You like to tell your clients, like, I quit wrong so you don't have to. I wanted to give them tons of time because of this important role that I had in the company. And so I went to my boss to tell her, you know, for the next, I don't know, you know, I needed to start kind of thinking through this transition because I wanted to make this leap. And, you know, they kind of told me, oh, are you going to start your own business? Had this conversation on a Tuesday and they told me that Friday would be my last day. And that was not my blade at all. All right. Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. George Wright III with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. And we're going to get down to some business today. I got Drea Lynn on the podcast. How are you, Drea? I'm doing well, George. Thanks for having me. Oh, this is good because we had a chance to visit for a few. And you have a topic that I want to really dig into today because there's a lot of entrepreneurs and or want to be entrepreneurs. and there's a lot of questions out there and there's a lot of hype and I want to kind of cut down to it. So before we get going, I want to give everybody a little bit of your background. Draelin is a attorney, former chief operating officer, entrepreneur, business strategist, the author of Smart, Quick, Cash In, Clock Out, but really the creator of this framework I wanted to talk to you guys about today, which is helping professionals make strategic career transitions and moves. And, you know, she basically rebuilt from six figures of debt to a thriving consulting business. And so she's got the experience. And it's funny because on her, even on some of the stuff that I was going through, she said, you know, I quit wrong. So, so my clients don't have to, and I really love that. So thank, thank you for being here. You've got a great background. Why don't you tell us just quickly, you know, what made you decide kind to pivot into this area of business and helping entrepreneurs make moves? Yeah, absolutely. And really, my story should be inspiring for a lot of people because I am not entrepreneurial in nature. I didn't come like, you know, you hear those stories where people like, oh, my family was entrepreneurs. I always wanted to be entrepreneur. Not at all. I enjoyed working for other people. I actually got paid well doing so and really thought that that's what I was going to do to the day I die. You know, I had a retirement plan. And, you know, over about five to six years ago, I started having this little like bug that I don't know, I had ideas and I wanted to launch and I didn't even know what it was going to look like, which is probably why, you know, being a high achiever, you know, putting these plans together, running people's business and these operational seats. I had this plan for what, you know, this entrepreneurial journey was going to look like. And I said it, you know, I had it all structured out and was ready to go. And then I don't think everybody has that big. this is going to be a no brainer. I got the best idea on the planet. So yeah, keep going. Cause your journey was definitely not an easy one. Well, and quite honestly, it started from the first path where, you know, I, this is actually a chapter in my book talking about even, you know, talking to your company because I had this great rapport with my company that I'd started this division and I wanted to leave right. And so even just initially when I'm making this first decision of what this is going to look like. I wanted to give them tons of time because of this important role that I had in the company. And so I went to my boss to tell her, you know, for the next, I don't know, four to six months, you know, I needed to start kind of thinking through this transition because I wanted to make this leap. And, you know, they kind of told me, oh, are you going to start your own business? It seems similar in our same line of business. And so had this conversation on a Tuesday and they told me that Friday would be my last day. And that was not my blade at all. I was not in the place. So you approached it wrong. You didn't know, you thought you had this great idea and great plan. And by the way, most entrepreneurs or I'm sorry, most career minded people that want to go into entrepreneurship do want to do it in the same field that they're in. And so this is a real thing that happens. So how did you deal with that? Because this is the setup foundation for why you are doing what you're doing now. Well, and it's funny because I think it was the reason why I actually still was successful in entrepreneurship, because I am resilient. I am determined and I'm going to make it happen. And so even though on day one, my entrepreneurial journey did not look like, you know, I thought it was going to look, I had to pivot and make it work. And so even to the extent where, you know, I had about six months of runway money. Well, that was six months of runway money thinking that I was slowly off ramping off my job. And I thought that I was going to have my first client within the first three to six months. That did not happen. So I'm like, I'm I'm I'm feeding into my business. I'm taking out, you know, still living expenses. I mean, when I say everything went wrong, anything that could have went wrong went wrong in this process. But I truly believe to be successful as an entrepreneur, you look at all the great stories. You have to believe in yourself. You have to be resilient and determined that you won't give up. And you make it happen at all costs, like even if it means sacrificing, selling it all. And that's I dug in now in true transparency. There probably were three or four times that I dusted off the resume. kind of thought through was like, was this the right decision? But I had made the decision. I did not want to turn around. And