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You Can't Afford Me
Making the leap from employment to entrepreneurship can be a scary time. The biggest fear people have is the unknown. Here on the “You Can’t Afford Me Podast” we speak with hustlers and innovators on how to make the most of your journey. If you have questions we have answers.
You Can't Afford Me
Building Businesses, Setting Boundaries, And Starting Over
Risk without recklessness, rest without guilt, and the kind of reinvention that only comes from writing the truth down—this conversation with Monaca is a blueprint you can use today. We start with her military-rooted discipline and a decisive pivot from pharmacy to business, then follow the trail from auditing to door-to-door selling where she built a promotions company on connection instead of ads. The early lesson is unmistakable: talk to people like people, and everything else compounds.
When family life demanded new boundaries, she made them—moving the business out of her dining room, hiring help, and setting client expectations. That single decision unlocks scale and sanity. Then comes the leap into construction with a partner: roles clarified, systems documented, and a brave commitment to healthcare containment before it was trendy. She and her team flew out for ICRA training, stocked PPE before shortages, and built the niche expertise that hospitals needed when COVID hit. Preparedness met opportunity, and the phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
The turn no one sees coming is personal. A sudden separation forces a reckoning with narcissism, trauma bonds, and unspoken patterns. A therapist’s prompt—write the letter you’ll never send—opens a vein. The letter becomes pages, the pages become a bestselling book with a companion journal that helps others find language and healing. Monaca's throughline is clear: put goals and grief on paper, decide in daylight, and hire people who outshine you. Say yes, then earn the yes with training, tools, and follow-through.
If you’re building a business, navigating burnout, or trying to heal while you lead, there’s something here for you: niche positioning, boundaries that make you better, and simple practices like journaling and weekly focus routes that actually move the needle. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review to tell us what risk you’re ready to take next.
www.themrpreneur.com
In the fast-paced world of business, your digital marketing strategy shouldn't be a burden. At Enzo Media Firm, we make it effortless. We specialize in empowering medium to large businesses with comprehensive digital marketing solutions, from dynamic video marketing and podcast production to advanced web development and social media strategies. Every client at Enzo Media Firm is paired with a dedicated account manager, your guide through the digital landscape, ensuring personalized attention and tailored-made strategies. And with monthly meetings with our creative team, we keep your marketing aligned with your vision, even if you're short on time. Enzo Media Firm, where marketing is just not simplified, it's personalized, effective, and designed for your success. Discover the ease of digital marketing with us. Visit www.enzoMediaFirm.com to get started. Welcome to the You Can't Afford Me Podcast, where we skip the fluff and dive straight into the grind. Real entrepreneurs, real struggle, and the unfiltered journey behind success. Let's get into it. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on another episode of the You Can't Afford Me podcast. So have you guys ever come across someone on social media and you're like, I just need to talk to this person. Seems like they got something cooking. Um, and funny enough, this young lady we met, geez, that was probably at least five years ago.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, probably four or five years ago.
SPEAKER_00:Um came in your house. She didn't know me. Uh we were shooting a video for one of my other companies um with a good friend of mine. And uh yeah, here we are, here we are today. So today we have Monica on the podcast. Monica, how you doing?
SPEAKER_04:I'm doing good. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:That was a compliment. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:For sure.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So give everybody a quick rundown of who you are and what you do.
SPEAKER_04:Uh well, currently, um, I am I'm a lender, I'm a mortgage loan officer, um, I'm also an author. I've written a book, and that is kind of where my focus is right now.
SPEAKER_00:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I've gone the past two years, which I'm sure we'll get into this, has been a huge transition for me. So, but right now that's that's Monica.
SPEAKER_00:Gotcha.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So let's go, let's go back a little bit further. Where did you grow up? Like, how did you get into business? All this good stuff. We want to tea.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I um quick overview. I was my family was military. My dad was in the army, which a lot of my my character and values is kind of that's my foundation.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:So, which I think people kind of see that as as they have seen me evolve. But I was born in Germany.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, born in Germany. Um, like I said, my dad was in the military, so we traveled a lot until I was in um college, really. My mom and I sat down once and counted how many times we had moved. And when I was in college, we had moved 34 times.
SPEAKER_00:Jeez.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So we we moved quite a bit.
SPEAKER_00:Give us some different areas like in the United States or across the world.
SPEAKER_04:Uh Missouri, Georgia, uh, Wisconsin, Hawaii, came back to Missouri, um, like I said, Germany.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:So a lot of places.
SPEAKER_00:Which was your favorite?
SPEAKER_04:Um I would say, I mean, obviously Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, we were in Hawaii in the 80s, and I was at an age where there was I had no worries. You know, it was I went to school during the week, and on the weekends, it was like, how many kids can you pack in the car and head to the beach?
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:You know, like that was my life there.
SPEAKER_02:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:And plus I learned like the culture there is so different. And um, I learned a lot, met some cool people. So I would say that's probably my favorite.
SPEAKER_00:Did you pick up surfing while you're there?
SPEAKER_04:I did not. I did not. Probably boogie boarding.
SPEAKER_00:There you go. So close enough.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and plus I was getting to that age where I really enjoyed history. So like Pearl Harbor was there, so that really started fascinating me. Um, my best friend growing up is from there. Her name is Jocelyn, actually, who I named my daughter after.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so good memories in Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00:Love it.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And what did you where'd you go to school and what'd you study there?
SPEAKER_04:Um, well, I start college. I started at VCU and I was in pharmacy. I was also in the ROTC departments or or I had an RTC scholarship.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And after two years, I was like, you know, I was what, 20, 20 at the time. I was like, I don't want to go into the military.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So I'm gonna turn down my scholarship and I'm gonna get out of pharmacy. Um, I had actually made it into the the school of pharmacy here. But I told myself, I had the envelope in my hand, I told myself, I'm gonna make this decision before I open this envelope to see if I've been accepted so it doesn't sway my decision. And I made the decision This was at 20? This is age 20.
SPEAKER_00:That's a pretty insane way of thinking as a 20-year-old.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, well, like I said, my dad, you know, being military, yeah, you know, we just um I made my school decision based on the girl to guy ratio. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:It was six to one at Law University at the time. I was like, that's where I'm going based on.
