April 16, 2025 • 30 mins
What does it take to thrive as a solopreneur and truly love the life you’re building? Liz Steblay knows the answer—and she’s sharing her wisdom from over 20 years of self-employment, coaching, and business-building. In this episode, Liz reveals how she fell into solopreneurship before the term even existed, the hard lessons she learned along the way, and the six essential keys to succeeding as a solopreneur.
From navigating financial independence to finding your niche, Liz's advice is practical, inspiring, and a must-hear for anyone considering taking the leap from corporate America. Plus, she shares actionable tips on building momentum, staying confident, and creating a business you actually enjoy. Whether you’re a seasoned solopreneur or just dreaming of making the jump, this episode is packed with golden nuggets to fuel your journey.
Want to dive deeper? Head to 6keys.info to learn more about Liz and her book Succeeding as a Solopreneur: Six Keys to Taking the Leap, Winning Clients, and Building Wealth.
🎙 Tune in, subscribe, and get ready to be inspired! Oh, and don’t forget to leave us that five-star review :)
Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, be sure to check out LifeStarr Intro!
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Episode Transcript
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Carly Ries (00:00):
What does it really take to build a thriving
(00:02):
solopreneur business and createa life you love? In this
episode, we sit down with LizSteblay, a twenty year veteran
in the solopreneur world, touncover her journey from
unexpected layoff to unstoppablesuccess. Liz shares the hard
lesson she learned, the six keysevery solopreneur needs to know,
and her strategies forovercoming fear, narrowing your
(00:22):
niche, and building lastingfinancial independence. So
whether you're just thinkingabout leaving corporate or
already in the trenches, thisepisode is packed with practical
tips and inspiring advice tohelp you take your solopreneur
career to the next level. So besure to tune in.
You don't wanna miss this one.You're listening to the Aspiring
Solopreneur, the podcast forthose just taking the bold step
(00:45):
or even just thinking abouttaking that step into the world
of solo entrepreneurship. Myname is Carly Ries, and my
cohost, Joe Rando, and I areyour guides to navigating this
crazy but awesome journey as acompany of one. We take pride in
being part of LifeStarr, adigital hub dedicated to all
aspects of solopreneurship thathas empowered and educated
(01:06):
countless solopreneurs lookingto build a business that
resonates with their life'sambitions. We help people work
to live, not live to work.
And if you're looking for a getrich quick scheme, this is not
the show for you. So if you'reeager to gain valuable insights
from industry experts on runninga business the right way the
first time around or want tolearn from the missteps of
(01:26):
solopreneurs who paved the waybefore you, then stick around.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Liz, we areso excited to have you on today
because it's it's such a uniqueopportunity to chat with
somebody that kinda does thesame thing or in the same realm
of what you do and kinda to gokind of back and forth. So I'm
(01:48):
just really excited for thisinterview.
Welcome to the show. We're sohappy to have you.
Liz Steblay (01:53):
Thank you. I'm very excited to be here.
Carly Ries (01:55):
Yeah. Well, and in terms of I mean, you have worked
for solopreneurs forever, butyou have such a unique journey.
Can you kind of walk us throughbeing laid off back in the day
to your first consultingcontract and what that
transition looked like for you?
Liz Steblay (02:10):
Yeah, I fell into being a solopreneur before the
word was ever even imagined orinvented. That was over twenty
years ago back in 2004. I gotlaid off from my corporate job,
and I prior to that job, I hadworked in consulting for a big
global firm. And I had kept intouch with people, and I reached
out to a former client. I said,hey.
(02:31):
I just got laid off. Do you haveany projects you need help with?
And he said, are you kidding?How soon can you get here? So I
literally fell into it.
I had my first contract thefollowing week. I didn't even
have a laptop yet. And, thatfirst year, that project was
about nine months long. I mademore money, worked fewer hours,
didn't have to deal with any bigfirm BS, and had more quality
(02:53):
time with my kid. And I said,this is it.
I'm never going back to a realfull time job. So I literally
fell into it and made a ton ofmistakes over the next twenty
years. I ended up launching twoother businesses, writing a
book. So it has not been thetraditional corporate ladder,
but it's been quite the zigzagof experiences. And now I get my
(03:18):
joy from coaching others to livethe career of their dreams as
solopreneurs.
Joe Rando (03:22):
Can I ask a question on that? Yes. So when you got
that first contract within aweek of being laid off and then
you went in and you worked fornine months, when that wrapped
up, did you get right intosomething else, or did you wake
up and go, uh-oh.
Liz Steblay (03:35):
Joe, you just prompted my first mistake I
learned when I was asolopreneur.
Joe Rando (03:40):
You're not alone.
Liz Steblay (03:41):
I was flat footed. I had nothing else lined up. I
knew I didn't wanna go back to afull time job, but the type of
work I did was was full timeproject intensive work. And I
was so busy delivering the work,I hadn't done anything related
to what comes next. I was flatfooted at the starting line.
Like the gun had gone off andI'm still standing there like a
(04:03):
deer in the headlights. I wentaround and I talked to some
boutique consulting agencies. Atthe time, I was living in San
Francisco. So I talked to a fewof them in the Bay Area, and I
said, this is my area ofspecialty. And, you know, how do
you work?
And do you think you could placeme? And one lady told me that,
yes, we have lots of lots ofprojects in your wheelhouse. And
(04:27):
I said, well, how does how doesthe billing work? She says,
well, you know, we invoice theclient, and we pay you 65% of
whatever we pay you out of theclient. And I said, oh, okay.
And then I went home, and Iopened a spreadsheet, and I ran
the numbers. And I realized,holy smokes. They're gonna make
about $45,000 by introducing meto a client. I'm not willing to
(04:49):
give up $45,000. I'll find myown work.
And so I contacted her the nextday, turned that down, and said,
this is it. I gotta find my ownwork. And I just started
hustling. So don't do what Idid. Don't get caught flat
footed.
From that point on, actually, mymantra was to keep my network
(05:09):
warm, always be networking, nomatter how busy I would get on a
project or delivering the work.My mantra was one person in
person once a week. Could besomeone new, could be someone I
hadn't talked to in five years.It could be just walking down to
the sandwich shop to bring thelunch back to our desk. Could
have been with a client, couldhave been somebody from the
systems integrator company.
(05:30):
But one person in person once aweek to develop relationships,
strengthen relationships, andkeep that network warm.
Joe Rando (05:37):
Yeah. You're in the Bay Area, so you could do that
in person thing.
Liz Steblay (05:41):
Now not so much. Right? I've since moved to
Nevada. Oh, One of thosecorporate one of those
California refugees. And, thenduring COVID, right, I would
still do one person, but notreally in person, but one person
once a week.
And I'd reach out to clients andcolleagues and they'd say, You
wanna schedule a virtualcocktail? And we'd meet via Zoom
(06:03):
and we'd each bring our owncocktail. We'd do it like a
five, five 30 in the evening.And we would just talk about how
are you holding up? How's work?
What's stressing you out? Whatproblems are you facing? And
just to strengthen thoserelationships and develop trust.
