Unknown Speaker 0:01
salary is a drug they give you when they want you to forget about your dreams.

Alessia Citro 0:06
Welcome to the corporate dropout podcast. I'm your host Alessia Citro. If you're sick of the corporate hamster wheel and looking to feel inspired and empowered to live a high vibe life as your own boss, you're in the right place, dare to drop out in 321. Before we start the show, I want to tell you about the business I'm launching. Do you have a business idea but you don't know where to start? Or maybe you've started your own business, but you know, there are boxes you need to check when it comes to taxes, finance, legal protection, marketing, and more. Same. That's why I founded the collective named for the Greek Goddess of Light Theia was created to light the path for entrepreneurs. We have the community courses and connections that will help every entrepreneur quantum leap and avoid costly mistakes. Learn from experts across professions and get the blueprint you need for your business. Text biz. That's BIZ 29495778709 or head theia dash collective.com to learn more.

Alessia Citro 1:10
Hello friends today I have the pleasure of interviewing Jasmine Suazo. She is a business owner, business coach and podcast host leading savvy career women as they transition from employee to entrepreneur and ultimately fire their boss. Hell yeah. Jasmine is pioneering the great resignation by creating a community where high performing women can confront their fears, find their purpose, and implement actionable steps to achieve their goals. And her podcast girl fire your boss is a perfect blend of Forbes meets Happy Hour meets Essence magazine. Jasmine, thank you so much for coming on the show. Pleasure to have you here.

Jasmine Suazo 1:46
Thank you for having me. I've been looking forward to this. So I'm excited to be here.

Alessia Citro 1:51
It's amazing to me how many entrepreneurial friends I have met through Instagram, which is how we met too. So so grateful for the Graham for bringing us together. I know

Jasmine Suazo 2:00
we're Graham besties. It's official. That's one of the beautiful things of social media just really been able to connect like minded men and women from a wide variety of backgrounds. So it's been a blessing. I agree.

Alessia Citro 2:14
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. So I love to start every interview off with the corporate dropout story, since that's why everyone's here. They want to learn how to be a corporate dropout, too, and how to build that successful business. So to give a little bit of background, in 2008, you left a six figure dream career as a director of communications for one of Chicago's leading nonprofits. And I know the story because I listened to your show. And it really resonated with me a lot. But can you share that for the listeners, that aha moment that led you to fire your boss?

Jasmine Suazo 2:46
Sure, sure. So I'll give a little bit of background, I grew up in an environment where I was told a very specific narrative, right. And that was you go to school, Jasmine, you get good grades, and you work really hard and you get accepted into a college and you work really hard in college so that one day the best employer will hire you. And ultimately, you'll work your way up that corporate ladder. And that was really kind of like the trajectory of success. For me that was that was the narrative from my parents. I was a first generation college students. So as you can imagine, like going to college was a huge deal. For my family. And my parents both worked really hard. They were really like the example like they were the blueprint, my father was a senior manager for one of Chicago's leading gas companies. My mom was the Deputy Director for Social Security Administration. And so if you think about it, they kind they did pretty well for themselves following that, that path. And here I am, I'm going to college. And I really bought into this concept of like, six figures is like the magic number. When you make six figures, you've arrived, and you can somehow start fulfilling the American dream. And so that's, that's what I was pursuing. And so I worked various jobs. I spent some time working on Capitol Hill, a lot of my professional career was spent in government and nonprofit sector. And so my last position, I worked my way up, I'll never forget guys getting that offer letter of six figures. I just, I was so excited. I remember being in tears. And it was also not just my dream job. But when you're in corporate America sometimes, and we don't talk about this enough. It's the title. Like sometimes we're like title itis. We love titles. We hide behind titles. I don't know why we do it, but we do. And so it was the title of Director of Communications. And it was I had a beautiful office. I had 69 staff members that reported to me, and I was making over six figures and I did mount that position. It's so funny. I prayed for that opportunity for years. And it only took me about three months to be in the position before I realized that I was miserable.

Unknown Speaker 4:59
And so To your point, the aha moment came at a time where it was a Friday night I'll never forget. And I was in my office and it was 9pm Guys, and I'm a mom, by the way, so if any moms are listening, I know you can feel my pain when I talk about mommy guilt. And I just remember feeling like I'm just being a horrible mom, you know, I'm, I have the life that I prayed for. But I'm spending less and less time at home with my husband and my daughter. I'm not enjoying life. I don't wake up every day with this zest for you know, what's today's challenge? Or how can I feel fulfilled today, I just felt very much owned by the company that I worked for. And I remember it was nine o'clock at night, and I still had about five hours of work that I needed to complete before the weekend, right? Because I didn't want to take my job home. I did that a lot. But I didn't want to take the job home. And I remember having a mini panic attack, my palms started to get really sweaty, and my heart was beating really fast. And I just remember crying. And I was like, I don't know why I'm crying. Like, I have more money than I've ever made at the time. And, you know, this is the life that you prayed for? Why are you crying? And I just remember praying and asking God, you know, just help me help me get to a place where I feel fulfilled, where I feel like I'm doing something that's connected to my purpose. And how about this, let me take money out of it. Like, I don't even care if it pays six figures anymore. I just want to be in a position where I'm able to make an impact and do what I love. And I just don't feel like that here. And that was that was the moment when I said, You know what, if I'm gonna work 18 hours a day, I'd much rather do it for myself, I much rather bet on myself take the risk, and go all in, in an industry and an opportunity that illuminates my soul where I can't freakin wait to get up every single morning. And I just was I made the decision. I said this, isn't it. And the funny thing is, I didn't honestly know what was the next step. I just knew that I needed to move forward and take that leap of faith and, and just start exploring different industries and opportunities. that intrigued me and I was, I was very confident that I would eventually find my niche. So that's kind of my story. I put my two two week resignation in that Monday morning. And my boss literally I'm not joking. laughs She handed it back to me. We were in the middle of our busy season. And she was like, Yeah, I can't afford for you to quit right now. And so I stayed on for probably about three more months to really help them find my successor and have a very strong succession plan because reputation is very important to me. But ultimately, yes, I resigned but I did it with TAC, and with my reputation in place.

