← Success Story with Scott D. Clary
Success Story with Scott D. Clary
Maria Wendt - Business Coach to 100,000 Women | How to Make $650K/Month Working Less Than 2 Days
01:26:00
Loading summary
Transcript264 lines
- [00:00]
Scott Clary
Indeed is a success story. Partner. Now here's your tech hiring tip of the week from Indeed. 73% of tech workers say flexibility is one of their top priorities. So if your job posting doesn't mention flexible hours or remote options, you're basically invisible to three out of four candidates. Keep that in mind. Look, hiring tech talent right now, it's tough. You are competing for people with super specific skills. Everyone wants hybrid work and the salary expectations are through the roof. It's a lot. That's why Indeed actually makes sense. They're the number one place where tech people go to apply for jobs. We're talking 3 million tech professionals in the US and 86% of them have applied through Indeed. It's not just some job board where you post and pray. They've got tools like smart searching and their tech network that uses AI to connect you with people who actually have the skills that you need. Companies using the tech network saw over four times more relevant applications. That's huge more qualified people. Way less time wasted. Whenever I've needed tech talent in the past, Indeed is the only platform I choose. And if I needed to hire top tier tech talent today, I'd still go with Indeed. Post your first job and get $75 off at indeed.comtechtalent that's indeed.comtechtalent to claim this offer. Indeed. Build for what's now and what's next in tech hiring.
- [01:16]
Maria
My journey towards working less started about three years ago when I realized I was become a mom. Now what I do is I just create content. That's the only thing that I have in terms of job I always teach is whatever you're selling, the course you're selling has to be solving a hyper.
- [01:30]
Scott Clary
Specific problem in a world overflowing with content. One woman found voice and built an empire around it. Maria went didn't just master Instagram, she turned her expertise into a multi million dollar brand.
- [01:42]
Maria
A good course isn't when nothing more can be added. It's when the student can achieve the result you've promised and nothing more can be taken away. I work with people who are just getting started, who are in that exact 9 to 5. They don't believe that that first step is possible for them. And what I tell my students no one else can make for you that you are going to take that first step.
- [02:00]
Scott Clary
Helping thousands of women create real income from digital platforms with no shortcuts and no gimmicks. She transformed her story into strategy, her passion into profit, and now teaches others to do the same.
- [02:11]
Maria
I think a lot of entrepreneurs worry about things you don't need to worry about. You want to be an entrepreneur, take the first step and then work on it as you feel excited and motivated too. If you're looking for happiness in achieving a milestone, milestone, when you achieve it will be like dust in your mouth. Happiness is not in milestones, it's the journey.
- [02:37]
Scott Clary
Maria, you work a day and a half a week and you're on track to generate 10 million annually. So how did working less make you richer?
- [02:45]
Maria
So my journey towards working less started about three years ago when I realized I was become a mom. And I was like, I don't want to be on all these zoom calls. I don't want to be doing all this work that I'm doing. It has to be. And my mentor at the time told me, you can't do a seven figure business, you can't have a seven. Because I was running a million dollar business, but I was doing like a lot of consulting and so it was a lot of work. And he's like, you can't make seven figures just selling little courses. And I was like, I'm going to show you that I can. And so while I was pregnant I started making that shift and now what I do is I just create content. That's the only thing that I have in terms of job. And then I sell very low ticket courses, like $200, $50 courses, like really low ticket cheap courses that are very, solve a lot of people's problems and that I've actually scaled up to like I said, almost $10 million doing that. So it all started because I knew the kind of mom I wanted to be and it was not compatible with the current business model that I had. And so I knew I had to switch to a more scalable, less hands on delivery model. And I was very motivated by the deadline of, oh, my due date is August. That's when I got to make this switch though.
- [03:52]
Scott Clary
You have to architect this life that fits what you want and fits the, the time you want to spend with your daughter. If it's the time you want to actually be working and not working, but still like make the money that you want to make. I don't think a lot of people, especially entrepreneurs, think about that too carefully and they start to just build and they never take a step back and they realize what did I actually build? Do I actually want there?
- [04:10]
Maria
Do I actually want this? Exactly.
- [04:12]
Scott Clary
So you're like, intro into entrepreneurship was consulting.
- [04:16]
Maria
Yeah. So I, well, so before that was graphic design. I Actually went to school for a graphic designer and I was a little freelance graphic designer. So businesses would pay me like $60 to design a flyer. This is before like canva or anything. Like you are manually designing this.
- [04:30]
Scott Clary
Have you always been pure entrepreneur?
- [04:31]
Maria
I have never even had a job interview. I've Never had a 9 to 5. Like I am like I was 2013. Maria was like hustling on the job boards trying to land freelance gigs. And so I, I realized that, you know, I had this knack for people wanting to pay me for my design services. Like I would have people who, you know, would want me to design their logo and I would say, hey, I've got a six month waiting list. Do you still want to do it? And they wanted me to design their stuff so bad they would wait six months for it, which was crazy. And so then I had started having my graphic designer friends come to me asking what I was doing to get so many clients and how I was positioning myself to be so in demand. And that's kind of how I stepped into consulting was like, hey, here's what I'm doing to get clients. Here's how I sell, here's how I position everything, here's how I package it all up. And then one day I looked up and I had more people wanting to work with me to teach them how to get clients than wanting to design their logos and websites. So that was kind of my transition there.
- [05:21]
Scott Clary
I got it. I've. I did a stint. A period of my life was consulting. And it's one of the most difficult things you can ever do. And it's just so time consuming.
- [05:29]
Maria
Very time consuming, Very, very unscalable delivery. However, the thing I will say for consulting is like, you get paid well.
- [05:36]
Scott Clary
Like, yes, but if you actually look at the hours you put in at.
- [05:39]
Maria
Stars, probably too scared to do that.
- [05:41]
Scott Clary
Yeah, right. And you start to realize that like your dollar per hour. So when did you realize it was unsustainable?
- [05:47]
Maria
I think I just reached a point where I was making really good money. But I was on zoom all day long. Like literally like I pro. Probably was having like six or seven meetings a day. And I just, like, I'm about to go on maternity leave here, except I have no plan for that. So that was about three years ago, about three and a half years ago. And the first year I made that switch to just selling courses, my revenue literally quadrupled. So I went from making like a million dollars per year to $4 million per year.
- [06:12]
Scott Clary
And then it just, it was it.
- [06:13]
Maria
Low ticket, low ticket, all low ticket, 300 or less.
- [06:16]
Scott Clary
What made you. Because if we think about how like most people jump into entrepreneurship, I think that the first thing they do is they actually start where you started. They monetize their skill set, which I think is a smart place to start. But I think that, and I felt this too. Like, I feel like the course world seems so over saturated. Like how do you actually carve out like a niche? And how do you actually make $4 million in, in revenue? Like top line. Yeah. How do you make $4 million in year one, which is an insane amount.
- [06:45]
Maria
Yeah, yeah.
- [06:46]
Scott Clary
First year course creator in what, 2021, 2022. This is not like the days of 2016 when Tai Lopez is selling like social media garage. Yeah. So it's like it was saturated.
- [07:01]
Maria
Yeah. And it's, and it's. I think that it is still saturated, if you choose to look at it that way. But what me and my students done, because the thing that you have to remember is like, it's not just me doing this. My students are thriving and running also million dollar businesses selling courses in their own industry. So it's not just the marketing industry, it's every industry is quote unqu. Saturated and they're still doing really well. And what they do that I always teach is whatever you're selling, the course you're selling has to be solving a hyper specific problem. So you're not going to make a course on building wealth. You're going to make a course on like I'll give you an example of one I did where it's like how to make more sales with Instagram stories. That's very specific. And so people are looking to solve very, very specific problems. And in a world where it is a little bit saturated, although I don't, I don't necessarily agree with that. I think that, that saturation is a matter of perspective. There's a lot of shitty courses out there. There's very few course creators actually solving the problems people want to solve. Like implementation rates for most people's courses is abysmal. Success rates for most people's courses is abysmal. So if you become someone whose courses are actually 100 times more valuable than what you're charging and they actually deliver results and they actually change your students lives, that is very rare. That is a blue ocean. And that is why I've scaled. I just had my first $700,000 a month. I'm scaling super quick. Thank you. Thank you. Amazing. I'm scaling very quickly because my Students actually seeing really, really good results, which is kind of rare, honestly.
- [08:24]
Scott Clary
You don't have a background in education?
- [08:26]
Maria
Not at all. No. I was homeschooled, so I don't know. I was homeschooled all 12 years.
- [08:29]
Scott Clary
I know it's very involved, but I don't think back then it was in the 90s.
- [08:33]
Maria
It wasn't. No. When I was homeschooled, it wasn't. But it taught me how to think critically, and it taught me, you know, how to be okay, to be different and to think for myself, which I think is really important.
- [08:43]
Scott Clary
So when you put together, like, your first course, which was selling through Instagram, stories like, super niche, super specific, what makes good courses? What makes good education? Like, when you are. Because I don't have an issue with courses online. I have an issue with shitty courses online. Yeah, because you could, like. I also think that you go spend a hundred thousand dollars on an undergrad degree, like, what are you actually walking away with? You could probably have a whole conversation. Yeah, we could, like the traditional education system. But. So I don't have an issue with people productizing their knowledge. I think it's a very, really important thing to do, especially when you have, like, this lived experience. But I don't think a lot of people do it well.
- [09:26]
Maria
Yeah. So I apply something I learned in school for graphic design, which is, you know, good design isn't when nothing more can be added, it's when nothing more can be taken away. The same is true for course creation. A lot of course creators think that a course is valuable when it's filled with modules filled with videos, but actually the opposite is true. If I can teach you to solve the problem that you're struggling with in three videos or 80 videos, which would you rather have in three?
- [09:51]
Scott Clary
Yeah.
- [09:51]
Maria
And so good. A good course isn't when nothing more can be added. It's when the student can achieve the result you've promised and nothing more can be taken away. And so my courses are very simple, they're very practical, they're very tangible. They're like tutorials. And because it's a step one, step two, step three process, anyone can implement it, and people do implement it, which is the big thing with courses is getting students to actually do the thing you tell them to do in the course. And because it feels so achievable, they do it. And then they turn into really good success stories for me, which is obviously what I want.
- [10:20]
Scott Clary
Like word of mouth.
- [10:21]
Maria
Exactly, exactly. And. And repeat customers. I have a 60% repeat customer. Rate, which is extremely high for our industry. It's like 15% is the average. And so my customers buy from me again and again and again because they saw results with the first one.
- [10:34]
Scott Clary
Do you think this is a version of entrepreneurship that you'd recommend to everyone?
- [10:37]
Maria
I. This is what I tell people who want to get into course creation, don't get in it. If you think it's easy at first, it's easy later. So course creation in this sort of like passive income or more almost passive income or hands off business.
- [10:51]
Scott Clary
If you work, you still work a lot.
