Inspiration for Starting your Own NonProfit or Business with Erin Marcus

This transcript was created using AI. Please forgive any discrepencies.

[Intro] Welcome to Easy Style with Sami. I’m your host Sami Bedell-Mulhern. Each episode, I invite a friend, family member or colleague or just someone I’ve met on this journey called life to come and share their personal style and approach to business, parenting, life and everything in between. You’ll hear motivational and inspirational stories that will help you refine and build your own personal style. Remember, style is easy when it comes from within.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] Hello, Hello, we are back with another episode of easy style with Sami today. My guest is the beautiful and wonderful Erin Marcus. Erin, thank you so much for being here. We like seven colleague that introduced us and I’m so glad that they did because I have now been on your marketing podcast, you’ve been on my marketing podcast and I just adore and love your energy and your style and your approach. And so of course I wanted to have you come on here and just kind of share all the things about where you’ve come from and how you’ve gotten here and and why you are doing this new crazy thing like starting a nonprofit

[Erin Marcus] goes right with all my spare moments. Spare Time spirit. Let’s just do that. Ya know, awesome, awesome. Awesome. Be here. I love chatting with you. I always laugh because we eventually have to hit record.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] Okay, we’ve spent time just chit chatting and catching up. I love it. Okay, why don’t you just share a little bit about who you are and your background and your life.

[Erin Marcus] My life who I am Oh my God, these as I get older, these are longer. So who I am so Aaron Marcus, founder and CEO of conquer business, which we I work at the intersection where what you need to do me to you need to be to do it. I work with entrepreneurs and small business business owners to create a cohesive in demand brand that allows them to scale their business and have fun doing it. Who else am I Chicago public schools in the 70s and 80s. And all of the weird things you’re thinking about that? Yes, pretty much that was true. I finally figured out in college, I might want to pay attention to having an education. So it’s finally like, oh, maybe there’s something to this read the book thing. Did a long stint at C suite level in corporate, which was amazing. I know. It is currently very much in vogue to completely poopoo corporate and jobs and bosses. And I will tell you that. Yes, I’ve had those experiences though I have to laugh. It didn’t I didn’t require a social movement to tell me to leave a job I didn’t like Isn’t that what you do? Like if they’re mean to you, you leave and go get a better job. Now that being said, yes, there’s some things that have to be worked out. But I had a wonderful, amazing corporate experience with mentors. That just brought me in rooms that were way above my paygrade and made sure I had every opportunity to learn and grow and supported me when I laughed as hard as that was to start my own business,

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] which Okay, so how do you think that experience has because in your business, you help businesses scale, like you help people get to the next level, the next stage, the next place of growth? So do you think that mentorship was kind of helpful in how you frame and guide what you’re doing with your clients?

[Erin Marcus] Absolutely, absolutely. 100%? Absolutely. Because it wasn’t the only time that happened to me, the corporate job I had before the one that I stayed at longer. Same thing I had, I worked with two women that were unbelievable, amazing mentors, and the idea of taking interest in somebody and guiding them on a path you’ve already been on. Like it’s amazing. It’s absolute. Now that being said, as the recipient, I hold up my end of the deal, right? Things aren’t handed to you, you have no right to just sit back and think everything’s gonna happen. So I had to do my part, show interest, do a good job, take the next step step up when I needed to. But it is my approach. It is my approach. I really think and honestly, it was my approach even when I had jobs and people reporting to me and jobs. I never felt like anything negative could come from helping the people below you as much as you could, sharing, sharing the accolades when they were deserved. That all come was back to you I never understood just inherently I never really understood the scarcity approach to.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] Well, I think that’s why we’ve connected so well like our the way we approach businesses in such alignment with each other, because I agree with you the same way. It’s like those people that mentor us and guide us and bring us up without the fear or this, like, they’re going to take my job like that, you know, like people aren’t out to get you necessarily. And if you put your efforts into the right people, like they’re only going to lift you up, you’re going to learn from them, as well.

