7: Redefining Success: From Stable Careers to Small Business Ownership

In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello take a step back from the day-to-day realities of retail and ask a deeper question:

What does success actually mean?

For both of them, the definition has changed dramatically over time.

Joe and Erica reflect on the different versions of success they grew up with, from hard work and financial stability to public perception and career achievement. They share how those early ideas shaped the paths they chose—both starting in education, pursuing stable careers, and achieving professional milestones that many people would consider the end goal.

But something was missing.

Joe talks about reaching one of his biggest career ambitions in education only to realize that achievement alone didn’t create fulfillment. Erica shares her own experience of leaving a successful teaching career to pursue creative work and eventually start her first business, even when it didn’t make sense to others on the outside.

The conversation explores how those experiences ultimately led them toward entrepreneurship and the decision to purchase Fort Orange General Store.

They discuss:

• How childhood experiences shape our definition of success
• Why achieving a goal doesn’t always create fulfillment
• The difference between external validation and internal satisfaction
• Taking risks when the traditional path no longer feels right
• Why entrepreneurship often begins with a moment of personal clarity

Joe and Erica also talk about how their definition of success continues to evolve now that they run a small retail business together. While early success at the store was measured in sales and margins, they’ve begun to see success in different ways—building community partnerships, creating new ideas for the business, and finding opportunities to innovate even during slower retail seasons.

Finally, the conversation turns toward family. As parents of four children, Joe and Erica reflect on what their kids are learning by watching them navigate risk, creativity, and uncertainty in real time.

Because maybe success isn’t just about reaching a destination.

Maybe it’s about having the courage to keep redefining it.

Keywords: redefining success, entrepreneurship journey, leaving a stable career, small business ownership, career change stories, entrepreneur mindset, Fort Orange General Store, small business podcast

