IAM1372 – Founder Gives Opportunity to Under Represented Authors to get their Books Published
Podcast Interview with Morissa Schwartz
Dr. Morissa Schwartz is the Founder and CEO of Dr. Rissy’s Writing & Marketing and GenZ Publishing, LLC.
DrRissysWriting.com is a marketing and writing company ranked #1 in PR and top ten in Social Media and SEO for New York and New Jersey on Thumbtack. GenZ Publishing is a publishing company that has produced six Amazon bestsellers.
Dr. Rissy has been featured on Forbes, and MTV, and is a bestselling author herself. She speaks professionally about inspiring others through words and entrepreneurship and was named the “Voice of Generation Z” by Community Magazine.
- CEO Story: Dr. Morissa started her freelance writing when she was still in high school. Continued it in college and supported her dream of having a publishing company. Grew both companies. Since then she has been very successful and has been famously featured here and there.
- Business Service: Publishing books. 360 Marketing promotes businesses online.
- Secret Sauce: Seeing a problem and solving it. Mission-driven and making an impact.
- CEO Hack: Reading 12 books a week helps Morissa with her mindset. Helped her in setting the direction of her company.
- CEO Nugget: Seize the opportunity to meet people like networking or business groups.
- CEO Defined: A mindset, a leader not being afraid to do things differently to innovate. Don’t just think outside the box, think that there is no box.
Website: morissaschwartz.com
Amazon: Morissa-Schwartz
Instagram: morissa_schwartz
Twitter: morissaschwartz
Linkedin: hmorissaschwartz
Tiktok: morissaschwartz
Facebook: morissa.schwartz
www.entrepreneur.com/author/morissa-schwartz2
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Transcription
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00:23 – Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:50 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Dr. Marissa Schwartz of Dr. Rissy's writing and marketing and Gen Z publishing. Dr. Marissa is great to have you on the show.
01:03 – Morissa Schwartz
Thank you so much, Gretchen. I'm so excited to be here. Very awesome.
01:07 – Gresham Harkless
Yes, very awesome indeed to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that you're doing. But before we jump to the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Dr. Marissa so you can hear about some of those awesome things. Dr. Marissa is the founder and CEO of Dr. Rissy's Writing and Marketing in Gen Z Publishing LLC. Dr. Rissy's Writing is a marketing and writing company ranked number one in PR and top 10 in social media and SEO for New York and New Jersey on thumbtack.
Gen Z Publishing is a publishing company that has produced 6 Amazon bestsellers and Dr. Rissy has been featured on Forbes, and MTV and is a bestselling author herself. She speaks professionally about inspiring others through words and entrepreneurship and was named the voice of Generation Z by Community Magazine. Dr. Morris, I really appreciate all the awesome work that you do. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:55 – Morissa Schwartz
I am ready. Thank you for that intro.
01:58 – Gresham Harkless
Yes, thank you for doing all the hard work. And Kind of to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock here a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
02:06 – Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, so I started actually in high school. I went to a biomedical science academy and my friends were all getting jobs at the mall and internships that they weren't crazy about. And I didn't want to do something that I didn't enjoy. And, you know, in going to a biomedical science academy, I would catch myself rushing through my science work to read and to write. So I started actually freelance writing and editing right in high school. And that was my first experience of remote working.
And I knew I was onto something when one of my teachers said to me when it was about to be summer break, hey, can you connect me with some of these freelance opportunities? I wanna do that too. And I was like, wow, maybe there's something here. So I continued that through college, I continued freelance editing and writing. And I grew that into a business that I used to support my other dream, which was starting a book publishing company.
And I grew both companies simultaneously while I was a grad student. And fast forward, it's been about 10 years since I started freelancing, fast forward to now. I have about 15 team members. I was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 this year, and we have a lot of happy clients and I'm just excited to get to do something I'm so passionate about all the time and not have to do something that doesn't make me happy.
03:32 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. Well, definitely congratulations on the Forbes 30 under 30 and all the awesome work that you're doing. I love how everything started out where you had a lot of friends and people that were around you that were doing things that they weren't necessarily excited to do. It sounds like you kind of found an opportunity and kind of trailblaze your own way to not have to choose whether you can, you know, make a little money and be successful and also be fulfilled. You have to do both of them all at the same time.
