Expand Your Fempire Podcast #31 Transcript

No Excuses with Edward L. Moore

Welcome to Expand your Fempire with Caterina Rando, the podcast for women in business on a mission. Sharing ideas to support you to grow and thrive. Now here’s your host, Caterina Rando.

Caterina Rando: [00:00:00] Everybody welcome back. So happy to be with you again. And today I am so excited because I have a very special guest. Somebody who is the only gentleman who merits being a part of our Thriving Women in Business Community. Because not only is he awesome and amazing, he’s kind, gracious, generous, operates with integrity. Hits all the boxes that we look for in our Thriving Women in Business Community.

[00:00:58] And I met Edward Moore, mmm, I guess Eddie’s been a couple of years now that we’ve been friends.

[00:01:05] Edward Moore: Yeah.

[00:01:06] Caterina Rando: We were both speaking at a conference for a large corporation. And I thought to myself, you know, “Why am I even going to this conference?” Because I don’t really work with people that have J.O.B.s.

[00:01:19] But I thought, “I’m going to go. They invited me to speak, so I’m going to go. And hopefully it will be a great day.” And it was an amazing day because I met my friend Eddie. And Eddie was the keynote speaker. He did a great job. And so, we started talking speaking after, and we’re still talking speaking.

[00:01:42] And Eddie is the author of the book, “No Excuses,” which is a great book. I highly recommend everyone read it. I have read it myself. And also, Eddie runs groups now, but he didn’t run groups until after he met me. Cause I told him, “where’s your workshop and where’s your group.” So, he’ll tell you about that.

[00:02:00] And now he’s transforming lives with his groups and that’s something that really, I wanted to focus on with everybody today, is the power of groups.

[00:02:09] Eddie, that’s my quick report on how we met and why we get to hang out and be friends and work together. Why don’t you give him your story?

[00:02:20] Edward Moore: Well, again, my name is Edward Moore. I’m a speaker, an author, and a coach. I had the privilege of meeting Catarina, like she said, a couple of years ago.

[00:02:32] And our relationship blossomed. You know, I feel so honored because she doesn’t work with other guys and I just feel like she was sent to me from up above and we just had a kindred spirit. She took a liking to me and has coached me and has poured into me in ways that I am eternally grateful for. All of the things that she has done [00:03:00] and has been in my life has allowed me to scale my business to where it is now, to where I’m actually leaving my J.O.B. to pursue what I’m doing full time.

[00:03:10] And so I’m kind of like…

[00:03:12] Caterina Rando: Yay!

[00:03:12] Edward Moore: Yes, yes. I’m eternally grateful.

[00:03:16] Caterina Rando: And so when I met Eddie, he was keynote speaker, and he is a very talented keynote speaker. I want to share though, what I said to Eddie, which I want to say to everybody, because everybody thinks, “Hey, I want to be a speaker. So, I’m going to be a motivational speaker and let me get paid big money to go speak.”

[00:03:35] And yes, it’s always very nice when somebody gives you a big check to give a speech. What I said to Eddie though, is I said, after his speech, I said, “Well, when’s your workshop?” And Eddie, what did you say?

[00:03:51] Edward Moore: “I don’t have one”

[00:03:52] Caterina Rando: And then I said to Eddie, I said, “Yeah, my friend, you do have a workshop and it’s in about three weeks and it’s going to be about three hours long.” And then Eddie said, “Well, what’s it called?” And I said, “Well, it’s called whatever your book is called. Which is ‘No Excuses.'” Eddie, you want to say a little bit about that?

[00:04:12] Edward Moore: Yeah, that was an interesting experience, but has proved to be one of the best experiences in my life because you stretched me in ways that I hadn’t been. I probably would just now be getting ready to start a workshop.  I was speaking at a small seminar and you said, “Well what’s your offer?”

[00:04:28] “Um,” I said, “Caterina I don’t have a workshop!” You said, “My friend, you need to have a workshop.” I said, “so when am I going to tell them my workshop is?” You said, “in two weeks.”  I said, “okay.” I said, “I don’t even have one ready.” You said, “My friend, if you go up there and you make an offer and people sign up, you’ll figure out a way to get it done.”

[00:04:52] And that’s exactly what happened. I went up there, I made an offer, 20 people signed up. I said, “Oh shoot. I guess I better get a workout together.” Then I tried to back out of the workshop to say “Caterina, I don’t, I don’t know if I’m ready. And she said, “Absolutely, absolutely you’re ready. You’re not going to back out.”

[00:05:08] And I did it. And it’s since led to opportunities to coach, speak, and so many other things.

[00:05:16] Caterina Rando: Right. And let’s tell them the next part, because at your workshop, then I said to you, “Well, when’s your group program?” What did you say to me?

[00:05:25] Edward Moore: “Caterina I don’t have a group program!”

