IAM1963 – Yoga Instructor Helps Entrepreneurs Attain Peak Performance

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Dedee Cai Teaser 00:00

What we do is really create an accountability system for everyone to have a say in really defining their business plan for the year, their action, and also really keeping themselves aligned with their purpose.

Intro 00:16

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 Harkless 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.

Gresham Harkless 00:43

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresham from the I AM CEO podcast, and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, that we hit 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year. We're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories, topics, or as I like to call them, the business pillars that we think are going to be extremely for CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, and what I like to call CB nation architects who are looking to level up their organizations.

This month, we are focusing on finishing it out, fighting the good fight and closing out the job. I think just as important as it is to start something, it's even more important in how you conclude it or finish it out. So if you think of the different things that you can finish out, it could be everything from a project, it could be from a day, it could also be from a business in and of itself, and it could also, of course, be for the year. So when you think of finishing out, I want you to really think of these episodes, because what we're going to really focus on is the last question that we really asked which is defining what it means to be a CEO.

All the creative, innovative, and I think truly insightful questions that we received from this question is really what we want to highlight during the show. But, of course, we want you to enjoy the entire episode and think about how you're going to finish things out and how you're going to finish things out strongly. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Dedee Cai of Fit to Profit. Dedee, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Dedee Cai 02:15

Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here with you all.

Gresham Harkless 02:18

No problem. Super excited to have you on. What I want to do is just read a little bit more about Dedee so you can hear about all of the awesome things that she's doing.

Dedee is a first generation immigrant whom has paved her own way in getting an education and finding meaningful work. She is the founder and CEO of Fit To Profit. Her company utilizes her expertise in psychology, cognitive science, holistic wellness, physical training and business to help executive leaders and entrepreneurs attain peak performance.

She's been in the health and wellness industry for over a decade, learning how to train herself to be not only physically fit, but mentally as well. This journey was personal for her as she knows what it's like to go from feeling stuck, miserable and unfulfilled to feeling energized, happy and successful.

She has taught thousands of students and training hundreds of yoga instructors whom are now changing lives every single day through their instructions. She believes that this is just the beginning and that everyone deserves a second chance to life. Her vision through Fit to Profit is to empower everyone to realize his or her true potential by making life mentorship and coaching accessible to anyone and everyone in the world.

Dedee, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Dedee Cai 03:25

Oh, yes. Thank you again for having me. I'm super excited to be here with all of you.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Gresham Harkless 03:30

No problem. Super excited to have you on as well. I wanted to kick everything off and hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Dedee Cai 03:39

Oh, wow. I will keep it short and sweet for the purpose of our time today. If you already heard about it already, that this has been truly a personal journey for me. It goes back very back to when I was in my twenties and trying to figure out what it is that I really want to do with the rest of my life. I got into corporate work and realized that wasn't for me. Soon after I got into starting my own businesses with my mother, so salon businesses and also restaurant business. Within that process, in about seven years time frame, I have hit a plateau. I would say a rock bottom period of my life where nothing was enjoyable to me and I wasn't enjoying my work.

I almost lost myself in the process where I didn't know who I was, all I knew was going to work and coming home when the sun is down. So, what I decided was to really take a step back and how I did that was got into long distance running to find an outlet for myself, just to process things and to figure out what I really wanted to do. Within that process, it got me to train for my first marathon. So, to cut the story short, I couldn't go very far after the first 13 miles running and training.

My girlfriend at the time suggested I take on some yoga classes just to help stretch and perhaps get me further along with my yoga. My front training and I did. So that saves me physically and ultimately, after a little bit, a couple of months of practicing yoga got me really to think about, Oh, my gosh, what have I been up to the past seven years and what I do need to do with my life right now? And I realized that I need to really take on myself and to do the internal work to figure out what I really truly want to do.

So I got on to Certify myself as a Yoga Instructor within the process of that, I realized that my business with my mother was actually something I wanted to do out of obligation. I wanted to support her and fulfill her dream, and that wasn't my dream. So that was a hard decision. I had to make to step away from that business. At the same time around the same year, a week before my wedding, one of my best friends committed suicide.

Gresham Harkless 06:10

Oh, wow.

Dedee Cai 06:11

So yeah, imagine adding being at the highest point of my life and then, hitting the lowest point emotionally in my life made me realize that, wow, there are so many people who have been suffering in silence and got me back to my dark days, I share at the beginning was that in my early twenties I was suffering from anxiety and depression as well. Fortunately, I didn't take the route that my friend did. So what caught me right there and then was the purpose of my life is to really teach people how to overcome just the inner critic, the self sabotage, and also ultimately love themselves for a second chance to life.

Yeah, so that was when I decided I wanted to really explore more of how I can really turn that into work for me, and that is going to fulfill me. So I enrolled myself in a holistic health and life coaching program, which is my certification is in coming full circle when I was in college, as you can see, my background is cognitive and counseling psychology. I wanted to be a therapist, but life happened. So I didn't take on that route of going to medical school.

But when I finished up my holistic health coaching program, I realized that I can turn into a coaching practice. So coming full circle in a way that, wow, this is exactly what I want to do, but I just couldn't put it in words. So right away with the turning point, losing my best friend, I'm recalling my dark days. I decided this is what I need to do for the rest of my life. That's when I launched my coaching business.

Gresham Harkless 07:51

Well, I'm definitely, obviously, sorry to hear all of that happened, but I appreciate you for sharing that.

I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper, hear a little bit more about what you're doing with fit to profit, and then what you feel like is your secret sauce and sets you apart.