SPEAKER_04:That's where I'm going. Um so anyway, so I transferred to um Austin Peace State, which is the reason I went there was because my dad's where my dad was um stationed at the time. So I moved back home because I had gotten rid of my scholarship and I knew that I was gonna have to start paying for paying for school. Yeah. So anyway, I moved back home and I went into business administration with a concentration in accounting.
SPEAKER_00:So what what was it that brought about the interest in business?
SPEAKER_04:Um, well, accounting. It was really accounting.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:But when I looked at what they had there, I was like, I feel like I'm gonna get more out of the business administration. You know, I just felt like there was more that I could use with that. So you know, which I found out later it was. You know, to this day I'm still using things that that I was back then.
SPEAKER_00:Every business on looking back now, I wish I had taken some accounting classes on the regular because business is all numbers.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So if you don't know how to navigate that, know your numbers, like it's very hard to stay in business.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and I was always like a science and and math girl. So my concentration was accounting, which you know, I'm in finance now. So Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So what after after college? What was your first career?
SPEAKER_04:Right. So after that, I was extremely driven. I went and worked for a CPA firm, which I did that. I audited utility companies, and that lasted, I don't even know.
SPEAKER_00:So they were always excited to see you.
SPEAKER_04:Oh well, I I really traveled on my own. Like they they were sending me out to um different counties in Tennessee, and I mean it was auditing. And I was I learned very quickly, like, this is not for me. Yeah, like this is not my jam. I mean, it's a great profession. Obviously, we we really need CPAs, but like my personality and that atmosphere was just not.
SPEAKER_00:So what is it about what is it about you that because what you've said so far in your story is that you tend to make decisions quickly in terms of like recognizing this is for me, this is not for me.
SPEAKER_04:Um, I guess I guess back then I did. I think as as I've gotten older, I'm probably a little bit more taking your time strategic, yeah. You know, but I mean, yeah, I guess I did now that you put it that way.
SPEAKER_00:Um so then two years at with the CPA firm.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, but I got out of that, and then I got into um a business, I was a business office manager in assisted living facility. Um and I did that for really through my 20s. So through my 20s, I was a business office manager for in healthcare environments, basically. Um I learned a lot doing that. And then towards the end there, I kind of I would cross over into the marketing department and do some of the outside marketing. Um, and by this time I'm in Richmond.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So when my dad, when I graduated from college and my dad retired from the military, we moved back here because our family's from Virginia. So I've always considered Virginia as my home.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Because we, you know, holidays, summer, we always came back here. So this is where this is where home for me is.
SPEAKER_02:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:Um, so anyway, so by this time I'm back here. And I was in a B and I group for the marketing part of my position, you know, doing doing outside marketing. And in my group, there was a gentleman who had a promotional company. You know, so he did like, you know, pins, cups, mugs, you know, and screen print, embroidery, things like that. And I was like, oh, this sounds fun. You know, so I decided to move from my very well-paid salaried job to go into a sales position with a promotional company and sell promotional items. I I cannot tell you what I don't I don't know what it was. It was God is what it was.
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_04:It was the one time that I sat down with my dad. You know, my dad's always been like my true North. And whenever I made decisions, I would always sit down with him. Hey dad, what do you think?
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:Um, and I valued his opinion. And that was probably the first time he sat across the table from me and he said, Monica Dell, you're making the wrong decision. And I was like, Dad, I don't know. Like, I just I something about this just is feeling right and I'm gonna do it. So it's the only time I went against what my dad had guided me to do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So anyway, why did you feel that was the right decision?
SPEAKER_04:I don't know. It just felt it was God.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:It was God. I think God put a desire in my heart and you know, found out later that I obviously had a really good gift for that because that was my first company. Because I I went to work for this gentleman, yeah. And after a few paychecks, I was like, you know, I'm sharing my profits a little bit more than I want to be sharing them. So, and I had the business background and I knew the networking.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And I was like, I just feel like I can do this on my own. And I started Richmond Promotional Products. That was in 2007.
SPEAKER_00:Right before the market crashes.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Yeah. Um, but I mean, I I did I did really well. I did really good with that business. Um, but that would be a good one.
SPEAKER_00:Was there any trepidation in terms of you making that switch? Because look, I think as entrepreneurs in Boston said this on the show, I I believe entrepreneurs are born, not made. I think there's just something in our bodies because this is a roller coaster ride. Like they're like this week, I'm on a high of a high. Like we just closed a really big client, like I'm feeling good, but I know that doesn't last. Like next week it's gonna be some drama with somebody, or this or that's gonna happen. So I really feel like you have to have the stomach to be an entrepreneur. What was it for you that made you say, Yeah, I see that I can make more money, but taking that huge leap of faith? Um taking the leap of faith from From the paid sales position to starting your own.
SPEAKER_04:J just the desire inside me, and I knew that um, you know, I've just always been a driven person, and I knew that if I really, really wanted it, I was gonna make it, it was gonna be successful.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And at the time I was a single mom. I was about to say, at this moment, married, single kids, I I was a single mom, and uh my oldest son Carson, it was him and I, and there's something when you have a child. Yeah, you know, it's like failure's not an option.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, your why changes for sure.
SPEAKER_04:So, and that's exactly what I did. I mean, I put my head down, I would drop him off at daycare, um, and I would just I hit the streets, you know. I I set a plan for myself. I knew that everybody can use promotional products, like everybody. So I sat down and I was like, okay, well, this week I'm gonna hit insurance agencies. Next week, I'm gonna hit car dealerships. Next week, I'm gonna hit um, you know, baseball teams.
SPEAKER_00:Is this all in person? You're making cold calls, emails, what's that?
SPEAKER_04:So I like I got in my I got in my car and I hit the streets. And and that was my that was literally my plan when I had Richmond Promotional products. Yeah. I'm hitting insurance companies this week. And I would walk in and I was still in BI, so a lot of it came from that. I never advertised. It was always um referrals or like me going out.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And I that's probably the only time I've cold called too, because I don't I don't like it.
