Passion to Purpose with Amy McLaren: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot. Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like DTC Pod. Today, we're pulling a classic episode from the archives, and we'll be breaking down passion to purpose. So drop these value bombs that I brought to Amy McLaren in the EO Fire Studios. She's a busy mama too, and Amy splits her time leading a community of driven entrepreneurial women called Lady Strength, a growing Airbnb business, and being hands-on CEO for Village Impact. In today's value bombs, Fire Nation, you don't have to see the full staircase to take the first step.

0:39Whatever you're doing, you have to keep moving towards that direction that lights you up and how action creates clarity and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Amy and our sponsors. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolfe and Nathan Lands, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Matt and Nathan are leading AI creators in your guiding light in the AI and technology frontier. AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented. The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business.

1:16Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. Amy, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. First of all, hello to everybody. I hope everyone is having an awesome day and thank you so much, John, for having me on your podcast. I really appreciate it. When you asked me this question, I, it made my, it made me think like, I I've got to think about that question. I think, um, that most people would be successful. You, you have to know, um, every, to know how to do everything about something that you're working on.

1:54So like for our charity or a nonprofit per se, like people think when you start a charity, you've got to know everything about it, right? But you just don't. I mean, when I started my nonprofit, I knew absolutely nothing about starting a nonprofit. And I didn't wait. And I didn't wait till I had all of my ducks in a row. I just began. And I think a lot of people think that you have to know everything before you jump in and start something. Well, there's a quote that I really resonate with that I think is going to connect with you, Amy, in this situation, which is a Martin Luther King Jr. quote.

2:27you don't have to see the full staircase to take the first step. And I think that's so powerful because Fire Nation, you need to understand that taking that first step, that's the action step. And then guess what? Step number two will reveal itself as you go forward and so on and so forth. It's almost like fog clearing and you can't see through the fog from a mile away, but when you get up close, boom, the path presents itself. So great way to start the episode off, Amy. And I want to dive right in because you wrote a book, Passion to Purpose. Let's get specific. Who did you write this book for?

3:06I wrote a book and I wrote it for, you know, there's three people that I wrote it for. So the first person that I had in mind when I was writing this is for somebody that was a lot like me, to be honest, several years ago, where they're kind of drifting. They have no passions, maybe feeling a bit frustrated because they can't seem to find something that lights them up. And maybe they're comparing themselves to other people that seem to have, you know, everything together or they're excited about something. So they're feeling drifting, they're frustrated, they have no direction. And they're trying all these things to try and find something they're passionate about.

3:41That was the first person I wrote it for. The second person is somebody who has, you know, lost themselves. They've kind of, um, always put everybody else first and they kind of, um, wake up 10, 15 years later and they're like, like, how did I get here? Like, how did I end up here when I knew I was passionate about something else? Um, because I think a lot of us, I mean, me included, I mean, I have two young kids, you know, when you start having children, when you start getting into your business, it's like you have all these other priorities. And sometimes you forget, or you don't make passion, don't make things that you love a priority.

4:20So number two, it's for that person that has always put everyone else first, woken up, and they're like, wow, here we are 10 years later, and I'm not doing something that truly lights me up. And the third person I had in mind are for those people that kind of know their passions, but they want to do more good in the world. And they just don't know how to do it, or they're not sure on how to incorporate doing more good into their business and into their life. They're kind of like at that point where, you know, they're kind of bored, but they want to do something more and they're kind of feeling empty or they're not sure is this it.

4:55So it's kind of that person that has reached that point where they've, you know, they found what they're passionate about, but now they want to use that to do more good in the world. Fire Nation, I'm sure that you've found yourself in one of those three people, because that encompasses a lot of our listeners here today. And you did use the word passion a lot, Amy. So I kind of want to really do a deep dive on that. Like how do you specifically define that word passion? Yeah. Passion for me is like your, um, unique contribution to the world. It's, it's something that really lights you up. Like when I think about passion, it's, you know, if we were to go on, um, if you're out on the weekend and you're at a dinner party and you start having a conversation with something that you really enjoy.

