Momentum Podcast: 589

Interview with Rachel Miller

by Alex Charfen

Episode Description

In today’s episode, I have the privilege of interviewing an entrepreneur who is a massive inspiration for me. Rachel Miller doesn’t just run a multimillion-dollar business, work with some of the top names in the market today, and help thousands of entrepreneurs grow their businesses, but she’s also a mom of six who runs a household at the same time she’s running a business. 

In a world where many people create excuses, Rachel creates possibilities. On this podcast, we will share the ‘horrible story’ of making more than half a million dollars in four days while feeling completely empty, how she runs her company now while taking care of six kids, and how she used our programs to grow into a life of freedom for her business and her family.

 

Full Audio Transcript

This is the Momentum podcast. I am particularly excited about today's episode of our podcast because I have the privilege of interviewing an entrepreneur who's a massive inspiration for me. Rachel Miller, doesn't just run a multimillion dollar business, doesn't just work with some of the top names in the market today, doesn't just help thousands of entrepreneurs grow their businesses, but she's also a mom of six who runs a household at the same time she's running a business. And in a world where a lot of people create excuses, Rachel creates possibility and I can't wait for you to meet her.

I'm Alex Charfen and this is the Momentum podcast made for empire builders, game changers, trailblazers, shot takers, record breakers, world makers and creators of all kinds. Those among us who can't turn it off and don't know why anyone would want to. We challenge complacency, destroy apathy, and we are obsessed with creating momentum so we can roll over bureaucracy and make our greatest contribution.

Sure, we pay attention to their rules, but only so that we can bend them, break them, then rewrite them around our own will. We don't accept our destiny, we define it. We don't understand defeat because you only lose if you stop and we don't know how. While the rest of the world strives for average and clings desperately to the status quo, we are the minority, the few who are willing to hallucinate there could be a better future.

And instead of just daydreaming of what could be, we endure the vulnerability and exposure it takes to make it real. We are the evolutionary hunters, clearly the most important people in the world because entrepreneurs are the only source of consistent, positive human evolution and we always will be. Rachel, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. Thank you for being here.

Rachel Miller: Thank you so much for having me, Alex.

Alex Charfen: Yeah, no, I'm excited. I'm excited to get your story out there to our audience. I know that there's like millions of people who know who you are because of what you do. But I think the getting this story of how you're growing your business out to our audience and how you're not just growing your business but growing your family is going to be game changing.

Rachel Miller: Your program has been a game changer for me, so I'm just grateful to get to see more people be part of it.

Alex Charfen: Awesome. Awesome. Well, Rachel, can you tell everybody just briefly like what type of business you run and who you are?

Rachel Miller: I am a mom of six kids and I run-

Alex Charfen: Okay, we have to start there. How can you do anything else after being a mom of six kids, but go ahead.

Rachel Miller: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. My business is are a bit my sanity because as a mom of six kids, that takes up so much chaos in my life. I had to have something that I could control and I also had to pay bills. So we began viral websites. So I have a bunch of blogs that I run and then after a while I was like, "Hey, does anybody want to learn how I build the websites?"

And people told me, "No, we don't want to actually learn how you build websites, but how do you drive all that traffic to those websites?" I was like, "Okay." And I created a program and we've helped over 4,000 businesses so far drive massive amounts of traffic to their sites, to their businesses, to whatever they're driving attention towards.

Alex Charfen: So basically you own it? Is it an agency Rachel, or is it information products company?

Rachel Miller: It's an information product, because I can scale that.

Alex Charfen: So it's information products?

Rachel Miller: So, yes.

Alex Charfen: So you have an information product that shows people how to grow their audience?

Rachel Miller: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Alex Charfen: And if you're listening to the podcast, you can't see what I'm seeing. We need to get it out of the way for anybody who sees the video. So behind Rachel it looks like maybe brown paper bag material.

Rachel Miller: That's exactly what it is.

Alex Charfen: Like cut up and cleaned up.

Rachel Miller: Yep.

Alex Charfen: And then there's hundreds of names and it says like ... I'll just read a few. It's like Jessica O., Karina O., Christie R., Nancy D., Audrey W. So there's ... What are the names behind you, Rachel?

Rachel Miller: Every time I launch my program, I write the names of the people to say thank you and to acknowledge them as they're signing up. And we're on a launch model, which means we open our program a couple of times a year. And that's actually when I first found you. Because I had just had a successful launch. It was actually my most profitable launch, but my personal life went into the crapper and someone was flushing it rapidly. It was horrible. I was crying, pulling my hair out, everything was falling apart. And yet, at the same time, I looked hugely successful on the outside.

