Something I’ve come to learn about founders is that, for most of them, even if this path wasn’t their first choice, they’d still tell you they wouldn’t trade it for anything. They’ll also be the first to admit it’s really hard — that this path asks more of them than they thought they had to give. But there’s something in that discomfort that makes them feel alive. And for some founders, comfort isn’t peace — it’s paralysis.
For Bryce DeCora, that moment came at Boeing—steady paycheck, proud parents, and a creeping sense that his work was lacking purpose. The pain of staying put finally outweighed the fear of leaving. And in that space between stability and self-belief, he built the first pieces of what would become CloseBot.
Bryce’s path looks clean in hindsight—engineer to software tinkerer to founder of an AI company that helps small businesses grow. But what struck me in our conversation wasn’t the linearity. It was the chaos he chose to keep moving through: the months spent teaching himself the skills he needed, the pressure of raising money from people who believed in him, and the quiet shift from builder to leader. It’s a reminder that entrepreneurship isn’t just about what you create — it’s about who you become when things are challenging and you have to keep going anyway.
The truth is, every founder hits that point when curiosity collides with responsibility, and you have to decide whether you’ll keep building even when there’s no proof yet that it will work. This conversation is about that moment — the faith to keep going, and the quiet transformation that happens when you do.
Connect with Bryce:
Dinner dishes soaking in the sink, kids tucked into their routines — that’s where my conversation with Tamara Laine began. Which felt fitting, because so much of her story is about weaving the everyday chaos of life with the wild, exhilarating act of building something new. Before she was a founder, Tamara spent 15 years digging into other people’s stories as a journalist and documentary filmmaker. What she carried with goes beyond storytelling—it was a relentless curiosity, a refusal to stop until she found the root of a problem.
That instinct served her well when she started MPWR, a company tackling a problem hiding in plain sight: how tens of millions of gig workers are shut out of financial systems designed for W-2 employees. The same investigative drive that once uncovered truths for documentaries now fuels her obsession with solving this inequity.
But what makes Tamara’s journey so Mimir coded isn’t only the problem she’s solving but how she’s had to grow herself along the way. Learning to chase the hardest questions. Learning to build with advisors who won’t flatter her. Learning to lead not just with inspiration, but with empathy.
This is a conversation about what happens when a founder’s eye for truth collides with the reality of building. About the grit to keep asking, to keep digging, even when the easy answer would be to stop.
Connect with Tamara:
Some businesses begin with a market analysis or a spreadsheet. Verdant began with a friendship, a love of lingerie, and a belief that what we wear closest to our skin should move with us through every version of ourselves. My guest today, Eleanor, co-founded Verdant in New York alongside her friend Michelle — Verdant is their own story of resilience, craftsmanship, and confidence stitched into silk and lace.
What struck me most in this conversation isn’t just how they’re hand-sewing embellishments in and testing out pieces themselves or navigating the realities of luxury e-commerce. It’s the deeper thread: how easy it is for women founders to undervalue their expertise and how to reclaim that authority. Eleanor shares candidly about self-doubt, about learning who your customer really is (hint: it’s rarely who you thought at the start), and about the balance between grace and grit that entrepreneurship demands.
This episode is for anyone standing at that uncertain edge, wondering if they know enough, if they’re ready. Eleanor’s story reminds us that business is never just product — it’s community, it’s self-trust, it’s evolution. So let’s dive in.
Connect with Eleanor:
In this episode, I sit down with Shahd Asaly founder of Blue Meets Blue, a slow-fashion line that employs refugee artisans and weaves humanitarian values into every stitch. Shahd’s journey, from a background in psychology and trauma research to building a purpose-driven fashion company, quickly opened into something bigger: how business can be a tool for healing, for connection, and for challenging societal narratives.
We dive deep into the nuts and bolts of building a mission-driven brand. The lessons Shahd learned building a sustainable, made-to-order fashion line from supply chains to making intentional choices around values and growth.
