Why A $1 Billion Founder Pivoted Entirely To YouTube | The Lisa Bilyeu Story

Lisa Bilieu is the host of Women of Impact, built a billion-dollar company, but she realized that money didn't buy her confidence.

People who knew my Quest background, they're like, but Lisa, you just built a billion-dollar company. Why aren't you teaching women to build a billion-dollar company? And I'm like, because the money didn't change my life. My confidence changed my life.

She used to be so afraid of making mistakes that it took her 8 hours just to write one perfect Instagram post.

I wrote an Instagram post, wrote the post, not even posted the post. It was a photo. It took me something like 8 hours. To write a post because I wanted it to be perfect.

Then she realized that she needed to focus on improvement instead of perfection.

And what I started to realize was instead of focusing on perfection, focus on improvement. Every time I do something, every piece of drawing I do, every piece of content I put out, I'm like, what's the goal of this piece? It's not to be perfect, but what's the goal of this piece?

She started playing a massive game on YouTube to help women who struggled just like she did.

Everyone wanted me to do business content. Everyone wanted me to do it for everybody, and it just didn't feel real to me. And for me it was like, I want to produce the content I wish I had before I met Tom, when I felt really insecure, when I was with a guy that was extremely abusive to me. I want to do content that allows other women to feel like they're not alone. And that became kind of my driving force.

In this interview from our YouTube Mastermind, she's sharing exactly how to build a channel that actually changes lives.

When we set goals, we think, I'm just going to work towards it. No, no, no. What is it actually going to take? So for me to be the best freaking female YouTuber on the planet, no bullsh— what was it going to take? And it's for me to either hire the best people that are better than me, or for me to learn from the best people. But it's not hire a bunch of people to just do it and not pay attention. I want to get so good I can't be ignored. How do I get so good? I've got to be a student. I don't mind sitting at your feet, Evan, and being told what I'm doing wrong. Because that's the no bullshit how I'm going to get here. It's not going to be place more, hire people, throw money at the problem. So that's why I'm so dedicated, because I decided that's what I want.

If you want to know how to connect with your audience on a real level, you've got to hear her advice. Lisa Bilyeu.

Hello, Evan Carmichael. What's up, everyone?

How are we liking Mastermind so far?

Dude, I love it. I love it. I love growing. And you said it earlier. Once upon a time, I was very fearful for someone to tell me that I was doing something wrong because it meant something about me. And then just the shift in perspective of like, you can never improve if someone's not willing to tell you the truth of what you're doing wrong. And so for the last 5 years, I'm always like, tell me what I'm doing wrong. And one of the best stories— I'm just going to jump in, sorry— Evan told me about 5 years ago now. I don't know if you remember this. So I turned around to Evan, we're having lunch, and I said, Evan, tell me what, how I, what I can do better. He's like, no, Lisa, you're doing good. I was like, Evan, stop BSing me. Like, just tell me, like, how do you think— what am I like as a host? And he looks at me and he's like, do you want the honest truth?

Do you remember this?

Oh, this is in California.

It was, uh, the beach gang. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, Evan, tell me the truth. And he looks at him, he's like, are you sure? I was like, yes. And I was like, how do you think I am as a host? And he goes, Lisa, you're a B-. And I was like, "Ouch! Thank you, but ouch!" So that was years ago, and I still remember because that motivated me to get better.

Oh, but then later Tom joined us for the lunch, and then we had this whole discussion, and I said, "And if I'm being honest, it's actually a C+." I somehow conveniently forgot that one.

All right, so I'm down to a C+.

No, now you're much better. I mean, we'll have to look at it. I'll give you an upgraded score, but You went from being afraid to post like a 2-minute video sharing your story because of the bullying and you thought you were ugly and like all of these things to now like tell me why I suck. How does somebody do that? How did you become that?

I started to become goal-oriented. Like I really wanted confidence. I wanted to feel good about myself. I wanted to step out and share some things that I have gone through. But I was too scared. And I was like, okay, well, the definition of insanity— I think we all know the quote— is doing the same thing expecting something different. And so I was like, okay, well, what do I need to do differently in order to get better? And I was like, I'm blocking myself from hearing the truth, from improving, from failing. And because I was such a perfectionist, I was like, well, the video has to be perfect. I wrote an Instagram post— wrote the post, not even posted the post, it was a photo— it took me something like 8 hours to write a post because I wanted it to be perfect. And what I started to realize was instead of focusing on perfection, focus on improvement. And I draw a lot, like I switch my phone off on the weekends and I'm an artist. And so that would, there's, if any of you are artists, there's this thing called like the paralyzation of the first like stroke. And so when you have a blank piece of paper, you're so petrified to do one thing because you're like, what if it's not as good as my last piece? Does that mean now I'm no good? And that prevented me from drawing. I was like, oh, this is like a metaphor for life. So how do I get past it? Okay, every time I do something, every piece of drawing I do, every piece of content I put out, I'm like, what's the goal of this piece? It's not to be perfect, but what's the goal of this piece? This piece is to help me improve doing my intros. So I'll do a whole interview with the goal of improving my intros, and then the next step, okay, what's that next thing I want to improve on? And that started to reorient what I was focused on. I was no longer focused on how do people see me, how can I be perfect? It's how do I get incrementally better every single day? And one of my favorite movies is Karate Kid. Wax on, wax off. So every single day for like the last 15 years of my career, it's been a wax on, wax off, and I never think that I'm done, and I love that. Like, I never want to be done, and I think that may be a key for me. I don't set the goals of once I'm here, once I'm where, like, I want to keep improving until my last dying breath, which hopefully is at 102. So that's my goal. So if I'm always focused on improvement until I'm 102, you can understand I'm no longer fearful of putting out content, trying something different.

Why even do YouTube in the first place? Like, I think about— I know a little bit more about Tom's journey through it, and you guys built Quest and had a nice exit with it. And while he was there, he had Inside Quest, and it's like, what's this weird personal development thing you're doing for a protein bar company, right? And had some people on, and then that led to Impact Theory. And you were very involved in building Impact Theory and the channel, and it was all kind of Tom-focused. And you are in on some of the things, but then like, no, I'm, I'm now gonna do Women of Impact, Lisa Billiou. What made you want to then come in front of the camera and have your own show?

So you know my story, but for those of you who may not, I was a stay-at-home wife for 8 years. And being Greek Orthodox, I was taught you're gonna be a good Greek wife. You never speak up when you're unhappy, and you do what is in service of the greater good of the family. And I was doing that over and over and over again. I never spoke up. And 8 years later, I'm like, I'm profoundly unhappy. And my husband's profoundly unhappy. So what on earth are we doing? We're both unhappy chasing money, and the money was supposed to lead to content creation. We didn't have that word, it was movies back then. But now we're profoundly miserable. So why are we doing what we're doing? We need to change. And so I was like, I have to be brave enough to tell my husband I'm no longer happy, because I didn't for 8 years. I never told him. It's not his fault, it's my fault. And so I said, okay, I have to make the change. I have to tell him that I'm unhappy. That started the trajectory of Quest Nutrition. It was like, okay, definition on, um, of being, you know, insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results. So I said, babe, I love you more than life itself. I would do anything for you, but I freaking hate cooking and cleaning for you. And so he's like, what kind of husband would I be if I prioritize food and clean underwear above my wife's happiness? So that led to Quest Nutrition. In the evolution of Quest Nutrition, I started to realize my mom was morbidly obese. I grew up where she was anorexic, so I saw her fluctuate a lot. Quest is doing really well. I'm trying to like sadly throw money at the problem. I get you a private trainer, I'll get you a private chef. And her words were, I'm too old, I can't. And that's when I realized Quest was amazing for people who had decided they were going to change their lives and do better for their body. But what about the women that don't believe in themselves? What about the women that feel shame because they feel like they don't belong in a gym? That's when I started to realize there's this piece missing. In people, but specifically for me, obviously women. And that then led to— obviously Tom was doing his podcast, and I was like, I feel like there's something missing just for women. And everyone was like, well, what are you— what you're— why are you being, you know, gender-specific, Lisa? And I'm like, because I believe there are differences that we struggle with. And so I got a lot of pushback. Everyone wanted me to do business content, everyone wanted me to do it for everybody, and it just didn't feel real to me. And for me, it was like, I want to produce the content I wish I had before I met Tom, when I felt really insecure, when I was with a guy that was extremely abusive to me. I want to do content that allows other women to feel like they're not alone. And that became kind of my driving force. And when I close my eyes at night, going to your question about YouTube, is I have to be honest with who I am. I don't play small, and I don't want to be shy about saying that. I don't want to— I decided not to have children, and one of the big reasons is I want to either pour my heart and soul into having kids, and I know I could be an amazing mother or I really want to help women. But if I'm deciding not to have kids, you better believe I'm going to play over here on a big bloody large scale. So I was like, what's that large scale? It's this thing called YouTube. So that started to— well, actually, I'm missing a tiny bit of a story. I was too afraid to get in front of the camera. I didn't want to do YouTube. That's actually the truth. I was like, podcasting, that's going to reach a lot of women. Podcasting is big, you know. This was 8 years ago or 7 years ago. Podcasting is really big.

I'm gonna do podcast audio only.

