Young and Profiting with Hala Taha (Entrepreneurship, Sales, Marketing)
Marie Forleo on The Mindset Every Entrepreneur Needs to Succeed in Life and Business | Entrepreneurship | YAPClassic
Fri, 07 Mar 2025
Since she was a young girl, Marie Forleo has been a “multi-passionate entrepreneur.” She never wanted to settle and had a multitude of interests, from hip-hop to spirituality to psychology. After attempting to find happiness at a string of corporate jobs, Marie realized that her combination of interests and skills was a strength, not a liability. She gave up the security of her 9-5 to become a life coach. Now, she has a digital empire that touches millions. In this episode, Marie will share why “everything is figureoutable”, how we can overcome self-limiting beliefs, and how we can live a more productive and stress-free life! In this episode, Hala and Marie will discuss: (01:30) Introduction (02:43) Marie's Childhood and Early Ambitions (03:48) First Job on Wall Street (04:26) Mindset Shifts for Career Success (07:07) Transition to Magazine Publishing (09:31) Discovering Life Coaching (11:51) Building a Coaching Practice (14:31) The 10-Year Test and Dance Career (27:44) Personality Traits and Success (29:50) The Dark Side of Perfectionism (30:12) Career Tipping Points and Role Models (31:00) Consistency and the Long Game (37:57) The Origin of 'Everything is Figureoutable' (44:06) Financial Independence and Early Lessons (48:09) Burnout and the Turning Point (55:35) Time Management and Productivity Tips Marie Forleo is named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation, and she is the owner of one of Inc.’s 500 fastest-growing companies. Marie has created a socially conscious digital empire that inspires millions. She’s the star of the award-winning show MarieTV, with over 75 million views, and host of The Marie Forleo Podcast, with nearly 26 million downloads. Marie has taught entrepreneurs, artists, and multi-passionate go-getters from all walks of life how to dream big and back it up with daily action to create results. She runs the acclaimed business training program B-School, the writing program The Copy Cure, and the joyful productivity program Time Genius. Her #1 New York Times bestselling book, Everything is Figureoutable is available now. Sponsored By: Shopify - youngandprofiting.co/shopify Airbnb - airbnb.com/host Rocket Money - rocketmoney.com/profiting Indeed - indeed.com/profiting RobinHood - robinhood.com/gold Factor - factormeals.com/factorpodcast Rakuten - rakuten.com NordVPN - nordvpn.com/PROFITING Microsoft Teams - aka.ms/profiting Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap Youtube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services - yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship podcast, Business, Business podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal development, Starting a business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing,Money, Finance, Side hustle, Startup, mental health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health
Chapter 1: Who is Marie Forleo and what is her background?
Named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation, Marie isn't just another motivational speaker or podcaster. She's a living, breathing testament to the power of believing, and as she puts it, that everything is figureoutable. Marie and I spoke back in 2023 about being a multi-passionate entrepreneur, embracing your good fears, how to hone and trust your intuition, and so much more.
So get ready to learn how you can turn obstacles into opportunities and why Marie's philosophy isn't just a catchy phrase. It's a powerful, actionable approach to life. So what are you waiting for? Let's go figure some ish out with Marie Forleo. So Marie, I'd love to take it back to your childhood. I like to do that on my podcast.
And from my research, I found out that you've essentially always been a Jill of all trades since you were a little girl. So can you tell us more about that little girl who later became what you call a multi-passionate entrepreneur?
Yeah. I grew up in New Jersey like you did. I remember distinctly as a kid, when adults would say, hey, what do you want to be when you grow up? I never had one answer. I always had like 17. I want to be a teacher. I want to be a dancer. I want to be a writer. I want to be a businesswoman. I want to be a model. I want to be an artist. It was just like on and on and on.
And as the years went on, some of those answers would change, but there was never just one answer. And I didn't realize that that was even odd or different until really my college years. I remember a lot of people seemed to have a very distinct, definitive vision for what they wanted to do. You know, I want to be a doctor or I want to be a lawyer or I want to be whatever it was.
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Chapter 2: How did Marie Forleo transition from Wall Street to entrepreneurship?
And I still had like 15 things that sounded really intriguing to me. And when I started my career after graduating, I went to Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. My first job was actually on Wall Street on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. And I was pumped. I was so excited because it's like the financial mecca of the universe.
Back in those days, this is like the late 90s, there were actually no chairs on the floor. And I'm a person who has a lot of energy. So I was like, oh, this is so cool. cool. I'm going to be running around all day. This is amazing. And after about six months into that job, I was super grateful for the work because I'm the first in my family to go to college.
And my parents, they just busted their buns to be able to even give me an education. And I took that very, very seriously. But after about six months, I started hearing this voice inside that said, this isn't who you are. This isn't what you're meant to do. This isn't what you're supposed to be. And I was like, that's strange.
And I tried to kind of push that voice away, but it kept getting louder and louder and louder until one day I remember being at work and starting to feel sick, like physically ill, started to feel dizzy, like I couldn't really breathe. And I said to my boss, I said, hey, can I just run out and get a coffee real fast? It was at a kind of slower time during the day. He's like, yeah, no problem.
So I left and I didn't go to get coffee. I made a beeline to the nearest church and I sat on the steps and I cried. I cried my eyes out because I felt like such a loser because I knew logically and intellectually that I was so I was so grateful to have work, which included a steady paycheck. It included health benefits. I felt like I was doing good by my family.
But at the same time, the truth was I was miserable and I felt like I was dying a slow death. And I didn't know how to reconcile those two things. The first signal I got from above was actually, it said, call your dad. And back in those days, I still had, it was like flip phone days. So I took the flip phone out of my like dark green jacket. That's what all the traders had.
And I called my dad and I was crying. I was like crying the ugly cry where like there's snot's coming out of your nose and you just can't breathe. And I was like, dad, I'm so sorry. I'm a man. And when I finally shut up, and took a breath. He's like, Ree, stop. He's like, you've been working since you were nine years old. I'm not worried about you figuring out how to keep a roof over your head.
But he's like, here's the secret to life. You're going to be working for at least the next 40 or 50 years. You have got to find something you love. And if going to work every day at this place makes you this sick that you ran out and you're crying in the middle of the day at the church, like you can quit. You'll do what you did. You'll bartend. You'll figure it out.
But you need to find something you love. And that was like such a huge permission slip for me because I realized in that moment, while my dad didn't tell me how to find something I loved, he gave me permission to do so and really reinforce the fact that livelihood needs to not fully, but finding something that genuinely aligns with your strengths and your skills is vital for all of us.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Marie Forleo face in her early career?
It was as though the clouds parted and little angels came out and it was like, oh, like this is what you're supposed to do. But at the same time, you know, I was 23 years old and the mean voice in my head said, what are you Are you kidding me? You're 23. Who the heck's going to hire a 23-year-old life coach? You haven't even lived life yet. You're in piles and piles of debt.
You can't seem to hold down a job. This is going to be one more thing you fail at. So I had that going on, but I couldn't deny that in my body, And my intuition told me that there was something there that I was meant to follow. And I signed up on the spot for a three-year coach training program. I was doing that at night, on the weekends, kept my magazine job during the day.
And then I got a call from the HR department and they had a promotion for me to go move up, bigger paycheck, better position, to be a part of Vogue magazine. arguably one of the top fashion magazines in the world. And that was my fork in the road. Do I stay on the safe path with the paycheck and the health benefits and like a career that people actually understand what the hell it is?
Or do I quit and do this weird ass life coaching thing that no one has ever heard of? I have no idea how to even turn it into a business. And it sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud. So I chose that path. I gave up my job and I went back to bartending and waiting tables, which I did all throughout college. And I figured out how to build a coaching practice during the day.
So that's kind of the through line of being a multi-passionate kid, not knowing what that was to kind of getting me to the place where, you know, and I'll pause because I'm sure we have other questions, but we can kind of take it all the way through.
Yeah, I'm going to dig deep on all of that. This was such a great overview of your story and it's super inspirational. So a question that I have for you, let's stick with you being 23 years old, deciding that you want to be a life coach with basically no life experience, right? How did you get the confidence and when did you actually start getting clients?
Did you wait until you were done with the program? And how did you know you were good at it and like starting to build your confidence with it?
