In this episode of The Exit: Heather Shook shares her journey from neuropsychology to baby fashion mogul to co-founding Elevated Exit, where she helps founders build sellable businesses. Drawing from her own burnout-driven exit, she reveals hard truths about SOPs, real business assets, and the power of a compelling growth story. She discusses timing, AI integration, and why many founders regret PE earn-outs. Whether you’re planning years ahead or already itching to move on, Heather’s straight-talking advice offers a smart, strategic lens on what it really takes to exit well—and why you should start preparing long before you think you’re ready.
Personal Bio:
Heather Schuck is a dynamic sales and marketing strategist with over 20 years of experience helping businesses optimize their internal sales and marketing systems to increase their valuation and position them for successful exits at higher multiples. She works closely with CEOs and founders to refine their go-to-market strategies and create a robust, data-driven sales pipeline to support near-term growth projections, positively impacting investor confidence. With over $300 million in attributed revenue, Heather has a keen ability for identifying new growth opportunities, deep insight into customer behaviors, and a proven track record of aligning marketing with sales to close high-ticket deals faster. Her ability to create actionable growth plans and implement efficient, lean operations to maximize revenue without overspending on customer acquisition or retention makes her an invaluable asset for companies looking to boost their valuation before an exit.
Heather on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherlschuck/
Website: https://elevatedexitpartners.com/

The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/