Jeff Lerner Video: Sharon Lechter Exit Strategy Conversation
Jeff-Lerner-Reviews.pngSHARON LECHTER: When people start a business, I always ask
them, "Did you, A, start the business to work until the day
you die? Or B, did you start it to build something that
would be successful, provide for you and your family, and
give you your time back eventually (B)?" Everybody
says B, but most people build A. There's a system that
people need to follow to build the foundation of their
business, so they can build a successful business that's
also sustainable, and scalable, which then makes it
saleable. So it becomes an economic engine for you that
gives you your time back.
Jeff Lerner: Can you talk a little bit about the idea of
building a business as a way... as kind of a hack to
create value and wealth in the world, even if you can't
afford to acquire assets?
Sharon Lechter: First, why a business? If you truly are
passionate about building an asset, and you have an issue
that you wa--... a problem you want to solve or a need you
want to serve, and you can build a business around it,
that is the quickest way to wealth. And it doesn't take a
lot of cash to get started if you do it right. But when
people start a business, I always ask them, "Did you, A,
start the business to work until the day you die? Or B,
did you start it to build something that would be
successful, provide for you and your family, and give you
your time back eventually (B)?" Everybody says B, but
most people build A. They build themselves a job, not a
business. And so, my many, many years of experience, of
seeing how companies do it right, and more importantly,
seeing how they do it wrong. And all the clients that I've
had, I said, there's a system that people need to follow to
build the foundation of their business, so they can build a
successful business that's also sustainable, and
scalable, which then makes it saleable. Doesn't mean you
have to sell it, but you've created it so it becomes an
economic engine for you that gives you your time back. And
so, we talk about the six Ps within the book, Exit Rich.
The first one is your people. Do you have people who are
strong where you areweak? Do you have the right advisors? Do you have the
right mentor? Do you have the right team that's going to
help you be able to grow? And sometimes, the people that
have gotten you to where you are today are not the right
people to get you to where you deserve to be. And you have to
make those tough decisions; but people, then products. You
have a product or a service, maybe it can be leveraged into
different industries and into different markets. We help
people identify that and do that. The third one is
processes. The systems; that's what makes your business
scalable, your operating system, right? How are you
doing your business? How are you making your product? How
are you delivering your service? How are you taking
orders? How are you delivering on those orders? Those
processes is what makes it a true business. And it's a lot
easier to manage a system than it is to manage personalities.
So, you have a system of how things go and somebody breaks
it. You'd say, okay, what did you not do according to the
system? Okay? It's all... makes it more business. And
the fourth P is proprietary. What is your competitive
advantage, your intellectual property? And these... This
has tremendous in today's world, very little of it is on
your balance sheet. It's the, what we call goodwill, your
intellectual property, your brand, your competitive
advantage. And this is my superpower. I help people
identify their intellectual property, protect it, and then
leverage it. And that's where the vast majority of value in
the business world today is, it is in these intangible
assets. And then the fifth one is your patrons. And in
today's world, it... Jeff, so many people get excited about
how many followers they have on Instagram, Facebook,
TikTok, but you don't own those names. Those are great
lead generation tools, but you want to invite them home into
your database. Your patrons, they become your best
marketing tool, but if you don't have access to them,
you're hurting yourself. And many companies sell based on
their database. So, it's really important to invite
those people home into your database. And then the sixth
one is profit. Obviously, we all want to make a profit, but
if your profit isn't where you want it to be, it's probably
because of one of those other five Ps. And so in the book,
Exit Rich, we talk about the things to go through, and how
you can solidify the foundation of your business
today. Not whether you want to sell it today, but let's
create your business so that it is a standalone entity, an
economic engine that generates revenue for you. And that that
will give you your time back, and it gives you the
opportunity to bring in other people to run it. It gives you
the opportunity to scale it, take it into different
industries. And that's the beauty
of understanding the power of building a business so that
you can Exit Rich. And you may still own the business, but
you've exited at your time and that business is still
generating the revenue for you.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah, and you've built something that is
actually of value to the people that, extensively,
you're building it for. Like, to take care of, right? If you
have to work till you die for your business, then your
business will die when you can't work.
Sharon Lechter: That's right.
Jeff Lerner: Right? No, that's rea--... This is so great. I
swear, anybody out there that can't afford consulting, start
a podcast because you get all the free consulting you could
ever possibly need. This is... I'm scaling a business right
now, and it's like, okay. Yeah, boom. This framework,
let me lean into this.
So I've got a couple of Rich Dad books on my shelf over
there, and I know you've done a lot since then. And... but
man, those purple books. They were and still are just
everywhere. Tell me, maybe that's I think a good place to
start. How'd you get into that? How and why'd you get
out of that, and do you ever feel like you have a big
purple shadow hanging over you?
Sharon Lechter: [laughter] That's the first time
anybody's asked that question. There was a time when I
thought Rich Dad was my legacy, and God decided to
make sure I knew that there was a whole lot more for me to
do. Let me... let me give you the Cliffs Notes version of
where I came, from because I grew up in a very humble home,
lower-middle-class. We lived in a small house between my
mom's beauty shop and my dad's used car lot. Neither one of
my parents had a high school diploma. My dad ended up
career Navy, ended up running the engineering school. So,
he's a pretty smart self-made man. But I used to clean out
rental properties between tenants when I was 10,
scrubbing out bathrooms. We had orange groves; we had cash
flow from the oranges every year. But my friends, their
parents were CEOs or military officers, and I thought we
were somehow less than. And I decided I wanted to get a
college degree. I wanted to become a sophisticated
professional. And so, that's what I did. First generation
to go to college, got my degree in accounting. It was
one of the very first women in public accounting. Moved to
Atlanta, loved it. Very quickly rising through the
ranks at Coopers & Lybrand, back then one of the big
eight. And about the ripe old age of 25, I realized that I
was not in control of my own life. And my parents started
looking a lot smarter at a client that offered me to go
with him. He was buying a company out of bankruptcy. And
so, I remember going back to my condo with the old yellow
legal pad, before PCs, before cell phones, pros and cons.
