Women Who’ve Sold Their Business Series: Christina Scalera
Jul 22, 2024
In the past 20 years, there has been a wave of women-owned businesses, and women selling those businesses. However, no one is really talking about it. In this mini series, host Kris Plachy is bringing women business owners on to talk about their experiences of selling their businesses. In this episode of Leadership is Feminine, Kris talks with Christina Scalera who shares her story of creating and selling The Contract Shop, and the emotional journey she experienced along the way.
As the co-founder of The Contract Shop, an online store that provided legal templates and courses for entrepreneurs, Christina shares her post-sale experiences, including her struggle with the shift in social currency and relationships. The importance of selling at the right time and critically assess leadership roles for women is also discussed.
Christina shares valuable advice about the importance of readiness for potential sales, setting up efficient business systems, and emphasizing unique aspects of a business - trademarks, business names, and the essence of a brand, to name a few. Join us for an engaging conversation touching on entrepreneurship, women in leadership, politics, business transitions, and a whole lot more.
“Practically speaking, the decisions that you make in your business are going to change your overall life and you can make that about something or not.”
Guest Bio
Christina Scalera’s experience as a corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur is a true testament to the tenacity, innovation, and heartfelt commitment it takes to tackle complex challenges using scrappy solutions.
With over a decade of experience as an intellectual property attorney, Christina Scalera has navigated the murky legal waters on behalf of dozens of clients. This extensive experience was instrumental in founding an award-winning LegalTech company in 2015, which she successfully sold in 2022.
Christina Scalera now runs an of-counsel trademark firm supporting other attorneys and law firms, alongside a business consultancy.
Website: electelliott.org
Instagram: @electelliottt
Key Takeaways From This Episode
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The importance of female leaders and their confidence.
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Emphasis on conversations as a tool for uncovering opportunities and finding clarity in desires.
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Overcoming doubts about starting or selling a business.
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Selling The Contract Shop: Systems and processes put in place to make a company appealing to buyers.
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The value of trademarks in business sales and the potential difficulties for new buyers.
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Selling at the Peak of Success: Maximize return, and the negatives of a "more, more, more", mentality.
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The Process of Selling and Choosing a Broker
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Advice for content creators on separating their personal brand from their business.
Contact Information and Recommended Resources
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Transcript
Christina Scalera:
I think morally, financially, everything is the goal to get your company to a place where you can hand it off to someone else if you're interested in selling it. You know, it's not really appealing for buyers if, if you're like, 'oh, but I am the only one who knows that, you know, you have to go into this Google Doc, and then like go through this process, like that's a buyer is going to immediately run from something like that.
Kris Plachy:
So what, what did you sell?
Christina Scalera:
I sold an online store called the contract shop.
Kris Plachy:
Okay, I saw that, yes. So are you a lawyer by trade?
Christina Scalera:
Yes.
Kris Plachy:
Okay.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah.
Kris Plachy:
All right. And so the contract shop was, or.
Christina Scalera:
Is, it's an online resource that sells legal templates, legal courses. So it sells a lot of things to newer entrepreneurs and really niche industries.
Kris Plachy:
And then it's just sort of that templated basic things that everybody really needs to consider.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, it's a really good start if you're looking, you know, if you're just getting started in business, it's, The Contract Shop was solely, there was no legal services or any kind of attorney support provided. So I think that's the big difference. It was just really a kickoff point for someone that's getting started in business. And I kind of got caught, you know, like when your clients are, they put an offer out there and they're just like, 'Oh, I would really like this to sell'. And then they're like kind of surprised when it does. And then they need a client contract to like, yeah, in the next ten minutes.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah.
Christina Scalera:
So that's really what it was designed for, is someone to get off the ground like as fast as possible.
Kris Plachy:
Yes, for sure. Yeah. They're lifesavers for me and so many other women I know, so. Okay. And so why did you stop practicing law or did you?
