[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hi. Welcome to the confessions in the Home Office podcast. I'm Wendy Hill, and I've been running and growing my marketing consulting company, Market Momentum, out of my home office in Greenville, South Carolina, for almost 20 years. Each week on the podcast, I discuss an important marketing topic or work from home topic or have a guest who.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Can give you other perspectives on being.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: An entrepreneur and provide information on other industries.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: So this week, our guest is Liz Dwyer. She's been a friend of mine now for, what, almost a year? Didn't we meet, like, last November at that flourish event over off Woodruff Road? And I'm fascinated with Liz because she is a connection expert, networking expert, and she hasn't even lived in the upstate that long.
But I wanted her to come on today and talk about kind of the magic of multiple revenue streams. Liz has been not employed by anyone and has been living off multiple revenue streams, she said, since 1994. So I don't even think I understood that concept back in 94. So I'm glad you're here today and wanted to ask, how did you initially decide to do this instead of having a traditional nine to five?
[00:01:20] Speaker C: Well, first off, thank you, Wendy, for having me on your podcast. I love it. And yes, it's been a pleasure to get to know you in the last year or so and further. So, for me, I went to school like any good kid growing up. Your parents tell you you got to go to college, get a good job, stay in your same career. It's going to be great. Get a good pension. My dad was the manager of power plants, so he's very, very good business person now. My dad's a nuclear engineer and my mom's an artist. So I have two brains that are always working to find cohesive balance with that. My dad also said, you're not always gonna enjoy everything you do in life. And I went, hmm, yes, I will.
I wanted to defy that statement. So anyway, I went to college early. So I started college at 17, and I went to, I didn't know what I wanted to do originally. I wanted to be a writer, but that changed in 11th grade. So I quickly put together a portfolio of art, and I was going to art school. I have a family of artists that have actually made their living at art, and so I went to school for art and business. I felt like I would probably be in business for myself. I don't know why, but I always had that entrepreneurial spirit, and I did. You know, I waitressed for a number of years through high school and college.
I mowed the lawn, did other people's, like, gardening and things like that. So I always was about making money and, you know, whatever I put my hands to, it needed to have a result. It either needed to help somebody else or it needed to bring a revenue in. So with that said, my first job out of college as a graphic designer was for a nice fella out of his home. It was perfect. I was shy, I was quiet. I was a good graphic designer. I had that for three years. And then all of a sudden, he laid me and the other worker off. He felt terrible to do that, and I quickly had to scramble, go find something else. So I went after my dream job. Be careful about your dream job. Was not. Yeah, yeah. Ended up working at nighttime. It was like a two to eleven shift. Oh, awful. That lasted two weeks because I quickly found out that was not my dream job, and I would be missing dinners with my husband, and it would not be.
It just, you didn't get your own time right. So I was experiencing what corporate America was. Then I get my next job. I worked two jobs at the same time, and that one was great. I had my own fourth floor, three rooms to my office. It was right next to the break room, so people would come and visit. Well, they also went, you know, so I learned that not everybody's happy. And there was a revolving door in that establishment. It was a PR firm. I basically hit my head. I was the designer. I was the sole designer. I hit my head on the ceiling so hard it hurt.
I didn't know what to ask for a salary, you know, I just didn't know what I didn't know. And so a year goes by and they're laying five people out of 25 off, and I went, that's not good. I've got to be one of them in my head. And so I, at Christmas time, the owners went away on a trip across the, across the sea, and they left the HR person to the axe woman to actually lay off these people. And I just thought it was terrible. That was corporate America at its finest. And I had already opened up a DBA. I wanted to be my own business person. I was already doing the bookkeeping for our lawn care business, and that was one of my long time 30 year careers. Is running a lawn care business. And I saw what it's like to work for yourself. Yes, it's hard work, and you got to be disciplined, and there's a lot of things you got to come up with. You got to come up with money and licenses and equipment and everything, but I love the freedom that you had. You can go on vacation when you want. Well, kind of. You got to play in it, but you can take time off when you need it. You can take time off for the big rocks. So at that point, I had my DBA, and I walked down to the HR office and I said, I know I'm getting laid off. And she said, no, you're not getting laid off. I guess I didn't want to lose the designer.
