Breaking Solo

Donna Amos
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

🎧 Breaking Solo is your go-to podcast for insights from solopreneurs who’ve made it happen—sharing their strategies, challenges, and the tools they use to stay ahead.

  1. Bridging the Gap: AI, Pivots, and the Bravery of Imperfect Action

    3d ago

    Bridging the Gap: AI, Pivots, and the Bravery of Imperfect Action

    You're never going to have all the time, all the budget, or all the information. So how do solopreneurs move forward anyway — without burning out, without radiating desperation, and without sunsetting the right project at the wrong moment? In this episode of Breaking Solo, we explore the mindset that carries solopreneurs through the messy middle of building something on their own. Drawing on a career in project management, our guest unpacks the daily internal conversations every solopreneur knows too well — when to course correct, when to hold the line, and how to use the tools available (yes, including AI) as a second set of eyes when you're wearing 50 hats at once. What we cover: Why AI belongs in your business as an executive assistant — not a replacement — and how picking one tool beats trying to master fiftyThe pivot dilemma: how to know when it's time to switch gears versus when you need more informationBe patient, be brave, start small — and why waiting for the "trifecta of perfection" guarantees you go nowhereIf you've been stuck at the edge of a decision, this conversation is your nudge to take the next small, brave step forward. BIO Known as “The Coach”, Nicole brings two decades of project management expertise supporting Fortune 100 organizations – namely CBRE, Chevron, HP, Citigroup, and Marriott International. She also offers five years of interior design experience, inclusive of commercial conversion portfolios for Beverly Hills based developers. Nicole holds a BA in Communications from California State University, Fullerton, and an MSc in Project Management from the University of Liverpool. She is a Founding Member of Sheconomy™ and the author of Corporate Coach Approach – A Systematic Guide to Career Development. Website https://twohorseproductions.com/ Social Media Links https://www.instagram.com/corporatecoachapproach/ https://www.instagram.com/twohorseproductions605/ https://www.facebook.com/people/Two-Horse-Productions/61574620307013/

    20 min
  2. Dan Rochon on Lead Generation, Teach to Sell, and Why Consistent Income Is a Recipe Anyone Can Follow

    Jun 20

    Dan Rochon on Lead Generation, Teach to Sell, and Why Consistent Income Is a Recipe Anyone Can Follow

    What if consistent, predictable income isn't a personality trait — it's a recipe? In this episode, I sit down with Dan Rochon, real estate agent, sales trainer, host of the No Broke Months podcast, and author of the upcoming book Teach to Sell (published by Post Hill Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster). Dan has spent the last 15 years documenting the exact framework that gets him hired 85% of the time as a real estate agent — and built an entire methodology to teach it to anyone who's willing to follow the steps. Dan shares the moment at 32, waiting tables as a recovering addict, when he decided to design his own life. We dig into the reframe every solopreneur needs to hear — "you're not in the plumbing business, you're in the lead generation business with plumbing as your vocation" — and why missing that single distinction is what keeps so many solopreneurs stuck. We talk about the 10 daily activities that drive his business (4 in the business, 5 on the business, plus managing money), why he spends 1–3 hours every single day finding business no matter what he made yesterday, and the brilliant proactive technique he uses to walk real estate clients through the emotional rollercoaster they're about to have before it happens. Dan also opens up about the persistence it took to land his book deal — 27 nos before the first yes — and the $10,000 training course he's giving away free to anyone who picks up Teach to Sell at teachtosellbook.com. If you've ever felt like sales was something other people were born good at, this conversation is the recipe card you've been missing. BIO Dan Rochon is the founder of Consistent and Predictable Income (CPI), Greetings Virginia, and the author of Teach to Sell Book, a transformative approach to leadership and sales. With over a decade of experience in real estate and coaching, Dan helps sales professionals build consistent and predictable income by leading with purpose and influence. His work empowers individuals and teams to achieve their highest potential. Dan is also the host of the No Broke Months Podcast. Website https://www.nobrokemonths.com/ Social Media Links Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086498082316 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danrochon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrochonx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoBrokeMonths Teach To Sell Book: https://www.teachtosellbook.com/ Podcast Website: https://www.nobrokemonths.com/

    20 min
  3. Modern Medicine, Traditional Bedside Values: Dr. Suhail Hussain on Bringing the House Call Back

    Jun 12

    Modern Medicine, Traditional Bedside Values: Dr. Suhail Hussain on Bringing the House Call Back

