[#044] My First Billion: she almost closed her business
I just realized my wife, Vanessa, turned 44 this week and this is edition #44 of this newsletter.
August is birthday season for us. I get to celebrate three of the most important women in my life this month…
My wife, my daughter Haley, and my pastor, Pastor Taye, who's like a big sister to me.
Back In The Studio
Like I mentioned last week, we're relaunching season 2 of the Strategic Scale Show.
We're in a new studio so the production quality is on a whole nother level.
We shot the first 3 episodes yesterday and they are bangers. I can't wait for you to see them.
Side note: If you'd like to be a guest on the show go here.
Here's something that jumped out yesterday…
Every guest who showed up is a business owner who's already doing well.
Two of them already make over a milli per year.
But they still sat down for a deep dive and said, here's what's broken, help me fix it.
That's more rare than you'd think.
A lot of people get a little success and start smelling themselves and think they're God's gift to business.
The ones who keep growing stay teachable because they understand a principle I live by…
The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don't know.
Two Quotes I Was Reminded Of This Week
I sat in that studio and taught for hours yesterday and loved every minute.
It didn't even feel like work.
Which reminded me of two of my favorite quotes.
The first is from L.P. Jacks, an educator who wrote it back in 1932.
“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.
He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.
To him he's always doing both.”
The second is from Howard Thurman, who was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s mentors.
He said to stop asking what the world needs, and start asking what makes you come alive...
Because a world full of people who have come alive is what it actually needs.
One of the things that makes me "come alive" is teaching.
And that's what yesterday consisted of for me.
After shooting 3 episodes and driving an hour and a half home (thanks ATL traffic)...
I got home, had a salad Vanessa made me, connected with the fam and was honored to teach Bible Study for a group of brothers.
As Proverbs says, "A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men."
That gift will take you rooms your resume never could.
The Hire I Wasn't Looking For
Got a random DM from someone asking about a sales position.
I'm slow to hire now. REALLY slow. I don't add people unless it hurts not to.
I wasn't looking and I rarely check the inbox she messaged me on.
I get a lot of those pitches via DM and I usually don't reply to any of them.
I don't believe anything happens by mistake.
And I believe that was the Holy Spirit prompting me to reply to this one.
We had a call same day and I'm bringing her on.
Because our actual problem right now is that we have more leads than we can touch.
Good problem to have, but still a problem.
A lead untouched is just an expensive name sitting in a CRM.
Yea, automation is great, but I love high touch and us connecting personally with those who come into our world.
And in the Age of Ai, this is a differentiator.
My Big Three
When I strip my week down, my whole business is 3 things:
→ Content
→ Conversations
→ Coaching
That's it.
Most things outside of that are automated, delegated or eliminated.
Had a really solid coaching call with clients this week.
Shot videos for our ads ecosystem and got emails written.
And we finished everything for CEO Camp, our 2-day event for clients.
Booklets are done, the lineup of teachers is locked in and registration ends for our clients tomorrow so we can finalize the headcount.
Client Win That May Make You Shed A Thug Tear
About 60 days ago, a woman came to me.
She'd spent 55k on masterminds, coaches, and agencies, and got screwed over by most of them.
She runs a multiple six-figure business and is great at what she does.
She just could not crack lead generation, no matter who she paid.
We had a call and she told me something I'll remember forever…
She had a window of time. A small one.
And if things didn't turn around inside that window, she was going to have to shut the business down.
She said this was her last go at it.
She paid in full and told me she was all in.
So we went to work.
We got the ads system installed in her business and we trained her team, so she could stay in her zone of genius instead of living inside an ad account all day.
She's spent 900 bucks on ads so far.
She's collected 7,500 back from it... and the client she enrolled keeps paying 5k monthly from here.
NOTE: Results like this are not typical. Individual results vary based on effort, skills, market, and other factors.
The money is the smallest part of that story to me.
What I keep thinking about is that she has hope again.
She leaned in when quitting would have been easier, and she saw how quickly God could turn it around when we partner with Him in faith.
Many people are closer than they feel right now.
One working system away from a completely different 6 months.
I hope you don't wait until it's your last go with it or the window closes.
Because there is a window of time for all of us.
Some smaller than others.
Tell those you love that you love them.
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are 2 ways we can help you grow your coaching or consulting business 2 or 3x this year:
1) Binge my best trainings... for free on YouTube.
2) Give us 7 days and we’ll install and ad system in your business that gets you qualified leads consistently. Go here to get all the details.
Start from the beginning → Issue 001
