Makena: Hi, Gigi.

Gigi: Hello, Makena. I can’t wait. I get to see you in a few weeks.

Makena: Yeah. Mm-hmm. We’re pre-record this episode because Gigi’s gonna be traveling a little bit, so by the time you guys are listening to this, we will see each other next week for the baby shower.

Gigi: Yeah. That’s so fun. We’re all flying. I’m so excited.
We’re all flying in to see you, which is super exciting.

Makena: Yeah.

Gigi: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

Makena: It’s fun being celebrated.

Gigi: Yeah, no kidding. Yeah. It’s getting so close.

Makena: Like, what is it? Twelve weeks? I—twelve weeks at the time of this recording. Probably more like eight by the time this episode comes out. We’re gonna have a little girl here soon.

Gigi: Oh my gosh. So exciting. Yeah. Super excited. She is kicking all the time. Yeah. With her own little baby. Yeah.

Makena: Yes, yes. She is quite an active personality already in the womb, so we’ll get to get to know her. Yeah, we’re excited. Super excited. Nice. Nice.

So today we’re gonna talk a little bit about accelerating your success, which is, um, a broad topic and there’s a lot of different ways that we can approach this. 

So. When we really look to see—you do—this is something that, um, you’ve taught me, and we’ve worked with a lot of our clients around is how, if you are, let’s say you’re in an industry and you want to branch out into a new arena or a new career even, or you’re just really looking to see, like, you know, I’m kind of stagnant or not growing as much as I’d like to, how do I shortcut this? How do I really grow faster, um, even within my industry?

And so we wanna talk about kind of an approach, which is—you always say, Gigi, that success leaves clues. So what do you mean by that?

Gigi: Yeah, so I think a lot of people know this, and I think sometimes we forget it when we feel like we want to grow in some way and we think, oh my gosh, I don’t know how to do this, or I don’t know how to grow my business. You know, I have to go learn all this stuff.

But the truth is, there are people out there in your industry that are doing it and doing it really, really well. Right? 

And so one of the ways to really short-circuit the time is to go and follow those people and, uh, read information about them. Research or about certain companies and how they do it.

I always tell clients, go back and read the story, because the stories are—so if you can find the stories, those just give you so many clues too, because usually the stories are always about when they have those challenges, right? And the challenge—and they—it’s almost like the hero’s journey, right? And that—then they came and they found what they wanted to do, and then they did it.

And so if it’s an industry and it’s new for you, then by learning about it through people who are already very successful, um, that first of all will excite you. It’ll also allow you to think about—is this something you really wanna do? Because you’ll learn a lot from that. You know, you’ll really see, this is what they went through. This is what they had to go through. Is this something—if I feel super inspired—it’s gonna make sense, it’s gonna make the kind of money I wanna make, and I’m gonna go for this.

Makena: I feel like that may be something that actually stops people from doing the research, interestingly enough, is like they’ve decided in advance that like, oh, I don’t think I would do it the way other people have done it, or, I don’t like this and that—this about that particular person that’s been successful. And so they don’t even go out to do the research.

But what I really like about what you say is like, go out there and research anyway, because there’s gonna be certain things you resonate with about it and certain things that you don’t. But that gathering information stage, I think, is what we’re really talking about—which is funny, that came up in another podcast episode recently around something different.

But it is really like taking that time before you either go into a new arena or a new career or before you add a new strategy or, you know, kind of add something into what you’re currently doing to see—like you’re saying—what have other people done? What have they done successfully? What are the challenges they’ve had?

So like, how would you—so if you were telling someone to actually do this, let’s take the example of somebody that wants to go into a new industry or a new career.

Gigi: Mm-hmm.

Makena: So what would you tell them to do?

Gigi: Uh, I would have them go look for—uh, it depends on is it a product, a service, or, you know—mm-hmm—to go look and see what’s already on the market. Or is it a service business? Then what other businesses are doing, you know, this kind of service?

And have them do some research and start watching, uh, videos of what happened, reading stories or articles, and going to their website and really looking and seeing—what finding—you know, I think to usually find three to five companies if you can, or maybe it’s only three or two. What are they doing? And what are they doing—you know, one process I always say is sit down and go, okay, what are they doing that’s really working and that you really love?

