In this episode of the Million Dollar Grit podcast, host Julie Chenell previews chapters from her upcoming book, focusing on Chapter 3 (“Following the Problem”) and Chapter 6 (“Saying Yes”). She argues that cash‑strapped entrepreneurs often get stuck on their own operational anxieties—such as failing webinars, landing‑page design, or pricing—rather than on the real problems their customers face. By shifting attention to the customer’s pain point, entrepreneurs can create immediate value exchanges that generate cash quickly. Julie illustrates the concept with a step‑by‑step scenario for a health‑coach‑to‑coaches business: she joins relevant Facebook groups, identifies a common complaint about the Instagram algorithm, offers a $20 Zoom workshop on a winning Reel template, upsells $150 one‑on‑one calls to refine low‑ticket offers, and finally positions a high‑ticket program for the most qualified prospects. The example demonstrates how a $200‑$800 cash influx can be achieved without elaborate funnels. Julie also warns of two “landmines”: (1) being overwhelmed by one’s own problems and missing the customer’s, and (2) over‑thinking the sales container after identifying the problem. She emphasizes that embracing grit, ignoring the noise, and acting bravely are essential. The episode ends with a call to join the waitlist for the free manuscript release on October 26 and a motivational sign‑off encouraging listeners to embrace struggle and keep pushing forward.
Welcome to Million Dollar Grit, the podcast that dives deep into the world of entrepreneurship, where tenacity meets strategy and dreams meet reality. My name is Julie, and I explore the raw, often overlooked truths of what it takes to succeed in business and in life. It's not just about the glossy success stories, it's about the grit it takes to get there.
Hi everyone, this is Julie Chenell. Welcome back to Million Dollar Grit. As of the time of this recording, I am 2 weeks out from releasing my book Million Dollar Grit to the world. Very, very excited. It feels like it has taken forever to get to this day. I would love to kind of take a sneak peek into the book. There are a bunch of people who have been able to read the first 3 chapters because they are agreeing to promote the book. And sort of my sneak preview, the book will be free on milliondollargrit.com starting October 26th, or you can buy it for 99 cents on the Kindle store. But chapter 3 specifically is about following the problem. And I wanna talk about that today because we are at a very weird time in the world, a very destabilizing time. And there are a lot of business owners, whether they started 6 years ago, 10 years ago, or 2 years ago, that are feeling very unsteady, wondering, is money drying up? Are people not buying courses anymore? Are people not paying for coaching? Are people struggling to put groceries on the table, and therefore my work isn't worth paying for? Is AI going to take over my job? All of these things. And I feel like chapter 3 is very, very relevant to the current economic climate we're in. Chapter 3 is all about following the problem, and in the chapter, I talk about how I wasn't really focused on things like my brand. I wasn't focused on like containers, meaning, "Oh, I'm going to launch this course," or, "I'm going to launch this coaching program." I was simply out in the world, specifically in Facebook groups during this time in growing my business, and I was just looking for problems. As someone who is a worrywart and loves to think of worst-case scenarios, I'm really good at finding problems. This is in fact probably a superpower of mine. I can spot problems. I can find problems that don't exist. I can imagine future problems. The funny thing is, when people come to me and they say, okay, my business is failing, things aren't working anymore, and then I start to dig, I notice that they are not focused on the problem of their customer because the problem they have, which is money isn't coming in, is so big that is blocking their ability to do what I suggest in chapter 3, which is to follow the problem. Let's take, for example, let's just take a, a health coach, okay? Someone who teaches other coaches how to build health coaching businesses, okay? So it's a B2B coach and they're, they've got a coaching program, they've got some sales funnels, and it's just not working the same way it has in the past. Well, the very first thing that people panic about is if I keep going down this road, I'll be out of business. Let's say you're running a webinar. Okay. You're running a webinar. People aren't converting. You're not making money. You start to panic. The problem that you are looking at, which is your webinar's not working. People are not buying. You're losing money. You might have to fire your team. Are all big problems, and I'm not suggesting to minimize them. But you're probably super focused on your problems, which means you're not able to see the problems of your customers. If we switch our focus, even though it feels counterintuitive, and we look at the problems of your customers, I guarantee those customers are spending money somewhere to solve the problem. I say that— I can't, I guess I can't truly guarantee it, but largely because there are plenty of business owners that are still making money. It's not like we've we're all in a Great Depression and only buying bread. If that were the case, we'd have a different problem. But in most cases, at least right now today, the customer that isn't buying from you is buying from someone. The reason they're buying from someone is because someone else is explaining the problem and targeting the problem in a way that gets the customer to say, Yes, that's my problem. I'm going to pay you to fix it. And the business owner who's panicking, which again, totally reasonable. This is not like a moral judgment. Totally, totally reasonable to panic, is focused on their problem. They're not looking at their customer's problem. So let's say we, we do that. Okay. We're the, we're the health business coach. We're not making money. We decide instead of focusing on, you know, why the webinar is not working. And all of that, we're gonna go and we're gonna go find a bunch of our ideal customers and see what their problems are. And we're gonna try to get in contact