Loading summary
A
It's not easy to ask for help. You have these voices in your head and they're debating with each other and the sort of logical voice saying, no, you need help, you need help. They're having this internal fight within your head as to who wins out. And often the ego wins out. Until you learn to control your ego and realize that ego is the enemy.
B
Why would you run a business without one and get that help in the beginning so you don't end up blowing through all your savings, how much better you could be.
C
The biggest thing I learned is that you only see yourself in other people. And all those things that you're complaining about is usually a fear or a hang up that you have. Once I realized that I was projecting that fear, it's amazing how quickly the sales go up.
A
Hey, hey, hey, and welcome back to the Difference Maker Revolution podcast. And we have Steven Oz, we have Janine in Tampa, Florida. And I'm here in Dublin, Ireland. And we're going to talk today about the enemy within. Oh, this sounds exciting.
B
I feel like we need music, ominous music in the background.
A
Yeah, it feels like a spy movie or a spy podcast or something. Is this a spy podcast?
C
It's that little person on your shoulder whispering in your ear. Those mystical creatures in Ireland that jump on your shoulder, whisper in your ear and convince you of certain things. I think. Well, we see it all the time, the enemy within. Sometimes we see people that need help or need coaching, but whether it's pride, whether it's ego, put it off and put it off and put it off and almost wait till it's too late before they need coaching because before they seek coaching because I don't know whether they believe that it's a weakness or what is it. What is it, Rundon? I don't know. It always was a mystery to me. Why do people wait till they're so desperate and that they pretty much have no money to work with, that they start looking for that business coach that they should have got years ago?
A
Could be many reasons for that, Steve. One of them could be that they actually don't know that they're in the financial mess they're in because it's only when the Bills come in and they can't pay them or they can't. If they've got staff, they can't meet payroll or, you know, that. That it's only then because they haven't been understanding their numbers and in charge of their numbers and watching their numbers. You know, it's like, like it's. It happened Me. Many, many, many, many moons ago, when money was really, really tight and a bill would come in and Robin dealing with it, I'd ignore it. Yeah. I don't know if you guys have ever been there thinking it would go away, you know, but it doesn't go away. It only gets worse. So. So I think there's a bit of that, too. It's nearly a fear of dealing with the situation and owning up to it and having a conversation with somebody who can help you.
C
Guilty. I've been there. I've totally been there. Guilty. That devil within.
A
Yeah, yeah.
C
Got into my ear.
A
It is. And it's not easy, you know, it's not easy to ask for help. Like, it's not. It can. It can be difficult to, you know, you've got. I don't know if you guys are the same, but you. These voices in your head, right, and they're debating with each other, you know, and often there's. There's the ego voice that's saying, you know, no, you can't. You can't let them see that you can't. No, there's no, no, you can't do that. You can't do that. And the sort of logical voice say, no, you need help. You need help. You know, they're having this internal fight within your head, you know, as to who wins out. And often the ego wins out until you learn to control your ego and. And realize that ego is the enemy. And I remember reading a book about 20 years ago, I think it was the first time I came across this principle. And the guy had an equation, and his equation was, success equals IQ minus ego. And I said, I really like that. But I did add something to it being the sort of creative I am, and I changed it to success equals IQ minus ego plus smart work. So I felt that finished it for me. Not hard work, but smart work. And, yeah, so I think it's the ego, it's the ego voice ruling your head, you know, and on the opposite
C
end of the spectrum, I fall into the trap of thinking, oh, I know what I'm doing. We're flying now. I don't need a coach anymore. Right? And I was. I used to hire coaches and they, you know, they used to inspire me. They used to, you know, come up with the answers that I needed. And then, you know, we got busy, we got successful. And what I didn't realize is that the best athletes in the world still have coaches even when they're winning gold medals.
A
Look at Rory McElroy, like, he's won the Masters. Rory won the Masters two times in a row last week, and he has a full coaching team, even though he's won the Masters back to back that only three other players have done. He has his coaches with them all the time. All the time.
C
And you said coaches, sometimes we need more than one because there's different. There's different areas of your life that need coaching. And I fell into that trap, and it was ego, because, you know, I thought I knew what I was doing. And why am I wasting my money on this? Because, you know, we were already doing really well. And what I didn't realize was that. That accountability and having somebody point out, hey, this is slipping. Get back on track. It was the fuel. Like, we built the engine, but the coaching was the fuel. And what I didn't realize was that at the time, we needed the fuel for the engine to perform. And so without realizing, because we were busy, you know, we were going down, down, down. And then by the time I realized we were going down because we didn't have that person to say, hey, what's going on? It took a while to recover. And that was all ego.
