As The Leader Grows with Ken Joslin
As The Leader Grows with Ken Joslin
Allison Maslan | Transformative Leadership
What if a life-altering event could redefine your approach to business and success? Join us as Allison Maslan, the inspiring CEO of Pinnacle Global Network and bestselling author, shares her story of transformation following a dramatic wake-up call. In a candid discussion, Allison opens up about her rise from managing high-profile clients like Ben and Jerry's to the profound changes that reshaped her leadership philosophy after a significant car accident. As she recounts her journey, Allison emphasizes the deep power of self-awareness, personal accountability, and a visionary mindset in overcoming hurdles and achieving sustainable success.
Allison also reveals how personal development, visualization, and meditation have been pivotal in her personal and professional evolution. Discover how she continues to expand her horizons with her team's global ventures and the creative rejuvenation she experiences in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Whether you're an entrepreneur seeking growth or a seasoned leader aiming for renewal, this episode is brimming with insights on embracing your potential and igniting change. Tune in to learn from Allison's experiences and gather practical strategies to leap over growth plateaus and chart new paths toward success.
Welcome to the ATLG podcast I am your host Ken Joslin, former pastor turned coach & host of CREATE, the #1 Faith-based Entrepreneur conference in America. My mission is to help faith-based entrepreneurs become the best version of themselves by growing in our Core 5: Faith, Health, Relationships, Business & Finances. You can get more information as well as join our FREE Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/676347099851525
If you enjoyed the podcast, come join our FREE GSD Community of hundreds of entrepreneurs & a ton of FREE Content including CREATE Conference recordings with Ken, John Maxwell, Gary Brecka, Ed Mylett & more. growstackdrive.com/free
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of as the Leader Grows. I am your host, ken Jocelyn. I've got an unbelievable guest for you guys today. She is a friend of one of my really good friends, randy Garn. She's a CEO of Pinnacle Global Network. She is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of a book called Scale to Fail and she is the go-to chick in America to scale your business.
Speaker 2:Allison, how you?
Speaker 1:doing girl.
Speaker 2:Oh, Ken, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:I'm pumped. Hey, take a minute and tell I mean, obviously I read your little bio. Take a minute and tell our audience a little bit about Allison, where you're at and just what you're really passionate about.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, ken, I have been a business owner for over 40 years, which I can't believe it. It seems like a whirlwind. I'm running my 10th company now for the past 16 years, which is called Pinnacle Global Network, and we mentor CEOs all over the world to grow and scale their company. I'm a mom, I have been married for 18 years to my soulmate and I'm just grateful to really be on purpose and be on my path, which is about paying it forward, really taking all the lessons from all of these past businesses and decades and sharing it with others to hopefully make the road easier for them, get them to where they want to go a little bit faster.
Speaker 1:I love that. So Scale or Fail is the Wall Street bestselling book that you authored in the last couple of years, because I actually got a copy from Randy. It's on my bookshelf. In that book, you worked with and dealt with a lot of C-level executives. What do you say is the number one thing you see across the board, or is there a number one thing that the majority of that level of leaders really needs to focus on and work on in their life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, we're often thinking externally what we want to create in our lives, and that's normal. That's what we do as human beings, but we're usually the ones that are in our own way. And I think when you can get to the point that you recognize that, that is the biggest hurdle is having that awareness right, once you start taking responsibility as a leader, that everything around you, everything that you're creating, starts with you, and that's actually very freeing. I think sometimes people feel that when they take responsibility, that means letting other people off the hook, but I truly believe, and once I really got this in my early 30s, when I took full responsibility for everything happening in my life, everything happening in my business, it was the most freeing thing, because I get to choose.
Speaker 2:I get to make a decision on my thoughts and my actions and, ultimately, those outcomes In that process for you.
Speaker 1:Allison, do you remember what some of the steps that you navigated to get to the point to where you really could look in the mirror and be okay with? Hey, it's up to you. As Dave Ramsey says, my worst enemy is a guy I shave with in the mirror every day, like it. What? What led you to going? Listen, everything is. John Maxwell says, rises and falls with leadership. It's me, it's not anybody else. What? What led to that discovery for you?
Speaker 2:It was a lot of hard knocks, ken. You know it's kind of like you keep hitting that same wall, you keep getting hit over the head with a hammer and either you're going to finally go okay, I've got to make a different choice because I keep getting this outcome, you know or nothing's really going to change and I think it's that choice point.