so that was. Yeah, I'm curious. And because I know we're going to get into a framework that I think is going to help a lot of listeners. But I am curious for you personally, because I know a lot of people think about making transitions and things. But I'm curious for you personally, do you think the fact that that decision was made for you made it happen so much faster, it just kind of pushed you down the road to go where you might have even hesitated a while just because of that? Well, in this particular situation, probably not only because in hindsight, George, I probably was thinking about this decision about two years prior. And this particular opportunity came to me that was so great that I probably jumped into and I think I should have jumped into entrepreneurship earlier. But I kind of think a lot of people do kind of hesitate and they need to push, but then they don't do it right. Right. Yeah, I actually had had my hesitation prior to this and got distracted by this job. And so this I normally had like a two year hesitation. So this was kind of like my second hesitation. But to your point, what what could have happened over this? So let's let's see this. So if I would have went to my boss and she would have said something like, well, hold on. we want to keep you let's double your salary I don't know exactly what would have you know what was I was I so much in my resolve then that I would have still been like was it worth my risk to you know turn away from that so to answer your question I don't know what that would have looked like so that no one's ever asked me that before that's actually good to to kind of think through well the reason I ask is this um I know that if you're listening to this you're thinking okay she's got a book called smart quit so she's going to talk to me all about why I should just quit my job and get jumping into this and do it the right way. So with that setup, I want you to now, because we had this conversation, what does smart quit mean and why did you put this book together? And then we'll talk to everybody about some really powerful framework you have for helping them make decisions. But what does it really mean? Does it mean quit my job and just jump in and cash in on my opportunity in entrepreneurship? It does not. And so smart quit is talking about the smart way to quit. But the first step is found in the tagline, which is cash in, clock out. And really, I'm saying that people should smart quit the mentality that where you are right now working is just about how much cash you can get in and how quickly you can clock out. Usually people are like, how much money can I make and how quickly can five o'clock or whatever time, you know, you're supposed to get out is about because there is so much more that you can extract from your job other than just money. There are resources in terms of skills. There are relationships. There are investors There are other people who might become partners in the future There are systems You know I have this saying that I say if you a fry cook at McDonald you are working at a billion dollar company What problems around you that you could solve that could be a business? What customer that's coming in that you could have a conversation with that could change your life? There's just so much that if you are intentional about where you are right now, and quite honestly, just like I just said about my situation, there may be a conversation or interaction that may change your idea of you wanting to start a business or may just delay it. Something that you thought should happen in six months, it may make more sense economically, physically, or whatever the reason to do in six years. And so it takes a moment to just pause before you're saying, because usually we make these decisions emotionally and we say, okay, let's one, let's think about why we're saying, okay, this is our time. We need to take this leak. And then let's really make some strategic decisions around this. So we really can kind of the saying is so we can leave with a plan instead of in a panic. Yeah, I really want to highlight what you said a few minutes ago, because I think perspective is key. I think people think whether you have a job you love or a job you hate, the point is they think, I don't want to work for anybody anymore. I want to do my own thing. And so that may be true. And maybe you are equipped for that. Maybe you're not. Entrepreneurship's not for everyone, and we'll talk about that. But your perspective is key because you could be a fry cook at McDonald's. You could be doing a manual labor job. You could be doing whatever. But your job can be a very critical piece pathwise to your success if you perceive it as an asset and a value. And this goes back to win-win. There's nothing wrong with not being an entrepreneur. But even if you're going to be an entrepreneur, looking at that job the right way, that perspective and mindset's obviously everything, Right. Yeah. So let's talk about that. I just can I say one thing about what John Maxwell has this quote that I love and I'm not going to say it verbatim, but it says I think he was talking to his grandchild or something. He says, do you want to do what I did to do what I do? And a lot of times people see where you are right now and they want to to have the world of this or the money or the bank account. You have to ask, do you know the jobs that I was in that I didn't like or the positions that I had that are the 80 hours a week that I work to be in this position? And so to your point, if there are just opportunities or where you are right now, you really should look at the perspective of how can I really make the most out of this or utilize this to my benefit? Because it probably would benefit me in the future. I just wanted to. Yeah. And, you know, it's such a paradox because people are so anxious