Last year I wasn't in the room when I found out I won the Austin Under 40 Award for the People & Operations category (that's a story for a different time). So when I had the honor of coming back this year to present the award to this year's winner, I brought my award along to do a little photo and celebration tour. And document I own something other than athleisure wear.

Better late than never, right?

Congratulations, Winners

Massive congrats to this year's winner, Priya Taneja, and all of the other award winners. You're stepping into a truly exceptional group of people, and I cannot wait to welcome you into our winners' community.

Gratitude & Thanks

Thank you to Austin Under 40 Awards and YMBL Austin for the honor of being part of this legacy of leadership, service, and success here in Austin.

Special shout out to Travis Reiter, Chuck Swartz, Michael A. Harris, and the rest of the AU40 team for making this community, event, and Austin Sunshine Camps what it is.

The Takeaway

Here's to being more visible, betting on ourselves, and celebrating the wins (even a year late).

Sometimes we get so caught up in the hustle that we forget to pause and recognize our achievements. But these moments matter. They remind us that showing up and doing the work pays off.

So go ahead, celebrate your wins. No matter how late.

Panel Topics

Me and the fellow panelists will be discussing how preventative care, mental health support, workplace design, and innovative benefits strategies can improve employee retention, reduce costs, and position companies for sustainable growth. It's all about building sustainable, high-performing cultures that actually work for everyone.

Meet the Panelists

• Dr. Jake Childers brings 17 years of clinical experience to the future of healthcare, leading the expansion of accessible telemedicine and urgent care solutions for Central Texas professionals.
• Amber DiPippa, SHRM-SCP champions data-driven people strategies and community impact, building rewarding workplace cultures that support and elevate the Central Texas workforce.
• Yours truly, known as The Biz Doctor®, Lauren Goldstein helps business leaders transition from operator to owner by untangling operational chaos and building sustainable teams.
• Kelley Price MA, LPC delivers grounded, actionable strategies for workplace well-being, helping organizations create practical and collaborative support systems for their teams.

Join Us

Thank you so much to Sarah M. Goodman for putting my name forward for this transformational panel!

If you're looking to improve employee retention, reduce costs, and create better work environments, this panel is for you. We'll cover preventative care, mental health support, workplace design, and innovative benefits strategies that position companies for sustainable growth.

See you at Fairfield University! Grab your tickets below at a BOGO!

Inside Out

What I love most about Brooke is that she is on the cutting edge of helping people feel great from the inside out. She is one of the most grounded, present, and smart women I know who makes you feel seen, inspired, and valued. And she's going to make you feel and look your best!

The Sanctuary

With Saving Face Austin, Brooke has created a sanctuary where medical aesthetics meets functional wellness. Her practice specializes in regenerative aesthetics and longevity, offering natural, results-driven treatments backed by more than 60 years of collective provider experience.

From advanced skincare to injectable biologics and peptides, the boutique medical spa takes a deeply personalized approach to helping clients feel confident and radiant. It's the kind of business that thrives because of genuine care and expertise.

What Sets Her Apart

Brooke's approach goes beyond surface-level treatments. She combines cutting-edge medical aesthetics with a focus on overall wellness, helping clients build a strong leadership team of providers who understand their unique needs.

Check Her Out

If you're looking for someone to help you feel and look great from the inside out, Saving Face Austin delivers personalized care with over a decade of expertise. Natural treatments, real results, and a team that truly sees you.

Brooke has built something special in Austin. A place where you can invest in yourself and walk out feeling confident and radiant.

Go check out her amazing practice!

This month marks four years of The Biz Doctor® Podcast.

1,461 days. Over 100 episodes. 50+ five-star reviews. A top 3% globally ranked show.

On the surface, those numbers look like "winning."

But I'd be lying if I told you I felt like I'm winning.

It's true that behind the scenes, I've gotten to have conversations with brilliant people, share frameworks that have changed how business owners run their businesses and lead their teams, and have listeners tell me my show is one of their absolute favorites.

So, yes, I'm proud of what this podcast has become, and I want to celebrate this milestone, but, even with all that "success" it also feels a little heavy.

I'm kicking myself for not learning these lessons sooner, which is why I'm sharing them with you.

After four years of building, I know more about what didn't work than what did.

Here are the five things I'd change if I were starting over and talking to that previous version of myself, because these lessons, whether you're building a podcast, a business, or just a better life, will help you miss the potholes and speed bumps that I fell over.

Trust your gut sooner

There were moments along the way where something felt off. I couldn't name it. I couldn't point to a specific thing. But my gut was telling me to pay attention, and I ignored it because I wanted to believe everything was fine - and honestly it felt like it was better to stay with the "devil you know, then the one you don't."

Your gut picks up on things before your brain can articulate them. If something feels off, something IS off. You don't need all the evidence to start asking better questions. The earlier you listen to that quiet voice, the less cleanup you'll have to do later.

What I know now: I'd treat that uneasy feeling as data, not noise. Every time I ignored it, I paid for it later. This last time I ignored it, I got a surprise ChatGPT-written email telling me my producer was unable to fulfill the rest of my contract, leaving me and my podcast high and dry.

Anchor to the bigger picture first

I started my podcast without a real marketing plan. I knew I had things to say. I knew it would be a great way to reach more people. But I never sat down and asked, "How does this actually fit into the ecosystem of my business?"

For four years, my podcast lived on an island. Great content, strong episodes, loyal listeners, but disconnected from everything else I was building. And that made it feel heavy. It felt like extra work instead of essential.

