Listen in and thrive as Deb Boulanger, host of Life After Corporate and founder of The Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs, shares her expert insights on transitioning from a corporate career to entrepreneurship. Learn how to build a thriving business, create freedom and flexibility, and break through financial and mindset barriers to success.
Making the leap from a steady corporate paycheck to business ownership can be daunting—but with the right strategy, it’s absolutely possible. Deb Boulanger, a former tech executive turned expert business coach, shares her expert story of reinvention, resilience, and building a business that empowers women to succeed on their own terms.
Growing up in a household where money was tightly controlled, Deb developed a unique perspective on financial independence—one that later fueled her passion for helping women create predictable business growth. She discusses the burnout that led her to reevaluate her path, the role of spirituality and creativity in her transformation, and the strategies she now teaches women looking to transition into entrepreneurship.
✨ Key Takeaways:
If you’re ready to break free from corporate life and create a business on your own terms, this episode is for you! 🎧🚀
Website: https://lifeaftercorporate.com
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Podcast: Life After Corporate
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Deb Boulanger
We are so conditioned to behave and perform and to think a certain way that we don't even know that we're being cooked into this underlying belief system that, you know, we have to work harder. We have to perform better. We have to walk on eggshells so that we don't upset the apple cart in any way in.
Ticking off the people that work for us or ticking off our bosses or appearing too, too loud or too bossy or too mild and not speaking up enough. I mean, there are so many conflicting messages that women have to navigate.
Narrator
Welcome to making change with your money. A podcast that highlights the stories and strategies of women who experienced a big life transition and overcame challenges as they redefined financial success for themselves.
Now, here's your host certified financial planner, Laura Rotter.
Laura Rotter
I am so excited to have as my guest today, Deb Boulanger. Deb is a former tech executive and the host of the Life After Corporate Podcast, as well as the founder of the Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs. Deb has dedicated herself to helping accomplished women transition from corporate careers to entrepreneurship, ensuring they can replace their corporate salaries and achieve consistent six figure revenue growth.
Deb's mission is to amplify women's voices and provide a platform for their stories and successes. He's a passionate advocate for women's empowerment, educating them on how to price and package their services effectively and stand out in their field. So welcome Deb to the making change with your money podcast.
Deb Boulanger
I'm so thrilled to be here, Laura. And I think this conversation will really resonate with a lot of the women who are listening to this podcast.
Laura Rotter
I'm going to start the same way I always do, which is Deb, what was money like in your family growing up?
Deb Boulanger
Well, it's so funny that you should say that because being the firstborn child, you know, and being born when my parents were in their twenties, you know, I remember.
Lean times, I remember times when I had canned spaghetti and meatballs or when Christmas came and Santa didn't quite deliver the full kitchen that I expected to play with my dolls in, you know, and I got a dish pan instead of the sink, you know. And yeah, my dad was very successful. We moved around a lot as he climbed the corporate ladder and we end up living a very affluent lifestyle.
But I remember my father being very stingy and scarce with money. Like, my mom lived on a budget. She had a food budget. And we didn't take trips as a family very often. It wasn't until my younger siblings were born that they got to go to Disney World and things like that. So while we had, we always had plenty of everything, living in my dad's house was always cutting a deal.
You want a bicycle? Great. You earn half of it. You know, you want to go on this trip. Great. You earn half of it. You want to go to this college. Great. You contribute so much per year to your college tuition or you work so that, you know, you can support yourself. So it was always, you know, let's make a deal with my dad, even though, you know, as I look back on it, he, he was a wealthy man.
Laura Rotter
That's so interesting. And, I'm curious, Deb, how did that impact you? Was it a positive impact that you wanted to take responsibility? Right? We can always go both ways with our parents reject or do the same.
Deb Boulanger
I rejected. I was, as soon as I started making my own money, I was. Like screw you, I'm buying the clothes I want, I'm taking the trips I want to take, I'm living the lifestyle that I want to live.
