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Before we jump in, I want to share something exciting. In the next few weeks, I'm going to be curating a small group of women who are already making 500k or more annually to help them grow toward their first million and beyond. It's called the Millie Club. Here's what I know. What gets you to high six figures stops there. If this is you, you know that because you've already tried it all and you need someone inside your business showing you the way forward. So over six months, you you'll work with me personally, plus my team and each other to refine your business model, prepare for hiring, simplify your operations and build a business that grows more sustainably, profitably and independently of you. Applications and details are waiting for you@amyporterfield.com forward slash club. But I have to warn you, spots will go fast. Stop spending your money like a hobbyist. If you invest, you have to be the best student in the room. I see women who are busy and not putting their hours where they count. They are obsessing over things in their business that are not moving the needle. Every launch you study was refined into what it is now. You deserve someone willing to risk the friendship to get you the breakthrough. That's the role that I'm going to be playing your big sister with three Things to say. My guest today is a dear friend of mine. One of them goes that one over there. She's big money and it was my guest today. Her name is Amy Porterfield. Amy Porterville, the ever amazing bestselling author of two weeks notice. Ms. Amy Porterville. I just got back from a Mastermind weekend with 23 multi million dollar female founders and there are three things I need to share with you. I'll tell you up front, this episode isn't going to be all soft and fuzzy. If you're having a rough week or you just need someone to say it's all going to be okay. Save this one for another day. Come back to it when you've got a little fight in you. Deal. Now, if you want the truth, nobody else is going to say to you, I want you to stay with me right now. Here's the backstory of the weekend. I've been in enough rooms to know that there are masterminds that do not deliver what they promise. I'm sure you can relate. I've been to ones that felt like glorified networking. I've been to retreats that were glorified for photo shoots. And I've just seen the good, bad and ugly of Masterminds. But this one, this one delivered. I walked away with some new friends and lots of new ideas and just a new fire in me, which I loved. One of the highlights of the weekend was when I spent hours talking to my new friend, Leigh Ann Lopez Mosley. It was just so much fun. We got to know each other and she's known for something that is called audacity Marketing. The idea is about saying what's on your mind, being a little delusional about what's possible for you, being honest with your audience, even when it ruffles feathers. And as I sat with Leanne, I just kept thinking about you. The woman I built this business to serve, the woman who might be new in my world or has been here for a while, or maybe even several years. She's a six figure female founder, one working really hard and quietly telling herself she just hasn't found the right thing to make everything click. I thought to myself, if I were your older sister, if we'd grown up in the same house, if I'd watched you ugly cry after your first business disappointment, if I knew how bad you wanted this, I wouldn't worry about being polite with you. You deserve someone willing to risk the friendship to get you the breakthrough. So today, that's the role that I'm going to be playing your big sister with. Three things to say. Some of it might sting. If it does, that's the signal. The thing that stings the most is usually where your growth is hiding. But before we dive in, if you haven't subscribed yet, hit subscribe on YouTube or follow on Apple podcasts or Spotify. That's how you can be sure you get new episodes every, every week. All right, so let's get to it. Here's the thing I'd say to you across the kitchen table. Hustle is not the enemy. You haven't hustled the way you needed to. And I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but I just need you to hear it. I can already feel the side eye, so hear me out. I know many people in my industry, people I deeply respect, who are on record saying that hustle is a toxic word, that the grind is a myth, that you can build a million dollar business just a few hours a week working from the beach. But I've been in this industry for 17 years. I build a business that has crossed $130 million in revenue. I have watched hundreds of women build success that lasts, the kind that compounds for decades. And I have to tell you Something that's taken me a long time to say out loud. Every single one of them hustled to get where they are today. It's true. Not forever, but for a while. Every single one of them hear me clearly. The hustle I'm describing has nothing to do with burning yourself out. That's not what I'm talking about. Or skipping your kids recital or missing dinner with your partner night after night after night. That's not it. That kind of grind, it builds exhaustion and. And resentment. What I'm talking about is something else entirely. Here's where I think you are right now. You're already working 50 plus hours a week, right? I've seen you online morning, noon and night. And I believe you when you tell me that you are exhausted. But let me ask you something, and I want you to be brutally honest with yourself. Where are those 50 hours going? Because here's what I see in a lot of my coaching calls. I see women who are busy and not putting their hours where they count. They are obsessing over things in their business that are not moving the needle. So they're in the inbox. They're working on funnels that have not been backed by data yet. They're creating new programs before the one they