588: Betting on Yourself: Hala Taha’s Journey From Fired DJ to 7-Figure CEO

Hello and welcome to the Achieve your goals podcast, the show that empowers you to wake up to your full potential and achieve your biggest goals and dreams. I am your host, Hal Elrod and I invite you to join us each week as we share actionable strategies to take your life to the next level, as well as interview world class experts and entrepreneurs who have achieved extraordinary goals themselves. And we ask them to give you a peek behind the curtain and teach you exactly what you need to do to do the same. Ready? Here we go.

Hey there. Hello goal achievers. Welcome to another episode of the Achieve your goals podcast. I'm your host, Hal Elrod, and today's conversation is with someone who has used relentless perseverance, courageous reinvention, and the power of using her voice literally and figuratively to create the life and business of her dreams and make a profound impact in the world. I am talking about Hala Taha, founder of YAP Media and host of one of the top podcasts in the world. Young and profiting now at 19 years old, Hala was already chasing her dreams working as an intern at Hot 97, one of the top radio stations in New York City. And she dropped out of college that same year to pursue her passion, became obsessed with the law of attraction, started writing affirmations, and began believing that her life had no limits. And she's been proving that to be true ever since. From getting fired from her dream radio gig and losing her entire identity as Holla. From Hot 97, to getting cast in a reality show on MTV, to losing that reality show, clawing her way into an MBA program with a 2.3 GPA only to end up with a 4.0, to transforming the culture at Hewlett Packard, to working at Disney, streaming I could go on and on. And finally launching young and profiting her podcast in 2018, which is now one of the top self improvement podcasts in the world today. Hala is the founder and CEO of YAP Media, a full service agency with a team of over 60 people. And she's built a powerhouse personal brand that's helping professionals and creators all over the world grow their influence and monetize their voice. And in today's episode, Holla shares her incredible story of overcoming repeated setbacks and self doubt and how she used manifestation, affirmations, resilience and believing in herself when no one else did to create the life of her dream so that you can be inspired and empowered to do the same. Get ready to shift your mindset and reimagine what's Possible for you. Please help me welcome Hala Taha.

Hala. It is so good to be with you, Hal.

So happy to be here.

And not just here, but you're here now in Austin, Texas, so we can see each other a lot more often.

I know. I'm really excited. I just moved out here from New York, and it has been awesome. It's been, like four months, and I love it out here.

Four months in Austin.

I already got my cowboy boots.

I love it. You're acclimating quickly.

Yeah.

Yeah. Very cool. What brought you out here?

Well, to save on taxes. I'm an entrepreneur, and I got killed on taxes last year, so I wanted to not have to pay state tax. So it was really between Miami and Texas, and we're building a creator house. We actually just put out an offer, and it got accepted yesterday. So building a creator house for YAP Media.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

That is very exciting. So you're an inspiration. Like, I have followed your story, and our friend Darius describes you as the most tenacious person that he has ever met. Words like hard work, tenacity, work ethic, all of those things come up. But also kindness, love. You exude positive energy. I'd love to start. I want to hear your thoughts on how your dad influenced you. If we could start with your dad. I've heard his. His story.

Yeah.

The way you've shared it, he was a big part in your life, and I'd love to.

Yeah. My dad was just the coolest, most generous guy in the world, and he inspired me. Like, I always give credit. Like, literally, when anything good happens in my life, I'm like, thanks to dad. And that's because I saw his adversity growing up. And so basically, he grew up in Palestine. So he grew up in the west bank during war. There were seven kids in the family. Two of his siblings died when he was younger. They had no running water. They had no electricity. They lived on a farm. My dad always told me he grew up on figs and dates. That's all he ate.

Wow.

And my dad knew that the only way that he could get out of poverty is education. He was the first person in his town to read. Really? He was the first person in his town to know how to read. And it's not that they were dumb people or anything. It was just a different time. And people were farmers and, like, that's the life that they lived. And so my dad would walk every day to school. He would read his books on the walk to school, because that's the Only sunlight that he had. He would just study, study. He was known as, like the smartest kid in town. Very, very smart guy. And he ended up getting a scholarship to medical school in Egypt. Then he came to America and he did his residency at a time when America was trying to recruit doctors. So he basically got like sponsored to come to America and do his residency in Harlem. And then he became a surgeon, became chief of surgery at two major hospitals in New Jersey, opened up center. And like, the best part about my dad is that he was so generous. And he spent the rest of his adult life, like once he made it literally just raising money for other kids in Palestine to get scholarships because he knew that's how he got out of it. And so he probably put like 10,000 people through school, through all of his fundraising, and then also paid for all of his nieces and nephews for college and mba. And so my dad was really, really successful. But I wasn't spoiled growing up because he was giving his money to all his nieces and nephews and putting everybody through college. And so, like, in my family, my dad is the one that like pulled everybody up. And now my family's doing awesome. It's like all my cousins are doctors, even cousins in Palestine, like, they're really successful and like, they went to college in London and this and that. And like, my dad helped them. And it just really. He's just like an amazing man. And he actually died from COVID in 2020, and that was really tough for me. He was in the hospital for two months. And I remember I was working in corporate and I had an amazing job at Disney. I had a cushy job. I had the podcast. I had already started young and profiting podcast. And I remember seeing him in the hospital and I would like sing to him every day because I have a great singing voice. And he used to love to hear me sing. And he was like, out of it. So I just thought maybe that would calm him down. And I remember in those moments when he was in the hospital, I was like, I need to just think bigger. My dad did so much, and here I am just like, yeah, I've got a great corporate job and I've got this podcast. But, like, is that really, like the most that I can do? Everybody's asking me, like, to start a company. You know, I've guests that come on my show, and at the end of the show, they're like, can you do my LinkedIn? Can you do my podcast? And I'd always just be like, no, you know, and then I was like, you know what? I'm just going to start doing this. And so he actually inspired me to start my company. And unfortunately, he never saw me starting a company. He passed away before that could happen. But I always know, like, it's because of him.

Yeah. Wow. Such an inspiration. And following up on that. Your dad giving so much to others. What values do you embody from your dad?

So, like, after he passed away, my brother is a doctor, and he said that he had a patient who was from Nigeria that came because now my brother works at my dad's old office. And he came to the office, he's like, I have to tell you something. And he's like, I don't think your dad ever told you. He's like, well, when my mom was sick, your dad paid for a flight ticket for me to go see my dying mom in Nigeria. He was like, I was just his patient.

Wow.

And I had friends telling me that I grew up with that, like, didn't have a lot of money. My dad would give them a hundred bucks before we went to the mall, and I had no idea. I. He gave me money, and he would secretly give them money. And, like, they'd be like, your dad used to give me money before we went to the mall, like, so that I wouldn't feel left out. You know, I'm just so generous. Like, even with my company, it started. We can talk about it if you want, but it started with volunteers. Like, I give equity openly. I'm, like, giving people raises before they ask for, especially if they don't ask it and they deserve it.

Yeah.

And I feel like, because I have such, like, an abundant mindset towards money, the other thing that my dad did is that he made me feel like money was not a problem. So even though he was so generous and he wouldn't, like, go be flashy or whatever, if I wanted something, he'd be like, yeah. Like, he would always tell me things are free. Like, if something was 100 bucks, he'd be like, sure, it's free. So, like, a lot of people, like, parents will instill like, stinginess in their kids.

Yeah.

But my dad always made it seem like money was abundant, Money was no problem. And I think it's because he grew up with no money, so he never wanted me to feel that way. But what happened is that when I grew up, I had no resistance to money. And, like, this idea of I could make a lot of money, I had no resistance to it. And here I am.

Yeah.

Making a lot more Money than most women, you know, do ever. So. So, yeah, he taught me a lot about generosity, and I feel like I try to carry that generosity through, and I raise a lot of money for Palestine as well and things like that.

I just learned a lesson from your dad about parenting. You know, as you're saying that I'm examining, like, how do I talk about money with my kids? And. Because sometimes I feel if it's like, hey, we can afford whatever we want. Right. Like, I try to find this balance between.

He might have overdid it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

He might have overdoed.

It's fair. That's fair. So find a balance.

Yeah, Find a balance, I think.

Yeah. Okay. So I want to back up. You and I have so much in common. We both, at 19 years old, started in radio. You started on Hot 97. I started on Q97, which is so wild. And then we both dropped out of college after that year. So a lot in common. But I know at 19, I believe that was the age you learned about the law of attraction and became obsessed with it.

Yeah.

And through that, developed a belief that life is limitless. Talk about that.

So before I was 19 years old, similar to you, I was, like, pretty mediocre. Like, I had some talents. I was a really good singer. So, like, that was, like, my one talent is that I was such a good singer. I'd always get solos, but it wasn't, like, extremely good at sports. I was, you know, a B student in college. I was, like, a CD student because I just didn't go to class. And I was fairly mediocre and not extremely confident, especially because I grew up during 9, 11, and when I was, like, in my formative years, like, 14, 15, 16, 17, there was a lot of racism going on towards me being Arabic Muslim. And before that time period, the way that my family was treated, we were in a very white town. I was treated like I was Italian. It was just. We were just an ethnic household. But, like, there was no animosity, and, like, we were really accepted and I was getting a lot of opportunities. But in high school, I was treated a lot differently after. And, like, 9, 11 happened right in the beginning of my freshman year in high school. And sudden, like, everything I tried out for, I never got. Even though I had the best voice in school, I was never the lead in the plays anymore. My chorus teacher was the only one that I still was getting solos and stuff, but that was the only thing. And I just felt like I was just not getting any opportunities. So in college, I had, like, lower self esteem than I think I would have because I was just never given any opportunities. And I think a lot of that honestly stemmed from racism.

Okay, okay.

But in college, I went to Newark njit. It was a super diverse school and suddenly was like an even playing field. And it's discovered the law of attraction. My brother introduced me to Abraham and Esther Hicks and they wrote a lot of different books. And I started, like, becoming obsessed with these books and I would start to write affirmations, and they were woo woo affirmations. Like, I'm the most beautiful girl in the world. I'm so confident. I'm so popular. I'm so this, I'm so that. And I would say these affirmations and I would record them and I would listen to them all day while I was driving, while I was doing chores. And suddenly the whole world started to open up and, like, I feel like I changed as a person.

Wow.

And I did incredible things, like, from like 19 to 21, like, I lived a life that like, most people would be like, you did what? Like, I worked at this radio station. It was the number one radio station in the world. I became Angie Martinez's assistant, who was the voice of New York. I was dating Chris Brown when I was 20 years old. I was going out with all these celebrities and just like, living this life.

Yeah. And any 19, 20 year old's dream life. Yeah.

Yeah. I was living this crazy dream life. And I started this blog. I almost got a show on mtv. Like, I just had all these amazing things happen to me because I really believed that I could do anything. Yeah. And I had programmed my mind to really believe that part of it was, like, a little bit naive, but I was naive enough to believe it.

Yeah.

And so I just approached everything well. Like, I could do that. I could be whatever I want.

Yeah.

And I just saw myself really, like, change in terms of, like, who I was.

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Well, you're a living embodiment. You know, you mentioned that you started reciting these affirmations over and over and over. And I always say that what you affirm repeatedly becomes your inner reality. Right. So you literally believed, I am the most amazing, beautiful, capable person and I can do all these things.

Yeah.

And then you hit a roadblock at one point, though, that caused you to question that belief.

Yeah. So I worked a lot for free in this industry. As you know, there's not much money in radio. Sure. And radio is all about, like, paying your dues.

Yeah.

