Sharon Lechter brings her knowledge as a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) to discuss the importance of living in courage rather than fear, especially financially. She highlights the choices that each of us has with every dollar we receive and how those choices can negatively or positively affect a more significant outcome. The New York Times Bestselling Author of multiple publications shares her formula for a positive and motivating life, emphasizing stepping out of your comfort zone despite fear. What aspects of your life can you ask yourself, ‘Why not?’.
https://youtu.be/XSM1X8lLo60
Brett Gilliland: Welcome to The Circuit of Success. I'm your host, Brett Gilliland, and today I've got Sharon Lechter with me. Sharon, how you doing?
Sharon Lechter: I am fantastic, Brett. Thanks so much. Look forward to talking to you.
Brett Gilliland: Oh, look forward to it. I've been looking forward to this interview for a while. You're, uh, you're gonna see me holding this book if you're getting to watch this.
You've probably seen this a time or 4,000 times. And, uh, this is 'Rich Dad Poor Dad'. Uh, you are the co-author with Robert Kiosaki on that, and it's, it's cool. I uh it's, I, I read this again in 2022, so I, I wrote down, I've be for years, I write down when I read the book and, you know, can able to do the math of my age and stuff.
And so I originally read this book in 2002 when I was 24 years old and I read it again last year in March when I was 44 years old. So it's kind of crazy to think, uh, you know, the things you get from one book, uh, reading it as a 24 year old, and now as a 44 year old, you connect a little different with it.
And so I reached out to you and I said, "Hey, I gotta have you on the podcast." And you were kind enough to respond and here we are. So, uh, that being said, you've done that, uh, well, you've written tons of books and you've had five ti You're a five Time New York Times bestseller, uh, on author, A Successful Entrepreneur, philanthropist.
Um, cpa, you name it, you've been doing it. I'll shut up now and, uh, let people talk to Sharon Lechter. So if you can, Sharon, tell us a little bit more about what's made you the woman you are today.
Sharon Lechter: Well, thanks Brett. Yes. I, you know, when I first started, I lived in a very lower middle class house with my parents.
We had a little house between my mom's beauty shop and my dad's used car lot and we owned rental properties. So I've been in real estate investing since I was 10. I had to go scrub out the bathrooms between tenants and we were orange groves, and I swear I would never be an entrepreneur. I saw my friends whose parents were CEOs of companies or military officers, and I said, that's what I want.
I, I wanna get, become a sophisticated professional. So I went to college, got my degree in accounting. I was one of the very first women in public accounting, um, in Atlanta, Georgia. Single CPA having fun in Atlanta at the ripe a, age old age of 25. I realized my parents were pretty smart cuz I was working incredible hours and not in control of my life.
And I said, this is crazy. So I had the opportunity to. One of my clients invited me to go into a company he was buying out a bankruptcy actually to um, invest in a new company. It's like, okay. So I went back to my condo and said pros and cons. Back then, it was before PCs. So the old yellow legal pad
Brett Gilliland: The old T chart.
Sharon Lechter: That's right, that's right. And it didn't help me a bit cuz I could argue both sides. Mobile rising career and public accounting versus the opportunity to own a piece of the rock. And so, um, I, my hand kind of took off across the top of the page and wrote, why not? And that really is still my mantra today.
Why not do something different? Why not solve a problem, serve a need? Why not take the path less traveled? And, uh, I think in our society today, too many people ask question, why? Waiting for somebody to tell you what you should do. And why not comes from within. Why not do something that you know you need to do that, uh, can solve a problem or serve a need?
So that's really been my mantra. I left public accounting, met my husband, then I've never looked back. Started women's magazines, talking children's books, and then on to Richette, so.
Brett Gilliland: Amazing. So when you think about that, if we can go back in time and, you know, that's scary, I would assume, right? Cause one was, uh, assuming on the T chart we were talking about the, the left side, let's call it the accounting side, had a guaranteed paycheck probably. Right? They had a check coming in every two weeks, and health insurance, probably all these things, whereas the one on the right side, it didn't have any of that, I would assume. And so when, when you think about that Sharon Lechter, and you think about the person right now that's struggling with that of, I wanna follow my dream and this passion, but man, there's no guaranteed success there versus this every day, every two week check.
