Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Tenacity with Sonia C.

To sell out her first inventory without paid ads, Sabrina Rohde tested demand with a pre-sale waitlist before starting production. This approach not only validated her idea for a functional luxury bag but also provided the initial capital to fund her first small, intentionally slow manufacturing run.

Sabrina Rohde is the founder of the luxury bag company Rode Venet, a brand born from her frustrations as a traveling consultant for McKinsey. She shares the disciplined, customer-first mindset she used to build her company from the ground up while bootstrapping. In this conversation, you will learn:

- How to use a waitlist and pre-sale model to validate an idea and fund production.

- The "sell it before you build it" approach to confirming a real market need.

- Sabrina's framework for deciding where to invest money and where to save as a bootstrapper.

- Why the first year as an entrepreneur can be so difficult and how to get through it.

- The importance of detaching your self-worth from your company's performance.

If you are building a company and want to learn from the real experiences of other founders, follow Tenacity with Sonia C. for more honest conversations. www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

Learn how to create real social impact as a business leader by opening hiring pipelines to underserved talent and looking beyond short term charity.

Meaningful corporate impact occurs when companies offer direct employment opportunities to marginalized individuals rather than relying solely on donations. Partnering with comprehensive community programs helps break generational poverty cycles by providing people with transferable skills, career stability, and ongoing mentorship. Committing to hire capable individuals from underserved backgrounds strengthens company culture while creating permanent economic mobility.

Denise Whiter, Executive Director of New Beginnings Support Program, joins Sonia Couto on Tenacity with Sonia C. to examine practical community investment. Denise explains how their year long programs, including the Step Into Success initiative and certification with Humber Polytechnic, prepare women for corporate roles at organizations like Ernst & Young and TD. She also highlights the EmpowerMe personal development curriculum and outlines goals for their annual Angels in Action Gala at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

What you'll learn

• How to create real social impact as a business leader through direct hiring

• Why short term training fails to resolve poverty compared to year long support

• How transferable skills in digital literacy and business writing open corporate career paths

• What common misconceptions prevent companies from hiring women rebuilding after crisis

• How businesses can participate in the Angels in Action Gala or contribute through Canada Helps and Zeffy

This conversation is for founders, executives, and hiring managers who want to move past performative corporate responsibility and build practical employment pathways for overlooked talent.

Learn more about Denise Whiter and support the New Beginnings Support Program through their website: https://newbeginningsprogram.ca/

Beth Flippo, CEO of Drone Express, shares the real story behind building a drone delivery company and earning FAA drone certification with limited funding. She explains how a five year regulatory process, intense competition, and major setbacks became the very things that built a more resilient company.

In this episode:

• The personal problem that inspired the creation of Drone Express.

• How Beth landed Kroger as her first customer by targeting a massive market.

• Why she viewed strict FAA regulations as a collaborator, not an obstacle.

• The leadership strategy she used to keep her team focused during long periods without obvious progress.

• How the company navigated a critical parachute testing phase while running out of money.

• The challenges of raising capital as a female founder in a male dominated industry.

• Why she believes having it harder ultimately builds a stronger, more successful company.

Connect with Beth Flippo and learn more about Drone Express: [Insert Links]

#founderstory #dronetechnology #entrepreneurship #faacertification #startuplife #womenintech #leadership #fundraising #businessstrategy #resilience #tenacitypodcast

Becoming a leader people naturally trust starts with becoming a stable, consistent presence who is confident in who they are. In this conversation, founder and medical provider Shawn Gibbs explains why the most trusted leaders are like cruise ships, not dinghies: steady and unwavering because they have done the internal work. Shawn shares lessons from his journey building companies, including GiveGowns, which redesigns hospital gowns to restore patient dignity.

Drawing on his experience in both healthcare and entrepreneurship, Shawn explains why outcomes are determined long before a meeting or sale ever begins. He provides a clear framework for building trust intentionally, not just with customers, but within your team and in your leadership. Listeners will learn practical methods for improving communication, clarifying expectations, and creating a culture where people feel valued and understood.

In this episode, you will learn:

- The power of defining your desired outcome before any meeting or negotiation.

- The story behind GiveGowns and how it restores confidence for patients.

- A simple communication technique to ensure clear expectations and build trust.

- Why intentionality is the key to designing trust into your company's culture.

- How to help your team members grow, even if their goals are outside your company.

- The one thing to start doing to become a leader people are naturally drawn to.

This episode offers a clear guide to building trust with customers, patients, and your team. Follow Tenacity with Sonia C. for more honest conversations and practical lessons for founders.

Building brand authority in the age of AI requires a marketing ecosystem built on sustainable systems, not chasing the latest tools. In this conversation, branding and ecosystem strategist Laurens Tijssen explains how founders can create lasting market presence. He shares insights from his journey, which started with an online payment at age 14 and led to working with over 150 clients, including high profile entrepreneurs and global brands.

Laurens explains why the fundamentals of business and branding still matter more than ever. Listeners will learn:

- The marketing ecosystem framework of Attention, Interaction, and Transaction.

- Why resourcefulness and strong fundamentals are more important than any single AI tool.

- How to earn trust with high profile clients and build reputational capital.

- The difference between strategic shortcuts and deceptive tactics that break trust.

- Why Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is a critical focus for brands today.

This episode offers a clear perspective on how to build a brand that grows stronger over time. If you are a founder working to build a more resilient and visible business, follow Tenacity with Sonia C. for more honest conversations and practical guidance.

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Making better founder decisions requires intentionally designing the process to include cognitive diversity and counteract common biases. In this episode, Sonia C. speaks with Kylee Ingram, a former international television producer who is now the CEO and co-founder of Wizer, a technology company focused on decision science. Kylee shares what she has learned about the science of group decision making from her work with clients like the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation and from her time inside technology accelerators.

Kylee explains how founders can improve the quality of their choices by structuring the conversations that lead to them. She offers practical advice for building stronger, more effective teams. Listeners will learn:

- The difference between personality and cognitive diversity, and why a mix of thinking styles leads to better outcomes.

- Warning signs that your decision making process is flawed, including instant agreement and the influence of the loudest voice.

- Why leaders and influential team members should speak last in a decision meeting.

- How to find the right people to help you decide, even if you are a solo founder.

- Common patterns from technology accelerators, including the dangers of mentor whiplash.

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Your brand's authentic story is its most powerful sales asset because it builds human-to-human trust before the first sales call. In this episode, video strategist Graham Kuhn explains how founders can use strategic video, specifically a "brand story video," to shorten the sales cycle, escape the noise of AI-generated content, and connect with customers on a deeper level.

