IAM2782 – Entrepreneur Coach Nurtures Businesses of Online Thought Leaders

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Transcription:

Ali Brown 00:00
To stop trying to be all things to all people. There was a point in my business that we were trying to create products and programs for everyone who was following me. And I think this is the deception of, of, um, social media as well. And like having this, this following's great, but you don't want to stop being a leader.

Gresham Harkless 00:48
Hello, hello, hello., his is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Ali Brown of alibrown.com. Ali, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Ali Brown 00:55
Great to be here. Can I call you Gresh?

Gresham Harkless 00:57
Yeah, absolutely. You can call me anything. I always say I've been called a lot worse, so I definitely Well, your name is so cool.

Ali Brown 01:02
Gresham. It's very official. You sound very rich and accomplished.

Gresham Harkless 01:06
Exactly. It's try to, you try to be what your name is, right? So you always have high goals. So that's always what I try to do. So, but, um, I appreciate you for taking some time out and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Ali so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Ali Brown is one of the world's most recognized entrepreneurial coaches. Over the last 15 years, Ali Brown has advised and helped nurture the businesses of many of the 7 and 8 many figure online thought leaders you see thriving today. Ali has been dubbed the entrepreneurial guru for women by Business News Daily and has been, it has taken her company to the Inc. 500 list rankings. Ali is an angel investor, a top podcast host of Clambition Radio, and the mom of twins. Ali, are you ready to speak to the I Am CEO community?

Ali Brown 01:44
I am.

Gresham Harkless 01:45
Awesome. Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I just wanted to hear a little bit more about your background and your CEO story and what led you to get started in your business.

Ali Brown 01:51
I, I think like many of your listeners, you know, I, I, I maybe wasn't, well, yeah, I wasn't setting out to be an entrepreneur. I got outta college thinking, all right, I'm gonna get a great job. And do kind of what, you know, I think you're supposed to do. And I found out very quickly, you know, within 6 years out of school, I'd been through about 6 different jobs. And I just kept thinking, wow, this can't be it. And so I'd take another job, so maybe this is going to be the job. And I'd take that job. And I just, I was feeling very disheartened and thinking, gosh, you know, this isn't quite what I thought it would be. And I knew I had something to offer. I had some talents. I had some skills and couldn't find the right place to plug in. So my awakening was at my last job. I worked at a little ad agency in New York City. It was in Midtown for these two, like, bushy old ad guys, these big beards, and they didn't know what to make of me. It was an office of 10 people with one bathroom, had a cat walking around. It was a weird little ad agency, but I loved it. I loved it because I got to do everything and they would be gone a lot. So I would figure out, like, how to work with the clients and I'd be, you know, calling FedEx to see where the package was. I'd be— if the designer was out, I would jump on. Then it was Quark, you know, today it's It's, um, Photoshop and InDesign, all stuff. And so, you know, I would just figure it all out. And I realized I really liked that. I like variety. I like having fun and I like trying new things. And, um, and so I don't advise this, but really when I got to the point that I kind of knew that I could get some small projects and do some, you know, ad work on my own and writing and design stuff, I just left. And, um, I was so excited. And at that point too, had nothing to lose. And you know, that's if you're in your 20s right now, man, now's the time. You probably have no kids, no pets, no, just do it, just go. And what happened, I'll give you the short version, 'cause I know this is a short show. If you want the long version, you can listen to some of my podcasts, “GlamBition Radio.” But the short version is, you know, it took several years, but I went from working with clients, doing some marketing work for them, to then turning it into more of a teacher. When the online marketing was really just starting to come out. And so I created courses, programs, I did teleclasses, businesses at that time. That was before webinars. And, um, I turned into a teacher and then that transitioned into coaching because the biggest problem I see right now in all this mess we have online is there's way too much information and there's not enough wisdom helping entrepreneurs and CEOs learn how to become a leader, learn how to make the decisions that can make or break their company.

Gresham Harkless 04:17
Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And I appreciate you for, you know, it sounds like you tapped into your, that self-awareness because you understood at that ad agency that you were, um, kind of, you had these certain skills and it's crazy because those skills are kind of some of the skills you need to, to really build a business and to grow the business, to be able to be and thrive when sometimes things aren't predictable, I guess you can say, and days don't go, they aren't always the same.

Ali Brown 04:39
Exactly. Like, it actually, it's funny because looking back, I kept thinking, oh, I, you know, I won't be doing any of this probably, you know, when I start a business and I'm using it all, you know, and I still occasionally, I still occasionally have to fix the printer and get coffee and, you know, it all turns out not much has changed. So I can make a lot more money.

Gresham Harkless 04:54
Yeah. You're not using cork anymore, right?

Ali Brown 04:56
No, no, I do have a designer. Thank goodness.

Gresham Harkless 04:58
There you go. There you go. So I know you touched on it a little bit and I love the fact that you kind of touched on that because you saw kind of like a need and I love when, you know, entrepreneurs kind of see that there's opportunity, start to build their expertise or their business around that. And you kind of touched on, you know, from the coaching standpoint of understanding that a lot of times, I guess, as business owners, we don't necessarily have those sometimes soft skills. Sometimes we know or can find the book or take the webinar on how to, you know, balance our checkbook or balance our and do our taxes and all of that. But Sometimes making those decisions and things is a lot of times what we struggle with.