- [10:53]
Maria
Yeah, but it's in the sense of like people compare it to like other forms of selling where you have to be involved in the sales process for every single sale. With the course creation and the way I do it, you make sales around the clock, but you have to work really hard to build those systems that make sales automatically. So as we sit here on the podcast, I'll probably make 20 to 30 to 40 sales. But the work I did to build the systems to make those sales is kind of intensive. And so I, I tell people we need to set expectations here because you're going to. Nothing works harder than people trying to build passive income streams at first. Right? Like it's a lot of work at first. And if you don't know that you're going to quit and you're going to miss out on those more autopilot sales that come later, which is when it gets exciting. That's what people want, is the ability to go to the beach with their kids and make sales or do whatever. But they miss the part that it's kind of a lot of work to build. You do the same amount of work, you just front loading it at the beginning.
- [11:46]
Scott Clary
I think that's important. That's why I hate the idea of passive income, because there's so much work that goes into actually creating something that people want to buy. So they think that if they're just. So this is where the course world, I guess, because there's not a lot of people that teach how to do it properly. So the course world is filled with people that are throwing together a PDF and selling it or thinking that their experience is worth $997 or $4,997 or.
- [12:13]
Maria
Some other iteration of some something that ends in seven. Yeah.
- [12:15]
Scott Clary
For some psychological reason that somebody on YouTube spoke about once, but like a.
- [12:19]
Maria
Hundred years ago too. Yeah.
- [12:20]
Scott Clary
So it's like I think that people just don't understand where their value is, what their knowledge is. Actually worth. And also like, what good is, is there, is there something that you use when you first started this to figure out what actually resonated with your audience? Is there something that was like. Because, you know, even before we press record, I was talking about my content strategy. I'm saying like, I test a lot of ideas on Twitter and threads and like that's super easy to test out because there's not a lot of energy that's put into like tweeting 10 things and then I can take the one that wins and turn into a newsletter, podcast, whatever. But putting together a course, it's like, it's a lot of effort and it's a lot of front loaded effort. I think people could easily get discouraged if they put in months to build a course. Maybe they don't know what an MVP is. I don't even know what a course MVP actually is. And then it flops. So how do you, how do you remove the chance, a potential of failure when you're doing this and there's so much front loaded work?
- [13:18]
Maria
That's a really good question. I think there's a couple different ways you can hammer at that problem. The first one is that my best students, the one that see really good results, they create content for their audience. I always say like a little metric is like 180 days and just create content hype, solving hyper specific problems for your intended customers. Right? And in that you're going to get comments and you're going to get engagement with your community and that's going to help get a sense of is this product going to be good or not. But I also want to remove the pressure that your first product is going to be a winner. It's probably not going to be a winner in the same way that your first YouTube video that you make isn't going to go viral. It's about starting really. Do give it your best effort, do your best market research, but remove the pressure that your first product is going to be your last. And your first product is going to be the one that makes you a million dollars. My first product, I put my heart and soul into it. I worked so hard to sell it, I worked so hard to pitch it. I charge 250. This was back in like 2016 or something. And I finally got one customer and I was like, you know what, I'm going to show up for this one customer and give it my best. And I. And I did. And after the first call, they asked for a refund. So like, but now here I stand with so many product lines that have individ gradually scaled up to a million dollars. And the lesson there is like, let's just remove the pressure that it probably won't. It won't be amazing right away. And that's fine. We master things in iteration, and we master things with experimentation.
- [14:39]
Scott Clary
I love that I have a number here about how much you made in your first year. I have no idea if this true. Is this $63?
- [14:46]
Maria
In my first year, I made $63. In my second year, I made like $350. So in two years of giving it my all, I made less than $400.
- [14:55]
Scott Clary
All this bullshit about overnight success. Another idea that doesn't exist and isn't real. Like the self made. Also not real. If you actually think about it, there's always an investor, a customer, a mentor, a somebody that's, I mean, self made. What do you mean self made? You have customers like, shut the fuck up. Like, there's no such thing as self made. But all these, like, incorrect entrepreneurial ideas are implanted in young people's heads. And then when the reality doesn't matter, when the expectation doesn't match the reality, that's when you sort of throw in the towel. So these are really important stories. You've done it with courses where you've gone through so many different iterations and finally something worked out. But every single person has come on this podcast. Whatever they've built, that they're known for was not the first version.
- [15:36]
Maria
I think for me, the other side of it is, yes, understanding that it is a. There is a shadow side and a light side, but also falling in love with solving problems. The more I teach my new beginners to fall in love with solving problems, the less discouraged they get. And really, entrepreneurship is just a game of solving problems. And so, oh, I'm not getting sales. Well, let's diagnose that problem. Oh, you don't have people coming to your checkout page? Why don't you have people coming to your checkout page? Let's solve that problem. And so when you start to fall in love with solving problems and you understand that the game is problem solving, you're not so shocked and in such emotional angst when you run into a problem. As an entrepreneur, you're like, oh, this is average fucking Tuesday. That's how it should be.
- [16:12]
Scott Clary
Where did your love for entrepreneurship come from?
- [16:15]
Maria
Well, it's actually really similar to yours. I was seven years old and my dad had been an adjunct English professor. So like a part time English professor teaching at a a at a community college, and so not a lot of money in that. And I'm from a big family, and so money was very tight. And then he started a business, and our family's financial situation changed when I was seven. Obviously very developmentally important age. And so the lesson I learned is that when you work for yourself, good things happen. And it happened at such a pivotal age that I just somehow at seven years old, knew that I was going to start a business. And so when I was in high school, I was learning, like, how to make money blogging. And, like, I was into the, like, blogging world for a hot second. I was so interested in it. I was like little nerdy Maria in high school reading the blogs on that. And so I just, I just knew watching my own family's financial situation improve that why would I ever start with the less than good thing? Why not start with the good thing right away? And so I started high school even. Not even just college, but I started high school knowing that that's what I was going to do. And so I was, I was training and learning for my career as an entrepreneur when I was like, 13, 14, 15 years old. So it's been a long, like, I'm only 30, but I've been doing that, doing this for 15 years.
- [17:27]
Scott Clary
You're exposed to it.
- [17:28]
Maria
I was exposed to it, yeah.
- [17:29]
Scott Clary
SurveyMonkey is a success story partner. Now, look, we get it. You can hardly go anywhere or do anything these days without hearing about AI this or AI that. And if you're like most people when it comes to AI, you're impressed, but you have a few concerns. But what if AI was used not as a tool to replace people, but as a way to help understand people better? AI from SurveyMonkey is designed to do just that. From crafting the perfect survey, which is harder than you might think, to analysis that digs deep, finds patterns and surfaces, trends quickly. SurveyMonkey's powerful suite of AI capabilities makes it faster and easier than ever before to get insight from real people, helping you make confident decisions for your business. Try it today@surveymonkey.com Scott Rula is a success story partner. Now, look, mental health is something I take very seriously, and not just for myself, but for my team and everyone who's building something meaningful. It's hard. And the reality is finding quality therapy shouldn't take months or cost a fortune. But that's exactly what happens for most people trying to get help. That's why I want to tell you about Rula. Rula is a healthcare company making quality therapy actually accessible. Now, here's what matters. Rula patients typically pay just $15 per session. When using insurance, you connect with therapists who specialize in exactly what you need. Anxiety, burnout, relationships, whatever it is you're dealing. No waiting lists, no endless searching through directories. So if you've been putting off taking care of your mental health because it felt too complicated or too expensive, check out rula. Go to www.rula.comsuccess that is R U L A.com success to get started today. Square is a success story partner. Now, there's this coffee shop in my neighborhood that just started as this tiny little corner spot. Now they've got three locations they're selling online. They've even added some food. So what I love is that no matter which location I go to, whether I'm grabbing my morning coffee or I'm picking up lunch, everything just works smoothly. The ordering, the payments, the loyalty points, it all syncs up perfectly. And that is the power of Square. And honestly, it's why I keep going back. Every business has different goals and Square is the platform that supports them all. Whether you're opening new locations, selling something new, or expanding your reach, I see it everywhere now. The corner bagel shop that became the chain specialty markets managing thousands of items. Even my barber, who takes appointments online. Square point of sale has the flexibility to run and grow your business exactly how you want. So whether you're in retail, running a restaurant, offering services, or you're just doing it all, there's a square point of sale mode built specifically for what you need different settings for different parts of your business. So you're always ready to make the sale. Go to square.com go success story to learn more about how your business can grow with square. That is s q u a r e.com go/success story if somebody isn't. Because I think that's like, that's the reality for a lot of people. They're just not exposed to it. And most of most of your worldview is shaped by the people around you. So if you, I would say if you do not have the fortune of being exposed to entrepreneurship, I've thought about this all. Like, how do you architect that? Like, where do you go to feel confidence in yourself? Because yeah, I can go tell you to watch YouTube videos, but if you come from a family of like, again, 9-5W2s watching a YouTube video, people may disagree. But I think a lot of people will watch those YouTube videos and think that's like for Other people, Not for me.
- [20:45]
Maria
Yeah, yeah.
- [20:46]
Scott Clary
And that's a really hard mindset to get over. So what, what would be your recommendation for somebody that's in that space that realizes that I, I wish I could, but I just don't know anybody's ever built anything themselves. How do they have the confidence to take the first step?
- [21:01]
Maria
Yeah, that's such a good question. And I think really you hit the nail on the head. It's not just about whether you expose onto it. It's a fundamental, like this is for other people and it's not for me. And I deal with that mindset belief day in and day out because I work with people who are just getting started, who are in that exact 9 to 5 or they want that, but they don't know how to take that first step and they don't believe that that first step is possible for them. And what I tell my students is that it is going to be different. So where that resource is, where that exposure is, is different for everybody. But it comes down to an internal decision within you that no one else can make for you that you are going to take that first step. I can't. I tell my students I can't come to your house, pick you up by the collar and make you do it. Although I wish I could and I would, I really would.
- [21:47]
Scott Clary
No doubt you would.
- [21:47]
Maria
I would be breaking down your house because I want your life to change. But it comes down to you making that internal decision. And the thing I tell them is you have more support and a more of a path clear for you than I actually do at this very moment. Because what I'm trying to accomplish here, running a really what I want is a hundred million dollar company, but let's just say $10 million with a low ticket thing, not that many people are doing that, certainly not that many people in my sphere where I can be talking to them every single day. And so for me, scaling my company, I'm flying blind. I'm reading a book or two and grasping onto the little kernels of things I can get or anyone like talking. And so you have more knowledge and education and access to information than I do at this stage. And so part of that entrepreneur journey, no matter where you are, is just I'm flying blind a little bit, but I'm still going to take that step forward. And that's something that you have to decide to do for yourself.
- [22:37]
Scott Clary
I don't know it. So like coming from my background that was in tech, I didn't really have exposure to this So I never really understood the whole. I, I get it. I mean, if you're going to sell a product, make it 30, 40, $50,000, people buy it. But it also, it also puts a lot of pressure on people.
- [22:51]
Maria
That's the world I came from, a lot of pressure.
