What a treat to introduce you to my friend, Jacki Hayes. Her podcast, Here's What I Learned, is all about doing business your way and I've been honored to be a guest on her show a couple of times already. This week on Big Brave Business, we're turning the tables to talk to Jacki about what it means to do business her way, and also why the concept of doing business your way matters.

This conversation with my friend and colleague, Lisa Zawrotny, changed my life. Maybe a little change, but honestly it's stayed with me since we spoke and it is something I have been able to reflect on every day. Not only did we discuss the concept of overachieving, especially as part of our identity (if you've been listening to this podcast for awhile, you know that's me), but also we talked about redefining productivity, the idea of 'hard work,' and the impact of clutter (this is the part that blew my mind the most, my friends).

This week I welcomed my friend and colleague, Ana Xavier. From the time Ana and I first connected on Instagram, I have been struck by her refreshingly approachable and authentic energy - a stark contrast to the "gatekeepers" I've encountered in the podcasting world. Ana shares how she's built a thriving business by staying true to her values of collaboration, impact, and empathy, rather than trying to emulate the "bro marketer" tactics that dominate our industry. One of the biggest takeaways for me is Ana's emphasis on the power of in-person connection, which has motivated me to step out of my comfort zone and attend more events and conferences. Ana also reminded me of the deeper purpose behind these connections - tapping into the collective wisdom and support of our community to uplift and inspire one another.

This week, I'm joined by my friend & long-term client, Candace D'Agnolo. She's been an entrepreneur for over 25 years and has built and scaled brick-and-mortar businesses, retail business, service-based businesses, and digital businesses. When it comes to starting, scaling, and selling businesses, Candace is my go-to expert. So it's no surprise that I was thrilled to bring her on the podcast to talk about her idea of what it means to be big and brave in business. And you know what might surprise you? Of ALL her experience that many of us are so far only dreaming of, her idea of big and brave is all about her personal development and team leadership. No matter how successful you are in business, it always comes back to that!

One of the things that Brooke and Tristan are so passionate about is running businesses ethically - which is complicated to do as anti-capitalists in a capitalist world. The more you are aware of the heinous atrocities and human rights violations happening worldwide that are woven into everything we do and the way we engage with our economy, the harder it can be to see (and follow) the light. Is there such a thing as running and growing a business as an anticapitalist founder? We explore this topic and more in today's episode.

This week, I'm thrilled to introduce you to my friend Emily Aborn. One of the first things she asked me the first time we met was something along the lines of, "What's an ethical challenge to online business that's particularly interesting to you right now?" and I knew we were going to get along. Today, we're chatting about ethical content creation to create authentic and meaningful connection, especially amidst the conundrums that come with AI.

You know the crazy thing about taking that time to slow the hell down? I actually made more money in July than I did in June. So what did I learn? I'm reflecting and sharing insights with you this week in the second-ever solo episode of Big Brave Business!

What a thrill to have my friend and former client, Cheryl Ham, on the podcast this week. Cheryl jumped at something I said in a previous episode / on social media about the expression 'hire before you're ready' and felt passionately about coming on the podcast to dissect that advice and to help us understand when that advice is good and helpful, and when it's potentially toxic and harmful.

One of the things we hear all the time in the online business space these days is "trauma-informed." This was one of the fundamental keys to the discussion I had in today's episode with trauma-informed marketer, Stephanie Bilinsky. There are a lot of ethical questions and layers in online marketing in 2024 and beyond, and it was my honor and privilege to get to speak about some of these nuances with Stephanie.

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.