[Erin Marcus] Yeah, and what the industry that I was in, in corporate with long term care insurance. So it was a very niche, small industry within insurance and financial services. So we all knew each other, we all knew each other, and everyone really had to play well in the sandbox together. Because like the redheaded stepchild of insurance. It was not nobody’s favorite product. Nobody liked to sell it. Nobody liked to buy it. Nobody liked to produce it, like, yeah, great, Aaron, you know, great decision to jump into that field. But we really, everyone in that industry really embodied when the boats rise. I love that. And it is very, very nice.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] You leave corporate, you start your own marketing, business coaching company, it’s going well, and you’re like, hey, I have this passion for animals and wildlife, I’m going to start a nonprofit. So like, what was it that kind of pushed you over the edge from i have a passion for this too, I want to actively participate in this.

[Erin Marcus] So there is a, there’s kind of a meeting point of a couple of things or several things. Number one. I would volunteer every week at a wildlife rescue for 15 years, it was a dog rescues and then had this amazing opportunity to volunteer weekly at a wildlife rescue. And I would be there and we’d have a good 3000 animals come through our facility every spring, it’s an insane asylum of gross like, insane asylum of gross and my job. I my role I worked out in what we call the forest cages meaning where all the animals went before they got released. So I was out with the mosquitoes and in the cage of 20 squirrels running around, and then jump on you, swiping you like it’s, it’s a zoo, like and not just mayhem, right. And so I always felt good doing that. But as someone who grew who teaches people how to grow a business, and is someone who comes into contact with so many people who have money issues, I would forever use the rescue as my example of why it’s a good thing to make a lot of money. And I would say every summer I would help about 250 Baby ducks. Oh, and then I love them. I love that. It’s so much fun in the morning to like go and I’d open the gate and they don’t come rushing out to get in the pond. And it’s just like the cutest thing ever. But that being said, and that was great. But that being said, imagine if I had a million dollars to give away. Now how many baby ducks that’s a lot of baby ducks. But right. And so I always had this thing in the back of my mind where I want to donate a million dollars to wildlife rescue. So I knew it wasn’t going to be save a million dollars, give it to somebody like that’s not how that works. But I didn’t know what it looked like. And here I was every Friday working and totally gross at the wildlife rescue. And here I am telling my clients that making more money is a good thing. And then last January, I was in Charleston, South Carolina. And I was there for a mastermind I got there a day early. I took myself to the aquarium there. Because most people don’t like to go to those places. I don’t ask people to go to those places with me because like, I can sit there for a very long time. Right? And it’s me. So I’m talking to strangers and I’m talking to everybody. And because I’m talking to everybody about what they do and how they do it. I end up with a behind the scenes tour of the Sea Turtle Hospital. And I get to what I know right like I get to watch a sea turtle have laser therapy on his flipper. And I got to watch a stingray to have a hysterectomy. Yeah. What I learned is sting raising sting rays die if they don’t meet the females get various diseases if their organs aren’t used. And so when they have a lot of females in captivity and they don’t have a male, they will give the females hysterectomy is literally to save their lives. And that at the time, they didn’t have a mail, and they didn’t have one coming in, that they knew of. So it was much safer to have these procedures. So now I know that more and more random information that I know. So I got to watch that. And so of course, I gave a donation as I’m leaving. And then I found this thing called Tic Tac Toe places. And a lot of people will complain about the content on social media. My tic tock algorithm knows baby goats, wildlife sanctuaries, like my tictac algorithm knows, show me the rescue show me the sanctuaries. I’m very currently highly invested in horses and goats and cows being born across the country, which is hysterical because I grew up in Chicago and the only house I’ve ever seen. I’m not very invested in these. So here I am in in at the Sea Turtle Hospital, and I’m watching tick tock, and here’s one thing I know, there’s all these sanctuaries and rescues that are doing a great, great, great, great job. But they don’t know how to make money. And they don’t have the bandwidth to make money. I’m not allowed to have all these farmers, your neighbors

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] might have something to say about that.

