Broke at 25, Millions by 29: The 9 Lessons I Wish I Knew Sooner

What's up, you guys? Welcome back to the podcast. Today I wanted to share some of the lessons that I've learned along this journey of going from broke and unemployed to now making millions of dollars in digital product sales online. So I'm going to take you all the way back to being 22 years old, what I was doing, where I was living, what my bank account looked like, all the way up until now at 32. And with the wisdom and perspective that I've gained along that path, being able to look back and just share some of the things that I wish that I'd understood sooner. In my opinion, if you understand all 9 of these principles that I'm going to share, you are way more likely to be successful especially now in 2026 in the online landscape with how things are moving. So if you're building something or you just wanna be expanded around the idea of what's possible for you and take some of my lessons for free that I spent a decade of trial and error figuring out and hundreds of thousands of dollars learning, then this episode is for you. Let's dive in. Welcome to the Makeshift Happen podcast. I'm your host, Samantha Daly. Entrepreneur, life coach, and your no BS bestie here to bring you all things mindset, manifestation, and personal development. This podcast is designed to help you expand your mind and uplevel your life. So turn the volume up and roll the windows down if you're coming along for the ride. Let's go make shift happen. When I was 22 years old, as many of you might already know, I made the choice to decline my corporate job offers out of school. I had just graduated from college and instead I decided to pack my life up into two suitcases, leave everyone behind and move to Spain. The previous year I had studied abroad in Spain. I had met the guy infamously who is now my fiancé. We're getting married 11 years later. So it is a happy ending to the story, but I had met him the year prior while I was studying abroad and after, you know, being long distance for a while and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and where we're going to stay in this quote-unquote relationship and how is this going to work and what did I want to do for my job and was I going to move to Chicago and say yes to that job offer, I ultimately decided to risk it all for love, right? And quite literally, it was the definition of fuck around and find out. I was like, let's just do the damn thing. I'm gonna say no to everything else. I'm gonna move to Spain and I'll figure it out. I don't know where I'm gonna live yet. I don't really know what I'm gonna do. I guess I can get this job teaching English, but like, after that, I didn't really have a plan. I just thought, I'm gonna do this for a year, I'm gonna date this guy, I'm gonna see where the wind blows and, and where life takes me. And the main thing that allowed me to do that was the principle that I always stand on and try to impart upon you guys, is this idea of self-trust. When you trust yourself so much, it's not about what the right choice or the wrong choice is, or fearing that you're going to make the wrong decision, because you know, regardless of the path that you choose, it's always going to be the path that you were meant to be on. And if things start to go sideways, you trust yourself to be smart enough, resilient enough, resourceful enough to figure it out and to just make the next right move. And so I always knew if this relationship doesn't work out, if this job doesn't work out, if I hate living in Spain, if everything blows up in my face, then I can always move back home. I can always find another job. I'll apply places. Like, I'm a smart person. I trust myself to figure this out. And so I was able to kind of put myself out there and go out on a limb to be able to expand my mind, find my purpose, and create some space between graduating college and forcing myself into a box of what I needed to do with my life, because I didn't really feel fully confident about what I wanted that to be. And I'm so grateful that I did that because it obviously changed the whole course of my life. So I get to Spain, and I'm obviously so excited to be there. I'm so excited to live in the same city as the guy that I'm dating. And I start out working in the schools. I'm on a student visa. I'm an assistant in the English classes I'm working full-time, but it's for like a poverty-level wage by American standards. I'm earning about $1,000 a month and more than half of that goes to my rent. So I'm really left with not that much to work with after I do groceries, transportation costs, like all the things. And during that time I was in and out of a few different English teaching jobs because I was trying to find something that paid better, that didn't totally suck. I had an opportunity working at a private academy and that was kind of good, but also kind of really bad. And by 24, I had actually started also working in network marketing. I was selling beauty products. Online. I started posting on Instagram with an intention other than just sharing fun pictures of my friends for the very first time. And I had also landed a total dream job of helping a major influencer host yoga and meditation retreats. That was between the ages of 22 and 24. I'm teaching English, I'm getting all these other kind of jobs and opportunities. I'm trying to find a way to make money. I have 3 jobs at once. I'm hustling for it. And then I get this job, which is, uh, at first it's unpaid, it's an internship, but I'm getting to help run these yoga and meditation retreats and work for this really cool influencer. And I'm