Helping Women Achieve More Success with Less Stress Through a Membership

Shelli Varela: Sometimes the loudest voice we can hear is our intuition but we have to get quiet to hear it.

Stu McLaren: There is a big trend brewing that’s revolutionizing the way business is being done. Big companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are jumping on this too but so are thousands of others in all kinds of markets like photography and calligraphy, fitness, finance, meal planning, lesson planning, dog training, and so many more, and they’re doing it by shifting to a recurring revenue model. Hi. My name is Stu McLaren and for more than a decade I’ve been helping tens of thousands of entrepreneurs generate recurring revenue through membership sites. Join our host, Shelli Varela, as she takes you behind-the-scenes to see how these companies are building a thriving tribe that spends with them every single month. Now, let’s get to today’s episode. 

[INTERVIEW]

Shelli Varela: Tracy Roesch Williams, welcome to the It’s a TRIBE Thing Podcast. How are you?

Tracy Roesch Williams: What an honor to be here.

Shelli Varela: It’s great to have you. I’m excited to dive in because this is going to be a special treat for the listeners. And I’m wondering if we could start with who is your audience, what is your membership site, and who do you serve.

Tracy Roesch Williams: Sure. So, my membership site is called Visions to Profits. It’s a women’s success community. I serve women that are in business 35 to 65 or those that are looking to create a business. The women that are in business tend to be an overwhelm. They’re so busy juggling everything in the business that they typically don’t have time to work on the business. 

Shelli Varela: And you’ve had an amazing track record when we talked about your backstory. Can you take us back to the experiences that you had that led you on this path to be able to be the person sitting here talking to us today about this membership site you have helping others do the thing that you earned the right to do?

Tracy Roesch Williams: Sure. Thank you for asking that great question. So, years ago, I was 32 years old, I was single, I just bought a home. I always thought I was really stupid, always struggled in school. I went to see a career counselor and he had told me that I was not stupid. In fact, I had a learning disorder, which was really good to know, very knowledgeable to know because he could help me set up tools for moving forward and creating a business which at the time, I wanted to create some sort of a dog business. And he said, “If you go back to Alaska,” he was in Seattle, I’m in Alaska, “and you put together a business plan, find somebody to help you create a business plan, surround yourself with four to five mentors that are successful in business that will help you when you want to jump because you’re going to want to jump, you’re going to get in fear, you’re going to jump off, your head’s going to try to take over. Ego, right? You want to listen to your heart so you want to surround yourself with safe people that are going to help guide and direct you through your business plan.” And so, that’s what I did and my first business was created. It is called Rub-a-Dub Dog. It runs around Anchorage, Alaska. The board members at the time for the organization I was working for looked at me like I was absolutely crazy.

Shelli Varela: So just for context, you had a good job before you decided to start this business?

Tracy Roesch Williams: I did. I had a really good job. I was making great money. They all thought I was absolutely crazy. There I was sitting in my little suit and they’re like, “Tracy is going to go work with the dogs,” and they kind of giggle. That was kind of, I don’t know, I just I always felt that inside like there was something more I was supposed to do. I wasn’t sure what and I started gaining confidence when I started creating that plan.

Shelli Varela: Let me ask you this. I’m curious because you had tied back earlier that you had felt stupid. When you were the person that was having this corporate success and you had a great income and then you have this dream, this idea that everybody else listens to your dream and we all know what that feels like, and either dismisses it or doubts you or laughs, what did that feel like? And how did you overcome that?

Tracy Roesch Williams: So, I had always led with my head, my ego, money, money, it’s got to be the money, the money. The money is going to make me feel a certain way. And I started learning to listen to my heart and it felt really uncomfortable. And for people, if you’re hanging with people that aren’t heart-centered that are about money and security and stuff, it’s hard to be around those people. So, I really dialed in to those, I think. I had four business, those core people. I would go to them in that process of the business planning and I would, “Well, I’d want to jump,” and they said, “Tracy, get back on the plan,” and the plan led me really eventually to where I am today, which is teaching people how to lead with their heart, through a vision mapping system. We all have visions. They come and they go and they drift in and they drift out. If we can put actions to those visions and use our heart so create an intentional plan, I encourage meditation because it opens up our subconscious then all things are possible. All things are possible.

Shelli Varela: Well, I loved what you had said, you know, you were at a point where you had ideas and also are starting to tune in to what is internally true for you and you’re on the computer and then up pops Stu McLaren and you said…

Tracy Roesch Williams: So, like this is how visioning works. Like if you can think of when you’re looking for a new car, like let’s say it’s a blue Subaru, all of a sudden, everybody and their brother is driving blue Subarus and you’re like, “Wait, I never noticed that before.” What we vision comes back to us like a boomerang when we put something out there. So, I was doing women’s retreats teaching, doing workshops on vision mapping, and I was feeling like I was missing something like these people would walk away, and then I wouldn’t hear from them again. So, I started really looking. What is it that I’m missing? What is it? Is it do I need a coaching certification? What do I need? I had signed up for another course like $2,000 retreat, and all of a sudden it was a Sunday evening and Stu pops up on my screen talking about TRIBE. I wanted to crawl into the computer. 

