Episode 52: Jumping from School Teacher to National Business Leader with Entrepreneur Tonia Poe

Welcome to this episode of the Million Dollar Mastermind. I'm Larry Weidell and let's get started. All right, I'm back with million dollar earner Tanya Poe, who taught school for 15 years on a career path as many people are on, which was she became one of the most outstanding success stories from her vast community of Compton, California, just by going to school and getting a four year degree. But then she went on and got a master's degree and, you know, she became, you know, a paragon of the community, an example. But inside that wasn't enough for her. She wasn't doing it for other people, she's doing it for herself. And she felt like there was no reason to stop. There was something driving her forward. And we heard about that in the first episode and now we're going to find out more. So welcome, Tanya. Welcome back to the podcast.

Well, thank you. I'm excited.

I got so excited from our first time we talked and you talk about exposure and looking and getting yourself in a different environment. You know, I've always done that. Like, if I was going to move to a new town, I would go down there. Like, I live in Palm beach now. But when I first moved to Florida from North Carolina, I moved down to Orlando. But every time I go to Orlando, I'd never feel right, never feel comfortable. You know, it's kind of like you talking about being in that school system, which is a great job and I'm sure it was a great situation, but wasn't right for you. Orlando is a fabulous town, but it just wasn't right for me. And I'd find myself, I had friends down in Palm Beach. I'd find myself driving down. I could be a week in Orlando, but I'd spend, you know, a couple of three of those days driving down to Palm Beach. And after a while I said, why don't I just move to Palm Beach? And that's wound up, you know, So I started thinking of those terms like, where would I live? You know, what golf club would I join, you know, where, what beach club would I join? You know, and this. And so you start to work these things out in your mind. Where, where would I go to church, you know, where would my friends be? You start working these things out and of a sudden, opportunities domino in a place. And before long I was in Palm beach, the same thing out in Aspen. So I've got, you know, those, I bounce back and forth between those two places. But, you know, I tried them on for size. You know, one time I was thinking about living over in Vail, Beaver Creek area. And I went over there. I remember my mother was out visiting with me one summer, and we drove over there. We started looking at the nice neighborhoods. And, you know, I drive in the driveway of the houses are for sale and see how does it feel like, how would I feel like if I was here, you know, and this is my home, you know, and, you know, I could never get comfortable. You know, it's like, where would I go if I'm going skiing? I'd get up in the morning and I drive down here and I go. I park here and I go. I just never felt, where would I go shopping? Where would I go if I wanted to fly somewhere? Where would I fly out of? It just never felt right. But Aspen, I thought, Aspen, you know, thank goodness for my good friend Rusty Crossland, who brought me out here one time to speak at a convention, stay at his house actually two or three times. And one day out of the blue, he said, why don't you move out here? And I thought, are you out of your mind? Me move to Aspen? You must be crazy. But eventually the idea, as I left, the idea came back, why don't I? And, you know, and so if he hadn't invited me out there and if he hadn't actually asked the question, I probably wouldn't be here now. And so it sure accelerated the process, you know. And so the thing is, what was so nice about the way we wrapped up the first episode was how you got into that, how these things, you could start the dominoes falling, even if you don't know where the next domino is or where it's going to fall. And so you did mention, after your mind started unfolding by those trips to the park and Beverly Hills, and even though you went back and got engaged in the schoolwork again, that mentally you were prepared for. For something you didn't even know was coming. And that was the opportunity to do something that really had not occurred to you, and that is start your own business. So was that a scary thing in the beginning? Talk about starting a business. If we could spend a few minutes on that, what you did, you know, you have to do things again.