thinking like, okay, this is the life. Like, I would love to do something like this where I feel like the work that I'm doing is in alignment with things that I care about. It's in alignment with a larger purpose. And it felt really great. So I went ahead and I added it to my schedule. It was now the 4th job that I had, cuz I was also doing private English classes and other things to make extra money because Lord knows I needed it. And eventually, which is what I'd always wanted to happen, was that interning gig actually finally became paid. And so I was able to quit all of my other teaching jobs and just go all in on that role. Now the pay was just as bad as it was when I was teaching English, like it was very, very minimal. It was around the same, around roughly $1,000 a month, but at least I was doing something that was cool and that I cared about and that I felt like had potential for me to like grow into and learn these new skills. And so I was really happy with that role, but a few days before my 25th birthday, I worked for them for about 9 or 10 months, I think. And then a few days before my 25th birthday, I got unexpectedly fired. Yeah. I woke up one day and I saw these notifications on my phone that were kind of weird. It was like, oh, you've been logged out of the Instagram account. For the company and you've been logged out of the email and you, you need to reenter the password. And I was like, that's super weird. And then I got a message from my boss's boyfriend who was also her business partner, but like I didn't really work underneath him. I didn't work directly with him. Of course I knew him, but I got a message from him being like, hey, can we get on a call? And so my dumbass doesn't even know that this is what's coming. But like looking back now, I'm smart enough to be like, girl, you're about to get fired. So I get on the call, it's like 8:30 AM Spanish time. I'm about to start my workday. I just made my coffee. I just walked my dog. I'm like, perfect. I'm gonna start this day off. I'm gonna get this call, get some new directives, and then I'll be on my way for the day. And I get on the call and I immediately got a weird sense cuz I'm a pretty intuitive person, but also my boss wasn't on the call. Like the girl that I normally work with and work for and work under, she wasn't on the call. It was just her boyfriend. And so basically he told me that, you know, I was being let go effective immediately and I didn't need to show up for work that day. And like my work was just completed with them and thank you for everything, but we are finished here. You know, good luck with everything and moving along on your merry way. So that sucked, especially as a person who is so Type A, perfectionist, high achiever. I always do my best work. I always go above and beyond. Like, of course I've never been fired from anything. So I felt horrible. I was taking it so personally. I cried. And I also was like, oh my gosh, I literally just a couple of months previous quit all of my other jobs, let everything go, like pulled myself out of the school system from being able to teach English as an assistant. And now I'm fucked. Like, I have nothing. I have no source of income. What am I going to do? We have rent. Like, Jaime can't pay for all the bills on his own, although he would go on to do that because I was unemployed for a little while. And yeah, it was just like a really shitty, sucky feeling. And so my 25th birthday was just a few days after that, and Jaime had planned this little trip for us to go to Portugal. So of course we go to Portugal, the trip is planned, and I remember calling my parents from the hotel room in Porto to tell them that I had been fired. And that I was unemployed again, because there were a couple times while I was living in Spain and figuring out these teaching jobs that I had, you know, stints of unemployment when I was between jobs. And so of course, you know, they were so supportive and they didn't care. But like, there's something about turning 25, it just seems like a milestone birthday. And living in a foreign country with no legitimate work experience on my resume to date, because as soon as I graduated college I was like, peace, I just went and did my own thing. And then having several stints of unemployment under your belt and no savings in the bank because because you've never made enough money to save fucking anything at all. No real plan for what's next or where you're going. And then on top of all that, just being delivered the news that you've been fired. So it was really hard for me to not take that personally and to not feel somewhat like a failure and to not hear the echoes of everyone's voice who had told me, you know, declining your job offers and moving to Spain for a guy, oh, okay, let's see how it goes. Like, it's no secret that people thought that was a dumb idea, even if they didn't say it in those exact words. Like, you can feel when people are like, oh my God, that's going to be so fun. But like behind their eyes is them being like, girl, you're stupid. And I never thought it was a dumb idea. Like no one else's opinions, whether they said them aloud or they were just transmitted through energy, they never got to me because I know myself and I trust myself and I knew what I was doing and I truly did not care what they had to say about it because I care more about creating a life that I'm not going to regret and actually taking chances and playing full out and being able to look back on my life and be like, wow, that was a a fucking movie. Like, I'm so glad I did all of those things. So I never thought it was a dumb idea, but it was the first