Episode 203: Failing Early, Correcting Early with Sue Cassidy
Aging, for most of us, is definitely not the most exciting time because honestly, who wants to grow old? Sue Cassidy, a survivor, and thriver, lives her life aging backward while helping other people make a living out of social media marketing. Sue Cassidy started a career in the Music Industry by writing songs for Tina Turner, Olivia Newton-John, and other famous artists and getting a Grammy nomination at the height of her career. In this episode, Adam Stott talks with Sue Cassidy about her musical career, her journey as an entrepreneur, and ultimately failing in order to succeed.
Sue Cassidy has a mission to empower aging men and women to age backward and feel young and confident in their own skin. She is an Executive National Vice President at Arbonne.
Show Highlights:
- How Sue Cassidy’s music career as a writer started at the Sandringham Race Track
- The story behind Sue Cassidy’s song being cut out of Michael Jackson’s record
- What prompted Sue to quit the music business
- The importance of focus and discipline in the creative process of writing a song for Sue
- Sue’s journey to entrepreneurship and becoming a part of THE 1%
- Social marketing: A word of mouth recommendation
- How Sue is teaching people to become a CEO of their own company
- Importance of a solid relationship in marketing
- Turning a dream into an achievable goal
Links Mentioned:
Big Business Events Members Network
Follow Sue Cassidy on Instagram
Transcript:
Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore may include some minor grammatical errors.
Adam Stott:
Hello everybody and welcome to tonight’s completely live podcast that we’re gonna be doing which is going to be absolutely awesome. I’m super excited. I’ve got a brilliant guest who’s going to bring some amazing energy and some super content for you all this evening. And what’s so interesting about tonight’s guest is that she’s had an incredible career across multiple different areas, done some amazing things, she’s written two books, both of those books extremely successful. She is a part of the million-dollar all-star club which is basically that she’s built a business where she’s paid on over a million pounds in sales, every single month for a network marketing company, or a social marketing company, and I think that’s really interesting.
There’s so many people out there that do network marketing, social marketing and building their businesses but they don’t always get the success and they can find that frustrating at times, but we’ve got somebody here that is truly cracked it at the highest level to be able to ask questions, not on that and gets one standard little bit about it.
In addition to that, you know, previous to that even Sue’s had a career in the music industry, where she was nominated for a Grammy, she work directly with Tina Turner and Mike Jackson, and many other superstars of the music industry. And I think 02:17 Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and many more.
So we’ve got somebody that’s had a great career and I think you’re gonna love her. I have a good shot behind the scenes before we started off today and she got a ton of energy. So, without further ado, I’m going to bring in Sue in now. How are we doing Sue?
Sue Cassidy:
Hi! I have to say though, one thing I always have a disclaimer because, you know, we talked about when you were just talking and he asked me, he said I’m not a real big fan of this kind of network marketing thing is, and I understand. I was like that too but only 1% of people ever actually achieved the kind of success I have. And there are reasons for that, it’s like any business, it’s any business not everybody’s going to be successful.
Adam Stott:
03:02 I want to know if you’re the 1%. Let’s find out what’s got you there, you know, that’s gonna be awesome. Let’s talk about it.
Sue Cassidy:
But then I’m gonna keep interrupting because I’m so happy to be here, you know, it’s like, you know we’re all in these little pods are all like stuck at home and it’s like food. When you get to talk to somebody and you connect with somebody, especially somebody and one of my favorite countries in the world. In the UK where I live for 11 and half years so I’m missing my UK friends.
Adam Stott:
We’re in California and I’ll miss 03:36.
Sue Cassidy:
It’s beautiful today. It really is.
Adam Stott:
It really is lovely, awesome. Okay so like where do we start? There’s so much to talk about tonight, we’ve got so much to talk about. Should we start off by having a chat about the music industry? You got nominated for a Grammy then, you work with Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, and many more. You know, tell us about, you know how that came around, you’re a songwriter so you work with Tina Turner on Private Dancer. And you worked on some other massive songs or into the staff there. 04:09 first of all be awesome.
Sue Cassidy:
Okay, so I had just moved to the UK I was 19 years old, and I was a model in the UK, in England, in London, and I got asked to go and hand out flyers at Sandringham race track. And when I was there, I met someone who was like he was a manager, and he just paid like my energy. And he said to me, can you sing, and I went, yes I can sing. Never say no if it’s a job right and he said okay I want you to audition coming audition stick-outs on an audition for me. And I went to audition and I sang a song and I snapped on the offbeat, and I got the gig, and the next thing I knew I had a record contract on Decca Records, and the man who turned down the Beatles did grow, signed me, turnout the video and he signed me. And then I ended up on 05:11 records, and I realized I did not want to be an artist. I was terrified. It was too young I was really not ready.
And I thought I’m going to be a songwriter because I think this is what I want to do. So I went I had a flat on the fifth-floor walkup flat and the piano that I bought this junky piano had to come up the stairs, and all those steps, and I taught myself how to play the piano. This was the time of Carole King when she had tapestry that’s how old I am, and I taught myself how to play, and I started writing songs, and my first record was with Petula Clark. My very first heard was Petula Clark then I had the new seekers. So these were books. These are old, you’re too young. 05:58
I didn’t know what I was doing. I always say to people, I learned how to swim as I’m drowning, and it’s the truth. I dive into something I go, uh oh, I better figure this out. And that’s my whole life so I started my songwriting career there in London, and then I moved back to the United States to California, and I didn’t do a whole lot for a while and then I finally went, you know, I’m gonna go back to this I really need to, and what happened was actually I was in a marriage that crumbled. And I got over that I thought I got to go to work and funnily enough, the guy who I ended up writing on private dancer 06:43 I had introduced him to his wife. He got a movie in Australia called the Pirate movie, and invited me to write songs with him because he knew I needed the medicine of going back to work.
