DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

VS: My name is Victoria Staten and at my last corporate job I was Group Vice President at Kenneth Cole.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

VS: I felt that I had stop learning and was only imparting wisdom, training & teaching (which I love however my thirst for knowledge needs to also be satiated). I finally came to the conclusion while sitting on a surfboard in Costa Rica where I came to realization about how little time I had left to make a new start, and became very sure that I didn’t want to die someone else’s employee. I also listened to Joss Stone’s you’ve got a right to be wrong over and over again. It was a gut thing – I would rather regret what I’ve done, than regret what I wanted to do but didn’t

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

VS: Instead of accepting a promotion I asked for less responsibility, asked for the budget to hire my replacement, came up with a re-org plan to work me out of the job. I got everything I asked for and one and a half years later I spent my last day as I described. It was a wonderful experience. I felt very much in control of my destiny.

DD: Victoria, you had so much going on, quitting the day job, divorce, relocation, starting your own business, please tell us the whole story!

VS: It took me six months to make the decision and 18 months after I told them I wanted out, for me to officially walk away from my position as Group Vice President at Kenneth Cole. After two parties filled with tears, not in my eyes but in those of my team members, I walked out of the office I had called home for much of my working life – a free woman.  Not that I was in bondage, in fact quite the contrary.  I was a senior executive, with the full support of Kenneth Cole and many others, and was empowered to run the business as I saw fit.  I felt exhilarated that moment, as I shut the big iron door and walked slowly down the steps.

Our CFO told me, “Victoria, you will be successful in your new venture because you are so passionate.”  I knew that passion was the root of success.  I had plenty of it during my 15 year reign as the queen of men’s footwear at Kenneth Cole.  Unfortunately, a couple of months after I left the big city to work from home in Minnesota, (I commuted to The City each and every week) I made the stupid decision to also leave my husband.  My passion turned from my new business, to working through the logistics and the emotional roller coaster of divorce. To hold positive energy close by my side, I hired two younger spirited women, who kept me from sliding into the abyss.

I had saved close to a half a million dollars, and though the divorce cost me a lot of money, I thought that I had enough to get through at least a year.  Well, with a burn rate of $30K a month, my money ran lean fast.  I think that I spent WAY too much money on the wrong things because I was subconsciously trying to overcompensate for the emptiness and sadness that I felt inside.  It was like I had to prove something to myself.  Once my savings was depleted and I had to face the fact that I was a single mom needing to provide for my family on just my income, things changed.  I began realizing that every penny saved is a penny earned.  I cut my burn rate back to a bare minimum.

Since then, I have counseled many woman who have come to me wanting to make huge life changes all at once – job/new business/career, husband/boyfriend, and family/home. I wish that I knew then, the depth of emotional energy required to tackle just the change of leaving my job to start a company.  Had I known, I NEVER would have tried to get divorced at the same time.  I would have tackled one life change at a time.

Because I didn’t I spent double the amount of time to get through my divorce, which definitely had a negative effect on my new business. I learned the hard way that no matter how strong you think you are, or how bad your situation is (my situation on both fronts was actually pretty good – just not enough for me) its best to hop on the little roller coaster first, and work your way up to the big roller coaster, one at a time.  Getting through one big life change is doable – three at once is NOT. Instead, try letting your hair grow then go out and buy a convertible.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

VS: Don’t try to make too many life changes at once. Focus on one big life change, like quitting your day job, one at a time. I even think that people should start their new business while they are still working their day job, at least until they have proof of concept. Then quit your day job. Take some time off to relax. Then groove into your new career full throttle.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

VS: I’m excited about what I see on the horizon. A possible reality TV show on Bravo, a large potential investor, licensing opportunities and more. Though I miss he gigantic paycheck and sometime find it difficult to manage on my much smaller (for now) income, I feel really good about the decision I made. NO REGRETS!

DD: Victoria Staten everyone! Wow what an empowering story! Don’t quit your day job until you have a proof of concept, cut your burn rate, focus on one life change at a time, penny saved is penny earned, do something you might regret instead of a regret of not doing it…I feel like I can write a full blog post on how many thing I have learned from it! I’d leave you with what I found very inspiring “Though I miss he gigantic paycheck and sometime find it difficult to manage on my much smaller (for now) income, I feel really good about the decision I made. NO REGRETS!” That is the very definition of a successful entrepreneur!

