Yong Pratt 0:00
You're listening to Episode 303 of the Amplify Your Awesome™ podcast. Today you're going to hear the full length episode from Todd Ross. Now we first met Todd on episode one of the season five launch just last week, and he shared his little tip on how to Amplify Your Awesome™. If you missed that episode, definitely head back and listen to that. It's episode number 295. Now today, in this full length episode, you're going to hear the story of how Todd went from Marine Corps, to corporate to entrepreneur, and how he is now helping people leave corporate to create businesses of their dreams. Is that exciting or what? I cannot wait for you to hear this episode. So without further ado, here is Todd Ross.

Have you ever felt like there was something missing in your business, something holding you back from the success that you're seeking? If so, you are not alone? For nearly 20 years, that's exactly how I felt as a business owner. It wasn't until I discovered Human Design, that it all became clear. And it turns out that I was the missing piece in my own business. joining me on this journey of discovering the real me and hear stories from other business owners building businesses around all of their awesomeness. I'm Yong Pratt, and it's time my friend to Amplify Your Awesome™.

Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Amplify Your Awesome™ Podcast. I am so excited for you to be here today because today's guest is going to knock your socks off. Now this is somebody that I knew actually in a former life. When I was still running my performing arts school, he and his beautiful family came to the school and I got to teach his lovely daughters. And here we are, we've connected lots of years later. And he now is an entrepreneur and doing amazing things in the world. Todd Ross is our guest today. He has been working in the IT industry for over two decades now. He started his business in April of 2019. And I'm so excited to dive in and have a conversation. Welcome to the show, Todd.

Todd Ross 2:19
Oh my gosh, thank you so much. That was quite an intro. I love it. I'm like, I'm like all flushed in the face now.

Yong Pratt 2:26
You're very welcome. And, and so deserved. And I just want to say it's it's so interesting how the internet has made it possible for us to reconnect, because we had lost touch for a number of years. And literally within the past couple months. You know, we saw each other in a mutual Facebook group. And we've connected and now I get to have you on this podcast, how fun.

Todd Ross 2:46
I know that is incredible. You know, it's so funny how, how people reconnect after just going through. You know, we went through the same program together, which was like life changing. And then all of a sudden, now we're reconnecting and we, I mean, you, you've helped my kids grow up, which is awesome. I just thank you so much.

Yong Pratt 3:08
Oh, my pleasure. And I am so excited for our conversation today. Because you've literally gone from corporate employee for multiple decades to now shifting into running your own business. Can you take us through and walk us through the decision making process of how you decided to go from leaving your corporate job to being an entrepreneur full time?

Todd Ross 3:28
Well, you know, it's been several years that I have wanted to become an entrepreneur. And at one time, I did I started my own business. I, I got an I got involved with a friend of mine that I was in high school with. And we we started up our own business together. This was actually before right before I moved to Nevada to see you guys. And but it didn't, it just didn't. It didn't take. It wasn't what I was looking for in a business. So we ended up going our separate ways. Then we moved to Nevada. Last year is when I finally took this step again to say okay, I have got to get right back into this because I had a 10 year plan. And my 10 year plan did not include working for a corporation any longer. So I took the steps that I needed to, to to make sure that my plan was realized. And actually I did it a year ahead of time, a year ahead of schedule. It was it was very, very scary for me. But I felt that this was where my calling was

Yong Pratt 4:35
So much goodness in that and I think a lot of people who are listening who are business owners are thinking, Oh yeah, I had those feelings. I was really scared. So Todd, when you were at the moment when you were just really scared and you weren't sure what was going to happen with this new business you're doing now? How did you overcome that feeling of fear and just take that next step.

