How to scale yours business to freedom, wealth & sustainability - usually without launches w/ Samantha Hearn

SPEAKER_00 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. Samantha Hearn, what's up, Rockstar?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Oh my god, I'm so excited. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Thanks for being here. Yet another new friend that I connected with on Clubhouse. What do you know?

SPEAKER_01 0:42

I know. It's like the the weird TARDIS that is that app. It's just connecting people that have never met before. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

It it is great. It's it's somewhat refreshing. It's become a little redundant uh as of late. I think it's a lot of the same faces and voices. So it'll be interesting to hear where Clubhouse ends up going. If Spotify has a place in this world with Green Room, but it sure was a lot of fun last week in Nashville at podcast movements, uh actually meeting four or five friends that I had never met in real life, but that I had initially met on Clubhouse. So it's definitely a connector, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

So you and I connected on uh Clubhouse and then naturally moved over to Instagram and connected further. I said, I absolutely love what you're up to. I love all the yellow in your content. It seems to fit your personality uh perfectly. Uh, you're a business coach, you're a mentor, you're a teacher, you're a content creator. On this show, I like to tell stories of how it actually all began. So let's back up a little bit to the beginning of the story. And if you can walk us through and really bring us to present day on how you became a coach, a mentor, a teacher, a content creator, rock star, rock star, extraordinaire. Uh to add some context here, uh, we'd love to hear your story.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Absolutely. And this is the thing that I love the most, and definitely about what you do, the context. I think so much of the time we do focus on where people are now, but without the context, it just becomes really difficult for people to feel like they can do it too. So I'm all about this. So yeah, I was a teacher. So I graduated from university. I had a first class degree in secondary school education, went into teaching, absolutely loved teaching. I loved being a teacher. It's definitely in my bones. I'm got a real passion for it. But I got to a point where um the school I worked at was really quite high profile, and the the grades the kids got and um the performance was really competitive. And over here um we have state schools and private schools. So a state school is free, everyone can go, and then obviously, private schools, you have tuition, which I know you have exactly the same kind of concept, but so a state school here just means that anyone can go if you live in the area. So we were very, very competitive with our grades, but we were states, so every year was different, you know. You didn't know the caliber of the students, you had to work really hard to create this culture in the school. I was also head of year 13. So year 13 is the final year before they go to university, so they're getting their A levels, uh, university applications. So it was just a really intense environment, one that I loved, but I just got to a point where I thought, I don't know if I could do this until I retire, you know, like 10-hour days, it was really relentless and you know, and hard work. So honestly, I it is as simple as this. So in 2017, I decided to set up an Instagram because in my late teens and 20s, I struggled really badly with anxiety. My dad died unexpectedly when I was 14. My mum moved to Jamaica when I was 21. My twin brother moved to Scotland to be with his now wife. So by the time I was 21, I was on my own. I had a real fear of abandonment, rejection, grief. Uh so anxiety was huge for me. So by the time, yeah, 2017, I had done a lot on myself and my own well-being. So I decided to put the two things together. I was going to teach people how to overcome anxiety and how to manage their mental health. So I started an Instagram, I self-published a best-selling book, I started writing for some global magazines, I did a lot of public speaking, and the business took off, my first business. And I was then able to leave teaching. So I left, I was able to leave teaching in 2019, and people just wanted to know how I'd done it. They wanted to know how I was able to basically spend time on social media and start this new life. So I transitioned into what I do now, which is helping other people do the same, you know, turn their passion or their idea or their concept into a viable, profitable business and really use the online space to leverage that. So yeah, that's a bit about my story.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

