Bankroll Your Brilliance with Nicole Roberts Jones

Hello and welcome to Shedding the Bitch Radio, where you can discuss, debate, and get advice on how to discover and shed the bitches of fear, insecurity, self-doubt, and negative mindsets so you can realize your dreams and life purpose and create and accelerate the riches you want in life. Join us here live every Tuesday at noon Eastern and dialogue with us at 818-572-2910. You can also chat with us at blogtalkradio.com/sheddingthebitch or share your stories on our website at sheddingthebitch.com. Whatever the bitch is that's holding you back from living your life to the fullest, it's not worth giving up the riches in life that you deserve. So call in now and let Bernadette Boas know what's holding you back.

818-572-2910. Good day, good day, good day, everyone. How are you? On what our guests and I were just talking about, feels like a fall day. Both in Boston where she is and here in Atlanta, Georgia. And I know it's 6 days from fall, I believe, roughly, um, but it is a fall day. I am so excited about today's conversation and our guest today. So you're, you're in for a great, great, brilliant, brilliant discussion. But before we get into that, I want to, um, welcome any new listeners. We've been, uh, ramping up and picking up, and I love that when, uh, Many of the new listeners come in and find us on any one of the streaming services as well as out on our YouTube channel, which is Bernadette Boas Shed the Bee TV. So welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. We would love for you to, you can call in and talk to our guests today, 1-818-572-2910. 1-818-572-2910. And at the same time, be sure to leave us comments, to like the show, to follow it, to subscribe. And again, you can get it on any of the streaming services— iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify— as well as on our YouTube channel, Bernadette Boas, @TheBTV, and on BlogTalkRadio. Now, for you existing listeners, thank you so much because you're the ones who are sharing it with your friends or your colleagues. Or out into your networks, and we so, so appreciate that. But continue to give us ratings and comments because that just helps us not only get in front of more eyes, but it also gives us feedback as to what it is you're looking for to ensure that we're delivering. All right, um, now I do want to, uh, thank North Georgia Tax Solutions, who is sponsoring this episode today. Debbie Snelling and her team right here in Georgia, but she represents all of the US, provides full-service finance and tax solution services. And you can reach her at ngtaxsolutions.com. Tell her I said hi. Um, let's see what else. I think that's it, so we can dive right into this conversation. Now, what is the discussion? How to bankroll your business and do it brilliantly. So it's bankroll your brilliance. We're going to talk about the key to starting a business or making more money in your business, and it's not spending more time in your business. It is about setting up the systems you need in place to spend less time, gives you less— oh, I'm sorry, spend less time, give less energy, and guess what? Make more money. So this is what I want you to listen for, and then I'll give you your rich question. So you're going to hear about how to get clear on the transformation you provide that people will pay for. Key, very key. Why you do not need to quit your 9-to-5 job as she teaches you how to build your business alongside it. How to create multiple streams of income from what you already know, and one of them is how to make money while you sleep. Oh, we would all love that. So your rich question for today, and for our guests as well as any new listeners, the rich question that we give is based on the subject that we're talking about so you can kind of have a good foundation to make sure you're paying attention, but also for you to be able to really relate to it in your own situation, in your own business, in your own career, or even at home. So today's question is What is it you know really well that you could get paid for? What is it that you know really well that you could get paid for? All right. I want you to keep that in mind as we introduce our guest and get into the conversation. So hi, Nicole.

Hi, I've been sitting here just dying. Everything you've been saying is so yummy.

Oh, why, why?

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, Nicole Roberts Jones is uniquely gifted at one thing. Drawing out what's best in you and helping you take your brilliance to the bank. A veteran of the entertainment industry, Nicole worked in talent management and casting before shifting her talents to help others bankroll their brilliance. She now works with entrepreneurs to create multiple streams of income from what they already know in order to build an empire from their expertise. Love that. Her clients have included the Steve Harvey World Group, Dell, EMC, McDonald's, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Lisa Nichols and Motivating the Masses, Coach Diversity Institute, The Boss Network, and Working Mother magazine, to name a few. Nicole is also a nationally recognized transformational speaker, bankroll your brilliance expert, and bestselling author of 4 books, the most recent being Find Your Fears. Look over her shoulder, by the way. She lives with her husband in the suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, consulting, writing, and creating breakthroughs for her clients. I am so excited to talk with you, Nicole.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm sorry, I'm sitting here trying to maintain my excitement.

Yeah. Well, and while we get into this conversation, everybody, I want you to go to nicolerobertsjones.com and check her out as we're talking. Okay? But let's back up a little bit. So Bankroll Your Brilliance, which is brilliant. How did you work your way into the work that you're doing today? What's kind of your backstory?

Yes. So I will tell you, I never set out to be an entrepreneur. Never. If you would have asked me— so I've been doing this— this year marks 27 years, right? Wow. Even though I'm still 28.