What I know now: There are three questions I'd ask myself before launching anything new, whether it's a podcast, a product, a service, or even a Substack.

1. Why does this exist?
2. How does it connect to what I'm already building?
3. And what does it feed?

Everything in your business should build on what's around it. If something feels like it's floating on its own, it's probably because you never anchored it to the bigger picture and that is going to make it a slog not a success.

Make sure you're playing the same game

I knew what I wanted from my podcast. I wanted to make an impact on my listeners. I wanted to grow my audience. I wanted it to be a top-ranking show.

I had a clear picture of success in my head.

The problem wasn't that I didn't know what I wanted.

The problem was that the person I hired to help me get there had a completely different definition of the job.

I thought "producer" meant strategic partner. Someone who would help me grow, evolve, and build momentum.

Their definition was just editing the show.

And every time I tried to bridge that gap, the ambiguity around what "producing" and "supporting" actually meant kept us talking past each other.

What I know now: I'd get painfully specific about expectations before the contract was signed. Not just "what are you delivering?" but "what does support actually look like? How are we measuring success? Whose job is what?"

If you and the person you're hiring aren't aligned on what winning looks like, you're not in a partnership. You're headed for a misunderstanding.

Because as I always say, unshared expectations are nothing more than premeditated resentments.

Be a laser, not a flashlight.

This one stings, because I know better. I teach this to my clients. And yet, when it came to my own podcast, I was a flashlight.

Too many topics. Too many platforms. Too many types of guests. I was spread so thin that it was hard for anyone to grab onto one thing and say, "You need to listen to this podcast because she talks about X."

A laser can cut through diamonds. A flashlight just lights up a room. When you're trying to make an impact and build momentum, the only choice is to be a laser. Once you have the momentum, then you can expand.

What I know now: I'd keep it more consistent. One audience, one core problem, one pathway until I had real momentum.

That way, my topics, my platforms, my guests, all of it would be aligned so there was zero ambiguity about why someone should listen in.

Just like there should be zero ambiguity about why someone should work with me, or with you.

The more clear, the more concise, the more consistent, that's when momentum happens.

That's when referrals happen, because people are talking about you when you're not in the room.

That's where growth really compounds.

I spent so much time trying to be everything to everyone that I ended up being very little to very few.

F*ck sunk costs

For four years, I told myself some version of "well, it's working. It's a top-ranked podcast. I've already invested so much time and money. I can't just blow it up now." And so I kept going, even when things started feeling off around year two. Even when my gut (see lesson one) was telling me something needed to change.

The truth is, "it's kind of working" is one of the most dangerous phrases in business.

It gives you just enough to justify staying, but not enough to actually get where you want to go.

Had I gotten ruthlessly honest with myself around year two, I could have found a partner who was a better fit, with more aligned expectations and expertise. I would have had less sunk costs and more momentum.

What I know now: I'd give myself the grace to change something mid-stroke, even if I'd already invested six figures in it. "I've come this far" is often times not a strategy, it's a trap.

So What

Here's what I want you to take away from all of this: we're all human. We all make mistakes.

Of course I'm sitting here with hindsight bias, things I absolutely would change with the information I know now.

The truth is, we all make decisions with the information we have in the moment, and we make the best decisions we can with what we've got.

One of my favorite books, "Thinking in Bets," says it really beautifully: there is a danger in resulting - retroactively looking at a decision as good or bad based on the result.

The facts are I spent a lot of time and money on a podcast I could have gotten farther, faster with, but in the end, I'm grateful for these lessons abd the trail and error.

I have a great body of work, a top 3% globally ranked show, and foundation I can now build momentum faster on because I know what doesn't work and I have the clarity of what I need to move forward.

Because that might be the 6th lesson, double down on clarity. Without it, nothing works.

Let my failures be a beacon of inspiration to you that even if you've put your blood, sweat, and tears into something that's "kind of working," it's never too late to change course, ask for what you want, or heck even start over.

I am on here a couple times a month, but if you ever want your business bestie in your ear whenever you want, I'd love for The Biz Doctor® Podcast to be your go-to show.

If you're a business owner who's ready to make the operator-to-owner shift, if you're looking to become a better leader, build a high performing and autonomous team that doesn't need you in every decision, run a more profitable business, or figure out how to actually leverage AI in your operations, then come hang out with me on the show.

Over 100 episodes of real conversations, real tactics, real tools. No fluff. Just straight talk. What I like to call business booster shots: small doses, big shifts to help you have more of the freedom you started your business for.

I don't know exactly what the next evolution of this podcast is going to look like. I think I've found a great producer, but I haven't taken the next step yet because I really want to take a moment and reflect on everything from the past 1,461 days so I can be more focused, more integrated, more aligned, and bring you an even better podcast.

So tell me, what topics do you want me to cover in the next chapter? Drop a comment or send me a message. This podcast has always been for you, and the next evolution is doubling down on my favorite people, business owners like you who are changing the world.

In the meantime, if you want some business booster shots, hop on over to Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to bing the last 5 seasons.

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• YouTube

oh and p.s. speaking of the operator to owner shift... If you have uttered these words recently: “𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐈 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞… 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.” I get it and have just what the doctor ordered for you!

I help clients implement AI and internal agents every day, and have a workshop I teach every month called Unlocking AI for Your Business, showing you exactly how to leverage AI more strategically (without the chaos) and graduate from ChatGPT/claude to actual workflows and agents that give you back time.

You’ll leave with:

1. Confidence in how to work more strategically with AI and how to leverage it
2. One AI agent built around a task you want off your plate
3. A simple "what to build now" plan for you and your team

Goal: reclaim 5+ hours per week (per person).

Ask yourself, if I could 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧? That's where we'll start!

Grab your seat: https://www.goldenkeypartnership.com/ai

Use code: INSIDER for $50 off

I have had my business for 15+ years but the past 6ish, give or take, have felt stale, comfy, and predictable (which honestly is a good thing because predictable businesses are great).

The truth is I am GREAT at what I do and love it and I love my clients, but I haven’t felt that spark in a while… not sure if you have ever been there…

But then something changed late last year and that spark turned into an inferno in the past 45 days.

Suddenly I was reinvigorated. I had new ideas, new creative solutions, I was thinking of new ways to serve my clients and literally I. Couldn’t. Sleep!

It was like someone put rocket fuel in my coffee.

I suddenly fell back in love with my business and haven’t had this much fun in a while, so I want to share with you what happened.

Drum roll please…

I dove all the way in and truly unlocked AI.

Now, don’t roll your eyes or stop reading, I promise this is worth it.

I went from being a daily user to a power user; one that went back to my ops roots and started thinking AI first.

I had been in the AI space for over a year... already built agents, created workflows, heck I even taught several workshops on it but what I hadn’t done up until more recently was treat it like a true thinking partner.

Cause here is the thing. It is LONELY AF as a business owner. Even with our EO, Vistage, and WPO groups,sometimes it just sucks to not have a partner that is in the trenches with you.

And that my friend was the unlock that reinvigorated me in my business in a way I haven’t experienced in a lot of years.

And I think that shift to AI native as a partner, is truly the unlock for everything.

Maybe one of these days I will tell you all the cool things I am building with my clients but for now I want to show you what's possible when you shift your mindset from AI as 'something that helps' to 'something that creates true strategic leverage and partnership.'

Here are a half a dozen things I have created in the past few months (there are SO many more I left out) but hopefully this will show you that most everyone is just scratching the surface of this iceberg and perhaps inspire you to think bigger.

Buffer time

A simple agent to add in commute buffer around any in-person event so I don’t get scheduled on top of an in-person. It goes and it researches drive time, traffic, and parking and builds out the custom buffer time and tells me about parking so I am not surprised.

Relationships Rx

One of my biggest areas of opportunity in my business is being better about nurturing my network and doing biz dev. The biggest friction point (besides forgetting to follow up) was WHO to follow up with every day. So I solved that.

Each day it goes though my CRM, emails, and calendar and surfaces my daily high 5 and then goes and does recon on them to see what’s going on, then crafts a suggested message and “channel” then slacks me, I go do it, I slack back and it goes and it logs the activity in my CRM.

Oh and while I was building this out I also built in a google app to add someone straight from my inbox into airtable. It’s f*ing brilliant if I do say so myself.

Podcast Content Flywheel

From a single transcript it crafts my show notes, youtube description, suggests reels, and goes and creates the content I need for substack, this newsletter, posts, shorts, etc. and maps it back to my ecosystem so it all works together.

Weekly Content from Calls

Speaking of content. I have my little buddy review all my calls for the week and go through and look for patterns, questions, and topics that I should be talking about to help others besides my clients. It surfaces things I never thought to share with you. This has been a GAME CHANGER and GOLD MINE of stuff. Woof.

Accountability & Close Loop Assistant

Then there is the accountability piece which I LOVE. It goes through all my meetings and emails for the week to help me stay on track, not drop balls, close loops, and honestly GSD. It looks at my call transcripts and auto-adds it to clickup so I don’t lose it in the noise and then at the end of the week we make sure we got everything done and dusted. (V2 is where I will have it proactively go do things it can do so I don’t even have to touch some of those things!)

Meeting Prep on Steroids

Lastly this is hands down my FAVORITE agent. It goes through my calendar and sends me THE BEST heads up/prep email I have ever gotten. It consistently pull sup things even I didn’t know or forgot. What used to take me or my assistant ages to put together gets done like clockwork. This little baby works for external (new people), internal clients, and for the team. Oh and all my Unlocking AI Live Workshop attendees get it as a bonus!

Lee Potts had this to say about my meeting prep agen:

“Her Meeting Prep Agent has fundamentally changed how I prepare for meetings. It now handles the heavy lifting of researching potential clients, attorneys, and counterparties; work that previously consumed hours of my time. I receive concise, relevant briefs that let me walk into every meeting fully informed and focused on strategy, not scrambling to piece together background information.”

This is just a fraction of what I have built in my business (and deployed in my client's) which I hope has inspired you to think BIGGER with AI.

Think of it like a real human and go FAFO … honestly taking an idea and testing it out is half the fun. And that is saying a lot coming from this recovering perfectionist! Who knew that AI would be the therapy I needed to embrace “doing it messy.”

Let me know what Agents you are building/thinking of building and who knows maybe I will send one of these your way for fun.

Until next time.https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenegoldstein/

Some days are incredible. Some days it feels heavy. And a lot of the time, it's lonely, because there aren't many people who truly understand what it's like to be in your shoes.

That's the reality of entrepreneurship that nobody talks about enough. That's why I created Dear Doc.

About Dear Doc

Dear Doc is like like Dear Abby, but for business owners. Think of me as your business bestie and anonymously bring me what's on your mind.

Bring the questions you're stuck on, the decisions you're turning over in your head that are keeping you up at night, or the thing you just want a straight, no BS answer on.

My Experience

I've spent the last 15+ years behind the scenes of high-growth small businesses:

• Fixing broken team dynamics
• Untangling operational chaos
• Helping leaders reclaim their time, sanity, and the freedom they started their business for

So there isn't much I haven't seen or know how to problem solve.

