Monetize Your Niche

Episode Transcript
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Amy (00:10):
Hey everyone and welcome to our weekly power lounge.
This is your place to hearauthentic conversations from
those who have power to share.
My name is Amy Vaughn and I amthe owner and chief empowerment
officer of Together Digital, adiverse and collaborative
community of women who work indigital and choose to share
their knowledge, power andconnections.
You can join the movement attogetherindigitalcom and today

(00:34):
we are joined by someone who isredefining what it means to
build both purpose and profit inbusiness.
Anne McNeil is the founder andpresident of MCO Construction
and Services.
She has blazed trails as oneSouthern California, as Southern
California's first Blackwomen-owned construction firms,
while simultaneously masteringthe art of niche monetization.

(00:58):
As a master strategist andtransformational speaker and a
certified Napoleon HillFoundation coach, anne brings a
unique perspective on howfocusing on your niche and
developing unshakable andunshakable mindset and aligning
wealth with legacy can createsustainable success.
Through her work withConstructively Speaking Inc.

(01:20):
She has helped countless womenand entrepreneurs connect to
their deepest purpose withmeasurable prosperity.
Anne's approach isn't justabout building businesses.
It's about leading and buildinglegacies, and today she's going
to share with you, our amazinglisteners, on how intentional
niche selections and mindsetmastery can transform not just

(01:44):
your income but your entireimpact.
So welcome to the Power Loungeand we are thrilled to have you
here.

Ann (01:50):
Oh wow, thrilled to be here and I'm excited in discussing
this.
I call it niche to be richerwith your audience, so it's
exciting.

Amy (02:02):
Absolutely.
Me too.
I'm sure some people were kindof scratching their heads like,
oh, she's in construction, but Ithink that's such a profound
attestment to like the work thatyou're doing, because I mean
talk about an industry that isnot diverse.
I worked when I was in my 20s.
I was kind of in like a gapyear at college and I worked at

(02:22):
a construction company and oh mygosh, anne, it was awful, it
was miserable.
I won't go into it because Idon't want to take up the whole
hour, but any woman out therewho is in an industry such as
this, like I just I have seenfirsthand what things in that
industry are like.
So again, kudos to you.
So, on that note, you've, likeI said in your bio, you have

(02:43):
built one of Florida's firstwomen-owned, black-owned
construction firms and then,taking what you've learned the
good and the bad and you've beenusing that to coach others.
Like you said, on nichemonetization, what was it that
made you first realize thatfocusing deeply on a specific
niche was more powerful than toserve everyone?

(03:03):
I think because that's likesomething we do as marketers and
as women.
We're like we want everyone tolike us, we want everyone to
love us, we want everyone to buyour product or service.
But what was that moment thatyou realized, or what kind of
led to that moment ofrealization?

Ann (03:18):
Well, amy, for me it was exactly 9 pm, december 31st 1970
.
See you knew.

Amy (03:28):
When I asked that question, people were like I don't
remember the exact moment, butyou're like.
No, I remember the day and thetime.

Ann (03:33):
Okay, continue, sorry, I remember the day, I remember the
time, I remember the location,because when you say pivotal
moment, it was pivotal moment itwas.
And I still oh my, I still getthose feelings of sitting at my
dining room table at 9 pm whenmy husband and friends decided

(03:56):
to go out and celebrate the newyear.
I decided to stay home and reada book and actually I brought a
version of it here with me.
This is thinking rich, and Ihad the version of it here with
me.
This is Thinking Real Rich, andI had the version, the little
yellow book with the white book,with the yellow border.
But I decided that night tostay home and begin to read this

(04:17):
book, because I just couldn'tgo out and party one more night,
knowing that I felt broken,broken.
And so, when you ask thequestion, what was the pivotal
moment?
That was it.
Because, as I began to read thebook, amy, the author, asked me
three questions, but he gave mesix steps to riches, and those

(04:37):
three questions have led me intoa niche area of my business and
my life that now I share witheverybody and I help elevate
women in particular in theirbusiness and their life to go to
the next level with these.
And the first question, if it'sokay, if I can share, yes,
please, okay.
The first question he asked mein the book he said and I made

(05:00):
it personal to me, personal,personal.
He said Ann McNeil, how muchmoney do you want?
And I'd never been asked thatquestion before.
The second question he asked mein the book.
It's in the very beginning ofthe book, in the Desire
Principle.
He said what are you going todo in return for the money?
You know some kind of productor service you're going to sell?

(05:21):
I had no answer, I just keptreading.
But the third question he askedme was by what date?
Those were the questions, andthen the number four was to to
write out my plan of action.
And this is where the momentshift for me.
I went back to question one.

(05:42):
Now I'm home alone, friends andfamily that have gone out
celebrating this New Year'snight.
I went back to number one and Isaid you know I'm home alone.
Why don't I just answer thequestion how much money do I
really want?
I have a good job and I'm doingokay.
And so as I sat there and Isaid you know how much money do
I want to see it would be nice.

(06:03):
This is 1979 now and don'tjudge me, your audience don't
judge me, but I said $1,000.
I'd like to have $1,000 saved ayear.
Question number two he asked meto give an exact date.
So this was December 31st 1979.
I said it would be great tohave saved $1,000.
December 31st 1980.

(06:24):
1979,.
I said it would be great tohave saved a thousand dollars,
december 31st 1980.
But when I got to the next step,where he asked me now to
describe exactly what I wasgoing to do and this for your
audience and your listeners thisis where the work begins.
Because I said in my mind Imake this much, I spend this

(06:45):
much I got a negative number.
I decided to take a sheet ofpaper and a pen and write it
down I make this much, I spendthis much.
The negative number got bigger.
I decided to get a calculatorin case I was missing some
income.
I mean, we know how much moneywe make when we have a job.
Yeah, to the penny, I make thismuch.

