She had the title, the salary, and the leadership role she’d worked her whole career for. Six months later, she knew it wasn’t right. In this episode of Off the Books, Jonny and Nikita sit down with Mariana “Mari” Serrano, founder of The Cadence of Social Impact, a social enterprise that partners with organizations, coalitions, philanthropic groups, and companies to turn big visions for social change into real strategy and lasting impact. Mari’s story is one that a lot of solopreneurs will recognize: doing everything “right,” reaching the goal, and realizing the goal wasn’t actually yours. Mari came up through public health. She earned her master’s, built her career, and landed a social impact role created specifically for her at a $50 million nonprofit. On paper, she’d made it. But within weeks, something felt off. She watched high-impact projects disappear the moment grant funding dried up, and saw organizations competing for resources instead of working together. After one afternoon crying in her car on the drive home, she took a weekend outside to sit with herself, and started daydreaming about what an organization built on relationships could look like. Then she did something bold. LinkedIn suggested she connect with a stranger named Taylor Tucker, so she slid into his DMs and asked him to coffee. That one-hour coffee turned into three hours, a brainstorming session at her house the next day, and eventually the foundation of The Cadence. Four months after that first conversation, Mari quit her job with no business plan, no roadmap, and no backup funding. Two and a half years later, The Cadence works with clients ranging from grassroots organizations to Microsoft, and juggles nearly 20 projects at a time. In this conversation, Mari opens up about trusting your gut when your brain says it’s a bad idea, changing your relationship with fear and failure, and why she believes the best business strategy is relationships. She also walks us through the surprisingly creative business model behind The Cadence, including how a for-profit social enterprise uses fiscal sponsorship to bring grant funding to clients who couldn’t otherwise afford support. Whether you’re thinking about leaving a stable job, building a business around your values, or just trying to keep all the plates spinning as a business of one, this episode is full of honest, practical, and genuinely inspiring insight. IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: Why Mari was named after her great-great-great grandmother, and the “ancestral wisdom” she carries with herConnecticut’s case for being the pizza capital of the nation (New Haven, we see you)Her childhood dream of becoming the next Andrew Zimmern, and what food and travel taught her about cultureHer first job at 12, tutoring elementary students through a youth workforce program in Waterbury, Connecticut, and why she still goes back to visitWhat she spent her first paycheck on (graphic tees were involved)Landing a dream role at a $50 million nonprofit and realizing six months later that it wasn’t the right fitThe limits of grant-funded impact, and why she wanted to build something that lasts beyond a funding cycleThe LinkedIn DM to a complete stranger that changed the course of her careerQuitting with no plan, and why investing in the right people mattered more than a business planThich Nhat Hanh’s idea that a flower is made of non-flower elements, and how it shaped her approach to building a businessWhy “our bodies know first” and how to trust that signalBefriending fear instead of ignoring it, and the value she calls “pragmatic faith”Why The Cadence started as an LLC and later moved to an S CorpThe three buckets of The Cadence’s work: transformative consulting, communities of practice and learning labs, and reparative capital through seed grantsHow their membership model puts 15% of dues into a collective fund that members decide how to useBuilding a mutual aid economy through “offers and needs” gatheringsGrowing entirely through word of mouth, with no marketing spend beyond a websiteDiscovering she was already a consultant before she knew the word for itSliding scale pricing, and how fiscal sponsorship helps keep services accessibleWhy The Cadence calls its clients “partners” and works to be non-extractiveMari’s best advice for solopreneurs: practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty, starting with yourselfThe tools that help her manage it all, including Collective, Monday.com, and Google WorkspaceTIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Welcome to Off the Books 00:46 Three things to know about Mari 03:58 Her first job at 12 years old 06:01 What she did with her first paycheck 07:16 The movie trailer version of her story 08:47 “Six months later, I don’t like it” 10:27 The afternoon in her car, and the daydream that followed 11:50 One LinkedIn DM to a complete stranger 15:08 Quitting with no plan and no roadmap 17:13 Giving yourself permission to walk away 18:14 Trusting your body and befriending fear 20:47 How The Cadence works, and why they became an S Corp 26:27 How clients find them (hint: no ad spend) 27:41 Building a business model with many moving parts 30:58 How fiscal sponsorship keeps their work accessible 33:54 Mari’s “off the books” advice for solopreneurs 37:56 The tools behind the business 41:16 Final thoughts: why you should reach out for coffee FAVORITE MOMENTS: On walking away from her dream job: Mari realized that working hard for something doesn’t mean you owe it your whole life. Recognizing it isn’t a fit, and acting on it, takes real courage. On fear: instead of pushing fear down, Mari lets it rise and gets curious about it. More often than not, she says, there’s something in it for her. On building a business: “I didn’t focus on how I built it, I focused more on why I’m building it. And the how became easier.” On advice for solopreneurs: Kindness starts with yourself. Take the pressure off, step outside, get a tea, touch grass. Showing up for yourself is how you show up for your clients and partners. CONNECT WITH MARI AND THE CADENCE OF SOCIAL IMPACT: Mari’s biggest ask is simple: reach out. She loves coffee chats, virtual or in person, and is always open to thought partnership with fellow social entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. After all, that’s how The Cadence started. Website: https://www.the-cadence.org/ ABOUT OFF THE BOOKS: Off the Books is a podcast from Collective, hosted by Nikita Turk and Jonny Styron. Every week, we sit down with solopreneurs navigating the journey of running a business of one, to share the real stories behind how they built it, what they’ve learned along the way, and what they wish someone had told them sooner. Our hope is that every conversation leaves you inspired, a little more informed, and reminded that you’re not building alone. Collective is the all-in-one back office for businesses-of-one, with S Corp setup, payroll, bookkeeping, and tax filing in one place, so you can spend more time on the work you love. Learn more at https://www.collective.com If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow solopreneur who needs to hear Mari’s story. This episode is for informational and entertainment purposes only and isn’t tax, legal, or financial advice. Learn more at https://www.collective.com
