Debunking Myths About Social Media, AI, and Hustle Culture

Want to build an audience that AI can’t replace? Natalie Ellis and Lori Harder reveal the personal branding strategy behind real business growth. In this episode, Lori and Natalie discuss how entrepreneurship can create more freedom when it’s built around focus, systems, and community. They break down personal branding, business growth, social media marketing, how to build an audience you actually own, and why that audience can become a powerful advantage in the age of AI. Natalie shares her one-product, one-client, one-funnel, one-platform approach to growth, while Lori explains how podcasting and strategic guest appearances can expand your reach, relationships, and revenue. In this episode, Natalie and Lori will discuss: (03:47) How Entrepreneurship Creates Freedom (07:27) Path to Growth: Hustle Culture or Soft-Life CEO? (10:41) Abandoning People’s Expectations of You (16:50) How Trauma Can Create Freedom (18:01) Future-Proofing Your Business in the Age of AI (21:27) Want to Build a Loyal Audience? Do THIS (25:47) The Ugly Truth About Launching New Ventures (29:39) Podcasting as a Vehicle for Building Online Communities (33:49) Replacing Jealousy With Collaboration (37:33) The Podcast Industry’s Most Gatekept Rules Lori Harder is a serial entrepreneur, author, and founder of beauty and wellness brand Glōci. She has built and scaled multiple million-dollar businesses and hosts the Earn Your Happy podcast, which has surpassed 65 million downloads. Lori also invests in more than 10 companies and helps entrepreneurs grow their brands, businesses, and networks. Resources Mentioned: Natalie’s Book, The Freedom-Based Business Method Mel Robbins’s Podcast, The Mel Robbins Podcast Connect with Lori: Lori’s Podcast, Earn Your Happy  YouTube Instagram LinkedIn Website Lori’s Book, A Tribe Called Bliss Connect with Natalie:  Instagram LinkedIn Website YouTube Natalie’s Book, The Freedom-Based Business Method Entrepreneurship, personal branding, business growth, social media marketing, how to build an audience, AI for business, Natalie Ellis, Lori Harder, bossbabe, build a personal brand, audience growth, grow on social media, online business, business systems, business strategy, content marketing, community building, podcast marketing, podcast guesting, entrepreneur mindset, brand building, grow your business, social media growth, AI marketing, freedom based business

This is the conversation about the part most founders don't say out loud: the moment you hit the revenue number and feel nothing. Natalie sits down with Jenna Wright — a Pilates studio owner who built a 7-figure business from $1,000 and an air mattress. From the outside, she'd made it. From the inside, she was running at 9% profit, paying herself $80K a year, and calling it — in her own words — a pretty prison. So she did what most founders won't: she dismantled it on purpose. They go inside the math (she was running $1.2M at 9% profit, paying herself $80K/year), the team mutiny that finally broke the model, and the deliberate revenue cut from $1.2M to $650K that tripled her margin to 30%. If you've ever hit the revenue numbers and felt nothing, this episode is the operating system for what comes next. Time Stamps: 07:40 "Tired at a soul level" — the burnout most founders hide 10:00 $1,000 and an air mattress: the rebuild from zero 14:05 $250K to $875K in one year (and the cost it hid) 19:10 The misery beneath success 25:15 The team mutiny that broke the business model 28:33 The math: cutting 4 studios to 2, profit triples 31:50 "Your business will expose every wound you have" 33:00 The 7-day retreat that reorganized everything  40:05 The lessons Jenna is rewriting today Resources + Links: Pre-Order The Freedom-Based Business Method. Follow Jenna: @iam_jennawright Learn more about Jenna's Teacher Training Follow Jenna Wright + Read Her Substack "The Shift" Where She Documents The Scale-Down Publicly Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More.  Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).