Check her out at – Victoria Staten

Success to all!

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

AD: I am the CEO and one of the founders of Ludus Tours; a tour outfitter that focuses on global events like the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Formula 1 Austin and Oktoberfest.  I started Ludus with my wife. We began dating in high school and went to the University of Arkansas together. Together we were awarded 17 NCAA All American Honors and 9 National Championships while running for the Razorbacks.  In 2000, we both competed in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.

I was the Director of Business Development for RunTex (where Jessica was Community Relations Manager) before we started Ludus together in late 2003.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

AD: We hated our jobs. We hated sitting at a desk and ultimately being held back by someone else’s objectives and obstacles.  We were miserable and looking for a way out…when the opportunity to be ‘laid off’ arrived, we jumped on it, not knowing where it would take us.  We just knew we wanted out. We were eager to get back to Europe, where we’d lived for two years previously.

Jess and I had always dreamed about running our company, but hesitated because I liked the thought of working for big companies and doing bigger things.  In 2003, we found ourselves jobless.  We were burnt out.  We jumped at the chance to create something from scratch and be solely responsible for the results, instead of having someone else stand in our way – which seemed to keep happening in other jobs.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

AD: On numerous occasions my superiors told me that I should be working for myself.  How do you take a comment like that?  I was able to part ways from my last job and it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. 2003 was a bit of a tough time to start a business…but there is always a reason ‘not to do something.’

When competing in the 2000 US Olympic Trials, Jessica and I identified a business opportunity. We witnessed firsthand how challenging it was for athlete family members, many of whom had never left the United States before, to go abroad and support their Olympic hopefuls.  Using our athletic contacts from years in the Track & Field community, Jess and I created Ludus Tours, a business originally focused on helping athlete families members make it to the Olympics. Now Ludus Tours focuses on fulfilling the needs of travelers based on the premise of simply showing people a good time – providing amazing, unforgettable experiences.  Ludus now runs tours to the biggest international sporting and cultural events like the Olympics, World Cup, and Oktoberfest.  The list of events is always growing!

I guess the difference is that we were behind our company 100%…not that we weren’t as employees, but lived and breathed it when we started LUDUS. Simply put, you’re going to work harder when it is your a$$ on the line.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

AD: Who do you know? Use your contacts and form long-term friendships and meaningful relationships with these people.  As simple as this tip is, it is the starting point of our successful company that some people may hesitate using because of the belief that they want ‘to make it on their own’. Ask yourself: Who do you know? Who do they know?

Ludus is a small company, and therefore has limited resources, so we rely heavily on creating, building and maintaining relationships.  Email is free.  Years before the Olympics begin Ludus sends a team to the event city (currently we have a team in London), to cultivate relationships with local vendors, partners and even competitors. Starting our event programs so far in advance also allows us to build rewarding relationships with Federations to continue helping various athlete family members.

Another thing that people don’t talk about much is that being an entrepreneur is like jumping off a cliff.  It’s risky. You have to be ready to take a risk…and fall flat on your face.  My suggestion for an aspiring entrepreneur is to take the plunge.  Nobody is going to push you to do it…it has to come from you and don’t look for signs.  Take the leap of faith and don’t look back.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

AD: At our first event, the Athens 2004 Summer Games, we had only a handful of clients.  After that, we took off a few months to travel and see if Ludus was what we really wanted to do for a living. Again, don’t look for signs from above.  This is real life – unfortunately, hard decisions have to be made.  We continue to be entrepreneurs, but yes, there are nights when I can’t sleep because of financial or other work related stress.  Owning your own business is stressful, but we’re at a healthy stage in our business.  For the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, we hosted over 3000 clients and were the official tour operator for seven different International Federations.  Ludus is now in a state of change. I am setting high expansion goals for the next two years – especially in London for 2012.  We are using new streamlined technology and hiring more employees than ever before. We are excited for the future and see huge opportunities in London, Sochi and beyond.  It’s fun and its fast, which are two vital things for Ludus as a business.

