Ep. 8 Life After the Sale: A New Chapter with Julie Ellis
In this episode of the Legacy Branding Podcast, host Laura Beauparlant sits down with Julie Ellis, co-founder of the award-winning business Mabel’s Labels, to explore what comes after building and selling an eight-figure company.
Julie shares candid insights into the emotional rollercoaster of selling her business, navigating an identity shift, and the path to rediscovering purpose.
You will hear Julie's transition story—from entrepreneur to coach and mentor for women aiming to scale their businesses to new heights.
The discussion touches on overcoming the post-sale existential crisis, the importance of building supportive communities, and strategies for tackling barriers to growth. Julie’s journey is a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the power of aiming for big, gorgeous goals.
Tune in for actionable advice, inspiration, and a look at what it means to create a meaningful legacy after a major business milestone.
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In her early 30's, Julie was no longer waking up with enthusiasm for the workday ahead. She knew she needed a change from her corporate career.
She dreamt of her own big gorgeous goals and with that clarity, she co-founded Mabel's Labels - making personalized labels for all the stuff kids lose as they go out into the world.
The business grew wildly, and Julie became an award-winning entrepreneur, eventually selling the business to an industry giant.
At Mabel's Labels, she learned growing a business to 8-figures was easier with a group of growth-minded women around her. Now, she helps other women get connected, solve problems and grow bigger businesses, reaching their own big gorgeous goals.
Julie’s book, Big Gorgeous Goals is written for women entrepreneurs who want to step out of the small box they are in and set world domination in their sights.
In discussion with sixteen women entrepreneurs, Julie explores their stories and pairs that with how she built, grew, and sold Mabel’s Labels.
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00:00 Introduction and Host Welcome
00:47 Guest Introduction: Julie Ellis
01:38 The Highs and Lows of Selling a Business
02:46 Post-Sale Challenges and Personal Reflections
03:52 Finding New Purpose and Big Gorgeous Goals
06:13 Advice for Women Entrepreneurs
14:58 Building a Supportive Community
22:44 Legacy and Final Thoughts
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Julie Ellis: I worried that the best thing I had ever done in my life was in the rear view mirror and that I might never be successful at anything else I tried.
Laura Beauparlant: Welcome to the Legacy Branding Podcast. I'm your host, Laura Beauparlant, here to guide you through the journey of selling your business and creating value and building a personal brand that leaves a lasting impact. On the show, we'll explore real life founder stories, expert insights, and actionable strategies to help you navigate the transition, avoid post-sale crisis, and create your impact-driven legacy brand. Whether you're thinking of selling, building to sell, or already on the other side, this podcast is your go-to resource for making your next evolution your best one yet. Let's dive in. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Julie Ellis to the Legacy Branding Podcast. Julie was the co-founder of Mabel's Labels, an award-winning business that grew to eight figures and was ultimately acquired by an industry giant. Since selling Mabel's Labels, Julie has dedicated herself to guiding seven-figure women entrepreneurs as they dance their way to eight figures. As a speaker and author of "Big Gorgeous Goals," a coach, and through her podcast, "Figure Eight," Julie inspires women to dream big and overcome the obstacles that stand in their way. We're also very proud to have worked with her as a client. Welcome, Julie.
Julie Ellis: Thanks, Laura. It's so great to be here.
Laura Beauparlant: I always love our conversations and this time we get to record it and share it with the world. So I know when we started working together and I know this is no secret, it's a story in your book, but I would love for you to share what that experience was like selling Mabel's Labels and what happened afterwards.
Julie Ellis: I think selling a business is the highest of highs and the lowest of lows because it's a lot of work creating, and we had good business practices and processes in place, and it was still an eye-opening experience. An overwhelmingly large amount of work for us to get everything together that the acquirer needed to review before the transaction could be completed. And we did it on a really short timeline — about five months. It was a whirlwind. I took on a lot of work in that whirlwind and really put my head down and actively avoided thinking about what would happen next, which I would—first thing I would not recommend. And so I used the whirlwind to just block out what I was thinking about in terms of what I would do after. And the acquirer wanted us all to stay. There were four founders at Mabel's Labels and they wanted us all to stay. One person wanted to go and so made a deal for that. And the other three of us signed employment contracts. But for me, very quickly in the after, so one thing I didn't know is that selling your business is a finish line, but it's also a start line and suddenly you're on day one of new ownership and new people who, although it feels like they did this tremendous deep dive in due diligence to learn about your business. Suddenly the new people come to the table and they don't know anything. And so you're pulling more information and making presentations and gathering data, and the pace doesn't slow very much in the new era. And I was trying to figure out where my place was in the new era, what role I might take and things for me did not feel very clear and I didn't see a place for me at the table where the plans got made and the decisions were made. And that was really where I felt like my gifts, my best contribution was there. And so I became convinced that I should leave. Probably made that decision too quickly. But within six months of the sale, I was out in the world. And that really led me to a phase of—I think when you're kind of wired for climbing, for pinnacles, sitting yourself onto a plateau and choosing to do that is a bit of a foreign place to be, and I hadn't really thought about what I would do. My coach told me I needed to take at least 90 days before I did anything else. And like it was summer, I threw myself into fun things, time with family, with friends, bit of travel, just pretty relaxed environment. But as fall came that year, I really got stuck on my couch and I did not know what to do, what I was going to do next. I worried that the best thing I had ever done in my life was in the rear view mirror and that I might never be successful at anything else I tried and it, that thought process really paralyzed me and it took me a really long time, like 90 days was nothing, and when I think about my coach's advice, it took me a really long time to figure out how to get moving again.
Laura Beauparlant: So knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? Were you thinking at Mabel's Labels about selling or did that come as a surprise?
Julie Ellis: It came as a little bit of a surprise, the actual sale. We got approached, it was unsolicited. And at the same time though, we were facing a crossroads of any business that you've run for a really long time that is growing, has grown a lot, is still growing a lot. You reach crossroads where you start contemplating what the next era of that business looks like. And we were very much at one of those crossroads when we were approached. And so I think we were kind of ripe for acquisition at that time. So that was a good thing. And, it's always when you have co-founders, you, as a shareholder, when you look at being approached to sell, it was a great thing for us. When I put on my hat as an individual, maybe not the best thing for me as an individual, but it—as a shareholder group, it was definitely the right decision for us at that time. And off we went and it was very fast.
Laura Beauparlant: So you spent that 90 days that trickled into many more wondering what is next and being paralyzed. Is there something you would do differently now that you can look back on that?
Julie Ellis: Yeah, somebody told me that when they've made big changes in their life, they've tried to add before they subtract. And that really resonated with me because I feel like it was my whole life. I was very devoted to the business. I worked very hard and one of my co-founders had always joked that I was going to be the one who came in every day and read the paper for the rest of my life, no matter what. And I would be like one of those founders who everyone's like, "Oh, she's here again," and take up a boardroom and chat to people and drink coffee and see how things were going, kind of a retirement. And so for me to end up out in the world was very jarring for me. I had not really tended to my friends in the way I maybe should have, or my hobbies in the way I should have, or the idea of any kind of side hustle or interest or things that I was doing. And so I think that for me, if I could have made one change, it would have been to really build up some other things in my life that felt important before I had the big subtract.
Laura Beauparlant: Yeah. And I think that's why I've really focused so much on working with founders. It's conversations with you, working with you and so many others that I've realized that when you are fully 100 percent invested only in the growth of your business, when you do sell, it's like you've lost a limb or a child or you're like, who am I without it? And that's what happened to you, basically. And I've seen this need that if you can start to add before you exit, it smooths out that transition.
Julie Ellis: Yeah, I definitely think that would have been a really critical piece that would have been helpful for me.
Laura Beauparlant: So what led to, how did you get to Big Gorgeous Goals and speaking and coaching? What to talk about that path that got you to where you are now?
Julie Ellis: So I did a little bit of consulting, I did a bunch of dabbling.
Laura Beauparlant: Is probably a good idea.
