Exits, Empowerment, and the One Thing Entrepreneurs Crave: Meet Stacey Lauren, Host of the Do The Thing Podcast

When you’re a broke college student, you get ideas. 

Ideas about what you can do during the summer to help pay for the next semester. Ideas like going up to Alaska to scale fish. Or selling books door-to-door in Michigan and Iowa. 

For Stacey, one of those became the best decision of her life until then. 

Door after door, she knocked. Sometimes they’d open and she’d launch into her spiel real quick-like, before they could slam it in her face. Sometimes they left it open long enough to tell her to beat feet. And sometimes, they’d buy.

Maybe it was a sun stroke, or maybe just the unique way her brain processes stuff. But she was hooked on business from that moment onward. All that time outdoors gave Stacey a gift that would change everything. 

If you need or want to build an audience (and the correct answer here is, “YES, I want that!”), you’re about to have your mind blown in the next couple of minutes.

In this edition of Entrepreneurs Gone Wild, you'll meet Stacey Lauren, who’s helped hundreds of people to stretch past their comfort zones and do the thing they’ve been wanting to do. Plus, you won’t believe how she’s built a crazy-engaged community.

Plus, if you ever suffer from Mean Brain, this 17 second practice will put you in a much better place. Will you try it?

And some cool discoveries you’ll enjoy.

It’s all here for you, Dear Wildlings <3

For a few reasons, Stacey Lauren is one of my heroes. 

She’s crazy brave. Like, on-camera street interviews-in-a-foreign-country brave. Or, standup comedy brave. So it didn’t surprise me at all that she’d done door-to-door sales in college. 

And she kinda liked it. 

“But you’re never going to see them again!” they say. While a logical mindset, it still sounds incredibly scary. Way, way, wayyyyyyy outside the ole comfort zone.

That’s where Stacey plays. She’s one of those people who not only makes stretching your comfort zone sound safe and smart, but who also makes it shockingly fun. Stacey has uncovered a formula that has helped people do all kinds of stuff outside their comfort zone. Like her, some are using this formula to build INSANELY engaged and monetized communities (it’s bolded, it’s all caps… it’s still understated).

But long before the formula, long before the online community building, for Stacey, there was darkness. 

CAN I CALL YOU A WAAMBULANCE?

It was a darkness most people would not understand. Most, actually, would scoff. “Waaaaaa, my diamond shoes are too tight,” they’d mock. 

See, for a couple of decades, Stacey was the co-founder of a staffing company. It did well. Really well. And then she sold her half of the business. 

Suddenly, there was a nice exit paycheck, but she was lost. There was no more team. No more clients. No more hearing how she’d helped people. No more sense of being needed at work… or even needing to work.

It’s a thing. 

Stacey did what she does. She surrounded herself with a small group of people who’d understand. Went kayaking, bicycling, enjoying the eternal springtime that is San Diego. While she was out there, an idea hit her: She’d write a book about people stretching past their comfort zone to do the thing that they’ve always wanted to do. 

“Love the idea. Hope you won’t do it… yet.” That’s the gist of the guidance an advisor told Stacey. Instead of diving in all willy-nilly and writing this book the hard way, what if she started interviewing people? What if she started seeing patterns in the stories of these people who did the thing? 

So, she did. And she did. Stacey started the Do The Thing Podcast. She interviewed people who were creating massive change in their lives, starting a business, changing jobs, asking for a promotion, traveling the world, starting a new hobby, filing for divorce, starting to date again, becoming a community leader, going back to school… making an impact.

STACEY’S GREAT AT CONNECTING DOTS
(AND PEOPLE) 

About a dozen or so interviews in, the Do The Thing Formula showed itself as a recurring character in these stories of personal triumph. It’s spelled: I’M GAME:

If you were to take the more than 200 interviews Stacey’s done so far and dissect exactly how people have done all these remarkable things, it boils down to I’M GAME. 

Cool. But when Stacey figured out how to turn this all into a way to help people do their thing, things got really interesting. She got inspired by Alicia Reynoso (Of Impact) to create a Challenge for her growing Facebook group. She’d never done this before. It was messy. But the crowd went wild, and the next time, she hired Alicia to help her make it better. Stacey’s people have done Challenges that got them dating again, starting podcasts, holding 2-hour cocktail parties, starting a book, getting fit, and the one a few of us are in right now… finding your voice.

BUT DID YOU DIE? #DOTHETHING

“I dare you.” Might be all those childhood games of Truth or Dare talking, but when someone dares you to do something - especially if it’s something you already kinda wanna do - now you really want to do it.

