Founders Future

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Zach Young, we’re joined by Steph Ward, a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, founder of The Evergreen Academy, and director of Ford Business Solutions. Steph shares her journey from years in the corporate world — including roles at major organizations like McDonald’s and Siemens — to building and scaling her own businesses. After leaving corporate life in search of greater freedom, Steph and her husband built a property business from the ground up, learning hard lessons along the way that shaped her resilience, business acumen, and passion for entrepreneurship.

Steph explains how becoming a mother pushed her to create a more flexible, sustainable income model, leading to the launch of The Evergreen Academy. She walks through her mission to help coaches, trainers, and service-based founders turn their knowledge into scalable, evergreen courses that generate consistent income without trading time for money. The conversation explores evergreen business models, community-driven learning, group coaching, the balance between automation and human connection, and why mentorship, structure, and support are essential for founders at every stage. Steph also shares her long-term vision of helping thousands of new entrepreneurs start their businesses with clarity, confidence, and a framework built for long-term success.

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we sit down with Lauren Smit, a mindset and marketing coach for female entrepreneurs, creatives, and service-based founders. Lauren shares her journey from graphic design to coaching, including the pivotal moments that led her to seek deeper fulfillment during motherhood, relocation, and the uncertainty of COVID. Through her own experience with business coaching, she discovered the transformative power of mindset work and how inner awareness can radically change not only business outcomes, but daily life itself.

Lauren explains how her work centers on helping women — especially moms — reconnect with the mind behind the message, aligning their marketing with their identity, values, and lived experience. She discusses her heart-centered, permission-based approach to marketing, the importance of emotional safety, and why fulfillment is the foundation for sustainable success. The conversation explores balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship, intimate connection-driven marketing strategies, self-validation, and the courage it takes to grow without abandoning alignment or integrity.

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Milan Kohut, launch strategist and fractional project manager Elisa Boogaerts, founder of Launch Partner Pro, shares her journey from 15 years in corporate project management to becoming the behind-the-scenes partner helping established coaches execute high-performing launches. Elisa explains how discovering coaching during her time in London and later reassessing her career during COVID led her to build a business that blends her strengths: structured planning, operational clarity, and strategic execution. She breaks down why seasoned coaches — even those earning multi-six figures — still struggle with overwhelm, disorganized systems, and the mental load of launch logistics, and how she steps in as the “bridge” between CEO vision and team execution.

Elisa also dives into what her business looks like today, from high-touch one-on-one project management to done-for-you tech builds, event planning, and her upcoming mastermind designed to help entrepreneurs improve operations and scale sustainably. She discusses her lead-generation approach through networking, LinkedIn visibility, and in-person entrepreneur cruises, the importance of relationship-based sales, and her long-term goal of creating community-driven offers that allow founders to grow without burning out. Clear, grounded, and process-oriented, Elisa offers a refreshing look at what it takes to run a smooth, scalable, and stress-free online coaching business.

Connect with Elisa Boogaerts:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisa-boogaerts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspirationbyelisa/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=elisaboogaerts

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@inspirationbyelisa

Website: https://www.launchpartnerpro.com

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we sit down with Linda Bartholme, founder of Be Thriving Moms Today, to explore her journey from educator to transformational coach for ambitious mothers. Linda shares the deeply personal experiences that inspired her work — from navigating pregnancy and illness while caring for her family to supporting a child through time in the NICU — and how intentional habits, mindset tools, and self-compassion helped her show up as the best version of herself during life’s most challenging moments.

Linda explains how Be Thriving Moms Today supports midlife mothers who appear successful on the outside but feel drained, disconnected, or unfulfilled internally. She discusses her evolving ideal client, the importance of alignment beyond motherhood, and the courage it takes to pursue purpose despite self-doubt, societal expectations, and limited support. The conversation also touches on entrepreneurship, patience, resilience, and why acting before you feel ready is often the key to meaningful growth and long-term fulfillment

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Milan Kohut, we sit down with Francisco Mora, founder of Rustiq Fitness, a unique functional fitness and well-being facility set on a family farm in Winsley. Drawing from his lifelong athletic background and journey from Venezuela to Spain and eventually the UK, Francisco shares how his passion for movement evolved into a mission-driven business focused on tackling physical inactivity. Inspired deeply by his own family's health struggles, he built Rustiq Fitness to help real people — from kids to grandparents — improve their health through coached group sessions, personal training, and outdoor activities that blend strength, resilience, and nature.

Francisco also opens up about the philosophy behind his slower, intentional approach to growth, prioritizing genuine impact, community, and long-term health over rapid scaling. He discusses transitioning from bootcamps to stable monthly memberships, leveraging authenticity and social proof in his marketing, and his vision for the future — from expanding member capacity to evolving into lifestyle and well-being coaching. With a commitment to education, community building, and creating a healthier population, Francisco offers an inspiring look into what it means to build a purpose-led fitness business in today’s world.