have has been fully optimized. They're jumping from one idea to the next. They're sitting on important decisions that could move the business forward, but overthinking them and getting way too many opinions on what they should do. That kind of work feels productive because it leaves you tired. But being tired at the end of the day means very little on its own. The reps that build a business look different. And putting in the reps is what I mean by hustle. So staying with one webinar, tweaking it and practicing and delivering it to an audience of 10, 10. Knowing that you're going to get better and believing that one day it will work. Even though you have no guarantee. Churning out your weekly newsletter week after week, never missing one, even though growing your list has felt painfully slow. Posting your reels day after day, even though the traction has not come yet. Putting in the reps until you get better. Until it finally works. That's the hustle I subscribe to. And that's what built my business and so many of my peers. The goal is to figure out what your reps are, what's worth your time and consistency, and then no matter what, just do it again and again until you figure out how to make it work. Here's the part that doesn't get said enough. The hustle is not forever. I don't hustle anymore. I haven't in years. I don't need to. I earn that. I earn the right to pull instead of push because I put in the reps. I earn the years of ease by getting my hands dirty up front. I want years of ease for you. So if you're going to take one thing from this part of the episode, take this. Hustle is not the enemy. Put in the reps. Here's the second one that I want you to think about. You are spending your money like a hobbyist, and until you stop, you're not going to break through. So let me explain what I mean by this. This comes down to your relationship with the spending, not the size of the check that you're actually writing. A hobbyist invests in hobbies the way someone invests in a passion project. She buys the equipment, takes the workshops, follows the YouTube tutorials, joins the Facebook groups. She loves it. She's committed to it. The thing she is not doing is treating it like a livelihood that has to produce a return. When a hobbyist buys a $97 course, she's not asking, when does this pay me back? She's asking will this teach me something interesting? When a hobbyist buys a $997 program, she's not building it into a 90 day implementation plan. She's hoping it will just spark something. When a hobbyist goes to a conference, she's there for inspiration. She's there to feel something. The energy of being around her people is the return on investment. Now here's where I need you to be honest with yourself. Look at the last five things that you bought that grow your business. The course, the conference, the the book, the membership, the template, the coaching, whatever it is. How many of them have a clear ROI attached? How many did you build into an implementation plan with a deadline? How many were investments where you could tell me in one sentence exactly what you expected to get and by when? If the honest answer is that most of them were vibe purchases, you have been spending like a hobbyist. The dollar amounts add up to thousands of dollars a year and and the return is, well, unclear. A serious operator spends differently. The dollar amounts are bigger and the relationships to the spending is completely different. A serious operator is not buying inspiration. She is buying access to people who have built what she's building in rooms where the conversation is specific to her stage, with accountability that forces her to do the work even when she doesn't feel like it. A serious operator walks into a $20,000 room with a problem she needs to solve, a target she needs to hit, and a plan to extract every dollar of that investment back inside a year. When she leaves the room, she has to list three things to implement by Friday, and when she gets home, she does them. That's the difference. So the hobbyist is spending to create a feeling that the operator is spending to create a result. And the painful truth, I have to tell you, is that you are at a stage of business where you cannot afford to spend like a hobbyist anymore. You've outgrown it. Let me tell you what happened on that Mastermind weekend. Halfway through day two, I heard about an opportunity I knew my team could benefit from quickly. Like, I saw the ROI instantly. The people in the program, the the experts involved. It was what we needed. And I knew it could pay off if we actually showed up and did the work. The investment was $30,000 and I wrote the check that day. Quick interruption, but we'll be back soon. Earlier, I mentioned the Millie Club, my private coaching program for female founders earning 500k or more annually. Well, I wanted you to hear what happened for one founder, and after joining, her name is Sarah, and here's what she said. When our business was on track to end the year in the red, joining the Millie Club felt like a leap of faith. And it turned out to be the smartest move we've ever made. One conversation with Amy gave us the clarity and strategy we needed to refine our offer and completely transform our results. By the end of that year, our revenue had doubled, our Profit margin hit 30%, and our business was stronger than ever. The Millie Club truly changed the trajectory of our company. How good is that? That's what happens when you get outside eyes on your business strategy from someone who's done what you want to do, and a community of women who understand the complexity of growing to seven figures. So if you're earning over 500k annually in your business and you've already tried it all, head to amyporterfield.comclub to apply. I'll be in touch personally soon. It had been a while since I had invested like that, so lately I've just had my head down and in the weeds for a bit because I've been building my