Speaker 1 (00:00:00) - Hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Gem series. I am honored to have Ali Daniel on the podcast today. Hey, Ali, how's it going?

Speaker 2 (00:00:09) - Hey, I'm doing good. I'm really excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:00:13) - I am so excited to have you here. You just got back from your honeymoon, right?

Speaker 2 (00:00:17) - That is correct. Yep. I went to England. It was wonderful.

Speaker 1 (00:00:21) - Oh, man. Whereabouts in. In England. Where you all going?

Speaker 2 (00:00:24) - Yeah, I know. Most of the time we tell people we went to England, they're like, Oh, I have never heard of anyone going to England for the honeymoon. But we actually went out into the countryside, into the Cotswolds, which we had. We had really no idea about it before we went, but we found a great business class trip to to London. And so we were like, Sure, let's book it. And then we researched kind of, you know, what to do out in the countryside.

Speaker 2 (00:00:47) - And that came up and it was amazing. So peaceful, so serene. We just lounged around and the country and played with horses and visited different villages. It was really awesome.

Speaker 1 (00:00:58) - That sounds incredible. You know, it's funny. My my limited context for I went to London when I was like a kid, but my limited context for it is I, I can't even remember the name of the movie where one of them is living in California and the other one's living in like the quaint countryside.

Speaker 2 (00:01:15) - Of English, The holiday. Everyone was like, Your honeymoon sounds like the holiday. I've heard it from at least 5 or 6 people. They're like, Oh, like the holiday? Because we're like, Oh, we stayed in a cottage out in the English countryside. They're like, Oh my God, you literally live the holiday. Except no one came to stay at our house. But yeah, we did rent a house. A little cottage out there.

Speaker 1 (00:01:34) - Yeah. I was already acquainted with the love of my life, so didn't.

Speaker 2 (00:01:37) - Yeah. Thankfully, I didn't have to meet anyone out there, but everyone was so nice. Everyone we did run into was so, so nice. We were. We were kind of surprised. Like overly nice. Not in a bad way, but just like we were kind of shocked.

Speaker 1 (00:01:49) - Yeah. Yeah. You always wonder, like, what it's going to be like whenever you go visit another another country. And that's the thing that I find is like if you go places and you're pretty open and.

Speaker 2 (00:02:00) - Friendly yourself maybe.

Speaker 1 (00:02:01) - And step into a place where you can kind of be like, Hey, I don't know everything, then people are usually willing to willing to help. And that that applies to like most things, I think, too well. Ali Um, usually I like to just kind of give you the floor for a second to just share. Yeah, just tell the audience a little bit about yourself. For anybody that doesn't know about you yet, um, they're going to know about you.

Speaker 1 (00:02:27) - I can tell them that one. There will soon be great.

Speaker 2 (00:02:31) - Yeah, sure. So, gosh, I've been a coach now for six years or so, and I hesitate to call myself a business coach, even though that's really what I am. But I love working with my clients on a much deeper level than simply business marketing branding strategy. So I am certified in like unconscious coaching and also in hypnosis. So I do love and somatic coaching. I love more of that realm to kind of do a lot more of the deep healing work. But I'm also very specialized in marketing branding, sales. That's my background. I graduated from USC with a degree in communication, and then I went straight into advertising, marketing, public relations. So the, the copywriting, the marketing, the branding is kind of my zone of genius. So I love doing both. That's really what my clients come to me for is kind of that that intersection between the two of business, but also kind of the, the soul, the spiritual, the the deeper kind of life coaching element as well.

Speaker 2 (00:03:36) - So mostly the clients that I work with are coaches, their new coaches, their coaches within their first 2 to 3 years trying to get their business off the ground, really focusing on building out their own signature programs. What I specialize also in is helping our clients create their own signature coaching methods. So I call it your proprietary coaching method, and it's really taking the life knowledge, the lessons, the different skills and tools that you've learned through your lifetime and kind of compiling it into a system to help other people kind of get similar results in their lives. So that's a fun part of my business. I really love doing that with my clients because that's when they really start to feel like a unique coach and somebody who's got something different than other people. So that's what we do. Mainly in our signature program. We kind of help our clients with that and then getting them launched with their own clients within a couple of weeks. And then we also have a mastermind where I really get to work with our clients on that much deeper level that I was kind of talking about earlier and helping that that personal growth stepping into themselves and really becoming the leader that they want to be, but also the CEO and coach that they want to be in their business as well.

Speaker 2 (00:04:46) - So that's that's a pretty good summary. I would say.

Speaker 1 (00:04:51) - That's just so needed right now too. Mean everybody's always talking about work life balance. But think like whenever we use these. Arms to death. What ends up happening is that it kind of just is like a catchphrase that people are like, Oh yeah, I should have that. But I often feel that we're neglecting our work soul balance in a way, you know? And and it's like we're just grinding away for so long. And I know that I, I felt this and I think everybody feels that where you're like, I think a part of me is probably being neglected by the way that I'm spending my time every single day. So makes me so happy to hear that you are diving into that and getting people to be vulnerable with you and make some choices that they're excited about in their life, you know?

Speaker 2 (00:05:36) - Yeah, for sure. That's that's like what excites me the most is helping our clients. Like, I call it your soul aligned business because it's not just any business.

Speaker 2 (00:05:44) - I have started and stopped, like for businesses probably in my past. And what I learned from those is you can't just start a business just because you want to be an entrepreneur. You want to have the flexibility, you want to have that freedom. You really have to start a business that's truly aligned with your heart, your soul, your purpose, because that's the thing that's going to be sustainable. That's the thing that's going to excite you and get you out of bed every morning with a smile on your face as opposed to just any other business where you essentially become a employee to your business and it is no longer it. You might as well just go back and work a 9 to 5 job at that point.

Speaker 1 (00:06:21) - Yeah, well, because I mean, objectively, it's not that easier thing to do, you know? So it's like, dang, if you don't have the fire in your belly for it, then you probably need to find something else, you know? Yeah, it's a lot of sense.

