Honest CEO
Honest CEO
Unlocking Entrepreneurial Potential with Adam Williams
Entrepreneurship is a journey of resilience, innovation, and the constant pursuit of growth. Adam Williams shares powerful insights based on his experiences as he transitioned from a traditional law practice to become a successful entrepreneur, emphasizing the necessity of substantial goals, mentorship, and adaptability in navigating business challenges.
• Importance of setting meaningful and ambitious goals
• Adapting business strategies during the pandemic
• Transitioning from a law practice to a thriving business model
• Significance of personal and professional development
• The value of a supportive and growth-oriented network
• Learning from mistakes and embracing challenges
• Finding mentors and seeking expert guidance in business
Order Adams Book: Everything Your Kids Wish You Knew About Owning a Business: Lessons from Generations of Entrepreneurship
Listen to Adam's Podcast: Maverick Mindset Radio
Connect with Adam:
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Send in your questions or requests to honestceopodcast@gmail.com
The life of an entrepreneur is like a roller coaster ride One minute you're diving towards the ground, the next soaring to heights. So be bold, be brave, be honest and kind, don't take any shit and stay focused of mind. Welcome to my show. I'm Giselle Attrell, your Honest CEO. Hello and welcome back to Honest CEO.
Speaker 1:I'm your host, giselle Attrell, and today we have someone very special, somebody I've known for quite some time now and have had the benefit of having good times as friends and good times maybe not so good times in business, and I'd like you to know that every book on starting a business says you need a good accountant and a good lawyer. Well, adam Williams here with us today, began his career to be that lawyer for entrepreneurs, and it turns out he's married to that accountant. After growing a seven-figure law firm helping small businesses through the pandemic, adam and his wife, jackie launched Pennywise Tax Strategies, a business that helps businesses reduce their taxes, put more money in their pockets and stay out of trouble with the IRS. In addition to Pennywise, adam is the owner of Rust Belt Business Law and has launched a new career as a speaker and author, helping entrepreneurs achieve new levels of success. So I can't think of anyone better to have on this show than my friend Adam Williams. Welcome.
Speaker 2:I am so pumped to be here.
Speaker 1:I have been actually wanting this interview for quite some time, and I have been doing this podcast for quite some time now I don't think I'm like four or five years, I don't know but the last couple of years I've only had a couple of podcasts, and so this year I am getting back to it. I'm really excited about that, and I think this is, if not like the most relevant time to have someone with your knowledge and expertise on here, being that Monday's a big day for President Trump's going to be taking over new administration, new tax law changes and such, and you have a lot of information that we're going to be talking about that you put in your book, and so let's just start with tell us a little bit about who Adam Williams is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I tell people that I am an entrepreneur turned lawyer, turned entrepreneur. So I, growing up, my parents own their own businesses, my grandparents were self-employed. So you know I the conversations at our dinner table were, I think, different than most families. And going, getting out of high school, going into college, you know, my parents really pushed me to go out and get that good, secure, quote unquote corporate job Because my dad struggled. They did well, but they struggled right and they dealt with the things that entrepreneurs dealt with and they they saw their friends who you know retire at 62 and they got the fat pension and they got consistent paychecks, their entire careers and health insurance and all of those other things. Uh, so I, I got out of law school, I got my MBA and I went and got that job. Uh, I worked for a big four accounting firm in their tax department and after a little it was actually 366 days because I had to stay a year to keep my signing bonus Moved back to Erie, I got a job working for a judge and after about six months there launched a law practice as a side hustle and that went pretty well for me.
Speaker 2:I gained a pretty good reputation. I did a huge variety of work, primarily focused on businesses, but I did divorce work, I did a ton of real estate work, I did criminal work, and probably around 2019 is when I realized that that wasn't going to work for me long term and I had to transition from Adam with a successful law practice to Adam with a successful business. And the distinction is if I get sick or if I'm not in a good mood or I want to go on a vacation. Clients continue to get served. We continue to make money. The business continues to grow.
Speaker 2:So I went through a really intense period with Jackie, because she left her job in 2019 to join the firm of growing a business and growing a team, and we found a lot of opportunities during the pandemic. It's interesting that you mentioned the new presidential administration, because that's going to bring a lot of change, whether it's good or bad, the reality is it's change and with change comes opportunity. But so I went through all of that. I was, I was cranking it out, I was working seven days a week. I was. I was really in that, that hustle and grind mode, and then realized that there's a better way. Right, I can, I can build something that works for me, and so that's when I went back to being an entrepreneur. So we grew the law firm. We got up to about 25 employees at one point, and then you know some of the other ventures that I've launched with the food truck and with the socialism board game.
Speaker 2:I was actually just talking to a reporter about that one the other day. That was 2016. That was back when presidential elections used to be fun. And now, about a year and a half ago, jackie and I launched Pennywise Tax Strategies because, again, we saw an opportunity. We saw a huge need in the marketplace for proactive tax planning for business owners, and now that business is actually bigger than the law firm, even though we only launched it a year and a half ago and that's something that you and I were talking about before the show started We've learned a lot through getting punched in the face. Every day in business, you build up a lot of experience and a lot of expertise, and now, when we put that in play in our business, it goes a lot better for us. So, yeah, I'm really excited to be here and, yeah, like you mentioned, I did publish a book about a year ago. It's called Everything your Kids Wish you Knew About Owning a Business.
