Chanel Delisser on Building a Fitness Brand, E-Commerce, and Entrepreneurship

On episode 2, "Monetizing Your Influence", Chanel Delisser (@chaneldelisser) and I discuss building Coco Fitness to a six-figure business, growing an organic online community of 1 million supporters (without ads!),  how to create and sell an e-commerce product, and much more!

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Transcript

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to the Clout101 Marketing podcast. I'm your host Idia Ogala. On Clout101, we talk to some of the most successful people across different industries and decode the marketing strategy beyond some of the most iconic brands, campaigns and moments in culture. On today's episode, we have a very, very special guest joining us.

On today's episode, we have a very special guest joining us Chanel Dalyssa AKA Coco Chanel is a medical professional by way of occupational therapy, a business entrepreneur by way of fashion and fitness and a social media influencer with nearly 1 million loyal followers across Instagram and YouTube.

On today's episode, we discuss how she's leveraging her personal brand to build the retail and digital product businesses. And she also gives some great tips for creators and shares, helpful resources to get started today. We hope you enjoy.

Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm doing well. I'm ready to chop it up. Talk all that good stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And this is what, the second time that we've done this, hopefully this time is more focused on the business stuff, on the stuff that a lot of the, almost 1 million people who follow you would love to hear him up to really dissect, to be able to get some actionable jams, to replicate what you've been able to build.

So hopefully they find a lot of value out of this. Yes, yes, absolutely. Is I second go around and I think that it'll be interesting to see how different the conversation is this time. For sure. For sure. Okay. Well, I think the million dollar question is how you got started as an influencer. So I know you probably get that question a lot via DM or other people that interview you probably asked that I think it's important to set the stage first, before we jump into more specifics, just to kind of cover that basis.

So how did you get started? Yeah, I think that's a really, probably my one most commonly asked question and it's so funny because initially when I was starting all of this and just doing what I was doing, I never thought of myself as an influencer. But then when you understand the impact that you have and the feedback that you get from people online, and you understand the power of your influence, then it's like, okay, I guess I'll have to accept this title.

So, and it's not a bad title to have, but I got started as an influencer simply by doing things that made me feel good and showcasing them online. So what I mean by that is, you know, when I first started my Instagram, I was really just like the girl would get dressed and cute outfits. And like I was feeling good at that moment in time.

So I would snap pictures and that's where it all started. And I think that the heavy influence came once I started to share my personal fitness journey, which I started in may of 2016. So I basically put out a post and said that, you know, this is the start of my fitness journey. I'm going to really get strict, get serious about this.

And I just documented each step of the way, like gain the strength to do, pull up pushups and just transform my body. And I kind of documented it along the way. And a lot of women were just like, wow, how are you doing that? And the influence just like rubbed up from there. Yeah. So I'm happy. You said that because some people stumble into this, you know, influencer creator journey, right?

Maybe they have one viral post that goes crazy. And then now they have, you know, 300,000 followers and they have audience is almost like hungry for what they liked that one time. And it forces that person to kind of keep up, get creative. You just mentioned that you decided in 2016, you said to yourself, you know, you want to document this journey.

You want to be serious about this journey. What inspired that decision to one, even embark on that journey to begin with, but also to let the world into such a, you know, what some could describe as a vulnerable process. Yeah, that's a great question. I think what sparked the journey to begin with at the time in may of 2016, I just completed my master's degree in occupational therapy.

So for those of you who don't know, occupational therapy is a healthcare profession. And I was really in a really reflective space where I completed my degree and I was getting ready to actually enter the work force. And I thought to myself, if I'm going to be this healthcare practitioner, encouraging people to practice healthy habits, live a healthy lifestyle, then I had to be the leading example of that.

So I'm big on not being a hypocrite and practicing what you preach. So in addition to that, as a woman, there were so many things about my body that I was just like, I wish this was a little bit tighter. I wish that my legs were a little bit more toned. Like things like that were happening for me. So. I wanted to do something about it.

I said, I have full control. I'm healthy. I'm able to do something about this now. So why not do something new? You know, everything was like at the perfect space for me. I had the time now, cause I was finished with school to, it was just perfect timing to actually just like now really focus on myself. Yeah.

It's cool to be almost like a student of the craft that you're expecting other people to take you seriously with, right? Like you want the person who's educating you about health and fitness to be the most, most healthy, or maybe strive to be the most out, the most fit that they possibly can be. So I think that's honorable me on the marketing side.

I try my best to be a student of the game. Right. Because I can't give advice and give feedback and expect people to take me seriously if I'm not doing the same thing. So I think that's honorable and that's dope. And I remember, I don't know what year it wasn't 2016. It was probably later than that. But I remember when, you know, you told me that you were taking a leap of faith and you were going to, you know, pursue the entrepreneurial journey.

Full-time so can you talk about that? Like talk about that moment and like, I want you to kind of, if you can compare that, what you felt in that moment, when you took that leap of faith into unchartered territory to now, when it seems like you're figuring it out, you're getting more comfortable in your own skin.

What was that progression like? Wow. I mean, that was such a terrifying, scary time that I would never forget because I was so unsure of what my life could look like. You know, now leaping into entrepreneurship and doing it full time without security on the backend that I had initially, because when I started all of this, I still had my full-time job as an occupational therapist.

And when I got off work, I would do the fitness thing, you know, which was really just me going to the gym, working out. Recording my workouts online. And when I was living in New York during this time, I also offered fitness classes, but those were only once a month. So it just felt very easy to do that.

But when I decided to make the shift, I basically also moved across the country as well. Quit my job moved across the country. And I completely steps into unfamiliar territory because I was now in a city where I didn't know much of anyone. And I worked for myself. Right. It didn't, I was job less quote unquote.

So that was never something that I saw for myself five years prior to that, you know, I graduated school, you know, we graduated school together and it was like, This is the plan to be an occupational therapist and to work. And you think you have that all set in stone and then life is just so unexpected, full of good surprises too.

And can throw you off your course. So I would really say that it was scary, but I knew that I had a certain work ethic and I'm just very strategic in the person that I am, because I also made sure that I set up my occupational therapy license here, because if God forbid I needed to go and get a job, I would be good.

I had so much faith in the person that I was. And in the industry that I stepped into, I knew that there was definitely a need, no matter where I was at, whether I was in New York or California. So in the same breath, although I was uncertain, I was very confident that I could make this work for me. That's amazing.

You have many work for you, congrats to you. Shout out to you has been dope to kind of witness the journey from afar. I think what you just mentioned is important. You took a leap of faith, almost like you made this goal, this vision, you know, almost like it seemed like it was plan a, B and C, but you still made sure you set up steps to have almost like a safety net back in New York, should it not work?

So I think that that's also very, very important because you're setting up two different opportunities for you to be successful. So I think that's cool pivoting a little bit, be your own body goes. So you often mentioned this. This is a quote, this place, that all over your social media area, always talking about this.

Can you just talk about what being your own body goals means for you? And when did you personally realize that being your own body goes was important? Yes. First of all, I want to start with a little disclaimer. So if you ever hear anyone say, be your own body goals, tell them Coco said that, right.

Coco said to you, yes. That statement, those few words are so, so, so important and impactful for me because it was literally something that I had to constantly remind myself of when I started my fitness journey and even entering the social media space. I think that you get on social media, you get online and you see so many different women who were all beautiful, right.

But we come in so many different forms and then it's very easy for you to look online and see other women and compare yourself. To that. So how do you protect your peace? How do you protect your sanity in the midst of all of the changes that you might be creating for yourself? So you have to put yourself in a position where you say, I just want to be the best version of this person that I'm looking at in the mirror.