So when I worked at Hot 97, I got an internship, like a formal internship from college. And then one day, Angie was like, hey, I want you to work for me, but you need to come every day. And I was like, well, I'm in school. Well, I guess I'm gonna drop out. Cause I'm not gonna say no to this opportunity. And so I started, basically, I was crash at my brother's. My brother lived in Brooklyn, so I was, like, living on his couch.

Yeah.

And working at Hot 97. And I would make money at night hosting showcases, selling, like, these underground rap battle tickets and going out with the DJs and helping them and just doing whatever I could to make money because I wasn't actually getting paid during the day at the station. And so three years into, basically two whole years of me dropping out of college, all of my siblings are in med school. Everybody followed into my dad's footsteps. So here I was working for free at a radio station. College dropout, while everybody's in residency and rotations. And, like, I'm like the black sheep failure of my family. The only person who believed in me was literally my dad, who was like, follow your dreams. Everybody else was like, you're a failure. Ignoring Me at Thanksgiving, that kind of stuff.

Wow.

And I remember, like, it just got to me at one point and I emailed the heads of Hot 97 and I kind of complained, like, hey, I've been working here for three years and I haven't gotten paid. Like, there's an assistant producer role opening up and I want that job. And then come to find out that they gave it to somebody else who was in another department and they wanted me to train him. Okay. So they wanted me to train him with this job.

The job that you were asking for?

Yeah. An assistant producer or the producer role opened up on Angie's show, and I was already doing it, and they wanted me to train him how to do that job. So I basically texted my. He was my friend, and I was like, hey, if you wanna learn how to do this job, learn how to do it on your own. Like, I'm don't feel like going to work. And then they fired me instantly.

Wow.

And they not only fired me, and I look back on this and, like, I have no resentment in my heart, but Angie was, like, my age when she fired me. And I think about how I treat my employees and my interns, and I'm like, I would never do that. Like, I did everything for her. Like, I sacrificed, like, and then one little mistake. Yeah. Like, I dropped out of college for her and she literally never gave me $20. So she told everybody. They can't even talk to me anymore. So all the DJs literally called me up and I was like their little sister, basically. Sorry, we can't talk to you anymore. Just lay low.

So at that time, yeah, yeah, that was your identity, right. Your social media was HA97 everything.

I had, like, let go of all my college friends, and everybody knew I was this girl that worked at the radio station. It was totally my identity. So I felt like somebody died. I felt like I was, like, so upset. But similar to you, I have dealt with a lot of adversity. And I knew that the way to get out of it was to focus on something new and to pour my passion and pain into something that was going to help other people. And so I decided to start this thing called the Sorority of Hip Hop.

Yeah.

And I decided I was going to recruit girls who worked in the industry who weren't getting opportunities. And I went on Craigslist and Twitter and I was like, hey, if you guys want to learn how to blog, submit your resume. I'll teach you how to do it. I was blogging on the side for DJ Enough. And Funk Master Flex. So like I knew how to blog and I got fired on a Thursday. By Sunday, I figured out how to create a WordPress website and built a website. And in two weeks later I recruited 14 girls. I went back to college and within three months we were one of the most popular hip hop and entertainment sites in the world. I basically had Twitter, kept going viral on Twitter, got all these like musicians to basically retweet our posts and almost got a show on mtv. So like, it just like was like a whirlwind of me kind of just like taking the control back.

Yeah.

And the same DJs who didn't hire me started to hire me for their parties and I would get shouted out on Hot 97 and was more in like with everybody as a peer than I was when I actually worked at the radio station. Even Angie made up with me and tried to get me a job at on Sirius and tried to get me on love and hip hop and all this stuff. So long story short, this is a very long winded story. But he asked me like, what was rock bottom, right? Rock bottom was three years into sorority of hip hop. MTV reached out to us for a reality TV show. Now when I first started the blog, they reached out and they did like a very short pilot. Like they just filmed us for a couple days. Nothing happened. But I was like, who cares? Like, we just started and we're getting a reality TV show pilot. But this time they're like, we're serious. They like basically like we had to do all this paperwork. They filmed us all summer. They got us a studio on Broadway. It was like real world.

Wow. Yeah.

And they filmed us everywhere. And I was so excited. And I was like, finally, I made it. I'm going to be making all this money once this show comes out. You get paid per episode. And I was like, I made it. I worked for free basically for six years doing all these odd jobs, whatever I could to survive. Now my family's going to be proud of me. Everything's going to work out. And then two weeks before they were supposed to air the show, my producer calls me up. She's a call up. I'm so sorry. We're moving in another direction.

Wow.

And that was for me, like the last straw. And that's when I really lost my connection to manifestation. Law of attraction. I was like, I need to just grow up. Everybody is like a doctor in my family and I'm just like a loser. I moved to my parents house. My dad was nice enough to Pay for my mba. So again, saved me again.

So you decided to go get your MBA at that time?

I shut down my blog. Sorry.

This is like a total reinvention. You're like, I'm going into corporate.

Yeah. It was so shocking to everybody who was. Because my blog was big. Yeah. We were, like, pretty famous in the tri state area. And literally I just shut it down.

Why did you shut it down?

Because I was like, I can't do this anymore if I can't take care of myself. There was 50 girls in the organization, 50 to 150 girls at any given time. And I was just like, I just keep doing everything for everybody else. And it's like, if I can't be successful myself, how am I going to help everybody else? I've got to, like, figure it out on my own. And I was like, you know what? This is not good enough for me. Like, this isn't working. And sometimes the best thing you could do is actually quit. And I just knew, like, I don't want to be in this industry anymore. I don't feel appreciated in this industry. I feel like I learned a lot, and now I'm making so much money on all the skills that I learned in that time in my life. But I was like, I don't want to be a part of this industry anymore, and I want more control over my life. And so I decided I was going to go get my mba.

Okay.

I basically had to beg to get into school, and I had to basically promise that I would get a 4.0 because I had a 2.3 GPA in college.

Wow. Okay.

