Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of relationships rule. I have a mazing guest with me today someone again, I think I met on LinkedIn, I'm not even sure if it was at a networking event online or not. But we did meet through LinkedIn, we had a zoom call, we hit it off right away. And I'm so excited to have her on my show. So first of all, welcome to the show, Aaron Marcus.
Oh, thank you. I'm excited to be here. As much as I, LinkedIn makes me crazy. At the same time, I've met the most amazing people.
There you go. Exactly. Right. And I know that we are aligned in that we both we both think that relationships are key. And I just, I think I'd like my audience to know first from you, I was going to read a little bit about your company's conquer your business and all of that good stuff. But tell me how you got here, at least.
Because origin story
in a way, because I got a sense from reading your bio, that that you were one of those problem children in school that you didn't like, probably ADHD or something like that, where you were so busy wanting to do things that you want to be active, they couldn't sit still in a desk, I kind of got that sense. I don't know how that
I don't even know that it's ADHD. I was bored and had other things to do. Yeah, I was a total problem child. But at the same time, basically, if you look at my high school, I didn't go. But I aced all the tests, which back in the 70s and 80s. Before they tracked everything you did online meant you graduated Chicago public schools, because I aced all the tests because the books were interesting. I'd read the books. I remember what I did listen, but by high school, eight other
things to do. I'm not good things. That came later, by senior year of high school, I was honestly working 60 hours a week. Oh, your high school. I was just working in a pharmacy, I was a pharmacy. Okay. It's making me and surviving. And the hysterical part is I was a pharmacy technician, which meant I was, you know, distributing drugs, both legally and it is what it is. But it's not the scary version that you see now. Right? It was a little bit more innocent version of it. But what
I've always done is been very, very self reliant. So I wasn't one of those kids who always knew what I wanted to do, and then set out to do it. But I did always know that if I wanted to have something, I had to do it myself. I think that's a big ad. You know, that's a big Gen X thing anyway, right? If I wanted to do something, I could do it myself. And in high school, I wanted to live on my own terms. I didn't want to go to school. So I earned a living so I could live on my own terms. Right.
College became more interesting. I literally went to college to get out of the house. And by the way, before we get all dramatic, my mother and I have a great relationship, right. But at the time part of my part, me part her, I really did go to college to get out of the house because they didn't know what else to do next.
Do you grew up in Chicago, right? I
grew up in Chicago. Yeah. And college got more interesting. Right college got more interesting. So I got good grades there because now it was more engaging. And the topics were more challenging. And, and that was what it was. And the rest of my life really has been do a good job so that the next opportunity opened up for me, it wasn't setting my again, it wasn't me setting out to do this one thing that I was interested
in. I'm interested in so many different things. But that independence as Gen X, you know that we grew up with the knowing that if I wanted something I had to provide it for myself. The undying drive to learn I just cannot cannot stop. I know. periodicity. I'm the weird person that reads all the signs at the museum.
I do that too. Yeah. rules in the game to
know because I don't follow any rules. Here what they are. Yeah, no, that's another thing I never you know, if you mix this drive to learn with truly a Midwestern good work ethic because like I said, I work 60 hours a week as a 17 year old right? I'm with not thinking the rules applied to me. I just really didn't I don't mean that in a chip on my shoulder way. I just they didn't. They never have but you
for quite a long time, weren't you? I
did but I wouldn't looking back now, looking back, I realize my success and delivering allowed me a breath of freedom, even in corporate, that's probably not normal. It's probably not average. In the last job that I had before I went out on my own. I was there for 12 years. And I oh my god, like, I realized now I was really, really allowed to be an intrapreneur. I did, I mean, I created an entire department, we I helped change the entire business model, I was brought
into rooms that were so above my paygrade. And it really goes back to this work ethic, do a good job, take complete personal responsibility, because you I have zero entitlement, there's nothing that's going to be handed to me. And that opened the next opportunity. And I also think the intrinsic thing about I actually like people, I love learning about people, and figuring out why they do what they do, so that I can do a
better job at what I'm doing. And, you know, again, looking back the skill I needed to grow up self reliant in Chicago public schools, with people from 22 different countries, which means nobody knows how to communicate with each other, are the exact same skills that allowed me to be so flexible in my corporate life. And it just all, you know, this crazy background that at the time didn't seem like it made sense
at all. Right? It just comes together to go, Okay, this is why I'm doing what I'm doing.
