Thursday morning Matt was up early, and ready to make the 16-minute bike ride to the address that Cedric had texted him. He hadn't ridden his bike in what seemed like a whole year, which was odd given how regularly he biked everywhere throughout his time living in DC, and in Chicago even through the punishing winters. Something about the temperate weather and just the general motivation he was feeling had him grab the bike, inflate the tires, and head out at 5:30 a.m., just as the sun was rising.
Upon arriving, he realized the address provided was a residential real estate brokerage office. Interesting. The lights were on, but he didn't see anyone. He cracked open the door and could hear loud talking in the back, even though he was still 15 minutes early before the 6:00 a.m. start time.
“Hello?” Matt called out.
He saw Cedric, his onetime Lyft driver turned business client for an M&A transaction, now turned personal coach of sorts, come charging out from the back hallway. “What's up, man. Glad to see you made it. To be honest, I wasn't sure if you'd show up…” Though their interactions had been finite, Matt could not help but feel a deep kinship and trust for this new friend and guide.
“I thought I would be early, but it looks like other folks are already here,” Matt said.
“It's all good. We've actually been here since 5:00 a.m. Newcomers, like you, come at 6:00 a.m. But you're fine. This is good timing. Come on in and I'll introduce you to everyone…”
Matt walked into the intimate conference room with whiteboards on two of the four walls, folding chairs scattered around, the smell of fresh coffee, an energetic atmosphere, bright lighting, sticky notes, notepads, laptops open, and a general mess around the room of tearsheets, journals, backpacks, and other office supplies.
Matt looked around and saw a diverse collection of six people, including Cedric.
A young Hispanic woman in her late 20s made her way over to Matt first. She was fashionable, pretty, and had a powerful warmth and illuminating smile that she carried with her. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun and her vibrant yellow earrings and matching oversized necklace matched her yellow-toned sundress. “Good morning, Matt. I'm Yisel. Welcome. You ready to do this or what?!” She laughed a loud, fun laugh and extended both hands toward him for two high-fives.
Do what? Matt thought to himself. “Ha – yeah, I think so!” he said with a big smile, while returning her high fives with enthusiasm, if not also a bit of awkwardness.
A man in his mid-50s came over next. He looked like a typical business executive, not unlike most of the guys at Matt's firm. He wore slacks with a collared shirt and a Patagonia vest over that.
He introduced himself with an aura of formality, “Good morning. I'm Chad. Pleasure to meet you, and welcome.” They shook hands. A proper and strong handshake between business colleagues, Matt observed.
“Good morning, Chad – nice to meet you,” Matt returned.
Next a vivacious and spirited Black woman who appeared to be in her late 40s made her way over with a big, warm smile. Matt went to extend his hand, and she pulled him in for a hug. “Sorry, but I'm a hugger,” she offered with a laugh. “Welcome. I'm Kim. I'm excited to support you.”
Support me? Matt thought to himself. I wonder what Cedric must have told these people. “Well, thank you. I appreciate that,” Matt said over her shoulder as she still held him in an embrace.
Next up was a man who appeared to be in his early 30s, tall with a heavy frame, shaved head, and a guayabera shirt and matching Panama hat. He walked around the chairs to properly greet Matt and appeared to be a bit shy and soft spoken, a gentle giant of sorts, Matt thought to himself. “Good morning, Matt. My name is Alberto. I look forward to getting to know you.”
“Well, thanks, Alberto, and likewise,” Matt returned.
And last but not least was a man who seemed to hang back and observe the scene while the others came and offered their greetings. The man let his folded arms fall to his sides and casually approached Matt with an aura of confidence and command. “Welcome, Matt. Cedric says good things. If you are ready to do to the work, we are ready to support you. My name is Renault.”
Renault. Matt looked at him and immediately sensed that this was the leader, a man in command of himself and the environment around him. He appeared to be in his mid-50s, well groomed, a salt-and-pepper goatee, with a white flock of hair, round red glasses, and a nice blazer and jeans that suggested he was successful, but not flashy in any way. Matt thought he bore a slight resemblance to Geraldo Rivera but with a darker olive skin, would keep that observation to himself. He had a confidence despite his slight stature that was inviting but not intimidating, which Matt found appealing.