Yes.

You guys can manage all the extra in between that. So in 1993, when I started doing what we call coaching now, there was no such thing as a coach, right? And so really what happened is, as you read in my bio, I worked the job I have dreamed of ever since I was 7 years old, and I loved every minute of it. So at the time, I worked for Viacom's largest cable network. We had an outreach to 89 million homes on a weekly basis.

Oh wow.

From there, I worked in casting on the number one TV show on Fox, and then from there I worked with an entertainment group, and what we produced generated over $12.6 billion a year. And I'm telling you that— I'm going to ask you a question, but I need you guys to— I'm painting a picture so you can understand that I was living the dream. Plus, I was going to all the high Hollywood parties, but I was with all the stars, so I loved every minute of it, right? But for some reason, something felt like it was missing, and I felt in conflict because this is the job I had dreamed of. I had made it, and yet something felt off. And every time I talked to one of my girlfriends about it, they kept saying, are you crazy? Didn't you just get to go to this party? And didn't you go here? And didn't you do this? And so I felt in conflict. And I'm sharing that because somebody's listening right now and you're in that exact same place. I was making great money. I was going to all the hot Hollywood parties. My name was on every list. And yet I didn't feel fulfilled. And I kept thinking, Nicole, are you crazy? Right. And so to make a really long story short, what happened is one of my good girlfriends invited me to volunteer at this program, working with young women at our church one night.. And as I started doing the work I was doing, which now we call coaching, but again, I didn't know what this was called, right? As I was working with them, their eyes lit up. And as their eyes lit up, my heart lit up and I realized, oh my God, this is it.

Yeah.

But this wasn't glamorous. So how I started this work, I started to really start looking at what is this and how can I do this? Because at that time I didn't know how I could get paid for it, but for the first time in my life, my soul was alive. So I had a decision to make. And so in essence, in that moment, I made the choice to leave my Hollywood dream, to really find my fierce, is what I call it, is really what happened in that moment. Yeah.

No, it's true. But what I love about that, and I want everybody to pay attention to, is she followed her heart. And there might have been a lot of intuition in there and a lot of, you know, her body literally messaging to her. And, uh, we tend to rush through life and never pay attention and go quiet. And I just absolutely love that, um, because you followed your fears, right?

And literally, right, what fears became priests. And don't worry, I'll explain all that. But here's the thing that you just said, it brought this up in my mind, that we call ourselves human beings, but we're not. We're human doings because we focus on what we do, what we do, what we do, but we never sit with our being. So in this epiphany moment for me, I had to sit with myself. I had to stop looking at perception and opinion and degrees I had and titles I had and listen to the rumbling in my soul.

I absolutely love that. I absolutely love that. And that whole doing to being, or doing, like, put that aside and be. I absolutely love that. Well, is that— now you say you— it led you to your fierceness and Find Your Fierce. So tell us about that and what is— I can assume what the premise is, but—

And I'll tell you how, look—

Let's get into that.

So when I— so it took me a much longer time than I like my clients to take, and I realized it was such a struggle for me so that I can now hold the space that women don't have to struggle with this because I had nowhere to go. Okay. And I'm transparent, by the way. So I'll tell you everything, right? So I didn't come up with Find Your Fierce until about 10 years ago. So I started this in 1993. So it took me 17 years to figure this out. And I'll tell you that story in a minute too. But let me tell you where fierce came from. Of course, you know who Beyoncé is, right? Yes. So the thing that's interesting that people don't often stop and realize about Beyoncé is, well, first let me say this. Fierce came, I was watching Beyoncé one day and I was hating on her just a little bit, little jealous, right? As I'm watching her, what drops in my spirit is, "You have fears too." I'm like, "Is this you, Lord? I know this isn't you while I'm watching Beyoncé. There's no way," right? And so in that moment, here's kind of the realization that started to flood into my mind in that moment. So Beyoncé created Sasha Fierce after she had successfully done what she wanted to do, right, the things she was purposed to do with her group, Destiny's Child.

Yeah.

But now she had this inkling to go to her next level, which was to become a solo artist. Now here's the thing, she'd been on stage for years with groups of people. Now she had to be out there on her own and she was scared. And many of us don't do the thing that's rumbling inside of us because we're afraid, right? And that was me because I had— only thing I'd ever studied was entertainment. What do you mean I'm leaving entertainment, right? And so I realized in that moment when I shifted my career, what I did was I found my fears. So what Beyoncé did was she created that character Sasha Fierce so that she could stand on stage and be who she was called to be by herself for the first time in her life. She had to create this alter ego to do the thing that was expanding her territory.

And so in essence, yeah, fake it till you make it is the way I see it, right? Exactly.

You see it, or be it till you see it, right?

Oh, I like that.

