A MarieTV Special: 7 B-School Grads Share Their Transformative Stories

Marie Forleo:

Hi, it's Marie Forleo and you are watching a very special episode of MarieTV because we're here and we're live in New York City. And guess what? Today we have such a special treat. So if you've ever wondered or dreamed about becoming your own boss or ever been curious about what it takes to go from having an idea in your mind, your heart, to having a full on sustainable, profitable business and life that you love, you are in good luck today because we've got seven incredible entrepreneurs. We're gonna talk about their journeys and we're really gonna unpack the steps to success. Now I'm gonna check in with my team because we don't broadcast live every day. Can I just get a little, yes. If everything is going all right from Team Forleo technical, we good?

Team Forleo:

We good.

Marie Forleo:

So that's good for success of the day. It's actually working. Now, if you have questions along the way, whether it's about these particular entrepreneurs and their journeys, or just about success in general, or about B-School, because let's be real is B-School season. This only happens once a year and if you're not familiar with B-School, you're gonna get familiar right now. 'cause B-School is our online business school for modern entrepreneurs who not only wanna make money, but also make a difference. So the humans you're gonna meet today in just a moment or two are also B-School grads and they use the program to help them really take their ideas from being that place in their heart and grow them into the beautiful, sustainable businesses that they are running today. So what we're gonna do first y'all we are gonna go around. We're gonna introduce our incredible entrepreneur. So for you guys just say who you are what your business is and just like a little brief before and after, like before B-School kind of hears where I was at and then after here's what it's looking like now, and then we can kind of dive in and just for everybody watching at home it's live TV. So if things get messy, if I start going, whoa,

Marie Forleo:

<Laugh>, there's confetti. This shit's gonna happen. Cause it's my show and this is how things roll. So, oh, and the other thing you guys, I think this is on, but one of my favorite things ever, this is new. I need a reggae air horn in my life. I have one on my phone, but now I have one in real life too. So anyway, D I think we should start with you my love.

Deepshikha:

Sure. Hey guys, I am Deepshikha. I'm a lead generation expert. My company's called Socialique Groupe. And before B-School, I was a stay-at-home mom. I have two kids, two boys, and my life revolved around my boys. And all I knew was backing lunches, school dropoffs play dates, changing diapers. And while I loved being a mom, they was this small whisper that I'd started to hear inside my head, which said this is not, it there's more. And all my life I'd been a daughter, a wife and a mom, and there was this little period behind it. And I was starting that fear was starting to mess with my brain <laugh> yeah. So I was like, what do I do? Like, where, what, like what, what is it like? What's the next thing. And I suddenly had this idea of starting a business or doing something of my own because the thing was, I didn't want to I didn't wanna leave my kids and do a carpet job. I didn't wanna hire a nanny. So and I'd, I'd been in a family with generations of women who were super talented. They were amazing in what they, you know, they, they had talents, they were artist, but they could not choose their art. They could not choose their creativity because they had a choice to make. They could either raise their kids and run a family, or they could go after their dreams. And I didn't wanna make JS. I didn't wanna...

Marie Forleo:

You didn't want that false choice...

Deepshikha:

No, absolutely. So I had this idea of starting something of my own and I was I went to Google and I was like, how do I start a business? And I came across MarieTV. Woo!

Marie Forleo:

Yay for Google and MarieTV.

Deepshikha:

And I was like, wow, this is cool. Like this mama is working it, She's busting a dance move in the middle of a show and she's helping people make money. I can do this. I can bust a Bollywood dance move and make money. Yes you can. So that was it for me. And I just took one step off the other. I took B-School and just life just transformed after

Marie Forleo:

That. Amazing. And give us just like one line about what life's looking like today.

Deepshikha:

Sure. I did B-School in 2018, so it wasn't that far back. I had six figures last year. Woo.

Marie Forleo:

Come on, come on.

Deepshikha:

And it's been such a great journey because I get to work with amazing people. I get to transform their life. I get to make an impact. Yeah. And I get to be with my kids. I get to get them off the bus. Yeah. Be with them. Yeah. And do what I love. Yes. And I did not have to choose.

Marie Forleo:

Yes, I do it all. Yeah. See, I love this 'cause one of the things, when I was getting people excited about this show today, I posted on Instagram about being a multi-pasionate person. And this is kind of a great tangent because I think, you know, there's so many archaic ideas about, you can only be one thing in the world, like if you're gonna be a mom or a parent, right. Like that must be your entire focus or you are either gonna be a writer or you are gonna be an actor or you're gonna be a particular thing. And that's like your very narrow lane. And I remember my own journey just trying to fit into these old school narrow boxes. And I was like, I never fit into a box. It wasn't until like, once I busted out of that yes. And just started to kind of look at life from a new point of view.

Marie Forleo:

But D thank you for sharing that. 'cause I think there are probably so many people that are watching right now. Yeah. That have those same tensions and those same tugs and feeling like my goodness, you know, if I don't have 120% of my attention perhaps on my family or something that, that means I'm a failure or I have to choose. And you can actually be a incredibly successful business owner. And an incredibly successful parent at the same time. You can. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. Okay. Stay the end. Tell us, I just, I will stays the end. You, you, you can introduce yourself and your...

Stacy Ann:

You can do.

Marie Forleo:

It if you, I could, but I'm gonna let you do it. You're better at it.

Stacy Ann:

So my name is Stacy Ann and my business is called The Ornament Girl. So <laugh>, I actually sell handmade Christmas ornaments and ornament patterns. And then now ornament kits and we have a subscription ornament of the month club where we do a monthly ornament of the month to our customers. So before B-School, actually, when I started I, it was a very slow start. I started on eBay. I was just selling finished ornaments. I, I think in my first year I made like negative $3,000. <Laugh>

Marie Forleo:

Like many of us do.

Stacy Ann:

Yeah. And it was kind of like an expensive hobby. But I always thought it would be kind of neat if it could, you know, generate some income, but it really didn't. And a couple like maybe a year and a half into it this is the hard part <laugh> my husband had a motorcycle accident and he passed away. So sorry,

Marie Forleo:

Don't be sorry.

Stacy Ann:

So I, at that point I had a decision to make, I had two kids, they were three and seven years old and I had been a stay-at-home mom all that time. And I had not finished college, you know, I, I didn't have any kind of career. So I, I wondered what I should do next. Should I continue trying to do this expensive hobby or go get a real job and put my kids into daycare and after school care, and it seemed like a crazy decision to try and make it a business because it's ornaments and nobody had even heard of what I was doing before. So but I decided to go for it. Yeah. And so now things are a little bit different.

Marie Forleo:

<Laugh>, they're a lot different, they're a lot different. Yeah. And you will come back to you. Okay. But I just wanna thank you so much for your courage and just to acknowledge you for how strong you are, because you, at a point when the unimaginable happened and you were trying to find your way to navigate through so much grief, you also found a way to listen to your heart. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. You're gonna make me cry too. <Laugh> but just, you're such an incredible demonstration of the power of listening to that. Still small voice within, even though there are many voices around you that thought perhaps you should take a safer route.

Stacy Ann:

Yes. I had someone close to me say that's really cute what you're doing, but it's probably time that you get a real job <laugh> so, yeah. Yeah. And I thought they're probably right.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. And, and to be honest, you know, I know at different points in my life too, and maybe you guys can relate to this. Sometimes people who say things like that to us, they love us so much. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> and they're coming from a really genuinely good place in terms of wanting us to be safe and wanting us to be okay. And so it's not that there's, you know, sometimes there's mal intent. I don't sense that in this form and you know, for, for some of us, sometimes people are just assholes and let's be real. But oftentimes I think it's the hardest when it's people that we absolutely love and respect, and we know they're coming from a good place and yet in our hearts, it's telling us to do something different. Yeah. So I just wanna acknowledge you 'cause you're such, <laugh> such a, a beacon of strength in so many ways and we'll come back to your story even more. Okay, Adrian. Hi.

Adrian:

Hi. Thanks for having me here.

Marie Forleo:

Absolutely.

Adrian:

So when I first learned about you and B-School I felt like I was at a, at rock bottom for me. I was just coming off a tour. I was touring with T-Pain as professional dancer and it felt like I was living the dream and it ended very abruptly. I was actually living in a very small town called Dubuque, Iowa, not the best place to be a professional dancer. I also didn't want to go to LA cause it scared me. But I, I like dancing. I wanted to continue it. I just didn't know how to make money. I, I was dabbling around, I was posting videos, a very passionate but, and I was getting a little bit of traction, but I remember like one of the fundamental questions in B-School that from the course was like, how do you make money?

