Latest / Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane / The Why Not Today? Podcast - Season 3 - Episode 37, Marissa Levin, Marissa International
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to the Why Not Today podcast where we celebrate courage, determination, and the
- 0:07power of saying why not today.
- 0:09I'm your host Leslie Cain.
- 0:10In each episode, we dive into inspiring stories of individuals who have taken bold steps,
- 0:16faced their fears, and embraced the possibilities of today.
- 0:19From entrepreneurs to artists, dreamers to doers, we explore the moments when we say
- 0:24enough waiting, why not today?
- 0:28Find me as we uncover the heartwarming, the audacious, and the transformative, whether
- 0:31it's pursuing a lifelong passion, overcoming obstacles, simply choosing joy.
- 0:36Our guests share their journeys and inspire us all.
- 0:39I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Cain, who often said why not today.
- 0:44And remember, you're just one decision away from changing your life.
- 0:48And my guest today is one of those perfect examples.
- 0:52They say the Kevin Bacon game is seven degrees of separation, but I think we're like a couple
- 0:56degrees of separation from all different angles.
- 0:59I feel like your world is kind of circling mine and all the connections.
- 1:03And so my friend Jamie is like, oh, you have to meet Marissa.
- 1:07And Jamie is another interesting story, which I think I share on another podcast of how
- 1:12we make we connected, which was just like a random set of things that had to happen.
- 1:17And she's like, you need to meet my friend Marissa.
- 1:19And then when I looked on Facebook and all the connections from all the different places
- 1:23in my world and just so many people know you, love you, and I'm excited to know you too
- 1:29and have you as a friend.
- 1:30So welcome.
- 1:31Thank you.
- 1:32Why not today podcast?
- 1:34So Marissa, share with us a little quick bio of you and a fun fact that somebody might
- 1:39not know.
- 1:40Oh, so I'm in my 57th year, 57th time around the sun.
- 1:48So that's exciting.
- 1:49I have two amazing sons who are my greatest teachers, 24 and 27.
- 1:57And my oldest son is engaged to an amazing young woman.
- 2:01So very excited about that.
- 2:03I'm a 30 plus year entrepreneur.
- 2:07I've had I'm building my fourth and my fifth business right now.
- 2:12So I've had multiple exits.
- 2:14I've built multi-million dollar businesses and, you know, basically my whole entrepreneurial
- 2:23journey.
- 2:24Leslie really has kind of been my vehicle for my own spiritual awakening and my soul's
- 2:32development.
- 2:33That's kind of how I see it.
- 2:34So I always tell you about that with your courage journey.
- 2:38And I love you.
- 2:39I'm unemployed.
- 2:40I mean, I'm unemployable, right?
- 2:43Because I'm just in constant evolution and I'm constantly in creation.
- 2:48And that's just how I'm meant to flow through the world.
- 2:51Yeah, love it.
- 2:54So I mentioned earlier that I connected with Elaine Gibson yesterday that knows you well.
- 2:59I love her.
- 3:00And she asked me what my archetype was.
- 3:02And I'm like, I don't know what that is.
- 3:05Have you done your archetype?
- 3:08It's so funny you mentioned that.
- 3:09So I am very familiar with archetypes, but it may be different than what Elaine was talking
- 3:14about.
- 3:15One of my most important spiritual teachers and mentors is a woman named Dr. Carolyn Miss.
- 3:21And she is a medical intuitive.
- 3:25She talks about four primary universal archetypes that we all have.
- 3:30Those are the child, the victim, the saboteur, and the prostitute.
- 3:35Those are the universal archetypes that exist in all of us.
- 3:39And then there are thousands of other individual archetypes.
- 3:42So I don't think Elaine was probably talking about that, but I'm
- 3:45She was talking about a different one.
- 3:47And this person out of the UK sent me the link and maybe I'll share it in the show notes
- 3:52just because it was so interesting.
- 3:54And you do this quick test and it talks about who you are.
- 3:56And I'm like, all right, they know exactly.
- 3:59It knew like I'm a creator and I'm creative and innovative and get bored easily.
- 4:05And what the new thing and there's many tests out there.
- 4:09I'm certified in the Enneagram, which I've done that before.
- 4:13The most deep, most of the deep rooted and most accurate tests.