So when you were you went from corporate, I think was Do you consider your franchise piece part of corporate? Or was that the No,
oh, God? No, I call it jumping halfway off the cliff. Okay. So, right. So I had my job, and we fool ourselves into thinking that our paycheck is secure. Because we have a job. That's, you know, we know better now, truthfully. But so I had a job at a great job, by the way, with great, amazing people. But I got to my late 30s, early 40s, and I'm like, There's got to be something else. Right, you hit you start thinking about things differently. And so the first leap I took was purchasing
a franchise. And it wasn't a physical franchise, like it was a it wasn't like a subway or something where there's a vocation to it, it was a service. And again, it was kind of a baby franchise, it was only been there for a couple of years. So I had this mixture of a framework of what it was that we did. So I didn't have to invent what we did. But I had so much room to create, how we did it, how we marketed it was not a step 123 So it was a really good mixture for me,
I can see that it would be because you wouldn't, I can't imagine you having like a box type of like, military ties where everything has to be done the same? Yeah,
I don't play I can't do things, like more than three times. And it's a problem. I mean, the problem with men the problem, like,
Oh, that's funny. So, franchise, I think you ended up becoming a trainer for other franchisees, right,
yeah, because again, the drive to succeed God only knows where they're at. We really can't say I don't know where it comes from, it comes from that self determinating you know, I want to have that self determining strength or opportunity, flexibility, work ethic, lack of attention span, ridiculous bandwidth.
Identify because, I mean, I, I was, I was a school teacher in my first life and that in the public school system is very bureaucratic. And I can't do the point even that when you go in the lunchroom every day with the same people the same teachers the same support so God forbid if you sat in the wrong seat in the lunchroom, like I couldn't do that for so I had to get out so
I have to be free i can't handle the rules of who tell you know who I need to be don't need to be with I can't I wasn't even like that in high school. I think one of the benefits of going to a high school with people literally immigrants nobody spoke English from 22 Different countries is no one had any money. Yeah, everyone was just trying to survive and so I never had that click experience that you see in the movies.
Yeah. So okay, so from Franchise the franchise world, then you made the leap out to the name of your company now is yes,
that's totally right. Because what happened was, so the franchise was The subject matter of the franchise the work that we did was working with families with aging parents.
Okay. Oh, if your time? Well, um, there was a lot of people I know that got into rural too soon.
Yeah, well, I want to say, I was on the cusp of it, because when I started the franchise, it was amazing. And I did get that business to the top 10 out of 200 franchises in about 18 months. Hence, like what you said the franchisor would hire me to help, you know, grow new franchises and train them. What happened is six years later, within about six years later, when I left and I closed my office, you had a situation, a two fold situation where there's no barrier to entry in
that industry. There's zero barrier to entry in that industry. And at the same time, the estate liquidation side of that business that was originally helping pay for the services, right, the state sales and the resale side of that business had gone completely bust. Nobody was buying us things anymore, you had an oversupply of stuff and an
absolute lack of demand for that stuff. And when you put those things together with the fact that I was in the city of Chicago, where they were raising the minimum wage, the taxes were going up, workers comp was going up, and 90% of my competition was working under the table while I was running a legitimate business, when you put all that together. And at the same time. I'm talking at my cheat, you know, when it's my turn as the entrepreneurs at the chamber to take my turn and talk about my
business. The people are going, yeah, yeah, we know you have that business. But why are you making money? How are you doing that? Your business growing, the thing that people wanted from me, wasn't what my business did. It was what I knew how to do, because of my corporate experience, my MBA that I had eventually gotten right. And so after a while you decide, Okay, do I want to stay over here where the logistics of the business are a nightmare? The profit margins are horrendous.
The trauma that my clients are going through is creating caregiver burnout for me, there's right there's just so much trauma and problems, or let's see, I know how to grow businesses. I have an MBA in marketing, I have a corporate C suite background, I know business strategy. That's where I'm actually helping people. I don't know which way do you want
to go? And kind of like, you know, before we hit record, we were talking about how the beauty of entrepreneurs that it's been a good five years since I've even interacted with someone I don't like. The other piece of that puzzle is this business. And the way that I've created this business has allowed me to make my job. Interestingly enough, more and more narrow, so that the only thing I do are my favorite
things that I'm great at smart. Write my favorite things that I'm great at in delivery to the clients and in service of growing the business, hire people who only work in their genius zone. And the things they're amazing at that they love doing complementary to each other. Right?
That's smart. And so I read somewhere in one of the things I got about you that you had a year though, in 2018 That was you called your failure year. And then in less than two years, you went from calling yourself the number one pinball and barely making any money to multiple six business six figures in your business and having fun so you're not stressed out because you've got a good team around you. You're doing what you love to do. What happened? What what?
