office hours: call 6 - amazon s3s3.amazonaws.com/bschool/officehours/b...– is that you build out a...

© M arie Forleo Intern ation al Pg. 1 O ffice Hours m arieforleobscho o l .com

OFFICE HOURS: CALL 6Transcript

Marie: [00:00:00] Hey everyone, it’s Marie Forleo. Welcome to this next round of B-School 2017 Office Hours. I am so excited to be here with you. I’m so excited to hear your questions, your ahas, and anything you want to share, since we’re at this beautiful part of the B-School journey.

Before we get into it, if you’ve been here before, you know what I’m going to say. I’m going to go through some housekeeping, just to make sure you get the most out of this experience. It’s a reminder: If you have a question that you’d like to ask, please press *2 to be placed in the queue. That is *2 to place you in the queue.

As everyone’s getting lined up in the queue, take a look around your environment. See if you can turn off anything that might ding, take your attention, or push a notification through. Whatever you can do to create a distraction-free environment is really going to help you, and it’s going to help me. It’s going to help me because energy can be felt, even though we are all connected electronically. If everyone is distracted and doing different things – I guarantee this, because I’ve been doing this for many years – it’s harder for me not only to listen and really hear what someone else is saying, but it becomes more challenging for me to communicate more clearly, succinctly, and get out the information that hopefully will be valuable to the other person on the line.

The other reason you need to be fully present is I want you to be able to hear whether or not your question has already been asked and answered, so that if you come on the B-School party line, you can ask another question and we can have a lot more variety. The third reason, which is actually the most important – based on studies in neuroscience, practices from spirituality, and from my own day-to-day experience – training yourself to be fully present and give your focus and attention to one thing is one of the most profound and powerful secrets to productivity, satisfaction, and opening up wells of creativity beyond anything else.

You have to understand that the time we’re basically living in right now is really designed to plummet your productivity, to drive down your satisfaction, and to train your brain not to get things done, not to do deep thinking, and not to be able to access the levels of creativity that reside within you. So for all those reasons and more, stay focused, pay full attention, and remove any other distractions.

Once again, if you have a question or have something to share, please press *2 to be placed in the queue. Our goal will be to get to as many B-Schoolers as possible. When you do pop on the party line, please start out with your name and where you’re from, and we’ll get right into it.

http://marieforleobschool.com/


Let’s start off now with our first caller, who appears to be from South Carolina. 864322, go ahead with your question.

Julie: [00:03:16] Hello, Marie. Can you hear me?

Marie: Yes.

Julie: I’m Julie Houston from Boise, Idaho. I am on Module 3, video four, about blogging topics. I have emailed a newsletter alluding to my blog posts for about a year, but I never offered a freebie or have done ads. That’s what I’m learning. What I have is a beginning – I teach a beginning webinar course that I’ve launched twice. I’d love also to teach around confidence levels and how not feeling you’re good enough is related to the three Ps, like perfectionism, pocket perfectionism, and procrastination. In my mind, these are two different ICAs.

My question is, when setting up my topics for my blog – I mean, I have like 60. I don’t have any problem with topics, but do I segregate those ICAs? Do I maybe alternate webinar topics for those webinar ICAs – beginning webinars – and then in the next month do mindset and perfectionism and stuff? What would you suggest? I’m really struggling with that.

Marie: Just to make sure I’m clear, the first category is people who are interested in doing webinars. Is that correct?

Julie: Yeah, beginning webinars – people that have never done them.

Marie: Cool. I will tell you that those ICAs, in my opinion, are one in the same. I know creatives, and anyone who is looking to create something, promote something, sell something, or share a message – they all struggle with procrastination, perfectionism, and probably every P you could think of. So I wouldn’t be so committed to feeling like you have to separate those folks out. I’ve never met one creative human being who doesn’t, from time to time, suffer from procrastination and perfectionism. I don’t think you have to separate them, and I don’t think you have to worry about it. I feel you’re doing a great thing, and if these are the topics you are passionate about, you just have to trust...

Just a quick Marie TV brush-up––sometimes we’ll talk about things like business. Maybe we’ll talk about marketing or what you can do to increase sales. Other times – a few weeks ago we talked about a topic all the way over to the side, about a natural approach to depression. These are all



things that I’m particular passionate about and know that humans, particularly creative humans, can wrestle with from time to time. Now, not everyone is going to resonate with every episode. They’ll be able to pick and choose, just by the subject line and what we write about it, whether or not they want to digest that particular piece of content. I wouldn’t worry too much about doing list segmentation or things like that, at least at this stage in the game.

Julie: Well, I’m glad you said that, because that was my second question: Do you think it’s the same? So when I’m creating a blog topic, then I just lead them to whatever freebie would work for that?

Marie: That’s right. From that moment on, that’s where segmentation can really support you. If someone, for example – and this is good for everyone to hear. By the way, Julie, you gave me a really great gift, because one of the things I didn’t mention at the top of the call was I really want everyone listening to focus on your one key question to ask, so we can get as many B-Schoolers in as possible – but I know, Julie, that a lot of folks have this question, so I’m happy to answer two for you right now.

When it comes to you talking about different topics on your blog or on your newsletter, or however your free content gets out into the world, and you have different offers – so for you, it’s like someone getting started with webinars and then someone who really wants to crack this addiction that they have to procrastination, being a perfectionist, or what have you. Once they opt in for that freebie on that particular topic, our ideal scenario – whether it’s now or down the line – is that you build out a bit of a sales funnel. For example, someone opts into your freebie about webinars. Well, maybe then you invite them to a webinar about webinars. That’s kind of meta, but you get my point. This can then make them an offer for your paid, done-for-you webinar service, or your webinar course, or whatever it is that you’re actually selling. It’s only when you’re ready to make an offer or want to take people through a particular sales funnel that that segmentation really is going to serve you, if that makes sense.

Julie: That makes sense. Thank you so much. Love it.

Marie: You’re so welcome, Julie. Thank you. Our next caller appears to a cell phone in Oregon – 541521.

Shannon: Yes, that’s Shannon – me.

Marie: Hey, Shannon.



Shannon: [00:08:15] Hi. I’m good. I’m Shannon Swanson. I’m from Eugene, Oregon. I am just graduating from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to be a health coach. In going back – I’m still on Module 3 – I wanted to get this question in to you last time.

In terms of giving back and setting that all up on your site, I have a two-part question. I’ll try to make this as brief as I possibly can – talk fast. There’s this program called Girls on the Run. It’s a running educational program for girls in grades three through five. It’s curriculum-based. It’s not competitive at all, but it’s really to help girls become healthy. I coached it one year as a volunteer coach and wanted to tie that into what I’m doing and provide scholarships to girls who can’t afford it, because it is fairly expensive.

Part of what I wanted to do was have a part of my six-month program, or three-month program, take a percentage of that and create scholarships for girls. My question to you is, to what extent do you put that information on your website? Should I run a campaign, or is it better to make this something all year round and always a part of my program?

Marie: That’s a great couple of questions. The answer to all of them, and we’ll walk through it, is it really depends on what excites you and what you want. To the extent that you explain all this on your website, I always think that, to a certain degree, less is more. You just want to really talk about who you’re benefiting – meaning Girls on the Run – that you’re going to be providing scholarships who may not otherwise be able to afford it. If they want to learn more or if you want to talk about it or join us in this mission, they can either email you, click through to the Girls on the Run site, or whatever it is. It’s a way for you to communicate on your website about what you’re supporting and why, because that in and of itself gives some greater awareness to that particular organization, and it lets people know what you care about.

To your second question, in terms of do you do a campaign or do you just have it running in the background all year long, that’s not only a personal choice, but you can also do both. For example, you know internally that a portion of your profits are going to be funding scholarships. That is something that internally motivates you and your team to kick some serious ass – to think about these girls and the impact it’s going to have. It’s part of what fuels the heart, soul, and creativity of what y’all are getting out there in the world. It’s also motivation to sell your asses off. You know the more money you’re making, the more girls’ lives you’re going to change.

When it comes to a campaign, campaigns can be really fun. If that feels joyful for you – you’re like, “you know what? This is going to make the biggest difference if we do it in this month, because this is when the program is coming up. I’d love to put some creative capital and my voice” – and come up with fun things to do, because it literally sounds like a great time – then you must, by all means, do it. Do it, do it, do it.

For us, I remember when we were interviewing Scott Harrison, a dear friend of mine who runs



Charity:water. We were trying to think about – like, oh my goodness, Marie TV’s birthday is coming up. Let’s have him on the show. We created a little campaign. I think we built anywhere from five to seven wells off just one episode, which is incredible. So campaigns can be really fun.

What is most important for me, for everyone listening on this call, is that you’re choosing to do things, especially when it comes to giving back, that sound exciting and joyful for you – but that it doesn’t become yet another thing you feel burdened by – that it’s something you feel inspired by. Does that make sense?

Shannon: Absolutely, yes. I wanted to be able to tie it to my ICA as women. As they’re getting themselves healthy, they get to help another girl connect to their health and develop awareness around being healthy.

Marie: For you, Shannon, and for everyone listening, there’s no wrong way to have a give-back piece. What I always recommend, and what we do in our company – it’s really fun to experiment. One of the mental hurdles that all of us have, especially women by the way – not that men don’t have this, too; I just think because I work with so many women I see it very often – is we have this addiction to wanting to do things right. That makes sense, because we don’t want to make mistakes, we want to be smart, and we want to be strategic.

When it comes to building, designing, and executing on a business that you love, there’s not one right way to do it. It’s like thinking there’s one right way to live your life. That’s not the truth. There are many different ways you will find to be joyful, fulfilling, profitable, and impactful. The more we can relieve ourselves from this very narrow-minded, limiting belief that there’s one right choice, the more freedom we have to be innovative, to enjoy the process of experimentation, and to actually build upon innovative ideas when we’re willing to try them.

For you, you may try having this running in the background all year long, and I’m going to experiment with a campaign just to see what it feels like – and then look back and go, what did I like? What didn’t I like? What was the impact? Do we want to do it again? Do we not want to do it again? You relieve all this pressure of being perfect or getting it right. The whole entire unfolding process of building a meaningful business becomes that much more joyful.

Shannon: I love that idea. I think that’s what I’ll go with. I appreciate your time so much. Thank you very much.

Marie: [00:14:35] Thanks Shannon, really. I love what you’re doing and am wishing you so much luck. Our next caller appears to be Marcus Endicott. You are unmuted.



Joan: Hey, it’s actually Joan. It’s probably under my husband Marc’s name. I’m the one that last time had the no makeup and margarita. I don’t have the margarita this time, but I’m really rocking the no-makeup look. Anyway, thank you so much.

I actually am a little bit uncertain, because people give you all their things of when you launch a book you need to have your coaching package offer right away and are doing this in a certain sequence. I have my book. Then I have coaching. I have Giant-Slayer Coaching: A David Mentality in a Goliath World – Seven Steps to Slay Life’s Giants – which I’m actually rethinking after watching your persuasion writing secrets.

I guess I would just love your thoughts, because I’m feeling a little disheveled on the book and having your group coaching thing ready or just do your book for free and then $7 for shipping and handling – and then give them lots of value before offering coaching – your group coaching – to have some thoughts on that and how you would roll those things out.

Marie: Sure. I think you have to really take a step back, Joan, and think about what is really important for you. From a strategic standpoint, when someone is reading a great book – they have it in their hands and are like, oh my goodness, this is the best thing since sliced bread, but I want to go further – typically in those books there’s a resource session, or even if you’ve built it into your book where someone will go to your website and download additional resources. Then you can make an offer to them.

It would be wise, from a business standpoint, for you to have some kind of offer. As you know, as almost every author knows, from a revenue and profitability standpoint, that’s not where the money comes from. It’s not selling the book. It’s not about the $1 from publishing. If you’re self-publishing, there’s not a lot of money there, especially if you’re giving it away for free and paying shipping and handling. So I would encourage you to have something ready to offer, whether that’s a high-ticket one-on-one consulting or some kind of group coaching offer. I do think it’s wise, if you’re going to go through all the trouble of publishing a book and getting it all out there, to have something for people to say yes to.

All that being said, don’t make it complicated. Don’t make it crazy insane. Make it the simplest offer you can that would provide the most value and really get people what they’re looking for. If there are certain concepts, if there are ideas, if there are strategies in the book that you just simply need to explain with more depth and need to give people exercises and more things that can help them – and act those principles and integrate them into their lives. Just keep that the focus of your program, but don’t think you have to get all fancy. Don’t think you have to have some extraordinarily high production value, fancy-schmancy membership site or tons of webinars and auto-responders. You want to keep it as simple as possible, especially your first time out of the gate, and realize you are going to evolve and iterate from there.



Joan: So you wouldn’t say like some people say, that you need to have two or three offerings and need to go consecutively? That kind of freaks me out a little bit.

Marie: No. I don’t know who says that, and we don’t need to get into that. Have an offer that you really believe in and, most importantly, that is the next step for folks who read your book and actually want to go deeper. You have to have integrity there. What can you create in a single offering that makes sense as something you want to deliver and is something that would truly benefit your readers? That’s all you’ve got to worry about. If you can just master those things, you’re good.

Joan: Excellent. Thank you so much. I just want to thank you and your team. You’re such an enormous blessing – your energy, your love for people, your example. I am so blessed to be able to be in your community. Y’all are just rock stars.

Marie: Thanks, Joan. That means the world. So much of our team is listening right now, because everyone always participates in these calls, so thank you. I know that feeds their hearts, as well. We’re excited. We’re going to be cheering you on. We hope that, as the weeks and months continue on, you keep us up to date on how everything is going, so we can celebrate you.

Joan: Absolutely. Thank you and god bless.

Marie: Thanks, Joan. God bless you. We are going now to – I’m heading over to Miami, to Amy.

Amy: That’s me.

Marie: Hi, Amy.

Amy: Hi. I’m going to try not to fangirl.

Marie: You can fangirl. You can do whatever you want. Come on, now. We’ve got this one life. Do it, girl.



Amy: [00:20:16] I’m going to try to stay focused, and I won’t be bad. I’m trying to narrow it down to a particular question. I was going through the sales letter pages, or Module, sections. What I’m wondering is, right now I have a program that I created that involves two workbooks on my site. As you just mentioned, books don’t necessarily create a lot of revenue. So I’ve been wanting to move more into e-courses and webinars, which is why I decided to take the program – which, by the way, was recommended several times.

What I’m wondering specifically is, because it’s a low price-point item, I feel like the sales letter should have less content. I apologize, my cat is going to howl because I’m on the phone talking to somebody else. What I’m wondering is, I have a shopping cart, and if you click on the item, you can have a full description. I’m wondering if the item should also have its own sales page outside of the shopping cart – if it’s too much information. Right now I explain the program on one page. Then I assume, if they’re interested, they’re going to go to the shopping cart and buy, but I feel a lot of information all on one page –

Marie: What’s your price point, Amy?

Amy: Right now they’re individually $9.99. Then you can buy a combo. Sometimes I have packages, where I put a couple extra items in there. That might go up to $40 or so. It ranges.

Marie: Amy, tell me about your industry. Who are you selling to? What are you helping them with?

Amy: I’m a pediatric occupational therapist. I am selling to parents, primarily, although there are other therapists and teachers that buy my products, as well. I created a handwriting program. It’s basically handwriting workbooks for kids. Part of the e-courses eventually will be – one can be to give a little more explanation as to how to use the books, but I actually designed them so they didn’t really need to take a course. I guess that’s not the best business decision. Additional courses would also be in teaching about child development and different activities you can do to improve developmental skills.

Marie: I’m going to give you some broader input, if you’re open to that.

Amy: Sure.

Marie: One, in terms of your workbooks, you don’t have to oversell those things. A couple of bullet points about the problems they solve and what it’s going to help the customer accomplish



or help their kids accomplish... You don’t need to do too much in terms of a sales page – really simple, really clear, maybe a testimonial or two from anyone who really loves those workbooks and what they’ve gotten out of it. It sounds like a pretty easy yes. Simple is definitely better.

Something in me is telling me to tell you that where you really need to focus your time and energy, my friend, is on creating something that’s a higher-ticket item – like, a much higher-ticket item. I don’t want you to go from $9 to $40; I want you to go from $9 to $100, $200, $300, or $400 – whatever is still an extraordinary – like, is a good investment for someone who’s committed – that you know you’re delivering ten times more than that. Does that make sense?

Amy: Right. I also do individual therapy sessions, but I can only really do those locally at this point. That is more – as a per-hour basis, obviously that’s a lot more money, but I feel there’s that middle ground of people who can’t afford that. That’s why I think maybe an e-course might be a better fit, but are you suggesting an e-course that’s really expensive?

Marie: I am. I would like you to position it more like an online learning program. When I think about e-course – and this might just be semantics and my own lens on it, so take this as you will. When I think about an e-course, I think literally about something being delivered via email, with no multimedia – just written text over email. I frankly don’t feel I’d pay that much for it. When I think about something like an online learning program, like B-School...

A lot of different courses are delivered virtually these days, because we have that capability. People are often willing to pay $100, $200, $300, or $3,000 – who knows – when you deliver things in multimedia, it’s really well thought out, you’re getting someone from point A, to point B, to point C, and you’re making it simple and clear for them. Again, you can take this information. You can say, whatever Marie, I’ve got my plans – but something in my heart keeps saying to tell her to create something bigger. It’s going to have much higher profit margins, and you’re going to get many more serious people saying yes to it. You can totally keep the $9 workbooks and maybe even have something that is around the $99 level, but also really put your focus on something that is a higher-ticket item that really solves some major challenges for your ICAs.

Amy: All right, thank you.

Marie: You’re so welcome, Amy. Good luck. We are going now to Ina in Houston. You are unmuted. Ina, are you there? Going once, going twice – okay, we’re going to mute you up. Next we are heading back to North Carolina. Jennifer, you are unmuted.

Jennifer: [00:26:26] Yay. Hi, Marie.



Marie: Hi.

Jennifer: How are you? Does this sound clear?

Marie: You sound fabulous.

Jennifer: Okay. Well, so do you. Thank you so much for taking my call. I have a question on how to redefine my business idea now, as I’ve progressed on the B-School journey. Originally I was very confident on my avatar client and how I moved forward. I’m a speech language pathologist. I do in-person and tele-speech work. I was going to offer client services for foreign accent reduction, as well as communication coaching.

I had an inspired idea recently that I moved forward on. That is to incorporate meditation training. It’s a little different, but it sort of combines, in a way – and that is I can use my expertise with individuals with autism, as one example – because I do have a lot of experience there – and then also even with communication coaching clients. I guess my concern is I don’t know exactly how to move forward with branding myself one way. I just don’t want to have to change it in a drastic way in the future. So I was wondering what you might have.

Marie: How do you describe what you do now in one or two sentences?

Jennifer: I’m a speech language pathologist, and I help with any type of communication issue that someone may be experiencing.

Marie: Cool. You can keep saying that. You don’t have to change your branding at all, because essentially what people are wanting help with when they come to someone like you is they need help with their speech and communication. Most people are not really that interested, until they get deep into the work, of the methodology that you use. So the fact that you’re going to want to build in meditation as one of the tools that someone can use to reach that end result – again, most people aren’t going to care. They’re going to be really excited that you have a variety of different methodologies to help them get there. I don’t think you need to change your branding at all, and I don’t think you need to – it would start to get cluttered and confused.

Jennifer: Oh, wonderful. That’s so easy, then. Perfect. Thank you so much for all that you’ve done. I really appreciate all your guidance.



Marie: Thank you, Jennifer. I appreciate you. Keep us posted on how it all starts to unfold.

Jennifer: I will. Thanks so much.