[Erin Marcus] But I do know how to make money. What if I just combined all this? What if I just combined all of this, and then in the back of my mind is Wow, from a business perspective, you have to pay taxes, we all pay taxes. So there’s a certain percentage of money that my business makes it I don’t get to keep. That’s how that works. We pay taxes. Having a charitable foundation attached to my business reduces how much money I give away without control over its direction. Right. So there’s it’s not really a tax shelter. Because I’m still not keeping the money. But at least I have some input over where some of that money is going. Yeah. Which, to me is a good thing, right? Like whatever those causes are for you. It’s so when you combine working at the animal you know working in Animal Rescue for like 15 plus years now telling people you need to make more money to help the causes that mean the most to you. The background, the behind the scenes tour, tour at the Sea Turtle Hospital, tick tock and attacks situation. That’s how we got here. That’s

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] what I love so many things about it. Because it’s like you figured out how to pull together your best at with your passion and say, Okay, well, I’m not going to start a nonprofit, I’m not going to start a sanctuary. Like I’m not going to try to do that. That’s not where my skill set is.

[Erin Marcus] I will tell you, when I walked up the stairs and said, Mike, I know what I’m going to do. The fact that the word Foundation came out of my mouth instead of sanctuary was a very big sigh of relief for this man. Yes, that’s,

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] that’s fair. It’s a whole nother beast. But I do also like your point and that now like because when I started my marketing business, I wanted to do it so that I could support more organizations and I think similarly to you, like you’re good at figuring out how to build a business raise money. And so that also then increases your impact too, because now you can ebb and flow to different types of things, different organizations and really support those businesses that that need it.

[Erin Marcus] Yeah, I mean, that was the other part is I couldn’t think of one right when it came to animals. I couldn’t pick a lane there also, totally another part of it like there are who I want to save the wheels and I want to say the polar bears and look there’s a penguin and that there’s a donkey like yeah, like totally, like I couldn’t pick a lane. And also because I was at the rescues for so long. I have relationships with people who can help me make sure that where our grant money goes to is the right recipients. So I felt like I had a lot of base is covered for doing.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] What you say, though was surprising to you, because like when we work with our nonprofit clients, and, you know, we tell them like you’re running a business, like you need to run a business. Yes, we’re a nonprofit, but there are inherent differences. So was there anything like in this process that kind of jumped out to you that you were like, holy crap, we don’t have to deal with this, or this is different, or this is unique? Or do you feel like you’ve kind of been set up for success?

[Erin Marcus] God, it’s so the same for me. Yeah, I would go the opposite way. I, I’ve been grateful at how many people are excited to support what I’m doing.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] Are you surprised by it? The very,

[Erin Marcus] not terribly, because I don’t know if you notice I’m a little bit of high energy, I get excited. And then people want to do the thing with me. So it wasn’t like, taken by surprise. But I was certainly, yeah, it was more than I expected. It was more than I expected. And then the other part that’s funny, that I’m still getting used to, in corporate I several jobs in a row, several jobs, corporate jobs in a row. I did something people didn’t understand. I was an internal b2b situation that if you weren’t in the industry, you didn’t understand what I did when I was in commercial real estate. I remember, I was in the, in the research department of Cushman and Wakefield in the office. Like nobody understands what the heck that is, and what we did. And I totally remember overhearing my husband at the time talking to his mom saying no, no mom, office space, not outer space. So like, I’ve had jobs where nobody understood what I did. And now with my business, and with this venture, everyone in their mother has an opinion about what I’m doing, and what works. And so learning how to be great. Not you know, I’m not not saying some of his good ideas, there are people with great ideas. But it’s interesting to me. I’ve never been so inundated with people telling me I’m doing funny. Yeah. Yeah, like, and my favorite. And who said this magnet? Remember, he says me was someone who just really wanting to help me. We’re going to have a launch party. It’s delayed, thank you, state of Illinois. Thank you. I lost my facility. So it’s completely just like running a business. But it’s in the launch parties delayed. That’s fine. It’ll happen. And so I have all these people telling me Don’t do that. That’s not how you make money. I it’s, it’s it’ll make the money it’s supposed to make and it’s for celebration. And then I had somebody tell me, you have to have a gala, you absolutely have to have a gala. Because if you don’t have a fancy Gala, people won’t give more money. And my response was, my people don’t want to Gala. My people want to meet a turkey watcher. I happen to know one. I happen to know one, her name is Linda. And if you’re not careful, she will buy your shoes while you’re not watching. Oh, yeah, you can call. We’re getting her at the right. That’s my lunch party. You want to pet your man, I found a location that’s going to let me uh, food trucks and animals in the same place. Like it’d be different animals experience family friendly. We’ll worry about the gala later. But so that it’s Yeah, so I’m excited to continue

