Ambition 2.0

At 25, Hayley Paige signed the contract of a lifetime—head designer at a major bridal house, her name on the label, a fast track to becoming a household name on TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. She went on to generate over $220 million in bridal sales and dress more than 10,000 brides.

Then, in the middle of a contract renegotiation, it all fell apart. In the span of just 24 hours, a judge's ruling took away her right to use her own birth name. She couldn't use it in business, couldn't publicly identify with it, and was locked into a seven-year unpaid non-compete—all while her former company took control of the social media accounts she'd spent a decade building.

This week on Ambition 2.0, Amanda Goetz sits down with Hayley to talk about the raw, deeply emotional experience of going through a public legal battle, how she rebuilt her business from the ground up, and the red flags she now tells every young creator to watch for before they sign any contract.

Key Takeaways

Signing a contract early in your career without a lawyer can leave you exposed for years, even after you've outgrown its original terms.

Believing "if I provide enough value, anything is negotiable" is a risky mindset going into any negotiation.

Once you're operating at a high level, you set your own precedent, and that gap between your value and your original terms is where disputes start.

Watch for red-flag language like "perpetuity," worldwide rights, and broad name, image, and likeness clauses before signing anything.

Contracts should hold up to your questions; if they can't, it might not be the right opportunity.

Setting boundaries early and having difficult conversations up front creates clarity, and contracts are meant to provide clarity, not create conflict.

What happened to Hayley isn't an isolated case; the same pattern shows up across industries whenever talent operates under contracts they've outgrown.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

07:48 How she lost the rights to her own name

11:42 Contract red flags to watch for

15:03 Reclaiming her name and starting her new business

17:52 Launching A Girl You Might Know Foundation

20:13 Hayley’s fave bridal trends + rapid-fire qs

GUEST LINKS

Follow Hayley: https://www.instagram.com/misshayleypaige/

Visit https://hayleypaige.com/

https://www.agirlyoumightknowfoundation.org/

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast

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Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've ever caught yourself calling your side hustle "just a little passion project" while secretly wondering if it could be your next thing—this episode is your permission slip.

Amanda Goetz sits down with Stephanie Cartin and Courtney Spritzer, co-founders of Entreprenista, who quit their corporate jobs on the same day back in 2012 with zero investors, zero business plan, and one very clear number: $4,000 a month each, just to break even.

Fourteen years later, they've built a +3,500-member community, scaled an agency to eight figures in cumulative revenue, and helped women found and grow thousands of businesses.

We cover how they knew it was time to go all in, the real difference between a hobby and a business, whether (and when) to tell your boss about your side hustle, and why community (not funding) is what actually got them to seven figures.

Key takeaways

You don't need a grand plan to quit your job—you need a number: Stephanie and Courtney calculated the bare minimum they each needed to survive and used that as their revenue goal before walking away from corporate.

Stephanie's litmus test: if you're already making money, you have the start of a business. But turning a hobby into a business isn't automatically the right move.

Never burn a bridge, and give yourself a real timeline before walking away from a job (they gave themselves three months to prove it could work).

The single biggest driver of their early growth wasn't a funding round or a growth hack. It was showing up to one random networking group and actually building relationships there.

Comparing your timeline, your funding, or your exit to what you see on Instagram is a fast way to lose sight of the business you actually want to build.

Both Stephanie and Courtney say if they were starting a business today, they'd go all-in on learning AI.

Timestamps

[00:00] Intro

[05:05] The exact day they quit their corporate jobs

[08:47] How to tell a hobby apart from a real business opportunity

[10:44] The most common (and costly) mistake new founders make

[11:35] Did they set out to build Socialfly to sell it? The surprising answer

[14:49] How to spot your first "side hustle idea"—and use AI as a brainstorming partner

[17:48] Building a business while working full-time, without burning out

[20:20] Should you tell your boss about your side hustle?

[23:37] Why community (not funding) is their real superpower

[29:06] Rapid fire: tools, time-wasters, and the best (and worst) advice they've ever gotten

GUEST LINKS

Follow Entreprenista: https://www.instagram.com/entreprenistas

Join the Entreprenista League: https://www.entreprenista.com/tel-start

Follow Stephanie: https://www.instagram.com/stephjillcartin/

Follow Courtney: https://www.instagram.com/courtspritzer/

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast

SIGN UP

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to our first-ever solo episode with host Amanda Goetz! With an impressive career trajectory that spans roles at big corporations, startups, and as an author, Amanda offers invaluable insights into navigating the professional world in this big-sister-style coffee chat. She pulls from her own career path (Ernst & Young → celebrity wedding planner → startup founder → The Knot → CMO at Reale Actives) to give you real, tactical advice on annual reviews, one-on-ones, burnout, job searching, and more.

Consider this your permission slip to stop white-knuckling your career on your own.

Got a question for a future episode? Send it to @girlboss or @theamandagoetz on Instagram.

00:00 Intro

01:43 Amanda’s career journey

03:46 What she'd tell herself during the hardest year of her life

04:40 Her go-to career book recommendation

05:12 How to make the most of one-on-ones with your manager

06:56 Balancing your own opinions with your team's ideas as a leader

10:04 Returning to work after a year-long maternity leave

11:22 How to prepare for your annual review

14:56 Redesigning your career mid-life

17:38 How to know when it's time to leave a job

20:25 Falling back in love with your work

22:51 How to work with someone you don't get along with

24:37 Staying organized (and sane) as a business owner

26:41 Staying motivated during a tough job search

27:36 Managing email and outreach anxiety

28:56 Getting your manager to notice how much you're doing

30:00 Balancing all the hats marketers have to wear

31:31 Outro

Key Takeaways



Use the "start, stop, continue" framework in every one-on-one—it turns feedback into something structured, not confrontational.



