Are you an overachieving director, VP, or enterprise leader sitting on specialized market knowledge, wondering how to transition your corporate reps into a lifestyle-focused firm that serves you and your family first?

In this transparent guest conversation, host Billy Keels sits down with Stephen Slater—former city planner, Verizon corporate real estate manager, and founder of Blue Croix. Stephen shares his unique trajectory of walking away from a fast-track corporate career right after receiving an employer-funded MBA, relying on raw intuition, naivety, and a clear understanding of his own risk tolerance. Discover how Stephen built a high-margin, low-volume consulting firm by creating specialized cash-flow solutions for major telecommunications giants, why "it's not what you make, it's what you keep," and how to structure a business designed specifically to support your life choices rather than relentless, unnecessary headcount scale.

🚀 Want to make your corporate role optional? Grab your FREE copy of Billy's 3-Step Process eBook here: https://www.makeitoptional.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p2olm

📌 Questions Answered in This Episode:

• How do you evaluate your personal propensity for risk before stepping off the corporate fast track?
  
  
• What does it look like to build a high-margin, niche consulting business that services enterprise telco giants on your own terms?
  
  
• Why is "it's not what you make, it's what you keep" the ultimate financial mantra for independent enterprise consultants?
  
  
• How do you leverage your corporate network while maintaining genuine, long-term professional relationships?
  
  
• What is the "Protean Corporation" structure, and how does it allow you to scale fluid teams up and down per project?
  
  

⏱️ Episode Chapters:

• 00:00 - Broadcast Recording Setup: Thursday, July 30, 2026, with Stephen Slater
   
• 00:30 - Public to Private Sector: Managing $7 Billion Real Estate Operations
  
  
• 02:45 - Walking Off the Fast Track: Risk Tolerance, Intuition, and Partner Support
  
  
• 07:15 - Testing the Water: Creating a Cash Flow Model on Vacation Days
  
  
• 11:20 - Unfiltered Networking Truths: What Happens to Corporate Relationships When the Title Changes
  
  
• 14:05 - Designing a Niche Business: Choosing High Margins over Mass Scale
  
  
• 18:10 - Lifestyle Architecture: Building a Business That Serves Your Family and Time
  
  
• 22:15 - Recovering Hidden Assets: How Blue Croix Solves Complex Zoning and Permitting
   
• 26:40 - Corporate Skill Transferability: What You Learn vs. What You Keep
  
  
• 30:10 - Fluid Team Building: Leveraging Trusted Vendor Networks Across Decades
  
  
• 33:20 - Working Remotely for 25 Years: Selective Project Execution
  
  
• 37:15 - The Power of Now: Focusing on What You Have in the Trough
   
• 40:30 - Connecting with Stephen Slater and Blue Croix
  
  

📘 About Billy Keels & Corporate Optionality

If you're a corporate executive who wants to make your role optional, learn how to achieve true control over your career and turn your corporate skills into personal assets.

With 26 years of experience in corporate sales leadership, Billy Keels achieved true optionality through multiple income streams. Today, he has helped dozens of executives build a predictable path to take control of their time and start living their ideal day.

This free ebook gives you everything you need to identify, plan, and take control of your career while building financial optionality, leveraging your skills, and starting to live your IDEAL day - today!

• Get the Free eBook: https://www.makeitoptional.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p2olm
• How to Leave a Review for The Going Long Podcast: https://youtu.be/qfRqLVcf8UI

Be sure to connect with Billy:

• Website: https://www.billykeels.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@billykeels
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billykeels
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billykeels
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BillyKeelsFanPage
• Twitter/X: https://www.twitter.com/billykeels

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