268: Passion, Purpose and Picking Yourself Back Up

Melissa [: 00:00:00

Alright, guys. Coming to you with a special episode. We're calling this the mastermind popcorn episode. We're here in Charlotte recording live with our Elevate 360 mastermind members, and we actually turned the mic back to me. We gave our mastermind members a chance to ask me some of their burning questions that they wanted to hear, and nothing was off limits. So I hope you guys enjoy this episode. Need some effective tactical advice that actually helps you get results and makes a real difference in your life and business? You've come to the right place. If you're finding yourself here today, it means you're getting ready to gain serious traction in your business, rapidly multiply your income and impact, and you're ready to make it happen while living all out.

Melissa [: 00:00:49

Guys, I'm Melissa Henault, your trustworthy corporate dropout turned 6 figure business burnout turned happy and healthy CEO of a multimillion dollar online business, and you're listening to the Burnout to All Out podcast. On this show, we're serving up innovative growth strategies, simple implementation methods to put them into practice, and action stimulating inspiration tailored specifically for the modern entrepreneur. Let's dive in.

Guest [: 00:01:27

So when we start out as entrepreneurs, when I started out, part of what was driving me might have been a little bit of fear. I need to make money. Mhmm. But eventually, what carries you forward has to be something that's deeper than we talked about head over heart. Mhmm. Can you share a little bit about, for you, that passion or your purpose Yeah. That pulls you forward through those hard times when you're failing and you're falling down and you just wanna say, fuck it. I'm giving up.

Guest [: 00:01:57

Yes. How do you step above that? And what is it for you, that passion and that purpose that pulls you forward so that you can ignore the head Yeah. Even though it's all creeping up on you Yeah. And follow your heart and your passion?

Melissa [: 00:02:13

Yeah. Okay. So I think this is 2 part. Hopefully, my brain can, like, remember the second part that I wanna bring you to in a minute. Remind me around the ultimate mentor in a minute, if I forget. That's my keyword. But what started for me let me take you back to, like, my initial purpose mission and what keeps me grounded, and then we'll talk about when shit gets hard. It was when I was being groomed to be a sec what they call second line leader in corporate America.

Melissa [: 00:02:38

It's when you become, like, a vice president, when you have, your second level leader. Right? They put you through a lot of training that I'm very grateful for. And one of the things that they do is, actually, they encourage you to write a personal mission. And I'd always been really passionate about health and wellness and fitness and, like, taking care of my body. I was an athlete growing up. And, obviously, I was very passionate about leadership. And climbing the corporate ladder, I was half the age of all the men in the boardroom that were in the same role as me. So very young climbing the ladder.

Melissa [: 00:03:10

So leadership was big to me. And then, lastly, financial safety has, fortunately or unfortunately, been driven into me since I was a young age, because it was scarce, it was unavailable. And so, wealth and financial safety had been ingrained into me. So when I was writing my personal mission, what came to me was, I wanna be the example as a leader that you can be happy, you can be healthy, and you can be wealthy, and you can actually have all three of these things. And as I was writing that mission statement, I took a nice 360 degree look at my life. And even my boss, who I was looking at, that's the next step for me, who had spent his entire year his entire life in corporate, was in his, like, mid to late sixties, probably almost a £100 overweight, traveled the large majority of his life, rarely saw his children, and worked all weekend and all week. This was his life and this was the life I was training to look into becoming. And I looked at my current life where I had 2 kids in diapers where my I was traveling all the time, and my mom was raising my kids.

Melissa [: 00:04:24

And I wasn't healthy. I was up all, like burning the midnight oil because I was performative. I had to outperform everyone because I'm an Enneagram 8. I had to, it was like a badge of honor to work through the night and to deliver what my boss asked of me, and it just created more work for me because I was so performative. And so when I looked at all of that, I was like, I'm not happy and I'm not healthy. I may have money in the bank, but someone else is raising my kids. And that was when those were the seeds that were planted for what you see today, which is burnout to all out. What I realized in that moment was I was not living in congruency of my heart's passion, which was to lead people in a way that they could be happy, healthy, and wealthy.

Melissa [: 00:05:07

And over the next couple of years, I was able to pivot out of corporate, launch the burnout to all out podcast, which focuses on inspirational stories of entrepreneurs who've made the pivot and bring value to my audience, to motivate them to do the same. And it launched my entire personal brand that really revolves around how we can do life and business in a way that creates ease, health, happiness and wealth. And that has been my North Star since the day I started. When you think about every offer that I have, it still leads to that. So, Lead Gen Academy. The whole premise is entrepreneurs are spinning their wheels on all the other platforms, wasting a ton of time, not getting the results that they want. And with the Lead Gen Academy, we can save them time, create more efficiency for the average entrepreneur, small business owner to get results, so they have more time in their business and more time with their family so they can live all out. It's the same thing with build, grow, scale.

