Swearing By It
Two women, unfiltered insights into business and life, that we swear by, plus the occasional F-bomb.
Hosted by Audrina Blackburn and Sydney de Arenas Sherman, female founders and passionate business mentors, Swearing By It brings you into the unfiltered conversation of what it really takes to build a business while balancing the demands of family life.
Expect raw, insightful conversations from two accomplished entrepreneurs who know exactly what you’re going through—and can confidently say, “No one has it all figured out.” From tough lessons and big wins to the WTF moments in between, we share real experiences, professional guidance, and the kind of advice we swear by—because it doesn’t just sound good, it actually works.
Whether you're launching, scaling, or just trying to find sanity in the madness, this podcast is your go-to for real talk, practical strategies, and the motivation to keep going.
If you’re looking for a space where you can feel seen, supported, and pushed to achieve more—welcome. We’re in this together. Subscribe to stay up to date, we release new episodes every week.
Swearing By It
Carrying On When It Feels Like Everything Is Falling Apart
How would you handle a debt of a million dollars?
In this week’s episode, Sydney bravely dives deep into how she managed a million dollars in debt while building businesses, struggling with a difficult business partner, handling a rough pregnancy, and having a husband unable to work while he navigated applying for a green card... It was a lot. But she learned SO much.
Audrina and Sydney talk about the importance of relationships and why you shouldn’t burn bridges when you don’t have to. As Audrina neatly puts it, “Don’t set fire to the house you might want to come back to.” Relationships are a key foundation in business, not just with your employees and investors, but also your friends and family. Communicating when you can (almost to the point of overcommunicating) is so important.
As business owners, whatever happens in your business goes into your personal life, and it can feel like there’s no real separation between. So, if you’re going through a similar situation to Sydney—such as navigating business debt or breaking up with a difficult business partner—the best advice is to really dig into self-care. Feeling stressed won’t make the outcome and results any better, so remember to look after yourself and give yourself grace.
In This Conversation:
- Sydney discusses what happened with her previous business partner who decided to close the business, leaving her with no cash and no business to run—just a literal landing page and almost a million dollars in debt.
- Audrina asks what business owners can do to protect their business name after Sydney came face to face with the issue. (Listen out for Sydney’s simple tips!)
- Sydney talks about her own personal values and how that meant paying the debt off was all on her… and how she actually did it.
- Audrina and Sydney discuss why you *shouldn’t* hire your spouse to work under you. (Hint: it’s just not worth it!)
For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode!
If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.
Connect with us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/
LinkedIn:
Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/
Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/