Marie: Thanks. Moving on. We’re going to hear Michelle from North Carolina. Michelle, are you there? My singing must’ve – Michelle was like, uh-uh, girl. I cannot do it. All right, we are moving on now to a cell phone. Oh wait, Michelle is back. Michelle, are you there, girl? Michelle Braun?

Michelle: [00:29:28] Yes. Can you hear me, Marie?

Marie: I can hear you.

Michelle: Oh, great. Hey, thank you so much. I’m sorry, I got a little confused with the buttons there. My question is, one of the clarifying pieces that I got from B-School so far is that I need to start any business and go in a different direction than where I’ve been going before.

My question is about ICAs, specifically the industry-expert ICAs. I’ve had ICA calls with people who’ve helped me figure out which direction I’m going to take my business in. My question is, what’s the true benefit of reaching out to industry experts to get their perspectives, too? The reason I ask is because, as I was getting ready to reach out to a couple of people, some of them posted on Facebook, “People reach out to me all the time and ask me about starting my business. The answer is, just go do it and figure it out.” I’m just trying to figure out what is the true benefit of reaching out to industry experts?

Marie: A couple things. No matter what industry you’re in, you need to have colleagues. I will tell you that, in virtually any industry you can imagine, having people that also do something similar to what you do and are in the same industry is literally invaluable, between letting you know who the bookkeeper is to finding out how to X, Y, and Z. You need to start building up a network of other folks that also do what you do, because relationships are everything in business and life.

Number two, it’s really valuable if you’re not certain about a particular industry and are still in the fence of wondering, is this the thing that I want to devote my time and energy to? Is this the right thing for me? People who are in it can describe what they spend most of their time doing day in and day out. For example, a lot of people will look at a particular career path or a business path and think from the outside, oh my god, that looks so glamorous. I think I would love doing it. They have this mistaken notion about what the day-to-day is really like and what skills and strengths are really required to thrive. When you start talking to people who actually do it, they can give you the real deal. It can be an incredible time-saver. It can help you understand, whoa,


© M arie Forleo Intern ation al Pg. 1 2 O ffice Hours m arieforleobscho o l .com

here’s what I’m really going to need to be good at it in order to thrive in this particular type of business. Those kinds of reality checks can be great when you’re starting something new, because either you’ll figure out, oh my god, I kick so much ass and this is going to be amazing – so it confirms that you are indeed on the right path for you – or sometimes it can give you some really good red flags to say, holy shit, I had no idea that I would need to be writing so much, creating so much content, or focusing so much on advertising – or whatever it is in order to make this business thrive. I need to maybe pause a second, rethink this, and make sure it is aligned with the way I want to be spending my precious life energy.

Those are just two reasons why it’s really important. As I shared in Start the Right Business, not everyone is going to want to talk with you, but guess what? That’s the whole process of building a process. You have to get used to rejection. You have to get used to people not responding to you. You have to get used to putting yourself out there, not knowing what’s going to come back, and not stopping. If a no comes back or something really rude, or whatever, that’s part of the game. It’s really part of the game. So those are some of the reasons that it’s valuable, and there are probably even more I’m not picking off the top of my head right now – but I think in Start the Right Business I actually talk about why it’s so important.

Michelle: Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

Marie: You’re welcome. All right, going on to Isaac over in Maryland. Isaac, you are unmuted.

Amy: [33:36] Hello, this is Amy Porter. Can you hear me?

Marie: I can hear you. Tell me your first name again.

Amy: My name is Amy Porter, and I am from Baltimore, Maryland. Thank you so much for taking my question. I’ll just interject this little fan gush at the moment, but I just want to say thank you for this incredible program. I’ve been in business for about two-and-a-half years. I have four videos, seven Fun Sheets, and a whole lot of work to do this next quarter, but I feel finally I’ll be able to work smarter and avoid the what-you-don’t-know-you-don’t-know mistakes that I’ve made along the way. So thank you. It’s a privilege.

Marie: Oh Amy, thank you for that.

Amy: I will try to narrow this a little bit. My question relates to the fact that I am a professional organizer. I have a service-based business. I have also have multiple verticals in the service area line. I realized in this program I need to be a lot more narrow in what I’m offering and be very much more specific to my ICA, especially with regards to future plans I have in introducing future



offerings. As of right now, I have – all my offerings are service-based.

In your offering and your Marketing Module, you referenced the option of being able to be selective with your clients in advance and being able to say to your clients if perhaps the service that you’re providing is not a good fit for them. Where I have a little concern about this, because I’m not sure how to deal with it... In my industry, one of the things that frequently comes up, and it’s largely because of shows like “Hoarders,” “Buried Alive,” and things like that – people have a misconception of what their problem is. They will label themselves negatively and say I’m a hoarder, and most often people are not really hoarders. They may have chronic disorganization and may have tendencies to keep a few of things more than what they should, but a hoarder is something very, very different.

In my efforts in going forward with my business, I have worked with hoarders. I love them dearly. I want to help them, but the reality is that group of clientele is a clientele that needs significant amounts of psychological help. It’s not an avenue that is productive for me to earn a business on. My concern is, though, if I were to label or say on my website that I don’t service the hoarding industry, is that going to scare people away because they will say to themselves, I’m a hoarder, so she’s not going to be able to help me? Do I forgo putting that on the website? Do I address that in an email campaign? Do I address it in a blog? Do I even address it at all and just wait until I’m face to face? Most of these are walking people through their fears when I’m onsite with them anyway.

Marie: It’s all so good, so juicy. I love this question. There are several different ways you can address this, but I just want to highlight some of the genius of what you just poured forth, which was that you know your ICAs so well that, in their minds, even if technically they are not a “hoarder” as we would perhaps classify someone who is on one of those shows or would absolutely benefit from some deeper psychological work and therapy – they’re saying to themselves, “I think I might be” or are at least using that in somewhat of a conversational way, being that’s a word that might be in their minds and is creating some shame and is creating some fear and certainly blockages in their lives.

The way you could address this – I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that you put on a sales page or on any kind of form that if you’re a hoarder, I’m not for you. No, because as you said, people misidentify as that. You may want to play with – and this will take perhaps a little bit of time, or maybe you’ll get the downlow about it sometime after this call – but it might be a piece of free content, like a signature piece of free content – whether it’s in the form of a webinar, an e-book, or a blog post, or something that kind of outlines some of the top fears that keep people stuck in chronic disorganization and some of the myths that are holding them back from having that freedom, clear space, and less stress that we know they’re dreaming of.

In that content is where perhaps you could say, “hey, a lot of us watch these kind of shows, because they’re amazing and help people, but what we’re doing is confusing ourselves. We’re



chronically disorganized, or perhaps we just haven’t ever been trained in how to keep our homes X, Y, and Z. So if you’re thinking that you’re a hoarder, you may not be, and it’s holding you back. Here’s why, and here’s how I can help you.” So you can start in that piece of signature content – whether it’s a webinar, a blog post, or an e-book, special report, or PDF or whatever – that you give people a way to self-identify as the real thing you can help them with.

You can also do a service, where chronic hoarders – and I’m going to use this word probably incorrectly, but you’ll get the meaning – like someone who could be a clinical hoarder, someone on one of those shows. If this is you, here’s the resource. Call this number. This is a great website for you. If you’re over here – and those are more your clients – I could help you fix this. Does that make sense? You’re not shaming anyone. You’re not making anybody wrong. You’re educating them.

Amy: Where that also plays, maybe – because one of the things that... I developed all this website last year, but I never made an opt-in page and didn’t know I needed to do it. So that’s the first thing on my list of things to do once I’m done with these last Modules. My thought was where to get started. Maybe part of my offering can be this whole myth aspect of things. So many people have so many myths. That’s the thing: Getting people over that so you can get them the help they need. So this is brilliant. You’re brilliant. Thank you so much.

Marie: You’re so welcome, Amy. Think about whether it’s the myths that are holding you back from having a desired result – whatever they’re saying in their heads about how they want their spaces to feel, or what you know from your ICAs. So fill in those blanks. Use some of the headlines formulas to play around. You will have a framework and structure for an amazing piece of opt-in content. As you get going and continue to build your business, consider turning that opt-in content into something that is interactive like a webinar. You will sell your face off. It will be amazing.

Amy: That’s where I’m headed. You’ve hit the nail on the head of where I’m going. That’s why I’m here. Thank you again, Marie. It’s a blessing. I love your program. It’s great. If you need a future testimonial, use me. You’re awesome. Thank you.

Marie: Please write to us. This is for everybody listening, too. Of course yes, we love testimonials. They’re brilliant and beautiful. We appreciate them, but I will tell you guys the real deal. You have no idea how much your stories fuel myself and my team. We definitely, hopefully as you felt, work our little tails off to provide as much value as humanly possible. Just that human-to-human feedback of what’s working or what you appreciate is so invaluable to us as we try to continue to create and make the program better each year. So thank you. Bye, Amy.

Okay. Our next caller appears to be from an Illinois cell phone. It’s 630272. Go ahead with the question.



Kat: [00:41:45] Hi, this is Kat from Chicago.

Marie: Hey, Kat.

Kat: Hi. I’m just feeling a little unclear. I don’t know why I feel like crying right now.

Marie: That’s okay. Let it be unclear. That is where we will... Kat, can I just tell you – A) you can cry. B) many of us – we all – this is the journey we’re on. We go from clarity, to confusion, to clarity, to confusion. So it’s all good. Let me have it. What have you got for me?

Kat: Yeah, that sums it up. I just feel a little overwhelmed in general, especially because I keep trying things. I love your “clarity comes from engagement, not thought.” What I’m finding out is that pretty much I’ve tried is actually working. It’s awesome. I wanted to do a yoga retreat – did it. I wanted to sell this Ayurvedic cleanse – did it with all your advice and everything. That’s been helping as well, but it’s almost leaving me more confused, because I’m like, wow, I really can do anything. I just feel a lot of pressure, I guess. I don’t know.

