Are you a visionary entrepreneur who feels like you’re constantly "sailing blind" through a thick fog of endless tasks and "hustle culture"?

In this episode of the Lighthouse Sessions, I attempt to dismantle the myth that structure kills creativity. For the neurodivergent founder or the visionary who values autonomy above all else, the word "system" often feels like a cage. But what if a system wasn't a set of rigid rules, but a rhythm that actually set you free?

I share my personal journey from resisting the advice of business gurus to becoming a "raving fan" of operational efficiency. I reveal the "aha moment" that changed everything: the realization that systems are simply business habits.

Just as we don’t rise to the level of our goals but fall to the level of our systems, I explain how creating predictable routines allows your "creative spark" to thrive without the weight of 100-hour work weeks.

In this episode, you will discover:

The 80/20 Creative Split: Why spending 80% of your time on production and 20% on research is the secret to avoiding burnout.

The North Star Filter: A simple, powerful question to ask before starting any task to eliminate waste and inefficiency instantly.

Freedom for the Solopreneur: How systems benefit those who don't want to manage a massive team but do want financial stability and more time to "play."

AI as a Mirror: How to use tools like ChatGPT to identify holes in your current "business habits" and refine your personal genius.

Permission to Deviate: Why having a system actually gives you the safety to "play hooky" or change direction without your business falling apart.

My insights are designed specifically for the founder who is tired of "cookie-cutter" solutions and "transactional consultants."

This is about moving from being Storm-Tossed to finding a Greener Green—where your business feels as light and effortless as the vision that started it all."The better systems we have, the more they free us up to do what we're best at."

"I would drop all of that for one instant realization if someone would tell me that what I do really matters."

It started with a 2:00 AM doom-scroll. Wendy Lipton-Dibner, sleepless and searching, stumbled upon a social media thread that exposed the raw nerve of the modern workforce.

Hundreds of people, from every walk of life, confessing a single, unifying truth: they were desperate for proof that their lives counted.

As founders, we know that 2:00 AM feeling well. We call it "The Fog."

It’s that quiet, nagging suspicion that despite the revenue, the growth, and the noise, we might just be drifting. We build, we scale, we hustle—but when we put our heads on the pillow at night, do we feel pride? Or do we just feel tired?

In this episode of The Lighthouse Sessions, we aren't just talking about "impact" as a buzzword. We are dismantling it, defining it, and most importantly—measuring it.

My guest is Wendy Lipton-Dibner, an organizational impact strategist and inventor who has cracked the code on measuring "real-world Impact." She argues that for too long, we have settled for measuring transactions: units sold, hours worked, five-star reviews. But the real value—the thing that clears the fog and proves your worth—happens after the transaction.

It happens in the ripples.

If you are a visionary entrepreneur who is tired of the "hustle" and craves a compass that points toward true meaning, this conversation is your map.

In this episode, we cover:

🌊 The Science of "Mattering"Why "impact" has become a meaningless buzzword (like saying "I love you" too often) and the precise, scientific definition you need to adopt today: "The measurable difference we make in people's lives as the direct result of contact with us."

📊 Beyond the 5-Star ReviewWhy most businesses are measuring the wrong thing. We discuss the trap of stopping at the "transaction" and how to start tracking the 12 life areas your product transforms after the customer walks away. This is about finding the "Impact Ripples" you didn't even know you were creating.

🧪 The "Pillow Test" for FoundersSuccess isn't a P&L statement. Wendy breaks down the ultimate metric for entrepreneurs: When you go to sleep at night, is your primary emotion fear ("Will we survive?") or gratitude ("Look at who we helped")? Shifting your focus to impact doesn't just help you sleep; it drives revenue.

❤️ The Cure for DisengagementLayoffs, burnout, and "quiet quitting" are symptoms of a single disease: a lack of proof. Learn how providing your team with concrete, data-backed evidence of their daily impact can transform a culture of apathy into one of deep purpose.