    What happens when a fifth-generation doctor walks away from one of the most established medical institutions in the UK to rebuild healthcare the way it used to feel? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Suhail Hussain, a UK-based GP (the equivalent of a family physician in the States) who left the NHS during COVID to launch his own private, home-visiting medical practice. Dr. Hussain shares why telephone and video consultations broke something fundamental about the doctor-patient relationship for him, how a client once told him "you're part of our extended family" — and the moment he realized that was exactly the practice he'd been trying to build. We talk about the strange experience of being the first person in five generations of doctors to also have to be a businessperson, and the parts of solopreneurship that nobody warned him about: marketing, social media, building a personal brand, and the surprisingly lonely road of going it alone. We also dig into how AI is already reshaping medicine (especially in radiology and admin work), why he believes the people most insulated from AI disruption are tradespeople like plumbers and electricians, and the moment he realized that if he really wanted to grow, he couldn't keep doing everything himself. Dr. Hussain also opens up about his weight loss and men's health programs, and why he's especially passionate about creating safe space for men to talk about things they rarely raise with anyone. If you've ever felt the pull to build something more human in an industry that's drifted toward convenience, this conversation is a quiet reminder that the old-fashioned way isn't outdated — it's just rare. BIO Dr Suhail Hussain is an experienced GP of over 20 years’ experience.Having worked extensively in the NHS, including specialities of medicine, surgery, oncology, obs/gynae, emergency medicine and paediatrics. He has now transitioned to working in the private sector providing timely, bespoke care to several families.Now working exclusively with busy professional, high net worth individuals and their families his main service is predicated on home/work place visits making access to healthcare as convenient as possible.He has a strong connection of secondary care specialists in all medical fields as well as physios, chiropractors and allied health professionals, to name a few.He also has connections with providers of other bespoke and luxury services and is always happy to help his clients with this if needed.For 10 years he was a senior tutor at 3 major London Medical Schools – Imperial, Barts and UCL, where he was involved in the teaching of undergrad students from first to final year.Education and speaking are 2 of his strongest passions and when not seeing patients he most enjoys helping others learn.He has appeared on television programmes talking about all things medical and answering caller’s questions live on air.He has written extensively for several established newspapers – The Telegraph, Independent to name a few and also appeared on BBC and Sky news to share his views on current medical topics.He also speaks for charities and the Boarding Schools association.He is a strong advocate for healthy living and believes that medicine should be about prevention rather than cure and helps people optimise their lifestyles, so they do not need medication.Can talk about leaving a stable career in the NHS after 20 years, setting up my own private practice against all family advice. Having no idea about client acquisition and marketing. The struggles of continuiing to run your own business whilst also serving clients. Website drsuhailhussain.com Social Media Links https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dr-suhail-hussain-private-doctor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd8-VagUhcFcsXaJbBX-MIA https://www.instagram.com/drsuhailhussaingp/

    11 min
  4. There's Only One Me: Magic Brad on Postcards, Pivots, and Building a Business Competition Can't Touch

    Jun 4

    There's Only One Me: Magic Brad on Postcards, Pivots, and Building a Business Competition Can't Touch

    What happens when a four-year-old gets a coin pulled out of his ear and decides that's what he's going to do with his life? In this episode, I sit down with Magic Brad — magician, event marketer, and a refreshingly contrarian solopreneur — for a conversation packed with hard-won wisdom, weird brilliance, and one of the most unbothered takes on competition I've ever heard. Brad shares how getting laid off from his county parks job pushed him into solopreneurship full-time, how he built an event-based marketing engine in the postcard era that filled his calendar months in advance, and why the rise of the internet (and then COVID) forced him to pivot from in-person events to digital ones — without losing the human element that makes his work work. We dig into why he doesn't believe in competition ("McDonald's and Burger King are still there"), the postcard marketing software he calls his "magic marketing tool," and why he ties new habits to existing ones like brushing his teeth instead of fighting himself with checklists. Brad also shares his version of Napoleon Hill's mastermind — a daily meditation where he invites anyone from Elon Musk to Bruce Lee to Jesus into the room to give him advice — and the single piece of advice he'd give every new solopreneur: you can't fail if you don't quit. If you've been trying to out-hustle your competition instead of just being unmistakably yourself, this conversation will remind you that the strongest market position isn't being better — it's being the only one. Bio Magical Since 1957 Website https://MagicBrad.com Social Media Links https://FollowMagicBrad.com

    18 min
  5. Fix It in the Right Order: Ken Steven on the Five Growth Drivers Solopreneurs Keep Getting Wrong