Adrian:

Like, it seems so silly, but I didn't ever even ask the question. I just wouldn't post videos online and, and teach people. Let's see. So this was around when I was like 24 and 30 now. And I I think at the time I was, I had one little product online and it was making around $500 a month. I took B-School and I feel like the problem, what I was trying to do is I was trying to force my business to grow. I was spending money on ads saying like, buy this, buy my dance tutorial, help you buy. Buy buy buy. And I, and I didn't think about all the different things that you ha you should have before you tried to accelerate your business. 'cause What I was doing with the little money I had, I think my salary at a call center was like around $27,000 a year. So I didn't have much money, but I was going all in on investing in ads and stuff and it just wasn't going anywhere. I feel like I, what B-School taught me was like to really care about every single level of detail to think about who you're targeting so much more. I know we're gonna get into it, but after I took that course, it, it basically allowed me to have a full time to do it full time in Iowa, in Dubuque, Iowa, to be a fulltime professional dancer. Yeah.

Marie Forleo:

Come on.

Adrian:

Crazy, crazy. What's wild. What's wild today. So that dance business has, has basically expanded to like dozens of different micro brands on fitness and dance. And then I also own a marketing agency staff around 12 people, both are seven figure companies. So...

Marie Forleo:

What! Come on.

Marie Forleo:

And by the way, I wanna go back to Stacy Ann for a minute, 'cause I know you've broken that seven figure mark too. Not that it's, there's no competition 'cause I I'm a big proponent y'all if you guys watching there every size of success is happiness. You know what I mean? When it's at, when it's appropriate to your heart, that's what we go for. It doesn't matter if you've got a bajillion dollar business, amazing. You've got a $50,000 business and that's what makes you happy. Amazing. I'm gonna air horn for you all the way. But I, I do wanna go back to this because oftentimes, you know, some people maybe watch right now have gone, oh, you know, I will never be able to hit those big up numbers. I am not in the type of industry that talks about how to make money or that's not business oriented, like marketing and I'm like, y'all gotta meet Stacy Ann <laugh> because she's selling ornament <laugh> so don't bring this to me.

Marie Forleo:

Don't bring it to me about these limiting thoughts. I just had to brag on you about that for a minute. <Laugh> and so for Adrian, for you, I think what's also really exciting too, is that multi-pasionate nature, right? Because clearly you are an amazing and you are an amazingly talented dancer and you also have a passion for marketin and for business and for understanding all of that. And so to not shut those pieces of yourself d own has actually allowed you to expand and evolve and grow into this incredibly powerful business person. That you are today.

Adrian:

I think that's why I related to you 'cause like your background through dance and also being multi passionate. I was so I found B-School through looking at what's the best program to take my little side hustle into full time. Yes. So I was looking at all other entrepreneurs and I think all of them are saying focus on one thing, do one thing and only go all in on that. And you were at the time. I, and then still I think one of the more prevalent ones are saying no, like we're not defined by one thing. We could be passionate about a lot of different things. Yes. And there is a way that you can create a business in life that you love and monetize it and make a big impact in the world. I feel like that's where I feel so fulfilled today to be able to do exactly what I love and it's and those things, dance and marketing and business, they usually don't blend together, but somehow we find a way.

Marie Forleo:

They do. Yes. And I think that's, what's so exciting. You know, we, human beings really are at our best when we're being inventive and creative and kind of looking at things through new lenses, that's where things get exciting. And there's of course a place for focus, you know, there's areas I think in our business, in our lives where focusing down or eliminating distractions or doing one thing for a certain period like that really works, but that doesn't have to be the narrow lens through which we see everything it's certainly not ourselves. And so kudos to you. Awesome job. Okay, Nikki, you're up next?

Nikki:

Yes. So I am Nikki Innocent. I am a humanity activist and a social entrepreneur. Now what does that mean? I, I focus on women's leadership work and diversity and inclusion. So you can show up as that full, authentic version of yourself, even as you're focusing, you are fully you and bring all that magic to the world. And so what I do, I actually have kind of five streams of revenue through my business, but I speak, I have a podcast called checkbox other, so you're talking about this box, we're all putting ourselves in and I'm like, I've always been somebody that's like, I don't wanna pick just one. I've got so many podcasts with me. So it's all about sharing these stories of where we feel like we don't belong and how we wish either there was a box that had our name or we could write that long version of ourselves in the other section.

Nikki:

So pretty much all of my work kind of stems from that of showing up as fully you in corporate, in your own individual leadership journey, whether that be being the CEO or the leadership of your own life every day. So I work with individuals and organizations to kind of step into that space. Now where the heck did that come from? Yeah. so before B-School, I was in the corporate world I was, I always talk about how I was in this space where I was kind of molding myself into the pretzel to fit the mold of what a corporate employee was. And I actually found B-School through my therapist. We had been talking about how to find a more sustainable way to exist in the corporate world. Yeah. And she was like, have you heard of Marie Foleo? I was like, no, who is she?

Nikki:

<Laugh> and then I found MarieTV and I was like, oh no. Yeah. I was like, so I'm gonna spend a couple days here. And then B-School came up and in my background I went to a school that was all focused on business and all of my career had been in business. And so the thought of being a creative business person and that still being just as valid and viable as the kind of analytical business person that I had been introduced to. Ugh, it was, I feel like you spoke right to my soul. And I'm gonna try to keep myself together here, but

Marie Forleo:

No, we don't like keeping it together. We like letting it all fall by.

Nikki:

It was like, it felt like a breath of fresh air that I didn't know, I hadn't been taking and so I actually took B-School back in 2014 and ever I feel like it, my journey to entrepreneurship took time. Yes. I didn't start my business until 2016. So I was in this space and really thinking about it. And really when I entered B-School for anybody that's full time right now, my hope was that I would bring a fresh take to marketing within the investment management space that I was in. So very different take on it. We had been impacted by the, a lot of eyes on a national scale by the presidential election. I was like, how can we switch our way of thinking about marketing? Yeah. And that's kind of how it came about. And then I, I met virtually all these incredible human beings that were making something they were so passionate about come to life and making money, but also really existing as their full selves in that space. And it was, I mean, it was a business education I had never had before just in witnessing other people share their journeys and their stories, both in B-School and in the community of people that had been before me. Yeah. So it was incredible.

Marie Forleo:

So I wanna highlight something too that you just shared. That's so important. I think we live in a culture right now that is focused on instant results and instant. Right. And it's like, if you don't have something totally done in yesterday, like you're not doing it. Right. And just the fact that you took B-School and it took you a few years before everything kind of marinated to where you were ready to take that next step. I think that is so important for people at home to hear, because one of the best things about the program, I think is that every B-Schooler becomes a B-Schooler for life and you get lifetime access mm-hmm <affirmative> because I know from my own journey, it was like, gosh, what I was doing year one as a coach versus year four or five versus year six. And you know, I keep going back to the fundamentals.

Marie Forleo:

Even when I was writing my book, I went back to ideal customer avatar. Anytime we're doing something in the business, that's new or different, we go back to those same things. Yeah. Even though I've been doing this for over two decades now, which is insane. Yeah. So thank you for highlighting the fact that you, it sounds like you followed your heart because there was this opportunity in B-School that really aligned with something you wanted to create, even though you couldn't really articulate it yet. Yes. And you kept showing up until the timing was right for you to take that leap.

Nikki:

Yes. And it all unfolded. I mean, I, I took and part of B-School for anybody, that's kind of thinking about this being like, what, I don't know what I'm gonna start. I don't know what I'm gonna do. One of the first parts was really trying to identify what something gets you really excited. Yeah. And I had a food blog that was kind of my way in my corporate life. Yes. That gave me some humanity back. And so going out to eat and witnessing people that were outside of my world, that was where I kind of started going through B-School in that model. Do I have my food? Excuse me. Do I have my food blog now? No. Do I eat? Yes, <laugh>

Marie Forleo:

Me too.

Nikki:

Yeah. But the things that I learned by being able to kind of map it to something I was super passionate about in that moment. Yes. Is it shows up now each and every day. And it, I, I think that that's part of this journey too, where you're feeling a little bit lost maybe or feeling like, yes. I don't know exactly what I wanna do. I mean, that's exactly where I was. And so I really, if you're thinking about that, like this journey and witnessing people gives you that, but also the encouragement of the exercises you do. Like I think in the first module gets you just on top of it right away. Yeah.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. I will say too for for anyone, if you're at that stage because people are like, well, what if I don't know, but what if I'm a little more advanced, let me talk to the people that are the folks who are like, I think I wanna do my own thing, or I think this, but I don't have a clear idea. You know, we have a bonus called start the right business that you get, the moment that you enroll, that I created specifically for that population. So, you know, you wanna do something and you either have no idea what the hell it is. Right. But we kind of get you starting to uncover that. Or you're multi passionate, like I am, and you have too many ideas. You've got like 37 and you don't know which one to choose, or you've maybe whittled it down to one or two, but you're afraid to make a move because you don't wanna risk time and money and have it fail.

Marie Forleo:

So start the right business allows you to really set a foundation for how to get going in a way that's aligned with your heart, your values, and from a strategic perspective, which ideas will give you the best chance for success. Nobody, not myself, not any of these humans, nobody in the world has a business crystal ball, which will tell you what's gonna work. Yeah. And what's absolutely gonna be a success. But what we try and do is set you up so that you ask the questions you need to ask, to give yourself the best chance of success moving forward. And it involves some experimentation yes. And paying attention to what brings you alive. And then we can kind of, once we have momentum, then everything else can evolve and iterate from there. And it's fun. Yes. I mean, it's fun. Yeah.

