Selling your company isn’t always a flex. Sometimes the bravest exit is walking away. If you’re “fine” but your body is screaming, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Exit Whisperer, Carrie sits down with Roslyn McLarty, co-founder of The GIST, who left a fast-growing, funded company when burnout stopped being a vibe and started being a warning sign.

We get into the unsexy truth founders don’t post: the eye twitch, the dread, the “take a long weekend” advice that solves nothing, and the moment you realize it’s not just hard — it’s misaligned. Roslyn breaks down what burnout actually is (a chronically activated nervous system), how to tell “push through” from “get out,” and why chasing outcomes (revenue, valuation, the headline) is the fastest route to losing yourself.

02:19 Meet Roslyn McLarty

04:18 Building The GIST From Scratch

05:08 Why Fundraising Was an Uphill Battle

07:24 Role Misalignment: The Silent Burnout Trigger

12:41 Hitting Burnout — And Finally Stopping

19:56 The Inner Critic That Won’t Shut Up

20:16 How Burnout Warps Business Decisions

21:22 The Emotional Whiplash of Leaving Your Company

22:19 Processing Grief, Relief, and Identity Loss

24:25 Finding Alignment After the Exit

26:16 Rebuilding Without Burning Out Again

29:50 How to Recognize and Regulate Burnout

33:44 What Every Founder Needs to Hear

Meghan built exactly the kind of business founders are told to want: flexible, profitable, and “lifestyle-friendly.” Then her 10-year-old assumed she’d be working at hockey practice — and she realized the business had quietly taken more than it ever gave back.

In this episode of The Exit Whisperer, Carrie sits down with Meghan Block, founder of Wicked Good Mom Media to unpack how a single local domain turned into a multi-market media company — and why scaling it further would’ve required giving up the one thing she wasn’t willing to lose: presence with her kids.

01:31 Meet Meghan Block: From Domain To Media Company

03:06 Building Wicked Good Mom Media

05:45 Scaling A Hyperlocal Business

10:06 The “Summer Of Mama” Reset

12:08 The Moment She Decided To Sell

12:59 Getting The Business Exit-Ready

15:01 Why Private Equity Wasn’t The Answer

15:27 Defining The Right Buyer

16:03 Protecting Financial Security After The Sale

16:17 Why She Refused A Long-Term Earnout

16:57 Finding The Buyer By Accident

18:15 When Family Becomes The Real KPI

21:35 The Boundary That Changed Everything

27:35 What’s Next After The Exit

Most acquisitions fail because founders obsess over the price — not the people. Monica Kocher built and exited two companies by doing the opposite. In this episode, Carrie sits down with Monica, a rare founder who bootstrapped and sold twice — once through a strategic partnership that became an acquisition, and once through an advisory relationship that turned into a buyer.

This is a masterclass in what most founders get wrong: thinking exits are transactions, not long-term relationships. Monica breaks down why partnering before you sell can be the difference between a smooth exit and a cultural disaster, and why letting a potential acquirer see your company up close is not weakness, it’s leverage.

01:00 Meet Monica Kocher

02:15 First Exit: Building And Selling Gugu Chew

04:08 How The Acquisition Came Together

07:15 Looking Back On The Gugu Chew Exit

08:56 Second Company: The Smart Gift Idea

11:04 Partnering With 1-800-FLOWERS

13:16 Why Advisory Boards Matter More Than You Think

13:57 Aligning Vision With Advisors Early

14:47 How COVID Changed Corporate Gifting Forever

15:15 Scaling Fast Without Losing Control

16:08 Inside The Acquisition Process

16:44 When Advisors Become Acquirers

20:34 Advice For Women Building Toward An Exit

23:43 Final Takeaways + How To Find Monica