Like that—that’s why you were captivated, because when you saw their website—I have that. Sometimes I’ll see a website and it captivates me, you know? And we had this recently with a new, um, uh, year-long program that I’m doing, right? Remember? With the power couples? Yeah. And I’d come across this website, and I was like, oh my gosh, that has just so much more alive than a lot of things I see out there about relationship.

And so in that moment, I saw something that I wanted to create from that. And so I think that’s how it happens—that thing of, you know, what captures your curiosity?

And then you also write down and go, okay, what do I really not like about what they’re doing, and what would I do differently? How, you know—and write down all the ways that you would do it differently. That simple exercise and time that you spend doing that—that is already so much clarity happens from that. And that takes all the confusion out of your head of, should I or would I or whatever.

And it’s the first baby step, you know? Of course, then there’s the whole point—or the whole thing—of going out and seeing, is this profitable? Is this really the way I wanna spend my time? Um, and all those other aspects. But that’s the first part of it that I always recommend to somebody. And then we come back to the drawing board and then we go to the next step.

Makena: Yeah, and you could really apply this. You could take this as deep as you wanna go, and depending how big of a move you’re making, you might wanna go quite deep.

You know, I used to tell people to do a similar exercise when I was in, um, copywriting and marketing.

Gigi: Mm-hmm.

Makena: I would say if you’re creating a social media strategy or looking at your voice and tone on social media, or if you are looking at your branding or your website—like you’re saying—like to really go out and find examples and do the same thing where you look: what do I really love? And what would I do differently? What do I not resonate with?

And I would—I would not argue, but I would say that it’s a really great thing to do to kind of break out: okay, there’s just the overall, but then there’s like somebody’s branding, there’s somebody’s business model. I think that’s one that people don’t always go deeply into but is really powerful to look at is like, what all is this person offering?

You know, if it’s a—or what all is this company offering? Okay, they have this product, but they also have this kind of thing. And really noticing. So that’s this sort of, um, let’s call them a competitor because when you get into the space, they might be—not in a bad way, but in a great way.

And so, okay, competitor one is offering this, this, and this kind of thing. Competitor two is doing this that’s similar, but they’re doing this that’s different. What do I like or not like about this? Or what do I really resonate with?

So you can really break this down into like their branding, their social media, their voice.

Gigi: Absolutely.

Makena: Their business model. So many different areas.

Gigi: Yeah. And I like that about the business model because I think that is truly one of the most important things to choose.

I hired a coach several months ago, and that’s one of the reasons why I hired him—was I thought, he is out there. I know in a lot of masterminds, he’s out there doing a lot of different things. I’m not—you know, I’m not out there like that. And I wanted to tap his intelligence and see what—

I always ask him: what are the business models you’ve seen? Because I don’t know what all’s out there, right? And what are the options?

So, you know, you and I are always looking at that in terms of what can we choose? Is the different—like we’ve changed our models several times to fit with where we are or how we wanna grow.

And this is important because this is like your foundation piece. So you can see that somebody has a product or whatever, but how are they living? What’s the time it’s taking? How are they serving their clients? And all of those things are hugely important in a business model.

Makena: That’s so right on—is like really not just looking at what do you resonate with and what do you not—but really: does the business model that you’re looking at, does it fit the lifestyle you want? How you wanna be spending your time?

And that’s something a lot of people just don’t think through, I think, before we get into a new business or a new arena. And then—is there somebody out there making the kind of money you wanna be making doing this?

And it’s not to say that if there’s not, that it’s impossible. It’s just—you know, it’s like you say, success leaves clues, and it’s great to see.

You know, something you told me a few years ago—I remember you were taking some kind of course—and you told me that the teacher of the course—I can’t remember who it was—said, if you were looking at going into an industry, a lot of people looked at industries where there were a lot of people in that industry, and they said, “That’s too competitive. It’s not a good industry.”

But he actually said, like, no—that’s actually a really good industry to go into, and you just go in and do it better, which I thought was really interesting.

Gigi: You know who that was? That’s Frank Kern.

Makena: Okay.

Gigi: Yeah, Frank Kern. And he is a great marketer online.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was fascinated by that idea. It was like an ads course, and he made you go and research, and he said: if there are a lot of people doing it, that’s—that’s where you wanna go. It’s the counterintuitive to what most people think.

Makena: Mm-hmm.

Gigi: You think about—we talked to a woman the other day, remember? And she told us something she was gonna do, and I told her she’s a trendsetter in the industry.

