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In this episode of Hot Takes, we sit down with Anna Lynch, owner of Lynch Mykins Structural Engineers in Raleigh. Anna shares insights about her journey from growing up in Iowa to becoming a successful business owner. She discusses the impact of AI in structural engineering, her career challenges, and what drives her passion for innovation. Anna also opens up about overcoming personal struggles, the significance of grit, and her love for travel and healthy living. This episode provides a mix of professional wisdom, personal anecdotes, and inspiring advice on leadership and resilience.
00:00 Introduction to Hot Takes
00:37 Meet Anna Lynch: Architectural Engineering Firm Owner
01:03 The Impact of AI on Structural Engineering
04:40 Anna's Background and Upbringing
10:28 Overcoming Personal Challenges
13:52 College Life and Career Beginnings
22:25 Joining and Transforming Stroud Pence
29:20 The Buyout and Business Growth
33:58 The Reality of Growing a Business
34:41 Challenges of Sole Ownership
35:47 Finding Support and Mentorship
36:53 Engineering Industry Insights
37:29 Big Projects and Unique Expertise
38:42 Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses
40:32 Market Trends and Competition
43:00 Personal Passions and Health
47:06 Travel Adventures and Strategies
49:41 Hot Takes and Final Thoughts
Creators and Guests
Host
Jim Baker
Author of "The Adventure Begins When The Plan Falls Apart" Converting a Crisis into Company Success, Jim is a husband and father of 4, Baker has spent the last 30 years in the business world as an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He had a successful exit in 2014 after owning and managing a CRO and functional services company, Ockham, specializing in Oncology. During that time prior to exit, Baker grew ASG and then Ockham both organically and through M&A. Over time Baker has experience in acquiring and selling companies, working with investment bankers, private equity, and mezzanine debt funding. In addition, has vast experience in business branding and managing and leading people. After the sale to Chiltern International, Baker started Sumus Development Group, an advisory business focused on operational excellence, exit strategy and marketing. In addition, Baker is an active investor in the business community.
What is Hot Takes: 50Cups?
United We Sip – Dive into the fascinating world of American culture with "Hot Takes: 50Cups." Join founder Jim Baker as he shares his hot takes on everything from day to day life, business trends and societal shifts, uncovering how we are all more united than we think.
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Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a business leader, or simply curious about the threads that bind us, this podcast is your gateway to understanding and connection.
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Jim Baker: everyone, and welcome to another edition of Hot Takes.[00:00:30]
Today is another part of our series and we'd like to bring in successful business people. Today we're fortunate to have Anna Lynch with us. She's the owner of Lynch Mickens, an architectural engineering [00:00:45] firm here in Raleigh. So welcome.
Anna Lynch, PE: Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Jim Baker: Known each other for a few years. Yeah. I really respect you a lot. Um, so I thought I'd bring you in today and just have a little chat
Anna Lynch, PE: feelings mutual.
Jim Baker: Yeah. Appreciate that. Yeah, it's unusual. Most people don't say that about me. [00:01:00] So what's on your mind today?
Anna Lynch, PE: Oh, man. I'm actually doing a training today right after this, on how to use Chad GBT to do structural engineering.
So that's on the forefront of my brain. I'm ready to, to get my engineers to be a little bit [00:01:15] more efficient by using ai. Man, they don't wanna use it. So,
Jim Baker: I mean, it seems like it's taking the world by storm and yeah. You know, over this, this company that I'm consulting with right now, we're. Kind of looking at it to do, you know, emails and everything else.
[00:01:30] Mm-hmm. I think everybody could just press this magic button suddenly, you know, what would take, you know, 10 or 15 minutes or hours, you know, it takes like two minutes. Um, you know, what do you think about it?
Anna Lynch, PE: I think it's absolutely amazing, and I think that if you're, you know, I, I [00:01:45] feel like to my core that I'm a trailblazer, meaning.
I wanna be ahead of everyone else. So I have been obsessed with it for years, trying to figure out how to use it to make everyone's life, not necessarily make everyone's life easier, [00:02:00] but the shift of people don't wanna work quite as much, right? But they still want to do structural engineering work on buildings, et cetera.
I think that if they can actually grasp ai, we could actually change [00:02:15] to a 30 hour work week. Instead of them thinking it's taking my job.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: How can we work less and more efficiently and smartly to make it so we can still stay in this industry, in structural engineering? So in my mind, it's a way that we can [00:02:30] streamline the way that we do structural engineering and the way that we work in our industry, which is very fast paced and.
A little exhausting.
Jim Baker: Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: So,
Jim Baker: yeah, I was thinking because I, I used to be in the healthcare world and you know, you're here now that they can do a clinical trial in like three hours. [00:02:45] Right. And think, well, if they do that, then my former industry is wiped out. Mm. So in your world, the owners, these developers that are these architects that are designing these buildings or whatever, I mean, is there a situation do you see in the [00:03:00] future where suddenly engineering firms like yours are.
No,
Anna Lynch, PE: I don't see it because we sign and seal everything we do. We sign away if we say this is gonna be safe, right? And so every building [00:03:15] that we sign and seal, we have to review everything. And there's engineering judgment that's required. So no long, I mean, you can have AI run the calculations for you, but you have to have engineering judgment to be able to see if it's right.
Mm-hmm. Because you are signing your name. If a building falls down and [00:03:30] people die, it's secondary manslaughter. So it's a very serious industry and you, you can't take that away. We're personally liable for the buildings that we're designing. So I don't see it being wiped away. I think it's more of an efficiency.
Um, and then [00:03:45] also keeping people in the industry because it is a very tough, fast paced industry compared to what it was 20 years ago where we had three years to build a building, and now it's like, can we do it in six months? So we have to have the technology to be able to [00:04:00] deliver at a faster pace. And other firms, they have eight software engineers.
They're 3000 engineers. They are building their own AI bots that are, that are basically human at this point. Right. And we're a [00:04:15] small business, so if I'm behind them, I will be wiped out. Right. So it's really how do we keep small businesses able to compete with the large. The large companies. That's, I would say the challenge not is AI gonna take us out?[00:04:30]
Jim Baker: Well, it's a good thing. We brought some de-stress to you today 'cause that's obviously a topic that could add some stress to life. Yeah. It
Anna Lynch, PE: kind of caused me to get a little stressed out.
Jim Baker: So, um, so tell us a little bit about your background.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, [00:04:45] so I'm from Iowa. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and my parents were.
My mom was a professional waitress at a nice restaurant in the middle of nowhere. So just think about it, it's probably more like a Sammy's over on Hillsborough. [00:05:00] And then my dad was a manager of a Pizza Hut. So my, um, my growing up, I grew up kind of in the restaurant industry, um, ex experiencing my dad managing a pizza hut through a chain, right?
And dealing with his leader and [00:05:15] et cetera, and constantly complaining about his leader in the way. Um, pizza Hut ran their business, and then my mom was just like, go, go, go, go, go, go as a waitress, you know? And then she moved up and became the manager of all the waitresses, et cetera. So I watched them kind of do that.
But they [00:05:30] also own this farm, um, which was a, they had a 10,000 square foot in greenhouse in the middle of Iowa, and they grew organic plants and flowers and sold 'em to the restaurants. And so they always had all these little things [00:05:45] going on to make side hustles, right. They always had this passion to never have to work for someone else.
Never actually occurred, but man, did they work hard. Um, and I have three siblings. I'm the third of four girls. [00:06:00] And, you know, I watched them work their butts off. They were hard workers. They were always hustling, um, and trying new businesses. Like my mom opened a restaurant that failed, [00:06:15] then they opened this.
Factory to make pig ears. 'cause it's Iowa. There's lots of, there's nothing to do with pig ears. So they started making pig ears for dog treats that went bankrupt, but then they declared bankruptcy, so they were always in this spiral [00:06:30] of depression and excitement.
Joe Woolworth: Wow.
Anna Lynch, PE: As entrepreneurs. And so I was watching them growing up and I'm like, don't be an entrepreneur.
