Confidence Classic: Start Before You Feel Ready, With Heather!

0:00Heather Monahan:How do you start a podcast or how do you start a business or how do you make a career change? Here's the reality. And this is what the majority of people struggle with. Just do it. Waiting is not the answer. Done will always be better than perfect. Take messy action. I've just seen so many people wait so long. It's that analysis of paralysis, right? You just you want it to be the perfect time, the perfect conditions. Oh, the marketplace isn't right. All of that is BS excuses. No matter what it is that you're thinking about in your life, the answer is start now. I'm on this journey with me. Each week when you join me, we are going to chase down our goals, overcome adversity, and set you up for a better tomorrow.

0:47I'm ready for my close up.

0:48Heather Monahan:Tell me, have you been enjoying these new bonus confidence classics episodes we've been dropping on you every week? We've literally hundreds of episodes for you to listen to. So these bonuses are a great way to help you find the ones you may have already missed. I hope you love this one as much as I do. Hi, and welcome back. I'm so glad you're back here with me this week. Okay, so when I'm asked a question a multitude of times, I take that as a sign. I should share the feedback, the answer with you on the podcast. So recently, I've received so many DMs asking me how to start a podcast, how to land big guests, how did you get Gary Vaynerchuk, how did you get Sarah Blakely?

1:33Heather Monahan:So I keep getting these questions. First and foremost, this is sort of interesting. I don't really think of it like how do you start a podcast or how do you start a business or how do you make a career change? All those things are essentially the same, right? I mean, there can be some nuances in regards to when you launch a podcast, should you just do solo episodes, a.k.a. what we're doing right now? Or what category do you want to be in an Apple podcast? There are some nuances that are unique. It's the same thing with starting your own business. What product or service are you going to sell? What problem do you solve?

2:08Heather Monahan:There are unique questions you're going to ask around it. But here's the reality, and this is what the majority of people struggle with. Just do it. Waiting is not the answer. Done will always be better than perfect. Take messy action. And I've just seen so many people wait so long. It's that analysis of paralysis, right? You just, you want it to be the perfect time, the perfect conditions. Oh, the marketplace isn't right. All of that is BS excuses. And I get it. Listen, for over a decade, I was not happy, not living my best life, not living up to my potential in a job, but I was afraid to leave.

2:49Heather Monahan:I was afraid to pull the trigger. I didn't, I couldn't see what was on the other side of that, that gap, right? If I'm going to leap, well, what's out there? I had no idea. And because I couldn't see it with clarity, I thought I couldn't go. I was wrong. I think all the time now, if I had left corporate America and that job where I was not treated well, I wasn't respected and I allowed it to go on. If I had taken that leap that I took five years ago now, could you imagine if I had taken that five years earlier? I'd be light years ahead. I can't even imagine. So no matter what it is that you're thinking about in your life, if you're always questioning if you should leave the relationship, if you're questioning if you should leave the job, if you're questioning if you should invest in yourself, start the podcast, start the business, whatever it may be, the answer is start now.

3:39Heather Monahan:There's never going to be a perfect time. Take the messy action and go for it. Here's a quick story. When I first got fired, one of the things I wanted to do was partner with a massive brand to give me that brand cachet that I felt like I had lost because I no longer had a massive company behind me anymore. Right. which also that's just all ego and BS, but it's what I needed at the time. So anyhow, I ended up partnering with Perry Ellis International, which is a multi-billion dollar clothing brand. And I felt like this is exactly the kind of partnership that I want. That's going to give me that swag and presence.

4:17Heather Monahan:And, you know, the PR teams were announcing it everywhere and it made me feel really happy. I felt like, okay, I'm back. That was fast. All right. Way to go, Heather. However, to the point done is always better than perfect. I pitched Perry Ellis on this clothing line that I wanted to launch together in partnership with them because they already have the clothing factory set up. I didn't. I knew what I wanted the messaging to be, the marketing. I knew that I wanted to sell it on TV, on HSN. I mean, I had so much of this business plan mapped out and I was ready to hit the ground running, but I needed someone who could actually manufacture the clothes.

4:56Heather Monahan:And I wanted to bring great quality products to market. Okay, so they needed some new revenue streams. It seemed like a great partnership. For months, about nine months, we worked on the line. We worked on the messaging. We worked on some really unique strategies. And we were ready to go to market. I went to HSN. I got us the meeting. Bottom line is this. We did not get the deal. And that was a really difficult no to take because we had worked so long on the product line, nine months when I had just lost my job, right? So I needed revenue and I was so fixated on this idea. Hasn't come to fruition yet or didn't come to fruition the way that I thought it would, right?