But we also step back to the broader picture: how overconsumption is tied to loneliness, why so many great products lose their soul when they scale, and what it takes to hold onto your “why” when the easy path would be compromise.
This episode is more than a business chat, it’s the kind of conversations that remind me why I do what I do. It’s a conversation about the role of entrepreneurs in shaping culture — and a reminder that every choice we make in business has the power to ripple far beyond our bottom line.
Connect with Shahd:
AKBA Author
IG | Website |
I am passionate about entrepreneurship because business is more than a product or chasing profit. I believe entrepreneurship is a vehicle for shaping the world we want to live in — because every choice we make as founders, from the products we create to the cultures we build, has a ripple effect. What we prioritize doesn’t just shape our companies, it shapes markets, communities, and even the expectations of the next generation of entrepreneurs.
In this episode, I sit down with Christian LeFer, founder of Instant Nonprofit, to talk about how purpose-driven impact can be baked into the DNA of a business from day one. Christian shares his journey, from discovering the barriers that keep founders from starting nonprofits to creating a platform that makes impact more accessible for everyone.
The truth is, the market is changing — customers and employees want to align with businesses that stand for something more than profit. And investors want more than a product, they want a founder with a why that will take them through the hard times.
Christian and I get into why “nonprofit” doesn’t mean “no money,” how doing good can actually strengthen your bottom line, and why culture, leadership, and values matter just as much as strategy.
At its core, this conversation is about making impact part of entrepreneurship — not an afterthought. Because the reality is, weaving purpose into your business isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s becoming the competitive thing to do.
Connect with Christian:
This episode is about what happens when you trust yourself enough to do things differently. At the most fundamental level — your body, your intuition, your customers — it’s all about trust.
I’m sitting down with Arielle Loupos. Her founder journey is a masterclass in restraint and trust.
Where other founders might’ve rushed an MVP to market, she spent two years testing her product by hand — learning textile science, cutting fabric samples herself, and wearing every prototype before ever selling a single pair.
Arielle’s the founder of Flower Girl, a new kind of period underwear rooted in education and intention. Her story is deeply personal — born out of frustration with the products on the market and a quiet but constant knowing that she was meant to build something better.
In this episode, we talk about what it means to build a product with intuition, why trust-based products demand a different kind of launch, and how cycle syncing helped Arielle build a business that works with her body, not against it.
You don’t build trust in a rush.
Not with your customers, and definitely not with yourself. Arielle’s story is a lesson in what happens when you give something the time it deserves.
Connect with Arielle:
Website: https://flowergirl.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowergirl.co_/
Contact: hello@flowergirl.co
If you’re tuning in today and you’re feeling stuck, heavy, or unsure about your next step… this conversation could change it all. And I’m not saying that to be hyperbolic. That’s exactly what Carolyn Cooper did for me.
Carolyn is a love-inspired leader — and when I say that, I don’t mean it in the fluffy, Instagram-quote kind of way. She literally leads with love. It’s the foundation of how she lives, how she works, and how she helps others rise. She’s spent decades building businesses, guiding leaders, and teaching people how to live and work “above the line” — choosing curiosity, possibility, and purpose over doubt, fear, and resentment. It’s a philosophy I’m deeply aligned with.
Carolyn has a way of bringing truth to the surface — the kind of truth that makes you pause, take a deep breath, and see your life differently.
In this episode, she shares:
But more than any single tip or framework, this episode is about mindset. Carolyn will challenge you to think differently about how you show up in life, who you surround yourself with, and — most importantly — how you see yourself.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in negative thinking, drained by the wrong tasks, or unsure how to lead with both strength and empathy, this one’s for you. Whether you’re an early-stage founder, a seasoned leader, or someone navigating a personal pivot, Carolyn’s insights are a masterclass in clarity, courage, and building a life and business you truly love.
Because success isn’t just about what you achieve — it’s about who you become in the process.
