Episode #90
She Went From Five Days a Week to Two and the Company Grew Faster
Most owners assume the business runs through them because it always has. Ariel Steele believed that for about twenty years, and then she changed it. Ariel bought Tax Credit Connection at the end of 2005, when the company was barely a year old, after six months of running it for the previous owner. Twenty one years later she still owns all of it. What has changed is everything about how her week looks. She works two days, her five employees handle prospecting, contracts, negotiation, wires, and closings without her review, and she could be gone for a month without the company missing a step. Elizabeth frames the move against the three part structure she uses in transition strategy, which separates role, big decision making, and ownership. Ariel released most of her role and shares a good deal of the decision making with her management team while keeping full ownership. That combination is what a lot of owners want and very few name out loud. The honest part of this conversation is how long it took and what got in the way. Ariel spent years thinking the answer was the right hire or the perfect formula. It wasn't. She was holding on too tightly, and the people around her had no certainty about what their jobs actually required. Once she got clear on that, the build itself ran about three years of documented processes, training videos recorded during every training, and better tools so everyone knows when their part comes up. She also stepped down in stages, moving from five days to four to three to two, and every time she took a day back she had to decide what came off her plate and which meetings she was leaving. The second half turns to what happened with the time. Ariel wanted to be bored and never quite got there. She spent a year on health optimization and calls it a failed experiment. She traveled to India with her parents, helped them with a book, and eventually asked herself why she was so much happier than she had been a few years earlier. That question turned into Unexpected Happiness, a long format interview show where she talks with people who have come through serious personal challenges about how they managed themselves through it. She hired a producer in November, launched in March, and has about a dozen episodes out. Key takeaways from the conversation: You can release the role and keep the ownership. Ariel still owns one hundred percent of a company she rarely works in. The mindset work comes before the systems work. Ariel had to change what she believed about her own necessity before any process could stick. People need certainty about what their jobs require. Vague direction from an entrepreneurial owner reads as risk to the team. Step down in stages rather than all at once. Each day Ariel gave up forced a decision about what left her plate. Growth did not suffer. Ariel's most profitable year came after the team was in place, and she now hears compliments about her people rather than about herself. Talented people cost money. Top of range salaries, strong retention, and a pension plan are part of the arithmetic here. Elizabeth closes on the belief loop she taught at the Evolve group labs earlier this year, which is that another person's growth ties directly to how much they believe in your belief in them. Ariel's version of that is simpler. She had been afraid, she behaved like it was not safe to make a mistake around her, and letting go of the fear is what let her team grow. Connect with Ariel Steele: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ariel-steele-63241b415 Unexpected Happiness podcast: https://unexpectedhappiness.net/ Connect with Elizabeth Ledoux and The Transition Strategists: Website: https://transitionstrategists.com/ Get Your Copy of The Second Edition of It's A Journey: https://a.co/d/0btloXYk Subscribe to "The Business Transition Roadmap": Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3MxSYA2 Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3IhMMux Our Sister Show Your Next Gen Friend Hosted by Andrea Carpenter: Your Next Gen Friend is for the next generation stepping into leadership in family and private businesses. If you're a successor figuring out your path, this show is for you. Website: https://yournextgenfriend.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournextgenfriend/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yournextgenfriend Andrea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreakcarpenter/ Spotify: https://yournextgenfriend.com/open-spotify Apple Podcasts: https://yournextgenfriend.com/apple-podcast
