Built by Margin

Laurie Chen, CPA, MBA
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Built by Margin is the podcast at the intersection of risk, numbers, and decision-making for founders, CEOs, and high performers. Hosted by CPA, fractional CFO, and author of the upcoming book Risk Worthy, Laurie Chen, CPA, MBA, the show explores how better decisions create better businesses, stronger leadership, and more meaningful long-term outcomes. From financial strategy and entrepreneurship to intelligent risk-taking and growth, each episode helps you think sharper and build with intention.

  1. HACE 3 D

    How Autyn Is Reimagining Mortgage Lending with Myra D'Souza

    In episode 39 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen sits down with Myra D’Souza, founder of Autyn, an AI-native mortgage origination platform built for mortgage brokers. Myra shares how her background in software engineering, data science, fintech, and real estate investing led her to identify a major gap in the mortgage lending process: borrowers often feel left in the dark, while brokers are buried in manual workflows, PDFs, and admin-heavy processes. The conversation explores what it takes to build AI in a high-trust, highly regulated industry like lending. Myra discusses why explainability, reasoning, guardrails, and human oversight are essential when AI is supporting decisions that directly affect borrowers’ financial lives. She also breaks down the metrics that matter most as an AI startup founder, including net revenue retention, gross margins, AI spend per loan file, and the importance of building customer trust before scaling. Laurie and Myra also discuss the future of work, the role of women founders in shaping responsible AI, and why the next generation of lending should empower borrowers instead of keeping them dependent on gatekeepers. This episode is a grounded look at AI, risk, financial decision-making, and what it really takes to build technology that customers can trust. QUOTES "We're not just using AI for the sake of using AI, we're using it exactly where we need it." - Myra D’Souza"We have to be very careful about AI adoption and how we're thinking about that as well." - Myra D’Souza"You need good financials to build a good company." - Myra D’Souza Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Myra D'Souza LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myradsouza/  Autyn: https://autyn.ai/

    25 min

  2. 7 MAY

    Risk, Tax AI, and the Modern CPA Firm with Johnny Terra, CPA

    In episode 38 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen sits down with Johnny Terra, CPA, Partner at LPT CPAs and Advisors,  for a conversation about tax strategy, risk management, AI, leadership, and the personal growth that comes from taking bold professional risks. Johnny shares his journey from growing up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to coming to Texas on a basketball scholarship, building a solo accounting practice from a pantry office, and eventually merging into a larger CPA firm. He talks about the mindset shift required to move from solo practitioner to firm partner, including the responsibility of leading staff, serving more complex clients, and building a sustainable firm culture. A major theme of the episode is risk. Drawing from his background as a bank risk manager and auditor, Johnny reframes risk management as a tool that enables speed rather than prevents action. He compares risk controls to brakes on a car: the point is not to stop movement, but to give leaders the confidence to move faster without crashing. He also expands the classic risk formula by adding two modern factors: velocity, or how fast a risk hits, and persistence, or how long the pain stays in the system.  Laurie and Johnny also dive into how AI is changing tax research, tax preparation, and firm operations. Johnny shares how he uses tools like Thomson Reuters’ AI research platform, NotebookLM, Gemini, and other AI systems to speed up complex tax research while still verifying sources and applying professional judgment. They discuss why AI can increase efficiency, but why trust, source quality, and context remain critical in tax and advisory work. QUOTES “Risk is having those parameters in place so you can move that car as fast as possible and still have the confidence to know that you're not going to crash.” - Johnny Terra"“It’s not about what might happen anymore. You have to add two more factors to it: how fast it hits and how long that pain stays in the system.” Johnny Terra“The coolest thing of it all is the person that you become in this journey.” Johnny Terra Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Johnny Terra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnnyterracpa/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnyterracpa/ LPT CPAs and Advisors: https://www.lpt.cpa/

    40 min

  3. 28 ABR

    Building Compass Health: Access, AI, and the Future of Patient Care with Rafael Fernandes

    In episode 37 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen speaks with Rafael Fernandes, Co-Founder and CEO of Compass Health, a membership-based healthcare company launching in Tampa, Florida. Rafael shares how his background in operations, supply chain, and large-scale corporate growth shaped his leap into entrepreneurship, and how the Duke Fuqua network helped him move from idea to execution.  Rafael explains the core problem Compass Health is solving: healthcare access is slow, fragmented, and difficult for patients to navigate. Compass Health was built around four major pain points — access, coordination, navigation, and trust — with a model designed to connect patients to best-in-class specialists within three to five business days while providing high-touch care coordination throughout the process.  The conversation also explores how AI is changing healthcare and startup operations. Rafael discusses how AI can make healthcare more personal by helping patients understand their own data, while still preserving the essential role of physicians in diagnosis, treatment, and trust.  QUOTES "Success for Compass Health means ensuring patients get timely access to quality care." - Rafael Fernandes"If you're not well, your company is not well." - Rafael Fernandes"It was about creating these connections and these relationships that really made me understand what exactly it is that we could build." - Rafael Fernandes Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Rafael Fernandes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecompasshealth/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelfulton/  The Compass Health: https://www.thecompasshealth.com/our-team

