How to Increase Profits and Reignite Your Passion

You're working really hard in your business. You're applying all the strategies, and you're still not moving forward. Could it possibly be that your beliefs about money are in the way? Well, stick with me right now, right here on the Scale or Fail show so we can give you all the answers. Welcome to the Scale or fail show. I am Alyson Maslin. I am your host. I am a business growth mentor. And what I love doing on this show is highlighting rock star business owners that are out there making things happen and so that you can glean some inspiration and some strategies and apply them right away to your business. And today, I am super excited. I have a really amazing woman on here. She has been a client a few years in Pinnacle Global Network, and the work she does is phenomenal in the coaching world. But what is so unique about Michelle is that she has this accounting money background which is very unique in the coaching space. So. Michelle Perkins is the CEO of Limit Free Life, a coaching and personal development company designed to help men and women create financial prosperity and freedom while doing the work that they love. As an mba, former cpa, and a corporate business consultant, she combines a strong background in finance, entrepreneurship, and transition management with her intuitive coaching style. Her mission is to help ambitious, driven professionals just like you to create work that satisfies your soul. And I don't know about you, but just doing work that makes money, that doesn't make you feel alive on the inside is just not the whole. Not the whole cake, but also creates the financial prosperity that you need and empowers you to live the life that you desire. Michelle specializes in lifting barriers to success by uncovering underlying money beliefs. We're going to talk about that today. And paving the way for a better relationship with money. She's a speaker, a writer, a regular radio show guest. She also has her own show. And Michelle has been awarded with NAPW Women of the Year. Michelle, so glad you're here.

Thank you. I'm so glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me. It's a big treat. Yeah.

Well, you have got some amazing things going on, and I know we'll dive into it, but I know that money beliefs, the unconscious beliefs about money are something that, you know, you could have the best strategies in the world, but that is always going to be that roadblock. So I'm excited to dive in that today.

Yeah, me too. Good.

So how you started out in finance, tell me, how did you. What called you to do this work?

Yeah, I've been on a long path to Clarity myself. So I actually started out, I wanted to be a psychologist. I went into criminal justice, actually, because I wanted to get involved in criminal justice reform. I've always been the person who wanted to help people, you know, who were either underprivileged or just, you know, unable for whatever reason to use their potential. And so I ended up going into finance and accounting because I was actually doing some work with the Attorney General's office in Arizona and ended up doing some white collar crime investigative work, which was really interesting. But in the end, they said, you know, if you want to. If you want to do this kind of thing, you need to go ahead and take some accounting classes. So, so I went back, I started taking some accounting classes. I actually liked it. And I got my MBA and went for my CPA and was actually done with government work after that and went into consulting. But ironically, the first consulting job I had, they were shifting over the whole court system in Phoenix from paper to computers. It was a brand new thing. And so I got to use actually my criminal justice background along with the, you know, in this consulting project. So it worked out kind of well. But I did accounting and finance, corporate finance and accounting for about 15 years. And I'd always. I liked it. It was challenging. There were lots of things about it that I really liked, but I knew in my soul this wasn't where I wanted to stay forever. But I could never figure out exactly, you know, what that, that place would be. I'd always loved personal development. I was listening to Tony Robbins back in the cassette tape days while I was running and, you know, doing things around the house. And it was always intriguing. I started hearing about coaching and it was, it was of interest to me, but it was way before coaching was a thing. You know, people weren't coaches. I mean, they were sports coaches, but they weren't, you know, coaches of every kind like we have now. So. So it was always interesting. I was always that person who, you know, I was working with people. And they would say, well, you know, this job is fine, but what I really want to do is X. And so that would just trigger something in me. And I was always like, right there trying to tell them, yeah, you should leave, you should go do this or that, and helping them figure out how to make it work. So, yeah, it's just been something in me for a long time. And so, you know, that's, yeah, unique.

That you have this background. Basically psychology, numbers, you know what I mean? Like coaching, those things that set you apart. Because with psychology being Able to dive in deeper with somebody. And then numbers. Obviously, that's the business side and the career side. I just love the combination that you have.

Thank you.

I love the fact that you really work with people on rewriting their money beliefs. And because they do feel like that, that drives so much of people's choices, decisions, everything, really, especially to do with business. What are some of the most common limiting money beliefs that you see with your clients?

