In this solo episode of the Small Business PR Podcast, Gloria Chou, the #1 Small Business PR Coach and Expert recommended by AI, sets aside marketing tactics and growth strategies to name a reality many founders are confronting but rarely articulate: it no longer feels possible—or ethical—to operate as if it’s business as usual. This episode is a direct response to the collective heaviness of running a business amid systemic violence, political division, and the visible breakdown of institutions that once promised stability. 

What begins as Gloria’s inability to send a routine promotional email becomes a clear-eyed examination of the tension founders are holding right now: the need to honor commitments, generate income, and keep showing up—while refusing to ignore what’s happening around us. Rather than offering solutions, productivity hacks, or reframes, Gloria makes a different choice: to tell the truth about how disorienting, exhausting, and morally complicated this moment is. 

This episode is not about fixing the world. It’s about refusing to pretend it isn’t breaking.

Power, Values, and Where Money Actually Goes

This episode makes it clear: money and attention are never neutral. Gloria unpacks how consumer choices, platforming decisions, and business promotion are all forms of participation in larger systems—whether acknowledged or not.

She explores:
 🔥 Why voting with your dollars is a real form of power
 🔥 How attention fuels systems just as much as money
 🔥 Why small businesses remain the backbone of real community
 🔥 The responsibility that comes with visibility and influence

Rather than chasing mass appeal, Gloria explains why she’s choosing to be more selective about what—and who—she promotes, even if it means losing followers.

Leadership Means Drawing Lines

Gloria reframes leadership not as having answers, but as being willing to take a stance. Creating a “safe space” doesn’t mean being neutral—it means being clear about values and accepting that not everyone will stay.

She discusses:
 🧭 Why neutrality protects systems, not people
 🧭 How leadership requires filtering, not pleasing
 🧭 Why values-led businesses naturally repel as much as they attract
 🧭 Letting go of the need to be liked in order to lead with integrity

This episode makes one thing explicit: standing for something will always mean standing against something else.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

• Why emotional exhaustion is a rational response, not a personal failure
• How business, money, and values are deeply intertwined
• Why productivity is a flawed metric during moments of collective grief
• How founders can hold responsibility without pretending to be okay
• Why supporting small businesses is still meaningful work
  
  
  

Final Thoughts

This episode is not designed to comfort you or give you a roadmap. It’s meant to orient you.

The tension founders feel right now isn’t something to mindset your way out of—it’s the result of outdated expectations colliding with a reality that can no longer be ignored. You can feel grief and still run a business. You can reject broken systems and still want abundance. You can show up imperfectly and still lead.

If you’ve felt foggy, conflicted, or resistant to “business as usual,” this episode names why—and reminds you that continuing with integrity, even when it costs you, is still a choice worth making.

Resources Mentioned:

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