From Car Crash to Scaling 10 Companies | Your Wake-Up Call to Creating your Dream Business and Life

I forgot to pick up my daughter from daycare. A wreck, a mess. I imploded working 247 and literally running myself over with my car. I'm Alyson Maslin and welcome to the Scale It Method Podcast. If you're a CEO or founder and you're ready to take your company to the next level or while also living a fuller, richer life, you are in the right place. I built 10 companies over the last 40 years and I'm here to share the most up to the minute strategies and the biggest needle movers that will truly scale your company. Plus, I'll give you a peek into how we do it over at Pinnacle Global Network, where we help business owners multiply their growth and enjoy the journey along the way. Okay, my Scale it friends, let's dive in. I actually started this podcast in a television studio in 2011. Now at that time, I don't even think they were calling them podcasts. The the podcast has had many iterations as I've moved on to new chapters over the years, and this podcast has really reflected that and all of the changes. And I'll start off by saying who I am today as a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of my book Scale or Fail, which I've got right here, and founder and CEO of Pinnacle Global Network for the past 15 years with my champion team, where we have helped over 150,000 CEOs scale their companies. It's not who I used to be. In my first company, many, many years ago, I imploded working 247 and literally running myself over with my car. Yes, I ran over myself with my car. And more on that story later in this episode. I will share with you what happened now. Things have gotten better since then. Thank goodness. Much has changed. And I went on, you know, since then I've built 10 of my own companies over 40 years and I'm so proud to have helped so many other incredible founders like you to reach their dreams. Now on this show and on events that we've led over the years and other people's events, I've had the fun and really off the charts experience to interview some incredible people like Barbara Corcoran, Damon John of Shark Tank, Magic Johnson. That, that was so much fun. CEOs of really epic companies like OrangeTheory, of DryBar, of Zillow, so many. And I've learned so much through the process and it's given me an opportunity to build some incredible relationships over the years. Now, the original podcast was called Ali and you'd back in 2011. You could probably Google and find some shows from back then. I did find one and I got the whole bouffant hairdo going on. My second book came out scale or fail in 2018. My first book is called Blast off, came out in 2009. But we changed the name of the podcast from Allie and you to Scale or Fail to go with my book. And then a couple years ago, we changed the name again to the Scale It Method podcast, which is what it is today. And that name is our proprietary process in my company, Pinnacle Global Network, where we mentor CEOs all over the world to scale their business. And the Scale It Method is the proven process. It's the framework that we use across all industries, all business models to help business owners scale. So aptly named the Scale It Method. So last May, I decided to take a hiatus from the podcast, not shut it down altogether. I just needed a break because I was doing a few interviews a week for many, many years. I was also the host of the WBENC podcast, the Women Business Enterprise National Council Podcast. They are the largest certifier of women women owned businesses. And I ran their podcast for four years and that was so rewarding. I loved it. But I just decided I needed a break from interviews. And so I was kind of losing my inspiration for it at the time. And I'm not one of those people that can fake it or manufacture it, so I gotta feel it. And I wasn't. So I took some time off. And not for my business, which I absolutely love, but my husband Mike, who is also my business partner and the love of my life, we were traveling in Italy this summer and we took a month off and went to Amsterdam and Belgium and all over Italy. And it was just so incredibly wonderful, which I highly recommend for you as a CEO because you're going to get your best ideas, your best breakthroughs when you actually step away from the business. This is one of the things we help our business owners do in Pinnacle Global Network is to build a team managed company that can actually flourish without you there. Like not just, you know, that, that they're holding down the fort, but it's actually growing anyway, so we stepped away from the business knowing that our team had it handled. And I'm going to share on an upcoming episode actually how to do that. How do you build that team managed company? So anyway, I got, I was in Italy, I got one of those just inspirational downloads. You know, the idea that just comes out of the blue and every, you know, part of you lights up. Like I got excited again about doing the podcast is one of those moments where I was like, I really gotta pay attention to this. Like, this is really important. It's calling me. So now I'm not talking about one of those thousands of shiny objects that most entrepreneurs are chasing 24. 