When Anna and her husband inherited the family business, they thought they’d have time. Time to learn. Time to be mentored by his grandfather—the man who built it. But just a few months after they took over, he passed away unexpectedly… and they were left holding the keys with no playbook.

In this episode, Anna shares what it really looked like to navigate that kind of loss—while keeping the business alive. We talk about what it’s like to run a legacy company for 30 years, the customer story that completely changed her business model, and how a surprise email led her to buy a gym she was once too scared to walk into.

This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a real-life story of business ownership, grief, reinvention, and learning to sell yourself when you’ve always been product-adjacent.

If you’ve ever been the one everyone’s looking to for answers—while quietly wondering if you're making the right calls—this conversation will hit home.

🎧 We talk about:

• Taking over a family business without a guide
• Listening to your customers (even when it’s inconvenient)
• The silent grief of closing a business you loved
• Becoming the product when coaching is personal
• Why “I will never give up” still matters—especially when you almost do

Anna Ludwinowski is a 4x founder and seasoned entrepreneur of 32 years.

As a Strategic Business Coach, she helps Coaches and Fractional Executives simplify their strategies, refine their messaging, and build businesses with clarity and confidence.

Her approach focuses on actionable, easy-to-implement strategies that guide her clients to:

CLARIFY their messaging, SIMPLIFY their strategy, and ATTRACT the right clients without the fluff!

Based in beautiful Vancouver, Canada, Anna loves spending time on the water and fishing with her family.

She’s also a proud Mom to her one son, and Pet Mom to two dogs and eight rescued chickens.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-ludwinowski-strategic-business-coach/

Website: https://annaludwinowski.com/

The clarity toolkit: https://beneficial-raincoat-ecb.notion.site/The-CLARITY-Toolkit-1b17e21cda7c80a598f1cfd823166edc

Website: https://talentdevelopmentnerds.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicemitchelltdnerd/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talent_development_nerd/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@candicemitchell.TDNerd

Talent Development Academy: https://talentdevelopmentnerds.com/tda

Original music composed by: Paul DeHaven

pauldehavenmusic.com

If you've ever been asked to fix company culture in a two-hour workshop… or deliver “quick training” with zero context, you're not alone.

This episode dives deep into one of the biggest challenges facing Learning & Development professionals today: managing expectations.

We explore:

🎯 Why L&D expectations are so confusing (and where that history comes from)

📍 What you are actually responsible for (hint: it's not being the company therapist)

🚫 What you aren’t responsible for (say goodbye to being the catch-all solution)

🧠 How to reframe conversations and position yourself as a strategic leader, not an order-taker

This episode is practical, real, and a little bit freeing. Because the second you start defining your role with clarity, the easier it is to lead with confidence.

• The Infinity Loop
• The 5-Spoke Impact Model
• The L&D Impact Checklist

Whether you're an L&D practitioner, HR pro, or just trying to make learning actually work in your org, this one’s for you.

🔗 Grab the free L&D Impact Toolkit

💛 Explore the Talent Development Academy

Website: https://talentdevelopmentnerds.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicemitchelltdnerd/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talent_development_nerd/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@candicemitchell.TDNerd

Talent Development Academy: https://talentdevelopmentnerds.com/tda

Original music composed by: Paul DeHaven

pauldehavenmusic.com

If you’ve ever felt like you’re not built for the corporate mold—or like the traditional career path just isn’t it, this conversation is your permission slip to do it your way.

In this vibrant, raw, and wickedly insightful episode, I sit down with Mark Gaisford, a video strategist who went from delivering pizzas and motorbike couriering around London to leading a recruitment firm, getting diagnosed with ADHD at 52, and eventually building a business that fits him (not the other way around).

We talk about:

• What it’s like to realize late in life that you’ve been neurodivergent all along
• Why managing people isn’t for everyone—and how self-awareness is the ultimate career hack
• The real (unsexy) truth about being a business owner in 2025
• How to market yourself without selling out your soul
• Why video is the most powerful tool in your business arsenal today—and how to actually use it

This one’s full of laughs, truth bombs, and genuinely liberating reflections for anyone in the L&D, coaching, consulting, or entrepreneurial space.

Whether you’re neurodiverse yourself or just tired of fitting into a system that doesn’t feel built for you, Mark’s story is a reminder that your career doesn’t have to follow the rules to be right.

👀 Watch this if you:

• Want to show up authentically online
• Are building a business that feels good, not just profitable
• Are navigating late ADHD diagnosis, reinvention, or burnout
• Believe people matter more than perks

🎧 Let’s cut through the noise, ditch the LinkedIn lies, and talk about what building a career actually looks like.