0439 | Carla Fowler

Hi, I'm Carla Fowler. I am the managing director of Thaxa Executive Coaching and you are listening to EA interviews.

EA interviews. Episode 439, inspiration, transformation, success stories and the imperfect action round. Seven days a week, join Mario Ficcini for today's Expert Authority effect interview. Expert Authority World. I am excited to present to you someone who's super down to earth, but also she might as well be a rocket scientist. I don't really know why I, she, she should be.

I'm sorry, I'm just blown away at how impressive Carla Fowler is. She's an executive coach. She graduated magna cum laude laude from Brown. She helps people look and this is what really attracted me to her is the scientific approach to what they're doing. She loves engaging in conversation and I think I'm a little bit nervous because I am the exact opposite of this. The antithesis. That's a word I learned. And I'm just blessed that she's here because in any other normal circumstance, like we should probably not even be talking. So I'm just super excited to bring her to you because she is one of the highest level people I've ever had on the show and I, I'm going to bring her up right after we thank our sponsor. Every business needs a book, including yours. And that's why I'm launching my new book to help you, regardless of where you think your current writing abilities are. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction, lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that's eapublishingmethodbook.com Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, the lovely Dr. Carla Fowler. Carla, how are you feeling today?

Mario, I am feeling great and I am so glad that you invited me to be on your show. And you know what? I think that for a lot of us when we think about performance and performance science have that same feeling that you were expressing. It's that like, oh, that's the big stuff. Like, you know, it can be intimidating. But I think part of why I love talking about it is that I think it is approachable for all of us and I'd love to make it that way.

You are super approachable and down to earth. And I was telling you that's one of the reasons I knew you were going to be a great interview. And you know, because even for me as the host, sometimes it's like my team and I check out people and it's like they seem cool. It should Be good. Don't really know, but when I saw your stuff, looked it over, I'm like.

Really just kind of blown away. And I think some of that's still rubbing off. I'm not really intimidated, but I'm like, you're a freaking Dr. Rocket Scientist. Like all this. How am I? You have so many great attributes about you, I'd say in the approachability. And I'm like, this is a hook, line and slinker. You're going to help so many people. We need to get your message out there. So thanks for making the time. It's. It's truly an honor. And I can't wait to just dive in and ask you stuff like, why do you take the scientific approach to executive performance?

All right, well, let's dive into that.

So I think part of the reason that I approach it like a scientist is because I am a scientist. I think from the time I was really young, I liked this idea that the world was solvable, that you could figure things out, that it wasn't just like, well, you're born with whatever you're born with, and that's that. And so I think even from a young age, like, I remember in fifth grade, like, trying to figure out how to do the shuttle run for the, like, Presidential Physical Fitness test, which was like that thing where you run it back and forth between two lines really quickly and you like, pick up beanbags, you put down the beanbags. And like, I was really not very good at it. And I was like, okay, I gotta figure this out. There is a solution.

You and me both.

Yes, but I think that I went into science because I was always really curious and I wanted to learn how to think in that way. And even though, you know, now I'm focused On executive coaching, 10 years ago, I started that practice. It was a natural fit for me to bring that curiosity from science and even that scientific way of thinking into the practice. And not just for me as the coach, but also to help clients think about their life, their work, in a really scientific way, to ask questions and to say, well, what if this. Or, well, what if we tried this? What if we ran this experiment?

It's a great way to look at it, and I can relate. I have nowhere near the degrees you have, but I've always taken that problem solving approach to business, to life. You know, whether it's something simple to something complex. You know, it's what led me to design the software I did to build WordPress websites automatically. It was like we were doing hundreds and hundreds of sites. And it was like, this seems inefficient to me. I'm sure there's a quicker way. And my brain was like, if ever there's anything you can automate, it's probably soft. Like, if you can't pull it off with software, you're probably not onto something. There's certain things. And I realize physics exist in the real world, but you can get away with a lot of stuff in virtual reality. And I'm like, we got to figure this out. So we did. And why do you think not everyone takes that approach to figure out business problems? Because I believe it's also solvable also. And, like, when we're working with our author clients on their books, just kind of look at his puzzle pieces. What needs to go where? I mean, you have all the answers within you.