I love it. So teacher turned entrepreneur, extraordinaire. I love it. So not, you know, a lot of people, you know, to be a teacher, first of all, you've got to be extremely passionate about it. I couldn't imagine being a teacher. I just don't even know. I can't even wrap my head around. Then you throw a pandemic in the mix. Good lord. So it's a special kind of human being to be able to do that. But also, it takes a special community. I mean, I know a lot of ex-teachers, if you will, that have gone on to say, you know what, maybe maybe there is something out else out there for me. And I think that's as as the world has continued to change and evolve, not just with the pandemic, but change and evolve with technology, there has never been an easier time to start a business, become an entrepreneur, and really go after your dreams. It wasn't always that way because the traditional way, air quotes traditional way, was, you know, you go to school, you go to university, you get a degree, you get out, you get a job, you get married, blah, blah, blah. But that's changed a lot because a lot of times, especially as new generations develop, I, you know, my daughter's 20 and she's like, Dad, I don't know if, I mean, I I want to get a family and settle down one day, or have a family and settle down one day, get a family, have a family and settle down one day. But I also maybe just want to have a house full of golden doodles too. So, and I said, you know, that that's the beauty of of life continuing to change and evolve where we're at. The traditional way of things uh has changed thanks to disruption, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Oh my gosh, you are speaking my language. My biggest passion outside of you know entrepreneurship is exactly that. I think that the old school traditional way of what makes us fit into society is probably the biggest thing that we need to change, you know. I think you're so right. Whether you go to school, go to university, get a job, buy a house, get married, have two kids, buy a dog, you know, I just think so much of that now sets people up for failure that they don't want. You know, it sets people up for feeling like they're less than, you know, and it's like if you haven't found love by the time you're 25, you're ruined. If you haven't, you know, got married by the time you're 30, well, your life's over. And I just think there's so, and also, you know, just from personal experience and being surrounded by friends that do so many different things and have completely different lifestyles. And, you know, myself included, I've had to navigate so many different things from leaving this kind of stereotypical life and you know, teaching, you're in a box. Sure. I I I do really, I really can't say how much I love that that's the direction of the conversation that you've shared because entrepreneurship is a whole, it's a whole cloud of randomness. And I think that life is going that way, where you you exactly that, you know, your daughter might get to 40 and then decide she wants to travel the world, you know. She, you know, I just think that there's so life is meant to be lived, it's not meant to be something that we just try and complete, it's not supposed to be something that we get to each next level and we're like, check. We're supposed to enjoy the experience. And you know, if that means that you get to 35 and you decide I want to start a business, or you decide that you want to go and get a new job, or you want to travel, or you want to meet new people, or start a new language. I just think we we have to endorse that now. We have to, and also, like you said, from the pandemic and mental health and people really re-evaluating, you don't get to do this again. And if you are living your life based on the expectation of others and based on what everyone wants you to do, there will come a point where you realize that you have lived your life for other people's happiness and the sacrifice has been the expense of your own. So, yeah, I think definitely entrepreneurship, lifestyles, choices, experiences, the way that we live is definitely changing. And I think it does mean that entrepreneurship and starting a business and putting yourself out there, it has so much more room for people to grow into. It has so much more space now. It's not so alien. And you know what as well, Seb, even if it was alien, I think people should do it anyway because trying to conform and live your life in a way that you think you should, it's not fulfilling. And I and I'm all for it. I'm all for the random, the quirky, the spunky, the different, the brave, the unique. I just I love the randomness, and I think that's so important.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