So that's where it be. Your own body goals came from me. And I think that, especially when I said this to myself at this time, I don't even know when I thought about it, but I know that it was during the time of my fitness journey. I always would go online and I would see woman saying to other women, body goals, body goals, body goals.

And I was just like, Oh, why is no one want to be their own body goes like, I've never heard. I've never saw women saying like, I am my own body goals type of thing. It was just always idolizing other people. And while there's nothing wrong with that, I think that if we don't pay careful attention to how much we're doing it, it can be very toxic for your own mental health and like self image.

So as much as possible, I reinforced that I did to myself and I fell in love with myself as I was making these changes. And I really just put that out there on my social media, on my website. Those words are actually plastered on my fitness products. I sell glute bands and body bands. And you know, when I say, be your own body goes is something that like, I want my girls, all of the ladies who are in my program or the ladies who use my fitness products to see and act as a reminder for them.

So. For sure. And I can imagine that that's very empowering for all of the women that you engage with on the regular, you know, when you were doing the fitness camps, when outside was open, I think I can imagine that a lot of the mad, you know, positive things to say to you in person, but also people who are part of your program are following you on social media.

Also acknowledge that and talk to you about how then embracing themselves as their own body goes. It's something that empowers them. So I think that's really cool. Thank you for that. So what's the most common misconception about you? I mean, I guess this can kind of be in the realm of what your personal brand is, what the world gets to see versus the reality of Chanel.

That's a good question. And the most common misconception actually the most common misconception is that I am perfect. There's a lot of women who say to me online all the time, like you're so perfect. You're flawless. You have everything going for yourself. You'd make it look so easy. That kind of vibe.

And it's just really like, no, one's perfect, obviously. Right? We hear that all the time, but it's really true that there's nothing about my life. That is perfect. But the consistency, the dedication, the constant work that I put into myself has allowed me to make things seem more seamless. So I think that sometimes we can confuse consistency and dedication with perfection.

And while it's never easy for me, there's times when I don't want to work out or I don't even want to post something online because I feel like I wasn't really feeling myself that day, but. I understand and know that everything that I'm doing is bigger than me. It's bigger than, Oh, just putting a workout online.

It's because people are literally reliant on seeing me pop up on their feed and feeling compelled to get up. You know, there's so many times where I hear, I saw this workout video and I had to get up and do something. So if I can have that impact on someone's life, in such an easy, easy, simple manner, then.

Why not do it, you know, why not show up for other people if I can help someone that easily. Yeah. That's dope. In addition to trying to maintain that impact that you have on other people and serving as a source of inspiration for other people to do what they would love to do and accomplish their goals.

What also inspires you when you're not feeling up to it, whether it was, you know, making the content calendars to be able to, you know, post or shooting content for your brand, like what inspires you beyond just the selfless act of doing it for others, um, to keep moving? Well, definitely now at this point, because it is my full-time job.

It inspires me to keep going because I'm showing up to work. And even though sometimes me showing up to work is me working seven days of the week, but that's on my call. You know what I mean? I just had a vacation. I was in Mexico for 10 days, but I can do that because I worked for myself. I could do that because I'm the boss, you know what I mean?

So. I think as long as I have it in me, and most times it's just about showing up. Once I get to the gym, I'm ready to work. The hardest part is really just getting out of bed, sometimes getting out of bed. Once you leave the house. I think that the inspiration as well comes from I, you know, I say this all the time too, to a lot of the girls on my program is do something good for yourself today.

So you can't pour into other people unless you pour into yourself. So I am always going to try my best to show up for myself before I can show up for anyone else. And I'm fortunate enough to have a job where me showing up for myself also resonates with other people and helps other people. I think that's the biggest blessing.

Last question before we dive into the case study portion of this episode. So what's one achievement that you're most proud of and why, and this is your opportunity to flex, like, whatever it is that you feel like you're so proud of yourself for like one of the biggest accomplishments of your career as a entrepreneur to date.

What is that? And why? I would say that my biggest accomplishment is I entered the online space back in 2018, and I was able to reach people all across the world through my online program. So my biggest accomplishment is being able to touch people that I haven't even seen that are in literally countries.

Like outside of the us. So being able to impact people outside of my network, outside of the people that I know at the time when I started my program had over 2000 members and now on my new program, I'm up to about 1800 members. So I think that's something that I take very much pride in carrying to this day, because you know, when you think about it, it's not easy to convince a stranger to put their trust in you.

And I've managed to do that through my social media. I think that's pretty amazing. And it's one thing that I always Pat myself on the back for, and I'm happy about it. So. And that's a seamless transition into the case that, you know, when I was kind of brainstorming areas that I feel this audience can find a lot of value.

Obviously the digital product side was probably the biggest area before we talk about the specific products and what you sell day in and day out. I kind of want to set the stage by asking you about your background as an entrepreneur. Tell us more about your experience selling products. I know you used to be a designer prior to obviously this dabbled in the e-commerce space.

So just tell us about that and what are some things that you learned from your experiences selling, creating, tangible products that you able to apply to what you're doing now in the digital space? Yeah, I think that's a great way to start this off. So for me, I have to attribute this spirit that I have to my hometown, New York city, Brooklyn, to be exact.

I'm a true born hustler. I am a hustler and I was a hustler before I even realized that I was it's crazy because at the time when I first sold anything, I was in college. I was in undergrad, actually, SUNY, Albany. And I was fortunate enough to go to the high school of fashion industries, where I learned most of my sewing skills and I would make outfits for myself.

So, you know, being a college student, not having much money and making things work. So getting fabric, making a cute top from that. And it started with these tops that I would make for myself. And they were called Coco cabana tops. That was my fashion line named Coco cabana and named it after myself, you know, wearing those tops for myself.

And then other woman's saying, where did you get that from? And then wanting it. I immediately thought about, okay, I can make this work for myself. So then I started to market myself. That's really where I learned how to market myself through being the example of the product, you know, myself. And once people really were just like, I want that, I need that.

I started taking orders. I made pieces for other women and then, you know, word of mouth, you know how that works. And it's like, Oh, Chanel makes clothes. And then that was my very first experience with selling products. And luckily at the time I was on Instagram as well. And then I ended up being able to spread my audience even wider by offering these custom pieces that I would sell to women that lived across the country.

That was really an exciting time for me as well. So. Fashion was the start of my entrepreneur journey. And what were some things that you maybe learned about whether it's like, you know, customer satisfaction or just general like marketing strategy to be able to build the brand that you built? You know, what are some things that you were able to take away from that that's helped your business now?

I think that for sure, especially being that it was a fashion piece that I started selling for sure. Presentation. And this still stands for me now presentation is so key. So women, for the most part, we're very simple, simple people. So if it looks good, It's easy on the eye. The colors are vibrant. There's some sort of coordination going on with whatever sort of visual that they're looking at.

They're immediately drawn in and women are very much, they kind of consumers. Whereas like if, especially they can see themselves in you, they want that they got to have it. I'm going to get it kind of attitude. So with my fashion pieces that I started to tell, as long as I coordinated the top with a nice outfit, then it was compelling to the, I was easy on the eyes.

Someone wanted to know more about it. So definitely applying those same sort of strategies to the space that I'm in. Now, the fitness space, when I go to the gym and this is very much my personality to begin with, but always being presentable is my thing personally. Another thing that I'm very key on is if you look good, you feel good.

So even if I'm going to the gym, I'm putting on a cute coordinated outfit because I have to look at myself right. While I'm working out, it's more enticing and I'm a visual learner and I'm just a visual person in general. So if I'm looking back at myself in the mirror and I see something that I like, I can guarantee that someone else looking from the outside in probably feels the same way.

Gotcha. So transitioning more into the digital products that you've been working on, obviously given all of the attention that has been shifted towards social media, towards just the internet in general, with everyone having downtime over the last, what four months, five months, it seems like a lot of entrepreneurs have pivoted towards selling digital products, leveraging their social media following to be able to say, I am selling a t-shirt hoodies and Sonic hats, eBooks, whatever the case may be.

Your original platform, drip that draft a long time ago prior to COVID. So you were kind of on that train and moving that direction before all of this happened. So just talk about like the first time you realized you wanted to sell a product and just what generally inspired you to branch out from, you know, your social media, leveraging your social media following to be able to kind of build more for yourself in the product space.

So I think that the first product, the first actual product that made the most sense for me was selling my glute bands. So I have looped bands, better known as booty bands. So being that I already was in the online fitness space and I offered a fitness program workout program to be exact, it made complete sense to create a product that worked.

In sync with this fitness program. So a lot of the times in the workouts, you need these booty bands to get the workouts done, to help tone your booty, to help build your booty. So that is like the number one thing that most women want, who doesn't want a nice firm booty. So to me, it made perfect sense.

And then also instead of buying this product from other people, why not have my own product that I can use. So that was another compelling factor for me too. Once I had the idea, I knew, then it was then thinking about, okay, how would this product look like? What would this product look like? I know what I wanted it to look like.

And it really stemmed from my vision surrounding the product. I know that I wanted vibrant colors. I know that I definitely wanted my logo somewhere on there. So putting all those pieces together, and generally it's a simple product. The color is the biggest component. So once I figured out the color scheme that I wanted to go for, it was just a matter of finding a vendor who could create this product for me.

And what was the process of you going about locating that vendor and purchasing product from there? Like what was that whole experience? Like? How did you become a student of the game to be able to get from, you know, top of mind wanting to execute this to actually following through and creating the product?

The process was not so exhausting, as I thought would have been. It was a lot easier. I particularly use Alibaba where they have a ton of different vendors. You can sell anything, you can sell glasses, you can sell bags, you can sell anything from Alibaba, but you have to communicate with a vendor on there that.

You know, has the product that you want. So you do some research. You also open up a few conversations with different vendors. I ordered a sample first to start before you placed any big order or to the sample, made some tweaks about things that needed to be fixed or added or taken away. Then from there, it's really easy.

Once you get that sample perfected, it's easy to just then say, I need 200 of these. I need 300. You know, the biggest part of all of it, I think is first getting that perfect sample, which will create the rest of the story, you know? Definitely. Did you invest a lot upfront to be able to get a lot of inventory and lower price?

Or did you kind of run some samples with your audience to pretty much say, all right, let me order 100 and then let me test it out by following the, see if they'd gravitate towards this before I go back and read up on the order. Yeah, absolutely. I'm definitely a play it safe kind of person. So I didn't know, not jump out the window with this one.

Once I got the sample, I teased it in a little bit in my social media, by showing it in my stories. I didn't even post a video about it at all. And then once I decided, okay, I started off with ordering 200 pieces of the product. And once I made that order, I started making videos with it. And I gauged the interest of my audience from there.

And I was receiving a ton of ton of inquiries. And then once doing that place, the order got the product, created a plan to roll it out. I sold out those products in three days, so that was really big for me, honestly, that was another really huge achievement. Now that I'm thinking about it. Because that was the very first product that I had, like a massive amount of, and to see it go in three days, I didn't pay for ads, nothing.

I just did everything through my social media. I have a whole, whole lot that I want to kind of jump into, because this is a form of what they call vertical integration, as what Nipsey talked a lot about, which is pretty much combining a few companies and almost like leveraging the production of one to support the growth of another.

So you have these goop bands and if there are any other products that you plan on coming out with in the future, you know, those are it's separate brand, but it's aligned with what you're doing on digital core side. Right? So you have customers on that side that are able to purchase from you on this side.

I see that you have on your side, you have a, say 10% off or items if you're a cocoa fitness program members. So I think that's a dope, so that there's again, synergy. And then on both fronts, both the cocoa fitness program front and the glute product front, the cocoa fit shot. I should say friends. You are the influencer for both.

So almost like you're integrated your personal brand, which you're a physical product, which a digital product. So I think that that is the way that we all need to be moving forward because they can't just be the brands that tap you for brand partnership deals that are the ones that are cashing in on your likeness.

Right? It can also be two companies that Chanel set up herself and you're leveraging your own social equity and your own profile that you've built up over the last six years to be able to sell those two products and be making money multiple different ways. So I think that's very important. Before we jump off of that.

I'm just curious to know how many bands have you. So today, how much revenue have you brought in and what's the next product within the cocoa fit shop that you think your customers would want? Like what's a natural progression from the bands. In addition to the glute bands that I do sell, I recently launched another product and they are called body bands, which pretty much they are just longer bands.

They're something that you can use for more dynamic workouts, upper body, lower body. They are very much multipurpose versatile. You can use it anywhere, carried anywhere, do anything with it. Whereas the blue bands are more targeted for lower body and glute exercises. So I did launch that product recently.

And I want to say at this point between a combination of the products I probably sold. Up to 500 products. So that's pretty dope too. Cause then this was a new product that I brought to the table. We're still in the middle of a pandemic and many gyms are still closed. A lot of people are still working on at home.

So there is a continuous need for fitness products to help people stay active, stay busy. And I think that the body bands that I created really came so organically to me because I just thought about things that I could use at home. And that was the next step for me. And so in thinking about your question about what's the next thing, so I definitely have two other products that I'm ready to roll out, but not really though, you know, still it's confidential, but I mean, I could say this part of it naturally, right?

When you go to the gym, what do you need? One thing that you need, especially with. Colvin and all that other stuff is you need a towel. So I do have some Coco fitness towels that I didn't sell these initially, but I used to give them away as an accessory in my bootcamp. So I think I'm definitely going to bring those back.

They're super pretty. The fabric is, feels so good. It's something that you can either choose to use in your body or to help wipe down equipment, whatever have you. And then another one that I'm very, very, very excited about is this one is especially for my ladies, because when we go to the gym and we're trying to protect our here, the head man is so, so, so vital, at least for me.

So I know that a lot of women will appreciate the Coco fitness headband that will be coming out. I don't know when, but I created the perfect like fabric, the perfect sizing and all that other stuff. So I'm super excited about rolling that out soon. I think that's dope. The part about it that I liked the most is that these are things that you use, right?

So it's like, instead of you going, and I know you used to use Nike products allow you still use Nike products a lot, but it's cool to see that progression of you getting, you know, the Nike hair bands and different colors to match your outfits. Then now you're slowly progressing to self branded products that still get the job done.

Right. So again, I think that's dope. That's a really cool progression as you continue to build your brand. Yep, absolutely. I think for me the easiest way to think about the products that I create, especially because I'm so active on my social media, I think about what woman asks me about the most. And those sparks so many ideas for me.

So a lot of people always ask me about where did you get your head band? Where did you get that glute band that you're using? You know, so it seems so natural to me to create something that then is now my own brand. I'm always looking for ways to funnel it back to my brand and what I can offer people through my creation, the things that I that's facts that's really dope.

Okay. So if we can jump into the Coco fitness space, so actual program, how did that begin? I know you mentioned obviously as a lot to do with you having the interest of documenting your journey and then maybe feeling inspired to be able to put together these exercises, these workouts, these nutritional plans for people to be able to follow them on a larger level, but, you know, and that's just like, take it back to the beginning.

What got you motivated to get started with a plan like that? I think it's perfect timing to talk about Coco fitness. So in starting the cocoa fitness online program, my educational background in occupational therapy definitely helped me learn and understand about the human body and that immune physiology and just how the muscle groups worked with different exercises.

And so then experiencing it for myself and growing certain body parts, you know, starting my personal fitness journey. I was able to put the two together and I would create all of these innovative exercises or just display that, especially on my social media and people were interested. So again, drawing it back to the whole point of people being interested and figuring out how can I offer this to people in a way where they can do it for themselves.

