163 | Unlock Your Potential: Are You Ready to Unleash Your Inner Video Branding Queen with Michelle Cunningham | Life Coach BFF Show - Thrive in Midlife, Women Over 40, Midlife Women, Goal Setting, Purpose Driven Life, Faith, Systems

Host, Heather Pettey

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TRANSCRIPT
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And, and I don't have your bio yet and so, but I'll, um, if you don't mind getting that to me and then I'll do the intro before I did the intro with you, we're just going to jump into it. How about that? Okay. That's good. Okay. Welcome to the show. Michelle. I'm so happy to have you here. Finally. I'm excited to be here.

Thanks for having me, Heather. I feel like I've been working on this a while trying to get you here and it's really a unique situation because I haven't heard from your marketing team. I haven't heard from your PR team about coming on the show and you have a book. And so a lot of times I do hear from marketing and PR when someone launches a book, but not you.

I just happened upon you on Instagram and Michelle, you are everywhere. That is the power of, well, there's a lot of things at working to make that happen, but it's good to hear it's working. Yes. It's working. You are everywhere. And you know, they say that everyone knows [00:01:00] something that you don't know, but you're one of those people, Michelle, I feel like, you know, a lot of things that I don't know a lot of things.

So I want to dive into that today, but before we get started, let's talk a little bit about your background because you have been very public. About financial struggles growing up and how that affected you. And can you talk a little bit about that place? Yeah. So growing up, my mom, you know, my parents divorced when I was six.

And so I lived in Connecticut and we lived in a small town called East Grammy, but that little small town, uh, it was a middle class town, right. But we were the kind of the poor kids. My mom was our sole caretaker. So my parents divorced when I was. And so she was a single parent. Um, my older brother was eight at the time.

My younger brother was three and we just got by like every single month, just got by and sometimes didn't get by right where it was like, Oh man, we like ran out of money to get food this month. So let's go to the church and like go down to the basement and get food, which was just like how I grew up.

But I, I remember, [00:02:00] you know, realizing around six or seven that. I was different than those around me, you know, especially around Christmas time to go to friends houses down the road and like they got gifts and we got like a gift or like hand me down gifts or just like I, I started to realize that we were different and that really motivated me like as, as a six year old, I just remember being like, how come they have more money?

Like, how could I make more money? Like, I want to, I want to have money because when you have money, you have choices and you can like buy stuff. And. Yeah. Just like you can have a new outfit and you can look pretty like just there's so much that I just wanted as a kid. Like I just remember, um, panty and shampoo, my, my best friend could afford panty and shampoo.

And it was like my dream, right? It was just so simple, but like, that's where I started and I, I was very much motivated to make money. And so when I turned 12, I was like, okay, I have a lawn mowing business. And you know, then I started babysitting and then I started doing anything to make money just so I could fit in.

And so I've always been very money motivated for that reason. Um, because it, it gave me security that I didn't necessarily have because when we didn't have money, we had to go to the church to get food. [00:03:00] So, um, so that's where I started. That's how it all began. Yeah, I can appreciate that because my parents divorced when I was eight and I really watched my mother being a single parent and it's not easy.

You notice when you're that age, the struggles that your, your parents are having. You really do. And people think that you don't, but what I love about your story is you mentioned in your book about, and your book is do it anyway, girl, we're going to talk about this more. I love this book, but you mentioned about people in the community who would help, who would pitch in and.

and give to your family, which I think a lot of times we don't realize the impact that we can have as individuals on others and what that can mean. Can you think of any time in particular where somebody, you know, reached back and pulled you forward that made an impact on your life? Yeah, I think just growing up, I just remember, like, around the Christmas tree, like, if it was a year where all the wrapping paper was the same under the Christmas [00:04:00] tree, then I knew that it was a good year, because my mom could afford it, and she wrapped all the gifts, right?

