Episode Transcription 

This is the ultimate advisor podcast, the podcast for financial advisors who want to create a thriving, successful, and scalable practice. Each week we’ll uncover the ways that you can improve your referrals, your team, your marketing, and your business operations, helping you to level up your advising practice, bring in more assets, and create the advising practice that you’ve dreamed of. You’ll be joined by our hosts Bryan Sweet, who is moving fast towards a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to improve their operations and company culture, and Draye Redfern who can help you systematize and automate your practices marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let’s jump into another amazing episode of the ultimate advisor podcast.

Brittany Anderson  00:50

Welcome back to your ultimate advisor podcast. This is Brittany Anderson. And I have got with me a really special guest that that deserves a pretty darn good introduction. So she is the host of the one degree Show podcast with over 400,000 downloads and counting. She’s a super connector, a problem solver, a speaker, a business marketing strategist, a copywriter and a social media monetization expert. You know, our advisors like that word monetization. She makes curated connections between entrepreneurs with irritating issues and vetted vendors with solutions. One timely strategic connection to the right vendor can save you 10s of 1000s of dollars in time, money or your team. So with me today is Miss LMA. Welcome, Ella. We’re so excited to have you.

Ella Mae  01:49

Oh man, thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Brittany Anderson  01:53

You know, a little, I guess, insider secret here. For those that are tuning in. LMA actually just spoke to our ultimate advisor mastermind community, and she absolutely killed it. So I am so darn excited to have you as a guest to have you share your genius share your expertise. So before I continue on any further, why don’t you just talk a little bit about kind of your background where you came from? What got you to this point?

Ella Mae  02:20

Yeah, definitely. So I how I kicked off as an entrepreneur as I actually worked for John Benson who’s like a OG legendary copywriter. So I was his EA for two years. And when I got that job, like, I didn’t know what zoom was when I got that job, like I should not have gotten that job. But you learn quick and our personalities clicked and whatever. So like three months, and John was living in Vancouver at the time, he’s in this beautiful penthouse. I’m kind of like, Hey, what’s this copywriting thing you do? Like obviously pays okay, like, what are you doing here? And he was sort of like, well, it’s a this and I was like, you know, I think I could do that. And he’s like, Alright, cool. Like, if you want to give it a shot, go through these programs and rewrite sales letters and etc. So I did. And over that two years, I worked for him. And I just started really leaning into the online world. And that’s where I first really learned the online world was through osmosis and traveling with him and etc. And he also was just John such a great guy like to this day top three best professional relationships in my life. He was the first guest on my podcast, like such a good dude. So anytime I was working on something like I did a lot of work for free at first for friends, web pages and emails. He was always like, I was like, Hey, can I just run this by you? And he would be like, Yeah, I would fix this and fix this. And so he kind of mentored me for that time period. Once I stopped working for him, I kicked off on my own as a freelance copywriter and things were good and I had good clients, I was doing me mainly sales pages, email sequences, etc. And it was around I don’t know, just right around three years ago, around this time I got I start to get really curious around social media and I think I’m a marketer at heart. So I started seeing the ROI on influencer marketing and really digging into the stats and I was like, Man, this isn’t going anywhere. So I started growing my own Instagram account, working with brands and really leaning into social media. And within like four months, that’s what everybody came to me for. Everyone was like, Oh, can you help me with my social Can you help me on my social media? Like Alright, I guess this is what I do now. Like, okay, so started working with people or on their social media was kind of working with anyone at first like people who want to be influencers and then I sort of realized I’m like, Man, I don’t really get a lot out of people just want to be popular. I really want to work with people with something going they’ve got passion behind it, they’ve you know, they’ve got something established. So I shifted my model where I was working with people who had been very successful either pre social media or without social media, and helping them take all their copy their content, their funnels, put it into social in a way that monetize the channel. First and foremost. and also created a real connection with their audience. And without really realizing it, like I just knew I wanted to work with people that already had systems in place, usually a bit of a team so we could really execute. I already had the copy background. So that helped a lot in terms of understanding funnels, etc. But I really set that up in order to build my network very, very well, because very early in my entrepreneurship career, I was around like some big movers and shakers in the digital marketing world. And it just gave me a ton of insight into the ways that companies actually run when you’re a small business or a medium sized business, I got to meet a lot of cool people, etc. The one fatal mistake I made with that business, and I didn’t realize it until two years in was that business was set up to grow and not scale. So I actually sat down with a coach of mine, you probably know him from genius, Joe de Maria. And we were lucky. And I’ve known him for three years. He’s such a phenomenal guy. And we were looking through and it became so evidently clear that the only way this was going to hit the goals that I wanted was I was going to have to kill myself two times more. And I was already kind of burnt out on the offer. I was just like, in this really, really tight, I was written this really sort of bad place professionally, and went through it super dark depression, that summer, basically just stopped working, like I kept my obligation, my clients stopped taking on new ones, and just really went into a weird funk. And it was, you know, two, three months of that. And then actually, I called Joe, and I was like, hey, I need a new offer. Joe de mer. I was like, hey, I need new offer. Because this is that up to grow and not scale. I’ve been sulking about it for the last two months, which has been unproductive. And I need something new, I believe me, I need something that really leverages my strengths and something that can actually scale. And it was on our very first call together that we came up with the idea for one degree because he was like, dude, you’ve done such a good job with building your network, you’ve had to get really good at problem solving. Because when when I would go into a company before socials like the tip top of the funnel, so we would have to look at everything to make sure my stuff would work. So make sure you know, the emails were being open, because a copy was okay and landing pages were converting. So I’d gotten pretty good at diagnosing problems and building my network where I knew good people who could do what they say they could do. So with one degree, he was like, why don’t we look? Well, you know, hash it out. And he was like, why don’t we structure it like this, you like doing the strategy, you’ve still got lots of energy, etc. You jump on and do the strategy with them, you figure out what the real problem is, why they’re not scaling, etc. And then from there, you make vetted, you make recommendations for vetted vendors that are within budget that can come in and implement the solutions. And I was like, Oh, my God, this sounds so much better. Like I love this, right? And then it was just from so we launched that, or I launched that five months ago, ish, like we don’t need honestly, like, hopefully, by the time this airs, it’ll be changed. But it’s still like a placeholder website that hasn’t been like there’s so much to do, because it picked up a fair amount of traction. And then Joe and I were jamming one day, and we’re like, you know, what’s a way we could create content really organically and make it interesting? And you know, put the word out there? And I was like, yeah, why don’t we do a podcast and I’ll interview elite entrepreneurs and talk about the one person or the one connection that changed the trajectory of their life or their business. Launch. The podcast wasn’t excited. I’d done a podcast before you know, podcasts go, they’re good for creating content. It’s whatever. It blew up, like averaging 30,000 downloads in episode and just started, and we were 10 episodes. And this rarely happens at the beginning. And like, actually, the podcast isn’t even on the website yet. Like we were not expecting this. So he finally does on boarded a video team to start doing something with the content because what the numbers are getting bigger guests now. And we’re getting ended up on the site next week. I’m extending actually capitalize on traffic, which I’m excited about. But yeah, from there, and obviously, it’s got its own little opportunity to be monetized, which is really, really cool. So that’s something we’re leaning into. And yeah, so now here I am.

