Podcaster Joel Boggess On Self-Improvement & Pursuing Your Dreams

Phillip Crum: And we better get started, Kathleen, because do you know what time it is?

Kathleen Mills: I do.

PC: It’s time for another version, another edition, of the weekly broadcast It’s Just Coffee – a weekly look at Kathleen Mills and her world, mental health professionals and things they don’t know.

KM: (Laughs) How you doing, Phillip?

PC: I’m darn good, Kathleen. Got your coffee?

KM: I do. It’s Einstein’s double cream. I’m ready and I’m going to start with the introduction.

PC: You got your guest lined up?

KM: I do. I’m excited. There’s two.

PC: You’ve had a good week.

KM: I’ve had an awesome week.

PC: You have two guests today, so tell me who they are, tell me a little bit about them, and then let’s rock the joint.

KM: Yep. Well, I’m going to start with an introduction first, and then I’m going to introduce our guests. So, here we go:

“Listen to your voice. No one else can hear it. Tell your story. No one else can speak it. Run after your passion. No one else can catch it. Being true to the person you were created to be is the best gift you can give yourself, your family and the world.”

And I am so excited to have two guests here: Joel Boggess and his lovely wife Pei. Joel and Pe are the authors of their new book called Finding Your Voice. They also have a podcast show called Relaunch. And Joel is also a life coach expert, and he’s just an all-around good guy.

PC: Good morning, Joel and Pei.

Joel Boggess: And good morning to you. Those words that your read sound so familiar!

KM: I wonder why, Joel? Can you tell me about that?

JB: Gosh, thank you so much for the opportunity to be on your show. Finding Your Voice is the book. That was a labor of love for both of us, and to hear you quote something that came, spills off the pages of that book, that is just so moving.

KM: Well, I read it and that was the first thing I read and I was hooked after that. So, like, this is an awesome book, you guys.

JB: Thank you.

Pei Boggess: Thank you.

PC: You were at the meet up here in North Dallas a month ago. And I determined that Joel’s success is success by self-defense because Pei will not allow you to fail.

PB: (Laughs)

JB: That’s pretty much it. That’s pretty much it. And way to see that clearly!

PC: Thank you. Thank you. Just trying help there.

KM: Go team!

PC: So tell us about your book. Go ahead.

PB: Just right before that: I’m really passionate about what you guys are doing. We’ve got our coffee ready. We’re ready to deliver the message, but we’re also so passionate about sharing what really took us to success in this entrepreneurial world because so many people we know, perhaps you know, have this passion and have this desire to do more, contribute more, in this second phase of their lives. But coming out of a somewhat more structuring environment in the past, either from a corporation or not being in an entrepreneurial world, there’s just some principles that we cannot ignore. And we can’t wait to share all that with you guys. So yes, we’re ready to rock!

PC: So tell me. Why did you write the book?

JB: That’s a great question. For the longest time, I was in search of my own voice and that kind of stems from way back when, several years ago, many years – decades, actually – when life for me as an at-risk child, one coming out of the hospital after a near-death experience, pretty much rocked not only my world but my parents’ world. To respect your time and especially the time of your listeners, in a nutshell, that experience for me at age five involved a very tall bridge, a speeding train, and a very, very long drop followed by massive blood loss and a coma. And in that experience, I had to kind of re-learn a lot of things that kids that were five and six pretty much already know. I had to kind of recover through that, and also had to kind of re-find my own voice in that recovery while I was watching my parents try to find theirs. Because they were not only recovering from almost losing their only child – that would be me – but also rebuilding their own lives because right before that near-fatal accident, they separated and didn’t divorce. So they were going through their own recovery process.

KM: You’ve gone through a lot of hardship.

