Part 1 - From Sports Star And Med School To Fitness Queen

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 winning. I'm your host, Larry Wydell.

Hello, everyone. I'm talking with Samantha Kozuch, is that right?

Yes, that's right. Perfect.

Okay. And Samantha has just moved from Los Angeles to beautiful suburban Austin, Texas and is loving it.

Yes.

She left one of my favorite places, Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, and is now in another great place. And so living the life you wanted. Got to change the scenery. There's not much of a marina there in outside of Austin, is there?

Well, we happen to just live on Lake Travis, so even though right now the lake levels are extremely low, we still have that nice, you know, the water atmosphere out here. So kind of grateful for that.

Well, great. Yeah, there's something about being around the water and living near the water, isn't it?

Oh, there sure is.

So, Samantha, it's. You have had a busy, busy, busy life and in, I'm sure all areas of life, but especially in your business life. And what's the story? What would you say? And you've got a podcast, you've got your E commerce business, manuscripting, which is not the same as man scaping or anything like that, I'm sure.

Definitely it's not.

And so we'll get into all of that. But how did you get into the entrepreneurial thing? You probably, you know, you've got modeling in your background and you probably recognize as soon as you saw me, an ex model as well. Just kidding. You probably see me on the runways and in Milan and Rome.

You know, I thought you looked familiar.

I thought, you know, I get that all the time. But, but anyway, talk about what was in your head growing up that you think put you on this independent type track, because that's what I see in your theater thing, is someone who has got a head on your shoulders. You're looking for bright, interesting, exciting things. I don't know about you, Samantha, but I am attracted by wow. You know, when I was in growing up, we moved around a lot because my father was the Air Force. And I was always attracted by the wow things, the interesting things, the exciting things. And easier to stay excited when you're doing something that inspires you. So as you were growing up, where did you get your light bulbs turned on?

Oh, that is a deep question that I don't think I've ever been asked so directly like this. But for me, growing up I was first generation American, but my parents had first immigrated from Poland to Australia, where I was born and raised up until 12 years old. And then at 12 years old, we picked up and moved again to America. And I think with just seeing, you know, my. Since my parents were immigrants, I saw them how they worked so hard and how they were always doing everything that they could to give my sister and I a better life. And it wasn't until end of college where I had this entrepreneurial bug kick in. And it was because my entire upbringing from, like, even from high school and in college, I was studying basically to go to med school. And then when I was in my junior senior year of that, when I've been working so hard for many years, you know, to get all the education, all the credits, all the prereqs and all that from med school, I had this moment of like, wait a second, this isn't actually what I want to do. And it was such a confusing time in my life because when you spend so long being so dedicated to do something, and then all of a sudden it was just like this intuitional gut feeling where it's like, this isn't it? And from there, when I told my parents that, hey, I'm not going to go to med school, I'm going to take a year off, quote, unquote, and like, figure it out. Actually, I lied to them actually first saying I'm going to take a year off, study for the MCAT and all that sort of stuff and apply. And because to them, right, being immigrants, you know, if anyone listening is a first generation child, like your parents want you to either be a doctor, a lawyer or something super prestigious, right? Because they work so hard to make such a good life for you. And for me, it finally clicked, like, that's not the way. And when I had this conversation with them, it was a the unspoken kind of new rule of like, well, if you're not going to go to med school, we're no longer going to support you financially. Like, I'm sure that they would, but they're like, you have to figure it out then because, you know, we supported you this entire way and now you're not going to go do the thing. So you got to figure it out. And from there, that's when it lit that fire under my butt to be like, okay, well, I don't know what I'm going to do next, but my entire life, because I'm tall, I'm 5 10, I was always told, you should be a model. Why aren't you a model? Why don't you act? And that was always really intriguing to me. But at the same time, growing up and my parents were pretty strict, they're like, no, you're not doing that. You're going to go to school, you're going to play sports, you're going to, you know, do all those things.

Right.

So I started, you know, doing that, which I became very self successful at, so to speak. And then from there it turned into, you know, the social media space opened up with Instagram and Facebook. And all of a sudden I was just posting videos and pictures from, like working out. And all of a sudden I was a fitness influencer before the word influencer even existed. So I started, I was like, oh, I can make money out of this. And then people started asking me, oh, how did you know?

How old were you? I mean, where was this? Was this after, you know, you dropped out of the med school?

Mm. So this is.

Okay, let me dial back. Let me dial back for a minute. I'm curious, what sports did you play?

I played basketball and ran track.

Really?

Yeah.

And so did your teams win?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we were really good. I was the even, like growing up, like I was fastest girl at school in running. I had multiple even scholarship offers to go do that. And I had.

Actually you had all those, you had those long legs from being 5, 10.

Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. So I always had this drive to like, to win, to be good, to get good grades, to work hard. Like that was my upbringing. Like, if you work hard, like, you're going to see results. So I really had that ingrained in me from a really young age.

You know, it's amazing how many entrepreneurs got that start in high school in athletics, you know, and I used to say that I, you know, I didn't, I didn't have what it takes to go on and be a college athlete, but I did learn, I did have enough sports background to learn that winning is better than losing.

Sure it is. Yes, it is.

For those of you, for you who.

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And winning one time is not good enough, you know, and so no matter how many trophies you have, it's you've got your eye on that next one because you know you don't want to lose once you, you win. So you had the taste of winning and something was percolating in your mind which did not translate into endless boring hours of study in dorms. And then you know, had, you know, you're really smart to get out of that early. You know, let's, you know, we could tell people, take a lesson from Samantha. When your gut is telling you you're on the wrong track, pay attention to it because you're probably not going to do well going forward in that thing that your gut is rebelling against. And no matter how tough it is to deal with the people around you and their expectations or no matter how far you in are into it is not, you know, you may have feel like you've wasted some time in it, but it's probably not wasted time if you get on out when that instinct. Because the interesting thing is the instincts and you did not kick in a year early or maybe, you know, it kicked in after you had, you know, that's the thing about making decisions and moving forward, Samantha. You know, you got to keep moving forward and even if you don't, you know, I know so many people like they get stuck in life where they, I don't know where I want to live, I don't know what I want to do, I don't know this that well. Get the best choice of according your instinct, get your facts and then call a shot. And then if it's not the best one, that'll put you in a position to realize the better one. You know, I had a friend, I had a friend one time, he's building his dream home and I said, you know, the dream home. I said, you know, the thing about the dream home is that you always think of other things to add, you know, because I used to build houses, I built a hundred houses coming out of Georgia Tech. And he said, yeah, he said, the only thing I know is going to be better than the one I'm in now. And so you made a decision and from that it turned in basically you pull that out of your life. You created room where now other things could come in. How did you even think about the fitness and posting videos and who made you an expert in working out it probably you weren't an expert. You were good in sports, so maybe you learned some great techniques along the way or had good coaching or whatever.

Yeah, so this was back in, what, 2005. I'm kind of even just dating myself a little bit. But from, yeah, 2005 to 2009, that's when I was in college. And so Facebook had just come out. Instagram had just started. So it was literally just, you know, posting, you know, just like, nothing what it is today. But because I had quit sports that I literally, from, like, the time I could walk up until finishing school, I always had a coach. I was always told what to do, how to train. I never had to think for myself. So I dove into the fitness magazines. Like, that was the thing. You order your fitness magazines, you follow the programs in those magazines. So I had to kind of reteach myself how to work out, get back in the gym. I was, you know, YouTube was like the big hot thing at that time with fitness videos and all that sort of stuff. So I just started learning that stuff. And then I, you know, I would see these girls in the magazines, and I'm like, I want to be that fitness girl in the magazine. So that's what really, like, I saw this next goal of being, wanting to do that and be that inspiration, and it all just kind of happened, like, naturally, even though I was doing things every single day to help achieve those goals. So I was, you know, I was published in fitness magazines. I did have the YouTube channel with the workouts and creating the programs and all that sort of stuff. And it was because I had the desire to do it and I just took action on it. So it all just happened. At the end of the day, it feels like it just happened so naturally, but it's combining that desire, that drive, and that taking action, it's going to give you results just by doing that. Right. It's kind of like, easier said than.

Done, but, you know, it's never a joyride to the top. So, personally, what was the toughest thing for you? Personally, not the business side, the personal side where you had to deal with things. I say this because I'm. I'm, I'm, you know, fairly advanced down the road, and I still go through it. You know, you have to make tough changes. You have to, like, things you were counting on, and you realize this is a lost cause, and you have to extricate yourself out of something that you had all your hopes and dreams about doing or that was kind of part of your identity. You know, but like, no, that's just not going to be, be an option anymore. And so what were for you? What, you know, in terms of the people you dealt with, the things that you had to commit to, what. What was the most gut wrenching you would you say that you had to face?

