Blaze Your Own Trail - Episode 2: Fear Is A Green Light That Means Go With Heather Monahan

Episode Date: January 1, 2020

In this episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Monahan. Heather Monahan is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, entrepreneur and founder of Boss In Heels. Having successfully climbed the corporate ladder for nearly 20 years, Heather Monahan is one of the few women to break the glass ceiling and claim her spot in the C-suite. As a Chief Revenue Officer in Media, Heather Monahan is a Glass Ceiling Award winner, named one of the most Influential Women in Radio in 2017 and Thrive Global named her a Limit Breaking Female Founder in 2018. Heather’s new book Confidence Creator shot to #1 on Amazon’s Business Biographies and Business Motivation lists the first week it debuted on Amazon. Heather is a confidence expert and is currently working with Fortune 500 companies and professional sports to develop confidence in the workplace and on the court. She’s also a member of Florida International University’s Advisory Council to further serve as a mentor and leader in the South Florida Community. Heather and her son Dylan reside in Miami. Connect with Heather! Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theheathermonahan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathermonahan/?hl=en Twitter: @_heathermonohan TedxTalk: https://youtu.be/rZtAJxvgGYw Installing strategic sales systems & processes will stop the constant revenue rollercoaster you might be facing which is attainable through our 6 Week Blazing Business Revenue Coaching ProgramBook a discovery call with Jordan now to learn more! Are you an entrepreneur?Join my FREE Group Coaching Community where we have live calls, Q&A and more! Our Trailblazer Ecosystem also enables you to network with other entrepreneurs and creator hub eliminates multiple subscriptions and logins creating a one stop shop to take action!Use code: FOUNDING100 for 12 months access FREE and Founding pricing for life! (While Supplies Last)Join now! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Monaghan. She recently did a TED talk down in Boca Raton around the Thanksgiving holiday. She has written a book called The Confidence Creator, and she also has a Top 100 podcast on Apple. And she did all this just two short years after being fired from her corporate role where she had an executive position. And so this is super interesting story, super inspired by her and everything that she's accomplished. And I can't wait to see where she goes from here. So I hope you all enjoy. Hey, everybody.

Thanks so much for tuning into the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. I'm your host, Jordan Mendoza. And I have got an amazing guest today. You can see her here on the screen. Her name is Heather Monaghan. And I really want to let her give you some context into who she's. is, you know, where she started, and then we'll get into this interview. So my background in corporate America was in sales and sales leadership, and then I was

fired two years ago. I wrote and self-published my first book Confidence Creator, which Trump Trump for number one on the business biography list on Amazon. Then I became a public speaker when I was out promoting my book. And then I signed a deal with Podcast One and launched my podcast, creating confidence. And then I just delivered my first TEDx talk. which was the Me Too movement misstep or mistake, which just launched the last couple days. Wow. And you think about this, you know, for everyone that's listening, I want you to remember what she just said. This was two years removed from being fired from a corporate job. And I know a little bit about the background. Like you,

you were moving. You're right. Like you were moving up this ladder and you, like, everything was working out the way that it was supposed to work out until it didn't. Yeah, I was at the highest level. I was in the C-suite. I was a chief revenue officer responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars. I had just won one of the most influential women in radio. I was definitely at the top of my game in the media industry for sure. Yes. And then something happened. And for those of you that haven't seen Heather's TED Talk, I highly recommend it. I had to actually watch it twice. I was so inspired by the first time. And some of my biggest takeaways I want to share with the audience. And for those you that haven't seen it yet, so in your TED Talk, you gave your five-step plan

for advertising. And just to give the audience what that five steps are, the first one was identify the right platform to run your campaign on. Okay. The second one was choose strong and powerful messaging and do it frequently, do it with frequency. And you said that frequency is what sells. Yes, in any environment. In any environment. The next one was, you know, identify a music bed or a jingle to elicit emotion or memory. And yours, you said, was Kendrick Lamar as I love myself.

