← Living Your Legacy
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- [00:00]
Juliette Wright
I started building at 18, had about a 10 year career, ended up traveling the world working for companies, doing photography and then in a moment walked away from a marriage, from a house, from a business. I had $3.74, four little kids, zero credit. I didn't have a credit card, I didn't have a cell phone. I didn't have anything. And I had to figure it out. And now I feel like this next season is just going to be the season of abundance.
- [00:30]
Rudy
Juliette Wright is a parallel entrepr, a two time author and a brand architect that specializes in helping clients bridge the gap between their personal brand and their businesses. She is the founder and director of Brand development at Talley Creative, a branding agency based in Nebraska that is committed to taking ambitious doers to the next level.
- [00:49]
Juliette Wright
I don't come from money or from success. I'm the only entrepreneur in my direct line. My mom was a kindergarten teacher, my dad was a farmer. But my family has a legacy of hard work.
- [01:00]
Julia
The great thing about America is everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. Most don't know how to start, where to start, or what the heck to do. Give us some tips for them.
- [01:08]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, I always say.
- [01:13]
Jordan
It spans the.
- [01:14]
Julia
Globe like a super high cold Internet. Elvis Presley. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.
- [01:23]
Jordan
It's not over until I win. The Living youg Legacy podcast. For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan, open Chicago with the lead. You said he's the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.
- [01:54]
Julia
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Legacy Makers. Joining me today is Julia, who's a brand stylist, brand X. But Anna's literally lost it all and she's building it back bigger than ever and leaving her legacy. Juliet, welcome to the show.
- [02:09]
Juliette Wright
Thank you so much for having me, Rudy.
- [02:11]
Julia
So it's good to have you here. I know we've spoke offline a lot about what all the big things you're up to. You've been behind the scenes, worked on hundreds of brands and, you know, obviously shared your story in the episode about, you know, your upbringing and how you've literally lost it all and you keep going and you're always building and growing and whether you're working on your own businesses or working on all the companies you help, that's one common denominator of successful entrepreneurs is they keep getting punch, punch, punch, but they don't stop. So I'm excited to have you here and dive into that a little.
- [02:45]
Juliette Wright
So me too. Absolutely. I think that's what it's all about. It's like, you know, just keep one foot in front of the other. Good day, bad. I always say, good day, bad day, sick day, snow day. Like, how are you going to show up for yourself, your company, for your brand? And that's what I preach to my clients. And that's also the life that I'm living.
- [03:04]
Julia
Yeah, so, so look, if someone's listening, they're like, lost it all. What does that mean? Do you mind sharing your kind of story for, for a minute?
- [03:12]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, absolutely. I started my entrepreneur journey two weeks out of high school. I got my first tax ID number. High school or college was never my plan. I really had to fight my guidance counselor as they kept trying to tell me, you know, fast food's your future if you don't go to college. And I, I put my feet down, I said, no, I want to start my own business, a photography studio. I knew I had the eye and I, I knew I could do it. And my mom had her PhD in education, wasn't crazy about me not going to college. And she said, I'll give you a year. I turned around and I took senior photos for the 800 underclassmen under me and, and worked harder than I ever had. And I proved it to her, I proved it to myself, to anyone I had to, that I could make this work. And so yeah, I started building at 18, had about a 10 year career, ended up traveling the world working for companies, doing photography, and then in a moment walked away from a marriage, from a house, from a, a business at $3.74, four little kids, zero credit. I didn't have a credit card, I didn't have a cell phone. I didn't have anything. And, and I had to figure it out. And I did. It's been about 10 years now, so it's, it's interesting looking back. It happened about 10 years ago and I've had about 10 years of building, which has been hard. And now I feel like this next season is just going to be the season of abundance. And I'm so looking forward to it.
- [04:45]
Julia
Well, it's something there memorable that you had more children than you did dollars in your bank account. Right. And then you took that now and have built successful businesses and helped lots of businesses. So if someone's listening and they don't maybe know what you're up to, do you mind talking about current day, present day, what you, what you work on?
- [05:05]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, so what I work on right now, I work authors, speakers, Coaches, entrepreneurs, I really help them build their brand ecosystems. And so oftentimes people say, I have a book, I have a podcast, I have this company, maybe I do something with my sister. I have all these things, and they feel like they're just these random balls businesses floating around. And I believe I have a unique gift to be able to connect the dots and say, okay, you have all this. What if we build, we might need a parent brand, we might need. These might be sister brands, this might be a cousin. There may be some strategy to not having this connected to your name. How can we connect these dots and build these together? And I feel like with clients, as soon as I can bring that clarity, then it's just this catalyst. And they're like, okay, now that I see where everything fits. Usually I help them dream bigger. And it's adding, whether it's events or courses or funnels or the floodgates just open as soon as they get that clarity that they've been searching for.
- [06:07]
Julia
Yeah. And if someone's listening right now, and you know, the great thing about America is everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. Most don't know how to start, where to start, or what the heck to do. What. Would you give us some tips for them?
