“Success Is Doing What You Want, When You Want, With Whom You Want”—Carlos Ponce on Building a Business That Serves Your Life

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What if success isn’t about the grind, the title, or the next promotion — but about waking up each morning and owning your time, energy, and relationships? In this episode of Cut The Tie, host Thomas Helfrich sits down with Carlos Ponce, a veteran sales and communications leader turned entrepreneur who now runs a family-owned podcast production company called People Bound.

Carlos spent years inside a fast-growing tech company, where he built a global live-video series long before it became mainstream. But after more than a decade inside corporate, he realized he had neglected the entrepreneurial itch he inherited from his father. At fifty, he made the leap — and hasn’t looked back.

About Carlos Ponce

Carlos Ponce is the co-founder and Managing Partner of People Bound, a boutique, family-run podcast production company serving tech and B2B organizations. Based between Tucson, Arizona, and Mexico, Carlos leads a creative team that focuses on the power of real conversations — not mass automation — to help companies build meaningful content.

With more than twenty years in sales, marketing, internal communications, and teaching, Carlos brings a rare combination of strategic thinking, storytelling, and cultural fluency. He is also a lifelong cartoonist and illustrator, adding a creative edge to the work he does for clients around the world.

In This Episode, Thomas and Carlos Discuss:

• Leaving corporate after twelve years — and why timing matters
  He shares the emotional and practical considerations behind walking away from a stable job at fifty.
• The painful mistake of relying on one major client
  Carlos tells the story of losing twenty thousand dollars a month overnight after a client’s leadership change — and the drastic impact it had on his business and mindset.
• Why you should never hire based on emotion
  A candid look at hiring people close to him, why it backfired, and how he rebuilt his approach.
• Running a business that stays small by design
  Why People Bound intentionally avoids scaling into a large agency and focuses instead on meaningful, relationship-driven work.

Key Takeaways:

• Curiosity beats fear when learning something new
  Approaching unfamiliar skills with curiosity made the technical challenges manageable and even enjoyable.
• Diversifying clients protects your business
  Losing a major client overnight taught Carlos the importance of spreading revenue across multiple sources.
• Hire only when there is a real business need
  Bringing in people based on emotion instead of necessity created avoidable strain and setbacks.
• Your business should serve your life, not replace it
  Carlos remains intentional about staying small, family-driven, and focused on meaningful conversations.

Connect with Carlos Ponce

🌐 Website:http://www.peoplebound.co
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosponcerobles/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelfrich/
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: [e-mail]
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