Side Hustle Pro

490: She Left Corporate and Built a 7-Figure Business

November 26, 2025

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • Public speaking acts as a significant business accelerator, instantly establishing credibility and bypassing initial vetting processes with potential high-value clients. 
  • Successful business pivoting requires focusing on the transferable *outcome* of your expertise rather than being locked into a specific job title or narrow service offering. 
  • Prioritizing self-care and managing one's internal dialogue (as detailed in 'The Show Nuff Principle') is crucial for sustained entrepreneurial success, especially when navigating challenging personal seasons. 
  • Dr. Lakila Bowden's book, "The Show Nuff Principle: A High Achieving Woman's Guide to Self-Care, Self-Promotion, and Self-Celebration," is available wherever books are sold, including Amazon and local bookstores, or via her website, LakilaBowden.com. 
  • The host encourages listeners to subscribe, rate, and review "Side Hustle Pro" on Apple Podcasts to help other side hustlers find the show. 
  • Sponsors for the episode included GELT, a tax planning and strategy solution for businesses, and the Capital One Saver card, which offers unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment. 

Segments

Identity Shift Post-Corporate
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(00:03:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Pivoting from corporate to entrepreneurship is often a style of execution change requiring unlearning old habits and granting oneself grace during the learning curve.
  • Summary: Dr. Bowden found that her identity remained consistent because she was already practicing wellness concepts in her corporate role. The primary shift involved unlearning corporate execution styles that do not translate to the entrepreneurial space. Giving oneself grace through the learning curve is essential for a smooth transition.
Founding ISee Technologies
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(00:06:35)
  • Key Takeaway: ISee Technologies was founded by leveraging the founder’s financial/operations expertise to operationalize a profitable gap identified through her sister’s experience with assistive technology training.
  • Summary: The business began by addressing the need for assistive technology training, which was a service the guest’s sister was already providing to the state. The guest applied her corporate skills in finance and operations to scale this initial concept into a full consulting firm. The company now provides high-impact training in areas like managing stress and anxiety, alongside inclusion programs.
Achieving Seven-Figure Growth
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(00:10:29)
  • Key Takeaway: Rapid revenue growth (doubling, then quadrupling) was achieved by pricing services based on the value delivered to large corporations and proactively diversifying offerings outside of potentially trending sectors.
  • Summary: ISee Technologies has grown to seven figures, experiencing top-line growth rates of 50%, 100%, and 400% in successive years. The guest emphasizes charging a premium commensurate with the value provided, countering the tendency for Black women entrepreneurs to price humbly. Diversifying client sectors, such as moving into renewable energy staffing needs, helped mitigate risks associated with shifts in the DEI consulting landscape.
Applying Expertise Broadly
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(00:14:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Entrepreneurs must look beyond narrow titles and identify the core outcome of their expertise to broaden their base of opportunity across different industries.
  • Summary: To avoid being hindered by narrow titles, entrepreneurs should focus on the grand scale of the value and outcome their work produces. This perspective allows them to see how their expertise applies to other client needs they might not have initially considered. The guest stresses that one’s identity is not defined by what they do, but by intrinsic qualities like light and love.
Public Speaking as Credibility Builder
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(00:19:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Securing speaking engagements, even on free panels, skips the line in the credibility conversation, immediately positioning the speaker as an expert.
  • Summary: Getting on stage is a game-changer because it instantly validates expertise, meaning the audience does not need to be convinced of capability. Both founders of ISee Technologies speak on related topics, integrating their company story into their presentations. This approach ensures that when potential clients approach them afterward, the vetting process is already complete.
The Show Nuff Principle
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(00:22:06)
  • Key Takeaway: The Show Nuff Principle asserts that one’s internal dialogue dictates reality, emphasizing the need for high-achieving women to prioritize self-care and self-celebration.