Carly Ries (06:18):
Liz, what I love about you is so many people
advise solopreneurs withoutactually having been in the
trenches and figuring it out ontheir own. It's like, you don't
have any ground to stand on. Youdon't know what it's like, but
you do, and you do so much tothe point that you wrote a book
called the six keys tosucceeding as a solopreneur. And
you may have already gone intoone of those with the
networking, maybe not. But canyou dive into some of those six
(06:41):
things?
Liz Steblay (06:42):
Yeah. Actually, publisher insisted on a shorter
title for the book, which issucceeding as a solopreneur.
Then the subtitle is six keys totaking the leap, winning
clients, and building wealth.Yep. All the six keys are
interrelated, but this firstone, it's just undoubtedly the
most important because it neverfully goes away or is handled.
(07:06):
And that is be prepared tovanquish FUD, fear, uncertainty,
and doubt. Like, we always referto this as the FUD monster. I
imagine a little gremlin sittingon my shoulder, nibbling away at
my confidence. Like, who are youto start a business? Who are you
to negotiate a contract?
What are you doing leaving afull time job? You're out of
your mind. You're gonna die.You're gonna fail. Like, we all
(07:27):
have those thoughts.
And now that I've been selfemployed for twenty years, I can
tell you that never fully goesaway. The FUD monster still
raises his ugly head andwhispers in my ear, like,
revenue's gonna fall off acliff. How are you gonna make
money? Whatever it is. Butthat's the first key is be
prepared to vanquish FUD, theFUD monster.
(07:48):
You know, need to learn how toname it, tame it, deal with it,
and lets go from there.
Joe Rando (07:54):
Is that related to, impostor syndrome?
Liz Steblay (07:57):
Yes. Actually. So FUD stands for fear,
uncertainty, and doubt. Sothere's lots of old phrase, fake
it fake it until you make it.Right?
Which is fine. I'm a believer inthat. But at some point then,
impostor syndrome flares up.Right? And you're like, wait.
How are these people believingwhat you're doing? You know? And
(08:19):
that whole impostor syndrome,that's uncertainty. So that is a
part of FUD for sure. But, yes,talking yourself out of that and
steps for mitigating that are inthe book.
Carly Ries (08:30):
Great. So are you are you able to dive in into any
of the other steps, or are theyhush-hush?
Liz Steblay (08:36):
No. I'm an open book, literally, having read the
book. After actually, afterpublishing the book, there's so
many of my hard lessons learnedand embarrassing moments and
things in the book that I wasquite exhausted once it was
published, not just from thatfrom the process of publishing,
but so much you'd it's not oftenthat you look back on twenty
(08:58):
years of your career and youhave it all in one place, all
the hard lessons in one place.And I realized, well, no wonder
I'm tired because I had tosurvive all of these things as a
solopreneur and as a single mom.Then that year that I got laid
off and fell into being selfemployed, I also got divorced.
So I was a single mom doing allthis on my own in a very
(09:19):
expensive city of San Francisco.And I'd like to inspire people
who are stuck with FUD andthinking, I would love to do
this, but, you know, I've got tosave for college or I'm divorced
or I'm a single parent, and youcan still do it.
it is possible. Oh, well, thatyeah. So let's talk about some
of these other things. I have afriend of mine, who is is going
(09:41):
through a divorce, and that'sher first thing. She's like, I
just need to she was workingpart time, now she has to work
full time and is trying tofigure it out. So let's discuss
those other five things.
Yeah. The other other keys well,actually, there is a whole
chapter in the book. I thinkit's chapter three that are the
things to consider before takingthe leap to being self employed.
(10:02):
There are also I have also ablog on this, which is nine
things to consider before takingthe leap. Because it's not the
right path for everybody.
It's the hardest job you'll everhave, being self employed,
because you have to push yourboundaries. You have to learn
new things. You have to dothings you've never done before,
and you have to wrestle withthat stupid fun monster all the
time. So it's a hard job. Butit's doable.
(10:27):
Things like this book didn'texist when I fell into this
twenty years ago, right? We justfigured it out. Now you can ask
your AI assistant or where youcan read my book or you can go
to courses or you can become amember of Professional
Independent Consultants ofAmerica, the organization that I
run, and there's help now. Butthe second key, and this is the
(10:47):
part that a lot of peoplestruggle with, is they think
they should go to market as ajack of all trades or Jill of
all skills when actually thereverse is true. You need to
narrow your niche, be known forsomething, and be memorable
because that's what leads toreferrals.
That's what leads to repeatbusiness. When you need to know,
sure, you can do a lot ofthings, but what's the tip of
(11:09):
your spear that's gonna have youpop into somebody's mind when
the need for your expertise popsup? That's one of the hardest
parts.
Joe Rando (11:17):
Oh, I say this all the time. I think people are
sick of me saying it. Thank youfor saying it instead.
Carly Ries (11:23):
I love it.
Joe Rando (11:25):
Tip of the spear. I always just say get the point on
the chisel.
Liz Steblay (11:28):
Yes. So you know. I mean, yes, you can do a lot of
things, but you gotta get yourfoot in the door. And but most
importantly, think about it fromyour prospective client's point
of view. They wanna hire anexpert.
Especially if you're inconsulting, they're gonna be
spending tens of thousands,maybe hundreds of thousands of
dollars to solve this problem orseize this opportunity. They
don't wanna hire somebody whomay have done it before or has
(11:49):
done it once or twice. They wantthe expert, especially when
they're spending that kind ofmoney.
Joe Rando (11:54):
Yeah. I'm an accountant, but I also can do
plumbing and I'll walk your dog.
Liz Steblay (11:59):
Exactly.
Carly Ries (12:02):
Well, once you find that niche and what you're gonna
do, what's next? What are someother pieces of advice?
Liz Steblay (12:08):
Well, we already talked a little bit about how to
I think you have to constantlygrow and nourish your network
because most solopreneurs gettheir work through referrals.
And at some point, your innercircle knows you and knows of
you, and you you're you'represent in their world, and
they'll refer you. But at somepoint, that's not enough. Right?
(12:29):
You need to expand your network.
Adam Grant made this he didn'tinvent this, but he made this
concept more popular, and that'sthe called the power of weak
ties. At some point, yousaturate your your core network,
and you need to establish newties or weak ties, and that
often leads to new referrals andnew business. So you need to
(12:50):
constantly grow and expand yournetwork. I talk about in the
book a little bit like beingJohnny Appleseed, who is the
story goes, he was spreadingapple seeds and some of them
grew into orchards and some ofthem didn't produce anything.
But in reality, you need to dothe same thing when you're self
employed.
You never know where your work'sgonna come from. I was talking
(13:12):
to one woman. She was a memberof the organization PEECA, and
she said, You know, I end upfinding a lot of work through my
kids' birthday parties. Becauseyou take your kid to the party,
you're standing around like thekid's doing whatever they're
doing, and you're chatting withthe other parents. She said,
I've gotten two or three clientsthat way.