No Judgment Zone

This is a no judgment zone, come as you are. No fluff. Just clear, honest, battle-tested advice from someone who's been there, seen a lot, and understands where you're at.

If you need a sounding board or a trusted advisor to help you keep moving forward, this is for you.

Take Action

Running a business doesn't have to feel so isolating. When you're stuck on a decision, losing sleep over team issues, or just need someone who gets it to tell you the truth, Dear Doc is here for that. Real advice from real experience, no fluff or judgment attached.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Sometimes all it takes is one honest conversation to get unstuck and move forward with clarity.

Submit your question anonymously via voice note or write it in by clicking here.

The Surface Success

The agency owner had all the markers of success:

• 11 years of steady business growth
• Strong revenue generation
• Healthy profit margins
• A successful, established team
• Achievement of work-life balance

The Hidden Barrier

The operations were solid.

The marketing was effective.

The team was performing well.

Yet something invisible was holding everything back.

The Breakthrough Moment

When I identified the root cause, it wasn’t any of the usual suspects.

It was something far more personal: an internal barrier the owner had not recognized.

Her immediate response confirmed the diagnosis: “You’re right! It’s definitely my own [REDACTED] keeping me at a plateau.”

Business Surgery Sessions

This case marks the first episode of my new Business Surgery Sessions series.

I’m examining the symptoms successful businesses face to uncover what’s really holding them back.

Special thanks to Michelle Wintersteen for being our inaugural guest and inspiring this concept!

Conclusion

Sometimes the biggest barriers to business growth are not found in our operations or strategies, but in ourselves. Recognizing these internal limitations is the first step to breaking through them.

Watch the full diagnosis episode here

Want to learn more about breaking through your own business plateaus? Follow me on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Here’s what I know: When you put me in front of a room of passionate leaders, real transformation happens. Not because I have all the answers, but because something clicks when we talk about what’s possible.

The best part? Seeing leaders realize they can elevate their teams, build real resilience, and create the kind of workplace culture that drives both engagement and results.

Want to know what we covered? Keep reading to discover the key topics that can transform your leadership approach.

Team Power

Your team is your greatest asset. That’s why cultivating a culture that prioritizes mental well-being, resilience, and long-term success matters so much.

When you recognize this truth and act on it, everything shifts. Your people become more engaged, more creative, and more committed to the shared vision.

Smart Leadership

Today’s hybrid work landscape demands a different approach. Leaders need practical strategies to support employees whether they’re in the office, at home, or somewhere in between.

It’s about adapting your leadership style while maintaining the human connection that drives real performance.

Growth Balance

You can foster growth without burnout. The key is nurturing environments that benefit both leaders and team members.

Sustainable team dynamics mean you can push forward without pushing people to their breaking point. This balance isn’t just possible – it’s necessary for long-term success.

Practical Tools

The most important part? Getting actionable techniques you can use right away. We’re talking about streamlining operations, enhancing alignment, and boosting capacity while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

These aren’t theory-heavy concepts but real strategies you can implement immediately.

Conclusion

When you get the tools to support your people without them (or you) burning out, everything changes – your leadership, your productivity, your bottom line.

Here are the top key takeaways from my keynote:

• Recognize your team as your greatest asset and prioritize their mental well-being
• Adapt your leadership strategies for today’s hybrid work environment
• Foster growth without burnout by creating sustainable team dynamics
• Use practical tools to streamline operations while maintaining work-life balance
• Build workplace cultures that drive both engagement and results

The transformation happens when passionate leaders come together to talk about what’s possible. It’s about realizing you can elevate your teams, build real resilience, and create workplace cultures that actually work.

If you’d love to have a speaker come in to inject energy and inspiration, and get your team thinking about what’s possible, let’s talk. Because when your people thrive, your business thrives.

Here is the hard truth: the job market doesn’t suck; your hiring process does.

If you are still blaming the market, you’re avoiding the mirror. Owners build hiring systems. Operators panic post and hope.

Case in point, everyone is saying “it’s a tough market, there aren’t good candidates.” But from post to offer letter, I hired a top candidate for my client in 11 days last week.

That’s the power of a proven process. Speed.

Sloppy Hiring Signs

How does sloppy hiring show up in a business?

It often looks like this:

• You post in a rush and pray the right person appears.
• You screen for years in a seat before testing how they think.
• You skip steps because the team is busy.
• You think you know who you need, but you didn’t do the prep work to get clear on who they are, what problems they solve, or what their accountabilities really are.
• Day one is a laptop, a login, and good luck. A sink or swim mentality is costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or more.

World Class Hiring

In contrast, here is what a world class hiring process looks like:

• Scorecard first. Define the mission of the role, the accountabilities, and the behavioral (DNA) profile that equal success in the role.
• Filter on fit. Experience is 20 percent. Who they are in their DNA and personality are the 80 percent that really makes all the difference.
• Use the process to mirror the work. Design your process to test the things you know they need to have to succeed in this role, things like proactivity, attention to detail, and learning new tools.
• Step costs mapped. Know the full cost load of the hire on the business before you post.
• Onboarding that supports success. It isn’t sink or swim. You have a locked in, predictable, duplicatable 30-60-90 onboarding process that not only gets them trained and up to speed fast, but gets them to stick.

Conclusion

The proof is in the practice, not the theory. When you commit to and follow this process, it works. The 11 days to hire I shared above was not magic. It was an exact science. There were no shortcuts and no hoping and praying. It was just a proven process that is crystal clear and removes friction.