So it's like you have to become this thing that is like Lois Lane— I'm not Lois Lane, it's like, um, remember Lindsay Wagner? I can't think of her name, to Wonder Woman. I can't think of her— Diana Prince. Diana Prince. It was Diana Prince to Wonder Woman, right?

Right.

So Donna Fritz, you know, is hiding the Wonder Woman in you. So how do you become that Wonder Woman, that alter ego, that not apologizing for your brilliance, not settling for good enough? Because I could have stayed in entertainment. It was great. Yeah, it could have been good enough, but there was more, right? And so in essence, that's what happened. And I really realized this whole fierce thing at a time in my business where some 17 years in, I look successful. So I'm gonna tell you another quick story so you can see why I'm so passionate about what I teach. So So 17 years in, by 2010, I had done what I set out to do in my business. So back then I had a nonprofit and a for-profit. So my nonprofit working with teenage girls, we were growing by leaps and bounds. I had 10 chapters in 10 states of my program, really helping young women figure out what their purpose was. Really, the goal was to get them in college, but I never said that, right? Because, you know, kids don't want to hear that.

Right, right, right.

College prep program. We laced it in purpose development and mentorship, and they loved it. We have sleepovers and all kinds of stuff. So we had 10 chapters in 10 states and it was growing by leaps and bounds. By then I had a for-profit coaching women like all of you, really helping you create a purpose-driven career or business. Loved every minute of it, but I couldn't take any more clients because, yeah, I had a daytime job, right? So to make a long story short, I wrote my first book in 2010. This is my fourth book. So when that first book came out, the goal of that book was to give my principles to women and be a fundraiser for my nonprofit. But when that book came out, I started speaking all over the country. So again, I was so excited. This is what I had dreamed of when I started my business. But I want you guys to get this. I was only making $13,000 in my business. I wouldn't bankroll nothing.

Okay.

$13,000. So I'm saying that because I realized that I had taken myself as far as I could take myself and I had to invest into really grow my business. And it was in hiring a coach, to make an even longer story short, that she said to me, Nicole, hello, didn't you just tell me your daytime job is you're an adjunct professor and you teach? You taught at USC for 4 years, almost 5, and you now teach at Boston University, and what you teach is program development. Yeah. And then she said, and didn't you used to have a consulting firm? I'm from California, you guys, so when I moved, I closed my consulting firm. And she said, you used to go, you know, you work with heads of states and small businesses, and what you did was you developed programs. So what she said to me, literally, Bernadette changed not just my business, it changed my life. She said, hello, you don't have any programs in your business. So since we're friends, I'm gonna tell you the truth. Up until that point, the only thing I was doing was coaching one-on-one. And when you're only coaching one-on-one or consulting or whatever you're doing, you have to be present. You're already capping off how much money you can make.

Right, right.

So literally that night I developed my first program. I went and I created a system. So I took the stuff I'd been using as a professor, I took the, the process I used as a consultant, and I developed what I call my blueprint. I developed my first program from that blueprint. I went from— and I started developing program after program after that— I went from $13,000 to over $200,000 within 6 months.

Wow.

Right. And so really, that in essence is finding your fears but also understanding how to package it into the way people need you. And I had not been doing that in my business. And that is why, although I was brilliant, I was totally broke for years in my business.

Well, how would you, how would you suggest to someone who's sitting there listening and they're really not sure? So it goes back to kind of one of the things that we said that we, you know, that we would talk about is them finding that thing that they really know really well that they could get paid for, but yet they're sitting there going, I really don't have anything special or different or something someone will pay me for. What do you do with your clients to help them go through that kind of assessment to nail down that, yeah, indeed, I have something I could get paid for?

Sure. So there's a 4-step Fierce Framework. So first, let me say this. There's something intrinsic to your DNA, your distinct natural ability that you were born with. And we all say things like, oh, doesn't everybody know how to do this? This is easy. Yeah, it's easy for you.

Yeah.

And so you've got to start being unapologetic about it. That's part of that fierce thing, is stop discounting it. I always say stop pimping your gift, which means stop giving it away for free, right?

Right.

