Build Your Own Boat

Kami Guildner spent nearly two decades building a career in oil and gas, rising to VP of Marketing and Branding before a 2008 layoff changed everything.

What followed was 17 months of uncertainty, an epiphany in a barn with her horse, and the launch of a coaching practice she has now run for 17 years.

Today, Kami works with high-achieving women entrepreneurs through her Movement Maker Mastermind, her annual Extraordinary Women Ignite conference, and her award-winning podcast Extraordinary Women Radio — all in service of a singular vision: to help 1 million women raise their voices, their visibility, and their revenue.

In this episode, she shares what actually works when you're building a business from scratch after a corporate career, why focus is the most underrated business strategy, and what she's learned from nearly two decades of coaching women who are done waiting for permission.

Where to Find Kami Guildner

What is Build Your Own Boat?

An entrepreneurship podcast for women in midlife and beyond.

What if the most powerful thing you could do right now — for your finances, your freedom, and your future — was to stop waiting for someone else to hand you an opportunity and start building your own?

Build Your Own Boat is the podcast for women in midlife and beyond who are done playing by rules that were never written with them in mind. Hosted by award-winning 3x entrepreneur Janine Vanderburg, each episode features real conversations with women in midlife and beyond who made the bold decision to bet on themselves — launching businesses and creative ventures, building wealth, and rewriting what entrepreneurship looks like in the second half of life.

This isn't a podcast about hustle culture or overnight success stories. It's a roadmap — built from lived experience, hard-won wisdom, and the kind of honest conversation you rarely hear anywhere else. Guests include founders, consultants, creatives, coaches, media makers, and civic leaders who are proving every week that midlife isn't a ceiling. It's a launchpad.

Whether you're just beginning to wonder if entrepreneurship is for you, actively building your business, or simply looking for proof that it's not too late — you'll find it here.

Every episode, you'll discover:
1. How real women in midlife launched and grew successful ventures — and what they wish they'd known sooner
2. Practical strategies for building financial independence and freedom on your own terms
3. Honest conversations about the challenges of midlife entrepreneurship, and how to navigate them
4. Inspiration that's grounded in reality, not motivational posters

The Encore Economy is booming — and women in midlife are driving it. Build Your Own Boat is where their stories live.

Subscribe now and join a growing community of women who are building something that's entirely, unapologetically theirs.

And do SUBSCRIBE to Build Your Own Boat on Substack as well, to read the full stories of our guests, and their best tips and resources. https://buildyourownboat.substack.com/