Alessia Citro 7:58
I love that you had such a decided heart though that that following Monday you were like that's it? Yeah, cuz I think that it's hard for people to do that like to decide and then actually jump.

Jasmine Suazo 8:10
And you know what I think it is, it's it's when the voice of your purpose becomes louder than the voice of your fears. And that it because it was a journey, right? It wasn't like like that Friday night was a defining moment. But if I can be honest, I have been miserable for quite some time and that role and so if you're listening then guys, ladies, gentlemen, I encourage you to not silence that voice. You know sometimes we're like, is that really me? Or maybe I'm just having a bad day right? No, no if something is telling you that you're not in the right place and this season and this moment of your life listen to that voice that's that's your intuition that's that's God and my opinion really redirecting you and in a different area. So yeah, it was I probably tried to silence that voice for three months and it got when it when it physically started to affect me. That's when I said Okay, it's time to listen.

Alessia Citro 9:09
And you know, the body whispers before it screams. Like if you end up having a panic attack or debilitating migraine, or we've had guests on here that have had stroke like symptoms because of stress at work for me, it was a major depressive episode. It's like that's your body telling you that it is time to change something. If you keep going like that job will kill you. I mean, without being hyperbolic, like it will kill you. So let me ask you something. I know that you had built up your business to six figures part time did you do that while you were at this company or did you just leave without like, I hate even saying the word backup plan but like what what did that look like as far as you exiting?

Jasmine Suazo 9:50
Great question. So there was an overlapping period. So it probably was to my benefit, right that my boss was like, I can't afford for you to resign right now. But about two months after my husband and I got married, he was introduced to the life insurance industry through a colleague of his he's an engineer by trade. So get this. He's an engineer, I'm a Director of Communications, none of us have experience in financial services. So even the thought that we thought that we would build a business in that industry is still funny. But he I'll never forget, he saw how miserable I was. And so he came home one day, and he said, Hey, honey, colleague of mine was sharing with me that he and his wife have a business, a financial services business, and they're doing pretty successful, they make about $10,000, passively every month. And I figure even, you know, while you try and figure out what your niches are, what you really want to pursue, maybe it's something we could look into, you know, we still have money coming in. And honestly, I was so against it, I was sold. The idea, I just I kind of got involved in our financial services company, just to kind of shut him up to be like, See, I told you that this didn't work. And my very first month licensed as a, as a licensed agent, I made $5,600. Now at the time, yes, I am still working as the director of communications for the nonprofit. And I'm, and I'm, I'm slowly falling in love with financial services, I'm seeing that I went from, you know, $5,600 part time, my second month license, I made $14,000, part time, my third month, licensed $27,000. And I was like, wait a minute, wait one second. If I really sit down and take a look, I have a job that's paying me at the time, like $106,000 a year. And but I'm on track to pay myself a quarter million dollars a year. And this industry, maybe there's you know, you may want to get honest with yourself, Jasmine, I know that you really bought into society standards of success. But you didn't need a degree to build this business. All you needed was hustle, you needed clarity, you need a vision, and you just need a will. Right. And so I was working as the Director of Communications. And yeah, part time I kept building up my business. I built it from just two folks, my husband and I to the very the 10, first 10 months, I had over 100 licensed agents across the country, and financial services, and I looked up and in 10 months, I made over $100,000. And that was when I I made the decision like okay, in addition to my mental, you know, the intuition, my mental signals, and then as you mentioned, kind of the health signals of that panic attack, and then just just not being happy overall, you know, I said, it's time it's time that I step out on faith, and really pursue this. Because if I could do this in 10 months with no experience, and I was doing this, you know, maybe only dedicated 10 hours every month, imagine what I could do dedicated 80 hours a month. So yeah, that's ultimately Yeah, I made six figures in my business that I now run full time, I made six figures in my first month part time.

Alessia Citro 13:12
But it's incredible. So I want to ask you something else about this too, because I feel like there are so many women, particularly moms who say, Oh, I don't have time to build anything on the side, even though they are desperate for the time freedom that entrepreneurship can give them. So what advice would you tell the mom who's listening? Or it doesn't have to be a mom, but just generally speaking, that tends to be who really feels this? What advice would you give on how to do this in the pockets of your time? Or when they feel like they have no extra time to spare?

