Human who came to me and said, You know what, Carolyn, you can do this. Just do it one day at a time. And I think, you know, a lot of us have heard of that concept, right, one day at a time. Beautiful concept. When you're struggling with PTSD when you're struggling with flashbacks of things that never should have happened to you, and you're also combating that, that crippling fear of the unknown, you know a
whole day is too much. And I had to do it, you know, five minutes at a time, five minutes, we can fake it.
This is The MindShift Podcast where we share real stories, real strategies, that will help you find real success. This is the place to hear from people just like you who have taken their ideas, goals and dreams from a point of inspiration to realization or when life knocked them down, from a point of breakdown to breakthrough. I'm your host, Darrell Evans. Let's get started with today's episode.
Hey, my friend, welcome back to The MindShift Podcast. I'm your host, Darrell Evans. If this is your first time here, I want to thank you for taking some time out of your day to spend it here with us. I've got with me today, Carolyn Colleen, and she's a fierce mother of three, an author and
international speaker. She's the founder of The Fierce Academy where she helps women create life strategies that enable them to have the life that they dream of, without sacrificing their families, their careers, or their lifestyles. We all know what that looks like. Her philosophy has to do with clear thinking, which leads to good decisions. Good decisions, which lead to the right habits and the right habits that lead to great character. And of course, your character becomes your destiny.
She's the author of 'F.I.E.R.C.E. Transform Your Life in the Face of Adversity 5 Minutes at a Time'. Carolyn, welcome to The MindShift Podcast.
Darrell, thank you so much for having me.
I have to just jump into this FIERCE conversation right out of the gate. Talk to us high level. What is the word fierce mean to you?
Yes. You know, I get asked that often because there's different perspectives and some people, they see the word fierce, and they think, ooh, we're gonna tear through and break through and all these aggressive things. However, is there a little of that? Yeah, there is. Because sometimes we need that ferocity in which to lean into what we deserve. However, there's also an element
of grace. And so being fierce has to do with standing in your integrity, standing in what you believe in, despite your adversity, along with giving yourself grace.
I love that. I love that. It's gonna be interesting, Carolyn, tell everybody a little bit about your backstory, and what got you here?
Yeah. So I am haling in from Wisconsin. So if you hear an accent, yeah, that's it. And I grew up in the Midwest. Like I shared with my bio, I'm a proud mother of three children. My daughter's 22 now. My two boys are 12 and 9. And what got me on, right here, right now, today is, you know, there's the saying of you're right where you're meant to be. So where you are right now. Love it, honor it, because you're right where you're meant to be within the lessons to be
learned. And in my short lifetime, I am 43 years old, I have had several adversities, thus my book. And the reason that I wrote my book, and how I got here is, I took a deep breath and I had been thinking about - I had the house, the picket fence, the 2.5 kids, the dog and I thought hmmmmph, something's missing. And what was missing was I had a lack of fulfillment. I had done all the things. I did the school, school, school, school. I went and built my career. And I did
that fiercely. Because prior to getting to that 2.5 kids, and the picket fence in suburbia.
Right.
Was, and you know, I worked darn hard to get there. You know, I came from a background of physical, sexual abuse and emotional abuse. I have suffered abuse from both men and women sexually. And it definitely shifted the way that I viewed the world and choices that I made. To the point of finding myself in a very toxic and abusive marriage and upon being able to find a way out of that situation, finding myself standing in line at the Salvation Army waiting for food.