Connect with Carolyn:
It started as a small kitchen operation, hand-delivering meals to local dog owners in the Texas heat. No fancy warehouse. No marketing team. No plan to take on the billion-dollar pet food industry.
Then, in an instant, everything changed.
Amy Zalneraitis found herself holding the keys to a business she’d never planned to run — in one of the most complex, unforgiving categories in DTC: cold chain logistics, national shipping, and entrenched competitors with decades of dominance.
What happened next? She didn’t just keep the business alive. She scaled it into the leading direct-to-consumer raw pet food brand in the U.S. And along the way, she discovered that growing a company changes you just as much as it changes the market you serve.
In this episode, Amy shares how she:
At its core, this is more than a story about pet food. It’s about pairing creativity with operational excellence, staying bold in the face of entrenched competition, and knowing when to reinvent yourself — and your business — to keep growing.
Whether you’re a founder scaling your first product, a brand strategist looking for inspiration, or just someone who loves a good underdog story (pun intended), this one’s for you.
Connect with Amy:
Most founders spend months trying to figure out how to “get press.” But when Liv Dellanno stumbled into PR, it wasn’t part of a polished business plan—it was a gut feeling, a TikTok following, and a Google search.
Liv is the founder of Mystik PR, a modern press agency that works with emerging brands to land meaningful, measurable media coverage. In this episode, we talk about how she built a service-based business from the ground up: navigating rejection, trusting her instincts, and staying human in a world that rewards polish over personality.
We also unpack what PR actually is, when brands are ready for it, and why the difference between “visibility” and “traction” matters more than most people realize.
In this episode we talk about:
Whether you’re a founder wondering when to invest in PR, a creative building a service-based business, or just navigating the highs and lows of going out on your own—this one’s for you. If you’ve ever felt like you’re making it up as you go, Liv and I assure you, you’re not alone.
Success rarely happens all at once. But Liv and I align on the fact that if you stay in motion, stay curious, and keep talking to people good things start to happen.
Connect with Liv:
https://mystikpr.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mystikpr/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mystikpr
Founders who leave an already successful career often surprise people.
Why walk away from the comfort of a strong corporate trajectory? Why step into the unknown—into something most people shy away from?
Entrepreneurship is one of the hardest paths you can take. It’s all-consuming, sometimes demotivating, and scary as hell… so why do it?
Anya Cheng didn’t start her entrepreneurial journey in a frenzy. With a powerhouse career at places like Meta, eBay, McDonald’s, and Target, she stepped into startup life with calm, clarity, and a mindset that allowed her to adapt quickly and methodically.
In founding Taelor Style—an AI-powered fashion rental service for busy men—Anya faced the same realities every founder encounters: rejection, starting from scratch, navigating self-doubt. But instead of getting lost in the noise, she made deliberate, thoughtful choices that set her business up for long-term success.
This isn’t a story about winging it.
It’s a conversation about what happens when a founder meets uncertainty with focus—and how even the most impressive resume won’t guarantee traction, but the right mindset will.
We talk about:
At Mimir, these interviews are about more than business—they’re about how entrepreneurship shapes us as humans.
Anya’s final takeaway left me thinking about the world in a way no guest ever has.
Her answer highlights how rare she is as a founder and as a thinker.
This episode is for anyone looking to build with care, clarity, and grace—and for founders who want to make intentional decisions even when things feel messy. Anya will help teach you how.
So even if you feel like you’re flying by the seat of your pants, steady leadership, sharp judgment, and learning to trust yourself at every step will take you to the finish line.
Connect with Anya:
Anya Cheng is the Founder and CEO of Taelor, a leading men's clothing subscription service that provides personal styling and curated rentals, powered by expert stylists and AI. A Girls in Tech 40 Under 40 honoree, she previously led eCommerce and digital innovation teams at Meta, eBay, Target, and McDonald's.
