Cut The Tie Podcast with Donna Chiacchia
What happens when you stop chasing clients and instead let them come to you? In this episode of Cut The Tie, host Thomas Helfrich sits down with Donna Chiacchia, founder of 1 Advantage Consulting, to explore her journey from ballet to boardroom to entrepreneurship. Donna shares how discipline, resilience, and a powerful mindset shift—“I’m the flower, the clients are the bees”—changed how she built her business and defined success on her own terms.
From cutting ties with misaligned clients to creating sustainable revenue streams, Donna’s story is a masterclass in courage, clarity, and self-leadership for entrepreneurs ready to stop chasing and start attracting.
About Donna Chiacchia
Donna Chiacchia is the founder of 1 Advantage Consulting, a boutique firm helping executives and entrepreneurs design strategies for growth, leadership, and business transformation. With a background in ballet and decades of experience in management consulting, Donna brings discipline, creativity, and authenticity to her work with clients. She believes in building businesses with integrity, creating impact, and defining success through the value delivered to others.
In this episode, Thomas and Donna discuss:
- From ballet to business
How the discipline of dance laid the foundation for Donna’s career in consulting and eventually, entrepreneurship. - The flower and the bee mindset
The pivotal realization that clients are drawn to you when you stand in your value, rather than chasing them down. - Cutting ties with misaligned clients
Why walking away from big contracts is sometimes the smartest—and bravest—business decision. - The power of authenticity
Donna shares how knowing and expressing your true self can transform both your life and business relationships. - Building diverse revenue streams
Why entrepreneurs must create multiple income paths—consulting, courses, books—to thrive long-term.
Key Takeaways
- Attraction beats chasing
Position yourself as the flower and let the right clients—your bees—come to you. - Value is measured by results
Success is defined by the transformation you create for others, not your own accolades. - Integrity matters most
Cutting ties with bad-fit clients protects your energy and opens the door to better opportunities. - Self-awareness fuels success
Authenticity and clarity about your strengths are your greatest entrepreneurial assets. - Diversify early
Don’t wait until one income stream dries up—create multiple paths to stability and growth.
Connect with Donna Chiacchia
📎 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnachiacchia
🌐 Website: https://www.1advantageconsulting.com
📧 Email: AskDonna@1AdvantageConsulting.com
Connect with Thomas Helfrich
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cutthetie
📎 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfich
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://instantlyrelevant.com
Serious about LinkedIn Lead Generation? Stop Guessing what to do on LinkedIn and ignite revenue from relevance with Instantly Relevant Lead System
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Cut the Tide podcast.
I'm your host, thomas Elfrick.
We are back.
We're going to help you cut atie or whatever it is holding
you back in chasing andachieving what you have defined
as success.
And first, I say this everytime if you haven't defined your
own success, you need to,because then you're chasing
somebody else.
You haven't defined it, so dothat.
Today, I am joined by DonnaKiyakia.
(00:20):
Hello Donna, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Great, how are you Tom?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I Hi Kia, hello Donna , how are you Great?
How are you Tom?
I smell wonderful, so life isgood.
I appreciate that.
Thank you for asking.
I often kid that throughout theyear I get cheekier, but
throughout the day I also getcheekier, and it's like June-ish
, am I sure, when this will air.
So I'm mid-cheeky here aboutmid-cheek point.
Donna, take a moment tointroduce yourself and what it
is you do.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Okay, thank you, tom.
I'm Donna Kiyakia.
I am the founder of OneAdvantage Consulting.
I founded this company severaldecades ago because I wanted to
offer my then contractingclients an opportunity to either
(01:14):
go through an agency or theycould go directly through me.
So I created the company and itevolved over the years from a
space where I would contractthrough recruiting agencies up
until it evolved into a pureagency in and of itself that my
(01:39):
clients directly to, and wespecialize in program and
project management for severaldifferent industries, primarily
financial services,cybersecurity, this type and I
(02:03):
am now currently transitioningthis company into a
solopreneurship where, yes, myvirtual team will always be
available to me if we comeacross projects that need more
(02:23):
than my direct involvement, butI feel as though I would like to
transition this into asolopreneurship, which is part
of the journey Still on, it willalways be on it.
There's no such thing asretiring, and that, in a
(02:45):
nutshell, is what I do wherewe're at and how we're marching
forward.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I love it.
