Order my USA TODAY Bestselling book: toxicgrit.com TOXIC GRIT: How to have it all and (actually) love what you have. It will help you create a new approach to ambition and find space for all the diverse parts of yourself. Join 75K+ others who read my newsletter 🧩 Life's a Game at amandagoetz.com. It’s full of free tips to play the game of life at a whole new level. In 2018 I found myself at the height of my marketing career with 3 kids under the age of 4 and filing for divorce. In a world telling me to find alignment......I realized that was impossible. The work version of me didn't want to leave early to go be with the kiddos. The mom version of me didn't want to miss a moment with them. I wanted to be fiercely independent and yet also wanted to find love again. Other versions of me didn't want to feel responsible for anything or anyone. This diversity within me led to the creation of my Character Theory Framework. This framework helped me to create space for the 10 characters that make up the movie of your life:  The CEO → wants to pursue big goalsThe Partner → desires companionship  The Soloist → cares about personal growth and development The Caregiver → deep desire to take care of others and show up for themThe Goddess → wants to be desired and pursue pleasure  The Lazy One → loves to couch rot, no goals whatsoever The Socialite → values connection The Creative → desires creation and creativity The Doctor → your inner health &amp; wellness character The Explorer → craves novelty And it helped me. I was able to let go of the idea of balance and give permission for hierarchy, boundaries and the transition sequences necessary to embody these diverse characters. So I put it all in a book and it was an instant best seller!! I'm so excited for you to create space for all parts of you and to see ambition as multi-dimensional. Follow me here for advice as I build a multi-hyphenate life as a CMO, Author, Mom of 3 and getting married again. 

Amanda Goetz

I took a month from posting to really sit with myself and think about what I wanted for 2026. Here’s why….

I spent a lot of the last year in survival mode. 
After a divorce with 3 small kids I was always proving. Pushing. Needing to provide for my family. 

But now I’m on stable ground and yet my nervous system hasn’t caught up. I still feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

That I need to prove I’m worthy. 
That I need to prove I’m smart. 
That I need to prove why I’m here. 

So this year my word is ENOUGH. 

And I’m going to spend the year learning what enough looks like. 

To be enough. 
To earn enough. 
To do enough. 

I love my new CMO role. 
I have a new exciting writing project this year. 
I’m hosting season 2 of the Girlboss podcast. 
And my weekly newsletter is a constant creative outlet. 

That’s enough. 

More isn’t always better. 

So if you are also planning to drive the speed limit in 2026 - follow along here as I’ll be sharing what I’m doing and learning along th way.

USA TODAY Bestselling Author of Toxic Grit | 2x Founder (acquired) 5x CMO | Mom x3 | Keynote Speaker | Subscribe ➡️ 🧩 Life’s a Game Newsletter

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I’ve been struggling with 2 things lately:

1) it’s clear that when I spend less time on social media, my mind is clearer and I can write from a place of curiosity and purpose. 

But then when I contribute to social media I feel like I’m feeding the beast that is stealing our curiousity and clarity. 

2) The loss of social from the media. 

The closer I got to big creators, the more I found out about the “teams” behind their posts and replies. I can also clearly tell when someone is using AI to reply to posts. 

So what are we actually doing here? 

The point is to connect and inspire. To evoke thoughts and inject nuance into conversations. To drive awareness to things that people may not see from their seat in this world. 

Anyway….if I’ve been a little MIA on here it’s because of these thoughts. 

I deeply crave meaningful conversations and I am trying to find the right medium to having them.

Another great episode of Ambition 2.0 with @girlboss and Malissa Clark 

Check it out anywhere you get your podcasts!

🗣️ Repeat after us: You can love your job and still be a workaholic.

In this episode of Ambition 2.0, Amanda Goetz sits down with Malissa Clark, a professor at the University of Georgia, Director of the Healthy Work Lab, and author of Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business—and How to Fix It, to break down what workaholism can look like in real life (spoiler: it’s not just about working long hours). 