Build a weekly "operating rhythm," so your team always knows when to bring you ideas.



Send a "managing up Monday" email each week: top wins, focus areas, and shout-outs. Visibility trumps ability.



Before an annual review, translate your work into business terms your boss can repeat to their boss.



Career changes don't need to be justified in hindsight—just take the next step with the best info you have.



Confront conflict directly instead of triangulating through other people.



"Focus and finish": pick two priorities a day instead of running an endless to-do list.

Networking should start long before you need it—keep a running list of contacts and stay in touchGUEST LINKS

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

Book: https://bookshop.org/a/116169/9781464233258

https://www.amandagoetz.com/

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast

SIGN UP

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When's the last time you actually looked at your bank account without cringing? 

Amanda Goetz sits down with Haley Sacks (a.k.a. Mrs. Dow Jones), the internet's favorite financial expert, New York Times best-selling author of Future Rich Person: The New Rules for Building Wealth, and the woman behind the over two-million-strong community Mrs. Dow Jones. Haley built her entire brand on making money feel less shameful and way more accessible. And in this conversation, she gets into exactly how she did it (and how you can too).

They cover why most of us were never actually taught how to manage money (spoiler: it's not your fault), why "deprivation" is the worst financial advice, the money beliefs we absorb before we even turn seven (!!), and why looking rich and being financially powerful are two very different games. Haley also gets real about her own money trauma, her parents' complicated relationship to wealth, and the "aha money moment" that changed everything for her.

Key Takeaways:


People can inherit money, but nobody inherits financial literacy, which means anyone can build it from zero.


There's a floor to how much you can cut from your spending, but there's no ceiling to how much you can earn.


Money dates are Haley's monthly ritual of sitting down with her finances—credit card statements, invoices, upcoming spending—and it's how she stays in control.


Money is a relationship like any other—and you can't grow it if you avoid it. If you never actually sit down with your finances, don't expect it to get stronger.

A “future rich person” has control over their time, their relationships, their choices, and their ability to leave situations that no longer serve them.Timestamps:

[00:00] Intro

[04:50] The origin story of Mrs. Dow Jones

[06:09] The messages girls absorb about money growing up

[08:08] Frictionless finance and doom-spending

[11:09] Growing up with a "Wall Street father" 

[15:23] Why women still feel embarrassed talking about money

[18:25] Looking rich vs. being financially powerful

[20:12] What is financial helplessness

[22:21] Haley's monthly "money date" and the 50/30/20 rule she swears by

[25:08] Why negotiating is the most underrated money move

[28:14] Where women unknowingly give away their financial power 

[30:13] What to do if you feel like you're behind financially 

[31:45] Rapid fire questions

[36:48] What "future rich person" really means to Haley

GUEST LINKS

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

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrsdowjones

Website: https://www.mrsdowjones.com/

Book: https://bookshop.org/a/116169/9798217090907 

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss 

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/ 

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast 

SIGN UP 

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/  

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/ 

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0 

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if "having it all" didn't mean climbing a single corporate ladder but building a whole web of work that fits your real life? An ecosystem of offers, clients, and projects fueled by your network and reputation, where you can tap into different opportunities at different seasons of life.

This week, host Amanda Goetz sits down with Anna Mackenzie, a startup advisor, writer, and author of the newsletter Anna Mack’s Stack, who traded the corporate dream for a self-designed portfolio career. They get into how to diversify your income, why articulating your value is harder (and more important) than selling it, and how to start building on the side without burning out or quitting your day job.

From the sunk cost fallacy that keeps you stuck to the 30-minutes-a-day rule that changed Anna's life, this episode is your friendly reminder to stop forcing your career into a straight line.

Key Takeaways:


A portfolio career is multidimensional and diversified by design—many income streams, projects, and identities at once.


A full-time job can absolutely be part of a portfolio. It's not all-or-nothing.


Your salary can fund the experimentation. Start building on the side before you leap.


Ask past bosses and colleagues what you're good at. You can't always see your set of skills or offers clearly.


Break big scary goals into the smallest achievable unit of effort—what Amanda calls the “KitKat” method.


Structure your portfolio career around three tiers: core, secondary, and experimental income.


You don't need a perfect strategy. Experiment your way to a plan that fits your life.

(00:00) Intro

(02:16) How ambition changes over time

(04:20) What a portfolio career actually is

(06:42) Signs a portfolio career might be for you

(08:55) What keeps people stuck

(11:41) Why the traditional path feels narrow for women

(13:42) The first step: knowing your value

(16:04) Starting when you're too drained

(20:04) Side hustle vs. portfolio career

(21:18) Building your flywheel

(24:30) Deliberate experimentation

(29:16) Rapid fire

GUEST LINKS

Anna’s new 6-week accelerator, The Portfolio Career Build Method: https://www.annamackenzie.com.au/portfoliocareerbuildmethodSubstack: Anna Mack’s Stack 

Website: https://www.annamackenzie.com.au/

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

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@annaclmack 

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

FOLLOW THE PODCAST

IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/ | TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss 

Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/ 

https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast 

SIGN UP 

Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/  

For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/ 

ABOUT AMBITION 2.0 

Powered by Girlboss, Ambition 2.0 is a podcast where we'll be exploring what it really means to "have it all" in work, family, identity, and self… and if it's actually worth it. Each week, you'll hear from hardworking women who've walked the tightrope of ambition. They'll share their costly mistakes, lessons learned, and practical tips for how to have it all and actually love what you have.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices