29: Bosses, Besties & Bank - building a 6-figure business with Christina Muccio

Hello, friends, and welcome to Grief, Guts and Green Smoothies. I am your host, Melissa Dugalecki, and I am so excited to be here with you all to chat about ways in which we can all get through different adversities, challenges, and loss and how getting outside of our comfort zone and maybe having a green smoothie or two can help us do so. We will cover different topics, ranging from interviews to recipes to sharing my own stories of my grief journey and the loss of my daughter, Layden. Honored to be able to share her light in hopes of helping you spread yours. Now, let's dive in. All right, everybody, you have asked. She is back. The not so surprisingly, most popular guest to date, Christina Muccio, AKA Mooch. My soul sister, as we often say, other half, business partner and roommate. And I'm so excited for us to talk a little bit more about the business side of things. So last time she was on, we really dove into what it meant for us to connect, how we believe in signs. We shared stories of signs number 54. Little shout out there. If you haven't listened to it, I recommend you go back, get that baseline, kind of get to know our story, because today we're going a little bit deeper and we're going to niche down a bit and talk about the business side of things and how we have and we believe anyone can take what their skill set is, what their passion is, and how they can serve and combine those in a place where they feel really good about the work they do, where they make valuable and meaningful impact, and when they can make a living from doing so. So without further ado.

We're back.

We're back. Here she is. Mooch, welcome back.

Thank you.

I know long commute to get here. Appreciate you.

I'm putting it on your tab.

So let's start with what your favor currently at this moment.

Oh, boy. It's a little sad to report I haven't had a taco in quite some time. I actually made some. You were out of town and I made really good.

This is what she does.

I made really good shrimp tacos. So, like, I'll probably say shrimp tacos, homemade.

Okay.

Yeah.

And then when we think brief guts and green smoothies, last time we talked about it and we really went into signs and our intuition. But from a business standpoint, which is our theme today, what does grief, guts, and green smoothies mean to you?

What stands out the most to me in all three of them is guts. And I think we'll probably hit a little bit what it takes to be an entrepreneur, what it takes to build a business, maybe make sacrifices and compromises. And I think it kind of whittles down to guts. So I'm really excited to chat a little bit more about that and then obviously, you know, touching a little bit on our story or our upbringing of what is now move and kind of fills in the blanks with grief and green smoothies.

Yeah.

Excited.

Yeah. And I'm excited, too, to just talk business. And it's something that we've been talking more and more about recently. And so much gets like the green card to be a co interviewer here because basically we're doing. Everything we're doing for MOVE has been done. And as I share, that's a big part. It's a big part of running a business and having a business partner. We actually were interviewed earlier today for another podcast. We'll share that with our friend Garrett, and that'll be coming out in August.

Sup, G?

Yeah. But we talked a lot about what it's like to have a business partner and that different dynamic of that. And I shared even something such as the decision to do a podcast was not a solo decision. Right. It was something that we talked about. So as we dive in here, why don't you tell everybody about your background professionally and kind of the path that got you to where you are now?

Sure. So, for those of you I have not met yet, hello, I'm Mooch. You'll probably see me a lot with Melissa in different social media outlets, etc. Etc. I started my career right after college. I moved to New York to pursue sales, specifically in technology. I was a psych and sociology double major at Bucknell and had no clue what I wanted to do. I knew I loved people, believe it or not. I love working with people in some capacity. And I loved the idea of growing professionally in a city that. It kind of kicked my ass at the beginning. So I moved to New York to pursue technology and specifically in sales. I learned more professionally in the first probably, like, month that I was in New York than I did really in all other jobs I've. I've had until starting our own business, but learned really quick what it was like to be a professional living in New York. Moved out to Colorado about eight months after to open an office for the current company that I was with. They had kind of this dream of growing on the west coast. And so I very, very willingly decided to move to Denver to open an office, saying I would be there for six months just to open it, and I would Move back to New York, biggest joke I've ever told. And ended up staying there for five years. So really got into sales, moved to another company, was a sales engineer for number of years and finally it was really starting to come into my own. I started teaching SPAN as like a quote unquote side hustle, which really at that time was just a hobby for me. I really, really enjoyed coaching in the fitness space. I enjoyed going to different conferences, learning about the fitness space. I aligned so heavily with my pursuits and awareness in als, so kind of just like took it and ran fast forward a few more years and I moved back to Boston to pursue fitness full time, took the jump, had no idea what to expect. And we'll probably hit on your story as well on how we kind of took this jump, but I just knew, I knew I wanted to do it, so I did it.

So funny. And like just hearing you tell your story, there's so many parallels, right? Like I was a double major in psych and sociology and I spent a hot 6 months working for TJX. It was a great company. And then I took the leap and went into education. So I don't know, it's just really interesting how kind of done this bouncing around. But I think for both of us, and this is what I think we emphasize a lot, and I'd love for you to elaborate on is that every single thing that I know I've done and I hear you talk about the same way, it's just been feedback for us to learn and to grow and to see what we're good at. And every single experience I've had, whether it's quote unquote positive or negative, has allowed me to do exactly what I do now, right? And I think so often people are afraid to make a change because they see it as failure or quitting. And so what would you say to somebody who's sitting there like, I'm not happy, I know something more, but I've invested this much in this degree or I've invested this much in this time here. What do I do?

