself. Her close friend Miranda, a sharp business operator in the Fargo community and co-owner at CPR in the Mall, formerly known as Phone and Fix, did not just cheer her on. She demanded a full business plan before giving her blessing. A year later, J&M Business Cleaning was officially born.Now three years in, Melanie operates five commercial cleaning accounts, leads a crew of four employees, and personally handles move-out cleans and select house cleans for trusted clients. Her growth strategy is rooted in genuine relationship-building. She researches businesses before walking through the door, makes friends before making the ask, and lets her network do the heavy lifting. A referral through a shared accountant landed her longest-running client. A connection through Husky Electric opened the door to a major construction clean in Detroit Lakes. She also gives back through community events like the DGF Rebels Fishing and Corn Feed at the Buffalo Racetrack, working alongside Micah from Archer Realty to support kids getting outside and onto the water.Still bridging the gap with part-time work at Rick's Bar, a choice quietly tied to her late father who called Specs his second office, Melanie has a clear finish line in sight: full-time in the business, no side work, and a house of her own. Self-reliance was her word of the day. For Melanie Walker, it is the whole story.

Jon Berton spent nearly 17 years as an oil field roughneck, starting in Colorado before rotating into western North Dakota. Making serious money with no clear place to put it, he started buying rental properties, including a fourplex in Kansas City he purchased completely sight unseen and managed remotely through a property management company. When rising interest rates cooled his appetite for more real estate, Jon turned to franchising. A LinkedIn connection led him to a franchise consultant who matched him with Heroes Lawn Care, and in August 2023 he launched the Fargo location using an SBA-backed loan, hiring a general manager to run the day-to-day while Jon remained out west. That arrangement lasted roughly five months before a surprise visit revealed serious problems. Faced with the choice of cutting losses or showing up, Jon chose to show up. Within a month he listed and sold his own home, packed up his wife, four kids all under seven, a mini pony, goats, over fifty chickens, and a handful of ducks, and relocated to a farmstead near Kindred. His parents followed from Colorado, with his dad joining the business and his mom helping with the kids. Now three summers in with a crew of five full-time employees, Heroes Lawn Care serves the Fargo metro with fertilizer and weed control packages starting around eighty dollars per application, irrigation installation and repair, landscaping, sod, and aeration services. Find them at heroescare.com or on Facebook.

Returning champion Derek Ystebo reveals how exuberance drives his life as a 13-year Zumba instructor, former NDSU adjunct professor, and current US Bank fraud team leader in Fargo.Connect with The Fargo Five:http://www.ConradFargo.com/thefargofive http://open.spotify.com/show/1MYgy8wKjn9yEKVscgG18Rhttp://www.facebook.com/TheFargoFiveDerek Ystebo makes his third appearance on The Fargo Five, a rare honor in Conrad Fargo's format, and it is immediately obvious why he keeps earning a seat at the mic. Built around the episode's word of the day, exuberance, this conversation digs into the life of one of the Fargo-Moorhead area's most recognizable fitness personalities. Derek has been instructing Zumba for 13 years and currently teaches at the YMCA's Schlashman location every Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. and at FCO downtown every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. His origin story is a good one: he traded years of serious World of Warcraft playing for a group fitness class on a friend's recommendation, and never looked back. Since then he has memorized over 500 songs, attended ZinCon where he shook hands with Zumba's creator, and still regularly drops into classes at Family Wellness, Crunch Fitness, and gyms across the FM area just to stay sharp and inspired. Derek also opens up about his career pivot from teaching history at NDSU as an adjunct professor to now leading a fraud team at US Bank, where his background in communication and research found an unexpected second life. He reflects on being one of the only male Zumba instructors in the Fargo-Moorhead area, the genuine friendships group fitness builds, his love of Below Zero Wrestling and St. Paul-based local wrestler Freerange Cara, a surprising passion for bingo, and a Dance United event with United Way at PMI Plaza in West Fargo. Find Derek on Facebook at Zumba Fitness with Derek.

