Believe IT with Jamie Kern Lima

Mark Cole: Hello again podcast family. Mark Cole here, and do we have a treat for you today. As John Maxwell always does, he tries to bring value to you on the podcast. And every single week, we try to bring you application. Things that will help you grow, things that will help you grow others. And so today, not only do I have John Maxwell in the studio with me, but today, John and I are in the studio together, and we’re talking to our friend Jamie Kern Lima. 

John Maxwell: Yes. 

Mark Cole: John, you are so excited about this podcast. 

John Maxwell: I am. I can tell. I woke up this morning thinking we’re going to be spending time with Jamie Kern Lima. This lady is a beautiful friend, and she has a story, Mark, that I can hardly wait for her to share because, I will promise you, your life is about to be changed. Because when I read her book, that’s coming out. 

Mark Cole: Yeah. 

John Maxwell: When I read her book, I marked it up. In fact, I was just counting on my iPhone, because I put all of her thoughts and quotes and ideas, and I have 47, thoughts and ideas and quotes from you. And I mean, they’re just amazing. Such as this one, right here. This is about personal growth. “You didn’t come this far, to only come this far.” I love this. I mean, in other words, keep going, keep growing. And in my time with Jamie, this lady, has only been highly successful, and you need to tell them what she’s done and who that she is. 

She [inaudible 00:01:35] been highly successful, Mark, but she has the ability to take the principles that made her successful, and pass them on to every one of you, that are listening today. And that’s what excites me. Her journey excites me, but the journey you can have after listening to her and reading her book, is going to be life-changing for you. That’s what I promise you. That’s a John Maxwell guarantee. I read the book, and I received so much out of it. We had to have her on, and pass it on. 

Mark Cole: So Jamie, I am going to give them a little more context of you, but thank you for being on, and being on here with John and sharing about your message. 

Jamie Kern Lima: I am so grateful to be here, and super honored. Thank you for having me. 

Mark Cole: So gang, as you know, John’s always going to bring value and you’re going to hear a lot from him and Jamie today, but let me tell you, just in case you don’t know, if you don’t know, come out from under the rocks, because Jamie has been changing the world, as a leader, for quite some time. She’s the founder of IT Cosmetics. That’s a beauty product line, that she started from literally nothing, and turned it into a $1.2 billion business. 

She sold the company to L’Oreal in 2018, and joined them, as their first female CEO of that brand in a 100 year history. Jamie’s done it all in business. Launching her company from a personal idea, not taking a salary for the first three years, Jamie, way to go on that. Do you need a cup of soup? 

John Maxwell: That’s what all entrepreneurs. 

Mark Cole: That’s exactly right. 

John Maxwell: That’s the story of every entrepreneur. Didn’t take any salary. Why? There was nothing to take. 

Mark Cole: Yeah, if you take a salary, you have to take yourself into debt. So she battled not only the harsh realities of business, but the harsh realities of how women are treated in business. Her story is one that will inspire anyone, anywhere, that wants to lead. 

Now, you can read Jamie’s story. We’re going to be talking about it. Her new book, Believe IT: How to Go from Underestimated to Unstoppable. I love the title. 

John Maxwell: Great. [inaudible 00:03:42] title. 

Mark Cole: I mean, the title already makes me want to go out and do something. Jamie, we released that on February the 23rd. The book is doing incredible, but podcast listeners, you need to go order it online, or you need to go to your local bookstore and pick it up. 

Now, as always on our podcast. If you want to download today’s show notes, you can go to maxwellpodcast.com/Believe IT. Click on the bonus resource button, and we will give you a helpful PDF of the notes of John and Jamie in your conversation [inaudible 00:04:14]. So Jamie, here’s what I’d love. I mean, your story, your bio is just enough, but what prompted you to get this into a book, into Believe IT, and to get that book out? 

Jamie Kern Lima: Every single day, I hear from leaders, from women, from men, messages on Instagram, that would say things like, “Oh, I saw that you were once a Denny’s waitress and you built a billion dollar company. Did you just get lucky or was it easy or did you have the right connections?” And I realized, that when we just see things online, or we just read the headlines, you just get the highlight reel. And so many of the people that messaged me say, “For me, I’m not getting the kind of traction I want in my business.” Or, “I feel stuck.” Or, “I’m a really inspired leader, but I’m trying to take it to the next level, and I’m not having success.” 