There are so many of them. And one thing that I like to point out is I feel like money, time, and energy all go together. So there are really three forms of currency. And whatever your limiting beliefs are around money, typically they'll be the same with respect to time and energy. So just saying that up front. There are definitely beliefs around an inability to earn a lot of money. And there are just some people who just think, you know, I could never get past $100,000, or I could never get past whatever their. Their limit is that they've set for themselves. There are people who are comfortable earning money, but they can't keep it. And so they have a belief that money comes in, but, you know, it's. It's gone in two minutes, so they'll never actually build any wealth. There are a lot of beliefs around. A lot of negative beliefs around money. Just having money at all will make me a greedy, terrible person that nobody's, you know, nobody in my world is gonna like anymore. There's a lot of that. A lot. Still a lot of negative beliefs around just having money at all. There's a. Definitely a belief that to make. To have money, you have to work really, really hard. So people think about having money, and then they're so exhausted just thinking about it that they don't even want to try. Yeah, there's. There.

So it's interesting that you say time, money, and energy, it's all really the same belief. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but those are usually the biggest objections or the biggest roadblocks that hold people back. It does make sense, actually, if you're thinking of I don't have time. Right. Like, there's not enough of. Yeah, not enough time, not enough money.

Right. And sometimes, you know, for example, people, I do a money archetypes assessment. There are eight archetypes I like to focus on. One of them, which is my top one, actually, is the nurturer. So the nurturer is very good at spending money on other people and putting their kids through private school, but not necessarily spending that money on their own. Even their Business. Same goes with time. They'll give a lot of their time away, they'll give a lot of their energy away. And so it kind of works the same way.

Yeah, and I know we're going to be, you're going to be sharing that archetype. So I'm excited about that. So hang on and listen to the show so you can grab this assessment that Michelle has. It sounds amazing. And so what are some of the ways that we can rewrite some of these beliefs? I mean, how do you make those kinds of shifts? Because they're so big.

They're big and they take time. I wouldn't say that people are going to shift anything overnight or even in a year or, you know, sometimes it's a lifetime process, I'm finding of, you know, just continuing to remind yourself because it's so easy. We're creatures of habit. It's easy to fall back into our old habits and patterns and life changes and all of a sudden we find ourselves, you know, going back to some of these beliefs. So the first thing is just awareness. I mean, I hate to say just awareness because awareness is everything. So the awareness that there are money beliefs, that you do have a relationship with money, that's not something that. In all my years of studying money and going to school and becoming a CPA and working in corporate finance, never was that term mentioned anywhere, you know, so not in school, not in work. It was, it was presented to me after I got out of all that and got into coaching. And I thought, wow, it's the most important piece of the whole picture. And they've never, nobody's ever taught us that because you can learn everything about how to manage money and all the accounting and finance rules in the world, but if you don't handle that relationship with your money and that emotional way that you make decisions around money, it doesn't matter. It's very similar to food. We can all know how to eat in a healthy way and all that. But do we do it sometimes? Sometimes not.

Well, the emotional piece, I think is the most important piece. It would be interesting if they did teach that in school, what would change? Right. Because I think that would also help professionals like CPAs and so forth be able to work with their clients on some of those things.

Absolutely. So these are deep seated beliefs and then most of them are rather unconscious. They were sort of formed a long time ago and so we're not very aware of them. They just, they show up in our decisions, but we don't know that we can't really hone in on the particular thoughts we're having. So that awareness piece is the first part.

Do you have any. Can you give any examples of anybody that you met or worked with that had a real stuck money belief and how they were able to kind of shift that around?