And I, you know, granted I didn't make good decisions all the time. I frequently found myself in debt because I was overspending, you know, especially in my twenties and thirties as I was, you know, rising up my own ladder, but yeah, I was a definite rebel when it came to money.
Laura Rotter
And you shared where you are in the birth order.
How many other siblings do you have? How and what's the age difference?
Deb Boulanger
Yeah, so we adopted my brother when I was seven or eight. My parents had tried and they couldn't have any children of their own. And then I was in high school. And I was a freshman and my mom and I were having lunch one day and I made some comment about the pickles she was putting on her plate.
And I said, are you trying to tell me something? And she said, well, maybe I am. And I found out when I was 14 that my mom was pregnant and she was going to have a baby, which was thrilling to me. And it turned out to be my sister Jen and I adored her. It was so thrilling to have a, another child in the house.
And then two years later, she was pregnant again, and at that point, I was 17, I had my license, I was driving, I was like, okay, we need to make a deal, because I'm no longer your built in babysitter. We have a very spread out family, and you know, for my youngest sister, technically I'm old enough to be her mother.
Laura Rotter
And you must have been a second mother in some ways.
Deb Boulanger
Yeah, I really, I was, you know, I was that older responsible, you know, watching out for everyone, especially after my dad died and my mom got ill. But then I realized how powerful my sisters were and my brother was in his own right. And I was learning from them.
I was learning from how they were maturing and how they were living their lives. And so now it's pretty much an equal playing field.
Laura Rotter
So nice to know. So Deb, you, we've just started our conversation and you've already shared things that make me suppose that you're a very responsible woman, right? You grew up with a sense of responsibility around your money and you were much older than several of your siblings.
So can you comment on that and how that has impacted your life and. Your I guess professional journey among other things.
Deb Boulanger
Yeah. Well, life is such an interesting journey, right? So we don't know much about ourselves when we're 18 years old. Yet. I found myself at 18 reading Gail. She he's passages, right? So I'll date myself.
That was a book that was written in the 1970s. I believe about the stages that women go through with the various decades as we mature. So I was always focused. Maybe I was always an older soul, but I was always focused on this personal development track. I read the fountain head and that Lish shrugged and I was, you know, consuming all of this type of literature and self help and I've always had a spiritual bent as well.
I've always been involved in some sort of spiritual practice. And as a young person that was involved being involved in a Christian youth group. I mean, I've studied Buddhism. In the past. And so I think my influences have always been around spirituality. As a core that, you know, there has to be more than just me and my human body in this world.
And also that there's, there's always a path forward that there's always a bigger version of me that can exist in this world. And so how can I get rid of the conditioning? The cultural, the ancestral, the corporate conditioning that has led me to a certain belief system that might not serve me in this way.
And so my rebel. My inner rebel that started with, well, I'm going to spend the money I make. Thank you very much. Has led me to being a risk taker from a personal development perspective. Like I will push myself out there to the point of being uncomfortable in the hopes of accomplishing something bigger than where I am right now.
Does that make sense?
Laura Rotter
It does make sense. I am curious when that inner risk taker began to come out because of course, you did start on a corporate track. I shouldn't say of course, but many of us do with our conditioning from our families, from the culture around us. So I guess, how did you start? What was your, you know, first job out of college, your, your vision for yourself, and then when did that happen?
In a rebel or to appear.
Deb Boulanger
Yeah. Well, you know, for my all of my dad's success and he was a corporate CFO. So, you know, the money thing was big in my family because that was his profession too. I didn't get any guidance about going to college and I really didn't know that. I had an intellect that I could apply to my career.
And I think it was just because of his ancestral conditioning. You know, his mom would stay at home. My mom would stay at home. Women didn't hold the position in culture and in the workplace that we do today. And so with lack of guidance, I was good with kids. I was the favorite babysitter in the neighborhood because I had little siblings that I became a teacher.
