005: Leaving It All Behind For More with Allison Maslan

Hi, I'm Natalie Jill, fat loss expert turned high performance coach. When odds are stacked against us, how do we shift and create everything from nothing? How do we level up when we aren't feeling it yet or we've had a big setback? On this podcast, I'll be talking to some of the most inspiring and courageous men and women on this planet who at their worst learned how to achieve success greater than they ever dreamed possible. Leveling up and creating everything from nothing. When Allison Maslin was a young mom, she was at the height of a self made advertising career. Making lots of money and living large. She was fully living the dream. Although she appeared uber successful and was admired for thriving at such a young age, she was continually stressed out, working around the clock and not feeling like she was living in her purpose and she was anything but happy. That stress and hustle brought on a terrible freak car accident one day while she was in route to pick our daughter up from daycare. Taking forced time to recover, heal and think, she decided to walk away from that which no longer served her. Allison walked away from a successful business, a marriage, all of her funds, and she walked right into a new identity as a broken single mom. All Alison was left with was a desire for more. Today, Allison shares with us how she has repeatedly used visualization to manifest what she truly wants in life. She shares how she has built empires, saying yes and figuring out the how later. She shares while she believes asking for help is a secret to success and why she believes that facing something scary and getting to the other side, it is always where the abundance lies. Alison chooses not to accept failures as an end, but rather as a stepping stone to leveling up and creating everything from nothing. I'm so excited today because I've got my friend, amazing guest Allison Maslin, who I'm so happy to bring her to today because she's a perfect example of somebody who has created everything from nothing and she's done it several times. She's really an expert in coming up with these ideas, creative things and not only doing it for herself and her own businesses, but in motivating other people to do the same. So thank you so much for being here, Alison.

Oh Natalie, I am so excited to be here. This is going to be fun.

So most people look at you as this incredible success. I mean, my gosh, they can google you online or look at your social media and you just have that wow factor. You're such a huge success. But I know it wasn't always like, like that for you. And at Various times, you were not considered a success, at least to yourself. And I'd love to know where you were and who you were before you were such a success.

Yeah. I think sometimes you look at people and they're out doing amazing things, and you think, gosh, it looks so easy for them. Of course they can do it. But it's like that 20 year overnight success story, you know, lots of uphill climbs and lots of fails. So just a little bit of my backstory. I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, and my father built the largest women's clothing store chain in the United states. And from 1955 to the early 80s. And so I did grow up with the. This view of someone that took something from nothing and was extremely innovative and bold and willing to get out there and put something into the world. So I saw that by example. But what my family really believed was, you have to do this on your own. And I'm so grateful for that because I feel like if things are made easy for someone, then they won't fight for it. Right. I feel like that the biggest growth comes when your back is against the wall.

Yeah. It's interesting you say that, because I think so many parents, we do that wrong. We do that wrong. We want to give so much to our kids, and then it's easy for them, and we're creating the opposite.

Yeah. I think that it's actually when you give a child a trust fund, what is the impetus for them to do things that are scary? Right. Because, you know, they have that cushion. But anyway, I started my first business when I was 19. I was doing personalized greeting cards for birthdays and anniversaries. And I was making like $25 a pop, and I thought, oh, my God, this is it. I'm going to be a poet. You know? And so I remember going to my dad and saying, dad, I found my calling. I'm going to be a poet. And he was like, oh, Allie, that is just so great, you know? But do you know that most poets don't become known until they're dead? And I was like, God, dad, that's like a real buzzkill. And so anyway, I thought, okay, I gotta make this thing work. And so one thing that I learned early on was that when people ask you to do something, even if you don't know how to do it, just say yes, and then figure out how to do it. And so people would say to me, well, Alison, I don't want poems, but do you do brochures? Do you do television? Commercials. Can you do radio commercials? And, you know, people were just asking me and I said, oh, yeah, absolutely, I can do this. I had no idea, Natalie, no idea how to do any of this stuff. So I would. I would come out of their office going, oh, my God, how the heck am I going to do this?

