The Big Leap EP#52 - How to Install a Big Leap Operating System in Your Mind.

Foreign.

This is Gay Hendricks. Welcome to this episode of the Big Leap podcast where we are going to dive into the big leaps of a true Renaissance woman. You won't believe the amount of bandwidth our guest covers. So, Mike, what do you got to say?

Well, I think the biggest thing that I'm super impressed with, that you're going to get exposure to is a polymath, you know, someone who really has a large number of interests, a large number of successes, and has taken lots of incremental risks along the way. But you're going to learn how she thinks and the kinds of questions she asks herself. And I think that's really what our big takeaway, what my big takeaway from this episode's been.

I love it. She's got a powerful commitment to learning, and you're going to hear all about that on this episode.

Hi, everybody, I'm Gay Hendricks. I'm really excited about this episode of the Big Leap podcast because we're going right into the mind and heart of a entrepreneur that's taking some very big leaps in her life. And her name is Laura DeFrancesco, and she has a great deal to say about the subjects that we're most interested in. So listen up, and I think you'll learn a lot in this episode.

Mike, hello. Hello. I'm super excited for this. Laura, you look fantastic. I can't wait to just peer inside your brain today and I'll let you start things off gay and just sort of frame this. And of course, who is Laura? Can you tell us a little bit about you?

Yes, Laura, take it away. Let's hear a little bit about the early Laura, what part of the world you're from, kind of how things were as you were coming of age and where you went to school. And then I'll dive with you into some of the specific big leaps I've seen you take in your life.

Oh, thank you. Thank you so both so much. I grew up in Chester County, Pennsylvania, on a farm with my sisters and parents. And from a really early age, I started shadowing my parents, going to board meetings. Both of them are entrepreneurs. I was doing tax returns by the time I was in fifth grade with my mom and just really dove deep into business. And I really wanted to become an entrepreneur. That was my end goal dream. And so in order to do that, I triple majored in international business, finance and real estate at University of South Carolina. I did that in three years before going on to get my JD and MBA at Villanova and really took off from there, working in Corporate law and big law before starting my own businesses and own practice.

Yes. And folks, if you're just listening to this, if you're not watching it too, Laura has done all this via very young age. And I doubt if you'll mind if I let it on out there in the world that you're only in your 30s. And so.

Let'S look into now, kind of the heart of your genius. When you were going back, like, if you were growing up as a kid, what did you see in yourself? You know, like I say, in the big leap that a lot of times you can see in the things you like to play with as a kid and the things you like to do, the seeds of your genius back then and going back as far as you want to go, what would you say some of those things were?

Some of the seeds of my genius are really my full belief in myself, that is probably one of my deepest core beliefs, is that whatever I am pulled to or drawn to, I can do in some way or fashion. And so that's everything from being scrappy on the farm, climbing up trees only to fall down them. And one time I made my own evening gown for Miss Pennsylvania, USA without having created evening gowns or done anything like that, putting 200 hours into it. So it's the idea that no matter what sparks my interest, that I can just do it, no holds barred, because I have that faith in myself and faith in the universe that it will support me in my journey.

One of the things I admire about you, I've known you for a year or so, Laura, and been watching your career unfold. And one of the things that amazes me about you is the bandwidth you cover. Like, to me, getting a law degree is not the same kind of person that would put 200 hours into building a dress.

You know, for a beauty contest. And have you always been that way? Have you always covered that much territory as far as the multitudes that you embrace?

Yes. And that's probably another seed of my genius from growing up. I really found so many passions that I had, anything outdoors, anything artistic and creative, and I just follow my passions. And that's been really what's led me to so many of my genius moments in my life. My genius leaps in my life, and I am such a firm believer that the things that you do across the very.

The very existence of your life, no matter what it is, leads into another thing and supports you in another area of your life.

So that's interesting that the expression of your genius in one area spills over into another area of your life. So that would say that there's something underneath there that enables you to be a lawyer and be a designer all at the same time and some transferable genius across different types of platforms that you are. Speaking of platforms, tell us a little bit about the different platforms that you have, because I know you have a law platform, but you have a bunch of other things too. So would you describe what some of those other projects and products are?