(07:07):
I make this much, I spend thismuch.
The negative number got biggerbecause I remember some expenses
that I had that I did not takeinto consideration.
So, amy, I actually wentthrough this process of pulling
out 11 months of canceled checks.
I refused to acknowledge howbroke I was.
That is the journey that leadsto the idea of niching to be

(07:30):
richer.
Because, as I sat there thatnight and I took 11 months, I
have an undergraduate degree inaccounting, at the time working
on a master's degree, planningon getting a PhD.
That's where I was at thismoment in time degree, planning
on getting a PhD.
That's where I was at thismoment in time.
So I said January, I took asheet of paper and just made a

(07:51):
handmade spreadsheet and I wrotedate, payee, amount and across
the top, where was I spendingthe money?
January a negative.
February, negative.
March a negative.
Now I can go through the end ofthe year.
They were all negatives.
Now I can go through the end ofthe year.
They were all negatives.
When I got to the end ofNovember, I realized that if I
continued doing what I was doing, I was going to continue

(08:12):
getting what I was getting.
And I decided that night to sitthere and figure out how could
I make more money with myexisting job.
And I figured that if I got apart-time job with my job, I
would pay for the privilege ofworking.
So now it's nine o'clock.
I sat there, amy, until fouro'clock that morning.

(08:32):
Now the door opens, my husbandand friends are coming in from
celebrating the new year.
I am still sitting there, butnow I'm crying and I like to
always ask my audience and mycoaching clients when I share
this and I ask if anybody canguess why am I crying.
You want to take a guess, amy,why I'm crying?

Amy (08:51):
Did you figure it out?
Did you get the numbers?
No the opposite.

Ann (08:55):
I'm such an optimist and I like to ask all of your audience
if you're listening live or, inthe future, write in the chat.
Why do you think I was crying?
Yeah, drop it in the chat, drop, or in the future, write in the
chat.

Amy (09:04):
Why do you think I was crying?
Yeah, drop it in the chataudience.

Ann (09:06):
Drop it in the chat.
The reason I was crying wasbecause I felt hopeless, and I
think that I know from my ownjourney and my own story that I
could not shift until I realizedand accepted where was I at
that point in time?
And now, when I look back andthen look forward, I realized

(09:30):
that that was the and then youasked an excellent question.
The pivotal point for me wasthat point of realizing that I
had to do something different.
And that was the journey for meto realize.
Yes, I had a really goodcorporate job, yeah, at that
point in time, but something assimple as getting out of debt

(09:52):
and saving an extra thousanddollars is what put me in the
path of understanding.
I needed to start a businessand do something in addition and
I'm talking to those of us whoare professionals in a job
please don't quit your job.
Do something in addition toyour job as an entrepreneur
before you become anentrepreneur.

(10:13):
So that was the pivotal pointfor me when I realized I needed
to do something.

Amy (10:18):
That became what I now call Mitch, to be Rich.

Ann (10:20):
Yes, my pleasure.

Amy (10:22):
Well, and it's one of those things, right, because how many
of us are sitting in jobs thatfeel like, oh, I'm comfortable,
I'm getting paid enough, butit's not until you take that
time to look inward and putsomething on paper and say
something as simple as saving athousand dollars a year and you
can't make that math work.
It sucks, right.
It's kind of like therapy insome ways, right.

(10:42):
I know people who want to avoidtherapy because they don't want
to face the truth and then haveit said out loud or put on the
paper.
People avoid journaling forthese reasons, but there has
been no one that I've ever hadas a friend, a mentor, a guest
on this show, a member withinTogether Digital that has never
not said that that's a part ofthe process finding that sense

(11:03):
of freedom and focus and goingafter what it is that you want.
I think we're always kind ofwaiting for the silver bullet,
but sometimes it's literallydoing what you did and kind of
sitting out the social, you knowevening and taking four or five
hours and really truly lookingat what you have and putting it
on paper.
So thank you for giving us that, liz, the guiding principles,

(11:23):
and then that vulnerable story.
I love it.
That's like classic together,digital type, ml of like
inspirational but like, here'sthe hard truth of what I had the
face to get there and here'show I did it.
And I knew that when we talkedto Anna, I was like this is
going to be such a goodconversation and you know, we
had somebody drop in overwhelmedinto the chat.
So, yeah, she was definitelyfeeling it.

(11:43):
I was like I was optimistic,you figured it out, you're going
to go.
But it's true that the realityis is that's probably where most
of us would be sitting rightnow If we did the exercise that
you just explained.
I love that so much, you know,and there's a lot of women
within the organization oh, I'msorry, I meant to say live
listeners like, keep using thechat for comments and questions.

(12:06):
Um, you know, I've got a numberof questions here for Ann, but
you know you're our listeners.
We want to know what you wouldlike to know, um based on where
you're at um, to make the mostof our time here with Ann.
Um, but a lot of our membersare entrepreneurs and often you
know I see it in our Slack chat,I see it or hear it in their
peer groups they struggle withthis idea of leaving money on

(12:27):
the table.
When they consider narrowingtheir focus, they think in order
to make all the money, theyhave to do all the things right.
How do you help or what advicewould you give to, you know,
women, entrepreneurs, whomever,to overcome that scarcity
mindset when they're kind ofchoosing and settling in on
their niche?

Ann (12:48):
Thank you so very much for the question.
I have a framework thatconsists of really five
different areas and businessesthat we're in that we should
niche.
The first is your craft, andyou hit it on the head when you
talked about, you know, the peergroups and the chat and the

(13:08):
individuals who are part of thisphenomenal community.
I believe that the firstbusiness that we're in is our
craft, our niche business,whether it's your profession and
I take my profession for anexample, and I'll use this as an
example I'm a licensed generalcontractor for over 40 plus

(13:32):
years, since 1980-ish datemyself.
But if I were a painter now I'mnot just going to use this
example to help your clients,right, if I were a painter and
I'm in the painting business, amI an expert painter?
That is for our listeners,think about whatever it is you

(13:54):
do for your business.
Are you an expert and are youknown as an expert in that
business, that craft, as anexpert in that business, that
craft?
Secondly, I believe thebusiness that we're in now, mind
you, the profession, is abusiness in and of and by itself

(14:15):
.
So I'll use painters again.
There's a professional paintersassociation.
Are you a member of yourprofessional association in your
niche craft or your nicheprofession.
The second business I like toencourage all of our clients, my
coaching clients in particular,that we're in and we don't

(14:36):
often think of it as a businessin and of itself is the business
of the operations of your craft.
Yeah, the business of theoperations of your craft.
Yeah, the business of theoperations of your craft.

