#457 - Michal Stawicki gets REAL about helping solopreneurs to grow their business faster and with less stress

Luis is a seasoned international executive who has been working in technology, digital media, and education for over twenty five years. He specializes in driving new ventures and products to rapid growth by building effective teams that use innovation, technology and creativity to solve complex problems. A life-long technologist with acute business acumen, he thrives at the union of people, product, technology, marketing and operations. Luis is the co-founder of Collectiva, a company that offers fractional executive services for game tech startups. At Collectiva, Luis partners with companies to create and execute strategic plans for growth and prepare them for raising money. Previously, Luis spent 19 years at Full Sail University where he led several strategic initiatives. As VP of Emerging Technologies he led the strategic direction and growth of technology and gaming degree programs. In the role, the student population of those programs increased over 130% boosting yearly revenues from $40MM to over $60MM. He joined Full Sail to start an online university which was launched in 2007. He oversaw the design and development of the proprietary learning management system, curriculum and content development, education delivery and the re-engineering of all sales and business functions for scale. In less than 5 years, the online student population went from just 13 to over 12,000 students, generating over a thousand jobs, launching more than 25 academic programs and bringing in annual revenue exceeding $180MM. Other responsibilities in last 10 years included several general manager roles to create, manage or launch new products including international sales and a one-year post as CEO of the group's company in Brazil. In the late 90s Luis was Vice President of Product Development at quepasa.com which became the largest online community and portal for US hispanics and went through a successful IPO. Early in his career, Luis was a programmer and designer at various other tech startups. Luis has a passion for the development of the technology ecosystem in Orlando and Florida. To that end, he has served in advisory boards for local organizations and governments such as the Tech Council at the Orlando Economic Partnership, the Orlando Chapter for the VR/AR Association, and the Orange County Government, among others. Specialties: Business Strategy and Execution, Emerging Technologies, Product Innovation, Team Building, General Management, Business Development, Business Operations, International Business.

Join us this week on Be Real as we sit down with Nina Sossamon‑Pogue, a remarkable thought leader and speaker whose journey spans elite gymnastics, award-winning journalism, corporate leadership, authorship, and resilience advocacy. https://www.ninasossamonpogue.com/  From her early days as a USA Gymnast and Olympic hopeful—training away from home at just 13—to a career-ending injury at LSU, Nina's life took unexpected turns. She successfully transitioned into journalism as an Emmy‑winning news anchor, then pivoted again into the tech world as a corporate executive during a successful IPO. Still seeking purpose and meaning, she turned to writing, becoming a two‑time best‑selling author and pioneering innovative frameworks for embracing and thriving through adversity Thought Leadership Leverage+12Nina Sossamon-Pogue+12Apple Podcasts+12. Through vivid storytelling and science‑backed strategies, Nina shares how she reframed failure, navigated public and personal setbacks—including trauma—and reshaped her narrative. Her frameworks like T.I.P.S., "THIS" moments, the Resilience Route Navigator, the reverse‑resume, and timeline thinking offer listeners practical tools to face life's challenges with courage and clarity Nina Sossamon-Pogue. Key Moments & Highlights Early resilience beginnings: Leaving home early to train as an elite gymnast and the identity challenges of a career-ending injury Nina Sossamon-Pogue. Reinvention in public life: Rising as a beloved, Emmy‑winning news anchor, then facing a very public layoff and personal tragedy Nina Sossamon-Pogue+2AAE Speakers Bureau+2. Breaking into tech: Joining a leadership team amid hyper-growth and IPO, underlining adaptability in dynamic environments Spotify+11Nina Sossamon-Pogue+11stacyennis.com+11. Crafting resilience frameworks: Development of her signature methods—T.I.P.S., THE "THIS" framework, Timeline Thinking, Resilience Route Navigator, reverse resume techniques—to reframe crisis into growth Becoming Your Best | Global Leadership+3Nina Sossamon-Pogue+3Thought Leadership Leverage+3. Redefining success and leadership: Integrating neuroscience, stoic wisdom, and storytelling to redefine resilience not just as survival, but as strategic advantage for high‑pressure leaders AAE Speakers Bureau+1. What You'll Learn Theme Value Delivered Resilience as a Skill Understand how resilience can be deliberately cultivated, not just endured Reframing Setbacks Techniques to turn personal 'THIS' moments into springboards for growth Identity Redefined Insights on navigating identity transitions—from athlete to anchor to executive Tools & Strategies Practical frameworks like T.I.P.S., timeline thinking, reverse resume for real life Storytelling & Science Why narrative combined with cognitive science and stoic philosophy works so well Quotes to Spotlight "Resilience is not just a trait – it's a skill that can be cultivated." stacyennis.comNina Sossamon-Pogue "Think of life as chapters in a book... whatever you're going through now can just be a bad chapter, not your whole story." Nina Sossamon-Pogue Her "Lego Mindset": viewing skills and experiences like building blocks to shape your unique masterpiece. Apple Podcasts Audience Takeaways Empower Yourself: Discover intentional practices to bounce back from setbacks stronger than before. Reframe Your Story: Learn to see adversity as a chapter—not the conclusion—of your narrative. Apply a Framework: Use Nina's resilient models (like T.I.P.S., reverse resume) in your own life and leadership. Lead with Grace: Embrace vulnerability and reframed self-talk to lead more authentically and powerfully. About Nina Sossamon-Pogue Former USA Gymnast and Olympic hopeful Emmy‑Award Winning News Anchor with a long-standing journalism career Tech Executive during IPO and high‑growth phase Two‑Time Best‑Selling Author, of This is Not the End and more Resilience Expert & Speaker, merging personal story with neuroscience and stoicism Facebook+9Nina Sossamon-Pogue+9Nina Sossamon-Pogue+9 Call to Action If you've ever faced a pivotal life moment—be it career derailment, personal loss, or identity shifts—this episode is for you. Click play to reframe your "THIS" moment and walk away equipped to script the next powerful chapter of your life. And if Nina's story moves you, be sure to check out her books and follow her resilience frameworks—you'll find tools for every curveball life throws at you.

