PODCAST · business
Tenacity with Sonia C.
by Sonia Couto
A top 2.5% globally ranked podcast about what it takes to build in business, leadership, and life.Tenacity is the discipline to keep building when the path is unclear, refusing to let fear, pressure, or uncertainty make your decisions for you.Every conversation digs into the pivots, failures, restarts, and the growth that came from them. Guests share what happened when things fell apart, what they did next, and what they learned the hard way, with actionable takeaways founders can apply to shape long-term success.Our guests are founders and leaders who have built and rebuilt after failure, started over after major life disruption, or built success in rooms not built for them.Hosted by Sonia Couto, a Toronto-based tech founder who has been starting over her whole life, rebuilding failed products, leading three companies through a breast cancer diagnosis, and turning every restart into something stronger.New episodes weekly. Learn more at soniacouto.com
Episodes
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Earning FAA Drone Certification When Underfunded with Beth Flippo
Beth Flippo, CEO of Drone Express, shares the real story behind building a drone delivery company and earning FAA drone certification with limited funding. She explains how a five year regulatory process, intense competition, and major setbacks became the very things that built a more resilient...
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How to Intentionally Design Trust with Shawn Gibbs
Becoming a leader people naturally trust starts with becoming a stable, consistent presence who is confident in who they are. In this conversation, founder and medical provider Shawn Gibbs explains why the most trusted leaders are like cruise ships, not dinghies: steady and unwavering because…
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Building Brand Authority in the Age of AI with Laurens Tijssen
Building brand authority in the age of AI requires a marketing ecosystem built on sustainable systems, not chasing the latest tools. In this conversation, branding and ecosystem strategist Laurens Tijssen explains how founders can create lasting market presence. He shares insights from his…
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The Science of Better Founder Decisions with Kylee Ingram
Making better founder decisions requires intentionally designing the process to include cognitive diversity and counteract common biases. In this episode, Sonia C. speaks with Kylee Ingram, a former international television producer who is now the CEO and co-founder of Wizer, a technology company...
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Your Brand Story Is Your Best Sales Asset
Your brand's authentic story is its most powerful sales asset because it builds human-to-human trust before the first sales call. In this episode, video strategist Graham Kuhn explains how founders can use strategic video, specifically a "brand story video," to shorten the sales cycle, escape the...
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How Long Are You Going to Keep Calling It a Startup?
At some point, being scrappy stops being a strength. You have customers. You have a team. Maybe you've raised capital. Revenue is coming in. But you're still making every decision, solving every problem, chasing every task, and holding the company together yourself. So when does your startup...
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I Went to Bed a Millionaire and Woke Up $800K in Debt
Every founder loves talking about the win. Very few talk about what it actually cost to get there. In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, entrepreneur, investor, and bestselling author Ari Rastegar shares the stories most founders never tell. From borrowing $3,500 while still in law school to...
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Let Go of the Business I Loved to Build One That Survived
Every founder starts with a vision. Very few end up building the company they originally imagined. In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Nick DAmbrosio, Founder and CEO of NOMADICS, to unpack what it really takes to keep a business alive through nearly two decades of...
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Burnout Isn't the Problem, Toxic Ambition Is
Burnout isn't the real problem. The real problem is the kind of ambition that's driving you. In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with entrepreneur and agency founder Bianca B. King to unpack the difference between toxic ambition and joyful ambition, and why so many founders...
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Enterprise Buyers Don't Buy Innovation. They Buy Trust.
Enterprise AI is moving faster than most companies can keep up. But according to Larissa Schneider, the biggest challenge isn't the technology. It's execution. In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, I sit down with Larissa Schneider, Co-Founder and COO of Unframe, to discuss what it really…
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The Scaling Mistake That Nearly Cost a Founder Everything
What happens when your business grows faster than your systems, leadership, and life can handle? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Lauren Cockerell, founder of Kaidar & Co, to unpack the scaling mistake that nearly cost her everything. After being laid off while 8...
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Why Great Strategies Fail Without Great Leadership
What happens when your business growth is no longer limited by strategy, but by your leadership? In this episode, Sonia sits down with Eric Dingler to unpack the leadership lessons that emerge as businesses scale. Eric shares the moment he realized his team kept having the same conversations...
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What It Really Costs to Build Something New: What Founders Don't See Coming
What does it really take to build something new when there’s no blueprint, no certainty, and no external validation? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia sits down with Sam Berman, founder of LARC, to talk about the internal war of entrepreneurship, the emotional cost of building, and...
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The Visibility Strategy Helping Founders Get Funded
Most founders think fundraising is about pitch decks, introductions, and traction. But investors are evaluating more than just that; they are also looking for credibility. In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, we explore a new fundraising strategy more founders are starting to use: visibility...
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The Difference Between Building a Product and Building a Company
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Most technical founders believe the hardest part…
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What Happens When Your Hobby Becomes a Real Business
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. What happens when a childhood obsession becomes a...
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Why Most Startups Fail: The Founder Mistakes No One Warns You About
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Most startups don’t fail because founders lack...