    May 29

    Fix It in the Right Order: Ken Steven on the Five Growth Drivers Solopreneurs Keep Getting Wrong

    What if the reason your revenue is stuck isn't that you're doing the wrong things — but that you're doing them in the wrong order? In this episode, I sit down with Ken Steven, business growth consultant and creator of the Revenue Growth Readiness Scorecard, for a conversation that genuinely shifted how I think about scaling a solo business. Ken spent years turning around companies stuck on a $5–7M plateau — with a 93.7% success rate — and along the way he kept seeing the same five growth drivers stymie progress over and over: mindset and vision, offer and business model, marketing and visibility, systems and automation, and authority and reach. We talk about why the conventional advice to "fix your weakest driver first" is often dead wrong (using a brilliant car-won't-start analogy), why most coaches and consultants leap to spending more on marketing when the real problem lives upstream in their offer, and why pricing is the single fastest lever to add $20K/month to a solo business. Ken also opens up about the moment he doubled his rate on a whim and won the gig anyway, the pivot to taking a piece of the upside on business turnarounds, and why solopreneurs who score "green" across all five drivers are often the ones quietly leaving the most revenue on the table through complacency. I took his free scorecard before the conversation — and the discussion that came out of my results made me rethink what "doing well" actually means in a solo business. If you've been throwing tactics at a plateau hoping something sticks, this is the diagnostic-first conversation you didn't know you needed. BIO Ken Steven is a seasoned business growth advisor and the creator of the Revenue Freedom Method™. For decades, Ken specialized in doubling the sales and profits of private companies, achieving that result for 93.7% of his clients. Today, his focus is on helping solopreneur coaches and consultants, and founders of service-based businesses, break through revenue plateaus. His goal is simple: to show you how to add at least $20,000 to your monthly revenue without adding more hours to your week. Website https://kensteven.com/ Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethsteven/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CoachKenStevenFreebie Giveaway Link The Revenue Growth Readiness Scorecard: https://scorecard.kensteven.com/ken-ldxawjii

    30 min
  6. Take Back the Pen: Donna Thorell on Building a Wellness Business for Women Who Look Like They Have It All Together

    May 22

    Take Back the Pen: Donna Thorell on Building a Wellness Business for Women Who Look Like They Have It All Together

    What do you do when the medical world keeps telling you "it's just hormones" and you know it's something more? In this episode, I sit down with Donna Thorell, founder of Vitality by Donna, who became her own case study after years of being dismissed by doctors — and ended up building an entire holistic wellness practice for women out of what she learned. Donna shares how she lost 70 pounds, rebalanced her body and mind, and reverse-engineered the system that's now helping her clients do the same. We talk about why she works exclusively with "women who look like they have it all together" (but quietly aren't), how she pieces together nervous system regulation, body awareness, nutrition, and movement into a single connected approach — and why she pushes back hard on the surgery-and-shots culture that's pressuring women to fix what was never broken. Donna also shares her Safe Touch Protocol, built on a sobering statistic about how many women carry trauma into every space they enter, and why treating every client as if you know their story (even when you don't) is the foundation of trust-based solopreneurship. We dig into her three-days-on, four-days-off work rhythm, why a coach needs a coach, and the upcoming pajama-party-style retreats she's running where multimillion-dollar executives and stay-at-home moms sit side by side as equals. Her advice to anyone starting out? Find your why — and don't let the world write the ending to your story. BIO m a trauma-informed Holistic Health Practitioner and the founder of a woman-owned wellness practice built for women who have been strong for too long.My work comes from lived experience. I am a trauma survivor who had to find my own way back when support didn’t exist for me. That journey became my foundation… and now it’s the work I bring to every woman I serve.I specialize in nervous system regulation and whole-person wellness, integrating nutrition, body-based therapies, and my proprietary SafeTouch Protocol to help women move out of survival mode and back into their bodies. This isn’t surface-level care… it’s deep recalibration that restores energy, reduces inflammation, and rebuilds confidence from the inside out.I work with high-functioning, emotionally giving women… professionals, caregivers, leaders, and survivors… who are ready to stop just getting through life and start fully living it.Through private immersions, coaching, and specialized treatments, I create spaces where women can regulate, rebuild, and lead their lives from a place of clarity and power.I don’t help women cope.I help them come home to themselves… and from there, everything changes. Website Www.VitalityByDonna.com Social Media Links Vitality By Donna on IG and FB, Donna Thorell on Linkedin

    24 min
  7. From "Churning Fluff" to Sales Impact: Richard Cook on Building a B2B PR Business Across Continents