03:57 – Morissa Schwartz
Absolutely. And I recognize, you know, I was fortunate where I could choose to do those things because I had the right people supporting me. My parents are entrepreneurs, so they were able to support me and say, hey, you don't have to go for the internship like your advisors are telling you. You can do what we did and make your own way. And they own a small floor-covering store on Main Street that I basically grew up in.
So I grew up in an entrepreneurial household, but that's why even now I like going back to high schools and colleges even and the Women's Center for Entrepreneurship and talking to other people and telling them, hey, you don't just need to quote, play it safe and get an internship or a job, you can be unique and make your own path. And there's nothing wrong with remote work or freelance work. Because there are plenty of people who tried to tell me, oh, freelance and remote work aren't real jobs. And it's like, no, of course they are.
04:54 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more on how you're serving your clients and you're making that impact. Could you take us through a little bit more about your organization and how you're making that impact?
05:05 – Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, sure. So with Gen Z Publishing, we publish books typically by, well, it's called Gen Z because I originally started as a college student. And a lot of people when I would pitch my book would say, Oh, you're too young to publish a book, you know, you wait until you're like, for you and you actually have something to say. So I originally started with the intent of helping people my own age to publish. But, you know, within our first month, I was getting queries from these really incredible authors who were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. And I thought, well, now I'm excluding these folks who have such incredible things to say. So I opened it up to all ages.
And now we really focus on publishing books by typically underrepresented groups in the publishing industry. So whether that's age, whether that's ability, we've published a lot of books by people who are either neurodivergent or disabled, things like that, people who have typically been underrepresented in the publishing industry, we've published about 125 books with some really incredible authors in the past 6 years. So that's Gen Z. It's a lot of fun. I just became a member of the IBPA board, which is the Independent Book Publishers Association Board, very excited about that. And then at Dr. Rissy's, we do 360 marketing. So SEO, social media, PR, and ads. We typically work with startups and small businesses helping them to promote their businesses online through those different marketing avenues.
06:36 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome and of course with digital marketing, I think I always say the name of the game is to be found online and if you don't have a way whether you have a book or you have an organization to get your name out there and to make sure that you are, you know, making that impact and people know who you are to make that impact then I love how you kind of bridging the gap with both of those.
06:54 – Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, we're trying.
06:57 – Gresham Harkless
There you go. So I was asking now for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself, the organizations, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?
07:11 – Morissa Schwartz
Quite a few things. I mean, the first thing I think is that I got into this not because it was some big major plan that, when I was 5 years old, I said, I'm going to open a book publishing company and I'm going to market. When I was 5, there wasn't such a thing as a digital marketing company. So I think some of that's really unique and set myself and my companies apart is the fact that we see a problem and we go for it. We look to improve and help others.
Gen Z was really founded on the idea of helping authors more so than, you know, most companies where it's, you know, they are just there for like profits and all that stuff. No, we have a mission that we really want to help authors with, you know, everything that we do. That's, I guess you could say I'm mission-driven. I want to have an impact. I try looking at the impact that we're going to have with anything that we do and try to be as ethical as possible with everything that we do.
08:17 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that really hits home. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have. What's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
08:30 – Morissa Schwartz
I try to read about a dozen books a week, or I should say I read a dozen books at a time. And a lot of people say, well, how can you read them at any time? How do you keep them apart? And I've made TikToks about this, but basically, I have a system where after I finish each chapter, I write a little summary in the margins of what happened. I carefully highlight and flag, you know, all the important parts of the book and note them. And then after I finish each book, I write a little report on it. I have a little notebook for keeping track of the books that you read. And doing this has really helped me with my mindset.
I learned everything by starting the business, and by reading books like that. So I've been doing this for years and my doctorate is in literature. So I was reading a lot of fiction for a little while because I had to for school, but now that I've graduated, I can read more business books and more mindset books and books on politics, current events, ethics, and all that. I'm a sucker for a good ethics or philosophy book.
