Chelsea Bay Dennis - Creating a sustainable career as a graphic designer with C.BAY DESIGN plus bonus content on buying property on an entry-level salary.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
all of us have something that we are good at that no one else in the world has and we can use that to make a difference.

Anne McGinty
Welcome to episode four of How I Built My Small Business, the show that is dedicated to sharing the insight that entrepreneurs have about how to start and grow small businesses. Join us as we unravel the stories behind their entrepreneurial journeys.

I'm Anne McGinty, your host, and today we'll be talking about using your skills and passions to make a profit and a difference with Chelsea Bay Dennis from Traverse City, Michigan. Chelsea is a graphic designer, certified life coach, and storytelling event creator with nearly 20 years of experience.

Passionate about environmentally and socially responsible entrepreneurship, she empowers others to align their work with their values and strengths. As a founder of Seabay Design, The Conscious Entrepreneur, and Expand Storytelling, Chelsea continues to inspire others to make their ideas happen, be successful and make a difference at the same time.

You can find links through to her businesses in this episode's description.

Thank you to our listeners for being here today. Chelsea, I'm so excited to have you. Welcome to the show.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I'm excited to be here.

Anne McGinty
Jumping right in, what inspired you to venture into environmentally and socially responsible entrepreneurship?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I entered being an entrepreneur not with the goal of being an amazing graphic designer. I started my own business focused on environmentally and socially responsible companies.

Because I was an activist as a kid and in college, and I was an artist, and I didn't know how to combine the two until early 2000s when there was a lot of green companies starting that looked bad. Think about early 2000s, Starbucks was beautiful. And then you had a fair trade organic coffee company, bootstrapping it, starting it out of nowhere, and they looked bad. The coffee was better, it had more heart, it had more purpose.

It tasted better, but they didn't have the resources or the knowledge to make it look beautiful or even understand that that's how people make decisions in buying things. So I could use what I was good at for good with art to influence people's buying decisions and therefore voting with your dollars to support a better world.

Anne McGinty
Tell me about the very beginning. Before you started your own graphic design business.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I was in college at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, living in a co-op full of a bunch of hippies and really learning a lot about fair trade, organic. And when school ended, I backpacked that summer, kind of got a little job here in Traverse City at like a car insurance based, Hagerty. And I was ready to change the world. I knew I wanted to make a difference. There was something called the green pages back then, kind of like the yellow pages, but for all green businesses.

And you could look up any business doing green stuff in the United States. And all answers pointed to San Francisco. I didn't have a job. I didn't have a house. I didn't have any friends. And I drove this fair trade organic jam truck from Northern Michigan to San Francisco with one suitcase and a portfolio, hoping I would get a job. And about a year later, after that, I ended up meeting an amazing business partner in North Carolina.

and starting my green graphic design business from Sanbrand. And nobody was doing virtual work back then. So it felt like I was changing the whole world of business.

Anne McGinty
So were you working in tandem or were you their employee?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I was working in tandem, starting a business called The Change based on be the change you wish to see in the world.

Anne McGinty
How did you first make connection with him?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I found him on the green pages. I was living in San Fran. He was a creative director that was wanting to move into green business. And I was a designer, photographer, illustrator. And I met him and was like, how would you think about working together? And we went into partnership right away. So it was like, I got to start my dream job and run my dream job, but with a salary out the door. And later...

About seven years later, I did step away from him and do it completely on my own so I could be more local and small business.

Anne McGinty
How did you get your first client for C.bay Design?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I had actually moved back to Traverse City after traveling the world quite a bit in third world countries, taking photos of farmers around the world. That really implanted in me that I wanted to be in a town where I could make a difference and be part of the fabric of the community and be around my family.

So when I moved back here, I was still doing virtual work. We even started working with Jada Pinkett a little bit on an anti-slavery campaign, Burt's Bees. But what I was realizing, because we had grown to like a four person company, the local startups that are my passion couldn't afford us. And so I had started doing it on the side and I had a ton of local clients working with me as my like second side hustle.

Anne McGinty
So you made it more affordable for them

Chelsea Bay Dennis
by not having... an actual office, not having other employees, not having all these extra expenses by working on my own, from my own home, being the creative director, writer, designer, photographer, we could keep the costs way down and then I could meet with these people face to face and really invest in my community and make it more affordable. And that's kind of when I took the leap was when a company here, I loved, asked for a quote from us.

and couldn't afford my larger company. I'm like, okay, that's it. I'm jumping, jumping full ship. It sounds like you found a niche and a win-win opportunity. When we were larger, I didn't get to personally connect with each client. So when it was just me, that's my favorite part is the relationships you build.

