CHRIS LAUTENSLAGER – Today’s podcast looks at Freedom specifically through the Lens of small business and how they may just be the key to restoring our culture and maintaining the American Spirit and the American Dream! Because of authoritarian business closings, lockdowns, and mandates, millions of small business owners were negatively affected including over 100,000 who are permanently closed. It devastated local communities and the economy as we saw a tremendous transfer of business to big box and online retailers like Target, Walmart, and Amazon. Many of these large companies participate in woke ideologies that most Americans are tired of.Meet Chris Lautenslager.Chris is an expert in business and recognizes the importance of small local business ownership. His forty+ years career started with building a trading firm on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in partnership with his brother Curtis. He was then recruited to NYC for senior positions, working at some of the world’s premier financial institutions, including Credit Suisse, SAC Capital Management, John W. Henry & Co., and Intercontinental Exchange. Chris came to witness, experience, and understand how business really works in the U.S. Recognizing the importance of small businesses to our society's health, Chris advocates for the benefits and value of small businesses over the abuses of global institutions.