DESIGNING FREEDOM BEYOND BORDERS AND LIMITS (PART 2)

Skillionaires Podcast – Episode 19

Michelle Maree II

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

Here comes the second part of Michelle Maree's interview with me, which is such an incredible extension to the first part, and I can ensure if you listen to the end, it will blow your mind. Have fun with Michel Miret. Who wants to go fast, goes alone.

Who wants to go far, goes together. How much this resonates with you, looking at your own journey, letting so many people go out of your environment that didn't want to continue the journey with you, has been wow, you have my full respect for having that trust, that gut feeling, trust and this courage of letting people go, this is wow, with your background of history. That's why I wanted to know how this quote resonates with you.

[Michelle Maree]

Like a hundred percent, actually, why it depends who you do it with. So let's say if I would be still with these old people, they would actually slow me down. So I had to let them go and go for a while alone, right.

And now I'm with the right people, but I also see like I'm outgrowing where I am right now because I have people with different stages.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

That's like the reprending and stuff.

[Michelle Maree]

Yeah, like, you know, people, oh my God, I want to make more money or get my first client and I love to help them. I really enjoy it, but it takes a lot of my energy and I'm not able to work on bigger things that really make a big impact, for example. So it's just constantly evolving yourself and what I've spoken on stage is shifting environment.

Even now, the stage where I'm in, you know, I'm growing, like I'm growing and even now there's a few people in my personal life probably I will need to let go of and it's very painful and it comes with grief as well. And yeah, it is, it's sad, but I do think like as entrepreneurs, you grow a lot and you need to just like reflect every, every year at least, like, okay, who are the people that I spend the most time with? And am I the smartest in the room or am I the one that needs to learn the most?

And once you're the smartest in the room, it's time to shift the room. So I had that now multiple times in my own community and then I'm like hosting the sessions and I'm people, oh my God, I'll get my first client or how can I, I'm like, oh, I'm very beyond that, you know, stage and I want to help them, but it just keeps me back. So I think what you can do then as an entrepreneur is like still serve them, but then not what your time, right?

So like with other products and services or with your team, with your community management. So now we're like creating more, a different division and like different layers in the, in the membership. It's like for the early stage, mid stage and the higher stage, we have like the outer circle where we're going to focus like the whole philosophy of, of what we're doing.

Our movement is community is everything, right? So you can scale your business through community. You can like, you can build a community around your business and grow that faster because people are not customers then or clients, they're your members.

It's very different feeling if I become part of your community or I'm your customer, right? It's the same, but it's different how you treat and package them.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

I wanted to dive a little bit more in because I heard you are talking about that a lot about the community and community management and scaling a community is something totally different from the vibrations than making purely business, having a community with that sort of client. But here having a community, you connect each other with each other. You have your tribe that is actually defining the energy for the business itself.

And within, I wanted to a little bit pick your brain. What are the secrets behind that? Because I find it very hard to build a community that is interactive.

Yeah, I don't have any problems of, you know, collecting people together, bring them first and second step, you know, into the motion and but leaving and keeping that level of energy. So it is something that comes within of the community. Yeah, it is so hard because I find it very common that the community is starting to gossip within somehow.

And then it's just like self diluting. And yeah, tell us a little bit. What are your secrets about community management and scaling a community?

Culture. Culture?

[Michelle Maree]

Yeah, setting the right culture, like set the vision for the community, but also protecting the culture, saying, OK, this is how we deal with each other in the community. Also when people come into the community, like they come because they see me and they know what I've done. Yet I'm like, I am not your coach.

Yesterday I had a call with one of the guys in the community and I do then sometimes onboarding calls to help people and I gave him homework to do. And he's like, oh, how can we do this? Can we set up a call?

I was like, no, I'm not a coach. I could. And a lot of people ask me, but I don't want to be that.

And I don't want to do the one on one because that is not scalable. It's like you are part of a community, so you can send your stuff to me, I can give some feedback. But there's like hundreds of other people.

Drop it there. Ask for feedback. Set up a call.

You are responsible. And you get back out of the community what you put into it. So I don't, I did it at the beginning.

Like that is very exhausting. It's very exhausting because at the beginning I gave everything. And now I charge more and actually I give less.

But I put the responsibility back on them.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

You wanted to get actually the extra mile to make it grow, you know, then you figure out that it's just draining so much energy.

[Michelle Maree]

It is very draining because people want constantly things from you. Then it's up to you to set the boundaries and a culture. Say, OK, this is a, for example, we are a network, an introduction club.

So connect each other with other people who are valuable, help each other, give feedback, no pitching, no direct sales, right? Just be supportive. Like it will always come back.

And a lot of people do business like I did, like tangible over three million in connections between people that I know there is more, I think, because not everything comes back to me like deals done. So let's say you're part of a community, you get to know the others. We are very informal, relaxed, we're kind of like friends.

But I know you have a business. How can we support them? For sure.

If you would be in a community, let's say, and people say, oh, I have a podcast, I'll come to you and you can manage it and they pay you. So that is how we do business within the community, because you build trust and you build trust also by being vulnerable and not selling. And we're all in this boat and we're helping each other.

So I think when you set the culture straight, that really helps also when you talk about gossiping or complaining. I cut it off. I didn't have to do it often, but twice I kicked people out of the community because they were not aligning with culture.