Well, I think it's first thing that comes to mind is it's funny that you bring this up because I think when I started in sales I knew pretty quick and I don't know if you felt the same way. I knew pretty quick that that really wasn't it for me. And at that time it was kind of like shamed upon to just jump a job that you just started. And so it's like even six months was like not enough time like, you needed two years at this job, you needed five years at this job, if you even left, right? And so, like Melissa said, I mean, we talk about this a lot with our girls is like, getting feedback. And it doesn't mean failing. It doesn't mean quitting. It means learning what you love, what your passions are, where your strengths are, and implementing them in a way that's going to A, support you, B, make you happy, and C, probably change a couple lives in the interim. So I think if you're sitting there at your desk job or in, you know, getting your master, whatever it may be, start to ask people, start to talk, start to learn and really tune into yourselves, right? Because I think at the end of the day, we can have a million opinions, and the only one that really, really matters in making decisions like that is yours.

I love that. I think really hitting that point of who gets a vote, no one else is responsible for us serving authentically or for feeling happy and aligned. Like, that's our job. And too often we look to other people to do that for us. And not only do we need to kind of take accountability, we also need to not let other people have that vote because their votes are going to be based on their own experiences or fears or worries. And I think it takes a lot of courage and bravery. Right. We talk a lot about high and low vibes in our group. And, you know, you're essentially. You're putting aside those. The ego, the pride, the fear, the worry, and you're just saying effort, right? And you're going for it.

Yeah, it's. We definitely had means, right? We had a game plan. We had. It really was one of those moments where you kind of just say, like, I'm just. I'm gonna do it. I'm going for it. And you don't have to wait for the stars to align. You don't have to wait for the perfect time. You don't have to wait for, you know, someone to approve. It's just, you need to feel so grounded and so inspired by it that once you make the commitment and once you take the jump, like, there's no going back, baby. No going back.

No. And at the same time, even when there's no going back, nothing you do is impermanent.

Marker 100%.

Right? And I think that's another reason people get so stuck. They're like, oh, if I do this, this is it forever?

Or, like, if it doesn't work out in six months, it's like, no, you're already putting that out There.

Right.

Don't. Don't put that out there.

Correct. Yeah.

Don't put that sin out there so much.

And I met many of. You know, go back and listen to the first episode if you don't, because it is a story so worth hearing. But my hungover brother essentially introduced us inadvertently. And next thing. Yeah, next thing we know, we're having coffee. And the next thing we know, we're having a margarita. And then the next thing we know, we're literally outlining an entire business plan, coaching plan, on a Google Doc at a juice bar to implement, like, the following week. And so we look back and like, that's kind of crazy, timeline wise.

January, what, 27th was the infamous puke. Yeah. April, like mid April, we got coffee.

Yep. Because it was right before the marathon, I think right before.

It was right before the marathon. So April, say mid April. Cinco de Mayo. We were having margs that following Monday, whatever that was. We built a business plan. June 1, we launched our first course.

Yeah.

So.

And I think it's important to know, like, that first meeting to the coffee day, it's not like we were in communication every day.

I honestly think we were like, dming.

I think we talked like twice on Instagram. Like, I never had a moment of feeling like, this is crazy. I felt like, this seems crazy. Everyone thinks we're crazy.

Everyone thinks we're crazy.

Yeah. But I never had a doubt. It was more just figuring out how we gonna make this work, not if it's gonna work. Like, we know what we had was good. We know we had, like, something really, really, really valuable to offer people. So can you talk a little bit about what it was like juggling your job, you're, you know, instructing a lot and then starting move and just how to manage that mindset and staying afloat?

Yeah. It's funny to kind of look back on last summer and we've been talking about this a lot just because of the nature of, like, where we're at right now. It was definitely a learning experience. I think for both of us. There's a learning experience for every other relationship we had. Right. Our family, our friends, our employees, like, our employers. Because it was. It was a huge. It was a massive shift. Like, at the time, I was teaching 24 classes, which with travel, with getting prepared for those trying to manage, like, maybe some sleep so I could deliver. And then with move, like, we were probably doing 80 hours a week.

Easily. Easily.

Easily.

Yeah.

And so I think about that now and it just. It feels so far away. And yet it feels like we were just there. And so last summer, we were joking about this earlier.

We didn't put a bathing suit on one day. I did the entire summer.

And I'm pretty sure it was a sports bra. It wasn't even a true bathing suit. And so it really was a lot. And at the same time, it didn't even feel like that much because we were so into it. We knew what we could deliver and what we wanted to deliver. We just had to get there and we had to make it happen because we believed so heavily in it.

Yeah. And I think there's. You're gonna hear mixed things and we're gonna talk about it too. And I want to be clear, like, I don't believe in my opinion, and people will disagree, I'm sure, but I don't believe you can start a business without that hustle and grind unless you are sitting on inherited money or savings that you have, you can afford to do so. Otherwise, I don't think you know, when you start, you don't have a staff team.

Well, I also want to stop you there. You can start one. It's just a matter of if it's gonna grow.