7. This was like a pay attention to moment. And so I had this. Aha. That in all the years I had run, my podcast is now over 12 years. I love learning and presenting great guests and our listeners have so much to offer. And you can find all these episodes, YouTube, on Spotify, on itunes, all that, all that good stuff. Stuff. But you haven't really had the opportunity to really learn from me on this podcast. Now, our clients in Pinnacle Global Network for the past 15 years, they learn from me all the time and also from our mentor team that, that guide them. But there's so much that I have to share here with you. 40 years as a business owner. 40 years. But building 10 companies since I was 19 as my 10th company, which is the one I run now, Pinnacle Global Network. And we've helped over 150,000 business owners scale and create an incredible lifetime and freedom that they've always dreamed of. And we've helped many of them have a substantial breakthrough with their wealth and have an amazing windfall exit for their company. And so I realized that I've not really shared any of those strategies with you on this. Not to mention how to run all of this with your business partner in case, well, in my case, the love of my life. The funny thing is as I share this with you today, not the funny, but the amazing thing, it is our 18th wedding anniversary and I am so, gosh, I'm just so grateful to be living my life purpose and alongside with, with my soulmate. So. But I will also, you know, I'd love to share. How do we navigate this piece of, you know, so many of my listeners and clients have family in their business. They may be married to their business partner, but even if it's, even if they're not necessarily in your family, right. That's. It is definitely a relationship when you have a partner in your business. So how did I run and you know, how did I run a company when I was a single mom for 12 years? Why am I a trapeze artist for the last 25 years? I'm sure you were dying to know that. What are the lessons and the straight shooter advice to live this journey as an entrepreneur through the rollercoaster, ups and downs and not only turn your dreams into Reality, but to help you create big visions and dreams beyond your brain's scope of imagination. How do you do that? And I want to share how we've been able to manifest such an incredible company and team all over the world that's so passionate, amazing culture they're all in. And I don't need to stand over them. They're just, they're doing their thing and they are totally invested. How am I able to have a company that flourishes when I'm not there for long periods of time? How have we been able to manifest a beautiful villa in Mexico that takes your breath away? And we live there part time, several months, a year. So I'm not sharing any of this to brag by any means. I'm sharing this because why would I keep this to myself when here I was as a single mom, no money, no help whatsoever, people telling me, who do I think I am and go get a job. And I've been able to create all of this. And I'm not here to say it was easy and I'm not here to say, you know, here's the 1, 2, 3, just go take it and run it. But there are so many lessons that I wish that I had known. And so here I am, maturing. Let's just say I don't want to have this inside and not share, share it with the world. So it is my mission to help millions of business owners around the world like you that have been working for decades in your business. And maybe you've hit a ceiling of growth and you're, you're buried in the day to day to the point where you, you, you can't even get your head up as you feel so burnt out or exhausted. Maybe you even created ill health or relationship issues or maybe even a divorce from the demands of your business. I get it. Or maybe you're living on autopilot while you feel like life is passing you by, or you're just kind of in the motion, you don't even really think about it, but you're not fully living. So many business owners come to us that have sacrificed so much, much time with their children. I had one member say my family took vacations without me. That makes me so sad. How depressing is that? And you can get crazy fear when it comes to, to letting go. And most business owners think that it has to be that way. You know, that you're like the octopus with your hands around everything in the business and that it's got to be the hustle way you do it. You gotta hustle. Well, I did that and it almost killed me. And I'll, you know, like I said, I'll tell you that story later. But I'm very passionate about the business and I. And I'm very passionate about life and living fully because it does go fast. And I truly believe that you can have it all. And I know you can. I know that this. This might sound. Maybe this sounds trite, but whatever that all is for you, whatever lights you up, you can create. You can. It's never too late. I'm 61 and I am having a blast every single day. And I feel like I'm just getting started. I do. I feel like I'm 35. So here. So here I was. I was in Sicily, Italy, and I got this download to relaunch the Scale Up Method podcast, but to do really mainly solo episodes so that I can really share with you the nitty gritty, what it takes to scale a very successful company with a team that is all in whether you have five or five hundred employees, to make your vision happen