Speaker 2 (00:06:36) - Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (00:06:37) - It sounds like. Have you always been in the California area?

Speaker 2 (00:06:41) - Born and raised California girl. I was born in Northern California and then came down to Southern California for college and stayed down here. Definitely. Southern California is my my home. I love it down here.

Speaker 1 (00:06:53) - I yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:06:54) - I did live in Florida for a bit, actually. I did move for a year. I was in Florida for a year. And then okay, what.

Speaker 1 (00:07:00) - Made you go to Florida?

Speaker 2 (00:07:02) - So my now husband, he moved out there for a job when we were first dating. He's like, Bye, I'm breaking up with you. And then I followed him out there like maybe eight months later and we picked up right where we left off and have obviously been together ever since.

Speaker 1 (00:07:17) - That's so cool. And so, so growing up, I mean. Yeah, not that. Not that I would expect everybody to have some sort of thing where because I certainly wasn't out here, like I'm going to be an entrepreneur, like as a kid or whatever.

Speaker 2 (00:07:31) - Me neither.

Speaker 1 (00:07:31) - What was. Yeah. What was life like when you were kind of growing up? Was there anything that you're really excited about that you can remember?

Speaker 2 (00:07:38) - I've always been really passionate about sports. Like I played tennis growing up. I love tennis. Um, animals, love animals, have always had a dog. But in terms of like career path, I always kind of considered doing something in like law. My parents always said I would be a good lawyer, but when I looked at the work life balance of being a lawyer when I was in my teens, I was like, That just does not sound enjoyable. I always did have an entrepreneurial spirit. I remember early on, maybe 6 or 8 when we were doing Halloween trick or treating, and I'd have a bunch of candy I would like be out on the street selling it the next day. Um, so I feel like I've always had a little bit of that in me, but. As I approached, you know, college and post-college, starting your own business sounded terrifying.

Speaker 2 (00:08:35) - I was like, Oh, no way I could do that. I'm not smart enough. I don't have the the financial ability to do that. I don't have the network, the connections. I just that seemed I looked at like people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, and I was like, those are entrepreneurs. You know, those are and I didn't see myself in that way. So yeah, I never I think there was a part of me that always wanted to do it clearly. And I even started another business selling water bottles and things in college. So there was that in me, but I just was always afraid to actually make. I always thought it was just going to be a side thing, like a fun side hobby and not actually where I would spend my life. And it wasn't actually until I got I got sick with what we thought was an autoimmune illness. It essentially kind of is, but it was mold illness. So we were living by the by the coast and I got really sick with mold illness.

Speaker 2 (00:09:29) - And that really brought me to rock bottom. And that's what kind of then led me into like the life I have now, because essentially I was I was so low and broken. I reached that point where like, nothing is worse than this, so might as well go do things, be afraid and do them anyway, because like, honestly, nothing was worse than that pain that I had experienced being sick. So I'm I don't wish it upon anybody to get sick like I did because it was awful and super painful. But at the same time, I don't regret it at all. It really did give me the life that I have now and it gave me so much courage and so much ability to just say like, f it to fears. I don't know if you can swear, but. But just, you know, fucking to fears because I like I said, I had really hit rock bottom and nothing was going to be worse than that. So that's kind of what led me into finally doing entrepreneurship.

Speaker 1 (00:10:26) - Thanks for sharing that part of your story. I you know, I have a dear friend of mine who struggled with who went through something similar with a mold related illness. And it's terrible. It's just totally terrible. And, you know, after that, I'm like, I'm telling everybody. I'm like.

Speaker 2 (00:10:43) - Check for mold.

Speaker 1 (00:10:45) - Yeah, like check for mold, you know, you're renting from. Yeah, yeah. But I think that's it's so true that when you reach that breaking point, you can decide to just kind of like, accept your circumstances or. Yeah, hey, maybe, you know, if this is as low as I can go, guess that means that there's nowhere to go. But.

Speaker 2 (00:11:06) - But up from here. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:11:09) - I totally amazing.

Speaker 2 (00:11:11) - I definitely remember reaching that point where I was like, I do not want this to be the rest of my life. Like, this is not this can't be it. You know, this really I remember feeling that and I made a decision like, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get better, whatever it takes to live a life that feels good, where I feel happy, where I'm healthy.

Speaker 2 (00:11:35) - And so, yeah, I kind of fought tooth and nail to get to where I am today. At least in the beginning, you know, when I was still really sick, it was it was a struggle to get healthy. But a couple of years later I did. And then honestly, it wasn't until two years ago that we found out it was actually mold illness. So that's when I like fully, fully healed was when we actually found out what it really was and were able to totally detox from it.

Speaker 1 (00:12:02) - Thank goodness. I I'm glad to hear that. And it's it's interesting too, because I mean on and I see it all the time even with with me, you know, I'm like I on paper I'm like, you've had some pretty cool jobs too, you know, like, yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:12:18) - I totally have.

Speaker 1 (00:12:20) - Like a production assistant helping out or doing production and like producing these commercials for like, Apple. I don't know if I know.

Speaker 2 (00:12:27) - Yeah, that is. I had a great first job out of college.

Speaker 2 (00:12:30) - I mean, it was a dream job. I loved it until I hated it. It was. It was so much fun, you know? It really was. But the work life balance there, going back to that, it was awful. So awful in advertising all around. It's pretty, pretty miserable. But here specifically, it was it was pretty bad. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:12:49) - And that's the thing, right, is it's not even, I think like what I always try to tell people too, is like, it's not even about like having to analyze if you're in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction, it's like, yes, you want to listen to yourself, but it's also like the other side of that, which is I want to perpetually find satisfaction, you know what I mean? Or like realize like something's not quite there yet, so maybe need to keep moving in the right direction. So once you've won, I'd love to hear like, what's the beginning of starting what you're doing now? What did that look like? Because obviously you had broken down those like fear barriers and done a lot.