So you just never know. I alsoalways carry a hard copy
(13:34):
business card. And I'm a bigsnow skier. I'm on the chair
load. And somebody says, oh,what do you do?
I'm like, oh, well, I justpublished a book on how to
succeed as a solopreneur. Like,really? I've been wanting to do
that. I hand them the businesscard. I'm not gonna whip out my
cell phone when I'm 100 feet upin the air and there's 10 feet
of powder below me, But I willhand them a business card.
(13:57):
So yes, you never know where Youhave to be like Johnny Appleseed
because you never know wherethings are gonna take root.
Carly Ries (14:04):
Oh, I love that. Any other words of wisdom? Do have a
financial independence questionfor you if you want to dive into
that.
Liz Steblay (14:10):
Yes, get me started on that and we will not keep
this within the time limit, butgo ahead.
Carly Ries (14:15):
So you say that there are four ways to reach
financial independence as asolopreneur, and I'm curious
what those are as well as justif they're specific to
solopreneurs or if it's just ageneral advice for people who
are are running a business.
Liz Steblay (14:30):
Well, no. If you're a solopreneur or entrepreneur,
the principles are the same. Ibelieve so strongly that well,
key number four, you didn't ask,but key number four is to be
professional and be set up as abusiness, not as a freelancer,
not as a subcontractor, but findyour own work and bill directly.
Ten ninety nine basis, businessto business basis. I feel so
(14:53):
strongly about that that I'vetrademarked the phrase friends
don't let friends W2.
If you find your work through amatchmaking platform like
Cadillac Graphite Telmex, orthrough a boutique agency,
they're going to try to pay youon a W2 basis like a temporary
employee. I'm not gonna get intolegal reasons why they do this.
(15:13):
Legally, they don't need to dothis in most cases, especially
if you have a business license.But in any case, being paid is a
1099 on a business to businessbasis. The key to creating
wealth is twofold.
Squirrel as much money away asyou can towards your retirement,
whether that's through a solofour zero one or a SEP IRA. And
(15:36):
a lot of people miss this otherone, a health spending account.
You need to have a highdeductible insurance plan in
order to set up a healthspending account, but then you
can save an additional, it'salmost $5,000 a year now, over
$8,000 a year for a family. Andthat money grows tax free and
it's not taxed when you use itfor health expenses. So the
(16:02):
retirement options when you'reself employed are much greater.
The limits are like three orfour times higher than your
typical 401 And here's the trickfor squirreling that money away.
I have no financial disciplinewhatsoever, despite running two
businesses and having an MBA andall this other thing. But if I
log into my normal bank, and Isay I have $8,000 in savings,
(16:26):
I'll say to my daughter, Hey,we've got enough money to go on
vacation. Where do you wanna go?
Even though I know I've gotquarterly taxes or whatever. So
the first time I was caughtshort for quarterly taxes,
again, learn from my mistakes,don't do this, I think I needed
to come up with like $1,012,000dollars, and I didn't have it.
And of course I freaked outbecause interest and penalties,
(16:46):
you don't wanna go down thatrabbit hole. I think I borrowed
the money from my brother, but Isaid from then on, I'm never
gonna get caught short again. Soevery time a client paid an
invoice, I put 40% into adifferent bank because then it
was out of sight, out of mind.
And yes, there were times I hadto in lean months, right? When I
didn't have enough income, wouldborrow from the secret bank, but
(17:09):
then I always paid it back. Thenfor quarterly taxes, I transfer
the money to my normal bank, paythe taxes. And then this is
where the magic happens, is theannual tax return. I'd have 20
or $25,000 left over, that wentinto the SEP IRA.
I'm not taxed on that 20 or$25,000 I invest that money in a
gross tax deferred untilretirement. And that's the goose
(17:30):
that leave like, that lays thegolden eggs. The other the other
side to that coin is to minimizeyour expensive expenses and take
as many tax deductions aspossible, which you cannot do if
you are paid on a w two basis.
Carly Ries (17:45):
Yeah. Also I like that it's coming from you
because we've had a lot offinancial experts on this show.
Obviously, people will trustfinancial expert, and they're
like, yeah. But you tell peoplehow to do this for a living.
This is your profession.
It's come so easily to you, butyou just said that's not your
background.
Liz Steblay (18:01):
I know.
Carly Ries (18:01):
I'm so happy that you said this as you're not a
CPA. You're not a tax orfinancial professional. So yeah.
And I don't wanna say, if youcan do it, anybody can do it
because that's not true.
Liz Steblay (18:13):
But Well, it's somewhat true because I really
am bad at math and accounting.
Carly Ries (18:18):
There you go. So yeah. But I am glad because you
said we didn't circle back tosteps five and six or not, not
steps, but keys.
Liz Steblay (18:27):
The keys.
Carly Ries (18:28):
Five and six. Yeah. Can we circle back on that?
Liz Steblay (18:30):
Sure. Well, the other part of building wealth is
make enough money. Right? So keynumber five is to be confident
and charge what you're worth.This is probably the biggest
mistake I see people make whenthey step into self employment
or even years after being selfemployed is they're not charging
(18:51):
what they're worth.
There's lots of that the reasonswhy this happens. One is that
they they'll calculate theirwhat their salary and bonus was,
divide by 2,000 and say, oh,well that's a reasonable hourly
rate. But it's not because youhave to pay for your own health
(19:11):
insurance, your businessadministration, your self
employment tax. You need to addat least another 30% on to
whatever that number is. So the2,000 is the rough amount of
hours in a working year if youtake a two week vacation.
So if you took your full salary,your bonus, divided by 2,000,
then add 30%, then you're atleast getting in the ballpark.
Okay, so that's number one.Number two is a lot of people
(19:35):
bill by the hour because it'sthe easiest. It's what clients
expect or used to. But thelonger you're self employed, the
more you should shift to a fixedfee or package pricing or
project based fee.
Because the more times you dosomething, the faster you do it,
you get better at it. And ifyou're exchanging time for money
(19:57):
and you're working faster,you're making less money. So
that's when it's time to switchto a fixed fee pricing, But
that's not always the bestadvice if what you do is not in
your hands to control. So let meexplain. I used to do change
management strategy andimplementation programs for big
hairy tech projects on a globalbasis for global companies.
(20:20):
I had no control over theproject timeline. There's always
a tech problem or some otherthing, and it was always behind
schedule. It was out of mycontrol. I would be crazy to
charge a fixed fee in thatsituation because I can't
control the timing of theoutcome. In those situations,
what you might want to consideris hybrid pricing.
(20:41):
If there's a piece of the workthat you're looking at doing and
you can do that as a fixed fee,maybe it's the assessment work
or the initial assessment ordiagnostic and say, Okay, I can
do that in three weeks. I'mgonna charge $25,000 And then
after that, doing the projectplan, whatever, I'll do that by
(21:01):
the hour or whatever. But youcan mix things up. It doesn't
have to be just by the hour orjust fixed fee. Hybrid pricing
is is totally reasonable andbecoming more common.
But when you can switch to afixed fee in your pricing,
you'll make more money.
