The results you are looking for are not in the breadth of your knowledge. They are in the depth of your execution. John Mendez said that about halfway through this conversation and it reframes almost everything people reach for when business gets hard. John was the very first guest ever recorded for Surviving the Side Hustle back in May of 2023, he was the first guest brought back for a second time on the 100th episode, and now he is back for a third. He is a TEDx speaker, the host of the Walk 2 Wealth podcast, and the founder of Stop And Stare Media, where he builds webinar based client acquisition systems for coaches and business owners.

The conversation covers the three years since his last full episode, including the 33K launch that let him quit his job, the year that nearly broke him, and the quarter his business took a complete nosedive. John walks through the decision to stop being the AI guy and pivot into webinars, the internal battle over charging premium prices, and the four Ps he uses to build a webinar from scratch. Rob and John also get into camera anxiety, why a webinar exists to shift beliefs rather than to teach, and why sharpening a strength beats grinding on a weakness.

Topics Covered:

• 2023 was the year he went all in, with a 33K launch that let him quit his job.
• Charging premium prices is an internal battle. You have to believe you are worth it, not just that the offer is worth it.
• Webinars fit people with a teacher's heart and industries where you educate clients before they can buy.
• The greats do not fix weaknesses, they make their strengths impossible to stop.
• People only pay for the payoff. They do not care about your credentials, your accolades, or your process.
• A webinar is a vehicle to shift beliefs. Teach people who to become before you teach them what to do.
• The four Ps are pitch, presentation, pipeline and promotions, plus a bonus P, the presenter.

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:38 Welcome back: the show's very first guest, now on his third visit

04:12 Three years in: a 33K launch, then a nosedive

05:36 Surviving by any means and gutting the business

06:05 The epiphany that started the pivot away from AI

07:45 How he landed on webinars

10:19 Running the first five day webinar challenge

11:27 The call that produced his first high ticket client

12:22 Charging premium is an internal battle

14:09 A mastermind with a done for you front end

16:39 Camera anxiety and the screen share trick

19:19 TEDx versus workshop: two different jobs

21:52 Blending Russell Brunson with keynote craft

23:08 Quick break

23:50 Depth of execution beats breadth of knowledge

24:43 Who webinars are actually good for

27:09 Sharpen your strengths instead of fixing your weaknesses

31:07 The four Ps: start with the pitch

33:03 The Dunning Kruger effect and the false sense of competence

34:26 A webinar shifts beliefs, it does not teach

36:37 The bonus P: becoming a better presenter

40:18 The five day webinar challenge and how to join

Connect with John:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmendezofficial/
• Five Day Webinar Challenge: https://stopandstare.media/challenge

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.

You cannot build something meaningful while you are putting out fires. That one line from Joanna Zhang is the thing I could not unhear this week.

In this Friday recap I pull out what stuck with me from the E217 conversation with Joanna Zhang, the operations strategist who basically invented the fractional VA model before anyone had a name for it. I get into her hot potatoes habit, delegating the biggest energy drain first before any system is perfect, why fear sits on top of the decision we have not actually made yet, the soul awakening that taught her to detach from the outcome, and how all of it maps to the clarity principle of the Prime Performance process: you manufacture clarity by removing the noise first.

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:38 The lesson: you cannot build while putting out fires

02:05 Who Joanna is and the fractional VA model

02:34 From a bank and a family restaurant to her own business

03:30 When the operations came rushing in

03:54 The fractional VA model and a Stevie Award

04:19 Self-doubt in the ups and downs seasons

04:39 Fear sits on top of the decision

05:19 A soul awakening and embracing the unknown

05:47 Delegate the hot potato first

06:04 Why so many owners stay firefighters

06:21 Detaching from the outcome

06:48 Clarity and the Prime Performance process

07:18 Self-knowledge is the ignition switch

07:47 What are the hot potatoes in your hands?

07:59 How to connect with Joanna and her free guide

09:03 One hot potato and where to hear the full episode

Connect with Joanna:

LinkedIn: search "Joanna Zhang" (add "operations" if more than one shows up)

Free listener gift: her practical guide on how and where to delegate to get time and energy back.

Listen to the full conversation with Joanna in E217.

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at SurvivingtheSideHustle.com for every episode.

When a mentor kept asking Joanna Zhang why she really ran her business, one word finally fell out of her mouth and her tears dropped: unconditional love. That answer dissolved a blockage that years of smart strategy never could. Joanna is the founder of a fractional VA service, a plug and play team that fills the gaps in growing businesses, and an operations strategist whose model was later named "fractional VA service" by international award judges. She walks Rob through how she went from a transactional, proving mode operator to building a business rooted in genuine care.

The conversation covers her family restaurant side hustle while she worked nine to five in a bank, discovering virtual assistants in the Philippines, and the Stevie International Business Award that gave her model its name. Rob and Joanna also get into finding your own creation style, why courage means acting even when you are afraid, and the four stage delegation process she now uses to help other founders scale.

Topics Covered:

- During the day she was working nine to five and after work she had to go to the restaurant to help.

- She started to work with VAs eight years ago and got to know some VAs in the Philippines.

- Her team won a Stevie International Business Award, and the judges named the model fractional VA service.

- Courage is not that we are not afraid of it, it is that we are afraid of it but we still do it anyway.

- When the mentor asked why she does her business, the answer was unconditional love and her tears suddenly dropped.

- She believes energy management is even more powerful than time management.

- She calls the first delegation layer hot potatoes because there are always a few things on a plate giving stress.

- Her model is more like a plug and play team that fills the gaps you are not ready to hire full time for.

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:38 Welcome and meet Joanna Zhang

03:07 A restaurant side hustle while working nine to five

03:58 Starting her own financial planning business

05:07 Discovering virtual assistants in the Philippines

05:45 The fractional VA model and a Stevie Award

06:40 Why great ideas never turn into action

09:20 Courage is acting even when you are afraid

13:02 The moment of doubt and second-guessing

14:32 A breakdown, then meeting a spiritual mentor

15:58 The question: why do you do your business?

16:53 Unconditional love unblocks the business

19:58 Reversing priorities from doing to being

23:09 Energy management over time management

25:07 Quick break

25:59 Stage one: tackling the hot potatoes

27:46 Building momentum and systemizing the business

34:02 Who benefits: solopreneurs, B2B, and startups

36:04 How to connect and a free delegation guide

37:24 What Joanna wants to stand for

Connect with Joanna:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhang-joanna/

- Free listener gift: her simple guide on how and where to delegate to get more time and energy back. Reach out to Joanna on LinkedIn to grab it.

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.

"I'm not just their accountant, I'm their business partner." Justin Warren said that near the end of our conversation this week, and it reframed the whole thing for me. Justin is a partner at PKF O'Connor Davies, one of the top accounting and advisory firms in the country, and he co-leads the Stamford, Connecticut tax practice alongside a team of about 18. If you have ever been around public accounting, you know that making partner is not something that just happens. It is earned over years of long days, hard pivots, and a lot of proving yourself.

In this Friday recap I pull out what stuck with me. The high school guidance counselor who pointed him toward accounting because his dad owned a business. The three days he lasted in college calculus before pivoting back. Five years at a Big Four firm in New York, where he talked about leaving the office as the sun was already coming up. Taking a chance on PKF in Stamford two months before COVID hit, certain he would be the first one cut, and a boss who instead told him he was part of the long term plan. And the part nobody puts on a resume: 12, 13, sometimes 15 hour days for three and a half months straight while his wife holds the house together. In the Prime Performance process, two principles run through all of it. Resilience, which Justin built on wrestling mats and football fields long before he walked into a Big Four office. And influence, which is not about being loud, it is about being someone people actually want in their corner. Underneath both sits self awareness, knowing what you are made of and how you are fueled. That is where looking good, feeling good, and doing great things stop being three separate goals and start being one system.

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:38 I'm not just their accountant, I'm their business partner

02:05 Who Justin is and what making partner actually takes

02:32 Stumbling into accounting through a guidance counselor

02:56 Three days of calculus and the pivot back

03:21 Five years at a Big Four firm in New York

03:47 Leaving the city for PKF, two months before COVID

04:14 The part nobody puts on the resume

04:40 The emotional weight of starting over

05:06 Staying visible while still doing the work

05:28 Where the work ethic came from

05:55 Connecting with people as people

06:20 Bringing it back to the Prime Performance process

06:43 A quick word from GetThePrime

07:26 Resilience built on purpose

07:53 Influence is not about being loud

08:20 Know yourself before you show up for anyone else

08:43 Why Justin is worth a real conversation

09:29 Remembered for how you made people feel

09:56 Skill opens the door, the relationship keeps it open

Connect with Justin Warren:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-warren-cpa-17b85b90/

PKF O'Connor Davies: https://www.pkfod.com/people/justin-warren/

Listen to the full conversation with Justin Warren in E215.