What is the most stable job you could possibly get that will be needed [00:06:45] forever? I remember I went to the library and I actually looked it up in a book and it was an engineer or a doctor. Now,
Jim Baker: were you good at math at the time? Yes, I was.
Anna Lynch, PE: Math and science. Everyone's like math and science. Math and science.
You're so smart. You're so smart. I was, I am super [00:07:00] competitive, so I always wanted to get the highest grade on in everything and in English, I just never could get there, but it, math and science always got a hundred percent on every exam. You know, I was very dedicated to being the best in math and science.
Plus, I thought it was really cool because I was a [00:07:15] girl. So I love being the underdog. Mm-hmm. And it really drove me into to, um, getting, like really focusing on being good at something that I wasn't supposed to be good at. So engineering. Um, and then I decided also that I [00:07:30] didn't wanna take home ec because I always have to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
All the women are in home ec and so I was like, I'm gonna take all the industrial arts classes and my teacher in seventh and eighth grade. Really focused on me. He was like, you're really good at [00:07:45] building things. And I won a competition for bridge design with Balsa wood and who could carry the most weight.
And to this day it's still on the wall.
Joe Woolworth: Wow.
Anna Lynch, PE: At my seventh grade school. And I, no one's been able to [00:08:00] beat it. And he was like, you need to be an engineer. And that, at that moment, that's where I was like, you know what, I don't really know what I wanna do. Right. So that, that makes sense.
Jim Baker: So, so you're in shop classroom time with the goggles on and like song wood and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah. Doing electrical [00:08:15] work
Anna Lynch, PE: and all that kind of stuff. I loved it. I loved it 'cause it was like hands-on work. Um, so then my. Dad, um, moved out, moved down to Mexico when I was 15. And With your [00:08:30] mom or without your mom? Without my mom. So they got divorced, disappeared. Got divorced.
Jim Baker: Okay. Then he just walked out?
Anna Lynch, PE: He walked out Right. Left. My mom waitress with four kids. And, and why Mexico? Because you don't have to pay child support.
Jim Baker: Okay. Oh, wow.
Anna Lynch, PE: So he had a warrant out for his arrest for, did you see this
Jim Baker: coming? Were they [00:08:45] getting along?
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, well, he was starting a factory down there.
Jim Baker: Okay.
Anna Lynch, PE: For the pig year company.
Okay. And then when it went bankrupt, he just stayed down there 'cause no one could sue him also.
Jim Baker: Got it.
Anna Lynch, PE: So he was leading that and tanked it.
Jim Baker: Okay.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, and so he screwed his best friend [00:09:00] out of a lot of money and never paid him back. So it was a, a very,
Jim Baker: even today he hasn't paid him back?
Anna Lynch, PE: No, he is never paid it back.
Okay. Which is what's crazy is my mom ended up marrying him.
Jim Baker: The best friend. The
Anna Lynch, PE: best friend. Oh my God. So now we've got a lot stepdad of stuff to talk about today.[00:09:15]
So anyways, I wanted to get the hell outta How old are you when
Jim Baker: he is in Mexico?
Anna Lynch, PE: I was 15.
Jim Baker: All right.
Anna Lynch, PE: And so I
Jim Baker: And are you going down to visit him every once in a while? No. No, never.
Anna Lynch, PE: No, that was it. Game over. That was it. He was out.
Jim Baker: So your mom's really [00:09:30] thrilled at this point in time, I imagine. Yeah. Very thrilled.
Yes. Um, that can't be good for the household.
Anna Lynch, PE: No, it wasn't. It wasn't. But I really think that's the moment that I stepped up into the leadership role of the family. All right. I need to make sure everyone's okay.
Jim Baker: And what were your older sisters doing?
Anna Lynch, PE: My oldest [00:09:45] sister was at college. Um, my sister that's one year older than me, she was, you know, a troublemaker at that time, you know, smoking pot in her, in her bedroom.
Mm-hmm. You know, and I'm like, Nope, you need to get to college. You're going to college. You know, you can't plug outta school. And she was, [00:10:00] you know, not really listening to me, but, and then my younger sister, she went on every date I ever went on. Like, I took her everywhere. I made sure she got to school. I made sure every, you know.
Just took that role on and made sure everyone, and it's crazy because we all got college degrees, [00:10:15] we all went on, paid for our own colleges and are all very successful in our own way. So, um, it was, when I left, I was like, I need to get as far away from Iowa as possible.
Jim Baker: Now, didn't you have like an accident at one [00:10:30] point in time they threw you into a pickup truck?
Yes. Right. So
Anna Lynch, PE: yeah, that's a cool story. A lot of tragedies here. So yeah, when I was 16, so my dad had just left. I went on vacation with a friend and her parents. Her parents, and we went out to [00:10:45] Wyoming and we went four wheeling. I was in, actually, I was in Yellowstone and I was four-wheeling on my own. I've never four wheeled in my life and was trying to impress the 16-year-old boy that we were with.
And I hit a dip. I jumped off, [00:11:00] rolled down the mountain, and the four-wheeler landed on my foot. And so I shattered my ankle and broke all bones in my leg. So my foot was disconnected by just, it was connected by bone, by muscle only. And so. [00:11:15] At that time, my dad was in Mexico. My mom was working a lot, and my friend's parents were like, okay, well I wasn't 18, so they couldn't give me any meds or anything, so they had to, you know, they couldn't airlift me.
My mom didn't have healthcare. There was a lot of issues, [00:11:30] and in the end, they put me in the back of the pickup and drove me 15 hours back to Iowa because they wanted to amputate my leg in Wyoming and they couldn't get ahold of my parents to get medication. So I was on ibuprofen. In the [00:11:45] back of a pickup.
Jim Baker: Was it summertime or wintertime?
Anna Lynch, PE: It was summer. It was summer, but I wa I was in the most pain in, you know, when Oh yeah. I
Jim Baker: can't imagine it was, it's gotta be awful.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. I was losing my mind. Is anybody losing back there with you? My friend, my girlfriend, and she was just [00:12:00] up in arms, like, didn't know what to do.
No one knew what to do. You know, when you're, when you're in that much pain and you have no medication, you're, you're losing your mind. Yeah. Right. And so I ended up getting to Iowa. My mom took me to the hospital there and they wanted to amputate. And so she [00:12:15] drove me overnight to the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis or Rochester, Minnesota.
And we waited in the waiting room for three days to get in because you had no insurance. Because we have no insurance, and I wasn't dying.
Jim Baker: You could've gotten infected. You could've blown [00:12:30] septic in three seconds. Doesn't matter.
Anna Lynch, PE: People from around the world go to the Mayo Clinic. So the closer you are to death,
Jim Baker: don't go to ER at the Mayo.
Anna Lynch, PE: No, not unless you're gonna die. So long, long story short, um, I [00:12:45] actually got surgery, but it was about six months, or it was about six weeks after I was in the ER because it was, the swelling was too high, all this other stuff. Um, and I, when I went under, they said, I hope you have a leg when you wake up. And I said, I don't care to cut it [00:13:00] off, like I was, lost my mind.
Yeah. Um, so I do think that that moment in my life was another moment of my life is in my control. All of those moments where I, I couldn't, I wasn't in [00:13:15] control 'cause I was 16. I couldn't make any hard decisions. I couldn't get them to gimme meds. I couldn't get them to just cut off my leg. I couldn't like all these things, which is good, but when I turn 18, I'm like, everything I do, I need to think about, is this what I need and what [00:13:30] I want?
That's because taking risks like that, four-wheeling, jumping off mountains. I love it. I love risk. I have to really think about is it something that's gonna make me happy or is it something I'm doing to impress someone? [00:13:45]
Jim Baker: Right, right.
Anna Lynch, PE: Sorry, tangent.
Jim Baker: Yeah. But lesson life lesson, right?
Anna Lynch, PE: Yes. A lot of life lessons.
Um, so you're
Jim Baker: taking control, so you obviously you get healed up and then you get a scholarship to go to college.