5:37So for me, um, and I think we actually chatted about it when we were at your place, um, last year or, or so, but was travel and it's, you know, it's giving back it's travel. I could talk to someone about travel all day long. Like I could talk about it in my sleep. I, I talk about the latest trip I've taken. I'm always on one trip and I'm thinking about the next trip now guarantee we are in COVID time. So it looks a little different, but for me, it's travel. I think of, you know, my daughter when she, she's really passionate about reading and when she's really deeply into her book, she, everything else just falls away.

6:13It's like, she's so excited about the characters and what's happening in the story that she doesn't think about all those other things. Because I really think when we're passionate about something, we, we think of all the possibilities. I like to say a passion mindset is a possibility mindset because we think about all the opportunities are there. We think about all the time and it's exciting and there's so many good things that come from it. So passion is truly something that lights you up that you can talk about endlessly at a dinner party. So you make passion sound so appealing, so desirous.

6:43And I know a lot of people are like, well, wait a second. I want some of that. I want to truly unlock my passion and let's share it with a simple concept. So share something that someone can do right now to unlock their passion. Yeah, for sure. And I think a lot of people get stuck here where, you know, they're maybe what they thought, um, lit them up or what they thought they were passionate about. It isn't truly what they are passionate about. So something that I've taught before that someone can do right now is literally take out a piece of paper, draw one straight line and do increments of 10.

7:19So like 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and take a moment, go to a space where you're not going to be interrupted and go back and take a look at your life. Like take a minute to actually sit down and reflect on what you did when you were 20, what you did when you were 30, what you did when you were 40, 50, or whatever that may be. And then look for commonalities because I bet if you were to go back and look 10, 20 years ago, there's probably something that is a common thread within those years. So probably something that you could go back to and revisit and, you know, try a new sport, try something that, you know, painting or whatever it may be, or something that you did in the past to see if it still lights you up.

7:59But I want to say that it's okay if it doesn't, because our passions do change. But I think the biggest thing is you've got to be curious and you've got to go back into the past and if not, try new things. So as entrepreneurs, we have to get out of our comfort zone. In fact, I love saying that all the magic happens outside of your comfort zone. So if you want to create magic, Fire Nation, get the heck out of that comfort zone. Because when we get out of our comfort zone, we're going to be eliminating self-doubt. We're going to be taking action, all things that we love doing. So share some tips, Amy, about how you have been able to help others accomplish doing just this.

8:39Yeah, I think the first thing is obviously going through that timeline, taking the time to do that, and then putting it into your calendar. I think where a lot of people get stuck is that they think, oh no I have to change like my entire life I have to change my entire business but it's not about that because I think that's and I say that in the book like that's can be a recipe for disaster but at the same time like you can sprinkle in what you're passionate about so it's taken time to you know put that on your calendar and if that kind of scares you a little grab a friend and do it with a friend and try an activity with a friend but get an accountability person that can help you put it on the calendar because it doesn't mean completely changing your life.

9:22It just means putting that little bit of passion back into it and then following where those passion little steps lead. Like when I started my nonprofit, I had always been somebody that gives back, gives back and then try like travel too. So I kept following those things of travel and, and giving back. And that's what created village impact and what led to today, but you've got to start somewhere and you've got to put it on your calendar and stay focused on that. So accountability is everything. And I love that tip you gave about grabbing a friend. I mean, make it fun, like have some fun doing this.

9:54Like, why would you not want to be having fun? I mean, this is why we're doing what we're doing to follow our passion, to unlock our passion, to eliminate self-doubt, to take action, to have some fun. So get some accountability, grab a friend and just start having a conversation. Like that's where you can start. And we have a lot of value bombs coming up Fire Nation when we get back from thanking our sponsors. The overwhelm that comes with choosing the right software and tools for growing your business is real. With so many options and so little time, how are you supposed to know which platform is best?

