Property Hub - Investment Insights & Inspiration - Get Invested: Dorothy Illson on how to use your success to better the world

Episode Date: March 2, 2019

Money is the lifeblood enabler of our choices, the fuel for our freedom and a voice to do good. This is the strong belief of our guest, Dorothy Illson. Dorothy is a breath of fresh air and an agent of optimism when it comes to shining the spotlight on those of us who share her vision of leveraging our personal and professional success to better the world. Dorothy has a great podcast called Do Well & Do Good which showcases a growing tribe of trail blazers who are using their financial prosperity to help others and improve the world – it is a great listen so subscribe to Do Well & Do Good and have a regular listen as inspiration for how you too can make a difference. Her drive to find greater meaning in her life and to make a difference through her podcast stemmed from the fact that while she has achieved great levels of financial success in her Needle Eye Media facebook advertising agency, she was struggling to find the deeper purpose in her path that tapped into her generosity and desire to help others. Through sharing great podcast stories, it is Dorothy’s goal to inspire a generation of individuals to create your own success, to soar to new heights of personal and professional achievement, and to power positivity in a way that lights your souls on fire. In our lively and energising conversation you’ll learn: The inspiring question to ask yourself when you are challenged or experiencing problems How to change your mood quickly and easily when you are feeling down How to write your goals in a way that will massively improve their impact It is Dorothy’s hope that her podcast stories can motivate you to push your personal achievements to new heights. From there, she wants to inspire you to feed your human need for contribution by being a force for good in whatever way is most meaningful to you. Dorothy’s book recommendation: Zen and the Art of Happiness by Chris Prentiss Get Invested is the podcast dedicated to time poor professionals who want to work less and live more. Join Bushy Martin, one of Australia’s top 10 property specialists, as he and his influential guests share know-how on the ways investing in property can unlock the life you always dreamed about and secure your financial future. Remember to subscribe on your favourite podcast player, and if you're enjoying the show please leave us a review. Find out more about Get Invested here https://bushymartin.com.au/get-invested-podcast/  Want to connect with Bushy? Get in touch here https://bushymartin.com.au/contact/  This show is produced by Apiro Media - http://apiropodcasts.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you do want to make an impact, if you really want to help people, if you have a cause that you're passionate about and you really want to make a difference, sure, you can go volunteer your time. And that's a wonderful thing to do. And I hope that everyone does that. But the level of impact that you can have is so much greater if you are able to create you know, a level of financial prosperity for yourself. I mean, and that it doesn't have to be either or. You know, you don't need to either make a lot of money or be a really good person and give back. You know, you can do both. Welcome to the Get Invested Podcast, where we share great conversations with experts from all walks of life to uncover their secret

know-how on where they invest their time, their skills, and their money, and the benefits of this has created you see the truth is that everyone invests every minute every day we're investing our time our skills our energy and our money in something some of us are investing consciously some unconsciously sometimes for good sometimes for bad and sometimes for no impact get invested will help you to start living by design not by default i'm going to help you to make it happen not let it happen you'll hear the top tips on how you can live with conscious intent, so that you can live more, work less, and leave a living legacy by investing now. Listen to the show to discover the top tips on how to get started, make the most of your

investment journey, and ultimately, to be living your dream, not someone else's. More episodes can be found on iTunes or at bushymartin.com.au forward slash getinvested. Thanks for listening, and now, let's get invested. Hi Freedom Fighters, what's your attitude to money? If you have it, do you feel guilty? If you don't, are you jealous of those who do? What do you think of people who have made lots of money? Do you consider them to be greedy and selfish, or clever, hardworking and deserving, or maybe

just lucky? Is money a source of all evil, as some would like to make you think, or is it a force for good? now these are really important questions to contemplate and talk about as our attitudes to money will have a massive impact on our personal future and our ability to make a difference in the world i want to encourage you to start talking about it instead of hiding it like a dirty word because if you don't master money it will master you and as i mentioned in my book the freedom formula money makes the world go round in our current capitalist system

so i see it as both a volume switch and a magnifying glass that simply amplifies our true nature and for a growing group of us money is the lifeblood enabler of our choices the fuel for our freedom and a voice to do good now these are the views that are shared with today's guest dorothy ilson dorothy is a breath of fresh air and an agent of optimism when it comes to shining the spotlight on those of us who share her vision of leveraging our personal and professional success to better the world. What do we actually mean by this though? Well, let's take the example of the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, whose family foundation has donated more than 40% of his net worth equating to 36 billion US dollars to charitable causes that focus on

global health, education and poverty. Now we pale into absolute insignificance in comparison but as another example that all of us have the ability to replicate, our know-how property finance business is currently leveraging with our clients through B1G1 or buy one give one business for good to give one million days of life-giving water to families less fortunate than ourselves in Ethiopia. You see, for every dollar in repayments that we save you on your home loan, we're donating one day of life-giving water. Now, you might not be aware of this, but over 1,800 children a day are currently dying of bad water-related diseases in third-world countries, and over 633 million people still don't have access to clean water. Now, I just

can't understand why this is happening in this day and age. I just really don't get it. So for us, the answer is really simple. If we can save you a dollar, then together we can save lives. And we need your help. We're currently up to 121,000 days, but we're a long way short of our goal of 1 million. So if you or any of your friends haven't refinanced your home loan recently, then give us a yell as most of you are paying somewhere between $400 to $1,000 a month too much on your home loan repayments. And it's really easy for us to put that back in your pocket. But I digress because today's guest, Dorothy Yilson, now has a great podcast called Do Well and Do Good, which showcases a growing tribe of trailblazers who are using their financial

prosperity to help others and improve the world. It's a great listen. So subscribe to Do Well and do good and have a regular listen as inspiration for how you too can make a difference. Now Dorothy's drive to find greater meaning in her life and to make a difference through her podcast stemmed from the fact that while she has achieved great levels of financial success in her needle-eye media Facebook advertising agency, she was struggling to find the deeper purpose in her path that tapped into her generosity and her desire to help others. You see, Dorothy has realised early what has taken me much longer to appreciate, and that is that true fulfilment only comes when you give freely to others without expecting anything in return. Through sharing great podcast stories, it's

Dorothy's goal to inspire a generation of individuals to create your own success, to soar to new heights of personal and professional achievement and to power positivity and generosity in a way that lights your souls on fire. So in our lively and energising conversation today, you'll also learn the inspiring question to ask yourself when you're challenged or experiencing problems, how to change your mood quickly and easily when you're feeling down,

and how to write your goals in a way that will massively improve their impact. It's Dorothy's hope that her podcast stories can motivate you to push your personal achievements to new heights. From there, she wants to inspire you to feed your human need for contribution by being a forceful good in whatever way is most meaningful to you. So please enjoy this motivating and heartwarming chat with Dorothy Ilsen. Freedom Fighters, I'm really pumped about today's episode.