- [22:53]
Scott Clary
And I don't love the idea of not everybody does this, but like the mortgage your home to go learn how to.
- [23:00]
Maria
Is a yes. That is a conversation I would love to have with you because I think it's an, I think it's an issue. I used to be in the like $30,000 per, you know, thing.
- [23:10]
Scott Clary
You were buying courses or you wanted to launch.
- [23:12]
Maria
I would, I would sell. I was selling that. That's what I was doing. When I was doing the consulting. It was like 30,000 to $72,000 per customer. And I did it really well. But the thing is, you hit the nail on the head. If you're a person of integrity, you should be taking an investment like that really fucking seriously. And I did. And it was a ton of pressure. So my students love me. I got really like everyone was happy with their investment, but the pressure it took me to deliver on an investment like that, that I did take, I mean, let's just say someone who's making $60,000 a year is investing $30,000. That's half of their annual income.
- [23:46]
Scott Clary
They live in a high tax state. That's 100 of their take home too.
- [23:49]
Maria
That's. Yeah. Hello California. So like I take that really seriously. And, and again, like you also ran into issues. Like I would tell people, you know, don't put it on a credit card. Like, don't. And so I, and because I believe that like I'm a big Dave Ramsey fan and so like I'm a big believer in like, no dad. And I've built my business on no debt and stuff. And so yeah, there's a it to me being able to genuinely change people's lives for $24, for $30, I can help them get customers and grow their following. And it's for like the price of a Chipotle dinner. Like, that feels great. I sleep so well at night and my customers, I think that's very, they like that too, obviously.
- [24:27]
Scott Clary
I think, I think they like that. I mean they do because they're, they're voting with their, like their credit card and like their, their money every single day. So obviously it's working. I, Yeah. I don't know. This is why I've always been turned off from like the whole course world it's just if I love the idea of education, education is great. Education changes the world. Education can change someone's life. I feel like when you exploit it, that's when it like turns me personally off. And I think that, I think that, listen, if you want to have like an introduction and help somebody sort of get themselves off the ground, you can. If you want to have like a done for you or something that's a little bit more high value, like, you can do that too. But it's not like, I don't think the first version of entrepreneurship should be somebody going like 30, 40, $50,000 into debt.
- [25:16]
Maria
I agree.
- [25:17]
Scott Clary
I think, yeah, I don't even recommend that, like, founders should raise money before they figured out product market fit.
- [25:24]
Maria
I would agree with that too.
- [25:25]
Scott Clary
Like, I just think it's. It adds pressure. It adds pressure across the board. So whether or not it's someone else's money or it's the bank's money and interest, like, there's a lot of things that you can do to figure out if your business is going to work without spending an insane amount of money. Like people that spent 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 as a consulting fee. Those are people, those are companies that are established. Those are companies, like, where they know.
- [25:49]
Maria
There'S going to be a massive return. They can track, but they're not an.
- [25:52]
Scott Clary
Investment mortgaging their house. They're running at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 million in revenue and they want to hire a specialist. Totally different. Totally, totally different.
- [26:01]
Maria
I think the fact that there is so much exploitation in our industry specifically is a big reason why I show up the way I do. Because I do think that I am one of the good guys. And I think that it's important that people find me. We talked about this before we hit record, but one of the things I do is share not just what my business pulls in, but I share how much profit I make. I share how much I spend on my business expenses and how much I spend on my personal expenses too. I still be like, you want to know what I spend on my clothes? Like, you can find that. And I think that level of transparency is really important for people to have some sense of. Like, I actually really do need someone to show me what to do. People do, like, they want an online business, they want to know what we're doing, but they have no idea where to start. So they need help. They need someone. My mission is to have them find me because I know I'm going to take good care of you. I know you're in good hands with me. So how do I find as many people as possible and bring them into my world where I know you're going to be well taken care of?
- [26:56]
Scott Clary
What was the value or the benefit to you, outside of being hyper transparent, to like, putting all of your, all of your stuff online, like, how much you make, how much you take home, like, you know, the concept of building in public where, you know, you'll see on Twitter, like, people posting their, their stripe dashboards at their new SaaS, startup, whatever. Yeah, but that, I mean that there's not many examples of people that post.
- [27:19]
Maria
Their entire, like, life, my life, you know, what I spend on subscriptions. I, I share my personal tax return so, like, you can see my tax forms to see, like, what I made in every column.
- [27:30]
Scott Clary
Why do you do that?
- [27:31]
Maria
A couple of reasons. One, I want you to trust me. That's the most important thing in my industry. You have to trust me. And so me having that level of, like, almost taboo levels of transparency.
- [27:41]
Scott Clary
A little bit.
- [27:42]
Maria
Yeah, A little bit. Like, it's like, yikes, Maria. Like, but like, that's what I want. I want you to sit up and pay attention and be like, that's different. And it does. The other thing that it does is, like you said, build in public. There's a little bit of healthy pressure to build in public. Because when I have a month that's like, oh, you know, I only did $500,000 a month. Like, everybody knows that because I share my numbers. And so it's a little bit of that. Like, you know, like a publicly traded company, like, they do their, like, reports. It's kind of a little bit like that where it's like a good bit of, like, pressure. It also expands people's minds to what's possible. I, back in 2012, 2011, I was reading, like, blog reports per month on how much I made blogging every single month. And they would be making like, I made $13,000 in a month. And I was like, you can make $13,000 in a month. I want to do that. And so it just expands your mind. And my, my girls that I work with, like, they need their minds expanded. You know, where I come from, even, like in Ohio, like, people are excited when you're making $60,000 in a year. So then you come across someone on the Internet that started with their first year, mind you being $63 in their first year. And it just shows what's possible. And it really stretches their mind in a believable way because they're Seeing where every penny of that $700,000 is going. Like, oh, she spent $250,000 in ads. That's where that money went. She spent, you know, whatever it is, $50,000 in labor. Like, so they're seeing where the dollars are going in real time. I think that's really important for them.
- [29:02]
Scott Clary
I like that. So that that whole idea of entrepreneurship isn't for me, it's for other people. I would assume that transparency actually brings somebody like, brings that reality closer to them.
- [29:14]
Maria
I think so. The other thing that I think that I do that helps them feel like it's possible is all the like vulnerable stuff I share about being a single mom and just the like human side of me. All the times I've messed up, like, there's the income, almost puts me on a pedestal. And then me sharing all the vulnerability, all the ways I've messed up brings me back down to humans. Like, oh, she's a mess, a hot mess, expressed just like I am. And she's running a $10 million company. That marriage of really good social proof. Like, I made this and yet my I am a mess in like the best way possible. That combination has been such a winner for me in creating trust, which is I really, that's the only thing I care about online is like, I want you to trust me. I want you to feel like you're in good hands with me. I want you to feel like Maria is someone who's going to take care of me and my business dream. That's what I want.
- [30:00]
Scott Clary
Quick question. What's your go to when you got 10 minutes before a meeting or a workout? For me, it just used to be whatever I could grab, which usually meant skipping meals entirely or just grabbing something that left me crashing an hour later because it was just full of garbage. That's why I'm partnering with Huell. This, this black edition Ready to drink is a complete meal. So it has 35 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, 35 essential vitamins and minerals. It is no sugar added, gluten free, under five bucks. I always keep a few of these in my fridge and honestly it solved the whole back to back meetings. Go, go, go non stop. No time to eat. Problem. Super well. And this one's new for me. It's Huels Daily Greens. I had the blueberry this morning. Honestly, first impression, it was way better than I expected. It's developed by registered nutritionists and dietitians. There are 42 vit minerals and superfoods. Only 25 calories, 4 grams of fiber and just 1 gram of sugar. I throw one back first thing before my morning calls. Every single morning look. If you're running a business, time is the most valuable asset. Heel makes healthy eating simple. And they also just launched into Target stores nationwide so you can get it everywhere. Try both products today with 15 off your purchase for new customers with my exclusive code Scott@huel.com Scott try both products today with 15 off your purchase for new customers with my exclusive code Scott S C O t t@huell.com Scott use my code fill out the post checkout survey to help Support the show that is Huell.com Scott they really make healthy living taste amazing. Even if you're on the go. Healthy eating, healthy lifestyle doesn't have to taste bad. It doesn't have to suck. NetSuite is a success story. Partner now what does the future hold for business? If you ask nine experts, you'll get 10 answers. Bull market, bear market. Rates are up, rates are down. At the end of the day it'd just be easier. Somebody invented a crystal ball. But until then, over 43,000 businesses have future proof themselves with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one AI cloud ERP that brings accounting, financial management, inventory and HR into one unified platform. Here's what I love about it. Instead of juggling multiple systems, you get one source of truth, real time insights and forecasting that actually let you peer into the future with actionable data. When you're closing your books instead of weeks, you're spending less time looking backwards and more time focusing on what's next. Whether your company is earning millions or hundreds of millions, netsuite helps you tackle immediate challenges while seizing your biggest opportunities. If I needed this product in my business, this is what I'd use. It's a game changer for business visibility and control. If you want to see how AI can transform your financial operations, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free. That's netsuite.com Scott Clary that's netsuite.com Scott CLary netsuite.com Scott CLARY how does the audience because authenticity, it's a word that's like thrown around a lot. And I think that, I think that if you want to be authentic online, I think it's good to include parts of your life. And this is more from like the lens of like a creator trying to create good content. But I don't find it's. It's good to be authentic and talk about the things that you experience. But I don't feel like you have to non stop talk about it because it distracts, if that makes sense. Is there like a percentage of like how much you actually share to accomplish a result versus like trauma dumping every day on your stories?
- [33:21]
Maria
Good question. There's such a right way and a wrong way to do that. Right. Because if you do it the wrong way, you're like, oh, you shouldn't have shared that. It's like a big, it's a big yikes. Right?
- [33:29]
Scott Clary
So it's, it's. And I think that people just default to not putting any of themselves online because they don't know where that line is, where it's what's actually going to help me become a human versus oh my goodness, is this person selling courses or do I feel like I'm this person's therapist?
- [33:43]
Maria
Yeah. And, and almost like is this person mentally okay? Like I've seen sometimes where I'm like.
- [33:48]
Scott Clary
That, sometimes I think people are not.
- [33:50]
Maria
Yeah. And they're not and they shouldn't have access to their phones. And so like I've seen that too. But I think for me, what I, because I, I do see people do it the wrong way a lot. And I advise vulnerability and, and be transparent. But like, let's not air our dirty laundry. What I find is a good balance is like what. Talk about what you're talking about from a healed place if you have unresolved emotions. Like when I went through my divorce three years ago, you didn't even know what was going on at all. I waited and it's a good thing. I would not have been classy. I would not have been graceful at the beginning. And that's good. Once I work through that. Only in the last, I would say six months or so. I'm more at a place where I'm coming at this from a very healed, very. Like, this is actually amazing for me. Like I'm, I'm out the other side and my life is beautiful and it's incredible and oh my gosh, like, what a gift this all was. But, but it took a hot second to get there. And so I think really like analyzing your own emotions about something. People can tell when you're coming across as angry or bitter or resentful. They can also tell when you're coming at a lesson learned from a place of healing and a place of wow, what a gift this was. And so really you have to have enough self awareness to know what mental space am I at as it relates to this taboo topic or this vulnerable topic that I'm Sharing. Where's my own headspace about that? Because that's going to energetically come across whether you try to mask it or not. People can tell.
