Entrepreneur Conundrum

Virginia Purnell
  • 4.9 (18)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Semimonthly

Join Virginia Purnell as she speaks to growing entrepreneur startups in the different ways that they are trying to become a subject matter expert. The unique thing about this show is that we are not talking to people who have been and done it and are all over the internet as superstars. We are talking to the average growing entrepreneur who is trying to get visible in their market.

  1. 1d ago

    Rebuild Your Business Without Losing Yourself | Kelly Faetanini

    Kelly Faetanini is a bridal designer and entrepreneur who has spent more than a decade building a globally recognized wedding dress brand. She has led her company through rapid growth, industry shifts and a full reinvention, including bringing manufacturing into a facility of her own, and she blends intuition with strategy in everything from design to leadership.   Key Discussion Themes: • From learning to sew at five to a research project that made the wedding industry click • How a purple ombre dress went viral and why editorial pieces still catch brides' attention • Owning the supply chain after a three-month tariff pause • Why there's no such thing as failure, only things to learn from • Shutting out the noise to keep a brand's identity in every new collection • EOS, letting go, and building a business that runs without the owner   Listener Takeaway: Letting go is a skill you build with practice, so start with one small piece, accept that it may get done to eighty percent, and keep training until it climbs. Build a business that fits your life, because grinding every day just to survive isn't living.  Connect with Kelly: Website: https://www.kellyfaetanini.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyfaetanini   About the Host: Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday. Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnell   Listen to the Full Episode: https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/kellyfaetanini

    Rebuild Your Business Without Losing Yourself | Kelly Faetanini

  2. Oct 26

    Become the Obvious Choice Before the Sales Call | Lisa Cole

    Lisa Cole is the Chief Marketing, Product and AI Officer at 2X, a leading B2B marketing-as-a-service firm, with more than 25 years of experience building scalable growth engines at companies like Huron, FARO Technologies and Cellebrite. She's the only two-time recipient of Forrester's Return on Integration Award and the author of The Limitless CMO.  Key Discussion Themes: • The marketing resource paradox, and why a company with budget still can't always hire • Subscribing to talent versus hiring an agency on a statement of work • Why "AI can do the marketing" is the newest misconception, and where human judgment still matters • Writing The Limitless CMO with AI as an interviewer and an early editor • Findable, understood and chosen: content, community and credibility before the sales call • Turning one idea into a loop of blog posts, posts on X and short clips  Listener Takeaway: Most buyers have a shortlist before they ever talk to you, so find out where your people are asking their questions and show up there with something useful and no ask. If that feels like too much, start with being findable.   Connect with Lisa: Author website: https://lisacole.ai Company website: https://2x.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacole01 Book: The Limitless CMO: Transform Marketing From Order Taking to Market Making in the Age of AI   About the Host: Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday. Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnell   Listen to the Full Episode: https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/lisacole

    Become the Obvious Choice Before the Sales Call | Lisa Cole

  3. Oct 19

    Strategies Your Competition Isn't Using | Michael Barbarita

    Michael Barbarita is an entrepreneur, award-winning public speaker and co-author with more than 40 years across retail, manufacturing and service companies. He founded Next Step CFO in 2007 to help business owners build more consistent profits and more time freedom by implementing financial and business strategies their competition isn't doing. Key Discussion Themes: • Why 95% of business strategy looks like the competition, and how to find the problem your customers already have with your industry • The conversion formula: captivate, fascinate, educate, then close with an offer • Five components of a compelling offer, from risk reversal to being indifferent to the outcome • Follow-up as a service, and the phone, text, email and LinkedIn mix that works now that fewer people pick up • Personal guarantees you may have forgotten you signed, and how to track them down before you sell Listener Takeaway: Pick the one complaint customers make about your whole industry and build your offer around fixing it, then move as much of the risk as you can off the customer's side of the table, the way Michael's ski guarantee did. Connect with Michael: Website (free book and business diagnostic): https://www.nextstepcfo.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbarbarita Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nextstepcfo X: https://twitter.com/nextstepcfo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@businessstrategy-nextstepc3543 About the Host: Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday. Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnell Listen to the Full Episode: https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/michaelbarbarita

    Strategies Your Competition Isn't Using | Michael Barbarita

  4. Oct 12

    Hire the Right VA: Doers vs. Collaborators | Rachael Davila

    Rachael Davila is a delegation and implementation strategist, author, speaker and the founder of Extra Hands! Virtual Assistance. With more than 20 years on both sides of the VA and client relationship, she hosts the Hey! Do I Need a VA? podcast and wrote the book of the same name to help business owners hire the right support and grow without burning out.   Key Discussion Themes: • Doers vs. collaborators, and how to hear the difference before you hire • Why one task on your list is an iceberg of everything underneath it • Recording a walkthrough with the why explained when you don't have SOPs yet • Leading with one VA, letting go of control, and letting good enough be good enough • Start where you are, start small and build trust   Listener Takeaway: Before you hire, talk to at least three VAs and listen for whether they ask to be told what to do or start offering solutions, then pick the type that matches what you need.   Connect with Rachael: Website: https://extrahandsva.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaeldavila Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExtraHandsVirtualAssistance Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/extrahands_va   About the Host: Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday. Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnell   Listen to the Full Episode: https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/rachaeldavila