And it really has shaped my worldview. I've used it to shape my companies because I see some of the practices of other companies that I see some practices other companies do that I wouldn't want to do. And I never want to make those kinds of mistakes. So I think reading these books definitely helps me in the direction I take my companies.
09:55 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes sense. And I love the breakdown of each of those things. So you can make sure that you're able to kind of do that on a kind of systematic basis. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So the CEO nugget could be a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. I usually say it might be something you would tell your favorite client Or if you have to do a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.
10:18 – Morissa Schwartz
That's a that's a tough one. Because I would be different telling myself from other people. You know, I talked to I actually I just talked to my alma mater. I went back to my college a few weeks ago and I talked to them. And the biggest thing that I told them to take away, and I said, I wish I would have known this when I was in college, was to seize all the opportunities that they have, that as college students, It's easy to go see a show or to go attend a lecture by somebody famous. Whereas when you graduate, it's not quite as easy. And I would say to listeners or to entrepreneurs, the same kind of thing.
There are a lot of business groups and opportunities and things for business owners. I know myself, I'm part of the Young Entrepreneur Committee, I'm part of the IBPA, and the Forbes 30 under 30. And each of those communities, I'm also part of the Chamber of Commerce. Each of those communities has a lot of different events and things that you can go to meet other like-minded business owners and improve your own business ideas. So I highly recommend doing those. I think they're great opportunities. They're great for networking, of course, but they're also a good way to change things up and not just be constantly on the computer doing your thing. It's always a good thing to get out and do something fun that can reinvigorate your business.
11:36 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I think so many times we forget about I always say we forget about the human aspect of business. And I don't know if you find this experience, but sometimes those opportunities can come about from things we don't even think would happen. It could be, you know, maybe talking to somebody in the grocery store or potentially going to the chamber event or going to, you know, this organization or that organization. But if you, I guess, have that philosophy of always being active, then those opportunities seem to kind of come up from anywhere.
12:04 – Morissa Schwartz
Absolutely. So true. It is a mindset. So much is a mindset. It's insane.
12:11 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. Do you think that's something that's kind of overlooked by a lot of people or, you know, a lot of organizations and entrepreneurs?
12:18 – Morissa Schwartz
It certainly is. I think it's getting more attention now. I've seen a lot of articles on Entrepreneur and Inc. and different websites like that about it. So I'm happy to see that it's gaining more traction but it's so true. Mindset is everything. I've met so many brilliant people who would have a lot more happiness in their lives if they just changed their mindset or, you know, I don't want to necessarily say success because success means so many things to different people. But, you know, a great example is I have this friend who's absolutely brilliant and he has an amazing company. He's doing such a great job, but he beats himself up all the time.
And no matter what he does, no matter how successful he is, he's just not happy. And I think it's such a mindset issue if he would just learn to appreciate his own talents, and all the things that he's accomplished, he would be a much happier person. I think that the problems that he has that make him be himself wouldn't be issues as much because he would be more successful. I think when you're constantly knocking yourself down, you're not going to succeed in all the ways that you should.
13:21 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO, or we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Marissa, what does being a CEO mean to you?
13:32 – Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, a CEO is definitely a mindset. Being a CEO to me is being a leader, not being afraid to do things differently, to innovate. One of my favorite quotes is, that I don't just think outside the box, I realize that there is no box, And I think that a lot of successful CEOs see things that way as well. And that's, this is kind of where the philosophy stuff fits in, but so much of life was made or quote made up by leaders. And it's up to CEOs and entrepreneurs to innovate, see what those other leaders have done, and then improve it or do things differently if they see something isn't working.
14:12 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Well, Dr. Marissa truly appreciates that definition and of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get an overview, and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.
14:28 – Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, well, this has been Super fun. I'm not sure I think that the biggest thing I could leave any listeners with is just, you know, I haven't tried to think of the best way to put it social media can be very negative, but there are so many positive things that you don't see. It seems like the negative things get light shined on them. So I just always like to remind people that things are not always necessarily as negative or as not positive as they seem. And with that, I like to introduce my social media.
