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PODCAST

On Your Terms®

Sam Vander Wielen

A podcast for online business owners who refuse to choose between revenue and a real life. Most business advice tells you to hustle harder, post more, and "always be on." I"m here to tell you that"s BS—and I have the multi-seven-figure business to prove it. I"m Sam Vander Wielen, and I"ve built a thriving online business while protecting my mornings, unplugging at night, and actually living the life I built my business for. Every week, I share the marketing strategies, legal foundations, and

business marketing

All Episodes

01:01:14

298. I Spent a Week with James Clear, Mark Manson,...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/10/05

What happens when you get invited to an author mastermind with James Clear, Mark Manson, and Gretchen Rubin? You say yes, then spend days wondering if they sent the email to the wrong person.I'm taking you inside James Clear and Nathan Barry's mastermind at Kit Studios in NYC. I'm sharing the best tactical tips I picked up from people who've sold tens of millions of books: the two-slide Instagram Stories trick that skyrockets engagement, what makes a quiz lead magnet actually convert, a genius way

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31:01

297. If I Started My Business Today, I'd Ignore My...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/09/28

If you started your business today, would you actually follow your own old advice? I wouldn't. And after over $9 million in sales, I'm telling you exactly why.This isn't the first time I've tackled this topic either. Back in episode 28 (2022) and episode 186 (2024), I talked about what I'd do differently if I started over. Some of that advice still holds up. A lot of it doesn't anymore. So today I'm setting the record straight on what I'd keep, what I'd completely reverse, and what I think matters

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12:18

I Planned a Year of Doing Nothing. I Took 19 Flights...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/08/31

My gap year was supposed to be boring. Instead I've taken 19 flights before summer even ended, and somehow I still feel more rested than I have in years.This episode is part of my summer read-aloud series, where I'm sharing personal essays straight from my Substack. This one's about what happened when the "spacious, do-nothing" gap year I planned turned into a calendar full of tennis lessons, swim classes, and last-minute flights, and why I had to stop judging myself for it.In this episode, you'll

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08:39

I Built a Multi-Million Dollar Business to Avoid...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/08/24

I got forced to slow down, and it's the lesson I need to learn over and over again.In this episode, I read a personal essay from my Substack about a tennis injury that took me out mid swing. One minute I'm making an incredible shot down the line, the next I'm on the ground with my knee twisted and my foot throbbing.But this episode isn't really about the injury. It's about what happens when your body forces you to stop, and what that stillness makes you face, including grief I've been carrying since

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09:50

How I Stopped Doomscrolling and Started Watching...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/08/17

Have you ever had a moment so small (a bird, of all things) crack open something so much bigger about how you're living your life?This week's episode is part of my summer series where I'm reading personal essays straight from my Substack. This one's about a very ornery bird I met on a hike in Patagonia, the bird I accidentally trapped in my bedroom when I was 10 (yes, really), and how a string of small, strange bird encounters slowly nudged me toward paying more attention to the world right in front

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10:14

How My Productivity Killed My Creativity [Summer...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/08/10

We've lost the plot when it comes to creating content. In this week's summer read-aloud, I share a personal essay on how my own productivity systems, batching, optimizing, and keeping up with an AI fueled content arms race, ended up killing my creativity.So kick back, pop in your headphones, maybe go for a walk, and let's talk about why being productive and being creative aren't always the same thing.In this episode, you'll hear…Why I'm running low on content ideas for the first time in a decade,

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09:19

I Declared a Gap Year. Then I Turned It Into a...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/08/03

What happens when you give yourself an entire year off and can't actually take it? That's the question I'm sitting with in this week's essay. I declared 2026 my entrepreneurial gap year. I did not stay off.Instead of a regular episode this week, I'm reading you this essay straight from my Substack, the place where I write about grief, overconsumption, overworking, and learning to actually be present in my life.My full slate of regular On Your Terms® episodes will be back on September 14th, but until

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10:37

How I Stopped Letting the Algorithm Decide What I...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/07/27

I recently stood in a long line for pancakes I wasn't even sure I wanted. And it made me realize how much of what I consume, eat, buy, watch, isn't actually chosen by me anymore. It's chosen by whoever posted about it first.This summer, I'm taking a little break from our regular episodes so I can rest, recharge, and come back to you on September 14th with a full slate of new content. In the meantime, I'm sharing a few of my favorite essays from my Substack, Sam Vander Wielen, right here on the

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11:35

15 Habits that Rebuilt Me After I Lost Everything...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/07/20

One of the strange gifts of your life completely burning to the ground is the fertile soil it leaves behind for you to begin again. That's where I found myself after losing both of my parents in the same year, recovering from brain surgery, and realizing that being "extremely online" wasn't actually serving me or my business.This week I'm continuing my summer series, where I'm reading you essays straight from my Substack while I take a little break before we're back with full-force episodes on

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11:15

More Memories of Other People's Lives Than Our Own...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/07/13