So the first program that I did put out online was called trip. And this program was literally eight bucks a day. It was a subscription-based program. I programmed the workout program in a manner where it followed my daily workout. So it was a way for you to follow my daily workout routine through subscribing to this program trip.

And on that program, I had over 2000 members. And it was a killer for sure. So then shifting gears and moving into Coco fitness, I definitely took things to the next level by, I teamed up with a team of nutritionists and they have thousands of recipes that are personalized for my members. So whether you want a diet that's pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, or if you just need some help or guidance with your nutrition, my team of nutritionists, they cook up the nutrition plan.

The workout plan is something that comes from me. Of course, it's personalized to your goals, whether you want to lose weight, gain, weight, tone up. And those are all of my workout videos, basically combined and program and structured in a manner to help you meet your goals. So that's what Coco fitness is and it's been great.

It's been great. I mean, I think that a lot of the members that I have on the program really feel like it's me as their personal trainer in their pocket. And that was definitely something that I wanted to create being that I'm not able to physically be there with people, but that's the closest way that I've been able to replicate that idea.

No for sure. And that's the way of the future, as we mentioned earlier, like with Corona, with everything that's been happening, people keep mentioning that when things return to normal return to normal, I don't think that's the case. I just think that this was the reality that we were going to be experiencing anyway, in a couple of years, like everything being digitized.

And I think that this pandemic has just expedited that, you know, it was just gotten us to that place, whether it was supposed to be 20, 22 or whatever, getting us there sooner. So I think everyone's developing the habits to be able to figure out how to put on for themselves, how to do things in the comfort of their home sooner than they would have had to have had this not happened.

So I think that that's amazing, even me, I guess it was some market research. Like my gym opened up. Maybe what two and a half weeks ago. Right. And I'm in New York. So everything was super, super severe. I haven't even been, I'm so comfortable with working out outside. I have my own routine. I have my spot in there, big ass park doing my thing, ordered a bike too long.

The company just got to my crib today, but plan on incorporating that into my daily plan. Myself and my friends we'd go for a three mile walks like five times a week. I think everyone's changing their lifestyle. And I think that these digital products, the way of the future when it comes to kittens. So that's cool.

You mentioned a team of nutritionists. I think that's amazing to be able to add additional value for your subscribers, but the technology for how are you executing that? Is this a developer that you hired to be able to build everything out or are you leveraging almost like an e-commerce platform that already exists and then just branding it to align with Coco fitness?

Oh, yeah. So definitely I do have a developer who does handle all of the backend stuff. That is not my area of expertise. So I definitely don't pretend to know what that is even like. So yes, I do have a team of developers who handle the back end system ING and things like that. So that's something that is super, super resourceful when it comes to the online space, especially as far as it goes for fitness content.

Yeah, no for sure. And whichever one you would have said, I think there are pros and cons for both. I think the pro definitely having your own in-house team to be able to execute these things is that you don't have to rely on like customer support or some of these websites that provide the infrastructure for you.

But then you may have challenges. It may not be able to customize certain aspects of having developers that are dedicated to you to be able to make tweaks here, be able to listen to market research from your customers and then make real time adjustments. I think that's very valuable. A follow up question I have to that is, are these people that you front the cost to be able to bring them in almost like you're paying them hourly, pay them salary base, whatever the case may be, or is it more of like a revenue share model where they get 20% or whatever of their earnings they accommodate, you don't have to get specific about any percentage.

I just want to know like what the model is, because I think that's important for people to understand. Yeah, definitely. So with the company that I work with, I did put up an investment. Uh, so there wasn't a lump sum of money that I did to start up everything, you know, build the website out and get everything ready for launch did that.

And then at this point, once the launch happened, it is a revenue share sort of ordeal. So I get a certain percentage and they get a certain percentage because the company handles support emails and the daily running of the website. Which are things that there are elements of the company that allows you to either you want to handle the support emails, or do you want someone to do it?

There's some options for you. And obviously for me, where I'm at right now in my life, it's not something that I want to do. I don't like to be stuck to a computer handling emails all day. I'd rather focus on the content or speaking to my girls. We have a private Facebook group that I'm active in. So I'd rather do those sorts of things.

And there are definitely different values that the company offers that I took myself up on. Got it. That's amazing. And for people listening that don't maybe have access to capital and maybe have more time that's, you know, does to be able to manipulate things and just be more flexible with their process.

You know, there are other platforms that you can't execute a model like this in terms of fitness programs, in terms of just, you know, instructional based programs. One that's obviously been in the news a lot and people are almost, you know, discussing as if it has one function is only fans. I know you've heard of it, but to be honest as a marketer, I just see that platform and that technology as the way of the future.

It wasn't originally started for what is being used for now, there are a lot of fitness instructors and fitness influencers that are making 25,000 a month, you know, offer being able to just take what they're doing on Instagram and maybe extending that and then putting that content up, you know, consulting with people online, opening their DMS, to be able to answer questions and charging a monthly rate.

So obviously that platform doesn't work for you and what you're trying to do. Cause you're trying to scale you're on a different level. But I think for people who are getting started only fans, you know, Patriot, those are two DDC platforms. I think you guys should definitely check out. That's great information.

I never even heard of the other one that you mentioned Patrion. So let's change the narrative only events for other things. 100%. I know some music producers that sound master classes, like they obviously charge, let's say $50 a month. And then they put videos of how to produce music, how to make beats, and then they open up their DMS for, again, my question and answers.

I'm going to be like the answer to of your questions a month and that's included in the subscription. So it's changing. Just give us some time, any a little bit. What's been the biggest pain point. The biggest challenge that you've experienced with launching this business. Whew. I can answer that easily.

The biggest pain point is that I need more of a team. I need more of a team. You never understand the value of a team, and it's so hard to do everything on your own. So that's been the biggest challenge, finding people that you can work with, that you trust that are reliable. Right now, I have one employee, which is my sister actually keeping it in the family.

My sister is my assistant, so she handles a lot of stuff on my Instagram. She handles a lot of stuff with business emails that may come in. And I think that ideally for me, having an in-person assistant would be great, especially when it comes to my fitness products. Right now, luckily I have two of my really good friends out here who helped me pack orders in addition to my boyfriend.

So definitely in the space where I'm ready to build a team. It's just so hard because now we're in the middle of a pandemic and people are kind of like, not ready to be next to one another. So definitely just navigating that space is hard because I carry a lot of the responsibilities. I create the content, I edit the content.

I write the captions. I speak to my girls. One-on-one, it's a lot of things that come from me and I'm definitely in the space where I'm ready to, you know, split the responsibilities more so that. I can have the flexibility to do other things, because I definitely want to get back into my fashion flow there's pieces that I have created that I want to sell, but I can't do that without having more help.

Yeah. That's obviously a struggle that a lot of entrepreneurs have when it comes to, you know, their business growing faster than they would have anticipated in Oxford. That's a good problem, but it does present different challenges to be able to automate things that you wouldn't be doing manually, you know, and out, so things can get stuffed down.

So definitely feel you on that piece, have you looked into, there are a lot of virtual assistant type of platforms where you get work with someone who's fielding messages or who's doing the responding to your people. How do you feel about. Taking that stuff off your plate to be able to make one for other things, you feel that you kind of want to control the message, control the voice of your brand, or are you comfortable almost like coming off of some of those more day-to-day things to focus more on strategy.

I'm not at the point right now, personally, where I'm comfortable with that, especially not being able to meet someone. I think that I would much rather interview someone in person and have a real feel for who they are. I think that with the online space, it's hard for me to sit here and say, okay, I'm ready to put such a big portion or our big responsibility onto someone that I'm meeting online yet.