As our guest Dorothy Yilson hosts her own podcast, Do Well and Do Good, and I was really humbled to join her recently, so I'm really looking forward to flipping the table today and getting her to share the personal success that she's enjoyed along with the learnings that she's gleaned from people in all areas, so in terms of being both successful and generous in what they're doing. So welcome aboard, Dorothy. Really looking forward to a chat today. Thank you, Bushy. It's so great to be here.

Absolutely. Now, Dorothy, for those who don't know who you are, can you start by just giving us a bit of a rundown on who you are, what you do, and most importantly, why you do what you do? Absolutely. So I live in Chicago in the United States, and there are really two kind of halves to what I do. You mentioned the podcast, Do Well and Do Good. That is something that I started in 2018, really because I was looking for deeper fulfillment in my life and in my work. So it really started as a passion project and has grown from there. And then the other half of it would be my main business. It's called Needles Eye Media, and it's a full-service paid traffic advertising agency. So I work with a lot of different clients, mostly personal brands

and other digital product sellers, but I've been involved in a number of different niches, different industries. So I'm pretty wide experience there. And that is really the the bulk of what I do. Yeah. Okay. And the big one there, why do you do what you do? Yes. So my passion for, for marketing really was, was born out of my experience after college working for a startup here in Chicago. The startup was in the, the food space. It was a meal subscription business. And I had had a really different idea in mind for a long time for what my career was going to look like. And we can definitely talk about that. But when I went to work at this startup, I really grew addicted almost to the fast pace of, you know, building

something new to the, you know, the need to be scrappy and, you know, be creative, figure out how to get things done on limited budget. And I was fortunate enough to be the third employee at that company and to be part of the team that helped it grow from zero to over $6 million a year in annual revenue in the first three years. And so that experience was really a crash course in what it takes to grow a business. And so when I knew it was time to move on from that company, I really couldn't think of anything more exciting to do than help other companies to achieve those same sorts of results through paid traffic. So I really do love marketing deeply. But as I mentioned, I started the podcast Do Well and Do Good because I was really looking for some deeper

purpose in my life. That's something that has always been important to me. I do believe that we as humans, every single one of us listening to this show, we have a fundamental need for contribution, to feel like we're making an impact, to feel like we are helping other people and really doing something important. And so I had to ask myself the question, does the way that you make money necessarily need to be the way that you make an impact? You know, do we all need to go work for nonprofits or can we have our, you know, for for profit businesses that are designed in a certain sense to, you know, to have us prosper financially? But then what can we turn around and do with that prosperity that is going to fulfill this need that we have to contribute? And so that's why my podcast is all about sharing the stories of people like you who have created great success, but then they turn around and leverage that success to help others the way that you're doing with a million days of life-saving water.

So that's really what drives me, what excites me. And what's been wonderful about the podcast is that we do something called the Do Well and Do Good Challenge, where every guest that comes on nominates a nonprofit. And then at the end of each month, my audience votes inside of our Facebook community to determine which of the nonprofits nominated that month that I then donate 10% of Needles Eye Media's profits to on behalf of the podcast. So, you know, it's always been something that's been important to me in my personal life to give, but being able to really integrate that into the very fabric of my business model, the way that you've done as well, I think is just really meaningful and gives a whole new level of purpose to what we do day in and day out for our clients, for our customers, whatever it may be. Yeah, I love it. Absolutely love that, Dorothy. It's interesting for me, and I'm sort of keen

to dig into the subject with you a little bit as well. There's a lot of people who see sort of money as a force for evil or have negative connotations around money and associate it just with greed. But for me, it's a volume switch that enables us to do good. It's really an enabler. And our business is a vehicle for us that just enables us to channel resources into things that need to be done for the benefit of the planet. And so just on that, I'd really be interested in your definition of what you believe fulfillment is, because it's something that everyone strives for and quite often I think mistakenly associate that with money and I think there's a distinct separation between the two what are your thoughts what what's what's

your definition fulfillment and and in the context of what we're talking about to me fulfillment is about creating a holistic sense of wealth in our lives you know so the connotation of wealth is typically associated with money, but to me, wealth encompasses so much more than that. You know, we want to have, we want to have wealth, not only in our financial lives, but in our relationships, in our own personal growth and development in our, our health. You know, if we have all the money in the world, but we're, we're sick all the time, then, then that's not true wealth. Um, you know, if we have all the money in the world, but our relationships are crap and we're constantly fighting with our partner or don't have any friends. Well,

that's not true wealth either. So fulfillment is about creating a situation in our lives where we have the resources, money included, to be able to work on all of those different areas that are so important. And so I think that it's easy, especially for people like the people who listen to this show. I'm sure all of you are very ambitious, very driven. You have massive goals, but I think it's easy to get kind of caught up in that race and to forget that there are so many things that are important to our happiness at the end of the day, which is really what all of us are chase in. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, beautifully summed up there. Now, look, we'll return to the discussion on that in a minute, but what I'd like to do so that myself and the audience has a better

sense of your journey so far, and particularly with a focus on where you've invested your time, energy, and money, and the key decisions that you've made along that journey that have led you to where you are. Can you sort of take us back to, you sort of mentioned those high school days, can we start there and get you to walk us through the journey and the decisions you made and why you made them and where that's led you to? Sure, sure. So, my parents are both entrepreneurs and so it was instilled in me very early that it was important for me to, you know, develop hard skills. You know, by hard skills, I mean things that are very, you know, tangible that can't be taken away from you, like math, engineering, accounting, you know, find a career

path that is going to be, you know, going to be something that can give you as close to a guarantee as possible to achieving security, to achieving the kind of lifestyle that you're looking for. And, you know, it's funny that, you know, even though my parents are entrepreneurs, they really, you know, encouraged me to go into a field that, you know, would mean great job security, that would mean, you know, kind of the best chance for success, like I said. And so when I went to college, I ended up studying finance and accounting. And for all four years of school, my goal was to get a job with what here in the U.S. are called the big four accounting firms. And so that was really my laser focus. And so I got an internship my junior year with

