Ep. 12 The Stern Truth: Breaking Through Your Blocks - Business Therapy Thursday with Almas Shareef

Many small business owners struggle with the same challenges - undercharging, imposter syndrome, and fear of rejection. I dive deep with entrepreneur Almas Shareef to uncover the mindset blocks holding back her marketing agency. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, we explore how childhood experiences shape our business decisions, especially when it comes to pricing and self-worth. 

Together, we work through the critical question "Why not me?" and develop practical strategies for breaking through these barriers. I share my tried-and-true approach for challenging negative self-talk and help Almas understand how to confidently step into her leadership role. This Business Therapy episode is perfect for entrepreneurs who know they should charge their worth more but feel that block every time they try.

When it comes to business growth, your actions and commitment are everything - aligning your personal “why” with your business goals is key for entrepreneurs to build through, and in spite of, challenges.

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I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Marshall Stern: Hi, I'm Marshall Stern and I've spent over 35 years in leading and growing multiple small businesses. I know firsthand the struggles of entrepreneurship, feeling isolated, lonely, overwhelmed, and feeling like you have to do all by yourself. I've been through multiple recessions and I have felt the highs and the lows.

[00:00:24] I've been there, and I get it. This podcast is here to change that. Every week I will bring you straight talking advice, real world strategies, and honest conversations about what it takes to succeed in business without the fluff, the gimmicks, or the sugar-coated. If you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and start making real progress, then you are in the right place.

[00:00:47] This is the Stern Truth. 

[00:00:52] Marshall Stern: Alright, welcome back to another Business Therapy session. Almas, how are you today? 

[00:00:58] Almas Shareef: I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. 

[00:01:01] Marshall Stern: I've been looking forward to this and, before we dive deeper into what we're going to talk about today, which I really have no general idea, but not a really deep idea yet.

[00:01:15] Tell me a little bit about you. tell me a little bit about your business and how long have you been in business? 

[00:01:20] Almas Shareef: So I'm fairly new to the world of marketing. I started my marketing agency about a year and a half ago. and prior to that I was also running a small online teaching business.

[00:01:33] So I've been in the world of entrepreneurship for a long time. Maybe not a long time, I want to say about five years or so. But yeah, the whole marketing, field of things has been new for me. And what got me into it from education to marketing was wanting to grow my online teaching business and then starting to do research on how to do that.

[00:01:55] And then coming across, all these different ways of growing and all these different components of digital marketing. And then, realizing I can do this for local business owners. So my niche is local businesses, that need marketing to grow. 

[00:02:11] Marshall Stern: Nice. Okay. And where are you located again? 

[00:02:14] Almas Shareef: I am in Montreal, Canada.

[00:02:15] Marshall Stern: Montreal. Oh, Montreal. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Alright. Fellow Canuck. 

[00:02:20] Almas Shareef: Yes, indeed. 

[00:02:22] Marshall Stern: Okay. I met you through this group. This retreat you were at in Victoria, I believe. 

[00:02:30] And this opportunity came up for you. Why did you raise your hand for this? Because this is pretty, I would say this is gutsy.

[00:02:38] First of all, saying yes to any kind of coaching is one thing. Saying yes to business therapy is another thing. And having this public 

[00:02:51] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:02:51] Marshall Stern: Is even something else more uncomfortable for many. Why did you raise your hand? 

[00:02:57] Almas Shareef: That's a good question. I think one of the main reasons I did it was I've realized, pushing myself out of my comfort zone is where the growth truly happens. On the other side of it, there's always something to learn, even if it's coming on a podcast or something, even less, major than coming on a podcast, but yet put pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. So I wanted to see, how far I can push myself with this.

[00:03:22] I'm nervous. It's very uncomfortable for me to be, on a podcast. But, I'm happy to be here. And I think another thing that I got from the retreat was realizing that can you go back to your original question, please? I forgot what it was. 

[00:03:43] Marshall Stern: Why did you say yes? 

[00:03:44] Almas Shareef: Oh, why did I say yes?

[00:03:46] So I also said yes because, I, am really big on personal development. I think when I started my first business, it was something that I got introduced to and then realizing that with personal development, I lost my train of thought on a little. 

[00:04:06] Marshall Stern: No, that, no, That's okay. Okay. I'll ask you this question.

[00:04:11] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:04:12] Marshall Stern: This might be an easier one to answer. In the time we have today. 

[00:04:16] Almas Shareef: Yes. 

[00:04:17] Marshall Stern: Okay. Yeah. What would make this like an, oh my God, I have to call all my friends, everyone that I know from the retreat, everyone I know that's a business owner, and say, you have to talk to Marshall. This was the most amazing session.

[00:04:33] What would do that for you, do you think? 

[00:04:35] Almas Shareef: I think for me, it would probably be that one thing that's just really understanding like what's, what my thought patterns are like and what's my block, and having maybe an epiphany moment of this is why I've been doing everything that I'm doing, the way that I've been doing all these years, and why it's not helping me progress to the next level, And I think, yeah, continue. And that's what I was going to say earlier, sorry. When I lost my train of thought was being in personal development, I feel like that's what it is for me. It's like, I've worked so much on the blocks in my personal life that like, that the business side of it, like I haven't been able to take it to the business side of things.

[00:05:16] So getting that from this session would be really helpful, I think. 

[00:05:20] Marshall Stern: Do you think there's, because this is Business Therapy, do you think there's any correlation between your personal life and the business? Like the way you show up in your personal life and the way you maybe hold back? 

[00:05:31] Almas Shareef: Yeah, for sure.

[00:05:33] In some way. I don't, I'm not sure how that would be, but.

[00:05:39] Marshall Stern: Are you comfortable sharing a little bit? 

[00:05:41] Almas Shareef: I think what holds me back in my, I know in terms of, at least for the business side of things, And maybe you can help me relate it to, to maybe a little bit more on the personal side of things, but, I feel like there's always, I'm very self-critical. So that's definitely one thing that I always have this voice in the back of my head that's oh, but there's always this fear of failure, whether it's taking a little step and, I don't know, launching an ad for something or so there's always this like critical voice in my head that's always going on and on.

[00:06:20] And I feel like it does that sometimes with my personal life as well. But I can't think of an example in my personal life at the moment, but if I'm thinking more so business like that's the first thing that comes to mind is like that's criticism. 

[00:06:33] Marshall Stern: So does that show up, like for your, on, on the business side?

[00:06:35] Does that show up when you're launching maybe campaigns or programs for clients or more on prospecting? How does that show for you? 

[00:06:45] Almas Shareef: I would say, more on the prospecting side of things. it's happened to me when I've launched campaigns for clients as well, where, I don't know, like the imposter syndrome tied in with the self-criticism.

[00:07:01] But when I'm talking about, not for necessarily the clients, but more so on the day-to-day when I'm prospecting, I feel like, that's when the voice is probably the loudest. Because, for example, I was in a networking meeting at one point and someone was asking me, how much is your package for your SEO package for, and what does it include?

[00:07:29] And I always catch myself like low balling everything in terms of like how much I'm coding to people because. I'm just like, who's going to want to buy from me and who's going to, want this product when there, I know there's a demand out there, but it's Almas like that voice takes over. 

[00:07:49] Marshall Stern: The who am I?

[00:07:51] Almas Shareef: Who am I? Yeah. who am I to be selling this? Like, why would someone want to pay me that? If that makes any sense. 

[00:07:57] Marshall Stern: Who are you to be doing this? 

[00:08:01] Almas Shareef: Good question. I am a digital marketer. I feel like, I've done, I feel like I'm a very approachable person and I don’t know if this answers your question, but, I just feel like maybe that's a hard question for me to answer.

[00:08:18] Who am I to be doing this? I think the fact that I'm so new at it doesn't help either. Like the confidence isn't like there yet. 

[00:08:28] Marshall Stern: Are you good at what you do? 

[00:08:30] Almas Shareef: I want to say yes, but I don't know if I'm being fully honest. I don't know if I truly believe in that yet. 

[00:08:37] Marshall Stern: Okay. Do you have clients?

[00:08:38] Almas Shareef: Yes. 

[00:08:39] Marshall Stern: Are they happy with you? 

[00:08:41] Almas Shareef: Yes. 

[00:08:41] Marshall Stern: Are you getting results for them? 

[00:08:43] Almas Shareef: Yes. 

[00:08:44] Marshall Stern: Are they paying you? 

[00:08:45] Almas Shareef: Yes. 

[00:08:47] Marshall Stern: Are they pay, are they paying you what your worth or what the value they're getting is? No. Yeah. Do you think your, worth, if you really think logically 

[00:09:03] Do you think you're worth more than what you're charging?

[00:09:07] Almas Shareef: Yes. 

[00:09:08] Marshall Stern: So the value's more than what your self-worth is right now, let's say, would you feel your worth is? 

[00:09:16] Almas Shareef: Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I think so. No, I think so. I know. So I know I should be charging more for, what I am charging. I just, I can't get it out of me. There's almost like this, if I'm like talking on a somatic level, there's almost like this, like blockage right here in my chest.

[00:09:32] Almas Shareef: Like, I can't say the number that I want to say, 

[00:09:36] Marshall Stern: Okay. Would you like to work through that? 

[00:09:39] Almas Shareef: I think so. I think so. Yes. I would like that. 

[00:09:42] Marshall Stern: We're not going to do that. 

[00:09:43] Almas Shareef: Oh gosh. Okay. 

[00:09:46] Marshall Stern: We're going to we're going to go deeper than that. 

[00:09:48] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:09:49] Marshall Stern: Okay. Because that we have to get to the root of what's causing this.

[00:09:54] So that's where we're going to go right now. We'll see. How everything else works. and for those of you watching or listening, if you want to go back to episode four, we talk, this is exactly what we talk about, is charging or we charging for our, what we, our value is, or what our worth is, or what we think our worth is.

[00:10:16] So what do you think about yourself as a person? 

[00:10:21] Almas Shareef: That's a loaded question. I think I'm a very, I. A approachable person? I think I have a very warm personality. I think people generally like me, I think I have a big heart and a kind heart and I always want to help people and I always want to bring value in any way that I can.

[00:10:47] but I also know that, sometimes I don't believe that about myself. I don't know, maybe prompt me with more questions to go a little deeper. I don't know. 

[00:11:01] Marshall Stern: Where do you think that comes from? 

[00:11:03] Almas Shareef: I know where it comes from. It comes from my parents and my mom and what I went through as a kid. 

[00:11:10] Marshall Stern: Yeah. 

[00:11:12] Almas Shareef: So I grew up with my mom having borderline personality disorder.

[00:11:17] So my whole life it was like I had to walk on eggshells. she would have these episodes where. She, would just like burst out, would try to kill herself, would leave the house. so my entire life I spent, needing to shell myself in, because any time I would express anything that I wanted or anything that I preferred or wanted to do or didn't want to do, it was always like, oh, but is this going to set my mom off if I was to express something that I want or need?

[00:11:57] So I think, I know that plays a really big part in my life, even now in my personal life as well, where it's really, hard for me to ask what I need because my fear is that person is either going to not want to have anything to do with me, or it's just going to be like something super chaotic.

[00:12:22] Marshall Stern: That's a hard way to live. 

[00:12:24] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:12:27] Marshall Stern: As an adult. 

[00:12:29] Marshall Stern: Have you had personal and or business relationships that this has shown up and this has happened to you? 

[00:12:39] Almas Shareef: Yeah, I think, I think when I'm speaking, especially with people that don't know too well, I think once I've developed a little bit of a relationship on a personal level, I think I'm able to move through it a little easier.

[00:12:54] But when it's like a first time, meeting someone needing to pitch something, like if I'm on a sales call or what have you, I think that's when it shows up the most. 

[00:13:06] Marshall Stern: Okay. 

[00:13:07] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:13:09] Marshall Stern: What about, do you have friends? 

[00:13:11] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:13:12] Marshall Stern: Okay. So here's an exercise I suggest or highly recommend you do. 

[00:13:19] And this could be really enlightening for you.

[00:13:21] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:13:23] Marshall Stern: I would go to maybe even three or four people in total. Five people, maybe five at the most. Combination of friends. 

[00:13:31] Do you have a client who you really connect with? 

[00:13:36] Almas Shareef: I have one, yeah. 

[00:13:37] Marshall Stern: Okay. Go to them as well. Okay. 

[00:13:39] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:13:42] Marshall Stern: Go to me. Just met me. 

[00:13:45] Marshall Stern: Go to maybe another colleague or something, right?

[00:13:48] And just have them ask them. Just say, Hey, I'm working with this, coach, and he's giving me this exercise to do. 

[00:13:58] Marshall Stern: Give me three to five words. 

[00:14:02] When you hear Alma, when you hear my name, 

[00:14:04] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:14:04] Marshall Stern: It comes up for you. 

[00:14:06] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:14:07] Marshall Stern: And I want you to do it for yourself as well. Right now.

[00:14:11] Right now, we're going to do it for you. Okay. 

[00:14:13] Almas Shareef: I know right off the bat right now, if I was to ask someone to do this for me, a friend, family member, a client that I'm working with, yeah. I'm going to start bawling in tears. Like having someone else tell me what they think about me. I don't know why I just can't handle it.