And I taught for four years and I wanted a specialization. So I chose special education and I was working with children who were not. able to be served in the public school because their disabilities were too severe, either physical, mental, emotional. And I did that job for four years. And in my fourth year was earning 11, 200 a year as a master's special ed teacher.
I know, right? Waitressing four nights a week so I could afford my rent. And at some point it just kind of broke. I was, what am I doing? Garbage collectors are getting paid more than I am. And at that point in time, that was the mid 80s and computers were just starting to come about. People were using technology for word processing before personal computers or word processors.
And so I went to my high school and I took some continuing ed classes and word processing and computer programming. I thought, if this is the trend of the future, then I want to get on this technology track. And I left my teaching career. I ended up working for a consultant in information technology. And as I was doing his marketing and doing his sales, I found I was good at marketing.
I was good at sales. So that was a new discovery. And then I got recruited by a company who's the leading firm in it advisory. And I joined their sales force. In the late 80s, and then I started their marketing department, and then I rose up the corporate ranks. I was always I was always looking for my next, you know, that that nothing was.
Was my place forever. There's some people who join corporate and they have the same job for 25 or 30 years. And that wasn't me that that there was an entryway to keep growing to keep learning and to keep developing and to keep asking for more. And by the time I completed that career, 27 years later. I was a group vice president.
I was two levels below the CEO. And at that point, it was a 1. 4 billion company. And it was always because I asked for the role, you know, I see this, I noticed this, I noticed this as a challenge for the company. I have these skills. I could put this into play. What do you think? And I always got a yes.
Laura Rotter
So you were with the same company for 27 years, though, in different roles as you just put it.
Deb Boulanger
I was there for two different 10 year stints. I hit the glass ceiling as a director, as a senior director, I think it was a senior director in the mid 1990s. And I, I got fed up. The guy next door to me got the promotion that I wanted to get. So I said, I'm out. I'm too frustrated. I really needed a little bit of maturing to, to, to learn how to navigate politically in the corporate world, rather than just getting angry because I didn't get the promotion.
So that didn't go over very well either. And I took a sabbatical. I started focusing on some photography that I was interested in. I went to school for. Portraiture. I went to the School of Visual Arts in New York City. I went to the International Center of Photography. I started a salon of other photographers that I met in school that we were New York Photo Group.
I mean, who knew I had newyorkphoto. com as our URL and I built a website and tables. I mean, literally, I am curious. And my curiosity becomes an obsession and I learn everything about something so that I can apply it in my own life. And lo and behold, a couple of years later, I got a job at an interactive agency in New York City.
And then 9 11 happened and the bottom fell out of the New York new media market. And I was on the street looking for a job and I called my own company and one of my good friends was the senior VP of marketing. She said, can you do market research? I said, of course I can. And she hired me as a consultant and then I was hired into product development.
Laura Rotter
What a story. And so much comes up from that, Deb. I'm hearing, as you said, you're curious. Yes. You're a lifelong learner. You're a risk taker. What else should we know about you as we listen to how you've evolved? I'm assuming you're good with people. And enjoy people.
Deb Boulanger
Well, I think so. I think so. I think, you know, I'm passionate about elevating other women.
And I think through all of this, I've always gravitated to other women in the company, people who are women who are more junior to me, I was found the the seat across my desk in my office. Occupied by someone who said, you know, how do I get ahead, Deb? How do I get where you are? Because it's nothing's really changed for women in the workplace.
In the last 50 years, women around the table are still fairly uncommon. And the, the hoops you need to jump through and the critique you need to manage in order to get there isn't always easy. And what I found was at one time. And you don't, I mean, it's like that proverbial story of, you know, the, you put a frog in a pot of water, you turn on the heat and they don't even know they're being cooked, you know, and I think the same is true culturally in corporate America for women in the workforce.
We are so conditioned to behave and perform and to think a certain way that we don't even know that we're being cooked into this. underlying belief system that, you know, we have to work harder, we have to perform better. We have to walk on eggshells so that we don't upset the apple cart in any way in ticking off the people that work for us or ticking off our bosses or appearing to too loud or too bossy or too mild and not speaking up enough.
