234 | Mind. Body. Money. Becoming the Best Version of You with Eszylfie Taylor
Image of financial wellness advocate Eszylfie Taylor, a black man sitting on a grey step next to green bushes.
Our guest this week on the pod is Eszylfie Taylbor. Eszylfie is President of Taylor Insurance & Financial Services and previously was the top producing agent/advisor in the African American market within New York Life. His new venture is Mind. Body. Money. - a docuseries and app focused on fitness and financial well-being.
Resources mentioned in this episode are:
Interview on Financial Wellness with Mind. Body. Money. Founder Eszylfie Taylor
NOTE: While it’s not perfect, we offer this transcription by Otter.ai for those who are hearing impaired or who don’t find listening to a podcast enjoyable or possible.
SPEAKERS
Paul Zelizer, Eszylfie Taylor
Paul Zelizer 00:01
Hi, this is Paul Zelizer, and welcome to another episode of the Awarepreneurs podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious business, social impact, and awareness practices. Each episode, I do a deep dive interview with a thought leader in this intersection. Someone who has market tested experience that is already transforming many thought. Before I introduce our topic, and our guest today, I have one request. If you could go over to Apple podcasts or whatever app you're listening to the show on, hit the subscribe button, do a rating and review it helps tremendously. Thanks so much for considering it. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to Eszylfie Taylor. And our topic is Mind. Body. Money. Becoming the Best Version of You. The Eszylfie is the president of tailor insurance and financial services, and previously was the top producing agent advisor in the African American market within New York Life. His new venture is Mind. Body. Money., a docuseries and app focused on fitness and financial wellness. Eszylfie, welcome to the show.
Eszylfie Taylor 01:07
And you're having me, Paul, appreciate it.
Paul Zelizer 01:09
We got a lot to talk about. You have been doing some awesome things for a very long time. So we better jump right into it.
Eszylfie Taylor 01:18
Let's go get Get your popcorn ready?
Paul Zelizer 01:19
Yeah! So we're called Awarepreneurs, Eszylfie and one of the ways we like to get to know somebody is to ask you about a wellness or some sort of resiliency practice that you use for this important work.
Eszylfie Taylor 01:33
One of the things I say a lot, you know, whether it's a yoga class I'm teaching or to my daughters is it you stay ready? You don't have to get ready. Right. So I pride myself in always, you know, being prepared and always, you know, pushing in and trying to be the best version of myself.
Paul Zelizer 01:52
Night. And you I know you do yoga, you do other things to help you, you know, mentally be there. And can you say anything about that?
Eszylfie Taylor 02:01
Yeah, I mean, I grew up, I grew up as an athlete, you know, 4 sport letterman played football, basketball, baseball ran track, I was actually just recently inducted into the Hall of Fame in my high school for athletics. So sports have always been a big part of my life. I think it's like, one of the things, you know, I say is like, how do you how do you create, you know, character? How do you develop grit without adversity? Right. And that's certainly what sports brought to me. Now, obviously, as I got older, you know, the days of running up and down the core with 20 Somethings, you know, were behind me was a father time is undefeated, right? So I found yoga as a way for me to continue to challenge myself continue to work out, but But you know, also not get hurt, and has really transformed yoga in my life, you know, as a student, you know, having just a great appreciation for the practice of yoga, mindfulness and balance, and then more. So even as, as a teacher, I took the plunge and started teaching yoga about five years ago. And just the ability to positively affect change in people's lives and inspire them and help guide them, do their own journeys was been just such a rewarding experience.
Paul Zelizer 03:14
You've been interested in this intersection of well-being in a physical and mental way and wellness on a financial basis, like that intersection has been something you've been passionate about for a very long time. We're gonna get into it and this new venture that's right at that intersection, but if you're going to give a little bit of the backstory about selfie Taylor's journey, and why financial wellness and holistic wellness, and like what your background that you bring to that conversation, what would you want somebody to know about that selfie?
Eszylfie Taylor 03:50
Yeah, I think, you know, for all the success and all the accolades, and all the awards I've received in my life, I always tell people from the jump, you know, I'm actually the biggest failure you've ever met in your life. Right? I've fallen down and stumbled and got lied to and stolen from and beat up. Yet I persist, right? Yeah, I have, you know, continue to get back up, brush myself off and come back stronger. And I think, you know, my, my goal, my, my, my desire in going through this and sharing my story and message with others is to serve as inspiration. I think a lot of people want to be better than wanting to live a more fulfilling life. They want to have a more impactful life, but they just, they just don't know what to do or how to do it. Right. And so if I can take my experiences or the relationships and things that I have gone through in my life and bring those to the table for the people that I interact with, and, you know, again, you still got to do the work. I just got to make it happen, but it's just it's just nice to know that hey, there's a There's someone out there that's been through what I've gone through or going through, or I want to be in, and they can help illuminate the path a path. For me, that's great.