- 4:20And then there are also tests around human design and gene keys, which kind of get into
- 4:26our genetic coding and our DNA, which I love.
- 4:30I mean, we could do a whole show on that.
- 4:32But there are so many different tests out there.
- 4:34So kind of boost our own self-awareness and have a better understanding of how we move
- 4:39through the world.
- 4:40Yeah, it was so cool.
- 4:41I've never heard of that one.
- 4:42I mean, I've done on Enneagram and I'm a strength finder and obviously Disk and Myers-Briggs
- 4:49and recently the Positive Intelligence.
- 4:53Yeah, I'm trained in Positive Intelligence.
- 4:55Are you?
- 4:56Okay.
- 4:57Yeah, I went through that program.
- 4:58So all the different things, but it's really cool to just, they're so on, you know, how
- 5:02they can figure out who you are.
- 5:03All right, so back to courage.
- 5:04What does courage mean to you?
- 5:07So you know, I've been thinking a lot about this question and I actually found something
- 5:13yesterday and I follow a poet on Instagram and something that she posted really resonated
- 5:20with me.
- 5:21So I'm going to read it to you because to me, this is kind of the definition of courage.
- 5:25When you wrap your arms around your own soul, you become a wildflower in the world of concrete
- 5:32where you bloom not for others, but for yourself.
- 5:36So for me, the definition of courage is truly having enough self-love to honor your soul,
- 5:45to honor who you are, to make decisions that are in alignment with your highest self regardless
- 5:52of what other people are expecting from you.
- 5:55That really is kind of the definition of courage is wrapping your arms around your own soul.
- 5:59Love that.
- 6:00Interesting.
- 6:01I think everybody has a different take on it and it all is so complimentary and you know,
- 6:06just like our personality difference or difference, the courage is different.
- 6:10So just as you start to give that definition, your sound will have a little light up.
- 6:13So maybe speak up a little bit.
- 6:16Sure.
- 6:17Yeah.
- 6:18And hopefully you guys are not hearing the background noise at my house, but they are
- 6:21drilling in the concrete outside and that's all I hear.
- 6:25So hopefully it's not coming through.
- 6:27We tried to test it, but we couldn't figure it out.
- 6:29All right, so I love your definition of courage and you've had lots of businesses and so let's
- 6:37talk about your courage journey and I always talk about people's courage journey.
- 6:40Like your why not today moments in your life and that moment that you remember where you
- 6:44were, what you're doing, who you're with, like you feel like, like that made those pivotal
- 6:50changes in your life.
- 6:52Yeah, I've had many of those.
- 6:55Yeah.
- 6:56So let's share some of those.
- 6:58Many, many and I think for me, a couple of the most pivotal ones, I've had, so I'm a melanoma
- 7:06survivor.
- 7:07So I can remember the day that I got the call from the doctor that I had melanoma and that
- 7:13was a big wake up call.
- 7:15And then I had a breast cancer scare.
- 7:17I had to go for an MRI and I was diagnosed from that MRI with stage three breast cancer.
- 7:28And so I can remember that day thinking I am not going to see my children grow up.
- 7:34I remember that day, but there were things going on in my body, hormonally, that were
- 7:40shifting like literally by the day.
- 7:43And so by the time my oncologist actually did another test, the mass that was in my
- 7:50breast had actually moved and dissolved.
- 7:53And so we had to do a lot of testing.
- 7:56And it came back as suspicious, but it did not come back as malignant.
- 8:00But I've heard those words, you have cancer twice now.
- 8:05And so I've had to have procedures for the melanoma.
- 8:09I had to have that removed.
- 8:11Thank God that didn't go any deeper.
- 8:12And then the breast cancer scare, I had to have two lumpectomies and I have to, I'm under
- 8:17a pretty constant supervision with all of that just based on what my genetic profile
- 8:22is.
- 8:23And so when you hear you have cancer, it just really changes the way you look at life.
- 8:29And I've always moved through life knowing that tomorrow is not promised.
- 8:34And so for me, I forgive very quickly.
- 8:38I don't hold on to anger.
- 8:40I truly, my intention, my highest intention is always to kind of be in that place of unconditional
- 8:48love and unconditional acceptance, knowing that everyone is on their own journey and
- 8:53that everyone's doing their best.
- 8:55And I live by the four agreements within Domie Galerouise's book, The Four Agreements,
- 9:01be impeccable with your word.
