Cut The Tie Podcast with Thomas Helfrich
Episode 285
What does it take to leave a steady government career and build something of your own? In this episode of Cut the Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with Shane Silsby, a former public sector leader turned founder of Silsby Strategic Advisors, to talk about cutting ties with stability, embracing ambiguity, and redefining success on your own terms.
After two decades serving in government leadership roles—including as a director at the sixth-largest county in the U.S.—Shane walked away from a reliable career path to build a business rooted in flexibility, impact, and freedom. But the transition wasn’t easy. From navigating the unknown to confronting financial pressure and family fears, Shane shares the mindset shift that made it all possible.
About Shane Silsby:
Shane is the CEO and founder of Silsby Strategic Advisors, where he provides fractional executive services to local governments and strategic guidance to private sector clients seeking to work with public agencies. With over 20 years in government leadership and now years in entrepreneurial consulting, Shane blends insider knowledge with a deep understanding of both operational and policy complexity. He’s also the author of Managing for Meteors, helping organizations prepare for disruptive change before it strikes.
In this episode, Thomas and Shane discuss:
- Why cutting the tie to a steady paycheck is terrifying—and necessary
Shane reveals the internal battle of leaving security behind in favor of more meaningful, high-impact work across the country. - How corporate life wasn’t the answer either
After a brief stint in the private sector, Shane realized real alignment came from doing things his way, not chasing profit-first mindsets. - How to get comfortable with ambiguity
From family pressures to financial uncertainty, Shane opens up about the daily mental challenges of solopreneurship—and how to navigate them. - The silent tie no one talks about: spousal pressure
In a rare moment of vulnerability, Shane shares the honest conversations with his wife about uncertainty, money, and chasing an unclear dream. - Why 2025 requires a pivot mindset
Whether you serve local governments or the private sector, Shane explains how agility and awareness of federal and global changes will define the next wave of entrepreneurship.
Key Takeaways:
- Ambiguity is the price of freedom
Solopreneurship means betting on yourself—even when you don’t know the odds. - Don’t wait for certainty—act anyway
The right time never comes. Move forward, even in the fog. - Corporate doesn't always mean comfortable
Sometimes, the “safe” move turns out to be just another box. - Your spouse is part of the journey
If you’re making big career changes, bring your partner into the conversation. Often.
Connect with Shane Silsby:
📘 LinkedIn: Shane Silsby
🌐 Website: silsby-sa.com
📧 Email: shane@silsby.com
Connect with Thomas Helfrich:
🐦 Twitter: @thelfrich
📘 Facebook: Cut The Tie Community
💼 LinkedIn: Thomas Helfrich
🌐 Website: www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Cut the Tie podcast.
Hello, I am your host, ThomasHelfrich, and I'm on a mission
to help you cut the tie towhatever it is holding you back
from success.
And today I'm joined by MrShane Silsby.
Shane, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm doing great, Thomas.
Thanks for having me again.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I appreciate it.
You know I've been speaking forseveral months trying to set
this up and I'm looking forwardto the conversation.
But take a moment to introduceyourself and your business.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, thanks, thomas.
Shane Sillsbeet.
Here I'm the CEO and founder ofSillsbeet Strategic Advisors.
It's a solopreneuring journeyand I try to help cities and
counties across the country,generally speaking, with
strategic initiatives and orprivate sector companies trying
to work with government entitiesto deliver services or projects
.
That's the high level.
And then I try to keep track offederal, state, local elements
(00:45):
to try to help those clients.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
It's a tricky thing with everything going on in the
world today, with Doge andwhatever languages you are, and
you're more than welcome toshare your take on kind of what
the things are with that.
Before you do that, maybe tellme why, though, people pick your
firm over others.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, they pick my firm exclusively because I'm on
the Cut the Tie podcast, Thomas.
And then they pick me becauseof my knowledge in the industry
and my strategic approach tothings, taking advantage of my
20 years in the public side atcities and counties across the
country, and then my efforts onthe private side to be engaged
in national and sometimes globalelements to help them with
(01:27):
those key decisions they need tomake, especially when we've had
a ton of turnover in theindustry.
We talked about that a littlebit before, about you got new
people everywhere.
They don't remember whathappened before and they may not
have the experience to knowwhere to go next.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, and I think that's important.
So one of the things I likeabout your business you served a
long time, in the space ofwhich now you serve from the
private side.
Not everyone has that.
