Shows
Self FundedBuilding “Creativity on Tap” for Modern Brands with Dana HorkIn this episode of Self Funded, Dana Hork, Founder & CEO of Beers With Friends, shares how she transformed her frustration with the traditional agency model into a five-day sprint business designed for modern marketers. Drawing on her experience at Wonder, Walmart, and Jet.com, Dana explains how she and her co-founder built a creative microagency rooted in trust, speed, and focus—offering “creativity on tap” without long retainers or bureaucracy. She discusses shared consciousness in co-founding, iterating toward product-market fit, and why senior judgment and perspective are more valuable than ever in an AI-driven world.(00:00:01) Career Control Through Self-F...
2026-02-2336 min
Self FundedThe Rise of the Experience EntrepreneurIn this solo episode of Self Funded, Chrissie shares an aha moment that’s been forming over the past few years: the rise of the experience entrepreneur. She walks through how this idea emerged from watching talented professionals leave traditional roles and start building businesses around their own experience — not by starting over, but by changing how that experience is delivered. Chrissie defines what experience entrepreneurship is (and what it isn’t), explains how it offers a third path out of the competence cage, and unpacks why this model is becoming more viable right now — from fractional work and shifting...
2026-02-0910 min
Self FundedWhy Niche Expertise Beats Scale in a Services Business with Peyton VitterIn this episode of Self Funded, Chrissie sits down with Peyton Vitter, Founder and Managing Partner of SMG Capital, to unpack what institutional-grade finance actually looks like for growing, multi-unit businesses. Peyton shares his path from private equity and private banking to building a CFO advisory firm that supports restaurants, franchisees, and real estate operators navigating complexity, growth decisions, and capital events. They dive into niche focus, why most operators don’t need a CFO as early as they think, how financial clarity drives better decisions, and what it really takes to scale a services business without turning it into...
2026-02-0240 min
Self FundedManaging Energy, Not Time: How I’m Setting Myself Up for a Better 2026In this solo episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona walks through how she’s intentionally setting herself up for success in 2026. She breaks down the two pillars she uses to guide her strategy, clear direction and the right enablers, and gets specific about the systems she’s putting in place this year. Chrissie shares why she’s managing energy instead of time, how she’s using metrics to stay objective in a self funded business, and why consistency matters more than volume when you’re building something sustainable. This episode is both a planning framework and an honest look at what it...
2026-01-2610 min
Self FundedHow Phil Levine Turned His Consulting-to-Tech Leap Into a Successful Recruiting BusinessIn this episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona talks with Phil Levine, founder of Golden Gate Recruits, about how he turned his own jump from Bain to startup life into a specialized recruiting firm that helps ex consultants and finance talent land roles in tech and venture backed companies. Phil shares what it took to build credibility in a still-nascent career path, how he convinced both founders and candidates to bet on generalist operator roles before they were a known quantity, and why relationship-driven outbound became the real growth engine behind his early traction. He breaks down the moments...
2026-01-1951 min
Self FundedThe Three Mistakes I Made in My First Year of a Self Funded BusinessIn this solo episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona reflects on her first full year building The Long Game and shares three mistakes she made starting a self funded business. From launching with the end vision instead of revenue, to mismanaging her calendar, to getting emotionally attached to early opportunities, Chrissie breaks down what didn’t work and what she would do differently today. She talks candidly about leaving a VP role while pregnant, navigating the “trough of sorrow,” learning to prioritize business development, and shifting from scarcity to abundance. The episode offers a grounded look at what it really...
2026-01-1220 min
Self FundedYou Don’t Need a New Idea, You Need to Follow the SparkIn this solo episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona explores a simple but powerful idea: you already have the foundation of a business inside you. Drawing inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, she breaks down how to identify your “spark” using lived experience, professional expertise, and real feedback from others. Chrissie shares practical exercises for uncovering what you are uniquely qualified to build, why confidence and action are often the real blockers, and how to systemize yourself into taking action even when fear shows up. She closes with concrete ways to approach 2026 differently, focusing on small, repeatable habits that help...
2025-12-2210 min
Self FundedWhy Taylor Crane Bet on Fractional Work and Built a Business Around ItIn this episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona sits down with Taylor Crane, founder of Fractional Jobs, to unpack how fractional work became both his career path and his business. Taylor shares how burnout from a venture-backed startup led him to fractional product work, why he deliberately used that income to bootstrap his next company, and how Fractional Jobs grew from a simple newsletter into a revenue-generating marketplace and media business. They dive into the realities of building a two-sided platform, why network is the hardest part of fractional work, how Taylor iterated his business model in real time...
