Jodi Ardito

I am ready!

Jodi Ardito

Well, Kamala, that is, of course, a fantastic question.

For me, for years, it was like the unicorn thing, an unattainable thing. I can come up with big dreams just on a whim. So for me, the big dreams would come flooding and then, just as soon as I would start working on them, a new idea would come in, and I go “This idea is even better.”

It was like, idea after idea gets just pushed to the back burner, and this new focus comes into play and then it’s like this cycle. I think that this is not just a “me” problem. I believe that it’s an issue with a lot of the CEO mindset entrepreneur. The mindset of the entrepreneur is the idea creator.

A big part of the solution I’ve found is interesting and new for me, but it was in team building. It’s in finding people you can align yourself with, position yourself within a business that has a different skill set, a different gift, a different “superpower,” and then you work together on these projects. You can either hire or partner with people.

My success has been in collaborating and partnering with other people who have different superpowers.

Jodi Ardito

Success can be found in working with other individuals who have different superpowers.

Jodi Ardito

I am so glad you ask that. I like it.

Right now, this is what blows my mind. I come on some of these podcast interviews, and I’m like, “What questions are they going to ask?” And sometimes, people send me questions in advance, so I didn’t know how this interview is going to go. I love that that question just organically happen.

Kamala, this is critical. I feel like I should have known these years ago even long before you and I were in Seaside Oregon. That’s where it was. I feel like I should have known this simply because of the entire Guru power network that influenced me since I started my online journey.

In my opinion, the answer is that it doesn’t matter what you do. I could probably take that notebook and turn every single one of those into a business.

Jodi Ardito

What holds people up is trying to decide which one to do instead of self-branding first.

Do something. It doesn’t matter what it is. I could have picked any one of those things. But, the reality was when I brand my name, I can do any one of those businesses and just duplicate.

If I just look at my network like “Where did everybody else began?” And almost everybody I can point my finger to, self-branded first.

I’ve been working with my people, and I have a group on Facebook by the way. In that group, some of these entrepreneurs are in MLM. Some are solo freelance copywriters, but the thing is they’re struggling. They’re like, “What domain do I buy?” Little things like that are holding them up. I’m like, “Just go get your name. Self-brand.”

You can take that anywhere and then, even if you wanted to do something different on a different site later, just duplicate what you’ve already done there.

To me, that was the big eye opening. It was a revelation. I was like, “Oh yeah. Duh! Brand me first and then, build my list there.”

Here’s how I’d talk to people about it.

If you decide today that you’re going to sell loose leaf tea, and you go by the domain looseleaftea.com and then tomorrow, you want to sell coffee beans. That’s a whole different.

Jodi Ardito

You can have sub-domains or whatever you want. You can do anything.

Self-branding is even if you don’t know what you’re going to sell right now, you can still move forward and work on building a list of people, and on other different big dreams later down the road.

Jodi Ardito

That to me is where it started, and I knew that no matter what my name is, I was always going to be me so I could just start there and at least finish that. That’s my answer.

Jodi Ardito

Yeah.

This is something I love to play with. It’s this little thing in my mind where I to try to guess where technology is going.

I used to be an early adopter. Now, that I’ve come to online marketing, I’m like “Gosh.” I used to think anyway that I was good with technology.

But, from the time I had my Intel job and the time that I launch my very first brick and mortar business, there’s that gap in time where I just left technology. When I came back into it, so much had changed and evolved.

So now, when I think about business, I think about all of these app-based companies that are being launched. I’m like, “Where is technology going?”

When I worked at Intel, the core group of people I spent time with was working on projects that would be released 5 – 6 years down the road. It’s like I almost got to peer into the future and see what was going on. It was incredible, and I wish I had that ability to do that now because then, I would say “This idea is worth investing in right now.”

So yeah, it’s always a good question.

Jodi Ardito

There’s a woman that I want. I’m getting ready to host my very first online summit and there’s somebody that I want to interview. Her name is Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank. Do you know her?

Jodi Ardito

Okay.

The thing I love about her is that one of the things she says is that she’s had straight Ds in high schools just pretty much the same in college. She didn’t do much better. And then, she borrowed $1000 to invest in the Corcoran Group, which was her real estate business, I believe.

What she said that was powerful to me is it was about her intuition. She said, “Always listen to your intuition because it will rarely ever steer you wrong.” Obviously, we have moments that are different than paranoia, but paranoia and intuition are different.

This happens to me during my REM cycle. I wake up, and I just feel this burst of creativity. Also, I feel at peace with decisions that I make. If you don’t have that or if you feel like something’s wrong, it’s probably your intuition stirring you in a different direction.