Jasmine Suazo 13:42
Yeah, I think that that's such a great question. And I actually wrote something out. I'm gonna see if I can find it. But essentially, it was a thought that I was having, just talking about how my mindset I needed to shift my mindset and how my life at the time was a byproduct of the way that I was thinking. And it's one of those funny things like if you don't like your life, then you have to change the way that you think. And sometimes we get wrapped up, you always tell my agents, your reason why you want to succeed can also be your excuse as to why you don't succeed. And if me and you only have 24 hours in a day, Jeff Bay cells only have 24 hours in a day Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and the list goes on. And on. That means guess what God got guys, God is not going to give us any additional hours. We're not right. You know, we're not trying to negotiate with God right now to see if he can can increase our 20 instead of 24/7 right to 27 hours a day. We only have 24 hours a day. So I would tell that mom that's listening, is get really, really clear on the vision that you have for your life. Because whatever thoughts you're thinking is the life that you're manifesting the life that you currently live in. direct reflection of what you're telling yourself. And so I started, I stopped making excuses. And I started believing in the woman that I could become I started saying, listen, Jasmine, the only thing things are going to change if you change things. And so temporarily, you may have to sacrifice certain obligations, right, or certain routines that you have. So no, you don't have to go to brunch once a week with your girlfriends, because you're in a planting season, right? Planting, cultivate, harvest, so know what season you're in. And I'm not telling you not to have fun or not to spend time with your children. When I am telling you something that I did is I set my daughter down, and I said, Hey, listen, you are getting ready to go into high school, and mommy's building a business. And one of the things Mommy wants to make sure that she does is build a legacy for you. Because I may not always be here. And that legacy is gonna require for me to have make certain sacrifices, I may not be at every track meet, but I promise you to be at every parent teacher conference, I promise that if you tell me, there's an event that's happening at your school, that it's so super important to you, whatever I have to do, my mom is going to be there. But there are going to be some times where I can't pick you up every day from school, or I can't take you every day to school, I need you to know that it doesn't mean I love you less, it means that I love you more, because I'm committed to the legacy that that that you're going to have long after I'm gone. So I think just keeping in mind that if you don't like your life today, then you got to change the way that you're thinking and get really super clear on what you're willing to sacrifice. I think sometimes we live in a world where everybody wants success on sale, it's like, not gonna ever guys is your success is never gonna have a BOGO sale. Like you have to pay the price, you have to pay the price. So for me, and I have a lot of moms as well, that are that are some of my agents. And we have this conversation often about keeping the vision in front of you have, you know, in terms of why you're doing what you're doing, and also just knowing that it's temporary, it's just a short term sacrifice, so that ultimately, if you wanted to go vacation and Santro pay for three months, you could do so with your family.

Alessia Citro 17:20
Yes, absolutely. And I love what you said about the reason why you're doing something can't be the same as the excuses. Yep, like so many times. So like using the mom example, so many times the kids are the reason but then they're also the excuse. And it's like you can't have it both ways.

Jasmine Suazo 17:37
Yeah, no, you got to choose the attitudes. There's a certain level of mental toughness, and decisiveness, which I mean, by the way, I don't know when this episode will air but we're still in Women's History Month. I just feel like women were like, We are badass. And, you know, yeah, so I don't know, you know, where this whole, this new generation of women who are complaining about the most miniscule things, it's like, I don't know if we can have kids. We can breastfeed, guys, we can move mountains like there, there is no limit that the possibilities are endless. The only thing that's stopping us is honestly mindset. It's the way that we're thinking, you know?

Alessia Citro 18:19
Yeah. And I think it can be hard to think big, depending on the environment in which you're in or where you grew up. Like, people don't know what they don't know. But I challenge anyone listening to dare to dream again. You know, like, why should you have to live a life that's mediocre and not fulfilling? You shouldn't God didn't create you for that?

Jasmine Suazo 18:39
I love that. You're preaching to the choir. I agree. I agree.

Alessia Citro 18:44
So I wanted to ask you something to kind of go back a little bit when you decide to fire the boss. There's a lot of similarities that you and I have, like I too, am a first generation college graduate. I'm the only one in my immediate family that's gone. child of an immigrant like the programming, I think for for those of us who were the first in our family to go to college is like, like there's an extra amount of pressure. So I'm curious, like, how did you come to terms with leaving those expectations behind? Did you meet any resistance or headwinds? And what was that process? Like?

Jasmine Suazo 19:20
That is such a great question. Yes. My mom would call my business like this little thing or hobby for like the first year and a half, okay. There was no respect for my business because it did not require a college degree. And you gotta remember, I mean, and this is, this is no fault of her own. She wasn't intentionally trying to be mean, it's just that she grew up in an era where that was the metric of success, right? Like that was the standard of success. Like I have a lot of friends who have African parents, but I have a lot of friends like parents are from Ghana or Nigeria or Kenya. And we always joke that like the educational expectations for them are so high. It's like if you're not a lawyer or a doctor, you're a failure.

Alessia Citro 20:05
Yeah, resonates.

Jasmine Suazo 20:09
And wow, my parents expectations weren't that high. It did, I had completely bought into like, in order for me to not just be successful, but feel successful. You know what I mean? Like that I needed that degree. It's so weird how that piece of paper somehow validates our abilities or our potential. And so yeah, for the first year, my mom wouldn't even ask me questions about like my business, like, literally, I would be like, mom, so, you know, my business is referral based,

Jasmine Suazo 20:45
if you know, anyone that's interested in life insurance, you know, do you know anyone that can eventually pass away? It's like,

Alessia Citro 20:53
a pretty wide referral base.

