Episode Summary
In this episode of Your Customer, Your Success, Gary Marra sits down with Simona Costantini, founder and CEO of Volt Productions and host of Happiness Happens and As It Relates to Podcasting, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, podcasting, customer experience, and building a business around strong values.
Simona shares her journey from corporate marketing to entrepreneurship, including what led her to launch a podcast production agency and how she built Volt Productions around empathy, authentic communication, strong relationships, and meaningful client experiences.
Gary and Simona explore why customer experience and leadership begin with how people communicate and connect. They discuss the role values play in decision-making, how leaders create positive environments for employees and clients, and why self-awareness and empathy become increasingly important as a business grows.
The conversation also examines the similarities between podcast audience growth and customer experience. How much should you listen to customer or listener feedback? When should you trust your own creative direction? And how can entrepreneurs remain responsive to their audience without losing sight of the vision that made their business distinctive in the first place?
Simona also shares lessons from building and leading her own company, including the personal challenges that come with entrepreneurship, managing a team, maintaining client relationships, and continuing to grow as a leader.
This episode is especially relevant for entrepreneurs, small and mid-sized business owners, marketing leaders, podcast creators, customer experience professionals, and anyone responsible for building stronger relationships with customers, employees, or audiences.
What You’ll Learn
- How Simona transitioned from corporate marketing to entrepreneurship
- Why empathy and authenticity matter in leadership and customer experience
- How personal and company values shape communication and business decisions
- The connection between podcasting, audience engagement, and customer relationships
- How entrepreneurs can balance customer feedback with their own strategic direction
- Why self-awareness is an important leadership skill
- Lessons from building and managing a podcast production agency
- How personal growth influences professional leadership
- Practical approaches to mindfulness, clarity, and sustainable success
Chapters / Timeline
0:00 – Introduction to Simona Costantini
Meet Simona and hear about her journey in podcasting, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
6:00 – The Connection Between Podcasting and Customer Experience
How empathy, communication, values, and connection shape meaningful experiences for customers and audiences.
12:00 – From Corporate Marketing to Entrepreneur
Simona shares her transition from the corporate world to starting Volt Productions.
18:30 – Leadership, Client Relationships, and Business Growth
Lessons in managing clients, leading a team, staying aligned with your values, and growing a service-based business.
24:00 – Balancing Customer Feedback With Creative Direction
How entrepreneurs and creators can listen to their audience without losing their vision or identity.
31:15 – Mindfulness, Self-Awareness, and Sustainable Success
The habits and practices Simona uses to stay grounded, maintain clarity, and navigate entrepreneurship.
36:30 – Does It Hold Water?
Simona reacts to Marcus Aurelius’s quote: “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
42:00 – Chip Shots
Rapid-fire insights on books, failure, leadership lessons, and habits for success.
47:00 – Closing Thoughts and Where to Find Simona
Final advice from Simona and ways to connect with her.
Connect With Simona Costantini
Volt Productions:
https://www.voltproductions.co
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simona-costantini-25653a30/
YouTube:
www.youtube.com/@happinesshappenswithsimona
Connect With Gary Marra
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-marra/
Schooley Mitchell:
https://www.schooleymitchell.com/office/gmarra/
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@yourcustomeryoursuccesspodcast
Looking to Reduce Business Expenses?
Gary Marra is a Strategic Partner with Schooley Mitchell, helping businesses identify opportunities to reduce recurring operating expenses while maintaining the service levels they need to run and grow their businesses.
Schooley Mitchell is an independent cost reduction consulting firm that acts only in the client’s best interest. The firm reviews current business expenses, identifies billing errors and unnecessary costs, conducts marketplace analysis, and provides ongoing monitoring to help control costs and prevent price creep.
Schooley Mitchell clients save an average of 28%, and there is no upfront investment. Fees are self-funded from a portion of the savings generated.
Areas of analysis include:
Telecom • Merchant Services • Small Package Shipping & Courier • Waste • Software-as-a-Service • Fleet Management • Less-Than-Truckload • Facilities Supplies • Uniforms & Linens • Office Supplies • Fuel • Compressed Gases • Breakroom Supplies • Shipping Supplies • Packaging Supplies • Electricity • Natural Gas • Water & Sewage • FICA Payroll Taxes and more
For business owners, CFOs, COOs, and senior leaders, reducing unnecessary operating expenses can create additional room for profitability, reinvestment, growth, and better customer and employee experiences.
Learn more or connect with Gary:
https://www.schooleymitchell.com/office/gmarra/
Please Listen & Subscribe
Audio is available on all major podcast platforms. Video episodes are available on YouTube.
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Want to Be a Guest on Your Customer, Your Success?
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https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1726154102094403cb5558fc4
About Your Customer, Your Success
Your Customer, Your Success is a leadership and business growth podcast built around a simple idea:
Client focus is not just a service philosophy. It is a growth strategy.
Hosted by Gary Marra, the show sits at the intersection of customer experience, employee experience, leadership, entrepreneurship, relationship building, operational discipline, and profitable business growth.
Each episode features practical conversations with founders, executives, advisors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders about how stronger relationships, better experiences, and smarter business decisions create trust, loyalty, retention, referrals, and sustainable growth.
About Gary Marra
Gary Marra is a business advisor, customer experience leader, Strategic Partner with Schooley Mitchell, and host of Your Customer, Your Success.
Drawing on his experience in financial services, client management, operations, relationship building, and cross-functional leadership, Gary brings a practical business perspective to customer and client strategy.
Through Schooley Mitchell, Gary works with organizations to identify unnecessary operating expenses, improve cost visibility, and protect profitability through independent expense analysis and ongoing monitoring.
His perspective is grounded in a few core principles:
Client focus is a growth strategy.
Leadership behavior drives revenue.
Relationships drive revenue.
Operational discipline protects profitability.
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