In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews consultant Erica Quigley, who helps entrepreneurs streamline operations, revenue planning, and business systems. Erica shares a personal story of climbing the corporate ladder, overworking, and a severe illness that taught her the importance of balance and not sacrificing happiness for success. She emphasizes a core consulting principle: making oneself obsolete by automating and systematizing tasks so a business can run without the founder’s constant presence. She offers concise business advice—"a minute in planning saves ten minutes of execution"—and reflects on personal philosophy, advising to not take life too seriously and to stop caring about others’ opinions as a key to happiness. Erica recommends two influential books, "Freakonomics" for root‑cause thinking and "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" for the importance of trust, and shares a favorite Mandela quote about living up to one’s potential. The episode concludes with her online presence (ericacue.com and social handles).
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All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Erica Quigley with us. She is a consultant who helps make entrepreneurs' lives a little easier by creating a clear path with operational strategy, revenue planning, and business systems and tools. So welcome to the show.
Thanks so much, Tyler Wagner Wagner, for having me.
Of course, I'm grateful to have you on. So, Erica, the first question we ask on this show is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, for me, my— and it's funny because I was always thinking as I started my business, like, oh, I don't have a story. And then one happened to me And so I was working my way up the corporate ladder for about 10, 11 years. And when I started, I really loved what I was doing, but the further I got into it, it just became this cycle of like, what's the next step? What's the next step? I have to do the next thing, not really considering if that is what I really wanted to do, but it just felt like that was what I was supposed to do. And so starting my own business was outside of the norm for me because it wasn't like the natural next step in my process, but I knew I had to do something different. So I tried to do that along with my career. I ended up, you know, late, you know, lots of late night workings. I had two small kids. I ended up getting really sick because I thought the harder I worked, the more successful I would be. And I attributed that to not sleeping and long hours and trying to be the best mom and the best worker and the best person who could start their business. And I end up in the hospital. For 5 days and then was home recovering for quite a while afterwards. And when that happened, I got to see life from another perspective, from like removing that busyness out of my life. And it made me realize that you don't have to sacrifice your own happiness to make a successful life for your family, because success is what you make of it and you can have both things.
Mm-hmm. No, absolutely. I think that's a big thing. I'm a big fan of Gary Vaynerchuk. Are you familiar with him?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, so like, and I actually interviewed him a couple, it was probably like 2 months ago. And one of the things he actually said on this show was that he kind of wanted to kind of restate like what he means by hustle, right? So, 'cause I think when you watch somebody like him or, and like these other people that are like crushing it, like, you forget that you have to also take care of your health, you know? Because you're just like, oh, well, if Gary can do 16 hours a day, then I can. And it's like, well, you don't know really all behind the scenes of what's going on. Like, he has a health coach that's monitoring him all the time, you know what I mean? So it was cool to hear him say that. And yeah, so I just think that's an important note to say that it is good to put in the long hours, but you also have to obviously take care of your health. Right. So the next one I got for you, thanks for sharing that as well, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
This one is interesting because I think people are going to be like, what are you talking about? So when I'm working with businesses or entrepreneurs, the piece of advice I give them is when we work through is how can I make myself obsolete. And that might seem weird to somebody, especially like a one-person business, and you as one person can't make yourself entirely obsolete. But if you switch your mind frame and you start thinking about what in my business can I make myself obsolete for, then that opens you up to looking at things from another perspective, like what can I automate? What kind of tools can I put in? If I had a family issue and I needed to take tomorrow off? Could I be out of contact for the whole day and it would be okay? Like, would my— would the tools that I have and the systems that I've set up be able to support me for that period? And, you know, particularly in large companies, obviously it's a little easier, but in small business, I think it's, it's extremely important to think the same way. How can I make myself as obsolete as possible, make my business run?
And it could tie in. The next one I got for you is, what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
A minute in planning saves 10 minutes of execution. Plan now and save for having to fix things later.
Yeah, I can agree with that. And the next one I got for you is if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Don't take yourself so seriously, or don't take life so seriously. I always thought it was supposed to be serious. I don't know where I got that from, but like my mom said that when I was born, I was like a little miserable 40-year-old because I didn't know, I didn't like laugh. I remember I was like a flower girl in a wedding when I was 5 or 6 and someone was like, you know, you can smile, this is happy. So I would look back and I would tell myself, please enjoy things. It's not so serious. You're here to have fun.
Hmm, well, that's a perfect leadway into our next one. In your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
To stop caring what people think. The more true you are to yourself and the more you do what you know is right and what you believe in and share what you know, the more that comes back to you in return.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
All right, I couldn't decide, so I have two. I have to give you two.
Okay, that works.
Breaking the rules. The Freakonomics books by Levitt and Dubner. I know that they're really big, and being a problem solver, I really like the root cause of things. And so they, they taught me how to look at things from a different perspective and that things aren't always what they seem. And then early, early in my career, I read a book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, and it is a quick read if anyone on hasn't read it. Patrick Lencioni is a fabulous author, and he writes business books, but in a story format. And that taught me that trust is really foundational. Without trust, you are afraid to create conflict. So you don't bring up when there's problems, you can't get commitment from people or accountability, and therefore you can't get the results you need. And so really, in order to work in a team and in an environment that is going to get results, everybody has to be— trust— has to trust each other, has to have open and honest communication.
Mm, I love it. Well, listen, thank you so much for coming on. I have another one too. What is your favorite quote and why?
There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. And that was Nelson Mandela.
Mm, yes. And where can our audience best find you online?
I'm at ericacue.com, E-R-I-C-A-Q dot com. And my Facebook and Instagram is Erica Cue Biz.
E-R-I-C-A-Q-B-I-Z. Perfect. Thanks again for coming on.
Thanks so much, Tyler. The podcast you just heard was made using Anchor. Ever thought about making your own podcast? Anchor makes it really easy for anyone to get started. It's a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, and distributing podcasts. Best of all, it's 100% free. Sign up now at anchor.fm/new. That's anchor.fm/new to get started.