Joe Rando (21:17):
One of the things that I did in my last startup,
which is related to this, but Ithink it was interesting, was
that we would actually do animplementation for the customer.
And one of the things we wouldsay is here's the timeline we're
agreeing to. And if there's adelay in the timeline, then if
(21:38):
you delay your part of it forthree weeks, that doesn't mean
we're getting pushed out threeweeks because we might need to
do something else with that timeand be put on something else. So
you're taking a big risk, and itreally worked well because
people knew that it they couldwake up and find out that their
three week delay cost them twomonths.
Liz Steblay (21:58):
Yes. Clients don't often understand that there's so
many interdependencies. And youcan't just sit idly by and not
have that time be billable. Thatyou might need to go to another
client for sure.
Joe Rando (22:11):
And that was the thing. So we would kinda hammer
this point home to them beforethey signed the contract. nobody
could say, well, didn't get it.It was like and we'd still get
some complaining, but most ofthe time there weren't delays,
which was really interestingbecause people just knew, you
know, this better be a priorityor somebody's gonna get yelled
at in on their side.
Liz Steblay (22:30):
Most solopreneurs don't have as much control over
what it is they're doing. Ifyou're an executive coach,
financial planner, yes, probablyso. You that's a lot in your
control, the timing of things.But even then, it's like a lot
of times, will do a fixed price.Let's say it's for a one day
off-site.
In fact, I represented a clientthrough one of my businesses
(22:53):
with Nike. And then we put it inas a fixed fee. I don't remember
what it was now. Let's say$15,000. Well, Nike moved that,
rescheduled it twice.
And the second time it was beingrescheduled, the consultant said
to me, I'm beginning to feellike I'm losing money because
this is wreaking havoc on mywhole book of business that I
(23:13):
have to keep rescheduling.Because they reschedule, I have
to reschedule these otherpeople. And just
administratively, it's taking somuch time. So you never know
what's gonna be in your handsand whatnot. Oh, but the other
part about charging what you'reworth, 100% confidence.
You just have the confidence.You just need to have the
confidence to say, my rate is$500 an hour and that's what
(23:38):
clients pay for me and that'swhat I'm worth. I have another
story about that. But I putforward four consultants to do
some work. The rates ranged from300 to 800 an hour.
Client chose the $800 an hour 1.I said, You know you picked the
most expensive one. Are you sureyou don't wanna go back and look
at the others again? They said,nope. absolutely not.
(23:59):
We definitely want that. Wedefinitely want that one. And
she was no she was just asskilled as the others. Right?
There was nothing unique abouther, but she had the backbone to
say, my rent's $800 an hour.
Carly Ries (24:13):
Says rate is $800 an hour.
Joe Rando (24:18):
This podcast is over.
Carly Ries (24:21):
I'm building that confidence.
Liz Steblay (24:25):
Carly, you did ask me actually what were keys five
and six. So five was to beconfident, charge what you're
worth. And key number six is payless tax and keep more of what
you earn. And we already didtalk about that a little
Carly Ries (24:37):
Yeah. No. that's all wonderful advice. Joe, I will
not charge you eight hundreddollar an hour yet, but I will
build the confidence to get tothat point.
Well, Liz, I just think this isjust such valuable information.
I do for the people that arethinking about leaving corporate
America that are listening tothis podcast and they haven't
(24:57):
made that leap yet, if theymaybe think they're gonna get
laid off, but maybe they'regonna do it intentionally. What
piece of advice do you have forthem? The one big piece of
advice you would give thembefore jumping ship?
Liz Steblay (25:11):
Read the blog article, nine things to consider
before becoming a solopreneur.Because that's really my one
piece of advice leads to nineother pieces of advice.
Carly Ries (25:25):
Yeah. No. is there is there one thing on there that
you could one of the nine thatyou can give a little nugget for
right now?
Liz Steblay (25:32):
Yeah. It would be to evaluate your mental outlook.
It takes an enormous amount ofconfidence to strike out on your
own. Sure, the FUD monster, yourfear, uncertainty, and doubt is
gonna come up and nibble away atyou and tell you all the reasons
why you shouldn't do it. But ifyou're smart enough to get the
answers or to get the help youneed, you're probably smart
(25:52):
enough to make the leap and doit.
Carly Ries (25:55):
Oh, nope. That is such great wisdom, and we will
include a link to that blog postin our show notes. But then my
other question that I wanted toend with before we get into our
quote about success is whatadvice do you have to for people
to not only run a successfulbusiness, but one that they
actually enjoy running?
Liz Steblay (26:17):
Yes, that's the constant battle, because it
always shifts over time. So I'vebeen self employed twenty years.
First, I was just doing theindependent consulting work.
Then I started my first businesswhile I was still also doing
consulting work. Then I stoppeddoing consulting, was just
running the business.
And then I started ProfessionalIndependent Consultants of
America. Then I wrote the book.I mean, it's always shifting.
(26:38):
And so one of the things that Ido when I'm thinking, Am I
really fulfilled? Is this reallywhat I wanna be doing? I draw, I
take out a piece of paper, drawa big circle on it. And on the
outside, I write, do less of dotdot dot. And on the inside of
(26:58):
the circle, do more of dot, dot,dot. And then as I go about my
work over the next week or two,sometimes longer, I'll jot
things down. I want to do lessof social media.
I want to do less of webinars. Iwanna do more one on one
coaching. I wanna do more ofpodcasts, more speaking,
whatever. And that sort of helpssift the the nuggets from the
(27:24):
junk, the sand, gets in thegears. I don't know if this
analogy is making any sense.
I'm a very visual person, so ithelps for me that like, instead
of doing like a spreadsheet ofpros and cons or whatever, I
just jot these things down andthen I can look at it and say,
okay, well, what am I doing inmy work that, how can I rejigger
what I'm doing so that I'm doingmore of the stuff I like?
Carly Ries (27:46):
That is great. Well, and that kind of ties into, that
was so motivational that it tiesinto the favorite quote about
success. And I have a hunch thisis a Liz original.
Liz Steblay (27:57):
Okay. So I have two for you. I have a Liz original
and another one. So the first isby Michelle Obama. And she says
that success isn't about howmuch money you make, it's about
the difference you make in otherpeople's lives.
Carly Ries (28:15):
Love that one.
Liz Steblay (28:17):
So as solopreneurs, that's I think particularly
important. But then going to myown quote, Momentum is the
engine of solopreneur success.It takes time to build momentum.
And once you have it, you haveto keep it keep it going. And
how can you capitalize on it?
Particularly when it comes tobuilding your own book of
(28:38):
business, establishing yourbrand, it just takes time to
build momentum.
Carly Ries (28:43):
Mhmm. Couldn't have said it better myself. This has
been so wonderful. If peoplewant to learn more about you,
where can they find you?
Liz Steblay (28:50):
The easiest way to find out more about me or the
book, both my name and thebook's title are hard to spell,
is to go to 6keys.info. Not .combecause that was expensive, and
I'm all about keeping expenseslow. So 6keys.info.
