Hakkola Horizons LLC

10/13/2026

Most founders think they're scaling. They're actually just growing.

Growing means spending more to make more. Revenue climbs, but so does cost.
Scaling means revenue and team grow without spending proportionally more to get there.

Megan Rafuse built Shift Collab from a solo therapy practice into a team of 130 therapists by learning this distinction the hard way. When the business plateaued,
the fix wasn't a new service. It was optimizing the client journey she already had.

Full conversation is live now. Link in the episode.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-ceo-rule-costing-founders-thousands-with-megan/id1854103475?i=1000796127535

Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/christine-hakkola/episodes/Hidden-CEO-Rule-Costing-Founders-Thousands-with-Megan-Rafuse--FoundHer-Rising-S01-E41-e3qe7h5

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/dbbe398c-36f9-4eee-b33d-2a39b9038c12/episodes/5d0714c5-becb-4853-8179-c60c716f9121/foundher-rising-with-christine-hakkola-hidden-ceo-rule-costing-founders-thousands-with-megan-rafuse-foundher-rising-s01-e41

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhQC6QVhTA4

10/06/2026

"If you knew you were 30 failures away from getting everything you've always wanted, how quickly would you seek to fail?"

That question comes from Liza Tullidge, a founder who has exited four companies (and failed at plenty more). Her take on failure isn't about toughing it out. It's about realizing failure is the fastest path through, not around, building something real.

New episode of FoundHer Rising is live now. Link in bio.
Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-real-reason-cold-outreach-feels-uncomfortable/id1854103475?i=1000793439279
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5qLMk1C2hzWqbDDMALIjko?si=PLJUxL5OS-iMP8KQHU7Y7w&nd=1&dlsi=5e02caa102e843f4
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfY7M-u5vXo
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/dbbe398c-36f9-4eee-b33d-2a39b9038c12/episodes/197a21a2-9f0c-45be-a9ed-a5f0c82e7a13/foundher-rising-with-christine-hakkola-the-real-reason-cold-outreach-feels-uncomfortable-with-liza-tullidge-foundher-rising-s01-e40

10/02/2026

We’re so excited to welcome Aimee McCann to our HORIZONS Program in the FLARE track! 🤍

Aimee is a trauma-focused therapist, trainer, and consultant, and the founder of Golden Oak Counseling, LLC in central Ohio where she supports clients through complex trauma work and helps professionals grow through training, consultation, and supervision.

Her work is rooted in compassionate, deeply informed care, with a strong focus on how shame, treatment trauma, and healthcare relationship dynamics shape both healing and professional practice.

What stands out most about Aimee is her commitment to pairing clinical depth with meaningful systems change. Her work is not just about symptom relief — it’s about helping people and professionals build safer, more attuned, and more effective care experiences.

Aimee, we’re so glad you’re here! ✨

09/25/2026

There are six reasons you're not getting clients, and most founders are working hard on the wrong one.

That's what my conversation with Natasha Golinsky on Never Launch Live is about: why smart, capable people keep returning to the constraint that feels familiar instead of the one that's actually blocking them.

In 25 years I've never seen a business that was doomed. Not one. People are usually blocked in one or two specific places, and those are exactly the places you can't see from the inside.

We also talked about telling fear from intuition, and why confidence arrives last rather than first.

Watch: https://youtu.be/_asIfKxBotc
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3zKbcoMeiEOKinzV2B0h7r
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-smart-women-keep-solving-the-wrong-problem/id1896828822

And if you'd rather read it than listen to it, the free guide covers all six: https://go.hakkolahorizons.com/6-reasons-youre-not-getting-clients

You're working hard. You're doing everything you know how to do — a...

09/22/2026

Most founders don't regret hiring too soon.
They regret waiting.

Dr. Caroline Adelman grew her practice to a team of fifteen, and she's blunt about the biggest mistake she made along the way: she waited until hiring felt comfortable, and comfortable never came.

Her mentor's advice stuck with her. Hiring is like an avocado. It's not ripe, not ripe, not ripe, then suddenly it's overripe.

New episode of FoundHer Rising, out now. Listen at HakkolaHorizons.com.

09/15/2026

You hired someone good. Your clients still want you.

That's the wall most service-based founders hit, and it isn't a hiring problem.

Jodi Rouah built Counselling & Co. from a solo caseload into a hybrid team of roughly a dozen clinicians. On this week's FoundHer Rising, she walks through the specific move that made it possible.

She had to remove herself from the conversation. Not the business. The conversation. The intake call, the "who should I see," the first point of contact.

Her client care coordinator stepped in, and together they built language for how the practice described itself, rather than how Jodi described herself.

Small operational change. Large structural consequence. The business stopped being an extension of one person and became something a client could choose on its own terms.

09/11/2026

We’re so excited to welcome Jennifer Lima to Hakkola Horizons FLARE! 🤍

Jennifer is a Health and Wellness Coach and the Founder of Bella Vita Alchemy, LLC, based in Haverstraw, New York—where she helps women who are ready to prioritize their health and wellness move from unhelpful habits and feeling stuck to more sustainable change, clarity, and confidence in their daily lives.

Her work is rooted in a whole-person approach, using coaching, habit awareness, and practical wellness support to create meaningful, lasting transformation.

What stands out most about Jennifer is her commitment to helping women slow down, pay attention, and build lives that genuinely support their wellbeing. The way she approaches her work isn’t just about short-term health goals, it’s about helping women create a steadier, more sustainable path forward.

Jennifer, we’re so glad you’re here! ✨

09/11/2026

Sometimes the biggest shift isn’t knowing more. It’s having the structure to focus on what actually matters.

That’s what Heather’s experience with FLARE captures so well.

A 90-day plan. A weekly scorecard. A clear way to track progress.

Simple tools, but they’ve helped her stop feeling like she’s starting from scratch each week and put her attention on the revenue-generating activities that move her business forward.

And just as importantly, she’s not doing it in isolation.

There’s real value in showing up prepared, having a clear plan, and being surrounded by people who can help you think through what comes next.

Heather, thank you for trusting me and the FLARE community to be part of your journey. I love seeing the clarity and focus you’re bringing to your business.

09/04/2026

There’s a big difference between having an idea and building it into your business.

Marsha had been thinking about her new offer for a long time. With a clear 90-day plan, she’s not just thinking about it anymore. She’s executing. She’s having conversations. She’s starting to see how this idea can become a real, repeatable part of her business.

That’s what I love about her experience with FLARE.

It’s not about adding more things to do. It’s about having a framework that makes sense and enough structure to help you move forward with clarity.

Marsha, thank you for trusting me and the FLARE community to be part of what you’re building. I’m excited to see where you take it.

08/27/2026

There’s a big difference between hoping your business will grow and building it in a way that makes growth feel possible.

Tricia’s words here really stayed with me:

“With the structure I’ve created, the success of my business now feels inevitable.”

That’s the shift.

Most of the business owners I work with aren’t lacking ideas, ambition, or expertise. They’ve already proven they can build something people want.

What they’re often missing is the structure underneath it.

A clearer business model. Better systems. More intentional decisions about where their time and energy go. A plan that supports where they’re headed instead of keeping them tied to how they’ve always done things.

Watching Tricia build that foundation, grow tremendously, and feel more grounded in where her business is going has been such a privilege.

This is what sustainable growth can look like.