Sure. I mean, if it's okay, I'll just give the example of myself because I work with clients on this all the time. But the reason I started to do this in the first place was because of my own situation, which was one where I found myself going from being very responsible and doing, you know, I was saving and earning and making, you know, creating investments and doing all the things you're supposed to do with money. And then all of a sudden I shifted what I was doing because my husband made a big transition and sold his business and. And decided to completely, you know, to do something new. And I was supportive of that. And I. We went along, but there was no plan. So it was kind of a rash move. And so in trying to figure all of that out, I found myself getting, you know, we got into big debt. We used up all of our savings and all the proceeds from the sale, and we really traveled down a road of being in, you know, kind of financial peril. And one day I just. I was just shocked at where I. Because I was the money person in the family. So where we ended up was just really not a good place. And I was sitting there thinking, okay, I know better. Why am I here? That's when I was introduced to this money archetypes assessment. I went off to a coaching event, actually, and did this. And I learned about my three top archetypes, which was nurturer, Alchemist, and Maverick. So those were three archetypes that would a, have me focused more on somebody else and, you know, their dreams, what they needed. You know, if it took all of our money, great. And that's kind of what I had been doing. And the alchemist is an archetype that's very good at creating ideas and figuring things out and being creative. So I thought, I'll figure this out. You know, I wasn't worried about actually planning financially or anything. I just thought, well, we'll land somewhere and I'll make it work. I'll figure it out. And then the maverick in me, which I didn't really know I had, was kind of a risk taker when it came to money. So it was. It wasn't that hard for me actually, to go down this path. And I didn't realize that, you know, until it was kind of late in the game. That wasn't working out quite as well as I'd hoped. So anyway, that woke me up, and instead of me sitting there feeling badly about myself, going, wow, you know, did I just lose all my intelligence about money? I was able to see that that emotional piece is what happened, you know, and that I. I went down an emotional road and it took me, you know, into a place that I needed to fix. So once I was aware of that, I could fix it. I could, you know, go back and. And repair some of the damage and get back into, you know, managing some of the money aspects of my life in a more positive way. So.

Right. Yeah. I mean, awareness is everything, and it can happen super quickly. Right. And so I've definitely had times in my business life of 35 years that, you know, you had ideas and dreams and certain things just didn't work out that you had. Had hoped. And so you just. It's just a course correct. It's a course correct. And I always find that there's just some big life lessons there. Right.

I mean, I learned a tremendous amount about myself, you know, in going through that in an understanding. Oh, you know, these are my beliefs. My beliefs are it's more important to do X than Y. And whether that serves you financially, you know, is another question. So it is awareness. And that awareness piece, you can. You can grab onto, you can become aware pretty quickly that one doesn't take all that long. But I think just kind of imprinting new beliefs and shifting the beliefs that you had into something that will serve you better, that takes some time. So that is where you say a lot of affirmations and you visualize new things, and you're constantly reminding yourself of what's possible in a number of different ways. And then I think as much as I love the mindset work, you've got to back it up with some actual practical action. So if you're a person who needs to shift your mindset from I will never save any money to, you know, I will save, you know, all the money I want. You need to start saving. If it's $20 a month, at least, that action of doing it is what's going to reinforce and create the evidence that you can actually do this thing that you're visualizing doing.

Yeah. I think business owners are so used to putting everything back into the business and paying themselves last. And, you know, I always say, do just an automatic transfer. It's an automatic payment to yourself. And you would be surprised how it just Shows up, because most of them are like, well, I'll pay myself. I'll see what's left at the end. And, you know, you usually are, well, I'll spend on this and that. And so if you put yourself in part of the equation, as part of the overhead, your salary, and whatever distribution that you get, it's amazing how it just shows up, you know.

Yeah. Thank God for all the automated ways that we can have money before we get a hold of it. So it really.

I know. So tell me about the. Because I know this is a big part of your work is helping people to really follow their passion and be financially successful. So what are your thoughts around that?

Yeah, I mean, this is the thing I love, you know, the most, really, Because I think doing work you love, whatever that means, sometimes it's not your main passion. You know, you have a passion for something where you're flying around in the air and, you know, maybe you could have made a business out of it, but you kept it as something that you enjoy doing that's separate from. From your business. And I think there's a place for that, too. I've worked with people who tried to go into something that ended up. They ended up making it a hobby again and, you know, so. But I think we all have a lot of passions. I think there's potentially many things we could do out there that we would love doing, that we would find meaningful, that we would enjoy, and that would bring us the financial freedom and financial rewards that we want. So I don't think there's. You know, people get upset because they don't know their passion, and they talk about it as if it's one thing. And so I really think there are many, many things people could do that they would find completely enjoyable and that would align with passions if it wasn't that. That one thing.