And this is actually the intro to your podcasts. So if you're not subscribed to her podcast, I highly recommend that as well. Number four was you need a call to action to convert. Right. And the fifth one was when you fire on all. four cylinders, you need a visual component, and then that campaign will explode. Absolutely. That's how media works. That's how advertising campaigns work. You know, and it was so interesting because if we just stopped there, I feel like that's enough

value for the audience to take that five-step framework and start to build on it. But interestingly enough, what you actually did is you took that framework. And before I get into this, how did you come up with that? Was this something you created? Or was this, okay, So what spark you could come up with that five steps? Because it's brilliant. Well, you know, I was in media for 20 years. So I had managed thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of campaigns over my career. And I saw what worked and what didn't work.

I read white papers and research papers about improving advertising. I mean, this was what I was immersed in every day. It was just the idea of me applying it to myself. instead of her clients. And that's it. And she kind of led into it, folks. So what she did in this, again, this to me was just brilliant. So the five steps is amazing, but she actually took those five steps and applied it to her

life and said, you know, I want to run this campaign on me. And so for the audience, can you give them a little context on exactly what you did for those that haven't seen your TED Talk? Yeah, but definitely watch my TED Talk. It's 10 minutes. You won't regret giving up. So I basically decided I was at a low moment in business and I was being treated very poorly at work. I was being harassed.

I was being bullied. And I just decided that, you know, I'd hope that if I kept looking away and not paying attention to it, they would leave me alone and this woman would go away. But it wasn't working. It was very obvious. She was getting more negative towards me. Things were getting worse for me. And I actually started losing my hair.

That's what caught my attention. I threw my back out. And I said, okay, I can't agree. ignore this anymore. I'm physically not okay. So I decided to launch an ad campaign for myself to really try to reboot me because I hadn't been feeling confident for probably a couple years at this point. I had let this gone on for a couple of years, at least a solid year. And I just decided, okay, I'm going to launch an ad campaign for me, in my mind to me about eliciting confidence within me. I feel like I'm giving my TED talk right now. This is so funny. And, you

I started with the platform. The first thing I would ask a client is, let's take a look at what platforms your audience is in front of. So we might look at Facebook, television, radio, whatever it might be, digital advertising. But I thought, why not choose my mind? I'm in charge of it. It costs me nothing.

No one can tell me what ads to run there but me. So why don't I just run it here? I spend more time within my own head every day long having dialogue than I do with social media or anyone else. So I picked to run the campaign in my mind. Then I chose powerful messaging. Look, I'm doing this with my hands again. Like I'm giving my time.

I chose powerful messaging. So, you know, a lot of what I do now is like, I can, I will. I step into fear. Fear is a green light. I am confident. I am powerful. Whatever resonates with you around what you're challenged with. For some people, you know, it might be, I will not let this person speak down to me.

It's whatever resonates with you. Okay. So I chose my messaging. I ran it with frequency, which is seven times. times a day to have a successful campaign. And I decided to attach music to it because when I'm with a client or with a past client in media, it was really helpful if they would have a jingle or something people could remember, right? Because it elicits memory. And all of a sudden you feel, oh my gosh, I know what this is. It's McDonald's or, you know, it's whatever, the days in hotel.

You want people to remember. I wanted to remember my own ad campaign. So I started associating Kendrick Lamar. I love myself with my ad campaign. Anytime I would play or listen to that music. I would get into this mindset of I am confident, I am powerful. I immediately felt that it triggered memory and emotion, which is really important. So I would run Kendrick Lamar while I was launching my campaign, but whenever I was in my car listening, it was like I was running my campaign. This is how it works, right? This is subliminal. So I pick Kendall Kumar. Now, the next thing I need a call to action, and in the old days in media, it might be coming today to buy McDonald's burgers for 99 cents.

Okay, that's a call to action. A reason to do something now. Mine was every time I see fear, I see a green light. And that means go. Not a red light. It's a green light. So in my mind, I would envision a green light. And my call to action is the minute I feel fear, I step right into it.

So I was training myself to take action around moving into fear, not moving away from it, which is what I have been doing. So figure out what call to action. you need to elicit the behavior that's going to get you to where you want to go. And then finally, what I did was I added a visual component and I have it actually right over there. It's a life-size cut out of me and a red dress with a giant smile and it screams confidence to me.

And it can be whatever image you want to use, it screams confidence to you. It doesn't have to be of you. It could be a picture of me. It could be a picture of Wonder Woman. It could be whoever you want, but it has to scream confidence and you have to see it and really feel and envision that. And so for me, I would run my ad campaign while looking at my cutout.