Christina Scalera:
I haven't actually. I have my own law firm, so I still do business and trademark law up here in Washington state. So I, I never stopped practicing law. I did take like a two year break as I was selling the shop, getting it ready for sale, selling it, figuring out what I wanted to do afterwards. So what that looks like as a lawyer is you don't get to just say bye to your clients. You have to actually disengage them. You have to stop taking new client matters per each client. So it wasnt just like turned it off and on? Yeah, it was a longer process.
Christina Scalera:
And so its funny because I sold the shop and it closed, the sale closed November 2022. Immediately I went out and found a piece of property in Colorado and theres two homes on it. So that started my real estate portfolio, and then I kind of was stuck because I was like, okay, well, now what? I've been known as this template shop girl for so long, and so that's, you know, I think this might be an interesting interview because I'm not to the place where you can put a little pretty ribbon on my sales adventure, like selling. And hopefully I can offer some different perspective, because I wasn't expecting the existential crisis that would come with leaving that much of my identity behind when I sold my shop.
Kris Plachy:
Who bought it? Was it another legal firm or was it a big-
Christina Scalera:
No, it was actually a private equity investor.
Kris Plachy:
Okay.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah. So they bought it and they're still running it, as far as I know. They've leaned on me less and less. So obviously the support at the beginning was a given that was part of the contract for, for the sale. But after those initial three months, they really started to wean off of my support and find their own resources, find their own contractors, find their own hires. And so as far as I know, they're, they're doing great, but I have nothing to do with it anymore. Um, they were leaning on me a little bit.
Kris Plachy:
I have to tell you, that's really, uh, rare, at least so far in the.
Christina Scalera:
Really?
Kris Plachy:
No, for you to only have had to make a three month commitment.
Christina Scalera:
Oh, yeah. That was the agreement. There was certainly an opportunity for them to pay for more support after that, but they chose not to, which was fine. I was only expecting the three months. And really, it was that first month after that pro tip. Don't sell your business at the end of November if you have any holiday. Yeah.
Kris Plachy:
Oh, my goodness.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah.
Kris Plachy:
That speaks to your, what you built, though. And that's one of the things, too, again. Right. That kind of comes back to what I always talk about. Right. Like, making sure the leadership systems are in place, the team systems in place, all of the systems and processes that you said you already had, because then it makes it such an, all of that is part of the asset. Right.
Kris Plachy:
When you- when someone buys it? Yeah. Makes it easier for you because then you don't have to hang out and.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, and that's. I mean, that really is, I think, morally, financially, everything is the goal to get your company to a place where you can hand it off to someone else if you're interested in selling it, you know, it's not really appealing for buyers if, if you're like, 'Oh, but I am the only one who knows that, you know, you have to go into this Google Doc and then like go through this process'. Like that's a, a buyer is going to immediately run from something like that.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah, I think it happens way more than it doesn't. Right. Where people have to kind of hang out and, you know, I've heard frequently, too, where they get some of the money and then they don't get the rest of the money for three years or whatever and then they have to stay totally invested in the success of the business. And a lot of times these businesses are selling to people who've never run a business before.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah. So I did not take a buyout agreement. I had an offer for one and then I got an all cash upfront offer. And so I think the person that offered me a buyout offer over time, right. It was, it was based on the performance of the business. And I mean, I was upfront. I said, Im selling this business in 2022. We've had two of the craziest economic years, like ever.
Christina Scalera:
I can't, I cant accept a buyout offer because I dont know- theres no way that this is sustainable from an economic, macroeconomic perspective. I'm like, I'm not confident that you're going to have these sales and I'm being upfront about it. I can only show you what has happened so far. And so she was really not super thrilled about that. And I was like, I can't control the economy. I'm being as upfront as I can with you. But, yeah. So then over the weekend, I was really kind of torn because I love this woman was great, but her offer wasn't nearly as good.
