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Martial Arts Lessons That Shaped a CEO: Laura Armstrong’s Path to Business Fulfillment · Beyond Fulfillment Podcast

• 0:05
  You know, I know what I'm worth an hour.
• 0:06
  And that's another thing, people don't know their worth, right?
• 0:10
  Today we sit down with Laura Armstrong, founder and CEO of Wealth Mastery Systems.
• 0:16
  Laura's journey is anything but ordinary.
• 0:18
  From her early days as a competitive bodybuilder in a three time world champion martial artist to a long career as a commodities trader in Toronto's high stakes corporate world.
• 0:30
  After an unceremonious end to her corporate chapter, Laura channeled her grit and expertise into entrepreneurship, helping high achievers and business owners master their mindset, money relationships and scaling strategies.
• 0:44
  In this episode, Laura shares inspiring stories of resilience and teamwork from international competition.
• 0:52
  She unpacks tangible lessons from her business evolution and offers practical tips for shifting, limiting beliefs to unlock your true potential.
• 1:01
  Whether you're starting or ready to scale, Laura reveals the power of alignment, knowing your worth and building the right support system so you can thrive and create impact and abundance.
• 1:14
  As always, if you found value from this content, please like and subscribe.
• 1:19
  All right, Laura Armstrong, welcome to Beyond Fulfillment.
• 1:23
  Thanks so much.
• 1:24
  I'm really excited to be here today.
• 1:26
  Yes, we're very happy to have you and excited for this conversation.
• 1:31
  So Laura, you are the founder and the CEO of Wealth Mastery Systems and that's a strategy company and we'll get into what you do and how you help your clients.
• 1:42
  But you've got quite an interesting path to becoming an entrepreneur and some very interesting background of how that's helped you in your entrepreneurial journey, including three times or three time world champion martial artist as well as a long,
• 2:01
  long corporate career that had a very unceremoniously unceremonious ending.
• 2:07
  So can, can you just like walk us through your backstory and how you came to be an entrepreneur?
• 2:13
  Sure, yeah.
• 2:15
  You know, when I was younger, in my late teens, early 20s, I, I, I was always, I always loved sports but I was always like the overweight kid in school, right.
• 2:25
  And so I didn't really care.
• 2:26
  I still love sports, so, so I actually turned to bodybuilding and powerlifting because I realized how strong I was and so I started competing at that, at a provincial level or a state level if you're thinking in the
• 2:40
  US I am in Toronto and I won and I was scouted by the International Federation of Bodybuilders and they said, look, we want to take you to international competition, but you're going to have to take the drugs.
• 2:53
  And I was like, you know, I was like 18, 19 years old.
• 2:56
  I'm like, no, because that kind of stuff it's not healthy.
• 2:58
  And for women especially, it's not reverse.
• 3:01
  So I wanted to continue being super active.
• 3:03
  So I took one of those continuing education courses at night and it was for martial arts.
• 3:09
  And so I started in that class, you know, 30 plus years later I was taking two arts.
• 3:15
  The first one was Aikido, which is the Japanese art of self defense and the art of peace.
• 3:20
  And then I also started in escrima, Filipino martial arts, which is impact and edge weapons and a hand to hand combat.
• 3:26
  And there's a competitive side to that, which I loved because I was always very competitive.
• 3:31
  And so I started, you know, competing and bringing myself up that ladder.
• 3:35
  And I competed at an international level probably for a couple of decades.
• 3:41
  But I remember when, if you know anything about professional athletes, it's about a nine month ramp up to compete for those two days.
• 3:48
  So you got to hit your weight, your diet has to be good, your mindset, all of that.
• 3:52
  And so I became actually a holistic practitioner because I wanted the edge.
• 3:58
  If you think about it, look at the Olympic athletes, they're always looking for an edge.
• 4:02
  But I wanted the edge in a way that would serve me, that would get my head right when I competed, that would align everything so as more of a holistic approach.
• 4:11
  Approach.
• 4:11
  And back then, holistic was like some woo word out of, you know, some weird place, Star Trek or something.
• 4:17
  So it actually did give me the edge.
• 4:21
  It actually helped me to win my first gold medal.