- 9:03And that means to be impeccable with your word within yourself as well as with others.
- 9:09Don't make assumptions, don't take anything personally and always do your best knowing
- 9:13that that changes from moment to moment.
- 9:16So for me, you know, we're all human.
- 9:19And I certainly have had my times and periods in my life when, you know, that I'm not proud
- 9:26of, but I also have engaged in self forgiveness.
- 9:29But overall, my intention is to move through life from a place of not even just forgiveness,
- 9:36but to even transcend that to a place of compassion and empathy and understanding, knowing that
- 9:41everyone does their best.
- 9:42Love that.
- 9:44And you know, it is such a journey.
- 9:46And that book you recommended, The Four Agreements.
- 9:48I have it.
- 9:49I don't think I've ever gotten through it, but I pulled it out again.
- 9:53Yeah, it's very important.
- 9:57I tried to, I mean, that was when I was raising my kids.
- 10:00It was a book that was very important for my, for my parenting so that we could raise our
- 10:04children with compassion.
- 10:05Yeah.
- 10:06Yeah, definitely need to pull that back out.
- 10:08It's amazing how some books, I don't know about you, but I read in one period and then
- 10:13I grab again, because that is one thing I'm very protective of is my books.
- 10:17Like, they don't leave my house.
- 10:18I've let a couple of people borrow them and I don't see them again.
- 10:21So I stopped doing that.
- 10:23Because I pick them up again and I read them.
- 10:26And yeah, reading six books at the same time, you know, and different messages come through.
- 10:32Yeah, you read them.
- 10:33Yeah, totally different.
- 10:34One of my other most important books is called the second half of life.
- 10:38It's by a cultural anthropologist named Angelus Arion.
- 10:42And that book, every time I listen to it, something new emerges.
- 10:48Like it's, I've listened to it probably a dozen times and it is such a profound book
- 10:53about the second half of life and that what that journey looks like, you know, we spend
- 10:59so much of our life, especially the first half becoming.
- 11:03Right.
- 11:04And the second half really is kind of unbecoming, right?
- 11:09Just recognizing that all of the striving that we've done in our life is only going to
- 11:14bring us to the place of realization that we have always been complete.
- 11:20Yeah, I have to listen to that one.
- 11:23And do you, I do enjoy listening to books and reading books.
- 11:27And I found if I listen to books, I kind of remember key points where I am when I'm walking
- 11:34or doing something.
- 11:36Yeah.
- 11:37Yeah.
- 11:38And I listen to books all the time while I'm walking, if I'm not in silent meditation,
- 11:43you know, where I just leave everything behind.
- 11:46And I have discovered recently, I don't know if you pay for Spotify, but there's a lot
- 11:50of books on Spotify.
- 11:51So that's part of it.
- 11:53Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do.
- 11:55Love for that listening.
- 11:56All right.
- 11:57So give us some tips, some courage, the stories that you've gone through.
- 12:04You know, how can we encourage other people, bless other people, give people tools that
- 12:09we should be here based on your journey, your advice to other people?
- 12:13So my single, I think my most important piece of advice is people are kind of going through
- 12:19their own journeys is, you know, from the time we are born, we are conditioned.
- 12:24We are conditioned to compare ourselves.
- 12:26I mean, people, you know, kids go to preschool at ages two, three, four, five from the minute
- 12:31that they are put in community environments, they're being compared to other people, whether
- 12:38it's this one with the blonde hair, this one with the dark hair, this one with the light
- 12:42skin, this one with the dark skin, the short one, the tall one, the fat one, the skinny
- 12:46one, the one who's outgoing, the one who's not outgoing, the one who's got straight hair,
- 12:50the one who's got curly hair, the one who's got brown eyes, the one who has blue eyes,
- 12:53right?
- 12:54Like it doesn't, it doesn't matter what it is, but we are already conditioned from the
- 12:59time we are little to be compared to other people.
- 13:03And so what that does, Leslie, is it creates in us at a very early age of feeling of separateness.
- 13:11And it takes a very strong person to not be impacted negatively by that, right?
- 13:19To not be impacted by the external voices of comparison.
- 13:23And so going through our journey, if we can truly do the work where we feel connected
- 13:29to who we are in our soul and feel connected to our spirit, it's going to help us a lot
- 13:36in the long run.