Jack Hoss, founder of Apleo, joins Conrad Fargo for a wide-ranging conversation about entrepreneurship, local SEO, artificial intelligence, and why the future of business may be more local than ever before. After years building marketing systems, investing in real estate, launching a nationally recognized podcast, and working with businesses across the country, Jack explains why he intentionally shifted his focus back to helping Fargo-Moorhead businesses grow.The discussion explores how local search has become one of the most valuable marketing channels for small businesses, why Google Business Profiles often matter more than social media, and how data can reveal what customers are actually searching for instead of what business owners assume they want. Jack shares real examples of helping local businesses dramatically increase visibility by following the numbers rather than intuition.Conrad and Jack also dive into AI, automation, and the growing wave of "AI slop" flooding the internet. Rather than rejecting technology, they argue that responsible use of AI should free business owners to spend more time building authentic, face-to-face relationships. The conversation expands into networking, lead generation, follow-up systems, entrepreneurship, momentum, productivity, and why locality may become an increasingly valuable competitive advantage.Along the way, Jack shares his entrepreneurial journey from Microsoft employee to real estate investor, podcaster, marketing consultant, and founder of Apleo. He discusses the influence of Rich Dad Poor Dad, building House Dudes, adapting after COVID, and learning to pivot by listening to the market. The episode concludes with a look at his newest community-focused project, a directory designed to strengthen connections between local businesses and networking organizations throughout the Fargo-Moorhead area.If you're a business owner, entrepreneur, marketer, realtor, or simply curious about where AI and local business are headed, this conversation offers practical insights alongside an honest look at building businesses that thrive through genuine human connection.

What does it take to build a bar from a vacation daydream into a ten-year Fargo institution? Aaron Templin, proprietor of Front Street Tap Room and Cellar Comedy Club at 614 Main Avenue, sits down with Conrad Fargo to unpack exactly that. Aaron's path runs from an accounting degree at Concordia College to managing 60 part-time employees at the Scheels Arena by his mid-twenties, before quitting, taking a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida with then-wife Lindsay, and returning with a bar concept inspired by a local-only Florida tap room. Back in Fargo, Aaron navigated the city's restrictive beer and wine license cap and eventually landed in the former One World Boutique space on Main Avenue, financed by Bell Bank after pitching nearly a dozen lenders. Front Street opened in October 2016 with a strictly Minnesota and North Dakota tap list. By March 2018, opportunistic buys at closing-venue auctions from places like Ushers helped Aaron furnish and launch the Cellar Comedy Club downstairs on the cheap. Today the Cellar drives most of the revenue through private events and live comedy. The conversation also covers the Peter Principle, what it actually means to step back from your own business, a brief detour into industrial hemp processing in Wahpeton, and why community may be the thing Fargo needs most right now.

Conrad Fargo sits down with Dr. Edison Arouse, owner of Edison Chiropractic in downtown Fargo, to unpack a remarkable life journey that spans continents, conflict, and calling. Located at 624 Main Avenue near Rhombus Pizza, Salon Duo, and Seller 624, Edison Chiropractic blends chiropractic care, acupuncture, and elements of traditional herbal medicine into a personalized healing experience.Dr. Arouse shares his early childhood escaping Nicaragua during the Iran-Contra conflict, traveling through Central America as a young boy with his mother in search of safety and a better life in the United States. That experience, combined with the compassion of a Dallas physician who treated his family despite their financial struggles, planted the seed for his future in healthcare.The conversation moves through his unconventional path—from a promising chemistry internship to a desire for adventure that led him into the U.S. military as a combat medic, and eventually toward chiropractic and acupuncture after witnessing the limitations and stress of traditional medical systems. Along the way, Edison reflects on mentorship under Dr. Scott Varley and Dr. Guo, a seventh-generation acupuncturist, and how those influences shaped his integrative approach to healing.They also dive into the realities of running a solo practice, the importance of networking groups like Fargo Givers, and what makes Fargo a unique place to build a business. Edison emphasizes patient choice, offering chiropractic, acupuncture, or both depending on individual needs, while maintaining a philosophy rooted in faith, perseverance, and continuous forward motion.This episode is a raw and inspiring look at what it means to endure, adapt, and ultimately serve others through your work.