• 4:23
  And if we have some time, if that's okay, Dave, I want to tell the story of that because I think it's important to conversation.
• 4:28
  Are you cool with that?
• 4:29
  Yeah.
• 4:30
  Yeah.
• 4:31
  So I go to compete.
• 4:33
  I won probably for the last eight years only silver and bronze.
• 4:37
  And the gold was very elusive for me.
• 4:39
  You know, I did the whole Rocky thing.
• 4:41
  You know, I look at my tapes, I do all that stuff.
• 4:44
  And so competition comes up.
• 4:47
  We're over on the other side of the world in Manila.
• 4:49
  There's 12 people on the Canadian team.
• 4:51
  And I'm like, this is it, I'm going to win the gold.
• 4:53
  Like there's no reason I'm not winning the gold.
• 4:56
  So in our competition, three rounds in each fight, each fight's a minute and you're full out.
• 5:03
  Every single fight, every single round.
• 5:06
  So we get there and two things happen.
• 5:10
  The first is our coach steals our money.
• 5:14
  The second is that he tells us he's not going to coach us anymore and leaves.
• 5:18
  So we're in the middle.
• 5:20
  Across the world, in the middle of nowhere, in a Competition with no money and no coach.
• 5:25
  And so I gather everyone around and I say, okay, what are we going to do here?
• 5:30
  Are we going to DQ disqualify so we don't compete, Nothing happens.
• 5:34
  We just go home, or are we all going to go home with gold?
• 5:38
  And so, like, they had worked just as hard as me, and so we're like, we're all going home with gold.
• 5:42
  I'm like, good.
• 5:42
  So we all go out to our.
• 5:44
  Our different rounds, and we start fighting.
• 5:46
  And the end of the day, I'm in the gold medal round, and I, you know, I.
• 5:52
  Like I said, I just decided this is going to be it.
• 5:55
  So the first two rounds in the fight go.
• 5:58
  They were pretty good.
• 5:59
  I did all right.
• 5:59
  It was very close.
• 6:01
  The third round comes, and I'm tired.
• 6:02
  I've probably had about 22 fights that day, and I'm exhausted.
• 6:07
  I look across the ring and I see my entire team there, and they are like, you got this, Laura, like, supporting me, you know, all this.
• 6:17
  And I look at them and I'm like, oh, my God.
• 6:20
  That's what I've been missing was that support, right?
• 6:23
  And so I didn't clue into that at the time.
• 6:25
  All I wanted to do was get through this third round and win at that point.
• 6:29
  So the whistle goes, and I go into the fight, and I'm tired.
• 6:33
  But what I realized very quickly is my partner, the opponent, is more tired than I am, so I don't know what it was.
• 6:39
  I look over, I had the split second of looking over at the team again, and I must have sucked all the energy because I had this burst of energy.
• 6:47
  The round finished, the whistle blew, the.
• 6:49
  And, you know, the refs, like, fight over.
• 6:52
  And then he takes our hands, and he puts up my hand and says, winner, world champion.
• 6:57
  And I'll never forget that moment because I looked across the ring and there is my team.
• 7:03
  And, like, I had this moment where, you know, Dave.
• 7:05
  Where I was just frozen.
• 7:07
  I couldn't believe that I had finally done it right.
• 7:09
  And.
• 7:11
  And so.
• 7:11
  And they're crying, and I'm crying.
• 7:13
  Like, it's really this emotional moment.
• 7:15
  And it was just this moment where I realized that what we do is so much more than ourselves.
• 7:22
  It's too hard to do ourselves, right?
• 7:24
  Eight of us went home with gold medals that day, so it was a pretty amazing event for me and, like, a bit of a realization about that.
• 7:33
  You know, when we work in our business, we cannot do it alone.
• 7:36
  And having competed and trained the international team for so long, I created Many champions.
• 7:42
  And I know what that formula is and I took that formula and I put it into business and Because I wanted people to succeed at that level as well.
• 7:51
  Okay, wow.
• 7:53
  So quite probably not the way you expected to win gold, especially with, with the drama with the coach and, and that extra adversity.
• 8:00
  But yeah, what a story and what a way to do it, you know, especially after, after all that.
• 8:06
  So as you mentioned, you put some, you, you took a lot from that experience and you put it into what you teach your clients now to help them succeed in business.
• 8:18
  And so let's talk about the business too.
• 8:20
  For, for a long time you worked in corporate as a commodities trader, is that right?
• 8:25
  Yeah, that's right.
• 8:26
  Yeah.
• 8:27
  Yeah.
• 8:27
  But I was also.
• 8:29
  Sorry, go ahead.
• 8:30
  Oh, yeah.
• 8:30
  So how, how did you get into that and like talk about your corporate background?
• 8:34
  Yeah, so I started in corporate in my early 20s because I thought going out and getting a job was what everybody did.
• 8:41
  Like that was the norm.
• 8:42
  That was what I was taught in my family.
• 8:44
  But I always had this drive for a side hustle.
• 8:48
  Right.
• 8:48
  So like I said, I became a hol.
• 8:50
  Holistic practitioner.
• 8:51
  And because it worked so well for me, I became certified in different modalities.
• 8:55
  And way back then, like it was just stuff you didn't do, like Reiki and all that, which is the norm now.
• 9:00
  But back then it was super woo woo, right.
• 9:03
  So I always had that on the side that I love to do.
• 9:06
  I love to help people, heal them, whatever that encompassed.
• 9:09
  Right.
• 9:10
  Everything I do, all I care about is that it has strategic results.
• 9:14
  It's all I care about.
• 9:15
  And I saw the people that I was working with having results.
• 9:19
  So during the day I would have my corporate job and it was really an old school boys club where I worked.
• 9:25
  And so in that kind of environment, I was the only woman on the train desk.
• 9:30
  You either adopt, leave, or die.
• 9:32
  There are only three choices.
• 9:34
  And I lasted there more than a couple decades.
• 9:37
  In the end, they were just a bit dirty about things.
• 9:39
  They packaged me out, I took them to court for some money and you know, I just decided that it wasn't really in alignment with me and that I had just been taking that paycheck because it was comfortable.
• 9:52
  But it came to the point where it even wasn't worth the paycheck anymore.
• 9:55
  And I made good money.
• 9:56
  Right.
• 9:58
  And so I just decided I was going to, you know, embrace my, you know, entrepreneurial ship full time.
• 10:04
  And I've been doing a lot of it already.
• 10:06
  I've been doing it for over 40 years.
• 10:08
  And so, because the event of me leaving there gave me that drive, because I just decided I'm only doing things that make me happy.
• 10:18
  I may only be on this earth for another 50 or so years.
• 10:21
  I want to make them worth it, and I want to have the best time possible.
• 10:25
  Also, I want to help people, right?
• 10:27
  Because I saw that people were struggling on so many levels.
• 10:30
  And then the third was that I'm only going to do things that make me boatloads of money, because I love money so much.
• 10:37
  But what I didn't realize was that most people didn't have that kind of relationship with money because it would take a lot of flack for that.
• 10:45
  Right.
• 10:45
  Like a lot of judgment.
• 10:46
  And I just decided that it was really important for me to.
• 10:50
  To help people with their relationship with money.
• 10:52
  Now I work with a lot of high achievers because I understand that mindset because I've lived in it for so long.
• 11:00
  But I also work with people who are starting a business, who are in their business, who want to scale their business.
• 11:05
  And it's all the same principles of moving things like communication, leadership, empathy, and understanding your worth, which is where the money mindset and wealth strategy piece comes in to make you successful.
• 11:19
  And, and you know, if you're already established, you ready to scale and exit your business for the money that you deserve.
• 11:27
  Okay, all right.
• 11:29
  So lot to unpack there.
• 11:30
  So you had a long career as a commodities trader.
• 11:34
  Like you said, they packaged you out.
• 11:36
  It was.
• 11:37
  There were some issues there.
• 11:38
  So you took the company to court, and at that point you realized you're done with this and you only want to do things that make you happy.
• 11:45
  And for you, that was being an entrepreneur full time.
• 11:49
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:51
  And so like you mentioned, you had the side hustles and all that, but like, like you said, for so long you had the paycheck because it was comfortable.
• 11:58
  And, you know, so many people I'm sure, can relate to that.
• 12:02
  But so what.
• 12:03
  What was it like when you finally made that decision?