DD: Adam Dailey, one of the founder of Ludus Tours, everyone! The very basis of success revolves around who you already know.  Chances are your inner circle has the resources you need or know of people that have what you are looking for.  Your friends and family are not only the key to start-up success, but are also the key to continued growth. I also liked his comment about the plunge “My suggestion for an aspiring entrepreneur is to take the plunge.  Nobody is going to push you to do it…it has to come from you and don’t look for signs.  Take the leap of faith and don’t look back.”

Oh, I almost forgot, check out their Oktoberfest & Munich Travel Solution

Success to all!

Fear is good because it means you’re thinking of &/ or  moving towards something unconventional. [Tweet]

Fear is good because it means you’re thinking of, moving towards, and considering something unconventional… So in that sense, fear is the first step in the journey you’re about to embark on. Fear is good because it’s an inbuilt threat alert system which helps us filter the bad and dangerous situations and happenings.

Fear is good because it keeps you on your toes and moving. [Tweet]

Fear is good because it keeps you on your toes and moving. Fear of being hurt or loss or being criticized, consistently keeps you to do better, so that you don’t loose the reputation, the money, the status, etc that you have already built or earned.

Fear is good because it tell you what’s important to you. [Tweet]

Fear is good because it tell you what’s important to you. Think about it, would you be fearful about something you don’t care about. No. This means fear if examined carefully can help you identify what’s important and what is not.

Fear is good, because it keeps your thought process in check. [Tweet]

Fear is good, because it keeps your thought process in check. Being bold and aggressive is one thing and being foolish is totally another. Fair amount of fear makes you question yourself, your ideas and the feasibility of your ideas, and questions bring you close to the truth. The truth may scare the crap out of you but, it will also set you free.

For how to master this powerful emotion, read the full article at Under30CEO

So, how do you deal (or dealt) with your fear? I’d love to hear from you, via comments here or at Twitter!

Their online service allows parents, for the first time, to use the same professional assessment tools that have been available to date only to larger corporate and government organizations. They believe parents will embrace the use of such assessments and make them a standard component of the caregiver screening process. With 1.2 million nannies employed in the US only, there is a very large potential market for such a service.

Selecting a caregiver for their kids is a difficult as well as an intimidating task for parents. Choosing the right person to take care of their kids is one of the most important decisions parents make, and parents are always concerned about leaving their kids with someone they don’t really know much about. The problem intensifies because most parents are not experienced in screening and hiring people and lack the expertise to conduct interviews and check references. Furthermore, even corporate recruiters feel that interviews and reference checks aren’t sufficient and this why many businesses (including some 80% of the US Fortune 500 companies and 75% of the UK Times 100 companies) use pre-employment screening tests.

NannyTest has been designed specifically for screening child caregivers by parents. Tests are easy to use, affordable (at $24.95 per test) and available online, anywhere and anytime. NannyTest combines both testing for relevant personal traits and risk assessment, with a strong focus on the later. Relevant personal traits include responsibility, obedience and discipline, self control, emotional stability, coping with pressure, positive attitude and service awareness. Risk assessment covers issues such as violent behavior, drug abuse, drinking problems, truthful reporting, respect to property and more.

TakeCare was founded in February 2002, and service launched two months later. TakeCare’s team includes 3 employees and most of the technical work (software development and web site design) are outsourced. The development was self funded and the company now operates in a bootstrap mode.

The main challenge which they face is market education, creating awareness among parents to the fact that they can and should perform personality and risk assessments as part of their nanny screening process. This isn’t an easy task and they are hoping to convince influential professionals, reporters and bloggers to write and talk about personality assessments and their importance as a screening tool. Anyone interested in TakeCare! should contact Yossi Pinkas at yossi[at]take-care[dot]me

Our best wishes to TakeCare! & the Founder – Yossi Pinkas!