Okay. Signing up for that program felt really significant to me because I just basically, you know, graduated from school just a few years earlier. So I was still in that mode of being like, I am a student.
Like when you want a new skill, you go put yourself in an environment to gain those skills and capabilities and everything that they taught and all of the topics and what we would talk about in terms of communication, in terms of supporting other people, creating frameworks, understanding how to listen and to ask questions. Those things felt like second nature to me.
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Chapter 4: How did Marie Forleo discover life coaching?
And then the worst thing that people could say was no. And I was like, that's not that big of a deal. Yeah. It was through that experience of just continuing to work through my fear and my embarrassment. And then when I started getting people results and how they're like, wow, I feel so much better after our conversation. So that started to kind of fill the well of like, oh, I could do this.
Like, this is awesome. And it didn't happen overnight. It took me a very long time, but that's kind of how the process started.
Yeah. The other question I have is in terms of this dream job, like you said, Vogue is like the pinnacle of the fashion world, right? Everybody wants to work in Vogue, especially back then. It was like such a huge deal. And so you were at this fork in the road. You had to make a decision to go after this risky thing that you had no idea how it was going to pan out. Ended up being a great decision.
What was your thought process around that? I know that you have a 10-year test that you talk about in terms of making decisions. I'd love to hear how you came about making that decision.
So I didn't realize the 10-year test until a few years later and we'll unpack what that concept is and how people can use it because I think it's actually, it's so helpful for any of us, no matter what your age is, no matter what stage of life you're in. That decision in terms of not saying yes to Vogue was a very body-led, intuition-led decision. Here's what I mean by that.
Because I had had that experience on Wall Street where going to the same place every single day started making me feel like I was dying a slow death. And then I quit that job and got out of it. And then I went through a similar thing when I was at Gourmet Magazine, where I respected all the people that I worked for. I appreciated them.
I was grateful to have a job, but I couldn't deny that every single day it was like, I can't do this for the rest of my life. I don't want to climb this corporate ladder. What's going on? So it was a very visceral feeling.
And then to have that a third time when I was at Mademoiselle and then to have this incredible opportunity for a promotion come to me and everything, every single cell in my body was screaming no, I don't even feel like it was a decision. It was something I had to do.
Yeah. And I'll ask another question that I think will help everybody understand. So there's good fear and bad fear, right? There's the fear. And you know, you should like when I feel fear, I'm like, I gotta do it. I gotta just do it. That means I'm going to grow. I'm going to learn. And that's how I accomplish a lot of the things that I'm scared of. I know if I feel fear, I need to just do it.
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Chapter 5: What is Marie Forleo's '10-Year Test' and how can it guide decision-making?
So I want to ask one last question about your career. Have you ever heard of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell? Yes. So like basically it's like the boiling point, like you reach critical mass and like everybody knows who you are. So you are one of my role models in this space.
When I think of like who I want to be and all these things, I always think of like you are definitely a name that pops up in my mind. And it was great to have you as a role model before I was able to, you know, be a big podcaster and things like that. So thank you. And I'm curious to know what point in your career, like now everybody in this space knows your name. You're really recognizable.
One of the top females in this business influencer space. What do you think was the tipping point when you're like everything started started to really just escalate for you? What was the tipping point?
It's a great question. Two things about this. One, I don't know if there was one. That's my honest assessment. And I may not be the best person to decide that because I'm so in it. And if you talk to anyone who knows me, any of my friends and colleagues, they'll let you know, even my team. I am the most heads down person ever.
My thing is I just show up, I get it done, and then I'm either off, meaning I'm completely unplugged and into another space in my life. Then when I come back, I go heads down again. Because I've been doing this now, and it's been 22 years, so it's a really long time. I think going back to the traits, one of my best traits is my consistency trait. When I first started
creating content on a weekly basis. It was through a newsletter, the cheesiest title ever called Magical Moments. It was awesome. That was the best I could do at that time. And I would send out a newsletter every week nonstop. And then actually once I got a puppy, it was the first dog I ever had in my life, Kuma. He's 13 now.
When I got him, I couldn't blog anymore because raising a puppy and training a puppy takes a lot of time. If anyone listening has ever done it, you know it's a lot of work. And I was like, oh, I need to just turn on my computer because I remembered from my teaching fitness days, I was like, oh, I can easily look at a camera. And so then it became MarieTV.
