From Waitress To $1Billion Dollar Exit - Dean Graziosi and Jamie Kern Lima Interview

Because I wrote this book for everyone, going, like, oh, my gosh, am I alone in my setbacks? And am I alone in the things that are the rejection? When you read my story online, you just see, oh, Denny's waitress sells. Billion dollar Company. You don't realize, like, oh, wait, the.

Roller coaster in between.

Yes.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Dean Graziosi Show. I am so excited today because this is kind of unfair to me because not only is our guest amazing and will inspire you and deliver you capabilities and allow you to see a path for this new year unlike anything you can imagine, but she's a dear friend and I love her and our family loves her. My wife loves her. And I would say I'm so glad you're here week after week listening to my podcast, but this might be one of the most important podcasts we've ever recorded. So I'm going to tell you, shut off the distractions, pull up a chair, hide in a corner. Shut off anything that could put your mind in another direction because you're going to want to hear every word. My next guest, or the guest of the month, I should say, is an amazing woman who has a story that you might know, might not. We'll go in a little more detail, but she went from Denny's with a dream to an employee with a dream to a desire to make an impact on women in such a huge way and got told a million times no, or it wasn't right, or not the right timing or you're not the right person. And we'll go into that a little bit. And through perseverance and keep pushing and overcoming obstacles and being resourceful when the resources weren't there and focusing on an outcome, she has built and did build the largest cosmetic brand in America. It Cosmetics, a brand that sold to L' Oreal for $1.2 billion. She was the first CEO in L' Oreal's history. And besides all of that and then incredible success, she is an incredible woman with a huge heart and a dear friend. Can we please give it up for miss Jamie Kern Lima? Jamie Dean.

I am so excited, so excited to be here and share this huge moment with you and everyone listening and watching in your community. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah.

So, I mean, you built this with thousands and thousands of employees. You sold the l' Oreal and then you kept running it. And you know the story. I know the story only because I love you and I listen every time you share. You sold it. You were CEO and you ran it for the amount of time that you decided to or it was in your deal. And now I'm so excited you got a new book coming out that the world needs. So I want to talk about that, too. So there's a couple of things I want to ask you in this interview because I know you so well that I don't think is going to be found in any other podcast or interview you do. And I think I have maybe a little leeway to ask you more personal stuff that I think really helps people. Because we're in this crazy time, right? The world has shifted. Things might not go back to the way they were. People have to. To take uncomfortable action like never before. They might have to move in directions that they never thought they had to, but now they must. And you just are such a bright shining light and you've been through it and you've been told no. So before I get to some questions that I can't wait to ask you, maybe you could just give a little bit. I know it's hard to say a little bit, but share a little bit of your journey. I know I hit the high levels, but I'd love for my audience that maybe don't know your story to really hear how inspirational it is.

Yeah, absolutely. My story, really big Picture, is about a girl who went from not believing in herself to believing in herself, from not knowing to even hear how to hear my own intuition, to learning to hear it and learning to trust myself. A girl who went from doubting she's enough to learning how to know that I'm more than enough. And, you know, it's really the reason I wrote this book is because it's like, it's the story of so many people out there, right, who are on this journey of learning how, like, how do you believe in yourself and trust yourself and know you're enough and step into all that you are and all that you're created to be. And so it's a journey. And yeah, this is like 95% of the book is stories I've never shared before ever, right? I'm like, all the things I did wrong, all the things I did right, and like how I went from, you know, struggling waitress to billion dollar entrepreneur. But more than that was just like how I learned to have the right relationships in my life that empowered me and turned down the volume on the wrong ones and all those things. So, you know, that is really kind of the journey. And, you know, I, you know, growing up, used to watch Oprah all the time and I always like Loved Oprah, how she'd interview and hear other people's stories. And so I always kind of just thought my whole life I would be a journalist where I interviewed other people because I love their stories. And so I wrote for the school paper in school, and I took probably the lowest starting salary out of school in their history. And I worked in small market television as a one man band reporter, right? Just like, just scrappy, trying to learn how to shoot video and edit and write stories and all those things. And I eventually was a television news anchor. And I thought that's what I would do my whole career and eventually do a talk show. And it is so funny how. And these are moments for everybody, right? Sometimes it is voluntary, sometimes it is involuntary, like the year 2020 has been for so many people. But I had this moment where I had to learn to trust myself because something happened to me that I thought was a setback as I was working as a TV news anchor. And I was faced with that decision of knowing when to let go of a dream is as important as knowing when to go after one. And what I mean by that is I started getting this skin condition called rosacea on my cheeks, all over my face. And it's for people that have never heard of that before. It's a hereditary skin condition. And so, like, for me, imagine if you touched your own skin and it felt like sandpaper with these bumps everywhere and everything's bright red. So I was getting that on my face and I would go to the dermatologist and I learned there's no cure. I would try all the stuff. Nothing worked. And what happened is I was, you know, in my. What I thought was my dream job, you know, and like, you know, really grateful to have it. And I'd be anchoring the news live, and I'd hear in my earpiece from the producer, like, there's something on your face. There's something. You need to wipe it off. You need to. And I would be live doing the news, right? And I knew there was nothing I could wipe off. I knew it was that the makeup was breaking up right under. For everyone who wears makeup, it starts to break up, typically under, like, hot lights or just from where. And the red was coming through on live tv. Yeah. And so I went through this season of like, you know, our inner critic, which is so fun.