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

GD: My name is Glenton Davis, and I am 25 years old. Prior to establishing Soul Pop U, I worked on Wall Street as an analyst in Global Investment Strategy for the Chief Investment Officer of J.P. Morgan Global Asset & Wealth Management, responsible for over $600 billion in discretionary assets. My work at the firm even earned me a place in Fortune Magazine’s “Faces of the Future” in May 2008.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

GD. After 2.5 years on Wall Street, I decided to leave for two reasons. First, I realized that I have been given so many opportunities so early in my life. Why not take them and leverage them into a venture about which I was wholly passionate? I am 25 years old. Now is my time to step out on faith, to take big risks to contribute, to give back, and to make my career and my life fully my own. Second, I also am a recording artist, and my single “Go Get on the Floor” broke through the Top 400 pop songs in Canada, lighting a fire beneath me to give all of these passions a go. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, to run my own businesses, to grow them and watch them develop into brands, into ways of life that give back to the communities around them. My work up until now has all been a series of stepping stones towards this goal.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

GD: I made the decision to leave, firmly, around 6 months before I gave notice. I worked very hard at my job, worked very hard to live resourcefully in New York City (very tough!), to save my money to give me the biggest leg up with Soul Pop U. The venture is entirely self-funded, no loans and just now working with private donors, so having the capital in the bank was very important to me. I moved into an apartment where I could have a separate office from my living space, and signed a contract with myself to abide by an intense work schedule (often 18+ hours a day) in order to bring to fruition what has been burning in my mind.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

GD: For aspiring entrepreneurs, I can offer the following advice. If you’re waiting until you’re ready, until you have enough money saved, until this, that, or the other – embrace the fear and step off the cliff. You will never be ready. Trust yourself to build wings on the way down.

Another lesson that I continue to learn – and one that I think is crucial to achieving success as an entrepreneur – is to define your vision, see that vision in front of you, and commit to turning your thoughts into something tangible. No matter what. There will undoubtedly be roadblocks along the way. Some will feel larger than life, as though they cannot be moved and you cannot find a way around them. With time, learn to be strong like steel, to keep your higher purpose for change, for action, burning bright in the forefront of your mind. It will not always be easy, and it will not always feel good. Trust that with committed persistence, you will manifest tomorrow for others what you see today.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

GD: I am doing great, and I feel strong and empowered. Since the start of our organization six months ago, we have implemented programs and worked with students across NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC – and recently began working with officials in France to bring our program to their schools. In total we have worked with over 2,000 students, empowering them to leverage their passions into careers and lives that are truly their own. Cleary Gottlieb represents the organization pro bono. We also were awarded fiscal sponsorship and partnership with The New York Foundation for the Arts – a truly impressive and humbling honor from the Gold Standard of arts advocacy foundations. We are working with schools and corporations now to increase our scale and impact in the community this Fall and beyond.

DD: That’s Glenton Davis, Founder of Soul Pop University who took a leap of faith and dove right into his own business.  His story showcases a great lesson for all spiring entrepreneurs out there and he put it in words very precisely – “If you’re waiting until you’re ready, until you have enough money saved, until this, that, or the other, then it’s not going to happen – embrace the fear and step off the cliff. You will never be ready. Trust yourself to build wings on the way down.”

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

LH: My name is Leta Hamilton. My corporate job was as the highly paid Executive Assistant to the CEO of a Private Equity firm in London.

DD:  What made you leave the job?

LH: After having my first child, I went back to work full-time. The glamorous world of Private Equity and the “maternal” like nature of the Executive Assistant role were no longer compatible with my at home life as a mother to an infant. The job required 100% of me, but so did my child. I soldiered on for a year in absolute misery before making what was at the time the most courageous decision of my life. I had to completely reevaluate how I defined “success.” I could no longer pretend that being successful meant bringing home a lot of money and having what appeared to all outsiders as a great career. When you are dying inside, it’s time to start making your own definitions!

DD:  When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

LH: Becoming a full-time mom after the birth of our second child meant diving deep into some duty inner work to make peace with the fact that I was no longer contributing anything financially to the household income. I started reading (and listening to on tape so I could multi-task better) every spiritual growth, self-help book out there about the keys to finding inner peace and fulfillment. Pretty much all of them were written by men and certainly none of them addressed the unique challenges of attaining inner peace with a 3-year old ninja fighter and a chronically attached 1-year old. In desperation, I thought to myself, “Damnit, I’m going to write the book that I cannot find! I put the laptop up on the kitchen counter top and literally wrote a book while breastfeeding, stirring the stir-fry and changing poopy diapers. What resulted was a book about the craziness of modern motherhood and the spiritual lessons we can learn from our kids. The premise of the book is that we can use the time we actually spend with our kids to learn the spiritual truths about which those best selling authors write so eloquently, but oh-so impractically for someone in my position. Once I had a manuscript, I took a haiatus to have another baby and move into a new house. Two years later, I was ready to jump off the proverbial cliff and so I went for it. Now, I am a speaker and radio show host (I host a parenting show called “The Way of the Toddler Hour” that is broadcast in Seattle, Detroit and Boston to 1.3 million listeners) in addition to my writing on the spiritual lessons we can all learn from kids.