And so the 4 steps quickly, right? Um, but again, one of the— I'm gonna give you guys a gift. Some of you guys where you're stuck, we'll give you a gift toward the end of the show that'll help you. Let me just say that so you won't be and I give you these 4 steps. So the first step is, what are you passionate about? Like, what could you do hour upon hour upon hour and never get paid for? Matter of fact, it's probably something you're doing right now on autopilot and you don't realize it. So if I use myself for an example, the story I just told you, when I worked in entertainment, I worked in talent development and casting, and I loved every minute of it. What do I do now? Talent development and casting. I'm doing the same thing, just in a different arena. The difference is I'm helping people develop their gifts, which is what I really love doing, right? And I'm— and what's funny is like one of my good girlfriends got married 2 years ago. I've known her since we were like 7, and they were teasing me, a group of— it was all of us that we've known since elementary school, and they were teasing me how I would be the girl in the neighborhood like setting the scene when we were playing outside. You guys remember playing outside? Um, and literally they would say, Nicole, you would go, you're going to be Batman and you're going to be Robin, and they'd say you set up the whole scene. Who does that? That's because that's my DNA. Yeah, you guys get that? Yeah. So the same way you have DNA and you don't pay attention. So my homework to you is start paying attention to when you're doing things that you just feel good during the day. That's your DNA speaking. Hello. So that's one. What are you passionate about? Second is what are you proficient in? Like, what are you really, really great at? That these two have to correlate. So in Michelle Obama's book Becoming, she talked about this. I think it was chapter 10. And Bernadette, I can talk, girl, so you know you can interrupt me. Um, so chapter 10, she talks about the fact that she was She was really, really great at being a lawyer, but she hated it.

Yeah, yep.

So you have to love it, because then you're not going to do it, right? But you've got to be good at it, because if you're not good at it— like, I would love to sing. Matter of fact, if I could sing, Beyoncé would have a run for her money. But I can't, right? And I love singing. My husband has to tell me to hush sometimes, because I love to sing. Like, anybody that's followed Gayle and Oprah, you know, when they were going on those road trips, Oprah would be like, Gayle, hush. Gayle and I are the same. I can't sing a lick, right? And so those two have to correlate, because if you're not good at it,— it doesn't matter if you love it.

You can't—

you can't actually begin a business or even your career can't be based on it. Right. The third one is what problem does it solve? Because it's not about you. How are you the answer to someone else's challenge or someone else's desire or someone else's need? Right. How is your passion, proficiency— by the way, those two are your purpose— how does that answer a problem for a group of people? OK. And then number 4, for my business owners out there, those that want to be, how do you make profit from it? Right?

That would be good.

And talents inside of you that I believe that God put inside of you for you to live abundantly, but you've got to activate it, right?

Agreed. Agreed. Well, I want to go back to point number 3 though, uh, because you said, well, you, your explanation in regards to the problem that you're solving, um, and that it's not about you, because a lot of people when, you know, when they do find their passion and their purpose, and then they try, they work to translate it into possibly a product, a service, a business, they do have a hard time kind of making it about everyone else except for themselves because it's their passion, it's their purpose.

Yeah.

You know, for those that might be struggling out there, because we have a lot of, you know, current business owners, and they're still, they, and they often struggle— to kind of say, God, I'm often told that, but I don't get it. Like, I don't know how to, you know, jumble it up and make sure that it is external and not personal.

So I love this. This is such a great question. So I call this intersection, kind of people that fell in it, I call it being the Milli Vanilli of entrepreneurship. Now, those of you that don't know who Milli Vanilli is, are you making me feel old because you never heard of them? They were a group that came out in the '90s, right? They came out in the '90s. They had this song that won a Grammy called Don't You Know It's True. Now, you know, I want to sing it, but I won't.

Yeah, me too.

I can't, right? So anyway, and then I think it was like within a month, I can't remember if it was their agent or their manager came out and said they were lip-syncing on that track. So what happens is when you're not clear the transformation— and I'm going to answer your question, but I need you to understand how important this is— when you don't understand it and you go buy this latest marketing program or you go buy this latest sales program, if it's not in alignment with your blueprint, it's not going to work. I don't care how great the system is that you pay for. And so many of you guys have done that. I know that's me too. I've invested in programs. But until you're clear on the transformation your gift provides, no program will work. So here's what I mean by it's not about you. And I'm going to use myself as an example because dare I step on your toes while you guys are listening, right? So I told you that I failed in business for 17 years, right? So here's what I used to say. I'm trying not to laugh. I used to tell people I help women maximize their potential and I work with women from 17 to 70. What's a 17-year-old have to do with a 70-year-old?

It's true, right?

And so I wasn't clear on the, the predictable results. So here's what happens anytime we use marketing language. By the way, Maximize Your Potential is such a great marketing line. It is, right? Yeah, but it doesn't speak to any result you provide. And when people are coming to you, they have one question. What's in it for me? They don't care what you're going to do. Here go that dude thing again. They don't care what they're going to do. They want to know what do I get right at the end of it? So what you've got to start to pay attention to is what people are asking you for. The people that already know you, that see the brilliance in you, that come up to you and say, can I pick your brain? Can I run something past you? They already see it. If you can package what they're asking you instead of you trying to get a cute little— ooh, what does it— does this sound cute? I don't care if it sounds cute. Does it speak to the results? —right— you provide. So it's really getting clarity, and it's getting out of your own head, or getting away from marketing language. Even, dare I say, Bernadette, bankroll your brilliance. Can I tell you, I did not write that. Anytime I work with any woman, at the end of my time working with her, I send her a survey. One of my clients said, you helped me bankroll my brilliance, and I've been saying that ever since.