So my social media accounts are Marissa Schwartz pretty much everywhere. And I make a conscious effort to post positive, good things that are happening in the world on my social media, just to kind of drown out some of that negativity on social. So if you're looking for fun, silly videos and good news and good things that people are doing, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
15:33 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And to make that even easier, we'll have the links and information in the show notes. And the quote, that kind of came into mind for me was be the change you hope to see in the world. And I think when you start to see that something is not as you want it to be, We kind of have it at our fingertips and our abilities to be able to make that change.
So I love that you talked about that with the media and sometimes with the content and information, social media, and sometimes it can feel like we're drowning in negativity. But I think the best way that we can do that is by being that change, by using our platforms and our opportunities to do that. So I love that you're doing that. Of course, appreciate all the awesomeness and positive vibes you provided for us today. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
16:10 – Morissa Schwartz
Thank you so much, you too.
16:12 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
00:23 - Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:50 - Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Dr. Marissa Schwartz of Dr. Rissy's writing and marketing and Gen Z publishing. Dr. Marissa is great to have you on the show.
01:03 - Morissa Schwartz
Thank you so much, Gretchen. I'm so excited to be here. Very awesome.
01:07 - Gresham Harkless
Yes, very awesome indeed to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that you're doing. But before we jump to the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Dr. Marissa so you can hear about some of those awesome things. Dr. Marissa is the founder and CEO of Dr. Rissy's Writing and Marketing in Gen Z Publishing LLC. Dr. Rissy's Writing is a marketing and writing company ranked number one in PR and top 10 in social media and SEO for New York and New Jersey on thumbtack.
Gen Z Publishing is a publishing company that has produced 6 Amazon bestsellers and Dr. Rissy has been featured on Forbes, and MTV and is a bestselling author herself. She speaks professionally about inspiring others through words and entrepreneurship and was named the voice of Generation Z by Community Magazine. Dr. Morris, I really appreciate all the awesome work that you do. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
01:55 - Morissa Schwartz
I am ready. Thank you for that intro.
01:58 - Gresham Harkless
Yes, thank you for doing all the hard work. And Kind of to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock here a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
02:06 - Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, so I started actually in high school. I went to a biomedical science academy and my friends were all getting jobs at the mall and internships that they weren't crazy about. And I didn't want to do something that I didn't enjoy. And, you know, in going to a biomedical science academy, I would catch myself rushing through my science work to read and to write. So I started actually freelance writing and editing right in high school. And that was my first experience of remote working.
And I knew I was onto something when one of my teachers said to me when it was about to be summer break, hey, can you connect me with some of these freelance opportunities? I wanna do that too. And I was like, wow, maybe there's something here. So I continued that through college, I continued freelance editing and writing. And I grew that into a business that I used to support my other dream, which was starting a book publishing company.
And I grew both companies simultaneously while I was a grad student. And fast forward, it's been about 10 years since I started freelancing, fast forward to now. I have about 15 team members. I was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 this year, and we have a lot of happy clients and I'm just excited to get to do something I'm so passionate about all the time and not have to do something that doesn't make me happy.
03:32 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. Well, definitely congratulations on the Forbes 30 under 30 and all the awesome work that you're doing. I love how everything started out where you had a lot of friends and people that were around you that were doing things that they weren't necessarily excited to do. It sounds like you kind of found an opportunity and kind of trailblaze your own way to not have to choose whether you can, you know, make a little money and be successful and also be fulfilled. You have to do both of them all at the same time.
03:57 - Morissa Schwartz
Absolutely. And I recognize, you know, I was fortunate where I could choose to do those things because I had the right people supporting me. My parents are entrepreneurs, so they were able to support me and say, hey, you don't have to go for the internship like your advisors are telling you. You can do what we did and make your own way. And they own a small floor-covering store on Main Street that I basically grew up in.
So I grew up in an entrepreneurial household, but that's why even now I like going back to high schools and colleges even and the Women's Center for Entrepreneurship and talking to other people and telling them, hey, you don't just need to quote, play it safe and get an internship or a job, you can be unique and make your own path. And there's nothing wrong with remote work or freelance work. Because there are plenty of people who tried to tell me, oh, freelance and remote work aren't real jobs. And it's like, no, of course they are.
