In this episode of Founders Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we’re joined by Verna Haywood, life coach, speaker, therapist, and founder of Unstoppable Life with Verna Haywood. Verna shares her powerful life journey, from growing up in the Caribbean and navigating deep personal trauma to building resilience through faith, healing, and lived experience. She opens up about loss, abuse, miscarriage, cancer survival, and caregiving, explaining how these defining moments shaped her calling to help others rediscover their strength and self-belief.

Verna explores her coaching philosophy, which centers on mindset, self-worth, and personal responsibility, helping people—especially women—break free from self-doubt and limiting beliefs. She discusses her work across one-to-one coaching, group programs, and holistic therapies, emphasizing the importance of nurturing individuals so they can truly “bloom.” Looking ahead, Verna shares her vision of building a legacy-driven foundation focused on changing lives globally through empowerment, education, and inner healing.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we’re joined by Anne Alvarez, parent coach, school counsellor, and former teacher, and the founder of Masterful Parenting. Anne shares her deeply personal journey from decades in education and counselling to launching a purpose-led parenting practice shaped by healing, faith, and lived experience. After navigating a painful personal chapter, Anne felt called to help parents break generational cycles and create healthier, more connected family dynamics rooted in understanding rather than control.

Anne dives into her hands-on coaching approach, particularly supporting mothers and parents of teens, where emotional regulation, communication, and self-awareness are most tested. She explains how unresolved childhood experiences influence parenting responses, why self-care is essential to calm leadership at home, and how reframing a child’s behavior can transform relationships. The conversation also explores building a mission-driven business, growing organically through content and community, and Anne’s vision to scale her impact globally through coaching, speaking, and an upcoming book designed to make healing accessible for parents everywhere.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Zach Young, we’re joined by Sarah Jade, a virtual assistant, business support specialist, and mentor helping founders streamline operations and reclaim time. Sarah shares her journey from a fast-paced career in radio broadcasting and the music industry to building a flexible, online business during the 2020 lockdowns. Along the way, she opens up about confidence challenges, career pivots, and how working remotely sparked her decision to step into entrepreneurship.

Sarah breaks down what it really means to build a sustainable VA business, from specializing in a niche and delivering high-level support to balancing strategy with mindset. She also dives into her mentorship program for women becoming virtual assistants, explaining her framework that blends energetics, business systems, and action-based strategy. The conversation explores pricing misconceptions in the VA space, standing out in a crowded market, and how working smarter—not harder—can create both impact and freedom.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Zach Young, we’re joined by Gregg Swanson, executive performance coach and founder of Warrior Mind Coach, who works with high-achieving men navigating burnout that doesn’t look like failure—but quiet exhaustion beneath outward success. Gregg shares his journey from a 20-year career in corporate sales and high-tech telecom into coaching, explaining how reflection, downsizing, and a deep interest in mindset led him to dedicate his life to helping others reclaim clarity, energy, and purpose.

Gregg dives into his coaching philosophy, which centers on helping men rebuild from the inside out by addressing burnout, limiting beliefs, and neglected areas of life. He explains his highly personalized coaching approach, the importance of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual alignment, and why meaningful transformation requires time, commitment, and skin in the game. The conversation also explores long-term performance, leadership under pressure, and why true success means staying whole—not just productive.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Zach Young, we’re joined by Dr. Nolan Lee, a Chicago-based health optimization expert and founder of Balanced Flow and MedGym. Nolan shares his unconventional journey from real estate development and restaurant ownership to becoming a doctor of chiropractic medicine, acupuncturist, and wellness entrepreneur. After experiencing burnout and a major career reset during the 2008 financial crisis, Nolan discovered purpose through yoga, holistic health, and helping people feel better in their bodies—ultimately leading him back to school and into clinical practice.

Nolan explains how Balanced Flow evolved from a one-room rehabilitation clinic into a full-spectrum health optimization model that blends concierge physical therapy with cutting-edge fitness and medical technology. He breaks down the MedGym concept, which focuses on maximizing results in minimal time through personalized care, AI-powered equipment, hormone optimization, and science-backed performance tools. The conversation explores the power of word-of-mouth growth, the shift toward scalable systems, and Nolan’s long-term vision of redefining the future fitness and wellness experience.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we’re joined by Serena Franchini, registered nurse and founder of The Healing Fawn. Serena shares her journey from nearly two decades in nursing to building a trauma-informed healing practice rooted in somatic therapy and inner child work, born from her own deeply personal healing process.

The conversation explores how trauma is stored in the body, why talk therapy alone often isn’t enough, and how nervous system regulation supports lasting change. Serena discusses her work with clients navigating parental addiction trauma and emotionally overwhelming divorces, the importance of readiness in healing, and why this work must be approached gently rather than forcefully. She also reflects on articulating somatic healing to new audiences, building trust through authenticity, and creating spaces for healing that honor safety, embodiment, and compassion.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we’re joined by Eevi Niemelä, an empowerment and mindset coach whose work centers on self-connection, inner awareness, and conscious living. Eevi shares her journey from studying psychology and navigating her own experiences with depression and anxiety to discovering coaching as a path for empowering others to reconnect with their true potential.

The conversation explores Eevi’s approach to helping ambitious individuals overcome self-doubt, people-pleasing, and fear of judgment by embracing their uniqueness as a strength. She discusses her one-on-one coaching, group programs, and future plans for scalable offerings, while reflecting on the challenges of growth, time management, and staying aligned while building a freedom-based lifestyle through authenticity, mindset, and intentional action.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Milan Kohut, we’re joined by Rose Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Compass Rose Ventures, a growth advisory firm helping high-potential consumer brands navigate complexity and scale sustainably. Rose shares her journey from leading omnichannel marketing and digital strategy at major brands like PetSmart and Best Buy to working directly with founders when growth slows, systems strain, or leadership clarity begins to break down.

The conversation explores how Compass Rose Ventures operates as a fractional operating partner rather than a traditional agency, embedding deeply within businesses to stabilize foundations before accelerating growth. Rose discusses diagnostics, data-driven decision-making, brand and go-to-market strategy, leadership alignment, and scalable execution across DTC, retail, Amazon, and wholesale channels, while also reflecting on the challenges of scaling advisory businesses and the importance of disciplined leverage, pattern recognition, and building growth without sacrificing culture or long-term resilience.