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.

Justin Warren shut his life down for three and a half months a year, running 12 to 15 hour days while his wife held the house together and helped raise their kids. He is a partner at PKF O'Connor Davies, one of the top accounting and advisory firms in the country, and he walks Rob through what climbing to partner actually costs and how he keeps a life while doing it.

The conversation covers how Justin stumbled into accounting in high school, five years of 18 hour days at a Big Four firm, and why he left New York City the same year COVID hit. Rob and Justin also get into protecting one hour a day for the gym, why the hardest part of tax season is the stress and not the hours, and how to tell whether the tax advice you see on social media actually applies to you.

Topics Covered:
- How a high school guidance counselor nudged Justin into accounting because his dad owned a business
- Why he lasted three days in college calculus before committing fully to accounting
- Five years of 16 to 18 hour days at a Big Four firm and what finally made him leave
- Starting a brand new role in November 2019, two months before COVID, and being sure he would be the first one cut
- Why the hardest part of tax season is managing hundreds of clients at once, not the long hours
- How protecting one hour a day for the gym became a non negotiable he would quit a job over
- What to check before you trust tax advice from an influencer or ChatGPT
- How to know whether you actually need an accountant or can handle it yourself

Chapter Timestamps:
00:00 Show intro
01:39 Meet Justin Warren, tax partner at PKF O'Connor Davies
03:20 Stumbling into accounting in high school
04:43 An internship in tax and the road to a Big Four firm
09:44 Five years of 18 hour days, then leaving New York City
10:57 Starting a new role right before COVID hit
12:28 How an athletic background fuels the grind
13:33 Connecting with clients beyond the numbers
15:03 Becoming a thought leader on tax law
17:10 The hardest part is the stress, not the hours
19:12 Front loading to survive busy season
20:48 Building a team at home with his wife
21:51 Role switching and protecting an hour a day
26:00 The truth about tax advice on social media
28:24 How to vet a tax professional
30:32 Is a firm the right fit for you
33:01 When a business actually needs an accountant
34:23 How to connect with Justin
35:34 The legacy he wants to leave

Connect with Justin Warren:
LinkedIn: Justin Warren, Partner at PKF O'Connor Davies

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at SurvivingtheSideHustle.com for every episode.

At twenty five, Maria Garcia had a stroke that left her paralyzed from the nose down and unable to speak, communicating through finger taps and eye movements. It took fifteen years to claw her way back. Stem cells, hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Germany, every legitimate therapy she could reach. The thing that finally moved the needle was nutrition.

In this Friday recap I pull out what stuck with me from my second conversation with Maria. The lesson I keep circling back to is that strategy without self work is just noise. I get into the Meta AI update that quietly blew up her entire ad strategy and forced her to pause and rebuild, her honesty about being in her own way with public speaking, why her flagship three month coaching program opens with food psychology instead of a meal plan, and the line worth writing on your wall: you make changes from awareness instead of willpower. Willpower is a depletable resource. Awareness is not. That maps straight onto the Prime Performance process, where doing your inventory is the prerequisite to everything else. Clarity and optimization both fall apart if the person operating the machine has not done the honest self assessment first.

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:38 Strategy without self work is just noise

01:58 Why Maria Garcia is back on the show

02:26 A stroke at twenty five and fifteen years of clawing back

02:55 The arc of Maria's story

03:20 Fully aware, communicating with her eyes

03:47 The thing that finally moved the needle

04:06 Turning survival into Genuinely Maria

04:36 The Meta AI update that broke her ad strategy

05:03 Losing manual targeting and pausing the ads

05:27 I am in my own way

05:45 Awareness, not willpower

06:07 Food psychology before the meal plan

06:31 Why willpower runs out and awareness does not

06:55 Focus on you first, not strategy

07:10 A word from Get The Prime

07:47 How this maps to prime performance

08:17 Inventory before the work

08:37 Clarity and optimization start with self assessment

09:00 Where to find Maria

09:24 Free discovery sessions and The Change

09:52 Thank you, Maria

10:17 Are you running on awareness or willpower

Connect with Maria Garcia:

Website: https://genuinelymaria.com

Free discovery sessions are open through her site

Featured in the upcoming book The Change with Jim Lutz and Jim Britt

Listen to the full conversation with Maria Garcia in E213.