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11:09meaning your marketers, sales reps, and service teams actually have the time to be, well, marketers, sales reps, and service teams. And when they grow, the sky's the limit for your business too. Grow better, faster with HubSpot's all-in-one intuitive customer platform. Visit HubSpot.com to learn more. So Amy, we're back and we have a lot of entrepreneurs listening right now to this episode. So what would you tell one of our listeners who wants to combine their passion with desire to do more good in this world? Yeah, absolutely. I love this question because I think there are so many simple ways that we can give back using our passion that oftentimes they may seem too small and we just think, oh, that's not big enough.

11:54But every little thing that we do can have an impact. Like I wrote this book because I really believe you can use what you're passionate about to do more good in the world. So it makes me think of two categories, like a business category and a personal category. And when I think of like business, I think of, you know, my husband, Stu McLaren and I, we have, we have three or four businesses and one of his businesses, which is, you know, his tribe brand that he does a membership, um, software, they give back to our nonprofit. So what they do is that every month they do, or so not every month, one month a year, they donate all of their profits to our village impact to cover our overhead.

12:32So they've implemented it and we've put it into that business from day one. It's a lot like, you know, Russell Brunson from ClickFunnels. Ever since he started ClickFunnels years ago, he said, you know, every dollar, every funnel that is created, one dollar will go to the cause. So I think it's putting some money aside from your company from the very beginning to other causes that you're passionate about. So it gives back. Another cool way that you can do within your company or community is have your team come with three or four different charities or organizations that they want to support and the team can vote on which one to support.

13:12So then it like brings the staff to get involved in who they're supporting. It brings the community alive because they're looking at different things that they can support too. So it's involving your community, involving your staff into giving back into your business. And then another thing we do for the personal side for us as a family, we have two young ones and we've always been passionate about giving back experiences. Giving people experiences is huge. It's a passion for mine. And we've used that to give back. So we like to give within our family super surprises, we've called them. So before COVID, we took two guy friends on an epic kite trip to Fiji that they had no idea.

13:50and it was a big surprise. So we also do, as a family, I teach my kids to give and to save and to spend. I think those three things are so important. And in the giving part, we involve our kids doing fun things that we like to do as a family to give back, whether that's at the grocery store and buying people's groceries or surprising my mom with a trip with her friend or whatever it may be. But whatever you're passionate about, you can use that to do more good in the world. And sometimes it's just the littlest things that can make a difference. And one thing that I really want to emphasize here at Fire Nation is don't wait.

14:22Like these are things that should be done now. Like a lot of people like to say, well, you know what? When I become rich, well, when are you going to become rich? Like that's just a vague, broad number. Like what even is rich? And believe me, that definition of rich changes as you become more wealthy. It just happens. Like that goalpost keeps moving back. It's just a reality. So why wait? Why not do now? Why not impact now? Why not make change now. There's just no reason not to implement it in your life in a very meaningful and affordable way. So acts of kindness, Amy, they're one thing, but a movement of change, we're talking a whole new level.

15:01So how can somebody make this transition from just like an act of kindness of like, like buying groceries, which is amazing, but turn it like into a movement of change? Absolutely. So it makes me think, you know, when I started our nonprofit, I, um, I didn't know what I was doing, right. I think to get from kindness to change, there are three things you've got to start, you've got to get clear and you have to be consistent. So I, when we started our nonprofit, we started it, like we said at the beginning of the interview, like I had no idea how to start a charity, a Canadian charity. So I'm Googling it.

15:35I'm discovering things. I'm finding out how I can start. Um, so I started somewhere, but then my, um, goal and our mission as a nonprofit became more clear, the more action that I took because action creates clarity. We've, we've talked about that before and we, we know that, right? But the more action you take, the more clear you will become. So with whatever you're doing, you have to keep moving towards a direction that lights you up or that goal you're working towards. Like when our nonprofit started, we did work in El Salvador and then we did some work in Ghana and we came back from that Ghana trip and I felt like we were putting band-aids on everything.