Jasmine Suazo 20:56
Exactly. And she would be like, Oh, let you know, I'll let you know. And I'm so happy, honestly, in hindsight, that she did not support me from the beginning. Because who knows? I may not have had a point to prove, you know, I may not have been as ambitious and as laser focused. So I just made it a promise to myself. You know, I was like, I'm going to show her. So the very first person that I call when I reached six figures in my business was her. And I was like, Mom, I just want and she had, I mean, leave it up to her, she probably hadn't thought that I made $1. Right? Because I've never told him that I was even being profitable. But yeah, that that was my kind of full circle moment. But yeah, it took for me to demonstrate success for me to demonstrate that I was committed. And I think that's another thing. If you're thinking of firing your boss, or dropping out from corporate America, you know, don't be discouraged or disappointed that your family members and friends don't immediately see the vision. You know, one of the things I always talk about is your vision is vulnerable. God gave it to you, it wasn't a conference call. And so it's not for everyone else to buy into it. Immediately, it's for you to demonstrate that my vision is real. And the only way you do that is through consistency and through results. And then eventually, the people will come you know, it's like Noah built the ark, and then the animals were able to arrive safely. So yeah, that's my biggest piece of advice is expect for no one to see the vision, have zero expectations of support from anyone. Because it's not a collaborative vision. This is an individual purpose, and a vision that God has invested in you. And your job is to be obedient and to execute.

Alessia Citro 22:46
Yes. So good. I love the note about it was not a conference call, like God gave you the vision. That's so good. And you know, I was actually just having a conversation with someone yesterday. So part of what sort of launched me into entrepreneurship was network marketing. And I was sharing with a new team member, what I've seen derail so many people out of the gates is that their very best friends and their family members don't buy from them. And so they assume the people who love me the most aren't supporting me. So who else? Well, when it's usually and for those of you listening, that are my best friends and family, I love you. But it's typically people that you would like never expect that are the biggest supporters. Like yeah, to have no expectations of those you love supporting you and just keep going. I could not agree more.

Jasmine Suazo 23:30
Exactly. Think about it like this. You don't have a real business until the people that are supporting you, I have no idea who you are. That's the kind of business that I want. Like think about a McDonald's, guys, when was the last time you actually met the owner of your local McDonald's? Right? But you go there for oatmeal for burgers, or whatever. I love Chick fil A, okay, let's not get into a war of like, favorite fast food restaurant. Someone else is gonna be like five guys. But it's like, you know, just think about it. Let's even think of a broader skill. I think about Walmart, I think about target. I think about all of these global chains, where you've never met the owner. That's a real business. If your business is predicated on your family members and friends supporting you, in order for you to be profitable, you don't have a real business. And you're only maybe you should that's a hustle. That's a hobby, right? Because you're serving a very small niche. And you're not looking to really I would say, scale at a macro level. Right? So for me, yeah, I actually it to this day. I only have I have my grandmother have 15 children. I have 86 first cousins. I have one one family member outside of my parents. That's a client of mine. I love that.

Alessia Citro 24:52
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love it. I yeah, I do too. I think it's just a much more sustainable business. and that way too, you're not kind of, you know, mixing things, right? Like, it's kind of better to keep it separate to an extent. There's a quote I love and it's something around, like, if you help enough people get what they want, and you make that big of an impact, like, that's what's going to be reflected in your paycheck. So yeah, if you think about your inner circle, that's pretty finite, you got to be thinking way beyond that. Yep. So let's talk a little bit about how you scaled your business. So in four years, you grew it to a million dollar agency with over 400 licensed agents across the country, what would you say was the biggest challenge in doing that, and the most helpful tool or skill that helped you do that?

Jasmine Suazo 25:36
So the very first thing, I'm also in network marketing. So the very first thing I always tell people is, the number one benefit was being in a recession, proof industry, being in an industry where the service that we provide our clients is not a luxury, it's a necessity. And, and being able to really market this opportunity to prospective agents, as a part time opportunity. Not everyone wants to fire their boss, not everyone wants to drop out of corporate America, and that is okay. People want to plug and play, right? How can I plug and play and make profit. And so I think the biggest reason why we were able to scale so quickly to over 400 agents is having a proven system, that's duplicatable, that's not talent based. Sometimes I see business owners have a talent based business. And it's why they fizzle out and burnout sets in and they get overwhelmed. I never wanted a talent based business, I wanted a business where whether you had a PhD, or whether you had a GED, or no formal education, simply by being able to understand the system grab hold of the system, you could be successful. And so the number one advice that I always tell new entrepreneurs is focus on the house, sometimes we placed so much emphasis on the who, and the win, and the what. But if you get a sustainable how, Oh, my God, like the you can make so much money. The other thing I love is that I'm very purpose driven. And so I'm a firm believer that whoever serves the most earns the most. And I'm just I just it's kind of how I'm wired. And so I fell in love with duplicating everything that I was learning. And I fell in love with the fact that I was in an industry that allowed me to duplicate my success. And not just limited to, to me here in Chicago. But I have agents and offices in Las Vegas and New Orleans and Dallas, Texas and Atlanta. And I love that I love being able to give other families that feeling of financial independence that my husband and I have. So you know, I guess the second thing, the first thing would be systems. The second thing would be is it scalable? Can you teach other people the system? And can they be just as profitable. And that I guess that that's really what we did. It's so funny, because I was only in business for two years. And then the pandemic happened. And I freaked out. In the beginning, I was like, I'm going to go back to work because nobody is going to come to the office, people don't even want to be around people anymore. It was the furthest thing from the truth. I tripled my income during the pandemic, because again, because I'm in a needs based industry, even in the midst of people having to make the decision of do I pay my light bill or pay for my medication? Do I pay my life insurance, people obviously understood the value of protecting their life. And they you know, they want it not only did they continue to pay their monthly premiums, but they were sending countless referrals our way because all of a sudden due to the pandemic, death became real. For millions of Americans, you could be healthy, and here today and sick and gone tomorrow. And so yeah, all I had was zoom. And I was meeting people every single day, online who wanted to make extra money while they were at home. And I mean a wide variety of professions. And yeah, they came in and we grew and our business. Just last year alone, our business revenue did over $1.6 million nationwide. And so that, you know, is a blessing.

