Ever wondered what really happens after you sell your business? Ashley Deland built and sold a top vegan restaurant—then watched the new owners burn it to the ground. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Ashley and host Carrie Kerpen get brutally honest about burnout, regret, and the secrets nobody tells you about scaling and exiting. This episode is for anyone who thinks selling is the happy ending. Spoiler: it’s just the start of a whole new story. 01:00 – Meet Ashley: From Trend-Hopper to Se...
Jul 22, 2025•27 min•Ep. 51
When everyone told Andrea to play it safe, she rewrote the rules and doubled her worth. In this episode, two powerhouse founders share the real story behind selling a business, risking everything, and turning partnership into a power move. Forget the “happily ever after” exit story—this is what actually happens when women decide to cash out and level up. 00:30 – Meet Andrea & Andrea: The Story Begins 01:30 – From Side Hustle to Serious Business 03:05 – When Growth Gets Scary 04:00 – The Immi...
Jul 15, 2025•14 min•Ep. 50
Colleen West hustled her way from a tiny condo and a fax machine to a multi-million dollar exit. In this raw, inspiring episode, she shares how heartbreak fueled her business empire, why she refused to play by corporate rules, and the bold moves that doubled her revenue during COVID. If you've ever felt stuck, this story will make you rethink what’s possible. Chapters: 01:30 — Divorce, Babies, and No Degree 04:00 — Court Reporting School: From Survival to Skill 06:30 — Starting Her Business From...
Jul 08, 2025•42 min•Ep. 49
Joyce Marter didn’t just build a therapy business—she survived betrayal, took on millions in debt, and still managed a seven-figure exit. In this episode, she gets brutally honest about the moment her co-founder quit by email (and CC’d the staff), how she rebuilt from financial rock bottom, and the mindset shifts that helped her turn chaos into a multimillion-dollar win. If you've ever felt like you're drowning while everyone else thinks you're thriving—this one’s for you. Chapters: 01:22 – Buil...
Jul 01, 2025•29 min•Ep. 48
Antonia helped build one of the most iconic period brands in the world. In this episode, she takes us inside the real, messy, deeply human journey of launching Thinx: from her pink pajama shame moment at 13 to raising millions, writing her own patent, and co-founding a brand that changed the way we talk about periods. But that’s only the first half of the story. She opens up about what it actually felt like to raise money, negotiate with strategic partners, and sit in rooms where you slowly lose...
Jun 24, 2025•51 min•Ep. 47
She built a company from scratch to serve medically fragile children — and sold it for double her valuation. In this powerful and emotional episode, Coco Sellman shares the full story behind founding her home healthcare agency inspired by her stepdaughter, scaling it to $7M in just 18 months, surviving the pandemic, navigating investors and partnerships, negotiating a merger, and finally landing the perfect exit with a major children’s hospital. From starting without funding to surviving impossi...
Jun 17, 2025•41 min•Season 4Ep. 46
In this episode of The Exit Whisperer , we sit down with Ali von Paris, founder of Route One Apparel, a Maryland-themed clothing company that went from a viral college T-shirt idea to a self-funded powerhouse. Ali dives into the early hustle of building a business from scratch, learning e-commerce when it was still the wild west, scaling to 4,000+ SKUs, and eventually navigating the emotional and strategic complexities of selling her business. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to exit a com...
Jun 10, 2025•39 min•Ep. 44
In this episode of The Exit Whisperer , Michelle Wahler shares the incredible 18-year journey of building Beyond Yoga—a body-positive, female-founded activewear brand that made comfort, inclusivity, and authenticity its mission from day one. From hand-illustrated T-shirts to a strategic, self-funded apparel company acquired by Levi Strauss & Co., Michelle unpacks every twist in her story: childhood influences, bootstrapping struggles, wholesale wins, emotional negotiations, and her mindset s...
Jun 03, 2025•47 min•Ep. 45
Carrie sits down with Jennifer Vazquez, a single mother who overcame bankruptcy and the failure of her first business to build and sell a series of successful childcare centers. Jennifer shares her journey of acquiring, scaling, and eventually selling three childcare centers for double their valuation. She discusses key strategies such as seller financing, and the benefits of buying existing businesses over starting from scratch. Jennifer also delves into her transition from running childcare ce...