I mean, there are so many conflicting messages that women have to navigate. And at one point, I had launched this business internally and we had, I was doing product development and then I would hand it over to a product manager who'd get all the glory when the initiative was successful. I said, well, I'd really like to own 1.
I'd like to build a line of business. And of course, they said, yes. And so I staffed launch staffed, ran this line of business. We grew it to 32 million in 30 months. So it was a really fast paced growth. And at that point I hit burnout. I was on a business trip in Las Vegas and realized my marriage was falling apart.
And so I came home to that and my mother's dementia was increasing rapidly. My menopause hit me like a ton of bricks and 13 year old son. And at that point, the pressure was so great. And I will admit that I was surviving on a cocktail of Ambien to sleep Xanax to calm my anxiety and Lexapro to combat.
Anxiety and depression during the day. And it was like, what am I doing? You know, who am I? I felt like I had put my head in the sand and I was so obsessed with the growth and success in my corporate corporate role that I had abandoned myself. And I had abandoned my life and I, at that point, went on a 10 day silent meditation retreat.
That's where the spirituality comes in again and came to the realization that I had to let go of my marriage. I had to let go of the job and I had to focus on my son and myself.
Laura Rotter
I was going to ask you before you brought it up yourself, Deb, what role spirituality played in helping you. To notice, because as I'm sure you know, your story, unfortunately, is not unique and yet so many of us get caught up in this hamster wheel again, that it's hard to even.
Imagine a way out. And I know you and I spoke before this podcast interview and I too was on a treadmill of, you know, primary breadwinner, big home, vacation home, fancy vacations, kids in private school. And when I had my awakening that I can't do this anymore, I'm miserable. I didn't. Know that I necessarily had a way out.
You know, my husband was not supportive, said you would agree to be the primary breadwinner and it really was a meditation practice, a yoga practice that sort of woke me up that I was choosing to put on a very tight pair of shoes every day and that I could make the choice to take them off. So thank you for sharing that your spiritual life was helpful.
In taking yourself off the treadmill and was that sort of an a ha moment or it still took you a while to disengage?
Deb Boulanger
It was both. It was both an aha moment. So I went on a 10 day silent meditation retreat, and if anyone has ever tried silent meditation, I think it's more difficult now than ever because we're so addicted to our devices.
And at that point, you know, we were operating on Blackberry. So they weren't quite the smartphones that we have today. And so it was a little bit easier to give it up because it was mostly email and. The first realization was listening to a Dharma talk in the meditation hall and the analogy that the the story that the teacher was saying was like an analogy for my marriage and you know there was a point where you had to let go and that's when the realization hit me that I had to let go that I was being dragged around from one side of the field to the next and it was me who was holding on so tight to these reins and that I could just release.
And that was a release of emotion in me as well, because, you know, the conditioning to when you grow up is is you get it done. You know, my mom is really strong. You know, there's a tragedy or something's happened. We just buck up and we're in charge and we just make it happen. So just that feeling of emotion, that feeling, that sense of loss and then became the quest.
And I went on that silent meditation retreat every year for five years. And I think it was in year three. So I didn't give up the corporate job right away. I gave up the marriage first and then a couple of years later left the job after I was really seeking what's next. And I was, I had low expectations for this particular meditation session and I'm sitting on the cushion and lo and behold, I'm in the middle of a vision.
And you know, the whole thing, the golden light, there's other people around me, other women I know and respect. And here I am, I'm speaking, I'm writing and I'm helping other women reinvent themselves and going through a similar process that I had gone through. So the message I had received was, okay, now that you have been through this transition, you have reclaimed yourself, you've reclaimed your soul, you've reclaimed your life.
Let's help others do it too. And so that's when the great do over was born, which is still my, my incorporated company name to this day, but helping other women in midlife go through divorce, go through career transitions, go through health challenges. And so I was a certified integral health coach, and I was really dealing with the full body, mind, spirit integration and this necessary.
