a weekly relationship marketing podcast hosted by Kandas Rodarte
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June 16, 202643 min
Digital Defense for Solopreneurs | Rob Broadhead
What is Digital Defense?
A few years ago, I lost my decades-old website, momgeek.com, to a hacker, and hundreds of blog posts about my business and cancer journey were gone. That was my wake-up call that digital defense is not just a big business issue — it matters for solopreneurs, too. In this episode, I’m joined by Rob Broadhead of RB Consulting to talk about practical ways to protect your website, use AI with a little more common sense, and respond fast if something goes sideways.
Rob and I also revisit our earlier conversations in episodes 149 and 150:
Episode 149: Learned Contentment
Episode 150: Beyond Cancer
In this episode, we cover:
Why digital defense is really common sense.
What to do when you discover you’ve been hacked.
How AI and vibe coding can create risk if you skip the guardrails.
Why Cloudflare can be a useful layer of protection for content sites.
Why security awareness matters for solopreneurs.
Rob’s links and resources:
RB-SNS.com
Develpreneur
Contact Rob for the free AI readiness assessment
Free gift from Rob: Fill out the contact form at rb-sns.com and mention Gratitude Geek to request your free AI readiness assessment.
Thanks for listening to Gratitude Geek, the podcast for Gen X women solopreneurs weaving gratitude into your business strategy.
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June 9, 202638 min
How to Build a Resilient Business | Ksenia Votinova-Arnaud
What if your business could hold up — not just when things are good, but when everything falls apart? There's actually a system for that.
Ksenia Votinova-Arnaud is a serial tech entrepreneur, co-founder of Le VPN, and business coach at INSEAD. She's coached over 1,100 executives from companies like Google, AWS, Salesforce, and Adobe — and she built all of it into the Weatherproof Business™ method, her signature system for building a resilient business that gives you real freedom on your own terms.
In episode 327 of Gratitude Geek Podcast, host Kandas Rodarte and Ksenia talk about:
The one foundation most women skip that determines whether a business survives hard times
Why → Who → What → How: the four components of a weatherproof business
How to validate a business idea before you spend a single dollar building it
The time-for-money trap that quietly caps your income (and how to get out of it)
Why patience is the most underrated resilience tool you have
Free resource from Ksenia: Scorecard to evaluate how solid your business idea is, based on the Weatherproof Business™ method → kseniavotinova.com
Full show notes + links: kandasrodarte.com/327
About Gratitude Geek Podcast:
Gratitude Geek is the podcast for Gen X women solopreneurs building genuine, lasting connections with clients, colleagues, and community. Host Kandas Rodarte believes gratitude is a business strategy that transforms how we show up in our work and lives.
Subscribe & Listen:
YouTube: youtube.com/@gratitudegeek
Apple Podcasts: Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Spotify
Website: kandasrodarte.com
Connect with Kandas:
Weekly Email: kandasrodarte.com/subscribe
Instagram: @gratitudegeek
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gratitudegeek
Support the Show:kandasrodarte.com/support
Work with Kandas:Are you a woman solopreneur over 40 who's experienced something difficult like cancer, divorce, or loss? Kandas helps women rebuild their businesses and lives with strategy, systems, and gratitude as a business tool. kandasrodarte.com/start-here
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June 2, 202648 min
The Real Reason You Can't Make That Decision | Sarah Andreas
You're not stuck because you don't have enough information. You're stuck because you haven't learned to trust yourself yet. Sarah Andreas — artist, author, and PhD in Organizational Leadership — joins Kandas Rodarte for episode 326 of Gratitude Geek. They chat about how to trust yourself when you're facing a big decision and can't yet see the path ahead.
Sarah shares her journey from Harley-Davidson dealership employee to painter and author of Step Into the Ether, and the hard-won lessons she learned about fear, self-trust, community, and what it means to hold your plans in an open palm instead of a closed fist.
