Ep. 15 The Stern Truth: Getting Through the Hard Sh*t with Chanel Rodrigues

In this raw episode, I sit down with Chanel from Success Story Marketing to pull back the curtain on what it's like being a small business owner in the marketing world. As a solopreneur who transitioned from partnership to running her business solo, Chanel shares the brutal honesty that most entrepreneurs are afraid to discuss.

She and I go over the all too familiar imposter syndrome that plagues even the most successful business owners. We also explore how the polished marketing facades we see online often hide the real struggles happening behind the scenes. Chanel opens up about her experience at a high-level entrepreneur retreat in Victoria, where she tearfully found herself in the bathroom, feeling completely out of her depth among multi-million dollar founders.

As a marketing professional whose job is to make other small business owners look perfect online, Chanel reveals the irony of feeling like a fraud herself. We discuss how authenticity has become her secret weapon. Her authenticity is showing up as her real self, in jeans instead of suits, swearing in her content, and being genuinely vulnerable with clients.

Chanel shares her daily practices that keep her grounded as a solopreneur. From team meditations to gym routines, she takes us through her day, explaining why surrounding yourself with other entrepreneurs who understand the journey is crucial for surviving in business.

Listen to this episode if you want to hear more about the importance of building a supportive community, prioritizing self-care without guilt, and reframing the toxic "grind culture" mentality.

Connect with Chanel here:

https://successstorymarketing.com/
chanel@successstorymarketing.com
Instagram: @successstorymarketing

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

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Email: marshall@marshallstern.net

Transcript

[00:00:00] Marshall Stern: Let's face it. Being a business owner and entrepreneur is not easy, and it's not for everyone. In today's episode, this really is the Stern Truth business and filtered as we sit down with my very special guest, Chanel Rodrigues of Success Story Marketing. And Chanel discusses her journey, her rollercoaster ride, including the emotional rollercoaster ride of being an entrepreneur, and she gives some insights and some strategies.

[00:00:29] That has helped her navigate this world we call entrepreneurship. Enjoy.

[00:00:39] Hi, I'm Marshall Stern and I've spent over 35 years 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.

[00:00:58] 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.

[00:01:21] This is the Stern Truth. Welcome back everyone. To another episode of The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered. Now, today I have a very special guest, and this really will be Business Unfiltered. I want to introduce you to Chanel from Success Story Marketing. How are you Chanel? 

[00:01:41] Chanel Rodrigues: Hi guys. I am doing well. Thanks, Marshall.

[00:01:44] How are you? 

[00:01:45] Marshall Stern: I'm doing really well. I've been really looking forward to this session because you know this whole, as this whole podcast is business and filtered. We're talking about the Stern Truths of what it's like. Running and growing a small business. And today I think we're going to be touching a little bit on your journey and the ups and downs and how it can take an effect on us emotionally.

[00:02:05] And a lot more. So why don't you just tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do. 

[00:02:11] Chanel Rodrigues: Okay. So my name is Chanel. I own Success Story Marketing. I started the business about five years ago with my business partner, Gwen. And now I am a solopreneur, so I have been, I'm in transition to running the whole thing by myself and making lots of mistakes along the way and learning.

[00:02:29] So yeah, we do we do everything marketing, honestly. Email marketing, ads management, SEO, my favorite right now. But yeah, we do it all. So that's me. 

[00:02:40] Marshall Stern: So you're in the marketing space, so your job, correct me if I'm wrong, is to make everyone, business owners make them look good.

[00:02:50] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. 

[00:02:51] Marshall Stern: In the public eye it's like the smoke and mirrors. because we have no idea what really is going on. But your job is in the marketing job it's to create the story, correct? 

[00:02:59] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. It is, yeah, to position everybody as the expert and make them look like they have no bad days and that every day is a million dollar day and everything is always fantastic.

[00:03:14] Marshall Stern: Rosy, isn't it? 

[00:03:17] Chanel Rodrigues: No, I think, I think it's really hard for new business owners because. You look around and you think, oh, everyone's so much farther ahead than me, and you think maybe there's some secret sauce that you're missing or like people know something that you don't. But the truth is that like everybody is faking it a little bit.

[00:03:35] And I think, I actually just read a story about Justin Bieber and he was saying how. He doesn't think he deserves all this fame and he doesn't know why he's gotten it. And he was essentially describing imposter syndrome. But even at that level, and he's been famous since he was like 16, even at that level, even though he is, had everyone telling him how great he is his whole life, he's still I'm just fooling all these people.

[00:03:57] Nobody actually knows I'm not that great. And so I think it really does happen at every level, but it is. A really nice reminder that everyone is just a human. I feel like when I figured out that everybody feels a sense of that, that I to some degree stop being so hard on myself, but, I still feel it too.

