In this episode of Default Profitable, host Matt Nettleton chats with Patrick O'Donnell, a serial entrepreneur who traded a stable corporate career in sales leadership for the unpredictable world of small business ownership. Patrick opens up about his transition from large public companies to launching a fractional sales leadership practice with Sales Xceleration in 2018 and co-owning Barringer's Tavern, a historic spot in South Indianapolis, since 2019. The discussion dives into the mindset shifts required for entrepreneurship, the challenges of juggling multiple ventures, navigating COVID disruptions, and the hard-won lessons from building sales pipelines while managing restaurant operations—all while prioritizing family life in Indianapolis.

Have you ever wondered what hidden skills atrophy after years in corporate America, like realizing no one's delivering your stapler anymore? What does it take to shift from a structured 9-to-5 to the all-encompassing entrepreneurial lifestyle, where delegating turns into doing it all yourself? How do you balance the passion of sales leadership with the gritty realities of restaurant ownership, especially when one feels like a perfect fit and the other... not so much? And what kind of resilience is needed to watch a client struggle to let go of the sales reins, only to see them thrive? Patrick wraps with a humorous self-reflection: after ditching the corporate grind, he often looked in the mirror and congratulated himself on "buying" a full-time job that demands twice the hours for half the security.

Learn more about Patrick O'Donnell and Sales Xceleration and Barringer's Tavern at https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickwodonnell.

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