Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business

Digna Deleon-Morris shares her incredible journey from arriving in the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and earning $5.25 an hour, to climbing the corporate ladder and managing an $82 million territory, only to realize she was a "slave to corporate America." This episode is a masterclass in radical transformation, as Digna opens up about the 6-year internal battle to shift from an employee mindset to an entrepreneurial one, the devastating financial loss that forced her to learn how money really works, and how she rebuilt a purpose-driven empire from scratch. For any wantrepreneur feeling stuck or any entrepreneur facing a setback, Digna’s story is raw, inspiring, and packed with the actionable wisdom you need to build a life and business on your own terms.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
How to navigate the 6-year mental transformation from a security-seeking employee to a risk-taking entrepreneur.
Why financial literacy is the most critical, yet overlooked, skill for building a sustainable and resilient business.
The powerful "7 Whys" exercise to uncover your deepest motivation and use it as unstoppable fuel during tough times.
How to reframe catastrophic failure not as starting from zero, but as starting over with priceless experience.
The blueprint for creating a scalable business model that empowers others to succeed alongside you.
Why your business can never outgrow your personal development and how to "work harder on you than you do on your job."
📝 About Digna Deleon-Morris
Digna Deleon-Morris is a nationally recognized entrepreneur, financial educator, and the co-founder of Nationwide Financial Firm. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she built a highly successful corporate career before a major financial setback became the catalyst for her entrepreneurial journey. Alongside her husband, she built a scalable virtual business that has empowered hundreds of agents to launch their own agencies. Today, Digna is on a mission to provide Hispanic families with the financial education needed to build wealth, gain confidence, and create a lasting legacy.
🎯 Digna’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Give yourself the gift of the first hour of your day to consciously design the life you want in the next 90 days."
📢 Memorable Quotes
"You never start from zero. We start with experience, we start with whatever didn't work before and all the other things that I did." – Digna Deleon-Morris
"Your business will never outgrow who you are and who you think you are, the image of yourself that you have." – Digna Deleon-Morris
"Work harder on you than you do on your job. And I was like, that's so profound and it's so simple, but then it's simple not to do. And I decided to do it." – Digna Deleon-Morris
💡 Actionable Takeaways
✅ Implement the 90-day planning system. Sit down today and map out your goals for the next 90 days across the 7 life areas Digna outlined.
✅ Find your "why." Ask yourself "why" you want to succeed seven times, writing down each answer to get to the core emotional driver behind your ambition.
✅ Invest in your financial education. Pick one book (like a Robert Kiyosaki classic) or find a mentor to start learning how to make your money work for you, not just how to earn more of it.
✅ Reframe your schedule. Identify the hours outside of your 9-to-5 where you can build your "new identity" and business, just as Digna did after 5 PM.
🔗 Links & Resources
Website: https://www.joinnationwidefinancialfirm.com
Connect with Digna on LinkedIn
Follow Digna on Instagram

Ever created something—a social media post, a proposal, an email—and hesitated to send it because it just wasn't "perfect"? This Solo Sunday, Brian pulls back the curtain on a first-time event in the show's 1,500+ episode history: a brilliant guest interview that will never see the light of day. In this transparent episode, Brian shares the story of why the episode was pulled and the profound lesson it sparked about perfectionism, impact, and the courage to "hit publish." This isn't just a story about a podcast; it's a powerful reminder that the world is changed by imperfect action, not by ideas that stay locked away waiting for the perfect moment.
✨ Why This Matters for You
This episode is a permission slip to take imperfect action:
It helps you overcome the analysis paralysis that keeps you from launching, posting, and pitching.
It reframes your "flaws" and "mistakes" by reminding you that your audience is listening through their own lens, looking for value that helps them.
It highlights the real cost of waiting for perfection: someone, somewhere, is missing out on the exact message they need to hear from you.
It shifts your focus from your own performance to the service of your audience.
📝 Key Takeaways
The World Changes Through Publishing. "Publishing" isn't just for content creators; it means launching your business, pitching that client, making that hire, or sending that proposal. Progress only happens when you act.
Your Message Isn't About You. Listeners and customers consume everything through the lens of "how does this apply to me?" They aren't judging your delivery; they're looking for solutions to their problems.
Imperfect Action Creates Real Impact. Brian shares a powerful story about a listener in Egypt whose life was changed by the show's early, inconsistent, and "imperfect" episodes. Your "good enough" is often exactly what someone needs.
Don't Rob People of Your Value. When you hold back because you feel you weren't at your best, you prevent your stories, lessons, and experiences from reaching the people they were meant to serve.
Conversations Aren't Perfect. Entrepreneurship is a conversation, not a performance. Tangents, stumbles, and unpolished thoughts are often where the most relatable and valuable insights are found.
🚀 Put It Into Action
This week, conduct an "Imperfect Action Audit" on your business:
What is one thing you've been holding back on because you're waiting for it to be perfect? (A blog post, a new offer, a cold email, a social media video?)
Ask yourself: "What's the 'good enough' version of this that I could ship today?"
Commit to "hitting publish" on that one thing this week. Don't overthink it. Just get it out there and let it start working for you.
🔗 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 permission to stop waiting and start doing.

