Client Story: Marissa’s 17-Client Win and BTS Inside the Sell with Heart Mastermind
Episode Summary:
In this episode, I’m sharing the story of my experience running Facebook ads this year – and some of the amazing outcomes that have come along with it!
Meet Marissa, one of my first clients from Facebook ads, and an incredible member of the Sell with Heart Mastermind. Marissa entered the heart centered entrepreneur world, crushed it, and landed 17 clients in her first few months!
She shares her journey and also talks about her time in the Sell with Heart Mastermind from booking more clients in her first few months to redefining her niche around supporting women cyclists over 40.
If you’re ready to expand your business with more ease and abundance, be sure to tune in! Plus, applications are open for a limited time to join the Sell with Heart Mastermind. If you're interested in mentorship with me, apply now!
Topics Discussed:
How Marissa manages her business with taking weeks off at a time for international travel
Marissa's experiences with bro marketing sales vs. sales in the sell with heart mastermind
How Marissa's journey with perimenopause informed her niche
Why Marissa helps women cyclists over 40
About Marissa's cycling adventure in Italy
Episode Resources:
About Marissa:
Marissa Axell is the founder of AXN Fitness and Coaching, helping her athletes become badass cyclists by showing them how to become stronger, ride further, and reclaim their mojo all while training less. After working with Marissa’s unique coaching, her clients experience what it’s like to climb stronger, ride faster and further with more ease, they feel more accomplished, in short: more badass. Marissa has been coaching and personal training her athletes since 2008. She’s a category 1 cyclist, and holds an undergraduate degree in biological sciences from Willamette University. Marissa firmly believes in using education and action to rise above menopause and aging related challenges, to keep enjoying an active healthy lifestyle with passion, science and persistence.
Connect with Marissa:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher
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Anna (00:06):
Welcome to the Heart-Centered Entrepreneur podcast. I want you to be rich. Yes, I want abundant financial success for your business, but I don't just care about your business making money. I care about you too. I want you to be rich and happiness in the impact you make in your relationships, and in how you give back. I'm Anna. I built my six figure business as a side hustle while I was pregnant with my daughter in 2016. Now I've helped dozens of women do the same. I'm here to help you build a profitable heart-centered fully book business with the latest tips on sales and visibility with proven mindset hacks and sneak peeks behind the scenes with what's working right now in the online space and in my business, ready to make more money with heart. Let's go. Hello, friends. I cannot believe we haven't already had on the podcast Marissa Axel, but we're doing it today. She is a CEO and owner of action fitness and coaching and just a passionate soul like you'll see here in a minute. You will love her. Marissa, why don't you introduce yourself to us?
Marissa (01:07):
Well, hello. Yes. Thank you so much for having me on. I am Marissa Axel, I'm from the Bay Area, and I'm a cycling coach for women over 40 and a personal trainer. So I worked predominantly online and we just celebrated our five year anniversary.
Anna (01:24):
Happy anniversary.
Marissa (01:25):
Thank you, <laugh>.
Anna (01:28):
Okay, so tell us a little bit about why cycling, like I, and maybe I don't even know all of this, but like what first got you into cycling and then why did you decide to coach around cycling?
Marissa (01:40):
Yeah. Well, I think number one, I was an athlete, like as a kid all the way through college. I was a swimmer. And what most swimmers do when we retire from swimming is we try triathlon. And so I finally got into doing, tries in like early two thousands and discovered that I a, am terrible running still, but BI love cycling and I've always loved swimming, right? So that's how I discovered cycling was through triathlon the sport. I was really into triathlon for about five or six years in my twenties all the way. Did several Ironmans got really into it and then like made a ton of friends in San Francisco Bay area where I live and got onto the road and they were like, you should road race. And then I like was like, oh yes, this is my thing. And that's what happened.
Marissa (02:27):
I kind of fell into it with two feet and just like hit the ground rolling. And alongside that from high school through college I was coaching, swimming. My, my my first employer at the YMCA in San Francisco, one of my good friends found out that I was a swimmer. She's like, you should coach our try team. And I've just always had this coaching ability, I don't know I mean I was like certified for it, but also like an aptitude for it. Like I love doing it. So I literally did it for free while I was at the YMCA. And then I was like, you know, catapult many years later, I, I also co-star a gym with that same woman. We began our own strength training and cycling gym in San Francisco. And once I kind of got done with that, I was like, I wanna go all in on my own. And so the coaching, the cycling is like my jam still. I'm in my 17th season of cycling, being a competitive cyclist. I have my own coach, right? So I have just like, that's just been my life. Like I think when you align, like what you love to do with the aptitude, to be able to teach other people and really be able to see the impact that you have with them, it's just like this self-fulfilling prophecy. So I've just kept going and now we're here we are five years later.
Anna (03:45):
Oh my goodness. I love that so much. I was just telling Marissa that usually we just use the audio and not the videos from these, but I really wanna post the video because they're just something about, you're smiling, you're radiance and like just you were born to do this work. And how lucky I think that when we can find something in this lifetime that we love to do, right? Yeah.