Melissa [: 00:06:11

You see, this is like my North Star. We teach them a system. We teach them a process to build, grow, and scale in a more efficient way. Mhmm. We get back to more time for life and business. And the same thing with modern I mean, the modern entrepreneur is all about filling your cup up that bodies build businesses. So it feeds that vision of living all out. And, obviously, you are a, you know, a client in the Elevate 360 Mastermind, which, again, that's my baby.

Melissa [: 00:06:41

It really, like Regalting. It really all works. It all together with mind, body, spirituality, and making a shit ton of money. Yeah. We can do it all and laugh and have fun and go on retreats and really, really do it all. And so, that is my north star always. When I'm in the middle of a launch, I envision how I can change these people's lives. These people, every launch, when we close cart and we have over a 100 new clients that come in, there's not a launch that I don't scroll through every single picture of every single person, and visualize how we are gonna help them live all out through a more efficient way to do business.

Melissa [: 00:07:26

And so, it's my North Star. When shit hits the fan, which was the second part of your question, and you feel like giving up. What I've come to learn, that's my kind of karmic path, is that the way I make impact is to share my own journey. And the way I mentor is to go first. And I believe that at every evolution of my business, my audience evolves with me. And they need me to go through these challenges, so that I can come out on the other side and share with them how I

Guest [: 00:08:08

You're lighting a path. Thrived.

Melissa [: 00:08:10

That's right. So I almost like get teary eyed about it because it's like, when I'm in the midst of the shit of it, I'm like, what is the lesson in this? And how can I bring this forward to my community? What am I learning here? And how can I pave it forward for my community so that they can step over that mess instead of step in it? And that brings me to my bigger vision of the ultimate mentor that I'm striving to become. That when you're a business owner and your entire ego is attached to success, attached to numbers, attached to your business goals, when all of that crumbles and it doesn't hit exactly what you desired. Like, where are you now? And what is your self worth? And can you still be happy? That is where I'm feeling called to mentor. And I can't mentor from that place unless I'm willing to lean in to the challenges, and move forward, and have fucking fun anyway. Smile about it, and recognize that the growth happens with the challenge. And be the example so that I can come out on the other side and say, I didn't just survive. I actually thrived.

Guest [: 00:09:23

And here's the things I learned, and look out for this. Yeah. And it brings that authenticity to you, which I think is a big part of why people are drawn to you because it doesn't feel like a script. It doesn't feel like lip service to generate some to get people to open their wallets. When you think about where you're at today, we all have a vision for, here's what I think I'm gonna do. I'm gonna change the world. What's been the biggest that you didn't expect coming out of it for you personally? Like, in terms of your own whether you had to pivot or whether it was just like, I didn't expect this. We were talking earlier about, for me, I didn't expect that for me, the block was my own inner Yeah.

Melissa [: 00:10:09

Self. Yeah.

Guest [: 00:10:10

What were some of the moments for you as you were uncovering? Do you knew how? What were some of the biggest moments for you that were, like, these moments? Yeah.

Melissa [: 00:10:19

I think that some of the biggest moments for me have come from the willingness to dissolve what I think should be and who I have been. So it's really hard for me to explain other than to say, it goes back to the dissolve of ego and also embracing change. So, like, for instance, with the pivot from corporate, in the midst of it, my identity was a corporate executive. This is who I am. And when when that was threatened from me, the fear of this being my identity, and how could I ever let go of this identity? Because the reality is the fear of letting go is because it's all I've ever known. And I could go through many iterations of my life where that has happened. Fast forward a couple of years, I grew a phenomenal network marketing business that was thriving, and it matched my corporate income, and I was starting to grow a personal brand. And then there was this rub between my personal brand and the network marketing company, and I was being forced to choose because I couldn't do business with both.

Melissa [: 00:11:27

And in that moment, I remember feeling like, but this is my identity. My identity is being the successful network marketer, and I'm so scared to lean into my personal brand, because what if it doesn't work? Why was I scared? Because I'd never been there before. It was fear based. Fast forward to this past year. I mean, we hit multiple millions last year. And what comes with that is growth and change and hiring of new team and expansion. And you get to a place of feeling like an imposter. Like, I look at the Zoom screen on leadership calls now, and it's like the fucking Brady Bunch.