Speaker 2:You know, in my first business I had a PR firm, a full service advertising agency. I started in business when I was 19. So by the time I was 25, I had clients like Ben and Jerry's and Supercuts and Charlotte Roos and Allstate, and I was young and there were not a lot of women entrepreneurs in that time, as many as there are now, which is wonderful. I was making money, I was traveling all over the place, but I didn't know how to scale a business and it started growing bigger than me, bigger than my leadership, and I felt like I had to have my hands on everything. I was kind of like that control freak and things started crumbling around me. I got depressed, I felt trapped in my own success. I was beyond exhausted and I ended up.
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, I didn't know what to do because I was afraid I had a lot of people depending on me and I thought you know, if I make a change, what if I can't recreate this success?
Speaker 2:You know, all of the head trip that we go through it just kept me spinning. I started having panic attacks, you know, on Sunday, just thinking about Monday and the pressure of it all, and I think the universe, just you know, god, said you know she's not getting this, we're hitting her over the head with the hammer and she's not getting this. So it was that wake-up call and for me it was this car accident I had from the exhaustion, from the stress, and it was a miracle that I survived this. And coming out of that, I knew I had to make a decision, because my thought was do you want to be in the same place a year from now or 10 years from now? And I knew that scared the heck out of me and so I loved business, but I thought, if this is success, I don't want it. It has to look completely different.
Speaker 1:So the car accident was the tipping point for you when you went. It's almost like a reset.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Like here's a reset, I've got a reset. Now what am I going to do with this reset? And walk me through the time after that car accident. How did you begin to? Because obviously it's a mindset issue. It's always mindset.
Speaker 2:You know I.
Speaker 1:I. One of my five affirmations is I will live a life where my heart, my head and my relationships are in alignment, because my heart's where I dream, it's where I can paint the board and we can paint great pictures. But my mindset, my head, is where my mindset's located and if I've got limiting beliefs and I struggle with things like what you just said, like I'm a control freak, I don't want anybody else to do anything, my vision and dreams are going to trip over my mindset. And literally the Bible says hope deferred makes a heart sick and we lose hope in. Can we do it? And you said it just a minute ago. You said can I recreate this? Yes, can I do this again? What were some of the things that after that kind of aha moment for you, what were some of the things you began to change and what were some of the? Okay, I'm on the right track.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you said it. My heart was screaming out for a change and to reclaim my life. The business was running me instead of me running it, and my daughter was little and I felt like I was missing that time with her and my marriage was falling apart. At the time it was like everything was pushing me into this new level and sometimes our head actually can get in the way, like you said, those limiting beliefs. I started questioning myself, my capability and you know what will people think. And my heart was screaming go, make the change. And so there was that battle going on.
Speaker 2:But after the car accident it was like okay, this is life or death here and you have a whole life ahead of you. So what are you going to choose? And so I walked away from that business and I had a lot of people remember it was very successful saying what are you doing, allison? Are you crazy? You're going to really regret this. And so it was really the first time in my life that I took myself back and it was very empowering for me. And then I had to make the decision, the clear decision, of what was I going to do, moving forward, and for me, I knew I began to look at the client side that I had that had thousands of employees, and to understand how was it that they were able to grow these big companies? And the business owner, the CEO, wasn't standing over everybody like an orchestra leader. What were the systems, processes and leadership? How were they building leadership around them? And that became a mission for me to figure that out. And then I went on to build nine more companies from there.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you a question. When you said I walked away, everybody said I was crazy. What were some of the things you kept telling yourself through that process to get you through that?
Speaker 2:Honestly, it fueled me further and probably wasn't the healthiest thought, but it was more like I will show them and I also knew that I was meant for something bigger. There was a piece of my heart. I didn't know how I was going to get there.
Speaker 1:I didn't know.
Speaker 2:I didn't have those answers, but I knew that I just need to keep walking forward. Keep walking forward. And if I was, was to plug into the negativity around me. And these people didn't mean harm, they love me, they cared about me. But they had their own fear coming up and sometimes their fear. You know, when people start to criticize, it's really their fear projected onto you, and so I knew if I tapped into that it would throw me off my course and I'd already been down that road.
