Most people think writing a book means sitting alone for months, struggling with words, doubting their ability, and hoping something good comes out the other side.

That belief is wrong, and it’s costing founders credibility, confidence, and revenue.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Ben Cena, founder of High Value Author, to break down why publishing a book is not about being a writer, it’s about being strategic.

This is a conversation for founders, consultants, and leaders who want to build authority, attract better clients, and turn their expertise into leverage, without burning years trying to “write.”

Ben explains:

-Why every leader already knows a book, even if English isn’t their first language

-The difference between being a writer and being an author, and why that distinction matters

-How most leaders sabotage their books by skipping strategy and alignment

-Why books are solutions to problems, not creative projects

-The biggest mistakes leaders make when self-publishing

-How a book can increase conversions, credibility, and confidence

-When publishing a book actually makes sense, and when it doesn’t

-Why execution matters more than ideas in a market with millions of books

Sonia brings the conversation back to what leaders really care about:

-clarity, momentum, confidence, and progress.

If you’re building a personal brand, consulting business, or leadership platform, and you’ve been told “you need a book” but don’t know where to start, this episode gives you the logic, structure, and mindset shift to decide your next move.

This isn’t about becoming an author for ego. It’s about using a book as a tool for growth, credibility, and resilience.

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Most founders obsess over building the product, but not when they exit, and that’s where they lose leverage, leave money on the table, and sometimes watch their company’s culture get dismantled after the deal.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Kevon Saber (multi-exit founder and the mind behind Legacy Outcomes) to unpack the uncomfortable truth: the M&A system favours repeat buyers, not first-time sellers. Kevon shares what he learned after multiple exits, why smart founders still get outmaneuvered, how to prepare your company years before a sale, and how to protect your people and mission when private equity or a strategic buyer comes knocking.

You’ll learn:

• Why founders often get “intoxicated” by the idea of an exit, and how it costs them
• The difference between selling and achieving a peak outcome (right buyer, right price, right terms)
• What buyers actually value (hint: it’s not always the flashy partnerships)
• The 3 pillars to build with exit in mind: team, systems/documentation, and unit economics
• How to improve metrics before going to market, and why a good advisor may tell you to wait 6–12 months
• How to reduce regret by defining your seller objectives before emotions take over
• How founders can put commitments in writing (employees, pricing, community/charity) and why buyer character matters even more
• A real founder lesson: you can change skills, but you can’t change character, and why co-founder alignment is everything
• What “spark” interest from a big company really means, and what a realistic timeline to close actually looks like

If you’re bootstrapping, pre-revenue, scaling fast, or simply building something you care deeply about, this conversation is your reminder: exit strategy isn’t a last-minute event, it’s a leadership decision.

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What if the biggest thing holding your business back… is you?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Jason Berkowitz, founder and CEO of a 15-year SEO agency, to unpack one of the hardest lessons founders must learn to scale: the power of delegation.

Jason shares his journey from solo operator to agency leader, and why trying to do everything himself nearly became the biggest bottleneck in his business. Together, Sonia and Jason have a raw, honest conversation about letting go of control, trusting your team, and why founders who refuse to delegate often stall their own growth.

They dive into:

• Why do founders become the biggest bottleneck in their companies
• The mindset shift required to move from freelancer to scalable founder
• How delegation unlocks better execution, stronger teams, and real growth
• Letting go of the fear that “no one will care as much as I do.”
• Making tough people decisions without guilt
• Building a business that scales without burnout or constant hustle

This episode is for founders who feel overwhelmed, stretched thin, or stuck doing everything themselves, and know something has to change.

If you’ve ever thought “I’ll just do it myself”, this conversation may be the wake-up call you need.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

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Every founder eventually faces the same hard question:

Do I pivot, or do I hold the line?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., I sit down with award-winning filmmaker and executive producer Jaze Bordeaux to unpack what that decision really looks like when everything is on the line.

Jaze shares the behind-the-scenes reality of independent filmmaking, from raising capital and navigating chaos to losing a third of his story mid-production and still completing what most never do. We discuss why filmmaking is no different from building a startup, how structure can save your vision, and why knowing what to kill versus what to protect is one of the most critical leadership skills a founder can develop.

This conversation is for founders, creators, and entrepreneurs who are navigating pressure from investors, constant pivots, and the temptation to compromise to keep moving forward.

In this episode, we cover:

-When pivoting is strategic, and when it costs you your vision

-How to lead when everything is breaking at once

-Why most projects fail before they ever reach the market

-The difference between ideas that sink your business and ideas that elevate it

-How patience, timing, and structure create real momentum

If you’re building something original and questioning whether to change course or stand your ground, this episode will help you think clearly, lead strongly, and move forward with conviction.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

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Ego can build companies, and it can destroy them.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Host Sonia Couto sits down with Robert Matzkin, serial entrepreneur, coach, and advisor who has launched 17 startups and exited two, to unpack the hard truths about ego, execution, burnout, and rebuilding as a founder.

Robert shares how unchecked ego nearly cost him businesses, relationships, and clarity, and how learning to listen to data, coaches, and the market changed the way he builds and leads. From launching his first business at a young age to navigating investor pressure, failed bets, and personal burnout, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to survive and scale in entrepreneurship.

Together, Sonia and Robert dive into:

• Why the ego is one of the most dangerous forces in entrepreneurship
• The difference between being coachable and ignoring your instincts
• How founders can recover from burnout without losing momentum
• What investors actually look for when raising capital today
• Why execution and traction matter more than ideas
• How to protect yourself from bad investors and broken partnerships
• Why the most successful founders still have coaches

This episode is for founders, startup leaders, and entrepreneurs who are navigating pivots, failure, burnout, or high-stakes decisions and need grounded, real-world insight from someone who’s been there.