Because at the end of the day, my business is like my baby. And not everybody can touch my baby. So it's very much still like I am holding it real tight in my hands and it's okay. It's not to the point where it's impossible. I can't do it, but I'm definitely especially entering as a 20, 21 thinking of ways to work smarter about all of the business endeavors that I do have, because there's so much that I want to do.

And there's so much that people want from me, but. You can't get that done when you're the only one. Yeah, for sure. I think the silver lining here is that you're becoming an expert. You're obviously a student of your own craft, but you becoming an expert at all of the things that it takes to be able to grow.

I think sometimes people who have a team that are able to ask you to everything, maybe they become just too far removed from the process, right? So that they're not able to advise and are able to lead. They're not able to do certain things. You know, you mentioned that you edit your own stuff, you handle these processes.

It's going to make you a better leader. We want to stop for you to delegate, but you're right at the moment. I feel you on that, you know, it'd be tough to be able to give up control, especially something that you built from scratch. I'm confident that I will get there and that things will change, especially as we move towards the end of the year.

But for the time being I'm going to handle it. I want to talk a little bit about COVID. I know I mentioned it earlier, but I'm just curious. So obviously, while everything has been unfortunate with the casualties and people getting sick and, and all of that, there has been a tiny silver lining, I guess, in terms of like the increased digital engagement, because obviously people are trapped in their homes and their resulting to online mediums to entertain themselves, to educate themselves, all that stuff.

So this business, this fitness program does solve the issue of a lot of people out there who are probably who are in need of a solution for their problems. How have you seen the demand or the interest in your offering? How have you seen it evolve from the jerk days? Pre COVID to Coco fitness days?

Obviously during COVID, you know, COVID for me has really been I've turned. What's that saying? When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I've definitely took full advantage of that statement because with COVID you think about, and this, again goes back to the point of like really thinking about what you need and how other people might be feeling in that same breath.

So with COVID it was just like, wow, okay. We're kind of all now confined to our homes. Gyms are closed, but there are still things happen in our lives. Someone's birthday is still coming up. Well, no one's going on any trips, but at the end of the day, you know, 20, 20, despite all that has happened and like the tragedy and all of that 2020 can still be your year.

If you learn how to make it work for you. So through COVID I couldn't give up on myself. So I just figured out how can I continue to stay active at home? And that included me going for a run, doing more outdoor stuff. Like you said, I also brought a bike as far as my business went. Luckily I was just getting creative, using household items for weights.

I did a workout where I use the case of water to work out and you be surprised how effective these things can be. And even using your own body weight. I said, this, there's a really amazing quote that I love. And it says your power isn't in the gym, it's in you. So learning how to hold your own body weight doing push-ups doing, sit-ups doing so many different creative things with your body weight or with minimal equipment.

I think that once I was able to showcase that it kind of got everyone else on board as well. And that's literally been COVID for me once I discovered that, okay, I need to work out from home. I, again, showcase that online and. Luckily on my program, there is an option to choose whether you want to do homework gods or gym workouts.

So yeah, me and my girls pushed through coven and still we're making it happen. Yeah. That's very smart. So provide that option. Very, very smart. Another question I have for you is what existing brands or entrepreneurs do you model your service offerings after? Is there any one particular, any particular brand that you like to kind of, you know, check out what they're doing, kind of study what they're doing to be able to enhance your offerings as an entrepreneur?

Yeah. I think that there are definitely other women, especially in the fitness space, just like me who are killing it online and. I think that one woman that especially stands out for me, her name is Masi Arias, and she's from New York. She moved to LA, you know, kind of like very similar kind of story, very inspired by her.

Another woman is lead a Lewis, follow the Lido on Instagram. She's another very inspiring woman who is killing the fitness space. My home girl, Simone Capri curves on Instagram. Another woman in fitness, who's killing it. So, and these are all black women. So as women that are very similar to myself, I love to see how we all can offer the same information in our own ways.

And that's the beauty of the online space, because I tell people like there's enough room for everyone to win, because the way you offer your fitness. Programs or your workouts or your information is different than the next person and messages resonate differently with everyone. And I don't need to have everyone.

I don't need to convince everyone. I just need to convince my group of girls and I'm good. You know what I mean? I think that there's like, sometimes there's this like, misunderstanding that you have to get everyone that's where the greed and the envy come in, but it doesn't need to be like that. Yeah. And uplifting one another.

It creates that energy that allows you to eat more people, see that they're inspired by that you each can help grow each other's platforms and be able to evolve. You know, you can learn from each other. It just offers almost like a safe space to be able to compare and contrast, to share best practices.

Yeah. You're right. A lot of people in different spaces, it just needs to be more generous. I read something somewhere where it was like, If you think that you know too much, or if you think that you can't share what you know, you actually have to like do more research. You have to do more homework, a lot of information out there.

No one knows everything. And if you're hoarding information, because you feel that, you know, too much, you probably don't know enough, you know, you should be able to give those jewels and those gems out for free. Or sometimes obviously, you know, if it's consulting or whatever, to be able to give it out for money, but you should never over things and not want to express and share and discuss things with other people.

Because if you're doing that, you should probably be a better student of your game. So I definitely think that that's important. Yeah. We just have to convince everyone else. Yes, that's it. Okay. So to close out the fitness program, What's your current pricing model for the program. And how much have you made to date the current pricing model for my program?

So you can have the option of getting the workout only portion of the program for 20 bucks a month. Again, this is a subscription based program. Coco fitness is subscription-based. So it's just like Netflix. So once you sign up every month, you're going to be automated to pay that same number that you signed up for it, unless you choose to cancel, you can cancel it any time, but you have to remember to do that.

If you're not using the program. Again, we're got only 20 bucks a month, or you can get workout and nutrition at 30 bucks a month. And these prices are super, super reasonable because I mean, you can spend $20 for one meal alone. So I think that $20 for the month to get your workouts set up for the entire month is a steal.

If you choose to opt to get a whole nutrition plan with your workouts for 30 bucks a month, super, super affordable. And that was something that was really important to me when thinking about the program, because I wanted to offer something of value, but in the same breath, I wanted it to be something that was affordable and sustainable for people at any time.

So that's the current price points and how much have I made so far who was asking. The IRS does the feds watch it? You could just give estimate or you could just, you know, whatever you feel comfortable discuss that just want to, I feel like transparency can help certain people who are also trying to get to where you're at, but just whatever you feel comfortable sharing.

So for sure, for starters, when I entered the entrepreneur space and I started to work for myself before doing it, I thought to myself, if I can make more than I was making in my monthly salary as an occupational therapist, I'm doing it. And currently today. So to give you guys a little perspective in terms of what numbers we're talking about as an occupational therapist, my starting salary was about 66,000 a year.

Currently now make way more than my salary. That would have been as a therapist. And by the end of the year, I will definitely be in the six figure Mark. And this is a combination of my Coco fitness workout program with Coco fit shop. So God is good. That's all I could say. I'm definitely pushing for that million dollar Mark, but I'm very much the type of person that is just taking my blessings as they come.

I hit six figures. I think it was in July. I think I hit six figures. So we're just going to keep climbing up the ladder at this point. Well, that's amazing. And then where does the Coco fitness program and the shop, where does that rank comparing that plus brand partnerships that you, that you may get like as a higher on the spectrum brand partnerships?

I'm just curious about the mix, because I know a lot of people, like they make money off YouTube ads, they made money off of, you know, brand partnerships off of digital products. So just curious to know like what your splits are, I guess, an estimate so that people can understand where the revenue comes in from and inspire them to be able to say, listen, I need to prioritize my focus on these things.

I definitely understand how people would want to know. Okay. Where is your most of your money coming from? I do want to say first started is that I have not ran ads for anything yet. I am entering the ad space in October, which is amazing. You have to run any ads and look at the success so far. That's incredible.