Anna Lynch, PE: I did. I, I applied to [00:14:00] all my dream universities. I applied to Harvard, duke. That's how I learned about North Carolina. Um, Penn State. And I got in everywhere but Harvard and then I got all the prices to go everywhere and I was devastated to learn [00:14:15] how expensive it was.
And I had maybe $3,000 at that time. And obviously my parents weren't gonna pay for it. And so I started applying for every scholarship no matter if I was qualified or not. Like, I mean, and I was not a typewriter endless. [00:14:30] Right. Typing, typing, typing. And in the end, I ended up getting around eight grand in scholarships.
And Wyoming offered me even more. I think they offered me 11 and it was only like 1500 a semester.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: Because I wasn't from Wyoming. 'cause no one goes to [00:14:45] Wyoming for college.
Joe Woolworth: Right.
Anna Lynch, PE: And so when I ran the numbers, I'm like, I, I can graduate with zero debt. So I chose Wyoming even though I had zero interest in being in the mountains.
I wanted to be, I. Somewhere warm, [00:15:00] hence why I ended up in North Carolina. But, so I went to Wyoming for architectural engineering. Um, so I've
Jim Baker: been there before. Oh, okay. And it's kind of a, out in the middle of nowhere town. It is. Um,
Anna Lynch, PE: there's nothing there.
Jim Baker: So was it a good experience?
Anna Lynch, PE: No, [00:15:15] I tried to transfer my sophomore year to Penn State.
Like I ran all the numbers. I was like, okay, I can make this happen, kind of thing. And I remember calling Penn State and they're like, we don't take transfers. I was like.
Jim Baker: Really? Yeah. It didn't What, what timeframe was this, by the way?
Anna Lynch, PE: [00:15:30] Um, this was 2001. Okay. Yeah. So I graduated in 1999. Okay. High school. So in 2001, I decided to buckle down and just finish my degree.
Um, I loved college. I [00:15:45] didn't drink until I was 21 alcohol. And so college, I was like,
Jim Baker: is it a control thing again or, yes. Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: I think it was just. I knew that I wasn't gonna be fully available to be successful for myself. Mm-hmm. If I was [00:16:00] drinking. Are
Jim Baker: you one of one in terms of females in the engineering school?
Oh, I
Anna Lynch, PE: was one of three of, I think 70 students. Okay. And the other women I'm [00:16:15] still friends with actually, and none of them are, one of them is a structural engineer, the other one is not So. I, I honestly didn't even think about it. I was like, Ooh, more boys to date.
Jim Baker: You like engineers, I take it.
Anna Lynch, PE: I did in college.
I was like, don't [00:16:30] marry one though. 'cause that'd be boring.
Jim Baker: So did you end up gonna grad school after that?
Anna Lynch, PE: I didn't. Um, I honestly, getting an engineering degree was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Um, I am not a natural, I would say engineer, like being in the [00:16:45] weeds is not my natural state.
Now I know that I didn't know that when I was younger and more of a visionary, big picture thinker. So it was really, really difficult and I did not get a 4.0. I got like a, I think it was like a, was it 3.1? So it was [00:17:00] okay.
Jim Baker: Respectable. It was okay.
Anna Lynch, PE: And I had the wrong grades to be a structural engineer.
Like I got a C in structural analysis, but an A in the history of the miniskirt, you know, whatever, it's, so it wasn't really aligned, so I knew it was gonna be difficult to get a [00:17:15] structural engineering job, and so I applied everywhere. Like, you know, back then it was faxing my resume and I was like, I might as well try to be a structural engineer before I get my master's degree.
Everyone was going to get their master's degree. I'm like, I just [00:17:30] wanna go work hard and make money, like I need to learn how to do what. I just spent all this money getting a degree in so I can be the expert and start making real money. I feel like the instability growing up with the lack of money and bankruptcies, et [00:17:45] cetera, the whole goal was for stability, right?
How can I make money to feel stable for myself? And that's it.
Jim Baker: The money's a motivator for you.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah, and I did not care about the degree. It wasn't, I wasn't like, oh, let, lemme do what's [00:18:00] passion, what I'm passionate about. I'm like, no. Um, so North Carolina. The firm I currently still am at offered me the most money, Stroud Pence.
And so I moved, packed all my shit up from Wyoming and [00:18:15] drove here to Raleigh, North Carolina with no air conditioning in my car. So, and what was your salary back
Jim Baker: then?
Anna Lynch, PE: It was 41,000. Man, I was high flying. I was like, I'm gonna get a car with air conditioning. I think
Jim Baker: it did back then Raleigh was [00:18:30] pretty nice cost of living here then.
Oh yeah. It was really, now it's a different story,
Anna Lynch, PE: right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I. 41,000 a year. Zero debt. Mm-hmm. You know, I was, I was good. I was like, I could, you know, go buy clothing and stuff.
Jim Baker: [00:18:45] Not big a firm. At that point in time, they
Anna Lynch, PE: were 30, I think
Jim Baker: 30 people. Yeah. Okay. And the
Anna Lynch, PE: Raleigh office, 'cause they were headquartered in Virginia Beach.
The Raleigh office was four. Okay. So, and I was the fifth employee. And Dave Mickens, when I came in [00:19:00] to interview, he's like, I'm not hiring, but I flew out for spring break. Everyone else was gonna, the Caribbean, I flew to Raleigh and I went door to door every place I sent my resume and every place I walked in, they're like, I don't remember your resume.
I'm like, it's from Wyoming. You can go find it. [00:19:15] And they're like, you're, she's kidding, right? I'm like, no, I'm not kidding.
Jim Baker: It's only one Wyoming resume, right? Yeah, no,
Anna Lynch, PE: I mean, I flew here from Wyoming. You could at least have lunch with me. And that's what Dave Kins was like, I'll have lunch with you. He's like, I'm not really hiring.
And then he was the first one to send me an offer. So, [00:19:30] um, and I really, really did connect with him at that lunch. He was asking me questions that were really throwing me off, like, do you drink beer? I'm like, what's the right answer? Yes. You know? And he is like, yeah, that's okay. And he was just super [00:19:45] chill about it, you know?
He just wanted See, you were
Jim Baker: normal.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. It was like, and then when I told him I had three jobs in college while I was getting my degree, he was like, yeah, I'm hiring you. Yeah. And he'll say that to this day. He's like, she has grit. She's just like, works really hard. She'll do whatever it [00:20:00] takes. So. He gave me a, an opportunity, 'cause he was hiring people with four point ohs.
There was a lot of engineers available at that time. That was 2003.
Jim Baker: So that's one of my questions too, which I think I already know the answer to, but, you know, is there a moment in time [00:20:15] or is it just an accumulative experience that gave you your grit?
Anna Lynch, PE: I would say the latter. Yeah. I feel like grit to me is being able to push through hard times and not be a victim of the hard time.
Mm-hmm. Because the only thing I can control is myself. [00:20:30] And so. I had my own pity party when I almost lost my leg and my mom was like, you need to suck. You need to pull it together. You know, I think that moment my dad leaving was a moment that was moment like that's just over and [00:20:45] over and over again. I knew I just had to put my big girl pants on and just be the adult even though I'm not the adult and just get it done.
So
Jim Baker: then when you were doing these three jobs in college and Yeah. Did you have any experiences there that have, you know, life [00:21:00] lessons that have. Helped you along the way.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, it's not about what you're doing, it's about how much joy you can find in what you're doing. Like I feel like every day you decide if you want to be happy doing what you're doing every day.[00:21:15]
I'm like, I had to figure that out. Otherwise, I would just constantly be moping around, like, I gotta work three jobs and that's a trust fund kid over there and this and that. Comparing yourself to everyone. I'm like, what is that getting me? In, [00:21:30] in college, I realized having three jobs and getting an engineering degree and paying for your own college in Wyoming in the middle of nowhere, like all those things actually made me more valuable.
