Thrive

Brand matters—that's why we changed ours. I've spent a lot of time over the last several months thinking about our how I want members to feel when they're in our community, and the right way to communicate that value. We've made a lot of progress to tighten it up (kudos to my team), but our old website didn't reflect that, so I decided to make a change. I called Stephen Cassano and hired him the same day. He's my friend, we're in the same peer group, I've learned through those conversations how seriously he takes his business—and I trust him. It's a perfect example of why community works! The Bow Tie Social team performed some serious magic to get what I was looking for out of my head and onto a platform we could share with the world. I'm pumped (and proud) to share our new website:?https://www.thrivers.co/ Stephen understands Thrive because he’s part of it. He’s a founder, a builder, and someone who delivers when it matters. If you need a site built with the same care, thoughtfulness, and creativity—talk to him. He’s your guy and I'd happily make an intro. This was a cool milestone for us—and much more thoughtful than the logo + site I made while sitting in my one-bedroom apartment a year and a half ago. Special to see it come to life. Let's Thrive!

We're thrilled to launch the first-ever Breaking Through Cohort in just under a month! If you're feeling "stuck" in Year 1 of your business, shoot John a DM to learn more!

Every woman in business deserves a community where she feels supported. Have you found yours? Entrepreneurship can be exciting, fulfilling, and empowering, but it can also feel isolating, overwhelming, and uncertain. I've found one community so far that I truly love (THRIVE - I've shared about it before, but just in case, I'll share more in the comments), but I'm always curious to see what else is out there. Many women step into business ownership without a true support system, no mentors to guide them, no peers to share the journey with, no space to ask, “Am I doing this right?” If you’re already a business owner, have you found a community that truly supports, uplifts, and challenges you? And if you want to start a business, what’s holding you back? Is it fear, lack of guidance, resources, or something else? ?? Drop your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear about your experience! Because here’s the truth: You don’t have to figure it all out alone. ??

Who am I to start a company when companies won't even hire me? I know I'm not the only entrepreneur who thinks this. And ew, I hate using that word to describe myself but according to Google, that's what I am. I built Rhize, and through Rhize, I found Thrive. Now, I'm determined to make sure anyone who's curious about starting their own thing has the tools to do it right. So, I worked with my colleagues at Thrive to create the program that I wish I had when I was building Rhize. I'll link the application in the comments. We're limiting the first group to 50 spots (plus one for me!). If you're interested, apply or feel free to ask me any questions. Entrepreneurship isn't some elusive thing. It's just a fancy word with a simple meaning. And trust me, if I can figure it out, you can too.

My business is on fire in the best way. Thrive performed better in January than all of 2024 combined. And I could not be more grateful. Same vision, new product, same mission, new pricing. But I am actively drowning. I met John Kennelly when he became a member of our community last May. But when I met him in Dallas for a Thrive event last fall, I was sure—this guy is who he says he is. John knows how to find and communicate with underestimated entrepreneurs because he is one. He's smart, capable, loyal, and the epitome of what it means to be a team player. Thanks to Giovanna, and now John—this is the best team I’ve ever been a part of. I geek out on being underestimated (all three of us do)—and people have no idea what's coming. We're just getting started. Let's Thrive!

2024 wasn't the year I hoped it would be for I Hate Sales. But the business has been ON FIRE in 2025. So I decided to do the logical thing... I took a job working for somebody else. Last week I asked Eric Harrison for his two cents on how to recapture the success I had with #spamstories videos in Q4 of last year. His answer would have made me fall out of my chair if I used one. "Yeah, stop making them and come run growth for Thrive." I Hate Sales isn't going anywhere but I am going to be a bit more selective about my client base, and Thrive will receive the bulk of my attention which it very much warrants. Check out the article if you want to learn what a massive impact Thrive had on my business, and why I felt compelled to dive in and work directly with Eric and Giovanna on growing this amazing community. Whether you're a Founder and you want to learn more about Thrive, or if you're a friend of mine who had no idea this was going to happen and you're kind of confused and pissed, hit me up! I'd love to chat no matter which of those buckets you fall in ??