And that's the visual component and the visual piece. Because now we have song, we have memory, we have powerful words, we have call to action, and we have a visual. And that five step process, if done consecutively and consistently, over at least a 30 day period, but 90 days will work better.

You will achieve your goal. So for me, my goal is to elicit confidence within me. And I created a lot of it. created enough confidence within me with my ad campaign, my media campaign in order to stand up to my villain and ultimately fire her from my life. That's such an inspiring and an amazing story. And I think for everybody listening, you know, if you're in a dark place, right, because I think, especially in our society right now, there's so much negativity out in the general media. and we live in a place where people are afraid to do things because of the judgment of others.

And I think that those five steps add so much value to people that maybe don't have the self-worth that they used to have. And so I really, really appreciate you sharing that. And again, you got to see this TED Talk because it inspired me so much that I have to keep watching it to take the notes to ask these questions because I really, I really, really was curious about, you know, how all this came to fruition. and I applaud you for firing your villain, you know? Thank you. And, you know, I hope that, you know, as you continue to have these successes and accolades, I'm hoping that she's looking at you like, man, I made the worst mistake I could have made in business

was letting her go, you know. Well, here's a thing. That was the greatest thing for you. A lot of people ask me about that. I don't care about her, right? She didn't like me. She didn't want me there. And for a long time, I tried to fight that.

and show what a great worker I was. But the bottom line is results speak for themselves. And the stock was trading over $10 a day she fired me. I believe now it's at $2. And that doesn't make me happy, right? I don't revel in others loss. However, it teaches me a great lesson, which is people who are successful in business

will succeed wherever they are placed. And when you make good decisions, work hard and step into your talents, you will succeed. And I really am feeling very successful as an entrepreneur. I didn't know I could do this. that, but I knew I could run companies in corporate America successfully, and I've done that for a long time. Now I branched out and I took my unique talents and stepped into them in a different lane.

And I realized there are no lanes. You can go wherever you want to show up as a unique you, put the work in, do the research, ask for help, and you'll be wowed by what you create. That's it. Yeah. And so, you know, you took, you took a leap. I remember you saying that you were petrified, right? Like you had just had your son, right? And, and you did, you were like, you didn't know what was going to happen. And so what kind of went through your mind when you decided, and for those of you that haven't seen it again, watch it, but when you decided not to sign either of those letters that were really made up for you to put you in two different lights that actually weren't you? Yeah. That was really hard.

That moment wasn't very hard because I had been creating confidence within myself. I knew what I needed to do. That moment wasn't hard, but walking out of there and dealing with the reality that I had just been thrust into or that I just thrust myself into, that was hard. You know, saying, holy cow, where am I going to get money? How am I going to pay my bills next month? You know, I had built a very extravagant lifestyle. My son's in private school. I live in a high rise, a luxury high rise on the ocean. I drive a BMW, right? Like all these first world problems. but it was it was not easy. Sure. Really that that first month specifically was incredibly challenging because I was in this dark space and I didn't know where I was going where I used to think corporate America was this well-lit space, which was very clear. And now what I've learned is every day I'm investing in myself. Every day I am constantly building on and creating momentum and trusting my boss because

now my boss is me and getting better and great things are happening. that stuff wasn't happening when I was working with someone that really hated me was trying to hold me back. So in the end, things are better. However, that transition period was really scary and very challenging. Absolutely. And so who was the first person that you called when you left? And it might not have been like immediately you called them, but maybe it was a couple hours after you got yourself composed and you realized what you just did. But who, do you remember the first person that you called? And you know, that time was, that was. That was. such a hard car ride home. I was crying, like bawling, you know, not, so I don't even think at first, I probably didn't even call anyone at first because I was crying so hard. I was so scared. And I was just driving on the highway, crying, crying, crying. So I don't know that I called anyone right away. But there's two calls I remember, three calls I remember I had within those first couple of hours. I was engaged at the time and I had called my fiancee to tell him I just quit my big job that I'd been at for 14 years and that I was freaking out.

