We Cashed Out Our 401Ks To Build A Profitable Civil Engineering And Consulting Firm
My name is Iris Leia Lorelle and I founded CAPITAL Engineering & Consulting, LLC, an all-remote, exceptional civil engineering and consulting firm, in 2013, and Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC, a coaching, yoga teaching, blogging, and mixed media art endeavor, in 2022.
CAPITAL Engineering’s customers are mostly architects who include us on their design teams, as well as developers, with end clients being K-12 or higher education institutions, municipalities, and public agencies.
Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC, customers are those who know they want to change their lives but feel stuck and don’t know where to start, as well as those who love slow-paced Hatha-Vinyasa fusion yoga asana practice. I write a blog, as part of this business, about personal growth, occasionally infused with current events. My first mixed media art show is coming up next March 2023. And workshops and retreats are in the works!
I was terrified when I started CAPITAL, financing myself along the way with my 401k. Not ideal, but continuing to work at my previous firm was not a healthy option. Colleagues said things to me like, “No one will take you seriously without a brick-and-mortar office.” I didn’t believe them and built and grew the business consistently, with profitability within our first year.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
CAPITAL has been profitable ever since our first full year of business (2014) and we are so grateful.
For CAPITAL Engineering, it was a way to escape a toxic work environment while using the well-developed skills I already had. I was driven by fear then. Working in the architectural, engineering, and construction industries was all I knew, so it was a means of survival. It didn’t feel like I had a choice.
I wrote a business plan. I met with numerous banks, attempting to obtain a $20,000 start-up loan. Even though we had enough collateral to cover the $20,000 and then some, and we had been working in the industry for decades, they all said no. They did tell us this is how banks work: They don’t want to loan money in the beginning, but after the business was successful, they’d be contacting us to loan us money. (I have found this to be true.)
Eventually, a lovely non-profit, Craft3 (https://www.craft3.org/), granted us the loan we needed primarily for hardware and software expenses. We were also contending with a non-solicitation agreement with our previous firm and worked with legal counsel to ensure we were pursuing clients and projects as allowed by the agreement. Nonetheless, our previous employer pursued us legally but since we were following the agreement, nothing came of it. But it certainly added to the stress of starting a new business. We overcame all the obstacles and, almost ten years later, CAPITAL is a thriving and healthy firm.
But you may know the saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.” Well, building a successful civil engineering firm from the ground up didn’t save me from myself. At the end of 2016, the other founding member and I split the business as I was in the midst of a breakdown, also known as my dark night of the soul. I was starting to wake up to the fact that I wasn’t living MY life. I was still trying to please my parents through constant achievement. I was facing serious burnout and needed to make a change.
I started working with an executive coach, who helped me understand that my previous work environment was abusive. I later figured out through therapy that I was simply recreating my family of origin dynamics. But once I became aware of these things, I had the power to change them. So I did!
I committed myself to a daily meditation and asana practice, and began reading self-help books, trying to understand why I was in so much physical, mental, and emotional pain, and still dealing with suicidal ideation. After three years, I hit a wall. Things had improved a little, but all the crying and processing of repressed pain and grief wasn’t providing the relief I so desperately needed.
With unattuned primary caregivers, I learned in childhood that no one is to be trusted, or available to help me, so it was devastatingly difficult to reach out for help. But once I hit that wall, it was either to give in to the suicidal ideation or ask for help. I found a wonderful therapist who continues to help me unpack and heal my complex trauma.
The experience with my executive coach stuck with me. She was the first person who saw me and was able to listen to hear me and not just respond. That was powerful, and I realized I want to be that person for others. So, I researched coaching training programs and found one that fit me well because its basis is belief in others’ abilities to know what is true and right for them. And now, I get the profound gift of joining my clients on their discovery journeys back to their authentic selves. This was the dawn of Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC.
Eventually, I would go through yoga teacher training, change my first, middle, and last names, and start creating mixed media art. My income from CAPITAL Engineering currently funds my Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC, adventures. And the grand life experiment continues!
Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.
Outsource everything possible and be judicious with your time because it’s your most limited resource.
Since CAPITAL Engineering is a consulting firm, we have a service product. Our early days consisted of developing marketing materials and reaching out to potential clients. It was also important to create relationships with financial, legal, and accounting advisors. Understanding the tasks I would do vs. the tasks I would outsource or hire an employee to do was critical.
Learning to trust myself to trust others was so important because it allowed me to delegate and free up my time for the things I was best at and needed to prioritize as a business owner, such as marketing, proposal writing, project oversight, and managing the business.
For example, instead of buying a large format plotter, we outsource printing services. Instead of running errands or making deliveries, we hire a courier service. Instead of using my time to track accounts payable, accounts receivable, and invoices, we hired a fractional accounting service.
Instead of spending my time on drafting, we hire other engineers to do this work. Instead of developing the website, we hired a web developer. If someone else can do it - and better - we let them.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Screenshot from www.CAPITALEngineering.co.
First, we met with legal counsel to understand the parameters of the non-solicitation agreement with our previous firm. Then we met with accounting and tax advisors; all the while, meeting feverishly with potential clients, letting folks know we had started a new firm and reassuring them that we can handle any project they may offer us. We felt confident in our abilities to do the project work, but we underestimated that clients would take some time to learn to trust us on our own, separate from our previous firm.
We kept at it and within three months, we had our first project; a pretty big one, too! From that point, CAPITAL became a well-oiled machine, building its solid reputation one project at a time. Clients realized we were still the awesome people and engineers they could trust with their projects, word-of-mouth grew, and so did our website referrals. And projects keep rolling in!
As mentioned above, the business was financed with a $20,000 loan from Craft3. We had minimal start-up expenses for the business, but our biggest expense was paying our personal bills while building CAPITAL.