Marissa (04:04):
Yeah. Absolutely. I, I think that there is something around like, what would you do if you didn't get paid to do it? I'm like, I definitely wasn't getting paid for a long time, you know, before I made this my business. And I, I think that's what keeps me going is like the, the learner aspect. Like there's endless learning to it and that just keeps my brain excited and turning over and then getting to help impact more women, especially because we have this huge movement of especially women over 40, like learning that we don't know what we don't know. And really being part of that movement has really just lit a fire as well.
Anna (04:41):
I love that. Okay, I have a thousand questions, <laugh>, but the, let's go with what you said most recently. So you do niche down to women over 40 in cycling, and I love that so much, especially like, you know, as our body is changing and as we are finding a way to be active but in a different way. Like what, like why did you decide to really help women in that genre?
Marissa (05:02):
Well, 'cause I selfishly wanted to know for me like, what the heck, right? So my, I I, it's not really an origin story, but like a point of like, oh story was, can I swear on this? I don't
Anna (05:12):
Know. Yes, all you want go right ahead
Marissa (05:14):
<Laugh>. But I I was around 40, maybe 41 and I was at the other job. I talked about indoor cycling and just had a day where I felt like I couldn't wake up. And I was like, am I really sick? Like, is something going on? And it was this just un, I mean I'm used to, I was an endurance athlete for like 12 years at this time. Like I know what it is to be tired, but this was different. And it turned out after a bunch of research, I was like, this is like my first real symptom of perimenopause. I am exhausted and it's not like, oh, I'm tired, I need to take a nap. Like, I slept 10 hours and couldn't sleep more, right? So it was just like, whoa. And the more I delved into like research kind of my background in undergrad was, was science, right?
Marissa (05:58):
So I felt really like comfortable reading just different journals, different science and different books like that. People have already researched about it. And I was just like, none of my friends know about this. I don't know about this and this is my job. So the, the vast non no understanding around women over 40 who are still athletic, who are still trying to train, but all of a sudden these horrible symptoms are popping up from fatigue to migraines to, you know, like anxiety and depression. I mean all of this was just, nobody knew. I was like, if I don't know and I'm in it, like the general public definitely doesn't know. And that's what really again, lit a fire to like selfishly I wanna still train and race and have fun and have adventures and if I can figure it out for me, the more I research, the more I can help other people. So that's really where that was born, honestly, pure, selfish. I wanted to do it for me and then help my friends. Yeah. And then, you know, it turned out like really alongside of all that covid happened, right? We had all these shutdowns. So everyone was online talking and I was like, there's all these people out here who wanna know more. And that just really got me excited about my business.
Anna (07:06):
I love it. I don't think it's selfish at all. I think it's actually a really pure place to start your business from, right? We think about like market research, blah, blah, blah, right? But I actually think some of the best market research is like following what our need is, right? You know, we talk about like what's the need in the market? Where are we looking at our own ha our own patterns? Like what's our problems? What are our needs? Right? And so I think you are almost market researching yourself and if you were having that problem, it means that other people were having that problem too, right?
Marissa (07:33):
Totally. And we just happened to be in this space in time where Title IX happened, like the generation ahead of me and they're all kind of like, gen X is a floundering of like, what the hell is going on? And now my generation just slightly, I'm an, I'm an elder millennial slash zenni, right? And we are all like now coming into this perimenopause and menopause and like nobody knew about it. Our parents didn't really talk about it. And anyways, so there's a whole generation of women athletes who are not done being athletes who are just like, why does nobody know about this? And what I love is that we're like peeling back these layers of like, I mean I myself was told in high school, like, we don't study women 'cause they're too complicated. Hormones are too hard. And now we're like, we're not standing for it anymore.
Marissa (08:14):
Study us, tell us what we need to know. And it turns out there's a lot that we didn't know. You can't just pink and shrink women. Like we're not just small men, right? And that's a whole like thing. But we need more research. And so like, I'm not in the lab doing research, but I have experiential research at this point. You know, I have like a lot of what works and what doesn't work for people and obviously none of us are, we're all individuals. So anyways, getting back to that market research, you're totally right. There's this whole group of women who have never been asked their opinion on what's happening, right? So I was like, super, it's just a moment in time. I got lucky at that in the timing, but also I did a lot of work. It's not like luck, right? But just the timing was super lucky. Yeah.
Anna (08:56):
Yeah. You are such a hard worker, Marissa. You truly are <laugh>. Okay, tell me what
Anna (09:04):
<Laugh> a thousand questions for you. Okay, so clearly you have like the passion, right? And I love that you're telling your story so much too. 'cause I think a lot of women can resonate with you that they have passion around their field of study, right? Whether it is anxiety or whether it is, you know, parenting or whether it is health, whatever, right? Like, but then there's this whole other part of like, how do we monetize with this thing, right? And it's just interesting, it's interesting because often our skill sets as passionate professionals is different than our business skill sets of like selling and building a team and getting visible. It's like all these other skill sets, right? And so maybe tell me where you were at when you came before you did getting coach because you really, like you said you've been in business for a while. Like maybe tell us like a snap of where you're at and some of your experience in getting coach.