JB: Well, there’s been a few. And the Finding Your Voice book – I like to think of it as a guide book. A guide book for helping you get in touch with who you really are, what excited you, and what you stand for, Kathleen. And if there’s one thing that I’ve learned after years of working with people from the high school student to the six-figure earner, is that there is a hunger within – a hunger to give full expression to the voice that is within us. And obviously I’m not talking about the voice that comes out of your mouth, but the voice that’s stirred from within your heart. And there’s another thing I’ve learned. I’ve learned that people really connect with that inner voice. Well, they’re empowered to take their work, their home, their family life and direction that best suits them. The Finding Your Voice book, it’s a guidebook of our best tips, our best techniques, our best ideas and strategies for getting connected with that inner voice. And I call it a guidebook, Kathleen, because the last thing that anyone needs is another rule book to follow. Right, we have stacks of those on our bookshelves and on our bedside table and in our bathroom. And we read these rule books and they go, “Okay, we’ll I’m just going to do what that guy did and then my world will be complete.” And while that’s a good theory, and with the best of intentions that book was written and read, but cookie-cutter approaches simply don’t work. And the fallback to that is, or the downfall I should say, is when people try to apply a cookie-cutter strategy – something they might read in a book or see in a video program – but when they try to apply it to their life, well mixed results often happen. And here’s the problem with that – then people that are trying to use that idea, that plan, that strategy, they think that, “Gosh, something must be wrong with me because I can’t make this work for me like he did, or like she did.” And that sets us up for, that’s a recipe for frustration. It’s not disaster. But the Finding Your Voice book, we put it together in such a way where, gosh you can open it up to – and you know, Kathleen, you read the book, thank you – you can open it up to chapter two, chapter three, chapter six, and you can immediately start to get ideas and tips and some strategies that will help you find clarity pretty quickly.

KM: What I like about it, at the end of the each of your chapters you almost have like a review chapter question, just reflection for that person finding their own path to empowerment to gain their entrepreneur vision of what they want to do, and how they want to do it. And I think you’re so right when you talk about there’s cookie-cutter books and when you don’t find in that cookie-cutter, you feel like there’s something wrong with you. And you’re trying to release that myth and say, “No. It’s not. You’re finding your own way of getting to where you want to go.”

JB: Thank you for calling it a myth, too, because I believe that’s what it is. But, boy, aren’t we trained from childhood to fit inside this little model of what other people think that we should learn or that we should know or that should work for us? And then in elementary school and in junior high and in high school, and then in the corporate life, boy it just kind of escalates more and more. And unfortunately, the people that need their own plan, their own guide, then they’re thinking, “Okay, well. Boy, this is really... I’m trying but again, it must be something wrong with me. Maybe I should try something else. Who knows?”

KM: You guys are talking about not staying in the box. We’re taught to stay in the box and that’s all we have, and then when we have a struggle, we think that we’re not conforming to the box.

PB: So true. And a lot of the stories in the book are actually from his coaching clients – people who wanted, they originally came to want to see how they can find the work or the business they love. But as they find out, they have to tap into what they truly want from their life, from their family and what they want to create. And in that process, yes you need clarity, but once you have that clarity what you truly want, you need the confidence to step forward. So to create a life that we have not created in the past is a journey. And Finding Your Voice would be one of the first steps.

JB: On the cover of the book, Kathleen, you’ve seen it’s clarity, confidence and direction. And one thing that Pei and I have both learned is that clarity plus confidence equals direction. So if I were to do a new edition of that book, I’d probably put on the cover C + C = D. Clarity in who you are, plus confidence – the confidence to step forward into your own skin, into your own life, into your own aspirations – it equals direction every single time.

KM: I know you guys talk about this in the book, but can you provide our listeners with: do you think people just stop when they start struggling?

JB: Go ahead, Pei.

PB: You mean people stop when they start struggling?

KM: They stop too soon. You know, in their business. They get some struggles along the way and then they just get defeated, discouraged and then they just stop.

PB: Wow.

JB: Powerful question.

PB: Yes. Wow. I see from what we know, and some of it we personally experienced. Okay, we stop for different reasons. One – we start doubting if this idea’s even viable. Then we start doubting are we doing it right? And then in this world nowadays, is it so easy to get distracted. It’s like, okay now let’s look at who’s successful out there and maybe I’m not doing the right thing. So when you said we start struggling and stop – yes, there are times we do need to make a switch. Sometimes minor, sometimes major.