Speaker 1:It's so true, I absolutely love this book business. It's so true, I absolutely love this book and because I already knew a little bit about Adam's story, I was able to read this knowing him and knowing what he's been through, because our listeners don't know. Take us through some of the struggles that you went through with the attorney, the firm where you're like I need to break this off and make this its own sustaining business. There was some kind of obstacle there that you needed to overcome. And then, in transitioning into the Pennywise, what would you say have been some of the biggest struggles that you decided needed to make some kind of a shift or pivot?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think everybody who makes a big decision in their life there's, there's that straw that broke the camel's back, right? Or I use the analogy of there's that day where you try to button the one pair of pants and it just doesn't button and you say, all right, my diet and exercise starts now. So, so for me it was 2017 is when when my eyes really started to be open to this. I had two employees. At the time, my son was six and a half seven years old and Jackie was pregnant with our daughter, and we went to Disney World and it was this really cool trip. We did a bunch of cool stuff. We went to the Daytona 500. We went to Disney and then we went and visited my parents in Fort Myers.
Speaker 2:It was this blowout like week-long trip and I was terrified of taking that trip because I had to leave my, my clients. I had to leave my, my quote unquote business. And I got back from that trip and I sat down with my two employees and I said, all right, how did you guys do without me? How did it go? And they're like are you kidding? It was like you didn't even leave, because I was on my phone the entire trip. I was sitting in line at Disney World, as everybody does, and I'd pull out my phone and I'm calling clients and texting clients and answering emails. So I wasn't I wasn't really on vacation. This was, this was a huge deal. We spent all kinds of money and planned out this big trip and it really was just a matter of me working in a different location. So that's that. That was that moment where I said something's got to change. The problem was, I had no idea how to do it.
Speaker 2:So, fast forward almost a year and a half, I got a call from a friend of mine, uh, that I went to law school with, and he had been bugging me. He'd been sending me emails, he had been, you know, calling me and checking in and finally he got me on the phone and it was December of 2018. He's like hey man, what are you up to? I said, well, you know, I'm. I'm trying to make this, this firm work. I'm trying to make this practice work. So I'm going to take off three days between Christmas and new years and I'm I rented this cabin and I'm going to go on this vision quest and I'm going to come up with a plan and I'm going to fix this.
Speaker 2:And then, of course, I asked what are you doing? And he's like oh, I'm at the Denver airport with my wife and my daughter and we're going to South Africa for 30 days. And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like I was on law review, I was top 10 percent of my class, I did everything. And here's Jeremy going to South Africa for 30 days. Well, it turns out the whole reason for that call was he was in this coaching program and they were doing this referral contest and he wanted to see if I would be interested and qualified for this coaching program. So I signed up for that in 2019. First time I really did any type of coaching or personal professional development.
Speaker 1:I was going to say have you ever experienced that?
Speaker 2:before. Nope, that was the first one and that's when it really opened my eyes to. You know, entrepreneurs, we have a tendency to try and figure everything out on our own Right. We have a tendency to want to do it all because that's how we think we maintain control of things. And that was when I that was. That was when the business really started to turn a corner, because I was now getting advice and input from experts who had done what I was trying to do. So over the next probably five years I mean really going through 2024, we were coaching, we were masterminds, we were studying, we were learning, we were trying things and experimenting and falling on our faces and getting back up again and I, I've done the math and over those five years, we spent about a million dollars on coaching and personal professional development. Like it's absolutely crazy what we invested in ourselves.
Speaker 1:But what was the returns?
Speaker 2:Well, that's exactly it right.
Speaker 2:It has been worth every penny. So when people ask, where should I invest my money, it's really in yourself, if you're self-employed, so that you can learn new skills. Where should I invest my money? It's really in yourself, if you're self-employed, so that you can learn new skills. So yeah, that I think that.
Speaker 2:Transition that process and keep in mind, like I was doing, all right, the coaching program that I signed up for. It was $2,000 a month and I remember I had to fly to San Antonio to attend one of their events and that's where they were going to ask you to sign up for the program. And I remember thinking I might be able to swing $2,000 a month and I was joking with some friends of mine back then of, like man, if I had an extra two grand a month, I wouldn't even need coaching, I would just go and buy a Ferrari and drive that around and all my problems would be solved. And what ended up happening is I got there and they gave a number of programs that you could sign up for and I actually needed the one that was $3,000 a month and it was like holy crap.
Speaker 2:Now, looking back on that it's it's such a funny thing. Like I could, I could sneeze and spend that in a day, uh, whereas back then it was such a major decision for us. But I'm so, I'm so grateful that I, that I made that decision, uh, I'm so grateful that Jackie was along for that journey and we just continue to, to invest and learn, and actually that's why, in 2024, we really toned down the coaching, because we, we, we realized like we've learned a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Now it's time to implement this at the next level.
