Ambition 2.0

If you've ever caught yourself calling your side hustle "just a little passion project" while secretly wondering if it could be your next thing—this episode is your permission slip.

Amanda Goetz sits down with Stephanie Cartin and Courtney Spritzer, co-founders of Entreprenista, who quit their corporate jobs on the same day back in 2012 with zero investors, zero business plan, and one very clear number: $4,000 a month each, just to break even.

Fourteen years later, they've built a +3,500-member community, scaled an agency to eight figures in cumulative revenue, and helped women found and grow thousands of businesses.

We cover how they knew it was time to go all in, the real difference between a hobby and a business, whether (and when) to tell your boss about your side hustle, and why community (not funding) is what actually got them to seven figures.

Key takeaways

You don't need a grand plan to quit your job—you need a number: Stephanie and Courtney calculated the bare minimum they each needed to survive and used that as their revenue goal before walking away from corporate.

Stephanie's litmus test: if you're already making money, you have the start of a business. But turning a hobby into a business isn't automatically the right move.

Never burn a bridge, and give yourself a real timeline before walking away from a job (they gave themselves three months to prove it could work).

The single biggest driver of their early growth wasn't a funding round or a growth hack. It was showing up to one random networking group and actually building relationships there.

Comparing your timeline, your funding, or your exit to what you see on Instagram is a fast way to lose sight of the business you actually want to build.

Both Stephanie and Courtney say if they were starting a business today, they'd go all-in on learning AI.

Timestamps

[00:00] Intro

[05:05] The exact day they quit their corporate jobs

[08:47] How to tell a hobby apart from a real business opportunity

[10:44] The most common (and costly) mistake new founders make

[11:35] Did they set out to build Socialfly to sell it? The surprising answer

[14:49] How to spot your first "side hustle idea"—and use AI as a brainstorming partner

[17:48] Building a business while working full-time, without burning out

[20:20] Should you tell your boss about your side hustle?

[23:37] Why community (not funding) is their real superpower

[29:06] Rapid fire: tools, time-wasters, and the best (and worst) advice they've ever gotten

GUEST LINKS

Follow Entreprenista: https://www.instagram.com/entreprenistas

Join the Entreprenista League: https://www.entreprenista.com/tel-start

Follow Stephanie: https://www.instagram.com/stephjillcartin/

Follow Courtney: https://www.instagram.com/courtspritzer/

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast

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ABOUT AMBITION 2.0

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to our first-ever solo episode with host Amanda Goetz! With an impressive career trajectory that spans roles at big corporations, startups, and as an author, Amanda offers invaluable insights into navigating the professional world in this big-sister-style coffee chat. She pulls from her own career path (Ernst & Young → celebrity wedding planner → startup founder → The Knot → CMO at Reale Actives) to give you real, tactical advice on annual reviews, one-on-ones, burnout, job searching, and more.

Consider this your permission slip to stop white-knuckling your career on your own.

Got a question for a future episode? Send it to @girlboss or @theamandagoetz on Instagram.

00:00 Intro

01:43 Amanda’s career journey

03:46 What she'd tell herself during the hardest year of her life

04:40 Her go-to career book recommendation

05:12 How to make the most of one-on-ones with your manager

06:56 Balancing your own opinions with your team's ideas as a leader

10:04 Returning to work after a year-long maternity leave

11:22 How to prepare for your annual review

14:56 Redesigning your career mid-life

17:38 How to know when it's time to leave a job

20:25 Falling back in love with your work

22:51 How to work with someone you don't get along with

24:37 Staying organized (and sane) as a business owner

26:41 Staying motivated during a tough job search

27:36 Managing email and outreach anxiety

28:56 Getting your manager to notice how much you're doing

30:00 Balancing all the hats marketers have to wear

31:31 Outro

Key Takeaways



Use the "start, stop, continue" framework in every one-on-one—it turns feedback into something structured, not confrontational.



