What would you do if you lost your six-figure corporate job at 50 years old?
Most people would panic. Most people would scramble to update their resume and start applying for the next corporate gig. And honestly? No one would blame them. But LaShall Dodson did something different. She built a service business from scratch and scaled it to $226,000 in her second year. And she did it by breaking a whole lot of the “rules” along the way.
Y’all, this is one of those stories that’s going to light a fire under you, whether you’re just getting started as a service provider, stuck in the messy middle, or wondering if it’s “too late” for you to build something big. Spoiler: it’s not.
Let me tell you about LaShall, her journey, and the lessons every service provider can take away from her story.
How a Corporate Layoff Became the Best Thing That Ever Happened
LaShall Dodson spent years climbing the corporate ladder at a Fortune 500 company. She was a director of operations, director of privacy and compliance. She was making well over six figures. And then, in January 2024, a merger acquisition happened, and roughly 7,000 employees lost their jobs. LaShall was one of them.
Now here’s the thing. They gave her a solid severance package, which bought her some breathing room. But instead of immediately jumping back into the corporate job search, LaShall took a step back and asked herself: What do I actually want to build?
“I’ve always wanted to build a business, always,” LaShall told me. “And I felt, as a woman who was 50, I was struggling with resumes that I was putting out there. I’m like, no more of this. Let me build what I’ve always wanted to build.”
She officially launched Dedicated Virtual Professional Services on March 4, 2024. And that decision changed everything.
The Messy First Year (and Why It Matters)
Let’s be real for a second. LaShall’s first year was not a fairy tale. She made $34,000 total in 2024, and she’d been going all in since March. For someone who’d been earning well over six figures in corporate, that’s a gut check moment.
And she fell into a trap that so many service providers fall into, especially those coming from corporate backgrounds. She thought she needed everything perfect before she started getting clients. All the systems set up. All the processes documented. All the procedures in place. Sound familiar?
Here’s the hard truth: having everything set up perfectly before you go find clients is the wrong mentality. I know, I know. Everyone tells you that. But you still do it anyway. LaShall did it too. She knew better, and she still did it. That’s how strong that pull is.
The other thing LaShall had to figure out? How to actually find clients. In corporate, the work came to her. She was handed accounts. She managed teams. She fixed problems. But she never had to go out and sell herself. That’s one of the biggest mindset shifts for anyone transitioning from corporate to entrepreneurship. You go from being the expert people come to, to being the expert who has to go find those people.
But here’s what I love about LaShall. She didn’t sit around feeling sorry for herself. She dove into learning. She networked relentlessly. She pushed and pushed and pushed. And by December 2024 into January 2025, things finally started clicking. Referrals started coming in. Partnerships she’d built started paying off.
Scaling to $23K Months (and the Dip That Changed Everything)
By June 2025, LaShall hit $23,000 in a single month. That’s incredible growth from where she started. But then something happened that every service provider needs to hear about.
The very next month, she dropped to $16,000. Then $18,000 the month after that.
This is real life, y’all. Revenue doesn’t just go up in a straight line. And this is exactly the moment where a lot of people either spiral or level up. LaShall chose to level up.
She’d already been in my world, learning about ad management and marketing. She was already delivering ad services to clients. But she knew she needed more guidance, not just on the ads side, but from a business strategy perspective. So in August 2025, she joined Strategist Society.
And here’s the part that makes me want to grab people by the shoulders and shake them. LaShall had been waiting to join. She kept telling herself she needed to hit $20,000 consistently before she could “afford” it. She was putting an arbitrary number on when she was “ready” to invest.
You rarely hit that number and maintain it until AFTER you invest in the right support. There is always something holding you back, and that thing is usually the very problem that a coach or program would help you solve. People say, “I need to get to X before I invest.” But it’s that thinking that keeps them stuck.
I’ve always invested in rooms where I felt like I wasn’t at their level. I’ve always wanted to be the dumbest person in the room, because that’s how you grow. You rise to the standards of the people you surround yourself with.
If you’re on the fence about investing in your business, whether that’s Strategist Society for scaling past $10K months or conversionsforclients.com if you’re just starting out, stop waiting for some magic number. That number isn’t coming until you make the decision to grow.
From $34K to $226K: What Changed After Joining Strategist Society
So let’s talk results. LaShall joined Strategist Society in August 2025. By the end of the year, her business had generated $226,000. That’s going from $34,000 the year before to almost $200,000 more in one year.
And I remember this conversation so vividly. I don’t even think LaShall realized what she had done until she sat down, looked at the numbers, and had that “wait, WHAT?” moment. Her first reaction? “I’m freaking out about taxes.” Which, honestly, is the most relatable thing ever.
And listen, I get asked this all the time: “Brandi, when you say six figures, is that before or after taxes?” Y’all. Get outta your head. Make $120,000, and you’ll land at a hundred thousand. People get so stuck in their heads working these numbers. Here’s my philosophy: the more money I make, the more taxes I pay, and I’m okay with that. I pay a tax bill now that’s more than four times what my entire household income was in 2018, when Austin and I were bringing in $24,000 for the whole year. Two college educations, law school debt, and $24,000 total. So yeah, I’m good with paying more taxes because it means I’m making more money.
LaShall handled the financial growth like a boss. She hired a tax strategist. Got a bookkeeper. Went from an LLC to an S corp. Set up a 401k. She spent December and January getting her financial house in order, and now she’s set for the year and focused on continuing to grow.
Don’t put the cart before the horse. Stop worrying about problems that aren’t problems yet. When you get there, you’ll figure it out, just like LaShall did.
What Actually Moved the Needle
When I asked LaShall what specifically helped her most inside Strategist Society, her answer wasn’t some fancy funnel strategy or complicated marketing tactic. It was two things:
Having someone to bounce ideas off of and hold her accountable.
As a solo business owner, she didn’t have anyone to talk through her business challenges with. When she hit $23K and then dipped, she didn’t have someone to help her figure out how to maintain that number. That’s what changed when she joined.
She also talked about our Standards of Excellence challenges. And I know, I know. When I bring these up, people roll their eyes. These aren’t some hardcore 75 Hard-type challenges. These are cozy, business-building habits that actually move the needle. Things like doing your touch points first thing in the morning instead of saving them for the end of the day (where they never get done). Getting up earlier to have quiet time. Moving your body daily.
LaShall started getting her follow-ups and outreach done first thing every morning. Before that, she was saving them for the end of the day and, shocker, skipping them half the time. That one shift alone impacted her client pipeline.
And I always think of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde: exercise gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy. When we move our bodies, we show up differently in our businesses. It sounds simple because it is. But simple works.
Breaking the Rules and Making It Work
Okay, y’all. I need to tell you about LaShall’s client management system because it makes me want to crawl under a rock, but it also proves an incredibly important point.
LaShall manages approximately 17 monthly retainer clients plus several project-based clients. She has a team of about six people, including her niece, who handles organic social media, her son, who does graphic design, a copywriter with an MBA, a systems specialist in London, and an OBM/VA. She’s running a legitimate agency.
And she tracks everything in Manila folders.
Actual, physical, paper folders on her desk. One for every client. Every time she has a call or works on something, she writes notes on notebook paper and puts them in the folder. And when she travels (which is a lot because her kids play baseball)? She takes ALL the folders with her because she doesn’t know which ones she’ll need.
Y’all. LaShall does $226,000 a year with Manila folders and notebook paper.
If not having the perfect proposal system, invoice template, or project management tool is holding you back from going after clients, this is your permission slip. You do not need to have all the systems set up and in place to be successful. LaShall found what works for her, and she’s leaning into it.
Now, do I have some qualms about this? Yes. I told her straight up that this system might get her to $250K, but I don’t think it’ll get her to a million. What gets us to $30,000 doesn’t get us to $230,000, and what gets us to $230,000 doesn’t get us to $1 million. But right now? It’s not broken. And we’re working on finding her a digital solution that still honors how she likes to work.