[00:04:19] Marshall Stern: So tell me a little bit more about that of as to how it shows up in your life and your business. 

[00:04:24] Chanel Rodrigues: Oh my gosh. Okay, so. 

[00:04:25] Marshall Stern: Before you go into that, because I just want to say, just want to, I don’t know if this is ca a caveat, but it doesn't, here's the thing. People watching or listening to this, right? You are awesome what you do, and this is where people get it wrong so you are really good success story Marketing is amazing what they do for their clients.

[00:04:43] However, what you go through behind, and this is for every, everyone what you go through behind the scenes doesn't affect how you show for your clients. No, a lot of people hide that because they don't want to seem or be seen as weak. For the fear of all the stereotypes and whatever. Labeling bottom line is clients really don't care.

[00:05:06] In fact, they're more attracted to people who are real with them. Yeah. And you are really good at what you do, the results you get for your clients. It's not always easy, is it for yourself behind the scenes? 

[00:05:16] Chanel Rodrigues: No. And I would say I’m almost authentic to a fault. And so there's like a level of, I wish I could be a little bit more, I wish I could hold everything in a little bit more and hide it, but that genuinely to my core is just not who I am.

[00:05:29] So all of my clients get all of me. They see if they're like, hey, how are you today? And I'm having a rough day. I am like, oh, this thing happened and I'm frustrated, or whatever. So for me, like I kind of show all of that no matter what. And so I have to not deal with the consequences, but I can see firsthand that like it actually does create more of a bond.

[00:05:52] And I would say that my clients actually trust me more because I'm real with . And I'm also real if things are going wrong or things are going right and saying, hey, we went down this path and it was the wrong path. I think we should do this. Or I know you want strategy A, but I, even though it's more expensive and I could make more money, strategy B is I think what you really need first.

[00:06:12] So yeah, I think it's, I wish I could hide it more. I just can't. Yeah, it's definitely a struggle. And I think also because I'm, my personality is like very happy and bubbly, and so people see that I walk into a room and I'm very bright in that room and people are like, whoa, she has so much confidence.

[00:06:35] Oh my gosh, like I wish I could be confident like her. And it's not really that I'm super confident, it's just like that is just who I am. It's not necessarily that I'm feeling confident in that moment. It's more that I love people and I want to talk to everyone. I want to be there and I'm excited. But I definitely have my days where I struggle.

[00:06:53] In fact, I have them all the time it feels like every other day. And yeah, there's always new challenges that I go through that are definitely testing me and I try to see it as growth. And I know that I can't grow unless I feel these, like tough parts, but I definitely feel them. I've been feeling them a lot this last month.

[00:07:11] So yeah it's not always as great as it looks. I will say. 

[00:07:17] Marshall Stern: Why don't we go back a little bit? because we've been working together for a while. And actually I should say to our listeners, one of the things that attracted me to working with you and your company is everything you just talked about.

[00:07:30] Just you're so real. And we had chatted a few times and I had met Gwen and all that kind of stuff, but I feel comfortable with you. I told you from the start, it's been a year now. I told you from the start that I totally loved what you and Success Story Marketing was doing and how you showed up.

[00:07:49] And I've gotten to know you over the past year and my trust with you is more, is stronger now than it is has ever been. because you are real. Yeah. And there's so much fake crap or bullshit, if I may, I can say it because it's my podcast. 

[00:08:06] Chanel Rodrigues: It's your podcast. Just swear if you want to. 

[00:08:08] Marshall Stern: There's so much bullshit out there and everyone wants to have it look perfect, right? Like. The fancy mics we have right now, 

[00:08:19] Chanel Rodrigues: Mine's not plugged in 

[00:08:20] Marshall Stern: There you go. There you go. Just for the show. 

[00:08:24] Chanel Rodrigues: I want to look professional. 

[00:08:26] Marshall Stern: But here's the thing. It's us. It's you. It's what you can do for your clients and that you, and people connect with you. But I want to go back to if you want to share, Victoria.

[00:08:38] Chanel Rodrigues: I was just going to bring that up.

[00:08:40] Yeah, I think that's, that whole story is really interesting. So I was invited to speak at a retreat. I went and my first day there, my first day there, I was like so authentically myself, very outgoing, super bubbly, made a great impression. And then the second day people started presenting and these entrepreneurs that were presenting were wildly successful.

[00:09:03] Like they're talking 30 K month retainers. Two of them were like $20 million entrepreneurs. And I went to the bathroom and called Marshall and I was crying and I was like, I can't do this. I don't belong here. I'm going to cry. And it was, yeah I really just felt like I was completely out of my depth. But like throughout the weekend, I also realized that some of the presenters were also faking it until they made it.