Brittany Anderson  09:28

So there’s so much to unpack there. And you know, I just get so excited. So listening to you, like you could literally feel the build of your energy, as you’re leaning into something that truly spoke to your passion spoke to your heart sparked your interest. You know, and I want to go back for a second here because, you know, you talked a little bit about social media and you made a comment that I think is really important for our audience in particular for the advisor space to pay attention to and that’s that social media is not going away. away. So we go ahead.

Ella Mae  10:04

Oh, no, I just agreed with you.

Brittany Anderson  10:05

Yeah, yeah. So we’ve gotten those comments before to where you know what, we’ll be talking to an advisor, they’re coming through the coaching program, they get to the marketing section, and they’re like, oh, social media is just really not my thing. So if you were to hear that, what would be your response? And how would you help somebody to overcome that thought process?

Ella Mae  10:25

I mean, can you be successful without social media? Absolutely, you can still do what worked in 1965. And a lot of business models are very similar in terms of making them profitable. But it’s kind of like why you’ve got this huge leverage tool, right? And what I would say is, most people are like, I’m not down with social because they see it as an additional task to create content. And oh, I’m gonna have to do with the platform’s doing. If I go on Tik Tok, I’m an actor dance. I’m like, excetera, right. So what I would say is, look, there’s no point in sleeping on this, because why not. But let’s make sure we can incorporate creating content into your day to day, this is not an additional task. It’s an as well as, so for example, right now, like anytime I’m on a, I’m on a podcast, I’ve got my phone set up right here that’s recording me. So I record that part. And then you see this with a lot of people that have big presences. They’ve got video teams recording them, like while they’re doing their masterminds, or while they’re on podcast, and I understand with Well, there is certain regulations, like don’t record yourself on plank, haltingly, so that you know, there is certain regulations. But even if somebody did one training per week, or one podcast interview per week, or whatever it is, that’s loads of content, just throw your phone on the side, prop it up on books, put it in a holder, if you have one, hit record, you only need front facing camera, this isn’t going on TV, the quality will be fine, right for what you’re putting it on. And just start to see, when you watch that stuff back. When you listen back to yourself on podcasts, or your trainings or whatever it could be, that’s when you start to see like, Oh, damn, there’s some really good stuff here. Like I could kind of I could dig into that a little bit more. Or you also start to hear filler words that you use, you’ll improve your speech, when you listen back to yourself, because you do not hear them while you’re talking. But then from there, you can send it to a VA, I use a team called repurpose house, where they select the best clips, send me four videos per week that goes up on my tic tock, it goes up on my Instagram, I repurpose the crap out of social media, I have no interest in creating specific content for every platform and blah, blah, blah, right? So make it as appealing as it can be. Because the higher the quality of your content, the more people assume you charge. It’s just kind of the way it is, right? When you have really high quality content, the more people assume that you’re professional and you charge. So make it as good as it can be for the platform. But at whatever level you’re at, I think it’s really simple to incorporate creating content into your day to day and then just let it compound.

