The Successful Solopreneur
Welcome to The Successful Solopreneur podcast—a show created for everyday change makers ready to break free from the 9-to-5 grind and build a life on their own terms. I built my business from scratch, and I know what it takes to hit your first $100k. This podcast is your go-to resource if you’re tired of living by someone else’s rules and are eager to create work that fuels your passion, supports your family, and transforms lives.
Every week, we’ll dive into real strategies, share inspiring stories, and have candid conversations about overcoming self-sabotage, ditching trends, and embracing your unique gifts. We’ll explore how to live by the philosophy of “Less but Better”—focusing on what truly matters and building momentum with small, consistent wins. You’ll hear from guests who have mastered the art of discipline, purpose, and authenticity, and you’ll get actionable tips you can implement immediately.
If you’re ready to reclaim your power, prioritize values over impressions, and finally start living a life that makes you and your family proud, you’re in the right place. Tune in, feel heard, and let’s unlock your unfair advantage together—because your journey to success is one conversation away.
Intro music by IsMusic
The Successful Solopreneur
Define Success on Your Own Terms: A Solopreneur's Guide to Authentic Living
What does it mean to be a Successful Solopreneur? Matthew Pates kicks off his new podcast by challenging conventional success narratives and offering a refreshing perspective on entrepreneurial fulfillment. Success isn't static—it evolves through different life stages and personal priorities, making the journey to define success on your terms perhaps the most challenging yet rewarding path you'll ever walk.
The Successful Solopreneur has broken free from traditional workplace constraints to build a life of autonomy and purpose. These mission-driven individuals have transformed their struggles, challenges, and even traumas into powerful catalysts for helping others. They've mastered the art of turning personal pain into purpose, and purpose into a thriving business. Matthew explains why reaching the $100K income milestone matters—not for the money itself, but because it fundamentally transforms your beliefs about what's possible when you align business with passion.
Through four essential traits of successful solopreneurs, Matthew provides a framework for authentic entrepreneurship: overcoming self-imposed limitations, embracing the "less but better" philosophy, living authentically regardless of others' opinions, and building a legacy your family can depend on. The podcast promises to share candid insights, practical strategies, and inspiring stories from Matthew's personal journey and those of his clients. Whether you're just starting or well along your entrepreneurial path, this show will help you leverage your unique gifts to create something truly meaningful. Join the journey to discover how you too can reclaim your power and build disciplines that create freedom in every aspect of life.
Connect with Me
IG: @matthewpaetz
Click Here to Unlock Your Unfair Advantage
Welcome to the Successful Solopreneur podcast. My name is Matthew Pates, and I'm genuinely excited to kick this show off with something that I think is extremely important, which is to define what the Successful Solopreneur even is what the successful solopreneur even is. So, in a world where so many of us are trying to live up to someone else's expectations or prove to someone that we're enough, we spend the majority of our lives trying to accomplish things that look impressive, and one of the most difficult journeys any of us will ever take is to define what success means to us, and I think it's important to also note that success changes as your priorities change. Your stages of life changes. Right, success as a young 20 something might look very different to someone who is in their mid thirties with a family right, and success to someone in the mid thirties um, or I'm apologize success to someone that's in their fifties might look a little different than that person in their thirties. So making sure that you stay um clear on what success means to you, I think, is probably one of the most pivotal things any of us can do to create a life that actually feels fulfilling. So, with that, I'm going to define what the successful solopreneur means to me and really lay out what this show is going to be about.
Speaker 1:So the successful solopreneur is someone who has broken free from, you know, the conventional excuse me, the conventional ideas of work and the corporate ladder and the nine to five, and they've really built a life on their terms. Right, there's someone who wasn't satisfied with just trying to keep up with the Joneses or make enough to get by, or maybe they were doing very, very well, but they were sick and tired of feeling stuck, you know, needing to ask permission for everything, constantly missing, you know, time with their family, with their kids, because they weren't allowed to take that time off or, you know, the boss didn't agree, or they had to, maybe censor themselves around the things that they talked about online or in public because their employer maybe wouldn't agree, right? So the successful solopreneur is someone that has decided to create a life on their own terms. And, even deeper than that, they are someone who is mission driven. Right, there is a calming that has been deep within them that they could no longer go unanswered. They had to, you know, take the things that they have been through, and the struggles, the pains, the challenges, the traumas, and use them as a catalyst, alchemize them, if you will, to be able to help other people who might be going through similar things, whether they're going through it or they want to help people avoid some of the pitfalls and the struggles that they've endured. Right, the successful solopreneur is someone that has taken their pain and turned it into purpose and has learned how to, or is learning how to, take that purpose and turn it into a successful business, and you're going to hear me talk a lot about, you know, making a hundred K a year, hitting the a hundred K mark, and the reason actually has nothing to do with money.