Some people may have been liketwo years in or an intern, but
you were like in it, that was acareer and you shifted out.
So maybe talk about thatjourney a bit from the public to
the private sector and I knowyou had lots of challenges and
things, but what was the biggesttie you had to cut during that
(02:03):
transition?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, the initial impetus really was to have
career growth.
After that amount of time onthe public side and looking at,
you know, when you're in thepublic sector you're working for
an agency.
You kind of put all your time,effort, energy into that agency
and once you've implemented thatgood idea or that good project
or whatever that can be kind ofit for that agency, you got to
find something else.
So to grow and I wanted to helpkind of all agencies
(02:30):
theoretically across the country, that was the impetus to do
that.
Now, the things that hold youback from that are the things
that we all experience asentrepreneurs or solopreneurs is
the lack of consistency ofwhat's going to happen every day
.
Right, it's a lot of ambiguityand almost all of it is out of
your control.
(02:50):
Right On the government side,some things you can control,
some things you cannot.
As a solopreneur, you canalmost control nothing other
than your effort and energy.
So it's really that ambiguitythat was the big issue of.
If you have a family and youhave all the expenses you have
to live, how do you go from thatstandard paycheck, if you will,
(03:12):
to betting on yourself for notknowing where that next paycheck
might come from?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Do you remember the moment when you knew you were
going to make the move?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I do remember that moment.
It was just pre-COVID, itwasn't because of COVID, I
didn't project that.
But that's when I did my shiftand it was having a discussion
about what the next steps mightbe in my career and seeing that
the next, let's say I was sixand a half years as a director
in the sixth largest county inthe country, that the next six
and a half years weren't goingto be as productive or rewarding
(03:43):
as the last six and a half,because it was just going to
maybe be a little bit more ofthe same, and the only thing
that would change in my resumeis the time, not the content
necessarily.
So that's when I said I've gotto do something different.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, and how did you do it different though?
So take me through the steps alittle bit, of how you cut the
tie.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, so interesting journey to get to this point.
I first shifted to a corporateentity to provide services
across the globe, really asglobal, but mostly focused on
the Western United States, andso I had that opportunity when I
left from the government sideto the private side.
I first worked for a globalcorporation and that was
interesting, and then thatexposed me.
(04:22):
It gave me some stability tostart off by my leaving the
government side, but it alsoexposed me to all the things on
the business side that you youunderstand a piece of from the
government side.
Right, you're dealing withcontracts, you're awarding
services, you're deliveringservices, you're having
oversight, you have legal issuesto deal with, but that but, but
the ultimate goal is is thedelivery under a budget, but
(04:43):
then flipping over working forthis national corporation, it
was more about, okay, thebusiness operations and the
profit, right, and so that was agood send off to learn more
about that element.
But then what ended uphappening was that the corporate
philosophy was moving way moretowards the profit side as the
way to balance the scales forwhat that industry was doing,
(05:05):
versus my personal approach,which was trying to help people,
treat people well and work withclients that I like to work
with, which we all hope thatthat will lead to money at the
end of that road, where thatrelationship but it's not where
you start from which is a littlebit different than corporate
philosophy.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
And you can this impact question, how you need to
, but what impact has it had onyour life or customers or your
family?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, I mean the biggest impact is I've been able
to work with people across thecountry that I wouldn't have
been able to support at onelevel down Right so, if I was a
peer for a county or city acrossthe country, and but now what
it's done is opened up right thenetwork so people can reach out
to me and they do from allacross the country to try to
(05:59):
have a discussion about whateverit is they're dealing with, and
that's a huge shift.
It wouldn't have happenedbefore.
From my family, a little bit, Ido get to spend more time with
my kids and my wife, my familyWhereas on the government side
you're going to the office andthere's a reason for that as a
leader, 10 hours or whatever itis, and so you're gone from your
(06:20):
house for that long, and sothat's been a shift also as well
.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, that's been a big one.
If you could go back in time toany part in your timeline, when
would you go back and whatwould you do differently?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, good question.
When I left my government roleat the county, it was in March
of 2020.
And we all know what happenedthere.
That was the pandemic timeframeand I remember, when I was
interviewing for my role withthis national corporation which
I had a C-suite role.
I said, well, the biggest issuebetween public and private is
the uncertainty to the market orwhatever.
(06:53):
And I remember the discussionwhere they said well, the only
thing that could affect yourrole in the C-suite is like if
there's some global phenomenonthat happened right, otherwise
what you do is necessary, weneed it, there's no way it could
be impacted.
