Burnout Was the Warning Sign: How Kate Lewis Traded a Corporate Title for Freedom — and Built Five Businesses in Five Years

Free Agent Podcast with Meg Schmitz – Guest: Kate Lewis, Serial Entrepreneur, Career Coach & Podcast Host

Meg Schmitz: Hello, everyone, and welcome to, or welcome back to, my podcast. My name is Meg Schmitz, and this is the Free Agent Podcast. I’ll tell you why I named it that. A lot of people are in transition, and… and this is what we’re going to talk to Kate Lewis, my guest, about today. People who are in transition, whether you realize it or not, you’re just as much a free agent as my nephew, who was an NFL player when he was a free… when he got cut from his team. You have to be tough, you have to work harder to get to your new team, so we’ll spend some time talking about that. But this particular podcast, my podcast. is… 

Here to share inspiring conversations with real people who took the leap into self-employment, business ownership. sometimes franchising. But what we’re all looking for is freedom. It’s really the reason why we do this. From corporate refugees and executives tired of the desk job, to entrepreneurs and investors looking to share camaraderie and inspiration through their own business journey, my podcast aims a spotlight on real people who stepped into the unknown, took control over their destiny, and became their own boss. And this is the epitome of Kate Lewis. So, Kate, thank you for joining me today, and we’re going to have just a great conversation.

Kate Lewis: I love that, and I love the name Free Agent, and we have had great conversations in the past, so I’m excited to be on your podcast. Thank you for inviting me.

Meg Schmitz: Well, you’re… as we’ve gotten to know each other, you really are… the embodiment… you leaving your corporate role, and I want you to talk about that, support of your husband, because there are so many things that… we don’t do in a vacuum. But talk about… go back to that, your corporate career, and then the transitions that led you to become entrepreneurial.

Kate Lewis: Yeah, I love that. I think we all kind of thought our dream jobs would be working for big companies and big corporations and stuff someday. I spent 20 years doing IT consulting services on the sales side. For small, privately owned, up to one of the top 15 biggest, you know, $400 billion kind of size company. $400 million sized company, staffing companies. And so, I had grown up in corporate IT, consulting services, sales, leadership, and had done that for a long time. Thought I had my dream job as a director, running a team in Raleigh, and then COVID hit. 

And I was responsible for 18 earlier-in-career individuals in a very disruptive work environment, where everyone kind of went home. We didn’t know what the future was going to hold. There was a lot of political uncertainty and unrest, and, you know, I’m trying to lead people with, we don’t know what the future’s gonna look like and what… how this is going to impact our jobs. And then April 2021 came. And I was just not in a good place mentally, physically, spiritually. I was experiencing a high level of corporate burnout from all of the weight and responsibility. I was then a young mom, I’m now a middle-aged mom, with kids, and there was this return to office mandate, and I just couldn’t… see myself going back to that restricted environment of Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, in an office. Plus an hour commute on either side of that, taking me away from my kids and my family. Plus I just wasn’t happy, and it was taking its toll on my personal relationship with my husband and my family, and how I showed up as a mom, and… I just had enough, and I looked at my husband, and I was like, this is not fun anymore, and I’m not a happy person, and I just don’t think I want this. And, it was around my birthday, and I was like, the birthday gift that I want to give… Myself would be to… quit my corporate job and figure out what’s next. And I didn’t really have a plan. I just was like.

I’m gonna quit this, and I’m gonna figure out… I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, my father is an entrepreneur, my father and brother have a business together, and… I finally thought around the age of 40 that I was ready to take that leap and quit and bet on myself, and experience… joy and passion and freedom and flexibility. And so, April 2021, I quit without a plan and started my first company, Connections.

Meg Schmitz: And what I remember distinctly is how supportive your husband was that Take… didn’t he say something like, just take a year?

