The Reluctant Entrepreneur Podcast

On this podcast, we look at what it truly means to start, grow, and lead a business, through conversations with people who have experienced it firsthand. My guest today is Todd Hagopian, a business transformation expert, author, and former company owner who has led multiple corporate turnarounds and scaled and sold his own business.  Todd is best known for his work helping organizations identify s...

Today’s guest is Jen Fizer, CEO of MKB & Co., a fractional CFO and bookkeeping firm that works primarily with blue-collar businesses, while also supporting companies across a wide range of industries.  Jen helps business owners understand what their numbers are actually telling them, especially when profit on paper doesn’t translate into cash in the bank. This episode is broken into two parts....

Today on the Reluctant Entrepreneur podcast, we're joined by Anders Boulanger, CEO and founder of Engageify, professional speaker, performance expert, author of Engage First, and once a magician who learned early how to captivate an audience and turn attention into connection.  For nearly two decades, Anders has merged performance, psychology, and human interaction into a business that helps compa...

What stops most businesses from growing isn’t the market, the competition, or even capital. It’s the founder’s inability to break through their own growth barriers.  Today’s guest has spent more than three decades helping entrepreneurs make what he calls the 10X Leap, the shift from operator to owner, from plateau to scalable growth. If you’ve ever wondered what truly makes a company investable, o...

My guest today is Lance Cayko, co-founder and principal of F9 Productions, a Colorado-based architecture and design-build firm. Lance didn’t start his career behind a desk. He began in the trades, working as a carpenter and contractor across North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho before earning his degrees in architecture and co-founding his own firm.  That hands-on background continues to shape how he...

Today, I’m thrilled to introduce a guest who knows how to get both laughs and launches. Meet Leanne Linsky, comedian-turned-tech-founder and the creative force behind Plauzzable. Leanne grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, and began her academic journey studying business management at the College of Lake County. She went on to earn a bachelors in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, La...

My guest today is Roy Osing, a former company president, CMO, and entrepreneur who took a startup internet company to a billion dollars in sales. Roy is the author of the bold and bestselling business series Be Different or Be Dead, where he shares what he calls his “audacious, unheard-of ways” of achieving extraordinary growth. With more than 40 years of executive leadership experience, Roy has b...

Today, I’m joined by Austin Bonderer, a seasoned patent attorney whose career has spanned both sides of the patent world — from serving as a U.S. Patent Examiner to founding his own law practice.  With more than 690 issued U.S. patents to his name,  Austin has helped inventors and companies protect their ideas across industries, including leading nanotechnology patent prosecution for a Fortune Glo...

Today, I’m joined by Lindy Nowak, founder and CEO of Up in a Day—a company that’s revolutionizing how small businesses launch their online presence. After more than a decade as a creative director in New York City, working with major brands like L’Oréal and Women’s Health, Lindy traded the fast-paced corporate world for the even faster world of entrepreneurship.  Her mission? To help entrepreneurs...

In this episode, I’m joined by Nicky Billou, a thought leadership expert, bestselling author, and founder of eCircle Academy.  Nicky has built his career helping coaches, consultants, and business owners transform from hidden experts into recognized authorities in their fields. An immigrant who fled Iran with his family in search of freedom, Nicky’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and pur...

Behind every “successful entrepreneur” is a long list of mistakes, sacrifices, and lessons most people never hear about. There’s no guest today. No interview. No spotlight on someone else’s story. This episode is about reflection and gratitude. When I launched The Reluctant Entrepreneur, I had a very specific goal in mind. I didn’t want to create another show that glorified entrepreneurship or rom...

My guest today is Billy Sammons, founder of Live Local Warm Marketing, a company that helps entrepreneurs and service-based professionals grow their businesses through authentic connection rather than cold outreach or high-pressure tactics. In this episode, we’ll talk about Billy’s entrepreneurial journey, how he built Live Local Warm Marketing and the lessons he’s learned along the way.  We’ll al...

In this episode, I’m joined by Christian Brim, CEO and founder of CORE Group, a financial advisory firm that helps small business owners—especially creative professionals, achieve clarity and profitability through systems like Profit First. Christian’s path to entrepreneurship wasn’t paved with early success. In fact, his story begins with family bankruptcy, a humbling experience that reshaped the...