SPEAKER_00:Cold calls rough.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:What did you what did you learn like going door to door like that ultimate? Because for me, like it was my second business. I had a valet laundry service.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And to get the word out, it just made sense to find the right neighborhoods, like go to Salisbury and knock on doors and drop off flyers and stuff like that. And I don't know what it is, but my biggest fear, I I'd probably be more willing to jump out of a plane at that point. My biggest fear was me knocking on someone's door and them cussing me out, coming out with their shotgun and telling me get the hell off the right, or the fear of failure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So, and funny enough, I did that for a year of like cold door knocking. Yeah. Never once had someone cussed me out or screamed at me, get off their property. Like it was not what I was doing.
SPEAKER_02:Just do it.
SPEAKER_00:Well, what were the lessons that you took? Because I feel like that's something that a lot of entrepreneurs need to go through is like getting that being able to think on your toes, but also if you're being rejected, how to handle that in real time too.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I mean, I I learned not to be scared to talk to anybody.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, like I don't I don't care how much money you make, I don't care where you live, I don't, you know, that that's not we're all a child of God.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Amen to that.
SPEAKER_04:You know, we're just we're on different little paths, and I learned back then to like just don't be scared to to take a chance and talk to somebody.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um and it's often the people that you don't think you'll get the most from are the ones who surprise you.
SPEAKER_04:And I also learned to connect with people. You know, you can't just bust through a door and be like, hey, do you need pins?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, it's you walk through the door and um, you know, I walked in here and I complimented your the the way you get in the building.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:You know, I was like, you really thought about your your clients when you did that, and it stood out to me the entire time, the entire time I time I came up here.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, so when I walk in the door, you know, it's not about me and what you can do for me. You know, I find a way to connect with you. And I really didn't do that strategically, it's now it just comes natural to me.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:You know, and thankfully now, like with social media, that that same thing rolls over to social media. It's about connecting with people.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. I tell people all the time when I hear people say, like, oh, the internet and social media have disconnected us so much. I'm like, well, you're using it wrong.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Because I met my wife on Facebook. Like, that was a cold call that I and like once a year. Oh, yeah. And once a year I get in the habit of, and I normally do it at the start of the new year. Because you know, you you start building a network on, say, Facebook, and you start adding people as friends, but like, I don't, I've never met some of these people in person. We've just been connected online for a long time. Yeah. So we know each other, but we don't really know each other. So once a year, I'll typically put out a post around February saying, hey, I'm connected with a ton of people on this platform. I've never met a lot of you guys in person. Who wants to grab lunch in the next couple weeks?
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And the responses I get, like people in my DMs, like immediately, like, hey man, actually, I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time. Like, this is a great idea. Like, yeah, let's grab lunch. Yeah. Um, and that allows me to take my online uh network and make it a real world experience.
SPEAKER_04:And it's a beautiful thing how you can um I'll use Chris Smith as an example. I've never met him in person.
SPEAKER_03:Really?
SPEAKER_04:No. But I feel like if we walked in, you know, to the same room, I could hold a great conversation with him and we've got things in common.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:Just from what I've seen on social media.
SPEAKER_00:No, that's right.
SPEAKER_04:And you're and you basically, I mean, you've got millions of people at your fingertips.
SPEAKER_00:I tell and anytime somebody's complaining about marketing and different things like that, I'm like, imagine if your parents have started a business in the 70s and someone came and told them, hey, for free, you can push this button and you can instantly reach a thousand people.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:How how different would their businesses be? Back then they had to put up billboards and pay for newspaper articles and be in the yellow pages and door to door. And back then with this, we didn't have cell phones, it was rotary phones and all that kind of stuff. Like it was just way harder to get your name out. Yeah. Nowadays it's super easy. Now I understand.
SPEAKER_04:You can work smarter.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That's that's what it's all about. Yeah. So how long did you have that business?
SPEAKER_04:Um, so I had that business until to about 2014. Okay. And so, you know, fast forward, I um met my husband at the time and got pregnant with my my third child, Mason. And I was really, really sick. Like really sick. I mean, if I was awake, I was sick. So that that pregnancy took a toll on me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So in the that process, I and then after having Mason, I knew I'd have to stay home, you know, raise them and all that stuff. So my husband at the time was in construction. So him and I sat down and were like, okay, I can either give all I've got to Richmond Promotional, or we can take your construction background and we can start start a company. And for our family at the time, that was the best decision for us to make.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So I slowly like winded down Richmond Promotional products.
SPEAKER_00:Um did you make now as your transition out of this? Because this is a part of entrepreneurship I don't think we talk about a lot, is the exit strategy. We like when you go work for a corporation, yeah, they'll match your 401k and potentially pensions, which doesn't really seem to be a thing anymore, but some companies still do that. You have something outlined for you. When you start a business, most people aren't thinking day one, okay, what do I need for me to walk away from this business? So when you got into that mode, was it that you start transferring clients to other people and taking commissions off of that?
SPEAKER_04:Or was it just if I'm being honest, I did it the wrong way. Um I had assets. Like that was my um, I had I had done I started doing everything in-house.
SPEAKER_00:So like the big print machines.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I got embroidery machines. Um, because again, I look and I was like, oh, I can make more and more money if I get a couple of machines, hire somebody, we'll do it in-house. Same thing with screen printing.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:You know, started out with just a manual press. Then I was like, you know what, we can't keep up with these, with these orders. Let's go get a manual press. You know, so then that moves you into a bigger building. I need a warehouse in the back. So anyway, I had all these assets, and you know, when I made this decision, I just had a baby. You know, hormones are, you know, you're just and it was just it was just me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, I had I had employees, but as far as like the decision makers, it was it was just me and my husband at the time. So I made it very fast, and if I had to do that over again, I'd probably do a little bit different. I probably would have tried to sell the business to somebody, yeah. Would have been the smart thing for me to do. Because I had, I mean, I don't have the number off the top of my head, but I had a lot of clients.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And I had a lot of um, all my eggs weren't in one basket. I mean, I had the insurance companies, I had the car dealerships, I had the schools, I had a lot of different clients. Um, and I still run into some of them. I actually ran into one guy um from a construction company this weekend in Deltaville.