Kate Lewis: Take a year. Give yourself a year, figure it out. I’ve got us, I’ve got the benefits. He, luckily, is the opposite of me. He’s the Steady Eddie corporate employee. He’s been at the same company coming up on 20 years, and… he’s that corporate W-2 employee that has the medical benefits for our family and the stability of a paycheck. And so, he’s like, I’ve got us, give yourself a year, figure it out. And if it doesn’t work, then you could always apply for a job and go back to a new corporate job, but at least you’ve… you don’t have that FOMO of, like, what if, or that resentment of, I’m stuck, and… Yeah, I couldn’t have done it without a supportive spouse, and I think that’s important. I don’t think… a lot of marriages can sustain two entrepreneurs. I think a lot of traditional couples are both corporate W-2 employees. And I think that the key to ultimate success, whatever that looks like for you and your family, freedom, financial success, etc. is usually a combination of one corporate employee and one entrepreneur or business owner or risk taker, and that’s what we have. And that’s what’s worked. That’s our magic recipe for success.

Meg Schmitz: Well, you’re saying a lot of, a lot of my favorite words, joy, fun, and yes, because if it’s not, then the answer is no. It’s really easy. So my mom says, no is a complete sentence.

Kate Lewis: I’ve had to learn that.

Meg Schmitz: Another thing that, going back, is how many of us in 2021, realized the emotional, mental toll that the shutdown had on us, and all the confusing messages that were out there. Who to believe, what to believe, listening to your body with the vaccines, etc, and so many of us, including me, and I’m self-employed, I have total control over my job, but I didn’t have total control over where I could go and who I could… we didn’t have… we… we got sold a bill of goods. I think we… not only that, about the pandemic, but we also realized how rote we were in life before that. Get up, get the kids ready, go to work, come home, be a mom.

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: I don’t know about your marriage and household, but a lot of men have really stepped up and leaned into parenting because of the pandemic. We all found ourselves being more parenting than we had maybe planned for, so that had to have been a big part of your mutual decision and that support. You can’t do it without your spouse being on board, what you decided to do.

Kate Lewis: Yeah, and just being away from my kids from 7am until 7pm sometimes, just… I was only there to put them to bed at night. I wasn’t a present parent, and I didn’t have time to go to the gym. That’s always the first thing that women tend to sacrifice, right? Like, if you do have to juggle career and kids and… Dinner on the table, and all the things, right? And that took its toll, like, not having the time to work out. And also, I think the pandemic kind of proved that a lot of our jobs can be done remotely, and why do we have to go back to the grind of an office? 

Like, 2019, we did it, no one questioned it. Five days a week in our office, that was the norm. But I was like. you kind of got to peek into a world of something other, and maybe something better. And for me. that freedom and flexibility and choice to work from anywhere, work from where I want to. That freedom and the flexibility is what I was chasing, more than a title, and more than maybe the money. I figured the money would come if I’m good at what I do, and I add value, and I create value in an organization. But that freedom and flexibility. Now, I… I take advantage. I work from my parents’ house longer. I work from the lake. I take a 3-day Fridays off on the summer when my kids are out of school, and no one tells me how many limited number of days off I get anymore. I am in control of that, and… That’s priceless. I think there’s… there’s no price tag I would put on that.

Meg Schmitz: So, Missy, entrepreneur, so you found yourself with this unlimited freedom, and you had this great big void, and of course, when there’s a void, then you have to fill it up. So, let’s talk about your entrepreneurial journey. And how many times you’ve done this now, too, because that’s quite a story of, determination to… to make an idea work. You are absolutely a classic entrepreneur.

