Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business

Are you making marketing decisions based on gut feelings and chasing "good ideas" that never seem to move the needle? In this episode, growth strategist Izzy Sapien breaks down why this intuition-driven approach is the very thing keeping so many businesses stuck in the $2-5 million "no man's land." She reveals the critical shift from relying on grit to implementing disciplined, data-informed frameworks that create real momentum. This episode is a masterclass for any founder feeling the pressure of tight cash flow, showing you how to tie marketing directly to your P&L, make better strategic decisions, and build a profitable, scalable brand without burning through your budget.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
🧠 Why the "gut feelings" that got you to your first $2M will prevent you from scaling further, and when to switch to a data-driven framework.
Momentum vs. Movement: Learn the critical difference between being busy and making strategic forward progress that makes your business unstoppable.
💡 How to tell the difference between a "good idea" and a "right now idea" to avoid wasting time and money on strategies that won't deliver results.
💰 The simple formula that connects marketing directly to revenue (Traffic x AOV x Conversion Rate x LTV) and how to manage it for profitability.
💧 Why neglecting top-of-funnel marketing is like letting your well run dry, and how to invest in awareness even when cash flow is tight.
🗣️ The power of predictive questions to unlock breakthrough growth ideas within your own team and move past feeling "war-torn" by financial pressure.
📝 About Izzy Sapien
Izzy Sapien is a growth strategist and fractional Head of Growth with over a decade of experience helping beauty, wellness, and supplement brands scale. After founding and growing her own successful agency, she now specializes in guiding founder-led, cash-flow-pressured companies through the challenging $2-5 million growth stage. Izzy masterfully combines marketing strategy with financial acumen and founder psychology, helping leadership teams move from chaotic, intuition-driven tactics to disciplined, data-informed decision-making that fuels sustainable and profitable growth.
🎯 Izzy’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Gut feelings are for moments when you lack evidence or experience."
📢 Memorable Quotes
“A lot of brands get stuck at this $2 to $5 million mark... It's because a lot of the decisions and way that we make decisions up to the $2 million mark depends on things like grit and gut feelings.” – Izzy Sapien
“There are plenty of strategies that are perfect on the outside—great strategies—but they're not right now strategies.” – Izzy Sapien
"I'm not a big believer that people are the reason that a company fails. I'm always a believer that decision-making is at least one of the front runners for it." – Izzy Sapien
💡 Actionable Takeaways
✅ Audit your decision-making process. Are your marketing plans built on evidence and data, or are they a series of reactive gut feelings?
✅ Protect your top-of-funnel budget. Dedicate a healthy portion of your marketing spend to awareness, even if it doesn't have immediate ROI, to prevent your customer pipeline from drying up.
✅ Focus on your customer journey. It's cheaper to nurture existing customers than to acquire new ones. Invest in your email marketing and automation to maximize Lifetime Value (LTV).
✅ When evaluating a new idea, ask "Why here, why now?" to determine if it's a "good idea" or a "right now idea" that aligns with your current resources and goals.
🔗 Links & Resources
Website: https://www.izzysapien.com
Inquire as a brand at https://www.chiral-marketing.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/izzysellscpg/
Connect with Izzy on LinkedIn
Follow Chiral Performance Marketing on LinkedIn

In this episode, Brian sits down with Drew Alexander Forde, the world-renowned musician known as "That Viola Kid" who has masterfully blended artistic excellence with sharp entrepreneurial instincts. Drew shares his incredible journey from playing viola in NYC subways to performing with legends like Adele and Kanye West, and how those experiences forged his business mindset. This isn't just a story about music; it's a masterclass in turning a passion into a multi-faceted career, building a personal brand, and creating a tech solution (DTLA) to solve the biggest pain points in your industry. For any wantrepreneur or entrepreneur, especially those in creative fields, this episode is a powerful lesson in valuing your work, building systems, and dropping the "starving artist" mentality for good.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
How to build a powerful personal brand by sharing your process and journey, even before you have a product to sell.