And within these moments, within these lessons over our lifetime, having those pivotal transformational spaces of, now what? And when I think about that time, and when I think about that moment, and there's many moments of our lifetime, when you reflect back and you take a moment to think about it, it was just standing there and being in a space of particular
spells. There's fluorescent lighting, you're looking around the room of people of all different walks of life, and all different tragedies, and there I am standing with my little girl who was about 18 months at the time, and I was fearful for my life, I was fearful for the future. And I was immobilized by fear. And in that space, and I, when I think about being there and thinking, Man, this is my life? It is not what I had
planned. And in those moments, how do you move yourself out of immobility, out of being frozen by fear? And I had to incrementally move out of that. And that's where the five minutes comes into play. There was a, a, so meaningful human, a human who came to me and said, You know what Carolyn? You can do this. Just do it one day at a time. And I think, you know, a lot of us have heard of that concept, right, one day at a
time. Beautiful concept. But when you're struggling with PTSD, when you're struggling with flashbacks of things that never should have happened to you. And you're also combating that, that crippling fear of the unknown, you know a whole day is too much. And I had to do it, you know, five minutes at a time, five minutes, we can fake it. I could fake, you know, a smile and pushing through five minutes. I could take a deep breath, and think, where am I gonna live? Where's my next meal
coming from? How am I going to create a safe place for my daughter? How am I going to remove the fear of that restraining order that is only as good as the paper it's written on? In order to try to create something better. Just five minutes. That's really where that pivot began.
Yeah, wow. I can just tell from the richness of the backstory, and the backdrop that you just laid, there's a lot there. And I know, we won't be able to unpack it all, and I can tell it's an emotional backdrop. But I want to say that on the other side of this, just so that everyone can get a bigger, broader picture, you are a successful now entrepreneur. You're a multiple, oh I'm gonna call you a serial entrepreneur. Tell everybody about your . . . So we've got the backdrop. We're
gonna unpack some of that. But let's paint a picture, where are you at today?
Yes, so fast forward from that space. Today, when I look back on that, and I think about, hmmmph, what are the strengths that come from adversity? What are the things that you can use? What I like to call adverse advantage. And I know we all have adversities. All, every one of us. It's not a comparison of, you know, how severe your adversity is. No! Because each adversity is our own. How can we take it and use it as an advantage? Use it, not
saying that it's right. Not saying what happened is right. I'm talking about how you react to it.
So good.
And so I used that five minutes at a time in which how I'm going to react to that adversity. And through that I found my strengths. I found how resourceful I am, because you don't want, when you don't have anything, they can't take anything away from you. Right? So you can be very resourceful. And I just had to change my hustle. And what I did is I fast forward, I put myself in school.
I busted my butt, worked 60 hours a week while going to school full time, raising my daughter and my sister, no child support. And I built my career and on that career, what I've done fast forward is now I AM a serial entrepreneur. Today I have 14 streams of income. I have four different businesses. I have created a lifestyle that
I can travel with my children. I can create and teach my children and other children how to become entrepreneurs by opening my own private school called Acton Midwest, where we are raising children on their hero's journey in a Socratic method in which to learn science, technology, engineering and math with an entrepreneurial twist. Imagine a world where children know how to
do a budget at age seven. They know how to fail forward and create businesses and learn what they're good at and, what they really don't care about, real quick.
Right.
No longer do you have students that are, you know, graduating high school and somebody says, Well, what are you going to do? And the say, I don't know. So what if we had that. And so I went ahead and opened my own academy. And then I got two other businesses, a non-profit, and really, I'm living my life on purpose.
I love it. Thank you for . . . now, so we set a little bit of drama. And now we know how the current reality is. Because I always believe that when you're in entrepreneurship, it's never the victory, the game is never over, right? It's always a journey. Let's fill in some details. What was the pivotal moment for you coming
out of . . . I like to use the word dynamics, like you said, I love adverse advantage, really loved the way you said that, because a lot of times we look in the moment, and to your point of it not being right. You're not saying you're happy that it happened. But many times you look back and think of that, as you know, you call it the adverse advantage. I call it those turning point moments where they were painful in the moment and you laugh about them
later. Even though they were just as hurtful to go through. What was one of those turning moments that moved you from, maybe a point of even, despair, or were you ever in a point of despair, what you said? Or was there a turning point that was like, there's just no more of this allowed in my life, and I'm going this direction.