Speaker 1:So I think even to put that in perspective to uh other people out there, that like $2,000 seems like a completely insurmountable fee to even start coaching. There's a lot of free programs out there we've talked about on previous episodes, like Score and such. Start wherever you can, because coaching, mentoring, is the most important thing in my opinion of being in business we were talking earlier. I'm going through some struggles right now where I probably could have used a mentor or some advice about what to do to prevent some problems I'm having. There is like never a time in the 25 years I've been a business owner that I haven't needed more information or more guidance of another way or a better way, or you know some avenue that you're not thinking outside of your own little box. So you know whether you're starting out on a free mentorship or you find a $200, like the point is invest the time and money that it takes because it really gives you great dividends.
Speaker 2:Yes, so long as you work with people who have done what you're actually trying to do.
Speaker 2:There's plenty of experts out there on the internet who are clueless, who have built nothing, who have done nothing, but they're more than willing to sell you their coaching package. The reality is, for most of the coaching that's out there, they give away a lot of the information for free. You're absolutely right. They've got their lead magnets and their free resources. But if you want to go to the next level, you sign up for the group coaching package. If you want to go to the next level, beyond that, you sign up for the one-on-one coaching package. You're going to get better results. You're going to have more skin in the game because you swipe the credit card or wrote the check for it. But the information is all out there and you know you get podcasts like this. We have our, our, our podcast and radio show which is oh gosh, you caught me off guard there.
Speaker 2:Maverick mindset radio. So we we go live every Wednesday at 9amm on Facebook we're live on local radio here in Erie and then we get the episodes up on Spotify and YouTube. So Maverick Mindset Radio one hour better.
Speaker 1:Entrepreneur and, like on this show, we really focus on the first few years of how to get through those struggles where you need to grow, because most businesses close within the first year and after that most of them are closed by year three. Very few make it to year five. So my goal is to make sure people have lots of information that they can use, kind of going into the book, before we talk about some direction where you're taking your business now, because this tackles a lot of these issues. Did your podcast come first or the book?
Speaker 2:Let me think so. I wrote the book, then the radio show started, then we published the book. So there was yeah, there was some overlap there. Yeah, so the book was pending when we launched the radio show. You can steal this line, but the the way that I promote our, our radio show, our podcast, is it's the show that I wish existed when I was starting my business, right Right and I think that you provide a lot of that, that value, to your listeners as well.
Speaker 1:And the book is what I wish my kids everything your kids wish you knew about running a business and I don't even have kids, but trust me, you don't have to have kids to make this book extremely relevant to you. And I'm reading it as a long time business owner and just feeling that validation, that like, oh my God, somebody has gone through all this same shit that I've gone through in such a hard way and is coming out on the other side so beautifully. And I like being in the same town and seeing what you've dealt with in your own community. And anytime somebody starts up leveling and growing like even myself, the problems I'm dealing with, any problems Adam's dealt with there's just going to be haters, there's going to be backlash. And I've seen you come through that so gracefully and like unashamed. You know, like I am not ashamed of doing well, I'm not ashamed of growing, because I had to go through a lot of hard bullshit to get here and nobody sees all that. We keep it hidden right.
Speaker 2:We keep it at home. If you don't like seeing other people win, don't watch people like us, right? But on the other hand, there are people that love seeing other people win. It motivates them, yes, it inspires them. It shows them what's possible. I had the same thing in my business. Right, the law firm made the Inc 5000 list last year this year, I guess based on last year, this year, I guess based on last year's numbers and there are only three businesses in Erie, pennsylvania, that made that list and the other two are totally kick ass. I never believed, as a law firm, you could make that list. Right, these are, these are tech companies, these are health companies, these are, these are, you know, unicorns, and a lot of them are. But then I saw two of my friends with their law firms make the list and I thought, oh my gosh if they can do it so can I?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so those are the people that I prefer to surround myself with, that I like to inspire and I like to be inspired, and that's why I'm so grateful that that shows like this exist. That's part of the reason that I put the book out there, because, again, there's plenty of crappy advice out there on the Internet that makes it seem easy, that makes it seem like overnight success is a thing, and you must be significantly older than I am, because I've only been at this for 15 years.
Speaker 2:But that's, that's the point. Right Like it's, it looks easy now and my life looks really great now, and I assure you my life is kick ass right now. This is what I dreamed of, and I still got more dreams that I'm pursuing, but it's it's difficult and it's sure as hell isn't for everybody. Not everybody should be an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:And also finding your lane because, like you mentioned, you've been in a couple of other things. He had a food truck for a while and I don't know why. Because the restaurant industry in any form is so complicated and difficult and Because the restauranting industry in any form is so complicated and difficult and I don't know why I own a coffee shop. It is so hard. But you've tried other things. I believe you're an investor as well for other things. And finding your lane and what you're doing right now with Pennywise is, I don't want to say maybe a new lane that's never been explored but very few people do it. You know, I've never seen it in all my business years. So what brought you to that pivot, to go that direction? What spurred the idea for it?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, I have to defend my decision to launch the food truck. Now to you. Apparently we thought it would be fun and it was super fun, and we so we sold grilled cheese sandwiches yeah, and we thought and we so we sold grilled cheese sandwiches, yeah, and we thought and they were delicious, it's got to be easy. And then we hired employees and learned oh no, it's actually possible to burn bread and not melt cheese at the same time. But we did sell the truck and the people that bought it they have a second truck now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's because it's their lane, and that's that's what I mean. You want to find the lane that you can really excel in Yep.