📈 The Physics of CausalityIt’s not enough to do good; you have to prove you were the pebble that started the ripple. We discuss "Causality"—the gold standard of impact that allows you to draw a straight line between your work and your client’s life change. This is where marketing becomes effortless.

📝 The "24-Hour" Rule

Understanding the critical window of "Initial Impact" and how to map the journey from immediate benefit to long-term life transformation.

Why Watch This Episode?

If you have ever felt like you are navigating without a map, or if the "proven paths" of standard business advice feel hollow, this episode offers a new way to steer. You don't need to change who you are to make a difference. You just need to change how you measure what you are already doing.

Wendy’s methodology offers a profound shift: You are not the problem. The chaos isn't proof of your failure; it's just proof you haven't been tracking the ripples.

Start measuring the invisible. Validate your vision. Clear the fog.

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: What Matters Matters Most by Wendy Lipton-Dibner

• The Tech: Explore the Real-world Impact Metrics at realworldimpactmetrics.com or proveyourimpact.com.

• Connect: Find Wendy Lipton-Dibner on LinkedIn.

Are you drowning in business cards but starving for genuine connection?

If you have ever left a networking event feeling drained, holding a stack of cards from people who didn’t even ask your name, this episode is your permission slip to stop playing that game.

In this special solo episode of The Lighthouse Sessions, host Jeff Borschowa presses "pause" on the holiday hustle to offer a much-needed nervous system reset for the visionary founder. We are stripping away the noise of transactional sales tactics and "always-be-closing" culture to reveal a quieter, more powerful truth: You don’t need a bigger network. You need a truer compass.

Most founders are taught that networking is a numbers game. We are told to work the room, distribute our "value," and treat every handshake like a potential transaction. Jeff calls this the "Blackjack Dealer" approach —flinging cards at strangers in the hopes that one sticks.

But for the neurodivergent, intuitive, or deeply creative founder, this approach isn't just ineffective—it’s exhausting. It leads to the "fog" where you feel busy but directionless, connected to everyone but supported by no one.

Today, we explore the antidote.

Jeff shares his personal philosophy on why the most profitable, sustainable relationships in his life are often with people he has never exchanged money with. We discuss why trust is a stronger currency than cash, and how shifting your focus from "closing deals" to "enriching lives" can paradoxically lead to the very growth you’ve been chasing.

• The Nervous System Reset: Why the most strategic move you can make right now is to stop, breathe, and refuse to add to the holiday frenzy.

  
  

• The "Back Room" Networker: Why the real power players aren't the loudest ones in the room—they are the ones staying behind to help, listen, and serve.

  
  

• The "Net Lives Enriched" Metric: Why we are officially ignoring vanity metrics like download numbers and audience size. Jeff explains a concept borrowed from Fred Reichheld (Winning on Purpose) that redefines success not by how many people know you, but by how many lives you improve.

  
  

• The Pivot for The Lighthouse Sessions: A candid look at why we are shortening our episodes in the New Year to respect your "endurance" and time.

  
  

• The Foundational Blueprint: How The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann became the "source code" for this entire podcast.

If you are a founder who values mastery, autonomy, and soulful growth—you likely feel the tension between the pressure to scale and the desire to stay aligned. You might worry that if you stop "hustling," you'll fall behind.

This episode challenges that fear. It posits that alignment is speed.

When you stop treating people like leads and start treating them like partners in a shared mission, the "fog" lifts. You stop drifting. You start navigating by a lighthouse that attracts the right opportunities to you, rather than chasing them down in the dark.

• The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann

• Winning on Purpose by Fred Reichheld

• Endless Referrals by Bob Burg

• The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes

You built this business to find freedom, so why does it sometimes feel like a cage?

For the visionary founder, there is a specific, silent kind of exhaustion. It isn’t just about long hours or missed sleep; it’s the spiritual fatigue of “wish marketing”—throwing energy into the void, hoping something sticks, and slowly sanding off the edges of your own genius just to fit a mold that was never made for you.

You might be winning on the surface. Revenue is up. The team is growing. But internally? You’re navigating a fog that no spreadsheet can fix. You’re working harder than ever, yet you feel like you’re drifting.

