The Number | Episode 004 — Long-Game Thinking

Bryan Clayton built a landscaping company from a single push mower to 150 employees and eight figures in annual revenue — then sold it. Then he started over. In this episode, Bryan shares the number that guided his second act: 10. Not a revenue target or a headcount — a timeframe. He and Wendy talk through what it actually takes to build a business that works, why most "overnight successes" are the result of a decade of quiet grinding, and how a single metric can be the difference between perseverance and delusion.

In This Episode

• Why every discretionary expense in your business costs you five to seven times that amount at the sale — and what to do about it
• How Bryan used one metric (weekly transactions) to stay focused and avoid building on a bad idea for years
• What "default alive" means, and why it's the most important financial position a business owner can hold
• The difference between a pivot that makes sense and one that just lets you avoid hard work
• Why thinking in decades — not quarters — is the mindset shift that changes how you run a business

Featured Quote

About the Hosts

Wendy Brookhouse is the founder and chief strategist at Black Star Wealth and a Certified Financial Planner with over 20 years of independent advisory experience. She works with entrepreneurs and business owners to build financial clarity, business value, and wealth that lasts.

Kelsey MacAulay is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Relationship Officer at Black Star Wealth, and a Certified Exit Planning Advisor. He works with business owners on the operational and strategic side of building a business worth transitioning.

About Our Guest

Bryan Clayton is the CEO of GreenPal, a technology platform that connects homeowners with local lawn care providers. Before GreenPal, he built and sold Peachtree, a landscaping company based in Nashville, Tennessee, that grew to 150 employees and 90 trucks before being acquired by a national operator.

Resources & Links

• Built to Sell by John Warrillow — referenced by Bryan as a key resource for founders thinking about exit planning
• The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki — referenced by Bryan when reflecting on life after his first exit
• 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy — referenced by Wendy in conversation with Bryan

Connect With Black Star Wealth

• Website: blackstarwealth.com
• LinkedIn: Wendy Brookhouse | Kelsey MacAulay
• Podcast: The Number — available on all major platforms

If this episode resonated, follow The Number so you don't miss what's next.

In this episode, we break down the core idea behind our entire process… The One Number.

What is it?

It’s not a budget.

It’s not a restriction.

It’s a spending plan built around your real life.

We talk about:

• Why “budget” feels restrictive and “spending plan” feels empowering
• How unconscious spending quietly derails financial goal
• Why tracking 12 accounts is exhausting and unnecessary
• How automating fixed expenses creates clarity
• The psychology of weekly resets
• Why the number resets every seven days
• The difference between intentional spending and impulse spending
• How The One Number reduces stress and anxiety
• Why it works for both over spenders and under spenders
• How every $100 per week equals $5,200 per year
• Understanding tradeoffs and making confident choices

This episode is about clarity.

Instead of tracking categories, apps, and mental math… you focus on one number per week for discretionary spending.

Groceries. Eating out. Entertainment. Clothes. Retail therapy. All of it lives inside that number.

Everything else is automated.

The result?

Less stress.
More confidence.
Real freedom.

You’ll also hear how The One Number becomes a permission slip for people who are afraid to spend, and a boundary for people who struggle to rein it in.

It’s not about saying no.

It’s about saying yes on purpose.

And yes… we even talk about the free bread that somehow cost $35.

Next episode, we move to The Number 10 and introduce a special guest.

If this episode clicked for you, share it with someone who needs less financial chaos and more clarity.

See you next time.

Got it — noted and saved. Kelsey MacAulay, and he. I'll make sure both the skill files and all future content reflect that correctly. Here are the corrected show notes:

From Interested to Committed: What 500 Sessions Teaches

The Number | Episode [#] — Commitment, Habits & Consistency

What does it take to stop being interested in something and actually commit to it? In this episode, Wendy and Kelsey get personal. Kelsey hit 500 gym sessions in under two years — tying for third fastest in his gym — and it changed more than his fitness. They unpack what made the habit stick, why identity matters more than motivation, and how the same thinking applies to the financial and business decisions that business owners keep putting off.

In This Episode

• Why convenience and structure matter more than willpower when building a lasting habit
• How blocking non-negotiable time — in your calendar and in your mindset — removes decision fatigue before it starts
• The difference between being interested in something and actually committing to it, and what it takes to flip that switch
• Why your reason for committing has to be genuinely yours — doing it for someone else rarely works
• How building one consistent habit can create capacity for things that previously felt out of reach
• What it looks like when a goal shifts from external motivation to a core part of how you see yourself

Featured Quote

About the Hosts

Wendy Brookhouse is the founder and chief strategist at Black Star Wealth and a Certified Financial Planner with over 20 years of independent advisory experience. She works with entrepreneurs and business owners to build financial clarity, business value, and wealth that lasts.

Kelsey MacAulay is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Relationship Officer at Black Star Wealth, and a Certified Exit Planning Advisor. He works with business owners on the operational and strategic side of building a business worth transitioning.

Connect With Black Star Wealth

• Website: blackstarwealth.com
• LinkedIn: Wendy Brookhouse | Kelsey MacAulay
• Podcast: The Number — available on all major platforms

If this episode resonated, follow The Number so you don't miss what's next.