Paul Zelizer 05:09
So you've been in this role of financial advisor and helping people with insurance needs for several decades now. And after several decades, and you still do that you own your own agency or your own company doing that work. And now you're saying, Okay, now it's time to do this other piece of work, which is around the theme of Mind Body money. Tell us about that, like on a top level, what is Mind Body money all about?
Eszylfie Taylor 05:39
Yeah, my body money is really a way of life. I think. You know, we were talking about it offline. A couple years ago, I was featured by LinkedIn, in a series of national television commercials. And their campaign was called in, it's like, what are you in it for? Right? And my commercial featured me as a as a father, right? Girl, Dad, I got three daughters, featured me as a business owner, as an advisor, and also as a yogi, right, as a practitioner and teacher of yoga. And that was really the impetus for Mind Body money, we need to master our lives, we need to achieve balance in that order. Mindset, right, those who think they can do something and those that do, they could not do something and both usually right? Our body health and wellness, you have to take care of yourself. My father always told me as a child, like, you know, we're giving one body one body, you got to take care of it. And then lastly, your money, you know, good stewardship of money and understanding that money is not the end all it is a tool, very powerful tool. And if used properly, you can affect major change in your life and in the lives of others. So this, this, this, this show, this docuseries that I created Mind, Body money chronicles my life, and in again, being a father and being a business owner, and being an athlete being a yogi, and and how I've transitioned and transformed my life in using these these principles and having balanced in these areas, and then more importantly, how I can inspire and give others the tool tools to live their best lives to to have fulfillment as well. And so every episode feature some entertainer, celebrity of some sort, all the way down to your common man and woman, in this journey, this pursuit, right, that we're all on, I've gone one step further and created an app as well, on the app store mine party money as well to give additional, you know, video, you know, tools and, you know, visuals and tutorials for people to delve in into those three areas, and consume at their leisure as well. So I'm super, super excited about it.
Paul Zelizer 07:52
One of the questions that I'm always interested in SLP is why now, like, as we're recording this, it's January 4, or something like early January 2022. And there's a lot going on in the World of Wellness and well being and people's mindset, what's going on financially, as we're recording this COVID. You know, the new variant is really creating disruption again, and people are tired of it, but we're thinking about our health are also in the middle of something called the Great resignation, where people are leaving their jobs I've just read November is the most Americans 4.5 plus million people in America left their job in November, like unprecedented rates, people are really shaking things up. This is just a time of a lot of change and uncertainty and just very large forces at work. So why this docuseries and this app focused on fitness and financial wellness - right here, right now.
Eszylfie Taylor 08:56
It's time, right though the world The world needs this. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why they call it the present. And in this present in this precious present in this moment right now, right? I think the world needs a shot of positivity, they need a shot of inspiration maybe to our roadmap or roadmap to success and this is why I think like you look at it for me being a man of color, right but also a businessman and a girl dad we don't see that celebrated in mainstream media today. And again, not that I'm the only one doing it, but our stories certainly aren't being told. But what I love most about this series is this isn't for black people. This isn't for white people isn't for Asians and Hispanics and, and Christians and Jews or or gay or straight doesn't really matter. This is something that we all need. We all are looking to. It should look and be looking rather to be better in life, your green and your brown. You're growing You are dying, you are getting better or you are getting worse. Right? And so I always every single day, I want to get better even if it's a millimeter, right? If I could just take one step forward or inspire up someone else to take one step forward. I think that, you know, I think that that's that's it. That's all we can do. And I think, I think I think we're sick of divisiveness. I think we're sick of, of the fighting. I think we're sick of the trash that we see in media today. And but where do we where to return? What's alternative? Right? It's it's Mind. Body. Money.
Paul Zelizer 10:32
So let's chunk it down a little bit. So the docuseries. First of all, like, let's say somebody isn't really familiar, like, we've all watched one or two, but like making a docuseries and doing it, not just getting it done, but like doing it well. And listeners, if you haven't kind of figured this out about a selfie, like he does a lot of things that he doesn't Wow, you can go check out what he's doing on LinkedIn, we'll put a link to the advising the tailor insurance and financial services part of what you do, you know, these campaigns that you're doing, you got a lot of things but one of the things as I was doing my research, I was just really impressed with the care and the quality you do things you're not just like throwing together a docuseries is my sense that so like if somebody wanted to understand what it takes to do a project like this well, what would you say to that?
