Sourcebooks

Toxic Grit - How to have it all and (actually) love what you have 
COMING OCTOBER 21, 2025!

Author

Be Clear Communications

We help progressive organizations and their leaders build robust digital presences that reflect their values, elevate their message, and reach the audiences who matter most.

Advisor

Anonymous

Chief Marketing Officer

🧩 Life’s a Game, HLG Projects

Marketing Consultant, Brand Builder, Creator and Author of Life's A Game: An anti-hustle newsletter about building a life on your terms. Personal and professional growth tips and frameworks delivered every Thursday at 8am.

Founder

The Post

Brought on by board as Fractional CMO to grow and scale The Post: the leading community for Leaders: Built By Sport.

Shaklee Corporation

Consulting with the global leader in health & wellness supplements working on innovation & partnerships and go to market positioning of new products.

VP of Marketing - Consultant

House of Wise

Empowering women to take control of their SLEEP, SEX, STRESS and STRENGTH with trusted CBD products.

Founder, CEO

Nue Life Health

4 month contract as fractional CMO to help with brand and marketing strategy.

Teal

6 month contract to help with positioning, team building and go to market strategy.

The Knot Worldwide

Following the December 2018 merger of XO Group Inc. and WeddingWire: We are The Knot Worldwide. With the mission of helping all couples around the world plan every aspect of their unique weddings, The Knot Worldwide is positioned to innovate and accelerate growth in the global wedding industry through The Knot, WeddingWire, bodas.net, and its family of leading wedding and lifestyle brands across the globe. The Knot Worldwide will deliver leading wedding marketplaces, wedding websites, planning tools, registry services and more to over 20 million unique visitors each month internationally through our brands. We're excited for all that is ahead for our brands, our couples, and our partners.

VP of Marketing

Amanda Goetz is a 2x founder, 3x CMO, brand builder and content creator on personal and professional growth and brand building, inspiring over 150,000 people every week through her social insights and weekly newsletter, 🧩 Life's A Game.

Amanda Goetz, was the founder and visionary behind House of Wise, a wellness company focused on creating space for more sleep, hotter sex and less stress. She started House of Wise during the pandemic in her garage, raised two rounds of venture capital and sold it in 2022 all while homeschooling three young children as a single mom.  

Born and raised in a single traffic light Midwest farm town, Amanda is a first generation college grad. Her dad is the town plumber & electrician. A self proclaimed over-achiever, Amanda worked three jobs in college while maintaining a 3.9 GPA and graduating early. 

Fast forward to 2017. Amanda found herself in NYC with 3 children under the age of 5 and navigating a divorce at the height of her career. Living life by a societally-approved checklist of success left her nearly broken. She spent the next 6 years unlearning hustle culture and learning a new way to approach her ambitious life. 

Amanda was the former head of brand for The Knot - the global leader in weddings. Previously, Goetz served as a startup founder building availability software for the wedding industry after spending years analyzing companies for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year program. She also worked for celebrity wedding planner David Tutera as Head of Marketing developing the go-to market strategy for his brands, licensing deals and client partners.

She has built an audience of over 150,000 in the startup and business community learning to live a life of ambition and success without subscribing to today’s hustle culture. She launched a newsletter called 🧩 Life’s a Game with Amanda Goetz to help high performers learn actionable tips for living a life of intention.        

Amanda’s been featured on Access Hollywood, The Skinny Confidential, Forbes, Business Insider and more.

Amanda Goetz

I stopped bringing my whole self to work. 
And I stopped bringing my work self to home. Let me explain…..

The work version of me is assertive, cares about deadlines, financial security and being at the top. 

The home version of me is silly, soft and cares about being the best mom and caregiver possible. 

Those two versions of me don’t often see eye to eye and yet we are constantly being told to find “alignment”. 

My book is about how alignment isn’t always possible. 

