Welcome to the Rich Coach Club, the podcast that teaches you how to build your dream coaching practice and how to significantly increase your income. If you're a coach and you're determined to start making more money, this show is for you. I'm master certified life coach Susan Hyatt, and I'm psyched for you to join me on this journey.
On last week’s episode, we talked about money. Specifically, we talked about money blocks. Last week, I invited you to ask yourself, “What’s my biggest mental block when it comes to making money?” And I hope you caught that episode because, if you didn’t, go back into the podcast archives at some point and catch up because it’s a good one.
Today on this episode though, our topic is new level, new you. And when I say new level, new you, what do you think I mean by that? What I mean is, if you want to bring your coaching practice to a new level, then you have to bring yourself to a new level. Think about it; the mindset and habits that got you earning five figures a year are not the exact same mindset and habit that will bring you six figures or seven or even eight.
It’s like that famous quote, “The definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting a different result.” If you want to see a different result, if you want a different income level, if you want a different kind of business then you can’t repeat the exact same things you’ve done in the past year. You just can’t. And you can’t be the exact same person you’ve been in the past either. You have to become a new version of yourself.
And let me tell you something; this is something I’ve had to learn and relearn so many times over the course of my career as a coach. Listen, I remember back when I was a brand-new coach, like 12 years ago. And back then, I had to handle every single detail of my business all by myself.
I was brand new, I didn’t have a budget for an assistant and I had to handle even the tiniest little things, like formatting photos for my newsletter and making sure each photo was exactly 600 pixels wide or whatever it was. Good lord, I would spend so much time on those little details. Literally, I would be up at my computer 11pm at night, after my kids were asleep, fiddling around with photos.
And you know what – for a little while, for that first year or so that I ran my coaching practice all by myself, that was fine, but after about nine months of that first year, I was ready to grow. I was more confident in my coaching skills, I was ready for more clients and for sure was ready for more money.
In order to reach that next level though, I had to release some of my old habits and systems. And so for me, that meant I had to stop micromanaging every little detail. I had to hire some help. I had to delegate. I had to work on my perfectionism and release some of that control.
And if I wanted to bring my coaching practice to six figures a year or multiple six figures or seven figures, then hello, I could not be the type of business owner who spends five hours a week fiddling with newsletter photos. That’s just not the ideal use of my time, or your time, I’m going to suggest.
I needed to move beyond that and I really needed to level up, which is my favorite song right now; Level Up by Ciara. That’s just one tiny example, but there have been literally thousands of other moments just like that where I had to become a different kind of person, a different kind of entrepreneur, a different kind of leader in order to bring my practice to a different level.
So what about you? Are you ready to level up? I know you are if you’re listening to this podcast, so let’s get into this. Without further ado, it’s time for your two-minute pep-talk.
Alright, this is the part of the show where I share some motivation and encouragement and inspiration to get your week started off right in 120 seconds or less. Once again, our focus today is new level, new you. So right now, if you can, close your eyes.
Take a moment and picture your dream coaching practice. Picture your dream office, your dream schedule. Picture the programs and services you would love to run, picture the amount of money you want to earn each year. See that number on your mind’s eye; 100,000 a year, 500,000, one million, five million. Whatever it is, see it. Don’t turn away from it. Stare at that number like it’s a ripe juicy peach that you’re about to pluck off of a tree.
Yes, you can have it. Focus on that big exciting number. Okay, now open your eyes. And now, I want you to think about this question; what kind of person do I need to become in order to build my dream coaching practice? I’ll repeat that; what kind of person do I need to become in order to build my dream coaching practice?
In other words, what needs to change? What needs to be different? How do you need to level up? Maybe you need to change your mindset, change your attitude, change your morning routine, change the way you manage your emails, the way you lead your team or something else.
If you’ve got a pen nearby, I invite you to write down one thing you need to start doing and one thing you need to stop doing in order to become that new version of yourself. Just as an example, let’s say that in order to bring your coaching practice to 250,000 a year, maybe you need to stop spending three hours a day answering your emails.
You need to hire a virtual assistant and you need to delegate 90% of your emails to your new assistant. You need to free up your time and energy so that you can work with new clients and develop new programs. And what do you need to start doing? Maybe you need to start getting eight hours of sleep every night so that you’re fresh and alert and creative so that you can wow your clients every day and get amazing reviews and testimonials rolling in.
To recap, for you, it’s stop spending so much time on emails, start getting a good night’s sleep every night, for real. Just those two adjustments alone would lead to majorly positive changes for you. So whatever changes you need to make, you can totally do this. You are fully capable of making whatever changes need to be made.
You’ve changed your life in the past; you can totally do it again. So to wrap up today’s pep-talk, allow me to quote some lyrics from the song Level Up by Ciara. “I just keep elevating, no losses, just upgrading. My lessons made blessings, I turn that into money. Thank god I never settled, this view is so much better. I’m chilling, I’m winning, like on another level.”