- [35:01]
Scott Clary
I like that. And then that's when. So when you are healed, that's when you can start to bring it into your content and you can start tell those stories.
- [35:08]
Maria
When you're starting to feel grateful for it or you're starting to realize the lessons that come from it and you're not so angry about what's happening to you or you're not in a victim space. You're like, hey, actually this happened and it wasn't great, but here's the beautiful good things that came out of it. That's a really good place to talk about it.
- [35:22]
Scott Clary
I like that a lot. I just had one more thought on, on pressure, and then I want to talk a little bit more about how you've. The idea of life architecture. I love it. I mean, like I mentioned, I'm five feet from my bedroom here. It's like there's. It's all done in like very. What's the word I'm thinking of? It's all done like by design, right? Like everything in my life I try and do by design, even the amount I work or what I work on. I know that you're very specific as well, but before I go into that, you mentioned about building in public and creating like a healthy amount of pressure for somebody who's never built anything themselves. Entrepreneurship can feel super overwhelming. Obviously, adding on, like the pressure of disclosing your own financials, I'm assuming for some people, is very stressful. The thought of even being an entrepreneur is stressful. So how do you, how do you sort of leverage pressure as a positive?
- [36:18]
Maria
That is a. You, you are throwing some good questions at me. These are good questions because these are.
- [36:22]
Scott Clary
Things I think about all the time.
- [36:25]
Maria
Well, that question gets into some of my theories around entrepreneurship in general, which is like, I think sometimes you have to have a little bit of like, I don't even want to use the word toxic, but like, like, like sometimes the pressure isn't good, but it achieves good things, if that makes sense. And so it's like my pressure to help people make money is an obsession. Like, it's, I'm obsessed with it to an almost like unhealthy degree. And I don't want to put that label on myself because it works for me. And so, by the way, I think that's.
- [36:54]
Scott Clary
That's very normal. And anybody who's built something understands, like.
- [36:58]
Maria
I think about it the minute I wake up and the minute I go to bed. Like, really? My business and Ellie, my daughter, are, like, the only two things on my radar. And I can't offer advice on how to modulate pressure in a way that's, like, doable, because that's not how I operate. But Jeff Bezos is something that I really liked, which was work life harmony, not work life balance. And so I have pressure to reach every person on the ends of the earth. Like, I literally want to touch every human being and help them take a look at their income and say, hey, hey, is there a way, if you want to, you can make more income? If so, put me in coach. Like, I want to be there to help you. That I truly believe is the reason I was put on this earth. And, like, I will be doing this until I'm 90. Like, that is my life's mission. And so, like, with that sense of urgency, there's going to be a lot of pressure. But it doesn't feel negative. It feels exciting. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs worry about things that, like, you don't need to worry about. Like, if you are an entrepreneur, take that. If you want to be entrepreneur, take that first step and then work on it as you feel excited and motivated, too. The pressure, as you call it, is, like, my fuel, and I love it. And most entrepreneurs that I know, we have that pressure, but it fuels us to do really good things. So I don't believe in work life balance. I believe in work life harmony. And my life is harmonious, very much by design. And that comes with the pressure. But I like the pressure.
- [38:16]
Scott Clary
What? I agree with everything you said. What? Pressure is bad pressure, then the pressure.
- [38:22]
Maria
That makes you feel like shit. The pressure that makes you feel like you aren't doing enough and you're bad for not doing enough. The pressure I feel is there's more people who need help making more money, and I haven't reached them yet, and I want to help them. Like, I. It's a positive pressure where it's like.
- [38:37]
Scott Clary
It is, but you can't also. But also, you can't, like, be down on yourself because you haven't gotten to the level that you're at yet. So people do that.
- [38:45]
Maria
I say, exactly, yes.
- [38:46]
Scott Clary
Moving the goalposts.
- [38:47]
Maria
Yes. It's a very good distinction because I know that there will be some people that I will never impact, and that's okay. But I get excited about the people I've already helped, and it's like, can we do that a Hundred times more. And so it's this positive, this beautiful thing where you realize your work makes a difference, and you're like, but what if I could just, like, help another hundred people? And that's good pressure.
- [39:08]
Scott Clary
It's the duality of two things being true at once, where you want to help more people, but then you can't discredit and discount the work you've already done.
- [39:14]
Maria
True. Exactly. And the work I've already done is what creates the pressure for more. Is beautiful. I. I love it. I really do.
- [39:23]
Scott Clary
I think that that's. I think that. I think that. Listen, we're talking to different crowds here. Like, people that are just starting out will feel a lot of pressure. And. And I think that's a healthy thing. But then also speaking to sort of like a more advanced entrepreneur crowd, something that I deal with all the time, and I'm sure you do as well. Like, you do move goal posts, so you don't realize how. You realize how far you've come, but you aren't happy about. You're not, like, satisfied.
- [39:52]
Maria
No, you're not satisfied, and you're not happy. Let's be real. Like, if you're. If you're looking for happiness in achieving a milestone, that milestone, when you achieve it, will be like dust in your mouth. Like, it's. It's tasteless. It loses its flavor immediately. And so happiness is not in the money or in the milestones. It's the journey, truly. And that's why I really don't know that I buy into the idea that there has to be pressure at the beginning. Like, when you're a new entrepreneur, you're invited to sit at the table and play the game with us. It's like a board game night, right? Like, yeah, there's some rules you gotta learn. And, like, it's. It's a little bit like, okay, what are the rules of the game? But, like, you're having fun. You're playing a game. And so I challenge the idea that it has to be pressure. There it is. And that is a reality. But, like, what if it. What if it was just fun from day one? That's how it was for me. It was just. Just fucking fun from day one. And I've had fun for 13 years, and it's been awesome when you.
- [40:40]
Scott Clary
When you have a very specific product and it's working and people are getting results as a content creator and a course creator, because I would say that those two things for you are synonymous. And you create the courses, but you create the content. To support the courses and to drive the traffic. How do you decide what you want to do after? So, I mean you, you have the trust of this community of people. So you mentioned you don't want the first course to be about building wealth and you only focus on how to, you know, sell through one particular channel, even though there's a million different channels to sell. So how do you think of the evolution of your business? As I say solopreneur, obviously you can have a team, but still like very solopreneur. E. What do you give them next in terms of product, where do you take them? But also, when you expand your offering to more than just one thing, how do you create content that serves multiple products?
- [41:36]
Maria
Yeah, that's. You are. That's a great question. So, couple of things. I just read a book by, not necessarily by Jeff Bezos. It's the collected writings of Bezos and I recommend everybody read it because there's so many misconceptions about who Jeff Bezos is. But if you actually, when people don't take the time to really study him and what he's doing, what he's actually spending his money on, but he, he, his shareholder letters, a lot of people recommend them and I, I just read them. And one thing he said that really stuck with me as someone that is in the low ticket business, that I have like, like 200, 250 customers a day, right? So like every single day, 200 plus new customers a day. So I'm in the like customer acquisition business. And he said something that just really cracked me up because it's just so true. He's like, the good news is the customer is always dissatisfied. There's always new problems to be solving for which you're going to find as soon as you launch your first course, they're going to immediately be begging you for the next one. You don't have to think the marketplace tells you what they want next. So I have a long list of problems my customers have that I need to solve next for them. Right? So like using the Instagram story one, for example. Well, the more followers you have, the more people see your stories. So my next course should probably be on like how I got so many Instagram followers, I need to make a course on that. Or like they're getting views but their checkout pages are shit and nobody's buying from them. Okay. I needed to make a course on how to make a checkout page that actually like gets sales. And so there's a never ending list of things our customers are struggling with and they tell you very clearly and very loudly what they need help with. And so the marketplace tells me what courses I launch next. Sometimes they're courses I don't even really personally want to be talking about, but I know it's what my customers need. And so I'm always servicing my customers and what they need and what their problems are. And then you mentioned like how do you make content that promotes multiple products at the same time? There's a book recommendation that I have for you. It's called Ready, Fire, Aim. It's by Michael Masterson and he talks about how stage one entrepreneurship is zero to a million and you should only sell one product at that stage. Once you're at a million trying to scale to 10 million, which is the stage I'm at, you should be launching as many products and marketing as many products as fast as you possibly can. And so it's a big, it's a big switch from going from selling one product to multiple products as fast as you can. And what I learned is that we as individuals over complicated in our heads, our customers are not paying attention to every piece of content that we put out. And so they might not even know that you have multiple products. They're just going to see that one piece of content that's pitching that one particular product and they're going to buy from that. And what I wasn't expecting but ended up being a beautiful source of profit for me was the product ecosystem where the products recommend themselves. And so all of a customer who buys my selling with Instagram stories one but then I might happen to mention that I also have a course on copywriting. And the better your copy is, the more your stories are going to perform. And so they'll naturally go and buy the copywriting course because they that they might not feel confident about what they're writing and they want my, my little guide to doing that. And so I wasn't prepared for the way this product ecosystem because I probably have like 200 products at this point. The way the product ecosystem recommends itself and it becomes this like little machine that like scales very naturally.
- [44:37]
Scott Clary
You sell products that help people master the skills to make the first sale, first product even more effective. And, and, and not always. But I mean like that's like a nice sort of like I guess ecosystem is the perfect word for it. That's how you think about expanding the ecosystem.
- [44:51]
Maria
Exactly. And they tell you what they want.
- [44:53]
Scott Clary
Next and them telling you what they want next, like just is it a couple of comments or Is it a couple of dms? Like, when do you know when it's like a casual interest versus what people will actually pay for?
- [45:06]
Maria
Yeah, that's a really good question. One is just instinct of, like, mastery. Like, you do it enough, you have your finger on the pulse of your market, so you just know. But two, so we have a Facebook group where all of our students are in. So it's a pretty big Facebook group at this point. And I just pay attention to the chatter in the Facebook group. Like, If I'm seeing 20, 20 comments and I'm like, hey, does Maria have a course on filming stuff with an iPhone? And then 20 people are like, following, and they want to know if she does. And. And I don't. I'm like, huh, maybe I should be launching a little micro course on filming with an iPhone. That might be something my customers really need. So I just start, like, writing it down. And the thing is, I can't produce products fast enough. That's actually my bottleneck is if I could clone myself, I would triple my business.
- [45:46]
Scott Clary
You can't hire a teacher.
- [45:47]
Maria
I haven't yet figured out how to switch people. Trust me.
- [45:52]
Scott Clary
Yeah, I feel that.
