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Janet Fish
Hi and welcome to the Breakaway Entrepreneur podcast, where we explore the entrepreneur mindset and the characters and traits that lead to success. I’m your host, Janet Fish. And in this episode we talk about making up for lost time with Dot Boyd. Dot is a senior safety specialist whose personal experience taking care of her parents led to her current role advocating for seniors. Dot helps them live safely and with dignity by using the latest technology providing peace of mind for the entire family. I hope you enjoy our chat. So welcome Dot. I’m so happy to have you on the podcast this afternoon. How you doing?
Dot Boyd
I’m doing great. I’m excited to be here.
Janet Fish
Me too. So I’ve known you. I don’t know, maybe three years now. And there’s just so many fascinating things about you. But I just like you to share a little bit with the listeners. Kind of a little bit about your personal background a little bit about your business background just so that I could get to know and love you as much as I do.
Dot Boyd
Oh, Okay. Well, let’s see here. Where to start, right. That’s always everyone’s big question. um I am one of these folks who’s had to reinvent myself a few times in life. So, you know, it’s my new chapter of the last couple of years.
Janet Fish
How many times have you reinvented yourself?
Dot Boyd
four. At least You know, when when I was an employee and a company gets bought out or things change and you move on and then it’s a starting over kind of process. So I seem to have done that a few times in my life.
Janet Fish
Okay, We’re gonna talk a little bit about that, cause that’s kind of what I think. A lot of the listeners have experienced that So, Jason So what do you love to do? Tell me what you love about your business. I know you’ve reinvented yourself going to talk a little bit more about this. I wanted a little bit about your personal business, but let’s start with because I know your history. Yeah, I’ve known you through one of those transitions right last couple of years, right? So talk a little bit about what you do now with the senior caregiver. And then, um, kind of how you got into that? Because I know there’s some personal stuff along those lines of how you found
Dot Boyd
Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. All right. So I mean, I am in the industry of senior care and Senior Service is And, um and I provide protection for seniors and others, you know, with modern medical alerts. I always say, don’t look at Grandma’s medical alert on, um, thankfully, because I had I would have a tough time promoting them if they did. Um, and I came about it because I had another business. And a friend of mine was an investor in this company in Electronic Caregiver. And, um, he knew a little bit about my history of taking care of my mom after my dad passed away, and he just thought this would be right up my alley and that I was probably open for a change. You know, I was probably looking for something, and he was right. I was and, um So I took a look at the company, and I thought, Wow, this fits the bill. Because when I was my mom’s caregiver, I created what I called team Judy. My mom was named Judy, and I had this. This great resource is all around me. for her care and said to me they were teamed, Judy. At that point, I knew at some point I wanted to do something in the senior industry. But it wasn’t something I want to do and go back to school for, for all these certifications, for being a geriatrician or all these other things. And I’m so this really kind of fell in my lap. And I thought, you know, this fits that bill. And, um and I took off with it, and that was just almost two years ago.
Janet Fish
So I knew you when you were Javita coffee or you were the coffee? Yes. Coffee woman. Um, talk a little bit about that transition from I mean, this is all about entrepreneurial ship, and you’ve obviously been one for a long time, and we’ll get into that a little bit more. But talk about that shift because I didn’t get the shift that the business I’m in isn’t working, so I need to go do something else. Right? There may be a component of that. I don’t know. Um, but what drew you from one place to the other? Um, and was your level of success in the coffee business. Did that have anything to do with the change?
Dot Boyd
It did. It did very much. So, um, I think one of the things that I think entrepreneurs do is they they generally, if they’re smart, make it look good. You all I think you know, unless you’re with your trusted advisors or your closest friends or family you don’t want to share. You know how poorly you might be doing At times, I think in your business with the general public, because they want to have confidence in you. And they want to think that you’re gonna be around for to serve them if you if they’re your customer or your business partner. So, um, what I found with that model is it’s You have to be a really good recruiter. That’s my experience. Everybody has a different experience in direct sales or network marketing.
Janet Fish
So you were in a multi level marketing multilevel marketing company. I would agree with out of seeing that a lot.
Dot Boyd
Yeah, And what I How I came even into that company really is because I came from the natural foods industry. So becoming a distributor for natural product line beverages made sense to me. I’ve believed in it. I had been living that life for a number of years and my husband as well. So this was just a new business model to me, but of products that I loved and believed in. So I thought that would make it easy. Then that was, you know, Hey, we’re talking about mistakes, right? I would say, definitely wasn’t easy, but it was easy to fall in love with the products I still drink. Hm. I still have customers. I still have. Someone might still have some too. They’re really wonderful. All natural products. The business model was new to me. And, um, maybe not the best fit for me. But if I were just to get customers Hey, great. But in a business model, where your income and see And I was trying to to do it as a full time income. So to have it be your income to do a full time rather than having a job on the side or a full time job and do that on the side. I just plunged in as though this was gonna be it.
Janet Fish
And would you say that the hardest part of that experience was recruiting other people cause you did a great job of selling coffee and drinks. Um and you are by far even made a note of it, One of the hardest workers I know. So it would you say that it was the recruiting part, That was it was the challenge or or was it really a challenge? Because I kind of got the feeling that you came into the caregiver senior caregiver opportunity not because you were looking for something else, but because it came upon you and it was so compelling to you. And it touched you so that that was kind of the reason you switched.