2025-12-1548 min
Self FundedDisney, Starbucks, and the Blueprint Behind Tamara Muñoz-Whilden’s CEO Extraction MethodIn this episode, Chrissie sits down with Tamara Muñoz-Whilden, founder of Behind the Screens, to unpack how she transformed a decade of Disney and Starbucks operations experience into a fast-growing agency that helps founders finally step out of the weeds. Tamara shares her path from burnout to entrepreneurship, why scalable systems are the “secret sauce” to consistent delivery, and how she evolved from virtual assistant to fractional COO to leading her signature CEO Extraction program. They dive into what actually keeps founders stuck in the day-to-day, how to build a business that runs without you, and why operations is bo...
2025-12-0840 min
Self FundedFrom Serial Acquirers to M&A Integration Advisors with Tim Williamson and Gagan SinghIn this episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona sits down with Tim Williamson and Gagan Singh, the leaders behind Acquire2Win, to unpack their journey from colleagues at Salesforce to making their own decisions to leave and a collective decision to launch Acquire2Win. Drawing from years of experience inside serial acquirers like Salesforce, Comcast, and Nielsen, Tim and Gagan share the expertise they developed in these roles that they have since leveraged into their own GTM-focused acquisition playbook. They share the ethos of Acquire2Win and the patterns they’ve seen repeated across industries, which prompted them to ta...
2025-12-0153 min
Self FundedHow to Say No When You’re Building a Self Funded BusinessIn this solo episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona breaks down one of the most underrated skills in building a business around yourself: learning how to say no. She shares how to protect your time when your calendar is blank, how to handle pick-your-brain requests and general catch ups, how to decide which business opportunities are worth pursuing, and how to evaluate full time offers without losing focus on your own path. Chrissie opens up about her own early mistakes, the gut checks she relies on now, and the simple systems she uses to keep her time aligned with...
2025-11-2412 min
Self FundedThe Business You Build When Life Forces a Pivot with Joy TaylorIn this episode, Chrissie Francona talks with Joy Taylor about a career shaped by grit, reinvention, and the willingness to bet on herself more than once. Joy shares how growing up in a tiny Missouri town running a family ferry business taught her to do the work, how George Steinbrenner “firing” her changed her career trajectory, and how she went from GE’s M and A team to building and selling multiple consulting firms. She and Chrissie dig into the reality of building a business during major life inflection points, the shift from being the person who does the work t...
2025-11-1743 min
Self FundedHow Packy McCormick Turned Not Boring from Newsletter to Venture FundPacky McCormick has built a one-of-a-kind career around curiosity. As the writer behind Not Boring and GP of Not Boring Capital, he’s turned a side project newsletter into a thriving ecosystem that bridges media and venture. In this episode, Packy and Chrissie talk about burning the boats to bet on yourself, how deep research and writing became his superpower, and why the Internet still rewards people who do truly original work.Packy shares the evolution from banker to startup operator to full-time creator, the flywheel between his writing and investing, and what he sees coming next for independent bu...
2025-11-1045 min
Self FundedFrom Class Project to Consulting 2.0: The Story of Catalant with Pat PetittiIn this episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona talks with Pat Petitti, CEO and Co-Founder of Catalant, about how a class project at Harvard Business School grew into one of the most disruptive forces in consulting. Pat shares the story behind Catalant’s beginnings as “Hourly Nerd,” its evolution into a platform now powering thousands of independent consultants, and what he calls “Consulting 2.0.” He and Chrissie discuss how AI is reshaping the industry, why companies are rethinking traditional consulting models, and what it takes to build a business that connects expertise with opportunity.Check out Catalant H...
2025-11-0347 min
Self FundedLeslie Zaikis on Turning Freelance Flexibility into a Long-Term CareerIn this episode of Self Funded, Chrissie Francona talks with Leslie Zaikis, marketing strategist, fractional CMO, and co-founder of The New HQ, about building a self-funded career long before it was trendy. Leslie shares how leaving big consulting for an early-stage startup and its eventual crash led her to carve out a 13-year path as an independent consultant. She and Chrissie explore what it really looks like to sustain a business on your own terms, from landing clients through genuine curiosity to balancing work and motherhood to helping others design flexible, fulfilling careers through The New HQ.
2025-10-2747 min
Self FundedWhat It Really Means to Be Self FundedIn the premiere episode of Self Funded, host Chrissie Francona lays the foundation for what it truly means to build a business around yourself, without waiting for permission. Drawing from her own journey and years of observing a growing movement of professionals creating profitable, purpose-driven ventures, Chrissie breaks down the core ideas behind being “self funded”: leveraging your experience, expertise, and network to create both income and equity. She explores the models, mindsets, and motivations shaping this new path for modern professionals ready to carve out something of their own.(00:01:25) Expertise-Driven Entrepreneurial Journey(00:04:35) Monetizing Expertise for...
2025-10-2026 min
Self FundedWelcome to Self Funded!We’re living in a new era of work, one where ambitious professionals are building businesses around their own experience and expertise. Self Funded is a podcast about this movement: creating a career on your own terms, without waiting for permission. Hosted by Chrissie Francona, it’s for anyone ready to rethink the rules of success and build something profitable, durable, and fully their own. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit selffundedbychrissie.substack.com
2025-10-0902 min