Correct. Yeah.

You know what I mean? And so, sure, go start a business. But if you're thinking of making this your full time job, making millions of money and buying a yacht in the next three years, like, I don't know, it won't happen without the grind. Absolutely not.

And so, but that grind is when you're doing it, if you embrace it, it's energy flows and it doesn't feel. You can feel just as worn down from 30 hours or 80 hours. I don't know that. And we talked about this with Garrett. It's not necessarily the amount of hours, it's how laborsome, cumbersome, how draining it is versus how much it lifts you up. I definitely learned the hard way. I mean, for me, I was teaching, I think it was like 16 to 18 classes a week, doing this and doing some other, you know, stuff on the side privately. And I was over committed and I had kind of learned the hard way, like, shoot. I over committed and definitely wish that at times I had had better foresight. Right. And being able to see like how to manage the schedule. But I think that's part of growing pains. And in truth, I didn't expect to move to grow as quickly as it did.

I knew it was gonna grow 100%. And I think like all of you listening and whether you're an entrepreneur or not, like, we all wish we could see in the future, right? Like, it would help clarify a lot of things and make probably your decisions today a lot easier. But I think we were, honestly, we didn't even think about that. Like, when we first started, we didn't have a yearly plan. We didn't have. I mean, we were going week to week. Like, as long as we had content to deliver for the next day for clients, maybe like a couple days out, we were good. We were set. Sustainable. No. Did it work?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so looking back at that, I'm curious and just full disclosure, full transparency. I think everyone listening knows, like, straight shooter much is too. We did not rehearse this. We did not sit and like plot out what we're going to talk about.

Did not brush our hair for this.

No, that's a given. But I'm curious to know when you look back at it and I have my own idea in my head, but when do you see the turning point of when things really shifted and it went from, okay, we're doing this on the side. This is a passion project slash side hustle to like, oh, no, this is it. This is our business. This is what we're gonna do.

I think there were like two big points for me. One being after the first course. So just a little backstory. We launched our first course. It was four weeks long. I think Melissa and I held our breath for about three weeks of it. In the final week, we were like, huh. I'm pretty sure we did. Wasn't that it was the first time someone had given us feedback of, you changed my life. And I don't remember who it was. We would have to go back. But it was to some extent, you changed my life. And I remember sitting there saying, like, I'm pretty sure we're onto something. I'm pretty sure, like, I'm 98% positive, like, this is gonna turn into some good shit. The other time, I was like, oh, oh, okay, I think we're gonna do this. When we invested in ourselves, I think Melissa and I were so we were in the weeds. I mean, we were day to day hater blockers on. We were just grinding. And I don't think we saw how much of an impact we were having until we hired a coach. And the coach was like, do you guys see, like, what you've done in six months, five months, four months? Like, do you see this? And I was kind of like, holy shit. Like, I know we're bad at finances, but like, from the financial side, it was A coach telling us like, you guys are. You're going to do this?

That was it for me too. I don't have that one moment that you just shared of like, you remember that first testimonial or feedback. There's one that really stands out to me from somebody who was able to transition off of medication and changed her life. And there was a little bit further. It was like in the fall. I remember that's when I was like, wow, we're doing some really massive work here. And we both lived it, so we knew it was possible. But to teach it to somebody else is, you know, it's a whole other layer. But for me, it was the same thing. It was when we invested in ourselves because one, we were trusting ourselves enough to make the investment. Right. Two, we were trusting each other enough to make the investment. Because when you're running a business together, right. As co. CEOs, when you invest in your business, it's two people. Right. You're relying on us to both pull our weight. And then three, the coaches be back.

Yeah.

And hearing them say kind of reminds me of like, I'm trying to think of a good analogy, you know, how to feel about analogies. But like, I don't know, like this undiscovered. We love football, but not that we watched it at all last year, but this year we're going to.

We're having parties every single Sunday for the bats.

I'm saying it right now. We will go to a Patriots game this fall.

Yes. If not two.

So I almost envision it like a kid or somebody who's really, really talented at football or any sport and just doesn't realize it and it's just kind of grinding away and doing it and maybe isn't in the space or in the field to really grow. Like, maybe they're in some small town, they have no idea. And like a coach finds them and is like, holy shit. Like, that's kind of how I felt. Like we were kind of growing in the space of our instructing and coaching and doing the things that we were doing. And that's not the space for the business to really grow. So we had a coach who, you know, we worked with in that space who was like, you gotta make more space. This is gonna be insane.

Yeah.

And for me, that's when it really shifted.

Yeah. And I think at the time, like, even before move, we were both kind of looking for that shift. We just didn't really know where it.

Was gonna come from 100%.

And so, like Melissa said Before, like, we knew it was gonna be something. We just didn't know what it was gonna turn into. And I think it turned a lot faster than we anticipated or even imagined.

So we get a lot of questions from people who now want to do this, and we have some exciting news updates coming about that in a few minutes. But before then, like, Moj, let's think about people that we see so commonly. So somebody who, you know, wants to, you know, is working a 9 to 5 and they're doing something on the side and they want to make the transition. Like, what would you tell them?