What, what would you tell that person uh, right now?
Sharon Lechter: Well, sometimes you have to close the door for other doors of opportunity to open. When I made that decision, it turned out to be the worst business decision of my life, Brett. But as Napoleon Hill says, "out of adversity comes a seat of an equal or greater opportunity."
Had I not made the decision to leave public accounting, I would never have met my husband, Mike Lechter, and we've been married 42 years, so my worst business decision became my best life decision. But if you're in that position where you have to make a decision between something that's safe and secure, you think it's secure, ask yourself truly how secure it is versus something that is something new and new experience.
And you know, again, ask yourself why not try something different? Cuz you know, there're lots of reasons why not. If it's not legal, don't do it. But I think people we change is inevitable. And as, as the world has proven over and over again, the safe, secure job no longer exists. So are you doing what you, are you challenging yourself every day?
Are you doing having new experiences? Are you looking for ways to expand your life, both in opportunity and in resources? and ask yourself that. Who's in control? I mean, I happen to be a control freak, so that was an easy question for me at that point in time...
Brett Gilliland: yeah...
Sharon Lechter: ...do I wanna be in control of my life or do I want somebody else in control of my life?
Brett Gilliland: And do you think that you've always believed in yourself or was that a muscle that you've built over time?
Sharon Lechter: Yes and yes. Um, I was raised in a home where I was told I could do anything I wanted to. And if you imagine my age, I was many, many times the only woman in the room. Um, I started my career before they even had the term lasting.
And we just knew that if we wanted to succeed, we had to work harder than men. But I never looked at it as a male versus female thing. And for me it's um, you just make that decision to continue moving forward. That being said, there were many times when I was insecure, not sure what, what I was gonna do, afraid, fear, fearing of what was gonna happen, and um, but I would come back to it.
You either win or you learn something, right? There's no win lose, you win or you learn. And so I would act in spite of the fear. You know, courage is acting in spite of fear, not because of it, so.
Brett Gilliland: Yeah. So, and again, back on those early days, I mean, what was the grind like, you know, you, you, you, yes. Now you've got all these different revenue sources and income, and I know you're very open about talking about money, so, uh, that's why I asked the question is, but what, what was it like when you didn't have money and, and you didn't, uh, have so many different revenue sources? What was it like back then?
Sharon Lechter: Well, you have to make choices, you know? Um, yeah, I started working when I was 15, and so the, the, my father and mother instilled those money habits into me really early on, and so I always lived within my means, um, and understood that I was very kind of alone in that process. A lot of my friends were getting into debt.
And, but you have to make choices. Make choices that work within your budget, um, give you the opportunity to set money aside. And you know, today it's even more important to pay attention to where the cash flow is going. With every dollar you receive, you have a choice. You can keep it and invest it and have it work for you, or you can spend it and it goes away.
And so if more and more people understood that and made different choices, they'd be, be in a much different financial position.
Brett Gilliland: Yeah. Yeah. And what, what have you learned over the years from, obviously yourself? There's lots of learning, but you know, I, I'll just pick on, you know, Robert Kiasaki, obviously he's had a, an immense amount of success, a along with you, and then you think of, I know you've advised, Or worked with now three different presidents, right? You have George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump before he was president. So we're not talking politics here. I can't stand talking politics, but when, when you think of those three people that made it to the most, you know, the highest level you could possibly make as being the president of the United States, what, what have you learned from people like that over the years that makes them different?
Sharon Lechter: Well, I think, um, without a doubt, um, I, when I wrote 'Three Feet From Gold', which was my first book with the Napoleon Hill Foundation, I talk about the personal success equation. So let me frame it in within that because...
Brett Gilliland: Perfect.
Sharon Lechter: ...you have your passion and your talent.