The other thing too is you're trying to live in the moment, right, of being a great host. And simultaneously, there's that other voice at the same time going, oh, my God, is your Rosacea popping out. How bad does it look? Should I stop or I can't stop. Oh, my God. I got to focus on what I'm talking about. You know, I always. I say that only because I'm fortunate enough to speak on stage and those types of things. And I know that balance of, like, being on stage while you're presenting, and you also have that other dialogue going. Hey, why is the person in the third row sleeping? Like, both of those at once, right? So it's like you have that inner dialogue. Like, I'm presenting, I'm doing my thing. But, oh, my God, is my insecure rosacea. Like, am I getting insecure because my rosacea is popping through? So I'm sorry. That I can visualize it.

You can visualize, and it would, like, I don't know if this ever happens to you also, but it would turn into thoughts in my head, like, what if viewers change a channel? What if ratings go down? What if I get fired? Like, all those things, right? And so I thought this was, like, a big setback in my life happening. And so many times entrepreneurs out there, right, things start with a problem they want to solve or an experience they had they weren't expecting or whatever it was. So in that season, I thought, oh, this is the worst thing. Like, I finally got a great job in tv. And so anyways, I started spending my paycheck on makeup and. And, like, trying to figure it out. And I'd buy the most expensive department stores if I could afford it, or get the free samples or the least expensive drugstore or the pro makeup. And I was like, why is nothing working for me? And then two things happened. One was a deep kind of knowing that didn't make sense because I knew nothing about the beauty industry. Nothing. I knew no one had no connections. I got this, like, deep, deep kind of inkling, this knowing, like, oh, if I can actually figure out how to create a product that works for me, it's probably also going to help a lot of other people that just, like me, can't find anything that works for them. So I had that instinct. The second thing that in some ways was almost more important without me realizing it, I, right in front of me, realized a deeper why behind the why of why I was going to do this business. And what I mean by that is, when I couldn't find anything that worked out there, I all of a sudden realized, like, oh, my whole life I've seen these magazine ads, these television commercials, and every model in them, like, has perfect skin. I don't even know if they're wearing the product they're selling. And I realized that my whole. And I know, Dean, you have a daughter. My whole growing up, my whole life, I'd always seen these commercials and these ads, and I always aspire to look that way. But, like, I also, deep down inside, they made me feel like I wasn't enough. And I had this realization, oh, you know, what if I can create a product that works, but more importantly, a mission around using, like, real people as models, like all ages, sizes, skin tones, like skin challenges, and call them beautiful and mean it. Like, what if I could shift culture in the beauty industry? For every little girl out there is about to start learning to doubt herself.

She's enough.

Exactly the way she is, exactly every grown woman who still does. And so it became this thing that happened where it was like, oh, I have this feeling I'm supposed to do this. I don't know what the heck I'm doing. And more than that, this bigger, this deeper pain, this deeper wound, I realized and I realized, oh, if I can actually affect that for other people. And that kind of deep, deep, deep why was actually what helped fuel the journey, which I didn't know was going to be three years of rejection and nos and down to no money and no one believing in my dream.

Yeah. And, you know, it makes total sense. The more I get to know you and the more I hear your story is. It makes sense because you need a deep, strong why to pull you through the. The millions of no's and being sent out of a place where you probably went out in your car and cried and said, why am I doing this? And all those types of things. You know, I know that journey. We could bypass all the ups and downs and say, and you got to do this amazing deal with l'. Oreal. But I'd love to share. You know, again, I have some questions I want to get, but I want people to know the story. I'd love for you to share that story. Because the story of when you were rejected and you had the nerve to say, would you mind just telling me the truth on why? Because I want everybody to listen through this, through a lens of knowing that we've all been in this position, we've all had the rejection told, it won't work. We weren't smart enough, weren't pretty enough, weren't young enough, weren't rich enough, weren't educated enough. And we have two choices when those things happen in life. We let it accumulate and we let it build up To a point where you go, maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe I'm the wrong size, maybe I'm wrong shape, maybe I live in the wrong area. Or we find a way to make it our strength. It becomes the anchor you drag across the desert or the wind behind the sails as you go across the ocean to new frontiers. And I know it's a subtle little difference. And one of the things I hope that will, I always say on this podcast, is take what serves you from this and put the rest on hold. But in this shifting time of uncertainty in our world, where you don't know what's going to change, we don't know what's next, maybe your career, your life, your business has shifted. We need that. We need to be armored. We need the tools, and we need the mindset to go, okay, this was a setback. This was maybe designed for me. As hard as it is, that's a must. If you are listening to me, you want another level of life, and that is why I love having Jamie here. And I really want you to hear this story. But put yourself in these shoes. And then I got some great questions I think will anchor in how Jamie got there.

So. You know, it's funny, when you said that, one story of rejection, literally, like, 100 first entered my mind. There were so many.

Dean.

