Meet Tara Milburn, founder of Ethical Swag, the multi-million dollar product-based business that grew 300% in one year without paid ads, a sales team, or outside funding.

In an industry known for cheap promo products and race-to-the-bottom pricing, Tara built a different kind of company. She used her full-time job to quietly fund and validate her idea, turned a barebones website into a trust-building machine, and scaled her business with clarity, systems, and a values-first approach.

In this episode, Tara breaks down how she used her 9–5 as her first investor, why two customer interviews changed her entire strategy, and how she built a reputation that attracts clients like Yale, HP, and the Jane Goodall Institute, all organically.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to Validate Your Idea Without Quitting Your Day Job: The strategy Tara used to fund and test her business over 8 years before going full-time.

• How to Use 2 Simple Questions to Unlock Product-Market Fit: The customer interview framework that helped Tara identify and speak directly to her real buyer.

• How to Build Trust That Converts—Without a Sales Team: The systems and certifications that made Ethical Swag the go-to for mission-driven clients.

• How to Systematize for Sustainable Growth: The infrastructure that supported 300% growth in a single year—and didn’t burn out her lean team.

• How to Attract Aligned Clients With Zero Paid Ads: Why Tara’s site does the selling, and how positioning made her discoverable to brands like AdWeek and Yale.

📄 If you’re ready to activate AND incorporate the learnings from each episode with the tools and templates you can implement to get it done, subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies to help you scale smarter—no fluff, just results.

👉 Join the Growth Playbooks: shegetsshitdone.com/join

🚀 Want to Get Sh!t Done in Your Business? Start Here:

• 🧭 Take the Free Traction Quiz: Feeling stuck or scattered? Discover your next best move to gain traction based on where you are and where you're headed.👉 ⁠Take the Quiz HERE⁠
• 📊 Use Our Free Traction Tracker: Create your quarterly growth plan with our proven frameworks, KPI templates, and expert strategy guides. 👉 ⁠Download the Tracker HERE⁠

🔥 Work With Us: Get Hands-On Support to Hit Your Goals

• 💼 The Get Sh!t Done Business Growth Community: Join a results-driven founder community focused on scaling with support, strategy, and accountability. 👉 ⁠Join the Membership HERE⁠
• 📈 Revenue PATH Program (4-Week Sprint) Build a custom revenue roadmap, master sales strategies, and start generating real traction, fast. 👉 ⁠Join a Growth Sprint HERE⁠

Meet Sandee Kastrul, founder of i.c.stars, the multi-million dollar nonprofit that’s redefining what impact looks like in 2025.

While nonprofits across the country are facing massive funding cuts, Sandee didn’t wait for a lifeline, she built a business. From bootstrapping during the dot-com bust to securing Fortune 500 partnerships, Sandee created a scalable, revenue-generating model rooted in community and driven by strategy.

In this episode, Sandee breaks down how she turned mentorship into a retention tool, created a talent pipeline backed by 100+ CIOs, and positioned i.c.stars as a high-value solution in a market that often treats nonprofits like afterthoughts.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to Build a Flywheel That Funds Itself: Why Sandee created daily tea sessions with CIOs that led to millions in long-term support.
• How to Sell to Fortune 500s (Even With an 18-Month Sales Cycle): Her exact approach to landing 6-figure sponsorships from enterprise brands.
• How to Monetize Your Mission: How 20-person intern cohorts generated real revenue by building tech for major brands.
• How to Make Mentorship a Retention Strategy: Why companies now fight to get their employees involved—and how it helps their bottom line.
• How to Pitch With Power (Not Pity): The messaging shift that turned i.c.stars into a business partner instead of a charity case.

