Lessons from a Quitter

Erin spent 22 years climbing the corporate ladder and climbed her way right up to the very top as CEO of PayFlex, Inc., a large healthcare financial company. As the CEO, Erin was in charge of overseeing 1000 employees and over $2bn in financial assets.  In late 2018, just when things were getting really good, Erin decided to exit the corporate world after 22 years and go down a path less traveled to start b Authentic inc.

Erin felt pulled to help create a new generation of authentic, diverse, and humble leaders. She started her own business, b Authentic Inc., where she hopes to change the face of Corporate America. Through individual and company trainings, Erin is on a mission to toss aside traditional approaches and help teach the very things that made her such a successful leader.

On this episode, we dive deep into what made Erin make the switch and how we can make the switch when we are no longer being served in our current role.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• How she climbed her way up the corporate ladder to become the CEO of PayFlex, Inc.
• How she dealt with the feeling of always wanting more and how she used that to fuel her achievements
• Why she walked away from her amazing CEO position
• How she navigated her jump with her spouse and her advice for how to get your spouse on board with your next move.
• Why she wanted to start her current business, b Authentic Inc., and how she hopes to shape the new generation of leaders

Where to find Erin:  

• Website: https://www.bauthenticinc.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/bAuthenticInc
• https://www.instagram.com/b_authentic_inc/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-hatzikostas/

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

Jen is an all-around rockstar! She started her career as a lawyer and practiced civil litigation at a prestigious law firm. Then, she "saw the light" and left to start her own business and pursue more creative endeavors (and she's never looked back!)

She is now the President & Founder of Jeneration PR, a Public Relations & Social Media Marketing firm specializing in promoting beauty, baby & lifestyle brands. Jen's retainer clients range from small and mid-sized brands to multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies, and everything in between.

Jen is also the creator of the Agency Accelerator, where she teaches entrepreneurs how to launch, grow & scale a profitable PR & marketing Agency. She also recently launched Press Success, a PR Master Class for entrepreneurs to learn the step-by-step framework for executing a PR strategy that converts into massive media placements for their businesses.

She has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Inc.com, Business Insider, Yahoo! Finance, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, EOFire, CBS.com, PR Week, Fox News, and PR Web sharing her expertise, and was profiled on Apple.com as an "entrepreneur on the go" using Apple products to power her business. Jennifer was also selected by Babble.com as one of the 10 "Mompreneurs Who Made it Big!"

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• How she got started in marketing by reaching out to a company to work for them for free
• How she started her PR work on the side while still working as a lawyer
• How she dealt with disappointing her family when she chose to quit law
• How she started and grew her PR agency
• Why she decided to add an online arm to her business
• How she made 6-figures in 6 months with her new online business

Where to find Jen:

• Website: www.jenerationpr.com
• https://www.facebook.com/JenerationBuzz
• https://www.instagram.com/jenerationpr/
• https://twitter.com/jenerationpr
• [email protected]

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

Jen is an all-around rockstar! She started her career as a lawyer and practiced civil litigation at a prestigious law firm. Then, she “saw the light” and left to start her own business and pursue more creative endeavors (and she’s never looked back!)

She is now the President & Founder of Jeneration PR, a Public Relations & Social Media Marketing firm specializing in promoting beauty, baby & lifestyle brands. Jen’s retainer clients range from small and mid-sized brands to multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies, and everything in between.

Jen is also the creator of the Agency Accelerator, where she teaches entrepreneurs how to launch, grow & scale a profitable PR & marketing Agency. She also recently launched Press Success, a PR Master Class for entrepreneurs to learn the step-by-step framework for executing a PR strategy that converts into massive media placements for their businesses.

She has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Inc.com, Business Insider, Yahoo! Finance, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, EOFire, CBS.com, PR Week, Fox News, and PR Web sharing her expertise, and was profiled on Apple.com as an “entrepreneur on the go” using Apple products to power her business. Jennifer was also selected by Babble.com as one of the 10 “Mompreneurs Who Made it Big!”

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• How she got started in marketing by reaching out to a company to work for them for free
• How she started her PR work on the side while still working as a lawyer
• How she dealt with disappointing her family when she chose to quit law
• How she started and grew her PR agency
• Why she decided to add an online arm to her business
• How she made 6-figures in 6 months with her new online business

Where to find Jen:  

• Website: www.jenerationpr.com
• https://www.facebook.com/JenerationBuzz
• https://www.instagram.com/jenerationpr/
• https://twitter.com/jenerationpr
• [email protected]

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

Jena is a wife and mom who taught 5th grade for 6 years until she realized that her career as a teacher no longer fit with her life. Without knowing what she wanted to do next, she just started by putting herself out there as a virtual assistant. When one of her clients needed her to learn Pinterest management, Jena discovered her love for lead generation and Pinterest strategy. In just 2 years, Jena has created her own Pinterest-focused marketing business where she works for driven and purpose-filled online brands who want to reach more people and make more impact with their content. Her business has allowed her to replace her income while spending more time at home with her children. She thrives on providing hospitality, serving her clients through personalized attention, and loving on her husband and two beautiful daughters.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• Why Jena left teaching even though it was a career she loved
• How she got started in the online space
• How one client's needs led her to her current business
• How she has replaced her income in under 2 years
• Whether Pinterest is right for your business
• Why there is always room even in a saturated market for your service

