Guest: Rick Stern, the CEO and founder of Stern Recruiting. Rick is also the former founder and CEO of Nitel, which is a telecom company that he bootstrapped from zero to $180 million in revenue over two decades before he exited through a private equity transaction.

Overview: Now what?

That's the question high-performing CEOs ask themselves after they've reached any major milestone. But after selling your business or retiring, you can't just walk back into the c-suite and raise the bar a little higher. And even if you set your sights on a new endeavor, leaving behind a company that you've led and grown is an extremely emotional experience that will have a profound effect on your journey to a new BIG.

On today's show, Rick Stern gets candid about letting go of his life's work, the unexpected challenges of retirement, and the itch that ultimately pulled him back into entrepreneurship. Rick also explains how he used sabbatical time to reset and how learnings from his first company are shaping his new leadership mindset.

Life After the Exit: Rick Stern on Selling His $180M Company and Building His Next Startup Smarter