Deepshikha:

It's a lot fun. And I do have to say that start the right business was so pivotal for me to do, to identify what is it that I wanna do and what was it that I absolutely did not want.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. <laugh>

Deepshikha:

So that was, that was the creme de la creme.

Marie Forleo:

That, yeah. Oh, I love hearing that. Okay. Let's go to Emily. Let's go to you next.

Emily:

Okay. So little snapshot of Emily Fletcher before B-School and...

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. And who you are and what you do.

Emily:

Yeah. So I'm the founder of a company called Zeva Meditation. And I created the world's first online meditation training, which I'm really proud of. It was before Oprah Chopra. It was before Headspace. Yep. And that was because of this school. And I had a lot of people telling me not to do it. As a matter of fact, I got kicked out of my spiritual community for creating an online course. They were like, no, you can't do this online. It has to be face to face. And that was actually, I don't talk about it too much, but it was very jarring, traumatic. I mean, people that, I love people that I respected people that were my colleagues and they were suddenly like, they kicked me outta the nest. And so I felt very alone. And, and because I had been building those muscles and asking the questions of who is my audience, what do, what can I do to help the world? I felt comfortable enough to, when I got kicked outta that nest, you know, spread my wings and fly. And so the thing that was so painful ended up being the most beautiful thing and has allowed me to now teach 20,000 people to meditate. Because of the online revenue from the course, I have a brick and mortar studio here in New York City. And I also wrote a book and I don't think I would've been able to take the time to write the book that became a bestseller. That's coming out in paperback today.

Marie Forleo:

Woo. Come on, paperback, come on. What's the name of the book?

Emily:

It's called Stress Less, Accomplish More.

Marie Forleo:

Excellent. Y'all check it out

Emily:

Because that's what I do. I teach, I use meditation as a tool to help people make more money and have better sex and be better at life. Like we're not meditating because ...

Marie Forleo:

I heard a couple <laugh> well, it's like, OK, bring it, bring that up.

Emily:

But I basically take the very powerful medicine that is meditation, but I wrap it in the candy coating of like, Hey, it's gonna make you better at everything that you love to do. Yeah. So before B-School, I was working like 60, 70, sometimes 80 hours a week. I remember crying when I got my first tax bill. And I was like, how do I owe the government more money than I have in my bank account? Like, that was a real, I'm sure everyone's had that first tax bill. We were like, what? <Laugh>

Marie Forleo:

Yes.

Emily:

And now I was an early adopter. I took B-School, not 2013, maybe 2012. I'm not sure it's been a while, but now I have a multiple seven figure business. I have 12 employees in five cities, like I said, a bestselling book and I've taught Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Emmy award winners. Some people have been on this couch on MarieTV. So...

Marie Forleo:

Yeah, come on Emily.

Emily:

I have a son who's a year and a half and I wouldn't have not have been able to do any of this. If I didn't have this way to reach people and create revenue. That's not just time for money. Yes.

Marie Forleo:

Amazing job. I love you guys so much. I just wanna stay on this couch all day, don't you go <laugh> all right, Melissa. You know, we're coming to you.

Melissa:

Yes. So I'm Melissa Rowe founder of Capture Greatness. It is a scholarship in college coaching program based in Philadelphia. Before B-School, I was facing my third layoff in about five years and I was working as a college coordinator at a local high school in Philadelphia. And I remember, I remember thinking about how much I love my work and the work that I do with young people, but being really frustrated with the layoffs, right. People telling me like, no, I couldn't do it because we've run outta money. And so that was the year. I was like, no, like I know this is the work I'm supposed to be doing. I had to figure out what to do. And I ended up focusing on scholarships because as a college coordinator, I was sending kids to school and they would come back, you know, the next year.

Melissa:

And some of them had already left and I'm like, but you took out student loans. Right. And so what's really real is that young people had been going to college and signing up for student loan debt. And if they weren't fully prepared or if they didn't have maybe even a thousand dollars just to cover their costs, they couldn't continue. And so now we're leaving them in a worse place then where we found them. And so I started focusing on scholarships for students teaching them how to tap into their own personal experiences to write really powerful essays. And after B-School today, we are at 3.5 million in counting the scholarships. Yeah. We have four gates, millennium scholars. We have students at some of the best universities in the country and I feel really good because I know they can stay.

Marie Forleo:

<Laugh> Yes.

Melissa:

They have scholarship money to pay for...

Marie Forleo:

That's right. And they, they're not walking out with that student debt. Which, you know, that's a whole other conversation we have, but thank goodness for you doing this work that you do, getting people educated 'cause isn't that the key it is to just having and breaking some of the cycles that we have in terms of economics and opening people up to a whole new possibility for themselves and their communities. Thank you for doing that work. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I'm so when I saw that number, I was like, like, it got me so excited and how's it feel now? Like, what's that difference between, you know, gosh, facing your third layoff versus yes.

Melissa:

Now I have plenty of work. So I'm looking for vacation time, but...

Marie Forleo:

<Laugh> Everything's figureoutable. I wrote a book on it. Yes. Yes!

Melissa:

I have the book!

Marie Forleo:

We're gonna figure that out for you next. Yes.

Melissa:

I have the book. But it feels really good. And I know that there's so much more to do. And so one of the other things that I've been able to do with B-School, because I, I took a non-traditional B-School path, right. So I started a non-profit and started working really locally. And I went back through B-School last year to figure out, okay, how do I really do this online component? And so I'm in a process of actually writing a book and creating more resources for parents. Yeah. They can help their children find more scholarship success anywhere, not just in Philly. So that's...

Marie Forleo:

Awesome. Congratulations. And I'll highlight that too. Cause I think that again, like me, I go back to these same principles. I feel like there's this great Bruce Lee quote. It's like never fear of the man that has practiced 10,000 kicks once fear of the man that's practiced one kick 10,000 times. You know, the fundamentals in business they're timeless, right? So the algorithms change, technology changes. Sometimes the apps, the APIs, the things that we kind of use. But if you don't understand me messaging, if you don't understand positioning, if you don't understand, communicating and inspire people to take action and how to communicate your values and how to UN these pieces have to do with our human hearts and psychology and that doesn't change. And I think that's so exciting about B-School, 'cause you come back and as your dreams grow, the program grows with you. It helps you refocus. Okay. How do I wanna grow this aspect of my vision now? So good for you. Thank you my goodness.

Melissa:

Thank you Marie.

Marie Forleo:

All right. My love you're up.

Annie:

Hi. Well I'm Annie Wright. I'm a licensed psychotherapist based outta Berkeley, California. I'm also a published mental health writer and the founder of a brick and mortar boutique therapy center called evergreen counseling. Also located in Berkeley, California and before B-School. Oh boy. I was still a therapy intern, so therapists much like doctors. We have to go through a really rigorous intern journey to become licensed. And California is one of the hardest places in the world to become licensed as a therapist. And I live in the bay area, which as everybody knows is pretty darn expensive. Yeah. And so in 2015 before 2015, I had already consumed so much of your material to help me start a private practice internship where I could earn just a little bit of money accruing my hours, but I was still working a full-time job.

Annie:

I was still in this place though, where I didn't know if I could last the years it would take to become fully licensed because the bay was so expensive. I didn't have anyone else supporting me. I don't come from family money. And so it was really a question for me of whether or not I would be able to continue being a therapist or if I should just, you know, we're gonna nine to five at a nonprofit as I've done before. So that was 2015. Okay. Fast forward to today in 2020. So I'm fully licensed and in the course of becoming licensed, I built a multi six-figure private practice internship. What? Yep. And thank you. Got fully licensed and then also started a blog and had my opinions published in Forbes, NBC Huffington post Buzzfeed. And then in 2019 I took B-School again. I went back to the principals of B-School and I had had a lot of success as an individual therapist, but I was eager to do something more for my Berkeley community. And so revisiting the principles of B-School when my baby was three months old, I launched my other baby, which was this brick and mortar boutique therapy center called evergreen counseling. And today I manage six staff members we're on track to break a million dollars this year. What? Yes, God. So

Marie Forleo:

On goodness,

Annie:

Back to that point of B-School growing with you as you grow your dream. Yeah. I revisit it almost annually and it was critical in, in terms of launching the actual brick and mortar therapy center. Moreover I have a very large mailing list. I get, you know, readers from dozens and dozens of countries and I'm rolling out my first online courses this year. And my work is really focused around early childhood trauma. Yeah. Which is not a typical thing that you hear in sort of the B-School community yeah. Of the content that you put out into the world. But I always like to say it doesn't matter what the content area is, the B-School principals are universal and they can help you get your messaging and your work out in front of those who need it. Yeah. I just happen to be a trauma therapist and it's been really helpful for me.