And I went down to Australia and I wrote two or three songs for that movie and one of the two of them ended up being cut by Olivia Newton-John and the Jerry went on to write what’s love got to do with it, and the other amazing hits and lifelong friends, and he’s still just the woman I introduced him to. And I’m back to talk to her today so it’s a very circuitous way of telling you. That’s how I got started. So queue it this way, I’m telling you how my career began.
Adam Stott:
That’s a lot of people looking for a break, right? And sometimes we don’t realize when a break is in front of them, they don’t actually realize that there’s that opportunity, because they don’t swim while they’re drowning, you know, they’d rather say no they’d rather wait for perfectionism. You know at a point, I’m on training, and the question that she asked me was, you know, Adam. Can you tell me what I need to do to succeed? And the first thing I said so in order to succeed, you know you need to take the opportunity, to take action, you start doing things, you need to go make, you know, start putting things in place. And really I’m a massive believer in, you know saying yes opens the doors and saying no closes the doors right, but that quite of the journey if you say, initially when that you met that guy and he said, can you sing, no not really I can’t really sing I’m not a great singer, you know, he walks away, and you don’t end up working on Michael Jackson, you don’t end up working with Tina Turner, you know that’s like a pivotal moment, but that happens to everybody, right, that happens for everyone.
Sue Cassidy:
But what I see is not as a dead-end. Yes, it leads to possibilities so why would you say no when okay if you don’t, if it doesn’t work out, it was just another lesson. It didn’t work out, but you learn something. And that like you say, later down the line, which can lead to incredible things. You just got to say yes. It’s like running, that’s all. And I think it’s people’s fear of failure of success. Yeah, that stops them, but that’s rooted in early childhood.
Adam Stott:
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, same here, so it opens the door, we totally agree on that 100%. And I have to ask, you know, working with Michael Jackson. What was he like?
Sue Cassidy:
It wasn’t Michael in particular who I worked with he knew his piano player, lives down the street from me, and I worked directly with him and Rod Temperton, who was the musical arranger for Quincy Jones. And so what happened was they cut the song, and I didn’t actually get to work with Michael, but I got the recording, and I was told that I was a terrible story got a call from Rod Temperton and saying, you’ve got the first single, you got the first single on this record, we love it it’s going to be great.
And so, I then got a call from the music publisher from Warner Brothers saying, you know, you are the only song that we don’t own the rights to on the publishing, we need to get there. And I called Terry and I said, you know, they want our publishing he can’t give that up, we can because we’ll set a precedent and then every other company will know about it’s just the kiss of death.
So I went back to Warner Brothers and I said it’s not going to happen. I can’t, you know, we can’t do this. And I’m thinking in my back pocket here, I know about the first single. Two weeks later, the record came out, and we were not in, and Michael went away and wrote, beat it. 10:37
So I went to therapy for 10 years. The recording is still there is one of those tracks and somehow somebody got a hold it, and they went in to into the vault, and they have like they got like not good recordings of the songs that are still on hold there, and they put videos to them and everything, and it’s nasty what they did when it’s out there.
Adam Stott:
It’s interesting I did an interview with random facts which really relate to the story at 11:12. When I was in America, I was in Florida. He said the same thing that he fought for publishing rights. So 11:20 and is making wealthy, you know, they did go ahead with the song but he literally won’t give away the publishing rights he made money for every 11:27
Sue Cassidy:
Now it’s different world, now they do what’s called a 360 deal, meaning they want everything, all of it. See that’s another reason why the business that I’m in now social marketing is such a big deal because if you think of the music business, as like a sandwich, and you think of like performances is bread, and a lot of bread is airplay and in the middle the meat in the sandwich was record sales, there’s no such thing anymore, so the meat of the sandwich, meaning there’s no way to make a real living now nobody can even tour, so people in that industry are struggling and it’s just the world has changed because music is free now basically.
And when I was in it was the best time, and I made a great living at it, and when I hated the business to be honest with you. I love the creativity and I’m actually writing a musical now, there’s an actress, very famous actress, you’re too young to know her but her name is Diane 12:28 and she was married to a wonderful 12:31 and she wrote a book about your life together called dear carry and went to the one to number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and we’re writing her life story as a musical, and we’ve been doing that for a long time. And now, we’re all set to go and now the pandemic, I don’t want to say that words are backwards, but wife has thrown a curve.
And so now we’re really figuring it but the music is just great and what’s the fun part about doing something like that, the challenge of it is that in a song that you write for the radio, it has to be in a certain structure, and it has to fit in within three minutes and it’s a very structured thing when you’re writing for something creative like a musical. There are no boundaries, and you’re free to really be expressive and to be creative and do all the things that are so wonderful. I remember when I decided to get out of the music business. The reason I decided to get out in the end was A, I got pregnant and have a baby and I thought well that’s it. I want to spend time doing this.
But the other thing was I was starting to feel like a prostitute in the sense that I wasn’t speaking my own voice anymore, it was like to what would Olivia want to sing. What would Tina sing, and I’m so I’m trying to predict what I’m going to write for someone else, and I got lost. I didn’t have a voice anymore. It was all about trying to please someone and manipulate somebody to want my song. And I didn’t like that; I didn’t want to be that person. I wanted to be authentic and have my own voice, and I actually forgotten what it sounded like.