PricewaterhouseCoopers and ended up accepting a job offer with them going into my final year of school. Now, what happened was that over, it was actually winter break of my senior year of college, I was introduced to personal development for the first time. And that really just flipped my world completely upside down. And I actually asked myself for the very first time if a career in accounting was not only going to make me successful, but would it really make me happy? And when I thought back to, you know, my internship, sitting there, you know, really, it wasn't something that excited me. You know, I was excited for, you know, six o'clock to roll around so that I could get out of there. And, you know, for some people, they absolutely

love that work, but it just wasn't for me. And so, um, what I realized was that, you know, it just never, it never occurred to me that I could make a new choice. You know, I thought I'm in so deep, you know, this is what I've studied for all of school. You know, what, what other choice do I have? But then the more books I read, the more, you know, people that I, listened to, you know, I got, I must've spent a hundred, hundreds of hours that year, um, just watching, you know, YouTube videos and personal development and, you know, reading self-help books. And I, I realized, you know, Hey, actually I'm in control here. I can do whatever I want. And, and I had enough confidence in myself that I'd be able to figure it out. And so,

long story short, two weeks after I graduated from school, I called up that accounting firm and told them that I wasn't coming. And it was really a huge leap of faith, but I landed on my feet. I moved to Chicago anyway. I am from Cleveland, Ohio, but I had the job here in Chicago. And so even though I quit the job, I already had an apartment lined up and roommates and all that. So I just moved anyway. And, you know, I really do believe that if we just press forward and keep moving with confidence and with faith in ourselves, that things will work out and opportunities will be provided. And that's really what happened. I ended up just happenstance meeting the wife, actually, of the co-founder of the startup that I mentioned and got to chatting with her. And she thought, you know, gosh, you should talk to my husband. I think they need some help. And so that's how I landed the job at that startup.

And, you know, really the next three and a half years were all about investing in my own learning. and that was something that was was really powerful and I I realized you know hey work doesn't just have to be um you know getting through the day to collect your paycheck and go home you can actually love what you do you can enjoy what you do you can be excited to go to work um you know you can find somewhere that gives you flexibility and autonomy and um you know all of the things that I just didn't think were possible if you wanted to see financial success, which has always been important to me. And so what I did, you know, I obviously didn't make as much money at that startup as I would have in my accounting job, but I learned so much and it set me off on

this path I'm at now where, you know, the amount of financial success I'm able to have through my business so far eclipses where I would be if I had stuck on that path and was a managing director at an accounting firm or whatever I would be at this point. Yeah. A couple of things I'm keen just to drill in a little bit there if we can, Dorothy. Firstly, your parents. Now, parents entrepreneurs, they've obviously lived with the cut and thrust of that and maybe thought that the accounting corporate role was a safer, easier road for you. So, you know, clearly steering you in that direction from a perspective of love.

But when you flipped it and decided, no, this is not for me, that must have been a challenging conversation with them, I'm guessing. And the other thing I just want to investigate with you, so I'm keen to talk about that, and then kind of talk about where your passion for both financial success and the personal development exercise came from. What was motivating you there? Where did that interest come from? Can we talk about both of those for a minute? Sure. So I'll actually start with the second part of that because then the first part will make a little bit more sense. Great. So the way that

I got introduced to personal development was I was actually introduced to a network marketing company. And, and that was, it was really the first time I had seen an opportunity where my earning potential was only limited by, you know, my own effort, um, which obviously is what entrepreneurship is. Um, but so that was really novel to me. And, um, I was very naive, um, about that whole industry and, you know, what it really takes to be successful in that. But my naivete really worked to my advantage because I was just so kind of blindly confident that I would be able to be successful there that, you know, if I hadn't have been so naive, I might have, you know, stuck with that sure thing. But that was really what introduced me to personal development.

And so when I decided to quit my accounting job, I really didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know if I was going to be successful in network marketing or if I was going to do something completely different. All I knew was that I didn't want to be an accountant. Yeah. And that and that was enough for me. It wasn't quite enough for my parents. It was definitely not an easy conversation. You know, they I was very blessed, you know, that they put me through school. They, you know, they paid for college. And then here I was, um, saying, Oh, Hey mom and dad, I'm going to, I'm going to throw away this, this opportunity that, um, that I had in front of me. And so, um, luckily though, um, I have the most wonderful parents in the world in my humble, um, probably biased opinion. And, you know, once they realized that there was no changing my mind,

and then the call had been made, they were very supportive and really just wanted to be a cheerleader for me. So luckily it wasn't their first pick, but I'm kind of stubborn. So they knew there was really no talking me out of it. Yeah, that level of self-belief that's carried you through and the old ignorance is bliss exercise in that if you knew what you were getting into, you may not have done it, but that's the very reason that we do it. So I would ascribe to exactly the same thing in the things I've done.

If I really knew what was involved initially, I would have questioned it. But it's that level of self-belief and the mindset that carries you through that. Just associated with that, what beliefs about money did mum and dad instilling you growing up and how has that sort of changed, if at all, over the journey so far, Dorothy? Mm hmm. Yeah. I mean, I think that I was I was lucky that I because my parents were entrepreneurs, I think I avoided some of the really common limiting beliefs around money. Um, you know, I, in doing my podcast and talking to so many different people about, you know, this exact question, you know, what, what, what thoughts were ingrained in you, um, you know, as a young person about money and how did those affect you? You know, so many people have these really deep seated beliefs that are usually unconscious. You know, they're not something that you are rationally thinking, but, you know, deep in your subconscious, you believe that if you have a lot of money, it makes you a bad person. Or if you had a lot of money, you must have cheated people or lied or stolen to get there or just climbed over other people and done wrong by people or whatever it is.

