Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business

In this episode, Megan Goddard, CEO and co-founder of Kizuna, shares her powerful journey from being personally impacted by the justice system to building a tech company that’s transforming it from the inside out. She reveals how she identified a critical gap in the background screening process and built an "infrastructure" business that provides a decision-making layer for companies, rather than another complex platform. This episode is a masterclass for any entrepreneur looking to turn a deep-seated passion into a scalable, impactful business, proving that you can solve major societal issues while building a successful for-profit venture.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
How a deep personal connection to a problem can become your greatest asset in business and fundraising.
The strategic advantage of building an "infrastructure" business (API-first) that plugs directly into your customers' existing workflows.
How to ethically and effectively use AI to enhance decision-making without automating away critical human judgment.
A founder’s playbook for fundraising by leading with passion and deep industry expertise.
Why finding co-founders with complementary skills (like legal and tech) is the bedrock of a successful and resilient startup.
How to build trust and credibility in a complex, litigious industry by embedding compliance directly into your product.
Why the entrepreneurial journey’s steep learning curve is its greatest reward.
📝 About Megan Goddard
Megan Goddard is the CEO and co-founder of Kizuna, a company building the infrastructure for more equitable and intelligent background screening. With over a decade of experience spanning both criminal justice reform and HR tech, she brings a rare blend of policy depth and product expertise to the future of hiring. Her passion for this work began at age 16, driven by family experiences with the justice system, and has fueled a singular mission: to create hiring systems that expand access to opportunity while strengthening trust and safety for everyone.
🎯 Megan’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
“Really pursue a problem that you’re obsessed with... If you’re obsessed with it, it’s going to be so fun. The solution is never going to be what you imagined it would be in the beginning. So don’t get so tied and attached to that solution, but do get obsessed with the problem.”
📢 Memorable Quotes
"I never considered myself to be an entrepreneur... But once I kept confronting this big gap area and seeing no one else tackling it, I just figured I had to do something.” – Megan Goddard
"We don't use AI for the decision making step... the employer or the business evaluating the background check will always be the ultimate decision maker.” – Megan Goddard
"I was surprised at how smooth [fundraising] went. I think because I'm so passionate about this space... we barely prepared a pitch deck before I started talking to VCs... we just got lost in conversation." – Megan Goddard
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit Kizuna’s website
Connect with Megan on LinkedIn
Follow Kizuna on LinkedIn

Tired of throwing money at marketing tactics that don't deliver? This episode is your antidote to marketing frustration. Full-stack marketer and agency founder Mary Bevins breaks down why a "strategy-first" approach is the only way to achieve sustainable growth. She dismantles the chaos of modern marketing and provides a clear, holistic framework that connects all the pieces—from paid ads and SEO to email marketing and lead conversion. For any entrepreneur who feels like they're just checking marketing boxes without seeing real results, Mary offers an invaluable perspective on how to build a marketing engine that is intentional, measurable, and highly effective.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
🚀 Strategy vs. Tactics: Why jumping straight to social media or ads without a foundational strategy is the fastest way to waste your time and money.
💰 A Smarter Paid Ads Playbook: Understand the different roles of Meta ads (warming up an audience) and Google ads (capturing intent) and how to make them work together.
📊 The Power of a Scorecard: How to track every marketing effort—from organic reach to paid campaigns—to know exactly what's working and where to invest your next dollar.
🤖 Using AI as a Tool, Not a Crutch: Learn how to leverage AI for efficiency without losing the brand voice and strategic intention that makes your business unique.
📈 Realistic Timelines for ROI: Uncover what a healthy timeline for seeing marketing results actually looks like (hint: it's not overnight) and how to set proper expectations.
💌 Email Marketing Isn't Dead: How to use email to nurture your most valuable asset—your existing audience—by providing consistent value instead of spam.
🔗 The Holistic Funnel: Discover why your website, social proof, and lead follow-up process are just as critical as the ad that gets the click.
📝 About Mary Bevins 
Mary Bevins is the founder of Memora Marketing, a strategic marketing agency dedicated to helping small and mid-sized businesses grow with clarity. With over a decade of experience, Mary’s journey took her from being a stay-at-home parent to the Chief Operating Officer of five different companies before launching her own agency. This diverse background in business development and operations gives her a unique, full-picture perspective on how marketing must integrate with every facet of a business to truly succeed.
🎯 Mary’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 
"Track everything. Track every outlet of marketing... track it month over month as well as the return so that you know how better to use your money or your time for the next quarter."
📢 Memorable Quotes
"We use AI as a tool, not a crutch. We're the ones running the show with the AI tool... If you just tell it to create 30 posts, it's just gonna give you a cookie-cutter answer and you're gonna look like everyone else." – Mary Bevins
"Do not expect to get a ton of leads from social media because of your service. That's not the intent. It's there to show trust and longevity and credibility." – Mary Bevins
"Email marketing should not be spam. If you're sending spam, then reconsider your plan and your messaging. You should always be providing value to the person on the end opening that email." – Mary Bevins
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit Memora Marketing’s website
Connect with Mary on LinkedIn
Follow Memora Marketing on LinkedIn
Follow Memora Marketing on Instagram

Ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels, replying to emails, and tweaking your website, but not actually making real progress? This raw, unfiltered Solo Sunday episode, recorded mid-move in an empty, echoey room, is the reality check you need. Brian shares a powerful quote that completely reframes the dreaded "no" and reveals the one question he asks himself to ensure he's not just staying busy, but actually building momentum. If you’ve ever let the fear of rejection keep you from taking big swings, this episode will teach you how to start celebrating every single "no" as a step closer to your dream.
✨ Why This Matters for You
Embracing rejection is a superpower for entrepreneurs:
It transforms “no” from a setback into a progress metric. You start seeing rejection as proof you’re taking action.
It forces you out of "safe" tasks (like designing business cards) and into the real work that generates growth (like sales and outreach).
It’s the antidote to analysis paralysis and perfectionism. It reminds you that growth happens through imperfect action, not perfect planning.
If you're not getting rejected, you don’t have the opportunity to get accepted. This mindset ensures you’re always in the game.
📝 Key Takeaways
Rejection is a Measurement. If you go a whole week without being rejected, you probably didn't put yourself out there enough.
Action Over Perfection. Brian recorded this episode mid-move, exhausted, and in a non-ideal studio. You don't get to 1,400+ episodes by only working when conditions are perfect.
Every "No" is a "Closer." Inspired by a powerful quote, Brian reframes each rejection as being one step closer to the right person, the right opportunity, and the right "yes."
"Safe" Work is Stagnation. Spending all your time on tasks with no risk of rejection—like tweaking copy or playing with AI—won't lead to tangible growth. Real growth comes with the risk of being told "no."
Consistency Requires Doing It When It's Hard. True commitment is showing up when you don't feel like it, when you're tired, and when the situation is far from ideal.
🚀 Put It Into Action
This week, conduct a simple rejection audit:
At the end of the week, ask yourself: "Did I get rejected at all this week?"
If the answer is no, identify one "safe" activity you spent time on that could have been replaced with an action that carried a risk of rejection.
What is one shot you can take next week—pitching a client, asking for a partnership, sending a cold email—that could result in a "no"? Go do it.
🔗 Stay Connected
Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs to stop playing it safe and start taking more shots on goal