Makena: Yeah, I think—

Gigi: Because it was very different than anything else I had heard in that industry. Remember that?

Makena: Yeah, absolutely.

Gigi: Yeah. We won’t say what the business was, but I was like, hmm, that’s an interesting take on that. So yeah, that is so right on. It’s great you remember that.

Makena: Yeah. I think there’s some people—and it’s also good to know what kind of person you are. Are you an innovator? A trendsetter?

And that’s really, like—it doesn’t mean you still can’t take from people’s models or what you like and don’t like about other approaches. You still can go out and do that research. I think it’s still very valuable.

Or are you someone that you’re more of a—I don’t know, like a maximizer, or I don’t know what you would call it. But like you, Gigi—I feel like you’re more of an innovator a lot of the time. You still do this process of researching, and that’s really helpful, but you have unique ideas you bring, right? And things that come to you.

I’m not really like that. Not usually. I do really well within existing systems and within kind of what’s out there, and then going out and maybe doing it better. So that’s also helpful to kind of know about yourself, I feel like.

Gigi: Yeah, that is important. And you know, a great story with that—I remember when I had the idea for our mastermind that we’ve been leading for—how many years have we been leading that now?

Makena: I think like four?

Gigi: Four years. Okay. And I remember sitting on the sofa—and I hadn’t been in any masterminds, right? And I didn’t go out and research or anything. I knew of—that’s not true. We had a mastermind before that, right?

Makena: Yeah, we did. For several years.

Gigi: But that was very different than what I wanted to create. And I remember sitting and thinking—for me—and I even told you, for the clients that had been with me for a long time, I was like, you know, I’d really love to create this experience where they could be connected to each other and not just be me working with these individuals.

And I remember vividly sitting on the sofa—it was during COVID, actually—and having one of those big paper Post-it notes up on the wall, and just—you know how I do—I start just drawing and thinking and thinking. And that’s how that got created. And it did not—it wasn’t created from looking at anybody else’s thing.

I always feel into: what do I sense people would want? And what do I sense that the experience that I want to have in terms of delivering whatever I’m doing too. Yeah.

Makena: Mm-hmm.

Gigi: So that’s interesting. I hadn’t thought about that.

Makena: Yeah. And then at the same time though, you and I came together and talked, and I’ve been in a lot of masterminds. And so then I was able to add, yeah, that piece of: here’s what’s really worked, here’s what I haven’t loved, here’s what I wish I had more of. So it was kind of a blended approach.

But I do think for people who are really, um, creators, innovators, trendsetters—if you identify with being that way—then it is great to take that time too and just see what comes for yourself first, maybe before you go out and research what other people are doing.
Mm-hmm.
And then take that added research piece to go, okay, maybe there’s some idea you hadn’t had or something, you know, other people are doing that you’re like, I definitely don’t want to do that.

Gigi: Yeah. That’s funny because when I think back, the original mastermind we had—that came from so much of what you had known and, you know, the people that you knew, and yeah, so much of that you shared. And we did that. It was awesome. It was a great start. But there was again lots of pieces of it that I felt like I didn’t really care for to continue, you know?

So through our intelligence, it’s true that when we combined—always, you bring the ideas and the structure, you know?

Makena: Mm-hmm.

Gigi: Because I just have these fragmented ideas all over the place.

Makena: But you bring the feeling, like you said, which is so important too.

Gigi: Yeah. The feeling I definitely go for.

Makena: Yeah. So what are some different ways people can research? Obviously, they can go online. Do you have any other ways that you approach this usually?

Gigi: Mm-hmm. Read biographies, you know, is an awesome way to learn a lot and to really—that also creates inspiration. I love, love doing that. Did that for years. And, um, get connected to the industry that you want to go with.

You can go to events, or you can go to—you know, they have conferences and things like that. You can find people in those industries and reach out to them. I mean, LinkedIn is a great place to do that. Have, you know, informational interviews or something and talk to people that are in the industry and see.

Or somebody that even has a business. Often, even someone that would have that business would be willing to talk to you, especially if it’s a different type of product you’re doing, but you know it’s in the same arena.

And, um, what other ways do you think, Makena?

Makena: Yeah, I think—I love the listen to biographies or read biographies. I would even say there’s so many, like, Netflix shows these days on a lot of people.

