409 From Café Owner to Lawyer at 40: Sonya Szabo on Reinvention, Visioning, and Building a Business on Your Own Terms

About this episode

Sonya Szabo shares her journey from café owner to business lawyer, discussing her unique approach to entrepreneurship and personal values.

Quick Summary Sonya Szabo is a Canadian business lawyer, former café owner, and entrepreneur who has never done things the conventional way — and that's exactly why it works. In this episode, she returns to the Rain or Shine podcast after eight years to share the full arc of her story: building and selling the Vic Café, going to law school at forty, battling imposter syndrome, and ultimately creating a law practice that reflects her values instead of the industry mold. In This Episode How Sonya opened the Vic Café at 35 with three kids — and led with boundaries from day one Why she hired a manager before opening the doors The highs and hard realities of running a brick-and-mortar restaurant for eight years Going back to law school at forty and navigating four years of imposter syndrome The "90-year-old self" exercise Sonya uses to make every major decision Her "quit week" in 2025 — what triggered it and what brought her back Why in-person relationship-building has been her most effective marketing strategy What Zebo Law does and how to work with Sonya Key Takeaways Know your priorities before you open your doors. Sonya put a note in her very first employee handbook that said she…

People in this episode

Host: Kelsey Reidl

Guest: Sonya Szabo

Topics covered

• reinvention
• entrepreneurship
• law
• imposter syndrome
• business strategy

Keywords

• café owner
• law school
• imposter syndrome
• business values
• marketing strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Zebo Law

Places: Canada

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