Anne McGinty
Was there ever a moment where you didn't know if you were gonna be able to make it work, or did it always gradually just roll in?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Because I'm a solopreneur that does creative work, it very much depends on my time. I put in and I deliver something tangible. And with that work, it's always ebb and flow. Be like, all right, I'm in an ebb time, I'm gonna go swimming every day. And then once it flows, I'm in. But I kind of like that it does that because I can be fully present in my work and when it's a little slow, I can take advantage of that and not wait around. And I prefer it that way.

My work is not dependent on hours. I can't even tell you how many hours I work each week because it changes so drastically. And it almost doesn't matter. I've never hit a tight moment where I was afraid.

Anne McGinty
Can you share an experience that you had that was a hurdle and what did you do to overcome that challenge?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I think a big moment for me was probably 2010.

I also got a certification as a life coach and was wanting to do more relationship stuff and maybe less design. And I hired my first employee so that I could do both, that they could do more production and design. I'd be the creative director and then I could spend more time being a life coach. And I personally did not like it. And it made me realize success to me is not getting bigger. It's working smarter and having my autonomy.

Anne McGinty
What did you not like about having an employee?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Having someone that was relying on me to tell them what to do. And with design especially, you can't teach style, you can teach skill, you can't teach style. And so even though I would give her the work and she would follow directions that it was beautiful.

I ended up having to go in anyways and redo it to fit the style of my company and ended up having more time. I realized that I am the most alive and most happy when I can ebb and flow myself with my own work and no one's relying on me to tell them what to do. So contractors and collaborators and partners are great, but an employee kind of took it out of me.

Anne McGinty
I can understand that. Having had employees myself.
As a small business owner, how do you balance profitability with environmental and social responsibility?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Well, you're not really profitable if it's not successful. I remember when organic shirts first came out and they were boxy and they were thick and they were not sexy, but they were, quote, unquote, doing good in the world. And it still has to be useful. You still have to have a beautiful shirt if you want people to wear.

in organic fair trade shirt, it still has to make sense. So it's not really successful if you're putting something in the world that's not gonna be used. Of course, it'll just end up in the landfill. Exactly, so the point of selling a bunch of fair trade Umbraero is like, no one's gonna wear them, but if you can get something that will fit into people's every day and it's making a difference and it's beautiful and useful, that's where success is. And if where I find the easiest little things, like sure, we can make big, big change.

But it's the small things that you do every day, if they add up. The impact of printing 20,000 brochures on recycled paper versus new paper can make a huge difference. And it can influence all of your clients to either all go digital or print on recycled paper. It seems small, but it makes a big difference.

Anne McGinty (09:47.15)
Getting into the monetary side of the business, when you have a prospective client, how do you price those jobs? Is it per hour? Is it per contract? And I know that you are in one location in America and the cost of living varies drastically from one place to another, but can you give us any insight?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Yeah, art is one of those things that people argue with pricing because it's tangible, but you never argue with buying a table. That price is set.

But for some reason, people think they can argue with video, design, illustration. There's so many ways to price and make sure that you're protecting yourself and also making things affordable for people you want to work with. If there's someone I want to work with and they can't afford me, I'll go lower on price. And if there's someone who can afford me and then more, I might charge them more.

But for me, if it's just a brand, say it's a logo project, and then a few labels, with those I will have set prices because I wanna get it right. And some people take two days to get a logo done, and other people might wait six months because they don't trust themselves. They don't trust their intuition. And I'm still giving them a product in the end that is gonna be the future of their entire business.

So that itself, I have a set price on. You always, always have to protect yourself in where are your limits? Where's your scope? I was wondering if somebody were to come back iteration after iteration and say, I wanna change this and I wanna change that. You set maybe four iterations and after that, I'm gonna start charging you by the hour. Because you can be taken advantage of, just like if you're an employee for someone and you have a salary, sometimes employers will.

very much disrespect someone's time because they're like, well, I'm paying you, you're mine. And by being a contractor, it gives you more respect of very, very clear boundaries. It is this set price for a brand and a brand guide and all the variations. But if we go past four back and forths, we're going to start charging by the hour. And same with a label. I'll have a set price to create the first one with so many iterations.