Dot Boyd
it really did. And had I been doing really well in the other business, I might have had a tougher time making a decision, really? To switch to being ah, senior safety specialists and independent consultant for electronic caregiver. Um, doing that full time and having just my Jovita business, you know, doing what it does on the side. I I don’t work it. I’m kind of a person who throws myself into one thing, and I’m a very linear that way. It’s just how I’m wired, so I’m not a person who necessarily come run multiple businesses. At one time, I throw myself into one thing and do it. So it was that it was a beautiful fit for me and the right timing. Um, and I you know, I I knew I could make a difference. I knew that people made a difference for me, going through what I went through with my mom and a little bit with my dad, as they aged, and so it’s just resonated on so many levels. So and that’s that’s why I it’s such a great fit, Um, at a great time in my life, I think,
Janet Fish
Yeah, so I want to Before we go on, I want to go back to, um, that time because I think we all experience it, the challenges of whatever job it is, whatever entrepreneurial, right experience you’re in. And I know we’ve talked about this in some of our group meetings, but talk about how you overcome some of those challenges, how you get up every day and do it when the paychecks aren’t coming in to the degree that you feel like I’m working really hard, but the money’s not coming yet.
Dot Boyd
Yeah. Oh, yeah, that real. That’s really because if you are an entrepreneur, you know, and I think you said in your your first your inaugural podcast for folks to believe it’s going to happen fast. Yeah, that’s gonna be rare. Yeah, that’s truly rare. Um, I fell into that, though in in my Jovita business of thinking, Well, gosh, it’s It’s what I’ve done for 10 years. It’s now for products, but it was the business model. It was a whole new world for me. So I think people have to be really aware that, you know, fat and fast isn’t necessarily good. Because you could you could have ah, fast built business with the rocky foundation of So, you know, so, um, as far as, um, getting up in the morning, You know, sometimes it’s hard. I’ll tell you, because you know, I’m gonna point my life for a lot of folks in my age bracket are retiring. They’re retiring with state pensions, federal pensions or gosh, they were some of these people who had a career in one place for 30 or 40 years, which I can’t imagine. But when I was 25 23 when I had my first really great job as an out outside sales person, I saw a guy retiring after 25 years and at our sales meeting at that, well, that’ll be me. Of course it would be me. That’s what you do, right? And it wasn’t me because I saw the writing on the wall and left the company when I knew it would go out of business in. I said two years and it was a year and 1/2. So um, and I was pretty young then. So the bottom line is, when I look around and everybody is some people I know out having a great time. But when I hear from clients and their families, Oh, thank you dot so much, you know, Mom had to push her button. She fell down in a normally she delayed there all day. She remembered she had her pendant on. She she pushed it. The operator stayed on with her. Help came and we got called, and we were there by mom’s side, too, and we’ve never had that experience before. And so thank you dot So those kinds of testimonials and I get them often are really? What? Just, you know, I think all of us want to know we’ve made an impact on my life. We want to know that we’ve We’ve left a mark somehow
Janet Fish
change somebody’s life ,
Dot Boyd
change somebody’s life. And sometimes I even get to save someone’s life. And that’s pretty profound. Yeah. So I tried to get my butt out of bed. You know, on those days when maybe it’s not so easy, because, well, I know who you know. Who needs me today.
Janet Fish
Yeah. So when you when you left the job, um, that you knew the company was going to go under. Why didn’t you just go get another job? When did you know or when did you When did you have the idea that being an entrepreneur was for you versus just going and getting another job?
Dot Boyd
Interestingly enough, it it really wasn’t until later, because that was 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry. And then I took a break, and then, um, I ended up with the really an outside sales again in the natural products industry. And I love that industries. If it’s a wonderful industry, colorful, you can be yourself. And I was I built a territory from scratch again. The 1st 1 was from scratch, pretty much. And the next one in natural products was from scratch. So in many ways, when you are an outside sales person working from home and your boss might live in Denver and the Home office is in New York, you’re an entrepreneur in a lot of ways. However, you got this little parachute of a paycheck coming in every month, you know? And you got
Janet Fish
a nice That’s a big differentiator, huh? You
Dot Boyd
got a nice expense report and all of that. So our expense budget So it wasn’t until and then and then I ran the trade association for the natural products industry, which was in some ways very entrepreneurial. Um, and I was an independent contractor, but I treated myself like an employee. So think about that too. You forget you know the difference between the two, but for me when it hit me. Was. When I took time off work out of my career pretty much at its height to take care of my mom, and I didn’t understand the impact of that. And we That’s a conversation for any day. But but if you want to go off on that at some point for anyone listening out there who might be stuck with making decisions, what do I do? Mom or Dad needs my help. Um, I met me. I’ve got my business over here. How do I balance this so we can have that conversation, But for me, it was after my mom passed away, and it was kind of like Now what? Now what on the economy had tanked. Um, you know, I My trade association, closed in basically 2009 but we, you know, kind of dragged it out till early 2010 and then I was off for a few years. So coming back into the workforce was a whole new world and looking at the opportunities, looking at things I could be passionate about and looking at the pay associated with it like, Oh, my God, I made that 20 years ago. I made about 30 years ago. This is not and it was It was time to take a look at other things. And there was also I knew deep down I had to make up for lost time. I’m not 25. I’m not 35. I had to make up for lost time, and I think you have a better shot at that. If you can chart your own course, whether you are, you know, in my case, I am an independent consultant, So I do represent a product line I can take on other product lines to as long as they’re not competing. So there’s there’s, ah, you know, it’s a hybrid of sorts. In a way I didn’t, you know, didn’t start. I didn’t create the products that I sell. That’s
Janet Fish
a whole other story. Well, and in my mind, my thought pattern is you don’t have to create the product. The differentiator for me as far as what an entrepreneur is versus one who’s not. Is there a paycheck coming? If you don’t do anything, that may be a horrible way to say it. But right when I was an employee a long time ago, I got a paycheck. I worked hard. I didn’t work this hard. What? I got a paycheck, but we know being entrepreneurs if you’re not out there or your team’s not out there because that’s certainly a growth pattern. But if someone’s not out there humping doing the work, then the money doesn’t come right. And so and I also think a good differentiator is Do you get leads? Like, Do you have to go find your own leads? Yes. Or does someone just give them to you
Dot Boyd
know, I’m not so lucky that that the company home offices out there, you know, beating the bushes in the in my market area and handing me leads. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Um, we have had conversations about that, but no, it’s all up to me.