📄 If you’re ready to activate AND incorporate the learnings from each episode with the tools and templates you can implement to get it done, subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies to help you scale smarter—no fluff, just results. 👉 Join the Growth Playbooks: shegetsshitdone.com/join

OTHER EPISODES TO CHECK OUT:

• From DEI to Dollars: How to Position Your Brand for Impact & ROI with Crystal Foote HERE.
• How to Scale & Prioritize Impact with Bianca Tylek HERE
• How Grassroots Grew a $4 Million Community-Driven Business with Sloane Davidson HERE

🚀 Want to Get Sh!t Done in Your Business? Start Here:

• 🧭 Take the Free Traction Quiz: Feeling stuck or scattered? Discover your next best move to gain traction based on where you are and where you're headed.👉 Take the Quiz HERE
• 📊 Use Our Free Traction Tracker: Create your quarterly growth plan with our proven frameworks, KPI templates, and expert strategy guides. 👉 Download the Tracker HERE

🔥 Work With Us: Get Hands-On Support to Hit Your Goals

• 💼 The Get Sh!t Done Business Growth Community: Join a results-driven founder community focused on scaling with support, strategy, and accountability. 👉 Join the Membership HERE
• 📈 Revenue PATH Program (4-Week Sprint) Build a custom revenue roadmap, master sales strategies, and start generating real traction, fast. 👉 Join a Growth Sprint HERE

Y’all know I keep it real with you and today’s no different.

In this quick update, I’m sharing some updates we’re making on the Get Sh!t Done podcast to better meet this moment we’re all in. Because let’s be honest... this year has already been A LOT.

After hearing from y’all in our latest survey (thank you!), I sat with your feedback and reflected on my own journey too. The result?

We’re expanding how we show up for you with 3 new episode formats I’m so excited about:

✨ Tactical Deep Dives — shorter, straight-to-the-point episodes with real strategies and breakdowns
🫖 Real Talk Roundtables — founders and allies talking through the real sh!t happening in entrepreneurship
🖤 Founder Confessions — raw, taboo stories from the founder journey, shared anonymously or not, but always real

If you’re an expert with tactical receipts, a founder who wants to pull up to a roundtable, or someone who has a story you’ve been holding, I want to hear from you.

👉🏽 Tell your story or share your expertise:
https://form.typeform.com/to/SwCBOOis

💥 ACCESS FREE RESOURCES & JOIN THE GSD CREW:

• Take the Traction Quiz → https://form.typeform.com/to/j6LscUHF

• Get the Traction Tracker → https://www.shegetsshitdone.com/traction-tracker

Let’s build, grow, and be human together. I can’t wait to bring y’all into this next chapter.

Meet Caitlin Murphy, founder of Global Gateway Logistics, who turned a $23K personal credit line, no outside funding, and a single vendor relationship into a $12M+ global freight-forwarding business. In an industry most founders overlook like logistics, Caitlin built a resilient, systems-driven company that scales smart..

In this episode, Caitlin shares her exact playbook for how she bootstrapped a capital-intensive business, built trusted global partnerships, and walked away from a million-dollar client to make space for better revenue.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to Bootstrap Big: Why Caitlin maxed out her credit cards to fund her first shipment and how she got to $1M in year 1.

• How to Build in 'Unsexy' Industries: Freight isn’t sexy but the money is, honey. Learn how to spot overlooked opportunities and own your niche.

• How to Replace a Toxic Million-Dollar Client: The hard decision that led to better revenue, better alignment, and scalable growth.

• How to Systemize for Scale: The exact steps Caitlin took to document processes, empower her team, and build resilient operations.

• How to Tariff-Proof Your Business: Real talk on global supply chains and the overlooked federal tools that help you mitigate risk.

Whether you’re early-stage or already scaling, Caitlin’s story is a masterclass in building big without outside capital—and doing it your way.

📄 Want to put this into action?
Get the full Growth Playbook from this episode with templates, tools, and frameworks to scale your business smarter so you can get sh!t done and get results.
👉 shegetsshitdone.com/join

Meet Liz Giorgi, co-founder and CEO of Soona, the tech-enabled content studio that’s helped thousands of eCommerce brands level up their visual content—without the agency overhead. Liz didn’t start with VC money or a big team. She bootstrapped her way to $1M in 11 months and kept the momentum going with over 40% year-over-year growth, scaling to 8-figures by doing what most founders avoid: the unscalable, unsexy work that actually builds a business.

In this episode, Liz breaks down the exact strategies that helped her turn a founder-led experiment into a scalable platform used by top DTC brands. From one pricing test that unlocked explosive growth to the sales system that helped her scale beyond $10M—this convo is packed with real, no-BS lessons.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to Build an Email List with Founder-Led Content: The scrappy vlog that turned early traction into 4,000+ subscribers.

