Solopreneur Stories

In this episode I speak with Gregory Foran.  Gregory is the founder of a solo marketing agency called Breakaway Marketing.  After working in marketing leadership positions for over a decade helping to turn poor performers into market leaders and generating over $129M in incremental revenue, Gregory jumped into entrepreneurship.  He and I have some very similar stories, which we talk about, including topics such as: Scaling a business Experiences with subcontractors  Family, fatherhood, and taking time off to focus on those things Building a niche while being adaptive to market signals And other topics. This was a great one, and pretty meaningful for me personally. I mention pretty early in this episode that I felt like I was talking to my own conscience at a few points. His story and the way he shares it hit me in the chest, and I felt like some of our similar experiences make for some good lessons to anyone listening. Gregory is a great guy and I’m rooting for him and what he’s building.  As always it was a great conversation and I learned a lot. And I think you will too. Here is - Gregory Foran.

In this episode I speak with Joe Fitzpatrick. Joe is a fractional CMO who has spent his career working with tech founders who were struggling to attract new customers and who needed to switch their marketing from an ad hoc approach to a strategic, long-term approach. We cover topics including: Understanding the context behind a business’s numbers, and developing strategy beyond a spreadsheet The logistical side of running a one person business Being the voice of reality for your client The challenges of doing marketing for companies that aren’t clear about their broader business strategy What Joe has learned on his path of self-employment, including versions of door-to-door sales early in his career and the humbling lessons roles like that can bring And other topics. Joe was another great guest - a great guy with a great resume and a great story. I love his “throw me in and I’ll figure it out” attitude. I’d encourage listeners to pay attention to his story from his sales roles and how his curiosity and drive made him a top performer. I think anyone listening can extrapolate Joe’s lessons for their own professional journey to bring a willingness to learn and develop opportunities. So I hope you enjoy listening to my conversation with - Joe Fitzpatrick.

In this episode I speak with Trent Warner. Trent is a fractional CMO and the managing director of Strategic Brand Builders. Where he focuses on bringing marketing strategy and systems into businesses to create clear and consistent growth - not marketing whack-a-mole.  We cover topics including: Some of the problems with the agency model of today  Having high expectations of yourself  Trust, the currency of relationships  The importance of strategy Working remotely and the ‘return to the office’ collision Establishing strategies and systems  And other great topics. Trent is an old colleague from a lifetime ago, so it was great to reconnect with him and hear about all of the great stuff he’s doing.  I was personally able to learn some pretty tactical things as takeaways from my conversation with Trent, and I’m betting for other solopreneurs out there you’ll find the same. So don’t miss this one. Here is - Trent Warner.

In this episode I speak with Parul Bhandari. Parul is a Customer Success startup advisor and consultant.   Following a career in ergonomics consulting and in HR, Parul launched her first Customer Success (CS) team from the ground up, and from then on has focused on driving startup Customer Success journeys.   In addition to Customer Success, she is a passionate advocate of all things food and fitness, and of promoting DE&I. We covered topics including: Her initial path to becoming a doctor  Ergonomics  The “build phase” of companies  Launching a community Being a contributor for online publications like Inc. The importance of documentation  And other topics. It was great to speak with someone in the customer success space. We get into the importance of its function and contributing to revenue in businesses, from hiring to developing and other details that can bring this function to life.  If you’re in that space or working with them, you’ll definitely learn some things from Parul. So here she is. Here’s my conversation with - Parul Bhandari.

In this episode I speak with Shailvi Wakhlu. Shailvi is a seasoned Data Leader and Self-Advocacy Expert with over sixteen years of experience building technology products.  She has spoken at nearly 100 global conferences and Fortune 500 events, coached close to 500 individuals, and authored the best-selling book "Self-Advocacy." Which I’ve read and would recommend you read, too. Her career includes notable roles at Salesforce, Fitbit, and as the Head of Data at Strava. We cover topics including: Her experience writing her best selling book, and the supporting speaking engagements she’s done The topic of self-advocacy, which I think a lot of listeners will get a lot of value out of  Her experience building an online course  And other topics. It was a great conversation. Her passion for self-advocacy really comes through. The word authenticity gets thrown around a lot, but when you speak with someone like Shailvi you can really connect with how genuine she is for the work she’s doing and why she’s doing it. I learned a lot. And I think you will too. Here is - Shailvi Wakhlu.