(14:59):
Your accounts, receivables,your payables, all of the
platforms that are required foryour particular niche industry
in terms of the business, right?
So, as a painter, there'scertain things that I must do as
a painter that may be differentthan if I were an artist in

(15:21):
terms of the operations of mybusiness, yeah, and treating
that as a business by itself.
But then we get into thebusiness of the relationships
and oftentimes and I like toshare with my clients to read
something in every single areaof your business.
So let's take relationships,for example.
I'm asking your clients, put inthe chat and your members of

(15:43):
your organization, amy, put inthe chat what's the last best
favorite relationship bookyou've read?
You see why?
Because the relationships inyour particular craft are very
different and oftentimes wedon't think about that as a

(16:04):
business, right, because most ofour business comes from people
that we know, that we like andthat we trust.
Right, but what am I reading?
One of my favorites authors isJeffrey Gittimer.
Okay, jeffrey Gittimer haslittle books of sales
connections and they come incolors and your audience can you

(16:27):
know, you can Google him, butwe often think of seven habits
of highly effective people,which is a regular for many
people.
But think about whatever it isthat you need to read in your
particular industry for thoseconnections to get business in
your industry.
The next niche area I encourageall of us to think about is the

(16:50):
industry.
Now let me go back to paintingas a painter.
Imagine I am Anne McNeil, I'm acontractor and I come to a
conference with contractors andI run into three painters.
Painter number one I say whatdo you do?
The painter says and here goesthe niching.

(17:10):
The painter says listen, I'm apainter, I paint everything.
What do you have?
I paint houses, I paintbusinesses, I paint school, I
paint everything.
Then I say, okay.
Painter number two what do youdo?
He says I'm a painter, what doyou paint?
Well, listen, I paint roads, Ipaint highways.
Now I am a school painter, I'ma school builder, I build

(17:33):
schools, and this is an exampleI build schools.
Now painter number three I saypainter number three, what do
you do?
And painter number three says,listen, I only paint schools.
What do you do?
And painter number three says,listen, I only paint schools.
I only paint schools for DaveBroward in Palm Beach County.
I live in Florida and DaveBroward in Palm Beach County is

(17:54):
a part of our state.
Now my schools that I build arelocated in Dave Broward in Palm
Beach County.
Now painter number three onlypaint schools and has been in
the school painting business for20 years.
Which of the painters would Iuse?
Can we put it in the chat?

(18:15):
Is it number one, number twoand number three?
Now I say that laughingly, butwe'd be surprised.
When we think of our businessand our craft.
We want to be all things to allpeople.
And then we wonder why we'renobody to everybody.
Why is it that the person won'tcall me back?
Why is it the person won'trespond to my email?

(18:35):
And have you studied thebusiness of the client you're
proposing to?
What industry are they in?
What craft are they in?
What craft are they in?
What associations andorganizations, professionally
and civic wise, are they amember of?
And the next business I like toencourage all of us that we're

(18:55):
in, but seldom do we discussthis, and this is a part of my
framework and that is thebusiness of the money.
What does that mean, anne McNeil?
With the business of the money,have you studied where's the
money in your business?
For example, if you're apainter and you're painting in

(19:17):
the healthcare industry, what'sthe margins of profit?
If you're painting in thefacilities which are schools,
what's the margins of profit?
If you're painting in thefacilities which are schools,
what's that margin of profitIndustry-wise?
If you're painting and you'repainting at airports, what's the
margin of profit?
What's the margin of profit ifyou're painting in the industry

(19:38):
of water?
Now, as you're listening to me,think about the industries that
you're in.
Where's the money in thatindustry?
And until we drill down intothe numbers, do we really know
if we're working in the rightindustry that generates the
highest profit margin?
Now, once we are able to dothat, I want to come back to the

(20:01):
business of money.
Long time ago, amy, I did savethat money.
So let me go back to that story.
I did save that money.
It took me about 10 years toget out of debt.
Yeah, okay, and finally I wasable to save $15,000.
But what I did not know, amy,is that I did not know how to

(20:23):
make the money.
Make money.

Amy (20:25):
So I gave that.

Ann (20:26):
Yes, I gave that money to someone, never to see it again.
We don't usually talk aboutthat.

Amy (20:33):
No, you're right, we don't.

Ann (20:35):
And when I gave that money to that person and never to see
it again, I realized that thatperson knew I knew absolutely
nothing about investing.
So what do you do when you'retaken?
I was upset with the person,but I was more upset, amy, with
myself for not knowing how toproperly save and how to invest

(20:56):
in Right.
And so what do you do when youdo that?
I decided to start aninvestment club and I pulled
together some friends from ourmastermind group and started my
first investment club, became avolunteer.
But the point I'm making aboutmoney making money.
I learned the value and thebenefit of a twenty dollar bill
invested over a long period oftime and a product or service

(21:19):
that we know.
So, as we listen and thinkabout niching to be richer, I
now, after 30, almost 40 yearsof investing, I am now learning
that I will never outwork mymoney.
My money making money fromsaving, investing in our Roth
hours and our retirement and ourinvestment accounts will always

(21:41):
, amy, make more money than Iwould ever make working for the
money Working for it, makingyour money work for you, oh my
God, and that's amazing.

Amy (21:51):
There's so much to unpack there and I think it just shows
like how deep the scarcitymindset goes, because it's like
okay when you are finally makingthe money and you're saving the
money.
I don't know about y'all andwe've had some podcast episodes
talking about our relationshipwith money as women and you know
, I learned recently there'ssuch a thing as like poverty,
trauma and whatnot, so a lot ofus sit on that money and we are

(22:13):
afraid to do.
What you're saying is likeinvest, and I think the
opportunity there is not to onlyjust invest and make your money
work for you.
But I also have an amazingfriend, mentor and coach for me.
Her name is Sue Baggett andshe's a part of Queen City
Angels and her whole mission isall about getting women to
become micro-investors, becausethey will get that money back in

(22:36):
return and women make good,safe bets.
But then also women invest inmore diverse businesses than men
tend to do, and so there's somany good pieces of advice in
that.
I'm always so glad when we'rehere and doing this and it's
recorded so if y'all need to goback and listen, there was some
gems in there for sure.
So fantastic answer, anne.

(22:57):
I'm kind of curious too to diginto your coaching, and you know
, within coaching, obviously, alot of what you're trying to do
there is help people achieve acertain level of mindset because
you know the person that'sgetting in the way of yourself
the most is usually you, right.