Step that we as women have to go through in reclaiming ourselves and claiming what we want and embracing our desires and really living a life of service to ourselves.
Laura Rotter
As I described you earlier as someone who had a. you know, took on a lot of responsibility. How did that feel? I mean, even as I listen to you, I can feel the fear in my own body.
That's a big step to say, I don't know what it's going to look like, but I'm being called to do this.
Deb Boulanger
Yeah. You know, I feel like if you are a spiritual seeker and you're looking for an answer and the answer appears, it's almost like you're obligated to go follow it. And so a couple of weeks later, I went into the senior VP of HR and said, I was complete, you know, I, and she said, you're done.
I said, I'm done. You know, I'm retiring from, from this phase of my career. And then we started working on my exit and I don't know, I guess I've always wanted to bring others along with me. Maybe it was because I was an only child for eight years and I always wanted playmates, but it was just like, you know, it's like, Hey gang, come on, look what I found, come and do this with me.
And it's very similar to what I do now with women entrepreneurs because of my corporate career, which I am exceedingly grateful for. I have so much gratitude toward that experience and all the lessons I learned. I was trained in sales. Marketing product marketing market research. I launched a business unit.
I managed employees. I dealt with the challenges of rapid growth that I felt equipped to launch my own business and even with all that background, it was so much harder. Than I ever imagined. And I realized that most of the women who are leaving corporate today have deep dive expertise in a subject matter, and they don't know sales, marketing, product development, you know, how to build a team.
And so again, I was like, Hey guys, come on, you know, I can do it. And it was always that I felt like. And I've never talked about this before, Laura, in any interview. I always felt like I owed it to the women who are coming behind me to be successful and that if I could do it, they could do it too. And it would give them a choice.
It would give them a lifeline that if you love corporate and if you thrive in a corporate environment and that's your jam, that's great. If you feel like you're slowly being suffocated and you've sacrificed who you are, if your soul has a deeper calling, excuse my voice, I'm just coming out of COVID that there's another path.
That you can earn 6 figures on your terms. You can have a 6 figure salary in corporate. You can earn 6 figures as an independent coach or consultant. You can earn 7 figures if you want to build more of an empire. But it is it is a choice. So I look at entrepreneurship as the new feminist movement. It's.
It's what gives you a choice. We're not burning bras anymore. We're just burning the corporate paycheck. And it's my renegade personality that says, you know, screw you. I'm going to do it on my own.
Laura Rotter
I love it. And I do have to say the question comes up as we talk about, you know, how much ultimately one can earn.
When one sets one's mind to building a business, what were the financial decisions you made as you left corporate world? How did you feel comfortable financially doing?
Deb Boulanger
You know, I think I risked a little too much, you know, you always have to risk. Right. I also had a kid in private school. I sold my home and selling my home gave me a cushion to help launch the business.
But I don't want anyone listening to this. Think that it's an easy path that you really have to have. Probably two years of income to cover all of your expenses before you get started, or you will find yourself burning through your retirement savings. And that's not a smart idea. I was a risk taker. So I, you know, I burned through the proceeds of that equity to support myself to support my son.
And there was a turning point when I said no more. You know, no more. Am I going to tap into my personal income to fund this business? I am going to double down and figure out what I need to earn. And I'm going to manage myself. I'm going to manage my own behavior so that I earn that money. It becomes predictable month after month.
So that's when I really started building in the growth systems that I teach today. Your income goals are available to you. You have to dial in your own behavior, your messaging platform, your unique position in your market, the consistency with which you manage your visibility, the amplification of your voice in your markets, and having all of the systems connected together to make six figure sales inevitable in your business.
And I have. Tested on myself over and over again, where six figure growth in your business can be realized. It can be reliable. It can be somewhat predictable. There are certain things that we can't control on the outside, but if you let the outside environment dictate your success, then you'll always be playing a losing game.
