It’s Never Too Late To Start Your FIRE Journey — How Dr. Regina Lark Went From Laid Off At Age 50 To 7-Figure Entrepreneur

In 2008, Dr. Regina Lark was laid off from her role as Director of the extension program at UCLA. A PhD in women’s history, Lark had worked in the university system since she graduated and was 50 years old when she was laid off. Yet, instead of finding another role in academia, Lark founded A Clear Path, a professional organizing firm based in Los Angeles, which now has 13 employees, seven figures in revenue and 15 years in business.

I love Lark’s story as a real-life example of a late-career pivot. Too many late-career professionals assume there’s an expiration date on changing careers.

I also love Lark’s story for what it implies about the journey to financial independence. It’s never too late — Lark was 50 when she started her business.

Furthermore, the “big money” isn’t only reserved for certain fields — Lark tapped into her natural affinity and talent for organizing and created a business with over a million in revenues.

How did she do it?

Costa Rica FIRE: You transitioned from academia to 7-figure business owner. Why did you decide to go into business rather than find another academic job?

Dr. Regina Lark: In June 2008, I vacationed at the home of my good friend in Jerusalem. One day, rather than another day of touring, I asked my friend if it would be okay for me to “de-clutter and organize” her kitchen. And she let me do what I know how to do… and we had a good result.

One week later, back at my desk job at a major research university – I learned that my academic unit was being dismantled and that my director position would be eliminated. Nine days later, I was unemployed. Back on the job market, I pounded the academic pavements – applying for positions in Los Angeles and Dubai. But the recession was well underway and no jobs were forthcoming.

Two months into my layoff, and because of my experience de-cluttering and organizing my friend’s kitchen, I told my roommate that I would start organizing until something better comes along.

That was fifteen years ago; now I have built a thriving business employing 13 people, consistently selling in the 7-figures, and helping thousands of people.

Costa Rica FIRE: A lot of my readers are aspiring career-changers, what helped you the most in your transition? Was there something from your previous career you used in your new business? Was there something you needed to unlearn from your previous career?

Lark:  In my late teens, I worked as an aide in a skilled nursing facility, working mostly with older adults in various stages of incapacity. And I did my doctoral research on marriages between Japanese women and American soldiers. As such, conducted dozens of interviews with individuals and couples in their late 70s and 80s. So I believe that I have long had an affinity for older adults.

And the Ph.D. now can stand for “Piled Higher and Deeper”

Costa Rica FIRE: What gave you the confidence that you could change careers after decades doing something else?

Lark:  I am wired to have confidence. Completing my PhD was a huge undertaking and I HAD TO FINISH so I needed the confidence I could do that.

Starting a business… that would actually support me? Honestly, I thought I would soon be hired again and so I didn’t really think about having the confidence per se. As well, I couldn’t figure out how the heck to “do” a home-based business – how do people even find out about me? As I tell people, “I had to eat,” and so I came up with everything I could think of to make that happen.

I’m scrappy, fearless, and hard-working and acted on nearly every idea that hit my brain – I became a flinger of these ideas – I put myself out on “Groupon” [helped me learn my chops]; I looked for every $5 and $10 networking breakfast I could find.

I read the book, “Think and Grow Rich” and then read it again, and, because I had to eat… I developed a plan to host a “Meet-Up” and teach the book which reinforced the mindset. I managed to find free meeting space at a space where I started networking. The other book, I read to uplift and elevate my mindset: Louise Hay, “You Can Heal Your Life.” Both of these books shaped my thinking in ways that, 15 years later, continue to have a profound effect on my thoughts, and on my actions.

Costa Rica FIRE: What resources did you use to launch (e.g., took a class, got a certification, read books, mastermind, coach)?

Lark:  My only resource was my brain, and the fact that I had to eat. The story about how I started includes looking through the Internet to see if I could find someone in my zip code who worked as an organizer. The first person to come up in my search was known to my roommate but knew her in a completely different capacity. Looking at this organizer’s website I noted that she had a PhD in electrical and electronic engineering and I thought, “Wow, organizers are smart people.”

My roommate reached out to Katherine who invited us to dinner, and then she hired me as an assistant for a couple of jobs. On those jobs I understood that people will pay someone to help them get organized. And so, I just started.

In my first year, doing this work, I noticed that I needed more information to work with clients who had what I call major clutter challenges. And so it was a couple of years into my work that I availed myself to The Institute for Challenging Disorganization – enrolled in a lot of coursework, training, and earning certifications to work with people with brain-based conditions, e.g., ADHD, depression, anxiety, and neurological challenges. All of these conditions impact the part of the brain that keep us on task and on time [among other things].