[00:09:28] Like I talked to one presenter who was absolutely terrified to speak in public and she was just shaking and she was like, oh my gosh, I don't know how I'm going to do this. And it was this very human moment. And I also got to know some of the other presenters and. Over time, got to peek behind the curtain and I realized it wasn't actually what it looked like.

[00:09:47] So I was here making up these stories in my head that they were so much better than me and they weren't. They're just human beings and they're showing up every day and figuring it out. But I was telling myself I wasn't good enough to be there. No one else told me that. And on the last day, I presented a, I'll say this now.

[00:10:06] My presentation was better than everyone else's. I was the only one who came prepared with slides. Everyone else just sat on a stool. And I remember thinking, if I paid all this money to come to a retreat and I'm speaking to a $20 million entrepreneur, and they're just winging it, showing up, doing, being like, whatever, and not caring like it felt so ugh.

[00:10:24] And so I came prepared. I had slides. Everything was color coded. I made sure I dressed nicely. I had a speech that I had prepared, and it went over super well. And actually the, not the owner, but the person who put on the retreat said that I blew her out of the water and she couldn't believe how well I did.

[00:10:41] And I ended up getting clients from that. But more importantly, I built like a really amazing network of these like wonderful people that I surround myself with now. And there was a day, like on, on the Saturday when I called you I didn't want to do the presentation at all. I wanted to quit. And it was so bad because as these other entrepreneurs were presenting.

[00:11:01] I was sitting at a table in the crowd and I was just crying and I was trying really hard to hold it in, so it was just tears coming down my face. But people beside me noticed, obviously, and they're like, are you okay? What's wrong? I'm like, how am I even supposed to explain this? I'm supposed to be presenting and be this like, figure that these people look up to, and I'm sitting in the crowd crying.

[00:11:22] So I will say that mental health is really important. It's something that just like you always have to work on. And so these people, I have lots of people that look up to me and think I'm so great and I go home and think, God, I don't know why they look up to me. This is crazy. But I think we're all in a stage of growth all the time.

[00:11:40] Hopefully. If you're moving through life, hopefully you're always in a stage of growth. But yeah, there's, it's, a lot of it is smoke and mirrors. A lot of it's smoke and mirrors. 

[00:11:52] Marshall Stern: So how do you get through these moments, these days, these weeks? Because you have to show, I call you. You call me.

[00:12:01] So let's talk about that for a second. So what is that? What is the secret for or not the secret? I'm all about surrounding yourself with a strong inner circle. 

[00:12:13] Chanel Rodrigues: Okay, great. I have some secrets. So strong inner circle. I did put so at all times I have some kind of coach or mentor and a lot of people think oh, I can't afford that right now, or I'm going to wait until whatever time to do it.

[00:12:28] But I've always had one and that's really helped pushed me forward. A, because I can see usually in the programs, people around me that are doing well, and so I know what's possible. Because a lot of times when people aren't successful, they start to think. I don't even know if I'm cut out for this. I don't know if I can do this.

[00:12:45] Is it even possible? I actually said, had someone say that to me the other day is the market too saturated? I don't really know. I don't think this is going to work. And it's like a belief in yourself. So you want to surround yourself with people who believe in you, who get it. For me, a big part is as an entrepreneur, like it's fucking lonely dude.

[00:13:04] Like it is lonely. And I do, the fable of the frog in the hot water? 

[00:13:08] Okay just in case people listening don't know. I'll just quickly say it. If you were to drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it would hop out right away. because it's like, ah, that's hot. But if you put a frog in, hop in, in regular water, and you slowly turn the heat up, it'll stay in the water and just boil to death.

[00:13:24] And so me working from home, working from my computer, I am like a 10 out of 10 extrovert. Me being at home and not having a sense of community and not having people to rally around me who understood me or got me, I was like a frog in the hot water. I was like slowly boiling to death and I didn't even realize it.

[00:13:41] And so when I went to Victoria and I got to meet this community of marketers and women that were all in the trenches, that were all, they're all at different stages, but they're doing it, they're determined they're honest, they're caring, they're just like everything that I want to surround myself with.

[00:13:58] And it gave me this like really newfound sense of like joy that okay, this is actually the piece that I've been missing is building a community around me because like my husband doesn't – he works a normal job, so he doesn't understand why I'm still working on the computer at 10:30 at night or why I'm like fielding phone calls sometimes at 11:30, which is insane.

[00:14:20] That's a boundary issue. I'll love to get back to that later, but. It's really hard when you have a win or when you have a loss and you don't have anyone to talk to about it. That really gets it. So I think community is like maybe the number one thing, at least for me, because there are days when you want to quit and you want to have someone that you can reach out to.

[00:14:41] Marshall Stern: Yeah. And someone who gets it. 

[00:14:42] And I say all the time, most of us don't have, or a significant other or family. If they're not entrepreneurial, they don't get it. No, I love that. Surround yourself with a community. What are the other ups and downs that you have to we, as entrepreneurs have to navigate when it comes to the emotional side of it?

[00:15:04] Because it is emotional, the ups and downs. It's a rollercoaster. 

[00:15:09] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. I actually saw this quote earlier today that was like. That girl that you see online that has the perfect brand. She cried in her car last week. And I think as entrepreneurs, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. And honestly, if you spend too much time on social media, it's how they say, don't read beauty me magazines.

[00:15:27] They'll only make you feel ugly if you spend all this time on social media. And it looks like everyone is having, oh, everyone's having $20,000 days. Like it can really make you feel like you're behind. The truth is like half of those people are lying. But it, the other truth is like you'll get there, my Gwen used to say, don't compare your stage one to someone else's stage 27.

[00:15:49] So we're all in process and we're not ahead or behind. We're all on our own path. I think for me, like I really have to focus on mental health because I am, I, I feel all my emotions out of ten. So the reason I'm so confident and happy and bubbly is like that is truly who I am. And I love people. I love being around them, but when I have hard days, I'm at like a negative ten and it's like I cry all day.

[00:16:15] I have a really hard time getting through it, and so it's something that I have to constantly work on. So there's a couple things that I say or don't say. So I never say I can't do something, I can't do something, or I'm bad at this. First of all, that's a fixed mindset, so it's not even accurate. But I always say, sometimes I'll say, oh gosh, I suck at this and then I'll stop.

[00:16:38] I'll go, Nope, I don't suck at it. It's something I'm working on. So someone said. Instead of saying, oh, I should have done this. I used to do this all the time. Oh, I should have gotten this done today. And I didn't, and he's don't say you should have. because should is just wood with shame attached to it.

[00:16:56] So instead say, I didn't get to this thing, so tomorrow I'm going to do this differently. I'm going to do it like this. I like the. The guilt, honestly, like just doesn't serve us. I don't, I feel if anything guilt like freezes me in place because I'm feeling so guilty. Oh my God, why am I not doing this? I just don't get any work done.

[00:17:14] So I have to reframe it and look at everything as a learning lesson. And so anytime I do something or I make a mistake or I do something I'm not happy with, I think, okay, how am I going to do things differently? And then the other thing that I do is. Honestly, like just health and wellness is really important.

[00:17:31] I go to the gym every day and I find that I went through a long period where I stopped going to the gym and holy my mental health suffered. It's just a place where it's separate from everything else and you're prioritizing your health. And then the other thing that we've started doing is I do team meditations with my team every morning now at 8:00 AM It's the first thing that we do and it that paired with a gym.

[00:17:54] Like I used to be, like, I want, I need to be on my computer and start working at 6:00 AM or I'm not working hard as other successful entrepreneurs and I don't deserve the wins because I'm not working 14 hours a day. And like you see those people online that grind and they're like. They have optimized everything.

[00:18:10] They wear the exact same outfit every day because they don't want decision fatigue and they drive Ferrari and the I get up at 3:00 AM and workout and do all this ridiculous stuff. So I had that standard in my head and it was honestly just making me feel like a loser. because I was having such a hard time.

[00:18:25] So I've changed it. Now I prioritize myself over everything else. So if I start work at 10:00 AM I start work at 10:00 AM because I meditate in the morning and I go to the gym. Then when I start work, I'm starting with such a clear head. I'm invigorated. And the first day I did that, I got so much more done in the timeframe than I regularly would trying to start at 6:00 AM and feeling guilty.

[00:18:49] So I think it's like really important to prioritize yourself also and always work on your mental health because it's such a real thing. And if you don't work on it. Like my mom used to say, if you don't take a break, your body will take it for you. And it's never at a convenient time. And it's the same with your mental health.

[00:19:08] Like you don't want to leave work till the last second because then that day is the day you're going to have a fucking breakdown. So it's something that, like the reason I meditate every day is because I want to work on that every day, and I want to prioritize my own wellbeing so that I can go out and give the best of me to everybody else.

[00:19:25] So I hope that answered your question. By the time I'm finished answering your question, I forget what the question. 

[00:19:31] Marshall Stern: This is just a Business Unfiltered conversation, right? No, I love all of that. And it's important because a lot of us start the day, most people start the day in, in reaction mode.

[00:19:41] They just have to get things done. They get up and they got, whether they have kids or they have this, they have emails, they respond, they do that. They're not taking care of themselves. They're not focusing on the day ahead. They're just doing without thinking. And they're always like or sleepy into the last possible minute.

[00:19:56] And so everything's in like rush mode. And that's the worst way to it's a horrible feeling when we're just getting up and rushing to get things done and to get going. So I love that. I love that. Start the day up and everyone's different, so I should say that as well, right? Some people are morning people, some people are not morning people.

[00:20:15] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. 

[00:20:16] Marshall Stern: So you have to do what works for you. Wanna share something?

[00:20:20] Chanel Rodrigues:. I feel like I used to be a morning person, so I used to bartend. So I'd work really late at night and I hated it. And all I wanted was to be a morning person. So when I quit that job, I was at 6:00 AM 5:30 AM starter. And my best friend actually is an early riser too.

[00:20:36] So if we'd be texting each other at 5:30 AM it was so great. And now I feel like my circadian rhythm has evened out a little bit and now I'm like a. My body wakes me up at 7:30am and I, but I'm definitely the most productive in the morning, but also now I'll say. Marshall, I got this from you and you're so smart, and I just love you so much.

[00:20:56] So you told me, I think it was you that told me like, okay, we got into this job for freedom. So why are you being so rigid and hard on yourself to work these like nine to five kind of hours? So now I do take breaks in the middle of the day to go for a walk on the waterfront, go for coffee with a friend, and then I come back and I'll work in the evening.

[00:21:14] So I often work till eight 30 or nine at night. But I've also taken these big chunks in the middle to go do a workout class, to go have coffee, to do whatever. And so I feel like I'm, it's like instead of running out of gas at the end of the day, I have nothing left. I'm running on fumes, I'm filling up throughout the day.

[00:21:31] And not only am I more productive, but I'm like happier and whatever the question is, I feel like the answer is always mindset. And so really working on just being gentle with myself and being okay with taking those breaks. Like I used to really not allow myself breaks. And for me, like I, I was a huge gym rat for years.

[00:21:50] Like I used to spend $500 a month on fitness. I had a personal trainer and three different gym memberships, and it was just like wild. And to go from that to, I don't even have time to spend 45 minutes at the gym and working through all of my breaks. I should have seen the writing on the wall that was not going to be good for me.

[00:22:06] And so it's getting over the guilt of it's okay to take a break and you don't have to be like, let's be real, like the Elon Musk that sleep at the studio. That is the top 1% of the top 1%. And you can still be successful without being that level of extreme. Yeah. Like I don't need to work 14 hours with no break.

[00:22:26] I can just work regularly and be focused. And still be successful. I know it might not be a billionaire, but I don't need to be, yeah.

[00:22:34] Marshall Stern: No, I do. I do. And there's a lot of pressure out there and a lot of the, a lot of it is, it comes from your industry, the marketing industry and my industry, the coaching industry, it's a lot of crap out there.

[00:22:46] A lot of 10 x 20 x build, a seven figure, an eight figure business, and then you start to feel guilty when you're not there. 

[00:22:54] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. 

[00:22:55] Marshall Stern: However, it's not nice. It's not nice marketing. 

[00:22:59] Chanel Rodrigues: It's really not nice marketing. 

[00:23:01] Marshall Stern: But here's the other thing, and I know this from experience. A lot of it is smoke and mirrors.

[00:23:05] I've had many clients come to me and they're having imposter syndrome because someone in their industry is doing this, they're at this level and they start feeling bad about themselves. Why am I not there? 

[00:23:15] Chanel Rodrigues: Yep. But we, I've done that with you. 

[00:23:17] Marshall Stern: But we don't see what's on. Like you even talked about, like at the Victoria Conference, we don't know what's happening on the other side.

[00:23:23] We don't know the reality of that. I'm doing my sort of like air quotes for the people listening. Those $20 million or whatever, even $10 million entrepreneurs who aren't prepared or might have been debt, like we have no idea. Goes back to my example, with one of my first companies when I had my sign shop, we went, I think I might have told you a story. We went down to Portland. There was, it was part of a franchise and we went down and there was this one woman who had, I think 12 locations throughout Washington and Oregon State. And the entire franchise bowed to her heels or nine inch pumps, like she was the queen of the franchise and she had 70 employees.

[00:24:03] An HR department, a marketing department, whereas everyone else had one or two locations, but she had 12 and she was doing ridiculous numbers and the franchise thought she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. We all thought she was. So me and my then business partner went down and spent a few days with her and her team and got a lot of tips from her and she showed us.

[00:24:25] The good side of everything, and then six months later, eight months later, we find out that she's shut down five locations and she totally screwed her landlord all this month. She didn't pay, she was in so much debt. 

[00:24:38] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. 

