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Don’t be afraid to take control of your financial life.
Stephanie Xenos - Money Muse is a retired rocket scientist turned women's personal finance expert obsessed with helping women reach financial independence. She seeks to empower women of all ages and diverse backgrounds to jumpstart their journey toward financial freedom.
Stephanie shares her life story and how she chose to study physics in college, thinking it would lead to high earnings. During her work at SpaceX, she invested significantly in her future Stephanie retired at 32 and decided to help other women achieve financial independence.
There is a different perspective on retirement or taking breaks or sabbaticals instead of following a traditional work-retirement path. Leveraging your career to gain financial freedom is not hard. According to Stephanie, there is no need for having a financial advisor but with a bit of learning and time, building portfolios is not hard at all.
Stephanie invested for 14 years so she could fully ‘retire’. While she focused intently on living a super-frugal lifestyle in order to heavily invest, she advises against sacrificing pleasures for the sake of investing. Rather, she promotes a mindful and more balanced approach to spending and investing in order to enjoy life both today and tomorrow.
It would be wonderful for young women to get educated on investing early in life so that they can gain financial independence. When women have extra funds, they are more likely to invest in their families and their communities. With economic power, women will help humanity. Stephanie’s life and her commitment to women and their financial empowerment shows us that the sky is the limit - so let's go for it!
Show notes:
🚀 Stephanie is a retired rocket scientist who chose one of the hardest majors in college. 04:14
🆚 Fear vs. desire: fear is an incredible motivator, but not a good place to stay. 06:01
👱♀️ Starting investing at 18: Stephanie was able to retire early and discovered her passion for helping women. 07:47
🔥 F.I.R.E. stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early: investments don’t have to be perfect. 09:10
🤓 Take your finances in your hands now: beware of fees - they can eat away at your returns.13:01
😇 You can manage your portfolio on your own; there’s no need for a financial advisor. 15:22
⚠️ Not having proper information on what to do with money and who to trust are the primary reasons women don’t invest. 18:54
💲 Increasing the number of women millionaires is important: It took 14 years for Stephanie to retire. 19:59
⏰ Having the help of coaches can be a game-changer for your business: the best time for investing is now. 26:36
⚖️ Stephanie sacrificed a lot to achieve financial independence quickly, but now she recommends balancing saving with enjoying life. 31:36
🧠 Finding the balance between happiness and consumerism: how to spend your money wisely. 36:13
😍 Seeing investing as fun: Stephanie prepares group courses to help women more. 36:55
Links:
Show notes:
🚀 Stephanie is a retired rocket scientist who chose one of the hardest majors in college. 04:14
🆚 Fear vs. desire: fear is an incredible motivator, but not a good place to stay. 06:01
👱♀️ Starting investing at 18: Stephanie was able to retire early and discovered her passion for helping women. 07:47
🔥 F.I.R.E. stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early: investments don’t have to be perfect. 09:10
🤓 Take your finances in your hands now: beware of fees - they can eat away at your returns.13:01
😇 You can manage your portfolio on your own; there’s no need for a financial advisor. 15:22
⚠️ Not having proper information on what to do with money and who to trust are the primary reasons women don’t invest. 18:54
💲 Increasing the number of women millionaires is important: It took 14 years for Stephanie to retire. 19:59
⏰ Having the help of coaches can be a game-changer for your business: the best time for investing is now. 26:36
⚖️ Stephanie sacrificed a lot to achieve financial independence quickly, but now she recommends balancing saving with enjoying life. 31:36
🧠 Finding the balance between happiness and consumerism: how to spend your money wisely. 36:13
😍 Seeing investing as fun: Stephanie prepares group courses to help women more. 36:55
Links:
Website: themoneymuse.co/speaking
Social media handles: @money__muse
Connect with Adrienne: https://www.sheleadsmedia.com
Listen to podcasts for women by women on the She Leads Podcast Network: https://www.sheleadspodcasts.com
Join Us at She Leads LIVE 2024 in NYC - Oct. 17 - 19th. Get Your Early Bird Tickets TODAY!
> > "I love ❤️ Adrienne and The She Leads™ Podcast!” If that thought crossed your mind at any time while listening to our special show, can I ask you to please take a moment and give our podcast some love? To do so, simply Rate, Review & Follow Us on Apple Podcasts & Spotify. Taking this simple action helps my team and I to spread the word about all the incredible guests of The She Leads Podcast and contributes overall to helping women leaders and entrepreneurs everywhere! 🗺️ Also, if you haven’t done so already, please +follow the podcast so you never miss an episode. Thank you so much!! XO -Adrienne <<
Creators & Guests
What is The She Leads Podcast: Real Conversations with Women Entrepreneurs?