The subway busking mindset: how to find the audience with a problem you can solve and focus entirely on serving them.
Why creative labor must be quantified and valued, and how to shift your mindset from "artist" to "business owner."
The strategy of scratching your own itch: how Drew identified the administrative pains of freelance musicians and built a tech company (DTLA) to solve them.
How to use "loading screen" moments (like commutes) for intentional strategic thinking to grow your business and diversify your income.
Why developing a non-negotiable work ethic in your core skill allows you to handle the unpredictable challenges of business with ease.
The "compound interest" effect of consistent practice and how it applies to building both skills and business expertise over time.
📝 About Drew Alexander Forde
Drew Alexander Forde, known online as "That Viola Kid," is a Juilliard-trained violist who has transformed his classical music career into a modern entrepreneurial empire. He has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in music, including Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys, and Kanye West. Refusing to be just a performer, Drew embraced social media to build a massive personal brand and co-founded two businesses: Whole Soul, a hip-hop and R&B string quartet, and DTLA, a software company designed to eliminate administrative and financial headaches for freelance musicians. Drew is a shining example of how to merge world-class talent with a savvy business mind.
🎯 Drew’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Don't be afraid of pain... It does not matter how slow you go as long as you do not stop."
📢 Memorable Quotes
"The role as an entrepreneur is to find the people who have the problems that you can solve and then quickly and deeply try to solve those problems." – Drew Alexander Forde
"Creative labor is real. It must be measured, it must be quantified because at the end of the day you only have 24 hours on the planet." – Drew Alexander Forde
"If I get sick and I can't move my arms anymore... I lose all of my income. And to me, that scenario was unacceptable. So when I would sit in the subways or I would sit in the car and I would think about that possibility, it would drive me to read more books." – Drew Alexander Forde
💡 Actionable Takeaways
Identify your industry's biggest "painful administrative problem" and brainstorm a simple tool or system to solve it, just as Drew did for musicians with DTLA.
Start building your personal brand today by documenting your process. You don't need a finished product to start providing value and owning your audience's attention.
Audit your "loading screen" time (commutes, waiting in line) and dedicate it to intentional thinking about your business goals and strategy.
Stop accepting the "starving artist" narrative. Start tracking your time and quantifying the value of your skills to confidently charge what you're worth.
Reframe a past rejection or failure. Instead of a verdict on your ability, view it as a necessary step that pushed you toward a more authentic and successful path.
🔗 Links & Resources
DTLA website: https://getdtla.com/
Whole Soul Music website: https://www.wholesoulmusic.com
That Viola Kid website: https://thatviolakid.com
Connect with Drew on LinkedIn
Follow DTLA on LinkedIn
Follow Whole Soul on Instagram

We spend countless hours perfecting our "welcome mat" — our onboarding sequences, sales calls, and initial client experience. But what happens when a client is on their way out? In this Solo Sunday episode, Brian pulls back the curtain on a strategy he’s never heard anyone else discuss in nearly 20 years of entrepreneurship: the offboarding plan. He argues that the way you handle the end of a client relationship is the ultimate test of your integrity and the most powerful, overlooked opportunity to build a legendary reputation. Brian shares his exact framework for ensuring clients feel cared for and set up for success long after they’ve stopped paying, proving that genuine care extends far beyond the transaction.
✨ Why This Matters for You
Mastering the offboarding process is a game-changer for your business:
It’s how you turn a client who is leaving into a lifelong advocate for your brand.
It’s the ultimate proof that your promise to "care about their success" isn't just sales-speak.
It differentiates you from 99% of businesses who disappear the moment an engagement ends.
It protects the hard work you've already done and ensures the client can continue to build on the results you delivered.
It often leads to unexpected referrals and glowing reviews, not because you asked, but because you earned them.
📝 Key Takeaways
Care Beyond the Check. True care is shown not when a client is paying you, but when they’re on their way out. Your actions at the end of the relationship define your character.