Yeah, explain that.
Great marketing. So
what the heck, what really happened is I underestimated how even though I know business and I know marketing and I know strategy, I really underestimated how not having even the external framework of a franchise brand was going to affect Aaron the human and how I could close a $3 million deal as my parting gift to corporate how I can be how I can be running a half million dollar franchise when the next person below me isn't like 35k And yet when it was the flag in
the ground with my name on it and my picture on it, it really fell apart for a year because I couldn't figure out what I wanted it to be. I wanted you know that's where that loving at different things kind of hurt me for a while. And very kind person who did has renamed errands, your failure to Aaron zero of reflection. Thank you for that. But it took me about a year a little over a year to get my feet underneath me. Because I leave before I look, that's just my personality and I leave
before I look. And so that year that it took me to figure out what is it that I'm great at doing? What is it that I love doing? Who is it that I want to do it for, and putting the ducks in a row enough. But again, once you figure that out, if you stick with it, that's how you can launch and leverage very quickly. So what
if you love more than one thing?
Not everything you do has to make your money. Okay, this is a really big problem I am watching happen today I have this conversation all the time. Not everything you love doing has to make you money. I volunteer with wildlife rescue. I sit in the dirt in my yard and garden. I don't need a side hustle for either of those things.
No, but if business wise, you know, you have two or three lanes that you that you go in that they all kind of go together. If they go
together, that's fine. Okay, if they go together, that's fine. If they go together, then what this that, honestly, is what a lot of my clients have they have like two or three things that in their mind are completely separate. But truthfully, if we can find what I call the umbrella, that's
what I got. Yeah. So your umbrella? Yeah, we can sign the umbrella then there's absolutely no problem having more than one aspect, like when I talk about multiple streams of income, build multiple streams of income in a way that doesn't confuse the marketplace. That makes sense. Right? I'll give you I'll give you an example. In my business, when I started out coaching and coaching, and we added coaching and consulting,
which is a little bit different. But then I saw a really big gap in the marketplace of implementing on what I was teaching people. It was a really big gap in the marketplace. Because we would have these great conversations. But when they would go to do the things. They didn't have my team, they didn't have my background, they didn't know they were already out of hours in the day and days in the week. So this year, we
added that. And there's four or five different things now where we will do it with you and for you, instead of just teaching you how to do it. That's an umbrella it goes together. Yeah,
that makes sense. I don't know whether I saw this in yours or not. How do you feel about? Yeah, I did see it here. Because you say something about, you know, there's no such thing as a single funnel that will earn your course with just one email, just do this one thing, just just just you that kind of fits with what we
were just talking about. I mean, and so I call those instant haptics. And it's not Do not get me wrong, it is not that the tactic is wrong. Correct. Okay, in and of itself, most of these tactics have value. But if you run your business and are growing your business, starting at step one, you become susceptible to believing one of these instance, haptics will solve all your problems. And this is exactly
what I do with my clients, we have to start at step four. And step four for me, like if we create my funnel, my version of a funnel. Step four is a business that's on solid footing. We have good offers, we know what we're doing, and we know who we're doing it for, and we know how to talk about it. That's Step four, that's the foundation that you have to start with that first. And then based on that information based
on what you know, you want to grow. And by the way, knowing what you want to grow is not $1 amount, that's only one piece of it, because there's a million different ways to make a million dollars. So we have to know what is it that you're trying to grow? And then then we go back to step one, and we look at what are the marketing strategies that we need to have to grow the audience that most people don't do the work before they go out to work. They don't set their foundation. They just go well, I
want a million dollar business. That's as far as they get. And then they go looking for tactics that'll get them there. And again, it's not that that tactic is necessarily wrong, but it might not be right for your strengths. It might not be right for your business. And that's the other piece of it. We buy into these Institue optics and then And when they don't work for us, because they have us believing we need to do
something we absolutely hate doing. We feel like a bigger failure because their marketing will have us thinking it's working for everybody but us. Yeah. And
that's, that's the kind of pull me push you thing around, is I know, the marketing is so good, that they hook you in with something that isn't you.
Right? And it's not their fault, by the way. No, I know, I know. Right? Their marketing is good, because they did their work. That's right. That's right.