Kate Lewis: Thank you. Yeah, I, I didn’t have a product or IP. I didn’t want to go get a big investment or loan that I would then have to be worried about how I’m gonna pay it back. And I was like, so what do I do that I can add value, and, how do I do it with… bootstrapped, low operating expense, an inexpensive type of way, and what are people gonna pay me for? So I started Connections. Okay, so, so, spoiler alert, I have… it’s 5 years now as an entrepreneur, and I have started 5 businesses, and closed 2, and tried a couple of different variations on solopreneurship, partnership, and… investor-led, C corporation. Perfect. So that’s the spoiler alert. So, connections, just me, what do I have that I could add value that people will pay me for as a service provider? And that was executive search, career coaching, leader and transition coaching. direct hire placement. I did hire a virtual assistant to help me grow connections, but it was me, I’m in control, I decide my prices, I decide my services, I decide where and when I work, how much I work, and ultimately, how much money I’m able to make for the year. That led to my second company, Fractional Talent, when I had a lot of these later-in-career IT executives that used to be my customers and clients that By choice or by force, were being laid off from their jobs. And entering the workforce. And they may have already, like, achieved greatness in the peak of their career as a CIO or a CTO at a company, but they were 5 to 10 years short of ready to retire, either personally or financially. And I started helping them start their own LLCs as well. And I started helping them launch their own businesses, and going out and being consultants. And this idea of fractional consultants and fractional expertise was starting to gain traction and momentum. And so, after helping about 20 people. transition out of corporate into self-employment, starting their own LLCs. Fractional talent was born when these people were like, Kate, we need you to go do the sales and the marketing. I’m the CIO, I can be the consultant. I can do the billable work, but I don’t like networking, and I don’t like asking for business, and doing sales, and lead gen, and marketing, and I don’t… and you’re great at it, so help me find opportunities, and like, let me be a consultant on your team, and, like. That was the birth of fractional talent, as it came from… this conversation where I was like, hmm, is this a problem that I can solve? Creatively. And it still allowed me to build a very lean organization, because again, my goal was never to have a ton of responsibility, and the weight, and the burden, and the pressure of a ton of employees, or an office space or something. So that was the Fractional talent journey, and with that, I have a partner, but we still bootstrapped it and didn’t take money.

Meg Schmitz: Num.

Kate Lewis: And I’ll skip some of the ones that I’ve closed, but there were other partnerships as well. And then my third business currently, the investor is my old CEO. He had a successful exit. He was building a new company and a new idea. I was a top salesperson for him previously. And so he picked the partners and brought me in to lead sales as a partner. for the new organization. And I was like, this is something different, because maybe I’ll have more support, there’s an investor, there’s money. It’s not as bootstrapped, let me give this a shot, it’s complementary to what I’m doing with Fractional talent, and so I joined Straight in 2025, leading sales for them, in a finance and accounting industry. But they’re all professional services, they’re all related in my mind, and I often find myself having to simplify it and explain it to people because they don’t get how I have become this… serial entrepreneur, or parallel entrepreneur, and how am I doing this for so many companies at the same time?

Meg Schmitz: Do you enjoy the number of hats and rolls that you’ve got, or are you getting to the point… because to me, it sounds like, oh, now you have just as full a plate as you had before. Granted, your kids are older, and you’re in control of your time. Is it bringing you the joy that you’re looking for?

Kate Lewis: Yeah, I have the flexibility and the freedom and the autonomy. I am one of the decision makers. I am an equity owner and partner and a part of a leadership team for all the companies that I’m working for, so I haven’t given up the, I’m gonna be a corporate W-2 employee. And in my mind, they make sense, and they sell, they complementary sell, so now when I’m talking and meeting a new person, a new customer that has a problem, I’m thinking. can one of my companies solve their problems? Or if not me, which of my referral partners in my ecosystem of partners that I’ve grown can I refer them to? Because I probably know the right company to solve the problem, but it still allows me to just be that sales. client-facing, problem-solving, like, consultative selling partner for any company that I work for.

Meg Schmitz: Well, you’re good at what you do, obviously, because you’re sought after, and… God bless you, too, for… Crea… putting right out there at the… at the forefront how to monetize this.

Kate Lewis: Mmm…

Meg Schmitz: So many entrepreneurs, and I mentor some of them.

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: don’t understand the value proposition, they’re shy about their rates, their… Did you go in with confidence about how to monetize, or how to set your pricing?

Kate Lewis: No, I actually think most people struggle, right?

Meg Schmitz: Yeah.

Kate Lewis: Your 20 years of expertise allows you to tackle a problem and solve a problem faster than someone that would have to take time to learn that skill. So, how do you sell the value that you create, not the hours that it takes you to solve that problem? I think I was set up for success because I grew up as a salesperson, professionally, and so I understood the dynamics of negotiating value versus price. And exchange of… of solving a problem for a monetary, number. But I’ve made tons of mistakes. I am that, like, you mentioned grit, and I have the podcast Resilient Entrepreneur, like. I will fail fast forward, make a mistake, learn the lesson, not repeat the mistake, and continue to pivot and iterate. I learn through experiential learning and trying and risk-taking, which I think helps me be a successful entrepreneur. Instead of sitting back and over-analyzing and waiting for it to be perfect, because it’s never going to be perfect, and… and I think I have just a bias for… Action, and the ability to be an entrepreneur, to own that decision and that risk, and if it is a mistake, have to be able to, you know, own up to it and pivot. has been free… again, freeing for me. I don’t know that everyone would love that. I think that is intimidating for people to… Have to figure out price and value, and to take risks, and to make mistakes, and to not get it right the first time.