Speaker 1 (00:13:27) - Like mental work both in just like just from life experience and everything. What was. Yeah. What was that like for you?

Speaker 2 (00:13:33) - Yeah, I would say so much of it really started when, like I said, I was sick and I just realized that there had to be more to life that I just wasn't getting. And I ended up hiring a health coach because I had been to so many doctors and nothing was working. They had no idea what was going on. And so I was kind of at like my wit's end just being like, All right, like, yeah, I'll try this random person on Instagram who says, you know, their health coach. They work with people with autoimmune illness and they seem to be doing pretty great. So I reached out. We started working together for a period of six months, and that period truly changed my life. Like it? I would not be where I am today without having had that experience. And I'm so grateful to my coach, Maggie, who worked with me during that time and just really showed me how we were in control of how we're feeling, how we're thinking, and that we really have the power to change our life, our circumstances, and really like tapped into the spiritual side.

Speaker 2 (00:14:42) - And I did not grow up religious. I didn't grow up spiritual. We just didn't have that in our family. And so this was the first time that I really started to open up to like, What's the meaning behind this? Why am I even sick? You know? And I think that's what happens to a lot of people when they reach their rock bottom, is they have to find meaning in it. Otherwise life is just meaningless, you know, and it's miserable and awful. So I sought that meaning and I really felt like I found it in for me. Just like at the time, I didn't necessarily believe in God or one specific entity, but it was like this universal life source, something that was connecting all of us. And I just felt like some peace in the sense that there's just something bigger. So that was a huge part of like that shift out of like kind of victimhood and blaming the world to taking responsibility for myself, for my life and just recognizing that even though I wasn't responsible, quote unquote, for getting sick, it was still my responsibility to get better, to heal, to figure out a way forward.

Speaker 2 (00:15:48) - That was up to me. No one was going to do it like no one's going to save me. And that was really up to me. And so a huge mindset shift there really happened for me. But so much of what I learned with my coach at that time was like simple mindset work. And it, you know, mindset work is so powerful in the sense that it's it's all this conscious work around shifting your perspective and just seeing things in a different way and seeing things in a different way is really what allows you to have a little bit more peace around things that maybe you were maybe struggling with before. It maybe allows you to have a little less fear around things that you're wanting to do. So just shifting your perspective, it's a really powerful part of, you know, the growth process. And if you're wanting to start a business, that's a huge part of the process because if you have beliefs around I'm not good enough or businesses do hard or it's too risky, then you're never going to do it.

Speaker 2 (00:16:41) - So it is about shifting those beliefs and recognizing that those are not universal beliefs. Not everybody holds those to be true. And so if they're not a fact and they're not true. What might be true for me. So that was really powerful. And that kind of kicked off my belief in coaching and what it can do for people and how powerful it is to help people change their lives. And so at that point, I was like, I think I want to be a coach. I didn't want to do health coaching. I was so sick of being sick and dealing with that that I wanted to do something totally, completely different. So I started blogging just about my journey, about what I was going through, about what I was learning, and just kind of said, you know, eventually I'll figure out how to turn it into my coaching business. But for me, what that looked like was blogging. I started a podcast, I was on Instagram, and I was just creating a ton of content, hiding, kind of hiding behind a one day I'll feel ready.

Speaker 2 (00:17:38) - One day it'll it'll all just happen. One day I will feel good enough, smart enough, prepared enough, experienced enough to start coaching. So I recognized like that went on for a good year and a half or so before I went to an event, actually, and people were speaking on stage about how they started their businesses. And what I got from that was they just started they just started when they weren't quote unquote ready. They just did it like I know it sounds like almost grassroots, like they just worked with what they had and they made it happen. They didn't wait to have more connections or more money or more experience. They just simply like, what do I have right now to offer and to get started with? And they just started with that. And then it eventually evolved into what they wanted it to be. And so I really took that as, All right, I'm kind of hiding. I'm making excuses that I'm not ready, I'm not prepared enough and experience enough. And if if if I keep making those excuses, I'm never going to get where I want to get to.

Speaker 2 (00:18:40) - I knew that I had to just start. So I launched a program, Path to Freedom, which is now our signature program that I was talking about earlier. And we had, I think, four people sign up for it, a couple people from I think one person from my blog who was following me, and I can't remember where one came from, but the other two came from this survey that I put out, like a research questionnaire to just kind of learn more about my ideal clients and what they were needing and then having a further conversation with them and then ended up saying like, Hey, I think this program of mine might be a great fit for you to get your business going because what the what my program looked like was basically identify your soul, align business like start your soul, align business. Because at that point I had started mine, but I hadn't really done anything with it. But at least I knew how to get there, how to like identify the idea what you wanted and then get it started.

Speaker 2 (00:19:37) - So again, I just started with that, what I knew the very minimum of what I knew, helping people with that. And then again, as I learned and developed and became more experienced than it evolved into something so much more than that. So yeah, that's pretty much the evolution of how it came to be, what it is now.

Speaker 1 (00:19:57) - What an incredible journey. And you know, I think you hit the nail on the head big time, which is you just got to kind of go for it. I got to do it. I was watching a video the other day and it was like how to how to get to where you can do more pull ups and start with one, do more pull ups.

Speaker 2 (00:20:18) - Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:20:19) - Yeah. And I was like, Yeah, I guess that's true, you know? But I know.

Speaker 2 (00:20:23) - People are like, Oh, what do I what muscle do I need to work for this or what? You know, like they're trying to figure out another an easier way.

Speaker 2 (00:20:30) - Yeah, there is no easy way. You just have to start with the thing.

Speaker 1 (00:20:34) - And not be afraid to, to fumble, you know, and stumble a little bit here and there and yeah, it sounds like. So, yeah, I kind of made me think too. What was it like? So were you did you have any kind of discomfort when you first stepped into these meetings with the health coach right away or what was really like, Whoa, okay, this person's pushing me on my comfort zone or.

