1Ask 8 to 10 peopleLunch break 1Done
2Fill in your boardLunch break 2Done
3Sort the repliesLunch break 3Open
The skill you can build a business on is often the one you never noticed, because it comes easily. This workbook collects real stories from 8 to 10 people who know your work, scores every skill against what happened and compares you with people already paid for it. You finish with 1 lane to build a business that is most likely to work for you because you are truly good at it.
Already know your strength? Pick your direction in The Shortlist →
The skills that come easiest to you are the hardest to see, because they don’t feel like work. Psychologists drew this blind spot in 1955 as part of the Johari window: what other people see in you that you don’t see in yourself.
The only way to reach it is to ask. This workbook collects real stories from the people who know your work, checks each strength against what happened and against people already paid for it, and leaves you with 1 lane to build on.
Most lists of strengths copy the resume. The hobby you’ve kept up for years, the language from home and the way you put things together never make the list, and they are often what makes a business hard to copy.
“You’re creative” tells you very little. A story about a real afternoon tells you what people value. Something 3 or more people mention is a pattern, so the workbook counts every point across the replies.
People are only moderately good at judging their own abilities, so a score only counts with a real example next to it. Then you compare yourself with 3 people already paid for that skill.
Don’t build on the wrong skills and waste years trying to make things work that won’t. Identify your real strengths before you build, so you build the right thing the first time around.
Other people see strengths in you that you don’t see yourself. You send 1 short message asking for a real story of you at your best.
Your own list comes first, so you can see later where you and other people agree. Everything you can do goes into 7 lanes, well past your job title.
Something 3 or more people mention is a pattern, and something 1 person mentions is a note. The skills they see and you left off your board are your hidden talent.
A score only counts with a real example next to it, which turns “I’m good with clients” into something you can show.
Your first buyers won’t hire at the level of the most famous name in a field. You compare yourself with the consultants, freelancers and coaches they would hire.
The same 5 points for every lane keep you from favoring the lane you already like. Your angle often comes from outside work, because 2 or 3 good skills together can be rarer than 1 great one.
The lane with the highest scores isn’t always the one to build on, because a business means talking about your subject every week for years.
The workbook has 5 versions of the message, because you’d write to a client differently than to a close friend. Each one has a copy button that adds your link.
Everything you type saves to your account, so you can stop at the end of a lunch break and pick up where you left off.
It holds every step and every question for all 7 lunch breaks, and saves your answers as you type.
It gives you 5 versions of the message, for friends and family, former colleagues, a boss, a client and an acquaintance.
It sorts everything you can do into 7 lanes, from professional skills to cultural background and hobbies.
It scores every skill from 1 to 5, and keeps a real example next to each score.
It scores each top lane on 5 points against 3 people already paid for that skill.
It collects the stories people write about you in your workbook, so nothing gets lost in your inbox.
It puts your main lane, your supporting skills, your portrait and your strength statement on 1 page.
You will have real stories from the people who know your work, every skill scored against a real example and a strength statement to start building your business on your true talent that will bring you results faster.
Counts toward Plan A, our launch program, if you join within 60 days of buying.
Instant access, so the sale is final. Your workbook opens in your customer dashboard as soon as you pay.
It sits under Lunch Break Founder in your dashboard, with 1 chapter for each lunch break. Your answers save as you type, so you can stop and pick up where you left off.
Each person writes on a short page that opens from your link. Their stories appear in lunch break 3, next to your own board, so you can sort them into lanes without copying anything from your inbox.
The Shortlist is our free live training, where you work out what to build with your strength. Your strength statement is where it starts.
The workbook has 5 versions of the message, for close friends and family, former colleagues, a boss, a client and an acquaintance. Each copy button adds your link to the message.
It does 1 job: finding the skill you can build a business on. If you already know what you’ll sell, another step here will help you more.
Lunch Break Founder is a series of 3 workbooks, each sold on its own. Each one fills 1 gap on the way from idea to launch, next to the free tools, the 6 Uncommon Toolkits and Plan A.
Lunch Break Founder workbooksFind the Hidden TalentValidate Your OfferBrand with AI
The complete set · 6 toolkits + 3 workbooks
$849
for the complete set, $607 less than buying everything separately
All 3 Lunch Break Founder workbooks come free with the set. We are also throwing in a free live business mentoring session to use within 6 months of your purchase.
Plan A is our 8-week business launch program: 16 hours of live 1:1 time with a successful solo business owner to build and launch your own. Lunch Break Founder workbooks and Uncommon Toolkits share 1 credit. Join Plan A within 60 days of your first purchase, and everything you paid for either comes off the program fee, up to $849 in total.
Workbooks and toolkits count toward the same $849. This workbook plus 2 toolkits is $435, and all $435 comes off.
Buy this workbook, another workbook or any toolkit. Your 60 days start on your first purchase.
Apply to Plan A. Applying takes about 10 minutes.
Join within the 60 days. Your checkout link takes off what you paid, up to $849.
At 18, I moved from China, on a full scholarship, to the US with 3 suitcases, on my own. By my mid 20s, I was making over 6 figures at a Fortune 500 company in New York City and owned a home. I was winning in life, or so it seemed.
Deep down, I wanted to build my own dream, not someone else’s. So I self-petitioned my EB-1A green card, planned my business on my lunch breaks, and within months quit to start a profitable-from-Day-1 education tech company as a first-time solo founder. Today, I run several solo expertise businesses while traveling the world.
This Uncommon Life is how I help you start yours: build your Plan A on your lunch breaks, so you never have to ask anyone’s permission to take a vacation again.
Follow Stella
My session with Stella was exceptionally informative and truly inspiring. She offered plenty of go-to-market strategies and tactics.
Highly recommend if you’re looking for a no-bullshit, warm, and all-in mentor for your startup.
Working with Stella Guan was eye-opening for our up-skilling platform.
A list of 8 to 10 people from different parts of your life who know your work: former colleagues, clients, bosses, acquaintances, family and close friends. You don’t need a business idea yet.
7 lunch breaks of about 30 minutes each. The calendar time is longer, because you wait for people to reply, so the whole workbook runs over about 1 to 2 weeks.
Every message carries your private link. Each person writes their story on a short page, and it appears in lunch break 3 of your workbook. You get an email when new stories come in.
A short page with your first name and 1 question about what you’re really good at. They can add their name or stay anonymous, and only you can read what they send.
Asking 8 to 10 leaves space for the ones who don’t reply, and the messages for each circle make a reply easier. The workbook still works with fewer stories, because you also score every skill against a real example.
No workbook can tell you that. This one gives you a structured way to decide which skill to start from. Finding out that the skill people mention most is one you would rather not build on is a useful result too.
Bring your strength statement to The Shortlist, the free live training, to work out what to build with it.
When you have a written offer, Validate Your Solo Business Offer Before You Build tests it with real buyers.
Yes. If you join Plan A within 60 days of buying, the $37 you paid comes off the program fee.
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