Living Your Legacy with Rudy Mawer

Episode: Family Source Consultants: Building Families, Building Futures
Guest: Stacy Swiderski (Founder & CEO, Family Source Consultants)
Air Date: November 17, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Stacy Swiderski’s entrepreneurial journey as founder and CEO of Family Source Consultants—a leading agency in surrogacy and egg donation. Stacy shares how her personal experiences led her into the business of building families, discusses the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurial life, and reflects on her mission to empower women through her book, podcast, and mentorship. The conversation delivers actionable advice for entrepreneurs and dives into the meaning of legacy, persistence, and living with purpose.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origins: Personal Experience and Purpose

• Stacy’s Motivation

  • Stacy’s path to founding Family Source Consultants began with her own struggle to build a family. She and her husband used a gestational surrogate, leading her to realize how many others needed guidance in this area.
    • “We had to utilize a gestational surrogate to help build our families. You know, I had so many people approaching me. How did I do it? And asking me questions. If I can help somebody else, that’s what I want to do.” — Stacy Swiderski [00:00]

• Identifying a Niche

  • As surrogacy laws changed in Illinois, Stacy saw the opportunity to create an agency based on compassion and hands-on experience.
    • “Surrogacy laws passed there recently in 2005. And so it was just a great time, the timing and everything.” — Stacy Swiderski [03:06]

2. The Growth: Building a Global Agency

• Expansion and Impact

  • Family Source Consultants has celebrated over 1400 births and operates internationally.
    • “We have been building families through third party reproduction, surrogacy and egg donation. Now for... we just celebrated 18 years in January, and we’ve had over 1400 babies born through our agency.” — Stacy Swiderski [02:07]

• Challenges and Rewards

  • Entrepreneurship is both rewarding and demanding:
    • “Being an entrepreneur is hard. It’s different when you’re on that side of it. Right. But I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and helping build families… It takes a lot of work. But… you have to have passion in what you’re doing.” — Stacy Swiderski [04:08]
  • The greatest highs come from successful family journeys; the hardest moments involve clients struggling with infertility.
    • “The ups and downs definitely are for the families when they didn’t achieve success right away... that’s totally out of our hands.” — Stacy Swiderski [04:43]

3. Lessons from Entrepreneurship

• Persistence and Mindset

  • Stacy attributes her success to grit, self-motivation, and surrounding herself with supportive, like-minded people.
    • “It’s not all butterflies and rainbows. Right. But if you keep being persistent, your goals will, you know, will come true.” — Stacy Swiderski [00:34 / 07:22]
    • “The common denominator that we all have is really being around a supportive group… positive people, no excuse people.” — Stacy Swiderski [11:35]

• Purpose-Driven Business

  • Stacy’s upcoming book, Purpose Driven Business, encapsulates key entrepreneurial lessons and her “why.”
    • “It’s really, I think, my bubble of 18 years of building and growing and scaling my company to be able to put out even my little secrets.” — Stacy Swiderski [07:22]

4. Beyond the Agency: Books, Podcasts, & Empowerment

• Expanding Influence

  • With business growth, Stacy shifted focus from working “in” her company to working “on” her company, including launching her book and podcast.
    • “It allowed me… to not so much work in the company, but more on the company… I’m really driven by women entrepreneurship.” — Stacy Swiderski [06:16]

• She Decides: A Podcast for Women

  • Weekly podcast featuring women in entrepreneurship and leadership—emphasizing agency and decision-making.
    • “Every new guest… it’s always a female, of course. It’s called She Decides… it’s really dedicated to especially the entrepreneur women and… females who are in pretty high level, you know, executive roles. How do they do it?” — Stacy Swiderski [07:22]

5. The Power of Decision and Taking Risks

• Breaking Out of “Stuck” Mindsets

  • Both Rudy and Stacy discuss overcoming limiting beliefs and taking charge of one’s destiny.
    • “You’re not a tree, you’re not stuck.” — Stacy Swiderski [09:26]
    • “Once someone breaks out of that mold and realizes… it becomes like a drug, it’s addictive.” — Podcast Host [13:21]

• On Taking Financial Risks

  • Stacy speaks candidly about the need to spend money to make money, the importance of evaluating return on investment, and learning from losses.
    • “Sometimes you got to spend a little money to make money too. So, you know, put it out there in the marketing...” — Stacy Swiderski [16:43]
    • “You have to get right back on and realize… you learn from those mistakes, and then you just pivot.” — Stacy Swiderski [18:42]

6. Advice—Especially for Women

• Support and Imperfection
  • Success isn’t a straight line. Surround yourself with mentors. Be comfortable with imperfection and persistent about your ‘why.’
    • “Be okay with it not being perfect all the time. Because I think when you achieve success… you’re going to make a lot of mistakes before you get to that… success and be okay with that. Be comfortable with imperfection.” — Stacy Swiderski [15:37]

7. Defining and Building Legacy

• Personal and Professional Legacy
  • For Stacy, legacy is about empowering generations—her own family and countless others—and creating a sense of security she lacked growing up.
    • “Legacy, for me, really means to leave behind everything that you’ve worked to do for others… I’ve built families for generations… and empowering women…” — Stacy Swiderski [19:04]
    • “Personally… starting a legacy to where my family feels a sense of security… for my granddaughter, my daughter, and any females that come into my path.” — Stacy Swiderski [19:27]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On overcoming adversity:
  “Most importantly… if they remember their why and something they really want to achieve in life, big or small, to just go after your dreams because only you can do it.” — Stacy Swiderski [20:01]

• On financial setbacks:
  “I lost half a million in an investment… My parents said to me… how does it not bother you? And I said… I can make half a million profit back in a month… That’s the mindset difference.” — Podcast Host [18:07]

• On not being ‘stuck’:
  “You’re not a tree, you’re not stuck.” — Stacy Swiderski [09:26]

• On the power of community:
  “You really have to surround yourself… around people who are established and go getters.” — Stacy Swiderski [11:35]

• On legacy:
  “I’ve built families for generations and generations and generations. I’m empowering women. You know, just people, too. Right.” — Stacy Swiderski [19:24]

Important Timestamps

• Personal surrogacy story & business beginnings: [00:00–03:06]
• Entrepreneurship challenges & growth: [04:08–04:43]
• Women’s empowerment, “She Decides” podcast, and book insights: [06:03–07:22, 07:22–08:54]
• On breaking beliefs and making major life changes: [09:20–09:37]
• Lessons from setbacks & abundance mindset: [16:43–18:42]
• Defining legacy & final advice: [19:04–20:48]

Tone and Atmosphere

The episode is candid, encouraging, and full of practical wisdom delivered with warmth and directness by both Stacy and Rudy. There’s a recurring emphasis on grit, self-motivation, learning from mistakes, and the imperative to chase one’s dreams, regardless of background or starting point.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Your personal struggles can inspire a business that changes lives.
• Success in entrepreneurship is built on persistence, purpose, and a strong support network.
• Financial risks, mistakes, and imperfect paths are part of the journey—learn and pivot.
• Legacy is more than wealth—it’s about changing lives, communities, and future generations.
• Especially for women: seek mentorship, embrace imperfection, remember your why, and don’t be afraid to take your seat at the table.

This episode delivers both the inspiration and the concrete advice listeners need to build their own lasting legacy—whether in family, business, or personal growth.