Brittany Anderson  13:12

Yeah, you know, I think you bring up a great point, too, you know, what’s the first thing like you’re about to engage with somebody in whatever capacity it can be, you’re going to a restaurant, it can be you’re searching for a new financial advisor, it can be you’re changing banks, you’re hiring a social media expert, you know, whatever that is, the first thing that we do is we put their name into Google. And if you don’t have that presence, I mean, that’s something that we’ve talked about quite a bit over the years with the advisors we teach. If you don’t have that presence, people start to scratch their head going well, are they really legitimate, even though like you said, there’s brilliant, successful people out there that don’t do anything with social media that just tends to be that go to that people immediately are used to searching. You’re not there, you kind of don’t exist?

Ella Mae  13:59

Well, it’s a huge credibility piece, right? And especially with finances, I was just actually talking to somebody recently around some financial endeavors. And I’ve met this guy in person, he seems awesome. But like, he’s nowhere to be found on Google. He’s nowhere like, he’s like, I work referral only I work. And I’m not saying he’s not legit. I’m just saying, well, now I have, and I’m gonna do it because I, you know, I have met him and he seems legit. But I have to do the extra work of talking to some of your clients of making sure that you are somebody like when you’re giving your money to someone, that’s a big thing. And the more that we know, like and trust you, the easier that transition is going to be for onboarding new clients, people sending over referrals, etc. So if I’m talking to you, and let’s say I’m a referral, so I don’t really know you, I just know that somebody I know trust you. Or I’m cold, and I have a conversation with you and I’m like, Man, Brittany’s Gray, like I really appreciate her but I’m about to give you 20 3040 grand, I’m gonna look at your stuff. And if I see a full social presence of you teaching on this, I have you doing the podcasts of you, when I Googling your name, your website comes up, or whatever it could be. It’s like, oh, cool, like, this is legit her jam. And from the social tidbits, that’s where I can be like, oh, man, I never thought of that before. Like, I didn’t know that tax break was there, or I’m gonna have to check with my state on that I didn’t realize that was probably available to me, or whatever it could be like, it just creates a lot of that know, like, and trust factor. And also, if people just happen to randomly come across you, let’s say you’re only doing organic, like you’re not paying for anything, which is totally good. They get a feel for you, they get a feel for how you talk and how you teach and the type of energy you have. And you’ll start to attract people that are resonating with that. I can’t tell you how many times like it’s been like, oh, man, I’ve been you know, actually looking at your videos for a year now. And like, as it as you’re consistent people, it will start to compound. And plus, you get the element of starting to build a personal brand. So you never have to do anything with that, you can just leave that alone. But if maybe you want to do more speaking gigs, if you want to do a book one day, if you decide to shift industries, if you decide to make a pivot and who you work with, it’s a lot easier when you have a personal brand. And you’ve got some leverage behind you in terms of just who you are how you come across. So, again, can you do it without it? Absolutely no big deal. But like, why you’ve got this huge leverage tool, and you can make it easy.

Brittany Anderson  16:42

Yeah. You know, I think about your experience over the years, and how many different entrepreneurs how many different you know, business owners you’ve been able to engage with and help through this process? So what is the number one mistake that you see people making when it comes to their marketing when it comes to their strategy?

