Episode #720 - Podcasting: An Entrepreneur’s Gateway To Success with Samantha Kozuch

This is a transcribed YouTube podcast episode (Episode #720 of Million Dollar Mastermind) in which host Larry Weidel interviews entrepreneur Samantha Kozuch (recorded Nov 2023). Samantha describes launching a new podcast called "Money, Mindset, and Manicures" (recently launched, solo-hosted so far), the fear and learning curve of podcasting, and her goals to create intimate long-form connection. Major themes: consistency and the 1% improvement habit, overcoming fear to start new platforms, entrepreneurship truths about delayed success and testing ideas, and practical product validation via a pilot cohort for her journal/manuscripting product. Also covers Samantha's marketing choices (new Instagram account, social promotion vs. email list), live speaking philosophy (empowerment, intuition, self-creation), and closing CTAs (webinar link and product links).
Welcome to this edition of the Million Dollar Mastermind podcast. This is where we pick the brains of high achievers from all walks of life and get their hard earned real world insights on ready. I'm your host, Larry Wydell. Well, that's why, you know, the daily journaling and manuscripting is so important because there's only so much you can change or so much that can, you can absorb and process on any give given time. And so doing it, making it an everyday. What I find is that people in their life, they either do something all the time or never.
Yes.
You know what I'm saying? It's like if, you know, if, if you want to play the guitar, you got, if you're going to be really good, you got to play it every day. You got to, you know, it's got to be an everyday type thing. And even people like Eric Clapton will say that if he doesn't pick up the guitar for several days, it's just, you know, it takes him a while to get, get back into it. Tiger woods at the peak of his career would say that if he got involved in traveling and some events and it was two weeks, he was two weeks away from the golf course when he came back, he would be a 20 handicapper for about a week or 10 days before he worked his way back into the groove. And so whatever you're going to be elite at, you got to do every day. And that's why this falls right in line with that because you don't expect too much of yourself, you don't expect an overnight change. But I don't know if you've used this, but it's the thing that if you improve 1%, you know, like 1% better every day, it doesn't seem like much, but over a month, a year, it just is astronomical. And people are saying, how did you change? What did you do? Well, you're just doing one extra, you know, and it, it, it adds up. So as you go, what are, how long you been doing your podcast?
Only a couple months. Just finally launched it. So brand new.
What was your thought behind the podcast?
And.
You know, how did you put it together? And what, what's your what, what's your experience from two months in?
Yes. So most people ask me, like, why did you wait so long to start one? Like, you're so good at everything else with social, building a business like all these, like all sorts of tech and everything. And I waited so long because I didn't have the time and space for it. As you know, podcasting people think, oh, you're just recording a video. There's so much behind the scenes that goes into it with planning, with organizing. And it's something that you have to be like, what you said, it's a consistency, right? Like, you got to put out an episode every single week, whether you bulk record or not. But it's a big commitment. So with me starting it, I was finally ready to jump on a new platform and start sharing different things about my life. It's called Money, Mindset, and Manicures. It could have been called manuscripting. And I was like, well, I don't want to just talk to a certain type of group of people, right? Like, I really want to share a lot of things throughout my life. So that's why it's called Money, Mindset, Manicures, because we talk about really, like, so many different things. And just diving into it, podcasting, for me, as crazy it is to maybe hear it was a scary platform to jump into because it's a different thing. It's your voice, right? Yeah, it's totally different. And even though I have been doing lives, I have spoken on stages, I've been interviewed on podcasts, like, I've done it for so long. But it was really interesting that stepping into podcasting was really scary for me. And then that's when I dove and I was like, that means I need to do it. Because I always, when I want to do something and there's fear behind it, it's like, okay, you need to overcome this fear. Let's dive into why that fear is there. And then as I put out the first few episodes, I was like, oh, my gosh, what are people gonna think? Are they gonna love it? Are they gonna hate it? Am I gonna be canceled? This, that and the other, Right? Like, just all these emotions. And sure enough, the feedback's been amazing. And it's something that I really love to do because unlike watching a YouTube video or watching a live or reels or Instagram stories, like, I love that I can connect. And this is the one thing that I've heard back from my audience, and I'm sure maybe you have as well, is that when you can speak to someone for an hour, hour and a half, even if it's a 20 minute quickie episode, they love the intimacy feeling of it. And I always get the feedback of, oh my gosh, Sam, I love these episodes. Like, I feel like my best friend is talking to me. And you, you are able to connect with your audience on such a deeper level, which makes Me really excited. And that's what I love about podcasting because I'm a huge podcast podcast listener. Like I love listening to podcasts, especially when I'm driving or on a walk or even when I'm just like cleaning the house and just like have one playing in the background. I truly love it. So my inspiration behind it is to create a further impact and help inspire people and teach people, you know, their true purpose and how to go after those things that they want through my episodes.