    33 min

  4. 24 ABR

    Building Leaders, Not Just Businesses: Strategy, AI, and the Human Side of Growth with Landon Lynch

    In episode 36 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen sits down with Landon Lynch, founder and principal of Motive, to explore what it really takes to build high-performing leaders and scalable organizations.  Landon shares his unconventional path from nonprofit leadership into executive coaching and consulting, where he now works with founder CEOs, investor-backed companies, and leadership teams to strengthen their “people infrastructure.” The conversation dives into the realities of leadership development—why defining your personal version of success is foundational, and how effective coaching goes beyond frameworks into real behavioral change. A major theme throughout the episode is the intersection of leadership and AI.  Landon explains why AI adoption is less about technology and more about change management, and how leaders can use it to enhance decision-making, streamline operations, and even improve personal relationships—like using AI to facilitate better financial conversations at home. Laurie and Landon also unpack:  The challenges of scaling a service-based business beyond the founder  How to build and position a high-impact team  Why executive assistants can become profit centers when paired with automation  The power of weekly automation thinking (“What are you automating this week?”)  Risk-taking in business, including when it makes sense to work below market rate for the right opportunitiesLandon closes with a powerful leadership insight: the importance of embedding consistent feedback loops into everyday operations—not as a formality, but as a core system for growth, accountability, and performance. This episode is a deep dive into building companies that scale through people, not just processes—and how the best leaders combine strategy, self-awareness, and adaptability to win long-term. QUOTES "If you can lead volunteers, you can lead anybody, because you don't get to hang a paycheck over their head." - Landon Lynch"At the heart of the AI question, it's not primarily a tech question. It needs to be reframed first and foremost as a leadership and a change management question." - Landon Lynch Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Landon Lynch Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landonclynch/  Motiv People Strategies: https://www.motivstrat.com/our-team  WEBSITES Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Advanced CFO: https://www.advancedcfo.co/ Built By Margin: https://www.builtbymargin.com/

    34 min

  5. 16 ABR

    The Real Risk is Staying Stuck with Anekha Sokhal

    In episode 35 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen talks with Anekha Sokhal, founder of Moshi, an AI startup building an “AI super analyst” for financial investors. Anekha shares how her path from J.P. Morgan trader to machine learning researcher at Rice University led her to raise venture capital and launch a company at the intersection of finance, data science, and AI. They discuss how Moshi is using both classical machine learning and generative AI, why AI safety and data governance matter so much in enterprise environments, and what it takes to build a startup team that is truly bought into the mission. The conversation also dives into Anekha’s refreshing philosophy on risk: that the real danger is not taking the leap, but settling for a life that feels mediocre or misaligned. It’s an inspiring conversation about ambition, intuition, innovation, and building the future on your own terms. Tune in to discover insights from a trailblazing female founder and her vision for the future of financial analysis. QUOTES "For me, a risk is staying in something that you're frustrated in, and you're unhappy in." -Anehka Sokhal"Taking venture capital money has a different type of progression for the company and opens so many more doors compared to just running a company and bootstrapping it." -Anehka Sokhal SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Anekha Sokhal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anekha/  Moshi Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moshi-space/  WEBSITES Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Advanced CFO: https://www.advancedcfo.co/ Built By Margin: https://www.builtbymargin.com/

    26 min

  6. 4 ABR

    From Corporate Leader to Intentional Unicorn with Jennie Lopez

    In episode 34 of Built by Margin, Laurie sits down with Jennie Lopez, Founder and CEO of Intentional Unicorn, to talk about what it really means to bet on yourself, build in alignment, and make decisions rooted in authenticity rather than fear. Jennie shares her journey from a 23-year corporate career spanning chemical engineering, operations, and global talent leadership into entrepreneurship, motivational speaking, and authorship, explaining how intuition, intentionality, and bold risk-taking shaped her path. Together, Laurie and Jennie explore the realities of leaving stability behind, writing a book, scaling a coaching business, using AI as a modern entrepreneur, and defining success on your own terms — all through the lens of growth, impact, and building a life that feels fully aligned. Tune in for an inspiring discussion on how Jennie Lopez built an Intentional Unicorn, from chemical engineer to motivational speaker and founder, and leaving a favorite job to build a business. TIMESTAMPS [00:01:05] Leaving a favorite job to build a business. [00:02:04] Chemical engineer with a dual career. [00:04:42] Memoir exercise inspires Intentional Unicorn. [00:08:13] Authenticity plus intentionality equals impact. [00:09:35] Turning corporate truth into a book. [00:10:32] Writing every Saturday at Starbucks. [00:15:26] Risk of leaving corporate as a Latina. [00:18:23] There is no right or wrong decision. [00:21:04] Proof of concept before going all in. [00:24:31] App idea sparked during hospital wait. [00:30:19] Using Manus for deep research. QUOTES "I wanted to see how I can reach out to more and more people." -Jennie Lopez"Authenticity plus intentionality equals impact." -Jennie Lopez"You just create an ecosystem, a family, a community, a relationship that is so powerful that you want the person to choose to stay with you." -Jennie Lopez SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Advanced CFO: https://www.advancedcfo.co/ Jennie Lopez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intentionalunicorn/  TEDx Talk: The Lie of Fitting In Website: https://www.jennielopez.com/