Well, I think that there's actually a number of people go into business and become entrepreneurs are already actually thinking that way. Like, you do not have to go get some big degree in science to have that kind of mental process or that kind of approach. So I think that's actually the first thing I would say, is that entrepreneurship, running those loops of testing an idea, seeing if it lands with your market, like, is very similar to the scientific method. And so some people kind of innately get that. And you don't have to have scientific training to understand that. I think for other people, sometimes what blocks us from really approaching it with that open mindset. And I like to think of it as an experimental mindset that gives us that openness to try something, to not worry too much if it doesn't work out the way we thought, as long as we're learning from it and then able to make some good next steps after that. But I think, you know, for a number of people, what happens is we're kind of coming up through our early career, and we're working really hard to get it right, like, to get the right answer. And we are often really rewarded for that. But I think the challenge is sometimes we think like, oh, well, I just. I need to get it all figured out before I make a move. Or I call this, like, we want to know before we go. It's like saying, oh, I want to know exactly when the right opportunity is going to come around. And all the things I need to do to, like, be in position. Um, but I don't know if you're a surfer at all or if you've watched surfing.

I love the water.

Okay? So the thing about surfing is, I think there's a Lot of analogies to this idea of, like, how. How to get in position. When you're, like, doing something entrepreneurial, you definitely want to watch the waves. You want to be paying attention, but you're sort of watching them form up. And then you gotta kind of paddle around a lot to sort of figure out if you can get yourself in the right position in the lineup, if you can get yourself in the right position to catch the. Where it has the most momentum. And what I always picture is, like, there's a lot of paddling involved, and sometimes you decide, like, nope, not my wave.

And you wait for the next one. But the idea of surfing is like, no, you just put yourself in one spot and the wave comes along perfectly. And then, you know, you do 1, 2, 3, and then you're on it. Like, no. Like, that's not how the majority of surfing works.

Yeah, I can't even imagine trying to line up and be at the perfect spot. All it takes is a little bit of wind and you're off in some way, shape or form. And then you. You could miss it.

And so, like, think about that applied to entrepreneurship. And so I think for some people, like, handling that uncertainty. And this is kind of one of the principles of performance science that I work with people on that I think is really helpful. It's not the first thing, but I'm going to bring it up because it is totally applicable to what we're seeing now. And that's, can you learn to relish uncertainty? And I have, like, ways that I help people do this, but at a broad level, it's, can you embrace that? Like, there's always some luck involved. You're not going to know how everything is going to turn out. Exactly. You can do your homework, and you should do some homework to figure out things that are learnable. But there's a lot of what you will need to do, which is to actually start making your move, start paddling for that wave, and then you're going to learn a lot very quickly as things approach. And you may get it. You might not, but you will. You will have learned, and you may be in a better position for the next one. So it's this idea of that uncertainty is one of the biggest things that can block us because as human beings, we, like, control.

Would you say that you can solve? Would you say that you can solve?

What was I saying? Scared? Oh, no. Uncertainty. Would you say you can solve uncertainty with information?

Great question. I think you can break up uncertainty into different parts, and so there's not A yes, no answer to that. So I'm a big fan of actually asking yourself, before you even go do the learning or the research, ask yourself what you could know. So, for example, if there are other people or colleagues, peers who are in the business you're in, maybe they're a startup CEO, right? Those could be great resources of people to talk to, to try and understand. Like, maybe they have a solution to this thing you're dealing with. You can look and see. Are there books on this topic? Are there, you know, YouTube videos? At this point, you don't even need to commit to reading a book.

Like, books are awesome, though.

Oh, yeah, I agree. But, you know, it's. But it's identifying and thinking first, is this something that, like, I could know? Like, is the answer probably out there somewhere? And then if yes, then it's probably worth spending some time look for that YouTube video, read that book, talk to a couple of respected peers that you have who might be good resources. But if you're thinking about it and your. Your answer to that question is actually.

No, this is. This isn't really something I can know because it's very specific to the bet I'm making. And I'm making the bet because we actually don't know the answer, and we think that it might be a really. We might be uncovering a hidden opportunity. And so by its nature, I can't know it until I start to run some experiments. And the reason I like to divide it is because if you're trying to do more research to answer something that you can't know, you're like, kind of wasting a lot of time to get a feeling that you're not going to get. You're never going to get the feeling. You will never have read enough books to solve that feeling. But instead, the best way to solve that feeling is to design a good experiment. And we could talk about that and what goes into a good experiment. But.