and impatient to want to be an entrepreneur. And yet the thing you're going to need the most by far, I think, is patience because it's not going to come as fast as where you want. So it was so you have like like you like I said earlier, you like to tell your clients like I quit wrong. so you don't have to. And so you now both have the experience and the perspective looking back to have put together a real framework for not just if you're going to leave, how to leave, but also to identify what the path is. So talk to us about your kind of four phases of the stuff you train on in your book. Yes. So I have these four phases. The first phase is prepare, then I have position, pivot, and profit. And quite honestly, most of the book is about the two first phases because I really do believe those are the most important phases because, and we talked about this before, you know, most businesses fail. I think it's 50% the first year and I think it goes up to like 75% by the 50 year business. So the preparation stage prior to launching really is the first stage. And so the really the preparation start is really the mentality step. If you are thinking still like an employee, when you become a CEO, because that is what you become when you start your the day one that you launch a business, you are the CEO of your company, nobody is going to wake you up to get you started on what you got to do for the day. Like you are your calendar needs to look like a CEO, you need to be having relationships, The people around you need to be CEO relationships. You need to be making CEO decisions. And so there's a lot of mindset shifts you need to do. You need to understand the purpose behind why you're starting your business. You know, I shared about, you know, there were days when I was dusting off my resume. The reason why I decided not to go back and work for somebody was because the purpose behind why I was doing what I was doing was so deep. It kept me where I was. Well, I did that work prior to ever launching. So that's really the preparation stage is saying, hey, this is not for everyone. Is it for you? And that's some self-evaluation that you need to do for yourself. And part of that is even some of the things I have this quiz that called what you're doing. Is it a side hustle or a startup? Because if it's not for you, that is OK. And you can even still make money on the side by that. Keep your job and still make money as a side hustle. And that's OK. So that's part of it. that people struggle with? Or what is one of those key factors? Because you have to shift from being an employee to an entrepreneur. What does that take mindset wise that they need to be aware of? Well, I really think you have to, this is going to sound very probably kind of clinical, but you really need to evaluate your own insecurities because if you're not aware of those weaknesses you have, you'll be operating outside of them. And I tell people all the time In my own leadership, there was a seismic shift when I realized how much of my identity was in my work. And it actually was, it was such a default in my leadership. But when I made that change, it just blossomed me to be such a greater leader. I was empowering people around me. I was getting exponentially more work done because I wasn't fearful where I was a bottleneck because I needed everybody to come to me. But I needed to be real honest with myself to say I had insecurity around that. And that's difficult. and whatever that is, that was mine. That looks a different way for other people. And I think people really have to evaluate, do some self-evaluation for yourself because you might see you're wanting to launch because you have an authority issue. And I tell people all the time, if you have an authority issue, if at some point you're going to need employees, if your business is successful, if you cannot be a good employee for yourself, why do you believe that you will be able to lead employees? And so these are all the things that you should deal with prior to trying to go launch something. Yeah, you really have to understand. I love the step of prepare because you're preparing yourself not only to be successful, but also for the stuff that's going to happen. You know, those those nights where you're like, I'm just pulling my resume back out and I'm just going to go back to work, you know, and if you prepare ahead of time and you know what to expect and you know your insecurities, you know your weaknesses, you're going to be able to do more with that. so if you get this kind of preparation step down and it helps you to understand where the right direction is now what's the next step it's position yeah so now it's position so now it's more so we went mental and so now we're saying okay so now we we're going to do this business thing well instead of just launching with zero why don't we start something starting the engine up so we have momentum while we still have some income coming in and so this is where we're like let's actually make sure our idea works. So we have this idea and a lot of times we think our idea is great. Let's make sure somebody's going to pay us for our idea. So this is where we test it, test the market. Let's test it. We call it the real world MBA. So, you know, even if you don't have an MBA this is actually business school We going to go through the steps of you know let actually see this You have it Let if it a service or a product let test it out Let's see if we need to make any pivots or if we need to make any changes to our product. And we can do it. We can start marketing it. If we need to go, you know, talk about branding, you can do all of that stuff in a safe environment when you still have some kind of income coming in. So that's all about positioning there. You're kind of positioning yourself. You're going to you're going to ask yourself the question