Eszylfie Taylor 11:26
As in most things in my life, I'd say it takes a village, right? Like, you know, I own eight companies, I'm doing all these things and be like, Daddy selfie, like, Do you sleep? And I'm like, yeah, really well, like when I go like I'm, I'm done items. Awesome. It takes it takes a village, it takes a team. Right? Jay Paul Getty was the first recorded billionaire in United States history. He came up with a wealth building principle, Stated simply, I'd rather earn 1% effort from 100 people than 100% of my own. Right. So we get we get things done by pulling our efforts together, I say you want to go fast go alone, you want to go far go together. And and in order for me to go far in order to go around going Ryan want to go? It's it's, it's a group effort. And so I'm, I'm one where I'm a visionary, right? Like, I've got these ideas, these delusions of grandeur, if you will, right. If you asked me, you asked me what I'm doing every, I'll tell you every day the same thing I do every day piggy trying to take over the world. Right? Like, that's, that's, that's the same. It's just, I don't think that I've always been clear on exactly the path, right? Like, I know what I want to do I know how I want to make people feel, but how are you going to do it? How are you going to change the world and still feel like, Your guess is as good as mine, I feel blessed to be in a position now to have this vehicle to have this, this, this path, his show, to be able to do that. And so it all kind of started with a production company that that I was introduced to that kind of took my story, you know, and it's a funny, you know, funny when I met with the production team, and after, you know, about an hour or so the executive producers, like, if you really do all the things you say you do, like, this is really your life. We have a number one show and I'm like, well, it is so I guess I'm gonna show coming right? Because I you know, I am I am a financial advisor, I am a yogi, I am a girl that I am a business owner. I'm a real estate developer, like these are all the things that I that I've legitimately done right? And so the thing I think that America knows is we're sick of trashed you were sick of people being fake. And so it's authenticity that people want right? And I'm authentically this man. The Good The Bad, the Ugly is there and I'm not doing this show to be celebrated. I'm not doing this to like say Look how great I am or all the things I do. On the contrary, what I want people to take away from it is like wow, he's done all this in spite of all of these failures, right? Like, I become a millionaire last it became a millionaire last and then how to do it again, like, Third time's a charm. You know, you go you go through all these things in like, oh, you own your own company. Like yeah, that means I'm the first one there. I'm the last one to leave, right? Like if it's if it's payroll or groceries like payroll it is right like I've been I've been to the bottom I've been to the depths I you know, when people look at my level you got all this to how how lucky and I'm haha it's amazing how lucky you get when you work hard you know? And so I think I think aligning myself with people that know things and do things that I don't do that compliment the things that I do and work and work together for the greater good work work for that collective you know, collective goal. That's what I've done. That's been my, my secret and key to success.
Paul Zelizer 14:44
Nice. And in the series, like how many episodes and give us a sense, like what happens in an episode?
Eszylfie Taylor 14:50
Yeah, so it's 10 episodes is what I've what I've curated a 30 minute show. It's basically three act structures per episode. No 2 episodes are identical in the sense that every show I'm seeing some different person some, you know, athlete, some business owner, some professional, you know, I've got my girls in there, right? They're always up to something, you know, between, you know, school and dance and music and basketball and all the things they're into and then my life, right, you know, from, you know, running these companies and being a speaker and traveling the world. You know, I shot I shot in LA I shot in Santa Barbara, I shot in San Diego, I shot in Catalina, Vegas, Scottsdale, Boston, New York, Miami like it this is all right. You know, we're the last year of COVID. Right, pulling all this together. But um, yeah, I think it's a journey. It's a journey where I feel like, you can't help but listen to me, you can't help but watch this show and want to do something, right? Kids, you know, go open an IRA, go do push up something, you're like, I gotta do something like, I want to own a room. You know how to move forward? And I think I think if I can get that out of people, if I can get them thinking like, How can I be better? How can I do better? Right, then then then then I then I have one.
Paul Zelizer 16:13
Beautiful. And is it live? Now? Where can people watch it?
Eszylfie Taylor 16:17
So part of the part of the challenge in doing it the way I've done it, as I develop the whole thing myself, shot the whole thing myself. And so now I'm talking to networks about getting it out on on air, right. So it's a, you know, little little different from from your typical process, where you're typically going to do maybe a DAG, or sizzle reel or even a pilot, and then pitch that to a network and have them go out and build out, you know, build up the show pay for the show. I did it on my own, which is, you know, not the norm. But you know, my production team was really big on having ownership and having a say, a big say on what's being filmed. Because the last thing that I wanted to do, you know, I got approached by a different network, a big network at one point, which I won't name, but, you know, they're like, man, he's Sophie, you're great. You want to feature you, but can you yell at people you like, where's the drama? And I'm just like, yeah, that's, that's not my thing, man. Like, I want to inspire people to move, not by berating them or yelling at them, but by, you know, you know, encouraging that by pushing them by like, giving them a shot energy, right, like, That's odd. And so, you know, I think there's pros and cons of doing it both ways. I've heard a lot. I've heard a lot in this process, and probably do something different if I had to do it over again. But I do believe everything happens for a reason. And it's perfect timing. So I'm here in this day, and this time, exactly where I should be. Right, exactly where I should be talking to you, Paul. Right. This is the perfect moment. Right? Yeah. Right. And so and so I'm embracing it. I'm embracing this journey. And I again, this is maybe going back to the 22 year old is Sophie fresh out of college, bright eyed, bushy tailed knowing how to take over the world but not knowing exactly what it will look like. And 20 years later, I find myself in this spot again, I brought out bushy tailed, super excited about what the future holds. But I don't know in this moment exactly what it will look like but I'm confident that it will it will come together exactly as it's supposed.