It was, you know, I thought, when you just launch a product, if it works, like, it's just gonna sell, people are gonna get it. And, you know, it was. Every retailer was saying, no, every departments are qvc. My dream was to go on QVC and show prove live the product works. I don't need a fake ad. And, you know, I wanna show live, right? Those were all my dreams. And every single one of them said no, like, for years. And so we got to this point where we were down to under a thousand dollars in our bank account, which was our company bank account, but also our personal bank account. And we got an inbound interest from a private equity company who saw, like, how good our product was, right? Because we were selling, like, two to three orders a day on our website. So somehow they heard about it. And I was so excited because this was a private equity company that had created so many products. Most of us buy in grocery stores and things like that. Not created them, but invest in them. A lot of times when they were small and helped them scale to be household names. And I thought, oh, my gosh, like, if they invest in us, A, we're not going to go bankrupt, B, maybe they can use their contacts or their leverage to help finally get us into some of these retailers that I'm dreaming of selling my product in, who all keep saying no and we're not the right fit and all that. I was so excited. And so we took meetings. We started the meetings process, and it was going really, really well. Then the diligence process, where they do, like, your projections, your. All that stuff. We got down to the final meeting, and I was like. And we. Paula, my husband and I flew in for it. And I thought, like, oh, I was so excited, right? And because it really sucks when you don't know how you're gonna make it, and you have no proof of your own.

You're working straight off of courage because there's no proof that you're gonna make it through this.

You get courage and dollar hot dogs from this Costco stand, and you know what I mean? And it's just, like, been there. So, yeah, so we. So we flew out, and I was, like, so fired up. And I'll never forget this. My husband, Paula, was standing right next to me, and their head investor was about three feet from me. And, you know, they're super nice, super kind, everything. And then he says to me, he's like, so, you know, we're really rooting for you and thank you for all this info and all the meetings, and we love your product, but we're going to pass on investing in it. Cosmetics. It's a no. And I remember looking at him, and I was so used to hearing no, right? So by that point, so I was like, oh, okay. Can you share? Like, why? Why? Because feedback's almost always a gift. And I'll never forget, he was, like, three feet from me, and he goes, well, do you want me to be really honest with you? Like, really honest? I was like, yes, please, absolutely. And he looks at me and he says, I just don't think women will buy makeup from someone who looks like you, you know, with your body and your weight. And I remember in this moment, like, two things happened that were for me.

I felt a punch in my stomach just now, so I can't imagine.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, like, it was like. I remember it was weird. It was almost like I was watching his lips move and these words come out. First thing is, I felt like a lifetime of body doubt and. God, like, yeah, body doubt and self doubt, like, flood my whole body. But I felt like I was staring my own fear in the eyes, right? Because obviously this was a situation I'm very aware of my whole life. Anyone who struggled with body image issues and stuff like that. So I was watching him say that I felt like. I felt like a. I was staring my own fear in the eyes, and I needed to keep my faith bigger than it. But I also got this gut feeling, right? And if we ever truly do the work of learning to hear that inner knowing, I instantly got this gut feeling while he was talking that said he's wrong. But I also knew, like, if I was ever going to prove that, I had to figure out how to believe it for myself. Right? And the other thing that happened was, and I think in life, we can take the route of, oh, poor me, I'm a victim of this dude saying horrible things. It's like I actually felt. No, I didn't even get mad. What's crazy about it was I realized in that moment, him saying those words, him passing on investing my company because of my body, my weight, I was like, oh, you know what? This deep why that I know of, why I'm doing what I'm doing to help shift culture and beauty, like, he's just a byproduct of the same way, the same things I saw growing up. He and his whole life has only learned you have to look one certain way to sell product.

Right. You found a way to actually anchor in your thought process.

I did, right.

Like, oh, my God, this is more proof that I'm right. More proof.

And I'm like, wow, if. And he doesn't. He was a guy, and some guys do wear makeup. He was a guy who didn't wear makeup. He didn't. I don't even know. You know what I mean? So he directly wasn't affected by that industry. And even him, Even he was direct, you know, he was affected by that industry. Right. And he has daughters, too, and all these things. And he was making a decision based on his life experiences that told him what was going to succeed and what wasn't. And I realized how he was impacted by the same thing that was going to now drive me to right all. And again, it was now. It was a long time after that meeting where I still got knocked down, said, no, all those things. But I used what he said and turned it into fuel because I knew that my mission mattered. I knew it mattered, even if no one else got it at the time. And not to jump ahead, by the way, not to jump ahead, but just to share this for anyone who's dealing with a big setback right now, I really believe it comes down to our mindset and to how we handle it and to how we don't let it turn into doubt in our own head. Learn to turn down the volume on it. Learn to turn it up into fear fuel. Because just to share this, in case someone doesn't listen to the whole show, fast forward a bunch of years. A lot more rejections. All those things. Like, six or seven years later, when we sold a L' Oreal for $1.2 billion cash, their largest acquisition in their history, I got an email from him. Got an email from him, and, oh, I want to tell you one more thing, Dean. I don't think I've ever shared this. I want to tell you this part, too. Okay. Really fast. Sorry. I'm so excited right now.

Please.