Absolutely. I have my law firm, Dean Street Law, which is a corporate law firm. And I specialize specialized in negotiating multimillion and multibillion dollar transactions for luxury businesses, small businesses, all the way up to Fortune 15 companies. And then I also have Flourish co working space, where I am now. That was another one of my big leaps that I had starting Flourish co working space. And then I also have an educational platform and really a platform to inspire support others, whether it's sharing what I know about law or business, lifestyle, design, just any of my number of passions.

Yeah, that's really touching. I love the way you spread yourself around. You know, also you were doing tax returns by the time you were five years in the fifth grade.

I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that. No, no.

Or anyone wanted. But you know, that's part of what the question I have for you is. First of all, I jokingly say, so what is it that you don't do?

But the serious question is I'm super curious what you think your purpose and your big why is. What is the question you're asking yourself on an ongoing basis between what you're interested in and what you decide to invest time and energy and build a business around.

I love those questions because they're super nuanced and different in how I approach things. So I really my why of why I do everything is because I feel this strong pool and desire to share what I know to inspire, empower, support and celebrate others. That's my true mission and my why. I really feel like so many of the things I've been through and so much of what I've learned is really calling to be pulled out of me, to share with others. And then what I think to invest my time and energy and resources behind is usually very aligned with that, but also sometimes a little bit different. As Gay has pointed out, I have a lot of true passions and so I'm generally pulled to those true passions, whether they have an immediate impact that I can see or not. Because like I said before, I think that everything I do transfers over to another area of my life. So some of those passions might not have a deep impact. The evening gown that I created, that didn't have a deep impact per se, but I was so drawn to do it. And what it's helped me do is realize that I can dive into something I have no idea about, learn it, be able to hold my own in that area and be able to express my creativity whenever I'm called. So expressing my creativity, creation, creating things and enabling my enables my. Enables me to really share what's on my heart and soul. To share, to support others.

Okay.

Yeah, beautiful. Did you have something else? Yeah, go ahead, Mike.

Yeah, I did. I have one other question which is so when you decide that you're going to start a company, what is always true?

I love that. So when I decide I want to start a company, I have a strong, strong pool for a while. It's not just a passion that's been tugging on my heart for a week or two, it's probably a passion that's been tugging on my heart for months. And if I'm starting a company and it's not just a fun one off project that I do in my life, it's that I see some sort of world value, economic value. Ultimately, I believe that economic value is driven by world value. If you're bringing something of value into the world, you're going to be compensated in some way for it. And so figuring out what that compensation and how those revenue streams are is a process that I think through in terms of building out a company and then of course also building out companies in order to protect myself from liability. So I have a law firm that is separate from my educational platform and building those out separately to protect myself from liability.

I was just reflecting on something too.

One of my back when I was getting my clinical and counseling psychology training was Irving Yalom, who was a psychiatrist famous MD at the Stanford Medical School. And he had a big influence on us. And one of the things he always said, in fact he published a whole book on his failures as a therapist because he felt that you could learn a lot more from your failures than you could from your successes. So with that in mind, have you ever had a spectacular failure of any kind along the way that you had to kind of dig yourself out of? And how did you do that?

Multiple times. And sometimes my greatest failures lead to my greatest leaps and that's been something that I've really learned to appreciate. So although some things may not have an extrinsic value, other things do for instance, when I triple majored in three years, that didn't really have a tremendous extrinsic value. That was me pursuing my desires to study multiple things while I was doing it. In the time that I wanted to spend at college. That was, I would say, a failure in some sense, because when I was going into my first year of law school, I was crying every single day because I so deeply missed the senior year experience of college that I just hadn't accounted for. And I was miserable in law school. I was absolutely miserable in law school. It was very hard for me, not academically, but emotionally and spiritually because I was so used to being in environments that were very supportive and that I was really a leader in. And then I got to law school and there was a lot of professors saying certain things like you're not going to succeed because you don't have grit and whatnot, or business is very different than law. Business is you try to write papers that are the most short, concise pieces to hand over to whoever is reading it. Law is a 15, 20, 75 page, lengthy article. And so there was just a lot of lack of information of how to succeed in law school. And it took me a while to figure out how to succeed and how I particularly could succeed because I think that so much of our success is looking inward at a situation and finding out how we can align our strengths in this situation to come out successful. So, you know, I felt like my first year of law school was a tremendous failure because I was miserable. Most importantly of all, I was so, so miserable. And a lot of that was just, you know, being in an interesting environment. The legal field can be an interesting environment to work on, work in, and it has a lack of support and there's a lot of mental issues, mental health issues that sometimes come up in the legal industry as a result of. So that would be my number one big failure. I would say I did tremendously well in law school, but that doesn't mean that it was easy or that I was able to nurture myself emotionally and spiritually throughout the process. My second, I would say, biggest failure would then be, ironically, becoming a lawyer.