[00:24:39] Marshall Stern: She had the silent partner who was the money bags of it all, and she was in so much debt.

[00:24:44] She just walked away from five locations. So you just don't know. Now there are people who are uber successful financially, but are miserable personally. So you want to have that balance and for everyone it's different. You said that you don't need to be this multi-millionaire, multi or billionaire person.

[00:25:07] Chanel Rodrigues: I also feel like, yeah, is, obviously everyone wants financial stability, but is that the ultimate goal? As humans what are we really doing? Our goal really is to maximize joy. We want the most amount of joy. The most amount of the time. That's why we work hard. because we think if we get money that's going to bring us joy.

[00:25:25] It's like how do we get our brains to give us more of that dopamine? And like surrounding myself with all of those women and those marketers, like that has bring, brought me a lot more joy than like finances does. And it's not to say that like everybody wants to make a living and whatever, but there's more to life than just being.

[00:25:42] Rich, like those $20 million entrepreneurs, are they happy? Are they in happy, healthy relationships or do they get along with their family? Do they have lots of friends? Do they have, are their lives enriched? I think for me, that is the most important, is, I want to help people and I want to do good in the world.

[00:26:00] I want to feel like what I'm doing matters, but I want, I guess that is honestly what it is. I want to help people, and I want to make people happy because. That brings me joy, which is why I picked this, is I want to help people achieve their dreams, but the end goal is joy. So are you happy with what you're doing?

[00:26:18] Are you doing your job and working really hard and you hate every second of it, but you're just thinking if I can just do this at the end of the year, I'm going to make $200,000. You get one life and there's only so many hours in a day. Like, how do you want to spend that? My brother. Who I love, he is he's got like a very decorated education, so he has four degrees and he is an experimental neurological psychologist.

[00:26:44] He went to school thinking, I'm going to do all the science. It's going to be so cool. And then it's super hard to get a job as PhD. There's not a lot of jobs. Competition is fierce, whatever. So he ended up doing, he does he runs a department at the university that has nothing to do with what he went to school for.

[00:26:59] And he was like, ugh, God, I hate my job, but whatever. It's just eight hours a day. And he is lots of people hate their job. It's fine. I'm like, you went to school for 14 years so that you could hate. Eight hours of your day every single day, and then you get home and then what's left. Oh. But make the kids dinner, put them to bed.

[00:27:18] For me that's just not what I want. And no, no shade to him. If some people can compartmentalize. But for me, like it's important to me that I like my job because that's where you spend the most amount of your time. Like you spend more time with your coworkers than you do with your husband or wife.

[00:27:35] Marshall Stern: So as we wrap this up, I'm curious as to what your we like golden nuggets here at the Stern Truth. So what would be a golden nugget that you could give our listeners on how to I I'll put it this way, two things. Number one, you're a marketer. So on the marketing side, maybe, so a tip.

[00:27:54] Because people are saying, come on, Chanel, give me some marketing advice. So maybe some tip for them. And then we're going to put your links below so people can reach out to you should they want to and see how you can help them. But also maybe a marketing tip and just an entrepreneurial tip.

[00:28:11] Chanel Rodrigues: Okay. So these might actually be the same tip, but. Be authentic, I think is my marketing tip. So I used to go to, I would go to networking events or I would go and see clients and I would wear like a suit basically. And I would just dress super professional, my hair pinned back. And if you know me and I know that you do, that's not who I am.

[00:28:35] I am like a fly by the seat of my pants. Silly, a little offside, like I swear. And what happened was I didn't resonate with people when I was like that because I wasn't being authentic. And people can sniff that out. They can't quite put their finger on it, but something is off. And so now when I go see clients, I show up in jeans.

[00:28:54] This is who I am, and I connect with people and they see that raw authenticness. And so the number one way that or reason I get clients is because they say they trust me. They trust me because I show up as who I am and I'm like, this is me. This is what I'm going to do for you. I'm confident in what I can do, and honestly, like for a long time I didn't swear in my content and I do now just because that's who I am and I don't want to, it felt so fake to me.

[00:29:22] And I'm not saying go swear like a trucker, but. The authenticity makes such a difference and people will really feel that on you. And you're going to attract clients that are attracted to that, to who you are. You don't have to be someone else. And it's so funny because people always go be yourself, and it's like, what does that even mean?

[00:29:37] I'm always myself, but you're not if you're worried about what other people think or how you're going to show up, especially when you're new in the corporate world or in a new room it, the inauthenticity, people can feel it. 

[00:29:51] So that's my marketing advice and entrepreneurial advice is honestly celebrate the wins and look backwards.