Dr. John Lunsford, founder of Tethral and former AI leader at Uber, joins the show for a mind-bending conversation about the true frontier of artificial intelligence: our daily lives. John breaks down how the tech we’ve been promised for decades is finally here, moving beyond simple rules into complex, adaptive reasoning that can manage the "messiness" of human life. This episode is a masterclass for entrepreneurs on systems thinking, identifying billion-dollar opportunities in everyday problems, and the critical importance of building user trust to drive adoption for revolutionary products. John's unique experience at the intersection of powerful tech and human behavior provides an invaluable blueprint for any founder looking to build the future, responsibly.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
How to turn a personal inconvenience (like a wildfire warning) into a scalable, tech-driven business solution.
Why the biggest opportunities for entrepreneurs lie in solving for the “middleware” role humans currently play between broken systems.
The crucial shift from rigid, rule-based automation (like IFTTT) to flexible, AI-powered reasoning that can adapt to unforeseen circumstances.
How to build user trust for groundbreaking technology by meeting customers where they are, instead of forcing adoption.
Why embracing human "messiness" and inconsistency is key to designing products that people will actually integrate into their lives.
The founder’s mindset: how thinking about home automation can rewire your brain to build better, more logical systems in your business.
📝 About John Lunsford
Dr. John Lunsford is the founder and CEO of Tethral, an AI company focused on integrating intelligent systems into the fabric of daily life. With a PhD from Cornell and 20 years of experience working the seam between technology and people, John has been at the forefront of AI innovation. His impactful career includes shipping Uber Teens, authoring Uber's first generative AI policy, and co-leading their enterprise design partnership with OpenAI. John’s unique perspective is built on a simple conviction: the next frontier for AI is navigating the beautiful chaos of our everyday lives.
🎯 John’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Being excited and... finding small ways to remind yourself like why you do this, why this excites you, why this is important is helpful."
📢 Memorable Quotes
“It's one thing to say we break things when we think about technical systems. It's another thing to say break things when those things are the intelligences that we are starting to live our daily lives with.” – John Lunsford
“People are messy, but we're enormously flexible... Getting AI to engage with hardware and software and things to help pick up some of that messy burden is definitely where the frontier is going.” – John Lunsford
“It's much harder to approach your day with excitement if you don't feel it for your project. And it's also hard to sell why this is important to others if you yourself can't get excited about it.” – John Lunsford
💡 Actionable Takeaways
✅ Reframe daily annoyances as business opportunities. The next time a system or process frustrates you, ask yourself: "How could AI or better automation solve this?"
✅ Prioritize building trust when launching a new product. Meet your users where they are by starting with simple, high-value solutions before introducing more complex features.
✅ Upgrade your business systems from "if-then" logic to "if-then-figure-it-out" models. Empower your team and tools with the context they need to reason and adapt.
✅ Schedule a weekly "Founder's Fire" reminder. Block 15 minutes to reflect on why you started your business and what excites you most about your vision.
✅ Design for flexibility. Whether it's a software product or a customer service policy, build in adaptability to account for the natural inconsistencies of your users.
🔗 Links & Resources
Website: https://tethral.ai/
Connect with John on LinkedIn
Follow Tethral, Inc. on LinkedIn