Marissa (09:53):
You got it. Yeah. So when I, before I joined, I kind of was at a really low point personally. Like I had just let two part-time staff go. Because we just you know, we weren't selling, we were in this weird part this year was a first year where in 2024, early. And just to give some context in general in health and fitness, like around the new year, everybody's ready to do something. But this year it was crickets. And that has never happened before in all the years I've been coaching. So it was a tough nut to crack. So I was in a pretty low spot you know, mentally 'cause I felt like I'd been building a building and it just wasn't working. So I came across I think I watched your video from a friend of a friend of a friend, you know, online watched your video. And I was like, instantly sold. Gimme the fast action bonus, let's sign up. I was literally in it that day being like, can I sign up right now and start today? And I I
Anna (10:46):
Think you bought like right from the Evergreen webinar, like you didn't even like finish all the emails. Like you just, like you went right in and bought right away. And I was so impressed with that
Marissa (10:55):
Because I was, yeah. And because like, it was such a salve on like such a burn in my brain. I was just, ugh, I was struggling. And I, as you know, I'm an action taker. So when I can take an action to like move forward to just feel like I'm making progress, ugh, that was everything to me. So that's what happened was because of the way that you set up your program, it allowed me to get started because I had bandwidth, I had energy. I just needed someone to like point me in the right direction. And what I didn't know was like I needed new, new energy or new ideas, right? And that's exactly what happened. Like getting coach was the thing that I love about it was like 10 minute worksheets every week. Like, I love a program like that. Like let me check it off, give me a dopamine hit.
Marissa (11:36):
And so I was just like, let me start, you know, don't hold me back. But then I immediately hit a wall of like, get a coach scholarship, what I am not giving away my stuff for free. But I got over that in like a week because it was a new month and I was like, new energy and I joined this to try something new. And the way that you just set up a coaching idea of like serving the thing, the whole, I'm gonna like the whole thing back, taking a step back, being in business with my business partner at the time, like we were very heart-centered and we were very non pushy, very non-salesy, we're all about serving. But when I stepped into the online space, I found a lot of that was missing. And so when I found this program, I was like, yes, <laugh>, this is what I want.
Marissa (12:19):
And so when I was able to get going on the scholarship thing, oh my gosh, I had so much fun with it once I got over myself and once I I kind of put on my science hat of like, let's try an experiment. Let's get some data, let's see what happens. And just that willingness to give it a try showered me with like 30 new applications, right? Even from people who I had already talked to, but they were just like dragging their feet. So it really got people that were in my orbit, totally new people as well to just apply and keep in mind, like I'd had almost no applications before that, right? I mean, very few. It has been crickets. So I was like, there is something to this. And then just the positive glow from the people in the, in the, in the online spaces around me, whether it's in my Facebook group or on Instagram or people listening to my podcast, like everyone wanted to know about this free thing and it just blew up. So yeah, it like, it saved me mentally, it saved me as a business owner. Like I had confidence again that people wanted this. And and then of course that like shines through when you talk to people. I got to talk to like, not quite 30 people, but maybe like 20 of them, all of them like a week. And that's what I love to do is talk to people and get them on board. So that just turned me around a hundred percent.
Anna (13:41):
I love that so much. I do find that so many of us are like resistant at the beginning, but then like when we embrace it, we're like, oh my God. Like this is actually working and fun and enjoyable. What results did you get as far as like over those next few months? Like how many paying clients were you able to sign or anything like that?
Marissa (13:58):
Yeah, so I had i one scholarship person. I signed up five or six more new people into the program, I think six total. And then but then a couple more became one-on-one clients, right? So it kind of, some people just didn't wanna do the group, they just wanted to do one-on-one, but it was that like talking about it, the program that got them to like take the next step. So all in all we had about 17 people in general over the months, you know, joining. Yeah. And some of them, you know, were not part of the first 30, but still I count it because it was that original momentum that I've just managed to keep going through because getting coach is just so thorough in like, talk with your clients, you know, take them through step by step. And I realized like, I needed this earlier in my journey, but I'm glad I have it now. Right? I just would've, I would've probably had a better I don't know, when things got slower, I would've had a better mental outcome, you know, earlier. But I have just really loved keeping that momentum going. So yeah,
Anna (15:00):
I love that so much. And like you said, exactly, like it's really that like momentum that like, even if we don't send clients directly because of that, like we're getting all visibility is good visibility, right? So when we're getting visible with one thing, maybe someone doesn't buy that program, but they see our face and they buy another program, right? Yeah. And it's just so, it like, I think what you said is so key, like that we're excited and showing up and like when our cl when people aren't buying from us or our audience is quiet, it's hard to be excited, right? But then once people start buying, it's easy for us to get excited and the more people buy, which is just this chicken and the egg of like, when you're in a rut, it's easy to stay in a rut, right? But then when you have momentum, the more momentum comes. Right?