Alex Charfen: Let's talk about that for a second. Is that right around the time we started working together, Rachel? Rachel Miller: Yes. It was within one week of that is when I reached out to you. Actually reached out to John Morrow and John Morrow said, "Let's sign up for Alex together". And he took another three weeks to sign up. But I signed up at night. Yeah.

Alex Charfen: John.

Rachel Miller: John's awesome.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: He's not that mean.

Alex Charfen: John's such an amazing human being on so many different levels. It has nothing to do with the fact that he's in a wheelchair. It's just he's an amazing human being on so many different levels. If you spend five minutes with him, you literally forget he's in a wheelchair.

Rachel Miller: Yeah. What I love is the fact that I knew I could go to him and tell him that I felt overwhelmed. And that he would understand the way that your life is putting you in a box and not letting you expand. And that's where I was, where I was like I have all these dreams. I have all these things I want to become, but my life is kind of like oppressing me right now.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: And I don't want my life to oppress me. I want it to be seen as a gift and a blessing. And I knew that he would understand that. So I called him up crying.

Alex Charfen: Well, Rachel, I want to talk about something that you expressed that not a lot of entrepreneurs talk about is the feeling of, we just had our most successful launch, so publicly I am this huge

Rachel Miller: Yes.

Alex Charfen: But internally, I'm feeling more personal pressure than I ever have and feel like the outside doesn't meet the inside. What was that like?

Rachel Miller: Well, I mean, I was open with my audience when all this was happening. I was telling them my life is falling apart right now.

Alex Charfen: Got it, got it. So, that [inaudible 00:05:49].

Rachel Miller: While we were selling, I was open with it. But it was our biggest launch and it was in July, June, end of June. And we were opening our doors. We brought in over half a million dollars in about four and a half days time. And during that four days though ... Two weeks before that, my bookkeeper left. So we didn't have good accounting going into the lunch.

Next, my project manager left the country with no notice for a vacation, extended with no internet. And I was like, "You're my project manager. What do you mean you have no internet for the next two and a half weeks?" Well, she obviously was leaving. And then, the day of the launch, like the day before, within 24 hours of we're opening our cart, we're having our main webinar, we open and say everybody sign up for, my daughter breaks her arm and it's a significant break.

And we spend the night at the hospital. She has surgery, the surgery didn't take. And so her arm is not set that entire launch sales week.

Alex Charfen: Holy cow.

Rachel Miller: So she's crying on the floor next to me while I'm doing Facebook live selling my program, while I'm trying to deal with customer service stuff. I'm having to deal with real ... No lie, all the business fell apart, people were still buying. But now I have a delivery problem and a customer service problem and a team problem. And I'm also trying to be a mom to one child who's extremely needy right now. And I still have five other children and a hubby that wants something of me and there was nothing, there was nothing left. And I basically-

Alex Charfen: Jeez. I'm physically overwhelmed listening to you. And as a male, I can't understand what it's like to be a mom to six because there's a completely different relationship with mom and dad in most families. And I see it in our family. My kids are much ... they're much more needy with Katie, they need a lot more from her. So the amount of pressure you had to feel, it sounds ...

Rachel Miller: Astronomical. I literally was crying, I couldn't breathe crying. I felt like everything was closing in on me. Yeah, it was pretty horrible. I'm going to start crying now thinking about it. It was horrible. It was horrible. I swore to myself I will not ... I don't care if I made half a million dollars in four days, I will not live like this again.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: And so I don't care what it takes ...

Alex Charfen: Now, when you say live like this, do you mean like under that level of pressure?

Rachel Miller: That level of pressure, that level of just everything falling apart at one time. I was like I can't ... I need to have a business where if somebody leaves it doesn't cause me chaos. I need to have a business where if I leave because I have to go take care of my daughter because she's in the hospital, that it's not going to be chaos.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: That if a bookkeeper doesn't tell me the money, well that's okay I have enough of a picture from these things here that it's okay for me to be two weeks behind on getting my numbers. All of those things. I don't ever want to be at that spot where I don't know what's happening and everything was coming at me at once. It was just horrible. It was horrible.

Alex Charfen: Yeah. I mean, you know, what I respect the fact that you're laughing about it now instead of crying.

Rachel Miller: Oh, I'm nearly crying.

Alex Charfen: Yeah. No, I mean that feeling is like ... So you're in this place where it sounds like just the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You said horrible, I think six times. Why did you make the decision? Like what was different about us, Rachel? Because now that I know the story, I'm like, "Oh, my gosh, I hope we lived up to your expectations." Rachel Miller: Before you, I had read Traction and I had read about the Integrator model and I had taken like five other systems and processes programs. And those programs were amazing for the stage that I was at. When I was a solopreneur and I was trying to move into my first hire, they were amazing. But as my business grew and I wasn't a solopreneur anymore and now I'm running a multimillion dollar business, that model put too much pressure on my integrator.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: So I did not realize it, but at the time I blamed my integrator for bailing on us during the launch. But without realizing that it was actually my responsibility because I put all of my attention into that one role and that left me extremely vulnerable.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: And so I don't know if any of you are like that where as you're growing ... Now, there was a reason to set up my business with that one integrator role. There was a time and a place for that. When it's one person and I have three people on my team or four people on my team, then we have a one, a number two, number three and number four.

That makes sense when you're a small team, but as you start to grow and as you're bringing on half a million dollars in a week and you've got a thousand students that are waiting for you, that system doesn't work anymore. And the poor girl. I'm just surprised she didn't run away sooner and it's not her fault.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: Does that make sense?

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: It was I didn't set her up for success and she was actually the third person that I'd had in that role. And looking back, when the first person that I'd hired to be the integrator quit, I should have looked at and said, "Okay, maybe there's something wrong with the way that this system is set up." And I just thought it was not a good fit of a person.

And then the other person went and decided to move to a different state or whatever it was. But by my third one, I realized it's not them, it's me. And it's the fact that it's not even that the system didn't work. It's just, it doesn't work for this size of a business and the scope that I'm scaling at.

Alex Charfen: Yeah. And the speed that you're failing at.

Rachel Miller: And so I ...

Alex Charfen: And the speed that you're failing at.

Rachel Miller: The speed, yeah.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: Really the speed and the fact that we were just ... Don't be so vulnerable that you put all your attention into one roll. That if that person leaves now there's no system to manage that. So there was no system in my business to manage me leaving and my integrator leaving at the same time. That basically meant that there was no business. But we still had customers coming in but there was no business.

Alex Charfen: Well, yeah, you're still feeling the pressure of the business, there's just no infrastructure.

Rachel Miller: Yeah.

Alex Charfen: So take us to the moment or when did you know that our product was working, that it was making a difference?

Rachel Miller: I knew it was working. We had replaced those roles and we'd gotten basically the waterfall set up. And once I had the waterfall-

Alex Charfen: Mm-hmm (affirmative). And just so everybody listening knows that waterfall is what we call a strategic plan. And we do strategic planning on a monthly basis, which is different than pretty much a hundred percent of the planning processes out there. But so you got to the waterfall.

Rachel Miller: So we set up the waterfall and I knew that if anyone left, that here's my tasks, here's what the outcome is from this task. Here's how I'll know if the task was completed. Here's the person that needs to do it. And then here's who's going to keep that person accountable. Alex Charfen: Yeah. Rachel Miller: So once I had all of that set up, well, if somebody leaves, no problem, I can hire a contractor to come in and do the monkey task because it's already there. Like it just took all the pressure off. I could hire a fill-in VA to do almost all of the tasks worst comes to shove, because it was all just tasked out.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: So all of the roles now are easy to be replaced. We're not so vulnerable anymore.

Alex Charfen: Do you feel like you're getting more out of the people that you have?

Rachel Miller: Oh my word.

Alex Charfen: Yeah. Because here's what I want to make sure of, because here's what's interesting. What you just said made it sound like, well now everybody on my team's replaceable. But I want to look at the other side of the coin. How much more are you getting out of the people on your team?

Rachel Miller: Not only ... They are replaceable, but they take joy in that, in the sense that they know they can cover for each other and it not be stressful.

Alex Charfen: Yep.

Rachel Miller: So for them, they actually ... it's not that they're replaceable, it's that they're able to cover for each other so much more simply. And that there's a framework for people to move between roles even, if they get tired of one. So yes. So it's not in a bad thing for my team. My team, they're solid. They know who they are, they're part of my team. They're not going anywhere. But for us, what I loved was that now because we have this structure, we're able to get it done faster and we've been able to add more things to our plate.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: So we have a content creation app. In July, I never would have thought we would have like our own app and our own program and our own this. And I never thought that I would be nearly double my revenues my next launch. I mean, I thought I'd hit the jackpot with 500,000 in a week and we nearly doubled it last round. And I would never-

Alex Charfen: You know what, share it with everybody. Share with everybody the results of your last launch because I got an inside ... You were sharing with me as it was going along. It was so inspiring and so exciting. What was the number you ended with?

Rachel Miller: We ended with $827,000 earned in five days time.

Alex Charfen: And I want everyone who's listening to know, I have some insight on Rachel. This sign that's behind her with all the names on it that I described. It's there because her kids are playing directly behind it so she's not just running a multimillion dollar business. You're doing this literally with your kids at your side.