May 27, 2025•32 min•Ep. 43
Miren Oca, the founder of Ocaquatics Swim School, a successful swim school business she started at 22 years old after becoming pregnant in college. Miren shares her inspiring journey from teaching swimming lessons to building a business with 165 employees, 5 locations, and 6,500 weekly swimming lessons. She discusses her focus on environmental and social responsibility, becoming a certified B Corporation, and the unique exit strategy she implemented using an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), ensur...
May 20, 2025•27 min•Ep. 42
Carrie introduces Susan Latremoille, founder of Next Chapter Lifestyle Advisors. Susan shares her journey from building a successful financial advisory practice to selling it at a premium valuation. With over 40 years of experience, Susan transitioned from Merrill Lynch to entrepreneurship, ultimately exiting her company in 2019. She discusses the importance of trust and team development in her business, as well as the process of preparing for and executing a successful exit. She also works with...
May 13, 2025•26 min•Ep. 41
At just 26, Susan took a leap — launching News Generation with the backing of her family and a single client’s nudge. What followed was a two-decade journey building a niche agency in radio media relations, where she prioritized culture, steady growth, and real relationships. In this episode, she opens up about the real emotions behind selling a business, why she started thinking about exiting around age 50, and how she navigated the unexpected curveball of selling during a pandemic. Susan also ...
May 06, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 40
She Was Told “You Can’t Be a Good Mom and Build a Company” — So She Proved Them Wrong Michele discusses her successful career as an entrepreneur who managed to maintain a work-life balance while building and eventually selling her global translation business. In an engaging conversation with Carrie, Michele shares insights from her journey, including the initial struggles, the importance of offloading responsibilities, and the process of scaling. She emphasizes the significance of setting person...
Apr 29, 2025•31 min•Ep. 39
Kelly shares her story, from her early days of recognizing her entrepreneurial spirit to the founding of her company, Send Ribbon. She discusses her tech startup background, the challenges of personalized corporate gifting, and how her experience inspired her business idea. She shares insights into her strategic methods for launching the business, overcoming financial constraints, and the pivotal moments that led to the company's growth. Kelly also details her personal life sacrifices, the impor...
Apr 22, 2025•45 min•Ep. 38
Anne Mahlum, the founder of SolidCore, shares her journey from being a waitress in North Dakota to negotiating a major company sale. Anne shares her incredible story of founding SolidCore with $175,000 of her own savings after initially working in nonprofits and creating a running club for a homeless shelter. She discusses the challenges she faced, including navigating contentious business relationships and securing funding, while highlighting the importance of an unwavering belief in oneself. D...
Apr 15, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In the inaugural episode of season four, Carrie reflects on the significant milestones surrounding April 1st, including selling her company on April Fool's Day and the release of her new book. She discusses the intense and rewarding process of writing the book, which combines fiction, real-life examples, and an implementation guide for business growth. Additionally, she provides insights into her journey with the Whisper Group, an exit readiness advisory practice for female founders. The episode...
Apr 01, 2025•10 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Gwen shares her remarkable journey of founding The Laundress, a luxury laundry brand. From securing a government-backed loan to self-financing with credit cards, Gwen details her determination and innovative spirit. She discusses the challenges and successes of building her business, the experience of negotiating a sale with Unilever, and her emotional turmoil post-acquisition. Gwen reflects on the aftermath of the sale, the impact of a major product recall, and her eventual decision to launch h...
Mar 11, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Sarah Weiss shares her incredible journey of growing Elite Roofing Supply from a family business into a major industry player. Sarah, inspired by her father's entrepreneurial spirit, cashed in her 401k and jumped into the roofing supply industry, growing the company to 26 locations and becoming one of the top distributors in the market. She discusses the challenges of running a family business, the intense growth phases, and the strategic considerations that led to selling the company to Gulf Ea...
Mar 04, 2025•23 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Laurel shares her journey of being thrust into running her father's Bassett Furniture franchise business at 26 when he was diagnosed with stage four cancer. She details the emotional and professional challenges of managing and eventually selling the over-leveraged business back to corporate, which financially devastated her family. After overcoming these hardships, Lauren launched her own successful marketing firm, Elevate, which she later transitioned to an ESOP for her employees. She also disc...
Feb 25, 2025•26 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Kate Watts, a trailblazer in the agency space, narrates her impressive rise from being the president of Huge, a top digital agency, to launching and subsequently selling her own agency, Faire Design, to The Atlantic. She opens up about the challenges and triumphs she faced during the integration and spin-off process, eventually regaining majority ownership and rebranding as Long Dash. This conversation is filled with valuable insights on mergers, acquisitions, and navigating the entrepreneurial ...