- [45:53]
Maria
And my sister Rose, she runs the ads, so she's brought into my world and she is now a trusted person. But people trust me and they trust Rose. It's a process. Agora Institute did that and they had a ton of teachers do that. But that's probably how I'm going to scale to 100 million, but I'm nowhere close to that right now. And so I am the bottleneck. I am the constraint. I am the key. Like, the key man. Risk is me. It's all. And so if I could produce products three times faster, I would triple my revenue. That's the bottleneck. That's the crunch. Because they would buy them as soon as. As soon as I buy launch something, they. They buy it.
- [46:27]
Scott Clary
Well, I was just thinking again, I don't have experience with this, but I would just make the assumption just based on some of my past experience with, like, just selling products. Like, if you. If you. If your product, if you have like a linchpin problem or a key man problem, and it's you. And. And your conversion rates are, say, X percent because you sell the product, you'll never replicate those conversion rates. But from a business perspective, conversion rates could be good enough.
- [46:56]
Maria
Yeah, that's true. That's true.
- [46:58]
Scott Clary
So it's like if you're 6% and. And it's 2%, but 2% with no effort is better than you being a bottleneck. That's all I'm thinking.
- [47:06]
Maria
That's true. No, I think you're right. That's something because again like we, we are. I'm the Kimian every everywhere. I'm the face of the eye.
- [47:13]
Scott Clary
Exact same problem if I sold something through this podcast.
- [47:16]
Maria
Yeah, but that's true like because we do have better than typical conversion rates and so we could afford to take a hit on that. That's interesting. The thing, my like shorter term thing was like looking what I want to do is like I have team members that could create things that don't need my face like workbooks and guides and templates. And that's very helpful. It's stuff that we actually use here at Ta Maria but doesn't require my face figuring out that I think will help too. But long term, that's exactly what we need to be doing is getting me out of it. And Dave Ramsey did it really successfully with his Ramsey personalities. He's got a bunch of people now and so he's. He's really the person I look to that's in the low ticket world. He does do events and higher tickets up. But he mostly is selling like a 20 book and a 97 course.
- [47:57]
Scott Clary
I saw, I saw you speaking about why you think he's such a great creator and I actually agree and you can sort of drop that insight as well because he is a workhorse course.
- [48:05]
Maria
Three hours every single day.
- [48:06]
Scott Clary
But I didn't know he did. I. I don't actually know what he does as like a business Ramsay.
- [48:11]
Maria
So his main product for like I don't know, 20 years has been like Financial Peace University, which is basically a course. It's basically a course. It used to be DVDs that got mailed to you. Before that it was cassettes that got mailed to you. Like he's been in the information business since the 80s or whatever it is like.
- [48:25]
Scott Clary
But it was real estate.
- [48:26]
Maria
No. Well, he does have real estate and he made a ton of money with real estate in 2008. But his Ramsey Solutions business is in the information selling business. And so he has done that very successfully for a long time. And that's the business I'm in. And I. It's a great model because he's always. He's over $100 million in annual revenue doing that all low ticket for the most part. He does have like entree leadership which is his higher level like masterminds and stuff. But for the most part it's 20 books, you know 37 courses.
- [48:55]
Scott Clary
That makes sense because the people that, that like sort of follow him are, are not killing it financially. No, they're bu.
- [49:00]
Maria
People.
- [49:00]
Scott Clary
Yeah.
- [49:00]
Maria
They're on a budget. They're on the Dave Ramsey budget. They're eating beans and rice and it's.
- [49:03]
Scott Clary
And it's funny because he is like the main advocate for no debt.
- [49:08]
Maria
Yeah. And I.
- [49:09]
Scott Clary
That's kind of his thing. It's no debt. I mean he's like the opposite of Robert Kiyosaki.
- [49:12]
Maria
Right.
- [49:13]
Scott Clary
Literally, he's like a billion dollars in debt. He's like, he owns his real estate.
- [49:16]
Maria
Free and that's when it comes to like lifestyle architecture, like and lifestyle design.
- [49:20]
Scott Clary
Beautiful segment.
- [49:21]
Maria
I design. Yeah. Sync design. I do not want a life where even if I could make the stress for me of being overly leveraged and being caught with my pants on, that is not worth it. So I would rather, I'm, I'm young. I would rather take my time and build my wealth slowly and stably. Because Ramsey says it best. He's like there reaches a tipping point where it's much slower to build wealth the way he does. But you reach this point where then you're like so freaking cash flowing and that it just compounds really fast once you get to that like critical tipping point. And so for me, I might be making more money if I leverage debt. I'm completely debt free in my personal life, completely debt free in my business and I will never take out debt. I don't even want a mortgage. Like I'm renting right now. But when I go to buy, I want to buy my beautiful Corona del Mar mansion in cash because I just don't want debt. I don't, I'm like fully bought into it and it doesn't make financial sense. Like I get the logic. Everyone always tries to like I get it. But for me, like I love that I drive my car and it's fully paid for. It's been fully paid for since 2020. I love that.
- [50:22]
Scott Clary
I understand it because I know like people always say, well, you know, if you can get a mortgage at X.
- [50:26]
Maria
Yes.
- [50:26]
Scott Clary
Well, not now by the way.
- [50:27]
Maria
Yeah.
- [50:28]
Scott Clary
Whatever interest rate is going to be.
- [50:29]
Maria
Yeah, that's true too.
- [50:31]
Scott Clary
Like if you could have gotten mortgages in the past, I mean if you can make more on that money versus the mortgage. But then the arg then yes, if you are ever going to play that game, you're going to play the debt game. It's not like obviously it's something you can do very successfully and, and, and.
- [50:47]
Maria
Tons of people do.
- [50:48]
Scott Clary
Tons of people do it. And the US in particular is set up for debt.
- [50:52]
Maria
Yeah, yeah.
- [50:53]
Scott Clary
But like, it's always something else to think about. So if you are, for example, you have like a 3% mortgage and you have that money and you like refinance your home and you put that money in a, in a, in an investment that's making you more. Yes, fine, but you just, it's something to think about.
- [51:09]
Maria
I know, but I'm like, go put that brain power towards making more money.
- [51:11]
Scott Clary
No, no, that's what I mean. Like, it's like literally like draining cognitive brain. Not something to think about as in, like, you should do it. Something about, as in like you have to literally think about it.
- [51:18]
Maria
Exactly. It's something to think about. And, and people expend so much brain power on like half a percent here, a percent here. And I'm like, that's good that those are some good critical thinking skills. Go put it to a business and triple your income. That's where you're actually going to see the needle really move for you financially. My life dramatically changed when I dramatically increased my income. That is what really moved the needle for me financially. And I don't think people, they spend a lot of time, time doing other things and not worrying about that. Go, go start a business.
- [51:46]
Scott Clary
I like that a lot. And I also am, I am a firm believer that like, when you spread yourself too thin, like, nothing gets done proper.
- [51:52]
Maria
Truly, Truly.
- [51:53]
Scott Clary
And there, there is an argument to me, like, if you are, I know I'll get on for this. If you are always focused on like, okay, so doing the things that people tell you to do. And I do them, I do them myself. But if you. I'll give you an example. I'll give you a very practical example. So we just bought a condo in Dubai. It was like a wild, wild move. We had family that had invested and they're like, oh, go try to buy this pre construction in Dubai. And it worked out very well. But it was like to close on it. It was like two months of my life. It was going to Dubai. It was signing paperwork, it was back and forth. It was figuring out this whole system is figuring out mortgage paperwork, getting it approved through like all these regulatory, massive distraction, like insane distraction action. So if you do this and you play this game and you invest, it doesn't matter if it's as crazy as buying a condo in Dubai or researching like the latest tech stocks or putting even, you know, put your money in like a Vanguard etl, all these Things are options, but they all require research and attention and energy. And I think that when somebody focuses all of their energy and all of their time on one thing.
- [53:00]
Maria
One thing exactly.
- [53:01]
Scott Clary
It is crazy what it can do.
- [53:03]
Maria
It is. People don't even realize.
- [53:04]
Scott Clary
Also it creates space because if you only focus on one thing thing, it's like then you have like these periods where maybe you aren't busy for two, three hours, but those two, three hours where you can be creative, you think of solutions and you can think of things that can actually 10x that one thing.
- [53:20]
Maria
I've always said I'm a one trick pony. Like I can do one thing really, really well. And it's this business and for the longest time it was like one business with one product to a million. I did that for three years. I just sold the same product over and over again. I also think with debt in particular, but really just in general, but specifically with debt, there's an energetic side of it too where it's like, like debt is a leaky money energy. I really. And I'm like a little, I'm into the metaphysics of money a little bit. Like not too, too much, but enough to be a believer because I've seen it work in my own life and money loves to come to other money. So when I became debt free because I had a lot of debt coming out of college and medical debt and whatever, my just the act of paying off my debt, all my personals being completely debt free before I was making a ton of money, money started to come to flock to me. Like money loves money and it loves having a place to go. And so I firmly believe that one of the best things you can do from an abundance mindset standpoint, from a money standpoint, is to just pay off all your debt. Like I just challenge people to like clear their balances, pay your debt off and just see what happens for you financially. You will be. My theory is you will build well so much faster.
- [54:24]
Scott Clary
Indeed is a success story partner. Now if you're hiring, Indeed is all you need. Let me give you an example. If I needed to hire a new editor for this show, I'd go to Indeed and be super specific. Not just can you edit audio. I'd say I need someone who's edited a conversational podcast for at least three years, gets our style and knows our software. Someone who's done this before. And here's the thing with Indeed sponsored jobs, I'd get people who fit that description. I'm not digging through resumes from people who've edited one YouTube video. I'm getting actual podcast editors who know what they're doing, people who've worked on shows like ours and can prove it. That's what makes a difference. You get people who actually are what you're looking for. According to Indeed Data, Sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed are 90% more likely to report a higher than non sponsored jobs and people are finding quality hires right now. In the minute that I've been speaking to you, companies like yours have made 27 hires on Indeed. According to Indeed Data Worldwide. Spend more time interviewing candidates who check all the boxes. Less stress, less time, and more results. Now with Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help you get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com Clary just go to Indeed.com Clary right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com Clary terms and conditions apply. Hiring do it the Right way with indeed, HubSpot is a success story. Partner. Now look, if you're in marketing right now, or if you're an entrepreneur who's hired marketers, or if you're a founder who leads a whole marketing team, you know the drill. You are creating content for 12 different channels. You're launching campaigns, you're scoring leads, you're analyzing all the data and somewhere in there you're actually supposed to do great marketing. And it's exhausting and you're spread too thin. But this is what actually works for marketers to give you your life and your time back. HubSpot's marketing hub HubSpot's content hub combined with their new AI called Breeze. Now what this actually does is basically everything that you shouldn't have to do yourself. It remixes your content instantly so you're not starting from scratch every single time. It handles lead scoring so you know exactly who to focus on, which customers will probably convert. And it pulls all your analytics and your data and KPIs into one place instead of having them scattered across 15 different tabs and tools. Plus, the AI agents that HubSpot builds for you can automate the repetitive stuff that's eating away your data day. Bottom line, you get better results faster without burning out. See, with HubSpot, everything's connected in one platform instead of duct taped together. So if you're tired of being spread too thin, check out HubSpot.com marketers to see how this actually works. I think that a lot of people, if they have massive amounts of debt or their wealth fluctuates significantly or I mean, even if you're a business owner, it doesn't matter how much you're killing it. There's going to be months where there's like barely any in the banks. You have cash flow issues. It really impacts you psychologically. It does really, it really with you. And I think that, that people don't understand how much that can actually long term be a detriment to the potential.