I mean people have all of these toxic beliefs about what it means to be rich and that really holds them back. It leads to a lot of self-sabotage. Um, and so, you know, I was, was really raised with the belief that, you know, that anything that I wanted was possible if I was willing to work really hard at it. And, and I was very fortunate to have the, the example of my parents, but that said, um, you know, I did still have my own limiting beliefs, um, that I did have to overcome. Um, you know, for example, uh, you know, you have to trade time for money. Um, you know, the concept of, of leverage or of passive income was completely foreign

to me. Um, you know, my, my father, for example, you, even though he did have his own business and he was able to, you know, take two week vacations, you know, once a year, um, with his family, he, he worked really, really, really hard. Um, and so to me, I did equate those two things. Like if you do want to have, um, you know, financial success, um, trading your time for it is, is necessary. Um, so that was a big one that I had to debunk, but I think at the end of the day, all of us have a ceiling, um, in our subconscious for what we deserve and getting to the next level of financial success is really all about figuring

out, okay, what do I need to do to raise my ceiling of what I believe that I'm worthy of or deserving of? And unless you do that, you will find that the self-sabotage is going to continue to set in and keep you down there, you know, pushing against that ceiling. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Yeah, that's gold. Absolute gold that you shared with us there, Dorothy. I I appreciate you putting some shape around that because it's very easy to look externally and blame other things, other people, other situations for where we're at. But unless we conquer that internal monkey that revolves around our own limiting beliefs around that, then nothing's likely to change. So very good point. Very well made.

Thanks. I will say, I do believe that in every area of our life, we get what we expect, not necessarily what we truly deserve. It's what we believe that we deserve and what we believe that we're capable of. And so, you know, really personal development just changed everything for me in teaching me that, you know, if we want to change our results, we need to figure out how to change our expectations and change our belief around what's possible. Awesome. In the discussions you're having with the guests you've had on the podcast, what are the common beliefs that you're seeing around that subject? and if we link sort of money and to some degree success within that, what are the dots that you're joining in relation to the common thread that you see with the people you've been talking to?

Yeah, did you say the common three? Yeah, the common thread. Yeah, the thread that sort of you're seeing. Oh, the thread, yeah. Yeah, there seems to be something in the people you're talking to around their view of success and money in relation to, uh, what's allowed them to enjoy their path? You know, I really do think that the, the biggest one is, uh, the, the one I already mentioned that having a lot of money makes you

a bad person. Um, you know, there's a lot of shame that a lot of us hold around, around money and around, you know, what it means to be wealthy. And I think that is the biggest, you know, the biggest goal that I have with my podcast is to show people that, you know, money is actually a tool that allows you to do massive amounts of good. And so even though, you know, you really need to work to overcome that belief system and to recognize that, you know, actually if you do want to make an impact, if you really want to help people, if you, if you have a cause that you're passionate about and you really want to make a difference, sure, you can go volunteer your time, you know, that's, and that's a wonderful thing to do. And I, you know, I hope that everyone

does that, but the level of impact that you can have is so much greater if you are able to create, uh, you know, uh, uh, a level of financial prosperity for yourself. I mean, and, and that it doesn't have to be either, or, you know, you don't need to either make a lot of money or be a really good person and give back. You know, you can, you can do both. You know, you can have the lifestyle you want and maybe the lifestyle you want is really big. You know, maybe you want to be traveling all the time. You want a beach house and a mountain house and whatever. And that's fine. You know, if your, if your dream lifestyle costs a million dollars a year, which for most people, it actually, your dream lifestyle probably costs a lot less than you think it does, but you

know, say it's a million dollars a year. Well, why don't you figure out how to make $2 million a year so that you can use the rest to really make a difference? Um, you know, and so it's, it's really about flipping the script that no money doesn't make you a bad person. Money amplifies who you already are. So if you're a bad person or a greedy person without money, you're going to be a bad person with money. But if you're a good person with a heart of gold and a giving spirit, you're going to be amplified in that generosity when you do have financial success. Money is a magnifying glass at the end of the day. It makes us more of who we already are. Beautiful. Love that. That's a really great point again there, Dorothy. You put some real clarity around not attaching

your own judgments to those things and just seeing it as an enabler. So, absolute gold. You talked about the perfect lifestyle, and it's a question that I like to ask everyone, Dorothy, because quite often it's a subject that not a lot of people put some shape around. But if I ask you to sort of describe your ideal lifestyle, what does it look like? What are you doing, where you're doing it, who you're doing it with. Put some shape around that for us. Paint the picture. For me, it's really all about freedom. And I know that's kind of a cliche word, but it's true. It's the ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want. And so for me, what that looks like is I love to travel. I want to see the world.

I want to have experiences and I don't want to have a career that, that limits me from doing that. So, you know, that's why with, um, I'll tell you actually the, the reason I ended up starting my business was because when I knew that I wanted to leave that startup that I worked for after college, um, I had almost gotten a little spoiled because that job, um, allowed me to work remote. I could work from home when I wanted to. I could travel. I had a ton of autonomy, just a ton of flexibility in my schedule. And so when I knew I wanted to leave, I started interviewing around at other startups, other companies that were a little further along. And I couldn't find anything that was going to give me that level of freedom, that level of

flexibility that I had gotten so spoiled with in my first job out of school. And so I kind of thought, I'm like, well, if I, if I can't find that in a job, I guess I better try to do my own thing. And so, and so that led to, you know, figuring out, you know, that I wanted to start my agency. And so, you know, that is something that's very important to me. I have ridden horses since I was a little girl. And that is something that brings a ton of joy into my life. So honestly, my dream scenario, you know, I live in Chicago right now and I love the big city. I would love to always have a place here. But, you know, in 10 years, I'd like to be in the mountains with my horses in my backyard and to have the money to be able to travel, to be able to, you know,

work as, as much or as little as I want. And then most importantly, to be able to spend time and money to, to give back and, and really make a difference in, in the things that are important to me. And so one thing that I am currently working on now is figuring out, you know, okay, how can I create additional streams of income that aren't so dependent on my time? I love my agency. I love what I do with my clients, but it does require me, you know, to, to physically show up and, and be there. And so, um, I would like to diversify where my income comes from, um, to have some, some more passive, uh, passive streams. And so, so I, one of my goals for next year is actually to purchase my first investment property. I'm interested in, um, buy and hold rental