There's many of those moments. And there's an exercise that I teach within my Fierce Academy, ahh, is really looking for those moments, seeking out those moments in time. Because we all have them. And what were they? Because it got us to where we are right now. And it's foundational to where we're headed. So, you
know, success leaves clues. So we need to be able to look to the past, appreciate what was, understand what it was, so that we can understand what we are, for as a foundation to launch us into the future. And so, you know, I could give you one of the more recent examples.I would say March 13th, Friday, Doomsday 2020.
Oh, what happened by the way? I'm not really sure. I'm not sure Carolyn. What happened? Remind me.
March 13th. We, did we forget already. It's only been 20 months. But the way when our world as we know it, shut down.
Oh, oh, that.
That thing!
Oh, gotcha. Okay, I got it. With you now. I was being, I want to make sure all the listening audience knows.
Yes, Doomsday, March 20/13. 2020. At that point, I was a leadership team of Cancer Center here in the Midwest. And like I said, I had built my career and in the meantime, I'd written my book, and I became an international speaker and I started creating my Fierce Academy and all the while also having a corporate leadership position, leading a cancer center here in the Midwest for Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. And my background is
strategy. And so, you know, if you ask someone, you know, how do you flip the script on adversity, ask anyone who has nothing, to be, create something? What is that? That's strategy. And so, I built my career in strategy. And, you know, as we collaborated to close down all of our cancer centers within all three states, what was interesting, is that pivotal moment of, okay, we're leaping into the unknown. We don't know if we're coming back.
And as we continue to furlough all of our employees, as we look at closing down everything that we knew, what does that look like? And what's that pivot? Now, mind you, if the whole world was closing down, so were all of my businesses. I am literally losing 1000s and 1000s of dollars a day. Now, let's talk about being crippled by fear. Or being empowered by the knowing in the face that everything's going to be alright. And if you put your eggs all in one basket, don't do
that. So as you see, you know, as I can see all of the next year and all the events I had planned, and all the speaking engagements and all the different businesses that I invested in, everything's going out the door, you got to talk to me about a pivot.
Yep, exactly.
And as an entrepreneur, you know! What do you do? You either ah, you hide, well, you know, you hide and cry in the foetal position for about a day and then you turn it around.
Oh, yeah, I was gonna say you got a day out of it. Shoot, I had about eight hours. I got about eight hours. And those are broken up hours too by the way, it was like two here, 32 minutes over there.
Yeah, yeah.
Ain't nobody got time for that. Yeah, right. No. And getting intimate with, all right, I'm looking at this, and I truly need to get underneath what's next? And how am I gonna pivot? And what emerges. And once again, it's right back to that adverse advantage. That's an adversity. But it's an adversity of a different kind. Flipping the script on it, realizing the other opportunities, and then getting foundational and building. Yeah. Obviously, the pandemic affected everyone in multiple
ways. I often say that leadership is, you grow in leadership at the point of adversity. And so anyone who doesn't accept that realism, and to your point of fear setting in, I don't think any leader ever goes without having some level of fear. But they fight through that fear, knowing that they're being called on for a plan and for a strategy. I love
the word strategy. So we heard the book game, we know there was some backstory, some low moments, and then we know that there's been these high moments and then of course, as with anything, there's all the dynamics in the middle, because life just doesn't let us sit on top of the mountain forever. What would you say your superpower is? What I mean by superpower is like, what is that thing that you just know, is just naturally, either developed, but almost probably
guessing it's not developed? It is just a skill that just or a trait that you were just born with, there's just no one in the world that can do it better.
I would have to say that I don't know if I was born with it. I think that it's resilience and resourcefulness. And I think it's a product of my environment. You know, and to argue, I would say, yeah, there is that portion of, you know, nurture versus nature. However, I would say the resilience, I feel it's a, it's something that you develop, and you sharpen. So you know, in life, as I'm sure you've heard, we're either in a storm, we're coming out of a storm or heading right into one.