Rachel Miller: Yes, and often, they're actually on the floor next to me, if they've lost computer privileges or something, they have to sit with me so I can actually make sure they don't get back on the computer for their hour.

Alex Charfen: While you're doing a Facebook live, while you're filming. While you're doing whatever you're doing.

Rachel Miller: I'm on Facebook Live, yeah, they're with me.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: So I love it because they get to be part of my business and they get to see what that's like. They even have tasks inside my business. They're our fulfillment and shipping center. They probably won't get to be that much longer as we've grown and scaled. It's kind of growing past their ability to fulfill. We did 827 sales and then we also had 64 previous, so that brought it to about 900 binders that they had to pack and ship. That's I think their max. I don't think they can handle it. A

lex Charfen: So, you punched it in the kid department?

Rachel Miller: Yeah. I think we're done with the kid's as the fulfillment [crosstalk 00:15:30].

Alex Charfen: So, we created the waterfall, we know the kid's limitations.

Rachel Miller: We know the kids limitations. But the kids had a role in the waterfall.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: So they would look and they'd see what task they had to go do and they'd know how many binders they'd need to make that day. But yeah, we are a past to where my children are ...

Alex Charfen: But it's still, it's just ... I talked to you about it a little bit when we were getting ready to do this podcast. And I just want everyone listening to know that I plan on featuring Rachel over and over again because you are an example of ... I think there's a lot of people sitting out there. There's a lot of moms and dads sitting there saying, "Can I do this with my kids? Can I do this and still be a parent? Can I do this and still show up in the way that I want to raise my children?" What would you tell them, Rachel?

Rachel Miller: When you have your tasks in a waterfall system, you know what you need to do and you can show up better to your team and better to your business and better to your family. Because your system, your life is a lot more structured. And if you can't show up one day to your team because you have a family emergency that comes up, your team knows the jobs that you have on the plate and they can go do those things.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: So I mean, I've literally hired two other faces so that If I can't do a Facebook live and I'm on schedule that day, they can do it for me. So I've literally ... I'm working myself almost out of a job.

Alex Charfen: Yeah, that's ...

Rachel Miller: I love my job and I'm going to still be there. But if my daughter was in the hospital or if something happens or if I just don't want to that day, it's all covered. My business isn't going to suffer. Yeah.

Alex Charfen: Yeah. So Rachel, another reason I wanted to feature you is because you're different. Like you are crazy. You're quirky and you're unique and I love that about you. I love following you because you are unabashedly unashamed of who you are and you are who you are 100% of the time. It's like if it's a good day you share it. If it's a bad day you share it. Is that fair? Rachel Miller: Yeah, probably. Yeah, that's about right.

Alex Charfen: And I just feel like there's not a lot of veneer or trying to make stuff up with you. And one of the reasons that I wanted to bring you on is I feel like on a scale of one to 10, if 10 is like very, very independent and one is I want somebody to tell me exactly what to do. Where would you put yourself on that scale?

Rachel Miller: Probably like a nine.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: Because actually I probably would have been a 10 before Charfen. I call your program Charfen. I'm sure it has another name but we call it Charfen anyway. So before Charfen, I would probably call myself a 10. But now I probably am closer to an eight because my team will come to me and say this is what you need to do today. And there's a lot of freedom in saying here's your tasks and then here's your open spot of your day.

And this is what we would love for you to do if you have time in your open spot and if not then we'll push that off till tomorrow. But I have framework that lets me be more productive but also lets me be more present in my life.

Alex Charfen: And you use this word freedom.

Rachel Miller: Yeah.

Alex Charfen: And this was the point I wanted to get to is that when I ... My entire experience of you is that you are controlling your own life and you are running your life and you are doing it the way you want to. And to me, entrepreneurs like you are driven by the need for freedom. Is that fair?

Rachel Miller: Yes, yes. I almost care more about that than I do the money. Definitely.

Alex Charfen: Yeah. I'm so glad you said that because you know what? That's why I'm so glad that we're having this conversation that everybody can participate in it because here's something that I tell entrepreneurs all the time and I get eye rolls. I'll say "Process will set you free."

Process and structure will give you all the freedom you want because here's what we get sold in the marketplace, it's like be independent, be alone, you get freedom, go travel, do whatever you want. But the reality is, you're doing everything and you are your own assistant. And the fact is process, systems, structure creates freedom. Would you agree with that now?

Rachel Miller: Oh my word, yes. And I am so grateful because I know that if something happens, my business will still be there and I can still take time off for my family if I ever needed to, even if it's launch week.

