What happens when the toughest part of building a business isn't the competition, the funding, or the market, but the conversation happening inside your own head?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, host Angela Robertson sits down with Armen Arustamov, founder of Got it Life, to explore the connection between self-talk, resilience, and entrepreneurship.

Armen's journey has taken him from professional tennis to psychology, corporate training, and the startup world. Along the way, he discovered that the loneliness and pressure of elite sports have a lot in common with the challenges founders face.

He opens up about spending two difficult years in Silicon Valley with little money, few connections, and plenty of uncertainty. Through that experience, he learned the importance of understanding himself, organizing his thoughts, and finding the confidence to keep moving forward.

Angela and Armen also discuss why Got it Life takes a different approach to AI-powered personal development. Rather than simply giving people answers, the platform is designed to help users ask better questions and develop their own self-coaching skills.

They explore the role of negative self-talk, the lessons entrepreneurs can learn from professional athletes, and how AI could support human development without replacing the skills people need to build for themselves.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why entrepreneurship can feel as lonely as professional sports.
• How your relationship with yourself can influence the way you handle challenges.
• Why self-coaching is a skill worth developing.
• What Armen learned from his most difficult years in Silicon Valley.
• How elite athletes approach resilience, focus, and setbacks.
• Why Armen believes AI should strengthen human skills rather than replace them.

Whether you're a founder navigating uncertainty, a CEO facing difficult decisions, or someone looking to build greater self-awareness, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on the inner work behind leadership.

Listen now to discover why building a stronger business may start with building a better conversation with yourself.

Learn more about Got it Life: https://www.gotit.life

Connect with Armen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/armen-arustamov-280b7719/

  Try for FREE:

- IOS: http://apple.co/3wAdGWY

- Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gotitlife.android&pcampaignid=web_share

What does it really take to turn a simple idea into a scalable technology company?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with Josh Daiter, CEO of InVintory, to unpack the journey from a kitchen-table idea to a multi-million-dollar SaaS platform changing how people manage wine collections.

Josh shares how an outdated system and an Excel spreadsheet revealed a gap in the market, why building a great product is only the beginning, and how trust, distribution, and strong unit economics became critical to InVintory’s growth.

They also dive into the pressure that comes with raising outside capital, the company’s $2.3 million seed round, the difficult decision to restructure the team, and the lessons Josh learned when the business nearly shut down.

Josh also explains why raising prices actually helped InVintory grow, how the company tests content and marketing at scale, and why AI and automation could become central to hospitality and business operations.

This is a candid conversation about building, rebuilding, and learning how to create a company with staying power.

What happens when the startup playbook that got you here stops working?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with Miranda Lievers, Co-Founder of Thinkific and Founder of Torch the Playbooks, to unpack the messy middle of scaling a business.

Drawing from her experience helping grow Thinkific from a scrappy startup through a $1B+ IPO, Miranda shares why scaling requires founders to rethink the habits, systems, and leadership styles that worked in the early days.

They explore why leaders need to get out of their own way, how to recognize when old playbooks no longer fit, the impact of AI on established ways of working, and why sustainable growth is about being directionally correct rather than perfect.

Miranda also reflects on stepping away for a two-year sabbatical, rediscovering what mattered to her, and why founders need to build at a pace that both they and their teams can actually sustain.

If you’re navigating growth and wondering why scaling feels harder than you expected, this conversation is a reminder that you’re not alone.

Connect with Miranda and learn more about Torch the Playbooks:
https://torchtheplaybooks.com/

For founders whose businesses are too big to wing it and too small to feel stable.

What happens when you build a product people want, prove the market exists, and then watch forces outside your control bring it crashing down?

On this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with Darryl Hillock, Founder & CEO of Beatify, to unpack his journey from music entrepreneur to building one of the earliest blockchain-powered music streaming platforms.

Darryl shares what happened when the crypto collapse disrupted a platform that had already attracted thousands of users, the personal and financial cost of rebuilding, and why failure ultimately gave him the clarity to create something stronger.

They also explore the future of creator ownership, digital identity, direct payments, and why founders need the right people around them when things get difficult.

It’s a conversation about resilience, ownership, and having the conviction to keep building when walking away would be easier.

What does it really take to build a company when success doesn’t happen overnight?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with Bhavya Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of zipBoard, to explore the realities of building a bootstrapped SaaS company through uncertainty, setbacks, and constant change.

Bhavya shares the challenges of rebuilding after an early co-founder departure, learning to trust her own judgment, and redefining success around solving meaningful problems one customer at a time. She and Angela also explore why more technology doesn’t always create better collaboration, how AI can support experts without replacing human judgment, and why some of the biggest opportunities for founders are hiding inside industries and workflows others overlook.

It’s a candid conversation about resilience, trust, sustainable growth, and accepting that building something meaningful takes time.