Marissa (15:40):
A hundred percent. Yeah. And if you can figure out a way to keep it exciting and keep it going, like it's just been phenomenal. Yeah. I would say the second thing that Game Coach did was kind of turn my, I wanna say like my mentality around my coaching packages into like working together longer, which isn't always for everyone, but for cyclists, like our seasons are generally almost a year long. And so it gave me the kind of the confidence to like, ask more for people to just join for a year, you know, don't do this month by month thing. And it was such a relief, you know, to be like, these people, you know, my clients really wanna work with me for 12 months and they were waiting for me to ask. And and it just kept building, you know, it was like, well now they're getting towards the end of their three months or their time and they're like, we don't wanna end, you know? And so again, that just mentally as a business owner, keeping that momentum going and fresh was like a lifesaver <laugh>. So
Anna (16:37):
I love that so much. Talk to me about like, you know, like anyone listening to this is like so clear that like you are, we can, even though I've never been coached by you as a cyclist, right? We can imagine that you would, you're engaged and you're passionate and you care. Right? How do you, for anyone that's listening, that's having a hard time either raising their rates or charging a decent amount of money for their passionate work that they do, what are some things that have helped you as you raise your prices over the years? Or like advice that you would give?
Marissa (17:06):
Yeah. Well the first, I would say the first time I ever raised my rates, I like doubled it and I almost threw up like saying it. So I put it on a sticky note, looked at it every day, and then practiced saying it before I asked in like webinars or in a one-on-One Call because you don't wanna be like whispering it, you know, you wanna be saying it with confidence. And so that took some, like, that was probably the biggest hurdle was that, and then because I mean, originally they were just solo, it was just not it. I was devaluing myself and everyone else around me. So once I got to a place where I felt really confident and now it's like, okay, well it's time to raise again. I think that because it's able to be more sequential, it's less hard.
Marissa (17:48):
So I still write it down on a sticky note, so it's in my head, but I don't feel like I'm gonna throw up every time. And so I think I loved, well I actually got to meet with you I think through Get and Coach or maybe through Sell With Heart, but we were talking about, you know, getting towards our goals in terms of mon our revenue goals for the end of the year. And of course I was like, I can't raise my rates that much. But then it was like so easy to to to really talk it out and be like, well, what if we do it step by step? So that was the, that's the approach I'm taking now, where like I'm selling two at this rate, then I'm gonna add a little bit more and sell two at that new rate, and then a little bit more.
Marissa (18:23):
So it's a less of a, a visceral reaction to saying the words. And then also people who are working with you really are seeing the results that they're getting, right? So my clients are just like, yes, I wanna keep, I want more of this. I wanna feel strong, I wanna get to this next big goal and riding faster, or doing my trip in Italy faster. And just really loving getting to the top of the hill and, you know, measuring their, measuring their personal records and like, how many views did you see today? That sort of thing. And they're just willing to be like, yeah, I'm ready to invest. Because when they're serious about investing, they're actually serious about taking themselves seriously rather than just kind of putting it on the back burner, which a lot of, you know, clients used to do. So I always find that it's hard at the beginning, but I end up getting better, deeper, more meaningful relationships with my clients when they are that invested. So, yeah. But I would say for me, writing it down and practicing was a huge hit. <Laugh>.
Anna (19:21):
Yes. I, I agree. I think just like we assume that like people that charge rates, like we naturally feel confident, but I did, I've done the same thing where I'm like, okay, say it out loud. Right. I love what you said too about like, our clients are investing exactly like when they're paying you money to cycle, it's not just about them paying you, but it is about them saying like, I'm gonna put my energy towards cycling, I'm gonna prioritize this in my schedule in my life. Like now that I've invested my money, I feel a little bit less guilty putting my energy towards training and saying no to this or that person so I can prioritize me. And I do think it's such, the investment I think is part of the transformation our clients get because they're practically stepping in in that way.
Marissa (20:05):
A hundred percent. Yes. Yeah, I agree. And when I did kind of put a firm foot down on, you know, pricing wise and 'cause it's easy to be like, oh, well I'll just let this person pay this price for this time. They always backed out or just ghosted me. So it is in the beginning tougher to really put some boundaries around your pricing. But I've always, I've only had better and better clients because of it, because they are, like you said, putting their energy into themselves. Like they're trusting themselves and they're, they're not just half-assing it <laugh>.
Anna (20:39):
Yes, yes. I love that so much. Okay. From there you have, you're still currently in the Sell with Heart mastermind, taking beautiful action in there. Maybe tell us, I know it's in progress and I really feel like you're kind of like on the precipice of some additional brave action, but tell us thus far, maybe some of your favorite things in the Mastermind.
Marissa (21:00):
My goodness. Well, I love, like in the mastermind, I love again, every week having a little video to watch and a little worksheet to work on. I took a ton of action just working on sales. I would say that's another big shift was going away from, I think again, when you step into online business, people are like, scale bigger, make it easier, and it removes a lot of the personal interactions. And so even just understanding like what like what a buying signal is from my audience took me a long time to get comfortable with like, is that a buying? I don't know, you know? And but again, I really kind of married that, like once I recognize it, just opening up the conversation and that was one thing that you're so good at teaching me was like, I know how to do this.
Marissa (21:49):
It's just more of like, take the initiative and set up some, set up some tools that make it super easy for you. So I really embrace like video 'cause I love talking to people. And I get such good like feedback from people saying like, thank you so much for this personal video. That's such a great tool. I loved, you know, I just, I was taken aback at how much people were excited about that and like inviting them into having a conversation about getting faster or training for x, y, or Z event. It really helps me kind of break through, you know, what other people might be doing out there. So that is one thing that I've definitely like glommed onto and started to hone to kind of make it my own, whether it's through videos and connecting with people, really setting up some great templates.
Marissa (22:36):
So when people are showing me that they're interested in the program, like I don't be like, well what should I tell them? You know, it's all written down and I can just really personalize it to them. And that way if it really does build that relationship so much quicker. And I, for whatever reason, it wasn't clicking before this, like, what, however you're teaching it or however I'm receiving it, it's like clicking now. So now I get to just, you know, twice a week just dig into like, well, who's clicking on my things? Who's bought a thing? Who's who's talking to me about, you know, this, that, or the other thing? And I can just reach out to them on video and email however they wanna talk and set up some calls. I've just been like loving getting people on calls without the pressure of going through a rote sales script.
Marissa (23:20):
You know, I've done, I've mixed it up and that's been really fun to have the almost like a template to mix it up, but also like, I'm not really free styling it, but I'm definitely adding more personality and like more heart, right? So so having more conversations more often is keeping part of keeping that momentum going rather than like, oh crap, you know, I've run outta clients, I need to find some new people to talk to. It's always, you know, setting up that system so that every week I can just go into my client tracker or go into I had some other thing I was using too that like just fi finding people to talk to and and setting up some goals around that. 'cause I love, again, checking those things off, getting those dopamine hits. But that's it. It's kind of just this step by step.
Marissa (24:03):
And then each week for me it is just been building, right? So I think they're meant to build on each other for the most part. And then when I get stuck, I'm always in Slack being like, you know, asking for advice. And that has really just helped mentally, like as a business owner, like keep your even keel and then stay motivated to reach out to people. And that's where it's that consistent, just like in working out, just like in cycling, it's a consistent action day after day. Some days are gonna feel like garbage, some days are gonna feel great as long as you check it off. That's great. So yeah, that is it. And like every Sunday I look forward to <laugh> getting into the new video and seeing what's out there. Just 'cause that's like the nerdy like learner part of me. I love doing that. And so that is how, like for me personally the Sell With Heart Mastermind has been really like upleveling my, like outreach skills, I guess, and more consistency around them.
Anna (24:58):
I love that. I love that you equated that to the cycling too. And I think it's so true. It really is about consistent action. We want like consistent income in our business, right? But the consistent income comes with more consistent in our action. And that can be hard in the ups and downs of life and business, right? But I feel like you've done so good at like showing up for it, like asking for help when you get stuck, right? Or saying like, I need this, or the cool thing about Sell with Heart is like, women coming in already have a successful business, right? Already are monetizing. So for me it's really fun because then we get to look at like, what do we optimize, right? Like you said, like there were so many things you were already doing so well and right coming in that it's so fun that we can see like, what are those things we can tweak to make even better, right? What are the things that we can move the needle on and optimize? And so that's really fun for me too.
Marissa (25:47):
Awesome. Yeah, I'm Exci I'm in the middle of that. We talked, I think you alluded to, but we're in the middle of that with like
Anna (25:52):
Facebook
Marissa (25:53):
Ads and getting our private podcast out there. Just even more like even more front and center. So yeah, kind of optimizing that is on the, on the docket when I, especially when I return from having some time off <laugh>. Yeah,
Anna (26:05):
I know. Tell me too, a big part of Sell with Heart too is like figuring out how to take time off in your business without losing momentum, right? Which can be such a hard thing because in the start of business we, it's pretty immersive, right? But like Marissa alluded to, Marissa, you've done such a good job at like systematizing some things, but while still keeping some things organic and natural feeling. But maybe walk us through how you're feeling about your time, your trip away.
Marissa (26:30):
I am super excited. So for this agenda, I, I still race bikes and so one of the fun things for me is racing on the velodrome on the track. So it's indoor, somebody referred to it at the Olympics this year as indoor cycling. I was like, I guess it is, yeah. But we're indoors on a 250 meter track. It's one gear, no, you know, no breaks. Like it's high stakes fundraising. And I get to go race in France this fall in a couple more weeks. So I know I'm very excited. No big deal just racing in France, <laugh>. It's the, it's the world championships for the masters age. So if you have, you're 35 or older, you different age groups. So yeah, so we're heading out. But I was really like, I want my business to just keep churning, right?
