The Experienced Entrepreneur

Marissa Lawton | Business Coach for Seasoned Entrepreneurs
  • 4.9 (65)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to the show for seasoned business owners, coaches, and service providers who've been in the game long enough to know that the flashy hustle isn't sustainable — The Experienced Entrepreneur is your weekly refuge. Here, experience is your edge. This is not a show for newbies chasing overnight success; it's a podcast for those who bring wisdom, perspective, and resilience to the long game of entrepreneurship. If you've ever felt unseen in the noise of business marketing, tired of strategies that no longer fit, or ready to recalibrate how your work serves your life — this is where you land. Every Monday, you'll get raw, candid conversations, strategy grounded in lived wisdom, and gentle challenges to rebuild your business with clarity, connection, and integrity. Topics you'll hear here: Business growth strategies tailored for seasoned entrepreneurs How to overcome burnout, stagnation, and pivot fatigue High-touch marketing, relational funnels, and value-based client attraction Balancing scale, purpose, and life integration Collaboration, brand philosophy, and community over competition Whether you're a consultant, coach, or service provider who's built traction but is ready for something deeper — join me. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode, and let this show be your anchor and your catalyst in the work that matters.

  1. Hidden Skills you Build During the Growth Stage of Business

    3D AGO

    Hidden Skills you Build During the Growth Stage of Business

    What if the work you're doing right now in growth stage is building the competencies you'll need for the next twenty years of business? In this episode, Marissa breaks down the hidden skills you're developing in growth stage that are quieter and harder to measure than the visible skills you built in the early years. She explains why build stage teaches you what to sell while growth stage teaches you how to lead, why you're learning to see patterns in your data instead of just numbers, and why the resilience you're building now is about identity, not just bouncing back from failure. You'll hear why growth stage is the only phase where you have the space and stability to develop these competencies, why learning to make decisions in ambiguity by trusting your data is a CEO-level skill, and why the entrepreneurs who take this stage seriously are the ones still standing in twenty years. This episode is for experienced entrepreneurs who feel like they're in a holding pattern, who wonder if they're learning anything new, and who need to understand that the mastery they're building right now is what makes sustainable scaling possible. What You'll Learn Understand why the skills you're building in growth stage are quieter and harder to measure than build stage skills, but far more valuable for long-term success Discover the difference between skills (knowing how) and competencies (mastery), and why growth stage is where you move from one to the other Learn why build stage teaches you what to sell while growth stage teaches you how to lead your sales and make strategic decisions Find out how you're learning to see patterns in your data instead of just numbers, and why that shift makes you a data-driven decision maker Hear why the resilience you're building in growth stage is about identity and self-assurance, not just bouncing back from failure Get clarity on why growth stage is the only phase where you have the space and stability to learn how to scale without losing yourself Understand how these competencies compound and set you up for the next twenty years of sustainable business leadership Featured Quote "Build stage teaches you what to sell. Growth stage teaches you how to lead. In build stage, you got the peg in the hole. In growth stage, it's about making that peg locked in that hole even better, even richer, even more masterful." Resources + Links Mentioned Monday Meeting: https://marissalawton.com/monday-meeting

    31 min
  2. Settling In Is Not the Same as Settling: Why Growth Stage Entrepreneurs Become Magnetic

    APR 13

    Settling In Is Not the Same as Settling: Why Growth Stage Entrepreneurs Become Magnetic

    Episode Summary What if the most powerful thing you could do to grow your business right now isn't chasing more, but settling into what you've already built? In this episode, Marissa makes the case for why settling in is not the same as settling, and why growth stage entrepreneurs who commit to refining what they've built become magnetic. She breaks down the difference between chasing (scattered, reactive energy) and attracting (grounded, intentional energy), and why your ideal clients can feel the difference. You'll hear why the industry doesn't celebrate growth stage (there's no money in telling you to slow down), why settling into your offers and audience creates a competitive advantage everyone else is skipping, and why refinement isn't maintenance work, it's leadership. This episode is for experienced entrepreneurs who are tired of the frantic energy of chasing the next thing, who want to build businesses people trust instead of businesses that burn out, and who are ready to understand that ambition and settling in are not mutually exclusive. What You'll Learn Understand why settling in is not the same as settling, and why doubling down on what you've built makes you magnetic instead of stagnant Discover the difference between chasing (frantic, scattered energy) and attracting (grounded, self-assured energy), and why your ideal clients feel the difference Learn why the industry doesn't talk about growth stage (there's no money in telling you to slow down) and why that means most entrepreneurs skip the competitive advantage you're building Find out why refinement isn't maintenance work, it's strategic leadership that separates sustainable entrepreneurs from those who burn out Hear why having a relationship with your business means knowing exactly what it needs moment to moment, especially as you remove yourself from daily operations Get clarity on why the entrepreneurs who legitimize growth stage are the ones still standing in ten years, not the ones who scaled into chaos Featured Quote "When you settle into your business, you stop chasing and you start attracting. Your energy grounds. You become more self-assured. And your ideal client feels that. They're drawn to the grounded energy of someone who knows what they're doing instead of the frantic energy of someone running in ten directions at once." Resources + Links Mentioned Monday Meeting: https://marissalawton.com/monday-meeting Book a Clarity Call: https://calendar.app.google/W2iLo7PbNNosQ6e88