Christina Scalera:
And I wasn't in the financial position to just do whatever I wanted when there's literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of a difference in the offers that were presented to me. So I took the private equity money, but that was an offer I wasn't expecting. It came in like at the nth hour when I was about to accept hers. And I guess, you know, they got word that I was about to sell. So I think they got word of that and then they made their offer, which was the, basically the highest that it could be. And so that made the decision really easy and that's what I decided to go with.
Kris Plachy:
And how did you kind of initiate, did you get a broker or did you?
Christina Scalera:
I did, yeah. So I looked, I'm kicking myself because I went, I tried to get like more of a boutique broker that I found because I started researching this. Right, like how you research things on podcasts, on Reddit. And I found a company that I actually really appreciated. Their podcast was really good, and their advice to their clients had seemed really sound. And so I got on a call with them in 2021, and they were just like, 'Oh, yeah, we think you can get this much for it'. And it was like a third of what I ended up selling it for. And I was really disappointed because, I mean, we had just had our biggest year on record, and that was frustrating.
Christina Scalera:
But what was even more frustrating is that I listened to them instead of getting a second opinion. And so I came back a year later and I went with a bigger, like, more commercialized brokerage. But they had, within three weeks, they had that all cash upfront offer. They never balked and said they didn't think they could sell it. In fact, they gave me an initial thought of what they could sell it for, and then they came back and they reevaluated. And the asking price that we put it went up by several hundred thousand dollars. So, yeah, I was like, okay, well, this makes it again, because, you know, for the original prices I was getting for it, I was like, well, I mean, it's pretty autopilot. I can just let it keep running.
Kris Plachy:
Right. Because I imagine the profit margin was pretty good when you owned it.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah. And so that, that made it really easy. When they did come back and they, they showed me, like, actually, we think we can sell it for this much. I think, honestly, what I ended up paying for, and they were very expensive, but what I ended up paying for is the network that they have. I would not have gotten that much to sell it without that network.
Kris Plachy:
But you kind of, but then you were able to absorb some of their, their cost, right?
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, yeah. Obviously, I still think it's worth it. I mean, I could have just pulled it from their service and gone to a different brokerage. But, yeah, it, it ended up being worth it. It's just, I think a lot
of people would have balked at the brokerage fee. I mean, it was like almost 15% of the sale. Yeah, that's pretty high. And most brokerages don't charge that much, but this one is pretty well known.
Christina Scalera:
And therefore, they just had a huge database of people that were shopping for businesses.
Kris Plachy:
Which is a whole world unto itself. What would you say? Because you, you sold a productized online business - templates. Right. So these, these are products, really, not services. And you said there were videos in there. Were they videos of you?
Christina Scalera:
Yeah.
Kris Plachy:
Okay.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah. So I, I also, as part of the sale, they got to license my likeness.
Kris Plachy:
Uh huh.
Christina Scalera:
And so, you know, I maintain that if they did anything really egregious and it couldn't be assigned to other people, but if they did anything egregious, they made me into AI and made me say things that I wouldn't ever say. That license would be revoked. But yeah, I do regret, in hindsight, not getting a royalty license. But at the time I was just really excited about the sale. It's my first business sale.
Kris Plachy:
Oh, yeah. I mean, it's such a consuming experience.
Christina Scalera:
Right.
Kris Plachy:
And I think it's a unique, you know, the, some of the clients that I've worked with that have sold are selling more a professional services business. Right. Not, they're not content creators. And so I love that you are because I think that's a whole other lane. And I know there's a lot of content creators that listen to this podcast and, you know, I guess if you were going to talk to someone who's a content creator who might want to eventually sell her business, are there things in hindsight that you would say to do even prior to beginning the process that you found out about as you were going through the process?
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, it's really funny. I'm helping a friend with this who has a very large platform, and the first thing I said to her was, you've got to get your name off of everything. I mean, this can't be the so and so show. This has to be, it has to be a separate name. Yeah. And so I think it's funny because she must be talking to some of her friends because I've noticed they did the same thing. So, yeah, it's the thing. The biggest thing that you can do is turn what you have into an asset.
