Ep 380 Are You Busy or Productive? ft. Allison Maslan

You can thrive in any scenario. It's really how you think and how you open your eyes to opportunities and how resourceful are you? You know, when the pandemic hit, you know, here we are with hundreds of business owners basically freaking out, not able to really do business in the normal way that they had. And so within a few weeks time, my team and I, we rallied around all these business owners, helping them to pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot, change ways they were reaching their customer, develop new revenue streams and new products within a short period of time. And what was so interesting was that they realized they could do it.

We believe that you are strong by design, and you were made in God's image to have a strong body, mind and spirit. You're listening to the number one strength and health authority podcast in the world. So let's get ready to unlock your potential and transform your life in today's episode. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Strong by Design podcast. Here we are, another week, another episode. We thank you so much for joining us, past listeners of the show. Welcome back. Another terrific episode to help you in a little bit of a different area we haven't hit on in a while of leadership and really speaking to the business owners out there, small or large. I think this will be a real helpful conversation for you today to think about growth and scaling. And we've talked about this in the past episodes, but it's been a minute. And anyone who's new, if you've just found the Strong by Design podcast, we welcome you and we talk a little bit about all things body, mind and spiritual, helping you to live a life that's strong by design, by God's design. And, you know, we love to tackle all different issues based on the amazing guests that we, that we are able to find and bring onto the show that can deliver terrific insight with their expertise and their, their background, their experience. Because we hear the hosts at Strong by Design can, can go deep on some things, but there's just some areas that we'd rather go to some other men and women who can just bring in perspective that we're unable to do. So great to have our guest today. Her name is Allison Maslin and actually she's been showing up quite a bit now since I started following her in my feed. I'm seeing all these great ads popping up. It's funny how that has a way of happening when you start following somebody, they. They pop up everywhere on your social following. She's CEO of Pinnacle Global Network and she's been Named one of the 10 women entrepreneurs to watch in 2023, which is fairly recent by Forbes magazine. She has a podcast called the Scale It Method Podcast. But you have a book by. Don't you have a book by the same name?

The book is the Scale or Fail.

Oh, there it is. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm looking at it, and I. My eyes are all over the place. I have, like, four windows popped up. So my apologies for that. That's right. Scale or Fail, which is really terrific for all of you leaders out there, business leaders, like I said, large or small. The book has been endorsed by Damon John and Barbara Cochran from Shark Tank. You recognize those names. And she's built 10 successful companies over the last 40 years. So we're looking to get into some of what she knows, the things that she has had success with or things that she's failed at, because our failures have a tendency to really help us grow and find new areas of success and new levels of success. So we welcome Allison to the Strong By Design podcast. Thank you for making time for us today.

Oh, Chris, I'm so happy to be here.

Thank you. I love your. I love your bat. You're a podcaster, I can tell, because you got the setup, you got the nice lighting, you get the microphone. Like, this is like a. The real deal here. So I appreciate that.

By design. Just like it's by design.

That's right. It is by design. Yeah. Well, can you. Because this has been, you know, it's. It's taken a little bit to get you finally onto the show. You know, we got this booked, I think, several months ago, and you're been traveling. You've been very busy this summer, it seems, and we appreciate, as I said, you making time for us, but can you tell us a little bit.

More.

About your background, your coming into this leadership role and wanting to really be this leader, this entrepreneur, really kind of taking the reins here and leading others in business. Where did that come from?

Well, Chris, I have grown up in a very entrepreneurial family, and so that's all I really knew. My grandfather had a business that my father ended up growing and scaling a women's clothing chain throughout the United States when I was young. And so I, you know, by example, saw his passion, his innovation, and so I started my journey when I was 19. That was many years ago, you know, in. In my 10th company. Now, I love business. I feel like it is the best way to be able to really share your gifts in a creative, innovative, and impactful way. And, you know, it's, it's any entrepreneur's opportunity to change the world in, in their using their imagination and their drive and determination. And so when it, when it came time for me to start another business, because that's just what I tend to do about 15 years ago, I wasn't sure what the next venture was going to be. And the interesting thing is I just kind of put it out there and to the universe, to God, and I just said, okay, what's next? And people just started saying, allison, could you teach me what you do? How do you do this? How have you had all these businesses? And for me it was just natural way that my brain works. And so that's kind of how it started in this business. And, you know, now we're 15 years later. I have a team of 35 mentors that have all run very successful companies that work with our clients. We have over 500 members in our community of CEOs around the world. So it's really exciting. It's so incredibly rewarding. I'm very, very grateful to be, you know, on, on my path. Let's just say it's, it's wonderful.

