Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Wylde.
Hi Wendy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I graduated from high school, I didn’t go off to college like over 90% of my graduating class of 2000. I started working in the mortgage industry until its collapse in 2008 (7 years). When I had a heart to heart with myself, I decided that if that work was no longer available to me, I would go to college to get a 4 year degree which had always been a goal for me.
During my college career I had 2 babies, a change of schools, and a major move from Chicago to Virginia. It took me 6 years, but I did complete my degree in Chemistry & Biochemistry. The bad news…. there were no available jobs for me in that field in the area of the country I was in that would work with the life I had setup. So I found a job teaching high school Chemistry and Biology.
After 3.5 years of teaching, and the development of a panic disorder, I quit teaching and my family moved to San Diego. I was accepted into a masters program at SDSU for Bioinformatics. I had to learn to code and do data analytics for the program, which taught me a lot about technology and what I did and didn’t like. Then Covid challenged that path, as I was now responsible for my 2 kids and their education from home while school happened online.
I emerged from covid divorced and in need of a career. I built a small brand called Beach Zen Garden and sold sand play kits to make sand play a peaceful and creative outlet for local beachgoers. That wasn’t quite enough to pay the bills, so I navigated a new career in tech at a startup serving attorneys. I worked in that role for 14 months serving clients and helping them build the software they needed to grow their law practices. After 14 months of employment, I made a decision to be a full time entrepreneur and build a business service the same clients – but on my terms and hours!
I have been running my own agency for 7 months now, serving clients and loving the opportunities to grow as an entrepreneur. Now I’ve got my sights on a much larger vision – serving clients and my community by creating jobs and seeking ways to serve teens who desire to choose entrepreneurship and make an impact in their lives by sharing what I have learned.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
HELL NO! I realized that while my vision was clear, I had not worked in enough paid roles at an established company or had the experience I needed to succeed on the business side of things. I knew how to serve my clients and do the work they needed me to do. But I had NO CLUE how to run an organization and I didn’t have the finances to pay for employees to do it for me.
One of the primary struggles I have dealt with in all of my entreprenerual endeavors is marketing. I have always been a bit fearful of the visibility and didn’t know how to ‘put myself out there’ as they say. So while I was able to do quite a bit, I struggled to let enough people know I existed to serve the number of clients I desired.
I have avoided social media as a platform for marketing for almost as long as it has existed and I FINALLY realized that if I want to have a business, I have to be OKAY with the visibility. I finally hired coaches and a small team to support me while I do the work only I know how to do.
Working with a team was a whole new experience as well. Learning to set expectations, guidelines, and holding others accountable to their roles was a learning curve (and still is!). It is one thing to have good relationships in my personal life – it is a totally different experience to develop relationships with colleagues and manage them WHILE maintaining good relationships with them. The growth in this area for me has been challenging and so incredibly rewarding!
As you know, we’re big fans of Matter Flow Advisors. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We help law firms implement a legal-specific CRM and other tools that help them automate away as many of their routine administrative and legal tasks as possible! The goal is to free up attorneys and their staff to practice law and have a greater impact on their clients through a frictionless client journey.
I’m proud of the way we have been able to serve our clients with the knowledge I have developed as an employee of the CRM company on their client success team. We work WITH our clients to help them achieve their desired outcomes, so every project is totally unique. Our favorite clients to serve are small law firms with 1-3 attorneys that do service based work like family law and estate planning/probate law. The work we do allows our clients to enhance the work they do, and this is deeply satisfying to help others achieve their own goals.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I had a challenging childhood and was adopted by relatives I didn’t know when I was 6 and moved to San Diego (it’s how I knew I wanted to get back to the sunshine!) After i moved in with them, I was the youngest of 7 children in the home and it was always a blast.
My favorite memory was making mud pies in a bush in front of my house with my sister. Then, right as cars drove by, we would hop out of the bush, throw the mud pies at driving cars and then hide again.
After a few rounds of fun, one of the cars pulled a u-turn and we bolted into the front door and hid. The drive knocked on the door and luckily my two oldest brother’s answered. The driver told my brothers that he wanted to discuss the two girls throwing mud at his car. My brothers told them gentleman that there were no girls that lived there and acted as if.
When the man left, clearly displeased with the response, my sister and I cheered and jumped around and felt like we had gotten away with something. It was magical….
And clearly rude… now that I am an adult I can see that. But for me, it was a memory of pure childhood fun and testing boundaries – something I am ALWAYS doing, even today.
Contact Info:
- Website: matterflowadvisors.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendy_wylde/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matterflowadvisors
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-wylde/
Image Credits
Carina Fleckner https://www.instagram.com/carinafleckner_photography/
