Listen to this. ‘The Gutsy Podcast’ is a top entrepreneurial pick
Shawn HardyA podcast originating in downtown Greencastle is in the digital spotlight, with more than 70,000 downloads in 125 countries.
“The Gutsy Podcast,” a weekly raw and inspirational talk about running a business authentically, is now a Top 100 Entrepreneur and Business Podcast on Apple Podcasts and is currently listed as a Featured Podcast under entrepreneurship on Amazon Music.
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Host Laura Wallace, also known as LauraAura, is a branding expert, mindset coach and visionary with nearly two decades of experience who was recently named to Yahoo!’s Top 10 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch.
Wallace is the founder, CEO and creative director of Worx & Co, which has evolved from a small graphics design shop to a full branding studio.
She strives to empower entrepreneurs, reminding them that they’re not alone — and that their thoughts, feelings and emotions are shared by many.
Wallace ran Worx & Co from the family's house near Greencastle for 9 1/2 years before moving the business to Hagerstown. Eventually, she said, "I really just wanted to come home."
Wallace and her husband A.J. are graduates of Greencastle-Antrim High School, respectively, in 2002 and 2001. They purchased the long-time home of Carl’s Drug Store at 6 E. Baltimore St. in 2021 and named it The Aura Building.
They are renovating the 1916 building into an entrepreneurial hub and she broadcasts from her desk on the first floor. The first floor is also the location of Pop-Up Shops at the Aura, an indoor artisan market coinciding with events in Greencastle, such as Heritage Christmas and Sidewalk Days. The next Pop-Up Shops will feature a fall market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, to coincide with the new Greencastle Grub and Pub Festival.
What is ‘The Gutsy Podcast’ all about?
“‘The Gutsy Podcast’ is your weekly guide to undoing all of the thoughts, feelings and expectations that are keeping you stuck so that you can take your ‘Powerback’ and expand your business in a way that aligns with you,” according to Wallace. “It’s real. It’s raw. And you may just start to believe in yourself again.”
“Powerback” is one feature of “The Gutsy Podcast.” It is five minutes of “condensed inspiration to reclaim the courage and momentum you’ve unintentionally given away,” she says to introduction to each episode.
Longer segments feature interviews with business experts and some of her favorite guests have been Marcus Lemonis from the CNBC's Show “The Profit,” Tori Dunlap, CEO of Her First 100K and Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur.com
A sampling of interview and “Powerback” subjects includes “Kicking Overthinking to the Curb,” “5 Tools to Help Grow Your Business,” “Pursuing Your Dreams When It Feels Impossible” and “From Surviving to Thriving.”
“About 10 years ago, I felt like the only person thinking the way I did about being an entrepreneur, with a constant rollercoaster of feelings – the excitement, the fears keeping me up at night,” Wallace said. “Then, I started having honest, vulnerable conversations with other business owners and felt much less alone. I wanted to normalize and humanize these thoughts, feelings, and ideas, and demonstrate that there’s a whole community of us that can help and support each other.”
Wallace started interviewing entrepreneurs in 2014 on her YouTube show, “The Green Couch Project,” which was a full production with a camera crew, lighting and guests. When she wanted to grow the project, the production costs became too expensive. Additionally, hosting an in-person show limited her reach in terms of recruiting guests. In 2019, she tapped into her gutsy and figured out how to launch a podcast, using a $25 headset from Amazon.
“I named it ‘The Gutsy Podcast’ because a key similarity between all entrepreneurs is a level of ‘gutsy.’ Entrepreneurs take risks and make big decisions. Gutsiness is that thing that allows you to be who you are and do what you were put on this earth to do,” Wallace explained. “Our community of gutsy entrepreneurs support each other, celebrate each other’s wins and lift each other up. That’s the stuff that makes the world go round.
“I’ve used the $25 Amazon headset for the past 4.5 years to have honest, raw and real conversations with amazing, interesting, and creative entrepreneurs on my podcast. And literally the day ‘The Gutsy Podcast’ hit the Global Top 100 Podcast, that original headset died,” Wallace continued. “To celebrate this huge achievement of reaching the Top 100, I bought new equipment to keep these gutsy conversations going.”