Just like Ciara, we all need to keep upgrading. There’s always another level you can reach and it’s just so exciting to keep climbing. Whatever you need to stop doing and start doing, get on it, level up.
Alright, your pep-talk for the week is complete. And now, we’re moving into the part of the show where I give shout outs to you; shout outs to my listeners, clients, and all the wonderful people in my business community. And today, I want to give a shout out to Michelle Dunk.
So Michelle, we’ve been connected on Facebook and social media a long time and there was a conversation in the Susan Hyatt Rich Coach Club about money and selling in particular. And Michelle, under my Facebook Live said, “Hey, listen, selling is a sacred art. I believe it is our divine responsibility as coaches coming from a place of service. Think of it as sharing, not selling. You’ve got this.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself, Michelle. Alright, there’s my shout out for today. And hey, if you have something to say about this show, please send an email to my team or post a five-star iTunes review – holla – about the show or post something on social media. You might hear your name on a future episode. I love giving shout outs to folks in my community, so holla at me and thanks for your enthusiasm. I love you guys right back.
Alright, beautiful people, kick up your feet and get comfy because it’s now time for our interview of the week. And today, we’re chatting with the infamous Brooke Castillo. Brooke is a coaching powerhouse and a veteran in this industry. She’s been working as a life coach for over 15 years. She runs The Life Coach School and her programs are consistently sold out.
She is rocking it. I have a very personal connection to Brooke because she was my coach about 12 years ago and she trained me during Martha Becks’s life coach training program. She also certified me as one of her weight-loss coaches and as one of her self-coaching 101 Coach’s Way back in the day.
I hired Brooke during a really painful part of my life, and way back then, I was trying everything to lose weight. I was struggling with emotional overeating, just feeling totally out of control around food. And I was in so much agony about it. I kept thinking, “You know, if I could just find the right diet program or the right diet pill and find the willpower to stick with it then all of my problems would be solved.”
But then, enter Brooke. Brooke was the first person who said to me, like, hey how about you stop getting all your entertainment from cheese? And that was a big turning point in my life, honestly. I was getting so much of my entertainment from food and not the rest of my life. Brooke was a hugely influential figure in my life. She was one of the first people who taught me what self-love really means and how to practice it on a daily basis.
With Brooke’s support, my relationship with food and my body totally changed. And listen, I changed physically, yes, but much more importantly, I changed emotionally. And the transformation was so profound, everybody noticed, including the silver fox and my two kids. And I remember, at the time – let me think about this. So Ryan would have been about seven years old; he’s now 20. He was either seven or eight.
And I remember, I was in the basement doing laundry and I picked up one of his school uniform pants and there was a picture of Brooke in his pants pocket. And I asked him why he had a picture of Brooke Castillo in his uniform pants and he said, “I don’t know, I just figured she’s helped you so much, maybe if I carried her around with me, she could help me.” So sweet…
I could go on and on about Brooke and why I love this woman so much, but I’ll stop here and we can start the interview and you can hear Brooke’s wisdom yourself. Bottom line, I’m thrilled Brooke is here because she is definitely a woman who knows what it takes to bring yourself to a whole ‘nother level.
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Susan: Welcome to the podcast, Brooke Castillo. Hi, Brooke.
Brooke: Hi, so happy to be here.
Susan: I’m so happy to have you here because you, of course, were my very first baby-momma – kidding, you were my first coach mentor back in the day. So you are like one of my OGs, the OG.
Brooke: Isn’t that crazy? I still remember every detail of you being my client…
Susan: You do not…
Brooke: I do. I remember all the stuff we coached on back then. It’s so fascinating to me. I remember where I was sitting. I remember talking to you.
Susan: And I remember you thinking, “This is the best client I have ever had ever.” And I remain – in fact, Brooke has a statue of me next to her beautiful new pool.
Brooke: You know what we should talk about actually, just really briefly, is one of the things that I remember so vividly about you is you always talking about how you wanted to be the top 1%. You’re like, “I want to be top 1%.” And I love that because – I talk about this with my coaches a lot because so many of the statistics that you read, which you have to take them all with a grain of salt, but a lot of them talk about – even just in our industry, the coaching industry – that like 99 out of 100 people don’t do what they need to do to be in that top tier of what they want to do in their lives. And so I think about that a lot. I think a lot of times, people think, “Oh gosh, we shouldn’t be that audacious with our goals.” But I love that you were and I think you are top 1%, sister.
Susan: Yes, let’s print t-shirts, top 1%. I think that should be my new vanity plate on my car. No, I agree with you, I think that when I’m coaching new coaches, that is a story I talk about a lot; that you can decide to listen to the 99% that’s talking about how hard it’s going to be, or you can choose to follow, which is what I did when I followed you, follow the people who are actually making money in the industry and making a difference and figure out what you need to think and what you need to do and all those things.