Graham and Sonia discuss why so many founders struggle with video, confusing visibility with trust and hustle with clarity. Graham shares his framework for creating videos that don't just get views, but build credibility and drive revenue, even in complex B2B industries. He explains that you are always selling to a human, and your story is your biggest differentiator.

In this conversation, you will learn:

- Why your unique story is your most effective sales and marketing tool.

- The difference between a generic "About Us" video and a high-impact brand story video.

- A simple, practical technique to overcome the fear of being on camera.

- How to use video to shorten the sales cycle and warm up potential clients.

- Why authentic human connection is your best advantage in an age of AI.

- How to identify and overcome imposter syndrome as a founder.

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At some point, being scrappy stops being a strength.

You have customers. You have a team. Maybe you've raised capital. Revenue is coming in. But you're still making every decision, solving every problem, chasing every task, and holding the company together yourself.

So when does your startup actually become a company?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with entrepreneur, investor, author, and business operator Scott Abbott for a candid conversation about what founders often get wrong when they try to scale.

Scott has raised more than $35 million, built and led companies generating billions in sales, invested in startups, and learned some of his hardest lessons by making the mistakes himself, including being fired from his own company.

Together, Sonia and Scott unpack the uncomfortable transition from startup hustle to operating discipline and why the habits that helped you survive the early days can eventually become the very things holding your company back.

They get into why scrappiness has an expiration date, what happens when a business becomes too dependent on its founder, why founders need to understand cash flow and their numbers, and how better systems can actually create more freedom instead of more bureaucracy.

They also talk about founder ego, coachability, burnout, AI as an operating tool, the responsibility that comes with taking outside capital, and why working harder isn't always the answer to a company that has stopped scaling.

In this episode:

• When scrappy startup culture starts hurting growth

• Why some businesses stay stuck in “startup mode” for years

• The difference between building a business and building a scalable company

• Why founder dependency can become a liability

• The financial numbers founders can't afford to ignore

• What investors notice about founders who aren't as coachable as they think

• Why systems and processes can give founders more freedom

• How AI can support better operations without replacing leadership

• Why hustle culture eventually catches up with founders

• What Scott learned after being fired from his own company

If your company is growing but everything still depends on you, this conversation is worth hearing.

Because starting a company takes hustle.

Building one that can survive without you takes something else.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Every founder loves talking about the win. Very few talk about what it actually cost to get there.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, entrepreneur, investor, and bestselling author Ari Rastegar shares the stories most founders never tell. From borrowing $3,500 while still in law school to believing he'd become a millionaire overnight, only to wake up $800,000 in debt, Ari opens up about the failures that shaped how he builds businesses today.

This conversation goes beyond startup success. Ari explains why failure isn't the opposite of winning, it's the process that makes great founders. He shares how unexpected setbacks taught him to prepare for uncertainty, why every entrepreneur should stress-test their business before a crisis hits, and how rebuilding his health became just as important as rebuilding his companies.

If you're building a startup, navigating uncertainty, recovering from a setback, or questioning whether the grind is worth it, this episode offers practical lessons from someone who's lived through both the highs and the lows.

• Why failure is one of the greatest advantages a founder can have
• How Ari went from a $3,500 loan to building a multi-billion-dollar real estate business
• The startup mistake that turned a million-dollar win into an $800,000 loss
• How to prepare your business for black swan events and unexpected crises
• Why hustle alone isn't enough to build a sustainable company
• The mindset shift that helped Ari rebuild both his business and his health
• What resilience actually looks like when you're under pressure

If you've ever wondered whether you're the only founder struggling behind the scenes, this conversation is for you.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Every founder starts with a vision. Very few end up building the company they originally imagined.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Nick DAmbrosio, Founder and CEO of NOMADICS, to unpack what it really takes to keep a business alive through nearly two decades of change.

Nick shares how his company unexpectedly evolved from an environmental consulting firm into a defence engineering and digital intelligence company after landing a government contract by accident. What followed wasn't one dramatic pivot, but years of adapting, building credibility, making difficult decisions under pressure, and letting go of the identity he originally built the company around.

Together, they discuss why trust takes years to earn, how founders make decisions when the stakes are high, what it takes to work with government agencies, and why resilience matters more than having the perfect business plan.

The conversation also explores one of today's biggest topics: AI. Nick explains why founders should think of AI as a tool, not a replacement for human expertise, and why building the next generation of talent still matters.

If you're navigating uncertainty, considering a pivot, or trying to build a company that lasts, this episode offers practical lessons from someone who's led a business through recessions, COVID, major industry shifts, and constant change.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why successful founders eventually outgrow their original business model

• How to build trust in industries where mistakes aren't tolerated

• What founders misunderstand about government contracting

• How to make better decisions under pressure

• Why AI should support your business, not replace your people

• How to build a company designed for long-term resilience

If you're an early-stage founder, a scaling CEO, or an entrepreneur facing difficult decisions, this conversation will challenge the way you think about growth, leadership, and staying relevant over the long haul.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Burnout isn't the real problem. The real problem is the kind of ambition that's driving you.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with entrepreneur and agency founder Bianca B. King to unpack the difference between toxic ambition and joyful ambition, and why so many founders unknowingly build businesses from a place of survival instead of purpose.

Bianca's journey began long before entrepreneurship. After leaving home at just 13 years old, she learned that ambition was about survival. That mindset helped her rise through commercial real estate, close more than $1.4 billion in transactions, and earn top industry recognition, but it also led to burnout.

After leaving a successful corporate career to launch her own agency during the Great Recession, Bianca found herself with just $38 in her business bank account. That moment forced her to rethink not only how she ran her business, but why she was building it in the first place.

In this conversation, Sonia and Bianca discuss:

• Why founder burnout often starts with survival thinking
• The hidden cost of hustle culture
• How to recognize the warning signs before burnout takes over
• Why cash flow is the first system every founder should master
• The mindset shift from employee to founder
• Why relationships are your greatest business asset
• How to build a business that supports your life, not one that consumes it
• What "joyful ambition" looks like in practice

If you're a founder, entrepreneur, or business leader feeling exhausted, questioning your definition of success, or trying to build a sustainable business without sacrificing your well-being, this episode is for you.

About the Guest

Bianca B. King is the founder of a boutique marketing agency with nearly two decades of experience helping businesses grow. She's also the creator of the concept of Joyful Ambition, challenging entrepreneurs to redefine success around purpose, agency, and fulfillment rather than constant hustle.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Enterprise AI is moving faster than most companies can keep up. But according to Larissa Schneider, the biggest challenge isn't the technology. It's execution.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, I sit down with Larissa Schneider, Co-Founder and COO of Unframe, to discuss what it really takes to build an enterprise AI company, earn the trust of Fortune 500 customers, and scale a startup in one of the most competitive markets in tech.