Discover the go-to podcast for driven women entrepreneurs ready to lead! Join host Adrienne Garland, CEO of She Leads Media, as she uncovers the unfiltered path to scaling your business to 7 and 8 figures. Each week, bold female founders share their raw stories, overcoming challenges, and proven strategies for explosive growth – all without sugar-coating a thing.
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At She Leads Media, we reject the notion that women must be deferential or pull back our opinions. Instead, we're creating a powerful platform where women are free to express their brilliance without restraint. Whether you're launching your venture or ready to scale new heights of revenue and profit, The She Leads Podcast: Real Conversations with Women Entrepreneurs delivers the unvarnished truth you need to thrive in today's competitive business landscape.
The She Leads Podcast (formerly Sugar Coated) is your ultimate resource for:
✅ Practical and actionable business growth strategies and tactics
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Don't miss out on game-changing wisdom from Adrienne Garland - fearless entrepreneur, innovative media producer, and inspiring professor. Subscribe now and join a community of women who refuse to hold back their voices, thoughts, or opinions. Your journey to 7-figure success and beyond starts here – no sugar-coating required!
#SheLEADS #WomenInBusiness #FemaleEntrepreneurs #BusinessGrowth #LeadershipPodcast #WomenEmpowerment
Adrienne (00:01.336)
Hello everybody and welcome back to the SheLeads podcast. This episode is brought to you by the SheLeads podcast network and the SheLeads live conference that's taking place October 17th through the 19th this year. So if you haven't gotten your ticket, make sure to get it now because the early bird special goes through July 15th. So the SheLeads podcast is the podcast that welcomes incredible
women entrepreneurs that we can learn from and where we can listen to all of their great advice and get some wisdom and apply to our own business. I cannot wait to welcome my next guest. I've known Carrie Kerpen for a very long time. She actually was here in the beginning when I started out on this conference venture. And since then, Carrie has just gone on to incredible stardom. I am so
starstruck by her and so inspired by everything that she does. So welcome to the She Leads podcast, Carrie Curpin.
Carrie (01:08.43)
Thank you, Adrienne. I'm so excited to be here. And I actually just realized as you were talking that your conference was featured in my book. I talked about years ago in a work kit. I talked about a visualization exercise that someone did at a conference and I'm just thinking back and it was totally yours. And I had visualized having my next child and...
Adrienne (01:29.592)
Mm.
Carrie (01:33.582)
like what my life would be like in several years. And it was really accurate and crazy. So that was from Shelead. So everyone should go to that conference. It was awesome.
Adrienne (01:44.136)
my God, you know, it's so funny. There's someone else that is probably mutual contact of ours that was at that conference with that visualization as well. And she said that that particular visualization, Vanessa Loader was the woman that did the visualization. This woman, her name is Haley Foster, said that she, okay, so that she went through the visualization and she visualized her
Carrie (02:06.286)
Mm -hmm, I know. Of course I know.
Adrienne (02:14.008)
role and what she would be doing and it completely changed her life for the better as well. So that must have been the most powerful visualization ever. Amazing.
Carrie (02:24.334)
And it's a testament to you for putting together those types of conferences. That's awesome. I can't wait to go in October. Awesome.
Adrienne (02:28.536)
my gosh. my gosh. I'm so excited. So Carrie, before we dive in, you know, I was thinking about you and I actually was thinking about you last night and I was thinking about unicorns, right? So like unicorns, billion dollar value corporations. And I said to myself, you know, Carrie is a unicorn, maybe not a billion dollar value in corporation yet.
But everything that you've done is just so inspiring. And I don't mean to be piling it on like that, but I'm just going to kind of play to you what was going through my mind. So I thought to myself, well, first of all, Carrie started out as an entrepreneur working with her husband, right? Or husband -to -be, actually, at that point, right?
Carrie (02:59.118)
Yeah.
Carrie (03:26.062)
Yeah. Yep.
Adrienne (03:27.928)
So working with your husband in an entrepreneurial venture when you're first starting out on your journey, your life journey together is pretty intense, right? And that was incredibly successful. And then through that, you grew your own business and had multiple children along the way. So you're a mom.
You know, you are a business owner, you are working with your husband, all of those things just by way of doing them are so incredibly impressive. But then you went on to actually build an asset and sell your company and then start another one. All of these things and blow past the million dollar mark. So all of those things I think combined make you
a unicorn or a quadruple threat or whatever it is. And I just want to sort of hear about all of it. So let's kind of go back for the people that don't know you. Can you talk a little bit about where your journey in entrepreneurship sort of started?
