Do What it Takes to Build an Extraordinary Business

Welcome to LegalBiz Cafe! Digitally remastered with AI, in this podcast series, Attorney Shaune B. Arnold gives to frustrated professionals like YOU the tools and resources you need to make the LEAP to entrepreneurship so you can start, build or fix a business you will absolutely LOVE. 

In this powerful episode, Shaune issues a bold call to action: do what it takes to build your extraordinary business. From overcoming rejection to rewriting self-doubt, she shares mindset strategies, personal stories, and a fiery reminder—only you can deliver your unique gift to the world.

Transcript

Hello friends, …And WELCOME, once again, to legal biz cafe. I am your host, attorney, Shawnie B. ...

…Listen. We are here today to talk about what it takes to build an extraordinary business. But before we do that, I want to give you a little bit of information about what we're doing here on legal biz café.

You see, I am a business consultant and business attorney. I work with frustrated entrepreneurs, and I give them the tools and the resources that they need in order to start, build or fix the business of their dreams.

And so here on legal biz cafe, that means we’re dealing with your mindset. We deal with the issues that create fear in you, the issues that create resistance in you, the issues that create limiting beliefs and all kinds of problems that leave you standing still and unable to start, build or fix that wonderful business. So, that is what we do. But, I also want to invite you to listen to my other weekly podcast called, Your Business, Accelerated!

Now, on Your Business, Accelerated!, we deal with those hardcore legal and business issues that stop you dead in your tracks and make you feel like you're about to make the wrong decision. And so you make no decision at all, which can tank your business overnight.

So, when you listen to Legal Biz Cafe, and you listen to Your Business, Accelerated!, you get two sides of the same fabulous coin that you can slip into the slot machine of life and come up with three cherries in a row. …THEN you can start, you can build, or you can fix that business that will be there as long as you want it to be there!

So, let's get started. Let's talk about what it takes to do all of that. And you know, frankly, you have to know, first of all, that it's possible. Beyond the possibility, you need to know that it's necessary as well. When your business is in trouble, it's got to be you. Who can fix it better than you? …Whose dream is it anyway?? Your mentor can’t want it for you more than you do. Really consider that and be willing to AMAZE them with your commitment to yourself and your business.

Now, I’ll not sugar coat the situation. …When you get started, …you're going to find out that IT’S HARD, but it's so very worth it. And when you put all of these things together, when you put your mind to it, and you put your heart to it, then you put your shoulder to it. It. Is. Done.

There was a book called Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman. You’ve heard me speak of this book in the past. It’s really extraordinary. In that book, Seligman tells us that we are each born with a word in our heart, …and that word, ladies and gentlemen, is either YES or NO.

Now, if you were born with the word yes in your heart, that's a really good thing. But, I mean, it can come with its own problems. Sometimes you can run all the way out there saying yes, yes, yes to the universe, and get yourself all the way out on a limb.

If you're a YES person, …you know what I'm talking about! Sometimes, that limb can be pretty slim. You suddenly realize you might fall, so you may have to backtrack …just a bit …to keep yourself in safe territory. That's okay! At least you have a yes in your heart.

How would you KNOW if you are a person born with a NO in your heart? I’ll ask you a few questions. Have you learned to go through the daily motions of what you perceive to be the pain of life? ...Have you learned to act, or in actuality, …to not act, through the disappointments of life? ...Do you agonize over your failures and miss celebrating your successes?

Has life taught you ...through losing ...that you're helpless? …That there's nothing you can do? …That you CAN’T start that business, …that you CAN’T build that business, …that you CAN’T fix that business of your dreams …because you don't have the connections? …because you weren't born on the right side of the tracks? …because you don't have just the right education that you think you need in order to start, build or fix that beautiful business? Have you laid down in the pain as a result?

Do you have a NO in your heart? …One that you were born with, or one that the world has foisted on you? I want you to examine that closely and, if it's there in your heart, see what you can do to turn that no into a yes, so that you know it IS possible for you to start, build or fix the business you’ve been dreaming about.