All right, I got to play devil's advocate for a hot second, please. What if you just hire the person that has the answer?

Oh, I didn't say that one. Thank you for saying that. That's a great one. Like, sometimes you don't need to do it, right? Sometimes what you really need is someone who has that expertise either to be on your team, or sometimes it's like. Or contract it out. You don't always people you can consult.

With nowadays, even if it's just for a project or whatever. So this whole time I've been thinking about, like, stealth technology and aircraft and it's like, okay, you can look up all kinds of stuff online, but you're probably not going to get the exact formula. So I love how you're saying do an experiment. And I highly doubt you're going to get super classified information unless you just have some real big in and you are the company building it. But that's where the experimentation, and I love that too because it's like, this might work, it might not, it might blow up, it might not. Don't know, don't care, but we're going to learn. Seriously.

That is a great mantra. Like, I feel like I want that sound bite that people could just play for themselves. Like when you were about to run that experiment, like to be able to have a little fun with it, or if it not fun, at least feel interested. Because I think the truth is that if our lives were all scoped out and we knew exactly what was going to be happening, even if it was really good stuff, we would be bored out of our minds. Part of the thrill of like going after something that you don't know what's going to happen is the way you feel when you accomplish it is way different than if you knew all along it was going to happen. We have a very different sense of self, efficacy, of pride, even of happiness when we are in that pursuit and when there is uncertainty that just isn't present. Like, it's like, I don't know if you're like playing, you know, checkers with your like 5 year old nephew and you're like, okay, I know I'm gonna win, right? Unless you're like, I'm gonna try my hardest to let him win. Which is a really nice thing to do probably.

I feel like when you were five, you were like mastering chess.

Oh goodness, no. I was mastering shuttle run, remember?

No.

So when you're talking about this uncertainty, you got me thinking about all kinds of stuff. Now this is fantastic because one of the things I've always told people in business is if you're trying to do something, get as much leverage on it as you can, get the right people, get as much knowledge, run the experience. Like basically all three of what you've said, like, I don't know the answer, but put everything, stack the deck so it helps, like the more confident you can be in the outcome. I think that does help you. But I'm very fascinated by what you said about like, if, you know, like, honestly, it's kind of, it's kind of fun when you're like, yeah, we're going to Smoke, everyone. This is great. We're going to win. But at the same time.

Yeah, when you have that intrigue of like, I've never done this. This whole thing could blow up, but I don't care. It's fun to just go no matter what. For me, it's fun to go, hey, let's do this. We're going to either have a breakdown or break through. And.

What I love about it, no matter what happens, most people aren't willing to do that one thing. I really don't care if it goes well or horrible, because we're going to learn something now. I want it to go well. Even if that doesn't go well, we're going to redo it till it does go well so we know what the heck we're talking about. But you gain that confidence and it is intriguing when you're like, I have no clue. Let's go for it. We're at 612 months from now.

And I feel a lot of authors, like, when we're doing books for them, it's like they don't know all the steps, but they don't need to because that's why you hire us. Like I said, the right people. But I can imagine building a building, building a boat, stealth technology, all of these experiments. It's like they didn't know what they were doing. They just knew we have to get to the end result. And you know, what do you think a lot of people resolve on the end solution, like, commit to the outcome, regardless of knowing the process.

I think what you brought up is a really important piece and distinction of how. What is an enjoyable state when you're walking into the unknown. And here, here's. You brought up something really important that is another piece of it. So we talked about there is some thrill to uncertainty, but I believe we feel that thrill of uncertainty when we feel some confidence in our process. And this is why process matters very much in addition to outcome. Now, process without outcomes, ultimately like that, that doesn't really work. It's a bad process. And we don't want to keep doing that process. But I think what you're describing is this idea of saying, if you set your experiment up and you have a reason for why you think you're doing the process you're doing, so you have some clarity about why that is. If you've spent some time thinking about, like, okay, how long do we need to give ourselves? Or what's the timeline that's getting forced on us? Like, how much time do we have? But when you really spend some time to think about the process, and you feel good about the effort you've put into, for example, balance the upside and downside potential of, like, what might happen to say, well, honestly, the upside's really great, and we might not get it. But when we think about the realistic downsides, they aren't, you know, like, you know, they're not shutting down the business, for example. That puts us in a position to be able to make the bet, I think, and feel a little more, like, relish that uncertainty, feel a little more of that thrill. I think where we get into trouble is when the stakes are too high. Like, the downside is too big, the process is not clear, or we don't feel confident about it, and then there's also, then the uncertainty of outcome. And I think that, as a trifecta is, like, when people talk about, like, really not liking the uncertainty. I think one or multiple of those things is true.