Marie: No, you do know. If I may ask you a few questions, are some of the questions around not being sure which path is the right path?

Kat: Yeah. All I hear is choose one thing and focus on it. That’s been something I’ve been trying really hard to do. That’s what the pressure is really around. Okay, I’m good at a bunch of things, and I know I can do whatever I want, but how do I pick that one?

Marie: Yes, okay. Great. I’m going to share just another perspective for you that I think could be helpful. When I first had that same epiphany, where I was like, goodness, I love coaching. I love spirituality. I love business. I love fitness. I love hip hop. I found myself completely paralyzed, because similarly I said if I work really hard – and I was also experimenting, doing little tests in all those zones – and to a certain degree, things were working. It’s not like they were oh my god, so explosive, but it was like I get, got great feedback, enjoyed it, was learning, and it was challenging – all those good things.

I made a really conscious choice, because the wisdom to – or I should say the advice – to focus in on one thing and to just choose one thing and do it, and that’s it. It is valid advice, but not for everyone at all times. The thing that really freed me and that so helped me become the person



I am, is when I let go of that pressure to do just one thing and gave myself permission to not be uber-successful in any of them. I was consciously making the choice to have slower growth in my coaching business, consciously making the choice to not be the “best hip-hop dancer on the planet,” consciously making the choice not to be the most super accomplished writer – but I gave myself permission to earn less money and to have the freedom and the magnificent, exhilarating experience of all of my passions at once, while completely understanding the downside.

For you, I don’t know if this is relevant, or it may just help you perhaps consider a new perspective, why not do a few things for a little while and not put the pressure on yourself to pick one and only one at this moment? I’ll fast-forward the story for you in my own life. I did several things for several years. Again, eyes wide open and completely conscious about, I wasn’t making nearly as much money as I do now and wasn’t doing anything at the level that I do now, but I was so frigging happy, because that’s what I wanted at that point. I really wanted to have my hands in a lot. Sometimes being compassionate with yourself and relieving that pressure not to do what everyone else tells you you should do is exactly the freedom you need to come to your own conclusions in your own time.

Kat: Thank you for that. I’ve read that story of yours a bunch of times and have always been really drawn to it. I think that I do need to give myself permission not to try to be this perfect business owner.

Marie: That doesn’t exist. That’s a myth. The perfect business owner is a myth. One of the beautiful joys that we have right now at this time and space is that you can try some different things. I actually think it’s way more fun to be a rebel. Everything we do in our business is not necessarily what you “should” do. I can’t even tell you, Kat, how many people I know, respect, are friends, and I love them – or people we pay money to, or just folks that are colleagues – “Marie, do you have any idea how much money you’re leaving on that table because you’re not doing X, Y, and Z?” I’m like, “I don’t give a shit.” I love it. We’re having so much fun. We’re doing our business the way we want to do it.

Am I the perfect business person? Hell no. Do we have a shit-ton of fun and do we really feel proud of everything we’re creating? Yes. Are the always new things we want to try and places I want to grow into? Of course, but I’m really proud that we do business the way that we want to do business. One of my biggest messages for you and everyone listening on this call is to give yourself that grace of finding your own path and let it be this exciting adventure, this unfolding, this discovery process of what your ideal business and life is going to be like. Let yourself revel a little bit more. Enjoy it. Let there be some unknown and uncertainty, and trust that when the time is right, something within you will speak up and say this is the thing I’d like to start devoting more of my time and energy to. Who knows? Perhaps that day will never come, but I can almost guarantee you it will. Something will surge and emerge as a clear picture of where you want to go next, but you can’t force that. You might as well give yourself the space and freedom to really enjoy this discovery process while you’re in it.



Kat: Thank you, Marie. Thank you so much.

Marie: You’re so welcome. Be good to you. Be nice to you. Let go of that shitty idea of the perfect business person, because it’s just not real and will just torture you and steal your time, your heart, and your energy along the way.

Kat: Okay, thank you.

Marie: Our next caller, let’s see here – we are going to Oceanside, California – Payton, 760817.

Payton: [00:49:13] Yes. Hi, Marie.

Marie: Hi. Who’s this?

Payton: It’s Payton. I’m in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, but close enough. I have this incredible product for women. It’s a nutrient boost. It’s all about nourishing not just the body, but the soul. I get great feedback on my product. The packaging is healing just looking at it. It’s beautiful. My biggest focus through the program has been how to generate sales. My question comes from the Offerings Module, where I’ve really been looking at my price point and what my cost is to make the product versus what I’m asking for it – and keeping in mind for the future, if I end up in Whole Foods or something – they really cut down what they’ll pay for your own product. For me, it really made sense to do a subscription. I’m really able to bring the cost down a lot, because it’ll just run through my own website.

For my opt-in, I ended up doing free samples. I went from not getting a lot of activity to having 20 people sign up for those in a week. My question is, when you make these adjustments, is it typically a short timeframe like that – that people are really going to bite or not bite?

Marie: That’s really a difficult thing to answer. I have other feedback for you – I’m going to stay on your question; it sounds like I’m dodging it, but I’m not. But I’ll tell you this just from marketing experience: you never know what the hell’s going to stick. You just don’t. So much of marketing, especially because all of our markets are so different – our ICAs are different, and there are so many different ways that we can language something. We’re talking about copyrighting and Module 6 and all throughout the program. Really, sometimes it’s a matter of going like, oh, I’m hitting the exact benefit, the exact fear, or the exact frustration, and bam, it just starts to connect. I love the fact that you’re offering a free sample. First of all, I have a question I can hear everyone



asking: What the hell is your business? What’s your URL? What is your thing? Can you tell us?

Payton: My URL is enlighteningsouls.com. My debut product is the nutrient boost for women. My plan is to have other products, which is why that’s the main company name. Then Soul Power is the debut product.

Marie: The thing that first came to my mind when you were speaking is... Actually, do you know Bulletproof Coffee?

Payton: I do.

Marie: He’s got an amazing business. For whatever reason, that popped in my mind for you to just look at and think about. One of the things I think he did so well was when it comes to the morning butter coffee. Again, we’re kind of leaving content to the side – we’re not saying whether you agree with butter coffee. We’re just looking at it from a business lens. He really did a great job with information marketing about Bulletproof Coffee – like, about the metrics, it’s from the Himalayans and I’ve got this drink, and I’ve always been interested in X, Y, and Z. Here’s how you make it.

For you, I just keep wondering – I don’t know if it’s testimonials, stories, or your own story, but there’s a lot that I know is possible for you around the information side of this. Why does it work? What does it do? What does it help women achieve? Or if it’s about their energy, their skin – again, we don’t have to get into those details, but you have them and should know them. That’s a huge opportunity for increasing sales. It’s about getting this product and your story really tight and right. Then I think it’s about finding influencers – like, finding bloggers, people in the health space, people in the spiritual space, or really big yoga people. That is what’s going to turn shit up for you.

Payton: Okay, good. My personal story is that I’ve been an acupuncturist and healer for ten years. Then I became a single mom and just was working with women and having the need for this nutritional support to help me through my life’s journey – is where the product came from. I am connected in that community. That is my plan is, to every Thursday feature a yogi or influencer who is using it and loving it – and then also cross-promoting whatever they’re working on.

Marie: Yeah, I’m on your site right now – really cute. Amazing. I feel it’s also – there’s more to this. I really do think you need to watch our friends at Bulletproof with a business eye. I want to see you make this. I want to see you do it. I want to see people talk about how they feel differently. I love that you’re doing a free sample. Yeah, this is really – nourishes skin, hair, and nails, repairs gut health. Do you have some of the science behind this? I’m obviously looking at your site while I’m talking to you, so I can’t dig too deep.



Payton: Yep. How scientific?

Marie: I’m looking at organic coconut milk. I’m looking at medium-chain triglycerides. I’m looking at all the things that I know from my own little – the grass-fed collagen. You being able to talk through why this is so bad-ass and what the impact can be is going to help a lot of them to go, “oh my goodness, I need this.” Is this helpful for you?

Payton: It’s very helpful.

Marie: Good. Awesome. I love your packaging. I love everything – really, really cool. Now we just want to create some really good information around it, like a sales tool or a video of you making it. We need some testimonials. Then it’s about getting influencers to make their recipe, talk to people about it, and get the word out for you.

Payton: Awesome. You rock, and you’re spinning a web of these incredible people around the world. We’re all connecting. I just feel the world is changing through your work. I just wanted to address that.

Marie: Thanks, Payton. Well, we’re doing it together, right. We’re all doing it together. It makes me really excited when I think about tens of thousands of B-Schoolers from 119 different countries now all building businesses with integrity and are really rooted in transparency, love, and wanting to do the right thing by their customers, the planet, and society. It’s amazing.

Payton: I know, it’s amazing. Love you, B-School. Bye.

Marie: Love you and wishing you luck. Bye. Let’s see here – we’re going to go to our next caller, Sarasota, Florida. I haven’t been there in years. Diane, is that you?

Diane: [00:56:45] Yes. Let’s see here. Can you hear me?

Marie: I can hear you.

Diane: Okay, great. Can you hear me on speaker?



Marie: Yes.

Diane: Okay. Thank you for taking my call. Let me cut to the chase. I am actually a teacher in the Yamuna body-rolling method. My super short elevator speech, which does it not justice – it’s a small ball therapy method that offers you solutions so you can feel better in your body. From there I can go into way more detail, but anyway, I want to cut to my question, which I’ve written down.

My question is that I’m tied to an organization, like a corporate organization, through the method, which has been like that for 27 years. I’ve been there since the very beginning of the onset of this whole method. The parent company really struggled to function in a really positive business way. The reason we all remained with it is because the work is so incredible and the originator of the work is so visionary.

However, immediately when I started to shift my focus from what I thought I was going to do and started the Start the Right Business program, I completely switched to what I was already doing. I had a small little online video subscription on my site, but I really hadn’t put a lot of energy into it. I’m also a teacher-trainer for the method and have actually traveled all over the world, but that keeps me hooked into the parent organization. I really want to focus my energy and take the subscription program, so that it can out there for everyone, if you will.