    Hire the Right VA: Doers vs. Collaborators | Rachael Davila

  5. Oct 5

    Storytelling Is a Must Skill, Not a Soft Skill | Nir Zavaro

    Nir Zavaro is a business storyteller, author and speaker who has helped Microsoft, Unilever and hundreds of startups and international brands grow through storytelling, with talks and workshops in more than 35 countries. He founded and ran Streetwise for 15 years and is now building Stook, a platform that helps people write, measure and win their next pitch.   Key Discussion Themes: • Why storytelling is a must skill instead of a soft skill, and the roughly 100 hours it takes to get better than most people • The empty bar, the corner seat, and why he strengthened the best nights instead of rescuing the worst • Writing through a panic, and the consultant who asked what really happened • The morning coffee ritual, accountability and focus while building Stook in public • A live messaging critique, and why describing the relief beats naming the category   Listener Takeaway: Before your next pitch, sale or hard conversation, write down the emotion you want to evoke and the one message the other person needs to walk away with, then build the story from there.   Connect with Nir: Website: https://nirzavaro.com Stook: https://stookapp.com (lifetime access is on the pricing page for EC listeners through the end of October) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirzavaro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nzavaro Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zavaroness YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NirZavaro Book: https://www.amazon.com/Slides-Creating-Winning-Storytelling-Techniques/dp/1761241176   About the Host: Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday. Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnell   Listen to the Full Episode: https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/nirzavaro

    Storytelling Is a Must Skill, Not a Soft Skill | Nir Zavaro

  6. Sep 28

    Fix the System, Not the Person with Phillip Hogan

    Phillip Hogan is the CEO of Signing Services of America (SSA), the author of Relentless Excellence: A Story of Family Business Building and Value-Driven Leadership, and a third-generation entrepreneur who grew SSA from five figures to seven. Under his leadership, SSA was recognized by Inc. as the 30th fastest-growing company in the Southeast. Key Discussion Themes:- Where relentless excellence comes from: grandparents from Montserrat and a father who kept raising the bar- Turning mistakes into system fixes instead of reprimands- Saying yes to clients, then building the system to deliver- Building infrastructure before you scale from five figures to six and seven- Going from nervous on camera to hosting Closing Market Weekly Listener Takeaway:When something breaks, fix the system that let it happen, and build the infrastructure for where you're going before you get there. Connect with Phillip:Website: https://www.philliphogan.comYouTube (Closing Market Weekly): https://www.youtube.com/@closingmarketweekly About the Host:Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday.Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnell Listen to the Full Episode:https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/philliphogan

    Fix the System, Not the Person with Phillip Hogan

  7. Sep 14

    How to Rank in AI Search (AEO) with Kevin Roy

    Kevin Roy is the founder of Green Banana SEO, where he has spent nineteen years studying search and now spends a minimum of five hours a week on it. He talks with Virginia about answer engine optimization, why sixty percent of searches now end without a click, and what it actually takes to get cited by ChatGPT and Gemini. Key Discussion Themes:- Why topical authority is what decides whether AI will cite you, and how to build it- The Three Block Blueprint: answer, proof, and what's next, plus the schema behind it- What zero-click search really did to traffic, and what people do after AI names your company- Starting from $0 today: sell what you are already an expert in, then go network- Keeping a brand human when everything is AI-generated Listener Takeaway:AI does not cite the best-written page, it cites the source it can verify. Build the trail that proves you are the expert, then structure your pages so an answer engine can pull from them in one pass. Connect with Kevin:Website: https://greenbananaseo.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greenbananaseo/YouTube: @GreenBanana_SEOInstagram: @greenbanana_seoFacebook: @greenbanana_seoX: @greenbanana_seoTikTok: @kevincroy1 About the Host:Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday.Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnellBook: The Coherent Mountain: The Operator's Playbook for Winning SEO, AEO, and AI Searchhttps://www.amazon.com/Coherent-Mountain-Operators-Playbook-Winning-ebook/dp/B0H6R5VY4Y Listen to the Full Episode:https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/kevinroy

    How to Rank in AI Search (AEO) with Kevin Roy

  8. Sep 7

    Personal Brand vs Persona: What Leaders Get Wrong

    April Martini and Anne Candido are the co-founders of ForthRight People, a leadership performance company focused on building high-performing leaders from the inside out, and co-authors of The Power of Your Personal Brand: A Playbook for Struggling Middle Managers Who Want to Do Big Things. With more than 45 years of combined experience, they have lived the realities of the struggling middle and coached hundreds of leaders through career inflection points. Key Discussion Themes: • Why you cannot build yourself like a product, and what to do instead • The personal brand framework: characteristics, appearance, behaviors and actions • How a leader who is a moving target erodes team trust without meaning to • Triggers, and what happens to a team when a leader will not name them • Personal brand as the foundation for strategic action planning Listener Takeaway: Your personal brand is not something you manufacture, it is what is already there. Get honest about your characteristics and your triggers, manage how you show up on purpose, and your team stops guessing which version of you they are getting today. Connect with April and Anne: Website: https://forthright-people.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forthrightpeople.marketingagency Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forthrightpeople/ Anne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-candido-5156929/ Book: The Power of Your Personal Brand, on Amazon and through forthright-people.com, with a free accompanying workbook on the site Podcast: Strategic Counsel by ForthRight Business About the Host: Entrepreneur Conundrum is hosted by Virginia Purnell, founder of Distinct Digital Marketing, where she builds human-driven AI systems that help business owners get their time back (and get seen). New episodes every Monday. Work with Virginia: https://www.distinctdigitalmarketing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiapurnell Listen to the Full Episode: https://entrepreneurconundrum.com/anneandapril

    Personal Brand vs Persona: What Leaders Get Wrong
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4.9
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About

Join Virginia Purnell as she speaks to growing entrepreneur startups in the different ways that they are trying to become a subject matter expert. The unique thing about this show is that we are not talking to people who have been and done it and are all over the internet as superstars. We are talking to the average growing entrepreneur who is trying to get visible in their market.

Information

  • Creator
    Virginia Purnell
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    283
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2020 Entrepreneur Conundrum
  • Show Website
    Entrepreneur Conundrum