In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Joie Cheng, a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and book publishing coach. The conversation opens with a sponsor plug for Authors Unite. Joie shares a deeply personal story about battling depression and suicidal thoughts in her 20s, recognizing a lack of self‑love, and escaping an abusive relationship, which became a catalyst for personal growth. She then offers practical advice for aspiring authors, emphasizing that a book’s concept can evolve through collaboration rather than needing a fixed idea from the start. Joie’s broader business counsel centers on perseverance—never giving up, learning from failure, and staying the course. When asked what she would tell her younger self, she stresses the importance of trusting oneself. She identifies gratitude and living in the present moment as the key to happiness. Joie mentions rereading "The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" by T. Harv Eker, highlighting the mindset differences between rich and poor. Her favorite quote, from Marianne Williamson, underscores embracing one’s inner light rather than shrinking. The episode concludes with Joie directing listeners to her website, joieching.com, and a brief Anchor outro.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Joy Chang with us. She is a best-selling author, professional keynote speaker, and book publishing coach. So welcome to the show.
Thanks Tyler, it's great to be here.
Of course, it's great to have you here, and we'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you, Joy, is What is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, when I was in my 20s, I went through a period of deep depression and suicidal thoughts, and it was really hard for me to get out of bed. There were times where, you know, I would cross this bridge on the way to work and I would think about what would happen if I jumped off that bridge. And it was a really confusing time in my life because there was nothing on the outside that would make it seem like I should feel that way. You know, I didn't have like a horrible breakup or traumatic loss that I'd experienced. But then looking back, what I realized is that I didn't love myself and I wasn't living my purpose. I ended up in an abusive relationship, and that's when I realized that I didn't love myself and I decided I need to end that relationship and start learning to love myself.
Thank you for sharing that with us. The next one I have for you, Joy, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So I have people that will say, you know, I don't know, I want to write a book, but I'm not really sure what to write about. And You know, so I would say that it's a process that can unfold when you're working with somebody. So you don't need to know exactly what the book is going to be about because it could change. I've had clients that I've worked with who came in with one idea and then it became a different, you know, the book became something different. So just to, you know, not like be thinking that you have to have, you know, like know exactly what your book is going to be about, that it's something that's going to evolve as you work with it. Agreed.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
It would be to just not, you know, never give up. They say that, you know, you're 3 feet from gold, right? So there's times where it's easy to say, okay, this isn't working. You know, I'm not getting the result that I want. And so maybe I should try something else, but I would say just keep going because if you don't keep going, then I mean, you're, you know, failure is something that I believe we all can learn from, but if you never stop, then there's there's like, you're not really failing, you know.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
To trust yourself. I think that I have learned, you know, through my years that the more that I trust myself, I mean, whenever I do trust myself, that it never— I mean, I'm never regretting trusting myself when I make those decisions.
And it might tie in then, but in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I would say it's actually gratitude, you know, and being in the moment, because when you're in the present moment, in my experience, like, it's hard to not be happy when I'm in the moment. It's usually when I'm, when I'm upset about something, it's because something happened in the past, or, you know, if I'm feeling anxious, it's about something in the future. So really just being in the moment. When you're in the moment, it feels like there's nothing wrong in the moment.
Could not agree more. And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So I've been reading again, The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. And you know, what I love about that is the idea that, you know, rich people think differently than poor people. And so there's, it's really about your mindset.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
So my favorite quote is actually in my book, but it's from Marianne Williamson. And it's, you know, the quote, it's our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. So I love that quote. I remember like the first time I heard that, it just really hit me and I was like, wow, that's amazing. I just love it because I really think it's true, you know, that we are not here to play small and that it doesn't serve other people when we play small.
I love that quote as well. And thank you for sharing that with us. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
So you can go to my website, which is joieching.com. That's J-O-I-E-C-H-I-N-G.com.
Perfect. Thanks again, Joie. We appreciate you hopping on.
Yeah, thanks again for having me, Tyler Wagner.
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