Audio only, yes. Audio only. And then Tom's like, babe, why aren't you doing video? And I'm like, well, I'm just gonna do my friends. I'm gonna, you know, just— I was making all the excuses. And me and my husband have a rule: when you tell me your goal, it's my job to point out when you're not aligned with your goal, when your actions aren't aligned with your goal. And he did the same. So he turned around to me and said, babe, we have an entire studio downstairs in our house, we have 6 cameras set up, and you're doing audio only? And I was like, yes. He's like, why? And I said, because I'm afraid people are going to make fun of me, of how I look. And I mean, I was teased and bullied as a kid, you mentioned that earlier. So I was like, the last thing I want to do is now trigger myself again. And he turned around, he's like, I'm going to hold you to your word. You said you wanted to help women on a global scale. It's like, I do. And he's like, you're betraying yourself. You have to make a decision. Either you actually committed to your goal, or you're going to let your ego take you know, hold. And I was like, wow, that's so beautiful. Do I care more about my mission or my ego? And here's the thing, no one can dictate your answer. If it's ego, that's your decision. You have to live with you. I don't judge that. So it wasn't like I judged myself for the ego. I was like, this is me, I have a choice. And I was like, I can't live with myself. I can't sleep at night and feel good knowing that I let my insecurity stop me from helping other women. And that was when I actually went onto YouTube.

When you said other people, everybody was telling me to make business content, everybody like, who is everybody?

So people in my ecosystem, people who knew my Quest background, they're like, but Lisa, you just built a billion-dollar company, why aren't you teaching women to build a billion-dollar company? And I'm like, because the money didn't change my life, my confidence changed my life. And so there, Leila Hormozi and those ladies, you know, Cody Sanchez, they were amazing, but they weren't around back then. And but there wasn't really no one, so that I think that's why people were turning to me. And I'm like, I don't care. I don't care about business. I care about what business helped me do. But even with YouTube, right, it's like I'm understanding the mechanisms of the business to help impact women. And so I understand I have to learn this, but the learning is somewhat easy in a sense of you're telling us what to do, I go do it. But if I'm petrified and I don't feel good about myself, I can't do what you just taught me. So that's why that part was really important. And so yeah, the business, I was like, look, there's amazing people out there, there's amazing, you know, men were putting out content, other women. And I was just like, there's, there's sheets, there's documents, there's training you can do for business. There's no training on how to help a woman feel better about herself to put out a YouTube video or to leave that toxic relationship and actually start something that's going to make her feel better about herself. There was nothing out there.

What was the hardest video you had to make?

Oh, that was recently. So it was with Tom about politics. So very quick backstory, Tom has always gone to what makes sense, what's my goal, and then how do I get there. He really cares about the middle class, and he's like, the way that the world is going— anyway, he's got— I won't bore you with his political ideation, but he then started slowly talking about Trump. And over time, I was like, "Babe, you're your own person. I support you. I'm gonna ask you questions, but you need to have your own mind. You vote for whoever you like." And then it turned out one day, all of a sudden, I'm like in the car driving home, and I hear him, "Where's Drew?" With Drew, and he's like, "Yeah, I'm voting for Trump." And I was like, "Oh God, he just announced it." And being a woman that runs a female channel, obviously that was, I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna get backlash for it." People just associate you with your partner, and it is what it is. After I got the backlash, whatever, that was that. Women were coming up to me and whispering to me. These are powerful women, you know a lot of them. They're like, Lisa, I voted for Trump. Lisa, my husband voted for Trump and I can't speak up about it. So I was like, hang on a minute, there's all these people whispering to me but no one's talking about it. And they're like, I don't know, should I— like, should I divorce him because he's voting for Trump? I was like, what is happening to the world? I did not grow up in a political world.

You were saying that?

You were thinking—

or your friend was saying— no, no, no, people were saying that to me.

Like, I'm having trouble. I don't know if I should leave my husband, should I leave my boyfriend? And I'm like, oh, clearly this is a problem. So I turned to Tom, I was like, babe, will you come on the show and we'll talk about how we've navigated the differences? A, our political differences. B, our religious differences. I'm Greek Orthodox, he's atheist. There's a lot of differences we've had. So I was like, come on the show and we'll talk about it. Um, so he's like, you are gonna butcher your channel. Your community is going to hate you. I've got a lot of like rah-rah women, like pro-women, and they're going to freaking hate you. And I said, I don't care. This is content I believe in so profound. I feel like this is going to help couples. If you're going to judge me for your political ideas, that's fine, you can. But if you really want to do better with your partner based on your political views, based on your religious views, this is the video you need. And so I said, I believe in this so much. I'm so tied to my mission that I'm now able— I've gotten to the point with my confidence where I'm like, I do care what people think, but not enough to not do it. So I don't want to say that I don't care, and I think a lot of us try to pretend we don't care. I really care. I want people to love me. I want people to watch that video and go, oh my God, Lisa, yes, you've changed my mind. But I know it's not going to happen, and I know that I'm not going to, um, not do it because I'm worried about the backlash. So I put that video out. I lost it. Ton of subs. And I was like, bye, thank you. And that really was one of the hardest videos to do, but one of my most proud freaking videos to do. And it, it totally tanked. It didn't do well at all, but I don't mind. I feel so damn proud that I put that out.

If you asked Trump what question, one question, what would it be?

Um, why do you think it's okay, okay to grab women by the pussy? And that was actually my opening question to my husband. I was like, if you love your wife so much and you support women, how can you vote for a man that you think it's okay to grab women by the pussy? And he gave his answer, and I was very satisfied with his answer.

Which— what was the answer?

Oh God, summary—

watch the interview. Give us a taste, and then we, you know, Drew's like, no, no, don't, don't. Okay, okay, well, we'll link it up in the description below. Go, go, uh, Go watch the video.

Just be prepared, it's got a warning sign.

Does it really?

No.

Oh, okay. One thing I love about you, I mean, there's lots of things, but like you are so into the details and the weeds. And I've helped a lot of people who've had a lot of success, you know, financially as well as on YouTube. And most of the time, a lot of the things that you care about, they, you know, delegate to team. And I'm happy to talk to team, and people have great teams, we help them build it. But you're like so into the weeds and the nerdy stuff. And, you know, I'm sitting behind you yesterday, and like, you've already pulled up your channel and Brandlytics and like playing around and testing things and already into it, which I like super deeply respect. I love it because I'm as obsessed on all that stuff too. Um, it's just like fun when you find your tribe. Um, what do you still struggle with on the content creation side, or, or even you personally and making YouTube videos?

You and many people have been telling me I need to do solo content. I'm very resistant. It's the same thing I felt when I wrote my book. I was— I loved writing it. I love helping women, but I was very resistant to promoting it. I don't— which is weird— I don't like the spotlight to be on me specifically. I like the spotlight to be on what I'm trying to do, um, which is why I stopped doing keynotes. I felt like I was talking at people instead of helping people. Um, but yeah, there's a weird internal, um, I don't know if it's insecurity. It must be. It must be insecurity of why I'm resistant. I don't want people to think that I've got an ego, but that's weird. You're helping me think through this. Yeah, I don't mind processes in real time, which is why I love these types of questions. Yeah, I think I'm— I'm— I don't want to, like, want to be the spotlight, which is why I love the guests. When a guest comes on, I'm so curious. I get to be curious. When it's just me, people look for me to teach, and I'm like, but I need to know your story. I want to help you. What are you doing? Versus trying to be like, this is what you do. Not sure if that was very concrete or not.

No, it's great. I mean, I struggle with the same thing. Like, the biggest fight I got into with my agent for years was, we need Evan, you need to be famous. Like, I don't want to be famous. Like, Most people who do this love the spotlight, love being famous, love the keynotes, can't wait to sell out the 50,000-person stadium, like want all the awards, and all that stuff is great, but I don't want to be famous, Steve, and we like fight for years on it. And it wasn't until he said it in a certain way, and I was probably more mature to hear it, but like it's not even about you, it's the more people know you, the more people hear the message.

Yeah, and I think one of the reasons for it, like stopping the speaking and stuff like that is you can get very caught up in the ego. People want to hear you speak, people want to do this. And you're like, you— when you felt so badly about yourself most of your life, that feels really good. And so you end up being yes because you're like, oh yes, I'll stand on stage. Oh yes, I'll do that because if people like me, that makes me feel better. And about a year and a half ago, God bless my husband. So I've been married to him for almost 25 years, and he's my favorite human on the planet, my most proudest joy that I've ever had. Um, And he turned around to me and he's like, babe, I think you're— he's like, I'm living my best life. He's so happy. He's like, I'm living my best life. He's like, I don't think you are. I was like, wow. Because I want you to sit down and figure out what your best life is and come back to me. And I was like, it's my YouTube channel. Like, I want to help women so badly, but yet I'm like over here selling my book, I'm over here doing a speaking gig, I'm over here doing a newsletter for a funnel that apparently I need because I'm trying to make revenue, but I really don't care about that. So I'm like, I'm doing these things that people are saying that I should to get the accolades. And really, I care about my mission on my channel. And so that became an amazing pivot for me to go. I let go of my speaking agent. I stopped promoting my book. I literally just stopped my newsletter. And I'm like, I'm all in. And what does all in mean? Like, I play the game. You said that yesterday. No bullsh—, what would it take? When we set goals, we think, I'm just going to work towards it. No, no, no bullsh—. What is it actually going to take? So for me to be the best freaking female YouTuber on the planet, No bullshit, what was it going to take? And it's for me to either hire the best people that are better than me, or for me to learn from the best people. But it's not hire a bunch of people to just do it and not pay attention. So that's why I was like, no bullshit, what was it going to take for me to go all in? That's why I'm here. I have massive health issues. The last week has been horrendous. But coming to Canada to learn this is so exciting. I'm like, fuck the health issues, I'll figure it out. I want to get so good I can't be ignored. How do I get so good? I got to be a student. I don't mind sitting at your feet, Evan, and being told what I'm doing wrong, because that's the no bullshit how I'm going to get here. It's not going to be place more, hire people, throw money at the problem. So that's why I'm so dedicated, because I decided that's what I want.