Yeah, I was gonna. I wanted to let you finish because you're awesome, but when you said when we get in trouble, it's like, yeah, when we go out as entrepreneurs and just try stuff, because most of the time it's. You've jumped off the cliff and you're building the plane on the way down.

Which is an effective kind of fuel. Let me just say it is a fuel. One of the things I definitely work with people on, though, is that burnout is really a thing we have to be careful of. And so I talk a lot about different kinds of fuel. There's sort of the clean energy. You could imagine it like the wind power, the solar. It's very renewable, doesn't have a lot of, like, byproducts or downsides. And then there's, like, coal, oil, you know, very powerful. Like, you want to get a jet across the world very quickly. Like, we don't have solar power for that. Like, that is.

You have a battery. Would that take.

Yeah, exactly. I don't. I don't know. But. But I like to point out that there are different kinds of fuel, and I have certainly in my life used the great. I committed to something. I guess I got to deliver on that, and I'm gonna have to figure it out on my way down.

It is powerful energy, but you can't. In my experience, it's not great energy to rely on all the time. It's not sustainable, and sometimes we need it. I like to avoid binary statements of like, oh, never do this, or always do this, because I just find that they tend to not hold as much truth as, hey, there are different kinds of fuel and there are trade offs to using each kind of fuel and have some versatility.

But ones and zeros are so simplistic. It's easy to figure out the yes or no answers.

I know. And that kind of brings us back to control. Like, we like to feel in control. We like that clarity. And this is actually so when I think about performance, I think one of the most important things that we can start with as an entrepreneur, even as an executive within a company, is this idea of brutal focus. So this is another. We talked about relishing uncertainty, but I also like to talk about brutal focus. And that is because I think in coaching, two of the best things that I can help people with are having a really explicit, clear understanding of what it is they actually want and then what is actually most important as a driver or priority heading towards that. And that is actually where we start. Like every coaching engagement that I do is working towards having that clarity because what happens next is like, facilitated and goes much better if we start at that point.

How would you differentiate intention to clarity?

Great question.

I think that in. To me, intention often has a little more action associated with it. I think intention can play alongside clarity. So you can have clarity about something and then you can have intention to say, great, so I'm going to go do X, Y or Z next, because it links back to sort of my clear understanding of like, what I want and what I think is going to help get me there.

I think we can also pair intention with less clarity. So sometimes we'll do something and we will do it with the intention of it kind of tying back to a dream, but we might not have as much clarity about exactly what that dream is.

Interesting, I appreciate that because I know some people go, you need intention and others, like, you need clarity, you need focus. And it's like you kind of need all of this. I don't think the secret to success is just nailing one of determination, persistence.

Stick to it. I ness, whatever you want to call it.

I'd say risk aversion is a huge one. You got to be able to tolerate some like, I don't know, moments. But I love how you're breaking it down saying if you don't have the clarity, if you're uncertain, I mean, if you have all the characteristics of the. And you've mentioned. I don't think I haven't picked up on how you feel. You've mentioned the feeling side of this a whole lot. If you're in this state of Even that trigger line, like when you're driving a car, if you're at 2000 RPMs, you may be going, you may not, depending on what's going on. You have to get past that point. You have to take that jumping at some point. And if you're in uncertainty, even if you're one degree off, you got to get to the other side to get into the action mode. But if you're taking action without the clarity, you're going to go in circles. So I guess all of that, I'm saying all of this to say.

How do you get people to navigate that point of you're in that top 10, 20%, you're taking action and you're doing your best to avoid the pitfalls, but you're still in that confidence mode.

Yeah. Well, I think your point about you need multiple things. Like, it's not just. There's not just sort of one thing about performance that you max that thing and that just gets you there.