Speaker 2:So what? What happened with the law firm is, you know, happy or sad. Business stories tend to start or contain the phrase and then the pandemic hit Right. Things were going well and then the pandemic hit Well. For us, the pandemic was really an opportunity, because we serve small business owners, we serve entrepreneurs, and there was no more terrifying time to be an entrepreneur than the COVID-19 pandemic right, Not in my lifetime at least.
Speaker 2:So we went out and Jackie and I worked our asses off to learn every program and the ins and outs of all of the things that were out there for businesses, right? So we had to deal with the shutdown orders, but then we got to deal with PPP loans and the EIDL loans and the employer retention tax credit and we ended up growing the firm from our little firm in Erie, pennsylvania, to having clients in 41 states. We were getting on national stages talking about this stuff. We grew it to this multimillion dollar business that our team was fulfilled. Our team was kicking ass. We were kicking ass, we were making money, our clients were happy. It was awesome. And as we started working with our clients, and particularly with some of the employee retention credit work that we did, we saw their tax returns and we realized that so many entrepreneurs had the same problem that we had and they don't realize that there's a solution and what happens to a lot of us.
Speaker 2:I'll never forget the first year. I made a hundred thousand dollars. I took my books which were in perfect shape because Jackie put them together took my books to an accountant and she she filled out the tax returns and told me how much money I owed and I didn't have the cash to pay the bill. And she said congratulations, this is what it means to be successful. And I'm like I'm not sure this this sucks. Like I, this is what it means. So I fired that accountant and we moved on to a new one and the business grew and our income grew and we had a year where we made substantially more money and he said all right, what's next year look like? And I told him, I said we think we're going to make this much money. And the only response he could muster was wow, well, here are your. Here are your quarterly payment receipts and write these checks throughout the year. Pay the IRS $700,000 in estimated payments this year. Are you fucking kidding me? I'm glad you swore I need to swear during these.
Speaker 1:Are you fucking kidding me, dude? So we, we had been studying this stuff.
Speaker 2:We had been learning about this stuff. We saw been learning about this stuff. We saw that there were certifications out there and courses out there and other people that were doing this. So we started testing some of these strategies because it turns out there's a better way to do this. A lot of business owners have this hunch this sucks, there's got to be a better way. Well, like true entrepreneurs, jackie and I found the way and created a business around it.
Speaker 2:It's proactive tax planning. It's looking forward, it's planning out, it's doing things throughout the year to manage your tax bill and to lower it so that come April, our clients are high-fiving us, not looking for a new accountant, and we saw that opportunity. We dug into all these numbers. So you know, we, the business Pennywise again launched in July of 2023, sort of a soft launch started building systems, started testing things out, started growing the client base. In 2024, the foundation of that business is really a monthly recurring revenue, right. You basically pay us a subscription to continue working with us and continue being our client. Our monthly recurring revenue tripled from Q3 to Q4 of 2024. Wow, basically overnight, right, and it looks easy and it's wildly successful and in fact, we're going to do it again this quarter and we're hiring like crazy and we make it look easy and it seems like such an obvious business to launch now in hindsight, but the reality is we're only able to do that because we did it successfully with the law firm.
Speaker 2:I learned plenty of mistakes on the food truck. I'll never forget the day that our employees just walked off the truck when the thing was out at a winery for a for a concert. We launched the socialism board game in 2016. I've invested in these other businesses. I've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and their businesses with varying degrees of success, and we've learned from all of that and we can put it together into a really successful business where our clients love us. And who doesn't want to have a business like that? Right, you want people coming into your shop that love coming into your shop and love spending money with you and love spending time there, and they want to go out and tell their friends what a great experience they had. Most people don't do that with their accountants. They had.
Speaker 2:Most people don't do that with their accountants. So here we are trying to build that.
Speaker 1:And you have such a unique position with the education about the legal system combined with the education about accounting. And what I think a lot of new business owners don't understand is your accountant doesn't know all the laws. They don't know how to prepare you, oh shit.
Speaker 2:I'll go farther than that. Your accountant doesn't know how to run a business.
Speaker 2:It's true, I would be very concerned. I, we, actually. I just had this conversation with with three clients who are so pissed off at their accountant. They, they own a business. They each make a million dollars a year from this business and they're like our accountant doesn't get it. I said how much money do you think your accountant makes? I don't know $150,000 a year Exactly. They have no clue what it means to make seven figures, to make a million dollars in a year. They can't even relate to that.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah and not.
Speaker 2:You have me really fired up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a for me, and don't even get me started on the IRS.
Speaker 2:No, we are not walking down that road today.
