Free Agent with Meg Schmitz

Most business owners don't realize they're building a job they can never leave. Jane Tereba explains why planning your exit starts long before you're ready to sell—and how creating a business that can thrive without you is the ultimate measure of success. If freedom is the goal, this conversation will change how you think about ownership.

Owning a business can create opportunity, freedom, and wealth—but it can also expose every weakness in your thinking. Zac Jennings shares what he's learned about leadership, ownership, and the realities that don't show up in the sales brochure. If you're considering entrepreneurship, this conversation may save you from chasing the wrong thing for the right reasons.  

  Most people wait until they have certainty before making a move. Bob Dalton's story is a reminder that the biggest opportunities often appear long before the rest of the world recognizes them—and the people who benefit most are those willing to act before the outcome is guaranteed. If you're questioning what's next in your career, your investments, or your future, this conversation will challeng...

Money touches every part of life—our relationships, our confidence, our choices, and sometimes even our deepest fears. In this conversation, Jeannie Dougherty shares how personal loss, family dynamics, and hard-earned financial lessons shaped her understanding of what true financial independence really means. If you've ever avoided a money conversation, inherited financial stress, or wondered whet...

Sara Bell spent years doing what high performers are taught to do: achieve more, carry more, push through more. From the outside, the title looked impressive. But underneath the success was exhaustion, pressure, and the quiet realization that constantly holding it all together was costing her more than she wanted to admit. In this episode of the Free Agent Podcast, Sara and I unpack the invisible...

For years, Kate Lewis did everything right on paper—career, responsibility, success. But beneath the surface, the pressure of holding everything together led to a deeper realization: burnout wasn't the problem... it was the warning sign. In this episode of the Free Agent Podcast, Kate shares the honest conversation more high-achieving women are starting to have about identity, exhaustion, reinvent...

Money is changing—and women are at the center of it. In this episode,  Barbara Provost  joins Meg to unpack the Great Wealth Transfer and what it means for how women think about income, control, and long-term security in today's economy. If you're reconsidering how your current path fits into that shift, this conversation will help you see your options more clearly.  

Mike DeJong did everything the traditional path told him to do—work hard, stay loyal, keep climbing. But when the payoff no longer matched the effort, he started asking a better question: what if ownership is the smarter move? In this episode, Mike shares what pushed him to rethink security, how he researched franchising, and what professionals need to see before making their next move.

Most businesses spend years chasing customers. Catherine Wilson built one where demand kept rising, forcing her to solve a rarer problem—how to grow capacity without breaking the business. In this episode of  Free Agent Podcast , she shares what made her company attractive to buyers, why she chose to work with a business broker instead of handling the sale alone, and what owners often miss when it...

A lot of smart people are quietly wondering if the version of security they trusted still works. In this conversation, Camille Hamilton reflects on leaving corporate life, building something of her own, and how freedom often comes with stress, responsibility, and rewards no paycheck can replicate. If you've been feeling the tension between staying where you are and becoming who you're meant to be,...

You don't get the luxury of guessing when the stakes are this high. My conversation with Leah Rosen pulls back the curtain on what it  really looks like to reinvent yourself mid-career, when income, identity, and responsibility are all on the line. If you've been waiting for certainty before making a move, this will challenge you to rethink what "safe" actually means.

You're not stuck—you're standing on the edge, waiting to feel certain before you step in. In this conversation with Chad Coe, Meg exposes the quiet habit high performers fall into: trying to think their way into clarity instead of getting close enough to see what's real. If you've been circling the decision but not moving, this will show you what's actually holding you back and why the next move i...

You don't need more experience. You need a smarter way to move. This episode breaks down why seasoned professionals still struggle when they ignore the system and how franchising removes the guesswork. If you're weighing your next move, this will challenge what you think you need before you start.

Kendall made the leap to freedom 2 years ago, not knowing exactly how it would unfold. At the time, her career was getting in the way of the life she wanted at home, and something had to change. Kendall updates us on what it really takes to build a life that feels like your own.

Some people chase entrepreneurship. Others arrive there after seeing how the system really works. Jonathan Chizever spent years in commission sales watching rules change, income swing, and control stay in someone else's hands until the risk of staying put finally stopped making sense. In this conversation, he shares the moment the math flipped, why franchising became the smarter path, and how he a...

If "safe" has started to feel risky, you are not imagining things. In this episode, Meg talks with Shahayra Majumder, a first-time franchise owner bringing Hydrate IV Bar to Madison, WI, about what it looks like to leave a paycheck because it no longer buys peace. They get real about the shift from high performer to owner, the imposter thoughts nobody admits, and why a proven system can be the sma...

Something feels off in leadership right now, and most people can sense it even if they can't name it. Leadership is being quietly redefined. In this episode, Meg sits down with Tim Spiker to unpack why trust begins with who you are not what you do, how insecure leadership creates real damage, and why inwardly sound, others-focused leaders consistently outperform. If you're questioning whom to foll...

Most career wake-up calls don't come from failure. They come when everything still looks good on paper, but your body, values, or sense of control start asking harder questions. In this episode of the  Free Agent Podcast , Meg Schmitz and Dawn Mullarney talk about the moment experienced executives and fractional professionals reach when staying put feels riskier than moving, yet the next step has...

Most leaders think risk is financial, until one bad hire starts running the business from the shadows. Erin Longmoon shares how her own run of toxic workplaces shaped her mission to eradicate them, and how Zephyr Connects vets people for character, coachability, and culture fit, not just a good resume. If you're hiring staff or considering ownership, this episode helps you spot cultural red flags...

When income becomes less predictable, experienced leaders begin asking different questions about stability and control. In this episode, Meg Schmitz talks with business owner Samuel Espindola about what it really takes to build predictable revenue when responsibility for your family's future is on the line. This conversation is for seasoned professionals weighing ownership carefully—and looking fo...

In Part 2 of Meg's conversation with Melinda Emerson, the focus shifts from  why  to  who you become after you buy a business. They talk candidly about the identity corporate life creates — titles, distance from the work, and the quiet arrogance that can follow you into ownership. Melinda explains why real owners roll up their sleeves, switch roles without ego, and do whatever the business needs t...

When the call is clear but the path feels messy, most people mistake discomfort for a stop sign. In this episode, Meg sits down with Melinda Emerson (SmallBizLady) to explore what happens after momentary ambition fades—when faith, fear, and real-world pressure collide. Melinda shares how losing control of her business, her marriage, and her certainty became the proving ground for her purpose. Toge...

In this episode, Bill shares how he went from SEAL training to buying a 65-year-old manufacturing company, navigating turnover, building a high-performance team, and using automation to help people earn more—not get replaced. He also opens up about stepping into (and back out of) politics, and why lifelong "forward-skilling" matters as industries shift fast. If you're over corporate, craving missi...

Fatima didn't leave social work because she stopped caring. She left because the cost of caring became too high. After years of holding other people's trauma, her own body and spirit demanded a new kind of life. In this powerful conversation, Fatima shares how she transformed burnout into a career rooted in healing, inclusivity, and conscious touch. Her journey offers a blueprint for anyone naviga...

Matasha didn't fast-track her way into entrepreneurship — she played the long game, rebuilding her skills and timing her move while carrying the full weight of being the only income. Her story is one of patience and calculation, proof that steady planning can matter just as much as the dream itself. For anyone wondering how to start something with the skills they already have and almost no extra r...