Just Grow With It with Natalie Barbu

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From full-time influencer to founder of a multimillion dollar tech company Sep 24, 2025

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Welcome to the first episode of Let's Grow with It!

I went from being a full-time influencer to building a profitable, multi-million dollar SaaS company in under a year — but it didn’t start that way. In this first episode of Just Grow With It, I’m walking you through the full story of how I turned an idea into a real business. From creating content in high school, to launching a failed product, to raising VC funding and relaunching with clarity — this is the real, unfiltered version of the journey.If you’re a founder, creator, or someone sitting on an idea, this one’s for you.

We’ll cover the lessons I learned about finding cofounders, making your first hire, building the wrong thing, pivoting quickly, and why being naive might actually be your biggest advantage.This episode is here to break down the growing pains of entrepreneurship — and how sometimes, you just need to grow with it.

00:00 - Introduction and Overview

02:39 - Journey from Influencer to Entrepreneur

03:53 - Squarespace

05:21 - My Early Business Ventures

07:38 - Transition to Full-Time Influencer

09:40 - Starting My Social Media Agency

11:22 - Birth of Rella

17:29 - Building the Team and Raising Capital

20:42 - Pivoting to Rella 2.0

24:38 - Closing Thoughts

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Just Grow With It Trailer Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

I'm so excited to finally share this with you... 🎙️

Introducing Just Grow with It - my new video podcast where I'm pulling back the curtain on the REAL entrepreneurial journey. Not the highlight reel, not the "I made it" stories from the top of the mountain, but the messy, beautiful, terrifying middle of building something from scratch.

Here's what I realized: I was craving advice from someone who's still in the thick of it. Someone figuring it out in real time, making mistakes, pivoting, and yes - sometimes almost shutting down the company (been there 😅).

We've hit some incredible milestones - but the path here? It's been anything but linear. And those are the stories I want to share with you.

Every episode, I'm diving into the nitty gritty of being a business owner. The mistakes that cost us a million dollars, the pivots that saved us, the moment we told our investors we were shutting down, and how we managed to turn it around.

And because I believe in building community around this journey, I'm also launching "The Growth List" - a weekly dose of founder insights, curated resources, and community spotlights for entrepreneurs building authentic, impactful businesses.

Because if you're building something, you deserve to hear from someone who's still building too. Someone who remembers exactly how it feels when everything is breaking and you need all hands on deck. And if you have any guest suggestions - tag them below!

Ready to grow with me? Let's get into it. ✨

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