Marissa (27:14):
And so one of the other gems I've learned from Anna was about kind of, I would call it like light, like staying in light touch with your business while you're gone in many years past I'd take time off and then it would take me so long to get back into it because it felt so overwhelming. And this time and the last time I left, actually I, both times I stayed in I would call it like light touch with my business where I kind of check in like 20 minutes a day. So I do the bulk of the work ahead of time and I, I'm scheduling some things out especially like marketing and things that I can just get done very easily ahead of time. But then I can stay in touch with my clients, make sure they're doing well, they have questions, I can answer them and then I can reach out as I have time.
Marissa (27:59):
That way I know what's happening as soon as I get home. So I'm like, oh yeah, I just need to, you know, do X, Y, and z and I'm off to the races. Whereas in prior years, I, it would take me a whole week of dragging my feet to even like open my email because, you know, it's so much and I just can't deal with that. So I am doing a light, a light touch while I'm away. And this, this time I've had so many great, I guess it's like all coming together. I'm scheduled out a couple of marketing things that are coming up. So I, all I really need to do is talk about those and I'm just really excited that it's all just gonna be easily planned out and ready to go. So yeah, that's really what's gonna happen while I'm out.
Marissa (28:40):
And then when I get back, I'm looking forward to kind of jumping in with both feet and getting again to talk to people. We'll have a, some Facebook lives, some webinars, some, yeah. And just really capitalize on the holiday, like momentum where people are, we're not really like hiding. We're not in like, but a lot of people retreat to their homes. They have like their little on, we have online games that involve cycling. I know it's super nerdy, but you do tell us about them. So it's, well, it's, it's a whole business. It's not my business. But people will retreat to indoors and they'll compete online on a couple of different platforms. One is called Zw, one is called Ruby, but it's virtual gaming. But you are actually riding a bike. And so that like momentum is happening in the fall and the winter 'cause it's bad weather. And so really capturing those folks of like, oh, I wanna, you know, do well in this race or I wanna compete in this series. So it's a really fun time. It's compressed into the winter but it's a great time to capitalize on again, more momentum and talk to more people. So I'm just really looking forward to that.
Anna (29:47):
That sounds amazing. Such a cool world. Okay, I have two selfish questions I just am curious to ask. First is, you know, I went to Ireland this year and I haven't done like a lot of international travel, but one thing that most surprised me was like just seeing some things that my brain had never seen before, right? Like, I'd never seen, like in Ireland they have like the ocean by the mountains, by, or like by the cliffs, by the gr. Like, they're just things that like blew my mind, like in cycling. Has there been any, like what are some of the moments or memories or things you've seen that have just amazed you the most?
Marissa (30:22):
Oh my goodness. Well, let's see. I'm thinking in travels and cycling for sure, like riding through the Italian countryside of just like, I see this on postcards and now I'm like in it like that moment, you know, where you're like, I don't know, it's, I think you, you see things that are advertised or like the ideal and then all of a sudden you're like, I'm in it with some random, you know, I have to tell the story. So we were in Italy for my 40th birthday years ago, and we just happened to be at, so I had some friends who were racing at the World Championships, which were in Austria, which is part of where we were. We were there on purpose. And I met a friend who was like, he wasn't a friend at the time, he was a another American, but he was like another person speaking English, watching this thing.
Marissa (31:10):
So he was older, really into cycling. And my husband and I were standing there. And so we, of course I have the gifted gab. So we started chatting and he was like, oh, well I actually live in Florence. And I was like, we're gonna be there in two days. And so he arranged 'cause of course, 'cause of course he did, he arranged to like, show us around, take us on rides. And of course he knows all the people who like know all the things. So he knew the guy who owns the bike shop where we're renting the bikes. And we had just two, like, like if we had paid for these, it would've been like $500 days. You know, like he just was a friend. And so ironically, the first day my bike, something snapped on the bike. And so we took it back and he was like, mortified.
Marissa (31:49):
'Cause Anyway, he's like, well, let me land you my wife's bike. And I was like, no way. Like you're, no, I mean, like, shouldn't I ask her? He, she has a night. I mean they, they were of the much higher, you know, tax bracket than we were. So it was the type of bike that I got to borrow that was the type of bike where people on the street stop you to ask you about your bike. Like, it was that weird. Ah, I was like, it's not my bike. I don't know. So we just had these amazing experiences. So my point is like, we traveled, we went to this like fairytale land for cycling and wine and trees and hills and it was just phenomenal. So it kind of blew my mind, you know, just how travel and cycling and the earth, you know, like Tuscany, I mean, what can you say?
Marissa (32:29):
But yes, and another one I would say isn't the indoor, the first time I ever got certified on an indoor track, if you've ever had the pleasure of being on an indoor velodrome for regular people, you're just gonna be like, what? Like, so if you stand at the top of the track and the bottom of the track, the difference is like almost two stories. So if you're on the bottom, there's people racing above you. I mean, almost like 20, you know, 20 feet above you. So it takes a bit of nerve to like figure out how fast you have to go to stay on the track. 'cause If you go too slow, you're gonna slide right off like, oh my pounds, right? So there, it's a, it's a blowing your mind in a different sort of way. Like there's a lot of physics and gravity and you're on one gear with no brake.