Marie Forleo:

Oh my God. Such important work, such important work that you're doing. I just, I think within like the past year, so I just looked at what a mess I made on the floor. You guys, <laugh> not unusual to have confetti everywhere, but I just learned about ACEs, you know, and really it's like, this is such important work that you're doing and thank you what we need to do to heal our kids and future generations. And it's like absolutely for every area for us to understand what they are and what we can do. It's like health outcomes can be completely different. So.

Annie:

Absolutely.

Marie Forleo:

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, no, this is awesome. Okay. So do we have any questions from the community? If not? Well, first of all, do you guys wanna give some shoutouts to newbie schoolers? Just because it's fun. Yeah. Okay. Grab some confetti. You can take some of mine Go. Okay. The reason I like to do this is honestly because I've seen this. So we've had over 55,000 people go through the program so far. Wow. From over 600 plus different industries in 141 countries. And obviously we see seven humans here. But these people, they just changed their lives. So are you ready? Let's shout out for Cameron and Irene and Martha and Sandra and Jennifer and Jacqueline and Evelyn and Kristen and Martha Anne Marie and Daniela and Chelsea and NCHE and Hannah and Lisa and Amy and Rebecca Christy, Nigel. So, and Wendy, Samantha, Donna, Georgia Christ. And yay.

Marie Forleo:

Those are our newest B-Schoolers for 2020 and yeah, Adrian, we all have confetti on us, so we're just gonna hang out and live like that for a little bit.

Marie Forleo:

So, okay. I have questions for you guys. Whoever wants to go with this one, I'm curious about what was happening in your heart. Like what were you struggling with specifically? The conversations that you might have with yourself at night when you can't sleep or, you know, how, if someone's talking to you and you stop listening to them, it's like, want, want, want, because you're thinking about a pain point inside your own heart. So whoever wants to jump in, like, what were you feeling? What was the conversation with yourself? What were you struggling with before you said yes to B-School? We kind of know the context of your situation, but I, I wanna get more personal on this. Go for it. Whoever.

Annie:

I can start first. Yeah. For me, I remember the conversation very vividly. I was already quite in debt for a private graduate school education thinking, was this all a waste? Was, was I ever gonna be able to pay this money back? Mm. And then thinking, gosh, should I really spend, you know, that much more money on B-School? Yeah. Am I gonna be a therapist? How am I gonna make it in the bay area? Really? That was just the question that kept coming up and up. Like how do I do the work that I know I'm meant to do in the world, but in a way that can provide for my family yeah. And pay back the student loans. Oh. And so I remember feeling defeated wheel spinning really preoccupied with finances and just really torn between knowing. So clearly the path I was supposed to be on professionally, but not knowing how I could logistically make it work when I didn't see any models of successful, very affluent therapists, you know, around me. So that's where I was. Yeah.

Marie Forleo:

So it was really that wrestling, that feeling of the financial pressure yes. And feeling that financial probably scarcity. Right. And knowing that you had these huge bills. Yeah. Should I make this further investment? Yes. But I know this is my path. Absolutely. I know some, okay. Yeah.

Annie:

Interesting. Absolutely.

Marie Forleo:

I love that. Anyone else

Deepshikha:

For me? So when I had my business idea, I had this idea of helping people with their social media to help them market their business on social media. And I actually, I was so naive. I actually thought that I was the first person in the entire world, My kitchen, and I suddenly down and I was like, yes, I did like, this is my idea. <Laugh> my million dollar idea. So I, I started looking at Google and then I of course found out that I was actually not the first person. So inside of me, I had this doubt that there are millions of me. If I can still take this idea and do it.

Marie Forleo:

So your, your doubt was around that everyone else had already done what you wanted to do and that there was no room for you. Absolutely. Interesting. I think this is one of the biggest things from, I love just reading comments and, and seeing when people comment and they write into us, I feel like that's so prevalent. Yes. Of feeling like it's all been done before. Yeah. It's all been said before. Right? How many, how long we've been teaching meditation? Scholarships. I don't know about you. We can go back to you. Yeah. You're like, no one's ever done this. Is anyone even gonna like it. Right. Isn't that funny how we can play the flip side in our mind. It's either it's all been done before and there's no room for me or I am such a freak. No, one's gonna actually get this. That was mine too. I was like, no, one's gonna like a hip hoping dancing life, coach, business person kind of thing. <Laugh> so I think that's a really, really good one. I think probably one of my favorite things that I've seen consistently when B-Schoolers pop out the other side, yes. Is they don't have that anymore. Where if it does pop up every now and again, you know how to kind of dial it back and go, that's some bullshit. I don't need to really listen to those voices. That's awesome. Who else, what were you struggling with?

Emily:

Well, mine was almost the opposite. It wasn't a struggle I had. So not. I had three friends that I really respected and trusted who had done B-School, who had changed their lives. They had these amazing businesses. And so when I heard about it, I was like, oh duh, I'm doing that.

Marie Forleo:

There was no you're like, I'll have what they'll have they're having.

Emily:

It was no trouble. I mean, the only thing for me was the money. Cause at the time I was in debt, I was pulling out of my retirement to live. So it was a significant amount of money, but like anything in life, when you say yes to yourself, when you make that energetic investment, everything changes, you are taking that proverbial first step. And then the path appears. But if you don't take that step, then that path does not appear. So for me, it wasn't an internal struggle. It was just, Ooh, it's expensive. But you know, cut to how many people on this couch are now breaking seven figures. So it's yeah.

Marie Forleo:

You gotta, I'm curious for you. Was it what was going on in terms of the gap between where you were with your dream mm-hmm <affirmative> and where you wanted to be, like, what was happening in terms of that conversation in your head where you're like, gosh, I know this thing could be so much bigger and I just really need some guidance. Like what was happening from that point of view?

Emily:

Well, the thing is I used to be on Broadway for 10 years, so I can do a mean high kick running an online business. I knew nothing about <laugh> and, and now actually it's a lot easier to start an online business, 'cause things are white labeled, but in 2013 it was like, you know, floss and chewing gum. And you're like, you know, hacking stuff together on your own. And because of B-School, I was able to know who my audience was like, who am I actually speaking to? How am I able to take all these different pieces of myself from Broadway and high kicks to meditation and make it this beautiful thing that is Eva. But also I had to deal with those voices of you shouldn't be online. You shouldn't charge money for meditation. Oh, you know, all of that was coming up. And yet I was like, wait until social entrepreneurs and people making this world a better place are making more money than petroleum executives then yeah. We're gonna charge money for things that are making the world better.

Marie Forleo:

That's right. Well, let's talk about that one for a minute. 'cause I think that is a really big stumbling block for anyone who might be in the health or will consider it any kind of spiritual world thinking that it's not okay to charge for what they do. And, and I will say this, you know, I, I talk about this a lot and be school and I say this very proudly. I love money<laugh>. I do. I love money. I don't love it over people. I don't love it over my values, but I love that I can use it as a force for good. Yes. And that I can vote with my dollars. Yes. For the change that I wanna see in the world and, and circulate that money towards things that are really doing good. Yeah. And I want more people who are high consciousness and who are awake and open to embrace money and abundance because the more that you have it, the more you do put out into the world and get it flowing in the right directions.

Emily:

And thank you for modeling your philanthropy because that was very inspiring to me. Last year, I donated $120,000 to the nature conservative. So it's like money's energy, it wants to flow. But if we don't have people in high space of consciousness having inflow, then they're not gonna be spending it and donating it, it into the places that we want to really serve.

Marie Forleo:

That's awesome. Amazing. Okay. Anyone else who has yeah, go for it. Go.

Melissa:

So I was <laugh> I was listening to Emily like, oh, mine was a little different <laugh> <laugh> this was kinda easy about making a decision, but you know, I was knowing that I would be outta work for a little bit, at least. And I remember going through the process to refinance my house just so could have like a little bit of money, you know? Yeah. Because I didn't know how long the layoff would be. And so when I looked at the, the investment for B-School, I remember asking myself if I was ready to sew into myself the way I sew into others. Mm. And I will say one of the things that may be school appealing, but caused me pause a little bit. Was that one of the things that I don't say because of the, the type of work that I do is I left the doctoral program <laugh> so I was like, wait more school, but <laugh> the way it was laid out, I definitely, because I had been in an academic setting for so long, it was like, this was so much more value for the time and the amount of money that I would have had to invest if I wanted to go to a traditional business program at a university.

Melissa:

So that's how I kind of came to the decision that B-School would be right for me. And that it was time to make this investment. Because I had always been multi passionate and just really tired of people saying, telling me when I could have access to young folk to do the work that I was supposed to be doing.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. So you, so I love this. You were like, you know what, I don't need X and X and X and X. I can just get going with the work right now and do this my own way. Yeah. And I think that's, what's so exciting about where we're at in culture right now, in terms of not necessarily needing gatekeepers not necessarily needing other people's approval for how you wanna go make a change in the world. You can actually just start doing the work. Which is really, really awesome. Anyone else...