And.

But I knew early on that the secret was to ask for help. And so I would hang out at the TV station. I mean, I was really young then. I said, just, could you teach me everything I need to know? Or I would hang out at the printer, like in the back where they would run the presses. I say, teach me everything I need to know about printing. And this is really how I learned. And so by the time I was 25, I had built a full service advertising public relations firm.

Wow. And you did this because you didn't say no. You. Because you just said yes and figured it out later and then were a total student.

It sounds like, oh, I totally did it. Flying by the seat of my pants. I mean, I remember I got this order from Charlotte Russe, remember the clothing chain? And I walked out of there and they had agreed to do a brochure with me. I'd never done a brochure. I had no. I didn't even know what one really looked like. Remember calling my brother going, do you know how to take pictures? Seriously? I was so clueless. But anyway, I worked hard, and I knew that if I made a commitment to somebody, I would figure out how to do it. And so I ended up getting clients like Ben and Jerry's and Supercuts and Allstate and these national accounts. And the. The agency that I was building just really took off and I was making a lot of money. I was flying all over the country, and I was really learning as I went along. But the thing is that I really didn't know how to build the foundation of a business. I didn't know the logistics. I didn't know how to delegate. And I was working 24, 7. I mean, I literally had no life. My daughter was about a year and a half to two years at that time. And I was miserable. I mean, I literally had created this, you know, 2,000 pound ton weight on my chest, and I would be up at three in the morning trying to write these radio scripts and things like that. And I just thought, wow, what's wrong with you? You're making money, you're not grateful? You know, get over yourself. But I was so stressed out all of the time that I became. I felt like I Was suffocating in my life.

Why do you think you were saying yes to so many things? Was it a people pleasing thing? Was it. What was that about? What was it just I've got to make money at all costs or what was the thought process behind it at the time?

Yeah, that's such a great question. Because I think early on I thought it's all about making money. That's what I thought. I thought that the business was about making money. So I kind of lost myself in the business. I didn't feel that emotional connection and I felt like I was only as good as my last campaign. You know, I mean, the advertising, marketing business, it can be a real cut throat business. Right. And I was learning more about myself that I really needed more of that deep connection. And why did I keep saying yes? I think somewhere in my thinking back then that I would be crazy to say no. Right. Like if some. I didn't really now I. Now I'm very clear and aligned with what are the right projects to take on and not. But I was young then and inexperienced, of course.

So that was your first real taste of success. You started with these greeting cards at age 19. You quickly we're saying yes to everything. Learning, becoming a student. You grew this to this hugely successful agency. Had you ever created a vision at that time or were you just sort of going with what people were asking of you?

Yeah, yeah. No, real clear vision. But it was exciting too, you know, that I was able to get these big accounts and we did great work for them. And what I really prided on myself then and now was that I bent over backwards for my clients. Like if we made a commitment to something, we were absolutely going to follow through. And that's the number one value or value of our company now is do what you say you're gonna do and follow through. But what ended up happening was that I had a horrible car accident from the stress and not paying attention because I was worrying about all of these things that I had going on. And I ended up just being straight with you here. I ran over myself with my car.

How did you do that?

Well, let's see. I am a klutz, but I was picking up my daughter from daycare and I was racing to get her. I realized that I was late. And you never want to be late picking up your child from daycare. And I jump out of the car and I noticed the car started rolling down the driveway. And this is something you should never ever do. I did the superwoman dive into the car. To try to stop it.

Oh, no.

Yeah. And the door swung around and pulled me underneath the car.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. So I had a 4,000 pound car run over me. Whoa. And I survived that. When that happens, if you don't wake up, I don't know what to say. But that was my biggest.

Yeah.

Life. Wake up call.

So when you had this wake up call, what was it? What did you learn? What changed?