Paul Zelizer 18:20
How cool that you made your own series. That's fabulous. So in addition to the series, and and best of luck, and if there's any way I can help, I'd certainly I mean doing this episode help amplify what you're up to you and listeners, if you know somebody in the world of you know, media and production companies, please connect them up with Eszylfie. Let's help this guy out. He's doing great things. In addition to the actual series, you've got this app by the same name, tell us about the app, why did you create it?
Eszylfie Taylor 18:54
Yeah, so I think the show was great. And you know, we get this, we get this, you know, glimpse into my life into the life of others and, and that's great, but I didn't want the message to be fleeting, I didn't want people to go that was entertaining and then go back to doing the same thing that I always do, right? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So if I really want to affect change, if I really want to impact people's lives, then I have to change the way they think I have to change the way they behave. And so I put together this app which is actually on the app store right now mind dot body dot money on the app store right now and and it's breaking broken into these three sections mind. So every section has a has a learning tool, and a practice tool. So you can learn about mind practice mind tips, learn about the body, do practice of the body tips, learn about money, practice financial wellness tips, and so you have everything from like mindfulness coaches to Yogi's to nutritionists, to financial advisors to attorneys to bankers to Realtors talking about those three areas and educating the viewer, right? So these videos are anywhere from maybe two to 10 minutes depending on on the content for you to consume. And, like, again, I think so many people want to be better, but don't know where to start. So I wanted to give them, give them that. And then one of the coolest tools in the app, I believe, is in the mind section, this affirmation app. Right? We when you asked me how I'm doing, you know, we first got introduced, I told you is the best day of my life, right? I'm just a big believer of manifestation, right? So I say that every day, best day of my life, that doesn't mean that everything goes my way doesn't mean that I get all the things that I want, but I manifesting positivity. So in this affirmation tool, you can either record your own affirmation and play it back throughout the day, you can actually we send along to it wake up to this affirmation, and or you can download an existing affirmation from one of my, you know, voice actors that has recorded you know, one thing got a few 100 affirmations that are on the site that you can also record, I feel like some people have a specific message, they want to record themselves and others might go, I hate the sound of my own voice. I want some malonic you know, Australian man was trying to my ear, right? Like, you have all those all those options.
Paul Zelizer 21:17
Nice. So let's do this. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, I want to hear more specifically about how you're working with people and what your intentions are for the app, etc, etc. Before we do that, just a quick break to hear from our sponsor. Do you have a business that's about making the world a better place, and you want it to grow both in terms of the number of people you help your impact, and your quality of life, your income? If so, I'd like to talk to you about some research. When we look at humans making change, and sticking with that change and actually getting the results that we want in any area of our life, whether it's from fitness to growing a business, scientists tell us the single biggest predictor of whether we're going to succeed or not something called social support. In other words, do we have people that understand the journey we're on and can share with us? The ups and the downs? Today was an awesome day. This was a hard day, here's something that might help you. How does this look etc, etc. Awarepreneurs has a membership community with fabulous social entrepreneurs around the world. And that's all we do with each other can share your latest sales page. Hey, can you take a look at this, somebody in the group today was getting some feedback on her podcast guest strategy to get her message out there to more people can talk about pricing. We do master classes every month, all with a group of several 100 generous impact oriented entrepreneurs who care about you care about your success and are there to help you find your next great step forward. If you'd like to learn more, you can go to a where printers.com forward slash community. And thank you, everybody in the Awarepreneurs Community who sponsors this podcast. So in the second part of the show, a selfie we'd like to kind of put on our more entrepreneur glasses and get a little more specific. So one of the questions I have for you is you have like you said eight different companies, you have this app, you have this Docu series, you're doing real estate, you're still running a very active insurance and financial services company. Talk to us a little bit like just how do you balance that? And how do you like dedicate energy and attention in terms of like, what gets your priority? And how do you make sure that you don't spread yourself too thin?