I'm loving this because I wrote this book for everyone, like, going like, oh, my gosh, am I alone in my setbacks? And am I alone in the things that are. The rejection. When you read my story online, you just see, oh, Denny's waitress sells. Billion Dollar Company. You don't realize, like, oh, wait, the.

Roller coaster in between.

Yes. And sharing those hard. Those things, the rejection. Like, that's how we know we're not alone. That's how we know. Oh, it's not personal to me. Oh, I got to keep going. If my gut's telling me right, I got to keep going. So I get this email from him the day we sold to l'. Oreal, and he says, congratulations on your deal. I was wrong. And I learned we would. So two things. I learned we would have been his most successful investment in his entire firm's history had he said yes. But here's the thing. Here's the bigger thing I learned. And no matter what faith people have or don't have, or if they believe in the universe, whatever, there's a famous saying that rejection is God's protection. Right? You could also say rejection is the universe protection. There's a lot of ways to say it's. Here's what happened, Dean. At the time, I was, like, so desperate for him to say yes and to invest in all those things. And I didn't know how we were going to make it. There was no proof around me we were going to make it. I would have probably sold him, like, the majority of my business for, like, close to nothing. I mean, that's what would have happened, right? But he said no. And because he rejected me. And even though it was so painful during. When we had years of rejection because of all those rejection because of no one believing in us, by the time we sold a L' Oreal for 1.2 billion. We did have investors by that time, but we had stayed the largest shareholder all the way through the sale. Right? So, like, had he actually said yes, I wouldn't have ended up the largest shareholder. My whole life would be different. Do you see what I'm saying?

Yes.

When we go through seasons of hardship, whether it's all the uncertainty, the unfairness, the disappointment of 2020, whether it's other happening in our own life, I just think that how we handle it and how we keep going and how we learn to trust ourselves even when there is no proof around us, to me, that is how we stay on track. Not just to turning our setbacks into our setups, but also in all the rejection and all the hard times. I believe that is how we get strong enough to then actually be able to handle and carry the weight of our successes and our dreams coming true when they happen. Because your dreams don't just come true. And you're like, oh, your life is easy now. You know this, Dean. Your dreams come true. And you're like, oh, I have a lot of new jobs now and a lot of new responsibilities now, and a lot of new problems now. And, you know, and so anyways, I think that perspective is huge on the whole thing.

Yeah, I know. I love sharing that because it is easy to see waitress to billionaire, you know, waitress to billion dollar sale. Right. And not having peace. Why I love you wrote this book. Listen, we've got the chance to spend a lot of time together. We've been on flights together. We'd spent hours talking. My wife, our families. And I love how you share that journey. Because it doesn't matter if you're starting from where you were at Denny's with a dream you're in the middle of, as our friend Jenna Kutcher says, the messy middle.

Right?

Or you're on the end looking for the next level. Like, the way you talk, the way you write, the way you relate is written for anyone. Guys, too. I mean, all of us. Written in a way where you. It's more than hope. I think hope is a great. We all need to have hope, but we need the ability to bounce back after rejection. You know, just Sunday, I flew to Las Vegas. I got invited to speak at an event. It was a virtual event in a kind of arena. And there was 32,000 people at the event, virtually all around the world. And I just asked because there was chats all over, was big screens and there was chats everywhere. And I said, what's the number one thing you Feel in this, you know, we have Covid and all this craziness going on in the world. What's the number one thing that's holding you back from really going forward? And I have to tell you, the number one thing coming up on the screen was rejection. I was thinking uncertainty or fear, which was huge, too. Fear. Not everybody uses the word uncertainty, but rejection seemed like every third one. Jamie. It was like, I'm afraid of rejection. And I think we all have this fear internally of like, what if I go for who I feel God designed me to be? Or like you say, the universe. But I believe in God and I believe God designed us for more. I believe, and I know you do too. I know it's easier to believe when you're on the other side, guys, I understand that. But I believe all the obstacles in your way are designed by a bigger God, the universe, what you believe, a bigger purpose, because you don't get to enjoy the fruits of your labor without paying your success tax, without being told, you don't have the right body, you don't have the right look, and still walk out. I mean, if you. I always use a silly analogy. Like if there was a success auditor, could you imagine after 2000 or 200 other no's, getting someone to look you in the eye three feet away and say, you don't look the part. It's never going to work. Could you imagine if there was a success auditor watching Jamie go out in the car and go, that's probably it for her. She's probably done. And then the next day, a little bit of self doubt. By day three, she's back in the game, making phone calls, pushing. Could you imagine the checkbox you'd get? Like, wow, okay, she's on her way. And I want you to think about that as you listen to Jamie when she tells you there was hundreds of nos. She's not exaggerating when she tells you that someone looked in her face and told you you're not the right look, not the right shape, not the right body. I mean, I can't even imagine that. And dudes don't get to experience that. Right? We don't. You can't. I don't even think we could put ourselves in those shoes down to a thousand bucks. Your husband believing you as well. You're working as partners. That's another question I want to ask is keeping that balance in a relationship too. But the reason I love that you're putting your work out there and you don't need to do anything. Jamie So I honor you that you took the time and obsessed on writing this book, that you're getting it out to the world. It comes out, like, next week, I think. Yay. Yeah. Like, you have to get it out there. And so with that, if you could put your. This is a long question. When people are on the other side. You made the sale. I have 13 companies and all the stuff, you go, well, you're on the other side. In hindsight, I know that now. It's really probably evident for you to say, at least with me, that my next level always lived on the thing I feared the most or I was afraid to face or the obstacle I had to overcome. Putting yourself back in those shoes with all the no's. If there was two or three things you could give someone right now who's feeling like, if I go for who I want to be, my husband might even reject me, the universe might reject me. If I put my brand out there, they might reject me. What are some of the things that allowed you to rebound from rejection?