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When the Safe Path Feels Heavy
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Many founders don’t start from nothing, they start...
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The Launch Playbook for Founders Who Expect a Traffic Spike
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. If you’re building something worth attention, you...
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When Success Stops Feeling Like Success: The Burnout, the Exit, and the Freedom Play
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. When Success Stops Feeling Like Success: The...
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Why “Messy” Content Will Beat AI in 2026
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. AI can generate content in seconds. Polished…
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How Legacy Brands Survive the Digital Switch
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Legacy brands aren’t failing because their…
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Busy Isn’t Growth: The One Thing That Unlocks Growth
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Being busy feels productive until your revenue...
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How Writing a Book Scales Growth, Credibility, and Relevance
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Most people think writing a book means sitting…
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Why 70-90% of Founders Regret Their Exit, and How to Avoid It
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Most founders obsess over building the product…
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The Power of Delegation: How Letting Go Became the Key to Scaling
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. What if the biggest thing holding your business...
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When to Pivot and When to Stand Your Ground as a Founder
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Every founder eventually faces the same hard...
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From Ego to Execution: What 17 Startups Taught Me with Robert Matzkin
Tenacity with Sonia C is a podcast for founders building real companies. Each episode explores how founders decide what to build, how they prioritize, and how they navigate uncertainty as they move from idea to product and from product to growth. Ego can build companies, and it can destroy them.…
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Why Most Founders Fail Financially, and How to Fix It with Rachel Phillips
Most founders don’t fail because of a lack of passion. They fail because they don’t understand their numbers. In this episode, I sit down with Rachel Phillips, Co-Founder and COO of Fully Accountable, to break down the financial blind spots that quietly sink startups, and the simple systems that...
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Debt, Failure, Bitcoin: Rebuilt From Rock Bottom with Aleksandar Svetski
At just 20 years old, Aleksandar Svetski lost everything, $200,000 in debt, wiped out by the stock market, living on a friend’s floor, and selling door-to-door to afford a can of tuna. That rock-bottom moment didn’t break him; it built him. In this raw and unapologetic conversation, Sonia sits…
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The Founder Who Left Comfort to Chase Purpose with Marco Benitez
What makes a founder walk away from stability, an excellent salary, and a clear corporate path, just to start over from scratch? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Marco Benitez, CEO of ROOK, shares the pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of his life. From a national Taekwondo...
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A Founder’s Fight to Grow During the Ukraine Invasion with Oleksandr Buratynskyi
What does it take to build and scale a tech startup while your country is under attack? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Ukrainian founder Oleksandr (“Alex”) Buratynskyi, co-founder of T-Travel, shares the raw, unfiltered truth about growing a startup during the full-scale invasion of...
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Why Niching Down Is the Smartest Way to Grow with Gabriel Kaam
When you try to serve everyone, you end up serving no one. In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., Sonia Couto sits down with Gabriel Kaam, founder and CEO of K&R, to unpack one of the hardest, but smartest, growth decisions a founder can make: niching down. Gabriel shares how focusing his...
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How a Single Mom Built a Profitable Fintech in Cannabis with Aubrey Amatelli
What does it take to leave a decade-long career at JP Morgan and build a profitable fintech startup in one of the most stigmatized industries in America, Cannabis? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C., host Sonia Couto sits down with Aubrey Amatelli, founder and CEO of PayRio, the first...
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Men Get Breast Cancer Too: Breaking the Stigma with Phil Alderson
When you think of breast cancer, you probably don’t think of men, but you should. In this episode, Phil Alderson shares his story of surviving male breast cancer, a diagnosis most men never imagine they’ll face. From the moment he found a lump to navigating isolation, stigma, and the lack of...
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Rebuilding Identity After Breast Cancer with Alexandra Goldwell
When Alexandra Goldwell was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer as a single parent and lifelong healer, she was forced to confront the limits of her strength and the depth of her beliefs about healing. A psychologist and somatic therapist for over 25 years, Alexandra had spent her career helping...
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A Dad’s Journey Through His Daughters Breast Cancer Journey with Bob Furniss
What does it mean to be a parent when your child is fighting for her life? For Bob Furniss, the answer was to stand beside his daughter Keisha, as her advocate, her cheerleader, and eventually, the keeper of her legacy. In this profoundly emotional conversation, Bob shares his journey as the…
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Confidence, Resilience & Finding Peace After Cancer with Christie Cioffi
When Christie Cioffi was diagnosed with breast cancer just days after her 36th birthday, her world turned upside down. A West Point graduate, Army veteran, and marathon runner, Christie was no stranger to discipline and resilience, but cancer forced her to confront an entirely different battle:...
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When Breast Cancer Tried to Steal Her Spotlight with Fitz Koehler
Fitz Koehler built her career as a fitness expert and race announcer, inspiring thousands with her energy and passion. But when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her life took a turn that tested every ounce of her strength. In this candid conversation on Tenacity with Sonia C, Fitz opens up...