And it didn't help me but I could argue both sides, but my
hand took off across the top of the page and said, why not?
Why not do something different? Why not solve a
problem or serve a need? Why not take that road less
traveled? And so, that was when I made the decision to
leave public accounting and really start my own
entrepreneurial career. Met my husband by that decision and
we've been married 41 years. Started a woman's magazine,
sold that. Started talking children's books, the books
that had the sound strips down the side. I met the inventor
of that and joined him, and helped him grow that around
the world. Learned so much.
Jeff Lerner: Wait, let me interrupt. Let me just make
sure we don't gloss over that. You start... because I have
these books in my home, because I have four kids. You
started or were part of the gestation of the talking
children's book, where they push the button, and it...
Okay.
Sharon Lechter: That's right. The inventor of that was a
good friend of mine. He started the company and then
he needed, wanted, to grow it. He'd had a... his company had
been into sheet music, he was a musician. He got into the
talking books. And so I came and helped him scale it, and
helped him build the systems and take that around the
world. And I learned so much about international
manufacturing and banking. And we also understood that we had
this electronic thing that kids had never had before. And
so we said, "How can we get parents to trust us?" And so,
we aligned with little companies like Disney, Warner
Brothers, Sesame Street. So, I understood the power of
association, the power of licensing, and that helped us
to explode that company around the world. And we started that
company in 1987, sold it in 1991. And that's when my
husband and I moved to Arizona. '92, our oldest son
went off to college. Came home in December in credit card
debt. I was so mad. Mad at him, but more mad at myself.
We didn't even know he had a credit card. He got to college
campus and there was a table; free pizza, free money, free
t-shirt, free money. And he had a really good time his
first semester in college. Came home in December and
asked us to bail him out. Haven't always made the right
parenting decisions, but that one was the correct
one. We wouldn't bail him out, and he's as passionate as I am
today about financial literacy. But that was
December of 1992, and that's when I dedicated the rest of
my career to financial literacy, financial education,
entrepreneurship education. Because I realized that very
few people had the benefit of learning what I learned as a
child, in a household where we understood the value of
buying, building, and creating income-producing assets.
Instead of chasing the money, chase the asset. And so, when
I realized that, I said, we... people need to understand the
value of assets in their lives. And so, that's when I
really started on that journey, started working with
school systems, hence the white hair. Fast forward a few
years, my husband was a very well-known intellectual
property attorney. He called me one day and said, "I met
this guy today that has what you've been looking for." So
when I'm in front of a audience of women, I go,
ladies, what would you do if your husband called you and
said, "I met a man that has what you've been looking for."
I still remember it. It was like, okay, this sounds kinky.
But it was Kiyosaki had gone to see him in his corner
mahogany office, in his flip-flops, t-shirt, and with
this idea for a board game drawn out on a piece of
butcher block paper. And so, I met him at the first beta
test. My husband helped him patent the
game, but I'm the only one that got out of the rat race.
And I said that this truly teaches what I'm teaching. And
so, what can I do to support you? Volunteered to help him
commercialize the game.
Jeff Lerner: And that was Cashflow, right?
Sharon Lechter: That was Cashflow.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah. I played the game many times. Love it.
Sharon Lechter: 1996. And as we continued to help him in
getting that game commercialized, he told me he
wanted to charge $200 for it. And I said, well, that's
pretty pricey. Maybe you should write a brochure that
explains the philosophy that would get people to want to
invest $200. And that's when he asked me to be his partner.
And that brochure for the game was a little book called "Rich
Dad Poor Dad".
Jeff Lerner: Heeey!
Sharon Lechter: Most people don't realize that this was
actually started and written as a brochure to sell the
Cashflow game. And so, this book came out in April of
1997. And so, next April will be the 25th anniversary of the
release of Rich Dad Poor Dad. And we only expected to write
one book, and the world said, no, we want you to write more.
So we said, okay, we'll do a trilogy, Rich Dad Poor Dad,
Cashflow Quadrant, Guide to Investing. And then, oh no,
they wanted more. So, we became a publishing company
that our brand, which we thought was Cashflow,
became... The world said, no your brand is Rich Dad. So in
our 10 years as equal partners and co-founders, we wrote 15
books together and grew the company and the purple storm
around the world. And, at the time, publisher said, "Oh,
your book needs to be red, or black, or green. It's a
finance book." And I said, no, that's why we want it to be
purple. And they said, no, it needs to be... I said, why
not? Well, why not? Why not make it purple? We want to
stand out. And so, you go into the bookstores today, the few
that are left, and you see a lot of purple books in the
business department because people emulated what we did
with Rich Dad. But it was an incredible journey building
the largest personal finance brand in the world, and having
the kind of success because we looked at it by sharing stories. We
weren't dictating what you do. And people immediately, when
they see Rich Dad Poor Dad, they immediately say, I had a
rich dad, or I had a poor dad, or I am a poor dad. So, you
immediately relate to the brand. And so, we had just an
incredible opportunity to impact people around the
world; over a hundred countries, over 50 languages.
And in 2007, we've been partners for 10 years and
Robert wanted to go into franchising, which was a great
model for us just not a very good model for franchisees.