Carrie (04:42.21)
And first of all, thank you very much. I'm nowhere near a billion dollar valuation of a unicorn, but I do love unicorns and think they're magical. So in that sense, I certainly accept and honor that compliment. So thank you. Okay. So to start, I came from a background first, I worked on the brand side in marketing, and then I worked in media sales. And I met my husband who wanted to get married and wanted a larger than life wife.
Adrienne (04:45.88)
Ha ha
Carrie (05:11.022)
And I don't mean like if he wanted to invite his high school friends or even elementary school friends. I mean, if he were on this She Leads podcast, he'd say, hello listeners, I would love for you to watch me get married. Now, I had had a starter marriage that my parents paid a lot of a wedding for. I was 24 years old. I was divorced by 26. I was humiliated and embarrassed and felt like, talk about a...
Adrienne (05:24.248)
Hahaha.
Carrie (05:38.19)
The investment of that wedding was really a personal point of pain for me. And yet, so I wasn't gonna spend money on a wedding like that again, but I wanted my future husband to have the wedding that he wanted. And so since I came from a brand and media sales background, I started brainstorming, right? Like any business usually starts with a problem that needs to be solved, right? I'm like, okay, how am I gonna build this wedding?
Adrienne (05:45.656)
Hmm.
Carrie (06:06.606)
So I ended up pitching the minor league affiliate of the New York Mets because Dave and I both loved baseball. I actually proposed this idea to Dave and he loved it and I immediately thought, shit. So we wanted to do it. We go to the minor league affiliate of the New York Mets. We say, we want to buy out your sponsorship for the night. Minor league baseball is super cheap. They say, okay, we say we're going to call it our field of dreams instead of Pepsi tossing t -shirts into the audience in between innings. 1 -800 -FLOWERS is going to toss bridal bouquets.
Adrienne (06:16.568)
Ha ha.
Carrie (06:33.55)
and it's gonna be cute and it's gonna be campy and it's gonna be fun and we'll get married on the field in front of the entire audience and every single person we wanna invite to this wedding and we'll have a little party in the back and we'll raise money for charity and hopefully get some press for the sponsors. So the Brooklyn Cyclones thought we were nuts but we said, okay, let's try it. We all decided together, collectively we do it. $100 ,000 in sponsorships later and $25 ,000 raised for the National MS Society.
We had an epic wedding in front of 5 ,000 friends, family, and strangers. And then we also got a ton of press. I mean, this hit on every possible angle, right? It was a sponsored wedding, so that was kind of edgy or icky, right? People didn't know how they felt. And yet it was the sweetest story of baseball and charity and all of the feel -goods. And it was interesting. So we got mass coverage. And so after this happened,
Adrienne (07:08.567)
you
Carrie (07:30.766)
all of the sponsors came to us and said, this was amazing, you guys, we would bet on you, do something again. We weren't gonna have a sponsored baby, we certainly were not gonna have a sponsored divorce. And so we decided that we would start a word of mouth marketing company instead. We had no idea what we were doing, neither of us had any agency experience, but we started. And when we did, right around the exact same time, Facebook opened beyond the college market. And so when that used to be for you youngins,
Adrienne (07:38.552)
You
Carrie (08:00.11)
Facebook was just exclusively for kids in college. And we had obviously already graduated college. We had no idea what Facebook was. But when they opened beyond the college market, we were early adopters and we said, my goodness, social media is the fastest form word of mouth. Let's pivot very quickly and be a social media agency. And because of that choice, we were able to grow and scale very quickly and build one of the first social media agencies out there.
Adrienne (08:25.912)
Mm, that is so incredible. And I mean, it's sort of like, I love this. And I teach entrepreneurship at NYU. And I talk a lot about, you know, you need to start with your passion and then very quickly turn on your business brain, right? Because you don't necessarily want your passion to get in the way of making good strategic business decisions.
So that sounds exactly like what you did. And timing and the era played a really big part. But you saw that opportunity and capitalized on it.
Carrie (09:08.622)
That's right. And I do not think there is anything wrong with acknowledging that timing is a really important factor. The thing that we have to think about is that that timing exists for everyone, right? There's a movement. At that time, there was a social media movement. Then there's an AI movement, you know, all of these things. And the people who are prepared to capitalize on that are the people that truly succeed, the people that are ready that...