But if it was a bad year, all the wrapped gifts were different colors under the tree, and that meant that our community had to come together, and I just remember, like, Opening those and being, like, really thankful for all these people that bought us those gifts, but also feeling, like, a little bit embarrassed, and also feeling like, man, I would love to be the person that gave these gifts.

You know, like, how do I become that person? Right? That was, that's, opening each and every one of those gifts motivated me to want to be that person. So, um, so yeah, but we had an amazing community that just came together and, like, really helped our family, which was really sweet. That's great. So you took those lessons.

Now we're going to really get into it, Michelle, because I've always been intrigued by network marketing. So we're going to fast forward. You got out of college, you had these different jobs, these sales rep jobs. And then at one point you were introduced. I don't know. Can we say the makeup [00:05:00] line? Is that okay?

Yeah, you could say it. Yeah. Mary Kay. So you were introduced to Mary Kay. And you became a rep for Mary Kay. I love your story, how you didn't act on it immediately and you bought all these products and they're all sitting in your house. And I mean, it's the greatest story. It really is. And I always wondered, you know, does anyone ever really make money?

In these network marketing ventures, but I mean, you hit the lottery, Michelle. You really did. Yeah. It's, uh, you know, it's there for anybody who's willing to like figure it out and do the work. Right. And so when I first signed up at 23, I just graduated college or 22 years old, I was too nervous and too shy.

And they're like, you're going to meet people by walking up to them in like parking lots. I'm like, that's like horrifying. I'm like, I'm not doing this. Right. Right. And so. Uh, and I was living in Massachusetts at the time. I was a pharmaceutical sales rep, but you know, and so for the next six years, I just stayed stuck.

I stayed in safe corporate jobs. And I was like, I know I want [00:06:00] to make this work. Like, how do I do it? And so I, at 29 years old is when I drew a line in the sand and I said, you know what? Enough's enough. I am fed up enough with my job. I don't want to do this anymore. I know one day I want to have kids and I want to be the stay at home mom.

And so I've got to figure out a way. Like, you know, the definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing and expect a different result. And I'm like, if I continue to stay here, I'll continue to have a corporate job. I'll continue to have a boss. I'll continue to make the same money. So I'm like, let's just pivot.

Like, let's just quit this job. It's pretty radical move. And I'm going to go all in and I'm going to try to figure out how to make this work. And so I remember drawing a line in the sand. And I listened to Tony Robbins Burn the Boat. It's a, it's a YouTube, but he swears in it, so you can't listen to it with kids around.

But like, but it was just like, if you are not achieving your dreams, you have not drawn the line in the sand. You have not put yourself on an island and said, you know what? I need to make this happen. And I was like, he's so right. Like, actually, yeah, I haven't done that. You know what? Okay, 29. I'm going to go for it.

I'm going to, I'm going to draw a line in the sand. I'm going to give myself six months. I'm going to figure this out. [00:07:00] So I did things that were very scary for me, which was like reaching out to a lady that worked for the same company and saying, Hey, any chance you could like show me the ropes? Like, I don't really know what I'm doing.

And my leader lives in Florida and I'm here in Ohio. And she took me under her wing. Her name was Maggie. She's one of my dear friends today, but she's like, I'll show you how to do it. And so she showed me what to do as, and what was great about Maggie is, is like myself, she's, she's introvert. Um, she actually suffers from social anxiety and she hates talking in front of people.

And so she showed me how to build this business without walking up to strangers. And I learned her system and I'm like, I can do this. And six months after meeting her, I had finally earned a free car. Uh, I was at 500, they'd recruited, uh, 50 people at that point. I had over 300 new customers. Customers, um, and was making about $5,000 a month at that point.

But I was like, you know what, I can live on 5,000 a month. Like let's do this. Like this is what I'm gonna do. And so that was the decision I made. Um, and, and then just grew it from there. Showed my team how to do what I was doing and they did it. And I grew it to over a thousand people on my team. And we did over 10, eight feet.[00:08:00]

Figures in sales, uh, just like 13 million in sales as a team. And I got paid on that. Right. So I made a pretty consistent six figure income for many, many years, drove a pink Cadillac. Right. And just like changed my life and my confidence and my belief in myself. And so I love the industry. It's, I am so thankful for my time being in the industry.

