Second Act Success Career Podcast: Career Transitions, Entrepreneurship, and Business Startup Advice for Women
Welcome to the Second Act Success Career Podcast, a top 2% globally ranked show designed for ambitious women ready to transition from employee to entrepreneur. This is your go-to resource for career inspiration, actionable advice, and proven strategies to help you navigate a career change, build your own business, and create a life you love.
✨ What You’ll Learn:
- How to craft your perfect exit strategy from your 9-to-5 and confidently transition into entrepreneurship.
- Marketing, business planning, and personal development tips to launch and grow a purpose-driven business.
- Real-life success stories of women who’ve turned their side hustle into thriving businesses.
- Insights on balancing career pivots, personal fulfillment, and family life as you build a flexible, abundant future.
Hosted by Shannon Russell, career transition and business coach, this podcast is your partner in navigating a second act in life. As an exit strategy expert, Shannon empowers women to leave unfulfilling jobs and create joyful, impactful businesses that align with their passions and experience. She is a former Television Producer turned franchise business owner, who is using her experience to help others make a change for the better in their lives.
🎧 Each week, tune in for:
- Practical advice on building your business with clarity and confidence.
- Expert interviews and motivational stories of career change success.
- Tips on marketing, productivity, and turning your business vision into reality.
🤔 Is this podcast for you?
- Are you dreaming of quitting your corporate job to start your own business?
- Do you want advice on marketing, personal branding, and entrepreneurial strategies?
- Are you ready to overcome fear and take the leap into your second act?
- Do you crave a flexible lifestyle that allows you to focus on your passions and family?
- Ready to become your own boss?
- Is it time to turn your side hustle into a full-time business?
If so, you’re in the right place!
🌟 Whether you're pivoting careers, starting a side hustle, or planning to leave your corporate job, the Second Act Success Career Podcast is here to help you thrive in your journey from employee to entrepreneur. Get inspired, take action, and produce your best life with Shannon by your side.
📅 New episodes every week. Subscribe now and start your journey to second act success today!
🔗 For more inspiration and resources, visit https://secondactsuccess.co/podcast.
Subscribe now and embark on a transformative journey towards career fulfillment and success!
Email shannon@secondactsuccess.co to connect!
Second Act Success Career Podcast: Career Transitions, Entrepreneurship, and Business Startup Advice for Women
3 Steps to Achieve Your Goals and Start a Thriving Business in 2025 | Ep #178
Ready to truly achieve your biggest goals in 2025? In this episode of Second Act Success, Shannon Russell shares the three essential steps to set yourself up for entrepreneurial success by hitting your goals this year. From creating clear, actionable goals to building your knowledge base and growing your network, Shannon breaks down the process to help you take confident steps toward your second act. Whether you're dreaming of starting a boutique, a service-based business, or something entirely unique, this episode #178 will inspire you to take action now and make this your year of transformation.
Takeaways from this episode:
- Set Clear, Actionable Goals: Learn how to define your end goals, reverse-engineer your tasks, and create a timeline to stay on track.
- Invest in Knowledge and Research: Discover how to gain industry insights, build your confidence, and prepare for success through continuous learning.
- Build Your Network and Community: Find out how to connect with mentors, peers, and potential clients while building a support system to fast-track your progress.
If you're ready to make 2025 your year, this episode is packed with practical strategies to help you succeed. Don't forget to check out Shannon's Business Bundle for templates and resources to kickstart your journey: https://secondactsuccess.co/businessbundle.
Tune in now and start producing your best life!
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Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - 3 Steps to Achieve Your Goals and Start a Thriving Business in 2025 | Ep #178
Episode - #178
Host: Shannon Russell
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)
[00:00:00] Shannon Russell: Are you ready to quit your nine to five job and start a business of your own? Well, you're in the right place, my friend. Welcome to the Second Act Success Career Podcast. I am your host, Shannon Russell. I am a former television producer turned business owner, career transition coach, and boy mom. My mission is to help you produce your best life.
This podcast will teach you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be and how to build a business that fits your life and lights you up. Let's get started.
Welcome back to Second Act Success. I am Shannon Russell, your career transition and business coach and your guide. On this journey towards a fulfilling life in 2025.