Go for it. You know that that's that's where it is. It definitely was a lot of timing and also a lot of pushing past fear and a lot of hard work.
Adrienne (09:48.792)
Yeah. Now, you also during this time, I would say, became very interested in helping women, women entrepreneurs. So can you just talk a little bit about where that sort of started? Because that's very much what you're doing right now. So when did that kind of blossom and turn into the amazing things that you're doing now?
Carrie (10:15.918)
Okay, so Dave and I start running the company.
It's exciting, it's crazy, we're scaling quickly and it's challenging. And we grow and grow and grow and Dave is the leader and I'm the COO and it's happening. And we're doing really well because we're growing and hiring but we're not really making that much money yet because you can't, a lot of times when you're focused on revenue, you can't always manage revenue and profitability at the same exact time. One is really the focus and the other is secondary. So we were focused on scale.
In 2013, which was just about six years later, we had achieved that scale and largely due to Dave's leadership. And Dave was really a visionary in this space. And because he was a visionary, he saw the opportunity to do other stuff. So he's like, Carrie, I want to raise funds and do a software. I want to go do this. I want to do that. And so we made the decision that I was going to run likeable and he was going to go onto his next venture.
and start launching new things because it also diversified our business opportunities together as one unit, right?
So when I took over in 2013, there were a few things. First of all, social media was no longer new. Second of all, we did not have a ton of profits. It was very scary. And third of all, most of the people I saw in the space were loud, extroverted, and male. So this was the time Gary Vaynerchuk is exploding. And I'm like, my god, I'm nothing like Gary Vaynerchuk. He's awesome. But I'm nothing like him, nothing. So I'm sitting there.
Carrie (11:51.342)
about to run this company, I'm like, shit, what the heck am I gonna do? And what I decided to do, because I had so much anxiety, like sharing about myself, I really wanted to think about how I could help other women and also share their stories, and maybe I could build my personal brand and my network in the process. And so what I ended up doing was I started a podcast called All the Social Ladies, and I interviewed women at brands. So these were good potential prospects, but I did so without a real agenda. So I interviewed them, I told them
Adrienne (12:14.236)
No.
Carrie (12:21.248)
their stories. These were people who don't typically get their stories told. They're not at the CMO level, certainly not most of them. They're people who are midway in their careers, who are learning about social media, etc. So, started that podcast, ended up growing my network and doubling the business that way, but I also found what was truly my passion.
And my passion was really understanding and hearing the stories about these women who have defied the odds. Because I started expanding my reach. I wrote a book called Work at Secrets for Success from the Boldest Women in Business.
And I wasn't yet sure how I would really make a living off of that. You talk about passion, I just sort of looked at it as like a side project. And yes, it helped me grow likeable and that was great because I grew my network, but I didn't know if I was gonna make that my living or not. It was only when I decided to sell likeable in 2021.
and Dave and I got together and said, okay, let's do this. And then I had to lead that process as the leader of likable. That I realized that that experience was different as a woman than it is as a man. And that is where I realized that I could best help.
was taking women entrepreneurs, treating their lifestyle businesses, help them turn them into life -changing assets, building companies so that we can exit and do it all again, extracting wealth to provide the security and power that we so rightly deserve. And I felt like once I came up with that, I was like, okay, I know why I was put on earth. I know it, I know it, I always knew personally. I always felt very connected and present in my thoughts.
Adrienne (14:03.16)
Mm.
Carrie (14:11.968)
family space. But in my workspace, you know, this was a business that Dave and I founded together and then Dave left. And so I always felt like I was managing his business and this was like a project that we were doing. But when I founded my next venture, which is the whisper group, which is an exit readiness advisory practice for women owned businesses, I really felt like I was living in the most ultimate version of my truth.
Adrienne (14:38.296)
I am so excited about the whisper group. Just the fact that there is a consultancy run by someone who has been through it all, right? And you're putting the message out there that women who start businesses can build something of value that is sellable. That right there, and I don't love the word empowering.
But that whole idea is so empowering and inspiring because I don't think that when women go into business that they necessarily think about, well, what comes after, what comes in five years, seven years, three years even, right? We don't necessarily go in to get out. And so that is a huge mindset.
shift and actually something that I've also been thinking about very much when it comes to She Leads Media because it's an incredible brand and it's been around for a while, has a lot of traction, but thinking about it from a different perspective, how can I extract the value that I have put in and built over all of these years and maybe move on to something that's going to grow me? That's exciting.
