E10: From Corporate to CEO: The Truth About Going It Alone

You’ve built a brilliant career. You’ve worn all the hats. And now…it’s just you. Welcome to the messy middle between corporate comfort and business ownership.

In this episode, Emma and Leanne dive into their own experiences of leaving corporate life behind to build their own businesses and the unexpected identity shift that comes with it. This isn’t about glorifying the leap. It’s about keeping it real.

They share:

• What it really feels like to leave the structure and title behind
• Why the transition is harder than most people admit
• How to bring the best of corporate into your business (without the red tape)
• The pressure to "niche" and why that might not sit right straight away
• Why clarity and self-trust are your strongest assets in this season

If you’re sitting at the edge of change, or already made the jump but feel a bit lost...this is the episode you didn’t know you needed.

If this episode resonated, share it with a fellow ex-corporate, soon-to-be CEO, or someone you know is quietly peeling back the layers of “who they used to be.”

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Final Thought:

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Transcript

Welcome to the Real Talk and a Slice of Cake Podcast with your favourite business besties, Emma & Leanne

No fluff. No jargon. Just straight-talking advice, smart strategies and a dash of mischief to keep things interesting.

If you’re starting or growing a business and feeling a bit overwhelmed don’t worry, we’ve got you.

Between us, we’ve built four successful businesses - and learned a lot the hard way.  Now we’re sharing what actually works… PLUS the stuff we wish someone had told us sooner.

From hobby to hustle, side gig to full-time business…you’ll get honest conversations, practical tips, and lots of laughs along the way.

So grab a brew, cut yourself a slice of your favourite cake, and let’s dive in!

Hello and welcome to Real Talk and a slice of Cake with me, Emma, and my business bestie Liam. Today we wanna talk to you about what it's like to go from a corporate role. Into your own business because both of us have done that at different points in our life. And actually, interestingly, both of us have slightly different stories to share in terms of what that look and felt like.

Leanne, what did it feel like for you when you went from your 30 year career? What was 30 years, wasn't it your 30 year career in corporate to being your own boss? Scary is the, is the short answer. Um, but I think it was. For me, there was definitely an unpeeling of, I always describe it as layers of an onion.

Just literally that decompression and who actually am I? And I think I, I thought I would find the transition a lot easier than I did. I. And actually that corporate cloak, as much as I, I think some people can't wait to kind of throw that off and ta-da here, here I am actually was my, was my literally a comfort blanket for me.

It had been 31 years and, um, I guess there were elements of not working in corporate that I thought, you know, glad to see, see the back of. But actually it's a, it's a massive transition, isn't it? It is, and I think, I think your corporate role sort of becomes your label. It becomes who you are, doesn't it?

You know, you wake up in the morning and you know exactly what you're doing. You know, it doesn't matter where you, you going, you might be going to different places in the country, but you, you know where you going. You know what you're doing. You know what the processes are, you know that you've got. I know we've spoken about this, I think on previous episodes, it departments and HR departments and all of these places to, to go to.

Um, and then suddenly it's just like, okay, off you go. Nobody to to guide you, nobody to steer you, nobody to, you know, to pull you back on track. And for me, my hardest bit when I left corporate, I mean it was back in 2008 when I walked away from my corporate career, but for me it was almost like, right, that's it.

I'm not bringing anything corporate into my business. It's gonna be all about me. It's all gonna be done my way. We're not gonna have processes and plans and procedures and all of that type of stuff. We're just gonna do what I want to do. I'm gonna wake up in the morning and decide what I'm gonna do, and wow, that was a mistake.

Yeah, I, I do think our journeys have been very different as well. And I think for me, the one thing that sticks into my mind is this, I was. Top of my game in, in corporate, I'd worked really, really hard. I'd been there, say 31 years to. I'm gonna say prove myself. And I think that's, that's where I'm going with this.

Um, and you know, I wore many different hats. I got lots and lots of different skills and experience and life experience to bring. So one of the challenges for me was, okay, so what am I gonna do? 'cause I, I. I don't know whether it's the same in all of all, all of corporate, but yeah, I had a, a, a job title, but I had so many different areas of responsibility and accountability.

Wore many different hats, and then suddenly everyone's saying, well, you need a niche. You need to, you need to. Do one particular thing, and I couldn't be quite rebellious, as you know, Emma, in terms of, but I don't want to just do that, that one thing. So that wa that was a, a challenge. I mean, I could talk all, all day about this, but all, so going then into my own business and how I positioned myself in the online space, if you like, in the, in the online world.

I still had that almost. Well, I need to do this is gonna make you smile. Now, Emma, I need to do this course. I need to do that course. And I left in 2023, and I think I've done more training, more courses, I've got more qualifications between 2023 and here we are now the middle of 2025 than I probably did in the last 10 years of my corporate life.

Yeah, it's almost like you're trying to prove to, I dunno who to, whether it's just yourself or what that, that you've got a place here. And I think that comes back to what we said at the beginning, isn't it? This identity's gone, hasn't it? This, this? Mm-hmm. You know, Leanne, I dunno what your title was. Mine was Sales and Regulatory Change Manager.

I mean, I love corporate titles, but you've sort of gone from that person to. Just you and, and, and so many people leave their corporate careers, the nine till five jobs, whatever that is, because they want that. But actually when it happens, it's not quite as easy as you think. And I think a lot of people struggle with the transition.

I. Yeah, I, I, and you know, hands up. I absolutely did. And I think what that's actually enabled me to do now is to, with the work that I do with my own business, is to, this is my own business as well, that's made it sound like this isn't my own business, but my other business. When I'm helping people, I've almost become that mentor.