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.

Maria Garcia had a stroke at 25 that left her paralyzed from the nose down and unable to speak, and it took a 15 year climb to get her life back. Nutrition is what finally moved the needle. Maria, a nutrition coach based in New Jersey who now helps clients worldwide, returns to Surviving the Side Hustle for a second conversation, this time about what happens after you survive the thing and realize survival was never the full point.

The conversation covers how Maria went from introducing herself as a stroke survivor to owning her role as a coach with a mission, why she treats nutrition as 80 percent of the results, and how her three month flagship program rewires food psychology instead of leaning on willpower. Rob and Maria also get into the Meta AI update that broke her ad strategy overnight, why hope is not a strategy, the danger of handing your business to a platform you do not control, and the daily health habits every tired business owner should start with.

Topics Covered:

- Why Maria says survival was never the full point, and what she chased once she could function again

- How she reframes herself from stroke survivor to coach, and why the identity shift was the hard part

- Why nutrition is 80 percent of results while therapy and movement make up the rest

- What actually happens inside her three month flagship program built on awareness instead of willpower

- How Meta's AI audience change broke her ad strategy and what she is doing about it

- Why hope is not a strategy and why she refuses to build a business on social media alone

- The hydration and box breathing basics she starts nearly every client on

- How she helps clients find a why strong enough to change before a health crisis forces it

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:39 Welcome back, Maria returns

04:14 The stroke at 25 and a 15 year climb back

05:54 Stepping into public speaking

06:49 From survivor to coach with a mission

08:29 Why nutrition is 80 percent of the results

09:08 Inside the three month flagship program

11:02 When Meta's AI broke her ad strategy

14:37 Hope is not a strategy

15:30 An allergy to social media

16:41 Do not hand your business to a platform

18:20 Coaching clients to not need you

20:22 Why nearly 90 percent are metabolically ill

21:28 Box breathing and hydration basics

22:11 When to push and when to rest

23:35 Training seasons applied to business

25:37 A why strong enough to change

28:34 The vegetarian myth for health

30:09 Building Genuinely Maria as a brand

32:11 One piece of advice for side hustlers

Connect with Maria Garcia:

Website: https://genuinelymaria.com

Book a complimentary discovery session at https://genuinelymaria.com

More Resources:

Listen to Maria's first appearance in E131 of Surviving the Side Hustle.

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.

Joe Rendina was making good money. By most measures he was doing fine, and yet he described it as a heaviness on his chest every single day, the slow grinding weight of being in the wrong seat.

In this Friday recap I pull out what stuck with me most from my conversation with Joe: the torn ACL that started his path, how he built Iron Health Physical Therapy to four locations and what that speed really cost, why his operating philosophy is that comfortability is death, and the color coded calendar exercise that shows you exactly how much of your week is technician time versus CEO time. Plus how it all maps back to clarity and optimization inside the Prime Performance process.

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:38 Picture it: good money and a heaviness every single day

02:09 Who Joe Rendina is: PT, business owner, consultant

02:37 Joe's origin: a torn ACL and the PT who lit the spark

02:57 Never wired for other people's rules

03:20 Making the jump and finally feeling aligned

03:41 From one location to four, from treating to leading

03:59 The honest part: going really fast has a cost

04:13 Sleepless nights, turnover, and shiny object syndrome

04:41 Building locations without a foundation underneath

05:04 Rebuilding the operating system while the business runs

05:48 Joe's secret: comfortability is death

05:58 Comfort makes you sloppy, comfort makes you weak

06:15 Color code your week: technician time versus CEO time

06:40 Carve out CEO time, even two hours a week

07:06 Clarity: the 10 year vision, written down

07:32 The calendar as a diagnostic tool

07:58 Optimization: right things in the right slots

08:19 Where to find Joe: the Technician Trap workshop

09:06 Thank you Joe, and the question to sit with

09:33 Where is the heaviness? Look at your calendar this week

10:01 Hear the full conversation in episode 211

Connect with Joe:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joey._rendina

Business: Iron Health Physical Therapy

Free workshop: The Technician Trap, a 90 minute working session for service based business owners

Listen to the full conversation with Joe in E211.