So, so would you, would a, maybe a very simple definition of what you do with Pinnacle Global Network, would you say that you're a, a business coaching outlet for, you know, like for other companies obviously to, to come to, for, for learning and for growth and for kind of getting, if the seven figure business wants to become an eight figure business and so on, how to build a team and how to build culture and how to obviously profit and loss and all the things that come with, with business ownership. Is that kind of what you're doing?

Yes. Our specialty is scaling, so we work with more established business owners that, you know, often what happens, Chris, is that once you've been running your business for a while, you hit a wall or you hit a plateau of growth and you can't get beyond it. There's a great saying, what got you here will not get you there. But we're creatures of habit, so we tend to do what we do and we do what we know. But once you hit a certain level, you really have to shift your model, your business model, so that you can multiply your growth. Like for example, in the beginning I was helping people with their business. Well, I can only help so many people, right, if it was me. So now I have a team of 35 incredible mentors that have all run very successful companies. They bring that wisdom to the table. This is one of the 15 scalable models that we really focus on, that the most successful brands use. But Pinnacle Global Network is a private mentoring. So everybody is matched with a high level CEO because it's lonely at the top and we can get so overwhelmed with decisions that we don't make decisions or we make the wrong decisions. And it leads us down a whole crazy path that we have to make lots of U turns so we save people years and years on getting to where they want to go. But we also are a peer to peer advisory because you're talking 500 CEOs that have all kinds of incredible wealth of experience that they bring to the table and new perspectives so that we kind of cycle the same thoughts over and over in our head. And so we need new ideas, new perspectives, new ways to approach challenges, because we all have challenges. The world is changing every single day. And so it's really how creative and how resourceful that you're able to be. And we really help them with all of those things. Everything you said, the team, the cash flow, the leadership, the vision, every single aspect of the business.

Yeah. It's so important too as a leader and for everyone. Regardless of the position that you work in in a company, whether you are the CEO at the top of the food chain or your supervisor role or a lower level role, if everyone starts thinking of themselves as leaders because we have to lead ourselves, that's just a whole mindset shift that we've implemented here years ago and that changes things right out of the gate. If everyone sees themselves as a leader because we all have the capacity to do that in different ways. And so that's huge. But a really important thing to keep in mind and you hit it right on it is regardless of the success you're having today or that you've had recently, you know, the world is ever changing and you could have, you know, the best quarter you've ever had followed by the worst quarter you've ever had, you know, and you have to be able to act quickly and swiftly and make adjustments and not be too hung up on any one way of doing things. And be a good listener. If you're a good leader, you're a good listener.

And yeah, so much.

And a great community.

Yeah, so much of what you said. I agree. Chris. First of all, our responsibility as leaders is to help others step into their leadership. I really feel that. And we all have that within us. I don't think we're necessarily natural born leaders. Without some guidance, we might have leadership qualities. Leading a team is a whole other. We can talk about that, but that's something that I've had to really learn. I didn't know how to do early on, but like you said, we're all going to have challenges. Look, we just went through a pandemic not long ago. I know it feels like now, kind of ages ago, but it wasn't that long ago where the whole world changed. And you know, it's what I always, what I truly believe and what we really help our business owners with is that you can thrive in any scenario. It's really how you think and how you open your eyes to opportunities and how resourceful are you? You know, when the pandemic hit, you know, here we are with hundreds of business owners basically freaking out and, you know, not able to, to really do business in the normal way that they had. And so within a few weeks time, my team and I, we rallied around all these business owners, helping them to pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot, change ways they were reaching their customer, develop new revenue streams and new products within a short period of time. And what was so interesting was that they realized they could do it. And I think it gave them a whole new sense of empowerment that, wow, if I could get through this, I could get through anything. And I can, you know, create my own opportunities no matter what's going on. And that's, I think super important. You know, with athletes, for instance, we just, you know, watching the Olympics, which I love so much, I think it's really amazing their passion and determination. But if someone's playing basketball and they miss a shot, they can't agonize over the shot. That didn't happen because it will, you know, shoot them in the foot. For everything moving forward, same thing in business. Gotta let go, you gotta move on.