There you go. All right. So if you're going to make your first solo content, what would the theme be?

Well, I am going to make my first solo. I promised these guys yesterday. Where are you? Put your hand— there you are. Yeah, they basically said, try it, Lisa. I said, all right, I'll try it 4 weeks in a row. So I'm going to do 4 solo pieces of content and I'm going to see how I feel, because I need to make sure that I'm not just doing it for my community. I have to feel good about it. So those are going to be the metrics I'm going to look at. How does my community respond and how do I feel about doing it? And that will be my test. What's the first video? So the first video, yes. I mean, here's the thing, I need to think about it. Boundaries is a big thing. Feeling good enough to set boundaries. That may be one of my first. Can I just one thing actually? No, no. Damn you, Evan. Yeah, what are you going to say to that? That's true, I put you on the spot. There's been many moments that I've wanted to quit. I'm sure you have. Everyone. In fact, put your hand up. Who's had moments where they just want to quit what they're doing? All of us, right? Yeah. I've got a rule. Tom interviewed a woman called Nastia Liukin, long time ago now. But if you don't know who she is, she's a gymnast, gold medalist. And she was telling Tom the story of when she, you know, these medalists, they start when they're like 5 years old, tiny. So she's like 10 years old and she's like practicing, trying to get gold and practicing and practicing. And she looks outside and her friends are playing.. And in that moment she's like, I just don't want to do it. So she goes to her mom and she's like, Mom, I just want to quit. Like, I want to go play with my friends. I'm tired, I'm exhausted, I'm hurt. I keep falling off the beam, like all of this stuff. And her mom said, Darling, you can quit at any time, just not on a bad day. That hit me so much because when you've got 2 or 3 videos that fail, you're like, what am I doing? I should quit. That's when you definitely don't quit. You quit when your video's going viral. That's, you know, like if you truly don't want to do it, that's when you quit. And every time at that moment where I poured my heart, my soul into something and it's like I really want to bloody quit, I'm like, oh, it's a bad day. You can't quit yet, Lisa. And then as soon as I get a video that pops, everyone loves it, I'm like, I'm not bloody quitting. So that's just a rule I've held literally for like the last 10 years that has given me a north star.

Is there any difference if you learned of making your first 1,000 subscribers, 100,000 subscribers, 1 million subscribers? Like, what's changed in the business or your mindset or structure to get there?

Um, the different types of interviews I do. So I used to really tell more women's stories, and it was cool, kind of like, look at this woman, look how amazing, you can do it too. But then I was like, you know what, that's not how I learn. I learned through tactical steps and emotional storytelling. If you give me a story— I just told you the Nastia Liukin story, that was like 10 years ago. That story hit me. I remember that more than I remember data, tactics, things like that. So storytelling to me is the thing that can help, that I can remind myself. And then tactics is, okay, I've got the story, but now what do I actually do? I can get in my emotions, I can feel badly about myself, I can cry and whine, you know, why me? That doesn't bloody help. So I have to force myself to get out of my emotions. How do I force myself to get out my emotions? Give me a script I can follow step by step. That's the tactical. So my, my interviews and my content started to evolve into this how I learned. So why am I not doing interviews based on how I learn? And so that's kind of where I really focus more now on.

And going from now like 1 million to 5 million to 10 million, are there shifts that still have to be made? I mean, solo content, something you're exploring, is it just more of the same and better, or do you think you have to make some pivots?

That's the question I think Evan Carmichael needs to answer. How do I get to 5 million subs, Evan? What do I need to do to pivot? That's why I'm here. Great.

Perfect. Yeah, yeah, great. You know, again, for me, it's always down to the what are you trying to accomplish and how do we make it work, right? And we had a great dinner last night talking about some of the things and ideas. Um, what more do you want to bring One of the things I love and respect about Lisa is just how much she cares about people, especially women. I mean, we had Rochelle share yesterday, just stood up saying, I don't feel like I belong in this room. And then Lisa writes a little handwritten note just to say, hey, you absolutely belong here, something like that, which meant a lot to Rochelle. She kept the note. Something that— not like celebrating that, hey, look at me, I did this thing. And she's doing it all the time. Like, that's just— that's Lisa Billiard. She's just always doing those little things. And so, like I said last night, how do we get that into the content as well? Like, if people could see all the sides of you and just how much you care about supporting people, but other women in particular, and cheering them on and being an advocate for them, like, that'd be super cool. I don't know what the content format looks like. That can take a million different forms. It's just what, what would be fun. I think if you, if we, if we all think about like what would be fun, what's, what's missing. Like you have buckets that are working and maybe some that aren't anymore and we've moved on, but for new stuff, like if your channel isn't a constant evolution from, you know, as you evolve as a person, you're not having fun, you're not going to keep doing it. And it's also limiting the impact that you can have, right? Like the mission is so big, right? But then if you just have permission to dream and think about what would be fun. How do we take those moments and not just help Rachelle, which is awesome, but then help all women who are struggling with, like, I don't belong here? I think that's really cool. I don't know what the structure looks like. That's where, like, brainstorm when the science comes in and you test different things. But also, at the beginning, it usually doesn't work. Like, you try some show, even your first 4 solo episodes, if they don't work out, whatever. They probably won't. Like, they might. I'm not going to tell you, you suck and it won't work. As I said, I want the truth. But whenever you try something new, it's usually not good because you're still figuring it out. And the audience isn't used to it. And so if they see something new, maybe it pops in like this is some new crazy thing that's awesome. But most likely, it's not going to work out. I was in Hemsedal with Annika snowboarding in over New Year's in Norway. And she is so patient and kind and waiting for me to not fall down and taking me up the hill. So I sucked as a snowboarder, right? But it was super fun. And if I kept doing it, I'm sure I could get a lot better. And then getting experts like her and her husband to help and train, I'm sure I could get really good. But if you just look at it from the outside world, that'd be terrible. Like, this guy sucks, right? So your first 4 videos, whether they work out or not, whether people love it or not, I would go in expecting it just to be okay and paying more attention to am I more closely aligned with the mission that I'm trying to create.

I can tell you already I won't enjoy it. I know that about myself. Because? For what I was saying earlier, like, I don't like talking at people. When you're staring into the camera, it's just a void. So I— that's why I don't do keynotes anymore. I don't like just standing here and talking at people. It's like, I want questions, like, let's connect. That's why I love guests. But going back to what I was saying, but if it's playing the no bullsh— what would it take? Am I willing to do solos? Yes. Will I enjoy it? I don't think so.

You know, like, if that's the frame going in, then—

no, no, now look, but here's the thing, Evan, you know me, I'm gonna walk in so excited excited. Like, I'm not gonna walk in like, here we go, a bloody solo. Yeah, I'm gonna walk in being like, I'm gonna make this the best and most exciting thing ever. Like, I can rev myself up to get super bloody amped, and you know I will. I'm just being honest with you about my heart. My heart doesn't enjoy talking to a camera lens.

So when I'm helping people, all I try to think about is what's in your heart, and then how do we wrap an effective strategy around it? Because I can't be your heart, but I can give you strategy, right? And so like, what would be— if doing it, you'll— like, you're Lisa Beale, you will do it because you are a worker and a grinder and you believe in the mission and you'll just show up whether you are sick or not and you will just do the work, which is awesome and I respect. And like, could we make it more fun maybe? Like, could it be like, I can't wait to go off and do this thing? And so it's like, what is the struc— the whole point of that is, hey, we need more Lisa. The idea is we need more Lisa content, right? So instead of it just being a guest, And there's lots of ways to do that, right? So is it you have somebody pull information out of you? You have a co-host who is on camera or off, and they're pulling things out that highlight your voice. I mean, even here in a sense, like I'm curious about some of these things. Like how do you see the world that way? And now it's on you, but maybe hopefully you don't hate being up here with me.

Oh no, it's cool. I love hanging with you, Evan. Sweating buckets over here.

I got to do this. But is there somebody, like Drew does for Tom, whether you're on camera or not, is it actually helping women? Not even like coach, like I'm a coach, just people ask, have questions, people in your community who you love so much, it's like you can't wait to see the comments and that they love it. I'm sure they have a million questions. All I've seen you do here is help all these awesome women behind the scenes. Every time I look around, you're talking to Mary, you're talking to Anakin, you're talking to Michelle.

It's so cool.

You guys are amazing. But it's like weird, right? And it's weird. No, but it is like a lot of times when people not necessarily our events, but when they— a lot of times the speakers come to an event, they come in, they do their speech, and they fly home. Multiple times people ask you, yes, hey, like, are you still here tomorrow? Yeah, I'm here tomorrow. Like, come ask me a question. It's weird and speaks to you and like the awesomeness. And it's like that is the example that you could show others of how to show up. And so, but if that is— you're not just saying hi and taking pictures of people and doing videos and helping just because it's a good strategy or because I asked you to, or it's like it's just you can't help it. Even if I said, Lisa, don't talk to anyone, you're still going to talk to everybody.