Speaker 2 (00:20:54) - Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, she she pushed me out of my comfort zone in so many ways, and I had to really like what I always advise people in going into a coaching space is like, try it on, see how it fits for you and then reevaluate. And so I was committed to just trying whatever she shared with me. I would say the most the hardest things were some of the like more woowoo spiritual things of like, we create our reality.

Speaker 2 (00:21:24) - And at first I was just like, This is a ton of BS. Like, I don't really it doesn't make any sense. Like, how could what I'm thinking really shape what happens for me? But the more we talked about it and the more we recognize that, you know, the thoughts that we think influence how we feel and how we feel influences the actions we take and the actions we take influence, the results and what we create in our lives. So like, that made sense. To me. And that was very, like, rational, logical. Okay, I get that. So that helped me kind of get on board a bit more with it. And then the other part I struggled with, the other two parts were one, taking that responsibility again for like, you know, you may have not gotten sick, but like you need to figure out a way beyond that. And for a long time, you know, I just wanted to like, blame and just be in that like, woe is me, you know, mentality.

Speaker 2 (00:22:21) - But again, like my commitment to, you know, I invested pretty heavily in this coach. And so I was going to try on whatever she was helping me with. So I did. And then the other piece was the emotional learning curve. I think most people, most of us are not taught how to feel our emotions and what our emotions are and how to identify them, how to just be with them and let them be okay and process them. Most people are not taught that. And I had a wonderful upbringing, wonderful parents, and I still wasn't taught that, you know. Um, and yes, so for me, what I realized was so much of the resistance was around feeling my emotions and I didn't know how I remember this vividly. I share this all the time with clients. She asked me, you know, every time we'd come to a meeting. But I remember this one specific time I was towards the beginning. She was like, How are you feeling today? And I was like, I'm fine.

Speaker 2 (00:23:23) - And she was like, But how are you really feeling? And I was like, I'm good. I don't know. And she's like, like those aren't emotions, you know, that's that's not an emotion. And I was like, What? Like, what are you talking about, lady? Yeah, Yeah. I was like, I don't understand. What do you want from me? And she's like, What are you, like, feeling? How does your body feel right now? Like? And that to me was like at the time, it wasn't a mind blowing moment, but it was kind of like jarring. Oh, oh, I'm supposed to be I'm supposed to know how I'm feeling throughout the day. And if I'm not, then it means I'm not really checking in with myself. So, you know, as time went on, I recognized that that was such a huge moment for me of learning that we do have emotions. We do feel 24 over seven and we're always feeling something.

Speaker 2 (00:24:12) - Usually it's multiple emotions at the same time. So that was such a it sounds so fundamental and so basic, but like she would take me through an exercise of identifying my emotions. She was like, All right, mad. Where do you notice that in your body? What does that feel like? What are the sensations like? What's there, what's present, what's the texture, what's the colors like? What's the movement? What's happening for you when you imagine feeling mad? And she walked through, you know, all the emotions, happy, joy, loved safety, you know, and just everything. And so I really got to feel what those emotions felt like in my body. And that was really powerful. And so I would honestly start practicing that and start writing down what am I feeling? And this was a journey that took a few years to really like get the hang of my emotions emotional mastery piece. And I even remember like my now husband but boyfriend at the time I was like teaching him even not teaching, but we were going through it together because I was like, I'm feeling, you know, anxious and happy and excited.

Speaker 2 (00:25:20) - And I was like, What are you feeling? He's like, Shut up. I don't want to do this. Like, he didn't he didn't know how to feel like either. So by me, you know, going through this process myself, like he has also really learned that as well. And it's been really powerful for him too. So yeah, that that's something I would say is a huge was a huge learning for me.

Speaker 1 (00:25:41) - Yeah. No, I think I can see how it would be a huge, a huge learning thing. It's something that I've had to learn to you better believe my therapist busted out Feelings Wheel and was.

Speaker 2 (00:25:51) - Like, That's a feelings wheel.

Speaker 1 (00:25:52) - Let's go ahead and check this thing out. But because the more I reflect on it, I realized we only have we all have a sense of self awareness, but in reality there's only a percentage probably that a small a smaller percentage than maybe we'd expect that we actually have of our own self Awareness and feelings play a really big role in that because those actually that actually allows you to to see how your body and mind are interacting with your environments and what's actually going on.

Speaker 1 (00:26:25) - Yeah. Um, and you know, growing up, yeah, there's no, we weren't taught any of that stuff at least, you know.

Speaker 2 (00:26:32) - Most of us are taught to like, quiet our emotions. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (00:26:36) - And, you know, my wife's a teacher and I think it's beautiful because now that's something that's being brought into the younger generation, you know, is like taking a moment to, like, sit with their feelings and express, like, exactly what their what.

Speaker 2 (00:26:48) - Going to wish I wish I had been. And yeah, that's. Amazing. I love hearing that.

Speaker 1 (00:26:53) - Yeah. Can't imagine how emotionally developed these kids are going to be.

Speaker 2 (00:26:56) - Know they're going to they're going to be able to do so much more because of that. I know that what we teach so much in our mastermind especially is that your emotions are really going to dictate again how you show up in the actions that you take. So when you can learn to feel what you're feeling and kind of support yourself through that, your your the feelings and the emotions process a lot faster.

Speaker 2 (00:27:21) - So if you're feeling anxious or you're feeling afraid of doing something, if you're just allow yourself to feel that and kind of hold yourself in that and let it process, you're kind of like, all right, I'm good to move forward. So you're able to do a lot more and take bigger risks and do things that scare you more. If you have that emotional mastery.

Speaker 1 (00:27:40) - You're totally right. So how yeah, now that now that you've worked with, I think I saw like 450, I bet it's more than that different client right now. How do you how do you advise them to kind of get started? I mean, I know everybody's in different places, but what are some examples? We have lots of audience members that are entrepreneurs, solopreneurs that are curious about it. So how do you kind of get the ball rolling for people like that?