JB: I call it a pivot. We’ve heard entrepreneurs share that word with us a lot recently.

KM: Right. Like the word.

JB: Did you see Srini? Did you see his keynote?

KM: Yes. He was unbelievable.

JB: Well we have a chat with Srini yesterday and one of the things that he said is, “There doesn’t need to be another ‘Be just like me’ product out there.” He said, “The market is flooded with other people trying to recruit people to take this program and learn how to be just like me.” And boy, that really struck a nerve in the conversation that he had with us. And I completely agree with Srini. There doesn’t need to be any more of those products or services to be just like me. No – be just like you! Maybe zero in on the same idea as that person that you’re learning from, but do it in a way that is in alignment with your voice – who you are, what excites you, what you stand for.

PC: It seems like it’s all about trying to discover... your playing by the rules is a wonderful thing. We all have to play by the rules as a society, but as an individual the success rules that we’re talking about – and this stuff has been written on for a hundred years. Each generation regurgitates that material and has to figure it out anew. But, it’s like if you were born to ride a bicycle and you try and achieve success and you measure that by the rules meant for automobile drivers, you’re setting yourself up for success. The rules that you follow need to apply to you and your situation and there’s some basics there obviously. As Pei mentioned a moment ago; if you’re working on your idea, your dream, you have to make sure – I mean it’s common sense – you have to make sure that there’s a market for it to begin with. If you were going to sell shoes and you’re on a desert island with a thousand other people and nobody has any feet, you’re up a creek.

PB: Precisely.

PC: Common sense rules followed by personal rules for success and focus on what you’re good at and what you can do and set reasonable but uncomfortable goals and pursue them.

PB: I like that – uncomfortable goals. You know, one of the things I think we fall into – that actually leads to a few success principles we learned from doing the Relaunch show. We interviewed the top performers and their success path. Just about every – I mean, I guess you get it from the title Relaunch – just about every single person that they achieved where they are now, it’s amazing when they start sharing where they came from. And we were like, “Are you serious? That was you, so tell us what took you to success?” And we find there are actually three real core principles. We can share with the audience whenever you’re ready.

KM: I’m ready.

PC: Don’t tease me – let’s hear it!

PB: You know, if I just start with the first one. Actually... there are three. Relaunch relationship, resources and routines. Let me start with the first one. Normally I talk about resources first, but because of our conversation earlier, you mentioned that so many people have this idea and start making this product and then they get stuck, they struggle. So one idea to – I wouldn’t call it eliminate in the struggle – just to make it easier for you to be successful is develop layers of relationships. And this one layer relationship you reach out either, depending on your personality and your style, you reach out locally or online to get feedback about your message. To interview people who you think are the ideal customer of your potential product and business. Listen to these people. Listen to your potential customer and see where they really are having this pain and struggle and what they’re willing to pay for. Because we sometimes cook up this idea in our mind that this is just gold – everybody wants to hear this. C’mon.

PC: It’s like everybody thinks their house is really worth $20,000 more than it really is.

KM: Right.

PB: Yes. So just relationship building with your potential customers and the relationship you build up with people who support you and could be your mentors and coaches. So you got to build up a support network beside your customers, I was mentioning earlier. So that’s one of the first things in success principles as far as re-launch relationships.

KM: Tell me about your Relaunch podcast show. I really want to give our listeners that resource so they can listen to those stories, those incredible entrepreneur walks of both success and defeat and conquer and all that. Can you just talk about your Relaunch show? How can they get a hold of you?

JB: Oh yeah, sure. Thank you for the opportunity today. Relaunch the show; it’s the best show you’ll ever hear for career changers, for difference-makers, and for those with the dream. In that show, we interview and pick the brains of today’s hottest and most in-demand speakers, authors and pod leaders. And really understanding what worked for them and what was successful for them. So our listeners can really understand what has worked and then they can pick and choose from, “Okay, well this sounds like it is in alignment with who I am. Let me try this,” or, “This might work for me. Let me see how I can mold it and shape it to fit my personality.”

PB: Right.