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.

Joe Rendina was making good money as a physical therapist and still felt what he calls a heaviness on his chest — the sense that no matter how hard he worked, he was building someone else's business. Joe, who now owns Iron Health Physical Therapy across multiple locations and consults for service-based business owners, walks Rob through the move from operator to CEO and why so many owners never make it.

The conversation covers the vision-first sequence Joe runs clients through — ten years, three years, one year, then the next ninety days — and the order he builds systems in, starting with intake and delivery before touching marketing. Rob and Joe also get into why leadership is the single biggest lever, the fourth location that failed because Joe wasn't the leader his team needed, and the simple calendar exercise that shows you how little CEO time you're actually protecting.

Topics Covered:

- The heaviness of earning well while building equity in someone else's business, and the identity shift required to leave

- Why every rebuild starts with a vision, and the ten-year / three-year / one-year / ninety-day sequence Joe uses to make it real

- The order to build systems in: intake and delivery first, marketing second — and why owners get this backwards

- Leadership as the biggest lever, including the location that failed because Joe wasn't leading the way his team needed

- What solopreneurs do when there's no right-hand person to check their thinking yet

- When hiring a coach or mentor is actually worth it, versus premature

- Why personal branding is becoming a commodity, and what that means for service businesses

- The calendar exercise: colour-coding technician time against CEO time to see where the week really goes

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:37 Welcome and guest intro: who is Joe Rendina

02:55 Iron Health and the move into consulting

04:08 What's fuelling the shift: purpose and developing leaders

06:29 The identity shift from clinician to owner

06:56 Never being fond of rules

08:15 The heaviness of good money and no ownership

11:18 Lesson one: start with a vision

14:14 Bridging the gap between vision and execution

14:47 Why you need a right-hand person

15:45 What solopreneurs do instead

16:49 When it's actually time to hire a coach

18:15 The first system to build: intake and delivery

19:37 Layer two: marketing and lead flow

20:54 How the coaching cadence works

21:22 Ten year, three year, one year, ninety days

24:02 Knowing when you're ready to step into CEO mode

26:10 Leadership is the biggest lever

27:01 "I wasn't being the leader my employees needed"

29:48 Why networking still matters

31:46 Personal branding as a commodity

32:08 The Technician Trap webinar

35:06 Technician time versus CEO time on your calendar

Connect with Joe:

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

Business: Iron Health Physical Therapy

Upcoming: "The Technician Trap" webinar — how to escape becoming a technician in your own business

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.

Picture the end of 2022: multiple major losses in a short stretch, waking up sad every day, hesitant to even step outside. That's where Christy Meaux was when she decided something had to change, and then walked into 2023 and decided she was going to brand herself, with no idea what that meant.

In this Friday recap I pull out what stayed with me from the conversation: the networking-room question that changed everything ("who are you and what do you actually do?"), the decades she spent living inside other people's expectations before giving herself permission at 48, and why the power of the no turned out to be stronger than the power of the yes. Plus embodied vision, the London flight story, and how all of it connects to clarity and opportunity inside the Prime Performance process.

Chapter Timestamps:

00:00 Show intro

01:39 Picture this: the end of 2022

02:04 Who Christy Meaux is and what Cohesive Confidence does

02:55 The script she was handed, and years building someone else's brand

03:38 Independent operator, certification, and writing bios for women

04:03 The question that changed everything

04:26 Decades spent inside other people's expectations

04:43 Fifty now, and zero apology

05:03 Saying yes to everything and confusing everyone around her

05:26 Why people can't dream past what's right in front of them

06:28 Embodied vision: getting in the feeling before it arrives

06:49 The London flight and the row 2 upgrade

07:09 The power of the no is stronger than the power of the yes

07:55 Clarity: know who you are and the decisions get easier

08:26 You can't catch an opportunity you're not paying attention to

08:53 Christy built a practice of noticing

09:19 Where to find Christy

10:15 What expectations are you still carrying that were never yours?

10:43 If Christy could do it at 48, you can do it now

Connect with Christy:

Website: https://cohesiveconfidence.com

Instagram / TikTok / Facebook: @cohesiveconfidence

LinkedIn: search Christy Meaux

Listen to the full conversation with Christy in E209.

Follow Surviving the Side Hustle at https://survivingthesidehustle.com for every episode.