Build a weekly "operating rhythm," so your team always knows when to bring you ideas.



Send a "managing up Monday" email each week: top wins, focus areas, and shout-outs. Visibility trumps ability.



Before an annual review, translate your work into business terms your boss can repeat to their boss.



Career changes don't need to be justified in hindsight—just take the next step with the best info you have.



Confront conflict directly instead of triangulating through other people.



"Focus and finish": pick two priorities a day instead of running an endless to-do list.

Networking should start long before you need it—keep a running list of contacts and stay in touchGUEST LINKS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/

Book: https://bookshop.org/a/116169/9781464233258

https://www.amandagoetz.com/

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast

SIGN UP

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When's the last time you actually looked at your bank account without cringing? 

Amanda Goetz sits down with Haley Sacks (a.k.a. Mrs. Dow Jones), the internet's favorite financial expert, New York Times best-selling author of Future Rich Person: The New Rules for Building Wealth, and the woman behind the over two-million-strong community Mrs. Dow Jones. Haley built her entire brand on making money feel less shameful and way more accessible. And in this conversation, she gets into exactly how she did it (and how you can too).

They cover why most of us were never actually taught how to manage money (spoiler: it's not your fault), why "deprivation" is the worst financial advice, the money beliefs we absorb before we even turn seven (!!), and why looking rich and being financially powerful are two very different games. Haley also gets real about her own money trauma, her parents' complicated relationship to wealth, and the "aha money moment" that changed everything for her.

Key Takeaways:


People can inherit money, but nobody inherits financial literacy, which means anyone can build it from zero.


There's a floor to how much you can cut from your spending, but there's no ceiling to how much you can earn.


Money dates are Haley's monthly ritual of sitting down with her finances—credit card statements, invoices, upcoming spending—and it's how she stays in control.


Money is a relationship like any other—and you can't grow it if you avoid it. If you never actually sit down with your finances, don't expect it to get stronger.

A “future rich person” has control over their time, their relationships, their choices, and their ability to leave situations that no longer serve them.Timestamps:

[00:00] Intro

[04:50] The origin story of Mrs. Dow Jones

[06:09] The messages girls absorb about money growing up

[08:08] Frictionless finance and doom-spending

[11:09] Growing up with a "Wall Street father" 

[15:23] Why women still feel embarrassed talking about money

[18:25] Looking rich vs. being financially powerful

[20:12] What is financial helplessness

[22:21] Haley's monthly "money date" and the 50/30/20 rule she swears by

[25:08] Why negotiating is the most underrated money move

[28:14] Where women unknowingly give away their financial power 

[30:13] What to do if you feel like you're behind financially 

[31:45] Rapid fire questions

[36:48] What "future rich person" really means to Haley

GUEST LINKS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsdowjones/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrsdowjones

Website: https://www.mrsdowjones.com/

Book: https://bookshop.org/a/116169/9798217090907 

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss 

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/ 

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast 

SIGN UP 

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/  

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/ 

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0 

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if "having it all" didn't mean climbing a single corporate ladder but building a whole web of work that fits your real life? An ecosystem of offers, clients, and projects fueled by your network and reputation, where you can tap into different opportunities at different seasons of life.

This week, host Amanda Goetz sits down with Anna Mackenzie, a startup advisor, writer, and author of the newsletter Anna Mack’s Stack, who traded the corporate dream for a self-designed portfolio career. They get into how to diversify your income, why articulating your value is harder (and more important) than selling it, and how to start building on the side without burning out or quitting your day job.

From the sunk cost fallacy that keeps you stuck to the 30-minutes-a-day rule that changed Anna's life, this episode is your friendly reminder to stop forcing your career into a straight line.

Key Takeaways:


A portfolio career is multidimensional and diversified by design—many income streams, projects, and identities at once.


A full-time job can absolutely be part of a portfolio. It's not all-or-nothing.


Your salary can fund the experimentation. Start building on the side before you leap.


