You never know what can happen, so you’d better be ready when it does.
I’ve been a business owner for 35 years. I’ve started eight businesses, and I sold my first at age 40. Since then, I’ve sold three others.
As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor, it’s no surprise that succession planning has always been a part of my journey. But when I founded my most recent company, Myriad Advisor Solutions, I didn’t expect the transition to happen so soon.
Between 2019 and 2021, life tested me in unimaginable ways. Thankfully, I’d been planning for years.
Many business owners write off succession planning as just a simple buy-sell agreement, but it is so much more than just a document. At the core, it’s about preparing your business to survive and flourish beyond you. The documents are important, yes, but it’s also about building up processes, value, and leadership.
It ensures that when life throws you a curveball — and trust me, it will — the business is prepared to continue running smoothly.
About Those Curveballs… 
I founded Myriad in 2009 and served as its CEO. I also made the decision 16 years ago to start preparing my daughter, Danielle, to take on the responsibilities and challenges of running a company.
In the early days, she started as a marketing and research specialist. Throughout the years, I taught her to navigate the changing tides of business. She learned how to make strategic decisions, manage crises, and lead a company of over 60 employees with integrity and compassion.
I’m so glad we worked on all those aspects of leadership early, because while our journey had its ups… it also had a whole lot of downs.
In June 2019, my brother took his own life. Shortly after, my best friend passed away from ALS. Then came my mother’s leukemia diagnosis. Bad things come in threes, right? Surely, this had to be it. Then came 2020. Well, we all know how that year went.
During the pandemic, I had to steer Myriad through remote operations, downsizing, and a relocation to a larger headquarters. During that period, circumstances forced me to take on the responsibilities of acting director of IT on top of all of my other responsibilities as CEO. Every moment demanded resilience and decisiveness.
Enter more heartbreak. My 14-year-old dog passed away. Immediately following that, about a year after the death of my brother, my mother passed away.
Then the big news: in early 2021, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Succession Planning in Action
My breast cancer diagnosis marked a turning point. My health struggle and the demands of being CEO pulled me in different directions. After decades of dedicating myself to Myriad, I realized it was time to step back.
Stepping down as CEO wasn’t easy. I had poured 70 to 80 hours a week into the company, and over time, that title had become part of my identity. My diagnosis forced me to confront a truth I had always known but never needed to act on until that moment: a company’s long-term strength depends on how well it can function without its founder.
At that point, the true value of succession planning became acutely real. These weren't hypothetical “what-if” scenarios. This was happening in real-time.
Our succession plan wasn’t a document tucked away in a drawer. It was alive in our operations, our culture, and our people. We had been preparing for this moment for years. Everything was in place: leadership structure, all legal and financial documents in order, and a deep understanding of our business’s value and future potential. We had invested in a thorough business valuation, and our systems and automation were designed to keep the company running smoothly, regardless of who held the title of CEO.
None of this was accidental. It was all part of a plan to ensure that the company could withstand the unexpected. When I had to prioritize healing, Danielle pushed the business forward with strength and confidence. That’s the true power of succession planning; it turns what could be a moment of instability into one of continuity and a clear path forward.
If we hadn’t invested years preparing Danielle, empowering her with leadership training and ensuring all our governance documents and operational systems were in place, the company’s stability would have been at serious risk. She knew what it took to lead with heart and grit, because we took the time to teach her.
But it wasn’t just grit that got us through it. Our strategic succession plan allowed the business to thrive even when I had to temporarily jump ship. While I faced surgeries, treatment, and recovery, Danielle was at the helm. She had embraced the challenge, stepping into her role as leader with vision and all the tools necessary to succeed. She didn’t just maintain the business — she led it forward.
Because You Never Know What’s Around the Next Corner
Letting go of the title didn’t mean letting go of the mission or the legacy. I transitioned into the role of CTO, where I could still contribute meaningfully without the weight of everyday leadership.
In doing so, I found balance. I discovered new interests, new joys, and most importantly, the peace of knowing that my life’s work was in good hands. Watching my daughter thrive in a role we had prepared for together brought me a sense of pride and fulfillment I never imagined.
Succession planning isn’t just for when you’re ready to retire. It’s for the moments when life throws the unexpected at you. It’s about building something that lasts beyond you — something strong enough to weather any storm. The whole reason that we added Certified Exit Planning services to our service menu at Myriad, is because I learned first-hand how vital it was to be prepared for the unexpected.
Start your succession planning now, not later. Hire a Certified Exit Planning Advisor, someone who can help you navigate those waters. Sometimes, life will throw something your way — hopefully nothing like an accident or illness, but something will eventually shift — and you’ll need to be ready. You owe it to your business…and to yourself.
Myriad Advisor Solutions and TradePMR are unaffiliated companies.