Yeah. You know, I find that especially if someone has been in business for a really long time, that they may. Or a career, they may be very successful at it. They've done it for years. But the thought of. They know they want more, they're not fulfilled. Right, right. And they know there's something. But as they've been doing it so long, it's hard for them to even think about what it could be.

That's right. Yeah. I mean. Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt you, but that's why sometimes I think actually being, for example, laid off from a job can be a huge deal because it gives you this little window of time that you've never had to Actually stop and reflect and think about how you might reinvent yourself. We don't take a lot of time for that, you know, who takes a couple of months or more even, and just decides to focus on who they are and what they want and what their skills and talents and gifts and strengths are and how they could be used in some new ways. We don't get a lot of time for that in our lives.

Yeah, but just to have time to reflect and think. Right. So I do think that having that space for creativity is powerful. Do you have a process that you take people through?

Yes, I have a couple of them. You know, I think what I've. What I've learned over the years is one of the most important pieces is just the clarity piece. So. Which is bigger than what I'm making it sound right now, but getting really clear on a. Who you are, because it really all comes from you. So you have to know who you are on kind of a deep, authentic level, and then what you want. Which. That should be the easiest question. Right. You know, what do you want? What do you want to be? What do you want to do when you grow up? I mean. But it is a really hard question to answer. Once you become an adult who's been out there in the world working, and people like. Like you say, they lose the vision for what they want. They don't know who they are anymore. They don't know what they like. You know, it becomes very, very hard. And so they keep going with what they're doing, just like you were just saying. But there's definitely a process that you can go through to understand more clearly. People are happier when they're working in their strengths. So I'm really. I love the idea of starting just with what are your strengths? Not. Not the skills that you've built since you've been working or through education, but what are innate strengths of yours that you have? And we don't always recognize those. Sometimes we just take them for granted. We're so good at it that we don't even think it's a strength. We think everybody can do that. It's nothing. So, you know, there's some places to start to get clear on who you are and then to figure out where those things would fit. There are a lot of things, you know, your environment, certain people are built to work in certain environments and not others. You know, all of these things play into it. So it's about getting really clear on all of these things. Yeah.

With my. My husband has transitioned, transitioning out of his business that he's had for 28 years. And we are. He's, you know, we're joining forces in, you know, Pinnacle Global Network, where you and I work together. And when we first started talking about this, and. And I would always say to him, you know, you're so good at this. So good at this. But because he's done it for so long, he didn't even really recognize that that was a big deal. You know, to me, I'm like, look, you can do numbers in your head like Rain Man. That's not normal. That's really, like. That's. That's a great asset. You know, other things, too. But I do think it's helped for someone else like you pointing that out for someone to help them to think about where. How, you know, where could they apply those talents or gifts or, you know, those assets.

Right, Absolutely. And it is. It's a. Absolutely. The support is super important. And unfortunately, you can't always go to the people closest to you because transition can be super scary. And they know you as the person who is really good at doing whatever you do, but it makes everybody around you kind of nervous to think about you trying to do something else. And so, yeah, I think outside, unbiased, objective support is a really great way.

Right. And that's one of the things that you specialize in, which is so great, Michelle. And it is true. I don't think you can think. Think this through on your own. And definitely with family, there's too much pressure there, you know, So I think it's important to work with a coach for sure. And what do you feel that most people tend to get wrong when they are looking for a new career or to start a business. And, you know, because the wrong move, we don't want them to feel like it has to be perfect. But going down the wrong path could be another couple years. So what do you feel like that they get wrong?

Well, I think with the career changers, for sure, they focus on the tools. They focus on, okay, I need to do my resume. I need to get my LinkedIn profile right. I need to be taught how to interview. And I mean, they're way ahead of the game or way ahead of themselves with those things. I mean, yes, you do need all those things, but. But that time where you spend figuring out where you want to go and getting clear needs to come first. Otherwise, those things are going to reflect just who you are right now, and it's not going to help you move into anything new. But people get really anxious they think if they just have that resume done, you know, it's over, the world will open up to them. And that's not true. There's a lot to think about and, and figure out before you go traveling off with your resume in hand.

Well, plus, I think if you get clarity on that, then you're gonna know what to put on your Resume or your LinkedIn profile. Right. You'll be more succinct.

