Fabienne Raphael: Yep.

John Lee Dumas: Yes. Fabienne is an online business strategist, speaker, and podcaster helping women entrepreneurs capitalize on their expertise and get their first 1K and beyond. Fabienne, take a minute, fill in some gaps from that intro, and give us a little glimpse of your personal life.

Fabienne Raphael: Well, I have to say, John, that I was not born as an entrepreneur, as strange that it might sound. My parents were employees, and both of them worked at the same place for over 35 years. And I had – well, my entrepreneurial journey became an idea when I met my business and life partner, Reggie, and he was already into personal development and starting his own business. And he started introducing me to the idea of having my own business.

And of course, I tried a lot of businesses that failed, at least three of them. But then, at a certain point, I had a physiotherapy consulting business and a home-staging business at the same time. And I attended this live marketing event, and I had that aha moment there. I was, like, oh, my God, this marketing thing seems to be what was missing in my businesses. So, at that time, I applied some strategies to my actual businesses and got results out of it. And this was the beginning of me really loving to make businesses grow.

So, along the way, I wanted to stop trading that time for money thing because physical therapy, well, I had to be there, and home staging, I had to do everything. So, I went with the idea of, what about if I do something online instead? And at that time, I wanted to start blogging and knowing more about writing techniques.

So, my blogging coach was on a call with me, and he was, like, “Well, why don’t you start a podcast?” I was, like, “Oh, yeah, what is that about?” I didn’t even know what it was at the time. And this is how I got started with getting the tutorial and some great help for broadcasting, and I made it happen.

And it’s paying off today actually because this is the thing in my online business where I’ve been the most consistent with and got me major publication appearances, business opportunities, speaking gigs, and of course, great relationships and friendships, like yours, John.

John Lee Dumas: Yes, well, I love all of this, and I’ve loved watching just your rocket ship to success here, Fabienne, because you’ve put in the effort, you’ve put in the time, and as you mentioned, you weren’t an entrepreneur by birth. And guess what, Fire Nation? Neither was I.

And I really think this is something that we need to hear as entrepreneurs because you’ll have the Gary Vaynerchuks of the world that they’ll proclaim, if you’re not an entrepreneur from Day 1, the day you’re born, then forget it; just give up before you start. And it’s just not the case. Some of us can grow into entrepreneurship.

I mean, for me, I was trying to avoid entrepreneurship with army, law school, corporate finance, commercial real estate. But, finally, I was 32 years old, and let’s do this. And that was the right time for me, just like for Fabienne. That was the right time for her. And Fire Nation, this is the right time for you. That’s why you’re listening to a show like this, of course, Entrepreneurs on Fire.

So, one thing that I wanna talk to you about, Fabienne, is today, after all of your learnings and where you’ve come and where you’re at now, what’s your area of expertise best defined?

Fabienne Raphael: Teaching people the step-by-step to follow if they wanna make money online. And I made that mistake when I started online. And again, I think it was not my fault, and I think that if other people believe that it’s not their fault because online, there’s so much information, and there’s false information of course, and there’s good one.

And of course, you have all these people claiming that you could have success within a week or something, or you could be a millionaire within a month, or if you invest into that, you will be able to earn that amount of money. And think that, as entrepreneurs, we are so impatient in general that sometimes we forget about taking the baby steps.

And when I started, I did that mistake, and that’s why I really want to take people by the hand and lead them to that first K, first thousand dollars first, and then and beyond because it all starts with your first client and then your first subscriber and then your first social media post, whatever. And then, from there, you could evolve and grow your business.

So, I wanna show people not to skip steps because when you focus on, yeah, just earning a lot of money at the beginning, well, nothing happens for you, and you end up doing mistakes and losing a lot more money than what you thought you would bank.

John Lee Dumas: One step at a time, Fire Nation, because when you make that first dollar, that first hundred, that first thousand, it becomes real. Then you’re like, okay, this isn’t some crazy lottery that I’ve won. This isn’t some windfall of money, but it’s real, and now I can do this, and I can amplify what’s working, and I can make $1.00 into $2.00, into $4.00 and beyond.

