Marie Forleo’s Lessons That Changed My Life: How “Everything is Figureoutable” Inspired My Second Act| Ep. 215

Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - "Marie Forleo’s Lessons That Changed My Life: How ‘Everything is Figureoutable’ Inspired My Second Act"| Ep. 215
Episode - #215
Host: Shannon Russell
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00]
I was sitting in my car on my lunch break crying because of my toxic nine to five job that I took because I felt like I needed to because I had decided to leave my television career and figure out my second act.
And in the meantime, I felt the guilt of not bringing money into the family and the stress of what is it that I'm actually going to do next. I had a three and a half year old and a six month old at the time, and I was floundering.
One day I was listening to the Marie Forleo podcast, and it changed everything for me.
Marie Forleo once said, everything is figureoutable. And that one quote completely transformed my career and my life. It helped me figure out that I didn't have to stay stuck, that I could actually take what I knew my past experience, what I was good at, what I wanted to [00:01:00] bring into the world, and I could create a business of my own.
She gave me that confidence, and because of that. It led me on to a path of Second Act Success, where I started my first business and then started a second business, created this podcast, wrote a book. Now I speak on stages all over the world to help other women believe too, that they can leave a career and start a business.
I really owe it all to Marie.
If you have ever felt stuck in your career today, I'm sharing the lessons Marie Forleo taught me that gave me the courage to build my second act.

Hello my friend, and welcome back to the Second Act Success podcast. I'm Shannon Russell, a business coach and mentor and author of Start Your Second Act.
This episode is really close to my heart. I've been wanting to record this for a long time now, it's special to me because I'm sharing some of the [00:02:00] biggest lessons that I have learned from someone who has been a huge influence on me and my journey, and that is Marie Forleo.
If you don't know Marie, you need to know Marie. . She is a fantastic entrepreneur. She's the host of the Marie Forleo Show. She is also multi-passionate, as she calls it, and she has so many creative ideas and loves and passions in her life, and she really shares the fact that you don't have to choose just one.
You can do it all. There's just something about her and her energy that just drew me in.
Once I started listening to her, I started really feeling that power with myself that I was on the right path when I decided to start something new.
I often think a lot about the work that I do with my business and how I show up here on the podcast for you. giving you the tools and the advice so that you do feel empowered and [00:03:00] to live the second act of your life in a way that you really want to.
Let me tell you my Marie moment. Let me take you back to that moment where I decided that I was leaving my career in television. And I decided, okay, I need to figure out what else I'm going to do.
And that's where I was really in that, in between that messy middle. And I felt a lot of guilt about deciding. To leave my career and figure it out and I felt the guilt. I felt the pressure. I felt like I needed to contribute to my family financially, but I also wanted to be present with the kids. I was able to find a nine to five office job close to home, that kind of fit.
I had my mom, who was willing to help out with my baby and babysit him while my 3-year-old was in daycare. And I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. Well, this job ended up being completely toxic. Women weren't allowed to have a voice. What they brought me in for was [00:04:00] my television experience and my creativity, and none of that was being utilized, and I just felt very lost, like worse than worse. I knew I wanted something different, something better, but I had no clue how to get there. I would go to my car during my lunch, take that full 60 minutes away from my desk, and I would listen to Marie Forlio. one day she was talking about how you can bet on yourself. And in that moment I thought. Yeah, that's it. I've been producing stories and shows for other production companies and studios for years. I can start something of my own, and it's where I really started taking her words to heart.
So the first lesson I want to share. That Marie Forleo taught me is everything is figureoutable.
When I first heard that phrase, I said, whoa, this is my mantra. This is how I do truly feel and how I choose to show up in the world. So why am I putting myself in this position where I feel like I can't [00:05:00] breathe?
I just was really struggling and she made it sound really simple when you're in the thick of it and you are doubting things, there are three words that you really need to hear. Everything is figureoutable. If you're stuck in a career that drains you, it's figureoutable.
If you want to start a business and you don't know where to start, guess what? It's figureoutable. If you're afraid of failing and who isn't, but even that is figureoutable. her words were really impacting me and I said, you know what? I don't have all the answers. I don't have a coach.
I don't have anyone to help me. I feel lost and alone. But I wanted to produce my life, and that's when I decided to start figuring out a business that I could grow and that would fulfill me, that would light me up,
so I figured it's figureoutable. Let's do it.
So Don't just be quick to say no. Take a [00:06:00] moment, take a breath, step back and relax because everything is figureoutable

Another lesson I learned from Marie is the power on truly betting on yourself.
yes, this might sound like a motivational quote, but on yourself, but it really is more than that. It's a wake up call, or at least it was for me. I realized that no one was going to swoop in and save me. This was a decision I made for myself. I needed to fix my career happiness, if you will, and that that was on me.
If no one else was betting on me, I really needed to take the reins and bet on myself. And so Betting on myself didn't mean that I had to have zero fear. It meant that I could move forward despite the fear because I was betting on myself and I wasn't going to let myself fail.
I was trusting in the skills that I've had from my previous jobs and all of my work experience, I had trust in the [00:07:00] ideas of what I could create next, and I had trust. And the resilience because I was able to say, okay, enough is enough. I achieved my dream job. Now I have these two kids.
Let's figure out what's next. Let's figure out something that'll fit into my life as it is now. So I knew I could be resilient. I knew I had the skills and the ideas, so I had to bet on myself to see what would come to fruition.
This motivation led me to open my first business and it really gave me, I think before that the confidence to research businesses. 'cause who was I to start a business? I had zero business experience. But I said, let me research businesses. I started calling the CEOs of businesses that I was interested in to ask questions.
I started learning about the franchise system and how franchise businesses differ from a business that you create [00:08:00] completely on your own, and I said, Ooh, there's this business that I've wanted to start.
But I discovered that there's a similar business that is a franchise, so let me talk to the company and learn more about it. in doing that, I felt confident to move forward and I was betting on myself that I would be able to start this business. grow it, produce it, and scale it. And now that's what I encourage all of my clients to do.
And I encourage you, my friend who is listening to this podcast right now, that you can bid on yourself And you can figure out what's next. You can embrace the unknown, and know that you can come out of it on the other side.