And I think that's really important. And I have mentioned, I've mentioned clarity. And I think that's one thing that I think it's easy to have either a pile of stuff to do or. And you're like, oh, I have this long list of things to do or.

To have a dream, wake up and just walk out anywhere.

Yeah, right. This is everyone, all of us.

And then on the other side, we often have a dream like, oh, gosh, wouldn't it be nice if X, Y or Z were true? But I think the missing piece is this part in the middle where we actually take the dream and say, no. Like, let me really think about that. What? Like when I say I want a successful business that doesn't give us very much direction around, like, okay, well, how would I work towards that? Where should I spend the bulk of my time? Like, where it would help me be the most successful. It also doesn't even tell us, like, when we're done. Like, help us know if we've arrived or at least arrived to, then we can make a new dream, a new goal. And so I think it's not making a to do list. It's not as tactical as that. And yet it is much more getting into the granular than having a dream. And so I always start there because to me, it's something we often don't ask ourselves. We intuitively think we have this sense of what it is, but because we don't, it gets much harder for us to prioritize, for us to think about where do we want to Spend time also to think about what we need to do and what we don't need to do as compared to what we see everyone around us doing or thinking. And so are you telling me that.

You don't need to keep up with the Joneses just to make them happy, even though you don't like them?

I know. Shocking.

It's actually so, again, part of our human biology. We were built to mimic each other. It's a part of, like, socially getting along. And so we were actually really designed that way. Yeah. Because getting.

Have you looked into anything with mirror neurons?

I, like, I have not done research on that myself, but I'm aware of them. And, yeah, this. It's part of how we connect with each other and how we get along in groups. I'm going to give a very bad explanation of them, but I can. If you.

If you want to get along in groups.

Yeah. Well, so this is separate from whether or not we need to get along in groups now, although often when we have a business, there inherently are groups that are important to us, which is, you know, separate from our social time. But I think the idea is that when life was sort of much more brutal and we were all about, like, find food, find a mate, try to not die by death of wild animal, you know, that getting along and collaborating and cooperating in a group mattered a lot. And that the reason why we have things like mirror neurons, which are something that allow us to sort of mimic, empathize, and even through our body language expressed to someone else that we. We can get along. Like, we are safe together, we can get along. That's why those things probably exist. All hypothesis, of course, but. But you can imagine then, going back to the Joneses, when you feel like you need to do something different. It's challenging. In fact, if we don't clearly identify what our priorities are and how they might differ.

That one of the challenges is our default response will be to mimic other people, maybe without even realizing it. Like, we might even just sort of think, oh, that seems like a good idea, unless we've actually kind of really thought about it.

Do you think that's why some people pick up an accent, depending who they're talking to, and just different scenarios.

I think there's something to that. Yes. I can't know.

I wish we had more time. There's so many things I want to ask you. I've noticed people who do that. Who, you know, when I talk to them, they're, like, more upbeat and they're, like, positive. And then I'll see them at an event or whatever and they're just, oh, you wouldn't believe what happened on the. I'm like.

And also years ago when I was in school, like, you'd hear the people going, oh, so and so teacher has it out for me. I don't have a problem with them. I actually love that class. And I was like, huh? That's when I really first realized, like what the energy you put out in your attitude really does have an effect. Because I think there's nothing else that irritates someone that's irritated than you not being irritated with them. That whole crabs love company or whatever, misery loves seafood or whatever it is. And it's just like you can really affect the people and situations around you just by being a better version of you.

I think it is something that is always going on in the background of our operating system that ones and zeros.

You said you didn't want to keep them. There you go.

So I think that's one of the reasons why I really start with brutal focus. And I call it brutal because sometimes it can feel a little painful to actually focus and really let go of like, oh, everyone's doing social media. But I'm not sure that's actually my best method to sell for my business.

Like I would say for most people it's not.

No. I would agree with you 100%.

The biggest, the biggest companies I know and the CEOs I've had on the show, you look at their social, they look like they just started last week and they're doing seven, eight, nine figures.

So it. Right. And yet it's really difficult. I've talked to a number of people who are. Who would ask or say like, oh man, I feel so much pressure to do social media and social media could be the tool for you, but the point is not to accept it by default, but to actually think through like, ah, is that a priority channel to raise visibility or can I sell through it? How do people buy in my space? It's just understanding what role it plays for you. Um, I didn't do any social media for the first 10 years of my practice. That just wasn't my sense of how.

