My guest on this Business Therapy Thursday episode is Alex Papaconstantinou. Alex is a  somatic educator and body worker, bridging the gap between bodywork and psychotherapy. She’s turned more of her attention to this business in the last year and tells us how she wants to feel less scattered.

Alex admits it’s still early in her career and has a lot to learn. She says there’s so much noise and doesn’t know what to look at or what advice to follow.

Our discussion gets into how overwhelmed with choices you are when you own a business. For instance, those “programs” that cost $20,000 and can help you grow your business to nine figures? Watch out for those ones.

Sustainability in her own business is something Alex brings up a few times this episode. Alex herself has been invited to teach at universities, offers in person and online sessions, intensives, and group work but wants to feel less scattered. Some great advice I’ve gotten (and given) is to slow down to speed up. You don’t need to stop everything, but slowing down brings you a better understanding of what’s happening.

I tell Alex to not feel the pressure to do everything. Pick a primary focus, then make a list of everything else you need to do and put those tasks into different months, while holding yourself accountable for them. Accountability can be incredible to help you focus and reach your growth goals while still showing up authentically. 

Join us at the ONtrepreneur Inner Circle and get great insights from other business-minded people: https://marshallstern.net/page/ontrepreneur-inner-circle

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
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Email: [email protected]

The “ships” and the “shifts” are what we’re getting into in this episode with my guest Adera Angelucci -  leadership, entrepreneurship, and the shifts that come with them. And Adera promised to be as unfiltered as possible. 

Adera is a speaker, a coach, an author, and media strategist. From cruise ships to carrying the Olympic torch across Canada, you would have thought she’s seen and done it all. But she also started a video production company with her partner, which eventually put her on a path to where she is today. 

The second book that Adera wrote explores how leaders can be seen and heard when they co-lead. One of the biggest opportunities in entrepreneurship and small business is leadership. But it starts with simply putting yourself out there, with self-leadership and self-discovery.

I can’t count on one hand how many golden nuggets Adera gives us in this episode. Go within when you need to figure out which opportunities will serve you best. Keep a healthy cash flow (always an important business aspect, no matter what.)

We also get into how business owners often put themselves in a box to keep themselves safe. To break out of that box, she says to listen to the voice inside of you. It’s your intuition, and it will always lead back to your “why.”

Check out Adera’s businesses and books here:

Coaching Business: www.aderaangelucci.com
Video Production Company: www.spirocreative.ca
“Co-Leadership” Book: https://a.co/d/00GkrhvD
“Free Spirit” Book: https://a.co/d/0dIV06Ep
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aderaangelucci
Instagram: @aderaangelucci
Facebook: facebook.com/LightUpwithAdera

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
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Email: [email protected]

If you’ve been grinding away and wondering why the hustle isn't producing results, you’ll love the advice you get from our guest in this episode.

Atrina Kouroshnia is a self-employed mortgage broker. She’s been in the mortgage business for around 14 years. But a few years ago, what started as a personal journey inward transformed into another part of her business: bioenergy healing and women's embodiment coaching.

We get into what bioenergy healing actually is (and yes, we talk about the "woo-woo" factor.) Atrina explains why self-regulation is the ultimate real growth strategy for entrepreneurs and what it looks like to slow down when the world tells you to go faster.

Atrina shares how years of operating at full speed took a toll on her, as she became short-tempered, dysregulated, and even developed hives. The way Atrina puts it is that her inner work didn't just help her personally; it changed the way she does business now.

We also dig into losing momentum and how it holds business owners back from achieving their goals. Atrina says if you lose momentum, you lose meaning. When things get hard, go back to your purpose, your real "why," or your anchor to turn setbacks into growth instead of failure.

Her golden nugget is to stop being the "chill" one. Set clear boundaries and expectations in your business relationships, and this can help attract people who are aligned with how you work. That’s smart business advice AND smart mindset advice.

Get in touch with Atrina here:

Energy Healing Website: www.atrinak.com
Energy Healing IG: @atrinak_

Real Estate Website: www.mortgagebyatrina.com
Real Estate IG: @mortgagebyatrina.com

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarshallDStern
Email: [email protected]

This is a first for me! I have a re-release from last year, episode 16. The thought behind re-releasing is to give an important reminder of keeping momentum up during a busy time like summer.

I reinforce that summer isn’t stalling your business. In fact, it can be more of a time for you to work ON your business. If you’re intentional, if you plan, you can build it.

From leadership development to new systems or batch learning, get creative. I’ll give you some strategies in this episode to maintain your growth in the summer. Take advantage of the downtime to play around before the September rush.