Nice, very nice.

And so in essence, again, it's not about you. So when you start getting clear by looking at your passion, your proficiency, and you start to see the answer it creates in the world based on what other people are telling you you've been able to help them do, that is what should be the one thing you do. And I'm saying one thing because the other thing that happens is so many entrepreneurs start businesses and they're trying to be everything to everybody. So, you know, I'm a sales coach and I'm a marketing coach. Oh, and I'm an image consultant. Really? I'm confused. Do I help you? Do you help me with my clothes or are you gonna help me sell my program? I don't understand, right? I'm exaggerating, right?

Right, right, right, right, right. Right. Well, and I think, and you could talk to this, but isn't it also because of the fact that, especially when they're starting out, but when I say when they're starting out, they could be 6, 7, 8 years in, like you had said that it took me 17 years to get to the point. And so, and they're so desperate to kind of like generate income, you know, get their name and their business out there that they just grab, grab, grab, grab, grab at everything. Yep.

Which is why I think it's so important to hire a coach. And I'm saying that because I hired a coach. Listen, you guys, I told you I made $13,000 in my business. My coach cost $30,000. So could I afford it? No. But I couldn't afford to be where I was for another month. I was tired, right? I had been working for 17 years and had nothing to show for it. And it was only because I couldn't see. So what I know is a coach sees in your blind spots. Because here's the thing, you don't do what you do to you. I don't wake up in the morning and say, mm, I think I feel like being Nicole today. No, I'm Nicole on autopilot. So it's things that I do that are intrinsic to me that I don't realize I'm doing, right, that are valuable to other people. And we'll say things like, oh, again, doesn't everybody know how to do that? No. Yep. So that's the difference.

You're damaging, or it's, you know, negatively impacting other people and you're not even aware of it, right? Yeah.

And so it's so important to get someone outside of you. If I use an example, one of my favorite clients— I love this because we laugh at it now— Deborah Tillman, who was America's supernanny. I met her at a conference and here I was just kind of myself trying to suggest she hire other people. She was like, no, I want to work with you. I was like, are you sure? Anyway, so to make a really long story short, many people don't— do not know that she owns multiple childcare centers. So in addition to being on TV at the time, coaching, you know, being a parenting coach, she also owns multiple childcare centers. So I'm saying that because she could take another client. So she had the same problem I had, but hers was in reverse. She had too many people coming to her. And here's the multiple streams of income question, by the way, y'all, that I'm gonna answer. Yep. And Making Money While You Sleep being my favorite. Um, but she couldn't take any more clients because of her schedule. And so I told her the same thing I've learned, and now this is the same thing I teach all my clients. We've got to build a blueprint. Yep. Now, Deborah's really sweet, so I'm gonna tell you how I received it. This is not how she said it, right? She said, no, I tailor the experience when I work with parents. And I said, okay, are you done with that? And there was silence on the phone. I'm like, she's gonna fire me. Right. But literally, I gave her the same homework I give every one of my clients. And she came back on that second call in tears because she's been on autopilot for so long. There are things that are intrinsic to her, just like things are intrinsic to each of us, that she didn't realize that she does. So we packaged that into what she calls the GPS, the Greater Parenting System. She now has GPS online. She has GPS groups. And she still has one-on-one, but here's the thing, it's not for her, wasn't about making money. For her, it was leaving transformation behind when she had to tell a family no, because they either couldn't afford her or she didn't have time to serve them.

Right, right. That's awesome. That is absolutely awesome. But speaking of bankrolling to brilliance, you have 5 tips, uh, as far as how you can bankroll your brilliance. So let's get into that. And if you all don't have a pen and paper, I suggest you go get it now.