• 12:06
  Like, okay, I'm doing this and I'm.
• 12:08
  I'm make.
• 12:09
  Taking the leap.
• 12:10
  Like, like what.
• 12:12
  What happened next?
• 12:13
  How did you get started to building this company that you have now?
• 12:17
  Well, all of those side hustles actually did serve me well because I already had a basis of what I needed.
• 12:23
  And so it was, to be honest, quite scary because you're out on your own, you're trying to figure it out.
• 12:30
  You know, what do you have to offer people?
• 12:32
  Will they have.
• 12:33
  Will they want what I have?
• 12:35
  And you Go through this whole thing in your head, because we're really good at, you know, having this narrative in our head all the time.
• 12:45
  So I just wanted to pick something that was really aligned with me.
• 12:48
  There's three things that people need to be successful in their business.
• 12:52
  Well, there's more than three, but the three that I work with are, first of all, like, what is your mindset?
• 12:57
  Like, so if your mindset is struggling, then everything else is going to struggle, right?
• 13:03
  And you're not going to be clear about what you need.
• 13:06
  And you.
• 13:07
  You're not going to be able to earn what you deserve either, because you don't feel you deserve it, obviously, or you're worth it.
• 13:13
  The second would be your alignment with what you're doing, your vision, whatever you want to call it.
• 13:19
  If you're not doing something that not just feels good to you, that gets the results or gives people the transformation that you want them to have, it's never going to work.
• 13:30
  You're going to keep throwing spaghetti at the wall, getting results sometimes, or maybe, or coulda, woulda, shoulda.
• 13:36
  So you need to be clear about that.
• 13:38
  And that's connected to your why, which is made up of your purpose and your drive.
• 13:42
  Now, most of us know our purpose, but most of us don't know what drives us.
• 13:47
  And so once those two are connected, then you're off and running.
• 13:51
  And the third thing that I work with people on mostly is their limiting beliefs.
• 13:55
  I had so much trauma as a small child and a young woman being a holistic practitioner, I was able to get rid of those things.
• 14:03
  So I've got the.
• 14:04
  I've got the key to the kingdom on that.
• 14:06
  And limiting beliefs are just a temporary point of view.
• 14:09
  So once you get rid of them, what happens is all these things start to come in.
• 14:13
  As an entrepreneur.
• 14:13
  Entrepreneur.
• 14:14
  So for me, the journey was very scary after I lost my job, but I also was confident in my skills and what I wanted to offer.
• 14:21
  I did go through a few iterations.
• 14:23
  I think it's kind of like, you know, that feeling of what do you want to be when you grow up?
• 14:27
  Right.
• 14:27
  You go through that.
• 14:28
  So, yeah, so that's kind of like what happened for me.
• 14:32
  Okay, and how.
• 14:33
  Like, what was the process like in terms of, like, did you.
• 14:38
  Was it quick in terms of how you.
• 14:40
  You figured out, right, like, what you wanted to do and the business took off?
• 14:44
  Or was there, like, a struggle period where it was hard to get clients?
• 14:47
  Like, how did that pan out for you?
• 14:49
  Yeah, there was absolutely a struggle period because I Wasn't clear what I was offering.
• 14:54
  And it goes back to what I was saying before, because I see that all the time, people are like, I'm not making money.
• 14:59
  I'm like, what are you offering?
• 15:00
  This is what I offer.
• 15:01
  I'm like, well, how does it, you know, what do you.
• 15:03
  Is that what you want to do?
• 15:04
  Well, no, but I'm really good at it.
• 15:06
  Right.
• 15:07
  So they can be really good at something.
• 15:08
  But if, again, if it's not aligned, the money may be temporary, but it's never going to last.
• 15:12
  So for me, I did go through those downturns where I would struggle a little bit.
• 15:16
  I'd make adjustments, I'd get clients, and then I'd struggle again.
• 15:20
  And so until I really understood what that alignment meant, like, where I am now, there is no doubt in my mind.
• 15:28
  And so there's no doubt in my mind how good I am at what I do either.
• 15:31
  And that's why the.
• 15:31
  The clients keep coming.
• 15:33
  I keep attracting the right people.