Speaker 1:What would you say to an entrepreneur listening to this podcast today? Because I love what you said just a minute ago. The talk kind of fired you up a little bit, gave you a little fire in your belly, but the words you said I knew I was meant to do this. What would you say to entrepreneurs? Um, two different, I'm gonna ask you two different questions. What would you say to encourage entrepreneurs who are in that position right now, who are in the position of, I know God's put something inside of me for me to be able to do? What would you say to encourage them? The inside of me for me to be able to do? What would you say to encourage them?
Speaker 2:And what direction would you give them? I would say trust that inner voice, because it's always right. And when you have these contradictions in your head, it's really challenging you not to listen to this voice and it can absolutely throw you off. And the reason that it's scary it's the reason that it is scary to listen to this voice is because it usually pushes us into unknown territory. It's just a place we haven't been before, it's not our comfort zone. But once you begin to follow that inner voice, that purpose that's calling you, that reason that you're here, it will become brighter and it will become louder. And I would just say trust it and move forward. And only you can know what is right for you, not other people around you.
Speaker 1:In the process, allison of doing everything that you've done and grown. This is your 10th company you've grown. You know pinnacle. You're speaking and mentoring CEOs across the country, writing bestselling books. What's been the biggest thing you've learned about you?
Speaker 2:That is such a great question. I think the biggest thing that I've learned about me is that when I'm passionate about something, there is absolutely no stopping me. I am all in and I am determined and I have an ability to lift people up and that really is my legacy. And I'm at a point now where it's all about legacy and I don't want to get to the end of my life and look back and say I didn't live full out, because that's my gift and it's just going through my cells and out my fingertips. And yeah, I think you know, as you, as you age, you learn to embrace just that beingness of who you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that people. They'll say to me from time to time they'll be like Ken, you're so wise. I'm like I'm 56 years old. Do you know how many mistakes I've made in 56 years? Also, do you know the friends I have that I get to learn from their mistakes too, and not just mine. And you know I tell people all the time you can learn from your mistakes or you can learn from mine. One's going to cost you a whole lot more.
Speaker 2:Every day.
Speaker 1:You learn from mine.
Speaker 2:I make mistakes every day, you know.
Speaker 1:Wow, isn't it crazy. What are some of the? What are some of the seasons? What does some of the seasons look like in the life of Alison Maslan, as God's taking you from where you're at now? We talked about this a little bit off air, where and I've said this for a long time, which is almost synonymous to what you said when you act like you belong in the room, you'll get in the room.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Like when you act like you belong in the room and you do all the things that a $3 million business does and you're at $1 million, you're going to get to $3 million and on and on. But what are some of the seasons for you personally where you've went from one level to the next level and what were some of the key things you had to do to be able to go from one level to the next level?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that, as I have learned to scale businesses, what I know to be true is that unless I grow personally and continue to work on my own leadership and, like I said, can I do better, communicate, better, take responsibility more the more I elevate, then the more the company elevates, the more the leaders around me that we're cultivating, the more they step into, the more they shine. And so I would say, as far as the seasons, I'm not the same person that I was when I was the single mom for 12 years, just trying to figure it all out and manage it all. I needed to go through those tough times to see number one I'm resilient. Number two tough times to see number one I'm resilient. Number two I can handle anything.
Speaker 2:And there was definitely a time that I didn't think I belonged at a seat at the table. I would look at people and say, oh, you're more successful than me, or why would you want to talk to me? And so I had to work on that inner voice to begin to stand up and approach those people and have conversations and then go. Yeah, that actually isn't true, allison. You can converse with these people and bring some intelligent ideas to the table, and they're learning from you.
Speaker 2:And then the next season was where do I really want to go? What is my clear vision? And I do this in every single area of my life and I meditate on this every morning, I journal about this every morning and I visualize and I see myself and my vision as if it is happening. Now I feel it and it's interesting because I was just talking to my leadership team around this as well because we have a big vision for Pinnacle Global Network, for thousands and thousands of members all over the world, and sometimes they can get stuck in that. Well, how exactly are we going to do?
Speaker 1:that.
Speaker 2:And, uh, I say, well, you have to suspend the how, because where we are now and where we're going to be is a completely different place, and when we are at that place, we're going to be able to tap into that intelligence and we'll get the answers.