I didn't realize how bad. They didn't make me feel valuable. So I knew I did good work. But this is what I said to myself, Wendy, I will not lay myself off. I will be the best employee for me. And that I offered them a nice deal to actually do the same work from my home office.
And that was my whole idea, was to be a stay at home mom and have a career, too. So I was working towards that. It was several years later that I had my kids, but that was it. I was going to be the best employee for myself.
So real quick, the reason looking back, I didn't realize it. It was the nineties and we were in a recession. I guess I missed it in macro and microeconomics. But now you can see those cycles. We are in one right now and terrible one right now, and there's layoffs happening everywhere. There is people having to change jobs two, three times a year. They're scrambling. So I know that now. I just didn't understand it at that time.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Right.
So the first revenue stream was, I'm going to be an independent graphic designer. So that was the first one. So take us from there. What happened next? So you're working for the lawn company and.
[00:07:02] Speaker C: Yep. So we own, we own that lawn company. So I did all I did. I actually, one year, I actually mowed my own, I had my own crew and I went out and mowed lawns at the same time. I have a very entrepreneurial aunt and cousin that own a company called Creative Connections. They helped artists be licensed in the art world. So puzzle companies and card companies and tote bags. And so my aunt had always looked for a way for her art friends and herself to actually protect the artists. And it worked right up my alley because I was a graphic designer and an artist to protect the art from being sold, and then the artist has to give up the rights to it. So it's called a license. It also creates a repeat or residual income. And this was my first taste of repeat income. So my aunt, this was cute.
She would come up to New York City we live just outside of New York City, and she'd stay with my mom and my cousin, and we go down to the Javits center. And I wasn't afraid to drive, so I would drive them into the city and then back home. And during the day, they paid me $100 for the day. And my job was to walk around all the booths, discover the trends at the Surtex show, and also draw people to our booth, where we had 15 to 20 artists hanging up on the walls. And what they did is then they got those artists connected to the people who made the products and created the license agreement for a fee. But the artists didn't have to market themselves. We did the marketing for them. So it was my, technically, my first sales job because I was scared of sales. But when you're passionate about what you like, then, well, it's easy to sell something that you believe in, and you're passionate. So that actually led to my art. So there's one hanging up behind me here, one of my paintings. So my aunt said to me that first year, she goes, Liz, why don't you put together a board next year we'll put it on the wall and see what interest we get. Well, I went back that next year, so this was my next gig, you could say. And it was pretty cool because I went back with several different designs, all different types, and there was a fella from California that said, who's this artist? He was talking to my cousin or my aunt, I think my aunt. And he said, does she have more of these flowers? They were a flower and a butterfly. And she goes, well, here she is. This is my niece. So he comes to me and he says, young lady, because I was in my twenties. And he goes, do you have more of these? I said, no. He said, well, if you have a series of six or more, I will come back, and I will be happy to purchase that as a license. I had my first idea, or commission. It wasn't really commission, but it was a, you do this, you will make money. And I ended up doing twelve paintings. They got licensed into t shirt transparencies. That was the fella, you know, where you go on the boardwalk and you match the art and the t shirt together.
And every month I'd get anywhere from $50 to $150, just a check coming in on the art. And that was so cool.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: It's nice to do the work, and then you just keep reaping the benefits from it over and over again, because.
[00:10:26] Speaker C: There'S a lot of ways to get paid as an artist, right. You can hang your art up in a gallery, but then when you sell it, you got to go make another piece, right? And then it gets hung again. So this was a very creative way to create an income for really good art. You got to create the right art. But when you do, it keeps selling.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: So after art, what else? I know it hasn't. I know you're still doing art and doing classes and selling art. Now what else is going on?
[00:10:54] Speaker C: So, yeah, so there was a big gap there, Wendy.
It was interesting. So one of the big things that happened to me was nice.