Here’s my challenge to you. Audit your hiring process. Set your ego aside and get really honest with yourself. Is it effective? Is it clear? Are you setting your people up for success or for struggle? See what’s working and what’s not. Where is the gap in your process? Then adjust it and, here’s the key, give it time. More businesses blow up from lack of patience than from anything else. You have to know when to kill something, and when it needs time to sprout.

Your people are your greatest asset. Stop treating them like a hurried afterthought who can read your mind, and you’ll stop wondering why you can’t find or retain the people you say you want.

Follow me on LinkedIn, Youtube, and Patron View for more content like this.

This isn’t just a cause I support, it’s one I fully believe in.

Sentinel Foundation

The Foundation’s approach is characterized by courage and determination. They don’t run from danger—they run toward it to protect our children.

Every day, their team confronts the darkest corners of the internet and the world to safeguard the most vulnerable.

Short Video

Our first Austin event.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lauren Goldstein (@itslaurengoldstein)

Conclusion

If this mission speaks to you, please join me in supporting them and this great cause.

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of children who need our protection most.

Visit foundationsentinel.org to donate once or sign up for monthly giving.

Together, we can make a difference.

Follow me on LinkedIn, Youtube, and Patron View for more content like this.

I definitely didn’t have winning Austin under 40 on my 2025 bingo card so I’m not sure it has really sunk in yet.

I am so honored and excited that I get to join a truly exceptional group of people and carry the torch for this year and beyond as part of the legacy of leadership, service, and success here in Austin.

Thank you you to Austin Under 40 Awards and YMBL Austin for this incredible honor and legacy.

Special shout out to Travis Reiter, Chuck Swartz, Michael A. Harris, Lauren Kuchta and the rest of the 2025 winners!

Follow me on LinkedIn, Youtube, and Patron View for more content like this.

For me and a lot of my clients that is having digital assets and masterclasses.

I think there is no better Learning Management System platform out there than Kajabi.

I have been with them since the beginning, and in fact a lot of what you see today I had a say in or stress tested before the masses so I trust them to be the best and have our back as business owners.

About Kajabi

Kajabi is an all-in-one business platform specifically designed for knowledge entrepreneurs and content creators.

Founded in 2010, the company has grown to become a leader in the digital product space.

What Kajabi Offers

Kajabi provides entrepreneurs with everything needed to create, market, and sell digital products like online courses, membership sites, and coaching programs.

Their platform eliminates the need to patch together multiple tools and services.

Platform Features

Kajabi includes website building, course creation tools, email marketing, payment processing, analytics, and customer management – all within a single ecosystem.

This integrated approach means you don’t need technical expertise to launch and grow your digital business.

Why Choose Kajabi

From digital products to podcasts to email marketing, Kajabi streamlines selling your knowledge online in one comprehensive platform.

I also love that it makes generating passive revenue seamless.

If you’ve been considering sharing your expertise online, now is the perfect opportunity.

They are currently offering a spring special where you get 3 months for $99 (which is an exceptional deal) so don’t delay.

Conclusion

I’ve personally seen my digital income grow significantly since using Kajabi, and the platform has paid for itself many times over.

What I appreciate most is waking up to sales notifications that happened while I was completely disconnected from work.

That feeling of true business freedom is priceless.

Give it a test run and see how it transforms your business landscape. Click here to try out Kajabi.

The thrill of the next big idea, the rush of solving complex problems, the satisfaction of creating something innovative and unique.

It's what drives us, and it's probably what led you to start your business in the first place.

But here's a counterintuitive truth I've discovered after years of optimizing businesses: The most successful, scalable businesses are boring at their core.

Let me explain before you close this tab.

The Complexity Trap

When I say "boring," I'm not talking about your products, services, or vision.

I'm talking about your operations—the machinery that powers everything else.

Entrepreneurs love complexity.

We're problem-solvers by nature, so we gravitate toward complex solutions. We create intricate systems that only we understand.

We implement workarounds and exceptions that make perfect sense to us but confuse everyone else.

And before long, we've built a business that can't function without us at the center, constantly explaining, directing, and maintaining our complex creation.

There's a name for this: the complexity trap.

And it's the number one reason successful business owners can't step away from their businesses even for a week without everything falling apart.

Why Complexity Doesn't Scale

Think about some of the most successful businesses in the world. Despite their innovative products or services, their core operations follow predictable, repeatable processes.

McDonald's doesn't have a different approach to making fries at each location. Amazon doesn't reinvent its logistics system for each package.

Complexity doesn't scale because:

1. It requires constant interpretation: Complex systems need experts to interpret them, creating bottlenecks.
2. It's prone to errors: The more moving parts, exceptions, and special cases, the more opportunities for things to go wrong.
3. It resists improvement: When systems are too complex, people avoid changing them out of fear of breaking something.
4. It burns people out: Managing complexity is exhausting, both for you and your team.

This is why having the right people in place matters so much. I explore how to build a team that can operate without you in The Ultimate Hiring Playbook.

The Beauty of Boring

When your operational core is simplified to the point of being "boring"—meaning consistent, predictable, and easily understood—something magical happens:

• Your team can operate without constant direction.
• New hires can get up to speed quickly.
• Problems become easier to identify and fix.
• Improvements can be implemented with confidence.
• You can step away without everything falling apart.

And most importantly, your mental energy shifts from maintenance to innovation.

When you're not consumed with keeping complex systems running, you can focus on growth, vision, and the aspects of your business that truly excite you.

Moving Away from Seagull Leadership

The alternative to boring business operations is what I call "seagull leadership."