And then each one after that, say they're all the same template, will be much cheaper per one and it's set. But if I have a client that I work with all the time and they're giving me something small, teensy-tinesy here and there, I'm all by the hour because we have an ongoing relationship. There's no scope creep.

Anne McGinty
That makes sense. So you lay it all out on a contract. So there's no miscommunication.
They know what they're getting. They know what they're paying and vice versa.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
And I...

I personally think that retainers with clients can also get in that disrespect place. They'll be like, okay, I'm paying you two grand a month, so I want everything. Hmm. If you're going to do that, again, set your scope really, really clear, because they might be like, I'm paying a lot of money. I want all of your time and attention. You're like, no, I have other clients. And you really have to make it clear, otherwise you'll end up presenting each other and not having a good relationship.

Anne McGinty
How do you handle... the uptick in graphic design websites that are bringing in designers who are in other countries like on Upwork and Fiverr. How do you stay competitive in a market with those new sites?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Right. I mean, when the pandemic hit in spring 2020, it was the first time I stopped working since I was a kid, which was actually wonderful because I was...

going through a divorce at that time and the pandemic was happening. And I'm like, I need a pause. But I truly thought with the rise of Canva, and it was the first thing people cut in their surviving jobs was like, okay, we don't have any extra money. We're all struggling. Let's pause on any design. And I truly thought, man, will my job industry continue or is everybody going to do Fiverr and Canva and keep everything in house or buy stock?

the amount of stock sites for logos and such these days is crazy. And there was a moment where I was like, I, I don't know if this is going to continue.

Anne McGinty
So for aspiring entrepreneurs in your industry, fellow graphic designers who want to transition into entrepreneurship and establish their own design focused business, do you feel that there is still enough space in the marketplace?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I do. So what happened is that slowly came back, people were getting money again.

What I will say is there's no point in marketing yourself as a designer around the world. That's where there's going to be stock and people in other countries and upwork that they can pay very little to and not have a relationship with. But what is always going to be there, everyone is always going to need design. Everyone's going to need video and they're going to need custom work, custom relationship work.

Cause sure, anybody can make a video on their iPhone and that's where you can really concentrate on your community. Those are my clients, the ones that I've worked with for a long time that really want to express themselves and their vision. And it's not going to happen through someone else on the other side of the world. They want to know you. And it's based on connection and relationship and trust and digging out their vision and being able to put it on paper. That will never go away.

Anne McGinty
building relationships and really getting to know your client on a personal level helps you design better.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Absolutely. I mean that's where I bring in some of my life coaching. I use it every day with my design clients because it's so based on trying to bring out especially someone starting a business. What do you want? Who are you? How can this represent you? Let's tap into your intuition. What are you offering right now that you think you should be offering and

what do you want to be offering? I think that will never go away. Personal relationship design.

Anne McGinty
I love that. So let's say you have somebody and they have a skill with graphic design and they want to start their own business. What advice would you give them to get it started?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
We took off, especially as the change, that first company I had, a little bit by doing work for free for companies we believed in.

Anne McGinty
That's a great idea. I know that works in other industries as well.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
And after a while, then people take advantage. But to start by finding something that you love and believe in, and it would be your dream to work for and offer it for free to someone.

portfolio in the field that you want.  and if you can't find somebody who wants it, you can make it up. But, or even pick a company you love and design, and it's just your portfolio might not be real in the world, but the more real it is, the more it gives you excitement and has people take you seriously. So we started with a lot of pro bono stuff.

Anne McGinty
How many are you talking?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Uh, we probably did three or four.

Anne McGinty
Okay.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
And often in my community, there's a lot of causes I believe in and that I love and my contribution isn't big checks, it's donating design, their annual report, a logo, you know, with boundaries. But that's my favorite way to give back as well. That's wonderful and it's using a skill that you have. And I am a full believer that there's more than one way to give back to the world. It doesn't always have to be money. All of us have something that we are good at.

that no one else in the world has, and we can use that to make a difference.