So, at that point in time, I decided... and we were at the
height of our success. I made the decision I had to leave
because it was no longer the right thing for me. And so I
left, not knowing what was ahead of me. And I tell
people, sometimes you have to close one door for other doors
of opportunity to open. And you're right, I thought Rich
Dad was my legacy at that point. We'd built it around
the globe. And then, a few months later, I got the call
from President Bush asking me to be on the very first
President's Advisory Council for Financial Literacy; an
incredible honor that I served President Bush and Obama. But
then a few months later, March of '08, I got a phone call
from the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Now I read "Think
and Grow Rich" when I was 19, when I was in college. And we know
what was happening to the economy in '08, and they
wanted to reinvigorate the teachings of Napoleon Hill,
and Don Green, who's the CEO, had just learned that I had
left Rich Dad, and he asked me to step in and help
reinvigorate the teachings of Napoleon Hill. And it's just
been an incredible journey. I've written four books in
relationship with the foundation, Three Feet From
Gold, Outwitting the Devil, Think and Grow Rich for Women,
and Success and Something Greater. And it's just been an
incredible journey. And so to answer your question again, I
did not know what my legacy would be, but the legacy
continues to grow. It continues to... gotta make
space. Sometimes you got to make room in your life for new
Opportunities.
Jeff Lerner: Well, yeah, and it's quite a legacy, and it's
all of it. I mean, I can certainly say you've impacted
one person tremendously. I actually happen to have Think
and Grow Rich on my desk, too. I'm like holding all your
legacy stuff within three feet; I'm "Three Feet From
Gold", you could say. Right? See what I did there? But no,
it's pretty incredible. And I mean, I just have to say as
someone that, yeah... 1996, I was 17 years old and I had
just dropped out of high school because I saw,
intuitively, I felt that school was this sort of
long-arc job training platform. Right? That was sort
of taking me from, it was like a flywheel that ultimately was
going to bring me to employment. And I knew I was
unemployable. I knew I didn't want to do that. And I dropped
out of school to become a musician. And I very quickly
found out that being free and broke isn't actually, really
being free. I played gigs and I literally... my first gigs I
played for food. I would literally trade a four-hour
set of piano for a dinner at a restaurant. And I remember
reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, probably '99. '98, '99 is when
I read it. Maybe my buddy... I remember my buddy, Jeremy,
like, dude, you gotta read this book, and then we're
going to play... It was... He knew it was a brochure. He's
like, you gotta read this
book, and then you're going to come over and we're going to
play this game. And he and I bought my very first rental
property together back in 2001 or something, on a credit...
cash advance on a credit card and some craziness. But yeah,
I'm just one story but I know there's millions like that.
So, that is a hell of a legacy. I'm sure I would be an
entrepreneur one way or another, but yeah, that's...
You shaped a whole generation of entrepreneurs, and by the
way, I just have to also acknowledge, you've written
four books with Napoleon Hill Foundation?
Sharon Lechter: Yes.
Jeff Lerner: And how many books did you have a hand in
writing with the Rich Dad Organization?
Sharon Lechter: We wrote, well, 15. I've written a total
of 26 books, so…
Jeff Lerner: And you actually have helped write or written
yourself 26 books?
Sharon Lechter: Mm hmm.
Jeff Lerner: Because I just finished writing a book and I
feel like it almost killed me. So I don't know how you pulled
that off. That's a whole other conversation we need to have,
but especially as an accountant. You've got both
sides of the brain firing. Maybe talk a little bit about
that. Because for me, I know what it took to write a book.
But I know to my audience, still, I've gotten feedback
when I posted about, hey guys, I just finished my book and I
showed a screenshot of the word count. I was like 96,000
words or something, and people are like, how do you write
that much? So, I got... I want to ask you, how do you have
that much to say? What's the secret to being so fecund and
fertile? And, I don't know, maybe you shouldn't ask a
woman about how to be so fertile, but you know what I'm
trying to ask. Anyway.
Sharon Lechter: It's all right. At my age, that's a
safe question. I love to talk about that because I do a lot
of training people on writing. I work with a lot of people on
getting their books done, and sometimes you look at writing
a book as this monumental task. It's just communicating.
And so, you want to write as you would speak. And at the
end of the day, overall, you have a book project. What is
the problem you want to solve, or the need you want to serve
in that book? Just like I talk about your business, your
business solves a problem or serves a need. When you focus
on the end in mind, and you know the journey to get there,
and then you just started breaking it down. You kind of
do the outline and then you start filling it in. What are
the five things that you want to hit towards... five topics
that you want to cover in that book? And then under each
topic, what are the three things within that topic? And
then, what's a story for each of those points? And so, when
you start doing it from that perspective, it doesn't seem
like such a monumental task. And you have the ability to
start pulling it together and realize that you're taking
somebody on a journey. Because when you write a book, think
about a textbook. You read it, it goes to your brain, and
hopefully, at test
time you can regurgitate it, right? Well, when you want a
book that is impactful, moves people, you want them to read
it and involve their heart. It touches their heart. And
that's what makes... that's what inspires them and
motivates them to make change. And you do that through being
vulnerable and telling stories that they can relate to, so
that it engages their emotions. And so, that's... I
take people through this journey all the time on really
understanding. And today, you can write a book that's 20,000
words; it doesn't have to be 50, 60,000 words. But you want
to be able to complete the process of getting that one
point across so that people understand that their life can
be better as a result of reading it.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah. I think that's one really interesting
thing, is that I learned... is I remember a few times kind of
stopping and being like, wait a minute. What is the point?
What is this? What is the one thing that this book is about?
If you think of the best books, like Rich Dad Poor Dad,
for example. For the rest of my life, it's like, poor
people invest in stuff, rich people invest in assets.
That's it. There's probably other takeaways but start with
why. What are the... even Think and Grow Rich, there's
these basic success principles. Everything has a
grounding in one point, at least the good books. And I
know that was really, really useful for me, was to keep
comi--... And every time I felt off or I felt
overwhelmed, that was because I had lost the threat.