Speaker 1:But no, it reminds me of, like the medical field, where doctors don't know everything about. You don't go to the ER and they know how to perform heart surgery. That's not a thing. And so this is kind of dissecting what would be in the medical field into its own specialties and putting that into business and saying, OK, you're going to go to your accountant for this kind of triage, but they're not going to help you when you're bleeding out and they're like sorry, it's your fault. You know, we told you here's some pills you can take. And that's kind of how I equate it. You know the necessity of having a good attorney, the necessity of having a good accountant, but when you can marry those two like that's money, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Plus understanding the different roles that they fill right. So you may have an attorney who helps you start your business, but they may not be able to help you with real estate purchases or employment issues or you know the DUI or whatever. Right Same thing with accountants You're going to have your bookkeeper. You're going to have your payroll company. You're going to have a tax preparer. You may have some sort of managerial accountant that's helping you with budgeting and forecasting and things like that, and as your business grows, you should also have a tax strategist, someone that's helping you plan that stuff. So yeah, just as your business grows, you want to specialize those roles a little bit.
Speaker 1:And the tax strategy portion of that is the very underserved portion of really any organization that teaches small businesses how to get rolling and going, because I'll tell you they don't know about it either. Again, going back to what you said, they've never run a business. You go to the Small Business Association, sba. You go to them. You want to get help. Sbdc they've never run a business. These are employees who are telling you here's what our paperwork says running a business is like and this is the stuff you need to know. They've never done it.
Speaker 1:So it's so important to find mentors that are in your industry. I mean you can get a business coach in general, like who has run business. There's a lot of overlapping intricacies of running business, no matter what industry you're in. But then there's very industry specific things. Like I have a coffee mentor who helps me to kind of make decisions on, like how to market and going into growth, you know, expansion and stuff like that. That stuff you want to have very specific mentoring on. So the programs I do want to ask you to kind of like hone in on that, because I will tell you it's the number one thing when we ask people, which I want to ask you as well. You know what do you wish you knew, and what's the thing that you would tell any new business owner this comes up all the time is get a coach, get a mentor. So for you, do you have a suggestion of where to start, based off, kind, of what your experience was? Would you have changed it or would you say, yeah, this was a good way to go?
Speaker 2:I think it's really important to find people that you admire, not just in business, yeah, I mean yes in business. So if you want to find someone in your industry who's running a business that you respect, or if you find someone running a business not in your industry that you respect, but even outside of that, in your personal life, if there's a, if there's a a person of, for me I would look for someone that has a good marriage and they're a good father. I may I may look up to them for different reasons.
Speaker 1:I like looking for retired people who are doing well. I don't know what they did if they were in business, but I'm like they're living the kind of life I'd like.
Speaker 2:So here's a good example. So so my kids have spring break in a couple of weeks and we are going to St Petersburg. My parents live just South of there, in Fort Myers. This is similar to the trip I took in 2017, but we're going to the IndyCar race. That's in St Petersburg, right, and they they do it on the streets of St Petersburg and a runway Super cool. So I bought the tickets for my family of four plus my parents.
Speaker 2:But you can get a boat slip and park your boat there, just like you would at the Monaco Grand Prix, right, and it's seven thousand dollars for the smallest boat slip. The biggest one's like twenty three grand for a weekend to park your boat at this race, right. But can you imagine the type of people that have their boats parked there? And there's plenty of people out there going to say, yeah, they're all rich, snobby assholes. I would be willing to bet that the majority of people with the nice boats in the nice slips are actually self-made entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2:I agree, because I've seen it over and over and over again when you go to Miami, if you want to rent a yacht for a week with a captain and a crew. It's usually not the professional athlete, right? They don't own that thing and lease it out. It's usually the entrepreneur, because the entrepreneur has found a way to make the money that they need to support the lifestyle, whereas with the athlete it could go away tomorrow if they get a concussion or tear their ACL or TikTok, influencers, or you know, you name it, and I think that's because that's what we see.
Speaker 1:Influencers, or you know, you name it, and I think that's because that's what we see. We see on social media or in the media, is just this, this type of fame and fortune, is what that type of living is. And you're right. Everywhere I've gone, where I've traveled, you don't know who these people, you will never know who these people are because, like you said, entrepreneurs, they're head down. We're not on social media Like we're. We're plugging away and trying to build wealth and build our businesses up.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, an exercise that I've done is I've made a list of people that I respect and I write down what I respect about them and then I realized that that kind of helps me build my core values.
Speaker 2:And there there are people that I may not want to choose every aspect of their life, but I have a. I have a friend, a mentor, in the business community. He's he's never been married, he doesn't have kids, so he will never understand that piece of my business, but he is one of the kindest, most charitable people I've ever met Like. He's just genuinely a good human being and he's cutthroat at business, which is cool to see, but to see what he does with the money that he makes and how he impacts the community, I respect that about him Right.
Speaker 1:Did you have somebody influencing you for the book like that? Or did you go to someone like what was the reason for actually getting that off?