Christina Scalera:
It's a really good idea to turn things into a name in and of itself. So, for example, instead of being, you know, Christina Sclera consulting, it would be sell your business. Consulting consults are us.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I've heard that. I've heard that forever. Even when I first started my business wasn't my name. You want to always.
Kris Plachy:
And honestly, the reason I did that was because I went, when I first started my business, I went and saw Shari of Shari's Berries speak - and this was after she lost her name - and, you know, they, she sold to what? Flowers, 1800 Flowers or something and lost the rights to use her name on anything. And I remember thinking, wow, that's, that's a big deal right there.
Christina Scalera:
I think it's a catch 22 when you're starting out because it's so much easier to just get known for your name than for your name and a brand because you kind of have to like build both. But if someone can set their ego aside and build a brand instead of their name and do the extra work, because it is extra work to build a brand name instead of a name name. People have to get to know you twice. They have to know you and they have to know your brand. They have to know Kathy Olsen from Funnel Gorgeous. Not just Funnel Gorgeous. They have to know Christina Sclera from The Contract Shop. Not just Christina Sclera.
Christina Scalera:
So yeah, it's definitely more work, but you know, its more important to build that brand because thats the asset, unless you want to make yourself the asset. And like we've just talked about, that's not a good idea. Because if you're selling a brand, that's your name from a trademark perspective, that is the highest value asset. And I think that's also what contributed to the high value of my sale, of my business, is I had everything registered as, as federal trademarks. I had, you know, programs, I had the business name, I had logos, I had everything registered. I had the domains. I had a lot of different things that I had just collected over the years that I wasn't sure if anything was going to amount to anything. And I just had to put in that extra work and the extra money to get those things.
Christina Scalera:
And in the end, some of it paid off. Not all of it. You know, there were some brands that I never really saw the light of day, but I still had to pay for those registrations and stuff and they kind of died before the sale happened. But I'm so glad I did that because that, that I think made the business sale look a lot more legitimate to the investors that were considering buying it. Because from an intellectual property perspective, that's a really big deal to have the name of the, the business, established. First of all, that's, I think that's something that gets overlooked. But trademarks are based on use, not necessarily registration. So, you know, having it established as a many years old brand is really important.
Christina Scalera:
And then also having that registration, both of those two things combined make it really difficult that you're going to, you know, as a new buyer, that you're not going to be able to use that name for some reason.
Kris Plachy:
I actually have this little personal side gig thing that's just a joby hobby. I think us creative types, we're always like, right, like you're talking about domains. And my team teases me. I buy domains like I buy shirts on Amazon.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, I think that's really common.
Kris Plachy:
But I buy them because I love the idea. I somehow just makes it seem real. But I did just decide to do this little side thing that has nothing to do with anything I do - has to do with pickleball, which is crazy. And I came up with the name and I came up with the, I got the profile on Instagram and I am trademarking it. Right. I got the logo made. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't even have a website.
Kris Plachy:
I got nothing. But I just want, but it's like, that is not what I did when I started my business. I started my business, started coaching people started taking money. Things were just, and then it was like, 'Oh, I probably need to make a- am I an LLC?' Like, it was just so backwards. Yeah, so we get a lot of.
Christina Scalera:
I mean, that's, as a business consultant, that's my advice to people is you're not a business until you get paid. It doesn't matter how many LLCs, domains, everything. I mean, people are like, how do I become a legal, legit business? I'm like, you get paid. Like, there's no other way to be a business. There's, the IRS doesn't care about you if you're not making money. Now, I can see through, I've been doing this for what, like 10, 11 years now.
Christina Scalera:
I can see throughout a mile away. It's like you're just scared. Let's talk about why you're scared to start a business and why you think you need to have an LLC and a website and a logo.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah, yeah.
