Episode Summary

Jordan Stachini never planned to run a marketing agency.

In fact, as she puts it:

“Complete accidental business owner - it was never ever meant to be the plan.”

Today she runs Co&Co, a growing Manchester marketing agency. But the real story behind the business isn’t about strategy or scaling.

It’s about the moment many adults quietly experience - when the life you assumed you would live suddenly stops feeling right.

In this conversation we explore:

• Leaving a long-term relationship when your futures no longer match
• Burnout, therapy, confidence and rebuilding yourself
• Choosing to live child-free despite social expectations
• Financial independence and personal freedom
• Gender, masculinity and the way we talk about equality
• Why she refuses to build a huge agency
• What great marketing looks like today, AI and overhype

This episode is for anyone who has ever thought: “Wait… what if I actually want something different?”

Show notes

Jordan Stachini describes herself as an accidental business owner.

But the story behind her marketing agency Co&Co is really a story about something deeper - learning to listen to yourself when the life you thought you wanted starts to feel wrong.

In this conversation Jordan speaks candidly about the hardest decisions she’s made: leaving a relationship, recovering from burnout, setting boundaries as a business owner and choosing a life without children.

What emerges is a story about independence, honesty and the courage to design a life that genuinely fits you.

• The accidental path to building a marketing agency
• Why Jordan refuses to grow her business beyond 10 people
• Saying no to clients and opportunities that don’t align
• Leadership and the expectations founders create
• Burnout and therapy
• Leaving a long-term relationship when your futures diverge
• Living child-free by choice
• Financial independence and freedom of choice
• Gender, masculinity and the International Women’s Day debate
• Why women should never treat career as optional

If this conversation resonates - or challenges something you thought you believed - share it with someone navigating their own messy middle.

Key Takeaways

• Sometimes the most honest sentence in adulthood is: “I don’t want that life.”
• Independence gives you something many people underestimate: choice.
• Growth doesn’t always mean building something bigger. Sometimes it means building something that fits.
• The hardest decisions in life are often the ones that make you most honest with yourself.
• Success on paper doesn’t solve the deeper questions about how you want to live.
• Becoming who you are often means letting go of the version of life you once imagined.