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The Answer to Self-Sabotage in Your Business

The Experienced Entrepreneur

Release Date: 12/01/2025

A Peek Inside the My Favorite Metric Summit show art A Peek Inside the My Favorite Metric Summit

The Experienced Entrepreneur

This week on The Experienced Entrepreneur, we're doing something a little different. The My Favorite Metric summit kicked off this week, and if you've been curious about what it's all about, this episode gives you a full look inside. Marissa walks you through the structure of the five-day event, who it's designed for (spoiler: growth-stage entrepreneurs, not newbies), and why she built it without the typical summit pressure tactics like disappearing content or forced upsells. You'll hear about the four themed days covering lead acquisition, engagement, sales and profit, and lifestyle metrics,...

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The Metrics Myth Keeping Entrepreneurs in the Dark show art The Metrics Myth Keeping Entrepreneurs in the Dark

The Experienced Entrepreneur

If you've ever said "I'm just not a numbers person" — this episode is going to gently, but firmly, challenge that. For experienced entrepreneurs, the belief that metrics are complicated, cold, or designed for someone else is one of the most costly myths in business. Not because tracking is hard, but because the story we tell ourselves about it keeps us from accessing the clearest signal our business has to offer. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton breaks down where the "I'm not a metrics person" identity actually comes from, what it's quietly costing you in...

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Human-Centered Sales in a Post-Algorithm Market - with Megan Smyth show art Human-Centered Sales in a Post-Algorithm Market - with Megan Smyth

The Experienced Entrepreneur

In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton sits down with Megan Smyth to unpack what’s actually working in sales right now — and why many experienced business owners are quietly moving away from social media–dependent strategies. Megan shares the story of losing every copywriting client in a single week and how that moment forced her to confront a hard truth: relying on referrals without a system is not a strategy. Instead of doubling down on platforms she hated, Megan rebuilt her sales process around what felt sustainable, human, and repeatable — and went on to...

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Behind the Scenes of Monday Meeting: What We’re Doing Inside the Founding Round show art Behind the Scenes of Monday Meeting: What We’re Doing Inside the Founding Round

The Experienced Entrepreneur

In this behind-the-scenes episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton pulls back the curtain on the first few weeks of the Monday Meeting founding round. Instead of theory or hype, this episode shares what’s actually happening inside the container: how the Decision Dashboard is being used in real businesses, what patterns are emerging through live dashboard reviews, and why Monday Meeting was intentionally designed as an accountability and community-based mentorship rather than a content-heavy membership. Marissa walks through two real examples from recent one-on-one sessions: ...

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Make Better Business Decisions Part 4: Lifestyle show art Make Better Business Decisions Part 4: Lifestyle

The Experienced Entrepreneur

Lifestyle and energy are often treated as personal concerns, separate from “real” business metrics. But for experienced entrepreneurs, they are some of the earliest and most honest indicators of how a business is actually functioning. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton explores why lifestyle and energy deserve a permanent place inside your business metrics system — and what happens when you ignore them for too long. Rather than framing energy as a mindset issue or a self-care problem, this conversation positions lifestyle metrics as leading indicators. They...

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Make Better Business Decisions Part 3: Sales & Profit show art Make Better Business Decisions Part 3: Sales & Profit

The Experienced Entrepreneur

Sales numbers can look fine on the surface and still leave you feeling uneasy. For experienced entrepreneurs, sales and profit are not just outcomes. They are signals — indicators of alignment, capacity, sustainability, and decision quality over time. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton breaks down how to think about sales and profit metrics beyond “did it work or not.” Instead of treating revenue as a scorecard, this conversation reframes sales data as information that helps you lead your business more intentionally. You’ll hear why many seasoned business...

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Make Better Business Decisions Part 2: Engagement show art Make Better Business Decisions Part 2: Engagement

The Experienced Entrepreneur

Lead nurture is not about posting more, emailing more, or staying visible at all costs. For experienced entrepreneurs, lead nurture is about trust, continuity, and relationship — and when it’s working, it should feel steady, not exhausting. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton explores what lead nurture really looks like once your business has matured past hustle-based marketing. Rather than focusing on engagement hacks or content volume, this conversation reframes lead nurture as a signal-based system that helps you understand how your audience is actually...