Julie Ellis: It was a very good idea. And then I was introduced to somebody who was looking for a chief operating officer to come into their business so they could step back and in fact step largely out for a period of time. And so we did a trial where I went in on a consultant basis a couple of days a week and things worked out well. So I took that COO role and moved into a full-time job working for somebody else. Still in children's products. It was a great team. I loved my time there. But what I learned about myself was that I really wanted to build something else for me. And so that sort of feeling is what ultimately led me to leave there and start to look at building a coaching practice. So when I left, I had a plan that I was going to go and become certified as a coach. And I was starting those courses almost, you know, within a few weeks of leaving. And so I had a plan that time of what I was going for. And then that led me to starting to do some workshops. And so I had the idea of Big Gorgeous Goals at that time. And I started doing workshops about it and started coaching and starting to do a little bit of a build on a speaking business, a workshops business, and a coaching business. And then when the pandemic came, the focus became coaching, because other business dried up and I was coaching on a very heavy schedule. And from that, I learned that I love coaching, but I can't do it on a full-time basis because it is work where I'm putting energy out into the world all the time. And I love working with people. I love helping them. But I can't do it full time.
Laura Beauparlant: And so that brought in the speaking and the other masterminds.
Julie Ellis: Then, as the pandemic kind of waned, I was able to think about, yeah, where am I best? What's my best? And that's where the mastermind came from. So I think through that process, I started to really focus on working with more women. And the idea of having a podcast about it because you started to hear stats like 2.1 percent of venture capital goes to women entrepreneurs. Twenty-five percent of angel investment money goes to women entrepreneurs. And women start more businesses than men but often don't grow them as large. And so I started to really want to see more women growing bigger businesses and seeing their stories out in the world and talking about why we start businesses that might look different from the men that are in our lives and why the needs we see in the world are so different.
Laura Beauparlant: Yeah. And I think that's so important because I think there's a lot of women that want to grow really big businesses, but maybe they don't have the models before them. And you're really showing that there are actually a lot of women doing that through the interviews you do on your podcast, Figure Eight. And I think it is important to discuss the hurdles and show them a path forward. You did it right. You built the business, a very successful eight-figure business with your partners, and it is possible. So in Big Gorgeous Goals, you talk about the hurdles that women entrepreneurs face. Can you share what some of those are that you see and, you know, any tips on overcoming some of those?
Julie Ellis: We are the CEO of many things in our lives as women, right? Whether it's our parents, if we have children, our friends, our households, our businesses. And so we have a lot on. And so I think figuring out how to say no to some of the things is part of chasing your big, gorgeous goals. Like you have to start creating space to imagine what you really want and what you want to go for. And then I think the second part of it is really about finding the strategies to overcome fear. Because the first thing that's going to happen after you set a big, gorgeous goal is that fear is going to come in about, can I do this? Is this too much? I don't know where I'll find the money or the expertise or how I'll learn this. And so I think there's this piece of how do you work through the fear? Who do you need around you that you can talk to, to help you work through it and keep you moving and get accountability so that you are motivated to keep stepping forward towards what you really want?
Laura Beauparlant: Mm.
Julie Ellis: And it's, it's funny. You talk about the, there were the CEO of many things. I was having this conversation with a friend last night because I was telling her that last week I found a bag of potatoes in my freezer that I had put there. Potatoes don't go in the freezer. Just a FYI, they turn into a mushy mess when you take them out. And I was like, why did I—I'm like, you know, having a mental breakdown, but I'm like, my brain is so full of all the things that I'm like, I went downstairs and instead of putting them in the pantry, I put them in the freezer. I was like, I was on autopilot going through the motions and basically ruined a bag of potatoes. But it's because I literally am thinking about, okay, kids schedule, did they brush their teeth? Are they what are they having for lunch? Oh, what are we having for dinner? I've got to schedule this. Somebody's got that. I've got it. Like the, it's the logistics of just life that come into play. Like not just my schedule, but sort of everything else. And so there is a lot that we are the CEO of. And so finding that time, as you said, to carve out and making the space. And that's always a sign for me that I have too many things that I'm doing. If something completely falls out of my head and I miss something, a meeting or a something, I'm like, oh, there. I have to look deeper at this because I am overscheduled or I'm just, because I feel like I remember everything. And so if I forget something or do something silly, like put potatoes in the freezer, it's because there's too many things that my brain is holding.