5:36Heather Monahan:No can also be not right now. So what I learned from that situation, why I'm glad I still just jumped in and did it is I learned so much about HSN. I learned so much about QVC, selling products and services online. I made so many contacts at QVC, at HSN, right? And basically here's where it led me. Again, it hasn't come to fruition yet. Listen, I believe the best is yet to come. It's God's plan, not mine, right? I have these ideas. I have these senses in regards to, oh, this is a great concept. Marketplace is ripe for it. I love that it solves a problem. It's within my community, right? Like I get a feel for, okay, this could be amazing.

6:16Heather Monahan:It's right in line with my brand and what I live and believe. And I get excited about things. I go for them. They don't always come to fruition or happen or they haven't yet. And it's about keeping your mind open to that possibility. So to that end, I am continuing to work on different products and services. I still have that vision for me. I've made such great contacts that I know I could tap at any point in time. And they've taught me the key that I was missing when I was with Perielis is their products were too similar to stuff that they already had on the air. It wasn't unique enough. It wasn't special enough.

6:51Heather Monahan:It wasn't different enough. And so Perry Ellis didn't want to change who they were, right? They're a multi-billion dollar company. That's cool. I get it. But I'm a smaller company. I can change and pivot fast, right? So take advantage of what's unique and different about you. Perry Ellis is a massive company. They can't pivot quickly. I'm a smaller company. I can pivot really fast. Think in your mind, yeah, you might not be the multi-billion dollar Goliath in your industry, but what's unique and different about you that you can leverage to get yourself ahead. The key is, in my opinion, done will always be better than perfect.

7:26Heather Monahan:Move fast and break things. You'll figure out solutions along the way that will direct you to where you're really supposed to be going. Maybe Perry Ellis wasn't my partner. Maybe somebody else is. And maybe these new relationships that I've been forming along the way are going to reveal who that right partner is. and when the timing's right, watch out. You know, you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only do it looking back and you've got to have faith and belief in yourself. Okay, done will always be better than perfect. Move fast and break things. Okay, so I wanna get back to these questions I kept getting asked and I'll start with the Gary Vaynerchuk story if you haven't heard it before.

8:05Heather Monahan:So people asked me, how did you land Gary Vaynerchuk for a guest? That's incredible. Yeah, it was incredible. Number one, I got really clear on my intention. I knew I was going to do it and I did not know how. Story of my life, right? But I had faith and commitment. I was getting him as my first guest on the show. So you need to get really clear. What is your intention? Get clarity around the goal. Write it down and hold yourself accountable. I started DMing Gary Vaynerchuk and I actually DMed him for a couple of years before he ever got a response back. Then I got a response back and got blown off.

8:40Heather Monahan:That's fine. Part of sales, right? Sales is a numbers game. So I knew I had to keep pursuing and take a different angle or pursuit. That's when I took out a Google alert on Gary Vaynerchuk's name. Now, if you have a target or someone you're going after that you want to have as a business partner or want to pitch for an idea, take a Google alert out on that person. It is brilliant. Every morning when you wake up, you're going to have in your inbox what's going on in their life. And so within a couple of weeks, I saw an announcement that Gary Vaynerchuk was launching a wine company with a partner.

9:14Heather Monahan:And so I jumped on that partner's name. I saw he wasn't as well known as Gary Vaynerchuk. So I figured he'll be easier to get to. Then the next thing I did is I said, how can I add value to this person? When we show up wanting to serve other people, people are going to be more open to taking our calls, to wanting to hear from us, to wanting to be helped. So I sent a DM to his partner on LinkedIn. And on LinkedIn, I have a presence. I've been showing up there for years. You can tell I'm a real person. And if you look at my page, you can see the reviews of my work. Get reviews and recommendations of your work.

9:54Heather Monahan:And create content that showcases who you really are. you know, not a fake persona so that people say, oh yeah, that's the kind of person I'd want to take a call from, right? So you got to do the work, invest in yourself, show up on these platforms. And I shot this guy a note. I said, hey, I saw that you are partnering with Gary Vaynerchuk to launch a wine brand. Just wanted to let you know, I've had tremendous success in business and in marketing and media for the last two decades. But prior to that, I was actually in the wine business and launched a massive campaign for Gala Winery and learned what to do and what not to do with an alcohol launch.

