Podcast Transcript | Ep. 70

Exploring the Entrepreneurial Mindset with Christine McDannell

Exploring the Entrepreneurial Mindset with Christine McDannell | Ep. 70

[00:00:00] Brandon Ward: Hello, and welcome to Order Within, navigating a world of endless chaos and crisis. Many of us are experiencing inner turmoil, insecurity, anxiety, fears, and isolation. These feelings are only being amplified by new cycles social media, and never ending political madness. How do we find our way out of the chaos?

[00:00:24] How do we find strength within ourselves? How do we find meaning in a world driven by materialism? These questions and many more I aim to answer on the show. My goal is to be a trusted guide on your journey to selfhood. May you find what you seek.

[00:00:42] Hello and welcome everyone. I'm your host, Brandon Ward. So this is a special version, a new concept we're doing here at Order Within. We're doing discussions and I'm very excited about the guests that we have on the show today.

[00:00:58] Looking to bring more value to you as an [00:01:00] audience. Help you to level up and learn. But I have an exciting guest here today. We're talking with Christine McDannell. She is a serial entrepreneur. She's the author and speaker. She's the founder and principal business intermediary of the Magnolia firm, an M& A brokerage firm helping digital business owners achieve the perfect exit. And so Christine and I actually have a little bit of overlap in our life, randomly, maybe? I don't know if it's random at this point, but my wife used to work for a spa that you sold as a part of one of the businesses that you built up. So, Christine, welcome.

[00:01:40] Christine McDannell: Thanks for having me on, Brandon. I appreciate it. I know, small world, right? It's so funny. And Ashley was great. I loved having her there.

[00:01:46] And that's always the hardest part about me exiting a company is leaving the team behind. I wish I could take all the girls with me.

[00:01:54] Brandon Ward: She really loved. working for you and with you and she holds you in high [00:02:00] regard. She still does. She speaks very highly of you. And it was funny when I told him, like, wait, is this your old boss looking at your LinkedIn?

[00:02:06] And she's like, Oh my gosh. So it's very cool. She'll be happy to hear that too. You've got a very impressive. Resume and you've been through a ton of things. I think both as a person and as an entrepreneur and order within is really about the inner world that we bring to everything that we do.

[00:02:24] And I think as an entrepreneur, especially a successful entrepreneur who's gone on to start launch and sell. Multiple businesses. I'm looking at my list here and you've started roughly 10 companies from the ground up and you've done 10 to 12 companies that you bought and sold, if that's correct. At

[00:02:42] Christine McDannell: least 12 additional.

[00:02:44] I lost track after that. But definitely 10 start ups. You don't forget start ups.

[00:02:50] Brandon Ward: No, they're with you for life aren't they? They are with you for life because there are a lot of ways it's like birthing. Oh for sure.

[00:02:58] Christine McDannell: Without a doubt, when [00:03:00] I exit them, it's them going off to college and leaving the nest so yeah.

[00:03:05] Brandon Ward: I love that. So let's talk a little bit about, before we jump in, let's talk a little bit about the Magnolia firm. And there's a cool story around Magnolia too which I thought was interesting. So would you mind telling us about the story of the Magnolia firm? How long have you been around?

[00:03:21] What's your vision there?

[00:03:22] Christine McDannell: Yeah. And it's funny. The name actually originated from way back when in 2012 with eco Chateau, a branding agency gave me five incredible names and concepts, and I actually had to have a bunch of people vote on it because I was struggling deciding between the first two and it's eco Chateau and it was that Magnolia house.

[00:03:46] And I really thought that was a pretty name. And so fast forward, I acquired a spa during COVID Martine skincare, because the owner's name was Martine, but she had been around for 20 years. She actually stayed when I acquired it. So there was [00:04:00] no way I tried to change it, but we would have lost the reputation that she had online.

[00:04:05] Sparkling. So I go, darn it. And then, so in 2021, so exit the spa. I had two spas during COVID. I picked up, obviously exited those very quickly and made some cash doing that. And then I started a couple of my friends in 2021, a couple of girlfriends were exiting one for multi millions. So I was consulting with them to help them on their exit because they asked me to and they knew I've done all my own transactions except for the first one and I'm like, yeah, sure.

[00:04:35] That'd be fun. And it was so much fun. And they went really, really well. So then a third friend asked me, oh, I heard that you had to do those two. Can you help me? And so I always wanted a boutique M and a firm, but that was going to be like my retirement plan way down the road. I was like, Oh, that'd be fun.

[00:04:52] And so it just happened sooner than later. And the, they were all like, you got to do this for real now. And so [00:05:00] then I knew I could use the word Magnolia. So it's the Magnolia firm. And so I was so excited. Our clients in the beginning were all women that just happened to be, What was happening.

[00:05:09] And then men showed up and they were like, well, I want, you know, me sell my business and I'm open to all of that. My father raised me like, I love working with guys just as much. And I love that women, we still have a lot of women clients because they're just more comfortable dealing with women.