To do so, we cashed out our 401k’s. Even though it was unfortunate to have to clean out those built-up retirement funds, I wouldn’t change a thing. That money allowed me to break free from a toxic work environment and create my freedom. Best money ever spent.
The biggest lessons learned are:
- Don’t listen to the naysayers. If you have a vision and want to do something, go for it! This is the heart of visionary work. No one or very few have done it before. So, let your heart lead the way. It never lies.
- Outsource everything possible and be judicious with your time because it’s your most limited resource.
- If you haven’t already, start therapy because we bring all of our issues wherever we go. The biggest one that held me back was an inability to trust people and doing the difficult work of facing my trauma helped me with that. If it were up to me, everyone (yes, everyone) would have a gifted therapist and see them regularly. Having someone witness us, listen with a trained ear, and hold space for our human messiness is invaluable and can positively impact every corner of our lives.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
I’ve done all the things for marketing, connection, outreach, and philanthropy: Attended a ridiculous number of industry events, joined boards and chaired committees, and met with prospective clients exhaustively, but the things that have had the greatest impact on CAPITAL’s growth, client retention, and attracting new clients, is continuously doing great work and doing that work with integrity. This means looking out for our clients and advocating for them wholeheartedly.
I’ve also learned to ask for what I want since I no longer carry the belief that I can’t ask for help. So, when our workload tail looks like it may be starting to dwindle, I take a proactive and intentional approach to seek additional work. I contact beloved clients and simply let them know we can take on additional work and ask if they have anything coming up.
This has consistently been a successful approach. There have always been a handful of new projects that come our way when I do this. And what I love most about this approach is that I’m asking folks we love working with, so we’re excited about any project they may have for us. Over the years, folks have often asked me what types of projects do I like best. I have learned that it’s less about the project and more about enjoying who we work with.
We have a Facebook page (CAPITAL Engineering & Consulting, LLC - Home | Facebook) and a LinkedIn page (CAPITAL Engineering & Consulting, LLC | LinkedIn), but I can’t say we’ve ever had a client find us this way. And we’ve never run a social media ad. We don’t have other social media presence. Our clients have said they like working with us, our communication is top notch, and we meet deadlines, so they come back. Many new clients have said they found us through our website.
With Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC, I’m letting that grow more organically to see the type of people I naturally attract. CAPITAL is my bread and butter, so it gets the lion’s share of my attention.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
CAPITAL has been profitable ever since our first full year of business (2014) and we are so grateful. As previously mentioned, we have let our great work, ethics, and client care speak for us, and we have been rewarded with continued work.
CAPITAL seems to run just right with two to three licensed engineers, with some assistance from a part-time designer or two, as well as a couple of part-time administrative assistants. I used to be focused on continued growth but when I ran the numbers, I realized the growth was just so I could say CAPITAL was bigger and continuing to grow. But with where we’re at now, it’s this sweet spot of several employees and revenue.
And at the size we are now, we can handle really large projects, as well as still help folks with one-off tinier projects, which a larger firm may not be able to afford to help. So, we’ve struck a great balance. Growth doesn’t always mean more or bigger. Sometimes growth means learning when enough is enough or how to improve things.
Short-term and long-term goals are the same: Keep doing great work, continue serving our clients the absolute best we can, and continue dialing in our work and design processes to streamline our efforts, to be as efficient as possible.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
I’ve mentioned some of these already but it never hurts to see them again:
- Outsource, outsource, outsource. I can’t say this enough. If it’s not your expertise or sweet spot, have someone else do it.
- Wherever we go, there we are. If we don’t tend to our internal world and trauma, it will show up at work. For me, it showed up as narcissists being attracted to working with me because I had poor boundaries. And narcissists were normalized for me in childhood because of my mother and her unhealed wounds, which were projected onto me. So, these types of clients seemed “normal” and just like how business works. This is where therapy came in. By dealing with my wounding, I learned to set boundaries, and stopped attracting narcissists, and my work life and personal life become more peaceful.
- Self-care isn’t optional. When we take exquisite care of ourselves, we can take exquisite care of others; and they feel it. So whatever self-care looks like for you, please do it.
- And last but not least, TRUST YOUR GUT. It’s always telling you the truth. If it’s not a ‘hell yes’, it’s a ‘hell no’.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
For CAPITAL, our primary tools are AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bluebeam Revu, Zoom, and Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel. And as mentioned previously, we have a nicely developed website, as well as Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Whenever I get a call from a new client, I always ask how they heard about us, and 99% of the time, it’s through word-of-mouth referral or a Google search that finds our website.
For Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC, my personal Facebook and Instagram (content on YouTube channel coming!) and my website contain everything. It’s my grand experiment of showing up as 100% my authentic self. My profiles are public. I don’t have anything to hide. Who I am at CAPITAL is who I am at Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC, as well as in my personal life. My life’s work is showing up as my fully integrated self, so that others may also feel empowered to be all of who they are.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
I feel like I’m belaboring the personal growth angle but, truly, that has been the most monumental thing I have done in my life that has had the biggest impact on how I show up at work and in life, in general, and how I connect with clients. For this reason, I recommend, to anyone who will listen, the book “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk. That book changed my life.
I also love all of Brene Brown’s books. Her “Daring to Lead” is a must read (and implement) for business owners and professionals.
Where can we go to learn more?
For CAPITAL Engineering & Consulting, LLC:
- Website
- I was interviewed recently by the Engineering Management Institute: Youtube
- Reach me at Email
For Iris Leia Lorelle, LLC:
Blog posts can be found here: Blog
Coaching and yoga teaching content coming soon!
My website developer is currently working on adding a web page and shopping cart for my mixed media art, so that is coming soon, too!
Content on YouTube channel coming soon! Youtube
Reach me at Email
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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