Well, that thing happened andso I don't know what I would do
differently.
But if I had that knowledge ofthe foresight, I probably would
(07:15):
have put some other securitymeasures in place or whatever it
was in the negotiation to tryto avoid kind of more the
impacts of that.
I'm sure we all would to someextent pre-pandemic.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Well, I mean, on that line, I just go back and buy
Bitcoin as soon as I have money,and maybe Apple stock.
Yeah, maybe those two things.
But I think it's more of ametaphorical question that what
are the answers you should donow?
So what's the big thing nowthat could disrupt your world?
It's like, well, maybe I shoulddo it now.
Yeah, how about some rapid fire?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
So who gives you inspiration?
Yeah, I get inspired by peoplewho are kind of in the space,
like yourself, that kind oflaunch out and provide
perspectives and maybe aren'tnecessarily as afraid of the
consequences of what mighthappen.
I don't mean being overlynegative or whatever, but
everybody has a counter opinionnowadays, and so those that are
willing to share kind offact-based approaches to an
opinion or observation, I kindof admire those people because
(08:12):
it would be easy for them justto stand back and let all this
information, or whatever youwant to call it, move back and
forth and not enter into thatfray to try to provide some
reality.
But those that do that I have alot of respect for.
Nowadays, with so much contentout there, obviously it's hard
to break through that noise.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
It is very hard to break through the noise.
And then I generally find that,like, the more specific you are
with what your content andserve, and the less the vanity
metrics the more satisfying is,the more effective it becomes
when you leave the vanitymetrics out.
If you truly can get them outof your way, then your ability
to be successful, so to speak,is better, because it really
(08:51):
defines what you're doing.
Am I trying to helpentrepreneurs in this space or
am I trying to be famous?
And the truth is I'm trying tohelp entrepreneurs.
I don't want to be famous.
I want to be the rich guy onthe beach that no one knows
about.
I don't want to be you know.
So I appreciate that.
What's that must-read book?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, that's a good one, and there's a lot of
authors coming up that are aswell known.
I mean, you can, obviously youcan read my book, right,
managing for Meteors, and it'sabout how to prepare for those
things, and we have a new meteorcoming on right now with stuff
happening a little bit at thefederal level with funding.
But other than hardcore books,I try to reference sources that
(09:30):
are digital but have a way tocut through and try to get you
some fact-based information,right.
So look at the source, whetherit's a national journal or, in
my field, I look at engineeringelements or infrastructure
elements or science-basedsources, and then I try to get
the facts pulled from thatpretty quickly because I need
(09:51):
those when I'm havingdiscussions and try to help
people with strategy.
Right, I need to have thatbackground of where the facts
are and try to giverecommendations.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
In your recommendations.
Maybe you should take that astep further for yourself.
Who or what was the bestbusiness advice you've ever
received?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, the best business advice I received was
to as in moving into the privatesector and especially as a
solopreneur was to becomfortable with ambiguity and
that was great advice and it'sstill hard for me to adjust to
every day, but that was good foranybody, I think.
Trying to enter the arena thatwe're kind of in, thomas,
(10:31):
because I think a lot of peoplemaybe like yourself, they make
it look easy but they don'tunderstand everything that
happens behind the scenes.
In order to have a 15-minutediscussion or in order to put
out that other podcast or towrite that article or to do that
presentation, you're seeing the15 minutes of finished product
and not seeing the hours of workthat goes behind that and I
(10:52):
think sometimes we make it lookvery easy but people might not
understand right what, what ittakes to to have that end
product or that end result.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, that's a really .
I think that's some advice.
People should realize that ifyou see something you really
like, that may not even be thefinished product they expect.
But it was not that.
I mean, for example, on ourshow, every 90 days we look at
and go what can we do to improve?
And this last 90 was let'sshorten the show and let's make
it more not so much like whatyou do great, but more about how
did you get there, like, what'sthe entrepreneurial journey and
what did you have to overcome.
(11:21):
You know and I'll probably takeit a level further and being
like, how'd that impact yourlife?
What was the meanest thing yourwife said to you during that
time?
Like you know, and the truth,now I probably will take it
there.
I just haven't figured out thecomfort level of how to do it
with the guest, because I knowin your journey you've had some
not that you've told me this,just, but I know you've had some
horribly tough times talking toyour wife about money or what
(11:45):
we're going to do.