[00:05:24] Half our team is female. So I think that's a unique, offering that we have. So that's how we started. It was a year and a half ago. It was pretty recent. We're coming up on two years in

[00:05:34] Brandon Ward: October. Nice. Those are my favorite kind of stories. Christine around businesses are the ones that kind of accidentally start.

[00:05:41] I know it's been in your mind kind of forward thinking about a retirement plan, but it sounds like life had different plans for when you were going to start your firm because people coming into your life. You're helping them with certain things, you start to build a reputation and before you know it, you're, you're having to, either you have to start a business or you have to turn all this [00:06:00] business away.

[00:06:00] So it's it sounds like you went the direction of let's just go ahead and do it now and get it done. I like it. And so for you, are you still drawing? Do you still feel, because your branding's fantastic. It does have a very, I would say, strong feminine element to it, which is unique in the brokering space.

[00:06:17] I'm a broker myself. I but are, it's a lot of men. A lot of old dudes in this industry, for sure. So I think it's a nice refreshing look and feel that you bring, but also feminine energy is important in the business world. And I love that you're doing this because I think that's, there's a big balance to, we need more feminine energy, I think, in, in masculine dominant world.

[00:06:38] So it's, I think it's good to, to know that you're out there doing the good fight in a deeper way too.

[00:06:43] Christine McDannell: Oh, thank you. And it's funny. I brought on a male business partner a year ago. I had a wait list. I had, it was insane. All in a good way, but it was so much business. And I hated turning around, turning away people.

[00:06:56] I also didn't want to do this big firm on my [00:07:00] own because every startup, it's just my nature. I want to be the biggest, I want to be the best, the biggest, I want to cleaning company in San Diego, the biggest spa in San Diego, et cetera. And that's just my style. But, now I'm in my early forties and I was like, ah, let's pull it back, Christine, like you can't work these, 60 to 80 hour weeks anymore, you know, or I don't want to, I probably can't if I needed to.

[00:07:20] And so the only way I could go big, I promised myself, well, first I told my. Everybody, my mentors and colleagues, I said, I'm going to keep a boutique and I'm only going to take a couple deals a year. I want to be semi retired. And they're like, that's not your style. That's not going to happen.

[00:07:34] And they go, well, the only way I'll blow it up is if if I take on a business partner. So he came on, he loved the vibe, he loved the name, and it is very feminine and he thought that was rad and so that's worked out really well also. So yeah, that's so thanks for bringing that up.

[00:07:50] The old men, you're right. It's. It's old white men in this industry, and we call them Broker Bobs, and some other people start talking, calling them [00:08:00] that, too. And I dress up as an old man on social media as Broker Bob. That's my character. And I say things that they're saying in real time, that I'm blown away at the conference.

[00:08:11] And on the webinars, one of them mentioned a fax machine and other ones mentioned not to reply, not to follow up, don't call, don't, maybe just a little quick one time email on a buyer inquiry. Why would you ever do that? They don't have tech like we have automations like we have.

[00:08:26] So yeah it's super fun to innovate. That's my. That's the thing I love more than anything in entrepreneurship.

[00:08:33] Brandon Ward: That's one of the things that I love about entrepreneurship to Christine is particularly in boring businesses, local businesses, I know the transactions that you've done.

[00:08:43] Are more have been a lot of internet based businesses. I know you've sold tangible ones as well Not that it's not tangible, but you know my point the but it's interesting though The innovative piece is what I love about entrepreneurship as well Particularly these older businesses that are getting brought into kind [00:09:00] of the modern world.

[00:09:01] I don't think there's Especially I think in younger generations They don't yet see the opportunity before them to take over or buy cash flowing, profitable businesses, and then instill innovation in the sense, not like this brand new recreating the wheel, but just putting some basic automations in updating your CRM as a tech stack, as a part of your tech stack, doing some very basic things with some of these older businesses can go a long way.

[00:09:26] And making a business feel more modern and present in today's world it sounds like that's like I know that's kind of in your wheelhouse because you're a bit of a techie from what I Know of you, but

[00:09:37] Christine McDannell: oh my god, brandon. I'm, so so glad you brought that up So funny quick story those two spas I picked up during covid one.

[00:09:43] I got for free actually, which is pretty cool and then the other one I got a killer deal and that was wait, you got a spa for free Yeah. Yeah. Wow. They were just out. They were, she was moving out of the area to state. She was retiring out. She was in her sixties [00:10:00] and yeah, I just happened to find out about it and jumped on it same day.

[00:10:03] So she's like, just take over the leaf. Here's the equipment. Here's the furnishings. Here's the spot. Here's the rep sparkling another five stars across the board reputation. That was in one team member. Again, during the heart of COVID though, when California was shut down, you're not supposed to be doing services.

[00:10:19] So what's funny was I ran that. I covered the rent for those five months and then then sold it. So I didn't even I didn't have anybody working. It literally sat empty, which is crazy. And again, I'm a wartime general. I'm not peacetime. So I don't, that stuff doesn't worry me at one bit.