[00:29:58] So anytime I have a win, I remember when I was like, all I want is one client. If I got one client, oh my gosh, if I got two clients, I would just die. I'd be so happy. And a couple years later, there was one month I had 16 in clients and I was like, this is not enough. I need more. And so I think it's really important to look back and look at like where you came from, would younger you look at you and be like, wow, I can't believe we made it this far. I think from where I started, when I started my school and marketing, like I didn't know what any of the jargon meant. I didn't even know how to type on my computer. So to go from that to where I am now, where I'm doing presentations as speeches and I'm being invited to retreats to as a speaker.

[00:30:41] And I'm doing these podcasts with you, like that is huge. But every time we get to our goal, we've moved the goalposts already, and so it always feels like we're not good enough. So I urge everyone to take a step back and look back at where you've come from. You all have some wins, and sometimes it's just like the strength to show up in class every day.

[00:31:00] When you feel like you don't know what you're doing and you don't know what you're talking about, and learn, even if you feel like you're overwhelmed and out of your depth, like that is a win. So I encourage everyone to celebrate their win. 

[00:31:11] Marshall Stern: I love that. And also enjoy the, we talked about this before, enjoy the journey.

[00:31:17] Enjoy the process. Not the, not just the destination. Enjoy the journey. What about the mental health side of it? What's a tip for you? You can give that. 

[00:31:27] Chanel Rodrigues: Oh my goodness. It's so funny because I actually do like mental health training with other people and sometimes, and that's an area where I feel like such an imposter because I have such hard days as well.

[00:31:40] Mental health, I would say I don't know, sometimes I think it's okay to not be okay and to give yourself that minute. To just regroup and just take that guilt away. As long as you're committed to the end goal tomorrow I'm going to get up and try again. You're not always going to love every day and you're not always going to love your business, and sometimes you're going to fucking hate it, and sometimes you're going to want to quit or get a job or burn the whole thing down, and that's okay because literally we all feel like that.

[00:32:11] So as long as you're committed to just getting up and trying again tomorrow, just let yourself feel the feelings. Go cry in the shower and then, tomorrow's a new day and start fresh. Also, honestly, if you can meditate even five minutes, I promise it will help. 

[00:32:29] Marshall Stern: I think we have to clip that because that last section is such a huge golden nugget.

[00:32:35] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah, you think so? It's funny because it's, that's the area where I feel like I am the least strong. I can talk about business, I can talk about SEO and marketing and all of that. No, my mental health is something I'm actively working on every day and I feel like I have to actively work on it. because I'll lose it, I'll lose my mind.

[00:32:53] So it's really important to me. But it's also the place where I feel the biggest imposter syndrome and I feel like the biggest struggle. So I'm glad that was a golden nugget because. 

[00:33:04] Marshall Stern: Yeah, it's a golden nugget. Just go in the shower and cry. It's okay not to be. Okay. 

[00:33:07] Chanel Rodrigues: It's okay. Yeah. 

[00:33:08] Marshall Stern: Look. I'm a huge golf fan.

[00:33:10] Okay. And these golfers, like the greatest golfers in the world, have a round of golf, one of the tournaments. What do they do right after the round? They go back to the driving range and they're working on their shot.

[00:33:22] Marshall Stern: They go back to the putting range. They're working on their shot. They have coaches, they have people around them.

[00:33:26] They're constantly working on their shots. They'll have one round, they'll do really well. Another round. They'll miss the cut or in a term. They'll miss the cut and there'll be like six over, seven over. They're constantly working. It's not like I've arrived and everything is great. And the same thing with entrepreneurship.

[00:33:46] Chanel Rodrigues: You never arrive, 

[00:33:47] Marshall Stern: You never arrive. 

[00:33:49] Chanel Rodrigues: You never arrive. That's a big myth is that oh, this person's made it, that person's made it. But no one feels like they're made. They've made it. Do we have time for a really quick story on that? 

[00:34:00] Marshall Stern: Yeah, go for it. Okay. 

[00:34:01] Chanel Rodrigues: So I, maybe I've told you this before, but they did a study, so they, this is like on people arriving.

[00:34:08] So they did a study, they went to a family that made a hundred thousand dollars and they said, are you rich, are you wealthy? And they said, us, no. Okay. How much would it take for you to consider yourself wealthy? Wealthy? Okay. We'd have to make $200,000 a year to a family who made $200,000 a year.

[00:34:23] Are you rich? Are you wealthy? Us? No. Okay. How much would it take? $400,000. Then they did this all the way up to 4 million. Are you rich? Are you wealthy? Us? No, we would be wealthy at 8 million. And so it doesn't actually matter the level of success. And that's why you see these really rich people that are starting these new entrepreneurial journeys and you're like, God, don't you have enough money?