Wes Towers is the founder of Uplift360, an Australian-based marketing agency that focuses on what he calls “Search Everywhere Optimization". He’s also the author of The Simple Manifesto: Marketing Principles to Save You Time, Increase Profit, and Create Your Dream Business in a SNAP! Wes helps brands cut through the noise, simplify their message, and bring back what really matters in marketing—hum...

Today, I’m joined by Chip Higgins, the founder of Bizzics, LLC, and the author of The Bizzics Way: Powering Your Business to Maximum Momentum.  Before launching his own venture, Chip spent 35 years in banking, leading small business practices across the Southeast.  That experience gave him a front-row seat to the challenges entrepreneurs face every day—managing cash flow, structuring capital, buil...

Today I’m joined by someone who embodies both the grit of a behind the scenes fixer and the vulnerability of a heart led leader.  Meghan Cathlin, founder of Considerate Ventures, has spent more than 25 years supporting artists, authors, celebrities and CEOs. Known as an unassuming and elegant fixer, she brings calm, order and warmth to complex projects ranging from major concerts to memoirs. Her j...

Today’s guest is Jim Koetting, a leadership coach, TEDx speaker, and founder of CEOM Consulting Group. But before any of those titles, Jim was a founder who—at the age of 50—lost everything.  His business collapsed. He lost his home. He emptied his savings. And yet, he never lost his sobriety or his drive to rebuild. Jim’s story is one of reinvention. From personal and professional devastation, he...

Today, I’m joined by Jason Duncan—entrepreneur, business coach, author, and host of The Root of All Success podcast.  Jason didn’t set out to be a business owner. In fact, he began his career as a schoolteacher, but when he was laid off in 2010, he became an entrepreneur by necessity. Out of that challenge, he built a multimillion-dollar company that gained recognition from both Inc. and Entrepren...

Today, I’m joined by Tim Parmeter, founder and CEO of FranCoach, a national consulting firm that helps aspiring entrepreneurs navigate the world of franchising.  He’s also the host of the Franchising 101 Podcast, where he’s made it his mission to demystify franchise ownership and guide people toward finding the right business fit. In the first half of our conversation, Tim shares his personal jour...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Ally Meyers—a former chemical engineer turned workplace well-being strategist, speaker, and founder of the FLOURISH@WORK framework.  After a successful corporate career and years of balancing work with raising four boys, Ally experienced firsthand the toll that stress, burnout, and “autopilot living” can take. Rather than ignore it, she studied it—earning certific...

Today, I’m joined by Forrest Derr—an experienced operations executive and the founder of Derr Consulting, a firm specializing in fractional COO and EOS Integrator services for growing companies. Forrest has spent over two decades transforming organizations across industries, from telecommunications and SaaS to landscape services and digital media. In the first half of our conversation, Forrest sha...

If you’re active on social media, you may already know today’s guest. She has about 160,000 followers on Instagram, over 142,000 followers on TikTok, and about 14,000 followers on LinkedIn and Facebook. And, she’s a lawyer! Today’s guest is Ana Juneja — a dynamic attorney, digital strategist, and educator whose work sits at the intersection of intellectual property law and modern media. In this ep...

What do nuclear submarines and boardrooms have in common? High-stakes decision-making, leadership under pressure, and conversations that matter more than commands. This week, I sit down with Matt DiGeronimo, former submarine officer turned leadership strategist, author, and speaker. We talk about: Why “mental judo” beats mental warfare How to influence without triggering resistance The hidden dang...

In this episode, I’m joined by Bennett Maxwell, founder of Dirty Dough—the cookie company that’s not only disrupting the dessert space, but also taking on billion-dollar competitors in the process. What started as a side hustle quickly turned into a national brand—and a legal battle with industry giant Crumbl. But Bennett’s story isn’t just about cookies or courtrooms. It’s about resilience, purpo...

Today, I’m excited to introduce a guest who lives at the intersection of technology and entrepreneurship, Bill Boulden. Bill is a Fractional CTO who specializes in taking ideas from concept to finished product, helping non-technical founders and CEOs navigate the complex world of software development.  Through services like Power Hours where he claims can save thousands of dollars and multiple hea...