[00:10:36] It's so funny. But most people would freak out, right? And close their doors. So five months covered rent and then flipped it, sold it right when, vaccination, when, when stuff's open back up. The other one I did by September 2020 and silly California, you guys know, shut down again during that time.

[00:10:55] The owner was still taking clients on through the back door. And, I was like, as long as you girls are [00:11:00] cool, I'm down, like it's fine. I thought it was silly, not fair. And we didn't get COVID relief funds either. So I'm like, well, look, let's just, let's do this. So took that one over, sold that one 15 months later when I started my firm, flipped it for a great, I think three X what I paid.

[00:11:19] But, but, okay. So my whole point of this. Two stories is they were both in their sixties. They were both on appointment book, written books, , , little appointment books, no software, accepting cash, not merchant account, no software, no online bookings. When I implemented online bookings at the one I bought the business I bought, um, 60, 60 to 70% of all appointments were booked online.

[00:11:47] That's insane. So imagine my front desk person less work, less admin time, less costs cause I stuck my body in there. Software. So yeah, isn't that funny? So yeah, everybody listening, whether it's a [00:12:00] manufacturing firm or there are so many businesses with these baby boomers, you got 10, 000 baby boomers per day, leaving their businesses, the businesses that maybe their kids don't want to take on, or maybe they don't want to bother selling, or they're like, you come in there, you really, put the software in place and automation's in place.

[00:12:21] And that's a game changer.

[00:12:23] Brandon Ward: It's interesting because it doesn't when you think of innovation that doesn't, there's a lot of things, especially younger generation that takes stuff for granted like that, that can be applied to older businesses, particularly businesses ran by baby boomers that can just be dropped in that are actually simple things for us.

[00:12:41] The younger generation who's used technology their whole life. We take things like that for granted. And so I love that we're talking about that because, and there's a lot of business owners that genuinely don't believe their businesses worked anything, which is. Insane to me and also very disheartening because a lot of these individuals have [00:13:00] spent their entire lives, decades building this stuff up.

[00:13:02] So that's what I love about brokering in general is you're giving the life potentially of a business to continue on. You're giving it a new home. There's a succession plan and it's still serving the community. Because I think like you had mentioned earlier when you were talking about the COVID relate like COVID times, which is such an interesting time in our modern history I also was going to get when this we were living in california at that point too in san diego and I remember going and getting my hair cut like kind of Felt like you know sneaking in and the guys owning the thing like cutting my hair and we're like the lights are off We can't let anybody know you're here getting your hair cut.

[00:13:37] It's just absurd. But I think for me, Christine the mindset, the courage to make moves and acquire businesses during very tumultuous times, very uncertain times speaks a lot to you as an entrepreneur. And so I'd love to lean into that a little bit more. What are some things For you as an individual that's helped you to build up a [00:14:00] strong resolve like that because not Other people are trying to get out and you're trying to get in So let's unpack that a little bit if we can you think

[00:14:07] Christine McDannell: yeah into the California being closed one you mentioned that barbershop.

[00:14:11] We were calling them speakeasies. It's like that's what it felt like friends Yeah, I'm like call my girlfriend. Hey, is there any nail salon speakeasy? And it's like yeah, this one you got a texter You got to pay cash Yeah. Is that funny? Is that funny? Yeah. So the, you don't know how many friends tried to talk to me and told me I was stupid for buying a spa during that time, which is fine.

[00:14:32] I don't care. Tell me I'm stupid and I'll prove you wrong. I just love proving people wrong. I don't know where that came from, to be honest. I was a rebel, even rebellious. Probably as a kid, but, and my dad was just never got stressed. Like I never, he owned an HVAC company and I never, I literally cannot think of a single time my father was stressed.

[00:14:53] He raised more, my parents divorced at 14. He raised me and like 50, he owned and he's like, [00:15:00] didn't, he thought it was. funny when they called, he'd laugh. He'd be like, Oh, they'll get paid when they get paid. It was just like, I don't, I'm glad I saw that. So he led by example. That, I mean, I pay my bills, but just, he didn't get stressed and like he was out the door at 7 a.

[00:15:15] m. every single day and back at like 6 p. m. and worked his ass off and never complained either. Ever. So I think that I inherited that and that's It's amazing. And I just, yeah, I love proving people wrong. I love doing the impossible. I love when, recession 2008, I freaking loved it. I grew my cleaning company, which is crazy because it was, that's the first luxury that was getting cut, right?

[00:15:38] It's well, we're going to clean our own house. We're not going to pay for that, but we grew in a way and I love, and I didn't lay off. single team member, which was awesome. That's what I'm the most proud of. I've actually never laid off a person in 20 years, never. And then I've never missed a payroll every single Friday for those 20 years, even the days where I had no money and I was just [00:16:00] like, Oh my God, how am I going to get borrowed from a friend at a high interest rate?

[00:16:03] Like I just had to pay them every week. So yeah, that's. I think that's just my style

[00:16:09] Brandon Ward: that well, that's honorable, Christine. And I think that we definitely need more of that in the business world leading by example. I love that your dad. Showed you a way of operating, like kind of handling, it sounds like a very stoic way of handling and being light with things because most people, they get a call from the IRS and say that they own 50, 000.

