Lesson 1: Security is a Myth

This week is my half decade anniversary of being a full time entrepreneur

I’ve started and failed three businesses BEFORE going full time, so it wasn’t my first rodeo.

June 2019 I came back from a vacation to a box at my desk.

I was told that my position at the agency I worked at for years was eliminated

Feelings of pain and frustration were a constant for months at this agency

I always had the idea that I’d either work my way up the corporate ladder and land at a fortune 100 company, winning the American Dream so to speak. I’d stack wins and experience to the highest degree… 

THEN eventually start my own business. You know, when I was “ready” 

When I had a safety net.

And UNDENIABLE resume/skills learned from the world’s best companies.

But what I didn’t realize 5 years ago… Is that you’re never ready.

Life has its own plans.

Lesson 2: You Can’t Move in Two directions. Choose.

I took a month to finish my rounds of interviews at Google, Lowes, and other much larger international companies.

They flew me out, I met with the team, and had final interviews.

Each interview I walked into, I knew, this was NOT for me.

Flying back from Google I told myself, I’m going to give myself 90 days to figure it out before I consider giving up, AGAIN, on entrepreneurship.

In that time I competed in one of the largest bjj tournaments in the world.

Went 0-1 and pretty much hung up the idea of competitive sports.

I read, listened, and talked with TONS of thought leaders.

Wantrepreneur behavior. Mental masturbation really.

On the last week of my 90 days.. I had two lunches.

One was my first marketing consultant client, the other became my first true business partner.

By the end of September I became a cofounder and managing partner of a private equity startup.

In the next 90 days I picked up 10 clients as a marketing consultant and was making more per month, by 2x, than I ever had before.

By the end of 2019 I was set to get my real estate license and join the family business.

By choosing to go all in and deciding failure wasn’t an option, I tasted success. 

For myself.

For the first time.

Lesson 3: Success and Failure Are Not Final

Before Covid, I had a $6M pipeline of real estate under contract, 10k/month marketing consulting business, and was growing my private equity partnership at an alarming rate.

 I was on track to become a millionaire within 9 months.

When Covid happened, 100% of my revenue went away. 

My consulting clients either shut down business, or fired all non essential services. Marketing was one of them.

Real estate became illegal in Pennsylvania.

Our contracts were null and void.

My PE firm was focused on real estate too…

My GF dumped me.

I had to use ALL of my savings since I reinvested all of my money into the businesses

When my Mom found out, she floated me a months worth of expenses.

There was $7 to my bank account without money coming in.

Lesson 4: Pray For Rain But Dig a Well

It can’t always rain.

We pivoted the PE firm to go after SMB turnarounds.

Turns out there is a silver haired tsunami coming. There are TONS of baby boomer business owners who are set to retire/die without a succession plan.

Within a week of the pivot, I got a call from a job I don’t even remember applying for.

I answered the call and was sitting in the owner’s office within the hour.

During that 2 hour conversation, not only was I offered a job that would get me back on my feet…

But I had a handshake deal to buy his company.

Lesson 5: Be Careful What you wish for

Within the next year we acquired our first business.

Then we acquired 7 more.

I also closed roughly 10 real estate transactions.

During that time I met my now wife.

We bought our dream home.

We had our first child on the way.

On paper I was not just a millionaire, but a multi millionaire.

I was spending a few weeks a month traveling around the country for work looking for businesses to buy and managing our portfolio.

We had a media company growing our brands.

My second podcast was starting to take off.

Friends and family were getting involved with the business.

I was in charge of about 60 employees across the portfolio.

We grew some of the portfolio by 20% topline while increasing profit almost 100%

Finally, everything I had dreamed was becoming a reality.

Except it came at a cost.

I was having panic attacks.

My health was going downhill.

It got so bad that I prayed to God for help in the delivery room for my first child. I needed a sign.

Then my wife and the nurses came down on me for working during delivery.

I decided then and there I needed to make a change.

Bonus Lesson: You Never Start Over. You Just Continue

After choosing business or family, I decided to create a business that would fit the life I’ve always wanted.

By the end of my third year in business, I created my first solopreneur business.

Thunder Stock Marketing – named after my daughter Torvi

I became a work from home dad

I became a present father

I became a healthier and happier version of me

Now I do what I did for my portfolio of businesses, for hire.

As a fractional CMO I help small business owners achieve their dreams of financial freedom.

5 Years may feel like a long time at the moment.

But looking back I remember every lesson like it was yesterday.