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Yeah, the millions of things.

Yeah.

Over, you know, all these decades in business, there has been so, so many. I, I would say, you know, probably my biggest wake up call. And really what set me on a trajectory to, to where I am now was in my first business, and that is I was running a advertising PR firm. And I started when I was 19. I really had no idea what I was doing. But I learned along the way, and I learned from my father, that if someone asks you to do something and you don't know how to do it, but you feel like it's worthwhile and you want to do it, just say yes and then figure it out. And so that's, that's really was my foray into business. And so I used to hang out at the radio station or the TV station or the printing press and you know, say, teach me everything I need to know. That was, that was my education. And so we were working with some big brands like Ben and Jerry's and Supercuts and Allstate and Charlotte Russe and really helping them to grow their business and doing well. The thing is, is that I didn't know how to scale my business. And I was so conscientious of doing a good job and feeling responsible for everything that even though I had a small team, I was this control freak. And I, you know, I would be up till 2 or 3 in the morning reviewing ad campaigns and things like this. And my dog I had, my daughter was under two at the time. And so I was operating on like fumes. I was absolutely exhausted and running all over the place. I was making money, but I literally had no life. And it started to, you know, the walls started coming in on me and until they ended up imploding in that. Or I imploded from having a car accident just from the stress and the total exhaustion. And so, you know, luckily I survived it. Obviously I'm here, here to tell the story, but that was a period in my life where I really asked myself those deeper questions at that point, like, is this the kind of life that I want? And is this what I'm really passionate about? And I realized I had a lot to learn. You know, if I'm going to really go into this business foray in this whole entrepreneurial world, I need to understand how to truly scale a business that doesn't depend on me. And so that became my mission at the time, was to figure it out. And a lot of my clients that had thousands of employees, you know, you didn't see the business owner standing over everybody and you know, who's on first, who's on second, who's on third. Like, that wasn't happening. They were out building big relationships, creating the next big strategy. You know, like Jeff Bezos talks about his time at Amazon. He was always focused on three years out. And so what I have been putting together over the years is really that method. What is the formula to scale a business that doesn't depend on you, the CEO. And the interesting thing that I learned over the years after building all these companies is that the company actually will grow faster, you will serve more people, you will be able to have a lifetime with your family and actually do the things in the business that you enjoy. And so that's really, that was my biggest. There's been all kinds of lessons, but been able to take that, you know, and really pay that forward and help other companies now do the same. And it's so fun. You know, we, we have business owners that come in that literally haven't taken a vacation in 20 years. I mean, 20 years just working 60, 80, sometimes 100 hours a week. So once they really get this, it truly is life changing.

Yeah, it's definitely been something that has trickled down to all of us here in our company over the. I mean I've been part of the company now for 11 or so years. The company's been, been around since 1999. And the founder, president of the company is. Always talks about working on the business rather than working in the business. I'm sure you've heard that terminology before. And as a leader, if you're going to be at your best, yeah, you want to be working on the business, kind of be able to be outside of it and not be stuck in the weeds of the day to day tasks because you can. There might be things that you really love doing as a business owner or business leader, things that you're good at. But should you still be doing those things as you scale, as you grow or should you bring in other people to take those things over and you manage them doing those things? Maybe one or two of them can't do it as well as you, but three or four will probably outproduce you.

Yes.

So that's I think kind of a great lesson. But yeah, I mean that'll, that lesson that you learned the hard way, it changes everything. And now look what you've done to help other business leaders flourish for years. I mean not taking a vacation for 20 years like that sounds like torture.