of financially. You know, I talked about that six month runway I had. What does that look like for you? You know, do you need six months? Do you need a year? That looks differently if you have kids in college or if you're single or if you have a two person income. Like you need to do all of the math and make those decisions of what does that look like when you decide to make that leap? and err on the side, don't do what I did, err on the side of more than less because the things that you did not know was going to happen, you should prepare for the things that you are not going to imagine because all of them are going to happen like it did with me. Yeah, I'm curious because you have a lot of clients that you're working with. How does somebody know if they've got just an idea, a good idea, a bad idea, or something that can truly be built a business around? Meaning, I talk to people a lot of times about, you really want to focus on areas around your unique talent. So it's something that you will end up being passionate about, but also will be viable, a viable business. And there's so many people, I think, that have an idea that they think is a business. Is there any advice or strategy framework you have around helping people to identify not just if their idea will work in the marketplace, but if it's a good idea and a fit for them in the first place to build a business around. Yeah. Well, a few things. One, I truly do believe people should do things that they're passionate about. So sometimes we're like, what makes me the most money? But unless you're really, really passionate about money, but I just really do believe to your point, you know, find that thing that either is unique to you is passionate about because many people can do many things. I think it's your competitive advantage if you find that thing for you, but then I should. Yeah. Cause it'll help you sustain, right? Cause you'll actually have more passion around it. Yeah. But then ask yourself the question, because this is something that someone has to find value. So what are you helping somebody to do? What are you solving? What problem? Why is why is a person going to find value out of this thing to make the exchange of money? Because as long as you're not getting money for whatever this is, this is a hobby. And so what what is going to turn your hobby into a business? And so you need to test the market. And so your market is whatever this. And that's the other thing, too. Some of those people try to force the market to be what they want it to be. I want to market to teenagers. But if who's buying your product are 40 year olds, they're talking to you and you need to make your market for year olds. And so that's what I mean in terms of you have to be willing to be flexible and pivot to what the data is telling you. And so that's that's you can do all that stuff while you're still working. And those are all the things where we're talking about positioning. Yeah, so you're saying it's not just a safety net. Because you hear a lot of entrepreneurs online today, and it really cracks me up because a lot of these coaches and people out there have never really built a business. But what you're saying is it's – because they're saying just take the leap. Say yes. Go do it. But you're saying not only is there safety, but it's smart. It's smart to prepare, create a strategy, test your market, make things – make sure that things are lined up so that you're prepared for the worst. and optimized for the best. And so this is all happening before you make a move, right? And this is also where I was talking about when I was talking about that fry cook, I have this pyramid where I talk about where the systems, the skills and the relationships, if you're doing it right, you can look around you and there'll be resources that will be helping you during these times. There are probably mentors that you can be asking how they did this when they launched their business. You know, I was talking about my little sister, she decides to start a business because I clearly make entrepreneurship look too easy and wanted to do a food truck. And when she told me that, I said, do you know when food trucks usually make their money? Like, is that the time that you really want to be in business? And I said, have you went and talked to other people with food trucks? Because she I was like, like, because why did you say a food truck? And once she went and talked to other food trucks right now, she has a catering business because that was not what she wanted to do. But what if she would have went and made the investment and bought a food truck and actually We would have had to be, she lives in Austin, would have had to be late night, you know, out when the clubs are, you know, but, but those are things, those are all skills, relationships and systems that are your resource that are free to you, that you don't have to spend money on, that you can take advantage of. And that's all a part of positioning yourself. I'm curious how many, just from your own personal experience, how many people are trying to move out into a career that they're in, but in business for themselves versus reinvent themselves into a new area? And is that play a factor? I think a lot of times they are. And I think it's a lot of times they'll see something that looks successful and they're like, oh, I'm going to do that too. And I just think it looks like, oh, that's enticing. And you don't actually see even the work or what's really behind it. And I agree with you. I think that's part of what makes it harder. Because I think a lot of times, you know, grass is always greener, right? But someone's either at their job thinking, I'm doing this for this boss, and I could be doing the same thing, making my own money, and so it seems easier. Or they're like, I hate my job. I've got to find something totally