So I always ask you know it's away so people can stalk you
while you're talking today.
Give me the one link someoneshould go check out right now so
they can learn a little bitabout you.
So, as you're going throughyour interview, someone with a
little attention to ADB can goread about you why they listen
to you?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, no, definitely, because I would be that person.
I recommend they go to LinkedInand check me out there.
So I don't know what that.
That's, donna Kiyokia.
I'd have to look at that.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
We'll put it up.
We'll put it with show notes.
Kiyakia is C-H-I-A-C-C-H-I-A, Ithink, the only person with
that last name.
That's not directly related toyou.
So you're in a very competitivespace, and so, before we kind
of get into your success andyour journey a little bit, tell
me the one reason why people dopick you for your services.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Typically we're selected because we absolutely
obliterate the status quo.
There is no status quo with us.
We take everything from scratch.
We do what everybody thinks isimpossible.
(04:14):
We do what everyone else doesnot want to take on it's messy,
it's crappy, it's never going tobe enough money for the amount
of work they have to put into it.
So you know we're verydifferent that way.
We're not into this whole.
You know, $500 an hour, fancyschmancy, consulting rate.
(04:40):
We look at it from a holisticand transformative point of view
.
They have a problem.
We identify that we can fix it.
(05:00):
And what is it costing them?
And so usually it's natural foranybody in a personal or
professional environment to wantto immediately go from pain to
pleasure.
I'm on this island of pain withthis crappy method and process
(05:23):
and system and everything else,and I want to go to my pleasure
Island where everything workssmoothly, and I just want to get
it to work smoothly once andthen.
How do we make that repeatable?
What's it going to take to makeit repeatable?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So, on your journey, you've had to define success for
yourself.
How do you define success inyour terms?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I define success for myself as a group of happy
clients.
I'm not successful because I'mable to wordsmith all of the
accomplishments of my company.
I'm successful because myclients say so.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
They, they are the heroes, they're the whole reason
that the company exists I thinkyou're the first person to
answer that way that the clientsdefine my success.
I like that, believe it or not,an original answer after
hundreds of interviews.
Thank you for that.
Okay, so tell me about yourjourney a little bit.
So, on your journey to get thatsuccess, it seems like you've
and it's a recent thing, you'vecut a tie of sorts.
(06:40):
So what is the most recentmetaphoric tie you've cut to
achieve that success in theterms and how you defined it?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I've cut the tie.
In this way, I am a.
I am staying firm on one of ourmottos that we have and it was
coined by one of my mentorsearly on in my career and he
(07:14):
explained to me when I wasn'tgetting the success that I
wanted, success that I wanted.
He explained to me Donna, thebee goes to the flower, the
flower does not go to the bee.
He said.
The problem here is you thinkyou are the bee.
(07:38):
You're not the bee, you are theflower.
The bees are your clients, theycome to you.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
I like your analogy.
I used to say Muhammad went tothe mountain, the mountain
didn't go to Muhammad.
Some people that gets lost.
I hear the word Muhammad andthey flip out.
So we're going to go with beeand flower Fenella.
We're going to make a moreAmerican, christian-based
analogies around here.
God damn it, that's the easiestway to do it.
Here in the south he'd want youto say being flower, because
that's the first.
(08:09):
The jesus character has comeout for the first time on the
show.
Anyway, um, that's actually notjesus, that's, uh, the preacher
, jesus the chief.
Anyway, it it's gonna make thecut because I own the show.
It's gonna be to be great.
All right, here we go, donna,along that path.
(08:31):
You had to have realized themoment.
Do you have a moment when youknew you were going to go become
a flower?
Was it that conversation?
Was the conversation given toyou?
Then later on, you're like, ohyeah.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
What was the moment?
Well, you know, the momentdidn't actually happen, tom, in
that career.
The moment happened in my firstcareer, which was the
performing arts, which was theballet.
(09:15):
And my mentor was simplyreminding me of the fact that I
was the flower.
And when you're dancing, whenyou're performing, you are the
flower.
The audience came to you, theaudience you know.
You didn't run around up anddown the street in between
classes and rehearsals saying,oh please, buy a ticket.
(09:35):
No, they bought a ticketintentionally to sit in that
seat and watch you perform.
And if they like it and they'rehappy, they clap, they clap a
lot, they stand up, they shoutbrava, and then they go and buy
(10:00):
another ticket, and then they goand buy another ticket.