Janet Fish
Yeah, I know it is. And I’ve seen you in action, right? Yeah. So, um, tell me what you d’oh to get leads. All right, so you’re You work for yourself. You’ve got this fabulous product. Yeah, we’ve been doing it for two and 1/2 years, so not our two years. Not a long time. Yeah, but what do you do? What? You wake up in the morning. You’re like, OK, I need more people to talk to. How do you get people to talk to?
Dot Boyd
Yeah, you know, and I guess that we all say it’s a numbers game. It’s a numbers game. I don’t care if you have a brick and mortar business, and you sell sandwiches or computers or whatever or you, You know, um, your office is your car, and wherever you go, whatever everything in between your online, whatever it is a numbers game. So for me, you know, I I focus on the senior population and anyone connected to the senior population. Anyone caring for them in the business of caring for them. Um, any organizations, you know, that our senior focus, whatever that might be, I could I could say that just about anybody could use my product. But I believe, and I’ve learned that if I look a because I could look a coffee that way Well, hey, there’s so many people drink coffee. How many of them wouldn’t want a natural weight loss? Coffee? Well, that’s different. They’re going to Starbucks or Petes or wherever somebody goes. Is is their ritual. It’s their habit. It’s what they care. It’s It’s part of their the fabric of their day or whatever they’re brewing at home. Having my little packet doesn’t mean just because they love coffee means that they want my mine, right?
Janet Fish
If you did say everyone, could I believe that you. Everyone could use your product. However, you can’t market to everybody. Yeah, that’s one of the things that makes me crazy. And my clients is Yeah, my everyone needs my product. Well, that’s great. Go to try to sell it to everybody. Yeah, like, think about who’s your niche and what’s their problem specifically, right? I’m worried about my parents because they’re old or my mother. Yes, she’s old, she lives alone. And if she falls, she could lay there for days. Yes,
Dot Boyd
she could lay there for days and the average length of time that she may lay there is 18 hours
Janet Fish
I mean, I just get what it I just got goose bumps just thinking about that, right? That’s a problem that, you see. That’s the
Dot Boyd
problem that I solved. So I do focus on the senior industry. However, I can help women living alone at any age teenagers, college girl, students, girls, whatever. But but I do really focus on the senior population. There’s no lack of seniors who are trying to protect their independence, whether they live at home, in the home they’ve owned for years, or they live in a senior apartment. It runs the gamut, so so I I really I have. I’ve analyzed my business. So when a lot of people were out plan on New Year’s Day, I spent hours sorting through all of my records for last year in a little bit the year before. But last year’s what really counted and I looked at Where’s my business coming from? Where is the bulk of it? And I was pretty much on target. For what? What was making sense. So I do a ton of network in the senior care industry. Thankfully, for me, our market area has a lot of events on a lot of built in opportunities to see people build relationships, meet them for coffee, whatever it might be, so they can and meet them at the office so I can show them why my product is superior to anything out there. Um, I ask, I’m bold. I asked for speaking opportunities all the time. I’d love to be a speaker at this event. I’d love to be a speaker with your staff, you know, love to be a speaker and a vendor at an event. Whatever it is, um, I’m asking for opportunities and I’m No, I do. Can’t wait for them to come to me. I’ve got to go out and get him. Make him happen.
Janet Fish
Well, And what I love what you said in I’ve actually referred. You know, some other people that work with seniors? Yes, right. So one of the messages I think here, which is really super important an awesome is find the people who have your client right and then actually go partner with them because they’ve got the people that you’re looking for. Anybody who’s doing anything with seniors is going to be someone you’re gonna want to talk to.
Dot Boyd
Absolutely. Yeah. And there’s no lack of people. There are people in two years I’ve not even met yet. Their people, their offices of, um, in home care companies and home health companies and placement agencies. I’m sure you haven’t even met yet. And I am pretty well networked and pretty well known. And there are still plenty of people for me to call on. Absolutely. And I’m not, and I love gold. When I do cold call, I just walk into an office and I say hello, and I I just start building report and you’d be surprised. I think people are afraid of cold calling because it seems like you see the no soliciting sign. Well, what if you solve a problem for their clients?
