Ep 18: Relentless Optimism & 7-figure Success with Fearless CEO Founder Mariah Coz [Pt 2]

EPISODE 18:

Relentless Optimism & 7-figure Success with Fearless CEO Founder Mariah Coz [Pt 2]

 
 
 

In part 2 of my interview with Fearless CEO Founder Mariah Coz, we discuss the intersection of mindset and strategy. You'll hear us unpack:

  • How your own enthusiasm for your programs, courses, or offers is key to your success

  • The concept of relentless optimism, creating something your audience wants and generating the feeling of excitement before the pitch or campaign  

  • Handing failure -- and the creative magic that is often the result of a big fail

  • Reimagining internal structures or program structures 


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Resources mentioned:

 
 
 

Episode Transcript:

That's awesome. I love that. Yeah. So we're gonna switch gears and. , I'll tell you something like I observed just knowing you being a part of your programs and I'm curious if like, you know this about yourself, which is as, oh, I'm excited to learn. Okay. So as you created new offerings, so like even now, profit arch architecture, right?

Yeah. It's coming out. I noticed the way that you talk about both, like your programs that are in existence and the things that you're like got coming down the pipeline, even just the four day work week where you're just like, these are things we're trying, you have like a self-belief, uh, that not a lot of entrepreneurs have meaning like mm-hmm.

like you're like, you come from the place and you're like, maybe I do, maybe I don't. I don't know. That you're like, this is gonna work. Like this is going to work. And especially on the client facing, I've noticed where you're like, this is gonna be a game changer for our clients. This is going to work for our clients.

And I feel like. I didn't, I noticed like in the beginning I got tripped up too in, in launching my first course where I was like, Ugh, is this good? I don't know. Like I was all like that. And I noticed like the only thing that tripped me up and made it not good was just me thinking, is this good? Is this not good?

I was just in my head about it. So I wonder, like you realize if you do realize that about yourself, Tell the people how this, the secret, how do you develop that muscle? Like how, how do you able Yeah. It definitely comes from years and years and years of like, so yes, I, I do acknowledge that I have an irrational level of self-belief and.

Like I've been described as relentlessly optimistic. Mm-hmm. irrationally like optimistic. Like sometimes people are like, I don't know why you think that's gonna work. Like, definitely been told like, that's not gonna work. What are you thinking? That's never been done before that blah, blah, blah. And so I don't know what, I don't know where it comes from.

I wish I could give it to other people. Like if I could, if I could like transfer that to other people, that would be like the number one best life skill. You do that in your programs. I will say thank you. You do hold the space for, I will say like, Whether it was me or another, another participant, just being like, you could feel they're like, I don't know.

I don't know. You do hold the space where you're like, I fucking know. Go put it out there. It's gonna happen. Send it to other people there. I'm like, I'm like, if you don't know it for yourself, you can borrow my, that's right. Life in you right now and like go for it. And I do try, I do try to do that. I do definitely like want to.

Uh, I guess cultivate that in other people, but I, it honestly, like, I wish there was a shortcut, but I think it does come from years and years and years of, um, like. You win some and you lose some. And so for years and years and years, it's like you have failures, you have flops, but you also have some big hits and you also have, and so over the years, it's like you kind of learn like, oh, I got, for me it's like a feeling.

It's like, Ooh, I have this like tingly feeling. That the right thing is happening at the right time and it's gonna match up. And I can feel like the energy of this, I can feel that like the people are like, like it's always coinciding with people are asking me a lot of questions. And that's the other thing is like I sometimes know things are gonna be a hit because.

I'm not just pulling an idea out of a hat or something, like I'm creating, I'm creating stuff that people have asked for or people have asked me about, or people like I'm, I can feel it where it's like, Hey, we're getting tons of questions about X, Y, Z. Let's create something that meets the market there.

And when there's that, those two components, and then the component of me being excited about it, I think the biggest thing for people's sales and marketing and like getting, you know, The success of that is your enthusiasm. That's right. And it has to be genuine. You can't really, you can't fake it. You can't just pretend.

You have to genuinely be super, super excited about it and believe in what you're creating. And so it definitely comes from years and years and years of experience and wisdom and like just actually living through it to the point where I can be like, yeah, I have a pretty good sense that this is gonna like, like, I don't know.

I feel like especially with profit architecture, like one of the big things is, um, We don't have any, this is a big change for us in how we're running programs. No Zoom calls. No calls at all. We're just having a private podcast feed where there will be, love it q and a and Strat like that's a private podcast feed for just the clients where I'll answer questions that way instead of on Zoom calls.