What happens when revenue plateaus and the sales tactics that used to work stop delivering?

On this episode of The Stormy Stories Show with Angela Robertson, Angela sits down with globally recognized sales strategist Alice Heiman, founder of Alice Heiman, LLC and host of Sales Talk for CEOs. Alice has spent decades helping CEOs improve sales performance, grow revenue, and increase company valuation.

Alice breaks down why CEOs can never fully step away from sales, even as their companies scale. She shares how changing buyer behaviour is forcing companies to rethink go-to-market strategy, why building buyer confidence has become critical in B2B sales, and how CEOs can use AI strategically instead of falling into what she calls "random acts of AI."

For leaders facing stalled growth, Alice also offers three practical places to start: look for opportunities within your existing customer base, turn happy customers into introductions and referrals, and strengthen the partners who can actually help you grow.

This conversation is a practical look at how CEOs can remove friction from the buying process, help their teams sell more effectively, and find growth opportunities that may already be right in front of them.

What does it take to build a category-defining consumer brand in one of the world's most competitive industries?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show with Angela Robertson, Angela sits down with Melissa L'Heureux-Hache, Founder of VEGAIN Nutrition, to explore what it really takes to challenge industry giants with innovation, conviction, and relentless execution.

Melissa shares how VEGAIN transformed plant-based sports nutrition by focusing on performance first, why bootstrapping forced smarter decisions, and how investing in technology has created a lasting competitive advantage. From launching breakthrough products to scaling into major retailers like Costco, this conversation is packed with lessons on leadership, product innovation, resilience, and building a business designed for the long game.

Whether you're a founder, CEO, entrepreneur, or product builder, this episode offers practical insights into creating a brand that customers genuinely believe in.

What does it take to lead a highly technical company through uncertainty while building a culture that thrives?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with Andrea Krupa, President & CEO of PhotoSat, to explore her unconventional path from counseling psychology and adventure therapy to leading one of the world's leading geospatial technology companies. Together, they discuss why leadership is ultimately about people, even in the most technical organizations.

Andrea shares how she transformed PhotoSat's culture, the importance of asking "dumb questions," and why curiosity is one of the greatest leadership strengths a CEO can have. She also opens up about one of the most difficult periods of her career, navigating the sudden loss of her father while steering the company through a major business crisis, and the lessons she learned about resilience, responsibility, and leading through uncertainty.

They also dive into the future of AI, mining, satellite intelligence, and why better data doesn't always lead to better decisions unless it's validated and trustworthy.

Whether you're a founder, CEO, or leader navigating your own storms, this conversation is packed with practical leadership insights and powerful personal stories.

What does it really take to build a workplace where people thrive?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with Elisabeth Cooke, CEO and Co-Founder of Dignii Technologies, to unpack why workplace culture is one of the most important business strategies leaders often overlook.

Elisabeth explains why diversity and inclusion should never be viewed as a checkbox exercise, but as a measurable driver of innovation, performance, and long-term business success. Together, they explore how leaders can create psychologically safe workplaces where employees feel empowered to speak up, challenge ideas, and contribute at their highest level.

The conversation also dives into the realities of leading a mission-driven company, the isolation many founders experience, and why curiosity, humility, and adaptability are becoming the defining leadership traits of the future. Elisabeth also shares her perspective on AI, why it should remain a tool rather than a replacement for human leadership, and how founders can intentionally build inclusive cultures from day one instead of trying to fix them later.

Whether you're a founder, CEO, or people leader, this episode offers practical insights into building organizations where trust, accountability, and high performance go hand in hand.

What does it really mean to lead with both your head and your heart?

In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with Adam Greenberg, CEO of MakeShift and Founder of Leaders2Give.org, to explore the human side of leadership. Adam shares why creating a sense of belonging is one of the most important responsibilities of a CEO, how he balances financial performance with people-first leadership, and why some of the hardest decisions leaders make involve people, not strategy.

The conversation dives into the pressures leaders face behind closed doors, from difficult personnel decisions to the loneliness that can come with carrying the weight of a business. Adam also opens up about the challenges of building and operating a nonprofit in Mexico designed to support vulnerable children and families facing medical crises, and the unexpected lessons that came with solving a problem that turned out to be more complex than anyone anticipated.

If you're a founder, CEO, or leader navigating your own storm, this episode is a powerful reminder that leadership isn't about having all the answers — it's about making thoughtful decisions, staying grounded in your values, and remembering that business is ultimately about people.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

•  Building a culture of belonging in high-performance teams 
•  Balancing financial KPIs with human outcomes 
•  The difficult reality of managing underperformance 
•  Why some leadership decisions require patience, not speed 
•  Lessons from building a nonprofit from the ground up 
•  The importance of trusted people and financial discipline when scaling a business