025: Controlling Your Thoughts and Taking Big Action with Carol Elizabeth

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. Overweight and feeling lost, my friend, mom of three, Carol Elizabeth found herself in a spot she didn't quite expect. She was in her mid-30s and she felt that she had lost herself and didn't quite understand why. I mean, after all, she was supposed to be happy. She was living what looked like the dream and what appeared to be a happy family life. But deep down, she felt something was missing and she felt like she wasn't truly living her passion or purpose. Going through a divorce was painful as it happened, but she quickly learned the why. You see, it was that event that helped her turn her pain into purpose. Starting out by controlling her thoughts, her actions, and ultimately her diet and her movement, she started shifting into a whole new Carol. Thriving in her new body, mind and spirit. She decided to take yet another leap, stepping on stage to compete well into her late 40s. And she turned that into multiple successful businesses. Defying the odds, Carol became a network marketing millionaire, champion, fitness competitor, coach, and host of the ever successful podcast so Much More. Please welcome my friend Carol Elizabeth today and hear how she continues to level up and create everything from nothing. Carol, thank you so much for joining me and being here. I love it when I get my friends to come on and share what they've created, how they've created everything from nothing.

Oh, my pleasure. I just love that we're doing this together. It makes me smile to think of the journey.

Yes. So a little background, guys. Carol is a friend of mine, but we literally met online years ago and our lives have really paralleled each other. We've got similar rock bottom journey of how we got into fitness nutrition in the space there. And then we have a similar story on how we started creating more outside of fitness and nutrition. But I want to dive specifically into Carol's. I'm so Carol, I've been dying to get into your mindset of, like, how you did things and like how you were able to change your mindset and create what you've created over and over again. Are you game with that?

Sure. Let's do it. Yay.

Okay. So people look at you right now as this incredible success. They see your podcast is thriving. They see you online with your challenges successful, and you have a few different businesses that you're running successfully. And I know, and I'm about to share with everybody here, that it was not always like that for you. You've had a lot of bumps along the way. I'd love for you to take us back to who you were when I met you before, or you were hitting it so successfully in business.

Yeah. It's just so funny that this is even where we're at right now, but when you and I met, it was really kind of a rebirth for me that I didn't even know that I needed or wanted. I mean, in my life, like, backing up. I had a great upbringing, and I always just did enough. I was a gymnast, and I only just did enough. And I quit when I was, you know, seeing any success in that, because boys and teenage hood. And then I went to university. I'm up in Canada, and I always just did enough to get by. And then I spent some time doing nothing. And then I wanted a degree, and I just did enough. And then I got jobs where, again, I just did enough. I never pushed myself. I never knew what I was capable of. I was really just kind of chilling. And my main goal was to be a mother. And I remember at 27 years old, writing in a journal, you know, I'm 27, and I don't have a boyfriend, and how am I going to have any babies? And looking back, I recognize that was my first time. I started journaling and manifesting because here I meet this guy and, you know, quickly started dating, marriage, babies, and I had three kids in three years. And I really put everything into that. And I lost my. Myself in every aspect of health and mindset. And I, you know, I always used to say my. I'm fat because of my kids. And everyone would, you know, the other moms, we'd all be like, yeah. And then I'm like, no, I'm just making horrible choices. I'm sitting on the couch. I'm not doing anything. And so I had a moment when we met or before we met that, okay, happiness must come with the abs. Happiness must come with the bodies of the people I'm looking at in the fitness magazines. So I set on a journey to get that body. That was the intention. And I started changing how I ate. And then I did a bucket list fitness competition. So when we met, I had. I had gotten the body. I started to do Some fitness, competing. I had gone through a divorce. I got to a point of a place where I thought I was supposed to have happiness, but I still didn't have it. So.

Okay, so back up just a minute because I want to make sure I really understand this. So 27 is when you kind of put this initial vision in place of, I want. This is what I think I want. I want to be married. I want to have kids. You dove full into to that life. You know, you got married, you had the kids. And so what type of a span was it where you felt like you.

Sort of lost yourself, really, at around 32, 33, 34.

Okay.