In this episode of Founders, Future, with host Milan Kohut, transformation coach and founder of Revolve Coaching, Mhairi Todd shares her compelling journey from a high-pressure commercial director role in London’s beauty industry to building a purpose-driven coaching business in Scotland. After years of climbing the corporate ladder, Mhairi realized the titles and salary weren’t creating the fulfillment she expected. A series of life-changing events — including moving back home for maternity leave and the sudden loss of her mother — pushed her to reevaluate everything she thought success was supposed to look like. This ultimately led her to pursue coaching full-time, driven by the desire to help women break through emotional and professional roadblocks that keep them stuck.

Mhairi discusses the evolution of her business, her multi-stream model, and her signature transformational coaching program that blends deep emotional work with future-focused action. She opens up about navigating motherhood while scaling a business, why mixed-model revenue keeps her secure, and the realities of marketing in a noisy digital landscape. From embracing SEO and in-person networking to maintaining strict work-life balance, Mhairi shows how she builds a business aligned with her values — one that prioritizes impact, time freedom, and sustainable growth over vanity metrics.

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Milan Kohut, divorce survival coach Arabella Paul shares her deeply personal and professional journey from investment banking to headhunting and ultimately to launching her coaching practice that supports individuals navigating separation and divorce. Drawing from her own lived experience and formal coaching training, Arabella reveals why early emotional and strategic support is crucial, how she helps clients make grounded decisions before contacting solicitors, and why the divorce process requires far more than legal guidance. She explains the common emotional freeze points, the financial and logistical blind spots most people face, and her client-centered approach to creating clarity, reducing overwhelm, and avoiding costly mistakes during one of life’s most turbulent transitions.

Arabella also discusses what her practice looks like today — from bespoke one-to-one coaching and real-time support to attending solicitor meetings alongside clients — and what she sees as emerging needs in the divorce landscape. She opens up about her marketing evolution, the power of showing up authentically on social media, and why many clients watch her content anonymously before reaching out. Looking ahead, she shares her vision for scaling through corporate well-being partnerships, expanding access to divorce support in the workplace, and eventually delegating operational roles so she can increase impact while preserving the deeply human element of her work.

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Zach Young, Nicci Ashby — founder of Evolutive — shares her journey from social work, teaching and community-building for FIFO families to becoming a transformational mentor for high-performing women in business. Nicci describes how an early mentor unlocked her entrepreneurial path and how that thread of service evolved into deep, psychology-informed coaching: helping women identify and untie childhood conditioning and cultural patterns that keep them playing small, frozen by fear of judgment and perfectionism.

Nicci walks us through what working with her looks like — intensive 6–12 month one-on-one programs, and intimate group runs (6–10 people) that combine community breakthroughs with practical marketing and mindset work — plus her marketing approach (strong copy, second-person messaging, and a mix of long- and short-form content). She also shares growth plans to scale Evolutive beyond Australia (with the US and UK on her radar) and explains why the real win is helping clients step into visibility, leadership, and sustainable business growth.

In this episode of to Founders, Future, with host Zach Young, Francesca Moi — founder and CEO of Empowering Virtual Solution — shares her 15-year founder journey from life and business coaching into building a VA agency that started with just $120 and scaled to a multi-million business serving 80+ owners and saving clients ~22,000 hours weekly. Francesca breaks down the hands-on systems she uses to match values and skills (personality tests, task-based internships and a “meet & greet” handover), how she built a specialist-powered team across Australia and the Philippines, and why strong delegation and time boundaries (her 11–4 workday) are the real levers of founder freedom.

She also reveals practical content and growth tactics — batching 1–2 hours of monthly recordings that the team turns into dozens of posts, turning VAs into specialist roles (even sales reps), and the cultural care she gives her remote staff (no graveyard shifts by default, yearly team visits to Australia). Francesca’s playbook is immediate and tactical: recruit for values and critical thinking, train and guide your team to independence, and design systems that let you scale without losing heart or grit.

In this episode of Founders, Future, with host Zach Young, we sit down with Christian Elliott, co-founder of Healing United and a holistic health coach with over 20,000 hours of one-to-one coaching experience. Christian shares how his journey began by trying to solve his own declining health in his 20s — a path that led him outside the traditional medical model and toward mentors who helped him understand detoxification, nourishment, and the deeper root causes of chronic health issues. What started as personal exploration transformed into a decades-long mission to simplify true healing, question conventional systems, and empower clients to take ownership of their health.

Christian also walks through the evolution of his business: from early nutrition and fitness coaching, to owning a 10,000-sq-ft integrated wellness facility, to now running comprehensive online programs with his wife and team. He explains how Healing United blends group coaching, one-on-one support, emotional processing, nervous system work, and practical detox methods — all within a psychologically safe, high-touch environment. Christian also reveals the challenges of running a natural health business in a shifting digital landscape and shares his goals for the coming years, including expanding his podcast Deconstructing Conventional, completing his book, and continuing to build a human-centered alternative to today’s fragmented healthcare system.