Janet Fish
That’s right. So talk. Let’s talk a little bit more about that because I think that the one of the biggest things that I hear from my clients is fear based. Oh, yeah, I’m not good at sales. Oh, are you know, and I will tell you cold calling has never been something that I’m excited about doing. However, when you look at it from the standpoint of I’m walking into an office or I’m walking into a networking event or whatever it is with people, I don’t know. And you ask them some questions that get to the heart of what the problem is that you solved. Do you know seniors do represented? You have parents are the aging? Are they worried about this? That the other thing just asking those questions to me, that’s like having a conversation right? That’s why I love this, because I get to have a conversation with really interesting and great people who, when you ask questions, their guard goes down because as my Dad used to say People love to talk about themselves. Just ask. Right? So you walk into an office? Yes. Say hi. I’m dot and you ask him some questions and they love to hear from you.
Dot Boyd
Yeah, no one’s throwing me out.
Janet Fish
No. One’s thrown you out. Yeah. And here’s the other thing. What’s the worst thing that could happen? They’d say, We don’t want you here. Please leave, right. Well, never happened. Maybe it will happen someday. But if that’s the worst thing that happens to you in a given day like that’s okay,
Dot Boyd
that’s okay. Don’t take it personally.
Janet Fish
Is their first world problems not? Right? So that’s awesome. I love that. I think that’s I think that’s great.
Dot Boyd
And I think it’s really all about finding out who makes the decisions in that company for the folks are trying to reach. And if you’re pleasant, if you’re not all sales e. And you know if you don’t come off as a sorry used car salesman because that’s what everybody thinks of, um, it’s about asking questions. It’s about getting to know them and asking them about their business. Yeah, because they want to talk about their business. They want to take talk about what they’re so good at on if a person goes in basically making a sales call with a stranger. Yeah, that’s not going. Very.
Janet Fish
Yeah, that’s not going very far. Gotta make it about them. Because I like to say they don’t care about you until they care about you. Yeah, So what? Okay, so we’ve talked about this a little bit, but I want to kind of circle back around to it, specifically. What traits do you think that you need to have as an entrepreneur to succeed? I mean, we’ve already talked about bold, yeah, lack of fear, but yeah, but characteristics inside that make entrepreneurs able to withstand all the things you need to do in order to be successful and survived.
Dot Boyd
Well, and I wouldn’t even say in my case that I don’t lack fear. Sometimes. I mean, I might sometimes and then I have to bring it full circle to and my husband is a great cheerleader for me, You know dot people respond to you. You got it. Just go. Go do it. Right. So, um ah, trait you have to have is you have to I think you have to really resonate with what it is you’re doing. So, like you’re an amazing business coach, you love it. I mean, in your off time and we’re having a glass of wine and having a conversation, you’re asking me questions about my business that I hadn’t even thought of yet. And you did that when I saw you a few weeks ago. And I was telling my husband today before I came over here for the interview was, you know, Janet asked me a question that I and I hadn’t worked from that angle yet. And that’s a $1,000,000 question.
Janet Fish
I don’t even know what that was.
Dot Boyd
You asked me how many customers do I need to have to be where I want to be financially, and I’ve been working toward the future, but I’ve not worked from the back number that what does it take? I look at how many new clients every month I’m aiming for, but I hadn’t looked at the overall picture but working it backwards, working at backwards. So to me, that’s the $1,000,000 question, and, um and so it’s clear to me you love what you do. You’re very good at us. Was a damn good Can I say that? Just do our damn good at what you do. And, um, very confident. So I I believe just in looking at you as an entrepreneur, you really have to have confidence in your product and your product. Maybe you ultimately your product is you first and foremost, because no matter what it is you offer, if people don’t feel that authenticity, if they don’t feel that you’re passionate about it, if they don’t feel that you could truly make a difference in their lives, they really don’t care, right? They’re not interested. People are like mind boggled. With so many choices these days, we all are right. We have decision paralysis or analysis paralysis. So, first and foremost, I think you’ve got to believe that what you offer makes a difference and and what you do, you’re exceptional at. And I have to say that that just the other day, darn if I remember where I was cause I’m all over right? I did declare Oh, yeah, I know. I was I declared that. Now I know for certain that there’s nobody who has anything that comes close to what we offer for the comprehensive service is that we provide. And, you know, you have to get to that point whether it’s what you do, because you did you well.