It is absolutely necessary, ladies and gentlemen, that you do whatever it takes to motivate and educate yourself to build an extraordinary business. See, I may have need of the life-saving vaccine that you might create one day. I need to read the book that you are going to write. I need my hair done and my nails done and I can't do that myself.

I need YOU to start that hairdresser salon. ...I need YOU to start that nail spa. ...I need YOU to design those clothes …because I can't do it for myself.

You see, I NEED YOU ...to live your dream, …and I'm being completely selfish about it. It's not for you. It's for me. 

Do you remember that Twilight Zone episode where the old man hated people and all he wanted to do was be left alone to read his books? It never occurred to him that those books came from PEOPLE.

Nonetheless, he hated people, and he just wanted to be left alone. And one day, this gentleman who worked in a bank snuck into the bank vault to read his books. At lunch time, there was a loud noise, and the vault jammed shut, and he was locked in there, but he knew that the vault would open in 24 hours, so he didn't care, because he hated people that much. Well, 24 hours later, that vault opened, the gentleman walked out of the vault, and he realized that what he had heard was a bomb, a HUGE explosion, …and that everyone was dead except him.

Well, he was very excited about it. He loved it. He danced out of the bank. He danced down the street. He danced up the steps of the library because he was going to spend the rest of eternity by himself ...reading his precious books. Then he stumbled and he fell. He broke his glasses.

...Oh no! The gentleman didn't know anything about fixing glasses. As he sat on the steps of the library, he could not see well enough to even find an optometrist’s office where he could maybe find a pair of glasses.

He was devastated, and he sat down in the pain.

Folks, we need each other. We need one another to get that entrepreneurial spirit to start build or fix that business of our dreams. It is absolutely necessary. And guess why?... 

Because building that amazing business is all on you. It has to be all on you. You are the only one who can bring your vision to life. Only you have that education. Only you have that skill set. Only you have seen the universe in the way that you have seen the universe, and only you see the world through your gift. No one else can bring your gift to the world, but you. It has to be you.

Guess what? ...You may find ...once you get started down that path building your dream, ...people don’t support you. I remember when I was a financial advisor with a multinational conglomerate. I was a series seven, series sixty-three, series sixty-five and the California insurance license AND and I had the California bar exam under my belt as well. I wanted to practice securities law for this conglomerate I was working for. I sent my resume in to the General Counsel in New York. I live in California. I was willing to do the work to move to New York to start from the bottom, even taking the New York Bar exam.

I had that series seven, the series sixty three, series sixty five and the California insurance licensing. I just KNEW that I had the education this company needed me to have. Well, I got a rejection letter, not from the General Counsel, …and not from HR, but from the ACTUAL FUNCTIONING CEO of this multinational conglomerate. Can you believe it?? I couldn’t. This man took time out of his day to slam a 31 year old hopeful. He told me in no uncertain terms that they only make “lateral” hires from law firms and there was no job for me in their legal department. They offered me a job in compliance instead.

Why was that man bothering to take the time to shoot down my dream? Rather than be insulted, I asked myself what kind of impact must I have caused in the New York office with my resume? I took that letter to the branch sales manager's office, and this man actually looked me right in my face, and he said to me, “You are not white. You are not male. You are not 25 and you do not have an MBA. A securities attorney job will NEVER happen for you. ...You can't do it.”

That's what he said to me. Well, first of all, I said to him, “I'm awfully glad you're not in charge of my future.”

Then I took that letter, …and myself. I walked out of that company and went on to IMMEDIATELY get myself a job practicing law as a securities attorney for another publicly traded company.

Folks, ...don't EVER let ANYONE define who you are, other than YOU. 

Every time someone tries to draw a box around you, I want you to step outside of it, pick it up, hand it to them, and tell them, “This belongs to you.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for joining me this week on Legal Biz Café. I am your host, Attorney Shaune Arnold. I’d like for you to follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter X. My moniker in all of those places is Shaune dot Arnold. You can also call me directly at 213-718-3468. 

Until we meet again next week, this is Attorney Shaune Arnold …reminding you, …as always, …to MAXIMIZE your COMPETENCE, …to get the CONFIDENCE …YOU NEED …to succeed.

I'll see you next week, right here on Legal Biz Café. Bye-bye, Friends!