I know, I know. But you know, it becomes a way of life. And you know, I think business owners also generally as creative and wild as they can be, they're also extremely responsible. They know that there's people depending on them and families and they have a payroll to meet and things like that. And that usually comes first. They often pay themselves last. And so it's, it's, it's really not uncommon or even if they do take a vacation and you know, I've been there, I get it, you're still on email, you know, all the time. And so that's not really a vacation. You know, one of my clients told me that his family was taking vacations without him. You know, they got tired of waiting and luckily he doesn't have to do that anymore. So, so that's really a good thing. But yes, you're actually choking the growth of the business. You think you're helping, you think you're saving money, you think that you need to be there as kind of that guide and to give all of the answers, but you're actually the bottleneck. And you've, you know, if you know how to hire, that's something we help people do. You're going to get great people on your team that in some cases are going to be better than you if you allow them to shine and empower them. It's really, it's really about not just delegating, but it's empowering other people on the team to take it and own it and really feel like the vision is their vision too, and so that they can, you know, turn it into a beautiful symphony.

Yeah. That beautifully leads into exactly what I want to talk about next, which was as a company, whether you're small, medium or large, you need to have a vision, a mission and core values or principles that your company is founded on that you hire with those things, you fire with those things, and you create culture from those things. And we have here at Critical Bench, we didn't have those in place for several years until about, maybe about eight years ago, we sat down with a mentor of ours, the owner of the company and myself. We sat down with him, spent a day talking about what's our ultimate vision for this business, what's our mission, what do we do, what service are we trying to provide? Get very clear on that. And then what are our core values? And we came up with seven of them. And that really helped things. From that point on it was different. It made things easier.

Yes.

And can you talk on that for a moment that how important that is for businesses to have in place?

Well, it's everything. It's like a guiding post. And we help our clients create those core values and also their big picture vision. So it's like what we stand for and where we're going. And so it's kind of like that gps. If you don't have that exact destination that you're headed to and then what you stand for, what you're about, then it is hard to make those decisions. You know, if you've got two people that you're deciding about whether they, you should hire one or the other for a position. And they both have great skills, but maybe one really aligns more with your values. And so for us, one of our strongest values is do what you say you're going to do. And it's all about integrity. So it's easy for us to make those right decisions, even if they're difficult decisions. And then you can sleep at night and know that you don't have anything to worry about there. But yeah, I mean, I think that we all need values that we, that we live by. And you know, that that way all of the leaders, everybody is in alignment on the team. You're not moving in all different directions and you can put that beautiful energy behind the vision and get it, get out, get it out there easier and faster and more enjoyably.

Yeah, no doubt. I. We have fun with it, too. We quiz everybody on it when they're new, make sure that they know what they are and can, you know, to talk about them, define them. And it has it and it does make for, you know, where we are, what we say we are slow to hire and fast to fire. And what unfortunately a lot of businesses do is just the opposite.

100.

They're so in need of people and that they hire very quickly. And then the bad ones, bad apples, stick around like cancers and then ruin it for all the good quality people that just can't take it anymore and end up leaving.

Yeah.

So the businesses are just struggling with that awful flipped version approach.

Well, they're afraid. They're afraid. Well, if I let them go now, I've got to go try to find somebody else, and that's going to take a lot of time, and I don't have time or. Well, they're good at what they do, you know, so we, we kind of talk ourselves off a ledge. It's like a relationship, Chris. It's, you know, if someone stays in a relationship that they're not really happy, we can convince ourselves of anything. Well, you know, they're nice, they're not a bad person. And, you know, I mean, I guess you could marry your neighbor if they're a nice person, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be love of your life. And I think you've got to look at your business, your team that way. Everybody needs to be an A player. That doesn't mean you've got to find the most expensive person out there, necessarily, whatever level you are in your business, it means that they are all in. They are all in, in their role to meet. Meet their goals and to be part of the team.