And I couldn’t duplicate it anymore. That’s why I’m doing this has been really freeing and wonderful for me because I’m feeling all that creativity, again, it’s great.
Adam Stott:
Yeah, that’s awesome. Okay, so you’ve got nominated for a Grammy for Tina Turner’s song. 14:35
Sue Cassidy:
That was on the album so I got nominated for the album, what’s love, that got nominated for the one the Grammy. I was on the album but that year, Bruce Springsteen won.
Oh, so we didn’t win but was a thrilling. 14:52
Adam Stott:
What song did you write?
Sue Cassidy:
I wrote, Show some respect. It was the fifth single here.
Adam Stott:
Show some respect.
Sue Cassidy:
I went to Madison Square Garden, while she did it in her tour and I was there for her 50th birthday and it was just such a thrill to be in that arena and see her found out on that stage singing my song was really 15:16
Adam Stott:
Something interesting right because writing, you know, whether songwriting or actual writing is requires a concentration and that focus isn’t? You know, what were the sorts of things that you used to do was to get yourself concentrated and focus to sit down and write songs? Did that come easy to you? Did it come from sort of from the heart and easy or was really difficult? 15:38
Sue Cassidy:
Every time you sit down and write something, it firstly doesn’t come from you it comes through you. And I can’t tell you the count was I don’t know how many times, I would go into my studio. It was so disciplined. That’s why I’ve been really good and being my own boss. I’ve never had a job ever. And I was so disciplined, I would go in there and I would sit down and I’d sit at the keyboard, and sometimes I’d be there for like 18 hours and nothing would come out I would cry and nothing, and I would go back the next day and nothing and go back the next week and the next month and nothing.
I remember Terry and I would take nine years to finish one song that we wrote nine years. Other songs I remember one time because I’m from Florida, I know you just mentioned Florida and I’m from Florida, and I was out on the beach one morning, early in the morning I was running on the sand, and more of a sudden, the song just came from nowhere, and I’m out on the beach, I don’t have a pen, I don’t even think I had nothing with me.
And not only did I get the music, but I got the lyrics. The whole song just came, and there are moments that happen like that they’re not very often, when they do their magic. And so every time it was different, but the one thing that was constant was my discipline, and my consistency. And that’s what has paid off in my life and everything that I’ve done. If I say I’m gonna do it. Honestly, I am a broad strokes person. I don’t like the little details I hate that stuff, But I’ve had to really hold my feet to the fire, and learn that you know you can change how you are, your brain can change if you really want to change it.
And if you’re looking to grow and expand that requires work and I was always willing to do the work.
Adam Stott:
I think it really a good principle adhere to, you know, for years and years and years I’ve always said to myself, I’m going to do it, I want to do it, I say, I’m going to do something, not to do it. Like, literally really takes a lot for me to cancel anything, but it takes a tremendous amount from you to cancel anything. That’s a really good principle that if you do that, you know, you’re reliable, your focus, your discipline, and I think a lot of that is about controlling your mind and if you start to control your mind in a way that you follow through on what you say you’re going to do, you can achieve so much more success so much quicker.
Sue Cassidy:
Well, here’s the other thing when I think people are impatient, especially in this world, and this the idea of it might take some time to convert to what it is you want, you have to be willing to be patient, and know that the law of averages are eventually, something’s going to pop my mother used to say Suzy if you fish long enough, you’ll catch a fish. That’s the truth, if you will just keep going. You can’t quit because you might be this close to payday, and you’ll never know if you put down the pickaxe. So you just got to keep digging, and eventually you go, that’s just the principle that I live by.
Adam Stott:
I love it. I love your mom’s call. 19:07 it’s absolutely true, absolutely 100% true.
Okay so amazing music right, this really cool things, and then you moved on and we moved on to work in a social market, where you use radio to build your team and got there and you’ve hit the heights in it right.
So you just hit the hearts of a million dollar on staff, which is over a million dollars a month in sales in your business, which is incredible, right. I mean that is incredible. And what I love is you said that you know boundaries industry which I totally agree, you say that 99 cent don’t get to where they want to get so, but a one cent really do.
Now, how did you get to become that one percent? So, you know, what is it that you needed to do this? Could you tell us about your journey? 19:58 He was skeptical 20:01 in this business, and this this talk about the job be really interesting to hear your journey I think this is all people we’re not people watching.
We have some super successful people watching us these are people on our clients getting great results in our businesses we have something we’re starting out, some people at the beginning and I think it’s really inspiring for people to know, you know, the kind of lumps and bumps along the road. It’s actually a massive achievement to get there, so you should be, I’m sure you’re proud of that but you know it’s really cool.
Sue Cassidy:
Yeah, it is you know, I’m very grateful. Takes a Village could do anything, especially in this profession, you don’t do this alone. Songwriting I could go in and I could do it along. 20:43 And I think I told you when we were talking earlier that the one thing about, I think the corporate world, and any kind of business like the music business certainly was anything to do with show business, the younger you are, the better it is right.
And the older you get, the like the jobs start to disappear, you know they want to young you, you know like they want a young Sue or a young Jennifer Aniston, but she’s the bomb you know. So I think that when we are in that kind of a world, we’re always looking over our shoulder and worried, fearful that something’s going to be taken away from us, that we are getting too old or we’re didn’t do the best job ever or we don’t look the part, or whatever it might be.
