Do the Work and Earn Your Freedom with Natasha Miller

Welcome to this episode of the Million Dollar Mastermind where we get real world insights on winning from people who have accomplished amazing things. I'm your host, Larry Weidell and let's get going. I'm with Natasha Miller and I'm looking forward to hearing about all the exciting things happening out in San Francisco. Hello, Natasha.

Hey. Hey Larry. Thanks for having me in San Francisco. Today is beautiful, sunny and probably going to be about like 72 degrees like every other day.

Yeah. Well, thank you for taking time out, getting back from Italy, writing your, getting your book published in your second or third year, I guess of your podcast. And your business is booming. So you're CEO and founder of entire productions and design and entertainment booking company would be seen to be a vague thing for most people to instantly recognize. But high end social and corporate special events that starting to clear the clouds. But then when you go Apple, Google, Gap, Louis, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Salesforce, now over 4 million in revenue, got all kind of awards. Best entrepreneurial company in American fastest growing top 100, blah, blah, blah, blah blah, top woman in business. Well, all of a sudden it starts to make sense that this is actually something legitimate.

Yeah. It's not just fun and games, especially.

The 4 million of revenue. So congratulations on that. And even got your own record label of all things.

I have a lot of seemingly strange things that actually all go together somehow.

Well, wonderful. And so tell me about again, Natasha. We talk with people on here that know what they're talking about and what we want to hear and what people are interested in is, you know, how can I move up, what am I missing, how can I stay fresh?

And.

You have made me feel good by saying that you have listened to some of the podcast episodes and what did you, you know, as you were listening to that, did it come across to you as a valid type concept and something was worthwhile for, you know, someone on your level?

I, I would say yes. And I really do try to find a golden nugget, nugget or gem in anything that I listen to. There always is something. There's always something if you're focused, if you're focused and, and you're open to finding out new ideas, which I always am. And I'll give you an example. This is not your podcast. But today I listened to a podcast about a company that hired this woman that's very unassuming to break into their company's door without any, any gizmos, without any technology. And it was mind blowing to me what she did. And I took away now do I need to break into somebody's building? No, but I then understood the psychology of someone and you know, unfortunately I didn't listen to your podcast today, but. But I just listened to that one. But it has nothing to do with my interests in general, with my business, with anything that I'm doing in the future. But I feel like, because I was so taken aback by it, that it will give me some, actually it's giving me something to talk about now, but it will give me a little bit of a heads up to other things in conversation. So long story short.

Yes.

And you can't be doing it for three years if there's no validity to it. You would stop and the people would stop listening.

Yeah. And a lot of the lot of the people I find that tell me they listen are million dollar earners themselves, you know, because you can't remember everything and you can't stay sharp on everything. And also there's so many levels to these common principles that, and applications like you say. I'm sure she did a lot of things that you would have never thought of. But you know, it's not that weird. I mean, she didn't bring in kryptonite or something.

No, but Larry, I have to tell you what she did. I have to tell you one thing because it'll blow your mind. This is a major corporation, major building. And she tacked up a sign on a back on a side door that said keep this door open. And she watched all of the workers painstakingly make sure that that door stayed ajar. Do you see what I mean? See, you're reacting similar to me now. Are we going to be able to use that in our businesses? Maybe not, but the psychology of something that simple.

Yeah, well, you know, like if you get, you get a house over in Palm beach and in Aspen and everything, you get a. You don't want people to park in front of your house. All you do is you, you paint. No parking. No parking here. And you know, they'll, they'll do everything they can to avoid parking in a place that says no parking. Yeah, there's, they're assuming the meter mate's going to come along, you know.

Right.

And it's funny how long you can get away with something that, I mean.

The city, city might knock on your door at some point, but you know, until then, until then you're good.

So here's the thing with. You did not drop out of the sky with your own business and be able to do all these things with these major corporations. Salesforce, Apple, Google. And so just because you're in San Francisco, you say, well, you're nearby, but I'm sure there's lots of competition for those. Those businesses. And so how did you work your way? And I want to tell everybody you're not an overnight success because you started a lot of this stuff in 2000, right? It's many years and many moons since 2000. So how did you wind up opening your own business? What got you to the point where you were going to kick it off?