And that's not a failure because I love who I am now. But it definitely, again, took me a very long time for me to find out how I could do it in a way that is consistent with who I am and that feels good from the inside out. Because when I first became a lawyer, I was working 12 plus hour days. I was having panic attacks every day. I felt like I had 400 plus emails coming in a day that I had to respond to. And it was this overwhelm of stress that again, I feel like I don't. It's not necessarily failure, right. But it's at the same time the deepest learning environment of I need to be true to whom I am. I need to be able to do this in a way that's consistent with every part of myself. You know, sending emails with multiple explanation points and truly being able to express myself. A lot of that is really, really, it's really looked down upon, frowned upon in the legal industry. And so trying to show up as your authentic self in a place that a bit behind the times is difficult. So that would be another failure of mine.

You know, another thing that I thought of when you were speaking was your. I don't think you've really mentioned your personal brand on Instagram. You have a really a popular Instagram following and.

Beautiful designs to it. And did you do all that yourself?

Thank you. Yes, it is something that I absolutely love. Again, it is the expression of my creativity. It is creating a space in the world where people can feel empowered, inspired, supported and celebrated and where I can share my visions that I have in the world. I love artistic expression of myself, of my ideas and bringing that into the world through Instagram and hopefully someday magazines and other types of coffee table books and everything. I think Instagram is really just the beginning. It's again a genius seed of where I'm able to nurture my love of creating in the world.

I really appreciate that in an earlier time you'd be a Renaissance woman or how they call people Renaissance men that cover a lot of territory there. Well, what are some of your next big leaps, Laura?

Well, it's been so fantastic. We've been working together for almost a year now, nine months. And I'm so excited that my next big leap is buying my dream farm. It is happening so much sooner than I ever expected. I expected I needed to be a New York Times best selling author and I needed to be at the highest echelon of my success for this to come to fruition. And it's incredible. I believe that every big leap that you take really prepares you for the bigger leaps coming and they continue to just get bigger and bigger and juicier and juicier. And so everything has just fallen into place. And through so much of your guidance and support along the way as well. I'm just so thrilled that this is going to be my next adventure as well as books coming out in the next year. And so, so much more on the horizon.

You're living in Einstein time. It doesn't take as much time anymore as things used to to manifest.

It doesn't. It collapses time. It's incredible.

Yeah, I still find that incredible. Even though I've been living in it for the last 40 years, it still amazes me and delights me every day that that's how the universe works. Well, great. Well, Any other things that you'd like to shed light on or tell us about or anything like that before wrap things up?

I think overall my through lines are connecting deep within yourself to build from one big leap to another. That eternal confidence in yourself that's unshakable. That even through the ups and the downs, you know that you have the wherewithal to take it to the next big leap that you're interested in and you know, gathering people like you to support you in your life and through your journey. Because Gay, thank you so much. You've been a tremendous support along my big leaps and I really, really, truly appreciate it. And Mike, likewise, thank you so much.

Well, you're welcome. And I have to say, listening to you, Gay, asked such great questions today and I think we're very synced. But one thing I noticed that was really interesting is you really understand the language of Gay Hendrix. Both from the big Leap. You're reflecting that back. It's like it's very clear. You've got a Gay Hendrix operating system installed.

And it was really fun to listen to. I only have one more question for you that.

In a way you seem almost too good to be true. Like I listen to you and I'm like, okay, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect. I'm looking for where's the flaw? You know, that's where my brain keeps on going. Because as a business owner entrepreneur, you're always looking for. But I am curious. Not that, but instead inside of all these things that you're doing right now. If you had to focus and pick one thing.

What would it be? What would you feel comfortable and excited about doing if you weren't such a renaissance woman?