Yeah. Such a good question. I'm so excited about this because literally, if someone's struggling with rejection, this book is for you. If someone is scared to be rejected, this book is for you. And one thing to share on something you just said, too. Dean, you talked about flying on the airplane, right? And you, your family, all of us. I just want to share something. Why I love your podcast so much because I feel like it's so rare. So for me, whenever you and I and our group of friends and your family are on a plane, even if we're going to the same event, right? Or whatever it is, that time on the plane is like the only time just about where we're not on our phones. We're literally having the best conversation.

I know.

They fill my soul. Right. And I feel like your podcast is that way. And I'm just having this moment where every single person community, right now, I feel like right now we're all together, all of us on a plane. Meaning, like, we're in one space. We can't go off and do a million other things with a million other distractions. And we're just sharing together, like stories and tips and I don't know, I'm just having a moment of gratitude. I wanted to share with you and everyone in your community. So we're just going to be on a plane, the rest of the plane, flight together.

Perfect.

And we'll ignore any other people on the flight. We'll just all be together, just, like, share in this. So Okay, a couple things on rejection. Here's the deal. At the end of the day, I feel like so many people talk themselves out of their own truth and talk themselves out of the person they're actually born to be. And literally not to be. Like, I don't want to be a downer, but most people never become the person they're born to be because they let self doubt, fear of rejection, other people's opinions, all that noise, like not only be so loud, but loud to the point where they can't even hear their own truth to trust it. Do you know what I mean? And I think that like for somebody right now, what's so important is to do a little bit of work in learning how to get still and actually start to learn to hear your own truth, your own knowing, your own instinct. This is a journey. It's a journey to be able to do it right. I'm still not perfect at it, but like to make it really simple, to make it really simple. Because a lot of people will say like, oh, I haven't heard my own intuition in a long time, I don't even trust it or I've never heard it right. I believe we are all born with a knowing. I don't think that there's any exception to it. I think we all have this and it's free by the way. We all have this knowing deep down inside and like, you know, whether it's a woman or a man or anyone listening right now. A simple example is most of us have a friend that's lied to us or we've dated a sketchy person who their phone breaks and they disappear overnight or we have something's not adding up with this friend in our life. We all have that inkling, right? We kind of know. And we could choose to ignore it and we could choose, you know what, I'm going to keep this relationship going or I'm in. But we kind of know, right? And that's just a very basic thing. But I believe we also know if we're in the wrong job right now. I think we also know, like do I need to start the blog? Do I need to pick up the phone and just call 50 new potential clients and drown out my own self doubt and know that it's a gift to them if we work together. Like we know what if we really tune in? We know, but I feel like the biggest mistake is like we don't ever learn to truly hear that.

Well, isn't it in today's busy. Sorry, I want to go deeper on this. But in today's crazy busy world, right. Especially with the world shifting and some people are teaching their kids at home, homeschooling and working from home and job, balance and life. And I also believe that Covid, I think the world has asked for time to reflect, and the universe kind of gave us that. With COVID Right. We get to analyze our lives on where we are. Like, is this the path you want to be on for the rest of your life? Or are you listening to. Are you part of my tribe and my community and listening to this podcast because you know, it's time for you to shift, but you feel scared. You feel, you know, what if you're rejected or you feel like an imposter? And we'll talk about that in a minute. But something as you were saying this, I want to tell you what came into my mind, Jamie.

Yeah.

Is. And I'm men and women, we both have lots. But let's just since I'm talking to you, like, I was picturing a woman who is maybe whether she has her own business or job or the most amazing job in the world, being at home and being a mom, whatever that career path is. But I picture as we go through life, we become one person as a mom and maybe one person as a wife or partner, and then one person at our job, and then one person at happy hour with your friends, venting for five minutes when you finally get a break. And it seems like men are women. Sometimes we get lost in that cloud and we're a mom, a wife, a great worker, a great friend. But we forget that there's that you that lives in there that's screaming, saying, please let me out. Is that a feeling you've had? Because I could see that. And how's a way to come back to, I could still be a great partner, mom, friend, but I need to be me.

Yeah. And I think that it's so easy and by the way, not to be way off topic, but busyness and all over the place ness, which is so tempting. Busyness is like. It's an addiction, first of all. And it's like any other addiction where it numbs us and separates us from ourselves. And it's very easy to not feel anything when we're all over the place. And also to think that we need to be all over the place. Right? Like, oh, I've got to be a friend and I've got to see my family and I've got to. And I'm failing trying to homeschool right now, and I'M trying. It's very easy to do all that. I think that none of that, I don't mean to downplay any of it, but I think until we get that inner alignment, that inner knowing that, you know, who am I called to be? Who is the person I'm born to be? Until we fuel that, everything else is just going to be. You know what I mean?

