Business Owners Unfiltered

What happens when your business becomes part of your identity?

For many entrepreneurs, a bad month doesn’t just feel like the business is struggling. It starts to feel like you are failing.

In this episode of Business Owners Unfiltered, Elias Crum talks with Tanya Wannemacher, founder and CEO of Mesh Coaching, about the mental, emotional and spiritual side of entrepreneurship. Tanya helps people understand how their thoughts, emotions and sense of self influence the actions they take and ultimately the results they create.

We discuss why the traditional entrepreneurial mantra of working harder, pushing through and doing more can eventually work against you. Tanya explains why action absolutely matters, but why sustainable action starts with understanding what is driving it.

One of the central themes of the conversation is worthiness. Can you separate your self-worth from the performance of your company without losing your ambition?

Tanya argues that your worth isn’t something you earn through revenue, success, recognition or achievements. Instead of the traditional Do → Be → Have approach, she proposes turning it around:

Be → Do → Have.

Who you are and how you see yourself influences what you do. What you do then influences what you create.

We also explore what Tanya calls the “messy middle”: that long period in entrepreneurship when you are putting in the work but cannot yet see the results. Just like planting something and continuing to water it before anything appears above the ground, entrepreneurship often requires continuing without immediate confirmation that what you are doing is working.

When healthy entrepreneurial ambition turns into overdoing and overthinking

Why entrepreneurs so easily connect business performance to personal self-worth

How to stay driven without making success responsible for your happiness

Tanya’s concept of the “messy middle”

Why Be → Do → Have can be more powerful than Do → Be → Have

The difference between circumstances and the meaning we attach to them

Why thoughts influence emotions, actions and ultimately results

How entrepreneurs can create space between what happens and how they respond

Why younger generations could benefit from learning emotional awareness earlier

How Tanya combines psychology, neuroscience and spiritual concepts

Why even skeptical, results-driven entrepreneurs might benefit from looking beyond goals and execution alone

This is a different kind of entrepreneurial conversation. Not about another growth hack, sales funnel or business strategy, but about the person behind the company.

Because building a better business may sometimes start with changing the way you relate to yourself.

Tanya Wannemacher is the founder and CEO of Mesh Coaching, where MESH stands for Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Health. Her work focuses on helping people develop greater self-awareness, reconnect with their sense of worth and turn that awareness into intentional action.

Mesh Coaching:

Tanya Wannemacher on LinkedIn:

Business Owners Unfiltered is the podcast for entrepreneurs who want the conversations behind the business stories: the decisions, mistakes, doubts, lessons and experiences that rarely make it into the polished LinkedIn version.

Hosted by Elias Crum and Sebastiaan Winter.

Thinking about selling your business one day?

BestBonobos helps business owners understand what their company is worth, how ready it is for a sale, and what they can do today to increase its attractiveness to potential buyers.

From valuation and exit readiness to preparing your sales documentation and identifying potential buyers, BestBonobos gives entrepreneurs the tools to prepare for a business sale on their own terms.

Can you build a successful business without sacrificing your family, your relationships, or yourself?

In this episode of Business Owners Unfiltered, Sebastiaan talks with Kristina Campos, founder of The Impactful Parent, about entrepreneurship, parenting, leadership and the difficult art of setting boundaries.

Kristina shares how a painful personal crisis led her from a career in education to entrepreneurship, building a business while raising four children. She explains why entrepreneurs often give everything to their company, why that can become a dangerous habit, and what business owners can learn from parenting about communication, expectations and leadership.

They also discuss owner dependency, scaling a personal brand, finding time for what really matters, and why sometimes the smartest business decision is simply to stop working.

A candid conversation for entrepreneurs who want to build something meaningful without allowing the business to take over their entire life.

Connect with Kristina Campos

Brought to you by BestBonobos

https://bestbonobos.com

Exploring the intersection of healthcare and business ownership.

In this episode, we dive into the journey of Dr. Marci Catallo Madruga, a physical therapist and functional medicine provider in Denver, who transitioned from conventional practice to owning her own healthcare business.

## The Motivation Behind Starting a Practice Dr. Marci shares her pivotal reasons for launching her own practice. She observed a shift in her previous workplace where the focus was on quantity over quality, leading to ethical concerns. "The expectation was set that I would see fifty clients in a day in an eight hour day," she explains. This alarming standard highlighted the necessity for personalized patient care, which she felt she couldn't provide in that environment.

## A Life-Saving Moment One striking example from Dr. Marci's practice illustrates the importance of attentive care. She recounts a time when a client post-knee surgery exhibited alarming symptoms that could have led to severe consequences. "She would have died within probably a week if we hadn't moved quickly because she was having a complete immune shutdown," Dr. Marci recalls. This incident reinforces her conviction in providing quality care, which is often sacrificed in high-volume clinics.