- [57:18]
Maria
Success and in the short term to your mental health. And, and like you get in this scarcity, I call it like a scarcity spiral.
- [57:24]
Scott Clary
Well, if you ever build a business, you know this, like, it's not like a, like a job, right. Where you get like paid every two weeks. Right. So, so you could have. I was just watching this TikTok and this woman's like, I'm, I'm at a conference to speak about how I scaled to a million dollars in revenue per year. Revenue, top line. But because she had cash flow issues and like vendors weren't paying on time, she couldn't afford the deposit. Like her credit card wouldn't clear the deposit in the hotel that she was staying because she had no money in the bank. But she was at a hotel to speak at a conference about making a million dollars in her first out of integrity.
- [57:59]
Maria
Again, again, like, I agree, but I.
- [58:01]
Scott Clary
Mean this is a reality for people. This is a reality for people. This is something that happens. So say, have, say, say you have like 3, 400, I don't know what kind of product you service. It's like a Tik Tok 30 seconds. But like say 3 or $400,000 in like accounts receivable, like net 60 payment terms because you suck at negotiating whatever it is. Like, it's, it's real. And if you overspent, you over leveraged you, you paid your employees before you got the income out of your own, like personal checking. Yeah, it could totally happen that you have no money in the bank. So is it out of integrity?
- [58:33]
Maria
Here's what I will say. You sh. I really commend you for sharing that side of what you're going through on TikTok. That is vulnerability, that is transparency. So I commend her for that. But I would personally, if she doesn't.
- [58:46]
Scott Clary
Bring it up, then it's out of integrity.
- [58:47]
Maria
I think I was just like, you gotta be. At a bare minimum, let's just be specific that it's top line revenue. Like at a bare minimum, let's just start like, let's not do the funny business where it's like I made a million dollars but it's in sales and we all know that like the contracts on that don't always come through. So did you really do a million dollars or did you do like 300,000 DOL cash collected? Right. Like, to me, people get away with a lot of like ambiguity with the terms. That's why I'm so anal about it. About like, no, it's like I'm on track for $10 million in a year. I haven't hit that yet. Like, I'm very specific with every term I put out there because it's, we have to start having some self policing of what we're doing in this industry or the FTC is going to come in and we'd rather, I'd rather police me than have the FTC be policing me. Let's just put it that way.
- [59:27]
Scott Clary
Tell me about your one and a half work days per week and then I want to talk about why it's important to you, how you did it. Some of the things I just mentioned and what they mean to you.
- [59:37]
Maria
Yeah, I think it's even less now. I think it's probably like one day a week now. I lost my half a day. I don't know. This is like, it's like one day a week now. So like today's my work day.
- [59:45]
Scott Clary
Explain, explain what one day a week actually means.
- [59:47]
Maria
Because it literally, this is what my. If you want average week, there will be one day per week where Ellie's either with her dad or she's with a nanny. And that's when I work. That's it. I don't, I, I'm with her a minimum of 85% of the time and I'm off my phone. I don't work when I'm with her, so whatever needs to get done gets done in that period. I will occasionally check in with a team member via Slack, but I typically don't do that. So like this week podcast, we're working today. That's it. I'm going to write some emails. That's it. That's it. That's all I do. So that's it. That's my work for the week and the con.
- [60:24]
Scott Clary
So, so architecting your life, if you cannot scale within the confines of that 24 hours. Meaning like you said before, you're a bottleneck, but removing the bottleneck would be you record content seven days a week, that's removing. But to you that's not worth it.
- [60:40]
Maria
I can't make that trade at this time in my Life because I'm choosing to be a very present mother. I could easily have far surpassed my revenue in my business by choosing to have a nanny more than I do or by choosing to not be with Ellie as much as I do. But she's three years old. She's gonna be three once and then she'll be four. And I don't wanna miss a minute of it. This business stuff is so dust in the wind compared to being a parent. And again, I have a very fulfilling career. I love what I do. It is so meaningful to me to do what I do. But in comparison to being a parent and especially being the parent of a little kid like that, where she's just like up my butt in the best way possible. Like I. Everything we do really like that is what I want. And there. And I just wrote an email about this this morning because there are so many moments where I do feel like I'm failing both. Like I feel like I'm failing my business because I'm not working on it as much as I could. Or I'm failing Ellie the one day a week I work because she's sad. Like, she really likes to be with me 24 7. And so even that one day a week is a big sacrifice for both of us. Like, I don't like to be away from her, she doesn't like to be away from me. We would love to be just with each other all the time 24 7. And so I. There are many days where I do feel like I'm literally failing both because. Because the reality is if you're only working one day a week, some stuff's going to get back burned. That's just how it goes. That's just. That's just going to happen. And the reality is I sacrifice some personal fulfillment to be a present mother. That's just my reality. That's the. It's not even a sacrifice. It's just the trade I'm making. And so I think, I think really, it's just that's. It's. You have to become. And I think your friend is exactly right. Time. Time magically changes once you have a kid. It's literally magic. And you get done in 30 minutes what used to take you eight hours. And I'm not kidding, like you, it literally just collapses. And you figure out what needs to get done and you do it in a way shorter amount of time. And I promise you, if and when you do have kids, you're going to look back to what you thought filled your day and you'd be like, I had so much free time, I had no idea. Like you just, and every parent will say that that's just how it goes.
- [62:42]
Scott Clary
So first of all, when did you, when did you consciously decide that this is the way you wanted to build? Because were you, were, you were not working one day a week before you had her?
- [62:51]
Maria
No, I was working like seven days a week, six days a week. Like I was working excessively. I just got smart. I knew to me I'm, I'm a very like values minded person and it's very, I think it is very important for a mother, this is my opinion, but I think it's very important for a mother specifically to be very present to her kid, especially in the first three years of a child's life. There's a lot of studies that have been done on that and it's so important for that bond and for the kids security to have her mother be with her. And that was like a values thing for me. So it was like, I am going to, to force reality to fit to what I want. I am going to have a seven figure business and I'm not going to work and whatever that looks like, I'm going to figure that out. But those are the, that's the standard.
- [63:30]
Scott Clary
So when you made that switch from, from working seven days a week to, to being a mother and I fully, fully agree, I think it's very smart way to, to live. And I think that's, that's beautiful. I just feel like a lot of people have trouble with this. I feel like most people with wish they could, especially entrepreneurs, wish they could compress their stuff down to one day, one and a half days. So a couple ideas. Difference between being busy and productive, for sure. You obviously went through this sort of mental exercise figuring out what you had to do, what you needed to do and what you didn't have to do, what you could delegate. I'm sure that's what you, you went through some version of that. How did you, how did you remove 80, 85% of the work?
- [64:12]
Maria
Like 95, truly 95. Because 5% of what you're doing is actually driving re. And that's really all you need to do. The rest kind of figures itself out. So I, all I did when I was making that pivot was look at what am I doing that actually drives revenue. And I just stopped doing the rest. Like I just stopped. And so it was fine. Like it was like so much busy work entrepreneurs do that they think is so important. They think that it's Very ego driven. A lot of the stuff we do as entrepreneurs that we think is important is very ego driven. We, our ego likes to think it's needed, but it's actually not.
- [64:42]
Scott Clary
Not.
- [64:43]
Maria
There's very few things that actually drive revenue. For me, it's content creation. That's all I do. But that drives 100% of the revenue and that's all I do. And so for me a full day is looks like creating content and it's different kinds of content. Some days I'm in a studio, some days I'm at home writing emails, some days I'm scheduling out my Instagram or filming YouTube. It's a lot of different content creation. But you have to look, if you want to work less, look at what's driving the revenue and just start doing that and stop doing everything else.
- [65:07]
Scott Clary
But you also, you also are very good at systematizing your content creation too. So you film an insane amount of content in a very short period of time. You bring like wardrobe changes everywhere.
- [65:19]
Maria
I think, I think it really comes down to what our beliefs are. Like, do you think you need to spend eight hours a day working in order to generate the revenue you've been generating?
- [65:29]
Scott Clary
I know people say yes, but I'm.
- [65:31]
Maria
Here to tell you you're wrong. You actually can generate the same amount of revenue revenue in 30 minutes, maybe an hour if you just looked at the live. You have to look at the activities and really do an audit of like what actually brings the money in. What is the specific task that you do that brings the money in? Do way more of that and stop doing everything else.
- [65:49]
Scott Clary
You mentioned that entrepreneurs are super ego driven, which I believe because I like as you say this, I totally recognize patterns in myself and like yeah, that's totally. I should not do anymore. But, but if you were going to, if you're going to give advice to somebody who's just auditing, what are like the, what are the things that you had to kill that were the toughest that you real like you feel like across the board entrepreneurs do when they shouldn't be doing it.
- [66:13]
Maria
Massive over delivery that wasn't even giving the customers what they wanted. So like coaching calls that like take up so much time that don't actually it's a time suck for you and a time suck for your customers. Micromanaging of team. Like we have a zero meetings company. So all of our team members, we have a zero meetings policy.
- [66:31]
Scott Clary
Sync slack.
- [66:32]
Maria
So slack. We like don't, we don't have team meetings. But do you know how many People are having one on ones with each individual time members. That is so inefficient for your team and that is so inefficient for you. Just hire good people, pay them better than usual and don't micromanage. I barely ever talk to my team. We are good. Like we're all in good terms but like they'd rather not be on meetings either. Right. But our ego and our need to control things, we need to be having these one on ones. We need to be servicing our clients. And oh, the customers are want me like, and even I have that right where I'm like, oh, I can't sell courses. They trust me. Like it comes up like it's a typical thing, but it's very ego driven. We're not as important as we think we are in the business. And that's a good thing. That's freeing.
- [67:06]
Scott Clary
So that's what I think, like what people are actually looking for. Like they're looking for freedom, like true freedom. And that is true freedom. I mean you've, you've probably heard this before. Like if you can't take a, like a three month vacation from your business. Not a business, just a job. Right.
- [67:21]
Maria
And this might be a great paying job. But I think even for me, I don't think I'm quite at the point where I could take three months off.
- [67:25]
Scott Clary
Off.
- [67:25]
Maria
But I'm taking six out of seven days a week off.
- [67:28]
Scott Clary
Yes, you take a couple weeks off, fine. But still, this is like you built a business around your name and you're able to take six weeks off. I'm talking about an entrepreneur that built a business that has no correlation with who they are. Which is like 99% of business dream though. Yes. But eventually actually I would. I'm. Have you ever thought about how you're going to exit out?
