The Grit Files
245 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsThe Grit Files is a podcast about entrepreneurs who dig deep with heart and grit to transform their passions into businesses. It's not always easy. Sometimes, it's really tough and not all "bros with Lambos." We talk about why we do what we do and how we are each working hard to make the world a better place with whatever inventions and ideas we bring to the market. This podcast is fun, sassy, and REAL - no nonsense! We say it like it is.
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Episodes
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Jennifer Moscato CEO One-Third Stories
February 04, 2024 21:51 - 22 minutes - 16.5 MBJennifer Moscato is the President of One-Third Stories, an innovative language-learning solution designed for children and the adults who are teaching them. In a clever "sneak attack," the stories begin in one language but slowly morph into another language so that people learn words and their context in a natural way. This improves learning and retention, plus it's fun! Jennifer was joined by her husband, Darren Moscato, who plays a supporting role with the operations of the business. "Expe...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Franca Borgia
December 06, 2023 13:13 - 59 minutes - 39.8 MBFranca Borgia is a visionary, artist, and author. As a polyglot, she is hyper-aware of cultural sensitivies and the power of nuance: words have impact. She uses her artistry to create intricate, conceptual installations that are featured in several hotels and museums around the world. Her home - and her heart - is in Venice. This podcast was a special treat as we recorded it live as she strolled through Venice's famous landmarks and inserted quips about the city's rich history as we talked a...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Denise Drinkwalter
November 12, 2023 15:43 - 22 minutes - 14.7 MBDenise Drinkwalter is one of those laid back, "take it as it comes," type of person that you can instantly relate with. Her Canadian roots and career in education as a teacher and principal offer immediate connection points and the confidence that she is going to help you get there - wherever it is that you are going. She is a life coach focused on middle-aged women transitioning from one life phase to the next, like rediscovering themselves, empty nesting, leaving a spouse, or finding a new...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Danielle Perlin-Good
August 05, 2023 17:10 - 18 minutes - 11.2 MBDanielle Perlin-Good has deep experience in digital marketing and ghostwriting. She takes her clients on a journey of personal discovery and healing as the "Soul-Aligned Ghostwriter." Danielle exudes cautious optimism and a time-proven process that takes her clients step-by-step through getting their book idea out of their heads on onto the digital shelves of amazon. For many, this can be a daunting process but she makes it simple and helps every aspiring author get their story out!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Dr. Brenda Boston
July 09, 2023 15:31 - 25 minutes - 17.7 MBDr. Brenda Boston is the President of the Dr. Marie Barney Boston Foundation which was founded by her late mother. It offers more than a scholarship to help students attend college, it also teaches accountability, responsibility, and giving back to the community. To date, since the foundation launched in 2015, they have helped 35 students with tuition in their respective pursuits of higher education. This nonprofit Foundation operates nationwide and is poised to continue enabling students to...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Jennifer Holmes
July 01, 2023 13:54 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBJennifer Holmes founded Joyous Journeys - all because she was interested in "voluntourism" and "eco-tourism" but couldn't find the services that she needed to play her offshore vacations. She, like so many others, enjoys taking vacations but also wants to give back while she's holidaying. Whether it is for a day, a few days, or even the focus of the whole trip, Jennifer plans exciting excursions that enable people to do anything and everything from research with baby whale sharks to irrigati...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Annie Mork
May 13, 2023 12:26 - 21 minutes - 15.3 MBAnnie Mork is the founder of Jobs For Therapists, which is a job board made for theraplists including SLPs, PTs, OTs, and Psychs. She is helping connect recruiters and job seekers in the therapy world in a more meaningful way. Her training is in speech therapty where she now has a telehealth practice supporting children with speech challenges, many of whom are on the Spectrum with Autism. Annie offers some great tips on how to engage with your child - and that doesn't mean banning electronic...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Brilly Semenova