## Balancing Healthcare with Entrepreneurship Transitioning to entrepreneurship posed its own set of challenges. "Being an entrepreneur requires a different skill set than being a care physician," Dr. Marci acknowledges. To navigate this, she sought mentorship and support from those experienced in the business side of healthcare. This approach helped her implement successful practices, including understanding clinical predictive indicators and motivating her staff.

## The Importance of Feedback Currently, Dr. Marci emphasizes the role of client feedback in maintaining high standards of care. She actively surveys her clients and seeks insights from referring physicians to ensure that her practice aligns with their needs. "I want their feedback, and they know that I want their feedback," she states, showcasing her commitment to continuous improvement.

## Learning from Experience Reflecting on her early entrepreneurial journey, Dr. Marcy discusses the importance of tracking performance metrics, outsourcing tasks she wasn't skilled at, and conducting quarterly assessments with her employees. This not only fostered a sense of connection but also allowed her to support her team’s personal and professional goals. "Entrepreneurship can be very isolating if you let it. I didn’t want to let it be that way, so I sought out people who were doing something similar but on a grander scale." — Dr. Marci Catallo Madruga

## Conclusion Dr. Marci's story is a powerful reminder of the impact of quality care and the importance of entrepreneurial spirit in the healthcare field. As she continues her journey, she embodies the belief that personalized attention not only improves patient outcomes but also enhances the overall experience for both clients and providers. For more insights and engaging discussions, listen to the full episode.

This episode is brought to you by BestBonobos, the AI-powered platform to help you sell your business yourself. Today, we spoke with

Today, we spoke with Kathryn Smith, founder of Walton Birch, specializing in web development and marketing consulting. We dive into why most depictions of entrepreneurship are off the mark, the importance of understanding exit strategies from day one, the real skills that matter for new entrepreneurs, and more.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome & why entrepreneurship isn’t what you think

This episode is brought to you by BestBonobos, the AI-powered platform to help you sell your small business yourself.

00:16 - Roman’s decade-long journey from engineering to founding businesses

01:19 - Offline vs online mindset: The engineer’s dream of tactile creation

02:08 - Experiments with retail and offline shops — what worked and what didn’t

03:18 - The role of AI in differentiating modern businesses

04:28 - Why offline presence still holds value in a digital world

05:47 - The flower subscription venture: Breaking down why it failed

06:47 - The challenges of scaling a local flower shop into a nationwide business

07:40 - Cultural nuances in consumer demand for flowers and occasions

09:07 - Learning from early ventures: The value of experience over ROI

09:22 - Roman’s flagship company, Rallops: Building a web and AI-driven service firm

10:15 - The culture of innovation and team empowerment at Rallops

11:26 - How to foster honesty and boldness in client-facing teams

12:38 - The company's client-first philosophy and unique problem-solving approach

13:40 - The importance of knowledge sharing within a tech company

14:16 - Hiring, nurturing, and evolving a 150-person team in Ukraine

16:15 - Continuous learning and the role of AI in Roman’s growth journey

17:02 - What Roman is currently learning: Focus on AI and new tech trends

17:31 - Roman’s experience in teaching and volunteering to educate future developers

20:15 - The rewarding stories of students transitioning into IT careers

22:21 - Wrapping up: Future discussions, part two, and ongoing stories

Thank you so much for listening. If you want a free valuation of your company and a step-by-step platform on how to sell your business yourself by yourself before committing to brokers, sign up for BestBonobos today here at https://bestbonobos.com/

This episode is brought to you by BestBonobos, the AI-powered platform to help you sell your business yourself.

00:00 - Introduction to outsourcing for small businesses and SaaS founders

00:36 - How Best Bonobos chose outsourcing to build their platform 01:33 - Andrew shares insights on his background and music instruments

02:37 - The significance of cultural fit when outsourcing globally

03:55 - How to approach outsourcing versus building in-house

04:12 - Key factors like geography, culture, and long-term partnership 05:05 - Rational decision-making in outsourcing

06:08 - The pitfalls of hiring freelancers and the value of outsourcing companies

07:09 - The importance of company culture and communication

08:04 - Outsourcing options in Europe, Asia, and South America

09:01 - How cultural differences affect remote work expectations

10:29 - Direct feedback, transparency, and integrity in outsourcing relationships

11:32 - Common mistakes including lack of face-to-face interaction and budget mismatch

12:24 - The importance of thorough vendor research and presence of technological expertise

13:22 - How to avoid failures by selecting transparent, aligned outsourcing partners

14:25 - The danger of rushing hiring decisions and lack of options

15:21 - The importance of human connection in outsourcing success 16:12 - Risks of automating away critical roles—like security and customer service

17:27 - Focus on client relations, face-to-face engagement, and trust-building

18:42 - Evaluating outsourcing partners based on recent tech agility and updates

21:14 - How staying on top of AI tech makes outsourcing more strategic and scalable

23:12 - Andrew's insights on AI's rapid evolution and its impact on outsourcing

27:36 - Final insights: AI enables faster scaling and higher company valuation

28:03 - Practical steps to boost development productivity this week 29:02 - The importance of human oversight in AI-driven development 30:14 - Preparing your team for the next leap in software speed and security

Ralabs: https://ralabs.org/

Andrew's newsletter: https://ralabs.org/updates-from-the-ceo-who-codes/

Andrew Yasynyshyn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrii-yasynyshyn/ Thank you so much for listening. If you want a free valuation of your company and a step-by-step platform on how to sell your business yourself by yourself before committing to brokers, sign up for BestBonobos today here at https://bestbonobos.com/

This episode is brought to you by BestBonobos, the AI-powered platform to help you sell your business yourself.