kind of sobering moment where it made me go, gosh, you know, what if it's not true that things are always working out for me? You know, that had been my mantra up until that point. I was reading all the books. I was really deep in personal growth. That's how I got on this path. That's how I got into network marketing and, you know, doing the virtual work for The Influencer and being on the yoga and meditation retreats. Like, I was really in this belief that like everything is always working out for me. And that is from believing that I felt like that's how I ended up getting the internship turned into a paid role, because everything's always working out for me and I'm getting to do this dream job now. And that's why I wasn't scared to quit all of my teaching jobs and let everything else go, because I'm like, the universe has got me. Like, everything's always working out for me. But of course, when all of that ended abruptly, I'm like, shit, what if I get to 30 and I'm still broke and directionless, like, am I going to look back and be like, you were a dumb bitch, you read too many woo-woo books. 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Another sold out her event in under 6 hours with just 8 strategic story slides. No sales calls, no paid ads, just the right frameworks. You'll walk away knowing how to sequence for desire, transition into your offer seamlessly, and sell daily without ever feeling salesy. You already know your offer is incredible, so now it's just time for your stories to sell it like it is. Grab Sold Out Stories today and turn 10 slides or less into your highest converting content. Let's make your next story your most profitable one yet. Click the link in the show notes below and I'll see you inside. And you fucked up your 20s. And now that I'm in my 30s, I can look back and really appreciate just how much I think we judge ourselves in our 20s and We pressure ourselves to have everything figured out when truly that decade is the trial and error. It's the experimentation. It's figuring things out. It's making mistakes. It's taking risks. Like that is what your 20s is for. And so I look back and I'm like, I was so on path. I was doing everything that I should have been doing. But in the moment when you're in fear, of course your mind can start to tell you stories and play tricks on you. And so yeah, I just remember like being in Portugal and, and having a great time on that trip because it was to celebrate my birthday, but also just the like low-level anxiety that was just running in the background of like, what are you going to do though? Like, what's your plan? Like, when you get back from this trip, like, you have no job. You're not going to go to work. You're not going to make a paycheck. You can't get groceries. Like, now it's all on your partner. What are you going to do? And it's December. It's about to be Christmas holidays. Like, you're not going to be able to get a job for a little bit. It was, it was kind of like, I always trusted that it would work out, but it was a little bit scary. So I ended up reaching out to my, all my contacts. Luckily, I didn't burn any bridges with my teaching jobs, and I was able to get another job back in the schools, English English assistant again, same horrible poverty-level wage, but like, whatever, new school, new people, new vibes. I was like, whatever, let's go. This is— this is when life hands you lemons, you need to just figure it the fuck out. So I get back into a program teaching in the schools starting in January, which was really lucky because that is not the start of the school year in Europe. So mid— at the midway point of the school year, for whatever reason, they had a spot that they needed to fill for an English auxiliar, and so I was able to jump in and fill that spot, which was so grateful for. And I also during that time finished my life coaching certification that December. I started my email newsletter that I've been sending out ever since then for like 8 years now, every Monday, the Monday Motivation newsletter. If you guys remember, if anyone listens to this podcast and you received the original Monday Motivation newsletters, like you'll, you'll know if they were the OGs that we're talking like 2018, 2019, I need to hear from you, like drop a comment. Below wherever you listen to this episode. I'm just so curious to know if there's any true OGs still here. But that's back when I started that email newsletter was then I wrote my first ebook and I launched it as a freebie. I also, 6 months later, I went home to America for a couple of months to get my yoga teacher training certificate. So I did that. I was really going all in on me and I think getting fired was the thing that lit a fire underneath me and really motivated me to like, even though you have to go back working in the schools, like you should build something. Maybe you should do something of your own. Maybe you can have your own business. Maybe you don't need to work inside someone else's. And, and so I just got really curious about what that would look like. And I started just doing shit. I just started fucking doing shit. I didn't have a coach. I didn't have a mentor. I didn't have anything. I was just like throwing shit at the wall, figuring it out. So I write this first ebook, I launch it as a freebie. People are downloading it. I finish my yoga teacher training. I get back to Spain. I'm like going all in on building my first digital coaching program. It's like the Mindset Mastery Guide. It's this 9-step thing. I end up selling it as a 12-week experience that had one-on-one coaching support rolled into it. I filled it with 7 women. I