Experience effortless style with rental and personal styling services:
Taelor: Get 25% OFF your first month of men's clothing subscription.Use code: PODCAST25Sign up at: https://taelor.style/pages/membership
Armoire: Get 50% OFF your first month of women's clothing subscription.Use code: ArmoirexTaelorSign up at: https://www.armoire.style/refer/ArmoirexTaelor
Give the gift of time, convenience, and effortless style:
Taelor Gift Cards Get 10% OFF Use code: PODCASTGIFTPurchase at: https://taelor.style/products/menswear-rental-gift-card
As a founder, you’ll inevitably hit the point where you realize: you can’t do this alone.
Maybe your customer base has outgrown you. Maybe you need expertise beyond your own. Either way, what comes after that realization is often daunting.
So, I’m sitting down with Emily Bronaugh, founder of Worth of Work, to unpack why hiring feels so hard, why we avoid it, and why scaling a business isn’t just about increasing revenue—it’s about leadership.
But this isn’t another checklist about job descriptions or Upwork hacks. We talk about trust, control, and rethinking what it means to be “a boss.”
Emily didn’t set out to become a leadership expert—she simply wanted to build a business while raising her son. But along the way, she saw a pattern: founders like her weren’t just struggling to find help… they were struggling to let go.
Hiring brings up questions we don’t always talk about:
Emily and I get into all of it: how to create space, articulate expectations, and relinquish control in a way that feels intentional.
We discuss modern leadership, and how it’s about more than climbing a ladder—it’s about building human-to-human relationships where trust, empathy, and shared purpose come first.
I hope this conversation reaches the founders who know their business can’t grow unless they grow too, and the founders who want to build more than a company—but a culture that lasts beyond them.
As early founders, leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about creating the conditions for others to thrive.
Connect with Emily:
Feeling ready to hire? Check out Emily’s free customizable course
Stacy Thal is the kind of person you want in your corner—clear, grounded, and honest in a way that cuts through the noise. She’s built a career most people only dream about: writing for Francis Ford Coppola, working inside brands like Google and Walmart, and eventually buying a home for herself in San Francisco—one of the most expensive cities in the world to do so.
But Stacy’s story isn’t about flashy success. It’s about figuring out what you’re made of. Betting on yourself. And building something real—on your own terms.
In this episode, we talk about what founders need to build a brand that lasts: clear positioning, an emotionally resonant story, and the courage to not water it down. Stacy shares how to create a “minimum viable brand” (MVB), why most messaging falls apart under pressure, and how to make sure your creative work connects—with investors, customers, and teams alike.
Together, we cover:
Stacy also shares how she found her way back to entrepreneurship—after layoffs, burnout, and years of chasing stability. Her story is a reminder that reinvention is always possible. That honesty is a superpower. And that “having your shit together” can look like showing up, day after day, with clarity, courage, and compassion.
This episode isn’t just for founders working on brand. It’s for anyone trying to carve a path that feels true—even if it takes a few tries to get there.
Connect with Stacy:
This episode is about the question that could change everything.
I sit down with Kate Terentieva, the founder of Off the Record, a conversation card game that’s become a cult favorite among creatives, teams, and founders alike. But this isn’t a story about going viral or scaling fast. It’s a story about building something rooted in real connection—and trusting your gut, even when it goes against every playbook.
Kate didn’t plan to launch a product. She was working behind the scenes as a creative director, helping founders tell better stories. But in asking them thoughtful questions, she accidentally unlocked a bigger insight: people are craving more honest, layered conversations—in their work, relationships, and communities.
So she turned the 450 questions in her Notes app into a product. And then turned that product into a movement.
In this episode, you’re going to learn:
Kate also shares her counterintuitive go-to-market strategy (spoiler: it started with $11.5k worth of free product and 400 DMs). We talk about slowing down, trusting what feels light, and letting the business evolve based on real-world traction—not hype.