no matter what, and to get to a place where you're. You're not worried financially. In fact, you're living from such a place of abundance that you're able to give back to whoever and whomever and whenever you want. And that you have the freedom of choice to live your life as you choose. So if you're all in, tune in and I will spare you no details on how to incorporate all of this in your business. Put this into action in your life on a daily basis. And if you follow what I share, what I promise to you, my intention is that your business and your life will start to unfold in such a beautiful and magical way. There's a method to my madness, and I'm all jazzed up and I'm fired up. I'm fired up to share this with you. My lessons in scaling 10 companies, hitting many walls, and not only persevering in some of the lowest moments in my life, but catapulting forward because I believed to the nth degree that I was meant for more. And so are you. So, so is your company. You are here for a reason. You are here to soar. And there is absolutely nothing you cannot accomplish. There is absolutely nothing that you cannot break through or create, no matter what is going on in your world. Okay, So I want to tell you about a story of how I got to where I am today and where and how everything changed for me. This is a bit of my hero's journey And I think that you might be able to relate to some of it. Maybe you will be see a little bit of your story in my story. So people often ask me, did you always want to be an entrepreneur? Well, honestly, I didn't really know anything different. I grew up in a very entrepreneurial family. My grand grandfather had a clothing store in Kansas City called Maslin many, many decades ago. And then my father. Well, they actually, my father and my grandfather were playing a poker game and just stay with me here. And in the poker game, they won another store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And so women's clothing store. So they went to the store to see the store and, you know, why are they giving it up? And so on. And what they realized was that they could make it successful. That the reason that the store wasn't doing well was that they didn't have a product market fit. You know, they weren't buying the right clothing for that particular market. And so my dad ended up expanding that, that chain to over 50 stores across the Midwest. And if you want to look it up, it was called Stewart's. And he also had a chain called extension 1 and some other smaller chains and so forth. And so this is where I was ended up being born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, all because of a poker game. I used to just be with my dad, follow him from store to store in my childhood. And I just, you know, he was my biggest inspiration. And that's really all I knew. And he was extremely innovative. This is in the 60s that were happening in Europe. Bring them to the United States. And this is when like Wet Sea Seal and the Limited came on the market. They actually wanted to buy his company. But as you know how those entrepreneurs are, they don't want to let go of their baby. But that's all I knew. Worked at several jobs, and the truth was that I really couldn't hold a job more than like two weeks, I think, was a record. And it wasn't that I was lazy, it was just that if I wasn't passionate about it, I just couldn't. Couldn't get myself to want to do it. And so when I was in college, I started writing poems for people for birthdays and anniversaries. And then I did them in calligraphy. And I started this little business and I was making like $25 a pop, and it was called Expressions by Ali. And it took off and then people were like, well, I don't really want a poem. Do you do greeting cards? And then it was like, I don't need greeting cards. Do you do brochures? Do you do television? Do you do radio commercials? And I would hear my dad's voice in my ears and he would say, allison, if somebody asks you to do something and you feel like it's worthwhile, even if you, even if you don't know how to do it, just say yes. And then figure it out. And so that's what I did. I knew. I knew nothing, and I wasn't afraid to ask. So I would hang out at the radio station and I would say, teach me everything I need to know. I'd hang out at the TV station, teach me everything I need to know. I would do printing press checks at 3 in the morning. And. And this is really how I learned. And we ended up taking on clients like Charlotte Russe, like Supercuts, Ben and Jerry's, Allstates. I mean, it just grew so fast. And by the time I was 25, it was a full service advertising and PR firm called the Braly Group right here in San Diego. And so the thing was, is that I got really good in marketing. I had a knack for it. I was creative and I was helping them to scale their business, but I didn't know how to scale my own business. And I was really that control freak. I thought I had to have my arms around everything. I thought I had to create all the ad campaigns and have my eyes approving everything going in and out of the business. And so outwardly you would have looked at me and thought, wow, this young lady, she is successful. You know, she's got it together. I'm traveling around. I was making money. Inwardly, I was a wreck, a mess. I started feeling trapped