My graphic design business literally disintegrated overnight, and I was owed $10,000 at the time. I was. They said, liz, we're not getting paid. The reason why, it was a problem, I was in New York. I worked for the New York state Pac and New York New England laborers. I did their four color magazine work. Everything froze, right? Everything froze in the city. And.
But to. To not have that income coming in and the work you did, it wasn't just losing a job. I lost revenue from, like, five months, and I, for the first time, had to ask for money. I mean, I'm like, can you pay me? And they're like, Liz, we haven't been paid. We can't pay you. I didn't have any good fancy contracts either, so I didn't know lawyers yet. Now they would.
But even so, I wanted a good. You know, they were still giving me new work. But what was happening was all the work was drying up. People were shifting at 911. So I had a son and a daughter now, and my son had really bad eczema, and I had been shopping from a wellness club, and I just wanted to use the safer products, and it drew me in, but I was. It's a. It's actually a business, too. So there's a referral piece to it. Instead of using advertisers, they use their customers. And I was getting a little check every month. So it kind of spoke to me that, you know, this could actually create an income, right? And so 911, I'm like, why not? Let's just go for it. And I actually had my art going, and I had my lawn care business. I had the graphic business, and I added this income straight unit. So I had four things. Two little kids. My life was a little crazy.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: Kind of crazy, but still fun, you.
[00:12:55] Speaker C: Know, it was still fun. So you start to find the balance, right. And I'm so glad, you know, what I said to myself was, I was very fearful because I was afraid of sales. And I said, if I don't try this, if I don't do my best and give this my best shot, not try, but every, actually give it my best shot, I'd kick myself in five years. Right, because, and I looked back five years later, I had gone so far down the path, I think I had 1200 shoppers in my business at that point. And it was just doing amazing things. And it, it created a peaceful life, especially as a mom, so I could, what did I get to do? I got to devote my time to raising my kids, to taking care of them, to actually helping in the lawn care business, which was our family business.
It also gave me the freedoms to be there after, before and after school. Except on Wednesday mornings. That's my networking day.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: And it still is networking on Wednesdays, right?
[00:13:54] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
So that was kind of a big shift, but it was, there's, you can look back at these micro moments in your life when shifts happen. For me, getting laid off twice in my twenties, pouring everything, this was my business. I love my graphic business. I thought I would do that forever and I was good at it. But something shifted again and I looked at, well, what happens when the economy goes bad? What happens when something out of your control takes it? And I wanted something recession proof. I wanted something that would be long term, that would feed me for a lifetime, not a lunchtime. And I think multiple income streams is. It's having your plan b. Right. Always got to have a plan b in place.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: So when did you start really working the wellness store hard and in building shoppers. What year was that?
[00:14:53] Speaker C: So that was in 2000. Well, December of zero one was my start. And that first year, it was probably ten to 15 hours a week, which isn't all that much, but it was dedicated to that, that business. But it was perfect for me because if I did it twenty four seven, I think I would have gone crazy, because for one, I didn't know that many people. So you have to learn skill sets, right? There are skill sets you have to learn when you're in business. So you're always sharpening this all. You're always going to get better at how to add contacts, how to be a good connector. Right. You started this off saying I connect. Well, I learned that from a mentor couple mentors. I watched how they did business, how they connected people in different industries and helped them get better at whatever their business is. So when you can actually help other people, they turn around and they help you. But you also have to learn how to ask for what you want. I think that's another key piece.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: Well, that's what I met a friend this morning at Starbucks, and we were talking about that. I said, you know, some people read, like, murder mysteries on the weekends and do stuff. And I said, I'm, like, finishing up online classes and digging around trying to learn things. I said, it's kind of like the nerd hobby, but you can't stop if you want to keep getting better and keep growing. So that's just part of it. And I don't mind it at all.
[00:16:17] Speaker C: You know, and there's free resources. Friday, there was the power panel. I just did a post about it, a live video of just how. How good it was. And you're learning from people that are already gone through what you'll go through being an entrepreneur, or you don't know when your heart is. You don't know when the tough times. You know, I'm now. I'm no longer in New York. I left New York two years ago with my boyfriend. We went through the hardest thing that anybody could go through. He went through a congestive heart failure and needed a heart replacement in 90 days. Me at his side and the team of doctors and God, definitely God was in there, helped him to get a new heart where that gift was amazing, and he wants to pay it forward. So he gives back to the local vets helping vets organization here, and we now do the business together.