Eszylfie Taylor 23:45
Yeah, I will. Call this timeframe I'll call it BC and AC before COVID And after COVID. Before COVID I was a machine right like running crazy. I always tell people my office hours for eyes open I shot right from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to bed. I was doing something but the one thing I'll tell you, Paul is that I did everything exhausted. Right? I would wake up tired, who wakes up tired I would wake up tired because I was just always doing something right I taught I taught yoga exhausted. You know I took my girls to school exhausted I did client meetings exhausted I did. You know Did you know trips as exhausted. I just always exhausted I was just going going I gave myself no grace. Go go go go go go go if I can physically squeeze something in like I did it. And I think one of the things that COVID taught me and it was a force slowdown, right like in 2018 and 19. I had hip surgery. I came back from that three months later, I tore my Achilles tendon, and neither one of those stopped me right like I'm literally flying all across the world doing speaking engagements on the world. cheering crunches and like, still 2530 meetings a week you're like, you know, and I think ultimately, you know, everyone has their own faith. But for me, I think God was like, All right, you know, try to try to give you a subtle message. I'm just gonna shut down the whole world, right? Let's just gonna shut it down. Now. Now, now your emotional stuff, right? And, and, and I really had to take inventory of like, what was most important in my life? And what do I want my life to look like? And it's not about money. And it's not about title. And it's not about it's not about stuff possessions about impact. It's about helping people. It's about touching people. But how can I touch people? How can I help people, if I'm tired, if I can stand on my own two feet, and it's like the it's like the TSA and asked if we fly, if there's a job in cabin pressure, and the oxygen mask comes down, you got to put your mask on first, and then help the person next to you. And when I realized that, how can I be a blessing to others, if I'm just eternally tired, if I if my cup is empty, right. And so I feel like all the things that I do, and the life that I built, and the partnerships that I've created, and the people that I've employed, are all there to help me get to this next level, and serve a very specific role. And, you know, being the son of a West African immigrant, right, your hard work and, and that wasn't lost on me, right, my parents, you know, gave me a tremendous work ethic, but they didn't teach me how to work smarter, right, and just to work harder. And And now, I'm certainly trying to work smarter being be more efficient, with my time, really focus in on my highest and best use and delegate non income generating or non fulfilling acts to other people, right, so that I can spend, you know, my time in my highest and best use not only making more money, but again, you know, doing things that are aligned with my core values and interests.
Paul Zelizer 26:53
So appreciate you sharing that as well, because I think that's a pretty common story of entrepreneurs just like, work harder than anybody else. And you'll succeed, right? And, and it can really work. And I've been exhausted in that way. Like we, I'm not really being who I want to be with this client, or my family member or my friend, or, you know, anything I'm doing because it's a grind, grind, grind, grind, grind. So I really appreciate you naming that. And now with what you're calling after COVID, ac, right, like, help our listeners get a sense with these ventures, like his income coming in as revenue coming in, like equally distributed, the different ventures are doing bring in pretty similar or like some like way more than others?
Eszylfie Taylor 27:44
Sure, um, I wish, I wish all the income flows equally through all the companies, I would say, look, the lion's share of what I do, the revenue today is still from my finance company. It's my work with clients and doing insurance and Estate Planning and Investment Management, tax planning, that's probably 70% of the revenue. I think one of the reasons why I have all these other companies and things that I'm doing is that a true business runs in spite of you not because of you. And the challenge of being an advisor that I found is there's not a whole lot of scale, right? Like, I can only see so many people, I can only close so many deals. So like I look at a look at, you know, their clients or people like, let's say that I own parking lots here in LA, right? It'd be a multi millionaire, have you own parking lots in LA? And does that mean that you're smart? Does that mean you're a genius? Has that been your creative? Not really, right. $10 An hour don't announce because of the night. Right? And so I look at things like to things that have the most utility things that that solve a human need or problem. That's those are the things I want to be a part of, not necessarily that, you know, the most outlandish or most revolutionary thing, right? I think, six, you know, there's a common misnomer that the smartest people make the most money. And that's just not true. Right? There's a lot of really smart people that I've met in my life that make 50 grand a year, right? And there's a lot of people that scratch my head and I'm like this guy that's multi millionaire, right, because they did something that had utility. So the shift for me is, is doing businesses engaging in activities that run in spite of me again, not because of me, one of my biggest clients said it best he said, he said he sofa, you have created a perfect business, when you show up to work and have nothing to do that. In fact, when you try to do something, you mess it up. He goes then, right? Yeah, that's great. And so that's what I love. Like I partner in an ice cube company first black owned Nasha distributed Ice Cube called cream delicious that launched you know, last spring. We're in Walmart and Target and Kroger's all these places, right? And what I love about that company, you know where my name is on the labels, Paul, you know where my name is, and advertisements.
Paul Zelizer 29:54
nowhere, nowhere.
