You Can't Afford Me
Making the leap from employment to entrepreneurship can be a scary time. The biggest fear people have is the unknown. Here on the “You Can’t Afford Me Podast” we speak with hustlers and innovators on how to make the most of your journey. If you have questions we have answers.
Episodes
118 episodes
How A Mobile Coffee Trailer Becomes A Real Brand
A coffee business built inside a horse trailer sounds like a cute idea until you hear what it takes to make it real. We’re joined by Lori Traficanti, founder of Sipping Sunshine Cafe, to break down how she launched Goochland’s only independent ...
What If Golf Improvement Was Built Like A Gym?
You’ve seen indoor golf spots that feel like a bar with a simulator. We wanted to know what happens when someone flips the model and builds a serious golf performance training facility instead and then drops it right in Richmond, Virginia. So w...
What Would You Risk To Do The Right Thing
Hidden fees don’t feel painful until you add them up, then you realize you’ve been funding someone else’s profit with your own margins. We sit down with PJ Gallagher, owner of Reliable Payments, to pull back the curtain on credit card processin...
A Family’s Loss Sparks A Statewide Screening Mission
Colon cancer is showing up younger, faster, and in people who never saw it coming, and that reality changes what “normal” health planning looks like. We sit down with Mindy Conklin, founder and executive director of Hitting Cancer Below the Bel...
You Can Buy Entrepreneurship Instead Of Starting From Zero
Starting a business from zero gets all the hype, but buying the right business can be the real cheat code. We bring on Chad Bowman, owner of The Shutter House of Richmond, to talk about why he chose franchise ownership in the home services worl...
You Can Build A Music Career Without A Major Label
A 79 cent royalty check can either crush you or clarify the game. We’re joined by producer and songwriter Alex Mack (Easy Alex Mac), who went from a small town in Blackstone, Virginia to building a fast-growing career by treating music like bot...
A First House Flip Funds A Juice Bar Dream
A lot of people talk about “multiple streams of income” like it’s a mood board. Ashley Lewis lives it, and she’s honest about the price. She’s the founder of BeatBox, a Richmond, Virginia juice bar and cafe, the owner of Melt Parlor, and she’s ...
How A Richmond Moving Startup Builds Leaders And Loyal Customers
You know the moment when moving stops feeling like an “adult chore” and starts feeling like a full-body risk? We get into that reality with Chase Fuller, General Manager at Cavalier Moving, a Richmond moving company built on in-house training, ...
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What Are You Spending Your Energy On
Something flips when you realize discipline is not a personality trait, it is a system you practice. I’m joined by Will, a long-time business owner in promotional marketing and the founder of a health coaching brand called The Primal Journey. W...
He Skipped The Senior Trip For A Camera
An 18-year-old college dropout running a fast-growing real estate media business sounds like a headline, but Preston Day makes it feel like a repeatable playbook. We talk with Preston, founder of The Perfect Plat in Richmond, Virginia, about ho...
You Don’t Need 20% Down To Start Buying Rentals
Car repossessed. Fired from a job that was supposed to be the “made it” moment. Then a decision: stop dabbling and start building. Martine Richardson joins us to tell the real story of how she climbed out of a rough season and built a multi-mil...
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You Can Build A Better Career By Staying Flexible
A million-dollar home used to signal one thing. Now it can mean almost anything, which is why we wanted a straight, behind-the-scenes look at what “luxury” actually means when you’re designing and building a true custom home. We’re joined by Jo...
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From Compton To Credit Fixer Through Code
Somebody offered Khabir “KB” Muhammed $50 million for his company and he said no. That moment is just the headline. The real story is how a kid from Compton turns pressure into discipline, uses sports and computer science to build a career, get...
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A Former Ballerina Turns Reinvention Into A Thriving Mom Fitness Business
A career-ending injury can take more than your paycheck. It can take your identity. Natalie Russell lived that firsthand as a professional ballet dancer, then had to rebuild from zero, across countries, careers, and seasons of motherhood. Her s...
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Swim Coach To CEO
You probably think you know the YMCA. A pool. A gym. A place you went as a kid. Then Jody Alexander, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Richmond, sits down with us and reveals the much bigger truth: the Y is a community engine that mixes ...
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The Nonprofit Funding Blueprint For Bigger Gifts
If your nonprofit is hustling for small donations but still feels broke, the math might be the problem, not your mission. We sit down with Trevor Bragdon, founder of Seven Figure Fundraising, and get real about where nonprofit funding actually ...
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We Rebuild A Wedding Division Around Two Creatives Who Actually Love Weddings
Cake gets eaten. Flowers fade. The one thing that can outlive your wedding day by decades is the story you save. We sit down with Slade and Kinsley, the two creatives who sparked our decision to reopen Enso's wedding division, and we get honest...
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How A Music Career Built An Insurance Entrepreneur
Rod Powell didn’t wake up planning to work in insurance. He spent two decades building a music career, learning the hard way how the business really works, and discovering the one lesson that translates everywhere: if you don’t own the asset, y...
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Building A Startup At IHOP Until 3 AM
A lot of people talk about “building something.” Cameron and Sam actually do it, fast. Cameron is a Virginia Tech student with a deep coding background. Sam is a longtime hustler who has already scaled real service businesses through door-to-do...
How A Travel Planner Builds Trips You Cannot Google
You can book a trip in minutes, but can you build a trip that actually feels like you? We sit down with Joe Foster, owner of Living Your Bucket Listed Travel, to talk about what separates a basic booking from a true bucket list experience and w...
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A Sudden Firing Forces A Chef To Bet On Himself
He gets fired 89 days into a six figure job, then wakes up to EMTs in his bedroom after a seizure he never saw coming. That could have been the end of the story, but for Gary it becomes the moment he stops waiting for “security” and starts buil...
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One Million Views In 28 Days
One million views in 28 days without being a massive influencer sounds impossible until you see the breakdown. I go platform by platform and share exactly what I posted, how often I posted, and what the analytics actually said across TikTok, Yo...
How A Nurse Practitioner Built A Mobile IV Wellness Business In Richmond Virginia
Your body sends signals you can’t afford to ignore and sometimes the simplest fix is hydration, delivered the fastest way possible. We sit down with April, a family nurse practitioner and the founder of Inovitamin Solutions in Richmond, Virgini...
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Makeup Brushes, Backroads, And “Sugar Honey Iced Tea”
What happens when childhood pageants, Army discipline, and a love for beauty collide? We sit down with Kiersta, founder of Artistry by K, to unpack how a five-year-old’s stage sparkle turned into a luxury bridal brand built on grit, service, an...
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From Online School To AI: A Teen Entrepreneur’s Playbook
What if a 17-year-old could show you a cleaner path to freedom than most adults? Meet Jeremiah Schwartz, a young founder who traded hallway chatter for online school, rebuilt his algorithm to feed him mentors instead of memes, and launched an A...
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