I was there for 17 years, but only 10 actually working. And it, it changed the way that I think about business. I met so many positive people, learned so many lessons. And so, uh, I highly recommend. That industry for anybody. I mean, it's just a great way to learn how to be an entrepreneur. Yes. And I bet you got a lot of attention in this pink Cadillac, Michelle, because you could not help but notice the pink Cadillac.

Yeah, it was a lot, but you had to always look good. You know, you couldn't, couldn't just look like a mess in the pink Cadillac because you were representing. So you had to really get done up to go in your car, but I, I loved it. And my license plate said makeup. Uh, it really was kind of awesome. It was like my dream.

And I got to drive my daughter home from the hospital in a pink Cadillac, which was, that was my dream. [00:09:00] So did you take a lot of orders in the Walmart parking lot? No, I never approached flagging you down. Nothing. No. It's funny. I never once sold anything because of that pink Cadillac. The only thing that that pink Cadillac attracted was teenage boys who thought it was really cool and old men like, like 70 or older, they would come up and be like, tell me about how you earned this.

But any woman who saw it, they would walk the other way. At least this was my experience. They were like, leave me alone. You're going to try to tell me something. I'm like, I'm not going to sell anyone anything. Right. So I never sold just from my pink Cadillac. I sold in other ways. Yeah, that's so fun. Okay.

So let's talk about this book. What inspired you to write this book? Like what did you think? I want to help other women because I really love when women learn and then they are successful and then they share. And I feel like that's what you do in this book. Yeah. I think that, you know, I felt broken for so long that I was like, if I ever figured this industry out, I'm not going to keep it a secret.[00:10:00]

I'm going to tell absolutely everybody. And so that's what I did is I decided to write that book to just give the journey of like, you know, it wasn't all just a walk in the park. And I also had terrible parties and I also had funny incidents and bad unicorns. I tell funny stories about like, you know, the bad smelling elevator I was on and this like crazy party I went to.

But like I share those stories because, you know, being an entrepreneur is not always a walk in the park. But I think that all of those experiences make us stronger. Like I, I think everyone needs to go through challenging times because he just puts a shield around you where you're like, you know what, I'm kind of feeling like invincible now.

Like I've been through that incident, if it happens again, I know how to handle it. And so, um, so I decided to write the book just to share the journey of like, I'm just a shy introvert from humble beginnings who grew up with nothing. I figured it out. Here's how I did it. So if you need a game plan, here it is.

And so that book is, is perfect for the introverted it and it's introverted network marketer or direct seller, but there's also entrepreneurs who buy it. You know, yoga instructors are like, I use a lot of your strategies from your book. And I'm like, that's so funny, but it [00:11:00] does. It is kind of a universal book where you can use it.

No matter what you sell, you know, we all need leads. We all need to connect with people. And so I share a lot of those strategies in there. Yeah. And I feel like there are a lot of messages in your book that can apply just to life in general. I mean, I would love for my kids to read your book. There are just so many good takeaways from this.

And yeah, I do want to get to where I'm working to go over some quotes from your book in just a minute, Michelle, but what do you think I want you to define? Because you talk a lot about resilience. That's an overall theme in this book. I feel like. And what do you think is essential, an essential part of gaining resilience for personal growth?

I think the biggest part is you have to take action and you have to fall down, right? And you have to have challenging, you know, it's things that happen in your life. And so every time I've had something happen, that makes my stomach like turn where I'm like, Oh, that was so terrible. You know, whether it be a customer of returning something or, uh, you know, taking someone off back then that I texted too many times, or, you know, I've done all those things.[00:12:00]

It's like, Oh man, sorry. I like didn't mean to do that. Right. But that, that made me stronger. And as I would get through those moments, I realized, you know what, did that break me? No, it didn't. Okay. So we can keep going. And so that all of those experiences, anything that's challenging that someone goes through, I say, Take it like just celebrate that that's happening because the next time it happens, you know how to handle it and, uh, you know, I very specifically remember accidentally it was an accident, but I accidentally ticked off someone I knew that was like my biggest fear in my whole life was like that I would accidentally ask someone too much, like, you know, because as a network marketer, you're like, Hey, I don't know if you'd be interested in this.