And so everything is a threat. And when you find yourself in something like what I do now, which we call social marketing, and we build a business based on word of mouth recommendation. I mean, is there anything better than what somebody you know and trust tells you about, you’re gonna listen to that more than you will somebody who’s been paid a fortune to endorse a product, I certainly listen to people I know and trust.
So basically, I realized that I was no longer being threatened by anybody that the very kind of people I was afraid of before were now people, I was looking for because I realized that if I help them. It helped me. It helped other people, and we all help each other and so therefore, you find yourself in a flourishing, thriving supportive environment.
I had never experienced that in my life until I got into this kind of business. So basically what you’re trying to do is flip everything on its head, and what’s happened in the world is there’s been a transition of wealth. It always used to be the big guy in the top of the company, the CEO. He had that job, he was the guy who was going to get paid the big bucks, and everybody else worked for him and he leveraged off of everybody else’s time and energy and got paid all that money and you’re down there at the bottom, you’re never going to get that job.
My goal in what I do is to flip that on its head and show everybody how to become the CEO of their own company. How do you become, how do you have business ownership, and an asset that you can will to a child a spouse, philanthropic organization, but basically it’s based on your own efforts, and that and showing other people how to follow a map. It’s like a blueprint that if you show people how to do that, and they are consistent, and they don’t try and reinvent the wheel, they have as much of an opportunity to be successful as you had. So we all come in exactly the same way, I didn’t know anything about what I was 23:56
Adam Stott:
What made you get involved in the first place? Did a friend of yours introduce you to it?
Sue Cassidy:
I told her I’d rather die. Here’s the other thing we’ve always believed this stuff we hear, you know, so and so said it’s not this isn’t real so and so, because we know and trust people. Well, everybody told me that this kind of industry was like, oh, this is not good. So I believe that without doing my own research, I just believe what I heard, that is the kiss of death, you have to do your own research and guess it may come out that that person was absolutely right. And it may come out that they were not my case, they weren’t. And it took me a year to come around.
And to be honest with you, the reason I finally said yes, was because I had been a stay at home mom for 17 years, and at that time, I was 58 years old, and my son had turned 17 and he was driving, and I became redundant. I had no purpose. I was just like I didn’t want to be a lady who launched, I had become an instrument rated pilot, which took me two years, two and a half years to get that rating, but I wasn’t going to become a commercial pilot and go fly people around
Adam Stott:
25:28 planes as well, Sue?
Sue Cassidy:
Yes I had my own airplane, had some pretty close calls.
Adam Stott:
25:35 performed the mind sparring, you know, 25:38
Sue Cassidy:
it was scary, but I did it. I learned how to swim as I was drowning in the airplane. Anyway done all these things, now I wanted to contribute to the family income, and I was asked my son Toby, Mom you’re a dinosaur now in the music business, you’re a fossil. And he said, you’re too old and he was right. And so I thought well what I am going to do, how I can contribute like in a really big way because here’s the truth we spent a lot of money. I was married, and we have a lot of expenses, big ones, big money, and big expense.
If you’re making, let’s just give you an example if you’re making a million dollars and you spend a million in one year. Do you have any more money, right? So, how do I go back and become viable in a way that there’s no expiration date on my forehead. Nobody’s gonna be my boss. I have an opportunity to roll up my sleeves and work really hard and learn something new, and inspire people.
Okay, this sounds like it. So I finally after a year, I jumped in the minute I started I had regret like, oh my god what am I going to do, because as soon as I got started my former music publisher who were now, she was a dinosaur too right, we were both too old to be in the business. I said you were gonna do this together. She’s what is it I said I don’t know, but we’re gonna do it we’re gonna have the best time and we’re going to be as successful in this as we were in music, and that’s exactly what happened.
And, yeah, so, you know, here’s the thing. I have found in my life, in my long life that I’ve been blessed to have that people are buying you. It doesn’t matter what your product is, it doesn’t matter what you do, doesn’t matter if they trust you, and you show up and say, I’m walking arms with you, I’m going to do this with you. I will not drop you. I’ve learned another lesson. I learned that in my lifetime, I don’t want anybody in my life I can’t climb a mountain with, because I won’t drop anybody. And I don’t want anybody who would drop me. Yeah, so it is really important to evaluate any relationship, there has to be an equal commitment because you have to lock arms and you got to stay stuck glued together. And so that’s how I built my business, I was very strategic. I didn’t want everybody in my business. I wanted people I trusted or respected, wanted to have fun with go on vacation with.
Adam Stott:
How did you establish who those people were to climb a mountain with you? How does somebody go out there and assess that?
Sue Cassidy:
I mean think about it. You don’t want anybody who continually forgets to call you back. Somebody who is not of their word, who’s kind of like the only word I can think of off the top of my head, is flaky. You want somebody; see I want to show other people how to be more successful than I am. In order to do that, I know how to read that vibe. I’m not just going to people. Oh, let’s do this let’s do this. I evaluate them. I build a relationship first. Okay, so the relationship is the pivotal thing. Everything we do in life requires relationship. So, in my business. It’s…
Adam Stott:
I mean I talk about non-stop, right? Absolutely.
Sue Cassidy:
Really?
Adam Stott:
Yeah the power of relationship 29:38 yeah, absolutely.
