Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business

In this powerful episode, Romie Montpeirous, founder of Leadership From The Heart, reveals why the journey from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur begins with one critical step: leading yourself. She unpacks the concept of the "identity shift," explaining how seeing yourself as a leader is the prerequisite to becoming one. This isn't just fluffy mindset talk; Romie provides the tangible steps to break free from the self-imposed barriers and stop waiting for the permission that will never come.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone feeling stuck, waiting for the "right time," or struggling to step into the role of a true leader. Drawing from her own incredible journey from a warehouse worker to a celebrated leadership mentor, Romie shares how vulnerability, self-awareness, and a heart-led approach are not weaknesses but the ultimate superpowers for building a thriving team and a business that leaves a lasting impact.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
🚀 How to execute the crucial "identity shift" from employee to entrepreneur by changing the story you tell yourself.
🤝 Why leading yourself first—with integrity and accountability—is the non-negotiable foundation for leading a successful team.
🔓 How to stop waiting for permission and finally give yourself the green light to build the business of your dreams.
🧠 A framework for discovering your "zone of genius" and building a team that complements your weaknesses, creating an unstoppable force.
💪 The surprising power of vulnerability and how admitting what you're not good at can build unshakable trust and loyalty with your team.
✨ How to adopt a "pronoia" mindset—the belief that everything is working in your favor—to accelerate your success and spot opportunities everywhere.
📝 About Romie Montpeirous
Romie Montpeirous is the founder of Leadership From The Heart and a seasoned leadership mentor with over 20 years of real-world experience. Her journey began on the floor of a warehouse, where a mentor saw the leader within her long before she did. This experience ignited a passion for understanding the psychology of leadership, leading her to manage multi-million dollar budgets and large teams. Today, Romie blends emotional intelligence with strategic thinking to help entrepreneurs and leaders stop surviving their roles and start leading with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
🎯 Romie’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Stop waiting for permission. There is no one to ask permission from. If you need to write yourself a permission slip and to sign it yourself and to give yourself permission to live the life of your dreams, then do whatever you need to do."
📢 Memorable Quotes
“You can be whoever you want to be in this life as long as you have the audacity to.” – Romie Montpeirous
“You are who you are when no one's around. And so who is that person? And do you like that person? And if you don't like that person, then what kind of person do you want to be?” – Romie Montpeirous
“What I realized is when I told the team what I wasn't good at, it was incredible to watch them basically cover that side of me.” – Romie Montpeirous
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit Leadership From The Heart’s website
Connect with Romie on LinkedIn
Follow Leadership From The Heart on LinkedIn
Get the book: Better Than You Found It

Do you ever hesitate to share your latest project, launch, or creation, worried it will come off as “shameless self-promotion”? In this Solo Sunday episode, Brian pulls back the curtain on a text message he received from a fellow entrepreneur that completely reframed this common fear. It’s a message that inspired him to get behind the mic (even while under the weather) and issue a call to arms for every entrepreneur who is building something to serve others. Brian breaks down the insane double standard where we can champion sports teams and social causes without a second thought, but feel shame when promoting the very businesses we pour our hearts into. This episode is your official permission slip to stop hiding and start sharing your work with the world — not as an act of ego, but as an act of service.
✨ Why This Matters for You
This mindset shift is crucial for your entrepreneurial journey because:
It reframes marketing from a selfish act to a generous one. You can't help people who don't know you exist.
It gives you the confidence to talk about your products and services without feeling sleazy or apologetic.
It helps you overcome the mental barrier that keeps your business a "best-kept secret."
It reminds you that if you truly believe in what you're building, you have an obligation to share it with those it can help.
It’s a powerful lesson in authenticity and why showing up as your true self is the best marketing you can do.
📝 Key Takeaways
Promotion is Service. Sharing what you’ve built isn’t shameless self-promotion; it’s shameless service to the people you aim to help.
Champion Yourself. We’re trained to champion other companies, sports teams, and causes. It’s time we put that same energy into championing our own work.
You Have an Obligation. If you're creating something for others, you're doing them a disservice by withholding it. Your audience can't benefit from what they don't know about.
Lose the Apology. Stop using phrases like "Sorry for the shameless plug." Own the value you provide and share it confidently.
Authenticity Inspires. Raw, unscripted, and generous content connects deeply and inspires action in others, just as Brian was inspired by his friend's first YouTube video.
Consistency Over Perfection. Brian recorded this episode while sick as a testament to building habits. The lesson? Show up even when it's not easy, because that's what makes it easier in the long run.
🚀 Put It Into Action
This week, let’s practice shameless service:
What is one thing you’ve created or are working on that you’ve been hesitant to share publicly?
Draft a social media post or an email to your list about it.
As you write, consciously remove any apologetic language. Frame it entirely from a place of service and excitement for how it can help others.
Hit "post" or "send" and share your value with the world.
📣 Special Thanks and Shout Out to a Brilliant Entrepreneur!
A huge shout-out and thank you to Michael Philippou, the brilliant entrepreneur behind Big Love (formerly Frozen Fruit Co) in Santa Monica. His text message and the launch of his new YouTube channel were the direct inspiration for this episode. Michael is a phenomenal example of an entrepreneur who leads with generosity and transparency. We highly encourage you to check out his past appearance on the show in episode 308 and subscribe to his new YouTube channel. Thank you, Michael, for shamelessly sharing your journey and inspiring us all to do the same!