I had called my ex-husband to let him know because I was in panic mode. What if I can't pay for my trust? You know, I was freaking out. And that was the worst. He said to me, if there's one person in the world that I know can reboot from anything, it's you, you'll be fine. And that pissed me off. And then I also called, I had one mentor in that industry.

I have other mentors, but in that industry that I had been in media for a really long time. And I called him crying too and just saying, I can't believe this just happen. and can you believe this? You know, just looking for some empathy, really, and some support. Okay. And so I know from, you know, from your TED Talk, there was an officer, right? And you had mentioned that you, in your 20s, you used to go jogging on your own. And you ran into an officer one day.

And he said, hey, just so you know, like, when you're jogging on your own, there could be a dog that starts to chase you. And the quote that he said is, you know, you can't outrun an angry dog, but you can show dominance. Has that really stuck with you all these years? Is that something? Yeah, that's true. I mean, my entire TED talk is true. Yeah. So that actually was a boyfriend. I dated a police officer in my early 20s, my very early 20s. And he was the one that said to me one day, hey, I'm getting worried. You're always out alone, all hours of the day and night. You know, you're always running alone. I'm scared a dog's going to come for you.

And I didn't bring that into the TED Talk because I am no longer dating that person. He's married to someone else. It was really irrelevant. But yeah, he had taught me that the only way to handle an angry dog coming at you is not to run away, but to run at it and show dominance. And that's the analogy or the correlation, which is really that I have been trying to outrun that nasty woman and run away. and it was a realization I had had when I was driving over there to meet with her. Why was I running away from her? You can't outrun an angry dog, but you can show your dominance over it.

And that was that epiphany moment for me going there that I didn't know what I was walking into. I didn't know she was going to fire me, but I knew I wasn't running away from her anymore. And that's awesome. It's awesome that you were able to kind of correlate the two and then use that as your power, right to make that decision that was probably the has to be the scariest decision you know that that you had made up into that up into that point no well hang on i'm divorced i've had a baby i grew up poor is that the scariest thing i've ever done no it is not because these are again first world problems

in the moment it seems like everything is ending but really if i can't pay my bills i move to a smaller place i mean you don't even it's not what you want to do but like when you're i have perspective now. I'm not in the moment. I'm two years after it. So I can laugh about it. Yes, I was devastated. Here's why. I thought I lost everything that day. However, what I've learned and what's important for other people to know is the only thing she could take for me was my paycheck. She could not take anything else. She couldn't take my network, couldn't take my expertise, couldn't take my experiences, couldn't take my inner worth, my value, couldn't take my unique talents, couldn't take my reputation. she couldn't take any of those things.

So yes, I lost a paycheck that day, but I didn't lose anything else. That's awesome. And that's a great perspective to have, right? Looking back at it and realizing that it was just, it was just money, you know, and money can be replaced. Like you said, that can be replaced. All those other things never left you, which is awesome. And so, you know, what's one piece of advice that you want to give your son?

His name's Dylan, right? I believe I saw that on your website. So I'm a father of four and I've got two boys, two girls. Yeah, I know. You know, my oldest is a freshman in high school and he's at that age where I'm constantly trying to give him advice now, right? It's like, you know, I don't want you to be the 25 year old that has unlimited Uber. You know, I don't want to be giving him things.

I want to give him life advice so that he grows up and he becomes a decent human being. And I find it hard. but so I try to give him all this advice. So what's one piece of advice that you want to give your son, you know, as he gets a little bit older and is able to understand things, that's one piece of advice that you'd want to give him in life or in business that you think will carry him a long way? Yeah, we're talking about this recently. He did an exercise in school in health class this past week where they asked all the children to write down what is self-esteem and self-worth. What does that mean to you and how do you base that, like how explain to us, you know, why you have self-esteem and what's

special about you. And he wrote a lot about being funny, being nice, and being good at basketball. And so he, and then they went around to the other kids, which is an amazing experience and lesson for anyone. They went to the other kids and said, okay, now you write a note to this boy and say what you think is special about him and they all did that for one another, which is all about, you know, gratitude and showing what's great about people. And it's a wonderful exercise. However, he gets this whole stack of little notes and they all say, you're so funny, you're so great at basketball. And so we talked a little bit yesterday about how that's true. He's like the funniest person I know and he is an amazing basketball player,