Transcript

 Hello, and welcome to Small Business Big Life Inside Fort Orange General Store, where
 entrepreneurship meets marriage, kids, and controlled chaos.
 I'm Joe Slichko, and with me, as always, is my wife, business partner, and owner of the
 Fort Orange General Store, Erica Cubello.
 Hi, everyone.
 How are you today?
 I have been told that I am not allowed to greet Joe anymore, because that's just weird.
 We live together.
 So why would I say hi to Joe?
 I have been told that I need to start saying hi to all of you, which is a lot nicer,
 and I should have been doing that from the beginning, so I apologize.
 Hi, everybody.
 How are you doing today?
 Thank you for that little model, Erica.
 What a great way to start episode seven.
 I know, and I sounded super robotic, so...
 Hey, we tried it, right?
 It's weird.
 I still have to perfect it.
 We'll go back to saying hi to me if you want to.
 I like that better.
 Let's take a little poll from our listeners.
 Was it weird that I said hi to Joe?
 I didn't think so, but then again, I read social situations very differently than most,
 so let's hear from you.
 And that all comes from my boss, Jeff.
 So shout out to Jeff for his amazing critique of the podcast, which really means that he was
 listening and loves us dearly.
 That's how I'm taking that.
 Oh, yes.
 Thank you, Jeff, and thank you to everybody who's tuned in for the past six episodes, because
 really without you all, we wouldn't be here and able to talk about our stories, our life,
 and how small business runs and is integrated.
 So thank you for all of that.
 And thank you to everyone who has already smashed those like and subscribe buttons.
 I heard that on a YouTube short smashed.
 Yeah, that's what they say now.
 So the kids are saying, did you know that?
 No, I can't keep up on it all.
 I think it just means press, but you know, it sounds more fun and exciting and exhilarating
 to our new generation.
 Smash those buttons.
 Smash them.
 I don't like that.
 And on that note, let's get into today's episode.
 Yeah.
 So today we were talking about success, but specifically we're talking about how definitions
 of success change over time and can even change over the course of a calendar year, especially
 in a small business.
 And we're kind of living that now.
 So we thought, what a great time to bring that up.
 Yeah.
 How we're defining success for our almost going into a second calendar year of business.
 So I think to frame the conversation a little bit, let's go back in time, that was my back
 in time.
 Don't you have buttons that you can use?
 Yes, but I didn't label them and I forget which one was which.
 So I decided to just do do right there.
 So now here we are back in time, little Erica Cabello, you're at home, you're a child right
 now, talk about what you thought or were taught success was back then.
 All right.
 So growing up, I saw very hard working role models.
 My father still owns his own business and extremely hard working always, always working.
 That's what I remember.
 And that's what I saw success to be, that you are a hard working head down, grind it out.
 My mom was also a very hard working mother.
 She worked for a little while as we were growing up when there was just my brother and I.
 And you know, she's very dedicated to the family and always put her family first herself
 last.
 So with those two frameworks for parent figures and success, there was one that was always
 working and working for the family to provide and the other that was always literally working
 for the family and putting everyone else first.
 So Joe, how about you?
 How did you see success as a child as little Joe?
 Little Joey's like, oh, well, mine was a little bit different.
 I think my childhood was a little bit, you know, different than yours.
 So a lot of the success that I saw was kind of in the survival type mode, providing for
 myself from an early age as necessary, but also the success that I did see from the house
 around me was a very outwardly, what does public perception look like in that equal success?
 So despite what was going on in the house, how could we mask that to the outside world?
 And if you did that appropriately, then you were being successful.
 So it wasn't necessarily about the hard work like you said or the taking care of others.
 It was what persona can you put on to the outside world to make everyone think that you have
 the best, look the best, have the most money are doing all the things, which may not actually
 be true in reality.
 So it was a distorted view of success looking back.
 Interesting.
 Yeah.
 And how does that like translate into the next part of your life and then my situation,
 my life, how does success change into becoming who we are today?
 Well, I think it was probably around high school for me when, you know, I start coming into
 my own a little bit, start seeing the world a little more broadly than, you know, the walls
 of your own house and, you know, what you grow up in learning that there's, you know, more
 to life out there.
 And I started to equate success to getting a good job, making money, being able to provide
 for a family that I knew I wanted, being stable and being able to be self-sufficient.
 That was big for me.
 Not having to rely on others, not having to rely on others for support and being able
 to kind of go it alone because I came from an environment where I didn't really trust
 that I would have the support if I ever needed it, if that makes sense.
 Yeah.
 What, what age do you think that this happened, this little shift?
 High school.
 Yeah.
 So, you know, 15, 16, 17 somewhere around there and probably around the time that I decided
 that I wanted to teach for all those reasons too.
 How about you?
 Yeah.
 For me, I would probably say around the same time, high school.
 And more specifically, like, junior, junior senior year, when you have to make that next
 step, that next choice and what you're going to do with your life, I...
 I knew, like, you said, Joe, that I eventually wanted to have a family and my interests at
 the time were in art and how I could be successful by still, like, having some sort of inner passion
 that I enjoyed doing.