But I did. I got a 4.0. I graduated number one in my class. I got an internship at Hewlett Packard. That turned into a job. And then my last year at Hewlett Packard, I basically started my podcast. So I'll pause there.

Yeah, the young and profitable podcast. Young.

Profiting.

Yeah, profiting. And that was last year at Hewlett Packard.

Yeah. So it was four years into my corporate career.

So four years at Hewlett Packard. And then. I know after that you shifted into another corporate role at Disney.

Yeah.

Right, let's talk about that.

Yeah. So basically, Hewlett Packard was awesome. I was an entrepreneur at the company, and basically I approached everything so differently, and I thought that I was going to enter corporate and I was going to be, like, this big failure because all my friends had already been in corporate for many years. I think I was 28 years old in my first corporate job.

Okay, so when you started at Hewlett Packard.

And my resume looked crazy. It was like, intern at Hot 97, blogger at the sorority of hip hop. But they took a chance on me and then, like, I crushed it. I was so much more tech savvy than everybody else. I could graphic design, I could video edit. I was a good salesperson. I just had all these skills and I ended.

Skills you had developed by doing your own entrepreneurial stuff where you had to do everything on your own.

Yeah. And by the end of it or throughout it, I would say I became like the chief of staff for the C suite. Like, I had a really big position at Hewlett Packard and was like super respected and was like leading people who were like double my age. And so it was really cool. And I loved working at Hewlett Packard. I had such a great experience and I was actually face of the young employees. I was president of the young employee Network and I was like, running all the different local chapters for New York, New Jersey. And then I was on the global board. And then I was supposed to be, in my opinion, the global young employee president.

Yeah.

And I didn't get that. It was something where the HR director put somebody in the role who had never done anything with the organization. And here I was like, essentially working a part time job for free within Hewlett Packard to help the company culture. That's exactly what that. That was. Yeah. And then they literally gave it to a man who wasn't even involved. And it was like that same feeling at Hot 97 when that guy got the job that didn't deserve it. And I was like, why does this keep happening? I was like, I can't keep having people control my destiny. And that was when I was like, okay, I'm gonna start young and profiting podcast. Instead of leading 7,000 young employees at Hewlett Packard, maybe I'll lead 7 million online. And that's when I started my LinkedIn journey and started the podcast. And at the same time, I was ready to make a move because I felt like Hewlett Packard had kind of disrespected me, like for basically working a free part time job and then not giving me the role that I did deserve.

Yeah.

And so I moved to Disney streaming services, but I did not love that job.

How long were you there?

I was there for two years. It was fine. It was just like a boys club. So Hewlett Packard, looking back, had like a really great company culture and like really respected women. And when I went to Disney, I was treated like I was an intern. Again, I was paid better, but that wasn't enough for me. Like, I wanted the respect, and I felt like I didn't have the respect. And that's why I kind of decided I was going to start my side Hustle.

And So was that 2018 that you started, the Young and Profiting Podcast?

Yes.

Okay, talk about that podcast. So why did you start a podcast, by the way, of all the things you could have done? That was seven years ago. So podcasts were.

Well, it's because I had so much radio background. So all throughout Hot 97 and the sorority 5 pop, I always had online radio ships. So while I was working at Hot 97, I had online radio shows with the up and coming DJs, while I had the sorority of hip hop. But it was just a different type of show. I would interview musicians and things like this. And online radio was basically the precursor of podcasts. You'd be like, go to a listradio.net, listen at 3 o', clock, like DTF radio. Listen at whatever time. So I knew how to do everything. And when I saw podcasts actually becoming popular, because when I had been doing these online radio shows, podcasts existed, but they were really hard to do. It was like, too technical for me. Like, I'd. I didn't know how to do it. And then I saw like, oh, like, there's these platforms like Podbean now, where you just like, yeah, plug and play. Yeah, you just like start a podcast. I was like, I could do this. And so one day, I remember it was like New Year's resolution, end of 2017, or like beginning of 2018. And I was like, I'm going to start a podcast. I told my team at Hewlett Packard. And because I told everybody in real life, I was like, okay, I guess I got to figure this out. And by April, I launched one.

Wow.

Yeah. Wow.

Okay, Fast forward to 2020.

Yeah.

You said that was a pivotal year in your life, and I've heard you say it was both. The first half was the hardest year of your life. Second half was the best year of your life. So it was like a real dichotomy. Talk about 2020 for you.

So 2020 was probably a tough year for a lot of people. I remember I was with my ex boyfriend living in Brooklyn, and it was March, right at the beginning of COVID I was working at Disney streaming services. People were just starting to, like, wear masks. And I think we. That was like the first week that I was actually working from home And I remember my sister calling me up, and she's like, hala. She's like, mom, dad, your aunt, uncle down the street, and your brother have Covid. And this was, like, mortifying, because at the time, like, Covid was.

We didn't know what it was. We thought everybody was dying from it.

Like, yeah, a lot of people were dying from. Right. It was really, like, a bad strain. She's like, mom, dad, your aunt, uncle down the street, your brother. They all have Covid going home. And I didn't have a car at the time. She's like, can you be ready in 30 minutes? Like, did you want to come? And I was like, I guess I'm coming. So she comes. We have full hazmat suits on because she's a doctor. So we were so scared. Like, we were mortified. So we put on full hazmat suits. Everybody is so sick. Like, I've, like. We walk in the house, and, like, you can, like, smell the sickness. Like, it was crazy. So me and my sister basically went into the basement, and we, like, camped out in the basement, and we would go up in our hazmat suits and, like, try to help everybody and cook. And I was, like, cooking, like, everybody's soup. And my sister, she was like, the doctor. So she was responsible for the doctor stuff.

Yeah.