Carrie (16:08.206)
That's right. And that's the thing is like, I think it's a paradigm shift. When we read about exits, we read about huge companies. We read that Instagram was acquired for a billion dollars by Facebook or Meta at the time. And...
We don't think like, I have this business that produces a couple million in revenue or even a few hundred thousand in revenue. It's a profitable business and I could potentially sell this and go on to do whatever's next for me. That's my goal. Really. I'm very motivated by freedom. And so I think providing women with the freedom to make choices, I think is really key here. And I, yeah, it's the ultimate. That's, that's everything. And for me, you know, with the whisper group, I, I wanted to
Adrienne (16:48.568)
Hmm. It's the ultimate.
Carrie (16:55.936)
to do a couple things. One thing that was really important because there are so many coaches in the world, there are so many advisors in the world.
The only people who are qualified to be whisper advisors are women who have sold businesses. And what I do is I match up a woman in a particular type of business with another woman who's exited in a business like that. So for instance, I would advise on agencies, but you as a media company, I would match you with a woman who's sold a media company. So they have a perspective, they've been in your actual shoes. I think that level of competence and experience is essential.
essential. And so that was like a really key part of the whisper group for me.
Adrienne (17:39.)
How do you get women to, before they even reach out to you, right? So the people that reach out to you right now, they're in the mindset of like, okay, I think I have something of value here, can you help me? But even before that, even when women are starting businesses, they're a year in or so, how can you get them to consider that in whatever timeframe they have that their business
can be sellable so that they're building a business that is sellable.
Carrie (18:13.934)
That's right. I mean, ideally the day you should start thinking about your exit is the day you open the company. when you're thinking about what the business could be. And that requires a lot of education because especially for women, when I ask you, why did you start your business? You will go on a very inspired and beautiful talk about why you started. But if I say, how do you think your business will end? You will become totally flummoxed. You'll say, I don't, I don't know.
Adrienne (18:40.76)
Yeah.
Carrie (18:42.734)
First of all, it's uncomfortable to talk about exits. It's uncomfortable to think about it. And also, I think we just, a lot of times, envision failure. And, we'll just close it down, or, and then, you know, whatever, I'll give it to someone. And really, there's just so much more opportunity than that. So the way that I help...
Adrienne (18:52.216)
Hmm.
Carrie (18:57.294)
people realize that it's just through my content. I mean, I think for the first year of this business, I'm focused much less on monetization in the first year and much more on education. And that's a very hard shift for me as somebody who went from building a very profitable business that was doing very well and all of that, and then going into, nope, I don't care if I make a dollar off of this for the first year because the first thing I have to do is educate.
Adrienne (19:08.568)
Yeah.
Adrienne (19:25.56)
Yeah.
Carrie (19:26.446)
It's a hard shift, but it's a necessary one because when you're carving out a sort of a newer category and listen, exit planning isn't new, but.
Right now, I really haven't seen exit planning that is specifically focused towards women -owned businesses. And so I really need to focus on education, which means I have to lean into my own content. I have to lean into all of that. And that's deeply uncomfortable. Remember, I built a business by telling other women's stories. Now I have to make it as much about me as I do about all of the women whose stories I still tell. Now I tell stories of exited female founders, but I also have to tell
Adrienne (19:41.592)
Yeah.
Adrienne (20:04.536)
Hmm.
Carrie (20:05.296)
tell my own and have my own strong point of view and be out there all the time. And that's a big change.
Adrienne (20:12.536)
Yeah, but you're really, I mean, I think the whisper group is of course going to be successful because as I hear you saying that you are such an incredible communicator and you connect with people on such an emotional heart -based level that you don't need to be this extroverted Gary V type in order to get your message across. You can...
be exactly who you are. And that is so welcoming to so many women entrepreneurs that we love Gary Vee, but we're not going to go talk to him because we're afraid of him. We're afraid of him. We're afraid of what he's going to say to us. Afraid of the questions he asks us. Yeah.
Carrie (20:56.593)
Well, he's great. He's actually a super nice guy. I just think I'm really, I hate this word is overused, but I'm really focused on being completely authentic and in the way that it's different than it used to be. So I think previously I would be like, especially because I had a business called likable, I was really afraid to offend or have a strong point of view. And so now what I'm doing,
Adrienne (21:21.784)
Yes. Yeah.
Carrie (21:25.038)
is I'm putting out a stronger point of view, but then I'm providing a behind the scenes about how that feels in that process. And that is the authenticity that I think is hitting in a strong way right now. At least it's what seems to be resonating. And so I think just being honest about the content that you put out and...
Adrienne (21:27.16)
Mm.