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The Mastectomy I Always Wanted with Survivor, Author & Advocate Erica Campbell
When Erica Campbell answered the call from her doctor late on a Friday afternoon, her world stopped. A breast cancer diagnosis instantly brought back memories of losing her mother to the disease, and fears of history repeating itself. In this candid conversation, Erica opens up about the emotions...
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Women in Tech Leadership: Listening Louder Than You Speak with Meeky Hwang
What does it take to lead in tech, especially when you don’t fit the mould? In this episode, Sonia sits down with Meeky Hwang, co-founder and CEO of Ndevr, a WordPress development agency trusted by global brands like Bloomberg, Forbes, and Sony. But this isn’t a conversation about code, it’s…
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How This Founder Built a $30B AI Startup That’s Disrupting Finance with Alexander Harmsen
What does it take to build an AI startup that manages over $30 billion in assets and challenges everything we know about investing? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Alexander Harmsen, founder of PortfolioPilot.com, a next-gen AI financial advisor transforming how we...
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Becoming AI-Literate: Why Every Professional Needs This Skill Now with Nicole Hilgenkamp
AI isn’t here to replace you, it’s here to require more of you. In this conversation, I sit down with Nicole Hilgenkamp, an AI literacy advocate and people-first leader who made a mid-career pivot into AI while managing large teams and raising three daughters. We get honest about what…
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Scaling a Franchise with Focus: The MADabolic Playbook with Brandon Cullen
After a career-ending concussion pushed him off the ice, former pro hockey player Brandon Cullen reinvented himself as the co-founder of MADaboli, the strength-driven interval training franchise built for high performers. What started as one studio has grown to 45+ locations nationwide, with a...
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Autism, AI & Authenticity: Building a Superpower from Perceived Weakness with Founder Murielle Ungrich
In this powerful episode, Sonia sits down with Murielle Ungricht, an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and founder of the AI-powered coaching platform Nuumani, for a raw and inspiring conversation on turning perceived weaknesses into your greatest strengths. Murielle shares her journey from building…
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Each Level Has Its Own Devil: The Truth About Scaling Up with Devan Gonzalez
What does it really take to grow from solopreneur to CEO of a franchise? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, fitness entrepreneur Devan Gonzalez breaks down the gritty, behind-the-scenes reality of scaling a business, without losing your sanity or your standards. Devan went from personal...
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Why You Should Dream Ridiculously Big with Ceinwen Garcia
How do you go from being a successful real estate entrepreneur to the founder of a movement? In today’s episode, I sit down with Ceiwen Garcia, a leader, community builder, and visionary behind The Boss Network. With nearly two decades in the real estate world, Ceinwen has pivoted into creating...
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From a Soccer Injury to Real Estate Millions: The Reinvention Story with Jacopo Iasiello
What happens when your childhood dream is ripped away, and you’re forced to start over at 17? In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, we dive into the extraordinary reinvention story of Jacopo Iasiello, CEO of Luxury and Wealth Group. Jacopo shares the raw, behind-the-scenes journey of building...
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The Space Between: Where AI, Intuition, and Innovation Meet with Mona Bavar
In this soulful and thought-provoking episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with Mona Bavar, founder of BlueApples.ai and DLISH to explore how the future of creativity is being shaped at the intersection of AI, intuition, and innovation. Mona shares her journey from finance to…
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If You Don’t Have Revenue, It’s a Hobby”: Startup Truths with Anthony Franco
In this unfiltered episode, Sonia sits down with Anthony Franco, a serial founder with six successful exits, to dismantle the myths around startup success. From the dreamer trap to overbuilding features no one asked for, Anthony shares hard-won lessons that every founder needs to hear. They…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A top 2.5% globally ranked podcast about what it takes to build in business, leadership, and life.Tenacity is the discipline to keep building when the path is unclear, refusing to let fear, pressure, or uncertainty make your decisions for you.Every conversation digs into the pivots, failures, restarts, and the growth that came from them. Guests share what happened when things fell apart, what they did next, and what they learned the hard way, with actionable takeaways founders can apply to shape long-term success.Our guests are founders and leaders who have built and rebuilt after failure, started over after major life disruption, or built success in rooms not built for them.Hosted by Sonia Couto, a Toronto-based tech founder who has been starting over her whole life, rebuilding failed products, leading three companies through a breast cancer diagnosis, and turning every restart into something stronger.New episodes weekly. Learn more at soniacouto.com
HOSTED BY
Sonia Couto
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Tenacity with Sonia C. have?
Tenacity with Sonia C. currently has 138 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Tenacity with Sonia C. about?
A top 2.5% globally ranked podcast about what it takes to build in business, leadership, and life.Tenacity is the discipline to keep building when the path is unclear, refusing to let fear, pressure, or uncertainty make your decisions for you.Every conversation digs into the pivots, failures,...
How often does Tenacity with Sonia C. release new episodes?
Tenacity with Sonia C. publishes regularly with 138 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Tenacity with Sonia C.?
You can listen to Tenacity with Sonia C. on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Tenacity with Sonia C.?
Tenacity with Sonia C. is created and hosted by Sonia Couto.
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