It actually made me better. [00:21:45] It actually made me who I am today, which I don't think, if I didn't do all of those things
Joe Woolworth: right at
Anna Lynch, PE: the same time, I wouldn't be here. There's no way. 'cause. It was difficult.
Joe Woolworth: Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: And I couldn't blame anyone. I didn't have anyone to save me either. Like nowadays, [00:22:00] you know, people are paying for their kids' cell phones and their healthcare and their apartments and their like, they're always saving them, and I'm like, no one was saving me.
I had to just. Get her done.
Jim Baker: Yeah. So sometimes that's the best thing. I think it is not in the way you, [00:22:15] you know, the leg and everything else Yeah. In Mexico and, yeah. I mean all these other crazy stuff, but, um, but I'm
Anna Lynch, PE: okay.
Jim Baker: Right.
Anna Lynch, PE: It's okay. We're all okay.
Jim Baker: So you end up gonna work for Dave?
Anna Lynch, PE: I did, yeah.
Jim Baker: Was there a buyout at that point in time?
Like what ha how did the firm [00:22:30] become
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah,
Jim Baker: his and yours.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. So. 2003, I started with Dave. Um, he got promoted. He was the branch manager of the Raleigh office. He got promoted to the headquarters to be the branch manager up there. He promoted the most senior engineer in my office [00:22:45] and there was five of us.
So Jeff became my boss, and, and Dave went on his merry way. And I really respected Dave and I missed him immensely. I worked for Jeff for maybe three months and during that time he laid off a lot of people. I think it [00:23:00] got down to two, right? And I'm still there. Three, maybe three people.
It was up to like eight and then it got down to three. And I'm like, I went to Jeff and I said, why am I still here? I'm not the best engineer. And he is like, the clients love you and you [00:23:15] never miss a deadline. You're, you're so good at what you do. Like you're, I gotta keep you. Otherwise if you leave, I'm gonna have to lay off more people because you keep the clients kind of thing.
And I'm like, oh, that's interesting. And I started thinking like, how do I get [00:23:30] more clients If they like me, I can help Jeff by winning more work. Right? So then I started, what's marketing? What's business development? How are you losing money? What are you spending on? Like, show me the balance sheet. Like why are you buying sodas for everyone?
Like what is this? You know, [00:23:45] why are we, I was just obsessed with everything going on. 'cause I was like, I don't want you to lay off anyone else. For some odd reason, I didn't think I should go somewhere else and get a staple job. I'm like, let me save this guy.
Jim Baker: Well, you kind of [00:24:00] saved your family, right? Yeah.
So you're, you're quote unquote, a saver after you.
Anna Lynch, PE: I am.
Jim Baker: And a fixer. I am a fixer. I'm like, Ooh, there's
Anna Lynch, PE: a problem. Hey, let me put all my energy into it for other people. So with that, I did that for about a year, and [00:24:15] then the, that office became the most financially stable. I was just an engineer. I was a project engineer.
I wasn't even licensed yet. And I had just, I like, I think like three months later I passed the SC exam, [00:24:30] which was a big deal, and I went to Dave Mickens and I, or I went to Dave Mickens and I said, I don't wanna do Jeff's job anymore. And they came down and fired Jeff and they're like, Hey, you are now run the Raleigh office.[00:24:45]
I was 28 or something, and they're like, but to run the rally office, you have to be a partner, so you have to buy into the company. And I was like, well, I don't even know what that means. I don't know anything about business finances. I don't. And it was a separate financial entity. So each one of them had their own finances.
I didn't know [00:25:00] anything about business at all. I. I remember talking to my husband, Jerry, and I said, this is crazy. I don't, I don't know anything about business. I have zero interest in it. I just wanna be an engineer. This is gonna be distracting, whatever. He's like, they're gonna teach you how to run a business for [00:25:15] free.
I was like, yeah, I guess. He's like, seems like a pretty good deal. I'm like, okay, you're right. Why not? Why not? So Jeff still works, still actually works for me now. Um, he's, he stuck around and worked for me. We just kinda switched [00:25:30] roles.
Jim Baker: Oh, so Jeff never got laid off then or fired? No, he,
Anna Lynch, PE: he did. But then you brought back He came to me and asked for a job.
Okay. Yeah. So
Jim Baker: you snuck Jerry in there. So let's pause for a second. Okay. How do you hook up with Jerry?
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah, so, when I moved to Raleigh, I [00:25:45] actually was engaged with a guy from Wyoming and we moved here and I ended up breaking up with him and I met Jerry like the week after I broke up with that, with that guy, and I was with that guy at the Durham Beer Fest.
Jim Baker: When you saw [00:26:00] Jerry.
Anna Lynch, PE: When I saw Jerry, and so I hit on Jerry, of course. Right. And the rest is kind of history. But the first year, like after I met Jerry, I was like, no, no, no. I'm doing the year of yes. Meaning every guy that asked me out, I was gonna say [00:26:15] yes with zero judgment. And he was like,
Jim Baker: sure, you got some stories on that.
Oh yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: But Jerry stuck around for that whole year. He was my Sunday date. Every Sunday I'd get together with him. He
Jim Baker: didn't even get a Saturday night or a Friday Every once in a while. No. Mm-hmm. Wow. [00:26:30]
Anna Lynch, PE: He made it a whole year, and then he was like, I'm in love with you. Can we be together? Can you break up with everyone?
And I was like, yeah, you're right. Let's do this. And we've been together since.
Jim Baker: Oh, good. So, all right. So we got Jerry taken care of now.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. There you go.
Jim Baker: So you're [00:26:45] learning the business for free. Yeah. But you said you had to buy in, so how did that I did. How did they eng How'd you end up engineering that?
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, so they, I did a note with the original Okay. Owner. Um, and I think I paid $60,000 for some shares, which was a [00:27:00] lot of money to me. I had a note with him for 60,000.
Jim Baker: You know what you got for that? Was it 10% in the end? Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: I lost money. You in the end.
Jim Baker: Yeah, I figured that. But like, what, what kind of percentage were you getting though?
Do you remember at the time?
Anna Lynch, PE: 3%. Okay. Yeah. [00:27:15] It was very low.
Jim Baker: They, they really, yeah. Cranked up the value of the business then. Mm-hmm. It was really bad. It was a promissory note. They're just taking outta, outta your paycheck did kind of thing. Yeah. So
Anna Lynch, PE: every bonus I got.
Jim Baker: Gone.
Anna Lynch, PE: Gone.
Jim Baker: Yeah. Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: Not cool. Didn't like it at all.
I'm like, wait, what am I [00:27:30] doing? Um, so never bought any more stock again, which was very frustrating to them because I was growing the Raleigh office to be the biggest. I got it up to I think 25 people, and I was financially saving the other offices [00:27:45] year after year for about three years. And they're like, she needs to get bought in.
She needs to buy in. She needs to buy in because they wanted to retire, right?
Jim Baker: Yeah. And they don't wanna lose you either. No, they
Anna Lynch, PE: didn't. And at that time, I stopped caring about money. I could have [00:28:00] left and made a lot more money somewhere else. It wasn't about that, it was about fixing it. I wanted to fix Stroud bends so badly, but every time I was at the table as one of the owners, there was 11 of us, they wouldn't listen to me.[00:28:15]
Over the years, I for five years I was a small percentage owner, like one or 2%. Over the years, like a few people got bought in, they're like, okay, Anna actually knows what she's saying. Maybe we should listen and stop not [00:28:30] listening. Um, so when I ended up quitting again in 2016, I had some really good people on my side on the ownership side at Stroud Pence, and they were like, well, you, well, I, I [00:28:45] quit to Dave Mickens first.
And Dave was like, oh my God, no, you can't da da da. What are you gonna do? And I said, I'm gonna start my own firm. And that was on a Friday. He called me on Sunday, he said, can I go with you? And I said, well, what is this about? Because you've been, he'd been with the firm for 35 years at that time, [00:29:00] and he's like, I don't wanna go down with the sinking ship.
