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Introduction 0:02
Welcome to the #PirateBroadcast, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Where you can expand your connections, your community, #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let’s get this party started.

Russ Johns 0:20
We're here at the #piratebroadcast. I'm Russ interviewing #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. We can always be found on LinkedIn live, Facebook, YouTube and Periscope. So wherever you happen to hang out, wherever you happen to enjoy your content, love to see you there. We have podcasts so if you if you'd like to subscribe to the podcast, I can talk this morning. I would love to have you join us on the podcast and Michelle, How are you this morning? Good to see you so much. So it's been so long.

Meshell Baker 0:59
I know! It's been awhile and I remember because it was a rainy day, that day that we actually met. So it's interesting because it's raining here. We actually have a lot. I'm in Austin and it's really raining here. Flood Warning is a thing. So yeah, how have you been?

Russ Johns 1:15
Yeah, I've been wonderful. I moved to Arizona to be with mom and dad to help care for them. Unfortunately, dad passed away this year. He was 91 and lived a good life. We were here. This is why we were here. The journey has been wonderful. A lot of experience is not always pain free. It is amazing to experience life and understand that We're here for a reason. We're here for a very short period of time. So one of the things that I wanted to mention to people is, Michelle and I had met in Houston years ago, and we were doing a vision board. It was an amazing class and a lot of people walked away with a lot of clarity. I wanted to dive in a little bit more about that. From that kind of beginning. Tell us and walk us through a little bit about what you've been doing up until now.

Meshell Baker 2:27
Well, one, you have someone on your timeline and I want to say, Avi Jett. He's from India, he's a young entrepreneur. I went to the comments. I'm getting better at this. So I want to shout him out, because he's saying hi to us from India. I love the fact that we get to have this impact around the globe for us. This is so cool, so we're gonna say, hi. Hey, how are you, sir? Welcome. Yeah, so my journey as we discussed before and what I've been sharing with people is my clarity started around the age of 20. That was with an incarceration. I had a short stint in the California correctional penal system, which gave me the clarity that I didn't want to go back. So all I knew was that I didn't have necessarily the why stages or the adults in my life who could give me guidance impart on me. I didn't even have people who told me I was smarter, prettier, anything like that. I just knew that I didn't want to go back. So I observed, I became hyper vigilant about my observations or watching people. The one thing I was clear on is that people who did not go back or the term is recidivism.They kept a job. So then I went and got a job. Then I went to work and said, okay, how do you keep a job? Because now you've got to keep it. Then I started observing that the people who not only kept jobs, but excelled at work, were the ones who were the most valuable to superiors and business owners. That became my mantra, I will leave you better off for having met me. Period. So I just didn't want to be valuable at work. I wanted to be valuable to the world. That has been my guiding light. And every principle I teach, as you did the vision board workshop, is not just about what you want, but it's on path to acquiring what you want. How are you leading those better for interfacing with you? Are you leaving a path behind you of destruction, dismay, and disappointment of all those people that you work with? Are you leaving people inspired and lightened and powered encouraged for having crossed paths with you believing that they can have the infinite abundance that we all have access to? So a lot of that.

Russ Johns 4:58
What I hear you saying, is you made a decision. You made a conscious decision to take responsibility for your actions and all your actions and all of the reactions that people have that are around you and and make it a positive one. So you're making a positive impact on the world instead of a negative impact on the world. I think that is so important right now to understand that. I did a post last night. It says, what are you holding on to that's holding you back, that's not allowing you the opportunity to let something better into your life. I think so many times, when you take responsibility for those actions, and you really get critical and honest with yourself, you get some reflection going and you're saying, what do I need to do to improve my situation today? It's personal responsibility, number one, and it's also about knowing and getting clear, like you've been so diligent about helping others get is clarity in their life.

Meshell Baker 6:10
Exactly.

Russ Johns 6:10
So talk about how that looks and how that shows up in your process.

Meshell Baker 6:18
Yeah, so I want to shout out one of my most incredible and recent mentors, Rod Hairston, of Growth-U and if you want to look it up, it's growth-u.com. I learned from him responsiblity, so I knew I was being responsible, but I really learn a deeper level of responsibility and accountability. He even says in a special way, that if you look at the word, it's response able, I am able to respond accountable, I am able to account and when you become hyper vigilant that everything is happening for you, not to you. So why am I feeling or interfacing with this discomfort? What is it teaching me or telling me? I want more. So in the process of wanting more, there's no Genie or Santa Claus coming, we must become more. The only time a human being becomes more is when they face the fear, the doubt, the second guessing, the failure, the naysayers, the critics, all of the uglies. When you face those and go through them, you find out they're not real. They're simply feelings. They're simply stories we're telling ourselves, and that's where you start to get the strength. So, again, being responsible, is the only way that you will have that sustained state of peace that gives you clarity. You can make those better decisions. It's that accountable. I'm able to account and at this point in time say, it may not have been my fault yet it is my responsibility. When you stop blaming, like you said, when you stop holding on to that story, that thing that you think has hurt you, will become a superpower. It actually changes and gives you such a view and a perspective and vision of life, a lens that you get to see through because you have gone through that pain, but you will not get that lens when you tell the story of pain instead of possibility.

Russ Johns 8:28
It's interesting, too, because I've talked so many times on the #piratebroadcast about the idea that there are times where the story we tell ourselves is a lie. When you start to change the story and start looking at the truth and taking responsibility and taking action and changing your story. Because sometimes it's not about anyone else but ourselves. Many times, almost always, it's about what's going on in our head. The story we're telling ourselves. It's like, oh, I can't do that. Why can't you? Well, I don't have the resources. Then what do you need to get the resources. Work backwards and look at the opportunities you have to move forward to make progress, to move in a direction that allows you to be responsible and be able, like you said, to move forward. So it's a very powerful message and thank you for sharing it.

Meshell Baker 9:31
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Your experience...I mean, you've gone through and experienced some things yourself. The reason you're here is because you've seen that it's not just one time hearing, overcoming, it's the constant refreshing in our mind, of the overcomers that inspire us in those moments like our unconscious mind needs the references I tell you. Youu cannot stop listening to stories of overcoming. You cannot stop reading books of overcoming and listening to the podcasts and the lives and going to the events where you hear them tell the testimonials, because your unconscious needs to be constantly refreshed and reminded that you can and those moments, that's where it goes and references, like a library, right? It's like your brain is a supercomputer. I tell me, if you want biologically, you can search this fact. We're all born with 100 billion brain cells. So your brain has the capacity of Google, but it doesn't have anything to search in that moment of fear, disappointment, failure, overcome doubt if you have not fed it.

Russ Johns 10:40
I think that moments like this and just sitting down and communicating this. My goal in our mission today is to kind of open up other people's thoughts and ideas. The idea that it is possible to make some changes in your life. It is possible to make minor little shifts. You don't have to move a mountain to make a difference. You just have to make a step forward and make a dip. Make yourself a little better than you were yesterday. That's all it takes is just a little bit. If you start today, and you go a year from now, just think how far you can go. I encourage everybody to take those positive steps forward in order to accomplish some of your goals. So what are some of the goals? I know that you're in Austin now and you were using a co-working space and doing a lot of that stuff. Obviously, some of that has been challenging this year. So what's Michelle up to today? And what's bringing you joy at the moment?

Meshell Baker 11:55
Well, thank you for that question. What I'm up to today is Superfans Solutions is a company that I'm launching. It is a COVID creativity. It's that moment and during COVID, where I actually recognize that I can create. Within six days I'm a coach, so coaching. Oh, quickly, I'm seeing some comments here. Eileen Doyon, Sarathy and Kenyatta Turner. Hey, good morning. I just want to say good morning.

Russ Johns 12:29
The #piratebroadcast, Michelle.

Meshell Baker 12:32
Hey, y'all,

Russ Johns 12:33
She's good. Sarathy is in the house. Kenyatta. Andrew is here. Not going to prison sounds like a real motivator to get a better life.

Meshell Baker 12:45
I know right?

Russ Johns 12:46
I have to agree with you there. Smart one, Andrew. Cathi Spooner says, good morning and Wendy is here and says, good morning pirates. Thank you so much.The 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day, so we'll have to have a special show or something. Sarathi says, an awesome way to work is using the problem situation to the resolution. Many times people have asked me their problems. So I tell them, it's so simple. Use the problem to your advantage. Solving the problem and thinking about...it's like Einstein said, if I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd take 15 minutes to think about the problem, and 10 minutes to solve it. It's that idea. Cathi says, great conversation. We can't change what we won't face.

