Can We Not? Business Is Hard Enough.

Samantha C. Prestidge
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Can We Not? Business Is Hard Enough. A Podcasts for Working Founders (previously Strategies, Solutions, and Sanity). Running a business is hard enough. The advice you've been given shouldn't make it harder. Can We Not? is the podcast for founder-led businesses that are done overcomplicating the work. No eight-figure frameworks. No systems that require a full-time project manager to maintain. Just the real, behind-the-scenes decisions that shape how a business actually runs. I'm Sam Prestidge, founder of Auxo Business Services, and I work with visionary doers, the people who want to stay in the work but want that effort to actually build something instead of just keeping up. We talk about delegation, operations, team support, and the unsexy stuff that makes the difference between a business that grows and one that just stays busy. If you're running a small team, or no team at all, and you're tired of chasing strategies that sound smart but don't fit how you work, you're in the right place. Let's uncomplicate this thing.

  1. 40. Can We Not People-Please Our Way Through a Growing Business? | Conference Growth with Megan Shapiro

    2D AGO

    40. Can We Not People-Please Our Way Through a Growing Business? | Conference Growth with Megan Shapiro

    Growing community, conference, or business without losing your original vision — and your sanity — can be a picasso painting that easily gets distorted. Host Samantha C. Prestidge chats with Megan Shapiro, construction attorney and founder of the Converge Construction Summit, about strategic community growth, what sustainable business building actually looks like, and how to stop people-pleasing your way into something you didn't mean to create. Megan grew Converge from 13 people in Savannah to 55 in Chicago — and her most important work wasn't any of that growth. It was the months she spent figuring out why her best-reviewed event left her completely drained. In this episode: How to grow a community or event without losing what made it workWhy strategic growth beats fast growth — and how to tell the differenceWhat people-pleasing in business actually costs you, even when things look successfulHow to hear what your audience wants and identify what they actually needWhy sustainable business growth requires knowing your vision before you scale itWhat months of business coaching, therapy, and a mastermind finally unlocked that a successful event couldn't

    50 min
  2. 39. Can We Not Be the Reason Our Assistant Fails? Three Crucial Calls for Clarity

    MAR 31

    39. Can We Not Be the Reason Our Assistant Fails? Three Crucial Calls for Clarity

    You’ve hired an assistant before. It didn’t stick. And if you’re honest, you’re not totally sure why. Host Samantha C. Prestidge of Auxo Business Services breaks down the three areas of clarity founders need to have in place before they bring on an assistant — and why skipping them is almost always what tanks the working relationship. This solo episode gets into why even strong assistants fail when founders aren’t ready, the difference between delegating tasks and delegating outcomes, and the Map It → Keep It → Delegate It framework Sam uses with her own clients. Topic Bullets Why building SOPs before you hire is the wrong starting point — and what to do instead The “cart before the horse” pattern that ends most assistant relationships early What “how you want to play in your business” actually means — and why founders who skip it become micromanagers How to write a value statement that ties your assistant’s work to real business outcomes, not just your to-do list When “I can’t grow because I’m at capacity” is actually a clarity problem, not a bandwidth one The Map It, Keep It, Delegate It frameworkBook a delegation strategy session: auxosvs.com/strategy Timestamps 00:00 Hidden Expectations00:21 Podcast Mission01:49 Delegation Failures03:31 Skip The SOP Trap04:52 Three Clarity Areas05:08 Map What Youre Building07:18 Keep Your Founder Role09:13 Delegate Outcomes Not Tasks11:49 Map Keep Delegate Framework12:27 Book A Strategy Session

    13 min
  3. 38. Can We Not Keep Marketing to Everyone and Serving No One? | Finding the Right Operations Partner with Ashley Connell

    MAR 24

    38. Can We Not Keep Marketing to Everyone and Serving No One? | Finding the Right Operations Partner with Ashley Connell

    Hiring operations help for your small business is harder than it should be — and most founders are looking at the wrong things when they do it. Ashley Connell, CEO of Prowess Project, has spent seven years matching small business owners with operations partners. She's learned that the skills on a resume tell you almost nothing about whether someone can actually run your business alongside you. In this episode: Why hiring for tech stack and job titles fails service-based business ownersHow to find the right operations partner for your small businessThe four-step framework Ashley's ops partners use from day oneWhy delegating outcomes doesn't work — and what to communicate insteadHow to know if you need an operations partner or if your processes need fixing firstWhat a two-week time study reveals that no hiring process can00:00 The Need for Management 00:41 Welcome to Can We Not 01:41 Meet Ashley Connell 02:22 What is an Ops Partner 04:46 Meeting Leah 05:42 Flexible and Fulfilling Careers 06:59 The 97 Percent Statistic 07:38 The Matching Algorithm 10:47 Proven Results and Success Stories 13:14 Overcomplicating the Journey 15:38 Niching Down to Accounting Firms 17:22 Testing and Experimentation 19:22 Naming the Ops Partner 21:20 Experimentation With Intent 22:35 Accountability and Feedback 26:06 Four Step Delivery Method 29:03 Setting Clear Expectations 32:24 Behaviors Over Outcomes 34:28 Practical AI Integration 36:29 Time Study to Simplify 38:40 Closing Thoughts

    39 min
  4. 37. Can We Not Sell Like We're Trying to Win an Argument?