Ask past bosses and colleagues what you're good at. You can't always see your set of skills or offers clearly.


Break big scary goals into the smallest achievable unit of effort—what Amanda calls the “KitKat” method.


Structure your portfolio career around three tiers: core, secondary, and experimental income.


You don't need a perfect strategy. Experiment your way to a plan that fits your life.

(00:00) Intro

(02:16) How ambition changes over time

(04:20) What a portfolio career actually is

(06:42) Signs a portfolio career might be for you

(08:55) What keeps people stuck

(11:41) Why the traditional path feels narrow for women

(13:42) The first step: knowing your value

(16:04) Starting when you're too drained

(20:04) Side hustle vs. portfolio career

(21:18) Building your flywheel

(24:30) Deliberate experimentation

(29:16) Rapid fire

GUEST LINKS

Anna’s new 6-week accelerator, The Portfolio Career Build Method: https://www.annamackenzie.com.au/portfoliocareerbuildmethodSubstack: Anna Mack’s Stack 

Website: https://www.annamackenzie.com.au/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annaclmack/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@annaclmack 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclmack/ 

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/ | TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss 

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/ 

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast 

SIGN UP 

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/  

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/ 

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0 

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re told that we can have it all if we time it right: build your career first, then start a family. But what does the medicine actually say?

Amanda Goetz sits down with Dr. Lucky Sekhon, a double board-certified reproductive endocrinologist at RMA of New York and author of the USA Today bestseller The Lucky Egg.

Dr. Lucky busts the biggest fertility myths (no, your fertility doesn't fall off a cliff at 35), explains why so-called "fertility checks" are mostly marketing, and breaks down the real difference between freezing eggs and freezing embryos. She also flips the script on a part of the story we tend to ignore—male-factor infertility, which accounts for roughly half of cases—and why family building is a team sport. Women shouldn’t carry all the burden!

It's an honest, science-forward, and surprisingly reassuring conversation about the fertility knowledge gap—and how it’s okay to not have it all figured out in your 20s. .

This episode gets into both the emotional and physical considerations of fertility treatment, and we think it's a worthwhile listen, regardless of what stage of life you might find yourself in—and even if you're undecided on the whole kids thing.

Key Takeaways:


Fertility doesn't fall off a cliff at 35. It's a gradual continuum, and many women conceive naturally into their 30s and 40s.


AMH measures egg count, not fertility, and a low number shouldn't cause panic.


Most pop-in or at-home "fertility checks" are marketing. No single test can predict whether you'll struggle to conceive.


Start paying attention in your 20s by understanding your cycle and spotting red flags like PCOS or endometriosis. And pay attention to your family history.


Freezing eggs and freezing embryos are different—eggs offer more flexibility and stay solely yours, while embryos give clearer answers but need both partners' sign-off.


When choosing a clinic, ask about its actual thaw and IVF success rates, not just whether you like the doctor.


Male-factor infertility is something we need to talk more about.


Every day stress doesn't cause infertility, but insulin resistance is an under-recognized and treatable driver worth checking.

(01:20) Intro

(03:30) Dr. Lucky's personal journey

(08:49) The misinformation problem and why absolutes are a red flag

(10:22) The "cliff at 35" myth and the continuum of fertility

(11:03) When to start paying attention (hint: your 20s) + birth control myths

(15:28) Amanda's PCOS diagnosis

(18:31) Family timing, privilege, and perfectionism

(21:46) Feeling "behind," the knowledge gap, and giving yourself grace

(24:56) Egg freezing: when it should enter the conversation

(27:14) All about eggs vs. embryos 

(32:12) Men and male-factor infertility

(36:00) Rapid fire

(44:00) Inside The Lucky Egg

GUEST LINKS

Read The Lucky Egg

https://www.instagram.com/lucky.sekhon/ 

https://theluckyegg.com/ 

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/ | TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss 

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/ 

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast 

SIGN UP 

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/ 

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0 

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices