Making Something From Nothing: Dawn Fleming Of Overseas Life Redesign On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dawn Fleming.
Dawn Fleming has literally been there and done that, and is now living her very best life. With her husband Tom, she owns and operates Overseas Life Redesign, a global coaching and consulting company that encourages others to discover their dreams and turn them into reality just like she did. Her podcast shares success stories of international retirement as well as advice for listeners seeking to leave their comfort zone and experience life abroad.
Dawn and Tom began their own traveling lifestyle in 2010 when they sailed the Panama Canal from California to Florida and later relocated to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Originally from Minnesota, Dawn began her career in real estate with success in many facets of the industry. She graduated from Western State University College of Law and specialized in international business transactions as a licensed California attorney. She finally found her calling for two decades as a mentor to thousands of entrepreneurs, coaching them through the growth of their home-based businesses before establishing Overseas Life Redesign.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I grew up in the Minneapolis Metropolitan Area and was the first person in my entire family to go to college. My mom was a secretary and dad dropped out of high school and went into the Army. My parents married young, mom was 19 when she had me. They seemed to always struggle financially and I became determined not to live that way. When I was a junior in high school my dad lost his construction company and my parents filed bankruptcy. I have two younger brothers, one is nine years younger, the other is sixteen years younger than me. I actually loaned my parents money when I was in college so they could buy groceries. I am happy to report both brothers also finished college. My brother John is a high school science teacher with a masters degree. David has a successful career in the technology sector. I helped raise them and like to think I’ve had a positive influence on both of them.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life challenges are gifts from God, they just come in rotten wrappers.” This is a quote from a very influential mentor. Unfortunately he passed away from cancer at age 44, but stayed positive until the very end. He believed in me and my potential more than I did. I’m not sure would have been as successful without his influence.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Yes, Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki changed my life. It helped me realize that being an attorney would never provide me with the lifestyle I wanted. I remember hearing Robert speak at my first direct sales convention. He explained the difference between what the rich teach kids about making money and how that is different from the the poor and middle class. At the time, I was really MAD that no one had ever explained this to me. How did I get a college degree and a law degree and not ever learn that important information? It was a light bulb moment that truly changed my life. That was in April of 2003, by the end of that year I closed down my law practice and I have never looked back. It is why we have the lifestyle we do now.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
As a former business attorney, I can say good ideas are a dime a dozen. It take A LOT of hard work, dedication, perseverance and patience to create a successful business. Most people quit before they have success because it is hard. I’ve had much success in the direct sales/network marketing field. I like the industry for a couple of reasons: 1. Low capital investment, it doesn’t take much money to start a business like this so there is a low barrier to entry. It is a sweat equity business, and frankly the epitome of a “something from nothing” business. Most of the time companies have good training programs and they are free. Distributors have mentors and coaches who are financially incentivized to help new distributors succeed.
There are a few things I don’t like. The industry has a low success rate which gives the business a bad rap. I’ve heard time and time again from those I’ve worked over two decades, is appreciation for the training, experience and support — even if they were not as financially successful as they hoped. With the foundation of the knowledge they learned, many went on to other businesses and had massive success. It is a great training ground for basic entrepreneur skills. I always used to say that if you’ve never been in business before, join a direct sales company. Why? Because if you can’t market and sell, then you have no business starting a business! Instead of investing capital into a business idea, go learn this vital skill with the only investment being your time. People think nothing of investing huge sums in traditional education and getting degree. Why not invest your time into a more practical education and gain useful skills?
Outside of the direct ales industry, my husband and I have both started businesses due to buyer demand. In other words, a need presented itself and we said “I think there may be a market for this”. If you start with what people are looking for and already buying you greatly increase the likelihood of success with the business.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
That is so easy now! When I started my career I had to go to the library or SBA (Small Business Administration) to do market research. The internet puts a world of information at our finger tips. Learn how to be a good researcher and there is more information than you’ll possibly need to make smart decisions. The next skill is critical thinking, you must be able to make sense of the information that you find. If you encounter someone who has gone to market with you idea, that’s great! It usually means there ARE BUYERS for it. The next question is “how can I do it better?” It there a gap in what is being offered? Could it be customized for specific niches? Who is their target market? I believe there is plenty of business for everyone. Perhaps you can collaborate.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
It sounds like you are ask about starting a traditional brick and mortar with physical products or an ecommerce business? I think those are actually some of the hardest businesses to start and have success with. I’m a fan of information and service business. They are much easier and less costly to launch and operate. The reality is patents are EXTREMELY expensive and very time consuming to obtain. The person who makes the money is the patent attorney. According to AllBusiness 97% of patents NEVER MAKE MONEY. As a former business attorney, I have to say that’s about right. With Covid, big companies were allowed to stay open. Traditional small businesses got wiped out, with nearly 1/3 of them gone. In contrast many online businesses saw their business growth sky rocket. I would not encourage someone to start a traditional business at this time. Ecommerce is very popular but it is also highly competitive. There is a steep learning curve and the traits I mentioned earlier are required to have success
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Not everyone thinks the way you do.
- Most people are not self-motivated to achieve their goals.
- The greatest obstacle to success is between your two ears.
- Failure is not fatal, rather it is a necessary ingredient for success.
- If it’s not FUN, don’t do it!
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
The first step is to research whether it or something similar already exists or has been patented. If not, will people pay money to buy it? How involved is the manufacturing process? How expensive is it to ship, is it heavy? Gather as much data as possible to research the market. Create a budget with cash flow projections.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
I do not have an opinion about this, as I am not familiar with invention development consultants.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
In my opinion, bootstrapping is the only way to grow. As I said previously, if you start with something people already want or are buying then you can generate revenue immediately. Revenue first, then scale up the business. Doing so allows you to reinvest the profits and grow the business organically. Unless it is technology, I’d recommend staying far away from Vulture Capitalists. Otherwise you may end up with unwanted partners and owning only a fraction of your business.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
We invested in Mexican real estate in 2016 to diversify our income. We got wiped out financially in 2008 and it took us 6 years to recover. In 2011, I was invited to join a direct sales start up company in the anti-aging space. I was working on another start up business at the time, but saw huge potential with the direct sales company. I got started, with virtually no capital investment and generate over $1 million dollars in 6 years working from home on a part time basis. More importantly, that business allowed me to train, coach and mentor thousands of entrepreneurs at no charge. While I was compensated well by the company, the people I mentored didn’t need to pay me!
When we were ready to invest in real estate again, we passed on the United States. We move to Mexico a year later and have never looked back. My Overseas Life Redesign business grew out of demand from other Americans and Canadians wanting to know how they could move and invest overseas too. My book, Claim Your Dream Life was written to offer hope and inspire others to live their best life. There are many people who can’t afford to retire due to the high cost of living. Moving to “Paradise” (however you define it) is in fact an affordable and attainable option.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Actually, I am working on that! Our mission is to help people live a life of joy, gratitude and abundance. Love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life! Fun is an essential ingredient.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I’d love to meet Richard Branson.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Dawn Fleming Of Overseas Life Redesign On How To Go From Idea To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