- [67:47]
Maria
I don't know that I, I don't know that I, I have to really, I don't know how. I mean, I have to do kind of what Alex or Mosey did with gym launch. But I don't know that an exit out is the right plan for me so much as building businesses that don't so much require me. Like I think, I think me being so passionate about what I do. But I don't know. I don't know. I'm, I'm. I'll tell you what my weakness is, is I can't see past my nose. I'm so good at knowing what the immediate next step is, but I can't tell you where this business will be in five years. I know that I'll still be helping people make money, but the specifics of it, I really struggle with that long term vision.
- [68:17]
Scott Clary
SurveyMonkey is a success Story partner. Now look, we get it. You can hardly go anywhere or do anything these days without hearing about AI this this or AI that. And if you're like most people when it comes to AI, you're impressed, but you have a few concerns. But what if AI was used not as a tool to replace people, but as a way to help understand people better? AI from Survey Monkey is designed to do just that. From crafting the perfect survey, which is harder than you might think, to analysis that digs deep, finds patterns and surfaces, trends quickly. Survey Monkey's powerful suite of AI capabilities makes it faster and easier than ever before to get insight from real people. People helping you make confident decisions for your business. Try it today@surveymonkey.com Scott Monarch money is a Success Story Partner now you know, it's weird. I'm doing well financially, but I have this constant low level financial anxiety that I was missing something. Because I have crypto on all these different exchanges. I have multiple Investment accounts, old 401ks, savings scattered everywhere. See, I knew the pieces were fine, but I had no idea if the whole picture made sense. I finally got Monarch Money to pull everything into one view and the first thing I noticed, I had $10,000 sitting in a temporary SA savings account from eight months ago when I sold some stock. That's eight months, $10,000. It could have been working instead of just waiting for me to remember it existed. Also, it showed me that I was spending tons monthly on all these subscription services that I couldn't even remember I signed up for. Every Sunday morning. It takes me five minutes to check everything. All my financial stuff in one place. No more wondering, no more anxiety. The Wall Street Journal just named it the best budgeting app of 2025. But honestly, it's more about finally having control. So don't let financial opportunity SL cracks. Use code success monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at monarch. Money.com with code success Square is a success story partner. Now there's this coffee shop in my neighborhood that just started as this tiny little corner spot. Now they've got three locations, they're selling online, they've even added some food. So what I love is that no matter which location I go to, whether I'm grabbing my morning coffee or I'm picking up Lunch. Everything just works, works smoothly. The ordering, the payments, the loyalty points, it all syncs up perfectly. And that is the power of Square. And honestly, it's why I keep going back. Every business has different goals and Square is the platform that supports them all. Whether you're opening new locations, selling something new, or expanding your reach, I see it everywhere now. The corner bagel shop that became the chain specialty markets managing thousands of items. Even my barber who takes appointments online. Square Point of sale has the flexibility to run and grow your business business exactly how you want. So whether you're in retail, running a restaurant, offering services, or you're just doing it all, there's a square point of sale mode built specifically for what you need. Different settings for different parts of your business so you're always ready to make the sale. Go to square.com go success story to learn more about how your business can grow with square. That is s q u-a r e.com go success story when you move yourself away from a lot of the day to day day, do you ever get concerned about like being disconnected from customers or like losing an edge?
- [71:23]
Maria
I don't think so because part of what I do with my content creation involves paying attention to what my customers are saying. So the act of content creation keeps me plugged in. I think that you, if you weren't as involved in content creation, you could get unplugged pretty quickly. But again, I question, like, what do you actually need to do to stay plugged in? Plugged in, probably read something for maybe five to ten minutes a day, whether it's your group, where your customers are in, or it's, you know, the emails. Like, it doesn't, it's not as much time as you think it actually needs.
- [71:52]
Scott Clary
Have you thought about like the definition of freedom and how it's changed for you over?
- [71:56]
Maria
I think for me, freedom, you know, going through the divorce that I did and getting out of the relationship I was in, it's just like freedom to exist as I am. Like, that is so amazing to me. It's just like waking up and not having to walk on eggs seashells is amazing. And just being happy to do what I want and to do it in peace is amazing. A peaceful home is amazing. Like my life is my freedom right now. And getting out of that relationship is freedom. And I'm just still savoring that three years later because that was, that was tough. To get out of that freedom to be with Ellie as much as I want to is incredible. For me, the money, freedom Is just like I don't care about money. I like not having to worry about bills and stuff. That's very free. But the money you could pay me like because I probably live on like I don't know, $10,000 a month. So you could pay me $10,000 and then like to move to Miami and then like six. I really should. Six.
- [72:45]
Scott Clary
Well actually no, maybe somewhere. No, not Miami because lifestyle cost of living is very expensive here.
- [72:50]
Maria
But I would, I would just like, I would love to just like move to Miami for a little bit and just like not give a. And just like roll up in my paid for vehicle. That's like fine. Like I just like, I would just do it anyways. That's just how I am.
- [73:00]
Scott Clary
Like the person who you're with, like the life you're living, like all of these if, if you aren't fully in alignment. I feel like people think they can just push through. They can push through the bad relationship. They can push through the feeling that they have to not be themselves in front of their friends because they're embarrassed. They can put. But it just over time it just like breaks you down and you like entrepreneurship is hard enough, maybe you can exist, but I don't think you can thrive.
- [73:31]
Maria
I think it takes up so much mental energy. My. You can look at like when I was married, like my revenue, my revenue, my revenue. And then when I was single, massive spike.
- [73:39]
Scott Clary
It's because it's sad because it could be the inverse too. It could be like the partner that you're with could be somebody that can.
- [73:45]
Maria
I'm excited for that day like that I'm manifesting that for me right now, like very much like that is my next thing is like a true partnership with a mentally really well equal. I'm very excited.
- [73:55]
Scott Clary
Like that's some women sort of voice their concern that their husbands aren't supportive and how much that sort of like derails all their progress.
- [74:05]
Maria
I hear it every day.
- [74:06]
Scott Clary
Now I'm assuming that there's obviously some men whose wives are also not supportive. But I just think that I've heard it more from women that their spouse or their partner is not super supportive of. And when I say creator, that is being an entrepreneur, putting out content, selling a product, building an audience that is full entrepreneurship. It's maybe not building a software business or being a consultant, but it's full entrepreneurship. And I've heard that in some cases men are not so supportive of their wives. And I don't know how you thrive in that environment when it's already so difficult to do this, even if you have somebody who's like 100% behind you.
- [74:43]
Maria
I know, I hear it all the time too. Obviously I work mostly with women, and so I hear it every day. And look, when we give their husbands the benefit of the doubt, we can say that maybe they don't understand. Like, that's the. Ben, that's the nice way to say it's like maybe they don't understand. And so there. And I don't really either. But like, maybe for some they don't get what they're doing. I think for a lot of the, the men that I, the husbands that I hear about, there's, there's a fear around, what if she's successful? And what does that look like for the dynamic in our relationship? And I think that we're at a very interesting point in our culture where for so long the roles of men and women have been very clear and very cut and dry. And we're at a transition stage where now you have more women who are graduating college than men and, and the income gap is actually closing. I don't know if you saw that, but like, we've actually made a lot of progress to close the income gap. They just released a study. And so I think that I'm not.
- [75:31]
Scott Clary
Surprised if, if more women are going to college.
- [75:33]
Maria
Exactly. Like, it's kind of. But like, I feel, I do feel for men, I really do, who are struggling with understanding, well, if my role isn't as provider, what is it? And so they're having to figure that out. And I don't think that a lot of men are given the tools to like, emotionally, intellectually, like, work through that. And so I think their knee jerk reaction is to be unsupportive. And really what they're just struggling with is like, well, what is my place in this relationship? If you do take off and you're making more than I am, what do I bring to the table? And the wife answers many beautiful answers to that question, but really, it's fundamentally that husband really sitting with, well, where is my sense of worth if I'm not the main provider? I think, I think that's what I said. See, over and over again is like, that's where the lack of support comes from. It's not fear of failure, it's fear of his wife becoming successful and what that will mean for their relationship.
- [76:19]
Scott Clary
I wonder why if, if you are, if you're a guy and you're, and you're married to a woman and she is Just super ambitious. Like, why would that not light a fire in you to like support her, but also like level yourself up too?
- [76:34]
Maria
I think some men do choose that.
- [76:36]
Scott Clary
That should be the answer not to level up in terms of like, oh, I'm competing, I'm gonna make more money. But, but like now you have the opportunity to have this beautiful relationship where two people are just like taking, conquering the world together.
- [76:47]
Maria
Together. That's what I want. Yeah.
- [76:49]
Scott Clary
And okay, if she makes, she makes 10 million a year, you make 5 million, who the fuck cares?
- [76:56]
Maria
Like, I mean I'm competitive. So like if I can be in competition with someone, like in the best way, like in a fun, competitive way, like I want to, I want to hear like, oh wow, you did that. Like, dang, now I got to like, like I want, I want to. What I want in my next relationship and is like this, like we're running together and like maybe one month you pull ahead and then the next month I'll pull ahead. I just, I think that'd be just so fun. Like that would be so enjoyable.
- [77:17]
Scott Clary
Because then you're like, that's why I think that if you are entrepreneurial, it's much easier to be with somebody who is also entrepreneur.
- [77:25]
Maria
And I think especially when you're a woman, like I think very, very many male entrepreneurs very successfully have a stay at home wife who takes care of the kids. And I think that's a beautiful dynamic that works really well too. I think as a woman, woman who's an entrepreneur. I find that the stay at home dad thing isn't quite as some people do it really well. But I think that for me as a woman, I crave that still that role of like a man who's also running at least with me. Right. Like, I don't want to be running by myself and I don't want to be running ahead of you. At least run with me.
- [77:57]
Scott Clary
I think, I think that's fair. And also that's, that's where people say, well then like who's going to be home with the kids? I mean, you're running a 10 million dollar business and you're home with the kids.
- [78:07]
Maria
I really am.
- [78:07]
Scott Clary
It's not like you can't have both.
- [78:09]
Maria
I always joke, like, I'm a stay at home mom that happens to accidentally have a 10 million dollar business. Like it's really what I'm a stay at home mom. Like really, that's most of my day is literally changing diapers and doing chalk and going to the beach with Ellie. Like that's my life. And I tell it to people on Instagram all the time. Because you see this, like this, this is like a blink of an eye. This is not my reality. I am usually in sweatpants and just like. And I'm thriving. That's what I want. That's. My heart is so happy. Like I enjoy this business stuff, but even more I enjoy Ellie's Ellie and being Ellie's mom. That's what lights me up. That's really the thing for me.
- [78:43]
Scott Clary
And I think it should be. So I think that that's, that's the thing. So just because you're ambitious doesn't mean the rest of your life falls apart.
- [78:49]
Maria
I think it's so important that it doesn't. You get resentful. Like the business is really important. For me, if I was just a stay at home mom, I don't think I'd be mentally happy. Happy. I need both you.