Yeah. Because these days it shouldn't just be a laundry list of what you've done. It should really be aspirational and express, you know, you as this next version of yourself in there and highlight the things that would help you get there. So. Yeah, exactly. You need that. And then for business owners, I think there's a lot to figure out in terms of if they're wanting to start a business. You know, do they start it alongside what they're already doing? Do they, you know, just jump off the back of the ship and either make it work or drown? You know, so people are so different with respect to how they get motivated to make things work. So I think, again, it's an awareness, you know, how do. And the money. I think when people make a transition and want to start a business, I think you want to take a really good look at your financial situation. It's going to change. There are certain, you know, big things to look at with respect to that and not, not to say let that stop you, but just plan a little bit, you know, don't just live the exact life you have now while you're going through this whole transition. I mean, make some decisions about how you're going to manage the money.

Right? Yeah. Because there are expenses that are going to come up. Right. So. And then what if they, what if someone wants to do just an additional business or additional revenue stream? Do you take them through the same process? I know, you know, you, you and your husband have had several businesses as well, scale businesses, sold dental practices. So what are your thoughts on that? You think someone. That it's smart for them to do something on the side as well?

I think it can be smart. I think especially if they already have something that they do and they just want to kind of scale that back while they start something new. I think that can work really well. I do think, you know, there's only so much time and energy, so if there's something that, you know, you really want to throw your whole heart and soul into, it's definitely a balancing act to try to do both. So if you can get one set up, then you can decide, I think, whether the other one makes sense. Unless you need that for the financial stability, in which case you might not really have a choice sometimes I think.

It'S a good point because I think business owners just have a hard time focusing in general. So it's really easy to get pulled in so many directions and get nothing done.

Yeah, you have to really have a great handle on how you manage your time and how you know what you choose to do with all the hours of your day.

Yeah, for sure. So let's talk about so your money archetype assessment. So this is something that for those of you that are listening, you're going to be able to grab this assessment and how do they use this? How is this going to help them?

Well, the assessment is a pretty straightforward bunch of questions that you answer about money and it should take maybe 10 or 15 minutes. It's probably going to be a little challenging. And the idea is to not overthink it, to just answer it. And out of that you will get your top three archetypes which are all working together in your, in your unconscious mind. And so it'll really highlight these archetypes which will reveal the thoughts behind, you know, thoughts and beliefs behind what you're doing with money. And these are deep seated thoughts. You sometimes you can't just consciously figure them out. So this is a great way to figure out what are my unconscious money beliefs that are causing me to do this or that or not start a business because, you know, I don't have the savings or to start a business, you know.

Yeah, that's great. I'm going to do the assessment. I think that's awesome. I think everybody should do it. So that's fantastic. And so you can go to alisonmousland.comlibrary to grab this money archetype assessment from Michelle. And you will also on the library see all kinds of downloads from our page, past shows as well. And then Michelle, how do people, if they want to work with you, they want to get support on their money mindset or they want to get support in making a transition in their business or career. How do people find you?

You can find me@limitfreelife.com that's my website and email me at michellelimitfreelife.com I'm on Facebook, I have a limit free life show that is you can find the information for that on my website and yeah, just reach out to me, email me. I like email. I like actual conversations with people over the phone. So if you email me we'll schedule a time to talk.

Okay, perfect. So limitfreelife.com is where you will find Michelle Perkins. And this has been fantastic. And it's got me thinking about, you know, I think it's true. It is a lifelong thing working through these money beliefs and so forth. And there is a saying you have heard me say a lot in Pinnacle. And Michelle and I have had an opportunity to work together for a couple years in coaching. And one of the things I say is new level, new devil. So you might think that you have worked through your money beliefs, but then you hit another level, and then it is like more comes up and you got to work through that. So I think this work is super important and really valuable.

Thank you. I love this work. It's actually really fun. I mean, the people who don't like money will still like doing this because it just reveals a lot about yourself.

Yeah. And the choices that you make. Well, thank you, Michelle, for being on the show and really enjoyed it.

Thank you, Allison.