But it's not necessarily going to work for you. So not necessarily gonna work for you. I do understand that, that you think as I do, that, networking, building relationships, networking, let me say networking done properly. And building relationships is something that that is key to growing your business, more than one sort of funnel, so to speak. Right? Can you speak to that, from your perspective,
I've started to phrase this a little differently, because just to hit this home even harder. Don't confuse networking with building your network. I think people see right like, people, I'm going tomorrow. In fact, I'm going to a networking luncheon in downtown Chicago, I'm really looking forward to it. They always have a great speaker, they always have great people, they always have great food. But networking is different than building my network. So one of
the things I ask people is, who's in your phone? Yeah. Who is your actual network? Who do you have? That will answer your DM? Who do you know that when you need a trusted resource, or your next client that you can reach out to I used to say call but let's face it, I only answer the phone. If it's my mother at this point. Nobody else calls me everyone else, just text or DMS rate. But who is in your network versus networking? Now they're both very important. So I now from being more involved with
seven figure businesses. Networking is brand awareness. Building your network is relationship based.
And you got to do both. Yeah, you do. Yeah. That makes total sense. I love it. So you have a saying in your business, your tagline being charged, take action, get results. That speaks to you. So well. I love it. And you have a podcast as well tell me tell my audience the name of your Podcast, the
podcast is called ready yet, right? That's right. The tagline is, you'll never do it. It takes until you become the person it takes to do it reflecting back on my year that I had to figure out who I needed to be in order to do the things that I wanted to do.
What do you what do you love about podcasting?
Oh, my God, the relationship right? Here's, truthfully except for this monthly luncheon. That gives me a reason I have to like get fully dressed, not just upper half dressed and get out of my house. The only way I'm currently networking is by podcasting. Because think of it this way, by the time we have a connect call, and you are on my podcast, and I am on your podcast, we have now spent a really good two and a half hours together easily. And it's such a
great like, we know if we're each other's people. I know right? We know so much about each other personality, not just personals. Yeah. And I love the truthfulness in the real story. And I also really the thing I like about podcasting is the more truthfulness of it, at least who I choose as my guests. Because marketing is what you do to grow awareness of your business and inspire your audience to become your clients. But we all know, marketing is not the reality of everything
you're experiencing as a business owner. And there is such a needed safe space for sharing the truth of the entrepreneurial journey. Like you heard me say, I went from multiple six figures in corporate to tap 10 out of 200 in my franchise to $11,000 which if you've ever had a business $11,000 Gross is not a positive number net by the end of the year. Right. And so to be able to share the reality of it with people because the Gary V's out there they're 20 Robbins, right.
They have their purpose and I want you to be motivated by them. But they're so far removed from where most of us are it becomes hard to actually learn from that.
Well, it's funny, something you just said, though, reminds me of kind of the difference between Instagram, and some a little bit. And LinkedIn, because nothing on
Instagram to me is real. And so you can if you choose to get to the realness of you, you know, and I have to say, my generation, I'm a little bit older than you, my generation is not as good at doing that as your generation then if I'm not Yeah, you know, it's it's harder to, to, you know, but I'm starting to give little bits of things that I talked about that
I'm okay with. But the thing about it is that I know I digressed from what we were talking about, but oh, that, that when you when you start to build relationships by having these conversations, whether with the red.on, or not with the red.on It's just so much more real. I had a podcast, I want to share a little bit of a conversation I had yesterday with I was on this girl's podcast. And she and I had done a little training exchange. And so we've gotten to know each
other that way as well. And I knew the first time I talked to her, she's a entrepreneur, true entrepreneur, she's got a couple of businesses, she's, she's a CPA, as well, as well. And bright young woman, I really was impressed with her. And I kept thinking about this other woman that I knew here that I really
thought she should meet. So I had said to her after the first conversation, that I would love to introduce her to someone, but I needed to check first whether this person had the bandwidth was available to speak to her because that person was the person in my phone. And I don't want to just, you know, put together without asking. So anyway, that took a little bit of time, but it worked. And I did the introduction. And yesterday she said to me, oh my goodness, she said, I can't
thank you enough for the introduction to this woman. She said, she's gonna be a lifelong friend, like, yeah, this woman was a true entrepreneur, who has done very well she was on Dragon's Den, which is the Canadian version of Shark Tank. Got a huge deal with her business. She's super successful. And anyway, it was just such a great feeling to make that happen.
It's a great feeling. But you just said you just gave an example of the number one thing required to build your network. Give before you got if you want more referrals, give more referrals. If you want more partners give
give. Yeah, I didn't know why I wanted them to meet. But to me, it's, well, it's
also not linear, right? You didn't do that show that she gave you a referral back, I will tell you that for about 75% of the people who are on their podcast, or they're on mine, some people it's not the right fit, but for at least 75%. I get them at least two more podcasts that they can record. That's how I network.