It’s about:
- awareness of the character that’s leading
- prioritization 
- focus on their character’s goals 
- timeline for how long you wjlm focus 
- transition sequences to the next character 

Check out my latest op ed for The Wall Street Journal in the link below. 

And if you struggle to make space for all the diverse versions of yourself - grab a copy of Toxic Grit now!

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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Popping on to say this: for every day I spend offline during this post book tour spin cycle….

the more ideas start flowing. 
the less anxiety I feel about the algorithm. 
the more clarity I have about 2026. 

If you never stop to pause and look up, you might miss the beauty of the changing landscapes on the climb.

I'm creatively tapped after my book tour so I'm running a spin cycle. 
If you are feeling the same.....steal this below 👇

Story time....I've spent the two years: 
- writing a best selling book 
- publishing a weekly newsletter for almost 80k people
- conducting interviews for the Girlboss podcast - Ambition 2.0

In Toxic Grit, I talk about “spin cycles” as intentional seasons where you wring out the heaviness that’s built up....... the pressure, the stimulation, the expectations, the constant output.

It's not quitting.
It's not laziness.

It is maintenance.

A spin cycle is a defined period of time where you reduce your RPM so you can keep going without burning out.

Here’s what my current spin cycle looks like:

1. Lower the creative bar
No “big” new projects. I’m focused on maintenance mode only: my FT CMO role and my weekly newsletter. Everything else is being held until next year. 

2. Shift from output to intake
I’m reading more, listening to conversations, and paying attention to what’s landing with people instead of trying to force new ideas. 

3. Tighten my containers
Shorter work blocks, hard stops in the evenings, more white space on the calendar. The constraint is what gives my brain room to reset. 

(and resisting the urge to use that white space for scrolling)

4. Name what can wait
I have a literal list called “Not right now” for every fun, shiny idea that pops into my head. It goes there, not on my actual plate.

5. Redefine “progress”
During a spin cycle, progress is: rested brain, clear thoughts, regulated nervous system. 

Save this for the next time you feel tapped out and ask yourself:
What would a 2–4 week spin cycle look like for me?

What can I pause, simplify, or say no to so I can actually keep going?

This is the path to sustainable ambition.

The number one complaint from employees I talk to? Lack of context + micromanaging. 

I've been silently working in a full time CMO position since July and I can't wait to share more about it soon. 

But I wanted to share the operating rhythm that I have used for 10+ years to increase context and agency across the functions of marketing. 

EVERY WEEK: 

Monday: Async priorities 

I send out an async email called "managing up monday"
This email does 2 things: 
- everyone replies with their 2 main areas of focus for the week so we know where everyone's brains are at
- allows everyone to update the dashboard with previous week's metrics

Tuesdays: 1:1s and team chat 

All of our weekly meetings happen on the same day to get aligned for the week. Since we already know what people are focused on we can use this time to either remove roadblocks or brainstorm ideas. 

Wednesdays: Hallway chat

Now that we are moving and groovin' for the week we use 1 hour on Wednesday for a "sync'd Slack hour". This mimics the hallway chat where you casually ask for the updates and things you need from someone. 

By doing this in Slack at the same time you ensure everyone gets a prompt answer AND everyone gets line of sight into other things moving forward. 

Thursdays & Fridays are open for deep work and closing out the week. 

Thoughts?! 
What do you find that works for your team?

So excited for this event!! If you are in NYC - please come by for this powerhouse event with Girlboss and Her Workplace 

See you December 15th!

✨ NYC, we’re ending 2025 with a moment. ✨

​Join Her Workplace and Girlboss on December 15th for an intimate fireside chat with Amanda Goetz—2x founder, 4x CMO, and author of Toxic Grit—as we explore how to balance drive with joy, ambition with alignment, and growth with grace.