It was. Right, right. It was, um. And, you know, at first I started off, you know, you know, trying it out, right? Having a business where it was part time. I have a business, but I still have a job, right? And, you know, I did. I did both for about a year. And what happened was I understood that I have to build confidence because this is, you Know, a self, a self motivating business. You know, it was in sales and it's selling, you know, things. And I had to get confident in product. I had to get confident in knowing what I was doing. And I started making, you know, a little bit of money. And I was like, wow, this is, this is actually cool. You know, I felt empowered. I didn't have, you know, anyone to really answer to. I would go and I would. Then I started growing my business because I would, you know, enlist people to actually, hey, do you want to join in my business with me? Would you like for me to teach you to do what I do? And people were saying yes. And I couldn't believe it. To know that there were other people out there that actually would love a second stream of income to do something on the side and then eventually turn into, you know, a full time thing. And so for about a year, Larry, I built my confidence, I learned my craft, and I was able to, you know, have some people come along with me. And finally, you know, I went to work one day and I started feeling, probably three months before I actually went to work and told them that I fired my boss, right? And about three months before that, I started really looking at what was coming in. And what I did is I took a leap of faith. So I kind of prepared myself. I took the extra money that I was making with my second gig, my own business, right? I took that money and I didn't just spend it because I have this extra money now. I actually, you know, reduced my debt, I paid down my bills, I got my bottom line number down. So, you know, where I needed 3,300 to come into my house to make my world go round, I got it down to 2200. And when I got it down to 2200, I just had to basically look back and say, well, when's the last time I've only made $2,200 in my business? And that was like five or six months prior to that day when I looked back. So I said, you know what? I believe I can take a leap of faith and I can take care of myself and I can make, you know, get my. Basically my job was starting to be in the way. So I knew if I eliminated myself job, and I'm making 2500, 2800 with my business, if I eliminate my job, I have more time for my business. So I took a leap of faith, Larry, and I just, I jumped in. And that was October, I'm sorry, August of 2009. And you know, it's been 11 years since I've had a job, and well worth it. Well worth it. I've grown my business to include 275 others, and it's just. It's phenomenal. It's the best decision I ever made. I bet on myself instead of betting on corporate America. And what I realized by betting on myself is it was a sure win because I wasn't gonna let myself down. I wasn't gonna let myself down. I didn't realize that getting up and going to corporate America was a big. Was a bigger gamble than gambling on myself. I since learned that, and now I'm able to teach that. I'm able to encourage people that, you know, come to my business part time. I'm able to encourage them, listen, you keep working part time, and I promise you, you'll find the confidence that you need to turn this thing into something permanent and create your own business. I love creating other business owners, and I just love it. I love creating, you know, a sense of confidence in people where they can have total control of their life, total control of their time. And, you know, and everyone, you know, Larry is not going to, you know, make a million dollars, right? Everybody's not going to. And quite honestly, some people may not want to put in the work that that's going to take. However, you know, I have people that make a consistent 60,000, 100,000 a year. And what happens is they are. They are totally free, though. They're free. They're making more money than they did having a job, number one. And number two, they don't have to answer to anyone. They don't answer to anyone. They don't have to, you know, if we want to, you know, travel, I say, hey, you know, we're taking a trip to, you know, to see Larry. We're taking a trip to go to Aspen, right? And who wants to come? This is the cost. They don't have to say, well, you know what? I have the money, but I don't have the time because I have to see if they'll give it to me off at work or, wow, I know I can get the time, but I just can't afford to go. They don't have those problems anymore. And that's the rewarding part of having a business and being able to share that with others and. And teach them how to create their own business as well. It's far more rewarding than anything I've ever done in my life. And that's mentally, spiritually, and monetarily.

Real quick in A nutshell for people who've never really thought about this. Why would you say that working for a corporate America big companies can be a bigger risk that be than being in business for yourself?

Because I don't know the dynamic of the structure of the business. Meaning the CEO doesn't come check in with the person that's making $3,500 a month and tell them what's in the works, what's going on in the next six months, who's gonna buy the company, who's taking over this part of the company, who's gonna now come in and do the advertising? Advertising. Who's now gonna. You don't know if your business is going to, if your job is going to be affected by decisions that are being made upstairs and nor do they care to include you on that you're not at the level in which, that you're even included. And, and even let's say you are. Let's say you are at the level where you're included. That doesn't mean that your opinion is going to matter or stop what's going to happen. And there's just no guarantees when it comes to your, your job. But see, I have a guarantee called Tanya Po and I'm not gonna let Tanya Postar. I'm not gonna not get up for Tanya Poe. I'm not going to lay myself off put make a decision that's going to mess with my business, the well being of myself or my family. So you know, when I realize that I have total complete control as long as God wakes me up, okay, I have total control of whether I'm gonna make money or not. And I don't have that. No one really has that in corporate America when it's not their business.

Thank you for that, Tanya. And I want to follow up on something you said that I think is key to starting any new business. And you were smart enough to realize it. And that is you said when you started and of course you talked about how you got your finances under control, you got your schedule under control so you could put the time and energy and effort into it and you minimize the distractions. And there's a lesson for all of us right now that you know, it's like taking out the trash, cleaning out the clutter. It's like weeds growing in your yard. They're going to grow naturally by themselves. Clutter is going to naturally come into your life. And what it's, you know, keeping your life simplified and clean and your finances down where you're not wasting money. On extraneous expenses that don't really mean much to you. You know, trimming back there is something that the wise person is going to do no matter what. But it's really important when you're launching into a new business, because it's probably going to take more time and money than you expect. But after you do that, you got to go do stuff. And so you knew that whatever this thing was going to require, this new business, you had to get good at it, and you had to not only learn it, but you had to build confidence in it. You had to convince Tanya Poe. The first person you had to convince that you could do it was Tanya Po. And I'm sure there was things you ran into in the new business, like all new businesses, things you just did not want to do, but you knew you had to do it. And a lot of times, the things that are distasteful early on can become enjoyable once you get really good at it. You know, you find a way. The tricks. Tricks of the trade. But on the outside looking is like, oh, no, I would never do that. That's terrible. And, you know, I. You know, both you and I are strong believers in God, in Jesus Christ, you know, and I was. When I was young and trying to decide what I was going to do with my life, I had a couple of ideas in my mind. I said, oh, that's, you know, that would be the worst, you know. But then it came to me like, well, if God wants me to do it, he'll probably. He's probably powerful enough to make it fun. And so I just kind of need to decide if I'm going to go my own way or go along with him. And most of these things, you find out if it's an arena, if. If it's a job, if it gives you the benefits you want, probably the stumbling blocks are not going to be as nasty as you might think they would be early on from the outside looking in. But you have to get through that. You have to face them and deal with them. And so do you recall any of those, you know, the biggest things that kind of held you back from. From not having confidence or that would have threatened your ability to take this thing and make it a reality, you know?