• How One Pricing Shift 10x’d Customer Adoption: The $39 test that helped Soona hit $1M in under a year.

• How to Build a Sales System Without a Sales Team: The 3-part strategy that helped Soona grow beyond $10M.

• Why Going All-In on AI Backfired—And How Liz Recovered: Lessons on when to innovate, when to pivot, and how to protect your ROI. Check out how they approach AI now: https://soona.co/ai

• How to Build a Culture of Experimentation: Why testing even the smallest things (like button placement) can 2x conversions.

Whether you're trying to hit your first million or scale past eight, Liz’s journey is a blueprint for building smarter, scaling leaner, and staying in your zone of genius.

📄 Ready to go from idea to execution? Subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies from founders who are actually getting sh!t done.
👉 Join our Growth Playbooks here: ⁠⁠⁠shegetsshitdone.com/join⁠⁠⁠

Meet Lisa Curtis, founder of Kuli Kuli, the superfood company that went from a Peace Corps idea and $2K in savings to raising $14M+ and landing on the shelves of 11,000+ stores across the U.S.

Lisa didn’t come from the food industry. She didn’t have a network or a fancy launch budget. But she built a business that cracked into Whole Foods, scaled to $1M in revenue per employee, and turned “nos” into million-dollar checks, all through scrappy execution and relentless follow-up.

In this episode, Lisa breaks down how she crowdfunded $53K to fund her first production run, built a data-backed retail pitch that got Whole Foods to say yes, and scaled a lean team that delivered big results before learning (the hard way) how to scale without burning out.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to Turn $2K into $53K with Crowdfunding: The simple but strategic campaign that launched a movement and validated product-market fit.

• How to Get Into Retail Without a Broker: The exact data and story she used to get Whole Foods to take a bet on her early.

• How to Raise $14M+ (Even If You’re Not Connected): The follow-up system that turned a 4-year ghost into a $2M investor.

• How to Hit $1M Per Employee (and Why She Had to Rethink It): The trade-offs of scaling lean—and what she’s doing differently now.

• How to Build a Repeatable Sales Process to Land 11,000 Stores: Why “charming harassment” works and how to follow up without being annoying.

Whether you’re launching a product or scaling to retail, Lisa’s journey proves you don’t need a head start—you just need strategy, scrappiness, and consistency.

📄 If you’re ready to activate AND get sh!t done, subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies to help you scale smarter—no fluff, just results.
👉 Join our Growth Playbooks here: ⁠⁠⁠shegetsshitdone.com/join

Meet Amy Giggey, founder of Talent to Team, the HR consultancy helping early-stage companies build lean, high-performing teams without the burnout.

After leaving a demanding corporate role—and navigating a divorce and solo parenting, Amy bootstrapped her way to a 6-figure year one and scaled to $3M using a fractional talent model that works with your business, not against it.

In this episode, Amy breaks down her growth playbook for building a profitable, values-aligned service business while creating space for real life. From team strategy to systems that scale, she shares how to lead with clarity, hire intentionally, and grow without losing your mind (or your margins).

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to Leverage Your Network for Early Traction: The scrappy (and free) relationship strategy that helped Amy land her first 3 clients and hit $100K+.
• How to Scale With Fractional Talent: Why hiring full-time too early kills growth—and how fractional pros helped Amy stay lean and profitable.
• How to Use the Build/Buy/Borrow/Bot Framework: Audit your team structure by stage and hire based on outcomes, not gut.
• How to Step Into the CEO Role: What it really looks like to shift from doing all the things to delegating like a boss—with systems that work.
• How to Build a Team Culture That Delivers: Amy’s strategies for empowering her team, building trust, and reducing turnover without fancy perks or bloated overhead.

Whether you’re growing a service business or scaling a startup, Amy’s real-talk strategy will help you clean up your org chart, lead with less stress, and build a business that actually works for you.

📄 If you’re ready to activate AND get sh!t done, subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies to help you scale smarter—no fluff, just results.
👉 Join our Growth Playbooks here: ⁠⁠⁠shegetsshitdone.com/join⁠

Meet Yulkendy Valdez (Forefront) and Samantha Pratt (ClickEngage), two powerhouse founders who built edtech companies rooted in impact, raised capital, got the accolades and still chose to shut it all down. Why? Because scaling the wrong thing isn’t success, it’s burnout. And in this radically honest episode, they break down how walking away became the biggest power move of their entrepreneurial journeys.