I just was, you know, doing all the mom stuff and trying to keep up with the Joneses. We lived in a neighborhood. It was really financially, you know, wealthy. You had to have all of this stuff. You had to have the nannies. And none of it felt right to me. And I just really pulled into just being a mom, and I love my kids, but I remember having this moment where I felt really guilty that I wanted more than just being a mom. And I didn't really get that then. That's kind of a.

That's interesting. And I know people listening can relate to that. Like, you feel, like, not complete or not happy, and you feel like, but I should be, because I've got. I am a mom, and I am married, and I've got all these things. And it's like that emptiness is just lurking.

I felt horrible that I thought that I wanted more. I felt really horrible. I really. That's probably one of the reasons I was eating a lot of food, too, and just kind of numbing it out. Like, no, this is great. You get to sit on the couch when they're napping and watching Days of our Lives. Like, why would you want anymore? So I just kind of stuff stuffed those feelings away, not knowing about inner callings or intuition. Just.

It's so interesting because there's a lot of women that do this, and it's like the secret they don't share that they're feeling this way. So they all think they have to act a certain way. Right. But there's a lot of women going through that at that time.

Well, I mean, we think that that's what, you know, all of these. Check the boxes off. I've got a marriage, I've got a kid. I've got another kid. I've got a house. I, you know, I got. And all of the things that we think are tied to what we're supposed to have. And God forbid we think differently or that shows up a different way for us. Right.

So, okay, you end up in a divorce. So now you become a single mom. Like, as you said, you've gained weight, you sort of lost your way. Were you working during all this or.

No, I wasn't working. I was a stay at home mom for 11 years. I started the fitness journey, you know, while I was married. And, and then I really, really. The fitness journey was my foray into personal development. Which is funny because when I started competing, I would go to the gym for the kabillion hours that you need that, you know, is part of that world. And I would literally Google fitness girl motivation to which pops up like horrible videos of girls doing things in the gym in like bikinis, which is so wrong. But on top of these images was sound bites by Les Brown and Tony Robbins and Eric Thomas. And I didn't know at the time who they were, but I would hear these messages. So I started to not look at the bodies, but ingest that kind of information in my mind. Yeah. So I, I didn't know what I was doing then. I was still trying to just get the booty and the abs. Yeah. But I was working my brain.

Let me ask you some questions about that because I know there's people listening that are in this spot. Like maybe they feel like they've lost their way too. And they're. Whether it's the same situation or not, they've lost their way. And now the gym seems really intimidating. And I remember what that felt like. You know, you're overweight, you don't have friends working out, you've been so out of the loop on it. How did you shift your mindset to even get in there and want to focus on your body and look up fitness videos? Like, how did you get that motivation and how did you decide to like get out of your head and just go and do it?

You know what? So I knew I had to be around some other people that were going through it. So I joined a small boot camp. And I really believe that that was a game changer for me because not only was I sucking wind and not being able to do a pushup, the other women were the same. And really that was kind of, again, looking back, my first feeling of tribe and saying, like, we can do this together and we would show up for each other sometimes more than you show up for yourself. So I guarantee that that was the reason that I was able to make myself a priority for that, because it wasn't Just about me. Because for real, going to the gym and not knowing what to do and thinking everyone's looking at you now, I know nobody is. Because ever. We're all so into ourselves, we're not looking at what anyone else is doing. But it was. It was finding a group program of other women that were looking for the same, you know, goals as me at that time. That really was the key to me keeping going and seeing.

Wow. So. And I love that you just said that, because that is. This is a theme that I'm predicting is going to come up. It's about that connecting and having a try. I've been having a group because so many times when women are depressed or in that mode, they do check out. They become introverted. They don't. They isolate, which makes it even worse.

Well, we all think we're the only one. We all just tell ourselves all the stuff that we're doing wrong and all the ways that we're failing, and we think that every other human's got their crap together, and we're the only one that doesn't. But we're all. When you get Ron real, like, you are here and you and I did, you know, when we first met, you're like, oh, I'm not alone in this.

Yeah, okay. So then you take it to a whole nother level. You decide you're gonna do fitness competitions.

Which is just a whole nother level.

Like, what made you decide that? How did you get the courage to do it? And why? Like, I wanna know that. And then why'd you decide to get out of it? Give me all that.