ran that for the next 3 months. I was taking calls between my classes at the school. So I remember literally sitting in a child's desk in an empty classroom, hoping and praying that no one from this school walked in because it was like a break time or it was like recess or something. And I was taking calls with clients. Clients on Zoom. And I'm like, I just hope a professor or someone does not walk in here because I'm literally running my business and taking calls from this empty classroom. When I had lunch breaks, I would run down the street to a nearby Starbucks and I would quickly buy a latte. I would try to find a spot in like a back corner booth. I would open up my laptop, plug my headphones in, and I would take client calls from the Starbucks. And then as soon as that session was done, slam my laptop, shove it in my bag, run back down the street so that I could make it back to the school for my next class. Like that to me was like the definition of my hustle era. This was 2019. I was going all in. I did not give a fuck. I had zero excuses. I was writing ebooks and making programs in every single moment of my spare time. And also every moment when I got to work, I made it a point to arrive to work 10 minutes early so that I could open up my journal and do my 3-3-5. If you're one of my OGs, you remember the 3-3-5 journaling method. I was on my shit and that's really how it all started, you know? So obviously so much has unfolded between then and now, but just 4 years later, by age 29, I had made my first million dollars in revenue from my business. And by 31, I was celebrating multiple millions made. I'm 32 right now as I record this. And looking back at the journey, here are the 9 things that I wish that I had fully understood sooner. Number 1 is that passive income is a scam. It is literally not real. This used to be one of the hottest topics. Tricks to sell people into programs. It was such a marketing ploy to get people to believe in this idea of passive income. But most of the time it's not real because most income streams are still somewhat active. Some are more active than others, but almost all income streams are somewhat active. There's nothing that's truly just don't even touch it, do nothing, completely passive. The only real passive income comes from things like assets and compound interest. And those are things that happen once you've already made enough money to be able to have assets. Or to be able to put it places where it's compounding on autopilot for you. So this idea that just because you have a course that is evergreen or it's prerecorded, that it's somehow just gonna make you passive income without you doing anything is fake. It's so not real. If you are not driving traffic to it in some way, shape, or form, whether that's through your energy or it's through the paid energy coming from ads, then I hate to tell you this, but nothing is really going to happen with that passive income stream of a 4-week course that you set up. Number 2 is one of my favorite Spanish sayings, which is lo barato sale caro. This means basically you get what you pay for, and sometimes like the cheapest option ends up being the most expensive. So what this lesson is really about is not being cheap and understanding that if you're doing something just because it seems like it's the most affordable or inexpensive way to do it doesn't mean that it's the best way. And oftentimes that is going to bite you in the ass even further down the line. And sometimes, you know, You know, there's other iterations of sayings like this where it's like, if you buy something cheap, you end up buying it twice, because that is just the truth. If you try to go for the budget option, a lot of times you're gonna need to buy it again and buy it again and buy it again. And so I do think that in your journey of trying to create success, it's going to cost you a pretty penny to learn the skill sets and the strategies and the identity shifts of the multimillionaires who have built the thing already that you're trying to build. But it's going to be worth it every time because you trying to take shortcuts or take take the cheap route or do everything yourself or get the cheapest mentorship or get the cheapest softwares or do whatever, you know, penny pinching sometimes is smart because you don't want to run this huge, overly expensive business that you can't afford. I'm a fan of a very lean business model, especially at the start, but there's certain things that you'll just know it's probably not worth it trying to take the cheap route on this. And that is something that I think is so, so important to understand earlier on in the process so that you don't have to pay double, triple, quadruple dealing with doing things over and over and over again because you did it poorly or badly or hired the wrong person or whatever. Number 3 is that a personal brand will open more doors and pathways to money than anything else. And I know we're in this AI revolution right now and everyone's freaking out over how AI is gonna take everyone's jobs. And it is like, not gonna lie, it's kind of scary. Like that viral article that just came out recently saying where one of the, you know, head CEOs of one of the AI companies was like, yeah, AI is predicted to replace 50% of entry-level white collar jobs in the next 1 to 5 years. Like, that's substantial. That is kind of terrifying. But Forbes has also said many times over and over in many different ways, in many different articles, that AI will never replace a strong personal brand. And that because we have this technological revolution happening, something that it won't be able to