We caught up with the brilliant and insightful MYRA SPENCE a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi MYRA, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

We all have different interests, strengths, and are going to work in the world in different fields. So IMO our education system should focus on teaching children HOW to think. This is a skill that students will take with them- for life. Unfortunately, we don’t focus on critical thinking anymore. I am seeing the many problems this is creating in the young adult. I get calls from recent college graduates who… even if they weren’t taught about the topic in question, should be able to think their way through to a logical outcome. But they can’t. This makes me worry about the future.

I would make education more interactive, incorporating movement, teamwork, and tie lessons to how they are relevant. There is so much we can learn from history, but if our young people don’t understand how to connect lessons from the past to the now- they won’t. And they lack interest in the subject because it seems irrelevant. Movement comes naturally to them, and science shows us that they learn better with it- so why aren’t we incorporating movement? That seems cruel. I would allow more choice and control by the learner. Giving students agency is empowering, and is how we help them prepare for being adults. If we want them to be industrious, we have to allow them the opportunity to be industrious. (This rote memorization for state flowers drives me nuts. What a waste of time.) And I would show how different disciplines and their associated methodology and thinking styles help us be better thinkers in unrelated fields. What we learn in theatre class can help us think differently about economics. This would foster more creative thinking generally, and highlight the importance of different perspectives, promoting more collaboration due to more respect for those who see differently from us.

Thank you for having such a great question.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a serial entrepreneur turned small business consultant. I have been a consultant for 5 years- something I never thought I would be- and I love it! My customers offer me a wide variety of experiences. Some have been in business for decades, others just have an idea and no money. Wherever they are in their journey, I get to support them. My varied background allows me to quickly process the particulars of their industry in a way that only a breadth of experience can (one of the boons of getting older).

I fell into consulting during Covid. I needed a flexible business model because I was a single mother at the time, and I needed something that could be remote. I called a life coach whom I had spoken with a few times in the years prior. I asked her to help me identify why I shouldn’t pursue this path. We spent 10 minutes and arrived at: there wasn’t any reason. I had the experience and love teaching others what I have learned. I love helping people save time. So we got off the phone. I paid for the full hour, and it was the best $160 spent. It was the confirmation I needed.

Let me back up a little- I am a 9th-grade dropout and got into the workforce at 14. I was homeless for a period of time, but in fast food management by the time I was 15. I have always been an avid reader and researcher. If I have a question, I find the answer. I never had help, guidance, or support of any kind when starting my business. I would research and if the idea stacked up (was viable), I would move forward. And I mostly had great success. I have had a business go international, and one start abroad. I have had great success with my endeavors launching and gaining momentum very quickly.

I help my clients by meeting them where they are. If they need new systems or a better understanding of marketing, that’s what I provide. If they need encouragement and accountability- that’s what they get. It’s very different with each client. Business is personal. It has to factor for the personalities, not just the niche markets. That’s why I love consulting. I never get bored.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My first business was a film production company in Hollywood. I was 20, had an office in a well-known building, a crew that worked with me repeatedly, and a set of binders that were the envy of a few of my coordinators-aspiring-to-become-producers. I had attracted a couple of business partners, one a graduate of Oxford. For a young lady with very humble beginnings, this felt like success! But I began to recognize that important parts of the role didn’t fit me. I was surrounded by people who were constantly selling themselves. It was hard to get to know people underneath that “Hollywood layer”. And I saw that the idea of producing important, good movies that had a chance at making a difference was going to be left mostly to luck. I don’t like luck. I like control. I want to work hard and thus achieve.

I knew it would be a hard industry to get out of. I knew that leaving something I had just built up was going to be hard. I saw how my values would be drowned out. So I took those binders- filled with everyone’s contact details, my vendors, locations… home and I built a bonfire. I tore out the lists, the notes… and I burned them. I made getting back in something that would be hard and really frustrating. And I pivoted- to a different business.

I have no regrets. I am constantly thankful for what I learned while producing. It taught me lessons that I can still feel in my work now! (That was over 25 years ago.) And it taught me a lot in a very short amount of time. I wish I could loan my perspective to those younger than me, those who feel like they are “too old” or “too invested”. There is no chance of success if you are climbing the wrong ladder!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I have never had capital. And I find that most of my clients don’t either. Achieving capital for most mom & pop businesses is fraught with catch-22s. Overwhelmingly, banks want the business to be trading for 2 years, and not need a loan, in order to qualify for a loan. Contrary to most young entrepreneurs’ beliefs, the SBA is not a source for a day-1 start-up loan. So most are faced with obtaining a personal loan, home equity loan, etc…

When I was starting my sustainable flooring company in New Zealand, I was broke. I was 30. The American market had crashed due to the 07 real estate kerfuffle, and the New Zealand market was affected. There wasn’t any possibility of a bank loan. But I needed work, and I didn’t want to work for someone else. I had just done that and it hadn’t gone well. (My desire to do things the right way can make me an annoying employee.)

I had identified an architect who wanted my services for a large, upmarket job. I worked that one lead for 9 months! I met with him each month through his planning and the start of the build. I took him to fancy dinners. I had no idea that the project would be delayed as many times as it was (as is always the way with new builds). The good news is that he was a pleasure. But I had all my eggs in that one basket. It was risky. The profit from that job would be enough to launch my company, if it would ever start.

During all those months, I worked on identifying and creating relationships with suppliers locally and in China, ordering samples, and trying to establish a level of faith in those abroad. (Importing is nerve-wracking.) I was building my marketing list so that when I had a product to sell, I could hit go on everything. I identified a warehouse to store the product, had insurance quotes, had advertising and marketing materials ready- all this so that I could secure clients fast. I don’t have parents to borrow from, and I didn’t think to use investors (they wouldn’t have liked my style anyhow). I needed an income! I was walking a tightrope, and it could have all fallen apart if that one big job hadn’t landed. But, after 9 months, the job did finally land. And I hit go on everything I had prepped. And my business grew quickly month on month, year on year, despite the recession.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.myraspence.com

Image Credits

Vincent Wrenn, Framelines Creative