property investing. So that's something that I am currently starting to really just dive in and learn more about. Luckily, I met you, so I have a great resource to be able to do that. But that's kind of what it looks like for me. Yeah, brilliant. Awesome. So you answered my next question, which was how are you going to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be and and identifying uh sort of wealth growing passive income opportunities is is a way to go and obviously i'm an advocate a big advocate of property given that's been very generous to myself and my good wife sonia uh so we'd love to help you on that journey um when the time is appropriate dorothy so uh because it's not rocket science i didn't invent it it's

been around for hundreds of years it's just a matter of taking the time to let time do its work really so awesome that's that's really cool um if we sort of dig into uh the do good part though uh because they you know just you talk about your passion projects and you talk to a lot of people that are you know making all sorts of dents in the universe to use their businesses and their their good fortune to make a positive change are there any sort of burning uh passions you have around that area in relation to, you know, what sort of change you would like to make at this point in time? There's so, there's so many. Um, but I would say one, one big one that, um, that really means a lot to me, I think mostly because it's so visible for me is,

is homelessness and, um, and, and really just, you know, poverty on a whole, you know, living in Chicago. It's something that I see every single day and it, it's really heartbreaking, you know, one to recognize that people end up in that situation for so many different reasons. Um, a number of them that are just completely out of their control. Um, you know, illness, uh, is a great, I mean, there, there are just so many different things that, that can happen. And the, the feeling of, of helplessness, um, that I think is, is so prevalent, the feeling of, um, you know, just no path forward. You know, I think that's, that's something that's really heartbreaking. So one of the early guests on my podcast, um, is, uh, a guy named Nicholas Mioskowski and he started

a nonprofit called golden wing helping hands. And what they do is, um, they actually create and distribute care packages to, um, homeless adults and children here in Chicago. Um, but one thing that I think is really cool is that, you know, when they do that, when they do, you know, deliver these packages to, um, to people on the street, you know, they, they take the time to really get to know them, to ask them questions and to make them feel seen, which I think is so important, um, because it's, it's really sad, you know, when you see people, um, on the streets and, and everyone just averts their eyes or pretends not to see. And it's almost like they're denying them of their humanity. Um, so that's a cause that's very, very important to me. Um, I also

mentioned that I, um, I ride horses. Um, I'm a huge animal lover, always have been. Um, and so, um, causes to do with animals are also very near and dear to my heart. Um, and I know I'm giving a lot, but environmental causes are also, um, very important to me as well. So part of what I love about the, um, about my podcast and about what we've been able to do, um, with the do well and do good challenge is that, uh, you know, every single month I'm able to contribute to an organization that is really you know making an impact in um you know in a different area and so that's been really really exciting for me yeah it's awesome and i love the work you're doing on do well and do good in that that respect it's highlighting uh the avenues that people can

also start to contribute and i i sort of love the uh your focus on the voiceless and the innocent because I think we share a common belief that I guess one of my strong beliefs that's grown over time is that judgment is the cause of all issues and averting your eyes to someone who's homeless is a form of judgment because it's sending a silent message. And if there's one thing that, you know, sort of binds this all together for me is if all of us are able to eliminate judgment from our thinking and accept people for who they are and celebrate that,

then the world would be a much better place, Dorothy. I couldn't agree more. Let's sort of dig into the impact thing a little bit more if we can because it is a subject that I think a lot of people have an interest in. and so I'm just going to directly flip the tables on the questions that you ask your guests on on the podcast so who's been the most impactful person in your journey so far oh gosh you know it's so funny I I ask this question of every one of my guests but it's surprisingly hard to answer because there are there are so many there are so many people

Um, you know, honestly, I would say, um, other than my parents who have been an absolute massive support for me, um, it's been a guy named Ryan Rouse and Ryan was actually, um, he was my boss at, at that startup that I worked for his wife, who I met, who, um, you know, who got the job and Ryan really, um, took me under his wing and, you know, spent so much time and energy teaching me and investing in me and really becoming a mentor for me. And it showed me how powerful a mentor that truly cares about you can be. And I know that if it weren't for Ryan, there's absolutely no way that I would have been able to start my agency. There's no way that I would have the business that I have now. And so I don't really know

where I would be, but I owe Ryan a massive debt of gratitude for all that he's done to support me in my growth. So that's what I would say. Yeah, no, awesome. Yeah. And it's interesting how people can have such a major impact. You mentioned him as a mentor. How important do you believe mentors are for achieving whatever it is that you want to achieve, Dorothy? Absolutely critical. And it doesn't matter what you're looking to achieve. I mean, I'm just such a believer in surrounding yourself with people who can help you, people who can support you, people who have accomplished what you're looking to accomplish. And I, I know that, you know, I was extremely fortunate that, you know, my first, my first real boss was, was that for me, you know, that, that he mentored me and continues to mentor me in, in the way that he has.

But, you know, I, I think there are other forms that it can take as well. Um, you know, I'll give you, uh, the best example, excuse me, that I have of that, which is that, you know, when I, I did decide to start my agency, I didn't know how to do that. I didn't know how to get clients, how to really be confident that I was going to get those clients the results that I was promising them. And so I ended up investing heavily in a coach. It was $30,000, actually, which at the time I was broke. I had $0. And so it was, again, a massive leap of faith.

I definitely do not endorse credit card debt, but that's what I did. I just put it all on a credit card and leapt, you know, just believing, again, believing in myself that I would figure it out. And that was really the best thing that I could have done because I invested with the right person, you know, with someone who really knew how to do what I was looking to do. it cut my learning curve so, so drastically. Um, you know, I, I grew my business, you know, I had my first, um, five figure revenue month in, um, I think month three of starting my agency. And then, um, within the first year, my first year in business, I did multiple six figures in

revenue and there is absolutely no way that that would have been possible that I would have been able to get such a fast start and to, you know, see success in my business so quickly if I hadn't have hired that coach. Um, so, you know, I, I know this, this show is really all, all about investing and I think investing in yourself, investing in your own knowledge and investing in surrounding yourself with people who can show you the way and cut that learning curve is one of the best things that you can do. Yeah, absolutely. I 100% agree. Everything that I do is I've just looked at who's best at doing it and then got to know them or followed them or stalked them if need be to be able to sort of draw the goal that then means that I don't need to make the same