Explore it. Just start. I mean, like Melissa said, nothing's in permanent marker. And I think for us, it was like, you heard, it was January, we met, April, we sat down, May, we drank ourselves into content creation mode. And June we launched a program, Go. Like, just go for it. You don't need your website to be perfect. You don't need a picture perfect logo. You don't need, you know, bells and whistles. You need to deliver a product that people want to buy.

I love that. And so really important point here, product that people want to buy because it's gonna solve a problem for them or it's gonna serve them well, something that they need. Too often I see people who want to do things that feel good for them. They're not as focused on their client and who they serve.

Well, that's like even in the fitness space, right? Like, I remember a lot of my friends, you know, saying, well, oh, like, you love working out. Why don't you just get paid to work out? But being a fitness instructor and I was on a podcast last week and we talked about this because happened so much and you could probably relate to it, you know, with teaching is people get into it because they, they think they love it or they love working out and so might as well get paid to do is an entirely different beast if you want to be a successful instructor. Right? Because it's not just showing up and working out.

No, it's not at all. I mean, in fact, I found that I had less time to work out when I started. Like, my yoga practice suffered because when I got to the studio, it was about what my students need and how I can be energetically there for them. Right. It wasn't about my own practice. And I think whether you're, like you said, a really great parallel, whether you're in the fitness space, whether you're an entrepreneur space, when you show up for other people, it's about other people. When you're Creating a product for other people. It's about other people. And too often people have a hard time separating kind of like what they think it should look like or they want it to be like. And so that would be one of my number one pieces of advice for sure.

Yeah. Just really be clear on, like, your strengths and what you can deliver to solve a certain problem that, you know is there.

Yeah. And I think one other common mistake is not doing it for the money 100%. Right. What would you say about that?

I mean, it's so funny. Like, I don't know how much. How much we want to disclose on here, but when we first started our program, I mean, Melissa and I had. It was like my mom was the first one to join.

Right.

Or like, our friends and family. Right. So we were, I mean, giving away everything and anything. Like, we wanted people to join. We wanted to create the space for women to feel empowered. And we didn't care about the money. We did not care. We saw the value in having people give us feedback. We saw the value in learning about ourselves in that space. And again, it wasn't until we hired a coach to say, like, hey, like, what you guys have is amazing. Like, let's look at your pricing structure, you know, because we were just so invested in changing lives.

Yeah, yeah. And so kind of inspired me here. Let's hit on, like, a couple of other common things that we've talked about with people who are pursuing business and, you know, our experience. So what about, as you just alluded to, undervaluing, Right. How often we see that people undervaluing their product or their service.

Yeah, yeah. We've talked about this so much because we were. We were. That we were those humans. Right. It's a mindset game. It honestly is. I mean, you need to believe so much so in your product that Whether you charge $10 for whatever it is or $10,000, it honestly comes down to how much you believe in it.

Yeah. And I think it's also knowing where you're gonna place value.

Yes.

I think what we have learned the most, quote unquote expensive value source is time and energy, like emotional energy. And so you can look at. You know, you can go on and get, like, I don't know, there's like that Slimming World or Emily sky or whatever it is. Like these. There's all these groups, right? These fitness groups. Mind you. They're not Mind, Body and belly just gonna throw that out there.

True.

But it's like 20 bucks. Right. And the thing is, is, like, you get a piece of paper, right? Stuff you can Google. And sure, like, it might help you, give you some more information or a little bit of guidance. But I believe transformation comes from, like, a really strong energy exchange. And for me, and for us, our biggest transformations have come from the energy exchanges with our coaches. Right. We give to them, they push us. It's like this continuous cycle. So for us, we had to really learn how to value our time and energy. And whether it's getting back to people on Instagram or on Facebook, or setting up quick calls if they need to check in on stuff, or our VIP email, there's a lot of output that we give to everyone in our group. And so we had to feel really good about the energy exchange, because if you don't, you become resentful, you become burned out, you become demotivated. You don't show up powerfully. So when you're pricing whatever it's at, you need to know, like, are you going to be someone that just wants to offer a product? No coaching, no transformation, or are you offering these additional energy exchanges and you want the people in your program who are going to align with how you value energy? The people in our program align with the incredible value of having coaches.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think you bring up an interesting point about products or programs that are a lot cheaper and maybe like, different things that you invest in that are a lot cheaper, that don't have that aspect of, like, give and take. And like Melissa said, you get really frustrated, you get really resentful. And that's where that whole rollercoaster mindset comes in, is like, you're all in for this, for this program for the first two weeks, and then you're like, shit, nothing's happening. So I'm just gonna, like, I'm gonna back out. Cause it's only 20 bucks, right? You need to be invested for change. Right. And I think the most common way to think of an investment, right. Like, I'm sure if we asked everyone on the podcast right now, what do you think of when we say investment? Probably money.

Everyone goes to money.

It's probably money. Right? And so, you know, the way we look at it is a little bit different because we do. We look at the time, we look at the output. Right? Look at the energy. And so in order for you guys to be invested and create change, sometimes you have to invest.

Absolutely. And I think both of us, we were both hustlers growing up. And I know for me, like, I would take.

I gotta tell my chicken story. Go ahead, you go first.

