Pivot or Stay? Employee to Founder ft. Les Alfred cover art

Pivot or Stay? Employee to Founder ft. Les Alfred

Pivot or Stay? Employee to Founder ft. Les Alfred

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Nobody told you there was a word for the person who thinks like a founder but does not necessarily want to own the whole thing. That word is intrapreneur — and this episode might change how you see your options.

Host Nicole Russell-Wharton sits down with Les Alfred - podcast host, media entrepreneur, angel investor and wellness expert. Les talks about what it actually looks like to pivot, build, and bet on yourself. In this episode, she sits down with Nicole to get real about what building a life you actually want looks like — the pivots, the pressure, the setbacks, and the slow build that most people don't talk about. She shares how she taught herself to podcast in a week, and why she believes luck isn't something that happens to you it's something you create. If you've ever felt behind, lost, or like everyone else has a plan except you, this episode is for you.

In this episode:
  • Why your 20s are supposed to feel uncertain (and what to do with that)
  • The difference between being lucky and creating your luck
  • Why entrepreneurship isn't the only path — and what to do if it's not yours
  • How she went from googling "what is a podcast" to millions of downloads
  • The AI tools she swears by (and the one thing she'll never hand off to AI)
  • What she wishes someone told her when she was your age
Key Moments
  • 05:00 Les talks about sitting in a corporate office as an intern, bored out of her mind, and just assuming that was her future. If you've ever felt stuck in a path you didn't choose, this one hits.
  • 06:30 Les gets honest about being a first-gen college student with zero entrepreneurial role models. She didn't even know creating your own job was an option until she stumbled onto it.
  • 07:47 A real question submitted by a young cohort member. Les's answer is honest and reframes everything — life doesn't get easier, we get better.
  • 10:55 What luck actually means. Les breaks down how people use "she's just lucky" to dismiss women who work hard. Her take: every lucky thing that happened to her had a specific decision behind it that put her in position to receive it. Luck isn't random — you build it.
  • 13:55 Les stops mid-conversation to look straight into the lens and tell you: entrepreneurship is not the only path, and if it's not for you, that is completely okay. No guilt, no shame. Just honesty.
  • 17:34 Les talks about the top 3 tools she uses to support her business.
  • 22:15 During a rapid fire, Les says the thing young women building something need to stop doing is overthinking and looking for a perfect answer outside of themselves. You learn by doing, not by waiting until everything is perfectly lined up.
  • 23:01 Les talks about the pressure to have a perfect plan. She talks about making the best decision you can with what you have right now, and that's enough.


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Connect with Les Afred:
https://www.shessoluckypodcast.com/
She's So Lucky Podcast on IG
She's So Lucky Pod on Tiktok

A Podcast Presented by Precious Dreams Foundation
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