mistakes and can sort of fast track the way of getting to where we need to get. So that's awesome. On a similar track, how does the support of your life partner fit into your success, Dorothy? Oh my gosh, it's huge. It's so huge. So my life partner, Jacob, we, you know, it's funny because he's actually seen my whole journey. We met our freshman year of college and we're friends all through school. We were best friends and our senior year, we were actually roommates too. Um, this was, you know, before we, we ever dated. So, um, we, we started dating, um, about a year and a half after college. And so he has seen the whole thing. You know, he was there when I made that call to, um, my accounting job and told him I wasn't coming. You know, he, um,

he watched the whole process and has been such an unbelievable support system to me. I mean, when I was getting my business off the ground, there's no way that I would have been able to to, to do it, um, without him. Um, I, it was probably four or five months in between, um, when I quit my job and when I actually had the idea for the agency and hired that coach and started my business. And in those, in those four or five months, you know, I, I made no money. And, um, the only way that I was able to make that happen was, um, you know, I put my apartment on Airbnb, rented it out. Um, at the time he was, um, he was living in Lexington, Kentucky, so we were doing long distance. And so it worked perfectly that I was able to, you know, go down

there for several weeks at a time, rent my apartment so that I could, uh, pay my rent here in Chicago. And, um, you know, so, so there was that kind of support, but then there's also just the emotional support. Um, I really can't imagine what it would be like if I didn't have him to, support me in those moments where I'm starting to slip in my own self-belief. I've said that that's the most important thing, and I do believe it is, but I don't think it's something that comes easily. Every one of us has moments of doubt, and to be able to rely on someone in your life to lift you up when you're having trouble lifting up yourself is absolutely critical. So I really couldn't be more grateful for the way that he supports me cheers me on and and really makes

everything that i do possible yeah awesome it's it's and i i mean there's a the reason i asked that question that there's so much focus on the individual and how it's you know the overnight success of an individual uh tends to get most of the media play whereas you know i know my own experience very similar to yourself uh without sonja there's just no way we would be in the position we're in and we're very yin and yang where we sort of uh fill the gaps but you put it together and the the whole uh the synergy between us is much greater than the individual parts and it's uh you know i i love uh getting out there talking to people being the center of attention she runs away from it uh but the the interaction the chemistry between the two

produces a just an awesome result and i just i just find that most people who you know perceived as being successful in their own right have normally got a really supportive partner and often have quite a supportive team around them that helps them to achieve that which has certainly been our experience so no awesome um okay well just sort of boiling that uh success thing down a little bit uh again given the number of people that you've rubbed shoulders with through the podcast and through your business activity. And I'm talking about long-term sustainable success here, Dorothy, because you see a lot of overnight sort of one-hit wonder successes. But in terms of sustainable success, what would you boil down as the key ingredients

that you've seen on your journey today? so that is such a great question and i think that it's being in this um you know kind of internet marketing space that i'm in you do see a lot of these you know kind of one-hit wonders or these people who do seem to have very fast success. But sustainable success, like you said, is a very different thing. And to me, you know, coming from this perspective of of Internet marketing, to have sustainable long term success, you need to actually care about your customers, care about the people you're serving. You can't just be in it to make a buck. And I think that is the big mistake that people make. You know, it's just all about, um, you know, how, how can

I build a funnel and, and, you know, sell, sell a course, you know, you'll see people who will learn something and then turn around six months later and, and build a course to teach other people that when really they have no business to be teaching other people that, you know, and it's, and it's really just a money grab. Um, and that is a fine way to, um, you know, to make a buck, but it's not a good way to have sustainable success. And it's also not a good way to feel good about who you are as a person. And so, you know, I think having integrity in what you do and really caring about the value that you're providing and, and about putting people first and instead of profits first is, is absolutely critical. And, you know, if, if you

don't do that, then, you know, you're going to get beaten out by someone who does because people will always see through that. They will always see through to your true intentions. And so I think that that is something that is really the first step is, you know, make sure that you're doing things for the right reasons. Make sure that you're operating out of integrity. I think the biggest reason that I have managed to, you know, keep a number of my clients, you know, I've had since I very, you know, very first started my agency. And I think the reason why is because they truly, you know, know that I deep down care about their businesses. You know, I care about their success. And, you know, it's not just about collecting my fee every month and spending as

little time as possible as I can on their accounts, you know, I really want to see them succeed. And because they know that, you know, they, they stick with me, you know, if there's, if there's a rough month, you know, if, um, uh, you know, December is, is great for e-commerce marketers, but for everyone else, you know, you just want to get through it and wake up in January. But, you know, because my clients know that, you know, I care deeply about their businesses and that I put in the work day in and day out to make sure that they're successful, regardless of what changes on the platforms, regardless of what's happening in the marketplace. That's why they stick with me for a long time. And so I really do believe that caring about people is a prerequisite

to having any sort of sustainable success. Absolute gold. Yeah. I love what you're saying there it's it's interesting uh the the credo for our business know-how is that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care and that that sort of pretty much underwrites everything we do as a business for that very reason if we're not genuinely wanting to help others uh people smell it a mile off it's you know you can't hide that fact if you if you by just doing the money grab, as you so well said, then that sticks out like a mile. And I think that's a fundamental value,

the care exercise that runs through all that. So beautifully said. Now, I'm going to switch gears into what I affectionately refer to as the ambush round or the bushfire lightning round, if I can, Dorothy, which are just five quick questions that the listeners keep. wanting to hear about. So I'd love you to share with us firstly, what's your favorite quote and why? My favorite quote, and I can't remember where I first heard this, but it has really stuck with me. It's that I expect magic in every moment and so I find it. And I think that that is

really the way that I try to live my life. You know, I do believe that, that we get what we expect. And if we expect everything to be hard and to be a grind and to be stressful and difficult, then it will be. If we expect things to, things to flow, if we expect opportunities to show up, if we expect, you know, good things to happen to us, then, then typically that is what we'll find. And I do believe that that's not just wishful thinking, that that is real because, you know, so often there are opportunities in front of us that, you know, we just don't see. And I think, you know, when we have our eyes open, when we're looking for opportunities, when we are looking for, you know, people to connect with, when we're looking for magic, that's when you're going to find it. And so I really do try to live my life that way. Beautiful.