And so get out there and elevate yourself because you are worth it. And for all of you, if you haven't grabbed a copy of my new book, Scale or Fail, go ahead and do that. And this is going to give you all kinds of insights on scaling your company and listen to the scale or fail show or watch it, the video version on all places where podcasts are listened to, seen, heard. And until next time, we will see you again on the scale of fails Show. Bye, everybody.

People always talk about they want to be part of seven figure companies. I'm now part of seven, eight and nine figure companies. I've been introduced to some of the largest corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and it's with Alison's help. She's kind of expanded my horizons and my capabilities. And I think that's the most important thing where she expands. She makes, you know, what you can do and be successful at that. Being with Alison and being able to learn who to hire and why to hire and how to develop a passionate, creative, inspired team is really, really important for me because I needed to shift some energy in my business, and I feel like with her help, I've really done that. Pinnacle helped me grow my company to where at this point a year ago.

I made a million more than I.

Did at this point last year. So I really wanted to break that ceiling. I've hit that ceiling for several years in a row, and Pinnacle has helped me do that by implementing the thought. It's actually just a thought thought process and how you view your company and how you view what you're doing. I think a lot of us entrepreneurs.

Are hard on ourselves and are hard.

On our companies when it's not that we shouldn't be that way. So I think it's just looking at things a little bit differently, putting into practice the systems that she teaches us.

For example, if you want an example.

Putting people in place to where I want my business to be at in two, three years.

So I've got people right now in place and it's wild.

It's just like it's all the work.

Is coming in and we're in place.

And we're not stressed out and it's just amazing. It's just an amazing place to be. What I love most about being in the Pinnacle is constant access to support. So whether it be my mastermind group or the recorded resources that Alison has produced for us, or the constantly cutting edge information that's coming to us on social media, Facebook ads, how to conduct webinars, you name it, we have a resource for it.

So since joining Pinnacol, we've added 12.

New positions to the company.

We've increased revenue about 43%.

We've increased profit by 111% this year. More importantly, I've gotten out of some.

Roles that I was in, like QA manager and some of the marketing things that I was doing are now outsourced or not outsourced, insourced to a team member. And I've really focused in on running the business instead of letting it run me. Coaching opportunities out there and a lot of times I'm a little bit suspicious. It's kind of a sales job, you know, are they in it for themselves, are they in it for me? And at no time have I ever felt with Pinnacol that my best interest was not number one priority. And it's truly an organization and not just Alison and the coaches, but everyone there. It's coming from a place of giving and working for mutual benefit. A lot, a lot of sharing going on and that's a great team to work with right off the bat.

I laid a foundation for my coaching practice and I increased my prices and within one week I had signed two high paying clients that had basically paid for my coaching program with Alison. And since then my income has doubled every single month.

It's been tremendous. But being a part of the community has been the greatest asset. I've been so fortunate, fortunate and blessed to befriend so many other amazing entrepreneurs who I learn from on a regular basis, who always have My back like minded people that I surround myself with and the environment is so positive. I just cannot speak highly enough of it. And I am always compelled to share it with everyone I know. I feel it is the biggest gift to introduce and share this opportunity to connect with this kind of community, with everybody that I know.

Don't be the company like I was being in business for over 12 years, looking back and saying, what did I do in the last 10 years? Do it now. Now is all we have. We don't have the past and we don't have the future. All we have is now.

I've been in business for 21 years.

Now and I've worked with a number of business coaches and I watched Alison for four years and the results that.

Her clients had when they worked with her. And I finally decided this is the.

Next coach that I'm going to hire.

Because she is the real deal.

She is available to her people.

She absolutely cares deeply about each and.

Every individual and the success of their business.

And you know what?

We have to in business take risks.

And sometimes taking risk is hiring that new coach.

This is a risk worth taking.

There is nothing like it. I can't even explain what the opportunity.

And the learning that comes with Pinnacle. Don't even think about it. Because if you think about it, that's.

The number one thing that will hold you back.

Just do it. You won't regret it. You just need to do it. I mean, you have to stop being on the fence. You have to get off. The fence is boring. The fence is. Honestly, I was on the fence for. Oh gosh. I was on the fence for maybe two years and it was a horrible fence to sit on. I hated the fence because the fence kept me stuck. And it was when I finally jumped off the fence that my business, business skyrocketed.