Well, I knew in that moment when I survived that I still had my legs, that that was it. Like, I don't care how much money I'm making, I can't live like this anymore. And, you know, I kept saying to people, I want to quit. I want to do something else. And they said, alison, you can't quit. You created such a success. But in that moment, I knew that if I didn't make a change then that I may never make a change. And so I walked away from the business with nothing. And I walked away from a really difficult marriage at the same time that was also contributing a lot to a lot of my stress. And set out into the world as a single mom. No idea what I was gonna do with my life, no idea how I was gonna make any money. And honestly, I was so excited and, you know, happier than I had been in years.

Okay, so I want to talk about that because that's. This is key right here. So one of the worst times in your life, you walked away from. You have a successful business, you walk away with it, from it. Literally nothing. You decide your marriage isn't working, you're out of that. You had this car accident, this big epiphany, and where so many people would view this as my world is ending right now. You said you were happy, so what did that. Where did that come from? And how did you. How did you shift into the.

I think when your desire for change becomes stronger than your fear, then there's no turning back. And for me, the intensity became so strong there that I thought, I don't care how afraid I am and how uncertain I am. I can't live in this stuck place anymore. And that really fueled me and not to worry about what other people thought. I mean, even, you know, my family, my close family who love me but were afraid for me, thought I was crazy for walking away.

So you had a drive then. But it was a different drive than other people would have expected of you. So it was a drive to. You didn't want to be stuck.

I didn't want to be stuck. Miserable. I mean, life's Too short to have one day, you know.

Now, when this was happening, did you view it as a failure or what did you view it as?

No, I didn't view it as a failure. I viewed. I really viewed it as actually a big accomplishment. I think that's how I look at it now is that I knew that, you know, I was willing to walk away from something that didn't align with my spirit. And, you know, I wanted to be congruent in my head, in my heart, in my mind, in my actions, and I wasn't. So even though I was doing good work and everything was well above board and I was learning all of these things, it just wasn't aligned with my heart. And that's different for everybody. But I'm grateful for going through that because I learned so much about life. I obviously got a great education in marketing, and that has served me for the rest of my business career. But for me, it's not about the money.

Now, you've had many listeners don't know this yet, and I know this because I'm your friend, but you've had many different careers and many different visions at different times. So I'm interested in that, in that pattern, too. Like what drove you to your next decision and then from there on to something else. Is it a desire to learn or what is it as different visions at different times in your life?

Yeah, I mean, I love business, so it wasn't a matter of when everything fell apart. Wasn't that I didn't love business. I just didn't. I didn't feel I was on the right path. And I took a year before starting the next business, and I really examined what was working, what was I doing right and what was I doing wrong. I studied other companies. I really began building a blueprint for the type of businesses that I wanted to run and operate.

Now, when you said earlier, I walked away from nothing with the business. Were you financially okay at this time or were you taking this year in financial hardship?

No, I had nothing.

Nothing?

Yeah, nothing. I mean, I might have had a little bit, but honestly, there were times where I had, like, $2 really, to my name. Yeah. I mean, I could have gotten food stamps at the time.

Wow.

And I was going through a really difficult divorce at the same time with, you know, I was fighting for, you know, what am I trying for custody? Not for custody, but, you know, I was trying to get child support payments.

Yes.

And I. And that wasn't happening. And, you know, I mean, I have. I don't harbor any of that, that's, that's long gone. My daughter's father, and he's a good person, but, you know, we really had a rough go of it that time. And so. But honestly, I'm grateful for that time because it pushed me to get out there and make something else happen. And I was given all of these signs from the universe that I was on the right path. I remember. I remember I was parked in my car, I was in Del Mar, I was at the beach. I closed my eyes and I was like trying to visualize, you know, what I needed into my life. And I wanted to go back to school to learn homeopathy, which I became a homeopathic physician. And I was one for 20 years. But I didn't have the extra $6,000 to do the education. And I had asked my mom for the money and she said no because she just wanted me to get a job. And so I'm sitting there and someone ran into my car and I ended up getting the insurance payment, which was the exact amount that I needed to finish the school.