Going into business and choosing what idea to focus on isn’t always easy. It’s not always clear.

Go where your market is because if you know who you want to market to, you can just start there.

Ask your market what they want. If you know who your market is, start there.

Jodi Ardito

These are big dreams.

It starts with your mindset and the way that you think.

Get close to your story and why you want to do what it is that you’re going to try to do.

You’re talking about passion and purpose. I could say I’m passionate about dodgeball, but I’m not going to start a business around dodgeball.

Jodi Ardito

This is true, and this is not going to be disputed. I’m not even going to deny that. And also, my sneak attack. Don’t forget that.

Jodi Ardito

It’s a little sneak attack. You have one foot in the game, so you’re not technically out of balance. Then you’re pretending you’re out of balance with the people who are standing in the outline because they got hit already, but you have a ball behind your back. Then, as soon as the power thrower comes up and lobs the ball at one of the better throwers, you just throw the ball right at their toes, and they’re out.

Jodi Ardito

I know. Can we share this podcast with dodgeball people? I saw a dodgeball ad yesterday, and I was like, “That’s my league that I was on!”

Anyway, my point was just because we’re passionate about golf or dodge ball or tennis or whatever it is, doesn’t mean necessarily that our business is built on that. That’s not the point.

The point is that whatever we do, we should wake up every day and want to jump out of bed and be like, “I get to do this. At the core of my being, I am motivated to do this thing and help these people and here’s why.”

If there’s some deep dark crap in your past that you haven’t faced, that’s what I had to do. I hired a mindset coach. This was in August of 2016, and it was not fun.

I remember at one point, after one session, and we hadn’t even gotten into anything like telling or revealing yet, but I felt paralyzed for 6 hours. I just laid on the floor 6 hours, and just let myself feel that entire conversation. It was crazy.

Jodi Ardito

If you have things in the past that you’re not facing, you don’t have to come at it like a victim. You can come at it from a very powerful place.

You can come at it at a powerful controlled place where you get to change and help other people in the future because of what you went through. That’s where I found my passion.

I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this with you. In my late 20’s, I was a single mom, working three jobs, and here I am. I’m tucking my girls into bed, and I got to put them to sleep, and I got to sneak out the door. I can’t afford a babysitter.

I have to sneak out the door, double lock it, and pray to God that there isn’t like an apartment fire or anything that happens because I have to go to work at Wells Fargo Credit Card Department to try to make ends meet. Nobody knew that. This is only stuff I’ve talked about recently.

My big dreams in life are to help empower single parents. Not just moms because dads have to make tough decisions too and they have to make a lot of sacrifices. Both parents do. But I never want to see single parents have to make tough decisions that aren’t in the best interest of their kids so they can pay the bills that are in the best interest of their children.

For me, that’s empowering people to become their boss, to start a business, and to be self-sufficient financially so they can have that time with their family and not look back on their life full of regrets and mistakes. Obviously, having three jobs was tough too, so I missed out on a lot.

Jodi Ardito

So when you come from a place of power with those events, you go, “This is what I want to do. This is where I’m gifted. This is where I’m skilled at.”

When you forgive yourself, and move forward from a story in your past, your passion becomes abundantly clear.

Jodi Ardito

Every day you wake up, you’re like “Yes! Life is good because I get to go help all these people who need me.” And you’re like a superhero.

Jodi Ardito

Is it okay if I talk just a second about the Don’t Talk… Be Pretty?

Jodi Ardito

Okay.

I have this challenge that I have been putting people through in my Facebook group. What I’ve been doing is just trying to get them all over to my website because that’s where the challenge happens. It’s at my name Jodi Ardito.

What I’m putting everybody through is a six-day challenge which it’s the pretty challenge. It’s what it is. So Don’t Talk… Be Pretty stems from stop talking about your idea and start taking action.

Jodi Ardito

The Don’t Talk… Be Pretty is obviously something I was told in my dating life. I remember some guy was like, “Don’t talk, be pretty.” He’d say that to me, and it always stuck with me.

I was like “I kind of like that in business. Stop talking and build a glorious empire.” I was like “I’m going to flip that around.” And so, I created an acronym out of the “Pretty, ” and I have this system for taking action in these little micro steps to get yourself branded domain up, and start collecting leads, and building a list.

Jodi Ardito

That’s what I’m inspiring people to do, and that’s how I’m helping budding entrepreneurs enter the online marketplace.

If anybody listening to this interview right now who is like, “Gosh. I don’t know what to do, and I don’t know how to do it,” I would love to help hold your hand through that process. And I have an entirely automated six-day video series that you’ll go through first. Then, you’ll have an opportunity to work with me directly.

It’s great. Don’t talk, be pretty.