Speaker 1:So good. I had a pastor friend of mine. This has probably been late 2000, like 2008, 2009. I heard him share the story. He said he's in South Carolina. He said, or in Charlotte, but in the country. And he said I get in my car and I'm going to a wedding while I was running late. So I went ahead and dressed in my tuxedo. So it's Saturday afternoon in the summertime and I'm driving in June in my car. I stopped to get gas. Everybody's looking at me funny, like why does this guy have a tuxedo on? Goes inside. He said I got me a Coke, paid for my gas. I go back outside and the guy's like well, man, you're awful dressed up because I'm on the way to a wedding. Goes outside, I'm on the way to a wedding. And what he said in that was what he goes. I wasn't dressed for where I was at in the moment. I was dressed for where I was going.
Speaker 1:And how profound is that. What was it like Allison for you and I know it's a journey, it's always a journey, it's still the journey. What was it like one of the first times you got up in the morning and you looked in the mirror and you got ready to do your journal and your book planning and and effort and all the stuff that we do. What was it like the day you went? Ha, I've got this like, yes, I get it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say, well, there, there have been a few different times. I mean, one of my businesses was as a homeopathic physician for 20 years and I just remember having those moments with clients where I was like, wow, it feels so good, I'm living on purpose.
Speaker 2:I'm really helping people, like. I just felt like I was in the groove. And I remember another time when my first book came out it's called Blast Off and I don't know where I was, but I walked out of a store maybe it was a grocery store and I just remember having this thought of I am so excited about the future ahead of me. And so I felt myself shifting from this place of apprehension to wow, I'm stepping into my best life. And this was back. I think this was back in like 2009, when I actually started my podcast, which we didn't even really call it a podcast. Back then, we were in a television studio and before that I think I would have been nervous about that. What am I going to say? Am I going to have enough to say to talk for an hour? Is this going to be interesting enough? And I felt myself evolving in my own leadership to say, oh no, I'm embracing this, this is going to be a blast and I'm in it for the ride.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what are some of the things that are the most fulfilling? Getting to work with high level entrepreneurs, because you're not just working with one individual, but you're working with an individual. I just got back from in our mastermind we had eight or nine of my top guys in Charleston that my good friend Eric Weir's is a 2000 acre estate on Guatemala and so we're just sitting around the fire pit for two days talking about faith and health and all the stuff that we do and and and where they are, just having those conversations with those guys and really iron sharpening iron. What were some of the moments like that for you? Some of those relationships and really coming home from that weekend that level of fulfillment for me, knowing that I connected that level of guys together, is really my superpower is curating amazing rooms with amazing people. Talk about fulfillment dealing with those level of entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll share a few stories with you. First of all, with Pinnacle Global Network, we're now going into our 16th year and from where we are now to when we started, I remember being excited but also nervous at the same time. And when we get together for our events, the night usually the opening night starts with a cocktail party. People are just coming together and they're excited. And walking into this room now and seeing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people it just started from a vision and my breath is almost taken away and so many people coming up to me and telling me their stories of transformation and it just makes me, you know, get teary, because it was all about just holding the faith. And now that energy has really infiltrated through to all these people and now they're passing that on to all the people. They impact their employees, their customers, their communities. I'll just give you an example, one of our, a client that came to us several years ago. His name is Marshall and he had a machine calibration company and in Oregon he had 35 employees. He had not taken a vacation in 20 years. He was working 60, 80 hours a week. He loved his business, but he was mired in the weeds. And I said, marshall, you have a family, you have all these people that want to be with you. We're going to pull you out of the day-to-day of the business so you can be the visionary CEO focused on the future, and we're going to help you build that team-managed company. He looked at me and he laughed. He's like, okay, let's see it happen. It was almost like a dare and fast forward. And I was just on the phone with him two days ago. But you know, his company, you know, has well over 200 employees now has grown by tens and tens of millions of dollars, actually just sold their company for a 20-time multiple. He has purchased 35 other companies that he doesn't run. He doesn't work in the day-to-day in any of these companies anymore. He has an RV. He and his wife spend driving around and enjoying life and so to see where they are.
Speaker 2:And you experienced that with the people that you're around and that you impact is. You know, I just when, I and we talk about it, marshall and I, we're just talking about it. Gosh, remember when and you can't imagine it from the place that you're in. You just can't imagine that. You dream of it, but it's hard to know the how, but it's hard to know the how and so. But to be able to look back is extremely rewarding and it's just a reminder for me. Just keep walking forward. Just keep walking forward. You're on the right path.
Speaker 1:What are some of the transferable principles you're teaching some of the CEOs Like? What are maybe one of the top one, two or three things that you see? That is the thing that you continue to really call them to the next level. Give them three things that you see. That is the thing that you continue to really call them to the next level. Give them the information, then call them to the next level.