And what I realized is people feel alone often in their own struggles, or their own setbacks if we don’t ever share the real story behind the story. And I realized that, all of the stories and the lessons and the learnings that I went through. In starting with a dream in my living room, and as you mentioned, literally not being able to afford to pay myself for the first three years, and then facing hundreds of rejections along the way, and how I learned to navigate that. How I learned to go from a girl who didn’t believe in herself, to learning to believe in myself. 

That to me, is the story that needs to be shared. Not just that I went from Denny’s waitress to billion-dollar entrepreneur. So, I realized through the power of being able to actually share all these stories behind the stories for the first time ever, in the book, my hope is that it’s of service to everyone else out there right now, to feel less alone, more enough, more empowered, more inspired, and to have real life stories that they can connect to, that hopefully inspire them on their own journey, of how to handle rejection, how to handle setbacks and how to know if they’re supposed to still be going after this dream, even if it’s not working the way that they want it to, right now. 

So, I’m so excited. I’m donating 100% of the proceeds from the book, by the way. I’m literally just doing this because I think that all of us together, and I mean, John, Oh my gosh, you are the biggest testament to this ever, but, when we share our stories, and when we share everything we’ve been through in the form of books I think it helps so many other people. It saves them a lot of nights crying themselves to sleep, and gives them a lot of hope and inspiration, and I think belief, that their own dreams are possible too, even if they’re in the midst of setbacks right now. 

John Maxwell: You know, Jamie, you talked in this book about your struggles. You’re so open. You’re so authentic. You’re so vulnerable. And so, when I started reading Believe IT, I immediately found myself pulling for you. Because you represent everybody. Anybody that’s ever had a dream, but are finding that that dream is not quickly assessable to them, but have had setback after setback. And so, I’m pulling for her as I go through the book, Mark. I’m saying, “Oh, come on, Jamie. You’re going to make it. You’re going to make it.” Now, I know that she’s really going to make. I mean 1.1 billion. [inaudible 00:07:35]. She made it folks. She made it. Okay? 

Mark Cole: Yeah, exactly. 

John Maxwell: So we got the made it part out. But I’m pulling for her, because she lets us behind the curtains of her struggles, her questions, her issues. And now, here’s what I don’t want you to miss. And then you go ask her another question, because I just had to jump in because I loved this book. Okay? 

Jamie, I’m pulling for you. I’m pulling for you. Every page, I’m pulling for you. You can make it lady. You can make it. You can do this. All of a sudden, I found myself pulling for myself too. Now, I don’t want the readers to miss this. You wrote a great book. I know about books. You wrote a great book but listen to me. It’s one thing for people to pull for you in the book, but you had such a beautiful way in writing, of turning that over until it’s not about you Jamie at all, it’s about me. And all of a sudden I’m saying, “I can do this.” 

You wrote a very empowering book, and that’s why, I want everybody that’s with us today, to get it because I will promise you, you’ll pull for her, but in the end you’ll be pulling for yourself. And that’s what you want, Jamie. You want everybody to pull for themselves so they can reach their dream also. 

Mark Cole: One of the big themes in the book is overcoming self-doubt. And so, you’ve battled self-doubt. You share that in the book. What are some practical ways for people to move beyond self-doubt, into self-confidence? 

Jamie Kern Lima: Yes. So, good. That’s literally the heart and soul of this book, because, I think so many people deep down inside know, they have a calling on their heart. They know they’re made for more, but they still doubt themselves anyways. And, I share so many lessons in this book about, how do you get still, and hear your own gut, your own intuition. For me, that’s how I connect with my faith. That’s how I hear God. That still small voice inside. But, for everybody, it might look a little different. And one of the big lessons I talk about, is how do you turn down the volume on everyone else’s opinion, perhaps like in my case, the lack of success happening with my own dream around me for many years, all the rejection from the experts. Sometimes it’s our friends and family around us who love us so much, but they don’t understand our hopes or dreams. So sometimes they say things that just create doubt in our own minds. 

How do you turn down the volume on all of that, and turn up the volume on your own knowing. Your own instincts. What God says about you, right? And so, one story that I want to share that… And I share a lot of real life. Here’s the thing, is I don’t just share lessons or tips or advice, I share real stories in this book that actually happened, and how I navigated them. Because I think sometimes just getting inside of those, and it’s like 95% of the book I’ve never shared before. 