I got this thing, but I asked her one too many times. And that day she just laid into me in a text. Message. And I was like, I was in so much pain in my stomach. I was like, oh my gosh, I feel terrible because I might see her out. Like, this is so embarrassing. But I was like, okay, well, we can't sit here and be sad about this.

We have to figure out a solution. So I'm like, okay, what's my solution? I'm like, you know what? We're going to write a sorry note. Yeah, that's good. We'll write a sorry note. We'll put it in the mailbox. We'll put the flag up and then we'll be like, we're done. We're done with that. Right? So I wrote her a sorry note.

I think [00:13:00] I sent her a refund for her order. You know, it's like, I just want to apologize. I'm so sorry. And I didn't mean to, you know, upset you, oh my gosh, you feel terrible, right? Sent the sorry note, put the flag up, and I'm like, okay, done, we're not thinking about that anymore. Right? And I moved on from it.

And so, you know, a lot of times people let those little moments, like, like, shut them down, right? And they're like, oh, that was so awful. And I'm like, no, no, we have to get through that. And then we, we, It becomes stronger and we get to the other side and then, and then when you get through those, you're able to then share with your team or other people that you're showing, Hey, when that happened to me, here's how I handled it.

So I think we need to have all of those challenging times so that we can teach others how to handle them. I agree. I agree. And you know, times like that, they really affect your self confidence. And so how do you tell women, or I guess there's some men that, you know, probably take your courses, you know, how do you tell them to get past that, to believe in themselves and, and really build up their self confidence?

Yeah. So, you know, I, again, I try to like, you know, I try to come [00:14:00] up with a way to like get it gone and then not relive it. Right. So I put it in the mailbox, I get rid of it and then I don't go back inside and call my friend. I'm like, I got to tell you a terrible story. Right. I don't, I don't try to keep reliving those moments instead.

I just forget about them. And I was sharing that with some of my students today. I was like, you know, they say, how do you, how do you not get overwhelmed with like all the things you have to do? Like, how do you, how do you, You stay there and I'm like, well, I think that our brain is like having all these little doors, right?

There's like the laundry door and there's the this door and there's the create this door and there's this issue that you're having door. I try to keep the doors all closed and I only open the one door, right? So if something is bothering me, right, I shut that door and I'm really good at forgetting what was bothering me.

Like I, even this morning I was I'm like, what was it? I'm like, eh, it's fine. I don't remember. We've shut that door. Like, I don't even remember what was bothering me. And I think that's a good skill to develop that let's just isolate it, shut it back down. Do we need to worry about that? No, let's focus on the thing that matters the most to bring revenue to our business or to make impact or love on our kids.

Whatever door is open. Let's just focus on that. So that's big for me [00:15:00] is not opening all the doors at once because then you feel crazy. Yeah. And it sounds like you're really good at handling failure and setbacks just, you know, because a lot of people can't turn it off like you can, but I'm, yeah, labor and just pivot, you know, when things happen.

That you that are uncomfortable, you just have to pivot. And like one of my daughters called yesterday and she said, mom, I was at work and we had a situation and she goes, I thought about you and I thought it's time to make a new plan. And it sounds like you're really good at that, Michelle. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the only thing that you can do, especially when you own a business.

Right. My business has grown so big now that it's like. there's always something going on, right? Like every hour, it's like there's this, there's that, there's this, right? And I'm like, bring it on. It's like fun, like a challenge, right? So I think when you look at it as like challenges and opportunities and, and a chance to grow, I think it's, it's awesome.

