Most women founders never sell the business they built. Alisha Pennington wants to change that, and she says the block is not financial literacy. It is identity.
In this episode, I sit down with Alisha Pennington, founder of Exette and a consultant who scaled and sold her own multi-seven-figure staffing agency. Only about 1% of female founders ever exit, and Alisha breaks down why: a lack of women we can point to who have done it, and the emotional attachment that keeps us holding on long after the business stops serving us.
We get into the idea that your business is an asset, not your baby. We talk about building for optionality from day one, what "be ready so you don't have to get ready" actually looks like, and her vision for women buying and selling businesses to each other instead of letting them quietly disappear.
If you are building toward a million and wondering what comes after, this one is worth your time.
Chapters:
🎙️ 00:52 Meet Alisha Pennington, the founder helping women exit the businesses they built
📊 02:16 Why only 1% of women founders exit, and the 68% who stay for emotional reasons
💭 04:45 How women tie their worth to output, and why that keeps them holding on
🍼 06:36 Your business is not your baby: making logical decisions about an asset
🔁 12:01 The marketplace women are missing: buying and selling businesses to each other
⏱️ 24:32 Be ready so you don't have to get ready: building for optionality from day one
🚪 28:00 Why Alisha sold a multi-seven-figure agency when it stopped being fun
💬 37:06 Inside Exette and the free community normalizing the exit conversation
Links:
Website: penningtonperspective.com (https://penningtonperspective.com)
LinkedIn: Alisha Pennington (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisha-m-pennington/)
Instagram: @itsalishamp (https://www.instagram.com/itsalishamp)
Facebook: @itsalishamp (https://www.facebook.com/itsalishamp/)
Connect with Alisha Pennington to learn more about preparing to exit, sell, or evolve beyond your business, and join her free Exette community at exette.co (https://exette.co) where women are normalizing the exit conversation every week.
Thank you to our podcast sponsor
Go From Expert to Thought Leader with the Genius Discovery Program.
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XO
Adrienne
• (00:52) - 🎙️ Meet Alisha Pennington, the founder helping women exit the businesses they built
• (02:16) - 📊 Why only 1% of women founders exit, and the 68% who stay for emotional reasons
• (04:45) - 💭 How women tie their worth to output, and why that keeps them holding on
• (06:36) - 🍼 Your business is not your baby: making logical decisions about an asset
• (12:01) - 🔁 The marketplace women are missing: buying and selling businesses to each other
• (24:32) - ⏱️ Be ready so you don't have to get ready: building for optionality from day one
• (28:00) - 🚪 Why Alisha sold a multi-seven-figure agency when it stopped being fun
• (37:06) - 💬 Inside Exette and the free community normalizing the exit conversation
