066: How To Break Every Glass Ceiling In Life!

Breaking through glass ceilings is the entrepreneur's constant challenge. Every stage of business growth demands new skills, knowledge, and experiences—gaps that must be identified and filled to reach the next level.

Our guest reveals the bittersweet reality of entrepreneurship when he shares the heartbreaking moment his young daughter brought him her piggy bank saying, "So you don't have to work no more." This pivotal experience transformed his approach to work-life balance, teaching him to prioritize family while maintaining his business ambitions.

Now, years wiser, he's intentional about creating meaningful moments with his children—from impromptu golf outings and vacation time to bringing his teenage son into the business. This "60% forced, 40% interest" approach gives his son professional skills and experiences 6-8 years ahead of his peers, what our guest calls "the golden ticket" his son doesn't yet appreciate.

The entrepreneurial journey is undeniably lonely. Without a boss providing direction, self-motivation becomes essential. Successful entrepreneurs treat their business with disciplined structure, "clocking in at 8 and out by 5," doing the uncomfortable work that drives growth. Surrounding yourself with the right people—peer groups and business mentors who've already broken through your current ceiling—accelerates progress dramatically.

For those building businesses, remember that comparing your journey to others only creates unnecessary stress. Every path is unique. Instead, be relentless, embrace discomfort, and recognize that continuous personal development powers business growth. The freedom waiting on the other side makes this challenging journey profoundly rewarding.

Ready to secure your business and focus on growth rather than IT problems? Reach out today and let's elevate your company together.

Chapters

• 0:00 Breaking Through Business Glass Ceilings
• 2:15 Heart-Wrenching Piggy Bank Moment
• 4:20 Balancing Family Time with Entrepreneurship
• 6:00 Teaching Business Skills to Teenagers
• 8:30 Advice for Growing a Business
• 11:16 Episode Closing and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

you know, just keep at it and just be relentless about you, what you want to get, and and just realizing that every stage there's a glass ceiling you have to break, there's something you have to learn. And if you have that mindset of like, okay, the reason I'm not where I need to be is because there's a gap in knowledge and a gap of an experience. Okay, what skill sets do I need to learn? You know what books I need to read? Who do I need to talk to to get to the next level? And then, okay, now I crack that. Now there'll be a new glass ceiling you have to break.

Speaker 1: 0:34

I remember I was just working at the kitchen table on my laptop. Didn't want to be bothered because I was working. She wanted to play with me and I was just dismissive. Looking back, I feel terrible about not spending more time with her. But I remember she came up to me and she gave me money, because she always said why do you have to work so much? Because I got to buy a house, I got to do this, I got to do that. And she comes up to me and she brings me her piggy bank and she gives me her money. She goes what's this? So brings me her piggy bank and she gives me her money. Right, she goes what's this? So you don't have to work for no more. You know you can be with me more and I broke my heart, oh.

Speaker 2: 1:11

I bet Even right now it makes me sad.

Speaker 1: 1:14

It was just like an innocent little child just wanting to more time with you, right, yeah, and yeah, those little moments I look back I'm just like shit. I you know I should have done more with them, you know when I had the opportunity to do so, and so I kind of reflect on that moment with her and you know things that I miss, you know, like being so busy working and doing the stuff I had to do, but what I'm doing now is just every moment I can spending time with them. We just went on a one-week vacation. We were at Puerto Vallarta for a week with the family Nice very nice.

Speaker 1: 1:55

Took the grumpy teenagers with me but I know they had fun, but it's just really making the most amount of time that I can. The little one has it better because I learned and I'm wiser now and so, even though I might be tired because I'm older now, if she wants to go golfing or I think two weeks ago she's like I want to go to Topgolf. It was like Monday evening. I'm like all right, let's go. You know I was tired but I'm like let's roll. It was just me and her and just out there swinging the golf club, eating chicken wings and having a good time.

Speaker 1: 2:33

And we had a little date night, and you know, with my son. Actually he's 14 years old and he's been in the office all summer, so you know he's been in here studying for his CompTIA A+ and so I've been just allowing him to listen in to a lot of the meetings I've had. Anytime I'm talking to any vendor, I have my son join me on the call. He gets to listen to what they're pitching me and see my interaction. I've taken my son to go visit some customers already as well and just showing him how to shake a hand and how to introduce himself and things to do and with my oldest right now, I think, raising a teenager. She is my first teenager.

Speaker 1: 3:21

I'm figuring that out a little bit. It's about being patient, giving them their space, being there when they need you around. And again, we still have our vacation time, we still have a family time, we still make dinner. I work on coming home earlier than I used to, and last year I actually also ended up coaching. I asked her if she wanted to try out soccer. She said yes, she was 15 years old, so I ended up being an assistant coach for AYSO, for her team as well, so I got to coach 15, 16-year-old girls as well. That was an experience in itself, but that's me leaving work early to be part of her team and spending time with her, prioritizing that time.

Speaker 2: 4:19

That's wonderful. You mentioned bringing your son into the business to learn at the age of 14. Is this something dad's forcing on him? Is this something he has a general interest in? How's he receiving that?