And clearly you're doing okay.

Thank you. It wasn't how people bought the kind like found the relationship, the coaching relationship that they were looking for. Social media wasn't the go to place. Now there are other benefits to it and ways that it can raise visibility, but it's really that idea of knowing.

What it, what's the purpose, what's the role that these priorities play in. In not your dream, but your kind of statement of like, where are you headed? What do you want? So that's. I think that. Is that starting with clarity is one of the biggest benefits that I think I help people with first.

Yeah, for sure. Because all, all of these things I've been making jokes and stuff about the, you know, wake up and there's stuff to do. Like, that's the reality. It's the same thing, like when you're planting vegetables and stuff. Like, if you don't do anything, there's going to be weeds. The fact that you woke up in life today, thank God. But there's negative. It's a negative world. And unless you combat it, you're running uphill just by nature. So one of the things I like to do is go, is this something I need to be doing, hosting this show?

That's a great question.

Probably something I should do, but if it's the other 58 things, that would no doubt fill up 40, 50 hours of my week, probably, you know, you can delegate that to someone else. So I love what you're saying about the clarity and the focus and the fact that you're helping people through it. I'm going to ask you one more question, and then we're going to thank our sponsor. But thank you so much for explaining the clarity and everything so far. So. Because I think a lot too many people just go out, do stuff like, especially in social media. I'm trying to behave, but it sounds, it sounds like, I think through. What I'm hearing is think through it. Decide for yourself. Don't just parrot people, because everyone's doing it.

Exactly.

All right. Yellow or black?

Yellow.

Really? Okay.

Oh, you got a good question. See that?

Awesome.

If not this, what else would you be doing?

Oh, great question.

One option was I was. I would have been a transplant surgeon. That's. That's where I was headed before this.

I also could totally imagine myself going up. There is a cat skiing lodge up in Canada that I love. The owners are these amazing people. I. I would. I would train and become a ski guide for them. That's. That's the first thing that comes to mind as something that would be incredible.

And, but sounds like fun. And I'm not surprised with the transplant surgeon.

That's phenomenal.

Thank you.

All right, we're going to thank the sponsor and come back for the imperfect action round. You've heard me say every business needs a book, including yours, and it's true. And that's why I'm launching my new book@EA publishing method book.com so you can learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. But you know what? Don't take my word for it. Take it from a few of my authors like Lori I went from having.

An idea and a possibility to actually getting my book published.

Or Catherine, thank you for making my.

Mom number one best selling author.

Or Mary Alice what he got done.

For me in three days regarding my.

Book launch.

Unmanageable John Cody I've worked with Mario over the phone and online and he's been very helpful in getting me where I needed to go with promoting my books.

Rocio there's no way in the world I would have been able to do this with somebody else again. I've attempted it in the past. It didn't serve me. As a matter of fact, I ended up more frustrated than anything. So this has been a very seamless process. Adele if you're looking for an amazing business coach, I highly recommend Mario Ficcini or Bill Benner.

I can't make a higher recommendation for me than to work with Mario Ficini. He has been great for me and right now I won't work with anybody else except for Mario. Hey, their words, not mine. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com to get your copy and I look forward to hearing your transformation as our next video success story. Once again, that's eapublishing method book.com and we are back with the imperfect action around Carla. Are you ready to take imperfect action?

I'm ready and I love that. I love what you call this section. That's such a great phrase.

It's what I've lived by. I really have. You know, as far as business is concerned. I started my first one when I was 12. I have like no college degree or qualifications or anything. I just was like I'll figure it out. That spend the whole I could sum everything up to just keep trying to.

I love that. That is an inspiration.

I think you're the inspiration. You're helping all these people with all your knowledge and sharing it and you have clarity. You're saving them years and decades. It's one thing to go, yeah, I'll figure it out. But it's another thing when it takes five times longer than you want it or need it to. So we need both.

We need both.

First question. See all the questions that we were going over beforehand. What was number seven? I don't know. What's the fastest path to the profits.