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BONUS EPISODE: Rant on the Amy Porterfield Jenna Kutcher Drama show art BONUS EPISODE: Rant on the Amy Porterfield Jenna Kutcher Drama

The Experienced Entrepreneur

Bonus Episode: The Market Shift, “Dead” Business Models, and What’s Actually Changing In this spontaneous bonus episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton shares an unscripted, candid reflection on the current market shift and the growing narrative that “courses are dead,” “podcasts are dead,” or that entire business models are suddenly no longer viable. Drawing on more than a decade of experience in online business, formal business education, and firsthand work across industries like real estate and mental health, Marissa brings much-needed context, nuance, and...

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Make Better Business Decisions Part 1: Lead Acquisition show art Make Better Business Decisions Part 1: Lead Acquisition

The Experienced Entrepreneur

Since you’ve been in business for a while, you already know that “getting more leads” isn’t the be-all-end-all solution some coaches say it is. The real challenge is knowing what kind of leads you’re attracting, where they’re coming from, and whether your lead flow is actually supporting sustainable business growth — or quietly working against it. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, I kick off a four-part January series about making better business decisions starting with Lead Acquisition. This conversation is for seasoned online business owners who are tired of...

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10 Questions to Get Your Business Ready for 2026 show art 10 Questions to Get Your Business Ready for 2026

The Experienced Entrepreneur

Before you rush into goal-setting, optimization, or “what’s next,” there’s something more important to do: integrate the year you just lived. In this reflective year-end episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton guides seasoned business owners through 10 powerful questions designed to help you make sense of 2025 and move into 2026 with more clarity, steadiness, and intention. This is not a productivity episode. It’s an integration episode — created for entrepreneurs who have been in business long enough to know that insight doesn’t come from moving faster, but from...

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More Episodes

Being in business long enough, you’ve faced this question:
“Do I stay the course… or am I self-sabotaging?”

In this week’s solo episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, we unravel one of the most complex challenges seasoned business owners face — knowing when something in your business still has staying power, and when your desire to quit is actually coming from fear, fatigue, or avoidance.

This is not a beginner conversation.
This is a maturity conversation — one that honors both your intuition and your data.

For years, the online business world taught us that ease equals alignment, that discomfort signals misalignment, and that the moment something feels hard we should pivot. But the truth is far more nuanced for entrepreneurs who have been in business 5, 8, 10+ years.

In this episode, we explore:

How to distinguish intuitive guidance from self-sabotage

Not all discomfort is misalignment — some of it is growth.
Not all fear is a sign to stop — sometimes it’s a sign you’re on the edge of something important.

The difference between “bad vibes” and genuine misalignment

Most experienced entrepreneurs are either intuition-led or data-led — but neither alone is enough in your second decade of business.

How intuition + data work together to reveal the truth

We talk through the real interplay between gut instinct, metrics, and emotional maturity… and how blending these two creates the clearest decision-making you’ve ever had.

Why self-sabotage often appears right before a breakthrough

We break down the subtle forms self-sabotage can take — from calling fear “intuition” to reinventing instead of refining.

What staying power feels like inside your body and inside your business

This is the wisdom piece no one teaches: how the work that is still yours will continue to pull you forward even when it’s challenging.

How to avoid burning down something that still belongs to you

You’ll learn the signals of a wobble vs a warning — and how to see your business clearly again.

This episode is for you if:

  • You’re an established entrepreneur craving clarity in your next chapter

  • You’ve questioned whether you’re meant to stay or pivot

  • You’ve felt discomfort and weren’t sure if it meant misalignment or growth

  • You want to make decisions from wisdom, not fear or exhaustion

  • You’re ready to rebuild a steadier, more grounded relationship with your business

And if this episode illuminated something for you — if it helped you see where you’ve been wobbling, or where you’ve been tempted to burn down something that still has staying power — I would love for you to join me for the focus group for my brand new offer The Monday Meeting.

It’s live.
It’s intimate.
It’s waitlist-only.

And it’s designed specifically for long-term entrepreneurs who lived through the unpredictability of 2025 and are craving a steadier, clearer, more grounded way to run their business in 2026.

We’ll talk honestly about what’s been missing from your business, what’s working, what’s not, and what kind of support actually feels nourishing in this season of your journey. You’ll also get a first look at how The Monday Meeting is being built for entrepreneurs who aren’t newbies anymore — the ones who are ready for less chaos and more clarity.

Get on the waitlist at marissalawton.com/waitlist.