At Home with Founders

If you've ever taken on a client you knew wasn't right, missed a milestone because of a wedding weekend, or felt embarrassed to hand someone your business card, this episode is for you.

This week we're sitting down with the founder and CEO of a nationally recognized luxury wedding and event design company with over 17 years in the industry - Laura Ritchie of Grit and Grace Inc. She built her brand from the ground up, starting with $600 linen packages whispered to catering clients into a full-scale luxury firm with a waitlist, a signature aesthetic, and a name pulled from the pages of her late mother's diary.

In this conversation we get into:

• The red flags on a first client call that should make you walk away immediately
• Why she rebranded away from national press coverage because she was embarrassed to say her company name out loud
• How she built a vendor network of "frienders" that makes every event better
• The financial mistake she wishes she'd made differently from day one
• What 17 years taught her about protecting your weekends, your sanity, and your joy
• The real cost of saying yes to every wedding and what she does differently now

This one is honest, funny, and full of the kind of hard-won wisdom you only get from someone who has truly been in the trenches.

Connect with Laura:

Website: gritandgraceinc.com/ Instagram: @gritandgraceinc TikTok: @gritandgraceinc

Your Resources

How Founder-Dependent is Your Business? Take the Quiz

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What does it actually take to build a luxury wedding and event planning company where your name is literally the brand promise? In Episode 196, I'm sitting down with Elle Becerra, founder of Events by Elle, a luxury wedding and event planning company based in Miami that has grown from a childhood bedroom business into a full creative and production studio with a specialized team, a consulting arm, and a reputation for flawless, deeply personalized celebrations.

But this conversation goes far beyond the beautiful portfolio. Elle pulls back the curtain on what it really means to build a business in your own name, navigate the growing pains of leadership, set boundaries in an industry that never sleeps, and lead a team with intention and trust.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How Elle started her business at 21, straight out of college, with her dad as her biggest champion
• The evolution from solo coordinator to a full creative studio offering design, production, and consulting
• How she launched a consulting arm during COVID and why it took off far beyond what she expected
• The systems she built from scratch and why customizing them to your brain is the key to real consistency
• The slow, unglamorous realization that she wasn't just a wedding planner anymore, she was a CEO
• The pressure that comes with having your personal name on the door and what she does to handle it
• Her honest take on what a hard week really looks like and the three people who hold her steady
• Setting boundaries around time availability and why it actually strengthened her client relationships
• The leadership mindset shift she had to make to build a team she truly trusts
• The biggest misconception people still have about the wedding and events industry
• Two unforgettable wedding day moments including one that stopped her in her tracks and had nothing to do with the couple

Connect with Elle:

Website: www.eventsbyelle.com Instagram: @eventsby_elle TikTok: @eventsbyelle Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/eventsbyelleinc

Your Resources

How Founder-Dependent is Your Business? Take the Quiz

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

What does it actually take to go from corporate buyer to founder - in the real, messy, terrifying, and quietly triumphant version of that story?

Ana Escalante Morejon is the Miami-based founder behind Btwnthesheets, a genderless wellness and curated brand built on the belief that your customers deserve products with intention and a story behind them. She launched it after a layoff landed two months before her 30th birthday, and what started as an Instagram account in 2020 has become a thoughtfully built brand now entering its second season.

In this episode, Ana and host Jessica sit down for the kind of conversation that doesn't get cleaned up for the highlight reel.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How a corporate layoff during COVID became the exact push Ana needed to stop waiting for the "right" moment
• Why Ana started Btwnthesheets and what that origin story says about trusting the slow build
• What it actually felt like to tell people she was starting a business (and why saying it out loud was the scariest decision she made)
• The moment the startup funds started to dwindle and how Ana managed the fear without letting it make her decisions for her
• How she navigates creative burnout as a solo founder (and why 24–48 hours of intentional rest is her most reliable reset)
• The perfectionism she had to unlearn, the student mindset she had to reclaim, and the self-knowledge she didn't expect founding a business to hand her
• Where Btwnthesheets is going, including international curation, community-driven pop-ups in Miami, and a shift from launches to intentional seasonal assortments
• Why Btwnthesheets uses the word ritual instead of routine and what that distinction means for how they serve their customer

This one is honest, grounded in real experience and it will stay with you.

Connect with Ana:

Website: btwnthesheets.com Instagram: @btwnthesheets.com TikTok: @gobtwnthesheets

Your Resources

How Founder-Dependent is Your Business? Take the Quiz

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

What happens when a scrappy side hustle becomes a thriving all-female branding agency and you build it all while pregnant, then raising three kids under five?

In this episode of At Home with Founders, Jessica sits down with Victoria Marcouillier, founder and CEO of BrandWell Designs, a boutique branding and website design studio helping six and seven-figure female entrepreneurs close the gap between how their business actually operates and how it shows up online.

Victoria opens up about building BrandWell from a one-woman side hustle to a full agency - hiring her first team members while pregnant, forfeiting her maternity leave to bet on herself, and learning when to finally say no. She shares what she calls the "perception gap": the costly disconnect between the quality of a business and how it's represented on the website and why every marketing dollar you spend is only as effective as the brand it leads to.

This conversation also goes deep on the leadership shifts that come with growth - letting go of sales, design, and client communication, trusting a team to carry the brand forward, and what it actually feels like when your business runs beautifully without you.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why Victoria started Brandwell to solve a problem, not because she only loved design
• The "perception gap" and how it quietly kills conversions
• Why pretty branding without strategy doesn't pay the bills
• How to build a team you trust enough to hand off sales
• What it really means to step into the CEO role
• How motherhood sharpened her brand positioning strategy
• What she hopes her three daughters take away from watching her build this

Connect with Victoria:

Website: brandwelldesigns.com Instagram: @brandwelldesigns Podcast: Branding Business School

Your Resources

How Founder-Dependent is Your Business? Take the Quiz

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

In this episode of At Home with Founders, Jessica Frigon pulls back the curtain on something almost no one talks about openly - the gap between how a business looks on the outside and how it actually feels to run behind the scenes.

From the outside, many businesses appear polished, structured, and effortlessly successful. But inside, even at the multi-six and seven-figure levels, a very different reality often exists.

Jessica shares what she sees every week working behind the scenes with founders: disorganized systems, inconsistent processes, unclear data, and businesses that still rely heavily on the founder to function.

This episode is a grounded and honest look at the "mess" that so many founders experience but rarely talk about.

She walks through how this evolves at different stages of business growth, why it's not a sign that you're doing something wrong, and what it actually means when your business starts to feel harder to maintain.

This conversation is both a reality check and a deep exhale, reminding you that you're not behind, you're not failing, and you're not the only one navigating this phase.

If your business looks successful on the outside but feels heavier behind the scenes, this episode will help you understand why and what your business is really asking for next.

YOU'LL HEAR

• Why so many "successful" businesses feel messy behind the scenes
• The gap between external perception and internal reality
• What disorganization actually looks like at different revenue stages
• Why your business starts to feel harder as you grow
• The difference between being great at your craft and building a scalable business
• Why relying on yourself is a design issue, not a personal failure
• How to recognize when your business has outgrown its current structure
• The real reason founders feel pressure to "have it figured out"
• What your business is asking for when things start to feel unsustainable
• Where to start when everything feels unclear or overwhelming

YOUR RESOURCES

How Founder-Dependent is Your Business? Take the Quiz

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

In this episode of At Home with Founders, Jessica Frigon sits down with Emily Major-Girard, founder of Seven to Sunday, a content and social media agency rooted in intentional storytelling, and The Social BTS, a wedding day content experience designed to capture candid moments while allowing couples to stay fully present.

Emily shares the honest behind-the-scenes of building not one, but two brands centered around human connection and creative work that feels as meaningful as it looks.

Together, they explore the real evolution of becoming a founder - from trusting your intuition in the early stages, to navigating the shift from doing everything yourself to building a team and stepping into leadership.

Emily opens up about the challenges of scaling a creative business, the lessons she's learned about trust and control, and what it actually looks like to build a company that reflects your values.

This conversation is a candid look at the quieter moments of entrepreneurship: the growth, the pivots, the responsibility of leading others, and the mindset shifts required to build something that lasts.

If you're navigating growth in your own business or wondering what it really takes to evolve from a solo founder into a leader, this episode offers both perspective and encouragement.

YOU'LL HEAR

• The journey from solo founder to agency owner
• Building and managing a team for the first time
• Trusting your intuition when making business decisions
• Scaling a creative business without losing your vision
• The mindset shifts that come with leadership and growth
• Why structure and systems matter when building a team
• The realities of entrepreneurship that no one talks about

YOUR RESOURCES → Seven to Sunday: https://seventosunday.com → The Social BTS: https://www.thesocialbts.com

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

What happens when a high-performing woman finally decides to build what she actually needs?

In this episode, I sit down with Meg Gold, Co-Founder and CEO of BONDE, a private, vetted community for women decision-makers to talk about the parts of leadership we don't talk about enough: vulnerability, identity shifts, and the quiet courage it takes to bet on yourself.

Meg shares the deeply personal story behind BONDE's founding, from navigating IVF to leaving corporate leadership and the unexpected ways women at the top still struggle to find real connection. We explore what women in leadership are truly missing (spoiler: it's not more mentorship), and how BONDE is reimagining community for women who don't fit into traditional boxes.

If you've ever looked around a boardroom or business community and thought, "This wasn't built for me," - this conversation will feel like a homecoming.