Serve, Don't Sell. An effective offboarding plan is 100% about serving the departing client and 0% self-serving. Don't do it for the review; do it because it's the right thing to do.
Document and Deliver a Roadmap. Don't let your hard work go to waste. Provide a final report that outlines the value delivered, identifies open loops, and gives a clear path forward for their continued success.
Fill the Gaps You're Leaving. Proactively advise your former client on how to replace your services, whether through tools, technology, or new hires. This shows you're committed to their success, with or without you.
Be the Exception. In a world where most businesses forget a client the minute they leave, you have a massive opportunity to be unforgettable by showing care far beyond the end of an engagement.
🚀 Put It Into Action
This week, sit down and create your V1 offboarding plan. Ask yourself:
If my best client left tomorrow, what would I do to ensure they succeed without me?
What information would they need to continue the momentum we built together?
How can I create a final "success package" that includes a summary of our work, a roadmap for what’s next, and recommendations for filling the gaps?
Start drafting a template for this process so you’re prepared to deliver exceptional value, even at the end of a relationship.
🔗 Stay Connected
Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
Connect with me on Instagram @imetbrian
Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who wants to build a business that people remember for all the right reasons

In this special Collab Week episode of Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur, eight founders come together to answer one deeply personal question:
Have you ever been afraid to give something up, only for it to turn out to be a great decision?
You'll hear from Sheri Roder, Nicholas Cook, Brandon Pankey, David Beltran, John Lunsford, Raamon Newman, Drew Mehta, and Zeyno Dodd, as they each open up about the identity, title, plan, or old way of doing things they were scared to release — and what it gave them in return.
✨ What You'll Take Away
In this episode, you'll learn how to:
Separate your identity from your job title before a big leap
Use fear-setting to make a scary decision calculated, not reckless
Let go of "I can do it all" to make room for your team
Hold onto a long-term goal through years of doubt
Choose between two good ideas by asking which excites you most
Trust that letting an identity end opens the door to what's next
Ease into change gradually instead of waiting for the perfect leap
Drop the "perfect" plan and let your team step up when it counts
🎙️ Meet the Collab Week Contributors
Sheri Roder — Get UnStuck HQ
Sheri is the founder of Get UnStuck HQ, a career and leadership coaching practice built around her Stuck Spectrum framework, helping people navigate tough career decisions and creative ruts after her own 20-plus year corporate career.
 Websitei: https://getunstuckhq.com/
Nicholas Cook — Money 101 Academy
Nicholas is the founder of Money 101 Academy and owner of Prime Land Properties, helping people buy land for a homesite, camping, or investment. He also writes at The Place Blog, and recently made the leap from a W-2 job into running his own business full-time.
 Website: https://money101academy.com/
Brandon Pankey — Blue Pine Works
Brandon is the founder and owner of Blue Pine Works, an arboriculture and land stewardship company in East Central Minnesota. He and his wife Kay lead the company. He's learned to let go of doing everything himself so his team and clients can share the load.
 Website: https://bluepineworks.com/
David Beltran — Accord Intelligence
David is founder and CEO of Accord Intelligence. Ten years into his IT career, he refused to give up on becoming an architect despite being told repeatedly he wasn't a fit — a pursuit that opened the door to IBM and, later, to building Accord's AI decision-governance layer.
 Website: https://www.accordintelligence.ai/
John Lunsford — Tethral
John is the founder and CEO of Tethral, an engineer and anthropologist with a PhD studying how technology gets adopted. He formerly led AI and personal safety at Uber before letting go of a second viable business idea to focus fully on Tethral.
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-lunsford/
Raamon Newman — New Mavericks
Raamon is co-founder of New Mavericks, a CEO leadership development partnership he started 25 years ago as a full-time meditating monk. His path ran from competitive running to monastic life to leadership consulting, letting go of each identity to make room for the next.