in my own business and my own success. I was dreading it every day. I started getting depressed. I was beyond exhausted. I would stay up till three in the morning doing ad campaigns. My daughter was under two years old, so I was probably like, I don't know if I ever got out of postpartum, you know, was going through a divorce. I mean, like, you know, it was. I felt like my life was imploding and into the point where on, on Sundays, I remember I started having panic attacks. Like, I couldn't breathe and my, you know, chest just felt like it was pounding out of my skin. Thinking of Monday, I felt like everything was closing in on me. But I was so afraid. I was afraid to make a change because I thought, oh, I created this success. I can't walk away from it. But tell friends. I'd say, oh, I'm so unhappy. But they're like, Allison, but you have your own business. You're so successful, you know, like, who cares if you're not happy? And so one day, though, the universe was just like, we are so tired of seeing you in this state and hearing you. And, like, it's exhausting watching you. And so if you've ever had those moments where you just felt like you didn't know what to do, and then all of a sudden your world just changed rapidly, that's what I'm talking about. And if you can relate to that feeling of just feeling so trapped in your business or so overwhelmed and you just don't even know what to do, that's where I was. And so one day I was working with one of our clients and for their big ad campaign, I was on location and I looked at my watch, it was four o'. Clock. And I went, oh, my God, I forgot to pick up my daughter from daycare. Like, I forgot to pick up my child. So I literally ran to my car. I was racing to get her. I mean, I can just still see, see myself in my black Ford Taurus, all in bed to this daycare to pick her up. And I pull into the. The driveway. The lady's name was Gracie. I remember that. And I jumped out of the car. And all of a sudden I noticed my car had started rolling. So I jumped in the car. Let me just tell you, never do this, but I did a superwoman dive into the car car, into this black Ford Taurus. And the car door was so heavy that it swung back and it knocked my feet out from underneath me and pulled me underneath my own car. And it started dragging me all the way down the driveway, all the way into the street. It ran over my legs. And literally, I just remember as the pavement started going like this, and the car was going like this going up, because it hit an incline. Right when it was about to hit my face, it started going the other way. And so here I am. And so it stopped. And I'm underneath the car. And I just remember having this moment. Like, I didn't know, like, if I could walk. I didn't know if I had my legs. And I just thought, oh, my God, what? Like, something is going wrong in my life. And I. I jumped out from underneath the car, went running because I was just like, oh, my God, I have my legs. And I run into the daycare. My clothes are. Are ripped to shreds. And I go in. I don't really remember this, but this is what they told me because I Was in complete shock and I started screaming, I need pain pills, I need pain pills. And so this woman, Gracie, she was like 75 years old. You know, she rushes me to the hospital. It was crazy. But anyway, I obviously survived. I did have tire tracks on my legs. It was a 4,000 pound car that ran over my legs. I think just the incredible adrenaline. And obviously I had some angels watching over me for sure. And so if you've ever had a wake up call where the universe is screaming at you, you don't have to have a car run over you to have that kind of wake up call. But I'll tell you, that stopped me in my tracks. And I had this, I just remember this powerful question downloading into my brain that literally shook me up. And that question was this, do you want to be in the same place you are now a year from now, 10 years from now? And I knew in that moment that lit such a raging fire underneath my feet, that no way, like I'm done, like change is happening and if this is success, I don't want it, right? And so I obviously survived. I'm here telling you the story, but what happened was that I knew there had to be a better way. I knew, you know, my dad had scaled up this business and had all these locations. I had, you know, my clients, some of them had thousands of employees. You didn't see the business owner standing over everybody, orchestra leader, everybody, and telling them what to do. No, they were out building great relationships, working on the future vision of the company, bringing in leaders on the team. And so I became so committed, this became my mission to really understand what were the systems, the processes, the strategies that these companies that I had helped scale in their marketing, how what were they doing to scale their business, how did they get the business owner, the founder, out of the weeds of the business, how did they do that? And that really became my mission to understand this. And this was the beginning of my scale it method that we use with our clients today. And that has evolved over the years. But I went on to build nine more companies from that time, learning this process that did not depend on me, that were scalable models that were very