Trish Blackwell: Yes.

John Lee Dumas: Yes.

Trish Blackwell: For sure.

John Lee Dumas: Trish is a trainer, conference coach, and an author. She’s passionate about empowering others to live the life of their dreams. She believes in self-acceptance, the power of positive thinking, and that, equipped with confidence, you can conquer anything. Trish, take a minute; fill in some gaps in that intro, and give us a little glimpse of your personal life.

Trish Blackwell: Yeah, for sure. So I live in the Washington, D.C. area. I am a “mompreneur,” you know, the mom who is an entrepreneur. I have a 1-year-old daughter, an amazing husband, and I got into – well, entrepreneurship, by accident. I never thought that this was a route I would go in my life, but I always knew I wanted to write. So I got into the fitness industry. That sort of developed into – my real passion is helping people have confidence. I was writing about that, I was coaching people on it. And slowly but surely, it evolved into this business. And I went, “Oh my gosh, I need a business plan.” Like, “Oh, boy.”

All the sudden, I was this accidental entrepreneur, but it was working. So yeah, that’s kind of how I got to where I am. And what’s so great about it is that I started living my dream without realizing that that was my dream. You know? So now I am the work-from-home mom who gets to be a mom, a wife; but still run her full business, and know that I’m impacting and touching people’s lives at the same time. And that fills me up.

John Lee Dumas: Well, Trish, I know that Fire Nation is excited to hear your journey because – we want to know, how’d you get here; because a lot of people are like, “I want to get there. I want to be a mompreneur or a dadpreneur. I just want to work-from-home, and be able to live out my dreams, and really inspire others, and fill in all those blanks.” But before we get into all of that – and we will, Fire Nation – how do you generate revenue in your business? How do you bring the dollars in the door, today, in 2016?

Trish Blackwell: Great question. So – couple things; I think one of my greatest revenue streams is – like I said, I fell into a lot of this stuff, but I have a friend who got me into doing iPhone apps. So I had about nine iPhone fitness and motivation apps. So that’s a great passive revenue stream. It’s awesome. And it’s a great way to connect and influence people for a low price-point entry. I love doing that. I just love helping people. So I’ve got the apps; I’ve got two online virtual conference courses that are through my website. I do some one-on-one coaching; I also do one-on-one confidence coaching for business development for entrepreneurs because I think one of the things that holds people back from really pursuing their dream is the fear that, “Maybe I’m not good enough.”

For me and my business, it all goes back to confidence. And then I also have my own podcast show called “Confidence on the Go,” and I do some audio coaching. And then of course, being an author, I’ve got my books, my writing, and my speaking. So it’s like a flexible five to seven different streams of revenue, so to speak.

John Lee Dumas: Let’s just talk for a second – and just shoot from the gut, here – what is your favorite app that you – no, actually, I want to rephrase that. What is the most revenue-producing app that you’ve created?

Trish Blackwell: That’s great; because you’re right, they’re two different answers, there. My most revenue – app is the “Couch to Half Marathon.” And to be honest, it’s because it filled a hole. I created the app – it was the first one I put out, and it met a need that wasn’t yet fulfilled. So there wasn’t yet that perfect app. And the reason for that – for someone who literally would take it from the couch and in 12 weeks cross that half-marathon finish line. And it was – what I love about that app today – aside from the revenue, I mean, that’s a bonus – but I get e-mails from people all over the world with pictures of them at the finish line, holding their medals.

And it’s – I know, from a personal training standpoint because that’s my background, what it really does to your mindset and your confidence when you do something like run 13.1 miles.

John Lee Dumas: Yeah, that’s huge.

Trish Blackwell: You know? It changes what you think is possible. So, for me, I really love – I know that people that do that app and cross that finish line, they have a whole new world open to them.

John Lee Dumas: And it’s all about confidence, Fire Nation. I mean, you cross that finish line, I mean – come on. The world is your oyster, hello?
Trish Blackwell: Yeah. I mean, you get to – on a race, you get to mile eight and nine, and you’re like, “This is stupid. Why am I doing this?” You know, I just ran the Boston Marathon last week. I was, like, on mile 20. I’m like, “Why do I do this stuff?” But because then, on mile 22, you’re on fire. And you’re like –

John Lee Dumas: You get past Heartbreak Hill; you’re just like, “Alright. I’m going to make it.”

Trish Blackwell: “Oh, that was terrible.” Yeah. But you’re right.

John Lee Dumas: I love that. Now, whatever you’re willing to share – but, you know, Fire Nation’s always curious – what does that app generate per month? And what is all of your apps together generate per month?

Trish Blackwell: The funny thing about the app industry is that it’s very –

[Crosstalk]

Trish Blackwell: Yeah. It’s so – and the interesting thing about advertising and marketing for an app is when it’s – at least for me because marketing and doing some of that stuff is not necessarily my strength, I’m sure there are better ways to do it – but it’s challenging to find a way to pay for advertising at a low enough cost that you’re still breaking even on an app that’s $1.99.

To spend marketing budget on apps that you’re making a buck off of can be challenging. But I’ve had months between – I would say the low months are – let’s see – a thousand bucks. My high months have been 3 to $5000.00 of complete passive, you know, one-and-done –

John Lee Dumas: Are those apps combined, or just the top app?

Trish Blackwell: Those are my top – I would say all apps combined. Sometimes one app will do that, and then the rest won’t sell at all, the whole month. And then the next month, everything sells. To me – and maybe there’s somebody out there listening to me who goes, “I can help that girl.”

John Lee Dumas: Trish Blackwell: check her out.

Trish Blackwell: So open, so open to coaching and helping; because that’s what’s so cool about the entrepreneur lifestyle. It’s like, “Let’s just help each other out.”

John Lee Dumas: Okay. So yeah, we’re not talking about, like, go-buy-an-island money with these apps I mention. But we are talking about, “Hey, I am paying our mortgage, and then some with these apps that I created that are now just out there doing their thing.” Really cool stuff on a lot of levels.

Trish Blackwell: They’re generating income for me to pour into my business in other ways. And – like I said – they’re giving me e-mails of people who are sending me pictures with their finish line medal at the end, and going, “You just changed what I thought I could do and what I thought was possible.” You can’t put a price on that, you know?

John Lee Dumas: Trish, what we can’t also put a price on is what you would consider your worst entrepreneurial moment; because I would say you think it’s probably worth $-1000000.00; which is probably true.

Trish Blackwell: Yes.

John Lee Dumas: But this is the thing; this is what we want to talk about. We want to know your journey into how you became the mompreneur that you are now. So take us back to the lowest of the low, the darkest of the dark, your worst entrepreneurial moment. And tell us that story.

Trish Blackwell: Okay, so I’ve got it for you. And it’s going to be embarrassing.

John Lee Dumas: Yes. I love it.

Trish Blackwell: So, being an author – and I’ve always, even as a little girl, had this dream to write – and part of my story is that I was this elite collegiate athlete: full scholarship swimmer, and always very driven, this perfectionist-type thing. Behind all that, for a ten-year-long period, I hid this really, really severe eating disorder. So I had a story to tell. And when I found freedom from that eating disorder and that body image that was really crippling – you know, even though everybody on the outside thought I was confident, I was dying on the inside – and so when I found freedom, I said, “I have to tell the world about this. I want to be the person that talks about what people are unwilling and uncomfortable talking about.”
So I put all my heart and my passion in – three years of work, laboring and pouring my soul out into a book – and the whole publishing process unfolded, and it was amazing. I decided to end up self-publishing that particular book. I got an editor, I had two editors. You know, everything was going as planned. And still, it’s very vulnerable for you to put yourself out there; particularly about something like that, that struggle. Yet it was like, “I feel this is my calling. I know I’m supposed to do this. This is going to help save over women from eating disorders – and just talking about stuff that people aren’t willing to.”

It’s like, “Get it out there.” First of all, that’s scary, putting yourself on paper like that. The launch date, self-promotion – it’s challenging when you’re first doing it; it’s really hard to do that, right? So all that can be said, here’s what happened. That first week that book launched, it was great. We got a cake with the book cover on it. And everybody was supporting me; it was awesome. Except, all the sudden – like, three days later – people started roiling me with some e-mails.

And they’re like, “Hey, Trish. I don’t know how to tell you this, but there’s a lot of typos in your book.” Like, terrible – like, I have chills. I’m just thinking about how mortifying this was. But it was so interesting to my story because what I do with my business with confidence coaching is I help people overcome a lot of the stigma, and the things that hold us back, from perfectionism.

So I’m a recovering perfectionist; so as a recovering perfectionist, looking at this – this was like the in-your-face, “Look at this failure. This work is not perfect. Now people are now not only judging you for your story, and how weak you were to have this disorder, but now – ooh, you can’t even write. And the one thing you care the most about is writing; you should just stop. You should just stop everything and retreat.”

But here’s the great thing – and this is why I support network matters so much – my husband was amazing. We weren’t married at that point, but he was still amazing nonetheless. He said, “I’m sorry. I thought you wrote that book to help people and change people’s lives. I didn’t think your pride would matter so much; because you know what? We can re-write that. We can re-edit. We can re-do a second submission. We can go page-by-page and fix everything. And we have to let go and forgive the people who failed you. Your editors – don’t point the finger. Just accept it, and move on.” And so we did. Within a month later, we updated it and sent people who had the kind of sloppy copies –

John Lee Dumas: “Sloppy copies.”

Trish Blackwell: You know? To me, it was just this great lesson of being – it was a really great remind – gosh, you know, what my husband had said – sometimes what you put out is not going to be perfect. And that’s part of the beauty of it. But I’ll tell you, it was mortifying.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, there’s a quote that I think is really fitting here – that’s Trish looking back, like, “Yes. It’s mortifying.” But at the same time, I think it’s a necessity in a lot of ways. The Reid Hoffman quote – the founder of LinkedIn – “If you’re not embarrassed by your first product, you waited way too long.” And the fact is, Trish, yes, you were embarrassed by your first product. But if you had kept waiting and waiting, and gone back to the – I mean, how many times can you go back to editors before you’re just like, “Enough, already. I’m trying to help people with this.”

I mean, of course we want to get out the best product we can in a timely manner; but there’s got to be a balance here, Fire Nation. It just can’t be like, “Okay, I’m going to make sure that 15 editors swear on a Bible that there’s no misspellings in here.” Or, “I’m not going to go with any editors,” that’s the other end of the spectrum; that’s a bad thing. You need to find some good balance and some good middle ground. And you drive forward with that; because the reality is get your content out there. Get the feedback; adjust, pivot, move forward, as you did, Trish. So that’s my big takeaway from your story. What do you want to make sure that Fire Nation gets from that moment, that story?

Trish Blackwell: You’ve already captured it by saying, “You can always pivot, re-position, re-format it, and move it out.” But what was so encouraging are the people who said, “Trish, it didn’t matter – a little typo; because what you said on these pages changed my life.” At some point, we have to overcome our pride and go, “If I’m going to serve and help people in my business, I’ve got to get over myself.”

John Lee Dumas: There’s actually another angle to this, too, that’s interesting, Trish – that I think we should mention briefly. There are people that saw edits and saw mistakes in your book. And they were like, “Oh my God, I thought Trish was like this perfectionist, and she was this great writer. And there’s a mistake here. Maybe that means that I can do something because I’m not perfect either. And if Trish can publish something like this, and it’s okay, maybe I can too.”

Trish Blackwell: So true, yeah.

John Lee Dumas: That’s why I always tell people, “Hey, don’t listen to episode 1350 of EOFire. Listen to episode 13 of EOFire when I stunk, and I was bad; when I didn’t know my blank from my elbows.” I was just driving forward. I was saying, “Hey, I’m going to get a little bit better every single day.” But, Trish, what I want you to tell us now is a story of an “a-ha” moment that you had; one of your greatest to date. This is your choice, your story. But take us to a moment when you had that epiphany, and tell us that story.

Trish Blackwell: Okay. So it’s not this giant “a-ha” moment, but it’s sort of the start of one, so to speak. So coming off of that book, I really felt called. I had this friend that was like, “Trish, you got to get into podcasting.” I was like, “Dude, I don’t know anything about technology.” You know what I mean? This was also my same friend who was like, “We’ve got to put apps out.” You know, just sometimes the way people come into your life, and they push you out of your comfort zone – this is a friend who did that.

John Lee Dumas: That’s where all the magic happens, Trish.

Trish Blackwell: It is where the magic happens, right? So anyways – got me set up, got my equipment, and literally said, “I need you to go into your closet and make sure there’s lots of clothes. And that’s going to be great sound quality.” And I’ll tell you what; listen, dude. Like, I would sit in there and – maybe you can relate – but the first couple episodes you record of a podcast show, particularly when you don’t really have – you haven’t built a tribe yet – it’s weird. You feel like you’re just talking to yourself. So here I was, talking into this microphone to myself in the dark, in a closet, sweating; sweating.

At the end of the day, at like, 9:00 p.m., after having worked a full day – thinking, “Am I crazy? Who am I even talking to? Do I really think that 1.) I have the technological understanding to be able to get this out into the world, 2.) who’s actually listening?” And my “a-ha” moment – and the reason I say that is because I want to share that my “a-ha” moment was that – when you feel drawn to do something, you feel like this is part of your calling or your mission or your purpose, you just step forward; even if you don’t know how to do – you know how to do step one, but there’s 100 steps to really make it professional. You don’t worry about the 99; you just freaking start; because what was my “a-ha” in that – I think by episode three or four of me posting my first show that I put out, I was topping the iTunes charts.

I had people reaching out to me like, “I feel like you live inside of my head. You’re the first person that was ever talking about the stuff that I think about. How’d you know what was going on in my life?” And I had all these people reaching out, and it was just this “a-ha,” one of, “You got to trust your gut.” And then sometimes you have to do what’s uncomfortable, even if it seems really nerdy, and if you’re like, “Wow. If people really saw how I’m sweating just talking to myself, they would not think I’m this expert.”

You know, there’s a little bit of faking it ‘till you make it. But also, for me, it was like, “Wow.” The reach that we have – the gift of living in the time [inaudible] [00:15:12] in – you’re like, “Wow. There’s power in that.” Now, if I’m inspired, and I really feel like some of – if me showing my story can help honor, and serve, and inspire others – like, “Wow, we have so much at our fingertips.” And that was an “a-ha” to really opening other channels in my business.

John Lee Dumas: I like what you said about the first step; because, Fire Nation, all you need is that first step because the rest will reveal themselves in due time. Do you drive on a country road somewhere in New England, or Vermont, or Virginia, and you just know all the way? No. It’s a curvy road, and you don’t know what’s around the corner until you drive up to the corner. Then the rest of the road is revealed to you; you get up to the next corner, and so on. It’s just that. You take one step at a time, you come up to one corner at a time, and the road before you is revealed in due time.

So powerful, powerful story, Trish; I’m so glad you shared that. What would you consider your biggest weakness as an entrepreneur?

Trish Blackwell: I’ll tell you – and this is where the recovering perfectionist comes out, that I have to very attentive and decisive every day about – is a temptation to compare myself to others. Like, “Oh, so-and-so has this many reviews on their podcast show,” measuring myself against someone else’s story or journey. And I have to keep going back to, “I will do my business and my calling if I’m touching a million people one day, or one person.” I have to go back to that. “Trish, would you still do what you’re doing, if there were a million people who were tapped in, and a fan of the Trish Blackwell brand?” Absolutely. Now, then the question goes, “Okay, let’s go to extremes.” Because I’m an extremist; something that just comes with my personality type, this, “Okay, would you do the same thing for one person?”

And the answer is yeah. I still have to go back to yes. Then I almost have to kick myself in the butt, and go, “Then let it go. Stop comparing yourself you know it’s a rabbit hole. It takes you nowhere. If anything, it just sabotages your potential.”

John Lee Dumas: Alright, Trish, this rant that I’m about to go on is going to be a big help to you, and Fire Nation, I know you’re going to enjoy it as well.

Trish Blackwell: Well, good. Give it to me.

John Lee Dumas: I’m giving to you, girl. It’s just – prepare to receive, right now –

Trish Blackwell: I am.

John Lee Dumas: Because the reality is this: compare and despair. No matter when you compare yourself to anybody else, you will always despair. What if you were to compare yourself to me as EOFire, and the amount of downloads and reviews that I have, you know? Then what if I’m comparing myself upwards, to StartUp and other shows like that? I mean, we can always compare ourselves, you know? Like, comparing myself to Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, are you comparing yourself to Jeremy Johnson – whoever? Compare and despair: it’s always going to be reality.

So it’s never going to be a zero-sum game. You’re never going to win. But Trish, there is one person that you should compare yourself to. That’s you yesterday. If you beat yourself yesterday in a comparison game, then you win. And that’s the only thing that matters; because if you are progressing in life, you are moving forward, and you in the comparison of you yesterday, you come out on top you today, you win. And that’s all you need to think about, Fire Nation. But you, Trish, have a lot of cool things going on. What’s the one thing that has you most fired-up today?

Trish Blackwell: Well, I am most proud about my newest book that was released without typos. I had a more robust publishing team. But the book is called Insecurity Detox. It’s a breakout plan to rejuvenate your mind, your body, and your spirit. And, well, it’s 30 detoxes. And what’s really cool is it’s a handbook that you literally open up, and you’re like, “Look, I’m struggling with perfectionism.” And then there’s a chapter with that, with three detoxes. “Hey, I’m struggling with stress.”

Because, basically, I’ve identified 30 manifestations with insecurity, and things some of those people identify insecurity of being; like, “Oh, I’m shy, or I want to retreat from the world.” It’s comparison, it’s self-doubt, it’s fear, it’s small dreams. There’s so many different ways it manifests itself. So that book really identifies it. It’s been out for two weeks, and so I’m in that –

John Lee Dumas: Where can Fire Nation find it?

Trish Blackwell: Yeah, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, any bookstore; or just go to my website, insecuritydetox.com.

John Lee Dumas: Love it; and, Fire Nation, don’t you go anywhere because we got a lot of stuff coming up in the Lightning Round. But we’re going to take a quick minute to thank our sponsors.

Trish, are you prepared for the Lightning Round?

Trish Blackwell: Yes.

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

Trish Blackwell: Being a confidence coach, really forging this route of – quote-unquote, literally saying, “Hey, I’m a confidence coach,” was not having the confidence to think I was qualified enough to be a confidence coach. It was really ironic. And that’s why I really love this concept of confidence. It’s all in your brain. So holding me back was my own overthinking.

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

Trish Blackwell: That as long as you love others well every day, and you’re living that out – like, everyday you’ve loved or served someone – then you’ve done all you need to do – that you can go to sleep and have peace, and know that you’ve moved your business forward.
John Lee Dumas: What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success?

Trish Blackwell: It’s one that I don’t like, so I hesitate to share it. But it is doing five sunset salutations every morning, the first thing I do when I get up. 1.) Because I don’t love them because I’m that type of person that wants to go go go go go, so I get up and I want to hit the floor running, and start doing stuff. But it slows me down, and it gives my brain the ability to say, “You’ve got control over time. You are not rushed.” Gives me that meditation, that prayer time; and it sets my body up for success. So it’s one that I love to hate.

John Lee Dumas: Share an internet resource, like Evernote, with Fire Nation.

Trish Blackwell: You know, the good folks at Upwork: I love working with virtual assistants. It’s been so instrumental to my business, and my growth, and outsourcing, and learning to do what you do best, and hire out for the rest.

John Lee Dumas: If you could recommend one book for our listeners, what would it be and why?

Trish Blackwell: Man, you know, it’s a classic. It’s James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh. And I would say the reason why relates to the fact that I’m a confidence coach, but it’s the power of your thought. It’s a way to really realize that all of your successes in life, within life and business, depend upon the quality of your thought life.

John Lee Dumas: And, Fire Nation, don’t forget: insecuritydetox.com. Or just got to Barnes & Noble; it’s a great little bookstore. You can grab a mocha and Insecurity Detox. Trish, let’s end today on fire with a parting piece of guidance from you, the best way we can connect with you, and then we’ll say goodbye.

Trish Blackwell: Be yourself. Be yourself. And I’m sure you’ve heard that over and over, but there’s no substitute for it. Any effort to do otherwise, than be who you are and who you’re created to be is a cheap imitation. And what you have to give to the world, no one else can give it in that voice, and I feel like we each have a story to tell, and a business to lead – if you’re called to be an entrepreneur – and you’ve just got to honor that. Honor it, and step out, and do it. And just trust the process.

And, you know, you can connect with me at trishblackwell.com; super, super simple. I’m on Instagram, Facebook; it’s all under Trish Blackwell.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, you’re an average of the five people you spend the most time with. You’ve been hanging out with T.B. and J.L.D. today, so keep up the heat. And head over to eofire.com. Just type Trish in the search bar. Her Show Notes page with pop up with everything that we’ve been talking about today, everything, links and all, Fire Nation. And of course, go to trishblackwell.com, and that was insecuritydetox.com. Trish, thank you for sharing your journey with Fire Nation, today. For that, we salute you, and we’ll catch you on the flip-side.

Trish Blackwell: Thank you so much. It’s such an honor.