Speaker 1: 4:34

I would say 60% forced, 40% interest. I think at 14 years old he wants to be playing GTA or Fortnite and be at home or sleep in. But once he's in here he's part of our meetings. Every Tuesday we have a company meeting and he logs in. He has a company email. Now he's on Teams and he's assisting with tearing down e-waste and bringing in workstations, formatting computers. Would he rather be at home? Yes, absolutely, but I know that this is good for him and I think also just interacting with other adults is also really good. I've had vendors that come in my team clients and because most of the time they're just interacting with teachers right, it's a life skill.

Speaker 2: 5:35

Obviously those know because most of the time they're just interacting with teachers, right. So it's a life skill, obviously, those interactions Right. And teaching me young, right. I would think you're only giving him that competitive advantage when it comes to his peers or his. You know other kids his age or you know those. You're giving him experiences, whatever, six, 10 years ahead of time.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Yeah, I know exactly what I'm doing and I'm like this is your golden ticket.

Speaker 1: 6:02

He doesn't see it that way, of course, sure of course not, but I know that once he gets out on the world and even if he sticks to IT, he'll either know what he wants to do or doesn't want to do, but I'm sure he'll have his A+ network+, he'll have experience under his belt and he's already six, eight years ahead of most people Interacting with adults understanding what it is to be in the office, how to shake a good hand, how to introduce yourself, communication skills All those things are important in life and in business.

Speaker 2: 6:36

Definitely, skills, yeah, all those things are important in life and in business, Definitely, yeah, Definitely. Well, Ivan, I want to touch on one more thing with you and that is like, obviously, your success in business and the growth you had in business, and you know once again the Inc 5000 list as you continue to forge on there and, um, what advice would you give to those um that are wanting to build and or grow their own business based off your successes?

Speaker 1: 7:07

Yeah, so I think every. I think it's just understanding that every person's on their own journey and you can't compare your path to someone else's path, Because a lot of times it's tempting to look at someone else's success and be like, oh why am I not there yet and you put more stresses on yourself. There's companies that are doing way better than I am as an organization in the IT industry and the best thing you can do is just learn from them as much as you can. The advice that I mostly have for individuals would be to be relentless in a way and, especially when you're smaller, to just get out there and get uncomfortable. Do the hard work that needs to be done, not give up Because, again, it's very lonely and really you have to keep yourself motivated through this journey. Really, you have to keep yourself motivated through this journey.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Being an entrepreneur, you don't have someone on top of you telling you to make 100 calls and fix 10 networks or, if you're a restaurant owner, go out there and pitch your services to different businesses, so you have to basically rely on yourself.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Your services to different businesses so you have to basically rely on yourself. If you were starting, I would say that treat it like a real business that you have to clock in at 8 and by 5 and put the work that needs to be put in. The other thing, too, would be to surround yourself with good people, and what I mean by that is in our industry we have peer groups. I think peer groups have been very important in a lot of the success for MSPs. I've been a part of peer groups as well, but also business mentors. There's a lot of people that have already gone through the path that you've gone through, broken through a lot of the glass ceilings that you're trying to break, and being able to build those relationships with business mentors and take that and apply it in your own organization is, I think, very, very important.

Speaker 2: 9:21

Mentors and coaches, those that have already made those or learned from those things and maybe can help you from not making the same mistakes or realizing things that you didn't realize Right. So definitely.

Speaker 1: 9:36

Yeah, wonderful, and yeah, but it's, it's. I think it's again it's. It is a lonely road. It's very rewarding because there's a lot of freedom. It gets better as you move forward. You know, make sure you're passionate about what you're doing and just keep at it and just be relentless about what you want to get and just realizing that every stage there's a glass ceiling you have to break. There's something you have to learn and if you have that mindset of the reason I'm not where I need to be is because there's a gap in knowledge and a gap of an experience. What skill sets do I need to learn? What books do I need to read? Who do I need to talk to to get to the next level? And then, okay, now I crack that. Now there'll be a new glass ceiling you have to break and like, okay, what do I have to do there now? And it's just this ongoing journey of always self-development, developing your team, speaking to coaches. So if you're into that, it's a beautiful, rewarding career journey that a lot of people can do.

Speaker 2: 10:45

Wonderful. There's definitely some key things in there that I noted, and one of those you mentioned was being uncomfortable, getting uncomfortable, and I'm a firm believer that it's impossible to grow without being uncomfortable. You have to get uncomfortable to grow.

Speaker 1: 11:00

Exactly.

Speaker 2: 11:02

And that's something that I know I'm practicing quite frequently. Lately, this podcast in itself is getting very uncomfortable for me at times right the concept. Lately this podcast in itself is getting very uncomfortable for me at times right.

Speaker 2: 11:10

Like I'm just saying, the concept is very uncomfortable. But here we are, you know, um many episodes later and we're still pushing forward and was in 1% better with every episode. So, ivan dude, thank you so much for for taking the time today to speak and have this conversation with me, um to share this with our listeners. I look forward to hopefully, here in the near future, you and I can reconnect somewhere in person, and whether that means taking a trip to the other coast to come and see you something we definitely need to plan out Okay, absolutely, I would look forward to that. Awesome, ivan. Thanks again. Have an awesome month.

Speaker 2: 11:51

Hi, I'm Mark Thomas, founder and CEO of Current Tech Solutions and CyberGuardians. We know business owners like you want to focus on growing your company, not worrying about IT problems or security threats. That's where we come in. Our team uses AI to protect your business from cyber risks and keep everything running smoothly. If you're ready for peace of mind and a stronger future, reach out to us today. Let's secure and elevate your business together. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.