So, um, so yeah, no, I agree. Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. But it makes you so strong. And I think it's really good. It's [00:16:00] true. And I love one of your themes or your mottoes is do it anyway. And I have a sign in my laundry room that I've had, it's like a little chalkboard sign for probably 20 years.

And it says, I can't do this, but I'm doing it anyway. And I think that's the mindset you have to have as an entrepreneur. Yeah. You know, I named that book do it anyway, girl, because when I went to that Maggie's meeting and she kind of, she was standing in front of the room, she was the, the one that was going to teach me how to do this direct sales thing.

She said, I want y'all to remember one thing and I was like, okay, she's like successful women feel the fear and do it anyway. And I was like, really? Like I remember that being at a, as 29 years old, I was like, I didn't know that actually, is that really true? Cause I thought they came from wealthy families.

I thought they had everything handed to them. I'm like. Like, that is truly what I believed and I realized, oh, so I could actually win at this. Like, I could just be a little scared and like, do it anyway. And she's like, yeah, that's how it works. I'm like, oh, like that was a new thought for me. Right. So anytime we're feeling scared or whatever, just a reminder to just [00:17:00] do it anyway, girl, like just do, do that thing that scares you, send that message that scares you, like, just do it because there's so many cool things that come from just stepping into that.

It's pretty crazy. Yeah. What is it? Everything that you want in life is on the other side of fear and I'm such a believer in that. Yeah. It's so true. It is so true. And it's crazy when you go and ask what can happen, like what is available to you? Yes. Okay. You know what? Before we do this, I'm, I'm going to ask you this.

What part has faith played in your, in your life, Michelle, I feel like it's played a big role. Yeah. I, I really truly believe when I met Maggie, Maggie brought me to church, it was the craziest thing. And she had written in. She'd given me a Bible like 10 years prior and she had wrote a Bible verse I can't even remember what it was now, I haven't told this story in so long, but she had written a Bible verse in the beginning of the Bible, right, and she wrote it down.

And she had given me that Bible ten years earlier, and she said, Hey, when we go today, bring your Bible. So I was like, Okay. I brought my Bible. We went to church together. [00:18:00] And I remember the pastor's son was on stage that day, and he's like, Hey, because I remember leaving my house and being like, Yeah, like, maybe if there is a God, like, let there be a sign.

Right? So anyway, so we go to church, and the pastor's son is on stage that day, and he's like, Hey, I don't ever really come up here, but. For some reason, I felt compelled to come here today and share, and I'm not sure why, but there must be a reason for it. And he opens his Bible, and he read the exact, uh, Bible verse that she had written 10 years ago in the beginning of my Bible.

And I was like, I just like burst into tears. And I was like, Oh my gosh. Right. And that was just in a period where I was just starting my business. I was leaving my current job. I was leaving basically like a six figure job to go and embark on this new journey, which was like lunatic really to everyone around me.

Like they thought I had lost my mind, you know, college degree here. I am like, I'm going to, I'm going to go build this makeup empire. Right. I thought it was crazy. And I'm like, I just, I'm, I believed I was made for so much more than that typical nine to five. Um, and I just started crying there. And I just really believe from that point forward, I just, all my decisions have really been God led where, you know, even [00:19:00] as, as my network marketing business grew so big and then I started this other brand and that grew so big when I made the decision to transition right from network marketing to this other thing.

Like, I just believe God had a huge, had all of them, you know, it was like his, he's like, I've got this really big plan for you and, and you're not listening. And so I could tell stories about like how, you know, that's a little further on the story, but like how he threw me adversity and was like, you're not listening.

I have something bigger for you. It's over here. You're not listening. So I truly believe all the little things that are happening in your life. Like, I think there's a big message in that. So for me, it's, it's been so helpful cause it's led a lot of my decisions. And, um, Has, has brought me into a place I never dreamed, like just this bigger business I could have ever, never dreamed to create, which has been amazing.

