Tenacity with Sonia C.

The Scaling Mistake That Nearly Cost Her Everything with Lauren Kwedar

What happens when your business grows faster than your systems, leadership, and life can handle? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Lauren Cockerell, founder of Kaidar & Co, to unpack the scaling mistake that nearly cost her everything. After being laid off while 8 months pregnant, Lauren built her company from the ground up. But years later, rapid growth, hiring pressure, operational chaos, and leadership stress forced her to confront a hard truth: more revenue does not automatically create a better business. Lauren shares the real behind-the-scenes reality of scaling a service business, including: * Growing revenue by 70% and watching systems break * Making hiring decisions too quickly * Navigating a business partner exit * Balancing leadership with motherhood * learning why niching down creates clarity * Rebuilding the company around intentional growth instead of survival mode This conversation is for founders who are: * overwhelmed by scaling pressure * experiencing founder burnout * struggling with leadership decisions * trying to build a sustainable business * questioning whether the company they built still fits their life If you are scaling fast but feeling exhausted, this episode will help you rethink what success should actually look like. https://soniacouto.com/podcast Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

Why Great Strategies Fail Without Great Leadership with Eric Dingler

What happens when your business growth is no longer limited by strategy, but by your leadership? In this episode, Sonia sits down with Eric Dingler to unpack the leadership lessons that emerge as businesses scale. Eric shares the moment he realized his team kept having the same conversations because leadership systems and communication clarity were missing. Together, they explore: * Why growing teams require different leadership styles * How unclear communication creates confusion and inaction * The difference between brainstorming and decision-making * Why leaders unintentionally slow execution * How accountability and ownership are built into company culture * The importance of intentional meetings and clear outcomes * What leaders must change about themselves to scale effectively This conversation is packed with practical insights for entrepreneurs, founders, executives, and team leaders who want to improve communication, create alignment, and build organizations that execute with confidence. Whether you’re leading a startup, growing a team, or trying to move your business to the next level, this episode will challenge the way you think about leadership. 🎧 Listen now and discover why better leadership creates better businesses. https://soniacouto.com/episodes Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

What It Really Costs to Build Something New, with Sam Berman

What does it really take to build something new when there’s no blueprint, no certainty, and no external validation? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Sam Berman, founder of LARC, to talk about the internal war of entrepreneurship, the emotional cost of building, and the mindset required to keep going when doubt, isolation, and pressure hit hard. Sam shares how LARC grew from a napkin sketch into a company serving some of the largest organizations in the world. He breaks down why obsession matters, when founders need to pivot, how to validate an idea early, why integrity matters more than skill when building a team, and what unresolved personal weight can do to a founder’s ability to lead. This is a practical conversation about resilience, conviction, market validation, decision-making, and the discipline required to keep building when the path is unclear. Key Takeaways * The real battle in entrepreneurship is often psychological, not operational. * Obsession can fuel endurance, but it does not replace market validation. * If the market gives no traction, founders need to pivot honestly rather than romanticize the struggle. * Big ideas require founders to dismantle “I’m not enough” thinking and stop playing small. * Teams matter because founders do not need to have every skill themselves. * Integrity is a stronger hiring filter than raw skill. * Founders need to make decisions, move, and course-correct instead of waiting for certainty. * Emotional discipline matters because fear, anger, rejection, and doubt can distort leadership. * Unresolved personal weight does not disappear under pressure; building often brings it to the surface. * Bold outreach can open doors, even with very large companies. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

The Visibility Strategy Helping Founders Get Funded with Liana Zavo

Most founders think fundraising is about pitch decks, introductions, and traction. But investors are evaluating more than just that; they are also looking for credibility. In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, we explore a new fundraising strategy more founders are starting to use: visibility as leverage. PR is no longer just about press coverage. It’s about positioning yourself as a credible, trustworthy founder that investors feel confident backing. We break down: * Why investors often trust founders they’ve heard of before they meet them * How PR builds authority and reduces perceived risk * Why personal brand influence investor confidence * How founders can use visibility strategically when preparing to raise capital * The difference between marketing visibility and credibility visibility If you’re building something real but struggling to get investor traction, this episode introduces a new way to think about fundraising strategy. Because investors don’t just fund ideas, they fund founders they believe in. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

The Difference Between Building a Product and Building a Company with Jon Hacker

Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Most technical founders believe the hardest part is building the technology. It isn’t. In this episode, Sonia sits down with a neurotechnology founder building in the mental health space to unpack what actually makes or breaks a startup, and it’s rarely the science. They explore: • The transition from builder to CEO • Why failure is a required phase of building • How to validate before overbuilding • Why the wrong cofounder can destroy momentum • The tension between scientific credibility and startup speed • How founders get in their own way • Why revenue is the strongest signal of product value • How deep tech companies build trust in regulated markets This episode is for founders navigating: Early traction challenges, product validation questions, cofounder decisions, or credibility hurdles in complex industries. If you’re building in AI, medtech, neurotech, SaaS, or any technical vertical, this episode will help you see what investors, customers, and operators actually look for. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]