Speaker 2 (00:28:10) - Yeah, I would say one of the biggest things is to know your why really like why you want to do this and. You'll probably have a version of it that's maybe altruistic.

Speaker 2 (00:28:25) - I want to make the world a better place. I want to help people, depending on what you want to do, which is awesome. And you also want to have your selfish reasons, you know, like, why is it going to make your life better? You know, it's so important to have the reasons for you that are going to get you out of bed every day. And. As you know, like growing a business is tough work. And not everybody is kind of like cut out to do it. So it does take a lot of effort and energy and intention to do it. So if you don't have a vision that really excites you, that makes you feel like God, like I'm willing to do anything to make this happen, then yeah, you're not really going to put in the work to do it. So I would say first is really know your why create that vision. Why do you want this and have fun with the vision. We actually take our clients through an exercise in Path to Freedom, where we call it like your ideal day, and we have them like journal a whole page on like, what does that day look like from start to finish? What are they doing? How is their day going? Like, what are they like? Who are they with? Where are they living? Who are they working with? You know, what is their business and their lifestyle look like? Their income, their retirement, their health, Like everything.

Speaker 2 (00:29:41) - Trying to fit it all into like that vision because that's what's exciting. That gets people to take action and say, I'm willing to overcome this fear because this is worth it. I'm willing to take this risk because this vision is worth it. So that's probably number one. The second would be support. So surrounding yourself with a friend who's going through it or finding a networking group of people that you really connect with who are going through something similar or investing in a group program where there's other people kind of doing the same thing or even a coach if that works better for you one on one. Just having some sort of support, some sort of camaraderie in this experience is so crucial. I with the first like four years of my business, I was always in some sort of group program, whether it was like a group coaching program, a group mastermind, just some sort of group environment where I could talk to people going through the same thing as me who were taking those risks, who were having those challenges.

Speaker 2 (00:30:44) - I remember so vividly, you know, in my first year, year and a half in business, just being so distraught over the things that weren't going well, the failures, the, you know, the hiccups, the mistakes and crying on my bathroom floor and just feeling like a failure and then having those people be like, Ali, you've got this like you you've you're you've got this. You know what you're doing. You're so talented, you're so capable, you're blah, blah, blah. And just being able to kind of like build me back up and they're like, get back on the horse. You know, we've been through that. We know what you're going through. It sucks and you're going to get through this. And to me, that was everything. I mean, I would not be where I am today without that kind of support. So I would say, whatever works for you, just try to find some sort of support of people who have skin in the game. They're not just in a Facebook group saying they're going to start a business, but like they're actually doing it.

Speaker 2 (00:31:37) - You know, they've started they've gotten some sort of things going or they're some some way committed and have skin in the game. And those are the people that you really want to surround yourself with. So I'd say those two things, probably.

Speaker 1 (00:31:52) - Those people, you might even find somebody that's going through the same thing you've been through 2 or 3 times already. You know, I was I saw something Simon Sinek said that he was like, I have a rule that I always have a group of like 3 or 4 people that any time I'm feeling, I make a promise to them that if I'm feeling something dire, it's something we owe to each other, is to call and have the room to vent about it because it's just you just don't know how that negativity can manifest. If you're expected to carry the whole world on your on your shoulder.

Speaker 2 (00:32:25) - Oh, you feel so alone and isolated in it. Yeah. Having that having I can't tell you how many times we've had clients. We our clients are new entrepreneurs, so they're in that phase of like, Oh my God, this is so scary.

Speaker 2 (00:32:40) - I'm doing it wrong. I'm not doing it right. I don't know what I'm doing. And failing, you know, making mistakes and feeling like they're failing, They're they set goals. They're not hitting them. You know, this is obviously happening in your first year in business a lot and having a space where they can share this is what happened. It didn't go well. I'm feeling really down and having other people say that just happened to me last week. I totally get it. Like you've got this. There's this sense of like, Oh, I'm not alone. I'm not, I'm not doing it wrong. You know, I'm not the only one who is facing these challenges. It just it's like they've said, it's like this huge sigh of relief and it just makes them feel like. Like it's normal. It's just normal to be having those experiences. And that really supports people and continuing on their journey.

Speaker 1 (00:33:31) - I totally agree. I there's so many people in my corner that I'm so blessed to have and I couldn't do it without them.

Speaker 1 (00:33:38) - And I like to also, I think people on the receiving end, you know, it's like, hey, it makes me really happy whenever somebody can come to. I can share my experiences with them, and I'm sure you experience that firsthand. It's like it enriches life. Um, so, you know, the coaching industry is like, it's kind of obvious now that it's, it's, it's huge. It's been blowing up like, it's like 30% over the last couple of years or something like that. And I wanted to ask you, I mean, because you've probably seen everything in waves in terms of like, you know, what's the the good, what's the bad? Is there anything like. Yeah, I'd love to hear, like, is there anything that you think people should either steer clear of or, you know, be on the lookout for?

Speaker 2 (00:34:21) - Be on the lookout.

Speaker 1 (00:34:22) - There's just a lot out there. And I've heard so many miracle stories. And then also I've heard stories where I'm like, gosh, that's like, you know, I wish I told you not to do that.

Speaker 2 (00:34:33) - I know. Yeah, I wish I could go back in time and be like, please don't do that. Yes. Yeah. Like you said, it is. It is blowing up. It seems like I mean, especially being in this space, it seems like everyone and their mom wants to be a coach, but in reality that's not the case. When you, you know, talk to friends and family, they're like, what's coaching? It's still it's still very new. And it's definitely not like saturated in any way, but. It has become kind of the new the new online thing to do to make money. One of them at least I know there's there's quite a few out there. But it has it has people have seen the the profitability of it. And you know, any time that there is something like that that comes out in the marketplace where it's clear that there is a path to making good money, that people with not so great principles and values will try to get in on the action.