Now it’s fun. Whatever it is, it’s clearly a crazy thing to do. But now that you think about it, what’s the worst thing that could happen? 

Stacey uses a series of dares to nudge her Challenge participants to do the thing they’ve been toying with forever. It’s like putting peer pressure to work for you, giving yourself that little extra push to do something that’s going to leapfrog you way ahead of where you started. 

It’s fun. Ridiculously fun. It works, too. People in Stacey’s Challenges are blowing way past the confines of their comfort zones - and loving every minute of the journey. When you’re in one of Stacey’s programs, you’ll be amazed by watching how the group dynamics go. These people are truly rooting for each other. They’re making friends, like exchanging contact info and everything, for real. They’re feeling a whole new level of confidence. They’re changing their lives, their families, their communities. It’s really something to behold.

SOLVING THE #1 PROBLEM BRAND BUILDING ENTREPRENEURS FACE

Here Stacey was helping all these people do the thing they’ve wanted to do. That’s the prize her eyes were on. 

That’s also when she realized she’d created something many entrepreneurs have their eyes on - a system for building a hyper-engaged community that grows while you sleep. One you can monetize. One you can count on buying when you create a product for them. One that will provide all the marketing content you could ever need.

We’ve all had it drummed into our heads: to succeed, you must build or borrow an audience to serve. Stacey has cracked this code, creating a system that not only builds a community but nurtures it into an engaged, loyal audience. This isn't just about numbers; it's about forming a connection so strong, your audience becomes your biggest advocate.

And now, Stacey is ready to share her secrets with the world through her Audience Accelerator program. This isn't just another course. It's a transformational journey, guiding you to build your own community, just like Stacey did. A community that's not only engaged but also monetizable. A community that grows organically, providing you with endless marketing content and a loyal customer base.

But here's the catch: the doors to the Audience Accelerator don’t just swing open to anyone. Stacey is looking for passionate, driven individuals ready to take that leap. If you're nodding along, thinking, 'That's me,' then there's one place you need to be: Stacey's Facebook community. 

When it comes to building an audience you will LOVE serving? This is the way.

17 Seconds to a More Resourceful, Happier Brain

It starts with playing a game called “What if?”

Oh. You already play that on the deep dark nights when your brain goes into overdrive, fueled by anxiety? 

No. Not that game. 

In fact, the results of this version are exactly the opposite of the anxious version. 

It’s simple. 

Before you head out the door for some  time outdoors, ask. “What if everything works out great?” 

Then start your walk. Pick one challenge you’re facing and ask the question again, relative to that challenge. Let your brain play with that a bit, reformulating the question over and over, but following one simple rule: only outcomes you’d love to create. 

It’s shockingly effective at soothing a savage brain. 

Why’s it work?

Your brain’s B.S. detector is relentless. If you TELL yourself that X situation will work out great, your brain hands you it’s beer and says, “Challenge accepted,” before dissecting the situation and producing a long list of reasons it will not, in fact, be fine. And you’re probably gonna die. 

But your brain can’t argue with a question. 

Sneaky? Yup. But effective. 

Try it out for yourself. 

I play this game every single day. 

Got this one from Jessica, my primary writing partner at Triumph Communications, the content agency I started in 2005. We’ve a deal going on client case studies through the end of the year. Just reply if you’d like to about chat content for your business. 

This Week’s Goodies

• Move over, white, pink, and brown… it’s green’s turn. Green noise will help you sleep like a baby. In a turkey coma. Covered with a blankie. In a hammock, gently rocked by an alpaca. 
  

• UP for a hike after your turkey coma next week? Way, way up, that is? Check out these suspended hikes. Don’t look down.
  

• Check out Vickie Nevins’ podcast, Badass Women and Those In Training. I poured my heart out about Idyllwild Woods and why hubby and I are all-in on building this retreat center for our favorite people on the planet… entrepreneurs. Check it out here - you’ll enjoy it!
  

• Ready to share YOUR story? If you’re an entrepreneur who uses time outdoors to get your best ideas and soothe your soul, come tell your story! Book your interview here!

No newsletter next Friday - hoping you’ll spend as much time as you can outside with family, friends, furry babies, or just solo. I’m awfully thankful you’re here. 

When we’re back the following week, I’ll introduce you to an entrepreneur who can help you boost your creativity, sleep better, and make more money by making just a few simple tweaks to your life.