Julie Ellis: I think that's definitely true. And then there's all the other places that time like leaks away from us too, right? Like we're addicted to our phones and we spend a lot of time scrolling around on them and, or binge watching a show we like, or—and so some of that's all about choices too. And how do you get out into the world instead of some of those things and clear your mind and get away from your screens and your desk and your devices and your kitchen table to really give yourself an opportunity to dream about what you want.
Laura Beauparlant: Yeah. So what do you see as the advantage for women to be surrounded by other growth-minded women?
Julie Ellis: I think it's just the culture and community of support of trying to work in a way where we can all rise our businesses and grow together to find success. And, I think it's this, we need to find ways to be collegial together. We need to share where we can. And I know there's some things we can't share about our businesses, but there's a lot of ways to help each other and that we can all grow bigger businesses and really rise together to make an impact in the world.
Laura Beauparlant: Yeah, absolutely. So if there's a female entrepreneur listening to this and they're at six or seven figures and they're maybe feeling hesitant or scared to reach for that bigger goal or go after something bigger, what advice would you give to them?
Julie Ellis: I would say it's about bringing the right people around you to help you get moving. And so whether that looks like joining a paid mastermind like the one I have, or setting up your own mastermind, whether it means hiring a coach and working one on one with somebody, bringing your business advisors or your mentors around you. Like to me, it's about working through people and getting the right people around you to help with your growth plans. Accountability partners. I had somebody that I met with for a whole year. We met for one hour every week, and we were only allowed to work on the things that we were procrastinating on. And it broke through so many barriers for both of us over the course of that year. And so it's picking what it is you need to get you moving. And if you don't know, just finding other people who are trying to do big things to put around you. Cause you need the hell yes attitude for it, not the, oh, are you really sure? You've got to stop those. You've got enough of those voices right here. And so we've got to find ways of bringing people around us who are going to cheer us on as we try and navigate the things that we haven't done before.
Laura Beauparlant: Absolutely, I've definitely found that I've stepped into a lot bigger things, bigger goals, bigger ideas, or actually seeing more as possible just by the people I surround myself with. Does it mean that I didn't have it innately in me? Not necessarily, but I've surrounded myself with people that show me it's possible, men and women, but also they're not questioning my sanity or they're not fearful for the choices I'm making. And I think a lot of times, we have people in our life that will want to keep us small to be safe.
Julie Ellis: Yes. There's a protection aspect to it, right? But then that can come into conflict with you're also trying to protect yourself. So then you can get really small and when you get really small. And I think this is where a lot of my problems came in when I left Mabel's and I didn't really know whether I could find success again and what I might do again. It made me get smaller and smaller. I became more and more afraid to try anything. And once you become smaller and smaller, it's hard to break out of that pattern, right? And so it's why, like in the book, there's a metaphor of being trapped inside a box and the box gets very small and you create your own world that's just way too small for the magnificence that you have. So I think it's figuring out. How do you bring the right people around you to help you step into the light, to help you chase the big things, reach for the stars, and really fulfill your own dreams and destiny?
Laura Beauparlant: Absolutely. And I think it's also not waiting for society and maybe the education system to catch up with where we are. And it is going to be the people you surround yourself with. I've shared this story before, not in this format, and I don't know if I shared it with you, but I think it's relevant. When we were living abroad, our kids were doing homeschool and our oldest was doing a business course for high school. And I was like, awesome. This is my jam. So I was working through it with, you know, into the stories and the curriculum and the assignments and helping him through this. I'm like, awesome. I'm an entrepreneur. I've got this. And one of the examples was a woman, we'll call her Sophie. She was starting a children's clothing store and her goal was to make 30,000 a year. And yet, this gentleman, on the other hand,