[00:34:46] Like why? Why don't you just quit? Why are you even doing this? Or a good example is Connor McGregor has made so much money, he's also hurt himself in the ring a bunch. He's already been the champion. He does not need to go back and keep fighting. But he wants to because he still is trying to always be the best.

[00:35:01] So you never arrive and even the top players still don't arrive, and that's why they're still trying hard to get to that next level. So don't be too hard on yourself. 

[00:35:12] Marshall Stern: I love that. We'll end with that. I one more thing, once you challenge is once for those who think they've arrived, that's when things go the other way.

[00:35:24] Chanel Rodrigues: What do you mean? 

[00:35:26] Marshall Stern: Once there are people, and I've seen it, companies, big companies think they've arrived and they've got the market. 

[00:35:34] Chanel Rodrigues: Oh yeah. 

[00:35:34] Marshall Stern: Look at Blockbuster. 

[00:35:36] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. 

[00:35:37] Marshall Stern: Blockbuster was the number one. Okay. Company. They arrived. 

[00:35:43] Marshall Stern: You wanted a video, you go to Blockbuster, all of a sudden Netflix comes out, starts to change things.

[00:35:49] Originally net Netflix was, I didn't even know this originally. Netflix was a mail. They used to send the movies by mail. I didn't even know that. 

[00:35:55] Chanel Rodrigues: Old school. 

[00:35:57] Marshall Stern: And I love going to Blockbuster, right? 

[00:35:59] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. 

[00:36:00] Marshall Stern: They actually approached Blockbuster to take them over and Blockbuster said, no.

[00:36:06] Like we are, we're Blockbuster. And they didn't pivot. They didn't change, they didn't do anything. They didn't innovate. They just stayed the way they were. because they had arrived. 

[00:36:16] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. That's so true. 

[00:36:18] Marshall Stern: Blackberry is another one. 

[00:36:20] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah.

[00:36:20] Marshall Stern: Blackberry was the phone. They were the biggest platform.

[00:36:25] Everyone had it. Then iPhone came on the market. Everything changed. And Blackberry again continued to be Blackberry the way they were. And there's like thousands of stories like that. 

[00:36:38] Chanel Rodrigues: It's happening now with like cable tv. 

[00:36:42] Marshall Stern: Yeah. 

[00:36:43] Chanel Rodrigues: Who has cable anymore? 

[00:36:44] Marshall Stern: We, I do, but we all have to, we, we all have to in business, we all need to continually work.

[00:36:53] And you said at the beginning grow. 

[00:36:56] Chanel Rodrigues: And growth is uncomfortable. 

[00:36:58] Marshall Stern: Growth is uncomfortable. And it can be taught. It can. It's exhausting. Yeah. So it's very important, like you said, to slow down, meditate, exercise, take time for yourself because you can't always be pushing 24 7. 

[00:37:12] Chanel Rodrigues: You know what, actually my therapist once asked me.

[00:37:17] What do you do in your life that brings you joy? And I burst out crying. And it was in that moment that I realized my whole life revolved around work. 

[00:37:26] Chanel Rodrigues: Yeah. 

[00:37:26] Chanel Rodrigues: And that was all I did and was all I thought about. And I just felt like I didn't have time for anything else. And it was like such an eye-opening moment.

[00:37:33] Because I'm like, what is my life? So definitely make sure that you infuse your day with some joy. Also, it's okay to work hard, but it's unsustainable if that's your whole life. 

[00:37:45] Marshall Stern: Nugget right there. Clip that. Okay. Alright. Chanel, thank you so much for being part of our. Journey here on the Stern Truth, business unfiltered.

[00:37:53] You have been part of the journey before and behind the scenes as well. 

[00:37:57] You're part of the encouragement for me to restart this, so I thank you for that. And we'll get your information down below in the show notes so people see I'm sounding so official, the show notes so people can actually reach out to you and just 

[00:38:10] Chanel Rodrigues: You are official and just get Imposter Marshall 

[00:38:13] Marshall Stern: And just get to know you.

[00:38:15] Get to know you because you're an awesome person and I thank you for being part of. The journey with us. 

[00:38:19] Chanel Rodrigues: Thank you. 

[00:38:20] Marshall Stern: Okay, perfect. So we'll see you again everyone next week, and definitely reach out to Chanel because she's one awesome person. Bye for now.

[00:38:32] Thank you so much for tuning in to the Stern Truth. 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 in the upcoming episode or join us in one of our Momentum Accountability Group sessions, simply email me to marshall@marshallstern.net.

[00:38:52] That's marshall@marshallstern.net. And don't forget to hit the subscribe button, so never miss an episode. Until next time, keep pushing forward and leading with confidence.