They get into the sneaky “working light” tasks that we tell ourselves don’t count as work (like sending emails while watching TV or checking Slack between errands), how leaders accidentally create always-on teams, and so much more. 

🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/eKd9rtCv 

💻 Or watch the episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eRqNjSN6

Continuing on my journey of “enough” - it’s important you plan your work around your life. Not the other way around. 

I approach my yearly planning the same way I approach building a marketing calendar as a CMO. 

I slice the calendar in 4 ways:

- Annual tentpoles & events
- Quarterly launches
- Monthly beats
- Weekly non-negotiables

Reminder: Use this link to get your 🧩 Life's a Game Planning calendar. ⬇️⬇️

Open article: 🧩 Life's a Game: Your 2026 Game Plan by amandagoetz.kit.com

Today’s newsletter has already gotten more replies than I normally get. I think this topic resonates…

Check it out and let me know. ⬇️

https://lnkd.in/eHCRCS4b

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Loved this convo with Alexa von Tobel - check it out and let me know what you think!

In this episode of Ambition 2.0, host Amanda Goetz sits down with Alexa von Tobel—the founder of LearnVest (where she raised $75M and successfully sold it to Northwestern Mutual) and current founder and managing partner of Inspired Capital—to unpack the resilient mindset that has shaped her successful career, from founder to venture-capital veteran.

Alexa dropped out of Harvard Business School and poured her life savings into LearnVest, a multimillion-dollar business idea—despite warnings from nearly everyone around her that she was making a big mistake. She did it in the middle of the 2008 economic recession, no less.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode, now live on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts! 

https://lnkd.in/eq-wEGjd

Open video: From Harvard Dropout to VC Powerhouse: How to Bet on Yourself with Alexa von Tobel | Ambition 2.0 on youtu.be

From Harvard Dropout to VC Powerhouse: How to Bet on Yourself with Alexa von Tobel | Ambition 2.0

Founder & CEO @ Windmill Growth

My parents wanted me to become a lawyer, but I was drawn to entrepreneurship.

Two weeks before the course began, I withdrew my admission (losing thousands of dollars) and moved to a new city.

There, I spent my days learning how to code and worked as a bartender at night to support myself.

After that year, I launched a Fintech startup.

But it failed because:
1. I tried to build the product before knowing the market.
2. I miscommunicated with partners.
3. I lacked proper entrepreneurial knowledge.

I felt bad about myself!

But I didn’t stop there.

I worked on myself,
Met high-value people,
Understood how things work.

With all my learnings, I started a marketing-based startup.

I got clients in the very first month, and they're loving our services.

Throughout my journey, I've learned:
1. How to build a Lean Product.
2. How to network with people.
3. How to evaluate yourself.

— all in the hardest way!

Now I want to help others with what I know, sharing my journey and my mistakes.

So, follow me for insights into entrepreneurship, tech, and marketing.

Feeling stuck in your startup journey?
Book a call, and let's discuss the real problems. [It’s Free]

Ben Buaron

I fired my employee for sending this in our general Slack.

Unprofessional. Not acceptable. No place for this in a serious company.

That’s what I’d say if I was a boomer.

In reality, I laughed. Then I screenshotted it. Sent to my mom.

When your team feels comfortable enough to post something like this (Yes, that's me), it tells you they’re not overthinking how you’ll react. They know it’ll be taken the right way.

That’s what psychological safety actually looks like.

We’re having fun, people feel comfortable, and the work is getting done. That’s it.

Having a girlfriend > co-founder. 

Just kidding, you need both.

When I was single, I spent a lot of time dating and thinking about dating. It took up more of my attention than I realized.

Then I started seeing my girlfriend about 6 months ago. Since then, I’ve been more focused and more present day to day.

And the business has grown ~33%.

Not because of anything special. I just have fewer distractions and more clarity.

Most people think being single means more freedom, but my experience has been the opposite.

If that’s the case, next year I’m becoming a billionaire.

I started playing poker when I was 11. Not for real money, but I still learned the game.