10:35Heather Monahan:If you wanna hear some of my hacks so that you don't have to make mistakes I made, I'd be happy to jump on a quick call and share them with you. Add value. How can I help this person solve a problem or gain information they may need? He responded right away. Oh my gosh, I would love to. Thank you. You know, what date works this week? We jumped on a call. We were on a call for over an hour. And at the end, you know, I was sharing with him everything that I had done wrong, everything that I had learned and trying to give him some, you know, a step up or a boost of help. And in the end, the last thing he said to me was, thank you so much.

11:12Heather Monahan:How can I ever repay you? If there's ever anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask. Consider it done. And I said, oh my gosh, it's so funny you say that, but I'm launching my podcast and I really want to have Gary Vaynerchuk, your partner, as my first guest. Can you make that happen? And he started laughing and then he did. So you never know. I didn't know that he would offer that to me. Right. But I just know that I'm going to be nowhere if I do nothing. I'd rather go out, put my best foot forward and find ways to help people solve their problems, help add value to them and then start building a relationship from there.

11:50Heather Monahan:You never know how quickly that could turn into something, an open door to exactly what it is that you're trying to accomplish, which, you know, for me was to get to Gary. And then when I was at the end of my interview on my show with Gary Vaynerchuk, I asked, hey, Gary, do you think that you would want to have me as a guest on your show? I believe I can add value to your audience by A, B, C and D. I on the spot showed up and talked about how I could add value to his audience. And I went for the close and he said, yes. And inevitably he had me on his show too. So you've got to be willing to take those risks.

12:27Heather Monahan:You've got to be willing to show up. You've got to do the work, right? Establish your brand, create the content, get the reviews and recommendations, show who you are, showcase your brand, your persona, and allow people to get to know you before they actually meet you. and that can invite opportunity in as well. Okay, that is how I landed Gary Vaynerchuk, which I'm super grateful. He was my first guest. Go big or go home. If you want to laugh, go back and listen to that episode. It was in 2019. I definitely was nervous. We'll just leave it at that. Of course I was nervous, but done will always be better than perfect.

13:01Heather Monahan:I'm so glad I did it. I'm so glad he was my first guest and super proud of that. Meet a different guest each week.

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15:58Heather Monahan:People ask me a lot, how did I get Sarah Blakely on the show? She is really hard to get, right? Both Sarah Blakely and Gary Vaynerchuk charge six plus figures to do speeches anywhere. I mean, they're just, they're really hard to get to. And interestingly enough, Sarah Blakely is a very different story. So I have a very great friend, Scott McGregor, who if you're listening, shout out to you, ride or die, incredible person who has helped me so much. I try to repay him in any and every way I can because he's just an incredible person doing great work, does so much work for charity. Just a wonderful person.

16:37Heather Monahan:He's a give back guy. My kind of people. OK, so anytime you're giving back, you know, again, you're creating that that flow of other good people to come to you and more good things to happen. So leading with positivity, leading with giving to others. Anyhow, Scott and I got to know each other when he was creating a book for charity. I wrote a chapter for him. I was supporting him. He was supporting me. We became really good friends. At some point when he heard I was launching my podcast, he said, well, give me a list of ideal podcast guests you want to have on. And I thought, oh, my gosh, Sarah Blakely, definitely right.

17:15Heather Monahan:I put this huge list together. And he said, you know what? I actually know Jesse Itzler and I know Sarah Blakely. Maybe there's a chance there. Can't promise anything, but maybe you never know. It's worth trying, right? So again, I just put it out there who I was going after. He said, well, maybe this is one I could help with. Let's see what happens, you know, and just kind of leave it there. Well, for a while, nothing happened. And then one day he called me and he said, you know what I was thinking? I just had a call with Jesse's partner, his business partner. I could put you in touch with him.

17:46Heather Monahan:And who knows what can come from that conversation? At least it's something that might open up a door. So I said, great. So he sets up a call for me with Jesse's business partner. Gosh, this is so roundabout the way that things come together. It's incredible, serendipitous. And I had no idea if I'd ever, you know, get to her or get her on my show. So I take the call. First thing I ask is how can I add value, right? So we get on the phone. I said, listen, tell me how I can be of assistance, help to you, support you in any way. He starts telling me about this new initiative that they have, two new business initiatives.

18:20Heather Monahan:And he was wondering if I could support it somehow, you know, through social media. I had my podcast this time through my podcast. You know, what were some of the ideas? How could I add value to help support him? So I went through a bunch of different ideas that I had. And I actually had just met someone who in that space was, you know, doing some support work that I thought could add value. I said, I'll make an intro there. Right. I was just talking about how can I add value to him? Always see things through that lens. How can we help others? And when you see through that lens first, you are just destined to have good things happen.