- 13:37I've done a lot of writing and a lot of speaking about imposter syndrome.
- 13:42And especially, you know, this, this, you know, we're in the DC region, right?
- 13:47This is a very driven type of environment.
- 13:51It's a very comparative environment.
- 13:53I mean, it's a very polarized environment.
- 13:56It's very easy for us to think that we're not enough.
- 14:00But the only way that we feel that we're not enough is if we are making those other comparisons,
- 14:06right?
- 14:07When we can strip away all of the comparisons, the material comparisons, the financial comparisons,
- 14:15the professional, the educational comparisons, when we can strip all of that away, we realize
- 14:21that we are fully complete within ourselves and that there is no imposter syndrome because
- 14:26we are literally the only ones that can beat us.
- 14:28So how, what does that look like?
- 14:31How do you do that?
- 14:32Because we all have that going through our brain.
- 14:34So how do you?
- 14:36Yeah.
- 14:37Well, you do that.
- 14:38I mean, a lot of it is made by my spiritual path, right?
- 14:40Dami Galruiz has another book called The Five Levels of Attachment, which isn't as popular
- 14:45as his other one, as far as well known, but it's a very important book because he goes
- 14:49through the different levels of attachment and he talks about like, if we want inner freedom,
- 14:56if we want that inner peace, that inner tranquility, we have to release the attachment to everything
- 15:03outside of us, the money, the materialism, the house, all of that, right?
- 15:11And when we don't associate our identity with those things, that's where we have the most
- 15:16freedom.
- 15:17We raised our kids in Ashburn, Virginia, in Brambleton.
- 15:23My family at the time had a house that was almost 7,000 square feet.
- 15:28That's actually Jamie and I were neighbors.
- 15:32And it was just such a bizarre upbringing and existence for me, not my own upbringing, but
- 15:39just a bizarre existence because I've never been rooted in that material world.
- 15:45And here I was in this environment where it was like, that's really all it was about.
- 15:50And just being there, it just, for me, it was like the Twilight Zone, right?
- 15:59And so that was almost 7,000 square feet of footprint, which never felt good for me because
- 16:06I felt that environmentally and ecologically it was irresponsible.
- 16:09I felt I could never catch up.
- 16:10There were rooms in that house that we never went into.
- 16:13It was just, it was so much, right?
- 16:15I hate that much space.
- 16:18And I look at my life today now, Leslie, and I'm in a 715 square foot apartment.
- 16:25And I've never felt freer.
- 16:27Like I just, my whole life is lighter.
- 16:30My whole life is simpler and lighter.
- 16:32I believe in living light, traveling light, and being the light.
- 16:37Like that's kind of how I go through life.
- 16:40So I have a 715 square foot apartment and it's perfect.
- 16:44Like it's just, it's all I need.
- 16:46There's no additional footprint.
- 16:48My utility bill every month is $60.
- 16:53I can't imagine what it was before in the big, huge house.
- 17:00It was insane.
- 17:01Yeah.
- 17:02It was hundreds.
- 17:03Oh.
- 17:04Hundreds.
- 17:05Yeah.
- 17:06Ridiculous.
- 17:07So the house I grew up in Reston was when my parents bought it in the 70s.
- 17:12It was the most expensive house in Reston.
- 17:15They paid a whole $150,000 for it.
- 17:19But, you know, we had a good life, but I didn't realize we were the family people like, oh,
- 17:26they're the ones with the money, which we didn't.
- 17:29Yeah.
- 17:30Six kids and it was never really that, but it's amazing the perception.
- 17:35And then I look at those houses now.
- 17:38Most of those houses are, and they're single family, pretty nice size house on Lake.
- 17:43There's one in two people on most of those houses and the square footage per person is
- 17:48ridiculous.
- 17:49Yeah.
- 17:50So we can go on a whole change of that.
- 17:52But yeah.
- 17:53But just, you know, you asked about how do you get to that place where you're not in
- 17:57the constant, you know, the comparison mode.
- 18:01And it really is about not looking outward.
- 18:03It's about looking inward.
- 18:04Right.
- 18:05And really understanding what speaks to your own spirit and what speaks to your own soul
- 18:09and from a business perspective, when you can dial into that and you can really be connected
- 18:15to what I call your zone of genius, then from building a business, because I've built multiple
- 18:20businesses.