Mm, yeah. Yeah. Being all in, that's. That can. That can be tough. But yeah, we. We take our time. The hiring process for us, we screen them and then. And then they only meet with certain people, and then they have to pass through, like, multiple hoops, you know, before they even get to, like the ending, two last two stages. And there's a lot of opportunity for them to. To mess up, if you will, and not make it through that process. But you know, and there's some people you're rooting for to make it through. You know, I like that person. I hope they make it. And then you find something out and you go, well, I guess. I mean, thankfully for our process, you know, as much as we like them, they just weren't the right fit. Like, you said that the alignment was not there, and you end up. One thing I learned is only say what needs to be said in an interview process. Don't start adding. Just answer the questions.

Yes, exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I think it's smart that you take your time. You know, we all have done interviews, and you meet someone and you're like, oh, my gosh, they're the one. This is it. I'm just gonna go. I know I'm supposed to wait, but I'm just gonna hire them. And so what you miss, there is an opportunity for them to really prove themselves, even if you do feel that they are the one. I have something called the rule of three, and that is at least three people. Even if you feel like you've got the one interview, at least three people, and have three people interview those people, three different people, minimally, if not more, more. And if it's local in three different places, because people show up differently in different places, you know, even if it's in a Starbucks, you know, do they show up on time? Are they, you know, how do they park? Are they crossing over to parking spots? Are they holding the door for somebody? You know, how are they dressed? Are they dressed professionally? Things like that?

Yeah, no doubt about it. Yeah, that's what Mike says here. Mike Westerdahl is my close friend and founder of the company. He says, you know, if they're even a minute late for the interview, that's the best you're gonna get from them. That's them coming to interview. They don't have the job. So what's that mean for their tardiness or them showing up on time for something later on? Right. The chances are now can things happen? Sure. Like, things can happen. But if you're smart on the day of your interview, you've probably. You already know where that place is and how long it takes to get there. And you're probably maybe there a half an hour early, sitting in your car, just waiting to go in, and you still walk in 15 minutes early.

Yes.

And those are the people that get us a little bit excited. When. When. When they're show, when they're taking it that seriously, then we know, okay, there's. There's Good opportunity here with this person.

And do they follow up? Following up is a big deal for that's something that I'm always looking for. Do they send a thank you card? Do they spell things correctly in their follow up? Things like that? Because it's attention to detail.

Yeah, yeah, no doubt about it. So if there were three things that you could say to a business leader of any size business, a six figure, seven figure, eight figure business. We have listeners of all kinds, I'm sure right now. Three things that you would tell them to either start doing in their business or stop doing in their business. What would those three things? Any three things that come to mind. And it could be a mix of start and stop.

Yeah, I would say first of all, write down everything that you're doing in each area of the company. I like to divide it into four quadrants, which is sales, marketing, operations. And then whatever your revenue stream is, you know, for us it's mentoring. And then just make a list of all the things that you as a CEO are involved in and all that you are doing and then look at the percentage of each of those which is pulling you the most and which of those tasks can you start letting go of? Because ultimately the goal is for you to be completely unrequired. That's the word, unrequired in your company. And so you always want to be thinking of who can replace me in this. And the more that you do that, the closer you get to that role of being the visionary CEO of your company and really able to focus on the future of the business and your business will grow faster. It doesn't happen overnight, but you know, that's, you'll, you'll be on your way. The second thing I would say is find great leaders. We were talking about leaders earlier and I mean great leaders. And if you're wanting to scale your business, bring people on the team that have already scaled up. You know, they have that experience, they've done it before. And you may have some people on the team that have been great to get you where you are, but they're not going to be the ones that are going to take you to the next level. And, and that's tough. That's a hard decision. It really is. I get it. But you know, if this is your mission and your purpose, then it's time for them to move on and find something else that, that they are the right fit for. And when you get those leaders on the team, I mean the brain power that you're bringing into your enterprise, it's you know, it's like rocket fuel to your business. And so, you know, at every level, you've got to really reassess. And, you know, the other thing I would say, just more on a mindset perspective, is that if you're wanting to reach a certain level in your business, you're wanting to, let's say, you want to go global and you want to really expand your company, ask yourself, who do say to yourself, who do I need to be to draw that into my life? Who do I need to surround myself? How do I need to spend my time? How do I walk into a room? How do I need to feel internally? How do I need to start my day? How do we need to draw the line? Or, you know, what do I need to let go of what is not serving me anymore? Because we are going to attract in our life at the level that we're operating at. And so that's a question I ask myself all the time, Chris. As a leader, I don't feel like. I don't feel like I've arrived. We are, as a human being, we are evolving and growing. That's why we're here on this earth. Right. So we have to continue to learn and grow. And so if. If I want to take our company to a certain level, I've got to operate at that level as well.