Yeah, it's such a cool evolution. I mean, I ended up getting really. Getting in amazing shape, and I had somebody give me a bucket list. Why don't you step on a stage? And back then. So that was almost 10 years ago. Really, actually was 10 years ago. Like next spring. I was like, well, I'm never going to jump out of an airplane as a bucket list thing, so maybe I'll throw a bikini and some fake tan on and, you know, run across the stage. And funnily enough, like, my very first show, I had so much pride in myself. I was so proud of myself. I had no expectations. I strutted across that stage with some friends. I met a photographer. He came backstage and showed me a photo of me, and I was like, who is that? And I was so proud. I just was like, can I wrap my minivan in this photo? Like, I don't need anything else. And so I had all this pride and loved myself. Then I didn't place, I didn't have any, and I didn't have any expectations for that. And so then, you know, what happens is, well, let me do another because I learned a little bit. And I spent the next year competing like eight times. So I, you know, I was still in my marriage, I was still an at home mom, so I had some time in between. But then I got sucked into the whole, well, what's like my shoulders are better than hers. Why am I not getting.

Yeah, I was going to ask you about that because how did that make you more confident versus like, like, I think of like competing right now and I don't know enough, but I think of it as like, wow, now we're like subjecting ourselves to so many opinions and judgment and critique. Does that make you feel worse about yourself or did that actually help you feel better about yourself?

Well, it's an interesting world and there's kind of two sides of it and I'm super grateful for the time I did compete and I may still compete at some point. So what happened was I had this moment where I didn't get the top five. I went through a phase of starting to kind of place. I won like first place when I was the only one in my height class, like, yay me. And there was social media wasn't quite what it was then. It was still new. So I had this like, oh, I'm enough, I'm enough. And started seeking that and seeking approval of these other people and starting to have to look at my body in a different way. Like, oh, I better, I don't have a naturally small waist so I'm gonna have to get these giant shoulders to balance it. And then I had a moment where I didn't get in the top five. And I was backstage with a girlfriend I met through the industry and we were like, you know, angry women. And then I said, wait a minute, like what, what are we really putting the weight of our success, our self worth, our happiness in these five men and their opinions of us at this moment. Like, we've accomplished so much. And so we like banded together. And I really was that moment that I had a like of just an inner self talk of, I'm amazing, I don't need a trophy or a title to make me feel better or worse. But I really knee deep in the industry. So I was wanting the sponsorships. I was wanting. And really that's when you and I met, right? Like, I was like, oh, we had the great photos and you and I had our fat pictures and then our fit pictures, and it's like, this is epic. And so I got out. Well, I mean, I got out because I really just changed focus, and I'm still kind of toeing the water of it, mainly because I feel like I'm this, like, grandmother, mother figure that I really want the women that show up to compete to really get it for, like, a personal development. Like, yay, me. I'm proud of myself and not lose themselves in the shuffle of it. And that's the sad part to me about.

Yeah, and that's where I want to dig a little bit deeper, because I'm just really genuinely curious about this, because here you were, this average. Really, what happens to a lot of average women? This is the norm. Like, you get married, you have kids, life gets in the way. You're focused on them, you're focused out on your kids, and next thing you know, you've kind of lost yourself, you've gained weight, whatever that's happened. So now you get healthy and fit, and you're thriving. You feel great and amazing, and you go to this first competition, and you're proud of yourself, but then you don't play. So now you fall into the spiral of, I'm going to get judged, I'm going to compare. So to me, it almost sounds. I just want to understand it. It almost sounds like it could be detrimental people. Is that something you recommend for most people, or is it, like, a whole other level? What's your thoughts there?

You know what? Truthfully, I can predict where a person's going to go in the competition world based on who they are to start. And I recognize in my own personality, I have a strong personality, and I really didn't put a lot of weight into what other people think of me. And so. But I recognize that I'm a small percentage of most people, and most people are looking for the validation of other people. Because what started to be great was that people would tell me, oh, my God, Carol, you're so inspiring. You're so amazing. And I actually started to recognize how much people said that. And I was like, okay, cool. Like, thank you, but I don't need it. And then I realized they need it. They're telling me this because in their life, they want somebody to tell them this over and over again, right? So the competition world, like, I think if your mind is right and you have a goal, it taught me about goal setting. It taught me about focus. It taught me about, you know, I can accomplish something that I put my Mind to. With a targeted date and. But I just want people to have the right mindset of it. There's amazing showcases, I like to call them more that people are doing that are empowering women that aren't about judging because, I mean, it's. It's ridiculous. How do I know that they like a blonde or a brunette? And I'm going to value myself in that and the fitness world that some girls are looking to be plucked and made famous. Right. I mean, you and I both know what happens in the covers of magazines and the spreads of magazines and what people are striving for. But I say if you're a confident person and wants to showcase yourself and give yourself a goal, then go into it for the right mindset. But I've seen so many people, you know, have a body transformation and they're so proud of themselves, and then they say, I'm gonna compete. And they become so lost in their self love that they're picking apart themselves. Even though 10 pounds heavier, they were in love with themselves. And I say, if you think, you know, a body brings happiness, just really go to a fitness show because you're gonna find most of the people are sad and, yeah. Not full of self love.

I'm glad you really shared that because, yeah, that's not something that I do. I've always been curious about why people do that. But, you know, to me, it's like you work so hard for this moment, and then it's the spray tan and then the special bikini and all this, like makeup artists and the glam and all this stuff for this moment. And then, like, you don't look like that a week later, like, you start eating normal and you don't look that way. And then it's this spiral of. With a lot of girls, like a spiral of depression and like, looking for more validation. So I'm not saying that's the norm or the average, but that's. That's been the experience that I've seen. So that's curious if you'd recommend that for people that are finding themselves and getting fit.

Yeah, I mean, it sadly kind of is the norm and the average. I call it a Halloween costume. It's like, you know, and I. And I celebrated that moment. But people tie themselves to that because then. And I get it, because when you're done a show, all the people that told you you were amazing stop telling you that you're amazing. And you want to, like, it's like a science experiment. I wanted to, like, go up to them and Say. So can I just ask you, why don't you think I'm amazing now? Just because I'm.

Yeah, that's probably not a good idea socially, but. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. It's interesting. Yeah.

Okay. So you are so much more than that. And that's. So tell me what. What happens then? Because you've had this case of success and you're not making money from the fitness competitions, you find love in other ways to make money. Correct.

Yeah. So what I did is, you know, I really stepped into. Well, obviously I got a divorce. I had to create some income. So I was 40 years old. I hadn't worked. I went and got a job retail at Lululemon because I was living in Lululemon. So I thought, this is epic. This will be great.

I get a discount. I get a cute clothes.

Yeah. And, I mean, I guess I figured my brain just thought, I'll work my way to head office or something. I didn't really think it too far ahead. I mean, but I realized one of my blessings and my curses is I. I don't think too much. So it's good and bad. But I had. I had obviously had this body transformation that other women and moms were wanting a part of, and I was giving them advice. Things that I had learned that I never understood the importance of protein. I didn't understand portion control. So I really started to monetize that in baby ways. Nowhere, you know, Natalie Jill style. But I did a group before groups were actually popular. And I got some people together and I started to monetize that. I was also introduced at the exact same time to network marketing. That's how you and I met, which I love, because I didn't know that there was differences in the industry, but it was a product around weight loss, and I was helping people lose weight, and I needed money. So I thought, okay, cool. And so I started to do both of those. And really, that was the first time I started into entrepreneurship. And I left Lululemon because I was like, they're telling me I need to get a babysitter when my daughter's sick. I got to work evenings and weekends, and I'm not okay with that. So if this other way to make money, maybe it's possible. Let me try it. And I can always get a crappy retail job if it doesn't work out.

I love that you're such a great example of, like, you do things for you without worrying about, like, what others think of it, by the way, because, like, with the fitness competition, for example, like, lots of people have opinions. You didn't care, you just did it. Same with network marketing, which I'm a fan of, too. Yeah, but again, you don't care. It's like people stop themselves from going from things because of what other people think. How did that happen with you? That you just don't care what people think? Because you really don't. You're one of the few people I know that don't. How. Give us some of that.