Speaker 2:That's interesting because you and I were talking about this briefly as we were preparing for the podcast, because we do need to do an episode just on how to publish a book. So I believe if you're going to write a book or start a podcast or a radio show or a YouTube channel or anything, you better be really clear about what you want to accomplish from that right.
Speaker 1:Your messaging.
Speaker 2:So I have another book coming out in the coming weeks. The whole point of that book is to demonstrate to our potential clients that I am an authority on tax strategy and running a business and I know what I'm talking about, right. That is the whole purpose of that book is to demonstrate to our potential clients that I am an authority on tax strategy and running a business and I know what I'm talking about, right. That is the whole purpose of that book. So everybody who contract contacts our business, we'll get a copy of that and say, all right, this guy's legit.
Speaker 1:He knows what he's talking about. Experts in their field tend to have a book about what it is, and this one.
Speaker 2:This one I'm I. I don't know when the episode's coming up, but I'm. I actually am co-authoring the book with Kevin Harrington, who was on shark tank. He was one of the first sharks and there's a handful of entrepreneurs that each get to contribute to this book, so I will get a lot of authority out of that. I get a little celebrity from it. It will directly help our business.
Speaker 2:The first book I wrote was basically a therapy session. Right, I just I just wanted to get it out there. I wanted to get my voice out there. I realized that I learned so many valuable lessons from my parents owning a business that when I started my business, I had an unfair advantage. Well, my kids, if they choose to become entrepreneurs and I don't see any other fate in their future because of the way that they've raised but if they decide to start a business, they're going to have an unfair advantage. And I thought you know what? I would like to share this with the world. And it has turned into some opportunities to do some coaching. I do some coaching with some clients, one-on-one. It has turned into that a little bit, to work with people. But really I just wanted to prove to myself that I could publish a book, that I could hit the Amazon bestseller list and I could share this knowledge. And now it exists in the world forever, and I think that's really cool.
Speaker 1:I think that's really cool. I love that you described it as a therapy session, cause I just said like I felt validated. It felt like a therapy session for me. You know like I'm. I'm with somebody who hears me and and recognizes what I'm going through, and also he gives tons of great advice on how to actually get through, um, you know, getting off or or to pivot your business. You know whether you're off to your initial start or whether you're trying to expand. He dabbled a little bit of that in the book as well. What you kind of allude to in the book but I'd like you to maybe dive in a little deeper is the questions that we like to ask everybody is what do you wish you knew more than anything? Like to ask everybody is what do you wish you knew more than anything before starting your own business? And to follow up with that, what would you tell anybody who walked up to you right now and said what's the one thing I need to know?
Speaker 2:Okay, so starting, I wish that I had set bigger goals that were more important to me, right I? And I'm a huge fan of goal setting. I have a system for it. I actually talk about it in the book. I just went through this with Jackie. Monday and the Monday prior we did a two day planning of our lives and our and our business and I found that I got into. I got used to people talking about smart goals, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic Fuck attainable and realistic. What I learned about myself is I need to set goals that are going to change the fucking world.
Speaker 2:That feel not attainable and realistic, because when I get up every day and something in my business punches me in the face, because, running a business, you have more bad days than good days.
Speaker 2:100% the good days are really freaking good, yes, but that's the reality of it and I and I struggled with. You know where burnout comes from? I think is by having these little shitty, unmotivating goals that don't push you to go out and do the things that you need to do. So, and the other part of it was and we've all got our issues of I was still living up to my parents expectations and doing the things that I thought they wanted me to do, and, man, that that did require, uh, and a spiritual medium who changed my freaking life to, to break that and set my own goals that were really meaningful to me.
Speaker 2:My parents have a great life and it works for them and I I emulated them in so many ways. But then I realized there were certain things that weren't interesting to me. My, my dad, is a car guy, right, but he drives the biggest piece of crap, highest mileage cars that he can, because he can buy it and drive it for the cost of maintenance and sell it and get his money back out of it. He never wanted a vehicle to depreciate. Well, I realized over time that I like getting in my car in the morning to go to the office or go to a meeting and it will actually start and I will get there safely.
Speaker 2:And and I got the. My Range Rover has these massaging seats. So you get the massaging seats with the venting, the heated steering wheel and the sunroof open and it's like I could drive, like that's how I want to be living my life, right? Uh, and there were. There were some other monetary and non-monetary things I fly first class. My parents would never do that Right. Monetary and non-monetary things I fly first class. My parents would never do that right. But I realized that that's for me, that works for me. I'm the type of person that really appreciates that. So I wish earlier on I had had more guidance from others on showing me how to set goals that were big and meaningful to me.
Speaker 1:Like building a bigger dream. I mean not even just the goals like to hit, but like were you less of a dreamer and now you're you're seeing a bigger future.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we're going to. We're going to get into some deep woo woo stuff here, but I had a. I had a really big fear of being seen as successful by others. I needed to hide out.