Ella Mae  17:03

Um, number one mistake, I would say just not like, I guess let’s go to the bed, like overthinking it in the beginning. Like I’ve, if it was me, I wouldn’t hire anybody for social media until you’ve been putting up content consistently for like 60 days, right? Except for a video repurposing it. You could grab a VA or whoever to like, repurpose your video. So you have content to put up, right. But I wouldn’t hire anyone really for strategy. This is just me, I wouldn’t hire anyone for strategy until contents been going up consistently. Because the truth is, if you’re just getting into this, or you know, your socials been dead for a hot minute, you want that time period to see what your audience responds to ask any seasoned marketer, Hey, you think this funnel is a good idea, hey, should I do this ad strategy? They’re gonna say, I don’t know, test it. Right? Test it, like we don’t know. So you don’t know what your audience is going to respond to? You don’t and it’s not up to you. Like with copy, for example, when I would do copy, sometimes I would give sales pages. And the client would be like, Oh, I don’t, you know, I don’t love it. And I’d be like, cool, you’re not your target market. Like, it’s fine. You’re not supposed to love it, like you’re on the other side of the hill, right? So you want to see what your audience and the audience that you want, always speak to the audience that you want, not the audience that you have. But you because like, for example, if you’re trying to work with people with a net worth of 5 million or more, and I see you on my feed, well, I’ve got friends that have a net worth of 5 million or more. And if you’re sharing something really good, I might send that off to them and be like, Oh, dude, have you seen this? I know you were just talking about some investments you were thinking about? Or have you like, it’s so always talk to the audience you want not the audience you have if you don’t have the audience you want. And yes, just start again, incorporate it into your day, your content doesn’t have to be perfect. Do it with the way that do it the way you’re like the best. What’s the best exercise to do? The one that you’re going to do every day? Right? Do it like in a way that makes it simple for you and minimal work. And from there, just start seeing what’s happening. And you’ll if you do end up bringing on a strategist or somebody to really jive with you on social, it’s because things are working, that’s a good sign. Then you’re like, Oh, damn, I got two clients off here just by like, doing my thing and getting these videos repurpose, like, Alright, maybe it’s worth it to dig into this a little bit and then you’re a lot more motivated.

Brittany Anderson  19:36

You know, you bring up I think that’s a brilliant point to bring up. You know, we’ve talked about on the podcast before actually about the importance of not falling in love with your own message, not falling in love with your own brand image, because there are certain things that you might love about it, that your target prospect is going to be you know, repelled by or turned off by, so that’s something I’m so glad You brought that up, because that’s something that we can all fall into the trap of, I’ll give you a recent example. So we had a little bit of PR, we got picked up in a major publication. And we saw the title that launch, like the headline that launched. And internally, we’re like, oh, my gosh, like, our clients are gonna hate that they’re, they’re going to be put off by that. And we were really uncomfortable. And so what we ended up doing was running it by our client Advisory Council. And they were like, well, we don’t really see a big deal of it, put this little tweak in front of it, and you’re good. So we spent a lot of time analyzing. So I think the importance of, you know, there’s tools and there’s platforms and things that can help you test your marketing, but just testing anything in your business, I think this can be opened up across the board. Don’t assume because you love something that your client or prospects gonna love it. And don’t assume that if you hate something that your client or prospect is going to hate it as well. So I just wanted to pull on that one a little bit, because that is so important. So I do want to ask, and this plays off a little bit of a story that you shared during the mastermind. But you know, when you talk about your journey, as an entrepreneur, yourself, and what you’ve learned, and the things that you’ve overcome, and different points in your life, where you maybe had some dark times, so talk to me a little bit about a time that you have overcome fear, and how you use it to your advantage.