Love it. Love it. It captures the mindset and the importance of mindset so perfectly. So beautifully said. Next one, the top book that you find yourself recommending to others and why? What is it? so I'm gonna go probably a very different direction with this one than most people do on your podcast um I'm I'm tempted to I'm tempted to list a business book but there are just so so many that have been monumental for me but honestly if I had to point to the one book that has had the biggest impact on my life it's a book called Zen and the Art of Happiness and um really so much of what I've said to you today on this podcast comes from that book and the way that it shifted my perspective. And really, it taught me to believe that everything that happens to me

is the best possible thing that could happen to me. So often things happen that, you know, we see as, as negatives, you know, you, you lose a job, you know, you get fired or, um, you, you know, whatever it is, you know, something happens that seems like an indisputable negative at the time, but then you realize, you know, five, 10, 20 years down the line that that was actually the best possible thing that could have happened. You know, hindsight is 2020 and so often, um, things that seem hopeless, you know, seem quote unquote bad actually end up to be for our benefit. And so the trick there then is that when something does happen that, you know, you might be perceiving as negative, it is trying to look at it with the mindset of, you know, how could this be the best

thing that could possibly happen to me? And when you ask that question, your brain will come up with an answer, you will start to look for the positives. You will start to see ways that you can turn it around. And I actually have a quick example, if you don't mind. In those four or five months before I started my agency and after I'd quit my job, I had an opportunity to work with um, with my old boss, with, um, the, the one who I had, uh, mentioned was the most influential for me. Um, because he, he was actually him leaving that company was the reason that I left the company. And so I had a chance to, to work with him in his new venture and was really excited about it. It seems like the perfect thing. It was, you know, exactly what I needed, what I wanted.

And then that, um, you know, for reasons that were out of, of his control, um, didn't work out. And so that opportunity got pulled out from under me and I, it was after I'd read that book. And so I really tried to think to myself, you know, okay, right now this seems like the worst possible thing, but where's the opportunity in this? And if that hadn't have happened, if that opportunity hadn't have fallen through, I never would have started my agency. So I really do try to try to remember that and try to live my life that way. That's a piece of gold. That's a great question to constantly ask yourself. Where is the opportunity in this? I haven't read Zen and the Art of Happiness, but that's going on the list. Similar exercises, and you've probably

read this as well, but The Obstacle is the Way by Halliday. That's a very similar ethos in relation to recognizing that our biggest challenges and what might appear like our biggest failures are actually our biggest opportunities and i can see it right now on my bookshelf that's an amazing book it's an amazing book yeah and i love it i love that stuff so i and i haven't read zen on the out of happiness so that's definitely going to be on the kindle tonight thanks dorothy um awesome now uh very different change in subject here and it's it may be a question that's more relevant to our australian listeners because most australians believe that they pay too much tax what's the top thing that you've legally done to pay less tax

on your journey today yes so um i'm i'm not sure how if this is relevant to australians but i'll answer it the the best way i know how and that was that i um my business was set up as a single member LLC, um, limited liability corporation. And when I hired my fantastic accountants that I absolutely adore, and I'm glad I don't have to do their job, um, about a year into my business, um, they helped me to get everything switched over so that I was being taxed as an S corp rather than an LLC. So instead of getting taxed on all of the profits of the business, I'm actually putting myself on payroll, I'm technically an employee of the business, and then I'm only paying taxes on that money rather than on the entire profits of the business. So getting that switched over so that I would be taxed as an S corporation instead of as an LLC was definitely the biggest thing that I've done to save money on taxes.

Yeah, nice work. Nice work. And just while we talk about that, it's slightly off subject, but I could never see you being an accountant, Dorothy, given your passion for life and what you've done and what you're doing. Sitting in front of a spreadsheet on a computer all day just doesn't seem to ring true. So I think you made a pretty good call pretty early on that one. so um now and i'm not denigrating the accountants there by the way because uh our accountants have made a massive difference in our lives and we wouldn't be where we are without them but um it's horses for courses my fair share of spreadsheets i bet you do yeah yeah yeah now uh changing subject again what's both the worst and the best piece of investment advice that you've ever received? Really, really good question. Let's see. I would say the worst piece of investment advice I've received.

They'll have to cut out my dead silence as I think of the best way to answer this question. Why don't we flick to the best? What's the best? Yeah. So I would say that the best piece of advice I've received related to investing is simply to start and to start early. That was something that was really pounded into my head by my father in particular was

how important it was to invest heavily in my early 20s, you know, because of obviously, you know, we all know the power of compounding interest, but it's easy to forget, you know, when you're sitting there at, at 22 and wanting to go on that vacation instead of put more money in your, in your IRA. Um, and so I would say, you know, that's, that was probably the best piece of advice. Um, but you know, also I, I would say that, you know, invest in assets, invest in, you know, things that are, are going to produce wealth and ideally produce wealth passively. So, um, you know, obviously real estate is the, the quintessential example that, um, you know, that your audience knows all too well, but, you know, figuring out how to make

your money work for you is, um, is definitely critical. Um, and as far as the worst investment advice, gosh, I feel lucky that I don't know that I've received too much bad advice. Um, Probably it would have to just be, you know, I've had friends who, you know, have encouraged me to, you know, invest in this stock or that stock or to try to play the market in some ways. And, you know, that is if if I didn't if I didn't work, if I just had, you know, all day long to study the markets and study stocks, then maybe that would be OK. But even the best investment professionals usually tend to underperform the market rather than overperform the market. So, you know, I'm not really one to to gamble when it comes to investments. I strongly prefer to rely on data and to do it that way, which is part of why I think that real estate investing is such an exciting thing to learn about. Because my understanding is that so much of it is doing the math on the front end and making sure that, you know, you are investing intelligently in, you know, in properties that are, you know, have as good of a chance as possible in returning the cash flow that you're expecting.