In this episode, Natalie sits down with Keren Eldad — coach to some of the world's highest achievers and author of Gilded and the new Gilt Free — to unpack why external success never delivers the safety it promises. Keren shares the three core wounds beneath achievement addiction, the "gilded cage" so many high-achieving women are trapped in, and the surprising income threshold where what you want out of life finally starts to change. You'll learn how to recognize the wound driving your hustle, why "assume everyone likes you" became her most viral piece of advice, and the riptide rule for holding onto success without letting it consume you. If you've ever achieved everything you set out to and quietly wondered why it's still not enough, this episode is the reframe and the way out. Time Stamps:  03:50 The gilded cage: when the shiny life is the trap 07:50 "Yes, we're addicts" — achievement as addiction 15:30 The 3 core wounds behind every overachiever 18:18 The success coach who still spirals when business slows 21:34 The $500K line that changes what you actually want 27:50 "Assume everyone likes you" — the rule that went viral 38:11 The riptide rule for holding onto success 48:28 Why scaling might be the wrong goal entirely 53:46 What real credibility in coaching actually looks like Links & Resources:  Pre-Order The Freedom-Based Business Method. Follow Keren: @coachkeren  Grab a copy of Keren’s book - Gilded: Breaking Free from the Cage of Ambition, Perfectionism, and the Relentless Pursuit of More Listen to Natalie on COACHED by Keren Eldad Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More.  Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).

Most course creators add more channels to scale. Anna Konchar did the opposite and now runs a 7-figure business on 2 days a week. Natalie sits down with Anna Konchar — the funnel strategist behind a 7-figure evergreen course business that runs on 2 days a week while she's home with her three kids. Anna shares the exact mechanics of the evergreen funnel + paid ads engine she's used for eight years, why she cut her podcast and YouTube last year to focus on ONE offer, and how she rebuilt after her payment processor shut down her account overnight. Expect specific numbers, uncomfortable honesty about AI in funnels, and a framework you can test against your own course business this quarter. If you've ever wondered how a course creator can scale to seven figures without launching live, this episode is the operating system. Time Stamps: 03:11 From laid-off to full-time entrepreneur in 30 minutes 07:33 The funnel that sells while she sleeps 16:55 When the offer stops converting, fix THIS first 21:30 The pricing test most course creators never run 24:00 The webinar mistake 99% of course creators make 32:13 The day her recurring revenue disappeared overnight 39:10 How a 7-figure founder preps for maternity leave Resources + Links Annakonchar.com/bossbabe Find Anna on IG: https://www.instagram.com/annakonchar/ Pre-Order The Freedom-Based Business Method. Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More. Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).

Ever wondered why every time you reach a new revenue level, the same exhaustion shows up — just dressed differently? In this conversation, Natalie sits down with Julie Santiago — founder of We Are The Women, former Wall Street operator, and one of the rare guests who can break down what high-functioning burnout actually looks like at the 7- and 8-figure mark. Julie walks through the three burnouts that shaped her career: the Wall Street year that put tumors on her ovary at 28, the coaching practice she rebuilt in a San Francisco apartment, and the post-motherhood collapse that brought her to her knees again. The takeaway isn't grit. It isn't quitting. It's something Julie calls evolution and it's the framework most high-achieving women never get taught. This isn't about hustle, balance, or finding your why. It's a brutally honest breakdown of what high-functioning burnout actually looks like at the 7- and 8-figure mark, why the same pattern that builds your success eventually breaks you, and how to evolve past the cycle so you stop ending up in the same place at every new level. Time Stamps: 00:59 The childhood imprint that built an 8-figure business and broke it 05:45 Wall Street, tumors at 28, and the body's verdict 13:10 The 2-path trap: why pushing through OR quitting both fail 20:45 Why clunkiness is a season change, not a failure to optimize 28:40 The match-my-salary moment her therapist shut down 33:22 Safety, surrender, and a new relationship to money 38:18 The metaphor that broke her thinking about money's source 43:30 Going all-in vs. knowing when to evolve Resources + Links: Pre-Order The Freedom-Based Business Method. Follow Julie on Instagram Learn more about We Are the Women Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More.  Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).