Christina Scalera:
It's just a little safety blanket. And so I have a lot of empathy for it because we all do it, like everyone does that starting and, you know, I just, I hope that, that, you know, people don't just stay in the safety blanket stage for too long, is my hope.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah, well, I mean, we need a lot of the ideas and the visions that people have to be realized in the world. And, you know, the little pocket of it that I like to talk about is that women tend to take on everything and because we're usually the ones who do provide the support. So asking for help, enlisting support, and building a support system for the business can be very challenging, which is why I sort of meet people when they're generating six or seven figures and they're completely depleted, they're completely overwhelmed. They've been trying to make it all happen. They haven't really figured out how to leverage other people. And my hope is you don't give up on that vision because the people part's hard, because we can fix that part. That's a solvable problem. If you're willing.
Kris Plachy:
If you're willing. Just like anything else. Right? If you're willing. So, because we need lots of women and their beautiful ideas in the world to flow coming into the age of some balance. That's why the podcast is called Leadership is Feminine. Right. So anyway, yeah, I agree with you.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, it's rough. So it's funny because I'm actually running for office right now. Oh, yeah, that's, that's why, yeah. I'm running for county commissioner where I live. And.
Kris Plachy:
Oh, my gosh, that's fantastic.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah. And it came about kind of from this conversation that I've had with other people where I kept saying, we need more women leaders. We need more women leaders, like in political power. Obviously, I believe that in the business sense and everything else, too. But I just looked in the mirror and I'm like, well, there's this position that I'm super well qualified for that's open for election this year. I've never run for election. I have no idea what I'm doing. It's been a crazy adventure in a lot of ways.
Christina Scalera:
It's like building a small business. So I'm well equipped in that. But the way that you fundraise for your campaign is so different than building a business. And restrictive and just things that I thought were really good ideas. I look into it more and it's like, that's actually not going to work at all. And, I mean, it really is like purely people donating
to your campaign, either from their cause, like they, they have some kind of political action committee or like a interest group. I just got a donation yesterday from Win With Women.
Kris Plachy:
Nice.
Christina Scalera:
And so, yeah.
Kris Plachy:
What's your county? So that anyone.
Christina Scalera:
Island county.
Kris Plachy:
Say again?
Christina Scalera:
It's Island County in Washington.
Kris Plachy:
Well, that's exciting. So that's another, the interesting thing about the Sage group that I work with. Right. These are all women who are, we all hit these inflection points in our lives, and I just happen to work with women who have built successful businesses and that there's this common ground that we share, and it's a language that's understood. And that's why I think Sage clients enjoy one another for that reason, even though our lives are all very different. So, and what I love about what you said, really, with that sort of existential crisis and self identity. Right.
Kris Plachy:
If I, I'm this, I am the woman who built this thing. And this thing is so much of me - whatever it is - who am I without it? Right? And one of the things I hear frequently is that the business also provided connections with people. And once the business is gone, I don't have, even though I knew people I liked or maybe I was part of groups or whatever, but now I don't have that reason to be a part of it anymore.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, that's a good point. It definitely provided a sort of social currency that I'd never recognized until it was gone. That's absolutely part of what happened is, you know, my true friends are still my true friends, but I absolutely lost some of that social currency. Where, you know, before people could ask me, 'Hey, can we include a link to one of your templates or a discount or can you donate like a portion of your program for, for my coaching', whatever. And, you know, those were all things I was happy to do, you know, especially for our affiliates, and now I don't have that to offer. But, yeah, that being said, practically speaking, the decisions that you make in your business are going to change your overall life and you can make that about something or not. I've tried not to as much as I can, but it still affects me. The social relationships have definitely shifted.
Christina Scalera:
But yeah, I would just say getting back to the original topic of selling and stuff, it's a big decision. And one of the things that I would like everyone to consider is sell on top. I think thats the mistake I see people make is sales start to slip and thats when they start to look at selling. Don't do that. It is the hardest thing youll ever do for stocks, for real estate, for your business. But if you cant sell on the top, you're not going to maximize the returns. And we know that, rationally speaking. But that's the thing about humans.