Sharon Lechter: You had gone down a rabbit hole.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah. Exactly.
Sharon Lechter: And that happens all the time. People
get into a... they get off onto a tangent. And sometimes
it's okay to do that because you need to get it out of you.
Right? And then you look at that and go, okay, this is
something, this is a perfect bonus. Let's pull this out of
the book. This is a bonus chapter. Right?
Jeff Lerner: Right.
Sharon Lechter: You have to allow... you want to allow
your imagination to just be able to share, and not try and
restrict it too much. Because when I write, I always go over
to the ocean, turn off the phone. I'm by myself looking
at the ocean. It's food for my soul, but then I immerse
myself in what I want to communicate, and it just
Flows.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah. That was... There were elements of that in
my experience. It was a little more hodgepodge because I was
also running a business, and also... Yeah, next time I do
it, I'm going to be really organized about how I do it.
But anyway, yeah. What a wonderful experience. I'm so
impressed. Like I said, you've written 26 books that... I
love it.
Sharon Lechter: So what's good, and I want everybody to
hear this. You just said next time. And so you understand
the success of the project, the pain that you went
through. Now you can streamline it, and the next
one won't be nearly as stressful.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah, and that was another thing somebody
told me early on, is like, Jeff, first of all, get over
this idea that you're writing the greatest non-fiction book
in the history of America, that's going to be your
seminal life's work, and by which you'll be forever
defined. You're just writing a book. Walk into a bookstore
and look around and see how many there are. It's not that
big a deal, you'll probably do it again. Just quit putting so
much pressure on yourself and just write it. And also, the
realizat--... I remember at a certain point going, wait a
minute, this is my book! There's no right or wrong.
There might be more or less effective, and I....
ultimately, I get to be the judge of that and maybe I'll
enlist some professional help, but I can't do it wrong. The
only way to do it wrong is to just stop and not get it done.
So anyway, that was liberating.
Speaking of books, you have a new book, Exit Rich, which I would love to
talk about partly because it's your new book, and I assume
you'd love the world to know you have a new book out. But
also because I really, really believe for the average
person, and this is at the core of why I do what I do
with ENTRE, my education company, that there are a lot
of people who are not in a position necessarily to invest
significantly in the acquisition of cashflow-producing assets.
There's things different people can do depending on
different circumstances, but if you're struggling to find
two nickels to rub together to go buy some Taco Bell, you're
probably not out there acquiring a lot of assets, but
you can build assets. Entrepreneurship is the hack
to create what you cannot afford. And so, I think if
people really understand how you can take value, which
every human has intrinsic value, and the ability to
deliver that value and create the potential energy to create
a transaction through an exchange of that value. We can
all do that. And when you understand that when you...
There's a formula, there's a process, an art, and a science
to doing that in a sequential and structured way, that can
ultimately lead to what you're talking about; an exit. It's
like Bill Gates said, it's not your fault if you were born
poor, but if you die poor, that's on you. This is how
everybody can do it. It's not through a job.
Hey, sorry for the interruption. I just wanted to
let you know you can get a free copy of my book, The
Millionaire Shortcut, which will show you the fastest way
to become a millionaire in the new economy. And there’s a
special ink just for this episode in the description.
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the
Episode.
A lot of people, and I hear this all the time. There is a
bias, I think a negative bias in the world around
entrepreneurship and business ownership. In terms of, I
guess the word people use is risky. Oh, it's risky. Most
businesses fail and yah dah da. What do you say to that?
What are your thoughts on business risk?
Sharon Lechter: Well, the risk I think in the last couple of
years, has been proven that the risk is much higher when
you have a job. Because you are at the mercy of the
government, your employer, and you're not in control of your
own life. And so, as a business owner, you are the
CEO of your own life. Yes, you're taking a risk, but if
you're doing it correctly, if you're really solving a
problem, you're building something that's adding value
to the world. You're not just exchanging time for money.
Employees exchange time for money. As a business owner,
you're investing your time in buying, and building, and
creating that asset. And so, that is something that will
give you infinite returns. When you're exchanging time
for money, there's only so much income you can make
because there's only so many hours in the day, and only so
many days in the week. So ask yourself, do you want to spend
your time, or do you want to invest your time? And it's not
what you do for your paycheck. If you're employed, there's
nothing wrong with being an employee. It's not what you do
for your paycheck that determines your future, it's
what you do with your paycheck. And everybody can
find five to ten hours a week to invest in starting a
business on the side. Don't quit your day job if you're
dependent on it, but start something on the side that can
build into an income-producing asset.
Jeff Lerner: Amen to that. I love that you answered it
where it's not to say, oh, well yeah, you have to own a
business, it's, you have to own assets. And if you can't
afford to acquire passive assets, then you probably need
to build an active one, right? i.e., start a business. I
just... Yeah, it's crazy to me. And the reality too, that
they just released inflation numbers, and 6.8% is what
they'll admit to right now. Let's say it's between 4 and
8% a year. I think it's technically higher, depending
on how you look... what basket of goods you compare. But the
bottom line is if you're not getting at least a 5% or 6% a
year raise, you're getting poorer every year in terms of
real buying power. So, I think people that think that the
security is in the job, if you were... If inflation wasn't
happening, but they told you every year you work here,
we're going to cut your pay, you would not feel very
secure. But if every year you're not getting a raise at
least equal to inflation, effectively, you're getting a
pay cut every year. How the hell do we sell ourselves that
that's security?
Sharon Lechter: That's right.
Jeff Lerner: Anyhow, I know I'm preaching to the converted
here, but okay. So, Exit Rich. I am really excited to
actually look at that book. Can you maybe talk a little
bit about... because again, we have a big audience out there.