Marissa (33:13):
So like if somebody's running into you, what do you do? Right? So there's a lot of yeah. So when you're stopped at the bottom as you finish your certification there, they'll take you to where it's steepest and you are literally standing there like it's straight up and down and take a picture of you like standing there. And so you're like, this is crazy. It's a 45, 46 degrees. So you can imagine a hill at like 46 degrees. It's insane. Like there are no hills that's well, maybe a cliff. Yeah. So it's kind of that like, whoa, this is crazy death, not death defying, but like gravity defying. And when you're racing on it at, you know, 30 miles an hour or more, you feel that centrifugal force like you would at the state fair in those fun in those like rollercoaster things. Like you feel that like, whew, <laugh> the pit of my stomach. I'm going fast. So it's yeah, it's a super fun, completely two different things, but both cycling related. Yeah, they take you, takes you all over the world if you want to.
Anna (34:11):
So amazing. If you'd like, you can send me a picture or two of those and we can put it in the blog post too. Yeah, totally. Because I'm sure like people listening are like, oh my goodness, like what is that? Right?
Marissa (34:23):
Yeah, yeah, totally. And you can see via like if you are interested in the, the velo drum part, you can see those like from the Olympics this past year there was some incredible racing. Yeah,
Anna (34:33):
Super fun. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Okay. I could talk to you all day. Okay, other question. Okay, one more question. It's a selfish question. Yeah. So I don't know if you know this, but you were actually one of my first people to come. I really only started experimenting with Facebook ads this year as a way to like dump fuel on the fire of what I do. Right? And you're one of the first few people to come through Facebook ads. And it was actually the biggest wink from God, the universe, because I was so nervous about like, like for some reason it felt like cold strangers coming in, but you coming in was just like God being like, look at this little gem of a passionate human that came through Facebook ads, Anna, everything's fine. Like calm down. Right? Yeah. And so, and I realized the cool thing about, you know, I click on Facebook ads as a consumer all the time.
Anna (35:17):
I have bought things through Facebook ads. And so it's just such a weird mindset thing for me that I overcame this year. But what I noticed, what's cool, and not to like villainize people that come through organic marketing either, obviously it's mostly what I do, but what I notice about Facebook ad purchasers is they're just action taking women. Like they're just women that see something, have a lot of intuition and self and are willing to buy. And here I'd been like, villainizing this thing. And maybe just for someone that is listening and maybe is thinking about you, you also run Facebook ads in your business, but like is thinking about running Facebook ads, but is nervous about the type of people they'll attract through Facebook ads. Maybe just share what you've experienced having women come through, and also in your eyes as a buyer when you clicked on my thing, just, I don't know, just any insights there.
Marissa (36:04):
Yeah. Well for me as a buyer, I clicked on it and I was like clearly in, you know, emotionally and like struggling business wise and the low point. So I was like a person who had a problem and needed it solved. And I was like the way that you had positioned, I think like to watch the, because it was a short video and it was like five things. I was just like, oh, what could hurt? You know, I'll watch it. I was like a random Wednesday morning or something. And it was super compelling, you know, so I, but yes, I was definitely that, and I am an action taker for sure. We already know that. But I'm also somebody who you know, was like, I have this need or this discomfort and I need to get out of it. So absolutely. Yeah, we are definitely action taking action takers.
Marissa (36:45):
And then as the business owner side kind of the same thing. I was running originally ads to like my masterclasses or webinars because it was covid time and everybody was home. And webinars and masterclasses were just like blowing up, but nobody was doing them for women over 40 and cycling like at all. I, they really still aren't. So I was taking what I saw in the online space and applying it to cycling and coaching, and it was such a breath of fresh air. Like, you're talking to me, nobody talks to us, you know, we're invisible. And so it did a, I would say when I'm, I, I mean it brought hundreds of women to these I think I served like 1500 women in my first year just on live masterclasses. So anytime that I would put in, you know, a couple hundred dollars to Facebook ads, I could bring in another new client who was ready to take action, is ready to learn.
Marissa (37:39):
And then of course I learned through tons of trial and error of like what style of athlete that I wanted to work with and, you know, just kind of kept refining it. So I've only really known Facebook ads. I never, I didn't have enough of a big audience that organic reach would've worked, right? Yes, it would've, it would've just taken me way too long to make any money, I guess is what I'm saying. Yes. So but what was great was the business group I was in a millions of years ago, was that six years ago, five years ago, I met a really great Facebook ads. Like that's all she did was she had been a teacher and then she was running her family's Facebook ads for her family's business and then was like this cha-ching. Like she's teaching people Facebook ads in a super digestible way, very similar to how you teach on Get and Coach.