Meg Schmitz: Absolutely a key point for any of you listening who are entrepreneurial and not frantrepreneurial… well, even if you’re going into a franchise. Yeah. You own it. What Kate is talking about is probably In my experience as a mentor, the number one problem is over-analyzing and not taking action. And this is why so many new businesses go out. There’s too much hesitation, instead of, like, your… your experience of just… Go ahead and do it, and try it, and see what happens, and if it’s… what do we say about Thomas Edison? He didn’t have 10,000 failures, he had 10,000 attempts until he was successful.

Kate Lewis: Right? Good for you, Kate! I… I love that, and, like, Michael Jordan quote of, like, people only celebrate the number of, you know, championships they won. They don’t know about how many shots I took that I missed, right? And… and… Yeah, I embrace… I think that the mistake… the… is a lesson and an opportunity to grow along the way. But pricing is where everyone struggles. I think maybe in a franchise, it might be easier if pricing is kind of governed and set, and they have data sets. to support why the pricing will work, and they have the market research. And it’s hard if you’re going out on your own, and you have to go perform that market research to find the right price in your market for your product or your service. Do the competitive research and analysis, or pay someone to do that.

So that you know how to price it right. And I gave away my time early on for a lower price than I was worth before I had to learn how much will people actually pay for an hour of my time. And an hour of my time in a career coaching. which is B2C and an individual is paying for, is different than in a B2B consulting when I’m helping a business solve a problem.

Meg Schmitz: It’s inspiring. You… it’s inspiring for me.

Kate Lewis: Thank you.

Meg Schmitz: to have you here, because this is… I can preach it, but people need to hear it from someone other than me. Perfect, Katie.

Kate Lewis: And it’s not without fail. I mean, I closed shoe businesses that did not succeed. Like, that’s a whole other episode of, like, how to pick partners wisely, and pick products wisely, and know the demand. the product market fit research, like, I almost skipped that step with one of the businesses, and…

Meg Schmitz: Mmm!

Kate Lewis: I think also a lot of entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or their solution, but they’re not solving a problem that exists in enough of a demand that people are willing to spend money to fix that problem, and so that is critically important for anyone starting off. But I also think it’s easier to start a services company than a… product company, or… like, again, I didn’t have to take out a ton of debt or loans or, get PE-backed funding to go build something.

Meg Schmitz: It gets complicated when you’ve got a financial partner, they’re never silent. They always want the return faster than maybe what was agreed upon, but it’s another marriage, and it has to be managed, and so why don’t we talk about.

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: Let’s talk about exiting. Because we’re… you have them, I do too, businesses that at some point.

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: gonna exit. So, how do you prepare… what are you doing to prepare yourself and your businesses to exit someday?

Kate Lewis: Yeah, I think, that was not something I thought of when I started connections on my own. I was like, this is a business that’s gonna be what they call founder-dependent, right? It’s dependent on me to run this, and I don’t have IP, I don’t plan to grow and scale it beyond my ability to deliver. Fractional talent and straight are different because they are built.

Kate Lewis: for scalability and growth, and hopefully, I’m learning a lot working with my partners at those businesses about valuation, about PE and VC, about business brokers and succession planning and exit planning and those type of things, as as an investor now, and working in some of these things, I’m trying to figure out, like, in what market will a business be worth, you know, 5X, 7X, 10x the EBITDA that you’re producing? And so, I’ve… gained a lot and grown a lot in 5 years of entrepreneurship, because I don’t think that that was… exit was not ever my thing. My thing… I think a lot of entrepreneurs are like, how do I replace my income that I left in my corporate job? Is your first priority when you set out. And then exit or succession planning, I think, is, like, a future priority. And so now. we’re talking about, like, what does a 5-year exit look like? What would that valuation look like? What will my equity be worth? Why will someone want to buy our business? What makes the business worth more in an exit or a valuation? And I’m getting wiser. About that. But that has been something that I needed mentors that are my partners in those two businesses that had more experience in M&A and exiting to guide me in, because I was green. I was a green entrepreneur, and I didn’t know.