Hmmmm come on.
Life does not get easier, you just get better at navigating. And so I feel that I'm pretty resourceful on figuring out how to use new tools. I take, sometimes you have to take a hammer and, and find a new way to use it. You're heading into that storm, you remember, yet here we go again! What tool am I going to use in which to prepare for this next thing?
Right.
And I feel it's the resourcefulness and the resiliency of just getting back up and getting back up and getting back up.
Yeah.
Even when you don't want to.
Absolutely. As a personal development coach, I've been a student of personal development since my early 20s. And I often say that how far we go in life comes down to our personal development. And that is, willing to admit where we are at a place where we're stuck and we need a new resource. We need a new guide. We need a new plan. But more importantly, it's the evolution and the, I want to call it evolution. It's the beating on the desire to constantly be a better person.
You obviously work with primarily women, I think, right? But you're working with people that are having some sort of dynamics in their life. What are you finding today, that is keeping them up at night? Keeping them stuck? That you're finding is this thing that you're always running to, sort of as a common denominator, that your clients are facing that you're really having to work through? What is that common thread?
The common thread I'm really seeing is fear.
A fear of what?
Of processing through the fear of success. I've seen a lot of that. A lot of fear of success. You might come to a human, and they are expressing fear of success. And actually, it's quite debilitating. Because you know you have the qualifications. You have an idea. But you haven't moved on it. It's not a lack of confidence. It's not a lack of self esteem. It's not a lack of, could you do it? Oh sure,, sure, I know I can. Then what is it? It's the fear of success. What
if I'm wildly successful? What do I have to give up? Can I handle it? Can I manage it? Will I have to give up my particular lifestyle? What if all the people in my world don't love me anymore? The fear of success has been prevalent. And I've seen so much of that.
Wow.
And it's quite interesting because I suffered of it in myself as well.
Yeah. It's so interesting, Carolyn. You know, we always hear about this fear of failure, right? We're afraid to look bad when it doesn't work out. And not many people recognize. I mean, it almost sounds like, Carolyn, what are you talking about? What do you mean, you're afraid to succeed? Let's talk a little bit more about this because this is something that I know. You just eloquently laid it out. I wasn't sure that's where you were going to go but that is interesting.
They're afraid of what they're going to look like now. They're afraid of leaving the pack that they were once in, right? What are you saying to them in these moments?
And there's moments of that calling. You have the talent, you have the idea, and you've been called. And now, in that space of taking a leap, you don't want to. And what is it? How do you unpack that? Let's talk about unpacking it. Unpacking that fear of success, which is a very unique thing, like you said. The completely opposite of the fear of failure. But maybe not. The fear of being alone, being that lone warrior. What's on the other side of that rainbow? It's
the fear of the unknown. And also, even below that, is truly what I find when we help people take that leap is because they need a foundation. They need a daily routine. They need structure in order to hold the foundation in which to hold that launch. So when they do leap, when it does blow up, and it's massively successful, they've already have that integrity of schedule, of daily practice, of, like you said, the self development work in which to catch them as they continue to
soar and grow. And so it's a lot of that foundational work, and that self development piece, and having that space for yourself every single day in a routine, to make sure that you're keeping your eyes open. Because there's that concept, you know, a lot of people have those little voices in the back of their mind that say, Oh, well, you know, once I make it, I'm going to forget where I came from, or once, you know, once I make it, I, you know, I've got to give up all my
friends. Well, no, actually. If you already had the people in your life, that were there for you, or cheerleading for you, that are foundational, in where your growth is next, you really don't have to give up anything.