compete with is the humanity, is the authenticity. So if I could give anyone a lesson, especially for this day and age, it's like, post your fucking videos, build a community, play the long game. And if you haven't started yet and you think you're too late, wait, start now. Stop waiting. You will regret it every day that you wait to post more of your videos or talk on camera or stretch yourself or be more consistent. Every day that you wait is a day that you are losing in this game. Start now and don't stop. This is the way forward. Having a personal brand is going to be the thing that dictates success for so many years to come. And you've even seen it revolutionize other industries as well, like comedy, acting, singing. I mean, all of these spaces have changed because of what it means now to have a following, to have followers, to have an audience, to be influential. And you don't have to have a ton of followers to be influential, but it's like, the idea is, even with products, why are so many celebrities and influencers starting product-based businesses? Well, because they have the one thing that all of the stores and marketplaces want, which is influence. It's community. It's who are you going to bring to the table that we know is going to buy this thing? So if you can show up and pitch a product or an idea or a candy or a food or an alcohol or whatever, and you can go, yeah, and this is my ride or die community. I have a cult-like following. My people are gonna buy anything that I sell. You're gonna be at an advantage to get on the shelves and to get in physical stores like Target, Walmart, wherever. Look at people like MrBeast or again, even celebrities, influencers, They're all going in that route because they have the one most incredible important ingredient, which is the community. It is the influence. It's the ability to have people buy anything that you sell, and that is created through personal brand. Actors nowadays are more likely to get cast and hired for a role, even if it's like a minor part. We're not talking about A-list celebrities. They already have their followings, but for minor, more minor roles, you are more likely to get cast if you have an online persona, if you have a following, if you have an audience, if you have a community, because all those people, they're going to come to the box office and they're going to come watch you and support you and spend their dollars. The same thing is true for artists, like people blowing up on TikTok with their music, and then because they become TikTok famous, they become famous famous, because it's like, well, you have the one thing that everybody needs in order to make this whole thing work, which is the influence. It's the community. A personal brand will open more doors and pathways to money than absolutely anything else on this planet. It is one of the best things to invest your money and time into learning and starting now. So post, post your videos. Skills can be replicated, roles can be replaced, but a personal brand that has influence, that has a community behind it, that is something that a robot can't just take over. All right, number 4 is that consistency beats talent. This is good news because you don't have to be the absolute best, you just have to be more consistent than everyone else. I've published this podcast every single Wednesday for almost 6 years with no breaks. We've never missed a Wednesday, and sometimes we've posted more episodes. There was a season where we did bonus episodes and all these other things. Like I said, I've also sent an email newsletter every Monday non-stop for 8 years. Of course I've sent more emails than just that Monday email, but with consistency, there has been a Monday email that's gone out every single week of my goddamn life for 8 years. That is crazy. I mean, and that is the thing that makes the difference, that moves the needle. And this is what I mean when I say play the game. It's not just post a couple videos and everything's going to work out, but it's like, if you're willing to put your head down and actually be in this thing for 5, 10, 15 years, imagine the progress you can create. I went from broke, unemployed, $0, no savings, no plan at 25 years old to $1 million at 29. I don't know if people truly comprehend that, like how much you can grow and succeed and evolve your life if you you just pick something and decide and commit that you're going to go all in on it and put your head down and be willing to work and not get distracted and get so fucking obsessed, like what you could create with your life is actually insane. And you're sitting here thinking, oh, it's too late for me, or I haven't started, or I should have gotten bigger sooner, or I should have gotten on TikTok back in 2018. Yeah, we all should have done a lot of things, but the point is, what are you going to do now? What are you going to do next? What are you going to do with the time that you still have? The only people that say it's too late is the people that have already given up. So get your head in the game, decide, and start taking action today. And then just don't stop. Don't stop. Just keep going. Consistency beats talent every time. Number 5 is that cringe will make you millions. Literally. We all have to climb cringe mountain. It feels like a very long, steep, horrible journey at the start, but it's only cringe until it works. So you just have to keep going. You have to keep posting. You have to keep talking to the camera. You have to keep keep putting yourself out there. You have to keep filming in public. You have to keep doing all the things that feel horrifically, horrendously cringe