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] to at the end of the day, the lesson is, if you have something you’re passionate about, and you don’t put it out there, you have no idea what’s going to come back to you. And it might not be as big as what you expect. It might be bigger than you expect. But until you start to have those conversations you don’t know. And then I think the second part of that is being confident enough in this is what I want to do. And so knowing all of those things are going to come at you and being able to weed through them because you’re firmly based in your mission and vision. Right.

[Erin Marcus] Right, and having empathy you know, most listening but doesn’t want to how to do most people, right, exactly. Most people want to help. That’s great. totally great. They can come out of sloth meet a turkey vote. I love it. Totally fine. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s, it’s also going back to I think, going back to your earlier question, I don’t think it’s the fact that I’m a business owner. That has helped me I think it’s because of what I do for a living. Because I teach business building because I teach marketing be cuz I teach success mindset. That’s what’s helped me like, I know, you cannot think your way out of a problem, you can only act your way out of a problem. Like, I know that I teach that to people. I know that I, I know that half of what we’re doing won’t work. I already know that. I don’t know which half. But I know.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] Before we kind of put a little pretty bow on this is how because I think, as a marketer, myself, it’s hardest to take my own advice. And it’s hard to do the thing, like I find myself struggling to do the things I teach, because I’m just to insert whatever tired, exhausted, bored of it, don’t want to do it, whatever. So like, do you find it hard in this new phase of your business? Or this new adventure or adventure adventure? Important? To find it hard to take your own advice sometime? Or do you have to like sit yourself down and have a pep talk and be like Aaron, think about it, like focus, get your head in the game? Like, how do you do that?

[Erin Marcus] I think I surround myself with people who don’t give me a choice. I seriously do that you can’t do business. Your nonprofit, either one is not a solo adventure. And the gentleman you know, I think you when I first chatted with you today for introducing me to a gentleman I talked to yesterday, and this is what I told him and this is my advice for entrepreneurs, business owners, whether you’re running a nonprofit, so many people get into this, like do it all yourself thing. I was in corporate, if I would have gone down the hall into the IT department and started fussing with the network, I would have been chased out of if I would have gone into the finance department and said Here, let me log into the system and pay the bills this month, I would have gotten killed. Why as a business owner, am I doing things I suck at why once we make our own like, it’s fear, it’s scarcity, it doesn’t work. And it’s the same thing in my nonprofit, I have a team of people we meet I set myself up for obligations as accountability. Set yourself up with a team that you don’t want to disappoint. It’s kind of like hire a personal trainer that you had a little bit of a crush on, you’ll get to a better workout, right? Like it’s all set yourself up. To put the bumpers in your gutters and keep you on the path. Because motivation, ebbs and flows. Motivation ebbs and flows. That’s just normal. And fear, our subconscious will sneak up on us. And the fear will get in there and you won’t even see it coming. So set yourself up with a team that you don’t want to disappoint. I booked right in my business I’m writing a book you know what I did? I went and booked myself on a podcast for authors only better get my act together.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] By I think that’s so brilliant. And I think gosh, so many good things. This is why I love talking to you. So many good things in there just from like Yes, get your motivation, right. Yes, get your head right but then just surrounding yourself with the people that do the things that you don’t do. It think most people that come from corporate historically speaking, it might be different now I haven’t been in corporate in a long time. But it’s like you don’t want to surround yourself with people that know things you don’t because you have that fear that they’re going to call you out or then you don’t know something and then you’re not as valuable to the company but it’s like You’re stalling your growth. You’re stalling your ability to learn something new. And you’re just making your life a whole heck of a lot harder in the process.