As founders, you’ll be networking all the time so I highly recommend getting yourself a pack of Off the Record. Kate was kind enough to share a special discount code for Mimir listeners. So be sure to listen all the way through to grab the code—and check the episode description for a direct link.
This episode is for the founder who’s questioning the blueprint. Who’s not trying to copy someone else’s path. Who just wants to build something meaningful, even if it takes a little longer.
Because sometimes, one really good question can change everything.
Get Off The Record: playofftherecord.com/MIMIR10
Connect with Kate: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@katarinaterentieva LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateterentieva/
Off The Record: https://www.instagram.com/playofftherecord/
Every founder knows that community is important. But building one—from scratch, without funding, and without an already loyal group of Instagram followers—is easier said than done.
Speaking from years of being an influencer wannabe, I can say with confidence that this is one of the hardest problems to solve in business. We’ve all seen how influencers reverse the traditional playbook: they build a community first, and then whatever they sell works because people trust them. We know the community is valuable, so I wanted to get into the weeds with someone who’s actually pulled it off.
So, I sit down with Elina Panteleyeva—founder of Dood Woof, an e-commerce brand for doodle dog owners—to unpack exactly how she built a high-converting, hyper-loyal customer base with no outside funding, no big audience, and no prior experience in ecomm.
Interstingly, Elina didn’t launch a product and then go find people to buy it. She found people first. She listened to them. And then she built something with them—not for them.
In this episode, you’ll learn the tools you need to apply this to your own business. Everything from:
We get real about what it’s like to bootstrap a business—from the emotional toll of building without a safety net to the tactical how-tos that helped Elina stay a full time entrepreneur. And finally, one of my favorite parts of our conversation centered around why believing in yourself sometimes comes after you start, not before.
If you’ve been stuck trying to “build an audience” or wondering why no one’s engaging with your product—this one’s a must-listen.
Connect with Elina:
You’ve probably heard that ChatGPT can help you write an email or brainstorm ideas—but what if I could show you that it can do so much more?
In this solo episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on how I use GPT as a second brain—not just for productivity, but for clarity. When you’re juggling a business, a 9–5, and a life, it’s easy to drowned in your to-do list. Building my GPT in this way has helped free up mental space to focus on what only the things that I can do.
In this episode, I walk through:
The biggest myths about ChatGPT (and why most people use it wrong)
Step by step how I trained “Sage,” my personalized GPT assistant so you can too
What I delegate—and what I don’t
How GPT helps me write, strategize, reflect, and stay on track
A dead-simple 30-minute plan to build your own version
Whether you’re a founder, freelancer, or just trying to keep your head above water—this episode is your blueprint for making ChatGPT work for you.
Connect with Maddie
DM me if you build your own Sage—I’d love to hear how it’s going!!!
If you’ve ever worked late, poured your own money into something you believe in, and still felt like you’re screaming into the void—this one’s for you.
In this episode, I sit down with Cindy Ip, the founder of Habitude, a skincare studio in Toronto that’s part beauty bar, part emotional reset button. Cindy’s not here to glamorize the founder journey—she’s here to tell the truth. The parts we don’t always see. The ones that feel messy, discouraging, and sometimes hilarious in hindsight.
Together, we talk about what it happens when you start from zero:
Cindy also shares why she’s choosing to slow down. Why she restructured her pricing. Why she’s pivoting intentionally. Not because she’s failing—but because she’s listening. To herself, to her audience, and to the world around her.
She’s building a business designed to make people pause. And in doing so, she’s redefining what growth can look like: quiet, grounded, human.
We laughed a lot during this one. We also said the quiet parts out loud. The things founders feel but don’t always share.
And if you’re in the thick of it—wondering why it feels so hard, or when things will finally click—this episode is here to remind you:
You’re not behind. You’re just building something unique to your journey.
Connect with Cindy:
Habitude Beauty:
Cindy:
I think we can all agree—startups get glamorized. Social media makes founder life look effortless. Making your own hours? Working from the beach? Making enough money to do both of those things? It sounds amazing.