Speaker 1:So I think that's really common, so I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 2:So I remember one, one of the coaches that I worked with. I'm actually pretty excited about this because he invited me to come and speak to his group next week. But one of the coaches I worked with this must have been 2020, we were looking at buying a log cabin like a vacation home, right. And I'm stressing out oh, I don't know and it's such a big deal. And he goes well, tell me about the cabin. I'm like, yeah, it's here, it's located here and here's the picture and it looks super cool and it's going to be. It would be great for our family to go and visit.
Speaker 2:He goes how much was it? Or how much is it? It's like $220,000. And he's like what, what? That's nothing Like. What are you so worried about? Right? And in Erie, pennsylvania, that's probably slightly above average for a purchase price, but it's not a million dollar mountain Right. So I really had to get over the fear of being seen as successful because of the judgment that comes along with that, right, and the fear of sticking your neck out there and what if it goes wrong? Everybody's going to judge you. So it's not when people are worried about failure they're not worried about. I'm willing to go after the things that I want. You mentioned this earlier, like I'm okay with people seeing me as successful now because my people get it and they're inspired by that. And the people that don't get it, fine I'm.
Speaker 1:I'm willing to let them exit my life and I wasn't always willing to do that Did you have to change your circle around to to begin getting momentum where you wanted to go?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I hang out with airplane owners now. Right, right, that's pretty.
Speaker 1:Adam also, he is a pilot. He got his pilot license.
Speaker 2:I can't go an hour without telling anybody about that. Yeah, so we had to get out of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's still pretty new and very exciting. Yeah, but changing your circle is one of the hardest things, I think for people to do, especially early in business, and the earlier you could do it, I think, the faster you'll propel your success. It is literally hard to say, oh, I can't let go of my friends. It's not that you can never talk to them, but like you've got to place them in a new category and find people who are just going to support you, understand what you're doing. Even if they're halfway to where you want to go, they're still further than where you are right now.
Speaker 2:There are. There are people in my life that I have so much less interaction with now than I did five years ago and I feel really badly. On the other hand, it's been true with friends, it's been true with employees and to some extent, it's been true with some family members. I said I'm going to continue climbing this mountain. You have the choice to join me or not, but you're not going to continue climbing this mountain. You have the choice to join me or not, but you're not going to hold me back. Correct, and that's been really tough.
Speaker 2:I had to fire six people this year, right, and in different roles in our business, varying levels of authority, varying levels of paycheck and it and it sucks. But every time I've done it, every person that I've had to fire, especially when you get that one toxic person that just has their fucking tentacles and everything. They are an anchor to your business and your good employees, your, your good support system, your network, your friends, your family. Those people become a sale. They move you forward, they allow you to grow. So, yeah, I had to get. I had to get more comfortable with saying here's where I'm going and you have an invitation to join me, but I'm not going to let it slow me down. I'll be honest with you. It's still not easy to do that. It gets easier, but it still sucks. It still sucks, but it's worth it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'm talking, I've had friendships that were decades long and it's like I there's just, there's something burning inside of an entrepreneur where there is no other option. There is not like I'm going to change, I'm just going to go get a job. Like, if you have that mentality, you're not a true entrepreneur because we're willing to work a hundred hours for $4 an hour, you know. So if you don't have that drive and desire to say like this is the most important thing, then then call it quits now. But if you do have that in you, where you're like everybody's telling me you know, you know. I just watched this movie. It's called Eddie the Eagle. Have you ever seen it?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Oh, my word. It is the story of Eddie Edwards. He's a ski jumper. Hugh Jackman is in it.
Speaker 2:It's sold already.
Speaker 1:Star studded cast, I want to say it came out like 15 years ago, 10, 15 years ago. It is so inspirational, but it takes you through the entire hero's journey step by step, and there could be no better visual and is very emotional, of understanding the grit that it takes to press on when no one's believing in you, nobody around you is supporting you. This guy literally had nobody and then for a split second he had one person, one mentor, and it propelled him so fast, so quickly. And then even that guy was like no, I don't think you can go to the next level. So he said cool, I'm going to go on my own.
Speaker 1:Then, and that's what it really takes is that kind of integrity to be true to yourself, no matter what people are going to say, no matter what people are going to do. And you know I'm going through some struggles now in my business that this has been a crazy week. I've had really high highs, we won the best coffee shop, and then like pummeling low, like people are slandering me and that is literally, in a nutshell, business ownership, year after year after year.
Speaker 2:So, until that last part, everything that you said there was really positive and uplifting and accurate. Yeah, like you want to surround yourself with the people that encourage you, but I've also found.
Speaker 1:How do you get out of that?
Speaker 2:I've also found it's a superpower of successful entrepreneurs to find that dark side and find that person that doubts you, just to be able to rub it in their fucking face. So when I went out on my own, when I left the firm, I was in and moved into my own building there was a lawyer that I've known literally my entire life. He was at the hospital the day that I was born. He was my parents' lawyer. He told me I was going to die on the vine and I was going to. I was going the way of the dodo and every hire, every award, every trophy, every every month where I make $100,000,.
Speaker 1:I think of that guy right.