Todd Ross 4:58
It was really self-education. I knew that I that I had a calling. I knew that I didn't want to stay in the corporate life for the rest of my life, because I just knew that, that I wasn't going to be happy. I was I needed to serve people. I needed to be in a capacity where I wasn't seeing someone else's dream come true. I was realizing my own dream. And that took that took a lot of you've heard the term, right? If you want to take the island, you got to burn the boats. Yeah, well, for a long time, I didn't burn the boats. And I and I tried to take the island several times. And I failed because I always had a way to come back. Because I didn't burn the boats. So that analogy was really, really important to me. And then I remember Tony Robbins saying something about, you know, the word fear, mm hmm, F-E-A-R: f everything and run, right. And so I thought, No, I'm not going to be that guy. I've got to burn the boats, I've got to take the island, I've got to give up that fear. Because if I didn't, I knew I would never get any further in life. And I would just, I would still be right back where I was.

Yong Pratt 6:08
And that idea of burning a boat is so scary. And I know, for a lot of years, I did the same thing to where I would have a plan B. I had a business. And you know, it was going well and was thriving, but it wasn't fulfilling me 100% . Like I love parts of it but there were other parts. I was like, I just don't know, I don't know, I don't like this part as much. And so the idea of burning the boats. I know, for everyone listening, if you've ever done that, and that moment, when you realize you know what, screw it, I'm just going to do it my way, I'm going to make this happen, and nothing can stop me. And I think it's that moment of realization for so many people that get them over the edge and say, Yep, today is the day, I'm going to start building the business, I have no idea what it's gonna look like. But today is the day because I've made that choice.

Todd Ross 6:56
Oh, yeah. And it really comes back to you know, having faith in yourself. Feeling that confidence in yourself that you know that you can do it. If you have a job, what's the difference between having a job and doing all of those things every day? Or having your own business where now you get to control what you do. You get to serve people at the highest possible opportunity you get to you get to take something and create something that you feel inside of you. For me, I had to do that I just I couldn't keep realizing someone else's dream. And I use this phrase quite often. And you'll probably hear me say it a lot. a paycheck is a bribe that corporations give to their employees to help them forget their dreams. And so I yeah, and I was like no way.

Yong Pratt 7:49
That is so powerful. And I've never heard that particular phrase, but hearing you say it, I mean, I'm getting goosebumps thinking, that is so true. So true.

Todd Ross 8:01
And I certainly don't want to, you know, put down corporations. Everybody has a calling. Everybody knows where they're supposed to be in the life that they're in. Corporations have a purpose. They just didn't have the purpose that I was looking for. For my own life. There are many people that are happy in their jobs. They're, you know, they're they're doing okay. However, the vast majority aren't, the vast majority don't enjoy doing what they're doing. They don't wake up with purpose every morning. They don't, they don't go to work thinking oh my gosh, I get to go to work today. That just doesn't happen. Being an entrepreneur, when I get up in the morning, I have purpose. I wake up excited, ready to go. I don't even like going to bed at night. Because I don't you know, I've got so much stuff going through my head that I'm thinking okay, tomorrow, I'm gonna create this tomorrow, I'm gonna create that. And when I was working at a job, I didn't have that passion. I didn't have that that feeling of waking up with purpose every morning. Yeah, I got to go and hang out with my buddies. And I got to go there and be you know, micromanaged by my boss. But it's for some people. That's okay. They got to have that. For me. It just that wasn't what I was looking for.

Yong Pratt 9:19
Yeah, and I think so many people can relate, because there are probably some listeners out there right now who are still doing the corporate thing. And that's totally fine. Keep doing that. But if there's something in your heart that is calling to you and pulling you in a direction that is different than you're doing now. It's okay to do that. We just need to give ourselves permission because I think we wait for permission for so many things, because that's how we were raised permission to go to the bathroom permission to work with a friend permission to do this permission to do that. So when it comes to being our own bosses and running our businesses, we are sometimes waiting a little bit too long for someone else to give us permission. So if you're listening and that is you, permission is granted. You can grant your own permission to go out there and create the life you want to live the life you want. And if that includes building a business, you definitely want to connect with Todd because he is helping entrepreneurs do just this. Now, Todd, can you share with everyone what it is you're doing now and how you're serving the world?

Todd Ross 10:18
Oh, absolutely. And this is, this is like my favorite part. I love doing this, because I just love helping people. Right now I've got three programs, I've got a high performance coaching for businesses that are already established. And they just need that extra help to get them kind of over that hump to help them move the needle in their business. The other one is masterminds. I do masterminds now, I had started doing them last year. But now I do them in a more structured capacity, where I bring groups of 10 to 12 people together that have businesses that are like minded, that have similar businesses that have similar challenges. And they get to get in a room together every quarter and talk about the challenges that they're dealing with. And then share their experience. Having all that spirit that that experience in the same room is priceless.

You know, as well, as I know, because we both went through that program, the mastermind program is that masterminds are the quickest way to move a needle in a business, because you have all that experience.

The third is a new product that I'm getting ready to launch called the 30-Day Entrepreneur. It takes you from day one to day 30, building clarity, understanding what your superpower is, knowing who your ideal customer is, and then building your website, your funnel, everything that you would need to do a successful launch in 30 days and be making money. I came up with this one because I was I spent so many years in the corporate world that I that I needed to find a way to reach people that want to step into entrepreneurship, but they're just too afraid, or they're not sure how to do it. So I provide the blueprint for people to be able to do that without leaving their jobs right away. They just spend, you know, one to two hours of time per day, on their business. And by the end of the 30 days, they've got a product launched. They've got people in their pipeline, they they're building their email list, they're building their customer list. And they can in that 30 days step away from the job if they really wanted to.

Yong Pratt 12:30
Holy smokes! 30 days to becoming an entrepreneur. I so wished that I had your program, Todd, years ago when I was first jumping into entrepreneurship. Because, you know, I loved dancing, and I love teaching dance. And that's what I loved to do. But the business part was really hard for me because I didn't have anyone to model that. So it took me a long time to find some mentors to help me in that process. But here you are now, helping people go from zero to entrepreneur in 30 days, and you know that I love the quick wins and the fast results. So 30 days to start this business. So as you're listening, that's definitely something you may want to consider. If you've been thinking about the idea of entrepreneurship, or you have a business, maybe you're not getting the results you want, you know, this could be a step in the right direction to help you getting there. Now, Todd, earlier you said when you started your business before, it wasn't the right business? How did you know the business you're building now was the right one for you.

Todd Ross 13:30
When I first started out, I was worried because I was a real estate agent. I got my license to help support my wife. And so I thought, you know what, I've got a huge group of real estate agents that I can reach out to. And that was more of kind of a necessity, like a market necessity than it was where my actual true desire was. I had to refocus. I had to pivot on that earlier this year at the very beginning of this year and start thinking about Okay, what truly makes me happy? What do I want to do? Who do I want to serve? And what it really came down to was I spent so many years in the corporate environment, unhappy? How can I reach those people? How can I help those people and that's when I came up with the 30 Entrepreneur program. And I think, you know, Yong, you would agree with me that starting a business, you can do that in five minutes. Anybody can start a business in five minutes. It's being able to sustain it, and continuously build on it and innovate and, and you know, create, that's the part that takes time and effort. And if you want to create something you love, you have to spend the time and the effort on it.

Yong Pratt 14:41
I 100% agree with that. I would have to say, you know, finding someone to help you though, is really an important step in the process as well. And for years, I resisted getting help because, you know, I just thought I could do it. I was supposed to do it myself and it was supposed to be hard and I didn't know business could look different until I started finding mentors. And just listening to them and learning what they had to say. And, you know, having some sort of blueprint or a place to ask questions was such a huge opportunity for me to learn and to grow, and did everything that I was presented in those relationships work out for me 100% No, I can say honestly that, you know, nothing will work out 100%. But as long as you take something, you internalize it, you make it yours, you make it a program or offering that is completely aligned with who you are and who you want to serve. Plus, you get that help. I think that's when the magic really starts to begin.