Janet Fish
And so let me let me add to that because I we didn’t get there. You don’t get there. You didn’t get there the day you decided to go, right. And so I am a big proponent. Maybe some people aren’t, But I am a big proponent of fake it till you make it. Yeah, and I got to where I am in a couple of specific things that I’ve done in my career, by, I didn’t know what I was doing, but I just pretended like I did. Yeah, and and I’ll and I’ll say it in such a way. Um, because I went from being in corporate America, you know, selling software and working with relationship stuff, those kind of things to my first job. Out of there was land development. So we bought all these $5 million worth of land in Mexico, and I knew that I didn’t know what I was doing. Yeah, however, I knew two things, or I found out two things. One is have a great partner or somebody who can mentor you. Yes, because I didn’t know how to do real estate in Mexico, but I had partners who did. Yeah, but the other thing that I have members and I remember exactly where I was sitting when it this came to me was the traits are the same. The widgets are different? Yes. So I’m selling an investment opportunity or I’m selling software. Yes, Um, the the skills and the traits that I need in order to do that are a lot the same. Yeah, right. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, and that really came to me because I had so much doubt about internal doubt. But I was like, I’ve got to do this. So I’ve gotta pretend like I’m you gotta kind of sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it. You do. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing, because I never did anything deceitful. Yeah, but I just played a mind game on myself, and I said, I’m gonna act like I’m a millionaire before millionaire. Yeah, right. And I’m gonna act like I’m successful before I’m successful. I walked. I remember I walked into the bank and a friend of mine had gotten me a, um, on appointment with a banker like okay, not his banker, because he was in a much higher level. I got the lowly banker, but it was a banker and I went in there and I said, Listen, I’m getting ready to raise all this money for this project, and there’s gonna be millions of dollars coming through your bank. And they assigned me a banker who would come to my house and pick up stuff and and I did, and millions of dollars went through that. But I walked into They’re saying this is what I’m gonna D’oh! Yeah, and I just think sometimes that’s the boldness that you, even though you’re knees might be shaking, thats the boldness that you kind of have to have
Dot Boyd
well, And then, you know, a lot of people talk about if you speak it out loud. If you speak it to the universe, you have a better chance of getting there.
Janet Fish
I’m a firm believer in that,
Dot Boyd
and, you know, I have a friend who puts a number on every like on the mirrors and stuff of like, for instance, how many clients she needs that month for I
Janet Fish
know exactly who that is.
Dot Boyd
That is it. It’s five. And I thought, Oh, yeah, I need to do that. You know, um, minds lot more than five. But hers is a different business. Mine is a low entry point.
Janet Fish
And yet yours change. Right? And yet yours is a recurring revenue because they buy this thing they rented. They subscribe And so you get a residual however small it might be from every single person every single month.
Dot Boyd
Yes. And which is is something I was looking for this point in my life because I need that to make up for lost time. That’s that. That’s the key piece I was looking for that, um, and when it when it come to traits, it’s interesting because I went to a seminar years ago. Darned if I remember her name, Throw the bugs, talked about money and wait. And she lost Oliver money in the Bernie Madoff thing, right? And she’s always worried about all this money they hadn’t have and that they were gonna lose it, and it was sort of that self fulfilling prophecy prophecy. But of course we know it was bigger than that. But the thing that stuck with me that, she said, is the way we do. One thing is the way we do everything. And so I look at myself because I really believe that you’ve got to be self reflective. What, Whether you’re an entrepreneur or not. It’s and I think it’s a valuable exercise every day. But if you’re an entrepreneur, I think you have to be self reflective. You have to be willing to say, Oh my God, that you did so great That was great. Oh, my God, I thought you were on it. That was You were in the flow. This was so wonderful. That was a beautiful experience with that family. For me, right? I sit in a lot of living rooms with seniors and their adult kid and sometimes the family dog and the grandkids running around. And when I know that I’ve touched someone and that that I’ve made a difference, I know there’s there’s just a feeling, and whatever it is, it drives a person. It’s the way you do. One thing is the way you do everything. And so what feeds a person means that the way you do things is it turns out to feed your soul. I think for how you do it. And so for me when I because I I can look back. I have a very vivid memory of my childhood and and I can feel it all I can feel that being that him there’s so many traits to being an entrepreneur cause you have to be willing to just coach yourself out the door. You have got to know you. I think you also have to know when you know what. Maybe I’m not. I don’t have it all going on today to be in the group of 100 people at a networking of it. I’m gonna go Maybe maybe from. But I and I know if I don’t go, that’s the thing is like you got a coach yourself enough to know if I don’t go to that, who have I missed out on meeting or events I go to in the evening and I think a man would be so easy. Just stayed home. I’m home and came home and, you know, and I got to go back out in a couple hours, you know, again when you work from home like some of us do. Many of us do is entrepreneurs. It’s getting yourself back out there and and then that you meet that one person in the dinner line
Janet Fish
and is that would get you out the door. The thought of Who am I going to meet tonight?
Dot Boyd
Sometimes it’s It’s well, it’s a conversation I have might with myself of Dot How many times have you gone to an event? Maybe you didn’t have all of the emotional energy because I use a lot of emotional energy in life. I’m one of those people, So I marvel of people who don’t because I call man, I wish I could be that. But I’m not that. So I have to tell myself, Go, go, go anyway because what door might open up for your business and what does that mean in terms of who impact? And that happened to me a couple of weeks ago, and it could turn out to be something very big. And it was someone. It was a company I’ve been trying to get face time with for a year and 1/2 and here I am in the dinner line and there’s someone right behind this person in the top person at this company. The conversation that we did have when we first met and then I’ve been really trying to get his attention. So that’s all percolating. So but for me, it truly is. It’s about relationships, and and I guess that’s it. On on that level, where people connect like you and I have chemistry, we always d’oh and there’s they’re just people. You have that with, um and it feels it just feeds me. It feeds my soul.