StubGroup is a Premier Google Partner, ranked by Google in the top 1% of all Google Partners worldwide for performance and customer care. I invest my time and energy into equipping our team to provide best-in-class service to our clients. https://stubgroup.com/ We managing marketing for a wide variety of companies, from publicly-traded companies to small local businesses. We're able to see what's working across a variety of verticals (ecommerce, lead gen, B2B, B2C, local services, etc.) and customize our strategy to each client and their unique strengths. Team Building: I'm always on the lookout for stellar talent that will complement our team and strengthen our ability to serve our clients. Speaking: I've taught digital advertising classes to more than 100,000 students, and make frequent appearances on podcasts in the marketing and business space. Writing: I'm a published author and write about marketing for sites including Call Tracking Metrics, DataFeedWatch, Shopper Approved, Swydo, etc. I live and breathe PPC, and I could talk with you for hours about campaign types, bidding strategies, keyword structure, and so on, but what really excites me is figuring out how to use those technical abilities strategically for each client's unique scenario. That's especially true as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and the rest of the PPC channels automate more and more of the work that specialists, agencies, and in-house teams have traditionally done manually. Smart advertisers who understand when to trust automation and the best way to use automation to accomplish their unique goals are the advertisers who are going to win.

If artistic painters can decide prices for their work, why shouldn't filmmakers and video content creators?  https://vidafair.com/  VidaFair is a new pay-per-rental video monetization platform based on fair pricing and transactions between creators and consumers. VidaFair allows video creators to set their own fee for 24-hour video stream rentals of their content. Video viewers pay the content creator fee and a small fee to VidaFair, without being asked to subscribe to anything, ever. Creators and viewers get the safety and security of the PayPal payment processing.  We do believe content creators should set their own prices Just like painters, photographers, interior decorators and a whole host of other creative professionals who set prices for their work, we believe film and video producers should have the freedom to dream, create and then charge what they see fit. Content creators know best the costs, time spent and market demand for their work. We do respect and compensate creators VidaFair represents a significant paradigm shift from other platforms, where content creators can only ever receive a tiny fraction of the proceeds for their work, or are charged platform fees based on a percentage of rental price. We've been content creators ourselves. We do respect and protect video consumers Your viewing habits are no one else's business but yours. We accept no corporate sponsorships, no data sharing arrangements and no advertising. Our revenue model is simple and clear -- reasonable fees to host and stream video which are a function of file size, not the creators' prices. Nothing else under the radar, over the radar or otherwise. Sometimes a service that's marketed as "free," isn't as free as people think.  We don't own anyone's content Some very well known video streaming platforms bury tricky copyright transfer language in long, complex "Terms of Service" agreements. At VidaFair, by contrast, all content remains the property of the content creators. We will never assert ownership of any film or video, ever.  We don't waste your time Do you really want to watch advertisements? Or have them interrupt your film or video? We don't. Nor do we think your time is "free." Other platforms surprise viewers with advertisements they neither want, nor expect. On VidaFair, we don't sell your time to outside groups or companies through ads. We don't run other businesses We don't run search engines, email services or marketing campaigns. We don't send ads to creators or viewers, or sell information to anyone about viewers' preferences. And it goes beyond just a matter of personal privacy. In a broader way, we believe more content platforms will always be healthier than fewer, because a social media landscape of very few extremely powerful behemoths poses societal risks.  We don't offer, nor allow subscriptions We believe subscriptions can sometimes be a slick way customers get charged for services they don't use. At VidaFair, every streaming video rental is specifically authorized. Since there are no subscriptions on VidaFair, there's never such a thing as "forgetting to unsubscribe." No VidaFair transaction ever automatically repeats. You decide every purchase on the VidaFair platform. That's how we want to be treated when we use an internet site.   Content Monetization Without Subscriptions: Content Creators and Content Viewers Living in Fairness   The VidaFair Revolution