I guess my question is, how do I – do you have any advice on continuing to grow and excel as a brand within a brand, a parent company I don’t really align with? As I’m growing, changing, and really making my offerings and my whole thing just an incredible user experience, I don’t really have the support on the other end.

Marie: It’ll be challenging to unpack this whole thing, because there’s obviously a whole other organization with their restrictions, legalities, intellectual property, and a lot of things you’ll need to parse through in terms of what you’re allowed to talk about, what they would prefer you not talk about, and all that jazz.

I can say from a 30,000-foot view that the more you can get clear on how your videos and subscriptions – for you to have a crystal-clear delineation of what you can say and what you can’t say. You’ll be able to start charting your path for your business around – it’s Yamuna, right?

Diane: It’s actually pronounced yah-mah-nah.



Marie: Yamuna. I think it originates from the West Village, or at least she has a studio over there?

Diane: Yeah. The studio’s not there anymore.

Marie: I never pronounced it right, so thank you for that.

Diane: So you’d heard of it? Okay.

Marie: I walked by it. It’s right near my house, or it was right near my house. I think it’s important for you to get that delineation about what you can say and promote versus what you can’t. Then begin to chart a vision for your subscription business that is completely within your control. If they’re an organization that are really passionate about the work itself but the business side is not as tightened up as the practice is –

Diane: Yep, that’s it.

Marie: It’s about really going, hey, I’m going to infringe upon this Better Yoga thing. I’m still going to teach for you in person, but I’m going to be doing this over on the side. It’s not about asking for their permission, but it is. You have to get really clear on what you can say and what you can’t say. If you need to start adjusting your messaging, or bringing in other modalities, or teaching something that’s your own and then giving them a shout out...

My whole point is we need to have you cleared of needing permission from them. You have to. I’ve never seen it work, especially when folks – again, they’re more passionate about the actual craft of what they do than the business side – and it doesn’t sound like they may be set up to be able to cut a really good deal with you, and that might just be more of a headache than it’s worth. I think your time and your energy is best spent creatively brainstorming the vision for your subscription service apart from them. You don’t have to break ties from them. You don’t have to badmouth them. You can still do the training and all that stuff – but not to have any business ties.

Diane: Yeah, and then eventually phase out of that, because it is a different energy. I love it, but it’s a different energy. I do have permission. I have been doing it for six years. It did refocus me. It’s like, okay, this is scalable. This is all me. I guess it’s just a matter of just spreading my wings and flying.

Marie: It is. It really is. Again, you do it with love, you do it with honor, and you do it with respect, just like how you’ve been doing it, but when you’re under someone else’s wing – and



again, the philosophy match isn’t there from a business perspective, or the acumen isn’t there from a business perspective – then you need to get yourself out from underneath that so you can have complete freedom to do what you want, when you want, and how you want – because you’re clearly passionate about the business and scalability side of what’s possible for you, as you should be, and you need to be unencumbered there.

Diane: Well, great. Okay, good. That’s very helpful. I just needed to hear another perspective. I really appreciate that, and thank you.

Marie: Congratulations. Thank you so much. Keep us posted. We’ll be cheering you on.

Diane: Okay, will do.

Marie: Okay. Our next caller appears to be a cell phone. I think this is a new person, but you’ll let me know if we’ve talked before. It’s a cell phone from Maryland, 443 –

Michelle: [01:03:14] Hi, it’s Michelle.

Marie: Hey, Michelle.

Michelle: Hi. We have spoken once before, on one of the Office Hours calls. How are you?

Marie: I’m fabulous. What’s your question today, Michelle?

Michelle: Can I just take a shout-out moment? I thought it was so cool. Payton – I did try her – I’m going to forget the name, of course, right now, but the –

Marie: You tried her product.

Michelle: Yes. It’s so good.



Marie: Yay. Oh, good.

Michelle: I loved it. Then you had a woman – Amy Porter. Amy Porter, we’ve got to hook up if you’re still in Baltimore, because I’m in Baltimore, too. I would love to have a buddy to talk to.

Marie: Michelle, what’s your last name, if you’re able to? We’ll try to hook you guys up.

Michelle: Yeah, that’s fine. Michelle Goodman. My question for you is this. I have my ICA down. I can talk about her for days, but I have been told that I have to narrow it down into one of four categories, like relationship, career, money, and health. When I get to this point of narrowing it down for me – and you have spoken about this a little bit already – but when I get to this point, I’m like, well, I’m no marriage counselor. I’m not a fitness instructor. I’m an acupuncturist for the last 20 years. I can offer different perspectives on health, and I do have a training in herbs and stuff like that, but that’s not the direction I’m trying to go with my new business.

When I’ve done my website, I’ve been told by friends / other people that it’s vague. In my world, I’m feeling I am saying what I want to do, but for some reason it’s coming off vague. I keep getting stuck in that point. I don’t know how else to say it. I feel I’m saying what I think I should. I’ve tweaked it a couple times, but the message that is being received is I don’t really know what you’re doing – and these are people who know me.

Marie: Michelle, if you could tell me, what is your business?

Michelle: The business I’m trying to create is I want to be an empowerment life coach for women who are at that transitional point in their lives. They have either had the kid or had the career. Their kids are starting to get a little bit older. They’re starting to veer off into their own worlds. This mother is left at that point like, what do I do now? I don’t like getting a mani-pedi every single day. The massages I’m done with. So they’re bored. They want something else to do.

I want them to get in touch with themselves again and realize who they really are – who they are through this period of life where they do have some spiritual knowledge and education, but they don’t know what to do with it. They don’t really know who they are now at this point.

Marie: So basically you want to be a coach for moms who are likely empty-nesters and are bored out of their brains and not sure what their next chapter should be.



Michelle: Yeah, but maybe not empty-nesters. There’s also a stage prior to empty-nester where your kids are getting a little bit older and are getting active with their lives. They’re still around, but they’re not completely in college necessarily.

Marie: When I wrote down ‘empowerment life coach for women’ – if that’s on your site, I would agree with your friends and feedback – way too big, not specific enough – but the stuff we started drilling down into is way more specific and tangible. I think it’s a matter of you honing in on the who – again, not empty-nesters necessarily, but you’re going to have to come up with a succinct way to say when kids are no longer – the big thing you’re focusing on.

Then the second piece of it is you also have to come up with something that encapsulates fairly quickly – like, it’s not just their bodies. What are they going to do with their time? You said you know your ICAs, so there may be a couple of key phrases they keep saying again and again that they want. That’s what you need to focus on.

Michelle: It’s vague, in and of itself. They feel sort of empty – is the best way to describe it. Your identity and your children start to diminish as they get older, because now you’re not their world anymore.

Marie: Michelle, I’m going to interrupt you purposefully. There actually are a few key phrases. I don’t think you’ve hit them yet – is my point. I can feel from an energetic place that yeah, there are a couple things that people say – but I can also feel there is a crispness and an exactness to a lot of women. There are probably many of them in B-School who will be able to help you tease out the exact thing. It’s like, I’ve lost who I am and need to get my life back. Or, I need to know what my next chapter is. There are phrases that they’re saying to themselves that I don’t think you’ve honed in on yet or that you’ve decided this is the thing – that this is the exact frustration and this is the exact thing they want.

Now, obviously it’s not going to fit every person, but it’ll be close enough for your ICAs to go, “exactly.” That’s exactly it. When I talk about B-School – helping people create a meaningful, profitable business – they’re not all saying that, but somewhere in them it’s resonating. Yes, I want a business that apparently is going to spit money out of my computer like an ATM – like out of my MacBook Air. That’s A) bullshit, but B) it doesn’t speak to the kind of feeling not only about the content that I create, but I know the result and impact that my customers want to also feel in their lives. It’s not like it has to resonate perfectly with every single one, but it’s got to be close enough where they’re like yeah, that’s the thing I want.

I’m going to challenge you to put your website in the Facebook group. I’m going to give a call-out to our B-School Mentors, smarty-pants that they all are – and some of our copy coaches – to help you, because I know it’s close. You’re very close, but your friends are right. There is a vagueness to it, but you’re not far from getting it crisp. It’s about coming up with a phrase for the women – what they’re struggling with – and then the outcome you’re going to help them get to the promised



land, whatever is that transformative state they want to feel again.

Michelle: Can I just ask, to tie in that last piece, do you think it’s important to narrow it down in one of those categories?

Marie: No, I don’t.

Michelle: None of them were resonating with me. I was like, I can’t get behind it – not because I was feeling like I was being difficult with myself. I was like, hmm, nothing’s really resonating for me.

Marie: It’s got to be a process, though. You’re going to have to come up with – whether it’s your program, or a curriculum, or a process to get people from point A to point B. That’s the next stage you’re going to have to work on. It’ll probably have to incorporate some of those pieces.

Michelle: Yeah, absolutely. I just couldn’t hone down on one, which was my thing.

Marie: You don’t have to. All right, Michelle. Go post on the Facebook group and let the magic continue. Our next caller is Jerry from Illinois – 847542.

Neesi: [01:11:48] Hi, Marie. This is Necie. How are you?

Marie: Hi, I’m fantastic. How are you?

Necie: Fine. That’s my husband’s name – Jerry – but my name is Necie. I just want to tell you how ecstatic I am to be a member of B-School. I’ve been trying to get into the program for a number of years now, couldn’t afford it, and this year I just started back working because I’m a chronic pain warrior and said I’m going to invest in myself and worry about the rest later – but I knew I needed to take action. So thank you for taking my call.

Marie, my question is twofold. I am a founder of a not-for-profit organization geared towards people with chronic pain and fibromyalgia. I’m also a certified health coach at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I’m also a life coach. I try to combine the two by having my self-coaching on my not-for-profit site as an added service. I just don’t feel that was a good way to go, because it didn’t pay off. What was happening was that I’m meeting far more people who are reaching out to me for discovery calls, but they don’t want to pay for any coaching whatsoever.