I would take any work opportunity, like, oh, you need to babysit, and we pick up another shift. Bartending, I'm teaching whatever it was. And I just saw every opportunity as another opportunity to make more money. And now when anything is presented, and this was before even move started. This was when things start to really shift for me. I would look at the time and I would say, what do I value more, those three, four hours or that X amount of dollars? And what's going to help me with, you know, we always use the term move the needle and what I want to do, big picture. Because I think when you get caught up in chasing every little penny, you're not looking big picture.

No.

You're just looking in the moment.

Mm. Yeah.

What's your chicken story?

Oh, my God. So I begged my parents to get chickens. Mind you, I lived in the suburbs, like, right outside of Austin. No one should have chickens from my hometown. Like, it just wasn't a thing. But I begged for chickens. My dad built me this, like, beautiful chicken coop in the back of our. Back of our shed, and these chickens laid eggs, and I took the eggs, put them in cartons, and I went door to door and I sold the eggs. Like, that was me. And I think similar to Melissa, I was always looking for, like, another babysitting opportunity. I would walk dogs, I would, you know, find anything to make what I thought was, like, going to show my value and, like, show my worth. And now it's so totally flipped.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. And so as we talk about values and energy sources, right? Time and attention being the most valuable in the sense that we're talking about. What advice would you give to people listening for protecting energy and for. Because we could arguably still work 24 7. We could correct.

We wouldn't grow.

We wouldn't grow. So you're like, this isn't an idea.

Stay back.

No. We could. Right. Think anyone creating something, you can constantly be creation mode and growing mode. Always.

Yes.

So what advice do you have for people in terms of protecting energy and doing that, you know, in that space of pursuing a second career or building a business.

So I think there's a few things. First and foremost, like we spoke about before and spoke to before, is there's going to be a grind. Like, if you are willing and wanting to build and grow a business, can't expect right out of the gate to drink green smoothies, to work out in the middle of the day, to go to bed early, to watch TV shows, to sit down and Eat your food like it is a grind. And I think at the beginning, go for it. Like, try that. And as you start to grow, you will learn very quick where those holes need to be filled. So for us, maybe took us a little bit longer because we were in grow mode for a long time and still are, but we learned where to delegate. So I think that would be the next step is like, where are the things that maybe you're not as strong at or you don't want to do, or it's taking away from your really big strengths, like coaching or creating or whatever it may be? And how can you either hire someone, outsource it, or get it off your plate? And I think for us, it was leaving our ego. I mean, even when we started, I was like, melissa, I just want to do all the Instagram pictures because I want them to look a certain way. And like, that. We dropped that real quick because we just didn't have time. We didn't have time to teach all the classes we were still teaching, show up for those classes, and then on top of it, show up for these women who are looking for us to change their lives.

Yeah.

And so I think, again, it's a value thing. It's. Where are you placing your value? Where can you make up some space and some time to do things that you are meant to do?

Yeah.

What would you think?

I love that. And I think, you know, that example, the Instagram pictures, it's spot on. I mean, we used to say, like, oh, we got to do sales calls together. Right. Remember that?

Oh, my God. We would literally build our sales calls around when we were going to be together.

Do you know, Like, Yeah. And then we realized, like, well, we have to trust each other enough, just do it, and trust ourselves enough to just do it and also value our time more effectively. And, you know, it's not. It's not even like, it's prioritizing time. Right. And we always say that. And so if you find yourself saying, I don't have time for something you do, it's just not a priority.

Right.

That's it. And, like, being really clear on that. And I think you bring up a good point about taking ego away. And this was something I think we both had to learn. Like, just because we can do something doesn't mean that, you know, that's how we best serve or best show up.

And, like, not to mention, like, don't flatter yourself. I'm sure there's another person that could do it for you or with you or instead of you. And I think that's where really is like, check your ego. You do a great job, kid. But like, drop it.

Yeah, absolutely. And like just kind of letting each other and supporting each other and figuring out how we best show up for move. Right. How we best show up to serve. Because though we have. We talked about this with Garrett, but though we have a lot of, you know, our values, our goals, our missions, what we believe in aligns. We have kind of different strengths. Right. And we have a lot of similar strengths. We each have our own ones, too. And so really understanding that was huge, I think, in shifting our energy. Now you mentioned our growth. So when we started, it was just us.

It was just little old us. Mooch and Mel.

And now we have three coaches.

We got a squad.

That squad.

We do. We three coaches, Our accountant, our director of client engagement or experience, director of social, and our marketing girl.

Yeah. And then photographer.

Photographer.

Yes. We've outsourced a lot. So, you know, we have a staff team now that's growing. And we were just talking today we're going to be adding one other assistant as well in the next few weeks. So, you know, growth is so possible. But here's the thing for everyone listening, if you're still listening, you care somewhat about growing a business. It doesn't just happen. It's not a wait for life to be less crazy. Not a wait for so and so to figure out that I'm so great. It's learning how to speak to your audience. It's putting your message out there. It's honestly, it's getting coaches.

It's messy action.

Messy action.

We talked a lot about that in the last podcast too, I think.