Shelli Varela: Because why? What was it about it? 

Tracy Roesch Williams: He’s speaking my language. He and the people that are in the TRIBE are people that I’ve looked for that can help me to take my vision mapping system to the next level, which is essentially the membership and offering the women come to me in the beginning for coaching retreats, whatever, that now they have a place to go this membership site and it was mind-blowing.

Shelli Varela: Well, I love what you said earlier and I’m a big believer in this as well. You sought out four or five mentors and supporters who you knew, who you like, who you trusted, who you knew would hold you accountable to hold the line for what was true and not what your fear was saying. What I also love that’s not lost on me is that when Stu popped up on your screen and when he started to explain and articulate what TRIBE is and who TRIBE is, how that sort of coincide? It’s like when the gears mesh and you find your people. Because just like those four or five mentors, you know, held you accountable, the thing that’s so magical and the reason this podcast is called It’s a TRIBE Thing is because we have each other’s backs, and we are each other’s keeper and we hold each other to the best and highest vision for ourselves.

Tracy Roesch Williams: It was this in the whole house all summer. It was this huge shift like I get up every day and listen to Stu Monday through Friday and my husband started, you know, I remember he’d be brushing his teeth in the bathroom and I’d have my little phone sitting there with Stu on and Bobby, my husband, would start making comments about like, “Stu and this,” but my husband started seeing me doing the work. Like he started seeing me really like get really excited and to start creating this membership that was going to give the people that I serve something to help change their lives. And it was like, I wasn’t just blowing smoke anymore. You know, like, he just became a believer of the whole thing.

[ANNOUNCEMENT]

Stu McLaren: So many people in all kinds of niche markets are leveraging their existing knowledge and influence and they’re transforming it into passive monthly income. This isn’t luck. This is a repeatable formula for producing a growing subscription income and if thousands of others can do it, you can too. To find out what type of membership site would be right for your business, visit GetTRIBEGuide.com. Go to GetTRIBEGuide.com and download it today. You’re awesome! 

[INTERVIEW] 

Shelli Varela: Well, so you now have your program that the thing that you teach is called vision mapping. If I were to say to you, there are listeners that are hearing you right now, that maybe they have a vision for their lives after hearing you and after hearing other interviews that maybe you know what, maybe a membership is for me, and how would I do that? And then the first thing they go into is those limiting beliefs and those voices that you spoke about, about either thinking you’re stupid or believing false truths or thinking that you fall under a label. If one of those people were to ask you right now based on this being kind of your gym and what you do to help them vision map, how they get started to have their own membership site, what would you tell them? 

Tracy Roesch Williams: I would tell them to do a vision map and this is the truth and I know this is the part where I’m like selling my membership but because I’m heart-centered, this is the truth. Either come to me and see if you can understand from me or find somebody to help you create a heart-centered plan. My plan goes into, it’s very deep to make sure that you’re aligned with your heart and not leading with your head, your ego, which I think we all go to, the fear and the money and the stuff. And so, the vision mapping system that I have is very detailed. It’s all written out to ensure that it’s aligned with really what you want to do. I had somebody come to me thinking she wanted to create a coffee shop and she has a great job making a lot of money. And she got halfway through the vision mapping process and went, “Whoa, this lifelong vision that I’ve had, I don’t want to do.” So, now she’s a silent owner of a coffee shop. She realized she didn’t want to do all that work. She saved herself a ton of time, a ton of money by creating a plan and realizing it wasn’t aligned with her heart.

Shelli Varela: What is one thing that you wish people who were thinking of starting a business would unlearn that is not serving them?

Tracy Roesch Williams: To pause and to get really clear on what their heart is trying to tell them, what their intuitive voice, and it can be so hard to get through all those webs of negative talk and chatter and to really dig deep and to trust that intuitive voice and to really find people that speak your language, like my membership with these women that I have. We meet once a week and it’s been two months now at the membership and they’re really starting to open up and to share fears, common human fears out loud and get the support that they need to keep moving forward to grow their business.

Shelli Varela: What’s your favorite part about the membership model specifically? Because you worked a corporate job and then you started a dog business and now you have the membership site. What do you love the most about the membership model?

