Learning in Public: Entrepreneurial Growth, Accountability, and Resilience with Liora Dudar

From Kitchen Table Startup to Eight-Figure Exit

Liora Dudar never set out to be an entrepreneur. With a fine arts background and a passion for photography, she describes herself as a reluctant founder who stumbled into business almost by accident. But in 2014, alongside a business partner, she co-founded Overtone Haircare, starting with experiments at a kitchen table and scaling into a nationally loved, eight-figure e-commerce brand.

Over seven years, Overtone grew from a two-person passion project into a team of more than 80 employees across manufacturing, technology, and executive functions, before ultimately reaching a successful exit.

Now, Liora coaches founders who are navigating what she calls the “messy middle bits”, the point where initial passion meets the reality of scaling a company. Through her coaching, she helps entrepreneurs reconnect with their purpose, strengthen their leadership, and build people-first businesses.

Why Mission, Vision, and Values Matter

During the conversation, Liora explains how many founders roll their eyes at the phrase “mission, vision, and values.” At first glance, these concepts can feel like corporate jargon.

But her lived experience taught her otherwise.

At Overtone, values were embedded into the DNA of the brand. Radical inclusion, honesty, intentional introspection, and clarity guided decisions from marketing to hiring. Those values were lived daily.

“If you value work-life balance but your policies don’t reflect that, you don’t actually value work-life balance,” she says.

She encourages founders to go deeper than lip service: mission is why you bother, vision is what happens when you achieve your mission at scale, and values are how you get there. The alignment between those three elements not only drives internal decision-making, but also attracts the right customers, employees, and investors.

The Year Three Inflection Point

Liora highlights the three-year mark as a critical transition for most founders. In the early days, energy and passion drive everything. Founders are doers, executing at a rapid pace. But as the company grows, founders must evolve from being the one doing the work to being the one leading others.

“Communication becomes your real job,” she explains. As teams expand, leadership is about clarity, consistency, and building trust. Founders must learn to articulate not just what needs to be done, but why it matters and how it connects to the larger mission.

This shift is uncomfortable for many, especially entrepreneurs who pride themselves on execution. But it’s also the difference between a business that plateaus and one that continues to scale sustainably.

Learning in Public and Practicing Accountability

One of Liora’s core philosophies is “learning in public.” No founder gets it perfect the first time. Businesses are built on experiments, pivots, and (sometimes) failures. What matters most is how leaders respond, repair, and learn.

“Nothing you put into the world will be perfect. The question is what happens after,” she says. Accountability, both to yourself and your team, is a critical ingredient in resilience. Public mistakes can be repaired with honesty and transparency. Internal conflicts can be healed by owning missteps and aligning again with values.

Her advice is simple but powerful: there’s no single “right” decision in business. Instead, focus on making decisions the right way, grounded in values, informed by the mission, and aligned with the long-term vision.

Reconnecting When the Spark Fades

Even the most passionate founders hit moments of burnout or disconnection. Liora sees this often in her coaching practice. Sometimes, the first session with a client is simply allowing them space to release years of pent-up pressure. From there, the work is about helping them reconnect with why they started in the first place.

“Ask yourself: what do I really want from this business? And it can’t just be money,” she says.

Financial goals matter, but they’re not enough to keep leaders and teams engaged. The most resilient businesses balance the quantitative (revenue, growth, margins) with the qualitative (culture, purpose, impact). Customers, employees, and founders alike “shop on vibes,” as she puts it. Authenticity matters.

Not Everyone Should Be an Entrepreneur

Liora is also quick to push back on the idea that entrepreneurship is for everyone. In a world that often glorifies founders, she reminds us that not every brain or lifestyle is suited for the entrepreneurial roller coaster. “It’s not a moral failing,” she says. “A world of only entrepreneurs would be boring and frustrating.”

Instead, she encourages founders to respect that their employees aren’t entrepreneurs—and shouldn’t be expected to think or act like them. Leaders owe their teams clarity, structure, and respect. It’s not about making employees carry the burdens of leadership; it’s about creating systems that allow them to thrive.

Coaching Founders Back Into Alignment

Today, Liora channels her entrepreneurial lessons into coaching, helping founders “like their business again.” She supports leaders at inflection points, when the spark has faded or when growth feels overwhelming. Her process starts with reestablishing mission, vision, and values as living, breathing tools. From there, she helps founders practice accountability, lead with clarity, and reconnect with their sense of purpose.

The outcome is founders who feel proud of what they’ve built, confident in their leadership, and resilient in the face of challenges.

Key Takeaways for Founders

• Embed values into products, policies, and rituals, not just marketing copy.

• Recognize the year three shift from doer to leader and embrace communication as your primary role.

• Practice accountability and transparency when mistakes happen—repair builds trust.

• Balance quantitative goals with qualitative purpose to keep both people and performance aligned.

• Respect that not everyone should be or wants to be an entrepreneur; create systems where employees thrive.

Final Thought

Liora Dudar’s story is proof that entrepreneurship is as much about resilience as it is about strategy. From scaling an eight-figure brand to coaching founders through the realities of leadership, her message is clear: learning in public, leading with values, and holding yourself accountable are what transform both founders and the companies they build.

Learn more about Liora's journey from photography and activism, to co-founding and growing a wildly successful haircare company, to coaching other founders on their journeys. Follow her on LinkedIn here.