Building a Business: Grit & Grace

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova and Jores Minasvand return to a conversation every business owner needs, especially in times of rapid change: going back to the fundamentals. With AI evolving quickly and new tools appearing every day, it’s easy to get caught up in what’s changing. But as Anna and Jores explore, long-term success in business comes from staying...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova and Jores Minasvand explore a topic that is often overlooked in business conversations: the power of genuinely caring about people. Inspired by the book Read Your Mind by mentalist Oz Pearlman, Anna reflects on a powerful idea from the book’s chapter Focus on Others, and how shifting our attention from ourselves to others can...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova and Jores Minasvand introduce a new format for 2026, sharing business insights inspired by books Anna is reading. This week’s reflection comes from The Story of Us by Catherine Hernandez. While the novel follows the journey of a Filipino overseas worker navigating family, money, migration, and marriage, Anna explores three pow...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, host Anna Angelova sits down with Sarah Albo, a certified workplace mediator, conflict coach, and psychological health and safety consultant, to explore one of the most overlooked leadership skills in business: how we handle conflict. Sarah shares her winding career journey from training as a psychotherapist, to working in her family busine...

In this solo training episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova explores what it truly means to become a visionary business leader and why this isn’t something reserved for famous founders or “special” people. This episode is about leadership from the inside out. Anna breaks down the idea that businesses don’t grow first, people do. And becoming a stronger, more intentional l...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, host Anna Angelova sits down with Jores Minasvand (longtime independent consultant, co-host of the podcast, and co-founder of Leficomp) to unpack what it really means to build a business as an independent contractor. With over 30 years of experience across technology, finance, energy, healthcare, education, and manufacturing, Jores shares h...

In this first episode of 2026, Anna Angelova and Jores Minasvand kick off the year with a grounded, honest conversation about goal setting and why most goals fail long before February. This isn’t about ambitious resolutions or pressure-filled plans. It’s about setting goals that actually support the business and life you want to live and knowing how to adjust them as the year unfolds. In this epis...

In this solo episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova breaks down one of the most important, yet often ignored, foundations of every successful business: your customer journey. Drawing from her work with founders inside Launch360 and the Visionary Founders Club, Anna explains that when people don’t know what to do next, they do nothing. And that’s why mapping your customer j...

In this uplifting episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, host Anna Angelova sits down with Cathy Nesbitt, a serial entrepreneur, laughter yoga teacher, and the founder of Cathy’s Club, Cathy’s Crawly Composters, and Cathy’s Sprouters. Three ventures that prove purpose, joy, and sustainability can all grow together. Cathy’s journey began with worms and waste, literally. What started as a...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova and Jores Minasvand dive into one of the most overlooked topics in entrepreneurship: self-care as a business strategy. As coaches and business owners themselves, Anna and Jores know firsthand that your business will never outgrow you. That’s why this conversation is all about how to protect your most valuable asset: you. From...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, host Anna Angelova talks with Daniel Krikorian, founder of B.Remembered Studio, a platform transforming how wedding vendors manage, scale, and serve their clients. Daniel shares how one unexpected photography gig during the pandemic sparked a business that grew from a handful of weddings to over 1,200 events a year. And how that journey rev...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, host Anna Angelova sits down with Don Elliott, a creative entrepreneur whose journey bridges two very different worlds: digital marketing and craft beer. Don is the owner of Gravitate, a leading digital marketing and web design agency that’s been helping brands grow since the dawn of the internet, and Pour Choices, a community-centered pub...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, host Anna Angelova sits down with Mandy Wong, a mom of two, corporate leader, and certified coach who’s building her coaching practice while thriving in her full-time leadership role as a Director at a Canadian corporation. Mandy shares how she balanced ambition and family over the past eight years. From pausing her coaching dreams after ce...

This episode is a special one. A crossover between More Than Just Task Management and Building a Business: Grit & Grace. After months of hosting two separate shows, Anna Angelova and Jores Minasvand sit down together to share an exciting update: the two podcasts are merging! In this heartfelt and energizing conversation, Anna and Jores reflect on: How Building a Business: Grit & Grace bega...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova talks with Brian and Sally Krichbaum, owners of Gilbert Chocolates, one of Michigan’s oldest and most beloved chocolate makers, now celebrating 125 years in business. Brian and Sally share their inspiring journey from corporate careers and community work to taking over a century-old brand and tripling its size. They discuss th...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova sits down with Daniel McPherson, founder of Leketa Group. What started as a simple tax decision grew into a multi-division company spanning heavy equipment parts, digital marketing, and sales enhancement. All built on relationships, reputation, and a deep commitment to helping others. Dan shares how his unconventional journey...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova speaks with Maxime Girard, founder of Dextra Advisory and fellow Rotman MBA graduate. Max shares his journey from corporate finance to building a thriving fractional CFO and advisory practice that now supports businesses with everything from operational finance to capital strategy. He opens up about the challenges of losing a...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova speaks with Sandrine Makaron, an award-winning insurance advisor and leader at Yorkville Young Financial Solutions. Sandrine opens up about her journey from an international student to building her own book of business in Canada and the grit it takes to step away from corporate security into entrepreneurship. She shares candid...

In this episode of Building a Business: Grit & Grace, Anna Angelova sits down with Amna Nawab, a textile designer turned entrepreneur who built her business in one of the most uncertain times - the early days of the pandemic. Amna shares her journey from working in the textile industry in Pakistan and Dubai to starting over as a single mother in Canada, creating a business that blends fiber ar...

In this debut episode, host Anna Angelova shares the story behind Building a Business: Grit & Grace. Why it was created, who it’s for, and what you can expect each week. This podcast isn’t about billion-dollar unicorns. It’s about real small- and mid-sized business owners from around the world, from coffee shop owners to consultants, sharing their authentic journeys, lessons learned, and the g...