Larry? Yes. Let me just say this. Whenever you're in sales, the biggest thing is, you know, number one, mastering your product. And I think, well, let me reverse that. That's probably not number one. It's probably easier to master your product than it is to master how to make the public Understand they need your product. And that for me was a struggle. You mean I have to reach out to people? Yes, Tanya, just because you mastered the product, now how are you going to distribute the product? So I had to learn to have conversations. I had to learn to go seek out people. I need you to know that this is what I'm doing, this is what I can offer. And guess what? You can probably go get this from somebody else. But let me show you why you want to get it from me. And so I had to build that confidence to get good at sales, that no matter what it is you're selling, Larry, somebody else is selling it too. Let's just be. There's no one that has corner to market, right? No matter what you're selling, somebody else is selling it too. So why do people want to get it from you? And that's what. I haven't developed the personality for it. I had to work on Tanya. I had to spend time understanding people, what makes people tick. And see, this is for the person that wants to be very, very good and wants to can be considered a master at what they do. It is no matter what. I mean, you know, it's so funny. I'll look at old movies and you know, right now, since you know where, what's going on, right, with where we are, you spend a little more time watching television than you probably would want to, right? And so I've seen some older movies, right? And I've seen the young Denzel. I've seen the young Brat Pitt, okay? I've seen the, the young Charlize Theron. All these people are, are, are Oscar, Oscar award winners today. So you see them today. But I've looked back and I've seen the, the movies that were like the worst ever that they did, because at that time they were getting into their craft. They were learning their craft. And then you see some people in these older movies that used to be considered pretty good. Actually, at the time they did the movie, Larry, this other person was probably paired to be a bigger star than Brad Pitt. But the problem is that person did not study the craft the way Brad did. So then you look up today, 20 years later, and you don't even know where that guy is. But you remember a time when that guy was really good and may have been better than Brad, but the problem is he didn't study his craft. He didn't get in there and say, okay, so why do you want to see a Brad Pitt movie today? Why can some names just be thrown out there? You're like, oh, you don't even know what the movie's about, Larry. But you're like, oh, God, I gotta see that Robert De Niro movie. Or I gotta see that. I gotta see that Denzel movie. Because you know that these people have taken the time to study their craft to the point to no matter what role they play, they make you believe that they are really that person. That's the way I want it to be in my industry. That's the way I want it to be with my business. Yeah, I have competitors. I do. But guess what? They. They don't want this the way I want it. They haven't put in the time the way I put in the time. You want to be my client? That's who you want to be. You want me to be the person that services you. And so that's. That's why I created an image for myself to where I could go and. And I could be whatever I needed to be for my client. I want to satisfy my client. I want to make sure my client tells five other people about me without me even having to ask. And that's what started to happen. I would. I would, you know, sit down with a client, and I would show them everything that I had to offer them in such a way where they would, before I even leave, leave their home or before they leave my office. Larry, guess what they're telling me. You know what? I need you to see my sister. I need you to see my aunt. I need you to see my co worker. We were just at work talking about this. I need you to see. I haven't even asked, Larry. But because I studied my craft, my confidence was there, and they knew that. They felt like that I was genuine in what I was doing, and I had passion behind it. They knew that I would take care of their cousin. They knew I'd take care of their aunt. I take care of their sister. I take care of their copy worker. And that's what I worked on because it was very hard for me in the beginning, But I knew that with hard work and determination, I would get there. And that's what I did. It's all about how you. How you see yourself and how hard you want to work. But yes, knowing and learning how to distribute your product, how to make someone want it from you, amongst all others, was something that I took very serious. Serious. And that was a big challenge. But, you know, it paid off for me, and I appreciate it, and I try to teach others how to do that today.

Thank you, Tanya. Po for amazing insights about how to launch a new career and a new business with a bang. Thanks so much Tanya. That has been priceless. Really enjoyed talking with you.

Thank you so much Larry. I appreciate it.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Million Dollar Mastermind with me. Larry Wydell. If I've helped you in any way, leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. For more information like this, listen to our other Million Dollar Mastermind episodes and check out my Wydell Academy YouTube channel and visit us on WhyDell on Winning that. Com. I'm the million Dollar Mastermind. And until next time, go go.