[00:05:28] Caterina Rando: I said, “Yes, you do my friend. And it starts about three weeks after your workshop.” And that was how many cohorts, how many group programs back is that now? Now it’s about four group programs back, right?

[00:05:40] Edward Moore: No, no we’re going into cohort eight now! 

[00:05:41] Caterina Rando: Oh my gosh. You’ve done eight group programs since then! Bing bing bing!

[00:05:48] Edward Moore: Yeah, we’re going into cohort eight now!

[00:05:48] Caterina Rando: I love to talk to Eddie about this and I wanted Eddie to share about this to all of you, because what I love about it is that he was willing to be uncomfortable. He was willing to take a leap.

[00:06:00] And the thing is that, like all of you, he already had massive value to bring. He just hadn’t done it yet. And so, there was some trepidation about that. But of course, he could do it with one eye closed and one hand tied behind his back, because he already had the material from his amazing book and he already has had a ton of experience. And really, he’s worked professionally as a life coach for years and has massive value to bring.

[00:06:31] Eddie I want to ask you for our listeners, what did you learn about yourself in being willing to go for it with your workshop and your group programs?

I learned everything that you want is on the other side of your fear. In allowing yourself to become uncomfortable,  getting out of your comfort zone is where everything that you desire is at. -Edward L. Moore

[00:06:45] Edward Moore: I learned everything that you want is on the other side of your fear. In allowing yourself to become uncomfortable,  getting out of your comfort zone is where everything that you desire is at. And so to be stressed in that kind of way, it’s stretched me.

[00:07:02] It stretched me to create that four-hour workshop in two weeks, while doing a full-time J.O.B., amongst other things. But at the end of it, I affirmed some things about myself. I can do this. I absolutely can do this and I can do more.

[00:07:19] And then I started to identify that I was only helping people take action, the initial stages of taking action. But I needed to show them what to do at each phase of taking action. And it helped me create a whole ‘nother methodology. Both of those things stretched me to where now, when I go to do something, or create content, or create lesson plans from our group coaching participants, it’s easy because I’ve been stretched.

[00:07:46] Caterina Rando: Beautiful. And you know what it’s like, that’s for sure. Which is what we all have to do to get where we want to go. And absolutely, whatever we want is on the other side of fear. It’s on the other side of being uncomfortable. That’s beautiful.

[00:07:59] And Eddie, now you’re moving towards leaving your J.O.B. And it’s a good J.O.B. that you’re leaving, but you’ve got so much more that you want to do with your own business. With your cohorts. With your speaking. And I’m sure you’re working on another book, too. And how is that for you? Did you make a freedom date? Did you set a date. How’s your transition going from, “I don’t know how I’m going to leave this job to I’m on my way out?”

[00:08:27] Edward Moore: Well, you know the thing about it is, I’m noticing everything is about that leap of faith, right? You know, like you always say, so many times we spend time getting ready to get ready. And the thing about it is this, if I could share my personal experience…

[00:08:43] Caterina Rando: Please, please do Eddie.

[00:08:44] Edward Moore: I took some time off work September 3rd to get my toe in the pool, if you will. And in doing so, I did a masterclass on September 5th, two days later, I got 90% conversion.

[00:08:57] Caterina Rando: That’s great!

[00:08:57] Edward Moore: Yes, these are unheard of numbers. Then I did another master class the following week because some of the clients asked me to do it again. And I got about 75% conversion. And so, between September and October, I gained about 25 clients, right? That’s a testament to stepping out on faith. I was able to totally revamp my program and make it to what it is today, where I’m very, very proud of it, but that happened as a result.

[00:09:28] And so it’s less about me, but more about the moral of the story, which is when you step out on faith, amazing things have happened.

[00:09:37] Caterina Rando: Well, you’re stepping out on faith. You’re also fully engaged.  You’re fully engaging. You know, you’re not holding onto the hand railing, if I could say it that way. You’re all in, you’re speaking, you’re inviting them to be with you in your group, you’re doing your follow-up sales conversations to get them in the door. Is that right?

[00:09:58] Edward Moore: Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:10:00] Caterina Rando: Okay, good. And I want to ask you, in addition to taking the leap with faith, what else have you learned about yourself that has supported you in moving towards living your dream of working full-time in your own business?

[00:10:15] Edward Moore: Well, it’s absolutely about being an action taker. You know, anything that you tell me to do. From the first time you told me to do something and it was out of my comfort zone, I trusted you. I looked at the results in your life and what you’re able to do, what you’re able to accomplish. And I trusted you. And it was very successful.

You know what? A lot of times I’m scared. But I do it scared anyway. I’m more scared of staying where I’ve been… Edward L. More

[00:10:35] And since then, every time you asked me to do something, or you pushed me, or you challenged me, and you tell me to do something, I don’t even second guess it. You know what? A lot of times I’m scared. But I do it scared anyway. I’m more scared of staying where I’ve been and so, you know, I trust what you tell me and everything that you’ve told me has been a success.