[00:16:26] We'll probably not laugh. I think that's, but that's amazing though. Honestly, it's it's a wonderful thing, but it's great to me too, that you've taken those lessons early on and you've carried them on into your adult life and you're now modeling them in the world for other people. Like you take, you have a high sense of honor and value with what you just said.

[00:16:44] Making sure that you're paying your payroll every week. You've never laid anyone off. I think that's why entrepreneurship can be such a mission way of living, a very mission driven way of life because you are impacting your community, people's lives. That's why brokering for me [00:17:00] is so important because how sad is it at a business operates for 20 years in the community and they just go away.

[00:17:06] What about all those people that work there? What about the customers that come and serve there? It's a lot, there's, we are not. Man is not an island and it's important. I think that we remember that especially as entrepreneurs because we impact a lot

[00:17:20] Christine McDannell: for sure No, a hundred percent.

[00:17:22] Brandon Ward: So that's fantastic And so the so you got early models you learned initially from your dad who was an entrepreneur.

[00:17:29] He had an HVAC company He wasn't a serial entrepreneur though Like you are a serial entrepreneur by the T like by the definition of it And I remember you told me that when we last spoke You started very early too, like you, you had the entrepreneurial bug very early on, didn't you, when you were...

[00:17:47] Christine McDannell: Yeah, I don't even know what age I started. It's like snow cone, selling snow cones with my sister, making a circus in the garage and charging, selling candy bars out of my backpack, bubble [00:18:00] gum. I don't even know when I started and I don't know why. I just thought it was fun. It was a challenge.

[00:18:05] And I, and my dad was soul proprietor. He wasn't even, I wouldn't call him an entrepreneur at all. Like he was technician the entire time until the very end he's climbing on the, he ended up hiring employees that maybe like 10, 15 years in, right? He finally, finally did, but it drove me bananas. Even as a teenager, like I just thought bigger.

[00:18:27] I always thought bigger. Dad, you need to get employees. Like dad, you need a big billboard in the city. You need like a big, yellow is back with the yellow pages. You need a big full page ad. Like why are you having just a little sentence in the back of the book?

[00:18:43] Brandon Ward: And I think that's driven by your drive.

[00:18:45] Like your drive is pulling that obviously. But again, that's what I love about it is it's. The mindset that you carry, the way you're thinking about these things. Is it, what is it about entrepreneurship and doing the work that you do that keeps you going?[00:19:00]

[00:19:00] Christine McDannell: The startups, yeah, a few things. Great question.

[00:19:02] The startups is a creative process. Am I like a creative? You know, musician or artist or no, no, no, no, no. I would say I'm not a creative person, but with business, I am like, again, I'll see like, it's weird. I'll just see very naturally I need in the marketplace. And then I'm like, why isn't anybody doing this?

[00:19:20] And I'm like I guess I should do this. So each business was super unique. There was nothing like it, just the way I built it, ran it, et cetera. So that part is. super fun. Startups are insane to do 10. It's chaos. It's stressful. You're starting from zero. You have no money. I bootstrapped each one, but I still loved every day and it's like challenge and it's like climbing the mountain.

[00:19:43] And then my team without a doubt, like that motivated me every single day. We had so much fun. Like again, the spa, for example, two locations from scratch set 37 employees by the time I sold it. All women. like a players, a plus players like hustlers [00:20:00] driven and that's a players want to be around other a players.

[00:20:03] They love it. They thrive and motivate them. It excels, you know, they excel in that atmosphere. We could not have a C and honestly, if we had a B, we had to figure out how to bring them up to an A we'd have these meetings where we'd rank each girl, like, okay, are they a, a minus or a plus, like who does that?

[00:20:20] And then the bees were like, how do we get them up? The C's, if for some reason we hired them and just didn't call it right, they would literally quit in two weeks. I wouldn't even have to fire them because they don't, it's intimidating, right? We had a blast. And honestly, I know you're, you're not maybe supposed to have a favorite kid or a favorite business, but I'd say other than the Magnolia firm, obviously, that was my favorite journey.

[00:20:44] And it was a five year journey. And I found great buyers, husband and wife, they have it to this day, they opened up another location, they kept my team, they kept everything the same, clients are still happy. So that's really cool.

[00:20:58] Brandon Ward: Yeah, see that it's [00:21:00] so there's the human story to all that that really ties it through and it sounds like it's a way for you to be impactful to connect with people around you to make an have a positive influence in your community.

[00:21:13] Christine McDannell: Yes, yes, I love that. I love that. And I was just telling somebody the other day, I love overhearing one of my companies getting mentioned in San Diego, because again, all of these, the beginnings, all of them were brick and mortar, San Diego, service space, B2C, that's kind of my wheelhouse. That was my wheelhouse.