Gigi: Oh my gosh. True.

Makena: It’s true. Yeah. Documentaries.

You know, you can really go deep into their stories—like documentaries. Those are so fascinating. Even if it’s not the industry that you’re thinking about going into, I think you just pick up so many interesting things from that. I really enjoy that.

Um, the other thing is with AI these days, you know, you can—there’s features on most AI platforms called “deep research” or something along those lines. On ChatGPT, it’s called “deep research.”

Gigi: Or deep seek—deep seek, I think it’s called. Yeah.

Makena: Yeah. So you give it a much more detailed prompt and tell it, “I’m thinking about going into this industry. I want to know about industry leaders in this space and people who’ve had this kind of success,” or this kind of thing.

So you can really give it a very detailed prompt and it will go out and do like much deeper research and come back. It takes longer, but that’s fascinating. You can say like, “I want case studies. I want this, I want that.” And it will read through interviews with those people. I mean, it will do so much of the research for you.
So that’s also really fascinating and a great way to go deeper—deeper there.

Gigi: Yeah. And then, I mean, the thing to do—which, you know, we really support women doing in our mastermind—is if you are looking to do that, then you find some kind of mentorship or some kind of guidance to help you implement, to really go for it. Because sometimes with an idea, or if you’re looking at a new industry, we need that support to get out there and go for it.

We need somebody holding you accountable in that way. And I think that’s a powerful—especially if it’s an idea you’ve had on the back burner for a long time, or you really want to make a change and you haven’t made that change—then, like we say, getting support, either a mentor or a coach or somebody in the industry helps you collapse time, helps you accelerate your success hugely.

Makena: Absolutely.

Yeah. I mean, different ways again that this can be applied is like—you’re in an industry, maybe you’re an entrepreneur and you’re thinking about branching into a new one or changing careers—then really doing that research first and seeing what’s out there. And that’s basically the first stage before you take a project, which is something you guys have heard us all talk about many times.

But also, like, I had a client who was in corporate and thinking about changing directions, figuring out a new arena either in corporate to go into or doing her own thing. And what you said about the informational interviews was something I really encouraged her to do.

We kind of picked her top two or three industries she was curious about, and then she went out and she talked to people who worked in those industries. And that was hugely valuable for her to really see: what kind of money were they making, what was the reality of that career day-to-day, and the time that it took. 

So that was really helpful.

And then, you know, again, I think this is something you can really use even within your business. Like we do this—like you’re saying—with programs. If we’re developing a new program or innovating on a program and shifting and changing it, then a lot of times we’ll go out and see: what are other people doing? To get ideas and to see, you know, what’s—sometimes it’s like, what’s the new thing too? What’s timely for people?

Or maybe you’re in a certain groove with your business, and you want to branch out and add something in—then this is another great way to really research.

So just this idea of success leaves clues, and you don’t have to come up with it all on your own, I think is really helpful for people.

But I’m curious, Gigi, because on the other hand, I see people who—I don’t know, I don’t struggle with this so much—but I do see people who do. 

They get caught up in comparing themselves or thinking like, “Everything’s already been done before.” Do you know what I’m talking about?

Makena: They get caught up in comparing themselves or thinking like, “Everything’s already been done before.” I don’t know. Do you know what I’m talking about?

What would you say to that? So if somebody’s doing this research and then they just go, “Oh my gosh, everybody’s doing everything already,” right? Or, “I’m never going to be able to do it as well as these other people do it.” What would you say to someone in that situation?

Gigi: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Well, again, when we talked about seeing what other people are doing—and like I said, I don’t know if I said this earlier—going to three websites and really making a distinction: what are they doing that you love? And then what would you do differently?

I think if you can tap into what you would do differently, then you start to get clarity, and you start to see that you have something to share. And even if it’s something similar, it’s just like the lady we talked to the other day who I said is a trendsetter.

What she’s doing is she’s adding an element to a business that pretty much people do the same way everywhere, and she’s taking something that she loves and applying it to that business.

And it’s kind of like how I built my retreats for years. I thought, if I love this, then probably other women would love this, right?

And so in that, looking and seeing: what’s your part that you really want to bring in and that you love?

Makena: So, we’re talking about researching and getting out and looking at what other people are doing, which is fabulous and so valuable. And I do see, on the other side, that sometimes when people start researching, they start to get caught up in, “What do I have to offer? Can I even do this?”