Whatever you are building, I wanna be a part of because that ship is gonna, is gonna be safe, it's gonna be amazing, and I wanna be a part of it. I'll do everything you don't wanna do. So we agreed to a 51 40 9% [00:29:15] ownership of this new entity. And so when we told the owners of Stroud Pence, we were leaving.
They said, you might as well just buy the whole company 'cause it's gonna go under if you guys leave. So in the end, we negotiated the deal. So then I became obsessed with [00:29:30] how do you buy a company? So I had to learn how to run a company in those five years. How to be, make it profitable, how to fix it, how to save it, how to win work, what is marketing, all the things around business, hr, humans.
And then the next year was like how to buy a [00:29:45] company, how to go into debt for a lot of money. Right? It's just like. Every year of my life, I feel like there's this big thing that I get to learn, which is really exciting, which is one of the things that drives me. So we had closed on Stroud [00:30:00] Pence in April of 2017.
So I quit in November, 2016 and was the owner by April. It was very fast.
Jim Baker: And you borrowed money to buy the other partners out?
Anna Lynch, PE: Well, this is what's interesting is we talked them into, [00:30:15] so the day that we owned the company. We had zero ar so we had $0 and it was probably around $300,000 a month to run the company at that time.
So we're like, Hey, can we borrow from your [00:30:30] AR as you collect ar? 'cause they were gonna use the collection of the AR to pay out the stock owners of Stroud Pence.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: Can we take a loan out on that for the, to get us off the ground for the first, whatever months it took. So I think it took us three months.[00:30:45]
So it was around 900,000 that we'd loaned from them Okay. To get the company off. So we never took a loan from any bank. Okay. If that makes sense. Yeah. And it ended up working out really well. Um, they gave us five years to pay them back, so the stock owners of Stroud Pence didn't get [00:31:00] paid out their ownership from Stroud Pence until just recently, a couple years ago.
That was a good deal.
Jim Baker: [00:31:15] [00:31:30] [00:31:45] Okay. So now, now you're running it with Dave. And then 2022. 2023.
Anna Lynch, PE: 2020. Oh gosh, it's 2025. [00:32:00] It's been three years. So 20, 22.
Jim Baker: Yeah. Suddenly Dave one's out.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. So in 2000, was that a
Jim Baker: shock to you?
Anna Lynch, PE: Yes, absolutely. Yeah, it was. But he's older, right? He is. He's in his mid sixties. Mm-hmm. Um, he said he had 10 years left [00:32:15] in in him when we went into business together.
'cause that was really important to me. 'cause he was in his late fifties, I think at that time. And I'm like, well, I really, I need 10 years. And he was like, yeah, yeah. 10 years. And he made it five. And if [00:32:30] he was sitting here right now, he'd say it just got it. He didn't think it was gonna grow to what it was.
He thought it was gonna be what it is. Right. What it is at that time, you know? And he, I'm like, oh, we're gonna grow it. It's gonna be, we're gonna double the revenue and all [00:32:45] this. He's like, okay. And I think he really thought like, oh, that's, that's cute. Then every year it grew 20% every year. And I as structural engineers, he's a phenomenal structural engineer.
As structural engineers, [00:33:00] it's high risk, very high risk to own an structural engineering firm. Buildings fall down and a lot of people die. It's riskier than being a doctor. Yeah. Every if, if a doctor screws up, one person dies. Yeah. Yeah. So being a structural engineer takes [00:33:15] someone that can sleep at night with that kind of risk.
If you think about engineers, they hate risk. So engineers that are structural engineers are very rare. And so Dave could take a certain amount of risk, like you reviewing every set of drawings that go out the [00:33:30] door. But when you become 70 people, one human cannot review everything going out the door. So there's level of trust that you need with your engineers is very difficult.
And so for me, I sleep really well at night. I [00:33:45] trust people. Dave was really struggling with that. So I think it was about the size of the company and how, how much risk that was.
Jim Baker: Well the other thing too is when you're growing a business, you think, man, if I can just get this thing bigger, yep. Um, I'll make more money.
Mm-hmm. [00:34:00] My jobs might be different, but it's gonna be a lot easier. In reality, it's not. You actually work harder and harder as you get bigger and bigger, and I think a lot of people don't understand that. And then of course, you have that sect out there when they're big. Now suddenly they want to. [00:34:15] Give the keys to the kingdom, to somebody else.
Hire some stranger, you know, operator or whatever. They didn't go travel, you know, 12 months outta the year, and then the business usually goes down at that point in time. Yeah. So he's stressed out. Um, have to ask you though, any of the, [00:34:30] any projects that you did, did they ever have issues? Nope. Nothing's fallen down yet.
Nope. Nothing's eroded. 22 years. All right. That's great. That's no issues. Issues. That's phenomenal. Yeah. Yeah. So anyhow, you so Dave
Anna Lynch, PE: retired, I would say retired. He still works [00:34:45] for me.
Jim Baker: As a consultant. Yeah, as a consultant. So he does, but you had to buy him out then too, right? I did.
Anna Lynch, PE: I bought him out in 2007.
2022.
Jim Baker: And now you own a hundred percent of the business. A hundred
Anna Lynch, PE: percent. That's right.
Jim Baker: And what's it like being a sole owner then?
Anna Lynch, PE: Not a big fan of it. [00:35:00] I, I realize how much I love building things together. I'm not a single builder. Like that's why I never started a startup. Not doing, I don't start something alone.
Everything I've done was with someone else. Mm-hmm. And so. [00:35:15] They say it's lonely at the top, you know, and I, I think when you have a board or you have a partner, it's you have that person that you can brainstorm with or vent with and all of that. And so in the last few years, running the company alone has been very [00:35:30] lonely and very difficult because it's hard.
There's no one that I have that understands all the things. That I'm struggling with or ma hard to make decisions alone. Not hard, but you're like, okay, well brainstormed on my own in my head. I [00:35:45] hope it's the right one. That's kind of how I met you. 'cause I joined the Vistage group.
Jim Baker: Right.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, because I thought that that was the spot where I could find people that understood what I was feeling and I could brainstorm with.
So
Jim Baker: yeah. How's that working out [00:36:00] for you?
Anna Lynch, PE: I've met some really great people in it, I think. I do have that with certain things, certain aspects of the business. Like if it's [00:36:15] financial, like if, 'cause I'm the CFO too, right? So I'm like, if I have financial questions, I know who in the group I go talk to. If I have marketing issues or questions or brainstorming, I know who to go to.
So it's kind of like everyone kind of has their little [00:36:30] expertise. Mm-hmm. So now I'm trying to figure out what everyone thinks I'm the expert at. I'm not sure yet.
Jim Baker: So the but there's no mentorship. Mentors with engineers, I mean, that's right. Are you still collaborating with Dave every once in a while?
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, not [00:36:45] really. No. Not really. He's, you know, working from home and really just doing quality control for us. Mm-hmm. Which is good. Yeah. That's what he was really good at. Yeah. So, no, I have reached out to several engineering firm owners, but there's no one that. [00:37:00] Is trying to build something like what I'm trying to build.
I think engineering firms are so old school still. It's like it's still 1980. Yeah. And the owners are 60 seventies. They don't retire and there's no one starting structural engineering firms. [00:37:15]
Jim Baker: And do you guys have a sweet spot? Are you, you know, multi-story buildings? Are you bridges? Um, oh man.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, no, we don't do bridges.
We do pedestrian bridges. Um, but nothing you drive on.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: And I would say our expertise is big projects. We're [00:37:30] doing the new convention center for the City of Raleigh, that's a $350 million project. We're doing the new Red Hat amphitheater, we're doing the PNC Arena edition. Um, anything Great.
Joe Woolworth: That's great.
Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. The big projects I'd say we're known for. I spent a lot of [00:37:45] time and energy training engineers to be amazing project managers, which is human skills communication, um, clarity, like accountability and responsiveness and all the things. And I think being able to de or do [00:38:00] just so many things at the same time, like multitasking and delegating, et cetera, which are things that engineers really struggle with.
