soft skills, hard truths. gabby and marisa having a good chinwag.
[chin-wag] / ˈtʃɪnˌwæg /: to have a friendly conversation
more info: http://chinwag.live/
we froze on each other before we even hit record, so naturally that's how this one starts. gabby's deep in research for her scope creep talk and found the thing that explains why it keeps happening: the psychological contract — all the stuff we expect from a working relationship that never makes it onto paper. then she reread her own contracts and realized half of it wasn't in there either. we get into marisa getting fired in 2015 and charging thirty bucks an hour for social media with no contract at all, why a fifteen-minute studio setup still gets a $125 minimum (that rate quietly covers the "can you also update this description"), the engagement letter that spells out what marisa does not guarantee, and why thirty minutes of uncomfortable kickoff conversation beats months of "what am i gonna do now." plus: deposits are normal course of business, full stop — the biggest client marisa's worked with paid thirty percent up front, and a company of one paid gabby fifty without blinking. gabby's new non-negotiable is a change process in every contract (do as she says, not as she did), her hard line is no IP without a contract, and yes, strategy counts as IP. the card pull — "i am not reactive, i'm intentional" — landed right as marisa got reactive about strategy being billable. we close on self-inflicted creep, the extra mile you go for people you love working with. got a scenario you want our take on? email chinwagcollaborations@gmail.com (mailto:chinwagcollaborations@gmail.com) and we'll keep you anonymous. want to be interviewed for gabby's scope creep research? she'll buy you a coffee. soft skills, hard truths. new episodes weekly at chinwag.live
29 Sept 2026
grind without grace
chris vasami joins us to talk about his new book, wake up and be great. it's about fifty pages with no fluff, and gabby still managed to stick twenty tabs in it. the four g's are grind, grit, grace, and gratitude, and none of them mean what you think. grind isn't doing more until you burn out. it's finding your non-negotiables and executing on them consistently, and gabby's big epiphany came from a miss rachel song on the school drop-off ("when i'm thirsty, i get a drink"). grit is the world's okayest runner falling in love with the training instead of the race. grace doesn't lower the bar, it removes the shame of not clearing it every time, and gabby realizes she's been giving herself excuses, not grace. gratitude isn't toxic positivity. it's being able to grieve and be grateful at the same time, whether that's a client who went with someone else or chris's ten years of fighting cancer. we also get into why the suburban beats the ferrari, why you can't plant the seed and harvest the fruit on the same day, and taking a ninety-day snapshot so you see the seventy-two good days instead of the eighteen bad ones. chris explains the three-things-you're-grateful-for exercise his daughters now run on other people's kids, and why real growth comes with goodbyes. plus: the line that holds the whole system together, grind without grace becomes burnout, and a card pull that was a little too on the nose.
take chris's free greatness test at wakeupandbegreat.com (wakeupandbegreat.com). it takes five minutes, and yes, focus on the eighty-eight, not the twelve. find the book and more of chris's work at chrisvasami.com (chrisvasami.com).
soft skills, hard truths. new episodes weekly at chinwag.live (chinwag.live).
23 Sept 2026
wearing a business suit
fall equinox hit and we both spiraled, just in opposite directions. gabby spent the day ready to blow up her whole business, quit things, start over, and marisa spent it wondering why she felt so calm and what she must have forgotten (why did she call herself over prepared when she was just… prepared?). that turned into the real question for anyone working for themselves: how do you tell the difference between your gut and your anxiety when anxiety is basically your baseline? gabby comes with the line of the week, straight from her substack: imposter syndrome is anxiety wearing a business suit and pretending to be self-awareness. she also shares the three questions she ran every spiraling thought through. first, does it get louder and more aggressive the longer you sit with it, or does it just quietly chirp? second, is it telling you to escape, or pointing you toward something? third, when you finally decide, do you get instant relief? we get into why "just trust your gut" is annoying advice, why she talked it out with voice-to-text instead of journaling, and what it's like to realize three years in that nobody's going to tell you what to do anymore and you have to decide what's worth your time and energy. marisa gets a text from a friend she hadn't heard from since april, five minutes before we hit record, about how vital connection is (the woo always woos in). she also shares what her ten-day content sprint is teaching her about hitting record before you know what you're going to say. plus: gabby names her imposter syndrome brad (sorry to any brads listening), and we pull a card so accurate it nearly got thrown at the computer: clarity isn't perfection, it's presence. less than three weeks till IMEX, come hug us. soft skills, hard truths. new episodes weekly at chinwag.live.
card deck mentioned: https://bepresentllc.com/shop/p/card-deck (https://bepresentllc.com/shop/p/card-deck)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Contact chinwag
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of chinwag?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