Todd Ross 15:40
Yeah, absolutely. We all have to have coaches, whether it's a fitness coach to help you, you know, get your meet your fitness goals, whether it's a business coach to help you move the needle in your business, a life coach, we tend to like step into things, thinking that we can do it alone, and not getting that help or that or that support. I have a business coach. I have a life coach. I have a fitness coach. My business coach has a business coach. My fitness coach has a fitness coach. My life coach has a life coach, it's the natural progression of being able to learn from the experience from somebody that can give you the guidance, and the blueprint and the motivation, help you move that needle in your life. And that's really what it's all about. It's not just business, it's life is all encompassing, right life, his life is what we do on a day to day basis, and what we're going to look like one year from now, and what we look like one year ago, and what we can tell ourselves, to help keep us motivated to keep that to keep that joy to keep that, you know, just, I don't even know how to explain it really, it's just it's a feeling of I want to be better than the person I was yesterday, today. And I want to be better than the person I was today, tomorrow. And that's really the power of coaching. And I just you can't get away from it.

Yong Pratt 17:06
Absolutely, those incremental small changes are what actually builds the momentum. Everyone thinks that we just need to do these big things all the time to move the needle. But literally, when it's when it comes to your business, it's those little small steps that even in the moment might not seem significant. But over time, they do add up. And that's where the momentum starts to build. That's where the excitement builds. And having someone there to cheer you on along the way is definitely part of that. And, Todd, you said earlier that, you know, your life and your business are kind of all one they're all intermingled. And if there's anything that I've learned in the past 20 years of being an entrepreneur is that for years, I tried to separate my personal life from my business life because I didn't want people to know things about me, I wanted to be a little bit sheltered and hidden. And it was ended up being such a disaster in the end, because when I started to reassert myself and want to do things a little bit differently, and let my personality shine through, people literally did not know what to expect for like what is happening here. And because of that, you know, things happened in my brick and mortar business. I can look back now and they're huge lessons. So if you're listening, you know, take Todd's advice, for sure, make sure that your life is full. You're You're a multi faceted person. And business is just one of those facets. So let people in let them see the real you let them see all those different parts. Let them especially see the learning and the mess ups because people can relate to people who are like them, and everyone makes mistakes.

Todd Ross 18:39
Yep, absolutely. You had you had said it best about letting people in letting people understand who you are. That builds authenticity that builds your character. It shows who you are as a person with the message you want to get out to the world. So you aren't like dead on when it comes to that.

Yong Pratt 18:58
It's taken me a lot of years and a lot of failed attempts to get to the place where I can say that now. Yeah, letting people know the real you is the magic. Because even if you offer the same service, or the same product, as the person next to you, the fact that you're you and you've walked in your shoes and you have your experiences and you've learned the skills that you have inside of you already. That's what's going to differentiate you from everybody else. So don't let that stop you if you're offering the same things. Just know that if it comes from your heart and people are getting to get to know the real you. That's really the secret sauce.

Todd Ross 19:34
Yep, absolutely could not have said better.

Yong Pratt 19:38
So Todd, when you sit down to think about how do I want to connect with the right people, and you're creating content, whether that's a blog or videos, how do you sit down and create content that stays really true to your core values and what you believe in your business.

Todd Ross 19:57
And for me, it started with education, self education. And I'm not talking about like, you know, universities and that kind of stuff. I'm talking about going online, and seeing what other people are doing the messages that they're creating, and then creating my own message out to people. Whenever I get ready to launch a course, or I'm building something. If I'm creating something, I always reach out to my audience and say, What do you guys want to see? I can, I can create almost anything that you you know, that you'll be able to absorb. But what do you want to see, I want to know how to best serve you. And when I'm creating content, that's really how I do it, I listen to my, to my ideal customer, my market, I listen to the people around me that are providing positive impact. And I take that and I've created multiple documents, like I've got a social media calendar on, you know, things that you can do in your social media every single day of the year. Things you know, topics that you can talk about, I created a video go live calendar for mindset coaches and business coaches, just by finding out exactly what it is they want, and putting it now creating something with that.

Yong Pratt 21:12
So I appreciate that the first thing you said was to go out there, first of all, and look at what, what else is out there? What are people creating? Because I think, you know, for those of us raised in a traditional school system, the idea that you should never copy or never borrow anything else, like you have to have all these original thoughts. When you get out into the real world. I mean, I don't think like there's there's no such thing as an original thought it's all been done before. It's just the spin that we put on it. So I want to thank you for saying that. And then secondly, you said, listening to your audience. And I think so many people forget this part. Because we get so wrapped up in, I have to create content, I have to blog, I have to podcast, I have to make videos, and getting into that mindset of creation, and like always creating, but when we take a step back, and we just ask people a question, because people legitimately love to give you their feedback, we just have to be brave enough to ask for it even when it's scary.

Todd Ross 22:12
That's right. And, you know, what I create is things that people can use. How many times have you gone on Facebook? And you saw like an iPhone case or something like that, that? That seems like it's great. But then you get it. And it's absolute garbage? You know, those types of things? I just it I get, I don't know, maybe go off on a tangent. But they frustrate me because it's like, why can't we create things that people can actually use in their lives. And that's really where my heart is, I don't, I would not create something that I don't think people would want to use, or wouldn't you know, benefit from? I love being an entrepreneur and being able to do that, because I believe that the word entrepreneur has taken a whole new shape. And that is being authentic, and creating, creating good stuff that people can use. I have learned a lot from other influencers like Brendon Burchard, Tony Robbins, and Dean Gaziosi. And Jeff Walker, these guys, you know, they didn't have original thoughts, either. When when they started, they, they found somebody that could teach them, Hey, this is how you do this, this is how you do that. Here's the type of message, here's the authenticity you want to provide to your, you know, to your to your audience. And that's how we do that today we did today, we're just we're in a, we're in a positive mindset, at least I am. I'm in a positive mindset, where I just want to produce and create things that encourage people to be positive. So hope that really I kind of did that roundabout way of explaining kind of where I'm coming from. But I just want to say, wow, you know that we have such a great opportunity here. And I just, I'm so grateful and honored to be a part of it.

Yong Pratt 24:09
Yes. And I love that you summed up entrepreneurship. I mean, you have a great ideas, and you share it with people, you get their feedback and share it again. I mean, it can really be as simple as that. And I know, for some of you listening, you're probably thinking, Wait, but it has to be harder than that. And it really at its most core. That's what entrepreneurs do. We're finding something that's missing, and we're giving that out into the world. And we're giving with open hearts. And then the right people automatically say, hey, I need that thing. You know, they see these things that we're creating. And that's how you build a business. It's not as hard as it used to be for sure, because we have tools, literally at our fingertips, that we can make videos, we can create podcast episodes, we can pretty much do everything from the phone these days. So like you said, the opportunity that is available right now for every one listening. Doesn't matter your age, doesn't matter, your background doesn't matter what's happened to you in the past? What do you want to do in the future? And how can you take some action today and get started?

Todd Ross 25:12
And really, you know, entrepreneurship is all about finding a problem to solve. I mean, we've got almost what a billion people in the world, I'm sure there's a few problems we can find resolved.

Yong Pratt 25:23
Maybe just a few. Just a few,

Todd Ross 25:26
just a few.

Yong Pratt 25:28
All right, so Todd, how would you ensure that you're showing up every day as your most awesome self?

Todd Ross 25:36
Oh, ah, boy, this one is tough. Because there's, there's days where you don't want to show up, and there's days that you don't want to be your awesome self. So it takes, again, a breath, big, deep breath and, and realizing what the impact you're providing to the world. Energy is not something we get from food, I learned this, because every time I go and you know, like, take Thanksgiving dinner, for instance, you go eat Thanksgiving dinner, do you feel like you just want to take on the world? Heck, no, you want to go take a nap. So you know, energy is really, in the mind.

Our being our awesome self is all about mindset. If we can change our mindset, we can be awesome, at every moment of every day, and it becomes effortless. Because we've now taken on a mindset that we are going to create, we're going to lead we're going to be power. If we if we were to rely on all of the other crap around us, that's going on the world, the pandemic, the politics, the Trump versus Biden, the, you know, whatever it is, we will always be down. So we have to figure out a way. And that's through our minds. It's the only thing that we can change in this world. We can't change everything else outside of we can't change our kids can't change our spouse, we can't change what's going on in Washington, we can influence. But we cannot change that stuff. We have to change our mindset. And that's really where it starts.

You want to be your awesome self, change your mindset, you and then commit to take massive action. That's what Tony Robbins always says to take massive action show up every single day. And I'm not perfect when it comes to that. As a matter of fact, I missed going live yesterday, even I told my audience I was going to be live. I missed going live yesterday because I had some other things come up. But I should have showed up. And I didn't. And so that's it's hard. And I don't always, I don't always do it. But I can tell you that I know that I'm in charge of my mindset, I know that I'm in charge of my energy, I know that I'm in charge of my motivation, and how I serve people. And that's so

Yong Pratt 27:57
Well said yes. So well said Sorry. I didn't mean to jump on you there. I'm just so excited. I'm fired up. Because, yes, yes, the only thing you have control over is your mindset, and you taking action towards whatever it is that you want to create. So well said, Todd, thank you for that. So Todd, before we wrap up, I want to make sure that listeners can connect with you find out what you're offering, because you have so much knowledge to share with the world. This 30 day entrepreneur program, you're offering cluster coaching, all the other things, I want to make sure they know where to find you.

Oh, absolutely. My email, not my email, my web address is www dot ToddVRoss.com Todd V Ross dot com. I made it very simple. I wanted to I wanted to make it very simple for people.

Awesome. Well thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge. I know that we'll connect again because now that we're re-connected I feel like there's so much we can do together because when we're all moving in the same direction, the momentum that gets build up is so much greater. So as you're listening to this podcast, go connect with Todd. Find out what he's offering in the world. Or find someone out there that can help you get to that next level. Todd is really, really good at mindset so connect with him. Todd, thank you so much for being here.

Todd Ross 29:24
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you so much.

Yong Pratt 29:28
And thank you to everyone who is listening. This is the Amplify Your Awesome™ podcast. I'm your host, Yong Pratt, and I look forward to catching you on the next episode.

So what do you think? Did you take as many notes as I did during the episode? I know I learned so much from Todd In this episode, the way he views the world, the way he sees mindset, how he's helping other people overcome mindset issues, and how he's doing that to help them really build these amazing businesses and helping a lot of people leave quit Corporate, which in this day and age is really sort of a trend that's happening right since the beginning of this pandemic. So much has shifted. So he's out there now helping other people leave corporate and plan for these businesses that they're going to love that light them up. And that gives them purpose to wake up every morning. So I want you to stick around and make sure you hit that subscribe button because next week, we're going to hear the full length episode from Wendy Guth. Now, if you remember, Wendy went from corporate meeting planner to becoming a transformational travel coach. Now if the idea of transformational travel sounds as appealing to you, as it does to me, make sure you stay tuned because that is coming your way next week. Thank you for listening today, and I will catch you next time. Cheers.

Thanks for tuning in to the Amplify Your Awesome™ podcast. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss any tips, tricks or secrets on building a business based around your awesome. Hey, and while you're there. Leave us a rating and review. Let us know what you think of the show. And until next time, my friends, go out there today and Amplify Your Awesome™