Alessia Citro 29:29
I you know, the thing that I love about everything that you're saying is you got to you got to get out of like the programming of I have a degree in this. I have a degree in that, like what you just said, like from any walk of life. You can come in and you can learn systems and you can go serve people and you can make money doing it. And I think like there's this whole concept of imposter syndrome, which I'm starting to kind of think is like BS in a way. It's like you don't need to have all these accolades or all these prereqs checked off in order to be successful. You just have to show up and be willing to learn and be okay with not knowing at all and sucking at something new. Right? Would you agree with that?

Jasmine Suazo 30:07
I do. And that's one of the things that makes me super excited about Generation Z. Because they are a lie. Screw that, like, they're the I don't know what it is about that generation, but just the audacity to dream. And I'm so attracted to because they're like, Yeah, I'm not going to college, you know, I'm actually going to start my own fashion design business, hey, do you have any experience, I have no experience, but I'm going to move to New York with $700. And I'm going to figure it out. And that's why I think it should be I think that's where the strongest entrepreneurs, even if you think back the history of our nation, entrepreneurs are really the engine of our economy. And so, it that means like, he who goes first nose is always the bloodiest. reap the rewards that you can't put a price tag on the rewards. And yet, it's gonna be hard and yet, you're gonna sacrifice a lot, but ultimately, you're building something that's gonna stand the test of time long after you're gone. So I agree. I love Gen Z's because they're like screw society standards screw society's trajectory. And millennials to I'm 36. So probably younger millennials. Want more geriatric

Alessia Citro 31:22
millennials. My friend, Tanya came on the show and said that and I've never forgotten it.

Jasmine Suazo 31:30
I love it. That's so true. I'm gonna steal it. I love it. But yeah, like, our RJ our age, we kind of are we were more I think, bought in tell me if you agree to like following this very rigid path to success, but like these younger millennials are like, Listen, I don't need a degree to go make a million dollars. And there's proof. I mean, go to all of the TIC tock and YouTube sensations, people who are starting lip gloss lines and beauty lines in their kitchen, making millions of dollars. I mean, if that's not a wake up call, I don't know what it is.

Alessia Citro 32:05
Yeah, I mean, my husband and I talked about this a lot. Before we had our daughter, daughter, we started putting money into a college fund. And we're like, I wonder if she's actually going to use that for college? Or if she's going to use it for like culinary school or like a trade school? Or maybe not at all? I don't know. Like, I don't know if college will continue to be a thing unless they sort of get but the time. So yeah,

Jasmine Suazo 32:27
yeah, I agree. I agree. I mean, first of all, kudos to you guys. Because, I mean, we can just rename it and just say like Future Fund instead of college. Like, whatever path she wants to take in the future. And because, you know, you kind of you're you're following this same path, you're going to give her that grace that she needs to make mistakes and figure things out, right. I think sometimes, our parents are so tough on us, where we feel like we have to get it right. You have to go to school, and we can't drop out. And you know, you have to stay in that career. No, you don't guys, people, you know, the average American actually switch and changes jobs every three to five years. And, you know, this is a quick tangent, if I can share

Alessia Citro 33:15
Oh, yeah, I love tangents. I, one of the

Jasmine Suazo 33:17
reasons, right? I'm not bashing corporate America, but just follow me. One of the reasons why people are less trusting is because the employers stop taking care of the employees like like, we used to have pension plans that provide you with guaranteed income for life. Well, what happened, we started living longer, thanks to advancements in technology and medication. And employer said, You're costing us too much money, and you're not making us any money after you retire. So we're going to replace a pension with a 401k. And guess what that's done. The average American has $100,000 One one to $200,000 in their 401k. And that's a stretch I'm saying the average right? And guess what it most people can only afford to be retired with their 401k accounts for about five to seven years. Wow. So now you have this huge population that's being forced back into the workforce. Hence, Walmart, Target readers are senior citizens. Right. So there's this there's this whole dynamic of people, I think, are realizing that retirement is not predicated on age retirement is predicated on income.

Alessia Citro 34:26
Yeah, yep, it sure is. And you don't want to be stuck working longer than you want to be. I mean, my husband and I always say will probably be like the old people that are working at like like he'll be at Lowe's or Home Depot helping people with like Home Improvement stuff. I'll be at Starbucks making coffees just to chat with people but it'll be because we want to be there not because we have to be and that's really the difference.