DD:  What did you do to break the corporate jail?

LH: Mustered up all my courage, wrote a letter of resignation and handid it in.

DD:  How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

LH: Good question. Not sure I really did all of my homework beforehand. I did receive coaching help in the process of publishing my book.

DD:  What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

LH: NEVER, and I mean NEVER, compare yourself to another. Each and every one of us is here on this planet with our own unique story and path. What works for another may or may not work for you. The simple truth of it is that we all have to live our own lives and that means making our own mistakes and learning our own lessons along the way. You can drive yourself completely insane when you start comparing your story to the stories of others and then making value judgements about it. Do the best you can, keep moving forward every day, and you will get there. Patience and persistence are the key words.

DD:  How are you doing and how do you feel now?

LH: I feel great. I have a career that literally defies the whole work/life balance conundrum that so many moms struggle with. My kids are my career and I have created a job that adds to, rather than distracts from, my internal sence of peace and fulfillment. I champion the spiritual path of motherhood. I write every day. I get to spend time with my kids. I am not beholden to a corporation and their rules. I’m still working towards greater goals practicing patience and persistence every moment of every day. My kids are 1, 3 and 6. I have plenty of fodder for my workshops, speaches and articles. I could not imagine going back to an office outside my home. I am very grateful for everything in my life

DD: Leta Hamilton is a great example of diving into the water head first and that this dive (strategy) works as long as you know what you want and you stick to your commitments. Just like Leta while being a full time mother, decided to embark on her entrepreneurial mission.  Today she is 100% committed to her work and family and also maintains a healthy work/life balance, one she was looking for since working at a private equity firm. Definitely check her out at The Way of The Toddler

Success to all!

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were they at?

AL: I’m Adriana Llames, a veteran career coach, published author of “Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game”, professional speaker on job search strategies and motivation across the country and a featured expert on ABCNews.com, Yahoo! HotJobs, TheLadders.com, The Denver Post, The Chicago Examiner and Mediabistro.

I started in Fortune 500 Human Resources, moving from recruiting to training and development all the while climbing the corporate ladder, eventually transitioning to marketing and sales with a medium-sized online media company. When I left “corporate America” I was a sales executive with a word-of-mouth media company.

DD: What made you leave the job?

AL: Passion, or lack thereof, for people. I’m a passionate person, it’s what motivates me. The company lost its passion for the business, the people who supported it – clients, employees and consumer advocates. My enthusiasm, drive, motivation and determination to excel left when the company lost its passion.

DD: When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

AL: When I was 22. Friends and family asked for advice on resumes, interview and job offer negotiation which turned into a call from industry-leading outsourcing firm Drake Beam Morin (DBM) to speak at their C-Level roundtable as an expert on career transition networking. I was hooked. I knew then I loved career coaching, speaking and had a passion for matching people and employers that would turn into my own business.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail?

AL: While working full-time, I fine tuned my product and service offerings and wrote a business plan. I spent hours 13-20 of each day working on my company while hours 1-12 were dedicated to my corporate job and the few left over were for the little sleep I allowed myself. I took my time and when everything was ready, I gracefully exited the corporate chains leaving all bridges in tact.

DD: How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

AL: Terribly. I had savings although less than I needed. I had a home office, never realizing I’m a social butterfly and the lack of interaction would drive me bananas.

DD: What are you suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

AL:

Save | money, at least 12 months, honestly. You’ll thank yourself for it.

Prepare | for questions, from friends, family, potential clients and investors.

Create | a business plan, a back-up plan, a marketing plan and a budget.

Plan | on sleeping less, working more and loving it.

Be | understanding of others. Our companies become our ‘babies’, consuming us 24/7. It’s rarely understood by anyone who’s never been one of “us”.

Ask | questions, if you don’t know something. Someone else does, we can help.