And that was something I needed to do because of my energy, some health stuff going on, all these different reasons. And after the last three years I was like, the zoom fatigue and like the screen sensitivity is so real. Like I don't know about, I just, I know a lot of people are having like e issues with their eyes even and like not able to look at screens as much and there's just so much zoom fatigue that I was like, for my reason, for my personal reasons and for everyone else.

Health and safety, we need to not be on Zoom calls any anymore as much. And so that felt like this thing where I was like, this is really aligned for me and where I'm at right now in my life and business. And I hope that other people feel that. I hope they get it. Mm-hmm. like I hope they don't just be like, Ugh, what's that?

You know, that doesn't sound as good. And it's been so interesting since we announced that shift. So many people have been messaging me being like, This was like the permission that I needed That's right. To go in asynchronous in my business. And this is like such a good idea. I'm gonna do this in my program.

Or like, wow, I needed to see this modeled because mm-hmm. , we've all, again, we all get so stuck and like, well that's exactly what's going through my head. This is how it has to be, this is how it is a coaching program, it's a course, and then you have a weekly call and then you have this, and that's what it has to look like.

And I was just like, Hmm. That doesn't work for me this year. So like my schedule is really unpredictable. My energy is totally unpredictable. What's, what am I gonna be able to stick to? What am I actually gonna be able to, to commit to and do? And it's just been amazing how many people have been like, not only are they excited about that restructure of support of the program, but.

Excited to implement that themselves. And they see it as like an option and a possibility for them. And so that's why I, that's why I keep doing this because I just hope, and that's the thing, is like you kind of go out on a limb and you're like, I hope that people see there's a, there's a riskiness to it, right there.

Doesn't mean that it's like, Feels warm and fuzzy and great being like, we're gonna do it this way. There's a risk riskiness to it and still you do it and still we go, right? Yeah. And still you do it. And if you start getting just those little tiny positive feedback loops, those make all the difference to me.

Cuz then it starts building where I'm like, oh, a couple people told me they were excited about this. Oh well this blah blah, blah. And then like it just starts building from there. Oh, I love that. So, okay, you mentioned failure earlier. Mm-hmm. . Talk to me about maybe earlier on in your business when you, things didn't go your way and you're, and you, you know, that low feeling, like, I feel like I had gotten pretty good at processing that where like the first time I didn't get the amount of course signups or whatever.

Mm-hmm. , like it felt catastrophic, right? Yeah. And now I'm like, I just am like, oh, well what do I need to tweak? Like it just doesn't feel Yeah. But like, yeah, exactly. So for somebody that's newer who is like, I think some of the immediate thoughts, I think about some of my clients. The consultants in my world are like, they wanna burn the whole thing down.

This doesn't work. Right. Of just like of that initial not meeting that initial goal or just not having something land the way the way that they wanted to. So how do you handle failure or how did you kind of weigh back in the day? Yeah. I mean, and it still happens back in the day and, and all the time.

But I think, I think there's um, you definitely get better at knowing, like kind of seeing the signs of like, hey, this isn't really like clicking or something about this isn't right. Isn't quite right. So you can sometimes like course correct sooner than like going all out, you know? But sometimes you still do.

And I think what I've, what I've come to do is really start to sort of like revel in and like be. All of like, just kind of like basking in those like sick, sad feelings of failure and like mm-hmm. being really upset and be mm-hmm. feeling really like giving yourself pity party and just being uhhuh , ah, and just letting myself be in that space.

But also for me, the thing that's shifted is that I've become aware that for me, every time I'm at that lowest, lowest point is, Something is about to click, and something that I didn't even think was a possibility is going to come from that, from a place of pure frustration and pure, just like sadness over it.

I can't, like, I'm just so frustrated I can't do this anymore. Those are the moments where everything cracks open and you're like, Oh, I have, yeah, . I think you're so right on. Yeah. Yeah. And like the, I describe it as like the doors are locked and the windows are closed, and you're just like, ah. And then you just like punch through the wall , and you're like, or like punch through the ceiling and you're like, oh my gosh.

Like there's no way out of this. I hate this. Everything is terrible. And then you're just like, wait a minute. And so for me, like I think one great example of that is, When, when I first launched my first high ticket program, and this is in the first couple of months of 2018, so like January, February, March of 2018, those first couple months I was doing sales calls and I was, yep, miserable.

I was so. , anxious, upset, tired. My team was like truly worried about me. They were like, this is not good for your mental health. Like you, every, like every call would end in a no. I sucked at them. I was like so bad at sales calls. It just was like clearly not for me, but, and so I was just so frustrated, so tired, so upset and failing.

Like, failing, failing, failing at these sales calls. And from that place I was like, well, like. I'm gonna give it one shot. I'm gonna try to do a group enrollment where there's not a sales call and I'm like, I basically give up. Yep. So I'm not gonna do a sales call . I'm gonna do what I know how to do, which is a fricking webinar.

Yep. And I'm just gonna give people the link and if they wanna join, they can. And if they don't, I'm gonna shut down this program and move on. That was my thought. And I love that. It's like conventional wisdom would've been like, Mariah needs to take a consult class. , like, you know, she needs a sales co, like a, like a Yeah.

Sales coach, right? And you're like, what if, what if, what if that's not it? What if we just kill the whole Yeah. We're so far beyond that. I was like, I can never do this again. Yeah. And so, yeah, then I'm like, well, I'm just gonna, you know, it's do or die. I'm either gonna, either this is gonna work by some weird.

You know, possibility or I'm just gonna shut it down and move on to something else and do a different business model or whatever. And, uh, yeah. That famously did work. Yes. Was like this whole start of the high ticket hybrid process and mm-hmm. , the innovation that came from that. And then of course, like, Again, that first version was so messy.

It was so rough. There was no plan. It was very minimum viable. But then spending years and years and years optimizing it and polishing it and turning it into what it is today, um, became one of, I think our biggest contributions to the space is a repeatable process for enrolling high ticket clients without sales calls.

And I don't just mean like, oh, I did it once or twice in the dms. It's like uhhuh, , I mean like a repeatable process that is structured and like actually. Makes sense. But yeah, so a lot of moments like that where now I can see even, even actually. With profit architecture and the the asynchronous private podcast support.

I was like really kind of freaking out because I was like, I can't do Zoom calls anymore. Like I've got, I just can't, like unpredictable schedule. There's a lot of stuff going on in my life right now. I can't do Zoom calls. What am I gonna do? I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna like figure this out.

Finally came up with that idea. And so when you're in those moments of failure or just like frustration and upset and you're like, there's no way forward, I just try to allow something that is totally outside of what I could have imagined. Mm-hmm. , give it a shot, see how it goes. And I love that so much.

Open to it. . Yes. I love that so much. I. When you were talking, it reminded me, I recently did this like low ticket workshop series, and on the backend I put together like a little trip wire and I was really bummed. I was like, no one, no one bought, and, and I spent. Like several weeks just being like little bit like not, yeah, not boohoo, but it was like, that just sucks.

Yeah. And it wasn't until yesterday that I was like, let me just check the fucking pages and see if, guess what? It just wasn't linked like there. There was no, they never saw it. And it was such a, I'm so glad though. Like I'm so glad cuz it's like that. But it was such a good example of like instead of. In that moment being like the whole thing was a fail, right?

Being like, make it mad. Everyone hates you and they don't like your content and they don't wanna buy from you. I should just quit, right? I'm just like, are my pages linked together? No. Literally, yeah. Facts, not feelings. Facts, not feelings. And that's, I mean, like feelings matter. But when it comes to stuff like that, I've had so many people, I can't tell you the amount of times people have been like, no one's bought during my launch.

And I look at their checkout page and it doesn't work. I'm like, you're, you're, you're by now button. It doesn't listen, it doesn't do anything. That's right. What? Like, that's right. Did you even look like something? You're like, no, I was too busy feeling terrible. Did you even look like, did you even try? It's so, so.

Funny. I, I don't, I don't know what to say, but yeah, I mean, like, that's definitely happened where it's like, you think the trip wire, the, the, you know, thing, the whatever Excel is set up and then you're like, wait, this page is redirecting, like what is happening? Yes, yes. That's so funny. Um, okay, one thing I wanna ask you.

So two final questions, uh, second to last one is having taught now hundreds or thousands of students in your courses and programs, , what do you feel like is the, through LA through line of the most successful ones? The ones that are like, they take the strategy, they take what? You give them the program and they like do the damn thing and then they do the damn thing again?

Yeah. Like what's the through line? What do they have in common? It's a really good question. I mean, like, we always sit, you know, we always put stuff together. Like obviously they have like a kind of like experimental mindset where they're just open to learning the lesson. Yep. You're open to doing it and you're.

You're not only doing it that, oh, this will only be worth it if I get X result. You're doing it because A, you love to do it, you would wanna do it anyway. Like a lot of our people who are successful, it's like they're launching programs or courses that they feel this like compulsion, that like this needs to exist.

This is something I'm really passionate about. That obviously needs to be combined with like skill and strategy and stuff like that. They're, they're not just doing it where it's like, oh, unless I meet this exact result, I'm gonna be so upset and I'm gonna Yeah, feel like this was a total waste of my time.