In a world saturated with marketing gimmicks and AI-generated fluff, how do you genuinely connect with your ideal clients? George Linville, a lifelong entrepreneur and the co-founder of Outkeep, breaks down why email is still the highest-ROI channel for B2B businesses and reveals how to master it in today's complex landscape. This episode is a masterclass in modern, trust-based marketing that cuts through the noise. George explains why most email campaigns fail and provides a clear, actionable framework for building a system that consistently attracts high-value clients. If you’re tired of chasing shiny objects and want a reliable way to fill your pipeline, this conversation is your roadmap to success.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
The "Bonfire & Fireworks" Strategy: Learn how to create an "always-on" marketing machine with a sustainable cadence of small, consistent content (bonfires) and major events (fireworks) to build a loyal audience.
Why Email is an Algorithm: Discover the hidden signals that inbox providers like Google and Microsoft use to decide if your emails get delivered, and how to stay on their good side.
The Power of Peer-to-Peer Messaging: Find out why dropping the "marketing speak" and adopting a genuine, human tone is the key to building credibility and trust with your prospects.
How to Leverage AI the Right Way: Understand how to use AI as a powerful assistant to enhance your messaging, rather than a crutch that makes you sound generic and kills connection.
The 30-Touch Rule: Uncover why the old "7 touches" rule is dead and how to implement a long-term follow-up strategy that turns cold prospects into ready-to-buy clients without being a pest.
Unlocking the Power of Lurkers: Learn why the people who don't engage with your content are often your most valuable future customers and how to stay top-of-mind for them.
📝 About George Linville 
George Linville is the co-founder and CEO of Outkeep, an innovative email platform designed for modern B2B marketers. A fourth-generation entrepreneur who started his first company at 15, George has a deep background as a B2B sales and marketing leader for fast-growing companies. He created Outkeep to solve the very problems he faced in the trenches: the difficulty of reaching audiences at scale without getting bogged down by technical risk or hurting brand reputation. George’s expertise lies in building trust-based, sustainable marketing systems that drive real business results.
🎯 George’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 
"The follow-through and the professional persistence and the diligence is what really gets you there."
📢 Memorable Quotes
"If you're trying to build trust and respect, this is one of the easiest times in history to do it as a marketer... Most marketers are too reliant on personalization or scripting that comes from AI and it becomes homogenous." – George Linville
"Anyone that's pitching in their first few emails typically is failing. That's the kind of stuff that you and I filter right out of our inbox." – George Linville
"Don't assume inaction or invisibility is not actually someone that's engaged. Those... are the ones that send you a random email you don't expect at all and that are ready to buy." – George Linville
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit Outkeep’s website
Connect with George on LinkedIn
Follow Outkeep on LinkedIn