A seagull leader is someone who constantly drops new ideas on the team, disrupts their focus, and then disappears, leaving everyone scrambling and uncertain about what to prioritize.

When your business operations are complex and constantly changing, your team never develops true autonomy.

They can't navigate the complexity without you hovering overhead, swooping in to reinterpret and redirect.

This creates a business that's completely dependent on you being involved in every decision and process.

The Freedom of Boring

The ultimate irony is that by making your business operations boring, you create the freedom to pursue what excites you.

When your business runs smoothly without your constant intervention, you can focus on vision, growth, innovation—or even take that vacation you've been postponing for years.

Conclusion

So ask yourself: Are you building a business that can run without you, or are you building a job that only you can do?

If it's the latter, it might be time to embrace the power of boring.

Because while complexity might seem more intellectually stimulating, simplicity is what creates freedom.

And isn't freedom what you wanted from entrepreneurship in the first place?

1. "What the F*** am I doing? Everyone else is so successful, and I'm not at their level."
2. "Screw it. I'm just going to get a job because this is ridiculous. I don't want to deal with all this stress anymore."
3. "I'm burning it all to the ground."

We laughed, but there was truth there. If you haven't experienced all three of those moments during your entrepreneurial journey, you're either not trying hard enough, or you'll get there eventually.

I did not burn it all to the ground

Entrepreneurship Isn't All Plain Sailing

The entrepreneurial path is full of contradictions. We sign up for freedom and unlimited earning potential, then find ourselves working for what feels like minimum wage.

We create businesses to solve problems we're passionate about, then get trapped in managing operations we never wanted to handle.

After years of working with successful business owners who feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their original vision, I've identified three essential mindset shifts that transform not just how you run your business, but how your business runs you.

Business Should Be Boring

This is perhaps the hardest pill for most entrepreneurs to swallow. We're creative, idea-generating machines. We love complexity, innovation, and excitement.

But here's the truth that trips up so many business owners: complexity doesn't scale.

When your business operations are complex, you become indispensable—the only one who understands how everything fits together.

And being indispensable means you can never step away. The businesses that scale effectively are those with simple, repeatable processes that anyone can follow.

They're predictable. They're consistent. And yes, they're a little boring—at least on the operational side.

This doesn't mean your products or services can't be innovative or that your vision can't be exciting.

It means the machinery that powers your business should run like clockwork, without drama, without heroics, and without your constant intervention.

Be the Dumbest Person in the Room

Entrepreneurs are typically super confident and, let's be honest, a bit egotistical.

It's what helps us take risks and believe we can succeed where others have failed. But that same confidence can become our biggest limitation.

In my experience, the only way to build a truly sustainable, scalable, effective business is to be the dumbest person in the room and surround yourself with people smarter than you.

This doesn't mean undervaluing your expertise or vision. It means acknowledging that you can't be an expert in everything, and that's okay.

Your job isn't to know everything—it's to bring together the people who collectively know everything your business needs.

When you can admit, "I don't know," and trust your team to fill in the gaps, you unlock growth potential that simply isn't possible when you're the bottleneck for every decision and solution.

Of course, surrounding yourself with great people starts with hiring well. I share my process in The Ultimate Hiring Playbook.

My team and I during a strategy session

Avoid Becoming a Seagull Leader

A seagull leader is someone with all these ideas who swoops in, dumps all over the team, and then flies away.

They often leave the team in a constant state of reaction and chaos because they don't know what the priorities are.

This might be the most crucial mindset shift for visionary entrepreneurs. Your ideas are valuable, but the way you implement them matters tremendously.

When every new inspiration becomes an urgent directive that disrupts your team's focus, you create organizational whiplash.

Instead of swooping in with each new idea, develop a system for vetting and integrating innovations that maintain operational stability.

Create clear priorities and stick with them long enough to see results. Trust your team to execute without constant course corrections.

The Payoff of Mindset Transformation

I've burned myself out to the point where I was crying at my desk and had to close my computer and not talk to a single person for the rest of the weekend.

It was a Friday afternoon I'll never forget. I've felt all three of those classic entrepreneurial despair moments.

But these mindset shifts changed everything—not just for my clients, but for me too.

Conclusion

When you embrace that business should be boring, surround yourself with people smarter than you, and avoid being a seagull leader, you create the foundation for true business freedom.

These mindset shifts aren't just theoretical—they're transformative. They've changed everything for my clients and for me, too.

They're the difference between a business that traps you and a business that truly serves your vision and your life.

But that's not what I do at all.

I don't save businesses; I optimize them.

Beyond the Surface of Success

The businesses I work with are already successful. They have paying clients, they're generating revenue, and from the outside, everything looks great.

But there's a reality that most successful business owners don't talk about: having a successful business doesn't mean it's operating at its full potential.

Many of these businesses aren't as profitable as they could be because of inefficiencies.

The owners remain deeply entrenched in day-to-day operations, constantly checking in and leading every aspect of their team.

They're successful, but they're exhausted. They've built something remarkable, but they can't step away from it.

The Question That Changes Everything

In my work, I ask business owners one powerful question: "How can this scale without me, and what does that look like?"

This question often stops them in their tracks. They started their business because they saw a problem and wanted to solve it.

Then one day, they woke up and realized, "Oh, I have a successful business and a team—but I feel like I've lost the thing I love doing." They're just managing a lot, and that's rarely what they set out to do.

The optimization process isn't about fixing what's broken; it's about realigning what's working to create more freedom, profitability, and satisfaction for everyone involved.