So it was in that moment Iunderstood that I was the flower
and then I was reminded of thatwith my mentor.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So I always ask the question.
It's one thing to identify anddo all you know and be like, oh,
this is who I am.
Then there's the how.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Talk about how you made sure that mindset, that
kind of high, so to speak, statecut.
How I did that was throughOrganization, discipline, focus,
creativity.
You know I just every singleday was.
(10:51):
It was like the football thefootball plays.
You know we run these 12 plays.
This is what we do, we practicethese and you know we had a
playbook that I created thesesystems, these methods, and it
(11:22):
was based those.
And when the client isunwilling or not aligning or
simply can't get it, that's whenI have to cut a tie.
I had to walk away frommulti-hundred dollar contracts.
(11:44):
I'm like I'm sorry we'reultimately not going to be able
to help you and we want you tobe successful and there is a way
that you will be successful andI'm sure that we're not going
to be the company to provide itand that is painful.
Oh, that is painful Because youknow owning your own business,
(12:10):
you know you want to make itwork but it's just not going to
work.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
If you haven't been to FSA, you will.
One time I've had to go throughit, I was, you know.
For us it was like I was aboutto lose a whole team, my entire
team, because this one client.
I'm like, I'm not doing that,that's not worth it, so I get it
.
Um, what are you most gratefulfor?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I would.
I would have to say I am mostgrateful for my upbringing, for
my mother and how she brought meup and guided me, and now my
husband um, I'd be nowhere.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, did you, did you realize that gratefulness
during the time?
You know, as you're gettingbrought up, typically like what
I mean is you don't realize.
Sometimes later in life you'relike, oh, I'm so grateful that
she didn't let me do this ortold me to push me this way, or
I'm so pissed about that.
But then as an adult you'relike, oh man, she nailed it.
Did you have that realization?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, well, I will tell you that it was mommy and
me always.
She was a progressive singleparent.
My parents were divorced in the50s and that was not that
(13:56):
common then.
But my mother and father Ididn't even know my parents were
divorced until I was eightyears old and some kid in school
told me we can't play with youbecause your parents are
divorced.
I'm like, oh, I go home and Isay, mommy, are you and daddy
(14:17):
divorced?
She said yes, yes, we are.
She said, yes, yes, we are.
Well, some kid told me theycan't play with me because you
and daddy are divorced.
So of course, this is a prettydetailed discussion to have with
an eight-year-old kid, butanyway, we had it and I'm like,
oh OK, you know, I didn't knowany better.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
By the way, it's definitely a member of some poll
club or some elitist group,like for sure.
There's no question about itwell, what was that again?
please that kid is definitelysome part of some elitist club
like a polo club or some somesnooty thing.
Some somebody's farting a glassand they smell it.
But that's probably what thatkid did.
That's who he became, or shebecame.
I I'm just cautious at times.
I mean, you know that kid sucksand I think we're going to
(15:06):
bring out the Jesus preacher Godcharacter again.
He forgives you, but I don't.
Okay, here we go.
All right, sum something up forme.
Give me two lines as a lessonfor the listener.
Whole life, whole business life, put it together in one advice
(15:27):
line.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Lesson for the listener Know thyself Truly know
thyself Truly know thyself andshare it willingly with others.
At the end of the day, that'severything you've got is
(15:54):
yourself.
So know thyself truly knowthyself and share it with others
.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
What?
Uh, you can do some kind ofrapid fires here.
So what's been the bestbusiness advice you've ever
received?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Um, the bee goes to the flower, the flower does not
go to the bee I assumed as muchI want to.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I want to, you know, ruin your thunder there or steal
your honey.
Oh, should I did there?
Who gives you inspiration?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
oh, let's see.
Well, I'd have to, I'd have tosay that, uh.
Well, I'd have to say thatagain.
That'd be my mom.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, I figured that was the queen bee.
I'm coming back to it everytime.
Now she's the queen bee.
Yeah, you're so good, butthere's always a new queen bee.
It seems like you're the onenew enough.
What's the must-read book youwould throw out there.
Someone goes, hey, where do Istart?
What's the book?
You say People go read this one.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh gosh, we should get my husband here because he's
the book reader.
I would say that my must-readbook.
It's a chestnut, but it's thethe seven habits of highly
effective people.
I've read that literally fivetimes.
(17:23):
I love it.