with them, talk to them. What usually happens next is people then say, well, what do I sell them? Well, should I, should I change my offer? Should I set up a new sales page? Should I do this or that? And they start to Again, remove their focus from the problem, and now they're focusing on the container, right? We got them to stop worrying about why their webinar isn't converting. We temporarily push that health coach to say, okay, go talk to your customer, your ideal customer, and see what their problem is. But then she or he stops again and says, but what do I sell them? And we're back into your problem, right? What container, you know, what price point, all of this sort of stuff. It inherently becomes more self-focused again. So I say no, just go ask them what the problem is. Chances are, if you stay focused on the customer's problem and you agree to solve that problem, money exchange will follow. The chapter where I talk about this is actually chapter 6, and it's about saying yes. And let's say that health coach goes into a Facebook group, notices there are a lot of health coaches complaining about how the Instagram algorithm isn't showing their reels the way they were before, and so their reach is down. Those health coaches that are your ideal customer currently think their problem is the Instagram algorithm is punishing us. Okay, volume is down, traffic is down. It's possible that your webinar solves that, but because it's not positioned that way, you know, they're not paying attention. Now what if you go into that group, let's just say it's a Facebook group, and you start talking and you say, Listen, I know the Instagram algorithm is a pain in the neck, but I seem to have cracked one Instagram Reel type or template that is working really well with the algorithm right now. What are the chances that you're going to get a whole bunch of people to say, I want to know what that is? They're going to say yes, right? On the spot, you say, yeah, absolutely. Just DM me. Okay, now again, you're probably thinking, well, I don't, I don't have, you know, I don't have a landing page. I don't have this or that. That's fine. They DM you. In that moment, you say something like, hey, I'm doing a Zoom call on such and such a date. I'm charging $20 to come to this Zoom call. And I'm going to go, I'm going to walk step by step through the reel. Here's the link. And you drop a link. To pay $20 and you send them a Zoom link. Chances are you're going to get a bunch of people to pay you $20 because they want to know what Instagram Reel is working in the algorithm. Now we're going to keep carrying that further. Again, this is Julie Chenell's Million Dollar Grit, Following the Problem, Chapter 3, and then also Chapter 6, which is about saying yes. I am entering into the customer's problem. I'm not worrying about my webinar. I'm not worrying about landing pages. I'm not worrying about anything. I am just trying to solve the person's problem and get a value exchange for money. Let's say I get 10 people in that Facebook group to pay me $20. Okay. Now I've got $200. It's not, not going to save the world, but it's $200. It also means that I've accurately identified the problem because people are willing to pay for it. Now I'm going to set up a Zoom call, right? Send out that Zoom link. I'm going to get those 10 people on and I am going to show them the reel that evades the algorithm. Okay. That Zoom call is my opportunity to sell them something else, whether it's a private one-on-one call, right? So let's say I'm on the call with those 10 people and I'm showing them the reel and they're like, wow, this is so cool. Thank you so much for sharing. And then they start saying, well, but what kind of What offer do I put at the end of the reel when I say comment blah, blah, blah, or whatever? You say, well, what you really need is a low-ticket offer. And they say, well, I'm not sure if this qualifies, or I have this offer, or how do I come up with one? And you say, you know what? I have a couple of 60-minute slots available. If anybody wants to book a call with me, I can go over your low-ticket offer or your low-ticket offer idea. It's $150, okay? Then maybe you get 4 of those 10 people to pay you $150. Now you've made $600, okay? $600 plus $200, you've made $800. Now those 4 people get on the phone, you go through, 2 of them are really good fit for your program and you sell them, and 1 person buys your $10,000 program. This is an example, and I, and I just came up with this example on the fly. This is an example how following the problem gets you money when you need it quickly. This, now this doesn't necessarily always work when you are trying to scale a big company or you're trying to systematize your operations. But if you are cash-strapped and panicking about your lack of funds, it's possible that you are really focused on your problem instead of your customer's problem. And when you hear that and you're like, okay, I'm going to go focus on my customer's problem, you get nervous again because you don't have your container figured out and your plan and your landing page. And so then you start focusing on that, which then does what? Keeps you out of your customer's problem. So it's two— there's two landmines here. The first, when your, your problem is so overwhelming that you can't see somebody else's. And number two, when you go in to start to see somebody else's, you overthink and doubt your abilities. And Million Dollar Grid, at least the couple chapters that I'm featuring today, are really focused on how you avoid those traps. And it does require some level of ignoring And it does require some level of bravery, but this is how you can get some money in the door quickly. I hope that was helpful. Anyway, if you want to get on the waitlist for Million Dollar Grit, you can go to milliondollargrit.com, and on October 26th, the manuscript will be available for free. Talk soon.
And there you have it, folks, another dose of Million Dollar Grit. I hope today's episode has left you feeling inspired, equipped, and ready to face your own entrepreneurial journey.
With resolve.
Remember, until next time, embrace the struggle, harness your grit, and keep pushing forward. You're stronger than any challenge you face. I'm Julie Chenell, and this has been Million Dollar Grit.