But most of what it takes to actually get to that point is not sexy. It’s hard conversations, long hours, scary choices, and a whole lot of rolling up your sleeves to do the work no one else is willing to do.
In this episode, I sit down with Wade Lowe—a seasoned operator, founder, and fractional executive—to talk about the early-stage decisions that make or break a business. One of the biggest questions we tackle is what the heck is a fractional exec, and when should you actually bring one in?
From landing your first enterprise customer to hiring your first leadership team, we unpack what founders tend to overlook when chasing growth—and how to avoid the most common (and expensive) missteps.
Wade’s got receipts from building and scaling early stage businesses across industries—and he’s refreshingly honest about what you need to build a high-performing team and a culture that prioritizes growth, trust, and people are excited to be a part of.
In our conversation we also cover:
If you’re scaling—and want to protect what makes your startup special—this one’s for you.
Connect with Wade:
If you’ve ever felt like your brain just works differently as a founder—like the highs are higher, the pressure is heavier, and your decision-making never really turns off—you are not imagining it. This week’s episode dives into exactly why that is.
We hear it all the time: founders are built different.
But what if that’s not just a saying—what if it’s science?
In this episode, I sit down with Marina Morgan, a business psychologist, founder, and researcher who’s spent the last 20 years exploring what makes the entrepreneurial mind so unique—and how to work with it instead of against it.
Marina works with founders around the world to help them navigate high-stress decision-making, burnout, and emotional resilience while building category-defining companies. She’s incredibly driven, deeply data-oriented, and—on top of all that—is developing a new framework to measure how psychologically ready employees are for AI integration. (Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds.)
For years, I’ve been talking about the psychology of entrepreneurship—why founder brains work the way they do, how to harness that, and how to stay healthy in the process. So meeting someone who could actually back that up with research had me genuinely giddy.
In our conversation, Marina shares:
But this isn’t just theory. Marina also breaks down how to create personalized, science-backed systems to protect your energy, support your mental health, and lead with clarity. Oh—and why surfing or dancing might literally make you a better CEO.
If you’ve ever wanted to understand your own brain a little better—or felt like no one really gets what it’s like to build something from scratch—this episode will leave you feeling seen, supported, and equipped with new tools to keep going.
Connect with Marina:
Marina’s guide for System & Devices for Business Leaders Productivity
What does it really take to build a business that flips an entire industry on its head—and survive the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it?
In this episode, I sit down with Jennifer Tsay, co-founder of Shoott, a platform that’s radically changing how photographers—and eventually, all kinds of artists—can build sustainable careers.
Jennifer’s path is anything but traditional:
From corporate finance to acting, to producing a documentary, to being a co-founder—her journey is a masterclass in how diverse experiences can shape sharper entrepreneurs.
We’re diving into not just how Shoott cracked a problem that had stumped others but also the hidden emotional battles founders face.
Jennifer is sharing how she learned to process the negativity online instead of letting it derail her. Her tips really surprised me and I think she has a fresh perspective in this space that all founders need to hear.
You are also going to learn:
If you’re actively building or trying to find your way—you’re going to get so much out of this conversation.
Listen in—you’ll feel seen, energized, and a little bit braver.
Connect with Jennifer:
I first met Oana Jinga at Manifest, where she was speaking on a panel about women in supply chain—and I immediately knew I needed to bring her on the show.
Her story isn’t just impressive—it’s a masterclass in reinvention, resilience, and bold thinking. Oana started her career in PR, then moved into partnerships at Google… and today, she’s the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Dexory, a robotics company that’s transforming how warehouses operate.
In this episode, Oana and I dig into the real side of building something new—especially when you’re entering a space where no one knows your name. You’ll learn:
Whether you’re building in tech, logistics, or a completely different space—this is a conversation about how to stay grounded, get creative, and make your mark.
Connect with Oana: