Allison Maslan: Oh, my gosh, John. I’m already lit up.

John Lee Dumas: Yes!

Allison Maslan: I’m lit day to day, so let’s do this.

John Lee Dumas: Allison is the CEO of Allison Maslan International, a global business coaching agency. She’s the number one business selling author of Blast Off!, a true entrepreneur, and she’s built ten successful companies over three decades. She’s been featured in Success Magazine, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, every other acronym you can imagine, FOX, everywhere across the world and the U.S. And Allison, take a minute, fill in some gaps from that intro, and give us just a little glimpse in your personal life.

Allison Maslan: Well, John, first of all, I am so excited because I love, not only myself feeling ignited, but helping other entrepreneurs ignite their dreams. I was blessed because I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. And I often say that I was born – I came out of the womb as an entrepreneur, and it’s really the lifestyle that I live.

My father built the largest chain of women’s clothing stores that were privately owned in the United States from the 1950s to the early 1980s, and so I just kind of held on his coattails when I was younger, going from store to store and just watching him, and his passion, and his love for his work, all the way to the end of his life. What an education that was. And so I’ve really carried that energy through my years and influencing others as well.

John Lee Dumas: Well, those are some pretty darn good coattails to be hanging on to – both, pun intended and unintended, Allison. And Fire Nation, if you follow me on Snapshot – by the way that’s a very simple thing to do. EOFire.com/snap. You want to, because I drop daily value bombs.

You would’ve seen back in February – actually, the day specifically was February 28th, it was a Sunday – myself and Allison were hanging out at a great little venue in Encinitas for the documentary premier. It was actually the world premiere of Inspired By 11 which is a great film by Tamara Thompson. She directed it, she produced it, she found eleven entrepreneurs that she’s been inspired by. Myself and Allison were two of those eleven. Pat Flynn, somebody you might have heard of was another one, and there’s eight other incredible entrepreneurs.
So Allison and I have got to hang out in person, we’ve done some Snapchatting in person, and now here we are just the next day, actually, when we’re recording this, having a great conversation with you.

So, Allison’s the real deal, Fire Nation. She’s got a lot of cool things going on. Her story is so inspiring, and I got to watch a lot of it during this movie, Inspired By 11. So you’re definitely gonna want to tune in to that, and we’ll be giving you details about how you can watch that.

But Allison, before we dig even more into your journey as an entrepreneur, break it down for us because we are entrepreneurs. We’re looking to create viable businesses. How do you, as an entrepreneur, generate revenue?

Allison Maslan: Well, I think that is such an important question, John, because I believe that so many people get caught up in the product development and the fancy marketing strategies, when what you really need to do is get out and sell. And that means building relationships just like we’re doing here right now, and getting out and meeting people, and picking up the phone, and sharing your passion, and sharing your gifts, and asking for that sale. Of course, you’ve got to figure out what your revenue streams are and what your offer is.

But when it comes down to it, the business is about revenue because if your aren’t making revenue, you can’t help people, you can’t pay your team, and your business is not going to thrive. So it’s truly number one in business.

John Lee Dumas: Get out and sell, Fire Nation. Words of wisdom. And I’ve got to break it down for you; we’re all in sales, Fire Nation. If you don’t think you’re in sales, then you’re not gonna be a successful entrepreneur. Just accept that right now.

Now, Allison, what are your revenue streams?

Allison Maslan: Well, our main revenue stream, I run the Pinnacle Global network, Private Coaching and Mastermind where we work with business owners worldwide that want to fast track their success, build rock star teams, and really create a more meaningful life on a daily basis. We work with entrepreneurs all over the world in this Mastermind, and we are in our sixth year of running that program, and have literally ignited thousands of businesses. So I’m so grateful for that.

John Lee Dumas: What I love about you, Allison, is you are truly somebody that becomes on fire onstage. And that was what was really cool about the video and the movie, Inspired By 11, is we got to see a lot of each other, because we all do speak, on some levels, onstage presenting. You can just tell when people own the stage, and when they’re just glowing because they’re doing what they’re meant to be. And that’s you for sure, Allison.

Allison Maslan: Thank you.

John Lee Dumas: Yeah, well, I mean it, and I’m really looking forward to future presentations that you’re gonna be giving because I know people in the audience are gonna be lit up when they see your transparency, your authenticity, the genuine you coming through. So Fire Nation, you know, if and when you have the opportunity to attend any of Allison’s events, make sure you make time for this because it will be a transformational experience.

We don’t talk just about awesomeness. And Allison, although it may seem like I just heap compliments on my guests, that is not the case. I really, genuinely mean this about you. And we talk about the tough times as well. We talk about the struggles, the lows, just the pain that entrepreneurs can go through at certain points in their journey, just the roller coaster that we’re on.

So I want you, Allison, to take us, Fire Nation, to what you consider your worst entrepreneurial moment to date, and just pull back that curtain. Just be open, be transparent, take us to that moment in time, and tell us that story.

Allison Maslan: Absolutely. You know, it truly is a roller coaster, running a business, and I honestly thrive on that. I think that I value the times that my back was against the wall because I just came out fighting that much stronger. But one really poignant time for me was I was running my own ad agency. I was about 25 years old, and I had built this full service advertising agency. I had clients like Ben and Jerry’s, and Charlotte Russe, and Supercuts, and I was traveling all over, and I was making a lot of money at a young age. And I was building business by flying by the seat of my pants. I was great at getting clients and then figuring out how to do it later, and I do believe in that.

But what happened was that I didn’t have the right foundations in place. I was working night and day, and I was a control freak. I felt like I had to do everything even though I did have somewhat of a team. And I just crashed and burned.

And I remember looking in the mirror one day, truly going, “Who are you? I don’t even know you anymore.” I was exhausted. My daughter was little back then, and I was afraid to make a change. It was kind of ironic because I was so successful that I was miserable at the same time because I didn’t feel the purpose. I didn’t feel aligned with what I was doing. I mean, I was good at it. A lot of entrepreneurs are people who feel like, “I should do this because I’m good at it.” But it’s not necessarily their passion.

And so I ended up through all this stress. One day when I was late to get my daughter from daycare, I had a terrible car accident. If you read my book Blast Off!, you’ll hear the whole story that I actually ran over myself with my car. So I know you’re like, how do you actually do that? But I am somewhat of a klutz. But that was by far my biggest faux pas, miraculously survived that, and literally, the car ran over my legs. I tried to stop it when it was rolling down the driveway.

And it was such a big wake up call for me because I should not have survived it. It doesn’t make sense logically that I survived. And it was a big wake up call for me where I said, okay, that’s it, I’m done. I’m walking away from all of this money, I’m walking away from a difficult marriage, and I’m going to rewrite my life. And the decision I made in that moment was that everything that I do moving forward, that’s business, relationships, how I spend my time, I’m gonna be 100 percent passionate about it or forget it.

And the second thing is that you need a strategic plan. I’m great at building business this way, but I need to have a structure. So I built a really solid blueprint from there and then went on to build nine very successful companies that I have had a blast with, but more on my own terms.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, when you’re feeling aligned with what you’re doing, you know it. You know it intrinsically. It’s just this glow, this fire that’s within you. And when you’re not aligned, there’s red flags. You need to listen to those red flags. You need to feel and understand that intuition is there for a reason, telling you something. That’s what your story really brings out in me, Allison. I really want Fire Nation to absorb that part of it, but I also want to give you a second here. Just sum up in maybe one or two sentences, what do you really want to make sure our listeners get from that difficult period in your life?

Allison Maslan: So many people feel like that they’re stuck in a circumstance, and the truth is that we are here by choice. Everything we do come down to choice and you can completely start your life over tomorrow. There is no reason to live one minute of your life that you aren’t absolutely loving. And if you’re on your entrepreneurial path, of course, there’s going to be some ups and downs. That’s part of the journey. But when you’re on fire, and when you are in alignment, that gives you the energy and all of the drive to keep moving forward.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, it should not take a car running over you to know that you’re doing the wrong thing. That’s what we can learn from my guest’s experience like Allison’s, my experiences, which have a ton of failures in the past. This is why we have these conversations.

Now, Allison, shifting to another point in your journey, let’s talk about an “aha!” moment. And you’ve had a lot of amazing “aha!” moments, and I’m sure you’ve had a couple of great “aha!” moments while you were swinging through the air on a flying trapeze, which I’d like to talk about later.

But what I’m gonna give you here is the stage to choose what you consider one of your greatest “aha!” moments. Share that story and how you turned that idea into success.

Allison Maslan: When I made that dramatic shift in my life back then – you see, I was great with my ad agency and very successful, but I wanted to do work that was more meaningful. I felt, at the time, that was just about money, like you were as good as your last campaign. And I wanted to know that I was making a difference in people’s lives. And so, through that major wake up call, I ended up discovering this type of medicine called homeopathy, and I decided I wanted to become a homeopathic physician.

Well, my goodness, go from ad exec, director of your own ad agency, to saying, oh, I’m gonna become a homeopath. People thought I was mad. Right? So I had everybody around me telling me I was going to fail, that I was making the biggest mistake of my life, who did I think I was. And that really made me dig my heels in more to say, “I’m gonna prove you wrong.” That’s just a little bit of my stubbornness coming out, of course.
And I did. I ended up building the largest homeopathic practice in the country. I built the largest homeopathic college in the country, 1999. I sold it, 2005. And so the “aha!” from that was when you go after your dreams; you are going to stir up a lot of criticism. People will feel unraveled. They don’t like you to rock the boat. And really, what’s happening is that you’re bringing up their own fear, and they’re projecting that onto you. And if I would’ve owned that, we would not be sitting here having this conversation today. So you just have to put your head down, and walk toward your dreams every single day and not let anyone tell you that it can’t be done.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, truer words have never been spoken. I was just actually talking to one of my friends from Australia, and they actually have a term for this. They call it the Small Poppy Syndrome where if you’re one of these poppy flowers in this field, and one poppy flower grows a little bit higher than the rest, they chop it off because they want it to be Australian level. And that’s what they do in Australia for entrepreneurs. That’s what they do in America in some ways, shapes, and forms. They say, hey, come on back down to our level. Why are you trying to go and do these big things? You’re gonna make me feel bad about myself if you’re out there changing the world.

So you need to listen to yourself, to your own intuition. You need to surround yourself with other inspiring people. When I was on the stage last night with Allison to my left, with Pat Flynn to my right, you better believe that I was surrounding myself with people who are inspiring me to take things to the next level, Fire Nation, and you need to as well. And that’s my big takeaway, Allison. Again, just in a sentence or two, what do you want to make sure Fire Nation gets from that “aha!” moment that you’ve had?

Allison Maslan: You’re going to have to walk your own path. And this is where people struggle because you’re afraid to separate yourself from the pack. But the whole beauty of business is that you get to share your gifts with the world. You get to light up with the world with what you were born to do. And it takes bravery, and it takes courage. And you’ll have to walk your own path and start to build your community around you, just like you were talking about, John, and really, what we’ve done as an entrepreneurial community. Right?

And so just know, as you begin to form that path and move forward, don’t worry about the “how”, because as you start walking toward those dreams, the resources will come, the people will come, the money will come. But just hone that courage and trust that this is what you’re meant to do.

John Lee Dumas: Allison, what’s your biggest weakness as an entrepreneur.

Allison Maslan: You know, I’m a night owl, which really – I’m not a morning person. I would say that is my biggest weakness, and I know that might be, “Is that a weakness?” But it is. I get fired up at night. I could just have a dance party at 10:30 at night. My husband thinks I’m absolutely crazy. And so I’m up night working, and then, in the morning, I feel like a train hit me. And the way I run my business, I’m up early for interviews and so forth, so I’ve had to really work at that. But my whole family’s that way. We could do a conference call with my mom, my sister, my daughter, at 2:00 in the morning. Totally genetic. So we’ve accepted it.

John Lee Dumas: We’re gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. I am actually a big believer that we control our own circadian rhythms. And my big thing when I hear people talk to me and say, “John, I’m a night owl, I can never wake up early.” I say, “Listen, you can say that or you can wake up at 5:30 a.m. for 60 days straight, and then tell me if you’re still a night owl.” And the answer will likely be no, because you’re gonna be falling asleep at 9:30 like I do because I get up at 5:30 a.m. every single morning.

So we’ll see, Allison. Maybe you take that challenge; maybe you don’t, because what I also say is it’s not for everybody. If people thrive as night owls – and obviously you’re thriving – why change it? Why change things?

But for people that want to become early birds, I really believe everybody could. Now, flipping it over, what’s your biggest strength?

Allison Maslan: I would say that my biggest strength is that I am relentless toward my dreams. I never worry about the “how”, I love the challenge. And if you looked at it on paper throughout my life, certain things that I’ve done, you would’ve thought this will never work. Right? It makes no sense.

But as I said earlier, having my back against the wall – I mean, I was a single mom for 12 years, and I’ve taken gigantic risks when there was no net. And that’s, I believe, my biggest gift is that I’m able to see the unseen. And I know that if it comes to my mind that it is out there, then it’s possible to create. So really, being a trailblazer. I love, love just going for it, taking blind, big leaps, and just trusting my heart that it’s the right steps.

John Lee Dumas: Allison, having met you in person, I just know that you’re inspired by what you do, and you have a lot of cool things going on. But if you could break it down for Fire Nation, what’s the one thing that has you most fired up today?

Allison Maslan: Well, let’s see. I would say the thing that has me most fired up – and there a lot of things that fire me up – but my clients. You know, we’re changing lives. We’re massively growing their income, creating so much more joy in their lives.

For instance, I got a couple of emails just today. One of my clients got their products in Whole Foods. They just got approved to be in 21 stores. Another went from going after – they have a construction company. Instead of the six figure contracts, they’re going for the seven figure contracts. They’re seeing themselves as such a bigger player in the business world.

And when you grow your business, you are not only increasing your wealth, you’re improving your marriage, you’re truly living your purpose, your whole life elevates. So that’s what gets me so fired up is seeing all the lives changed and being a catalyst.

John Lee Dumas: Well, Fire Nation, if you stick around for the Lightning Round, your life might also change for the better. But we’re gonna take a quick minute and thank our sponsors.

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Allison, are you prepared for the Lightning Round?

Allison Maslan: Let’s do it, man. I love lightning, come on!
John Lee Dumas: What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

Allison Maslan: Well, quite the opposite. The longest job I’ve had in my life was two weeks. So I’ve had a business since I was 19. In that two weeks, I felt like I was in prison. I was like, just getting through the day was painful for me. Now, I love the team members that work for me, and I’m so, so grateful, and they’re awesome. We all work as a team to move the vision forward, so I do think there is a great value in working with a company that you believe in. I’m stubborn, and I’m creative, and I’m flexible at the same time. But I’m much better running a company than working for it.

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

Allison Maslan: The best advice I’ve ever received – and I give this advice all the time – make decisions from where you’re going, not from where you’re at. So what I mean by this is see in your mind where it is you want to be, and just make a decision in that moment: I am there now. Just see yourself there. Know in your heart that you’re going to make it happen. Then begin making decisions from that place.

So for instance, if you were there right now, what business decisions would you make? What hiring decisions? What marketing decisions? And again, don’t worry about the “how”, because the “how” will come to you. But most people make decisions from what is right in front of them, and that is a very limited view. Or they make decisions from the past, and that could be from mistakes you’ve made or from failures, and so that really keeps you small. So again, make decisions from where you are going, not from where you’re at.

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

Allison Maslan: Well, you alluded to it earlier, but I fly on the flying trapeze.

John Lee Dumas: Yay!

Allison Maslan: Yeah, so I know that’s a little bit crazy, but I have been flying on the trapeze for about 17 years. I grew up as a gymnast, and when I discovered the trapeze, I felt like I had come home. You know, the trapeze is – there’s so many great metaphors. But basically, I face my fears every day, I climb that ladder, I always reach to advance my skills. And I had a huge goal in 2015 to catch my double-back flip, and I did. So that was huge.
John Lee Dumas: Wait, was that in Inspired By 11? Because you did at least one flip in that movie.

Allison Maslan: Yeah, that wasn’t my double-back flip, but I do have a video of it. So, you know, if you want that I can send it to you.

John Lee Dumas: Let’s put it on the show notes page, yeah.

Allison Maslan: Okay, yeah, you’ll hear me screaming from excitement. It’s pretty fun. You know, when you do things that are scarier than what you’re scared of, it makes the thing that you’re scared of not so bad. I’m pushing that fear barrier all the time in the air so that when I get on the ground, I’m a much more courageous entrepreneur.

John Lee Dumas: That was a quote that you use, actually, in the movie that really hit home with me. You looked in the camera, and you said, “If you’re scared to do something, do something scarier.” And I was like; it’s so obvious and awesome. Like, hello. I love that, Fire Nation. Take that and put it into action.

Now, Allison, can you share an internet resource like Evernote with Fire Nation?

Allison Maslan: I feel, even though I’m a big proponent of the internet, and I have all kinds of apps, and great software, and so forth, I do feel that people hide behind their computers. Just like when we were together with Inspired By 11, nothing is better than having that connection.

So my favorite social media tool is the telephone. Remember that thing that you actually hold up, and you push buttons and so forth, and you hear people’s voice. Right? So you build deeper connections, and you’re able to move a relationship faster and really get to know people. There’s just something that doesn’t come through email and text that’s missing. I still use those things, of course, and I do use all kinds of social media tools, but I feel like we often forget to go back to basics. People are impressed I actually call them, and they’re like, “Wow! Hi, Allison. I didn’t expect that you would call me.”

And I make a point that, every week, I reach out to five people that I want to deepen the relationship with. I do this week in and week out, and I just move the ball along so much faster. And it’s so much more enjoyable, I love that connection.
John Lee Dumas: If you could recommend just one book, Allison, to join Blast Off! on our bookshelves, what would that book be and why?

Allison Maslan: One of my all time favorite books is The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. It’s a parable based on the priceless wisdom on the art of sales. And we talked about earlier how important sales is. And the fact remains, entrepreneurs struggle with sales. It’s easy for us to talk about a restaurant we love, or a movie that we love, and tell everybody. But we have a hard time talking about how great we are and how great our products and services are.

But if you believe that they are so wonderful, why wouldn’t you want to get them in the hands of everybody? And so it’s the most vital skill that you need in your personal life and your business because, on every level, you’re engaging with other human beings, and it’s based on selling.

John Lee Dumas: It’s based on selling, and we’re all salesmen and women.

Allison Maslan: Yes, definitely. I mean, you have to sell when you start out early of making friends, and selling to your parents to stay out late, and selling to my husband when we’re deciding on a movie, and he knows it’s gonna end up being the romantic chick flick movie. You know, you’ve got to put those skills – and so it is a beautiful book, very heart-centered book, and I believe every entrepreneur should read Og Mandino’s book. He’s got others as well, but The Greatest Salesman in the World.

John Lee Dumas: Allison, let’s end today on fire with a parting piece of guidance, the best way that we can connect with you, and then we’ll say goodbye.

Allison Maslan: Don’t do it alone. Entrepreneurs are so isolated and have so many decisions to make on a daily basis. You have so many decisions with your vendors, with your revenue streams, with your clients. And that’s why I created Pinnacle Global Network, to get people to support one another, to collaborate, to have solutions, and to create wealth. People often think they should know how to do it themselves, and I would not be here, John, without the great mentors that I’ve had in my life; I still have in my life. And then I would just end by saying what I said earlier, just put your head toward your dreams, and walk toward them every single day.

John Lee Dumas: And what’s the best way that we can connect with you.
Allison Maslan: Well, the best way to connect with me is going to my website which is myblastoff.com. And I also have a gift for your Fire Nation, and it is the 8 Millionaire Secrets for Successful Entrepreneurs, and these are truly my tried and true proven secrets. It’s a 50 minute audio, and you can listen while you’re running or you’re in the car. And all you’ve got to do is go to myblastoff.com/fire.

John Lee Dumas: Ooh, Fire Nation, you know this, I know this, you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with, and you’ve been hanging out with AM and JLD today, so keep up the heat, and heat over to EOFire.com. Just type Allison in the search bar, and that’s A-L-L-I-S-O-N in the search bar, and her show notes page will pop up. We’ll have that video of her double back flip on the trapeze and so much more. Her direct website, myblastoff.com, and your gift is waiting at myblast.com/fire.

And I just want to say, Allison, thank you for sharing your journey with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you, and we’ll catch you on the flipside.

Allison Maslan: Thanks, John. It was a blast.