Christina Scalera:
We are literally not rational. We know this. It's so hard to have those boring feelings where the logical side of your brain is like, 'you should sell, you should look at selling. Things are going really well.'
Kris Plachy:
This is a good year. This is the year.
Christina Scalera:
And then leaning into that more feminine energy where you're like, 'No, but things are going well'. And it's like, yes, but that's why you should sell. So I don't know. I think for my trajectory, I kind of sold like right after the peak for my interests and involvement in the business. So I wish I had sold a little earlier and I don't think I would have had some of the emotional things like that that I've had going on since if I had done that. But yeah. Sell when you're on top.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah. You know, it's interesting. When I was at WPO, the keynote speaker was Jim Collins, who wrote Good to Grade and Built to Last and all the things. Yeah. And I'd never seen him speak. He was absolutely fantastic speaker. And then at the end, we did a Q and A, and one of the people stood up and asked about, asked something about selling your business.
Kris Plachy:
I don't quite recall what it was, but he had such sage advice. He said, be careful. He said, there's a lot of people who desire that want to sell. They're building their business and they want to sell. But for the creative and the visionary who has a lot of things she or he might want to create in the world, sometimes when you sell, you sell the very thing that was the thing that gave you the outlet to do all the things that you want to do. And sometimes you end up now not knowing or not being able to do what it was that you wanted to do. And that doesn't mean you can't start again.
Kris Plachy:
But I thought it was such good advice because I agree with you that I think if you like, I have clients who have built businesses to sell them. That has been since the day it started. Right. But then there's some of us who, I include myself, like, I just want to make a difference and help women. And I wasn't really ever thinking ever that I would have something to sell. Right. And I'm not still sure that I do or would, to be honest. But I have to think really hard about it because I can do anything I want in this business, right.
Kris Plachy:
And I already have a followership and I already have clients and I already have. So I loved that wisdom of keeping in mind that if you know you are here to sell it, I agree with you, like 100% get sell it. And sometimes we've had the best year. We didn't know it. But there's a few people, right, that had those Covid years and now they're realizing, oh, those were Covid years.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah. There was a lot of extra money in the marketplace. And I mean, I'm so glad I did sell because if I had waited a year, I probably wouldn't have been able to, I wouldn't have had a property that I own in Colorado, which was, I mean, that was like my biggest life goal is to have that.
Kris Plachy:
Isnt that wonderful?
Christina Scalera:
So there's a lot of good that's also come out of it. I don't want to.
Kris Plachy:
This is an argument that I've had with a lot of my colleagues over the years because especially, let's just say 2017 to 2022, just like liquid gold for a lot of people who were running businesses online. And, you know, I agreed and would dabble in ads and all the things. Right. Which is fine. I'm an old sales dog. Like, that's my background. And so, you know, I still maintain that referrals and connections and networking is going to be my life's blood and it still is. Right. And so I never got dependent on the cash cow systems and I've had a lot of people yell at me for it because they probably could have done things differently.
Kris Plachy:
But I love that now today, my business hasn't changed, you know?
Christina Scalera:
Yeah. I mean, and that's the thing is like, this is where you have to determine what works for you. And I think that's, you know, that's, again, where I got into my existential crisis, like, to go full circle, is that I fell into the trap of listening to everyone that said that I needed more and more, more, more, more. Well, more, more, more, more meant more expenses. It meant more visibility. It meant more people tearing me down and more opportunities to succeed. It also meant more opportunities to fail. And so, again, I'm not saying that this is a good or bad thing, but more was not the right fit for me.
Christina Scalera:
And I've had to pare back. But, yeah, so it's just, and I've had to really look and evaluate and see what do people actually need? Because one of my things is I just can't. I actually just closed, instead of selling, I actually could not sell. I was not successful in selling a second business that I had called e-commerce academy. And so I've indefinitely closed it. It might open again, it might not, who knows? But I had to shift away from that and into something else with my consulting, like the main arm of my consulting, because I just didn't feel like it was of service to people anymore. And there's, there's like a whole industry of like MRR that's popped up.