I'm the one that he said, liz, I want you to do your wellness store, but I also want you to do your artwork. So I had this long gap of not doing arth. And since we've been here in Greenville, all the doors have opened. I now teach art classes, watercolor classes at three different times a week. I do dog portraits. I'm doing my commissioned work, the work that I talked about earlier. So that's part of it. And I just got a new gig. We had 24 students one night at the city club.
[00:17:49] Speaker B: Really? I didn't see that you were going to teach at the city club or have a session there. 24.
[00:17:53] Speaker C: 24 came out. So that was my biggest class. We had so much fun.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Everything is open up because you. You didn't. The two of you didn't know anybody when you moved here, did you? You just said, greville sounds great. We want to go south. And. And you took off.
[00:18:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And, um, you know, and there's no secret to it. It's. It's like I said, it's just so much easier to know that you're in control of your destiny. When you be the best employee of whatever job you have, learn, grow, treat it like it's your business. That's how you get ahead. I will tell you, we didn't have to worry about money when we were in the hospital.
It's dig your well before you're thirsty. I just went to a seminar recently. Dig your well before you're thirsty. I get a repeat income.
It's enough to pay the bills and a little bit more.
We were in the hospital for 90 days. There was a month going into the problem, and there was three more months afterwards. That was recovery, and I wasn't the one recovering. Right. It was all on him. So I didn't have to worry about money. I didn't have to worry about a job to report into. So I set my own hours. He was a diesel mechanic. His boss was amazing. I didn't even know who this man was.
He also is a self made. You could say self made millionaire. He owns a couple of dealerships. He's just a very generous person. Well, Gerald had worked very hard for him. And just whenever things needed to be done, Gerald did them. He worked the back shop with the diesels. Well, do you know that this gentleman, he actually kept Gerald as if he was still employed the whole time he was in the hospital.
[00:19:38] Speaker B: Wow. Talk about a load of stress being gone, especially when it's a heart situation like that.
[00:19:44] Speaker C: And if you don't have your health insurance intact, they won't give you heart. They can't. You have to have insurance. So if you work a regular job, you haven't created a wealth of income either. You're going to dip so much into your savings, but you got to keep your insurance going. So he kept the insurance going for that full first year until we moved into Greenville and we reestablished ourselves here. So we were so grateful to have dug our well before. We're thirsty, you know, we're digging a new well right now, because that's what you do. You gotta go. And we didn't know anybody, so we're taking a vacation to Myrtle beach.
Looked at Gerald and I said, we need people.
How are we gonna meet people? We know nobody. And he goes, we're gonna go to church. And bingo.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: You know, no true words ever spoken.
[00:20:31] Speaker C: You know, I'm like, okay, I've never done that quite for that reason. So I'm like, well, we need other resources. But anyway, we did end up going to church. Fantastic. Church. We did end up going to bingo. Local tavern. So much fun. So we spoke it. We did it, but we also just got involved in the community. There's lots of networking available all over. You just look it up on Facebook, eventbrite, LinkedIn. Ask people. Ask people in business, where do you go to find people? How do you network? And then just be a really good listener. When you're networking, listen to what other people's pain points are. Don't be selling, because that's not. We're always selling to them. They're going to run away from you. But be giving.
Give resources, give connections, be authentic to them, and everybody has a need. And if you know enough people, you're gonna be able to solve each other's problems with the right connections.
[00:21:36] Speaker B: And when you're talking to somebody and you're genuinely listening, I can't talk today, you start hearing their challenges and they start opening up, and next thing you know, you might have somebody you can refer them to, or maybe you're just an ear. So that's smart.
What strategies have you found that are most effective for managing your time and energy across art, wellness, everything?
[00:22:00] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's managing your emotion energy, I think, is probably number one. You know, getting. Getting yourself right every day, which is always a work in progress. Time blocking. I'm a student of time blocking. I've not mastered it.