Larissa shares why she and her co-founders left successful careers in enterprise technology to build Unframe, how strategic partnerships helped them break into enterprise sales, and why competing against companies like Microsoft and Google requires more than great technology.

We also dive into the reality behind raising more than $100 million in venture capital. Contrary to what many founders believe, raising money doesn't reduce the pressure. It raises the stakes. Larissa talks openly about the responsibility that comes with rapid growth, hiring a global team, making decisions with incomplete information, and learning to let go as a leader so others can step up.

If you're building a startup, selling into enterprise organizations, leading AI initiatives, or navigating the challenges of scaling a business, this conversation is packed with practical lessons you can apply immediately.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Building enterprise trust as an early-stage startup

• Breaking into Fortune 500 organizations

• Strategic partnerships that accelerate growth

• What investors don't tell you about raising capital

• Why enterprise AI projects succeed or fail

• The build vs. buy decision for AI solutions

• Leading high-growth teams without becoming the bottleneck

• Why founders should spend less time online and more time talking to customers

This episode is for founders, startup operators, technology leaders, and anyone looking to understand what it really takes to build and scale a company in today's AI-driven world.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/110196575/

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What happens when your business grows faster than your systems, leadership, and life can handle?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Lauren Cockerell, founder of Kaidar & Co, to unpack the scaling mistake that nearly cost her everything.

After being laid off while 8 months pregnant, Lauren built her company from the ground up. But years later, rapid growth, hiring pressure, operational chaos, and leadership stress forced her to confront a hard truth: more revenue does not automatically create a better business.

Lauren shares the real behind-the-scenes reality of scaling a service business, including:

• Growing revenue by 70% and watching systems break
• Making hiring decisions too quickly
• Navigating a business partner exit
• Balancing leadership with motherhood
• learning why niching down creates clarity
• Rebuilding the company around intentional growth instead of survival mode

This conversation is for founders who are:

• overwhelmed by scaling pressure
• experiencing founder burnout
• struggling with leadership decisions
• trying to build a sustainable business
• questioning whether the company they built still fits their life

If you are scaling fast but feeling exhausted, this episode will help you rethink what success should actually look like.

https://soniacouto.com/podcast

What happens when your business growth is no longer limited by strategy, but by your leadership?

In this episode, Sonia sits down with Eric Dingler to unpack the leadership lessons that emerge as businesses scale. Eric shares the moment he realized his team kept having the same conversations because leadership systems and communication clarity were missing.

Together, they explore:

• Why growing teams require different leadership styles
• How unclear communication creates confusion and inaction
• The difference between brainstorming and decision-making
• Why leaders unintentionally slow execution
• How accountability and ownership are built into company culture
• The importance of intentional meetings and clear outcomes
• What leaders must change about themselves to scale effectively

This conversation is packed with practical insights for entrepreneurs, founders, executives, and team leaders who want to improve communication, create alignment, and build organizations that execute with confidence.

Whether you’re leading a startup, growing a team, or trying to move your business to the next level, this episode will challenge the way you think about leadership.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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What does it really take to build something new when there’s no blueprint, no certainty, and no external validation?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Sam Berman, founder of LARC, to talk about the internal war of entrepreneurship, the emotional cost of building, and the mindset required to keep going when doubt, isolation, and pressure hit hard.

Sam shares how LARC grew from a napkin sketch into a company serving some of the largest organizations in the world. He breaks down why obsession matters, when founders need to pivot, how to validate an idea early, why integrity matters more than skill when building a team, and what unresolved personal weight can do to a founder’s ability to lead.

This is a practical conversation about resilience, conviction, market validation, decision-making, and the discipline required to keep building when the path is unclear.

Key Takeaways

• The real battle in entrepreneurship is often psychological, not operational.
• Obsession can fuel endurance, but it does not replace market validation.
• If the market gives no traction, founders need to pivot honestly rather than romanticize the struggle.
• Big ideas require founders to dismantle “I’m not enough” thinking and stop playing small.
• Teams matter because founders do not need to have every skill themselves.
• Integrity is a stronger hiring filter than raw skill.
• Founders need to make decisions, move, and course-correct instead of waiting for certainty.
• Emotional discipline matters because fear, anger, rejection, and doubt can distort leadership.
• Unresolved personal weight does not disappear under pressure; building often brings it to the surface.
• Bold outreach can open doors, even with very large companies.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Most founders think fundraising is about pitch decks, introductions, and traction.

But investors are evaluating more than just that; they are also looking for credibility.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, we explore a new fundraising strategy more founders are starting to use: visibility as leverage.

PR is no longer just about press coverage. It’s about positioning yourself as a credible, trustworthy founder that investors feel confident backing.

We break down:

• Why investors often trust founders they’ve heard of before they meet them
• How PR builds authority and reduces perceived risk
• Why personal brand influence investor confidence
• How founders can use visibility strategically when preparing to raise capital
• The difference between marketing visibility and credibility visibility

If you’re building something real but struggling to get investor traction, this episode introduces a new way to think about fundraising strategy.

Because investors don’t just fund ideas, they fund founders they believe in.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Most technical founders believe the hardest part is building the technology.

It isn’t.

In this episode, Sonia sits down with a neurotechnology founder building in the mental health space to unpack what actually makes or breaks a startup, and it’s rarely the science.

They explore:

• The transition from builder to CEO

• Why failure is a required phase of building

• How to validate before overbuilding

• Why the wrong cofounder can destroy momentum

• The tension between scientific credibility and startup speed

• How founders get in their own way

• Why revenue is the strongest signal of product value

• How deep tech companies build trust in regulated markets

This episode is for founders navigating:

Early traction challenges, product validation questions, cofounder decisions, or credibility hurdles in complex industries.

If you’re building in AI, medtech, neurotech, SaaS, or any technical vertical, this episode will help you see what investors, customers, and operators actually look for.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

What happens when a childhood obsession becomes a real business?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia talks with Rui Couto about how he turned collecting comic books, Pokémon cards, and rare manga into a business built on sourcing, consulting, product design, and deep trust in a niche market.

Rui shares how he went from passionate collector to recognized expert, why he moved to Japan, how he built a network without relying on a traditional website, and what founders can learn from solving their own problem before the market catches up. He also breaks down the real work behind niche credibility, the cultural lessons of doing business in Japan, and why product innovation often starts with frustration.

This episode is for founders, collectors, niche builders, and anyone trying to turn expertise into a business without following the standard playbook.

Practical takeaways include: how to spot hidden market opportunities, why trust can outperform scale, how to build authority in a niche, and what it takes to turn passion into real revenue.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Most startups don’t fail because founders lack ambition.