Carrie (21:48.814)
just real about it as you're building, it's great. And ideally, the benefit of having a company like this after you've sold is that you've built enough of a nest egg that you can afford to focus for a year on like, okay, I'm just gonna build this without worrying about revenue for a whole year. And I'm gonna learn how that feels in my gut. Like it's a tremendous privilege to be able to do it. But I think a lot more women could do it.
Adrienne (22:07.416)
Yeah.
Carrie (22:15.726)
if we collectively learn how to exit better and bigger and better.
Adrienne (22:20.248)
Yeah.
Well, that's what I was thinking. The women that are coming to you for seeking your advice and the advice of the other advisors on your team, what is the biggest challenge that they have in even thinking about exiting?
Carrie (22:45.838)
There's so many challenges. So first of all, they think about exiting, but they may or may not really be ready for exit. They call because they want to set some kind of exit plan, but so much about exiting is not just about the business. It's about you personally. It's about making sure that you're ready for what's next. Over 80 % of business owners who sell experience some form of regret.
Adrienne (23:00.152)
Mm.
Carrie (23:07.086)
So my goal is to get you ready and to live the next chapter of your life without regret. A lot of times it's because they didn't plan financially properly or they miss having a team. All of that experience is very real. So it's really the whole psychological behind it. And the other thing is that we tend to pour everything back into our businesses as women.
Adrienne (23:24.408)
Yeah.
Carrie (23:33.518)
Most women I speak to make very, very little or take very little for themselves, even those who have successful businesses. And the reframe that I want people to think is that every dollar that you extract from the business contributes to the multiple for which your business will be acquired. So in other words, the profit you make when you are valuing your business, it will be a multiple of that profit. So let's say you make a hundred thousand in a year and you are a business that's valued at
exacts, that means you're worth $600 ,000. So every dollar that you pull out to get towards that profit goal, you pull out, you take it for yourself, you spend it, do whatever, it's actually worth six in the long run. In that hypothetical example, every dollar you put out,
Adrienne (24:16.952)
Hmm.
Carrie (24:20.974)
pull out is worth six. So if you pull that dollar out and you invest it and you are really, really good with your money and start thinking about it and then you sell, you are in great financial shape, great. And so I would like for women to pull more out of their businesses. Not so much that it hurts the business, but I don't want us to be afraid of making money.
Adrienne (24:42.744)
That is so smart because why in the world would a company want to come in and buy another company that is not throwing off profit, right? Like, why would you do that? They don't.
Carrie (24:53.582)
They don't. They don't. They don't. They don't. Unless you are in like
I'm sure Instagram had no profit when they sold for a billion dollars, right? Unless you're a behemoth tech company that has investors, that has a whole, like for most women, this is not the reality. No one wants to buy your business if it's not making money. Doesn't mean you have to make money in the first year. Doesn't mean, you know, doesn't mean that you have to make money all the time, but you need to have a good plan for how to get there and be able to show proof.
Adrienne (25:14.584)
Yeah.
Adrienne (25:27.48)
This is so smart and I just actually read something earlier and it wasn't about a woman on business, but it was about a business that was simply a newsletter. It was a newsletter that the person started it one year ago and sold it for over a million dollars.
Carrie (25:49.073)
100%. If you go to, Adrian, this is really good for your listeners. If they go to theygotacquired .com, that is a female -founded business, Lexi Grant.
Adrienne (25:54.84)
Mm.
Carrie (25:57.55)
TheyGotAcquired .com has tons of stories like this. Businesses that exit for six or seven figures that are like small content businesses and things like that. You have to normalize seeing these types of exits because the only thing we really see are so over glamorized, you know, the big ones. I love the big ones. It's amazing what those women have done, the very few and far between, like the Sarah Blakely of the world and like,
Adrienne (26:19.352)
Yes.
Carrie (26:27.502)
looking at Spanx, amazing. But like also when you're sitting and you're just crossing that million dollar mark.
or even at six figures in revenue, it's real hard to relate. And so I think looking for relatable exits is great. It's great. You can build several businesses in your lifetime that will help you acquire wealth and enjoy your life and build the type of business that you want. Once you learn how to do it, it's very, very exciting.
Adrienne (26:41.496)
Yes.
Adrienne (26:59.352)
Mm, this is so exciting. And one of the other things that I love about this too is that when women have wealth, we do so much to help our families, our communities. So I'm listening to you and the thought that pops in my head is like, we make it so difficult on ourselves. We're almost trying to prove that we can have this like ultimate business, but maybe
We need to think about starting a small business, selling it, going to the next one, doing it. It's almost like real estate investing. You start out with an apartment.
