Phoebe Mroczek, founder of the Unbecoming Podcast, talks about building a business around who you are, not what you do. She ate beetles with microfinance staff in Cambodia to show how discomfort builds connection, and recommends starting with your identity, not your product.
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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. Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Phoebe Maroceck with us. She is a business coach for ambitious entrepreneurs and the founder of the Unbecoming Podcast. So welcome to the show, Phoebe.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Of course, thanks for joining us and we'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Phoebe, is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So I have to preface this with that question is like absolute torture for me because I have a million stories, best stories. But one of the best stories from my life is that I was traveling through Cambodia and I stopped into a microfinance bank while I was traveling and learned about the work they were doing. And it was something I was really fascinated by. So I just asked to speak to the management and on a whim, I pitched myself to the head of the company. And I think he was like a little bit confused, but he hired me on the spot. And so I started doing research and developing kind of new marketing outreach opportunities for them. And one day on one of the hottest days of the year, we're in this like sweaty, sweaty office and we're all working. And the entire team came together and they brought me a snack in the middle of the afternoon, which was like the most communication that we really had had. Cause they were like, who is this girl? What is she doing? And I just knew how excited they were by the way that they presented this little bowl to me. And so I looked down at it, I looked up at them and their faces were like beaming. And so I couldn't say anything. I just had to look down at them. And actually I looked up and I was like, I don't know how to eat these. Can you just show me? And they go, pull off the wings, pull off the legs and just pop them in your mouth. And so I did. And we all did. And from that moment on, I was introduced as the girl at the office who ate beetles with the locals. And after that moment, our productivity like went up by a million because we were all in sync and it was just such a great experience. So really what I learned from that was if you don't know what to do next, follow your curiosity, your passion, and then also put yourself in a position to succeed, even if that means you have to create that for yourself to make it happen. And finding comfort in the discomfort and stepping into new opportunities for connection. And then obviously Laugh as much as possible. Those are my messages.
I have to chime in. I have to ask, so was that— how did it taste? Was it good, bad?
Like salty potato chips. They were delicious.
Really?
Wow.
No way.
That's good to know. I know.
I would think they would not be very good, but I'll have to try maybe one day.
Well, last time you ate beetles, you probably kept the legs on and the wings on, so you just got to pull those off and pop them in your mouth.
I will maybe do that someday. So thank you for sharing that. The next question I have for you is, what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so my— the most valuable piece of information is really that your business is a reflection of you. I believe that we build businesses as an extension of who we are. So everyone always talks about starting with the why first. But I actually believe you need to zoom out, take a step back, and start with the who first. So if you're operating as a coach or a personal brand, I believe that people buy who you are and how you make them feel before you ever buy, before they ever buy the what or the why. So my advice is to start with the who, then uncover your why, which then determines your what, and then allowing the how to unfold. But you need to work on you first.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice and not necessarily industry specific?
Yeah, find a mentor that resonates with you because of who they are first and then also the results that they've created. So make sure that you do your research.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Well, I think if it was my teenage self, I'd say like put the purple tweety sweatshirt down and the like early 20s would be put down the booze. And then after that, and pretty much throughout all my life, it would be, don't be so hard on yourself. Embrace the discomfort. It makes you stronger and gives you better stories. It makes you much more interesting. And then do what you want, do it now, and you're rocking it.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Doritos. No. Beatles. Yeah, Beatles and Doritos. That's perfect. No, I really, I think that the key to happiness is falling in love with yourself unconditionally, or if you're not there yet, just falling in love with the process.
And what's the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Untethered Soul. I recommend that book all the time. And I think what I really learned from it was to find the beauty between the polarities. So the polarities of control and complete surrender, of like peace and complete chaos, or fear and unconditional love.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
So Paulo Coelho, the man who wrote The Alchemist, he said, maybe the journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe it's actually about unbecoming everything that isn't really you so you can be who you are meant to be in the first place. And why that is my favorite is it's actually where my podcast came from. So it's really everything that my podcast, my life is about, which is permission to reject the hustle, redefine your metrics for success and to rewrite your rules according to you, which reinforces my belief, polarizing belief, that more fun equals more money and not the other way around.
Yes, I agree with that so much. And thank you so much for coming on, Phoebe. 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— I would love for you to come over to the Unbecoming podcast on iTunes. Or Stitcher or Spotify, or I am on my Instagram all the time, all day long. So Instagram, my— it's just my name, Phoebe Morocheck.
Awesome. And then just so everybody listening knows, I will put in the show notes her podcast and her Instagram. So thanks again, Phoebe. We really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
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