What does it actually take to build something from nothing?

Not in theory — but in reality.

In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Jana Degrott and Gosia Kramer about what it really means to take risks, move through doubt, and build something when there is no clear path — and no external validation.

From navigating self-doubt and the fear of judgment to making bold decisions — like selling your house to start a business — this conversation goes beyond inspiration and into the lived reality of entrepreneurship.

Jana reflects on identity, confidence, and the internal barriers that hold people back, while Gosia shares what it looks like to build from nothing — facing skepticism, financial pressure, and the day-to-day realities of turning an idea into something real.

This is a conversation about building — and what it actually demands.

🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• Why fear of judgment is one of the biggest barriers to starting• The difference between inspiration and actually taking action• How self-doubt shapes decisions — and how to move beyond it• What it really looks like to build something from nothing• Taking financial and personal risks as a founder• The reality of cash flow and long-term vision• Why most people don’t start — and what it takes to do it anyway• Finding the right people — and thinking beyond your immediate environment

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🔗 Check out Jana & Gosia’s work:

Jana Degrott LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana-degrott-b15646114/Instagram: @janadegrott

Gosia Kramer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gosia-kramer-08a29ba0/Instagram: @gosiakramer

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 Episode Start

00:01 Intro

01:20 Welcome Jana Degrott & Gosia Kramer

03:10 “Mini Jana” — Growing Up Without Confidence

07:30 The Fear of Judgment (And Why It Holds People Back)

12:40 “People Don’t Really Care” — The Mindset Shift

16:30 From Self-Doubt to Taking Action

21:10 Selling a House to Start a Business

26:00 “Nobody Believed in It”

30:40 Building From Nothing — No Windows, No Electricity

35:20 When Things Go Wrong: Failure & Hard Lessons

40:10 Cash Flow, Pressure, and Founder Reality

45:30 Why Inspiration Is Not Enough

49:20 Finding the Right People (And Leaving the Wrong Ones)

54:10 Building Something That Doesn’t Exist Yet

58:30 What It Really Takes to Keep Going

1:02:00 Final Reflections

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📺 Watch more episodes:

Catch The Upswing is a business and leadership podcast exploring how people build, lead, and navigate complexity in a rapidly changing world.

Subscribe for conversations with global leaders, entrepreneurs, and emerging voices shaping today’s economy.

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🔗 Follow & connect:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswing
Instagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswing
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@catchtheupswing

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#Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Founders #Startups #WomenInBusiness #Resilience #Mindset #CatchTheUpswing

What if we’ve been thinking about the economy the wrong way around?Most investment models are built to maximize returns.But what happens when the system itself is no longer aligned with the world we’re trying to build?In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Jodi Smith — founder & fund manager of Matanataki — about rethinking capital from the ground up, and what it takes to build investment models in places where traditional approaches don’t work.After two decades in Hollywood, Jodi walked away and moved to Fiji, where a mission to protect coral reefs led her into finance. Today, she is investing with an innovative approach that connects businesses across sectors — from agriculture to tourism — to create impact at a landscape and seascape level.From local ownership to interconnected deal flow, this conversation explores what it really means to design capital for ecosystems, communities, and long-term resilience.This is a conversation about investing — and beyond.🎙️ In this episode, we explore:• Why the economy should be seen as a subset of the ecosystem• Why traditional investment approaches fail in frontier markets • How to design capital that works in nascent and frontier markets• What “interconnected deal flow” looks like in practice• Why local ownership and vision-setting are critical for long-term success• The risks of “solutions looking for problems” in global investment• How finance can be used as a tool to protect ecosystems• The reality of building new models — and the leadership it requires—🔗 Check out Jodi’s work:Jodi Smith (LinkedIn)https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodi-smith/Matanatakihttps://www.matanataki.com/ —⏱️ Chapters:00:00 Episode Start00:01 Intro01:10 Welcome Jodi Smith02:30 Why Fiji’s Reefs Matter Globally06:45 From Hollywood to Walking Away10:30 The Moment Finance Became the Tool16:20 Why Traditional Investment Models Don’t Work Here22:40 Building an Ecosystem, Not Just a Portfolio29:10 Who Owns the Future?35:30 “Let Us Solve Our Problems”41:20 Building Something That Doesn’t Exist Yet46:30 Why It Can Feel So Lonely50:10 “The Economy Is a Subset of the Ecosystem”52:00 What This Means Going Forward—📺 Watch more episodes:Catch The Upswing is a business and leadership podcast exploring how people build, lead, and navigate complexity in a rapidly changing world.