I think everybody thrives to have that randomness and freedom in their life, but not everybody's willing to admit I'm I'm a 42-year-old empty nester. I had a kid at 20. I raised her, she's a junior in college now. And um, I I I don't question where I'm at with my life. Some days, every now and then I'm like, I don't know, maybe I'm gonna do this whole alone thing forever. I'm cool if I if I am cool, and if I'm not cool, but I mean 42-year-old, 42 years old in an empty nester. No one needs me home for dinner. Like the the liberation that that provides. And all of my friends are getting married, having babies. I'm just getting more awesome. So, and I don't, and I don't, I don't think there is a timeline because I got plenty of those friends that don't have marriages that don't end up. I've been at the wedding and I've also been over beers when it's not working out, and they just called an attorney to file for divorce. So been on both sides of the fence being able to see all of that. So it is true. I don't think anybody's on their deathbed going, Well, I hope that my mom's proud. Again, we have a desire for that to happen in some form or fashion, but not to let it allow us to ruin our life because especially our parents' generation, it's a different generation. I just had this conversation with my sister uh that our parents are very much, very much inclined to suggest the the uh you know the familiar. That's the word I'm looking for. What's familiar and what's comfortable. But I'm here to say today that you're not going to play a bigger game if you want to play it safe and you want to play in con just like you said, conforming to to what everyone around us and loves us thinks they that that we should be doing. I want to talk about you you said at a very young age, um your your your brother moved away, your your father passed away, and your mother moved to Jamaica. Um good for her. But at some expense, because you said, right? You said I had I did have some anxiety, some abandonment issues. I totally get that. I those were some of my past traumatic things that I didn't realize until my later, later years uh that um that that were the core issue. It was that it was it was going back to what really happened on there. So so what took place? What did you do to be able to serve yourself and work through that anxiety and start to heal through that abandonment? Because I don't think a lot of people understand how realistic and available healing is on those spaces when you're open to actually doing the work.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Oh, for sure, for sure. And I think that everyone moves in this space in in their own way. Everyone moves in a way of healing or self-development and self-awareness. We all get there in different ways. And I think that that's also the magic of it. There is no one way, just like in business, there's no one way to do anything. But I think I the thing with me is on the surface, I was always like this, very outgoing, very bubbly, very, very confident. You know, I've always had, I'm very, very tenacious. I've always had that kind of um gumption, you know, I've always been the person that strives to do her best. And, you know, I was really hardworking at school. I've I've always wanted the best for myself, but they got to a point where behind the scenes I was really struggling. I just really, really found it difficult to manage being the person that I was, which you see now, but behind the scenes, just having a completely different experience, you know. I my anxiety got so bad that I actually ended up with IBS. So it had real physical, real physical um experiences for me. I really struggled, you know, I'd get really bad tummy aches, I couldn't go to the toilet. I still now, although I don't have IBS, I still now can't go to the toilet in public. I just, it's almost like this, like the residual from the anxiety. I just, there was almost like my body, I was trying to control something. And and definitely if you've experienced things like anxiety, panic attacks, you know, that kind of um it just takes over and engulfs you. A lot of the time it does then have a real impact on other areas of your body. And for me, you know, it was my digestion and my sleep. So I I I just got to a point where I realized that my life wasn't being lived by me anymore. It was being lived by the choices and the consequences that I had been handed. And of course, some of them weren't by choice. Like, you know, my dad would never have chosen, you know, to leave, to leave and and you know, and to pass away like that, of course. But some of the choices were choices, and I think I'd got to a point where I realized I'm not my life isn't being controlled by me and dictated by me. On the surface, it was, but behind the scenes, the real person I was was being so influenced by other people's lives and how that impacted me. And I just so what I did, the first thing I did, and I would tell anyone to read this book, it became my Bible, was The Chimp Paradox by Dr. Steve Peters. You, you know, if if if you haven't and you want to learn about your mind and your mental health and you know the way that you function, definitely read that book. You know, like I said, it became my Bible. I also went to counseling. I went as a child, obviously when my dad passed, but it was a very different experience. So I went to counseling for about 18 months, once a week, really, really intensive. And I I decided to speak about it, you know, with my friends and with my loved ones. And I think that those would be the three things. Do you know the biggest thing actually when I really reflect was I chose to change it. I I'd got to that point where I said, enough, enough, enough now. I know I'm a good person. I know I have a good heart. I just bought that book.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

I am the book. That's what I was looking down. If you're listening to this, you're like, what was the name of that book again? The Chimp Paradox. There'll be a link in the show notes. Carry on. I apologize, Sam. I didn't mean to cut you off there.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