They fail because founders build in a vacuum, avoid the real problem, and keep operating at the wrong level for the stage of the company.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with startup founder, investor, and author Andrew Ackerman, who has built multiple companies and invested in more than 70 early-stage startups.

Andrew shares the patterns he sees repeatedly across founders, the mistakes that quietly kill startups, and the habits that separate companies that survive from those that disappear.

One of the biggest misconceptions founders have is that building a startup is about big ideas and innovation. In reality, most founders spend the majority of their time doing whatever needs to be done just to keep the business moving forward.

Throughout the conversation, Andrew breaks down the practical lessons founders usually learn the hard way, including why startups should test ideas before building, how to identify real customer problems, and the signals investors look for when deciding whether to back a founder.

Sonia and Andrew also explore the realities of scaling a company, the pressure founders face as teams grow, and how leaders must evolve their skills at every stage of the startup journey.

This episode is a reminder that building a company isn't about avoiding mistakes; it's about recognizing signals early, learning quickly, and adapting before time and capital run out.

If you're building a startup, launching a product, or trying to turn an idea into a real business, this conversation offers insights that could save founders months, or even years, of costly mistakes.

• Why founders should test ideas before building products

• The most common mistakes first-time founders make

• How investors evaluate startup founders

• Why coachability is one of the biggest signals of success

• The importance of customer discovery in startup growth

• How founders transition from operator to CEO

• Why founders must constantly learn new skills as companies scale

• How to identify real problems vs surface-level startup challenges

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Many founders don’t start from nothing, they start from expectation.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with entrepreneur Jason Vanderveer, who made the unconventional decision to walk away from taking over his family’s multi-million dollar auto dealership business in order to build something of his own.

Instead of stepping into a guaranteed leadership role, Jason started from scratch with an idea he developed in his basement, a productivity planner designed around how high performers actually set and track goals. That experiment eventually grew into a seven-figure product business, a community of more than 40,000 customers, and a 35-unit real estate portfolio.

But the real conversation isn’t about planners or productivity.

It’s about the moment founders face when the safe path starts to feel heavy, and the cost of staying aligned with expectations outweighs the risk of leaving.

In this episode, Sonia and Jason discuss:

• Why some founders inherit opportunity but still feel misaligned

• The internal pressure of turning down a family legacy business

• The painful focus group that almost killed Jason’s first product

• Why most entrepreneurs chase “easy money” instead of meaningful work

• The Triple L Framework Jason uses to evaluate business ideas

• Why clarity about the life you want matters more than the business you build

• How founders accidentally recreate the same burnout they tried to escape

• The role dreaming, discipline, and boundaries play in sustainable entrepreneurship

This conversation is for entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs, and operators who are navigating difficult decisions about career direction, business alignment, and long-term leadership.

If you’ve ever questioned whether the path you’re on is actually yours, this episode will resonate.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

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Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

If you’re building something worth attention, you need to be ready for the spike.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Michael Dodsworth, a product leader who has spent two decades operating in high-pressure launch environments at companies like Salesforce and Optimizely, as well as in live event ticketing, where millions show up at once.

This conversation isn’t about tickets.

It’s about what happens when:

• Your product goes viral
• 3 million people hit your site at once
• Bots flood your checkout
• You oversell
• Your team panics
• And social media is watching

Michael breaks down what actually fails first during a launch meltdown, why most companies are underprepared for spiky demand, and the systems founders should build before scaling attention.

Sonia brings it back to what matters most: leadership under pressure, resilience when things break, and why calm founders win.

If you’re planning:

• A product drop
• A Black Friday launch
• An influencer collaboration
• A waitlist release
• Or your first viral campaign

This episode is your pre-flight checklist.

Because going viral isn’t the goal. Staying up is.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

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Host IG: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

When Success Stops Feeling Like Success: The Burnout, the Exit, and the Freedom Play

What happens when you scale a business… and realize you’re no longer happy inside it?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Ian Noble, a former operator of a 16-location family dry cleaning business in Austin, Texas, who grew the company, modernized operations, survived COVID, and still found himself burned out.

Ian shares the story behind scaling a service-based business: becoming the bottleneck, managing 90+ employees, navigating low margins, and pivoting the brand as customer demand shifted toward convenience and delivery. On the outside, the business was successful. Revenue was strong. The footprint was solid.

But internally? The drive started fading.

Ian opens up about the moment he realized he was physically present at home but mentally somewhere else, and how that became the signal that it was time to exit. He explains what founders often misunderstand about growth and success, why money doesn’t automatically create happiness, and how redefining “freedom” reshaped his next chapter.

After the sale, Ian leaned into real estate investing, building both active and passive income streams, not as a hype play, but as a strategic way to create time flexibility and long-term wealth outside of one primary business.

This episode is for founders who:

• Are scaling but secretly exhausted
• Feel like they’ve become the bottleneck
• Are you questioning whether success still feels aligned
• Are you thinking about exiting a business
• Want to build wealth outside their main company
• Are you navigating founder burnout and identity shifts

Sonia brings the conversation back to what Tenacity is about: resilience, rebuilding, and defining success on your own terms, not the market’s.

Because sometimes the bravest move isn’t scaling harder. It’s stepping back.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

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Host IG: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

AI can generate content in seconds.

Polished videos are everywhere.

Websites all sound the same.

So what actually wins in 2026?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Wes Towers, founder of Uplift360, to unpack why real, imperfect, human content is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage.

Wes shares:

• The costly mistake that taught him to stay in his niche
• Why trust is eroding in trades, and how to rebuild it
• Why a less-than-perfect Google rating can increase credibility
• How founders can stand out in an AI-saturated world
• And the personal resilience required when life hits hard, but business doesn’t stop

This conversation isn’t about algorithms.

It’s about authenticity, discipline, and building a reputation that scales.

If you’re a founder wondering how to compete when AI can do “everything,” this episode will show you why being human is your moat.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

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Host IG: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Legacy brands aren’t failing because their products are bad; they’re struggling because their systems, habits, and leadership decisions move more slowly than the market.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Joshua Lee, an e-commerce operator who helps legacy manufacturers and multi-generational brand owners modernize for today’s marketplaces without losing the heritage and soul that made the business work in the first place.

They get real about what actually blocks transformation (hint: it’s not tech, it’s fear), why manufacturers hesitate to sell on Amazon or Walmart Marketplace, and what happens when offline-first brands suddenly have to learn B2C, paid ads, fees, customer service, and channel strategy, all at once.