We're reactive. Right? You become. You play life. You play defense for life rather than offense. So, okay, so that leads me into one more thing so I can picture say, okay, I know I got to find my purpose. I know I have something inside of me I want to more. But the term that I hear more than anything and we have in our companies and my following, like right now, our whole demographic is about 62% women right now. And the one thing I hear a lot with women and guys too, but as they evolve into their own thing or try to scale, is the term imposter syndrome. I feel like I'm an imposter. My friends don't see it that way. Maybe my parents don't see me in that light. My husband might not see me in that light. So that rubs off enough where I have self doubt, which I've had, I felt self doubt most of my life. You just got to overcome it. But that, that term, imposter syndrome, there had to be times when you walked out of a meeting and turned no and said, well, who am I? I'm such an idiot for trying. I don't have makeup. I don't have the right body. I have rosacea. I don't have money. I've never been in the cosmetic world. I should just quit and go back to what I know.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The very first most important thing is for I love so much you're talking about this because when you scroll Instagram, you don't see people going, I have imposter syndrome today. No. You see their highlight reel and you think you're alone in it. I believe this is the most important thing to know. I believe every single person, like maybe few exceptions, I don't know, has imposter syndrome. I remember hearing Oprah. I do, always.

Yeah.

And I remember Oprah talking about all the moment, I mean, this is growing up, but all the moments where she has felt that way. When she started her career, she tried to be like Barbara Walters on air instead of herself. Like, Right. So she has her own evolution. I believe every person, just about every person out there has it. And I think once you know that, it's so like healing in a way, because, you know, okay, I. I am feeling like I am not qualified right now. I am feeling like I don't belong. I am feeling all those things. But guess what? Every person who has literally ever built anything great that I am aware of, when you ask them, they will share that. They go through that too. So the very first thing is just knowing that it is there. The second thing, and I think this is so important, and this is why I keep saying, like, doing, and I talk so much about this in the book because I did so many things wrong, Dean, and in this journey and made so many mistakes that I hope when people read about them, it'll save them many nights crying themselves to sleep and they won't make those mistakes. But like, one of the things that I did really, really right was really know how to hear my own truth and then trust it, right? And the times I didn't do that are the times we had big failures. The times I listened to even visionaries and experts. Sometimes it's great to listen to them. But when something they're saying doesn't truly align with your gut, that's when you've got to put your gut on a pedestal over experts advice. And when it comes to imposter syndrome, specifically, a couple things. Self doubt, which gets fueled so much by, of course, rejection, of course, other people's opinions, of course, things not going your way. I love this example. And in case someone needs to hear this out there, it's this imaginary thing that I do. But I think it's a powerful tool you can implement in your own life right now. And you have to do it intentionally. When you share your dream with your partner or your mom or your neighbor or an expert, whatever it is, and you can tell they're not feeling it, they're doubting you, whatever it is, you have to learn to take your own imaginary volume dial, right, your own microphone back. You have to turn down the volume on that. You cannot go back to them again and keep talking about your dream because all of a sudden you're letting all of that speak into you. It is so important to know this, whether it's your friends in the circle around you or whether it's experts that are doubting you. If your gut is telling you you're on the right track, right? What you have to get really good at is turning down the volume on everyone else. And you have to find people that understand that dream big, that are in community. And you don't want people telling you bs like they have to be telling you the truth, but you want people that speak into you. You have to turn up the volume on your own truth. And it's this imaginary thing I do. And I literally in my own head, Dean, when I hear someone reject me now, I mean I'm so good at hearing rejection. And to this day I'm with Yamin, right? But to this day I get rejected all the time for stuff. All the time I have this idea or that idea, you know what I mean? Or I want to do this and I get rejected all the time to this day. Which by the way, back to our point, all this hardship we are going through, it makes us strong enough to be able to carry the weight of where we are called to go. So where I am called to go, I am still getting rejection. But I am strong enough now where I don't cry myself to sleep three nights in a row like I did for many years.

I wrote a whole chapter once called the power of you can't because you can't. Or rejection can be cumulative. Where you go, hey, I had a hundred no's, I don't have a good brand here. Let me go back to what I was doing simultaneously though that with a little proof you realize the more nos is just the build to the yes. Like it's either your fuel or your anchor, right? And I love how you're sharing that and I want everybody to really think through that. You can take rejection. I mean the worst part is sometimes we take advice about dating or our relationship from our single friend or money advice from our broke friend and we let it sink in. And Jamie, you said it's so right. Like we go back to them five or 10 times trying to resell them while simultaneously we're just building more self doubt for ourselves. Because each time you're not breaking through, it doesn't mean your idea is not great. It means they're not qualified or they don't have the vision or they tried something and failed. And one more thing I want to share. And then I had a dear friend who has passed. He was born with a rare disease. They told his parents he had a couple of weeks to live and he lived till 42 and had a freak accident in his wheelchair. It's the only reason he's not with us. His name is Shawn Stevenson. He was 3 foot tall. He broke 280 bones in his body and was the most confident, dynamic, amazing man you'd ever meet. Like just when he walked in a room when he, as he said, you guys aren't as lucky as me, when I walk in a room, you might have a couple people look. He goes, I get everybody looking at me. That's the kind of man he was, right? He's like, so don't be jealous. They're all going to look at me. Don't be jealous. And he'd walk in a room and go, hey, everybody. Hi. I know, I know, right? That's what kind of guy he was. But he was also a psychologist and obsessed on helping relieve people of suffering. And I just want to share one thing that came to mind when you were talking. He said, so many times in life, we don't realize when we have a dream, a goal, a desire, a passion. If the people around us that we spend too much time with don't support us, we feel bad for burning our light so bright. So what we do is we turn it down. And I just. When he said that, I'm like, wow. He said, do not turn your light down. Burn so bright that eventually they'll come to the light. And if they don't, that's okay. They have their own journey. And it just made me think of that. Like, don't dare turn down your glow for someone else.