Anne McGinty
I love it. I think if we were going to bring anything else in, it would potentially be kind of like the strategies you use to actually get ahead in San Francisco, which is such a high cost of living city.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Yeah, I mean, that's a piece too, is like I could make more money in this world, but I choose not to because I want...

to go swimming on my lunch breaks. I want to be on my roller blades. And- And you're making enough to pay for the lifestyle that you want. And I'm not traveling all over the world anymore, but I am living the life I want. And part of the one thing that does help with that is I own my house and I have one rental property.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
That kind of is in some ways a side hustle. It is. Otherwise, my job is I get paid when I work and I get paid when I deliver. Yep, be able to have that and a little extra income coming in from a rental property, and that's a business too, keeps me afloat and lets me live the lifestyle I want.

Anne McGinty
So let's get into that. Can you tell us the story of how you were able to save money when you were living in San Francisco when rents were sky high and you were earning an entry level salary?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Well, I'm a very frugal person. And I think I got that from my dad. He taught us to take short showers and reuse clothes that had holes in them by patching them up and changing your own oil. So when I was in San Fran knowing all of this, I'm like, I'm gonna get a random roommate from Craigslist because I can't afford it by myself and I'm gonna put my bed in the closet of a one bedroom place to share it with two people just so I could be there.

And I had my clothes like hanging over top of my twin bed. But hey, all I did was sleep in there and I got to work out in the living room. So how big was this closet? I mean, it could fit a twin bed. Okay, that was decent enough. I had a door that shut. Having a virtual job in 2006, there was not co-working spaces. I certainly wasn't gonna go get an office. So I would just work from home or choose a different coffee shop every day

in a different area of the city. But yeah, I would eat super cheap trader Joe's. Thank God for them. Still ride my bike around the city and make it work.

Anne McGinty
But I mean to buy property, you need a down payment.
So you had to have saved a significant amount of your income. Do you have any recollection as to what percentage you were able to save?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Well, I just didn't spend money. I saved it, saved it, saved it.
And I lived as though I had no money. I do remember I moved back to Traverse City in late 2007. And there was this amazing historical restoration project going on here. And I'm like, I don't feel called to buy a house. I feel called to buy a spot in that place. And it was a little higher than other condos and Traverse, but it represented community.

It represented sustainability in reuse of old spaces. And I knew I had to have that. So, he let me put 10% down.

Anne McGinty
How expensive was this property?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
So this is a one bedroom apartment. It had three levels. It was like a loft with a spiral staircase. It was really magic, but only about 790 square feet. And back then, I did buy it for $185,000 which felt big then. Now I'm sure it's worth $600,000. I still have it, and I'm so grateful that it was my home at one point. And now it's a rental income that is only two miles from my house. And it can still be a magic place that I can use or share with others or help me not have to work 60 hours a week, like most people.

Anne McGinty
I am really curious to know because if you think it is worth $600,000 now, what would you tell somebody who is in their 20s looking at the cost of living and how much it is to get into an entry-level property?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
One, I would say don't go for the 600, 700,000 dollar places, find something else that is up and coming that is in your budget that you might see as becoming a cool part of town. Even if it's like the crappiest property in a neighborhood with great things, figure out something you can actually afford because you don't want to be house poor.

But then just, you know, I pay myself very little to this day no matter how much money I make, my business pays me under 20 grand on paper per year. And I have access to my business money. It is mine by love the challenge of not having to tap into that. And my rental income helps me with that.

But if you try to live off a very little, that's where you can put everything else to build up and almost even view it as though it's not yours. And then when you do want to purchase something, that's not going to give you a thing, but the lifestyle you want, then you have it. It's ready there for you. You didn't spend it on going out to lunch every day or on a vacation of Florida three times a year. Add it up.

Anne McGinty
20,000 is that covering all of your living expenses? Or are you saying the rental income is contributing towards that?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
The rental income is on top of that. So my design business, I on paper pay myself 20 grand a year from my design business. And then my rental income is on top of that. But if my design business does good, I leave that in the bank in the other place that I pretend is not mine so that it can grow.

Anne McGinty
How many properties do you own?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I own a condo and a house. At one point, my ex and I owned two houses and two condos. And that was very abundant. That was wonderful. I find it so fun to be mis-traverse city and share my town with people coming through and giving all the tips for where to go. And then providing long term housing too for someone that was around the block. But beautifully, I think this is awesome. When we did split, we prepared ourselves to both be okay. And so I have a house. He has a house. Five houses down from each other. Our daughter can walk back and forth. And then I still have one rental property. And so we set ourselves both up for success.