And I think there’s two different types of people I want to touch on here. So one is maybe they are really brand new to an industry, or they’re really brand new to a whole field, or they don’t have the experience yet, but they really feel that interest and that passion. So that would be one kind of person.

The other one would be someone who maybe has a lot of experience, and they are innovating and going into a new topic area within what they kind of do.

So there’s the more experienced and then the less. But both—both types of people—I hear a lot of imposter syndrome and a lot of, “What do I have to offer?” So what would you share with those people?

Gigi: Yeah. I would say first, you remember—if we go back to first doing your research and really seeing what’s out there. An example is taking three people—let’s say it’s somebody who’s in the service industry—three people that are in similar energy, uh, industries—excuse me—and that you want to get out there, and that’s an industry you really feel curious about. You see you have a lot of curiosity about it.

Go on three of their websites and really look and see what are they doing that you love, that captivated you. I think I talked about this earlier, right?

Makena: You did, yeah.

Gigi: But I’ll just touch on it again and go into this. But what captivates you? And then what would you do differently?

That’s the first part. Then, if you’re somebody who—you’ve been in your industry for a long time and you’re trying to maybe add to what you’re doing or shift, what I would do there is I’d also look at the numbers. I’d go in and see: are they making the money you want to make?

And I’d look deeper into the business and the system. If you see that it’s a viable arena or industry—people are making the kind of money you want to make—it looks like, “I do want to spend my time that way,” then the next thing I would do is I would go into looking into what is your experience of what you’ve done already in your business, and writing that down.

Write down all the ways that you have been successful. Is that the amount of years that you’ve been doing what you’re doing? Is that the reach you have in terms of with your impact or world? Do you have books out? Have you touched this many people in that industry?

And so you want to start building your credibility with yourself first, right?

If you go to ChatGPT—this is hilarious—they have a new feature. And if you, you know, we do the—what is it called? The private ones, Makena, what are they called?

Makena: Like a custom GPT.

Gigi: Custom GPT. And you go to that and you say, “Hey, will you give me a write-up about myself? Tell me about myself?” I did that. It was fascinating, because they collected all of this data and then wrote this incredible thing that I was like, “Oh my gosh.”

And so do that. And put in things there that I would have never thought—like, “She’s Texas this, and a little European that.” I was like, “Oh my God. It’s so right on,” right?

So do that. Or go into ChatGPT and start sharing your—who you are and what you do—and let them write up something, and you’ll see right away your credibility. Because that’s what you want to do. You want to stand in and really look into who you are and what you’re the master of and what you’ve created so far.

That right there starts to give you the confidence then to say, “I can shift this to an extended part of my industry,” maybe a new product or service you want to go into. And if you have learned certain things in your business—what have you learned?

Because then you can take that to this new business.

Makena: I want to share something about that before you move on to the other type of person.

Gigi: Okay.

Makena: Yeah. This was really my experience when I changed from my marketing career into coaching. There was a lot of fear for me. Of course, I had fear—self-doubt. We’ve talked about that a lot in stepping into a new industry and, “Could I really offer value and serve people?”

And we have a whole episode on the self-doubt switch, so we’re not going to go into that here. We can link to it in the show notes. But if you haven’t listened to that episode and if this really rings true for you, please do. That will be really, really supportive for you because it’s exactly what Gigi walked me through there.

But that aside—when I made that shift, I feel like I had a lot of fear that I was going to lose something because I had all these years in this other industry. I’d built my reputation. And I also had a fear that I was stepping into something completely new.

I don’t know what it was like—I won’t even talk about the fear, let’s just go to what I discovered.

What I discovered was everything I learned in my first business I apply in my work as a coach. I apply it in my work with clients and how I support them—what I know from those years I had in that industry. I apply it in marketing our own business and doing our own copy and messaging and things like that.

Just the years of experience—there was a certain level of confidence in myself and my ability to work with people in a different way but still work with people. And my ability to get out and earn, and my ability to—and it doesn’t mean there weren’t new things I had to learn. There definitely were.

But I think that’s what you’re kind of pointing to here is, like, if you have years of experience in something, that’s credibility, that’s experience, and that’s going to serve you as you step into this new arena.

Gigi: Yeah. And you will, as you step into it and just go for it. And that’s the thing—if you’ve done your homework, then it’s time just to let go of the self-doubt.