One example is, we were a couple years into the launch of my business. I was still running it from my living room. Can barely afford to keep the lights on and was sending the product out to all of these beauty stores and retail stores and QVC. And everyone was saying no, after no, after no. And we finally got a phone call from a potential investor. A private equity company. And I was so excited, because they are known for launching tons of consumer product. Companies are investing in them pre-revenue. And a lot of products, we all buy at the grocery store. Household names. And they’ve grown a lot of businesses and some big successes. 

And when they were interested in our company, and investing, I was so excited because they love the product we created, right? I’d poured every penny I had into creating this product. And it was really good. And by the way, anyone else out there listening to us right now, who has gone through this journey where you create a great product or great service or great offering, and you believe in it so much, but it’s not selling. Right? And it’s so hard to know, am I supposed to be doing this? And that’s the space I was in for a couple of years, because I had a great product, but it wasn’t selling. 

I didn’t know how to get the word out about it. We were staying alive just based on a couple orders a day, from people spreading the word online, and posting their own before and after using our product. So, getting this big phone call from this potential investor, I thought was going to be life-changing because I thought, “Okay, if they love our product. A, they invest. I’m not going to go bankrupt. And B, maybe they can use their connections to get us into these retail stores that keep telling me no, and keep telling me I’m not the right fit. I’m not enough. And that we need to change our product and change our packaging. And they all wanted me to use models that had perfect skin. But for me, I have a skin condition called rosacea. And when I created this beauty company, I wanted to do things differently and put real women as models with actual skin problems and all ages and shapes and sizes. 

I wanted to shift culture in the beauty industry. So I had this really big mission, but all the retailers kept telling me no, and that women wouldn’t buy makeup, unless they saw these images of perfection. So, I kept getting knocked down over and over and over and over for a few years. So when I finally got this call from this potential investor, I thought I was going to be life-changing. And we started doing meetings and him and his whole team at the private equity company, loved the product. And we did meeting after meeting. We got to the diligence phase where we showed projections, future product pipeline, all kinds of stuff. 

And they came down to the last meeting, and I thought it was going to be a huge, yes, and life-changing and my husband and I flew out for the meeting, and we were standing there about three feet away from the head investor, the head guy. And he says to me, “We wanted to congratulate you. We really believe in your product. And I just want to share with you that we really, really appreciate it, but it’s going to be a no. We’re going to pass, on investing in IT Cosmetics.” 

And at this point, I was so used to hearing no, but I said, “Okay, can you tell me why? Can you let me know why?” Because feedback is usually a gift. And he said, “Well, do you want me to be really honest with you?” And I said, “Yes, please.” And he was about three feet from me, right? In person. And he said, “I just don’t think women will buy makeup from someone who looks like you, with your body and your weight.” And I remember in this moment, a couple of things happened. By the way, I felt no anger toward him at all, I just remember watching him say these words. 

Mark Cole: I can feel a little bit, Jamie. Do you mind telling me who it is? I feel a little bit for you. 

John Maxwell: Come on, hey. Mark and I are going to go find him, Jamie. We’re going to work him over for you, girl. Come on. 

Mark Cole: Give me your name. I’m ready to go. 

Jamie Kern Lima: I just remember this moment. And these are the moments, okay? I’m sharing this story because I just feel like someone listening might need to hear this, because we have all had somebody look us in the eye and tell us we’re not enough. We’ve all had somebody tell us in some way, shape or form, they don’t believe in us, we’re not the right fit, we’re not enough. Right? And how we respond to these moments in life, I think change our life. 

And I remember watching him say these words to me, the first thing that happened when he said, “I just don’t think women will buy makeup from who looks like you with your body and your weight.” First of all, I felt like this lifetime of body doubt and self-doubt, flood my body. I felt that. It almost felt like I was staring my own fear straight in the eye. And I knew I had to keep my faith bigger than it in that moment. And listen, it hurts. 

I went out to my car and cried after, but I’ll never forget this moment. When he was saying this to me, I had this strong gut feeling, that he was wrong. It was just like this knowing. Even though his words hurt, I had this knowing, some people again say, that’s how they hear God talking to them or their own intuition, but I had this gut feeling that said, he’s wrong. And I remember that feeling like it was yesterday. I didn’t know how I was going to prove he was wrong, because I had no success at the time. And I had been hearing no, after no, after no for years, but I had that gut feeling that he was wrong. And the second thing that happened, right? Is I know you guys and so many amazing and incredible thought leaders talk a lot about knowing why we’re doing what we’re doing or our mission. Right? 