Matt caught himself still taking in Renault and the scene, forgetting for a second he had been asked a direct question that was awaiting an answer. “I appreciate that,” Matt returned. “I'm not sure if I know exactly what this is all about, but I'm definitely interested.”
“Interested,” Renault picked up, “is what allows you to come today. Absolutely committed is what will be required if you want to come back.” Renault's counter was definitive, maybe even threatening to someone, but Matt received it as just a definitive sentiment. Nothing more, nothing less.
“These five people,” Renault continued, “are putting in the work to realize their dreams and start businesses. The only expectation is that you work as hard as they do, and you follow the rules. That's the only price of admission.” Renault paused to let the weight of these instructions settle in on Matt. “These are what we call Third Shift Entrepreneurs. The first shift is your day job, the second shift is your life: family, friends, life obligations, and so forth.”
Renault paused again for effect. He could be dramatic, Matt observed, but it was captivating. “And the third shift is what you do in the nooks and crannies of your day – in the waning hours, at 5:00 in the morning or 1:00 in the morning when normal and less ambitious people are sleeping. It's the 30 minutes you sit in your car during a lunch break on your laptop building a plan instead of sitting and mindlessly scrolling social media with your co-workers. The third shift is the staging ground where you build your future, start a business or launch your thing, and pursue your dreams.”
“To be clear,” Renault continued toward the completion of his introductory speech, “most people aren't willing to commit the third shift of their life. It's there. They have it! But the malaise and drag of life pulls them into a status quo. They dream about what life could be, but then they let the dream pass as they contemplate the work required. But some of us are different, peculiar. Willing to do the work. Not more talented, necessarily, but maybe a little crazier and definitely more disciplined. Are you ready to dive in?” Renault broke his intense locked gaze and flashed a wide smile with that last invitation, extending a handshake.
“Got it,” Matt said, trying to take in the words and the point of view just boldly expressed. Renault broke away from Matt to call the session to attention.
“Welcome Everyday Entrepreneurs!” Renault beamed, as everyone took their seats around a large conference table and pulled out notebooks in preparation for the session. Matt glanced at his watch – 6:00 a.m. exactly.
Renault continued. “I want to start by welcoming our newest prospective member, Matt Carney. Team, for Matt's benefit can you tell him what you do today, but also what you are doing for tomorrow?”
Cedric took the cue from Renault and began his introduction. “Well, I think Matt knows what I do, but I work as a CFO for a midsized accounting firm today. The job is great, certainly on paper, but my third shift passion project is that my wife and I are planning to launch a retreat center. I have a passion for leadership and bringing teams together to build trust, and she has a passion for hospitality. This has been a dream of both of ours for some time and we're committed to make it happen this year. I also, as Matt knows, do customer research while driving for Lyft to determine things like pricing, flesh out my go-to-market strategy, learn about potential channel partners, and other customer needs for retreat experiences.”
Matt nodded in acknowledgment – unsure still of his place in this meeting but nonetheless taking it in. Cedric turned next to his right where Yisel was seated next to him.
“I'm Yisel. I work as an account manager for an ad agency downtown. That's my day job and actually I like it and could have a good career there, but my passion,” Matt heard the emphasis as Yisel's posture shifted and she underscored the word, “my passion, is coffee. I'm working on building a coffee business based on my grandmother's special coffee roasting recipe. She passed away, which still weighs on my heart, but her family was the third generation that has been roasting coffee in Guatemala. She had been a taster, which is a big deal there, her whole life and had a palate that was cultivated after a lifetime of tasting coffee from various beans and making coffee blends. She has always been a special person in my life, and I want to bring her essence to life through coffee. In my spare time I'm working at a local coffee roaster and also holding coffee tasting events for catering managers.”
Yisel flashed a smile at Matt and used her animated hands to turn the stage over to Chad.
“Good morning, Matt,” Chad started rather formally, looking over the rims of his glasses. “I'm an intellectual property attorney at a small firm and have been practicing law for over 20 years,” none of which surprised Matt in hearing. “In the meantime, however, I am building my business as an antique map dealer. I've always had a passion and an interest in cartography, and rare and fine maps, and I'm working to make a business doing the thing I love.” That, however, struck Matt as interesting and unexpected. Chad simply turned to look toward Kim, who was sitting on his right.