In This Episode
Why self-trust is built in small, quiet moments — not big breakthroughs
How to do it afraid (and what to do when the fear is legitimate)
The difference between a mistake and a learning experience
Why one community can't hold all of you
How curiosity and trust work together to move you forward when you can't see what's next
Connect with Sarah Andreas
Website: sarahandreas.com
Instagram: @sarahandreasart
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarahandreas
Free resource: Reinvention Orientation — a gentle starting point for women who feel something shifting but don't yet know what to do about it
Step Into the Ether on Amazon: amzn.to/439a7sm
Resources Mentioned
Toastmasters International
Episodes Mentioned
Karen Yankovich — the labyrinth metaphor
Lydia Knight — curiosity and getting out of cults
Heather Vickery — gratitude out loud
About Gratitude Geek
Gratitude Geek is business education for Gen X women solopreneurs — practical, experiment-driven, and completely free of hustle culture. Hosted by Kandas Rodarte from Muskegon, Michigan.
Subscribe to the podcast: kandasrodarte.com/subscribe
Join the Gratitude Geek Lab: kandasrodarte.com/lab
Support the show: kandasrodarte.com/support
Theme music by Rev Brock and Soul Lily.
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May 26, 202648 min
Visibility and Wealth for Women Solopreneurs | Karen Yankovich
If you've ever thought "I'm not ready yet" or "who am I to put myself out there" — this episode is for you.
Karen Yankovich is a LinkedIn and PR strategist, host of the top 2% Good Girls Get Rich podcast, and on a mission to create more wealthy women in the world. She believes visibility is how you get there — not hustle, not a hundred certifications, not waiting until you feel ready enough.
In this conversation, Karen and Kandas talk about why smart, experienced women stay invisible the longest, how to build the kind of online presence that attracts real opportunities, and why being seen is one of the most powerful things a woman solopreneur can do for her income, her impact, and the world.
You'll hear:
Why imposter syndrome doesn't go away — and why that's actually okay
The "money tree" approach to LinkedIn that takes 15 minutes a day
How podcast guesting builds credibility that Google can find
Why consistency beats volume every single time
How visibility and wealth are more connected than most women think
Women with money change the world. This is how you become one of them.
📝 Show Notes + Links: https://kandasrodarte.com/325
🎓 LinkedIn Profile Training: https://LinkedInProfileTraining.com
🌿 Join the free Gratitude Geek Lab: https://kandasrodarte.com/lab
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May 19, 202657 min
Video Storytelling: Real Stories Win Clients | Graham Kuhn
In this episode of Gratitude Geek, Kandas Rodarte talks with Graham Kuhn, founder of Focus Films, about why real stories, simple video, and authentic connection are often more persuasive than polished production.
Graham shares how his path from singing to video storytelling shaped the way he helps businesses build trust and attract clients.
They dig into why networking works best when it feels like service, why people remember stories more than sales pitches, and how Gen X women can use video without trying to be perfect.
If you’ve ever felt awkward on camera or unsure how to talk about your work, this conversation offers practical encouragement and a more human way forward.
What You’ll Hear
Why storytelling builds trust faster than slick marketing.
How being a connector can become part of your marketing strategy.
Why authenticity matters more than perfection on video.
How Graham helps clients open up and tell better brand stories.
Why short-form video gets attention, but deeper story content drives trust.
Guest Links
Website: https://www.focusfilms.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FocusFilmsATL
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gkuhn1/
Free e-book: https://www.focusfilms.com/e-booksignup
Episode Resources
Episode blog post: https://kandasrodarte.com/324
Subscribe to Gratitude Geek: https://kandasrodarte.com/subscribe
About Graham Kuhn
Graham Kuhn helps businesses win clients with video storytelling. Through Focus Films, he focuses on helping people communicate their value in a way that feels real, trustworthy, and human.
About Gratitude Geek
Gratitude Geek is business education for Gen X women solopreneurs. Each episode explores sustainable growth, honest marketing, and practical ideas for building a business that fits real life.
If this conversation encouraged you, share it with a business owner who needs a gentler, more effective way to market themselves.
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May 12, 202640 min
The Power of Gratitude and Hugs in Business and Life | LuAnn Buechler
In episode 323 of Gratitude Geek, Kandas Rodarte and LuAnn Buechler explore how gratitude and human connection, especially through hugging, can transform both your personal and professional life.
LuAnn shares how she weaves gratitude into her work, why appreciation can shift your energy and happiness hormones, and how her “iHug” movement grew from a simple idea into a mission centered on community and belonging.
If you’re a Gen X woman solopreneur who wants more joy, connection, and sustainable growth without the hustle culture, this episode is for you.
Listen in and hear about:
How gratitude reshapes your mindset, your happiness hormones, and the way you show up in life and business.
