What happens when you spend a year building the wrong business?

In this raw episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on Year 1 of entrepreneurship, the part nobody posts about on LinkedIn. The pivots, the money lost, the arrogance that cost us everything, and the humbling moment when we realized our "perfect" business model wasn't working.

I share the story of building The Elevate Group with my partner Jingjin, how we spent a whole year (and a lot of money) on a private network that nobody wanted, and the signs we ignored because we were too invested to walk away. Plus: the toothpaste story that exposed my entire relationship with money, the entrepreneurship myths I believed (and paid for), and why the most underrated skill isn't hustle, it's people.

In this episode you'll find:

[00:00] How the idea for The Elevate Group started

[03:31] Meeting my business partner Jingjin and trusting my gut

[04:54] The arrogance that cost us a year and thousands of dollars

[06:15] The hardest part: walking away from something you invested in

[09:35] What we pivoted to and how Year 2 is different

[10:33] The entrepreneurship myth: "I'll only work 3 days a week"

[11:49] The most underrated skill (Steven Bartlett agrees)

[13:18] Corporate failure vs entrepreneurship failure

[19:53] My relationship with money and the toothpaste moment

[21:47] The Ikigai exercise and Chris Do's life-changing question

📱 Follow RAW with Uma on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/rawwithuma

📱 Follow Uma on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/uma__raw/

💻 Connect with Uma on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana

Listen on:

🎧Apple Podcast → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/

🎧Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e?si=f11a165e6efd445d

Got a Careerquake story or question about pivoting, failing, or starting over? Drop it in the comments—it may show up in a future episode.

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