until it doesn't bother you anymore, until you just literally don't care. And your family won't always get it. Like, people aren't going to understand right away. Your friends are gonna silently watch your posts and view your stuff and, and never engage and barely ever ask you about it. They're not going to be interested in your business. They're not, not going to ask you how it's going. They're going to pretend like they're not seeing what you're doing online, and then when they see you in person, just like act like you're the person that you've always been. And, and And that's just going to have to be something that you're going to have to deal with. You're going to have to take it on the chin. People are going to talk about you, and then one day you're going to be a millionaire and they're still going to be watching from a cubicle. And that's how it goes. So if anyone wants to call me cringe or think that I look cringe, I literally could care fucking less. I do not give a fuck. I do not give a flying fuck if you think that I'm cringe. I'm living in my dream house right now because of cringe. I'm driving my dream car. My Porsche is in the garage outside because of cringe. I'm planning my dream wedding because of cringe. I have everything that I've ever wanted because of cringe. I am everything that I ever wanted to be because I was willing to be cringe. I have better relationships, I have better friendships, I have a better understanding of myself, I have a stronger fucking mindset. I have everything that I have ever wanted internally, externally, everywhere because I was willing to be cringe. So trust and believe when I say I do not give single fuck if you think that I'm cringy. I think that you thinking I'm cringy is cringy. Okay, so you're cringe. You're fucking cringe. Cringe. Don't care. Number 6, I think some people are not going to like me for this one, but getting paid to exist is a lie. Okay? You get paid to work and your business is not going to do well unless you work hard at it, period. A soft life is something that you earn. It is not something that you just magically receive because you've decided that you don't have to do anything unless you want to intentionally marry rich or, you know, you have a trust fund or you you have some way to take care of yourself without working. A soft life is something that you earn, and it usually requires a hustle season first. And so a lot of the people that you see who are embodying or living, or at least showing the soft life on social media, are able to do so because they earned it, because they worked really hard for it. And now they have the money, the time, and the resources to be able to have teams and to delegate and to not have to do everything. But they built something. They built something meaningful. They built something that other people wanted to be a part of. They became the visionary, the CEO, the director, and now they have all these other people that can help execute on that vision. And so they get to continue to just be maybe the face of the brand and they can live this soft life. But they earned that. Trust and believe that does not come, that is not handed out. That is not a golden ticket in Willy Wonka's factory. Oh, and you get a soft life. It's not Oprah just giving out, oh, a soft life for you and a soft life for you and a soft life for you. Getting paid to exist exist is a marketing lie that people made up so that they could profit off of your stupidity and your laziness. That's a fact, and I'm standing on business with it. No one gets paid to exist. You get paid to solve problems, to do work, and to add value. And once you are good enough at those things and you scale those things and you delegate on those things, then you earn the prize of being able to choose a soft life if you so desire it. Number 7 is that being agreeable is the fastest way to be forgotten. Especially in the online landscape. So this is how I like to think about it. Instead of trying to get people to like you, which is what we consciously or unconsciously do a lot of times when we're posting on the internet, making content, it's like, oh, how can I make people resonate with my message? How can I get these people to like me, to know me, to trust me? And so we're trying to get people to like us, but instead of trying to get people to like you, what if you were actively trying to get the wrong people to dislike you? And I just think it works faster and it makes for better content. And it also is part of the thing that actually helps you build a cult-like following because you become so convicted and decisive in your values and what you support and what you don't and what you're for and what you're against that naturally you become this like magnetic force where people either love you or they hate you. They immediately are like, oh my God, this is amazing, I love this, she speaks her mind, you know, she— I'm super similar to her in the way that I think, or I love the way she sees the world, or she says stuff that I wish that I could but I'm way too scared, and so I really respect that. There's all these reasons why actually having an opinion— and it doesn't have to be anything like loud or crass or political, but actually just like having an opinion and standing on business with it— is polarizing. And when you polarize, you magnetize. As everybody knows, I always say polarize to magnetize. The only reason a magnet is magnetic is because it has the polar opposite ends. Okay, not to beat a dead horse, but that is what I've been fucking saying for years. So if you don't get it yet Hey, don't forget that every month we are picking a Listener of