Did you ever have visions, any God given visions? Like with, with, yeah, I mean, I think in the year of 2019, [00:20:00] I, I definitely like, I, I was thrown a lot of, uh, you know, it was challenging to be in my network marketing business and to also be building my brand. My, it was, it was a little bit difficult to do both.

And so I just remember God saying like, I've got a bigger platform for you, right? Like, You need to be on the cover of a book. You need to be creating these courses. You're going to help internationally. And I'm like, that sounds like crazy, like that I could really, you know, right. And then people from Sweden started to buy my courses and Australia.

And like, you know, I was talking with people with accents, I'm like, Whoa, this is so crazy that like, you know, just putting yourself out there who you can reach. But I did see that like, and, and I said, you know what, I'm going to step into that even though it feels like a little ludicrous. I said, I'm like writing a book and I'm gonna put my face on it or like creating CDs and creating courses.

Like, it feels like silly a little bit, but I'm like, that's okay. In my head. I was like, who do I think I am? I'm like, that's fine. You're awesome. Just do this anyway. So I just like did it, you know, which was scary, but you know, it's crazy when we decide to step into our greatness, how many people you can inspire by the actions that you take and that.

That's it. You know, that, [00:21:00] that really keeps me going because there's so many people that'll message me and be like, because of you, I decided to write a book or because of you, I just, I'm like, really? Like, good. Cause I was really scared when I did that. I thought it was going to be a total flop. Right. Like you just don't know.

Right. But it's, it's so cool. Like what can happen when you just go for it. I agree. And I ask you that because my mother always tells me, you know, people are going to think you're crazy. And I talked about this on Kelly's show about visions that God gave me, that I was going to speak to thousands of people.

And when I realized they were from him, I would just start crying. And, you know, within no time, CNN started calling, asking me to come on to do segments. And I don't enjoy public speaking. So anyway, that's why I ask you that just, you know, I think that people who are doing big things, a lot of times, you know, God has brought these visions, but you're afraid to talk about it.

Yep. I 100 percent agree. Yeah. So thank you. So cool. You've been on CNN, by the way. So fine. So fine. But, um, I'm [00:22:00] very grateful and I'm very honored. And so I just, I give God all the glory for everything that's happened. And I know that you do as well. So, okay. So let's get to this book, Michelle, here's, here's your first quote.

I want you to tell me what this means to you. Best case scenario is you make a ton of money. Worst case scenario is you save a bunch of money and pro. No, that's not my quote. Anyway, that'll be edited out. I forgot I put a star by this one. Okay. They say you become like the five people you spend the most time with.

So if those five people don't lift you up, you need women who bring happiness into your life. Yeah, it's so true. Right. I'm very, very selective about who I have in my space. Right. Like, because there are people that, they will take your energy, right? Or their negative energy, right? Or their needy or whatever, right?

And so, um, I, I surround myself with some really great people and I recommend everyone do that. It's so, so important. So, and you can't always control like in your family, right? [00:23:00] Everyone's got different, family dynamics, but you can still, you know, outside of your family dynamic, you can keep a really core group of friends that you're checking in with and just saying, Hey, how are you going?

Like, how are things going? You know, I have friends that we hop on calls, uh, every few months and we just say, Hey, how's business going? What are you working on? What do you have? Like a lot of strategy that we talk and we share ideas and that's huge. So you need that. And sometimes the people around you don't understand, and they're not always as encouraging as other people who are in your realm.

Yeah, I agree. Okay. Next quote. And when things go ridiculous, I love this point, Michelle, when things go ridiculously wrong, you always have a funny story to share with others. Those are the best. And so I love that you've turned a negative into a positive. And after I read that, I thought, you know, I am going to laugh about these silly things that happened that I do that at the time, I think this was a disaster.

Yeah. It's always a good story. I live for things going wrong. [00:24:00] I'm like, this is a good one. Yeah. So we have all sorts of stories, right? Just crazy stuff that happens, but I love it. I love it. Yeah. I love your outlook on that. All right. God blesses your efforts. You would, you just have to give him something to bless.