And so because of that, we have phenomenal project managers that can run large projects, but we're also known for. Being the woman owned structural engineering firm. [00:38:15] 'cause there is none.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: They don't exist. There was one in Richmond, she shut up shop last year. So we have a community that's really supportive of us being hub certified.
So we do a lot of parks projects [00:38:30] and a lot of community work.
Jim Baker: That's good. Yeah. So from a owner manager leader, what do you think your sweet spot strength is? And then what are some of the things that you struggle with still?
Anna Lynch, PE: I would say owner, manager, [00:38:45] leader. My sweet spot is inspiring people. I'm like, I got a lot of passion for what I'm building and what I in the company and what I do, and that passion comes out 'cause I communicate all the time.
It's like one of my strengths. It's constantly communicating, [00:39:00] providing that clarity also. So everyone kind of, if I can just get my energy out there to the employees and the staff, they're like excited and energized and inspired and they will. They wanna be a part of that, right? Bringing that energy. I think that's my ultimate [00:39:15] strength.
And then also I move at a very, very, very, very fast pace. I communicate really fast. I make decisions very fast. I can do a multi multitasking, so that's a strength to run a small business. I don't, there's nothing that I'm dropping the [00:39:30] ball on right now. Um, and I'm doing a lot of positions and that's okay for me and I bounce back.
Like that. I don't go, it doesn't suck the life out of me. Mm-hmm. If that makes sense. My biggest weakness, I would say is training other [00:39:45] leaders. Not great at it. Thought I was learning my lesson. Right. And I'm like, 'cause I'm trying to inspire them and I'm using this natural inspiration, but they're not, they're like what do you want actually want me to do?
Joe Woolworth: Right.
Anna Lynch, PE: Right. They're [00:40:00] not naturally coming up. They're not naturally strategic. I thought they were all gonna be Yeah. Strategic, like me try
Jim Baker: to call 'em employees. Yeah. Right. Not like you.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. So I'm, I'm having to realize that I'm not the best coach [00:40:15] when it comes to leadership.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: And so I'm actually outsourcing a lot of that 'cause there's people that are way better at it than I am Sure.
And I don't, I don't wanna hold them back in their career because I need to learn how to do it. So that's where I'm at right now on that. [00:40:30]
Jim Baker: Cool. Yeah. Well, sounds like a great story so far. So. Outside of ai.
Anna Lynch, PE: Mm-hmm.
Jim Baker: Are we gonna, in this country, are we gonna start building a lot of stuff again or is it, I know you're, we're in a hot market here.
Yeah, we
Anna Lynch, PE: are. Um mm-hmm.
Jim Baker: But you go to other places in the country and nothing's going on. Yeah. [00:40:45] Um,
Anna Lynch, PE: it's unfortunate. I actually talked to, to a struc, a guy that owns a structural engineering firm in Vancouver last night, and he was telling me he was doing layoffs. Um, part of it was he was like, do you need anyone?
Because these are [00:41:00] really great people and I respect you. Um, so that was really cool. But I, I was really a, I felt bad for him, but we've all been through it at this time. Um, so we are in a hot market. That means that everyone is opening com [00:41:15] offices here. So every structural engineer,
Jim Baker: lot of competition,
Anna Lynch, PE: way more than a decade ago, like the largest structural engineering firm in the United States opened an office here.
And there's, you know, offering a lot of money to my. Employees. That's incredibly frustrating. [00:41:30] Um, but they're opening offices here because the market is great. Yeah. And I just actually have a project that I just won yesterday that's a new office building in C Who knew?
Joe Woolworth: Wow.
Anna Lynch, PE: So yeah, everything's starting back up.
Funding's coming [00:41:45] back. Projects are big. Projects are out. NC State has a $900 million housing project that just came out. Now every structural engineer in the United States chased it. I swear to God. It's crazy. So the [00:42:00] competition is, yeah. Tough for us. As a small company, I'm like, Hey, look, we did one housing project that was the same size in Virginia Tech.
That's my experience. The firm in New York City. They've done 50 [00:42:15] and they've been around for two, 200 years. So it's, it's gonna be an interesting process that interviews in April. So
Jim Baker: good luck with that.
Anna Lynch, PE: Thank you. But yeah, the market's good. It's coming back. It's just we need more structural engineers in the market, so hopefully some of 'em will.
Jim Baker: Yeah. [00:42:30] What I mean, the schools graduate in a lot of 'em these days.
Anna Lynch, PE: Less, less, less and less. Um, NC State's gonna build a new engineering building and I think for some reason kids care about the building they're in. I know, not the, not what they're learning. I don't, I don't understand that, but, [00:42:45] or the cost.
I like
Jim Baker: facilities. Yes, they do. Do universities have so much money is good for my business. So it's
Anna Lynch, PE: hard to,
Jim Baker: well they have so much money they have to build anyhow to justify the money. That's right. That's, that's
Anna Lynch, PE: true. So hopefully NC State starts, you know, educating more civil engineers, structural engineers.
Jim Baker: [00:43:00] That'd be good. So let's switch to personal. What are some of your life loves?
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, man, I love. Health, honestly, what you eat, working out the body, all the things. How do we function, how do our bodies function, and how can we treat it the best [00:43:15] we can? Obsessed with it a little bit. Um, and then travel. You know, I from a, as a young kid from Iowa, not having a passport until I moved to Raleigh.
I, well actually I got a, I went to Spain at 16 [00:43:30] because I was, sold enough pies to go for free. So I got it at 16. Um. I was like, oh my God, is this the world? Like I need to see it all. And so I try really hard to leave the United States twice a year [00:43:45] and trying really hard means talking myself into thinking that I have the time.
So travel health. Um, my family.
Jim Baker: Did you grow up on lot of pizza? I did.
Anna Lynch, PE: I did. Here's a leftover pizza. I cannot not even smell. Pizza. Pizza. [00:44:00] So
Jim Baker: from a health perspective, like what are your typical diet for you? Um, um, what kind of workout do you do?
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah, so what I eat or let's do what I don't eat. Seed oils. I know you're a
Jim Baker: big antis, seeded oil person.
Oh, man. No seed
Anna Lynch, PE: [00:44:15] oils. Um, no refined sugar, actually just no sugar. I really try not to, um, eat anything that spikes my blood sugar. Um, I don't eat gluten, I don't eat soy. Um, anything processed, [00:44:30] really anything that's in a bag, anything that has a label where you can see how many calories you have so you can count them.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, I. Was obese. When I left college, I gained, I had like 40 pounds in college. Wow. And so when I moved to Raleigh, [00:44:45] I was working one job. I was like, what do you do with time? Like, it was wild. I'm like, what do people do with all this time? So at night I was like, guess I'll go to the gym. And then I became obsessed with CrossFit.
That was before CrossFit was a big thing.
Jim Baker: Mm-hmm. '
Anna Lynch, PE: cause [00:45:00] they had videos online. Um, so got into lifting heavy. I hated cardio. Um, and just started lifting. And I got really bulky, right? And then I was like, well, I'm not really thin. 'cause I was like in my twenties, right? [00:45:15] And I'm like, well, men want me to be thin, so, and I need to find a husband.
So I was like, I need to not look like a man with muscles, so I'm gonna be thin. Then I was like the, the crazy lady on the elliptical, you know? Mm-hmm. To burn in a thousand calories and eating 900. Right. [00:45:30] Then it got really skinny. Wasn't really functioning, my brain wasn't working, all the things. Then I joined weight.
Like I joined Weight Watchers. Like I did it all. I was like obsessed, like I'm very disciplined. Whatever I decide I'm gonna do, that's what I'm doing. [00:45:45] There's no,
Jim Baker: oh, I can't figure that out yet. Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, so over the years, you know, I was raw diet. I did a raw diet for a year. I couldn't even walk up steps without taking a break.
Oh my God,
Jim Baker: there's no,
Anna Lynch, PE: then I was a vegan then I was like, [00:46:00] screw that shit.