Subscribe for conversations with global leaders, entrepreneurs, and emerging voices shaping today’s economy.—🔗 Follow & connect:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswingInstagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswingTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@CatchTheUpswing—#ImpactInvesting #SustainableFinance #Leadership #ClimateFinance #SystemsChange #CatchTheUpswing

When things don’t go as planned, most people stop.But what does it actually take to keep going — when the path is uncertain, the pressure is real, and the outcome isn’t guaranteed?Resilience is not about never failing. It’s about what you do next.In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Angie Madara — entrepreneur, mentor and investor — about what it really means to build, adapt, and move forward in uncertain environments.From navigating setbacks to building in emerging markets, Angie shares a grounded perspective on resilience, entrepreneurship, inclusive AI, and financial inclusion — and why success often depends less on certainty, and more on persistence.This conversation is about business — and beyond.🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• What it really takes to keep going when things don’t go as planned
• How to respond to failure without letting it define you
• Why building often means moving forward without certainty
• What resilience looks like in practice — not just in theory
• The reality of building across markets — and the gaps in access to finance
• How innovation and inclusive AI can expand opportunity
• The mindset that helps you keep going when things get hard

🔗 Check out Angie’s work:Angie Madara (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/angiemadara/Athena Fund X: https://athenafundx.com/ ⏱️ Chapters:00:00 Episode Start00:01 Intro00:59 Welcome Angie Madara01:38 The $1.7 trillion credit gap03:18 “Entrepreneurship for most women is winging it”05:12 Her biggest failure06:35 The rookie mistakes that cost her money08:22 Learning never stops in entrepreneurship09:31 Resilience is not a trait10:43 What first-time founders should do differently13:01 Building Athena: from idea to reality16:22 AI, bias, and the future of credit19:07 “It’s not charity. It’s big business”25:35 98% repaid — so why didn’t it scale?26:26 We need a new game33:42 From empowerment to economic resilience39:23 The risk ahead: a growing credit gap43:26 How she stays hopeful44:04 “Hold yourself before you fail”49:00 Final thoughts📺 Watch more episodes:Catch The Upswing is a business and leadership podcast exploring how people build, lead, and navigate complexity in a rapidly changing world.

Subscribe for conversations with global leaders, entrepreneurs, and emerging voices shaping today’s economy.🔗 Follow & connect:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswingInstagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswingTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@CatchTheUpswing#Leadership #Entrepreneurship #Resilience #FinancialInclusion #CatchTheUpswing

You don’t see this — but it shapes how you think, what you believe, and how you see the world.In this episode of Catch the Upswing, Jessica Espinoza sits down with Luba Kassova — researcher, journalist and co-founder of the audience-strategy consultancy AKAS, and author of the Missing Perspectives Series — to explore how the stories we see (and don’t see) shape our understanding of the world.From losing and reclaiming her own voice to leading groundbreaking research on the “Missing Perspectives of Women” in the news, Luba reveals how systemic bias operates in ways most of us don’t even notice — and what it means for leadership, media, and society.This conversation goes beyond media — it’s about power, visibility, and the forces that shape whose voices are heard and whose are not.—🎯 Explore Luba’s work:• Website: https://www.lubakassova.com/en• Substack (Lubascope — social commentary with heart and fact): https://lubakassova.substack.com/• Missing Perspectives of Women reports (available on her website)—🔗 Referenced in the episode:• Edith Eger (psychologist, Holocaust survivor, author of *The Choice*)—📺 Watch more conversations from Catch the Upswing:🎧 About the podcastCatch the Upswing is a business and leadership podcast exploring how people build, lead, and navigate complexity in a rapidly changing world.🔔 Subscribe for conversations with global leaders, entrepreneurs, and emerging voices.—🌍 Follow Catch the Upswing:Instagram → https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswingTikTok → https://tiktok.com/@CatchTheUpswing—⏱️ Chapters:00:00 Intro00:47 Luba Kassova: The Writer Giving Voice to the Unheard02:17 I Made Myself Obsolete and Invisible06:14 The Warning Signs of a Midlife Crisis08:06 Why So Many Women Never Get Access to the Right Tools10:00 The Voice That Says: Stay Small11:47 How Girls Are Socialised to Disappear14:37 Where That Inner Critical Voice Comes From16:57 Her Mother’s Advice That Changed Everything18:05 What It Means to Give Voice to the Voiceless21:50 The Shocking Truth About Women in the News26:52 Why Progress for Women Flatlined29:13 The Grammys Myth: Are Women Really Dominating?31:47 Why We Don’t Even Notice Male-Dominated Media37:10 What This Does to Society in Real Life42:13 AI Is Repeating the Same Biases46:33 What Happens If Superintelligence Inherits Human Bias?50:35 What Gives Luba Hope Right Now53:35 Luba’s Definition of Hope55:58 How to Turn Outrage Into Opportunity58:17 Where to Follow Luba’s Work01:00:03 Never Waste a Good Midlife Crisis01:00:37 Let’s Crowdsource the Tools That Help—#CatchTheUpswing #Leadership #MediaBias #SystemsChange #WomenInMedia

Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres joins Jessica Espinoza on Catch the Upswing to reflect on the leadership behind the Paris Agreement — and what it demands from us in the defining decade ahead.

We are not running out of solutions — we are running out of time.

This conversation goes beyond climate policy. It’s about what it takes to lead through complexity, uncertainty, and global stakes — and why trust, resilience, and long-term thinking are no longer optional.

Christiana shares insights from inside one of the most consequential global negotiations of our time, and what those lessons mean for leaders, founders, and changemakers navigating today’s world.

🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• The leadership behind the Paris Agreement
• Why trust is the foundation of systemic change
• Navigating complexity and uncertainty
• What this decade demands from all of us
• Climate, responsibility, and long-term thinking

🔗 Resources & references:

Outrage + Optimism: https://outrageandoptimism.org

Global Optimism: https://www.globaloptimism.com/

Fix the News : https://fixthenews.com

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:14 Episode begins
02:54 10 years after Paris — where are we now?
03:16 The race between two exponential curves
06:05 The truth: we’re already in a changed world
09:16 This decade is a moment of choice
13:36 The failure that changed everything (Copenhagen)
19:10 From doom to possibility
24:31 The hardest battle is internal
28:03 What the Paris Agreement really achieved
32:06 Trade-offs, survival, and common ground
37:05 Rebuilding global trust from zero
39:50 Personal crisis during global negotiations
44:12 If Paris had failed — what would still stand?
50:34 Why resilience is a personal responsibility
55:02 The burden of being “the optimistic one”
59:00 Personal resilience and planetary resilience
1:02:17 How to live with outrage without burning out
1:06:56 Grief as a doorway to action
1:10:47 What gives Christiana optimism today
1:14:46 Women, climate, and leadership
1:20:44 What the next generation must believe
1:21:47 Closing reflections

🎧 Catch the Upswing is a video podcast exploring how leaders and changemakers build, lead, and drive meaningful change in a rapidly evolving world.

🔔 Subscribe for upcoming conversations with leaders and changemakers shaping the future.

🌍 Follow Catch the Upswing:

Instagram → https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswingTikTok → https://tiktok.com/@CatchTheUpswing

#ClimateLeadership #ChristianaFigueres #ParisAgreement #ClimateAction #Leadership

Catch The Upswing — Official Podcast Trailer Catch The Upswing is a business and leadership podcast featuring candid conversations with global leaders, entrepreneurs, and emerging voices shaping today’s economy. Hosted by global finance leader Jessica Espinoza, the show explores how people build, lead, and navigate complexity in a rapidly changing world. The podcast launches March 25, 2026, with opening conversations featuring: • Christiana Figueres — architect of the Paris Climate Agreement • Luba Kassova — leading researcher on the visibility of women’s voices in media • Angie Madara — entrepreneur and resilience advocate. Subscribe to the channel to watch the first episodes.