SPEAKER_00:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:And I was like, oh my God, you you know, you're one of my clients. And we were sitting there reminiscing. Um, so had I if I would do it again, I would probably try and sell it to somebody.
SPEAKER_00:I think most entrepreneurs, especially when we start from something from scratch, we really don't realize the asset that we built. Like now we're in this culture of like, because I think this is gonna be the biggest transfer of wealth that we've ever seen in this country because you have all these baby boomers retiring that own businesses, yeah, and their kids don't want the business. So they're looking at a business they have that's generating three, four million dollars a year and they don't have kids at one, and they're just thinking, okay, like I guess when I'm just ready to stop, I'll just close the doors, turn off the lights, like not realizing, hey, you could sell this right now.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so with that exit, did you liquidate the assets? Like, what what was that like?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Was that hard for you or no?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, um, it was hard because I felt like it was my baby.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, so I think emotionally it was hard for me, but um no, I mean, selling the equipment that that went fast. Um it it was hard letting the clients know that hey, I'm not doing this anymore. Um, that was hard. But at the same time, I was starting a construction company, yeah. You know, and raising the kids. So I had a lot going on at the time. And I think um, you know, to your point about not realizing the value of what you have, I didn't realize the value of what I had at that moment. Because I was honestly, I was having fun doing it. I had so much fun. I was I was go going to country fest, selling shirts, like getting to hang out with people. Yeah, you know, I just had so much fun doing um in that industry. And so when I decided to to shut it down, I don't think I realized monetarily what I was gonna be losing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So that's a it's a tough thing.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that comes with age, I think. Because at the time I was what, 30? 2014. So I was in my 30s.
SPEAKER_00:So talk about that piece too, is that you know, especially career women and career entrepreneurs, like I think your demographic is often told you can't have it all. You you can't be a career woman, you can't be the mom that's making lunches and being on the PTA and different things like that. How did you and I don't believe there's anything that's true balance when it comes to being an entrepreneur? There's always one area of your life that's gonna scale one way or the other. How have you been able to manage that?
SPEAKER_04:So I um and I actually listened to one of your podcasts when you said that, and I I had to like chew that up a little bit because Is that the one with Kristen? Um, it was with Chris Smith.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You were talking about work-life balance.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um because me being a female, I had to learn to know where my priorities are. Um and I'll I'll give you a couple examples. When well, back when I had my promotional company, I would, I was work, I was working out of my dining room. And the kids would come home, and I remember the moment Carson was in elementary school, and then Jocelyn was in preschool. And he came in my office, it was like 7:30, 8 o'clock at night. He came into my office and he was like, My she had something to do, you know, some coloring project. And he came in there and he was like, Mommy, I don't, can you help me? I can't figure this out for Jocelyn. And I sat there and I was like, Why is my you know, my seven-year-old sitting here doing helping my younger daughter do homework while I'm in here answering an email because I want to make sure that I don't my customer isn't waiting too long for me to respond to them at eight o'clock at night.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I was like, this has got to change. So, but what that did to me was that it forced me to, I got an office. I found um, I found an office over in Brainer Mill. It was like a thousand dollars a month. And I moved out and I separated, I separated my office.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_04:And that that taught me to, okay, when you're at home, be in a mom. You need to be at mom. Yep, you know, and then you've got your office. So I I did that. And then as I was getting busier, I noticed myself staying at the office a little bit later. You know, and I was like, all right, it's happening again. I was like, Monica, you need to let go to grow.
SPEAKER_00:You know, oh, pause right then. That was a bar. Yeah. Let go to grow.
SPEAKER_04:You have to let go to grow. And I so I hired me an assistant, you know, to do stuff that it not piddly stuff, but just stuff that I shouldn't have been spending my time on.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Because I'm gifted at this. So when I hired her, when I moved out, and when I hired her, like it started exploding after that. And then, same thing, fast forward with the construction company, like I learned really quickly, all right, once I've got once I've got the admin stuff, I'll because I'm I'm admin, like I was I'm good at the admin stuff. My husband at the time was good at the operations. So once I got the office going and our our um our policies and our procedures and our systems in place, I immediately brought somebody in. Yeah. Because I knew that I was gonna need that.
SPEAKER_00:That's what all right, hold up. We got a couple things to break down there.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:One, so first, I've always encouraged people, do not rush to get an office space. But you did it for the right reason. I think a lot of people, and I've seen people specifically in my industry, where like they want to have the nice studio and they want to be able to press their clients and blah, blah, blah. So before they have the cash flow to really support it, they go out and get the fancy office, and then within 12 months, they're they're out of business. But I got to that point too where it was like me and my wife were engaged at the time, we were living together. And I remember it was one night in particular, she was like, All right, I'm going to bed. I was like, All right, you know, I'll be in a little bit. Uh, and this is at the moment where I'm the editor, I'm the filmmaker, like I'm the social media manager, I'm doing it all. Um, and I look up and it's one o'clock in the morning. And I'm like, holy crap! Like, I just come home and then I think that I'm only gonna be in here for a few minutes. The next thing I know, like four hours have passed, and it's one o'clock in the morning. Um, and that's when I knew, like, I gotta, I gotta make this switch.
SPEAKER_04:But like And you don't realize it because you're like you're so in it, you love what you do. And you love it, that's what right and all of a sudden you look up and you're like, shit.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, shouldn't have done that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, uh time has passed.
SPEAKER_00:So when I made that transition, and it was like very small office, it was like this one place that he basically bought this big ass house and like separated the rooms and the offices. So like my first office was like maybe 250, 300 square feet.
SPEAKER_02:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00:When I started hiring people, it was like me and three other people in this. Like, it was probably a room this size was like my whole office uh for Enzo when we first got started. But I always, once we had kids, I had to cut off. Like, I cannot stay here at the office later than six o'clock. So normally I'll leave here by 5:30, be home by six. Um, and that at least allowed me those moments. And then once I got home, you know what? I don't feel like opening up the laptop back up again. Like, I've had time with the kids, now the kids are in bed, and I can spend a little time with my wife. Yeah, so I just got in that habit. And then I once you realize that, like, hey, nobody's gonna die if I don't answer this email at 9.30 at night.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and I got real good at setting the press in with my clients up front. Like, I remember, especially in the real estate field, because realtors are all over the place. I remember my first early clients, I had realtors text me at like 10 o'clock at night. And as a young business owner, I'm like, oh, yes, right away. Like, we'll get to that. Blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then I stopped doing that.