Yeah. And that's our thing. That's totally our thing. All right, so this is good. I know. Couple more little ditties here and then we have to wrap up because our time blocking today. Time blocking, if you're not familiar with time blocking, it's how we run our business. That in Google Docs.

Very true.

Which one of our coaches was like, you guys are the only two people I know that could literally run your.

Run a six figure business on Google Docs.

On Google Docs. Yeah, I think. You know, I'm glad you said that because I think there's a lot of shame around money. Like, it's almost like you're either a good person and you help people or you make money.

Right.

And I see it a lot more for women even than men. And I feel like I'm gonna be.

Totally honest in this like industry in this.

Yeah. I don't know if you felt this. I don't know if we even talked about it, but I felt like when we first started sharing, like, yeah, in five months we created a six figure business.

We were like, can we put that in our Instagram post?

Yeah. And it wasn't necessarily as warmly received as people want to hear about our stories. And it's weird. It's this weird kind of money shame thing. No one wants to talk about money, sex or poop.

I'll talk about it all day. All three, maybe all together.

But at the end of the day, like, why there's just shame around these actually all energy inputs or outputs, everyone look at it. Maybe a little bit of both, but, you know, I mean, it's the reality, like, we're proud of that. We built a six figure business in five months and had our highest month this past month. That was, you know, we initially started what we just, you know, created and the way that we were serving people was a couple of months, you know, of revenue. And I just look at it as impact that we're having and people that we're serving.

Yeah, yeah. So true. But it like, does it comes back to like that mindset. Right. And I mean, even for us to increase our pricing, we were like, are we sure?

Yeah.

Or is what we're delivering, is it. Is it good? Like, we knew we were onto something. I think we played so far outside of this, like, like, we would never compare. We were never like even looking at other programs. We were just so focused on ours that we were like, is this worth it? Like, what are we doing?

I know. Remember when our coaches were like. When Bdon's was like, you're.

Excuse my French. Hi, mom. You're fucking insane to be doing all this work and to charge not even $400.

Yeah. Right at the time of it, it's total burnout. Total, total burnout. But remember when he was like, so who are your competitor accounts? And we were looked at him like, what do you mean?

Literally?

And he was like, no, like, you need to know your competition. Like, who do you compete with? And we were like, I don't know.

The juice bars down the street. Like, we didn't know.

We don't know. But at the same time we're like, we don't compete with them because we don't make juice.

Right.

So we were so in our own lane. And I think that's one way of protecting energy. And at the same time, at some point you kind of do got to look around and be like. But you look for the point of your own growth and reflection, not to be, like, pointing fingers at anyone.

Totally.

Or to tear anyone down or to copy them. So what have been some of your favorite things? I'm gonna. We'll end with, like, three more questions we'll do. And then I know we're going to our time blocking, but what are some of your very favorite things or moments or stories from moop?

Honestly, I love reflecting on it now, where we're at right now. I think it's so interesting to me to look back to see how far we've come, because I think at the time, we were so into it that we had to have these, like, little, like, slaps on the cheek to be like, you're here. Like, this is working. Like, this isn't working. Change this. So I really, really enjoyed, like, seeing the growth and experiencing it firsthand. I think my other favorite thing, not to put these in any order, I'm just thinking, like, our testimonials.

Yeah.

Like, we're getting some serious. And if you follow us on Instagram, you've seen, like, our IGTVs, and it is insane. And we don't share them to, like, brag or to anything like that. It's not a low vibe at all. It's to show you guys that it is possible, that growth is possible, that change is possible, that you starting a business is possible. And I think that's been truly, like. It gives me goosebumps when we get some of these testimonials.

Yeah. I think I love. Honestly, for me, I love the content creation. Like, I love when we sit there and we're like, how do we get out the messages? We want to get out in a way that's just kind of fun and light. Right. Like, we don't ever want to shame people. We don't ever want to, like, finger point at other health or wellness accounts. But how do we get our points across that, like, just offer this. This really strong perspective? And I love Aunt Debbie and Stan.

Sitting at the dinner table talking shit over gnocchi.

That's coming out soon. Stay tuned for that post. I love that, but I. I think that lends to community and culture.

Yes.

Right?

Yes.

That's something I love so much about what we have around move. Just a really strong sense of empowering community.

Yeah, totally. And it's like, it started in Boston, of course, just because the nature of, like, where we are. And as it grew, I think that's when it really, like, settled in for us, we're like, this community is. Excuse my French again. It's fucking amazing to see. No finger pointing. No. I'm better looking than her. I'm stronger than her. Look at her. It's, come with me, and let's fucking do this.

Yeah. Yeah. We talk a lot about the look at me versus the come with me culture. And I think that's a part where we really aligned and felt really strong that there needed to be more of that in the space. So as you're building your business, look around. What is there a need for? What is there a need in the space that you're in? What is there not enough of?

What did you need? Because I think a lot of it stemmed from Melissa and I running around in circles for years and years, trying every diet, trying all of the things to feel somewhat better. And I think, as you know, we got to know each other. We were like, this is it.

Like, this is.

It's exactly what we needed, however, many years ago.