 And so, I gravitated towards teaching because I had a lot of very positive role models in
 my life through school that were art teachers.
 And I thought that was just a natural progression for me to go into that field, so I could not
 only help others, like you talked about, but still maintain a study paycheck and time off
 to be with my family.
 So, I think that was my definition of success at that point in my life.
 Great.
 Then I will say, I'll jump in.
 Here I am teaching, loving it, math teacher, and I'm successful, if you will, you know, based
 on scores, based on, you know, interactions with students and, you know, the relationships
 I'm building with them, co-workers, and I start climbing the ladder, something corporate
 ladder because it's education, but it's the ladder.
 And I become department chair, eventually assistant principal, then I decided it's time
 for me to go out, make my own mistakes, and become principal of the small Catholic school.
 That goes sideways, and we have to bail the school out from closing, and that's a whole
 another story episode for another time altogether.
 But in that, I kind of hit the peak of what I could do as a Catholic school principal, which
 is what I always wanted to do and where I aspired to be and where I thought I would be
 happiest and kind of end the journey, not, you know, stop doing it, but that was the goal
 for me in my own mind.
 When did you find that?
 Like, when did you realize that was your goal, was to become principal of a Catholic school?
 I think within a couple years of teaching, I was getting feedback from my colleagues that,
 you know, I saw things differently, I saw things from a different lens, a different point
 of view, from a slightly higher perspective, and I had ideas.
 And if those ideas were implemented, it would make their lives easier and a better situation
 for the kids.
 So I was getting that feedback from, you know, others around me, just in casual conversations,
 faculty, room, friends, you know, all the things.
 So that's kind of where it developed in me.
 And you said this was only a couple years into teaching?
 Yes.
 I was 21 when you started teaching.
 I was 21 when I started teaching.
 So you were not even halfway through your 20s when you were identified as having this greater
 role?
 Correct.
 Yeah.
 And I made an artificial goal for myself that I wanted to be a principal by the age of 30.
 That's crazy.
 I mean, it's very highly motivated.
 And I can't help but put together what you said earlier, success in, like as a child.
 And now you're not even 25 and you're being told that you see things differently and you're
 wiser than most.
 And you're younger years defined, you're success very quickly, I would say.
 Yeah.
 I would definitely think so.
 And what that means right now and why I just branched off into that, but clearly that all
 of our experiences shape us and put us on these paths, right?
 And yours was very early success to knowing what you wanted earlier in your life.
 Yes.
 I would agree with you and I appreciate the connection, you know, I love making connections.
 So thank you for doing that.
 I did buy about three weeks, make my goal and I was a principal before my 30th birthday,
 which was great.
 But then again, I found myself, quote, at the top, I don't know if that's the right phrasing
 and I don't really view it that way, but I'm a principal in the Catholic school.
 There's nowhere else to go there.
 I was maxed out with salary and challenge wasn't exciting to me anymore.
 So did you feel successful at that point?
 I felt successful, but not fulfilled and not done and not like I did the things that I am
 supposed to do.
 So you hit your goal, but you did not feel successful ultimate success.
 Yeah.
 No, I felt successful in hitting the goal, but I wasn't like, I'm retiring.
 This is it.
 Feed up.
 This is me for the next 20 years, correct, 25 years.
 Correct.
 To retirement.
 Yeah.
 It wasn't enough for me.
 Okay.
 Wow.
 And that's a long time to like, not feel successful.
 If you were to keep yourself on that track.
 Yes.
 If I were to have just kept doing the things.
 Hmm.
 You're right.
 Okay.
 Yeah.
 And I guess I kind of have those same sentiments of where I was like I again, very successful
 as a young teacher, I got hired before I would even graduate at school for a school district
 and very quickly got into the role that I wanted to and hit that goal of having a public
 school teaching job in art, which at the time was extremely difficult and hard to come
 by like, lots of, lots of competition there.
 But yeah, a couple years into it, I just wasn't happy and I was getting all of that outside
 feedback of how great of a teacher you are, how amazing your student artwork is and on
 the outside, like I was doing everything successfully to like I said, an outsider.
 But inside, I didn't feel it, I wasn't there and I didn't really know where to go.
 So ultimately that kind of led me to taking some time off from the career that I was
 dead set on having.
 And you know, again, from the outside that was not looked upon positively that I was not
 being successful by following that quote unquote successful path of having that salary job,
 your time off, your benefits, your retirement, I didn't want that anymore, it didn't matter
 because inside of me, I wasn't happy, I wasn't fulfilled and that's where that shift in
 my brain happened where I can be successful on the outside.
 But if you're not happy on the inside, it changes your mindset.
 And I think that's a very common thing that entrepreneurs realize about themselves and
 I think they hit that moment that no matter what they're doing, what their life path is,
 they seemingly are successful but it's not enough, it's not good enough, they're not happy
 with that and it's hard for non-entrepreneurs to understand that.
 So what did you do in this moment?
 I took time off from teaching and I ended up going back to school to pursue something that
 I had wanted to do back in high school and I also started my first business.
 Two little offset businesses, one was kind of silly, it didn't really pan out but the other
 one took off which is seriously spotless and I started cleaning houses and I went back