successful, but that I could actually have a life and allow the business to run and grow. And so several of those companies I ended up selling as well. And so, you know, and then it came time where I had run my ninth company and I was like, I don't know what I want to do next. I was in that, you know, kind of creative space and people started Asking me, you know, I actually, I put it out into the universe to say, okay, send me a sign. What business should I do next? Should I get into the restaurant business? I had companies in software, in jewelry manufacturing, in real estate, homeopathic physician for 20 years. I had the first homeopathic college in Southern California, the Homeopathic Academy of Southern California. I had a scuba diving company, like so many different businesses and I was at a place to go, okay, what's next? Well, I haven't done restaurant, I haven't done a clothing line. And then people were asking me, allison, how do you do this? Can you teach me? And I started mentoring others and then knew I needed a scalable model. So we have now in the last 15 years, close to 40 CEO mentors that have all scaled very successful companies. Some have taken their companies public, had thousands of employees, so they now work with our clients and they're just amazing. And so this has really been my mission for a decade and a half, to help business owners get out of their way, to get their life back, to fast track their business and maybe to even an exit to create a more meaningful, freedom filled life. So here I am today, 40 years later and just a little bit wiser. That's why I want to start sharing all of this with you in this podcast. And so I want to share a little bit more with you, some strategies today. But before I do, if you're sitting there as a seven or eight figure CEO and you can relate to that experience of your business running you over in some way or feeling that life is passing you by, such a big dream and you're so dead set on making that dream for yourself a reality for your team, your customers and your family, then I encourage you to apply for a scale strategy session with my high level CEO strategist. Well, they will. In that session they're going to help you uncover the gaps in your business. And it's really a session that's customized specifically to you and they will help you determine what's in the way, what's holding you back. You know, I wish I had that all these years ago and it would have saved me years and years of grief. But we're going to help you determine what's in your way, what are the steps you need to break through and move forward, those next action steps you need to take to scale your company. And so if your business is in that 7 or 8 figure mark, over the 1 million mark in revenue, you can apply by going to myscalesession.com so back to the show. I honestly, I learned so much over the years. I understand that business really falls under three tenants. Focus, where you put your intention and energy framework. Have a successful framework, a system per se, a proven roadmap to scale your company. And ours is the scale it method that covers all the tools and strategies you need to scale seven to nine figure company. And by the way, it's actually easier to run a $50 million company than it is a $5 million company. But that's going to be a later episode. The third piece is the frequency, which is something that I don't talk a lot about, but the energy level that you're putting out in the world, your personal and business frequency is really what you're going to based on the level of the frequency you put out. Because we're all energy, right? So we're, we're vibrating at a certain level all day, every day. So whatever level, that's it for you. You're going to draw to you at that same intensity that you're putting out. Okay? And so by really understanding stand that you can utilize that energy to draw in high powered leaders, great opportunities, amazing surprises and gifts and great revenue. So there's a whole strategy to that that I'm excited to share with you in subsequent episodes. But again, the focus is your, your big vision, where you're going, the framework, have a strategic plan in place and your frequency. Are you operating as if your vision is a done deal, like seeing it in your mind, believing it that it is going to happen and living as if it has already? Okay. Or my question is, are you living like you're coming up short? It's really all about how you show up. And I really believe that you can make business a struggle or you can take the reins of your business and have the most amazing ride of your life. And I'll say making business hard is a choice and it doesn't have to be that way. I'm far from a perfect leader. I've learned so much over the years to improve in that department. I work on it daily. And I'm proud of the team that we have at Pinnacle Global Network and you know, our mentor superstars that have all run successful companies. And yes, a lot of my drive as an entrepreneur has been with me since day one. I love what Jeff Bezos talks about when he talks about with Amazon. He would always say to his investors, today is day one at Amazon. And then someone said, well, what happens on day two? And he said something like, you know, complete complacency. Boredom, and ultimately death. So you want