Speaker 2:Royce and I were talking about it. My son's name is Royce. On the way to school this morning he's like dad. I saw something funny on YouTube. I said tell me about it. He said well, did you know? Nine weeks before the Wright brothers flew the first airplane, it was a cover story in the New York Times that said man will never fly. And I'm like man. If I was the right brothers, that article would have been printed and stuck on the wall of the workshop, right?
Speaker 2:Cause you have to use the doubters as motivation. You have to. I hate the phrase haters, but sometimes that works. What's they are what they are, but you have to use them as motivation. In some instances it's not always for coming from a good place, it's not always positive, but I think that's the key is sometimes you're moving from a space of positivity and inspiration and people you know.
Speaker 1:Going back to the one thing you would tell somebody what's that one thing you would tell them?
Speaker 2:Life's too short to make all the mistakes on your own, so find those mentors, find the coaches, find the people that have been there before.
Speaker 1:I've never heard it said quite like that. Say that one more time. I like it.
Speaker 2:Life is too short to make all of the mistakes on your own. I don't think I invented that. I think I stole that from somebody else, but it's probably the 10th time that I've that. I said it today.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I think that's really important and I'll tell you, the other thing, as I, as I'm now a repeat bestselling author, I'm thinking about the next book and I think I I've been given this so much thought because it is and this is a relatively recent epiphany that I've had. A relatively recent thing that I've picked up is we start to. We human beings have a tendency to get way like I don't. I don't want to call it toxic positivity, but we think that things are always going to be better, things are eventually going to be perfect, right. So when I I when I trade in my shitbox Jeep and I buy a brand new truck, the birds still crap on it. Right, I still have to put gas in it. I'm still going to get a flat tire, like, whatever.
Speaker 2:It is so like the problems, that the problems are never going to go away. But I think we have this, this false belief that they will. Oh, my next hire, my life is going to be so much better. Oh, when I reach a million dollars in revenue, my life is going to be so much better. Like destination happiness. When this happens, things are going to be better. The reality is, they will be better, but there will still be problems. You're still going to wake up some days and not want to get out of your bed, so here's the phrase that I've adopted. This is what I signed up for when I, when I decided to be an entrepreneur. I signed up for getting screwed by vendors. I signed up for employees stealing from me. I signed up for the buckets of blood and sweat and tears that are sitting in my basement and the misery and the unhappiness and the, and just the frustration and disappointment.
Speaker 2:I signed up for all of it.
Speaker 1:Those words could not be truer for me today, exactly. I knew you needed that.
Speaker 2:I knew you needed that today, but but also, you know, I I have to. I have to get out of here soon, giselle, because I'm I'm buying a new car and it's it's. It's another car. I had to call my insurance company today and say, hey, send me my card for this car that I'm trading in. And the lady at the insurance company goes wow, you have a lot of cars. I'm like shut up, you sound like my wife, but I got to go buy another car today and it's $80,000. Right, I signed up for that too and I'm willing to suffer through all of that other crap to have this lifestyle, right? I know my kids are going to love this car. They're going to have a blast with it.
Speaker 1:I like to say I get to do this today. I get to have even when it's something like I get to have this difficult conversation with my employees.
Speaker 2:That has never worked for me. I feel like I'm lying to myself. I feel like I'm lying to myself. I'm not.
Speaker 1:I'm like because I've gotten so good at it yeah, conversations, firing people, hiring people, like all of the little elements I've gotten so good at so many things that I'm like it's easier every day for me to say I get to do this because, like, I'm good at it. Now, you know, I've been through where it was hard and difficult and I'd cry over things and I'm like, yeah, whatever, it's okay, another employee gone, like moving on.
Speaker 2:I think I had a similar mindset shift. I've never been able to use those words effectively, but I have. I do try to come to this with the frame of mind of this is happening for me, it's not happening to me. So I think both of the things that we said kind of fall under there, like, yeah, this is happening for me. Every mistake I've made, every loss that I've suffered, every marketing campaign that I launched, that falls on its face. Every speaking engagement where I stand up on the stage and there's zero people in the audience, it's happening for me and I can learn something from it. And when I lose money, I say it's a deposit in the tuition account and I'm going to come out better. And I think that that is one of the elements of a successful entrepreneur is you learn from those mistakes, you learn from that history, but you still, unlike most people, step up to the plate and start swinging again.
Speaker 1:Because you signed up for it.
Speaker 2:The good and the bad.
Speaker 1:You're signing up for it. I love that as an entrepreneur. Well, we're going to put in the show notes all the ways you can get a hold of Adam. You can check out his book. You can go see him on Facebook chat in the groups. You can reach out for Pennywise tax strategies, even if you're looking for some coaching or speaking engagements. We're going to have all of that information down below. So please go and find out who this incredible guy is. I'm so proud and honored that you're in our little hometown, erie, va, just killing it and proving that it can be done, no matter where you are. We are not Philadelphia, we're not Pittsburgh, but you can do it literally anywhere from where you're at. That's awesome. Love it. Keep up the great work, adam, and if you love this podcast, please share it, tag, comment and let everybody you know who is a business owner, who might be considering becoming a business owner, because we want them to grow and prosper. So peace be with you, people.
Speaker 2:Thank you.