Where to find Jena:

• Website: https://www.jenaliat.com/

• Freebie: https://www.jenaliat.com/pinterest-quiz
• Email: [email protected]

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

Jena is a wife and mom who taught 5th grade for 6 years until she realized that her career as a teacher no longer fit with her life.  Without knowing what she wanted to do next, she just started by putting herself out there as a virtual assistant. When one of her clients needed her to learn Pinterest management, Jena discovered her love for lead generation and Pinterest strategy. In just 2 years, Jena has created her own Pinterest-focused marketing business where she works for driven and purpose-filled online brands who want to reach more people and make more impact with their content. Her business has allowed her to replace her income while spending more time at home with her children. She thrives on providing hospitality, serving her clients through personalized attention, and loving on her husband and two beautiful daughters.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• Why Jena left teaching even though it was a career she loved
• How she got started in the online space
• How one client’s needs led her to her current business
• How she has replaced her income in under 2 years
• Whether Pinterest is right for your business
• Why there is always room even in a saturated market for your service

Where to find Jena:  

• Website: https://www.jenaliat.com/

• Freebie: https://www.jenaliat.com/pinterest-quiz
• Email: [email protected]

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

Ali Boone is a lifestyle entrepreneur real estate investor, author and speaker. Ali has literally defined non-conformity when it comes to her career. Ali left her corporate 9-to-5 job as an Aerospace Engineer, despite the "dream job" status that came with it, to follow her passion for being her own boss and creating true lifestyle design. She went from being on food stamps in her first year of entrepreneurship to facilitating over $18M in real estate transactions in her first five years of business. In addition to running her real estate investing company Hipster Investments, she's a pilot and teaches flying and she can often be found snowboarding, hiking, or volunteering in California prisons. Her ultimate goal is to one day challenge Tim Ferriss to a lifestyle design duel.

This episode is packed with great information for anyone who wants to quit their job but has no idea what they would do next.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• What led Ali down the road to Aerospace Engineering
• When was the moment that she realized she didn't want to be an Aerospace Engineer
• How she prepared herself to leave the corporate world
• Why fixing her mindset was the most important part of quitting her job
• How she pushed past the lows in the entrepreneurial roller coaster
• What her company, Hipster Investments, specializes in
• What Ali's "why" is and how it guides her in her business

Where to find Ali:

• Website: https://aliboone.com/
• Business website: http://hipsterinvestments.com/
• Social Media: @aliboonedotcom

Resources mentioned

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

Ali Boone is a lifestyle entrepreneur real estate investor, author and speaker. Ali has literally defined non-conformity when it comes to her career. Ali left her corporate 9-to-5 job as an Aerospace Engineer, despite the “dream job” status that came with it, to follow her passion for being her own boss and creating true lifestyle design. She went from being on food stamps in her first year of entrepreneurship to facilitating over $18M in real estate transactions in her first five years of business. In addition to running her real estate investing company Hipster Investments, she’s a pilot and teaches flying and she can often be found snowboarding, hiking, or volunteering in California prisons. Her ultimate goal is to one day challenge Tim Ferriss to a lifestyle design duel.

This episode is packed with great information for anyone who wants to quit their job but has no idea what they would do next.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• What led Ali down the road to Aerospace Engineering
• When was the moment that she realized she didn’t want to be an Aerospace Engineer
• How she prepared herself to leave the corporate world
• Why fixing her mindset was the most important part of quitting her job
• How she pushed past the lows in the entrepreneurial roller coaster
• What her company, Hipster Investments, specializes in
• What Ali’s “why” is and how it guides her in her business

Where to find Ali:  

• Website: https://aliboone.com/
• Business website: http://hipsterinvestments.com/
• Social Media: @aliboonedotcom

Resources mentioned

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

We all care what other people think, even if we pretend like we don't. A healthy relationship with other people's opinions is actually needed. It teaches us what works in communities and what doesn't. It keeps people accountable to each other. However, so many of us, myself included, let the obsession with what other people think run amok and control our whole lives.

We've been raised to be nice and not make any waves. Especially in the corporate setting, we place value on being a team player and suppressing your own needs for the greater good. Over time, that completely hinders our lives. We play small, keep quiet and make sure that other people's needs are met over ours. It can cause an unbearable amount of stress and sadness. Ultimately, it leads to us not living lives on our own terms.

This is glaringly evident when it comes to staying in a career you hate. So much of what keeps us stuck is our fear of what other people will think or say, how our family/friends will react, how upset our spouse will be, etc. If you're going to find the courage to go after a life you love, you first have to learn how to stop people pleasing and be your authentic self.