but maybe one year he's going to have a tough year. He's broken a leg already and he during season. And so he's starting to learn that even though there is a lot of value and focus put on the fact that he's, you know, one of the best basketball players, he's, you know, he's, you know, still was a good player when he broke, or he's still a good person when he broke his leg. It doesn't have to just singularly be that. And there's complexities to all of us. You know, I might be a good speaker. And maybe now people will say, oh, you're only going to get your worth from your TED talk. And, you know, it matters. The views, you correlate that with your self-esteem. It's important that we all take a step back to say, if I gave my best and went out on the circle,

that's what matters to me. Not at the end of the day, what other people think of it, but that I felt good about it. And that's the kind of thing I talked to him a lot about. And he talks to me about it too. I was in the airport the day before Thanksgiving with him. And I saw that my TED talk dropped. And the problem is, you don't ever want a TED talk dropping near a holiday because nobody's watching. And, you know, there's a number of other things. It was just horrible timing. And I started crying. And my son said, what is wrong with you? And I said, honey, this is like the worst luck ever. I have no controlled. No one's going to see it. I don't know how we're going to get. I worked so hard and here it is. Everything went wrong. And he said, all right, mom, stop. Number one, we'll come up with a solution. Like, take a deep breath. Let's take a step back. How can we create a solution here? Let's not worry about this today because we can't fix it today and not on Thanksgiving. Well, come Friday morning, let's implement that plan and strategy that you had and we'll pick right back up again. We still can have success with this. it took him. He had that great perspective that I lost in the moment because sometimes we lose it

when we're the one that's knee deep in it. And he was right. You know, I really rebooted my original strategy on Monday morning after the holiday instead of implementing it when, you know, I had wanted to, which was right when it came out. Yeah. And what brilliant advice. So how old is he now? He's 12. 12. I mean, so I mean, if you're listening, what brilliant advice from a 12 year old, right, to to have have, for one, the forethought to actually say that to his mom, right, that he, I'm sure he loves you and looks up to you, and to be able to say that, and then to be able to get you to say, you know, you're right, you know, I can't control the uncontrollable. I can't control when these, when these things happen. And that's, it's so interesting because that happens a lot in life.

And I think that a lot of us can get stuck in our own head when it comes to things like that. So that's amazing that he was able to, at 12 years old, be able to give you that context and help you reframe your mindset in the moment. Yeah, I was super appreciative about that. Awesome job, Dylan, if you ever see this or listen to this. So is he a big Miami heat fan? You guys were down in Miami. Did he get to go to games?

Who's his favorite player in the NBA? Is he a bronze fan? No, no, Steph Curry, yeah. Steph Curry fan? Okay, that's awesome. So how has your life changed from after conquering your villain? Oh, wow. You know, I literally, and I say this in the TED Talk, when you fire your villain, you literally take off.

And I, again, I didn't know it at the time. It wasn't, I mean, the next day I posted online, that post went viral. Suddenly people started showing up everywhere asking if they could help. Suddenly, Froggy from the Elvis Duran show tweeted at me. I want to help you. And I tweeted back, get me on Elvis Duran, and he did. You know, all these amazing things started happening out of nowhere that I couldn't believe because amazing things like that didn't happen to me back when I was surrounded with a villain. Sure. Okay. So what is the biggest lesson? Okay. As we're approaching, we've only got, you know, we're less than a month left

in 2019. So what's the biggest lesson that you've learned in 2019? I mean, it's fear is a green light that means go, always step into your fear. It's your answer. I was so scared going out. The scariest thing I did this year was my TED Talk. I was so scared. There are so many restrictions on a TED Talk. You can't leave the circle. You're supposed to tell a personal story, but don't make it about you. You have to wrap an idea around it. The title is ever, there's so much pressure and restriction. It's not like a normal talk. And I ended up getting so stressed out about it and so afraid. And I closed my eyes right before I was about to go out. And I just, said, Heather, if you don't walk out there right now, you will never forgive yourself.