When you surround yourself with the right people, everything changes. I haven’t been posting much lately because Giovanna Ventola and I have been heads down, focused on one thing: our member experience. And it’s made me think a lot about culture. I’ve been on great teams—where everyone was all-in on the vision—and I’ve been on bad ones, too. Culture makes or breaks a community. The experience has to feel a certain way to members. So, we've been obsessing over ours. Last week, I brought our entire team together in our Milwaukee office for five days to dive deep into it. My biggest takeaway was how special it feels to be leading a truly great team again. It’s different when you know you’ve got the right people in the room. Once we cross $1M in revenue this year, we’ll be getting the team back together right before our annual member conference. It’s already on the calendar, and we’re ready to make it happen. I hired Giovanna just four weeks ago, and already she’s brought an energy I didn’t know we needed. Hire A-players and trust them to do what they do best. This team and this mission are on the move—and we’re just getting started. Let’s Thrive!

One of my best decisions of 2024 was joining the Thrive community! The ability to listen to and interact with other bootstrapped entrepreneurs each week has been immensely beneficial to my overall mental health. Upon joining Thrive, I immediately felt less alone. The questions on my mind were the same ones on the minds of others in the group. All of a sudden, I was surrounded by other people in a similar age group speaking the kind of business jargon I’ve been struggling to wrap my head around for years. — Best of all, their advice wasn’t “Buy my course and you’ll understand it.” Instead it was the sharing of personal struggles and helpful tips from their own journey in entrepreneurship. Thanks to Matthew Kusche for inviting me out to the Dallas, TX chapter back in September! Much love to Eric Harrison, John Kennelly, and the rest of the Thrive team for continuing to make it a fun place to be each week. If you’re interested in joining, the link below will knock $50 off the cost of your annual membership. The only community for service-based, bootstrapped entrepreneurs. Sound like you? Join today: https://lnkd.in/g3RJF_ZX #entrepreneurship #community #thrive #friendship #socializing #networking #solopreneur #bootstrap #bootstrappers?

In August, I was introduced to Giovanna Ventola through one of our Thrive members. She quickly became an invaluable part of our community, joining calls, meeting members, and leading webinar sessions focused on building community through trust, empathy, and real human connection. I wasn't the only one who recognized her talent. Our members (constantly) encouraged us to bring her on board, and I'm thrilled to announce that Giovanna has officially joined Thrive as our full-time Head of Member Experience! Giovanna's expertise will be crucial in creating a vibrant experience that attracts new members while retaining and engaging our existing community. She’s a serious community builder. And it’s time for us to get this right. I believe in her a lot. We're excited about everything she will bring to this mission. Let’s Thrive!

Most people, especially in Silicon Valley, use the term “lifestyle business” as a dirty term. I see it as a compliment. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked if I was building a “lifestyle business,” I’d have enough money to fund our product roadmap for the next few years. Building a company that is profitable and growing year over year is what we used to call a “business”. And it's never been easier (and cheaper) to build a bootstrapped business thanks to AWS, Generative AI, and offshoring. For some reason, the expectation is to raise a bunch of money, lose control over your company to people who have never run a business, waste time managing a big team, be unprofitable, focus on hyper-growth, and have a big exit. This week's RB2B webinar hosted by Adam Robinson and Nathan Latka provided all the facts that any founder would ever need to stay bootstrapped for as long as possible. Nathan laid out examples of venture-backed founders that, on paper, looked like they had a “big exit”. However, after dilution and paying back investors, the founders were left with only enough money to pay for a downpayment on a house in San Francisco. Hint hint: That’s not a lot of money. On top of that, venture-backed founders’ salaries are capped. In contrast, imagine being the founder who can bootstrap a profitable business to ~$2M ARR, pay themselves whatever they want, and have complete control over their business. Which path would you choose? If you're a bootstrapped founder, let's connect, support each other, and set an example of the change we want to see. Shout out to people like Eric Harrison for building Thrive, a community for bootstrapped entrepreneurs.