Brooke: Yes.
Susan: So I so appreciate you. You continue to inspire me today and I just have to get it out of my system that this is new news to me and I’m so excited and inspired by it, you are an eight-figure coach.
Brooke: Yes, officially.
Susan: Officially eight figures, which is, like, such a big deal and I can’t wait to say the same. So talk to me about the difference between how you – so it was only what, four years ago, three years ago, that you made a massive shift in your business. And so what do you credit, other than your amazing mind, with how you went from multiple six figures to seven figures to eight figures in such a short amount of time?
Brooke: First of all, what’s really interesting about the eight figures for me now is that I wrote on a piece of paper – it’s so interesting, I will ten times my business and make ten million dollars by the time I’m 45. And I wrote it on a piece of paper, like out of a journal, and I set it on the side of my bed. And I was nowhere near doing that. Ten million dollars might as well – I might as well have said I’m going to turn into a pink unicorn. Like, seriously, it’s the most outrageous amount of money for me to consider making in my business at the time. I wasn’t aligned with it at all. What’s interesting is I kept looking at it. It was on the side of my bed and I kept looking at it thinking, like, “That’s not going to happen…” which is terrible, right? Thinking that all of the time, but there was power in just seeing it because every once in a while, I would be like, “I wonder how I’m going to do that.” And those little things and just seeing it all of the time was really powerful. So that, in and of itself, like I think we underestimate the power of just choosing an amount of money. And I hope that I can say this on here because I think I have a huge problem with people who have problems with women who talk about how much money they make.
Susan: Thank you. That’s another reason why you’re a guest on this show, the Rich Coach Club, because more women need to be talking about this.
Brooke: Yeah, so if you own a software company and you want to go public and you’re a guy, it’s fine to talk about how many millions of dollars you’re making. Nobody’s going to give you a hard time about it. But for some reason, if you’re a woman talking about how much money, it’s like impolite.
Susan: Right…
Brooke: I’m like, what? Impolite? So the reason I bring that up is because I was super inspired by Amy Porterfield, who talked about making a million dollars in my business, and that really motivated me to make my first million. And then I put on the – I wanted to ten times my company, and that’s when I came up with the ten-million-dollar mark. But it wasn’t until – I was having lunch with a girlfriend one time and we were sitting in a coffee shop. And as you know, I do the self-coaching Model and we talk about how you create your results with the model. And I looked at her and I said, “You know what – I think I can put whatever I want in that R-line. I think I can have whatever result I want, I just have to start living and thinking and feeling and doing what someone who makes ten million dollars does.” And so I started living from that place and every decision I made like, “If I was making ten million dollars, would I do this? If I was making ten million dollars, would I hire this person? Would I be creating this product?” All of those questions – so I think that is something anyone can do for any goal that you have. It doesn’t have to be financial, right? Anything – it’s like, what would I be doing if I already had it? What would I be thinking, feeling, and how would I make this decision? And so it guided me. It’s almost like I guided myself from my future. Does that make sense?
Susan: Yeah, I totally love it. And I did a version of this, and do, a version of this with my clients on body love. I remember when I was losing weight, it was like, what would a woman who takes amazing care of herself eat today? What would a woman who takes amazing care of herself, how would she move her body today? What kind of choices would she make? And it’s absolutely – I’m so inspired listening to you talk about it from a business realm because I am – as I’m listening to you talk about that, I do think a lot of our preconceived notions or limits around money pop in. So you wrote ten million dollars on a sticky note and put it by your bed, which by the way, I’m totally doing that today, like as soon as I unplug my mic…
Brooke: Immediately…
Susan: Immediately, but like, everybody has an upper limit that they butt up against that they have to break through and I think so many of us, myself included, get, like, really comfortable at a certain level and just hang out there instead of deciding something like, I’m going to ten times this.
Brooke: Yes. And here’s the thing I think for me has been the most important thing now I’ve made ten million, and will make much more than that this year – it’s like we’re just going to whizz right past the eight figures, but my new goal is 100 million because it’s so audacious and it’s like, you know, we don’t have any debt. We’re very profitable. We don’t have any venture funding, any of that stuff, and we’re going to kill it. We’re going to make 100 million dollars. And when I think about the person that I need to become, how much I need to evolve in terms of how I think about what I’m capable of, it’s so inspiring to me to think about that much money because I’m just like, oh my gosh, I’m going to have to get over all my bullshit.
Susan: So speaking of that, let’s break this down. So a woman who makes ten million dollars or 15 million dollars this year, how does she behave differently than the one million-dollar Brooke?