Yeah. And so many times people feel like they need to listen because it's their partner, their family, or their close friends have been friends for 20 years. And so many people, they love, like. And here's the thing. A lot of people around you, they love you, they want the best for you. They're giving you their best advice that they don't believe in your dream. They're giving, like, they care about you, good hearts, but, like, they only see things through their own lens of experience and limitations, and they're doing the best they can. And it's hard sometimes to go, okay, I need to love all of them from a new boundary, a new distance. And I'm going to talk with them about the Bachelor tonight, or I'm going to talk about the weather or what we're going to cook for dinner Friday. But, like, I'm going to talk to these other people. I'm going to bring new people in my circle that when I want to dream big and I want to, like, get the right kind of feedback, even when it's critical, the right kind of feedback, because people really get it. That, you know, that's when you turn the volume up on those people, and then that's when you still love all the people that you love. But, like, exactly. Because energy is contagious. Right? So that's exactly what you just said, if somebody. The more you have that around you, not only the more you dim your light, but I feel like subconsciously as human beings, we start to dim our own light also to have love and acceptance around us and to match everyone else's end and we lower our vibration. It's contagious. So just being mindful of that is so powerful. You know what I mean?

Yeah. I mean, at the end of your life, if we get the chance to sit down with our maker, whoever you believe your maker is, would you want to say, you know, thank you for putting me on this earth. Thank you for making me a human. You know, I lived a good life. I was going to do more, but, you know, my husband, my friend, my mom, my sister, my friend, they thought I was kind of crazy with my dreams, and I didn't want to make them feel bad. So, you know, I lived a good life and I had some pretty cool accomplishments. Like, I don't think we want that. I think that would be a moment as it was coming out of your mouth. You'd be like, can I do a do over? Please give me one more shot. I want to go. Like, I think more than anything, we would love to be able to say, hey, you know, my friends weren't as crazy and didn't see the potential I had me. And that was okay for them, but I went for it anyway. I think we'd be okay. Even more so than a good life to say my life was kind of a roller coaster, but I went for it. I found my dreams. I overcame the imposter syndrome. I overcame rejection. I went for it. And I don't think you can end that story if you get up. You know, you say, if you fail once, what do you do? Try again. If you fail another hundred times, what do you do? You try a hundred different other ways to overcome it. I don't think you can have that conversation without saying, and finally I had the breakthrough and I got to lean into this full potential and I got to live a more fulfilled life. And I had. I feel like I squeezed all the juice out of life. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I think of those crazy things in my life when I'm going to let someone's opinion stop me or a no, stop me. I'm like, what am I going to say to God when I'm sitting next to him that I wasted this life he gave me? Hell no.

Because of someone. Fear of rejection. I love this. So anyone listening right now, who needs this, like, even taking that story you just shared, right? And it's like remembering that when you're about to be afraid to do something because you don't want to face rejection, right? And go, which would you rather have? Would you rather have stay in your comfort zone and not be rejected? Or would you, right? But then arrive on that day knowing, oh, I didn't step into all the person I was born to be. I know, right? So which is stronger?

And the other thing, too, is the reason I love that you wrote this book. I love this book. And I can't wait to get the audio because I've already gone through so much of it reading, but I love listening to audios. But here's what I want to say to everybody. Some of you are thinking right now, Dean, Jamie, this sounds amazing. I love listening to you, but I don't have a lot of positive people in my life. Here's what I want to tell you. Neither did I. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I love my family, but I had to turn to books. I still listen to a book on audio every day of my life while I exercise. And I exercise probably six days a week. So six days a week, there's an audio in my ears because that's the people I surround myself with when I want to learn how to overcome rejection, obstacles, be better at marketing, sales. I find people who've already been there, and I find people who are playing the game at the highest level. And I find people that are willing and amazing enough to take the time to dedicate their life and their story, to share what they've been through, and that's what you've done. So today, I love the fact that we're sharing this, but if this resonates with you, then go make sure you, first of all, go to Instagram and say hi to Jamie, because she's got a great page. And I know you don't do a million things there, but I love everything you're doing on your Instagram. But also, I know your book's coming out. If anything we did today resonates, go grab this book, share it with a friend. This podcast, take a screenshot, put it on Instagram, and tell your friends if they need this, if they feel rejected, they want another level. They feel burned out. They don't feel they're living on purpose. Get them to listen to this podcast so you can help them listen. I do podcasts every week. I don't get paid to do podcasts. I don't even run ads on my Podcast. We do this to give back to our community. And I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't say that. To not go get this book and learn more, especially we got to touch a little bit. I know you've shared so many secrets in the book, so I go on a rant because I know what this could do for people. But why did you. You don't need to do anything. You don't need to write a book, Jamie. You could be sitting on a beach right now with like 10 Coronas or Pina coladas lined up and your kids playing in the sand and your husband kite surfing or something. Why'd you write this book?