Tracy Roesch Williams: So, I was in fear the other day, being brutally honest here. I mean, just melt down fear, like, holy cow. This has been one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done in my life. I’ve created my website, my sales page, like with the help of people in TRIBE, like people are just appearing to help me do all that. Like me, a person who thought I’m not techie at all like I have gotten down and dirty and like worked really hard, like learning all this stuff. And so, where was I going with this? So, a mentor was over and she said, to your question, she’s 82 years old, and I was kind of crying, I’m like, “Oh, my God. It’s been so hard.” She said, “Tracy, you put out to the universe that you always want to be learning, you always want to be giving, and you get bored really quickly. It sounds like this business, this membership that’s happening for you, the site that you’ve created is giving you every single thing that you’ve asked for like there is never a dull moment.” Then that’s the best thing about it. I’m continually learning and continually I just met another TRIBEr yesterday who’s helping me with another intuitive thought that I had. So, this creativity with a membership is endless like I don’t ever get bored. 

Shelli Varela: I would absolutely concur. In high angle rope rescue, there’s two types of lines. You have a dynamic line which it’s got a little bit of elasticity to it, and then you’ve got a static line. And a membership site in many ways is a dynamic line. It’s a dynamic lifeline because to your point, it will give you exactly what you need and are looking for and it can mold and flow and shift with you depending on what your membership site is and who you serve and who you are being as the person who’s facilitating it. What is the piece of advice you would give to somebody who is considering listening to that limiting belief or that fear inside their head and is telling them that maybe they’re not quite ready enough? Or maybe they’re not something enough or XYZ enough? They have something on their heart that they want to go and do and create for the world. What would you tell that person?

Tracy Roesch Williams: I’d like to say focus, right, like, “Squirrel.” I mean, I live in the woods here. I would say dial in to four people that you can share that vision with, and then create either a vision map, a plan, stick close to those trusted four people and you might not even know them. They might be fellow TRIBErs, successful business owners. Tell them your vision and that you’re going to get fearful and you can no longer divert and ask them if they will help hold you accountable to stay the course. Even this morning, I was in fear over something. And I said to my husband, “So and so is leaving the dog world. Maybe I should do dog training,” and he just totally ignored me and he focused back to the business that I’m doing. He’s like he knows. 

Shelli Varela: Yeah. Because he knows, yes. 

Tracy Roesch Williams: “Great. Tracy, back in business, back to what you’re doing today.” The membership has given me so much clarity, and just get going. Like, that’s what I kept hearing throughout the whole course of TRIBE, just get going. I didn’t have my content created. When I launched, I didn’t have my launch created. I just did it. And the members are telling me what they want.

Shelli Varela: It’s so magical, isn’t it? And it’s counterintuitive to what many people think because they think, “Well, you know, I have to have it all fleshed out. It has to be perfect. It has to be whatever for it to be of great serving value.” But the truth is, to your point, your members know exactly what they need and exactly what they need from you and they’re not going to be shy to tell you and to help you shape it and build it.

Tracy Roesch Williams: Right. And I kept hearing the other TRIBErs say that and I’d be like, “Well, it should, the coulds, and what,” and then I’m like, I’m a leap of faith-er so I just leapt. And then I listened a lot to like Laura Phillips, and she had great words of wisdom, “Right-fit calls. Make the calls. Make the calls. Make the calls. Give them what they want. Don’t give them too much,” which I’ve done, and they’re like, “Whoa, too much.” We don’t have time to do that. And I’m like, “Oh, my goodness. All the stuff TRIBErs were saying is they told the truth. What’s happening?” 

Shelli Varela: Absolutely. I so appreciate what you’re doing in the world and also what you’re doing for fellow entrepreneurs who are right from the beginning trying to figure out what is my thing to those people who have a thing or maybe not executing because of fear so I just wanted to say thank you for what you’re putting out there. And if people are looking for you online, where is the best place they can find you? 

Tracy Roesch Williams: Alaska Tracy is my business. So, just google Alaska Tracy or AlaskaTracy.com. I also have a free women’s success community. That’s exactly what it’s called on Facebook, Women’s Success Community, that I would love for you to join. So, Alaska Tracy. 

Shelli Varela: Amazing. Thank you so much for your time, Tracy. You’re awesome. 

Tracy Roesch Williams: Thank you, Shelli. So are you. 

[CLOSING]

Stu McLaren: I hope you love that story. It’s amazing, right? That’s what It’s a TRIBE Thing is all about. So, many people in all kinds of niche markets are leveraging their existing knowledge and influence and they’re transforming it into passive monthly income. Listen, this isn’t luck. There’s a repeatable formula for producing a growing subscription income and each week we’re going behind the scenes to show you exactly how they did it. Get the latest stories and actionable ideas from each episode at www.ItsaTRIBEThing.com and if you know one other person who could benefit from this, tell them to subscribe. Tell them to go to ItsaTRIBEThing.com.

[END]