    33 min
  3. From Guessing to Hypothesizing: You're the Scientist Now

    APR 6

    From Guessing to Hypothesizing: You're the Scientist Now

    You know what you sell, who buys it, and how to deliver it. But there's a gap between where your business is and how you're showing up to lead it. In this episode, Marissa introduces the petri dish analogy that changes everything: in build stage, you're inside the petri dish as one of the variables in the experiment. In growth stage, you become the scientist running the experiment. She breaks down why taking responsibility for your business doesn't mean you can't acknowledge external factors, it means you stop using them as excuses. You'll hear about the three barriers that keep entrepreneurs stuck in builder mode (fear of failure, fear of losing freedom, and fear of looking arrogant), why the CEO shift is uncomfortable because you can't hide behind "I don't know" anymore, and what changes when you move from guessing to hypothesizing. This episode is for experienced entrepreneurs who are running businesses that need a CEO but are still showing up as a builder, who feel the weight of responsibility but don't know how to step into ownership without losing their freedom, and who are ready to stop reacting and start leading. What You'll Learn Understand the petri dish analogy that explains the shift from build stage to growth stage (you go from being a variable in the experiment to being the scientist running it) Discover the three barriers that keep entrepreneurs stuck in builder mode: fear of failure, fear of losing freedom, and fear of looking arrogant before you've "earned it" Learn the difference between acknowledging external factors and using them as excuses (a builder says "I had a bad quarter because the market was bad," a CEO says "I had a bad quarter and here's what I'm adjusting") Find out why you can't hide behind "I don't know" anymore when you have years of data, patterns, and experience guiding your decisions Hear the shift from guessing to hypothesizing and why that changes how you introduce new offers, navigate market conditions, and make strategic decisions Get clarity on what it means to lead your business instead of just react to it, and why that's the skill that makes scaling sustainable Featured Quote "You shift from being a variable inside the petri dish to being the scientist running the experiment. You're not experimenting anymore in the same way. You've gone from guessing to hypothesizing." Resources + Links Mentioned Monday Meeting: https://marissalawton.com/monday-meeting Book a Clarity Call: https://calendar.app.google/W2iLo7PbNNosQ6e88

    30 min
  4. From Fluke to Framework: the Kay to Repeatable Results in your Business

    MAR 30

    From Fluke to Framework: the Kay to Repeatable Results in your Business

    What if the success you've been calling luck is actually a system you built without realizing it? In this episode, Marissa tackles the "fluke mindset" that keeps experienced entrepreneurs stuck in build stage thinking even when they're years into business. She breaks down why dismissing your wins as accidents keeps you from investigating the patterns that actually drive your results, and why shifting from "fluke thinking" to "framework thinking" is the first step in becoming a growth stage entrepreneur. You'll hear about the CEO shift that happens when you stop attributing success to timing and start taking responsibility for replicating it, why your wins aren't random even if they feel that way, and what changes when you start analyzing patterns instead of hoping magic strikes twice. This episode is for entrepreneurs who have consistent sales but still feel like they don't know if they can do it again, who attribute their best months to luck instead of skill, and who are ready to build frameworks that make success repeatable instead of random. What You'll Learn Understand why the "it's a fluke" mindset keeps you operating with build stage energy even when you're years into business Discover the patterns that are actually driving your success and why you haven't been able to see them yet Learn the CEO shift that happens when you stop calling wins flukes and start taking responsibility for replicating them Find out what intermediate skills growth stage entrepreneurs build that make scaling sustainable instead of chaotic Hear why your clients aren't random, your easy months aren't accidents, and your success is based on patterns you can investigate and replicate Get actionable reflection questions to help you identify one pattern you can investigate this week to replicate your best results Featured Quote "You didn't get here by accident. The clients who say yes to you aren't random. The months where revenue feels easy aren't flukes. There are patterns driving your results, and growth stage is where you learn to see them." Resources + Links Mentioned Monday Meeting: https://marissalawton.com/monday-meeting Book a Clarity Call: https://calendar.app.google/W2iLo7PbNNosQ6e88