Oh, I, I have a strong thought on this, which is in business there is making stuff and selling stuff. And I think usually it's lack of selling stuff that causes the biggest problems. So in my life it was send more emails, like connect with people, reach out, build relationships, just keep going on that part.

So I love that you differentiated it. There's the sales and there's the fulfillment and if you have a bad product, that could also be it.

So of course.

But thank you for saying that because most people just, oh, we need to sell more. I'm like, your whole thing's busted. No one's going to buy that. Plus the way you're doing it's wrong. But okay, I'll behave. Don't want to.

Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making in the fastest way for them to fix it?

I think this relates a little bit to that fuel topic we were talking about. But I see people putting trying to cram things into unrealistically short timelines versus asking the question of if I give myself some more time, how can I compound my way and have this be a journey that is both enjoyable, goes farther and is more effective because I didn't cram it into like a sprint timeline.

Okay, awesome. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

I think in my business, but I think in many businesses it is to really do stand up work. Both the work, but also like comedy. Oh no. Be really funny. Yeah, I wish. But no, to like really like standout work. Like just. And to be a person who is irreplaceable as a person.

It's a real good answer.

People want to come back to that.

You might sell the company, but you can't sell you.

I love that. What books would you recommend for Expert Authority World that have helped you in.

Business or life recently? Like within the past year? I think the best two books I read were 4000 Time Management for Mortals, which sounds like a productivity book and was written by a productivity sort of journalist. But it's actually more of a philosophical discussion of how we view time as human beings and how if we change how we view time, a lot of our productivity woes go away. And the second book is called the Formula and it's by Barabasi is the last name of the author and he was a social scientist studying networks who took his process to study success. And the punchline is that in areas where objective performance is difficult to measure, we really need to think about how our network perceives our performance, not just what we're actually producing. And I think there's a lot of really important learning for entrepreneurs and even people within big companies about making your work visible. Don't expect that. It's obvious to people all the great stuff you're doing.

Excellent.

Where would you like people to learn more?

So a great place. If you're interested in performance science and just love hearing more of these conversations, LinkedIn is a great place. So I'm at Carla Dash Fowler. And then if you're interested in learning more about coaching, the best place to go is my website and that is daxa.comt h a x a and there's great FAQ section. All my media is there. But also, if having a discussion about a possible coaching engagement, what that might look like is of interest, you can message me through that site as well.

I gotta ask, where'd you get the name Thaxa?

Oh, Thaxa is related to the word for a task in Latin. And from the time I was very young, I think I understood that, like, big stuff was just a bunch of small stuff put in the right sequence and that if you look at the small steps, they don't seem as hard. And I think this is how I approach a lot of the big stuff I've actually accomplished in my life. It was like, you know, if it was running a marathon, it was like, okay, do the next mile, then see how you feel.

But it's really that stacking of steps on top of each of each other. And. And so for me, philosophically, I think that's how I approach things with clients. I help them break that down. I help them, hey, remove this little bit of friction. Hey, let's remove this little bit of friction. How does it feel now? Okay. But it's not. It's not some massive effort that we sprint through. It's all those little things that we line up and suddenly down the road you were in a place where you never thought was possible. And so that's why it's called Taxa.

That's awesome. I'm so glad you're helping people. I've dealt with coaches, helped a lot of them publish books and stuff over the years, and I'd say they're the good ones. But I've seen coaches and stuff, and some of them, it's just like, you're really trying to guide people. I have no doubt you're a good one. If you're listening to this, check out her site and reach out to her. She's absolutely going to help you. And Carla, thank you so much for everything you've shared. I've enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thank you so much, Mario. I've enjoyed it as well.

All right, Expert Authority World, we have another great episode here today. I'll see you on the next one. Have a great day and God bless. You're already the expert, but have you transformed your expertise into a tangible asset that will generate qualified leads while increasing profit for you 24 7? And if so, how well are you promoting it? With my new book, the Expert Authority Effect Publishing Method, I take you through my process step by step. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction, lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com to get started now. Once again, that's eapublishingmethodbook.Com thanks for listening to today's episode. I would love to know what you enjoyed most from it. If you haven't done so already. I invite you to connect with me on my new LinkedIn. You can go to it directly at eainterviews.com LinkedIn Once again, that's eainterviews.com LinkedIn lastly, check out the full eainterviews.com site for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I'll see you on the next one.