Carrie (27:35.95)
Right? Right?
Exactly. I mean, you could build this. Okay, I'll give you an example. You could build a small services business that just uses your brain consulting or anything else. You can build out that business, get a couple people, sell it, use the proceeds to buy a laundromat, have a laundromat, which is one of the most profitable businesses, have it produce income for you, take the income from that, acquire another business. Like there's so much of that that you can do. And I think, I think all the every our paths were not a monolith.
Every path is different, but there are so many ways once you understand how to build a sellable business, it's just really a game changer.
Adrienne (28:20.888)
Yeah, and it is definitely not something that is spoken about even in entrepreneurial circles. We're not talking about what's a business that's sellable. How do we then go buy a laundromat or any other quote unquote boring business that throws off a lot of cash for us? We're not taught that aspect of entrepreneurship.
I think that that would be such exciting content to just wrap my head around because that is not how we're taught.
Carrie (28:56.238)
Yeah, you should for that for buying businesses follow Cody Sanchez. She's amazing. Brilliant Latina entrepreneur. She's killer. Cody, C -O -D -I -E Sanchez. She's awesome. And I think the other piece that I will say about the whisper group, which could be beneficial for your listeners, is that the reason it's called the whisper group is not just because it's like sort of taboo to talk about exits or we feel uncomfortable or...
Adrienne (29:03.08)
my god.
Carrie (29:25.006)
Also, we need a level of confidentiality, especially if we have employees. But it's also because WISPR stands for the seven tenants that I believe is required to build a healthy, scalable, and saleable business. And that's your why, your how, your income, your secret sauce, your profit, your executive team. And if you are a solopreneur, your executive team is your processes and your roar factor, which is when you go to sell this business, how confident are you going to be when having your financials ripped apart and all the stuff that happens in due diligence?
So that is actually why we're called the Whisper Group. And that is, I give off a lot of free content about using that Whisper methodology to help get your business really sale ready from day one. Wow, thank you.
Adrienne (30:08.248)
Brilliant. I mean, so brilliant. And those are the pillars of what's needed to have a profitable business. And so many times, though, that financial piece I hear from so many women entrepreneurs, it's the thing that they are so scared about, right?
Carrie (30:31.662)
Ugh. Terrified. Terrified.
Adrienne (30:34.328)
terrified of the numbers. And that's also something that I feel like we need to get so much more comfortable and just educate ourselves about and play, you know, not make it so serious. Like if we spend, you know, $20 more that our whole life is going to fall apart. We're so afraid.
Carrie (30:55.214)
Well, the thing is, anticipatory anxiety is so much worse than actually dealing with reality. Like, if we don't know our finances well, I'm really anxious when I don't know my finances well. So when I see something and I'm like, shit, you know, Carrie, you're in trouble, like I will.
Adrienne (31:10.808)
Yeah.
Carrie (31:18.222)
tackle that and I can address it as long as I understand it. But I think what happens is we often avoid it because most of us didn't go into business because we love math and because we think QuickBooks is really cool.
Adrienne (31:28.312)
Right.
Carrie (31:30.414)
Like that's not, you know, we go into business because we have an idea, we love something, you know, all of these things. And by the way, numbers was a learned skill for me. I'm definitely more of a creative person than a numbers person, but I did learn to, and it probably takes me longer by the way, than the average numbers person to do the numbers. However,
I did learn it and tackle it and it made me an infinitely better entrepreneur, negotiator, and certainly helped me at Exit.
Adrienne (31:59.768)
yeah. I want to just touch on one thing, too, because I don't want this to be lost on everybody. Because sometimes you hear from women entrepreneurs, and you don't really understand what they're contending with, like, personally. You have, outside of the business and everything that you're doing, you have a rich, full, busy ass life. So I mean,
Carrie (32:26.926)
Yes.
Adrienne (32:28.312)
This is a cliche question, but sort of how do you do all of that?
Carrie (32:37.198)
I do all of that by having a partner who is 50 -50 in all things. All things. I do that by having immense privilege to be able to afford help when I need it. I do that by having, this is random, but I think it was a little, it's both hard and easy, but it was a little bit easier having kids with a wide age range.