Yeah, yeah. That's a really important that. And that is all. That's all mindset stuff. If you want to be whatever it is, you want to excel at something you. It's. It's a. There's a lot that needs to happen probably behind the scenes in order for that thing to take root, whether that's going to bed earlier at night and waking up earlier, focusing a little bit more on your health and fitness so that you have energy for leading other people and eating cleaner. There's so many different factors, but that's like, you look at like a Tony Robbins type of character, right. And somebody like that big personality, speaker, lots of energy. There's a lot that he's doing in order to be animated and to really get people's attention when he's presenting on stage. He doesn't just show up and go. There's a whole series of hours of things that he's doing prior to that that he's gotten really good at over his. The several decades that he's been doing it. But that's just one example.

Yeah, a thousand percent. It's really all the things that are leading up to it. I don't know if I told you this, but I am a trapeze artist and I've been a trapeze player.

I had no idea. And that's intriguing. Now I have a whole other set of questions for you trapeze artists.

I have a full trapeze in my backyard, just like in the circus. Same size, same everything. I've been doing that for 25 years and it allows me the opportunity to face my fear every time I climb that ladder and every time, you know, I'm up on that 35 to 40 foot pedestal and every time, you know, I take that leap. That's why on my book, scale or fail, I have it here. And you, you can see the trapeze on the.

Oh, that. I did see that little drawing on there and I quickly realized what it was. But I didn't identify it as something that you personally are like. You're like a. So you've, you must have started this. When, when did you start doing that?

Well, I was a gymnast growing up and when I discovered the trapeze a little bit later in life, I was like, wow, you actually can do this? Like people can learn this. And I trained with a five generation circus family out of Los Angeles, the guy owners, and they used to perform in ringling brothers for 25 years. Performed for the Queen, all that. And, and so it's something that I absolutely love. You know, when I'm up there, I'm not, I'm not thinking about what do I need to post on social media. I'm thinking about, you know, I'm very present and I think it's important that we have those things in our life that help us to be very present where, whether it's playing golf or you're a painter, things like that. So it's kind of my moving meditation, but it also allows me to face my fear up there and I become more resilient in my business and in the other areas of my life. So if you want to get over fear, do something really scary and then that will be a no brainer for you.

Wow. Yeah, that's great. That's kind of, I mean that's like a really amazing version of like that thing that you don't want to do. But you know, it's good for you. Kind of, you know, eat the frog as they say, like do it right away when you get up in the morning. That's why a lot of people do the ice baths and things like that. Because I know if I just do something like that hard right when I get up the Rest of the day is a cakewalk, you know, so. But getting lost in something, as you said, too, like a hobby, something that pulls you out, it unplugs you from the leadership role, and you can get lost in doing something that brings you great joy while at the same time overcoming fear and all these other great life lessons that you get from it. I still, you know, I've been doing strength training and things that I do, physical things that bring me great joy. And when I'm doing those things, and it could be anything that's competitive or fun with my kids or that I am 100% focused on that one thing, I am not thinking about anything else in my life. I just. I'm worried about winning or doing something well that I'm participating in. I think everyone needs that.

Yes, for sure.

Yeah. Very important. So you did hold up your book. Would you hold it up again real quick? Obviously, anyone watching can also get a feel for it. So your book, scale or fail, as I blundered at the start of the introduction. My apologies. It's a Wall Street Journal bestseller. Why do business leaders need to have this book?