 to school to fulfill that need of learning how to do hair and wanted to get my cosmetology
 degree.
 So seemingly not looking very successful at that point from the outside but inside I was
 fulfilled and doing what I wanted to do, maybe not knowing what I wanted to do but I felt
 like I was on the right path.
 And I give you credit for that because you knew something internally wasn't jiving.
 I don't want to say it was wrong but you felt a pull away or a pull towards who knows and
 you decided to act on it.
 It may not have been the thing but you did something and I think most people stay in the fear
 of trying the thing and you didn't so I give you credit for that.
 Well thank you, I appreciate that.
 It only felt right to do that, I couldn't ignore it at that point in my life so I went with
 it.
 Great.
 So let's jump now to we purchase Fort Orange General Store as we've talked about on
 the podcast, we told that whole story and that November comes the end of November and
 we're owners.
 What did success look like in our minds at that moment in time?
 It was to have good sales and to see how we could push margins, how to clean up the business
 and get our numbers better like working.
 And how long would you say that lasted in terms of you know that fulfillment internally?
 A couple of months, like I mean really a day, right?
 You hit those numbers and it's like immediate gratification and that doesn't really last
 that long because you know there's ups and downs, ebbs and flows of sales.
 So we both knew that just writing this as success internally is not enough for us because we have
 as teachers this community and personal relationship focus.
 And if we're just strictly looking at numbers, it's not fulfilling at our core.
 Very well said.
 So we've already talked, we've done episodes of all the community things that we're doing.
 We've done an episode on the Christmas season, the big holiday season and how tremendous
 that was for us.
 And I look at all these reels on Instagram, which you make fun of me for because I send them
 to you because it's kind of my love language.
 And it's about small businesses in January and February and how things change post holiday,
 which is true and it's real.
 You can't expect the holiday rush to last forever, obviously.
 But the way it's portrayed, the reels that I'm seeing anyway is quite negative.
 You know employee standing around nothing to do things like that.
 Right, looking depressed that no customers are coming into the store and just kind of standing
 there upset.
 Right.
 And I mean, a, that's not true, that's not reality.
 And b, I don't think that properly articulates what success is in a bigger picture kind of
 global view of the term.
 No.
 And you talk a little bit about what success looks like when we're not slammed with customers
 from open to close.
 And there might be some ads and flows of, you know, downtime here and there with sales.
 What are we doing in those moments and how is that successful?
 Yeah, well, we need that time to recharge ourselves and look inward at what we're doing
 at the core of our business.
 So are we organized in the back room?
 For example, like we both spent time during January and February reorganizing and making it
 easier for our employees to navigate how to get stuff on the floor, taking time to meet
 with our community partners to brainstorm like the upcoming spring season or how can we
 be more involved in these events that are coming up, taking the time for you and I to brainstorm
 our own products the next line we want to put out.
 So it's not just numbers, like you said, like we need to have this downtime in order to
 recharge ourselves and become creative in our business strategies and how we can become
 more involved, not just in the store, but like outside of our store too.
 Absolutely.
 And I think that one of the biggest things that kind of points to that is what we just did
 two weekends ago now I want to say when we partnered up with the Albany Capital Center and we
 did what was in essence a pop-up event at a conference where we brought a shopping experience
 to a educational conference that was new and it was, you know, an innovative idea that
 we had to sell the ideas as much as we were, you know, selling our products.
 Do you want to talk a little bit about kind of how that came up?
 Yeah, I'd love to.
 So Albany Capital Center has been amazing in collaborating with us and ideas bouncing
 things off of each other and this one came about back in January and they asked us to be a
 part of the New York State Superintendents' conference to bring forward orange to them,
 to their clientele because this conference is jam-packed.
 People don't really get time to go out into Albany and explore the city.
 So Albany Capital Center wanted to bring Albany to them in their transitions between meetings
 in their lunch breaks, their coffee breaks.
 So we brought a curated selection of items that showcased our store and Joe and I were
 there just talking about our business, ourselves, our products and people were confused, right?
 They didn't quite understand what we were doing there and so I started joking like this
 is your retail therapy, right?
 These conferences get long and you need to break it up and have some fun.
 And then the understandings started flowing and it was amazing.
 The feedback we got was so energizing.
 Like this is great.
 We've never seen anything like this before.
 Just all the positive comments coming and it re-energized Joe and I to be more creative
 in our business model and our business thinking.
 So had this been brought to us during the holiday rush, we wouldn't have been able to participate
 in this just because of the sheer volume.
 But in these months where it's a little bit slower, we are able to think more creatively
 and bring business more creatively to our community.
 Very well said, and from the numbers point of view, it was a huge success as well.
 It was.
 People absolutely loved it and like Erica said, once we educated the educators on what we
 were doing, they all went, oh my god, why isn't this a thing?
 This is amazing.
 So great job brainstorming with the capital center and getting that done.