[00:21:29] Yeah. I mean, I still would do service. I just know it so well. So anyways, I'll overhear somebody talk about clean energy. Like, oh, clean energy cleans my house. I love them. I'm like, oh, I started that business in 2003. And they're like, no way. Like that one still has the same owner. sold in 2010. So he's had it for 13 years and he's great.

[00:21:50] Or the spa, right? Like all over here, eco Chateau getting mentioned and they're like, Oh my God, right there. So that is super rewarding [00:22:00] and fulfilling. And out of all my companies only one in 20 years. Only two of them are not in business anymore out of like 20 something, which is amazing.

[00:22:12] So that was jobs that created and that was, so that kind of grows over time, obviously.

[00:22:17] Brandon Ward: And I think that's cool, Christine, because what you'd mentioned about your dad being primarily a sole proprietor until maybe later in his career, he hired maybe a few employees. The perspective, the mindset of an entrepreneur building a business is very different than being a high.

[00:22:32] Skill technician, like what your dad sounds like he was. And I think so much of that comes around having fortitude and confidence. Talk to me about some things that you've done over the years or some tools, maybe you've learned to use that have helped you to strengthen your mindset, to stay confident and fierce during tumultuous times.

[00:22:56] What is it for you that works, Christine, that's helped you over the years?

[00:22:59] Christine McDannell: [00:23:00] Ooh, two Rs for sure. Resilient, like insane resilience and resourcefulness. I'm super resourceful. I'm a quick decision maker. I think you need that. You can't get emotional. Luckily, I lean, I know I'm female, but I definitely lean more logical than emotional.

[00:23:17] And, sometimes I have to remind myself,

[00:23:21] like I've had to say, Christine, like this is business, like you have to do what's best for the business. All my decisions have to be what's Best for the business as hard as it is firing somebody. Those for sure.

[00:23:33] Brandon Ward: What's some things that over the years has helped you to develop resilience?

[00:23:39] Christine McDannell: Okay. So again, how I was brought up for sure.

[00:23:42] Cause I have crazy stories. I went at lunch yesterday on a business. meeting. So yeah, how it was brought actually I'll share it real quick. But a few other things is I didn't go to college. So everybody listening, if you didn't, then that's great. You can make it work, but it was, I think I worked [00:24:00] harder to compensate.

[00:24:01] I've read, I have a floor to ceiling bookcase, custom bookcase in my house. I have a ton, I think like 150 audio books now and YouTube videos and a podcast and like I'm constantly learning, like whether I'm getting ready in the morning or on the weekends I'm cleaning my place up and I'm driving and I'm like, I just love, love, love learning.

[00:24:21] So I think that's what built help built it to, but the resilience, like the quick story as it's like, I, the day I turned 16, my dad always promised me like a used car. The day I turned 16, he pulls me out of school. I take the driver's test and then we go to the used car lot. And there's this, I wanted a Honda Civic.

[00:24:39] so bad. This is 1996. This is, a 9400 civic on the lot. It's blue. I'm like, I run up to it and I look in the window and it's stick shift. And I'm like, Oh shit. You know, my parents, my dad was a big car guy too. And I've always driving since I was 13, but I've like never seen stick shift.

[00:24:58] And He's like, if you want this car, you're [00:25:00] going to learn right now. The poor sales dude is like in the passenger seat, trying to teach me. My dad's in the backseat, like yelling. And he's like, Chrissy, if you don't figure this out right now, you're not getting the car. And so what do you know?

[00:25:14] I freaking figured it out. I didn't even stall it out. And I got the car and you gotta be freaking resilient. You gotta be like fat. You gotta figure it freaking out and that's business. Like there's no hesitation. You got to figure things out, man. You're going to get thrown some crazy stuff in this game.

[00:25:33] But again, I just, in my seat at the spa, there's a team member. She's like, we had a one year labor board on it. We had a lawsuit, 1. 2 And she's just like in the board of cosmetology came in and like wrote her up for something. And she's like almost in tears. And I'm just like, Terry, it's not a big deal.

[00:25:53] Like who cares? A couple hundred bucks. And she's like, she was like, Christine, like nothing rattles your feathers. It's so interesting or [00:26:00] rattles your cage. And I'm like, no, no.

[00:26:04] Brandon Ward: And it, so it sounds like that's been a part of you, as early that was a very part of you, but it's almost like you're just, Unwillingness to accept defeat in a way is it's like, it doesn't matter what's presented to you.

[00:26:14] You're going to tenaciously move through things and get after it regardless is how have you always had that sense of belief in yourself? Is that something that you struggled with throughout your entrepreneurial journey?

[00:26:25] Christine McDannell: Never, never like I never think I'm going to fail.

[00:26:29] Actually, this is a convo with my business. It's funny. It came up twice this year. I met a business partner in the morning and then a colleague in M and a, and he said, I would never personal guarantee anything because he watched his father do it. His father got really burned really bad on a personal guarantee in business and so he brought it up.