Jasmine Suazo 34:46
I love that. Or you can come with me I keep saying like I'm probably gonna retire in the Caribbean like on an island somewhere where I'm like making mosquitoes Okay, every day

Alessia Citro 35:00
sounds better than Home Depot or Starbucks. So yeah. Alright, so shifting gears completely. I feel like this is a question that I'm kind of nervous to ask, but I feel like needs to be. So one of the things you mentioned on your podcast is that you're often the only person of color in the room that you were in, right? So what would you tell the entrepreneur who's actively seeking out collaboration with people who look different than them? And I'm asking this because it's a priority for me, but it's something that I really struggle with navigating.

Jasmine Suazo 35:33
I love that such an important question guys, diversity and inclusion, the only way we're going to normalize it, address it and overcome it is by talking about it more. And it's why I talked about it on that episode. The very first thing is, I, I encourage people not to be afraid of pioneering spaces in places, like if you're the first one, just recognize while there is a huge responsibility, right to carry the dreams and the hopes of your ancestors with you know that you've earned your place in that space. Nothing in this world is given to you. And so I wouldn't care if you're the only woman in a room filled with men, if you're the only Hispanic, you're the only immigrant if you're the only African American. You're in that room because God put you there. And so let's get rid of imposter syndrome. And let's start walking into rooms like we belong there. That's the first thing is like confidently showing up. That's something that I would tell people. The other thing is, I absolutely love how diverse my network is, because to me, love is a universal language. And I've traveled I've lived in Ireland for a brief period. I've lived in Kenya for a brief period. And I've worked in a wide range of different sectors. As I mentioned, I've worked on Capitol Hill for some time. I've worked in nonprofits for some time, and after meeting and building relationships with folks from all different walks of life, I've learned that everyone loves their family, everyone wants to receive love. Everyone wants to feel seen, everyone wants to feel heard. Everyone wants to feel valued, and feel as if they're making an impact no matter how small or how big. And if you start to view people through that lens, you take away the superficial. The superficial restrictions, or prejudice sees or limitations, or myths about people, right, and you start to really see the heart of another woman and the heart of another man. And so it's so funny that I pride myself on having a diverse network. I love interacting with women from all walks of life. Because if I think about my own journey, there have been women and men who don't look like me don't come from my same background, don't owe me anything in life that have helped propel my success. They've helped propel my career. They didn't have to. So why would they do that. Um, so I'm just I, you know, I am a person that encourages people to step out of your comfort zone, do the things that make you feel uncomfortable, do the things that force you to show up as the next best version of you. And also that uncovers those limiting beliefs, some of our prejudices or biases are from our environments, right? Maybe you were the you didn't have others who did not look like you, right and the environment that you grew up in. But I challenge you to go have a conversation, go to a networking event, where you know nothing about real estate. And but you want to learn more about real estate and just start asking folks, you know, go to networking events that are diverse, go to change where you shop, I don't shop at the same places every time go to different shopping malls, maybe drive the extra 1520 minutes to meet other people, different movie theaters, restaurants like guys, I always say because I just love travel, you know, the world is a book. And those who do not travel, read only one page. So if you go with that analogy, and I'm sorry, I am not wise enough to come up with that quote. So if you Google it, you'll find out who the original author is.

Jasmine Suazo 39:31
But if you think of that analogy, I always tell myself, you know, to dive a little bit deeper, if the world is a book, and I only meet one type of character than i It doesn't matter how much I travel I'm still on one page. Right and so I just think we have so much in common so much in common everyone wants to do right by their family do right by themselves do right by their community. And if we just show up to to the to It's a life with that lens of everyone just it's just everyone wants to be happy. Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to feel seen, feel heard feel like they're making an impact, you will start stripping away those superficial boundaries of like, you don't look like me or we don't come from the same background and we don't speak the same language. You know, I just I have some of my closest friends are, you know, their first language is not English. And I've learned so much from them. I've learned Jasmine, like you need to Americans do not have it all together, Han learn another language, you know? And just stop, don't be so stuck in this western society or civilization, this bubble where everyone needs to adapt to your way of thinking and your way of life. So my biggest piece of advice, I don't know if I answered your question is just being open minded and not being afraid of going into new environments, and making new friends because you're going to find out that we actually have a lot in common.

Alessia Citro 41:04
Yeah, I echo that so much. And I think for me, like where I struggle with navigating it is I live in Orange County, California, it's like one of the least diverse places in the world. Like, I really want to make more friends that don't look like me, but like, how do I do that? Right. But I like you know, the networking events like all that's a great, a great idea. And even reaching out like online and making friends from other walks. Yeah,

Jasmine Suazo 41:28
I was just gonna say that one of my very first speaking engagements before I fired my boss was a group of Christian women, I would say 85% of them were Caucasian. And I freakin love this group, like, we have so much in common. And I was like, these are like my friends forever. I still keep in touch with all of them. Like we're sending each other pictures of our families. And that's what I mean. It's like seeking out those opportunities. And one of the hosts of the conference, she reached out to me and was like, Hey, I love the work that you're doing. I really think that you'd be great for our audience. And so just Yeah, I think you're doing a good job, like continue networking, social media makes it super easy. Now to network with people from all walks of life.