    40 min

  7. 1 ABR

    Beyond the Book: Audience, IP, and the Author Ecosystem with Jynafer Yanez

    In episode 33 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen sits down with Jynafer Yanez to explore what it really takes to turn a book into a business. Jynafer shares how she built Archimedes Books by thinking beyond publishing and focusing on audience ownership, brand development, intellectual property, and long-term ecosystem building. From author platforms to film projects, this conversation highlights how creators can treat storytelling as both an art and a scalable business. They also dive into the role of AI in publishing and entrepreneurship, including where it can create efficiency, where ethics come into play, and why human creativity still matters most. Jynafer offers thoughtful insight on using AI for research, workflows, and business operations without losing the originality that makes great storytelling resonate. The conversation closes with an honest look at founder decision-making, financial visibility, and the risks worth taking when building something bigger than yourself. Whether you are writing a book, building a brand, or scaling a business around your ideas, this episode offers a smart and inspiring perspective on strategy, creativity, and growth. QUOTES “You can really do pretty well when you treat it like a business and not just a passion or a hobby.” - Jyanfer Yanez “We get to own the relationship with the reader.” - Jyanfer Yanez SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Advanced CFO: https://www.advancedcfo.co/ Jyanfer Yanez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ynafer_rose Website: https://hello.archimedesbooks.com/

    33 min

  8. 28 MAR

    The Power of Intuition in Entrepreneurial Decision-Making with Won Choi

    In episode 32 of Built by Margin, Laurie sits down with Won Choi to talk about burnout, alignment, entrepreneurship, and the kind of decision-making that blends both strategy and inner knowing. We unpack how burnout is often less about working hard and more about living out of alignment, how entrepreneurs can build trust in themselves while navigating uncertainty, and why some of the biggest life and business decisions require both data and intuition. It’s a grounded conversation for founders and professionals who want to build a business that is not just successful on paper, but fully aligned with who they are becoming.⁠ Tune in and learn how to create lasting progress, build authentic relationships, and grow your business by focusing on what matters most: YOU. TIMESTAMPS [00:00:04] Introducing Laurie Chen and Won Choi [00:01:00] Huang’s corporate career and transition into entrepreneurship [00:02:15] The mentorship that sparked Huang’s transformation [00:03:49] Defining burnout and its impact on leadership [00:05:23] Huang’s coaching programs and methodologies [00:06:12] Leveraging AI tools for efficiency and growth [00:12:46] Top book recommendations for entrepreneurs [00:16:31] Decision-making frameworks—balancing data and intuition [00:19:21] The first 90 days of transformation for coaching clients [00:23:14] Huang’s entrepreneurial mindset and financial journey [00:29:44] Core frameworks: feeling feelings and setting boundaries [00:33:04] Energy management, peak productivity, and closing thoughts QUOTES "When you actually surrender in life and let go of control, then you can build something much bigger than you could have ever dreamt of." – Won Choi"I believe decision-making is 50% knowledge and data, and 50% intuition—your inner knowing." – Won Choi"It's not about the how in terms of how to do taxes—it’s more around an identity shift to become a person that can manage money." – Won Choi SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS Laurie Chen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/ Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/ Advanced CFO: https://www.advancedcfo.co/ Won Choi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wondailyshots/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wonwooc/  Won Daily: https://www.wondaily.com/  Decision Clarity Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nU75vhV1mF0A3_7U978-jL-FgtKJdN46/edit

    36 min
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Información

Built by Margin is the podcast at the intersection of risk, numbers, and decision-making for founders, CEOs, and high performers. Hosted by CPA, fractional CFO, and author of the upcoming book Risk Worthy, Laurie Chen, CPA, MBA, the show explores how better decisions create better businesses, stronger leadership, and more meaningful long-term outcomes. From financial strategy and entrepreneurship to intelligent risk-taking and growth, each episode helps you think sharper and build with intention.

Ficha técnica

  • Creado por
    Laurie Chen, CPA, MBA
  • Años en activo
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodios
    40
  • Clasificación
    Apto
  • Derechos de autor
    © 2026 Built by Margin
  • Sitio web del podcast
    Built by Margin
  • Proveedor