If you’re a founder building in e-commerce, retail, manufacturing, or B2B, this episode breaks down the mindset shift and practical first moves that set brands that adapt apart from those that stall.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

-Why legacy brands delay digital moves for years, until a “life event” forces action

-The #1 fear founders have about Amazon: conflict with wholesale distributors

-Why strong offline brands struggle online: fees, ads, competition, and a new business model

-How to think about marketplaces like Amazon vs Walmart (and why inventory = power)

-The biggest mistake brands make when launching on Amazon: not taking the channel seriously

-A smart “first step” for founders who feel behind: a leadership readiness assessment

-Joshua’s definition of success: building a business with integrity, peace, and long-term vision

If you’re rebuilding, pivoting, or preparing a company for the next generation, this one will sharpen your thinking.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

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Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Being busy feels productive until your revenue stalls, your calendar is full, and nothing meaningful is actually moving.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia unpacks why busyness is one of the most dangerous traps for founders and how identifying the one thing can unlock real growth. Joined by global CEO coach Loïc Potjes, this conversation strips away hustle culture and replaces it with clarity, discipline, and focused execution.

Together, they break down how founders unknowingly create their own chaos, why most leaders confuse activity with progress, and how to diagnose the true constraint holding a company back, whether it’s leadership behaviour, a weak value proposition, or a lack of market focus.

This episode is a must-listen if you’re overwhelmed, overcommitted, and still asking yourself why growth feels so hard.

• Why being busy is not the same as building momentum
• The simple question that cuts through overwhelm and exposes the real bottleneck
• How to identify the one thing that actually moves the needle
• Why most founders procrastinate, and what it has to do with misaligned strengths
• How to clarify your USP in 5 words and stop sounding like everyone else
• The leadership shift required when strategy isn’t the problem, you are
• A practical way to regain focus before building a 30-day growth plan

Sonia guides the conversation with the lens every founder needs: tenacity, resilience, and disciplined thinking. This isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing what matters.

If you’re ready to step off the hamster wheel and build with intention, this episode will change how you work, lead, and grow.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

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Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Most people think writing a book means sitting alone for months, struggling with words, doubting their ability, and hoping something good comes out the other side.

That belief is wrong, and it’s costing founders credibility, confidence, and revenue.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Ben Cena, founder of High Value Author, to break down why publishing a book is not about being a writer, it’s about being strategic.

This is a conversation for founders, consultants, and leaders who want to build authority, attract better clients, and turn their expertise into leverage, without burning years trying to “write.”

Ben explains:

-Why every leader already knows a book, even if English isn’t their first language

-The difference between being a writer and being an author, and why that distinction matters

-How most leaders sabotage their books by skipping strategy and alignment

-Why books are solutions to problems, not creative projects

-The biggest mistakes leaders make when self-publishing

-How a book can increase conversions, credibility, and confidence

-When publishing a book actually makes sense, and when it doesn’t

-Why execution matters more than ideas in a market with millions of books

Sonia brings the conversation back to what leaders really care about:

-clarity, momentum, confidence, and progress.

If you’re building a personal brand, consulting business, or leadership platform, and you’ve been told “you need a book” but don’t know where to start, this episode gives you the logic, structure, and mindset shift to decide your next move.

This isn’t about becoming an author for ego. It’s about using a book as a tool for growth, credibility, and resilience.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

Host IG: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Most founders obsess over building the product, but not when they exit, and that’s where they lose leverage, leave money on the table, and sometimes watch their company’s culture get dismantled after the deal.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Kevon Saber (multi-exit founder and the mind behind Legacy Outcomes) to unpack the uncomfortable truth: the M&A system favours repeat buyers, not first-time sellers. Kevon shares what he learned after multiple exits, why smart founders still get outmaneuvered, how to prepare your company years before a sale, and how to protect your people and mission when private equity or a strategic buyer comes knocking.

You’ll learn:

• Why founders often get “intoxicated” by the idea of an exit, and how it costs them
• The difference between selling and achieving a peak outcome (right buyer, right price, right terms)
• What buyers actually value (hint: it’s not always the flashy partnerships)
• The 3 pillars to build with exit in mind: team, systems/documentation, and unit economics
• How to improve metrics before going to market, and why a good advisor may tell you to wait 6–12 months
• How to reduce regret by defining your seller objectives before emotions take over
• How founders can put commitments in writing (employees, pricing, community/charity) and why buyer character matters even more
• A real founder lesson: you can change skills, but you can’t change character, and why co-founder alignment is everything
• What “spark” interest from a big company really means, and what a realistic timeline to close actually looks like

If you’re bootstrapping, pre-revenue, scaling fast, or simply building something you care deeply about, this conversation is your reminder: exit strategy isn’t a last-minute event, it’s a leadership decision.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

Host IG: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

What if the biggest thing holding your business back… is you?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Jason Berkowitz, founder and CEO of a 15-year SEO agency, to unpack one of the hardest lessons founders must learn to scale: the power of delegation.

Jason shares his journey from solo operator to agency leader, and why trying to do everything himself nearly became the biggest bottleneck in his business. Together, Sonia and Jason have a raw, honest conversation about letting go of control, trusting your team, and why founders who refuse to delegate often stall their own growth.

They dive into:

• Why do founders become the biggest bottleneck in their companies
• The mindset shift required to move from freelancer to scalable founder
• How delegation unlocks better execution, stronger teams, and real growth
• Letting go of the fear that “no one will care as much as I do.”
• Making tough people decisions without guilt
• Building a business that scales without burnout or constant hustle

This episode is for founders who feel overwhelmed, stretched thin, or stuck doing everything themselves, and know something has to change.

If you’ve ever thought “I’ll just do it myself”, this conversation may be the wake-up call you need.

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow Tenacity with Sonia C for more honest discussions with founders who share the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, growth, and resilience, without the highlight reel.

Follow Our Socials:

Website: https://soniacouto.com/podcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

Host IG: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Every founder eventually faces the same hard question:

Do I pivot, or do I hold the line?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., I sit down with award-winning filmmaker and executive producer Jaze Bordeaux to unpack what that decision really looks like when everything is on the line.

Jaze shares the behind-the-scenes reality of independent filmmaking, from raising capital and navigating chaos to losing a third of his story mid-production and still completing what most never do. We discuss why filmmaking is no different from building a startup, how structure can save your vision, and why knowing what to kill versus what to protect is one of the most critical leadership skills a founder can develop.

This conversation is for founders, creators, and entrepreneurs who are navigating pressure from investors, constant pivots, and the temptation to compromise to keep moving forward.

In this episode, we cover:

-When pivoting is strategic, and when it costs you your vision

-How to lead when everything is breaking at once

-Why most projects fail before they ever reach the market

-The difference between ideas that sink your business and ideas that elevate it

-How patience, timing, and structure create real momentum

If you’re building something original and questioning whether to change course or stand your ground, this episode will help you think clearly, lead strongly, and move forward with conviction.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth.