I have an urg--... I would say if I was going to pick one
person out of my audience and say you represent my audience,
it would be an early-stage entrepreneur. A lot of the
people that listen to the show are kind of, I think they're
starting to buy into this rationale, that, hey, business
ownership is, for a lot of people, the best vehicle to
wealth. But there's so much conditioning and inherited
reasoning to overcome for the average person. And so, help
me continue to enroll people in this idea of, when you talk
about if you do it the right way, it's actually much less
risky than throwing your chips in with the employment system.
What do you mean by the right way to start a business?
Sharon Lechter: Well, we don't know what we don't know. And
people that are just starting a business, there's so many
pitfalls. There's so many mistakes to make. And would
you rather learn by making a mistake and losing money, or
would you rather learn by studying successful
businesses? And that's why I wrote Exit Rich. You could
hire me as a mentor, I'm very expensive, but I help people
steer. I steer them around the pitfalls and I accelerate
their speed to success. So, if you don't have a mentor, I
suggest you get one because you need to invest in
yourself. But if you can't afford a mentor today, at
least buy a book, all right? And start reading it, and
understand what really strong businesses look like from the
inside out. And as you educate yourself, Good to Great by Jim
Collins, another great book, Exit Rich; it gives you the
tools to understand things that you need to do from the
beginning, to build that structure into your business
so that you have the greatest and best chance to succeed.
Steve Forbes, a friend of mine, he says, Exit Rich is a
gold mine for entrepreneurs. It is a textbook on how to
build and structure your business so that you have the
highest likelihood of success.
Jeff Lerner: So, I think the stats are something like, I
don't know, 50% of all businesses close in the first
three years or something. You probably know the stat. What's
the big macro stat that everybody doom and glooms
about? If you happen to know.
Sharon Lechter: Well, pretty much 85% of businesses don't
get past the seventh or eighth year. But those stats have
actually changed, and it's even scarier. Businesses that
have been in business for 10 years are failing right and
left. And that's because they have not paid attention to
what's... the dynamics changing in the economy, and
they haven't stayed current. And so, whether you were a
long-term business owner or a new business owner, you need
to pay attention to what's happening in the world. And so
for instance, 40 years ago, the Fortune 500 companies were
85% bricks and mortar, 15% intangible. Today, that's more
than flipped. Close to 90% of the valuation of fortune 500
is intangible, with less than 10% bricks and mortar. Okay,
so the world continues to change. You think of the
Amazon, a lot of intangible assets. Uber, one of the
largest transportation companies, they own no cars.
Airbnb, one of the largest hospitality, they own no
towels. And so, what are you doing to stay up with the
times in creating more intangible value and assets
within your business? And if you don't understand it, then
you need to bring in the right people to help you, the right
mentors. Read the right books, staying on the cutting edge of
business will help you stay on the front of the wave so that
you are in business in 10 years, instead of being
capsized by it.
Jeff Lerner: And I think it's important for people to know,
when we talk about intangible assets, we're not only talking
about software, or apps, or stuff that's technologically
intensive. A service business has a ton of intangible assets
with their good faith, their know-how, their customer
Relationships.
Sharon Lechter: Their brand, their logo, those things like
That.
Jeff Lerner: So, I think that's import--...
Sharon Lechter: Your patents, your copyrights, your
trademarks, your goodwill out there in the world, your
reputation, your competitive advantage has... can come from
every aspect of your business.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah. Even your social media, for example,
intangible assets. So, it's... I think it's interesting. A
lot of people... the concept of entrepreneurship I think is
really... And I know this because I talked to a lot of
young people, right? I have four kids, two teenagers,
about a dozen of their friends at my house at any given time.
And I think I have... my wife is like the cool mom. I have a
decent finger on the pulse of how young people think, and I
think there's a lot of thinking that entrepreneurship
now is all about technological innovation. Right? Because
those are... It's almost like the term has kind of been
hijacked by Fast Company magazine, right? And it's
like, that's all we think of as an entrepreneur, is some
Silicon Valley guy with a second home in Malibu. And
it's like, no, entr--... Just about any traditional business
that we might have thought of from the last hundred years,
there's a way to do it effectively in the modern
world that's leaner, and smarter, and more modernized.
What would you say to people that think that
entrepreneurship is daunting or out of reach, because it
involves kind of this narrow set of technology skills that
most people don't have?
Sharon Lechter: Well, it's true. It's never been easier
to start a business because of the technological advancements
that we have, the ability to have the internet, to have the
ability to market online. But in starting a business, it's
all about providing a solution to someone who they're looking
at. And it could be local, it could be global. And that's
what allows us to compete with the big boys because we have
the internet, so we can compete on a global basis. But
I talk to people that are just trying to get started and I
go, let's take a baby step, okay? If there are companies
out there that you really love and support, join their
affiliate program. Start marketing for them so you get
some cash flow, right? And through that affiliate
program, you start learning the process of internet
marketing with an established brand. And then that cash
flow, you can use that as your seed money to start your own
thing. And now, there's so many platforms that you can
use their systems. That's where I talk about your
systems, your processes. You don't have to create all those
systems yourself. You can have online programs, and you're
using Kajabi or other e-learning programs. They give
you the ability, they have the funnels, they have the ability
for you to tie into that. And so, yes, a lot of online
technology is part of starting a new business, but it's not
the end-all. It's what you do and how you apply it that generates the ability. You can have the greatest product on the world, but if you don't
have the marketing that goes with it, nobody's going to be
able to find you. So, at the end of the day, it's not about
just the profit. It's what is it... what are you doing
that's unique to you that can help someone that they're
going to want to use it, and then tell their friends about
It?