• 15:35
  And, you know, that's another part of it is I wasn't attracting the right people because I wasn't doing the things that I, you know, I should be doing.
• 15:42
  I do.
• 15:42
  I was doing part of them.
• 15:44
  Right.
• 15:45
  And where I really noticed the shift was when I started working with people and tapping into my own walk in the walk of getting the support that I needed in my business.
• 15:55
  Because I feel as entrepreneurs, it's this onus on us to do everything, especially at the beginning, because there's lack of money, there's lack of support or whatever it is.
• 16:05
  Right.
• 16:05
  So finding those people to support you in whatever way that you need is key.
• 16:10
  I mean, I have mentors.
• 16:11
  I mean, my mentors have mentors.
• 16:12
  Like, there's always people that need to be guiding us and supporting us.
• 16:16
  It's just too hard to do it on your own.
• 16:19
  Okay.
• 16:20
  Yeah, because that was going to be.
• 16:21
  My next question is, was there like an inflection point or like a.
• 16:26
  Like, you mentioned the shift.
• 16:27
  So was that, like, you.
• 16:29
  You talked about getting the support you needed in your business.
• 16:31
  Is that like, from a mentor?
• 16:34
  Yeah, well, it wasn't just from a mentor.
• 16:36
  Like, it could be something as simple as, do I need an accountant?
• 16:40
  Do I need an investment person?
• 16:42
  Do I need, you know, someone who runs my website?
• 16:47
  So, you know, all the components.
• 16:48
  I mean, long gone are the days where we just had an email and that was our business and it was enough.
• 16:53
  Right.
• 16:53
  Like, now you need everything, the funnels and all the marketing and everything.
• 16:57
  So I'm not good at that stuff, that's not my forte.
• 17:00
  My forte is dealing with people in what I do.
• 17:03
  That's my genius.
• 17:04
  And so I was smart enough to realize that I couldn't do all those pieces.
• 17:08
  And so it, you know, I know what I'm worth an hour.
• 17:11
  And that's another thing.
• 17:12
  People don't know their worth.
• 17:13
  Right.
• 17:14
  If your business is an E commerce brand, this message is for you.
• 17:19
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• 17:22
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• 17:30
  We're a different kind of partner built specifically for growing brands that ship between 1,000 and 10,000 orders per month.
• 17:38
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• 17:45
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• 17:52
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• 18:01
  Is less than what I'm worth an hour, I'm going to go pay someone else to do it.
• 18:05
  Because for me, then I can spend time in my genius, working my business.
• 18:11
  Okay.
• 18:12
  And we hear a lot about that too.
• 18:14
  In terms of business advice is focusing on your, your zone of genius.
• 18:20
  So, so would you say is that something that's been critically important to your success is just spending as much, you know, more and more time in your.
• 18:26
  Your zone of genius?
• 18:30
  Yes, I would say that.
• 18:31
  But also my.
• 18:32
  I'm a lifelong learner, so how can I learn more to con.
• 18:36
  To add to that, there's three things that you're going to see with high achievers that they have in common, almost everybody.
• 18:43
  The first is they're absolutely obsessed with what they do.
• 18:46
  That's why they're always at the top of their game.
• 18:48
  The second is their lifelong learners.
• 18:50
  And the third is they need to be the best at everything.
• 18:53
  Best at their health, best at their fitness, best at their business, best at their life.
• 18:57
  Right?
• 18:58
  And so just because it's for high achievers doesn't mean it's for regular people too.
• 19:03
  But a lot of the time we get stuck in the.
• 19:06
  And they're like, I got to pay my bills or I'm thinking about money or debt or, you know, so all of these things ground us in the wrong way.
• 19:13
  Right?
• 19:13
  They get their distractions, right.
• 19:15
  And so, but at the end of the day, Dave, we all need to earn money.
• 19:19
  Right?
• 19:19
  We all need to have a thriving business.
• 19:21
  So I, yes, I believe that a lot of that is connected.
• 19:26
  Okay.
• 19:27
  All right.
• 19:27
  And so let's, let's talk about specifically what you do here with, with wealth mastery systems.
• 19:33
  And then so you have, you have, is it several different programs as far as that you, you teach people, is that right?
• 19:40
  Yeah, I do.
• 19:41
  I have just an online course that people can take.
• 19:44
  Most of the work I do is one on ones with people because it is very personal work.
• 19:50
  And you know, money is a very private thing for people.
• 19:55
  And when I work with people in wealth mastery, wealth doesn't always mean money, but money is always a part of wealth.
• 20:02
  So wealth for someone who is a very nurturing person, their currency isn't in money, it's in people.
• 20:08
  And a lot of the time when I work with people who are high nurturing, they have difficulty receiving money because they have guilt around it because they think it's greedy or whatever their reasons are.
• 20:19
  But they're looking to make more impact.
• 20:21
  So I have to position it with them differently.
• 20:24
  Right.
• 20:24
  Every client's different.
• 20:25
  So if you go out and make a ton more money, you'll be able to help a ton more people.
• 20:29
  And that's really where they want to be, helping more people.
• 20:32
  So I see too many people out there, you know, helping people but not making money right now.
• 20:38
  I'm not saying we shouldn't go out and volunteer our time, but if you're doing your business, you need to know your worth.
• 20:43
  Right?
• 20:44
  And so a lot of people struggle with that, and so I like to help them get back on track with that.
• 20:50
  The three things that I notice over and over again with my clients are, first of all, their mindset needs to shift.
• 20:57
  And we do that through a lot of affirmations and things like that.
• 21:00
  Because when you do affirmations, it cognitively changes the neural pathways in your brain.
• 21:06
  So it's science, not just woo woo or, you know, esoteric stuff.
• 21:11
  When we change the pathways in our brain, that's when our reality becomes different.
• 21:15
  Right?
• 21:16
  Things start to change in our life.
• 21:17
  Things start to come in.
• 21:19
  The second would be, again, as we talked about, vision, alignment.
• 21:22
  And the third would be limiting beliefs, because those are the things I see most common in people around what's holding them stuck or still in what they're doing.
• 21:33
  Okay, so as far as, like you, the, the people you work with and the most common challenges, limiting beliefs is, is a big part of that.
• 21:41
  A big part of it.
• 21:42
  Yeah.
• 21:43
  Okay.
• 21:43
  All right.
• 21:44
  And then, so what, what other.
• 21:45
  So you, you mentioned the affirmations.
• 21:47
  What, what else do you do to, to help people as far as changing those limiting beliefs to help, help help them get them the success that they want.
• 21:56
  Yeah, for sure.
• 21:57
  So I have a five step process that allows them to rewrite the narrative on their limiting beliefs which I, which I train them in.
• 22:05
  And so they're able to do that.
• 22:06
  And so we take a look at what those might be.
• 22:08
  I mean, it's so interesting because some people, they, they're like, oh, I don't have any limiting beliefs.
• 22:13
  And then we start to have this conversation and then this list comes out.
• 22:16
  Right.
• 22:18
  And so it's really interesting.
• 22:20
  So I do that, I do a lot of clearing statements.
• 22:23
  I do some hands on work.
• 22:24
  If they're in my area, I'm happy to work on them.
• 22:27
  I also use technology, frequency, machines, different things.
• 22:31
  Not everything is, is alternative.
• 22:34
  A lot of it's just practical stuff and tools and strategies that give them instant results.
• 22:42
  Not instant as in this next moment, but results that they can see that are happening because the people around them are changing and the things that are coming in for them are changing.
• 22:51
  That's when I know things are starting to work.
• 22:55
  Okay.
• 22:56
  All right.
• 22:56
  And Laura, if people want to learn more about your company, what you do, and how you can potentially help them, what's the best way that people can reach out to you?
• 23:05
  Yeah, reach out to me on LinkedIn.
• 23:07
  I'd love to hear from you.
• 23:09
  Also, you can go to wealthmasterysystems.com check me out, send me a message.
• 23:14
  I'd love to hear more about you and I'm happy to give you some additional tools to help you embrace your, well, wealth and scale your business.
• 23:22
  All right, and we'll link all that in the show.
• 23:24
  Notes for everyone.
• 23:25
  Awesome.
• 23:26
  All right, well, Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to be here and sharing all this valuable wisdom from your journey with our listeners.
• 23:32
  We greatly appreciate it.