Marissa (38:23):
And I was like hooked. So I worked with her in her very succinct program and just felt really confident that I could start and then trial and error and like, I'm sure my ads could be better. I'm sure I could get better, you know, links, whatever. But it's working enough to like, I was making a business out of it. And so I've never known the other way, right. And I was always bringing in, it was easy because there were just, nobody was talking to us. So there were so many women just clicking and signing up, clicking and signing up and I loved meeting them. So yeah, I'm still doing it. I think masterclasses just people went back to work and we're all just tired of being online that much. So I really, really love podcasting myself. And so I went in on learning how to do a private podcast, which is just another way of doing a masterclass. You're talking to people, you know? Yeah. They get to tell you. So that's where my ads go now. Yeah.
Anna (39:17):
Which, speaking of which, if people wanna listen to your private podcast Yeah. Tell us about your private podcast if people wanna work with you, your Instagram, all the things. Yes.
Marissa (39:28):
Well, you can absolutely sign up for my free private podcast. It's well I'll leave the link below, but it's action fitness and coaching.com/podcast. And it's really for women over 40 who are struggling to get faster or to get stronger. And you know, most people have a goal like you're trying to ride towards. So an event, like, I'm going on a trip to Italy and I wanna not be the slowest, right? Or I wanna go climb. What was the one, oh, I had a client who rode from Paris to Istanbul this year. Like she just wanted to do it the big life bucket list trip, right? I mean, my clients are inspiring me every day, inspiring me every day. Another client did this amazing trip through the Canadian and Washington Mountains this summer. So bike packing day after day, or just doing a hundred mile gravel race, just, I should say it just, that's very far, but a hundred mile gravel race, right? So <laugh> just a hundred,
Anna (40:21):
Everyone listening is like, oh yeah, just a hundred mile gravel race.
Marissa (40:26):
It's very hard. It's very hard. But most people would rock up and be like, I don't know how to train for this. Right? So that's why I exist, that's why I'm here. But what you're gonna find on the internet in general is just based on science that's been like done on men. And we are finding every day that, especially women in perimenopause and then after menopause, we cannot train that way. It just doesn't work. You end up sick, injured, and tired, and then you give up. So I'm here to be like, you don't have to give up. But anyways, that's what my podcast is about, is like, stop doing this, start doing that, and you're gonna get benefits, right? So if you literally take what I talk about and start implementing it, then you're gonna see some success right away, because that's what I want.
Marissa (41:06):
I wanna help you out. But I do know the implementation is the hardest for most people. And so that's why I work with you. So if you like start off in the podcast, we have an immediate, like most of the question is how do I give, like how does this work? How do I do like strength training and cycling and recovery and you know, all the things. And I was like, here is a simple template you can follow, you know, download it. So people will start that, and that's how I get to know you. I find that you download it, I reach out. But I also have people who my last favorite story about Facebook ads kind of like was me, my client ko. She was sitting on a plane, like going somewhere, saw my Facebook ad. She's like, don't you know, you can't turn, you can't turn out turn off all the things like, I have to download this podcast before I can turn off my phone.
Marissa (41:54):
So she listened to it while she was on the plane and then like the, when she landed, she emailed me and was like, I heard your podcast sign me up. And we started working like the next week together as a, as a coaching client because she was doing the Tour de France week three, which is the hardest week <laugh> this year. So she, yeah, listened, signed up, we got her there, she had a great time, and we're now still working together. So Facebook ads were just so easy for me to reach the people I need to reach. Yeah. And that's how you can work together. One-On-One also cycling success system. We're having a big I wanna say like webinar coming up where we're gonna talk about it after I get back. So that's my group program. So you get kind of, it's a hybrid, you get coaching with me, but also you get to be part of this really cool group of women who are all doing, I call 'em big, hairy, audacious cycling goals together. And that's just my most favorite part is seeing everybody like doing the work, trusting that it's gonna work, and then actually going to the event and being blown away. So yeah, I'm a big fan. I love it. I'm very excited. But that's how podcast is probably where you would wanna start. <Laugh>,
Anna (43:03):
I I will make sure we put all the links in the show notes to all of this. Marissa, thank you so much for being here, for your work in cycling, for your work. I think too, just in advocating for women and for, you know, I just think you, you're a humanitarian. Like you really care about humans and equality and all things good in the world. Any parting words before we
Marissa (43:25):
Go? Oh gosh, I didn't think about parting words. No. Get out, get some, get some movement in your day. <Laugh>. That's, yeah, I love it. I've been starting to say like, let's hit the ground rolling instead of running. Right. I love like,
Anna (43:39):
Just, and you are also the queen at like, you are really savvy and funny and witty too.
Marissa (43:45):
<Laugh>. Thanks, <laugh> working on it.
Anna (43:48):
Thank you so much for being here.
Marissa (43:50):
Thank you. It's been a pleasure.
Anna (43:55):
Thanks for hanging out today. Please hit that subscribe button so you can make sure to stay updated anytime a new episode drops. And I would love for you to join me in my free Facebook community. It's called The Heart-Centered Entrepreneur. We discuss the podcast episodes. I regularly go live and do free trainings, and you may even meet your newest biz bestie, so you can join at https://www.heartcenteredentrepreneur.com/community. It's absolutely free, and I cannot wait to see you in there.
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