On this week's episode, I'm so excited to have on Dr. Aziz Gazipura to talk about his book Not Nice and how we can go about limiting these toxic tendencies we've picked up. Dr. Aziz is the world's leading confidence expert. He helps people break free from hesitation, fear, and self-doubt so they can rapidly grow their businesses, become more powerful leaders, and enjoy outstanding relationships. He completed his doctoral training at Stanford and Palo Alto Universities and is the founder of the Center For Social Confidence. He has a large online following with his podcast and YouTube videos and is the author of two additional best selling books: The Solution To Social Anxiety and The Art Of Extraordinary Confidence.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• Why niceness isn't rooted in goodness but rather in fear
• How to deal with the long view of changing your view to being more authentically yourself
• How to handle other people's emotions in reaction to you speaking up for yourself
• Why it is necessary to be authentically yourself even if it hurts the people closest to you.
• How Embarrassment Inoculation can change your life

Where to find Dr. Aziz:

• Website: https://www.socialconfidencecenter.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrAzizCoach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAzizGazipura/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GetMoreConfidence

Resources mentioned

• Dying to be Me, by Anita Moorjani
• Mind Over Medicine, by Dr. Lissa Rankin
• Do It Scared, by Scott Allan

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

We all care what other people think, even if we pretend like we don’t. A healthy relationship with other people’s opinions is actually needed. It teaches us what works in communities and what doesn’t. It keeps people accountable to each other. However, so many of us, myself included, let the obsession with what other people think run amok and control our whole lives.

We’ve been raised to be nice and not make any waves. Especially in the corporate setting, we place value on being a team player and suppressing your own needs for the greater good. Over time, that completely hinders our lives. We play small, keep quiet and make sure that other people’s needs are met over ours. It can cause an unbearable amount of stress and sadness. Ultimately, it leads to us not living lives on our own terms.

This is glaringly evident when it comes to staying in a career you hate. So much of what keeps us stuck is our fear of what other people will think or say, how our family/friends will react, how upset our spouse will be, etc. If you’re going to find the courage to go after a life you love, you first have to learn how to stop people pleasing and be your authentic self.

On this week’s episode, I’m so excited to have on Dr. Aziz Gazipura to talk about his book Not Nice and how we can go about limiting these toxic tendencies we’ve picked up. Dr. Aziz is the world’s leading confidence expert. He helps people break free from hesitation, fear, and self-doubt so they can rapidly grow their businesses, become more powerful leaders, and enjoy outstanding relationships. He completed his doctoral training at Stanford and Palo Alto Universities and is the founder of the Center For Social Confidence. He has a large online following with his podcast and YouTube videos and is the author of two additional best selling books: The Solution To Social Anxiety and The Art Of Extraordinary Confidence.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• Why niceness isn’t rooted in goodness but rather in fear
• How to deal with the long view of changing your view to being more authentically yourself
• How to handle other people’s emotions in reaction to you speaking up for yourself
• Why it is necessary to be authentically yourself even if it hurts the people closest to you.
• How Embarrassment Inoculation can change your life

Where to find Dr. Aziz:  

• Website: https://www.socialconfidencecenter.com/
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/DrAzizCoach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAzizGazipura/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GetMoreConfidence

Resources mentioned

• Dying to be Me, by Anita Moorjani
• Mind Over Medicine, by Dr. Lissa Rankin
• Do It Scared, by Scott Allan

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast

You might already be familiar with Elie Mystal from his frequent appearances as a political analyst on major news shows or his considerable body of work on Above the Law and other news publications. It is often easy to look at Elie's success and assume that he had a straight, easy path out of law into journalism. But what you may not know is that Elie walked away from his 6-figure legal job at a prestigious New York law firm, after having received his law degree from Harvard Law School, without a plan as to what to do next. With the support of his wife, and after months of sitting on his couch with no real idea of where to start, Elie began his journey to be a writer by taking a job working for free at a local news agency.

I got to talk to Elie about how he dealt with all of the pressure from family and society, especially as an African American man, to stay in a "successful" career. We discuss how his path has led him to where he is today as the Executive Editor of Above the Law.

If you're a frequent listener of the show, then you might remember that we had David Lat, the founder of Above the Law, on episode 14. We delve more into what Above the Law has evolved into in that episode. In this episode, we focus mostly on Elie's journey. Feel free to check out Episode 14 here.

Here is what we chat about in this episode:

• What lead Elie down the path to law school
• Why he felt that making the decision to go to law school instead of working for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign was a "dumb" decision
• Why law school just wasn't for Elie
• How being a "successful" lawyer as a minority put additional pressure to stay in the field
• How the support of his wife was essential for Elie's decision to quit law.
• How he dealt with the difficult time of figuring out what his next step was going to be
• What his path as a journalist has looked like
• How he ended up winning a competition to work for Above the Law
• How others can break into a career in writing

Where to find Elie:

• Website: www.abovethelaw.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/atlblog
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElieNYC

Follow along for more:

• www.lessonsfromaquitter.com
• https://www.facebook.com/lessonsfromaquitter
• https://www.instagram.com/lessonsfromaquitter/
• https://twitter.com/quitterpodcast