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Anna Sagan: From Marketing to Woodwork

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Sometimes, our big breaks come when we least expect them. You could be going through the worst time in your life and still find a way back to life and happiness. Anna Sagan is an example of how people can rise beyond their unpleasant situations to become happier with their lives.

Sagan’s Rediscovery Journey

In 2020, when the Covid 19 pandemic was at its worst, many people lost their jobs and livelihoods and had to figure out ways to survive through life. 33-year-old Anna Sagan from Los Angeles was not spared either. The then marketing consultant lost her job and had to make the difficult decision to move home from Chicago to Fayetteville in Arkansas. While living in her parent’s house, Sagan discovered her late grandpa’s tools in the garage. She decided that since she did not have a job, she would keep her mind busy fixing things around the house. Sagan started refurbishing old furniture at home and making wine racks for her friends and family. In her effort to stay busy, Sagan discovered wood art, which has been her passion since then.

She hopes that she can encourage and inspire people with her work. Sagan says that wood art has healing stories and life lessons that she would love to share with the world. She also wants to honor her late grandpa Bill Barta, who she says is a man who left behind his tools and not his spirit.

How Does Sagan Work Around a Project?

Sagan says that she is extremely ADHD, but nothing can stop her once she sets her mind to work on a project. When she is in the woodshop creating something, time passes, and she becomes tunnel-focused. Her mind works tirelessly to finish a project, and she never stops until she has created a masterpiece. When working on larger projects, Sagan likes to use mood boards so that her end goal or vision is always in sight in front of her. She says she does this because she needs that visual reminder to stay aligned and focused. Otherwise, her mind can get distracted.

Sagan says that she has no problem waking up at 4.30 am to start a project, as long as she creates something beautiful. She is deeply motivated by comments from her friends and clients about her work. She says that the looks and sounds of admiration push her to become better at her career.

Does Sagan Have Any Life Outside Woodwork?

When asked this question, Sagan had this to say, “I’m a big fan of wine. I geek out on trying new varietals and discovering new regions and wine-making methods. It’s truly an art form that I feel people find intimidating because of the industry and false perceptions that our culture has taught us about it.”

Sagan says that while the woodwork is a great experience for her, almost like a rebirth, getting involved in other arts such as wine tasting is a great way to unwind. It also helps to keep her artistic instincts alive.

Common Myths About the Wood Work Career

Sagan says she has also suffered from the misconception that woodwork is a simple skill that doesn’t require hard work. She says she only realized how challenging the career was until she got into it. Woodwork requires the same amount of patience and persistence that not everyone has the mental capacity to do. She says that even though she has become accustomed to the career, there are times she doubts herself and her ability to complete a project.

Source of Inspiration

Sagan’s most significant source of inspiration is Marie Forleo, the author of “Everything is Figuratable.” The book helped her breakthrough a mindset limiting her from pursuing her dreams. She says that the biggest lesson she has learned in her career is that it is never about how much money a person brings home or what other people think you should be doing. The most important thing is for a person to be doing the one thing that brings them happiness, peace, and fulfillment.

Biggest Challenge At Work

Sagan says that it is very disappointing to say that her femininity is the biggest challenge around her career. Being a woman somehow limits her from achieving career achievements for herself. She says that at one time, when she was working with a woodwork company, one of the men asked her if she was the cleaning lady because he could not envision a woman doing woodwork.

Sagan has missed out on numerous opportunities because people think that a woman is not good enough to be working in the industry. She recalls a time when she lost her job because she was a distraction to her colleagues. This was not because she did anything intentionally or was indecently dressed. It was just because she was a woman.

If you would like to get in touch with Sagan for inspiration or buy from her, reach her on her blogwebsiteInstagramTikTok, and YouTube.

This article contains branded content provided by a third party. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the content creator or sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or editorial stance of Popular Hustle.

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Business

Miixed Realities Proves Medical Billing Doesn’t Have to Be a Black Hole

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Miixed Realities

For most clinics, the revenue cycle feels like throwing money into a void. Claims go out, denials pile up, and thousands of dollars sit in accounts receivable while practices wonder what’s actually happening. It’s a problem Gianni Gonzalez heard about repeatedly before founding Miixed Realities.

The company started from a conversation with a doctor in Hawaii who described the same billing headaches Gonzalez kept hearing from practices nationwide. Different states, different specialties, same struggle. “Patient care was never the problem. Billing was,” Gonzalez says. What clinics needed wasn’t more software. They needed experienced people who actually knew how to work claims from start to finish.

That’s where the company comes in. Miixed Realities, a leading medical billing office in El Paso, Texas, places HIPAA-certified, US-based billers directly inside a clinic’s existing electronic health records system and manages the full revenue cycle. Every claim runs through an in-house AI verification system before submission, and denied or unpaid claims get actively worked until they’re resolved. The pricing is straightforward: $5 per processed bill plus 6% of successfully recovered claims. No setup fees, no monthly retainers, no long-term contracts.