new. And they're almost desperate to find that thing. So they make this. This is why I think people do things out of quickness rather than thought and strategy, because they're like, this is so easy. I could do this on my own or they're saying, I hate my job. I'll find the first shiny object going. So I love these two steps of preparing, you know, and positioning and things like that. So is so let's go into the next step. But is that when they they OK, I've prepared, I positioned. Now what's the next step? So the next step is pivoting. So now you're going to pivot out of your job into your actual entrepreneur or whatever that business is. And you want to do it the right way. And so this is now your set. You had that number that you needed to reach. You know, maybe you wanted to replace whatever income it was. Maybe you want to get to 80 percent. And now you need to have this conversation. You know, I talk about your resignation letter is not just a resignation letter. It is writing your story. It is you being able to kind of write the story because you you never know what relationships that you want in the past. So you want to do well. So you don't want to just kind of like be like, screw y'all. I hate you. Gotta go. What's some advice you have there? Because you did it wrong. Well, you didn't do it wrong. You gave them notice, but then you got, you know, got got let go. So what was your what's your advice for this? Yeah, but I think there was more strategy that I could have put around that. I think I should have really thought through, well, was I ready for if they would have told me Friday? Was that OK? I did. I gave them I gave them best case scenario notice. And that was unnecessary. Like at this step, do you do you do you advise your clients to. Like, do you ever advise them to have their employer if they're on the fence? Have they already made up their mind or are you advising them to go to their employer and have them have the opportunity to try to keep them? Because like you said, had they you had made your mind up, but had they maybe made you an offer, some things might have been different. Like how often does that happen? Yeah, I really believe it. It depends. And I didn't cut you out because I was moving us along. But even when you were given the situation where you were like people, they leave because they're like, you know, I can do this better or, you know, I really caution those who tell me that not to leave. Because what you find is that you'll stop jumping from thing to thing to thing, because if that's your motivation, you're going to find that anywhere. Like people are always going to get on your nerves It always going to feel hard because everything hard your entrepreneurial venture is going to go hard And so if you don find yourself being able to be resilient and be able to sit through that you just going to that what you going to do throughout life And so the same thing here, depending on your situation and the reason behind why you're why behind you doing this would would determine when you would have this conversation. And so so let's take a situation if the reason why you're doing this is because you feel that at your job, you know, there's nowhere else for you to advance. And, you know, you feel there's no ownership here and you're not being valued. I probably I probably would not share that you're thinking of starting a business, but I probably would have that conversation with my boss. I would say, hey, I really I don't feel like, you know, I'm advancing. I want more ownership. Is there a place for me? Because that's a really good conversation that might end up being a promotion versus you need to go launch something. And so that's what I would encourage in that. So so that that's where I would kind of go. Great. So so as you finish your thoughts on pivoting, because as you now make this pivot, what else would you say is critical to that step? So here you're still building demand in your business as you're doing that as well. And so it's those things are in sync as you're making that shift. And so we're saying, hey, we are building our business and hopefully, you know, that's scaling up as you are also saying, OK, let me try to leave. Well, you know, make sure I'm replacing myself, making sure if there's anything legally because you don't want to steal anything proprietary to your company. but if there's anything that I can take in terms of, you know, lessons learned or, or, or, um, you know, whatever contacts that you take with you, that you're being strategic about that as you're kind of on the way out of the door of your job. So this is your transition phase really, and doing it the right way. Got it. Correct. Got it. Okay. And then the last page is the one that really matters is about profiting. And so what does that look like now? There's a little, there's a little kind of, um, trick about my profiting because there is profit of money, but I also ask people to evaluate what what does success look like for you because everybody say they want to be billionaires but do you because I really think you should ask yourself what is the lifestyle and what are you willing to give up for what you want and and and what is it what is it really like what does quality of life look like to you and so what is that and and it might be hey I want to work this many hours. And, you know, that's a trade off for XYZ. But I just ask on the front end for people to design that. So they create boundaries, because I also think when you start a business, it can it can take over your life, if you're not starting on the right foot of saying, these are the parameters that I'm going to go into it. And if I need to hire somebody to do XYZ, or, You know, just just starting off on the right kind of setting of this is I understand how this is going to look and I'm not going to let it kind of