JB: Absolutely. Like the book, it’s not a cookie-cutter show, but it is a show that is designed to give people inspiring stories, fresh ideas and also, of course, practical steps to help them get clarity on what to do next.

KM: Tell me how people can find your show. I mean, podcast is up and coming and it’s blazing in the podcast movement, but many people don’t know about how they can get a hold. So give people either a website or something so they can access the Relaunch show and all that.

JB: You bet. Thanks for that. Relaunchshow.com is the best place to go.

KM: Awesome. And then you just take it from there. You guys are on Stitcher and iTunes, right?

JB: Stitcher, iTunes and iHeartRadio.

KM: Awesome.

PB: Yeah, the links are all on the website if you go to Relaunchshow.com.

KM: Very good. If you were to have three sentences of words of wisdom, encouragement, to the up-and-coming new entrepreneurs in whatever venue, what top three tips would you give them?

JB: Well the first thing I would say is create your own media because that’s the world that we live in. Create your own media. You can start a podcast. You can start a YouTube show. You can start a blog. And there’s many other ways, many other forms of media that you can get involved in, too. You don’t have to do them all, but pick one and be rock star good at it.

KM: You know, many people think that, you know you just touched on that one, Joel – that’s a hot spot. I have to be all things in all areas. And you’re saying no.

JB: That’s a recipe right there for a lot of disaster.

KM: Right.

JB: And we get that a lot and we used to have a live radio show, callers used to express that concern a lot. They say, “Gosh, there’s so many things to do. How do I do it?” And my answer’s always the same. I always ask them, “What’s your favorite thing to do as far as media?” And some people will say podcast and some say video, so forth and so on. Then I say, “Okay, great. Pick that one and be so good at it that people can’t ignore you.” That’s what Steve Martin said. Be so good they can’t ignore you.

KM: There you go. That’s awesome.

PC: Tell me what’s on the horizon. What are you working on right now in addition to the Relaunch show? I know that’s occupied a lot of your time, but what are you working on that the two of you just wake up in the morning and go, “C’mon, we get to work on this?”

JB: Sure. You know what? We are in the process of getting ready to turn up the next wave generation of podcasters, and we are on fire excited about that. Using some of the principles from the Finding Your Voice book so people can get in touch with the message that they want to share, and then giving them that platform. Go ahead, Pei.

PB: Yes, what’s interesting is of course people can learn podcasting from many resources, and we have pretty much just been absorbing all this information as well. But what we find is people start to follow a model and then they start wanting to tweak, wanting to re-launch, wanting to make it something that works for their own business. And with better audience engagement and better downloads. So we actually really passionate to help people who have a voice and help them to share their voice in a much bigger platform.

KM: So I want you guys... you know, we were at the Podcast Movement conference a couple weeks ago. How did you, what was your experience with the Podcast Movement that you want to give our listeners a little bit of -?

JB: Yeah I was absolutely blown away at the number of people that came up and introduced themselves to Pei and myself. They knew about the Relaunch show. They also kind of followed us on social media. Pei and I, we jerk out pod tips. You can search on Facebook and the other places, the hash tag and the Relaunch pod tip and you can find probably, gosh 50 or so pod tips that we kind of jerk out. And that was just absolutely amazing that people would come to us and just share that they were familiar, that they were paying attention, that they were listening to the show. And then when I asked them to tell me about their show, some people were just excited about the messages they had to share. That was exciting, that there was 600-650-700 messengers there with ideas and insights about sharing their message and making the world a better place. Educating people. Inspiring people. Equipping people. That was exciting.

PC: Joel, for Kathleen’s audience – the small business, the entrepreneur – is the Podcast Movement conference, since it’s still fresh on our minds, is that an appropriate place for them to be? Or is that a meeting for gear heads?

JB: Yeah, that’s a great question. It really depends. Back to the statement that I made a few minutes ago, if podcasting is a potential for you to create your own media – absolutely! Get involved in not only Podcast Movement 2015, but in your local podcasting groups or Podcasters Paradise or various other social media podcasting groups. If podcasting strikes a chord with you. Now, if it doesn’t, don’t force yourself to, but find something that does strike a chord with you.