[00:10:57] Caterina Rando: That’s beautiful. Well, I love any, what you just said about, you know, Hey, I’m more scared to stay where I am than to be uncomfortable to move towards where I want to go. And I think that’s something that people don’t think about a lot. That’s really important. Look, if you’re not willing to be uncomfortable, you’re not going to get where you want to go.

[00:11:17] And Eddie, let’s back up a little bit. Let’s go to before I had the privilege of meeting you. Because you know, I think sometimes people think “Well, you know, okay, Caterina, Eddie, that’s fine for you. You guys are good speakers. ” Let’s introduce a little bit about your history. Because they don’t know, and people think that you’ve always been a successful, amazing speaker with all these great skills. Are you up for giving them a little backstory?

[00:11:45] Edward Moore:  Sure, sure. I grew up in San Francisco and you know, my life wasn’t a reflection of what it is now. I grew up in the Fillmore district of San Francisco, and I had a lot of rough experiences growing up. From a mother that was a substance abuser for many years, until she took her last breath.  My own run-ins with being in the community and making decisions that were less than they should have been, had I had guidance. I was formerly incarcerated. And I got into a lot of trouble earlier in my life.

[00:12:20] And about the age of 24 years old, my life started to transition. Ironically, I went to jail for an offense that I did not commit. And while in the program, inside of custody, I learned some information that helped me transform my life. And they say success is not having all the money in the world but seizing an opportunity when it presents itself. And I saw an opportunity to change my life. And I started to do that.

[00:12:48] And within a year’s time, I was working in the same facility that I was formerly an inmate in. And I started a career in social services. I did that for many years, even up through recently when I was doing as a life coach for the city of Oakland. But it’s been a lot of challenges. It’s been a lot of challenges. But you know, there’s always been a force that’s continued to move me forward and I’m thankful for that force in my life.

[00:13:14] Caterina Rando: Eddie, one of the things that I appreciate about you, I will say, one thing I appreciate is that you do what I tell you to do. So that’s always very gratifying. Because there’s nothing worse than working with people that you want for them so much. And you see the vision for them, but they don’t take action. So, I applaud you for being an action taker.

[00:13:36] And I like to say to the ladies in our community that you want to be a woman of action. In your case, a man of action, to create what you want. Your willingness to be uncomfortable.

[00:13:48] But the other thing is that you are, I would call it, highly coachable. And that, that is also a skill that I think is very important. I think a lot of people think that they know it all. They’ve tried it all. That might work for you, it’s not going to work for me. And then they stay stuck.

[00:14:06] Would you say that that’s something that has been helpful for you for moving your life forward?

[00:14:13] Edward Moore: Oh, absolutely. And that’s something that I’m trying to impart to my clients too, right. That it’s not something that I’m just telling them to do. It’s something that I practice in my own life. We have to understand this. If you could do it, or you had the ability to do it yourself, you would have done it already. And so, the first step of growth is acknowledgement and humility to say, you know what, “maybe I need a coach in that area.”

[00:14:38] If there’s a coach and they don’t have a coach, that’s a problem. That’s like, you’re my coach, but you have a coach, right?

[00:14:45] Caterina Rando: Right 

[00:14:46] Edward Moore: I am thankful that I’m humble enough to admit the areas where I could use some growth and I’m absolutely open to learning and listening to somebody that is already where I desire to be. And that is proved to help me move expediently over the last couple of years.

[00:15:06] Caterina Rando: That’s beautiful because you have definitely moved expediently over the last couple of years, Eddie. Eight groups, you are on your eighth group. That’s wonderful. And so how is it for you to leave, I’ll call it the safety net? Because this is something, I’ve never really had a professional job. I’ve been an entrepreneur forever. 

[00:15:26] And I used to scoop ice cream. I got fired from that job for giving away too much ice cream, but I thought it was public relations. They thought it was giving away ice cream. So, I didn’t last very long there. But my question to you is how is it? Cause I have no idea. What’s it like to leave the safety net of a J.O.B.?

[00:15:48] Edward Moore: Well, of course there are some apprehensions and some concerns about doing it, but I am absolutely settled in my resolve that I am absolutely making the right decision. You know, towards the end of it, I think the reason why I was experiencing so much anxiety is because I was in a space that I had outgrown. And now it’s time for me to serve in a different capacity.

[00:16:14] You see the difference between working for somebody else and working for yourself is when I’m working on my own projects, I’m never tired. I always feel good about it. Thoughts are always coming. And so, I just know even though there may be a, a shift and some adjustments that need to be made, I’m absolutely certain that I’m making the right decision.