SPEAKER_03:And as a lender, too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So I'd wait till eight o'clock the next morning. I go to the gym. And then after I finish my workout, I'd text them back.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then they just slowly start to get the idea, oh, Sam's not going to respond to me at 10 o'clock at night. I should just be more respectful and wait till the morning.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:There are a couple clients I had to say specifically, hey, after this time, unless it's an emergency, I don't respond to emails or texts. Yeah. But I do check my phone by 7.30 every morning. So if you have something, feel free to reach out to me then. And they're all like, oh, you're right. My bad. I didn't even realize.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And we think that we're doing people a disservice, but like, they're just in their mode thinking about what they have going on. They're reaching out to you. But like if you set those standards for yourself as well as clients, you realize you don't have to do that.
SPEAKER_04:I call that setting the pace.
SPEAKER_00:No.
SPEAKER_04:And I don't mean it in a negative way. But with you know, with your clients and and your vendors and people that you work with, you have to set the pace with them up front so that they know what to expect. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_04:And I think that's important.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, and that that's part of trying to find the work the the work-life balance.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_04:Um, and then another thing that I learned is that it's important to rest.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_04:Um, and it took me a while to figure that out. And I make it a point on Sundays are my rest day.
SPEAKER_02:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:You know, and don't get me wrong, I love the hustle.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, the the rise and grind. I I I love that. Um, and I'm and I'm still like that. Like I know you still have to work.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:But I truly believe that you have got to, you have to find time to rest.
SPEAKER_00:We're human beings. We have to detach.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. And it's not that, you know, if you don't rest, you're not gonna be successful like that, but you're going to be able to think clearer. Yeah. You're gonna be able to, um, your body is gonna be able to endure more.
SPEAKER_00:You're gonna be the best version of yourself for everybody in your life.
SPEAKER_04:A better mom, a better dad, a better, you know, all just all around. I just think that it's so important that you that you rest.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, even think about working like on the on the physical side of things. Like if you work with a trainer, they're gonna tell you, like, hey, after I crush you in the gym today, you need to get X amount of rest, or like, hey, we killed it on arms and chests, so tomorrow we're doing legs. Yeah, like you have to allow your body to rest in order for the muscles to grow. Yeah, but we were fed a bunch of BS or Early on in our lives where it's like rise and grind, like blah blah blah.
SPEAKER_04:And all all the memes that are out there, you know, like hustle.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you gotta wake up at 3 a.m. and get in the in a cold bath and do X, Y, and Z, blah, blah, blah. And like, literally, by definition, the word grind means to like whittle something down. So like if you're grinding something, eventually it's not gonna be anything.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You've grinded it away. Um, and once I realized what that definition was, I was like, I wanna grind. I don't mind hustling. Yeah, I do not want to grind because that's just gonna leave the people in my life with the leftovers. Yeah, like I have to be my best self. Um so making that conversion over to uh the construction business, talk to us about that because this this is a new industry for you. Same skill set in terms of like what you're doing on the back end, but like how difficult was it for you learning a new area?
SPEAKER_04:Um, all right, so there I had to learn um, I had to learn to have a partner. You know, um when when it's your business, you know, you're the one making the decisions, things are a little bit easier. But when you're when you're working with, you know, for me it was my husband, so him and I were basically, you know, partners in life and in business. You had I had to learn how to um to welcome other ideas. Yeah, you know, and it took it took me a while to to get that, but because it was the construction industry, I didn't know construction, you know, at all. So uh I did lean on him a lot, yeah, you know, when it came to that. But um, you know, and plus us being married, you know, making trying to make decisions of you know, we had a rough night the night before, going into work, learning to to put that face on in front of all the employees. Um, I mean, there's so much stuff I learned in that construction company. Um, but that was probably the biggest one is to learning to to work with somebody. And I said, I told myself after that that I would never partner with anybody because um it takes it you it takes two special personalities to be able to partner, and you probably know this.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_04:Um, and for it to be successful.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I see so many people go into business with their best friend, and I'm like, oh, oh, they got no idea what's coming down the line. Yeah. And not saying that you can't get in mind. It's possible though. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:It's possible because I I had a I have a pro shop. It's not, it's closed now, but um, and we don't have to get into this now. But I started it with my best friend.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And it was extremely successful. Her and I found our rhythms and what I was good at and what she was good at, and it just it worked.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that that's the thing, is you have to find I started into media firm with one of my best friends at the time.
SPEAKER_04:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00:Um, now I don't speak to this dude at all. Uh but so then there's cases like that.
SPEAKER_04:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:But the lesson I learned from that was somebody's gotta be Michael Jordan and somebody's gotta be Dennis Robin or Scottie Pippen. Like we both can't be trying to put up 45 points like every game.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:I gotta be able to distribute distribute the ball to somebody. I need somebody rebounding different things like that. And the reason that business partnership crashed, because we both wanted to be Michael Jordan. And it just doesn't work out. The most successful business partnerships I've had are people that enjoy doing the things I hate and hate the things that I love doing. Yeah, like my best partner to this day is a guy named Hez Butler. Um, we've probably done two or three businesses together at this point. But he is the accountant type guy. He loved I still to this day don't know how to create a spreadsheet from scratch. Excel is not my jam. I can go in and look at it. Yeah, I can't do any of that stuff.
SPEAKER_04:You figure out my algorithm, algorithms and I'll do a spreadsheet.
SPEAKER_00:I can easily do that. That's my happy place. But we were each other's yin and yang because the stuff I didn't want to do, he wanted to do, and the stuff I love doing, he didn't want anything to do with it. So I think when you find the right personality and the balance, like I'm actually talking to somebody right now who wants to come on and start a new department here at our organization, which initially sounds really good, but like now that I'm a little bit older and have some experience, yeah. I told him this is gonna be a three-month process of just you and me chatting before I can even consider if this is gonna be a real thing.