What about the uncertainty ofit?
You used to be so consistent.
And what are you doing If youdon't have that?
I'd be surprised If you don'thave that outside.
What the hell are you doing?
Why couldn't you just be thisand that?
You know what I'll experimentwith you?
Tell me about that interactionas you're doing it, because that
is a tie that a lot of peopledon't talk about.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I talk about it in my book, but I'll tell you that
that is the one that people,that's the silent tie of, oh
whole God, spousal pressuresyeah, we're just having a
discussion this morning about itRight and looking at with
recessionary pressures that arehappening in the industry and
you have to be aware of that,you don't want to be caught on
the wrong side of some of thatand what that means for our
family and what we need to do toadjust and pivot and we can
talk a little bit about whatsome pivoting I think
entrepreneurs should be thinkingabout.
(12:34):
But, yeah, to make sure rightfor supporting our family, our
kids and all that stuff that weare thinking about, right, what,
what could go wrong or whatcould go right and how to
mitigate some of that and I knowmy wife's looking for that I'm
like I can't.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I can't even tell you that I'll make the same amount
every month, because if everyone of my customers goes, hey,
I'm quitting, we're kind ofscrewed for a few months and so
like, because they can just dothat, like they can, even if you
have contracts, you're notgoing to go after it.
You don't have money to go dothis.
(13:24):
Like.
It's like that.
Even in this podcast it's rightnow like a five-day-a-week show
.
I'll probably move all theinterviews to Sunday and just do
motivational stuff during theweek.
I don't know.
You always are evolving to tryto find the thing that tweaks it
a little bit better, to make ita little more impactful, and
you'll do that in your businesseither be a podcaster or
consulting, and I think that'sreally good advice, to get used
to that uncertainty.
But if you embrace it, that'swhere the opportunity lies, the
(13:46):
opportunities and theuncertainty.
So, because a lot of peopleshed front of it.
But if you dive into it andfight your way through it,
you'll find something thatwasn't found before.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, it can produce.
A trait that improves youragility and your ability to be
agile can be an advantage toyour customers, because they are
sometimes dealing withsomething that is outside of
their main line or they'reoutside of that box, and that's
why they need somebody that canthink that way or be more agile
or try to address the issue in anot traditional way.
(14:15):
Agreed.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
If there was a question I should have asked you
today, and I didn't what wouldthat question have been and how
would you have answered it?
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, I think the main question that's on my mind
is what should entrepreneurs orsolopreneurs be thinking about
in 2025 that they might not havehad to deal with in prior years
?
And for me, we talked aboutthis a little bit it's about
that agility and being able topivot right.
So we think about we don't liketo talk about politics or
what's happening at the federallevel, but that does affect
(14:45):
especially small businesses.
If your business is incommodities, moving products,
and your product comes from acertain country, you better know
what the impacts are to you andyour business going into 2025,
because that's going to affectyour customers and your business
.
If you're in the position, likewhat I do, for services,
professional services, I need tothink about how that or the
(15:07):
loss of federal infrastructurefunding in my field, for example
, is going to affect my clients,my cities and counties, local
governments, because if I'm notthinking about how they can
react and adjust to that, thenI'm not going to have the value,
and why would they pay me orgive me a contract if I'm not
providing them that value?
They can do nothing on theirown right.
They don't need me to besitting here doing nothing.
(15:29):
So to me, it's about that pivotand then in that pivot you can
also try to identify, I think,new markets that you might not
have thought about before.
Whatever it is right, it's theforce-counterforce argument.
So if something's pushing thisway, what pushes against it or
what's helping it push, and canyou be involved in that space to
again help your business andhelp your clients?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
That's great.
Who should get a hold of youand how do they do that?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I think we kicked off with this, but leaders in
government sectors, cities andcounties or whatever your agency
is that are trying to dostrategic initiatives or need
what I call fractionalgovernment executive support
which is what I do they shouldcontact me.
And or private sector companiesthat are trying to work with
cities or counties across thecountry and try to figure out
(16:16):
where they can fit and makevalue out of their asset.
So you can get ahold of methrough LinkedIn Shane Sillsby
contact me there.
You can send me an email, shaneat sillsby-sacom.
You can go to my website,wwwsillsby-sacom, or my book
website, managingformeteorscom.
Take a look at some free stuffI have in my book and then give
(16:39):
me a shout.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'm going to have you do your thing again.