And then we were scared to send anybody to the hospital because it was so packed at that time, the hospital. And basically everybody was saying, if you send it to the hospital, it's like a death wish, right? So even my brother, who is so fit, he's like, the ideal man, you know, he was super sick. My dad has diabetes. Diabetes. So he was like, we were most worried about him. Eventually, though, me and my sister were like this. Like, my dad was getting so sick. We were like, okay, forget these hazmat. Forget everything. Like, let's just try to save dad. And so we were just, like, doing everything, like, food speeding him, like, doing whatever we could. There's things I don't even want to talk about, like, what we had to do. And.

You know, my dad ended up going to the hospital, and I remember when he said, like, oh, if I go to the hospital, you guys aren't gonna see me again. And he was right. Like. And I remember him being wheeled out, and we had to call the ambulance, and, like, he ended up going to the hospital, and he ended up staying in the hospital for basically two months. Okay. And because I got cove, of course, I got coveted, right. I didn't get very sick at all. Yeah, I Got Covet. And then suddenly I had, like, the cooties to everyone, right? So my boyfriend that I was with for, like, seven years, didn't see him for three months. None of my friends didn't see my friends. Even my dad's funeral. Like, barely anyone came to the funeral because they were. Everyone was just so scared of getting Covid. And, like, our family got the cooties, you know? So I was in isolation, essentially, for three months. And when I started my podcast, something we didn't talk about is that I had a volunteer team. So I had 20 people who worked for free for me for two years while I was working full time. So I was a scarred entrepreneur. I had failed as an entrepreneur. And so I was, like, really set on working a corporate job. Like, I thought I was just going to be the CMO of Hewlett Packard, the CMO of Disney. That was what I thought I was going to be. And I thought my podcast was just a hobby. Okay? So I had all these volunteers helping me with my mission of this hobby podcast, and I had trained them all. I would teach somebody how to do audio editing. Somebody had to do video editing, somebody to run my socials, to run my website. I. And I basically trained everybody, and essentially, I had a company. Okay, so I interviewed Heather Monahan about, like, right before COVID happened. I interviewed her in February.

Who's Heather Monahan?

Heather Monahan is, like, a big podcaster. She's an author. She's a huge LinkedIn influencer. And I had become a LinkedIn influencer. So, okay, I. When I started my podcast, I started posting on LinkedIn, and I actually became a big LinkedIn influencer before my podcast got big. Okay, okay, so Heather came on my show. I interviewed her when, I remember, in a phone booth at Disney. And she. At the end of the show, she was like, holly, your videos are so good on LinkedIn. Can you do this for me? Like, can you help me do my videos? And I was like, I wanted her to be my mentor because she was, like, exactly who I wanted to be when I grew up. She's 10 years older than me. And I was like, I'll teach you how to do it, but, like, I can't do it for you. But, like. And I started taking, like, these Saturday calls with her, and we became really close, and she was really, really helpful for me. When my dad was sick, and she was like. Became like my mentor, my therapist, and I would teach how to make videos and try to teach her.

And you were right around 30 at this time or a little.

I was 30. Yeah, I was 30.

Okay.

So I would teach her how to make these videos. And then I remember I showed her like my Slack. We had a Slack channel that's now like basically my company. I would show her all my folders, all our processes. She's a calla. I just had a call with VaynerMedia. She's like, I could give them my money. I could give you my money. She's like, I want to be your first client. She's like, you hate your job at Disney. Because I would tell her everything. She's like, you do not appreciate it at Disney. You've got nothing to lose. You have 20 people who work for you already. Like, come on, I'll be your first client.

Wow.

And so I was like, okay, fine. And I didn't quit my job. I did it as like a side hustle.

Yeah.

So my second client was a billionaire and he actually invited me on his podcast. His name was Jason Waller, and he had this true underdog podcast. And at the end of the show he was like, hey, like, could you do your LinkedIn? Could you do podcasts for me? And I was like, like, yeah, I can. You know. And so I pitched him and he was a thirty thousand dollar a month client.

Wow.

So Heather paid me like a thousand bucks a month. And my second client was $30,000 a month.

It's a nice increase.

So then everything changed. Then I started hiring people in the Philippines and putting people on payroll, and I was still scared of quitting my job. So it took me six months to quit my job. I got two other huge clients. The CEO of 1-800-got junk. Brian Scudamore. You probably know it.

Oh, wow. Yeah.

Kara golden of Hint Water became my client. I started running all her stuff, All Hint Water stuff, stuff. And we were making like well over six figures a month as an agency.

Wow.

I actually got a couple US hires and then I quit my full time job.

Disney job.

Yeah. So it just kind of like skyrocketed and. Thanks.

And that was the second half of 2020 when that all started to happen.

Yeah. And then because I started making real money, I figured out how to grow my podcast. So because I started making real money and I started just kind of thinking about, like, what is success to me? Success doesn't mean that I have to be the biggest thing. Biggest podcaster on Apple for a long time. I was like, in order to be successful, I need to be as big as Tim Ferriss on Apple, as big as Jenna Kutcher. On Apple. And I was just treading water. Treading water, trying to compete with people that I could not compete with.

Yeah.

And I decided to start thinking outside of the box. So it's like, what other apps are out there? There's Castbox, there's Player FM, there's Podbean. I have this LinkedIn profile, and I'm one of the biggest podcasters on LinkedIn. Now, how can I trade my audience with these other platforms? So I started an initiative that summer where I reached out to every single platform, every single player. There's like 70 of them that in the world. Right. 70 different players outside of Apple.

Okay.

And I was like, hey, like, I've got LinkedIn, this LinkedIn profile. I'll post about you if you put me on your blog, if you blast me out in your email blast, if you feature me in your apps. And so Castbox, for example, sponsored me. And now my partnership with Castbox is so huge. I have, like, 6 million subscribers just on Castbox.

Wow.

And I'm like, one of their biggest podcasters. I get, like, 50% of my downloads this day are from Castbox.

I've heard of that.

Yeah. So it's the biggest, like, Android app. Right. And so, like, I've got a ton of subscribers on Player FM and Podbean and all these different apps.

Yeah.