I help lots of people. I have a lot of free resources on my website. My question for you is, I really want to focus on building a brand new website, but I want it to be geared towards professional career women who have chronic pain but can’t afford to take the time off from work to go on medical leave. They really want help to level down that chronic pain.

My messaging, I feel, is off, because I’m not really attracting the right kind of people. I say I want career women, and I need to be more exact with that, because the people I’m attracting want to help but don’t want to pay for the services. I feel maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong in my messaging.

Marie: First of all, I have to tell you there are so many great things going for you. The clarity with which you know exactly who you want to work with and what you want to work with them on – and I think it’s brilliant, just so you know. I don’t believe, in my heart of hearts in terms of career women... It might be about tweaking this just slightly to executive, professional working women. Career women – just even that little phrase, for me for whatever reason, feels like it’s almost an earlier version of how we talked about women. We might be able to update that language a little bit to resonate a little bit more.

Here’s another one. I feel collectively, between our B-School Mentors, coaches, and also all of the incredibly wise, generous, and smart humans that we have in B-School – I want to help you crack this code in the Facebook group, looking at a headline or looking at how you’re positioning it. I do believe, and I don’t know the stats on it – you probably do – there are a lot of women suffering with chronic pain. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head: They may not be able to take that time off, but what they can do is, as you said, level down that pain and start to get their lives back with extremely concrete tools, strategies, approaches, and methodologies that I’m sure you can help them with. Is that correct?

Necie: Yes, correct. Chronic pain is a $1.5 billion market. I stressed it on my talk show, public access, and in my iTunes show. My not-for-profit is doing very well, but I recognize for me, to make an income, that I need to really focus on my health coaching and attract those executive, professional, working women who need help.

Marie: I’ll tell you what. What you’re going to also want to do in your positioning / repositioning of this new website... I don’t necessarily want you to call yourself a health coach. I feel what you’re going to put through is a protocol. We’re completely focusing on this specific population with this specific pain point. For general health coaching, the level of expertise you have and the level of assets you have, in the fact that you’re running a nonprofit – your authority in the field is enormous. We need to leverage that to position you where it’s like, hey, I’m putting you through this particular protocol. I am certified through IIN. I am certified through this, that, and the other thing. I most importantly have been on this journey with you because I’ve had it. I’ve experienced it. All of those things lend to you positioning yourself, frankly, a little bit higher than I’m just a



health coach. Does that make sense?

Necie: Yes. I do have a protocol, because I’ve taken my chronic pain from a 10-plus down to a 2. I couldn’t work for three years, and now I’m back to work. I don’t really know what to call myself anymore.

Marie: We’re going to help you brainstorm that. Health coach might be in there, but it’s the creator of X method or the creator of X protocol. The last thing I’ll ask you: Do you have some customer testimonials or success stories from people that you’ve worked with and have also been able to take that 10-plus down to a 2 or 3 level?

Necie: Not with the protocol, because that’s something new I’m rolling out, but I do have testimony from people I’ve worked with in my not-for-profit.

Marie: Two things. You’re going to want to roll out this protocol, even if you do it for free, with two or three people and just rock their worlds to get their testimonials, because that’s what’s going to help you scale up in terms of having more people say yes. It’s great that you got these results for yourself, but you’ve got to make sure it’s proven with other folks. If you need to do it for free, do it. It’s worth it. Any of those folks you’ve worked with through the nonprofit – if they’ve been through the protocol legitimately and you can use them, obviously use them – but I want you to have some other folks as well.

Necie: I have a program I’ve started called the Level Up, Level Down Challenge, but some of the people that have approached me and are interested in this program want instant results. With chronic pain, it just doesn’t work like that, where I can say in two weeks you’re going to be free. I’m very honest about that.

Marie: Do you remember when I was talking with our organizer earlier? She was talking about how a lot of people – it was actually Amy Porter. If you didn’t hear that part of the call, go back and listen to it. She was talking about how a lot of people consider themselves hoarders who aren’t hoarders. It’s like this big myth that messes people up. You’re going to have to have some educational sales materials around, look, here are some of the myths that are holding you back – whether it’s myths or mistakes – from having the healing that you deserve and are capable of having. One, most people want instant results. Here’s why that doesn’t work. You’ll be able to run through – look, that’s just a pie-in-the-sky thought that’s actually keeping you from having the ultimate feeling you deserve. Does that make sense?

Necie: Yes, it does.



Marie: Good. Alright, my friend. Post in the Facebook group so we can support you. We can start really helping you hone in on how you’ll position yourself even further, but you’re onto something really good. I have total faith you’ll be able to create it.

Necie: Thanks so much, Marie. I appreciate it, and I appreciate you and B-School. Thank you so much.

Marie: You’re so welcome. We appreciate you. Our next caller is from California – 858602. Go ahead with your question.

Julie: [01:20:06] Oh, wonderful. Hi Marie, this is Julie.

Marie: Hey, Julie.

Julie: It’s so good to talk to you. I’ve never spoken with you before, so I really appreciate this and to all your team. I’m getting so much out of this. I’m just starting the Module 2. I feel very happy about that. I’ve had so much transformation in the past month as far as my clarity of vision and focus and really getting into my ICA’s shoes, so I really appreciate that.

I’m a thought-field therapy tapping advanced practitioner and trainer. If you’ve heard of EFT or emotional freedom technique, tapping came from EFT, which is what I’ve been trained in. I have a vision of helping as many people as I can and teaching them tapping techniques to work with clearing fears and anxieties – guilt, anger – everything that comes up on a daily basis that prevents us from moving forward in our lives in the way we want to.

I have a product that I’d like to either do a launch for and maybe what you’re calling a sales funnel process. You probably cover this in B-School. Forgive me if you do and am asking a question that is readily answered there. I have a product. There’s a video I’ve done that teaches people a five-stop process protocol for using a tapping technique to help them embody and align with their visualizations. It’s pretty much geared towards entrepreneurs and creatives that can help them remove the blocks that get in the way – the fears, the phobias, the guilt, the past traumas, the things that would prevent them from moving forward.

My question is how to successfully set up a launch for that. I know what free content I could give away beforehand, but I just have never done this before and want to reach as many people as I can. I don’t have a big email list, so any advice you can give me – and I think it would help anyone and everyone.



Marie: Let me ask you this: The thing you’re selling, is it a single video or a multi-video course?

Julie: Right now it’s a single video, the way it’s set up. It’s a 30-minute video.

Marie: Okay, it’s a 30-minute video. I am going to – is that all people would need? It’s just like, hey, this 30-minute thing, and you’re done? Let’s say I have fears and traumas, and I am coming across one of your free pieces of content. Are you telling me that if I buy this one piece of content and basically do the 30-minute thing – watch it and do the exercise for however long – that’s all I need?

Julie: It’s supposed to be a daily practice. There’s a brief meditation that goes along with it. Then once they learn the tapping technique, it’s to be used on an ongoing basis. The way tapping works is it really is something you include as a lifestyle practice, just like you go for a walk every day. This would be your visualization practice in the morning that you do to set up your day so that you’re seeing yourself in either whatever business you’re running or in a happy relationship or physical health – where you want to go with that. You take those few minutes to focus on that and do your tapping technique.

Marie: Yep, I totally get that. What I’m asking you is, from all the work you’ve done with clients... I just know that most people wind up going into any new practice, any new skill set, or any new area where they are inexperienced, and typically they need – they have questions. They go, what if this? We humans just tend to overcomplicate things, but we usually need more hand-holding than 30 minutes.

The reason I was asking that question is because it depends on... I don’t want you launching something that is incomplete and that you could’ve charged more money for if you really thought it through. Okay, here are all the blocks people have even before they do it. Here’s how they need to set themselves up. Here are the questions that happened after I taught them this 30-minute thing. Yes, they need to do it every day. It needs to become a practice. We’re setting that aside. I’m just suggesting that you need to think about, are there other questions? Can you build this out? Maybe it’s a three-video series. What were you thinking of charging for it?

Julie: Right now off the top of my head, it was going to be around $30. This is not a high-ticket item yet, but I do see having webinars and stuff. So I’m welcoming your advice.

Marie: Here’s my point. To take all the time and the energy to create a whole launch – just think about it from a numbers perspective. If you made the course just a little bit more comprehensive – like, rather than just one video, let’s say it’s five short videos helping people prep. Again, just



because I’ve been in this world for a while and have taught people a lot of things, you’re like, wait it’s so simple. Then people ask questions, and you’re like, holy shit, I didn’t even think of that – because you’re so good at what you do and are so experienced at it. You naturally assume everyone knows all the nuances you know. That’s how B-School actually that, because people were like, what about this? I’m like, ah shit, let me create a video about that to create the context. There are some things that come so intuitively, natively, and overtime are just embedded in my psyche that, if I don’t take the time to think that through, walk that through, and explain to people to answer some of their questions, I’m leaving them hanging.

The other point I was trying to make – rather than building out a webinar and doing a whole launch for a $30 product, which is fine, it’s a lot more exciting to do it for a $99 or $200 product that people would happily pay for. You can deliver a more robust experience for them that actually helps them not just learn this one 30-minute thing, but set themselves up to really get the maximum impact. You’re doing both of you a service.

I’ll tell you this: People may disagree with me, and that’s fine. Diversity is what makes the world go round – but I have seen this from experience. People take an investment in something that is slightly more expensive more seriously. They just do. If they buy something that’s like $10, they’re like, whatever. I’m going to let it sit on my hard drive. If they invest in something that’s a bit more pricey, they are more invested in getting the benefit from that thing.

I would challenge you – before you think about your launch – and you can talk about that all day long, because there are tons of people in B-School. By the way, we don’t do full-out sales funnels in B-School, because that’s a whole other eight-week fricking course, but I can tell you this: There are enough people in B-School with enough experience about these things that they’ll be able to help guide you. It doesn’t have to be complex. It can be a free piece of content, like an e-book or an article. You can drive people to a webinar and then sell them into your course. My challenge for you is to stop thinking in terms of something that’s $30 and up-level to something that’s $100 or $200 and really deliver an outstanding experience and get people results.