Meshell Baker 12:46
Oh, so good, Cathi.

Russ Johns 13:00
Oh, that's a powerful statement.

Meshell Baker 13:42
So true.

Russ Johns 13:56
Eileen says, she's another pirate, good morning. Thank you so much for being here. Sarathi says, hi Cathi.

Meshell Baker 14:05
Now they're talking to each other, the piraters.

Russ Johns 14:08
The pirate community, if you're unfamiliar with the pirate community and if you're listening or watching the replay, there's a lot of people that have made connections, started conversations offline and built this thing up to where it's an amazing, amazing community. Kenyatta says, I'm loving the convo #RussJohns and Michelle Baker. Thank you so much for that. Foley, so excited to see you this morning. Love the discussion already. Foley is going to be on. She's in the military doing some great work. And she'll be on with me on September 11th. So that will be amazing conversation. So they can talk to each other and it's a very vibrant connection. if you're not connected to Michelle, connect with Michelle, she's doing a lot of great work. So back to your story about what's going on in your coaching activities today. Walk us through it.

Meshell Baker 15:24
As you know, I've been working on the vision and my biggest journey has been the mind, right? I tell people years ago...I've got a little echo happening. Was that me or is that you? Do you have it?

Russ Johns 15:39
I don't have it.

Meshell Baker 15:39
Okay, then that's okay. So it's just really been the thoughts. It's nothing outside. Everything we need is inside of us and we've all heard this on our journey, especially if you're an entrepreneur, you're in sales, you're a business owner. If you're doing anything entrepreneurial, in its essence, you've heard and understand this concept. Now, living the concept is a whole different thing when you're faced with bills, when you're faced with disappointments, when things didn't work out your mind screams challenges and problems. I work with sales professional, sales leaders and business owners. Business owners is actually my sweet spot. I work with them to really look at being the super fan of yourself, then your product, then your client, because what you're literally doing when you're going out to actually have that conversation about your product or offer, you're actually translating your belief and your ability, not just to sell something, but to co-create with them a better existence. They have a problem. You are the solution. So when you get really excited about the opportunity to partner with them to work with them to change their life, you become their superfan and it changes how business is done. It changes humanity. It actually elevates both of you. It's a better way to work. This is the way the marketplace is meant to be. Instead of you just going out trying to cold call all these people and get people and close, close close. One of the things I remind people is, and I've learned this again, for I mentor over at the National Association of Sales Professionals, when you actually focus on what you propose, versus the close, trying to get the client, you will actually get more sales because a "no" doesn't mean not now, it just means not never and your goal is to leave people better off if they buy or not because you don't know if they're a referral if they're a recommendation or if they're repeat for later, you don't know in that moment. Your only purpose is to be valuable, be a solution. When you think about it, when you're stuck in the moment, think about your most favorable outcome. What would this place that you're stuck feel like if it was going well? Focus on that and just hold the feeling. It will never happen the way you think it will, but you will get the feeling when you believe it's possible. That's what people don't understand. It's our thoughts. Thoughts become things. So that's where I work. I work on the psychology. The forward facing people are focused on a strategy of how or what to sell, I'm focused on why you want to sell and who are you in the process and solution for your client. Then we go into strategy.

Russ Johns 18:41
Yeah, I love that and so many times, Michelle, It's almost like this startup syndrome and in the minimal viable product that I think, okay, well, if I had this problem, other people must have this problem. So I can create something amazing and I go out and I share with people and it's like, yeah, that's not what I need to solve right now. It's like, and a lot of times, clients just feel like, I just need more clients. I just need prospects. I need more leads. When they think about it that way, and I've been through this process, I've continued to evolve through this process, as we most often do. You really have to get clear on what it is. What the problem is that you're solving for somebody or how you're helping others before you even talk about the problem that you have, because if you can't solve that problem, you don't need to fit a square peg in a round hole just to sell a product and it doesn't work for anyone. It leaves them with a bad tastes because you sold them something they didn't need. Then you don't have a relationship and so often we forget about that process. When we try to shortcut the process, it ends up in a bad way, typically. So clarity on what you're selling, how you're helping, and it doesn't mean that you can't help other people, even if your product isn't right for them. The way that you help them is not to sell it to them and get a fan out of it. Right?

Meshell Baker 20:25
Exactly. There are businesses that have been around for decades, who don't use social media, who don't go out and promote themselves. Those same businesses will probably have a customer appreciation program in place. They'll probably have a referral program in place, right? So their focus is on being massively valuable to the people they serve. More so than trying to figure out how to get more people. It's, think about it, if you nurture what you have, it will grow. There are lots of places in our universe. in our world, that you cannot bend them or break them. I always tell people a law of increase. Your a business owner, if you want more you must plant and nurture and water and weed. I always say what's the best fertilizer in the world? Crap. So when it starts to feel all yucky and hard, say thank. Say thank you because it's always working in your favor. The people who are the most successful in business and thrive are the ones who understand this principle and continue to plant and nurture at the same time, because harvest for them is always coming. That's what they call the pipeline, so to speak. Then it's all about the ideal client. So getting back to that niche, I remember Tara Bowman, if you remember her, she was one of the first people I heard say, there's riches and niches and it's that concept, that when you get good at speaking directly to the person and your built to serve and be their solution, you expand from there. Anyone who has an empire started by being known for one thing, they didn't try to build an empire from the beginning. They got known for one thing and got massively masterful at it. Then they spread out, but the world keeps telling you to do all these different things. When I say get clear, get compelled, focus on that one thing, become successful and then branch out.

Russ Johns 22:44
It's amazing how distracting life can be. I think it really goes back to that point, the more focus you have on an outcome and the clearer you are with the path, to get that outcome and the less distractions you allow into your world. It allows you to accelerate, it's almost like putting jet fuel in the tank when that happens, because social media, you got so much noise, you got everything that's distracting you and you've got a pandemic along the way. There's things that are going to cause challenges, but that doesn't mean that's going to stop you, it just means that you have to figure out a way around that and keep your focus. Keep your clarity and keep your mission going because it's so important, more now than any other time, to be very clear on what you want the outcome to be. I think, like you said, the riches are in the niches. I think follow up is something that a lot of people fail to understand how to do and that's part of the nurture sequence that a lot of people need to continue to work to improve on, myself included. It's like a lot of my work and evolution in business has been because of my relationships. Not because of someone I haven't met yet, It's typically someone in my network, someone I have a relationship with that knows what I do and I didn't need it then, but I need it now. Very good point. I wanted to bring something up. Foley said, I love that you are breaking down that, in order to change business, you are storytelling and sharing your vision with others. Powerful thought as a leader and person. Stories are a powerful, very powerful tool and storytelling and explaining to people why you're doing what you're doing. You told us a story about your early days in life and some of the changes and decisions you made. That brings us closer to who Michelle is and it allows us to kind of get a glimpse on, okay, she's taken a bad situation, improved on it, learned a lot and now she's helping other people improve their lives. That's a journey that we can all relate to, in some way, shape or form or respect at, at a very minimum. I love the fact that you shared that and that story, now allows us to know you a little better.

Meshell Baker 25:35
Yeah and it's, again, remember that it's quite recen that we actually are able to have access to books, right? So how our history was passed along was through storytelling. When you and, I love that she used the word vision as well, because when you get clear on what your solution is to your niche audience, then you're telling them the story and inviting them in to the vision of how you guys are going to create that solution. That's when it starts to get fun. That's when you always tell people, that's when you're sourcing their imagination and your imagination together because our imagination is what makes us infinite. The challenge is that most people are using it against themselves. Right? They're thinking, future thought that, what could go wrong instead of what could go right? What you don't know instead of what you do know. What you don't have versus what you do have. You always, always always have everything you need to overcome any challenge you're faced with. You believe in a higher power. God universe, divine Buddha, Allah, or whatever you want to call it, never set you up to fail or look bad. You do that on your own. Right? You do that with your imagination instead of believing that you are more than enough. You are capable in this moment.

Russ Johns 27:04
Yeah, I call it future tripping. Don't go future tripping. Stay in the moment, get the "cants" into a mode of, how can I? Figure it out because we have an opportunity to figure this out. It may not be the outcome that we had originally envisioned; however, the result can still be the same. We just have to pay attention to what we're feeling because it's just an emotion. We have control over our feelings and thoughts. We have control over what we do with our outcome, when we put some energy into it. Kenyatta says, yes, thoughts are things! This is real talk, and that's where it all begins. Yeah, yeah. Sarathi says, Carl Rogers is one of my favorites when I did clinical psychology. It's still like the first day I read about it. We have various ways to make them unlearn, to re-learn and maintain them. He says, in one of my learnings, the speaker says focus on the process of the outcome and not the outcome. The outcome will always come. So it is the process. So true, Russ. Thank you so much for that, Sarathi. Slaptagz says, absorbing and brainstorming, as I listen. Slaptagz is Sheri Lally. Cathi Spooner says, Sarathi, good morning. So these conversations, we all have them in our heads at times and I would encourage people to actually reach out and have conversations with groups or ther people in your community or peers. Think out loud and exchange these ideas because sometimes what we're telling ourselves is not the perception or not the reality that we need to see. It's not the reality other see in us, right? As a coach, I'm sure you've experienced this where somebody has an opinion of themselves, which is completely not accurate. Then you can help them change the way they see themselves.

Meshell Baker 29:28
Yes, absolutely. So you were gonna say, have I ever had the opportunity to help people change the way they see themselves? Yes, the work that I do is, and especially I would say, with business owners, because as a business owner, our business only thrives to the level that we thrive. Right? So being an entrepreneur, business owner, you literally are going into self development. You see that those who do the best have actually invested in coaching. They generally end up having breakthroughs of self limiting beliefs and thoughts and money issues and backgrounds. So, we as an adult, if you've never sat down and decided clearly who you want to be, what you want to have and why you want to have it, you are just an outcome and you are hodgepodge of your past, your history, your parents, your background, how you grew up, the teachers, your experiences, good, better and different. It's the people who actually decide to clearly make that clear decision. This is who I want to be. This is the legacy that I live, I want you to think about people who have left this life. We recently had the guy from Black Panther, Chad. I can't say his name and not get choked up because he's also a Howard University graduate and so am I, so it's really special to me. But anyway, he passed away and you see all that he did. It was a legacy. It's a decision, at some point in life, that you make this decision that when I leave this planet, I'm going to leave it better off. Then you live that life, you don't magically get to leave a legacy by not making that decision. That's the one truth we know that we're all leaving here. We all, at some point, have an expiration date. We don't know when that is, so I actually start with people on that and work backwards.

Russ Johns 31:27
Yeah, we're gonna be dead a lot longer than we're alive.

Meshell Baker 31:34
I love that.

Russ Johns 31:37
I don't know. The universe has been around a lot longer than me.

Meshell Baker 31:42
Exactly. It's such a short time. It's, as they say, gone in the blink of an eye. The wonderful thing about life is, there's no point where you can't change your mind and make a new decision. Any day you can wake up and decide today is the day and make that decision. That's what I love about life. I have clients...I just had a woman who worked with me and went through our process that was nine months. And she actually was 70. She had retired and she decided that. at that age, she wanted to live the rest of her life, the best of her life. She had a lot of inner voice critic and challenges in her retirement. She wanted to unload all the baggage and really create...I'm 70. I plan to live to be 95. That's her plan. So what do I do with the next 25 years? It was so fun working with her and seeing that clarity and seeing her make those decisions and have better conversations. Everything she did initially was massively uncomfortable, massively uncomfortable, but she did it.

Russ Johns 32:50
That's such a wonderful way to make a change, make a positive change, and it's never too late to change. It's never too late to make some adjustments in your life, to improve, and also help others along the way. Michelle, this has been so amazing. I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to reconnect and engage and share a little bit about what you're doing. So how's the best way for people to get a hold of you?

Meshell Baker 33:20
The best way to get a hold of me is to send me a message on LinkedIn and we'll connect. We'll get on each other's calendar and have a conversation. If you're a business owner, I just want to shout out quick that I'm a co founder in a business girl community for conscious entrepreneurs. So if you listen to this and you're a business owner, you're conscious. You really want to what we call, create meaningful money, grow your business and help humanity and your community at the same time. I'd really love to chat with you about, as Russ said, a community of people that thrive, just like this pirate community, people who really have empowering, inspiring and encouraging conversations about how to be better and change the world at the same time. So I'm so glad to be here, Russ, thank you so much for this.

Russ Johns 34:10
It's amazing. I do appreciate you and all that you're doing. Thank you for taking the time to be here. Michelle, it's always a pleasure. And as you all know, #kindnessiscool, #smilesarefree and you #enjoytheday. Take care everyone.

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