Ella Mae  21:23

Oh, I mean, definitely the most recent one when I went through that nasty depression last summer. And, and, I mean, I was just really, really stuck. And I let myself get very isolated, because I didn’t reach out. And when you’re not feeling good, and you’re unsure what you want to do with your life, and has this whole thing I built do I do? Is it just gonna burn to the ground? Like, what was the point type thing, I just let myself get really isolated and gotten a pretty bad spot to the point where I was thinking about suicide. And I remember I’ll never forget this phone call. And by the way, any seasoned entrepreneur I talk to has, like, they’re like, hey, two failed attempts here, or over here like it is. So if this is a place that you’re in, and you’re like, oh my god, I’m really scared of this. This is a completely normal nervous system response to when things aren’t going good, too much for too long. So don’t I mean, get the help you need. Don’t worry, you know, well, maybe forget a little bit, but get the help you need. It’s a totally normal response. Like there’s nothing wrong with you. So I remember like, these thoughts started coming in. And they stayed in for a couple of days. And actually one of our mutual friends Cameron Harold, who’s like a dear friend, happened to text me when that was happening, and just kind of like, Hey, dude, are you good lately? Like, you seem really off. And I was like, I don’t know if I’m good. And he was like, Alright, cool. Just let me call you. And so he called me and he was like, what’s going on? And I was like, Man, I don’t know. I don’t know. Because this hasn’t happened before, but I’m pretty sure it might be suicidal. And he’s like, alright, well, what’s up? So I told him, and he was like, look like, please, if you need help get it. I’ll support you in any way I can. But I don’t think you’re suicidal. I think you’re right. Because I was basically having this thought like, none of this matters. Like not like, what’s the point? None of this matters. So he’s like, I don’t I don’t think you know, you might not be suicidal, you might be right. Like, a lot of this really doesn’t matter. And 1000 years from now, English could look like hieroglyphics, like, a lot of this doesn’t matter. But like you’re here. So you might as well live the life you want to live. And you don’t have to take work so seriously, and let it get you to this place. And start really thinking about like what you would just enjoy doing while you’re here. And it was this huge relief, because I was like, oh, like maybe I’m just clicking into something like maybe this isn’t the end, it could be like a new beginning, which is huge. Like To this day, I will never I will never forget that. conversate it was like a 15 minute conversation that totally changed my life and especially right then. And so then I started clicking into like, Okay, well, maybe. So if none of this matters, like I mean, that was really mad, you know, cans and stuff that matters. You’re creating generational, but with what I was dealing with, with like a work thing for business for a baby business that have been live for two years. Oh, snap, right. Like, I was just creating this whole thing in my head. So I was kind of like, alright, well, if none of this matters, really. And I kind of just I decided that I’m like, Look, I don’t want to kill myself. I don’t want to do that to my family. Like, I’m just gonna ride this thing out, you know, so I kind of made that decision. I was like, okay, so I just started thinking of like, okay, well what like, look like at the end of the day business wise, majority of us aren’t really going to make a huge impact, you know, and like maybe through people and people and people but like, not a huge impact. So it’s like, what would I actually like want to spend my time doing And I just I’ve always had an issue with clarity and focus, it’s always been hard for me to get clear and to focus and like do the work. Probably because I never really learned how to study in school. Like, I didn’t take school super seriously. So I just kept asking myself the question and catch like, you know, kept being like, hey, I want to figure this out, I want to figure this out. I want to figure this out. And then one day, I had an instinct to reach out to Joe, who I hadn’t talked to in months. And I told him, I was like, I need new offer. And I’m looking to hire someone. And I was like, Dude, I totally would have thought of you with I don’t even think you take on this type of work. And he was like, well look like I’d be open to let’s have a call. And I was like, No way, like, because he was way above anybody else I was interviewing. And then from there, we created the concept for the company. And I was really, really nervous about shifting industries. But he was like, Ella, look at someone like Lee Richter, who’s like another mutual friend of ours. Like she was his PR queen. And now she’s on NF T’s like you can shift as much as you want. Like, it really doesn’t matter. And making that first shift was so nerve racking, and you know, putting out to my warm network, like, Hey, this is what I’m doing now. And so many of them, like when I went to Cameron with the idea, and he’s like, this is sell you like I could see you doing really well with this model. And he was actually the one who gave me the idea for the name. He was like, Why do you call it this? And I was like, that’s perfect. Thank you. So he actually dropped the idea for the name. But as I you know, I was really nervous with going to my warm network and being like, this is what I’m doing now. But everybody was like, either they didn’t care. Or they were like, oh, yeah, this is so you like this is like you’ve got the work. You’re great at the high levels, like this is perfect. Like this is so what you’re designed for, and I was like, Oh, cool. And then once that happened, I was just like, well screw it. And I’m going to shout it from mountaintops and the podcast blew up, etc. So I think that first pivot was really unnatural. I have people who ping me now who say, Man, how did you go through a pivot? Like, I’m not liking what I’m doing? And the model set up, right, but I’m just so nervous to ship. It’s like, I get it. I gotta like, it’s hard. It’s really mentally difficult, especially at first, I think, especially when you’re still building your confidence as an entrepreneur. Once you have a few of those home runs, I think your competence or me to deal with it, but your confidence starts to build, etc. But yeah, it’s tough. But it’s, it’s really, really worth it. If you’re unhappy with what you’re doing. So I would say yeah, like this, like that last summer was really funky. It was really strange. Yeah. And

Brittany Anderson  27:36

you know, something that I admire about you is the fact that you did reach out that you did, you know, put that out into the universe. And you ask the questions, and you were introspective enough to be able to sit there and kind of assess and say, Okay, this is what I’m thinking, this is what I’m feeling. But it’s almost like you question like, is it real? Like, do I really feel this way? So you know, I think to the entrepreneurial role, roller coaster is crazy, right? Like, there’s times where you’re like, oh, my gosh, this is the best day of my life. And things are wonderful. And my family is wonderful, and the business is gonna grow and thrive and scale. And then the next minute, you feel like you’re literally in a plane crash, and you’re about to hit the Earth, and you’re bracing with everything you have. So, you know, I just think that if you’re listening to this as an advisor, as a business owner with that entrepreneurial spirit, to understand that you need a network, and it can be really, really lonely. Like it can be lonely when you’re trying to build or even when you’ve reached a certain level of success, and this is kind of pivoting into my next question. So somebody’s rolling, they’ve hit this new level of success in their life. They’re starting to scale their business, you know, maybe things have happened, where they have past colleagues up or they’ve passed their friends up in different levels of success. So what are things that you do to help you you know, kind of keep your eye on the prize and not be waylaid? Be it by guilt, be it by other naysayers be it by anything negative that might hold you back? How do you stay true to your vision?