And I just grew as a successful podcaster way differently than everybody else. And then I realized that you could pay for these types of media buys. So I started making money. And instead of just doing these trades, I was like, hey, Castbox, let me get a 10k media buy. Let me get this. And I started investing in myself. And then my podcast grew, and now I'm bigger on Apple. But it took a long time. Like, I succeeded in another way first. Yeah. So in 2021, January of 2021, I got on the COVID of Podcast magazine, and that's when I was decided to quit my job. I was like, okay, like, I'm on the COVID of Podcast magazine. I'm making over six figures in my agency. It's time to quit my job.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that's when you quit Disney.

Yeah. And so to your point, worst year of my life, father dying. But by the end of the year, it was the best thing because it's like I basically created my own freedom. It was like the precursor to the empire that YAP media is today.

Yeah. And you said that your dad was the only one that believed in you and said, follow your dreams. Right?

Yeah.

It's like you Manifested or you made happen what he would have wanted for you. I can imagine.

Definitely. And on it, like I said, like, the turning point was when he was in the hospital, when I was like, all right, I'm just gonna go all in. Like, I've been kind of, like, dabbling here and there.

Yeah.

But it's time to just go all in and see. Could make something really happen and be a role model to other ethnic women and people out there, you know?

So anyone listening to this. Right. Is if they're thinking in their head, probably, like, wow, Hala is incredible. Again, tenacious, hard working. All of these words that come up. If you were observing yourself, if you're analyzing yourself, what are the qualities that have enabled you to persevere through failure and setback and doubt out and just keep going. I mean, creativity comes to mind. Like, you're constantly trying to think of, how do I take advantage of this opportunity or create an opportunity. So how would you evaluate your own superpowers and abilities?

I would say, like, a lot of it was just, like, obsession. So, like, there's so many podcasters in the world, but nobody knows podcasting more than me. Like, nobody knows how to grow podcasts more than me. Nobody knows how to monetize podcasts more than me. So it's like, I. I wanted to be a podcaster, and instead of just focusing on, like, the content, I focused on the marketing, the growth, the tactics, the how can I maximize all these things? That's why they call me the podcast princess now. Right. So it was like an obsession of just knowing every nook and cranny that I needed to know and experimentation and realizing that, like, there's no straight path to being a successful podcaster. I took a zigzag path and a very, very untraditional path to becoming a top podcaster. So I feel like that's number one. Number two is whenever somebody tells me no, I try to create my own lane. Right. So if a gatekeeper tells me no, which I had so much of in my life.

Yeah.

You know, from Hot 97 to I almost was Sway in the mornings, co host on Sirius xm, which is like a huge show. And I didn't get that. I didn't get the MTV show. I didn't get promoted at Disney. I always got rejected. I never got on the team. I never, like, I always. Always getting rejected. And the podcast was the first time that I decided, you know what, instead of me just, like, wanting to get chosen, I'm gonna choose myself. And I'm Gonna be an entrepreneur and create my own lane and just do it myself. Because I feel like when you're the owner, nobody can take it away from you. And especially like before, I didn't really understand what I was building. I was building a personal brand.

Yeah.

And your personal brand is a transferable asset that you take no matter how your career.

Yeah.

And I decided to invest in my own personal brand. And, like, that was just so powerful. So it was like investing in myself, taking control over things, not waiting for somebody to give me permission or to pick me and just choosing myself.

Incredible. So since you were 19, you believed in manifestation, the law of attraction, utilized affirmations. How do you apply that now? Having. You know, back then you were using it to create something out of nothing. Now you've created so much. How do those tools still serve you?

I still manifest all the time. We've got this meeting that we do every single Monday with my team, and it's called G90. Actually, Darius, our mutual friend, is the one that kind of instilled this with us. He's got a lot of different processes for companies, and one of the things that I added to it was weekly wishes. So in the beginning of our session, we're saying affirmations like. Like, I want Hal Elrod to close this week so that he can join us at YAP Media and we can monetize his show. I want this deal to close. I want to make this new hire and want to find the perfect candidate. And we actually make affirmations. And all three of my business partners and I have three wishes every week that we try to manifest. Because I find that when I'm in a positive mindset, everything goes well for my business. Everything is effortless. This people can feel that energy. Even if it's just made up. Like, even if it's not true. It's my energy that changes. So it's my energy on the calls because I made these affirmations. And so I use it in that way to manifest the things that we want in our business. I also use it to prepare myself for really big experiences, whether I'm guesting on a big show or having a big sales call.

Speaking on a big stage.

Speaking on a big stage.

Yeah.

I tell my, like, literally, like, I'll tell myself, myself, I earned this spot. I'm talking to this person because I've been working so hard for 20 years, and I, like, you know, just trying to get that imposter syndrome out of my head. And I'll tell myself, like, I'm the best salesperson. Nobody else knows more than podcasting than me. And I try to just, like, build myself up. And again, it's more about the energy shift and the confidence that it brings me and getting myself confident than me actually believing those things.

Yeah. Yeah. It's not magic. Right. It's not the manifestation. It's your optimizing your mental and emotional state so that you can show up at your best, which then increases the likelihood that you get the outcome that you're after.

You always talk about having your affirmations based in reality, based on truth. That's literally what I'm doing. I'm saying, like, Hala, you worked for 20 years. Like, that's why you're here. Like, you've sold millions of dollars or whatever.

Yeah.

So I try to tell myself, like, remind myself of, like, this is why you're here.

Yeah. So you seem to have. And seem is the wrong word, because you have seemingly have an unstoppable mindset. An unstoppable mindset. And you just mentioned imposter syndrome a minute ago. Do you face imposter syndrome still? Have you overcome it?

The only time I face imposter syndrome are, like, the really, really huge moments. Like I was telling you, I think in the last podcast that we did that, I spoke at Funnel Hacking Live.

Yeah.