March 31, 2023 01:48 - 12 minutes - 8.59 MBMeet Brilly Semenova - a disability self-advocate who does not take 'no' for an answer. She has the tenacity, spunk, and knowledge of an entire team of advocates. As a child, she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and now has difficulty with daily living. But that hasn't stopped her from pursuing her Master's in Organizational Leadership and Nonprofit Management. Brilly is determined to change the narrative for the disabled, and she'll do it single-handedly if she has to. Good thing that she ...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Enrique Morgan
March 31, 2023 01:26 - 29 minutes - 19.6 MBAccolade Wines is innovating everything from its bottles to its technology and production processes. Like bubbles? They have a new Prosecco ... and there are so many new ideas that will pop later this year. Enrique Morgan, managing director of the Americas, shares his gritty tales of beginning his wine journey selling to California gas stations to taking the helm of one of the largest wine companies in the world with a portfolio that is lauded worldwide.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Colin Darretta
October 16, 2022 00:51 - 24 minutes - 14.6 MBColin Darretta is a "reformed investment banker," serial entrepreneur, investor, and a journalist for Forbes, Inc, TechCrunch, plus other major media. He is the CEO and co-founder of Innovation Department, which spurs the brands of the future. Colin also co-founded FINN, which recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. He lamented all the virtue signaling out there where "hustle culture" is a straight path to burnout for entrepreneurs who should be seeking health, wellness, and balance - i...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Christine Spang
September 25, 2022 21:35 - 35 minutes - 26.3 MBChristine Spang, founder & CTO of Nylas, has evolved over the last decade growing her software company which is essentially like "the plumbing for the internet" connecting code. She talks about how the highs are super high and the lows are super low but that foundation at MIT prepared her for the mental fortitude that she was going to need to lead her team on this journey. "Leadership is work and you have to work at leadership," is a lesson that she learned along the way. Along the way, she...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Christina Richards
September 12, 2022 18:15 - 19 minutes - 12 MBChristina Richards is the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Virtana - a software company specializing in cloud services. She took the road less traveled. Indeed, Christina calls it the "dark side" where she took a deep dive into engineering then evolved into marketing. With her role today, she has the opportunity to influence rising professionals in STEM and has a message (or two) for aspiring techies and marketers which can be distilled down to, "You don't know where life will take you - kee...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Dr. Deborah Jonas
September 03, 2022 21:59 - 23 minutes - 18 MBDr. Deborah Jonas is the director of SRI's Center for Education Research & Innovation. Yes, she has access to astronauts and researchers of the highest caliber in the world - but she focuses her efforts on community learning. Deborah shared her thoughts on how we can better support students to "fail productively" and essentially to fail forward so that our next generation of leaders learn how to learn by working through problems versus being given the answers. She had some insights into how ...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Jeanelle Ditto
August 21, 2022 18:35 - 23 minutes - 18.3 MBWhat a breath of fresh air! It's so easy to feel intimidated, especially when it comes to things like interior design, "Will my home meet your standard?" But Jeanelle Ditto, founder of Blush Interior Designs, is one of the most fun, accessible, down-to-Earth, and overall joyous people that you'll ever meet. No judgment! She offers listeners great advice on how ups & downs are part of an entrepreneur's journey and encourages everyone to STICK WITH IT. Jeanelle also shared some interior design...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Lorrie Thomas Ross
August 14, 2022 12:29 - 25 minutes - 19.5 MBLorrie Thomas Ross is a breath of fresh air. She's The Marketing Therapist(R) and founder of Wild Web Women and Web Marketing Therapy. She understands the value of relationships and follows the mantra, "to lead with love." Her best advice for other female founders out there is to, "Always do what you do best and let others do the rest."
Ken Babcock on The Simplest Way To Create Step-By-Step How-To Guides With Screenshots in Seconds
July 09, 2022 03:06 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MBWelcome to another episode of Grit Files! Joining us today is Ken Babcock, Co-Founder and CEO at Tango. Tango’s free-to-use product is a Chrome Extension that automatically creates written, step-by-step how-to guides in real-time without requiring video recording. Users complete their process in the browser while Tango transcribes actions, URLs, and screenshots. The resulting how-to guide can be easily pasted or exported to commonly used knowledge bases and learning management systems. They ...