Janet Fish
Yeah, well, I have good friends. You are one of them. The women that we yeah, hang around with. I have another really, really close friend that I’ve known for 15 years that I interviewed already on this podcast. And he is one who I will call and say, I don’t feel like working today, or, um, I don’t want to do this, So call me on Friday. I’ll call you on Friday, make sure I did. I mean, having those ability partners, um, having the women’s group that we, you know, go to once a month and just go and talk about our challenges and what’s going on as business owners, how as entrepreneurs and and what I love about that is we talk about things like what APS are you using? I know what technology we’re using because, you know, we’re all we’re not millennials. Yeah, so we’re like, Oh, that’s a cool app. And so it’s just it’s just having those people surrounding yourself with people who support you in the awesome times. But then also that the harder times because it’s not, it’s not easy. Being an entrepreneur is not easy,
Dot Boyd
it’s not, and people come from different places in their lives. Now some people come straight out of the gate and their young and the generation now being an entrepreneur, of course, right, that idea of sitting behind a desk? Well, I couldn’t fathom that either. But the idea of sitting behind the desk for years was doesn’t suit them right. And yet, as as we’ve aged, it’s been a matter of, well, where do I go from here? How do I How do I adjust and adapt to the world and you know
Janet Fish
I rely a lot? Maybe it’s because I’m a coach, and so much of what I do is the hearing what’s not being said. But I rely a lot on intuition and and I can look back on my life personally and business wise and realize it was It wasn’t hitting me on the head with a two by four, but pretty close, and I didn’t listen to it. So talk a little bit about intuition and how that plays into your life as an entrepreneur in your life is a you know, wife and a friend and and all of that.
Dot Boyd
It’s interesting, because when I have not listened to my intuition, but it’s been loud and I’ve ignored it. I thought, Oh my God, it was so right on. I mean, I Drew, I do have a you know, a pretty well honed intuition. So, um, and it can be scary sometimes, though, having that because of my right, Do I, you know, is this for real, and I will I will say some of that is even in my, um, relationships with people. I always want to give people the benefit of doubt, But if I’ve got the red flags coming up, then I’m a little more cautious because I tend to be an open book. E tend to be really open because I want people toe learn from my mistakes. I want people to learn from decisions I’ve made that may be worth smartest things I did and that maybe the younger generation. Yeah, because I I didn’t have a mentor is a young woman I really wish I had. I didn’t even really know to have one. And that would have been a wonderful thing for my career because I relied on my sister a lot who was wonderful and great, but I relied on. Maybe her experience is not a mentor writer say so then I might have made decisions based on her influence versus having a mentor who could maybe ask me the question so I could come up with my own thoughts and things. So intuition is a big deal. And I think if your guts telling, you believe it. I mean, if you’ve ever read any of, um, Malcolm Gladwell’s books, The Tipping point. Oh, my gosh. You know, And there was another one was a blank playing continued point. Um, those air. Do I really remember? Um, Yeah. Trust your gut.
Janet Fish
Yeah, especially when you’re out meeting with people. I mean in your situation. I mean, I’m most of my interactions. I do over the phone most of my coaching I do over the phone, which just adds another level of sophistication or but but it But it’s something you hone over over here you’ve got a good ear for, But I just think that intuition is a really, really important trait. And I think that the old well, I suspect that the older you get, the more you look back and say It was screaming at me and I didn’t listen to it. Right. Maybe next time I’ll be a little bit more open toe, listen to listening to it. All right, So, um, here’s my next question for you. I love this question, I hope I do.. I hope you do, too. What’s one of your biggest mistakes that you’d love to have a do over?
Dot Boyd
Oh, gosh, Um, I will say in life. And again it goes back to not having a mentor early, just just for my career, for instance, right or in general is I think it’s important to have avenues and options in life and at least in my generation, in my time and even being first generation American. You know, my view of of what I could do and what I could be was probably limited, um, things I wanted to do when I was younger but didn’t have the courage and didn’t have anybody mentoring me, and I didn’t quite see how it played out. Um, so I think start out early. If you’re a young, if you’re young and you’re listening to this really, really get yourself some mentors. Um, but for me, I think a lot of it was I I got in sales very young, talking about fake it till you make it. I bluffed it all in an interview. Um, I’ve left a lot of things to get a great job in the pharmaceutical industry. And I was hired because I was young, enthusiastic and didn’t have any bad habits. And the other people have been around a while and they thought, Well, we can train her. We’re not sure about these other folks. So I got in the door with a lot of posturing on belief and help for my sister and all that. But what I didn’t understand was maybe the whole financial and end of things is that you could be making good money. And I was at a young age and buying about a house. So I think I was 26 or 27 all by myself, right? It’s a wonderful thing. I was very proud of that. But not putting enough money away all the time. Not not, you know, is David Bach would say, paying yourself first, right? Not having the financial understanding of things and and thinking all always make more money. Oh, yeah, I’m in sales, you know. I’ll always make more money. Well, there are cycles out there. And so there was a point in time when I wanted to make a career shift. It was very difficult to think about going back to school. In order to do that, I thought, I’m gonna have to sell my house pretty much living of an apartment or move back home to start all over to earn less money than I’m making now, because maybe it’s what I should have done in the first place but didn’t want to do that, cause that’s what girls did. So I think trust you got to trust your intuition, get mentors, do not, if you know, don’t quit your job and, well, it’s just me talking. But if you’re looking at an entrepreneurial idea and you’ve got a paycheck, be sure that you can make that shift. Yeah, before you say, I’m done with a stinking job. I’m so bored. I hated blah, blah, blah, because there are cycles in being an entrepreneur, their cycles in and everything. So that to me, it was not having mentors not having a financial mentor, not understanding that that time flies. And if you don’t have options because you don’t have money in the bank to say, you know what, I’m gonna quit my job and go do this. Now I’m gonna pursue what I’ve always wanted to do. So I think creating um of an environment where you have options is really key.
