If you've listened to this podcast for a little while, you might remember that I started my business in the wake of getting laid off. My guest today has had the distinct and unique pleasure of experiencing the trauma of getting laid off multiple times (which I literally can't imagine, what a powerhouse brave woman she is). Today, we're sharing our lay-off stories and also exploring how to build courage in entrepreneurship, especially after a lay-off.

Let's be honest, basically every entrepreneurial or business podcast out there has an episode about burnout. So when Alenka and I met on Threads and she mentioned she wanted to talk about burnout, I knew right away that I wanted to make sure this was a conversation that goes beyond just 'what is burnout,' 'what does burnout feel like,' 'how can you avoid burnout,' etc. Alenka and I explored the gendered nuances of burnout - and although there are many other factors and characteristics that can also impact your relationship with burnout, this episode is specifically about burnout for women.

Human Resources is such an interesting beast. I have certainly felt both the benefits and the obstacles of HR in a typical 9-5 corporate environment, and it's a whole other complicated aspect of business as a small business owner. I asked my friend, HR consultant Kirsten Zeigler, to join me for this week's episode of Big Brave Business to talk about HR's role in business, when we need HR, and the ethical complications with AND without HR.

We've talked about networking on this podcast before, because in the fall of last year I did an ambitious (read: crazy) networking challenge. I learned a lot during that experiment that I've been implementing in 2024, and my guest today has a lot of experience making the most of networking, too. The reality is that although it's hard, and it's awkward, and it's uncomfortable, and it pushes you out of your element, it can also lead to the most incredible opportunities and growth.

In this episode, we started with this general concept of "what does it mean to be big and brave in business," which led to all kinds of topics including what's fucked up in corporate life, the wage and leadership gender gap, bad blanket business advice like "just raise your prices," and so much more.

When Hady Mendez came to me and said she wanted to talk about the experience of WOC at work, I was absolutely sure I wanted to have the conversation and also I wasn't sure how best to go about it as a white woman myself. This was an interesting conversation where Hady was able to share her own experience as a woman of color and the ways she's devoted her career to supporting other women of color at work, and I was able to lean in and learn as a white woman and a self-proclaimed ally about how I too can better support women of color in my own life and business.

Alright besties, I'll level with you. I used to have an online course, and I HATED IT. I share why in this episode, but also, I definitely think online courses are in my future business model because I want to make podcasting as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. But I have learned the hard way that online courses are not a get-rich-quick scheme and it's not easy to make them effective. My guest today is an expert on developing curriculum and online coursework and supporting students, and she's diving in with me all about the problems with the online course creation industry.

This week I am joined by guest Betsaida Lebron to talk about play and humor and how those are two majorly overlooked factors that can make us better leaders. We often think play is irrelevant for adults, and totally opposite of productivity or business, but the reality is that these concepts go hand-in-hand.

We can all agree that job searching sucks - and from the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding side, it's really not much better. The standard practices for recruitment, hiring, and onboarding are totally archaic and suck. My guest today is my friend and client, Carly Patryluk. She's a pet business owner who has revolutionized her recruitment and hiring methods. In this episode, we are chatting about what matters to us when hiring and onboarding our team members, what we look for in team members, what is broken when it comes recruitment standards in business.

Self-Abandonment runs deeper than saying no when you want to say yes or saying yes when you want to say no (although that counts!). Self-Abandonment is actually a symptom of conditioned beliefs about prioritizing others' needs, emotions, or acceptance over your own. If you ever struggled to feel seen, safe, or soothed in childhood, this will show up in adulthood as self-abandonment.

This week I'm joined by my friend and client Becky Aste... and our husbands! You've heard me (and Amanda) call out Eric so many times in this podcast, because he edits this show (and several of my client shows). Becky's husband Sebastian recently entered her business, too. We thought it would be fun to sit down, all four of us, to chat about the dynamics of bringing your spouse into your business and figuring out how to work well together, but also how normative gender roles come into play. What is it like to be married to a female entrepreneur? What is it like to be out-earned by your female spouse? What is it like to work for your spouse, with your spouse as your boss? All of this in more in today's episode :)

I am so excited to welcome my first season 2 guest on the podcast: Harriet Formby. We are talking about all things fear and frustration related to money, our money stories, and best practices for overcoming the assumptions we've been carrying with us about money that we don't want to take with us any further.

Besties, this is my FIRST EVER solo episode of Big Brave Business! (Help, I already miss Amanda!) Let's have a little catch up session because I've got some things going on to share and also, let's take a look at what I'm planning for season 2 of Big Brave Business.

This week we are talking about how important it is to periodically ask yourself, “What am I doing and why am I doing it?” As your life and your business evolves, your goals and priorities shift. It’s critical to set aside time to consider what is serving those new goals and priorities… and what isn’t. In this episode, we are also giving a sneak peek into what is coming for Season 2 of Big Brave Business and all the big decisions we made during our hiatus between seasons to determine what direction WE want to go from here based on our own growth and evolution. Season 2 is going to be SO fun, friends.

Do you think about your personal brand? Your personal brand is the impression you give people about who you are, especially online. In today's episode, we're talking about personal brands and professional brands and how they overlap and what the heck we think about when it comes to our own branding.

This summer, we have both been inundated by launches - client launches, launches from people we follow, and launches in our own businesses. So, we’re sharing some of our lessons and takeaways about launching - and that leads us to the big, brave discussion about sales feeling sleazy. Manipulation, marketing to people’s deepest fears, selling from desperation and scarcity, and more.

The way we think about money, and our assumptions about how money works, directly influence our relationship with money and how money flows into and out of our lives. On this episode, we are getting vulnerable and sharing some of our deepest, most intense shit about money.

Have you ever invested in a life or business coach or a mastermind (or any other buzzword like that in online entrepreneurship) and been a little bit confused about what you were supposed to have gotten out of your massive 5-figure investment? Us, too.

This week we are talking about saying NO and setting boundaries in your life and business. Do you have trouble saying no?

In the final episode of Big Brave Business Season 1, we are talking about how we are watching our businesses evolve (and how that impacts Big Brave Business!). We are super excited to watch BBB grow and evolve, too, and can’t wait to come back bigger and braver with season 2 in April 2024.

We have previously touched on some good advice we've gotten, and we decided to expand on that and also talk about our journeys to start our businesses. How do you know when it's time to turn your side hustle into a full-time job? What would we do differently if we could do it over again?

With the US General Election this year heating up and the heartbreaking conflict going on in Palestine and Israel, there is a lot of pressure for folks with social media platforms to speak up about their opinions about these kinds of things. From Elyse Myers and influencer culture to Taylor Swift and celebrity superstardom to business owners, this week, we are breaking down our opinions and perspectives on what our social responsibility is to speak up and where the lines get blurry.

We’ve been working hard on a cool project for Sarah’s business, Podfox Media. In this episode, we’re sharing some inside scoop to how the idea for the Audio Summit came to be and what the prep process has been like. And, we’re sharing a sneak peek into the content in the Audio Summit - which is 100% free. You can sign up for the FREE Audio Summit right now: https://trendcast2024.com

This week, we are talking about how to get rich quick! Just kidding, but we are talking about "get rich quick" schemes, what it means to be rich, and whether we consider ourselves to be rich.