Ann (23:13):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely .

Amy (23:16):
And you're a certified Napoleon Hill Foundation coach,
so you clearly understand thepower of mindset and business
success.
I'm kind of curious what wasthe most, or what has been some
of the most or the most criticalmindset shifts that you've seen
transform either you or someoneelse's ability to find success,
to monetize their niche in anyany of those types of things?

Ann (23:38):
Absolutely, and I actually wrote a book on this in terms of
understanding and therealization and I love books, I
love reading, and this is it.
It's called the fact that youmust have a dream to have a
dream come true.
And, amy, I wrote this.
I started writing it about 20years ago and realized that I'm

(23:59):
in the dream in terms ofunderstanding my spiritual area
and what is my desire in thatarea?
Go back to the first principleof Napoleon Hill's philosophy.
The first principle is desire.
What is it that we're desiring?
And I am now focusing, with myclients, on every area of your

(24:21):
life spiritual, how about yourfamily?
How about your finances?
How about your health?
How about your education?
How about that business?
Or your profession?
And for those of us that areentrepreneurs, you must have a

(24:43):
dream and have a dream come truein your business.
Are you going to legacy it?
You're going to sell it?
What does that look like?
What about the recreationalarea of your life?
I'm just coming back, amy, offof a five and a half, almost six
month world cruise crystalworld cruise beginning of this
year.

(25:04):
I say that because what's thedream that we hold dear for the
recreation area of your life?
What about the civic area?
And giving and serving, andlegacy, leaving and a life of
significance living.
And then, finally, what aboutthe creativity?
I've mentioned a couple ofbooks and I've written five, but

(25:25):
again, what does that look likefor each of you in your
business, but also in your life?
So for me, going back to yourquestion, it is having a dream
in order to have a dream cometrue.
You can call that dream adesire, you can call it a
purpose or a passion, but that'swhat I'm realizing that for any
of us struggling withself-confidence, self-worth,

(25:53):
struggling with self-confidence,self-worth, I believe that when
we serve through our businessand through other areas, we tend
to serve higher for others thanwe would for ourself, and that
tends to increase ourself-confidence.

Amy (26:04):
Agree.
Yeah, no, it is a great way.
If you ever want to giveyourself a boost, find a way to
give back.
I've always been in alignmentand agree with that
wholeheartedly.
And I love I'm such a languageand a word nerd, as a lot of our
listeners know and I love thatyou didn't just say what do you
want, right?
I think sometimes want implieslike more surface level, right,

(26:25):
and not as deep.
When you say what do you desire,I'm like, oh, I want to think
about that a little more.
I'm not just going to talkabout the cute pair of shoes I
saw the other day and I was likethat's a want, right, and my
kids talk about that a lot.
Is it a want or a need, right?
It's a coaching, parentcoaching thing that gets thrown
around a lot to us, like eldermillennial parents and younger
millennial parents, I guess.
But it's like I love that.

(26:46):
I love that idea of what do youdesire and to sit with that and
look at it across your whole,all aspects of your life.
I think you know if you're inthat moment of you know a lot of
people are there right now,right, I get it.
The world's hard right now andkind of just sitting and
thinking mostly about what youwant versus about what you
desire.
It's such a different mindsetand mind frame to kind of look

(27:08):
at things.
And again, as women, I don'tthink we often think about that.
We're usually focused on howand where and when we're unhappy
, versus sitting and taking theintentional time to say what do
I desire.
I love it.
I think that's a great takeawayfor all of us to kind of think
about this weekend as we headinto the week, since we're at a
Friday and you know it's.
I love that, like your workspans, we have a lot of

(27:31):
multi-potentialites withinTogether Digital in the
community and our listeners, sowe all can appreciate when
someone comes into the room thatdoes both coaching and
construction.
So obviously two very differentindustries.
How is operating, you know, indifferent, completely different
niches, informed your approachon how you help others and how
to monetize theirs, because,yeah, those are just so like.

(27:52):
I mean they're not completelyopposite.
I could see where they mightoverlap, but day to day looks
pretty different on both ofthose types of business.

Ann (27:59):
But what I'm learning, though, Amy is mindset
neutralizes all of it.

Amy (28:06):
I love it.

Ann (28:07):
Think about it.
Mindset neutralizes all of it.
And when you really think abouthow do we transition from one
niche industry to another, toanother, to another?
It's mindset and being able tosee with the vision that my
skill set oftentimes are drivenby my mindset.

Amy (28:32):
Yeah, I love that your skill set's driven by your
mindset Exactly, I love it.

Ann (28:37):
Right, and so it allows us to transition.
So to go back to your question,for me I am teaching what I've
learned.
And I'm learning yeah, I'mteaching what I've learned in my
construction career.
From the construction I starteda consulting company.
From the consulting I started aspeaking company and along the

(29:01):
way I started an internationalmastermind association for
mindset, teaching individualshow to walk through the book
Think and Grow Rich, over andover and over again, utilizing
the principles to increase theirmindset, to increase their
bottom line.
You know, utilizing theframework.

(29:22):
But then also I started anorganization in my niche
industry of construction calledthe National Association of
Black Women in Construction andwith that, amy, we're able to
take women from all areas into acommunity.
And you think about, you may say, okay, well, we're in a

(29:46):
different community, but whenyou think about construction, it
crosses and includes everythingfrom health care to technology,
yeah, to in every single thingyou could think of.
People sometimes say, well, Isell water.
What does that have to do withconstruction?
Guess what?
Yeah, we drink a lot of water,right, we wear makeup, we wear

(30:08):
clothes, and so oftentimes wedon't look at how these
industries connect, how theskill sets connect.
And so I have a friend who sellsMary Kay and I asked her about
her clients and she's strugglingand I said guess what everybody
has?
She said what I said a face.

(30:28):
Men have faces, women havefaces.
So when you think of niching tobe richer, think about who is
willing to invest in their face,I mean.
But my point, coming back to it, mindset, but it starts with me

(30:50):
within, knowing that I'm worthy.
But am I willing?
And you hit the nail on thehead earlier in this
conversation we talked aboutjournaling.
I have a daily date with myself, amy, and journaling is a part
of that every day.
So that's what I think in termsof when we look at how do we
connect those dots?