Over time, I probably started loving poker too much. But it taught me a lot.

- Taking chances
- Understanding variance
- Luck versus expertise
- How people behave under pressure.

Besides winning founder poker every now and then, the game has helped me manage my business better.

I wouldn’t recommend people start playing poker. It’s addictive, and you can learn these things from other places. But if you already play, you know this.

Poker taught me how to think about outcomes.

And business works the same way.

When I first started going to the gym, people laughed at me.

They said I wasn’t ready and that I didn’t really know what I was doing.

So me being who I am, I kept showing up.

I learned how to bench, then squat, then deadlift.

Over time, I made friends there. Those friends introduced me to other people, and some of those relationships turned into real business opportunities.

After about a year and a half of going 2-5 times a week, I felt different.

I was more confident, more capable, and more comfortable scaling what I was building.

But this post isn’t about the gym. It’s about LinkedIn.

There are only three real reasons to post on Linkedin.

1) You’re trying to sell something
2) You want to drive brand awareness for future investors
3) You want to exit your business one day

The rest is just the downstream effect.

→ Old or churned clients remember you exist
→ New potential clients learn who you are
→ You build social proof without asking for it
→ You create distribution for anything you’ll build later
→ You get invited into conversations, podcasts, and events
→ Your circle expands beyond the same closed group

For me, every strong B2B connection can turn into more than a $50,000 opportunity over time.

That’s why I take LinkedIn seriously.

Hot take: you need to spend 10+ hours a week to win on LinkedIn.

If I wanted to grow on TikTok, I wouldn’t post twice a week and close the app. I’d be on the platform, watching what’s working, engaging with people, and making sure people see me.

LinkedIn is no different.

The people who see results stay present after they post. They check their replies, follow up, and stay involved in the conversation. 

They’re also active in conversations outside of their own.

Posting is just the starting point. What happens before and after that is what most people skip.

Then they wonder why nothing happens.

We spend $25K/month on software and engineering. AS AN “AGENCY”.

Most agencies spend almost everything on labor. We invest ~20% of our revenue into tech, systems, and internal tools that make our business better.

That’s the main reason we were able to support ~170 clients in our first year.

Instead of stacking more people or buying expensive tools that don’t fit our workflows, we’re building what we actually need internally. Our Head of Ops leads that and ships improvements constantly.

It’s less flashy than hiring fast. But it removes friction.

And it scales a whole lot better.

24 hours with clawdbot as my marketing manager.

Things I learned:

1. It's not replacing your best employee. It's replacing your busywork.

Content research. Comment scheduling. Finding engagement opportunities. The stuff that eats 2 hours before you do real work.

Gone.

2. It breaks. A lot.

Crashed twice. Forgot context mid-conversation. Burned $20 at 3am running "heartbeat checks" on nothing.

This is not plug and play.

3. The ROI is already obvious.

12 tweets posted. 30+ comments. Engagement I would've missed. Drafts that actually sound like me.

15 hours of work I didn't do.

4. The unlock isn't the tool. It's the system.

The agent is useless without clear workflows. Approval queues. Content briefs. Folder structures.

You're not hiring an employee. You're building a machine.

5. If you're waiting for it to be "ready" you're already behind.

The founders figuring this out now will have 6-12 months of compounding while everyone else is still asking "is AI actually useful?"

It is. It's just ugly right now.

The holiday season usually makes me more anxious than relaxed.

I come from a place where I’m working 24/7. Even on vacation, I’m still working.

Then you get into periods where suddenly, nobody else is working.

In August, it feels like nobody’s working because everyone’s on vacation.

In December, nobody’s working because of the holidays.

You get to a point where it feels like your business isn’t progressing enough.

And this year I had a hard time with that.

I only realized it when the season already ended.

That anxiety wasn’t telling me to push harder.

It was a signal to rest.

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Ben Buaron

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The Battle

Amanda Goetz

Ben Buaron

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Amanda Goetz's LinkedIn Performance

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