And especially if you’ve been successful in a different arena or different place—you know, you have a business that’s growing and successful—then you just go for it. Do what you did before. It’s just in a different industry. And you get out there and you learn and you go for it.

It is, though—you know, I made this distinction for one of our ladies in the mastermind recently—is standing in that, going into who you are, your mastery, what you’ve done so far, and standing in that so strongly that you take that into the next thing and know that you will absolutely do well in it.

And who knows? You just have to go for it. We never—it’s never for sure, right? In anything that we do.

Makena: What about someone who doesn’t really have a lot of experience? Maybe they have business experience or career experience, but it really feels pretty far off from the direction they want to go. They want to go into a whole new arena or industry, and they are feeling like, “Can I do this?” Or, “How do I approach this?”

I mean, the research is great. Is there anything else you would say to that person who’s kind of sitting there a little paralyzed?

Gigi: Yeah. I would go back to what we talked about earlier—of reading and getting people in the industry. I think that’s really important.

Finding people who you can talk with about it. And then, basically, again—you have to look at the numbers. Does it—and is it the lifestyle you want to do?

And the other thing we often say is: create a project first for that person, with a beginning, middle, and end. See if you can do one project in that, and that gives you information to see if you really, really want to go for it.

And then the other thing is, finally, is just—you know—you’ve got to get out there, and you’ve got to go for it. And that’s where I do believe that support and coaching and things like that are so, so, so important.

Because comparison is in all of us. I can go on social media—I stay off of it most of the time, honestly—but when I go on it sometimes, it’s just like, oh my gosh, you know? Because it gives us these snapshots into people’s lives, and half of it is just such, in my opinion, baloney, because behind the scenes you have no idea what’s going on.

Makena: We’re looking at the highlight reel.

Gigi: Yeah. So that’s my personal opinion—which I will go on social media more—but in it, you can’t base anything off of that.

And that’s where I tell people—here’s another thing—when you’re looking to create something, you go on social media, like you said earlier, Makena, and look at people’s branding and really look at what’s out there again and gather that information.

And then when you’re creating—go off of social media. Go off for 30 days and allow your mind to start to create and think and see what you’re doing.

Makena: I love that tip. Ding ding ding ding.

Gigi: Because otherwise you have no—you will not stop comparing. You can’t help it, because you’re inundated with what everybody else is doing. And that is—it’s tiresome after a while. It’s hard to make—for anybody that’s doing anything—unless you’re super competitive, which some people are. And when they’re super competitive and they just want to compete and win, then sometimes it’s an inspiration for them.

Makena: That’s right on. Yeah.

But I love that idea of really—there’s kind of this research and information-gathering stage, and then there is this time of seeing what are your visions, your ideas. And those could go in either order, I think. Sometimes you might do one before the other, and sometimes the reverse.

But really having this time where you do take time off of social media or time off of researching, and you go inward and see and brainstorm. And that’s again where, if you struggle with that part—I know I’ve never felt as natural with that part—sometimes I need a coach or a mentor to really help guide me through that piece.

Or you may be someone that that’s more natural for, and you love the ideation and you love the creation stage.

Yeah, that’s a really powerful, powerful piece.

Gigi: Yeah. And I mean, we know that—we have people come in, and they want to learn the way we do things.

You know, I even think about—we had a sales call recently, and I saw the woman asked us about our stuff because she wanted to see how we did things, you know?

And that’s great. That’s absolutely right on. You want to look in and see, in different systems, how are people doing things? And again, is that the way you would do it? Or do you have this great, new, innovative way that you would do it?

Makena: Yeah. And I guess too—to just remember that everyone started somewhere. The experts in the spaces that you admire didn’t start out as experts in that space.
They had an interest or a curiosity, or they started to learn and to research and put themselves out there.

So I think it’s kind of a fun exercise to, like, write a story about yourself at some point in this process—as three years from now or something like that, or five years from now—when you are established in this career or this arena, and you’re successful at it.

Then what were the things that led to that success? How did you get started? What was the genesis of all of that?

Because you will be telling that story someday if this is the direction you end up deciding to go.

Gigi: Yeah. I’d like to say one thing too, in the closing of this—it’s really important when we talk about gathering information and going out there, it’s not to copy anyone.
And that, you know, I think is really out of integrity.