Alessia Citro 42:19
Yeah, I definitely helps. Okay, let me ask you one more question on this topic. And then we'll move on to the final question. As a woman of color, if there was a networking group for like, for a group of women of color, and I raised my hand was like, Could I come and meet people with like, like, a part of why I kind of get nervous navigating. It is like, am I welcome to come? Like, what's your thought on that?

Jasmine Suazo 42:43
Great question. Great question. I would say there are some movements with a mission a very clear mission to serve their same demographic, right and right, just like African Americans, it's it their their Hispanic Society groups, right, like they're so I would say, just because their mission may be to serve people who look like them or empower, educate people who look like them. It doesn't mean that you your expertise, or the value that you have, would have benefit those women. So I would 100% How you absolutely. Heck yes. Um, I'll tell you this personally, I actually, and I've gotten that question where people are like, I love your podcast, it's colorblind. It 100% is like it's completely colorblind. Because the topics that we're talking about are not a color related issue. Like I'm not on here talking about eradicating systemic oppression, for a certain demographic, I'm talking about women as a collective women as a body, women as a movement. So just kind of I would tell you to be the you know, there are some groups, networking groups who have a very clear demographic that they serve, it's to empower, uplift, educate a certain nationality or ethnic group. And then there are some and but however, it doesn't mean that you can't bring value to that group. It just made me aware that you're their target audience won't look like you. So being aware of certain biases, or differences in access differences in resources, I'm also being open to hearing their stories being open to hearing their feedback. Because just because we're all women doesn't mean we have a shared like it's not a universal experience. You know, what zip code, the zip code that you grew up, man has a lot to do with access resources, what sometimes educational level sometimes socio economic status, you know how much the annual revenue is for the typical person and then network so there's a lot of different factors. What I will tell you is if you stand And the value that you can bring not just a certain demographic, but women in general. And I think you do, I think that I was looking at another business that you just recently launched as well, like, that's colorblind, you know, and I mean, so the last thing I'll tell you is that, as a woman of color, a proud woman of color, I love collaborating with companies that have diversity infused at every level. And not just bringing a black woman, a Hispanic woman, a Caucasian Indian woman, on as a guest speaker, but actually having their voices represented at every level of the of your company, you know, represented, whether it's like, I purposefully seek out people of different ethnic backgrounds, for my podcast editor, for my social media manager for my podcast coach, for my PR rep, I don't, because if I'm looking to service everyone, I need the perspective, I didn't grow up as a white woman. So I what I may think is not offensive, I actually meet someone at that table representing that culture. I need someone saying that's actually not a good idea. I didn't grow up as a Hispanic woman. And so I may not think something is offensive, or I may not think that I'm isolating, you know, their heritage, or offending their heritage in some way. So that's the last thing I'll tell you. Because I do get approached with a couple of different opportunities. And I always jump and say yes, at the opportunities where diversity inclusion is not an afterthought. But the creators were very proactive, and seeking out a diverse group of women to help bring that idea into fruition from the very beginning. So if it's something that you're really, you know, passionate about, it just starts at the ground level, it starts by having conversations like this, it starts by partnering, just free things like IG lives, clubhouse, you know, looking for ways to kind of have your face your brand and your name be more consistent among those universal spaces.

Alessia Citro 47:14
I love that advice so much. And actually, like, it's really great to have this discussion. I mean, I was like, nervous to bring it up. Because I feel like I'm always like, worried I'm gonna say the wrong thing. But what I'm hearing from you is like if the intent is to add value, and it's coming from a place of genuine curiosity, that it's okay to ask the questions, right?

Jasmine Suazo 47:33
Well, you're so funny, like, alright, what did I start by saying, like, you're like my one of my IG besties. In my head, I live for your IGS. It has nothing to do with color. I'm like, she's reading my mind. Like I can totally. I was telling my husband what you posted something one day. And I was like, she's just like someone that I would love to like, go grab a glass of wine with like, a happy hour, buddy. And so that's the thing like authenticity attracts authenticity. And that's called,

Alessia Citro 48:07
amen. I love it. Okay, so final question. So one of your goals with girl fire boss is to enable the listeners to live a life of uncapped potential and income in part by confronting their fears. So how did you confront your fears and blow the lid off your potential and your income?