I love it.
That's a great book.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I agree with you.
That's one of the.
That's a fantastic book readingand it's worth going back to
visit because it's a reminderthat you'll keep forgetting
seven of the seven.
Every time you go back like, ohyeah, I gotta do that which
tells you you're not highlyeffective, you should just
accept it.
Remember, know thyself.
That's the advice.
If you had to start over todayand you could go back to any
(17:47):
point in your timeline, whenwould you go back and what would
you do differently?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I go back to my very early 30s.
I would go back to the timethat I joined AT Hudson, which
was a boutique consulting firmboutique consulting firm and
(18:13):
what I would do differently is Iwould take, I would take
(18:42):
everything that I was learningand I would stuff and I would
have, um, I would have two andthree and four revenue streams,
not just the consulting.
That is that is what I woulddefinitely, uh, do different.
Uh, because without doing that,you're really cutting yourself
short and then you get in acircumstance where, oh, this
(19:05):
well is dried up and now youneed other things.
That's what I would do too.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, some risk aversion, it's a smart thing.
Lessons out there right here is, uh.
If there's one question Ishould ask you today, I didn't,
what would that question havebeen and how would you have
answered it?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
the question would be where are you at right this
moment?
And my answer in a veryintentional journey to
(19:51):
transition successfully.
Journey to transitionsuccessfully, ultimately what I
would like to do when I'mretired, which is never drives
me crazy, that word.
Here's another phrase thatdrives me crazy at this age Huh,
(20:12):
what.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
You mean now, at this age is Huh.
What you mean now, at this age,is also known as now.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Now, yes, now.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, not at that age .
It could be anything, but atthis age yeah.
Right, I mean now yes.
Now, yeah, now Don't retire.
But what, what, what?
Because as soon as your mindshuts down, you shut off, I mean
.
So so what's the I love you goto solopreneur.
(20:43):
I know you touched about thatearlier.
Is your path to simplify yourmodel, reduce some of the load,
risk and enjoy your work as youkind of?
You know, not retire, but likeyou know you're, you're in a new
mode of of being.
You can, you don't make as muchand you can kind of be better
spot.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Yeah, my, my goal is to to ultimately um have 85% or
more of my income revenue bepassive, and that this is
feeding the philanthropy that Iwant to do.
(21:22):
I will be establishing acharitable foundation in honor
of my parents called the Legendand the Lamb, and this will be a
foundation that is making allkinds of philanthropic work
(21:45):
throughout the things that wereimportant to my parents.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
That's great.
I love it, donna.
Thank you so much for coming onOnce again.
How should people get a hold ofyou?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I think that people should get a hold of me at the
link that I provided you in theprivate chat, and also they can
get a hold of me at AskDonna atOneAdvantageConsultingcom.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Love it, the linkedincom slash in slash.
Donna, chia, chia chia.
No, it's C-H-I-A-C-C-H-I-A.
I love it.
I must pronounce your nameintentionally, just because it's
fun.
It's a great marketingtechnique too.
But I appreciate you coming ontoday, donna, you rock.
Listen for anybody who's stillhere, which I hope it's lots,
(22:37):
because this show is all aboutcutting the tie to something,
holding you back and learningfrom other entrepreneurs where
they are in their journey andwhat they're doing to find
success.
To find it and go chase it andlet nothing stop them from
getting it at any point.
At that age, at this age, nowor then, get out there, go cut a
tie to something holding youback.
No-transcript.
Welcome to Cut the Tide podcast.
I'm your host, thomas Elfrick.
We are back.
We're going to help you cut atie or whatever it is holding
you back in chasing andachieving what you have defined
as success.
And first, I say this everytime if you haven't defined your
own success, you need to,because then you're chasing
somebody else.
You haven't defined it, so dothat.
Today, I am joined by DonnaKiyakia.
(00:20):
Hello Donna, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Great, how are you Tom?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I Hi Kia, hello Donna , how are you Great?
How are you Tom?
I smell wonderful, so life isgood.
I appreciate that.
Thank you for asking.
I often kid that throughout theyear I get cheekier, but
throughout the day I also getcheekier, and it's like June-ish
, am I sure, when this will air.
So I'm mid-cheeky here aboutmid-cheek point.
Donna, take a moment tointroduce yourself and what it
is you do.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Okay, thank you, tom.
I'm Donna Kiyakia.