So you manifested it. You manifested it totally.

I didn't care if the car got fixed. I drove around with a smashed car. Wow.

That is some serious intervention. I love that. I love it. So you're sitting there visualizing what you need, what you want, and it just happens. That's incredible. I hear those stories over and over again. When you're super clear of what your vision is and what you need and what you want, how everything just aligns to make that happen.

It happens all the time. You know, you just have to open your eyes to that. So, wow.

So, okay, so you manifest this money, you go to homeopathic school and you. Do you now have a vision? Is your, what is your vision from there? To be a home? What was that? What did you want to create now?

Okay, so when I was going through this challenging time, I actually went to a homeopathic physician. And I had never experienced anything like that. I grew up in Oklahoma, Middle America. My mom took me to the doctor for everything. And I had such a transformational, life changing experience going to this homeopath that I dove in and I really wanted to learn more about it. It was just for my own interests. And I thought, this is it. I want to learn homeopathy, I want to become a homeopathic physician. So that was really my next big focus. And I had a practice for 20 years. And during that 20 year span, this is a long time, I also had several other companies that I built on the Side. Including the largest homeopathic college in the country.

Oh, my gosh. Okay. It's like, you have this. It's fun to you. It's fun to create, find new things and put things into it and create. It sounds like that you truly are a business creator that you like, that you have. I do, almost that.

I love it. I absolutely love it. It's fun for me. I know that I have to be aligned in my head and my heart. You know, that was my big takeaway from that past experience. And in every single business that I've had, I've been super, super passionate about it. And then there was a time for me to move on, you know? And so I've sold four of the companies that I've built, including the homeopathic college. And so now what I do in the work that I do, my team and I, we mentor and business owners all over the world. And I love it because now I get to help them, which is so.

Perfect for you, because you get to see what you were doing over and over again for so many other people and teach them, which is a true.

Exactly, Exactly.

Okay. So, Allison, I have so many questions now because you're wired so uniquely, and I. And I love this, and I. And I want to learn so much more. So I guess one, you. You've had many pivotal moments. It sounds like that's made you shift or change. But I want to know, how do you view failures personally? Because I know you've had to have had some failures, too.

Of course, I have failures all the time. And I think what depends on what you define as a failure. You know, I have a new book coming out called Scale or Fail coming out in October. And I said that because to me, failure is. You can look at it as the, you know, the end and like, oh, my God, the sky is falling, as you said. Or you can look at it as just a stepping stone. It's either a block or it's a stepping stone to something greater. And I think that we have to fall so that we can figure out what is the right fit. Like, if I hadn't had that major breakdown in that earlier time in my life, I. I would have maybe been in this status quo, kind of mediocre limbo place, and that would have never pushed me to say, I can't take this anymore.

Do you ever. Have you ever had a failure where you did get stuck in the woe is me for any period of time?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, my husband seen me cry at times. You Know, let me see. Like, I remember when I was doing my first event, my first big event. So this was like almost 10 years ago. And if anybody has, you know, done a massive event before, it will stretch you like nothing else. And I was supposed to have a minimum of 100 people in the seats for this three day event. And I was at the time spending probably about $150,000 on this event. Okay, okay, That's a big stretch, right?

Yes. For a first event, 100 people. Yes.

Right. Plus you have to put all of this content together and you know you're going to be vulnerable. You're on stage, like, you really have to make this happen. The other piece to it is you are signing a contract to the hotel that you're going to feel fill a certain amount of rooms. And I think like six weeks out from the event, I had 20 tickets sold and almost, you know, just a sprinkle of room. So then I was going to have to tack on, you know, I was so terrified. I was crying, like, this is too hard. I can't do this. And my husband's like, that's it. You're not doing these events again. You know, this is too much stress.

I was a wreck.