Amy (31:09):
That's fantastic.
Yeah, definitely.
I think the mindset overskillset I think that's so
fantastic.
There's this framework too thatanother mentor of mine told me
once in like mentoring andcoaching or even working with
other people or people that workwith me, for me is like it's a
skill hill or will and you canteach skill.
And sometimes there are hillsand you might not see the hill,

(31:32):
but they do.
So it could be somethingpersonal, something outside the
office that's going on, causeit's like kind of a framework
for when you have somebody withon your, on your team, that
you're maybe managing ormentoring, that's struggling,
and it's either skill hill orwill.
And he says, if it's you knowskill, you can remedy that
pretty easy.
If it's a hill, it might be atemporary situation, it might

(31:55):
mean you just need to do somedigging, open up the door for
vulnerability.
And if it's a will, then youneed to.
Just, you know he's like higher, slow fire, fast.
I mean I'm like, ah, run, it'sso hard.
I want to make everybody happyand whole.
But, like you said, when youaren't narrowly focused, you are
only taking yourself off thatpath to success by you know.

(32:16):
All of that meandering and thatkind of leads me to my next
question, which you know so manyof us feel it doesn't really
matter the kind of work thatyou're doing.
I think you know these last fewgenerations especially.
It's so important for us nowthat we're not, you know, as a
labor society as we used to be.
I think a lot of us wantpurpose in the work that we do

(32:40):
if we have that privilege, andso I'm kind of curious for those
who are trying to connect bothpurpose and prosperity Do you
have any examples of how maybe aclient of yours, or even you,
have aligned to a deeper senseof purpose within their niche
while still managing to kind ofbreak through and see some
really good results for that?
Because I think sometimes wethink, oh gosh, what is it that?

(33:00):
I heard another term recentlythat got me.
It was called noble poverty,where we feel like we got to
give it all away for free orit's like we're not doing good
things if it means we actuallyprosper from it.
I was like constructionbusiness.

Ann (33:17):
I was utilizing the mastermind principle to grow and
my nonprofit was being utilizedto help individuals to grow

(33:46):
their business and their life.
And so I thought of thatpassion and that purpose as a
not-for-profit, you don't needto get paid.
And a friend called me and saidI'm going to be speaking at
this event.
Can you come?
I said yes, and when I walkedin, I had a seat.

(34:07):
She was speaking from the stageand she talked about what I was
, the work I was doing andeverything and how many lives it
was positively impacting.
And my not-for-profit and thecoordinator of the event,
unknowingly to me, went to mywebsite, downloaded everything
and put her name on it.
What, Wait, wait, I'm coming toyour question.

(34:29):
Do I have a story?

Amy (34:31):
I have a number, but I'll just throw it to you when are
they at?
Where?

Ann (34:34):
are they at Continue?
And so my friend later oncalled me.
She said oh my gosh, I feel sobad.
The person that I invited youto this event, you know.
She invited me to something.
I went on her website and itwas everything that you do, but
she's charging $1,500.
I was doing it for free, oh wow.

(34:54):
And so I said you're kidding me.
Now fire, yes, fire that otherfire.
So she said she's having anevent and you should come.
And I said okay.
And I went on and I saw all ofmy information on her website
and I said, okay, I'm going tobuy a table.
I love it, I want to see andhear everything.

(35:19):
Front row.
Now, this, this story, is notgoing where you want it to go.
So if you're listening to meand you're thinking one thing,
stay to the end of this story.
This is why all things truly dowork together for good, I don't
care who we are, why all thingstruly do work together for good
.
I don't care who we are.
We must look for the good in itall.
So I'm doing this for free.
For free because I have apassion and a purpose and it's

(35:40):
free.
I got my booth, I'm set up inmy booth.
I have my books, my NapoleonHill, this and all this stuff in
my booth and people assault me,but they're not stopping.
She gets up on the stage andshe is selling.
The line was out the door ofindividuals who wanted my

(36:03):
material that she was marketingwith her name on it, and I'm
standing there in total shock.
Now the end of the story.
A lady walks to my table.
Now for those of you that'slistening on the podcast, I am
an african-american female, incase you cannot see me.
Lady walks into my table.

(36:25):
Everybody, majority of thepeople in the room, did not look
like me.
Lady walks, walks to my table.
She's African American female.
She looks like me and she saysoh, um you, you you're with this
thinking girl, which I said yes, it sounds.
She said sound like the samething.
So she said can I get yourinformation?
And we changed information.
Her sister is in line to pay.
Yeah, the lady comes back to me.

(36:56):
She said so tell me a little bitabout this.
And I tell her.
She said oh, I would like toyou know, see how we could
mastermind together.
Long story very short.
That lady and her sister livedacross the street from me and we
have been in a mastermind groupto this day for 20 years.

Amy (37:10):
Oh, I love it.

Ann (37:11):
My point is it would have never happened if I had not been
drawn to this situation.
And I'm sharing this storybecause oftentimes, when we're
on this path of our purpose andour passion for profit and I
tell my coaching clients makethe profit in your for-profit

(37:32):
business and give it to yournonprofit, Can I say that again.
Make the profit in yourfor-profit business and fund
your own not-for-profit.
And if I had not done that withthe spirit of service, because
none of this information belongsto any of us, that lady was
brilliant.
She was a marketing genius.
She just took one, yeah.

(37:54):
She just took my yes, okay, butall of that was good, but it
took me years.
Okay, let's be honest, amy.
It took me years to releasethat and let it go when I saw
the hand of God showing me thatthis was the message you needed,
that was the message I needed,as annoying as it is, that's the
message you needed.

Amy (38:15):
Exactly, I love that story yeah, no no worries, that story
was incredible, and I alsowanted to point out two other
things.
Like amen to your friend thatwas like listen, girl, look at
this person over here doing this, and you were like that you
need those kinds of people inyour circle.
And then you know the otherwoman that you know, your

(38:37):
neighbor, that became a friendand a mastermind for 20 years.
When these people walk intoyour life as well, like, be open
to receiving help, ladies, Ithink we get conditioned to do
it all.
Do it all alone, figure it out,be like this lady on stage
who's like taking other people'smaterial and marketing it.
You're going to run into thosefolks, but you're also going to
have people that are going to beon your side, and those are the

(38:58):
folks that you just definitelyneed to keep there along for the
ride, because it's going to bea ride.