16:10We were helping with schools, we were helping with medical supplies, we were helping with water and it just felt all over the place and we weren't accomplishing anything. But the good thing that it did, it made us become more clear in what our message was or what our goals were. And when you become more clear in your messaging or more clear in what you're going after, when you have conversations with other people, your, your message is clear, right? People understand what you're doing. They want to help you. So all of a sudden these little things of kindness. So when I started the charity became a little bigger because my message got a little clear and people understood what I was trying to accomplish, what we were trying to accomplish as a nonprofit, it became easier to talk about.

16:55And then that's attracted more people towards our mission, towards our cause for the nonprofit. And then I think the last thing is just being consistent. Like, you know, we started our, we started our nonprofit. It was originally called World Teacher Aid 12 years ago. Like we've been around for a long time and in internet years, I guess you could say. And, um, it's just being consistent. And so it all started, it got clear with our messaging and then it's just being consistent in what we do, how we fundraise money and our message and just keep moving forward. Start, get clear, stay consistent.

17:30I mean, Fire Nation, if you remember those three things, you're going to be on fire. And I love that quote that you used, Amy. Action creates clarity. Think about that, Fire Nation. Action creates clarity. Most people, unfortunately, think action creates mistakes. Action creates fear. Action creates doubts. Action creates fill in the blank. No, it creates clarity. So, Amy, take us home. take a minute and share some more details about your passion project, Passion to Purpose. Yeah. So for me, it's funny. My book, Passion to Purpose, I wrote this book for a reason, actually, that you mentioned earlier in this interview where, you know, Stu and I have been so grateful to speak on so many stages to share, you know, our goals behind Village Impact, what we're doing as a nonprofit.

18:22And we would get off the stage each time. And I would always have people, like you said, come up to me and say like, I don't have this much money to donate. I can't do this. I wish I could do that. And it kind of, it, after time I became a little frustrated because I was like, no, you do not have to wait to start your own business. Like yes, Stu and I have several companies and a nonprofit, but that's what we do and we love it. But you do not have to wait to have an impact in this world to, to wait for that. You can have an impact starting today by smiling at someone by holding the door by honoring what you love to do and then using that to do more good in the world because all of our passions are uniquely different no passion is too big or too small no impact is too big or too small and I really wrote this book to encourage people to you know use your passion and just do more good in the world because it can have so many ripple effects on so many people so that is in a sense why I wrote the book I am a multi-passionate entrepreneurs, you've probably heard, like I do have this book.

19:23I run my nonprofit. I'm really into right now running a luxury Airbnb business, um, um, and my brand lady strength. So those are three things that I'm passionate about and passion projects. But my biggest thing is spreading the message of we can all do more good in this world by following our passion. So where do you want fire nation to go to connect with you, to find your book, to support your causes? Where can they go? Yeah. So you can go to passion to purpose book.com. and that has all of our cool bonuses that we have for the book there. You can find me on Instagram at amydownmclaren. And then if you wanna find out more about our nonprofit, that's obviously at villageimpact.com.

20:00Fire Nation, you're the average. Of the five people you spend the most time with, and you've been hanging out with AM and JLD today, so keep up the heat. Head over to eofire.com. Just type Amy, A-M-Y, in the search bar. Her show notes page will pop up with everything we talked about here today, links to everything. Amy, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Awesome. Thank you so much. Hey, Fire Nation. Today's value bomb content was brought to you by Amy and Fire Nation. Over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 3 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment.

20:44I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, which is personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need, Fire Nation, to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit UncommonSuccessBook.com to order your copy today, and I'll catch you there, or I'll catch you on the flip side. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolfe and Nathan Lands is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Matt and Nathan are leading AI creators in your guiding light in the AI and technology frontier.

21:23AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented. The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts.

21:43Thank you.