04:54 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more on how you're serving your clients and you're making that impact. Could you take us through a little bit more about your organization and how you're making that impact?
05:05 - Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, sure. So with Gen Z Publishing, we publish books typically by, well, it's called Gen Z because I originally started as a college student. And a lot of people when I would pitch my book would say, Oh, you're too young to publish a book, you know, you wait until you're like, for you and you actually have something to say. So I originally started with the intent of helping people my own age to publish. But, you know, within our first month, I was getting queries from these really incredible authors who were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. And I thought, well, now I'm excluding these folks who have such incredible things to say. So I opened it up to all ages.
And now we really focus on publishing books by typically underrepresented groups in the publishing industry. So whether that's age, whether that's ability, we've published a lot of books by people who are either neurodivergent or disabled, things like that, people who have typically been underrepresented in the publishing industry, we've published about 125 books with some really incredible authors in the past 6 years. So that's Gen Z. It's a lot of fun. I just became a member of the IBPA board, which is the Independent Book Publishers Association Board, very excited about that. And then at Dr. Rissy's, we do 360 marketing. So SEO, social media, PR, and ads. We typically work with startups and small businesses helping them to promote their businesses online through those different marketing avenues.
06:36 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome and of course with digital marketing, I think I always say the name of the game is to be found online and if you don't have a way whether you have a book or you have an organization to get your name out there and to make sure that you are, you know, making that impact and people know who you are to make that impact then I love how you kind of bridging the gap with both of those.
06:54 - Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, we're trying.
06:57 - Gresham Harkless
There you go. So I was asking now for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself, the organizations, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?
07:11 - Morissa Schwartz
Quite a few things. I mean, the first thing I think is that I got into this not because it was some big major plan that, when I was 5 years old, I said, I'm going to open a book publishing company and I'm going to market. When I was 5, there wasn't such a thing as a digital marketing company. So I think some of that's really unique and set myself and my companies apart is the fact that we see a problem and we go for it. We look to improve and help others.
Gen Z was really founded on the idea of helping authors more so than, you know, most companies where it's, you know, they are just there for like profits and all that stuff. No, we have a mission that we really want to help authors with, you know, everything that we do. That's, I guess you could say I'm mission-driven. I want to have an impact. I try looking at the impact that we're going to have with anything that we do and try to be as ethical as possible with everything that we do.
08:17 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that really hits home. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have. What's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
08:30 - Morissa Schwartz
I try to read about a dozen books a week, or I should say I read a dozen books at a time. And a lot of people say, well, how can you read them at any time? How do you keep them apart? And I've made TikToks about this, but basically, I have a system where after I finish each chapter, I write a little summary in the margins of what happened. I carefully highlight and flag, you know, all the important parts of the book and note them. And then after I finish each book, I write a little report on it. I have a little notebook for keeping track of the books that you read. And doing this has really helped me with my mindset.
I learned everything by starting the business, and by reading books like that. So I've been doing this for years and my doctorate is in literature. So I was reading a lot of fiction for a little while because I had to for school, but now that I've graduated, I can read more business books and more mindset books and books on politics, current events, ethics, and all that. I'm a sucker for a good ethics or philosophy book.
And it really has shaped my worldview. I've used it to shape my companies because I see some of the practices of other companies that I see some practices other companies do that I wouldn't want to do. And I never want to make those kinds of mistakes. So I think reading these books definitely helps me in the direction I take my companies.
09:55 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes sense. And I love the breakdown of each of those things. So you can make sure that you're able to kind of do that on a kind of systematic basis. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So the CEO nugget could be a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. I usually say it might be something you would tell your favorite client Or if you have to do a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.
10:18 - Morissa Schwartz
That's a that's a tough one. Because I would be different telling myself from other people. You know, I talked to I actually I just talked to my alma mater. I went back to my college a few weeks ago and I talked to them. And the biggest thing that I told them to take away, and I said, I wish I would have known this when I was in college, was to seize all the opportunities that they have, that as college students, It's easy to go see a show or to go attend a lecture by somebody famous. Whereas when you graduate, it's not quite as easy. And I would say to listeners or to entrepreneurs, the same kind of thing.