Nikki:

I feel like gatekeepers is perfect for where I was. Yeah. so when I was in corporate, we, you know, there's kind of these professional development budgets and you and your team have this whole part of like, if you need to pitch this internally for get you.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah.

Nikki:

Yeah. So I was like, great, cool. And as I mentioned, I was thinking, it'd be great for us to think about this differently. So this is helpful for my organization. The response I got was like, what, what are you thinking? What, who do you think you are that this is gonna be the way things are going, you're gonna start a business and we're gonna pay for it. And I was like, no, this is, and so I wasn't even being heard. It was, it's not from these schools that we give the okay to that's. Right. So not only was I having my own internal struggle of like, can I do this as a different way forward for business? But it was also the voices that told me if I was successful or not within the world. I was in saying, that's not, that's not that doesn't work.

Nikki:

That's not viable. That's not what success looks like. And so it was an internal and external battle. And I think a big part of that both in 2014 and 2016, and then, you know, it, it happens in cycles is this kind of feeling of burnout, of feeling like you're getting kind of gas lit by the world a little bit and you're battling to try to figure out how can I show up in a way that, that internal voice, whether it's louder, soft is telling me to and handle those that might abandon you within your community or handle like how to show up and to be confident in the self approval, not the external approval that the gatekeepers that have kept you on this line have kind of created a bunch of us that have become robots. Like everybody, I dress like everyone around me, I, you know, would go into the cafeteria and I I'm a slightly expressive human, so I'd be like, hi.

Nikki:

And everyone would be like, oh, okay. And so there was a part of this that, that was the reaction I got to B-School was like, oh, ah, and I think there's a part of this that if you're looking externally for that go ahead. Sometimes you might not find it that's right. The internal mm-hmm go ahead. Was the thing that both in my initial go round at B-School and then coming back when I knew I had this community that was going to say, yes, this is what you should be doing, going through it again, getting that mm-hmm <affirmative> go ahead. When those wonderfully loving people might have been afraid of what I was doing and wanted to protect me, but also people that really were just like wanna keep in a box. I don't understand.

Nikki:

It's been, I think identity is so important in this process too. But, and we talk money. Yes. I love money bringing money. Right. Yeah. And it was something that was always so difficult for me to put first because where I was that's where the money was. I was in a six figure gig before I left to do my own thing. And this year will be my first time in a six figure revenue and hopefully more in early stages. But that was something where I just didn't know that was an opportunity that I could have here. Cause I was saying, I'm gonna leave the money on the table. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> yeah. The money that I have set aside for me professionally, I'm not getting from my organization. So I'll put the money I've got down and invest in myself. So for myself mm-hmm <affirmative> but also is on, is the other side of this just as financially secure. And even now I'm like, oh, it's even more, what am I? Well, if I did.

Marie Forleo:

It's even more, I think that's, what's really interesting. Yeah. I'm curious if any of you guys have had a moment, I'll talk about one of my moments from when I remember kind of like my pre-life of trying to just run and fit in and, you know, be something that I wasn't to, to my current life. Just the fact that I can like go out with family or friends or even just myself and not look at the right side of the menu. Yeah.

Deepshikha:

Yes.

Marie Forleo:

That I know it sounds so silly, but to be able to be like, I really want that thing. I've never experienced that in my life before. And it's just like a moment a frame in my life that I'm like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. I want more people to experience. Not having to feel a sense of panic. Yes. If they look at a menu. Yes.

Nikki:

Scarcity.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. Do you guys, do you have a moment where like a pinchy moment? You're like, whoa, is this my life <laugh>.

Deepshikha:

Absolutely. So we just bought our dream home last year, this summer.

Marie Forleo:

Oh yeah. Congratulations.

Deepshikha:

Thank you. And one of the things that I always wanted to do was decorate my house and not me doing it, hiring someone to do it. So and I hired someone to do my office. I hired someone to do my living room and we didn't have to look at the bill. We were just like, we're gonna do it. We can totally do this.

Marie Forleo:

Isn't that amazing.

Deepshikha:

It's amazing.

Marie Forleo:

And also, wait, I know there is an interesting fun fact about you D as it relates to money that I just wanna highlight didn't you use to get pocket money from your husband nos. Talk about this. Yeah. I wanna talk about it.

Deepshikha:

Yeah. So I was a stay-at-home mom. Yeah. And my husband was the breadwinner. He was he was doing everything for the family of, of, and he was so sweet. He used to give me extra money and I used to call it my pedicure money. Yeah. Because I would go and get my pedicure done and like, you know, just save a little bit and buy the dress that I wanted to do. Yeah. So there was this moment when I was starting to run my business, but, but he was still giving me the money because I, it wasn't sustainable. In fact he paid for some of the courses that I did, he paid for my laptop and I first started my business. So he was totally supportive. Yes. And then there was this moment when I went to him and I said you know, the money that you give me every month, you don't have to give it right now. <Laugh>

Marie Forleo:

Amazing.Yes. So then you guys were able to partner on that and get your dream house.

Deepshikha:

Yes. So yeah, both of us contributed money for our down payment. It just makes me a little bit emotional. Oh, wow. That's awesome. And

Marie Forleo:

And why is that? Tell me more about that.

Deepshikha:

Because when, when I started my business, sorry like buying a house and, you know, just making those memories with my kids it was, it was a dream. It was, it was such a big dream. It was on my vision board for such a long time. And to be able to write a check a five figure, check to my husband and say that here's the money let's, let's buy the house that you wanna buy. Yes. And, and it's amazing because the house that we bought, we never could have thought that we would buy the house and to be able to get from, no, we can't even look at that house. We can't even go in and see the house to be able to buy that house and live in that house. We feel so blessed. Yeah. Yeah.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. And to make memories with your kids.

Deepshikha:

Yeah. Absolutely

Marie Forleo:

And to take care of them and to be with them. Yeah. And still have your business. Totally.

Deepshikha:

Yeah. And another thing that I wanted to add was that I, I just hired a housekeeper, which was, oh my God. <Laugh>. Yeah. So amazing. And so when I was hiring her, it was another moment for me when I was like, hell yeah, I can do this. I can have someone do the laundry for me and spend that time with my kids. Yeah. Or work in my business, or just chill out, watch Netflix with my husband. <Laugh> you don't have to be folding laundry and, and watch game of Thrones at the same time.

Marie Forleo:

<Laugh> yeah. Well, I, I wanna talk about that too, because it's also a circulation, right? Like there's more when there's, there's, you know, our team expands and I get really excited. Yeah. By more people that come on board and I'm like, I get really proud to support them and their livelihood and the building of their dreams. And I think that that's a really great thing. Yeah. Cause as your business grows, that's usually inevitably what happens? You want some of that outflow to be shared yes. With other people in whatever form, whether it's employment or something like that.

Deepshikha:

Totally. And that's what money helps you do. It helps you create that beautiful energy, that beautiful space to enjoy the things that you have.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. Love it. Anyone else? Yeah.

Adrian:

Wife and I did the opposite of D we, and then the last minute was like a year and a half ago. We sold our house, our cars and everything. And we've been traveling the world ever since we spent the last year, mostly in Europe. And I think that is a, like a dream I had, I don't know, since I was 18 to travel the world at 18, I wasn't think I was gonna be married. So like when was like five years ago I was able to go full time. So it's been maybe a few years after B-School and actually the me being full-time entrepreneur and my wife who's super smart. She was working at a big four accounting firm, our lives. I felt it on day one completely different. And it did create conflict because here I was, I could say I'm living my dream, but was it really my dream?

Adrian:

Cause my partner wasn't alongside with me. Yeah. So in the last 12 months my wife is now the CFO of the agency and it has just been crazy for our relationship. These, like we were spending time traveling in all our dream places. We, we just booked Hawaii next month to travel and we're, we're trying to get travel as much as we can before we have kids <laugh>. And that to me is definitely like every time we book a flight, you know, and it, it it's like this. How, like, I almost like think it's gonna run out, but it's, it's all possible because a business that supports it, sustains it. Yeah. And, and right now we're choosing to be the minimalistic life and travel as much as we can. And eventually we will settle down and hopefully buy a dream home too. But it's, it's crazy that this dream is a, a reality right now, you know,

Marie Forleo:

Isn't that amazing. And didn't you, have you have something else quite cool with your dad?

Adrian:

Oh my gosh. Yes.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. Tell us about this.

Adrian:

So when people talk about like, what's the things you're most proud of accomplishing? I would, I would definitely mention this what I just mentioned, but more than anything my dad who came here as an immigrant worked so hard with my mom too to basically pay for my college. So I can say that there's not a lot of people I know that have their tuition paid for and graduate debt free. I feel like man, if there was one way I could give back how cool that if I could have him work for my business, almost like retire, hire him, you know? Yeah. So it was about like in the last, this is super new last 90 days. He is like my legit business manager full time. Wow. And like, I think we're FaceTiming every day we're working on, we're working on stuff and that relationship is just just the never thought it'd be possible. And he, and he loves it. I don't know if he's watched right now. Hi dad. Yeah. No, that, that, it's like, it's amazing. Like I can't think of, of more someone that I could trust more learn from huge mentor of mine and, and now we're, we're working on together. It's amazing, you know? Wow.