And I'm saying all this because the consistency and the momentum that has built over time, there wasn't one moment. I think it's the long game that has allowed me to create What for me has been a really beautiful experience of business and a beautiful experience of being able to connect with people.
There were certainly beautiful moments and I hope that there's many more, but I don't think that there was one that really did it. It was the relentlessness of commitment and consistency that I think has helped me create what we have today.
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Chapter 6: How can you distinguish between good fear and intuition?
Yeah. Well, a couple of things. One, should you be interested? And again, this is only an invitation, but if you're ever like, you know what, I'm kind of done with this. I still want to be wildly successful, but I don't want to drive myself into the ground. You need to consider coming to do Time Genius. It's amazing.
It'll keep all of your best qualities and kind of let go, at least for me, of some of the ones that have grown to be destructive. So for me, probably one of the biggest wake-up calls was actually in 2020 because I had been really going at it hard for a while. And it was like a fish in water. It's like, I don't know any different. This is just me. This is what I do. This is how I do it.
And there was never a problem with it. It certainly wasn't a burden because I love my work. And it showed up a few times in my relationship with Josh, my partner. We've been together 20 years where he's like... hey, working a lot. And I'm like, yeah, this is what it takes, dude. Like this is what it's about. And so we've definitely had sparring issues over time.
And I think I dialed it down a little bit because the truth is my relationship needed more space and needed more attention and if it was going to thrive. But in 2020, I started having all of these weird and unusual pains in my body, which I had never had before. And I had always taken really good care of my health and
as conscious as I can be as a dancer and as a fitness person, you know, movement is part of my life, but things just started to fall apart. And I remember getting all of my blood work done and a doctor said to me after she reviewed my blood work, she's like, Marie, it is a miracle you're able to get up every day. Like your adrenals are shot.
Then we discovered all of these tumors inside of me, including one the size of a grapefruit growing outside of my uterus, pushing all of the other organs out of place. And it turns out I had to have an urgent hysterectomy to make the pain stop. And so after that surgery, the recovery is like, you can't really do much for like six to eight weeks. It's just like your body needs to heal.
It's a major surgery. You cannot work out. You can walk and you walk gently, but you just have to really chill. And I'm not kidding you. I have never taken six weeks off in my life. I started babysitting when I was nine. And I was like, even just the prospect, I remember even when I heard like, no, no, no, you're not going to be able to do anything for six weeks.
It was like such a record scratch moment. But what was so cool about that was in the stillness and in the requirement to just be, I was able to see how much my patterning of drivenness had exceeded what was necessary. And it was as though this drive was driving me rather than me being in control. And there was just layers of it that I was like, This is not even productive.
And I am like really about efficiency and productivity. And I'm like overdoing it in certain areas. And it's causing my body to break down, which is like my sacred vessel in this lifetime. Like this is nuts, Marie. You know, you can't see things or learn the lessons until they're ready for you.
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Chapter 7: What are Marie Forleo's strategies for managing multiple passions?
I love that. And what is your secret to profiting in life? And this could be beyond financial.
You know what? The biggest lesson that I continue to bring myself back to, and I feel like it's like one of my life lessons in this incarnation on earth, is to be in joy as much as humanly possible, even when things are hard, even when things feel uncertain, is to show up and to be in joy because the journey's not gonna last that long. And it goes faster and faster and faster.
And the more that you show up in joy, that vibration, it helps you profit in more ways than one. You have access to greater creativity. You have better connections with the people around you. And the journey actually becomes a lot more fun.
What a nice way to end the show. And where can our listeners learn more about you and everything that you do?
So marieforleo.com, it's M-A-R-I-E-F-O-R-L-E-O.com is kind of the main website. We've got hundreds of episodes of Marie Forleo, of the Marie Forleo podcast and MarieTV. On all the socials, it's at Marie Forleo. And I think on the website, there's a great free kind of coaching download. It's called How to Get Anything You Want.
So it's like a little private coaching session, but you can download it and take it with you anywhere and it's 100% free.
Amazing. I will put all those links in the show notes. Marie, thank you so much for your time. It was such a pleasure. Thank you for having me on.
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