Why hugs are a universal healing message and how they help us feel safer, stronger, and more grounded.
The role of community, collaboration, and loyalty in building a business that actually feels good to run.
Why appreciation and the words “thank you” are powerful leadership tools that deepen relationships and loyalty.
How to pivot through hard seasons by focusing on the lessons, not just the losses.
LuAnn’s Inspired Strategic Plan, The 6 C’s of Making Your Passions Pay, and the Third Paradigm of Collaboration.
Notable quotes
“Every time you give a hug, you get one.” – LuAnn Buechler
“The words ‘thank you’ are a verbal hug.” – Kandas Rodarte
“We need our communities to thrive.” – LuAnn Buechler
Timestamps
00:00 – The Power of Gratitude
03:41 – The Importance of Human Connection
09:28 – Building Community and Collaboration
17:13 – Inspired Action and Strategic Planning
20:51 – Mindset Shifts and Productivity
22:29 – Embracing Change and Learning from Challenges
23:33 – The Power of Appreciation and Gratitude
25:09 – Creating a Culture of Appreciation
26:51 – The Importance of Receiving Compliments
29:17 – The Need for Positive Connections
30:09 – The I Hug Movement: Spreading Love and Connection
34:51 – Building Community Through Hugs
36:50 – The Role of Hugs in Healing Divides
Resources and links
LuAnn Buechler’s website: https://luannb.com
I Hug Movement: https://ihugmovement.com
eWomen Network: https://ewomennetwork.com
Transformational Leadership Council: https://tlcglobal.org
Connect with LuAnn
Website: https://luannb.com
I Hug Movement: https://ihugmovement.com
Connect with Kandas
Gratitude Geek podcast for Gen X women solopreneurs (search in your favorite podcast app).
Learn more about the Gratitude Geek Lab for Gen X women solopreneurs: kandasrodarte.com/lab
If this episode rekindled your belief in the power of gratitude and hugs, share it with a friend who needs more connection in her life and business.
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May 5, 202640 min
Dance to Heal | Jenny C. Cohen
What if the thing your body needs most is also the thing you stopped letting yourself do?
Award-winning dancer and movement coach Jenny C. Cohen joins Kandas for a conversation about using dance as a healing tool — not as performance, not as exercise, but as a way back to yourself. Jenny danced through chemotherapy, rebuilt her life after cancer, and turned that experience into a business that helps women reconnect with their own instincts through somatic movement.
In this episode you'll hear:
Why dancing to music you love activates most of your brain — and how to use that as a solopreneur reset
The dominant/non-dominant hand writing exercise that bypasses your inner editor and accesses what your body already knows
How to use a five-senses grounding practice to get present fast when you're overwhelmed
What Jenny learned about trusting herself after spending years paying coaches who didn't understand her vision
Why acknowledging hard anniversaries — cancer diagnoses, loss, hard seasons — actually deepens gratitude instead of derailing it
This one is for the Gen X woman who has been through something hard and is still figuring out how to carry it while building something real.
🎁 Free Gift from Jenny:Jenny is offering Gratitude Geek listeners free admission to her monthly master workshop.👉 Grab your spot at www.movetobloom.com
Connect with Jenny C. Cohen:🌐 Website: JennyCCohen.com🎙️ Podcast: dancetohealpodcast.com▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@dancetohealpodcast💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jennyccohen📸 Instagram: @jennyccohen
Gratitude Geek is the podcast for Gen X women solopreneurs weaving gratitude into business strategy. New episodes drop weekly.🎧 Listen, subscribe, and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.
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April 28, 202652 min
The Difference Between Capitalism and Commerce | Becky Mollenkamp
The business rules you've been following were never written for you. In this episode, Kandas Rodarte sits down with business coach and author Becky Mollenkamp to explore what it actually looks like to build an ethical, human-centered business as a woman solopreneur — without replicating the extractive system most of us are trying to leave behind.
Becky makes a distinction that will stick with you: capitalism is about more, more, more. Commerce is about enough. What's enough to make you whole? That one reframe changes how you price your work, build your network, and show up for your community.
This conversation is for you if you've ever burned yourself out chasing a finish line that kept moving, felt like the "build your empire" playbook wasn't built for your real life, or wondered whether there's a way to run a sustainable business without becoming the thing you left corporate America to escape.