Ego can build companies, and it can destroy them.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Host Sonia Couto sits down with Robert Matzkin, serial entrepreneur, coach, and advisor who has launched 17 startups and exited two, to unpack the hard truths about ego, execution, burnout, and rebuilding as a founder.

Robert shares how unchecked ego nearly cost him businesses, relationships, and clarity, and how learning to listen to data, coaches, and the market changed the way he builds and leads. From launching his first business at a young age to navigating investor pressure, failed bets, and personal burnout, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to survive and scale in entrepreneurship.

Together, Sonia and Robert dive into:

• Why the ego is one of the most dangerous forces in entrepreneurship
• The difference between being coachable and ignoring your instincts
• How founders can recover from burnout without losing momentum
• What investors actually look for when raising capital today
• Why execution and traction matter more than ideas
• How to protect yourself from bad investors and broken partnerships
• Why the most successful founders still have coaches

This episode is for founders, startup leaders, and entrepreneurs who are navigating pivots, failure, burnout, or high-stakes decisions and need grounded, real-world insight from someone who’s been there.

If you’ve ever questioned yourself as a founder, struggled with ego, or felt the weight of building alone, this conversation will remind you that tenacity isn’t about being fearless, it’s about learning, adapting, and executing anyway.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

Most founders don’t fail because of a lack of passion. They fail because they don’t understand their numbers.

In this episode, I sit down with Rachel Phillips, Co-Founder and COO of Fully Accountable, to break down the financial blind spots that quietly sink startups, and the simple systems that can save them.

Rachel went from practicing law to building one of the fastest-growing outsourced accounting firms in the digital and e-commerce space. But her journey wasn’t smooth. At one point, she was running payroll with $2 in the bank account, choosing to bet on herself rather than take on the wrong clients.

This conversation is packed with the kind of clarity every founder needs, especially if numbers make you nervous.

We talk about:

• The #1 financial mistake early founders make

• Why your bank account balance is NOT an indicator of success

• When you actually need a CFO (and when you absolutely don’t)

• Cutting the bottom 20% to double your profit

• How to turn your accounting department into a profit center

• Building and scaling a remote-first culture long before it was normal

• The moment Rachel realized she had to niche down or risk losing everything

If you are scaling, pivoting, fundraising, or simply trying to understand your financial reality, this episode will give you the confidence and clarity you’ve been avoiding.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

At just 20 years old, Aleksandar Svetski lost everything, $200,000 in debt, wiped out by the stock market, living on a friend’s floor, and selling door-to-door to afford a can of tuna. That rock-bottom moment didn’t break him; it built him.

In this raw and unapologetic conversation, Sonia sits down with Alex to unpack the failures, pivots, and rebuilds that shaped his unconventional path from debt to becoming a leading voice in the Bitcoin space. From early entrepreneurial mistakes to launching the world’s first Bitcoin-only savings app to stepping away when regulation and burnout crushed his joy. Alex shares the truth behind resilience that most founders rarely discuss.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Losing $200K and rebuilding from zero
• The life-changing lessons of door-to-door rejection
• Why his early startup failed and how that led to Bitcoin
• Battling regulators while trying to innovate
• Knowing when persistence becomes self-destruction
• How to avoid “founder Frankenstein” product mistakes
• What the next generation of Bitcoin adoption will really look like

If you’re a founder facing uncertainty, burnout, or the fear of letting go, this episode will challenge how you think about resilience and what it truly means to rebuild.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

What makes a founder walk away from stability, an excellent salary, and a clear corporate path, just to start over from scratch?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Marco Benitez, CEO of ROOK, shares the pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of his life. From a national Taekwondo champion in Mexico to a biomedical engineer and then climbing the ladder in big pharma, Marco had everything society tells us to want. Yet he felt deeply unfulfilled.

When his wife asked, “Why are you so sad?”, it forced him to face a truth he’d been avoiding: he was meant to build, not maintain.

Sonia and Marco unpack:

• ⚡ The internal battle between comfort and purpose
• ⚡ How he navigated a high-risk pivot from fitness wearables to healthcare & insurance
• ⚡ The real emotional cost behind raising capital (400 investor calls!)
• ⚡ Why being “in love with the problem, not the product” saved his company
• ⚡ What founders misunderstand about resilience and long-term vision
• ⚡ The future of health data, wearables, and consumer control
• ⚡ How to make the leap when fear has you frozen

This episode is a powerful reminder that tenacity isn’t loud; it’s the quiet decision to keep walking, even when the world tells you to stay where it’s safe.

Follow us on: 

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

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What does it take to build and scale a tech startup while your country is under attack?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Ukrainian founder Oleksandr (“Alex”) Buratynskyi, co-founder of T-Travel, shares the raw, unfiltered truth about growing a startup during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with no outside funding, constant uncertainty, and the pressure to keep his team motivated while the world around him shifted overnight.

Alex opens up about:

• The hackathon spark that pushed him from QA testing into entrepreneurship
• Bootstrapping T-Travel through wartime conditions when investors disappeared
• How the invasion changed everything, from funding to timelines to team morale
• The biggest mistake he made as a founder (and how it cost years of time and money)
• Why overbuilding early nearly crushed the company
• How he scaled to 37,000+ users without VC dollars
• The mindset tools he used to stay steady while leading through crisis
• His philosophy from his book Systematic Adaptiveness, and how founders can apply it in their own moments of chaos

This conversation serves as a blueprint for fostering founder resilience, resourcefulness, and psychological endurance.

If you’re navigating failure, rebuilding after a setback, or fighting to keep your dream alive, Alex’s story will remind you that tenacity is a strategy, not just a trait.

When you try to serve everyone, you end up serving no one.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia Couto sits down with Gabriel Kaam, founder and CEO of K&R, to unpack one of the hardest, but smartest, growth decisions a founder can make: niching down.

Gabriel shares how focusing his agency on fashion and luxury e-commerce helped him land clients like L’Oréal, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton, without a sales team. He opens up about the early struggles of scaling, why being small became his biggest superpower, and how founders can win trust from big clients, even when you’re still building.

You’ll learn:

• Why niching down is the key to sustainable growth
• How being small and flexible can attract global brands
• The truth about managing client expectations and setting boundaries
• How to sell your idea before your product
• Why cheap hires cost more in the long run

If you’re building a startup, agency, or SaaS, this episode is your reminder that focus isn’t a limitation; it’s leverage.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

IG Host: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@techiesoniac

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniacouto/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555526145296

What does it take to leave a decade-long career at JP Morgan and build a profitable fintech startup in one of the most stigmatized industries in America, Cannabis?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., host Sonia Couto sits down with Aubrey Amatelli, founder and CEO of PayRio, the first payment provider focused exclusively on cannabis and alternative medicines.