It's very true. I think you talk a lot about this. I've seen it on your website, or in some other audios I've listened, you talk about this idea of clarity. And a lot of times we don't honor the calling, we don't honor the call that is uniquely ours. Like we're all given one life, at least as far as I know, we get one, one of these to live. And I always say that if you can't go a day without thinking about it, feeling the pull towards it, then you have to honor it. That
was me in this podcast. I put this podcast off for four years. What was I afraid of? I don't know. But I was afraid of something. I was afraid of not being heard the way I wanted to be heard. Of not attracting guests that I wanted to talk to. I didn't know what it was, but it was four years until one of my mentors called me out. It was like, you can't go a day without thinking about it. You keep talking about it. When are you going to launch it? You know why you don't launch it? Because
you're comfortable. And you don't have to do it. But something keeps telling you you should do it. And so literally, I was convicted, of course and I respect him at a high level. So I put the landing page up that night and announced that I was lost. At some point, you just got to pull the trigger. You just got to pull the trigger.
Right.
But anyway, I want to talk about the acronym F.I.E.R.C.E. because it is an acronym. It's not just you, you know, being fired up about something and being ferocious. Talk to us about the acronym. What does each letter stand for? And how do you use this in the framework of your teaching?
Yes. So my framework or my teaching. Fierce Academy is built upon that acronym. So F.I.E.R.C.E. F for focused breath. Just taking a pause, a lot of times we hold our breath, we don't even know we're doing it. And there's so many healing properties to breath. You can look it up. It's, there's so much. I won't go into it. But it was just to honor that - focused breath. I - identify one goal, and one action. So take action on one
goal. The way you can have, you know, as entrepreneurs and go getters, we have 2 million goals. I'm saying focus on one.
Yes.
Examine barriers to that goal. What's getting in your way? That's examine barriers. Then R is for reflect. So reflect and visualize your truth. Think, there's the outside world's truths, and there's the inside world truth. What is your truth? Be authentic with it. And then C is for courage. Recognize that you are, that you have the courage, that Hero's Journey. The only difference between a heroine or a hero and a coward is the action that follows the
fear, the emotion. Everybody has the same emotion, the same thought. It's the action that follows. And then co . . . the C is also co-creating. So on that journey, you're co-creating your own reality so you don't have to do it alone. And then E stands for engage. Just take action. Pretty simple. Just do it.
Yeah.
So that's the acronym for F.I.E.R.C.E.
I love it. You know you skipped right by real fast and I know people can go look it up. I want to talk a bit about it, because I start my day with breathe and the power of focused breath. This is one of the more intentional things you can do on a simple daily basis, especially as an entrepreneur, but whether you're an entrepreneur or not, is to spend time and just examine where you are, just through your breath.
Smooth pace, you can put music on, you don't have to put music on, but just to sit and be still. We are today inundated. It doesn't matter what you do in leadership. Own a business, run a company, be a parent, all of those things require leadership. And what happens is the minute we get out into the world, everyone else's agenda becomes
ours. And I always say that there's a moment in time in the morning when you can, even if it's for just a few minutes, take time and breath work has been introduced to me over the last decade. And it's been game changing for me. I love the co-create, I want to talk about that for just a moment. Talk to the listening audience about this idea of co-creating, and how do you see that?
Yes. So there's the concept in life, that you can do it on your own or, or on an island. And this is something that I really had to process through. Most recently is, this concept that I was saying to myself, well, I can do it. And yeah, I can, I can do it, but should I?
Right.
You don't have to do it alone. It's not an ego thing, like, or it is an ego thing. Set it aside. And so, within a hero's journey, it's truly, what are the mentors that you need in your life? Who are your people that can get you to where you're headed to in an efficient way? And you shouldn't have to do it on your own. Can you? Sure! But co-creating, bringing in mentors, bringing in people that you don't even know.
So for example, on my board of directors, I call it, so just like a non-profit, or a business has a board of directors for finances, and for you know, development and all these, marketing, all the things, in your life, you should also have a board of directors. And this comes from the concept of non-profit that I lead called one life fully lived is who's your board of directors? Who's helping you co-create your life? So as an entrepreneur, why not? Why not have a board of
directors for your life? So you can co-create your most magnificent life.