Yeah. So I'm so interested to see how the ads will change the game for me. So right now, Coco fitness is my number one. You know, it brings in most of my revenue. I think that it's because it's something that I've consistently been offering on a day to day basis. You know, you can go to my page and the first thought that might come to you is what workout does she do?

That's the ones that I want. So I kind of like beat that into everyone's head as far as like, they want to come to me for advice on how to get in shape. And then the next thing that is, you know, adding to my income is Coco fit shop the fitness products that I have. I recently restocked on my products when it comes to products, they're not ongoing because you can sell out of products.

Right? So my first release, I sold out. And then I reached out and now the products are going, they're going as they go. There's not an urgency to sell out. Obviously when you sell out, you don't even know that you're going to sell out, right, because it has such a smaller inventory. So the second time around, I ordered a lot more in order to have for so that people can access them whenever they need.

And as far as brand partnerships and things like that, you know, funny enough this year, this was not my year of focusing on partnering with brands at all. For this year. I actually told myself, and it still stands that I'm going to drive all of my energy into my brands. And it was the best decision that I could have made.

Not to say that there's anything wrong with brand partnerships at all, because I do still get brand partnerships. I'm very selective about what I decide to do. It has to fit very organically within my lifestyle and the content that I promote. And it's just where I'm at with it. You know, it's just kind of the space that I'm in.

I'm just really, really focused on giving all of the energy that I have to the products that I create, the workout content that I can offer. I just have a hundred percent faith in the services that I can give to people. So. That's where my energy is going. Yeah. And the best part about that is that the brand partnership deals just grow from that point, right?

Like when brands see that you're self-sufficient that you could function on your own, that you have your own line of products that you have. Again, the vertical integration, four or five brands that are all working simultaneously. Then, you know, the brand deals, they just grow from there. So maybe if you did this for another year, up until summer 20, 21, you'll just building your businesses.

Now, any brand that approaches you to say, Hey, listen, we want to do business with you. It's either they're getting you and your personal brand or they're getting everything, you know? And then the money is like probably five times or four times what you get, if it was just you and your personal brand and your personal endorsement.

So I think that's the beauty of what you're doing. You're learning the game as you continue to climb and continue to get more reps, but at the same time, you're also just increasing your value day in and day out. Every time we turned down a deal and every time you just continue to figure something else out.

So I think that that's really dope. So let's talk about reinvesting into yourself and your company. So. A big part of business. Obviously you just say you can't make money if you're not willing to spend money. So what areas, if any, are you reinvesting in the most? So this could be like video production and you can meet, you know, social media graphics and stuff.

It can be maybe a business coach or career coach just helping you guide your strategy. Like what's the biggest area that you're pouring your money back into to try and see more results in your business. Right now, the current one that I would say is that I have a life coach shout out to Jessica, my life coach, you know, her as well.

We went to college together. Okay. Okay. I know, definitely shout out to Jessica. So she does life coaching as well. She's actually been my life coach for, I think I want to say a year and a half now, and she's been a lifesaver. I just like helping with the clarity, the vision, and just speaking life into me and helping me think bigger.

She's helped me set a lot of my price points because you know, when you're entering to this space of entrepreneurship, you set the rules, but no one is going to check you on your rules once you set them. And you also have to discover. One thing that was really big for me is what was my audience? Who do I want to have?

Do I want to have someone who's complaining about the $20 program or do I want the person that's like $20? That's nothing, that's a steal like to it. So I pour my energy into people who can meet me, where I'm at, because at the end of the day, this is what I'm doing for a living. I have to eat. I'm trying to create a legacy for my children and my children's children.

You know? So I'm not in the business of arguing with people about my prices. And in order to build that confidence. So, because I wasn't able to always speak so freely about this in order to build that confidence, you need someone to speak life into you and to just allow you to see the vision that you really want for yourself.

So, Jessica, my life coach has definitely helped me get there. And I think that another way that I would probably be reinvesting my money, which is very, very soon, like I said, I'm going to start running ads online. So that's going to be another way that I'll be reinvesting my money. But other than that, there's been a lot of saving going on over here.

That's amazing. That's no problem with saving, saving aggressively, and then kind of assessing where you want to put the money into it. I think that's actually a good strategy to employ. And it's, again like the ads I think will be a game changer for you in terms of. More brand awareness in terms of, you know, reaching people that don't know who you are and reaching a segment of the digital audience, that's interested in fitness products and stuff like that.

So I'm very interested to see how that's going to go. We definitely have to check in on you in a couple of months to just see what the results are from that. Cause I think you're going to be blown away if it's done correctly. That's very, very, very, very valuable. I can't wait, what are some of your goals to close out this year as strong as possible?

I know you mentioned obviously rolling out. I mean, it was some of the newer products with the fish shop. You mentioned ads, you know, you mentioned the possibility of being able to acquire your first property. What are some other, I guess, business related goals? If I didn't mention everything that you are looking forward to accomplishing, you did a very good job at just like combining all of my goals and ones.

I kind of spoke on them as we went along. I think that my ultimate goal before the end of the year would be to put out my fitness apparel line, but that is in God's hands. I'm also in the same breath. I'm doing so much. And I've been doing so much this year that I was able to still accomplish, even through the pandemic that I am not forcing my hand.

I'm not forcing myself. I'm in a very great space as far as like where I am at with the goals that I have accomplished this year. And just to finish strong would be to restructuring my program a little bit, adding a lot more value onto my Coco fitness program. Again, a goal is to definitely sell out of the fitness products that I have.

And I'm so confident that that will happen within the next month, you know, and get those ads up and running because I know that they are a game changer. I'm not looking to buy a house or put down on a house. At any point in time this year, but definitely for next year, it's in my next year goals. I just want the world to be still, I can't control that, but you know what I mean?

Yeah. Same here. As long as everyone is healthy, as long as people are passing the, to what's happening, I'm actually okay with this. I don't know. I feel like it's forcing everyone to just slow down to just like be in a state of reflection. And I dunno, it's just peaceful, you know, simplifying things, but also we have the means to be able to do everything we've always wanted to do.

So it was like the world is slowing down. You can focus on yourself, focus on building things out and focus on your self care and taking care of people. So I'm okay. As long as people are not sick, I'm new, I'm not sick and people are passing away. I think I've developed my little cadence for the year. One more question.

Before we get to jump to the best practices portion of this interview. What have you learned about yourself from this entire journey? So let's say starting from whenever you made the decision to pursue this, full-time till they, as you were reflecting on your goals for the next year, what have you learned about yourself in a business sense and just managing everything that you've had to manage as a young CEO?

What have I learned about myself? I think I learned to let go of things going perfectly. Things are not going to always go as planned and just learning how to pivot quickly from that and get out of that space and get out of that funk. I think that sometimes when things go wrong, it's just easy to focus on what's going wrong.

As opposed to figuring out, okay, how can I spin this? How can I flip this? So I definitely would panic before, you know, I would get a customer support emails saying, Oh, the workout video is not loading. What do I do? And I would panic. But then I understood. This is technology. Technology is the one thing that you can't control.

You know, someone could have a poor connection wherever they're at, and just understanding that, processing that, and then making sure that my team is readily available to address those things, just exercising patience with myself and understanding that like my business is not going to be perfect and seamless because no one's business is, and I'm also not a large mint.

I'm a small own business, you know, just giving myself a lot more grace and patience is something that I've definitely learned to do. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's part of the authenticity that you kind of showcase the way that you're so hands on and the way that you brand screams. I am someone who is doing this and I'm putting in a lot of love and a lot of effort into what I'm doing.