Anne McGinty
What an ideal way to uncouple. So your condo today, how much passive income does that bring you?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Around 25,000. And that property is paid off.

Anne McGinty
That's great. So you have over half a million of equity in your condo alone. Your rental income pays for most of your overhead expenses. And the distributions you take from your business covers the rest plus you're able to continue saving.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Or when I want to start something new that I don't have to be desperate about my new idea of bringing in money. I'd be like, I want to start this event, but it's going to break even and that's okay because I want to do it. And so it also gives me that freedom to just be creative without the desperation.

Anne McGinty
What other tips would you give to these younger generations that are entering adulthood with the wages they can earn in combination with the higher cost of living?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I think the best thing you can do because we can't control the housing market. We can't control the cost of living or what food is. But we can control what we spend. And being smart with like going out to eat as a treat, not as an expectation every week.

Going out of vacation because you really want to, not because you think you should. There's so many things we spend money on that we think we should have or should do that we don't actually need and doesn't bring us happiness. And so if you can live really simply and fruely with how you spend your money now, then you will be rich to invest in the things that will give you the life you want.

Thankfully, I was a smart 25 year old and I did buy a house and a condo. My mortgage is paid for by my rental income. I don't have to worry about that. But because my housing is secure and I don't spend a ton of money in the everyday stuff, what I do get is my time. So in the summertime, I work way less.

I live in a town that is right on Lake Michigan, the sleeping bear dunes. It is paradise in here in the summer. And all I want to do is camp and hike and backpack and paddle and swim and work a little bit, you know, probably more like part time in the summer. And that's the lifestyle I get to live. So I'm not out there going to Permuda or cancun, but I allow myself to really love where I live.

Anne McGinty
So what special cost savings tactics did you use to help you save not one down payment, but for?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
It was a risk every time it was like, we are going to use every penny we have from our personal account to our business account. You know, don't touch your IRAs, but like basically almost leaving nothing in the bank because we knew we would get it back. So there is a level of like, yeah, it's scary.

And sometimes you got to jump, but some of the things I did too is a few summers when I didn't own my house yet and I own the condo and I knew it was one of the only places in Traverse City that was zoned for short-term rental. I bought a $2,000 pop-up camper. I think we did the pop-up camper three years in a row and just made all this passive income with short-term rentals and then we could move back in the fall and that basically paid for our whole mortgage for the year.

Anne McGinty
Oh my gosh. That's amazing. So you're in the wilderness in a camper. You're able to commute to work or have how did you have Wi-Fi?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
I could jump on the public trail and ride my bike to town and just use coffee shops. There's a lot of places that are not zoned for short-term rental and so you can't necessarily count on that. You might be able to sneak around but they might be zoned for 30 days or more. So that's where the camping thing can help is maybe you can list your house but for 30 days at a time at a higher price that's worth it for you to go live in a camper all summer.

Anne McGinty
Well an incredible lifestyle.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Yes.

Anne McGinty
That is really the dream. I mean, I think that you sound like you've made it past the rat race at this point and you did it all with a moderate salary. We're not talking major six figures here or anything like that but you still were able to acquire four properties and you probably don't want to talk about your ex but

Chelsea Bay Dennis
oh we're great friends.

Anne McGinty
Okay. So his salary was it similar to yours?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Yeah. We both were self-employed. At one point we kind of worked together running both companies together and so we were equally invested in both things. So he was about the same. Some years I would make more, some years he would make more but not a ton. We just saved.

I mean, you're the one who taught me about rich dad, poor dad which already made sense in my brain but his whole thing is like rich people don't spend money. They save it. They invest. They save, save, save and invest. Save, save, save and invest and the poor mentality is I just got money. The next round's on me and they spend it as soon as they get it and saving is I think the best way to make money.

Anne McGinty
What advice would you give Midori as she's entering her 20s so that she can follow the same track as you?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Be creative. Midori doesn't like classes and most parents are like well you need to take piano or dance her did did it. She's like I don't want to but I want to do those things. So we repainted and redid our whole basement and invited six of her friends over and the girls are making up their own dances and like we didn't have to go to some fancy school or competitions all they want to do is

dance. So she already has it in her spirit to be like well I'm going to make it then. I think there's that Alice Walker quote we are the ones we've been waiting for and so if you want to see something happen don't wait around for someone else to do it or spend money on someone else to do it. There's a lot that you can create for yourself that doesn't have to involve money and knowing how much power

you hold to initiate the life you want is the best gift I can give her best advice is like starting a business go in with that minimum viable product or minimal investment to actually see what you want first before spending every cent you have on getting a bunch of loans to something that you might not follow through with. You got to mean it.