18:52Heather Monahan:Maybe not on that call, maybe not in that one exchange, but at some point, good's gonna come back to you. Keep leading with good, keep adding value to others. So at the end of that call, he says to me, I heard that you wanted to get Sarah and Jesse on your show and I gotta be honest with you, Sarah, absolutely not. You can't and Jesse, he really doesn't wanna do podcasts much anymore. He's too busy. I said, I totally get it. You know, no problem. I just appreciate that, you know, you took the call and whatnot. So, you know, I'm kind of getting a no at that point. We end up staying on the phone a little bit longer.

19:26Heather Monahan:Anyhow, he says, all right, can you make that intro to that other guy and contact you have? Sure. No problem. Appreciate it. Let's see where this goes in the future. And anyway, I can help you. He had an event coming up. You know, I said, let me know if I can support that. Whatever. Move on. Okay. So the next day I get a message from him after I make the intro and he sends me texts. Hey, I think I might be able to get Jesse to do your show. However, there's only a couple of dates and it's not for a couple of months. And I said, no problem. Right. This is out of left field. OK, no problem. Whatever it is, I'll make it work.

19:58Heather Monahan:So he connects me to Jesse's assistant who gives me a couple of dates. I pick one and I say, OK, I want to fly to Atlanta to interview him. She says, no, he only does Zoom interviews. Okay, I'll take what I can get. No problem. Again, not fighting it. Make it easy. Make it so simple that people want to work with you, want to be in business with you. So the day of the interview, Jesse's internet kept going out. Yes, these people are billionaires with a B. And for whatever reason, serendipitous universe, something else, a higher power is at work here. The internet kept going out. So finally, I get a text message.

20:37Heather Monahan:It was from Jesse. I didn't know. I thought it was from the assistant. Says, listen, this is ridiculous and embarrassing. My internet keeps going out. I'm sorry to have wasted your time, but it doesn't look like we're going to be able to do the show. And I said, well, how about I jump on a plane and fly to Atlanta? It's only 45 minutes flight from Miami. And he said, would you really do that? I said, yeah, of course I would. Oh, my gosh. It'd be amazing. Don't forget, my goal in the first place was to be face to face because I always want to be face to face with people. that's where the magic happens that's where opportunity happens that's where you can really move the needle so he says okay how about next week you know today won't work but what about next week I said sure give me the day time I'll be there my best friends live in Atlanta it's easy for me no problem so I fly up the next week I go to his house I interview him we have such a great time he's so nice was so welcoming just such a cool guy he mentioned that he liked my my microphone.

21:31Heather Monahan:So as soon as I left, I bought him a microphone overnighted it to him with a thank you note, right? I'm always thinking, how can I make people feel special and act on the things that are important to them? And I just want to separate myself, right? And be thoughtful. And so when he received it, he sent me a text. He said, Hey, thanks so much for that. That was really thoughtful of you. Appreciate it. If there's ever any way I can help you, let me know. So I said, thank you. I did not ask about trying to get Sarah for my show. I thought that might be a little bit much coming in a little hot with another ask right after I got him to do my show.

22:06Heather Monahan:Wouldn't you know, literally a couple of weeks later, my very good friend Scott McGregor calls me and he says, you're not going to believe this, but a sales and marketing conference is looking for someone to interview Sarah Blakely and Jesse Itzler live on stage in front of thousands of people. and I was just talking to the event coordinator and your name came up because you already know Jesse. I had just met Jesse. We had hit it off. I had just promoted him on my show, right? So I was trying to do things to help support him and we had just gotten along during the interview. Super great guy, amazing entrepreneur, father, husband, great person.

22:46Heather Monahan:Anyhow, so cut to, I ended up getting hired to interview him and his wife live on stage and I had so many meetings with Sarah's team and it was a lot going into it, right? And so I really wanted everything to go flawlessly. Of course it didn't, there was tons of problems and issues, but we had such a great time and the event coordinator was so happy with how our interview went that I went up to her that day of, Strike While the Iron's Hot. And I said, will you allow me to repurpose this content on my podcast? It will give you reach. I will promote the heck out of your event. I will help you sell tickets for next year.

23:26Heather Monahan:Right. How can I add value to you? And she said, yes, I'll sign the release and let you repurpose your interview on your show. My personal philosophy when it comes to money is pretty straightforward. Your cash should always be working for you, not sitting idle while you figure out your next move. That's where Wealthfront comes in. They help you tune out the noise and earn more on every dollar with a high yield cash account and sophisticated, easy to use investing products. With the Wealthfront cash account, your money can earn up to a 4.3 % variable APY for a limited time. Get instant no fee withdrawals 24 seven to eligible accounts.