Janet Fish
I love that, and I will say, having coached, lots of lots and lots of people, I rarely would suggest that someone quit their job unless they had done some research on what they wanted to do. And they had a nice little nest egg sitting there. Um, I didn’t do I didn’t quit my job. It took me quite a while to quit. Actually quit my job, so we call him stragglers. And so stragglers or people who I got a W two job working for somebody and then for me, it was Well, I was making a lot of I. Sometimes I wonder why I ever quit that job was making a ton of money. Who’s working like four hours that we I mean, I wasn’t working that hard doing a job. I done so many times. I was just bored out of my mind. Yeah, but But the time that I wasn’t working, I was working to, I had joined an entrepreneurial group and I was trying to figure out what else I was gonna do is trying to learn the right skills. I was hanging out with entrepreneurs, um, and then all my vacations, my weekends, I would and I will tell you to be a straggler is harder than both jobs. It’s exhausting because you’ve got to do you’ve got to do both. But I would never suggest, um, to someone that you just go quit your job and believe that I’m just going to become an entrepreneur. It’s gonna be easy and I’ll be rich. I will also say it’s been very very, very few and far between. But I also have had some clients that I have said You should go get a job. You’re not. You know, week after week, month after month, you know, way Formulate a plan of what you’re gonna d’oh. And then they don’t do it, and then they don’t do it, and then they don’t do it. Then I don’t do it. And at some point, it’s like, you’re not going to do it. So go get a job. Yeah, I mean, it’s rare, but it happened. Yeah, I think that there’s no shame in that.
Dot Boyd
But sometimes the dream of what we want is so far reaching versus I think, if we go back to how we do. One thing is how we do everything. Is that such a leap? Can we really change our habits? Can we rewire how we operate our day? I I go. I struggle without sometimes of being focused and knowing what I need to do. But staying focused on that right
Janet Fish
and in doing it, knowing what to do, want knowing when to do it both. Super big challenge is keeping at it, even when it’s hard having surround. I think the biggest thing I would tell anybody who says I want to become an entrepreneur and I haven’t been in the past is surrounding yourself with other entrepreneurs. Yeah, because when you’re doing it in the vacuum And for me, everyone I knew had jobs when I quit my job and my family, they still don’t have a clue what I did. My sisters like What? What are you doing? You know? Yeah. She still doesn’t quite get it. And then it’s finding mentors and finding coaches and finding people who can help you. There’s a lot out there that you can Oh, yeah, Rely on
Dot Boyd
there really is
Janet Fish
until where I was gonna ask about support. What? We kind of talked about that. Um, let’s talk a little bit about dot non dot, dot non work, dot dot Not care. Giving a senior care giving not what do you like to do in your free time?
Dot Boyd
So I’m married. No kids, no pets. Because our beloved Kitty died about 10 years ago and we haven’t We haven’t gotten another kitty. Um, Why hasn’t loved to garden and we loved it. We truly love to grow stuff and I really get a charge out of picking something from the garden and eating it or cooking with it. And I grew up with that. I live in my family home, and I don’t advise that to everybody because it’s a fixer upper and we don’t really have any skills. And being that I’m an entrepreneur and my husband works long hours in sales, it’s not like we have a lot of free time to be. Fixing up the place are learning the skills. So, um, but we do enjoy. We live on 5/8 of an acre and, um, in my family home and ah, that’s got, you know, it comes I Well, for me, it comes with a lot of great memories. But it also comes with some ugly wood paneling that has to go this
Janet Fish
year. I want to come over. Yeah,
Dot Boyd
Janet, come on over. And, um so we both enjoy that, and we do it together. And then, um you know, I have to say that when you own your own business, when you aren’t working Monday through Friday or even Monday through Friday and a little bit on the weekend when you’d say life has changed. I think you do a great job of incorporating fun. You’ve got a Really? You balance it out. You’ve got it worked out. I still work on that whole finding balance thing of, um, you know, remembering how to have fun, right? I love what I do, but this side of the playful side and going out and having fun, So I could say I could work on that. I’m not gonna say work on having fun, but focus on it. More
Janet Fish
providing more time for Yeah, Here’s what I know about you because I’ve been around. I’ve seen you. You are, um, very community focused. Yeah. I love that one. All these awards about, you know, just being best business and the connector and all of that, and I think I don’t know, But you tell me, um, that’s fun for you. Even though it work for you. Yes, right, cause I see you out of the vest, and you’re in a lot of, um yeah, and I’m like, if if she wasn’t enjoying this, she wouldn’t be doing Yeah, you know, it’s work.
Dot Boyd
Sometimes it’s physically it’s a long day. If we’re working a community event, and were there early. And we’re on the pavement all day long. And I’m not 25 any more. And I feel it. So being involved in my community, um, volunteering, knowing that as a group, for instance, in our chamber of commerce, we make a difference. We donate thousands of dollars every year our programs donate for you scholarships and charities. And, you know, it’s just really wonderful. So, you know, I’m in the town I grew up in. I didn’t always live, Herb. I grew up here, and then I, you know, moved away and came back and all that. So to be part of it, and to be an in recently had to be recognized for that. Um,
Janet Fish
so let me interrupt. Yeah. So placed 2nd 2 years in a row for best of Fair Oaks Senior care Senior Service is yes, Business of the Year Business person of the year. Best of Fair Oaks, home based business.