You know, I wish I had this book in my early days. I would not have had that. That car accident for sure. It really is the manual for scaling a business. And it's something that you have to learn. It's not something that naturally happens. And the earlier in your business that you get, this, it will save you years. You know, just struggle. Now, running a business is not easy. It really is not for the faint of heart. But if you understand that, it's not about working harder, it is about creative strategy. And when you put the right strategy in place and you put the right, you know, business model in place and you've got the right team in place, you can make magic happen. And so that's really what this book helps you do in all aspects of your business.

That's awesome. Yeah, I love that. And it's. I had thought of something else earlier when you were talking about doing something that's to help get over fear is that people are quite good at getting comfortable in life, whatever they're doing, whether leading others, being a business owner, leading your family. You know, we have this tendency as human beings to always default to, like, our comfort zone.

Yes.

And that can. That could be okay here and there, but it really. There's no growth there. And so I just see. And then why make. The value of your book is you're trying to help people, not make the mistakes right over, like, someone else can make the mistakes, and you can learn from those things. You don't have to make them yourself. If you're young, if you're an aspiring entrepreneur or business owner, learn as much as you can from someone like Allison who already made some of those blunders. Right. And talks about them and can help you avoid them. And so I think that's the. The value of a book like that can save people from all kinds, just years of agony in growing or even getting through the first few years of a business that might not succeed.

Ask for help. I think people often think, Chris, that asking for help is a sign of weakness, but it really is a sign of strength, and that's what successful people do. I mean, we just watched the Olympics, and even though these athletes have incredible skills, skill, it's their. Their coach that keeps them on track or implement certain strategies to get them where they want to go faster and easier, more successfully. And so it's really the smartest thing you can do, hands down, is get the support that you need. And how would you know how to do it if you haven't done it before?

Right. Yeah, exactly. Right. Going to someone who's been there before and even if. And you're never, you know, learning is never something. Like, I love what you said earlier as well. Like, I've always felt in my life, my career, things that I've done that I've never quite arrived. I've never earned that top spot necessarily, because I always felt like there's just more to learn, there's more for me to know. There's. And it's like an ego thing, I guess. I think that there's always someone out there that you can learn from and benefit from and grow from, and that you should never feel like you're the smartest person in the room. I always want to feel like I don't belong in this room. And I'm just. This is a great opportunity for me. That's kind of the room I like to be in.

Yes, it challenges you and helps you think in new ways. I mean, you talked about the comfort zone. Yeah, we can coast. And, you know, it's. It's okay every once in a while. And we like to obviously enjoy our life and enjoy all the things that we've created. But then there comes a point where I know, for me, I get bored. And so, you know, to grow, that means doing things that might be scary, might be your. You don't know anybody. And so it can be a little bit intimidating or it's something that People around you say is crazy and is not going to work. I've heard that so many times over the years. You know, who do you think you are, Alison? That's never going to work. And, you know, I'm so glad that I didn't listen and just kept just. You got to just keep walking forward. Just keep walking forward and be discerning on who you share those ideas with and, you know, realize that you. You're worth it. You deserve it.

Yeah, yeah, no doubt. People, when people see others like yourself, other leaders who are big thinkers and have big ideas that can be scary to kind of the average Joe or Sally, you know, they don't. They. They like their little box, their little world they've created for themselves. And so they'll look at you like, no way. What, are you crazy? It could be family members, neighbors, friends, whatever. But, yeah, oftentimes, maybe you shouldn't be listening to some of those people because they're gonna. Instead of chasing those big ideas and going after them, you're like, okay, yeah, you talk yourself out.

Happens all the time.

Yeah, it does happen. It robs people. I think of what could have been. So, yeah, take those chances and don't have the regrets for sure. That's such a valuable sentiment. Is it possible for people like yourself, highly successful men and women out there who are, you know, leading others who are. Have multiple businesses behind them, established, you know, is it possible for them for balance? In other words, is it possible for them to have that great success professionally, but also personally? And that's. I think that's where a lot of people struggle, too. Right. It's like, if I'm giving everything to this business, how am I. How am I at home?

Yeah.

What's that? What's that look like?