Read | blogs, twitter, industry magazines, etc. for resources that will help you

Never | under-estimate yourself or work for chump change

Take | time to be with your family, sleep and rest. Recharged batteries get you farther.

Last, but not least, I rely on www.odesk.com for the tasks that are time-consuming and non-revenue generating. It’s an entrepreneur’s best friend.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

AL: Exceedingly well. I’ve been a career coach for 12 years and now focus 100% of my time on my business, am a published author, my new book, “Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game” was released with Amazon.com, a featured expert on ABC News.com, Yahoo! HotJobs, TheLadders.com, The Denver Post and The Chicago Examiner as well as a professional speaker on job search and motivation across the country. My passion for matching people and employers has just extended into a new business, WOMHiring.com, where we’ll be using Word-of-Mouth and networking exclusively to match high quality candidates, top rated employers and open positions. There’s only one word to describe how I feel, grateful.

DD: That’s Adrianna Llames, career coach, author and national speaker. She explains that the employee to entrepreneur transition is not an easy transition, however if  you follow your passion then success is definite.

Success to all!

Well, being an online contributor on their team comes with a challenge of coming up with rock solid content for GenY, with a twist of WOW !! Now, it’s not rocket science for me to write blog articles and/or make info based videos but to make them rock solid and give it a twist of wow, I need your help! Yes, you read it right, YOUR help!!

So, what do I want? Well, I want you to tell me what do you want!!

Here’s a little favor I’m asking you: please leave a comment below to let me know of what, in your opinion, is one burning question that GenY needs the answer to? What is that topic that they want to read or watch more about? Do you want me to interview a certain personality and have your questions answered? Do you want me to write more on a particular topic? Do you need tips, tricks, or tools on a particular subject? Do you want inspiring stories? What do you want? Because I wanna write and create content that’s truly needed and helpful instead of just writing what I think could be needed and helpful. I’ll do my best to take up and cover each and every request/ question/ topic

Many many thanks in advance for helping me out, everyone!

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

RC: My name is Ryan Colby.  In 2006, I graduated with a BA in Computer Networking from Champlain College in Burlington, VT.  From 2006 to 2009 I worked in the IT field for two companies – a mid-sized construction company in South Burlington, VT and a small, IT service provider in Ann Arbor, MI.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

RC:  After working in the IT field for 3 years, and working in many other part-time jobs throughout school, I realized that I wanted to be my own boss.  Now, I just didn’t decide one day that I wanted to start a business and immediately quit my job.  The process of turning my “entrepreneur goal” into my “entrepreneur reality” involved multiple stages and took some time.  The process really began when I first met my business partner, Shaun Hadsall.

Shaun was one of my clients for whom I provided IT services in Ann Arbor. Shaun owned a successful local personal training studio and occasionally needed help with his company’s technology needs.  Over time, Shaun and I built a professional relationship to the point where he called me one day and asked if I wanted to help him with a new business venture.  So, we met later that week at a local Panera Bread and he explained that he wanted to start an Internet-based business selling weight loss products.  I told him I would give it a shot and we spent the next year and half learning as much as we could from the “Internet Gurus” that are very successful online – guys like Mike Dillard, Frank Kern and John Reese.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare yourself for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

RC: During this year and half period, which I like to call “The Grand Experiment”, I worked full-time in my IT job while working with Shaun on the side.  Shaun and I had very little success during this period in regards to customers or revenue (we didn’t make our first dollar during this time), but this time was EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for both of us because we learned a lot!  I look back on the past two years and I’m amazed at how much both of us have learned about the Internet Marketing business – even when we didn’t make a dime.

So, after awhile, we were getting to the point where we knew we needed to either make our first dollar, or move in a different direction.  Amazingly, around this time Shaun’s wife, Karen, found a couple of fat loss books that preached the same principles that Shaun had been teaching to his personal training clients for years.  We had a look at her website and determined that her Internet presence could be greatly improved.  Shaun called the author, Wendy Chant, and asked her if she wanted to partner with us.  Wendy was immediately interested in working with us and our company, Get Lean In 12, was born.

As we continued to build our relationship with Wendy, she confided in us that she was fighting Stage 4 Cancer and the outlook didn’t look very good.  Her main concern was that her message was going to pass with her so we promised that Get Lean In 12 would be used to continue her message, no matter what happened.