Ann (39:04):
Look for the gem in it all.
That's the point.

Amy (39:10):
And I love again your mindset.
It's just, it's so clear thatyou live what you teach, in that
sense of like yeah, I mean Icould have gone in there and
rolled up my sleeves, took offmy earrings and like just went
at this woman, but instead youshowed up and you listened and
you received and you took what,like you said, the message that
was meant to be received in thatmoment.
As hard as it can be, sometimesa door slammed in your face or

(39:37):
in a front is actually nothappening to you.

Ann (39:38):
It's happening for you, for you exactly, but that's mindset
.
That really is mindset, andwhat we want to make sure we
leave with the audience is thatmindset is everything.
It is everything.
And the question becomes are wewilling to work on ourselves,
like Jim Warren said, harderthan we are working on our job
and also in our businesses?

(39:58):
It's that personal work that wemust do.

Amy (40:02):
Yes, oh my gosh.
I joke and tell people all thetime if you ever want to learn a
whole lot about yourself, starta business as one way to get a
lot of self-awareness.
I think it's required for thosewho are successful.
So a lot of our listeners are,you know, and community members
are those in digital professionsand that are looking to

(40:22):
monetize their expertise indigital marketing.
Advertising is a broad spectrumand a lot of different roles
and opportunities, so you justshared a mistake in the sense of
not making what you do aprofitable niche.
What are some other mistakesyou see people make when they're
trying to turn their skillsinto a profitable niche?

(40:43):
Is there anything else we wantto call out for them?

Ann (40:46):
Well, I go back to what value and what transformation do
you bring?
We hear the word a lot, butwhen you stop and think about
why didn't you start thebusiness in the first place, you
know, when you stop and thinkabout every client is not the
same, so the solution to thatclient's problem is not going to

(41:08):
necessarily be the same.
And when we walk in to do thatdiscovery whether it's in person
or on Zoom or online do wereally listen intently to what
the need is or do we packagesomething where we already know
this is what I sell, this is thecolor.
Either take it or leave it.

(41:29):
And there's a process calledsweet spot selling that one of
our members of the NationalSpeakers Association created,
where she gives three differentoptions every time she makes an
offer and the person can takeoption one, option two or option
three.
And I think what happens formany of us is that we don't
change the value and the benefitfor the offer we provide in

(41:54):
terms of clearly listening towhat the client has, but also
Sorry, keep going, no but alsothe industry.
And yes, one of the suggestionsI'd make to all of your
listeners is look, even in myprofession of construction, look
into the construction industryand connect with those

(42:16):
individual industries for yourprofession.
For example, technology andtransportation with AI is
transformative oh, absolutely.
With AI is transformative oh,absolutely.
So when you look at whatever itis you do, where's the money
for that business of yours thatyou're able to add such great

(42:38):
value?
And if you are a woman, if youare a small business, what
federal especially state andcity areas that are looking for
you harder than you're lookingfor them?
I'm a member for a long timewith WPO, webank and many of

(42:59):
these women's organizations thathook each other up in the
profession.
So those are some thoughts Iwould share with your listeners
in the community, becauseoftentimes it's right in front
of us, but we look right by it.

Amy (43:11):
I love that advice.
Look for people who are lookingfor you harder than you're
looking for them, and that isthe power of niching.
Then you are speaking right tothem.
And also, I wanted to zoom infor a second on that proposal.
It's so true, right?
We always like, I think, asmarketers and those of you who
are listening I'm sorry we'regoing to feel this, but we come
up with three, four, fivepackage options and we noodle

(43:35):
over each one of them and wespend 10 times the amount of
effort to kind of come up witheach of these packages, to give
them choice.
But at the end of the day andexactly what you said is that
you just need to focus andlisten to that exact client and
God, what would it look like ifyou took all that time you just
spent and put it into oneproposal and said this is
exactly what you need and thisis how much it's going to cost.

(43:57):
I'm not even going to give youoptions, because I'm not
questioning myself.
I've listened to you, I'm theexpert and this is what you need
.
Ah, I love it.
I love it.
And we had a question here inthe chat, so I'll pause on it.
What were those businesses thatyou mentioned.
Webank was one you mentioned.
That's the women-ownedcertified right.

Ann (44:15):
What were the other two Women's Presidents Organization
WPO, webank, wbenc I didn'tmention these.
But NABO yes, nabo is great.
Okay, we know right, nabo.
I didn't mention these.
But NABO National okay, we knowright, nabo.
There is also one that came outof these and it's called Go for

(44:40):
the Green and it's a conferencethat's held in Florida on the
golf course for women Fun.
Yes, but in addition to those,many of the local cities have
small women organizations and Iwould strongly encourage all of
your listeners check your localcity and school board agencies.

(45:00):
They have contracts for you andoftentimes they're overlooked
because they're public sector.
Ah yeah, big, big, big, bigopportunities there.
Such're public sector, ah, yeah.

Amy (45:10):
Big, big, big, big opportunities there, such a
great point.
Look in your own backyard.
Sometimes you go reaching andit's like, oh, there, there,
there.

Ann (45:16):
Acres of Diamonds.
You know I have to go there.
The book Acres of Diamonds.
I'm not sure if you've read it,but it is one of my all-time
favorites.

Amy (45:23):
Yes, love it.
I, I love it.
We love the good bookrecommendations, so keep them
coming, and we'll include themin the show notes as well.

Ann (45:29):
Okay, well, let me give you this one too, since you love
the book.
I talked about the 10 areas ofour life, and one of my favorite
family books is Seven Habits ofHighly Effective Families by
Stephen Covey.
He has 500 references in theback of the book, wow Well
researched.

Amy (45:49):
Got to love that.

Ann (45:50):
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families.
And what I like most about thatparticular book is that he
gives us samples and examples ofa family mission statement.
Oh, I love that.
Yes, family mission statement.
So again, we're talking aboutmindset here, of mindset here,

(46:16):
and as mothers, daughters,sisters, we're all a part of a
family, and do we have a missionstatement for that family Love
it.

Amy (46:22):
I am literally just adding it to my cart and buying it now.