Jim Baker: Sorry. It's all right. We've only done it twice so far, so we're good.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, and then I switched over to paleo and then ended up on the carnivore. Mm-hmm. So I'd say, mm-hmm. I'm a on the, I don't like to say I am on a diet. It's like a light [00:46:15] carnivore lifestyle.
Not the C crack on
Jim Baker: vegans. But Were you happy as a vegan? No. Yeah. 'cause I gotta believe there's, first of all, half the stuff doesn't taste good. And then No,
Anna Lynch, PE: I just, just like walking around with bags of spinach, you know? I was like GNA on it. I felt like a rabbit. I'm like, [00:46:30] how am I surviving? Like it was my gotta be hungry 24 7 was so hungry.
'cause I like to work out too, you know? Yeah.
Joe Woolworth: Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, yeah. And then the other thing with working out, I feel like phases of work, it's at working out and my whole life has changed. And now [00:46:45] at, I'm in my mid 40. I'm 44, so now I'm trying to treat my body a little nicer, so I do Pilate private Pilates, more of like stretching your muscles mm-hmm.
And doing stretches every day in calisthenics and. Trying to change the way that I [00:47:00] eat and the way that I work out based on the age that I am. So my body can age gr gracefully.
Jim Baker: Yeah, that's good. Sounds great. So why do you travel? Like what is it other than seeing great things and learning? Yeah. Like what's the reason?
Anna Lynch, PE: I think to disconnect? [00:47:15] Um, my, do you, are you able to
Jim Baker: do that?
Anna Lynch, PE: Yes.
Jim Baker: So not in Spain. Checking your. No phone at 10 o'clock at night. It's four o'clock back in the us. No,
Anna Lynch, PE: no. I disconnect and like just disengage almost like I'm so engaged in [00:47:30] everything around me that multitasking. Right? So that, and then I love the strategy behind traveling.
So if you talk to anyone, they're like, Anna goes to the craziest places. Like, I'm not going to roam and going to all the same things that everyone else is doing. I'm in the [00:47:45] middle of freaking nowhere. Doing the most random thing that you can't find until you get to like the 15 page of Google.
Jim Baker: So give us an example.
Anna Lynch, PE: Um, like we stayed in New Zealand, we stayed in a glass off the grid, tiny house on a [00:48:00] 10,000 acre farm, three hours north of any town. Town, not city. So we had to rent a car, drive three hours, we had to get in the back of the pickup of a farm, the farmer, 'cause there's no internet. He drove us through [00:48:15] two rivers.
Stopped and, and he was like, okay, you hike three miles that way. That's where the tiny house is. And we lived off grid for three days in that tiny house. Didn't see another human. How do you find that? Just endless [00:48:30] research I had. You can't just go on
Jim Baker: Airbnb and pop it. No,
Anna Lynch, PE: not You can't find it. Wow. So my, I love the research.
I mean, I have accounts for everything, for travel, separate emails, separate like. TikTok, [00:48:45] Instagram, all of that. Like who I travel, who I follow, what I watch, like all the things, like I have it coming at me in every direction to choose like where, and we're going to Norway in August, that's our next trip.
And where we're staying, I'm like really excited. They're off the grid. [00:49:00] So I feel like that ties back to growing up in Iowa, in the middle of off the grid.
Jim Baker: Do you feel like you get a true sense of the country though when you're off the grid?
Anna Lynch, PE: I would say no. I don't think it's about that for me.
Jim Baker: Right. By just disconnecting and it's
Anna Lynch, PE: [00:49:15] disconnecting in a world.
Well, I like the strategy of getting there too.
Jim Baker: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: How are we gonna like all the planning to get there? I'm the travel planner. Right. And you're
Jim Baker: happy when you have a delay or a cancellation? I don't care.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah.
Jim Baker: Really?
Anna Lynch, PE: No. Jerry and I love the airport. We're like the happy couple [00:49:30] sitting over there like, isn't this great?
Yeah.
Jim Baker: Who loves an airport?
Anna Lynch, PE: We do. No one. I can't, I can't talk to anyone. It's too loud. They can't get ahold of me. I'm unavailable. All right. So
Jim Baker: yeah, speaking of that, [00:49:45] um, one of my hot takes. Mm-hmm. We'll get into the Hot Takes session now. Um, I had to go through this whole, when you're sell your company and then you're kind of a quote unquote consultant, you still need healthcare and, Hmm.
[00:50:00] So you go on the exchange, and years ago the exchange had like eight or nine different options. Mm-hmm. Today it has about two in this area. And, um, you know, they're, the prices have skyrocketed, I'm sure. Yeah. So I'm going than they killed [00:50:15] off my plan than I had last year say. But the company has other plans but they're just way more expensive, et cetera, et cetera.
And, um, but I'm getting calls left and right from all these agents and I'm like. Why are they calling me? I'm just a single, just my wife and I. [00:50:30] And finally I engaged somebody and he is like, yeah, we can help you get a better plan. I'm like, okay, have at it. So he ends up getting me a plan that's way better than with the same company, by the way, that I could never see on their website for $500 cheaper per month.
And I [00:50:45] thought to myself, it's cheaper to go to an aggregator than it is to go direct to the provider. Case in point a couple months later, I'm in Denver. I'm excuse, I'm in Colorado. I'm trying to fly back, but I wanna, I'm [00:51:00] gonna go back. So I'm parking my car at the airport and I got my little favorite parking spot.
Mm-hmm. You know, that I go to and they're charging me 18 bucks a day and I'm thinking that's a deal. But I keep getting these notifications, you know, from Park DIA, so I go online the same [00:51:15] exact parking lot they're offering for $7 a day. So that's my hot take. I thought we were told. Go direct 'cause you'll get the best deal.
But in reality, you go through the aggregators, you get the best deal. Have you experienced [00:51:30] that? Yeah. Which travel for sure. Are you as hot about it as I am?
Anna Lynch, PE: No. I think just strategically now, you know? Right. I don't know, it's like, I guess for me, I wanna do what's the cheapest. Right? Yeah. Because it's strategy wise, it's like, okay, so I [00:51:45] wanna try to find the best aggregator.
That's where I'm at. So anything I'm, anything I'm paying direct, I'm like. Where's the best aggregator? So do you
Jim Baker: do that when you book a flight too? Yes. You go through an aggregator? Yes. Like, like Expedia or something totally different? Um, I
Anna Lynch, PE: love Expedia. Yeah. They always get [00:52:00] a good deal. But I'll do like, like if I'm going to Norway, I'm gonna look up who the best aggregator is for Norway Airlines.
Right. And then I'm gonna go through them. So it's, it's difficult to keep up with everything 'cause you have [00:52:15] all these aggregators for where you're going in different countries, et cetera, and all the things you're booking. But in the end it does save you a lot of money. But I like the strategy and the, I think it's fun mm-hmm.
To do it.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Anna Lynch, PE: Like, same with the healthcare at Lynch. Mic ends. I was like, we have an aggregator. Right. To get the best healthcare [00:52:30] system. I love,
Jim Baker: screw it. Yeah. I, that I get for businesses.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah.
Jim Baker: But you know, all of it. But
Anna Lynch, PE: who's paying that guy?
Jim Baker: Well, they are the insurance companies.
Anna Lynch, PE: Why? That's a, that's aggravating.
So they're
Jim Baker: paying him to get me a better deal. It's [00:52:45] so than if I went the wreck's stupid. That's where I have a problem. Like I don't understand The business model there doesn't make sense, but it clearly they must make money otherwise they wouldn't do it.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. My hot take is we should become aggregators sense.
Middlemen make a lot of money.
Jim Baker: I do, man. I actually do. Especially in the [00:53:00] pharmaceutical industry. Um, do you travel? Are you a clear person?
Anna Lynch, PE: I'm not,
Jim Baker: no. So you're just tsa. I'm TSA going through pre-check.
Anna Lynch, PE: Pre-check, yeah. Okay. Yeah, I just got global entry though. Okay. I'm pretty excited about it. That's
Jim Baker: phenomenal coming back.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. I can't wait. It [00:53:15] did creep me out immensely though. Unless you All the information I had to provide.