The Three Pillars of Business Optimization

When I work with clients, we focus on three core areas:

1. Realigning Vision: Your vision will change almost every year as you grow differently, lead differently, or want different things from your business. Realigning your vision helps you fall back in love with why you started your business in the first place.
2. Building the Right Team: Not the team you think you should have in theory, but the team that will actually grow the business to match your vision. Often, businesses have the wrong people in the wrong seats, or they're missing key roles that would free the owner from tasks that drain their energy.
3. Focusing on Superpowers: Understanding what your unique superpowers are and where you're getting caught up in stuff that either you're not good at or that's draining your time. Everybody loves owning a business, but not everybody likes running a business day-to-day.

Finding What Lights You Up

Part of optimization is understanding your superpowers and identifying where you're getting caught up in tasks that either don't match your strengths or drain your energy.

For example, one of my clients has a design firm. When I asked her why she wasn't doing sales calls anymore, she simply said,

"I don't know, I just stopped doing them."

It turned out that sales calls were actually something she enjoyed—she had just gotten buried in the day-to-day management of the business.

This highlights a crucial truth: everybody loves owning a business, but not everybody likes running a business day-to-day.

Optimization helps you identify which parts of your business actually light you up, so you can focus there while building systems and teams to handle everything else.

Why Businesses Reach Plateaus

Even successful businesses experience plateaus where growth stalls and profitability flatlines.

This doesn't mean anything is broken—it simply means you've reached the limits of your current system.

Think of it this way: the strategies and systems that got you to $1 million won't get you to $5 million. The team structure that worked with five clients won't work with fifty.

As businesses grow, they need different operational approaches, different team structures, and often, different leadership styles.

Optimization isn't about fixing failures; it's about building bridges to your next level of success.

I share more about how I came to this work and developed the Freedom Rx in From Neuroscience to Business Optimization.

Conclusion

If you're running a successful business but feeling exhausted, if you can't remember the last time you took a real vacation, if you're the bottleneck in every decision, or if your profitability isn't matching your revenue growth—your business doesn't need saving.

It needs optimizing. And the best part?

Optimization isn't about working harder or doing more.

It's about working smarter and doing less—focusing only on what drives growth and brings you joy while building systems and teams that handle everything else.

Because a truly successful business isn't just profitable—it gives you the freedom and capacity to live the life you envisioned when you first took that entrepreneurial leap.

How does someone go from treating tiny humans to optimizing businesses?

The path was more natural than you might think.

A Pivotal Moment

I still remember the day that changed everything. We had a little baby come in that we treated, and then the insurance company came back and said they weren't going to pay for her continued treatment because it was "too experimental."

I was in epilepsy research, and in that field, everything is experimental.

That was my moment of clarity. I realized that what I love most is solving problems and helping people.

But in the American medical system, I found myself solving problems with no real solutions because so much of medicine is dictated by insurance companies, not doctors.

Even though we were on the front lines addressing complex problems for our patients, our hands were tied by a system more focused on profit than prevention and treatment.

I couldn't, in good conscience, stay in a system so fundamentally broken. So I left.

Entrepreneurship Was Never Foreign

The truth is, entrepreneurship was in my blood long before my medical career.

I started my first business when I was seven, and I come from a long line of entrepreneurs.

What drove me was the same thing that had attracted me to medicine: solving complex problems and helping people thrive.

The transition allowed me to leverage my background in psychology and neuroscience—understanding how people make decisions became invaluable in the business world.

My insatiable appetite for growth and improvement (I read 20-30 books a year) combined with my scientific training created a unique approach to business consulting.

The Birth of the "Freedom Rx"

My diagnostic process—which I'm rebranding as the "Freedom Rx"—evolved through years of working with successful yet stuck business owners.

I realized something crucial: most of the clients I work with aren't failing businesses that need saving.

They're successful businesses that aren't as profitable as they could be, where the owners are still caught working in the business rather than on it.

These owners want freedom and capacity. They want their businesses to scale without them having to check in constantly and lead every aspect of the team. But they don't know how to get there.

Learning Through Mistakes

My approach hasn't always been perfect. I remember one client who, after receiving my diagnostic, looked completely deflated and said, "It's so much worse than I thought."

Another looked somewhere between coming off a pub crawl and like I'd run over his cat.

That's when I realized I needed to shift how I approach and deliver diagnostics. Owners don't need someone to just point out what's wrong—they need perspective and inspiration.

I began incorporating concepts from books like "Thinking in Bets," addressing the hindsight bias that makes owners feel like they've done everything wrong.

I started explaining: This will probably trigger some emotions. You'll suffer from what we call hindsight bias, where you can clearly see where you could have done things differently.

But that doesn't mean you did things wrong—it means you made the best decision you could in the moment.

Nobody wants to go to the doctor and hear they're doing everything wrong.

They want to hear, "You're doing 98% right, and if we tweak this 2%, you'll be able to play more with your kids or go on that vacation you've been dreaming about."

The True Diagnosis

What I've discovered is that business isn't very complicated. Despite what every business owner believes, their business isn't that different from others.

What is different are the owners' levels of resistance, trauma, perspectives, and beliefs.

As a board-certified NLP practitioner, much of my work involves listening for what they're resisting—sometimes things they don't even know they're resisting.

Because if I'm not doing the identity work and separating their sense of value and purpose from the business, they'll self-sabotage when they start getting capacity.

They simply won't know what to do with the space in their calendar.

This is why I believe mindset is so critical. I explore this more in The Three Mindset Shifts Every Business Owner Needs.

Conclusion

Today, my message has shifted to be more inspirational. Rather than focusing only on burnout and exhaustion, I help business owners envision where they actually want to go.