Ann (46:24):
I think that's so tremendous?

Amy (46:26):
Well, because my kids, you know they're eight and 12 and
they are both just and I knoweverybody's, you know we all
think our own kids are great.
But they just kind of blow mymind at their level of emotional
maturity, regulation,understanding in a world where,
like it feels like a lot ofchaos right now and they're, as
kids, exposed to so much more inthe world thanks to the

(46:48):
internet and media.
No matter how much you try tocontrol it, you can't.
You can't always protect themfrom all those things.
And yet, you know, especiallymy 12 year old, she's very
entrepreneurial and you know, asa family, you always do want
that sense of like rowing in theright direction.
And as somebody who is anambitious, hardworking,
multi-business owning mom,there's just something I know

(47:11):
that they're like thatfoundation has to be strong,
right.
If things are not good at home,it's really hard to perform well
in the workplace.
And that's what I love aboutlike things like our Together
Digital community is that it isa safe space to show up and be
the business owner and the momand talk about all the hard
things.
But I know that that's aprivilege that I have.
Not everybody has that.
So for those of you who arelistening, like if you feel like

(47:33):
there's an imbalance in life.
I love that you recommendedthat book and I think there's
just so much that starts withinus and that starts within the
immediate people that we spendthe most time with, which is
like our family and ourcoworkers, which is where we
really need to find some time tospend.
So I know it's love.
I know my kids will love theidea of a family mission
statement Cause, like I said, myson's really creative, my
daughter's very entrepreneurial.

(47:54):
They're going to.
They're going to love it.
So thanks for therecommendation.

Ann (47:57):
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
Just want to just mention onemore before we go too far.
In our family, we startedinvesting early and when I
talked about not seeing thatmoney again and starting an
investment club, it came out ofour mastermind group.
I started mastermind group thesecond year after reading the

(48:17):
book Thinking Grow Rich, andfrom the mastermind group, I
realized that I didn't knowanything about saving or
investing.
Yeah, and I read a book.
Our group, our group would reada book among different subjects,
and one of the books that weread was the Millionaire Next
Door the Millionaire Next Door,and in that book it referred to

(48:41):
a group of women in their 70s,80s and 90s who beat the stock
market.
Who beat the stock market andthey were volunteers in an
organization that was called theNational Association of
Investment Club.
And again, I'm not sellinganything.
Sure, this is all nonprofit andeverybody's a volunteer.
But when you talk aboutfamilies growing together,

(49:04):
entrepreneurial families if youwill, we got involved with that
organization as a mastermindgroup and we formed our first
investment club and to this date, I've helped to form over 20
different investment clubs.
I love it and with our children,I'm coming back to the children
, yeah, who started with uslearning how to invest.

(49:27):
A simple $20 bill compoundedover 20 years, yeah, equals six,
sometimes seven figures.
Not $20 a day or a week, but amonth.
And I share that because wehave investment clubs and you
can go to betterinvestingorgthat's another resource for your
community, betterinvestingorgand has a free membership at the

(49:48):
bottom of another resource foryour community, better investing
dot org and has a freemembership at the bottom of the
website for 90 days.
And I will tell you, it hasmade the difference in I would
call it a million dollardifference in your retirement by
learning how to make money.
Make money, yes.

Amy (50:07):
I love it Well, and it also solves, for it actually
answered my next question, soI'll probably skip to the next
one here in a second, but italso does something for me that
I think is incredibly important.
Being a first generation kidwho grew up in a trailer park is
, I want to create like it's notjust about the legacy, it's not
even about making the money, itis generational wealth.
I want my kids to be better offthan I was.

(50:28):
I want their kids to be betteroff than they were, because I've
seen what that privilege ofjust knowing how to, like you
said, save or invest money it'ssuch an advantage, but it's like
one of those things.
I actually had a friend in highschool who, like she doesn't
work.
She has a husband who works,but she doesn't have to work

(50:49):
because while she was in highschool, she learned how to play
the stock market.
Her parents gave her anallowance and she's like I'm not
going to spend it on clothesand makeup, I am going to learn
how to invest it and and nowshe's at home with her boys and
raising them and her husbandworks and I was just like why?
And I thought she was such adork for doing it and I was like
damn, I should have done whatKelly did, although I love

(51:12):
working and I love doing what Ido, so I can't complain.
But it's just one of thosethings like you don't realize
what an advantage it isUnderstanding, like we said at
the very beginning, knowing howto make your money, make money.
We're all so busy squirrelingit away, trying to figure out
how to make more of it, insteadof making it work for ourselves.
Let's get to these couple morequestions that we've got here.

(51:33):
Can I go back for one second?

Ann (51:34):
Oh, of course, Amy.
What I teach my coachingclients is start a free family
and friend mastermind group.

Amy (51:43):
I love that idea.

Ann (51:44):
The key word is family and friends, and I set a goal this
year to create 50 new free and Icall it free because there are
a lot of mastermind groups whereyou can pay lots of money.
Oh yeah, but this is not that.
I have that too.
If somebody want to do that, wecan talk about that offline.
I do have a niche to be richprogram where you can.
Yes, you can mastermind with meand coach that's not this

(52:05):
conversation, yeah, but you cando that.
But a free family and friendmastermind group.
This is the benefit and thevalue it would bring to your
family and I want to stronglyencourage you, amy, to consider
this for your family, and thatis, it would allow you to meet
once a week on the family goals.
Yeah, start with creating afamily mission statement and

(52:29):
again, if you want to GoogleCovey, he will give you that
online or you can get the book,whatever you want to do.
But start there with thefoundation, but as a part of
that, that gives you anopportunity to sit with the
children and the family, and itcan be sisters, whoever you
choose that you want in thatgroup.
But what I would also encourageyou to consider doing as a part

(52:51):
of that small group start aninvestment club.
So let's go back to your storyyou shared about your friend.
This is an opportunity for youto also include your children in
the learning of how to save,how to invest, but also how to
learn how to analyze stocks, andwe have chapters, we have

(53:15):
volunteers that would helphandhold, and I did say
volunteers are working for free.
I'm one of those, but I thinkthat it's so very important that
we know that we have options.
So having our businesses aregreat, but what are we doing to
include our family into thatconversation?
And that's what we've done, andso we can get.

