Entreprenista

2025 End of Year Note with Steph + Court

December 15, 2025

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  • Entrepreneurs selling a company should prioritize self-work and clarity regarding what they want their last day and post-exit life to look and feel like, as this is often overlooked. 
  • Scaling a business requires constant recalibration of team structure, processes, and tools, necessitating a shift toward simplifying operations to maintain momentum. 
  • The success of the Entreprenista League community is attributed to the founders' genuine care, vision alignment, and the creation of a platform that facilitates meaningful human connection and collaboration among members. 

Segments

Community Info Session Invite
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Entreprenista League info sessions offer access to community details and exclusive live bonuses.
  • Summary: Steph invites listeners to upcoming Entreprenista League info sessions via refer.entrepreneista.com/info session. Attendees receive access to community details and exclusive bonuses only available live. The podcast is positioned as the best business meeting for women founders.
2025 Year in Review
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(00:01:33)
  • Key Takeaway: The year 2025 was a significant roller coaster defined by both highs and lows, with the community remaining a constant source of support.
  • Summary: Time flew quickly in 2025, during which the Entreprenista League community achieved significant accomplishments through collaboration. The hosts plan to share behind-the-scenes details of their business building this year. They will also offer a sneak peek into their vision for 2026 and beyond.
Agency Sale & Identity Shift
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(00:03:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Selling the marketing agency led to an identity crisis for Courtney, emphasizing the need to plan for the emotional aftermath of letting go of a co-founded business.
  • Summary: The marketing agency was sold in February 2024, with Courtney staying on post-acquisition while Steph focused on Entreprenista. Courtney returned full-time to Entreprenista in March 2025 after building it without her full-time expertise for years. The process of selling a company is long and stressful, often leading to an identity crisis when the founder no longer owns the business.
Business Partnership Alignment
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(00:12:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Successful business partnerships hinge on being vision and mission aligned, supported by deep personal trust and investment in communication coaching.
  • Summary: The partnership between Steph and Courtney thrives because they are vision and mission aligned and deeply trust one another. Steph’s strength lies in community building and marketing, while Courtney provides essential operations and finance expertise. They invested in a business coach to ensure effective communication and longevity in their co-founder relationship.
Scaling Operations Recalibration
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(00:14:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Scaling the 3,000-member Entreprenista League requires shifting to a recurring membership model and investing in human moderation to maintain meaningful connections.
  • Summary: To support massive growth, the team is recalibrating structure, processes, and tools, focusing resources on enhancing the core membership. A key operational change starting in January is switching back to a reoccurring membership model to fund necessary human moderation. Future plans include expanding value through ‘Entrepreneur Expert’ and ‘Approved’ vetted member tiers.
Founders Weekend Event Details
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(00:22:46)
  • Key Takeaway: The Founders Weekend Retreat in April 2026 is a curated, members-only event focused on authentic connection, collaboration, and business growth.
  • Summary: The Founders Weekend Wealth and Wellness Retreat is scheduled for April 30th to May 3rd, 2026, at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This event is now members-only to pour value back into invested community members. Speakers include Kim Perell and Haley Page, with Tracy Litt serving as the official MC.
Community Member Wins Highlighted
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(00:27:04)
  • Key Takeaway: The Entreprenista community actively generates tangible business impact through member collaborations, referrals, and specialized support groups like the Retail Ready Power Group.
  • Summary: Member Sarah Patemba featured numerous community members in a holiday campaign, providing significant visibility due to her large following. Members in the Retail Ready Power Group received specialized support from Jeff Durham of Gimme Beauty on retail strategy. Member Lisa Simone Richards successfully launched a product-based business after receiving advice from service-based members.
Business Tools and Auditing
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(00:33:08)
  • Key Takeaway: While tools like HubSpot, Circle, and High Level are essential for scaling, entrepreneurs must audit SaaS spending regularly to minimize complexity and overspending.
  • Summary: HubSpot is being implemented as the central CRM and customer service management tool to consolidate data as the membership scales. High Level is specifically used for managing Instagram DMs at scale, a feature the hosts struggled to find elsewhere. Founders should audit tool subscriptions quarterly to ensure they are using all paid seats and avoiding unnecessary complexity.
2026 Words of the Year
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(00:54:22)
  • Key Takeaway: Courtney’s 2026 theme is ‘IRL’ (In Real Life) to prioritize in-person interaction over Zoom meetings, while Steph’s theme is ‘Joy and Ease’ to guide decision-making.
  • Summary: Courtney aims to reduce Zoom meetings to focus on in-person connections, recognizing her tendency to work endlessly from home without breaks. Steph’s theme, ‘Joy and Ease,’ requires asking if every decision brings joy and is easy to execute, which complements Courtney’s simplification goal. The hosts plan to support Molly’s Girl Scout cookie goal by selling pre-bought cookies at Founders Weekend.