Meg Schmitz: Yeah. Well, and how… how much that experience feeds Your consulting work now, because as you’re helping these fractionals launch their businesses.

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: every… everything. This is the beauty of learning and taking what the universe throws at you, and to say, this is a learning experience, I’m going to take… I’m gonna take it as it is, whether it’s good or bad, it feels fine or it feels icky, gonna learn from it.

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: And then that makes you that much more of an expert in your field, because you’ve done it.

Kate Lewis: Yeah. Yeah, and now we’re talking about, as part of a succession, is exit the criteria, or do we want to grow something that one of our children… could then take over when they graduate from college, right? My son is 13, so in 10 years, he’ll be graduating college, and what does the future look like for our children that are going to be entering a totally different workforce and market than it was when we graduated 20 years ago. And so, is it about growing a family business, a family office, something that one of our children could then take over? Is that part of a succession? Or if not, you know, how do we get to be bought by one of our customers or one of our partners as an add-on? Is the other play. Like, how are we complementary in a way that…

One of our partners would be like, hmm. Maybe I’ll… maybe I’ll buy you. That’s the exit option. So, it’s all very interesting stuff. I don’t know that… I did not sit down as a business owner and say, I’m gonna start this business with a goal of a 5 or 10-year exit at a $10 million valuation, like. I was like, what do I do? What are my superpowers and strengths and talents? How do I add and create value, and what would someone pay me for? That was really the criteria.

Meg Schmitz: Which is so reasonable and practical.

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: I would much rather mentor someone like you back in your original iteration, who’s open and flexible versus I think some… and I’m just gonna… call it to the United States. owning your future is so American. And we’re in a phase right now where I think the expected outcome is overblown. Because there’s so much emphasis now from influencers that, you know, don’t… don’t start a business, buy a business, buy revenue, and if you’re going to build it, then plan big, and go for the big exit, and the 10X… 3X, 5X. I live in that world, and my husband and I work with a lot of entrepreneurs who are just not reasonable.

Kate Lewis: Damn.

Meg Schmitz: They have lofty goals, but they… they don’t have the underpinnings, like you have, of simple starting four goals. And I think that… That, clarity and simplicity on your part? Clarity and simplicity has led you to be reasonable about what it is that you’re building. 

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: Different DNA.

Kate Lewis: I think it’s important simplifying and focus and clarity. I did not have that in the beginning. I was like, I can be anything to anyone, right? And so I think that that comes a little bit with, like, maturity and growth and experience of… you know, we’re now talking about our investment thesis of what are the types of businesses that we want to invest in or buy? Are we going to build again or buy? And what are those criteria, and what do those look like? Because you have to be very focused on Whether you’re investing time or money, where you’re going to spend that time and money. Yeah, so it’s… it’s very interesting and very different, and… I do think one of the things that you kind of were… we had talked about previously is it can be very lonely when you’re a solopreneur. So a lot of these people that left corporate, that managed big teams, that had peers, that had executives, that were part of big global companies, when they do go out on their own. And it’s just them, and they don’t have someone to bounce an idea off of, or like, I’m thinking this, but, you know, check me. Am I right? Am I accurate? Like, tell me my blind spots. validate my perspective or my opinion. And so, if you’re building a fractional LLC, you know, solopreneur, small consulting business, and you don’t have partners, or investors, or a board, or peers, you and I had talked about, like, the importance of having a personal board of advisors.

Meg Schmitz: Right.