Joe Rando (29:05):
Is that the number six or six spelled out?
Liz Steblay (29:08):
Good question. And both will take you to the same
place.
Carly Ries (29:11):
Oh, I like it. And listeners, thank you so much for
tuning in. As always, we wouldlove that five star review. We'd
love that click on the subscribebutton on your favorite
platform, YouTube, you name it.We so appreciate it, and we will
see you next time on TheAspiring Solopreneur
You may be going solo inbusiness, but that doesn't mean
you're alone. In fact, millionsof people are in your shoes,
(29:34):
running a one person businessand figuring it out as they go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
What does it really take to build a thriving
(00:02):
solopreneur business and createa life you love? In this
episode, we sit down with LizSteblay, a twenty year veteran
in the solopreneur world, touncover her journey from
unexpected layoff to unstoppablesuccess. Liz shares the hard
lesson she learned, the six keysevery solopreneur needs to know,
and her strategies forovercoming fear, narrowing your
(00:22):
niche, and building lastingfinancial independence. So
whether you're just thinkingabout leaving corporate or
already in the trenches, thisepisode is packed with practical
tips and inspiring advice tohelp you take your solopreneur
career to the next level. So besure to tune in.
You don't wanna miss this one.You're listening to the Aspiring
Solopreneur, the podcast forthose just taking the bold step
(00:45):
or even just thinking abouttaking that step into the world
of solo entrepreneurship. Myname is Carly Ries, and my
cohost, Joe Rando, and I areyour guides to navigating this
crazy but awesome journey as acompany of one. We take pride in
being part of LifeStarr, adigital hub dedicated to all
aspects of solopreneurship thathas empowered and educated
(01:06):
countless solopreneurs lookingto build a business that
resonates with their life'sambitions. We help people work
to live, not live to work.
And if you're looking for a getrich quick scheme, this is not
the show for you. So if you'reeager to gain valuable insights
from industry experts on runninga business the right way the
first time around or want tolearn from the missteps of
(01:26):
solopreneurs who paved the waybefore you, then stick around.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Liz, we areso excited to have you on today
because it's it's such a uniqueopportunity to chat with
somebody that kinda does thesame thing or in the same realm
of what you do and kinda to gokind of back and forth. So I'm
(01:48):
just really excited for thisinterview.
Welcome to the show. We're sohappy to have you.
Liz Steblay (01:53):
Thank you. I'm very excited to be here.
Carly Ries (01:55):
Yeah. Well, and in terms of I mean, you have worked
for solopreneurs forever, butyou have such a unique journey.
Can you kind of walk us throughbeing laid off back in the day
to your first consultingcontract and what that
transition looked like for you?
Liz Steblay (02:10):
Yeah, I fell into being a solopreneur before the
word was ever even imagined orinvented. That was over twenty
years ago back in 2004. I gotlaid off from my corporate job,
and I prior to that job, I hadworked in consulting for a big
global firm. And I had kept intouch with people, and I reached
out to a former client. I said,hey.
(02:31):
I just got laid off. Do you haveany projects you need help with?
And he said, are you kidding?How soon can you get here? So I
literally fell into it.
I had my first contract thefollowing week. I didn't even
have a laptop yet. And, thatfirst year, that project was
about nine months long. I mademore money, worked fewer hours,
didn't have to deal with any bigfirm BS, and had more quality
(02:53):
time with my kid. And I said,this is it.
I'm never going back to a realfull time job. So I literally
fell into it and made a ton ofmistakes over the next twenty
years. I ended up launching twoother businesses, writing a
book. So it has not been thetraditional corporate ladder,
but it's been quite the zigzagof experiences. And now I get my
(03:18):
joy from coaching others to livethe career of their dreams as
solopreneurs.
Joe Rando (03:22):
Can I ask a question on that? Yes. So when you got
that first contract within aweek of being laid off and then
you went in and you worked fornine months, when that wrapped
up, did you get right intosomething else, or did you wake
up and go, uh-oh.
Liz Steblay (03:35):
Joe, you just prompted my first mistake I
learned when I was asolopreneur.
Joe Rando (03:40):
You're not alone.
Liz Steblay (03:41):
I was flat footed. I had nothing else lined up. I
knew I didn't wanna go back to afull time job, but the type of
work I did was was full timeproject intensive work. And I
was so busy delivering the work,I hadn't done anything related
to what comes next. I was flatfooted at the starting line.
Like the gun had gone off andI'm still standing there like a
(04:03):
deer in the headlights. I wentaround and I talked to some
boutique consulting agencies. Atthe time, I was living in San
Francisco. So I talked to a fewof them in the Bay Area, and I
said, this is my area ofspecialty. And, you know, how do
you work?
And do you think you could placeme? And one lady told me that,
yes, we have lots of lots ofprojects in your wheelhouse. And
(04:27):
I said, well, how does how doesthe billing work? She says,
well, you know, we invoice theclient, and we pay you 65% of
whatever we pay you out of theclient. And I said, oh, okay.
And then I went home, and Iopened a spreadsheet, and I ran
the numbers. And I realized,holy smokes. They're gonna make
about $45,000 by introducing meto a client. I'm not willing to
(04:49):
give up $45,000. I'll find myown work.
And so I contacted her the nextday, turned that down, and said,
this is it. I gotta find my ownwork. And I just started
hustling. So don't do what Idid. Don't get caught flat
footed.
From that point on, actually, mymantra was to keep my network
(05:09):
warm, always be networking, nomatter how busy I would get on a
project or delivering the work.My mantra was one person in
person once a week. Could besomeone new, could be someone I
hadn't talked to in five years.It could be just walking down to
the sandwich shop to bring thelunch back to our desk. Could
have been with a client, couldhave been somebody from the
systems integrator company.
(05:30):
But one person in person once aweek to develop relationships,
strengthen relationships, andkeep that network warm.
Joe Rando (05:37):
Yeah. You're in the Bay Area, so you could do that
in person thing.
Liz Steblay (05:41):
Now not so much. Right? I've since moved to
Nevada. Oh, One of thosecorporate one of those
California refugees. And, thenduring COVID, right, I would
still do one person, but notreally in person, but one person
once a week.
And I'd reach out to clients andcolleagues and they'd say, You
wanna schedule a virtualcocktail? And we'd meet via Zoom
(06:03):
and we'd each bring our owncocktail. We'd do it like a
five, five 30 in the evening.And we would just talk about how
are you holding up? How's work?
What's stressing you out? Whatproblems are you facing? And
just to strengthen thoserelationships and develop trust.
Carly Ries (06:18):
Liz, what I love about you is so many people
advise solopreneurs withoutactually having been in the
trenches and figuring it out ontheir own. It's like, you don't
have any ground to stand on. Youdon't know what it's like, but
you do, and you do so much tothe point that you wrote a book
called the six keys tosucceeding as a solopreneur. And
you may have already gone intoone of those with the
networking, maybe not. But canyou dive into some of those six
(06:41):
things?
Liz Steblay (06:42):
Yeah. Actually, publisher insisted on a shorter
title for the book, which issucceeding as a solopreneur.