So for an, I say energy, I know in my best times of the day are, and I take those little wins, and I take those little wins, and they build into bigger wins, meaning. And that really doesn't answer the question of, how do you do multiple things? They all kind of connect together.
I do a little pet sitting for some folks, and that actually leads me to more people who like dogs. Well, that leads me to dog portraits, which leads me to more commissions.
That also is a funnel to invite people or make connections for them into the wellness world or into the networking world.
You know, I ask questions. So the key is I learned how to be listening, but also be communicative. Right. So it's having a conversation with someone and finding out, you know, a little bit about them in this area. Where'd you move from? Oh, you're a native. Oh, wow. You know, tell me where you grew up. So, you know, do you have kids? Do you have hobbies? And I just. You just create conversations, and if you're. You're creating enough conversation, you're going to find a need or something. Like, you know, I was one of the dog sit clients they have. She has a salon. She actually cuts hair. So I'm working on getting with her to help her get connected to a local network in her town to give her more opportunity for her business. And she, of course, asked me what I do. We haven't even chatted about that, but that will come. And so it's one of the strategies is if you're working a nine to five, then your networking is a little bit limited right now. You could do a job where you are networking for that job, though. So a lot of businesses need networking, so you don't double dip, but you are still making connections and meeting people. You're going to find out about them for whatever job you're doing down the way, you might be able to share with them on your other business that you have.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:27] Speaker C: So that's a strategy, is not to come to people with too many things.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: Right. So how have you managed any challenges? I mean, I'm sure this hasn't been smooth sailing the whole time that you've been doing this. So you're very strategic about things like with pet sitting, pet porters, all. I mean, that's all fascinating how you've gotten that figured out. But tell us about a time where things have. Besides Gerald, we know the whole heart transplant, that was insane.
Just kind of day to day when you run into issues with keeping everything together.
What's the situation been and how did you get through it?
[00:25:05] Speaker C: Fantastic question. So again, a student on that one.
So on the power panel, I asked that exact question to the people, the panelists, which was so much fun because I got lots of good. The answers were excellent. And their answers primarily were creating a habit or routine, a personal habit that keeps them healthy in mind and body. And it might be exercise, it might be meditation, it might be taking a walk every day. It might be just spending some quiet time with yourself. So for me, what I have learned helps me kind of get out of a funk. I call it a funk, is I'll go for a jog.
I actually love doing like an hour, 45 minutes to an hour run, and that clears my head. It actually gets me in my kind of my zone. I'll sift through things that might be going on, and if I start to slow down my pace, I'm like, well, that's getting out of my life.
If my pace picks up, I'm like, oh, that's a good, good. So I'm all about for myself. And sometimes I'll just need to just take a break from everything. And that's one of the nice things of having multiple things that you do. And for me, dipping into my artistic side, the, not the autistic, but the artistic side is really helpful because it's the creative energy. And when I'm creating, everything's abundant.
So for me, it's like, all right, well, then. And this is where I say, gerald. Gerald's really helpful because he'll say, why don't you go do your art?
Go get doing one of those paintings. And so, like this week, I set an intention of over the next ten weeks to change or adapt one new habit a week. It takes about six weeks to get a new habit established.
So I figure if I start three or four each week, by the end of ten weeks, but I'm making those habits something that I enjoy doing. I'm not making them hard. I'm making them things that are joyful, which is picking up a paintbrush and doing art for myself 1 hour a day. Not watercolor classes, not this or that, but actually picking up a paintbrush and actually painting. So yesterday I sketched for about 2 hours, and so today I plan to get the backgrounds done, you know, so just adding it in. And when you're developing a habit, you're gonna fail, you're gonna fall down, you're not gonna stick with it. But when you fall off, you gotta jump right back on and stick with it. If it's that important to change, that's good advice.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: I'm trying to think of all the different things, like by the end of the year, different habits. I could add, oh, my gosh, I need to think through that.
So if somebody's watching this and they say, I'm tired of nine to five, I want to get into multiple revenue streams.
What's the first piece of advice you would give them?