Feb 20, 2025•30 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Christine shares her experiences negotiating five separate Letters of Intent before finally securing a deal that doubled her company’s valuation. Christine's three-year saga involved both personal and professional challenges, including contracting long COVID, which ultimately influenced her decision to sell. The discussion delves into the intricacies of the selling process, the importance of choosing the right advisor, and how perseverance is key in the world of mergers and acquisitions. Christi...
Feb 13, 2025•29 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Carrie interviews Kiri Masters, the founder of Bobsled Marketing, a retail marketing agency focused on platforms like Amazon. Kiri shares her journey from starting the business in 2015 with no background in retail or agencies to successfully growing it and selling to Acadia in 2021. Despite the financial success, Kiri discusses the emotional challenges she faced post-sale, akin to a 'postpartum depression' for founders. They delve into her strategic growth driven by content marketing and the car...
Feb 11, 2025•37 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Ruthie Schulder shares her story of building and selling her experiential agency. Ruthie discusses the challenges and strategies that led to her agency's success, her decision to pivot and eventually exit the business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how she has transitioned to coaching other female entrepreneurs. She emphasizes the importance of knowing when to move on, positioning and sales, and aligning business with personal values and goals. 00:29 Welcome Ruthie: A Journey Begins 00:56 Bui...
Feb 06, 2025•24 min•Season 29Ep. 29
Bridget shares her remarkable journey of founding, building, and eventually selling Owney's Rum, a New York-based distillery. From her early career at a hedge fund to identifying market opportunities in craft spirits, she leveraged her finance background to launch a successful rum brand. Bridget discusses the challenges of raising initial capital, running a lean operation, and handling media attention. She also delves into the complexities of selling her business to Proximo Spirits, the emotiona...
Feb 04, 2025•39 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Helaine shares her compelling journey of founding CityRow, a boutique fitness company inspired by her own need for a low-impact yet intense workout. From her childhood struggles with weight to her professional endeavors in publishing and tech startups, Helaine intricately narrates her path to building CityRow. She discusses the challenges faced, including a debilitating injury that led her to discover rowing and the obstacles in finding real estate and funding. Despite raising over $20 million a...
Jan 28, 2025•38 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Carrie interviews Courtney Gould Miller, who successfully sold her family's marketing agency for a double-digit multiple. Courtney shares insights from her journey, which includes joining her family's business, implementing digital marketing strategies, and ultimately negotiating an impressive exit to private equity. Courtney also discusses the impact of family business dynamics, the grief of letting go, and her experience transitioning into a leadership role within the acquiring company. The co...
Jan 23, 2025•36 min•Season 3Ep. 26
I was recently a guest on the Worthy for Thirty podcast with Eric Tash! We talked about my journey as an entrepreneur, how I'm helping other women entrepreneurs successfully sell their businesses, and how I'm trying to make a real difference in the world. I want to share one of Eric's conversations with Elissa Kalver, Founder & CEO, WeGotThis.org. WeGotThis.org is the first non-profit gift registry for cancer patients and their loved ones. Elissa's story is a fascinating exploration of stren...
Jan 22, 2025•40 min•Ep. 26
In this episode, we dive into the story of Sam, an entrepreneur who successfully bootstrapped her kitchen product business from a simple broken spatula idea to a remarkable sellable company (including inventing the first silicone spatula). Sam shares her journey, including the challenges of scaling, the significant milestones achieved through Kickstarter and wholesale channels, and the strategic decisions that led to exponential growth. She also discusses the emotional and practical aspects of s...
Jan 16, 2025•41 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Emily Mueller shares her inspiring journey of founding and scaling Wellory, a company she started from personal health challenges. Emily discusses how her entrepreneurial background and sales expertise helped her raise significant VC funds and ultimately led to Wellory's acquisition. She highlights the strategic decisions behind selling the company, the impact of emerging prescription drugs on her business model, and the importance of deal-closing skills in entrepreneurship. Emily also touches o...
Jan 14, 2025•34 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Carrie Kerpen interviews Bea Dixon, the founder of The Honey Pot, a feminine care company. Bea shares the inspiring story of how she received the idea for her business in a dream and transformed it into a thriving company that sold to Compass Diversified Holdings for over $380 million. The conversation covers Bea's challenges and successes, her commitment to her company post-sale, and the unique experiences she faced as a black founder in the industry. Bea also emphasizes the importance of respo...
Jan 09, 2025•44 min•Season 3Ep. 23