[00:14:30] Like I'm just going to get really emotional. I know that for a fact. 

[00:14:34] Marshall Stern: What if it's shitty stuff? 

[00:14:36] Almas Shareef: I think I would still get emotional, but I Almast feel like I would be able to take it be better than the good stuff. It's really weird to say. Okay, it's, yeah, the good stuff I just can't digest. Whereas the shitty stuff I would be able to digest.

[00:14:54] Marshall Stern: Okay. See, I had no idea where we were going to go there. This is the amazing thing with business therapy, which is a sort of a hidden word for deep coaching, 

[00:15:04] Almas Shareef: Right? 

[00:15:05] Marshall Stern: I'm going to come up with some words for you, 

[00:15:07] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:15:08] Marshall Stern: And this is if I was, if you were pitching me as a client. Because we just, this is our second time talking.

[00:15:15] So I don't really know you that well. But just on the surface, I'm getting to know you. 

[00:15:21] I have some ideas already. 

[00:15:24] So if you have some like tissue Kleenex.

[00:15:27] Almas Shareef: I should probably go get some. 

[00:15:29] Marshall Stern: You want to get some, I'll try to be good, but I want you to come up with some words first.

[00:15:35] Almas Shareef: Okay. All right. So you want me to find five words to describe myself? 

[00:15:41] Marshall Stern: Three to five words to describe yourself. Yeah. 

[00:15:42] Almas Shareef: Three to five words to describe myself. hardworking, kind-hearted, and, I'm trying to, the word is at the tip of my tongue. what do you call it? Oh my gosh, I'm drawing a blank.

[00:16:05] Considerate. I consider my, consider it. Considerate. Considerate, yeah, considerate. I guess maybe self-aware. 

[00:16:17] Marshall Stern: Oh, you're really 

[00:16:19] Almas Shareef: Over overthinker. 

[00:16:22] Marshall Stern: Okay. 

[00:16:24] Almas Shareef: Yeah. Those are a couple, I guess. 

[00:16:27] Marshall Stern: Hard working. I don't know. Considerate, self-aware. Overthinker. Kind-hearted. 

[00:16:35] Okay. I don't know about the hardworking, I'm going to take your word for that.

[00:16:39] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:16:39] Marshall Stern: Because obviously I don't know that. 

[00:16:43] Kind-hearted. Okay. Yeah. Got it. Considerate, self-aware overthinker. Okay. So those I can definitely see. Okay. ask me. 

[00:16:56] Almas Shareef: What are three to five words that you can use to describe me? 

[00:17:02] Marshall Stern: Okay. I would say from the little I know of you 

[00:17:08] I've got down here real. 

[00:17:12] Beautiful. And I'm not talking about the, just on the outside, I'm talking about inside the soul. Okay. Like a beautiful soul, passionate, fiery. This is just a guess. This is just from the sense they get. Okay. It's working on you, isn't it? I know. giving humble, I'm giving a lot of words.

[00:17:41] These are just coming to me now. Then there's other things, like more surface level, growth oriented. Inspiring. And I just come back. I honestly come back to beautiful and passionate and fiery. Because those are characteristics that not everyone doesn't have that not everyone has a beautiful soul, but I can just see in, oh, one more word, vulnerable and that's a superpower.

[00:18:16] That's my Brene Brown moment. Yeah. Okay. Would you agree? Would you disagree with any of those? 

[00:18:27] Almas Shareef: no, I would agree with all of them. Yeah. I think I know, what you described, I know that about myself, but going back to maybe not believing that about myself, hearing it from another person, it's just nice to hear that How I do feel about myself on the inside. Maybe sometimes I don't have the right words to describe how I feel about myself. that it is also reflected on the outside, 

[00:19:03] Marshall Stern: So as we're having this session, someone in my house has decided to print something on my printer, so I don’t know if you can hear it.

[00:19:13] Almas Shareef: I can't. I very slightly, but barely. Okay. 

[00:19:17] Marshall Stern: Okay. I'm going to have to, tell them that we're on the air right now. But that's why this is called the Stern Truth. This is unfiltered because here's the thing, I'm trying not to focus on the noise in the back. There we go. Life happens. Okay. And things happen to us, whether it's in our past or present or in the future that help shape us.

[00:19:48] So your past. I don't know if you've ever seen the Tony Robbins, whether you like him or don't like him, a show. I'm not your guru. No. A Netflix show. So one of the things he says in there, when he talks in a lot of his stuff, he talks about his upbringing. And he was abused by his mother, and then he lived in a small apartment.

[00:20:11] He was overweight, all stuff, blah, blah, blah. he said in the show, the one thing that stuck with me was he said, if I had the mother that I wanted, I wouldn't be the man today that I am. 

[00:20:24] So I think the upbringing, you had shaped the person you are for the good and the challenging. For sure.

[00:20:31] Almas Shareef: Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:20:32] Marshall Stern: Okay. But I think you're, oh, spirited. I guess it's fiery, but spirited, I like that word better spirited. I don't know if you'd be as spirited if you had this normal, I’m aging myself, but Brady Bunch kind of.

[00:20:49] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:20:51] Marshall Stern: Do you know what I mean? 

[00:20:52] Almas Shareef: Yeah. No. And I am a firm believer that everything that is supposed to happen to us, happens to us for a reason.

[00:20:59] Everything that we've gone through in our life is supposed to teach us something or supposed to help us become a better version of ourselves. and you're absolutely right. If it wasn't for everything I'd gone through in my childhood, I wouldn't be who I am today. 

[00:21:14] Marshall Stern: So the question now is how are we going to take that I think that's your superpower, but it's a matter of how do we take that every single day 

[00:21:27] Marshall Stern: And work with it 

[00:21:29] Marshall Stern: To fuel us .And to help us help others. 

[00:21:34] How do you think you can do that? Because I'm going to give you, you don't, yeah. 

[00:21:39] Almas Shareef: I just I wouldn't even know the first place to start, 

[00:21:42] Marshall Stern: I'm going to share something with you right now. I want you to, I'm going to say it. I want you to take it in.

[00:21:49] I have a question for you first. when you, do you find that there's a lot of, we talk about blocks, everyone has certain blocks. When you are reaching out or thinking about, do you do, okay, here's, another question first. Do you do business development for yourself? No, I'm not talking about like your own ads campaigns.

[00:22:10] I'm talking about actually like email, pick up the phone going on, prospect prospecting, going on calls with people. 

[00:22:18] Almas Shareef: No, so far I've relied on referrals a lot. I haven't really done that kind of prospecting. 

[00:22:23] Marshall Stern: Okay. Is there something, have you just not thought about doing it or are you just holding it back?