In that moment I realized, wow. He’s actually passing on investing in my company, because the exact same reasons I want to change the whole beauty industry. She’s been just as much impacted, as every woman out there, by thinking, you have to look a certain way, to sell product. He’s passing on investing in my company, because he thinks, you have to look a certain way to make him money. And, it was in a way more fuel. It fired me up in such a big way that realizing, my whole mission, wasn’t just to launch great products. It was to say, “Okay, when I do create a real business and products that work, because I wanted to use women of all different ages and shapes and sizes, the real why, beneath the why for me, wasn’t great products or solving my own skin problems. It was, how can I shift culture in the beauty industry for every little girl out there, who’s about to see these ads and start doubting herself. And every grown woman in person who still does. And that was really my big why for everything. And he just fueled that more. 

But one thing I want to share too, just really fast, because John, this was such a cool moment. There’s a famous saying, rejection is God’s protection. And just to share this, six years after the day that investors said, “No, I don’t think women will buy make up from someone who looks like you with your body and your weight.” Six years later, when L’Oreal acquired the company, I started in my living room for $1.2 billion cash. They did a big press release, because they’re a public company. And so it went out everywhere. 

It was on the homepage of the Wall Street Journal. It was everywhere. And that day, I got an email. I hadn’t heard from that guy for years. I got an email from that potential investor who said, “Congratulations. I heard about the L’Oreal deal. I’m so happy for you. I was wrong.” And I learned two things. I learned it would have been the most successful investment in his firm’s history had he said yes, but I just want to share this today, because sometimes we go through rejection and these painful setbacks and they don’t make sense at the time. And his words really hurt me, but had he believed in me and said, yes, I was so desperate at the time. I probably would have given him the majority of the company for almost no money. I was just trying to survive. Right? Because he didn’t believe in me, and so many other people didn’t either. 

And then there were lots of people who did believe in me on the journey, but in his case, we ended up being the largest shareholders, when we sold to L’Oreal, and thank God, he didn’t believe in me, because we wouldn’t have been. And it was just like, wow, rejection is God’s protection. So many times. Even when we don’t see it at the time. Even when we don’t understand it at the time, I just believe in that so wholeheartedly. 

And there’s so many stories like that in this book, and I have to think about them every day. I grab one of these stories every day, because I still at this moment face rejection every day. Right? We all do. And I think these are the moments we hang on to, when we learn, okay. When someone tells us no, or we’re not good enough, what do we do in those situations? How do we not let self-doubt take over? How do we turn down the volume on that, and turn up the volume on our own knowing, our own intuition and what God says about us. 

John Maxwell: Jamie, you’re contagious. 

Mark Cole: That’s true. 

John Maxwell: You’re just contagious. Your joy, your ability to identify with the average person. I mean, the very secret of your success that we need models at different sizes, different ages, different shapes. To me, when I read the book, I said to myself, Jamie, you are everybody’s champion. You’re not the champion of the elite. You’re the champion of the average person, who wants to do something that change their world, and make a difference just like you did. And that’s what makes you so relatable and identifiable. Mark, when I finished reading the book, of course I know Jamie, she’s a wonderful friend. She’s a close friend. But I finished reading the book and I just said to myself, “Everybody reads this book, they’re going to be Jamie’s best friend.” 

You’re just going to have a bunch of best friends out there, because they’re going to identify with who you are, and what you went through. And I love this quote. I mean, I got dozens of them, but I love this one. “We aren’t who people say we are, we are who we believe we are.” And that guy saying to you, you know what I mean? This isn’t going to work because you… You just looked right past him. Of course, it hurt. Of course, it hurt. Objections, none of us like that door shut. But I love how you look beyond that, and looking beyond him, and looking beyond that one time experience, it allowed you to keep in the game and it was just… Go ahead Mark. 

Mark Cole: Well- 

John Maxwell: I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even be jumping in, but I can’t help myself. She is contagious. It’s her fault. It’s her fault. 