Ali Brown 05:26
Yeah. When you, when you think about it, I know the show is called, you know, I Am CEO. And when you think about really most of my journey and when I'm working with clients, it's very interesting. We shift from conversations on what they know to conversations about who they have become and who they are becoming in this process. And so, you know, yes, you need the practicals, but really It's these decisions when you are coming up against, you know, against, and like, where do we take this company? Do I hire more team members even though I'm not sure where revenue's coming from next quarter? Do we make a bold leap with a new product or program or choose a different audience? These are very weighty decisions that you don't often have like a cut-and-dry formula, you know, for making them.

Gresham Harkless 06:09
Right. That, that makes perfect sense. And it kind of sounds like, you know, you become that sounding board and you help direct people towards, I guess, whatever they might know that they should do?

Ali Brown 06:19
It's, um, it's something that as you get, you know, the saying, it's lonely at the top. Well, you know, as, as people ascend, uh, their own success and, you know, or they're leading a team, there's going to be things that they're going to need to kind of talk through. And that's where it's really helpful to have a coach, a consultant, some type of advisor, or even just a good friend who, you know, you can call and say, listen, I'm dealing with some really big stuff right now, big decisions. Can I talk something through with you?

Gresham Harkless 06:46
Right, exactly. That, that makes perfect sense. And, and so I know you touched on it a little bit. Was there anything more about like kind of what you do to support the clients that you work with that you wanted to kind of touch on that our audience can take advantage of?

Ali Brown 06:56
Yeah, well, you know, my, my market is the women I typically work with. And by the way, I do work with men like on a one-on-one basis, but the women come to me because there's not many of the women doing over a million. So my sweet spot is working with women leaders doing between $1 and $20 million. And, um, what they need are probably about 3 things. The first is that personal advisory, that person that they know has been through it or has connections and resources to help them figure out how to navigate through some big decisions about their growth. And so I do feel at that level, you know, you need some individual attention. You can't just go take a course or join a program, use that to support you, but you need to talk to somebody one-on-one. Second is putting a group together. And, you know, the word mastermind's been really overused and bastardized over the last 10 years, but truly to have a really good solid group of other Leaders where, you know, you're not the smartest person in the room. You know, you want to be in there getting advice and, and hearing from people who have different skill sets and perspectives, but they've all accomplished something. So having that, that group perspective, and then that creates kind of a third dynamic, which is this magical experience you have just like by having— being around people who hold you to that high, high level of not only who you've become, but who you are going to be. That those— that's really the three magic pieces of what I feel is, um, you know, when I started off, I was one of the few coaches in the space, and now everyone's a coach, if you haven't noticed. Like, everyone becomes a coach, and, you know, even people you're looking, you're like, you shouldn't be a coach, you know. So people, you're like, wow, you are like the most unqualified person. And it means a lot of different things to different people, but you need to look for someone who can— you know, it's not just about training, it's truly about bringing out that leadership in you. And I think that's what separates the, the the amazing entrepreneurs and CEOs from the ones just, you know, creating a business.

Gresham Harkless 08:44
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I think it also takes, and definitely correct me if I'm wrong, it takes a lot to make that decision to put yourself in that environment as you touched on too, to be around the, those like-minded people, but also to have a coach that has that expertise and has worked with people, um, that in there that are in that $1 to $20 million range that you talked about that you also have to make the decision to do that as well too. Nice. So you might've already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for you or your organization, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart a I think that I'm always, um, I'm always swimming against—

Ali Brown 09:15
I was going to use a mixed metaphor, swimming against the grain. No, swimming upstream. Um, whatever my industry is doing, I typically look at doing the opposite. And so, and that served me in many ways too, by the way, but it also makes me a better coach. So when I was building initially, you know, all these big programs and we had membership programs with thousands of people and events in Vegas with 500 people, we hired acrobats. It was insane. Like we were doing all this big, big stuff. When I saw everyone coming along behind me doing the same thing— membership programs, big things, you know, and, and there's a lot of space online to do that now— I did a sharp right turn, what I call it, is I said, okay, what are the pieces of this I love and where I'm untouchable, like no one can do what I'm doing? And that is when I decided to— I don't want to say go back to, but really change over to high touch and working with clients very personally, because a lot of people don't want that now. They want just, just the scalable online business. And, um, I'm sure you've heard some people say this before. There really is no such thing as true passive income. You know, those businesses are very seductive, but a lot of people get into it and go, wow, this isn't what I thought. Like I'm dealing with team stuff all day. And like, we're trying to keep people in the programs and it's going to be work no matter how you slice it. So when I had my twins 6 years ago, I thought, I saw it as a great opportunity to make some changes that really served me and served my clients and said, how can I do this in a way that I love it, that it's exactly what my clients need and, um, and really redesign. So I would say that it's high touch and high concept, and which is pretty much, you know, just let's just say it's unique compared to what I see a lot of on the landscape right now.