Eszylfie Taylor 29:57
Like, like it has nothing to do with it doesn't matter. How doesn't matter if I'm good looking or not? Doesn't matter if I'm charismatic or not doesn't matter if I'm inspirational or Not, not? Right. But what I do know is that ice cream last year did $32 billion. Right? And people are gonna want their ice cream, they're gonna want their flavors, whether he Sophie Taylor's faces on, on that box or not right. And so that's what I'm like, Wow. You know, and it's even going back to my body when he Why did I create the app? Right? My clients generally are the top 1% of income earners, right? That's my class. So not everyone is made to be my client. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't help everyone. If I wanted to, I just don't have the time, I don't have the bandwidth. So I created something, I created this app that's gonna allow me to touch millions of people that I probably will would have never met in person. Right? And I don't want to gouge anyone like the price points really low, right? Would you pay five bucks a month for tutorials and coaching from mindfulness leaders and health gurus and yoga teachers and attorneys and CPAs? Yeah, five bucks. Sure. So I'm able to keep the price point very low, so nobody's priced out, but affect change on a massive level. And that's where, you know, that's where I see the future going. That's where, you know, like, take someone like Jeff Bezos right, like, when's the last time he delivered a package? Right? It's not about him. It's about the machine that he built, and the scale that he built, and that's what I'm about. That's the next way. That's, that's where I would love to see my business enterprises going. And I would like my efforts, like what I do to represent a small fraction of the revenue that comes in, I want these businesses to run, you know, again, in spite of me not because
Paul Zelizer 31:43
so appreciate what you're sharing here, selfie. And let me just say, in my networks of social entrepreneurs, and people really looking for impact at scale, this conversation about how to do it wisely is one of the most robust conversations of any topic I can think of right now. And, you know, I, I'm in a pretty similar situation, as you are SLP, I still make the majority of my living working one on one with clients. And I love working with my clients. And I'm moving in the direction of scale with this podcast, and a membership community and other scale business model. But I still fully transparent make most of my living in this way that doesn't have a lot of scale. And I'm not stressed, I'm not. It's like just this is what is right now. Right. And I've watched people matter of fact, just launched a podcast episode this morning about what happens when people reach for scale and an unskilful way when they don't really yet fully understand the market. They're trying to help and the needs of the ideal client for that particular product or service. So you're somebody who's thought a lot about this selfie. And as you're thinking about scale, is there anything you can share to our social entrepreneur very impact oriented listeners about how do you do scale? Well?
Eszylfie Taylor 33:16
Yeah, I think, and again, different businesses have varying levels of scale, but I think it comes down to, ideally, again, does your business as your service cannot run in spite of your right, I think it was. It was Steve Jobs, who said, I don't hire smart people, to tell them what to do I how to hire smart people. So they tell me what to do. Right. So I think the one of the things in creating scale is, can I build a team? Can I build a system? can I provide a service that other people or other systems or technology can can facilitate doesn't have to be me? Right? And that's, that's it. So even in my financial tightening practices is very much, you know, service oriented, you know, business that does require human capital, right? Do I need to do all aspects of the business? No. So I even share with my clients, like my practice runs very much like a doctor's office. And what I mean by that is, what is the last time your doctor weighed you? Or took your blood pressure or booked your next appointment? How about never? Right? And so they've got the receptionist for certain things they've got their nurse for certainly, they've got their, their their, you know, medical system for other things, right. And so my practice runs the same way. How many hours a day do I actually need to spend with clients to build out a plan? I can make my talk my revenue targets for my practice to three hours a day of quiet interactions. But then why Sylvie do other advisors or 1012 hours a day? Well, because they're using a lot of their time and energy resources and non income generating activities. So the difference for me the reason I can have so many companies is that I don't do that. Right. Like if it doesn't make me money, like if it doesn't, if it's not there. alignment with me, I don't do it. Right. And so I think for my advice to the other, you know, entrepreneurs out there would be okay, what is your business? Right? What things are the business? What your highest and best use? What aspects of the business need to get done? And but more importantly, what, which of those things need to be done by you? And what can be given away? What can be delegated to someone else, right. And I think that's the key, that's where true scale comes in, right? The less of you that's required, the less of you that needs to touch it, then then the more scalable, you know, the more scalable your business is. And so I feel pretty blessed in the show you go, What are you talking about? You did this show? It requires you and it does, right, but But I get on national TV? Yes, it was a 30 minute shows 30 minutes of my time, but I just I just touched 3 million people. Right. So that's that scale to
Paul Zelizer 35:58
beautiful. I like to call it return on time invested. Like when you're talking about even what you're doing through financial services, like there's certain things that every business has. And sometimes we just get in the habit of doing it or doing it in a way that isn't particularly time effective if you don't think about it. But if you're in that business for 10 years, or 20 years or 30 years, and you multiply it out, is this really the best way to do this? Is there a more efficient way, I've gotten really skillful at finding certain AI applications to even help with the editing and sound production of this podcast, for instance, do it really affordable, just upload the sound and start balancing levels and changing things that is $6 a month? No. And a lot of my peers, you know, are just now finding it. I've been doing this for years. So anyway, there's simple things that you can be skillful with when it comes to return on time invested that get a lot of leverage. And then that frees you up to then think the next level of scale the next level of scale. So I'm hearing almost like an iterative approach, like building on the business you have making that efficient. And then looking at what might be calling you in terms of other scale ventures. Is that fair to say? A selfie? Something like that?
