Posted Under: Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Today under the “Our Heroes” series I’m talking to Joseph Satto, a former lawyer at a large international law firm who realized that there is so much more to life than working long hours and shuttling to and from the office and quickly after that realization started working on his exit from the corporate world and entry to the world of limitless possibilities – entrepreneurship. After months of hard-work, soul searching, studies, and exploration he finally found a way to achieve his goals and help many others DREAM. PLAN. ACHIEVE. along the way. Let’s talk to him…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

JS: My name is Joseph A. Satto.  I was a corporate lawyer at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, a large international law firm.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

JS: I was leaving the office on a Thursday evening around 1 a.m.  This was not unusual for a corporate associate.  I jumped in a car and rode down Park Avenue towards my home in the West Village.  I remember looking out the window of the car and noticing scenes of people laughing and socializing in various restaurants and bars along the route.  It was precisely at that moment when I decided I wanted to craft a life that allowed me to be out with friends enjoying a drink or a meal and not spending all of my waking hours shuttling to and from the office.  Also, I could never accept that someone else had control of my schedule; I simply wanted the freedom to do what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare yourself for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

JS: I saved enough money so that I could survive for 6 months without a job, and before I gave my notice I was already looking at taking classes in various things that interested me.  I took a photography class at the International Center for Photography and I signed up for a writing workshop and a screenwriting class.  Although I didn’t end up doing any of these professionally, it got the ‘right’ side of my brain working and that is when I came up with the idea for mySomeday.  The initial days/months of a startup can be both exhausting and exhilarating.  When I’m doing something I enjoy, I tend to obsess and get completely wrapped up in the project so it ended up eating a lot of my time.  That said, I was able to set my own schedule and that really gave me a feeling of freedom.

DD: What are your tips to employees who want to be entrepreneurs but are hung up on something?

JS: (1) Take the first step and you will be quite shocked at the amount of momentum that you can get by actually taking action. So instead of talking about what you want to do, just start doing it!

(2) If your business is one that is conducive to partnership, find a suitable partner to shoulder the burden.  I wish I would have had a partner to help share the enormous workload in building an online business.

(3)  While you are taking steps forward, put together a business plan. It will force you to clarify what it is you want to do.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be lengthy; the simple process of writing down the basics will help you lay out a roadmap.

(4) Commit to your idea.  There are always going to be people who are naysayers or that can’t fully understand chasing a goal so you have to be fully committed regardless of their response.  That said, you should seek advice from people in the business that you want to start; it can make a huge difference in the direction you ultimately take.

DD: How are you now? Are you still in the same business, and how do you feel?

JS: The website officially went live on January 1^st, 2010, two years after I took the first step.  We’ve gotten some great coverage and are seeing some good traffic/growth so I am hopeful that the business will continue to grow and we’ll become a real presence on the net.

DD: Wow! Thank you Joseph for sharing your journey from lawyer to entrepreneur with us! It is admirable how you left a successful law firm in order to fulfill your dream and like you said, “craft” a new life that you knew you would be happy with. I wish you the best of luck with mySomeday.

JS: Thank you, Devesh, for understand the importance of personal and professional happiness and for supporting entrepreneurs like me who broke out of the 9 to 5 jail and decided to take action in order to better their lives. I also wish you the best of luck in the future.

DD: Joseph Satto everyone, successful lawyer turned entrepreneur and founder of mySomeday, a goal-achievement platform designed to help you do all the things necessary to turn your goals and dreams into reality. That sounds like heaven for an entrepreneur! Thank you Joseph!