Well, you're gonna have different times and periods in your life where you're gonna give more energy to certain areas, for sure. But, you know, look, I was a single mom for 12 years, and my daughter was very much part of the businesses. I used to take her everywhere and with me, and we are extremely close now. In fact, she's visiting us, and she's grown now and doing very well. I have. I, you know, I was single now. I've been married. My anniversary is coming up. We're going to be married 18 years, and I'm madly in love with my husband. Started with nothing. I had zero money. And we've been able to, you know, do very well. And so I think that any story that you tell yourself, Chris, that's going to Be your story. If you say I cannot have a good relationship and have a good business or I cannot give my kids attention and have this business, well, that will become your story. I think if you're open to it, you can always find a way. I think it is very important, though, if you're going to have a business, the people around you, if they're not supportive, it makes it very tough. And I do see that. And it's. And it's unfortunate. You know, for whatever reason, either the, the partner feels intimidated or, you know, who knows, There's a plethora of reasons, but it's, you know, I feel like for men or women, the business is an expression of themselves. And I think we all should have that. Whether it's a business or you're an artist or, you know, you're being a parent or you like to cook all, you know, you. We should be able to allow ourselves to express those things and have the people around us support us and then we give that support back. So, you know, we don't have that. It is. It is tough.

Yeah, no doubt. Yeah, I like that. It definitely comes back to the mindset and what we tell ourselves. That self talk.

Yeah.

We either tell ourselves that it is possible or that it isn't. And both are true.

And that we. And that we deserve it. We deserve it because, you know, we tend to, and especially I would say with women, we, we often put others first and we're taking care of everybody else. And business owners are like that. We take care of everybody else. But if you don't take care of you, then you're not going to be able to take care of everyone else. If you're not happy in here, it's very hard to spread joy otherwise.

Yep. Yeah, that's great. Great advice. Thank you for that. Where can our listeners find out more about Pinnacle Global Network? If there are business owners, business leaders who are looking for a support system or looking for growth opportunities and of course, to be able to find your book and, and follow you. Where. Where should our listeners go?

Well, our website is pinnacle globalnetwork.com and you can find absolutely everything there. And if somebody has a more established business and wants to get on and have an actual scale, we call it a scale strategy session where we dive into your business, figure out what your gaps are, what your challenges are and what your vision is and help give you the steps to reach that. They just go to my scale session.com myscale session.com or, you know, reach out to me on social Media under my name.

Awesome. You do have a couple of podcasts and I think you said for sure you're getting women who own it. You're getting that back up and going after a little bit of a break. Right. And then you still have the Scale It Method Podcast.

The Scale It Method Podcast is the one I took a hiatus from for about a year. I'd been running my podcast for 12 years before they were even calling them podcasts at that point. And it's had many iterations over the years, but I'm back at it. I just recorded the first new episode, but there's plenty of that. I. I think, I don't know. I've got over 500 videos on YouTube at this point.

Oh, that's great. Yes. So, geez, all they have to do is just plug your. Plug your name in to various platforms and they will. They will find your. Your contact. That's awesome.

Yes, they will.

Well, we appreciate it. And again, everyone listening, if you're interested in a terrific read, check out Scale or Fail by Allison and they can find it obviously through your website.

Yeah. Or Amazon.

That's awesome. Well, we so much appreciate your wisdom, your experience, all of your great advice to our listeners, our business leaders out there who are. And so many of these things that we've talked about can be. Can be, I guess, can be implemented regardless of the type of business person that you are listening. I mean, these are like life lessons, really, so much of this stuff, and it really transfers well into kind of different areas of our life. So much, so many great tips and we just appreciate you making time for us today on Strong by Design.

Thank you, Chris. Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, it's been awesome. I told you. Another great episode here, learning from another expert in their field, someone who's been helping other businesses grow and flourish for decades now and passing on some of that, that knowledge and wisdom to you. And hopefully you can use that and this has motivated you in some way to be a better leader for your team or for your family even. And so thanks for coming back to the Strong Body Design podcast. We'll be back next week. As always, a new episode drops every Wednesday at 6am we thank you and God bless. Thank you so much for listening to the Strong by Design podcast. If you found value in today's episode, please subscribe so that more people can find out about our show. Plus, you don't want to miss any future episodes with the amazing guests and topics we have lined up for you.