[00:28:11] Speaker C: My first would be, discover what your passions. Take a little time to write down your passions. Or just think about. Take a little time to think what brings you joy, what makes you happy and what makes you happy in the current job, right, of what you're doing. Maybe there's pieces of what you do, you love. Maybe that's a career you want to actually develop yourself, but it's really getting. And then I would talk to as many entrepreneurs as you can and see what's out there, because a lot of people feel like it's safe to be at a nine to five.
It's not safe. You're working for someone else, they're under the gun, and that whatever you're doing might be gone.
My dad's idea that you can work hard at the same career and have a pension. Those days are not here anymore.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: Well, I learned that lesson in my own business. I mean, so early on, I had, like, two or three clients, and that was it. You know, they were bigger clients, and they took up all my time. Well, now it's like, now I have, like 15 clients, you know, and they're. It's diced up because somebody could go away, somebody could retire, somebody could die, and it's over.
[00:29:30] Speaker C: Yeah. Yep. And when you have your client base, don't think that's your forever client base. You're always gonna have to be adding in because something's gonna change.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: Absolutely. People retire, people change their mind. People hire someone full time. I mean, you just never know on a Monday what the week's going to be.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: Right? Right. So it's always nice to have another avenue where you can lean on, which just. It helps. And I kind of look at. I look at, like, things in $501,000 increments. Okay. Not to get too much into money, but, you know, they're, you know, the mortgage costs 1500, right? The auto costs 500, the electric bill costs 200 or 250. So I think of what the bills are, and then I look at. Instead of being like, oh, there's that money in the bank account. And so I've got to go out. Right. Because that's painful, right? You worked hard to get that in. Look at what that money.
Time. Time to put into the money. Right? So whatever it is that you've created or you're working for, let's say it's a side gig, and they can bring in $500 a month. Well, where does that 500 go? What is that? What does that pay for? Maybe. Maybe you got all your bills paid for. Maybe it's just saving for that rainy day, right? An emergency fund. Or maybe it's putting money aside so you can have your first business.
I actually.
I smoked cigarettes for six years. I know you can't even imagine me smoking a cigarette, but I did. My teens into my early twenties, I really. I wanted to quit the day I started. It was a very challenging thing to do, was to quit smoking. When I succeeded, I told myself this, and it was actually beginning of a new year. I said, I'm going to save so much money. I'm going to buy my first computer. And for three months, I had enough money to buy my g three Mac.
[00:31:36] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:31:37] Speaker C: That's awesome.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I mean, and I think everybody thinks about money differently, but if that works for you, of having these pockets, and this will pay for this, and this will pay for this.
[00:31:45] Speaker C: It keeps you motivated when it takes the emotion out of the money part of it. I think everybody, I have to do that. Otherwise, I get tied up in it, and I'll say, okay, I'm gonna teach, you know, five watercolor classes this. This month. This is going to do this for me. And so it's. Then I enjoy teaching the classes. So therefore, I mean, you know, I don't feel pain when the money goes out.
[00:32:10] Speaker B: Right. Right. Was there anything else that you want us to know?
[00:32:16] Speaker C: I just. I think, let's say advice would be, follow your heart.
Dig your well before you're thirsty.
So if and why not? Why not you?
Why not go after a business? Because it is really joyful to have something that you can call your own, that you created, and that you're in the driver's seat of.
[00:32:41] Speaker B: So if somebody wants to get in touch with you through the wellness store, what's your URL for the wellness store?
[00:32:46] Speaker C: So we the patriots with an s shop.
We the patriots. Shop.com, liz. Or they can. They can also email me at liz
[email protected].
[00:33:03] Speaker B: I'Ll put it in the show notes, too.
[00:33:05] Speaker C: Perfect.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Well, great. Well, thank you so much for being on here. I learned a little more about you today, and some, there are many layers to Liz and many revenue streams, so I love it.
[00:33:15] Speaker C: Thank you, Wendy. Okay, great.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: Well, this. This is it for this week from confessions from the home office. And we'll be back next week.
[00:33:22] Speaker C: Thanks, Liz.
[00:33:22] Speaker B: Is I'll see you later.