In this episode of The Lighthouse Sessions, we stop pretending that “hustle” is the answer.

I am joined by Charity Brown—author, coach, and creator of the Happy CEO Method. Charity’s story is a mirror for any founder who has ever hit rock bottom while looking successful to the outside world.

After spending 20+ years as a high-level corporate controller and fractional CFO, Charity found herself 100 pounds overweight, recovering from back surgeries, and deeply burnt out. She realized she had spent years building someone else’s dream while her own inner fire turned into ash.

She didn't just need a new strategy; she needed a new rhythm.

Together, we dismantle the dangerous myth of the "Self-Made" entrepreneur and explore why trying to navigate the fog alone is the fastest route to failure. We dive deep into Charity’s Four Ps Framework—a system designed not just for profit, but for peace.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

• The "Inner Fitness" Requirement: Why your business strategy will always fail if your internal world is chaotic. Charity explains why "Power" comes before "Planning" and how to visualize success so clearly that confusion dissolves.

• Stop "Wish Marketing": Are you serving a niche, or are you trying to sell to "everybody with skin"? We discuss the difference between throwing money at the wind and true Positioning—where you establish yourself as the undeniable expert.

• The "Self-Made" Lie: We tackle the isolation many founders feel. Charity shares why the "magic is in the sauce" of mentorship and why you cannot Google your way out of a true identity crisis.

• Profits as Energy: How to heal your relationship with money. We move past the poverty mindset to see revenue as a "flow frequency"—a necessary tool that allows you to give back and build a legacy without depleting your own tank.

• Breaking the Cycle: A candid look at how our burnout affects our children and teams, and why prioritizing your own happiness is the most selfless leadership move you can make.

Watch the full episode to learn how to transition from a burnt-out operator to a Happy CEO.

Connect with Charity Brown:Charity is building a community of "Happy CEOs" and is active on LinkedIn.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charitybrown2021

• Website: charitybrown.biz (Access the Create Clarity with Charity podcast and free book downloads)

Are you drowning in your own expertise?

For the visionary entrepreneur, the problem is rarely a lack of knowledge. It’s the "Curse of Knowledge." You know so much about your craft that you’ve forgotten what it’s like not to know.

You find yourself lecturing your audience on the technical "how-to"—the verbs, the mechanics, the hard work—while they are desperately searching for the "who"—the identity, the transformation, and the result.

You are trying to explain the specifications of the hook, while the fish just want the bait.

In this episode of The Lighthouse Sessions, we are joined by Allan Ngo, a digital solopreneur and "wisdom traveler" who specializes in helping experts simplify their genius. Allan helps one-person businesses traverse the gap between complex expertise and "effortless earning" by stripping away the noise and focusing on deep, human connection.

If you have ever felt like you are shouting into a void despite having a life-changing solution, or if you feel trapped in the "side hustle" energy even though you crave full-time freedom, this conversation is the compass you have been waiting for.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Curse of Knowledge: Why knowing "too much" can actually repel your ideal clients, and how to use the "$1 Word Rule" to build immediate safety and trust.

• Transformation Over Information: Why you must stop selling the "verbs" (the labor) and start selling the "noun" (the identity). Allan shares the perfect analogy of the music teacher: don’t sell "reading notes," sell the ability to "play a song after hearing it once".

• The "Side Hustle" Trap: How the label "side hustle" acts as a subconscious safety net that gives you permission to fail—and why shifting your identity to "full-time entrepreneur" (regardless of your hours) changes everything.

• Chop Wood, Carry Water: The antidote to the roller coaster of entrepreneurship. Allan reveals his philosophy for the "Minimum Viable Day"—taking consistent, undramatic action whether you just had a massive win or a crushing loss.

• Validation Without Complexity: Stop building massive systems before you have a customer. Allan explains how to use a simple Google Doc to "pre-sell" your idea in 7 days, validating your offer before you waste months on tech.

Allan’s philosophy is simple: "You don’t need to teach everything you know. If you know a hundred things, teach one.". This episode is a masterclass in un-complicating your business, removing the emotional drama from your daily tasks, and finding the rhythm that allows you to scale without losing your soul.