to have. You want to treat your. Your day and. And what's ahead of you as day one. Clean slate, new opportunity for just the most amazing miracles to happen in your life. But the leadership and building and leading a big company, that's something that I had to learn. There's so many lessons I journeyed through, and I can't wait to share them with you. Like I said, we have over 60 employees now at Pinnacle Global Network. It's very different now than the days when we could all sit at a table together. I wouldn't change a thing. But now it's my time to share those stories, the lessons, the method and the systems and hopes that you can apply some of these things to your own business and life instead of zigzagging for years, running out of time and energy and money, and that you're going to learn to take the most direct route to grow and scale your business. And so I will just leave this with you today and just some things to think about. Take some time to really examine. What are the areas of your business right now that are just not working for you? Instead of constantly obsessing, what is it that really is not working for you? And I'm going to give you. I'm going to leave you today with just seven steps to help make those shifts. Number one, write down, identify what's not working. What is not working. I had a situation not long ago where I realized that on the finance side of our business, we were having some problems. Things were slipping through the cracks. Things were not matching up. I wasn't getting the data that I wanted, and they were not as organized as they need to be. So I. I wrote that down. Okay, this is not working. You know, it's creating stress and then clarity. The clarity on what needs to change. What about your issue that you're thinking of? What is what needs to change? For me, it was like, okay, this finance team needs to change. They were okay when we were here, but now that we're here, you know, they are really not at the level that we need for the company. Right. That's going to happen from time to time. Number three comes the decision where you draw the line and you make the decision. Okay, so you're first identifying, then you get clarity. What needs to change. Number three is the decision. Decide right now, what are you going to do? Mine was overhaul the finance team. Number four, create a vision for what you want. Journal about it. Get that visual in your mind. Okay. It's just these are thoughts with pictures. That's what visualization is. What do you want? And I, I journaled exactly who are the people that I wanted on the finance team? What level did I want? What were, how did I want them to operate and what did I want that to feel like and look like? So I set an intention. So this is what you need to do. Number five. So let me go back. You've got identify what's not working, clarity on what needs to change. 3. Make the decision. 4. Write the vision, journal about it, visualize it. 5. Set the intention on what you want to create. What are you committing to? So you've got the vision. Now you are saying this is happening. Okay, you're like it's happening, it's a done deal. Number six. Be open. Be open to the ideas, the connections, opportunities, the answers coming to you just downloading, just like the idea for this podcast. Shift for me then 7. Take inspired action. When something comes to you, take action in the moment. It's a non efforting. I used to think it had to be so hard. Blood, sweat and tears. That was my old story. But it doesn't have to be. It can be fun, you can be in the flow. But you know those messages, those synchronistic opportunities. You're sitting next to someone on an airplane that just happens to be the person you need to meet. Someone introduces you or you read something. It was exactly what you needed to hear. Okay, those are the seven steps. There's so much more I want to share with you. I am just very, very excited to spend all this time with you in the new version of the Scale It Method podcast. And so I hope that you will tune in and if you've enjoyed this, subscribe write a review. If you want to learn the ins and outs of skills scaling your business, being a powerhouse CEO, go read my book Scale or Fail. It is the manual for scaling. You can download past episodes of the Scale It Method podcast now the new ones moving forward where I am going to be completely real and raw. I'm going to leave everything on the line for you. Hopefully this will make a massive difference in your business. The good news is that I haven't run over myself for quite some time and the tire tracks are gone. It's a new day. It's a new version of this long standing podcast and I will, I will do my best to share my best with you. Thanks for tuning in to the Scale It Method Podcast. Remember, scaling your business is about more than just growth. It's about creating the life you want to live. So if your business has hit that six, seven or eight figure mark, we know how hard you've worked to get there and you're ready to accelerate your success. But with a team managed company that can actually flourish without you there. A team that is all in behind your vision. So check us out at Pinnacle Global Network, where we help leaders like you scale fast and enjoy the ride. Until next time, keep scaling and living your best life.