the Month to win $50 in cash just for showing love to the show. All you have to do is leave an epic review of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, screenshot the review before you hit submit, and DM that screenshot to us on Instagram @makeshifthappenpodcast. And that's it. I want to thank you for being such a loyal listener and show my appreciation by putting a little extra cash cash in your pocket. I know it's super easy not to do it, but every single rating and review seriously helps the show rank higher and reach new people, so we appreciate them more than you know. We'll announce the next winner at the end of the month and slide into your DMs if it's you, so keep an eye out and good luck. Love you guys, and thanks for supporting Makeshift Happen. Just— I'm gonna say it one more time. So if you want to be memorable and magnetic, you should be flirting with polarization way more often in your content, which means saying the shit that other people won't, owning your opinions, unleashing your true personality, trying to start and strike up interesting conversations, giving people something to disagree with. All of that is ways to be quote unquote polarizing. And I honestly think if you are trying not to offend people, like if that is your— the way that you approach content or your personality online is like, I just don't want to offend people. If you're trying not to offend people, that means that are choosing to stay hidden. And I highly doubt that that aligns with the goals that you actually have and the success that you actually want to create. So I would stop that because it's not going to make you known, it's not going to make you respected, and it's definitely not going to make you highly paid. And just because people are not disagreeing with you actively, it doesn't mean that you have a cult-like following. Because you might be like, oh well, everyone likes me, so that's amazing, that means I have a really good, you know, strong following that I have a bunch of influence over. Not necessarily. Like, it just means that you're an agreeable person. And again, being agreeable is the fastest way to be forgotten. So is it actually cult-like because no one's agreeing with you? No, probably not. There's no haters because you are just white noise. Like, you already know the saying is you can be highly liked or you can be highly paid, but you can't be both. So which one are you choosing? Number 8 is that talking on camera is one of the highest leverage skills that you can master. Oh my God, anybody, anybody can copy a 7-second trend, throw up some B-roll and put some text on top, or write a hook or copy a hook. Everyone's hooks are copied at this point. But your proprietary content, your face, your voice, and your unique perspectives, thoughts, ideas, stories— that is the thing that is going to make you become known. That is the thing that makes you different. It makes you stand out. It helps you build an actual personal brand, a cult-like following, the thing that everybody wants. We want this level of magnetism. We want this level of influence, not because we want to feel like we are superior or more important than other people, or, oh, look at me, I'm so influential. No, it's because most of us who are building purpose-led businesses is because we want to change people's lives. We want to help people live better. We want to help them get healthier. We want to help them make more money. We want to help them be happier. We want to help them wake up and not have anxiety. We want to help them get rid of these debilitating thoughts that are in their mind every day and take control of their mindset and see the world through a new lens. We want to help people fucking unleash the next level of what they're capable of so that they can actually achieve their true human potential. That's what doing. We're not here just selling courses because we're trying to get rich and be influential and have followers and, oh, look at me. No, for the women that listen to this podcast, it is so much fucking deeper than that. And if you're listening to this, you know that, you know, it's so much deeper than that. But in order for any of that to work, people have to know who the fuck you are. And that is only going to happen through talking to the camera, looking down the barrel of that lens and stating your opinions and being convicted and being confident and sharing your insights and telling your stories over and over and over again, knowing what it is that you want to become known for and rinsing and repeating that shit over and over and over again. This is a skill, and it is one of the highest leverage skills that you can master. It's not easy. It looks easy from the outside, but for anyone who has ever attempted to film themselves talking on camera, whether it's your iPhone for content or stories or a reel, or it's through a camera lens trying to record a podcast or a YouTube video, for anyone who's ever attempted this, you know that it is scary. It's terrifying. And as soon as you hit record, suddenly you can't remember anything that you wanted to say. Your personality vanishes. You become a totally different person. You have no humor anymore. You have no— you have suddenly a monotone voice. There's no more natural inflection. Like, everything just— it fucking disappears. If you've tried to do this, you know how long it takes to get comfortable and to be yourself and to actually be able to crack open all the different parts of your personality while you're looking at a camera. So don't take it lightly. Like, it truly is a skill, and the only way that you're going to get better at it is