[00:22:28] Almas Shareef: It scares me. That's why I haven't done it. It scares you. Yeah. 

[00:22:31] Marshall Stern: Okay. Okay. Is this a limiting belief thing? 

[00:22:36] Almas Shareef: possibly. Yeah. It could be that, it could be just, the fear of rejection. 

[00:22:42] Marshall Stern: Fear of rejection. 

[00:22:43] Almas Shareef: Yeah. a combination of maybe those things. Yeah. 

[00:22:47] Marshall Stern: Okay. Okay. I'm changing gears for a second.

[00:22:53] So when did you start your business again? 

[00:22:55] Almas Shareef: The marketing business? I started in, January of 2023. 

[00:23:00] Marshall Stern: This business, January, 2023. Okay. 

[00:23:04] Almas Shareef: Sorry. January 24 2024 

[00:23:07] Marshall Stern: Okay. So just over a year? 

[00:23:09] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:23:09] Marshall Stern: From when we're, from today. From when we're having this session. Okay. Yeah. if you looked into the future Three years from now. Where do you want your business to be? 

[00:23:23] Almas Shareef: I'd like to have, a team, a team working with me on, and I'd like to have more of a leadership role within, the, within my business. and having, if we're talking like monetary goals. The business bringing in like maybe five figures a month, Yeah. yeah. And having, being able to niche down also. I think that's something that I would really like to do within the next couple of years, even this year, if possible. I really like to work with the health and wellness industry. And so to specifically work, work, be working with local clients, naturopaths, acupuncturists, chiropractors, therapists, those kind of businesses, gym, fitness gyms, Pilate Studios, those kind of, businesses that need their help, the local help.

[00:24:23] I would love to be niched down to that in that space. 

[00:24:27] Marshall Stern: Okay. 

[00:24:28] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:24:30] Marshall Stern: Okay. So what do you think will help, first of all, I love the first two things you said. then, you threw, actually I love all three. Because you, mentioned the monetary, a lot of people don't, so I love that. I also love the fact that you said the team 

[00:24:47] And leadership role. 

[00:24:51] Again, most people don't even go there with the leadership role. They don't use that word. and that, I'm telling you right now, if you take nothing else from this conversation, is that's the key, is for everybody, for us to step, as, step into that role as a leader.

[00:25:09] Build a team around us. 

[00:25:13] Whether it's employees on our team or subcontracts, coaches, mentors, accountants, bookkeepers, all that kind. Hopefully not needing a lawyer, but maybe for contracts at the beginning because we can't do it all ourselves. 

[00:25:29] It's like we want to be that coach, not the player.

[00:25:32] We need to have a team, and being a leader and a self leader is critical. 

[00:25:41] So I guess the question is what do you think that you need to do to go from where you are today in the financial situation you're at today, number of clients, all that kind of stuff to where you want to get to in three years?

[00:25:56] What are some of the blocks, what are some of the things that you think you might need to overcome and do? 

[00:26:02] Almas Shareef: I know one block I have is that I have a hard time, like trusting that someone else can do the job as well as I do. So the delegation part is really hard. 

[00:26:15] Marshall Stern: Okay. 

[00:26:17] Almas Shareef: cause just I feel like I need to do it all because if I give it to anyone else, I don't know if it's going to get done so that part, and I don't know what else would my, blocks would be, I, would need help with that, I think. 

[00:26:35] Marshall Stern: Can you talk about trust? With like employees? 

[00:26:41] Anything else? Or subs. Subcontracts employee. Yeah. Yeah, 

[00:26:45] Almas Shareef: Subs, employee. I think there's a worthy worthiness component there as well.

[00:26:52] Maybe just not feeling like I'm, worthy of it. I think that's part of it too, like my self omitting belief. Okay. I've just been at a certain kind of status quo level in my life, my entire life. Whether it was working in a nine to five, I was earning a similar salary. And now that I have my own business, I'm still earning that same salary and it's I just can't get past that.

[00:27:20] You know what I mean? 

[00:27:23] Marshall Stern: First off, I have to acknowledge you for something else here. You just said you're basically earning the same salary as you were when you were working? 

[00:27:31] Almas Shareef: Yeah. Maybe a little bit more, but yeah. 

[00:27:33] Marshall Stern: Okay. People who are listening to this, watching this are probably saying, oh my God, that's awesome.

[00:27:40] That's something, a lot of people have full-time jobs. Yeah. And they won't leave. And then they're, they have their, business on the side. 

[00:27:48] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:27:48] Marshall Stern: And they won't leave their job until they know their business can actually reach, at least income wise the same. A lot of the times it doesn't.

[00:27:57] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:27:59] Marshall Stern: Especially to try to do part-time. cause it's difficult to do both. And trust me, I know because I had my sign of printing business and I was doing the coaching on the side, although, They seem like both full-time to me. but it goes back to that whole, I'm not worthy part. Do you think you are, ego centered at all? 

[00:28:21] Almas Shareef: Define what you mean by ego centered. 

[00:28:23] Marshall Stern: Do big on yourself. Egotistical, all about me. 

[00:28:29] Almas Shareef: Maybe if I'm being honest, maybe a little bit. 

[00:28:33] Marshall Stern: Tell me, how. 

[00:28:35] Almas Shareef: I don't know. I feel like I maybe swung the pendulum the other way where there was a part of my, part of a time in my life where it was all about others and I was like a people pleaser and, it was never about me.

[00:28:51] And now I think in the last two years or so, I've swung the other way where it's about me. take it or leave. That sort of thing. It's so I don't know. I don't know if that is what I consider ego egotistical or not, but, I don't know. 

[00:29:10] Marshall Stern: So I do agree. I think you are a little bit.

[00:29:14] Okay. I'm going to tell you why not the way you, not the way you think. Okay be, and I don't, and I disagree with you may maybe personally you are, I don't know. I can't see it. but I don't know if you're that way. It's all about me when it comes to your clients. 

[00:29:30] Because you are not charging, you're charging for what you think you're worth is not your value. If it was all about you, it'd be like, pardon my language, screw you. 

[00:29:40] My package is a thousand dollars a month, $2,500 a month. It's all above me. You want to work with me and that, you know what, as long as it's like ethical pricing 

[00:29:51] Whatever that really is, that's fine. As long as you're good, as long as you're delivering the results. But I don't think you're feeling that way. 

[00:30:01] And I think you're making it, this is where I think you're too much about you. I think you're making it too much about you. 

[00:30:07] On what you think your worth is or not is, and instead not thinking about the client enough. Okay. And what you could do for them, and the value you can deliver to them, and how you can serve them. 

[00:30:20] Almas Shareef: If Yeah. Yeah. Maybe, I mean, I do feel like. It's almost yeah, I, think about the client and I think about how I can help them, but then I drown in my own thoughts about myself. 

[00:30:39] And then, yeah.

[00:30:42] Marshall Stern: So here's the thing. If I were to work with you Yeah. hire you, I would want you and you could fake it till you make it kind of thing.

[00:30:59] But on the surface, and we, and still we, I think we need to work on what's really happening. But what you show your client is you need to show them it's that leadership. 

[00:31:14] They don't really care how you do. 

[00:31:19] Marshall Stern: They don't really care that behind the scenes stuff.

[00:31:22] All anybody cares, like I always say, people don't really care what I do or what you do. 

[00:31:27] They just care that we understand them and we can help them. They have a problem. They have a pain point. 

[00:31:34] We understand that. And we can help them. That's all they care about. 

[00:31:38] Whether it's through funnels or ad management or this or that, or for me, all the different tools that I use.

[00:31:44] If we were to work together, like if you, if I were to be your coach and mentor, I don't think you really care about how I do it. It's going to be these number of sessions. It's going to make me give you this tool and that tool and this. No, you just want to know, okay. 

[00:31:57] He's got me. 

[00:31:58] Does that sound right?

[00:32:00] Almas Shareef: Yeah. So are you saying that, if I'm like prospecting or speaking to a client or whatever the case may be, that I think the whole leadership part of it, like maybe that's where I'm like a little, I'm not going to say confused, but as a leader, should I be ego driven, egotistical. Or not like that. 

[00:32:30] Marshall Stern: Yeah. And I know what you mean. Yeah. So it, I think it's a fine line. It's confidence. Yeah. That's where it's not egotistical, it's confidence.

[00:32:36] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:32:38] Marshall Stern: If I got on a call with you and you were pitching me, got my own air quotes there, right? Yeah. I would want you to say, okay, look, for example, let's role play for a second. Not role play, but I'm going to pretend like I'm not pretending I'm a coach, but you're a potential client, okay? 

[00:32:59] So I'm going to give you an example. So Almas, so you talk about your three year team, three year plan. You want to have this team, you want to be hit basically six figures, six figure business, probably multiple six figure. 

[00:33:15] Almas Shareef: Hopefully. I will. I know, I caught myself. 

[00:33:19] Marshall Stern: Yeah. There's no hope. There's no hope. There's no hope. And hope. Okay. there's hope and hope in certain things, but when it comes to business, you don't hope. You do. 

[00:33:28] Almas Shareef: Yeah, you do. Yeah. 

[00:33:30] Marshall Stern: I'm going to repeat that for other people in business. There's no hope You do. Okay. 

[00:33:38] Almas Shareef: Amen. 

[00:33:38] Marshall Stern: Because when we, amen. Yes. this is our Sunday session. but now I have no idea where I was.

[00:33:51] Okay, fine. Okay. Edit, rewind. No, I'm kidding. here's the thing. How would you, like what I know, how tied to you, how tied to you, how tied are you to the outcome you want to build for your business, the life you want to have. Like, how much do you want it? How committed are you to wanting it?

[00:34:20] Almas Shareef: I'm very committed. Very committed. I feel like at this point in my life, it is pretty much all I think about. what's the next action that I need to take. 

[00:34:31] Marshall Stern: Yeah. 

[00:34:31] Almas Shareef: In order to get to that end goal that I'm striving for. 

[00:34:36] Marshall Stern: Do you find it difficult with knowing the next action to take? Can it be confusing because there's so many experts out there, so many this, so many of that, and you're not sure what to do at times?

[00:34:47] Almas Shareef: Sometimes. Yeah. 

[00:34:48] Marshall Stern: Yeah, 

[00:34:49] yeah. So what if I told you this? I can get you to that three year vision. I can get to get you to it probably faster, calmer, and more simple. If we work together, you're going to have more confidence. You're going to, I'm sounding cliche-ish, step into your power. 

[00:35:17] You're just going to be a happier, more fulfilled person.

[00:35:19] Inside and out personally and professionally. And you're going to be drawing people into your life personally and professionally. That you want to work with, that you want to be around. 

[00:35:31] Almas Shareef: I see what you did there. You played with my pain points. 

[00:35:35] Marshall Stern: But I'm standing, I'm confident. I like, yeah, I know I can, I know if we work together, I can get you to that point.

[00:35:41] Yeah. And sooner than you could do it on your own. 

[00:35:43] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:35:43] Marshall Stern: Most likely. Usually. Okay. That's confidence. 

[00:35:49] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:35:49] Marshall Stern: That's not being egotistical. 

[00:35:53] Almas Shareef: But I don't have that confidence there yet. Maybe it's the lack of experience still and not working with enough clients to say, I can get you there. I have trouble saying those words, I can get your business this many more leads.

[00:36:09] I would never promise a, specific amount of leads, I can get your client, your business more leads, because I don't know if I believe in me being able to do that just yet because of the lack of experience. 

[00:36:25] Marshall Stern: You've been doing it for over a year and you had another business before.

[00:36:28] So what do you need to do to, what do you think you need to do? is there a skill you need to develop or is it just an internal thing? what do you need to do in order to say, if I was working with you to say, Marshall, what's your object? What's your objective objectives for your business? I want to get more leads.

[00:36:43] I want to get more people to my website. I want to get. Why, not you? Why can't you be the one? 

[00:36:52] Other people are doing it. I'm not talking about the fake stuff, the marketing stuff out there. 

[00:36:56] Almas Shareef: Yeah. And, it's, I'm just going to compare to like the teaching business that I have slash had and still transitioning out of.

[00:37:08] I don't have as much problems asking for, the rates that I ask for or when I'm onboarding a student or I'm onboarding or speaking to a parent that's going to, be on, that's going to start taking classes. I'm just saying that as it is. I, maybe, because I've been doing it for the last four or five years or so.

[00:37:31] It's just a bit of a no brainer. Yeah. And I know, and I've had students where they've seen pro progress and the parents like me and I have a personal relationship with the parents, so that part of my business, I'm just okay, it's fine. This is what it is. And, I don't feel like I'm doing it really to help the student at the end of the day.

[00:37:52] Kind of like how you were talking about earlier in the example. So I know how it can feel like to have that level of confidence for something that you're trying to talk about, but I can't do that for the marketing just yet. 

[00:38:10] Marshall Stern: Yeah. but why are you able to do it? 

[00:38:14] For your other business?

[00:38:18] Almas Shareef: I wonder if part of it is just having a lot of external validation from, and testimonials, I guess for how much I've helped students and how well they do. And then that business, I grew entirely only through referrals. So to me it was like, okay, if this person's referring me, they're happy with my services in order to refer me to someone else.