- 18:21I'm kind of shifting into strategic mode now and I do this with my businesses now.
- 18:26I want to stay in my zone of genius and creation and creativity, connection, communication.
- 18:31I do a lot of coaching.
- 18:34I do a lot of training, education.
- 18:36You know, I have two companies in order for me to stay in my zone of genius.
- 18:42I have learned how I am the bottleneck, the impediment to my own growth.
- 18:47Okay.
- 18:48So what are the areas in my life that I don't enjoy?
- 18:52What is not the highest and best use of my time?
- 18:55I always want to be spending and investing my time on things that I love, that I'm great
- 19:00at and it's the highest and best use of my time.
- 19:03And so anything else I outsource.
- 19:06So like I have a full time digital marketing assistant.
- 19:09I don't want to know all of those technologies.
- 19:12I don't want to create my own marketing materials that is, I'm great for content and
- 19:17ideation, but I don't want to touch a tool, right?
- 19:21So know what you do well.
- 19:23Know what you love.
- 19:24What your zone of genius is, what you want to be doing all day, every day, and then outsource
- 19:30the rest.
- 19:31And people might say, well, I really can't afford that.
- 19:33Well, you have to put your own skin in the game in order to build your business.
- 19:38And if you can do that and really stay in your zone of genius, then you're going to end
- 19:43up generating a lot more revenue for yourself than if you try and do everything, including
- 19:48the things that you don't like.
- 19:50Right.
- 19:51Totally agree.
- 19:52And I am, I'm having my website redesigned.
- 19:55And so there was a couple of graphics I gave to the women working on it.
- 19:59Like, can you, how would you change this?
- 20:02And they redid it completely in like 10 minutes.
- 20:05And I'm like, okay, I am staying in my lane.
- 20:07That is not my lane.
- 20:08That's right.
- 20:09That's right.
- 20:10And a quote that I've heard many times is take the pennies out of your eyes so you can
- 20:14see the dollar signs.
- 20:15Oh, I love that.
- 20:17And so, you know, the example is cleaning your house.
- 20:20You know, it takes you a long time to do it, pay somebody and get on the phone and work
- 20:24and sell whatever you're selling or do your work.
- 20:26Because that's not making you money to clean a toilet.
- 20:29I totally agree with you.
- 20:31You know, and we probably have a lot of people listening to this show who might have kids
- 20:35who are in middle school or high school or going through the whole college process.
- 20:39I will tell you that my older son was in a private school and so his school had a very
- 20:44robust college application support system.
- 20:48My younger son was in the public school in Loudoun County and the guidance counselors
- 20:53were overwhelmed.
- 20:54So there was no support at all for preparing them for college.
- 20:58Again, that was not my area of strength, right?
- 21:01I didn't know the process.
- 21:04And I didn't want to know the process.
- 21:06And I didn't want the last year of him being at home, being about me nagging him to get
- 21:11his college stuff done.
- 21:13So I wanted to take that out of our relationship and I wanted to really enjoy the last year
- 21:17that he was home.
- 21:18And so I outsourced that to a college counselor and it was only a few hours.
- 21:22It wasn't a huge investment.
- 21:24And what it is, is it took all that stress out of our relationship.
- 21:29He was accountable to her and I didn't have to take my work time to be nagging him on
- 21:35filling out applications and doing college.
- 21:37That is so smart.
- 21:38My own son did the same thing.
- 21:41Invested in tutors to help my nephew get higher test scores so he could get in the college
- 21:47he wanted with a scholarship.
- 21:50So what she invested got paid back so much.
- 21:53Exactly.
- 21:54Same with my younger son.
- 21:55Yeah, he ended up going to, he went on full, practically full academic scholarship, not
- 22:03quite, but he went on a high academic scholarship as a Division I athlete.
- 22:09He went on an academic scholarship, but he ran.
- 22:11And we still had to pay, when we still had to pay quite a bit out of pocket, but he would
- 22:16not have been able to go to that college if he didn't have the academic scholarship.
- 22:21And so, you know, those are so important lessons that I've read a book recently called Who
- 22:25Not How?
- 22:27Do the things that, you know, hire out the things.
- 22:30And it's so, it is a hard thing to do, especially if you haven't generated the income yet, but
- 22:35often say, you know, you need to hire the person before you can afford it.