Tired of juggling a dozen different software tools just to run your business? In this episode, Peter Gustafson, founder of coachstack, breaks down how to build a fundamentally solid business by simplifying your operations and focusing on what truly matters. After leaving a six-figure career in the tech world, Peter saw a massive gap in the market for coaches overwhelmed by clunky tech stacks and a lack of business acumen. This conversation is a masterclass in strategic thinking, from validating your idea with real customers to building a system that consistently attracts and retains clients. For any entrepreneur, especially those in service-based industries, this episode will give you the clarity and confidence to stop tinkering and start building a business that’s built to last.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
The Coaching Flywheel: Learn a powerful 6-step system to clarify your focus, attract ideal clients, build trust, and create a sustainable, referral-driven business.
Validate Before You Build: Discover why Peter interviewed over 30 coaches before writing a single line of code, and how you can use customer development to de-risk your business idea.
Your Unfair Advantage: Understand why doing things that don’t scale—like personally onboarding every user—is the ultimate secret weapon for product development and customer loyalty.
AI as an Accelerator: Get a no-hype perspective on how to use AI to handle tedious, “last mile” tasks without sacrificing the critical pre-work and strategy that actually drive results.
Simplify Your Tech Stack: Hear the case for an all-in-one platform and how consolidating your tools can free you up to focus on coaching and changing lives, not managing software.
Monetize Your Expertise: Learn how to identify your unique "information advantage" based on your career and life experiences to create a coaching offer that stands out.
📝 About Peter Gustafson 
Peter Gustafson is the founder of coachstack, a premium all-in-one platform designed to help accomplished professionals launch and scale their coaching businesses. With over a decade of experience in leadership roles at SaaS startups and nonprofits, Peter combines his deep expertise in product design, customer success, and entrepreneurship to solve the biggest pain points for modern coaches. His unique perspective comes from seeing the business world from the inside out, first as a tech leader and now as a founder who is personally building the solution he wishes existed.
🎯 Peter’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 
"Anyone who's on the fence about whether or not they should start that thing… Just do it and just get started."
📢 Memorable Quotes
"Coaching is a business. And oftentimes I see a lot of coaches that don't have the marketing expertise or the business acumen to be able to launch that full coaching business." – Peter Gustafson
"The more that I've stepped into entrepreneurship, the less scary it gets. Obviously, each stage presents different problems… but I think anyone who's on the fence about whether or not they should start that thing, just do it and just get started." – Peter Gustafson
"I think AI… it really accelerates the last mile. But for me, I think the bulk of the work comes in the pre-work." – Peter Gustafson
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit coachstack’s website
Connect with Peter on LinkedIn
Follow coachstack on LinkedIn
Visit The Coaching Flywheel Newsletter

Shawn “Greybeard” Davis, a three-time seven-figure founder, pulls back the curtain on his incredible journey from bankruptcy to building empires in finance, real estate, and energy. He shares his core philosophy of “imperfect action over perfect inaction” and reveals the overlooked marketing channel—radio—that he used to create an instant audience and dominate local markets. This episode is a masterclass in resilience, unconventional growth strategies, and knowing when to accelerate versus when to pivot. For any entrepreneur feeling stuck or afraid to make a move, Shawn’s raw honesty about his failures and successes provides a powerful, actionable roadmap for building a business (and life) on your own terms.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
🚀 How "imperfect action" is your greatest competitive advantage for launching and learning faster than anyone else.
💰 The overlooked power of local radio for generating high-intent leads and building an instant, geographically-targeted audience.
📈 Why you need to "step on the gas" the moment you find traction, instead of celebrating and slowing down your marketing momentum.
🧠 How to recognize when a successful business is costing you personally and find the courage to walk away and pivot.
💡 The crucial difference between a 60-second ad and an hour-long show for building deep authority and trust with your market.
🛠️ How to accelerate your learning curve in a new industry by diving in headfirst and buying five houses instead of one.
💪 The power of "dogged persistence" and why most entrepreneurs quit right before their biggest breakthrough.
📝 About Shawn Davis 
Shawn "Greybeard" Davis is a serial entrepreneur, radio host, and mentor who has built and scaled three separate seven-figure businesses in completely different industries: finance, real estate, and energy. After 22 years in financial services, he fearlessly pivoted, flipping high-end homes and later launching a solar brokerage company, using the power of radio to fuel its massive growth. Known for his "step on the gas" philosophy, Shawn now mentors business owners and CEOs, sharing his hard-won wisdom to help them achieve meaningful success without sacrificing their lives.
🎯 Shawn’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 
"Listen to that inner voice, that prompting in your spirit... when I've listened to that, it's always, always worked out for me for the good."
📢 Memorable Quotes 
“Imperfect action is far better than perfect inaction. Let's launch first, figure out what we need to learn in this process, and make some mistakes.” – Shawn Davis
“You have to have failure smack you in the face to then reassess on what is the best way to kind of move forward. That's how you gain experience, that's how you gain grit.” – Shawn Davis
“You've got to recognize when the season to whatever it is that you're doing is to come to a close, because life will give you a lot of hints.” – Shawn Davis
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit Greybeard Mentoring’s website
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Connect via text code: Text GREYBEARD to 84503