SPEAKER_04:Because if you jump in marinate on it for a little bit, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:If you jump in too quick, like I know this guy, but I don't really know this guy. Like, we need to go out and have a couple beers, we need to have some real chats, have you by the office, talk with the team. Like, there's a lot that I need to see before we can make decisions like that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but yeah, that business partnership thing can be can be a killer if you don't select right.
SPEAKER_04:I you're exactly right. You you learn how to align yourself with the right people. And as you're growing your business and adding people, you know, you take things like that into consideration. Yes, you know, and then once, you know, with the construction company, we I mean, God completely blessed us with the right people in that business. Um, we could we could not be there and it would run itself, you know, and that was another thing that helped us with the work-life balance.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, see, that's a business. When you can step away and things not only can maintain but excel, that's when you have a business.
SPEAKER_04:Oh yeah. My office girls, I had um, I had three office girls, and they I got to the point where like I would walk in the office and they would like tell me what to do. And I loved it. I'm like, all right, what you got for me?
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:You know, like when they when you can walk away away and it runs itself, like that is it's beautiful. It's so beautiful.
SPEAKER_00:It sounds like by your second business, you kind of learned a lesson that took me a while to learn is um, you know, number one, when you employ someone, there's a reason why you brought them on their team. Just get out of their way and allow them to do what they do best. Because there are people on my team now that at one point in my company I could say, nobody can touch me when it comes to videography. Like, I'm that dude.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And now I can happily say, I'm the worst videographer we have on the team. Like, I don't want to be the best.
SPEAKER_04:And you want to you learn from them.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. So we regularly when we meet, like, guys will come with tips like, hey, did you know you could do this, or X, Y, and Z. We do the same thing with our social media department. But that's when I really start my business. I saw it start to scale in the right direction of where I wanted to go when I just step back and allow people to be them. Now, you gotta ensure that you have the right people because I've let the leash go on some and they completely wreck some stuff.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so it's a period of learning their personality and what they're good at. But a lot of that just boils down to having a conversation. Like one of our top team members now, um, I'll never forget, and this was maybe three, three months ago or so. Um, I was calling my office and I had every intention of letting them go. Um, because the person that was managing him was just giving me all these reports and oh, he's not doing this, he's not doing that, blah, blah. Something in my spirit told me, like, and then words were just about to come in my mouth, and something told me to stop and say, Man, just ask this dude a couple questions. And we started conversating, and I realized this guy wasn't slacking off. He was just completely being utilized in the wrong way. Like, yeah, he was not a social media manager, he was a social media strategist. So when I let him come up with content ideas, when I let him interact with the videography department and do all these things, when I let him get into targeted ads and everything, he took off at a level that I could have never imagined. But if you don't have those conversations with people and figure out what their career path is, what they're truly interested in, yeah, a lot of times we're trying to shove somebody into a position that they're not meant to be in.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Instead of letting them organically shift into their gift.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, absolutely. So let's talk about this because it seems like, and this is just from afar, uh-huh. Um that the business you've touched are what I would deem successful. Um what would you say is the biggest factor in terms of like being able to repeat this success in different in different industries and businesses?
SPEAKER_04:Um, I mean, just the things that we've been talking about, you know, you have to let go to grow, you have to align yourself with the right people, um, you have to not be scared to take risk. Um I I'll tell you this story with the construction company. This is actually what catapulted us. Was we um we got into the healthcare uh sector.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, and we were in a meeting, and I wish I could remember what project this was for, but I can't. But anyway, in the meeting, they started talking about um containment, um, ICRA, which is infection control. And you know, when you walk through a hospital and you see sometimes it's plastic, sometimes it's like hard walls. Um, it's called containment.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Um, which they have to do that in healthcare environments to keep it protected. Gotcha. Right? Well, on what's going on on the inside. So anyway, we were in this meeting and there was a job coming up that you know we wanted to bid on, and part of it was containment. In the meeting, yeah, we can do it. No problem. We get back to the office and we're like, what's Icra?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Well what's containment? Like, what do we need for containment? Like we got on, we got on the Google and we we just started educating ourselves.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:We um flew to North Carolina, got trained in infection control, and we did all that before the project started. So that was a it was a huge, it was a huge risk that we took.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, saying that we could do something when in the back of our mind we're like, we're not exactly sure what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:But we went and we figured it out.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. You bet on yourself. That's the safest bet.
SPEAKER_04:And and this was before COVID. So we got into containment. Um, we trained, we actually trained ourselves to be trainers so that when our employees came in, we would train them on infection control.
SPEAKER_00:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:So we got really good at it. You know, we made sure that we equipped ourselves with like the best containment equipment. And so when COVID hit, like, you know, we're already in the healthcare environment.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, you position yourself just right.
SPEAKER_04:We positioned ourselves, and I also I know that this was it was God setting us up for this time in our life, right? And I remember it was like two weeks before COVID hit the states, and um something told me to stock up on uh PPE, which is uh personal protection equipment, like masks, booties.
SPEAKER_00:This was before COVID hit.
SPEAKER_04:This is it was like two weeks before COVID, you know? Another like just can you tell can you tell me what lottery numbers to play next week? Right, and um, and so I stocked up, I stocked up, stocked up on all this equipment, and then do you remember when it first hit and you would get on Amazon and like in 95 was like I don't know, a hundred bucks?
SPEAKER_03:Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Do you remember that?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Well, we had the equipment because we had bought everything in advance. So, and then at the time, you know, the hospitals were all freaking out because it was just there was a lot going on at that time, and um they knew that we were equipped with the equipment, we were trained. Um, and where when it first hit, what we also got connected with just being in that industry, we got connected with um like scientists, just people that really knew about what was going on, and we had them come in and we spent the money to educate our employees on how they need to like we need to know about this virus, we need to know how it's gonna affect everybody. Um, because if if our employees got sick, we you know, we we wouldn't we couldn't be in business right now, you know. Um, anyway, so fast forward through code, that is what catapulted us because when the hospitals found out our capability, we could not, I mean, the phone would not stop ringing. Yeah, would not stop ringing. Um I don't know if you remember the VC honor storm that got uh transferred into a emergency. So we did that. Oh wow, yeah, we did that entire building. Yeah. So that that right there, that risk that we took in that meeting saying that we could do containment and we didn't really know about it. Yeah, that right there planted the seed to like catapult HCM.