I love it. I want to go back to the I in the F.I.E.R.C.E. model and that is identifying and going after the one goal. It is, in my opinion, one of the toughest things to do as an entrepreneur. However, it is one of the more successful ways to scale through to a place of success. And today is harder than ever. I mean, I'm an entrepreneur who's 30 years in the game. I started before the
internet was around. I'm only 51. But I know what it's like to not have to worry about Snapchat, Instagram and dancing on Tik Tok and push up challenges and cinnamon challenges and all this, you know, right? I'm not mad at it. I'm just saying. It is, there is no shortage of rabbit holes today.
Right, right.
I mean, you, we are just six seconds away from the next cat video. I mean, it is so crazy today. And these systems know what to do to get you to do it. My question, though, is this. Talk about the importance of focusing on one goal, because I think some people think that they'll miss out on other things by just narrowing their focus to one goal. Talk a little bit about that, from your perspective.
Yes, you know, it's a hard lesson to learn because I was one of those who, I had to find, okay, I got to do this, and I got to do that. I got to spread myself super thin. But here's the thing is that, one, remembering you are enough. And that is the seed in the foundation of when you're trying to be in everything. Look to the inside and remember that you are enough. You don't have to do all
the things. And here's the other brilliant thing is that, one goal, this concept of multi-tasking is a lie. Multi-tasking, you're not efficiently using your energy. And so focus on one thing, get it done and get it done well. Celebrate, move to the next thing. Now if you realize that concept, you will be able to move so much faster, but with intention. So just like the concept of the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise was intentional. One foot in front
of the other. Whereas the hare, if you remember, sped ahead, took a nap and lost the race. Being intentional in your life every day, just like you said. Having that morning routine. Being intentional in one goal at a time and being good at it. But don't forget to celebrate. Celebrate what you've done. And that is where you're building, yes!
Love that you brought that up, you know, just spend a second on that. Because there's so much that we're in the, especially entrepreneurs, like, it's one thing after another. I got stuff to do, I got stuff to do, I got stuff to do. Talk about this aspect of celebration. I got it wrong for about seven, eight years easily where I just, I just ignored all the victories for the next thing, right? Because the job's not done yet. The year is not
over. So talk about this idea of celebration, I honor it today. And I celebrate the small wins. It's actually one of my key mantras, celebrate the small victories. Talk a little about that idea of celebration and why it's so important,
Oh it's so important in building your self confidence, building your, your being. Because we do a whole lot of human doing, not a whole lot of human being. And so celebration is so key in like you, just like you said, in the entrepreneurial world of chase, chase, chase, chase, chase and we can get addicted to the next thing.
Oh, my God, talk about it.
And so in that celebration, we're honoring, we're honoring the work that we've done. And that's another way that we're continually building entrepreneurial resilience. Even if you're not an entrepreneur, there's the concept of being an intrapreneur. And building yourself within an organization and building yourself within your self development. The power of the celebration is a process that gives you peace, and gives you accomplishment, and builds your courage onto the next thing
in razor sharp clarity. A mentor of mine said, Get a gold medal in one thing. When you think about Olympic winners, they're not out there, you know, oh, alright, I'm going to win a gold medal in swimming. They're not out saying oh, hey, I'm going to, I'm going to go, go swimming, you know, for an hour and then I'm gonna go to the mall. And then I'm going to go, you know, start an Airbnb, and
I'm gonna go . . . No! They are out there swimming every single day all day until they get the gold medal.
Right.
So same concept. As an entrepreneur or as an intrapreneur, whatever it is, as a parent, as a family member, whatever it is that you're trying to get a gold medal in. Do that.
Yeah.
And don't stop until you're done.
What's one thing now in your experience, that if you could change what you've learned now on entrepreneurship and the, the message of entrepreneurship that is out there today that is damaging. And you said the word intrapreneur, which is kind of the latest word for being a great number two, or number three in a company. Everyone is being talked about, you know, everyone's like, Oh, go start your side, hustle, this and
that. What's one thing about the entrepreneurial message today that you would change?