If you walk out there and bomb, I'm going to be so proud of you. And I just took all the pressure off myself and I just walked out there. And after when it was all done, I was just so grateful that I just stepped into it and trusted me instead of, you know, putting all this pressure and fear in my head. I walked right into it. That's awesome. Very, very cool. So I'm a huge fan of quotes.

on LinkedIn, I post a lot of quotes and I like to ask contextual questions that elicit a response to get my audience engaged. And I also come up with original quotes and post them in hopes that other people get inspired. So do you have a favorite quote? Oh my gosh. There's so many. When you are a threat, you will always be a target. That's mine from my talk. No, I, you know, turning a blind eye to bad behavior is never the answer. That's another one from my talk that I really, I've been seeing people post it like crazy on LinkedIn. But for quotes that I like from others, I would say that I really like the Steve Jobs quote around connecting the dots and how it's impossible to connect the dots on the front end looking

forward. But when you are years ahead, you can look back and suddenly see how they all made sense. And that's really come full circle with me, you know, in regards to getting fired and to firing my villains and, you know, all of that because during the time, it didn't feel good. But now that I look back, I turn that, you know, full circle and I actually make that my platform that is really the center of my messaging. So it all worked out in the end. So even though you can't see what's happening and what lies ahead for you right now, it's kind of trusting in yourself and in the universe to keep moving forward and believe in yourself because one day you will look back and you'll say, okay, now I get it. I see how it all worked out. Absolutely.

Okay. So what's one hidden talent that you have that most people don't know you actually have? And so this can go back to kindergarten or elementary or middle school. Is there something that most people wouldn't know about Heather? Oh my gosh. There's so many things. So I'm secretly a rapper. Like I always wanted to be a white rapper. It's ridiculous. And I tried to get Jesse Itzler to rap with me when we were speaking together at a conference in Boston this summer. he wouldn't do it, which was super upsetting. I'm a really good hip-hop dancer, thug life till the end. I am very, very funny. And a lot of people don't know that I've been realizing lately because I speak a lot about business and, you know, I speak in very serious ways oftentimes. But actually, anyone who really knows me knows I'm a total knucklehead and I'm always

doing pranks and having fun and actually joking around a lot. It's good. Yeah, it's important. I posted about that on LinkedIn recently. It was like, you know, don't take yourself so seriously all the time. Like, it's, it's super important that that you have fun and that you can make fun of yourself and that you can just be a kid. And, you know, as a father of four, it's, I have to be that. Like, I have to keep myself young. I'm, you know, and I'm 38 and, and I've got an almost 15 year old. So, but they keep me, they keep me young, right? They keep you fresh. So, in, I think I read an article. I think it was I can't remember if it was maybe sprinkle sprinkler or sprinkle. Somebody interviewed you and they asked you what your what your favorite social media outlet was and this I think it was maybe a year ago or so and you said Instagram is that still your favorite. Okay. LinkedIn is definitely my favorite now for sure. Okay. Awesome. Awesome. And so I actually just started creating content on LinkedIn back in April of this year. And LinkedIn is my absolute favorite platform

as well because like before I logged in April, I always looked at LinkedIn as the place where you upload your, like you update your resume and congratulating people on their new promotion. And I looked at it just like this business platform. And it's just amazing what it is really morphed into. I logged in in April and I started seeing people posting videos. And I started seeing, uh, articles and slide shares and all these amazing things happening. And I looked at myself and I said, like, why am I not doing this? Why am I not creating content? I have expertise in this area.

So why don't I start sharing about this? So what would your advice to be for people, you know, that were like me that looked at it and were kind of scared? You know, I actually, I'm a public speaker and a trainer for a living. And I was so afraid to hold that camera up and hit record and post my first video, because of what people would think or people say, man, what is this guy? I was really afraid of that judgment. So what would you say to the audience is listening that, you know, as LinkedIn continues to be this powerhouse of over 670 million users,

and you really can't oversaturate it is one thing I've noticed. Like I'm posting two or three pieces of content a day. What would your advice be for someone that's, you know, maybe a little afraid to take that first video and post it? So you need an accountability partner. Anyone that I know in my life that's, oh, I'm nervous. I can't do this. I say to them, you have a deadline. I'm giving you a deadline.

You have one week. I'm getting you to put that up there. Find someone in your life that will hold you accountable. If you don't have someone, you can go to my website, heathermonahan.com and click on the free accountability partner tab. You'll get an email for me every morning saying you need to execute on this. Here's the thing. Fear is a green lake that means go.