Go get a pen, go get a pen, right? So the first one is you've got to let go of your comfort zone. Now, I just told the Deborah story. So Deborah wanted to— and all of us do this, so it's not just Deborah, this was me too, by the way, which is why I failed for 17 years. I kept trying to do the same stuff I knew how to do. I think I'm gonna work an extra hour, I'm gonna work extra long, and that wasn't working, right? So I had to be willing to do something I'd never done to get something I've never had, right? And so that meant I had to do an uncomfortable— listen, comfort zones is where dreams go to die. It's true, because we want to stay here and it's easy and I already know. No, you got to do something beyond that. So that's number one. You've got to be willing to go beyond your comfort. The second, and I'm probably gonna say these out of order, the second is you've got to create multiple streams of income, right? And I just kind of talked about that, but here's why I fell for, for 17 years. And by the way, I'm transparent. So the only reason I was failing is because I was coaching only. And I had a daytime job. So listen, that meant I could only really take 5 clients because I told you I was traveling and speaking and writing books. And so I could only take 5 clients at a time, you guys, because I had a full-time job. I had to eat. Listen, you want to be able to eat and have your lights and your internet on. You can't build a business without it. But I had to learn the secret to making money where I'm not present. It's called creating online programs. Now here's the thing, you can't just go and hang up today and go create an online program. It's kind of like me calling my girlfriend saying, I want to— I want a husband. But I don't figure out what I really want. And she sends a man. I'm like, no, girl, bye. I don't want him. She sends me another one. I keep doing it. She's going to stop sending me people. Right. That's what so many entrepreneurs do. I had an online program, by the way, when I was failing, but I wasn't clear on my one thing. OK, so that's the other thing. You've got to get clear. I call it the power of one. The one thing, the one focus, the one thing you want your brand to be known for, like Nike, just do it. American Express. Don't leave home without it. If I said, um, I forgot it, just went out of my head. I'm a woman of a certain age, my little thing just went out of my head. I had to come back. Oh, it just went out of my head. But, but if you think about Folgers in the morning, that is one thing. Oh, I can't, I can't think of the term. But anyway, when you hear these terms, it's intrinsic to the brand, right? They're known for one thing. You too have to be known for one thing, okay? So again, get out of your comfort zone, create multiple streams of income. You got to get known for one thing. Not everything, because you're not meant to be everything to everyone, right? There's something to someone. Yep. Next, you've got to build a blueprint. So what I mean by that is I just redid the home I grew up in as a child, and there were some things I wanted to shift. So I started having all these ideas, and my construction team said, listen, we got to start with a blueprint. Why? Why don't we just throw this wall out? And because here's what happens: if I were to buy the latest walls— I saw a commercial, oh, this wall walls are the latest, right? And I put the walls with a different roof that didn't go together because of course I wouldn't know that. Then when the weather comes, my house would fall. Right. That's the thing we do with our businesses. And by the way, your business also has to have a strong foundation, which is that power of the one again. Right. And so you've got to stop just buying all these programs. Now, I'm not saying don't invest in coaches. You heard me say I invested in a coach, but you've got to get clear on your foundation. To see how it's in alignment with your blueprint before you start investing so you know how to make it work. Right. Yeah. Beautiful. And so literally with those steps, it really changes everything. The last one is, of course, making money while you sleep. So I kind of briefly talked about this, but let me give you another example and then I'll hush again. So, and I like to give stories so that it's visual for you. So you understand what I'm saying. Absolutely. So a couple of years ago, typically between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I, you know, I slow down and I'm not, you know, I'm focused on holidays. And so this year I traveled a lot. So between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we went to Rome, to Barcelona. We went to— or not, we came home. I had a speaking gig in Dallas. I went to Denver. And then for Christmas, we went to Montego Bay, to Jamaica. So I did all of that between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and my business still generated $87,000. Nice. I wasn't present. So I need you guys to get that the way your business is going to grow is by having different ways to serve people, different levels and different pieces of you in it.

Mm-hmm. I would agree. I would. And, but I, well, I do want you to explain and go deeper in the comment that you made about you can't just go running off from here and creating something. And I know you said because you have to figure out what that power of one is. But at the same time, you know, there are people sitting here listening or watching this, you know, this show, and they're sitting there going, okay, I'm going to run over there and I'm going to start, you know, and start pumping something out and trying to figure out what I could be doing. How do you help your clients go through that power of one? You know, getting it when they have so much. And I actually, I had a client the other day say to me, But I have 3 or 4 different and I'm like, yeah, that's a lot.

So keep in mind, people only walk through one door. Okay. When they come to your house and I walk through the door and the window, then I walk through the front door and the back door. But this is what we do. And we create all this stuff and people are like, well, do I start over here? Do I start over there? I don't. Right. And so the reason I said don't go and start an online program is because I don't want you to waste your money. I did it. Listen, I feel like I made so many mistakes so I could hold the space that you don't have to. I had an online program. My problem was, is my language wasn't clear. Yeah. And I didn't know who my ideal client was. So the first thing is to get clear. Right. And again, I had a master's degree. I was teaching not one prestigious university, but two. And I still wasn't clear. By the way, I forgot to tell you guys, I went back to school, got my master's degree when I decided to leave entertainment.

So I want you to get a bit of an achiever.

I know, right? But yet I was still broke in my business, right? Because I didn't take the time to create the blueprint. Right. So you've got to hire someone. And listen, I'm not trying to do a commercial for me because I'm clear I'm not a good fit for everyone. Remember I said this earlier, you're not everybody's coach, you're somebody's coach. So whoever you feel aligned to, hire them, right? So that you can get clear on what your blueprint is before you do anything else. If you don't do that, you're wasting time and energy and you're holding up somebody's transformation. Transformation because people listen, a confused mind doesn't buy. Yeah. If your language isn't clear, you're going to be confusing and they're going to be confused and they'll just look for what they need somewhere else.