Ella Mae  29:15

Um, so I just want to like double click on your last point around having a network. And even if you’re like, Well, I’ve got great family and friends, dude, if they’re not entrepreneurs, they don’t like if I would have called my mom with that same thing. Like, oh my god, I think I might be suicidal, like she would have sent an ambulance. But he would not have said the same thing that Cameron said right, who’s a seasoned entrepreneur 25 steps ahead of me in business. So really prioritize. Getting in touch with people and social media is a great way to do this. Getting in touch with people that you like what they put out, you’ve heard good things about them. They’re 1020 steps ahead of you in business or in a different industry at less similar success level. And just just start to build those relationships. And again, these are people that from what you know, you’d want them in your corner. 20 years from now, this isn’t to sell them this isn’t like this is really this have quality relationships, because I can tell you like, I wouldn’t be here. Without those relationships, I have no idea how I there is like select friends of mine who were all alone for five, six years figuring this out for the most part with no entrepreneurs. And I have no idea I admire the crap out of them, I have no idea how they made it. So the earlier you can tap into that the better, very necessary. And everybody gets it because everybody’s been there. So you’re like, everybody gets it in that community, when you’re having a really tough time the business is in cash flowing, you’re going through something mentally, etc. But to your question, I mean, I think I’m really not big enough yet to have haters, that’ll hopefully be someday soon. But I think a biggest thing, honestly, for me was getting clarity. Because once I like, Look, I just figure it out. I wanted kids like six months ago, like I had, like I’m in my early 30s. I never ever thought about kids, like I never really dated. I was always just kind of really in my own thing. And I never really dated with the intention of creating a marriage or whatever. And I think as you decide, like, hey, I want it and you don’t have to do this, like tonight or whatever. But you kind of decide, hey, I want to get clarity. And I’m like, I’m going to do this. So like I need to get clarity on like, what it is that I want. Because what I have now isn’t working if it’s not working for you. And once I got clarity, and then it started to unfold like you know, and again, Jodi Maria was a huge help in that with helping me craft the offer. And it started to unfold with like, oh my god, now the podcast is blowing up. And now there’s an opportunity here, once you kind of have that clarity, it’s like you wake up every morning, and you know what you’re going to think about, like you’re excited to you’re like, oh, cool, yeah, I’ve got those meetings about this. And I’ve got this going because like momentum is like really hard to start. Like, if you think of a train getting going, it needs a lot of energy, a lot of fuel a lot of all of it to get that thing going. But once it’s going it can plow through a brick wall. So I think once you’re in that place, you won’t really notice. I mean, I don’t really notice to me, like I never looked at like who watches. Like, I don’t have time for that. Right? Um, occasionally I’ve been on like, clubhouse or something. And someone’s like, you unfollowed me, and I’m like, I promise I’m not sitting here. unfollowing people like, like, I don’t know, like, I

Brittany Anderson  32:37

don’t even know, I don’t know how you’re just like,

Ella Mae  32:39

oh, sorry about that, whatever. But you you just become more absorbed were like the outside stuff that bugged you before, like, you just don’t have capacity for it. So is your like, again, it’s just having clarity. And you’re kind of like, you know, I don’t know where I’m going to be 10 years from now. But I know where I’m going to be a year from now. Like, I know where I’m going, at least in the next 12 steps, you know, so that, that I think that’s a big thing. And then it kind of happens by default. And yeah, and I find things tend to move out of the way when it’s something that’s really aligned, like I started realize, like, oh, yeah, hosting a podcast, I love doing that I’m great at getting in touch with people, I love talking to smart people what they’re good at, like, I could do this in my sleep, like, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be paid for this. And then it was like, oh, and then it all started to click right. So I think that’s a big thing. And then also just I mean, I definitely spend time with people who are grown, you’re newer entrepreneurs than me that are showing a lot of initiative to growth, because hey, I didn’t make it here alone. Like holy crap, I had so many people that were willing to like reach a handout and pull me up a little bit and pull me up a little bit more. But I always showed them consistency. I showed them respect us showed them progress. So anyone who shows up in my room, that, you know, somehow we get on each other’s radar, we’re already connected. And they’re showing that same. Like they’ve done something, maybe they’re just suck, like I have no problem having a 15 minute call with you or like well tax or whatever it could be. But it’s more like when people stay stuck for too long. It becomes draining, too. And we all know this, like we’ve all been in those places where we’re stuck for too long. And we know we’re a drain on the people and we’re just like, Oh, we got to figure this out. Right. But that like we got to figure this out instinct. That’s what you know, that’s the type of people I’m interested in spending time with. So yeah, I would I hope that answered your question. You did.