What is the worst that can happen? You will not die if you post a piece. of content to LinkedIn and you don't get any likes, right? You're doing it for you anyway. And the whole way I started posting video was a friend of mine wanted to film an interview with me. And I said, okay. And he posted, he uploaded it. And he said, are you going to upload it too? I said, no, I don't really do much with video. I just hadn't done any. And he said, why not? I said, I don't know. I don't really have, you know, a video team or he's like, who cares? Why wouldn't you just use your phone? I said, I don't know, because I'm not a video guy. I just hadn't thought of it. I'm like,

I don't know, I'm just not a video guy, but whatever excuse I had. And he challenged me, said, well, who do you think we'll get more views? Me or you? And then I'm a competitive person. So suddenly I was like, ah, you're holding me accountable. All right, I'm going to go home. I'm going to get more views than you. So figure out what drives you.

Make sure you surround yourself with people that support you and hold you accountable and make a commitment. And if you can't do it, put on social media on a post. I am going to put my first video out on another platform. I'd love you to support me. I'd love it if you'd share. It would mean the world to me, and I'm happy to help you too anyway. I can't.

You know, just put yourself out there, let it be known. What's the worst that can happen? That's awesome. That's such awesome advice. And I kind of found an unintentional accountability partner on LinkedIn. There's a guy named Brian Shulman. He's an entrepreneur in San Diego. He owns a company called Voice Your Vibe, which is super positive.

And he does a segment called What's Good Wednesday, and it's literally all about seeing what's good in your life. And then on Saturday, he does shout out Saturday. and it's shout out people that you've talked to and had meaningful conversations with. And watching him, it inspired me to want to create that first video. But I was like a lot of people where I remember I posted it and I would go back like every five minutes to see how many views it had. And I think all three views were me, you know, and I kept. And so I finally was like, Jordan, what are you doing? Like, who cares about the views?

It's really about creating a piece of content that hopefully can inspire one. person. And when I started looking at that from that framework, I noticed that people started engaging and people started following. And so that's really, really great advice to have that accountability partner. So I'm in kind of a unique position. I have a nine to five. I'm in corporate America, like you were not, not anywhere as high as you are. So I applaud you for what you were able to accomplish. But I also have a consulting business I started three years ago. And originally I started it. It was predicated off the Myers-Briggs type indicator assessment. I'm a certified practitioner, and I said, what a beautiful business to start to help people take an introspective look at themselves, understand how they're wired, and use that information to become better versions of themselves.

And then it kind of died down. I was like, oh, I'm going to have this awesome business. And then it just, it kind of went down a little bit. And so when I got active on LinkedIn, I started getting all these messages from people that said, hey, do you, offer this service. You offer this. Can you help me with this? And I kept saying, no, no, no. And until one day I said, why don't I start saying yes? And so my goal is to, I want to, I want to as soon as I feel that I'm ready, launch and do that full time. But so what's your advice for someone like me and for other listeners that are out there that, you know, you have this business that's, you know, it could, because I look at,

I'm like, man, I think I could be doing a lot better than I am. But, but I'm still a little afraid to kind of like, you know, go full, full tilt. So what advice would you have for someone like me and anyone else in the audience that, you know, maybe is like hesitant to make that jump away from corporate America? Yeah. So, well, number one, as long as you're in corporate America, you are not safe. Any company can be sold. Your manager can leave and someone else can come in and you can be fired because you

are not that new person's guy. So even though it seems well lit and safe, it is a scam. It is not. And so I want everyone to know that when you're investing in yourself, that's where you should be. So anytime outside of work, you're doing what you have to do until you can do what you want to do. Keep investing in yourself outside of work. Keep investing in educating yourself. If the company will pay for that, great, lean into that. Capitalizing those opportunities. Build your own personal brand. Build your business outside of there on the weekends at night whenever you have time. And give yourself. you want to hold yourself accountable to some goals. Where are you going to be by the end of Q1 in 2020? Where do you want to be by the end of Q2? You know, how are you going to get there? Build out a plan and strategy. And if you don't make yourself a priority, no one else is going to. Your employer's not going to say, oh, how's that side business going? They don't care. So you need to make it your number one priority. And where you put your focus is where your attention goes, your energy goes, and where your results will be. So instead of giving up more for your