Brooke: Oh my god, so differently. First of all – and this is the thing – I had like this huge epiphany when I decided I wanted to stop drinking. What I realized is that a person who doesn’t drink wine, who’s not interested in drinking wine, never ever thinks about wine. They don’t think about how they’re not going to drink it, they don’t think about what they’re going to drink instead. They don’t think about what they’re going to tell their friends about why they’re not drinking. They just never think about it. And that was huge because that’s such a different mindset than someone that’s trying to stop drinking versus someone that just doesn’t drink. So what I’ve realized is that, here’s the thing, money doesn’t solve all your problems, but it solves a lot of problems.
Susan: It solves a lot of problems.
Brooke: It solves a lot of problems, right? I always tell my clients, write down ten problems. How many of those do money solve? A lot of problems. So that’s super fun. Plus, I think it just requires you to get over so many of your belief systems and so many of what you think other people think about you because – you know what’s funny, as soon as you start making lots of money, haters come out.
Susan: Oh, girl, yes they do.
Brooke: They come out. They don’t like it when you’re making lots of money. And so you have to kind of get over all of that stuff. So what I realized is that the more money I make, the less I think about money, which is crazy because you would think the more money you get, you’re going to be thinking about it all the time. But you have so much abundance when you have so much money, here’s what’s crazy, there’s nothing I want to buy that I can’t buy. That’s it. It’s just like, okay, so now what? Now what? So there’s the question, Susan; if you’re already making a million dollars, why do you need ten?
Susan: Right, I mean you don’t need it…
Brooke: Right, and so what is the reason why you would want to set a bigger goal for yourself? There’s no way it’s about money. So for me, when I think about making 100 million dollars, it’s not because I need a new pair of shoes, right? It just becomes, like, why not? Really, if anything’s possible, if I really believe that anything’s possible, wouldn’t it be amazing to be an example of that, just using the Model to show that really truly – I’m not just talking anything’s possible, no, I am living it. I’m living it.
Susan: Right.
Brooke: So here’s the crazy stuff that makes no sense that will make everyone angry. I work a lot less, which makes no sense…
Susan: That was on my list to talk about because it’s more money and a reduced workweek, which I love.
Brooke: Yeah, so I work a lot less. I think about completely different things. So now, I’m thinking about, like, how can I most serve my team? How can I be a really good CEO? How can I help all of the coaches that come through me school be the best versions of themselves so we actually have an impact on the industry? Now, when I was at a million dollars, I was just thinking, like, what new funnel can I create? It’s like a whole different thought pattern of what happens. The other thing that was really different between a million and ten was, I only do really two things; I sell Self-Coaching Scholars and I sell certification. I had to get rid of all the distractions. I had to focus on what are the most important things. I coach clients and I train coaches. I do two things.
Susan: Right, and I actually just did a podcast, my final podcast of the Go Podcast was about when you made that decision to simplify your business because you nixed Weight School.
Brooke: I nixed it…
Susan: You nixed it, and it actually, you know – I was so happy for you but also like crying on the inside for me because I love that project so much. But what it ended up doing was freeing me up to create BARE and to do other things. So it was like a podcast about how an ending isn’t really an ending. But I love – and in my own business, I have really had to simplify this past year because I absolutely know, this is always shit that I do because I cook up lots of great ideas and I had to, like, clear the decks and get super hyper-focused on things and I know that that’s only going to continue.
Brooke: Okay, so I want to know – can I ask you what your goals are? Where are you at?
Susan: Oh my god, so my next goal is five million and New York Times Bestselling Author for BARE…
Brooke: Oh right, you have a book coming out.
Susan: My book comes out March 5th. It hits warehouses mid-February. Any day now, presales are going to start. So I’m ramping up all this stuff for the book.
Brooke: So tell me why you want to be a New York Times Bestselling author. I’m always curious about that.
Susan: Because why not?
Brooke: Just because it’s fun?
Susan: Yeah, just because it’s fun. Like, I am very clear that I’m not making money off of book sales; I’m making money off of other things because of the book. But I’m like, if I’m going to have a book out there through a publisher, why not be a New York Times Bestselling Author?
Brooke: Hell yeah, I love it.
Susan: Why not, boo? So that’s a goal. I’m trying to think. I was just making a list before our podcast of the empire of BARE. And so like Self-Coaching Scholars, I have a membership community for BARE, BARE Daily. I would really like to grow that.
Brooke: Love it.
Susan: And flood the market with BARE certified coaches, because the more coaches that are out there, the more we can scale the message and get it into schools and healthcare systems and all that stuff.
Brooke: So tell me what – I can’t help myself. Tell me what five million feels like to you right now. Does it feel scary? Does it feel a little bit out of reach? Where are you at with it?