Your phone was goingdo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
It was interrupting your thing,but I didn't interrupt you, so
do a brevity version of it.
I'll ask the question againbecause I was like it won't be
an audible but it'll bedistracting when you get to it.
Who should get a hold of youand how should they?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Thanks, thomas.
The people that should bereaching out to me are local
government leaders that wantsupport from a strategic
standpoint.
I offer what I call fractionalgovernment executive services,
so I come and help them withtheir issue or whatever it is
organizational elements, fundingelements and then move on that
(17:23):
are trying to work with localgovernments and see how they can
better improve their servicesto provide that value.
So it's everything in the localgovernment space, and then they
can get to me through LinkedIn.
Just type in Shane Sillsbyshould be the only one that
comes up, as far as I'm awareand or you can get to me through
my website, sillsby-sacom.
Or you can get to me through mybook site, managing4meteorscom
Some free things you can look atthere and then shoot me a note
(17:44):
later.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Awesome.
Thank you so much, shane, forcoming on today.
Appreciate it.
Tom, keep up the good work.
I appreciate it and everyonelistening he made at this point.
I appreciate you.
I want you to get out there.
Go cut a tie to somethingholding you back.
Become the best version ofyourself.
Unleash the best version ofyourself.
Don't let anything stop youfrom success.
Thanks for.
Welcome to the Cut the Tie podcast.
Hello, I am your host, ThomasHelfrich, and I'm on a mission
to help you cut the tie towhatever it is holding you back
from success.
And today I'm joined by MrShane Silsby.
Shane, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm doing great, Thomas.
Thanks for having me again.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I appreciate it.
You know I've been speaking forseveral months trying to set
this up and I'm looking forwardto the conversation.
But take a moment to introduceyourself and your business.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, thanks, thomas.
Shane Sillsbeet.
Here I'm the CEO and founder ofSillsbeet Strategic Advisors.
It's a solopreneuring journeyand I try to help cities and
counties across the country,generally speaking, with
strategic initiatives and orprivate sector companies trying
to work with government entitiesto deliver services or projects
.
That's the high level.
And then I try to keep track offederal, state, local elements
(00:45):
to try to help those clients.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
It's a tricky thing with everything going on in the
world today, with Doge andwhatever languages you are, and
you're more than welcome toshare your take on kind of what
the things are with that.
Before you do that, maybe tellme why, though, people pick your
firm over others.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, they pick my firm exclusively because I'm on
the Cut the Tie podcast, Thomas.
And then they pick me becauseof my knowledge in the industry
and my strategic approach tothings, taking advantage of my
20 years in the public side atcities and counties across the
country, and then my efforts onthe private side to be engaged
in national and sometimes globalelements to help them with
(01:27):
those key decisions they need tomake, especially when we've had
a ton of turnover in theindustry.
We talked about that a littlebit before, about you got new
people everywhere.
They don't remember whathappened before and they may not
have the experience to knowwhere to go next.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, and I think that's important.
So one of the things I likeabout your business you served a
long time, in the space ofwhich now you serve from the
private side.
Not everyone has that.
Some people may have been liketwo years in or an intern, but
you were like in it, that was acareer and you shifted out.
So maybe talk about thatjourney a bit from the public to
the private sector and I knowyou had lots of challenges and
things, but what was the biggesttie you had to cut during that
(02:03):
transition?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, the initial impetus really was to have
career growth.
After that amount of time onthe public side and looking at,
you know, when you're in thepublic sector you're working for
an agency.
You kind of put all your time,effort, energy into that agency
and once you've implemented thatgood idea or that good project
or whatever that can be kind ofit for that agency, you got to
find something else.
So to grow and I wanted to helpkind of all agencies
(02:30):
theoretically across the country, that was the impetus to do
that.
Now, the things that hold youback from that are the things
that we all experience asentrepreneurs or solopreneurs is
the lack of consistency ofwhat's going to happen every day
.
Right, it's a lot of ambiguityand almost all of it is out of
your control.
(02:50):
Right On the government side,some things you can control,
some things you cannot.
As a solopreneur, you canalmost control nothing other
than your effort and energy.
So it's really that ambiguitythat was the big issue of.
If you have a family and youhave all the expenses you have
to live, how do you go from thatstandard paycheck, if you will,
(03:12):
to betting on yourself for notknowing where that next paycheck
might come from?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Do you remember the moment when you knew you were
going to make the move?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I do remember that moment.