Little did he know I was a wreck. And so I called Barry, who does our events, has worked with me all these years. I said, I can't do this. You know, can I get, can I, can we cancel from the hotel? She said, allison, you're going to have to pay them another $20,000 if you cancel. I'm like, oh, my God. Okay, I'm going to do this. This is the universe saying, look, you have to do the thing that is most scary to you. And so once I knew there was no turning back, I mean, I was practically soliciting downtown, like, hey, begging people please come to my event. You know, I was going to put like plastic blow up dolls in all the seats. You know, I mean, this is what was going on in my mind. Like, how do I. This is going to be embarrassing. You know, no one's showing up. We ended up eking a hundred people in the room. I don't even know how it happened. And so I get up on stage and probably 10 minutes into the event I'm up there and I just felt like, wow, this. I'm supposed to be here. This is supposed to happen. Like, I could see the looks of the people, their faces and their hearts opening up and the excitement that was happening. And I was getting so excited. And, you know, my husband came up to me the second day into the event, and he looked at me with tears in his eyes, and he said, now I understand why you work so hard. Now I understand that this is what you're meant to do. And that was the best part of the whole, you know, because he really became aligned with. With my mission. And. And that was it.

That I. What I love, too, is that. So just like you said, you had 20 tickets sold. You. You could have ended it right there and said, failure, I have to pay another $20,000. Done. Why? I had no business in this. And that would be your story, and people would accept it, right? I tried to do events. Didn't work. Yes, but you hustled. You were clear on your vision. You enrolled people in going, how I can. I wish I could have seen you on the street enrolling people to this event, but that's incredible. And I love when people turn their perceived failure into this crazy opportunity. And I bet you've never had an event problem again like that.

No, not. I mean, you know, they're always. They always have their challenges and so forth, but what happens is that when you face something really scary and you get to the other side of that, you know, that's where all the abundance is. That's where all the joy is. That's on the other side of fear.

Yeah.

You know, and. And the rewards, I truly believe, are equal, equally energetically equal to the level of fear.

I absolutely believe that. Yes. Yes. It's. It's always the ying and the yang like that. It's always equal. You're right.

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. And that's. That's why I love, you know, the trapeze, which, you know that. I do.

Yes. That's an interesting point. I hadn't planned on asking about, but that. Did you. Did you all know that Alison also is a trapeze artist? She is. She has it built in her backyard. Interesting fact about you. What got you into that?

Well, I was a gymnast growing up. I loved gymnastics, and my gymnastics coach actually built me a set of uneven bars in my backyard. Now I am really dating myself. But he made them out of plastic tubing, and so I used to swing on them, you know, as a kid, just hours and hours on end. And in my early 30s, I actually went to Club Med. I broke up with a guy, and I went there to just get over him. And I'm walking around, and there was this trapeze there. I looked up, I go, oh, my God. Like, you can actually do this. And so I got up There. The very first time I felt like I had gone home. I was so comfortable swinging and that on the bars. And then I said, I've got to have this in my life. And I found a five generation circus family in LA called the Guy Onas. And I started driving from San Diego to LA every single week for now, 20 years. Incredible. Yeah. So I love it.

All right, I got a lot of questions for you. I want to know about some of your habits and how you handle some daily stuff. Like I want to know, do you ever have days that you have self doubt or you feel down because you're always. You appear so confident all the time and so collected and together. So do you ever have those days where you're, you're just feeling down, like, don't talk to me. I'm doubting myself today, definitely.