Speaker 1:The reason that a hundred K, I believe, is so important is because it's a milestone that, if and when any of us reach, something happens within us that we can no longer go back from, and what that is is. It disrupts the limiting beliefs that we may have had. It disrupts the self-doubts and the low self-esteem, because when you are able to take something that is so personal to you, right your passion and create a business that generates a hundred care more a year doing it, which inevitably allows you to take care of yourself but, more importantly, take care of those who you love in a way that you are proud of, that does something inside of you that nothing else I find ever could. And you know, my goal is to help each and every one of you achieve that milestone Right, because it has nothing to do with the amount of money that you make, but it has everything to do with the belief that you have in yourself that you are the type of person that can do it. To do with the belief that you have in yourself that you are the type of person that can do it. You know, the successful solopreneur is about the journey of proving to yourself that you can.
Speaker 1:And you know I've identified four key traits to what it means to becoming a successful solopreneur. And the first trait is you're someone who has overcome the self-imposed limitations and created a thriving business that reflects your unique vision, that reflects your passion, that reflects your mission right. It's not about fitting into someone else's idea of success or fitting your vision into someone else's strategy right, but it's about creating something that reflects your truth. And the second trait is you are someone that is committed to a philosophy of less but better. You know, if you're familiar with the book Essentialism, you will be very familiar with this philosophy.
Speaker 1:But I believe that becoming a successful solopreneur isn't about creating or acquiring more or consuming more right, but it's really about identifying you know your priorities, your values and ruthlessly, ruthlessly eliminating anything that doesn't fit that vision. It's about less but better. Doing less but having a better life. Right, simplifying your life but having more impact, you know, creating a life that really supports your vision instead of one that appears impressive. So you're really committed to that less but better philosophy.
Speaker 1:And then the third trait is you are someone who lives authentically. Right, you're guided by your truth, your intuition, rather than trying to keep up with the latest trends or achieve someone else's approval or constantly being dictated in this way by the fears of other people's opinions. Right, you have really committed to creating a life in your terms, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel at times, no matter how uncomfortable it may make other people feel that are afraid to creating a life on their own terms. Right, sometimes the loudest booze comes from the person that you know isn't against what you're doing, but rather is afraid to do it themselves. Right, so we'll get into much more of that kind of stuff in further episodes.
Speaker 1:But the fourth and final trait here is you are someone who has built a life and a legacy that not only fulfills you, but it's one that makes your family proud. It takes care of your loved ones your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, your friends, the people that you really do this for your tribe, people that you really do this for your tribe. You know, a successful solopreneur is someone that has really broken the chains of what is possible in their own minds and the minds of the people around them and they've created something that their families can depend on. Right, and it's no easy feat and it certainly doesn't happen overnight. But you are someone who has Day and night, put in the work, chipped away at the, at the rock, to really chisel what it means to you to become the successful solopreneur.
Speaker 1:So, in short, in closing, a successful solopreneur is a courageous, value driven person who has reclaimed their power, claimed their power right. You've turned your passion into action and you've built something with purpose and you've built disciplines in your life that really create freedom. And that is my intention for you as we move forward. You know, giving you the tips, the tricks, the stories, the struggles and the candid behind the scenes. Insight into my own story and the stories, the struggles and the candid behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:Insight into my own story and the stories of the clients that I've been so fortunate to work with, and into the stories of the people that inspire me, in hopes that they also inspire you. So my hope is that you see yourself in this journey, you see a little bit of yourself in my story, and that my story and the stories that I will share, you know, represent what is possible. The context may vary the niche, the marketing strategy, the opportunities, the advantages, all of things all the context might vary, might vary, right, but the common theme is that you took what you had right, what's available to you, and you created something that you're really proud of out of it. You've learned how to leverage your gifts, your talents, your resources, your relationships to create something that you and your family are proud of. That is my hope, that is my mission, and I look forward to seeing you on this journey. Until the next show, take care.