It was just pre-COVID, itwasn't because of COVID, I
didn't project that.
But that's when I did my shiftand it was having a discussion
about what the next steps mightbe in my career and seeing that
the next, let's say I was sixand a half years as a director
in the sixth largest county inthe country, that the next six
and a half years weren't goingto be as productive or rewarding
(03:43):
as the last six and a half,because it was just going to
maybe be a little bit more ofthe same, and the only thing
that would change in my resumeis the time, not the content
necessarily.
So that's when I said I've gotto do something different.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, and how did you do it different though?
So take me through the steps alittle bit, of how you cut the
tie.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, so interesting journey to get to this point.
I first shifted to a corporateentity to provide services
across the globe, really asglobal, but mostly focused on
the Western United States, andso I had that opportunity when I
left from the government sideto the private side.
I first worked for a globalcorporation and that was
interesting, and then thatexposed me.
(04:22):
It gave me some stability tostart off by my leaving the
government side, but it alsoexposed me to all the things on
the business side that you youunderstand a piece of from the
government side.
Right, you're dealing withcontracts, you're awarding
services, you're deliveringservices, you're having
oversight, you have legal issuesto deal with, but that but, but
the ultimate goal is is thedelivery under a budget, but
(04:43):
then flipping over working forthis national corporation, it
was more about, okay, thebusiness operations and the
profit, right, and so that was agood send off to learn more
about that element.
But then what ended uphappening was that the corporate
philosophy was moving way moretowards the profit side as the
way to balance the scales forwhat that industry was doing,
(05:05):
versus my personal approach,which was trying to help people,
treat people well and work withclients that I like to work
with, which we all hope thatthat will lead to money at the
end of that road, where thatrelationship but it's not where
you start from which is a littlebit different than corporate
philosophy.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
And you can this impact question, how you need to
, but what impact has it had onyour life or customers or your
family?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, I mean the biggest impact is I've been able
to work with people across thecountry that I wouldn't have
been able to support at onelevel down Right so, if I was a
peer for a county or city acrossthe country, and but now what
it's done is opened up right thenetwork so people can reach out
to me and they do from allacross the country to try to
(05:59):
have a discussion about whateverit is they're dealing with, and
that's a huge shift.
It wouldn't have happenedbefore.
From my family, a little bit, Ido get to spend more time with
my kids and my wife, my familyWhereas on the government side
you're going to the office andthere's a reason for that as a
leader, 10 hours or whatever itis, and so you're gone from your
(06:20):
house for that long, and sothat's been a shift also as well
.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, that's been a big one.
If you could go back in time toany part in your timeline, when
would you go back and whatwould you do differently?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, good question.
When I left my government roleat the county, it was in March
of 2020.
And we all know what happenedthere.
That was the pandemic timeframeand I remember, when I was
interviewing for my role withthis national corporation which
I had a C-suite role.
I said, well, the biggest issuebetween public and private is
the uncertainty to the market orwhatever.
(06:53):
And I remember the discussionwhere they said well, the only
thing that could affect yourrole in the C-suite is like if
there's some global phenomenonthat happened right, otherwise
what you do is necessary, weneed it, there's no way it could
be impacted.
Well, that thing happened andso I don't know what I would do
differently.
But if I had that knowledge ofthe foresight, I probably would
(07:15):
have put some other securitymeasures in place or whatever it
was in the negotiation to tryto avoid kind of more the
impacts of that.
I'm sure we all would to someextent pre-pandemic.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Well, I mean, on that line, I just go back and buy
Bitcoin as soon as I have money,and maybe Apple stock.
Yeah, maybe those two things.
But I think it's more of ametaphorical question that what
are the answers you should donow?
So what's the big thing nowthat could disrupt your world?
It's like, well, maybe I shoulddo it now.
Yeah, how about some rapid fire?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
So who gives you inspiration?
Yeah, I get inspired by peoplewho are kind of in the space,
like yourself, that kind oflaunch out and provide
perspectives and maybe aren'tnecessarily as afraid of the
consequences of what mighthappen.
I don't mean being overlynegative or whatever, but
everybody has a counter opinionnowadays, and so those that are
willing to share kind offact-based approaches to an
opinion or observation, I kindof admire those people because
(08:12):
it would be easy for them justto stand back and let all this
information, or whatever youwant to call it, move back and
forth and not enter into thatfray to try to provide some
reality.