It is a new year and this is the time. That you are going to truly achieve your second X success, whatever that means for you. Of course, many people make resolutions. Some of which they don't end up keeping. So [00:01:00] for me, I like to just make goals. Make the goals for the year so that you can check them off and move on to the next one and truly achieve what it is you're working towards.
We are going to talk about three ways that you can start moving towards your goals of becoming a business owner. In the right way.
[00:01:20] Shannon Russell: Let's start with the first way to set yourself up for success. And that is setting clear, actionable goals. We talk about goals a lot, but goals can be very, very vague. So we're going to try to narrow down into what exactly you want to accomplish in the different quarters of the year. Think about where you want to be at the end of 2025. This is the beginning.
You have 12 months ahead of you to make things happen. So where do you start? Well, what do you want, what is your main goal? Is it having your own business fully launched? Is it having a certain number of clients?
Is it earning a specific income for the year? What [00:02:00] is your end goal? Define that end goal, define what it is that you're really working towards your overall goal, and then break it into those small, actionable steps.
For example, if your goal is to open a store, maybe it's a boutique. Maybe it's a salon, a bookstore. Your first steps might be to research locations. Research suppliers for the products or services that you'll be offering. And then of course creating that business plan. So the key is to make those goals specific and time-bound
the first thing you're going to do is create that business plan. That business plan should be your first step.
Maybe you want to start working on the business plan and have it finished by March 1st. That gives you two full months in this new year to work on that business plan. If you say I'm going to have the business plan written by the summer. There's a lot of time in there and there is room for error.
So if you really [00:03:00] want to accomplish that, give yourself a date. Mark it down and then figure out how much time you need each week to really work towards that first step.
If creating a business plan is anywhere on your list for 2025. I have created a business bundle that has a template for a business plan. And many other forms, templates, and resources that are needed when starting a business. So you can go check that out at https://secondactsuccess.co/businessbundle. Everything.
Is there for you ready to go? Now for another example, you might be thinking, you want to research 10 different locations? Okay. Well, why not say I want to research them? By January 30th. This gives you one month, a few weeks to go through this by giving yourself that timeline, it holds you accountable. This approach helps you keep motivated and it keeps you on track so that you can actually move towards [00:04:00] that goal. Checking off these steps and actually getting stuff done.
Think about some of your goals. Write those down and then grab a planner, a journal, your calendar, and just start brainstorming the bigger picture goals and then reverse engineer it. Take those steps back and start to put time frames dates. Actual amount of weeks and months to accomplish each of those smaller tasks.
This will give you a bigger picture in front of you, of what you're trying to accomplish, the timeframes that you have, and it will seem a little bit more doable for you.
Mhm.
[00:04:38] Shannon Russell: The second way you can stay on track to actually accomplish your goals. In 2025 is to figure out what it is you truly want to build. So you might be thinking, yes, I want to open a boutique
or maybe. I want to open my own cleaning business where I go in and I clean offices or people's [00:05:00] homes. Okay. Those are two amazing business ideas, but now what do you really know about those businesses? Take time to invest in your knowledge and
invest in not only giving yourself that education, but giving yourself that confidence that you are the right person to launch this business. By doing this, it can mean taking courses, reading books, listening to podcasts like this one. Building up your skills. So if you are thinking about opening a business, a service based business, where you clean homes or offices, well, look into that research.
Other businesses that already do that. Listen to podcasts about that read books about opening up service-based businesses or more specifically. Service-based businesses that clean think about the products that you might use when you are servicing these locations? What about the sanitary practices that you may take when you're sending people [00:06:00] into these locations to clean, what do they wear?
What do they do with all of the materials that they need to discard of after they service a home or a business. So really think about all of that. And if you feel like there's any gaps in your education or your knowledge. Read some books, learn, do your research so that you feel like you are empowered.
You might be starting a business in a field that's new to you, but by doing this research or learning more about the industry, you're learning the ins and outs, maybe you need to brush up more on marketing or the finance aspect of business or leadership skills.
If you will be overseeing a team. Whatever it is. Take this time, put it on your calendar, research and learn so that you can feel empowered. And a lot of these ways to learn and research. Are no cost, low cost free resources that you can find at your local libraries bookstores.