    MAR 17

    37. Can We Not Sell Like We're Trying to Win an Argument?

    Most sales training teaches you to push harder when a prospect hesitates. Aleasha Bahr teaches you to get curious instead — and the results are hard to argue with. Host Samantha C. Prestidge chats with Aleasha Bahr, author of Black Sheep Sales and founder of a sales coaching practice that helps service business owners build strategies designed around how they actually think and communicate — not a pushy script that never fit them in the first place. They dig into what it looks like to simplify your message down to outcomes people actually want (hint: it's not your list of deliverables), why defining your anti-audience is as important as defining your ICP, and how knowing when to walk away from a sale is the thing that actually brings clients chasing you. LINKS Aleasha Bahr on LinkedIn Black Sheep Sales bookAleasha's websiteCatch more episodes: canwenotpodcast.comApply to be a guestHave Sam as a guest on your podcast: info@auxosvs.com

    40 min
  5. 36. Can We Not Duct-Tape Seven Apps Together? | Construction Tech & Quickbooks Alternatives with Bryant Solomon ?

    MAR 12

    36. Can We Not Duct-Tape Seven Apps Together? | Construction Tech & Quickbooks Alternatives with Bryant Solomon ?

    You're not running seven apps because you're disorganized. You're running seven apps because each one solved a real problem at the time and nobody ever stopped to ask if the pile still made sense. Host Samantha C. Prestidge chats with Bryant Solomon, co-founder of ControlQore, who did something most founders skip — he went and worked inside his customer's business before building anything. What he found was a back office held together with workarounds, and a team trained on tools that were never designed for them. They get into how chasing the wrong kind of growth poisons an entire industry's relationship with technology, and why the founders who build slow and stay profitable are the ones still standing when the VC-fueled competitors burn out. Links: Bryant Solomon on LinkedIn ControlQore website Converge Summit Josh Luebker (fractional CFO mentioned) on LinkedInMore episodes at canwenotpodcast.comApply to be a guestHave Sam on your podcast: info@auxosvs.com

    56 min

  6. 12/01/2025

    The #1 Mindset Shift to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Business

    Feeling overworked, overloaded, or like you’re the only one holding everything together in your business?You might be stuck in the trap that catches so many founders and high performers: confusing self-sufficiency with strength. In this episode of Strategy, Solutions, and Sanity, Samantha shares the one mindset shift that helps founders stop being the bottleneck in their own business. Through personal stories, real-life examples, and practical delegation insights, you’ll learn: why asking for help feels uncomfortable how over-functioning secretly drains your time and energy the difference between being capable and overcompensating how to make delegation simple (and not feel like letting go of control) why receiving support is the unlock for scaling without burnout If you’re an overwhelmed founder or small business owner trying to grow without losing your sanity, this episode gives you the clarity and permission you didn’t know you needed. 00:00 Mom’s lesson that sparked the mindset shift00:58 Why asking for help feels so hard02:32 What happened when Samantha tested “helping”04:15 The hidden plague of over-self-sufficiency07:17 How to stop being the bottleneck in your business09:52 The mindset shift that makes delegation simple

    12 min

  7. 10/27/2025

    Creative Hiring: How to Find Great Admin or Executive Assistant Talent (When Job Boards Fail You)

    Creative hiring for executive assistants and office managers: learn how to define day-to-day tasks, map soft skills, and find great candidates in unexpected places. We cover transferable skills, small-town recruiting, and why PTA leaders, teachers, and restaurant team leads can shine in admin and EA roles. If job boards are failing you, this will help you think outside the resume. What you’ll learn How clarity in tasks reveals the right soft skills Where to look beyond resumes: PTA, education, and hospitality When “hire for character, train the tech” makes sense Cost trade-offs and how to train new hires well Chapters00:00 Intro: creative interviewing and recruiting01:02 Why job clarity matters02:04 Unconventional places to find talent03:32 Leveraging non-traditional candidates05:53 Cost benefits and training06:43 Wrap + how to get help Need help? Comment with the role you’re hiring. Connect with Samantha C. Prestidge on LinkedIn or email info@auxosvs.com

    8 min

  8. 10/20/2025

    How to Be a Healthy Skeptic in a World Selling You “More

    In this episode, we diverge from the scheduled content plan to address a critical business principle: simplicity. Spurred by early Christmas setups in stores, I discuss the importance of simplicity in both business and personal life. You'll learn three practical strategies to maintain simplicity: 1) Stop being oversubscribed with information, 2) Get to the root cause of problems, and 3) Embrace the boring but profitable tasks. These steps will help you stay aligned with your business goals and avoid unnecessary complications. Tune in next week for some creative tips on interviewing and recruiting.00:00 Introduction and Content Overview00:39 Holiday Decorations and Business Insights02:22 Embracing Simplicity in Business03:44 Strategy 1: Avoid Being Oversubscribed05:26 Strategy 2: Identify the Root Cause06:56 Strategy 3: Embrace the Boring09:22 Conclusion and Next Week's Preview

    10 min
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About

Can We Not? Business Is Hard Enough. A Podcasts for Working Founders (previously Strategies, Solutions, and Sanity). Running a business is hard enough. The advice you've been given shouldn't make it harder. Can We Not? is the podcast for founder-led businesses that are done overcomplicating the work. No eight-figure frameworks. No systems that require a full-time project manager to maintain. Just the real, behind-the-scenes decisions that shape how a business actually runs. I'm Sam Prestidge, founder of Auxo Business Services, and I work with visionary doers, the people who want to stay in the work but want that effort to actually build something instead of just keeping up. We talk about delegation, operations, team support, and the unsexy stuff that makes the difference between a business that grows and one that just stays busy. If you're running a small team, or no team at all, and you're tired of chasing strategies that sound smart but don't fit how you work, you're in the right place. Let's uncomplicate this thing.

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