Speaker 2 (00:35:33) - So I think that's what we're seeing a lot of right now is just coaching started as such like this. I mean, there's always been scammers out there. Let's be real. It's not like it's always been perfect, but there's scammers in every industry. But I think, you know, coaching really started as this like way to really help people and help people grow and a really like fun environment of people helping and supporting each other. And then, yeah, as it's gotten bigger and bigger and with the ability to just like anybody to be able to start an online business with Instagram, for example, you don't even need a website at this point. It's really easy for people to create fake businesses essentially and sell things that aren't really there's no nothing behind it. Um, and so, yes, definitely be on the lookout. I actually did an Instagram live about non Instagram, a Facebook live today talking about how you can prevent being burned in the industry and doing your research, you know, to make sure that you're investing in a coach who's going to be good for you.

Speaker 2 (00:36:40) - And some of the things that I tell people is like, one, do your research, so make sure you are consuming their content. You know, like see, are they a legitimate do they really know what they're talking about? Yeah. And do you like what they're talking about? Do you like how they present themselves to the world? Do you like their values and what they are sharing, their beliefs and their opinions? That's really important. If you don't align with them in that way, you're not going to enjoy the experience with them. And that will be like you'll see the red flags, you know, in their content. But a lot of people can still create great content and not be great people as well. So do further research and if you're talking with them, ask them for to be connected with some of their clients or to like speak to some of their clients. If they have testimonials, go find those people on Instagram or on Facebook, find them and send them a message and say, Hey, like, I know you worked with blah blah blah.

Speaker 2 (00:37:37) - I would love to just like hear what your experience was with them. So I think that's like a really great way to do a little bit more back end research to really check in, but also just use your gut. I remember early on in when I was when I was starting to invest in like a business coach, there was 1 or 2 that I was following that I almost invested in, and I was like, This looks so good. Like it looks so perfect, exactly what I'm needing. They were so good with their marketing, just their wording, their copywriting was so good that it really felt almost, almost too good to be true. It was like, this is yeah, this is amazing. And but for some reason I just never pulled the trigger. And I saw a few years later that like tons of people were coming out saying that they were scammed and a waste of money. It was almost like an MLM type of business coach where they were just teaching other people how to be business coaches and make money from teaching people how to be business coaches.

Speaker 1 (00:38:32) - Yeah, give me a good testimonial because you know. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:38:35) - Exactly. So it was kind of an MLM scheme in that sense. So unfortunately there is a bit of that in the space. But you know, for the most part most coaches are not doing business coaching, so you can avoid that by avoiding business coaching if that's not what you're into. But again, like really just use your gut. Like if something is just there's something in the back of your mind saying, don't do it. Just listen to that. That will guide you so much better as well. So that's a huge piece in, in it. But yeah, there's a lot of manipulative marketing practices that I'm seeing, especially on Instagram of just like you can you can have this life too, if you simply buy this program or if you simply invest with me and they're not saying it those exact words, but. If that's what's being portrayed, you know, in their content and they're showing flashy vacations and flashy cars and flashy whatever.

Speaker 2 (00:39:29) - And yeah, that's going to appeal to a lot of people to be able to. Especially like the one that irks me the most is those, those don't even ask me the most, but the ones that are me the most are the, the ones that are really targeting like stay at home moms and mothers who just want to spend time alone at home with their kids instead of going to work.

Speaker 1 (00:39:50) - All the time.

Speaker 2 (00:39:51) - Yeah, those are the ones that really get to me the most because, I mean, those are some of the most vulnerable people they want so badly just to be at home with their kids and they're willing to spend money to do that and to learn how to do that. And so people are capitalizing on that. And the shitty thing is it's a lot of other moms and that's like, Oh, that just yeah, I can't understand how they can do that to other people and not actually be selling anything legitimate. There's nothing wrong with investing in yourself and in your business. I think that obviously I believe so firmly in that.

Speaker 2 (00:40:25) - But there is something wrong about selling something that has no actual way to help people do that. If it is simply like again, some sort of MLM scheme or just selling things but not actually delivering much of value. Yeah, it sucks. And there's, there is a lot of that out there.

Speaker 1 (00:40:46) - Yeah. You know, and it just made me think of a quote that I heard recently. It's far worse to do a bad thing efficiently than it is to do a good thing inefficiently, you know, And it kind of calls into question the code of ethics that I think as individuals, we should bring. Yeah. And you know what.

Speaker 2 (00:41:05) - Has happened to people's ethics? Like I mean, I'm sure it's always been like this. It's just maybe we're able to see it more. I don't know. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:41:13) - I think that's part of it, you know, And I just I just hope that people are like, I, I have my own like, I believe there's a karmic exchange to life, you know, Not that everybody has to believe that, but.

Speaker 1 (00:41:27) - But I think that that's something that, you know, whenever you whenever you think of it that way, it's like, all right, well, nothing, nothing like that can last forever. Yeah. And it sounds like I don't know, that's whenever you see that out there. It also makes me happy to know about people like you that are are out there trying to enrich people's lives. And yeah, when I read about I think, you know, you, you what you're offering is pretty jam packed with all kinds of amazing stuff in there. I mean, I saw meditation that caught my eye because I have an avid, avid meditator. Yeah. Is that something how does how do you incorporate that into your practice now?

Speaker 2 (00:42:06) - Yeah, in my own practice meditation. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:42:09) - Or whenever you're sharing with your, your your clients as well.

Speaker 2 (00:42:13) - Yeah. I mean this, the crazy thing is like most people who come to us either don't meditate or they like have a little bit, but they haven't found that it works for them yet.