I'm a cold bitch. No, you know what it is I recognize, and honestly, I do account in the fitness world for this lesson for me, because I always say that I built the muscle of not worrying about what people think of me when I started to transform my body and decide to do shows because, you know, people started saying to me, well, are you like, is this. Are you ever going to eat cake? Are you ever going to drink wine? Are you going to ever have cheese? Why would you do that? Blah, blah, blah. And I was like, well, I don't know. It just feels good. Like, if you don't like it, that's okay. Same with the divorce. Why would you get a divorce? Why this? Why that? And I'm like, because this is my life. You don't have to agree with it, but I'm just kind of following my gut, you know, none of the stuff I know now I knew then, but I clearly have an ability to just tune into my intuition and follow my heart. And if it doesn't work out right, I recognize that I'll just adjust and go for it. So that is it intuition and hard.

Or is it that you have a vision for things?

Well, I didn't have a vision then, but I'll tell you the truth, when it came to network marketing and people, because back then 2011, there was a lot of, you know, social media was new. So if you were doing something in network marketing, on social media, there was two opinions. There was like, the people that were doing it and there was the people that were, like, bashing it. And I just went like, I get that you have your opinion and that's okay, but how can you possibly tell me how I choose to create an income to take care of my family? And that was. That's all it was. It was like, I get it, but if I'm going to be a personal trainer, which I was, I got to be away from my kids, I got to drive in my car, I got to pay gas. And so, you know, in this industry, there are, in every industry, there's people that do things right and there's people that do things like cheesy and wrong in every industry. So I somehow I think it comes from my parenting, my upbringing, really. My dad is. You know, I tried to be everything opposite to him because I thought he was a boring accountant. Turns out he's just a.

Hey, my dad was an accountant too. I just remind me of that in common. That's pretty cool.

Yeah. But, yeah, so my dad's an entrepreneur, so he did things and he followed. Stepped outside the norm and outside the box. So I think I just obviously was. Grew up with it, but I just realized, like, you can't tell me how to create a future for my family, so I'm just not going to listen to you.

Yeah, And I love that too, because that you are another example of. It's like I've always said people's opinions don't pay our bills.

So.

And that's. You just recognize that and live that and you focus on your family and what you want, which is amazing.

Yeah.

Okay, so you. So not only do you get into network marketing and coaching space, but you blow it out of the water like twice. So what was the mindset that it took to do that? Because I think lot of people will get stuck with, why am I doing this? I'm a mom. I'm like, they get stuck in their story. Right. But you didn't. You got really into what's possible.

How did.

Did it take work to get there or was that just natural for you?

You know what, the reason I'm obsessed with network marketing when done right is it is absolutely a business of personal development. So in my first company, I went to an event and I didn't know what I was doing, but I saw somebody cast a vision I had. Somebody took us through a process of close your eyes and now you're waking up and what does your room look like? And now you. Who's in the bed with you and what. You're going downstairs and what's. I mean, I can still see what I saw. Then it's probably your house. It's like what. It's like got a pool, you know, but. But I could see it. And so it really. That's the thing. I just started surrounding myself. That's cool. You know, by accident, quote of people that believed in visions and dreaming and going for it. And, you know, I started to be around people that had dreams and were doing things and I really did just constantly think, well, if they can do it, I can do it. Like, why not? Why not? Yeah.

So, Carol, okay, I want to know, because you're so amazing at anything you set your mind to, making that happen. And I want to get into what you're doing now, too, but I want to know this. First of all, do you consider yourself successful?

I consider myself successful because I've been able to create a life that is under my design and nobody else dictating, right? Yeah. But I really still don't know what I'm doing.

Humble. Humble. Okay, so what do you think now drives you? Like, what is this drive to keep creating more and to doing something bigger each time?

Honestly, I'm driven to help in any way that I can, the people that are where I was before. I'm driven to really help shake people. The reason I started my podcast so much more was that I became really sad all the time of how few people believed in themselves, how few people thought that they were capable of worthy. And it just made me sad because I'm just totally normal, average Carol. And I know you, and I know you're just Natalie, but to other people, stories that we're different or you're different. And so what drives me really, is shaking people up to believe that they can have whatever they want in life. If it's the body, go after the body. If it's the show, go after the show. If it's a different relationship, go after it. Like, you don't have to do things that don't make you happy in life because society says you have to, because this is the way they are.