[00:38:43] So it was a, an external validation thing. Maybe that helped me build that confidence on that side of the business. 

[00:38:51] Marshall Stern: Okay. So if you do this exercise. Even going to this, let's say this one client. 

[00:38:57] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:38:58] Marshall Stern: That might help a little bit. 

[00:38:59] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:39:00] Marshall Stern: Do you get, do you ask for, from your existing clients, do you ask for, referrals is one thing, but do you ask for feedback from them on how, not necessarily testimonials.

[00:39:11] Testimonials are great, but do you ask for feedback on where things are and how you're doing? 

[00:39:16] Almas Shareef: Yeah, two of the clients that, I've been working with a little bit more recently, I have been asked them like, okay, what is it that I can do more? Like, how can we I do ask them. and they've been super responsive and helping me out with that.

[00:39:34] And they recently told me that through the marketing that I've been doing for them, on the back end of things, they're starting to see some leads come in on their side. I was doing a little happy dance this week when they both told me that. Yep. and I started working with them around the same time as well.

[00:39:49] So they're in the similar journey with their marketing, marketing work. But anyways, I digress. What was the original question that you were saying? 

[00:40:01] Marshall Stern: No, but like asking - no, you answered it. Yeah, by asking them. So first of all, doing the happy dance is great.

[00:40:09] Celebrating the little wins. That's a big one. But celebrating little wins, big wins, all of them is really, important

[00:40:15] Marshall Stern: Because who, do we have to go to? 

[00:40:17] Marshall Stern: Unless you have a significant other who's like an entrepreneur or business like friends that are in business, whatever, it's, we're usually So that's why it's important to, another thing to take away from this conversation is, and I know you're part of this group of other marketers, stay engaged with other business owners. 

[00:40:35] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:40:35] Marshall Stern: Be part of other groups. Network. Have them in your, world, because it, can be very lonely otherwise.

[00:40:42] Almas Shareef: It can be absolutely, like in my close knit circle of people, nobody's an entrepreneur. Yeah. Everybody has, the nine to five and they go to work and that's it. So even on the, on a day to day when I'm at home working by myself, it's just people don't get it and half the people don't even understand what it is that I do.

[00:41:05] Marshall Stern: so it's really important just to be engaged with o with other people who do get it. 

[00:41:08] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:41:09] Marshall Stern: So again, it goes back to, look, here's the thing, it's a process. 

[00:41:16] Or process, depending on where you are 

[00:41:19] In the world. it's not going to happen today. It might be tomorrow.

[00:41:28] There's going to be blocks that come along the way. 

[00:41:31] Marshall Stern: And if we can get really clear, so one of the things with my clients is, and I know you've heard about the why and everything, so I help my clients get really clear on their why. Not, this doesn't go on their website or on the beautiful brick wall behind you and all that kind of stuff.

[00:41:44] It's for ourselves. And then getting clear, really specifically clear on the vision, and then working the plan to achieve that, to, to work towards it, right? 

[00:41:55] The why is why we get up every morning. What we're here to do. It's our purpose. Do you know your why? 

[00:42:04] Almas Shareef: Yeah, I do.

[00:42:06] My why is, to help my parents retire and for my dad to not have to work anymore so that I can just, he can live his life and my parents can live their life and do their thing, and they don't have to worry about money. 

[00:42:23] Marshall Stern: That's nice. Okay. That's very nice. 

[00:42:26] Do you have a why for the marketing business, or is that just, or is that it?

[00:42:31] Almas Shareef: Basically, that's it.

[00:42:31] Yeah. That's it. 

[00:42:32] Marshall Stern: Okay. Okay. does it work for you? 

[00:42:37] Almas Shareef: Sometimes it feels heavy. cause I feel like it's like a burden that I've carried for a really long time. The eldest of five kids. Yeah. a responsibility that was put on me. it does feel heavy, but it is the reason why I do what I do.

[00:42:56] Once I reach that goal, I don't know what my why is going to be anymore. 

[00:43:02] Marshall Stern: Are you motivated by money? 

[00:43:04] Almas Shareef: Yes, I think so. 

[00:43:07] Marshall Stern: Oh, okay. I wasn't expecting that answer. 

[00:43:10] Almas Shareef: No, I think so. I'm, it is about reaching that monetary goal for me. Okay. Yeah. So that okay, I know once I earn this much, then I know this much can go to my family and they can live out, A happier, more fulfilling life that they couldn't their entire lives. So for me it is, that. 

[00:43:31] Marshall Stern: Okay, so it's a matter of now taking that why and translating it and having it re having it relate to your clients. And what you do for them. 

[00:43:41] Almas Shareef: Maybe that's where the disconnect is, because my why is very personal. 

[00:43:45] Marshall Stern: Yeah. Which is good. So I just want to say I, I believe, totally believe it needs to be personal. 

[00:43:51] Almas Shareef: So then how do - I don't know. I don't know. 

[00:43:55] Marshall Stern: How do you authentically step, how do you authentically step into that? The why with your clients? how do they, the parallel

[00:44:08] Almas Shareef: So that like they can live the lives that they want and they can grow the businesses to the level that they want to grow so they can achieve their personal goals, whatever that may be for them. for me it's helping my parents retire, but, what is it for them, that's different for every business owner.

[00:44:29] Almas Shareef: I don't know if that's how we can translate that, like another more purpose driven why for me is, I've also gone through a lot of health issues in my life, and so when I started to take looking at my health on a holistic level, I started understanding myself a lot better as well.

[00:44:50] So that's why I want to niche down in the holistic health space, is I want to help these health, I want to help these businesses help others the way that I was, helped through all these different kind of, practices and whatnot. So that's like another part of my why. 

[00:45:08] Marshall Stern: Okay. So there, here we go. Now we're talking. 

[00:45:13] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:45:13] Marshall Stern: Because if you have a personal why and you have a business, separate why's. And they're not congruent. 

[00:45:25] In fact, they're conflicting. It's going to be a problem. 

[00:45:30] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:45:30] Marshall Stern: Okay. You're going to be miserable. you might, the business may grow, but it's going to be against the values and against your personal why.

[00:45:38] But usually it's the other way around. You, stick to your personal why and then the business gets stuck. It just doesn't grow because there's this, thing, the elephant in the room. So the more you can relate the two and now you have one, so you're in a perfect position because you can have it for both.

[00:45:56] Especially when you're talking about when it comes to the health. If you're working with health and wellness professionals, you probably are more passionate about that, right? Yes, absolutely. 

[00:46:08] Almas Shareef: Yes. 100%. I can go on, on and on and about it for hours and eat someone's ear off. 

[00:46:13] Marshall Stern: When it comes to do you think you could, do you think you could confidently have, when you.