I mean, I'm human, so I have fear, I can get down, I can cry. I mean, I'm, I'm very sensitive, actually. I'm very moved by, you know, people that are hurt. And that's why I was a healer for so long. I love helping people. You know, if I used to, like you were talking about earlier, I used to take on too many things. And so when I get extremely overwhelmed and feel like I'm losing myself to, you know, all of the demands, I'm not happy. And so I, you know, and I've had burnout over my lifetime, you know, probably three or four times. That was pretty extreme. And so, you know, you finally, after you get hit on the head with a sledgehammer so many times, it's like, okay, Allison, like, you know, you keep choosing to do this, so maybe you want to take care of yourself better. And so now I can sense that before I get to that place of burnout. But you know, in those times I don't want to get out of bed. But now I learned to just fill my life with things that I love. And if anything feels negative or I don't like people that are negative around me. I don't really do things that I don't like to do anymore out of guilt or obligation. I just don't do it. And I'm, you know, the things that I do in my life are from true choice, even if it's difficult decisions. Yeah. So I've had, I've had to even. I had a friendship that I had to end a while back, someone that I was friends with for a long time. And that was super, super hard to do. But I just, it just brought me down constantly.

So you're really in touch with how you feel around people or things or situations. Does that help you with adapting to bad situations? Is it that you're able to not even get yourself into those bad situations for the most part now because you're so in tune with that?

Yeah, I think it's. I've learned to discern, you know, what is, what's a good situation. I mean, you don't always know. You know, I'm not a. I'm not a mind reader. Yeah, I definitely can sense that, like, you know, I had hired somebody for my company. I'd actually moved her from another city and, you know, it was a pretty big expense. And within three weeks, I knew this was going to be a disaster. It just wasn't the right fit. And it was super hard, but I had to let her go. And you know, really hard. Like my least favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. But I just knew this was going to be misery, not just for me, but for the whole company. And so I just, I feel like life is challenging enough, you know, why add more? Why add negativity? I mean, you can find negativity. Just turn it on the news. I don't need to bring that into my life.

So what you just brought up about you had somebody had moved, you'd help move and they came to your company and you had to make this tough decision. I think a lot of people get trapped in that people pleasing moment. And what holds them back, what might be in their gap sometimes, is that they are so worried about pleasing that one person that's causing trouble or that it holds them back. How do you stay committed to your vision and how are you able to put that aside and do that, make those tough choices and do that?

Yeah, I mean, I was the biggest people pleaser there is. I'm a middle child, you know, I mean, I was a healer. It's like, let's make everybody happy. And you know, along the way I just really realized that you can't, you cannot make everybody happy. And you will lose your soul if you continue to try, you know, and the other thing I learned is you have to go towards the elephant in the room. You have to embrace conflict. And I don't mean you need to create conflict. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, you know, don't sweep it under the rug. If there's something that you see that you need to address, address it, you know, and because everyone's thinking it, but nobody's talking about it. And then it becomes bigger than it is. So. Plus, I'm an Aries. I don't know, you know, astrology, but so is my husband and my daughter. So, like, we all know where we sit, stand. There's nothing that we hold in for too long. And I'm like that in my company, too. So if there's an issue, let's fix it, let's address it and then move on. And I'm like that with my clients, too. Like, if something's bothering you, anything, please just tell me and then we'll figure it out.

That's an amazing skill because so many people end up gossiping about it or creating another story in their mind about it, and it just makes the problem worse. So I love that you just shared that.

I don't have patience for that.

I love it. Is there. Do you have a go to when you are feeling that stress or stagnant or a problem is coming up? Like, how do you reset yourself? Do you have a way to reset your mind or to shift yourself that you go to?

Yeah, I do. Well, a few ways, in fact. I was feeling this way the other day. I was just feeling down. And sometimes I. I don't know if you ever experienced this, but it was the full moon and I found myself kind of feeling down and I'm like, what's wrong with me? There's nothing that's bothering me. I looked up, it was the full moon. So anyway, I turn on music and I have a bulldog, Daisy. She's 11. She is my soul dog. And we dance together. So I turn on the music and we dance. And that, like, shifts my energy. It's kind of funny, actually.

Why aren't you putting this stuff on social media? I want to.