So the winning strategy is one of mastering your inner game. And narrowing down your focus to doing only what it takes to reach your goals. And that means cutting out a lot of bright, shiny objects, getting rid of, you know, distractions, outsourcing to other people who are better at doing certain tasks that you need done than you doing them yourself so that you can elevate your position as a true CEO in your business.
Laura Rotter
Yes, as I'm listening to you, I'm hearing an off quoted statistic that, you know, 20 percent of activity of our activities often produce 80 percent or more of our revenue and identifying what those 20 percent of activities are is, um. A long process, Deb, you had mentioned several skills that you built while being in the corporate world, right?
Marketing, market research, which do you, if you could name this, do you enjoy most as you work? With women now?
Deb Boulanger
Well, I love it all in in the launch lab in the launch lab. We focus on the basics and the basics are largely built around market research and it's not the fun stuff because it's never fun. When you say to people, you have to.
You know, reach out to 20 acquaintances or, or 20 strangers and interview them on where they're challenged, how they solve these problems, what they've done and what they wish they, they could have and that market research produces so much clarity and so much confidence because now, you know. Before you only thought that maybe you could be successful doing something and now, you know, who your people are, who your ideal clients are, what they want, how they want to consume it, what they're willing to pay for it and what keeps them stuck from.
Not getting what they want. So that insight is gold. Based on that insight, you can create a marketing strategy content plan. You can create a talk and start shopping it around to professional organizations where your ideal clients are members or conferences where they join and start increasing your visibility.
So having that basic grounding of market research. That also helps you package price and message your services is essential. It's also practice for sales calls, because if you can have a conversation with someone about what's not working for them or what their needs or desires are, then you can have a sales conversation too.
Laura Rotter
And you said that's in the launch lab. Well, let me ask you this. I'm going to repeat back some of the things you just said, Deb, which is my question. Who are your people? Who do you do your best work with? I know you mentioned women. That's still a broad category. Please share.
Deb Boulanger
Yeah. So I only work with corporate women leaders who are transitioning to coaching or consulting and sometimes other service models.
So sometimes people come from education or the medical field, but the commonality is everybody is in a. Service based business, not selling products. And we go through the launch lab, which is the first step. And they have to be driven, willing to actually do the work and get the results because you can't phone it in.
This is not entrepreneurship is not something you phone in. It's not about the billboard on Times Square. It's not about publishing a book or speaking on big stages. If you don't have a system in place to to nurture and convert sales, then all those efforts will be lost. Invisibility will be wasted, so we, we focus on systems and after people graduate the launch lab, then they go into the reliable revenue mastermind.
And that's when we hone your sales skills, dial in your marketing strategy so that all the pieces are connected together. And. Every action that you're taking has meaning and is nurturing people along, getting to know you, getting to trust you. And eventually when you get to that sales call, they're more likely to say yes.
So people think that sales is about the conversation and sales is about everything that happens before you get on that zoom call.
Laura Rotter
Interesting. And, and as I'm listening to this as an entrepreneur myself, so when you say everything that happens, are you talking about social media? You're talking about blogs.
You're talking, you're shaking your head that you're talking about everything.
Deb Boulanger
I'm talking about everything and that everything is connected. So what happens is people see these as separate activities. So I have a social media presence. I write a blog, I have an email list, but all of those things need to be connected together in a sales system that has escalating calls to action that eventually leads someone from reading your blog or reading your social media or listening to your podcast.
To maybe attending a webinar or workshop or a conference in person or online and booking a conversation to have with you. So, there's a famous quote, and I'm forgetting who said it, but on average, people need to spend 7 hours with your content before they make a decision to purchase from you.
Laura Roter
Yeah, it's a big number.
Deb Boulanger
It's a big number. 7 hours.
Laura Rotter
So do you also help people with the actual content or people are doing that themselves from the market research that you're helping?
Deb Boulanger
Yeah, we have a structure, you know, we have a recommended structure for how you create a high converting webinar. We have a recommended structure for social media content.