    31 min
  5. You're Not Ready to "Scale" Your Business, Here's What to do Instead

    MAR 23

    You're Not Ready to "Scale" Your Business, Here's What to do Instead

    If you're making money online, you probably think the next step in your business is to scale. Well, this episode is going to shift your entire perspective. Marissa breaks down the three stages of business (build, grow, scale) and explains why most entrepreneurs skip the growth stage entirely, jumping straight from build to scale and breaking everything in the process. She introduces the industry lie that once you're making money, it's time to scale, and explains why growth stage (the unsexy, unglamorous stage of analyzing and optimizing) is the foundation that makes sustainable scaling actually possible. You'll hear why skipping growth stage costs you in time, money, and wellbeing, what analyzing and optimizing actually look like in practice, and why refining your foundation now sets you up to scale faster and further later. This episode is for experienced entrepreneurs who are past the build stage but aren't ready to pour gasoline on a system that hasn't been refined yet. If you've been chasing the sexy promise of scaling, this is your reality check and your roadmap forward. What You'll Learn Discover the three stages of business (build, grow, scale) and why the growth stage is the most skipped and least talked about stage in online business Learn the industry lie that's pushing experienced entrepreneurs to scale before they're ready and why "if you're not scaling, you're stagnating" is costing you money and wellbeing Understand what actually happens in growth stage, and why refining your foundation is the key to sustainable scaling Find out the real cost of skipping growth stage, from wasted ad spend on unconverted funnels to hiring teams to execute inefficiency at scale Hear Marissa's radio tuning analogy that makes the concept of growth stage crystal clear (and why you don't want to amplify static) Identify what would break in your business if everything was 10x bigger tomorrow and why that's the exact reason you need growth stage first Featured Quote "Build stage is about figuring out what to sell and who to sell it to. Growth stage is about refining how you sell it and making it profitable. Scaling is about doing more of what's already working. Skip growth stage, and you're just doing more of what's broken." Resources + Links Mentioned Monday Meeting: https://marissalawton.com/monday-meeting Book a Clarity Call: https://calendar.app.google/W2iLo7PbNNosQ6e88

    40 min
  6. Cash Runway, Gross Profit & Financial Strategy with Kristen Hillman

    MAR 9

    Cash Runway, Gross Profit & Financial Strategy with Kristen Hillman

    Cash reserves, gross profit, and knowing whether you're building an enterprise or an owner-driven business might sound like advanced financial concepts, but according to Kristen Hillman of Veticula Financial, they're the foundational metrics every growth-stage entrepreneur needs to understand. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton sits down with Kristen to unpack the "golden triangle" of financial advisors (CPA, wealth planner, and fractional CFO), why your cash runway should include your own pay (not just operating costs), and how to navigate the current "trust recession" by owning your community and making calm, data-informed decisions. Kristen breaks down the difference between scalable enterprise businesses and owner-defined lifestyle businesses, explains how to allocate net profit strategically, and shares why understanding your gross profit is the key to identifying which offers are actually profitable. If you've been running your business on vibes and bank account balances instead of real financial clarity, this conversation is the wake-up call you need. What You'll Learn Discover the "golden triangle" of financial advisors and why fractional CFO services fill the critical gap between your CPA and your wealth planner once you hit $500k in revenue Learn how to calculate and maintain a cash runway of three to six months (including your own pay, not just operating costs) and why tapping into it is a sign of good planning, not failure Understand the difference between enterprise businesses (built to scale and sell) and owner-defined businesses (built to fund your lifestyle and retirement) and why this distinction changes every financial decision you make Find out how to allocate net profit strategically using the 30/20/50 framework (taxes, cash reserve, owner compensation) and when to build in "fun money" for spontaneity Identify why gross profit (revenue minus cost to deliver) is the most important number for service-based businesses with teams, and how it reveals which offers are actually profitable Navigate the current "trust recession" in the online space by owning your community off social media and making decisions from data instead of panic Featured Quote "Without intentionality, we risk becoming slaves to our own businesses. Your business should always support you personally, not the other way around." Resources + Links Mentioned Kristen Hillman's website: https://veticularfinancial.com Connect with Kristen on LinkedIn Money Personality Quiz (link provided by Kristen) Monday Meeting: https://marissalawton.com/monday-meeting Book a Clarity Call: https://calendar.app.google/W2iLo7PbNNosQ6e88 Connect With Marissa Website: https://marissalawton.com