Kate Lewis: Or building a board of advisors or board of directors, no matter how big or how small your company is, and filling it with people that have different backgrounds and perspectives and experiences, so that you do have those people to… gut check and say, hey, this is how I did in 2025. This is where I think I want to focus and tweak and pivot to 2026. Like, am I good? Am I correct? What do you think? Am I on the right track? And… So, you can, as an LLC solopreneur individual, still build a personal board of advisors, like you and I had talked about the importance, or even just having a mentor, someone who has bought and sold and exited businesses before you that you can, that you can go to. And I think some of these incubators and labs and startups for startup companies that are more like software as a service and software-focused and AI-focused that tend to be looking for people that are raising money, right? Seed, Series A, Series B funds, have that built in, that community built in, versus, like. maybe we don’t have that always, so I think that’s… that’s critical.

Meg Schmitz: I’m glad that you brought it up. It’s usually one of the questions that I ask even franchise owners is, who do you turn to in those lonely times? Who do you turn to when you think you’re too scattered and chasing after the shiny things, but.

Kate Lewis: It’s not coming to fruition.

Meg Schmitz: Surround yourself. With people who will tell you the truth.

Kate Lewis: Yeah, yeah, and you have… it’s not the friend that doesn’t tell you that you don’t look good in the outfit, it’s the friend that tells you, like, hey, like, this might not be the right pick for you for today. Like, right? You need to have the truth-telling friends. You need to have… The objective… People that have nothing to gain. But we’ll share their perspective and their experience and their expertise with you to help guide you.

Meg Schmitz: Yeah, and we’re not talking about your parents, or your spouse, or… Because friends and family will be protective.

Kate Lewis: Yeah…

Meg Schmitz: Voiced their fears They’re afraid for you, Kate. I’m afraid for you, Kate, so be careful, don’t do that. If it was me, I would do… and they’re coming from a place of no exp… not your experience. Maybe not no experience, but they’re not coming from what you have experienced already. So, surround yourself. with people who will tell you the truth. There are plenty of networking groups out there that are free, and they’re filled with business owners. I think we all share that desire to shorten the learning curve for the next person.

Kate Lewis: Right.

Meg Schmitz: So, find your… get yourself either a business coach or a group of mentors where you have the ability to speak freely, and they will do the same.

Kate Lewis: Yeah, personal board of advisors, or a real board of directors, or at least a mentor or coach, yeah. I think it’s huge for success. Can’t do it alone. Nobody does it alone.

Meg Schmitz: No, and when it feels lonely, it’s because it is. It’s also something that I think about for myself, but I can see it in other people, is when the voices inside your head are louder. than anything on the outside, you’re going to be misguided. You’re going to get stuck, you’re going to go down a rabbit hole, fill in the blank. Be open to other people’s opinions. I want to go back to the fractionals that you’re working with.

Kate Lewis: Sure.

Meg Schmitz: how many… Well, of course, they’re coming… they’re coming with a toolkit. They’re coming with a full toolbox. They’ve been there, done that, they’ve got gas in the tank, they want to continue to go. what are… I think you said it, but what are some of the strengths that they come with, and then the shortcomings? So, because… because fractionals… I heard this from somebody, that if you go to LinkedIn. it was something like 2024, there were maybe a thousand people who would call themselves a fractional. Here we are in 2026, and it’s something like 75,000 people on LinkedIn are calling themselves a fractional. So they’re coming in with what Skill sets, but then what… What are the areas where they’re lacking and absolutely need help in order to be successful?

Kate Lewis: Yeah, I think that’s a great question, and I’m just gonna speak from my experience with people that I have worked with without using names. I think that… those people… the people that are going out as fractionals, we have one area of expertise. I was a COO. Sorry, do you hear my dog, and should I let her in?

Meg Schmitz: No, you’re fine.