Eszylfie Taylor 37:21
Yeah. I mean, I encourage people, right, the road to walk a mile begins with a single step, right? And so it's like, you know, we want to do big things in which you should ride dream big, fail big, right? But But again, the elevator to success is broken, God take the stairs, right? You got to put one foot in front of the other and take these these these steps. And that's one of the things for me that my financial practices afforded me obviously money and some level of comfort and helped me build a lot of great relationships and get a lot of influence out there. That is that opened the door to other things for me, right. And so you know, I don't know that I could have, you know, just come out of college and like, I'm gonna create a reality series, right? Like I needed wife, right? I needed to live it, I needed to experience it, I needed to kick me in the face. Right? I needed you to have, you know, I needed to get married, I needed to get divorced, I needed to have children, I needed all these things that shaped me, right, that got me to this this place. And now, right, those young men, young women, and heck, people were older than me to right now I can serve as an inspiration to them. Not because it's lip service, not because it sounds good, but because I've lived it. Beautiful.
Paul Zelizer 38:35
So when you look at this World of Wellness in this holistic way, mind, body wellness, financial well being, what like you've been thinking about this for years. And as I said earlier, these are quite the changing times can we call it right? chaotic times? Like when you look ahead, knowing that certainly there's a lot of, you know, question marks this time of a lot of uncertainty, but you're somebody who's, you know, thoughtful and paying attention to trends. When you look ahead in this space, what do you see
Eszylfie Taylor 39:12
I wish I had a crystal ball, if I did, I'd be in Vegas, made a lot of bets. But I feel like, you know, I feel like there's a reckoning coming. Right? I think one of the things that, you know, we talk a lot, there's a lot of negative aspects about social media for sure. And it's consumed a lot of our lives, but at the same time, we'd have a tremendous amount of access to resources and new news and tools and and I think the world is smaller, right? The world is smaller because information and the transfer of information is so rapid, right? And we can find out things that are happening almost, you know, in an instant. And and I think I do think though, that is is you know, people have to learn to use, you know, use these tools use use technology to make our lives better and to bring people pulled together not to not to be divisive, right? Like this this world that we live in right now. I feel like what a massive dichotomy, right? Like, at no point have as many people have been quote unquote, woke if you will, and, and aware of transgressions and things, but at the same time, like, like, there's so much like, there's so much animosity and pent up emotion and feeling and hurt and heartache that people are holding on to, as well. Right. And so one of my favorite quotes that I've heard is if you don't take the time to heal yourself, you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you. Right? And, and we all have a lot of healing to do, we all have a lot of scars and damage and things, but it's like it we can move past this together and we can grow together, right sky is sky's the limit, right? And I think that's what it's gonna take. It's not any one man, any one woman, no one magic, you know, formula or pill that you're going to take is going to change. We all have to work together. And I think I think the future is bright, if we will, you know, if we will, if we will do that.
Paul Zelizer 41:06
Love that. Never heard that thing before that if we're not doing our work will bleed on people who didn't cut us. That's such a powerful image. Thank you for sharing that. So our listeners are mostly social entrepreneurs, folks who are already up and running. And folks are like the next generation. What would you want to say to somebody who's thinking about getting more and more scuffle about leveraging the impact of business forget. And, again, they might be up and running to a certain degree, but they're listening because they want to have more scale, or they're like the next generation. We have listeners, for instance, are very skillful in business, but the work they're currently doing isn't particularly having the impact that they want. They listen to this podcast to get ideas, how do I take this skill set that I have and use it for good and make a difference on the planet? That's what our listener that's a common theme. They are obsessed about making the world a better place and using business and entrepreneurship to do it. What would you want to say if we if we were like, in front of a room and there were 1000 social entrepreneurs in the room and they said a selfie? What can you teach us about leveraging the power of business for good and one of the most chaotic and complicated and beautiful times in recent human history? What would you want to say to that roomful of 1000? People?