Brittany Anderson  34:39

And you opened up, I think, a ton there. So you know that one of the things that ran through my head is you were talking about this and you’re talking about, you know, who you get advice from and really reaching out to those entrepreneurs that have had that higher level of success. I’m exactly the same way like I love just tapping the genius of the people that I’ve been able to meet because you learn learn so much and, and everybody has such great value to offer and going into it with a humble nature, like, I really don’t know enough of what I need to know. And I think that’s where people can get caught. And if you think, you know, from the advisor perspective, they can get caught thinking, Well, I know, I know the bulk of what I need to know, in this business. My gosh, there’s so much out there. And you even mentioned to about tapping into other industries and finding out what people are doing there. So the thing that ran through my head, though, was how you should never take advice from somebody who you wouldn’t want to switch places with. And that’s been something that’s always stuck with me where I’m like, Man, that’s so true. Because I think sometimes we go to whoever is closest to us, versus whoever may be able to provide the most guidance, insight or value. So I think that’s actually unique trait of yours, being able to just step into that immediately, and not falling back on the people that you’re maybe comfortable with. The other thing that came up there, too, is that Dan Sullivan, he’s the founder of Strategic Coach, if you’re listening to this podcast for a while now, we’ve referenced him many, many times. But he has this framework where he talks about planning 25 years into the future. And then he takes it and he breaks down that 25 years into quarters. So it’s like 100 quarters to get to what you want to accomplish. And the thing that he said is it was something along the lines of I don’t necessarily know how I’m going to hit that goal, that vision, that big target. But I know that I’m going to try to get there. And it’s what gets me out of that it what’s it’s what gives me clarity for how I make decisions. It’s what gives me confidence for my future. So I think what you talked about there is just so dead on and people need to hear it more to be truthful.

Ella Mae  36:46

Yeah, and I would say with the advice thing, look, I’ve never met anyone who I wanted their whole life. Okay, good point. Yeah, that’s a good point. Like, for example, my dads are really good cook when I take cooking advice from him? Absolutely. When I go to him with business problems, no. Right. So there might be people who they’ve got it like they have a killer relationship. And you’ve like you’ve met them enough times been at dinners been another so where you’re just like, Man, you guys really like you don’t just love each other, you like each other? How’d you do that? You know, and maybe their business is struggling. But it doesn’t mean they don’t have that ability to create a killer relationship. So I would say pain point with the people around you. And you’ll know instinctively because you’ll say this is what I really admire about Britney, this is what I really admire about Brian, this is what so you’ll you’ll know instinctively what it is that you like that you want to learn from them or you admire whatever it is. And then yeah, dive deep on, you know, as deep as you can, while being appropriate, not like bugging anybody, in conversations, etc. With Hey, like, you know, I noticed like you’re just an incredible like, how the hell do you run a business and have kids like, you’re amazing. Like, do you have a schedule? Like, how’d you do that? Like, yeah, like, Oh, my God, shortcut yourself and learns, you can learn through books, I found real relations, like books are much quicker than doing it yourself. real relationships are much quicker than reading a book. So Amen. to that. Yeah, Jeff. So I would put an asterix on that for sure. And then was there a second part?

Brittany Anderson  38:15

Oh, no, just the whole thing with you know, creating that vision, not knowing how you’re gonna get there. But knowing that that’s what you want. I just, I think that you, you touched on that in your own way.