Yeah. All right. And with that, it's not always rainbows and butterflies. It's not. And, you know, we hear a lot of, you know, horror stories. I don't think we've really had any of those. But we've had challenges, for sure. Right. We've had tears. Right. I haven't had fights, but we've disagreed, and I think you need to learn to disagree. Right. Any relationship that you're in, just saying.

The best disagreement to date. Starting relaunch in January. So remember that one?

Oh, yeah.

Melissa didn't want to start a course in January, and I was like, you're out of your damn tree.

Yeah, I did not want to do that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But it is.

It is.

And it's like, as you're growing as professionals and business partners and as you're growing a business, like, there's a lot of personal shit, too. And there's a lot of days where, if you guys know us at all, there's a lot of days where shit comes up, where shit is triggered, where it's anniversaries of things that are just too much, you know? And so that's where I think we really grew as humans, was learning to work with someone else who was triggered by certain things as well. And, like, really honoring space, time, energy, all of that.

Yeah. And that's important, too, is, like, I mean, we share a lot of space, literally. Right. And then figuratively, and giving each other the space to not always be on. Right. Like, there are gonna be days where, like, I'm just Not feeling my best, but being able to communicate that and say, like, probably not the time that I want to hop on this call.

Yeah.

Or probably, like, let's not put our.

Faces on camera right now.

Yeah. Right. And just knowing, like, and being able to be honest about that. And then also if I. And this is what we say, like, I can feel when Mooch is off, Quote, unquote, off. I don't even think it's on or off. Right. But when you're, like, in a certain space, like, I can, like, literally feel it even if you're not here. And just letting you be there. Right. And not saying. Not pushing, not demanding, like, just letting you be there.

Hey, I'm here.

Yeah. And if you want to talk about it, you will. And if not, we continue as is.

So funny. Like, I remember there was a day I texted you, and I was like, hey, are you okay? And you were like, holy shit. How do you know? You haven't seen me in, like, 12 hours. What do you mean, how did you know?

I'm crying in this very moment.

It's wild. And I think, you know, it is. It's a testament of, like, how much we've grown as humans, too.

Yeah.

As people.

Huge. So that kind of leads into my second to last question. So entrepreneurship, they say it reveals a lot about character. What do you feel like you've learned about yourself in this whole journey of entrepreneurship?

Yeah, like, it's hard to really, like, put into words, too, because emotionally and energetically, I've shifted. Even in the past year, like, Melissa and I became roommates. Lot of change in my life. Lot of change. And I think with that change, I started to see a lot more. And I think for years, I was just kind of living in this space of not limitations, but really living in the space of, like, this is how it should be, and this is what I need to be doing, and this is going to be my life. And I think what I've learned, starting a business, running a business, growing a business, is more than ever in my life, which, like, I've always believed this. I just never really saw it as clear. There's no fucking limits. There's not one. And I think I put myself in this box of, like, oh, I'm just Christina Muccio from Andover, Massachusetts, and that's just who I am. And that's, like, what I've become to be. And loved it. Not saying I didn't love it. I just. I didn't grow yet. I wasn't on this rocket ship yet. So I think, if anything, starting a business, I'm gonna put this in, like, the shortest story possible. Starting a business has allowed me to see so much more.

Yeah. I mean, and you can answer for me, too. But I think I've seen you grow in understanding your capacity, like, so much more and having both of us, I think, previously. But I think I've seen a lot of it in you this year. And, like, not forcing yourself to just muscle through everything.

Yeah.

Right. Which I think is something you're really good at. It's like a survival mechanism for a while. 100% right. You've become so vulnerable in our group and even more publicly. I think that inspires so many people. I think you are really. I've seen you, like, become so clear, as you said. That's like, what do you really want? And why are you pursuing certain things. Yes. Right. And not doing things. Because that word should.

Yes.

And, like, really being clear about, like, what the fuck you want and not giving a shit about what anyone else thinks.

Yeah. And I think I've always been able to, like, kind of, like, know what I want. It was just like, how am I gonna get there without A, being a total asshole or B, like, feeling like I was letting other people down.

Yeah.

And I think I just totally crashed out of that last box. Last case of emotion.

What about me?

I was just gonna say you go first.

I don't know.

Well, you haven't grown in the technology space.

No, I definitely. I think I've become.

Melissa learned how to screenshot her computer screen.

Yes. I will say that I have outsourced all the technical work for the podcast, if anyone is curious.

Thank you, Andrew.

00 of it. I think I have grown patience and trust. I think that has grown for me. I think I've become more clear on the value of my time.

Yes.

Like, that was really hard for me at first. And I think I've become maybe more just really set on what I offer. Well. And what I offer really, really, really well. And what I don't offer so well. And, like, just being totally okay with all of that.

Yeah. That's what I've seen in you. And even in the past, you know, year is kind of being lighter around the things that, like, we don't have weaknesses.

Yeah.

No one does. Right. It's just areas where it's. It. I don't know what it is with you. It's like, you just take those areas so much lighter where. I feel like when we first started, it was, like, not muscling Through. I feel like that's not the right word for it, but it was just like, I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll figure it out. And then it was frustration or even just, like, just getting it done to get it done. And now you're just like, oh, well, I'm just gonna, like, give it to someone who can do it or, like, ask someone to do it.

Yeah.