“Well, good morning again, Matt. My name is Kim, and I retired from the Army after 20 years on active duty.” Matt smiled, knowing they had this in common.
“Hooah,” Matt offered, giving the verbal nod offered from one soldier to another.
“HOOAH!” Kim returned, louder, bursting into an even bigger smile and laugh. “That's right – Go Army!”
Even though Matt had served alongside plenty of people in the Army, she still struck him as not the typical Army type.
“After my 20 years I knew I wanted to do something to be of service to others – which is what fueled my career in the military and which I knew would be something that I would miss upon getting out. I secured a day job working at a hospital, managing a team of people who do the check-in process, working with patients. I like my job, but my real aspiration is to help young women coming out of the foster care system.
“I grew up in the system,” Matt noticed in Kim's story, like Yisel's, how she came to life as she began talking about her passion project, “and some very generous and kind people took care of me along the way. When I was 17, I joined the Army because I knew that could provide me a stable path forward. With that and my faith in God I built a productive and fulfilled life for myself. But I know that is not always the case for young people coming out of foster care. So, I want to build an organization that works with women between 15 and 20 who are preparing for life on their own after they age out of the foster care system at 18.”
Wow, Matt thought to himself, that's a powerful story. But what do these stories have in common? Antique maps, foster care, Guatemalan coffee…
Alberto went next. “Morning, Matt. My name is Alberto, as I mentioned to you. By day I manage a wireless phone store. I started in retail and have always been interested in consumer technology and wireless phones, and eventually I was promoted to run a store. My passion, though, is reality experiences – things like an escape room where you put people into a simulated environment and they have to figure out how to escape. As a kid I loved Disney, sci-fi, and the thrill of a mystery. I went to an escape room a few years ago and loved it and then had an idea for an Apocalypse experience with zombies and all kinds of crazy stuff. My beautiful girlfriend at the time, who is now my beautiful wife, thought it was a good idea, too, and so we spend our weekends converting my garage to an Apocalypse Escape room and selling tickets to the neighborhood.”
Renault grinned as he took stock of his students around the table. “So, Matt, there you have it. We have a coffee roaster, a Zombie Apocalypse escape room, a cartographer and antique map dealer, a foster care transition program, a retreat center, and then whatever it is you are deciding to do, which we will get to.”
“Renault,” Yisel jumped in, “you have to tell Matt your background as well.”
“Sure,” Renault didn't seem eager to share his own person story but reluctantly opened up. “Well, one of the first jobs I had out of business school was running a safety program for a large manufacturing company. This was back in the early '90s. I realized immediately that the process was manual, time consuming, and had lots of holes in it. I would spend most of my time tracking down employees to see that they had completed their required safety refresher training in order for us to be compliant. It just felt ineffective.
“So instead I built, at first with Scotch tape and simple spreadsheets, a better way of managing a safety program. I eventually built, with the company's permission, a database management platform to manage employee safety training records. It worked pretty good and I ultimately made the move, again with the company's support and even a little bit of their capital, to spin out this solution into a business that grew from there. Over the course of 18 years we developed the technology platform, expanded into consulting for safety programs, and became the industry standard for safety program software. We then decided it was time to move forward, and now I spend my time doing what I love most, which is coaching and mentoring people like these people here – whom I call the Third Shift Entrepreneurs. I had a lot of people help me along the way and I know that I owed something to the next in line. Besides, if I'm honest, this is just what I think is fun.”
“And when he says, ‘it was time to move forward,'” Kim interrupted, “that's code language for he sold his company, SafeTech, for several million dollars. Just saying….”
The group laughed and Renault conceded a smile.
“Well, thank you, Kim, for always clarifying.” Renault returned the discussion to the topic. “So, Matt, that is what we are here to do – to learn and grow our businesses together. Each week you will learn the rules of the Everyday Entrepreneur. You will learn from the group here, and you will also be held accountable. The first rule is that you must begin with what you love. As you listen to each of these entrepreneurs, you can see their personal connections to their stories. And to be clear, this is not about some romantic vision.
“This is about having a really specific idea of a solution you want to bring into the world. And you'll know you love it when you stay up late thinking about it, you wake up early thinking about it, and you get excited talking about it. For me, that's what building a safety program software management solution did. I just saw that it could be done better, differently, and felt passionate about pursuing that.