 Well yeah, thank you to our amazing partners Shannon and Monica.
 We wouldn't be able to work this creatively without them.
 Yes, they are phenomenal leaders in Albany and just doing so many great things.
 That's going to be a whole episode right there.
 We'll get them on and they can just talk and talk and talk.
 Community partners.
 Absolutely.
 So how does this show up at home?
 We started the podcast by talking about our upbringing and how that defined success in
 our own minds.
 What are we doing with our children, our little brood that we have here?
 And how is that kind of playing out?
 Yeah, well, I mean, it's different for each of them, you know, where we have the age ranges
 from 16 to almost poor now.
 Each one of them is seeing it a little bit differently, right?
 So from the youngest one, our almost four year old, he, you know, four orange is just ingrained
 in him.
 Oh, I got that at four orange.
 Oh, I'll wear my four orange shirt today and this is the way he sounds because he has
 this like strange little accent that we can't please.
 So like four orange is just natural to him.
 That's what it is.
 Then our next one up is learning the kind of bones of what it means to run in own a business.
 He's seen seriously spotless and now he's seen this next progression of four orange and
 he's trying to like figure that out, right?
 Like how can he be involved?
 He likes it.
 But what's his place there?
 And then I don't know if you want to speak for our 12 year old and 16 year old.
 Sure, I think the 12 year old is at the point where he's learning the relationship and he's
 seeing the interactions with customers when he's there.
 We had first Friday, which you talk about all the time.
 You guys are probably sick of hearing about it, but we just had one and all the boys were
 there and I caught him so many times reading the room, looking at the people, understanding
 what they were doing, what they were buying, what they were talking about.
 And I could see his little brain synthesizing all of that together.
 And he's the one, you know, when we're talking about, you know, a vendor that we had a conversation
 with or a customer interaction or an interaction, you know, with an employee.
 He always has questions and then, you know, offers solutions.
 Of course, at the 12 year old level, but how, you know, we can navigate those situations.
 So I see him in like that HR people kind of end of it.
 And then we have our oldest or daughter who I told in a previous podcast is doing her own,
 you know, little business on the side and they're looking into a DBA her and, you know, the
 four other friends that are involved with this.
 So she's kind of running with, you know, the actual business end of it, but she likes the
 marketing end a little bit more.
 That's what she's kind of gravitating towards in both social media and like design almost.
 So yes, they each take their own thing out of it.
 And what do you think they'll say successes after watching us years down the line navigate
 this process?
 That's a great question.
 And I don't know, I feel a little bit speechless right now.
 I think success to them will be that we didn't give up that we just kind of kept going with
 it, right?
 And, and figuring out what the next thing that was needed is maybe success is problem solving
 and figuring it out, right?
 Like there might not be a real clear answer there, but success is following your inner knowing
 and making it happen.
 I don't think it's a nice easy textbook answer by any means.
 I think you summed it up very nicely.
 I think to put my own words on it, I would like them to see success as taking calculated
 risks, you know, being able to put yourself in a situation where you're able to do the
 things you want to do and sustain yourself in the process for a period of time as you're
 figuring it out.
 One thing I always say about you, Erica, is that you are a true entrepreneur because you put
 your money where your mouth is.
 It's very easy to play with other people's money and take a risk and succeed or fail and
 again fail forward.
 We always talk about that, but that's one thing.
 Then to do it with your own and step away from a career or, you know, for a moment in
 time, whatever the case may be and put it on the line and not know if you're going to
 be able to pay your employees, your rent, your mortgage, go to the same grocery store by,
 you know, go on the same vacations, all of that.
 That is a completely different level of bad blank personality.
 This is a family friendly podcast, so I said, bad blank, that I admire and absolutely
 love about you specifically.
 Well, thank you for saying that, Joe, it's so funny and weird to hear you say those things
 about me because that's just who I am and it doesn't feel like when you started calling
 me an entrepreneur, I'm like, what, I don't know, I'm not that because that's just my
 brain.
 That's how it works.
 Like, I never classified myself in that way.
 That's just what I do.
 Like, I take risks on myself because I know that I can do it if I put my brain to it.
 Like, I'm not going to let myself fail.
 And that's why I'm here to put all those labels on the things that you do on a daily basis
 for you, so you don't have to do it and feel awkward about it.
 Whether I'm welcoming it or not, I think that's another podcast all in itself right there.
 Yeah.
 Well, thank you, Joe, for recognizing who I am because I didn't.
 That's what I'm here for.
 And on that note, I think that is a perfect place to stop this week's edition of our podcast.
 So thank you, everybody, if you're tuning in today and we want to hear from you, if anything
 hit a certain way and you have any comments to share with us, we really want to hear your
 stories, your opinions.
 What do you think about what we're talking and how do you define success?
 We would love to hear that and also has that changed over time.
 Anything you want to share with us, we would love to hear and perhaps even talk about on
 a future episode.
 So we're looking forward to hearing from you.
 And once again, thank you all for listening, as always, on Small Business Big Life Inside
 Fort Orange General Store.