Dedee Cai 08:05

So, what we do provide currently is one on one coaching really with the leaders and business owners. Most importantly, I'm excited that within this year, most of my clients have been coaches and consultants. What we do is really create an accountability system for everyone to have a say in really defining their business plan for the year, their action, and also really keeping themselves aligned with their purpose. I would say the secret sauce and why we are so great with what we do is that not only are we looking at someone's business, except like individually and specifically, we look at everything as a whole.

So, for example, with my experience and understanding how to really balance everything, one of my core values is to really help someone understand what it is that they really truly want to profit out of having their business. Yes. Monetarily for sure. Why would you want to be in business if you're not making any money, but ultimately at the same time, what does that mean for you? What do you have to sacrifice in your personal life? If I can help you to really align everything where you don't have to lose yourself in a process, that is my goal.

So we really look at someone's business from a really holistic standpoint and only allow the person to create a business plan that makes sense and sustainable for the long run. Running a business for myself, and I know most entrepreneurs would agree with me that it is a long game. We're either in it for the longest time or for the rest of your life. So it's important to have a foundation and a system to really sustain everything in your lifestyle is the most important. Most importantly, you are your business, so you have to be able to take care of yourself so you can do and conduct the business you need to do.

So that is really our unique selling point is that we're interested in the business side of things, but we're just as interested in making sure that someone is really thriving on a personal level.

Gresham Harkless 10:08

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app, a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Dedee Cai 10:20

So a lot of what I teach is how to optimize your energy versus time, because we all know there are only 24 hours in a day. So one of my biggest hack and what I truly focus on every day is to manage my distractions.

Gresham Harkless 10:37

Nice. I definitely appreciate that because it's funny, a lot of us forget. I think I read something about like Facebook, where you sometimes forget that these are businesses. These apps are really sometimes built in psychologically and will do things to distract you. So it's great to hear that first of all, you keep the first page of your phone completely empty because those things can sometimes be overwhelming and distracting in and of themselves.

I love the fact that you have that mantra that you go back to because just like you mentioned, in the very beginning, like we all have a reason for what it is that we're doing and sometimes. Through the day-to-day grind and especially of running and managing a business and sometimes team members and employees, you can sometimes lose that focus. But if you can go back to that mantra and say, this is why I'm doing X, Y and Z. This is in alignment or it's not an alignment, it helps make things a little bit more easier to understand what to do and not to do.

Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. This is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you can hop to a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Dedee Cai 11:36

I should have asked for help much sooner. Honestly, I didn't learn how to get support and ask for help until I launched my business. The first time I did that was basically hiring my first mentor, my business mentor. And I can tell you if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be where I am today and being successful in a short amount of time. I was always a self starter and I knew to work hard. However, what I've learned through the years of having my own business is you can learn to work hard and hustle your way through, but you can only hustle your way through for so long and for so much money.

The only way to really scale your knowledge, your expertise, and even with anything you do is to work smart. And to do that, there are so many people that are ahead of you. You have to be able to reach out, ask for support, ask for help, rather than doing it all by yourself. Because it takes a village. It takes takes a group of people doing the same thing that you are doing to create that large of an impact.

So ask for help.

Gresham Harkless 12:46

Absolutely. I think that's a phenomenal reminder, especially with entrepreneurs and CEOs. A lot of times we're used to jumping in and doing things ourselves. But, like you mentioned, success is a team sport. So a lot of times it's mentors, it's team members, it's maybe employees, it's maybe mastermind, whatever it is. Very rarely and probably never do people succeed all by themselves, even though sometimes that's the narrative.

So it's important to understand that not only are you getting help, but you're also sometimes even providing somebody an opportunity to help out as well. But a lot of times we have to ask.

Dedee Cai 13:18

Exactly. So everybody is the contribution and can be a contribution. So it's as long as you are asking, you're actually allowing other people to be there for you and really calling on other people to contribute to society and, to the entrepreneurship space.

So yeah, helping yourself by helping others.

Gresham Harkless 13:40

Exactly. I love that. Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote and quote CEOs on this show.

So, Dedee, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Dedee Cai 13:51

Being a CEO means to me, the first word why Fit To Profit was created in the first place is freedom. So three specifically, what I'm talking about is number one, freedom expression for myself, who it is. I really was able to redefine my own definition of success through being my own boss.

Then secondly, freedom to create as much of an impact that you want to create.

Gresham Harkless 14:20

Absolutely. I think that's an incredible definition indeed. I truly appreciate your time and all the awesome things that you're doing and awesome things that you provided to us today. What I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're doing.

Dedee Cai 14:37

Anything additional, I think the interview sums it up. You can definitely check out my website. It's at www.fittoprofit.com. Send me a note on there. I'm also on Facebook under Dedee Cai or Fit To Profit as a company. I'm also on LinkedIn.

I will love to get connected with you no matter the reason, whether you are looking for support, if you need a listening ear as I've already shared already, I've gone through quite a bit in my life. So I'm definitely here for a purpose.

Gresham Harkless 15:25

Awesome. Thank you so much again, Dedee, I truly appreciate you for fulfilling your purpose and working towards your purpose, and it's a great reminder for all of us to do the same.

We will have those links in the show notes as well so that anybody can click through and follow you, see all the awesome things that you're doing. But again, I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Dedee Cai 15:42

You do the same. Thank you so much to have me on the show. It's such an honor to be able to get my story, my voice out there. My intention is to inspire as many people to take charge of their lives as possible. Thank you for making it this opportunity possible for me to do that.

Thank you.

Outro 15:59

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.

​[/restrict]