You can find [00:07:00] webinars online. YouTube videos, use Google to your best advantage and learn. Learn, learn.
I always say that knowledge is power. Knowledge can be free and the more prepared you are, the smoother your business launch will be.
Also keep in mind that once you launch a business, there will be more for you to learn. This is an ongoing process. Get used to becoming a lifelong learner and always wanting to up your game so that you can really be offering the best products or services that you can to your clients and customers.
Okay.
[00:07:34] Shannon Russell: All right. Lastly, start building your network and your community now. You may have this big lofty list of goals for 2025, but you can start building your network and your community. Now you can surround yourself with like-minded people.
You can get a mentor, you can get a coach. You can also just attend local networking events or find Facebook groups or networking events online, where [00:08:00] you can immerse yourself with like-minded people, other entrepreneurs and business owners, and really connect with people. That you might already know that might already be in your circle.
It's taking that time to look through your Facebook contacts. Scroll through LinkedIn, see who you know, and who you don't know. Connect with them. Start a conversation,
learn more from the people who are around you and trust me, people want to help other people.
Start those conversations, ask questions and build your network. As you meet other people who are in your space
or people who have walked the walk before you, whose shoes you were following, ask those people for support and advice. I often work with clients who have seen my businesses and want advice on how they can grow their businesses to be like mine. My franchise business was very successful. I ran it for over eight years and recently sold it [00:09:00] so some of my clients see that and they are asking me, well, how did you get to a point where you can sell your business?
So that is something that I can now help my clients with. So find coaches or mentors or consultants who can help you along in that path, because they've done it before you, and by working with those people or asking those people for advice. You're cutting out that fat. You are eliminating some steps. You are trying to move faster by leaning on people who are around you and want to help you.
Most importantly, I think my biggest piece of advice when it comes to networking and building that community of yours is to not only start now, start before you're ready, but also don't forget to tell people about your plans, tell people what you're doing, because they don't know. You might put a social post up, but not everyone is going to see that post.
You might send an email list, but not everyone is going to take the time to read that email. Tell people what you're [00:10:00] planning to help people that you're looking at starting this business, that you are pivoting from your day job to create something on your own, let them know. And I'm telling you, you'll be surprised at how many people say. Wow.
I want to support you. What can I do? Who can I introduce you to do you need help? I'm here. If you need me. That is what you want. And again, that leads to more success faster, and that confidence and having you again, feel empowered that you are making the right choice and you're building the second act that is truly going to be a success for you.
Okay.
[00:10:37] Shannon Russell: Okay, let's keep it easy. We're starting off the new year, right? Uh, those are three simple steps to get started, to take that bigger plan, those loftier goals. And break them down into actionable steps to really get you moving so you can see progress. And so you can move to your goals and achieve them. Much faster.
Number [00:11:00] one set clear, actionable goals. Number two, educate, research, and learn. And number three, develop your network and your community. All right. Remember this as a journey, you don't have to do all of this immediately. You don't have to do all of this alone. You are taking time now to set yourself up for success over the next 12 months. And if you need help mapping out these steps, I'm here to guide you. Head over to https://secondactsuccess.Co click on that green button and book a free discovery call with me. We can chat about what you're working towards.
We can chat about your goals, and I love to be able to help you get started so that this is your best year yet.
All right. My friends here's to making 20, 25 your year, and finally taking that leap towards your second act. Thanks for tuning in to the Second Act Success Career Podcast. I'm so excited for the episodes coming.
I have incredible women lined up for you [00:12:00] to share their success story and tell you how they went from employee to entrepreneur and all of the twists and turns that might've come along with their journey.
Don't forget to subscribe to the show. So you don't miss an episode. It is a big year ahead for us here at second X success. And I want you to be a part of it. So subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with a friend who may need this inspiration as well.
Until next time I am your host, Shannon Russell. And I can't wait to walk through 2025 with you. I'll talk to you soon.
[00:12:33] Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to 2nd Act success. To view show notes from this episode, visit 2ndActSuccess. co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.
Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell [00:13:00] and this is 2nd Act Success.