The significance of taking this training is that it put me ahead of the herd, so to speak. And I became one of the few organizing companies in my area that could advertise these certifications, which I believe contributed greatly to my success.

Costa Rica FIRE: How did you get your first clients? How did you message the academia to organization transition (or did you not mention your previous career)?

Lark:  Since I had no clue how to find clients, especially finding clients from my kitchen table, and given the fact that I created business cards that showed me as an expert in Boomer and Senior downsizing [recall my interviews with elderly Japanese war brides], I knew I needed to find people who worked with the older adult population.

So, in my very first email with my new email address, I looked up people, companies, any concern that I could find that showed that they worked with older adults. I put all of the email addresses into the BCC line with this subject heading, “A Clear Path is Growing!”

The body of the letter had something like, “It’s good to be back in touch! I’m writing to let you know that A Clear Path has expanded their scope of services to include Boomer and Senior downsizing.” I got a call right away! And was invited to a networking meeting where I started building my chops.

Interestingly, when I met the woman who invited me to that first networking meeting, I handed her my business card, and as she was looking at it, she said, “Oh, do you have a degree in organizing?” To which I replied, “I don’t know if there are degrees in organizing, I finished a PhD a few years ago, in women’s history.” She said, “You have a PhD? – how come you don’t have that on your card?” And I said, “Well, you know, I don’t do that anymore and I don’t see how it’s relevant,” And, in a sort of scolding way she said, “To hell with this – it’s a huge degree, you’ve earned it, and so next time we meet I want to see the initials after your name on your card.” I took heed and added it.

Costa Rica FIRE: How did you grow from 0 to 7-figures? To what do you attribute your success?

Lark:  I met a really cool woman, scrappy, like me. She was supporting herself and her two daughters as a house cleaner. One day, I asked if she could work in a house with cockroaches. Her reply, “Can’t say I have, won’t say I won’t.”

And it is that very philosophy that I believe contributed greatly to my success. I never said no. It would never occur to me to climb up into a 40-yard dumpster and jump up and down to make room for more stuff. I have a picture of me with the couch on my back as I am bringing it down the stairs during a move. It would not occur to me to say no to a job no matter what or where it was.

In those first couple of years, I did everything on my own: the physical work, the networking, marketing, learning how to enter numbers and leads into an excel document, building my first website – I did it all. I also recognize, that if I wanted to continue to eat, and earn real money, that I had to get help. And so I began talking about my business, using the word, “we,” as in, “We can help you get this done,” [it was as if I was walking around with a mouse in my pocket!]

I started A Clear Path in September 2008, in February 2011 I placed an ad on Craig’s List looking for my first assistant. The first person to answer that ad was Mary. Wearing pink nail polish, and toolbelt filled with tools she knew how to use, I hired her for $15/hour as a subcontractor and took her out to a job. It was a nasty and filthy, hoarding situation. At one point early in the day, I wanted to clean up some stuff from the floor and looked for a vacuum, which I eventually found but when I plugged it in … no suck!! Mary takes one look, unplugged it, whipped something out of that tool belt, did her magic, plugged it back in, and we had suck! I turned to her and said, “Please don’t ever leave me.” And she has not. Eventually her husband joined the team and Richard takes care of all of our haul-away needs. Words are not adequate to convey how I feel about this remarkable family who continue to be at my side. From there, I just started scaling.

I also have a lot of really good habits: journal writing and meditation 3 to 4 times a week. I’m very active – – I walk 100-120 miles/month, I workout with a trainer, I play pickleball, I love to hit golf balls, and I just started line dancing lessons. I have good executive functioning skills and a healthy body. All which, as I think about it now, probably also contribute to my success.

Costa Rica FIRE: Looking back, what do you know now that you wished you knew when you started?

Lark:  Hard to say. When I was organizing my books as a kid in order to play library, I guess I wish somebody would have told me “Hey, you could create a seven-figure business out of this skill!” But the industry wasn’t even born until 1985, and I was a kid in the 60s.

I don’t think I would be where I am today had anything been different. I really love who I am, I continue to realize my goals, and I’m still pretty scrappy. I rarely ask permission and sometimes have to ask for forgiveness. It doesn’t occur to me that my ideas aren’t smart and sound and if an idea doesn’t work out the way I thought it would, I learned a lot from the experience.