Melissa [: 00:12:06

I'm like, holy shit. And then there's this moment of fear of, like, payroll and the amount of people I'm responsible for. And back to your question is what I've realized, the biggest for me is those pivotal moments of immense fear or imposter syndrome were just because I was on the edge of something I'd never seen before. And when you're on the edge, like try like looking over the top floor of the Empire State Building and see how that feels. When you've never been there before, you have no bearings to feel safe. And so the instinct is to resist the change. But where growth happens, is to embrace it with faith and fear are both unknown. Both of them are anticipating the future.

Melissa [: 00:12:59

1 is anticipating the worst case scenario, and the other is anticipating that the universe has you, and when you fall, you will be caught. And so, what I've learned in the biggest light bulb moments I've had in my journey, is that in every moment of absolute fear when you've ultimately, when we white knuckle it and are trying to control it is when we really expend so much energy on what has already been written. And if you can just let go and embrace that moving forward, the manifestation is coming to you. And I look back now and I've survived all of my worst days, and every time I felt like I was at rock bottom, I was actually rebirthing to a whole new ascension. And so I think that is my biggest lesson so far. I this sounds fucked up, but now when things go sideways, I'm like, what are we learning here? And it's true. We're about to grow.

Guest [: 00:13:57

I think you're the one that coined or shared make your ceiling your floor. Yes. And that's become a big part of how I look at everything now too. I don't get it. I'm not afraid anymore when I hit a a ceiling, and I'm, you know, frustrated or anxious or think I've hit something that I can't get through because it means you're about to break through to that next level. So if your ceiling is now your floor, what's your next ceiling?

Melissa [: 00:14:23

Well, that brings me back to the ultimate mentor. For me, it's never been about a revenue number. Like, to me, it's about impact. And impact is the ultimate goal in what I do, to teach people how to go from living a burnout lifestyle to living all out through purpose and impact. And so it's funny. I get asked that question a lot. It's like, is it next year? Is it gonna be, like, 8,000,000? Or what are you gonna do? And to me, it's actually it's not a revenue goal. Where my soul is calling me, and we're building this new luxury mountain home.

Melissa [: 00:14:57

And I really love the high end intimate business coaching that I'm doing with you ladies, Jackie and I do together. And I have 2 places that my heart and soul go to. And one is for mass availability of the internal work that needs to be done to be successful as an entrepreneur with a modern entrepreneur. So one of my big visions in this new year is making it readily assessable, highly affordable, and literally like something anyone in my ethos can throw into their cart because I truly believe they need the support. The flip side of that is experiential retreats that are profound breakthroughs, mind, body, spirituality, and business. I mean, it'll start probably in my one mountain home that I've built, and I would ultimately love to see it evolve to something bigger and be a kind of rotating site locations between, like, Bali and Costa Rica and all the great places, even, like, Egypt. Basically, like, it's a pattern interrupt to get completely out of your normal world, number 1. And then bringing in some of the most ultimate mentors that I've worked with to do the healing.

Melissa [: 00:16:11

Because I know a lot of people try to separate business from the healing piece. But let's be honest, To be an entrepreneur, you're a fucking horizon chaser, and you are going to chase the horizon for the rest of your fucking life because we all had fucked up childhoods. That's all there is to it.

Guest [: 00:16:29

So true. Right? So true.

Melissa [: 00:16:31

And that that's the we're the only ones batshit crazy enough to be relentless enough and resilient enough to be successful because of the shit we've been through. So then how can you reflect on the shit you've been through and actually move it through your body, process it, and release it. Because for most of us, we don't even realize it's a cog in the next level of ascension of what we're capable of. And so I am, like, really working to how can I integrate even more high level business coaching with the inner work that is needed to get you to that next level? And that's where the word ultimate mentor comes from. It's like where I'm headed. I love that. So true. Thanks guys so much for listening in on today's podcast episode.

Melissa [: 00:17:19

And I can't wait for you to see my upcoming guest in the next episode. You are going to love this keynote speaker. Hey, here's the deal. If you like this, please subscribe and leave a review. And you want the latest online business growth strategies and exclusive LinkedIn pro tips sent straight to your phone? Text the word update to 704 318-2285. That is text the word update to 704-318-2285. Can't wait to see you guys. Come find me over on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, wherever you like to hang.

Melissa [: 00:18:01

Cannot wait to hear how you are enjoying and applying what you're learning. You guys reach out to me over on social because I love hearing what's resonating with you. When you reach out to me and you send me those personal DMs, they really do impact the content I continue to bring forward to you. So again, come find me, melissa_henault over on Instagram, melissahenault over on LinkedIn and Facebook. Can't wait to see you guys over there.