In this episode, we sit down with Zeyno Dodd, the co-founder of AlgiSense, who is pioneering a technology that could change healthcare forever. Zeyno shares her incredible journey from being a self-proclaimed "engineer maker" obsessed with solving puzzles to becoming an entrepreneur tackling one of humanity's most subjective experiences: pain. She breaks down how her team is using EEG data and ethical AI to create an objective way to measure pain, moving beyond the outdated "1 to 10" scale. For any wantrepreneur or entrepreneur, this episode is a masterclass in how to combine deep technical expertise with a powerful mission, leverage open-source resources to build a proof of concept, and navigate the complex journey of bringing a world-changing idea to market.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
How to transform a personal problem (like chronic migraines) into a scalable and impactful business venture.
The strategy for using open-source data and research to validate your idea and build a prototype without a massive budget.
Why cross-disciplinary collaboration between scientists, engineers, and business leaders is the key to solving complex problems.
The critical mindset shift required to go from a "maker" or "tinkerer" to a market-focused entrepreneur.
How to build a business around ethical AI, ensuring privacy and responsibility are at the core of your technology.
A framework for approaching a long-term vision with short-term, actionable steps focused on validation and building partnerships.
Why you should seek out collaborators and advisors who can challenge your perspective and push your idea forward.
📝 About Zeyno Dodd
Zeyno Dodd is the co-founder and R&D Technology Lead at AlgiSense, a company developing EEG-based digital biomarkers for objective pain detection. With a rich background spanning over two decades in AI systems, data architecture, and computational modeling, Zeyno is a true problem-solver at heart. Her work lies at the unique intersection of neuroscience, ethical AI, and engineering, demonstrating how combining diverse fields can lead to groundbreaking innovation. Zeyno’s journey from architect to AI pioneer gives her a unique, pragmatic perspective on building technology that serves humanity responsibly.
🎯 Zeyno’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"You have to get out [of your focus]... when you sort of look at the meta level you start observing yourself and you start seeing where you're falling behind what needs to be pushed... You can be your self-advisor."
📢 Memorable Quotes
“I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm an engineer maker. I just try to fix something or find a solution something. It's a puzzle.” – Zeyno Dodd
“We tend to turn things into either tragedies or... a very bleak feature. These things happen in cycles... I cannot deny the fact that there has been no way for me to get this far and get this kind of platform up without AI's help. It's a symbiosis.” – Zeyno Dodd
"It's important to take what you do very seriously and very passionately, but it's also good to sort of get out and look at it from a meta level." – Zeyno Dodd
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit AlgiSense’s website
Connect with Zeyno on LinkedIn
Follow AlgiSense on LinkedIn

Tired of sales feeling like a slot machine where you just pull the lever and hope for the best? In this game-changing episode, sales expert Jonny Holsten introduces the BridgeSelling System, a practical framework designed to turn your chaotic sales conversations into a repeatable, predictable assembly line. Jonny breaks down why most sales processes fail and provides a clear path to shorter sales cycles, higher close rates, and less frustration. This episode is packed with value for any founder who is currently the lead salesperson or is looking to build a team, offering a concrete system to qualify leads, handle objections, and close deals with confidence. Learn how to stop “winging it” and start building a sales engine that truly drives your business forward.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
How to transform your random sales approach into a repeatable “assembly line” that consistently closes deals.
The "Bridge Fit" framework: A 4-point checklist to qualify leads so you only spend time with ideal buyers.
Powerful techniques to uncover and address “unspoken objections” — the real reason 40-60% of deals stall.
The simple 3-step plan to end every sales call, eliminating indecision and escaping “follow-up hell.”
How to analyze your own successful sales calls to build a scalable process that a new hire can execute effectively.
Why discounting is a dangerous trap and what to ask instead to address a prospect's true decision-making criteria.
How to make your sales process more objective and less subjective, giving you clear data on what works and what doesn't.
📝 About Jonny Holsten
Jonny Holsten is the creator of the BridgeSelling System, a practical framework that helps sales teams close more deals and equips leaders to improve their reps' effectiveness. After seeing countless sales conversations fall apart from a lack of structure, he developed his framework to help businesses design repeatable calls that are easy to teach and score. As the best-selling author of "Fix Your Broken Sales Calls," Jonny’s expertise lies in transforming the intuitive genius of top-performing founders into a scalable system that anyone on the team can use to win.
🎯 Jonny’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"I don't think I even found the success I wanted to see in business until I stopped caring about being an entrepreneur... It became more about the clients, the projects, the outcomes, the wins."
📢 Memorable Quotes
“Take [sales] from being a slot machine where we're just kind of pulling the crank and hoping it closes and take it from a slot machine to an assembly line.” – Jonny Holsten
“You won't be able to teach someone to wing it, but you can teach someone if you can accurately replicate what you're doing that's successful.” – Jonny Holsten
“Of the deals that don't close, 40 to 60 percent of them don't close because of indecision... How can we design our sales process to get all the unspoken objections out on the table?” – Jonny Holsten
🔗 Links & Resources
Visit BridgeSelling’s website
Connect with Jonny on LinkedIn
Follow BridgeSelling on LinkedIn
Get the book: Fix Your Broken Sales Calls