Gresham Harkless 10:49
Nice. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted 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, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Ali Brown 10:59
There's a book that I read and I reread it. I read it about 10 years ago initially, and I reread it every year. And it's a very simple book. It's called The Big Leap. By Gay Hendricks. And I use this in several of my workshops as well and with clients. And, and he makes the distinction, and it's a distinction that changed how I work. He makes a distinction between working in your excellence and then working in your genius. And a lot of us, and I've observed, you know, many of us too, getting into our, you know, late 20s, 30s is where like you prove yourself in excellence. It's what you know you're good at. You know you can make money doing it. And that all goes fine and well.

Gresham Harkless 11:35
And, um, so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So, this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Ali Brown 11:44
To stop trying to be all things to all people. There was a point in my business that we were trying to create products and programs for everyone who was following me. And I think this is the deception of, of, um, social media as well. And like having this, this following's great, but you don't want to stop being a leader. And we started though doing, um, the things you're supposed to do in a business, like survey your customers, right? And ask them what their experience was and what would they like and what will they look for. You know what they're all looking for? They want free stuff. Here's a tip. I'm going to save you years of surveys. They want free stuff and they want to do no work and they want to somehow make money from that. Um, I'm kind of only half joking, literally. So we're creating all these programs and products and then I was on a a TV show called Secret Millionaire on ABC, which you could still see me if I think it's on Hulu and it's on Amazon. And the gist of the show was, by the way, that they take a successful person from her environment, put her out in a different environment with like no money. I had to work with some people in some emotional situations and I ended up giving away $100,000. And so then everyone started following me thinking I'm just giving away money all the time. So then I felt bad for these people. We were creating things for them, a lot of free things and You know, $10 a month club things. And finally, this is what I'm like, we have to stop the madness. This is nuts. Like, we're following them. I need to lead and stand for something. I need to move forward and turn back to the helm of the ship and look where we're going and decide where we're going and stop following everyone.

Gresham Harkless 13:15
And so, um, now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So Ali, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Ali Brown 13:24
To, that's, it's such a loaded question. There's two levels of it. And I do, you know, I think there's different roles we assign to it, but to, to me personally, it's being a leader. And, you know, as I'm growing a new company moving into next year, I do though feel I'm going to actually hire a CEO because I enjoy the entrepreneurial creative vision part of this more than the practicalities of being a CEO. And I'm, I'm proud to admit that. So. I'm looking for a good CEO if anyone would like to join me next year. See, for me, because me, the juicy part of that is the leadership of it. And that's where I best serve people.

Gresham Harkless 14:00
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I've heard, and I think like, I'm glad you made that distinguish because I think that the founder of Twitter, one of the things that he did is that he realized that that isn't where his, I guess, his own genius was. And he wanted to be on the more creative design aspect and they found a CEO, but that's, you know, it takes incredible self-awareness to kind of understand that and distinguish that and be able to be a leader in understanding that. This is where I'd rather, you know, put my, um, gifts and my skills and then bring somebody else on that can also do that as well too.

Ali Brown 14:28
Yeah. And it takes a lot of courage for that too, because you feel like, wow, am I, am I still really being a leader if I don't want to handle all this stuff? And am I still like the boss? And, but I think, you know, we all need to realize it's a big gift in all of this. There's not one best way to do this. We are inventing this as we go. And we're the first generation recorded history to have these opportunities right now. So it's going to look a lot of different ways. For different people.

Gresham Harkless 14:48
Exactly. And that makes perfect sense. I'm glad you kind of broke that down because I think a lot of times we'll go and we'll find the book, the how-to book on how to do X, Y, and Z. But just like you said, you know, this is a, this is a time that actually is only unique in and of itself. So to find a book that is exactly like this time, it's probably near impossible.

Ali Brown 15:05
Right, right.

Gresham Harkless 15:06
Well, awesome. Well, thank you so much, Ali. I truly appreciate your time and all the awesome things that, you know, you're doing and that you shared with us. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get ahold of you, subscribe to your podcast and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Ali Brown 15:21
Yeah, I think, I think my best advice is, you know, learn what you can, but don't get addicted to all the how-to and learning right now. It's really, I see people getting sucked into all that. Just, you know, tap back into why you want to do this, tap back into who you want to serve and just figure out the best way to go from there. And, you know, I have a great podcast. We interview amazing leaders. We have a lot of male listeners as well. It's called Glambition. It's a fun name, but, uh, We have incredible interviews coming up this fall and, and, you know, I'm not sure when this will air, but we've had people lately like, um, Ellen Latham, who founded Orangetheory, Rebecca Minkoff, the fashion designer. We have Sally Krotscheck, the Wall Street legend who just founded Elvest. Like really interesting, rich conversations. And I think just keep, keep listening to inspiring stuff and stay true to your vision. And you can learn more about me at allybrown.com.

Gresham Harkless 16:08
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So, we'll have those links and that information in the show notes, but thank you so much again for your time and all the leadership that you provided to us as well too. And, um, I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.