Julie: Love it. I’m in. Thank you.

Marie: You’re so welcome. Keep kicking butt. We’re going to go for a few more minutes, y’all. I’m going to go now to a cell phone in New York City – 917682. Go ahead with your question.

Kim: [01:27:55] Hi, how are you. Thanks for taking my call. Oh my gosh, I’m so thrilled. I listened to the last live calls we had. I tried to – I don’t know, sometimes I’m really a Luddite. I had put in the wrong code to raise my hand. Anyway, I’m really pleased to be on. I love B-School. Thank you so much for being there for us, so we can have this community. I’ve been wanting to take your class for several years. Like one of the other callers earlier, I went back to work. Part of the going back to work full-time – I’ve been freelance for two decades – was so that I could know I had the money to do things like B-School. Then this leads into where I’m going.



I’m product-based. I design jewelry. In my free time I’m trying to design jewelry and am trying to work on this website. I do sound like a Luddite. I guess my big question is, I need to reach out more and say hi on the Facebook page, but I’ve been working just a tiny bit on my website that I launched in January. I find myself overwhelmed technologically. I know you say hire a pro, but see, I wanted to be able to make the updates myself. I have a blog for my writing. That’s what I’ve done for the past million years. I’m a fashion and lifestyle writer based in New York City.

I love my little website blog. I thought it was very easy – my WordPress – but somehow teaming it with a product has become this complete challenge. I’m learning. I’m just doing baby steps. I’m watching the videos. I’m going to go back and redo everything to really implement everything. I’ve got to work on my ICA. I do private sales now. I feel I know my ICA, but I think I can – I mean, I want to take this bigger. I want this to be the business.

Part of what I want to do – and this is my question – I’m hoping this will be helpful for any other product-based students out there in our community. I want to give back. I’m rethinking everything with your course. I’m like, oh my god, maybe I should – the things that I’ve gone through – maybe I can be helpful to other people and should be coaching – but my jewelry is a passion. It’s a low-hanging fruit for me right now. I really want to make this a go, but I want to give back at the same time. So how do I make it philanthropic, like the Toms business model or something like that?

Marie: I’ve got a couple things for you. I’m going to go right for it, because we’re getting low on time and I’m over. First thing, consider doing a Shopify site. Shopify is amazing for product-based businesses. They make shit so easy. Like, easy easy easy. I love the Shopify people. I mean, Squarespace is awesome too, but think about Shopify. If you want to and do it fairly quickly, in the Facebook group you can post, and Christine, who is our amazing product-based B-School Mentor Coach – there’s just a lot she can offer you. But I would say check out Shopify. They make it so simple when it comes to the tech side.

The second thing, in terms of giving back: Don’t overcomplicate it. It may just be something like once a year perhaps you do a campaign. Maybe it’s a giveaway campaign, or you take all the proceeds that you sell from X pieces, or half of what you sell, or just a little percentage – maybe it’s in December, and you donate that to a cause that really speaks to your soul. So don’t worry about a one-for-one model. Keep it super simple.

In fact, in Module 1, where we talk about being a purpose-driven business, in the Fun Sheet itself there are 12 different ideas just to get you started on simple ways to build giving back into your business without having it take over the whole thing – starting small, making it simple, having it be really fun and really playful.



Kim: I know we’re running out of time, but I guess I feel like, as a product-based business, I’m somehow just being all self-serving or something.

Marie: No, stop that. That’s crazy talk. Don’t even go there. Listen, when you are creating something that is from your heart and brings joy to other humans, that is in and of itself of service to the world. It really is. When you talk about adding that other layer in, all we’re doing is recognizing our blessing. All we’re doing is recognizing that if we have the ability to run a business – if we are free enough to create our own income or create some joy and profit in this world – why not take a look at all the inequalities that exist and the injustices that exist and add on another layer of trying to fix some of those things. So, looking at something that breaks our hearts, looking at some area of this world where we know there is pain and taking from our incredible blessings and sharing them. That’s all it’s about. We can do that in a myriad of ways. There’s not one right way to do it.

Most of us, and most of the people I come across in B-School and the folks that I hang out with, don’t just want to make more money. Oh my god, I need 15 pairs of shoes. Like, who the hell cares? Most of us don’t give a shit, but what we do care about, though, is making the world a better place and doing our part in order to do that. Again, that’s what it’s about.

Kim: Thank you. That’s really beautiful. I really appreciate your sentiment and insight into all of that. Thank you about the Shopify advice. I just need it to be easy. I’m just feeling I’m hitting myself with a hammer and going, okay, this isn’t working. What am I doing?

Marie: Whether it’s Shopify or Squarespace, but Shopify kicks some serious ass. I really love that company. They’re always working to make things better for their customers.

Kim: And I mean, it was a nominal amount that I invested to start this site anyway. I did it on January 13th, because my company is Collection 13 Jewelry. I thought, oh, I have to get the energy flowing and feng shui going. I think it did help, in a way, but hey, sometimes you make the wrong decision and just have to accept that and move on.

Marie: I wouldn’t consider it a wrong decision. I think that’s a framework of mind that’s not necessarily useful. You built something. Now it’s just time to iterate and evolve to what’s next.

Kim: Oh, okay. Great. Thank you.

Marie: See you later, darling. Our next caller – Denver, Colorado – 720839. Go ahead with your question.



Keisha: [01:34:48] Hi, that’s me. My name’s Keisha. I’m so excited, oh my gosh. I run a parent education company. I’ve been doing it for 15 years. I’m very well known here in little pond in Colorado. As my kids are getting older and I’m ready to expand and go more viral online – so part of doing B-School was to get myself more information on doing webinars and classes.

One of the main reasons that people take parenting classes is to be able to have that one-on-one conversation with me to get specific questions answered. I’m trying and struggling with what is the best module for online content that also allows for enough conversational pieces.

Marie: You could have your baseline curriculum – a set of tools, philosophies, and basic understandings that you teach in the parent education company. That’s kind of true with any education. There’s a baseline foundation of what people all need to get. Then you could have that – there are many different ways you can go. One option is just you can buy that you’re off on your own. Perhaps for another price they have access to time with you in a group setting. Then perhaps for another price they get access to one-on-one – coaching one-on-one with you at set times, and you only accept X amounts of people in any given month or year, or whatever the frequency is. I think it’s really simple, between Facebook groups, calls like this, having forums or comments. It’s a no-brainer, really. You can do one-on-one coaching via site, Zoom, anything.

Keisha: I use Zoom a lot with the consulting and coaching I do now. I love it. It’s fabulous. Just in terms of what – is there a platform for – or does it matter that it’s on one platform?

Marie: No, it doesn’t matter at all. B-School, for example, has a membership site. I think it’s Module 5 and probably Module 2, as well, where we have a whole list of different teaching platforms, meaning online platforms where you upload your content. There’s a bunch of them. One’s not necessarily better than the other. They’ve all got their features. It’s really easy.

Then in terms of the “interaction” bit – again, billions of people are on Facebook, so that’s an option for you. You’re ready to, I assume, if it’s a more intimate thing. But no, I think you’ve got everything you need, girl. It’s just about you deciding what the offers are, what you’re going to charge, and then doing it.

Keisha: Okay, simple.

Marie: Totally. Keep it simple. Most of us do, and it’s really nice. That’s why it’s really nice. That’s why it’s always nice to have an outside perspective with someone who can come in, zoom in, and peel away the layers of complication. Oh yeah, that’s right. Okay, I can go do it now.



I will caution this: For your offerings, make sure they’re time-bound. If you’re going to offer coaching, it’s X amount of sessions. If you’re going to offer feedback, it’s for this amount of time – so that you’re able to iterate and evolve as your programs iterate and evolve, and you’re not locking yourself in forever.

Keisha: In terms of launches, is it going to make the most sense to do a timed here’s the class, versus how long –

Marie: Yep. It’s human nature. Whether we like it or not, when it comes to scarcity and urgency – which we talk about in Module 6 – marketing, marketing, marketing. Those are just real things. We humans, no matter how wonderful we are, just love to procrastinate. That’s just what we do. When you have things that are open and closed, it allows you also to refine your marketing. It allows you to make improvements. There are a lot of benefits to opening and closing. There are people that have things on the market all the time. They have pretty sophisticated webinar funnels. That’s great. That’s well and fine, and I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do that, but having seen enough people launch things – especially when it’s a more premium-type offering. It’s nice to take it on and off.

Keisha: Thank you.

Marie: You’re so welcome. Our next caller – going over to Portland, 503577. Go ahead with your question.

Liz: [01:39:59] Hi, Marie. I’m Liz. I’m absolutely loving your program. Thank you so much.

Marie: Aw, thank you.

Liz: This is kind of a personal question, so obviously answer however you’re comfortable with. I’m wrestling with lots of doubt. I’m vacillating greatly. I know this is all normal and is part of the process. I tend to be a very confident person. The ups and downs of this process has been somewhat challenging, to say the least. I’m just wondering if you could shed a light on what practices you employed to address your own doubts and insecurities and how you may have developed those personal practices.

Marie: Oh yeah, I’m happy to share. I’m always happy to share stuff like this. What exactly are you feeling doubt and insecurity about, specifically?



Liz: I wonder, am I actually going to make any money doing any of this stuff – which is not the number one driving force, but it is important to me. I do want to provide as a role model for my daughter and just for myself. I think there’s a lot of doubt around that.

Marie: Okay, good. By the way, you’re not alone in that. That’s a very common one. In my own world, the way I’m genetically wired is, I wanted – especially for the first beginning parts of my business – to have other income coming in from side jobs. I talked a lot about that. That’s what helped me when it comes to that insecurity and fear. What I had to do was two things. When I was doing my side jobs, just show up and do the best I possibly could to keep getting those tips and getting that paycheck – doing the things I had to do, because I knew that was going to keep a roof over my head, and keep things – even if it was tight, which it was – very tight – it was at least money flow coming in.