I needed back then to be able to help people. And what it all comes down to, Emma, we talk about it a lot. It's about getting super clear. It's about having that clarity, that vision. What does good look like to you? What does success, what is that vision? And I think that is a part that a lot of people skip and am miss and just kind of go, go for it.

Whereas I'm always going to be that. I like to dot the i's, cross the T's have have things. In the background to work towards. And again, another surprise for me was, you know, I thought words like vision, mission, values, I'd left in the boardroom at. My corporate role. Um, and actually they're the foundations to every successful business, aren't they?

Yeah, absolutely. And, and that was exactly the same with me. You know, it was all of those things that, you know, I spent a lot of time in, in regulation, in processes, in project management. So all of the things that actually enable corporate businesses to do so well is the fact that they have got all of these foundations in place.

And I think for me. I wanted to rebel against that. I wanted to, it wasn't, I disagreed with it. It was just almost like I, I haven't got anybody telling me what I've got to do now, so I get to choose what I do. And the, for the big boys that, you know, all of that type of stuff is for the big players out there.

Whereas actually, ironically, I. You know, like Leanne in my business, my older business, um, that's exactly what I will be doing with people. You know, we'll be getting to that point of what is it you're doing this for? And I think my biggest, biggest learning was very much about, you don't have to adapt. I.

All the red tape that you get within corporate, because there is, you are the decision maker ultimately, aren't they? So you haven't got like 10 departments to go through to get the approval, but having some of those things in place is important. I think sometimes it's just about the language that you might put onto them.

So Lean just spoke about, you know, mission, vision, values. Your mission is, you know, in your vision is, is really, it's your dream, isn't it? It's the, the what success looks like. You don't have to think about it in the formal title of corporate, but you need to know where you're going. Otherwise, where are you heading and how are you gonna get there?

Absolutely. And, um, I'm, I'm this kind, this is bringing up all sorts of different memories, um, for me because it has, it has been a journey and I know people don't like it when you talk about a journey, but of course it is. You know, it's that transition, that transformation from one, one employee too, business owner.

Um, and I, we've talked a. Bit on, on these, um, podcasts about my website and, you know, we, I'll never live, live down my whole website. It's a beautiful website, but that was very, very corporate. In, in my approach to, to doing that and the customer journey. And I will remember meeting somebody for the first time and spending the day with them in a, in a group session.

You were there, Emma, you might not remember. And, um, this lady said to me. At the end of the day, I've been on your website and it just does not reflect you. It's, it just, if I was looking at that website, I would not expect it to, to be you at the other, the, the other end of the phone kind of thing. And I think that's really important as well in that I, when I, I came back and looked perspective's wonderful, isn't it?

And a different set of eyes and, and, and looked at it from, from a. In a different person's shoes. And it was so true. I'd gone very corporate. Even my colors, you know, I'd chosen navy, Navy, blue and, and gold. And they're not colors that you would associate with with me. So I think what I'm trying to say here is that it does take time to take off that corporate cloak, but it's about finding.

It's about being, having that dream and being really clear on what it is that you actually want. Yeah, absolutely. And your website is, is is beautiful now 'cause it's got color in there and everything else, so, yeah. But that, that's key, isn't it? It's, it's that balance, isn't it, if that's the right word to use between bringing in the things from corporate that actually are really important to your business, like the foundational stuff, um, versus.

Doing them in a way that is the real you. Because you know this, your business is more likely to be more of a personal brand. Therefore people wanna get to know the real you. And if the real you isn't Golden Navy blue, then we don't go golden navy blue. And that is absolutely okay. It's okay. You can still be professional and be pink.

I mean, look at me. Absolutely. Yeah. Look at you. You are very professional and I think, you know. It's gotta be sustainable as well. Mm-hmm. So you've got to be able to be you, you know, we hear this, fake it till you make it. Well that would just be exhausting, wouldn't it? You know? And I think, but it's easy to sit here and say, so, you know, I'm thinking the listeners now are like, okay, so how, how do I, how do I actually feel comfortable enough to, to be me?

And what would your advice be on that, Emma? You know what? That it really is, it comes right back to what you said at the beginning, this onion peeling exercise. Um, you are never gonna be comfortable from day one. It's just not gonna happen, is it? You know, you, you, you're not, you're gonna, you're gonna be constantly questioning yourself.

Um, you, you're gonna be afraid to do the things just in case. Um, so it really is a case of just, just doing that work on yourself, constantly working on, you know, your mindset, working on the, you know, constantly asking yourself, you know. If you're gonna do something a certain way, just question why you're doing it that way.

You know, am I doing it this way because that's the way that I want to go? Or am I doing it that way because I feel like I should do it that way? Uh, which is something I know we both talk about a lot. It's not about what you should do, it's about what you want to do. So I think for me, you know, the biggest takeaway from all of this has to come back to get very clear on.

Where it is you want to go, you know, what is it you want your business to look like? Who are you as a person and how can that come across in your business? 'cause that is what is gonna get you the sales, your people getting to know the real person behind the business. So it's, I think it's just being honest here and saying it's not gonna happen overnight.

You're not gonna walk away from your job one day, the next day, step into this really confident, comfortable business owner. Um, it really is an exercise, but trust it. And listen to yourself and just question what you were doing. That would be my advice. Anything you wanna add there? No, I think you've, you've said everything that, um, I, I, I would say, and I guess it's, it's, it's down, it's, it is about being, being, being clear on what it is that you actually, that what you actually want.

Exactly. So there you go. That's today's takeaway. Get clear on what you want. It doesn't have to be corporate, but incorporate some of that corporate stuff in there because it is really gonna help to set you up for success. Right. Thank you for listening. We will see you next time.

That’s it for today’s slice of real talk…we hope you’re walking away with something you can actually use.

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Thanks for tuning in and remember, no fluff, no jargon…just real talk.