The Freedom Rx isn't about fixing what's broken—it's about optimizing what's working and creating the space for growth, freedom, and renewed passion.

Because at the end of the day, everyone loves owning a business. Not everyone loves running a business.

My job is to help successful business owners find their way back to the parts they love most.

There's one phrase I hear too often in leadership and business circles that makes me want to flip a table:

"It's not personal, it's just business."

I call BS.

Too many leaders hide behind this excuse instead of owning how their actions impact their team.

And honestly? It's cowardly.

Every business is personal because businesses are made up of people. If you want to build a high-performing team that respects and trusts you, then you have to be willing to lead like a human—not a bulldozer.

I've worked with business owners at every level for the last 14 years, and I've seen this pattern over and over:

The leaders who struggle to build trust, attract great talent, and keep their team engaged are usually the same ones who refuse to adapt how they communicate.

They expect people to conform to them instead of learning how to meet their team where they are.

So, what separates great leaders from the ones who bulldoze their team?

Here's what I've learned about leadership that can make all the difference.

Assume Positive Intent

The truth is, most people aren't out to get you. They aren't trying to make your life harder, drop the ball, or challenge you just for fun.

When you assume positive intent, you shift from looking for problems or traps to looking for solutions and synergy.

It makes us less defensive and more open to hearing what's actually being said.

Get Curious

You cannot be both curious and judgmental at the same time. The best leaders don't jump to conclusions—they ask better questions.

If someone on your team says or does something that throws you off, get curious about why or what is going on.

This doesn't mean you have to agree, but understanding their perspective will help you respond effectively instead of reacting emotionally.

For me, when I get curious, it allows me to feel more empathy and diffuse conflict, not to mention better support them.

I've written more about the mindset shifts that help leaders grow in The Three Mindset Shifts Every Business Owner Needs.

Take a Breath Before You Respond

Viktor Frankl said it best.

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

I know it is hard in today's fast-paced world, but sometimes the best thing you can do is take a beat.

That email you want to fire off? Sit on it. The tense conversation you're about to have? Take a breath first.

I've found everything looks clearer after a good meal, a good sleep, or a good walk.

Remember: Behind Every Title is a Human

A CEO, an employee, a client—every person you interact with brings their own experiences, challenges, and perspectives to the table.

The best leaders know their people well enough to communicate in a way that lands. It's not about coddling; it's about knowing how to engage someone in a way that brings out their best.

The irony of all of this?

If you want to scale your business and have a team that operates at a high level, it starts with trust.

Trust in your team—but also their trust in you.

Conclusion

So, if you've ever found yourself saying, "It's not personal, it's just business," I challenge you to pause and ask:

➡️ What am I avoiding?

➡️ How could I communicate this better?

➡️ Am I leading in a way that builds trust or breaks it?

In this episode of The Biz Doctor Podcast, Lauren Goldstein unpacks why trust is the foundation of every high-performing leadership team and how business owners can create a culture where honesty, accountability, and collaboration thrive.

She breaks down the common dysfunctions that sabotage leadership teams—and how to fix them.

A strong leadership team isn't built on strategy alone, it's built on trust.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to this episode on your favorite podcast platform, below:

• Apple
• Amazon Music

Who This Episode Is For

If you want to scale your business, step back without worry, and have a team that drives results without micromanagement, this episode is for you.

What You'll Learn

• The difference between predictive trust and vulnerability-based trust—and why one is essential for success
• How a lack of trust leads to avoidance of conflict, lack of accountability, and poor team performance
• Three practical strategies to start building real trust in your leadership team today
• Why rewarding transparency over perfectionism is the key to innovation and sustainable growth
• How to shift from a culture of fear to one of safe, productive conflict that moves the business forward

Key Moments

• [03:00] – The hidden signs your leadership team lacks real trust
• [07:30] – The number one behavior that shifts team dynamics instantly
• [14:00] – A simple self-assessment to test the strength of your leadership team

Why This Matters

Your business can only grow as fast as your leadership team evolves. If you want to step back, scale up, and trust your team to run the business better than you could imagine, this episode is a must-listen.

Next Steps

Start strengthening your leadership team today.

Download our Golden Key Scorecard for a simple, proven framework to improve team alignment, accountability, and efficiency.

If this episode hits home, share it with another business owner who needs to hear it.

Connect with Lauren on Instagram or via LinkedIn to continue the conversation.

Thanks to Nick Gray, Patron View, and his team for helping me build this site.

This is one of the cardinal sins of business.

If you're making decisions based on revenue, you're looking in the rearview mirror—seeing what happened in the past, not what's happening now or coming next.

Please stop. It's not going to go how you want it to go, and you are going to be in for a wild ride.

Focus on Controllable Growth Levers

Instead, focus on the controllable actions that produce revenue:

• Improving team performance
• Refining your offer
• Enhancing customer experience
• Optimizing your sales process

These are the levers you can pull to drive growth—and they'll keep your business ahead of the curve.

Look at the things that generate revenue. Look at the things you can control.

When you focus on those, you can tune, shift, and focus on those things that will generate not only revenue but profitability and help you have a much more stable, scalable, and even more fun business.

Keep Your Eyes on the Road

Run your business with your eyes on the road, not stuck in the past.

Take that tip. Run with it. And if you want more tips like this, subscribe to The Bizdoctor Podcast, available on Apple and Amazon Music.

What revenue-producing activities are you focusing on? Let me know below! ⬇️

Thanks to Nick Gray, Patron View, and his team for helping me build this site.