Susan: It feels like a little bit of a stretch, but it feels totally doable. So if I were going to ten times – you know, do the thing where it’s like a wildly improbable goal, I would probably say maybe 15 would feel like that to me, you know.
Brooke: Here’s the thing that I think is interesting about – first of all, I always tell my students, getting from 100K to a million, you can’t – you can hustle your way to 100K. Really, unless you want to kill yourself, it is hard to hustle your way to a million. You have to start thinking at a much higher level. But once you get to a million, getting to five million, two million, there is no more hustle left. You have to – that’s what I love about moving beyond a million, because you have to think in such a more high-quality way and you can’t be sloppy with your work at all because there’s no catching up, “I’ll just work extra hours…” because you run out of hours.
Susan: And I absolutely felt that last year. I absolutely felt that last year and so this year, you know, I’m hiring people. I’m absolutely living what you’re talking about, having to think at a much higher level because, to me, getting to a million really wasn’t that hard. I mean, I don’t want to say it like that because that diminishes – I mean, it took me a while, but it didn’t feel like I even really broke a sweat. But last year, I broke a sweat; a lot of sweating. Like, I’m hiring people, I’ve got to change how I’m doing things, because hustle has never been hard for me. Hustle is like – I mean, I came out of the womb scrappy, so that’s no big deal. So now it’s different. I’m having to learn all different skill sets, which is fascinating.
Brooke: And yeah, I’ll tell you, I think that’s a big difference, going form a million to ten million too. There’s this book that compares hunters versus farmers, and most entrepreneurs were hunters, right. We’ll just go kill some shit and bring it home. And we’re really good with ideas and we like to, like, if we’re hungry, let’s just go get something. And farmers, it’s all about, like, tilling the soil and then waiting and being patient, which is excruciating for us, usually. But to build, you know, you have to have systems and processes. That’s the only way you can really accommodate the people that are going to come to you, the volume of people that are going to come to you to be able to make that much money. And so I have to tell you, and I’m just going to be honest with everyone listening, that was excruciating for me because I really just wanted to hire someone to do that for me, but I don’t think you can.
I don’t think you – because nobody’s going to be able to do that in the style and the way that you most want to. So when I wrote my first book, If I'm So Smart Why Can't I Lose Weight, I tried to hire someone to write that and that didn't work, and so I should have known better. But I didn't. I didn't. I tried to delegate it, but I'll tell you what, now I'm on the other side of that. I call it the river of misery, really learning how to slow down and pay attention and be patient has served me so well that now I have a team in place so I can kind of go hunting again. But I feel like this really like, solid level of confidence that I've never had before because I'd never forced myself to kind of go through that, that tilling soil process. Have fun.
Susan: Yeah, it is excruciating. I've got like, a raft in the river of misery. No, I'm kidding. But it's true like, I definitely am a hunter and I'm having to farm and I'm like, where's the crop already? Like, come on.
Brooke: So true. And having someone else do it when you know you could do it so much quicker.
Susan: Yeah, there's a lot of growing pains. I was actually saying to a class earlier today that I was like, sitting at my desk yesterday and I had all these visions for what's to come, and I literally felt like my skeleton - this sounds so weird - was just too small. Like, I'm expanding so rapidly in my head and my heart that I'm like, having a hard time containing it if that makes any sense...
Brooke: Yeah, totally.
Susan: And just the literal cells being stretched. And I was like, where's my hot tea and my butler? This blows. I need to like - seriously, where's my personal butler? Alright, so a question that I wanted to ask you is knowing everything that you know today as this amazing eight-figure earner, if you had to start all over today but you have the knowledge that you have today, what would you do in the next 30 days?
Brooke: First of all, we have to speak to this because it matters so much. I feel like we're old school. I mean, I'm older school than you are but we're old school in the sense that like, when we first started out as life coaches, people asked us what sport we were coaching and nobody really knew what life coaching was. You certainly couldn't go sign up for a course, you couldn't sign up for Clear Coaches and have someone walk you through the process and have all that support. And I want to say that I think that that sucks for us but I also think it was one of the best things that happened because I had to use my creativity. I had to rely on myself to decide what was going to work, and I think a lot of the times now, we're relying too much on other people to tell us how to do it and we miss that creativity. So I would want to really remember that in terms of strategy, right?
So there's tactics that I would do but there's also the strategy of knowing that like, other people can advise you and other people can give you direction, but you really have to make your own magic. Because otherwise what happens is you get this direction from somebody else and then you try it and it for sure won't work. Please let me remind all of you who are brand new, like the first 10 things you do for sure won't work. And when someone else has given it to you to do and you do it and it doesn't work, then you blame them and then you're in this very disempowered place. But when you try something and do it and it doesn't work, you're like, "Well, that didn't work, maybe I'll try something else." It's like you just keep hypothesizing about what will work like we did in fourth grade, right? Oh, that didn't work, let's try something else, let's keep experimenting. And so I think being able to start all over again would be super fun but I do think that like, I would rely too much on what I already know and I think it would be way more fun to create it and like, try new things from a new perspective in a new way because I think that's how you create new pathways. And that's what I feel like I've done with my career and thank goodness no one was telling me what the right path was because now I've got my own.