Joe Woolworth: Yeah. And
Anna Lynch, PE: like now they have it.
Joe Woolworth: Yeah. That's creepy. Do we'll track
Anna Lynch, PE: you, you know, scanning your face. That's what they do now. Yeah. So I'm like, I can't get around that. Yeah. Like how, how. I, I'm the person that has like [00:53:30] the ring camera and I have like a sticky on it.
So
Jim Baker: it's like everyone, sometimes you gotta give away your freedom for con convenience, I guess. Right. I know,
Anna Lynch, PE: right.
Jim Baker: Um, but yeah, so I was coming back and with global entry to Raleigh and um, you know, they had the kiosk all over there [00:53:45] and for some reason the. Border patrol person wasn't letting anybody go through the kios 'cause he was busy with some other people.
I'm like, what's the point in having this thing if we're not allowed to use the machines? That would piss me off. When he felt like he was [00:54:00] ready. After about 20 minutes, he let us go through the machines to get, you know, processed. All right, well I hope that doesn't happen. Yeah, we're run to Costa
Anna Lynch, PE: Rica next week.
Most of the time
Jim Baker: it wa doesn't, you're smooth sailing, but you know, so the
Anna Lynch, PE: whole clear thing, it, I don't wanna be that person, the person that's with [00:54:15] the clear person. Going in front of everyone, like, okay, well you can get, we're going.
Jim Baker: Well,
Anna Lynch, PE: I don't wanna be that person.
Jim Baker: I have one year left on clear. Okay.
Um, because I get a deal through my credit card and TSA is faster, so I mean, pre-checks faster. I shouldn't say [00:54:30] TSA is faster, so, um, I'm not gonna do it. Clear's not that good. Okay. That's a hot take for me. I'll take it. I send you a news article, another hot take of mine. Mm-hmm. It's paywall. I can't read it.
Drives me crazy. It does drive
Anna Lynch, PE: me crazy. It pisses
Jim Baker: me off. [00:54:45] I'm thinking if I'm the Wall Street Journal, let this guy read this thing for free because maybe he will subscribe.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah.
Jim Baker: Instead of pay wallow me out and saying, I'll give it to you for $2 for the next six months. Also,
Anna Lynch, PE: like Wall Street doesn't need any money.
The Wall Street Journal [00:55:00] doesn't need money. Right? Maybe not, maybe not. I don't know. Like just stop. I agree. Like we need to stop charging. But now I just ask Chad GBT all news questions. They provide all the information that's in all the articles, so
Jim Baker: Really? Yeah. Yeah. I don't care about the news. More about the opinion stuff.
Yeah. It's
Anna Lynch, PE: [00:55:15] all provided.
Jim Baker: Wow.
Anna Lynch, PE: They will take snippets from the article of exactly what I asked. They being chat GBT and give you Exactly.
Jim Baker: You pay for chat GBTI
Anna Lynch, PE: do. I do. I have the 4.0 or whatever, 20 bucks a month.
Jim Baker: Got it. [00:55:30]
Anna Lynch, PE: So worth it. I get all my news from it.
Jim Baker: Wow. Learning things as I'm speaking with you today.
Yes. Um, that you're building that convention center down in Raleigh. Mm-hmm. Which by the way, they built one 20 years ago and said this is gonna be the greatest thing to slice bread. Now they're gonna tear it [00:55:45] down and build a new one.
Anna Lynch, PE: No.
Jim Baker: Um,
Anna Lynch, PE: they're keeping it.
Jim Baker: What are they gonna do with
Anna Lynch, PE: it? It's an addition.
They're building the convention, the expansion on Red Hat Amphitheater, where it's at now.
Jim Baker: Oh, I see, okay. Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: So there'll be
Jim Baker: a, so it's another boondoggle, basically.
Anna Lynch, PE: Yeah. So it's gonna be better. Can [00:56:00]
Jim Baker: you lobby them to stop somehow? Somebody decided last year to put up no right turn on red. Oh my. On all the lights in town.
Oh my gosh. It literally takes you 10 minutes to go around the block now. And there's nobody there. There's no traffic. It's not New York.
Anna Lynch, PE: Well, I pretend the sign's not there.
Jim Baker: Well, me too, but I mean, what is the [00:56:15] logic in that? I have
Anna Lynch, PE: zero idea. I have actually complained to the city about it. 'cause I live downtown Raleigh.
Yeah.
Jim Baker: Yeah.
Anna Lynch, PE: So I'm at every light I, it would takes me like five extra minutes to get to work because of that. So I'm like, you know what? Screw it. [00:56:30] I'm taking a right. There's not, there's no cops anywhere. Like no one's enforcing it. Right. There must've been two idiots that got in a car accident, some at some point, and then they just changed everything.
So I, you know, I, I know the mayor, I'm like constantly complaining [00:56:45] to her about it. I was like, can you do, can you change that? Can you change that? So I am.
Jim Baker: And no one? Or no one? Yeah. Both. Both. Okay. I'm
Anna Lynch, PE: very persistent. Good. Now, Mary Beth or Mary, she didn't do anything about it, but yeah, Maryanne, I'm like.
Jim Baker: I'll keep hanging out with you. Then maybe you can [00:57:00] influence her more. So stupid change. I'll leave you with this. Then I want you to leave with probably three people that are gonna watch this. Okay? Five takeaways. Okay. Five things you want to espouse upon the world. As advice.
Anna Lynch, PE: As advice,
Jim Baker: who [00:57:15] just rant. Well, whatever.
Whatever your takeaways are. One,
Anna Lynch, PE: stop being a victim of everyone.
Jim Baker: Just stop. Okay. Stop playing the victim hood.
Anna Lynch, PE: Stop playing victim hood. If you even think about blaming someone else, stop yourself. Um, number two, you cannot control others. [00:57:30] Stop trying to control them. Stop because they have to choose to do what you want them to do, and you have zero control over that.
So stop complaining about other people because you can't change 'em. Um, three, travel. [00:57:45] Stop making excuses, man. The endless excuses. If you want to travel, then go do it. If you don't, then stop talking about it.
Jim Baker: Hold on a second. Okay. Biggest tip in an airport.
Anna Lynch, PE: I would say pay extra and just get the best [00:58:00] parking.
And so you get, you don't have to be there as long.
Jim Baker: What about when you're inside waiting for the three hour delay?
Anna Lynch, PE: Just sit down, put your headphones on much. Are you a lounge person? No. No. I love people watching. Okay. Oh man, it's so great. I put my earphones on. I can't hear [00:58:15] anything, but I just watch people.
It's so amazing. I don't know. Observe. So entertaining.
Jim Baker: Fair enough.
Anna Lynch, PE: I dunno how many that was. That's
Jim Baker: three. You got two more?
Anna Lynch, PE: I got two more, yeah. Um, let's see, what else? Stop eating processed foods. [00:58:30] Stop thinking that you need to have sugar to feel good. Stop thinking that food is gonna make you happy because it doesn't, it actually makes you probably a little bit more depressed so you can actually control what you eat.
You can do it. It [00:58:45] will change your life. So then that leads me to the last one. Brain fog is the reason why. You aren't as success, as successful as you think you can be. Brain fog and you have control over if you have [00:59:00] brain fog or not. Everything you do to your body, every person that you hang out with and the way they communicate with you, everything, everything you put on your body, in your body, it all contributes to brain fog.
The clearer your brain is, the more successful you'll [00:59:15] be. Everything is clear. You can make decisions and they're usually the right ones. So. Change the way that you're treating your body.
Jim Baker: Well. Well, I'm an owner of Optimal Bio and we treat brain fog, so Great. That's great. [00:59:30] I'm glad you brought that up. Go over there
Anna Lynch, PE: and get that treated
Jim Baker: well, Anna Lynch, thank you.
You're welcome. This was a great thanks for having me Hot takes today and um, good luck and God bless. Thank you. Thank [00:59:45] [01:00:00] [01:00:15]