In this episode:✅ Why leaving corporate America doesn't automatically free you from hustle culture✅ The practical difference between capitalism and commerce in your everyday business decisions✅ What ethical business growth looks like — pricing, visibility, collaboration, and community care✅ How to build your network like a spider web instead of a personal asset✅ Why "enough" is not settling — and how to know what enough actually looks like for you
RESOURCES MENTIONED📚 Liberate Your Business by Becky Mollenkamp: https://amzn.to/4vPgvSB (affiliate link)🎙️ Feminist Podcasters Collective: https://feministpodcasterscollective.com/🔗 Becky's website: https://beckymollenkamp.com/🌴Paradise TV Show: https://www.hulu.com/series/paradise🌹Nikki the Death Doula: https://www.nikkithedeathdoula.com/
ABOUT BECKY MOLLENKAMPBecky Mollenkamp (she/they) is a business coach, author of Liberate Your Business, and founder of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. She co-hosts the podcasts Messy Liberation and Feminist Founders.
ABOUT GRATITUDE GEEKGratitude Geek is the podcast for Gen X women solopreneurs building genuine, lasting connections with clients, colleagues, and community. Host Kandas Rodarte believes gratitude is a business strategy that transforms how we show up in our work and lives.
🎙️ Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gratitude-geek/id820738086🎙️ Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/27dh0T1PbwsWXxfmNWZPy8🌐 Website: https://kandasrodarte.com📧 Weekly Email: https://kandasrodarte.com/subscribe
WORK WITH KANDASAre you a woman solopreneur over 40 who's experienced something difficult like cancer, divorce, or loss? Kandas helps women rebuild their businesses and lives with strategy, systems, and gratitude as a business tool.🌐 https://kandasrodarte.com/start-here
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April 21, 202640 min
Inheriting the Family Business | Lesle Lane
Lesle Lane wasn't supposed to take over her family's photography business. Her brothers were the obvious choice. Commercial and industrial photography in the early 90s wasn't considered women's work — and her family wanted her shooting weddings instead.
She said no. And then she spent the next 33 years proving that was the right call.
Lesle is the owner of Studio 13 in Indiana, and someone in her family has been taking pictures for 95 years. In this conversation, she talks about what it actually looks like to inherit a family business without a real succession plan, survive every disruption thrown at a small business in one lifetime — recessions, a pandemic, the digital revolution, the sudden death of her longtime employee — and build something flexible enough to outlast all of it.
We also get into the real cost of cheap photography (and what it means for your business when the low-bid vendor bails three weeks before the event), how she transitioned from one W-2 employee to a team of 15 specialized 1099 contractors, what woman-owned certification has — and hasn't — been able to do for her business in the current climate, and why gratitude isn't a mindset practice for Lesle. It's just the only logical response to still being here.
"When you've been on your knees, there's no place to look but up."
Connect with Lesle Lane:Website: https://studio13online.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/studio-thirteen
Mentioned in this episode:
Olan Mills Photography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olan_Mills
Episode with Adam Zuckerman on Succession Planning for Solopreneurs: https://kandasrodarte.com/256
Show notes: https://kandasrodarte.com/320
Gratitude Geek is hosted by Kandas Rodarte — business education for Gen X women solopreneurs who want sustainable growth without the hustle.
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April 14, 202647 min
Public Relations for Small Business Owners | Lauren Kwedar Cockerell
Do you think your story is too boring to share? PR strategist Lauren Kwedar Cockerell has spent 23 years helping purpose-driven businesses uncover the story only they can tell — and she's here to help you do the same.
In this episode of Gratitude Geek, Lauren breaks down what public relations for small business owners actually means (hint: it's not social media), how to stop leading with the surface-level answer everyone else in your industry gives, and how to build a "why now" hook that gets media and podcast hosts to pay attention.
We cover:
Why earned media is worth 3–10x more than a paid ad
Lauren's Thread methodology for excavating your real story
The one question that unlocks your most compelling pitch
5 reasons to actually send a press release
How to pitch podcasts the right way — and what not to do
If you're a Gen X woman solopreneur who's ready to get visible without feeling like you're bragging, this one's for you.
🎁 Lauren's free podcast pitch guide: https://www.kwedarco.com/freebies🔗 Connect with Lauren: https://www.kwedarco.com📖 The 5 Whys method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrlYkx41wEE🎧 Full show notes: https://kandasrodarte.com/319
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