B
I was gonna say, Steve, that's the problem. And I think we can see that with so many clients, so many members, and when we're chatting is because of that booking to session cycle. You have a couple of weeks where you're not booking sessions, and. But you're still busy from the ones that you have done. And then it's not until the time frame where the sessions you should have been booking are coming to pass. And now you have weeks without sessions and the panic strikes, because like you said to me, it's like I. I always equate it with going to the gym, you know, and that accountability. If I go to the gym alone, I don't feel like doing 10 reps today. I'll just do nine. I'm a little tired. I'm only gonna, you know, ugh. I don't need to walk a mile and a half. I'll just do a mile. It's. I'm at 20 minutes. I'm good. You know, like, you just. It's natural you let yourself slide. Very few people that I know of could be motivated enough at the gym on their own to work at the potential that they could with a personal trainer who's gonna push you and who's gonna hold you accountable and things like that. And that's the same thing in our business, you know, and this is why I love the call sheet, Steve. Right because it's easy without accountability and tracking and coach. A day or two go by and, oh, we didn't make any bookings today. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow will be better. Then tomorrow comes and, oh, no bookings today either, huh? Well, must have been, Must have been a bad day. All right, well, tomorrow will be better, you know, and it's not like, without having. So, like, it could be like with Roy McElroy, right? Like, maybe he had a few. He could have had a few bad days at the course and things are starting to slip. Maybe he. I don't know nothing about golf, so you, like, you guys can laugh at my analogy, but maybe he's twisting his hands a little differently today and now it becomes a habit because without someone correcting him, he goes a week twisting his hands a little differently. Now the ball's cutting that way, right? And when you have your coach there all the time, like, dude, your hands are in the wrong position. What are you doing? Right? Like, the habit never forms. And I think that's. We get into a habit. Like, almost. When we talked about this in the podcast the other day, like, you walk past the same scratch on your wall every day. You don't see it. Well, when you let your, like, the, the key metrics in your business slide because you're not being accountable to somebody. And then all of a sudden, all of these things that you've let slide end up in a crisis because you were too good to have a coach who's too good to have a coach,
C
and you're building new normals, you know, normal. Normal used to be, you know, at 80%, and then it became 75%. And then it became, you know, 70%. And you got nobody to say, no, no, normal is 90%. Like, you're losing ground here. And, you know, you mentioned the call sheets. What I loved about the call sheets was it held us accountable to know one of the prime times. We can't procrastinate at this time because if we procrastinate early on in the day, we don't get our callbacks, we don't get our bookings, and so mentioned that. And it just, I see it so often that, oh, I'm just going to finish retouching this photo before I jump on the phone or, oh, I'm just going to. I need to go and grab a coffee, another coffee before I jump on the phone. And it's not until we know the numbers and we have somebody that holds us accountable. And that when you're in a community, can compare because what might be normal for you is not normal for other people. And we can be inspired by all of those other people and be inspired by the coaches. It's really important.
A
Who was, who was that famous person who said if you take the four people you hang out with, you would be the average of the five of you? Was that. Isn't that something, you know, I think they were talking about? So, like, if you hang out with.
C
I don't know if you said it. I've heard it, but I don't know who said it.
B
So many people have said it. I'm not sure who the original person was. I could look it up.
A
Yeah, but it's so true, isn't it? Like, who you surround yourself with has such an influence on how you deal with things. Because we've seen it, Steve. Like, we've seen people who leave it so late that they get into a frenzy where, you know, they can't sleep anymore. So, you know, it's. It. When you're in that situation, it's really hard to fix the problem on your own. Right. It's really hard to get out of an. Sorry.
B
It was Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn, the one who said you're the average of the five people you spend the time with. Yeah.
A
So, you know, it doesn't have to be in person, these people. Right. It's the media you consume, the podcasts you follow. You know, it's. It's those people listening to them who are maybe business leaders in certain areas or experts in certain areas. You know, spending time listening to them with them can, can give you so much as, well. So much. That's why we have this podcast, right?
B
That is why we have this podcast.
C
Yeah. You remind me a lot of the times when people are, you know, they might be looking for a studio or a brand new studio, and in their heads they think, I'm not going to be running, you know, I'm going to have to shut down while I open my new studio. So, you know, I'm going to pause my, my membership or pause my, Pause my coaching because I won't be functioning. But this is the time when you need most of the coaching. This is when people can make massive, massive mistakes in choosing the right location, in thinking about who are the right surrounding businesses. You need to be around advice on, you know, looking at ceiling heights and how to negotiate with landlords or whether you should use a buyer's advocate or not. What is the market asking at the moment and, you know, should you be negotiating for rent free Periods. What sort of displays should be, should you be preparing? Could you, even though you don't have a studio, could you use that opportunity because you want to build new, new displays? Could you be running something to bring clients in to build those displays? And what sort of display should you be selling now that you're building a brand new studio? All of those things. And even if you're not going to print them because you don't have the money yet, getting the clients in, getting the shoots in, will generate the money you need. And when is the right time? I think a lot of people say, oh, I need a studio and haven't planned it. Sometimes it's not the right time because you need a cash reserve and you need to consider zoning. There's all these things that, you know, people cost a lot of to get wrong.