Ella Mae  38:26

How it’s the hardest thing in the world for me, by the way, like, I remember doing it. And I was like, the first one I did was like, well, the company’s at $20 million. It can be sold anytime this in this version, you looked at it, it wasn’t done, but the resume looked over was like, dude, like, can I swear on here? Yeah. Like, what the fuck is this? And I’m like, It’s my 25 year vision. He’s like, this is total bullshit company mission statement. Like, what the hell is this? Like, it’s what I want. He’s like, No, crazy, like, what do you want? Like, where do you want to live? Like, what are your work life to look like when you when you’re like, you go really meta with it. But again, I always struggled. And I don’t know when the click happened, where all of a sudden, I was like, Oh, I kind of got it. Okay. And yeah, I want a family. And yeah, like, I want a business where I’m doing. I don’t know, where the click happened, I think was just asking enough times, but it happened. But I had the hardest time with gaining clarity. It felt like it was going to be damn near like, I was like, I’ll never figured this out. And then something happened. I figured it out. I don’t know. But you go really meta with that where you’re like, Okay, 25 years from now I want to have X amount of passive income generated. And really, it’s like your buffet, like you’ve got this whole buffet of life and there’s money and relationships and career and fulfillment and contribution and everything. It’s like you just kind of pick what you want your days to look like. And actually what I’ve been doing lately, and I really again, the Epcot I am kind of excited with the fact that I finally Like a little bit more clear on what I want is actually Ryan Serhan taught me this is a big real estate guy is doing a thing where you write down who you want to be two years from now. So and I like do it down to the point. Now, this is, you know, six months later, from not knowing what to do with this. So I do it to the point where like, what am I thinking about? In the morning? What am I like? Like, what? Because like, you live in your internal, like, you live here, you know, yeah, we might be in Arizona, or in Canada or in Japan, or like, you know, but you live in your internal. So what do you want that to be like? So like, this is what I’m thinking about in the morning. And this is what the majority of my days look like. And here’s how my schedule is flexible. And I love doing this. I love doing the podcast, because now I’m able to bring on celebrities, I’m able to bring on excetera we’re on red carpet releases, like, right down to like, you know, what do you want to be thinking. And again, if you’re someone who’s traveling, getting clarity, don’t start with this, just start with getting a meta picture. But once you get it, then it becomes really fun. Because not even you’re not even doing it to make it come true. You’re kind of just doing it because it feels good. And you’re eating, you kind of get into that you start to really develop those neural pathways of looking forward. And looking forward on your path. Like not to say you can’t wish things for your clients, etc. But when you have clarity on your path, like it just becomes a lot more fun.

Brittany Anderson  41:27

You know, you made me think about you know, Cameron Harold, so you mentioned Cameron earlier, his book, vivid vision, I bet we have told 1000s of people about this book at this point. But I think that’s such a good methodology. So when you talk about that meta picture, when you talk about like really getting clear on all components and aspects, I think that’s a great starting point, because he shares different methods for going the professional direction, but also the personal and getting that clarity around what you want your future to look like what that vision is for you. So I did want to bring that full circle also, because that’s been a resource that we have, we’ve given it to people and we’ve also referred people to it. So LMA before I asked my final question, if people want to have a conversation with you to see how you might be helpful to them, how can they reach you? How can they stay on top of what you’re doing? How can they follow you all that good stuff?

Ella Mae  42:21

Yeah, probably the platform that’s best for like engaging and going back and forth is Instagram, I hang out on clubhouse a fair amount, so you’ll probably find me there. LinkedIn is also great. Also, if you go to the site, there’s a place right there where you can schedule a call, if you want to jump on like a 20 minute call, so that those three, four would have the easiest,

Brittany Anderson  42:42

awesome, and we’ll make sure that we put all the links and everything into the show notes as well so that people have easy access to be able to get to you. So what haven’t I asked you that I should have?

Ella Mae  42:56

Oh, man, we covered a lot. Why haven’t you asked me that you should have? I don’t know. I think I mean, I think we covered? I think we covered the majority of it. I would say the only thing we didn’t dive into was really building it. Like, I mean, I guess what I would say is like a final thought is like, we’re, we’re really inundated with like, hey, build this funnel, and it’ll grow your business or get this marketing on point it’ll grow your business or like, whatever it is that’s been spewed these days. And these are all tactics, they’re not strategy. So the biggest lever, the thing that has created the most joy, the most cashflow the most everything in my life has been my relationships. And it’s been going like deliberately creating connections and making myself very, very valuable to people that are a lot busier than me a lot more successful than me. And going in it with this sense of not this sense of like, hey, I want to get them as a client, but like, this is somebody I want to my corner 20 years from now, this is someone I want to build a long term foundation with. So I would say if you are if you are unclear on how to do that, or you’re like, Oh, should I need to focus on that more than totally Dami on Instagram, because this is that’s what I’ve been good at, is really doing that. But I would say I really I don’t know why it’s not preached more in entrepreneurship in any field, real estate investments, you name it. Relationships are your bread and butter and their currency and really, really invest in those.

Brittany Anderson  44:41

That’s absolutely golden advice. And you know, I think you’re dead on with that that sometimes we get so caught up in moving the business forward or the what’s next that we forget to slow down and actually build that time and that energy between the people that you know are here to help You and you’re here to help them and you have this mutual connection and this ability to serve each other. So I think that’s, that’s brilliant parting advice. So LMA, thank you so much for being with us and sharing your your wisdom, sharing your insight with our audience, and we wish you nothing but the best of luck and I can’t wait to see all the good stuff that you do. So thank you for having me. That wraps up this episode of The Ultimate advisor podcast. We will catch you right back here with your next episode.

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