through repetition, putting in the reps, dude. Like, even doing this podcast, I used to do this just on the mic because podcasts— oh my God, it used to be an audio format, but now everything's video. Everything has to be hard for us now. Everything has to be video. When I first started recording this podcast on video, it was really hard. It totally changed my energy having a camera here with the red recording light, and I'm looking down the barrel and there's flip screen and I can see myself, it's like, oh my gosh, it shifts the energy so much. And so you can master it in one format, talking to the phone. Maybe you're really good at talking to your phone when you're recording even just Instagram stories. But then when it goes to something that's gonna be permanent on the feed, like a reel or a TikTok, you get a little bit more freezy and weird, or your personality shuts off a little bit more. Or maybe filming with an actual camera, like in a studio, or if you've ever done an in-person podcast, interviewed someone in person instead of virtually. Like, there's all these different levels to the game, and we're all trying our best to master them. And so if it's been hard for you, I just want to validate the fact that this truly is a skill, but you should keep working at it because it's one of the highest leverage ones that you can master. Not everyone is capable of this. Not everyone has the thick skin for it. Not everyone is willing to be consistent and repetitive enough to actually get good at this thing. And that is why they will fail. And that is why they will not have a personal brand. They will not have the influence, and they will not be able to ultimately make the impact on the world that they want to make. So keep talking to the camera. And lastly, number 9 is that no one cares. No one cares what you're creating. No one cares what you're posting. No one cares what you're selling. You have to make them care. Okay? We couldn't leave this episode without giving at least one marketing tip. So I really truly believe, and in reflection of my own journey, like, to truly excel in business, you need to be a skilled marketer, okay? Especially if you're building a personal brand, because at the start, you're going to have to wear all the hats, okay? So you don't get to just hire, you know, a corporate marketing team to manage you and figure everything out and do like— no, it's you. It's fucking you. So you need to be the skilled marketer. And when you understand buyer psychology, You can actually bend reality and engineer more demand in your audience with the words that you say and the frequency underneath them. That is the power of messaging. One, knowing the positioning of your offers, and two, understanding on a deep level how to message for the exact person that you want to buy that offer. Mwah, chef's kiss. You're gonna be successful. That is one of the best things that you could learn and that you could lean into because the truth is, and this is like a marketing rule, no one cares. I always tell my clients, you should be thinking whenever you're making an offer, writing a sales page, making a post, writing a caption, doing literally anything, you should think to yourself, if I were the person viewing this, why would I give a shit? Why would I give a single shit? And with our squirrel brains and our limited attention, like, why would anyone care? Why would someone care about this? How is it going to help them? What selfish desire do they have that it is going to solve? This is why I teach anecdotal specificity, primal desires, all the things that I teach inside of Million Dollar Messages. So, so important. But if you guys really want to master talking to the camera, yapping style content, getting more consistent, engineering more demand in your audience, building a cult-like brand, that is exactly what we are doing inside of my upcoming 21-day intensive. It's called Become Uncopyable. If you're listening to this episode live, then we are kicking off today, but there is still time to join us. You can jump in at any time. It's gonna be lifetime access, incredible trainings, coaching with me. I mean the whole thing. It's going to be so much fun. I'm really, really excited about this experience because it's just very different than a lot of other things in my world. If you've purchased other things or courses like this is just— it's totally new and it's so highly relevant to the space and the direction that everything's going in right now in the online space and being relevant in 2026 and having a successful personal brand. So I'm very, very excited about it. If you're interested, just take a look at the show notes below this episode. There will be a link for you to join Become Uncopyable. Jump in with us. It's such a great price, and I'll see you guys inside. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please leave a rating or review below and make sure that wherever you're listening to the podcast, you are subscribed. It helps the show so, so much, but not many people that listen to the show are actually subscribed. So check the app wherever you're listening to this right now and hit that follow button or subscribe. It really, really helps us. Thank you guys so much, and we'll talk to you next week. Bye! If you loved this episode, make sure to check out the show notes where I've linked a few similar episodes I know you're also going to love. You'll find them under the similar episodes section in the description down below with direct links so you can dive in and start listening right away or add them to your queue for later. 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