Susan: Right. I do agree with that sentiment because I think a lot about all of the resources that are at everyone's fingertips, learning how to do webinars and learning how to do sales funnels and learning all these things, and I talk a lot about that I am pretty old school. Like, I combine old school and new school stuff but like, you've got to be able to get from behind your screen and actually talk about what it is that you do confidently because if you can't do it off screen, it's going to show up on screen and like I absolutely love being creative and I love making shit up, as you know, and so I agree with that. But I know they want to know though; what strategies and tactics would be your go-tos?
Brooke: Okay, I'm happy to share all of those because I mean, this is what I teach all my coaches to do, and here's the first thing I want to tell you. And y'all listen up. If you do what I tell you to do, this shit works, okay? You have to, in my opinion, pick a group of people. You have to pick your pocket of people that you're going to serve because you will not be able to speak their language if you don't know who they are. So I think that you should pick a group of people that you want to hang out with, that you want to help, and you need to combine that with an amazing offer so that - here's an example that I have for this. Like, a lot of people have an amazing offer but they don't know who to offer it to, or they have a group of people but they don't have anything to offer them. So you've got to have the group of people and the thing to offer them. So for example, if you have the cure for pancreatic cancer, you have the most amazing offer in the world, right? Well, only to a very small group of people that happen to have pancreatic cancer, right? You can't just go offer that to everybody. So I would pick a very specific group of people to target and I would have a very awesome offer for those people and make sure that that offer gets them great results. And I think the most important thing is to test your idea on actual humans by asking them for money.
When people say to me, "I'm not making any money," I say to them, "Who's the last person you asked for money?" "Wait, what? I've never asked anyone for money." I'm like, "How are you going to have a business if you're not willing to ask people for money?" And it's not like you're asking them for money for yourself. You're asking them to pay for the thing that you have of value. So pick a group of people, offer them something amazing, create amazing result for them, but have them pay for it. And so I would say, first 30 days, I will promise you this is what I would do. I wouldn't set up a website, I wouldn't create a funnel, I wouldn't set up an Instagram, you know, I don't even do this stuff anyway, but I wouldn't do any kind of story on Instagram, I wouldn't start Snapchatting people, I wouldn't do anything. What I would do is I'd have a great offer for a specific group of people, I'd go find those people and I would start offering it to them all day every day for 30 days until I was at least making $10,000 a month.
Susan: Well so I totally agree with that, but how are you going to offer it to them? So a lot of people, I agree, their Instagram stories are poppin' and they're not making any offers. So where are they going to - they think that social media is the only place to make offers when in reality it's only one way to communicate with people. So what would you use? Would you use email marketing? Would you use your podcast? What would you use?
Brooke: No because I wouldn't have anyone yet, right? I'm starting all over again, so I would go and find those people where they already are. And here's the best tip I have for you: if you can't find those people, that is not a good group of people.
Susan: That's right. If they're not readily available...
Brooke: Pick a group of people that know they have a problem and know that they want a solution. And then you come with the solution. So for example, when I started my overdrinking, I knew there was a bunch of people out there that were drinking too much, right? And I went out there and found them and I said, "Hey, I have a solution to drinking too much and it's very different than all the other solutions out there," and people were like hell yeah, and I said, "Here's my offer. I will teach you how to desire alcohol less." That's a great offer. Right? For someone that drinks too much, they want to know how do they do that. For someone like you, for someone who hates their body, hates living in their body, hates everything about it, you're going to provide them with a solution that lets them love their body.
That's an amazing offer to someone. They're willing - and that's the other thing - they have to be willing to pay for the solution. I have so many people that are like, I want to offer this wonderful art program that I have that I can teach people how to do, but if people don't know what it is that they're actually getting by doing that program, you have nothing to offer them. A lot of people want to offer the features instead of the ultimate result they're offering. So I'm offering you a way to desire alcohol less. That's an amazing offer. Now, I'm going to go find people online that are trying to figure out how to stop drinking. There's tons of groups, and yeah, you can find them on social media. You can also find them like, in groups in your own town. You have to be creative, right? You got to be a hunter. You got to go find them.
Susan: I love you so much. It's like, go to any bar, they're all there.
Brooke: Right. Exactly. Like, find the ones that are stumbling out. Be like, "Dude."
Susan: I got a solution.