That's what your brand screams. I think other people, you know, they may project and maybe this is not something that they're trying to, but just, you know, without knowing the project, like, you know, I'm part of a machine I'm pumping out all this content I'm doing X, Y, Z, and it may doesn't appear as genuine.

So I think when people know that when that's your brand's voice or your brand's tone, I think it allows for them to not be frustrated at things that you can't control, you know? Cause they know it shouldn't help putting our best foot forward as opposed to like, Oh, she invested $10,000 or a hundred thousand hours into this company is supposed to be executing everything to a T like, why is this video and download it?

You know? So I think that's the benefits of just like maintaining that profile and just being as genuine as possible. Yes. Well said, couldn't have said it better. Okay. So a couple of fun questions before we get into some rapid fire questions. This is like the best practices portion of the interview. This is where, you know, the audience who's listening.

Who's obviously admired what you've been able to do and what you've been able to build, you know, with like some key takeaways from your journey that they get, you know, kind of use to apply to their businesses. So the first question is give us some actionable steps to take. If someone is starting from scratch and wants to build an e-commerce business, what advice would you have for someone who's trying to take that step tomorrow?

Let's say. So I would say my number one step first is to really ask yourself, do you have a buying audience, obviously? And this has given that someone is active on their social media and they're ready to figure out, okay, how can I enter the e-commerce space? Do I have an audience that's willing to buy into me?

And the only way that you can know that is if you are actively speaking to your audience and you are actively offering information, the number one thing that you want to offer to people through your social networks in no matter what industry you are in is to offer information free information.

Because when it comes to the time where you're ready to put a price tag on it, there'll be more willing to buy into it because you've given them all of this free information and still continues to give free information. Even when you are putting a price point on something that you're offering. So first figure out if you have the buying audience, and then once you figure that out, Determine what your audience needs from you determine one thing, don't go overboard and try to offer five different things.

Determine one thing, put all of your energy and effort into one thing that your audience would value would desire and need from you and get the ball rolling with that. Figure out what vendor you need, whether it's through Alibaba, whether you're starting up a fashion line, you're doing it yourself.

Create the sample and tease it through your social media accounts. Put it in your videos and your stories. Go live. Talk about it, ask people what they think about it. Once you get that feedback, use it to your advantage. Most times it's good feedback. That's going to help you tailor and change things around the way you need to.

And then package it perfectly presented to them. Put that price tag on it. I use Shopify personally for my poco fit shop. That's where I sell my fitness products. And Shopify is super, super straightforward and easy to use to create your website. You have so much range with Shopify, use that as your platform and sell that baby day in and day out salad, but don't sell it.

You know, there's so many clever ways to sell things and really, truly, you just have to be yourself. Be yourself, people buy into you as the person, and then whatever you have to offer them. They're ready to grab too. Yeah. Yeah. I love just two things. You said. One is the free value that leads to the sale.

Gary Vaynerchuk says, that's the jab, jab, jab, then the right hook. So I think that's important. A lot of people just want to right. Hook you to death. And it's like, bro, get out of here. You know, give me a couple of posts. Whack. If I learn something before you start telling me to buy your e-book. So that's the first part.

The second part is if the product is natural to you and the brand you're putting out there, doesn't appear like you're selling. You just seem like you're giving value based on something that works for you and your brand. So if I start selling, you know, Jane rollers, is that what the women used for their face.

If that's not sounding that, and people are going to look at me like what's up with this dude, but if I'm selling a marketing ebook, maybe they may say, okay, this is probably best practices from his entire, you know, seven year career in corporate, you know, it's a different vibe. That's important. And you also mentioned Shopify.

I love Shopify. Shopify is amazing. It integrates with everything. As you said, an easy interface to be able to learn it's a little on the more expensive sack compared to other e-commerce platforms out there. But I think it's the best it's hands down the best that gives you a best opportunity to make your money to brand yourself the right way.

I recommend everyone try Shopify as Chanel. The next question is what's one skill that you recommend everyone learned to help support their business development goals. One skill that everyone should learn. That's a good question. I think that the ability to persevere is something that you should learn because it's not always going to hit.

It's not always going to be, you know, popping off, you know, for you and you have to figure out how to pivot, how to change things around. How to maybe switch it up. But if you have the faith that you have in yourself, when you started whatever business, you know, you're putting off the ground and just learning how to stick through, you know, fight through it, stay consistent, no matter what, that's a very powerful skill I think.

And you should just believe in yourself. That's all you really need. Once you believe in yourself, you're going to figure out how to, you know, switch things up, shift gears, if needed and make it happen. And eventually it will hit. And when it hits. That's a fact. Another thing about that is I think a lot of people, they put a lot of time into content, put it out and hope that it kind of hits immediately.

I think that there's a school of thought where if it doesn't like, it's almost like you're setting up a back catalog of just fire content. So like if one person hits. Content piece number one, it's almost like they don't have a chance to just learn what works for them to learn a process, to learn how to scale properly.

They just have to figure it out. Cause I'd have, as I said before, a hundred thousand people who are just tuned in now give me more what I just liked, but I feel like if it doesn't hit, that's actually a blessing. It gives you more reps to be able to learn your formula, your secret sauce, your process. And if content piece number 25 hits, now people have a back catalog of 24 pieces that could go check you out and see how dope you are.

And also you're more equipped for the success when it comes. So I think that that's also something that's very important. Yes. I definitely agree with that. I think that one thing that I would want to end with and say is that whenever you're putting out content, you have to be putting it out for yourself.

Not for everyone, you know, I'm editing the videos and I'm like, Oh, this is some good stuff. So we'll have to be able to impress yourself. I think that if you constantly feel like you're in a space where you're. Appeasing other people you will lose, you will lose so fast. So really just like, it's always your journey.

It's personal. Everything about entrepreneurship is so personal. And although you are trying to convince other people nine times out of 10 with all of this entrepreneurs stuff, is that people buy into the person that you are. So when you're genuine and it comes from a real space, people receive it. Yes.

Okay. All right. So this is the fun part, right? This is the fun part. It's rapid fire. What's one fun fact about Chanel. I am terrified of Heights. Have you been to Runyon Canyon out in Cali or no, I have. And I don't like it. I go because if I'm with a group of people, I go, but I don't explore it enough to the point where I'm like, I like this.

This is great. No, I'm just like, are we done yet? Okay. That's good to know. I didn't know that what's one book podcast or content series that has helped you along your journey. And this can be personal. Give you professional. I want to say two podcasts that actually have helped me that I listened to on a daily basis.

One is Steve Harvey's daily inspiration. So I usually listen to that in the morning. He's always dropping whether it's a one line, one sentence gem, he's always saying something that hits and resonates with me. So I love that in the mornings. And then I also listen to secrets of wealthy woman by the wall street journal.

That's a really good one, so, okay. I've never heard of the second one.

Okay. I'll definitely add that to the description. So everyone could go download that and check it out. I'm more of a podcast girl. I don't like to sit down and read books because I'm always looking at something. So I'd rather hear it. Yeah, exactly. Same here. Even a lot of the books without quote unquote read over the last few months has been audio versions of the books.

I just think, as you said, you can just accomplish more, you know, it was just more convenient. It helps me remember things, you know, from the content better. Next question. What's the best piece of life advice that you've been given so far? Well, this is a good one. The best piece of life advice that I've been given so far is to take the leap of faith.

Take that leap of faith because you never know what's on the other side of the things that you fear. If you're afraid of it, go for it. You can still prepare yourself, you know, but just go for it because you just never know. It might be you living out your dream. On the other side of that fear, that's holding you back from taking that leap of faith.

So take the leap of faith. If you could choose anyone to be your mentor, who would it be? Oh my God. That's crazy. She's not from Brooklyn. I'm not from Brooklyn and it's okay. But she's a Virgo. So we're like the same person I feel like, okay. I should have seen that. You know, I've actually heard people always comment and say, you're like the beyond say a fit is I say, yes, I received that compliment.