--Sublime Knowledge Mindset Coaching Personalized Coach-Podcaster-Author-Speaker CREATE-REWIRE-ACCOMPLISH Unlock your Mind and Transform your Life through Personal Growth and Development. https://sublimeknowledge.com/

Business coach & mentor | I help solopreneurs to grow their business faster and with less stress linkedin.com/in/stawicki-michal

With over 11 years of experience as the CEO and Founder of AgencyAgile, Inc., I help agencies, digital shops, consultancies, and other project-driven organizations achieve higher productivity, quality, and happiness. I leverage my background in finance, entrepreneurship, industrial engineering, and computer science, as well as my certifications in Scrum and Coaching, to deliver customized solutions that address the most endemic problems in the agency world. I am also the author of "Unmanaged: The proven way to unleash productivity and happiness in today's most complex and over-managed organizations", a book that synthesizes 50+ years of behavioral and cognitive research insights with AgencyAgile's work with over 200 clients. My mission is to enable teams and projects to speed effectively to success, while creating a more positive and collaborative workplace culture. I am a two-time Inc-500 award winner, a former RAND Corporation senior analyst, and a former post-graduate teacher at USC and RAND.

Buyer Personalization Drives Revenue Generate more qualified leads that close and upsell faster from each buyer or customer interaction.  https://winalytics.com/ According to Gartner, Forrester, and McKinsey, 75% of B2B buyers expect deep personalization, and companies that get this right grow 2x faster than their peers. Easy to say, harder to do. Buyer personalization means not product pitching but telling a personalized story about value in each buyer interaction. Top sales teams understand this is only possible with shared sales playbooks to capture and share best practices for personalized messaging. Top marketing teams tell the same story about value across their website, content, campaigns and sales conversations. Brent Keltner, Ph.D. is founder and President of Winalytics LLC, a go-to-market- and revenue acceleration consultancy. He is also author of The Revenue Acceleration Playbook. Winalytics helps clients reach their top growth potential by shifting from product-driven conversations to authentic conversations that anchor on buyer-defined value. Before starting Winalytics, Brent spent more than a decade as a revenue leader in enterprise to early stage companies, including Kaplan, Eduventures, Plus Delta Partners and CollegiateLink. He began his career as a Ph.D. social scientist and spent 10 years conducting qualitative research interviews at Stanford University and the RAND Corporation.

Instafloss automatically flosses all your teeth in under 10 seconds. It is comfortable, fast, and effective. www.instafloss.com Instafloss uses multiple water jets to give an effective and comfortable floss in only ten seconds. A small tank holds water which is pumped to the mouthpiece (at your desired pressure). The mouthpiece aims pulsing water jets at 90° to the gumline (the most effective cleaning angle, as per Eakle WS, et al.) on both sides, front and back, of your top and bottom teeth. As you sweep the handle from one side of your mouth to the other, the jets automatically floss 360° around every tooth.

Experienced Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a demonstrated history of working in the health wellness and specializes working with mood, anxiety and trauma populations. Skilled in corporate wellness, family/couples counselling, negotiation, Psychological Assessments, Crisis Intervention, Self-esteem building, cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness meditation practices. Strong healthcare services, professional graduated from Certified Coaches Federation, UofT and worked in correctional facilities, as well as at reputable hospitals including Lakeridge mental health, CAMH and UHN. Learn more drmonicavermani.com