Speaker 2:I think the biggest struggle of so many business owners is that they get out of the gate and they're doing pretty well, but there is a point where they hit a wall in their growth and there is a saying what got you here won't get you there. It's kind of what we've been talking about here, right and so, but we're creatures of habit. That's what we do as human beings. We kind of do what we do and we do what we know, but that's not going to give you the big leaps, right, and so we really help them to see that their role is to be the visionary looking forward, like Jeff Bezos always talked about. That he was always focused three years out, and when someone would congratulate him, he would say, well, that was baked three years ago, right, and so it really is creating new habits, new strategies, a new business model and all of a sudden they feel free, the reason they got into business in the first place. Now they can really be creative, imaginative, have time with their family and so forth.
Speaker 2:But I think the other thing, that kind of rides on this that's so important, and this is in every area of your life. I think most people think pretty small, and this idea when we help them to expand their mind why not triple that, why not 10 times that, why not 100 times that and beyond? That feels scary and feels overwhelming and we say, well, that would never happen. And we just shoot those things down. But I truly believe that the idea that you even have that picture in your mind, it would not come to you if it wasn't possible.
Speaker 2:So, let's get you there.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. It really is the mindset thing and then putting people in a room to where they trust you to be able to. Like you said, we're going to shoot down those ideas, those things that come up, that go. I can't do it. All the imposter syndrome things that we talk about all the time. Tell me what you're excited about right now, what are you pumped about, what are you passionate about? What's going on in your life right now?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm super excited about the team that we have attracted at Pinnacle Global Network. We have over 60 employees and I believe we're drawn together for a purpose, because we have this passion to make a difference in the world. I'm so excited about it. Here we are 16 years and I feel like we're just getting started. We are expanding globally. We're planning an event in the world. I'm so excited about it. Here we are 16 years and I feel like we're just getting started. We are expanding globally. We're planning an event in the UK. We are just so excited because I know that when people break through, like you said, their limiting beliefs and they step into the highest version of themselves and we get to be a catalyst of that, the ripple effect is literally millions, if not billions, of people. That's really what fires me up. On a personal front, my husband and I live part-time in Zihuatanejo, mexico.
Speaker 2:It is where we got engaged 19 years ago.
Speaker 1:Also the spot from one of my favorite movies, shawshank Redemption, shawshank Redemption, yeah that beach, la Ropa Beach.
Speaker 2:So we have a home there and we live there part-time and it was tied to what we do in our business. Is that? I know when I can step away, it gives my team a chance to step up and, you know, share their brilliance and I clear my head and I'm able to come up with more creative ideas, so we love hanging out there. Life is slow, you don't need a. There Life is slow, you don't need a car, you walk everywhere and we get to just be together.
Speaker 1:Isn't it a? Great time just to be able to refresh and recharge so you can go back and really give your clients everything that you desire to give them. Tell us a great spot to connect with you, Allison, and where can people find a copy of your book?
Speaker 2:Well, scale or Fail is, you know, at most booksellers. Of course it is on Amazon and I poured my heart into that book. So people spend a lot of time in the book doing the exercises and so forth to help them grow. And pinnacleglobalnetworkcom is our website. Of course you can find me on all social media platforms. We have an assessment that people, business owners, can take to see where they are in the growing scaling process and it is at scale it readycom.
Speaker 1:Got it? Yeah, I think you've got that in your um. That's actually a link inside of your Instagram. So if you guys go follow Alison on Instagram Alison Maslan on Instagram she's got three or four links in there that I think will take you pretty much where you want to go. Alison, thank you so much for spending time with us this afternoon.
Speaker 2:Thanks, ken. This was really wonderful. I love all you're doing in the world. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:It's fun. It's fun and the fulfillment level is, like you know, I feel because, like, when I hear you share these stories, I'm like that's how I feel. It's like man, I really get to do this. I get to do this and spend time and have the impact with the people that I get to have the impact with and the ripple effect, like you said earlier is is just super fulfilling and rewarding. Yeah, wow, I love it. Thanks for joining us, guys. Thank you for joining us on another episode of as the leader grows. I am your host, ken Johnson, and this is my friend, alison Masland. Go check her out. Alison Masland on Instagram Scale or Fail is her book. Grab it. Listen. There, literally, is opportunities for you to work through scenarios, issues for your business and your life inside that book. Check it out. We'll see you next week on as the Leader Grows.