I am the founder of OneAdvantage Consulting.
I founded this company severaldecades ago because I wanted to
offer my then contractingclients an opportunity to either
(01:14):
go through an agency or theycould go directly through me.
So I created the company and itevolved over the years from a
space where I would contractthrough recruiting agencies up
until it evolved into a pureagency in and of itself that my
(01:39):
clients directly to, and wespecialize in program and
project management for severaldifferent industries, primarily
financial services,cybersecurity, this type and I
(02:03):
am now currently transitioningthis company into a
solopreneurship where, yes, myvirtual team will always be
available to me if we comeacross projects that need more
(02:23):
than my direct involvement, butI feel as though I would like to
transition this into asolopreneurship, which is part
of the journey Still on, it willalways be on it.
There's no such thing asretiring, and that, in a
(02:45):
nutshell, is what I do wherewe're at and how we're marching
forward.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I love it.
So I always ask you know it's away so people can stalk you
while you're talking today.
Give me the one link someoneshould go check out right now so
they can learn a little bitabout you.
So, as you're going throughyour interview, someone with a
little attention to ADB can goread about you why they listen
to you?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, no, definitely, because I would be that person.
I recommend they go to LinkedInand check me out there.
So I don't know what that.
That's, donna Kiyokia.
I'd have to look at that.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
We'll put it up.
We'll put it with show notes.
Kiyakia is C-H-I-A-C-C-H-I-A, Ithink, the only person with
that last name.
That's not directly related toyou.
So you're in a very competitivespace, and so, before we kind
of get into your success andyour journey a little bit, tell
me the one reason why people dopick you for your services.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Typically we're selected because we absolutely
obliterate the status quo.
There is no status quo with us.
We take everything from scratch.
We do what everybody thinks isimpossible.
(04:14):
We do what everyone else doesnot want to take on it's messy,
it's crappy, it's never going tobe enough money for the amount
of work they have to put into it.
So you know we're verydifferent that way.
We're not into this whole.
You know, $500 an hour, fancyschmancy, consulting rate.
(04:40):
We look at it from a holisticand transformative point of view
.
They have a problem.
We identify that we can fix it.
(05:00):
And what is it costing them?
And so usually it's natural foranybody in a personal or
professional environment to wantto immediately go from pain to
pleasure.
I'm on this island of pain withthis crappy method and process
(05:23):
and system and everything else,and I want to go to my pleasure
Island where everything workssmoothly, and I just want to get
it to work smoothly once andthen.
How do we make that repeatable?
What's it going to take to makeit repeatable?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So, on your journey, you've had to define success for
yourself.
How do you define success inyour terms?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I define success for myself as a group of happy
clients.
I'm not successful because I'mable to wordsmith all of the
accomplishments of my company.
I'm successful because myclients say so.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
They, they are the heroes, they're the whole reason
that the company exists I thinkyou're the first person to
answer that way that the clientsdefine my success.
I like that, believe it or not,an original answer after
hundreds of interviews.
Thank you for that.
Okay, so tell me about yourjourney a little bit.
So, on your journey to get thatsuccess, it seems like you've
and it's a recent thing, you'vecut a tie of sorts.
(06:40):
So what is the most recentmetaphoric tie you've cut to
achieve that success in theterms and how you defined it?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I've cut the tie.
In this way, I am a.
I am staying firm on one of ourmottos that we have and it was
coined by one of my mentorsearly on in my career and he
(07:14):
explained to me when I wasn'tgetting the success that I
wanted, success that I wanted.
He explained to me Donna, thebee goes to the flower, the
flower does not go to the bee.
He said.
The problem here is you thinkyou are the bee.
(07:38):
You're not the bee, you are theflower.
The bees are your clients, theycome to you.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
I like your analogy.
I used to say Muhammad went tothe mountain, the mountain
didn't go to Muhammad.
Some people that gets lost.
I hear the word Muhammad andthey flip out.
So we're going to go with beeand flower Fenella.
We're going to make a moreAmerican, christian-based
analogies around here.
God damn it, that's the easiestway to do it.
Here in the south he'd want youto say being flower, because
that's the first.
(08:09):
The jesus character has comeout for the first time on the
show.
Anyway, um, that's actually notjesus, that's, uh, the preacher
, jesus the chief.
Anyway, it it's gonna make thecut because I own the show.
It's gonna be to be great.