This is so good, Michelle. Yeah. It's so true. Like, you know, whenever I'm just thinking like, Oh man, like, am I not getting the results I want? I'm like, but did you really honestly put in the effort? Right. Like, were you really, whatever it is, like even on Instagram, like, Oh, I haven't been growing an Instagram.

Okay. Well, did you really focus on putting out high quality content and were you really consistent? The answer is no. Right. And so when I decided to be really more consistent, Oh, look at that. We're finally growing. And so, right? Like honestly, any effort that we put in, it will be blessed. Maybe not initially, not right away, maybe in a few months, but I believe we've got to be patient, right?

This is not overnight success stuff. None of this happens overnight, but if you can just stick with it and be consistent. Uh, it's crazy. The [00:25:00] blessings that'll come your way or the doors that will open that you don't even anticipate. That's what's so crazy about it. So it's very, very cool. Yes. Yes. What now let's talk about what you're doing now, Michelle, because you just brought something up about helping people with Instagram, and there are a lot of women who listen to this podcast and that I come in contact and through coaching and other avenues, uh, Who have a business, but they're afraid to put themselves out there.

And that is where you have taken your gifts, your God given gifts and talents from what you learned in network marketing. And you are helping all these women. So will you please tell us what you do? Yeah. So is. It's interesting because it's almost morphed over the last few years where initially my whole brand was built on helping network marketers, right?

And so I have a huge brand that's helped network marketers. I've written the book for network marketers. I have a whole coaching program for network marketers, but I also have entrepreneurs like doctors who have reached out to me and Etsy shop owners. And they're like, how do you do what you do? Like I [00:26:00] see your brand everywhere.

I see your videos. Like I want to sell courses like you, or I want like the attention that you get, like how are you doing that? And so I have a whole different training that shows entrepreneurs and I've got, we meet once a week. It's really fun, but it's, it's literally nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, doctors, functional medicine doctors.

I've got lawyers and realtors and just anybody who owns a small business who wants to generate more attention online. I show them exactly how to do that. Like how to use video, be a little cheeky yourself, be like a little weird, just you could be anything, right? Just completely be yourself. And that's it.

I think because I am a little weird and a little quick like, I don't know, I'd say quirky is the word I get the most. I'm a little quirky. But I attract people like that, right? So the people that hire me are all like a little funny and like silly. Um, and so they come on and, and I'm teaching them basically how to continue to show up on social media, build an email list, and then how do we monetize that email list, right?

I know lots of people who have way larger followers than me, but we make way less. They don't know how to generate the revenue from it. And that's what I show people how to do is how to turn your followers into. [00:27:00] I'll actually impact them, like make a big change in their life, but I'll actually make a profit from that so that you can live your laptop lifestyle and have total freedom and be with your family and do what you love.

So, so I do a little bit of both right now. So, uh, I love it. Well, and that's what I meant earlier in our conversation. When I said, you know, so many things that I don't know, I need to take your course, Michelle. I definitely need to. Well, how can we get in touch with you? If someone listening wants to take your course, a small business owner, entrepreneur, or someone who just would like to work on their personal brand, how, how can they sign up?

Yeah, so I, I think the best place to start, I have a course called, uh, Video Superstar, but even before that course, I have a free guide that gives you all of my video equipment that I recommend to make awesome videos, right? Because someone who wants to level up their video game will want to level up like their branding and they'll want to level up and, and eventually make money with those videos.

So I do have, uh, my video equipment tools guide. I would [00:28:00] recommend it's all the video equipment I use to make awesome videos, including, I mean, simple, but I use this little tiny microphone. I plug it right into my phone and I get good audio and I film a lot of my videos right from my phone. And so I share my equipment with you guys totally free.

Um, so that is a great place to start. And then from there, there's a customer journey. You'll see where it'll say, Hey, do you want video? Superstar. And then you'll start getting emails from me. And then eventually you can book a call with my team and my, a coach on my team can talk with you and hear what you're working on and make a recommendation either on something free we have, or they can send you off to, um, you know, they can share more about my elite program.