Mark Cole: There’s so many ways I want to go right now for the next 14 hours with you two. It’s blowing my mind, but I do want to say this. If you’ve not paused this podcast and went and ordered, Believe IT. Right now, I’m not sure what you’re waiting on. And maybe you’re waiting on permission. So I give you permission. Pause the podcast, go order the book. The book will inspire you, and we’ll be as contagious as Jamie is. 

John Maxwell: [crosstalk 00:21:32]. 

Mark Cole: I do want to talk to you about leadership for a moment. John, when she was telling her story, just now of the major investor. It reminded me of the million dollar giver to your nonprofit. He said, “To get the million dollars. You’re going to have to X.” And you said, “No, thank you.” 

You both have lived in this world of leading at the front of the pack. So much of your leadership has been the first woman, the person that everybody did not pick to be the model of whatever industry that you’re in. John, you the same way. You transitioned from the faith community to the business union. Both of you have had, leadership moments, to where you’re pioneering. How do we deal with criticism and critics when you’re going through that? And you talked a little bit that in your story, Jamie, but what’s some tangible things our podcast listeners can deal with, as it relates to criticism. 

John Maxwell: Great question. 

Jamie Kern Lima: Well, and there’s so many amazing stories in this book about criticism, and about people that tell you what you’re… They don’t believe in what you’re doing and all of that. So, I think it comes with the territory of anyone doing anything novel, or anything authentic. And here’s what I mean by that. Okay. If I learned this lesson sooner, I would have saved myself so many nights crying myself to sleep, that I believe expert advice often can be so valuable and we can apply it to our lives and it can be life changing. There’s been a lot of experts that have given me feedback over the years, that their feedback was such a gift, and it was responsible for a lot of the improvements that I made in my business, and in my teams, and the way I lead. 

So I definitely value it. And the way that I know if it’s right or wrong, is I always check in with my gut. Does that feedback feel right? Like it’s for me. And oftentimes it is. But what I want to say about criticism and rejection, and this is for everyone listening right now. I have learned, that when you’re doing something novel, or new, or that’s never been done before, or something authentic, and what I want to say, this is really important. Because a lot of people think things like, “Oh, I want to be a coach and change the world, but there’s so many other coaches.” Or, “I want to launch this particular product, but it’s already been done before.” Or, “I have this idea, but so many other people have already done it.” 

Well, I went into a beauty industry, right? That was crowded with these huge giants. This industry of giants, that’s almost impossible to break into. I launched my first product was a concealer, that covers things up. There was a million of those out there already. Right? So, how was I able to break through? And here’s what I want to say about this. If you are doing something authentic to who you are, whether you are a leader of teams, a coach, whether you are launching a business or writing a book, if you’re doing it authentic, right? I don’t care if it’s been done a million other times, if you’re doing it authentic to you, then by definition, it’s novel. It’s never been done before because there’s only one of you in the world. 

And, when you’re doing something novel, that’s authentic to you, here’s what I want everyone to grasp. Okay? Because this is the lesson I wish I learned so many years earlier. So many experts out there, or critics on the internet, or people in our own family. Right? It’s so hard, even visionaries. It’s so hard for them to imagine something being successful. It’s subconsciously, they’ve never seen it be successful before. There’s no social proof. There’s no proof in the back of their mind, it’s going to be successful because it’s never been done before. So they have a hard time, not criticizing it or a hard time believing in it, because they’ve never seen proof it’s ever been done. 

So experts, even touted visionaries a lot of times, told me what I was doing was never going to work, because they’d never seen it done that way before. It wasn’t because they were bad people. They meant well. They were giving me their best advice, but often people cannot imagine something working unless they’ve seen it be done before. So anyone out there right now, who is a coach, a leader of teams, an entrepreneur, an innovator, a writer, a creator. When you’re doing something authentic to you, it’s novel. It’s never been done before. So don’t be surprised if the only things you hear around you, are criticisms, or concern or questions that make you start to doubt it. And these are the moments, I’ve learned, as an entrepreneur, everyone will cheer for you after you’ve made it. They’ll cheer for you after you’ve made it. 

John Maxwell: Always. 

Jamie Kern Lima: And they’ll also tell you, that they always believed in you and they always knew you’d be able to do it. And they forget, that for years they say things like, “Are you sure you qualified? Are you sure you should have quit that job? All the things, right? And so, we have to get strong in hearing our knowing, hearing our truth, knowing why we’re doing what we’re doing. And again, and I talk about these lessons, that I had to learn how to do and believe it so much, which is like, how do you turn the volume up on those things and take back your microphone from the people you don’t need speaking into your dream or into your vision, especially when it’s novel. 