[00:46:23] Quote, pitch someone. Or send your pack your pricing in. Is it a, standard sort of package pricing and then you reduce it from that because of how you're feeling or that kind of thing? Or do you just customize the pricing for every potential client? 

[00:46:37] Almas Shareef: Usually it's more of a standard package, and then depending on if they want to do, paid ads and whatnot, then that's like a separate tier.

[00:46:45] Okay. But there's like a base level package that I have. Yeah. 

[00:46:48] Marshall Stern: Okay. And you don't discount that price, it's just probably lower than it should be, or do you then discount it? It's just, 

[00:46:54] Almas Shareef: No, it's lower than it should be. I don't discount it. 

[00:46:57] Marshall Stern: Okay. Yeah. So what's it going to take to raise the prices? Maybe it's just a simple decision.

[00:47:06] Almas Shareef: I think it is that too, just deciding this is going to be the price and whoever decides that they can work with me with this price rate, with this budget, great. If they can't, then, maybe it's not the right fit for me. I don't know. Is that some, yeah. Is that an attitude that I can take into, to, to, pitching or prospecting?

[00:47:33] Marshall Stern: It's your business. And as long as here's the thing, we can be very selective with the people we want to work with. 

[00:47:44] And if you're good at what you do without playing games with yourself, oh, am I really good? But if you're good at what you do, and I'm assuming you, people are getting re maybe it's not the results when I say results, cause that's a very, tricky word.

[00:47:59] I know people want, I want now results now. But it does take time. And I know, especially with SEO, it's organic, it takes time. Campaigns, the learning part of it, all the algorithms. But if they're getting results over the period of time and you're communicating that to them 

[00:48:17] Marshall Stern: You're doing your job. If they don't pay you, they're going to pay someone else and probably someone else, they're going to pay more. 

[00:48:25] There are agencies out there that are charging probably 2, 3, 4 times what you're, I have no idea what you're charging, but two or three, four times what you're charging.

[00:48:34] Almas Shareef: I know there's agencies out there charging that five times what I'm charging. 

[00:48:39] Marshall Stern: yeah. I have three words for you that I want you to write down. 

[00:48:43] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:48:44] Marshall Stern: Good. Take my notes. Why not me? 

[00:48:54] Almas Shareef: Yeah, you're right.

[00:48:56] Marshall Stern: Am I? 

[00:48:58] Almas Shareef: Yeah, you are. 

[00:49:00] Marshall Stern: If you want to bring it back to your why, if you're not thinking about, you're thinking about the client, because you can help them.

[00:49:10] But if you can charge a client, what's an average package price for you? Right now, usually 

[00:49:16] Almas Shareef: Around $600 a month.

[00:49:18] Marshall Stern: And what do you get for that? 

[00:49:20] Almas Shareef: It's the optimization of, their Google. they get an SEO, monthly SEO that's, all their on page, off page SEO, their blog posts.

[00:49:33] And then they get monthly reports. 

[00:49:37] Marshall Stern: Got up, price up. Yeah. 

[00:49:40] Almas Shareef: I don't know. I feel like $600 is where I'm stuck right now.  

[00:49:43] Marshall Stern: No, Almas. Come on. Seriously. So quickly. 

[00:49:50] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:49:51] Marshall Stern: If you were just to charge even a thousand. Now you talk about local. So if you went into the US 600 is like $20 if you had US clients For the dollar. but if you were to charge a thousand, it's $400 a month more. Yeah. That's just $400 a month. 

[00:50:08] You are not ripping people off. 

[00:50:10] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:50:10] Marshall Stern: Because they're going to pay that somewhere else. 

[00:50:13] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:50:13] Marshall Stern: You're undercharging. You're undervaluing, you're under, you're undervaluing based on what you think your worth is.

[00:50:22] $400 a month more how, if you have five clients, let's say. Four, four clients we'll say. And you did that's $1,600 a month more. 

[00:50:33] You know what you could do without money? You could hire me. Yeah. But now bring your family into it. 

[00:50:40] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:50:43] Marshall Stern: That's true. That's the why. 

[00:50:47] Almas Shareef: I think where I get stuck is like I grew up with humble beginnings and it's like I'm putting myself in that other person's perspective who I would be pitching at, and I'm oh, this is like a smaller business and they may not be able to afford marketing.

[00:51:08] Yeah. So this is why my prices are so low, but  I know I should not be doing that necessarily, 

[00:51:16] Marshall Stern: But you're helping them. Okay. Yeah. Over time. Obviously the results are not, you're helping them with revenue. 

[00:51:23] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:51:25] Marshall Stern: Okay. I used to pay, I hired an SEO firm and this was like an independent, okay.

[00:51:32] So years ago, tell this quick story. Years ago, I won't mention the name of the company cause it was a big local Vancouver firm. And this was for my sign graphics company. And I wanted, I was looking for SEO 

[00:51:45] And I brought them in, they sat across from me, these two guys, beautiful suits and all the stuff, fancy stuff and suits in Vancouver are like unheard of. You don't wear suits in Vancouver, it's not Montreal. And, they didn't listen to me at all, of what my job, my goals were. They just said, no. SEO long game organic. You don't want to do it. Facebook advertising, this was before Instagram was big.

[00:52:15] Facebook advertising. Here's our package, gives us a thousand dollars a month. This is about 10, 15 years ago. It gives a thousand dollars a month. And I said no, it's not what I want. I want to go SEO, right? So anyways, I hired someone who I knew through a networking group. 

[00:52:32] And, I paid him $500. This is, no, actually it was about 10 years ago. $500 a month just for SEO. 

[00:52:41] And one, I think it was one blog a month. And that was actually, it was $500 and then it went up to $600 up until the end, which was, I sold it two years ago. Okay. And he was an independent, per independent person, and that was still low.

[00:53:00] And I knew that. You can easily be charging a whole lot more. 

[00:53:06] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:53:06] Marshall Stern: Because you're, the value you're bringing is a lot more. 

[00:53:10] And yes, if it's, look, if you're pitching, a candle maker, like a hobbyist, that's going to be a lot of money. And they might, it might not make sense for them.

[00:53:22] Yeah. You have to sell a lot of candles. 

[00:53:24] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[00:53:25] Marshall Stern: But if you're talking about health and wellness practitioners Yeah.

[00:53:32] Yeah, you're right. But there's still that block. So that'll be business therapy part two. Okay. Sounds good. No, I'm teasing. I want you just to go back and the why not me. 

[00:53:51] Almas Shareef: Yeah. I think that's where the self-critical voice comes out though. When I, try to answer that question of why not me?

[00:54:02] I'm like, oh, because I'm this and because I'm that, and you know all those, okay. Those voices. 