Kate Lewis: Okay. So I was a COO at a company, so I am going to be a fractional COO, and my expertise is operations. And, operational efficiency and workflow and process, and I can use that to go help other businesses, smaller than the ones that I have come from do that thing. But they maybe have never done hiring, or HR, or legal, or finance, or sales, or marketing. And so, to run a business, there’s a lot of these other missing pieces, right? Like, you can go do what you do, but how do you negotiate a contract? How do you price your work? How do you send invoices and… collect money for payment, and so there’s a lot of missing skills that they used to have provided by other business units in their corporations, that now they’re out on their own. Same with a CIO or CTO, so a lot of the people I work with grew up in IT, right? So they were… technology leaders. They can talk software all day, and find software and tools, and implement tools, and pick the right vendors, but they were always on the buy side, and they were spending corporate dollars, not their own dollars, to buy software. They were on the buy side of negotiating contracts. Now they’re having to sit in that other seat where they’re selling a service, or trying to price it, and they’re the salesperson talking to the executive that they used to be, and so in that role reversal, they’re like, I don’t even know how to price or negotiate or do a proposal. They’ve always received proposals, how do I create a proposal? How do I write a proposal? How do I… price my work. Most of them don’t… want to go do the networking and the business development, and the leads just don’t come in. You don’t just, like, hang your LLC business logo, maybe create a website, and then just wait and sit back and have leads coming in to find you, right?

Meg Schmitz: Yeah.

Kate Lewis: So I think the business development, the lead gen, the marketing. Those are all areas that a lot of them struggle with as well, and so a lot of fractionals are great at that one skill that they had and their expertise, but then they might be missing the other pieces that complete them. In building a real business, and then they have to find partners, or outsource to vendors, or, you know, hire other consultants, or join a bigger group to get those other areas fulfilled.

Meg Schmitz: And you’re exactly describing my ideal candidate for a franchise, because.

Kate Lewis: 100%.

Meg Schmitz: absolutely plug in where your expertise is, and where your confidence… let’s face it, the success comes from confidently. Getting… creating that role in your business, and then surrounding yourself, just as you had with corporate. You’re exactly hitting the nail on the head. This is why fractional… I’m sorry, why franchising is such an ideal opportunity for fractionals, because you can… you can monetize much more quickly your expertise in a franchise where you’re going to get the back office support and other elements that Just to your point, it’s overlooked. When you’re on the outside, how much he had on the inside.

Kate Lewis: Yeah! Exactly. I think a franchise is great for someone who… needs the back office corporate support. Marketing’s handled. the pricing’s handled, the finance and accounting and operations and contracts and legal, and you have a pool of back office corporate support, but then you can own a territory, a region, a… whatever, right? And then they also… the loneliness is solved for, because there are other people in that corporation, other franchise owners, other people that then they could have as colleagues and peers. So I think a franchise solves for… what I see as a lot of struggles of a lot of people in that first-year transition into solopreneurship, fractional LLC ownership. And I think that might be why a lot of them then give up after year one or year two and go back into a corporate job, versus had they bought into A franchise and could still remain self-employed.

Meg Schmitz: Yes, and so for… for anyone who’s curious just exactly what I’m talking about, reach out and say.

Kate Lewis: And when you listen to this episode, reach out and say, that’s me!

Meg Schmitz: Let’s talk. Because they’re… it… the entrepreneurial spirit is so American, and success is not handed to you. The loneliest, I think, is when you get about 3 to 6 months in, and you think, oh, my phone isn’t ringing, and the hand ringing begins, and the dark mental overnight stuff… Let’s bolster you up and get you into something. You have unusual DNA, Kate. It’s so unusual. Your stick-to-itiveness, to build 5 companies, granted, they’re not failures. They were… they were… Experiments. Yeah. And so you’re… you’re really the unusual… entrepreneur who has found success, and I so applaud you, and I thank you for spending the time with me today to tell not only your story, but your perspective on all of these great topics that we’ve been able to discuss now. Say the name again of your podcast, because that is Really, geared for the entrepreneur.

Kate Lewis: Yeah, so it’s the Resilient Entrepreneur Show. It’s very tiny, but Meg was also a guest on my podcast, and I just have it on LinkedIn and YouTube, but it’s about founders sharing the story about not just the successes, but those struggles along the way to achieve the success. Because I think… We too often highlight the achievements and the success in the highlight reels, and people don’t really know the hard work and the grit and the resilience that occurred under the surface. So that’s my, my show.

Meg Schmitz: I’m so glad that you called it that and invited me to participate, because it’s absolutely true that This is what we tend to… oh, yay, we did the… and here we are watching the Olympics right now. By the time this airs, the Olympics will be over. To your point, how many… how many of those athletes have had crashes and burns at the Olympics?

Kate Lewis: Yes.