I have kids ranging in age from 21 to nine. And so it's sort of like we're all hands on deck. Like everyone's in, the nine -year -old gets on board, the 21 -year -old and 17 -year -old help when they need to. Like we communicate early and often. It's not perfect. I think while I was growing likable,
Adrienne (33:13.496)
you
Carrie (33:30.03)
I was fairly balanced in terms of making sure that I had enough time always for our kids. And I think right now, my kids are older, so it's easier. But if I was this passionate in the same way, I think it would have been really hard. Because now, I like, you know, my kids are, two of them are out of the house right now. One's in a college program for summer, and one of them is 21. And then I only have the little one. So yes, there are baseball games, and there are these things, and it's hard.
But I come from now, I am afforded the privilege of A, having a husband who works from home also and does after school and is an amazing partner in every way. And B, when I need it, I have support. And so I think that's how it's freaking hard. It's really hard. There's no answer for this. It's hard. And the mom guilt and all of it is hard.
Adrienne (34:16.376)
Yeah.
It is hard. Yeah.
Adrienne (34:26.552)
Yeah, and it's real. It's real. It's not just, yeah. My kids are older and despite them not being here, which does give more space, at least I never stop thinking about them. And they call me for such random things that I have to, I don't have to, but I choose to put everything else aside and help them with whatever it is that they have, because no matter what,
Carrie (34:29.358)
Yeah.
Adrienne (34:55.832)
They're my number one priority as much as I love my business and everything else that I do. It gets pushed aside for my kids and I feel like the way that I am, it's always going to be like that, but it makes it challenging as a business owner.
Carrie (35:11.758)
Yeah, and also when you do prioritize business at all, there's a lot of guilt that goes into that. You know, we're conditioned that, you know, being a mother is the be all end all. And it has brought me great joy and it has been a key part of my life.
I love my children with all my heart and simultaneously I actually feel really passionate about what I'm doing right now and I am all in on that too and that's okay. I'm like...
Adrienne (35:42.904)
Yeah.
Carrie (35:44.366)
It's funny, my mom said to me the other day, this is a very, actually vulnerable story, my mom said to me the other day, she was like, my God, I saw, I was reading something on the whisper group and you didn't mention your kids. And I was like, so I was like, she didn't mean it. Like, I don't know where she was even looking because I almost always talk about my kids. But I was like, my God, I'm a terrible mother.
Adrienne (35:57.816)
Thanks, Mom. No, of course.
Carrie (36:05.87)
I didn't talk about my business. And like the amount of shit that we put on ourselves, it's just, it's unreal. And that like, it broke me. Like I was like, my God, maybe I'm not prioritizing my kids enough. I mentioned my kids everywhere, but, but it was, it was really, it caught me deep. Leave it to, leave it to mom. I'm sure I do that to my girl too. She will definitely listen by the way. I love her.
Adrienne (36:05.912)
You
Adrienne (36:15.224)
Yeah, it is unreal.
Adrienne (36:23.)
Yeah, I know.
Adrienne (36:27.16)
Leave it to mom to really cut you down when you're feeling great.
Carrie (36:35.47)
She's the best.
Adrienne (36:36.087)
Of course, no, it's so great. And it doesn't come from any other of a place, but just like being a mom, you know? I mean, yeah, yeah, but that's hard too, right? Like being a daughter and holding up expectations of your family and your mom and all of that too. You know, my mom, I love her beyond everything in the world, but she'll say things to me like, you know, you're doing too much.
Carrie (36:43.63)
Wait, what does that mean?
Adrienne (37:03.224)
you really need to rest and not extend yourself so much. What are you doing, Adrian? And it comes from a place of love at the same time. I'm like, but you don't understand my drive. My drive does get me exhausted. I might cry and be tired, but I need to do that so that I can then move on. Yeah.
Carrie (37:15.15)
Of course.
Carrie (37:27.918)
Of course. Absolutely.
Adrienne (37:30.456)
This is such great stuff, Carrie. my gosh. How can people find out about you, the whisper group, get their heads in the space of exit?
Carrie (37:43.694)
Okay, here are all the ways you can go to wearethewispergroup .com. That's about the whisper group. You can always visit CarrieKirpen .com, which has all stuff on me. You can also go to closetheexitgap .com, which has a report on the disparities between exits of male -founded businesses and female -founded businesses. And stay tuned because we've got some big announcements coming soon about upcoming content that you might be interested in.
Adrienne (38:13.032)
I am so excited. Thank you so much for sharing and just being vulnerable and genuine and you, as you always are. I just really enjoyed our conversation and I can't wait to see what the whisper group does, the exits that it produces and the shifts in mindset that it creates.
Carrie (38:36.161)
Thank you and thank you for having me on Adrienne. I love what you're doing. Love it.