Brooke: Right. Now, here's the thing. We want it to be easy, right? I want to be able to just do a post on social media and have people send me cash. I want that too, y'all. Like, I do but that's now how it works, and here's the thing, you won't get any stronger. And to be an entrepreneur, you got to be strong. And you know how you get strong? Starting off weak and going out and offering a bunch of people your stuff and them saying no. That's how you get strong.
Susan: Exactly. You got to get super uncomfortable. I had somebody one time that was a guest instructor for one of my programs and he said something to my group like, "All Susan Hyatt does is get on social media and post a lot," and I remember laughing and obviously correcting him, but being like, that is what I do when I'm taking a fucking break. That is not my strategy and that is not like, how I've built my business. And I do think all of you coaches listening that follow me on social media, yes, I get clients from social media but that is not the primary way I've built my business.
Brooke: Well, and here's the other thing that I think a lot of people struggle with is they try and compare their beginning to your end, right? You get to the point where you've built your mountain, then you get to stand on the top of it. You can't just - like, everyone's standing on a mountain but there's no mountain.
Susan: There's no mountain.
Brooke: Right? It's like they're sending all this stuff to social media but they don’t have any followers yet. And all the stuff they're sending isn't new, isn't original, isn't risky, isn't polarizing. Like, you have to be able to put yourself out there and stand for something. And you're not going to be able to do that in the beginning because you know what? You're going to be scared. And you should be. You're brand new.
Susan: Well, I actually just had a coach in a class. She's an amazing coach and she works with parents of college age kids, and I was talking with the group about coming up with topic ideas for blogs and podcasts and that sort of thing, and I was like, what pisses you off? What do you see that you're like, oh hell no? And she was talking about social media and how it's become this big thing with dorm room makeovers.
These kids that are in college whose parents are spending thousands of dollars to make their dorm room look like a palace, like chandelier and they're rebuilding the bunk beds and they're doing all this stuff and it's like, there are all these contests with like, who's dorm room's the best, and she was saying like, they're totally missing the point that the preparation for college with the student like, helping your kid get his or her mind right and there's so many other things more important than who has the best dorm room, and she was really fired up about it. But she was a little bit nervous about saying that because she was like, "Well, I know a lot of people love beautiful things and they might be offended," and I was like, "Offend them. Offend them. Please. Go online and say what you think."
Brooke: If you're not nervous, you're doing it wrong.
Susan: Yes. Be nervous.
Brooke: I mean, isn't that the truth?
Susan: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Brooke: And I think that's the other important thing about you, Susan, that people really need to know. You're not just putting yourself on social media and telling us what you had for breakfast. You're standing for something, you're putting yourself out there, you're risking a lot of haters and people not liking you and you're standing for something, and I think that - and you're teaching by your example. And that I think is really challenging to do, and so when people look at that and they're like, "Oh, well she just posts on social media," it's so diminishing I think to what you're actually doing.
Susan: Totally. It's absolutely diminishing and it's the backend of any business and what goes into - synchronizing what you're talking about on a podcast, on a blog, on social media with an offer. That's the thing is that everything I'm doing is synchronized with an offer and you know, yeah, I might post a picture of my beagle and do some fun stuff too, but that's not what creates the business.
Brooke: Right, and you ask people for thousands of dollars and you tell them right upfront they're not going to get a refund. Like, that is a really challenging badass thing to be able to do, and to do over and over because a lot of people aren't going to like that. And that's okay, but that's what it requires you to do to be an entrepreneur. So I think that's the piece - I think a lot of us and I don't blame us at all, right? We want to be successful but we don't want to take any of the risk because it's scary. But you can't get the result without the risk, without the falling down. Like, I'm always saying like, all of that success you have is built on a pile of failures and so that's the best thing you can do is just get out there and try a bunch of stuff and have it not work so you figure out what does work.
Susan: Yes, ma'am. And you are a fantastic example of that as well, and one thing that you said on your amazing podcast, the most recent episode, you quoted - I think it was Dan Sullivan who said that your future is your property and you can do whatever you want with it.
Brooke: Yes.
Susan: And that - oh my god, I stopped the recording and wrote it down because when you were asking me, you know, how are you feeling about the $5 million, I actually feel fine about the money figure. The thing that I have been creating what you call an alternate future I think is how you worded it in my mind, a little bit scary future, is that I know, I have a knowing that with this next level and the exposure that's going to happen, many of the things I say in my Bare book is unpopular. And the haters will increase because the exposure will increase, and I noticed that in my mind, I was scaring myself a little bit. And so I loved that podcast because it was a reminder that you know what, like, I have full control over the future in my mind.
Brooke: It's so true. And here's the thing: it's like, your past, so much of your past was programmed, right? So like, when you were raised you were programmed with all those thoughts, and we still have so much reminisce of that. We forget that we're the programmer now and we're still letting the brain run the show and tell us what we can do and what we can't do, and when you think about, wait a minute, my future can be whatever I want it to be, that is mine, I'm not going to let past belief systems or other people's opinions, which is what the example you're using is, right? Because people will say to me - I did a podcast on goal shame, about how people say to me, "What do you need $100 million for?" Right?