- [78:57]
Scott Clary
You're pro. No, you go. I don't even know you that well and I know that you would just go nuts.
- [79:00]
Maria
I just couldn't do it.
- [79:01]
Scott Clary
No. Because you people still. Everybody wants achievement and accomplishment. It's just be smart about it.
- [79:07]
Maria
And, and, and I think really the lesson you should take away from my story as it relates to lifestyle design and lifestyle architecture is that you don't have to compromise like you actually genuinely can have both. I have a very successful business and I'm extremely present, more than most parents, I would say to my child. And I started out with that literally such a perfect word, that architect, like creating my life, designing my life by what do I want. And then I figured out how to make that happen.
- [79:33]
Scott Clary
So you work with a whole bunch of women that are all trying to build. We mentioned before, like some of them have supportive spouses, some of them don't. I think that the person you choose to partner with and marry, date, whatever is like the most important, either advantage or disadvantage in what you're building. So how do you know if somebody that you're with is right for your ambition?
- [79:54]
Maria
I think that's a great question. I think that do they give you this space to work? That's such a practical thing. But someone who's supportive of you will give you the space and time to work and not bother you and just leave you alone. Which I know it's so practical, but if you think about the opposite of that, someone who's unsupportive is going to be constantly interrupting you, constantly trying to take you away, constantly expressing, oh, you don't pay attention to me anymore. If you person really supports you and they're they want what you want, which is a successful business, they will recognize that that's going to mean a sacrifice of time, especially at the beginning. And they will not just allow you to have the time to work on your business, but they will facilitate the time to work on your business. So if you share children, they will watch the children with you so you can work on your business or they will help you get a nanny. They will support you in not just not being up your butt and giving, but like they will facilitate that time. And I think that it's so easy to be supportive with our words like, good job babe, you did it. But it's so hard to be supportive with our actions. And so I would really like look at, especially if you aren't married yet, like really pay attention to how your partner supports you with giving you the space that you need because that's a sacrifice that they need to make. They're giving up quality time with you, which is a good thing. It's good to spend quality time with someone. But if you have expressed to someone that you're with, this is my dream, this is what I want, and this is the time it's going to take me. And they can't give you that. That's really telling me they can't put their needs before for your needs. And that's not very supportive. And so it's a season, it's not forever, but look to how much space they give you with the time that you need to grow your business.
- [81:29]
Scott Clary
So in your case, because you were always entrepreneurial, I, I think that more often than not the discord comes when you're both working jobs and then somebody wants to be entrepreneurial and then who you start a day dating turned into somebody else, which will always be the case. But the, the person that, that the, the, the person that individual turned into is so far from what you expected when you first started dating that it's like it screws everything up. But like what happened in your case where you're dating this guy? You are entrepreneurial for somebody else who's dating somebody, man or woman? Woman. What are the signs that you noticed that this wasn't. That they were blocking your ambition over supporting because you even said like your revenue is very.
- [82:19]
Maria
I think for me it wasn't so much like, it's subtle and it was so much more in me having the capacity to please and satisfy someone that took up so much brain space, like the always walking on eggshells. The being careful not to anger the personality, that was what kept me, me without the capacity to even think about things in my business. So when I became single and I wasn't worried about placating someone and walking on eggshells 24 7, I just had the freedom to exist. And that freedom and the capacity to not be walking on eggshells all the time is what. Then the revenue sort of went up from there because I just had mental capacity. I could think about things. I wasn't in survival mode. I was healed. I was getting out, out of a situation.
- [83:07]
Scott Clary
No, I just think that that's something that, I mean like all the things we're talking about on this, in this podcast, like they all take a lot of courage.
- [83:14]
Maria
Well, yeah. And I mean the crazy thing is like with my marriage, like it ended because of infidelity. It wasn't even all of the like other things that came out. That was like an unexpected bonus that I wasn't even expecting getting out of that. That was just like, oh, I also had all of these other things that kind of like went out of my life, which was really nice. So that story is a very long one. One. But the, the moral of that story is that I'd never been single before. Like I was straight 18, straight into that relationship. And so to me, like I'm still savoring my singleness. Like the peace that comes from just like getting to live life a little bit more free and a little bit more peaceful and. And it's made me a better mother. I get to show and be the mother I want because I have capacity. I get to be the business owner. And so sometimes it's not the person you're with, sometimes it's a friend friendship, sometimes it's a parent. Like be really cautious and really aware of the relationships you find yourself in because there's such a trickle effect that really does bleed into all areas of your life.
- [84:09]
Scott Clary
What about those non optional relationships? So parents.
- [84:13]
Maria
Yeah, every relationship is optional. Every relationship is optional.
- [84:18]
Scott Clary
People don't believe, a lot of people.
- [84:19]
Maria
Don'T believe that, but it is. And you should start. You should start. It's I treat Ellie, she's three years old, old. I treat her with respect that I give to adults. Her would like I know right now what I'm doing and how I treat her with respect is going to affect our relationship later. I'm earning a good relationship with her later. Right. And so I'm very intentional in how I parent and I think parents who expect that their children should just Be in a relationship with them because they raised them, are entitled. It's a privilege to be with your adult children. It's a privilege to have a relationship with your sister. It's a privilege and we should be treating it as such. It. No, no. Every relationship is optional. The only relationship in my life is not optional is me being a mom to Ellie. That's like pretty. I'm pretty committed to that one. Like, I'm kind of stuck.
- [85:04]
Scott Clary
That's such a tough topic because people just, I think just people hate the. Not hate the idea. I don't know.
- [85:11]
Maria
I think it's very entitled to think that you are owed relationship, you're owed energy.
- [85:15]
Scott Clary
You realize it's very, it's. It is. I don't disagree when you say it like that, but I also don't believe that a lot of people would agree with you.
- [85:22]
Maria
But a lot of people have bad ideas about a lot of things. They have bad financial ideas. They have bad, bad. I have bad. I, I think that when you operate like every relationship you're in is a privilege to be in, you treat people a lot better because you don't take it for granted. And, and you work to make a relationship better because it's not. Because it's optional. Like, my relationship with my parents as an adult is good because I had honest conversations with my parent. There was clear communication, there was, you know, apologies for maybe how certain things went. Like, we both worked, my parents and I both worked at our relationship as adults. And it's good now, but. But it had to be, it had to just be like fine tuned and smoothed out and like, because it, they value and respect that relationship with me and I do. To them, neither of us are showing up like we just take each other for granted. Oh, family's just the way family is. No, like, my parents are committed to healing their generational trauma. I'm committed to healing my generational trauma. And it's this meeting in the middle where we're both working on our shit and we're doing it together. It's not optional.
- [86:25]
Scott Clary
Yeah, I think that. See, that's the thing. It's like on the other side of that idea of it not being optional is a healthy relationship.
- [86:33]
Maria
And I was willing to let it go if it wasn't healthy fully. I made full peace with like, it's. If I need to let it go, I will completely.
- [86:40]
Scott Clary
Because I show up better and you show up different.
- [86:42]
Maria
Exactly. And they did too. It gave them the opportunity to apologize. And again, like, they were great parents. Like, we're talking about like, like not massive things, but like every parent does the best they can and sometimes it's not exactly what you needed it to be. So I, I think that I'm very, very intentional with my time and who I allow into my energy. And it's a, it's a privilege to be in my space. I really do think that way.
- [87:02]
Scott Clary
I think that also, just like one last idea, like any business you build, you, you are a steward. I like that a lot. So like don't build it for yourself, build it for. But it's not, not just God, Ellie, it's like you build it for your customer.
- [87:16]
Maria
Yes, yes.
- [87:17]
Scott Clary
You build it for your team that you will hire. You build it for the community that you build it for. I mean even the education you put together, a percentage of those people will never buy from you, ever. But you're still changing their life.
- [87:29]
Maria
99 of the people who watch my content never buy from me. And I want it that way. That's fine. I tell people, start with my free content. Like that will help change your life right there. It really is like you said, you build the beautiful business for the customers that it is. And that's very, it's a much better way to do things. And frankly I think it's a more profitable way to do things. Like, I don't think money stays around very long with greedy people. It eventually like they lose it. That's what I notice.
- [87:50]
Scott Clary
Everybody who I know who has built something successful, like they care so much about the people that they serve. They, they care. Like I think that that's the only way to stay in the game long enough. Because if you just care about yourself, you won't like really fast, you do burn out because you won't make enough to sort of scratch that itch. Or even if you do make enough, you'll realize that what you were looking for wasn't even that much money in the first place.
- [88:16]
Maria
Yeah, exactly. And, and when you're operating from greed, it's so self centered and our. And we really aren't satisfied by those milestones at all. And so like you said like that, that stewardness is what reminds us that all of us, we're just servants. Like I really do believe that like we, we are put on this earth to serve and to have an impact that's much bigger than ourselves. And the gift that we get from that is indescribable joy and peace. Like I am the happiest I've ever been in my life. I am, I literally Am so happy, truly like that true contentment. And it's because my life is not about me. It's in service of my customers genuinely and in service of my daughter. I love that and that's why I want it.
- [88:56]
Scott Clary
Where should people connect with you if they want to learn more about what you're working on?
- [88:59]
Maria
I would say either Instagram or YouTube. I make a ton of free content there. I'm very close to a hundred thousand subscribers on YouTube so if you want to like go get me and push me over the edge, that would be amazing. Like 92,000 I think. So I check it like every two hours and I'm like I got 30 more subscribers. So I'm really close to getting my plaque and stuff which I'm excited about.
- [89:18]
Scott Clary
Last couple questions. Just to bring it home. So if you could go back and tell, I mean you're not that old but if you go back and tell your 20 year old self one really important lesson about building a business or just life in general, what would that lesson be and why?
- [89:32]
Maria
Trust your gut instinct in everything or you will regret it. Like I, there was some choices I made that I shouldn't have, that I knew I shouldn't have both in business and in relationships. I'm like, I should have trusted my gut instinct on that and I think I would have saved myself a lot of pain if I had just and we know like we, our gut instinct just tells us things and we don't listen, we don't trust our gut instinct. And so if I had learned to trust my gut instinct at 20, I would have had a very different and probably less painful life. Not that I don't have a great life but like it would have been a lot easier. So I wish more people trusted their gut instinct.
- [90:03]
Scott Clary
How do you train that though?
- [90:04]
Maria
By making small decisions that are good and sticking to your word and small things and building like integrity with yourself doing what you say you're going to do. If I say I'm going to wake up at 5am to work out, wake up at 5am you have to actually build a relationship of trust with yourself.
- [90:17]
Scott Clary
Last question. Obviously Ellie's a big part of your life. You're going to have a lot to teach her. But if you could only teach her one thing and pass on one lesson to her, the most important lesson, what.
- [90:28]
Maria
Would that be and why persevere in all things. Because when you can persevere in all things, you fig you are resilient, you figure out hard you are self reliant, which I think is so important? Like, that's a good life skill. If I could teach her perseverance in all things, she'll be fine.