And it was in front of 6,000 people. And Russell Brunson, who's my client, put me on that stage. Stage. And I have a lot of speaker friends who really deserve to be on that stage. Like, I have this friend Phil who actually helped me with my presentation, and he speaks all over, and it's like, his dream to be on that stage. Phil Stringer.

I don't know Phil. No.

Yeah. He speaks about AI and sales. And I remember I told him, he was like, what? And I was like, yeah, I know. I don't really deserve it. So it's like, that's kind of like what I felt is, like, I don't deserve to be on the stage. Like, people have been working a lot harder than me to be a speaker. But he chose me to speak about podcasting. He needed a speaker on podcasting, and he decided I was the most qualified. And I was like, you know what? It's true. There's nobody who knows more than me about podcast growth and monetization. So, like, I did earn my spot.

Yeah.

But I just gotta make sure that I do a great job and I don't let anybody down and that I can show that I deserved this spot, you know? So yeah.

And I think that what came up for me, as you said, that is the imposter syndrome that we deal with is it's when we're seeing ourselves as who we used to be. Right. Often that's like, childhood. Like, I was. You know, if we were bullied as a kid or we weren't accepted or we weren't good at things or whatever. The imposter syndrome comes from us identifying as the child in us. Right. Whereas what you're doing is reminding myself, well, no, no, no. What's happened since then in the last 20 years is I've actually earned the right to be on this day, but I've earned the right to succeed at this level. Right. I'm not that kid anymore. Y. I'm who I am now. I think that's the separation.

The only other example that I can think of where I felt like an imposter was actually interviewing Tom Billu. And I talked about this on my podcast.

I love Tom.

So I love Tom. When we had this interview, I, like, just looked up to him so much, and he's such an accomplished podcaster. So I kept thinking, like, man, he's probably thinking about, like, he would ask this question better. Like, a lot of the times when I interview people, like. Like, I could tell they're really enjoying the conversation. And, like, I didn't really feel that from him. And I was like, oh, I feel like I'm bombing this. Like, so I got in my head. But I remember mid interview, I've just been around this rodeo too much. So in my head, it was like, holla, you've interviewed Gary Vee. You've interviewed Matthew McConaughey. Like, he's not bigger than your other guests. Like, he might just be having a bad day. Like, snap out of it. You're the podcast princess. So it's like the affirmations came back to give me the confidence to do a good job at least. Least second half.

Yeah, I love it. And again, what you refer repeatedly becomes your reality. So when you're telling yourself, I am capable, I am the podcast princess. I.

Right.

Like, I got this. You create your interstate. You create your reality.

Yeah.

What do you most want to teach people about building the life and the career of their dreams or the business? Their dreams. Like, you have done it, right. You went from asking people for permission, right? Angie was her name. Angie what?

Angie Martinez.

Angie Martinez. Give me a chant. Angie, right? I want to be the next Angie Martinez. Is mtv. Give me a reality show, right? You used to ask for permission for what you wanted. And now you're like, no, I'm done with asking. I'm going to create what I want in my life. And you, Y media, you have a marketing agency which people might not even know about. Right. Your Y podcasting network, you have multiple businesses, you have a team that you employ. So all of that to say, what do you want to teach people about building the life and business or career on their terms?

I think it boils down to skills, skills, skills.

Okay.

When I talk to entrepreneurs and everybody that I know that's really successful is obsessed with being the smartest, most competent expert in their field. Okay? Obsession and studying and learning and reps and doing the grunt work and building things up from scratch. And everybody's going to have a different, like, experience. But for me, everything I had mastered on my own is what I then turned into services. Okay. I figured out LinkedIn, we're the number one LinkedIn marketing agencies. We figured out podcast production. I have an amazing podcast. We started offering it to other people. I figured out how to grow podcasts. Then we started growing people's podcasts. I figured out how to monetize my podcast. Then I started a network where I've got 35 other shows like Russell Brunson and Jenna Kutcher and Amy Porterfield and Trent Shelton, where I grow. And I'm the sole person responsible to monetize all their shows. Right? Right. And it's all because I did it for myself first. And until I know that I can do it for myself exceptionally, and I know everything I need to know about that thing, I'm not going to sell it.

Yeah.

Because my reputation is on the line and the way that I get customers is through referrals and by doing an excellent job. And I just feel like people just don't have that sense of like, excellence anymore. And a lot of people just like want the quick and easy way to do it. But I feel like to have a great foundation as an entrepreneur, like nowadays sometimes I wake up and I was like, I'm like, I don't have anything to do. Like, I've got a team of 60 people.

They got it all.

Everybody knows what to do. It's like a well oiled machine. And my life is changing now as an entrepreneur, it's not the same, but when I was first starting, it's like I was really, really involved, you know, and now I'm only involved on the new things and I'm innovating. Right. I'm really involved on the network side, on the Sales side, side. And I really just have like a smaller focus, but I'm still obsessed with it. Long story short, like obsession, gaining skills, putting in the rep, doing the hard things that scare you, and then stacking those skills.

I heard you talk about. Yeah, talk about that. You, you talked about. It's a concept you learn from somebody else.

Scott Adams, he talks about skill stacking.

Yeah.

And basically he's this very, very world famous cartoonist and he's got a cartoon about corporate life. And so he was in corporate. He wasn't like the most successful corporate person. He's pretty funny, he's a decent drawer. He put all those things together and he became one of the most famous, like super, super accomplished cartoonists in the world.

Yeah.

Same thing with me being a podcaster. I don't think I'm the best host in the world, but I'm extremely good at marketing, I'm extremely creative. I'm a great writer. I knew how to audio edit, I knew how to delegate. I put all these things together and I have a top 100 podcast. Right. I'm not Tom Bily. You.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying?

Nobody's Tom Billy.

Yeah. So I just feel like all these experiences that you get in your life really add up later. Like even me working at the mall when I was like throughout high school and college, those types of skills, just selling people in real life.

Yeah.