And what I mean by “copy”—when it comes to their content, you should not go out and mimic their content, right?

So it’s really tapping into—more we look at the systems or how they approached it. And I mean, of course, in the products business, a lot of times people better a product that’s already out there, right?

And the same thing—think about hamburger places, right? There’s—I can’t remember who was first, but maybe it was Whataburger or whatever, and then McDonald’s came around or Wendy’s, I think, came later.

And so you’re always trying to better the process—or again, have a different experience for maybe a different type of clientele too.

Makena: Yeah, that’s a great point. So there’s a fine line between gathering ideas and information and just straight-up copying.

Gigi: Copy. Yeah. Yeah.

Makena: Yeah. And that is—it’s a challenging line sometimes for people, I think. But if you really tune in—you don’t use people’s exact wording, you don’t use their exact message, you don’t go out and copy every single thing about one business.

But what we’re talking about here today is actually the antidote to that in many ways, because we’re saying go out and look at multiple different people. Look at multiple different businesses and really see—when you look and see with a lot of different—you know, at least three to five, like you’re saying—what do you love? What would you do differently?

You’re going to come to some unique things there. You’re going to come to your own flavor that’s different than what anyone else has done.

And especially if you look at: what is my experience? What is my why for going into this area? You know, why does this really matter to me?

These kinds of questions will help you dig deeper to find your own.

And this is sometimes what we do with our clients—is we’re the person on the other side to draw this out of them. They might go and do the research, but then they come back and we help them really see and reflect back to them: what is their unique genius in all this?
Why are they doing this?

To really make sure that whatever you step into is really aligned for you. You’re not just creating something out of your head, but that it is really what fits for you.

 It’s what fits the next chapter of your life, or your business, your career. Like we said, it has you in the lifestyle that you want, making the kind of money you want to make, making the impact you want to make.

So all of these pieces begin with, yeah—the research.

Gigi: Yeah. Yeah. And that’s, you know—the thing of people coming back to us and assisting them is so important, because I have clients—I work with leaders that are very successful. And, you know, even in their own businesses, they’re out of alignment.

Makena: What do you mean they’re out of alignment?

Gigi: Sometimes people have built businesses and they’re successful—and very successful, they make a lot of money—but the business was built…

The original idea was maybe a good idea, or maybe at first it really had inspiration. But as they grew the business, they went out of the part they loved, and then they built something that they’re no longer in what they enjoy.

And so it’s stale for them, or it wasn’t quite—again, it was a way to make money. So they have the money now, and now they’re looking for—of course, they want success—but they also want the fulfillment in their business too.

That’s a whole other podcast. I think we better stop. We could go on and on and on.

Makena: Absolutely. Well—

I have a friend that’s going through this right now, who built a very successful multi-million dollar business. But she was just scaling, scaling, building, building—built this huge team, is running the ads, is doing all the things—and kind of woke up one day and went like, “Wait a second. I am working so hard to basically pay all the salaries of my team.”

And, you know, doing well and making an impact, but she’s just really in this stage of reevaluating and realigning. And that’s often what you’re talking about—what we support our clients with—is helping them do that reevaluation and realignment.

And you don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but really to look and see: how do you want to grow and evolve or shift, or—yeah, what’s that next piece?

So some people keep those original businesses going and then they build something else. Some people, you know, pivot or change their model a little bit, or their offerings.

So—yeah, we could go very deep into all of this, like you said. But again, it begins with the looking and the seeing. What are other people doing?

 You know, what really resonates and aligns for me?

Gigi: Yeah.

Makena: Fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing.

Gigi: Yeah.

Makena: And thank you all for listening. So, take one baby step from today in whatever arena you’re thinking about going out to—begin doing some research.

Gigi: Yeah. And if you Love this, please give us—what do you do on here? Not like—

Makena:Rate us! Rate the podcast. Give us a five-star rating. Yeah, if you’re on Spotify, I think you have to listen and then you can rate. Every platform is a little bit different, but it’s hugely supportive for us if you take just a moment.

Gigi: Or give a few sentences would be great and let other people know, because then other people—when they read it—they’ll want to come on and listen to the podcast.
So thank you, thank you, thank you so much, our listeners. We so appreciate you.

Makena: Yeah. I’ll see you soon, Gigi.

Gigi: See you soon. Bye.

Makena: Bye-bye.