[00:16:34] Caterina Rando: Beautiful. And so, I know that some of the people that you work with, they have J.O.B.S. And I know that some of the ladies that I work with, they’re wanting to transition like you to full-time doing their own thing. What advice do you have for them? Because this is definitely outside my scope because I have never really had been in a place where I had a good full-time J.O.B.

[00:17:00] Edward Moore: I think there’s a duality there. I think number one, you need to really begin to be introspective, really intuitively. I think one of the biggest problems we face as a people is when we’re not honest with ourselves about things.

[00:17:14] And some of us know that we have outgrown situations and or people but choose to stay in those situations out of fear. And so, I think, you know, you want to look at what is your transition like? And like you told me, start preparing for that. That’s not something that I just did initially. I started preparing for it.

[00:17:36] But the second thing is, had I never took the time off to experience what I have experienced since I’ve been off and I’ve been doing my business full time, I don’t think I would’ve made the leap and I would’ve been stuck for years. So, there’s going to come a time where you have to make the dump. For me spiritually, I knew it was the time.

[00:17:56] Caterina Rando: It’s very important for people to hear that. Because I say to people all the time, Eddie, a leap is required, you know? A leap is required. Sometimes people want to work with you or work with me and they feel the financial commitment is a little bit bigger than they can manage.

[00:18:14] And I tell them, a leap is required. It’s not going to be smooth sailing to get from where you are to where you want to be. That it’s going to require more work, extra work. Maybe some longer days or some weekends. You know, yes, we want to get to the place where we have total time and money freedom. But if you’re not there yet, then you’ve got to keep working it so that you can get there.

[00:18:39] Edward Moore: Yeah, I heard somebody, I think it was Tony Gaskins, something about your dream and your job. Like you have to work your job until your dream becomes your job.

[00:18:48] And so it’s about balancing the two, and it’s about actually preparing. A good friend of mine often used to say, don’t let your dreams die in a cubicle.

[00:18:58] Caterina Rando: Exactly. And you know, it is really about action. It is about willing to be uncomfortable, taking action over and over and over so that you can get from where you are to where you want to be. Eddie, do you want to share a couple of super tips about getting over your excuses?

[00:19:14] Edward Moore: Well, if there’s any area in your life in particular that you are struggling, and let me say this… A lot of times excuses are valid reasons. Let me be the first to validate that. A lot of the excuses that you have, they may be valid.

[00:19:30] But if you want to be a result-oriented person, you have to understand this: is that people that are result-oriented, only care about results. And while you may have valid reasons for why you didn’t do this, or you didn’t do that, the end result is that you didn’t do what you aspire to do.

[00:19:50] Now a lot of people feel good to have a valid reason to absolve them of the responsibility of why they didn’t get done what they aspire to get done. But the thing about it is this, as you still haven’t gotten it done.

[00:20:04] And so if you want to remove excuses from any area of your life, there are only four things that you have to do. And I promise you, if you do these four things, I’ll say this with all certainty, that you will be a result-oriented, action-taking, successful individual.

[00:20:23] And it’s something that I’ve dubbed “The four A’s.” And the four A’s is number one, you have to acknowledge the areas that you’ve been making excuses. Before you can move forward, before you can do anything, you have to be real with yourself. Uh huh. Yup. I am lazy. You know what? I have been slacking, and just be honest with yourself.

[00:20:44] The second thing that you have to do is take complete and utter accountability for the outcomes that you desire. You have to be willing to do whatever is required to get there. I don’t care if financial [00:21:00] resources are barriers, I don’t care if you don’t have the support, you have to take complete accountability for doing what is required to get to your goal.

[00:21:08] The third thing, and this is what you’ve always pushed me on, Caterina, is you have to take action. We got to stop getting ready to get ready. You gotta get in the game. You got to take some action.

[00:21:18] And the last one, this one is particularly relevant with COVID. The last A is adaptability or resilience. And the thing about it is – it’s not if, but when, the challenges of life come to knock you off your square, you need to be prepared to make the necessary pivots and adjustments to be able to move forward.

[00:21:39] And if you do those four things, no excuse will stop you from getting where you want to be.

[00:21:45] Caterina Rando: That’s right. Eddie, I want to tell you that I loved being in your group when I was in one of your cohorts, that you are very inspiring teacher and that we want to bring both education, inspiration, motivation, and facilitate transformation in our groups. And you do a great job of that.

[00:22:07] Also you’re a great community builder, which, you know, I value community very, very much. And I know that told you this before, and I’ll say it again. It’s going to be, “I knew you when” because your star is shooting, and it will continue to shoot even higher.

[00:22:24] Thank you, Eddie so much for being with me today, here for this conversation and we’ll do it again soon. Okay?

[00:22:31] Edward Moore: Okay.

[00:22:32] Caterina Rando: All right, good. Thanks everybody.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Expand Your Fempire with Caterina Rando.