789. Accelerate Your Business with The Founders’ Business Accelerator with Candy Valentino

For me, it was like, if I'm going to do something, I like to do something that hasn't been done yet. That's really the only thing that excites me at this point. So I wanted it to be something unique, something different, something that I felt didn't exist in this capacity.

Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of Light Pink, best selling author, three time fitness world champion, and I'm a crazy, multi passionate entrepreneur. My journey has taken me everywhere from being a broke waitress, barista, retails associate and personal trainer with massive anxiety and no belief in myself, to later becoming a multimillionaire in love with my life. In 2007, my husband and I lost everything. We found ourselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt at rock bottom. We had no ideas and I had no education to fall back on. This is when I found personal development and learned everything I could about business. I not by choice, but because I realized no one was coming to save me. The conversations on this podcast are going to let you know that you're not.

Alone and that we all feel like we don't know what we're doing.

We're going to give you the tools to help you face your fears, take action, start your business, and grow those massive dreams that are keeping you up at night. It's time to create a life that you can't hide from and put so much on the line that your higher self is forced to come out. You're going to stop waiting for someone to approve of you and you're going to anoint yourself. Because I'm obsessed about building businesses that give women a platform, I want to feature you. So if you text the word podcast to 310-496-8363, you can get your questions answered on our Q and A segment.

Along with a shout out.

And if you rate, review and subscribe to this podcast, we're choosing someone every month to get coached and featured on our show. It just might be you. So let's get started. Hey everyone, welcome back to the show. It's time for another quickie because there's always time to fit in inspiration and I'm so excited because I have a.

Stick special guest today on this quickie.

Which is always so much fun to.

Not be talking into this microphone by myself. I have Candy Valentino here.

Candy, I'm so excited you're here.

Lori. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

We're. We're neighbors.

We are. It took me like Four minutes. If I was coming from oh my.

God, in LA speak that. But you, you would actually have to live in the same house as me.

Could have walked.

Yeah. You would actually have to be a roommate in order to make that type of time. It's like so amazing. I'm really excited to chat with you today because events are back right now. For the most part, they're coming back. A lot of people are starting to see events. I'm so excited. I was just at a really big event and it just rocked my world. I forgot the power of being in person with people and people were so excited and I learned so much. So I want to talk about events because for you, you've been somebody and I'm going to have you share a little bit about your history just in life and what you've done before. But you're somebody who has done 62 charity events for other people. You've actually helped people put different events on and now you are doing your own event. And you were just kind of telling.

Me how crazy that is and how.

Different it is when you're switching gears, which I think this is so perfect for everybody who's listening. Switching gears from doing things for other people. Love how that can actually just be like a through line lesson for life. Switching gears from doing things for other people to doing things. Doing a vision of your own.

Yeah.

So what is that like?

So I'll tell you, I've been like you said, 62 charity events. So I've loved doing them and it's been so incredible. But there's a different energy that you have when you are doing something for yourself. And even though I've been in business, just a little bit about my story. I started my first company when I was 19.

Oh my God.

Multiple industries from service and retail to E Comm to real estate investing. And I started a nonprofit when I was 26. Cause I just wanted to give back. And I know you know what that is, but for everyone else, it's a nonprofit animal shelter and farm sanctuary. So we save all species of animals. And I was always the one that did the events. I did my first black tie charity event when I was 20 years old. I couldn't even order a glass of wine. But I was having for all these rich people and I just fell in love with it. But what I found so interesting about this event is it's a different type of ask when we're asking for someone to help us or to do something that's maybe for us as opposed to for Someone else, It was a much more difficult ask. So here even I am, 23 years in business on my own, by myself. I've always owned all my companies on my own. It's just. It's such a different energy to ask somebody to help or support or, hey, do you want to do this thing that's going to be so amazing? So that's been the biggest challenge. And obviously, events, as you know, there is so many moving parts that you don't really know it until you get into it.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, that is such a great analogy for everything. It's almost like, thank God that you're kind of enamored by, like, oh, I.

Would love this event and think of all the things it could do for people.

Because once you get into it, it's just like everything else, right? You're like, I had no idea the layers in which you need things in order to make this happen. So what are some of the things that asking or having this event has triggered in you? Like, what has this brought up that you were not expecting emotionally? Just something old stories that you've had to kind of deal with and get past.

So I think for me, just starting at such a young age and growing up, my background and my childhood of just not having a lot and just small town, two teenage parents, I think for me, what it really did was it, it is okay to do things with other people. And I think it's also the analogy that entrepreneurship and anything in life really is a team sport. We don't need to do it alone, and certainly we can, but it's a lot more fun. It's a lot more interesting. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now if we didn't connect on this. And so I just think it's really great to see how many people will come around and will actually support and everyone wants to cheerlead other people's goals, but you have to ask, you have to put yourself out there. And I've been so good at doing that in business and in other arenas. But because this one feels so personal, like, that it's me, it's my name, it was a little bit more difficult for me to make those asks and those connections.

