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Gwen Bortner is a business advisor who provides outside perspective and unwavering accountability. She’s also the one to ask the hard questions others won't. After four decades of working across 47+ industries, Gwen has learned that marketing and sales have built-in feedback loops — you know quickly if they're working. But the behind-the-scenes engine that runs your business? That's where the blind spots live. That's where successful businesses secretly start breaking down, even when everything looks fine from the outside. Gwen's monthly newsletter provides tips to help you identify bottlenecks others miss so you can build a business that performs well without consuming your life.
Reader — Last week, Tonya and I went behind the scenes on what sustainable success really looks like when you practice what you preach. Our LinkedIn Live conversation about a full year of podcasting without burning out revealed something important: Planning for imperfection is what makes the difference. We don't plan as if everything will go perfectly. We plan for travel conflicts, sick days, and technology failures. We stay 4-6 episodes ahead so when life happens (and it always does), we're...
Reader — In just two weeks, The Business You Really Want podcast will celebrate its first anniversary. What started as a simple but bold premise — you don't have to burn your business to the ground to build something sustainable — has grown into 52 episodes of real talk about what entrepreneurial success can mean. Today, episode 52 drops. In it, Tonya Kubo and I reflect on what we've learned in our first year of co-hosting. But we're not just looking backward. For the next month, we're...
Reader — That choice you're second-guessing? The one keeping you up at night? It's probably not the disaster you think it is. Too many entrepreneurs get paralyzed thinking every business decision is permanent. They agonize over choices, convinced that picking the wrong path will doom them to failure. But that’s a myth. Fact: You can always make a different choice. For example, I decided this week to push pause on our Small Biz Book Club. A year ago, monthly conversations focused on business...