So I was operating a similar type of business unofficially since I was 15 and didn't understand that it was a business. Didn't use the word entrepreneur until actually quite maybe in the last 15 years when it was given to me by other people. You know, back in the day, the word entrepreneur, entrepreneur was kind of like synonymous with, well, I'm in between jobs, right, and now it's the prized position, right, that you can have in some circles. But I'm a classically trained violinist and a jazz vocalist. And so I was performing professionally at a low level. My first paid gig was at 15 for the governor inauguration in Des Moines, Iowa. And once you taste that sweet success and money that's attached to something that you're good at and you love, it's pretty intoxicating. So I went through high school doing some performing for pay, but then in college really ratcheted it up. I found that I was good at marketing and branding and had a passion for that. And I got so busy with my string quartet to start that I had to tell clients, I'm not available for your Friday night event because I'm booked, but I'll bring in another group that's as good as I am, probably better, and I'll manage them for you. So here I am playing my violin at one event, but making money as if I'm playing at three or four events. And officially, in 2001, I put up my shingle, got a business license, paid in taxes, and created entire productions. And what we really focused on at the beginning was what I knew what I was good at, classical and jazz. But as the business started, getting more inquiries for things like, I need a dj, I need a dance band. Do you have aerialists? Do you provide cigar bars? Do you do casino tables inside? I was saying, no, we don't. But outwardly, I said, yes, we do. And the. The answer to your question, why all of these companies are using my company, entire productions for their events, it's because we provide excellent experience for them. Our systems and processes are unrivaled. There's a sense of security and these people can use us to bring in their talent or also plan their event and not have to worry about it. They can go back to their job. And I think that is the key to the success that we've had.

Okay, but let's go here. What, what did you want to do? I mean, what, what was your. What was inside your head? What did you want?

I thought. I want. I thought I was only going to ever be. And I only wanted to be a performance artist. I wanted to, you know, I do. I have seven CDs on my wall of jazz vocal albums that I wrote or that I performed. I play the violin on most of them. I've played at the Monterey Jazz Festival at Yoshi's, which is a big jazz center here. I've had my songs in movies. So I was creating this business. It really was a lifestyle business that was supporting my performing career. And yes.

Do you need, you know, you rattle these things off. It's just almost scary. You have seven what, on your wall? Seven CDs.

I've. Yeah. If you go on Spotify or itunes or anywhere that you can find music, you can listen to all seven of the CDs that I've personally put out. I've also produced some for other musicians.

Natasha Miller, do you have, is it a band or just under your name?

It's under my name. I'm the solo artist on some of them. I'm looking. The first record I wrote, I'm playing guitar, piano and violin on and they're all songs I wrote. The next one is jazz standards. The next two are the music of Bobby Sharp, who's famous for writing Unchained My Heart. I did those albums with that songwriter. Then I did one with an 11 piece band called the Jazz Mafia. And then I have two holiday records out, which is somewhat ironic, but we can talk about that later.

Wow. You're not really selling the performing artist career as a plus when you have to start another business to support it and you've been as successful as you have, you know, because most people think I've got seven albums on Spotify. I've done well, I'm doing well. I've got.

Yeah, I made my mark. But I made a Choice in about 2013 to really focus on entire productions and I'm so glad I did because I've had such an incredible experience learning the foundations. Now listen to what I'm saying. Learning the foundation of putting together a business 12 to 13 years after I started the business, I was at 1.5 million in revenue. I didn't know what my PNL was and I didn't care. I didn't know how to read my financial reports and I didn't care. We didn't have the systems and processes in place that we have today. I was starting to care about that. So it really was a lifestyle business that afforded me the luxury of learning more about the recording industry, the performance industry, sound, lighting. It really gave me a head start into being an expert at event design, production and experience design. But I was able to play all these gigs, which can bring in a good chunk of money, but not millions.

Yeah. And so where. What was going through your head as you, I mean, is it. Was it easy for you to learn how, you know, to develop these skills as a musician and a singer and this, that and the other? I mean, it was easy for me. What age did you get your first album?

Oh, I. It was 2001, so I think I was 30. 30 years old. You do the math. Yes. So.

What happened at 30? I mean, like, there's. I know of some successful. Well, I know one successful artist out of Mexico that is, you know, she's drop dead gorgeous. She works, you know, she works to maintain, you know, the shape and the image and this and the other, the lifestyle thing and gets endorsements. But she was an accountant until she was 30. You know, she's, you know, you look and you see this dazzling, gorgeous bombshell who's also an artist. But the thing is, for up till age 30, you know, she was painting, she was working as an accountant, she was getting all that stuff in her head. And so there's more behind the surface than the Mexican bombshell when you see on Instagram, you know, and some ad for Louis Vuitton or whatever. So when you were going through that process, talk about that prep thing, because most people are stuck where on the up to age 30 side of life than the after age 30. And even though I know that was, you know, you've had your trials there.