[00:26:47] It's so funny. And I said, I personally guarantee every single loan, every business on my business every spa location I did and everybody, my mentors were like, don't ever do that. [00:27:00] Like what 10, 10 year lease, et cetera, et cetera. That's a 200, 000 commitment over the term of the lease. And I said, Hey.

[00:27:10] If I am not going to put everything on the line that means there's a tiny bit of doubt in my head and that might manifest over time that I'm not going to be successful. I'm like, there is no way in hell. I'm going to fail. I don't give a crap. Sorry. You

[00:27:25] Brandon Ward: can say

[00:27:25] Christine McDannell: it. You can say it. Okay. If I put my, you know, I'm like, I've never filed bankruptcy.

[00:27:32] I would never do that either. So as I, I'm putting everything on the line and I'll put my personal name on the line. And I think other people, the other investors like respected that I've done that so many times. And like I said, I came up twice and even my business partners, like I would never do that. I was like, well, I'll do it if I need to do it for this.

[00:27:50] Business even like, so there's never any doubt, even when the recession started, like even there's just not, I'm not going to fail. I know how to get [00:28:00] around it. I like my competitors freaking out and they hide under the covers. Like they freeze up. Like I grabbed the market share. I pump up the marketing.

[00:28:08] Even I pay more marketing when crap collapses, because I know I could grab the market share cheaper when I do that. And that's a gamble. So yeah, never, never. And even my software company, I'm sure we'll talk about that. That was my last exit, but it wasn't for as much as we put in. So that was my first exit that I was upside down on.

[00:28:29] And I held it, ask my team, ask my right hand. She's like, I was like setting deadlines. If we can't hit revenue by March, we're going to have to close the debt. If we can't sell it, well, first off, We stopped raising capital because we didn't raise it was like two years into the three years I get, yeah, I gave myself, if we don't hit revenue, we're not going to raise any more capital.

[00:28:50] We raised enough and then we didn't hit revenue. And then I tried to sell it. And it wasn't selling. And so for an additional year, I covered, we [00:29:00] were just like, we stopped development and we stopped, the burn rate monthly was not ridiculous, but I covered it every month because I, so I'm like, okay, if I March, we don't sell it, we have to close it down and we'll kill me.

[00:29:11] Okay. By, I kept moving, moving, moving the goalposts. I literally could not, even though it was killing me this week during COVID. I had no cash. I'm borrowing from friends. It was like. crazy, horrible time in my life financially. I still would not shut down. Like I'm like, I won't fail. So we finally, finally, we sold it.

[00:29:33] I was grateful, but woof, that was a hard one. I just could not physically, it was weird. I just, I'm like, I just can't do it physically. I can't close this business down. I don't know why.

[00:29:44] Brandon Ward: So it sounds to me, that's a testament to your just. Never quit mentality like you just have a never quit mentality and when you go in you go all in you're not Lukewarm on stuff you're all in and you're committed to whatever you got to do to make it happen.

[00:29:58] That's what it sounds

[00:29:59] Christine McDannell: like Oh, [00:30:00] oh, yeah, I think all in I think it's over I mean even I had my dream, you know I exit the spot I buy my dream car an R8 and then a year later software companies running out of cash again And I, I sell it and put it in, I was like, immediately, no, I'm like, I could buy another car down the road.

[00:30:16] It's fine. Don't worry about it. Didn't date for years. Didn't do spring breaks into like holidays work, work, work, work, work, work, work. Again, I do not, I live a very charm life now. I'm very like not as many hours I work from, I travel the world, I can work remote. So it's like lifestyle design.

[00:30:35] There's not a minute. In the hindsight that I regret, there's nothing like, Oh, I regret I didn't do this or that. It's all worth it in the end.

[00:30:44] Brandon Ward: That's, a testament to your effort, your ethics your energy, Christine, because I think something, that's one thing that people don't want to accept a lot is if you have a big vision for your life or you want to achieve certain things, you have to be willing to sacrifice something.

[00:30:59] Something's [00:31:00] going to be put on the altar of success and effort. Whatever that is, whether it's time, energy, money, something, you've got to be willing to pay the price, to create the world that you want to live in. And I think that often holds people back from living the life they envision because they're not willing to pay the price because there's a price to pay.

[00:31:20] You said it. You're sacrificing time out with friends. Maybe it's relationships, maybe it's money. You got rid of your R8, a dream car that you wanted to keep a business going that was struggling. How many people are willing to do that? Most people would say, ah, you know what?

[00:31:33] I'm just going to close it down. Sorry to all the people. I've got to fire them and they're going to look at themselves and think about themselves and just discard that. So I think it's a testament to your entrepreneurial journey that you're able to do that. And a lot of people don't have that strength of mind.

[00:31:49] It takes sacrifice, doesn't it? Like hugely. Okay. So we talked about resourcefulness and resilience. What's maybe an [00:32:00] uncommon. Aspect or characteristic that you've developed or carry with you. That's contributed to your success as an entrepreneur.

[00:32:09] Christine McDannell: Definitely mindset. I have this crazy naturally again, thank God.