I literally wrote it because I feel like every single thing I've gone through, for me, it's worth it if I can help, if it can be of service to someone else, like, that's it. For, I think, eight years I've had lit agents wanting me to do a book, hiring a ghostwriter, all that. And I said, no, I didn't do it because I wanted to write every single word myself. I wanted it to be so authentic that I know that, like every. And that's what I believe part of everyone's calling is in life. That's why I think everyone has a story to share. Everyone has. For me, it's like I've figured out the hard way how to, you know, create a new circle around me. I've created. I figured out the hard way how to endure hundreds and hundreds of no's and rejection and get back up and keep going. I figured out the hard way how to nurture every relationship. And l' Oreal was a no for three years. And how did I, how did I navigate that? To turn it into a one point billion dollar, $1.2 billion cash deal and have them make me their first woman CEO of a brand in their 107 year history, right? How for me, the bigger win isn't those things. The bigger win is if I know I live through all that and someone else on their own journey of going from not believing themselves to believing themselves. Like, not trust. Like learning how to trust yourself, Right? Learning how to know you're enough. Learning how to know, like, oh, this is how I hear my gut, how I step into all that. I'm called to be. That's why I wrote this book. And one thing to share, because I literally love what you just said and I love listening to you as a mentor before I met you. Right, Oprah. And by the way, books, books have Been my mentor, too. When we talk about creating a new circle, it doesn't necessarily need to be people, right? It's just the right voices that you're letting in and that are fueling you. Like, I watched Oprah my entire life. She was my mentor from afar, and I had never met her. I share a crazy story in this book about when I did meet her and how she became my mentor in real life and how she was the very first person to read this book cover to cover, by the way. And I wanted her blessing on some of the crazy stuff I share in here about her and about everything that's happened. Another Tony Robbins, right? When I was a Denny's waitress, as you know, I would say my tip money to buy his personal power tapes. Like, hearing those audio tapes, for me, whether it's a book help me believe that where I came from doesn't determine where I'm going. And so that was someone in my circle who I had never met. So when I was just with you and him speaking, doing a keynote on his stage, Full circle moment, Right? But whether it's a book, whether it's going to a Dean Graziosi event, whatever it is, that's also our circle around us that helps fuel the person that we're called to be.

So, I mean, my life shifted because of Tony's course two decades ago. Right. It put me on a path to obsess on self education. And again, I would tell everybody, if any of this podcast resonated with you today, share it with a friend who needs it. Like, it takes a second to screenshot it, send the link, get them to go listen to this, and for yourself, go grab the book again. I know Jamie personally. I know her passion behind this and her experience. I can't wait to get the audio because I will burn through the entire audio. I know you recorded the whole thing, so congratulations. So before we go, how do people go get the book right now? Oh, yeah.

Okay. So you can. You can. Oh, yeah. And I have really cool free stuff this week for launch week. Like, it doesn't cost a penny.

Like, nothing.

This is just like, I'm so excited. First ever book. So you can grab Believe It. It's called Believe It. How to Go From Underestimated to Unstoppable. You can grab Believe it anywhere books are sold. Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble. There's indie bookstore, so grab it anywhere. And then if you head to believeit.com, just enter your order number and then you get my free. I did a free course called Becoming how to overcome things holding you back.

And also, that's only for launch week, right? Yeah, yeah. Do that now. Like, do it now. Do it now during launch week. So go. You can. And what's the URL again? I'll put it in the show.

Yeah. So the book is Believe it. And then the URL is the website believe it.com.

Just believe it.com go to believe it.com youm can get a link to any one of those places to buy online. Then you come back with your receipt number and you get cool bonuses from Jamie for free. Jamie, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for taking the time to share what's in your heart. I can't wait to listen to it from beginning to end. I love what I've read so far, but I comprehend listening, so I'm like. I'm waiting for the whole thing.

I do both, too. I love both because sometimes I. Yeah, I love it. Yeah. Thank you. I'm excited. I'm so excited.

You're welcome. So go get Jamie's book. Say hi on Instagram. Share this podcast with every friend that needs it. Because when do you get the chance to talk to an amazing woman who went from Denny's to rejection to being scared to almost giving up to CEO of IT Cosmetics and the biggest deal l' Oreal ever did? I love your story. I love your heart, and keep up the good work.

Thanks, Jamie Dean. Thank you so much.

What's up? What's up? Hey, before you go, you need to watch these next few videos. They're absolute game changers. Hurry up and click right over here and watch them and I'll see you there. Sam.