Christina Scalera:
That's like a whole 'nother thing I won't get into. But it's-
Kris Plachy:
What's the 'R'? Because I thought you meant mergers and acquisitions. So what's MRR.
Christina Scalera:
Oh, no, no. So what happened was about a year and a half ago, or a year ago, there's a movement that took over on TikTok and reels called master resale rights. So I think for most business people, MRR means monthly recurring revenue. Right. But this was like a thing that, like, really took a chokehold on the coaching and content creator industry. There's some, like even legal protections that are coming into place now because it was such a predatory business scheme, but it essentially operated like a, like a Ponzi scheme where you bought a course that someone else had created, you sold it to someone else, they sold it to someone else and you had this whole downline effect, kind of like a multi level marketing.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah, yeah.
Christina Scalera:
And so it, people started conflating what I was doing with that and that just didn't feel good to me, just constantly having to defend the fact that, no, I'm teaching you how to create your own digital products, not how to resell someone else's. And so I had to take a step back and like, reevaluate because that was my plan after I sold my, my template shop was to said, 'Okay, like, I sold it. Look, the ultimate dream has been achieved. I'm going to teach you how to do this as well'. You know, now that I don't have the, like, physical and mental space being taken up by the shop always on the back of my mind, and it didn't pan out that way. And so that's where the, like, existential crisis I alluded to comes in, which is like, what happens when your backup plan fails? You know, like, I was like, oh, look, I'm just going to go into this
so easy and flowy and fun. And then it didn't end up being like that at all. It ended up feeling really, scientifically speaking, icky.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah. Just not, no flow for you.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, yeah. And I've had to shift and reevaluate because I put so much effort and energy and resources into creating the de- commerce academy and the sub brands within it and the trademarks. Right. Like going up again for like, maybe, oh, maybe this is something I could sell one day. And then just that, not, that, not panning out like I had planned. And so now I'm in the space where I'm still, you know, trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Yeah, I have my law firm and so I'm, yeah, I have quite a few clients that, like, immediately signed up there. I'm running for office, but I'm also in this like, very liminal space where if you, if you get a, like a, if you get like, something going really well and then you get elected, like, well, now you just have two jobs or you have to, like, now let go of everything.
Christina Scalera:
You just- so it's this very strange liminal space where you could also not get elected and then you just didn't do anything for six months. Like, that's also weird. So it's, it's this very, very strange space that I'm in that I'm, like, almost filling with, like, my, the current clients that I've had. I mean, I've had a lot of my consulting clients for years, so they're not going anywhere. And I, that's continuing but, you know, I'm just ambitious. Like, I want to do more.
Christina Scalera:
And so it's like, how do I do more? It's actually kind of good for me because I'm like, how do I do more? But, like, with a limit, because I tend to do way too much and then burn myself out and then, like, have to build back up. Right. It's a cycle, and I know that about myself. But again, we're not rational.
Kris Plachy:
So, you know, I coach so many women in your position, so I think it's so powerful to- just, one of the things I like to say is, uh, you're not doing it because you don't know what it is, and you don't know what it is because you're not supposed to. I just met with a woman who sold her business, and it was so fascinating to me. She was telling me, she's, she's advising all these people on how to help them start their business so they can sell it, but she's not charging anybody for it. And I'm like, what do you, I mean, I would pay you. Let's charge people. So sometimes just having conversations with people is just enough to make it, you realize, like, 'Oh, actually, this is a thing I could do, and I, and it brings me joy'. But I really do believe that we're so, one of the things I wanted to say earlier is entrepreneurs and visionaries are so driven because we know how good we are at manifesting what it is we see before it exists.