Dot Boyd
And that those three were coffee business, right?
Janet Fish
Doesn’t matter what you say. It’s you. Yeah. I mean, you are that regardless of what the businesses, which I also think is a great thing because I also have created multiple businesses and done multiple businesses at a time. And it’s you. It’s the person. It’s not the business.
Dot Boyd
Yeah, in. Yeah, you know, for me. And I think about like, what does it take to be an entrepreneur? You definitely want to have people around you that believe in you. Um, I recently spoke at our chamber luncheon because I’ve just now finished four years as, ah, my term on the board. Multiple terms on the board. I’m ambassador for the chamber, among other things. But, um, I I talked about and I get kind of emotional about this. But when I stayed home to take care of my mom, my world shrank. That’s why I don’t advise it for folks. I mean, as a great daughter. Yeah, I can write that on my resume. Absolutely great daughter to mom and dad. Right? Feel really good about that? Financially, I don’t recommend it. Um, And secondly, though my world train, my confidence went out the window from being at the height of my career, lobbying in Sacramento for the natural foods industry lobbying in Washington, D. C. You know, loving it, creating amazing events at the Capitol and then to have my world shrink to taking care of Mom and doing a little bit of fixing up the house. Um, I truly that’s part of that having to start over thing. So when I when you and again I go back to how you do, One thing is hide everything. I’m I love my quiet time. I gotta have it. But I am very relationship oriented. So when I was asked to join the chamber because I had a business I was asked to join the fair exchange for I thought, Well, of course. Of course. I live in barracks now, of course. And if it did, it became my connection to my way to give back and build a business because I don’t have time to do all the volunteering I would love to do to make the world a better place. But in conjunction with my business, so that became one of my tribes. And so I can have my social. I can, um, do my volunteering and giving back and build my business and make friends. So to be honored by my chamber is a big deal because it is definitely where I spend a lot of my heart time.
Janet Fish
And it’s also where you I’m sure you get a lot of your business. I
Dot Boyd
do. I analyze that. And I think that chamber was maybe number three after it. When I look at different categories, networking in the senior care industry was first, I believe custom happy customers, referring other friends and family think was second and I’m going from memory. And the chamber was right up there. And everybody’s got neighbors Family members are worried about or themselves. And so, um, it feeds me if he’s my soil, my soul. My husband says I’m a chamber widower, but he’s not Mr Social. So something. He wants to be their help in time anyway. So have at it. See you
Janet Fish
later. Yeah. So my last question? Sure. Quite a bit. Which is I
Dot Boyd
know I’m kind of talkative.
Janet Fish
Um, what do you want your legacy to be?
Dot Boyd
Oh, yeah, that’s a biggie. You know, that goes really deep for me. And so I remember somebody telling me my my reasons didn’t didn’t matter. And I resented that. And, um, you know, my parents came here for a better life. I get it, I get emotional. Do that. Okay, on the podcast. You know, my mom escaped Germany. She and her family bear there were Jewish, barely got out. And, um, I might and she they barely got out and eventually ended up in Sacramento. And where was she? Met my dad, who had come here after World War Two, Um, from Belfast, Northern Ireland for, you know, for economic reasons, you know, our job opportunities. Um, and and and then I learned recently that, you know, he couldn’t marry the woman he loved. That’s a whole another story for a whole another day. But it had to do with, you know, from Northern Ireland. If you’re Protestant and in the Republic, you’re Catholic, and it just wasn’t heard up. So he comes to California, meets my mom and marries a Jewish woman. So how you like that one? Right. So anyway, so for me, I know that I’m kind of Ah, we all are. We all are. A miracle of two people came together and here we are, right. How they came to be is the story how they came to be in the same room and decided we’re gonna get married and have kids. Is a story for everybody on, um, mine just happens to be I think, you know, mine and dramatic. So, um, I need to know that I made a difference. I need to know I don’t have kids. I don’t have the legacy of my wonderful Children and grandchildren. Um, I haven’t had a $1,000,000 to, you know, donate to some wonderful organization. So
Janet Fish
I
Dot Boyd
have to know that at the end of my life that my being alive and in doing what I do has made a profound difference somewhere for someone. Well,
Janet Fish
I guarantee that you’ve already saved somebody’s life, right? I mean, so even if it’s just one, and I guarantee it’s not just one, I mean that alone, that’s profound. And you wouldn’t have done it. Yeah, selling coffee. Well, you could have done it selling coffee. Yeah. Yeah, but this is
Dot Boyd
this is something altogether deeper. Yeah, Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.
Janet Fish
Thank you dot Appreciate you spending your time with us this afternoon. Cheers were also having a glass of wine, So cheers.
Dot Boyd
Cheers. To 2020. Success and happiness. Absolutely. Thank you.
Janet Fish
Thank you for listening to the Breakaway Entrepreneur with Janet fish. If you like our show and want more, check us out at www dot breakaway entrepreneur dot com. If you have any questions you’d like answered, please go to coach at Breakaway business coaching dot com Please put breakaway entrepreneur in the subject line. I’ll answer your questions in next week’s podcast. Join us next week and make sure to subscribe to make sure you get our next episode as soon as it’s available. Have a great day.