Then, in that limited time I had to build a business, which is what most of us have when we’re trying to build something – hardly any of us get to hang around with eight hours a day going I could just build my business all day – not usually how it goes. So in that limited time, here’s all I could focus on: delivering value and making sure I was getting results for people. Literally, Liz, I had no time to indulge in the self-doubt. Here’s something we know from neuroscience. This is a fact. When you are not engaged, meaning engaged in some type of external activity – so, for a business that might look like writing your blog post, working with your clients, making your product, working on the packaging...

We know what it feels like to be physically engaged with that. The moment we disengage, literally our brain – the front lobe starts to turn inward. It starts to go, how are we doing? How am I doing? Am I happy? Is anyone going to like this? Does this suck? Does any of this sound familiar?

Liz: Yes.

Marie: This is what happens when we disengage. My method – and I’m not saying it’s the best, but it certainly has worked – is if I’m not physically engaged in something, I know my mind is going to turn into a shit show. I know it’s going to turn back and start going, well, what is it that you do? Is it really that good? Is this whole thing going to work out? It’s a litany of self-doubt bullshit.

In my world, I have trained myself. If I’m not meditating, if I’m not exercising, if I’m not indulging in some “Homeland” or some “Game of Thrones” – some good, mindless TV for me – my ass is engaged in something. Any attention I put on me and myself is all going south.



Liz: Awesome. Thank you.

Marie: You’re so welcome. Enjoy being busy. Any time you catch those self-doubting voices, use it as a really compassionate alarm clock that you have disengaged from reality, meaning you’ve disengaged from the present moment. You’re not looking at the sun. You’re not feeling the wind. You’re not writing something. You’re not having a conversation. You’re not eating your food. You’re literally engaging the part of your brain that’s the most torturesome.

Liz: That’s awesome. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Marie: You’re welcome. Moving on. I’ve got to go to Copenhagen. Copenhagen on the line.

Bjoerg: [01:44:50] Hi. I’m just surprised to be through. Thank you so much. I’m overwhelmed, basically. My name is Bjoerg. I’m from Copenhagen, Denmark. I’m a photographer. I’m loving B-School. It’s the best thing that has happened to me. My question is – I’m trying to keep it short, though. I’m a headshot photographer. I’m aiming to be a corporate headshot photographer, but I have a website showing off my corporate work. Then I have a second webpage doing family and kids photography. Then I have this third idea that I also want to have an outlet for my personal, creative work that I’m thinking about doing some kind of printing for.

To keep it short, I have these three outlets. I sort of want to pull them in under the same umbrella under my brand, doing maybe some sub-branding instead of having to keep and maintain three websites, three social media websites, and what have you. That would just be a big hassle. My question is, how do I keep this under the same umbrella, trying to keep it in my own one voice without confusing my audience. I have these corporate people that don’t want to see family pictures.

Marie: I’m going to disagree. I think this is actually another example... By the way, I am raising my hand with you, because one of the things all of us know – we all know this to be true – it is so challenging to see through our own dilemmas, our own complications. Oftentimes all we need is someone else who is caring and observant to say, hey, over here. I think I’ve got a simpler answer for you. Here’s one of those examples.

I will tell you, as someone who works with photographers and loves working with photographers, I think that all of this neatly fits under one umbrella. Here’s the thing: More and more these days, even in a corporate setting, people want things done artistically, beautifully, and with some soul. I can see your website where it’s your branding and photography, and there are a couple ways you could go. You could have navigation at the top, where it’s corporate, professional headshots and there’s a click-through. Or if it’s like services, and it’s a drop-down where there’s corporate,



family, and then maybe that’s it – and then there’s another bit on the navigation for prints, art, or whatever.

I will tell you that you’ll get the best clients, because they’ll come to your site and you won’t be a one-note person. They’re going to look and go, whoa. Many of your corporate clients – come on, now. A lot of people who are in corporations and are executives also have families. If they have this amazing experience with you and see these gorgeous images of families and kids, they’re going to be like, wait, can I hire you for that too? So I think it is imperative that you have it all under one umbrella.

Another option is just a different way to think about it. There’s not one right way, and I want to make this really clear, because your mind will start to go, oh, what should I do? It’s about experimenting. As an artist, you know this. You might have to prototype a little bit – try some different wireframing on websites. You could also do the doorway method, where somebody lands on your site, and it just explains – maybe there’s a beautiful image of a photograph. Maybe there are a few different doorways, like corporate, click here –

Bjoerg: That’s what I thought I would do to funnel them into whatever they would be interested in. Because then, if the personal assistant of a CEO does not need to go through baby pictures or family pictures, he or she could just go straight to whatever they are in need for. I figured I wanted to do that. I’m just sort of unsure of how to communicate on social media so that one day I’m posting behind-the-scenes corporate pictures and then one day I’m doing a family shot.

Marie: Exactly. Let that be your strength. Don’t separate it. You are one human – your brand, you. You are the center. You’re sharing these different photos. I’m telling you, people will love the variety. This is a mental construct, and it’s an obstacle in your mind, but I promise you... If you’ve learned anything from B-School, I hope you’ve learned you can trust me when it comes to social. Let’s say you’re posting on Twitter. I don’t know if there are hashtags that could relate. Maybe there aren’t hashtags, but you would just put the hashtags that relate to that particular type of photo or that particular kind of person.

If it’s Instagram, people will appreciate seeing that diversity of your work. I guarantee your soul and your artistic eye is the thread that runs through it. I think it would be boring if it were one-note, personally. Who’d want to follow that beat?

Bjoerg: I guess you’re right. I do really appreciate you and B-School. I spend so much time on Facebook and just keep on learning, like a sponge. I’m truly appreciative. Thank you so much.

Marie: Thank you, darling. We’re going to be cheering you on. I can’t wait to see your photos.



Thank you.

Bjoerg: Thank you.

Marie: Oh my god, Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey – go for it. Are you there? You’re unmuted, 732.

Rada: [01:51:25] Hi Marie, this is Rada. How are you?

Marie: I’m fabulous. How are you?

Rada: Great. I am so glad to actually personally talk to you. Now all of a sudden you have come out of my screen and into a real person I can talk to.

Marie: I’m a real person. I really am. What can I do for you?

Rada: Every time you mentioned New Jersey, so that’s one of the proud reasons that I am also from New Jersey. Marie, I really am behind in terms of my Modules. I haven’t been able to catch up with all the releases. I just wanted to get an idea. Do I still have hope? The last time in your email, it says last voice call. I was like, oh my god, I don’t even my questions ready.

Marie: Listen, you have so much hope. You have tons of hope. I think I’ve said this story before, but I’ll just remind you. Some of our most amazing, successful B-Schoolers are folks who have really taken their time with the program and wind up having these incredible breakthroughs in year two, year three, or year four. They’re committed to being this human who is proactively creating their lives, ongoingly. B-School is an enormous jumping-off point. It’s this adventure that keeps unfolding.

You and literally, Rada, thousands of other B-Schoolers in the class of 2017 are exactly where you are. They are nowhere near caught up with Module 6, and that is totally okay. You have to release all guilt around that, all shame, anything negative in your mind that’s saying you’re behind, you’re not good, or you haven’t taken full advantage of this. All that talk is bullshit. The fact that you’re in the community, you’re on the call right now, you’re engaged, and you’re taking it at your own pace – that’s the win. The win is continuing to explore. The win is continuing to use the ideas and the concepts and tools to investigate what’s most true for you. The win is in continuing to take action and treating it like an experiment. What have I discovered here? Do I like this? Do I



not like this? Is this moving in a direction that feels really right and aligned? No, I tried that, and it’s going to nudge me over to this side.

Realize that every single one of us is on such a unique path with our own unique velocity, meaning our own unique speed – our own unique things that are holding us back that we need to unpack in our own undue time. We’ve got to be kind to ourselves on this journey. Otherwise it’s not worth going on. So, you’re not running out of time.

Rada: Okay, good to hear.

Marie: Yes. The community as a program continues on. It’s not going to poof, just disappear like Cinderella at midnight. It’s not all going away. It’s all going to be there. We will continue to be there. Again, I’ve been doing this for 17 years, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. You’ll see me in your screen lots of times. There will be other chances hopefully to hop on the phone with me, but you’re doing good. Just be kind to you, okay?

Rada: Sure. Thank you for the encouragement. Every single day I keep changing my ideas and keep changing my ICAs. That’s what’s causing the delay.

Marie: That’s okay. Let it be a discovery process. You’ve got to let yourself explore all this. I know you’re not the only one. I know in your mind you can feel, oh my goodness, it’s just me. I can’t pick one thing. You have to give yourself permission to try different things on. It’s like trying on so many different outfits before you find the one where you’re like, yes, this is the one I want to hang out in for a little while. This is the one I want to move forward with for a little while.

Rada: Is it okay to experiment, or should one really know?

Marie: No, experimentation is everything. You’ve got to be playful. You’ve got to give yourself permission to try stuff. It’s okay if something doesn’t work out. Most people are so stuck because they’re so striving to get it right and think about it in their heads, rather than doing something – engaging in some physical act to try something and then letting the feedback inform what their next move in. So experimentation is the name of the game. On that, I’m going to wrap up. You keep having fun and stay engaged, and I promise it will all unfold for you.

Alright, you guys. I just can’t ever help myself. I know we went a little over, but thank you so much for being incredible on this call. I’m going to go get some food, get some water, hydrate, and then I’m going to be back in a few hours for some more Office Hours calls. Whether you’re listening



to this in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening – wherever you are in the world, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a member of this program, this community, and this mission to really transform the world by sharing the gift that only we have. So thank you so much, and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye, guys.


office hours: call 6 - amazon s3s3.amazonaws.com/bschool/officehours/b...– is that you build out a...

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