Too, but I mean, I, yeah, I would say I've been on my own since I was 16. And that, that's the whole backstory of my life, that really is fuel, fueling the fire of the things that I've done and the success that I've had. And. Do you, do you want to talk about that now?

Oh, yeah.

Okay. Yeah. So I was brought up in the middle of the country in Des Moines, Iowa, in the middle of the 80s. And if you can remember back then, we did not have Oprah, we didn't have a lot of self help and a lot of people weren't talking about what was going on in their lives. It was all behind closed doors. And I was treated very poorly by my family. And you know, to cut to the chase, finally, when I was 16, on Christmas Day, my mother, not for the first time, but for. There was a sense I had that she was really going to go through it was chasing me around the house with a butcher knife and telling me she was going to kill me. I grew up this way. But there was something about her that day that put me in a state of I better do something. So I called 911 for the first time and I was taken to a youth emergency shelter, homeless shelter, and there was talk of foster care placement. All of this time I am studying classical violin as a hometown prodigy with a college professor. None of this makes a whole lot of sense. But I was able to figure out by reading a juvenile law book that I was actually deemed by the city of Des Moines or the state of Iowa as an abandoned child or an abandoned youth and was able to claim something like, I'm forgetting the word now, unofficially, emancipated is what happened to me. So I've been on my own since 16.

You know, hey, I'll tell you that you don't forget words for that long. If I forget a word, it takes me forever.

Well, you know, back to your question. Yeah. Back to your question of what I was doing up until the age of 30.

Yeah.

My time frame is different.

Yeah.

Right. Because I was basically a grown adult living in an adult world, paying bills, paying rent, trying to go to high school and work a full time job as a hostess because I wasn't old enough to serve tables. Right, right. So everything was sped up.

Yeah. And so you, you get out, you realize I can get out of my own. And so the wheels were started to spin and they started to spin in a direction that got you where you are today. And you used it to collapse time frames. But it still took 14 years before you were able to get a product out there in the market and really get your feet, say to the world, here I am. And so even when you get mentally organized and get on a track, it takes a while. It takes a while for you to develop skills, to get your life restructured, support things. And then how quickly. And what were the first things? Support things that you got in place for yourself.

At what point before the CD was recorded?

No, as soon as you got out of the, you, you, you at 16 and you're working on your own and going to school and this, It's a lot for, you know, to go home to an empty house at night or empty condo or empty.

Yeah, I got a two bedroom basement apartment. I was very surprised when I flipped on the lights and they didn't come on. I did not know at that age that there was a whole business behind lighting and heating and that you needed not only credit, but you had to put a down payment to get those services. So it was, it was shocking and hard and scary. And I learned very quickly how to fend for myself. And I also learned very quickly how to monetize anything that I was good at or enjoyed doing. And I have to say, Larry, my high school counselors, they had tossed me aside. They didn't, you know, I wasn't coming to school as regularly as I should have been, even though as a classical violinist, they looked at me as a throwaway. And one counselor told me after I graduated, barely graduated, that it was nice to see me because they all had imagined I would wind up dead in a gutter.

Yeah. And why, why was that?

Because I didn't have any parental guidance. I didn't have the shelter that other kids had. I wasn't going to school. And I wasn't going to school because I was working so late, you know, the night before. And then I was becoming an adult so quickly, I really didn't see the need for it. I was also performing with my violin and making, you know, some money.

Right.

I did go to school enough to graduate from high school, which was a big shocker. But I never turned to drugs or alcohol or promiscuity or I think music and making money, doing things that I could do was my drug.

Yeah, yeah. And that's how you looked at it. Plus, the other side of it is you were forced, you already said it. You were forced to learn how to monetize your time. And, you know, even at 16, it's obvious if I'm drunk or passed out somewhere, this is not going to end well. You know, I can't afford, I can't afford that at this stage. You know, I've got to. I also, for the electric company, you.

Know, I was also told in sixth grade that I had a mild but very rare heart condition, which is pulmonary stenosis. And it scared me enough because the doctor said, you know, if you, like, you can't do drugs or you'll die. Now, was that true? No. But did I Believe it, yes. So drugs were out of the question and alcohol I had no taste for. And you know, I had to be in control. And when you drink alcohol, you become less and less in control. I didn't have anyone, you know, no one had my back, so I stayed on the straight and narrow.