Marie Forleo:

Isn't it incredible to think. It's like, it always brings tears to my eyes too. And I see like these dreams that I had back here and then you fast forward a few years and yes. There's hard work. Yeah. Just to be clear. Y'all, <laugh>, let's get into this part. Let's get into this part. We're we're talking, we're sharing some of the highlights. Maybe we should talk a little bit you know, there is work involved mm-hmm <affirmative> yes, there is absolute work involved, you know, like B-School or anything else. Like it takes work, it takes focus. It takes energy. It takes experimentation. Not every single thing that you try is gonna work mm-hmm <affirmative>. But when I think you put yourself in an environment that is very focused on celebrating success, helping you readjust, readjust, and find course find the right course ahead and keep cementing in the principles that you know, in your heart work you'll get there.

Marie Forleo:

It's not gonna necessarily happen in like two days or two months. It might take a few years, but you get there. And then when you look back, you're like, thank God. I said yes. In whatever year it was that you decided to say yes to yourself. Yes. You know, I always say this about B-School. It's like, you're not necessarily trusting me. You're trusting you. We have a money back guarantee. You can get your money back. That's ain't no problem. Right. That's easy. But the real magic comes from when you put yourself in that environment and you, and you focus and do the work. I'm curious. What did you find in your particular journey? Like, was there any really hard point that when you look back, you're like, oh God, you know, I was really beaten down the wrong path over here. You tried something that didn't, didn't quite work for you.

Deepshikha:

I think I'm, I'm such a rule follower in terms of like, you know, if you gimme a module, I will do everything that <laugh>, that I would. So I literally followed everything. Yeah. The only hiccup that I had when I, when I enrolled for B-School within a month of enrolling for B-School and I was doing it live my mom passed away. Oh. I was very sadden, so sad. And thank you. And you might not remember this, but I was in, in, in a place where I just couldn't get myself back to work. I was like, this is all for nothing. Like if my mom's not here, this is not for nothing. And you were there in our B-School community and you were doing alive and I was, I was watching the live and I just, I was like, okay, I'm just gonna put it out there.

Deepshikha:

And I don't know if she's gonna see it, but let me just put it out there. So I, I wrote a comment saying that this is what's happening in my life. How do I navigate through this? How do I even think of the business right now? Because I am going through so much grief. Yes. And thank you so much for addressing me and seeing me as a person and making me feel heard and seen because you totally did. And what you gave me was not only business advice, but also human advice and that made so much difference. So I actually recorded that answer that you gave me and I, I would listen to it every day. And one of the things that you asked me to do is get out like, you know, prioritize self-care. So I would go on hikes and I would just have that going in my head on repeat. And that was the hardest part for me that I had to get over that this is also her legacy like me doing this is also showing her that she could not choose her dream, but I can, like, she almost passed a BA to me and I, I have to take it from me. So thank you so much for doing that.

Marie Forleo:

You're gonna make me cry. So sweet. <Laugh>

Marie Forleo:

Oh my goodness. Anyone else, any unexpected challenges or things that you had to, that you didn't expect that came up in the journey? Well,

Emily:

I remember when I was first launching, like the, like the world's first online meditation break and here's the thing I've had this thing that changed my life. I cure my insomnia. I stopped going gray. I, you know, didn't get sick for eight and a half years. And I was like, the world is ready <laugh> and people will just be beating down the door.

Marie Forleo:

Yes.

Emily:

I believe so hard in the product.

Marie Forleo:

Absolutely.

Emily:

And so I had six weeks lead up and I was doing like a free intro call. Right. And so I'm emailing and whisper campaigning and doing all the things I had 42 people on that call, two of them bought the program. Yeah. When I first launched and I came home and I just cried and I cried and I cried. Yes. And I just sobbed into my boyfriend now husband's arms. And I was like, I don't understand. Like, it's so good. Yes. Why aren't people? Why don't people get it? Yes. But then I realized it was a nudist, Buddhist. Have you ever heard, like, you can be a nudist in business and you can be a Buddhist, but you can't be a nudist Buddhist.

Marie Forleo:

I haven't heard this one. Bring it. I like it.

Emily:

Like you, you can be like weird in one way and or weird in another. We can be weird on top of weird Uhhuh. And in 2013, when this launch meditation was still weird and online courses were still weird. Ah, and so it was weird on top of weird. So it just wasn't time yet was just a little ahead of the curve. And so I'm just so grateful that I sucked to my guns and was like, no, I believe in this product. I know Maria has told me the world is going online. Yeah. People are gonna be going digital. And so I just stuck the course, even though it was quote unquote, a failure to start.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. Okay. This is perfect. I wanna talk about this one because I remember you know, I'd been teaching people in groups like B-School, but prior to B-School, years and years where it was only teleconference and there was kind of no online materials. And I love that you shared this story, Emily, because so many people have the possibility of that, of giving up and go, oh, this doesn't work right. But that was just progress, not perfection. That was the necessary step on your path to how many thousands of people now have gone through it, 20,000, over 20,000 people. So can anyone listening? Like if you've had that first out at the gate where it didn't go quite as you hoped, there might be a second or a third time that it isn't quote unquote as big as you hope it will be.

Marie Forleo:

But then eventually like, you know when we first started B-School, we didn't have nearly the amount of humans that we have now. And this was over 11 years ago, but I was like, you know what? We have X amount of humans and we're gonna overdeliver our buns for them, which I know that you did. And then you take that experience. You learn from it and you do better next time. And then you do better next time. And then you do better next time. And so thank you for sharing that because it isn't an overnight thing and it's a process. But if you stick with the process, eventually you get there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Team Forleo how we doing with questions or how we doing in general? Are you guys enjoy I'm for gonna enjoying this? I'm having such a great time. Yeah.

Marie Forleo:

Oh, is it re oh, here we go. Oh, from Kew. Okay. This is a q actually for Stacy Ann. Oh, you guys I'm no, here. This is less air horn. If possible. If possiblee as though I have no control. It's like, sorry guys. Airport. Oh gosh. OK. So to Stacy Ann...

Marie Forleo:

My area of business is not so traditional. How do you keep your focus on what you believed without letting others get into your head about saying it's just a hobby?

Stacy Ann:

That was really hard. I mean, that was the hardest hurdle that I had to get over because I, at the time that I started trying to make this into a business, I was Etsy had started to become bigger at the time. And back then it was like this big deal to get your product on the front page of Etsy. Yes. So I kept trying to get my, my ornament on the front page of Etsy and it never one time did it ever get on the front page because it was totally not trendy enough. Nobody even cared about what it was. <Laugh>. So I was just like, I felt completely like, okay, no one's ever, ever going like three people in the world. Know what this product is. You know, what I did though, was in the first few years, I felt like I was going in a million different directions.

Stacy Ann:

You know, there's all these shiny objects everywhere. There's all these people that are telling you, you need to do this. You need to get on Facebook. You need to block, you need to blah, blah, blah, blah. And then once you though, like create a vision for what you want in your life and then get on a path to that, even though you're working hard and you may not be seeing overnight success, you might not be seeing, you know, things happen just like you said a minute ago, keep going in that direction. And eventually it starts to fall into place, which is what happened for me.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. So okay. Whoever wants to answer this Louise. Oh, you deleted that one. Maybe not. This is the magic of Google docs. Like I'm like, oh, she took that one away. Okay. Somebody asks and whoever wants to answer this, will B-School help me find out my target audience. I am to be a coach or should I have clarity before I join B-School?

Marie Forleo:

Basically will help you find that clarity. Yes, no, you can. You can know what the hell you're doing and you can get your S and B-School. And if you are willing to do the work, I promise you, this is like, I love coaching people. And I think one of my superpowers is helping people find clarity. Yes. And make choices that are aligned with their heart, and then go attack them in a good way, in a loving way. <Laugh> so you do not need to know your target audience. Absolutely not. Nancy says how many successful B-Schoolers are senior citizens when they start? We actually have, they might not know this, but we have quite, I don't have a, a perfect stat for you, but I will say that anecdotally, because I am in the Facebook group a lot, I'm in the member area a lot.

Marie Forleo:

And we do look at all of the emails that come in. And I listen to the comments. We have folks in their sixties and seventies starting the program. And one of my favorite stories was a woman who bought her first laptop ever wow. To do B-School. And I was like, look, you know, if you are willing to do that and you just keep an open mind and an open heart, nothing that we teach you in B-School is so technologically difficult. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>, you know, there's two things about technology, right? It's about your attitude, not your aptitude. If you can send emails, you can do B-School. And I think with every business in the modern age, first of all, we're in a good state right now. So many more things are more plug and play than they've ever used to be in the world.