Lesson three. Marie really taught me that done is better than perfect, and I think as a perfectionist, which I am very type A person, I knew. hiding behind that perfection was a stall tactic. It was me saying, okay, well I can't really start letting [00:09:00] people know about this business until I feel 1000% confident, Marie often talks about the done is better than perfect idea. And that is one piece of advice that saved me during that career transition of mine, from that analysis paralysis. It saved me so many times because yes, I would feel it needed to be perfect and I needed to know everything, but I would stop.
I would hear her words, and I would say, okay. Let me try this anyway. And I can always go back and edit. I can always go back and fix or tweak my messaging or my approach or my systems. Perfection does keep people stuck, but progress builds that momentum. I chose progress over perfection and it was a lot of testing.
It wasn't just this idea that I just followed. It was me really. Feeling uncomfortable in my skin to move forward anyway and then see that momentum and realize, hey, this really is [00:10:00] working, so let's continue.
Now, years later, I can look back and say, wow, when I launched my first franchise business, it wasn't perfect and I launched it anyway. And guess what? It ended up scaling and then I ended up getting into the top three, , most lucrative business owners in that organization.
I won awards. I brought on a huge team. I really made a difference in my community, and it was all because I went for it without just waiting for everything to line up perfectly. Cut to a few years later when customers started asking me if I could help them start a business of their own, because they thought that this transition that I had gone through was so remarkable and I had the idea of starting a business coaching other women, I could have stopped it there and said, oh, I've got too much going on.
It's not going to be perfect. I'm juggling another business right now. But instead, I chose. Done is better than perfect. When I launched my coaching business, [00:11:00] it wasn't perfect. My website wasn't polished at first. I launched my podcast at the same time I launched my business, so I was adding more things to my plate, but.
I learned that I got it out there. I got myself out there, and then I got my first clients. Then I got my second client and I realized, okay, I can tweak my offers.
Truthfully, over the years since I launched Second Act Success Coaching, my offers have changed. I just recently relaunched my Second Act Accelerator coaching program from how it was that first year,
I go back and edit my website all the time because I enjoy it, or I go back and I've tweaked different things here on the podcast. I've gotten new certifications over the years that allow me to help my clients in different ways. My point is, is that I started and because I started my first business and then my second business, I was able to grow them both Marie always says that clarity comes from action, not [00:12:00] from just thinking about things. And she's right. So you can have ideas, you can think, but that clarity is really going to show it's really going to come through when you take that action. Perfect or not.

So why am I sharing all of these lessons with you? I'm sharing this because Marie Forleo taught me what I needed at a time where I really needed it. These lessons weren't just for me. She was saying them to everyone, but they hit me in a really special way that allowed me to make my move. It was the catalyst I needed. These lessons can be your catalyst as well.
And I hope that you pick up on different lessons that I share in all of the episodes of the Second Act Success podcast. But in this episode, I really want to give credit and highlight Marie and her impact that she's had on my life and my businesses. I truly feel that it is how I treat my clients [00:13:00] and how I.
Help them move through and find their success is because she was able to help me in a really unknowing way to help myself. And because I was able to take that action, I can now help you and others like you take action as well. you are sitting in your car right now. If you're crying on your lunch break like I once was, if you are in a toxic job that feels impossible to leave.
If you're in a job that you love, but it just doesn't align with your schedule and your family and you're feeling conflicted, just know that If you're dreaming about starting a business of your own and having that freedom and flexibility, but you just don't know how to get there, I want you to remember a few of these lessons.
Everything is figureoutable Always bet on yourself, and progress beats perfection every time. These lessons can be the foundation for [00:14:00] you to start your second act and know that there's so many more lessons and ideas in this podcast, in other podcasts,
finding someone who has a few steps ahead of you who can show you the way, give you the advice that you might need at a time where you really need it.
And if you are ready to put these lessons into action, I would love to walk along your second act journey with you. This is exactly what I do inside my coaching program. I help women like you gain that clarity, build a plan, have that self-confidence, and start taking those first steps towards a career and a business that truly lights them up, because that's what it's about.
It's about feeling excited for the day. Knowing that you're bringing not only money into your family, but you're doing it in a way where you feel creative and fulfilled, and you're able to also spend time with those that you love, and you're finding that work [00:15:00] life harmony that we all dream about. it's not easy, it's not overnight, but there is a way forward for you to build that type of life for yourself.
And I would love to be the one to help you I have several different ways that we can work together and you can find all those details on my website. www.secondactsuccess.co. That's www.secondactsuccess.co. And I'll link to it in the show notes as well.
And don't forget, I have a free 90 day sprint planner available right now that you can grab for free and start working on how you can take action before the end of the year. To download that go to www.secondactsuccess.co/ninety days. that will be linked in the show notes as well. Alright, my friend here is your reminder before we wrap things up. If Marie Forleo can build a global empire starting from scratch, and if I can pivot from TV producer to entrepreneur to business coach. [00:16:00] You can absolutely figure out your next step too.
And why do I know this to be true? Because everything truly is figureoutable. And until next time, keep producing your best life. Know that you can it, and you deserve to live out the life in your second act that really fits you thanks for spending some time with me. I will catch you on the next episode of the Second Act Success Podcast.
Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success. To view show notes from this episode, visit www.secondactsuccess.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.
Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell. And this is Second Act [00:17:00] Success.