In October 2009, Wendy and her newest book were going to be featured in First For Women Magazine.  While Wendy was valiantly fighting Cancer, Shaun and I used her First For Women Magazine article as a “springboard” for Get Lean In 12.  We knew that her website was going to be mentioned in the article so we redirected it to our new Get Lean In 12 website.  As customers started to find our website, Get Lean In 12 officially launched on October 5th and we finally made our first dollar.  Over the next month, we worked though technical and customer support issues that were new to us, but we learned a lot by “throwing ourselves into the fire”.

Sadly, Wendy passed away on November 19th and left her message in our hands.  Through the winter and holiday season, Shaun and I continued to slowly work on Get Lean In 12 as he was in the process of selling his personal training studio and I was still working full-time in my IT Consultant position.  It was during this time that my “entrepreneurial instinct” was getting stronger and stronger. Shaun and I both knew that Get Lean In 12 was not going to grow the way we wanted until I was working full-time on the business.  As my IT Consultant job was becoming more and more demanding, it was becoming harder and harder to work on Get Lean In 12 during weeknights and weekends.  Finally, it just hit me one day – I needed to just “take the jump” and “fire my boss”.

I should mention that I made this life-changing decision based on calculated risk. I definitely don’t have savings that would cover my bills for years and years, but I can live comfortably AND frugally for awhile while we build our company.  In addition, the pressure of not having a guaranteed income from a 9-to-5 job is one of the factors that currently drives me to work harder and smarter on Get Lean In 12.

DD: What are your top tips for employees who want to be entrepreneurs but are hung up on something?

RC: For anyone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, I would say to them: “Tell yourself that anything is possible”.  I know that it sounds very cliche, but in a lot of ways, it’s true.  People are usually their own worst enemies because they tell themselves they can’t do something before they even try to do it.  I would much rather try and fail, than not try and know that I’ll be miserable in my “career” the rest of my life.

My second piece of advice for an inspiring entrepreneur would be to read, read and read more.  Before, in-between and after working on my business each day, I make time to read books written by business people who are already successful.  I find that reading books by these successful individuals puts me in the right “entrepreneurial mindset” when I go about working on my own business.  If you’re new to reading books like this, I would recommend “No B.S. Business Success in The New Economy”, by Dan Kennedy (I’m reading it now…) Nevertheless, whether you decide to become an entrepreneur or not, find what makes you happy and do it as quickly as you can.

DD: How are you now? Are you still in the same business and how do you feel?

RC: Right now, I feel great about my decision to become an entrepreneur the way that I did.  I would be lying if I said there isn’t stress involved with the unknowns of starting a new business, but I would much rather pioneer my own path and be my own boss instead of working in a 9-to-5 job that I don’t like in exchange for a guaranteed paycheck.

DD: That was Ryan Colby founder of Get Lean In 12. I agree with Ryan’s emphasis on the importance of reading books by successful businessmen. This is a practical resource to gain insight into the world of entrepreneurs and as Ryan says, it “puts one in the right entrepreneurial mindset”.  So folks put on your reading glasses and settle into a good book and you will gain the most out of a lazy Sunday afternoon!

Success to all!

Another, ongoing argument is that the networking gurus tell you to have a “give to get” approach of networking, where you keep giving and expect it to come back, I think it is the sure shot way of setting yourself up to be disappointed. I believe in “give to give” and by that I simply mean is, accept the fact that you may never see a return on your efforts and do not expect anything in return. “Give to give” and you will be very pleasantly surprised with what your efforts will unfold…

So, without further ado here are the ‘nine’ that will help you shine, and remember most of these can be applied to other social and professional networking platform as well.

1. Fill out your profile completely and correctly to earn trust. Use widgets to integrate other tools, such as importing your blog, slideshare or twitter stream to enrich your profile.
2. Do market research and gain knowledge with Polls. Ask questions in Questions and Answers to get an idea on what customers and prospects want or think of your product, services and or industry. Spot their problem and solve that problem with your product/ service.
3. Answer questions inQuestions and Answers. Show your expertise but stay away from OVER self-promotion. This one is my favorite and most used one.

See all nine tips at http://www.evancarmichael.com/Starting-A-Business/5811/Rocket-Science-Behind-LinkedIn.html

Happy Networking!