YOU'LL HEAR

• The moment Meg knew she was building someone else's dream and why she walked away

• How IVF reshaped her relationship with leadership, timing, and self-trust

• The unexpected way BONDE was born (hint: it involves an ugly sweater party)

• Why high-performing women still feel isolated, even with mentors and success

• The core need Meg sees in women leaders today (and how BONDE is answering it)

• How vulnerability became one of her strongest leadership tools

• Her perspective on protecting energy as a founder, mother, and human

• Why more women are betting on their own intellectual property

• A simple ritual she uses to stay grounded, creative, and clear

YOUR RESOURCES → BONDE: www.joinbonde.com → Meg Gold: www.linkedin.com/in/meggold

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

What if the key to scaling your business wasn't just Instagram… but a completely different platform most creatives overlook?

In this episode of At Home with Founders, I sit down with Colie Lane Bousche, founder of Life Goals Magazine and Life Goals Marketing, to explore the untapped power of Pinterest for service-based entrepreneurs. From building an online magazine that's lasted a decade to launching an agency that helps creatives grow with evergreen traffic, Colie's story is one of quiet consistency, resilience, and redefining what success really looks like.

We get honest about the messy realities of entrepreneurship, from pivoting away from corporate life, to setting boundaries with clients, to giving yourself permission to pause when burnout hits. Colie also pulls back the curtain on how Pinterest works differently than Instagram, why it's an underutilized growth channel, and what it takes to build authority in a way that feels sustainable.

You'll hear: ✔ Why Colie launched Life Goals Magazine and how it evolved into a full-fledged business ✔ The surprising way she rediscovered her confidence after going back to corporate ✔ Her exact process for generating endless creative ideas without burning out ✔ Why Pinterest is a goldmine for service providers (and how to know if it's right for you) ✔ The hardest "no's" she's had to say in business and what they taught her about alignment

If you've been craving a business that feels both creative and sustainable, or you're curious about how Pinterest can fit into your marketing strategy, this episode is full of fresh perspective and practical insights you won't want to miss.

YOUR RESOURCES → Life Goals Marketing: https://lifegoalsmarketing.com → Life Goals Magazine: https://lifegoalsmag.com

Work 1:1 with Jessica Frigon: https://www.projectloveco.com/services

CEO Thrive Kit: https://projectloveco.myflodesk.com/ceothrivekit

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

What if the secret to scaling your business wasn't more strategy… but more connection?

In this powerful episode of At Home with Founders, I sit down with Inbal Claudio, 3x founder, mom of three, and the visionary behind Like-Minded Collective - a free, global social networking platform built just for women entrepreneurs.

We get real about the messy middle - building a startup from scratch while raising babies, feeling completely isolated after a cross-country move, and the raw truth about how most "communities" online aren't really built for connection.

You'll hear: ✔ How Inbal scaled a heart-led tech platform to 3,500+ women across 45 countries ✔ What it actually takes to build community that drives loyalty, referrals, and long-term growth ✔ The boundaries and mindset shifts she uses to juggle motherhood, marriage, and entrepreneurship ✔ Why true community is about putting others first - and how to spot the difference between a real one and a disguised sales funnel

If you're craving authentic relationships in business, dreaming of building a community, or navigating the juggle of life and leadership - you'll find yourself nodding (and tearing up) in this episode.

YOUR RESOURCES → Join Like-Minded Collective: https://likemindedcollective.com → Connect with Inbal: https://inbalclaudio.com https://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio

Work 1:1 with Jessica Frigon: https://www.projectloveco.com/services

CEO Thrive Kit: https://projectloveco.myflodesk.com/ceothrivekit

💛 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you.

If you've built the team, implemented the systems, and done everything you thought would make scaling easier—but you're still overwhelmed and stretched thin—this episode is for you.

Because here's the truth: Your business is keeping you stuck.

👉 You hired a team, but they're still relying on you for every decision. 👉 You built systems, but they still require you to be in the mix. 👉 You're automating and optimizing—but somehow, things still feel heavy.

If scaling feels like more stress, not more freedom, something is broken.

In this episode, we're diving deep into: ✔ Why your team isn't actually saving you time (and how to fix that). ✔ How you're accidentally creating more work for yourself—without realizing it. ✔ The biggest operational mistakes keeping you stuck at 6 figures. ✔ The decision-making frameworks that free you from approvals and micromanagement. ✔ How to finally build a business that runs WITHOUT you being in every detail.

It's time to remove yourself as the bottleneck—FOR GOOD.

If this episode hit home for you, let's make it real—DM me on Instagram and tell me: What's ONE thing you're going to simplify this week?

🔗 Hit play now and let's break it down together!

YOUR RESOURCES

Work 1:1 with Jessica Frigon: https://www.projectloveco.com/services

CEO Thrive Kit: https://projectloveco.myflodesk.com/ceothrivekit