  • Summary: The book provides seven accessible ‘cheat codes’ for action, including ‘brag more’ to increase wins and ‘rest your bones’ to rejuvenate cognitive abilities, countering the fallacy of grind culture. The guest shared that a period of mandated rest following personal tragedy led to significant business attraction magnetically. Prioritizing self-care is framed as a superpower necessary for showing up rejuvenated rather than worn out.
Navigating Financial Stress
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(00:27:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Wealth care and self-care are intertwined; entrepreneurs must build business credit profiles early to access capital before desperation sets in, especially given long corporate payment terms.
  • Summary: The guest created the ‘guilt-free self-care wealth care club’ because money management is integral to well-being, noting that rest itself does not have to be expensive. Building a bankable business credit profile involves establishing trade lines and responsible use of business credit cards to stack capital access. Having capital on hand is crucial to bridge the gap caused by net-30 or net-60 payment terms from large clients that often pay out at 90 or 120 days.
Personal Pivot: Motherhood
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(00:41:22)
  • Key Takeaway: Becoming a mother at age 40 was the most significant pivot, reinforcing the need for self-care as a model for her child and making entrepreneurship a form of self-preservation against external bias.
  • Summary: The guest prioritized self-care during a challenging season (pregnancy and mother’s hospice care) to show up rejuvenated, which magnetically attracted business success afterward. She now consciously models self-care and affirmation for her son to build his self-esteem bulletproof against external prejudice. For listeners without children, this translates to ‘parenting yourself’ by unpacking limiting beliefs learned from previous generations focused on survival.
Lightning Round Insights
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(00:51:33)
  • Key Takeaway: Key resources include organizations that help build business credit profiles, and ‘Rest is Resistance’ by Trisha Hersey is recommended for aligning business flow with rest.
  • Summary: The guest recommends building a business credit profile as a phenomenal compounding resource for business funding. Tabitha Brown was named as an entrepreneur whose sustained joy despite meteoric success is aspirational. The most significant personal trait aiding business success is the ability to say ‘yes’ boldly, operating without fear in opportunities bigger than prior experience.
Guest Book Promotion Details
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(00:56:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Dr. Lakila Bowden’s book is titled “The Show Nuff Principle: A High Achieving Woman’s Guide to Self-Care, Self-Promotion, and Self-Celebration.”
  • Summary: The full title of Dr. Lakila Bowden’s book is confirmed as “The Show Nuff Principle: A High Achieving Woman’s Guide to Self-Care, Self-Promotion, and Self-Celebration.” The book can be purchased wherever books are sold, including Amazon and local bookstores. Listeners can also obtain the book directly from her website, LakilaBowden.com.
Podcast Call to Action
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(00:56:59)
  • Key Takeaway: Subscribing, rating, and reviewing “Side Hustle Pro” on Apple Podcasts aids discoverability for other side hustlers.
  • Summary: Listeners are urged to subscribe, rate, and review the “Side Hustle Pro” podcast on Apple Podcasts to help other aspiring entrepreneurs find the show. The host, Nikayla, can be followed on Instagram at @sidehustlepro. Listeners can sign up for the “six-foot Saturday” newsletter at sidehustlepro.co/newsletter to receive weekly business tips and personal lessons.
Sponsor Spotlight: GELT
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(00:57:37)
  • Key Takeaway: GELT provides proactive tax planning and strategy, focusing on entity structure, retirement contributions, and identifying credits/deductions for business owners.
  • Summary: GELT is a tax planning and strategy solution featuring a dedicated CPA and full tax team to build proactive strategies that evolve with business growth. They focus on key levers like entity structure, retirement contribution planning, and hidden credits/deductions while handling both business and personal tax compliance. Listeners can schedule a discovery call at joingelt.com to make taxes part of their business plan.
Sponsor Spotlight: Capital One
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(00:58:46)
  • Key Takeaway: The Capital One Saver card offers unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment purchases.
  • Summary: The Capital One Saver card provides listeners with the benefit of earning unlimited 3% cash back specifically on dining and entertainment expenditures. This feature is highlighted as a way to maximize rewards on everyday spending categories. Terms and details are available at CapitalOne.com.