0 (2s):
Light that spark, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs On Fire brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network with great shows like My First Million. Today, we'll be focusing on how to turn passion to purpose and to drop these value bombs. I brought Amy McLaren into EOFire studios. She's a busy mom of two, and Amy splits her time leading a community of driven entrepreneurial woman called LadyStrength, growing an Airbnb business and being a hands-on CEO of Village Impact. And today Fire Nation, we will be talking about Amy's book, Passionate to Purpose. Why'd she write this book, how she defines passion, how someone can unlock their passion and combine their passion and desire to do more good in this world and so much more.

0 (48s):
When we get back from thanking our sponsors Fire Nation, are you finally ready to publish a book the right way Kevin Anderson & Associates can help for a limited time. They're offering Fire Nation a free 90-minute consultation to discuss writing and publishing your book in just six months. Visit KAWriting.com/fire to schedule your free 90-minute consultation today. That's KAWriting.com/fire. Are you looking for a proven business coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you to increase their profitability by an average of 104% per year, all for less money than it would cost to hire a full-time minimum wage employee schedule your free consultation today with Clay Clark, a former small business administration entrepreneur of the year at ThrivetimeShow.com/fire.

0 (1m 38s):
Amy say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. First of all, hello

1 (1m 49s):
to everybody. I hope everyone is having an awesome day and thank you so much, John, for having me on your podcast. I really appreciate it. When you asked me this question, I, it made my, it made me think, like I, I've got to think about that question. I think that most people would be successful. You, you have to know every know how to do everything about something that you're working on. So like for our charity or a nonprofit per se, like people think when you start a charity, you've got to know everything about it. Right? But you, you just don't. I mean, when I started my nonprofit, I knew absolutely nothing about starting a nonprofit and I didn't wait and I didn't wait till I had all of my ducks in a row.

1 (2m 29s):
I just began. And I think a lot of people think that you have to know everything before you jump in and start something. Well, there's

0 (2m 35s):
A quote that I really resonate with that I think is going to connect with you Amy, in this situation, which is a Martin Luther king Jr. Quotes. You don't have to see the full staircase to take the first step. And I think that's so powerful because Fire Nation, you need to understand that taking that first step that's the action step. And then guess what set number two will reveal itself as you go forward and so on and so forth. It's almost like fog clearing and you can't see through the fog from a mile away when you get up close, boom, the path presents itself. So great way to start the episode off Amy and I want to dive right in because you wrote a book, passion to purpose, let's get specific.

0 (3m 20s):
Who did you write this book for? I wrote

1 (3m 24s):
A book and I wrote it for, you know, there's three people that I wrote it for. So the first person that I had in mind when I was writing, this is for somebody that was a lot like me, to be honest, several years ago, where they're kind of drifting. They have no passions, maybe feeling a bit frustrated because they can't see to find something that lights them up. And maybe they're comparing themselves to other people that seem to have, you know, everything together or they're excited about something. So they're feeling drifting, they're frustrated. They have no direction. And they're trying all these things to try and find something they're passionate about. That was the first person I wrote it for him. The second person is somebody who has, you know, lost themselves.

1 (4m 5s):
They've kind of always put everybody else first. And they kind of wake up 10, 15 years later and they're like, like, how did I get here? Like how did I end up here? When I knew I was passionate about something else? Because I think a lot of us, I mean, me included. I mean, I have two young kids, you know, when you start having children, when you start getting into your business, it's like you have all these other priorities and sometimes you forget or you don't make passion. Don't make things that you love a priority. So number two, it's for that person that has always put everyone else first woken up and they're like, wow, here we are 10 years later and I'm not doing something that truly lights me up.

1 (4m 48s):
And the third person I had in mind, or for those people that kind of know their passions, but they want to do more good in the world. They, and they just don't know how to do it, or they're not sure on how to incorporate doing more good into their business and into their life. They're kind of like at that point where, you know, they're, they're kind of bored, but they want to do something more and they're kind of feeling empty or they're not sure is this it. So it's kind of that person that has reached that point where they've, you know, they're, they found what they're passionate about, but now they want to use that to do more good

0 (5m 19s):
In the world. And I'm sure that you've found yourself in one of those three people, because that's encompasses a lot of our listeners here today. And you did use the word passion a lot, Amy. So I kind of want to really do a deep dive on that. Like how do you specifically define that word? Passion?

1 (5m 36s):
Yeah. Passion for me is like your unique contribution to the world. It's, it's something that really lights you up. Like when I think about passion, it's, you know, if we were to go on, if you're out on the weekend and you're at a dinner party and you start having a conversation with something that you really enjoy. So for me, and I think we actually chatted about it when we were at place last year or so, but was travel and it's, you know, it's giving back, it's travel. I could talk to someone about travel all day long. Like I could talk about it in my sleep. I talk with the latest trip I've taken. I'm always on one trip. And I'm thinking about the next trip now guarantee we are in COVID time. So it looks a little different, but for me, it's travel.

1 (6m 19s):
I think of, you know, my daughter, when she she's really passionate about reading and when she's really deeply into her book, she, everything else just falls away. It's like, she's so excited about the characters and what's happening in the story that she doesn't think about all those other things. Because I really think when we're passionate about something, we, we think of all the possibilities. I like to say a passion mindset is a possibility mindset because we think about all the opportunities are there. We think about it all the time and it's exciting. And there's so many good things that come from it. So passion is truly something that lights you up that you can talk about endlessly at a dinner party.

0 (6m 56s):
So you make passion sounds so appealing. So desirous, and I know a lot of people are like, well, wait a second. I want some of that. I want to truly unlock my passion and let's share it with a simple concept. So share something that someone can do right now to unlock their passion. Yeah,

1 (7m 16s):
For sure. And I think a lot of people get stuck here where, you know, they're maybe what they thought, let them up or what they thought they were passionate about. It isn't truly what they are passionate about. So something that I've taught before that someone can do right now is literally take out a piece of paper, draw one straight line and do increments of 10. So like 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and take a moment, go to a space where you're not going to be interrupted and go back and take a look at your life. Like take a minute to actually sit down and reflect on what you did when you were 20, what you did when you were 30, what you did when you were 40 50, or whatever that may be. And then look for commonalities because I bet if you were to go back and look 10, 20 years ago, there's probably something that is a common thread within those years.

1 (8m 4s):
So probably something that you could go back to and revisit and, you know, try a new sport, try something that, you know, painting or whatever it may be or something that you did in the past to see if it still lights you up. But I want to say that it's okay if it doesn't because our passions do change. But I think the biggest thing is you've got to be curious and you've got to go back into the past and if not try new things

0 (8m 27s):
As entrepreneurs, we have to get out of our comfort zone. Like in fact, I love saying that all the magic happens outside of your comfort zone. So if you want to create magic Fire Nation, get the heck out of that comfort zone. Because when we get out of a comfort zone, we're going to be eliminating self doubt. We're going to be taking action. All things that we love doing. So share some tips, Amy, about how you have been able to help others accomplish doing this.

1 (8m 56s):
Yeah. I think the first thing is obviously going through that timeline, taking the time to do that and then putting it into your calendar. I think where a lot of people get stuck is that they think, oh no, I have to change like my entire life. I have to change my entire business, but it's not about that because I think that's, and I say that in the book, like that's can be a recipe for disaster, but at the same time, like you can sprinkle in what you're passionate about. So it's taken time to, you know, put that on your calendar. And if that kind of scares you a little, grab a friend and do it with a friend and try an activity with a friend, but get an accountability person that can help you put it on the calendar because it doesn't mean completely changing your life.

1 (9m 39s):
It just means putting that little bit of passion back into it. And then following where those passion little steps lead. Like when I started my nonprofit, I had always been somebody that gives back, gives back and then try. I like travel too. So I kept following those things of travel and giving back. And that's what created Village Impact and what led to today. But you've got to start somewhere and you've got to put it on your calendar and stay focused

0 (10m 3s):
On that. So accountability is everything. And I love that tip. You gave about grabbing a friend. I mean, make it fun, like have some fun doing this. Like why would you not want to be having fun of me? This is why we're doing what we're doing to follow our passion, to unlock our passion, to eliminate self doubt, to take action, to have some fun. So get some accountability, grab a friends and just start having a conversation like that's where you can start. And we have a lot of value bombs coming up, Fire Nation. When we get back from thanking our sponsors, looking for a business coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you to increase their profitability by an average of 104% per year, all for less money than it would cost to hire a full-time minimum wage employee, Fire Nation meet Clay Clark. Clay has been coaching businesses just like yours since 2006.

0 (10m 49s):
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0 (11m 30s):
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0 (12m 16s):
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0 (13m 1s):
That's KAWriting.com/fire. So Amy we're back and we have a lot of entrepreneurs listening right now to this episode. So what would you tell one of our listeners who wants to combine their passion with desire to do more good in this world? Yeah.

1 (13m 19s):
I love this question because I think there are so many simple ways that we can give back using our passion that oftentimes they, they may seem too small and we just think, oh, that's not big enough. But every little thing that we do can have an impact. Like I wrote this book because I really believe you can use what you're passionate about to do more good in the world. So it makes me think of two categories, like a business category and a personal category. And when I think of like business, I think of, you know, my husband's do McLaren and I, we have, we have three or four businesses and one of his businesses, which is, you know, his try brand that where he does a membership software, they give back to our nonprofit. So what they do is that every month they do so, not every month, one month, a year, they donate all of their profits to our Village Impact to cover our overhead.

1 (14m 8s):
So they've implemented it and we've put it into that business from day one. It's a lot like, you know, Russell Brunson from ClickFunnels ever since he started ClickFunnels years ago, he said, you know, every dollar, every funnel that has created $1 will go to the cause. So I think it's, it's putting some money aside from your company, from the very beginning to other causes that you're passionate about. So it, it gives back another cool way that you can do it within your company or a community is have your team come with three or four, three or four different charities or organizations that they want to support. And the team can vote on which one to support. So then it, it like brings the staff to get involved in who they're supporting.

1 (14m 51s):
It brings community alive because they're looking at different things that they can support too. So it's involving your community involving your staff, into giving back into your business. And then another thing we do for the personal side for us as a family, we have two young ones and we've always been passionate about giving back experiences, giving people experiences is huge. It's a passion for mine, and we've used that to give back. So we like to give within our family super surprises, we've called them. So before COVID we took two guy friends on an epic kite trip to Fiji that they had no idea. It was a big surprise. So we also do as a family, I teach my kids to give and to save and to spend.

1 (15m 32s):
I think those three things are so important. And in the giving part, we involve our kids doing fun, things that we like to do as a family to give back whether that's at the grocery store and buying people's groceries or surprising my mom with a trip with her friend or whatever it may be. But whatever you're passionate about, you can use that to do more good in the world. And sometimes it's just the littlest things that can make a difference.

0 (15m 54s):
And one thing that I really want to emphasize here, Fire Nation is don't wait like these are things that should be done now. Like a lot of people like to say, well, you know what, when I become rich, well, when are you going to become rich? Like, that's just a vague, broad number. Like what, even as rich and believe me, that definition of rich changes as you become more wealthy, it just happens like that. Goalpost keeps moving back. It's just a reality. So why wait, why not do now? Why not impact now? Why not make change now? There's just no reason not to implement it in your life in a very full meaning in a very meaningful and affordable way. So acts of kindness, Amy, they're one thing, but a movement of change, we're talking a whole new level.

0 (16m 37s):
So how can somebody make this transition from just like an act of kindness of like, like buying groceries, which is amazing, but turn it like into a movement of change. Absolutely.

1 (16m 48s):
So I, it makes me think, you know, when I started our non-profit, I, I didn't know what I was doing. Right. I think to get from kindness to change, there are three things you've got to start. You've got to get clear and you have to be consistent. So I, when we started our non-profit, we started it, like we said, at the beginning of the interview, like I had no idea how to start a charity, a Canadian charity. So I'm Googling it. I'm discovering things. I'm finding out how I can start. So I started somewhere, but then my goal and our mission as a nonprofit became more clear, the more action that I took, because action creates clarity. We we've talked about that before and we, we know that, right? But the more action you take, the more clear you will become.

1 (17m 28s):
So with whatever you're doing, you have to keep moving towards a direction that lights you up. Or that goal you're working towards. Like when our nonprofit started, we did work in El Salvador and then we did some work in Ghana. And we came back from that Ghana trip. And I felt like we were putting bandaids on everything. We were helping with schools. We were helping with medical supplies. We were helping with water and it just felt all over the place and we weren't accomplishing anything. But the good thing that it did and made us become more clear and what our message was, what our goals were. And when you become more clear and your messaging, or more clear, and what you're going after, when you have conversations with other people, your, your message is clear, right?

1 (18m 13s):
People understand what you're doing. They want to help you. So all of a sudden, these little things of kindness. So when I started the charity became a little bigger because my message got a little clear and people understood what I was trying to accomplish, what we were trying to accomplish as a nonprofit, it became easier to talk about, and then that's attracted more people towards our mission, towards our cause for the nonprofit. And then I think the last thing is just being consistent. Like, you know, we started our, and we started our nonprofit. It was originally called world teacher aid 12 years ago. Like we've been around for a long time. And in internet years, I guess you could say, and it's just being consistent. And so it all started, it got clear with our messaging and then it's just being consistent in what we do, how we fundraise money and our message, and just keep moving

0 (19m 3s):
Starts, get clear, stay consistent. I mean, Fire Nation, if you remember those three things, you're going to be on fire. And I love that quote that you use. Amy action creates clarity. Think about that. Fire Nation action creates clarity. Most people unfortunately think action creates mistakes. Action creates fear, action creates doubts, action creates fill in the blank. No, it creates clarity. So Amy, take us home, take a minute and share some more details about your passion project, passion to purpose.

1 (19m 40s):
Yeah. So for me, it's funny. I, my book passionate purpose, I wrote this book for a reason, actually, that you've mentioned earlier in this interview where, you know, Stu and I have been so grateful to speak on so many stages to share, you know, our goals behind Village Impact what we're doing as a nonprofit. And we would get off the stage each time. And I would always have people, like you said, come up to me and say like, I don't have this much money to donate. I can't do this. I wish I could do that. And it kind of it, after time I became a little frustrated cause I was like, no, you do not have to wait to start your own business. Like yes do. And I have several companies in a nonprofit, but that's what we do. And we'd love it.

1 (20m 20s):
But you do not have to wait to have an impact in this world to wait for that. You can have an impact starting today by smiling at someone, my holding the door by honoring what you love to do, and then using that to do more good in the world because all of our passions are uniquely different. No passion is too big or too small, no impact is too big or too small. And I really wrote this book to encourage people to, you know, use your passion and just more good in the world because it can have so many ripple effects on so many people. So that is in a sense why I wrote the book. I have a multi-passionate entrepreneurs. You've probably heard, like I do have this book. I run my nonprofit. I really into right now running a luxury Airbnb business and my brand LadyStrength.

1 (21m 6s):
So those are three things that I'm passionate about and passion projects. But my biggest thing is spreading the message of, we can all do more good in this world by following our passion.

0 (21m 15s):
Where do you want Fire Nation to go to connect with you, to find your book, to support your causes? Where can they go?

1 (21m 21s):
Yeah. So you can go to passionate purpose book.com and that has all of our cool bonuses that we have for the book there. You can find me on Instagram @amydowmcLaren. And then if you want to find out more about our nonprofit, that's obviously VillageImpact.com

0 (21m 36s):
Fire Nation. 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, head over to EOFire.com, just type Amy, A M Y in the search bar. Her show notes page will pop up with everything we talked about here today. Links to everything. Amy, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today, for that we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Awesome. Thank you so much. Hey, Fire Nation today's value bomb content was brought to you by Amy and Fire Nation. Over the last decade, I've interviewed more than three thousands of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, and I've created a revolutionary 17 step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment.

0 (22m 19s):
I put it all into my first traditionally published book of The Common Path to Uncommon Success which is personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need Fire Nation to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit UncommonSuccessBook.com to order your copy today. And I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side Fire Nation. Are you finally ready to publish a book the right way Kevin Anderson & Associates can help for a limited time, they're offering Fire Nation a free 90-minute consultation to discuss writing and publishing your book in just six months. Visit KAWriting.com/fire to schedule your free 90-minute consultation today.

0 (23m 4s):
That's KAWriting.com/fire. Are you looking for a proven business coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you to increase their profitability by an average of 104% per year, all for less money than it would cost to hire a full-time minimum wage employee schedule your free consultation today with Clay Clark, a former small business administration entrepreneur of the year at ThrivetimeShow.com/fire.