Episodes

  • Ep.78 Building a Personal Brand While Living on the Road - with Mariah McInnes

    Ep.78 Building a Personal Brand While Living on the Road - with Mariah McInnes
    Apr 29 2026
    Podcast host Ivana Ivanek interviews Australia-based marketer Mariah McInnes about content marketing, what makes good content, and how to tell better stories while building a personal brand online. Mariah shares her path from corporate marketing to freelancing and digital nomad life, including quitting her job during COVID, a major surgery after discovering rare neuroendocrine cancer, and how recovery led her to meet her partner, who now complements her business skills. They discuss living and working from a car and then a bus, resilience through business setbacks, and Mariah’s practical storytelling approach: align content to a sales goal and content strategy, build a story bank, and use a simple framework, while focusing on connection over vanity metrics. Grab your favourite note-taking device and get inspired.
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    49 mins
  • Ep.77 Why a Business Bestie & a Social Media Presence Matter

    Ep.77 Why a Business Bestie & a Social Media Presence Matter
    Apr 15 2026
    Host Ivana Ivanek shares a mindset shift and strategic move for building an online personal brand people trust and buy from while running a business alongside a nine-to-five. After feeling tired during a busy stretch in Vienna, she reflects on a coffee chat with her peer Karina about resting without seeing it as failure, handling fear of judgment and silent rejection from others, and how some people—including partners—may not support your vision. Ivana’s immediate action step is to get a “business bestie” and actively cheer for peers so support is reciprocal. Strategically, she frames social media as a “digital business card,” encouraging consistent visibility over hiding behind perfecting offers. She highlights Karina’s progress, then outlines next steps: leverage what’s built.
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    17 mins
  • Ep.76 The ROI of Prioritizing Health - with Dr. John Torrens

    Ep.76 The ROI of Prioritizing Health - with Dr. John Torrens
    Apr 1 2026
    Host Ivana Ivanek welcomes Dr. John Torrens to discuss the return on investment entrepreneurs gain by prioritizing mental, physical, and spiritual health instead of hustle culture. Torrens shares how rapid company growth led him toward burnout, pre-diabetes, inflammation, poor sleep, and an ADHD diagnosis, prompting him to treat his health as an experiment and reject “hero” grind worship that can resemble addiction. He explains practical sleep-first habits—tracking sleep data, managing light exposure with blue-blocking glasses and morning sunlight, using infrared sauna, eating earlier, avoiding alcohol within hours of bed, and exploring grounding—and describes how better sleep improves creativity, decision-making, relationships, resilience, and leadership performance. He also outlines Syracuse University’s Center for the Creator Economy, researching creator-specific challenges like identity fusion, loneliness, algorithm-driven income uncertainty, and mental health pressures, informed by his own experience posting content regularly. Grab your favourite note-taking device and get inspired!
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    40 mins
  • Ep.75 3 Steps to Build a Trustworthy Personal Brand

    Ep.75 3 Steps to Build a Trustworthy Personal Brand
    Mar 18 2026
    Host Ivana Ivanek shares three actions to immediately build a trustworthy personal brand people buy from. Grab your favourite note-taking device and get inspired!
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    23 mins
  • Ep.74 The Identity - First Business - with Stepahnie Ramirez

    Ep.74 The Identity - First Business - with Stepahnie Ramirez
    Mar 4 2026
    In this episode of the Online Business by Design podcast, host Ivana Ivanek interviews Stephanie Ramirez about building a sustainable online business and personal brand through identity shifts, self-expression, and intentional lifestyle design. Stephanie shares her experience as a first-generation college graduate carrying pressure to achieve, how repeated layoffs (including a third layoff in 2022 while working in tech) pushed her toward entrepreneurship, and the internal decision to stop chasing a fourth corporate job after experiencing remote work, digital nomad travel, and lifestyle flexibility. They discuss how high achievers often replicate corporate habits in business by overworking, people-pleasing, copying online business strategies, and tying worth to productivity—leading to burnout. Stephanie explains how to quiet “productivity” voices by becoming aware of them, identifying whose expectations they represent, separating facts from stories, and clarifying values as a daily direction for decision-making. Grab your favourite note-taking device and get inspired!
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    40 mins
  • Ep.73 How to Pitch to Speak on Podcasts

    Ep.73 How to Pitch to Speak on Podcasts
    Feb 18 2026
    In this episode of the Online Business by Design podcast, host Ivana Ivanek shares insights from four years as both a podcast host and guest to help listeners pitch themselves to podcasts for more visibility, speaking opportunities, and personal brand growth while building an online business. She explains what she learned reviewing around 60 guest applications, including noticing that most applicants were men and how fear of rejection and overthinking can hold women back from putting themselves out there. Grab your favourite note-taking device and get inspired!
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    16 mins
  • Ep.72 Building a Business that Supports the Wealth of your Life - with Kristi Chaves

    Ep.72 Building a Business that Supports the Wealth of your Life - with Kristi Chaves
    Feb 4 2026
    In this episode of the Online Business by Design podcast, Ivana Ivanek welcomes Kristi, an expert in building sustainable businesses. Kristi shares her journey as a business coach, shaped by a unique upbringing and a strong philosophy of life without rules. She emphasizes the importance of being intentional in creating a business that supports one's version of a wealthy life. Kristi discusses overcoming social pressures, the mindset shifts required to embrace failure as growth, and the duality of being content with the present while striving for more. She also delves into client retention strategies, ensuring unique and transformative client experiences to maintain steady business growth. Throughout the conversation, Kristi provides actionable insights and reflects on the balance between personal fulfillment and professional success. This episode is a must-listen for those looking to build a personal brand and achieve a sustainable, fulfilling business.
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    42 mins
  • Ep.71 Overcoming Barriers to Content Creation: Insights and Strategies

    Ep.71 Overcoming Barriers to Content Creation: Insights and Strategies
    Jan 21 2026
    In this episode of the Online Business By Design podcast, host Ivana Ivanek explores the real reasons behind why people avoid creating content on social media and building a digital business card and personal brand. Ivana dispels the myth that fear of sales is the primary reason and introduces four main layers of fear and self-sabotage that she has identified through recent conversations. She provides strategies for overcoming these barriers.
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    24 mins