In this episode, we open a new chapter of the podcast.

After years as The Happy Entrepreneur, we’re evolving the show into Happy MBA, a name that better reflects the work we now do and the people we serve. This conversation is about: what’s changing, why it matters, and who this podcast is really for.

If you’ve ever felt a bit out of place in traditional business culture… this one’s for you.

🎧 About this episode

In Episode 171 of the Happy Entrepreneur podcast, Carlos and Laurence talk candidly about:

1. Why Happy MBA felt like the right evolution
2. The kinds of struggles we repeatedly see in founders, freelancers, and solopreneurs
3. Why “knowing the theory” rarely solves the real business challenges
4. The limits of traditional MBA-style thinking
5. Building businesses from the inside out
6. Why energy, fun, and sustainability matter just as much as money

This isn’t a rejection of business fundamentals, it’s a rebalancing. A reminder that businesses are built by humans, with lives, values, families, fears, hopes, and changing seasons.

🧠 Key themes we explore

1. Business problems are often personal problems

Yes, pricing, customers, and sales matter. But what often blocks progress is confidence, isolation, fear, or having too many ideas and no clear place to start.

2. Not everyone fits the “successful entrepreneur” stereotype

If the loud, ruthless, growth-at-all-costs model leaves you cold, you’re not doing it wrong. You’re just building something different.

3. Why Happy MBA isn’t an MBA

Traditional MBAs focus on plans, prediction, and scale. Happy MBA focuses on:

1. Action over overthinking
2. Learning by doing
3. Designing a business that fits your life now
4. Defining success on your own terms

4. Sustainable businesses need sustainable energy

Burnout and “bore-out” are real. If the joy goes, the business usually follows. We talk about how to build something that’s financially and energetically viable.

5. Structure as a playground, not a cage

We believe in giving people enough structure to feel safe but enough freedom to play, experiment, and reconnect with why they started in the first place.

👋 Who this podcast is for

This show is for you if you’re:

1. A solopreneur or freelancer without a big team
2. Sitting on ideas but unsure which one to commit to
3. Feeling like the “mad one” for wanting something different
4. In transition from employment to self-employment, or from an old business to a new chapter
5. Wanting to build work that makes money, does good, and feels more like you

🚶 What’s coming next

Future episodes of Happy MBA will:

1. Tackle the real questions people ask on this alternative business path
2. Share stories, frameworks, and experiments from real humans
3. Help you move from ideas → action → clarity
4. Offer reassurance that you’re not doing it “wrong”

We’ll also be answering listener questions, so if something’s been quietly niggling at you, we’d love to hear from you (email us on [email protected]).

Thanks for being here at the start of this new phase.

We’re glad you’ve found us and we’re looking forward to walking this path with you.

Until the next episode.