🎤 Redefine ambition without the burnout
📚 First guests receive a signed copy of Toxic Grit
🤝 Connect with women rewriting the rules of success
🍷 Sip Juliet Wine & enjoy an evening powered by Blu Dot

Close the year in a room that fills your cup and your ambition. 💛

Register here—https://lnkd.in/eYU9Xs6V

Toxic Grit isn’t a success just because I worked hard. (I mean, I did work hard but that wouldn't have gotten it to best seller status alone....)

It’s a success because people showed up for me.

Friends who posted the book without me asking.
Podcast hosts who invited me on before they read a single word.
Former coworkers who introduced me to the right editors or hosted events at their companies.
And yes....I had to actually put myself out there and ask for help.


Me asking for help on LinkedIn.
But here's the thing...

Most of the help didn't come from cold networking connections.

These were people I've kept in touch with for years.

People who I have checked in with when I didn’t need anything. I sent voice memos when I saw they were going through something. I celebrated their wins like they were mine.

So when it was finally my turn to ask?

The trust was already there.

A lot of people get networking wrong.

Even the word itself feels transactional. “Be in my network” is just code for: “I’ll contact you when I need something.”

But community?
That’s different.

Community is built when you show up before it’s convenient. It's when you give without tracking what you’re getting back. It's when we remember that humans aren’t LinkedIn headshots...…they’re living, breathing, emotional beings (likely going through their own shit).

I believe it’s more important than ever to have a community of people supporting you through the ups and downs and life yet it’s harder than ever in this current social media landscape.

And to all of those who have been that to me along the way....as I found myself a single mom of 3 kids under the age of 4....as I found myself moving to a new city with no friends or family....or as I shifted careers....

....I'm so thankful for you.

Today's newsletter goes into how I think about networking and doing it differently. 

Read it here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ebw89dUw

graphical user interface, text, application, email

Being a CMO of a new brand launching in Q1 while planning a wedding on a book tour. 

AMA. 

🫣

I took a week off from posting after the first leg of my book tour wrapped and I have to be honest.....I am creatively zapped. 

Every time I go to post something, my brain just......fizzles. 

Is anyone else feeling this way?

My portfolio career Black Friday wish list.....

1. Wish = Less time on social media 
Must have ➡️ Taplio 
30% off today!! 

I barely log into LinkedIn these days because I schedule all my content on 
Taplio. Use code BF30 at checkout! 

2. Wish = Less time in email & scheduling 
Must have ➡️ An EA 

I use Athena EA for my services. Get $2000 off your EA using my link below. 

3. Wish = More time back for other parts of your life 
Must have = USA Today Bestseller ➡️ Toxic Grit: How to have it all and (actually) love what you have

I wrote this book to share all the systems I use to juggle work, life and everything in between. On sale today!!

This week on Ambition 2.0: we sit down with Erika Ayers Badan, former CEO of Barstool Sports, current CEO of Food52, bestselling author of Nobody Cares About Your Career, and all-around master of building a career entirely on her own terms. 

Erika shares candid stories from her time leading one of the most controversial (and successful) media companies in the world, what she’s learned about managing men and underdogs, how to stay emotionally regulated at work, and why she advocates for not bringing your whole self to work (compartmentalization can actually enhance your authenticity). 

🎙️ Listen to Ambition 2.0 here: https://lnkd.in/gsrfr7cC 
💻 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gGTD-pT4 

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and let us know your biggest takeaway (there's lots!) ✍️🙂‍↕️ 

Amanda Goetz

Most businesses are leaking profit and they don’t even know it

After performing over 400 audits of businesses and running three of my own, here’s the truth:
❌ Most owners wildly underestimate their profit potential
❌ They think more sales will magically fix things. (Spoiler: it won't!)

I'm Marika - a CPA, 3X business owner/CEO, Certified Fraud Examiner and ex-auditor turned Profit Strategist. I've lived both sides of biz and have learned firsthand how to turn financial headaches into profit! 