    May 17

    From "Churning Fluff" to Sales Impact: Richard Cook on Building a B2B PR Business Across Continents

    What do you do when a client tells you your entire industry is "churning fluff"? If you're Richard Cook, you let it shake you — and then you use it to reinvent the way you work. In this episode, I sit down with Richard, founder and managing director of London-based B2B PR consultancy Champion Communications, for a conversation that ranges from accidental solopreneurship to running a UK business from São Paulo. Richard shares how his original business partner's maternity leave nudged him into going solo by design, how that single offhand "churning fluff" comment pushed him to redefine PR as a demand-generation engine instead of a press-release factory, and why he believes it's never been a more possible time to build a service business alone. We dig into his 5 AM routine (born of necessity, kept by choice), why he's traded LinkedIn for Substack as his daily intellectual fuel, and the surprisingly elegant way he's using Claude to map out which media outlets have OpenAI licensing agreements — so his clients' stories land where AI models are actually reading. Richard also shares the most underrated piece of advice he wishes he'd taken seriously: don't be afraid of fear. The terror of solopreneurship doesn't go away — but you can learn to use the adrenaline instead of running from it. If you've ever wondered whether the panic you feel is a sign you're failing or a sign you're paying attention, this conversation will reframe the whole thing. Bio Richard Cook is the Managing Director of Champion Communications, a London-based PR and communications consultancy specialising in helping B2B technology companies grow. Founded in 2008, Champion has grown into a tight-knit, high-performing team, making Richard no stranger to the challenges of building a small business.Rather than chasing vanity metrics, Richard is relentless in his pursuit of growth, showing the real value of PR through campaigns dedicated to generating leads and driving web traffic. It's a mindset that resonates deeply with founders and small business owners who need their marketing to move the needle.With a background spanning the Prince's Trust International, Kaizo, and Big Group, Richard brings a well-rounded perspective to communications and business growth. He has a passion for helping smaller companies punch above their weight, earn credibility, and get noticed in competitive markets. Website https://championcomms.com/ Social Media Links https://uk.linkedin.com/company/champion-communications

    21 min
  8. The Founder's Number Two: Beth Sanders on Fractional COO Work, Getting Crystal Clear, and Why Solopreneurs Need a Thought Partner

    May 10

    The Founder's Number Two: Beth Sanders on Fractional COO Work, Getting Crystal Clear, and Why Solopreneurs Need a Thought Partner

    What happens when sheer will gets your business to the point where willpower alone isn't enough? In this episode, I sit down with Beth Sanders, founder of Ballast Ops and a fractional COO who specializes in being the "number two" for founders who've outgrown going it alone. Beth shares why she left full-time work to partner with multiple founders at once, how being EOS-certified shaped her approach, and why she flexes to what each business needs instead of running the same playbook for every client. We dig into the irony of being great at time management for everyone except yourself, the change management framework she used to lead an entire company through becoming AI-first, and the personal ROI calculator that's reshaping how she says yes (and no) to work. Beth also shares the single piece of advice she'd give every new solopreneur — and why spending two months getting really, really clear on what you offer paid off more than any networking event ever could. If you've been white-knuckling your way through running every part of your business and quietly wondering whether you need a thought partner, this conversation will help you see what's possible on the other side. Bio Founders usually find me when execution starts slipping under growth: deals stall, customer retention softens, priorities collide, and teams lose clarity on what matters most.I step in to rebuild execution at the system level - aligning leadership, installing operating discipline, and turning strategy into results without adding friction or bureaucracy. Over the last several years, I've helped companies: - Scale revenue 5x+ across multiple growth stages- Increase close rates and shorten sales cycles- Improve customer retention and customer experience- Install EOS-based operating systems that teams actually run- Stabilize execution during inflection points, transitions, and downturns I think like an owner, execute like an operator, and lead without ego. I work best with founders who want a true operating partner - someone who owns execution across functions and builds results that compound. Fractional COO and EOS Growth Integrator. Operating style & assessments: Predictive Index (Captain) - Kolbe 8-6-3-3 - EOS Integrator (Masterclass Certified 2024) https://www.ballastops.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethksanders/

    14 min
See All (64)

Ratings & Reviews

About

🎧 Breaking Solo is your go-to podcast for insights from solopreneurs who’ve made it happen—sharing their strategies, challenges, and the tools they use to stay ahead.

Information

  • Creator
    Donna Amos
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    64
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Donna Amos
  • Show Website
    Breaking Solo