I mean, look, I think you really need to be grounded in your purpose. You have to be grounded in your purpose so that nothing else gets distracted. And so I just think I'm a tiny pebble stone that I'm throwing in the ocean, hoping to create just enough ripples to eventually create that tsunami. And so when I see all these incredible women— obviously gentlemen as well, I definitely don't want to ignore you guys, you guys are freaking amazing— like all these incredible people here trying to do good. If you say one thing that then impacts one of these people's channels, that then goes and impacts 100 people, that then they spread the message, and they like— that's the freaking tsunami. So it's like when I'm talking to woman, it's like, like, what's the value? You can give me value, you can help me be confident, and if I can help you, now we're both doing those pebbles to create the ripples. When you surround yourself with people that just care about themselves, that doesn't happen, and now it's competition, and I freaking hate competition. And so I just decided a long time ago— and look, when I say I hate competition, actually that's a little lie, because I like seeing my competition as a reflection of what's possible. And I think that that's very powerful, but I see competition as a good thing, not a negative thing.

Yeah, so how do you take that natural— like, when you're helping people, you come alive, and it's great, and it's a beautiful thing to see, and you're just not thinking about how this person sees me, but you're just trying to help them. But you're sharing, like, great stuff with people, and not to fill your head, it's like, it's just true. And so, like, how do we capture that so that it's fun? The goal is extract more Lisa awesomeness into the world, right? Then we could do it in a way that is forced and is okay, or you could do it in a way that is fun and the best part of your week, right? That's always what I'm trying to do. And then I don't even care about the results yet. We can apply strategy on everything. What would be awesome and fun? Like if sitting in front of some of your hardcore subscribers who are struggling with something or who love you for a reason or have questions about blank. And you're just showing up and helping them, if that is more fun, then you can wrap strategy all around that, right? As opposed to like, okay, it's on my schedule, I'm gonna go do it, I already know I'm not gonna like it, but I'm gonna show up and do my best, and it's gonna— I'm only purpose, right? But like, if you can have fun with the purpose along the way too, you're just more likely to stick with it.

Does everyone else have that issue where you're like really struggling? Like Drew and I were talking this morning actually, where it's like you get so caught up in the strategy you actually forget whether you're having fun or not. Does anyone else have that? Yes, thank you. So it's like, isn't that really good though, that he just keeps reminding us, like, have fun, are you enjoying it? Because people like actually, I think, do— can tell when you're miserable and you're just doing something for the sake of it. That's another reason why I stopped doing some of the content, because I was doing it because other people were asking me to do it. They're like, oh, but Lisa, we need this. And of course, because I'm trying to help women, I'm like, oh cool, you need it. I don't really care about that, but sure. So it was like dating. I don't really care about dating. I don't need to date. I've got my husband. I need to know how have a great relationship, or how to make sure that you don't fall for the wrong guy. But dating— so, but I did it because everyone wanted it, and I hated it, and it tanked. Of course it tanked, because I wasn't me. So yeah, the fun— I just have to remind myself. So maybe we can, like, you can send out a blast email like once a month to us all and just be like, are you having fun? Like, that just— we just like need those reminders, right?

Even worse than that, like, the dating one didn't work, cool. The, the more insidious ones are the ones when it does work.

Oh, you're right, right?

Just like, yes, dating then works, and now I'm stuck. Oh no, like, let's do it again. Like, the mindset goes right to let's do it again, right? And now you're a weekly dating channel. Like, what?

How did I become this? I think that's why I still really enjoy the content I'm doing, because everyone's like, aren't you in a healthy relationship, please? I was like, yeah. And they're like, what do you do with this content? Or like, the psychopath. And I'm like, I I have such a fascination with crime, eh? So that's my personal thing. Like, at 11, I was reading books on Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer. Like, I just freaking love that stuff. And then secondly, I was like, there's no tie to the realities of how this impacts women. And so it felt like this really fresh thinking. And then the final thing was, before I met Tom, I was in a very abusive relationship. What if I never left? What if I never left? I would be in England. With this guy who ended up in, in prison. He actually did, in French prison, believe it or not. That would have been my life. What if I didn't leave? That idea is exactly my driving force on why I do the type of content, because I'm like, you deserve better, you are worthy, you have the right to speak up, you can do anything you want in life. But when you've got people around you— and I'm not pretending women are perfect, obviously there are very toxic women as well— but when you've got someone around you that is always putting you down, telling you you're not enough, that makes a difference. When I see you and Nina, like, oh my God, last night— sorry to like just kind of go off on a tangent a little. Last night you were so in the data, right? So we're sitting at dinner, he's got his laptop open, he's like— bless Nina because she cares. She's sitting there putting food on your plate. She's like cutting your steak, putting it on your plate. Like, that's a partner that supports you, right? That's a partner that elevates you. Yeah. That's someone that's like, I support this person so much, I'm going to be the wind beneath their wings. When you're with someone that is the opposite, they're an anchor around your ankle and you're like going deeper, deeper into the ocean. So when I think about that little difference, that's why. And that's why I'm so passionate on the content. The only problem is if you look at my channel, it feels a little dark. So that's a bit of a struggle that I'm kind of trying to balance.

Who are some people you'd love to have on the show?

Um, so I actually just heard the story recently, um, with Gayle King. So that's why I said to you yesterday, you said, Gayle, uh, who's the person? Um, because she's extremely confident, she's got an incredible career, but if you hear her story, she comes home one day and her husband is basically there who shouldn't be there, and she's like, why are you home, baby? And he's like, don't go upstairs. She's like, why not? Don't go upstairs. Comes, walks, she looks up and her best friend is walking down the stairs half naked. That hit me. I was like, wow. But yet she didn't let that ruin her. She came back and she came back freaking stronger and more bodacious with more attitude, more confidence. So I was like, oh, she's a great person because it ties the confidence with what I was saying with the storytelling That story stuck with me. With then, how did you build your confidence back? How did you make sure you didn't allow this one thing to make you feel unworthy? And so she's one person that I'm actually very interested to interview. And then I've actually just reached out to Evan Rachel Woods. Do you guys know who she is? She used to date Marilyn Manson. Um, she was in a documentary that I got to preview recently, and I didn't know this, but Marilyn Manson basically, uh, used to beat her torture her. I mean, the most— guys, it's the most horrific stuff. And she was an actress, like, she's been in like one of the top TV shows. And she said she couldn't talk about it. And they walk on the red carpet and they look like they're a happy couple, and she reveals the most heinous shit that he did to her. And sorry to bring it down, but the point being is that she didn't let that impact her. She came back. She was able to heal. She was able to come back stronger. And so that's kind that thing where it's like, how do you build your confidence when there are so many elements around you trying to bring you down? So she's another one that I've just recently reached out to.

If you had to give flowers to a woman whose name you're comfortable sharing, who's meant something significant to you over the past X number of years, well, who is it and what would you share?

I'm not sure quite what angle you're going for, but my mum. I told you the story about my mom. She didn't want to go to the gym. She was morbidly obese. That was when she was just before she turned 70. She's 76 now. She lost 120 pounds and has kept it off. She walks 5 miles a day. She married a woman. And when I even say she married a woman, because she's been with her for 20 years, but 20 years ago, my mom would never hold her hand in public. She would never say that she was bisexual. And literally 2 years ago, we went to Vegas and she got married and we walked the streets and she was holding her wife's hand with pride. And I said to her, Mom, like, what's the shift? Like, I knew you to be the person that would never even be brave enough to say that you were in love with a woman. And she's like, I'm too old to care. And I was like, you know, and just that idea that it's never too late. That if you really want something, no matter what age you are, you've just got to put in the work. You can't expect anyone else to give it to you. You have to be willing to do it, but you can do it. So my mom to me is my utter idol.

I want to give the members an opportunity to ask some questions, so get, um, get some thinking. And Lisa's great doing Q&A, so we want to give her a chance to shine there as well. Um, but before, like, last question for me: what do you hope your channel becomes? You know, you've had a huge journey. Where are we going?

You broke my heart yesterday and say it's not a hub. I said I wanted it to be a hub for women. You're like, that isn't how people work on YouTube. So I don't know if you— hang on. Yeah, you can still hear my heart breaking. Um, so that was my goal. Apparently now I can't do that. Um, really a place for people to feel safe to come and to learn and to grow and not to feel alone. That is a bit like kind of woo-woo feeling-wise, and I'm such a like data, how do I actually know that's the result? But that's why I go into the comments. So a lot of people, literally I just had to come and say, they're like, you read the comments from other influencers? They're like, why do you read the comments? I'm like, how do you know you're impacting people if you don't read the comments? And so I'll read the haters, and if it's constructive feedback, I'm like, thank you so much, I didn't actually realize that, but that's actually helped me. If it's someone that's just being mean and cruel, I'll ask them to unsubscribe. Like, I'll actually go in and say, uh, can you please subscribe? I don't want anybody rude. This is a place build a community of women that actually support women. I have no problem doing that. Um, but yeah, a hub, that's what I want ideally, a hub for women to come and feel safe.

All right, Lisa Billiou, everybody! Thank you, guys. Let's go. So, questions? Who's got a question? You spoke a lot about Purpose, which leads me to my question. Whether we like it or not, someday we're going to leave this earth. When this day comes for you, how would you like to be remembered?

This is such a great question because I've already thought about it and I'm not going to wait till the day before I die. So I actually wrote my own eulogy. Oh, do you want me to read it? Yes, ma'am. It's actually— it's more bullet points than anything, but because this very thing dawned on me, I'm like, you know what? We kind of hope people are going to say certain things about us. Like, I hope someone says this. I'm like, why are we hoping? Why are we not every single day acting in accordance so that eventually you can guarantee someone's going to say this about you? So I literally just wrote, and I actually— and I told my husband because I want him to keep me aligned. Um, eulogy.