Have helped me now sell millions of dollars in sponsorships for my podcasters. Right. So I just feel like every skill matters and working hard is super important, especially in your 20s, in, in your teens, 20s, 30s. So that when you're 30, 40 years old, you can try to think of, okay, what can I put together to create an exceptional offer for people based on all the things that I've learned and put my hard work towards over the years. But so many people just like stay doing the same thing and not learning anything new and not feeling passionate about their career. And if there's no passion, you're not going to learn everything you need to learn. So if you're not passionate, that's probably why you can't become a successful entrepreneur, in my opinion.

Yeah. One thing you did, I think courage just came up for me is another word to describe you. Right. Courageously leaving one thing, trying something new, starting a new thing. And, and you diversified your skill sets. Right. Like you said, this key is if it's building skills, you're building a wide variety of skills that you can stack. And I relate to that. Like I Look at why my Cutco sales experience. Okay, great. Got that under my belt. Started speaking at Cutco conferences. Okay, now I can speak. Wrote my first book, right? And then it's like, yeah, just keep stacking those up.

And.

And I love that you went from being radio to podcast because it's like podcasting new radio.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. So. And it's also just understanding the opportunities at hand. When somebody asked me when I first started my podcast, they were like, why are you starting this podcast? You've got a great job. Like, what is the vision? Where do you see yourself in five years? And I'd always say, I'm gonna have the number one self improvement podcast network. I never said I'm gonna have a social agency and a podcast agency. But that opportunity was so obvious and I was open. And I started realizing everybody's asking me the same thing. Everybody wants this for me. Same thing. With my LinkedIn masterclass, I've made half a million dollars on that pure profit. And that was people asking me for a course. So I also am like open to what people want from me. And being open has then allowed me to make money to actually create my dream. Cause I used all that money to bootstrap what eventually became YAP Media Network. You know, so it's also just, just understanding your opportunities and taking them.

What would you tell someone who is stuck between playing it safe, right? Keeping the status quo, going out of fear of the unknown, and then going after what they really want in their lives?

You don't have to do it all at once. You just don't have to do it all at once. If you feel really passionate about starting something on the side, start it on the side. Right? We waste so much time. Like, for example, I don't watch any tv. Tv. And that habit started when I started my podcast because I remember having to evaluate, well, I have a full time job and I'm also in a very serious relationship and I gotta cook dinner every night and I gotta work out and I gotta see my friends and my family and my mom and where am I gonna get this time? And I was like, well, I don't need to watch an hour of TV every day or two hours of TV every day. That's a waste of time. So I stopped watching TV and I instead, I use that time to build my company on the side and to build my podcast on the side initially. So think about where are you actually wasting your time and can your time be used somewhere else? And you have to be really intentional and be willing to sacrifice that I have to be the one. When everyone's talking about all these TV shows, I'm like, yeah, I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, I don't watch TV only as like a date with my partner. I'll watch a movie or something like that, but I don't even know how to turn on the TV in my house, you know? So it's just a matter of prioritizing your time and things will open up.

So that story, I add intentional to the list of adjectives to describe Hala.

Yeah, yeah.

Just being intentional, going, okay, wait, this watching television does not move me closer to my goals and dreams, so I'm going to cut it out. Yeah, I'm similar. I only watch YouTube while I eat my lunch. It's like my decompression in the middle of the day.

Yeah.

I'm eating the lunch anyway. Right. But in the evening, no tv.

And it's all about balance. Right. So it's like instead maybe like the way that I do that is like online shopping. I'm like, very fashionable. Right?

Yeah.

So it's like, I don't watch tv, but I online shop, but I don't do both.

We all have our vices. Yeah, yeah. Right. You pick what are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't indulge. What's the big vision for Yap Media in the next 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years?

So, like you mentioned, I have two companies. I have my social media and podcast agency, and then now I have the YAP Media podcast network, which is really my main focus. We've got 35 shows, and my job now is just to recruit as many awesome podcasters like yourself as possible and just do a great job selling and growing their show. So that's my main focus. I hope we can get 100 podcasters in the network. We're already competing with all the major networks. We're like number 17 in the U.S. nice. So we're just going to keep on going. We just relocated to Austin, as you know.

I'm excited.

And we're building a creator house. So we're going to have a creator house with studios, and it's just going to be awesome.

Amazing. With you at the helm, Hala. I have no doubt. I have no doubt.

Thank you.

That's the beauty of it is you meet the person and you're like, oh, this is a person. I see how you've gotten to where you are, are, and I can't imagine anyone listening or including me to go, well, there's A ceiling for her. Like, what's the ceiling? I can't imagine what it would be. All right, let's wrap up with this question. Let's get a billboard. It's got one message that you want to leave with people. What would it say?

The first thing that came up is how you do anything is how you do everything.

I love that.

Yeah. So just excellence. Back to excellence. Right? Like, I don't put anything out in the world that I don't think is excellent.

Yeah.

You know, and, like, I feel like that's how my whole team operates. That's how me and my business partners think about everything that we do. It's never about a quick buck. It's always about, like, integrity. Is this the best for everybody involved, including our team, and just putting our 100% effort?

Awesome. Well, you are doing exactly that.

Thank you.

Appreciate you. What's the best way for people to. To get in touch with you?

The podcast young and profiting is awesome. We've got, you know, nearly a million subscribers now across all the different apps. So go check out young and profiting podcast. I interview so many people that you always talk about so many of the brightest minds in the world. You can go to yap media.com if you want to learn about the agency, if you want to learn about the network.

Amazing. Hala, it is such a pleasure. I'm so grateful you're in Austin, and I am so excited to just keep getting to know you even better.

Thanks, Hal.

All right, take care. Thanks for listening. To learn more about the achieve your goals podcast and to get access today's show notes, transcript, and exclusive content from Hal Elrod, visit HalElrod.com podcast thanks again for joining us. Be sure to tune in next week for another episode of the achieve your goals podcast.