No, not at all. Best book. Like, honestly, the best book. Um, but I think the reason all of this happened was it got to the point where I've still got the journals. I would write notes after every chapter, I'd do all the homework, I'd go to counseling and say this is what I'd done. She'd then give me homework. I took this seriously. So I got to a point where I've decided that's it. I I cannot continue like this. I have good intentions, I'm a good person, I have a good heart, and I want to be happy. So, and it was a similar, a similar process with business. I decided I'm going to make this work. I decided this is what I wanted to do, and I committed fully. So, yeah, when it came to my healing journey, and of course, there are still things that are really hard because they involve other people. But when it comes to myself, you know, I've I've done the work and I continue to do the work, you know. My mental health is so important to me and anxiety and you know, all of that. It's been a really long time since I've felt and been in that space, um, which is amazing. But I'm also, I was committed to doing the work. So, in answer to your question, it would be the chimp paradox best book. I I absolutely, the most magical book, counselling, and also speaking to people that I love and telling them this is what I'm doing. I told everyone I'm going to counselling, I'm working myself, you know, I definitely didn't hold back because I'm not ashamed of that. I mean, a couple of weeks ago, um, I spoke about this on my Instagram, but I had a lump on my boob, a really small lump, but it was like a like a marble shape, and I had to go and get it syringed because it was a cyst. So obviously, you know, luckily for me, you know, it wasn't cancerous, but I did a live on it and I went to PT that same day and I said, I can't do anything that involves uh meat up against machines. He said, Why is that? I went, I had a cyst syringe for my boob. He goes, All right. So I'm in no way, um, you know, I I I would I happily would talk about anything because I think we should, you know, why would we be um ashamed of talking about those things, but we're happy to talk about the good. And that's when I think mental health and the way we view our life, we end up feeding that toxic energy, you know. Like if I'm happy to say to you, I've had the best day ever, but I wouldn't say I'm having a really tough time, I think that's the problem. So yeah, I talk about lumps in my boob, anxiety, counseling, therapy, all of it. And I think that that's what we need. We need that refreshing approach, you know. So yeah, talking would be key as well.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Yeah, I think that there's a lack of transparency. I think it's grossly underrated with the lack of transparency because everybody wants to. I always say, don't pee on my back and tell me it's raining because I don't want to hang out on the surface. I want to know the truth. But I've also learned because of my transparency, maybe some people call it a lack of a filter, whatever. It actually kick it kicks doors open for other people's transparency. So when you're willing to be vulnerable and transparent with the world and how what's really going on, it it allows people to go, you know what? Yeah, me too. And I think that's a real gift to be able to get people to shift like that. So speaking of your business, let's talk about that for a second. We're almost out of time here, but I want to finish things up by talking about what exactly you're doing uh with with your coaching business and who you're actually serving.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Yeah, definitely. And I love that you do that. Transparency is so important, and if we want to have friendships in this day and age, we have to be transparent because social media creates another layer almost. And I remember before we recorded this episode, I actually messaged um Seb and said, Look, you know, I'm not having a great week, you know, it's kicked my butt a little bit, and I just need a bit of a break. And we hadn't really spoken that much prior. Uh, and he was amazing. No worries, you know. Look, do what you've got to do, we'll rearrange, sent me voice notes. If you ever want to chat, I voice noted back. I was like, this is the best response. This is just what I needed. Like, thank you so much. Of course, we'll rearrange. So, you know, I think we're both big advocates for that. And even when we first got on this call, we're talking about what's been going on, but the good, but also the challenge. And I think transparency is so important to form real relationships now. You know, you just can't, you can't function in today's society with a filter constantly. So, yeah, just to really reiterate on that, and I loved it. And I definitely, you know, I would say that was the best response. That voice note lifted me up, it made me feel better. You then don't have the whole guilt of, oh my, are they gonna think that I'm, you know, canceling. He was like, Yeah, no worries. I think that's key, supporting one another. So yeah, I'm all for that.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Well, you know when it's authentic. You you know, yeah, so you know when the canceling or the rescheduling is authentic, and you know when the person is just is this how they show up in other areas of their life too? You can you can automate, I mean, at least I can tell. So uh I'm glad that I could bet uh I'm glad that I could be a a breath of fresh air and send some sunshine your your way that uh that that day on there. So and just a great, just a great opportunity to connect even further, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Yeah, exactly. And I think that's you know what you're saying, energy, you can tell. And that's obviously why we have this conversation because we have so many of the same values and we would approach situations in so many of the same ways. Um, but yeah, so business-wise, it's more of this. I kind of want me to bleed into everything I do. So now I work predominantly with with women just because of that's the you know, they tend to be attracted to me on how to do what I've done, you know, how to build a business that's not just for show, how to build a business that's not just, you know, another full-time job, how to build a business that means you can create profit, which is the key. So you're not just having all these big cash mumps online, you're actually building profit, you're creating financial freedom, you're making an impact on your life. So, yeah, I now support my clients the majority of the time with how they can show up and you usually they're service-based businesses, and use the online space to amplify their message, attract their ideal clients, sell out without needing big launches, you know, without those big kind of the energy-draining experiences, and just build a business that they love. So, yeah, that's that's where I'm at now. I I teach adults rather than teenagers.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

But back to what you're passionate about, but you're probably making more money and doing and getting a little bit more fulfillment because it's your own now. So, well, hats off on being able to do that and and and doing work that matters. So important. So if you're listening to this right now, you're like, holy cow, I want to meet Sam. You totally can connect with her. I'm gonna put all of her links in the show notes. That's the description of this podcast episode in case you're wondering what in the heck a show note is. You can follow her on Instagram too. Samantha Hearn. Uh, there's two, there's an underscore before the S and an underscore after the E when you pull her up on Instagram on your, but again, especially if you're driving, don't try and find her right now. I'm gonna include the link in the show notes. Well, Sam, it's been so great to connect with you. You'll have to come back sometime soon to the show.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Oh, I'd love it. Um I'm definitely, when I come to America when we're allowed, I am coming to see you. I and I don't say that stuff just for the sake of it. I mean it.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Oh, I can't wait. We're gonna have an absolute blast. I I love you probably hear it a lot, but I love your accent. I mean, I could have you read the you can read the local phone book to me all day and I'd be entertained. So yeah. So uh so so so great to connect. Uh listeners, make sure you connect with Sam. She's an incredible human, and uh, I'm stoked to connect with her further too. So, Sam, thanks again for your time.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story Podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Be sure to appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. We'll talk to you next time.