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raamonnewman/
Drew Mehta — ThinkFraction
Drew is the founder of ThinkFraction, helping owner-operators fix leaks in their back-end workflows. After 20 years in corporate, he was terrified to give up its safety — so instead of a leap, he took a "leisurely stroll" into entrepreneurship, still finding out if it pays off.
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhroovmehta/
Zeyno Dodd — AlgiSense
Zeyno is co-founder of AlgiSense, developing AI-driven EEG digital biomarkers to objectively measure pain. Across 25-plus years in healthcare, cybersecurity, and applied AI, she's learned to let go of her own "perfect" blueprint and trust her team to solve problems together in real time.
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeynoaygendodd/

In this powerhouse episode, we sit down with Jaime Pesquera, the CEO and co-founder of the Madrid-based startup accelerator, Jupiter Base. Jaime breaks down the new rules for building a successful business in the age of AI, revealing how founders can create a protective "moat" around their ideas to thrive against fast-moving competition. This conversation is a masterclass for any entrepreneur feeling overwhelmed by the pace of technology. You'll learn how to leverage AI as a growth accelerator, cultivate the founder traits that truly matter to investors, and build the resilience needed to turn inevitable obstacles into massive opportunities.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
How to Build an Unbeatable Business "Moat": Learn what a business moat is in today's tech landscape and how to build one to protect your startup from giant competitors like OpenAI.
The Three Founder Traits That Guarantee Growth: Discover the essential qualities investors look for—willpower, diligence, and risk-taking—and how to cultivate them in your own entrepreneurial journey.
AI-Native Acceleration: Understand how to strategically integrate AI not to replace human thinking, but to complement it, keep your team focused, and accelerate your path to market.
The Power of a Niche: Hear Jaime's take on why conquering a specific, unexplored niche is the most effective strategy for building a foothold and scaling your business.
Leveraging Behavioral Science for Peak Performance: Get a glimpse into how top accelerators use behavioral science to help founders manage stress, stay resilient, and perform at their absolute best.
Why Your "Failures" Are Your Biggest Wins: Learn to reframe failure as a critical part of the journey that builds character and often leads to even better outcomes than you originally planned.
📝 About Jaime Pesquera
Jaime Pesquera is the CEO and co-founder of Jupiter Base, a pre-seed startup accelerator in Madrid focused on building the next generation of global companies. With a unique background that blends psychology, law (JD), and business (MBA), Jaime brings a multi-disciplinary approach to company building. He has helped raise over $30 million in startup capital, managed $100+ million in transactions, and possesses a deep technical knowledge, having coded since he was nine years old. This diverse expertise gives him a rare ability to see the market from every angle—legal, financial, technical, and human.
🎯 Jaime’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Do not be afraid of putting in a lot of hours into a specific project and then it becoming a failure... the journey is sometimes much more important than where you arrive."
📢 Memorable Quotes
“If you don't have that willpower, it's going to be very tough to build anything long-term. A startup is many times a 10+ year commitment.” – Jaime Pesquera
"Diligence is the mother of good fortune. You generate your own luck, you create your own luck." – Jaime Pesquera
“The journey is sometimes much more important than where you arrive. Because sometimes where you arrive isn't where you planned, and it could be even much better than what you ever imagined.” – Jaime Pesquera
💡 Actionable Takeaways
Define Your Moat: Take 30 minutes this week to clearly define your business's primary competitive advantage (your "moat"). Is it distribution, IP, data, or something else?
Use a Sounding Board: Ask a trusted friend, mentor, or your partner to help you identify your "zone of genius." As Jaime shared, it's often hard to see our own greatest strengths.
Identify One AI Enhancement: Find one area of your business where AI can complement your team's thinking to accelerate growth—whether it's customer insight analysis, content creation, or product development.
Reframe a Past "Failure": Look back at a project or idea that didn't work out. Write down three valuable lessons or skills you gained from the experience.
🔗 Links & Resources
Website: https://jupiterbase.co/
Connect with Jaime on LinkedIn
Follow Jupiter Base on LinkedIn