Right. Well, and I, and I love that because I think business owners need to really consider that you have something that's going to transform someone else. You know, you almost owe it to them to take the time to figure it out. You know, don't let them go elsewhere. And if they do, be happy for that because they need that. But at the same time, that's why you need to take that time that she's suggesting to really figure it out. Now, but now they're— but some of them are squirming because they're like, but I need to be making money and I have these other, you know, services or other things. When do I know?

You know, so, so this is why, again, you got to get with a coach because a coach is going to look in your blind spots and ask you a bunch of questions to get you clear. A good coach. OK, some coaches do take your money. Let me be completely— because I've hired coaches that have done that with me too. Right. So you've got to hire a coach that can help you really create a system. You know, we talk about creating a business plan. This is over and above a business plan. A business plan is great for marketing and getting and getting investors. But you need more than that. This is like up level to a business plan. This is almost like strategic plan. Yeah. And so I think what I see so many business owners fail is that they are doing too many things and nothing's working. So here's what— where you could be in one of these couple spots. You could be that you've made some money and you've done well and now it's not working. Can I tell you why it's not working? Because you had a group of people that were already watching you. And so you were easily able to sell to them. But if you're not always growing your tribe, You can't— you don't have a group of people already always ready to buy from you, right? What most people don't tell you is only 2% convert. So if I'm not always in front of people with the right conversation, first of all, in front of the right people with the right conversation, I'm not pulling new people in. I call it dating. I'm not dating my ideal client because listen, if my husband would have come to our first date with my ring, I would have thought this man is crazy. Girl, please come get me. Right.. But we do that. We think we're going to buy, we're going to build a whole sales page and people are going to buy. No, they need to date you for a while. They need to see the value that you bring. So part of your strategy needs to include that too, your dating strategy. So that I always tell my clients, you realize you put a ring on it, right? Because they've invested. So that means I have a ring from you. And so really looking at the same thing and creating strategy so you're not doing whatever, whenever, however. Everything you're doing, even posting on social media, Everything should be strategic, right?

Right. Yep, I love that. And excuse me, I have my frog in my throat. Yeah, my frog in my throat wants to come and say hello. I was told that by a 10-year-old, or asked that. Do you have a frog in your throat? Um, so, and at the same time, uh, you also talk about, um, Well, the finding the fear, so that would, would link into the Power One, right? That would link into them really understanding the WIFM, the what's in it for the other folks, right? Right. And so now you're getting them clear. Now this blueprint, um, and it's not a business plan, more like a strategy. And so is your process to like literally walk them through go through this process of defining and getting clear on not only, you know, their products and services, obviously, long before that, what they stand for. Yes.

Because again, it doesn't matter if you have products and services if you don't even market it to the right people. So it really is getting clear on— I call it dominating in your lane. First of all, you can't dominate if you don't have a lane to be in. Right. Right. Olympic runner, they can't run in all the lanes. They run in one lane. Right. Then from there, creating a— when I talk about a blueprint, it's like a recipe that makes up the secret sauce that's you. So there's a recipe in you that you do when you do what you do. And so it's, it's being able to take the time to pull that out of you, which is what I did with Deborah Tillman. She didn't realize she had a recipe, right? That, that if you put too much sugar in it, then it's too sweet, right? But it's knowing exactly when to do what to do that's intrinsic to who you be.

That makes sense. Right. Absolutely.

So that is what I do with my clients is helping them create— I call it a blueprint, or sometimes I call it a formula, right? So depending on what you feel like that day, or playbook, you can call it whatever you want. But it's really taking the time to understand what that is. And then the other thing I see people doing, like I get calls from corporations and they want me to come speak. First of all, all money's not good money. Yes. All money's not good money. So I have a 6-step formula myself. So whatever you're asking me to do doesn't fit into my formula, I say no. Good, because it's not in alignment with who I be. And understand, if you say yes to everything, it doesn't, it doesn't feel good. And if it doesn't feel good to you, it's not gonna feel good to your client, which then results in someone not being happy at the end of it, right? And so it's the more clear you get, it helps you find the right clients, it helps you say no to the things you have no business doing. And then people say stuff to me like, God, Nicole, there's something different about you. Uh, it's called clarity. That's all it is. And now I'm unapologetic because I'm really, really clear.

Yes, I, I would absolutely agree. Um, brilliant, brilliant. And I think it's really important, and I need to say this, um, because, uh, when she's talking about getting a coach and finding a coach, I want to stress something. Uh, she already said not all coaches are, you know, are good coaches, but more importantly, not all coaches, um work on what she works on. So if it comes to you wanting to get a business model that is made up of multiple streams of income, that allows you to make money while you're sleeping, you know, it's almost like product and service development in a way.