The Core Elements of What Makes a Healthy and Romantic Relationship with Sami Wunder
July 09, 2022 02:59 - 34 minutes - 32 MBIn this episode, we are joined by Sami Wunder, a leading international relationship and dating expert working with ambitious, high-achieving women, helping them attract lasting romantic love. Sami serves a highly engaged, global clientele of over 80K followers across 55 countries. Her clients range from Hollywood celebrities to UK TV stars to CEOs, bankers, lawyers, doctors, renowned authors, leading entrepreneurs, etc. She has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Time Magazine, Business Inside...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest John Glowacki
June 30, 2022 21:38 - 32 minutes - 23.8 MBJohn Glowacki, CEO of Combat Control Foundation, shares some deeply personal insights on life, loss, and leadership. He served our country in the role of combat control - for those unfamiliar with the role, it's like air traffic control but in a military application. Next year, a move feature a fallen combat control veteran will be released starring Jake Gyllenhaal and it will put this important but not well known military function and rising foundation on the map!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears - live from Collision
June 23, 2022 22:38 - 18 minutes - 16 MBFor something a little different, Loralyn Mears recorded this podcast live from Collision Conference in Toronto. She highlighted some of the key insights around the downward trend of venture capital investment and spotlighted some key innovations. WebSummit does an incredible job organizing this event and, as usual, they were spectacular and made the media, sponsors, startups, and attendees all feel like royalty.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Chris Beck
June 21, 2022 22:45 - 21 minutes - 16.9 MBChris Beck is the VP of the Family Law division of Soberlink. Their mobile sobriety technology helps document sobriety in real-time to ensure that a child is being co-parented by a sober guardian. Think of it like a breatholyzer on demand, all to keep children safe. This is especially important when parents are divorcing and fighting for custody of their child when one, or both parents, have alcohol usage disorder. Soberlink also provides treatment services with access to professional counse...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Josh York
June 13, 2022 17:27 - 26 minutes - 19.5 MBJosh York, founder of GYMGUYZ, the global leader in personal fitness. He's elevated in-home training to a new level. But he had a rocky start and he openly shares how he's tapped into his unstoppable mindset, honed through fitness, to make the magic happen. Josh will challenge you to stop making excuses - and to just get it done. "Easy never pays well - you've got to do the work."
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Lucas Stoltze
June 06, 2022 14:03 - 26 minutes - 20.4 MBMeet Lucas Stoltze of ExitLag - the company behind-the-scenes of hundreds of games in countries around the world. They make your game connections faster so that you can communicate with other players sooner - maybe even before the bad guy sneaks up on your game buddy so that can avoid a takedown. Gaming can actually help improve soft skills like communication. Who knew?!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Nick Grewal
May 31, 2022 13:00 - 31 minutes - 21.3 MBNick Grewal, serial entrepreneur and investor, is on a mision to make electronic vehicles more efficient and sustainable. He shared a key tip for entrepreneurs, "Don't put your success in someone else's hands. Be prepared to do it yourself." He highlighted how you need to know who you are as a company - and who you're not, and that mistakes are par for the course. Every company has problems - how you solve them defines your success. Nick discusses his current venture, ePropelled, changing th...
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Ahsan Rizvi
May 22, 2022 20:37 - 29 minutes - 22.1 MBMeet Ahsan Rizvi, founder & CEO of Kiddom, who is transforming digital education to bolster the success of the next crop of learners. He's got a lot of wisdom to share about managing startup fires and digging in to gut through those infamously tough and gritty, early days of entrepreneurship. He'd know - he built Kiddom from the bathroom of a studio apartment.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Norring
May 18, 2022 14:58 - 26 minutes - 21.1 MBLearn. Teach. Serve. That's a powerful motto and corporate culture that GCSIT's CEO, Michael Norring, has instilled in the workplace. It's more than a motto - people stand behind it - and employees are proud of the culture that they're helping create. Michael joins our show and shares some insights around digital transformation and how to lead an organization for growth. Here's the TL;DR - build awesome teams!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Peres
May 15, 2022 18:36 - 34 minutes - 26.3 MBMichael (Mikey) shares some details about his "unusual" background and gives us a glimpse into how he, as a serial entrepreneur and software engineer, frames new ideas. As a neurodivergent, he has an insatiable appetite for learning new things and offers a fresh approach on how to combine the new ideas he learns - and that's what makes him an incredible ideator and entrepeneur.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Bryan Fried