Marie Forleo:

When I started my business way back in like 1999, it was all hard coding and HTML. I was like, what the hell was going on back then? <Laugh> but here's the truth. I'm still not the most technical person in the world. And if you're gonna be an entrepreneur in this day and age, you can either do it yourself, which we train you, how to do, or we teach you how to hire the right people to help you out. How to know what questions to ask, how to understand what you're asking for so that people don't take advantage of you. And so that you really find the right professionals to work with, that are aligned with your budget and your vision and your goals and your work style. Let's see.

Melissa:

And Marie, a lot of them are in our B-School community too. So that is really helpful using each other's resources. Oh my goodness.

Melissa:

At B-School I did my first website.

Marie Forleo:

Oh really? That is so cool. I love that. I feel like I've heard this story time, time again. And it's awesome where people like will be out at maybe some type of conference or event or some kind of local thing. And everyone's kind of milling around and like a little quiet and then all of a sudden they figure out they do B-School and they're like, oh my God. You're at, and then everything kind of like breaks open, and then it's like instant friendship. Yeah. Which I think is really cool. Especially if we're watching right now. And I know like me, when I started my business, I didn't have many other business owners that I was like friends with. Yes, yes. And, you know, talking about kind of being early, like no one knew what an opt-in was. Like, I felt like I was speaking a totally different language and I kind of didn't have anyone to connect with. I think that's one of the most powerful things about B-School too. Yeah. Is the community. Yeah, absolutely.

Deepshikha:

I have to say that the community is one of the best things about B-School and you know, for me, I I was around a lot of stay at home moms who are really good friends of mine. Yeah. But somehow they couldn't understand the business aspect of it. Yeah. So for me today, like I have so many of my business besties from B-School, the B-Schoolers we've met we've, you know, we've hung out together. We do conference calls together. So it is, it's totally amazing.

Adrian:

I went to or actually I was on the B-School group and that was a, a post her name's Ashland she's in, based in Ireland. And she was jumping in freezing water with her mission of moving from fear to trusts. I was like, wait a second. Like I I'm in Ireland. Like I I'll just I'll reach out to her. I sent her a message and I, I got to experience a day in her life. She was so generous. Wow. And like a complete stranger, but we were just connected through B-School, my wife and I, she, and she was a, a, a health coach, nutritionist holistic nutrition. She cooked for us. It was amazing. Like, I will never forget this experience going out, but now I feel like anywhere I go in the world, I'm gonna be like in the group. <Laugh>

Marie Forleo:

Exactly.

Adrian:

And, and I, and, and I felt just like, I wanted to give back. So we went through a website and we, and we walked through like some, some technical stuff. And it was just amazing, like the, the shared knowledge in that community. Yes. There's none other out there.

Deepshikha:

Totally.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. I love that too. I I'll tell you even, like now, when I'm doing speaking engagements and we'll do be doing book sightings and I'll be like, I be school. I'm like, come here your family. I know you. It's so awesome. Oh my goodness. Okay. You guys, how we doing? Are we doing good? Woo. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. All right. Great. Let's see. Okay. oh, couple more shoutouts. Get your I won't do an air Horne 'cause I've been, if it's possible. No more air horns. Okay. Ready? We're gonna clap for our people. Diane. Sohar Robert Karina, Shannon, Angelica, and Peggy. And then Laurie and Angela. Oh my God. Okay. Bridget, turn bounce. You said nine years ago, I did B-School. The best decision I ever made. Lori's coming back. That's awesome. Okay. So are we ready for rapid fire?

Marie Forleo:

Louise.

Louise:

Anything up the top.

Marie Forleo:

Let me see, okay. Just long as you don't delete it.

Marie Forleo:

I love it. Let's see. Okay. Emma asked this question. She says, will this course be helpful if I don't know what I will be doing as a business, but I know I'm meant for more than my office job. Yes, yes, yes. Go for it. She's like...

Nikki:

Emma. Yes. And you are meant for more like, there's no question. You know, it, we, I, I walked into this room yesterday and met most of these people and we all knew it in each other. We know it in you, if you're feeling it, do it. Yeah. There's a reason you're here right now. It's it's the way to go. And I will say one of the things we talked about about those hard moments, my body started telling me when things were wrong. My body started shutting down when I was doing things that weren't right. And in that same power when things are right, your body knows. And so I would say pay attention to that and really lean into it because, oh my goodness. The fact that you're asking the question, you already know the answer. Again, leap and noodle catch.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. Okay. Here's this one. Okay. How much would B-School offer to someone who's already been in business for 15 years, but is looking to level up? Yes. I can take that one if okay. I see. I'll take it. So I know this just because I, I know the stories that come in and I read them all the time. And of course, if you guys have anything you wanna contribute, please feel free to add. But we've had people go through the program. Who've had multimillion dollar businesses already. I think if you're looking at this, you probably are detecting that something is amiss. There's probably some next level for you or some shift that you wanna make or something that's not quite making sense, or it's not satisfactory to you. I'll say this. Here's, what's awesome about the fact that you're already seasoned and you've been in business for a while.

Marie Forleo:

You'll probably be able to move really fast. And I know this as a business owner because I am a lifelong student. I am constantly putting myself into seminars and learning environments. And here's what I've found to be true, whatever investment I make in myself in terms of a program or an experience at this level where I'm at now, all I need is one idea. One tweak and I can add lots of zeros to my bottom line. Yep. All I need is one little breakthrough or one refreshing way to think about something or to revisit a foundation of my business. And all of a sudden it is exponential growth. So I would encourage you, whoever asked this question, you know, take a look at our curriculum, just feel into these humans, take a look at our business, what we've built. We actually use everything that we teach.

Marie Forleo:

And if your intuition tells you my goodness, if there was one or two ideas that I could extract outta this experience, or one or two relationships that I can make or a new way to see things, and that could catapult me in a new direction, do it. But the other thing I would say is this, you know, if you're looking for these kind of advanced curriculum, things that we never mention in our materials, you know, if you're looking, I always say this, you know, if someone's like, well, Marie, I really want you to teach me about how to pitch to VC investors. Don't come to be school 'cause that's not necessarily what we teach. Right. So I would say to you, if you are willing to come with an open mind and an open heart and recognize that there is always something to learn and with the season that you have underneath you in business, that there's a lot of momentum you can gain really fast, I would say do it. But if any, party's like, eh, I don't know. Don't do it 'cause we don't like that attitude. Okay. I, please.

Emily:

And it's that... You know? Well, one I did have, I've never wanted VC money, but I just had someone reach out last week. Yeah. Offering money so, you know, you might not be teaching that, but if you grow your own business, people might come to you. But the other thing is that you could take traditional business training. And not that I've ever done that, but I have read some really boring business books <laugh> but I think that one of your superpowers, in addition to helping people find clarity is teaching with authenticity and teaching in a way that is so uniquely you. Yes. Which without emulating inspires other people to do the same teach in a way that is uniquely theirs. Yes. And I could read Andy Grove's high output management all day, every day and fall immediately to sleep. Or I could watch you, you know, having a video about the same thing, but in a fun, entertaining, divinely feminine way. That is just gonna resonate with me in a much different way than even getting an MBA. Yep.

Marie Forleo:

Yep. Thank you.

Nikki:

Just wanna add one thing to this because the evergreen content is still there, but because B-School is every year, there's a part of this 15 years of business is wonderful. We're in this technological age where things are changing. I mean, it feels like every 15 minutes, right? Yeah. So the fact that you have this refresh that is very intentionally created every year will help your business in the moment right now. Yeah. And then you've got next year, right? So there is a part of this that helps too.

Marie Forleo:

I love that too, because I feel like the conversations that we have in the member area where like people are sharing their resources and talking about what's new. I always learn new things. I was like, oh, somebody just created X, Y, or Z out there. And we all get to play with new tools and new possibilities. It's really good. Can I say one? Yeah, of course, please.

Stacy Ann:

I actually have two things to say about this. First of all, I've noticed over the last 10 years of my business or so that every couple of years it changes. Yes. And there's a new leg that appears that I have to grow. And like for example, this past year, before this, we had our subscription, which really grew quickly. But then this past year, our shop, our just online shop doubled. So I had to kind of like go back through all the basics to, to, you know, navigate that because although I've had the business for a while, this was different. It was new. Yes. But the second thing, and this is even more important. I think to me, I feel like from what I've learned, that if my business was taken completely away from me tomorrow, yeah. I could start over again with something else. Like I, I feel, I used to feel like, well, you didn't finish college, Stacy, Stacy, you didn't do all these different things that you should have done that everyone said you should have done. You'll never be anything. Now I know that I could do whatever I wanted to.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. Oh my gosh. That's my whole life. You're just embodied what I care about most. Yeah. Amazing. Okay. People on Facebook want the air horn back. Oh my God. I love this. OK. Can I tell you guys a secret dream? So Adrian, you were asking me, you said, what was my favorite part about London? Right? Cause I was just in London. I don't know if this will happen. My team's probably like, shut up. Don't do this. <Laugh> but I I think at some point in my career, I might want like a daily chat radio show. I would, but I don't, maybe it would be video or something like that, but where we could like bring in people and I could just do that. And I could like give away money and I could do all the things that really make me happy and we can learn dance moves. Are you guys in? Yes.