Jeff Lerner: So, yeah, exactly, and a lot... and this
idea. There's plenty of technology out there to grow a
business. You don't need to create technology to have a
business. So, let me ask you this. I like to kind of peel
back the human layers with my guests, and really understand.
You've obviously been pretty fabulously successful, and
it's not just since everybody heard of you. Even before
that, like you said, one of the first female CPAs. You
were rising through those ranks. You've obviously got
some sort of an X-factor. Maybe it's a drive, maybe it's
just incognitive brilliance. It's probably some combination
of things, but can you talk a little bit about where you
think your success was sourced? How did Sharon get
primed to go out into the world and crush it, when,
frankly, most people don't?
Sharon Lechter: Well, thanks for that question, Jeff. And
if I had an answer and could bottle it, I'd be a
billionaire. But I think every night my Dad would ask me,
Sharon, have you added value to someone's life today? He's
been gone 16 years, but I still ask myself that every
night. Have I added value to someone's life today? My
eigh--... I was destined to be a fourth-grade math teacher.
That was my dream, my goal. And my eighth-grade English
teacher told me, Sharon, you're going to be a famous
writer. I thought she was crazy. I was in college in
accounting, and double track, and science, and genetics, and
my housemother said, you're going to be speaking on stage.
And I thought she was crazy. But people that... it's really
important to let young people know that you believe in them.
And I think that's not happening a lot in today's
world. And my parents told me you could be and do anything
you want. And I lived in a world where I was the only
girl in my classes half the time. I was definitely having
to find my way to create success in a man's world, but
I didn't look at it as sexual discrimination. I just said,
okay, I accept the challenge. If I want to succeed, I'm
going to have to work a little harder. And I think it's
really important for each of us to know that today, the
level... the playing field
is level. If you apply yourself and you start finding
those resources to support you, you have the ability to
create success. We are all created uniquely perfect. And
when we start trying to compare ourselves to other
people, we get into trouble. My book, Outwitting the Devil,
that was my second book with the Napoleon Hill Foundation.
It was written by Napoleon Hill in 1938. He intended it
to be the sequel to Think and Grow Rich. His wife was scared
by the title. She forbid it to be published, and it was
locked away for 73 years. And when we released Three Feet
From Gold, Don Green said, I have this manuscript I need
you to see, that he had just gotten delivered by the
family. That's probably the only the fourth or fifth
person to read it. And it was typed on a manual typewriter,
had handwritten notes by Napoleon Hill in the margins.
It was like I was having a conversation with him.
Jeff Lerner: Wow.
Sharon Lechter: And this book changed me. And I said, this
has to get out in the world. And it is just going like
gangbusters around the world. Perfect for the younger
generation because it's in your face, but it talks about
how fear holds us back and keeps us from creating the
success we deserve. Now in Three Feet From Gold, the
first book that I did with the Napoleon Hill Foundation, I
released the personal success equation, and that's combining
your passion and your talent. And that really is all about
us, and most of us stop there, but true success comes from,
times A, power of association. Who's on your team? Who's
around you? Who's your mentor? Do you have the right people
propelling you forward? Times A, taking action. Are you
taking action? How many times do we know what we're supposed
to do, we just don't do it? And then, plus F for faith.
Faith in yourself, faith in what you're doing, faith that
is needed and necessary, and faith that you will succeed.
That personal success equation, and you can go to
personalsuccessequation.com and get a free workbook that I
created. I use with every single one of my clients, with
every talk that I give, because that is the essence.
When I start with working with somebody, it's usually the
power of association that needs the most work, and that
faith and confidence because at F is really fear in their
lives. They're holding themselves
back. And that's what Outwitting the Devil flies in
the face of where that fear came from. The fear of
criticism, a very big one in today. Fear of poverty, fear
of old age, fear of death, and how fear keeps us from
creating the potential that we have, and how to unlock that
potential. To use your phrase, to... He shares the steps to
go through, that definition of purpose. What is your purpose
in life? What is it you want to do? Mastery over self,
having that self-discipline. Learning from adversity. And
then the big one in today's world, controlling your
environment. What are you allowing into your head, into
your space? Who are you listening to? Who are you
hanging out with? Are you allowing that negativity to
burrow into your subconscious? And then controlling your
time. Are you spending your time or are you investing your
time? And our only precious resource; we can make money,
lose it and make it back, but when our time is gone, it's
gone. And so, we go through this process of finding your
ability to determine what your purpose is, and controlling,
and creating, and reaching for the success that you serve
richly deserve. And that fear is so debilitating. And people
have these thoughts in their brain that say, I'm not good
enough. Easy for her to say, some of you may have already
thought that during this interview. Easier for her to
say, or I'm too old, which is now one of my favorite ones. And that's that
negativity, that man-made devil that's in your brain,
keeping you from realizing your potential.
Jeff Lerner: I am... If you notice me looking down, it's
because I'm downloading the audiobook, Outwitting the
Devil right now!
Sharon Lechter: Oh, you will love it. I made them get two
different actors because Outwitting the Devil is like
an interrogation of the Devil. And he's got to show how he
keeps us from creating success.
Jeff Lerner: Oh, so it's kind of like ScrewTape. Have you
read Screwtape Letters?
Sharon Lechter: Yes. Yeah, and I made them get two different
actors. And the Devil's got this gravelly, old voice, and
it's magical. It's like a radio drama, you'll love it.
You'll have to let me know when you hear the story.