May 14, 2022 15:40 - 18 minutes - 13.6 MBBryan Fried is the founder and CEO of Pangea Global Technologies. They're been around for more than two decades, but they've never stopped innovating. They're taking LED lighting to the next level embedding private broadband internet access and enabling the commercial scale of crops - indoors - to address the global supply chain and hunger challenges. So, how many lightbulbs does it take to change the world? Tune in!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Michael Esposito
May 13, 2022 18:23 - 29 minutes - 22.7 MBMeet Michael Esposito - a family man on a mission to be better and to do more. His inspiration, dedication to self-improvement, and commitment to his customers of DenTen insurance isn't something that you see much of these days. Tune in to get inspired.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guests Alex & Daniel
May 09, 2022 00:20 - 24 minutes - 18.7 MBMeet the co-founders of Branch Energy: Alex Ince-Cushman and Daniel MacDonald. They're making it easy for consumers to be smart about their energy consumption. They're growing quickly and offfered great advice for founders enduring "slogging through the minutia." They said, "Entropy of the world wants companies to come apart," and they offer advice how to manage it.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Teresa Heath-Wareing
May 02, 2022 00:53 - 29 minutes - 22.7 MBTeresa Heath-Wareing found her calling to inspire others when they get "stuck." She faced her personal challenges head-on and emerged stronger than before. Today, she's a TEDx speaker, coach, entrepreneur and best-selling author. Anything is possible!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Genecia Alluora
April 25, 2022 13:13 - 21 minutes - 16.3 MBThis is a MUST-listen episode. Genecia Alluora, founder of Soul Rich Woman, will inspire and motivate you. At the brink of death, on the ledge of a 10-story building, she changed her life. Her mother pulled her back from the edge and said, "Turn your mess into your message." And she's never looked back.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Yulia Mamonova
April 17, 2022 23:03 - 27 minutes - 21.4 MBYuliia Mamonov is the Head of Content for Lemon.io, an innovative platform connecting clients to software developers on demand. Here's something you may not know - Lemon is based in Ukraine. Hear a first-hand account about some of the struggles trying to navigate the Russian war of aggression - and please do whatever you can to support Lemon and their staff.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Andrew Kashian
April 11, 2022 12:57 - 24 minutes - 19.6 MBHair loss? Hair transplant? The field has shifted far from the era of late night infomercials touting the latest miracle cream. Andrew Kashian and his team at Solve Clinics are working hard to make the industry safer and more transparent to enable consumers to make better choices. Most entrepreneurs on our show struggle with growth - Andrew is struggling with hyper-growth and shares his inights on managing that.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest James Barrood
April 04, 2022 16:12 - 21 minutes - 16.8 MBJim Barrood is the founder of Innovation+ and he's always on the cutting edge of what's new. The latest? Psychodelics - an industry which is still years behind the CBD industry but there's a lot of research in this area.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest David Lokshin
March 28, 2022 21:33 - 21 minutes - 14.6 MBDavid Lokshin - and his father - have taken a road less traveled in entrepreneurship. With tenacity times ten, they adopted a "missionaries not mercenaries" philosophy until they found product market fit then never looked back. Trace is a wildy successful personalized sports memories solution: why watch every move by every member of the team when you only want to see your child or the one player you're coaching? SEE: https://traceup.com/
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Justin Huddy
March 21, 2022 13:39 - 18 minutes - 12.3 MBJustin Huddy founded Radius Care to help family members manage the care of their loved ones. What's even more exceptional is that Justin has made his app free; it ties into Medicare and helps people find the most cost effective care solutions. Justin shares his thoughts on what he would have done differently as entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Jim Kniest
March 14, 2022 12:41 - 21 minutes - 14.1 MBJim Kniest is a gamer, software developer, and entrepreneur. For the last five years, he's been building a unique app which helps people discover their sexual play styles. You can find his app, Halos & Sins, on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09R9BHFPR
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Muddu Sadhakar
March 07, 2022 21:24 - 22 minutes - 14.4 MBMuddu Sadhakar is an innovator and a serial entrepreneur pushing boundaries around personalization at the intersection of technology and humanity. He's the co-founder and CEO of Aisera.ai; a digital and voice assistant for enterprise companies who offer support to their customers. Muddu's team trained their tech on 1 Trillion words! And I loved his inspirational quote, "Your history is not an indication of what's to come."