Today, we spoke with Stever Robbins, CEO of Stever Robbins, Inc. where he provides one-on-one coaching, group programs, and keynote speeches, focusing on helping small business owners, entrepreneurs, and consultants become known in their communities. Stever is a seasoned startup veteran and angel investor with extensive experience in scaling businesses, having been involved in four IPOs and one acquisition. 

This episode explodes myths around scaling, revealing raw truths from a startup veteran and master of chaos management. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by growth or wondered how to prepare your business for sale, this is your wake-up call. 

Timestamps:

00:00 - How chaos accompanies fast growth and what structure you need

Resources & Links:

Check out the Stever Robbins, Inc. website

Connect with Stever Robbins on LinkedIn

Thank you so much for listening. If you want a free valuation of your company and a step-by-step platform on how to sell your business yourself by yourself before committing to brokers, sign up for BestBonobos today here at https://bestbonobos.com/

This episode is brought to you by BestBonobos, the AI-powered platform to help you sell your business yourself.

In this episode, Bob Graham, CEO of SpearPoint Ink, takes us on a rollercoaster journey from his roots in journalism to creating authority-building books that transform businesses.

Timestamps:

This episode is brought to you by BestBonobos, the AI-powered platform to help you sell your business yourself.

Today, we spoke with Robert Jordshaugen, founder and CEO of Breakthrough6 and Neurabello and co-founder and CIO of KindBridge Inc.

This episode dives deep into the raw truths of building innovative healthcare startups while balancing mental resilience. Robert Jordshaugen shares his journey tackling industry obstacles, the importance of mental health, and how to truly prepare for fundraising and scaling success.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome and introduction: the journey from healthcare consulting to groundbreaking startup

00:36 - Robert’s background: from gambling addiction aid to depression breakthrough

01:59 - The mission behind Breakthrough Six: revolutionizing depression treatment

02:20 - What attracted Robert to entrepreneurship in healthcare 02:45 - The ups and downs of entrepreneurial life and mental health management

03:31 - Overcoming stress and challenges: staying mentally resilient 04:30 - The reality of investor communications and bad news timing 05:47 - The importance of organized data and due diligence in funding 07:01 - Creating new markets and recognizing opportunities in healthcare

08:42 - Mission focus: tackling the 48 million Americans with treatment-resistant depression

09:44 - Innovations in brain stimulation treatments and fast-impact protocols

11:22 - How B6 is disrupting traditional psychiatry practices with targeted treatments

13:01 - The power of quick, effective treatment for depression and PTSD 15:39 - Entrepreneurial burnout and signs that founders should watch for 16:33 - Common mental health struggles among entrepreneurs

17:35 - The obsession and obsession-driven nature of entrepreneurs 18:26 - Habits to stay grounded: practicing resilience and connection 19:53 - The importance of organization and backup plans in funding 20:50 - Behind-the-scenes of funding timelines and relationship-building with investors

22:31 - How to prepare for and navigate fundraising cycles

23:01 - Building trust and making investment easy through organizing data

24:25 - Crafting an elevator pitch and the importance of storytelling 26:35 - The value of practicing presentations and networking face-to-face

28:08 - Lessons learned the hard way: persistence, connection, and face-to-face meetings

29:58 - Final advice

30:53 - Closing remarks

Check out Robert's businesses:

KindBridge: https://kindbridge.com/

Breakthrough Six: https://www.breakthrough6.com/

Neurabello: https://www.neurabello.com/

Connect with Robert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-jordshaugen-mba-76335b/

Thank you so much for listening. If you want a free valuation of your company and a step-by-step platform on how to sell your business yourself by yourself before committing to brokers, sign up for BestBonobos today here at https://bestbonobos.com/

This episode is brought to you by BestBonobos, the AI-powered platform to help you sell your business yourself.

Today, we spoke with Sebastiaan Winter, co-founder of BestBonobos.

What does collecting Christmas trees have to do with selling a business? More than you’d think. In Episode 3, BestBonobos co-founder Sebastiaan Winter takes us through his entrepreneurial journey, from childhood hustles to tackling one of the biggest blind spots in small business ownership: knowing when and how to exit.

Timestamps:

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