- 22:40Absolutely.
- 22:41And then make the money and it always has come.
- 22:46You know, it makes you hustle harder.
- 22:47I had somebody one time in the Mary Kay world, her friend of mine's husband's like, why are
- 22:52you so successful?
- 22:53My wife isn't.
- 22:54I'm like, because she has your income behind her and I don't.
- 22:57Right.
- 22:58I have to work.
- 22:59Right.
- 23:00Sure.
- 23:01I don't get to procrastinate and not work and all those things.
- 23:05Yeah.
- 23:06Procrastination is luxury for business owners.
- 23:08Yeah.
- 23:09So what are tips for people starting a new business?
- 23:12Like you have an idea, you can't sleep at night, you're like, I want to do a business,
- 23:15get up, start an LLC.
- 23:17And then how do you spell it?
- 23:20I guess good advice was like, for me, you know, I can sell pencil or lipstick.
- 23:25I know how to do that.
- 23:26But when you sell your own services, how is it?
- 23:30I've talked to a lot of women they're struggling with putting a price tag on that and being
- 23:34able to sell their service and get out there, share with people.
- 23:37So what would be your advice for that?
- 23:39So the trajectory of business growth usually is where, you know, the practitioner is the
- 23:47person who's doing the services.
- 23:48Right.
- 23:49So we start where we are a small fish in a small pond, then we become a big fish in
- 23:55a small pond, then we become a small fish in a big pond, then we become a big fish in
- 23:59a big pond, and then we go to the ocean.
- 24:01Right.
- 24:02So you literally start by putting one step in front of the other.
- 24:07You start with one client.
- 24:08And I started my first company, Information Experts, which I grew to about $14 million
- 24:14before I exited that.
- 24:15I exited that about 17 years ago.
- 24:17When I say exit, I left.
- 24:20I put a succession plan in place.
- 24:22That company is still being run today.
- 24:25Totally different from when I started it.
- 24:27But when I was running it and I started it based on my master's degree of education,
- 24:32of human resources and instructional design, it was a training company.
- 24:37There was no LinkedIn.
- 24:40There was no Facebook.
- 24:42There wasn't any of that.
- 24:43I would say when I started Mary Kay, we didn't even have internet.
- 24:46Yeah, exactly.
- 24:47Like this is going back over 30 years ago.
- 24:50We had a phone.
- 24:51The way that I got my first job, Leslie, as an Information Experts, is I looked in the
- 24:56newspaper and I found an association that was hiring a full-time person for a technical
- 25:05writing position.
- 25:06And this answers your question.
- 25:09To start, you want to be able to paint the picture for a prospective customer on how
- 25:15you can improve their lives, how you can be a game changer in their organization or in
- 25:21their life.
- 25:22You have to paint that picture.
- 25:23That is what the opportunity and the obligation is for anyone who's selling their services.
- 25:29So when I found that ad in the newspaper for when I started Information Experts, I called
- 25:36them and I asked for a meeting.
- 25:40And when I got there, I said to them, I'm not looking for full-time.
- 25:44I am looking to be a contractor.
- 25:47And let me explain to you why that will serve your organization better.
- 25:54So it's being able to paint that picture and help them understand how you're going to help
- 25:59them achieve their goals.
- 26:00It can't be about why it's good for you.
- 26:03It can't be about doing a pitch on your features and your benefits.
- 26:09It has to be about that you understand their problems and you understand what they need
- 26:15and you are uniquely qualified to help them solve their problem.
- 26:20One of the most important books that I read when I was starting my company and to this
- 26:24day, I still recommend it, is called Blue Ocean Strategy.
- 26:28It's a Harvard book.
- 26:30And what that is, is the Blue Ocean is where we are creating in the marketplace what's
- 26:37known as uncontested marketplace value.
- 26:41And that means that we are the only ones doing what we do that somehow every everyone has
- 26:48something unique about themselves.
- 26:51The Red Ocean is where it's deeply competitive.
- 26:55If you're in a red ocean, you are in a highly competitive, commoditized market arena and
- 27:03you have not done a good job of differentiating yourself.
- 27:07You want to create a blue ocean.
- 27:09And my first company was initially in the commercial space and then we went to government
- 27:14and then we became a hybrid.
- 27:16And especially in the government space, where they really focus on price, lowest price,
- 27:23you still have to be really good at differentiating yourself.