Let's have a look.

All right, my eulogy. Here we go. All right, so I just put bullet points and then what I have to do. And I literally— this changed my life. I really advise everybody to do this. All right, so I put, I want someone to say that I'm loyal, but what do you actually have to do for someone to say that you're loyal? I sell, I put, will put friendship first, won't jump ship to better my own life. Loyalty. I'm a ride or die. I want someone to say that in my eulogy. What does that mean? It means you're willing to stand by your friends even when it's detrimental to you. Trustworthy, which means that I'm going to keep any secret even when it doesn't serve me. Kind, it means that I want you feel loved and protected around me. And I can keep going on, don't know if I'm boring you guys. Reliable, it means that when I say I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna actually do it. Hilarious, this is one that I really want. I really want people to, oh my God, Lisa was so funny. Now here's the thing, if I wake up every day and I'm moody and I'm grumpy and I'm snapping at my husband and I'm not fun to be around, do I think someone's going to say that I'm funny? So when I'm— my hormones are raging, perimenopause. When my hormones are raging, I so want to lean into my emotions and be like, 'But my hormones are raging.' And then I remind myself, if you lean into it, no one's going to say you're funny, Lisa. So it helps me come out of my hormones. See, you're laughing.

Yay!

Check! Um, generous, uh, that you feel I will go above and beyond for you. Hardcore, willing to do what it takes for the greater good. You said that, Evan, so thank you very much. And then no, no bullsh— you know that I'm just going to give it to you straight up. So there you go, that's my eulogy.

So I wrote my own eulogy. Could be a good solo video. Oh, just, just thinking out loud. I don't know, putting it out there. I don't know.

See, that I can do. I love that. I'm so passionate about it.

Okay, Lisa, thank you for, for one, talking. Your perspective's awesome. I love that it's no bullshit, for one. So one of the things that I've kind of gone back and forth with myself is trying to understand your purpose and strategy, because I feel like if you get your strategy before your purpose, you're more likely to fail. If your purpose is there already, your strategy will follow your purpose. Yes. And I feel like I'm trying to get back on that track to make sure my purpose aligns with the strategy, not the opposite way. Yeah. Because I feel like if I put my strategy first, then I'm losing my purpose for the content that I'm gonna be putting out.

So just your thoughts on that. Yeah, absolutely. So you have to really identify what your mission actually is. So mission, purpose, let's say that's the same thing. Be very specific because this is one thing a lot of people say to me, Lisa, I really wanna help women. That's my mission. What does that mean? Like, what does it actually mean? So I think of it in 3 steps. It's, uh, your what, your who, and your why. What, who, why. So for me, what is content. I love creating content. I went to film school. I got a bachelor in media. I love content creation. So the what matters. That's why I stopped public speaking. That's why I don't push my book, because content creation is the thing that I actually care about. If you ask me to only volunteer at a high school for 10 people, I'm going to say no, because content is what I actually care about. So content's the one thing, the what. The who, identify who you're actually talking to. When people are like, women, what does that mean? There are a lot of women out there. A lot of women have different issues. So I say a woman who struggles to get to their goal because they lack confidence. That's very specific. Now I'm not trying to help a woman get pregnant. I'm not trying to help a woman fix her hormones. Like, it's to help her build her confidence. Again, another specific note. And then the why— you have to be tied to the why. The why is because I didn't have it, because I felt so shit about myself. So that was then how I painted. I want to help women build their confidence through content. Very specific mission. Now you've got your mission, you create the goal underneath that. The goal underneath that is what, how much, and by when. So what content, right? I'm good. YouTube, actually being more specific now, not Instagram. That was one thing that we were talking about. Is it Instagram? Is it TikTok? Is it YouTube? So it's YouTube. It's how much I'm gonna put out. This is the strategy part. I'm gonna put out one video a week for the next 6 weeks. Right, that's how much. By when is the 6 weeks. So now I know I have to put out 1 video every single week for the 6 weeks. That's your strategy. And then you have to do it because that all aligns with the mission. And now once you've done the 6 weeks, you look at your results, and then in those results you say, does it actually get me my mission? If not, you change your strategy, you change your goal, you don't change your mission.

So Lisa, First thing I noticed is that you have a badass shoes collection. Oh, thank you. And before coming on this trip, I looked at my closet and I have a hot bright pink tennis shoe. Nice. And I wanted to bring it, but I was like, oh no, like that's like kind of too bold. So I was playing small. So I was like, okay, go casual, pick the whites. And then seeing you today with those pink shoes, I was like, I didn't listen to my intuition. So what do you tell like the ladies, like how to like stop playing small and like step into like the boldness, like be, like, you know, be you, like how do you step into that, you know, like let's go, like yeah.

So here's the truth because I'm always going to tell you the truth based on my eulogy, always going to say the hard thing. You're not necessarily always going to feel good about it. And so if you're able to take your blinders off and just give yourself— it's almost like black and white. Are you willing to take the shoes and have someone mock you, or not wear the shoes and not be authentic? It's literally— that's a choice. Don't be authentic, don't wear the shoes. Be you and face ridicule. Now make a decision. For me, because I'm a storyteller, the moment this hit me was— I love pink, I love leg warmers. I'm an early '90s, late '80s girl. I love my little leg warmers. And so one day I wore leg warmers on set, and they're pink, and they— I look like I was born in the '80s, basically. And I was born in '79. And so on the show, I'm wearing my leg warmers. I loved them. And then the comments: what's up with the bloody leg warmers, Lisa? How old are you? You're not a child. We have a— all the comments. In my head, I was like, oh, I can't wear the pink leg warmers anymore. And I was like, wait, going back to the mission. Why am I doing this? I do my show to be authentic, and yet I'm listening to other people and not being authentic. That's when I was like, take off the blinders, Lisa. Decide. I'm going to show up and make everyone happy, no leg warmers. I'm going to show up and be authentic and die on the vine. Make a decision. I decided to wear the bloody leg warmers again, and I even went back into the messages and I replied. I said, this is authentically me. This is what my channel stands for. If you don't like them, I respect it, but please unsubscribe because I know what I'm trying to build. That was the moment I realized I use that moment every single day now if I'm ever doubting myself, because I still doubt myself, like, oh God, should I do that? People are going to mock me. And then I'm like, oh, it's the leg warmers, Lisa. Of course you should do it. So it doesn't mean you're always going to feel good about it. You just have to make that decision. And then also, sorry, just to end, Evan said not to be wishy-washy. Wear the damn pink shoes.

So you mentioned that it took about, you know, maybe more, but like it took 8 years for you to allow yourself to be visible. And obviously this is a selfish question because I'm in a relationship and my partner is building something and I'm building something. And when I think of you and Tom, You know, like, is there anything you wish Tom did differently in how he showed up for you, either more or something less or something different that could have made your journey of 8 years either easier or for you to get to that point yourself sooner? I know it's ultimately like a decision you have to make, but as a partner and someone who is successful and driven, what would have been like if you could kind of go back in time to the old you?

Here's the thing, that's actually a dangerous question. I love the question, it's just a dangerous question because if Tom had done more for me, would I have had the strength to speak up? Would I have learned the lesson of Lisa, you have to have your own voice? I don't know if I would. What he did amazingly was when I spoke up, he received it. And I think sometimes we're so scared when our partner comes to us, and I know a lot of us work with our partners, it's very hard because we have different opinions, different thoughts, different beliefs, um, being honest about what your heart wants and what you need from them as support. So when I started to do this transition, I, A, recognized my decision-making to change my life is going to impact my husband. I'm no— I'm making his life more difficult, right? I'm no longer cooking and cleaning for him and doing all the things. That's difficult on him. For me to walk in and just say, you need to do this because I've changed, wasn't showing him respect. So I learned through the whole process. So I actually got better. So actually, no, I'm glad he didn't do anything because it forced me to go, okay, Show respect to your partner that it's going to be difficult on them. Give them the grace to have an emotional response to your decision-making and then navigate it. So one, I said to Tom, I don't want to cook and clean for you, but here's what I'll do for you, baby. What if we wean— like drugs wean you off? And so he was like, oh, thank you. Like, you recognize this is going to be difficult for me. So what does that look like? So we got together and came up with a plan together that every single week I was going to cook and clean for him 7 days a week. Then the next week it was going to be 6. Then the next week it was going to be 5. Then the next week it was going to be 4. And so we actually did that plan together with his support. But the truth is, is that I don't— I am glad he didn't ask me sooner, babe, you're not happy. Like, now he does, right? Like, you're not living your best life. How can you have your best life? I'm glad he didn't do it earlier because I think I needed to— I needed to realize it was my responsibility to speak up and make a change, not my husbands. So I know that isn't probably the answer you wanted, but that's actually the truth. Solo content. Oh yes, yeah, give it to me.

Um, you're struggling to do it. I always struggle to do it. When I have Jodie next to me, it's so much easier. Like when you have a guest and you're interviewing, because you could take a pause, you could relax, and it's all on them to look into the camera single by yourself is so darn hard, and I really do struggle with it. So what are we going to do to make sure that it happens? Because I've committed to do it, Lane is committed to do it, and you've committed to do it.