Then the subtitle is six keys totaking the leap, winning
clients, and building wealth.Yep. All the six keys are
interrelated, but this firstone, it's just undoubtedly the
most important because it neverfully goes away or is handled.
(07:06):
And that is be prepared tovanquish FUD, fear, uncertainty,
and doubt. Like, we always referto this as the FUD monster. I
imagine a little gremlin sittingon my shoulder, nibbling away at
my confidence. Like, who are youto start a business? Who are you
to negotiate a contract?
What are you doing leaving afull time job? You're out of
your mind. You're gonna die.You're gonna fail. Like, we all
(07:27):
have those thoughts.
And now that I've been selfemployed for twenty years, I can
tell you that never fully goesaway. The FUD monster still
raises his ugly head andwhispers in my ear, like,
revenue's gonna fall off acliff. How are you gonna make
money? Whatever it is. Butthat's the first key is be
prepared to vanquish FUD, theFUD monster.
(07:48):
You know, need to learn how toname it, tame it, deal with it,
and lets go from there.
Joe Rando (07:54):
Is that related to, impostor syndrome?
Liz Steblay (07:57):
Yes. Actually. So FUD stands for fear,
uncertainty, and doubt. Sothere's lots of old phrase, fake
it fake it until you make it.Right?
Which is fine. I'm a believer inthat. But at some point then,
impostor syndrome flares up.Right? And you're like, wait.
How are these people believingwhat you're doing? You know? And
(08:19):
that whole impostor syndrome,that's uncertainty. So that is a
part of FUD for sure. But, yes,talking yourself out of that and
steps for mitigating that are inthe book.
Carly Ries (08:30):
Great. So are you are you able to dive in into any
of the other steps, or are theyhush-hush?
Liz Steblay (08:36):
No. I'm an open book, literally, having read the
book. After actually, afterpublishing the book, there's so
many of my hard lessons learnedand embarrassing moments and
things in the book that I wasquite exhausted once it was
published, not just from thatfrom the process of publishing,
but so much you'd it's not oftenthat you look back on twenty
(08:58):
years of your career and youhave it all in one place, all
the hard lessons in one place.And I realized, well, no wonder
I'm tired because I had tosurvive all of these things as a
solopreneur and as a single mom.Then that year that I got laid
off and fell into being selfemployed, I also got divorced.
So I was a single mom doing allthis on my own in a very
(09:19):
expensive city of San Francisco.And I'd like to inspire people
who are stuck with FUD andthinking, I would love to do
this, but, you know, I've got tosave for college or I'm divorced
or I'm a single parent, and youcan still do it.
it is possible. Oh, well, thatyeah. So let's talk about some
of these other things. I have afriend of mine, who is is going
(09:41):
through a divorce, and that'sher first thing. She's like, I
just need to she was workingpart time, now she has to work
full time and is trying tofigure it out. So let's discuss
those other five things.
Yeah. The other other keys well,actually, there is a whole
chapter in the book. I thinkit's chapter three that are the
things to consider before takingthe leap to being self employed.
(10:02):
There are also I have also ablog on this, which is nine
things to consider before takingthe leap. Because it's not the
right path for everybody.
It's the hardest job you'll everhave, being self employed,
because you have to push yourboundaries. You have to learn
new things. You have to dothings you've never done before,
and you have to wrestle withthat stupid fun monster all the
time. So it's a hard job. Butit's doable.
(10:27):
Things like this book didn'texist when I fell into this
twenty years ago, right? We justfigured it out. Now you can ask
your AI assistant or where youcan read my book or you can go
to courses or you can become amember of Professional
Independent Consultants ofAmerica, the organization that I
run, and there's help now. Butthe second key, and this is the
(10:47):
part that a lot of peoplestruggle with, is they think
they should go to market as ajack of all trades or Jill of
all skills when actually thereverse is true. You need to
narrow your niche, be known forsomething, and be memorable
because that's what leads toreferrals.
That's what leads to repeatbusiness. When you need to know,
sure, you can do a lot ofthings, but what's the tip of
(11:09):
your spear that's gonna have youpop into somebody's mind when
the need for your expertise popsup? That's one of the hardest
parts.
Joe Rando (11:17):
Oh, I say this all the time. I think people are
sick of me saying it. Thank youfor saying it instead.
Carly Ries (11:23):
I love it.
Joe Rando (11:25):
Tip of the spear. I always just say get the point on
the chisel.
Liz Steblay (11:28):
Yes. So you know. I mean, yes, you can do a lot of
things, but you gotta get yourfoot in the door. And but most
importantly, think about it fromyour prospective client's point
of view. They wanna hire anexpert.
Especially if you're inconsulting, they're gonna be
spending tens of thousands,maybe hundreds of thousands of
dollars to solve this problem orseize this opportunity. They
don't wanna hire somebody whomay have done it before or has
(11:49):
done it once or twice. They wantthe expert, especially when
they're spending that kind ofmoney.
Joe Rando (11:54):
Yeah. I'm an accountant, but I also can do
plumbing and I'll walk your dog.
Liz Steblay (11:59):
Exactly.
Carly Ries (12:02):
Well, once you find that niche and what you're gonna
do, what's next? What are someother pieces of advice?
Liz Steblay (12:08):
Well, we already talked a little bit about how to
I think you have to constantlygrow and nourish your network
because most solopreneurs gettheir work through referrals.
And at some point, your innercircle knows you and knows of
you, and you you're you'represent in their world, and
they'll refer you. But at somepoint, that's not enough. Right?
(12:29):
You need to expand your network.
Adam Grant made this he didn'tinvent this, but he made this
concept more popular, and that'sthe called the power of weak
ties. At some point, yousaturate your your core network,
and you need to establish newties or weak ties, and that
often leads to new referrals andnew business. So you need to
(12:50):
constantly grow and expand yournetwork. I talk about in the
book a little bit like beingJohnny Appleseed, who is the
story goes, he was spreadingapple seeds and some of them
grew into orchards and some ofthem didn't produce anything.
But in reality, you need to dothe same thing when you're self
employed.
You never know where your work'sgonna come from. I was talking
(13:12):
to one woman. She was a memberof the organization PEECA, and
she said, You know, I end upfinding a lot of work through my
kids' birthday parties. Becauseyou take your kid to the party,
you're standing around like thekid's doing whatever they're
doing, and you're chatting withthe other parents. She said,
I've gotten two or three clientsthat way.
So you just never know. I alsoalways carry a hard copy
(13:34):
business card. And I'm a bigsnow skier. I'm on the chair
load. And somebody says, oh,what do you do?
I'm like, oh, well, I justpublished a book on how to
succeed as a solopreneur. Like,really? I've been wanting to do
that. I hand them the businesscard. I'm not gonna whip out my
cell phone when I'm 100 feet upin the air and there's 10 feet
of powder below me, But I willhand them a business card.
(13:57):
So yes, you never know where Youhave to be like Johnny Appleseed
because you never know wherethings are gonna take root.