- 27:26It's even more important.
- 27:27And so Blue Ocean Strategy is where you come up with something that makes you uniquely who
- 27:33you are and that's what you lead with.
- 27:36So for anyone who's starting any business at all, they have to have confidence.
- 27:40They have to have their mindset.
- 27:42And they have to understand why they out of anyone else are able to help a prospect achieve
- 27:50their goals.
- 27:52That's how you sell what you're selling.
- 27:54Yeah, that is definitely a book I'm going to go grab next.
- 27:58Yeah, really, really good.
- 28:00And my first company with that contract, the reason that I started it is my old boss had
- 28:06told me after I did a whole business case on what my value was in the marketplace that
- 28:10I would never be worth more than $34,000 to his company.
- 28:14And my mom taught me to never let anyone determine your value or your worth because we alone
- 28:18set that standard.
- 28:20So then when I decided to start my company and I went for that first meeting, I got my
- 28:24first contract for $35,000 over three months.
- 28:28Yay.
- 28:29Yeah.
- 28:30I remember one.
- 28:31I remember 30 years ago.
- 28:33I quit corporate America and I worked as a consultant for somebody and I asked the price
- 28:39of how much I wanted, like went way higher than my comfort level.
- 28:43And they're like, okay, like, oh, that was easy.
- 28:46Yeah.
- 28:47And I probably made more money.
- 28:48I know I made more money super part-time than I did my other job full-time.
- 28:52Yeah.
- 28:53So, yeah, we just need to encourage people to take that dream, that idea that keeps them
- 28:59up.
- 29:00And there's so many resources.
- 29:02And obviously this podcast has lots of great people and resources.
- 29:05I feel like I do this podcast so I can get educated and connected with amazing people
- 29:10like you.
- 29:11Oh, thank you.
- 29:12Yeah, a lot of what I do in my clients, especially in my solopreneur clients, you know, who are
- 29:16looking to negotiate their worth in the marketplace, I'm always pushing them to go higher, always.
- 29:24So important.
- 29:25So anything else you'd like to share?
- 29:29Lots of different things.
- 29:32You tell me what you'd like to talk about.
- 29:33I can talk about mindset.
- 29:34I can talk about entrepreneurship.
- 29:36I can talk about leadership.
- 29:37I can talk about the work-life integration and work-life balance.
- 29:40I can talk about...
- 29:41We'll look at a few more minutes.
- 29:42So I think we'll work on mindset because I think that's so important.
- 29:46Yes, so mindset.
- 29:48I mean, I think that mindset is a practice that needs to be done every day.
- 29:55For me, my content diet is really important.
- 29:59I stay away from a lot of negative news.
- 30:02I don't have my head in the sand, but I'm not really on Facebook at all.
- 30:06I don't follow any of the feeds.
- 30:08I don't get sucked into the inflammatory discussions.
- 30:11I'm not looking for polarity.
- 30:13I'm looking for connection and for unity.
- 30:16And so I really do...
- 30:19I'm very disciplined in my morning practices.
- 30:22I have a Kundalini yoga practice that I do every morning.
- 30:25I work out.
- 30:26I'm in nature pretty much every single morning.
- 30:29I am very protective of my sleep, which is about seven to eight hours every single night.
- 30:36I don't drink any alcohol.
- 30:38I have a pretty strict diet.
- 30:40So really, I find that there is a strong connection between the mind, the body, the heart, and
- 30:45the spirit, and we kind of have to nurture all of it.
- 30:48There is a huge connection between the health of our mind and just our ability to focus
- 30:56or the sharpness of our mind, just how we process whether or not we have brain fog,
- 31:02and the health of our digestive system and our microbiome.
- 31:06And so I'm very just dialed into kind of all of that and very intentional about my health.
- 31:14I live in profound gratitude, especially since I've heard those words, you have cancer.
- 31:20I live in profound gratitude for my health and I never take it for granted.
- 31:25I plan on being here for a long time.
- 31:27I want to see my children have very productive, healthy lives.
- 31:32And at the same time, I'm very much aware that tomorrow is not promised.
- 31:37And so I do what I can to truly be in gratitude for every day.
- 31:43Great tools and great advice.
- 31:45And a lot of those things I definitely follow.
- 31:47It makes, it does make a difference.