I would change the concept of burn the boats. And the reason being, it was a concept that I heard and I, and I thought, oh, that's what I need to do. That's what's missing. I haven't burned the boats. And, you know, as a mom, and a single mom of three children, there's no boats you burning here, okay? Like you got people to take care of. I had to be very strategic in, yes, I'm incrementally increasing my side hustle until my side hustle becomes my primary hustle. I
didn't burn any boats. I had to do it methodically over and over and over and over and over and over in which to get a gold medal.
Right. Right. Right.
And so that's the concept I would throw at you.
Gotcha.
Now, if you're 19, and you got nothing to lose. Well, then sure. Go ahead.
Yeah. And so Carolyn, it's funny. Anyone listening to the show may have heard me say that I believe in the, the idea of burning the boats because there's a certain personality type, though, that gets caught up in the rabbit hole. So it's almost like what you're talking about. The, I 100% agree with focus on this one thing, until we beat that down, as you put it, got the gold medal. But a lot of times I
see. And I've been, you know, advising and working with entrepreneurs and growth businesses for the last decade, not to count the businesses I've owned. And I find that that conversation we were having earlier about the rabbit holes and the squirrels, they can't stay focused.
Oh, yeah.
And so a lot of times I say to people that are stuck in the side hustle business, but they're still telling me they hate the job. I say to them, then burn the boats. Go all in. See, the reason why, and you'll agree with this I'm imagining and if you don't, please let me know. Because it's just conversation. And I agree with what you said. But then I also say that there's some people who won't do it until they have to, until their back is against the wall. Right?
And that was me. That was me. I had my back against the wall. And there was a distinction, a line in the sand that I had to draw and say, is corporate America going to work for my life? And the answer ended up being No. And so this tip toe didn't work for me. Now I'm not suggesting that that is what everybody should do. So I agree
with you. But I will say that a lot of times we don't make it to the level that we want to because we are just sticking our toe in the water and if you just stick your toe in the water, and you're not committed, but you talk about this. Getting clear.
Yes.
Right? You're talking about get clear, and then go through these steps. So I think we're saying the same thing. I don't think we . . . What's your take on the way I presented it?
Oh, no. Yes. The way that you explained it, I agree. 100%.
And I think most entrepreneurs get it, you know, but what you're saying is like, let's be clear about this mission, before we go handle this mission. Right? And it isn't that we can't have multiple missions, because clearly, I have a podcast, I have businesses I invest. You know, we all have multiple things going on.
We all do.
But we get real focus. I tell this story this way. Well, we started my marketing agency a little bit more than a decade ago. We only focus with one type of customer. One.
Yes.
When I built my previous business in the mortgage industry, I only focused on one type of customer or one client avatar, if you will. One. Is that the only people who bought from me in 12 years? No. But when we focused on one, we were able to scale the model, make sure we had repetition, make sure we had a successful program. And I saw that in your focus on one because I really do believe in that. I just wanted to talk a little bit about that. Anything else you want to add to that?
No, I agree with that concept. And it's so true. It's really, like you said, focusing on the one area and making clarity, getting rid of the rest. And so when you're talking about this concept of burning the boats and making that leap, yes, you need to make the leap. And you've got, and that, that comes right back to that calling. Right back to that, you know, you've been gifted this opportunity.
Yeah, yeah.
Do it! And that's why in the E in F.I.E.R.C.E. is engage and take action, that is my interpretation of burning the boats. Do it.
Yes. Get the work or the work done. Yeah.
Yes.
I want to finish up by talking a little bit about your Fierce Academy, and I like the way you put this on your site, and as people are considering your program, you're talking to people about creating a revolution. A fierce revolution in just six weeks. Let's tell everybody a little bit about your program. What would they expect if they were to enter your world? And really who's right for your world of fierceness?