“And love – love,” Renault emphasized for dramatic effect, “is a very intentional word in this context. Someone who just likes an idea will do it for a little bit, meet some inevitable resistance, and get frustrated or bored and decide her time is better spent somewhere else. Someone who loves an idea will persevere beyond the inevitable obstacles. Someone who loves an idea pursues it with an almost irrational fervor – other people can't understand why someone would care so much or spend so much time. It's the thing that you can't get out of your mind. You think about it even when you wish you couldn't. It's usually something that affects you very personally. Did you hear these stories?” Renault panned across the conference table, pointing at the Third Shift Entrepreneurs as he went. “Kim's story…Yisel's passion for coffee…even Chad's deep commitment to antique maps. Each of their stories compels them to proceed. While other people think it sounds like a lot of work to be taking on these additional jobs, for them it is not. Work is for them a form of play – they do it for the sake of doing it. I wouldn't invest in any business or support any person who was not on some level obsessed with the thing that they were doing.
“Sometimes I talk to a group of business school students and they think it works the other way. ‘Shouldn't you look at the market and do the gap analysis, and then decide what the right business is to start according to the gaps?' to which I tell them ‘Absolutely not.' The question is not whether the market needs a given business. It very well might, but that's the wrong question. The right question is, what is the right business for you to start? And the answer has everything to do with what you know, what you care about, the markets you understand, and your weird, unique, and compelling vision for the thing you want to go build. Building this thing, Matt, whatever it is, should be the thing that you would choose to still do if money was not involved because you feel so strongly about the value, the experience, the service you are bringing into the world.”
The room was quiet, clearly Renault had shifted into teacher mode, and the students were capturing his lesson.
Renault paused, and leaned in looking straight at Matt across the table. “But let me make one point that is very important and might seem paradoxical. You must love the problem you are solving, but at the same time be unattached to the details about how you get there. For example, Yisel can be committed to bringing the traditional Guatemalan coffee roasting process to the United States to share her grandmother's gift to the world, but if she gets stuck on how that happens, she will inhibit her ability to solve the problem in the first place. If, for example, she decides it must be a coffee shop, or sold through retail channels, or brought to life through coffee roasting classes, she could miss the right opportunity. You only know the right opportunity through customer discovery and market research. Yisel has to be absolutely committed to bringing her grandmother's coffee and ‘essence' to the U.S. market, but how that happens will be revealed through her research. A lot of entrepreneurs get this wrong and miss the opportunity to make small modifications that would have made their businesses successful. Loving your business does not mean being fixed and inflexible on the details of how your business comes into the market.”
By this point Matt realized that the others had begun scribbling notes in their notebooks to capture some of the lessons that applied to them. Matt was, on the other hand, just transfixed listening to Renault's perspective. This was a man with wisdom, someone who shared a strong point of view, not because he had any ego invested in the answer or from any desire to be right, but instead because he was an experienced professional pleading with his students not to repeat the mistakes he had seen dozens of times over the course of a colorful career.
“So, my question for you, Matt, is pretty simple. What have you been thinking about these past 10 years?” Matt felt the weight of the question hang as the group looked at him. He wasn't sure if this was meant to be a rhetorical question or one in fact he was supposed to answer, right here at 6:58 a.m. in this storefront real estate office.
“I…,” Matt started, “I guess I would need to think about that a bit. I mean, there's a lot I think about. And I know I want to do more. I've felt that for a while – that my job is fine but that I want to do more, be more, and that I can in fact. I guess…I don't know; I need to think about it.”
Renault jumped in to save him, “You don't have to answer this right now, but you will soon. More importantly let me say this: not liking your job is not the right reason to become an entrepreneur. What does that even mean, anyway, entrepreneur?' People that chase that title and that status will fail. It's just a title – like saying I want to be ‘rich.' The real starting point must be the problem you are here to solve, the beautiful thing you are here to build, or the people you are here to serve. If you start there, then the business as well as the title will follow. But don't get the sequence twisted. Figure out what you care deeply about and what you might have thought about more than anybody else. I'm not interested in brilliant ideas. I'm interested in brilliant and specific problems – especially the kinds that are unique to who you are, what you've lived through, and what you know how to do.”