Speaker 2 (00:42:23) - And so a big part of what we do in our first program is like kind of re-educating people around, like what meditation really is. And there obviously are so many different kinds of meditation, but a big one for the purpose of the program that we run and trying to help people kind of shift their mindset and start to become aware that they're the thinker of their thoughts. They actually have we have the conscious ability to be able to say like, Oh, this is what I'm thinking right now. This is what I'm thinking that's making me feel overwhelmed, you know? But most of us are kind of going on autopilot. We don't hear those thoughts. And so a big part of meditation that I have found so helpful in my journey and this is kind of the one that I teach for my clients is use meditation as a tool to help you become more observant and more aware of what you're thinking. And so it's using it as a practice of focus where you want to focus on something, whether it's a mantra, whether it's like a point somewhere in your vision, whether it's just your breath.

Speaker 2 (00:43:23) - If you can focus on anything, a candle, but focusing your mind on that thing, and then as soon as you notice, your mind starts to wander, just bringing it back to the focus point and just almost like it, just catching yourself in the Oh, they're like, Oh, I was randomly thinking about my car. Okay, now let me come back to this focus. And then like, it wanders again because it will and you'll just notice where it's going and then bring it back to the focus. And by doing that simple practice of meditation, it really helps me and our clients become more aware of what they're thinking because they'll notice when their mind is going off, you know, somewhere unconsciously. So that really, really helps. So that's kind of the main way that I integrate it in our program at least. Yeah. And then for me personally, like my meditation journey has like wind it all around the map. Right now I'm more into guided meditations. Um, but for the longest time.

Speaker 2 (00:44:20) - This was the meditation that was doing really that just simple, focused meditation and trying to recognize that it's not it wasn't a bad thing to be thinking, you know, that's what our brain does. It's it thinks. And so it's going to do it. And just not judging ourselves when it happens or criticizing, but just noticing like, oh, it's wandered and bringing it back. That one to me has been the most helpful. But yeah, right now I'm particularly loving guided meditations.

Speaker 1 (00:44:49) - That's wonderful. I love guided meditations too. I also love the I love that you mentioned the picking a point in your vision because a lot of times I think people don't utilize like open eye meditation. And you know, it's for me, I'm like, I shouldn't. Not that I love doing closed meditation too, but open meditation is cool just because there's a lot of contexts where throughout your day you could be tapping into that place and maybe making your life a little bit better. Even if you're like frustrated that you're in the longest grocery line ever.

Speaker 2 (00:45:29) - Yeah, exactly. Practice it there.

Speaker 1 (00:45:31) - Like, you know what? I'm just I was like, I'm just here, and that's great, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:45:35) - Just being in the moment. Yeah. It can bring so much of that, like, presence back into your life, which really, at the end of the day, is what brings us so much joy, because that's where joy is found in the present moment. It's not found in when your business has reached, you know, XYZ point or when you've done this or when you've found this. It's it really is found in the present moment. And so I think when we can return back to that, it helps us all create more joy and more happiness and more fulfillment in our lives.

Speaker 1 (00:46:05) - I agree. What do you think? What do you think are the biggest obstacles that you see most business coaches run into now that you've had a lot of experience? Have you noticed some kind of commonalities for.

Speaker 2 (00:46:16) - Coaches or business coaches, specifically.

Speaker 1 (00:46:19) - Coaches? Yeah, I'm always saying business coach.

Speaker 3 (00:46:22) - Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:46:24) - The biggest obstacles that coaches run into, I mean, it does partly depend on where you're at in your journey. You know, if you're further down the line and you've got your business solidly running, there's a whole other, whole other obstacles that come in to play. But I would say, you know, early on, when you're kind of starting out, the first thing is where do I find my clients? That's obviously the biggest one I think, for most people. And so they kind of get caught up in this sense of like, I don't know where to find people. Nobody's going to pay for this. Like, maybe I'm not experienced enough, why would people hire me? So there's all of these, again, like the thoughts and beliefs that kind of block them from seeing where these clients are and seeing how they could actually connect with these people. And so the, the beauty of like the mindset work, especially like going deep into those thoughts and beliefs, is like once you clear those, it's much more easy for you to be like, Oh, let me try this, or Oh, my clients are over there, let me try hosting a workshop or something.

Speaker 2 (00:47:26) - So like the clarity comes so much easier of what you need to do next that like aligned action, when you remove those quote unquote limiting beliefs, the beliefs that are kind of keeping you stuck or keeping you from seeing what's possible. So I would say that and it sounds like the bigger picture is the limiting beliefs that come into play or one of the biggest obstacles for sure, especially limiting beliefs when it comes to also your pricing and the value that you're offering, especially when you're a new coach, you sometimes don't fully understand the value of what you're offering. So I would say I don't even know if I, I would say the limiting beliefs and the fears and the things that we're taking to be facts are by far the biggest thing that's impeding any coach's success. And you could kind of boil it down to where my clients is, the value that I'm offering enough. Am I good enough and my experience enough? Are people going to like me? So I'd say those those tend to be the common ones.

Speaker 2 (00:48:33) - Imposter syndrome kind of goes along with that as well. Those would be the ones that I see the most.

Speaker 1 (00:48:39) - And it's it's interesting too, because I feel that it's all tied together. If your price is too low, then either you're going to have this sense of, well, it's this low because that's where I'm at, or you're going to have this sense of it's this low. So maybe I don't feel as invested in the project because it doesn't feel fair to me. Whereas if you find that price point like you're talking about, that reflects, you know, the value of what you would want to provide. You know, that's the thing is you got to set yourself up to where you're going to show up, you know, and it's mean, it's it's going to be hard if you're doing this for a fraction of what you think you're worth. Pennies.

Speaker 2 (00:49:19) - Yeah. Yeah. I always tell people when it comes to pricing like price it above your resentment line, like that line of like I can't this would I would be miserable doing it you know pricing it above that and then pricing it below your your feelings of like capabilities.

Speaker 2 (00:49:38) - You know, like if I price it above this, I just don't feel like I can really I wouldn't perform at that level. This is too much. It's not worth what I'm putting in because I don't have the experience. So kind of pricing it below that. So somewhere between there is usually a good good place to, to price yourself at.

Speaker 1 (00:49:57) - That's great. And any advice for like scalability because you've obviously worked with a lot of people. How do you. Yeah, how do you how did you kind of address growing pains?