What's one resource that you currently use to become a better business owner or finding your craft. So I know you mentioned obviously on podcasts earlier, but are there any like digital magazines that you read? Are there any TV shows that you watch just other resources that help you become more productive, more efficient at what it is that you do?

It could be an app as well. Anything, you know, honestly, I probably don't do enough of that because I'm so focused on just like making my business as great as I are as consistent as I can. But for me that feels like a strategy in a way, it was just looking at other creatives and see how they do things and kind of just like drawing inspiration from there.

I think that there's nothing wrong with that. Scrolling through Instagram. When I scroll through Instagram, it's not just to look it's to be inspired, to see how people are doing things, what different messages everyone is sharing that are in the same space as me. What's the need? What are people needing right now?

So I'm always doing research in my own ways. You know, I'm never just scrolling through Instagram, unintentionally. Everything is so intentional. I like that. I guess it's dope to do the entertainment thing. That's elaborate, you know, a good laugh or whatever the case may be, but there's a lot of value, a lot of value there.

So if you're building your business, I think take question. I was that serious, trying to follow people who are maybe direct competitors or people who aren't, but just do in other industries doing dope things, because you could find that a lot of the marketing strategy, the branding strategies are transferable to what you're doing.

You know, I'll give you a leg up compared to people in your space. If you're taking, you know, strategies from other industries and bringing it into what you're doing. And then the last question is who is on your board of directors and what's their relation to you. So I feel like we're all the CEOs of our own lives, right?

Or alive CEO of our personal brand. All of that stuff, board of directors are very important for steering companies to, you know, success and advising companies. So who's on your mate ship or what's their relation to you? I never thought of it like this. People are my board of directors, but as I mentioned before, my sister, she is my assistant.

She is based in New York. So she's kind of like my assistant from afar, you know, online. And I want to say that my boyfriend is my in-person assistant because he helped me out with anything. So shout out to Duke. He literally designed my Shopify website cause he's very tech savvy. Orders. So in many ways I feel like, you know, indiscreetly, he's kinda like my in-person assistant, but don't tell him, I said that shout out, shout out to do he's doing this thing as well with his fitness program as well and the fascist stuff.

So definitely inspiring. Yes. And I think for now my board of directors are very small. Like I said, definitely Jessica. Oh yes. Jessica, my life coach, my life coach, definitely. So we have three people that are on my board of directors and they all help me stay focused, keep the vision alive, keep aligned with the things that I said that I want to do.

And I'm going to do, you know, the team will one day be bigger than what it is. And if you're out there listening to this right now and you feel like, you know, you can offer some value to the cocoa fitness team or the cocoa fit shop team and Mia. There we go, here we go. For people who are trying to establish their own board of directors, what qualities do you think they should be looking for in people?

I think that they should be looking for people who are self-disciplined in their own respects, you know, in the things that they do for themselves, whether it's like someone who's on time, who's big with being on time or someone who sees value in you. Someone who speaks life into you is that's important.

And friends can do that. Strangers can do that. Someone who believes in you, just general qualities that you want to look for and someone that you can trust because you don't want no one slandering your business or your name. Yes. Yes. Only progression no one taking energy away from what is this you want to do?

What your goals suffered. That's dope. Okay, so we're done with that rapid fire question section. I think you did great. Do you have any questions for me? Any specific thing that you are battling with that you would like some marketing guidance on anything, and this is not a required, but just wanted to open the floor in case there's anything I can help you through.

I think that one question that I have for you being the expert that you are in the marketing space is what are three pieces of advice that you would lend to someone who is marketing their business? I like that. I would say the first one is to try to get as specific as possible with your target audience.

I think that it's hard to promote something to the masses. Like you spend more resources, more time, more money, and it's harder to penetrate the landscape because it's very crowded from time to time if you don't get specific. So I think definitely assessing the value you bring, assessing your areas of interest and your areas of expertise, and then pretty much aligning that with a specific audience that you think you can serve based on your experiences based on your skillset.

I think that that is very, very important to seeing results fast. Definitely say that. I think the second part is to have an authentic brand voice and brand tone. It's important that everything that you post is linked to a persona that you developed. So if yours, for example, with what you're doing in the cocoa fitness space is encouraging, inspiring, warm, welcoming, motivational, right?

If that's your energy and that's all under the umbrella of fitness, wellness of personal development or physical development, everything that's aligned with those pillars, I think that's where the content should fall. That's where all the strategies should be aligned with. Because again, it allows you to everything that you're putting it out.

Is aligned with what you feel, your core audience needs, what you feel those people will gravitate towards. And then it makes, as we said before, landing the hook easier. Cause you've already job multiple times. You've already provided free value for these people. They see you as someone that almost like they're indebted to because of what you've done to move the needle in their life day in and day out.

So whenever you're ready to be able to make a sale or whatever the case may be, it's the second issue. I know she's done so much for me. I might not even read this book, but I'm going to buy the book anyway. Right? The people do buy and read it. They'll get a lot of value from it. And then there'll be returning customers and provide that genuine feedback for you, which is market research.

Most people pay a lot of money for it. So it's almost like it just starts with having a narrow focus. It starts with, you know, paying a lot of attention to your brand, persona, developing that, and then having all of your strategy emerge from that specific persona. So it's all in line. It's telling one story.

And then you just appear to be as credible, as possible, as authentic and as transparent. And that humanizes your personal brand, that humanizes your business's brand that allows people to just resonate with you more. Whew. Well said, I think. Yeah, he did. So I'm waiting for the, is this the icing on the cake or did we do that already?

I would steal the fare from you. And I think it's surrounding yourself with good energy, being a business owner, being an entrepreneur, being someone who's trying to create that content and trying to, you know, be able to inspire people day in and day out. It's not easy. Right? As you mentioned, it's tough.

Sometimes, sometimes you're not motivated and sometimes you're just trying to pull from something or you're trying to fill up your cups and be able to get to the point where you could deliver for people that need you. So I think it's very important to have a solid structure, whether it be family members, like you mentioned your sister, like you mentioned, man, you know, having a life coach, a business coach, a career coach, someone in that professional setting that doesn't know too much about you, but knows enough to be able to give you constructive criticism.

That's not biased. I think that's very important. And then also maybe aligning with some mentors in the space that are successful. So even if it's people that you connect with once a month to just like, talk about your progress in that space, people who were OGs, who can do in the present time, and again, can help advise you on strategy.

I think having those three levels of communication allow for you to make the best decisions possible. And oftentimes it's about decision making and execution that differentiate one brand from the other, right, surrounding yourself with people who ensured and push me every day to ensure that there's no way that you're not going to be successful is the most foolproof way to be successful.

Tell people where they can find you, you know, what they can be looking forward to. And if there's anything you want to plug, please, you know, use this as your opportunity to do so. Yes, of course. I want to thank first, everyone. Who's listening to this. Thank you for listening. My hope that you got a few gems that you can take away from this and apply it to your life, your business, and all the things that you guys are working on.

You can find me and follow me at Chanel. Dalyssa on Instagram. You can shop with me at shop Coco fit on Instagram and on both of those Instagrams, my websites are linked there as well. So for all things cocoa, follow me, stay tapped in. You get a lot of fun, free workouts, and also make sure I'm pretty new to the use of space Duke.

And I have a YouTube channel Mrs. Chanel and Dukes, and make sure you guys head on over there and subscribe. We try to also drop gems there and just post some fun content as well. So yeah, that's all I got. Thank you for Johnny. I appreciate it. This is going to be a good one. I'm I'm going to find a lot of value in it.

I mean, anytime we come together, it's like, wow, I'm telling you,