It's actually my latest big leap, which has really been working on the educational platform through my personal brand and sharing everything I know. And that took a long time for me to make that big leap. Not just the point where I was quitting my law firm to be able to do that and walking away from multi six figure salary in order to do that, but then continuing that and making that my priority as I've had other things and exciting things and projects come into my life that has and I think will always be my deepest passion and my greatest longevity of projects and passions that I work on. Primarily because one, I feel so drawn to it. It's been what I've been drawn to since I was a teenager at the Miss Pennsylvania USA pageant. My three to describe me are here to inspire. And I came up with that when I was 15. So that was. That's something that's been on my heart for a very long time. And then also I find it the easiest platform for me to be that shape shifter of passion where I can just direct my, my creativity and my powers of creation into multiple different things.

You know, also, Laura, tell us a little bit more about your new program, the Vault.

Absolutely. So the Vault that I have is 247 access to your legal mentor. It's essentially as if you had a personal Google for all of the legal concepts that you need in business. So everything from different types of agreements, intellectual property, real estate, and so much more. And so all of it's in there. It has tons of video lessons also accompanied by glossaries and guides and checklists and everything that you need to be successful in your business. So it's all there in the Vault if you'd like to join.

I love that I hadn't thought of it as the Google of law. That's a very good way to describe it. I went in there and took a look around. Yeah, great hook.

Thank you. Yeah, it's as if you had the person that you trusted and knew for legal advice and weren't just getting it all from Google or from whatever sources and you're not sure if it applies and it's explained thoroughly with tons of supporting materials in it as well.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your successes and some of your failures and things you learned from. One of the things I've really appreciated about you as long as I've known you is how committed you are to learning and how you know you have a budget for it and you put money into it and you put yourself in situations, in highly charged learning situations. And that's a quality I look for in the world because to me, that continuous 247 openness to learning is really what accounts for a lot of the success of being an entrepreneur.

Thank you. I really appreciate that. I couldn't agree more. I think it is truly one of the most important things that you can do for yourself is to invest in opportunities for learning, even if it's as simple as spending time in the Library where I am just absolutely astounded that there are decades, centuries of knowledge packed into just a couple hours of reading or, you know, picking up gay's books and listening to them in the audio as an audiobook on your drive or something, or listening to this podcast. Podcasts have been such an incredible medium for learning and this is such a wonderful one for people to continue to absorb day after day and take those really, those little lessons that add up over time to really help craft your career and your business.

Well, we're going to keep our eye on you, young lady, because we're going to come back and check in with you now and then and find out what other kind of big leap miracles you've created in your life and your work.

Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Yeah, very, very impressed. It's been a pleasure just to dig in, learn about you. And again.

You'Re.

So diverse. That was what I found when I started digging into your content, your material and going to your website, your social platform. It's like, like, what is it she doesn't do?

And how long have you been riding horses? That's one very last question. So I saw a lot of horses on your platform.

Yes, I have two. And they mean the world to me. I've been riding since I was 4 and it's just been an incredible thing in my life for me to continue to go back to who I am, because animals for me have a very calming presence and they ground me a lot as I'm going through these big leaps. I think it's really important to have things in your world that ground you. And being with animals and being with my loved ones, having the support systems I do, and then of course, spending time outside really helped me ground so that as I'm taking these big leaps, they're on really solid foundation.

And she also tends goats too. She has a little flock of goats.

I saw the goat pictures. The only thing that I was confused about is there was a big plate of fresh vegetables and peppers and the goats were not attacking them. They must have been full goats because I've never seen a full goat that doesn't want to get at all the fresh veggies and vegetables. I grew up in Minnesota in farmland, so I was like, well, that seems pretty unusual. And they're unusually clean goats too.

But you know, they do keep themselves very clean. But I will say what you don't see in the photos is that there are muddy paw prints, hoofs, hoof prints on my dress from the goats saying that they want a little snack?

I believe it. That was. But there was just a lot of great photography, a lot of great branding there, so. Well, congratulations. Very impressed. I'll make sure that there are links to your site, all your content, your social in the show notes. Is there anything else that you want to add before we let you go for the day?

Thank you. I just want to thank you both so much for this tremendous opportunity and being a part of this big leap journey with me. I really appreciate it.

Well, sometimes someday you're going to have a podcast with millions of subscribers, and we want to come back on that. Okay.

I would love that. I would absolutely love that. I have the We Grow Together podcast, and I checked it out. Yeah.

Congrats.

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Someday I'll have millions of subscribers and millions of downloads, and you guys will be welcome anytime you'd like.

Thank you. Yeah.

Thanks a ton.

Thank you.