She Breaks My Rules and I Love It
Here’s another thing about LaShall that I think is so important for y’all to hear. She breaks a LOT of the Brandi rules. She doesn’t niche down. She works with local businesses making $5 million a year AND online solopreneurs. She serves construction companies, agency owners, course creators, and coaches. She has a full team running an agency model.
Meanwhile, my messaging talks about getting to $30K months without a team. I’m big on niching down. And LaShall is over here doing the opposite and making it work.
I don’t think that approach works for everyone. But it works for her, partly because of the incredible operational background she brings from corporate. And here’s the bigger lesson: just because you don’t agree with every single thing a coach teaches doesn’t mean you can’t work with them. I’ve always said, if I can take even one thing from a program, make my investment back plus some, I’m happy. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
LaShall took what she needed. She used the ads certification. She leaned into the business coaching. She showed up for the accountability. And she left the parts that didn’t fit her model. That’s the smart way to approach any investment in your business.
What You Can Learn from LaShall’s Story
Whether you’re coming from corporate, you’re in your first year of business, or you’re trying to break through to consistent $20K+ months, here’s what LaShall’s journey teaches us:
Your corporate experience is more valuable than you think. So many of my students who come from corporate backgrounds say, “I don’t know anything about running an online business.” But you bring operational skills, leadership experience, systems thinking, and a professional standard that most people in the online space don’t have. Those skills transfer beautifully.
Stop waiting for everything to be perfect before you start. LaShall lost months trying to get all her systems set up before going after clients. The clients come first. The systems evolve.
Invest before you feel ready. LaShall waited to join Strategist Society until she felt like she could “afford” it. But the growth came after the investment, not before. That’s how it almost always works.
You don’t have to fit someone’s exact mold to benefit from their program. Take what serves you. Leave what doesn’t. Be smart about it.
It is never too late. LaShall started her business at 50. She’s building something incredible, and she’s just getting started with a goal of $500,000 next.
Why Women Sharing Their Numbers Matters
One thing LaShall told me is that this was the very first time she had ever publicly shared her business numbers. She’d never felt comfortable doing it before. And I get that. There’s this fear of “people are gonna think I’m bragging.”
But here’s why I will die on this hill: we need more women sharing their numbers because we need more women making more money.
The studies prove it. When women make more money, our children are 80% more likely to thrive because we invest in their education and health. Women donate 60% more to charitable causes than men. When women make more money, we invest in our communities. We literally make the world better.
So it’s not about bragging. It’s about inspiring other women to do the dang thing.
And LaShall, as a woman in her fifties building a business from scratch and crushing it, is proof that your time has not passed. There are so many people who listen and think, “Well, Brandi’s in her thirties. Good for her.” But LaShall is out here saying, no, I’m doing this NOW. And that is so incredibly powerful.
If LaShall’s story inspired you, I’d love to hear about it. DM me on Instagram @brandimowles and tell me your biggest takeaway. And if you’re a service provider ready to scale past $10K months with the coaching, community, and accountability that made such a difference for LaShall, check out Strategist Society. If you’re earlier in your journey and still building your foundation, head to conversionsforclients.com to get started.
Your story isn’t over. It might just be getting started.
This post is based on an episode of the Serve Scale Soar podcast. Tune in for more real stories, real numbers, and real strategies from service providers who are doing the dang thing.
Resources & Links:
DM me “STRATEGIST” on Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandimowles
Ready to scale past $10K months? Learn about Strategist Society: https://thestrategistsociety.com
Just getting started as a service provider? https://conversionsforclients.com
** This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if you use one of the links to purchase. This helps keep the podcast going and I only share products I have used, tested and love.”
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Meet Brandi
Brandi Mowles is the host of the Serve Scale Soar® podcast which is a podcast dedicated to helping service-based entrepreneurs scale their online business to five-figure months so they can soar into six-figure years. Brandi is a wife, mom and in less than one year, created a six-figure business. Now she is spilling all her secrets so you can too.