SPEAKER_00:And you got real niche with what you guys were doing.
SPEAKER_04:Very, very, very, very. So um, I don't even know how I got on that topic.
SPEAKER_00:No.
SPEAKER_04:We were you were we were talking about things that you could like um of replicate in your system. That you could replicate, and one of them is you know, not being afraid to take to take risks.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. No, I've done that several, like when we started our social media services came about because I was in a meeting one day, and this is like within the first year of my business. Um, the four meetings I had booked that day, all the owners were talking about the problems with their social media, and I just started, oh, this is what you need to do. Like, yeah, it's not that hard, like da-da-da-da-da. And I'm like, all right, cool, write us a quote. You guys do social media management, right? I'm like, Yeah, we do the social media management. Even with all day long, yeah, even with the flying squirrel. So I think still to this day, if you go on the flying squirrel's website and you go to purchase a ticket, you can get a 360 view of like your seat.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, is that you?
SPEAKER_00:So we came in there, we saw that 360 tours at the time are gonna be something pretty big. Yeah. Um, because we saw it going the that route with real estate, but we were like, what other entities could be utilizing this? So I went, pitched the flying squirrels. Um, they said, cool, let's do it. Um, we didn't have the equipment, the software, or anything to be able to do that. But I knew the what it costs like to get the equipment and the software. Yeah. So that's what I charged the flying squirrels. So we went in, I think it took us like eight hours like to do that whole thing. Yeah. Um, but they were none the wiser. Like they just thought, oh, it's a big stadium, this is how long it's gonna take these guys. And so that first job was kind of a wash because they paid for the equipment, but every job after.
SPEAKER_04:But you were probably like a kid in a candy store because you got all this new equipment, you got this cool ass job. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but it's just like you figure stuff out, like yeah, you have no choice but to make this stuff work. So, like, you know, in the early days, you basically say yes to everything if somebody's willing to cut you a check for it, and then and little investments like that is that's what grows your business.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you know, because I'm sure that equipment, some of it might even still be be used today.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, a thousand percent still today. Yeah, um, I'm gonna I'm not being rude, I'm gonna send a text message while we're hearing a call because I have something else, but I don't want to end this conversation yet. Um, let's get into your book. So, talk about what's the title of your book, what's the concept, who is this book for?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, um, so let's see, I don't I gotta figure out what how deep I want to get into this. Um so two years ago, two years, two years ago, September, I um my husband actually asked me for a separation. And so we and a lot of this is in the book, so you know, you can if you want details of that, it's you can read the book. But anyway, um coming out and we had a good marriage, you know, like I felt like we had a good marriage at least. So when he asked me for the separation, I um it was a shock to me. Yeah, you know, we had the we had the construction company, we had actually just started a diesel mechanic shop.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, because I came in, we talked about the vending machines at your yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_04:So, and the reason we started that was because we had the building that we had least had mechanic based. Yeah, you know, so we and we had all this space that we weren't using, and we're like, let's start a diesel mechanic shop. And plus there's a need in the area. There's not a lot of diesel mechanic shops. So anyway, we had started that, you know, the construction company was was successful. Um, you know, we had built this beautiful home. We'd actually decide to sell it because we, you know, once you build your first home, you're like, I would do this different, this different. So we're like, well, let's try and sell it. And you know, if it sells, great. If not, whatever. But if we sell it, we can go buy or go build the home that we really want. So in that process, you know, he found somebody else and asked me for a separation. So all of this happened really fast. I had to move, you know, the kids and I moved out. And I look back and I was like, um, like, what just happened?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, and a lot of things through our marriage, I didn't, I didn't understand it. And if if something bad would happen, the next morning I woke up and I got the kids on the bus and I had my job. And I would go and I would just be like, tomorrow's a better day, tomorrow's a better day, tomorrow's a better day. So anyway, I started journaling. Um, I my therapist told me one day, you know, sit down and write him a letter. You know, you're not gonna send it to him, just sit down and write him a letter and just tell him everything you want to say. So I wrote him this letter, um, you know, and I finished it and went to bed that night, woke up the next morning, and I'm like, ooh, I'm not done. Turn the page. I kept writing, and I just kept writing and writing and writing, and I'm like, and it fit, it was so therapeutic. And I um I started I started realizing how toxic our marriage was. No. And I got on, um I learned about narcissism. I got on a lot of uh groups that um just educated you on this topic of narcissism.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, because it's not something that people used to talk about a lot. And I started learning about the cycles and everything started makes making sense, and I could relate to all of these things that I was hearing. And so I went back and I just started going through our marriage and journaling what what had happened. And it was it was just a very toxic marriage. And um, being in these groups, and that's when I started my podcast, because I was bringing on these doctors and um, you know, other mostly women, there were a few men, but there was mostly women because narcissism does, it goes both ways. And it's not just in um marriages, it's it can be like between an employee and a boss, between a child and a parent, between two friends, you know, it's not just in the marriages. For me, it was my marriage. Um and I started bringing people on the podcast, and I started getting messages, you know, of people that were relating to what they were talking about. So I took my, you know, my letter that I had written him and these journals, and I was like, I just I want to write a book, you know, and plus part of my entrepreneurial mind was you know, it's another stream of revenue. Yeah, right. But more importantly, I wanted to help other people. Yeah, you know, because someone on the outside looking at my life, you know, it and I say this so humbly, it looked like I had everything. Yeah, I had the good job, I had the the kids, they were in sports, they were successful, um, we had a nice home. Like it just looked like I had my shit together.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:You know, but behind the scenes, all this other stuff was going on.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So um, so anyway, that's kind of how the book came about, and it released, I guess, a little over a year, almost a year ago. And the day it released, it um it actually hit best seller.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Congrats.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you. I did so I did the book, and then because I know journaling was so important to me, I I did a companion journal with it.
SPEAKER_02:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:Um, and I've got like prompt questions in here just to get you thinking about things that um you might not think about, you know, if if you're in a toxic relationship. Yep. You know, because we create these little trauma bonds, and then everything's okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:You know, and you you learn to accept some of the abuse, you know, because you've created these trauma bonds. Anyway, so there's there's um there's questions, there's scriptures, and there's just some like quotes that mean a lot to me in the in the journal.