Alex Charfen: So huge. One last question, Rachel, what's changed for you can you think ... And I want to give context. How long have we been working together?

Rachel Miller: Oh, I guess it's been about seven months.

Alex Charfen: Seven months, right? It was like July? So July to January.

Rachel Miller: Okay. Yeah, I guess it's only been seven, seven months.

Alex Charfen: Seven, seven months.

Rachel Miller: Not eight, yeah.

Alex Charfen: So in seven months it sounds ... And I don't want to exaggerate it, but in the last seven months, it sounds like you've built a team, doubled your launch numbers.

Rachel Miller: Yeah.

Alex Charfen: And it's been like this massive growth. What has changed in your business or your life that you were like you never thought would? Is there anything that you're almost surprised by it?

Rachel Miller: Well, I love the fact that I have three integrators now, essentially. So, instead of having all that pressure on one person, we have like three different people that are each in different roles in my company. And now each of those roles are just plowing past where I ever could have imagined.

Alex Charfen: Yeah.

Rachel Miller: I can picture myself with a much larger business now than I ever could have. My dreams have gotten bigger because I can picture myself with a bigger business now than I did six months ago for sure.

Alex Charfen: So awesome, Rachel. And that feeling of having three integrators, the way I look at it is every department leader becomes a new integrator for that department.

Rachel Miller: And I keep using the integrator word because that's where I was before is I put all this pressure on one person. Alex Charfen: Minor. Right. Rachel Miller: And you have more of like a web or like a flow, he needs to make a start. Alex Charfen: You know what? When you just said the web, I kind of envisioned it in my head is we set up this web of protection around the entrepreneur but it also creates a web of protection around each individual team member.

Rachel Miller: Yes. Yes. Actually that's really ... Because I remember I would have times where I would fire people and I didn't always articulate ahead of time. They didn't see it coming because I didn't articulate that something was wrong.

Alex Charfen: Yeah. Rachel Miller: And now the system is set up where they know where they are and I know where I am. And the roles are just so much more clear. And we get a lot more done.

Alex Charfen: So awesome, Rachel. So six months, you've about doubled the size of your business.

Rachel Miller: Yes.

Alex Charfen: Built a team, tripled the amount of manpower that you have working with you that's really getting stuff done. Can we come back in a few months and check in on you?

Rachel Miller: Oh, of course, I would love that.

Alex Charfen: Okay. I can't wait. I can't wait. And I know people are going to want to know how they can find out more about you. So your Facebook group is called Grow Your Business?

Rachel Miller: Grow Your Audience.

Alex Charfen: Grow Your Audience, sorry. Grow your ... Oh I wrote down audience and I read business. That's dyslexic of me. So, Grow Your Audience. And then the name of the business, Moolah?

Rachel Miller: Moolah, that's me.

Alex Charfen: M-O-O-L-A-H. And so, what's the best URL for somebody to go check you out? Because I know tons of people are going to want to.

Rachel Miller: Yeah, RachelMiller.com or even the best place is probably on Facebook, the Grow Your Audience Facebook page. That group, excuse me, Facebook group. That's where almost everybody finds me and hangs out with me on there.

Alex Charfen: Awesome. And if you are an entrepreneur who's looking to grow your audience to get more leads, to talk to more people, to get more exposure. I personally know Rachel works with some of the biggest names in the business. I don't know if I'm allowed to share a client list, but I won't and it's ridiculous.

And so I would highly, highly encourage you to go check out, Grow Your Audience and check out her information products. She's one of those people out there that's putting out a product that actually does what it says it's going to do.

And if you're interested in understanding more about our programs and having some of the systems and structure that Rachel has been talking about, you can go to PredictableBusinessSolutions.com. It's PredictableBusinessSolutions.com. Answer a few questions for my team and set up a call.

We'd love to get on a call, help you understand more about your business, see if we can help you and help you create some momentum. PredictableBusinessSolutions.com. Rachel, thanks again for being here.

Rachel Miller: Thanks and I totally appreciate you and the change I've been able to see in my business through this past seven months. Thank you so much, Alex.

Alex Charfen: And you know what, Rachel? I appreciate you for being a mother of six, for being an inspiration to all of us and for showing up as who you are. I always share with entrepreneurs any attempt to be anything other than yourself will only create pressure and noise. And you're one of the people in the world that I watch, so that I'm more of my authentic self and I really love that about you.

Rachel Miller: Thank you. Have a good day.

Alex Charfen: Thank you. We'll see in a few months.

Thank You For Listening!

I am truly grateful that you have chosen to spend your time listening to me and my podcast.

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With gratitude,

Alex

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