And if you do the math right, then you have a very, very high chance of success there. Nailed it. Yeah, absolutely spot on there, Dorothy. Okay, the next one sort of comes down to a personal level. And I'm just sort of interested in you sharing a personal habit or habits that contribute to your success so far. I would say journaling would have to be the biggest one for me. So that was something that I picked up years ago, and it has really been the cornerstone of my mindset practice. Um, I do meditate, I do, you know, read a ton of books and, and those things are very

important, but journaling I think is the, the biggest thing for me that, that works in terms of just like shifting my mood on, um, you know, a, a moment's notice, you know, if I'm get, if I get in a negative headspace or if I'm, you know, finding myself kind of spiraling into, you know, any negative thought patterns, then I, I actually, it's not even a physical journal. I literally have a Google doc on my computer that I go and just start brain dumping, you know, stream of consciousness style, things that I'm grateful for, things that I appreciate, you know, things that are going well. And then, um, you know, every morning I journal about my goals as if they're already achieved. And that is something

that just puts me in such a good headspace to start my day. And I think that it's been a big contributor to my success. And, you know, it's really fun to go back into my journal, you know, from a year ago or whatever and see the things that I was journaling about then as if they were already achieved now have actually been achieved. And so it's a really great motivator to keep going and to keep pressing forward towards my goals. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I'm a very visual person Dorothy so I've I've got a a you know a very intricate vision board that follows me everywhere and it's amazing how subconsciously you don't look at it for a while and and I'd revisit it and it's like oh wow that's actually happened there it is it's it's yeah I love what

that does and I love what it does to your mood is every time because all my good stuff's there All my go-to feel-good stuff is there. And if, like you, if I'm feeling off track, just focusing back on that with gratitude is just an awesome way to start and finish the day. So I love that. Journaling is something that I'm not consistent with. I've dabbled in it and I sort of go hard for a while and then I forget for a while and then I get back to it. I'm trying to keep it simple you know that sort of

top three things sort of routine so that it's an easy thing to implement but clearly the clarity that you bring to the table there very useful and very easy to instigate so brilliant I just want to sort of bring it to a close then

by sort of saying that if you spoke to someone that was just leaving school and probably facing the similar big questions that you were asking yourself and you decided to turn down PwC and go down a different path, what advice would you give them in terms of where they should be investing their time, their money, and their skills to create their version of freedom?

I would say to optimize for happiness, not just for money. It's so easy, especially for coming out of school, to, to think that you need to, that you need to wait to be happy. Uh, you know, that, that it's something that you, you earn after 10 years or 20 years or 40 years of, of being miserable at your job. And that is simply not true. Uh, you know, there are so many opportunities out there and there are so many different, different paths that you can take. You know, even if, if I never wanted to start my own business, you know, I loved my first job. You know, I, I was so happy there. So, you know, so excited about what we were doing, you know, so passionate about, um, you know,

about the team and, you know, the community that, that was built around that business. And, you know, I think that it was, it was really eyeopening for me to see how much fun that I was having in my job compared to so many of my friends who were, again, you know, just waiting for it to be Friday. I think that if you're too excited about the fact that it's Friday, you really need to audit what you're doing and, and figure out where you went wrong and how you can course correct. You know, obviously I'm, I'm not saying that, you know, I would rather have it be a Monday morning with a full week of work ahead of me than, than a Saturday. Sure. But you know, you should, you should enjoy every day of your life or, you know, or something really needs to change. And so,

um, you know, I do believe that that's important. And, and the way that I think that you get there and figure that out is by reading, read a ton of books, immerse yourself in personal development, immerse yourself in, you know, studying the stories, the journeys of people who have lived incredible lives. And, you know, don't strive to keep up with the Joneses, you know, strive to keep up with the people who really inspire you, the people who motivate you, the people whose lives you can't even fathom getting to live because at one point, those same people couldn't fathom it either. But the difference is was that they were able to think big enough to have the vision and then to go out and achieve it, which I think that anyone can do. Absolutely gold. Love that. That

This is brilliant, Dorothy. Now, Dorothy, what's next new and exciting for you and your business and the podcast? Gosh, yes. I mean, I think for me in 2019, it's really all about figuring out how I can take these two pieces of my life, my agency and my podcast, and really combine them into a cohesive brand. You know, I think right now it's very disjointed for me. And so, um, you know, figuring out how to marry those two things in a, in a way that, um, that makes sense, um, from a business perspective is a big goal of mine for, um, for 2019. But, you know, really it's just all about expanding the, the number of people that I'm able to reach. You know, I'm 40 some episodes into my podcast and, you know, I really want to focus on spreading that message far and wide, you know, bringing new people into my audience so that they can hear the inspiring things that my guests are saying so that they can really start to think bigger for themselves and make the kinds of transformations that we've been thinking or that we've been talking about. So podcasts have been instrumental for me in shaping my mindset, in shaping the trajectory of my career and of my life.

And so I'm just really passionate about being able to do that for other people. So that's really what I'm working on this year. Yeah, I love that. And if the audience wants to tune in to listen to you on Do Well and Do Good and or to get you to assist them in terms of Facebook marketing and other digital agency work that you do through your company, NeedleEye, how can they do that? Yes, absolutely.

So you can find me on social platforms. I'm on Facebook, Dorothy Ilson, also on Instagram at Dorothy Ilson. That's D-O-R-O-T-H-Y-I-L-L-S-O-N. So find me there, connect with me, send me a message. I would absolutely love to chat with you and to listen to the podcast. You can find it on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, anywhere podcasts can be found. And you can also go to dowellanddogood.co slash links to get direct links to all of those places. Love it.

I'd really encourage the listeners to jump on and have a listen to the podcast. And jump on to the Facebook page as well so that you're all voting on the giving initiatives that each of the guests talk about on each episode. It's just a great way to be doing some good things for the planet. So love the work you're doing in that sphere. Really enjoyed talking to you on your podcast and very humbled that you're happy to return the love. So very keen to stay in touch with you, Dorothy, and we'll be following your trajectory moving forward

and very supportive of the work you're doing. So I appreciate you spending the time today. Thank you, Bushy. It's been so much fun. Awesome. Thanks, Dorothy. Talk soon. All right.

Thank you. I hate to have to jump, but I really appreciate it. This has been great. Cheers. Bye. Well, Freedom Fighters, how good was that? To get a summary of all this investment gold in the show notes, just email me on hello at khgroup.com.au.

That's H-E-L-L-O at khgroup.com.au. Or check us out at www.bushymartin.com.au forward slash getinvested. I look forward to joining you next week for another episode of the Get Invested podcast. So thanks for listening. And as always, dream as if you live forever and live as if you die tomorrow.