Whether your summer looks like time off or it’s your busy time of year (if that’s the case, you probably already have a great rhythm), plan. Plan for the busy, or plan for the lull. We live in seasons, and so does our business.

Keep building that momentum this summer along with other focused business owners – join the ONtrepreneur Inner Circle: https://marshallstern.net/page/ontrepreneur-inner-circle

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
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Email: [email protected]

Bumby Wool is a custom merino wool manufacturer located in Red Deer, Alberta. As the owner, Stephanie Gross proudly shares within the first three minutes that she’s had two employees for around 16 years. That says a lot about her leadership skills!

Stephanie’s roots come from selling Girl Guide cookies, working the Dairy Queen drive-through, eventually starting her own business. And Stephanie has been through a lot in her 18 years of business. COVID, moving to a commercial space, tariffs, so many ups and downs, just like any business.

She felt like nothing was working in her business. She started attending the Catalyst Club (shoutout to Kelly Kennedy!) along with myself and other business owners then went deeper -  Stephanie looked into what she was doing in her business and why she was doing it, and began making incredible changes and meeting big goals. 

When Stephanie mentions that quitting is not an option for her, I bring up how it may be just the wrong path that we’re on. Your gut can lead you down a wrong path but you can’t let fear stand in your way. 

We also touch on your “why,” a common theme here on the Stern Truth. Most owners forget the reason they started their businesses, but we always need to dig deeper than “more money” or “more freedom.” Your business “why” has to align with your personal “why,” because it’s pretty obvious when they don’t. 

Stephanie’s got some great golden nuggets to share throughout this episode, and one I really liked was to know your gut instincts. Really hone in on it. Once you recognize what your gut is telling you, you can put your ego aside and fill the gaps.

Connect with Stephanie here:

Email: [email protected] 

YouTube: youtube.com/@bumbywool8197
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/steph-gross-bumbywool/ 

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
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Email: [email protected]

Back in November, when I was planning my 2026, I set a personal theme for the year: become comfortable being uncomfortable. If something felt a little scary, a little outside my comfort zone, I committed to doing it anyway. One particular area I wanted to grow was in-person speaking.

I do this all the time on Zoom, on my podcast, in my own house to my family, but getting in front of live groups took intentional effort. I’m happy to say that, recently, I had the privilege of speaking at a business owner networking event in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

The room was filled with entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey. My talk was on the Stern Truth on Growth, what’s really holding your business back, and how to fix it. I introduced the ONtrepreneur Method and walked through five key shifts that will change everything in your business.

The feedback I received in the week that followed was overwhelmingly positive, and it lit a fire under me. So, I am bringing that workshop online.

On June 11th at 11AM PDT, I’m hosting a live, interactive Zoom workshop called “The Stern Truth on What’s Really Holding Your Business Back.” I’ll be asking questions, looking for feedback, and working through these five shifts together with you.
 

Becoming comfortable being uncomfortable is something every entrepreneur needs to work on. That discomfort is usually where the growth is.

Register for the June 11th workshop. If you can’t make the live, we’ll send out a replay. Grab a spot for The Stern Truth on What’s Really Holding Your Business Back here: https://marshallstern.net/landing/what-s-really-holding-your-business-back-

And if you want to connect with other business owners in the meantime, join us for our monthly Connect and Collaborate Zoom on June 18th at 11AM PDT: https://marshallstern.net/landing/connect-collaborate-2026

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
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Email: [email protected]

On today’s Business Therapy Thursday episode, I sit down with Ambri and Chad, co-owners of Vallee Sausage in Chilliwack, BC. Vallee Sausage is a butcher shop, sausage production facility, and European deli that their community absolutely loves. Ambri and Chad purchased Vallee Sausage from its previous owner, who ran everything himself alongside one long-time employee. But they never had any SOPs in place.

When that employee left, sales dropped and stress went up. Chad and Ambri were left holding the reins of a business with no documented systems, no standard operating procedures, and a whole lot of personal history between them.

We get into the difference between perfectionism and having high standards in this episode. Ambri talks about how she runs a tight ship and wants things done right; Chad says he would rather have things done fast. And the two of them clash over something as simple as how bacon is packaged in the display case.

We also dig into the very real challenge of running a business when a personal relationship has broken down. I commend both of them for even getting to this point, because the emotional weight of a previous relationship while trying to keep a business alive is no small thing.