So those who are right for the Fierce Academy are those who, just like we talked about, they know that there's something. They've been sitting on it, and it's time for them to burn the boats, and really get underneath the reason, why? Is it a fear of success? Is it a fear of failure? What is it that's been holding them back and getting into a cohort of fierce sisters, who will help you with resources because proximity is power.
Being in the right room in which to elevate your mindset, in which to open your creativity? Because how many of us who can resonate, probably with listeners, who they've had an idea, then you take it back to a well meaning family member, and next thing, you know, right after Thanksgiving, you don't have that idea anymore? Okay. How about . . .
It's vision assassination is what I call it.
What if you have a group of fierce women, fierce sisters who welcome you with open arms. When you see an idea, they say, not oh but, they say, oh and. And then you take that creative idea, that idea that you've been sitting on or, or perhaps that purpose that you've been searching for, and you ignite it, and you have a group of sisters who can help you on that journey, and help you be accountable, and help you
further that. So I have women who have, since being in Fierce Academy have had their TEDx talks, they have created their books, they have tripled their income, they have started their own income, they have created their non-profits, they have started creating sustainable housing internationally. And so each of these women, they're leaning into their purpose, and, and then igniting it.
Amazing. Where can people learn more? Not just about the academy, but to connect with you further.
Yes, they can follow me, Carolyn Colleen, @CarolynColleen, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.
Amazing. Carolyn, you know, I love this dialogue. And your work really resonates and just lines with what we talked about in MindShift, and that is this journey from inspiration to realization. And often I say when life knocks us down from breakdown to breakthrough, and it was almost like the reverse for you, it was the breakdown to breakthrough that led you to all of your vision for the future. So I
honor you for that journey. And the work that it took in some very, I can only imagine days, weeks, months, where things looked hopeless. And you turned it into hope. And you were able to put one step behind another with this fierce mentality and bring yourself to the place
where you are today. So I want to honor you as an entrepreneur, as a human, for doing the work because this is the hard work and a lot of times we don't hear these stories because the news likes to talk more about the stuff that is you know, sellable, and these stories are the ones that I enjoy sharing
here on this show. So I really thank you for that work and putting this container together that you can uplift other women and help them break through that fear of success and go get the thing that that's calling them anyway. So congratulations to all of that work. And I always ask my guests a final question. And that is, if for whatever reason, today happened to be your last day on this planet that we call home, what would you want everyone to remember you for?
Yes, I love this question. I think about this often, particularly being a mother of three. To what am I leaving behind? What is that legacy? What would it feel like? And if this were my last day on earth, and that's why I also say I have no fear. Because if this were my last day on earth, everyone that I already know, that I already interact with it, that I already know what I stand for. They know that I want to be remembered for ferocity,
and love. And so in our world, we have an opportunity to pay it forward. Have an opportunity to give love. Meaning and for me, it's love, you know the Scripture. You love your enemy as your, as yourself, love your neighbor as yourself. And it doesn't mean that you have to like them, but you can respect and give love. You can pray for them. And so I want people to remember grace, and I want them to remember the ferocity which is the definition. Grit and grace, perfect balance.
I love it. Carolyn Colleen, thank you for being here on The MindShift Podcast and for the listening audience, I hope you've enjoyed today's episode. If you have, consider hitting the follow or subscribe button wherever you're listening to this show, so you can always catch up with our episodes and connect with Carolyn. We'll link up all of her contact information in the show notes. Until next time, you're just one shift away until the breakthrough you're looking for. Talk to you soon.
Hey my friend, thanks again for listening to today's episode of The MindShift Podcast. Listen, let's not have the conversation in here. Connect with me on social @MrDarrellEvans on almost all the platforms, with the exception of Facebook. My Facebook fanpage is @DarrellEvansFan. Until next week, remember you're just one shift away from the breakthrough you're looking for.