Eszylfie Taylor 42:30
Yeah, I'd say, you know, we got the you got the three eyes, there's the three eyes, you have the innovator, their first to market their first to do something, right, they typically make the most money the biggest way, they also take the biggest risk by the billionaire, right? You've got the second eye, which is the imitator, right? They see the vision a little bit later, they weren't first market they, they saw someone else flushing stuff out, the well may follow suit may do well. And that's typically the multimillion, right? And then we've got the last guy, right, the last IV idiot, they came on too late, the trend has passed. Right? The ship has sailed. And you come on, you get in and you lose all your money. They're the one that files bankruptcy. Right. And, and, and I don't know that we all are billeter in position to be the first is to be the innovator. But we can all at least be the imitator. And what I mean by that is there are very few things that haven't been done. There are very few things that have not been accomplished, right? Or at least some iteration of it. So the one thing I would encourage any entrepreneur to do is find someone find the company, find the CEO, find the founder, whatever that is living the life and doing the things you want to do, and ask them, How do you do it? What are the things that you did? Well, more importantly, what are the things you did poorly? Right? What are the things you wish you never did? And learn from them? One of the things that I did my experience that I found is that really successful people will tell you they don't they won't hold things close to the vest. They're not threatened by other people. They'll tell you I did this and that don't do this never go here, right? The only people in life telling you to slow down. The only people who want giving you positive encouragement are people who've never done anything. They're the people who are too afraid to move. There are people that are too afraid to fail. So they sit down and then they say you because because I want to know why they they don't want to see you succeed. Because then it's then it's sober. Right? Because you came from the same place they came from they want to keep you there. Right but anyone sports, entertainment business anyone right who's made it big will tell you their story of failure will tell you their story of of of despair and how they came back from it and what they learned from it and what they will do to get to again, right and so why try to reinvent the wheel. That's why One of the biggest things, I would go back to my younger self and say, like, come on 22 year old kid, you don't have to take all the credit. You're not have to do this on your own, find people who have already done it, that live the life you want to live, do the things you want to be one, ask them how they did it. Right? And then they'll tell you and then do do that. Alright, sounds simple enough. But I think we're always looking for life to be more complicated. We're looking for life to be more mysterious than it actually needs to be. It's actually quite simple.
Paul Zelizer 45:30
Those three eyes are genius. Thanks for sharing that with us. So just in terms of people getting a hold of you, and you know, getting value out of this great work, you're doing the app called Mind Body money, mind dot money, mind dot body dot money is available in the App Store right now. The Docu series is in process. If anybody knows he has connections in the world of media, please be in touch. Please get out here.
Eszylfie Taylor 46:01
But actually check that out on the we have a website with some of the BTS clubs in the sizzle, online already Mind Body money calm.
Paul Zelizer 46:10
Oh, cool. So we will make sure to link to that. And then you have your financial service, somebody is looking for pretty high level help with financial decisions, tax planning, etc. We'll put a link to that you're available for those in that position. Is there anything else you want to like point to in terms of folks getting a hold of you or being able to
Eszylfie Taylor 46:31
I'm out there, my name is a unique one he sylphy Taylor. So all you got to do is put my name name and Google, you'll find me I'm pretty easy to find. But now I'm out here and to your point I appreciate you know, I think we're all in the same boat. I appreciate all the support from my core businesses, you know, through to the show to the ice cream, to everything else that I'm doing to my nonprofit work. I mean, I'm just, I'm just out here, you know, like, I made a promise to myself, when I graduated college and enter the workforce. I'll never look back at my life and say, What if I'm swinging away, right? Like, you know, I'm, I'm saying yes, right. I'm saying yes. And, hey, I'm a fall, and I have fallen and I'll continue to fall. But I'm gonna keep pushing forward. And I'm gonna keep you know, living living my best life and trying to help people.
Paul Zelizer 47:19
Paul, yeah, you're pressing me. Selfie, I'm really good one like ones I feel aligned with. And I just value all the good things you're doing. So there'll be links in the show notes for all the things we've talked about the selfie, if there was something you were hoping we were going to get to in this interview, and we haven't touched on it yet. Or there's something you want to leave our listeners with, as we start to wind down and say goodbye, what would that be?
Eszylfie Taylor 47:53
I would tell the listeners to be still I taught a yoga class this morning. And my intention is what comes? Let it come? What stays let it stay? What goes let it go? And I think the idea would be yes, do your work. Detach yourself from outcomes, focus solely on process. But then what will be will be right and and it will your head hits the pillow at night, if you can say, with all sincerity, I left it all out there. I did everything that was asked to me. I did everything was required of me. Right. That's all you can. That's all you can do. Right? Detach yourself from outcomes focus solely on the process.
Paul Zelizer 48:48
Beautiful. Sophie, thank you so much for being on the show today. I really appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate you for having me. Thank you. So listeners, that's all the time we have for today's show. Thank you so much for listening. Before we go. We love listeners suggested topics and guests. So if you have an idea for something that you think would make a great episode, you can go to the AWARE printers website or where printers.com Go to our contact page. And we have three guidelines of what we're looking for there right there, we try to be really transparent. And we've gotten a very large number, large percentage of our 230 Plus guests come from you, our listeners saying I think we should have so and so come talk about such and such and we'd love to hear your idea. So please go take a look. Let's hear your thoughts. For now. I just want to say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care in these intense times. And thank you for all the positive impact that you're working for in our world.