We have recommended strategies for people to follow to increase their visibility. And the truth is that There's no one right way for everyone. The system that you put together, the elements in your system have to work for you. I mean, there's no sense you being on Instagram. If your clients aren't on Instagram or Tik TOK or LinkedIn.
So it's, are you showing up where your ideal clients are showing up?
Laura Rotter
Thank you. And so just, I want to make sure that people are listening to this and thinking, um, What exactly is the program? How long does the program last? Are there, is it one on one? Is it a group program? Please share some more details, Deb.
Deb Boulanger
Oh, thank you. The Launch Lab is a four month program and it is a group. And what everyone comments on is the amazing women who are in our community, who are, you know, smart, accomplished women leaders, just like you, who are carving their path to entrepreneurship. And so that is all group. There are a couple of short one on ones.
We have a client success manager who will check in halfway through and at the end of every launch lab experience is a one on one with me to plan your path forward. But that is a combination of online courses. So we have five modules in the program. One is an, an increasing levels of, of engagement with your, your market.
And by the end, you have a one page business plan. You know who your ideal client is. You have your packages, your pricing, your offers, your messaging platform, and you're ready to go to market. So that's the first step because you don't want to build a house on a weak foundation. So we build the foundation first.
And then your first floor is like, okay, let's dial in this reliable revenue growth. Let's really start activating my six figure strategy. And that's getting competent and confident in sales calls and having that sales system in place so that every action you're taking is leading to a potential sales conversation.
And that's when we also talk about technology because you don't want to be doing all these pieces manually. You want to automate as much as your process as you can. And then we also talk about team, because even though you can open up a Canva account, you're probably not a graphic designer, nor should you pretend to be one.
So, you know, how do you hire people to do your graphics, your social media and your bookkeeping? And, um, Organizing your files and all the things that you shouldn't be doing as CEO, that CEO doesn't mean chief everything officer. And then also how do you master your mental game, which we do in all of our programs is this is a process of creating a new identity.
And whenever you shift your identity, it's easy to feel like an imposter, like It's easy to question yourself. I don't know what I'm doing. Am I sure this is right for me in the early days in the launch lab days. There's some doubts and sometimes you'll find yourself searching the job boards because there'll be times when it feels hard and you, you feel like, oh, maybe getting a paycheck would be a lot easier right now.
And so embracing that it's not that you're a failure. It's not that you don't know what you're doing. You've never done this before. It is scary. It is new. It's leaning in to the fear and really leaning into it so that you can hit the new possibilities. Not confident the first time I did a webinar. I didn't always love speaking with a microphone and engaging people in conversation.
That first time was difficult. I used to script myself like literally down to the word because I, I wanted the comfort. Of not being nervous and not bumbling my words or forgetting what I was going to say. So I would script myself. I didn't script myself anymore. I take a couple of notes, but I feel very comfortable doing webinars, workshops, keynotes and things like that.
So realize that you have to lean into the discomfort and eventually you'll become a master.
Laura Rotter
Yes. And I'm hearing again, the voice of a woman who has been to, you know, many silent meditation retreats, which is that we can only handle our discomfort by leaning into it and not trying to push it away. It will always be there and not to beat up on ourselves about the discomfort, like you said, developing strategies, but also inviting it in.
It's part of the process. We're never going to create something new. From a sense of deep comfort. It's just not how we're wired and how the world works. And thank you for, for noting that. And for making it part and parcel of the process of reinvention.
Deb Boulanger
Yeah. Growth is uncomfortable sometimes.
Laura Rotter
Uh, yeah. And I think actually growth is uncomfortable most of the time.
And that's why though few of us do challenge ourselves, especially, you know, at an older age, perhaps. I mean, I, I started my firm true abundance advisors almost a decade ago. I was in my fifties. And culturally, we're not. Old when we're taught that you don't reinvent at, at that kind of an age and embracing the, the challenge.