Sue Cassidy:
If you don’t have a solid relationship, you cannot certainly can’t build a business with somebody. So, it takes, and then you got to realize that if somebody is not matching your energy. You need to let them go. And you need to love them right where they’re at. Respect their decision, and not to give it everything they’ve got because a lot of people say I really want to be successful I really want this, but they really don’t. They say it, but they’re not willing to do so.
Adam Stott:
30:13 you’re giving some dropping some knowledge bombs here 30:17 around industry as well because industries, you know, this goes in any part of business right.
Sue Cassidy:
Yeah, and at the bottom, all that you see what I really honed it down and honed it down. And I think that I would have gotten to is that a lot of people say they want stuff. A lot of people say they you know they dream of certain things, but at the very bottom of that, there’s a belief that they don’t deserve to have it. They can do all the work in the world and they can spin their wheels like crazy work hard, and even accomplish things. But if they don’t believe they deserve to keep it. They’ll lose it, is it’s like water, it finds its own level, we can only have what our belief is that we deserve to keep. So no matter how much like a thermostat. We set the thermostat was something that’s totally unconscious. So that’s our you know you’ve got to be willing to put work into yourself,
Adam Stott:
That’s a really interesting concept that you just said that, you know, I’ve heard that concept many years ago actually from Paul McKenna, okay so yeah so he talks about a thermostat, and you having a wealth thermostat, your wealth thermostat because if you start to learn too much money, and you build yourself up here and you don’t feel like you deserve it, you’re going to self-sabotage to bring yourself down right, it talks about a lot in a big way and I think that is such an interesting concept because many people won’t know they had it, but it’s all right so you know, ask a different question. And say, if somebody has got that in place, what your advice would be to someone of removing that cat, but taking the barriers and then limits away from them. Now how does somebody say to themselves, right, I’m gonna go past what I think I’m capable of, I’ve got an idea of what I think I’d love to hear what you think.
Sue Cassidy:
Well, I think there’s a system for it. And I think what I’ll tell you what I do, what I’ve done in my life. Okay, so I will take like a three by five card. And I will write an affirmation of what they say, you know, I dream of this oh my dreams. Dreams are just very nebulous, they’re out there and they reach a dream. We can reach a goal. A goal is a dream with a deadline. And so what I do is I’ll take a dream, right, like, oh, I want this house on an island; okay let’s just use that as an example.
And then what I do is I write on the card, and if those already happened. And I write it in action words that actually, I studied the science of the brain, I got a certificate of neuroplasticity, years ago with the Pacific Institute, which started doing this kind of research about 15 years ago, and there were people there from NASA and from Boeing and all these different companies, learning about neuroplasticity and how to stretch, what you think, you know what your own parameters are like the rubber band.
Rubber bands is only good if it stretches, with the purpose and so we need to stretch and we’re going to grow into who we’re going to become because we can’t if we don’t stretch. What I learned was that the mind is like these millions of synapses, every second, going off like that. If you can find a way to attach a feeling, to what you want and put it in terms of like, it’s happening to you now and suddenly in the future. I don’t know how it works I just know it does. It’s just the way it works, and so that’s what so many things have happened in the world is that people have found a way to attach this deep emotion to a burning desire.
So what I do is all right. I am so excited to be living in my little white 800 square foot beach house on Whale Kea in the middle of the Barre islands and every time I wake up in the morning, I’m ecstatically happy. Now, what I do is I look at that and I close my eyes and I feel it right now, okay.
And then what I do after I write that down, I turn the corner over and then I make a little comment I go, I accomplish my goals and I sign it. I make a contract with myself, and I also put I publish my goals by such and such a date.
So, that kills me that I’ve just taught my brain, it has to go to work and I’m not going to tell them how to do it. The brain has a thing called tele-illogical and tele-illogical means it’s like a heat seeking missile. When you say you want something to happen, you are going to get up and go to the refrigerator. You are making the action happen because you had a desire to do it and you need to I’m thirsty and I need water and you feel it. Right, so it’s no different to a heat seeking missile. He established this mantra of what it is you’re creating, you don’t question it, you don’t ever doubt it because then you it fizzles out the doubt is what kills it so you’ve got even without the evidence. You must continue to see it.
Adam Stott:
In successful people I’ve seen so many times. 35:43 anyone that wants to create more success has got to start to, you know, take that on board and have that have that belief, you know.
Sue Cassidy:
35:52 action if you just sit there and expect it to fall out of the sky, it won’t. So with all of that, you have to take the action that’s commensurate with the desire you have. So it’s like it’s called the cycle of belief, and it says it’s a circle, you know, you will only take as much action as you believe in your possibilities, and then that action will lead to results and if the results are good, you’ll continue that cycle. But if your desire and your results. If they’re not good, if they don’t meet up with your commitment, it starts to create a spiral of lack of belief, and like, and then you give up. So you have to always just in spite of not having any evidence in the now. You have to really fight that.
Adam Stott:
So many people think that because they can’t see it, they can’t tap into that vision, so many people can’t tap into their vision, they just tapped into that vision and belief in themselves, you know, they could start to create those results so much quicker. And I think that, you know what you’re saying is really great advice and practical things that people can do. You know.
Sue Cassidy:
One more thing that I think is important because what happens is we don’t know what we believe. And one of the things that I always do is like, I’ll take a piece of paper like this, and I’ll draw a line down the middle of the page, and on the left, I will make a statement about something that I want, or who I am. And then I wait to hear that little 37:24 you’re gonna you’re not know you can and I write it down right the start having a dialogue with myself. Well your mother said you couldn’t do this. And don’t you remember that teacher and, you know, told you couldn’t add you couldn’t add two and two. That’s why you’re so rotten at math.