Meg Schmitz: and we know how much work it took to get there. Then, of course, you’ve got some, like, the U.S, Hockey team, women’s hockey team, And… great, we won the gold, but… But, all those stories of, of… Practice is what makes perfect, discipline, and even so, you’re gonna have those moments where you slip and fall and something breaks free, so…

Kate Lewis: The skier, the woman that was, like, in her 40s that went.

Meg Schmitz: And Yvonne.

Kate Lewis: Yeah, Lindsay Vaughn, and, you know, on her first jump, hurt herself, and is out, and… And no one’s an overnight success. Like, they had years, since they were children, probably, of dedication, of practicing and honing in on those skills, to be competing at that level, and to be competing at that… at that global stage, and… mistakes happen at the global stage, even with the top 1% of athletes in their field, right? So… Yeah, I love it. This has been so much fun, and I’ve always enjoyed our conversations, Meg, so…

Meg Schmitz: Thank you! Jamie White introduced us, and I will let her know that we have recorded the podcast Yeah, it’s always great to see you and have conversation with you, Kate, and I don’t know when we’ll meet again, but accept that, I do… I… we talked about being potential referral partners. For sure. It’s so easy for me, every now and then, I get someone who’s absolutely too entrepreneurial, they can’t… they don’t want to follow the rules of a franchise, and they want to be… supported, so…

Kate Lewis: Yeah. Free-spirited people, the, you know, the ones that can’t be caged. Yeah, I think we will be wonderful referral partners, and if I ever make it out to Illinois, and if you ever make it out to North Carolina, or when you come to.

Meg Schmitz: Excellent. Well, I think that’s… it’s either April or May, so I’ll let you know what the dates are.

Kate Lewis: Okay, perfect.

Meg Schmitz: And we just found out that some of the spouse events are no longer going to be spouse events, which means I’m coming. I just get to fill up my own dance card, so…

Kate Lewis: Oh, well, that would be perfect, that would be.

Meg Schmitz: It will… I’ll let you know when that is.

Kate Lewis: And I’m assuming you’re gonna cut this and not be on the, recording anymore, but if the dog was a problem, let me know if, like, we need to… okay, because I could hear her, but I didn’t know if the mic was picking her up.

Meg Schmitz: No, I could not hear her, and I’ve been moving around. Sometimes I don’t hit end to stop recording. Yeah. So, Tamara will take care of that. I’ll let her know that there are a few minutes here at the end that are personal conversation. So, no, it will not… we’ll… we’ll stop it at that point where I thank you for being on the… on the show today. Yeah. And, yeah, this is… Great conversation. You’re… you really are… unusual in the world. And Pete and I, seriously, we’ve got, I think, 120 investments. And on a rotating basis, because they come and go. And some of the failures, the entrepreneurial spirit, it’s there, but when they won’t listen, and they won’t adapt, and cannot take in, concrete either KPIs or Experience that… that we’re freely sharing with them to help them avoid costly mistakes, but… It’s… it’s… you really are unique. not unique, but you’re unusual in my world, and congratulations on your staying power and doing what you’re doing. It’s… This’ll be a very inspiring episode for people.

Kate Lewis: Oh, I love that, and grit and resilience has been my thing. I am looking at, like, invest, build, buy alternative things. I know I’m already busy with the things that I’ve got, but… I’ll let you know, like, what that looks like, and… Tom, my partner at Fractional Talent, is not as excited about franchise, but… Because we’d like to apply AI and automation and our magic recipes and secret sauce and skills to things, but there might be… we may not know the right franchise that exists that could be potentially in the right fit, so… When we define our investment thesis, I will share with you, in case you keep us in mind for something, because… having been an owner-entrepreneur, like, I could be an operator in a lot of different areas, and probably Have success, so…

Meg Schmitz: Well, and that’s what people don’t realize…

Kate Lewis: Yeah.

Meg Schmitz: that Pete and I own one franchise, and we have 7 businesses, or 6 businesses, I don’t even know how many.

Kate Lewis: Yeah, because you said his prairie conservation, like, eco thing has a couple of different areas in that space.

Meg Schmitz: Yeah, so you don’t have to wear just one hat or be one kind of business owner. Yeah.