Like I'm producing you, right?

Right. You need— and I'm talking to the, to the listeners— you need to ensure that the coach that you're going out and looking for addresses those things specifically, because there's a lot of life coaches, there's certainly business coaches out there, there's transformational coaches.

And can I say something else about that too? There are also people that say they'll help you create online programs. Okay. And great, they can help you create online programs. But again, and then also people say 10K in 10 days or 20K in 20 days, which is all great. Yeah. But I don't care about your 20 days. What about your next 20? What about the 40 and the 60 after that? Absolutely. You're not creating a blueprint. You can't even sell beyond that. Right. And so it's not about just having a program, right? It's about understanding how you serve in your target market that then leads to the program.

Absolutely. And so you need to ask the questions, and a lot of the information that Nicole's been given will— can lend itself and be translated into questions that you need to use in your due diligence and your qualifying of a coach, but don't even bother. Just go to nicoleroberts.com.

And I have one better than that. Listen, for those of you that, you know, are curious and you are trying to figure out where you start, I have a Brilliance Roadmap quiz. It's free. Nice. You take the quiz, it's going to tell you if you're in one of three places. Either you're trying to figure out what your fierce is, which is your purpose, if you're ready to start alongside your 9 to 5, or you've been in business, but you haven't hit predictable revenue yet. And then after it tells you where you are, it then will give you 5 or 6 or 7 days of more work also for free. And I do that because of where I was in my business. I didn't know what to do and where to go. And here's the other thing, you get to date me for free. So if I'm a good fit, then we can continue to work. And if I'm not, at least you got some yummy insight for free and you can find someone that is a good fit for you.

Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, take advantage of it, people. Go to brillianceroadmapquiz.com and, uh, definitely take advantage of that quiz and that work. What do you have to lose? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But you know what you have to gain? A huge amount of clarity, huge amount of direction, huge amount of blueprint way beyond, like she said, the next 10 days, 20 days, so forth and so on. And you might just land yourself a brilliant Bears Coach.

I love it. Here's the thing I like to say I do. I help women become an MD, making a difference and making dollars while you do it.

Yeah, love it. MD, making difference, making dollars. Love it, love it, love it. All right, so what, um, I want to make sure we cover everything. What, uh, last tips would you have, um, when it comes to not just the, the tactical of, you know, making more money and that kind of thing, owning and declaring and going out and achieving the brilliance and what it is that they deserve. Well, what tips would you have?

I would say, you know, doing that is really creating meaning in this thing called life, right? So yes, you're going to make money. That's great. But I really want you to get this. When you are being all of what you've been put on this earth to be, I believe we all came here on assignment. So imagine if if all of us were being the women God created us to be unapologetically, just think about how wonderful this world would be. And just think about when you leave this life, like Chadwick Boseman died, you know, not too long ago. And listen, he worked through cancer. Who knew, right? But he was committed to his craft and he has left a huge legacy. So imagine when you say yes to that gift that's rumbling inside of you. Yeah, you make money. That's great. But you'll also make greater meaning for your family, for your community, and for this world. Yep.

And for yourself. There is nothing better than to find your passion and to go and, and live it. There's nothing, nothing better. Well, everyone, all right, so you need to go to nicolerobertsjones.com, check her out. You definitely need to download this quiz, Brilliance BusinessRoadmapQuiz.com, and you know, like she said, there's 7 days of work on top of the initial quiz that'll get you moving. And then you can just, you know, you can determine if there's a fit and an opportunity to work together. If not, nothing lost. I have absolutely loved talking with you. This is, I mean, yeah, this has been great, and I think everyone out there that is listening, both our corporate professionals as well as our entrepreneurial professionals, will take something away from this around being able to bankroll your brilliance.

Can I just say one quick thing to that? Absolutely. So this is about you— in Jim Collins' book Good to Great, this is about you getting in the right seat on the right bus. You might be on the right bus and be in the wrong seat, or you might be on a whole wrong bus altogether. So the quiz will still help you as well.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much for being part of the program. It's been awesome. And for everyone out there, remember, you can watch and listen to this episode and all our other episodes, whether that be on any one of the podcast streaming services— Apple Podcasts, iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify, even on blogtalkradio.com. Also see our smiling, lovely faces on our Shedding the Bitch YouTube channel, which is Bernadette Boas Shed the BTV. Now, for everyone here in the Shedding the Bitch community, thank you so much for joining us and look forward to another episode of the program next Tuesday at noon Eastern time. We'll talk to you, with you soon. Bye everybody. Thanks, Nicole.

Thank you. Thank you for listening to Shedding the Bitch Radio with Bernadette Boas. Join Bernadette every Tuesday at noon Eastern as she helps you shift your bitches to riches. And the dialogue is always going on at sheddingthebitch.com. See you next week.