[00:32:15] I'm like, I didn't know Tony Robbins stuff manifesting none of that in my twenties, of course not. But when I'm scrubbing toilets, I cleaned for the first year and a half. in downtown San Diego. It's crazy. Now I'm lucky enough to live here, but I never was Like, Oh, this sucks. I have to clean this toilet.

[00:32:33] It was always like a means to an end. Oh, I'm cleaning this toilet. This is great because I'm gonna have a bunch of cleaners and I'm not gonna have to work, down the road, which happens, and so, but I do remember seeing a vision board. I'll never forget it. I saw this vision board, these little magazine cutouts.

[00:32:48] It's the cars and stuff and one of the guys apartments was cleaning it and I'm like, what the hell is this? This is weird. Cause he does that like dead center in his bedroom. I had no clue what it was. Isn't that funny? Now [00:33:00] I do vision boards every single year. So I'm just really good at like future pacing and manifesting and visualization like naturally.

[00:33:10] So yeah, I I write every in gratitude. I think everybody listening, my gratitude journal. Like I've been doing it for years and years, every morning, you know, I'll miss some mornings, but I'm writing like what I'm grateful for from the day before. And it could be big stuff. It could be little stuff and it could be the same stuff.

[00:33:27] Right now it's like San Diego and right now it's summertime and like any little thing you write in the morning, then I write my goals for the year. five of them. And then I wrote, I write, even my clients were working on all right, like successfully sold, you know, this person's business. I always use their, their name, not their company name.

[00:33:46] Cause I want to like, attach it to like a human that's about to have the biggest exit of their life. You know, I sold Jenny's business for, you know, 4 million. I do that. And then the last thing is I'll sometimes put like today, like what's my number one thing, the [00:34:00] one thing for today to accomplish.

[00:34:02] So those are some big, big hacks for sure. And my vision board is laminated. I called shower goals. I've gotten a bunch of friends to do this. My vision board is laminated in my shower every single year. That's

[00:34:16] Brandon Ward: really, I've never heard

[00:34:19] Christine McDannell: that before. I made it up. That's awesome. I'm in the shower every day and you're doing something so mindless.

[00:34:23] Your brain's on like an autopilot, so your subconscious can work on it. If you see my prior vision boards it, because I saved them all, it will blow your mind how much stuff I got off of them. Blow your freaking mind. Oh, here's another hack, is each, I put on my wallpaper of my phone, phone, my, my kind of number one goal.

[00:34:43] And I just see it every day. You see it a bazillion times. And then again, not that you're, it's I don't notice it anymore as much. Cause just like there and you get used to it, but your subconscious is what do I need to do right now to get that thing? [00:35:00] Constantly. I did a presentation with screenshots of all, I've been doing that for like six years.

[00:35:06] So once I get the thing, then I change it to the next thing. Like whether that my dream car, that car was only on there 11 months, which back then I'm like, I don't, how am I going to have six figures to buy this car? And I didn't know any of that. And look what happened. And then it was travel. And then it was right now it's travel again.

[00:35:25] I live part time in Dubai. So on January 5th, I was like, gosh, I really want to like test living in Dubai in the spring. Put that the city, a shot of the city, January 1st. And then I lived there five, five weeks in the spring. Like it's crazy how easy it works now. I can't, my friend, I don't know. It sounds crazy, but everybody listening and watching, like if there was one hack you need to do today is go and it's so easy.

[00:35:52] Go find an image, put that as your wallpaper or meeting the love of your life or there's if you want love in your life, maybe it's a heart. Like, there's [00:36:00] like, yeah, each, it doesn't have to be these like materialistic things either. That's awesome,

[00:36:06] Brandon Ward: Christine. I love that.

[00:36:07] So you've got the shower vision boards laminated. That's a hack I've never heard of. And then the one on your phone, that's another one, having the image on your phone of something that you really want, because you're. Spot on. We, our subconscious minds are insanely powerful. It's the whole concept of co creation is that we're connected to the universe and we put out to the universe what we desire whether we are intentionally setting those desires or not, it's going to bring us what those things are.

[00:36:35] So when we're anchoring what we desire in front of us, like you're talking about doing, we're communicating to the universe. This is what I want and figure it out. I don't need to know how it works but I'm going to remind myself subconsciously every day to do that. That's brilliant. I love it. And something too Christine that a lot of people don't realize is the ability to delay gratification.

[00:36:55] That story you shared about cleaning the toilets but thinking ahead how you will [00:37:00] one day have a team doing this and you're going to grow a company. That is insanely powerful because we all will find ourselves in moments where we're doing some shitty thing, no pun intended there, cleaning toilets, like where we have to get through it.

[00:37:15] And having a future state that we're driving towards is a phenomenal way to get through tough things in moments. And I love that you seem to naturally do that and instinctually know that. To get through this hard point. I've got to, this isn't all that will be one day. It will be different. And this is what it's going to be like, powerful stuff.

[00:37:38] Christine McDannell: And everybody listening to, I'm a big advocate, especially when you're bootstrapping, you kind of have no choice, but regardless is working from the bottom up because then actually the cleaners really respected me. So new cleaners would start down the road and Christine's not there much. And Oh, that's not fair.