John Maxwell: I love that. Take back your microphone. Is it that beautiful? And everything you said, I mean, hello, that’s pure gold, but you know what? When you talked about the criticism, I would just want to, just put just a little add here. The calling within me, is much more special, than the criticism outside of me. And I can tell you right now, if you don’t have that dream on the inside, then you’re not going to make it. That calling. That sense of destiny. You have to have it, because it’s uphill all the way. So when I would hear my criticism crossing over and people would just say, “Oh, why are leaving the ministry?” And all these things they’d say about me. I would smile, but I would not say this to them because I valued them, and they were good people. 

Jamie, I love how you still love the people. You can separate what they did and what they said from the person. But I would look at them. Inside, I would look at them and say, “You have no idea. The calling God’s gave me. You have no idea. And if you did, you would understand why I will continue on regardless.” Because the stuff inside of you, is what helps you, do great things outside. But it’s always an inside job first. It always is. Okay. 

Jamie Kern Lima: Can I say one more thing to that? 

Jamie Kern Lima: I just think sometimes in life too, the stronger the calling, the stronger the opposition, right? And when we look back in history, we see that with almost every person who’s ever made great contributions to humanity, and I just think that for every person listening right now, maybe their calling is to just shift a generational pattern in their family. Maybe their calling is to brighten someone’s day every single morning when they go on their neighborhood walk. But we all have different callings in our life, but I believe one thing is so strong. And it just came to mind when you were saying that, is that, I believe our calling is always stronger than our opposition. No matter how it feels at the time, I feel like our calling is always stronger than our opposition. 

John Maxwell: Always. 

Jamie Kern Lima: And I feel like our life comes down to which one we listen to. 

Mark Cole: Wow. Well, all right. So I want you to unpack one more concept from the book. We are out of time. My commitment to you, well, I was going to say my commitment to you, Jamie. My commitment to you, John. My commitment to you podcast listeners, is I promise you, myself and our team is going to get John and Jamie on stage together soon. 

John Maxwell: Yes. 

Mark Cole: We’re going to get you guys together to have a much greater time. Jamie, we’ve got several experiences that we create for people, and you are going to get an invitation very shortly, where we can get your calendar locked up. Because we got to hear more of you two together. And Jamie, we got to hear more of you. Share with us about your concept of plus one. 

John Maxwell: I love this. Yeah, this is good. 

Jamie Kern Lima: Yeah. I think when we live a life of service, I believe, and I talked about this in the book. I believe we get what we give. I don’t think that’s why we should give, but I think we get in life, what we give. Right? And this could be simple on days you’re feeling down, and you’re just like out of sorts. I think it’s miraculous and you need a boost. I think that you maybe are standing in a coffee line, and you give someone else authentic boost. And it’s amazing what happens. Right? 

When we’re down or feeling like disconnected from life. And we’re surfing the web on our phone. And as we stand in the coffee line, instead of during that, connect with the person ringing you up, and just, it has to be authentic. But it’s like, “Wow, you have a beautiful smile.” Or, “Oh, it’s so great how you greet every customer.” Right? When you do that, when you give, you instantly get that for yourself. And it’s like a practice that’s free. 

But when it comes to the idea of a plus one, I just believe this so strongly. I’ve been a Denny’s waitress. I’ve pushed grocery carts in the Safeway Grocery parking lot. I’ve worked in a deli, slicing meat. I had to learn to believe that where I come from does not determine where I’m going, but I’ve also had so much of God’s grace show up along the way with other people who’ve invited me into rooms or, John Maxwell agreeing just to hop on a phone call with me when he didn’t even know who I was. And I asked him for his advice a long time ago, when I was working on getting my first book deal. 

I think that’s God grace. And I think that I’ve had that blessing, but what I’ll say is, I live my life, bringing in another person with me. Bringing a plus one with me. And I think this is something we can all do. An example of this is. And I think we have to get out of a scarcity mindset of, “Oh, I just got this cool thing.” Versus, “Oh, let me bring someone else with me who maybe never would have gotten this cool thing.” Right? And this could be a PTA meeting at school. And you know someone that’s never been in a room, in a professional meeting, and you bring them to that meeting with you. This could be a boardroom where you bring someone with you. 