Everyone's obsessed with the getting off social media part — deleting the apps, doing the digital detox, bragging about their screen time going down. But almost no one talks about what's supposed to happen once you actually log off. Because here's the thing: stepping away from Instagram only to fall into a Substack doom scroll isn't really progress. It's just a softer-feeling version of the same problem.In this episode, I'm doing something a little different to celebrate summer — I'm reading you one

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35:26

296. I Took a Whole Month Off and Didn't Tell a Soul...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/07/06

I'm taking a little summer break, not just from the podcast, but from working in general. And yes, my friends are already cackling about that one, because as my friend Steve put it, he can't wait to watch me be the most productive person he knows this summer. Fair.So in this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on what a summer break actually looks like for a business owner. What I'm doing, what I'm not doing, and the honest truth about whether you're ever really "off" when your name, face, and

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57:38

295. I Went to Craft + Commerce. Here's Everything I...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/06/29

If you've ever wondered what it's actually like to attend one of the best conferences in the online business space, I'm bringing you along this week. Every June, I pack my bags for Boise, Idaho to attend Kit's Craft + Commerce Conference, and this year I recorded real-time clips along the way so it would feel like we were just hanging out in the hallway together.This is officially my fifth Craft + Commerce, and in this episode I'm sharing my full recap: why I keep going back, what my week actually

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26:05

294. Why 'Must Be Nice' Is the Most Dangerous Thing...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/06/22

“Must be nice.” It sounds harmless. Like a throwaway comment, a passing thought, something you mutter when you see someone doing something you wish you could do. But I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I think that little phrase is one of the most dangerous things you can say to yourself as a business owner.Because here’s what it’s actually doing: it’s letting you off the hook. It’s a quiet way of deciding something doesn’t apply to you before you’ve even given yourself the chance to

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31:51

293. I've Sold $9M in Digital Products. Here's My...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/06/15

Everyone keeps coming up to me like they're attending my business's funeral. "How are things?" And I'm standing there like... everything's actually great? My business keeps growing. But I get it. There's no shortage of people online saying digital products are dead, courses are dead, the whole thing is over.Here's the thing: the market has changed. A lot. And if you have a digital product or course, you've probably felt it. Buyers are taking longer to make decisions, coming in with their guard up,

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47:54

292. How to Actually Make Instagram Reels for Your...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/06/08

You know reels are one of the best ways to grow your business on Instagram. You've seen other people crushing it. You've probably even sat down to film one yourself, maybe more than once, and then... you just didn't post it. Or you did, and it flopped, and somewhere along the way, the whole thing started to feel way more complicated than it's worth.Here's what I actually think is happening: you're drowning in advice that was designed for influencers, not for people who run a real business. Hook

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38:54

291. 11 'Bad Habits' That Actually Built My 7-Figure...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/06/01

Every entrepreneurship influencer on the internet has an opinion about what you should be doing. Six AM wake-ups. A content calendar mapped out six months in advance. Tracking every metric. Showing up on every platform all at once. But here's the thing — what successful founders say they do and what they actually do behind the scenes? Often very, very different.I know because I'm one of those founders. And when people meet me in real life, the thing they always say is, "Wait, your business is so

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22:29

290. I'm Sorry, But Someone Had to Say It (On...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/05/25

I recently apologized to my shower handle.No, really. I turned off the water before rinsing out my conditioner, reached back to flip it on again, and instinctively said sorry to a cold, metal, completely inanimate faucet. And that moment stopped me dead in my tracks, because if I'm apologizing to shower handles, what else am I unnecessarily apologizing for in my life and business?This episode is a little different. I'm reading you an essay I originally published on my Substack, Beyond Business,

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42:44

289. Why Doing Less Is Actually the Strategy

On Your Terms® ·

2026/05/18

You're busy. You're building. You're making a thousand decisions a day — what to post, what to buy, what to eat, what to cut. And somewhere along the way, all of that choosing started to feel like its own full-time job.Here's the thing: we've been sold this idea that more optimization equals more freedom. That if you just find the perfect system, the perfect routine, the perfect answer, you'll finally be able to relax. So you keep researching and refining and second-guessing. And the relaxing never

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41:50

288. I Pulled Back From Social Media. It Performed...

On Your Terms® ·

2026/05/11

What if stepping back from social media was actually the thing that made it work better for your business?I'll be honest with you: my relationship with social media has been a lot. It helped me build a multi seven-figure business. Then it became my number one addiction. Then it turned into a coping mechanism I reached for every time life got hard. And then, after losing both of my parents, I basically wanted to throw my phone into the ocean and never look back.In this episode, I'm sharing the full,

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48:44

287. Why Nobody Thinks of You When It's Time to Buy

On Your Terms® ·

2026/05/04

Have you ever wondered why people in your audience don't think of you when they're ready to buy — even though you've been showing up, creating content, and putting offers out?Here's the hard truth: it's probably not your audience size. It's not your content. It's not even your offer. The real problem is that nobody knows what to associate your name with. And the good news? That is a very fixable problem.In this episode, I'm diving into why so many online business owners stay invisible — and what it

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