[00:54:06] Marshall Stern: Thank you. Great. we've come to that point. 

[00:54:10] Okay. Here's what you do. You ready for this one? 

[00:54:15] Almas Shareef: Yes. 

[00:54:16] Marshall Stern: Three questions you ask yourself. 

[00:54:18] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:54:19] Marshall Stern: Is this true? 

[00:54:22] With that voice, that little, that voice, that Al's voice, the one saying, you can't do this.

[00:54:28] You're too inexperienced. You're too, you're not good enough. You're this, you're that. Look at everything you've been through, no, you're not the one. 

[00:54:37] Who are you? Is this true? What do you think the answer's going to be? Asking yourself that question. Honestly, 

[00:54:47] Almas Shareef: To answer the question, is this true?

[00:54:48] I'll most likely be able to say, no. It's not true. 

[00:54:52] Marshall Stern: When you're in that moment? 

[00:54:54] Almas Shareef: probably not when I'm in that moment, 

[00:54:56] Marshall Stern: That's what I'm talking about in that I'm not thinking when you're logical. 

[00:54:58] Almas Shareef: Yeah, true. 

[00:54:59] Marshall Stern: So you could pro, you might say yes. 

[00:55:01] So you have to go to the next question. 

[00:55:04] You, have to work with me, this exercise. Okay. So we, because we have to get to the next question. Is this really true? You still might say, yeah, you know what? I just really look at everything I've been through, look at who am I. 

[00:55:17] And the final question, do I have proof? 

[00:55:23] Do I have proof? And it's really hard to come up with proof.

[00:55:32] Logical proof. And if you start saying, yeah, I have proof. Look what happened to me 20 years ago. Look what happened to me. That's not proof we're talking about now today. This client staying across from me, they're not going to be able to afford my services. How do you know that?

[00:55:50] Do you have proof? 

[00:55:53] Now some of them might not be able to, that's the truth. And they might not be your ideal client. So it's a matter of finding the sweet spot of who is your ideal client. 

[00:56:09] Because that's how you're going to build. If you really truly want this, really six figure, multiple, six figure business and help support your family retirement and all that kind of stuff, a team, you are the leader.

[00:56:22] You have to do what it takes to start to step into that. The value charging for your value and feeling that you and your company's worth it. cause it's all about confidence and people will hire you. They will fall in love with you and your agency. All they want to know is you got them. 

[00:56:45] Marshall Stern: Because you're not like all these other markety type of people. You're a very warm, that was another word I should add for add to your list. I've got lots of words for you. 

[00:56:55] Almas Shareef: Thanks, don't, make me cry again. 

[00:56:59] Marshall Stern: That's a good way to end it though. No, but, you, but, seriously. you're very warm, caring, giving, and that people will pay for.

[00:57:09] I'm telling you, I've been in business for over 35 years. 

[00:57:15] You'll, your people will find you. they will be all over you. People will be wanting to work with you. 

[00:57:24] Almas Shareef: Thanks for saying that. I think I needed to hear that. It's really hard to look at yourself from another person's perspective, and how they might see you.

[00:57:35] So that was a very enlightening ex exercise to do with you, because I think I'll have that in mind now when I'm showing up for a client that like, if I just am who I am, hopefully I'll just attract the right person to work with me. 

[00:57:55] Marshall Stern: Hopefully you will. 

[00:57:57] You will. there's no hope. It's, you will, 

[00:58:00] Almas Shareef: I did it again. You said hopefully, 

[00:58:03] Marshall Stern: so I want you to, I want, I'm not letting go on this, so we're going to work on this, right? We're going to work on this. Okay. So we're going to wrap this up, 

[00:58:11] Almas Shareef: okay. 

[00:58:13] Marshall Stern: For now. But I want you to, this is how I, in my therapy and coaching sessions with all my clients, I want you to commit to something, okay.

[00:58:23] Accountability. 

[00:58:24] So what are you committed to doing moving forward in the next week? The next two weeks, you're going to work on, what you’re going to commit to doing,

[00:58:36] Almas Shareef: Pitching a little bit higher than I would've normally pitched to any prospects that come my way the next week or so, or next two weeks. 

[00:58:45] Marshall Stern: I'm going to, I'm going to direct you a little bit more on this, okay. You, have to, you have agreed to it though. No, you don't have to, but in order for it, okay. If you don't agree to it, you don't agree, I'm open.

[00:58:58] I want you to look at your pricing, and I want you to think about the why not me. 

[00:59:06] Okay? Do your happy dance first. 

[00:59:09] Get into the state, like whatever it is for you, like you're unbeatable, unstoppable. then I want you on one column, and I want you to send this to me.

[00:59:20] Package pricing. Now what it's going to be. 

[00:59:23] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:59:25] Marshall Stern: Can you do that? 

[00:59:27] Almas Shareef: Yeah, I think I can. Yeah. 

[00:59:30] Marshall Stern: When can you do that? 

[00:59:34] Almas Shareef: By, like by Monday, Tuesday, maybe. 

[00:59:37] Marshall Stern: Okay. Perfect. 

[00:59:40] Excellent. I think we're good. 

[00:59:42] Almas Shareef: Okay. 

[00:59:43] Marshall Stern: Was this helpful? 

[00:59:44] Almas Shareef: It was very helpful. I think I needed to get, dig a little deeper on the, blocks around, knowing my value when I have a package.

[00:59:55] I really appreciate that. It was really helpful. 

[00:59:58] Marshall Stern: Perfect. there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. You're absolutely amazing. And it's, we, sometimes let our past dictate who we are in our future. Yeah. And we need to let our past fuel us. 

[01:00:12] Because I see you a totally different way than you see yourself.

[01:00:16] Almas Shareef: Yeah. 

[01:00:17] Marshall Stern: And there's absolutely nothing wrong with you except for the fact that you're probably charging too, a little. 

[01:00:25] Okay. Which we're going to work on. Okay. hope if you guys are still with us, hope you've enjoyed this, another Business Therapy session, and we will see you next time.

[01:00:36] We'd love to hear your thoughts and comments, so please, the whole thing, subscribe, share, but comments, want to hear what your takeaways in insights and takeaways from our session with Almas was today. And we'll see you all next time on The Stern Truth. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Stern Truth.

[01:00:55] If you found today's episode helpful, we would love to hear from you. Please like, share, and leave us a review. Also, if you'd like to be a guest on the upcoming episode or join us in one of our Momentum Accountability Group sessions, simply email Marshall@marshallstern.net. That's Marshall@marshallstern.net.

[01:01:13] And don't forget to hit the subscribe button, so never miss an episode. Until next time, keep pushing forward and leading with confidence.