- 31:49And I had a guest on one time and she had climbed herself to the top of the corporate
- 31:54ladder as an African American woman.
- 31:58She literally came from the ghettos in LA and was in the C-suite and ended up with cancer
- 32:04twice, wasn't genetic, but stress related.
- 32:08And we were talking about insurance because when I quit my job, people are like, what
- 32:13are you going to do about insurance?
- 32:14I'm like, I'm going to pay for it.
- 32:16You guys are paying, working for somebody else, you're paying for it too.
- 32:19And she said, yeah, I had really good insurance.
- 32:22Thank goodness.
- 32:23But because that job, they gave me really good insurance, I needed it.
- 32:27That's right.
- 32:29That's right.
- 32:31Yes, we're not promised tomorrow.
- 32:33We need to live our life.
- 32:34Why not today and do the things now, enjoy the time, the people.
- 32:38I am blessed, but I have a great nephew now and he is just precious, but he lives in
- 32:43Kentucky and he's here visiting.
- 32:46So I shifted my schedule around because I can.
- 32:49That's right.
- 32:50That's important to me.
- 32:51That's right.
- 32:52Well, I talked about, you know, you sent me an email, you know, after you went through
- 32:57the questions I asked and said, one of the questions we talked about is how you knew
- 33:01my dad, which doesn't sound like you did.
- 33:04And so the connection, I'm trying to think, Jamie didn't know my dad either.
- 33:10She came around after my dad passed away, but I always try to, as people talk, see connection
- 33:17things go.
- 33:18He was an entrepreneur, he owned his own business my whole life that I remember and built several
- 33:24companies and did lots of different things with that.
- 33:26But one of the things we talked about earlier was, and this was the philosophy of his, is
- 33:31he was a city planner.
- 33:34And so I think this is ingrained in my brain.
- 33:36Like he talked about all these people that do become successful and they think they need
- 33:41bigger houses and they go out further so they can get more house and more house.
- 33:45And they didn't enjoy their house because they're working too much or computing too much.
- 33:50And that whole space thing, it's like, you don't need that.
- 33:53So we said that, that's not a reminder me and my dad.
- 33:57So I will share in the show notes all your contact information.
- 34:01Okay.
- 34:02And probably some of these book recommendations.
- 34:04Sure.
- 34:05Because that's always a good thing.
- 34:07So what's the best place for people to find you, Marissa?
- 34:10LinkedIn.
- 34:11LinkedIn, okay.
- 34:12I'm on Facebook, but I'm really rarely on Facebook and then honestly my Instagram channel,
- 34:18my social media person handles most of that.
- 34:22But I engage in LinkedIn and then Marissa international.com is my website as well as
- 34:27I five conscious leadership.com.
- 34:29I'm writing my next book, which is called the little book of big joy.
- 34:33And that is a whole roadmap for living your most joyful life.
- 34:37And so can sign up for my newsletter, the joyful journey on my website.
- 34:42Okay, I'll have to get that.
- 34:44And then we'll have definitely have to have you back when your book comes out.
- 34:46When's it supposed to come out?
- 34:48End of 2025 by the end of 2025.
- 34:50Okay.
- 34:51You may have to have you come over the river.
- 34:54Love love to.
- 34:55And be a speaker at the luncheon sometime too.
- 34:58Yeah, love love to.
- 34:59Yeah, so great.
- 35:00Well, thank you for being on and sharing all your insight and thank you everybody for
- 35:04joining us on this inspiring journey.
- 35:06Wherever it is an opportunity to take action, chase your dreams and make a difference.
- 35:11No.
- 35:12So why not today, subscribe, share and keep pushing forward.
- 35:16And so you can find everything you want about the why not today podcast under why not today
- 35:20podcast.com.
- 35:22And we're on every channel.
- 35:23We're, I don't know if you were listening or watching, we have both.
- 35:28And then as the why not today brand grows, we are adding we're doing a luncheon and rest
- 35:35in Virginia.
- 35:36So if you're interested, why not take connects?
- 35:37We're adding a connect and sip a team morning event.
- 35:41And then I am setting up courses and masterminds to help support people starting their business.
- 35:46So why not today?
- 35:49And thank you, Marissa for being a part of this journey.
- 35:52Such a pleasure.
- 35:53Thank you for what you're doing Leslie.
- 35:54Thank you.