Ready to simplify? Watch the full episode to learn how to turn your complex wisdom into an effortless engine for growth.

Exclusive Gift for Listeners:Allan has generously provided a "Buyer Signals" resource specifically for our community—a collection of seven email templates designed to get your audience to raise their hand without you feeling "salesy."

📥 Download the "Buyer Signals" Resource:

⁠https://learn.digitalsolopreneur.com/jeff⁠

Are you drowning in data but starving for clarity?

For the visionary founder, the modern digital landscape often feels less like a playground and more like a thick fog.

You are bombarded with endless advice: Be on every platform. Chase the algorithm. Optimize for clicks. The result isn’t growth; it’s exhaustion. You find yourself staring at slide decks full of "up and to the right" charts—likes, impressions, clicks—yet you know, deep down, the real business fundamentals feel shaky.

You are working harder than ever, but are you actually moving forward, or are you just drifting?

In this episode of the Lighthouse Sessions, we cut through the noise with Ronnie Malewski, Managing Director of NP Digital Canada.

Ronnie isn’t your typical agency executive. He is a builder who grew a division from a single laptop to a team of 55, not by chasing trends, but by obsessing over what never changes: human connection, solid product fundamentals, and business math.

He joins us to dismantle the "hustle culture" myths of digital marketing and offers a new rhythm for leaders who want to scale without losing their soul.

Whatever you do, don't miss these insights:

1. The "CEO of Three Things" FrameworkIf you feel overwhelmed by the daily grind, it is likely because you are doing jobs that aren't yours. Ronnie shares a liberating framework (inspired by Trey Taylor) that simplifies the CEO's role down to just three non-negotiable tasks: Cultivating Culture, Managing Talent, and Overseeing the Numbers. Everything else? It’s a distraction. This is permission to stop micromanaging and start leading.

2. Why "Clicks" Are a TrapVanity metrics are comfortable. They are fast, easy to measure, and make us feel productive. But as Ronnie warns, they are often a hiding place—an "illusion of progress" that saves us from having the difficult, necessary conversations about revenue and margin. We explore why you need to stop optimizing for egos and start optimizing for the only thing that keeps the lights on: real business impact.

3. Growth is Math, Not MagicStop throwing money at problems you haven't diagnosed. Ronnie explains why growth is actually a mathematical equation. Before you launch the next campaign, you have to find the "leaks" in your bucket. If your product, retention, or operations are misaligned, marketing is just an expensive way to tell more people you aren't ready for them.

4. The "Front Battlegrounds" LeaderYou don’t have to be the aloof visionary in the ivory tower to be a great leader. Ronnie champions the leader who stays on the "front battlegrounds"—someone who maintains a pulse on client work and team morale without suffocating them. It is possible to love the craft and lead the company.

5. Reclaiming Your Agency

Perhaps the most powerful takeaway is Ronnie’s reminder that "nobody controls your career but you". Whether you are a founder feeling stuck in a role you created or a professional looking for the next step, you have the agency to make bold moves. You are not a passenger in your own journey.

Why This Episode Matters Now

The pace of change in digital marketing is currently outpacing the industry’s ability to adapt. In a world screaming about AI and automation, Ronnie brings us back to the human element. He reminds us that marketing isn't about tricking an algorithm; it's about the "first thousand customers". It’s about ensuring that what you build is so good that people want to talk about it.

This conversation is an invitation to step out of the fog. It is a call to stop treating your business like a slot machine and start treating it like an engine—one that you can tune, repair, and steer with intention.

Are you suffering from "Shiny Object Syndrome"? Do you feel like you are doing 12,000 different things to grow your business, yet the needle barely moves?

You are not alone in the fog.

In this episode, we strip away the noise of modern scaling to focus on what actually works: Pigheaded Discipline.

We are joined by David Asarnow, a serial entrepreneur who doesn't just talk about growth—he engineers it. From growing a corporate division by $45 million in five years to working directly with legends like Tony Robbins and the late Chet Holmes, David understands the difference between being "busy" and being effective.