- [06:20]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, I always say start by dreaming big. I feel like oftentimes people build brands that they outgrow very quickly, and it's is just that fear of saying what you really want. I love the line, you can want what you want. Like, what do you want at the end of the day? Do you want to do live events? Do you want to have a storefront? Do you want to do everything virtually? Like, what do you want? Because I think when we look at to the outside world, everyone has their opinions.
- [06:45]
Julia
Sure. I think a lot of society are scared to say what they want because they get judged by the less successful people of the world, which is sadly a large majority in a percentage base. And that's like, they're actually kind of scared to talk about money or success or. And I see this a lot, like, they have to justify why they want a bigger house or whatever. And a lot of big successful entrepreneurs say, just buy the damn house. If you want the house, you don't need to tell anyone why you want the house. If you've worked hard, earned the money and deserve it, go buy the house. Right. And it's the same in business. If. If you want to have this sort of venture or host these big events, then go do it.
- [07:26]
Juliette Wright
Yeah. I finished out some Airbnb apartments this year. I do some downtown development, and we had six apartments finished, and me and my business partners, we were trying to decide, do we rent these or do we do an Airbnb model? What do we do? We ran all the numbers, credited it out, and we didn't know it was, you know, we didn't know the perfect answer. And finally it was, what do I want?
- [07:45]
Julia
Yeah.
- [07:46]
Juliette Wright
And I said, I want Airbnbs, because when I have people in town, family in town, I want to have six apartments on my block that I can let people stay in. And now it's paid off financially better than if we had rented them. But rather than tossing a coin or, like, asking for more opinions, just ask yourself, like, what do you want?
- [08:06]
Julia
Yeah, I love that. And then talking about, you know what you want, right? Like, you've spent the last 10 years building brands, helping brands. Where are you going over the next 10 years?
- [08:19]
Juliette Wright
The next 10 years, I think, is really just to show off my work. I've never done a good job of showing my portfolio or creating the case studies, getting the testimonials, because so much of it is behind the scenes. And when you're building brands, it's like you never want to release anything until they do. You never want to be the one to spoil the surprise. And so I feel like a lot of my work isn't out there. I speak from stages about how important it is to. To really show what you can do. Put your money where your mouth is. Don't just talk about what you can do, but show what you can do. And I've done a horrible job of that. So I'm just ready to really put what I can do on display and hopefully that it becomes just a catalog of inspiration for others. And that's ultimately always my goal.
- [09:03]
Julia
Love it. And, you know, let's talk about other people and the catalyst for others. You know, I know from your episode, a big goal for you is you want to help inspire others and help people find their way. Can you talk about that a little?
- [09:16]
Juliette Wright
Yeah. I hear all the time people say, you know, inspired by you for multiple reasons. I think having four children, raising kids, and being a working mom, I think that's something that I have one gal that often says, you know, I know I could have one or two, but I didn't think I could have four.
- [09:33]
Julia
Yeah.
- [09:34]
Juliette Wright
And I inspire, I think, people that way also. Just this idea that there's no perfect time. And so if there's something you want to do, whether, again, it's real estate, I bought an ice cream Shop A couple years ago, I. If there's something you want to do, just do it. Rather than saying, once I close this door, then I'll open this other door. And I feel like when people do that, they just have a lot of regrets. Life is short. And so I'm a big fan of, of opening those parallel tracks, connecting the dots, because they probably work together more than you think. But not waiting for one chapter to close before you open another one.
- [10:15]
Julia
Love it. And, you know, talking more about moving into the legacy side now. Right. What does legacy mean to you?
- [10:23]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, I was talking to my aunt last night about legacy and the legacy of our family. And my family did not come from money. She actually told me yesterday that my grandpa's claim to fame was that he grew up in the poorest family of the whole county. That was his claim to fame. And she told me a story about how he walked from Nebraska to Minnesota, which is an eight hour drive.
- [10:43]
Julia
Okay.
- [10:44]
Juliette Wright
But he walked it in his early 20s to go pick corn on a farm. And so I don't come from money or from success. I'm the only entrepreneur in my direct line. My mom was a kindergarten teacher, my dad was a farmer. But my family has a legacy of hard work. They have a legacy of, of doing what needs to be done. And that's what I hope I can pass on. I don't have an education, I don't have a college education. I was a, a CD like most entrepreneurs. But I do believe that I work hard and I hope that that's a legacy I pass on as well.
- [11:21]
Julia
Well, it's funny, the legacy of hard work. You know, it sounds simple, but I think in today's society, it's, it's less common than you think, Right. And I think as generations go on, it's becoming less and less common. Right. So, you know, I love that. And I think, you know, I think part of success as entrepreneurs, one of the traits they all have is they, you know, they don't give up. They've been through a lot of failures. They've probably lost a lot of big things many times and kept going. But they all work hard. You know, they don't, they don't. Normal people don't see what goes on behind the scenes. They're working until 10 at night, getting up and dealing with a fire at 7am when everyone else is eating their cornflakes. Right. It's definitely different. So where do you see over the next, you know, 10, 20, 50 years, 100 years? How do you want to be remembered?
- [12:15]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, I want to be remembered as someone who just was there for others. When I was starting over, there was a handful of people who co signed for me or I even. I had to go get a vehicle. I didn't have a reliable vehicle. And a friend took me to a dealership and talked to her friend behind the scenes. And as he and I kept saying, I don't have a credit score. I've never had credit it under my name. And he said, huh, that's weird. I see your credit score as whatever. And he typed it in and just those little things, maybe slightly illegal, I'm not telling you to do that. But those little things where people believed in me and. And whatever they did, they, you know, maybe found some gray area for me. And my goal is to be able to do that again. Whether it's. It's paying for someone to start a business or co. Signing for something or letting someone borrow something that I have or make a connection for them. It's like it doesn't take much for people who are hardworking, who are driven, but sometimes it just takes that. Just that one call, that one introduction, that one signature. And so that's my goal, is just to build my life, that when someone needs someone, I can be there for them.
- [13:37]
Julia
I like that. Yeah, I see the reoccurring theme is the help of us, right. No matter what. What about, you know, someone starting out listening. I think a lot of us, when we start out, we're figuring out how do we make money or have some level of success or get out of our current circumstance if it's suboptimal. And then after we've done that for five years, 10 years, like you, you can start to think about, okay, well, now how can I expand this and build a legacy and help others and become a legacy maker? So what would you say to someone not ready yet to do that, where you were 10 years ago?
- [14:14]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, I would say, just think of the path that you've already gone. And again, these dots connect. And I probably sound like a broken record, but I look back to my earliest jobs as a waitress, and that was a sales job. That was my first sales job. I remember that was back in the days of smoke breaks. And so all the other waitresses would want to go smoke, and they used to just say, hey, can you cover my table? And sure, no problem. Well, then I started learning that. I'd say, yeah, I'll cover your table. Let's split the tip in half. And so not only was I covering their tables, which I Would have done anyway, but I was making half their tips. I learned how to upsell for pies and for coffee and fridge and I learned that, man, the harder I work, the more I sell, the more I make. If I can work harder than everyone else, I'm going to take half their tips home. So even those first jobs, that was a sales job, my photography job taught me about, about balance and about how to create an eye for design. And then I moved on to my branding agency which taught me graphic design, self taught graphic design. But it's like each step along the way does add to your values. So if you're out there listening, it's like, don't think of these jobs as something in the past that didn't matter or a waste of time. But I would encourage you to really think about like, what skill did you learn? What did you master? What connections did you make that maybe you took for granted? Because odds are they're building something really, a solid foundation, something really strong that's gonna then be your sprint.
- [15:51]
Julia
I mean, in my episode of Legacy Makers, I talk about buying and selling on ebay. It taught me copywriting and price manipulation and undercutting. Right. All these things. As a 10 year old, you don't know the techn. Difficult term for, but, but they worked, right? So you can learn a lot in these early phases which can set you up for massive success in the long term.
- [16:13]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, absolutely. One of my first stories I remember as an entrepreneur is my neighbor girls and I, we set up a lemonade stand and we were on like this corner and we set up this lemonade stand. It was million degrees, you know, Nebraska summer. We set it up and I was counting cars from one street to the other street. And pretty quickly I realized that we needed to move our stand because there was more cars driving. I didn't realize I was a B testing. I didn't realize that I was like doing, doing market research. But you know, after we got everything set up, I was like, hey guys, we need to, we need to move, we need to turn our stand. And they all went inside, play Barbies. I sat out there by myself for hours. But again, I didn't know that's what I was doing. But I was strategically trying to figure out like what's the best. If I'm going to be sitting out here in 105 degrees, I better be getting the most customers I get.
- [17:06]
Julia
I like it. I like it. So, you know, people listening, they maybe have businesses, brands, and they're fascinated by the business side too. How do they learn more about you or find you?
- [17:17]
Juliette Wright
Yeah, the best way ever. Kind of my hub is either my website, julietright Co, or find me on Instagram on the Juliet Wright that has all my speaking events, just my podcast, everything that I'm involved in. That's kind of my hub.
- [17:30]
Julia
Love it. And last question. What does a legacy mean to you?
- [17:33]
Juliette Wright
A legacy to me just means building a life you're proud of. My goal for my legacy is that my ceiling becomes a floor for my kids. But not only my kids, the. The kids that work for me, the staff that I have, anyone that's in my life, I hope that they can. My. My legacy would be that their story starts where mine ends. And any tools, connections, ideas that I have, I would just want to be so open so that they have that head start.
- [18:05]
Julia
I like it. Well, that's a wrap, guys. Another episode of Legacy Makers TV podcast in the books. I hope you are inspired by today's episode and learn a few things along the way. Until next time, keep hustling. Take care.