B
That's interesting to see if you say that because I, if my one wish for every business owner, photographer, business owner actually out there, it would be to know that like from the get go, higher, like, and this is what's so funny when you equate it to the sport. You wouldn't train to be a professional athlete without a coach. So why would you run a business without one and get that help in the beginning so you don't end up blowing through all your savings and now you're desperate and you're facing either having to go get a real job or uh, or continuing with running your studio when if you would just start at the beginning, the right way, understanding your numbers, understanding your business with a group of people that are achieving the level you want to achieve, with coaches and mentors and a community of people that want to hold you accountable and keep you moving forward. How much better you could be from the beginning. God, I wish I had in the
C
beginning makes a message, makes a massive difference. Because we've seen, I've seen, because I've coached people from all over the world and I've seen those people that were in other professions and so they have to give up like a six figure salary to then, you know, become a studio. And they seem to be the ones that will, you know, they can afford it, they'll hire the coach. So then they don't get it wrong because they've got a lot to give up and it does not take them long to, you know, build a business that can replace that because they're getting the advice from the very beginning. And I feel as though sometimes when you wait too long, all you're doing is building those bad habits and reinforcing those bad habits, and they become so much easier, so much more difficult to let go of as you reinforce them over time. Much easier to set on the right foot from the very beginning. Way easier. And, you know, everybody, you know, I wish I had got a coach way, way before I actually did. Didn't even know it was something that I needed, to be honest, until things started going south. Then you got to recover from that.
A
It is part of learning. But, Janine, I'd love to know a little bit more about your inner voices. Like, have you. Can you tell us any example in business about where the inner voices were talking to you and you took action? You know, you parked. You told the ego voice to just sit down there and shut up. I'm gonna go and get some help.
B
So it's interesting, right? And I know Steve talks about this at all levels in your career. Your ego can never be too big to need a coach. Steve has had a coach, right? You've got you. You know, Ronan, you've had coaches, and. And. And so, you know, the inner voice, like, you know, so I'm a mentor with the difference maker revolution. I've had the voice, and I don't need a coach. I'm, like, doing it with the team, right? But, you know, it. You still do. And so as the. The little ego inner voices in your head, I got this. I know everything. I know what I need to do with my team. I got this. I can track their call sheets. I can make sure that what they're doing is right. I can listen to their calls and know that whether they're right or wrong and coach them through it. I'm their coach. Why would I need a coach? You know? And so it's those little voices in my head. And then you realize you slap yourself and you're like, whoa, whoa. Who is holding me accountable? You know? And so it's that little voice. You're never too good to have someone else hold you accountable ever. And you're never too good to keep learning, and you're never too good to achieve a next level. Like, you know, I'm never happy with where I'm at. I always want to achieve more. I always want to do more. I always want to make a difference to more people's lives. Now I'm at a point where I want to have a larger team so more people can have jobs and. And become part of an environment where they can make a difference in other people's lives. I think what we do is the greatest thing in the world. Why wouldn't I want to share that with more people. That's a different skill set that I do not have. Right. And so you got to get it somewhere. I can't. I could figure it out on my own over years of trial and error, but why would I want to do that? And you can shortcut that by hiring someone to help you figure that out. So yeah, it is that. And I think, I don't know if it's just me as a Gen Xer where you have that rugged independence, you know, like, I can do this on my own, I can figure this out by myself. You know, I let myself into the house, getting off the bus with my little key at the age of five, I can figure out my business on my own. So anyways, yeah, it's. It's battling that independent streak that you have that you can figure it out on your own like it's a badge of honor. I don't think it's really a badge of honor to fail until you failed so miserably. You could, you know, be out of business when it's so easy to just ask for help.