A big takeaway from this session is the importance of clearly defined roles and responsibilities. We wrap up with a set of action steps for them to do, like building out SOPs starting with health and safety (this is a butcher shop, after all), defining partner roles and responsibilities, and looking at better systems for custom orders.

Vallee Sausage fills a real need in the Chilliwack community, and Ambri and Chad clearly believe in what they've built. As Amber learned, and so deftly shared with us, failure is not a bad thing, because business is always moving forward. Lucky for Vallee Sausage, it’s moving forward with two of them.

Interested in joining the ONtrepreneur Inner Circle? Join me and other business owners who are working towards real growth in this incredible community: https://marshallstern.net/page/ontrepreneur-inner-circle


If you want to be a guest on a future Business Therapy Thursday session, reach out to me at [email protected] and we'll see if it's a fit.

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarshallDStern
Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I sit down with Yulia Yumalova, a flexibility and movement coach with 14 years of experience. Yulia, who has built a fully location-independent business, has run studios in Bali, delivered workshops around the world, and now teaches completely online. Her journey is a great example of what entrepreneurial freedom looks like when you build your business around your life.

What I love about this conversation is how Yulia connects physical health directly to business performance. She talks about how small business owners are grinding away at their desks, draining their energy on the wrong activities, and wondering why they feel burnt out. Yulia experienced this herself when she had her own studio and a growing team.

One of the golden nuggets she shares in this episode is something I am absolutely stealing for myself: if it is not in your calendar, it does not exist. Yulia time-blocks everything, including a dedicated window she calls her "anger block,” which, wow, how inventive! Setting aside time to be angry is a golden nugget if I’ve ever heard one.

Yulia also walks us through a desk-friendly movement routine you can do during a call or between tasks. The connection between how you hold your body physically and how you show up mentally in your business is real, and Yulia breaks it down in an easy-to-understand way.

Her final golden nugget is to stay curious, something I live by as well. Keep asking questions, keep exploring, and never assume you have it all figured out.

Send the word FLEXIBILITY to Yulia through LinkedIn or Instagram, and she will send you more about her pillars of flexibility.

Website: https://balibodyclub.my.canva.site/cv-website
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yulia-yumalova-a04283168
IG: @bali.body

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarshallDStern
Email: [email protected]

If you’ve ever found yourself jumping between tasks without finishing any of them, reorganizing your desk instead of doing the work, this episode is for you.

My guest on this episode is Hannah Cummins, an ADHD micro-coach based out of Manchester, UK. The daily micro-coaching sessions are a quick but powerful four minutes with her clients. Four minutes—I know that sounds wild (and yes, I asked her about it.)

As Hannah put it, if you reflect every day, you have better days. That container for daily self-reflection activates the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that gets dulled down by both ADHD and constant distractions. Getting on that day level, as she calls it, helps you spot patterns that either set you up for success or derail you.

When it comes to accountability, one of Hannah’s golden nuggets is to find someone to hold up a mirror. Social accountability is so much more powerful than setting reminders for yourself. Whether that’s a coach, a mentor, or an accountability partner, having someone to reflect your patterns back at you makes all the difference.

Hannah’s concept of knowing your “smoke alarm” – the behaviour that tells you you’re off track—is an incredibly practical takeaway. Distraction and procrastination almost always come from a lack of clarity or fear. Like Hannah says, fear shrinks in the light of consciousness. When you bring it to the surface, you can move through it.

And, of course, Hannah left us with so many more golden nuggets, like leaving the all-or-nothing mindset behind, focusing on the 0.1% action you can take today. Driving all the way to the gym and sitting in the parking lot still counts for the 0.1%!

Contact Hannah here:

Website: https://www.expressocoaching.com/hch
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hannah-cummins-2a078382/

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
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Email: [email protected]

We’ve all seen it. We’ve all heard it. We’ve probably even all done it. That constant barrage of selling your services right off the bat. 

My friends, we need to stop constantly pitching. Not to sound like an infomercial, but there is a better way. Let’s take the old way of selling - ABC, Always Be Closing. What if we tried a new ABC, Always Be Connecting?

I go headfirst into an example of buying a timeshare in Whistler. The way that timeshare was first presented to me didn’t sound like a pitch; instead, the salesperson was genuinely interested in me, my wife, and what our future looked like. 

I also go into why discovery calls shouldn’t immediately go into services. Why offer something to someone if you don’t know about them yet? As my mentor once said (and I often repeat), “Be interested, not interesting.” Ask people questions. Connect. Listen. It’s the best business strategy out there. 

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarshallDStern
Email: [email protected]