That's what people will say to me. "When is enough enough, Brooke? Why is it always the next amount of money?" People are so like, negative about me being like, really vocal about what it is I want to create in the world. And so a lot of times I'll think yeah, why bother? Why don't I just sit here with my little eight-figure business? Little eight-figure business, right? And cuddle up with it and then I don't have to expose myself. And you know, what we're really exposing ourselves to, even when we expose ourselves to "haters" is our own mind because all that really matters is how we interpret that. So that is what inspires me. I'm like, all I'm exposing myself is to my own brain. Other people out there have no power over me. It's only what I believe, it's only what I think. And when I think about it that way, I'm like, I want to get to the end of my life and just have evolved myself. You know what I mean? I want to be like - like I wrote down the other day, I'm like, my life called and I answered.
Susan: Yes, you did boo. You answered big time. You did not send yourself to voicemail.
Brooke: I didn't just decide to text instead. I didn't text it in, right? I answered it, and so like that's actually kind of a fun metaphor for us to think about like, with our big goals. It's like, somebody's calling you and you're like, really nervous to talk to them. And you're like, should I let it go to voicemail? Should I just text her back? I'm just going to answer it. I'm just going to answer it. Hello? It's kind of cool, right?
Susan: It's totally cool. And on that note, I am going to thank you and ask you if people want to hang out with you, hire you, figure it out, where do they go?
Brooke: Lifecoachschool.com. You want to be a client, sign up for Scholars, if you want to be a coach, sign up for a certification. And if you just want to hang out with me, we can't do it on Facebook, sorry. But you can hang out with me on my podcast weekly, Life Coach School Podcast.
Susan: It's such a good podcast. Thank you so much, Brooke.
Brooke: Thank you, Susan.
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What an awesome interview. I just love Brooke. I could talk to her all day long forever and ever. So to recap, our focus for today's episode is new level, new you. But when you're working on bringing yourself and your business to a new level, it's exciting, it's also easy to get overwhelmed, get distracted, or start to doubt yourself. In those moments when you're feeling blah, when you need to change your mood and get your energy back on track, I recommend taking lots of drugs. I'm just kidding.
What I actually recommend is music. Music is a drug in a sense. It's a drug with zero negative side effects and no hangover either. It's a powerful form of medicine for your body and your mind and music has been proven to change your mental and physical performance. That's why in many athletic competitions like long distance running for example, it's usually illegal for elite athletes to listen to music when they're competing because if some athletes listen to music, they would have an unfair advantage. They would feel stronger, they would run faster. Music is that powerful.
Side note, I think that's actually a bogus rule, like everybody could put in some earbuds. But anyway, so here's what I want you to do. I want you to find at least one song that makes you feel strong, brave, capable, like, you could totally slay your goals. This is your new level, new you anthem. And I want you to play this song first thing in the morning for the next several days in a row and then I want you to play this song again if you're having a slumpy, doubtful, crummy point during the day.
This song will help shift your mood and literally change the way you perceive the world around you. It can be any song you want, but if you need a recommendation, I've already mentioned it twice. I love the song Level Up by Ciara. This song is all about leveling up your life and by the way, the music video, insanely good. Drake also has a new song called Level Up, or you may want a classic song like Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. Or Rise Up from the musical Hamilton. My daughter Cora and I are both obsessed with that show forever and ever. Pick any song you want. Listen to it often. This is a fast, free, powerful way to change your mood and change your day.
That's a wrap for today's episode. Your action step for this week is to imagine your dream coaching practice and your dream income level. And I want you to ask yourself, what do I need to stop doing and start doing in order to get there? Write down one thing you need to stop doing and write down one thing you need to start doing and then do both of those things. Implement your plan, bring yourself to another level. And when you do this, your business will rise up right along with you.
Thank you for listening to Susan Hyatt's Rich Coach Club. If you enjoyed today's show, please head over to shyattagency.wpengine.com/cash where you'll find my brand-new money magazine. Now listen, we designed this magazine to be entertaining, educational, and help you make serious bank.
So you can download the magazine, there’s a money quiz inside, there’s an interview with one of my favorite clients who went from making no money and being served eviction papers, to making over six figures in a very short amount of time. So the magazine includes that feature, lots of resources to help you do it, lots of resources about creating wealth and investing money.
It’s pretty robust, y’all. So head over to shyattagency.wpengine.com/cash to get that magazine. And you’ll also find a link to join my free Facebook community, especially for coaches called Rich Coach Club. So bring your coaching practice and your income to the next level at shyattagency.wpengine.com. See you next week.