If you’re an expert in your field with a game-changing software idea but no idea how to build it, this episode is your roadmap. We’re joined by Warren Johnson, the founder and co-CEO of Plexor Labs, who has cracked the code on turning domain expertise into market-ready products. Warren shares his incredible journey from a nearly two-decade career at Microsoft to becoming a substitute teacher and eventually graduating from Harvard with a master's in education, all of which shaped his unique approach to entrepreneurship. This episode is packed with value, as Warren breaks down why the "Minimally Viable Product" (MVP) is dead and how you should be focusing on the "Minimally Sellable Product" (MSP) to get real traction and validation from day one.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
💰 From MVP to MSP: Learn why the "Minimally Sellable Product" is the new standard for startups and how to build something a customer will actually pay for from the start.
🤝 The Power of Co-Creation: Discover how to effectively translate your vision into technical specs by co-authoring use cases with a technical partner, even if you’re not a coder.
🧠 Own Your Assets: Understand the critical importance of owning your IP and code when working with development partners, turning your software into a durable, long-term asset.
🎯 Finding Your Beachhead: Hear Warren’s transparent story about failing to sell to YC founders and how that expensive mistake led him to his ideal customer profile (ICP).
🚀 AI as an Augmentation Tool: Dispel the myth of "AI vs. Humans" and learn how to leverage AI to augment your team's intelligence and accelerate execution, not replace it.
Learning on the Margins: Uncover how non-business activities, from intramural sports to personal hobbies, can become your richest sources of entrepreneurial learning and insight.
📝 About Warren Johnson
Warren Johnson is the founder and co-CEO of Plexor Labs, a company dedicated to helping domain experts build and launch software products without the traditional hurdles. After an 18-year tenure shipping software at Microsoft, Warren made a profound career shift into education, earning degrees from the University of Washington and a master's from Harvard in Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology. His unique perspective harmonizes deep technical expertise with a profound understanding of learning and human motivation, making him the perfect guide for entrepreneurs looking to transform their knowledge into a scalable business.
🎯 Warren’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
The most powerful and truthful validation mechanism for your business idea is to get on the phone and actually try to sell it to people.
📢 Memorable Quotes
"The thing I think that matters now is not the MVP, it's the MSP, the minimally sellable product." – Warren Johnson
"The secret to learning… it's intrinsic motivation… you have to figure out what is important to you, what is meaningful, and that will be the most powerful learning mechanism that you ever have." – Warren Johnson
"We tend to play very nicely and love working with real humans that want to augment their own intelligence, learn from the system, and kind of execute together." – Warren Johnson
💡 Actionable Takeaways
✅ Define Your MSP: Instead of a simple prototype, map out the smallest set of features a customer would genuinely pay for. This is your new starting line.
✅ Start Selling Today: Get on the phone with potential customers this week. Don't pitch a finished product; pitch a solution to their problem and gauge their willingness to pay.
✅ Seek Honest Advisors: Find mentors or advisors who will challenge your assumptions, not just cheer you on. Ask for advice, not just money.
✅ Schedule "Margin Time": Intentionally block time for a hobby or activity completely unrelated to your business to spark new ways of thinking and prevent burnout.
✅ Audit Your Partnerships: If you're working with outside developers, review your agreements to ensure you have full ownership of the code and intellectual property.
🔗 Links & Resources
Website: https://plexorlabs.com/
Connect with Warren on LinkedIn
Follow Plexor Labs on LinkedIn

Tired of making hiring decisions based on gut feelings and resumes that only tell half the story? This episode is your guide to a revolutionary new approach. We sit down with Logan Yonavjak, a two-time founder and CEO of The Readiness Engine, a company that's changing how we understand leadership. Logan breaks down the critical difference between "experience" (where someone has been) and "readiness" (where they can go). She reveals how her company uses AI and developmental psychology to analyze transcripts and measure the hidden drivers of leadership potential, like strategic complexity and coachability. For any entrepreneur struggling with team building, hiring, or scaling, this episode provides a data-driven framework to reduce people-related risks and build a team truly capable of handling future growth.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
🚀 Why "experience" is a limited metric and how to start measuring a candidate's future potential and capacity to grow with your company.
🤖 How to leverage AI and transcript analysis to objectively assess leadership capacity, reduce hiring bias, and move beyond simple "gut feelings."
🧠 The difference between static personality tests (like Myers-Briggs) and dynamic developmental psychology for understanding your team's true growth trajectory.
📈 How to identify and measure critical leadership traits like strategic complexity and coachability to ensure your team can handle the pressures of scaling.
🤝 A new framework for structuring teams that reduces internal friction and aligns individual capacities with the right roles for maximum impact.
💡 Why deep self-awareness of your own leadership capacities is the crucial first step to building a resilient, high-growth company.
📝 About Logan Yonavjak
Logan Yonavjak is the co-founder and CEO of The Readiness Engine, a leadership intelligence company that measures the hidden drivers of leadership capacity. With a unique background that blends human psychology, impact investing, and data science, she brings a powerful new perspective to building high-performing teams. A two-time founder who has helped move hundreds of millions in capital, Logan holds an MBA and a Master of Forestry from Yale. She is an expert at the intersection of capital, leadership, and long-term value creation, making her a vital voice for any entrepreneur looking to build a business that lasts.
🎯 Logan’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"You can save yourself so much time and angst and suffering if you know yourself better and what you're capable of."
📢 Memorable Quotes
“Experience tells you where they’ve been, readiness tells you where they can go.” – Logan Yonavjak
“Human judgment is still incredibly valuable, but can we augment it and at the very least be required to state our biases when making a decision.” – Logan Yonavjak
“A lot of people want to be entrepreneurs... and then they get into the role, and they just can't handle the complexity.” – Logan Yonavjak
💡 Actionable Takeaways
✅ Re-evaluate your hiring process. Ask yourself if you are over-indexing on past experience instead of assessing a candidate's capacity for future growth and complexity.
✅ Leverage your existing data. Use the transcripts from your Zoom meetings or sales calls to gain objective insights into your team's communication patterns and problem-solving abilities.
✅ Practice stating your biases. Before making your next key people decision, consciously articulate your gut feelings and potential biases to a co-founder, mentor, or advisor to ensure a more objective outcome.
✅ Conduct a "Readiness Ikigai" self-assessment. Map out what you're good at, what the world needs, what you can be paid for, AND what you honestly have the capacity for right now.
🔗 Links & Resources
Website: https://www.readinessengine.io
Connect with Logan on LinkedIn
Follow The Readiness Engine on LinkedIn