Jessica Rhodes, founder and CEO of Interview Connections, shares the inside story of building the podcast booking industry's gold standard over 12 years - and what happens when your business partner and co-owner decides to leave. In this candid conversation, Jessica walks through the full arc of her entrepreneurial journey: starting as a virtual assistant booking her dad on podcasts, scaling to $3 million in annual revenue, navigating the stress of explosive growth, and now reinventing her entire business model while processing the departure of her eight-year partner, Margy.

This episode captures entrepreneurship in real time - not the polished version from the other side of transformation, but the messy middle where decisions have to be made without knowing how they'll turn out.

Key Takeaways

• Relationships require investment - Jessica and Margy prioritized their relationship above the business transaction, resulting in one of the most amicable business breakups possible
• Stress doesn't only come from failure - The Soaring Sea's rapid growth from $300K to $3M created significant nervous system dysregulation and stress, even as external metrics looked successful
• Question what feels unchangeable - The breakthrough question "What about this business feels like it can't change, but actually could?" opened the door to both the partnership ending and a complete business model pivot
• The right coach appears when you're ready - A client who became her business coach had already navigated the exact transitions Jessica was facing
• Make faster decisions when solo - With a partner, decisions are better but slower. Solo, you can move fast, make mistakes, and course-correct quickly
• Know your numbers - Having comprehensive spreadsheets for every metric provided grounding during the most stressful moments of the transition

Guest Bio

Jessica Rhodes is the founder and CEO of Interview Connections, the podcast booking agency she launched in 2013 that has since booked over 50,000 podcast interviews for more than 1,000 coaches. Known for maintaining human-quality service in an increasingly AI-driven landscape, Interview Connections has become the gold standard in podcast guest booking. Jessica lives in Rhode Island with her husband, two children, eight chickens, two cats, a couple of gerbils, and a fish.

7Seas Framework Connection

Jessica's journey touches on multiple seas in the framework:

• Starting Sea - Building Interview Connections from scratch in 2013 while working as a virtual assistant
• Soaring Sea - Explosive growth from 2019-2021, reaching $3M in annual revenue but experiencing significant stress despite success
• Stalling Sea - 2022-2024 when revenue dipped and profit challenges emerged after years of only upward trajectory
• Shifting Sea - Current phase: reinventing business model from packages to memberships, processing partner departure, and rebuilding with fresh vision

Resources Mentioned

• Interview Connections - interviewconnections.com
• Brain-Based Wellness - Nervous system regulation program (Elizabeth Christoph, founder)
• A Course in Miracles - Personal development curriculum
• Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz - Business systems book
• Kevin St. Clergy - Business coach specializing in agency model transitions

Connect with Jessica Rhodes

• Website: https://www.interviewconnections.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-rhodes-interviewconnections/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interviewconnections

Show Quotes

"We made decisions together. We had different points of view, different perspectives, different levels of risk averseness. So we made really good decisions together because I'd be like, let's do this, and she's like, let's rethink that."

"What about this business feels like it can't change, but actually could? That question unlocked this wave of change."

"One of the lessons in A Course in Miracles and then also Margy - she always asks the best questions that uncover these incredible answers."

"Relational stress is the biggest stress. When you feel rejected by somebody, when you feel wronged by somebody, it hurts more than a physical cut on your body."

"The fact that this separation was done with so much love is one of our both proudest accomplishments."

"Now I'm in this season where I can just make the decision. I don't have to be like, hey, what do you think about this? That is really nice. And it's also scary because you hold all of the risk on your own shoulders."