It's so crazy because that was kind of the boat I was in with Light Pink. I was like, oh, my gosh, yes, it's kind of like the product in the vision, but also I had to ask for money. And like, you know, when you're asking for money, it's like wanting people needing People to believe in you and the vision. Like, people invest. Most people say they invest in the person. And that was a really crazy feeling to me. Like, you're kind of standing there in front of people. Like, what do you think? Do you want to.

You want to do this?

You want to give me money? And that's probably the same boat that you're feeling. Like, what do you think? You want to invest in this? You want to come to this event? Like, I'm trying to tell you it's going to be great and it's going to be big and it's going to be amazing, which it is, you guys. And I'm so excited because Chris and I are also going to be speaking there. So the reason that Candy's on this podcast, not only is she amazing, you're actually going to be on the podcast later on in a much longer way. This is just a quick little version because we really, really, really want to get people to this event in this space. I'm going to be there. Chris is going to be there. Candy's going to be there. Tell me who else? First of all, sorry, we're just going to go here because I'm a little bit like, wow, this woman really, really has. You have so much influence. You have been able to get some really incredible people there. So let's say, let's just tell the people who they're going to be in a roommate.

We should just tell them. Yeah. So I don't know, does anyone, anyone watch that show that's been on for, like, 13 years, where the entrepreneurs sit around and people pitch them their ideas?

It's like one of my favorite shows.

Better known as Shark Tank. Right. So we have Damon John from Shark Tank, who is going to be there. I'm so excited. So much value. I mean, not only is he the founder of FUBU, he's done 6 billion in retail in a time where there wasn't E commerce or anything that we know today. So it was so much harder. So we're going to do a fireside chat. We're going to do live Q and A with the audience, where you actually. We have mic runners. You can ask your questions about business. It's going to be so powerful. And then for vip, he's doing a meet and greet and a book signing. So a lot of cool things. We also have. Most interesting thing about our speakers are they're not actually speakers. They're not on a circuit. So most of your listeners probably haven't heard them speak before, because what I find is a lot of people have been building businesses and building brands, and when you're building your own business or your own brand, that's not your personal brand. You're spending all of your time and energy building that. Most people don't know who the heck you are because you're behind the scenes as the puppeteer with all this. So a lot of these speakers, you're going to maybe think like, oh, gosh, I don't even know who that is. But it's not who they are from a personal brand. It's what they've done, and that's why I'm putting them on that stage. So we have, for example, a gentleman, Rick Steele, who's done 14 billion in e. Com.

Oh, my God.

He's a 14 time Iron man marathon champion. Like, he did this world marathon where he ran a different continent every day for seven days. A marathon in each one. It's like, insane. Wow. And has built an incredible company so down to earth. And he's really gonna talk a lot about failure and success and the difference that he has seen in all the aspects of his life. So he's gonna be there. We have Amy Lacey, who's the founder of Love her. Love Her.

Yeah, she's been on the show before.

Oh, good, good. Yeah. So as you guys know, Cauliflower Foods. She is great in consumer packaged goods and national distribution. So those are just some of the names. We also have Rory Vaden, who is great.

Love him. I'm seeing him this week.

Oh, are you? Oh, that's right. You're going to Nashville. Right.

He's a genius. I literally can't learn enough from him.

It's like every time he opens his mouth, it's like wisdom.

Totally. There are those people that you're like, every sentence is a quotable. I literally can't take it. And I love it.

It's so good. And what's I love about Rory is he takes a lot of great ideas and he knows how to wrap processes around them, which I think a lot of entrepreneurs, regardless if you're in your first 25,000 or you're doing 25 million, it's all about processes. That's what's going to get you to scale. And Rory is really great about breaking that down. His wife AJ Is going to be there too. And I think, you know, she's done that massive. Like, I think it's the largest. She was on Good Morning America for doing the largest study of personal branding. Wow. And just how that actually relates to building your own Business. And obviously so many people know that today. Right. As far as building a personal brand, we also have Allison, who's gonna be there. She has get yout Pretty On. I think you've met her before. And she has serviced over 100,000 women through her programs online. Wow. And was a corporate engineer. So just the path of entrepreneurship is gonna be really great. I think what's most unique, though, is about this format as opposed to others is, is it's not just going to be, you know, all these ideas that you're going to get. It's. Yes, you're going to have ideas, you're going to have breakthroughs, there's going to be transformation. But what makes it unique is we've actually strategically curated the event so that you can implement and execute the ideas that you hear. You can ask questions, you're not just passively listening. And we actually have big screens that people can volunteer. We're going to pull up websites and Instagram and all kinds of things. And we've amassed master copywriter who's going to be there about ways that you can tweak the copy on your sales page to generate more revenue. Brand experts. It's going to do the same. So really, really cool. Really cool. And of course, you and Chris are going to be there, which will be so exciting.

Let's take a quick break as the year ends. I can't even believe I'm saying that. How is it already the holiday season? Yes, it is upon us. And for many of us, that means a lot more travel and it might mean a lot more family. And so some of you might already be stressing about maybe coping with this time of year. And I know for me, since the world has opened up, there has been a lot more travel. And for some people, this time of year might be super jolly, but other times it doesn't really feel that way. Especially if we have a lot on our plan plate on top of dealing with some of the things that maybe we haven't been able to talk about in our family. And that's okay. So you can ease some of the burdens of what's coming up and what you're facing with talk space. Online therapy, you guys, sometimes we don't create the space to be able to.