So I've committed to doing it, which means I'm going to do it. I don't allow my emotions to get in the way of that. I then go tactical, right? Like, how am I going to do it? What am I going to do? I focus on the details. I'm going to do 4 for the next month, once a week. Cool, got that down. Then it's just incremental steps. If I start to think about the future, sometimes that gets scary. So like, even with public speaking, I was so scared and I was like, Lisa, you just need to put one foot in front of the other. Stop focusing about the stage moment, focusing about, are you going to prep yet? Know your speech so that you're so damn good. Like, I have to get better, I have to do it. And so for me, I'm actually not worried about getting in front of the camera. I've done it many times. It's just I don't necessarily enjoy it. And then I notice in myself, I so don't like to waste people's time that I start speaking quickly. And so my videos are basically 20 minutes of me speaking very quickly. And, and so I need to get comfortable to slow down. I think that that's my problem. So maybe even with you guys, it's like knowing what your actual issue is when you get in front of the camera and then what are you going to do instead? So like I said, I'm going to, I'm going to try and slow down. Take some beats, do some more storytelling, and then see how I feel. So that's basically how I think I'm going to approach it.

You know, when you stand up and you can look at someone in the eye, and then you go to another person and another person and another person, and then back to you, it's so easy, and it's connection. When you're looking at that damn little hole in the camera, it's so hard. Do you Do you have suggestions for that? Do I visualize you? Should I put your picture? Do I put your picture behind my camera on the wall?

So one thing I do do is I do picture the person I'm talking to, and I actually do that with every interview. Like every interview, if I go into it, I'm like, okay, who am I helping right now? Got it. I've got literally a person and I like do an avatar, right? It's a woman. Who's 45, who has 3 children. The man's abusing her. She doesn't feel like she's got a way out. She has no bank account. Her husband controls the money. Got it. And go. That I can feel. I can embed in my heart and feel how bad that woman is feeling right now. And that makes me feel the duty to show up with the energy again. I just don't necessarily enjoy it because I love this, right? I love seeing your face. I love seeing the emotions. Um, so that part I'm unsure about. But yeah, maybe having that one person in your head as well. Sorry. Or Evan's face. You could always have Evan's face in you.

Whatever works, Mark. That, you know, it makes me feel uncomfortable. But if that— glad you remembered his name. Now that's great. There was one entrepreneur that I had in mind who was always helping to, like, no matter how much I talked to him, he always seemed to struggle and, like, just come back with the same problems over and over again. And I really, like, You know those people you really want to see win but they just can't? Like you do everything and you're trying and you're helping and you just really want to see them win but for whatever reason they just can't get it together to do it. And you spend more time than you should because you love them and you just want to see them. I always pictured him.

I think you need my Boundary video. Yeah, maybe.

It was really helpful at the start. Like I just always saw him and it made me more connected to what I was doing. I really struggled with the avatar thing. Like, I really should. So it's an entrepreneur who's just getting started. I— so again, whatever works. Like, that worked for her. If showing a picture of Alex, uh, gets you all fired up and ready to go make some content— the thing that helps me the most now still is just looking— what I said yesterday— of going look at my last video and like, I know I can do better than this, uh, and then I try to do better than this. I don't always achieve it, but it's, it's the intention. It always gets me fired up to watch the last video and like know that I suck and I can do better and I try, I can't help it. Like looking at your last video and being still embarrassed but in a good way, right? It's like in a way I go, oh my gosh, I thought I did great and then you look at it back and you can find a million ways.

Do you look at other people as well?

Not as much anymore. When I look at— there's some people who's— I mean, I consume content a lot, right? A lot of it is because I want I'm genuinely curious about the topic and I want to learn from them, and then I care less about the hooks and the stories and the structure, and I'm just there to actually learn. And then there's others who I'll watch just for, like, why did this video pop up on my feed randomly? Like, what are they doing that is different? And I'm curious about the style, even if I don't care about the content itself.

So when you identify that they've done something different, how do you then take it? What do you do with that information?

It's like, how quickly can I get in the studio and film something?

So you translate it into your own style.

Yeah, like, what's my version of that? Right, right, yes. Like when we talk about statistics, putting them on your— so like, how can you put that— you're not going to put a running stat on yours. We all have stats in our own model. How can you quickly put that into my next video? That's what I'd be thinking about. Whether it's a format change, whether it's a small tactic, whether it's something on the thumbnail or how they're doing their title. I just can't help it. Like anytime I'm looking at videos, something pops up like, huh, why is that there? And it just makes me curious about it. But visualizing someone is really helpful for me at the beginning. And I said yesterday that even the comments that I got, I would— did I say this yesterday? I would save my comments from my speaking and play it every morning to Michael Bolton. Oh, I didn't know. Oh, well, some of you guys know this story. Like when I was doing speaking, It was like a month between speaking gigs, and you feel great when you speak, and then I had nothing afterwards. And so I would take the comments that I got about how much of an impact the speaking had, and I would put it in a PowerPoint file, and I would put it to Michael Bolton, "I Will Go the Distance." And I would play it every morning. That was part of my morning routine. I'd wake up and put on my Michael Bolton and watch all these comments of people saying great things about me, and they give me, okay, let's go try to do something again. Because I didn't have any entrepreneur friends or people who were speaking, or like, I mean, it's also early days. I don't even know if I had a YouTube channel, probably not, probably like pre-YouTube. So like, whatever, I don't know that there's judgment, like whatever works for you, go do that thing as long as it makes you feel bold and ready to go take on the day. But it usually requires something. Right? You don't just wake up and like, yeah, today is awesome, right? Like, you usually need something, some kind of routine that can help you get ready for a great video. You said you love content, so what would be the one type of content that you like love doing so much that it like fulfills your mission but also your soul?

I do get my joy from different avenues, and so I, I said it earlier, I love crime. There was a woman called Dr. Ann Burgess. If you guys ever watch the TV show on Netflix, Mindhunter, it's basically modeled after her. She was the woman, the psychologist that helped create profiling for serial killers and psychopaths and murderers. She's in her early 80s and she's still working on crime. She was the woman who, um, did the psychological evaluation for the Menendez brothers. Like she's just epic to epic degree. I was just a giddy child when I interviewed her because she's such a legend that has helped save so many people because of her work. She was one person. And then just that I've interviewed a lot of very strong women, but there's a woman called Bozoma Sanjohn. I don't know if anybody knows her. She used to be the CMO of Netflix. She was on The Real Housewives. I mean, she's CMO of like the biggest companies you've ever heard of. She comes on my show and I ask her a question. And to this day, I remember her answer. I was like, how did you get through this? She's like, I'm the most powerful woman I know. Oh, like, I was like, I want every woman to have that type of confidence. So those are two very different interviews, right? It's a woman that's helping other women in the crime that I have this passion for. And then there's other woman that she's like, you just don't fuck with her. So those are my different sides of my personalities. And so I kind of just lean more into that sort of thing. I'm not sure if that helped answer your question.

I think my question is when you are looking back and editing your interviews, do you go through it and think like, oh, you know, I need to edit this out because perhaps I will get a backlash? Or, you know, when you're within a conversation and you're just openly speaking and the conversation is flowing, you may say something, but on the playback and in the edit, or do you say, eff it, I'm gonna leave this because that's what I was feeling at the moment and regardless if I think it's gonna get 'You know, bad press or good press or whatever, you know, I'm gonna leave it in.' So I use Descript.

I don't know if you guys— have you heard of Descript? Um, it's an app. It's— I— it's literally saved my life. So you upload the transcript, it has the video, and you literally will— can edit it yourself. And then I give that to my editor. Um, so I edit my episodes very heavily. Yeah. And I'm like, if a guest gives an answer at the 45-minute mark that's so freaking good that I didn't expect, oh, Frank could bite the whole thing, and I'll move that entire thing to the front. I'll redo my opening question, and now the whole interview looks different, but no one will know. To your question, I go to what's— what am I trying to do? So if I say something personally which I truly believe, right, and I know I'm going to get a lot of backlash, I leave in. Yeah, because I believe it. Going back to authenticity, that's why I do my show. So I'll leave it in. If I say something and misspeak, or just like, ah, that felt like— that comes across, Lisa. In a different way than what you meant it, I'll edit it because I don't want to be misunderstood as well. So I'll take that out. I also will protect my guest. I always say to my guests before they ever come on the show, I give them a bit of spiel and I say, look, if you ever want something cut out, hit me up, I'll cut it out. And if you ever want this episode to be buried in the desert and it never see the light of day, I would do it. Yeah, I will happily do it. Protect the guest is my number one rule. In that though, they'll maybe say something that I'm like I know them, I've done so much research on them, I don't think that's what they kind of meant. People are going to jump on this, so protect the guest, I'll cut it out. Yeah. If it's something they truly believe and they truly mean, and I know they really mean it, and I know they're going to get a backlash from my community, I have done this so much that as a host in real time, I'll be like, all right, you know you're going to get a lot of hate in the comments, can you explain that to me? So now I'm kind of defending my community. They see me as the, the gatekeeper to— if someone says something very offensive, it gives the guest an opportunity to restate their position. And so that's kind of how I navigate it. But I will never do something for clickbait if it's going to make the guests look badly. That just feels icky to me. So those are kind of my parameters.

Yeah, I always, um, go back through with a fine-tooth comb, and I'm very cognizant, especially in terms of the You know, if maybe there was something that I think they will get a lot of, you know, or in the comments, I'm very cognizant to pull it if I think. I always tell the guests too, I look out for them, I'm always like, "The power of the edit." Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, so like anything can be changed or taken out. So, all right, good to know. Thank you.

Yeah, of course, absolutely.