Carly Ries (14:04):
Oh, I love that. Any other words of wisdom? Do have a
financial independence questionfor you if you want to dive into
that.
Liz Steblay (14:10):
Yes, get me started on that and we will not keep
this within the time limit, butgo ahead.
Carly Ries (14:15):
So you say that there are four ways to reach
financial independence as asolopreneur, and I'm curious
what those are as well as justif they're specific to
solopreneurs or if it's just ageneral advice for people who
are are running a business.
Liz Steblay (14:30):
Well, no. If you're a solopreneur or entrepreneur,
the principles are the same. Ibelieve so strongly that well,
key number four, you didn't ask,but key number four is to be
professional and be set up as abusiness, not as a freelancer,
not as a subcontractor, but findyour own work and bill directly.
Ten ninety nine basis, businessto business basis. I feel so
(14:53):
strongly about that that I'vetrademarked the phrase friends
don't let friends W2.
If you find your work through amatchmaking platform like
Cadillac Graphite Telmex, orthrough a boutique agency,
they're going to try to pay youon a W2 basis like a temporary
employee. I'm not gonna get intolegal reasons why they do this.
(15:13):
Legally, they don't need to dothis in most cases, especially
if you have a business license.But in any case, being paid is a
1099 on a business to businessbasis. The key to creating
wealth is twofold.
Squirrel as much money away asyou can towards your retirement,
whether that's through a solofour zero one or a SEP IRA. And
(15:36):
a lot of people miss this otherone, a health spending account.
You need to have a highdeductible insurance plan in
order to set up a healthspending account, but then you
can save an additional, it'salmost $5,000 a year now, over
$8,000 a year for a family. Andthat money grows tax free and
it's not taxed when you use itfor health expenses. So the
(16:02):
retirement options when you'reself employed are much greater.
The limits are like three orfour times higher than your
typical 401 And here's the trickfor squirreling that money away.
I have no financial disciplinewhatsoever, despite running two
businesses and having an MBA andall this other thing. But if I
log into my normal bank, and Isay I have $8,000 in savings,
(16:26):
I'll say to my daughter, Hey,we've got enough money to go on
vacation. Where do you wanna go?
Even though I know I've gotquarterly taxes or whatever. So
the first time I was caughtshort for quarterly taxes,
again, learn from my mistakes,don't do this, I think I needed
to come up with like $1,012,000dollars, and I didn't have it.
And of course I freaked outbecause interest and penalties,
(16:46):
you don't wanna go down thatrabbit hole. I think I borrowed
the money from my brother, but Isaid from then on, I'm never
gonna get caught short again. Soevery time a client paid an
invoice, I put 40% into adifferent bank because then it
was out of sight, out of mind.
And yes, there were times I hadto in lean months, right? When I
didn't have enough income, wouldborrow from the secret bank, but
(17:09):
then I always paid it back. Thenfor quarterly taxes, I transfer
the money to my normal bank, paythe taxes. And then this is
where the magic happens, is theannual tax return. I'd have 20
or $25,000 left over, that wentinto the SEP IRA.
I'm not taxed on that 20 or$25,000 I invest that money in a
gross tax deferred untilretirement. And that's the goose
(17:30):
that leave like, that lays thegolden eggs. The other the other
side to that coin is to minimizeyour expensive expenses and take
as many tax deductions aspossible, which you cannot do if
you are paid on a w two basis.
Carly Ries (17:45):
Yeah. Also I like that it's coming from you
because we've had a lot offinancial experts on this show.
Obviously, people will trustfinancial expert, and they're
like, yeah. But you tell peoplehow to do this for a living.
This is your profession.
It's come so easily to you, butyou just said that's not your
background.
Liz Steblay (18:01):
I know.
Carly Ries (18:01):
I'm so happy that you said this as you're not a
CPA. You're not a tax orfinancial professional. So yeah.
And I don't wanna say, if youcan do it, anybody can do it
because that's not true.
Liz Steblay (18:13):
But Well, it's somewhat true because I really
am bad at math and accounting.
Carly Ries (18:18):
There you go. So yeah. But I am glad because you
said we didn't circle back tosteps five and six or not, not
steps, but keys.
Liz Steblay (18:27):
The keys.
Carly Ries (18:28):
Five and six. Yeah. Can we circle back on that?
Liz Steblay (18:30):
Sure. Well, the other part of building wealth is
make enough money. Right? So keynumber five is to be confident
and charge what you're worth.This is probably the biggest
mistake I see people make whenthey step into self employment
or even years after being selfemployed is they're not charging
(18:51):
what they're worth.
There's lots of that the reasonswhy this happens. One is that
they they'll calculate theirwhat their salary and bonus was,
divide by 2,000 and say, oh,well that's a reasonable hourly
rate. But it's not because youhave to pay for your own health
(19:11):
insurance, your businessadministration, your self
employment tax. You need to addat least another 30% on to
whatever that number is. So the2,000 is the rough amount of
hours in a working year if youtake a two week vacation.
So if you took your full salary,your bonus, divided by 2,000,
then add 30%, then you're atleast getting in the ballpark.
Okay, so that's number one.Number two is a lot of people
(19:35):
bill by the hour because it'sthe easiest. It's what clients
expect or used to. But thelonger you're self employed, the
more you should shift to a fixedfee or package pricing or
project based fee.
Because the more times you dosomething, the faster you do it,
you get better at it. And ifyou're exchanging time for money
(19:57):
and you're working faster,you're making less money. So
that's when it's time to switchto a fixed fee pricing, But
that's not always the bestadvice if what you do is not in
your hands to control. So let meexplain. I used to do change
management strategy andimplementation programs for big
hairy tech projects on a globalbasis for global companies.
(20:20):
I had no control over theproject timeline. There's always
a tech problem or some otherthing, and it was always behind
schedule. It was out of mycontrol. I would be crazy to
charge a fixed fee in thatsituation because I can't
control the timing of theoutcome. In those situations,
what you might want to consideris hybrid pricing.
(20:41):
If there's a piece of the workthat you're looking at doing and
you can do that as a fixed fee,maybe it's the assessment work
or the initial assessment ordiagnostic and say, Okay, I can
do that in three weeks. I'mgonna charge $25,000 And then
after that, doing the projectplan, whatever, I'll do that by
(21:01):
the hour or whatever. But youcan mix things up. It doesn't
have to be just by the hour orjust fixed fee. Hybrid pricing
is is totally reasonable andbecoming more common.
But when you can switch to afixed fee in your pricing,
you'll make more money.
Joe Rando (21:17):
One of the things that I did in my last startup,
which is related to this, but Ithink it was interesting, was
that we would actually do animplementation for the customer.
And one of the things we wouldsay is here's the timeline we're
agreeing to. And if there's adelay in the timeline, then if
(21:38):
you delay your part of it forthree weeks, that doesn't mean
we're getting pushed out threeweeks because we might need to
do something else with that timeand be put on something else. So
you're taking a big risk, and itreally worked well because
people knew that it they couldwake up and find out that their
three week delay cost them twomonths.