Jeff Lerner: Oh, I very much will. Yeah, that's why I seem
distracted. This is so good. I have such bad... If I don't
write it down or do it right now, I'll forget. 15 minutes
when we're done, I would forget to get it. So, I had to
get it right now, which I actually think is one of the
reasons I've been relatively successful in my life, is kind
of the whole the whole Mel Robbins…
Sharon Lechter: It's because you're an action taker.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah, the whole Mel Robbins "Five Second
Rule", I don't give myself five seconds because I'll
forget, or I'll talk myself out of it. Even if I have to
be rude and look off-camera while I'm talking to the great
Sharon Lechter, I will do it now if I need to do it! So, I
also pulled up personalsuccessequation.com.
Very cool. And you just kind of explain the equation.
What... Tell me a little more. So, if I download this guide,
what is this going to help me do?
Sharon Lechter: Well, it's going to help you start
looking at the elements that you have in your life. And
it's going to help you identify areas where you might
need to focus on working on. So, you have your passion,
your talent. Your passion is, what do you care about? My
passion came from anger, we weren't teaching kids about
money in school. My talent, CPA, accounting, and lots of
publishing. And most of us stopped there because we
really... we've been taught to do things on our own. But when
you start thinking about the power of association, and this
one; go deep in, in that workbook. Who do you have
around you? Who are you listening to? Who's supporting
you? Do you have a mentor? Who are your advisors? Who's on
your team? Do you have people on your team who are strong,
where you are weak? And then times action, taking action.
How you do... Are you one that says, I'll do it tomorrow? Or,
you have tons of paper on your desk because you're taking
furious notes, but you never look at them again. Right?
Taking action. And then, plus faith, having that confidence
in yourself and how can you build that faith? And so, in
this workbook, I help. I go through each one of these, so
that you can dial in on what you need to do to create the
next best chapter.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah, that's really interesting. I love
frameworks, frameworks are just so great. So, I'm going
to write this down. You had passion, talent, action,
Association…
Sharon Lechter: And faith.
Jeff Lerner: ...and faith. Okay. So, I'm going to grade
myself real quick. My passion. I... My passion came from
being bullied as a kid. And this sense that in the school
system, if you don't fit in, you feel like there's no path
or no future for you. It's the most isolating feeling in the
world. We wonder why suicides are on the rise, why kids'
emotional and psychological health is deteriorating. I see
how social media, in many ways, has made it worse.
Although, I don't think it's as bad as some people do. But
yeah, my fight is, hey, there's gotta be a place for
all the misfits in this world, because it... we're the crazy
ones, right? We're the ones Steve Jobs was talking about.
So, stop making us feel like we're a problem, or that we're
baggage that you'd be better off without, Mr. Society.
Right? Talent, I think I bounced around to a lot of
things. I had musical talent that didn't necessarily pay
very well, but when I figured out my... kind of what my
certain core talents are now, and I've really gone hard into
them, businesses has really taken off. I'm a massive
action taker, pretty high self-belief. Faith is the
substance of what is hoped for in the certainty of what is
not seen, is one of my favorite verses that I repeat
to myself endlessly. But association, it's interesting
you say that. I can say that my business stock has risen
more in the last two years, than in 20 years previously.
I've been a full-time entrepreneur since I was 16
because I started putting myself out there, and I
started reaching out and networking, and doing things
like this. I started a podcast. I started shopping
the idea of a book, and I started building
relationships. And now when you Google me, you see me and
it's crazy. People think it's rocket science, but you see me
interviewing Grant Cardone, or you see me interviewing James
Altucher, or you see me interviewing Sharon Lechter.
And it's like, yeah, well, you never get what you don't ask
for. Have you asked Sharon for an interview? Have you asked
Grant for an interview? Have you asked whoever for an
interview? Well, it's... but that association, you... You
just kind of really, really made me realize, okay, I can
go through this list. Passion, talent, action, association,
and faith, and say, where can I sprinkle the most fairy dust
to create the most multiplication? And for some
people, if it's not working, it's probably because one of
those five things is broken. Is that a true statement?
Sharon Lechter: Absolutely. Always. I use that as my
standard guide when I'm working with my clients.
Figure out, how can we get you to the next level? And…
Jeff Lerner: So, if you take that and you map it over the
six Ps, then it's like, whatever you're missing... One
thing I've really learned is you can cover a lot of gaps
with people in a way that association, it's not all...
It's not just, oh, well was my... did I share a stage with
Les Brown and got my picture taken, or something? It can
be, do I have people in my organization that I'm
associated with, who maybe are better at firing up the troops
than I am? Or maybe they have different talents than I do.
Or maybe they, frankly, are better action takers; or
they're more organized action takers. They're better
integrators than I am. A lot of association can be
internal, too.
Sharon Lechter: Absolutely. Power of association is who's
on your team inside and out. And it's really important as
you build your business to understand the people that
will be there to get you to the next level. All of my
success from talking books, from Rich Dad, came through
the power of association. Instead of trying to build
something myself, when I wanted to do Rich Dad
coaching, I found the best coaching company out there. I
did a deal with them where we use their people, their
systems, their phone systems, but it was all Rich Dad
themed, and Rich Dad quality control. And so, things... how
can you get into speed to market is a big deal today.
And so, it's important to understand the power of
association, the power of licensing, the power of
quality control.
Jeff Lerner: So, can I shift gears?
Sharon Lechter: Sure.
Jeff Lerner: We've got about seven, eight minutes left. The
time in your life when you felt the most in crisis, and
how you overcame it.