That just.

I mean, I'm almost 50. Like, life is going way too fast to live a life that isn't guided by your own happiness. So that's what drives me.

Got it. Okay. Have you had any failures?

Well, I mean, I don't know in my mind, no.

Because every time I ask that question from somebody successful, they say no, and then I dig. And then it turns out they have had failures. They just view it different than the rest of the world.

100. I believe with every soul and cell in my body. Like, I believe that everything happens for a reason. So the. The moments where I'm like. I mean, you know, two weeks ago asked me if I thought I was a success as a parent. Oh, no. I mean, Uber eats. Sometimes I forget to feed them. I have those moments of, you know, what am I doing? And am I a failure at this? And so. But I. I learned. I learned from it. So that. That is the truth. Like, I think everything's a learning. A learning event.

Got it.

Okay.

Do you have anything that comes to mind, like, even like with network marketing that, like, you tried, it didn't work, like, how did you keep going? Or is that like just natural for you? Like, something doesn't go the way you plan and you just shift? Or is. Do you have any kind of time where you take to reflect and get help? What's your process for that?

Yeah, I mean, I have learned that. Again, both the blessing and the curse of things in life is that it's all up to us. So when things are like, sticky or not going well or, you know, my business isn't growing the way I want it to, then I have to really step back and look in the mirror and say, well, like, what. What part of that rolls out from me? Because it all stems from us. So I really, I mean, I can get in complete overwhelm. I can get in complete flight, you know, flight from things that aren't going well. Let's just start talking about that or let's not, you know, do that. And I'm, I'm remarried myself. And I know that, you know, even with all of the great, all the things lined up, that takes effort and sometimes that goes to the bottom of the pile. And I'm juggling, you know, my kids, a new marriage, multiple businesses, and then, you know, I just really want to be a Walmart cashier and have nothing on my plate. So I just, I am learning to stop like I used to just be like, I'm working all the time, I'll catch up, I'll figure it out, I'll get it done. And that never really got anywhere. So I, I learned really recently that the less I do, the better. And it's okay to take a step away for a day or an hour or I'm going away next week with some girls from high school. I haven't had time away with girlfriends for, I think, ever a long time. And so in the midst of like a massive growth in all these things I'm doing, I'm being okay with unplugging. So it's balancing that self care.

Got it. And do you have a routine now? Like, how do you start your days? And by the way, I look at you and you just balance so much. I mean, you, you're one, you're a millionaire with network marketing. You still are a mom, of course, to three kids. You're a wife, you've got your business with your husband, you started your podcast. Like, how do you balance it all? Do you have a routine with how you start your day?

I'm getting really good at that stuff, actually. I used to be like, I'm so not. But I'm really getting good at that because I'll tell you, my kids are teenagers right now, and I heard people talk about how they need more from you than they did when they were little. And I just couldn't buy it because I was like, how can they need more from me than what I'm giving them now? But it's a whole other level. So I am really owning my calendar, even more so now that I am done when they come home from school, really more than I ever have. So I do have a morning routine. I do love getting up and exercising. I do like getting up early, even though I don't have to, because I just like getting out of the way because I know something's going to come up, and I always feel better. Truthfully, my exercise routine has changed because I got really sick of, like, I got to go to the gym and do shoulders today to have shoulders. So I'm going with the flow of things that make me feel good. I journal. I like, air, quote, meditate, because I can't sit still very long, but I sit and I just, like, take some breaths. So all of these things that I tell people to do now that I used to listen to, you know, people like you and other successful people that are living a life of fulfillment, like, that's what drives me. Fulfillment, the money. I really believe it comes when you find happiness. And I've met enough people that have money that aren't happy because they're not getting the balance. So to me, it's just really, like, how do I follow my heart? That makes me feel good. But every person that was living that was saying, like, have a routine and read. And I was like, I don't have time to read. You don't understand. I got to do a plan. I'm not Natalie. And nothing is. Nothing's in a funnel. And I don't know what this is. And I'd send you voice memos like, what are you doing? I'm like, copy and pasting emails. And you're like, oh, Carol, someday. But. But I wait.