There are a lot of business groups and opportunities and things for business owners. I know myself, I'm part of the Young Entrepreneur Committee, I'm part of the IBPA, and the Forbes 30 under 30. And each of those communities, I'm also part of the Chamber of Commerce. Each of those communities has a lot of different events and things that you can go to meet other like-minded business owners and improve your own business ideas. So I highly recommend doing those. I think they're great opportunities. They're great for networking, of course, but they're also a good way to change things up and not just be constantly on the computer doing your thing. It's always a good thing to get out and do something fun that can reinvigorate your business.
11:36 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I think so many times we forget about I always say we forget about the human aspect of business. And I don't know if you find this experience, but sometimes those opportunities can come about from things we don't even think would happen. It could be, you know, maybe talking to somebody in the grocery store or potentially going to the chamber event or going to, you know, this organization or that organization. But if you, I guess, have that philosophy of always being active, then those opportunities seem to kind of come up from anywhere.
12:04 - Morissa Schwartz
Absolutely. So true. It is a mindset. So much is a mindset. It's insane.
12:11 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. Do you think that's something that's kind of overlooked by a lot of people or, you know, a lot of organizations and entrepreneurs?
12:18 - Morissa Schwartz
It certainly is. I think it's getting more attention now. I've seen a lot of articles on Entrepreneur and Inc. and different websites like that about it. So I'm happy to see that it's gaining more traction but it's so true. Mindset is everything. I've met so many brilliant people who would have a lot more happiness in their lives if they just changed their mindset or, you know, I don't want to necessarily say success because success means so many things to different people. But, you know, a great example is I have this friend who's absolutely brilliant and he has an amazing company. He's doing such a great job, but he beats himself up all the time.
And no matter what he does, no matter how successful he is, he's just not happy. And I think it's such a mindset issue if he would just learn to appreciate his own talents, and all the things that he's accomplished, he would be a much happier person. I think that the problems that he has that make him be himself wouldn't be issues as much because he would be more successful. I think when you're constantly knocking yourself down, you're not going to succeed in all the ways that you should.
13:21 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO, or we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Marissa, what does being a CEO mean to you?
13:32 - Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, a CEO is definitely a mindset. Being a CEO to me is being a leader, not being afraid to do things differently, to innovate. One of my favorite quotes is, that I don't just think outside the box, I realize that there is no box, And I think that a lot of successful CEOs see things that way as well. And that's, this is kind of where the philosophy stuff fits in, but so much of life was made or quote made up by leaders. And it's up to CEOs and entrepreneurs to innovate, see what those other leaders have done, and then improve it or do things differently if they see something isn't working.
14:12 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Well, Dr. Marissa truly appreciates that definition and of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get an overview, and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.
14:28 - Morissa Schwartz
Yeah, well, this has been Super fun. I'm not sure I think that the biggest thing I could leave any listeners with is just, you know, I haven't tried to think of the best way to put it social media can be very negative, but there are so many positive things that you don't see. It seems like the negative things get light shined on them. So I just always like to remind people that things are not always necessarily as negative or as not positive as they seem. And with that, I like to introduce my social media.
So my social media accounts are Marissa Schwartz pretty much everywhere. And I make a conscious effort to post positive, good things that are happening in the world on my social media, just to kind of drown out some of that negativity on social. So if you're looking for fun, silly videos and good news and good things that people are doing, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
15:33 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And to make that even easier, we'll have the links and information in the show notes. And the quote, that kind of came into mind for me was be the change you hope to see in the world. And I think when you start to see that something is not as you want it to be, We kind of have it at our fingertips and our abilities to be able to make that change.
So I love that you talked about that with the media and sometimes with the content and information, social media, and sometimes it can feel like we're drowning in negativity. But I think the best way that we can do that is by being that change, by using our platforms and our opportunities to do that. So I love that you're doing that. Of course, appreciate all the awesomeness and positive vibes you provided for us today. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
16:10 - Morissa Schwartz
Thank you so much, you too.
16:12 - Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
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