{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhello-chaos.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fhe-got-fired-the-monday-after-his-honeymoon-_Hw76cQe","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Ep. 204 Andrew Stallings - Laid Off on Monday and Bought the Company by Summer","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/f416d843-c024-4ad6-9b80-d86f6c0d4e47/a6383ec3-1b5f-4637-9d82-f89530dafb43/hello-chaos-podcast-cover-3000x3000.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"Getting laid off the Monday morning after your honeymoon is either the worst timing imaginable or the exact push you never would have given yourself. For Andrew Stallings, founder and CEO of Athelo Group, a sports marketing agency built around athlete representation and personal brand strategy, it turned out to be both. Andrew went from unemployed to owning the whole company in 90 days with no safety net, no business degree, and two partners who thought websites for athletes was a viable business model. What followed was a masterclass in founder mindset, knowing when to pivot, when to buy people out, and when to bet entirely on yourself even when the vision is not fully formed yet.\n\nEight years and tens of millions in revenue later, Andrew still calls stress his love language. But this conversation goes deeper than hustle and business growth mindset. It gets into what founders rarely talk about publicly, the friendships that do not survive the growth, the guilt of building something while the people you love are fighting battles you cannot fix with a deal or a deadline, and the slow realization that stability is not the opposite of ambition. It is the thing you were actually chasing the whole time. If you have ever felt the weight of founder stress while trying to hold together a business, a family, and your own identity all at once, Andrew's story will feel uncomfortably familiar and genuinely worth your time.\n"}