You know what? There's a lesson in that, though, and I love that. And I. I don't want to skip over that because you are definitely already fire and then aim later. So. And I. I think there's a lot of value in that and a lot of reason that you're successful because of that. You go and you think about your vision and what you Want and then you figure out how later.

Yeah, yeah, totally.

So I don't even think that's worth skipping over because that's a big part of why you're so successful.

That I am definitely that girl.

To hear that. Because I think a lot of people really stay stuck in their head on. It has to be perfect. I have to create. I have to have all this stuff. And really, you don't. You could just start.

Yeah, you have to just start. And I know, actually my peeps in my world know every time I say listen, I know the things that are coming out of my mouth now are the things that I made fun of people saying a few years ago, but they're really true. To have a routine and to just like, stop worrying about perfection. It really is true.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, I've got a couple more questions for you. I want to know, like, who do you surround yourself with besides obviously your husband and your family? Like, who's in your circle? Like, what do you let into your world now?

Yeah, you know what? I'm so blessed, honestly, from network marketing, again, that I'm around these people that believe different things and are really about supporting each other. And recently, you know, I'm in Canada, just outside of Toronto. I've really worked at getting out of my house and being like, face to face with amazing people. You know, I watch you for years and be like, oh, God, I guess I gotta move to California to have these amazing people. But I started just reaching out and connecting and wanting to meet people and just get to know about them because it raised my energy being around people that were positive and that were striving for more and that we're wanting to be in service for others. And so I'm constantly meeting people both on social media. You know, just how you and I met, like, I. I love it for that. I love supporting and seeing what people are doing. But I really have spent the last kind of year building my home network. So it's like live human interaction with people like that too.

What makes you successful specifically in network marketing? Because there's a lot of people that are not successful in network marketing. What do you think it is?

You know, I can't tell you how many times I quote our first connection constantly about how not to be a douchebag network marketer. And I think it's because I'm not trying to sell anything to anybody. I believe in, you know, our company and our products so much that when somebody has a need, I'm just letting them know about it. No different than sending them to my favorite restaurant or telling them about a body lotion that I have. And I really just care. Like, I'm on a mission to educate people how this is a different world, you know, our company in particular, because you can build a brand and not lose yourself in the mission of some of them, you know, some of the companies, you lose yourself in it because of that company. We're really fortunate to have something, and I really believe that's kind of my wheelhouse is teaching now driven entrepreneurs how to create an extra income stream through this to fund their big dreams.

I think this is good advice, what you're saying right now for anybody, like, whether they're network marketing or selling their own product or whatever it is, like, you just exude realness and you're just. You're very transparent. And I think that's really what it's all about. I think when people try to be a salesperson or a marketer or whatever, that's when it doesn't work.

Yeah, I mean, all I kept thinking about as other people, like, when I started, I wanted to get my products paid for, and then I wanted to get money for a cleaning lady. And then I wanted to help other people feel good. And then I wanted enough money to have a cleaning lady every two weeks. And then it grew to like. And so then I just wanted to help people with their little piece. Where people go wrong in network marketing, and maybe in every business necessarily, but it's more prevalent in network marketing, is casting this vision of this big giant dream of freedom without effort. And I've been working my butt off for five and a half years, loving it in my own timeline, but working for it. And so I've just helped a lot of people get a little bit and a few more, you know, take it a little bit further. And I think people just need to take ownership of what networking really is instead of painting this BS story of what it is which turns people off.

I do have another big question for you. So if somebody is in rock bottom, like, they're in their own. Maybe how you were when you were going through a divorce with the kids and you would gain weight, or maybe just their business has failed right now and they've had a setback. But whatever it is, it's their own personal rock bottom. Are there three pieces of advice that you would give them to start shifting that?

I would say one, start, like, have a vision. Like, think about. Think about how do you want your life to not only look, but feel? I'm a Fan of vision boards, too. But I think that a lot of people put, like, the body part or the car on it instead of, like, words of feeling. And I know that that started to really help me shift. So have a vision of what? How do you want this to be? What kind of partner do you want? What kind of business do you want? What kind of mom do you want to be? And read that all the time, and then really look at the people you're around, as hard as that is. And are they living into that life? Because what I know is that most. Why are we taking advice from people unless they're living a life that we want?