I'm smiling as I'm saying this, you've talked a lot about delegation. Uh, you may remember from the first time we spoke, that's my new challenge that I've hired a new assistant. And I think to myself, wow, now I'm in my sixties and I'm developing a new skill. I was never a great delegator and to embraced.
That challenge and the discomfort it brings up because, of course, I want to do everything myself and make sure everything's perfect and saying, well, isn't this great that that it's uncomfortable and I'm going to do it anyway. My question for you, Deb, is I often deal myself with the question of enoughness.
How big should my business be? Am I pushing to grow it because my ego would like me to grow it? And so how have you answered that question for yourself or continue to answer that question for yourself?
Deb Boulanger
You know, it's, it's a great question because honestly, you can have a very small boutique business and make enough money to support your lifestyle.
And that there's a misconception that as you grow your revenues, you're also growing your personal income because as you, if you choose a path of business growth, a lot of those profits are being reinvested in the growth of the business. So your take home salary might not increase very much as you grow your business.
You know, you might start by. You know, taking 50, 000 your 1st year is 75, 000, 100, 000, maybe 125. But if you had a 300, 000 dollar corporate salary, you can be earning 3 or 500, 000 dollars in your business. But you're paying for technology. You're paying for team. You're paying for your own education. Not all of that is money in your pocket.
And I really encouraged now by seeing more and more and particularly younger women entrepreneurs who are building their business to sell it and to really create equity from what they've invested in their business. And that idea. Even in my sixties, totally intrigues me right now. So for me, I am on this multiple seven figure journey and let's figure out an exit strategy that not only leaves me wealthier at the end of the day, but also leaves a legacy that can carry on without me.
And so there's no one right answer to that, Laura. It is really a personal question. You know, you can build a consulting practice that Bill brings in 250, 000 a year. You can take 225, 000 of that for your own income and live a much less stressful, much easier life. Then if you're on the path of building a seven figure business that you plan to exit and sell one day…
Laura Rotter
And from the energy in your voice, I can tell you're excited about building a seven figure business to exit one day.
Deb Boulanger
Yeah, I really, I really am, you know, I, I don't know 1 of my top 5 strength finders is achiever. And, you know, I always call that, you know, the curse of the Achiever gene, you know, I have the Achiever gene. I'm always looking at the next hill. It's not that I'm not enough. I've done enough personal development work that I'm enough.
No matter what I choose. If I chose tomorrow to abandon that idea, I would completely and unequivocally love and accept myself. But right now it's something that intrigues me. It's a puzzle I want to piece together and I have fun doing it. And I love being around other women entrepreneurs who are mostly 20 years younger than I am right now.
Laura Rotter
So very true. So What would you like to share with our listeners that perhaps you haven't shared yet? Again, keeping in mind that most of the listeners are women in their 50s, give or take.
Deb Boulanger
Well, we've produced a new ebook. It's a short book. It's called Life After Corporate How to Make More Money Meaning and Impact Doing Work You Love.
We've just relaunched the website. So everything is available on life after corporate. com. So if that's something that you're considering, there are many resources there for you, the podcast, the ebook, there's even a pricing calculator that will help you figure out your pricing or figure out how to, to earn the money that you want to earn based on what you can put out into the market.
As far as package services. So much wealth there of information, and just know that there's always a soft place for you to land in my communities. Reach out to me on LinkedIn. We can have a conversation. I'm always open to supporting other women who want to follow this path.
Laura Rotter
Thank you so much, Deb. I'm so glad our paths crossed and looking forward to continuing to get to know you.
Deb Boulanger
Me too, Laura. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Narrator
Thanks for listening to making change with your money. Certified financial planner, Laura Rotter specializes in helping people just like you organized, clarify and invest their money in order to support a life of purpose and meaning. Go to www.
trueabundanceadvisors. com forward slash workbook. For a free resource to help you on your journey. Disclaimer, please remember that the information shared by this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. It's for information purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.