Still on a call you knew was wrong 5 minutes in? Here's how to exit gracefully — and why it protects your business.

Not every partnership call goes the way you planned — even when you've done the vetting. In this episode, Marie shares a real story from her week: a contact who looked great on LinkedIn, insisted the booking form question about "all decision-makers" was removed, then spent the first five minutes grilling her on why partnerships don't work. Marie was done at the ten-minute mark. And she has zero regrets.

Marie and Anne-Marie unpack what the red flags actually looked like before the call even started, why they cap first meetings at 30 minutes, and what to do when you're sitting on a call that clearly isn't going anywhere. Anne-Marie shares her go-to wrap-up move — letting the other person speak first, identifying the fit within 10 minutes, and closing with an offer to make introductions and reconnect in three to six months.

The bigger message in this episode: protecting your time is protecting your audience. When you enter a partnership, your name and reputation go with it. Staying on a call you know isn't right — or worse, agreeing to follow up when you have no intention of doing so — does no one any favors. Honesty is the foundation that makes partnerships work long-term.

If you've ever felt stuck on a call you didn't want to be on, or struggled to end a conversation cleanly without burning the bridge, this episode gives you the exact language and the full permission to do it.