The episode opens with Conrad and David unpacking the difference between empathy and sympathy, a discussion that sets up everything that follows. David is a fourth generation veteran who deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and later served in Washington DC. He came home carrying PTSD that took years to surface, while his then wife was recovering from a concussion that ended her medical school career. The marriage unraveled, and what followed was a custody battle David says exposed deep flaws in how North Dakota family courts treat fathers, especially veterans labeled unfit simply for seeking PTSD treatment. Out of that pain, David and his wife built Forgotten Purpose, helping divorcing parents and neurodivergent families through mediation and plain spoken guidance built around one question, how will this affect the kids. David explains how he started by replying to strangers in Facebook groups like Divorced Dads Need Help, fielding hundreds of messages from people burned by expensive lawyers, and turning those conversations into clients with signed agreements of service. He talks candidly about raising five kids, the prejudice fathers face in family court, his conversation with Ty Groomer about changing the system, and an AI tool he is building to help people organize their own cases. Conrad and David also trade thoughts on philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and what it really means when two people disagree. The hour closes with David sharing why he and his wife always leave a light on in their home for anyone who needs a safe place to land, the inspiration behind the closing song, Tom Walker's Leave A Light On.

Conrad sits down with Zach Landry, owner of The Wellness Way Fargo, to unpack a very different approach to chiropractic care and whole-body health. Instead of quick adjustments and short visits, Zach and his team spend the majority of their time analyzing lab work, reviewing blood panels, and helping patients understand the deeper “why” behind chronic symptoms. From hormone testing and food sensitivities to stress patterns and environmental exposures like mold, this conversation dives into what it means to look beyond surface-level treatment and focus on root causes.Zach shares his personal story of severe illness during chiropractic school, where he experienced full-body inflammation and was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune conditions. After traditional routes offered little resolution, his path led him to The Wellness Way model, where a combination of strict dietary changes, targeted supplements, and lifestyle adjustments helped him recover and ultimately shaped the way he practices today.The discussion also explores the realities of launching a business from scratch in Fargo, building a client base through social media and networking, and how a franchise model provided structure while still allowing independence. Along the way, Conrad and Zach debate the role of insurance, the complexity of the supplement industry, and why modern stress and environmental factors may be driving widespread fatigue and chronic illness.

Conrad Fargo sits down with Holger Loor, owner of Ultra Cleaning Services, for a conversation that goes far beyond mops, crews, and commercial accounts. Holger shares what it took to leave Ecuador, adapt to life in Fargo, learn English, survive the weather, and build a company while raising a family and leading a multilingual team. What starts as a story about cleaning quickly opens into something deeper: immigration, resilience, military structure, cultural translation, and the discipline required to create something of your own.Holger talks about his upbringing in Ecuador, where military service carried prestige and identity, and how that warrior mindset followed him to the United States. He explains his path through the North Dakota Army National Guard, law enforcement, and corrections, and how military attention to detail eventually became the foundation for his business. Ultra Cleaning Services now handles residential, commercial, move-in, move-out, post-construction, and even lake country properties near Detroit Lakes and Pelican Rapids, all while Holger manages a growing crew and still gets his own hands dirty.The episode also explores the human side of leadership. Holger describes his Sunday team meetings, the culture he has built between Spanish and English speakers, and why he sees cleaning not as janitorial work, but as transforming spaces and protecting families. Along the way, he shares funny and revealing stories about learning English, misunderstanding American idioms, and trying to find his footing in a new country.

In this episode of The Fargo Five, Conrad Fargo sits down with Tara Kohn, a Fargo-based holistic health coach and foot reflexologist, to explore how mindset, gratitude, and nutrition can radically alter a person’s life trajectory. From a 26-year career in massage therapy to building a self-employed coaching business, Tara shares how her lifelong experience with chronic pain shaped her perspective on healing and human potential.The conversation dives into the power of gratitude as a habit, not just a feeling, and how rewiring your brain to see the good can change your reality. Tara breaks down reflexology as more than a “foot massage,” describing it as an organized system that maps the entire body through pressure points in the feet, hands, and ears. Conrad challenges the ideas with his usual skepticism, creating a dynamic discussion on alternative health versus traditional medicine.Tara also shares her personal diagnosis with a rare spinal cord condition and how it led her deeper into nutrition, gut health, and anti-inflammatory living. She explains her transition into health coaching and her partnership with Purium, focusing on whole-food-based supplementation and detox programs designed to restore gut health and energy levels.Along the way, they touch on the realities of entrepreneurship in Fargo, networking through groups like BNI and the emerging Power Team FM, and the growing local health and wellness scene, including voices like Penny Static. This episode blends personal story, business insight, and philosophical debate into a grounded look at what it means to take ownership of your health in a modern world.