new coaching program calibre. So that's where I've been. But in that moment, I knew I was ready to learn again. In that moment, I was reminded of how in my first 10 years of business, I was constantly investing in High level rooms and paying people smarter than me. I did it from the get go and here's what else came up for me in that moment. For a founder at your level, you cannot buy your way to the next level with a$97 or4.97 purchase alone. That kind of spending, it tops out if you're running a serious business and at this stage that you are, at some point you have have to get into a curated expensive room with people who have already done what you're trying to do. So here's how I rank it. The gold standard is one on one coaching with someone who has built what you want to build. I have to be honest with you that this one is costly. One on one coaching from a serious operator is a six figure year. So that's my fee. That's my coach's fee. That's the market rate. I pay it every year to someone who can get me to my next level. My client pays me every year to get to the next level. So if you're thinking that sounds insane, well, I get it. I don't think you should go into debt to pay it. If you can't write the check, we're not going to do that right now. The next best thing is almost as good. A curated group coaching program, six months to a year, led by someone who has built what you're trying to build. Other women at your level or slightly above, they're in the room every year. You should be in a room like that every year. This is literally how I built my business. That is how every woman I know at the top has built hers. I know what some of you might be thinking, Amy, I can't afford $20,000. I get it. Some of you can and you should not go into debt to try. A lot of you though, can. And you're telling yourself a scarcity story that's keeping you small. Here's the calculation that matters. Two questions. Number one, can I make this investment back inside the next 12 months? And can I walk away from that room with one idea, just one, that could double the investment for me? If the answer is yes to either or both, you're in. If the answer is no, one of two things is true. Either the room is wrong for you, which is fine, or you might not be willing to do what it takes to get the results you want. Sit with that for a second, just for a minute, because it's important. You cannot outsource your results to the person selling you the room. I see this all the time. Women invest six weeks in, when it hasn't 10x the business yet, they start blaming the program. No one can make it work for you if you invest. You have to be the best student in the room. You have to do every piece of the homework. You have to ask the uncomfortable questions on the calls. You have to be the one who is already implementing while everyone else is still discussing. That's how you recoup double and 10x your money. If you're not willing to be that student, save your money. The work is on you. But if you are, get into that room this year. Be the best student in it. Watch what happens. Stop spending your money like a hobbyist. Here we go with the third and last one. This one might be the one that lands the hardest. And if it does, that's okay. That's sometimes what it takes. So here it goes. You are quitting too soon. I'm thinking about a founder that I've gotten to know well. A year ago, this woman made a really big, thoughtful, grown woman decision. She'd been live launching for years. It worked for a while, and then eventually it stopped working the way it used to. So she did what a smart business owner does. She got quiet. She did her research, she talked to advisors, and she looked at her numbers for months before deciding to pivot her business model. Smart, strategic, thoughtful. She'd done her homework. Then she ran her first video sales letter for this new model. And it didn't land. Low conversions. Underwhelming. Then for a week, she tinkered with it to make it better. Still underwhelming results for weeks and weeks. So she started questioning the entire decision. She started comparing her model to to other people's launches. And she started wondering if she should go back to the old model. Then maybe she should do a different offer, maybe be on a different platform. Then maybe she should go back to her one on one. Then maybe the whole pivot was wrong. Like I watched her spiral. All because she made one big thoughtful decision. Things got really shaky, and she quickly lost her faith in the whole plan. Here's the audacious truth I need you to hear. What looked like strategic thinking was fear in a better outfit. She wasn't reassessing her plan. She was looking for a reason to abandon it before she had to feel the discomfort of staying with it. When a new model doesn't land on the first try, you run it again, you change one thing. You run it again, you change one thing again, you run it again and again and again and again. Tiny move by tiny move. And? And you refine every business model you admire, every funnel you wish you had, every launch you study was refined into what it is now. Nobody hit it out of the park on the first swing. That is a fantasy. When you believe it, you set yourself up to quit the exact moment that you were about to break through. You are quitting too soon. So I remember in junior high, I had to write a report on Thomas Edison. He tried 1,200 times before the light bulb worked. 