A tale of 3 entrepreneurs… and their success
Imagine over two decades as a certified financial educator how many entrepreneurs I’ve gotten to know. This is the story of three of those successful women.
By the time I met these amazing ladies much of their story had been written. I’ve learned so much about their path and how we can apply their lessons to the stories that have not yet been written. Rachel, Holly and Stacy (not their real names) were inseparable and like so many they drifted apart during college but whenever they got together for a girl’s lunch it was like no time had passed. They had “real” conversations. No sugar coating from this “ride or die” team.
The Early Years
Rachel was the always the ringleader of these three musketeers. She is the kind of person who naturally attracts a crowd at the party. Right out of college Rachel became a top performing realtor. Her motto was “you have to spend money to make money”. While early on Rachel lived in an apartment with roommates, she soon experienced enough success that she purchased a condo and then a home… but kept the roommates. This absolute focus on her business allowed her to always sell another house. She fell in love with another realtor and together they were a dream team.
Stacy was the numbers genius who wanted to be “on top of things”. She worked for various companies while her kids were young. Once they hit the teen age years, she opened her own accounting business and slowly set aside profits off the top no matter how small.
Holly took the old school traditional wife role but her lunch dates with old friends kept her reminded of the schoolgirl pact that “a man is not a plan”. Holly and her husband had a fantastic marriage. While she never planned for a divorce, Stacy knew that life and death happen so she prepared for standing on her own no matter what. Part of the plan was to set aside spousal IRA money every year and there was always ample life insurance on her husband. With that in place she decided to really follow her passion which was making jewelry.
The Path to Success
Stacy always reminded her friends to take small steps towards security but unfortunately Rachel didn’t always listen. Holly started her business with a passion and excitement and creativity that made her a social media hit way before tic tock. Her business was bringing in so much money that she thought it was profitable until she allowed Stacy to do a real evaluation. The brain trust came up with ways that Stacy could outsource production until she finally shifted towards selling designs.
Fast Forward to Today
Rachel again received an award for million dollars in Real estate sales. Her acceptance speech referenced her friends and how she wished that she had listened to Stacy and started saving long ago. Instead, she will need to work very hard for the next 5-10 years to make up for lost time. Stacy can retire at any time but the business runs itself so she is waiting for the right offer to buy her out. Holly loves the creativity of her business but has the stability created by her early planning.
These three entrepreneurs couldn’t be more different and yet that is exactly why they stayed together. Without Rachel’s powers of thinking big the other two may have never come to a place of standing in their own greatness. Stacy was the slow and steady friend who put together spreadsheets that highlighted potential problems… even if they weren’t always taken to heart. Holly kept her friends thinking creatively when it came to advertising. In the end this micro community thrived exactly because they were very different.
My question to you is have you created your own community of “ride or die”?