They're more like, I'm excited to learn the lessons from this. They also understand that it is a first draft and like if you can just get validation, you can grow from there. Like the first high ticket program that we launched, which was the accelerator in like January of 2018. The first, first time we put it out there, five people joined, and that was a lot less money than I was used to making in my launches of my courses.

So it would've been easy for me to be like, Uh, why am I doing this? What is, but I was like, that's the validation, that's the seed. Mm-hmm. , that's the first beginning stage of what this could become in the future. And so the, I think successful people do kind of understand that. Um, but also there's just, I don't know.

I also feel like the other thing that's just really practical is that people understand. Um, audience building and list building and like Yeah, like from a practical perspective, it's, I'm glad you said that. Like people who. People who don't. Um, the people who are successful, they never stop with lead generation, and they understand that the underlying structure of their entire business is essentially like you have to get leads and you have to get traffic, and you have to get subscribers or whatever it is.

Like it might be for you depending on your, your program. It might be applications, it might be subscribers, it might be opt-ins, it might be traffic, whatever it is you have. Get that consistently all the time. And that's how your business grows. And I think the people who are not successful is they just, again, not, not successful, I don't mean to say it that way, but people who might struggle more, they like constantly are like fiddling with their sales page.

Mm-hmm. or fiddling with this or fiddling with that, but they're avoiding. Lead generation at all costs. That's right. Not doing anything to grow their audience or grow their list or grow their database. And that is definitely something we see where I'm just like, if you keep ignoring, like you just keep doing the stuff over here, but like you're, I call that like passive action and you're like tweaking something to death.

You trust to eat action or something. Yeah. You're like procrast branding or procrast writing or whatever you're doing all this other stuff and I'm. You just like have to go out and get subscribers, I have to get leads. Like that is what feeds the funnels. And I think people are like, my funnel's not working.

And I'm like, has a single person opted in? And they're like, no, I haven't promoted it anywhere. Yes. And I'm like, okay, well what's, what do you think is gonna happen? So I just think that most successful people understand that lead generation is a never ending project, and it just has to become part of your entire business of what you do love.

Last question. What is one thought that you think on purpose? And this might be kind of mind bendy, but it could be a mantra, a reframe, an affirmation, um, share that with our listeners. Yeah. Lately it's um, what does equilibrium feel like for me today? And so equilibrium is concept. I came up with a couple, maybe a year or two ago that's just like, I would, I was def, I was definitely a person who struggled with like achievement and like wanting, like I definitely, my drive to achieve business success definitely came from like an unhealthy place of external validation.

and I was like addicted to achievements, like the next goal and the next milestone and aren't we all? Yeah. award, right? Because yeah. And you're just like, oh, that's how I'm gonna win. Love and adoration and Yep. Acceptance. Right? So like common basic. Yeah. You know, therapy stuff. But so now, so really coming to terms with like really learning how to feel content and happy with where I'm at right now and just.

Present in that. And so for me, equilibrium is the balance of feeling enoughness, like feeling like this is enough, I'm doing enough, I have enough, everything's good. Like I'm content and happy right as I am. And it's, it's the enoughness. And then on the other side of that, being open to the possibility of expansion, if it feels good and if it feels like the right opportunity.

So, Pushing for expansion, but just being like, oh, well it, that thing came along and if it all aligned then like that, I'm open to that happening. So yeah, equilibrium for me is something, I love that and I actively choose multiple times per day. Cause you're always hit with outside influences. Like if I, gosh, I don't look at social media anymore, but when I do accidentally look at social media, for some reason I have to respond to a message or something.

I'm just. Throws me out of equilibrium immediately because all of a sudden I feel like I'm not enough and I don't have enough and I'm not doing enough and I'm, you know what I mean? It's like, uh, so you have to choose it actively, multiple times per day. That is such a great one. I'm just nodding along profusely.

Cause I'm like, yes, yes, yes, yes. Especially the social media piece. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Tell everyone where to go to connect with you. Go find you. Yeah, so, um, definitely come listen to the podcast. It's the Mariah Cause Show and I share tons of stuff for course, graders, coaches, consultants, you know, digital product CEOs on there.

Um, the Mariah Cause Show podcast. My website is Fearless, c e o.co. And uh, we have a ton of free trainings and fun stuff like that on there. So yeah, pretty much the podcast and the website are good places to start and find lots of little rabbit holes that you can get stuck into there. . . Thank you so much.

This has been even better than I imagined. Knocked it out of the park. Thank you. This was so fun. Thank you. Alright.

You Get To Have Purpose And Profit. I’ll Show You How.

 
 
PodcastChristina Edwardspurpose and profit, marketing, entrepreneurship, purpose driven, nonprofit, founder, social impactComment