Speaker 2 (00:50:09) - Yeah, it's a good question. You know, at first I had my signature program and we kind of rinse and repeated that and it was going great. But yeah, there was this point where it was like, How do I grow beyond that? For me, what it looked like and it doesn't have to look like this for everybody, but this is one great way is starting to add on, you know, coaches that you trust, that you like, maybe you've trained them into your program and into your coaching so that you can use more of your time to be doing other things.

Speaker 2 (00:50:39) - I me personally, I don't recommend removing yourself completely out of your coaching because then it's not really you anymore and you're not coaching. So then it's not really coaching. But obviously, depending on how big you want to scale, that might be necessary. So keeping yourself involved in some way and still being in still coaching in your own programs I think is um, in like in integrity with being a coach and what people are investing in. Because I think as coaches, most people are investing in your programs because they want you, they're interested in working with you. And so if you're completely removing yourself, then you should probably be marketing it in a different way. Um, so for me personally, you know, keeping yourself somehow involved in your coaching and then expanding, you know, you can do further offerings. So that's a huge piece of one. Hiring coaches to help support your clients scaling especially I didn't mention this, but group programs is obviously a really great way to scale. So if you've been doing one on one and you do want to scale more, doing a group is a great way to scale.

Speaker 2 (00:51:52) - And then scaling from there, you know, bringing on coaches to help support people in the group. So you can either do a bigger group or you can use your time to do something else as well. And then the next piece I would say is kind of think of your ascension ladder. You know, where do people start from? What's the kind of journey for them to be continuing to work with you? So if you just have one way that they're working with you, there's no ability for them to maybe keep working with you. Like, what's next? What's next? A lot of people do want more. Obviously, that number like shrinks. You know, the more you work with people. But there's still so much room to offer, more so thinking about, yeah, where's the starting point? What's something I can kind of offer at different price points, different levels of the journey. So for us it's like we've got the beginner coaches working in our signature program, Path to Freedom, and then we've got coaches who have either graduated from that program or coaches who have been working with some clients but want to scale in our mastermind.

Speaker 2 (00:52:50) - So it's like beginner intermediate and for me, I actually don't have the advanced version yet, but it's kind of been percolating in my mind a little bit. I really want to do some writing. Yeah, some like deeper one on one work, I think with a couple people, not a lot, but maybe a few women. So that to me would be really cool to dip into. So I think that would be kind of the next version for me. I haven't felt like I've had the capacity to do that yet, but I do think I'm kind of leaning into that now. So yeah, thinking about that, that ascension ladder and where you can offer things at different price points and at different levels for your people.

Speaker 1 (00:53:29) - Damn, Ali, you're a boss.

Speaker 3 (00:53:31) - That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (00:53:33) - Thanks. Everybody's going to love listening to to all these all these incredible insights that you've shared so far. I hope so. Usually. And kind of and kind of wrapping up. I always like to hear, is there anything you want to plug? And then what would be Yeah, you're maybe one big piece of advice that you would want to share to anybody listening.

Speaker 4 (00:53:53) - Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:53:55) - Oh, well, plugging. I mean, hey, if you want to be a coach, come work with us. So we have our signature program, Path to Freedom for those new coaches out there. We have another round starting in October. So if you guys are like wanting to finish out the year and we'll also have one probably at the end of January as well, and then we'll have our master. We always have our mastermind. That's an evergreen program. So if. If you are interested in growing your coaching business and you like what I've shared here, then you can definitely. You can go to Punchdrunk Soul Slash AWS, which stands for Scale with Soul. That's the mastermind. If you want to learn more about Path to Freedom, you can go to Punchdrunk soul. Com slash Path to Freedom. Biggest piece of advice.

Speaker 5 (00:54:44) - Um.

Speaker 2 (00:54:45) - Yeah. Again, it kind of depends on where you're at in your journey, but I would say regardless of where you're at on your journey. Always coming back to listening to yourself and finding what's fun for you, like finding the joy in the process, finding what's fun for you.

Speaker 2 (00:55:02) - So no matter where you're at on your journey, always coming back to like, Is this feeling good for me? And if it's not, what would it look like? If this were fun for me, what would it look like if this were enjoyable and ideal? And really coming back to asking yourself that question all the time. Because at the end of the day, if you're building something that isn't feeling good, it's not going to feel good when you hit your goals either. So always kind of reevaluating like, how is this feeling for me and checking in with yourself? How am I feeling, you know, and giving yourself what you need as well? How am I feeling? What do I need right now? What do I need today that's going to support you no matter where you're at in your business? What you're challenged by coming back to that question of like, what do I need? How can I support myself? And giving yourself really what you need? And sometimes all that is, is like cheering yourself on or giving yourself a hug or telling yourself like you're doing enough.

Speaker 2 (00:56:01) - It can be small, simple things. It might also be go for a walk, you know, it might also be take a vacation. So it could be anything. But really tuning in and listening to what that answer is and then giving that to yourself. That's probably my best business advice. I think advice in life in general.

Speaker 1 (00:56:19) - That's amazing advice. Well, thank you so much, Ali. It's been a lovely conversation.

Speaker 3 (00:56:25) - And yeah, it's great.

Speaker 1 (00:56:27) - Yeah, it's been it's been a lot of fun to get to learn about about your journey. And I know that everybody's going to love this. Thank you, everybody, for tuning in and remember to subscribe. I obviously cannot do it without you. I just want to let you guys know too. I have some big things in the works. I'm rolling out some courses at at no cost that are going to cover several of these insights that we've been learning about on the gym series, covering all kinds of the conversations that I've been having with folks like Ali, for instance.

Speaker 1 (00:56:56) - So just shoot me an email if you want to learn more. My email is Blake at rocket level, as usual, have a beautiful day. And this has been the gym series. Bye, Ali.

Speaker 2 (00:57:06) - Bye. Thank you.