SPEAKER_00:Um a lot of people don't realize like the power when you put pen to paper. I'm not talking about typing, I'm not talking about voice speaking into a device. When you put pen to paper, I think something just happens in the universe. Like uh, I've shared this many times. I'm not gonna go into depth about this, but like um before meeting my wife, I had a mentor tell me write out all the qualities that you want in a partner. And that list isn't for you to be able to necessarily see that person when they appear, but for you to become the type of person you need to be in order to attract that individual into your life. Yeah, and it's like when you have these things in your head or a business plan or your ideal mate or all these things that just rolling around in your head, they're just thoughts bouncing around. But once you can get it on paper and see that in front of your face, like I think as Harvard did a study before, it was like nine out of ten uh students who actually wrote out their goals achieved them versus the ones who didn't and just like had that thought in their head. Like it's something to be said for that.
SPEAKER_04:Um, I keep a thing of post-it notes in my bathroom, and when I have a thought, yeah, I'll write it down and I'll like smack it on my mirror.
SPEAKER_00:Nice.
SPEAKER_04:Um, so no, I try I completely let me see if my wife will let me do that.
SPEAKER_00:She's probably gonna come, we got all these stickers in my bathroom for.
SPEAKER_04:And I like to put like scriptures and stuff up there too. It's just good to to look at that every morning and just you know, remind yourself of of certain things.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that visualization, like it's a it's a big thing. And I think for all the people that I look up to in business that I've studied or been mentored by, like, they all do those things. So there's something to be said for it. Like everybody's saying, I don't need to do that. Well, if all of these people did it and it worked for them, like you too good to write down your thoughts on a piece of paper, like take the two minutes that it takes.
SPEAKER_04:Well, I mean, as an entrepreneur, I think you you definitely have to sit down and write your short and long-term goals. You know, and like with the promotional company, that's what I did. You know, I knew in the beginning, I knew that everybody needed promotional items or could use promotional items, but I just didn't want to throw like shit up on a wall. You know, like I sat down and I was like, okay, these are some industries that you know I would like to tap into. And then let me go back, okay. So this week I'm gonna hit this industry, you know, come up with my route. So like you break those goals down. I think that's so important.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I'm even as you're talking, I'm thinking to the clients that we're currently serving, and I'm like, these are all the industries that I wrote down years ago that I'm like, I want to be in this space, I want to be doing that. Right. And now we're doing it today. Yeah. And it's no testament to me being a great person or a great entrepreneur. Just the fact that I put a piece of paper down and wrote it out. And God, the universe starts to work in your direction as long as you're working hard. I believe that stuff kind of formulates and comes your way. Um, what's it let me ask this as a actually now? Let me ask this as a closing question. Um, I started asking this a few episodes ago this season. Uh tell us what was your lowest moment as an entrepreneur and how you overcame that.
SPEAKER_04:Oh God. I wish I'd need to think about this one. Because there's several. Um I I get this is just what I'm thinking about right now is um when I when I shut down Bridgman Promotional Products, I think the way the way I did it, it was probably because maybe one of the lowest points as an as an entrepreneur that I'd gotten. I just was not thinking the way I should have been thinking when I did that. Um that's hard, that's hard. That's hard, you know, like some of the bad things you you know, you learn to forget about it because you don't want to think about the bad things.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, so when I look back on my however many however many years that is, since 2007, I'm I really focus on all the good things. Yeah. You know, on the things that um, you know, writing this book, I've a lot of people ask me, were are there are there things that you regret? And I was like, you know what? No.
SPEAKER_00:No, because it makes you who you are today.
SPEAKER_04:It does, you know, and yes, I went through this like toxic relationship, but like God knew that I could handle it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, and at the time, I did not, I remember I remember praying to God so many times, like, why am I going through this? Why, why, why, why? And I never got the answers. But now that I look back on it, it all makes sense.
SPEAKER_00:Preparing you for something bigger.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it was all a part of the plan. Um, but when I look back, I think I just look at more of the the positive than I do that's good, the negative, you know. And I I've I've always learned that never take the easy wrong over the hard right.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You know, and that is something that I've lived by, you know, since I can remember. You know, like always just make the right decision. And if it does turn out not the way you wanted it to, at least you can sleep at night knowing that you did it the right way.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. No, I love that. Love that. Um, man, this has been an awesome conversation. Uh, if people want to get in touch with you, if they want to get the book, like throw out all the information, where can people reach you?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, um, so obviously it's social media is my is the best way to get to get a hold of me. Um my handle is Monica Unfiltered, you know, Monica Vanderpool, you know. I'm more familiar with Facebook.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You know, I'm Facebook's my the people sleep on Facebook. Facebook is still the king.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you. Thank you for the thing.
SPEAKER_00:More people are on Facebook than any other social media platform in the world.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you for saying that because I like I'm just so familiar with Facebook. Um so that's really where you're gonna get to know Monica's when you go to my Facebook page, and it's Monica Vanderpool. Um, you know, the book is on Amazon, and it's it's Jokers Dressed Up as Kings. You know, get on Amazon and Perfect. Yep, that and the journal.
SPEAKER_00:Everybody everybody jump online, get your copy today. Are you still doing any book signings or anything like that? Like any pop-ups?
SPEAKER_04:Uh, not really. Like that kind of stopped. Um, I will say that I'm working on the next one.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Breaking breaking news here on the podcast.
SPEAKER_04:Breaking breaking news. I've dropped a couple of hints on my social media.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, but book number two is gonna is right around the corner.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Love it, love it. We'll be looking after that.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thanks for being on the podcast today, Monica. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. We'll see you guys on the next episode. Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? Our one-on-one coaching tailor strategies to your unique business goals. Dive into interactive workshops, fostering skills essential for success. Looking for an inspirational speaker for your next event? Book Mr. Preneur to elevate your gathering. Visit www.themistreneur.com to learn more and embark on your path to entrepreneurial success. Mr. Preneur, empowering your entrepreneurial spirit.