[Erin Marcus] Making it Yeah, I think if I look back at what I’ve learned that’s made the biggest impact in my business. If you would list the top 20 things I had to learn to be a successful entrepreneur 19.5 of them were about who I was

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] going back to the mentorship you were talking about earlier

[Erin Marcus] Yeah, like anytime there is a fear go in the opposite direction. Like as fast as you can go in the opposite direction. embracing the fact that I don’t know a whole lot of stuff. It’s so freeing, like people’s I don’t touch things happen when I can’t make it work. Don’t know how doesn’t cooperate with me like, but I have someone who’s phenomenal. adduction don’t like it. So but here’s the thing, while you’re letting go of everything you don’t, aren’t good at all. Yeah, crap out of what you are good at. And I think that’s the problem. I think people just obsess over what they’re not good at and don’t want to show the weakness because they really don’t embrace

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] well, and that kind of mixes your scarcity mindset with that imposter syndrome, right? Like, if I really excel at what I’m good at, then somebody else might be better or am I as good as that person? Lucky, then you flip into a whole different form of poor self talk.

[Erin Marcus] Yeah. Like that’s, that’s why I said like, in my business, I work at the intersection where what you need to do me to you need to be to do it, because the plan doesn’t matter. If you can’t do the plan.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] Yep. Oh, my gosh, so good. I love all the tidbits that you say. So amazing. Well, Erin, we always wrap up every single episode with the same rapid fire questions, which are going to build on all the amazing things you already said. So are you ready for them?

[Erin Marcus] Okay, I am ready. Well, they’re nice.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] But they never ended up being rapid fire because the answers are just too good. So don’t feel pressure. It’s all good.

[Erin Marcus] Okay, where do you go for personal

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] development or personal learning?

[Erin Marcus] Where do I go? I have Oh, my God. That’s like all I do. I read a book a week. Maybe? I? Yeah, I have coaches. I absolutely have coaches. I have other entrepreneurs that are at my level or ahead of me that we call it the bat phone when we have to send up the bat signal like having a moment? I do. I put a whole lot of intentional effort to make sure I’m not the smartest first, do you

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] have a favorite book that you’ve read recently that you want to shout out that would that we could list in our resources that I read read totally putting you on the spot?

[Erin Marcus] You know, the one that I love the one that had a really big impact on? Not because I was already doing this, but it gave me a different perspective on it. Kelly Roach, who is actually one of my coaches, one of her books, and I just butcher the name greater than you. It’s either bigger than you greater than you. It’s about building a five star team and I so many so many entrepreneurs go into business because of the service they want to provide in the world. What if you looked at building a team? Yeah, as being of service? What if I created five I now have five people on my team creating their entrepreneurial dream job within my brand. How amazing is that? And now I don’t have to do it alone anymore. So that I like her perspective on why it’s important to have team other than bandwidth. Good.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] That’s good. Would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

[Erin Marcus] So I score I’m sure you’re shocked I score off the charts extrovert on a Myers Briggs. I need a lot of alone time. I love meeting like I’m tired in the afternoon. So I book conversations with people in the afternoon because I will always be happy doing that. But I have a lot of a load.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] I’m the same way. What is one thing on your goal list for this upcoming year either personal or professional. It’s one big thing you want to accomplish.

[Erin Marcus] But aside from the launch party,

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] aside from your turkey vulture not untying everybody’s weighed down the turkey vulture find a sense of humor and tie other people’s shoes to each other so that they trip and fall down.

[Erin Marcus] She when she will wait. You’re not looking at your shoes. Totally. Like don’t mind me over here giant huge bird. We can consider the

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] launch party one of your big goals. We don’t have to come up with another one.

[Erin Marcus] That’s one of my big goals. This year I my show here’s I’ll give you this answer and then I’ll tell you what they are. I’m done with the word goals. If they work for you, they work for you. It’s not like a we need different words. If they work for you, they work for you. But here’s my problem. I spent 30 some odd years powerlifting and competitively and bodybuilding. And in that world a goal is how much can I lift that’s more than I’ve ever lifted before the day of the competition and then not be able to do it the next day. So to me A goal is a inherently really hard to reach and be it’s an anomaly not a new normal. So I’m not using that word as much anymore. It comes out of my mouth because it is a normal word. So it’s like journal when I am putting in my goals quote unquote, it’ll cap it off with saying things I’m making happen. Yes, more of that. as this is happening now,

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] okay, so do you want? What do you want me? This year?