Fabienne Raphael: Exactly.

John Lee Dumas: And, Fabienne, let’s get specific for a second. What’s something that we don’t know as entrepreneurs about making that first 1K that we probably should?

Fabienne Raphael: The biggest mistake, and I’ve done that also – well, you can tell me if you’ve done that mistake – is to validate either your area of expertise or your idea because, as entrepreneurs, we’re filled with motivation, and we’re like, “I wanna share my message with the world. I’m good at this, and I wanna help people doing this, and I wanna get paid for it.”

And then you fall in love with your idea, like, deeply, madly, and you become blind about what the market wants, and you just skip that step. You don’t validate anything, and then you jump in and invest into that huge website for your product or your service. And then you invest time because you’re building your stuff, and you really wish that you get a lot of clients out of it. And then, all of a sudden, when you’re ready to launch it or just to share it with the world, nobody cares.

So, people just don’t take enough time to go out there, talk to their dream clients, see what their struggles are, what they want to learn, what they wanna buy, what they’re struggling with, and what their challenges are, what their deepest pains are, and then you’ll be able to identify if this is what you could do for them.

Can you solve a solution to their problem? Can you be the go-to person to that person in your idea, in your area of expertise? And only then, you’ll make sure that you’ll convert better when you present that offer in front of these people.

And I’ve done that mistake, and of course, it cost a lot of money and disappointment. And I think that it’s also one of the reasons why a lot of entrepreneurs just give up before even starting to do it the right way because they invest a lot of time, energy, and money into something that they haven’t validated, and then they’re truly disappointed, and they just let it all go.

John Lee Dumas: Sage advice, Fire Nation. Listen close. Now, Fabienne, take us to your worst entrepreneurial moment. What’s the lowest of the low? Tell us that story?

Fabienne Raphael: It was about two and a half years back, and at that time, I felt like a hamster in its wheel. So, you know, it’s not going anywhere. It stays at the same place. So, I would start a lot of projects, but I would never, never finish them.

And I would be very excited about starting new stuff, but then, well, I mean, never finishing them until I got a serious conversation with Reggie, who is my business and life partner, and I realized that it was definitely my limiting beliefs that were holding me back, very low self-esteem and impostor syndrome.

And I know you talk a lot about that on your show, John, the impostor syndrome. Well, I was affected by it there big time. And I think that just having that conversation and realizing that problem, it allowed me to attract the right person to my life at that time. And I was able to hire a life coach who really helped me to get rid of these limiting beliefs and unlock the true me.

And it was so intense as a transformation that even my posture changed at the time. I had a posture that was mostly inward, round shoulders and not necessarily standing or sitting straight because that was just a whole me being – I don’t know – maybe a bit too shy to express who I was. And then, all of a sudden, I was standing straighter, and I had more pride. And I realized that the reason why I could not finish any project is that, in the back of my mind, I knew that it would fail, so I would not put the whole energy into it.

And so, as soon as I understood that, and she was able to make me get that and trigger that, then it completely shifted what I was able to accomplish and what I was able to do as an entrepreneur and how many people I could help and all of that. So, it shook all aspects of my personal and business life. So, I’m happy that those days are gone today.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, the impostor syndrome, it lives within us all. And when you doubt that you can ever become successful in a venture before you start it, of course you’re not going to. You’re gonna become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And Fabienne did this; I did this when I first launched.

We do this thing where we go one mile wide and one inch deep because we wanna try all these little things because maybe something’s gonna work. But then we’re, like, wow, none of these things are working. Well, it’s because you’re just going one inch deep. You’re not making any impression.

But when we can commit, and we have the confidence to not have those stooped, rounded shoulders that Fabienne was talking about, but to puff our chest out and to plant our flat in the ground and say, “I stand for this, I believe in this, and I’m gonna see this one thing through, this single strategy group and see what happens,” that’s going one inch wide and one mile deep. And that’s where you need to live, Fire Nation, because guess what? You might fail doing that, but at least you’re giving yourself a chance. You’re gonna learn lessons from that.

Now, Fabienne, shifting to one of the greatest ideas you’ve had to date − I mean, obviously, hiring me as a mentor was one of them, but we don’t have to talk about that today − what would you say one of the greatest ideas that you’ve had to date is? Tell us that story.

Fabienne Raphael: One of the greatest ideas that I had lately? That’s what you’re talking about?

John Lee Dumas: To date.

Fabienne Raphael: Oh, to date. Well, I have to say that it had to do with just getting started, I think, because even if I had that impostor −

John Lee Dumas: I want you to take us to a specific story, like that moment, Fabienne, that you had that idea. Take us to the moment that that idea exploded into your brain, and what happened from that moment forward?

Fabienne Raphael: I don’t know if you know this, but I was on the Canadian team. I was a team handball player, and I participated in a lot of international games and the world championship −

John Lee Dumas: Oh, wow.

Fabienne Raphael: − and I’m very competitive.

John Lee Dumas: Does Lewis Howes know this because he’s a handball player as well?

Fabienne Raphael: Yeah, he does.

John Lee Dumas: Cool, cool.

Fabienne Raphael: Yeah, he does, yeah. So, since then, I have to say that I hadn’t found the idea yet of having that same competitive edge in my entrepreneurial journey as when I was on the court playing handball until that moment happened, and it’s when I started scoring my days.

So, I evaluate the activities that I’m doing every day, the tasks that I accomplish, and I see if they are low-income activities, medium activities, or high-income activities. So, basically, I just list all my activities, and then I see if these are worth $10.00 an hour, or they’re worth $2,000.00 an hour.

And then, at the end of the day, I know how much money I could have brought into the business, not necessarily for real, but I mean virtually, and giving me the impression that, hey, these activities that I focused on, these were the high-end activities, and these are the ones that are going to pay off eventually for my business.

And I have to say, John, each day, I wanna beat my score from the day before, and I love – I really love doing that. And that’s how I was able also to hire my VA and then now I have a team around me, and I can concentrate on those high-income activities, and it feels so good to do that.

John Lee Dumas: I love that. And, Fire Nation, that’s exactly why I brought scoring into The Mastery Journal because The Freedom Journal was a huge success, and I loved it. But when I was kind of coming up with a concept for the next journal, which turned out to be The Mastery Journal, I said, hey, how can we score our days? How can we get competitive with ourselves and see actual numbered improvements?

And that’s why every single day within The Mastery Journal, when you do your four sessions, you’re giving yourself a 1 to 10 on productivity, a 1 to 10 on discipline. You’re talking about what’s working and what’s not working. So, I love how you brought that aspect in, Fabienne.

And, Fire Nation, if you’re not doing some type of scoring, how do you really know what the score is, meaning how do you really know if you’re getting better, if you’re improving, if you’re working on the right things?

Now, Fabienne, what is the one thing that you are most fired up about today?

Fabienne Raphael: John, I’m doing a brand shift. Yes, as you know, I started my podcast and online journey with Marketing to Crush Your Competitors, but along the way with everything that happened with my personal development, with the people I truly want to serve; well, now I’m coming with 1K and Beyond.

And I feel that it represents me so much more because I’m such a teacher at heart, and I love to educate people and help them. And there’s also – I’m a positive person, and I feel that this will attract more the kind of people that I wanna help. So, I have to say that I’m very excited about that.

John Lee Dumas: It’s so important, Fire Nation, to know who you want to serve, who you as an individual want to serve. Who’s your perfect client? Who’s your perfect listener or customer, viewer of that video? What is that individual like on a day-to-day basis? Because when you know that, then you know what kind of shift you might have to do with your brands.

And, to be honest, for Fabienne, she was having her perfect client look at her brand, saying, “Marketing to Crush Your Competitors? I don’t wanna crush my competitors, and marketing kind of scares me.” But when they look at something like, how to get to 1K, how to make $1,000.00, that’s gonna draw them in, and that’s gonna just align so much better with what Fabienne does with her area of expertise.

So, don’t be afraid to make brand shifts. Don’t be afraid to pivot and to adjust, to iterate as you learn more about yourself and what you love doing. And these are the value bombs that Fabienne will be dropping in the lightning round right after we thank our sponsors. Fabienne, are you ready to rock the lightning round?

Fabienne Raphael: Oh, yes, my dear.

John Lee Dumas: What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

Fabienne Raphael: I think that I was – well, first of all, I didn’t really know anything about it, and then at a certain point, I was scared when the idea first came to me because at that period, I cared a lot about what people were saying about me, and I cared too much about the judgment. So, I guess it just paralyzed me.

John Lee Dumas: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Fabienne Raphael: It’s from Jim Rohn, who I loved, and he used to say that you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most. And I realized along the way that everything is about the environment and who shares your live and your time. So, yes, this is it.

John Lee Dumas: What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success?

Fabienne Raphael: I journal every morning, John. You’ll be very proud of me. So, I really take good care of being grateful for three things that happened to me the day before, and then the scoring my days thing is just amazing, yeah.

John Lee Dumas: Love that. Recommend one internet resource.

Fabienne Raphael: I would recommend Online Broadcasting Software, the OBS, to help with livestreaming because it’s so big nowadays, and it’s free, and you could to that with your Facebook Lives. And what I love about it is that you could change the background as you wish, how you feel or what you want to share with your audience, and I love that.

John Lee Dumas: Recommend one book and share why.

Fabienne Raphael: Essentialism from Greg McKeown. And we know that multitasking and overworking and overwhelm, it’s big issues when you start as an entrepreneur. And this book really teaches people to focus on what is truly necessary.

And I have to say that, for me, it helped me to say no to many opportunities that would not be aligned with what I was aiming to get as a goal. So, instead of saying, how can I make this fit, John, I just ask myself, is that really necessary?

John Lee Dumas: Well, Fire Nation, you can grab this audiobook through EOFirebook.com on Audible and get it for free if you haven’t done so already.

So, Fabienne, let’s end today on fire with you giving us a parting piece of guidance, the best way that we can connect with you, and then we’ll say goodbye.

Fabienne Raphael: Best piece of guidance that I can give is that you have to believe that you have the potential to help someone and that to someone’s eyes, you are the expert. I know that it’s easy to compare ourselves with gurus or people that have way more experience than we do, but then it will just discourage you, and you wanna attract that audience anyways. You wanna attract the same audience as the gurus.

So, I would tell people just to be open to conversations, talk to people, have the Skype calls, meet people live and network, and then you’ll realize that there’s a lot that you know that other people don’t know. And remember that in the eyes of the first grader, you’re always the expert if you’re a sixth grader.

So, if you wanna know more about me and if you wanna get a seven-step blueprint to launching profitable online courses, you just go at 1Kandbeyond.com/fire.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with, and you have been hanging out with FR and JLD today. So, keep up the heat and head over to EOFire.com, type Fabienne in the search bar. That’s F-A-B-I-E-N-N-E. And her show notes page will pop up with everything we’ve been talking about today. These are the best show notes in the biz, timestamps of our conversation, links galore.

And, Fabienne, thank you for sharing your journey today. For that, we salute you, and we’ll catch you on the flipside.

Fabienne Raphael: All right, John.

John Lee Dumas: Hey, Fire Nation, hope you enjoyed our chat with Fabienne today. And everybody’s scared of losing, but in my book, Fire Nation, I teach you how to finally win. Visit howtofinallywin.com, learn how to create your dream life one step at a time. I will catch you there, or I’ll catch you on the flipside.