MY EDGE
Auditor’s Eye + Owner’s Mind – I find and help plug overhead leaks, hidden costs, and
missed margins quickly and I truly understand the day-to-day pressures of running a business

Judgment-Free Profit Strategies – Forget the blame game. Instead, we focus on creating a powerful, profitable path forward

Real, Tangible Wins – From renegotiating supplier contracts to fixing pricing, I’m here for real results you can actually see in your bottom line - fast

HOW I HELP 

1.	Complimentary Judgment-Free Profit Leak Audit – In 30 minutes, we will uncover at least 2 ways to boost your bottom line. No risk, no fluff

2.	Paid Deep-Dive – Want more insight after the audit? Book a Bottom Line Brainstorm or Financial Wellness Evaluation. The fee gets credited if you join the Signature Program

3.	Profitability Accelerator – My 6-month coaching program for owners, founders and CEOs who want serious, sustainable profit growth

WHAT CLIENTS SAY

“Marika is one of the most professional and personal advisors I have worked with. She is relentless in her effort to learn and improve your organization's bottom line. I cannot recommend her expertise and services enough." – John H., Controller

“Marika is awesome to work with - she is detailed, thorough, and extremely knowledgeable.” – Kaylin T.

“Her kindness, professionalism, and patience will put you at ease. Highly recommend.” – C.C.

Ready to Stop Guessing and Start Growing?

👉 Book Your Free Profit Leak Audit

Let’s break down your biggest financial headaches and find real profit

No guilt. No stress. Just Clarity, Profit, and Peace of Mind

Marika Ponton CPA, CFE💰📈

Ever hired "help"... only to end up managing them?

That was me last week 

I brought in a vendor to free up time on a crucial project 

Instead, I lost more of it

Within 48 hours, I found myself:
• Without the promised deliverables
• Chasing updates
• Repeating the same answers twice (or more!)
• And eventually mapping out the entire project myself

This wasn’t support
This was noise

And here’s the Profit Truth 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯:
Support isn’t about outsourcing tasks
It’s about outsourcing the mental load that comes with them

A real partner:
• Brings order, not drain on you 
• Frees your time before they improve your output
• Adds capacity, not chaos

If you're the one leading, fixing, deciding, managing?
You didn’t hire a partner
You hired another project

Next time you bring in support, don’t just ask what they will do
Ask what they’ll take off your mental & physical plate

If the answer isn’t crystal clear?
You already know the Profit Truth 

Because the right support should feel like momentum 
Not more management

The Judgment-Free Profitability Coach • CPA, 400+ Audits • 3X Business Owner • 2X Exits → Transform your business with a Profit Mindset

Copenhagen came up - one of my favorite places to slow down

There is magic in the pace. You feel it the moment you arrive

Twenty minutes later, we were deep in trust territory - no pitch required

I met an interesting CEO at a networking event
We skipped business models and swapped European food stories

That conversation built more trust than any sales script - and set the tone for a lasting relationship

And when we did talk business?
It felt mutual. Effortless. Real

The Profit Truth:
Shared passions cut through the noise
They bypass the small talk and land you in the trust zone

Next time, skip the pitch
Ask what lights them up (mine will always be traveling the world 🌍)
Then really listen

Your turn:
What’s the most unexpected topic that led to a real connection or opportunity?

Sometimes the most valuable thing I can give you isn’t a number

It’s belief 🌟 

Belief that you can figure anything out 
Belief that your ideas aren’t too messy
Belief that you’re not behind - you’re just buried under noise and doubt

People tell me all the time:
⭐  “I feel so motivated after talking to you.”
⭐  “I didn’t think I had that in me until you said it.”
⭐  “I actually believe I can figure this out now.”

That’s not random
That’s the shift

Because I don’t just audit your business financials
I audit the way your see yourself!

I see through the fog and reflect back what’s possible
Not just in your numbers
But in YOU

And when you start to believe what I see?

