She Built It For 22 Years. Made Herself Replaceable On Purpose. Then Sold It.

Most conversations about selling a company stop at the wire transfer. The money hits, everyone claps, roll credits. Christine Slocumb built a healthcare marketing agency over 22 years, made herself replaceable on purpose, and then sold it to private equity. And then she wrote the book on everything the sale price doesn't tell you. Her book, Mastering the Exit Gauntlet, is about the part that comes after. What happens to your identity when the inbox goes quiet on day one. What it costs to be the only woman in the room for 22 years. And the reframe that keeps coming back: everything you get after closing day is fun money.

What you do with it is the actual point. In this episode:

• Why the business that feels like a part of you is the hardest one to sell, and why not being emotionally ready to sell is the most expensive mistake you can make going in
• The five-year plan Christine's advisor gave her that changed everything, including her lifestyle, before the sale ever happened
• Why you should be able to step away from your business and take a vacation right now, whether you're selling or not
• What it's actually like to be the only woman in the room during a three-year sales process, and how Christine navigated proving herself to buyers who were buying the business, not her lifestyle
• Why the wire transfer number at close is the only number you can count on, and how to think about everything else as a variable
• What selling did and didn't change about Christine's relationship with money, and why zeros in your account don't automatically change a complicated relationship with it
• The relationship dynamics nobody talks about when your wealth changes overnight
• Why shuttering is not failure, and why the buffet of choices available to business owners is bigger than most people let themselves see

Christine is a paid contributor to Inc. Magazine writing on business exits and post-sale identity, and an exit advisor at christineslocumb.com. Everything is linked in the show notes:

Purchase Her Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966168802

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmslocumb/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisslocumb/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@christine-slocumb