I know, I know. Well, I don't know. I have to get better with the technology to capture these moments and put up the video. And the other thing is that I'm very into fitness and exercise. I've had the same personal trainer for 20 years, Marcus, and he kicks my butt. And then, you know, the trapeze, you know, I really think so. I think the theme there is when you get down, you have two choices. You can allow yourself to sort of sink in to this, you know, quicksand and just, you know, just melt into that. Or you can say, okay, I'm going to shift this energy. I'm going to do something about it. So I get up, I force myself to move, even if I don't feel like it. And that just. It shifts the energy and it gets it gets me out of it, and it also clears my head so then I can come back and go, okay, what am I going to do about it?

So on a typical day, Allison, how do you. Do you have a routine on how you start your day?

I do. I'm not a morning person. And I know all of the success books say you're supposed to get up at like, 5 and go for a ride and all that stuff.

I don't get up at 5 and go for a run.

Okay, good. My whole family, we are. It is. We are genetically night owls. We could do conference calls with my mom, my sister, my brother at like, 2am we could. We don't, but we laugh about it. So if. But I need eight hours. So if I go to bed at one, then I need to sleep till nine. So everybody knows that. So first of all, I just make sure I get my sleep, and then I get up in the morning. I always exercise. And whether I'm working to work out with a trainer, I'm just going to go run some laps. So I start my day with that. And then the other thing that I do, I have this area in my house. I look out over the garden and I sit there and I just count all the things that I'm grateful for. And I do that every single day. And, you know, I've got lots of many, many blessings that I'm truly, truly grateful for. And then I visualize what I want the day to roll out. Like. Like, who are the people that I want to meet? What are the results that I want to create? How do I want to feel? And that might be just for a couple of minutes, but those two minutes make a massive impact.

Do you really ground yourself in what's coming up in the day? What's going to happen? Do you do these things before you look at your phone, before you check email, before you look at any work stuff?

I do. I used to not. I used to roll over, grab the phone, and start in with the email. But I learned that that really sucked me in to stuff that I wasn't mentally ready to deal with yet.

What is it about those dang phones and nightstands? I mean, it is just so addictive. Right? I mean, everyone wants to do that.

Yeah. We all know how bad it is. So not healthy. It really is. And, you know, if you can. If you can't wait half an hour to do that, then something's wrong. Right? Something's wrong with your life. So, yeah. And so that's really what I do. And then I Touch base with my team. And we, I have an office in, in Cardiff, and then I also do some work at home, too. But I feel, I love what I'm doing and I love all of the, the team that I work with. I have an incredible team of business mentors who've also run big companies, and we really work together to make a difference in the world outside of work.

Allison, who do you surround yourself with?

I surround myself with. Well, my. The best friend that I've had was my college roommate. And so we've been friends for over 30 years. And she. She's not had a business, but she is one of the strongest, most savvy women that I've ever met. And I, you know, the friends that I have are. Are people that go after their dreams, that are, they're movers and shakers. I mean, this idea of the five people you surround yourself with most, you are the sixth, you know, so if you're surrounding yourself with five negative people, I promise you, you're the sixth negative one. And so you have to, you know, that willingness to step out. Yeah. So I put a lot of time in relationship building. And so it's like people like you, Natalie, and people that are driven and who have great integrity, who are passionate, and above all, really want to make a difference in the world, in their communities and the people around them.

And this is such a common thing. I don't know that I've interviewed anybody that is successful that doesn't say some version of that about surrounding themselves, yourself with those people. And that's how you create that, too, by being around that.

Yeah.

I'm curious. A couple of things. One, do you have a favorite quote?

Yes. It's by Henry David Thoreau.

Okay.

All good things are wild and free.

All good things are wild and free. And that is you, for sure. Especially on copies. Especially on the coffees.

Yes. Yes. Well, you know, I believe we live in a world where you can create anything and everybody is born with these amazing gifts. But you have to be willing to step into your own boldness and be courageous to embrace those gifts and say, you know, I'm worthy of sharing these with the world. These gifts have value, and to me, that's what gives you the freedom.