And it's very painful. I'm also like, oh, can I do that? The guy bought a ticket already to Nomad ILO Fest, flight, all these things.

And I'm like, you know what, I'm going to tell him I'm sending now back all your money. Basically he got so much out of it already. I could keep his money.

And I'm like, listen, you know, you're not ready yet and this is not how we deal. So I'd send you like I'd never fight about money if you want money back there, you know. But I proactively send it already.

It's like, I appreciate you, but you have so much more to learn before you can be part of this community. So just call me in a year or two years. Right.

So and then other people see that as well. So without blaming them or making them look bad, like, OK, he still needs to grow. Right.

And if you want to be in a certain space, there are certain codes that you need to, you know, fulfill and keep yourself to. So I think that's important when you and then not always being available. I have always felt like, oh, my God, I need to the whole day WhatsApp.

And it is true. Like you have then, for example, a vibrant, active community. But what are you actually talking about?

So I let them do the thing and I just go live every two weeks, for example, in my community, I have a founders Q&A. You can ask me anything. It's just like an open office.

Like, let's say, come for a cup of coffee. Ask me anything. Because people text me.

What do you think of this? And can you connect me with this person? Can you review this?

What do you think about this business idea? I'm like, OK, guys, that is my door and you can come then. And many of them don't come because like not everyone shows up, of course, for online meetings.

But then I can say, I was there available. So wait for the next one. Yeah.

And if you don't show up, fine. That's up to you. Like, I'm not going to babysit you.

Exactly.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

That is such an, you know, takes your self-responsibility in a community like that is already a preparation and a lesson by itself of being an entrepreneur. It doesn't matter on what location or if you are independent or wherever. This is something that our society actually likes a lot, execution and self-responsibility and ownership of things.

That's a very good lesson that you teach then underlined and self-conscious. Yeah. Very good.

Michelle, when you have now this environment of scaling and your community, your tribe and the events to it, with all of this knowledge that you have today, what you think, would you, would you treat like a diamond to have what you would have given this young Michelle sitting in the Netherlands on the street?

[Michelle Maree]

Like a tip?

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

Yeah, like a tip, a diamond, a knowledge and something that you picked up throughout the times, the learning. Yeah. I knew it back then, but I couldn't.

[Michelle Maree]

Like, I didn't have the right words about, like around it. Environment is everything. Girl, if you want to grow, change your setting because you don't know yet what is out there.

Every time there's always a higher level to go and just, you know, just see the world and your life as, as play and see it as a big game. It's like a Grand Theft Auto, the video game. You can jump on the top of a car, you can now ring the bell.

I can walk out of this interview and go to the next door and start a conversation with the business there. My whole life could change. Yes.

And you can every day take decisions like that. So the world is full of doors that you can't see behind connections and have as many as possible because those can teach you the most and open, uh, open sides about yourself that you were not aware of. Hmm.

So be just very, very thoughtful where you spend your time.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

Very good. Yeah. Very good.

A lot of people always ask me, Angela, why Dubai? And why is it so different? And that's how I exactly explain it.

It's the environment. And why is the environment different is because all of the people are taking their own ownership from the cleaner to the cream driver to the delivery man to the millionaire. They take ownership of what they wanted to achieve and then they execute.

And this is something that makes this town firstly so high vibrating, so positive in the end also very fast. Yeah. That's what we experienced somehow the days you can bend time in this city somehow.

And that is a result of environment where in Europe everybody's complaining, not, you know, leaving the comfort zone and trying to keep into a certain pattern, you know, it's comfortable there and to also please others a lot. And I found this so amazing when you explained that you had none and nowhere, uh, the, uh, the point of where you had the nudge of pleasing others or going out to repair others. Yeah.

There are different people and I work a lot with human design, uh, with my clients and a lot of people, they have this pattern to go out and repair others where you have to realize you cannot repair others. You have to get your own boundaries. And I think you did that in the crate, um, in your whole life path that you said you saw what not worked for you and where you have not, where you don't want it to be.

And that's where you got your way out. And that's something so beautiful. Yeah.

Yeah. Michelle, when you would hear the news today and they say, Earth is evacuated and we have to leave to the moon and there's only one book you could take with you, which book you would take with you?

[Michelle Maree]

It depends what kind of world is on the moon.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

We only could live on the moon. It's livable on the moon and you have to leave everything behind, but you can take one book. Which one would that be?

[Michelle Maree]

In that context, I would say The Power of Now.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

The Power of Now.

[Michelle Maree]

Very powerful. Eckhart Tolle.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

Yes. Yes.

[Michelle Maree]

Because I mean, I like certain books about business and money. Uh, but if on the moon, that economy and that world doesn't exist and we sit on the moon, then be in the present.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

Yeah. Do you know there is a building, a real estate, it's called Aiva. I don't know if you've been there.

And they are building up a library where all entrepreneurs have actually placed their book they would take. I love that. That is something so beautiful.

[Michelle Maree]

Yeah. I love that. Yeah.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michelle Maree]

Yeah.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

That's something insightful. Thank you for this interview. Thank you so much.

And yeah, I wanted to let our community a little bit know about you, put everything under the show notes and get everybody connected who wants to be independent as you. Thank you for being here.

[Michelle Maree]

I appreciate you so much. Great work.

[Dr. Angela Thomas]

Thank you. Well, as you say in... Danke schön.

Okay.