C
One thing I could never understand, confession time is confession time is that it's so easy going into somebody else's business and seeing what's wrong and looking for the opportunity. But then when you look at your own business, you just can't see it. And yet when you walk into somebody else's business, it's just so obvious. And it's almost like when you do get that coach, it's like putting on a set of glasses for the first time that you didn't even know that you've been looking at your business out of focus. And it's like everything's in front of you and you know it's there, but there's no detail, it's not sharp. And I found that when I hired a coach, it was like putting on a set of glasses and then it was really clear to him. But I think because we're so close to it and because there's so much emotional attachment to certain things that maybe we created or ways that we do things, we just can't see that there's another way and we can't see clearly that there's an opportunity that we just, we don't have the lenses and the glasses to see. And so what I found was it was almost like putting on a set of glasses not even realizing that you were blind.
A
It's that, it's that age old saying, you can't see the wood from the Trees, Right. And it's. It's literally that when you're living in it every day, it's hard to do that. And that's why you need coaches around you, as you said, Steve, you know, I go into other businesses and I like that. I see stuff like that. And there's stuff in my own. Our own business, and I don't see it. You know, it's crazy. It is crazy.
C
What's that desensitization that, Janine, you were talking about, that scratch on the wall? You just become desensitized.
B
But you said the levels keep going
C
down without you even knowing or noticing. Like you can feel something's wrong, you feel something slipping. But it's the economy, it's, you know, the politicians. It's my. My area. And so we start to believe all this stuff that isn't true. We just trying to reason it and not take responsibility for it, I think. So, Ranald, what's the biggest thing you've learned from a coach?
A
Oh, my gosh. The biggest thing, Steve. The biggest thing. I think it's that everything goes back to a number. And if you don't measure it, you can't manage it. And, you know, you've. Regardless of whether you're good with numbers or bad at numbers, you have to find a way where the numbers make sense to you. So you don't have to be a financial accountant expert. You just need to be able to have the numbers make sense to you, that you can look at them, measure them, and know what's driving each of those numbers. I think that that. That's been the biggest. What about you, Steve?
C
When I first started, I used to tell myself I didn't have time. I didn't have time to fill out the sheets. I didn't have time to track the numbers. And it was a big lesson that I learned that you. I couldn't afford not to track the numbers. I think the biggest thing I learned is that from a coach is that he said to me, you only see yourself in other people. And all those things that you're complaining about is usually a fear or a hang up that you have. Because I used to have this hang up that people can't afford it. I can't ask for that money. And that was my fear. That was me projecting onto the clients. And it was my issue because, you know, once I realized that I was projecting that fear, it's amazing how quickly the sales go up and then everything. My. One of my team members would come up and say, you know, something like Nobody wants to book. Usually that meant that they didn't believe people wanted to book. And so, you know, we had to address that, their belief in what we do and their belief that, you know, what we do is important. So it really helped me coach people, identify where the problems were. What about you, Janine? What's the biggest thing you've learned?
B
I think for me, like, it's knowing that there is. It was learning and understanding that there is always a better way and something more. So I'm trying to figure out how to explain this. So let's say I was okay with two bookings a day, knowing that that's not okay and that it's something I had settled into and there could be more. And when there's not more to be, always looking for it. So I guess the relentless pursuit of business is something that I got from coaching. And that's a, that's the best way to put it. And we talk about that a lot now because it's something I'm so passionate about. And it, and it. Because when I had first gotten into the, when I first gotten into the business, and you guys are going to laugh at this, but, you know, it really was. I thought, oh, I'm a really good photographer. People will hire me, you know, and it took coaching to really understand that I have to go after the business I want. And it's my responsibility to seek out and relentlessly pursue the business, not wait for it to come to me. So I think that's probably the biggest thing I've gotten out of coaching and sorry it took me a while to get those words out of my mouth, but that relentless pursuit of business, it doesn't just does not fall in your lap ever.
A
What was that film, Janine? Field of Dreams. Was that what it was?
B
Field of Dreams? If you build it, they will come. We're not Kevin Costner.
A
So all you guys need to do to surround yourself with the community that will power you to your level of success with all the help of not one, not two, not three, but four coaching coaches, stroke mentors within the difference maker revolution. Just click on the link below and we'll see you on the inside.
B
Bye, everyone.
C
Everyone. See you soon.
Podcast: The Difference Maker Revolution Podcast
Episode: The Enemy Within
Date: June 8, 2026
This episode, "The Enemy Within," tackles one of the most common yet overlooked struggles of photographers and business owners: the inner obstacles that prevent us from seeking help, maintaining accountability, and continuously pursuing growth. The panel—Ronan Ryle, Jonathan Ryle, Jeanine McLeod, and Steve Saporito—share vulnerable personal experiences and practical advice on controlling ego, embracing coaching, and the crucial importance of community support for sustaining and growing a photography business.
The hosts discuss the inner voices that keep many business owners from asking for help, with ego commonly overpowering logic.