Aubrey shares her journey from the stability of corporate banking to the chaos of startup life, all while raising three kids as a single mom. She opens up about:

• Leaving JP Morgan to launch a cannabis fintech from scratch
• Turning stigma into strategy in an underbanked industry
• Hitting profitability in under 12 months, self-funded
• Balancing motherhood, burnout, and leadership in a male-dominated space
• How one platform crash reshaped her entire approach to resilience

This conversation is a masterclass in tenacity, purpose-driven leadership, and building credibility when the system isn’t built for you.

🎧 Listen if you’re a founder breaking barriers, rebuilding after setbacks, or redefining success in a stigmatized industry.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

IG Host: https://www.instagram.com/techiesoniac

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@techiesoniac

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniacouto/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555526145296

When you think of breast cancer, you probably don’t think of men, but you should.

In this episode, Phil Alderson shares his story of surviving male breast cancer, a diagnosis most men never imagine they’ll face. From the moment he found a lump to navigating isolation, stigma, and the lack of male-focused support, Phil’s honesty will challenge what you think you know about breast cancer.

As two survivors, one male, one female, Sonia and Phil go into:

- The reality of male breast cancer (yes, it happens)

- Why early detection saves lives

- How stigma and silence make men more vulnerable

- The need for more inclusive awareness and language

- Rebuilding identity and purpose after cancer

If you’re a man, a father, a brother, this episode could save a life.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

IG Host: https://www.instagram.com/techiesoniac

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@techiesoniac

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniacouto/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555526145296

When Alexandra Goldwell was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer as a single parent and lifelong healer, she was forced to confront the limits of her strength and the depth of her beliefs about healing. A psychologist and somatic therapist for over 25 years, Alexandra had spent her career helping others process pain, but breast cancer became her most personal teacher.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, we have an honest and transformative conversation. Alexandra shares how she approached her diagnosis differently, why she delayed surgery, and the mental and emotional practices that helped her navigate fear, isolation, and uncertainty. We also talk about the often-ignored post-cancer phase, the disorientation, the grief over a changed body, and the process of redefining your identity and priorities after survival.

This isn’t just a story about breast cancer; it’s about agency, resilience, and rewriting your life on your own terms.

🎧 Listen now for a conversation that will speak to anyone facing a life-changing diagnosis, a significant transition, or the challenge of starting over.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

IG Host: https://www.instagram.com/techiesoniac

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@techiesoniac

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniacouto/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555526145296

What does it mean to be a parent when your child is fighting for her life? For Bob Furniss, the answer was to stand beside his daughter Keisha, as her advocate, her cheerleader, and eventually, the keeper of her legacy.

In this profoundly emotional conversation, Bob shares his journey as the father of a young woman diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer at just 30 years old. He opens up about the moment everything stopped, what it means to advocate for a loved one in the doctor’s office, and the heartbreaking reality of watching his daughter fight for four years before passing away at 34.

But Bob didn’t stop at grief. He and his family founded Keisha Warrior Princess Foundation to spread awareness, empower young women to do self-exams, and prevent others from missing the early signs. He also wrote On to Blue, a memoir of love, resilience, and lessons learned from Keisha’s warrior spirit.

This episode is a rare and powerful look at breast cancer through the eyes of a parent. It’s about loss, hope, and the courage to turn pain into purpose.

🎧 Listen now to hear Bob’s story, and the question he believes every dad should ask his daughter.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

IG Host: https://www.instagram.com/techiesoniac

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@techiesoniac

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TenacitywithSoniaC

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When Christie Cioffi was diagnosed with breast cancer just days after her 36th birthday, her world turned upside down. A West Point graduate, Army veteran, and marathon runner, Christie was no stranger to discipline and resilience, but cancer forced her to confront an entirely different battle: rebuilding her confidence, identity, and sense of self.

In this raw and empowering conversation, Christie shares how she navigated her diagnosis, made life-altering decisions about her body, and ultimately discovered a deeper sense of authenticity and leadership. We talk about what it means to date after cancer, the power of therapy, and how embracing vulnerability can become a superpower.

This episode isn’t just about surviving breast cancer; it’s about what comes next: learning to trust yourself, letting go of old stories, and stepping into life with confidence and peace.

🎧 Tune in for an honest conversation on resilience, self-discovery, and the courage it takes to rebuild after cancer.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

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Fitz Koehler built her career as a fitness expert and race announcer, inspiring thousands with her energy and passion. But when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her life took a turn that tested every ounce of her strength.

In this candid conversation on Tenacity with Sonia C, Fitz opens up about the realities of treatment, the toll it took on her career, and the grit it took to keep showing up with a microphone in hand, even while battling cancer. She shares how humour, community, and unapologetic authenticity became her survival tools, and why she believes resilience is something we can all train for.

We also delve into the lessons she now carries forward: redefining strength, rebuilding after loss, and finding purpose in helping others navigate life’s most challenging obstacles.

🎧 This is more than a cancer story; it’s about grit, joy, and refusing to let hardship steal your spotlight. #breastcancer

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When Erica Campbell answered the call from her doctor late on a Friday afternoon, her world stopped. A breast cancer diagnosis instantly brought back memories of losing her mother to the disease, and fears of history repeating itself.

In this candid conversation, Erica opens up about the emotions of that moment, why she chose a double mastectomy, and how reconstruction shaped her relationship with her body. She and I dive into the raw, often unspoken truths about femininity, control, fear of recurrence, and the difficult decisions women face between lumpectomy and double mastectomy.

Erica also shares the inspiration behind her influential book The Mastectomy I Always Wanted, her work leading the Pinky Swear Foundation for children with cancer, and the leadership lessons cancer taught her: vulnerability, compassion, and the power of trust.

This isn’t just a breast cancer story. It’s about reclaiming choice, reframing struggle, and discovering freedom on the other side of fear.

🎧 Tune in to hear why Erica believes the most significant lesson is never to give up, and why no one has to go through this journey alone. #breastcancer

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What does it take to lead in tech, especially when you don’t fit the mould?

In this episode, Sonia sits down with Meeky Hwang, co-founder and CEO of Ndevr, a WordPress development agency trusted by global brands like Bloomberg, Forbes, and Sony. But this isn’t a conversation about code, it’s about the quiet power of resilience, leadership, and building a business as a woman in a male-dominated industry.

Meeky shares her real, raw story, from accidentally starting a company to buying out a co-founder and learning to let go (even when it hurts). You’ll hear how she built credibility with major clients not by being the loudest in the room but by being the most consistent. Plus, she opens up about burnout, journaling, impostor syndrome, and what founders can do when they feel stuck or alone.