The company reports strong results. According to Miixed Realities, one pediatric clinic recovered $60,000 in just two weeks, and practices typically see 30% higher collections within weeks of onboarding. More than five practices have replaced their offshore teams with the company’s US-based billers. Miixed Realities integrates with over 50 practice management systems, including AthenaHealth, Kareo, Epic, and Cerner, and says it can have a practice up and running within 48 to 72 hours.

What sets them apart from offshore providers, according to the founder, is attention to detail and direct communication during US business hours. The company maintains 95-98% clean-claim rates and processes claims within 24 hours. Clients get full visibility through a real-time dashboard that tracks pending submissions, approved claims, denial statuses, and recovered revenue.

Miixed Realities is expanding its internal verification technology and onboarding specialty-specific billing teams. Practices nationwide can request a full audit to see exactly where revenue is being missed. It all goes back to that initial realization: clinics shouldn’t lose revenue because of preventable billing issues. With the right people and systems, they don’t have to.

Learn more at Miixed Realities or connect on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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Inside the Amazon Reinstatement Process: The aSellingSecrets Approach

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When an Amazon seller account is suspended, confusion often sets in immediately. Automated messages, vague policy references, and limited communication channels make it difficult for sellers to understand what went wrong, let alone how to fix it. aSellingSecrets was created to bring clarity and structure to this process through a methodical approach to Amazon account reinstatement.

The reinstatement process at aSellingSecrets begins with a comprehensive account audit. Instead of responding directly to Amazon’s first notification, the team reviews seller performance metrics, historical warnings, prior appeals, listing activity, and operational workflows. This deeper analysis helps identify not only the stated reason for suspension, but also contributing factors that Amazon may not explicitly mention.

Once the root causes are identified, the team develops a tailored reinstatement strategy. This strategy is not limited to a single appeal submission. It includes corrective actions, operational adjustments, and communication sequencing designed to align with Amazon’s internal review process. The goal is to demonstrate accountability, compliance awareness, and long-term risk reduction, factors Amazon consistently prioritizes during reinstatement reviews.

A key component of the aSellingSecrets process is professional appeal creation. Each appeal is written with precision, focusing on facts rather than emotion. Clear explanations, structured corrective measures, and forward-looking prevention steps are combined to present a strong, credible case. This approach avoids common mistakes such as over-explaining, assigning blame, or submitting incomplete responses.

For complex or prolonged cases, aSellingSecrets leverages its professional attorney network in both the U.S. and EU. Legal insight is especially valuable in cases involving intellectual property claims, repeated suspensions, or compliance escalations. This added layer of expertise strengthens appeals and ensures alignment with regional regulations, and with 97% Success Rate on across all-time appeals.

Throughout the process, sellers are kept informed with realistic expectations. Reinstatement is rarely instant, and timelines can range from weeks to several months depending on the severity of the issue. aSellingSecrets emphasizes consistency and persistence, continuing to refine and submit responses when necessary until Amazon reaches a final decision.By combining structured analysis, strategic communication, and professional expertise, aSellingSecrets has built a reinstatement process designed for long-term success. Rather than offering quick fixes, the agency focuses on restoring seller accounts in a way that reduces future risk and helps businesses move forward with confidence.

(888) 503-1388
customercare@asellingsecrets.com
business@asellingsecrets.com
www.asellingsecrets.com

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Business

Young Romanian Entrepreneur Explores Lisbon’s Thriving Startup Scene

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André Marquet & Darius Borda

There’s a certain kind of clarity that comes from stepping outside your comfort zone. For Darius Borda, a young Romanian entrepreneur, that moment arrived in Lisbon, where he spent months collaborating with André Marquet, founder and CEO of Productized. What started as an exploration of Portugal’s tech ecosystem turned into something more concrete: the groundwork for his next business venture.

Borda didn’t just observe. He participated. He got involved in startup accelerators, the Productized Conference, the EUDIS Defence Hackathon, and the Lisbon GenAI Meetups, an exclusive community of AI specialists. It’s the kind of immersive experience that can’t be replicated from a distance.

André Marquet

“I came to Lisbon curious about entrepreneurship,” Borda said. “I left with new connections and the confidence to take the leap on my new business venture. Collaborating with André Marquet and being surrounded by people creating and launching their ideas was the best kind of learning.”

The collaboration worked both ways. Marquet found value in Borda’s IT management background and business instincts. “Collaborating with Darius Borda has been highly valuable,” Marquet noted. “His IT management expertise was essential to the organization of the Productized Conference, and his strong business acumen enabled meaningful deep-dives into entrepreneurial opportunities of mutual interest.”

Darius Borda

Beyond the formal events, the real work happened in conversations about defence tech, entrepreneurship, and early-stage startup ideas. Those discussions haven’t ended. There’s talk of future collaborations, though nothing’s set in stone yet.

The experience gave Darius Borda something he didn’t have before: a clearer sense of what’s next and the foundation to build on it. Sometimes that’s what you need. Not answers, just enough clarity to start.

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