nine to five, give up more for you because that's the long-term investment and that's the investment that's really going to pay because when you invest in you, you broaden your brand, you broaden your network, you can bring that to your own business, to another company, to a charity, wherever you want to go, make sure you're investing in you, not in a company that you work for a nine to five. And that's such amazing advice. And I'm glad that you said that because that's actually what I've been doing. I've been putting in 15 to 20 hours. Like if early in the mornings, I get up and then when my family falls asleep. I'm like plugging away at night and I'm working on, you know, building that, that brand. And so, you know, hearing it from you who, you know, you've done it. Like you,

you fired your boss and then now you're two years removed and you're thriving. So it's so, like, amazing to hear that from somebody that has actually done it, you know, because I have friends and they're like, well, you're not going to, not going to do anything with that, you know. And so you get all these naysayers and even family members that are like, well, yeah, but what if, you know, like, but you have benefits and you have all these things. And so that's so good for me to hear so that I can just say, you know what, I'm doing my own thing. And I think being quiet is probably better and just doing, right, like doing underneath everything. And then just when I launched, then people will actually know what I do. So is that something that you would recommend as well?

Yeah, Sarah Blakely says that, you know, the founder of Spank. She said, I was so quiet. I told no one. I didn't want to hear people's negative ideas. I didn't want to hear that I couldn't do it. I decided I will work on this in silence and keep my idea so close and safe to me until it's big enough that I can explode it to the world. And she's so grateful she did it that way. Yeah.

And then look at her now, right? I mean, she, I follow her on the billion dollars. It's insane, you know. And she's just such an amazing inspiration. to a lot of people. And so really, I want to end our conversation with, you know, what is a piece of advice that you would give someone that, I mean, like today, you know, they're thinking about leaving, but they just, they don't know the right steps to take.

I mean, like maybe it's, they've listened to your podcast or they see your TED Talk and they get inspired and they realize that they're in that situation. They have that micromanager of a supervisor. What advice would you give as kind of step one? I mean, invest in yourself, invest in your brand, put it out there on social media. I'm so grateful I did those things before I got fired. So I had built up a following and a network because those are the people that are going to help you to take off. You need to let your inner circle know what you're working on. You need to follow people and connect with people that are where you want to be, not people who are going to want to keep you safe and are afraid for you. You need to have conversations with people that are light years ahead of you. And if you

don't know them, follow them on social media. You can consume their YouTube channel, their podcast, read their books. Emmerse yourself in that way of thinking and you will learn their steps. You will learn what work for them. And then you can piece the best out of each person's plan and make it work for you. You can decide to create your own plan through all that information that's available out there. And there's so much information out there. And there's so much information out there. It's about taking action and taking steps now. And I really love that because, you know, when I, when I decided to launch a podcast, I told myself, I said, I want to, I want to write down, you know, the top 10 people that I would love to interview. And you were one of those people.

Oh, thank you. I remember, like, saying to myself, like, one part, something on this shoulder was like, she's not even going to respond to you. You know, she's not going to message you back. And then the other one was like, what do you have to lose? You know, know me. like next opportunity, right? So if I did get a no, I wasn't going to be too disappointed. And then I just said, you know what? Let me, let me just ask. Like, what is it hurt to ask? Like, she's a human. She, like, she went through some crazy things and look at her now. So, and I'm so glad that you did say yes. I mean, you've interviewed people that I, I aspire to be like Gary Vaynerchuk and David Meltzer and, and all these people. And, you know, the fact that, you know, you took the time today to

you know, engage with me and and provide this amazing value to my audience. I just wanted to say thank you so much. It's been an honor to get to have this time with you. Happy to do it and best of luck with your show. Thank you so much. Hey everyone. Thanks so much for listening to that episode with Heather Monaghan. Wow, is she inspirational? Her story is just so impactful and it has me fired up to hit some goals that I want to hit. So hopefully it inspired you as well. If it added value to you, please, please share the podcast.

And go ahead and rate it if you have some time. Thanks again, and I can't wait for the next episode.