0 (2s):
What's shaking fire nation. JLD here with an audio master class on the art of entrepreneurial negotiation, how to reinvent and reboot your work and life commitments on your own terms to drop these value bombs. I have brought to Sheila Mac on the mic. She guys, individuals and organizations in rock bottom to quickly get back up to empowerment, learn how to rebuild and reboot this year through her formula in book bootstraps in bras straps in fire nation. Today, we'll be talking about so much important stuff this day and age. You are not going to want to miss it. As soon as we get back from thinking our sponsors deliver joy and send messages that popped during the holidays in long after with Cleevio the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce with targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more Klayvio helps you create your ideal customer experience.

0 (55s):
Get your free trial at klaviyo.com/fire. That's K L a V I Y o.com/fire. Sheila say what's up to fire and nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know.

1 (1m 12s):
Well, most people don't know that when I was 10 years old to 13 and a half years old, I was homeless and I thought I was on a grand adventure. So go figure the minds of a child. I had a blast and learned so much about connecting with people. Wow.

0 (1m 29s):
Wow. That is fascinating. I wanted to dive more into that because that's three years from 10 to 13, like I'm trying to picture myself at 10, 11, 12, and 13 homeless, and I'm kind of struggling here. So I want to hear that. So let's go into that backstory of your youth, your first experiences in business. And then of course, like how do you like actually do that homelessness from 10 to 13 years old and make it into that granted adventure.

1 (1m 56s):
Yeah. So I actually, at eight years old, I, I found, think and grow rich at a neighbor's garage sale. And I started reading that I was in between homes. My, my parents were not well, so they couldn't take care of me full time. So I went from one grandparents to another, sometimes aunts and uncles. And I was at, at 10, I ended up at a home that was very abusive. And my mother actually was there at the time getting some care because she had health issues and it was so bad that she told me to leave and just go stay with friends or figure it out basically. And I did have a bus pass back then, you know, they let kids take the bus.

1 (2m 38s):
I, and I would take the bus to school. So I had a bus pass and I left and I stayed with different friends. There were nights that I, I literally slept on the benches at the Troubadour because I had a friend that, that knew someone that worked there. And so I, you know, I was never, there was a few nights. I stayed up all night and then in the daytime at somebody's house, but I had to be very creative and resourceful back then at 10 years old, you were able to work. And I worked for a company called junior careers at 10, at 10 to 13 and a half. So I kind of had some money coming in. I sold cups and coolers at the stadium at the sports stadium and then door to door candy.

1 (3m 21s):
And all, everybody that worked for this junior careers company, they were boys. I was like the only girl. And I figured out how to outsell all the boys. So I would get all the bonuses. And so I had a blast with that and, you know, it was just, it came natural to me, but it was also survival obviously. Cause I had to have money to pay for a bus pass and eat and this and that. And so that's kind of how that happened.

0 (3m 52s):
10 years old. Like what do you do when you get money? I mean, are you just keeping it in your pocket? Is there, is there a bank account of some kind or you literally just spending it as it comes in?

1 (4m 2s):
I did spend it as it comes in, but I also did have a joint bank account with my mother and I would put money in there for her and I, and we did kind of stay connected. Like I said, she wasn't, well, I did end up finding this magical foster care when I was 13 and a half. And I did that until 15 when I emancipated. So that was, you know, kind of a relief because then I could work three jobs and go to school and have a home. So, so that was like a blood, you know, it's funny how you look at it. A lot of the kids were reading and I thought, wow, this is such a gift. And they give you clothing allowance and they let you work and go to school and you know, this is awesome.

1 (4m 43s):
So it's a lot about mindset.

0 (4m 45s):
So how do you go from being homeless as a child to actually running events at 13? And I really loved how you did kind of double down on that mindset thing, which I'm sure some of that came from think and grow rich. So kind of expound upon that

1 (4m 58s):
Back when I entered into this group home, it was in Laverne and a very well known group home and they had an old orphanage. It was a huge, I don't know, maybe 15,000 square foot kind of mansion building. And the home had to sell it at the time because they had some funding issues, I guess. And I had just moved in and these people purchased that wold orphanage and made it into an art museum. Well that week that they moved in, everybody was talking about it. You know, who are these people? They they're so special. They're moving in, they're painting and cleaning all this. And I walked up to the door and I knocked on the door and I said, hi, I'm Sheila. And I want to be your personal assistant.

1 (5m 39s):
And I got hired. And so it was kind of interesting too. At first I had, they had me working for free and then the next thing you know, they were giving me things to resale because they worked a lot in trade art for different items and, and all these creative business ideas that were like, okay, I want to teach you how to make your own money. So they were really a gift in my life. Now the artist was Michael Whipple and he actually had art in, in Carter's white house at the time. So he was very well known for his art. And Pamela was her, the daughter of a big organization that has hotels, a big hotel chain.

1 (6m 25s):
And she would create these hotels and these whole communities as an architect in, in the museum gallery. And so I learned so much about that and they would have these fundraisers and events and Christmas balls. And I, I was learning so much about how to run businesses, run events, connect with people. I had to greet people at the door. I met the astronauts. I met people. I didn't even know who they were, but they were well-known, you know, cause I'm this kid. Right. And I would stay there at that house on the weekends. I had permission to go to their home and stay. So they had a beautiful room for me at, at a certain point and you know, treated me very well.

1 (7m 5s):
And then I would go back to the group home. And it was a little bit of a different mentality where you had people angry that they're there. And you know, they'd go out on the weekends and party quote unquote, and get into so much trouble. And it's like, well, why are you getting caught? No, I don't want to go out with you because you'll get caught. Like you want to get caught. And I thought, but what a gift to be able to connect to those girls in the group home also, and hear their stories and what made them, you know, struggle through whatever they're going through. And then at that point I was able to say, wow, I have a choice. What kind of life do I want to create for myself?

1 (7m 47s):
And so there's a power in what we decide and choose to do with our lives. Wow.

0 (7m 52s):
That is spectacular. And your mindsets of just positivity just keeps coming up over and over again, as you're sharing this and you wrote a book bootstraps and bras straps, the formula to go from rock bottom and back into action in any situation, why'd you write that book,

1 (8m 12s):
You know, right now, as we're recording this, it is the California fires are going on and we've heard about fires everywhere. And back in December of 2017, I had finished traveling for seven years straight. I had beautiful experiences traveling and learning with some incredible people on this planet. And so I decided now I want to settle down again and get a house. So I bought this house in November and I put all, you know, your effort, designing it, making it beautiful. And all my furniture everything's in this house. I was literally going to sleep there on December 3rd for the first time. And it burned down and lost.

1 (8m 51s):
Yeah. I lost everything. And then the next day my son had borrowed my nice car and, and he crashed the car lesson. And so I lost my house, all my belongings, my car, then my cat ran out. She was so freaked out. She ran out and we don't know what if the coyotes got her, what happened? So we lost the cat too. And I thought, wow, I really got demoted pretty quick. What happened? And I had to decide at that moment, what kind of mindset and what I was going to do. So I'm out there on the rebounder, on my yoga deck. I, I actually had this, this prefab mobile home that I had rented out.

1 (9m 31s):
Now this is mindset again. I rented it out. I paid 39,000 for this house. It was in Topanga Canyon area. And I rented it out to three different people. I made it into three units and I had a little storage shed with running water and a little bathroom and it was 400 square feet. So I stayed in the storage shed because I needed to keep that little income coming in. And I was a Superhost people had their honeymoons at my mobile home. So this is all my ridiculous, you know, and I, so I had this yoga deck and I'm out there and I'm jumping on the rebounder and I'm saying affirmations within a month. I was invited to do my, my courses and work with a team in Beverly Hills.

1 (10m 13s):
So I moved over to Beverly Hills and I thought, Oh wow, okay. You know, the universe had Beverly Hills in mind for me. Okay. Then things just so many blessings happened, but it was that mindset that came first. And I returned to the, to that little shed to clear my things out when I, when I finally leased to a nice home right across from the Grove. And when I did that, I thought, gee, I felt so alone. And I want to be able to share what I did and how to do these steps to get back on track when you go through a tough situation.

1 (10m 54s):
And so I created a community on Facebook as well, and I wrote the book so that someone out there it would be like, if it was my best friend, my sister, someone I cared about that I would say here's some steps let's, let's get back on track. Let me help you to redesign and recreate your life on your terms. Use this tough situation as a gift to reboot and start over again. And that's how the book got started

0 (11m 20s):
Nation. I really hope that you're just realizing that man, you need to absorb life's situations and not let it get you down and not go negative and not kind of like curl up into a ball and just kind of hide from the world. But no, just say, Hey, let me just jump on that rebounder. Let me just say my affirmations. Let me see what comes up next. And let me see how I can maybe use what's happened to me to help others and go from there. And I actually want to dive into the boots formula and how she'll actually applies it to her business and her personal life. And we have some other really killer things going to be talking about fire nation. When we get back from thinking our sponsors for a lot of us, our home is now more than just our home.

0 (12m 4s):
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0 (12m 46s):
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0 (13m 37s):
And because Cleevio was built for e-commerce brands of all shapes and sizes, there's no better marketing platform to help you close out the year strong delivered joy and send messages that pop during the holidays and long after get started with your free trial at klaviyo.com/fire that's KLA V I Y o.com/fire visit klayvio.com/fire today. So Sheila we're back and before the break, I was teasing a fire nation that we're going to go into the boots formula and how you specifically apply it to both your business and personal life. So break that down for us.

1 (14m 13s):
You know, when I was 24, I started my own business and I ended up hiring over a hundred kids to go through a training program that I created, that they, all these kids were emancipating from foster care. So I think that it's who you're being and all you're doing. So that's the first part in the boots formula is being, you have to decide, even if it's a job, that's completely not in alignment with your heart work, it can also be your heart work. It depends how you show up. And when you think about that fire and what I went through that net that at that time and what people are going through now, it's who are you in all you're doing and who do you need to be when you hit a tough spot in life in order to change that?

1 (14m 59s):
So you need to be a little bit different than everybody else to get, get through the process. The next one is the O in the boots formula, and that's for orientation. That's when I had to sit down in the little shed and realize that I just lost my car, my home, my cat, everything's gone. I've got bills and debt that I still have to pay, or my credit goes away. You know, and I had to be really honest about where I was at and where I wanted to, to end up. And that really helped to be honest about that then the next Oh, and the boots formula is for order of operations. As soon as I got through, who am I going to be?

1 (15m 41s):
W what's, where am I at? I did an order of what I need to do first, second, third to get back on track. And so that was the order of operations, the order in which we do things makes all the difference in business in life. And then there's the thinking, and that's the mindset. That's the crazy mindset that you can invest in a little thirty-five thousand dollar mobile home and be making six to 8,000 a month, renting it out and people repeat visit. And you're a Superhost and it's a mobile home. That's crazy. But it's our thinking. It's, it's, it's the mindset. And I knew I had to really be strong about the mindset to get back on track. I mean, my son actually felt so bad. He loaned me his beater car.

1 (16m 22s):
It's like, you roll the windows down. It kind of drove sideways. The brakes had to get the brakes fixed cause they didn't work for the Canyon drive. And you know, I went and got stickers and I put stickers in the car and I, me and my son said, wow, you really cleaned it up. You souped it up mom. And I said, that's right, because I am going to make this the best damn beater car that you ever had. And you know, the best I can, the best, even with that little humble mobile home, it was the best little, little guest rental place it could be because I made it beautiful. It's not about where you're at. It's about how you're being and that's the mindset. And then the last thing is stepping up. So that's me stepping up and accepting a new position in Beverly Hills.

1 (17m 5s):
That was me as a child stepping up and knocking on the door to the old orphanage. When those people purchased it and saying, I'm going to be your, your personal assistance. That's, that's stepping up. And that's the S and the boots formula, man,

0 (17m 18s):
And boots B O O T S fire nation, a gem from every single one of those. And I love how you kind of shared how you can apply it in your business, in your personal life, Sheila. But now how could fire nation, like how could the business leaders best apply this to this year specific COVID situation, the pandemic, and just the overall economy problems that has caused?

1 (17m 44s):
Okay. So the first thing is obviously who you were being as a business, even at beginning of this year, you know, January is really different than who you need to be in your being going forward in March going forward. So that's, that's so important right now. When you think about, as a leader, the energy you bring and the honesty that you can bring to your employees, your, your clients even is going to make such a difference. They need somebody to be really strong and grounded and in a positive state to lead them. If you're in scarcity, you're not going to be able to lead your team very well.

1 (18m 24s):
Cause they're going to your clients, your employees are going to feel it, and the clients will, will end up going somewhere else. So they need to have you show up even stronger than before for, for the, Oh, the first O is for orientation. So obviously you're going to have to do your books a little differently this year. You're going to, maybe you have to get alone. Maybe you have to change how you're spending your money. Your marketing plan just totally shifted. You have to be really honest with your employees or whoever's working for you and say, Hey, you know, we have to cut back or, or let people go. Let's all work together as a team. And, and so that's very important. And then there's the order of operations on, okay, what are we going to do as, as a team in this business?

1 (19m 10s):
And it may be even that now your business has to be at home. So now you've got to add in you, you may have children that, that are homeschooled. Now, some States are still doing that in the United States. And you know, you may have that and you might have your spouse or a significant other, or whoever at your house and you have to run your business at home. And so that's a whole other ballgame and, or your employees. And so it's, I think there's giving space to people right now through this, that that's gonna make a big difference. So that, that really makes a difference. And then there's thinking, so that's obviously everything.

1 (19m 50s):
That's, that's the huge part about this, because even if you're leading your family, you're, you're involved in the community. It's, it's how you're thinking. And your mindset shows up. That's going to affect everyone. And w you know, there's people that are alone. If you feel lonely right now, or you want new clients reach out and care, call somebody up, text message, give them a, a time that they can get on the phone with you, see how you can contribute and give back. Because when you give back, that's how you receive and, and the community will know how your business got involved. And that will also get your employees out of fear, because you cannot be in fear and in contribution at the same time.

1 (20m 33s):
And then there's just stepping up and taking action in your business and being creative with everything, but also asking for help when you need it. So that's, it's okay to ask for help and work with your, with your employees. As a team,

0 (20m 49s):
You did touch briefly upon, you know, how working parents are really struggling right now with children being homeschooled, or having to be on online school due to COVID, et cetera. I mean, you have six children, three of which you fostered, and yet you are still somehow able to run your businesses. So what advice do you have for these struggling parents right now?

1 (21m 11s):
You know, it was really funny because the way this is back, I opened my gift store when I was 23 and a half, somewhere in that range. And so when I opened that first gift store, I already had a couple little kids. And, and so I had this back office area that was really big. And I opened that up and I had some nannies come in that were elderly ladies that loved children and, and were bored. And then I offered my employees the option of bringing their, their babies in. And they were top salespeople that I said, I can't, I can't pay you what the department store can pay you, but I can provide a nanny. And so I had the top, I, you know, I got all the top salespeople and then, you know, I was able to do that.

1 (21m 57s):
So I had my children in my business, and I will tell you something. I also grew up with when I was really young with one, one set of grandparents, where I was in their business. They, they had a well-known manufacturing company, and that's where the bra came from and bootstraps and bra straps is they manufactured bras and swimsuits, and they were very popular company. And so I just, I learned business because it was around me. So don't, you know, when we protect our children from reality and from what businesses and, and have these discussions about, okay, well, we're going to do a budget now, or we're going to have to change in businesses now at home, whatever that is.

1 (22m 38s):
That's actually a gift that is going to give your children more education than, than anything at school ever. You know, don't send them off to play, get them involved, have them help out with something that they can contribute, or that they're interested in. I remember at the gift store now my gift stores were four and 5,000 square feet. So they were big. And I ended up buying four buildings that were paid for by these stores. I really think it was because it helped these kids, all these kids, you know, it's like, it was heart based. It wasn't just about selling stuff. It was about people in community. And so that's really important, but I think it's just when you bring your kids in, like, I would have my, my sons that were probably eight, nine and 10 years old, when I started the gift stores, they had a whole section and it was like the store of knowledge.

1 (23m 29s):
It was like, they would have all these games and they would show the parents and they got to pick the games wholesale and helped me set it up and price them and this and that and learned all those things. And then they would sit there and play games and the, and parents would come in and say, wow, they're playing these educational games. I'll buy five of them for my kids or my, all my grandkids. And so they were learning, they were playing games in the store, but they were learning how to run a business. And most of my kids actually, now that they're grown have their own independent businesses. And many of those foster two kids that were emancipating that went through my training program also ended up running their own businesses because of that experience,

0 (24m 15s):
Our nation. This is exactly the type of attitude and mentality you've got to take because listen, the situation, as we know it exists, it's not going to change. So we need to accept it, embrace it and say, what are we going to do moving forward? How can we do what Sheila's done so many times in so many different situations in the past and take these lemons and turn them into lemonade. And what I love about you Sheila, is you're always giving and you're always creating, and you do have a pretty cool free gift for fire nation. You know, and this is for people who are specifically looking to start rebuilding, redesigning, and rebooting both their business and personal life. So let's end on a high note with this free gift. Tell us all about it, where fire nation can find out more.

0 (24m 57s):
And then we'll,

1 (24m 59s):
If you go to Sheilamac.com/careers/fire. So S H E I L A M a C.com/careers/fire. You will get an option of many free gifts, depending on what you're needing our focus with that one is careers, but if you need something else there's parenting and there's different items that you can choose from in the career section. There's how to recreate your business, create a new plan. There's there's information on how to do some loans and different things that you may need and how to recreate your business on your terms. And also you get a free boots, formula, introduction, course

0 (25m 42s):
Nation. You are going to want to get all of that. So, Sheila, one more time, where does fire nation go?

1 (25m 49s):
So go to www.sheilamac.com/careers/fire juice,

0 (25m 56s):
Thus, a parting piece of guidance. What's one thing you really want to make sure a fire nation gets from everything that you've talked about and shared today. What's that one takeaway

1 (26m 6s):
In all your being it's about, you know, not what you're doing. It's about who you're being. So for me, it's whether I'm, you know, working with my children, working with my clients or my employees, having fun with family and friends, it's how I'm showing up. So as business leaders, how you show up for the rest this last quarter of this year, how you show up is going to make all the difference.

0 (26m 33s):
And you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with SM and J L D today. So keep up that heat, head over to EOFire.com, just type Sheila in search bar. Her show notes page will pop up with everything that we've been talking about today. Best show notes in the biz and Sheila, 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. Hey, fire nation today's value bomb content was brought to you by Sheila and you know, this successful entrepreneurs accomplish big goals, which is why I created the freedom journal to guide you in accomplishing your number one goal in 100 days, step by step, visit the freedom journal.com use promo code podcast for a $15 discount in.

0 (27m 21s):
Thank you for listening to my podcast and I'll catch you there, or I'll catch you on the flip side, deliver joy and send messages that pop during the holidays in long after with Cleevio the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce with targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more Klayvio helps you create your ideal customer experience. Get your free trial at klaviyo.com/fire. That's K L A V I Y O.com/.