Now on your podcast, do you have guests or you. Are you the talk? Are you the talker?
So far today, it's just been me. That's how I wanted to launch it. I really wanted to like hone my skill as a host. Like I mentioned, like it's a little bit different than everything. But there will be guest interviews coming in the next coming months. So by January.
What did you talk about last time?
This last episode that I actually releasing this week, it was all for solo entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs. I get a lot of questions from newbie entrepreneurs on how did you start your business? Like what are the key things that you did? What did you not do? So it was just a really fact based kind of my story. Plus I wouldn't want to do.
Let's give them a preview. So what were the big takeaways that you wanted them to get from that? That. How much scripting did you do before you started? Or did you just start off the top of your head, have a few notes and just take off?
I always kind of script the structure of the episode because I'm one. I could talk for hours on any sort of topic that I'm passionate about. So I always give myself some structure with some main bullet points and then I go off script. I'm not sitting there reading any sort of thing that I've pre written. But the top things for entrepreneurship is the first one is because this is what I hear all the time. It's like I'm not seeing the success, I'm not seeing the results. And it's a reminder that it's going to take time and consistency. We live in a world right now where social media shows the highlights. It shows people having overnight success and people get really discouraged if within the first month they're not making 10k or within the first year of launching their business, they're not breaking six figures, they think they're a failure. And I shared a lot of my stories and reasonings. It's like, well, you know, look at that entrepreneur that's sharing. Oh, whether they did a 10k month or a hundred k month, I guarantee you behind that. Oh, this was my first month in business. I did this. They have a ton of, quote unquote, failed businesses. They have a ton of failed launches, they have a ton of previous experience where now all of a sudden they're doing this one and they're like, I made it. Right? So I think even though social media is so inspirational, it is also so discouraging for the newbie that thinks that's how it should happen for them. And then they get discouraged and they want to quit and give up because it didn't happen that way. So I really like to shine the light on the truth of like, hey, it's going to take consistency. You have to show up every freaking day, even when nobody's watching, nobody's liking, no one's buying. Like, you have to keep going. I had plenty of days in my first year where we didn't make any sales. Did it stop me? No. Did it make me think, oh, is this the right thing? Of course. But I knew deep down inside I had to do it. And when you create a company or a business with a full alignment, and this is another thing that I see a lot people starting businesses because they see so many other people on social media doing it and, and they think, oh, all these people are successful. That means if I start it, I'm going to be successful too. So they're chasing the wrong goal or mission because they see others doing it thinking they can do it too. And even as a coach, I saw all the time at the beginning of a cohort I had, you know, class of, Whether it was 10 or 15 or 5 or whatever, I would see right away who was going to be a success and who was here just thinking they could go through this program, launch something and make a lot of money. I knew who had the real heart in it and who didn't. So really getting again, coming back to that, like, what's your true purpose? Like, what is it that you really want to do? What are you actually chasing, if anything? And understanding that it all comes down to consistency. It all comes down to putting those systems in place. And if you don't have the drive, like a lot of us have our visionaries, right? So we have the vision, we have the thing, but we don't know how to implement the systems and put those things in place. Okay. If you're one of those types of people, you would be the one that maybe has to hire a coach or hire help in order to Put those systems in place. So really just sharing a lot of, like, the real truth, especially with starting manuscripting, because that was a pure example of, hey, I started this from zero, zero experience even. Like, I've been in the shoes of, like, really understanding nothing about this type of industry, and those were the things that I did. So that's the episode that's coming out next.
Well, you know, like, when that. I don't play video games, but, you know, you remember. What was it? Angry Birds. That was just a sensation.
It was.
Everybody played Angry Birds. And I would always think to myself, boy, whoever wrote that really hit it big, you know, like, wow, they hit the jackpot. I'm thinking of jackpot because I've got a huge painting downstairs that we. We decided to name Jackpot. But anyway, they hit the jackpot. And then I found out that this was a company out of the Netherlands or someplace up there called, and they had 59 other games out.
I didn't know that.
But before, before Angry Birds hit, you know, so it wasn't like, oh, you know, you know, Bobby and Charlie thought of this great game and they just got lucky. No, no, they had a big, you know, business coders, you know, two or three floors of this big building, and they, you know, they hit, but they were good at it. You know, the deal is.
Yeah. And that gives me the chills just hearing that, because one, I didn't know that backstory story. And just a pure example of, like, the work that goes behind and the stories we don't know and the things that we don't see behind the scenes that are happening before someone big. Right. Like, that's. That's unbelievable. That's cool.
Yeah. You know, there's a lot about being an entrepreneur where you just have to have the stomach to be bad before you can earn the right to be good. In fact, I was on the driving range on a golf course in some resort in Puerto Rico at a convention one time, and I overheard the golf pro giving this lady a lesson next to me, and he said, your ability to become a great golfer is based off your ability to stomach being hitting bad shots for a long, long time.
Yeah, it's so true. It's so true.
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Yes, yes, the first thing that I did because not only did I want to test the product, but also I just wanted to see like were people really interested or am I just kind of like seeing random DMS and not going to hear about this again? So it was kind of a two part process with getting kind of a list of people, hey, apply to be in this, in this cohort. Let's see how much interest there is. And there was decent amount and then putting all those women in the group and I literally just said, I said we're, you're going to do this for free. You're basically going to get a month of quote unquote, not even coaching, but just a month. Please use this every day. And then every single Sunday we had a zoom call where I would get on the call with these ladies and Be like, what's going on? How's the week been? How have you seen any changes? I would just ask them questions for feedback. And then that's how I started learning, like, okay, they love this, this works, all these sorts of things. So that, that's how it all started. And then from there I was like, cool, I have enough proof in the pudding right now to put out, create the first journal, go to, manufacture the first journal. And that's literally, that's how it got started. That's what I did.
Now, did you do that from your email list? You just sent out an email to your existing list of subscribers and said, I've got a new. I'm putting together a pilot project and if you want to get involved. How did you do that?
Yeah, actually I didn't use my email list. I just promoted it on social media because my email list, like, that was very specific. Right? That was for. Even though it was like, I totally could have, but that was like, you know, people wanting to be a business coach and all these sorts of things. And even though this would have been great for them, I wanted to just. I had a big following. So my current Instagram is a brand new Instagram account. I had a previous Instagram that had like 60,000 whatever, followers. So I just put it out there first, asking everyone, regardless if you were interested in working with me or not. But I put it out there first.
I love how you, I love how you toss that off. Oh, 60,000 on my Instagram. Yeah, I've got that. I've got that too. And that's because I'm a former model myself.
Yes.
Well, 60,000 on your Instagram account and then you just started a whole new one.
Yeah, when I started this company, I had made that decision of, you know what, because that Instagram account, like, that was forever, like so old. It had. I'd gone through so many pivots on that account too. And I just made the personal decision of like, you know what, it's time to start fresh. I, I have evolved, I have grown. People followed me on that account, you know, when I was in the fitness space and you know, I was like, any modeling and that sort of stuff, like, I wanted a fresh start. And I basically just said to that account, hey, if you want to continue with my journey, like, come follow me over here and if not, cool, that's fine. Like, goodbye, good luck.