And then you have the ego but wait a minute, I can do this, I am the one who says, and you have this conversation, and it may take you an entire book to write it out, but you don’t stop having the dialogue to you win the conversation with that negative voice in your head, and then all the negative stuff, and you burn it, and then you are only left with all the good things you said about yourself, and that reinforces your belief that you are competent, that you’re capable, that you can have it, that you deserve it. And truly, you’re just really evaporating all that other stuff that other people told you that may have hurt you deeply and scarred you and left you believing that you don’t have what it takes. When you really do…
Adam Stott:
I love that, just for the audience and in case you didn’t get that. I was really good bit of advice. What sort of as you’re saying there is about the dialogue that goes on in people’s head, actually draw a line of favor to read down the middle and write down the dialog, and actually win the argument. That’s such a real practical sensible logical way to change someone’s mindset, actually I love it.
Sue Cassidy:
It works.
Adam Stott:
It works, you know, where did you learn that? Is it something that you’ve picked up along the way, or is that something…
Sue Cassidy:
I created that.
Adam Stott:
39:00there we go, we’ve got made sure 39:02
Sue Cassidy:
Every part of my 39:03 when I do the goal setting book, the whiteboard that…
Adam Stott:
39:06 what does it meant by now?
Sue Cassidy:
It’s out of print now 39:11 it was published by a company called Chronicle Books. Number one to Amazon’s movers and shakers and it’s a goal setting system but I bought it back. And so I’m repurposing the book and I’m really gonna be redesigning it with my collaborators, so it’s not available for purchase now, but hopefully it will be again.
Adam Stott:
Sounds awesome.
Sue Cassidy:
My vision board, it’s basically, again, it’s using the your eyes, using your ears, using all the senses that we have.
Adam Stott:
39:48 is when somebody’s calling that something everybody wants it because I’m thinking so we’ll have to find that out, you’re going to send me one of these. Yeah awesome sounds great book, you know really good, really good advice.
Sue Cassidy:
Thank you.
Adam Stott:
So, in terms of building this business when you went into it and you’ve got to these million dollars a month, All Star Status actually Kaylee, is one of our clients has just said I’ve been network marketing for over a year. I’ve hit over 2k consistently since October. 40:18 I’m loving this, Sue. I want to leave work and build my business, even set the deadline, which is awesome. I think it does teams are really smart girl. What advice would you give Kaylee in network marketing being that she’s 40:33
Sue Cassidy:
Well, what I would say is congratulations because you obviously have taken the road less traveled, but more and more people are joining you on that road, I think it’s something like 100,000 people a week are joining the ranks of social selling and direct recommendation for products. And what I would say is don’t quit your day job yet. Don’t quit your day job until you are ready to replace that income, and be patient, be very patient because you know I know somebody in my company who is wildly successful, and she couldn’t find anybody to join her in her business, because this is a network. We’re building a network but today in this world your network is your net wealth.
The more people you have in your life. The richer and bigger, you are and your business can be. So, for the first year and a half I think it was 154 people said no to her, but she knew that the odds were somebody was gonna say yes, it was inevitable.
So she realized every time somebody said no, she was getting closer to a yes. So she was patient. So I think you also we have a lot of rejection in this business. People don’t understand it. And one of my goals is to educate people, they do understand what it is today and how regulated it is as an industry, and how, but common sense it makes to be able to stop buying from another company’s market share, like let’s say boots chemist, and you’re buying from boots, and boots makes all the money and they go on vacations with their families.
Why would you do that if you can buy a product that is better than anything you can find in a store because it has to be to have word of mouth recommendation, and be able to get paid from the company, a thank you, a small thank you for a purchase that happens the as a result of your recommendation. That’s what it is I mean if you’re recommending movies and books and, you know, things like that a restaurants and somebody goes there and eats at a restaurant, they’re not going to pay you a thank you for that person maybe spending 50 pounds there.
But in this industry, we have companies, all kinds of companies that don’t advertise, they’re not sold in stores, you can’t find them anywhere except through a person who recommends the product. And as a result of that recommendation. The company pays you, not the person, the person buying from the company and the company gives you a, like a small thank you. And the larger your network becomes the course, the larger your business can become.
But it’s work. This is worth it. A lot of people don’t know how to work for them. They’re so used to being told to punch a clock, when they go home, when they come, when they go on vacation, and they are lost when the responsibility is on them if I have to get myself up. I have to get myself to work in my office, I have to make the call for me, it’s so easy to make a call for somebody else, you’re not personally feeling rejected when they say no I’m not interested in that service.
Adam Stott:
I want to jump into Sue, that’s what I want to talk about, because, you know, this crosses the borders of all business right and, you know, if you’re going to grow a business, you’re gonna be successful in business you need to be able to sell, you need to be able to get yourself out there, you need to be able to have conversations right, you’ve mentioned rejection there several times and certainly in that industry, you know people suffer a lot from it. What are your tools that you would say in some of the super positive and you got loads of energy. Right. What are your tools for overcoming rejection or not acknowledging rejection or dealing with rejection? What are your tools that you’d say, because you come up with? I love your previous talk that was awesome. 44:22
Sue Cassidy:
I would say just get used to it, and eventually coming back, go for no. See how many no’s you can get in a row because you know, and then when you get to yes, you got to start all over again. So it’s becoming impervious to see people say don’t it’s not that they’re saying no to you, they’re saying no to what they don’t understand. People say, no, what they don’t understand, I did it. I know and then I got really good at this. And people still say no to me, but I just feel sorry for them because, you know, I know what this is, I’ve seen so many lives changed by this concept of ownership, we’re in the 21st century now.