If you’ve ever questioned yourself as a founder, struggled with ego, or felt the weight of building alone, this conversation will remind you that tenacity isn’t about being fearless, it’s about learning, adapting, and executing anyway.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

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Most founders don’t fail because of a lack of passion. They fail because they don’t understand their numbers.

In this episode, I sit down with Rachel Phillips, Co-Founder and COO of Fully Accountable, to break down the financial blind spots that quietly sink startups, and the simple systems that can save them.

Rachel went from practicing law to building one of the fastest-growing outsourced accounting firms in the digital and e-commerce space. But her journey wasn’t smooth. At one point, she was running payroll with $2 in the bank account, choosing to bet on herself rather than take on the wrong clients.

This conversation is packed with the kind of clarity every founder needs, especially if numbers make you nervous.

We talk about:

• The #1 financial mistake early founders make

• Why your bank account balance is NOT an indicator of success

• When you actually need a CFO (and when you absolutely don’t)

• Cutting the bottom 20% to double your profit

• How to turn your accounting department into a profit center

• Building and scaling a remote-first culture long before it was normal

• The moment Rachel realized she had to niche down or risk losing everything

If you are scaling, pivoting, fundraising, or simply trying to understand your financial reality, this episode will give you the confidence and clarity you’ve been avoiding.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

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At just 20 years old, Aleksandar Svetski lost everything, $200,000 in debt, wiped out by the stock market, living on a friend’s floor, and selling door-to-door to afford a can of tuna. That rock-bottom moment didn’t break him; it built him.

In this raw and unapologetic conversation, Sonia sits down with Alex to unpack the failures, pivots, and rebuilds that shaped his unconventional path from debt to becoming a leading voice in the Bitcoin space. From early entrepreneurial mistakes to launching the world’s first Bitcoin-only savings app to stepping away when regulation and burnout crushed his joy. Alex shares the truth behind resilience that most founders rarely discuss.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Losing $200K and rebuilding from zero
• The life-changing lessons of door-to-door rejection
• Why his early startup failed and how that led to Bitcoin
• Battling regulators while trying to innovate
• Knowing when persistence becomes self-destruction
• How to avoid “founder Frankenstein” product mistakes
• What the next generation of Bitcoin adoption will really look like

If you’re a founder facing uncertainty, burnout, or the fear of letting go, this episode will challenge how you think about resilience and what it truly means to rebuild.

Listen or watch full episodes: https://soniacouto.com/

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me: https://www.instagram.com/soniactech

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What makes a founder walk away from stability, an excellent salary, and a clear corporate path, just to start over from scratch?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Marco Benitez, CEO of ROOK, shares the pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of his life. From a national Taekwondo champion in Mexico to a biomedical engineer and then climbing the ladder in big pharma, Marco had everything society tells us to want. Yet he felt deeply unfulfilled.

When his wife asked, “Why are you so sad?”, it forced him to face a truth he’d been avoiding: he was meant to build, not maintain.

Sonia and Marco unpack:

• ⚡ The internal battle between comfort and purpose
• ⚡ How he navigated a high-risk pivot from fitness wearables to healthcare & insurance
• ⚡ The real emotional cost behind raising capital (400 investor calls!)
• ⚡ Why being “in love with the problem, not the product” saved his company
• ⚡ What founders misunderstand about resilience and long-term vision
• ⚡ The future of health data, wearables, and consumer control
• ⚡ How to make the leap when fear has you frozen

This episode is a powerful reminder that tenacity isn’t loud; it’s the quiet decision to keep walking, even when the world tells you to stay where it’s safe.

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What does it take to build and scale a tech startup while your country is under attack?

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Ukrainian founder Oleksandr (“Alex”) Buratynskyi, co-founder of T-Travel, shares the raw, unfiltered truth about growing a startup during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with no outside funding, constant uncertainty, and the pressure to keep his team motivated while the world around him shifted overnight.

Alex opens up about:

• The hackathon spark that pushed him from QA testing into entrepreneurship
• Bootstrapping T-Travel through wartime conditions when investors disappeared
• How the invasion changed everything, from funding to timelines to team morale
• The biggest mistake he made as a founder (and how it cost years of time and money)
• Why overbuilding early nearly crushed the company
• How he scaled to 37,000+ users without VC dollars
• The mindset tools he used to stay steady while leading through crisis
• His philosophy from his book Systematic Adaptiveness, and how founders can apply it in their own moments of chaos

This conversation serves as a blueprint for fostering founder resilience, resourcefulness, and psychological endurance.

If you’re navigating failure, rebuilding after a setback, or fighting to keep your dream alive, Alex’s story will remind you that tenacity is a strategy, not just a trait.

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When you try to serve everyone, you end up serving no one.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia Couto sits down with Gabriel Kaam, founder and CEO of K&R, to unpack one of the hardest, but smartest, growth decisions a founder can make: niching down.

Gabriel shares how focusing his agency on fashion and luxury e-commerce helped him land clients like L’Oréal, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton, without a sales team. He opens up about the early struggles of scaling, why being small became his biggest superpower, and how founders can win trust from big clients, even when you’re still building.

You’ll learn:

• Why niching down is the key to sustainable growth
• How being small and flexible can attract global brands
• The truth about managing client expectations and setting boundaries
• How to sell your idea before your product
• Why cheap hires cost more in the long run

If you’re building a startup, agency, or SaaS, this episode is your reminder that focus isn’t a limitation; it’s leverage.

Website: https://www.soniacouto.com/Podcast

IG Channel: https://www.instagram.com/tenacitywithsoniac/

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