I just had a question about how you go about choosing your guests. If it really comes down to who has the most interesting story to tell? Or if there's more of a criteria that you put a guest through based on their audience or things like that.

Yeah, I actually do. So I have a list I can maybe put up on my phone of basically the criteria for the guests that I will say yes to, and they have to have at least 2 of them. So it's like I've got, let's say, 5. I don't know if I can find it quickly. So I've got basically a bunch of lists. So I've got the type of formats that I enjoy doing. I've got the bucket. So you actually asked me yesterday, my buckets, I've got them right here. And then the guest list of what they must have, at least 2 of these. So I've got, they have to have a very strong opinion. Going back to what Evan was saying yesterday, I don't want someone that's like wishy-washy, that wants to be, well, it could be this, it could be that. Like, I need someone with a strong opinion. And I wrote examples of that. So I give this to my team, I give this to my booker so that everyone knows exactly what aligns. So strong opinion, I gave 3 names of guests that I've had on my show with those opinions. Of that YouTube channel. When someone can collaborate, they're already known on YouTube. I've just seen it do better. So when you have someone that has a YouTube channel, the bigger the channel, very often the more people are going to go to watch them. So for instance, um, I had Robert Greene on. Didn't you know who Robert Greene is, the guy that wrote The 58 Laws of Power? Um, I had him on and he's massive, massive. So you can imagine immediately that episode just blew up because everybody wants to see him. They don't even know who I am, but if they they've got a big YouTube channel, the chances are they're going to possibly potentially do well for you. So I've got that, and I gave another 3 names of who I've interviewed that are like that. Uh, credibility. So I need— I want someone that is either a doctor, psychologist, a CIA spy, a secret agent, a relationship expert, psycho— already said psychologist. So they have to have some type of credibility. I'm not looking for a random influencer who feels strongly about something. I like to bring people on that have credibility in that area, and they don't necessarily— like, think of, um, even Leila Hermosi. Her name came up earlier. She doesn't necessarily have a title, but she's got credibility as a woman building businesses. So I've had her on. So someone with a credibility. Um, and then the last one is recognition. Are they popular enough that people actually care? So I had Tamron Hall on, I had Elle McPherson on. Those women are very recognizable. So just by putting their photo on the thumbnail, Immediately having a channel of women, everyone's like, oh my God, it's Tamron Hall, I want to see this interview. So that's that. So those are my, um, lists. And so they must have at least two. So you can imagine someone that's got a very strong voice that has credibility but has no fame, I'm still going to say yes. But someone like Elle McPherson, who doesn't necessarily have credibility, but you know, like she's not a professional, but she's got a strong voice and she's got the, um, the recognition, I'm going to say Yes. So I've identified the things that I— the people I enjoy interviewing. I've identified who does well, and that's how I created that list. Even the order makes a difference. So strong opinion is actually one of the top because women want to hear from another woman that's confident. So if I've got a psychologist that doesn't really have a strong opinion, I'm— and doesn't have all the others, I'm probably going to say no because there are a lot of psychologists in the world.

So how do I decipher who I say yes to and who I With the collabs, with the guests, do you, do you make that part of like your initial like pitch to them or you do it after? Yeah, I just like, I know because it's such a weird thing to like push it forth forward, you know, um, initially, but you obviously, we always want the collab. Some people do it, you know, aren't interested.

Yeah, I've, I've had a couple of people say no, but to be honest, I get it. So for instance, I had Andrew Huberman on. Didn't want to know Andrew Huberman, such a great dude. Had him on, loved the interview. People gave me for it, but I didn't care because I thought he was so valuable. And then we asked him to collab and he said no. And I was like, yes, I get it. He came on my show talking about men's brains and, you know, between the difference between men and women and, uh, toxicity. And I'm like, I— it doesn't match his channel. So I didn't take it personally. But what I do do is I hope— so I never mention it. I bring them on. Most of my guests I end up being friends with. Like, we exchange numbers. Yeah, exactly. And once you've built that kind bond, that camaraderie. I will often text, so I have a thing like I normally make friends with my guests, very authentic. I'll never do it if I don't. We normally switch, switch numbers typically, and then the day before comes out, I usually get very excited. Like, I'm a very excitable person, so I'll message them, oh my God, yeah, it's going out tomorrow, so excited. And it also, just from a strategic standpoint, is another little reminder to them. So it's like, it's authentic and it helps you, and if you build the camaraderie, they're more likely to. But ultimately, would you still have them on if they didn't collab? Yes, I would. So that's why I don't ever bring it up earlier because it does feel a little icky sometimes.

Yeah, it was interesting to hear your answer because I was struggling with that and I've always like told our booking company like, no, I don't want to like be so hard-hitting about it. So we're aligned on that.

Even shorts and clips, I don't as well. Like, I'll invite them to collab, but I don't expect them to.

I just also really don't take the yes away from them. Like, they might love it too.

If you don't ask, you don't know. Well, like, so Jada Pinkett Smith came on my show and I cast 3 clips of her. One was about her own will. She didn't collab. Another one she loved because it was talk about being brave. So I sent them the clips, or we invited them to collab on the clips. She said no to 2 and said yes to 1 because it fit her brand, it fit her message. Yeah. So we sometimes try and cut like that as well. We cut the most juicy one, and then we cut the one that we think the guest is going to want. I'd like a story. What is one of your biggest leadership lessons? And then what is a leadership skill you would like to see more in this world? Can you define leadership? Like leading people or inspiring people? What's mine? I mean, it's a bit of a boring— it's authenticity. Like, seriously, like, I'll swear even though I know people don't like swearing. I'll try and keep it to a minimum, but I'm a swearing person. I find that sometimes it gives emphasis this. So I'm like, I'm gonna do it, it is what it is, people may not like it. Um, but when you see somebody being so them, it's just you can't help but gravitate towards them. And I can't even remember, like, I wish I had one moment of a story where I'm like, I saw this person do it and therefore I did it. I really didn't. I kind of grew up in the era where you're supposed to be perfect, you're supposed to be amazing. And so it was like the messaging I was getting of like 'Have no doubt, don't care what people say, go do it, ignore the fear.' And I'm like, 'That doesn't feel real. I have fear. I do care what people say.' And so all this messaging of how to be a leader, I was like, 'That— then it's not me.' So then when I realized, 'Oh, being a leader isn't me, so let me just be me then,' and then being me ended up becoming that. So yeah, it just goes back to authenticity. Be you. And to be honest, because I didn't tie it to 'I need to be this person,' I will happily shut down my channel and go into the background and support my husband. And I could— I actually have another plan if my YouTube channel doesn't work out. So I want to volunteer, I want to help teach young girls how to draw, and I also want to adopt a grandparent, um, who doesn't have family. So I go, if I can be me and no one likes it, I don't need it. I've got other things I really care about, so make sure that I'm me me so that I know that I feel good about what I'm doing. And so having a backup plan I think is actually helpful because if you're like, everything's riding on people wanting to like me, you're screwed because you're always going to like— you're not going to know who you are. You're gonna be like, I need to make this person happy, I need to make this person happy. But this is what Evan Carmichael— the reminder of having fun is the thing that I forget. It's like, when I have fun, I'm me. When I'm me, I can do the content. And if people like it, they like it. And if they don't, again, like I said, I'm gonna go to my plan B.

You started to touch on where I was going to go there. So I'm curious about, you know, when you go back to purpose and impact, like you said, what demographic and socioeconomic class is your show hitting towards today? And then also, second question would be around, are you trying to make an impact on younger women? Yeah. Because of, you know, I think if you can get them early, like we have a lot of young people that work for us. And I'm constantly thinking about like, how do— how am I mentoring those, mentoring those men and women? And because if, if you're not— my wife's a social worker and she does child and custody access, and the stories I hear every week, every single week, and it's always about the breaking down of the family unit. And you know right away those kids are screwed because they have nobody actually mentoring them.

Yeah. So, um, it's a great question, but I don't think I can be everything to everybody. Even with— but even with women, right? It's like you've got the younger generation. I was telling someone the other day, I had this woman— someone suggested a guest for me to come on my show, and I was like, all right, let me watch them and see if they're good, because it came from a very credible source. And I started watching her content, and she's maybe 24, 25, and she's telling a story about how She doesn't relate to the older women because older women have been taught your purpose in life is to grow up, get married, have kids. Her— she was taught the opposite because we women have come out like, no, you can do anything you want. You can have a career, you can do this. She has the opposite training. And for her, her conditioning is don't get married, be a badass bitch, go start a business. You don't need men. And so she's now trying to unwire that conditioning. And I'm just like, I don't relate. People need her. So this woman, people need her, her voice. I just can't relate, but they do need help. So how can I support women? Like, how can I support other people that are helping those? Going back to kind of the ripple, because the— I'm 46, I grew up in a very different world than the younger women are. But being 46, I understand other women in my age group and above because they've been taught the same thing I have. So going back to kind of my mom, the idea of you can change your life We weren't taught you were allowed to change your life. So for me, I'm like, I can relate and impact women from about, let's say, 30, 35, all the way up to like 65, 70, if you look at my back end. And sometimes it's hard because you're like, I do want to help other people, um, but I think I just had to narrow because this is how I think, um, and so that really helped me. And I just said no to the guest in the end because I'm like, I just can't relate, and my community, that isn't my community.

I'm 46 too, so team 46. Team 46! Let's go!

I bet you don't have the hormone rush that I do though. Oh no.