Quote:
"You've got...these voices in your head, right, and they're debating with each other, you know, and often there's the ego voice that's saying, you know, no, you can't...let them see that you can't. No, no, you can't do that. And the sort of logical voice say, no, you need help."
—[A, 03:05]
Ronan recalls an equation from a book:
"Success equals IQ minus ego...I changed it to success equals IQ minus ego plus smart work. Not hard work, but smart work."
—[A, 03:37]
Many wait until they’re in a crisis to seek coaching, often due to denial or the belief that needing help is a weakness.
Steve shares:
"We see people that...almost wait till it's too late before they seek coaching...I don't know whether they believe that it's a weakness or what is it."
—[C, 01:10]
Ronan adds:
"It's nearly a fear of dealing with the situation and owning up to it and having a conversation with somebody who can help you."
—[A, 02:32]
Even when successful, the most elite athletes—and business owners—continue to rely on coaches.
The metaphor of sports coaching is used extensively.
Quote:
"The best athletes in the world still have coaches even when they're winning gold medals."
—[C, 04:39]
Jonathan on accountability:
"If I go to the gym alone, I don't feel like doing 10 reps today. I'll just do nine...It's natural you let yourself slide...That's the same thing in our business."
—[B, 05:51]
Jeanine reflects on the essential role of accountability systems like call sheets:
"What I loved about the call sheets was it held us accountable to know one of the prime times. We can't procrastinate at this time because if we procrastinate early on in the day, we don't get our callbacks, we don't get our bookings."
—[C, 08:42]
Gradually, slipping standards become the new norm without accountability.
"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" (attributed to Jim Rohn) is discussed as a powerful reminder to curate one’s influences:
"Who you surround yourself with has such an influence on how you deal with things."
—[A, 09:34]
Community, virtual or physical, helps raise the bar and offers comparison points for what’s realistically possible.
"This is the time when you need most of the coaching. This is when people can make massive, massive mistakes...there's all these things that, you know, people cost a lot of to get wrong."
—[C, 10:31]
"You wouldn't train to be a professional athlete without a coach. So why would you run a business without one and get that help in the beginning so you don't end up blowing through all your savings?"
—[B, 12:22]
Jeanine shares how, even as a mentor, her ego sometimes resists coaching:
"You're never too good to have someone else hold you accountable ever. And you're never too good to keep learning, and you're never too good to achieve a next level."
—[B, 15:31]
Steve likens hiring a coach to "putting on a set of glasses"—suddenly all the fuzzy business challenges become clear.
"...when you do get that coach, it's like putting on a set of glasses for the first time that you didn't even know that you've been looking at your business out of focus."
—[C, 17:12]
The most valuable lesson from coaching: "If you don't measure it, you can't manage it."
"...you have to find a way where the numbers make sense to you...so you can look at them, measure them, and know what's driving each of those numbers."
—[A, 19:24]
Steve on mindset and projection:
"All those things that you're complaining about is usually a fear or a hang up that you have...once I realized that I was projecting that fear, it's amazing how quickly the sales go up."
—[C, 20:36]
"The relentless pursuit of business is something that I got from coaching...I have to go after the business I want. And it's my responsibility to seek out and relentlessly pursue the business, not wait for it to come to me."
—[B, 21:31]
On internal struggle:
"It's not easy to ask for help. You have these voices in your head and they're debating with each other...Until you learn to control your ego and realize that ego is the enemy."
—[A, 00:00]
On coaching at all career levels:
"Sometimes we need more than one because there's different...areas of your life that need coaching."
—[C, 04:58]
On slipping standards:
"You're building new normals, you know, normal. Normal used to be, you know, at 80%, and then it became 75%. And then it became, you know, 70%. And you got nobody to say, no, no, normal is 90%. Like, you're losing ground here."
—[C, 08:09]
On self-accountability:
"Who is holding me accountable? You know? And so it's that little voice. You're never too good to have someone else hold you accountable ever."
—[B, 15:18]
On clarity from coaching:
"It was almost like putting on a set of glasses not even realizing that you were blind."
—[C, 17:14]
Reality check:
"We're not Kevin Costner. Field of Dreams: If you build it, they will come. It's not true."
—[B, 22:25]
This energetic episode shows that the true "enemy within" is rarely external forces—it's ego, pride, and the reluctance to seek help or accountability. The hosts’ candid experiences underline that growth comes from honest self-reflection, accepting outside help, making numbers your ally, and committing to constant progress. The essential message: to overcome internal resistance, embrace community, mentorship, and coaching—no matter your stage or perceived success.
For listeners seeking further support, the show’s Difference Maker Revolution community offers direct access to four expert mentors—proof that greatness is a team sport in photography.