(53:36):
I have an information.
If anybody's interested, if Ican share, they can text the
number five, nine, nine, two,five, text the number five, nine
, nine, two, five and just putAnne in the chat and I'll gladly
send you the information,because my goal this year, amy,
is to create 50 free family andfriend mastermind groups.

Amy (53:58):
Okay, I love it.
Well, and there's something tothat accountability right, we do
peer groups within TogetherDigital for entrepreneurs, for
working parents, and then wehave dedicated peer groups and a
lot of people oftentimes arelike I don't have time, I'm like
it is one, ours are one hour amonth, but you would be amazed
how much more you get done whenyou have to be accountable and
show up and report to others,like it's such a good practice

(54:20):
to get into.
So I love that advice.
I dropped the number and themessage request in the chat as
well, so members you can, andlisteners you can, take a look
at that.
All right, I'm going to ask youone more quick question here
and then we'll jump into our funpower round.
But live listeners, please dropyour questions in the chat If
you have them.
We'd love to hear from you too.
The one I wanted to ask you.

(54:40):
Let me find cause.
We had a couple left, but I waslike oh, this one, I think this
is going to be good.
Takeaway advice, you awayadvice.
You mentioned oftentimes inyour writing and things like
that and in your talks thatsuccess isn't accidental, it's
intentional.
What daily or weekly practicesdo you recommend for maintaining
a mindset?

Ann (54:58):
that's needed for niche success.
Now, you did not know this whenyou asked that question, but I
have a daily date with myself.
I have a daily date with myselfand I wrote a journal book on
this.
It's called my daily date withmyself because I believe that we
are all like bank accounts wemust make deposits every single

(55:21):
day, small amounts over a longperiod of time, because others
are making withdrawals from usevery single day.
Ain't that the truth?
So I start my daily day withmyself as being an early riser
and I have an early risermastermind group and all we do
is just say the word up andthat's a prompt to get up.
We don't smiley face, we don'ttalk, we don't do anything, but

(55:44):
just text the word up to a group.
That's it.
But once you get up, I wouldn'tchallenge you to do you.
That could mean a number ofdifferent things.
This is what I do I meditate, Iread, I pray, I journal, I

(56:05):
stretch, I exercise, I walk, Itake my vitamins.
Yes, every single day.
My desire is to drink 16 to 20ounces before leaving to go
exercise, and then again thesame before showering, and that

(56:25):
starts my day.
It takes me again.
For me it's a good 90 minutes,depending when I travel, I do
the same thing.
So those are the deposits Imake in myself, amy every single
day.
And journaling is key, it's key.

Amy (56:42):
Girl.
I'm doing it Because, like Isaid, I know myself in the sense
that I am better at beingaccountable to others than I am
to myself.
So I'm going to start my ownlittle morning mastermind group.
You're listening members andyou want me to create a Slack
channel for this.
We could even create a Slackchannel, and I love that.
It's like the only thing you'redoing is saying up, so it's
like you have.

(57:03):
That is the hardest part.

Ann (57:06):
I'll send you my group me link and you can all share.
You know it's free, we don't doany talking or anything, and I
think Michelle from my office ishere with me, but we'll send
that over to you because, again,it's the accountability,
something simple as getting upjust a few minutes earlier to
read a couple of pages and twoor three books.

(57:26):
Exactly when you journal, whatare you thankful for?
What are you grateful for?
What are the desires of yourheart?
But this is the other thingthat I do when I journal, and
one of my favorite journalingbooks for those who are
interested in learning how tojournal is called is Julia
Cameron's the Artist's Way, andmany of your listeners have

(57:47):
probably already heard this book.
You've read it already, amy.
No, but I've heard of it.
Yes, it's been on my list for awhile During a period of my life
.

Amy (57:55):
I think it's one of my friend Lucretia's favorite books
.
Now that I think of it, she'sthe one that's mentioned it to
me a number of times.

Ann (58:02):
Well, listen two times is a charm, the Artist's Way by
Julia Cameron.
And just thinking about havinga date with yourself.
I call it a date.
Whether you're married, whetheryou're single, divorced, it
doesn't matter.
Have a daily date with yourselfand even if you cannot do it

(58:23):
every day, for the mere factthat you're thinking about
yourself when you rise, you pray, you give thanks, you meditate,
whatever it is that works foryou, make the daily deposits in
yourself and be true to yourselfto build yourself for the
service of others.
Yeah.

Amy (58:38):
I love that so much and you know what.
I think we're just going towrap on that.
We're right at the hour andthat was just such good, sound
advice and I really hope thatthose of you who are listening
you know, truly listened.
I know it's hard.
We multitask, we let ourattention get pulled from other
places, so this episode willprobably be live and up by
midweek next week, so if anybodyhad to bounce early, they can

(58:59):
come back to it.
But I definitely think this hasbeen an episode that's worth
listening to, not just once, butagain, you know, whenever you
feel like you're starting toslip and you have given us not
just really good inspirationaladvice, but actionable steps in
which we can take.
So I encourage all of you tocheck out Ann and her work and
where's the best place for themto connect with you.

Ann (59:19):
The best place to connect with me is on LinkedIn.
Okay, ann McNeil, with two L'sN-E-I-L-L on LinkedIn.

Amy (59:28):
Wonderful Again.
Thank you, anne, so much.
This is such a pleasure.
I've had a few weeks off fromthe podcast, so I've missed you
all.
I have missed this.
It's always such a good way toend my Friday with amazing women
like yourself that are justdoing really awesome things and
sharing what they've learned andsharing that wisdom.
So I really appreciate youbeing here with us today.
Thank you All right, everyone.
Well, that's a wrap for thisweek.

(59:49):
I'm excited to say we're backagain next week, so we hope that
you'll be here to join us.
I think we're talking about AIa little bit.
We got to bring it back to that.
We've got an expert from alocal university that actually
met at a recent event and I wasjust blown away by her approach
and her conversation and hersmarts and abilities.

(01:00:09):
So she's going to talk to usabout how to empower your team
with responsible AI, which a lotof us are advocating for and
trying to work towards, andgetting in the workplace.
But you know it's not an easychallenge.
It's an uphill battle for sure.
So tune in next week if youwant to learn more about that.
Until then, everyone, keepasking, keep giving and keep
growing.
We'll see you soon.

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