You know, in watching you do your thing, which was awesome— I mean, you guys like that? Was it good? Mm-hmm. Awesome. Thanks. Uh, two kind of behind-the-scenes things came to mind. The first is I loved how when I asked you like what's the hardest thing or the hardest video you made, it was still a relatively new video. Yeah, where a lot of times, like, the hardest things we've done were like years ago, and like we kind of stopped challenging ourselves. And if you think, what was the hardest thing you did? Is it, is it any, anything recent or not? And like, hey, maybe you should take on a harder challenge, right? So like, I love that the hardest video ever made— you could have gone to the first video, you could have gone to the first interview, you could have gone to like whatever. No, the hardest video I had to make was recently, right?

And I'm hoping it's going to be in a few months, the hardest video I'm going to make.

Yeah, right. It's like a different mindset, right? Which is super cool that like it's just one thing I love about you is always like pushing and challenging and new things. And I think about like the aging rock stars. What is my fear? One of my biggest fears was becoming like an aging rock star where you— and it's great that you're still on tour, but you're still singing the songs from like 40 years ago. It's like you probably have something new to say, right? Not judging them, just I don't want to be that guy where like it's just the same thing for 40 years.

Because here's the problem though, sorry to interrupt, but don't you think I think they do that because that's where they get their accolades and validation, right? Because it's— you have any big band that goes on tour, if they don't sing their hits— like Madonna, I don't know if you guys remember, Madonna went on tour and she refused to sing her big hits. People were furious. So I think some of us get trapped in that where people want your content that you always do, and now you're growing and evolving. I mean, that happened to Tom. Everyone wanted the mindset thing, and Tom's like, I've done the content on mindset, I want to evolve. So part of what you're even saying, I I think what traps us is what people want from us.

For sure. And like, do they even just stop writing? Yes. Like, don't even make new songs anymore and just perform the hits, right? Which, again, not judging. I think it's awesome. Like, you're 70 years still touring. It's great. It's pretty cool. But I just personally don't want to stop making and just think, oh, what I did 20 years ago is like the best or the scariest. Right? Um, so anyway, just sidetracked, but super respect that the hardest thing— the hardest thing you've ever done, you haven't done yet, right? Which is pretty cool. Well, because—

so I've reached out to a woman called Gisele Pellicot. I don't know if anyone knows Gisele Pellicot. So Gisele Pellicot was the woman in France who was married to a guy for 50 years and then found out that he was drugging her, raping her, and had at least 50 men— he was advertising this online— and at least 50 men were coming to the house while she was drugged and her, and she didn't understand what was happening. And she was waking up every day feeling nauseous, feeling weird, and her husband's like, no, here's some pills, here's some medication. And then an officer— and long story— but ended up finding out what he was doing. He was arrested. Now imagine that woman, she's found out for 50 years her husband's been drugging her and raping her. She goes to the court, and in the courts, all these men that have been prosecuted show up, and they won't show their face, they'll only show their eyes. She shows up, like, completely, like, no hidden. And she's like, shame needs to change sides. I shouldn't feel the shame, the men need to feel the shame. And she's French. I reached out to her and asked if she'd do an interview in our Flight of France. That's a hard interview to do. Even me saying her story's heartbreaking. But now imagine I'm sitting in front of her, and she's French, so she doesn't speak English, and she's sharing one of the most hard heartbreaking stories I've ever heard in my life. But I still reached out to her because I'm like, I have to push myself to do these hard things because her story needs to be told. Shaming does need to change sides. And so I really believe in it, but I'm willing to do the hard thing. I don't know what I'm bloody doing, but I'm— but I know it needs to be done. So that's why I say I'm hoping that one of my hardest interviews is going to be in the future because I'm always looking for that.

Yeah, that's a great mindset. Like, I'd I'm jealous, and like, I aspire to that too. Um, the second thing was like, how, how is this format for you?

Oh, I love it. See, Q&A, like, I get to talk to you, I get to talk to you guys. But if you were like, Lisa, will you do a keynote on 45 minutes about how you developed your YouTube channel? I'm like, that's boring. Like, it doesn't excite me. That feels like, again, I'm talking at people.

So I love this format. It's easy to replicate too, right? Like could be something you do for your community. And whether it's— I don't know how many people we have here, 30 or 10 or 5 or whatever.

Well, so here's the thing, but I said about my mission goal, global scale. I don't think if, if I release me doing this, it's going to get global. It may get 20K views, maybe 30K. I don't want a 30K view minimum. I want goal millions of views, minimum 100,000 views.

So that's just strategy. Like, if you love this, is there a way to have 5 women or 30 women sit in a room with you and turn that into something that gets a million views?

Yeah, I need to ask Evan Carmichael that.

Well, there we go. It's like, like, this is what I would love to do. There's like, okay, well, let's, let's—

I'd rather figure that out. I hear you, right?

Yes, you're right. Like, maybe this one doesn't because, I don't know, maybe the questions suck.

I don't know. No, I don't specifically mean this.

I mean, but in general style.

I waffle a lot based on your script. I'm not a scripty person. Like, I'll waffle, like, kind of go over here and I go over here.

And it's all doable, right? Like, I just think it's all doable. Like, what do you love doing? If you come alive— I mean, watching you was great. I'm already thinking about, like, your last answers as the next question's coming up, and I'll go home and think about a lot more, I'm sure, of what you said today. Um, but if that's what makes you come alive, then, then it's just, oh, I'm not getting views. Okay, well Is there a way to turn that into something that makes views? Like, probably. Is it worth figuring out? Probably. And it gets your message out maybe better than forcing yourself in a hotel room to make a video tonight, right? Anyway, just some thoughts. Is there something we can help you with?

You guys are doing it already. You— and I shared this story with you yesterday, I didn't know if you remembered it. About 10 years ago, this guy shows up, up at my house. Were you at my house? Yeah, that was the first time I met you, but that was the first time— it just— I don't think I knew who you were. You showed up at my house, and that's a weird way to say that story, but okay, keep going. So back in the day when Tom first started Impact Theory, we opened up our house and we invited people to come and hang. So it wasn't like he just knocked on the door, um, but so we had like— we would have a live audience where Tom would do his Impact Theory in front of a live audience. And so Evan's like, how can I help you? How can I help you? How can I help you? Now unfortunately, back then I was very jaded and I was like, what does he want? What does he want?

He keeps asking. Canadian guy.

Yeah, this Canadian, eh? Um, this guy just keeps asking like, how can I help you? And he's like, no one's this nice. Very jaded back then. Um, so I was very skeptical. And 10 years later, he's still the same guy. He's like, how can I help? How can I help? I was like, okay, this is actually authentic. But like, you were so kind. Kind. You are so generous, you are so sweet. I will have a problem— what was it, 3 weeks ago? I messaged you and I was like, Evan, what is happening? And you were like, I was just about to eat dinner, but I just went down a rabbit hole and here you go. Like, you're just so kind. You truly want to help people. Like, you were giving me all the accolades earlier about helping women. You want to help people on a global scale. You are the pebble in the ocean that's creating the tsunami. And I feel honestly just so blessed that you invited me here because I love being a student and you're just a well of knowledge. And so I truly think that with all of you guys and just hearing all of your stories, it's just so incredible. Like, I've loved hearing Holly going, this is my goal, this is the plan, let's do it. Like, I— this is what I freaking love, that idea. I mean, so many of you guys tell the story. Obviously Malcolm, you're— you know how I feel about you. I've never even met you before and You've just— we are besties. What do you mean yet? Yes, we are. I thought we were besties yesterday. The fact that you're asking makes me worried. You're just amazing. I mean, all these women that I've met, you gentlemen, all your visions, it's just— I love that. And sometimes when you know a lot of influential people, you get stuck in their world and their perspective and you don't understand the truth, or you don't feel relatable sometimes, or I don't feel like I can relate to these amazing people. And I really think that, like, being on the ground— you had said it earlier, like, I'm in the weeds— I love that everyone here's the weeds. We're all so similar, we're all trying to get to the same thing. And so thank you guys for just being you and being honest and sharing your stories, because I want to learn from every single person here as well.

So final word, we got to bring up Nina. Nina! Come on, Nina!

Everyone give her a round of applause! Nina is the GOAT!

What do you think about Lisa Billie?

I'm watching it, Nina. She's a badass. You can tell by her hair, right? But she's actually very caring, genuinely caring about people. She came to me earlier, it's like, Nina, you're doing so much for other people. How can I help you? Like, is there anything you need? Let me bring it to you.

It's like you wouldn't— yeah, I haven't seen anyone, even Evan's like he hardly come to me and say, do you need something?

Can I help you? Can I bring you something? But she actually cares a lot. Thank you. I do want to say, look, you guys made me feel very good, so I very much appreciate the compliments. It does make me feel good. But the truth is, like, isn't it a bit sad that we compliment someone on just what human generosity is? Like, that's just a human thing to do. Like, I don't care how much money you got in your bloody bank account or how many subscribers you get. Like, again, it's very sweet, but to me, like, we all should be like that. Like, that's what humans should actually be like. I don't care, like, where you come from. So it's very sweet, but you've done so much for people. Of course I'm going to serve you. Like, of course.

Thank you, Lisa Bilyeu, everybody. Thank you, guys. Evan Carmichael. To watch an amazing presentation on how to build a million subscriber plus channel, check the video right there next to me. I think you'll love but continue to believe and I'll see you there. One of our clients, Anna, just crossed 1 million subscribers on YouTube and her story will absolutely blow your mind. I was 53, you know, by the time I started my channel, 53. People are like, I'm too old.

It's like, no, you're not.