PB: One other thing I want to mention is that actually ties into our second Rs besides re-launch relationships – re-launch resources. Even if this may not be for you, start attending some conferences. It will open up your mind to a new world that you possibly didn’t know existed. And even if podcasting is not for you, you will meet some people and by the way, that will become your re-launch relationship. And these people are all entrepreneurs, even if they are not in the same field as you are. But they’re going through the same process as you are going through.

PC: It’s the mindset that you’re after. Even if you’re not into purple mohawks, I’m kidding. There was only one. We still get a lot of out of that. In fact, that was – I’ve been to a lot of conferences – and that was a group of the most friendly, willing-to-help each other people, not only at the conference but a week or two later they’re still saying you betcha.

KM: There’s still energy. There’s a camaraderie.

JB: And you just nailed it, too – willing, friendly, willing to help. That right there is a show in itself because that is the new economy. Friendly and willing to help.

KM: It’s a nice neighborhood.

JB: Exactly. It’s all about helping people solve their problems – that’s the new economy. And that’s a dramatic shift from generations –

KM: It’s a repositioning of everything.

PC: It’s a 180. What it is is vastly different.

KM: So what events are coming up for you two that you would like to promote?

PB: You mean our event?

KM: Yeah. Anything that you guys want to promote on our podcast?

PB: Well we appreciate the platform and thank you again. What we encourage people to do: if you follow us, go to Relaunch show, we have free resource actually for people to find their voice it’s a free downloadable on our website. And then we’ll keep you updated because we are actually going to be ramping up some free webinars and live events.

JB: Podcast training. Live events. Yeah, we’ve got a lot of things going on. So my recommendation would be go to Relaunch show and just bookmark it and check back for updates.

KM: And you’ll be hooked forever.

PB: Sign up for the newsletter. That will be the best way so they can, we’ll send you an email when there’s a free event.

PC: Well, time flies so I’ve got three things left and then we’re done. First, for the listeners, if you folks would like to hear the secret stuff, we’re going to talk a little bit with Joel and Pei about five, six, seven minutes after we’re done here, and I’m going to get the two of them to define finding your voice and drill down what exactly does that mean. So if you’d like to hear that conversation, all you need to do is text the word, “Voice” to the number 442-333-7363 and you’ll get a link to that post and you’ll be all of the smarter for it. Now, number two: here’s what I got out of this conversation. Number one: get out of your box and your comfort zone. Things have to be, have to make you a little nervous, otherwise you’re still doing the same things that you’ve always done. Number two: bat your dreams off other successful people. Don’t bounce it off your mother-in-law. Negative people – they’re not all negative. No cards and letters, please – bounce it off successful people. They will not trash your dream, but they will tell you, or give you, the benefit of their experience if you ask them. Number three: To clarify your goals before you begin – that sounds somewhat obvious, but people don’t do it. And number four: Pick one thing – now you mentioned media, but you can apply this to pretty much anything – but pick one thing whether it’s media or a goal or a skill, and become rock star good at it. And finally, my question is for Pei: how come your picture isn’t on the back of this book? You want me to talk to somebody for you?

KM: (Laughing)

PB: You know, what a great question.

PC: Because I will.

PB: Are you seriously wanting to know?

PC: No. I’m just kidding.

KM: Yes, he is.

PC: Yes, I am. I’m serious. I want to know. I’m going to take a picture. I’m going to tape it on the back of this book, because I think you should be there.

PB: Thank you.

KM: Because the book is right here on the desk.

PC: I’m just having fun, but hey – how come your picture’s not there? We appreciate you very much, you two, getting up early to talk to us.

KM: You guys are awesome.

JB: It’s been fun.

PC: And we hope we can do it again. We’ll see you all at the local meetings I’m sure. And thank you very much. Thanks everybody for listening, and don’t forget to text, “Voice” to 442-333-7363. Say goodnight, Kathleen.

KM: Goodnight, Kathleen. Say goodnight, Phillip.

PC: Goodnight, Phillip. Bye, Joel, Pei.

JB: Bye bye.

PB: Bye.

PC: Thanks a lot, folks. And on we go.