I think John Maxwell’s most famous for saying, “Great leaders don’t climb ladders, they build ladders.” Right? That’s the idea of the plus one in life. I recently, this year got a phone call to go on The Mel Robbins Show, and they were going to put me in the very last segment of a five segment talk show, to share my story. My first response was, “Absolutely yes. I will fly to New York and do the show.” Literally my second sentence out of my mouth was, “Oh, if you need more inspiring stories, let me tell you about Lia Valencia Key. She went from homeless to launching a jewelry line, to selling it on QVC in front of a hundred million homes. Have you thought about telling her story?” Right? 

So I try to bring someone with me, who maybe would not know, how to have that experience. And what ended up happening in that scenario by the way, they ended up calling Lia, giving her a segment on the show. By the time I got to New York, and this was just a few months ago, they ended up somehow giving me four of the five segments. And I ended up coaching people in the audience live, other women that were entrepreneurs. Lia Valencia Key, got her own segment on the show. It was the coolest thing ever. 

I just believe in living our life that way. And it’s something we could do for free, no matter where we’re at, no matter our circumstances. A lot of people don’t realize how powerful their own experiences are. This could be something as simple as being invited over for coffee with a group of friends, and just thinking like, “Oh, wow, is there someone else that maybe wouldn’t be part of a cool group of conversation like this. Can I bring someone with me?” 

And I just think that in life, sometimes we have to see what’s possible, to believe it’s possible for ourselves too. So I love the idea of bringing a plus one with you when you can. You can’t always, right? But when you can, I think just making that ask of it, even in the simplest of rooms or the simplest of experiences. But especially in the boardroom. Especially in leadership positions, there’s probably young leaders that look up to every single person listening to this right now, that just getting invited to a meeting just to sit there, is life giving and life changing for them. So, I love this concept. 

John Maxwell: Well, Jamie, you love plus one, my friend. In fact, the book, Believe IT, is a plus one book. In other words, you tell your story, but you bring us with you. I mean, every page I traveled with you. The highs, the lows, all of a sudden we’ve made hoops. We didn’t make it. And we got to get back and try again. You just bring people with you. And you’re a plus one person. You’re a person of abundance. You’re a delight. Mark, has this not been an incredible interview? 

Mark Cole: Exceptional. 

John Maxwell: I knew it. I woke up this morning excited because I knew Jamie, you were going to be with us. And now that we’re done, I’m even more excited because now we’ve shared your story again with a whole bunch of people, and that is beautiful. 

Mark Cole: That is. Jamie, thank you. John, as always, thank you for always bringing value every single week. And then on special occasions, bringing a friend that’ll add value to you. We’ve been talking today about Jamie Kern Lima’s book, Believe IT: How to Go from Underestimated to Unstoppable. It makes even more sense now, Jamie. And by the way, this book, was released just about a month ago. And probably, the John Maxwell Podcast listeners, John, they’re already ahead of the curve and they’ve got this book. 

We just believe that, if you hadn’t, you paused it already in this program, and you went and ordered it. But I got a challenge for you right now. I want you to plus one. 

John Maxwell: Yes. 

Mark Cole: I want you to think about somebody to take on the journey with you. I want you to go right now. You’ve already ordered it, perhaps in this program, perhaps you got it the first week that it was released a month ago. I now want you to think about somebody you need to plus one their life, and you need to get, Believe IT by Jamie Kern Lima. You need to have somebody in your life that you’re taking on this journey of belief, and I think we found the person, and the book that will help you do that. 

So thank you again, both of you so much for your time. I know, that we will get a lot of great feedback because of this podcast. In fact, wherever you listen to this podcast, I’m going to challenge you to do us a favor. Go to that podcast player, comment on this particular lesson, as well as give us a rating. It will help us to continue to get John Maxwell’s message out and around the world. 

Listeners as always, thank you for taking the time to listen. Thank you for taking the time to grow. We believe, that we have a message that will make you better. So, make sure that you show up next week. We will be back here sharing some additional leadership lessons with you, as always on the John Maxwell Leadership Podcast. We exist to add value to you, so you will multiply value to others. We’ll see you next week, until then, let’s listen, let’s learn, let’s lead.