Which I feel like both of us as. As humans, we were not really ones to ask for help or for guidance. And now it's like, with coaches, we're like, help us please do this, do that. Like, we need help with this and that. And I think you started to toy around with it.

Yeah.

And then it just became a lot, like, later.

Yeah.

And I do. I think it comes down, like, with myself is. Comes down to clarity and being, like, so true and authentic, which you deliver so well now in terms of, like, your story with Layden and your voice on different social platforms, which I love. And I think you just become so much lighter in the areas that either you don't want to pursue but need to get done in order to grow a business or to build your brand and your podcast or whatever it may be. And I think there's just, like. It's almost like a weight lifted off your shoulders.

Yeah. So good talk.

Great talk, man.

So MOVE has grown. We have now served thousands of people in different capacities.

Mel, what's next? Your listeners want to know.

Well, we're really excited to announce that we. We've been setting this goal, really, since January. We knew this is where we wanted to grow next, and we also didn't want to force it. So it was working on it on the back end in a way that didn't take away from everyone that we're serving right now. It was growing and pacing, outsourcing, and getting to a place where we really felt ready. And we're excited. We are now launching our small group business coaching. Tell them about it, Mooch.

Cue the goosebumps, man. No, I think you're spot on. Like, we had really set a goal. I mean, when we sat down to do our yearly goals, which we now do, which is insane because we barely had daily goals when we first started. We sat down and we were like, hey, by, you know, the fall, we want to be launching a business course. And it so authentically grew and organically grew to the point where, like, we've had so many people reach out asking about, you know, entrepreneurship, and they want to start a business, but don't know how and you know, they've been following us for a while and I think we were so focused on growing our current content and experience with our clients that we weren't really like we weren't in real creation mode for business coaching yet. It was just kind of like a twinkle in our eye. It was like, you know, something we had had on the horizon. And so we are officially launching it. We are beyond thrilled to be working with like minded people who are driven, who are creating, who are grinding and want to make it easier or take time off their plate. Like things that we again, we've experienced and we have lived and now we can offer and serve.

Yeah. And I love, I mean, Tony Robbins just what up, Tony? Hi, Tony. Come hang out with us, Tony. But he says one of the best things he ever learned was why would he spend 10 years learning something that he could learn from someone who already spent the 10 years learning that? And I think that's what we're really excited about. Whether we're continuing with relaunch, which is the gut health mindset and physical fitness, like teaching everyone. We've learned in both of our niches and over a decade now and experiences, but now taking business. Here's what we learned in building a six figure business. Five months online, zero paid ads and here's how you can do it too. And here are the things that we would do differently. And the thing is it's so different for everyone and that is where it is. Not a piece of paper with a how to. It is that coaching. Right. And that is what we value and that is what we are going to continue to value. So yeah, I am excited for it.

So we don't have an official launch date. I know you guys are all biting your nails over there waiting for it. We don't have an official launch date but it's definitely going to be sometime in the next few months as we start to really build out our content and just get ready. Like we are so excited for this. So excited. Because I think there's a whole different mindset with an entrepreneur.

Totally.

And when you are investing time, energy, money into making money, creating time and gaining energy, it's like a whole new ball game.

So yeah.

Pumped.

We are so pumped. Thanks guys for hanging with us. This was two. We said we were gonna do a three part series. I have a feeling it's gonna be way more than that. Yeah. Because we have so many, I have so many other ideas.

But I have a question for you.

Okay.

I need your taco now.

Ooh, Best one I had. Remember I told you about it.

Oh, the lobster one.

Scallop.

Oh, scallop.

Oh, Nantucket Millie's. Honestly the best taco I've ever had. Now I got it without the blue cheese because I just felt like that would take away from the scallop.

I'm surprised they put blue cheese.

Yeah, Scallop, bacon, blue cheese. Tried it without the bacon juice, but they had the slaw on it. Scallops, Fresh corn tortillas, little lime wedge scallops for out of this world. My mouth is watering. We need to for a trip back. Done. All right, Mooch, thanks for visiting.

Thank you.

And we'll talk soon. Isn't she the best, everybody? So glad to have you hang with me. And with Mooch on Greek guts and green smoothies. She is somebody to that. I have learned so much from that I know every single one of you can learn so much from. You can find her at cmuch on Instagram. You can find both of us at move withmm or movewithmm.com if you are curious in learning more about our stories. Like, just send questions. We love connecting with humans. You know, Mooch has so much to offer, so much depth. The stories that she's been through personally, that she's been through professionally, I guarantee every time you listen to that episode, you can take away another nugget or two. I encourage you to do that because if you couldn't hear from both of us. Growth and learning has been the main impetus for all that we have achieved and everything we're continuing to build. So I'm so lucky to have her in my life. I am confident. Without a doubt, Layden connected us and her dad, Mr. Mooch, connected us for a reason. We have big things to do in this world and excited to have all of you here with us along the ride. So as always, if you love this episode, head on over to itunes or Spotify rate review. That's going to help us spread the work that we're doing. Really appreciate you sharing your energy and doing that and let me know what you want to know more of here and I will use my energy to do that for you as well. And see you next week on Grief guts and green smoothies.