I've got different training programs. Um, so I love it all. It's so fun. Like I love. It's really fun to watch people's transformations and, and their belief, right? Completely transformed. So that's a good place to start is that tools guide. I love how you serve Michelle. I do. I love your heart. I love the fact that you call yourself a unicorn because I feel like a unicorn myself a lot of days and there are just so many awesome things about you.

All [00:29:00] right, before we go, and where can we find you on Instagram? Yeah, the Michelle Cunningham is where I'm on Instagram. I'm being a little more focused about being on there. So that's where I am on Instagram. Okay. Before we go, can you give us just the craziest story that you've had or experience that you've had In your business journey.

And we're going to end it with that. Okay. This is the best one. So I started making YouTube videos and, um, I just was making them feeling like, who do I think I am making these videos, but I'm going to make them anyway. I'm just going to, you know, we are all perfectly positioned to train the person that we.

We once were right. So I was like, you know what? Okay. I, at the time I was a new network marketer. I had like held a few parties and I recruited a handful of people. So I'm like, I'm gonna start teaching other people who haven't done that and how to do it. Right. They started a YouTube channel and that YouTube channel, uh, started to pick up a little bit speed and people were like, Oh my gosh, this is so helpful.

And I'm like, really? Like, I couldn't believe that they thought it was helpful, but ended up getting a phone call a few months. [00:30:00] Later from a CEO of, of a network marketing company. And he was like, our sales reps love you. They've been begging me to find you and they want you to come and do a training. And I was like, okay, I'm like this.

I was like on the phone to the CEO. That was like, I'd never talked to a CEO in my life. Right. At the time. And I was like, oh my gosh, that's so crazy. And so he goes, um, just let us know your fee. And so I first fall over dead because I'm like, oh my gosh, he's going to pay me. Couldn't believe that. And then number two is I hang up the phone.

He's like, and bring along your training program. You can sell it at the event. And I remember being like, Oh, okay. I said, okay. And I hung up and I was like, okay, first I have to tell him my fee. So I remember telling him my fee of 2, 500, which I thought there's no way they would say yes to that. And they were like, great.

We'll send you a check today. So I was like, Oh my God, I was so new to all of this. I had no idea. Right. And then he said, bring along your training program. I didn't have one. So I created one. So I ended up filming three CDs, just audio. And I brought them along to the event and I sold them. And that simple him saying on the phone, just bring along your training [00:31:00] program.

You can sell it at the event. That simple statement changed my life forever because I brought those CDs to the event. I sold some, I bought them for a dollar, sold them for 17. People bought them and I made money. And I was like, Whoa, that's so crazy. Then the people thank me for the training. I was like, what?

Okay. Like so crazy. Really? They're thanking me. Whoa. And then I brought them home and I had to figure out how to sell the remaining 100 that I had left. I didn't know what I was doing. I threw them on a website. They sat there for two years doing not a whole lot of anything. Then they learned about funnels in 2019.

And when I learned about funnels, and how to get traffic to funnels from Russell Brunson in a book called Traffic Secrets that I learned how to sell my CDs and I had to then order more in and then we started selling lots of CDs and I was like, Oh, but that simple statement changed my life forever because, because of him, I started to create digital courses.

And that's what I do full time now is I'm a digital course creator and it all started because he said, bring along your, your training program. So, um, so listen to those little things. Don't ever say, no, I don't have that. Just how can we make that? How can we create that thing? Let's do this. Let's step into this.

So, [00:32:00] uh, so crazy. Yeah. Start before you're ready. . Yes. Yes. . Thank you so much, Michelle. You have got to promise me that you'll come back again. This was so much fun. Uh, I love you, my friend. Thanks for having me on. I'd love to. I love you. I love you more, Michelle. You're awesome.

163 | Unlock Your Potential: Are You Ready to Unleash Your Inner Video Branding Queen with Michelle Cunningham

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