You’ll learn:

• Why being “quiet” can be a superpower in leadership
• The hardest decisions she’s had to make as a founder
• What to do when scaling feels impossible
• How community and honesty can fuel long-term resilience

Whether you’re an early-stage founder or deep in the trenches, this episode reminds you that you don’t have to have it all figured out, you have to keep showing up.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

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What does it take to build an AI startup that manages over $30 billion in assets and challenges everything we know about investing?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Alexander Harmsen, founder of PortfolioPilot.com, a next-gen AI financial advisor transforming how we manage money, risk, and decision-making. A serial entrepreneur, YC alum, and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Alexander previously founded and sold Iris Automation, worked on NASA’s Mars Helicopter, and raised over $30M in venture capital.

You’ll learn:

• How AI is disrupting traditional financial advising
• Why founders struggle with financial decision-making, and how tech can help
• Lessons from scaling two AI startups, raising capital, and going through Y Combinator
• The psychology behind investor mistakes, and how PortfolioPilot corrects them

Whether you’re building a startup, investing in tech, or looking to understand where AI in finance is headed next, this episode delivers actionable insights and founder wisdom.

🎧 Tune in to learn what it really takes to scale a high-impact AI company

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

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AI isn’t here to replace you, it’s here to require more of you. In this conversation, I sit down with Nicole Hilgenkamp, an AI literacy advocate and people-first leader who made a mid-career pivot into AI while managing large teams and raising three daughters. We get honest about what “AI-literate” means, why prompting is a skill (not a hack), how to use agents to augment your team, and the guardrails every company needs before rolling out AI. We also talk about resistance at work, building internal champions, and the messy middle of change for leaders and schools that haven’t caught up yet.

You’ll learn:

• How to move from “I tried ChatGPT once” to consistent, outcome-driven use
• Simple ways leaders can set AI policy, protect privacy, and keep a human in the loop
• How to get your team to adopt AI (community of practice, super users, small wins)
• Why asking better questions beats copying other people’s prompts
• A people-first framework for piloting AI across your org

If you’re a founder, manager, or creative trying to make AI a daily edge, not a threat, this one’s for you.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

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After a career-ending concussion pushed him off the ice, former pro hockey player Brandon Cullen reinvented himself as the co-founder of MADaboli, the strength-driven interval training franchise built for high performers. What started as one studio has grown to 45+ locations nationwide, with a vision rooted in strength, structure, and accountability.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Brandon shares how the athlete mindset translates into entrepreneurship, the hard lessons of scaling a franchise, and why focusing on a clear niche beats chasing the masses. We dig into partnership dynamics, daily founder struggles, and the principle of “the disciplined pursuit of less” that keeps him focused through every growth stage.

Whether you’re a founder hitting a wall or an entrepreneur trying to scale with intention, this conversation will challenge you to double down on clarity, consistency, and courage.

This episode is brought to you by Konverge: https://www.konverge.com/

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

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In this powerful episode, Sonia sits down with Murielle Ungricht, an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and founder of the AI-powered coaching platform Nuumani, for a raw and inspiring conversation on turning perceived weaknesses into your greatest strengths.

Murielle shares her journey from building web development businesses in the early 2000s to launching Nuumani, a startup merging AI and human connection to democratize coaching. She opens up about how autism has shaped her leadership style, startup strategies, and commitment to authenticity, even when it meant breaking from conventional paths.

We dive deep into:

• How Murielle bootstrapped and validated her AI startup
• The emotional and strategic hurdles of building in the AI era
• Why embracing neurodivergence became her superpower
• The mindset shifts needed to escape burnout and unlock momentum
• The story behind her book Get Unstuck! and her 10 years of coaching

Whether you’re an unconventional founder, stuck, or searching for the courage to lead differently, this conversation is a must-listen.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

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What does it really take to grow from solopreneur to CEO of a franchise? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, fitness entrepreneur Devan Gonzalez breaks down the gritty, behind-the-scenes reality of scaling a business, without losing your sanity or your standards.

Devan went from personal trainer to 6-figure business owner by 20, and now leads Strive 11 Fitness, a disruptive no-class-time fitness franchise. Sonia and Devan dive into the real challenges of building operational systems, hiring the right leadership team, and designing a business that can scale without the founder in every room.

🔑 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Devan validated a bold new fitness model
• Why most founders sabotage their own scale
• What it really means to lead vs. micromanage
• Devan’s $8K CRM mistake, and the lesson behind it

Whether you're leading a team, planning a franchise, or stuck in solopreneur mode, this episode delivers hard-won insights on leadership, process, and founder growth.

Hit play and learn why every level of growth comes with new devils, and how to outsmart them.

This episode is brought to you by: https://www.konverge.com

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How do you go from being a successful real estate entrepreneur to the founder of a movement? In today’s episode, I sit down with Ceiwen Garcia, a leader, community builder, and visionary behind The Boss Network. With nearly two decades in the real estate world, Ceinwen has pivoted into creating extraordinary spaces for connection, growth, and empowerment, especially for women, but everyone is welcome in her ecosystem.

In this heartfelt conversation, you’ll hear Ceinwen reflect on the transformative moments that led her from Kelowna realtor to award-winning entrepreneur, why she believes “the people are her why,” and how she navigated burnout, self-doubt, and mistakes with grace and grit. She gives us a raw, unfiltered look at how to build community, step into purpose, and not just dream big, but dream ridiculously big.

Whether you’re a founder, a creative, a caregiver, or someone searching for your next bold chapter, this conversation is for you. It’s a reminder that fulfillment isn’t just about what you build but who you lift up along the way. Get ready to feel seen, empowered, and prepared to start your next chapter.

https://www.ceinwen.ca, https://www.thebossnetwork.ca ceinwen@ceinwen.ca

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What happens when your childhood dream is ripped away, and you’re forced to start over at 17?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, we dive into the extraordinary reinvention story of Jacopo Iasiello, CEO of Luxury and Wealth Group. Jacopo shares the raw, behind-the-scenes journey of building wealth from scratch, from a career-ending soccer injury to launching a jewelry business at 18 and eventually closing over 350+ real estate deals.

We talk about:

-The mindset shift that helped him pivot from athlete to entrepreneur

-His bold move to Africa to source diamonds, and what it taught him about trust and timing

-The $1 million mistake that nearly broke him, and how he bounced back

-Why doesn’t he believe in “burning the boats”

-His M.P.B.E. method for staying grounded while scaling

If you’re building something and feel stuck, burned out, or ready to quit, this episode will remind you that reinvention is always possible.

Website: https://healthyrichandhappy.com

This episode is brought to you by: https://www.konverge.com

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

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