We’re in the information age. Everybody is shopping online, everybody. Some people choose to build a business of their own with ownership that they work in their own hours, they leverage their time which I can explain if that’s something you want me to explain. But the thing is we get afraid of people saying no when the truth is, people are just saying no to something so again as I was saying, if you’re making phone calls for somebody else. And the person says no to that phone, you’re not walking around way going oh my god I suck at this. You know, 45:45
Adam Stott:
People feel more comfortable if they get rejected for someone else and themselves.
Sue Cassidy:
Exactly.
Adam Stott:
I do actually think that’s crazy, 45:54 working for a company, but can’t be a great salesperson working for themselves,
Sue Cassidy:
46:00 it boils down to, I don’t have the confidence to think I deserve this. For me, I can do it for them and I’ll get a paycheck, but if that paycheck goes away, you’re toast, you don’t have a backup plan. So, like for instance so that when you go to McDonald’s and they ask you, do you want to supersize that and you say no, I’ll just have that okay thank you. They’re not going, oh my god I can’t sell McDonald’s supersize hamburgers. They don’t care. This next. So I go. You don’t like it, that’s okay.
Adam Stott:
46:37 the supersized by the way, we have large over, we don’t have super size.
Sue Cassidy:
So okay we don’t have super-size, 46:43 so I don’t know. Why do we take it personally? You know, there are 9 billion people on this planet. You can find a few people who go, I see this, I think I can do this. Should I get to work my own hours, I get to choose the people I work with, I get to have ownership, I have a tax write off when I buy this stuff. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to add this to your portfolio, you see, really wealthy people have more than one business, if you’re relying on one check. And that goes away, you’re in trouble.
So I say that people have like an insurance policy. When I started my business I had no idea how big it was gonna get, I had no idea. But I just saw the 47:37 and like see like the biggest part of my business is actually in the UK.
I have a huge network of people in my business in the United Kingdom. And before we didn’t have this when I start we didn’t have any kind of easy way to do this I had to get on a plane and go, and I had to I had to spend my own money, with no evidence, but I have the vision, and sometimes you just have to believe in things you can’t see and I learned that in flying. Yeah, I did. I learned you can’t see gravity but it’s there. You can’t see aerodynamics, but it’s there and it’s the aerodynamics that keep you from falling down with gravity, As long as you know how to manipulate the airplane and to find balance. And that’s what we do when we’re building other people. We can’t push them into anything; you can’t push people into anything. It’s the relationship again; it’s finding a way to communicate with somebody in a way that they hear you, not the way you want to be heard. Does that make sense?
Adam Stott:
Makes perfect sense to me. So what we do in the UK so is we try and business owners on social media, business growth businesses, coaching businesses and for the past five years, but I’ve been now interviewed so many people that have been really successful in their industries. The same things in a different way, you know get said time and time again, because the pattern for success, and the pattern for growing a business and becoming successful making money isn’t actually super complicated that you have to go through the fear barrier in order to get there. Right.
Everything you’re talking about is the fears that people have, you know you understand the deep level, just from who you talk, you know what those fears are, right, and the people that they want to succeed more, and they’ve got moved past that fear. All right, in order to get the results they want to get, and it sounds like, you know, you totally understand that and that’s probably why you did so well because the way you’re explaining it is easy if you know it, but it’s not easy if you don’t know it, but if you’re somebody who isn’t confident that isn’t used to putting themselves out there that you struggling to say to someone you just got to do it is they are stuck in that fear, aren’t they.
So you really got to. But like you said the relationships which is where you’re going with the relationship piece is what I love is because another great way to get somebody performing better, they can’t see it sometimes they can’t have a vision, but when they see somebody else performing at a high level, and they get into a network or they get into a circle where they see other high performers, they sit there and go, well, if I can do it. I think I can do it, you know, literally, change their habits, but as a human, you know, human habits, you know, based off of the tribe and the people that are around, you know, massive impacts absolutely, you know, in terms of their results.
So yeah it makes sense I love it, you know things great, you know your enthusiasm for it’s awesome. What are your plans? What’s the plan moving forward to? 50:45
Sue Cassidy:
50:47 I just keep doing what I’m doing. I’m never gonna quit. I’m a lifer, because so many lives changed, but now I’m at an age where I’ve realized, you know there’s more sand at the bottom of the hourglass and there is at the top in my case, and nobody knows how much sand is up there in the top of their hourglass, we’ve all got one, but we don’t know how much is in there.
And so the idea is to make the most of what’s left. And one of the things that I have chosen to do is to show people that, no matter how old they are, if you’re lucky enough you will get older. If you’re not, you won’t matter.
But if you are, we need to embrace and become fearless about growing older about getting to that age where people say, like my son said you’re a dinosaur. that was a scary thing to know but he was right. And I wasn’t prepared for it. So what I’m trying to do is to show people that there is no expiration date on anybody’s forehead, that you can be more successful now than you were in your big earning years, I certainly am I mean I made money and stuff in the music business I did great, but I have had a more successful career in my latter life than I do my earlier life, go figure, but it was because I didn’t listen to other people. I decided to just go and figure this out.