Kris Plachy:
We know that. And then we, we tend to have a lot of cool things in our brain that we want to do. It could be about service. It could be about just stuff you want. It could be buying a house in Colorado. It's like that. You have this list. I think it starts in our twenties.
Kris Plachy:
We start having this list of little things that we always might write down when we're putting our little wish list together. We have our list. Then we reach a point where our life, when we look at the life that we have and we say, I kind of almost have created the life that I always thought I wanted. I was talking to a girlfriend who has done very well in her business. And she said, my whole life, all I wanted was to be able to walk into anthropology and buy everything. Like, to be able to buy whatever I wanted and spend as much as I wanted. And she's like, but now I can, but I don't want to. And so we reach these points, though, of our inflection.
Kris Plachy:
And our first nature is to go back to the version of ourselves that wanted what we have to see what we want now. But the version that you are today wants totally different things, experiences, life. And we have to get to know her.And I have another client that I'm going to interview in a little while. She just sold her business and bought 24 acres of land and has no clue. Right. She's like, 'here we go'. And I think the work now, if we're going to call it work, is that exploration of what do I want and why.
Kris Plachy:
The other big question I always ask is, what do I really, really, really want? You have to ask it three times because it sort of sorts you through the mess. And if you believe that you're a woman who can really create whatever that is, then just let yourself believe it. And what I think is so powerful and your message about I started another company and it didn't do well. Okay. Get it. Let's do another one. Or not. Right? Maybe you're going to be president and we'll say we knew you when.
Christina Scalera:
Definitely not. But I appreciate the vigor and the-
Kris Plachy:
Listen, never say never.
Christina Scalera:
County commissioner is about to kill me, as is, the ceiling.
Kris Plachy:
Can you imagine running for national office? It must be insane.
Christina Scalera:
I never even ran for school president, you know, so I, It just is mind blowing.
Kris Plachy:
Yep. But you've been a leader.
Christina Scalera:
Yeah, but I really appreciate, like, all the avenues we were able to explore today. I could talk to you forever.
Kris Plachy:
So delightful. I love, I love my past self for putting that post completely, like, on a whim. Like, that was not- there is- that's actually how most of my social posts are. But I'm just glad that it worked and it brought you into my world. And, yeah, this is beautiful.
Christina Scalera:
I super appreciate the opportunity to get to know you and talk with you and I love what you're doing.
Kris Plachy:
Okay, well, listen, if people are in your county, they need to follow your election so that they can vote for you. That's what we need to do.
Christina Scalera:
Yes. That would be wonderful. You know, and anyone that's a US citizen can donate. It's at ElectElliot.org to find out more.
Kris Plachy:
So. Okay. Anything you want to leave people with, before we sign off.
Christina Scalera:
No, I just. I really, if, if people are interested in this, I really hope you get past anything. Starting the business, selling the business, I hope you get past that, that little moment that you always have that's really normal, that we think only happens to us. That's like, ah, but it's just gonna be too much work. All the things I have to do, like, just get past that moment, just say, yeah, it's a lot of work. And also, I'm just gonna do one thing every day to chip away at this, see where you're at.
Kris Plachy:
Yeah, it's a worth it. It's a worth it road regardless. I think it's a worth it road. So I love it. Well, it's lovely to know you. I will. I will share everything with you. Thank you for being here.
Christina Scalera:
Thank you. It's been wonderful, Kris.
Kris Plachy:
Remember that I asked you to be a part of my Catalyst podcast event, where I'm inviting you to become a visionary Catalyst, share the podcast link with women that you know. And as soon as you hit 20 shared links, clicks on those, we can measure that. I'm going to give you one of my bonus digital courses.
Go to thevisionary.ceo/catalyst. Get yourself registered. Grab the podcast link. Super easy, and please share it with women that you know that are leading in the world, because I'd love to be able to impact 20 million women. I know that when women feel more confident in who they are as leaders. It changes who they are in their lives.
Let's help women live and lead on their own terms. I can't wait to see how many clicks we get. Let's get it.