Anne McGinty
Is there anything else that you think is important to tell?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
Do you know about SCORE?

I do.

Chelsea Bay Dennis
That is an amazing resource the fact that it's free you can meet with these people who have done it. My only advice is a lot of those people are going to tell you your ideas not going to work or that you have to do it in a certain way or you have to go through these certain steps to start a business and we're in a different time and so that advice you can take here it but make your own decisions around doing what you know is right for

you not what you should do because the reality is to start a business it doesn't have to take that much but it also doesn't have to be perfect to be good and I think when we want everything to be perfect and that product to be polished or that app to be perfect before we launch it into the world we need to just put it out there and test it with very little money so that you can pivot and pivot

and pivot to get it right before you actually pour your money into it so success doesn't always mean getting bigger success can also mean staying small or staying simple

Anne McGinty
it's hard in this country because there's so much noise and there's a lot of jonesiness and consumerism commercialism it's very capitalist but you're right choose what it is that you want

Chelsea Bay Dennis
yes and I think part of the reason why I do well is I'm really invested in this town and so I find my fun here I find my community here I find people who want to sponsor my events here because the longer you invest in a community the longer they're going to invest in you as well

Anne McGinty
how old were you when you went back to Traverse City?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
25

Anne McGinty
so you were really only in San Francisco from when you were what 21 -25 or so?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
yeah it was three full years

Anne McGinty
if you're 21 today what approach would you take?

Chelsea Bay Dennis
first of all leave where you're from leave what you should do leave what is given to you so you can get perspective up the elevator on life so that you can choose the life you want you might go away for a year and decide you want to go back to your hometown that was something I did I chose my town question everything that was handed to you as a kid from how you should live to what you should do for work

to where you live and then choose it and put the puzzle pieces back together one at a time take those early 20 years to question everything experience everything and then start to make your choices but you can't if you're too close to where you're from you can't see it

Anne McGinty
I think that you did it so well

Chelsea Bay Dennis
thanks

Anne McGinty
you did you crushed it

Chelsea Bay Dennis
yeah

Anne McGinty
well thank you so much for spending your time and giving us your knowledge and insight

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for being here.

Chelsea found a niche in graphic design and a path that is rich in personal connection and profits, enough to support the lifestyle she wants to live, but also the financial ability to purchase multiple passive-income generating properties in Traverse City, Michigan.

Today’s Key Takeaways:

• Align your personal values with your business. Chelsea looked for sustainable companies that needed to improve their brand aesthetic.

• Notice the problems and consider solutions. Chelsea noticed small local companies she loved were unable to afford the services of her four person company.

So, she bid farewell and started a solo business and filled the need for custom graphic design work at a more affordable price

• Make it a win-win  By lowering her overhead and operating a simplified business she could offer more affordable prices and still make a bigger profit.

• By donating design services to companies with a cause, she bulked her portfolio and established relationships, leading to word-of-mouth growth for her business.

• Define what success means to you. To Chelsea, success is working smarter and having her own autonomy.

• When you’re first starting out, you don’t need a top of the line apartment. You just need a safe place to sleep and save the rest.

• Save, save, save - because having a down payment will open up doorways to passive income and help you so you don’t have to work full-time.

• Keep as much as you can in a separate ’do not touch’ account so that you train yourself to feel that the money isn’t even yours - try to live off of very little - and put everything else away to build up so that it’s ready for when you can buy an investment that will help lead you to the lifestyle you want.

• If you’re thinking about starting a business, and feel like you need more input and advice, check out SCORE. But, take that advice with a grain of salt.

• Leave your home town, at least for a little bit, so that you can get perspective and choose the life you want to live. You can always go back home, but leave for at least a little bit.

• And, finally - Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  there’s a reason it’s so popular… the concept is simple, the advice makes sense and it works.

I hope you enjoyed today’s show. If you did, please leave me a 5 star review and share it with a friend!  

I’ll be releasing episodes once a week, so come back and check it out!

Have a great day!