How much life speak, how much live speaking have you done and did you enjoy it?
Done quite a bit. And I love it, I love it. There's something so magical being in a room with actual like humans right there in front of you to be able to see their expression, see their energy change, like meet them afterwards sometimes if possible. But doing, doing live speaking is I, it's one of my favorite things to do.
And what do you, what, what do you find the main message that you try and you'll go into an event like that. What's the main point that you, you want them to walk out with when it's over? Because you know, we're always lucky when we speak if they remember us at all or if they remember what, you know, the, you know, if it's, if they get one main takeaway from everybody they listen to and speaking. That's, that's a lot. And so what do you, what, what do you try and impact people with the most when you're, you're live.
Yeah. 99% of the time it is literally just driving in the point. Like you are the creator of your reality. You have the power to change it if you don't like it. And listening to your gut and intuition, like those are the three main points. And like after every single time I speak it's like, just like even though to me these, these points just seem very, you know, basic but to a lot of people it's just like these mind blowing revelations where it's like, oh yeah, like I'm the creator. Like it's, it's super empowering. So just to empower people with knowing and understanding. Like you don't have to do what you are told by society, by your parents, by X, Y and Z. Right? Like, no, like you have a purpose on this planet and learn to tap into that and understand that if there's something that you don't like about your life, you can change it. You don't have to be stuck there.
And so those three again is that you are the creator of your world. Go, go through them real quick again.
You are the creator of your reality. One that. What were the other two I was track. You're the creative reality.
You do what I do forget. Since you're much younger than me. That's very encouraging. Now I'm starting to like you. I've had so many things not to like you for, but now I'm starting to like you.
Yeah, yeah. So you're the creator of the reality. If you don't like something about your life, like you truly have the power to change it. And then following your gut and intuition.
There you go, you remembered it here. Here you, you Have a few year. You have a few years left before you lose your mind. Good for you.
Yes.
Hey, it's been a lot of fun. Appreciate you having, having us share all of this with you. And we'll put the links to your website and your journal and all that. I always let my guest have the final word. And for the people listening and so what do you want them to take away from this?
Thank you so much, Larry. The one thing I want to take away, and it's literally comes down to those three points that I just shared. Like, truly, like, you have a purpose on this planet. You have a light to shine. Don't let someone dim your light. Follow your intuition. It is the most powerful brain that you have. Go after what you want. And if you don't like something about your life, you do have the power to change it, I promise.
Yeah. And the thing that I'd like to add is that don't feel like this is you being selfish. This is you being responsible for your life and the talent and time and knowledge, everything that you've been given so that you can be productive with it. And there's nobody else in the world who knows what is right for you at any given moment better than you, you know, and so that's why you need to be. It's not that, you know, worry about stepping on people's toes, but you've got to be assertive about getting yourself in a situation where you can be productive doing things that you're excited about. And you, you know, if you don't have a knack for doing it in the beginning, you will develop a knack for. Because you're going to spend so much time doing it. And most things are not that hard to do, you know, as you. It's a matter of. It's hard when you don't know, but when I look like things are hard, like, I can't get through that door, God almighty, I can't get through that door. But then someone gives you a key and you stick the key and turn the thing and, oh, I'm through the door. I just didn't have the key. Yeah, who knew all I needed was a key. And so that's what hopefully people are going to get from this. Some keys that they can use to unlock doors, move forward in their life. It's been a lot of fun. Samantha, when you get sick of Austin now, you guys are going to have to call me and I'll tell you about Florida. Okay?
Yes, please do. I will definitely give you a call.
All right. Thanks so much. Good luck with your podcast and your, your journal, your manuscript.
Thank you so much Larry. This was so great.
Look forward to next time. Goodbye. Thanks for listening to the Million Dollar Mastermind. If you felt there were any valuable takeaways from this episode, please take a minute. Leave us a five star review. Your feedback is important and really helps us get the word out to a wider audience. Remember, we have a valuable webinar that is absolutely free. Register for it right now@whiteallowinning.com thanks for listening.
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