You stop second-guessing
You make decisions faster
You lead like the owner you were always meant to be

Most people don’t need a full overhaul
They need someone who sees the truth, without the drama
That’s what I bring.
Belief first. Then Profit 💙

What Profitability really means (and why you’re probably defining it wrong)....

Profitability isn’t just a number on a spreadsheet
It’s not just margins. Or leftover cash
And it’s definitely not “whatever is left after everyone else gets paid”

Real profitability is Power

It’s the power to:
• Make decisions from strategy, not survival
• Hire with confidence, not pressure
• Say no to clients who drain you, and yes to what aligns

It’s walking into Monday without that tight knot in your chest
It’s knowing your business supports you - not the other way around

The Profit Truth:
Profitability isn’t just the goal
It’s the result of clarity, alignment, and meaningful financial ownership

When your numbers reflect your values
Your business becomes more than profitable 
It becomes sustainable, scalable, and deeply yours

If this version of profitability sounds like relief 
It’s because it is

It starts with knowing your numbers
Ready when you are 💙

Anyone can start a business...

Keeping it alive and thriving?
That takes grit
And resourcefulness
The kind you have to dig down deep for 

I know, because I’ve been through it multiple times
Seasons where nothing clicked
Where the motivation faded
Where every solution led to a new problem

But here’s what I learned:
• You don’t need to have it all figured out 
• You don’t need to feel fearless
• You just need to stay in motion - especially when it’s hard

That’s what small business really takes:
💪 Grit to keep going when no one’s cheering
🌟 Resourcefulness to keep solving when nothing goes to plan (and that will happen time and time again!)

If you’re still showing up...
Still trying...
Still in it...

You’re not behind
You’re becoming exactly who you need to be

This isn’t about hustle
It’s about heart

And that’s not just encouragement
That’s the Profit Truth 

If you’re still building and want support that respects how far you’ve come
You know where to find me 💙

The advice that feels safe won't always move you forward

It’s the unexpected question that often shifts everything

The people who help you grow the most?
They’re often not in your field or industry

They make decisions differently
They notice things you’ve stopped seeing
And that’s what makes them valuable

It’s natural to connect with people who think like you
It feels easy. Comfortable 

But real shifts?

They usually come from the people who stretch you

The question that lingers in your mind days later
The comment that makes you stop mid-thought
The moment something stuck finally clicks into place

The Profit Truth:
One honest perspective can shape your next ten choices
And clarity like that doesn’t just help - it compounds

I’ve seen it in my work with founders - and in myself!
Momentum often begins with one conversation that catches you off guard.

This week, ask yourself:
Who helped you see something differently lately?

Make more space for those voices
That’s where your next move begins

The words you use are either fueling momentum - or killing profit

Here’s how one simple reframe unlocked action (and protected margin)

She’d been dodging a vendor call for weeks
“I need to deal with it, but I hate confrontation,” she finally admitted

Meanwhile, I’m thinking:
Just call. Sort it. Move forward

Same issue
Two different stories
One created clarity
The other stalled momentum

She saw a confrontation
I saw a conversation

That one word changed everything
“Confrontation” feels like conflict
Heavy. Personal. Risky.

“Conversation” feels neutral
Professional. Expected. Just part of the job

That internal stall?
It can cost you weeks of progress and thousands in wasted opportunity

The Profit Truth:
The words you choose don’t just describe your reality 
They shape it

Other ways to say:
“I can’t afford it” → “How can I make it work?”
“This client is difficult” → “This client has unique needs.”
“I’m behind” → “I’m prioritizing what matters most.”

Different language
Different lens
Different outcomes

So this week, ask yourself:
What situation are you labeling in a way that makes it heavier than it needs to be?

And what shift would be worth it to reframe?

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The Battle

Amanda Goetz

Marika Ponton CPA, CFE💰📈

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taplio

The Battle

Amanda Goetz

Marika Ponton CPA, CFE💰📈

Followers

Posts

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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