[00:37:55] And they were like, say, look, did she cleaned alongside of us every single day? [00:38:00] And then what to expect out of them because I've done the role, right? I know what was possible and what wasn't. Same with the spa. I worked that for, I mean, I'd know again, there's so many times about a lot of money, no money, a lot of money, no money.

[00:38:12] Part of me is maybe I just love the climb, right? Starting from zero. So the spa, I worked the front desk. The first six months, every single day, I was the front desk person and again, but I was setting up the software and I was like building the systems that I put in. And then you get a front desk person and you get, and then when it was like a lot of, and all this stuff.

[00:38:33] So I think that's important to do those roles from the ground up also.

[00:38:40] Brandon Ward: I love that though because you're talking about Humility to me being humble, especially when you're starting a business. No job is too big or too small Regardless of where you are getting in and being willing to roll up your sleeves and take action can help us get to where we want to be right.

[00:38:58] All of us have to [00:39:00] start somewhere. And if we're starting a business, oftentimes that's going to be doing mundane routine things. And I think the way we master the mundane routine pieces of life really. Set the path of our success for a few for our future success if we're willing to do those things in a humble Open way realizing that it won't always be like that or at least it doesn't always have to be like that and To me, there's no better way to lead than from the front you're leading by example You're not i'm a big believer and I don't want to ask you to do something that I myself would not do I think that's it matters a lot and it sounds like you really took that to heart from the way your business is For sure.

[00:39:45] So Christine, this has been a fun conversation. We've talked a lot about Magnolia, the Magnolia firm. We've talked about your entrepreneurial journey. We've talked about mindset and overcoming some of these mental obstacles. Managing COVID, going through COVID acquisitions, [00:40:00] buying and selling, building businesses during that time.

[00:40:02] We've talked about resilience, resourcefulness, envisioning, and manifesting by having those goals in front of you. Are there anything else? Before we kind of part ways today of a message or thoughts you'd like to share with the audience that could be helpful for them on their own journey of living a life that they desire.

[00:40:23] Christine McDannell: What else? I know there's anything is possible. You'd be blown away. You guys, I came from not a great town. I, again, dad, blue collar worker. We were maybe middle class, lower class no college education. So I never want people to, to use those excuses, right? Like you can create, I mean, people that see my life, if you would have told me when I was a kid, like, Chrissy, this is going to be your life.

[00:40:48] Like when you're an adult, like I would never believe it. Like you're going to live in San Diego, you're going to travel the world. You're going to have all these dream cars and all this. crazy stuff. So like just, you guys cannot focus on the past. You [00:41:00] guys cannot use these excuses. You'll just get stuck in that, you need to sit meditate, visualize whatever you want to call it on where you want to go.

[00:41:09] Right. You have to. And like you said, Brandon, which I'm glad you said that subconscious is working like nonstop. And if it keeps hearing this negative stuff, Oh, I'm in debt. Oh, I have no money. All those things, like you cannot focus on that. You cannot, or you'll just get stuck. So yeah, those would be my parting words.

[00:41:27] I

[00:41:27] Brandon Ward: love it. I love it. So really get intentional about the life you want to live Believe know that anything is possible regardless of where you're starting whether that's with no money. No education any of that It's you can build a life that you envision if you're willing to anchor to it and believe in it that's a wonderful message christine.

[00:41:44] I love that. So well, so before we end the show maybe tell individuals if like where they can reach you, if they're interested in what you do, share a little bit here before we part ways.

[00:41:55] Christine McDannell: Yeah, for sure. So I'm great on LinkedIn. So you guys can find me very easily on [00:42:00] LinkedIn message me there, of course.

[00:42:02] Then there's, you search the Magnolia firm on any social media channels and you can find us there with some business advice. I'm actually gearing up to do more, not just how to sell your business advice, but just business mindset in general. So I'm excited to start doing that on socials.

[00:42:17] Yeah. And so that's how you can find us.

[00:42:20] Brandon Ward: Awesome. Well, Christine, I really appreciate your time, your energy today. You've got, I can feel even though we're virtual here and we're across the country, coast to coast a bit, I can feel your fire. And I love that the universe brought us together, even though you and my wife share a past together, which is fantastic.

[00:42:38] I think there's a lot to learn from someone like you. And ultimately if you're willing to do it. Anything is possible. And I think that's a great message that you bring. So I really appreciate you coming on the show and helped me kick off this new, phase of discussions on order within as well, which is exciting and I wish you the best of luck in your journey and until we talk next time.

[00:42:59] Christine McDannell: [00:43:00] Yes, Brandon. Okay. Thank you so much. I loved coming on.

[00:43:03] Brandon Ward: Thanks, Christine.

[00:43:05] Thank you for listening to Order Within. If you found the episode helpful, please consider sharing, rating, and subscribing. New episodes will be released every Thursday at 11am Eastern Standard Time. Until next time, y'all.