In some ways Matt felt like he was being scolded. Renault's voice had become elevated as he emphatically made his points clear, and yet Matt felt a deep sense of gratitude for the admonishment and insights – like listening to a coach pleading with his players because he knows what they need to know and the only question will be whether they are open to hearing it. Matt felt then that this was all in his best interest, even as he barely knew this man or knew where it was that he was headed.
“Ah, but enough time on the soapbox for one day,” Renault chuckled at his own professorial tendencies. “Let's get into the homework. Each of you has your accountability partner for the week, correct?” Renault looked around the table as the cadre began to make eye contact with each other. “Okay, let's see. I think, Alberto, you and Chad are together this week…Cedric, you can join them as well. Kim, I think you and I are spending time this week…and Matt, why don't you and Yisel meet this week? Go ahead and get with your partners to figure out your plan.”
Yisel to turned to Matt. “What works for you? What I would propose is that you meet me at the coffee roasting facility. Can we say tomorrow at 8:00 p.m.?” She gave him her card with her number.
8:00 p.m., Matt thought, and tomorrow? Matt had assumed that this would be some weekly meeting or even less than that, but obviously Yisel was operating with a greater sense of urgency. And while 8:00 p.m. sounded late and would most definitely disrupt his evening routine of cooking and watching TV with Sabina, he was not about to question this process – not on his first day. “Okay. Sounds good. I'll text you my number and then you can send me the address.”
The group began to gather their things to prepare to leave. Renault pulled Matt and Yisel aside. “Matt, listen. I want you to spend some time thinking about what you love to do. This is important. Come with a list. Yisel has been through this exercise before.”
“Okay. Got it. What I love. I will give that some thought for sure.”
“And be specific,” Renault pushed. “Don't just say something like ‘accounting.' What is it about accounting? Is it spending four hours in a budget document, or is it talking to a new client? Is it doing quantitative analysis, or is it developing a strategy to reduce the tax obligations of a company? Oh, and don't just stay anchored in what you are good at. That's the easy mistake to make. People confuse what they are good at with what they like to do, but they are different. I would expect to see some things on that list that you have not done in a long time – perhaps since high school.” Renault was packing his things and appeared suddenly ready to move on to his next appointment for the day.
“Okay, got it. Will do,” Matt obliged as Renault gave his shoulder a gentle slap and turned to walk out.
“Oh,” Renault turned around. “Couple more things. I've given you your first strategy, but I'm going to also share with you what I call ‘Hustle Hacks' – behavior changes that will be required if you are to really shift your life into starting your own business. The first two are these: What got you here won't get you there. You need to break a couple patterns. So, if you are used to being home at 6:00 p.m., drinking two beers and watching TV, don't expect a different outcome for your life. Break patterns. Try different routes to work. Get up early. Stay up late. Do things that put you into a state of discovery.”
Matt leaned into this seemingly personal advice. Renault had the presence of someone who had been there, done that. His words were spoken with the confidence of a person who had shared these answers dozens of times to audiences that sometimes heard and obliged and sometimes did not, but the answers regardless were immutable.
“And the second one is this. Every minute matters. I see that you rode your bike here. I wonder what you were listening to. Were you mindlessly entertaining yourself or were you learning something relevant? Did the learning value of what you heard supersede what you might have been reading, had you taken public transportation, or driving? You might think that's a little obsessive, but I will tell you that when you really get going and starting your own business, every minute will matter and excuses like ‘I don't have time' won't cut it. Most people don't really know how much time they have, and they have far more of it than they think.”
Matt took this in and was grateful for the lesson after the lesson. Renault turned to walk out but had yet another insight. “Oh,” Renault looked Matt in the eyes again, “and I presume by the ring you are married? Ask your spouse what you love to do. She'll know you better than you know yourself.”
“Okay,” Renault laughed, “now I really am done with my soapbox!”
As the Third Shift Entrepreneurs made their way out of the back of the small, residential brokerage office, Matt realized that it was still only 7:10 a.m. He had the whole day ahead of him. Walking out of this small office and into the spring air, watching the city wake up, Matt was filled with an optimistic energy that things were about to shift. He didn't know exactly how or what was to come, but he knew that a journey had begun with this most unlikely group of individuals. Why were they so willing to help him? Who were these people? What was to come next?