And then, you know, I want to show people that they are relevant, because the world tells us, the older you get, the less relevant you are. And that’s a lie. That is a lie. And so my job is to wake people up and show them that they are their best years are ahead of them. That is really the truth, unless you believe it isn’t.
Adam Stott:
52:44 said I love this, I’m getting older, she’s come in and said, I love this I’m getting older and sometimes I worry I’ve left it so long. So what would you say to that?
Sue Cassidy:
Start now. Start right now. Don’t wait a second, get it together, go and do something that you would have done when you were 16, I feel like I’m 21, I’m going to be 72 in April, okay I’m proud of my age. I have friends that have done, why we are talking about my age?
Adam Stott:
You’re amazing.
Sue Cassidy:
I have my second 35th birthday. Two years ago, I have never felt younger; I have never felt more like I mattered more. I have never like actually been this comfortable in my skin. As I am now, when things are starting to round a little bit. It’s really okay and I’m really kind of proud of it. And I’m learning Instagram and I’m learning all this stuff, I mean, I’m just like, hungry, hungrier than I’ve ever.
Adam Stott:
53:44 This is Instagram up certainly follow through on that.
Sue Cassidy:
I need the love I mean this is challenging, but I’m going okay well if I can fly an airplane, I can do Instagram. Come on guys. So, anyway, it’s just, it’s all in your head. This is all in your head, you can, and if you and I always say to people, gosh, you don’t see when out when you fell down in your head and you had amnesia, you would know how old you were, you would know you couldn’t do something or that somebody told you you were bad at math, you wouldn’t know bigger you have amnesia, so then you have a chance to completely reinvent yourself.
So that is how we have to look at life, have a sense of humor about it. We just didn’t get all too seriously. I know, because I have that tendency to, but every time I do I get that rubber band and I snap it, I go that was that I don’t do that anymore. And you got to hold your feet to the fire. Be around people who want you to flourish. So we people were like, waiting for you to fail. They’re waiting for you to quit, they don’t want you to leave their tribe because if you’re better than they are. That means they’re not as good as you. You gotta let that go.
Adam Stott:
Good advice. That’s so true. So, 55:03
Sue Cassidy:
Yeah, you got one you, there’s never been another one there never will be, this is it. You are unique. And don’t let other people have a crystal ball for your life, because they don’t have one.
Adam Stott:
Yeah, I love it, fantastic advice, absolutely brilliant, actually really inspiring, your energy is phenomenal, and really phenomenal and you’ve got a lot of love being thrown out here tonight.
Sue Cassidy:
I can take it off.
Adam Stott:
55:30 I couldn’t believe when you said to me you’re 72, I can believe it either.
Sue Cassidy:
I don’t know how it happened so fast, trust me. 55:42 get ready, started reading now. Get ready. Okay. Diane and I were writing the play, you know, the musical and her grandmother used to always come out and say the cake is ready. And so, the cake is always ready. Meaning, be here now it’s time now. Don’t put it out there, now. Is it everything you do now will change your future.
Adam Stott:
100% yeah, I love it, I love your energy, I love the philosophy, you know, we’re certainly singing off the same hymn sheet on so many different things. Totally because you know, all the sort of things that I will tell people as well. And I love that and I love it.
I love to hear it from a different voice as well because, you know, it kind of compounds that so much more that people start to really listen and it embeds that repetition is beautiful, right, because it helps people doesn’t it, forget it, but yeah look you’ve had an incredible career, you’ve done incredible things in the business, you know, and I think it’s a fabulous interview. If you’re listening on iTunes, of course guys subscribe. We’ve got amazing like Sue. Sue is an amazing guest is brilliant podcast, loved it. Tonight, make sure you go and subscribe and leave a review for us tonight. We’ve got loads of great guests like, Sue coming up. Sue’s Instagram handle is spit out for us.
Sue Cassidy:
@Imsuecassidy.
Adam Stott:
Go and follow, Sue.
Sue Cassidy:
I would work on it 57:09
Adam Stott:
You know you’re getting out there right, okay. I got to follow you on Instagram, you know for sure, you know she can help you in so many ways, you know, especially if you’re in that industry. A lot of people have been watching all the way through, which is awesome. So, Sue, any last words that you wanted to add in tonight before we finish out 57:25 the rest that really enjoyed it.
Sue Cassidy:
I just think that how lucky we are that we have this, I mean technology is our friend. When it’s not, when it’s not, what it is it is, and so how awesome that I can be here in California, you’re in England, and we’re doing this live, there’s so much possibility.
The world is pregnant with opportunity with incredible things and sometimes it doesn’t look that way but it is. And so I just want to be around forever to experience at all it’s like shoving all that food in your mouth and just guy. So I want to learn from you guys. I want to learn from everybody. And I think just have an open mind. Have an open mind and open heart, and less fear, it just take a baby step, just a baby step and if you can take another little baby step, you’re making progress and then don’t judge it, don’t judge yourself, don’t evaluate it and don’t ever, ever compare yourself to anyone else.
There’s not another you around so don’t, that’s their journey. And with that, I could talk about myself all day long.
I’ll give you one little knowledge bomb. Correct early, because if you get off course you know where you want to go, and you end up like getting distracted, and you start to go off course, you could crash and burn and never be able to get back to where you wanted to go where you were intending to go, so unless you are choosing to go in a different direction and you want to go from A to B, you stay focused. And if you ever want to hear a story about when I didn’t do that in an airplane that’s for future episodes.