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Lauren Prager
February 28, 2022 13:53 - 26 minutes - 18.2 MBLauren Prager is the Chief Strategy Officer at Synapse, focused on building a tech ecosystem in Florida. She offered wonderful advice about aligning your heart with your purpose and how the community in Tampa is there for each other. When people align with what matters, and treat each other with kindness and respect, amazing advances are possible. Read more at: https://gritdaily.com/lauren-prager-cso-for-synapse-florida-talks-about-what-really-drives-innovation/
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Mo Fathelbab
February 14, 2022 19:45 - 23 minutes - 17 MBMo Fathelbab just has a special way of engaging with his audience. He's a best selling author of two books with an incredible client list of who's-who. Mo is also the executive director of the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO). His focus is helping others connect with their vulnerability to enable people to grow.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Victoria Loskutova
February 07, 2022 13:52 - 12 minutes - 7.84 MBVictoria Loskutova recently founded, "Bad Ass Bureau," an online agency to help amplify the voices of female founders in particular (although not exclusively) as we all know that ALL voices matter!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guests Max & Patrick
January 31, 2022 14:37 - 25 minutes - 19.2 MBMaximilian de Melo and Patrick Niederdrenk operate MxP Group, which includes America One Luxury Real Estate in Arizona. With an exceptional work ethic and attention to detail, the co-founders and friends bring complementary skills to the table. They share how their grit and professionalism meet - and exceed - the expectations of demanding clients.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Abby Match
January 21, 2022 13:31 - 20 minutes - 14.3 MBThis episode was both extra special and challenging to produce. As a breast cancer survivor myself, it was beautiful to hear Abby Match recount her dance with cancer and to learn about the advocacy work that she's doing to promote screening for Ashkenazi Jews who are carriers for the BRCA1 mutation. She's a force - leopard fierce! And she shares tips for building resilience and taming the Fear Monster.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Sachin Jhangiani
January 17, 2022 19:20 - 16 minutes - 10.5 MBSachin Jhangiani co-founded Elevate Money after learning a thing or two on Wall Street. He wanted to find more purpose in his work so he created a platform where individuals can pool their resources and grow their assets together. Fractional everything is the current trend, and he's fully dialed into it to do good in the world and move towards equality. Sachin offers some extremely wise - and candid - tips about entrepreneurship that ever founder should take note of.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Valeria Kogan PhD
January 11, 2022 00:56 - 21 minutes - 14.3 MBDr. Valeria Kogan is the co-founder of Fermata diagnosing plant health. Each year, millions of crop harvests are wasted and the world is increasingly seeking foods grown without chemicals. AgTech is not the industry you'll typically find young, female founders - but Valeria isn't letting that hold her back. She's got the grit and talent needed for startup success and shares what she's learned along the way.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Claire Gunter
January 07, 2022 21:40 - 23 minutes - 16.6 MBClaire Gunter has extensive experience in customer support, leveraging emotional skills to build relationships that last. She's worked at ZenDesk and is now the Latin America global manager of sales at eBanX, which is Brazil's first unicorn. Claire shares some tips on how to connect with customers and how to speak up to create opportunities for yourself. And she's vowed to never wear uncomfortable shoes again!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Luke Ryan
December 28, 2021 15:23 - 14 minutes - 10.7 MBThe Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) gets into the gritty backstory of US Army veteran, Luke Ryan, a war poet and author. Luke recently published his first novel, "The First Marauder." His day job keeps him hopping as the social media manager for the fastest growing coffee company in America. Tune in!
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Kanika Wahi
December 16, 2021 20:11 - 11 minutes - 8.02 MBKanika Wahi took over the responsibility of developing a topical product originally designed by her father to better manage her sister's allergies. Since then, Trutek Corp. has grown and Kanika talks about the dynamics of being an executive - and a relative - in the world of formulation chemistry and business.
The Grit Files with Loralyn Mears & Guest Brittany Woyma
December 14, 2021 21:34 - 19 minutes - 13.6 MBThe Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) with Loralyn Mears & Guest Brittany Woyma features the Startup Stories of WhereToBuy.io which offers the modern way to find the products you love on retail shelves. As a mother of three and former advertising agency executive, Brittany has embraced entrepreneurship and shares some tips on why she ditched advertising for startup tech.
Like a BOSS with Loralyn Mears & Guest Dr. José Morey
November 29, 2021 15:45 - 16 minutes - 11.8 MBDr. José Morey is on a mission to make STEM accessible to everyone. As the Intergalactic Doctor, born in Puerto Rico but traveling the world supporting amazing projects like Elon Musk's Hyperloop, NASA, artificial intelligence for health at IBM Watson and more, his message is that STEM is for everyone because, in his words, "representation matters."