Honestly, it was having to tell my parents that I wasn't going to go to med school because that was like, you know, that's like at that age, being so young, like, those are the people that like, you look up to that, you know, believe in you, that want the best for you and just to like, go through that experience and then feel like were disappointing them and feeling like, you know, they never said, like, like really, like you're making the worst decision of your life, like, you know, you're stupid to do this. Like, but I felt that they just didn't understand and get it and going through that. And that was. For many years I kind of struggled with that because I always then felt like I had to continue proving myself and proving myself. And that did drive me. Was it a healthy driver? I don't know. But it did get me to that next thing that I was doing. And then even from being in the fitness space to then at that point, like pivoting to the next thing and to the next thing, and then it got me to where I am today. And as you said earlier, you know, you go through something like, for example, school and then I built out a full social media and then every time I pivot, you would. Most people think, well, that was such a waste of time that you spent so much time building it. But with every single decision that I made and every single piece of my career that I was in, I learned so many tools, I had so many different experiences that where I am today, like, I'm still using things that I learned, you know, in college when I was studying pre med, because what I'm teaching now, it has a lot of stuff to do with the human body. So just by having that foundation, like, eventually it all comes full circle. If you trust it.

Yeah. Pivoting. Speak to this. Pivoting is not quitting. Because a lot of times people will stay in what they're doing and I'm just not going to quit. It's a decision we all have to make. Like, am I going to give this more time? And maybe I'm just emotionally worn out because they're not quite over the top of the hill. If I stay on track, all of this can turn around or you come to conclusion like, no, this is a lost cause. It's not even fun anymore. You know, I don't have to give this up, but I want to give it up. And, you know, I could do that, but I just don't want to do that. You know, it's not going to turn out the way I thought. And that. That leads to a pivot versus a quit, because you're. You're keeping your. Your momentum. You're just shifting your momentum in another direction. Speak about that for a minute.

Yeah. So pivoting. I've done it three or four major times over the last 10 years, and every single time, it was really scary to do because as you've built up a business and you're making that income and revenue, and then all of a sudden you pivot. It's a. It's a. It's a big dip. That happens. It doesn't just continue growing. Right? But what I learned over the last 10 years of these experiences is that every single time, you know, as you're. As you're evolving and growing, you start to learn more about yourself, right? You start figuring out your purpose and what. What you are meant to do. And I was very in tune with that. And even though that's not. I didn't know that's what I did when I first, you know, decided not to go to med school, I didn't understand that. I was very confused. But as I started going through a few years and feeling that experience again, like, hey, Sam, like, actually, like, this isn't what you're meant to be doing. You're meant to now go do this. Like, following your. I followed my gut and intuition so many times that now when it. If it is ever to hit me again, it's like, I know this feeling, and I know it's time to make a change, and it's so empowering. And I think a lot of people are so afraid to do it because of exactly what you said. Like, oh, I'm wasting time. Oh, well, it's so silly to give up this much income or revenue or salary in order to start over and pivot again. I put in so much time, but I think that's where most people hold themselves back in their fullest potential. Because on the other side of that, like, every single time I have pivoted, I have trusted. Because, one, I'm. Now, as I'm growing, right, you're changing. And that next pivot is just stepping more into alignment of what you are meant to do. And when you trust that and when you follow that you're going to be successful, it might not be a success instantly, but just by being such an alignment with what you do, your purpose, you're passionate about it, you will be successful. So I have just fully learned to do that. And then this is what I also teach as well, because I know so many people that are currently miserable in their jobs or in their careers or in their businesses, and they do it for the money and they're afraid to take that next step. So I think really getting in tune with your gut feelings and when you feel like, you know what, of course there are things in every single business we do that is not fun, it's mundane, it's the same things we do all the time. But if overall you're waking up excited every day, like that's how you should feel, is really excited and passionate about what you're doing, what you are putting out into the world, and as long as you're feeling that, like you're in a good place, yeah, everything's going to.

Take work, everything's going to be a drag at some point or another, and there's going to be reversals. But the thing is, are you getting any enjoyment, any satisfaction? And the reason you pivot is when you, if you don't believe that there's something greater out there for you and you have a, you know, a high purpose in your life, you're not going to be as open to pursuing that because you're going to say, I better settle for this. I'm lucky to have this. There's a limit to how far I can go. And, you know, when Elon Musk, and I'm, by the way, I'm not an E car person. But anyway, when he started Tesla, you know, their inscription on their main headquarters is where he talked about open sourcing. And he believed, you know, he wasn't going to keep this, you know, information quiet. He wanted all kind of companies to get into that industry. And his, you know, it's the abundance mentality, you know, that there's, it's not, you know, there's room at the top. You know, it's crowded at the bottom, but there is room at the top. There's a lot of exciting opportunities at the top. And there's no advantage in not going for bigger, better, you know, faster, taller and quicker. And you know that that's where the excitement in life is now as you, you know, when you're doing that, you become a certain magnetism to yourself. And it's obvious that you have been able to carry, create and carry your magnetism through all your different activities because of people you know following you and interested in what you have to say. And so, on the other hand, you could look at your track record and say, this woman just cannot be still. I mean, she doesn't have a clue of what she wants to do. You know, she goes here, she goes there, and you feel like you found, you know, something that can. Can last a while, I would imagine.

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