If you have ever felt paralyzed by the pressure to execute complex marketing strategies like the "Dream 100," this conversation offers a massive relief valve. David breaks down why chasing a hundred prospects is a recipe for burnout, and how a hyper-intentional "Target 25" (or even "Target 10") can yield exponentially better results while protecting your energy.

We also dive deep into the future of Artificial Intelligence. For the visionary founder who fears AI might replace their creativity, David reframes the narrative completely. He shows us how to use AI not as a replacement, but as a "collaborative partner"—a tool to challenge your thinking, sharpen your strategy, and create the leverage necessary to stay relevant in a rapidly shifting market.

In this episode, you will discover:

• The "Valley" Trap: Why entrepreneurship isn't just a climb. David shares a metaphor from his trek in the Himalayas about the dangerous "valley" between peaks and how to short-circuit the fear of free-falling .

• Pigheaded Discipline Refined: Why success isn't about doing 12,000 things; it’s about doing one thing 12,000 times with relentless focus .

• The "Target 25" Strategy: How to stop drowning in leads and start cultivating the deep, high-value relationships that actually double your revenue .

• The "Sneaker" Story: The audacious, creative campaign David used to get his foot in the door with executives at McDonald’s and Walmart (proof that creativity beats brute force every time) .

• AI for Visionaries: Why you don't need to learn to code. The skill of the future is "Prompt Engineering"—learning to talk to intelligence to manifest your vision .

Theme of the Episode: Most entrepreneurs have shiny object syndrome and do 12,000 things... Mastery is doing one thing 12,000 times.

If you are ready to stop drifting and start steering by a clearer compass, this episode is your invitation to focus.

About the Guest:David Asarnow is the founder of Business Nitrogen, a growth strategy company that helps high-level entrepreneurs build, grow, and scale. A veteran of the industry who cut his teeth with the giants of personal development, David now helps founders harness the power of AI to create massive leverage.

🚨 Visionary Founder: Are You Trapped in the Fog? Stop Selling Your Soul for Scale!

If you are a visionary founder who feels constantly overwhelmed, burned out, and secretly lost despite your success, this is the most important conversation you will watch this year.

Jeff Borschowa sits down with Miranda Solomon, a financial advisor with 30 years of industry experience, to move far beyond wealth management and tackle the elephant in the room: How does a high-IQ, deeply intuitive entrepreneur navigate business when the systems meant to "free you" just feel like another form of drift?

Miranda and Jeff, both openly sharing their experiences with ADHD, validate the core fear of every visionary founder: losing your creative spark and autonomy just to keep the business afloat.

This episode offers the antidote to feeling fogbound. Miranda’s experience proves that you don't need another cookie-cutter framework; you need a rhythm that aligns your natural creativity with sustainable execution.

In this transformative session, you will discover:

• The Quantum Leap of Delegation: Miranda reveals why she hired assistants much sooner than she could technically afford them. Struggling with administrative details was preventing her from doing her best work, leading to a "quantum leap" in business and customer experience. If you dislike a task, delegate it!

• The Power of Specialization: Stop trying to be "all things to all people". Miranda insists on the value of being a specialist, comparing it to seeking a doctor who focuses only on knees. Be the specialist, be the rock star.

• The Synergy of Neurotypes: The powerful business combination of those who excel at starting projects (ADHD) and those who excel at finishing projects (Autistic). Visionaries need implementers who "thrive in the details" to integrate and execute their ideas.

• Controlled Chaos is Normal: Why visionary entrepreneurs often become uncomfortable when things are too stable, feeling like it's the "calm before the storm". Learn to work with your neurotype, not against it.

• Sales is Service: Why clients prioritize trust and service over specific product details. In a relationship-based business, genuinely aiming to help people and operating with authenticity is the key to consistency and long-term success.

This conversation is your invitation to listen. You are not failing; you are simply navigating without a compass.

💡 Your Genius Needs the Right Rhythm, Not Another Rigid System