Exit-Ed: Stories From Grind to Sale

Thorsten Unger has been building companies since 1999, starting as a video game developer in Germany and eventually leading the German Games Industry Association as its chief lobbyist. In this episode, Thorsten shares the story behind his two exits, what went wrong the first time around, and why doing your homework on the buyer matters more than most founders realize. He gets candid about the ethi...

Kelly Parker turned a side hustle in corporate gifting into a fully bootstrapped business that caught the attention of Urban Stems, a venture-backed floral and gifting company. In this episode, Kelly shares how a simple coffee meeting years before the deal planted the seed for her acquisition, why she chose equity over cash at exit, and what it really feels like to go from being your own boss to j...

In this episode of Exit-Ed: Stories from Grind to Sale, Gabriela Smith interviews Joseph Hanna, a seasoned technology executive, founder, and author whose career spans from software engineering in the 1990s to building and exiting an AI-driven HR analytics company. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, Joseph began his career at Oracle before moving to the U.S. in his mid-20s. After years in leade...

In this episode of Exit-Ed: Stories from Grind to Sale, Gabriela Smith interviews Tom McKeown, founder and former CEO of Trend Data. Tom shares how, at age 56, he left a long corporate career to build and sell a successful HR analytics company—proving it’s never too late to become an entrepreneur. Trend Data, founded in 2017, used AI-driven people analytics to help companies identify workforce tre...

In this episode of Exit-Ed: Stories from Grind to Sale, Gabriela Smith interviews lifelong entrepreneur Maggie Lord about her journey from childhood ventures to selling Rustic Wedding Chic to David’s Bridal. Maggie shares how her entrepreneurial spirit started early, from selling seashells as a child to turning her love of creativity into a nationally recognized digital brand. Rustic Wedding Chic...

In this global edition of Exit-Ed , host Gabriela Smith sits down with Iago Rodríguez, a technical founder whose quiet persistence helped grow a boutique software development company into a 300-person multinational operation—and ultimately led to a strategic exit. Originally from Spain and based in Argentina, Iago shares the winding, 15-year journey that began with four freelancers and culminated...

In this energizing and honest episode of Exit-Ed , host Gabriela Smith speaks with Nicaraguan-born founder and Dallas-based entrepreneur Tatiana Chamorro. Tatiana opens up about her evolution from college student and young mom to serial founder, franchise builder, and now Chief Marketing Officer of an innovative cocktail startup. Her journey is packed with sharp business insight, heartfelt lessons...

In this deeply candid episode of Exit-Ed , host Gabriela Smith sits down with entrepreneur Skip Johnson for a raw, reflective, and highly practical conversation about what it really takes to scale a business—and then let it go. Skip, a former architect turned financial services founder, shares the winding path that led him from small-town Minnesota to co-founding a retirement planning firm that sc...

In this episode of Exited: Stories from Grind to Sale , host Gabriela Smith welcomes Atlanta-based entrepreneur Andy Smith to explore the candid highs and lows of building, scaling, and exiting businesses. Andy opens up about his transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, driven by a sense of frustration and confinement in traditional roles. In 2007, he co-founded his first company w...

Episode 2:   Disrupting ‘I Do’: How This Exit-Ed Founder Revolutionized the Wedding Industry Hosted by Gabriela Smith In this episode of Exit-Ed , Gabriela Smith sits down with visionary founder Ashley Hawks to discuss her remarkable journey from helping out in her mother’s bridal shop to co-founding, scaling, and ultimately exiting Forever Bride , a company that revolutionized the wedding industr...

In this debut episode of Exit-Ed , host Gabriela Smith lays the foundation for a bold new podcast that dives deep into the untold stories of everyday entrepreneurs who’ve built, scaled, and exited real businesses—without the flash and fame. Gaby, an attorney-turned-founder, shares her perspective from almost two decades of experience working with entrepreneurs from inception to exit. From multi-mi...

In the trailer for Exit-ed , host Gabriela Smith introduces a podcast dedicated to shining a light on the untold, real stories of entrepreneurs who have built and sold their companies—without making the national headlines. Drawing on her dual identity as a lawyer and entrepreneur, Gabriela shares her perspective on how entrepreneurial journeys are rarely linear, often underrepresented, and vastly...