All right, here we go, donna,along that path.
(08:31):
You had to have realized themoment.
Do you have a moment when youknew you were going to go become
a flower?
Was it that conversation?
Was the conversation given toyou?
Then later on, you're like, ohyeah.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
What was the moment?
Well, you know, the momentdidn't actually happen, tom, in
that career.
The moment happened in my firstcareer, which was the
performing arts, which was theballet.
(09:15):
And my mentor was simplyreminding me of the fact that I
was the flower.
And when you're dancing, whenyou're performing, you are the
flower.
The audience came to you, theaudience you know.
You didn't run around up anddown the street in between
classes and rehearsals saying,oh please, buy a ticket.
(09:35):
No, they bought a ticketintentionally to sit in that
seat and watch you perform.
And if they like it and they'rehappy, they clap, they clap a
lot, they stand up, they shoutbrava, and then they go and buy
(10:00):
another ticket, and then they goand buy another ticket.
So it was in that moment Iunderstood that I was the flower
and then I was reminded of thatwith my mentor.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So I always ask the question.
It's one thing to identify anddo all you know and be like, oh,
this is who I am.
Then there's the how.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Talk about how you made sure that mindset, that
kind of high, so to speak, statecut.
How I did that was throughOrganization, discipline, focus,
creativity.
You know I just every singleday was.
(10:51):
It was like the football thefootball plays.
You know we run these 12 plays.
This is what we do, we practicethese and you know we had a
playbook that I created thesesystems, these methods, and it
(11:22):
was based those.
And when the client isunwilling or not aligning or
simply can't get it, that's whenI have to cut a tie.
I had to walk away frommulti-hundred dollar contracts.
(11:44):
I'm like I'm sorry we'reultimately not going to be able
to help you and we want you tobe successful and there is a way
that you will be successful andI'm sure that we're not going
to be the company to provide itand that is painful.
Oh, that is painful Because youknow owning your own business,
(12:10):
you know you want to make itwork but it's just not going to
work.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
If you haven't been to FSA, you will.
One time I've had to go throughit, I was, you know.
For us it was like I was aboutto lose a whole team, my entire
team, because this one client.
I'm like, I'm not doing that,that's not worth it, so I get it
.
Um, what are you most gratefulfor?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I would.
I would have to say I am mostgrateful for my upbringing, for
my mother and how she brought meup and guided me, and now my
husband um, I'd be nowhere.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, did you, did you realize that gratefulness
during the time?
You know, as you're gettingbrought up, typically like what
I mean is you don't realize.
Sometimes later in life you'relike, oh, I'm so grateful that
she didn't let me do this ortold me to push me this way, or
I'm so pissed about that.
But then as an adult you'relike, oh man, she nailed it.
Did you have that realization?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, well, I will tell you that it was mommy and
me always.
She was a progressive singleparent.
My parents were divorced in the50s and that was not that
(13:56):
common then.
But my mother and father Ididn't even know my parents were
divorced until I was eightyears old and some kid in school
told me we can't play with youbecause your parents are
divorced.
I'm like, oh, I go home and Isay, mommy, are you and daddy
(14:17):
divorced?
She said yes, yes, we are.
She said, yes, yes, we are.
Well, some kid told me theycan't play with me because you
and daddy are divorced.
So of course, this is a prettydetailed discussion to have with
an eight-year-old kid, butanyway, we had it and I'm like,
oh OK, you know, I didn't knowany better.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
By the way, it's definitely a member of some poll
club or some elitist group,like for sure.
There's no question about itwell, what was that again?
please that kid is definitelysome part of some elitist club
like a polo club or some somesnooty thing.
Some somebody's farting a glassand they smell it.
But that's probably what thatkid did.
That's who he became, or shebecame.
I I'm just cautious at times.
I mean, you know that kid sucksand I think we're going to
(15:06):
bring out the Jesus preacher Godcharacter again.
He forgives you, but I don't.
Okay, here we go.
All right, sum something up forme.
Give me two lines as a lessonfor the listener.
Whole life, whole business life, put it together in one advice
(15:27):
line.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Lesson for the listener Know thyself Truly know
thyself Truly know thyself andshare it willingly with others.
At the end of the day, that'severything you've got is
(15:54):
yourself.
So know thyself truly knowthyself and share it with others
.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
What?
Uh, you can do some kind ofrapid fires here.