In this episode, Yulkendy and Samantha unpack the hidden truths behind what it really looks like to build a startup as women of color, the traps of raising capital too early, and how they’re now building aligned businesses on their own terms.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to Know When to Shut It Down: Why staying misaligned is riskier than pivoting—and the gut checks that helped them decide.

• Why You Don’t Need to Raise: How they got caught in the funding hamster wheel, and why most businesses shouldn’t chase VC dollars.

• How to Reclaim Your Vision: The exercises they used to reconnect with purpose after losing themselves in other people’s playbooks.

• How to Redefine Success: What it looks like to build a business around your values, your energy, and the impact you actually want to have.

• How to Exit With Integrity: Real talk on navigating shutdowns, honoring your customers, and preserving your peace.

Whether you’re pivoting, scaling, or rethinking everything, this episode is your permission slip to define success on your terms—and get sh!t done your way.

📄 If you’re ready to activate AND get sh!t done, subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies to help you scale smarter—no fluff, just results.
👉 Join our Growth Playbooks here: ⁠⁠⁠shegetsshitdone.com/join⁠

Meet Elena Valentine, founder of Skill Scout, the video storytelling company on a mission to humanize the modern workplace. Elena didn’t just survive one of the biggest economic shocks of our generation—she led through it with clarity, conviction, and zero layoffs, even after losing 50% of her company’s revenue overnight.

In this episode, Elena breaks down her growth playbook for how to lead through chaos, scale without compromising your values, and build a people-first company that lasts. This is one of the most honest, real-talk convos we've ever had about what it actually looks like to run a business during a crisis—and why sometimes the best growth comes from standing still.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
How to Lead When Sh*t Hits the Fan: Why Elena chose people over panic—and how it paid off.
How to Build a Survival + Impact Scoreboard: Track the metrics that actually matter in uncertain times.
How to Stay in Your Profit Zone: Why focus is your most scalable asset—and how to protect it.
How to Say No to the Money (and Mean It): The mindset shift that helped Elena return VC checks and reclaim her power.
How to Evolve Your Brand During a Crisis: Use disruption as a launchpad for your next chapter.

Whether you’re riding high or bracing for the next dip, Elena’s strategies are a masterclass in what it means to lead with courage, integrity, and Big Vag Energy.

📄 If you’re ready to activate AND get sh!t done, subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies to help you scale smarter—no fluff, just results.
👉 Join our Growth Playbooks here: ⁠⁠⁠shegetsshitdone.com/join⁠

Meet Jenna Huntsberger, founder of Whisked, the bootstrapped cookie company that scaled from a $35K farmers market side hustle to a 7-figure, vertically integrated CPG brand—now in over 100+ stores, with 60%+ gross margins and zero outside capital.

In this episode, Jenna breaks down her growth playbook for building a profitable food business without investors, distributors, or sacrificing control. From baking in a shared kitchen to owning her own facility and delivery fleet, Jenna shows how scrappy strategies and smart systems can unlock sustainable scale—even in one of the toughest industries around.

💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
How to Validate Before You Scale: Use local channels and real-time feedback to prove product-market fit before investing big.
How to Protect Margins with Vertical Integration: Learn how owning your production and delivery can give you control and cut costs.
How to Navigate Ingredient Cost Spikes: Jenna’s shrinkflation strategy kept customer retention high—without raising prices.
How to Bootstrap with Intention: Fund your business with cashflow from side gigs and reinvest into growth—Jenna shares her 3-tier budget framework.
How to Scale Without a Distributor: Build real relationships with store buyers and close deals through direct outreach.

Whether you're a product-based founder, a CPG entrepreneur, or a small biz owner looking to grow without giving away equity—Jenna’s story is a must-listen. It’s the tactical and transparent blueprint we all need for scaling smart, staying profitable, and owning the path forward.

📄 If you’re ready to activate AND get sh!t done, subscribe to our Growth Playbooks for weekly, actionable frameworks and strategies to help you scale smarter—no fluff, just results.
👉 Join our Growth Playbooks here: ⁠⁠⁠shegetsshitdone.com/join