Sharon Lechter: Well, that was nine years ago; we lost our
youngest son. And I was about to go on stage to speak in Las
Vegas, and I got the phone call, and it was the worst
six-hour drive home in ever. And it threw me into what I
call neutral. I played big my entire life, and when...
you're not supposed to outlive your children, and I went into
a world of numb for several years. Still working but
playing very small. Still speaking, but I really had
kind of withdrawn inside myself. Talk about power of
association, it's about the only thing that reasonably I
survived because people wouldn't let me go away. And
about five years ago, I thought about just retiring,
saying, I just... this... I hadn't... I was not able to
get past the grief. And when I started talking about it, I
got a lot of pushback from family and friends. And I
think I even heard my son in my ear, saying, "Get over it,
Mom, there's more for you to do." And I realized when I was
started being honest about it and being vulnerable, I
impacted many more people. People were coming out of the
woodwork, saying, "My gosh, I can't believe you've been
through that. I have too, I need help." And it's something
that... I launched a private Facebook group called "The
Play Big Movement with Sharon Lechter". And I did that
because I made the decision to play big again.
And when I did that, amazing things happened. The
get-motivated stage came to me. I was asked to be in the
Think and Grow Rich legacy movie. I was highlighted in
the World's Greatest Motivators television series.
I was just in Dave Meltzer's TV program. All of it because
I made myself open to the possibilities again. And
that's what I want people to understand, to really unlock
your potential, right? The whole Play Big Movement is
about being number one in your field. Living your legacy
because your legacy is created every single day with every
heart you touch and creating maximum impact. And so, it's
totally organic. There's not a sales pitch, it's free to
join, but it's people helping each other see that bigger
vision. Because if you're here, we to go around this
world once in this embodiment. Let's make the greatest
impact. Let's add the greatest value. And so, yeah, it's real
easy for me to answer that question. And things that used
to worry about me, that'd keep me up at night. Once you had
something like that happen, it does... it redefines what
stress is. But in the last couple of years, a lot of
people have had things that stopped them in their tracks.
It's been death, divorce, financial setback, and
illness. And I'm here to tell you, you're still here for a
reason. And whatever you've been through, you have
survived, and you now have the ability to share and help
other people that are going through the same thing. And
so, I want to support you in turning that mess into your
message, into your miracle, because you have the ability
to help people. And you're stronger for it, and there's
more for you to do.
Jeff Lerner: Well, I'm so glad I asked. Obviously, I'm not so
glad to hear what the answer was, but man, if I've learned
anything, it's that ours is not to reason why. We don't
know how it all works, and all the good that may have come
from that, I... I'm glad I asked, like I said, and thank
you for doing that work. And this is a time when people...
And it's messed up out there. We shouldn't go down that
rabbit hole for sure, but the world needs this kind of
united center of growth and disrupt, belief in the
disruptive power of human beings. But also, as a
galvanizing and unifying force to bring people together
because what... It's weird. It's like, what makes us
different is also what brings... what should bring us
together. And it seems like we're trying to come together
around sameness when we should be coming together around
Differentness.
Sharon Lechter: Around uniqueness. Uniqueness, yeah.
So, when COVID hit, I just... I was so upset with all the
negativity, and all the fear and all the people scared to
death. And so, I actually launched something called ATM,
which is a daily message of abundance, tips, and
mentorship. And you can go to atm.sharonlechter.com. There's
a minimal charge, but it's somebody every single day. I
wanted to give people a message of positivity, a
message of, you are fabulous. And that I, and every single
one of them, having you say, I am fabulous, because we need
to invest in each other. We need to lift each other up.
And I wholeheartedly agree with you, Jeff, there's way
too much mental health issues. There's way too many children
out there that feel less than. They don't feel... they don't
stand in their own power. We've got to give them the
opportunity to understand how beautiful they are, just the
way they are, and get them to understand that they need to
stand in their own power. And it is an epidemic, and we have
to take the bull by the horn and start focusing on adding
value, and supporting each other, and supporting our
children to learn that self-confidence. To understand
that they are beautiful and perfect just the way they are.
And they have the opportunity to create the future that they
want, and not judge themselves by someone else.
Jeff Lerner: Yeah. And I think it's really important for...
I'd like to add to what you just said. That's not just a
feel-good p--... call it a personal-development message.
There is a commercial, a tangible commercial value in
understanding that your differences are your unique
assets. And that if you... Overcoming fear is not just a
way to feel better, it actually is a way to make more
money. It really is. I want to boil the water out of that pan
and have people understand; we are not just talking about
some feel-good message. A lot of my listeners are like, how
do I make more money? How do I get ahead in life? How do I
solve practical problems? Overcoming fear, and limiting
beliefs, and self-doubt and low self-worth is a... It's
almost like a line-item on your balance sheet, or it's a
line-item on your liabilities; your fear, and self-doubt.
It's costing you money every day. So, anyway, I just kind
of wanted to echo that. I know, Sharon, we're
unfortunately out of time. I want to make sure... you
mentioned personalsuccessequation.com.
Obviously, your website is sharonlechter.com. You
mentioned your new book, Exit Rich, which is available
everywhere books are sold, I'm sure. Is there anything else
that you'd like to invite people to come check out?
Sharon Lechter: Well, reach out to me,
info@sharonlechter.com. I'd love to hear from everybody.
We're involved in all kinds of different things, whether it
be real estate, or time management programs, but reach
out, info@sharonlechter. I'd love to hear from all of you.
And I mentioned the daily messaging, you can go to
atm.sharonlechter.com to learn more about that. But at the
end of the day, I still do what I do because I care, and
I want to support people. I don't do it... I've been
financially free since I was 38, and that was a long time
ago. But I love what I do. I am fed every single day by the
letters, and the emails, and texts that I get from people
who have found that one thing that can help them take
themselves to the next level. And that's what I want to do
for each and every one of you.
Jeff Lerner: If you loved that episode, then you’re
definitely going to love this one. Check it out.
Jenn Lim: Pretty much every company has a mission
statement, purpose statement. But how much are they really
living by them? How much are every employee, every
individual actually aligning their own personal value and
purpose to that of the company? Because that’s when
the magic happens.