But those that do that I have alot of respect for.
Nowadays, with so much contentout there, obviously it's hard
to break through that noise.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
It is very hard to break through the noise.
And then I generally find that,like, the more specific you are
with what your content andserve, and the less the vanity
metrics the more satisfying is,the more effective it becomes
when you leave the vanitymetrics out.
If you truly can get them outof your way, then your ability
to be successful, so to speak,is better, because it really
(08:51):
defines what you're doing.
Am I trying to helpentrepreneurs in this space or
am I trying to be famous?
And the truth is I'm trying tohelp entrepreneurs.
I don't want to be famous.
I want to be the rich guy onthe beach that no one knows
about.
I don't want to be you know.
So I appreciate that.
What's that must-read book?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, that's a good one, and there's a lot of
authors coming up that are aswell known.
I mean, you can, obviously youcan read my book, right,
managing for Meteors, and it'sabout how to prepare for those
things, and we have a new meteorcoming on right now with stuff
happening a little bit at thefederal level with funding.
But other than hardcore books,I try to reference sources that
(09:30):
are digital but have a way tocut through and try to get you
some fact-based information,right.
So look at the source, whetherit's a national journal or, in
my field, I look at engineeringelements or infrastructure
elements or science-basedsources, and then I try to get
the facts pulled from thatpretty quickly because I need
(09:51):
those when I'm havingdiscussions and try to help
people with strategy.
Right, I need to have thatbackground of where the facts
are and try to giverecommendations.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
In your recommendations.
Maybe you should take that astep further for yourself.
Who or what was the bestbusiness advice you've ever
received?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, the best business advice I received was
to as in moving into the privatesector and especially as a
solopreneur was to becomfortable with ambiguity and
that was great advice and it'sstill hard for me to adjust to
every day, but that was good foranybody, I think.
Trying to enter the arena thatwe're kind of in, thomas,
(10:31):
because I think a lot of peoplemaybe like yourself, they make
it look easy but they don'tunderstand everything that
happens behind the scenes.
In order to have a 15-minutediscussion or in order to put
out that other podcast or towrite that article or to do that
presentation, you're seeing the15 minutes of finished product
and not seeing the hours of workthat goes behind that and I
(10:52):
think sometimes we make it lookvery easy but people might not
understand right what, what ittakes to to have that end
product or that end result.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, that's a really .
I think that's some advice.
People should realize that ifyou see something you really
like, that may not even be thefinished product they expect.
But it was not that.
I mean, for example, on ourshow, every 90 days we look at
and go what can we do to improve?
And this last 90 was let'sshorten the show and let's make
it more not so much like whatyou do great, but more about how
did you get there, like, what'sthe entrepreneurial journey and
what did you have to overcome.
(11:21):
You know and I'll probably takeit a level further and being
like, how'd that impact yourlife?
What was the meanest thing yourwife said to you during that
time?
Like you know, and the truth,now I probably will take it
there.
I just haven't figured out thecomfort level of how to do it
with the guest, because I knowin your journey you've had some
not that you've told me this,just, but I know you've had some
horribly tough times talking toyour wife about money or what
(11:45):
we're going to do.
What about the uncertainty ofit?
You used to be so consistent.
And what are you doing If youdon't have that?
I'd be surprised If you don'thave that outside.
What the hell are you doing?
Why couldn't you just be thisand that?
You know what I'll experimentwith you?
Tell me about that interactionas you're doing it, because that
is a tie that a lot of peopledon't talk about.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I talk about it in my book, but I'll tell you that
that is the one that people,that's the silent tie of, oh
whole God, spousal pressuresyeah, we're just having a
discussion this morning about itRight and looking at with
recessionary pressures that arehappening in the industry and
you have to be aware of that,you don't want to be caught on
the wrong side of some of thatand what that means for our
family and what we need to do toadjust and pivot and we can
talk a little bit about whatsome pivoting I think
entrepreneurs should be thinkingabout.
(12:34):
But, yeah, to make sure rightfor supporting our family, our
kids and all that stuff that weare thinking about, right, what,
what could go wrong or whatcould go right and how to
mitigate some of that and I knowmy wife's looking for that I'm
like I can't.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I can't even tell you that I'll make the same amount
every month, because if everyone of my customers goes, hey,
I'm quitting, we're kind ofscrewed for a few months and so
like, because they can just dothat, like they can, even if you
have contracts, you're notgoing to go after it.
