Me and Taina go back to our Smartly days, and we keep in touch regularly through a casual group of friends discussing everything from horoscopes to parenting to careers and other thoughts about life and business. A few people light the room with her energy as she does, and you can tell she enjoys her work.
If you prefer YouTube, you can find the clip here. Additionally, As Substack can give you transcripts for free in English (unlike Streamyard, unless upgraded), here’s a summary of our discussion created with the help of ChatGPT;
Guest Introduction: The guest, Taina, is a leading Notion consultant with a focus on helping companies organize their operations using Notion. She is known for her work with US clients and is passionate about family, work, and making an impact.
Entrepreneurial Journey: Taina transitioned from a corporate career in strategy, operations, and project management to becoming an entrepreneur after a pivotal moment during her maternity leave. She founded her company without a clear plan, which evolved into a successful Notion consultancy.
Challenges as an Entrepreneur: Early on, Taina struggled with perfectionism and delegation but eventually learned to move faster and delegate effectively. These skills became critical to scaling her business.
Client Work: Taina’s clients are often businesses experiencing rapid growth, and her team helps them streamline processes, organize information, and implement systems to manage expansion efficiently. She initially focused on helping solo entrepreneurs but expanded to larger organizations as demand grew.
Cultural Differences: Taina noticed differences between US and Finnish businesses. US companies are more open to outsourcing expertise, while Finnish companies tend to do things in-house due to cultural norms and funding limitations.
Balancing Parenthood and Entrepreneurship: Taina shared insights on balancing work with family life, highlighting the importance of setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care, including scheduling time for recovery and sleep.
Future Opportunities: Taina is interested in connecting with people who need help scaling their businesses using tools like Notion and is open to future hiring as her business grows. Reach out at
Overall, the podcast covers Taina’s personal and professional journey, highlighting key entrepreneurial lessons and the growth of her consultancy business.
A highlight and a reflective thought from this discussion is that there is a strong bias against outsourcing among European VC-backed ventures, in many cases, and against spending money on “consultants.” However, when you look at an entrepreneurial “ecosystem.” All A-players may not set out to build the next company from a previous successful endeavor; they may pursue careers as solo entrepreneurs, makers, builders, or small teams around niche expertise. Take
as an example, dropping out of Airbnb to form a media that has now combined forces with Perplexity.For an ecosystem to “strive,” it might be favorable to invest and spend money to get things done by the best in business instead of hiring everyone in-house.
Until the next podcast! We have a few guests lined up, but no recording is yet set in stone. Subscribe to avoid missing a thought!
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