Okay, well, let's dial. Just take a quick look and say, looking back, what did you, what are you glad today that you did back then? Because it doesn't sound like there's, you're, you can look back and you're glad that anybody did anything to you other than, you know, the violin instructor and. But, you know, you didn't have any adults that were saying, you know, you're going to be the next woman president and you can do anything, be all, you can, be this and the other. It seemed like the adult from the parents to the school to all of the adult structure let you down entirely. So what are you happy that you're looking back? Like, I'm sure glad I did these things.

Yes. Well, I mean, those adults that you spoke of did let me down. However, my conductor of high school Youth Symphony was the one that suggested that I had some talent and that I should study with this very highly sought after violin professor and concert master at Drake University as a young person. So there were people that dropped into my life that gave me encouragement and gave me the sign that I had something special. Now I had to do the work to make that something special come to life. And for me, what I did was I practiced a lot, so sometimes two, three, six, eight hours a day to make sure that I was doing what I needed to do to keep these gracious things that were coming to me. And so basically, you know, I'm always just climbing up the wall, slipping, you know, for every couple inches I climb up, I slip down a little bit, climb, climb, climb. And I just knew I had to do it myself. No one was going to come save me. Believe me, I was waiting most of my life for someone to save me and no one did. Yeah, I saved myself.

There you go. And there's tremendous. When you get those, you go through those things, you develop a rock hard confidence. People say that you should believe in yourself. And you know, you know, you, you have these sessions where you go meditate and just sort and chant. Yeah. But to develop your self confidence. But the, the other way of doing it is get out there and actually do something.

Yeah.

Because there's no confidence that can compare to the satisfaction of getting out there and accomplishing something. And that's what winners like to do. And that's why winners are motivated and seem to have more energy than everybody else. Because they're focused, they're going in the direction they want to go. Because we all have our own internal gyroscope that kind of tells us, with our combination of experiences, talents, interests, this, that the other, which direction we should go in. And they were all running into roadblocks along the way. You had, you know, you were like going through your own Ukraine war where things were being blown up and being chased around the house with. Chased around the house with a butcher knife. I mean, you know, did they lock your mom up for that or.

No? Again, it was the mid-80s. If you don't have blood gushing when the police come or broken bones, you are left in the care of your family. At that point in time, the police officer handed my dad a card and said, if you feel like she's in danger, you can take her to this youth homeless shelter. Which is what my dad did.

So he saw the thing and the situation. And so at least there was one rational voice there. And so as you got going, what was the first significant breakthrough that you think you had from that six, you know, year 16, getting out on your own. What was your first, really handhold on the mountain that you could climb up, where you said, like, I think this is going to work.

I don't think I would have been able to say it back then, but what those experiences were informing me of was that anything that I put my mind to and studied at some certain level, like intensely for a short time or intensely for a long time, I can get what I want. I can get to where I want to go. So that's, you know, and I had to do it myself.

Right.

I didn't look for a lot of outside help after a while, but I still, I was receiving that, you know, outside. And then you're right. Every success that I had, every paid gig, every, you know, I learned how to create magazine ads for the string quartet for weddings. That was a land.

How did you learn how to do that? How'd you learn?

I was reading them as someone who wanted to do more wedding gigs as a young, you know, 19 year old. And I called the, I called the number for advertising. I didn't have enough money for a quarter page ad, but I, I did it anyway. And then that was before the Internet was so prevalent and it was like a fire hose because nobody else was advertised. No one was sophisticated or savvy enough to advertise. So that was an incredible thing. And then one day eventually found myself being a media buyer, so I really learned that trade. So I've learned so many things from so many different jobs that really inform what I'm doing today.

Absolutely. And you know, the thing is, when you rate, you know, as we go through the parenting stage of our life and we're raising kids or we're dealing with young people, it's smart for us to keep in mind one of the breakthroughs in that child's life is going to be or if it's a new trainee or a new employee or whatever is going to be when they get to the point where they accomplish something and convince themselves they can make things happen, you know, they can come up with a solution. They can free, you know, if they're free falling out of the sky, that they can grab a limb, you know, and figure something out, you know, and you can't get that on your own by yourself by meditating in a corner. You have to be out there trying things, doing things. And it's like, you know, we try and give the kids all the support and everything for it, but it's all right to put them in a situation where they have to figure some things out themselves too. And that's a big payoff. It's just something for us to keep in mind. Thanks so much, Natasha, of giving us that background. That wraps up this episode. Consider leaving a rating and review if you like what you heard. In addition, I have a free video for you and it contains my best insights from 20 years of running my own business and also coaching million dollar earners. You'll find it at whitelowinning. Com Webinar. Thanks for listening and do it big.