In this episode I speak with Michael Strachan. Michael has served in all roles of digital agency life, starting in the weeds, overseeing cross-channel teams in multiple locations, developing strategy for companies of all sizes including several fortune 500.  He’s since gone on to found Mediaconfidant. The initial market opportunity Michael saw was identifying where data was inaccurate - in his agency life he saw more clients leave due to fights over what the numbers were than actual performance, so he created a tool to identify not only what the issues were but where they came from.   When he showcased it to Google, they put MediaConfidant in their Google Startups for Cloud program at the Scale level and awarded them dev hours to build the next gen of reporting that includes forecasting, data source comparisons, anomaly detection, PII detection, hacking vulnerabilities, and real actionable insights.  Michael is an old colleague and friend and it was great to catch up with him. We cover other topics including: Fatherhood and family  Data vs. insights  Qanon, 4chan, and shady website data  Leveraging AI Setting your own boundaries  And other topics. Please enjoy my conversation with - Michael Strachan.

In this episode I speak with Garrett Jestice.  Garrett is a GTM Strategy consultant and advisor for B2B startups.  Before founding Prelude Marketing, Garrett was the Chief Marketing Officer for Eddy, where he helped build a successful go-to-market strategy that boosted revenue 3x and website traffic 10x in his first 18 months in the role.  I reached out to Garrett to come on the show. He is someone who operates in a similar space and function as I do, and he wrote an open letter to himself on LinkedIn that covered some of his current thoughts on his own future in solopreneurship. If things go well, there seems to be a somewhat inevitable intersection one faces with their solo operation, which includes scenarios like: Hiring more people to grow - which puts you in whole new area essentially running an agency Niching even further and trying to become more of an expert in a single function Do nothing and continuing on the path you’re on You get the idea. Garrett was super easy to talk to. He’s a great guy with a lot of smarts, and there were moments where I felt like I was talking to the voice in my own head with how similar some of our experiences have been. It was a ton of fun, and another conversation I got a lot of lessons and value out of. And I think you will too. So here it is. Here is - Garrett Jestice.

In this episode I speak with Rachel Meltzer. Rachel is a freelance tech writer, writing business coach, and also host of her own podcast, The Guidebook. Rachel and I cover topics including: Working with a business coach as a solopreneur Healthy outside perspectives  Perseverance vs stubbornness  Developing honest internal signals and learning how to trust yourself  Comparison and how to avoid comparing your own joy away And other topics. Since filming, Rachel and I have become pals. We’re both located in New England, Rachel in Massachusetts and myself currently in Rhode Island. We’ve been hosting meetups at some local breweries to connect with other fellow freelancers, consultants, and solopreneurs in the New England area. It’s been a lot of fun - meeting new people, discussing what’s working and what’s not, making introductions to each other’s network, and all the good stuff to help each other learn, grow, and win out there. So if you’re a New Englander, stay tuned for more events - we’d love to see you there. For now, here’s my conversation with - Rachel Meltzer.

In this episode I speak with Christy McCreath. Christy is a seasoned B2B marketing strategist with over 15 years of expertise in revenue marketing. She specializes in Account-Based Marketing strategy and execution, and managed services for ABM tech implementations. Christy brings efficiency and data-driven insights to drive programmatic successes for GTM teams at medium-sized tech companies. We cover topics including: Being a working parent Freelancing and focusing on your craft as a solopreneur The FIRE retire early movement Overemployment Organization as a solopreneur The details of fractional engagements And other topics. Christy was great to speak with. I wanted her on the show to share her story as, to date, I had not had anyone specifically focusing on Account Based Marketing as a solopreneur. For those unaware, doing this requires one to be a veritable one person army - which Christy is. Carrying both technical expertise in different marketing technologies and also business expertise in understanding the big picture strategy a business needs to have in place before committing to an ABM program. She was a ton of fun to speak with and I think you’ll enjoy hearing her story. So, here it is. Here is - Christy McCreath.

In this episode I speak with Gargi Potdar. Gargi is an Agency founder and Solopreneur, at GKP Consulting. She’s a passionate and driven founder and marketing growth consultant who specializes in B2B marketing for startups and scale ups. She’s built successful demand generation growth functions and thrives on aligning sales and marketing to work together and not against each other.  Gargi started her solopreneur journey a little over a year and a half ago so that she could spend more time with her son and make her own schedule.  Probably something that resonates with any fellow or aspiring solopreneurs who might be listening. If so, stay tuned for how we explore that topic. Speaking of topics, we  cover ones including: Being intentional with one’s time as a solopreneur Identifying what’s important in one’s life and honoring it Why Gargi is comfortable billing hourly - something that, at least at the time I’m filming this, I am also comfortable with under certain conditions Networking events and professional growth as a solopreneur And other topics. Apologies to my audience for how I sound in this episode.  I was on the cusp of losing my voice from a cold that made me a bit froggy, so I hope it doesn’t come off as too rough on your ears. Anyway - Gargi was a great guest. I loved her story and really appreciate her taking the time to share it with me. And now it’s shared with all of you - so please enjoy my conversation with - Gargi Potdar.