    45 min
  7. A Peek Inside the My Favorite Metric Summit

    FEB 23

    A Peek Inside the My Favorite Metric Summit

    This week on The Experienced Entrepreneur, we're doing something a little different. The My Favorite Metric summit kicked off this week, and if you've been curious about what it's all about, this episode gives you a full look inside. Marissa walks you through the structure of the five-day event, who it's designed for (spoiler: growth-stage entrepreneurs, not newbies), and why she built it without the typical summit pressure tactics like disappearing content or forced upsells. You'll hear about the four themed days covering lead acquisition, engagement, sales and profit, and lifestyle metrics, plus the live panel happening Friday where 25 experienced entrepreneurs will answer your real-time questions. If you've been on the fence about signing up or you're already registered and want to know how to get the most out of the week, this episode is your orientation guide. And if you're a regular listener who just wants to know what Marissa's been building for the last few months, this is your behind-the-scenes peek. What You'll Learn Discover the difference between build-stage and growth-stage entrepreneurs and why metrics matter so much more once you've hit the growth stage Learn why this summit has no disappearing content, no all-access upsells, and no artificial urgency (and what Marissa believes about creating longer-lasting, more substantial resources) Understand the four categories of metrics covered across the summit days and why each one matters for sustainable business growth Find out how to make the most of the live panel on Friday and why showing up prepared with questions is where the real value lives Hear Marissa's full business journey (therapy license, military spouse life, eleven years online) and the values that ground everything she teaches Featured Quote "If you have everything in place — tons of leads, tons of exposure, tons of revenue — but you hate your life, then you don't have a successful business." Resources + Links Mentioned My Favorite Metric Summit (free, Feb 23–27): https://marissalawton.com/metric Register here: https://marissalawton.myflodesk.com/w4a2gvsnii The Decision Dashboard (free tracker): https://marissalawton.com/dashboard Live Panel: Friday, February 27th at 10am PT / 1pm ET Connect with Marissa: https://marissalawton.com Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-experienced-entrepreneur/id1448104773

    35 min
  8. The Metrics Myth Keeping Entrepreneurs in the Dark

    FEB 16

    The Metrics Myth Keeping Entrepreneurs in the Dark

    If you've ever said "I'm just not a numbers person" — this episode is going to gently, but firmly, challenge that. For experienced entrepreneurs, the belief that metrics are complicated, cold, or designed for someone else is one of the most costly myths in business. Not because tracking is hard, but because the story we tell ourselves about it keeps us from accessing the clearest signal our business has to offer. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton breaks down where the "I'm not a metrics person" identity actually comes from, what it's quietly costing you in today's market, and what it really looks like to build a simple, sustainable metrics practice — one that doesn't require a finance degree or hours of spreadsheet time. If your business has been trying to talk to you through your numbers and you've been leaving it on read, this is the episode that changes that. What You'll Learn Discover where the "I'm not a numbers person" belief actually comes from — and why it has nothing to do with your actual ability to track your business Learn why instinct alone was enough in a booming market but why today's business climate demands a simple, consistent data practice Understand the difference between complicated data analysis and the kind of light-touch metrics tracking that experienced entrepreneurs actually need Identify the signals you're already reading in your business every day — and what it would mean to have a consistent way to capture them Find out what a sustainable monthly metrics practice actually looks like, and why you don't have to do it alone Featured Quote "Your numbers aren't a test you have to pass — they're the most honest conversation your business is trying to have with you." Resources + Links Mentioned My Favorite Metric Summit (free, Feb 23–27): https://marissalawton.com/metric Register here: https://marissalawton.myflodesk.com/w4a2gvsnii Monday Meeting: https://marissalawton.com/monday-meeting Book a Clarity Call: https://calendar.app.google/W2iLo7PbNNosQ6e88

    36 min
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4.9
out of 5
65 Ratings

About

Welcome to the show for seasoned business owners, coaches, and service providers who've been in the game long enough to know that the flashy hustle isn't sustainable — The Experienced Entrepreneur is your weekly refuge. Here, experience is your edge. This is not a show for newbies chasing overnight success; it's a podcast for those who bring wisdom, perspective, and resilience to the long game of entrepreneurship. If you've ever felt unseen in the noise of business marketing, tired of strategies that no longer fit, or ready to recalibrate how your work serves your life — this is where you land. Every Monday, you'll get raw, candid conversations, strategy grounded in lived wisdom, and gentle challenges to rebuild your business with clarity, connection, and integrity. Topics you'll hear here: Business growth strategies tailored for seasoned entrepreneurs How to overcome burnout, stagnation, and pivot fatigue High-touch marketing, relational funnels, and value-based client attraction Balancing scale, purpose, and life integration Collaboration, brand philosophy, and community over competition Whether you're a consultant, coach, or service provider who's built traction but is ready for something deeper — join me. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode, and let this show be your anchor and your catalyst in the work that matters.

Information

  • Creator
    Marissa Lawton | Business Coach for Seasoned Entrepreneurs
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Marissa Lawton 2018
  • Show Website
    The Experienced Entrepreneur

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