Alison, I have a question that I ask everybody and do you have. I would love three pieces of advice. Like three pieces of. If you had to just give three tips to someone that is in that rock bottom place right now that either their business has failed, they're going through what you went through years Ago with, with the marriage dissolving, they're in a hardship. Even if things were working and they've now crashed down, what would you tell them right now to help them level up?

Well, number one, I would say you deserve to be happy, which seems so basic, but I think people forget that, you know, we're so busy taking care of everybody around us, Right?

Yeah.

Especially women, your caretakers, and you can lose yourself in all of that responsibility. So, number one, you deserve to be happy. So if you are in a difficult situation, you can change that. You can. I mean, you can either accept it or you can say, I'm worth more and I'm going to make. I'm going to make a change. There are people around that will support you. Number two, I would say that your passions are worthy and there are people out there that need them, need your gifts. So share them with the world. And if you have dreams and you haven't realized them yet, what I would say is put your head towards those dreams and walk towards them every single day. And don't let anyone tell you that they can't be done.

I love that. Walk towards them. Alison, tell us about. You've got a book that you're super passionate about that's coming out right now, and you've got a gift for listeners. Can you tell us about that?

I do, I do. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. This is my second book. My first book came out in 2010, so it's time. And it's called Scale or Fail. And what that means, really, what scaling is, is taking your dreams and multiplying them. You know, how do you grow things, you know, big. I'm all about the big leaps. Right? Yeah. And the fail is, like I said, it's an opportunity for growth. So if anybody that is listening is saying, you know what, you either have a business or you say, gosh, I really, I have a passion and I would like to make more. I would like to make some money at it. Whether it's a side hustle or it's something that you want to do full time, this book really gives you the roadmap. It gives you the framework to create a vision. You know, scale is an. An acronym for strategic vision. And then the C is the cash. How do you create cash? A is alliance of the team. How do you pull people together to help you put this dream out into the world? L is being a leader. And you know, you need to be a leader in all areas of your life. Even as a parent, you need to be leaders. And then how do we execute? You know, it's all talk. It's fantasy until we put it into action. So that's execution. So. Yeah. So it's called Scale or fail. It's the only book on scaling by a woman. So I feel really proud of that. And was endorsed by a couple of the Shark Tank, Damon John and Barbara Corcoran.

Can't wait to read this.

Yeah. So.

And you mentioned a free gift and also where people can find you. Where can they find you?

Yeah. So the book you can get@scaleorfail.com okay. And the free gift that I have is@alisonmaslin.com Natalie.

Okay, great.

You have the link in case people don't know how to spell my name. But what it is is I have a five video training for any of you that have a passion and you want to know how to turn that into revenue. I love that you want to put it, put it out into the world. Even if it's a non profit, you know, you have to. Yeah, that is a business too. So that's my free gift. And it's just, it's got handouts and it's extremely thorough. You could, by the end of that, you can create your own income.

Incredible. So super generous, free gift. Thank you very much. Where can people find you online? Your website's allisonmaslin.com and then.

Yes.

What about your social handles?

Yeah. So for Instagram it's lisonmaslin. Super easy. Twitter islisonmaslin and for Facebook, it's actually Alison's fans.

Okay. I won't ask about that one. Allison fans. Yes. I love it. Okay.

Yeah.

Thank you so much, Alison. This has been awesome. I got a lot. I've been five pages of notes of wisdom I took listening to you. So thank you so much for doing this. I love everything you shared. It's amazing.

This is so fun. I thank you for the opportunity. I really hope I made an impact out there.

Thanks for leveling up with us today. Please share this episode if you found it helpful so others can join in. And don't forget to hit that subscribe so you don't miss out on future shows. And if you would leave me a five star review, I appreciate those so much. I read all of them and it's how I know that I'm giving you information that you find valuable. And come interact with me over on Instagram @nataliejofit. I read all the direct messages and comments over there. Make it a great day. Creating everything from nothing.

Sam.