So what's been the bestbusiness advice you've ever
received?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Um, the bee goes to the flower, the flower does not
go to the bee I assumed as muchI want to.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I want to, you know, ruin your thunder there or steal
your honey.
Oh, should I did there?
Who gives you inspiration?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
oh, let's see.
Well, I'd have to, I'd have tosay that, uh.
Well, I'd have to say thatagain.
That'd be my mom.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, I figured that was the queen bee.
I'm coming back to it everytime.
Now she's the queen bee.
Yeah, you're so good, butthere's always a new queen bee.
It seems like you're the onenew enough.
What's the must-read book youwould throw out there.
Someone goes, hey, where do Istart?
What's the book?
You say People go read this one.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh gosh, we should get my husband here because he's
the book reader.
I would say that my must-readbook.
It's a chestnut, but it's thethe seven habits of highly
effective people.
I've read that literally fivetimes.
(17:23):
I love it.
I love it.
That's a great book.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I agree with you.
That's one of the.
That's a fantastic book readingand it's worth going back to
visit because it's a reminderthat you'll keep forgetting
seven of the seven.
Every time you go back like, ohyeah, I gotta do that which
tells you you're not highlyeffective, you should just
accept it.
Remember, know thyself.
That's the advice.
If you had to start over todayand you could go back to any
(17:47):
point in your timeline, whenwould you go back and what would
you do differently?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I go back to my very early 30s.
I would go back to the timethat I joined AT Hudson, which
was a boutique consulting firmboutique consulting firm and
(18:13):
what I would do differently is Iwould take, I would take
(18:42):
everything that I was learningand I would stuff and I would
have, um, I would have two andthree and four revenue streams,
not just the consulting.
That is that is what I woulddefinitely, uh, do different.
Uh, because without doing that,you're really cutting yourself
short and then you get in acircumstance where, oh, this
(19:05):
well is dried up and now youneed other things.
That's what I would do too.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, some risk aversion, it's a smart thing.
Lessons out there right here is, uh.
If there's one question Ishould ask you today, I didn't,
what would that question havebeen and how would you have
answered it?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
the question would be where are you at right this
moment?
And my answer in a veryintentional journey to
(19:51):
transition successfully.
Journey to transitionsuccessfully, ultimately what I
would like to do when I'mretired, which is never drives
me crazy, that word.
Here's another phrase thatdrives me crazy at this age Huh,
(20:12):
what.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
You mean now, at this age is Huh.
What you mean now, at this age,is also known as now.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Now, yes, now.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, not at that age .
It could be anything, but atthis age yeah.
Right, I mean now yes.
Now, yeah, now Don't retire.
But what, what, what?
Because as soon as your mindshuts down, you shut off, I mean
.
So so what's the I love you goto solopreneur.
(20:43):
I know you touched about thatearlier.
Is your path to simplify yourmodel, reduce some of the load,
risk and enjoy your work as youkind of?
You know, not retire, but likeyou know you're, you're in a new
mode of of being.
You can, you don't make as muchand you can kind of be better
spot.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Yeah, my, my goal is to to ultimately um have 85% or
more of my income revenue bepassive, and that this is
feeding the philanthropy that Iwant to do.
(21:22):
I will be establishing acharitable foundation in honor
of my parents called the Legendand the Lamb, and this will be a
foundation that is making allkinds of philanthropic work
(21:45):
throughout the things that wereimportant to my parents.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
That's great.
I love it, donna.
Thank you so much for coming onOnce again.
How should people get a hold ofyou?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I think that people should get a hold of me at the
link that I provided you in theprivate chat, and also they can
get a hold of me at AskDonna atOneAdvantageConsultingcom.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Love it, the linkedincom slash in slash.
Donna, chia, chia chia.
No, it's C-H-I-A-C-C-H-I-A.
I love it.
I must pronounce your nameintentionally, just because it's
fun.
It's a great marketingtechnique too.
But I appreciate you coming ontoday, donna, you rock.
Listen for anybody who's stillhere, which I hope it's lots,
(22:37):
because this show is all aboutcutting the tie to something,
holding you back and learningfrom other entrepreneurs where
they are in their journey andwhat they're doing to find
success.
To find it and go chase it andlet nothing stop them from
getting it at any point.
At that age, at this age, nowor then, get out there, go cut a
tie to something holding youback.
No-transcript.
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