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So excited to learn.

This is coming at such a good time. I like have all the days off because I'm literally going to be a student because it's so important for me right now with light pink to go and learn from people who have really not just people who are a little bit ahead, but I also love to go so far forward because I think that we forget sometimes maybe we think that we're not ever going to get to a place where Daymond John is.

But Damon John John's where he is.

Because he allowed himself to be in rooms with people who were so far ahead that it expanded his vision. And I think that's something that's really great about this event is that it's going to be so expansive that no matter where you are to get in rooms like that, where all of a sudden you're like, wait, maybe if I think with that sort of end in.

Mind, you build your business different 100%.

You just build it different. You Take a different route, you integrate different core values, you show up different as a leader, you definitely will get something that will the game for you that will either make your life easier or expand your vision or completely pivot something in a better way. So that's why it's just I'm so personally excited for it that I literally was like. As you were explaining it, I'm like, shit, my team needs to be there too. So that's going to happen.

Building with the end in mind and reverse engineering your business is a lot of times you don't know what you don't know. So a lot of entrepreneurs don't start that. And I always use the analogy to just say exactly what you were saying. Like, do you wanna learn from someone? If you wanna run a marathon, do you wanna learn from someone who just learned how to run their first mile? Or do you wanna learn from someone who's been running marathons for two decades? I prefer the latter. Cause I think you're gonna gain wisdom in that experience. You can either learn from mentors or you can learn from your mistakes. So I think getting in a room like this, you're gonna be able to jump ahead and not make a lot of the same mistakes that most of us make when we don't have that opportunity.

Oh, my God. So good. Talked a lot about what they're going to learn, but just a little bit more on why this event. Like, why did you decide to make this event? Because this is a big leap.

It's a huge leap to go from.

Like, I'm putting on things for other people.

And I know that you're also a.

Serial entrepreneur and, you know, you flip homes and you do so many things.

It's crazy.

And I'm obsessed. I'm literally obsessed. But why? Like, this is a big undertaking. It's a big event.

It's a big event. But, you know, it's so interesting. I think because of the first business, I started being more of a pioneer in that space. And starting wellness spas before that was a thing for me. It was like, if I'm going to do something, I like to do something that hasn't been done yet. That's really the only thing that excites me at this point. So I wanted it to be something unique, something different, something that I felt didn't exist in this capacity. I've done, obviously, the personal development and the business conferences and EOs, WPOs, all of the things. But this is just so unique because it takes a lot of the structure and business development and entrepreneur education, but it marries it with execution, implementation, and strategy that it gives you that beyond vision like you're talking about. But then we're able to bring it back and meet you where you are and develop what your next best steps are. Because we'll have facilitators in the room and everyone sits at a roundtable as opposed to in theater style seats so that you can communicate, you can network, and you can meet other people that are gonna be in similar size businesses as you. So it's a great opportunity for connection. But it's really be like, okay, we just learned this now. Let's take 15 minutes. There'll be people around the room to answer questions that have also been in business for a very long time and really help you do it and not just hear it.

Oh, my God. Well, I can't wait. This is exactly what I need right now. This is exactly what I think everyone who's listening to this podcast needs. We would absolutely love to see you. So because of that and why she's on this podcast today is to offer you something super special. So, Candy, what do you have going on for them?

So we are doing obviously with you and Chris partnering together. We are so excited to offer anyone that's listening, if you hear this and you want, you're like, yes, this is a hell yes for me. I want to be in this room. I need this expansion. I want to get in there and hear these ideas from experienced entrepreneurs. Then you're going to get $1,000 off your ticket price, whether that's general admission or VIP. And VIP, like I said, has the Damon meet and greet and book signing and all kinds of cool stuff.

I can't. I'm like so excited right now. Okay, so how do they, how do they get it? Where do they go?

Okay, so you're going to go to foundersorganization.com and you're going to use the code harder. Super Easy. Lori's last name. Just put in harder and that'll give you $1,000 off your ticket.

Amazing. And you guys, if you don't know, it's H A R D e R.

And $1,000 off of your ticket. We literally are beyond excited to see you. We'll probably see you and meet you.

Yes. Hopefully. Hopefully not matching outfits, though.

Well, we were talking. It's a thing. We all shop on Revolve now. So if you guys don't know what that is, I'm gonna just keep it from you so you don't show up in the same outfit. You can Google it. But with that said, Candy, I'm so thrilled. I'm so thrilled you're doing this, because I know it's gonna be such a breakthrough for so many people just to get all of these people into one room. And I know that you're so passionate about truly giving people the wisdom and the tools to be able to integrate, actually integrate, like, really tangible information. Not just. I know, I know for you, you know, getting past, like, the rah rah and just the inspiration into tangible tools. So I know that so many people are going to take away incredible things. So, okay, one more time. One more time on the website.

One more time. Www.founders plural founders organization.com and you're going to use harder. H A R.

You guys were so excited. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.