Liz Steblay (21:58):
Yes. Clients don't often understand that there's so
many interdependencies. And youcan't just sit idly by and not
have that time be billable. Thatyou might need to go to another
client for sure.
Joe Rando (22:11):
And that was the thing. So we would kinda hammer
this point home to them beforethey signed the contract. nobody
could say, well, didn't get it.It was like and we'd still get
some complaining, but most ofthe time there weren't delays,
which was really interestingbecause people just knew, you
know, this better be a priorityor somebody's gonna get yelled
at in on their side.
Liz Steblay (22:30):
Most solopreneurs don't have as much control over
what it is they're doing. Ifyou're an executive coach,
financial planner, yes, probablyso. You that's a lot in your
control, the timing of things.But even then, it's like a lot
of times, will do a fixed price.Let's say it's for a one day
off-site.
In fact, I represented a clientthrough one of my businesses
(22:53):
with Nike. And then we put it inas a fixed fee. I don't remember
what it was now. Let's say$15,000. Well, Nike moved that,
rescheduled it twice.
And the second time it was beingrescheduled, the consultant said
to me, I'm beginning to feellike I'm losing money because
this is wreaking havoc on mywhole book of business that I
(23:13):
have to keep rescheduling.Because they reschedule, I have
to reschedule these otherpeople. And just
administratively, it's taking somuch time. So you never know
what's gonna be in your handsand whatnot. Oh, but the other
part about charging what you'reworth, 100% confidence.
You just have the confidence.You just need to have the
confidence to say, my rate is$500 an hour and that's what
(23:38):
clients pay for me and that'swhat I'm worth. I have another
story about that. But I putforward four consultants to do
some work. The rates ranged from300 to 800 an hour.
Client chose the $800 an hour 1.I said, You know you picked the
most expensive one. Are you sureyou don't wanna go back and look
at the others again? They said,nope. absolutely not.
(23:59):
We definitely want that. Wedefinitely want that one. And
she was no she was just asskilled as the others. Right?
There was nothing unique abouther, but she had the backbone to
say, my rent's $800 an hour.
Carly Ries (24:13):
Says rate is $800 an hour.
Joe Rando (24:18):
This podcast is over.
Carly Ries (24:21):
I'm building that confidence.
Liz Steblay (24:25):
Carly, you did ask me actually what were keys five
and six. So five was to beconfident, charge what you're
worth. And key number six is payless tax and keep more of what
you earn. And we already didtalk about that a little
Carly Ries (24:37):
Yeah. No. that's all wonderful advice. Joe, I will
not charge you eight hundreddollar an hour yet, but I will
build the confidence to get tothat point.
Well, Liz, I just think this isjust such valuable information.
I do for the people that arethinking about leaving corporate
America that are listening tothis podcast and they haven't
(24:57):
made that leap yet, if theymaybe think they're gonna get
laid off, but maybe they'regonna do it intentionally. What
piece of advice do you have forthem? The one big piece of
advice you would give thembefore jumping ship?
Liz Steblay (25:11):
Read the blog article, nine things to consider
before becoming a solopreneur.Because that's really my one
piece of advice leads to nineother pieces of advice.
Carly Ries (25:25):
Yeah. No. is there is there one thing on there that
you could one of the nine thatyou can give a little nugget for
right now?
Liz Steblay (25:32):
Yeah. It would be to evaluate your mental outlook.
It takes an enormous amount ofconfidence to strike out on your
own. Sure, the FUD monster, yourfear, uncertainty, and doubt is
gonna come up and nibble away atyou and tell you all the reasons
why you shouldn't do it. But ifyou're smart enough to get the
answers or to get the help youneed, you're probably smart
(25:52):
enough to make the leap and doit.
Carly Ries (25:55):
Oh, nope. That is such great wisdom, and we will
include a link to that blog postin our show notes. But then my
other question that I wanted toend with before we get into our
quote about success is whatadvice do you have to for people
to not only run a successfulbusiness, but one that they
actually enjoy running?
Liz Steblay (26:17):
Yes, that's the constant battle, because it
always shifts over time. So I'vebeen self employed twenty years.
First, I was just doing theindependent consulting work.
Then I started my first businesswhile I was still also doing
consulting work. Then I stoppeddoing consulting, was just
running the business.
And then I started ProfessionalIndependent Consultants of
America. Then I wrote the book.I mean, it's always shifting.
(26:38):
And so one of the things that Ido when I'm thinking, Am I
really fulfilled? Is this reallywhat I wanna be doing? I draw, I
take out a piece of paper, drawa big circle on it. And on the
outside, I write, do less of dotdot dot. And on the inside of
(26:58):
the circle, do more of dot, dot,dot. And then as I go about my
work over the next week or two,sometimes longer, I'll jot
things down. I want to do lessof social media.
I want to do less of webinars. Iwanna do more one on one
coaching. I wanna do more ofpodcasts, more speaking,
whatever. And that sort of helpssift the the nuggets from the
(27:24):
junk, the sand, gets in thegears. I don't know if this
analogy is making any sense.
I'm a very visual person, so ithelps for me that like, instead
of doing like a spreadsheet ofpros and cons or whatever, I
just jot these things down andthen I can look at it and say,
okay, well, what am I doing inmy work that, how can I rejigger
what I'm doing so that I'm doingmore of the stuff I like?
Carly Ries (27:46):
That is great. Well, and that kind of ties into, that
was so motivational that it tiesinto the favorite quote about
success. And I have a hunch thisis a Liz original.
Liz Steblay (27:57):
Okay. So I have two for you. I have a Liz original
and another one. So the first isby Michelle Obama. And she says
that success isn't about howmuch money you make, it's about
the difference you make in otherpeople's lives.
Carly Ries (28:15):
Love that one.
Liz Steblay (28:17):
So as solopreneurs, that's I think particularly
important. But then going to myown quote, Momentum is the
engine of solopreneur success.It takes time to build momentum.
And once you have it, you haveto keep it keep it going. And
how can you capitalize on it?
Particularly when it comes tobuilding your own book of
(28:38):
business, establishing yourbrand, it just takes time to
build momentum.
Carly Ries (28:43):
Mhmm. Couldn't have said it better myself. This has
been so wonderful. If peoplewant to learn more about you,
where can they find you?
Liz Steblay (28:50):
The easiest way to find out more about me or the
book, both my name and thebook's title are hard to spell,
is to go to 6keys.info. Not .combecause that was expensive, and
I'm all about keeping expenseslow. So 6keys.info.
Joe Rando (29:05):
Is that the number six or six spelled out?
Liz Steblay (29:08):
Good question. And both will take you to the same
place.
Carly Ries (29:11):
Oh, I like it. And listeners, thank you so much for
tuning in. As always, we wouldlove that five star review. We'd
love that click on the subscribebutton on your favorite
platform, YouTube, you name it.We so appreciate it, and we will
see you next time on TheAspiring Solopreneur
You may be going solo inbusiness, but that doesn't mean
you're alone. In fact, millionsof people are in your shoes,
(29:34):
running a one person businessand figuring it out as they go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
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