Erin Marcus 30:06
I want a million dollar business. I want to have dollars in my businesses.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] You can do it, you’re gonna do it. I have faith. I’m totally what is one piece of advice you’ve gotten from somebody that has really stuck with you

[Erin Marcus] so much. If fear is the only reason you’re not doing something, it’s not a good enough reason. Yeah. Step on the gas when everybody else is stepping on the brakes, same person, I

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] think those two go really well together because that’s when like amazing innovation like I think right now, we are primed for incredible innovation in all things because there’s so many people working from home right now or sitting at home. We’re recording this episode. In the middle of March, Facebook just announced another 10,000 People that are being late like you know, there’s so many things that are happening and instead of think the people that are going to come out of this and be extremely successful are those that took advice from those two things that you just said, and they’re going to create incredible innovation.

[Erin Marcus] Now is not the time to love

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] that I just got I just got like goosebumps. No, I love that. It’s so good. Okay, what is the non negotiable for you in your life? Besides hanging out with the squirrels sleeping and getting run over?

[Erin Marcus] Sleep Sleep? So much sleep required is so

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] are you a Napper or a bit early? Oh, I can’t nap. Okay,

[Erin Marcus] I can sleep. I can’t power 15 minutes that’s an issue with the hexagonal do for me. 15 minutes. I’m like Sunday football afternoon. Two and a half hours wake up thinking it’s Monday at three o’clock in the afternoon. That’s my speed. I need I need full night’s sleep. I cannot. And it’s so funny. My brothers the opposite. My brother’s one of those guys that even when we’re a kid for five hours, he’s fine. All the likes for decades. He’s fine. I can’t function in less than seven. I need 8%. And

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] you know, I will try to find the article. But I read an article recently that said that women just inherently genetically need more sleep than men. Because men bodies are better. Their brains are better at resting during the day than women’s because of hormones like just

[Erin Marcus] I could go well think about

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] something to do with just like our hormones and like, the way that our bodies operate that like our body just has so many more things going on internally that our brain doesn’t have time to rest during the day. So we require more sleep at night in general, then I’m the same way with you. I’m like, Can the kids go to bed at nine o’clock? Because it’s my bedtime?

[Erin Marcus] Not no two.

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] I think that’s great. And I think if we don’t sleep well, we don’t become very nice people.

Erin Marcus 33:14
No, I turned into a crabby toddler. I can’t handle being hungry. I can’t handle being cold. I can’t handle being tired. I don’t know I’m a puppy. I

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] love it. Well, Erin, I so appreciate all your insights, your thoughts, your messages to listeners. I enjoy every conversation that I have with you. We will link up everything that we talked about in the show notes, including Aaron, if people want to connect More about you learn more about your wildlife rescue. How do they do that?

[Erin Marcus] So right now, honestly, the business website is the exact place to go conquer your business. It’s just conquer your business.com. And as soon as everything’s launched for Riley’s fund, that will be up as well. And then all of it. Well,

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. I could talk to Erin all day. I always love her insights, her approach to business, her real talk, because I think it’s important and something that we really need, we really need to think about what we want, what we care about who we are, how we’re showing up and just be real with ourselves. I think that that’s critically important and I love every time I talk to her because she just brings it all back to me brings it all top of mind. And so I hope that she did the same for you. If you want to check out the information, resources and all of the links to get a hold of Erin you can do that at https://easystylewithsami.com/12. All the show notes will be there, the YouTube video all of the things so you can catch up with her and dive deeper. For now, thank you so much for listening to this episode. Make sure you Follow us wherever you listen SUBSCRIBE And leave us a review so that we can get in front of more people with this podcast I have so much fun doing it and thank you for being a listener for now I can’t wait to see you in the next one