You don't have money to go dothis.
(13:24):
Like.
It's like that.
Even in this podcast it's rightnow like a five-day-a-week show
.
I'll probably move all theinterviews to Sunday and just do
motivational stuff during theweek.
I don't know.
You always are evolving to tryto find the thing that tweaks it
a little bit better, to make ita little more impactful, and
you'll do that in your businesseither be a podcaster or
consulting, and I think that'sreally good advice, to get used
to that uncertainty.
But if you embrace it, that'swhere the opportunity lies, the
(13:46):
opportunities and theuncertainty.
So, because a lot of peopleshed front of it.
But if you dive into it andfight your way through it,
you'll find something thatwasn't found before.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, it can produce.
A trait that improves youragility and your ability to be
agile can be an advantage toyour customers, because they are
sometimes dealing withsomething that is outside of
their main line or they'reoutside of that box, and that's
why they need somebody that canthink that way or be more agile
or try to address the issue in anot traditional way.
(14:15):
Agreed.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
If there was a question I should have asked you
today, and I didn't what wouldthat question have been and how
would you have answered it?
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, I think the main question that's on my mind
is what should entrepreneurs orsolopreneurs be thinking about
in 2025 that they might not havehad to deal with in prior years
?
And for me, we talked aboutthis a little bit it's about
that agility and being able topivot right.
So we think about we don't liketo talk about politics or
what's happening at the federallevel, but that does affect
(14:45):
especially small businesses.
If your business is incommodities, moving products,
and your product comes from acertain country, you better know
what the impacts are to you andyour business going into 2025,
because that's going to affectyour customers and your business
.
If you're in the position, likewhat I do, for services,
professional services, I need tothink about how that or the
(15:07):
loss of federal infrastructurefunding in my field, for example
, is going to affect my clients,my cities and counties, local
governments, because if I'm notthinking about how they can
react and adjust to that, thenI'm not going to have the value,
and why would they pay me orgive me a contract if I'm not
providing them that value?
They can do nothing on theirown right.
They don't need me to besitting here doing nothing.
(15:29):
So to me, it's about that pivotand then in that pivot you can
also try to identify, I think,new markets that you might not
have thought about before.
Whatever it is right, it's theforce-counterforce argument.
So if something's pushing thisway, what pushes against it or
what's helping it push, and canyou be involved in that space to
again help your business andhelp your clients?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
That's great.
Who should get a hold of youand how do they do that?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I think we kicked off with this, but leaders in
government sectors, cities andcounties or whatever your agency
is that are trying to dostrategic initiatives or need
what I call fractionalgovernment executive support
which is what I do they shouldcontact me.
And or private sector companiesthat are trying to work with
cities or counties across thecountry and try to figure out
(16:16):
where they can fit and makevalue out of their asset.
So you can get ahold of methrough LinkedIn Shane Sillsby
contact me there.
You can send me an email, shaneat sillsby-sacom.
You can go to my website,wwwsillsby-sacom, or my book
website, managingformeteorscom.
Take a look at some free stuffI have in my book and then give
(16:39):
me a shout.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'm going to have you do your thing again.
Your phone was goingdo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
It was interrupting your thing,but I didn't interrupt you, so
do a brevity version of it.
I'll ask the question againbecause I was like it won't be
an audible but it'll bedistracting when you get to it.
Who should get a hold of youand how should they?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Thanks, thomas.
The people that should bereaching out to me are local
government leaders that wantsupport from a strategic
standpoint.
I offer what I call fractionalgovernment executive services,
so I come and help them withtheir issue or whatever it is
organizational elements, fundingelements and then move on that
(17:23):
are trying to work with localgovernments and see how they can
better improve their servicesto provide that value.
So it's everything in the localgovernment space, and then they
can get to me through LinkedIn.
Just type in Shane Sillsbyshould be the only one that
comes up, as far as I'm awareand or you can get to me through
my website, sillsby-sacom.
Or you can get to me through mybook site, managing4meteorscom
Some free things you can look atthere and then shoot me a note
(17:44):
later.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Awesome.
Thank you so much, shane, forcoming on today.
Appreciate it.
Tom, keep up the good work.
I appreciate it and everyonelistening he made at this point.
I appreciate you.
I want you to get out there.
Go cut a tie to somethingholding you back.
Become the best version ofyourself.
Unleash the best version ofyourself.
Don't let anything stop youfrom success.
Thanks for.
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