1200 times. He didn't try twice. And then kind of feel weird about it and start updating his resume to try something new. That's not how it works. Here's the pattern. I watch female founders run, and it breaks my heart. You build something, it doesn't work immediately. And you start telling yourself a story about what that means. A story about you. About whether you have what it takes. The voice in your head, it whispers, maybe I'm not good enough. What will people think if I keep pushing this and it doesn't work? What if I fail publicly? What if money gets dangerously low but none of that has happened yet. And the way that way of thinking is slowing you down when you need the utmost focus to keep going, that chatter gets so loud it drowns out the data. The data that if you just listen to it, would tell you exactly what to tweak next. Here's what I want you to notice. The other story doesn't get equal airtime in your head. The story that goes, what if this is the thing that actually breaks things open? What if this is what I become known for? What if I'm one tweak away from the breakthrough that I've been praying for for three years? That voice exists, too. You're just not letting it speak. Start letting it speak. Here's my big ask of you. Stay with the thing. Refine it. Go all in for 90 days on one model. One offer, one message. Stop quitting on yourself in month four of a 12 month build. So those are the things that I'd say to you across the kitchen table. The hustle one. The spending one. The quitting one. So three audacious things you probably didn't press play hoping to hear today, but there you go. Before you close this app, do one thing. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with yourself about which one of those three is most true for you right now. That's the one to sit with this week. That's where the work is hiding. If it's number one, the hustle one, put in your reps. If it's number two, the spending one. Become an operator, not a hobbyist. If it's number three, the quitting one, commit to 90 more days of the strategy that you've been doubting. Tweak one thing each week. Don't change the model. Watch what happens. The women I sat with this weekend, the 23 multimillion dollar founders, started exactly where you are. What they did was hustle longer than felt fair, invest at levels that scared them, and stayed with strategies that didn't work on the first, second or third swing. You can do all three. I've watched thousands of women do exactly that. The only question is whether you start this week. I'm rooting for you. Thanks for tuning in to this one. I know it was a tough one. If you stuck with it till the end, share it with a friend that you know needs to hear it, too. Now, if you're watching on YouTube, make sure you subscribe to the channel. So if you so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, be sure to follow the show. All right, I'll talk to you soon.
Host: Amy Porterfield
Date: June 16, 2026
In this candid solo episode, Amy Porterfield delivers “tough love” for six-figure female founders ready to break through into their next level of business. Drawing from her own experiences, recent mastermind insights, and honest conversations with other high-performing women, Amy identifies three painful—but essential—truths that are often the missing links between high six figures and true seven-figure success. This episode is a direct, no-fluff conversation aimed at ambitious founders who are ready to get real with themselves about what it takes to win at their stage—not just in work ethic, but in strategic investment and long-term commitment.
(Starts ~07:15)
“Being tired at the end of the day means very little on its own. The reps that build a business look different. And putting in the reps is what I mean by hustle.” (10:12)
(Starts ~16:30)
“A serious operator is not buying inspiration. She is buying access to people who have built what she's building in rooms where the conversation is specific to her stage, with accountability that forces her to do the work even when she doesn't feel like it.” (22:29)
“Can I make this investment back inside the next 12 months? … Can I walk away from that room with one idea, just one, that could double the investment?” (31:15)
(Starts ~36:20)
“Start letting [the alternative story] speak: What if this is the thing that actually breaks things open? What if I’m one tweak away from the breakthrough that I’ve been praying for for three years?” (45:48)
“The hustle one. The spending one. The quitting one. Three audacious things you probably didn’t press play hoping to hear today, but there you go.” (48:05)
“If you invest, you have to be the best student in the room. You have to do every piece of the homework. You have to ask the uncomfortable questions on the calls. You have to be the one who is already implementing while everyone else is still discussing. That’s how you recoup, double and 10x your money.” (33:10)
(48:29 – End)
“The women I sat with this weekend, the 23 multimillion dollar founders, started exactly where you are. What they did was hustle longer than felt fair, invest at levels that scared them, and stay with strategies that didn’t work on the first, second or third swing. You can do all three.” (49:30)
| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–04:45| Introduction, Millie Club announcement, episode setup | | 04:46–12:00| The truth about hustle, why it’s necessary and how to do it right | | 12:01–22:28| What “hustle” looks like in practice; differences between exhausting and productive hustle| | 22:29–31:30| Spending like a hobbyist vs. operator; Amy’s $30k investment example | | 31:31–36:19| How to think about high-level investing; who should and shouldn’t take the leap | | 36:20–45:47| Quitting too soon: story of a founder, Edison analogy, fear vs. data | | 45:48–47:50| Reframing the inner story, the 90-day commitment | | 47:51–50:03| Summary of three truths, final encouragement and call to action |
Amy’s tone in this episode is distinctly caring, direct, and relentlessly encouraging. She doesn’t shy away from tough truths, but frames each as an opportunity for real, lasting breakthrough—if listeners are willing to get honest with themselves, commit to focused reps, invest strategically, and stick with their strategy long enough to see it work. This is an episode six-figure founders will want to revisit whenever they’re tempted to change paths, buy another “quick fix,” or confuse busyness with progress.