Well, and I just realized that that's something that I actually don't do enough of which I will today I will ask you afterwards, you know, and where do you need to me to do that? You know, but if you're not for networking, that makes sense. You're right.
And one of the reasons one of the places it falls apart, it's amazing to me how many people when I say what do you need? Who do you need? What do you want? How can I help you have nothing? They have nothing as they don't know, they're unprepared for that. People want to help each other. We need us you need to have a prepared specific ask.
Okay, yeah, that's good to know. Right? In first impression, connections, you know, I know what to ask for and everything. But sometimes it's about really putting this thing into a system, right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, before we wrap up, I do want to ask you a couple of questions off the grid, so to speak. Are you a reader or a listener or a video watcher? Where
do you reader, a reader
real life books like touch and feel book?
I love touch and feel books. I was the happiest person in the universe when the Kindle came out. Because I used to travel for my corporate job. And my biggest fear was being caught on an airplane with nothing to read. I can read we went on especially if it's like just fiction for you know. giggles and you know, entertainment. I went on vacation for seven days and I think I read eight books. Oh my goodness. I can just tear through, I can tear through
things I can sit. Like as active increases, I can sit and tear through books. And were they all thick nonstick, those are just fiction for fun. My current pattern is nonfiction Business Growth books in the morning and fiction at night to chill out. You don't watch TV. Not I haven't watched TV in a while. Okay, I used to I'm not I am a big fan of TV. I even but what I learned is I don't actually watch TV. I look at it. I watch the same stupid stuff over and over and over. It's NCIS Los
Angeles. And CBS NCIS New Orleans. Big Bang Theory. Yeah, now. That's it. That's like all I watch. And it's not it's because it's mindless. It's mindless. So I'm coming down while it's on.
Fair enough. Thanks for sharing that. And I know that you mentioned earlier in this my favorite piece that I like to ask everybody I know you mentioned curiosity, because you said you're a lifelong learner. And you're you thrive on that. So would you say that curiosity, in your opinion, is innate? Or learned? And then what is the most thing? What's the thing you're most curious about today? Gosh,
I think it's nature and nurture. I think some people are more curious than others. I think a lack of curiosity stems from being taught fear and scarcity. Right? It takes a certain amount of courage to be curious, because people fear things that are different from them. And curiosity would just solve that problem. Right? So I think some of us are more naturally curious than others. And I think what leads to a lack of curiosity is fear and scarcity. What am I most right
now I'm curious about plants and gardening. Yeah, I'm in the process of trying to, I don't know, get this whole patch of my garden to be better. I can't even I don't even know the word right to cultivate and so and the
song flowers or vegetables,
that flowers, there's so much wildlife here. It would be an exercise in frustration to grow anything to eat and be gone before we got it. But I have a pollinator garden that I'm growing in the one sunny spot. I live in a wooded area. So we have one sunny spot, and I'm trying to do a pollinator garden and fix the soil. So currently very curious. Like that's what I want. That's
interesting, because my sister who lives in LA, she spent a lot more time out in her garden through COVID. And she did this whole project with creating mosaic tile tiles from it's amazing, but she also has an LA they have to have like cacti and things like that. Right. But she has she started learning about I think it's like the pollinator thing where the butterfly the caterpillars come and you're almost there and then the butterflies come and then they feed off the sin difference
here is they freeze during in Chicago, right? I mean, I think for me, it's very much an aligned with the wildlife rescue that I did. And we're on an acre and a half year of a wooded lot. I've got every animal under the sun here. So it just and again, an acre and a half. I'm trying to create something that doesn't isn't going to add work, right? If enough work to
to create projects. I'm fascinating, actually. Well, Erin has been a delight. Thank you so much. Before you go two things, one, let my audience know and I will put it in the show notes how they can find you. And secondly, what's what's the one maybe business tip or, or favorite thing you'd like to share with my audience.
So make it really easy to find me. It's all at conquer your business.com if you just go to conquer your business.com. The podcast is they're reaching these they're the socialists. They're the everything you need conquer business.com. And the one thing that has really been inspiring me. How can I put this like, be a little more brave? If I have to look back at why I didn't achieve things I wanted to achieve? It's never because I wasn't smart enough. It's never
because I didn't work hard enough. And that is the same for 99% of the people that I meet.
Just be more bold. Go do something that scares you. Yeah, that's great advice. Thanks, Erin. Thank you so much for being here. And thank you to my audience again, for being a great loyal listeners. Please let us know that you enjoyed the podcast episode by leaving a review and remember to stay connected and be remembered