Jasmine Suazo 48:28
A business coach, I'm nothing without my business coach. Because, you know, as they say, it's hard to see the picture when you're inside the frame. Yeah, and so, I yeah, I tell everyone, hire a business coach. If you have if you didn't listen, even if you were raised by entrepreneurs, this is a completely different animal. And so for me, a business coach is the greatest cheat code to success for an entrepreneur. They're they're there to give you a system and for me, you know that acronym system, save yourself time, energy and money. That's why you hire a business coach to save yourself time, energy and money. And so a lot of fears that my coach was able to help me uncover I had no idea that they were fears like they reliant, so dormant. You know, I had an immense fear of failure, a very high feeling a fear of failure, and I realized that it was paralyzing me from taking action. And I realized that I was a huge procrastinator. A lot of the the fears that were being uncovered through the support of my coach, were I found strips in corporate America. Because if you hire me for one job, and I excel at that one job, then I never have to address the blanket of limiting beliefs. that meets all the limits and beliefs that are hiding under my blanket. Does that make sense? Like, I never have to address them because I show up every single week, and I perform the duties that you hired me to perform. And, and you know, I'd get my paycheck every two weeks. Entrepreneurship is a mirror to the soul. It is, oh my god, it's the biggest therapy session that you will ever go on in your life, because there's nothing else that's going to challenge and require all of you more than entrepreneurship. I don't I tell everyone, entrepreneurship is a second marriage. Okay. And so, so for me, my you know, there are a lot of fears, my fear of failure. I had a huge, like perfectionism thing like love affair. Um, and it crept in with my analysis paralysis. So I would overanalyze everything, so it will cripple me from doing anything. And so I needed a coach in my corner to say, no, no, don't do that. When we make a decision, be decisive. Business owners are decisive. If you know, we'll we'll deal with the consequences as they come. But as the leader when you make a decision, you must follow through. So that was probably the biggest fear. And then just, I think another fear we don't talk about enough as entrepreneurs is will I be able to sustain this new level of found success? Right, that was a fear of mine, because think about it. I had bought into this idea that it's going to take you 35 years to make six figures. And I just shocked myself by doing it in 10 months, how the heck can I do that every year? And how can I increase my income? You need a coach, a coach is there to help you scale? And really intentionally should I say, really calculate your next five to 10 moves? Right? So what are your goals per quarter? What are the systems that you need in place? What are the processes? What's the staff, I hired some incredible staff members, I remember, that was another thing, I almost had an anxiety attack. Okay, hiring my first staff members, because it was like, Who, I'm responsible for someone else's family to eat, you know?

Alessia Citro 52:22
Like when it gets real, when it's not just you anymore, right?

Jasmine Suazo 52:25
Yeah. And it's a blessing. And I remember having a talk with God and my car. And God said, Listen, if I called you to it, everything that you've gone through, has prepared you for this moment. And so I trust you enough to lead my people. That's another thing. I don't take ownership over any of my agents, our staff members, these are God's people that he's entrusting me to lead. And so as long as my direction is aligned with his instruction, and my action is aligned with his instruction, I'm in good hands. So yeah, overcoming my fears. The biggest thing, oh, personal development, stuff like this. I was a business coach, and then personal development. I read a lot. I'm a huge audible girl. And so I never listened to the radio. Sometimes sometimes. Yeah. Have you ever had that moment where you're like, I just need to listen to like some ratchet music, right?

Alessia Citro 53:17
Oh, yeah.

Jasmine Suazo 53:22
So that probably happens to me two to three times a month where I'm like, Nope, I'm blasting the radio, like, I need to relax, unwind. But for the most part, I do audibles, it just helps me maximize my time. And so it's allowed me to do about three to four books a month. And I need that to feed my mental growth, to show up and be the best leader and be the best example be the best wife be the best mom, because I'm not the same woman that I was when I first started this entrepreneurship journey. And so I tell women all the time, if you're looking to leave your your career and start a business, be prepared and really prioritize your personal development because, you know, you're not going to be the same woman, you shouldn't be not growing a business, you're gonna uncover a lot of generational pathologies, you're going to uncover your financial money, your money blueprint, a lot of things are going to be brought up. That's really, really easy to hide and mask when you work for someone else. And so don't be afraid or embarrassed to seek therapy, hire a business coach to help you process and navigate this new you this new chapter in your life. Because it helped me tremendously overcome those fears of perfectionism and fear of failure and fear of Will I be able to sustain this newfound success? So that coupled with personal development, you can overcome? I think, really any adversity?

Alessia Citro 54:53
Yes, I like the personal development piece is so key and the business coaching too. I do both like have to ask Never not have a coach. Right? But like our business, if you're an entrepreneur, it lives between your ears like it. I think it's Jim Rohn. I might botch this a little bit something like work more on yourself than you do on your business. Yes, yes. We got to do the work every single day. Well, Jasmine, that's was such a pleasure. Thank you for coming on. So you're gonna share a business tip with us that'll drop tomorrow on the four soft skills needed to build a business. But until then, where can everyone find you work with you and connect with you?

Jasmine Suazo 55:30
Yes, this has been so much fun. So now I'm thinking of ways that we have to collaborate okay.

Alessia Citro 55:36
My mind's already going.

Jasmine Suazo 55:39
Um, so you can find me on all social media platforms at girl fire your boss, all podcast platforms as well at girl fire your boss, we release a new episode every second and fourth Wednesday. But you can also come hang out with me on my personal page. I love fashion and I love to travel. So don't be a stranger at I am Jasmine Suazo.

Alessia Citro 56:05
Well, this was wonderful. Thank you so much, and I can't wait for tomorrow's episode.

Jasmine Suazo 56:09
Yeah, I'm super excited. This was fun. This episode was brought

Alessia Citro 56:12
to you by Thea collective the learning community I found it for entrepreneurs. Text biz, that's BIZ 29495778709 or head to Theia dash collective calm. That's THEIA dash collective.com to learn more. Thanks for listening to the show. If you enjoyed today's episode, please help me get the word out about the corporate drop out by screenshotting and sharing this on social. I would appreciate it so much if you would subscribe and leave a five star rating and review as well. And I do this show for you and I want to hear from you. So tell me what is it that you want more of text me at 949-541-0951 or slide into the DMS at corporate dropout official or Alessia Citro with two underscores until next time