Wendy McClelland is a lifelong entrepreneur who started a small typing business after her divorce that eventually grew to what The New York Times called one of the best biz sites on the ‘net. She has overcome incredible odds, raising 3 children under 10 while running her growing business and then contracting E. coli, which put her in a body cast from neck to knee, having to completely stop her business and declare bankruptcy, and eventually having to relearn how to walk all together. Having overcome all of that, she was able to start over and chronicles her journey in her new book 27 Steps to Freedom: What Learning to Walk Again Taught Me About Success in Business & Life. Today Wendy provides marketing support and strategy for small to medium businesses. She joins Charlie on the show to discuss all of that and more.
Key Takeaways:
03:04 – Wendy started a small typing business to help make money after getting a divorce when her kids were young.
07:09 – Wendy figured out how to build her own website, and within three weeks The New York Times had picked it as one of the best sites on the Internet.
08:43 – Wendy started out with her online business at a time when all websites were HTML and there was no social media.
10:50 – Wendy says she has had a fearless and brazen personality most of her life and considers that a blessing for her.
12:44 – While Wendy’s business was growing and doing extremely well, she then became sick with E. coli.
18:29 – When you go through a trauma, you’re not going to have that same life again that you had before, yet you still can create an amazing new life for yourself.
26:07 – When you look at all the really amazing things that you can do, to do those things you have to let go of all the little small things that you might want to do instead. So learn to say no.
27:53 – Whatever challenges you’re facing, know that there are people that have walked the path before you who can guide you.
Mentioned In This Episode:
27 Steps to Freedom: What Learning to Walk Again Taught Me About Success in Business & Life
The New York Times
WordPress
Dreamweaver
AOL
ryze.com
Marie Curie
Mother Teresa
Nellie McClung
The Small Business Lifecycle
Episode 23 - 27 Steps to Freedom with Wendy McClelland