That's big. That's.

I'll repeat it, because it actually always blew my mind. Like, I. When I think about the people that said to me, well, you shouldn't get a divorce. They weren't living a happy marriage.

When I. Yeah, I love Carol. No one's brought this up. And I love this that you just brought this up.

But it's so true, because even when I was consider the source, when my body changed, it wasn't the women that were fit that were telling me that that was bad. And when I started doing, you know, stepping into entrepreneurship, the people that told me it would fail were all broken, miserable. And so it actually is shocking to me how many people take advice from. But I just say, look at the source. Are they living a life that you want? Are they in a body that you want? Are they in a relationship that you want? Or, like, you see as a. As a beacon or what have you? And because what I know in, like, people like you and. And these amazing people, they are first to serve you. They're first to give you advice. They're first to tell you you can do it. They're the first to tell you that that's awesome and to leap and go for it. You have to monitor who you're around, and that includes who's in your flipping social media feed.

Yeah, I love that. That's awesome. Okay, why the podcast that you started now.

Yeah, and I talked about it, like two and a half years ago that I wanted to do a podcast. And it's so cool because, gosh, I can only imagine what it would have been two years ago, two and a half years ago. And so it came from two ways. One, I wanted an ability to basically bribe awesome people like you to get on and spend an hour with me. That's kind of how I looked at it first, like, well, if I have a podcast, they're going to have to spend time with me because. And I could pick their brain. So one of it was just like what I talked about just before being able to raise my energy by having conversations with people that were doing things that were inspiring me and that I could pour into myself that other people were just leaping and going. And it was a vehicle for other people that I cared about to plug into and hear the stories of people that have come, you know, very much like yours from a place of struggle or not believing that they're worthy and then stepping into doing more. The reason I leapt on it was this amazing guy, Jay Wong, who's helped me launch the podcast, said to me, you know, Carol, why don't you just think of it as a legacy for your kids, a way for your kids to plug in and hear your thoughts and the things you were doing. And so that's what helped me leap quick. That's what helped me not get stuck in what's my photo gonna be? And what am I gonna name it? And what if nobody's my guest? And it's the reason. It doesn't matter if my dogs bark in the back or the mailman knocks on the door or the leaf blower goes, because at the end of the day, it's for, you know, me to get my thoughts and feelings out and have conversations with great people that my kids or other people can plug into someday. Then that's cool. Whatever it's rated or hits or. I don't even look at any of that, to be honest, because it's such.

A lesson in everything that you've just shared, Carol, because, like, you have a definite theme, even though you didn't call it a vision at the beginning. It sounds like you always actually have had a vision with different things. You also have this, like, really unique, calm, focus expectation that things will go in your favor. And I think that's. I don't even know if you realize that when the reason you said you haven't had failures, the reason that you haven't had these disappointments lately, is because you have this, like, just. It's almost like a faith or just a belief that it's going to work out the way it's supposed to. And that's why it sounds like you don't care about ratings or any of that anymore, because it's just going to work out the way it's supposed to. And I hope people really hear those in your. In your messages, because that is what has made you so successful over and over again. I believe that. That this belief and you know, that's so many black home self and post ops have this belief that they will not achieve things, that it will go wrong, that it will not work. And you have the actual opposite.

I do.

You know what?

I think it's ingrained in me because I remember once I learned about personal development and you have to believe it and I started to like unpack my dad's life and ask him questions because he leapt and did things that people called him crazy. And I said, well, dad, did you always just believe you'd be, you know, successful or it would happen? And he's like, I just never that I couldn't.

And that's my experience of you, right?

Yeah.

That's amazing. Carol. Where can people find you? Where do you want them to find you?

You can find me. Well, really. Instagram, Carol Elizabeth Lifestyle Facebook, Carol Elizabeth and carolizabeth.com and you can listen at the so much More show on itunes and amazing.

Thank you so much, Carol.

Anytime.

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 @nataliejofman. It I read all the direct messages and comments over there. Make it a great day. Creating everything from nothing.