Marie Forleo:

Next evolution. I'm putting it on my vision board. This is it. Okay. Bethany asks also, do you talk about how to turn browsers into customers? People are browsing my Etsy page, but not buying. Oh yes, yes. Go for it, Adrian. Yes.

Adrian:

I feel like this was my struggle is I was trying to force growth. So like I was spending again that I was only making 27 K a year at a call center and I was using what little money. I might have been just a hundred dollars a week to try to run in like a YouTube ad or a Google ad. And I thought, I, I think, I mean targeting technology today, you can target literally anyone you want, but are you sure it's the right person? Are you sure it's the right search? You know, is it the right audience? And if you're running an ad on Instagram or Facebook, and to me, I feel like I was doing the right, but I didn't, I, I didn't honestly take the time to look at everything else before you run an ad. Like what's an optin, what's a drip sequence, all these technical things.

Adrian:

I was just learning. And I learned basically my foundation of, of how to do everything from B-School. And after I did, and I went through all the modules and I changed absolutely everything. And I thought I was doing it right. I was doing it way wrong rock. I changed it. And then when I did launch that ad, that was the first month that I made a thousand dollars after I put it all together. So I, I definitely feel that I feel that like, like we all wanna grow fast, we do wanna launch something and have it and have it, have it like scale and, and you're, and you're hearing your phone go Kain kaing but there's so much work to be done first. I didn't know what that was. B-School helped me and taught me that.

Deepshikha:

And I would say, sorry not only that you would be able to turn your browsers into customers, but you would be able to do that being you, you don't have to fit into a mold. Yes. You don't have to be anyone else. You could totally be attentive to.

Marie Forleo:

You don't have to scream at them and go buy those now.

Deepshikha:

Or stand in front of a private jet.

Deepshikha:

You can totally be. And that's what you embody and that's what you teach and you can love that be you. And then turn, I actually like to use customers into fans or like make super funds.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. I love it. You were about to say...

Annie:

Yeah, yeah. I have a different perspective on this. I think I, you know what I love so much about B-School is, is also that you are so mission driven and you really instilled that in me too. Early on, I started blogging and I blog every two weeks providing like high quality psychoeducational material. And that blog is very widely read. And I know there are tons and tons of people who come and read the articles who never actually turn into therapy customers. Yeah. They're not necessarily buyers, but that was such a huge part of my business vision was to be able to serve those browsers. Right. They're not necessarily your buyers, but they are your, your browsers. So that's one thing I wanna say that we can still serve the browsers. Right. But then there's this other piece too, where the people who did read the blog over the years, and I think we talk about how it takes seven touch points for somebody to, you know, get to know like, and trust you. Right. by serving people without the intention of converting them into buyers immediately, but just leading with high quality material, I built very successful businesses from serving with information. So it's just a different way of looking at that question. I think. Yeah.

Marie Forleo:

It's a, it's kind of a different paradigm of generosity and abundance. And of course, again, just to be clear, I love money, right? Like, so we don't leave that aside. We don't, it's not that we don't look at the tactics, but I think the underpinning energy of how to really look through the lens of your whole business of there's a more than enough to go around. You're gonna make an impact on people, whether or not they wind up becoming customers and raving fans. And oh, by the way, we're gonna teach you the most effective way to turn the people who are right for you. To become your ideal customers into those paying customers and then to, to lifelong fans. Absolutely love it. Let's see, John says awesome guest speakers. Yes.

Marie Forleo:

John, just wondering if you're starting a social enterprise business versus a nonprofit or for profit will be school, be the right match. Hmm. So first of all, I, I can answer this because we have business owners of all different kinds. So B-School works for you if you're a nonprofit or you're a for-profit and it's really easy. Like if you're a nonprofit business, you still have to convert donors. Right. And you want them to be ideal customers, people that support your organization. So I remember Louise, is it Molly that we had, it was like, she created like six figures of donations in like her first year. Do you remember what I'm talking about? Yeah. We might be able to put her story link somewhere, but we have lots of nonprofit stories and of course we have tons of for-profit stories too. Anyone else wanna do you guys good on that? Okay, great. Another one says I have no social media presence and don't do social media. God bless you. <Laugh> and I don't like it very much. I get you. Is that a drawback for finding success through B-School? I'm unclear how to find your customers if you're not currently on social.

Annie:

Oh...

Marie Forleo:

Okay. Speeak up my love.

Annie:

Well, you don't own social. Yeah. Right? Like, but you always tell us like Facebook changes its algorithm all the time. So you may have big Facebook audience. You can have a big Instagram audience, but you own your email list. So you don't need to be on social, but you do need an email list or at least I truly believe you do.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah, no, I, I I've been preaching this since 1999. I'm not gonna stop talking about it until someone else gets created email, email, email, but do you have to be on social media? So I think there's a couple different ways to look at this as a business owner. One social is a reality and it can be seen as like what we call top of funnel. Right? It's a place where your ideal customers may be hanging out. So I don't know what kind of business that you're intending to start, but just know that you can also create a social media presence as a brand. It doesn't have to be your face. And there's a very effective way to do that. So if you're concerned either about privacy or you don't necessarily want your TCH all over the interwebs, there's a way to do it for your business, where you're providing value, where you're meeting people, where they're at, where you're engaging with people, just like you would at let's say a cocktail party.

Marie Forleo:

And you're introducing them to your offers and you're providing value. And then you're inviting them to take the best next step. Do you have to be on social media? No, but you will have to create ways for ideal customers to discover who you are. So that might be through blogging. It might be through press. There might be through speaking engagements. So you don't have to use social media, but it is just a piece of our cultural puzzle right now. And there is a way to do it. If you don't wanna necessarily have your face and make personal videos or dance like I do. So you don't have to worry about that. <Laugh> okay. I'm actually gonna move to rapid fire. So, alright. I'm gonna say these questions and you guys can think about it and whoever wants to go first in one sentence, what would you tell someone who's considering buying BCO? So think about these humans on the fence. They're like, mm, I don't know. I don't know if I trust that loud Italian. Think about in one sentence, what would you tell someone who's considering buying B-School?

Emily:

The return on investment will be exponential.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. So do it all. If, if you're thinking about,

Emily:

Yeah. If you're thinking about investing in B-School, I would say that the return on investment will be exponential.

Annie:

But I would say you get out of it what you put into it as well. Right? It's not a silver bullet. It's not gonna build your business for you. You have to do the work and you have to do it consistently. But yes, I agree. The return on investment is extraordinary. Yes, absolutely

Marie Forleo:

Amazing. Okay. I would,

Adrian:

I would, my sentence would be my biggest regret. Regret is not finding it sooner. <Laugh> yeah,

Annie:

Yeah.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. Yeah. I love it. Anyone?

Nikki:

I think there's a part of this. At least my journey was belonging. So if you're thinking about joining B-School, you belong here.

Deepshikha:

Yeah.

Nikki:

Definitely.

Marie Forleo:

What would you say to someone? One sentence?

Stacy Ann:

If you are thinking about joining B-School and you feel like you are not good enough, or your product is not trendy enough, you should still do it.

Marie Forleo:

I love that.

Deepshikha:

Yeah. I would say not only would you be able to do everything that they said, but you will also get the tools and the community to do it and make it better.

Marie Forleo:

Amazing. You guys are awesome. Anything else that you wanna share before we run?

Melissa:

I would say... I think my one sentence would be, if you're thinking about joining B-School, it literally more than pays for itself.

Deepshikha:

Yes. Oh yeah. Yes.

Marie Forleo:

I love it. Yeah. This is some good stuff. Yeah. Well, you guys look a couple things. One I wanna address before we wrap up, I know probably the biggest question that we get asked the entire B-School season is, is B-School right for me, if, and I always call it special snowflake syndrome, but this why I but I'm different. My business is different, but what about me? And I will tell you this, if you want a business that sells to humans, then yes, BCO is for you. We've helped people in over 600 different industries from 141 different countries. So it crosses cultures, crosses language barriers. It doesn't matter if it's a product or a service or a profit or a nonprofit you belong with us if you wanna not only make money, but you also wanna change the world. I just wanna thank you guys, because you're all such incredible inspirations to me, you're living demonstrations of what happens when you follow that little voice in your heart and you take that idea and you work your buns off and you bring it to life. So thank you so much for being here and thanks to everyone watching today. And honestly, we hope with all of our hearts, if B-School is right for you, that you're gonna join us. Yes. The doors will not be open. Not much longer. Listen to what Adrian said. He's like, I wish I would've sound found it sooner. Right? Don't wait. Don't wait. Don't wait. That dream life of yours, it's there. And I'm telling you B-School. If it's aligned with your heart, this is the place you need to be. So come join us. You guys. Thank you so much. This was absolutely amazing. I don't know. I'm just gonna do some confetti. Thank you everyone. We'll see you still. Thanks for watching. Bye everyone.

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