take over my life just because I'm trying to make the most money as I can. Yeah, it's that's such great advice, Trey, because early on in my career, I had a mentor of mine tell me, you know, most people, whether they're growing up or they're in transition or whatever, they're asking themselves, what do I want to do for a living? What kind of business do I want to have? Where do I want to go? And it's really the wrong question. Really, the questions we ask ourselves are the most important things. What we should be asking ourselves is, what do you want your life to be like? Because if you ask yourself what you want your life to be like, that not only filters out most of the other stuff, but it also gives you direction because you can start a business now as a one person, multiple people. You could work long hours, short hours. There's always a way, especially with AI and technology. So I think that's really good advice. What do you what do you do with your clients to really help make sure that they're set up for or what advice do you have for creating profit? Because you're right. The only thing that matters if you start a business is that you actually stay in business, which means you've got to have a profit. Right. Absolutely. So minimizing expenses. And so sometimes you'll think you need all the things. So you need a whole bunch of employees or you start off, you really want to think basic needs first. And so how do you start off with the bare minimum that you now? Now, this also means what you need to spend money on, you need to spend money on. So you can, there's two ways to go with that. You can spend too much and then you got buildings and cars and all the things you did need. But then also there are resources that you did need to support you that you did not, you know, get yourself a CPA so you're not messing up your. Frugality, yeah. Yeah. And so really understanding that. But then also very early, because what sometimes happens is you start off and you're going so fast that you do not set the right foundations of your systems and processes. And that will catch up with you, even if on the front end it doesn't feel that way. If you continue to grow and scale, that will start to collapse on itself. If you're not, you know, making sure you're starting off with the right people, if you're not starting off with the right systems in place. And so that means, you know, do you actually have an accounting system of how you are, you know, taking in money and paying your bills? And so really understanding just those basic systems, because those really are the things that over time start to mess up your profitability, even if you are selling things. You know, you have these companies, you will hear of companies making millions of dollars. That does not mean that they are profitable. And so, you know, you can hear that all day. That does not mean that in what we want. So, yeah, I think that's so funny because so many people are trying to get to the, you know, the seven figure, eight figure, nine figure and they're losing money. And so I think this is a very, very smart, important framework for people to understand. And this could this could apply whether you are transitioning from a career to a business as an entrepreneur, but also between businesses and things. These these four steps are so critical. It's the reason I really wanted to showcase it on our episode. And I actually wish we had a bunch more time because I wanted to kind of pick your brain on mistakes and things. But if people are hearing this message, it's resonate with them. They're at that point in their career. They're trying to learn more. And just because of the timeliness of our episodes, where's the best way that they can sort of connect with you and learn a little bit more about what you do, get a little more feedback, maybe even connect at a different level? I'd love to be able to do that for them. So where's the best place? Yeah, they can go to howtosmartquit.com. You can get the book because it's on all the Amazons and Audibles and actually a course as well to go through. And then DreaLynn.co on all the socials is how you can follow me. Excellent. I love it. Well, before we go, one last question. What advice do you have for someone that's right in the trenches of this right now? Like if you just had one piece of advice of what to do, where to go next, what to, you know, somebody that's dealing with this, you want to kind of prevent some of the mistakes you do, you have done. What would you say to that person? What's the kind of the, I'll give you the final thought on where you think you should advise these individuals. I'm actually going to give them a Nelson Mandela quote, and it says, it always seems impossible until it's done. And so you will feel like it's impossible. Just keep going. Sometimes you will want to give up. Just take this first step and keep going and just don't give up. That's what I would say. I love that. That is really good. I love having that right frame of mind. Drea Lynn, I appreciate you being here. And, you know, if those of you that are listening to this, whether you're dealing with something, whether you're trying to make a transition, you're trying to look to reinvent your career, you know, having the right perspective, taking your time, having a blueprint, having a plan like Dre is talking about is so important. And so let us know what you're working on. Let us know what you're dealing with. We want to celebrate the wins and also, you know, know what it is that you need help with. So hit me up on the Daily Mastermind. Check our show notes. I'll put some links to Dre Lynn's, not only her book and her website. So check the show notes and share this episode. Let us know what we can do to help you out. And we appreciate you being here. We look forward to talking with you again. Have a great day.
