10.12.20 | Ep. 504 Rachel Ngom| Business Mentor

Rachel Ngom | Rounding the bases with Joel Goldberg

Rachel Ngom is a business mentor helping entrepreneurs, bloggers, and creatives make a great living online while making a greater impact on the world.  She’s the creator of She’s Making an Impact, Pin with Purpose, and The Impact Blogging Academy.

 

Rachel has lived all over the world.  At one point she couldn’t find a job, ended up pregnant, on food stamps, with no money in her checking account.   She decided to learn how to start her own business and grew a blog from to 34,000 visitors per month

 

Rounding the Bases with Joel Goldberg Podcast was created to share the stories of men and women in business and entrepreneurship that are both well knowing and or hidden gems. Joel believes that everyone has a story and their story matters which is why Joel is eager to connect with individuals that are bringing value to their community through innovation, leadership, entrepreneurial journeys, and developing company culture. If you would like to be a guest on Joel's podcast please email us at joel@joelgoldbergmedia.com.

TRANSCRIPT:

 

RACHEL NGOM TRANSCRIPT

 

 

Joel Goldberg: Welcome in a rounding the basis, the podcast about culture and leadership with a baseball twist. My name is Joel Goldberg and hope that you are all enjoying your day as this podcast rolls on pandemic or not.

 

Joel Goldberg: The stories are still out there will continue to connect people. And if you want to connect with me, you can do so at Joel Goldberg media.com and certainly I'm all over social media not difficult to find.

 

Joel Goldberg: My guest today is is really the ideal type of guests.

 

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Joel Goldberg: Because I love storytelling and I do believe, and I say this all the time that everyone has a story to tell, but sometimes you bump into people or you meet people that just have the most amazing story to tell.

 

Joel Goldberg: And that is the case for my guest today. So let's jump right into it with my guests, Rachael and GM and first and foremost, you know, everyone that has Rachel on a podcast says

 

Joel Goldberg: I get the name right. Did I get the name right but you know I rehearsed it with you in advance and you told me I got it right on the first try. Right.

 

Rachel Ngom: You did a great

 

Joel Goldberg: I told you that that's that's important to me, but it's it's n G. O. M. And when people say what. What kind of name is that and really

 

Joel Goldberg: The so much of your background, I would guess that's in that name in terms of your travels around the world. Your husband and your family. So give me a little bit of a background of

 

Joel Goldberg: Of

 

Joel Goldberg: How you came to this point right now. I'll get to you know college volleyball and your story and your, your amazing story in a bit. But you truly have had a worldly life, haven't you,

 

Rachel Ngom: Yeah, I'm been really blessed when I was 20 I got to move to Kenya live there for six months. Then I lived in Senegal for six months.

 

Rachel Ngom: In between college and grad school, that's where I met my husband.

 

Rachel Ngom: brought him back to America. So I could get my masters in social work, we moved to Florida. We were there for five years and then I was sick of people in one spot.

 

Rachel Ngom: But my husband got a job in France. So we moved to there for two years. That's where I started this business, we moved to America, about a year ago, but I'm already getting a little stir crazy and will be going to Senegal sometime next year.

 

Joel Goldberg: It's it's truly amazing. And then that and that's just a small small piece. Sometimes I you know I asked. I asked my guests.

 

Joel Goldberg: That are involved in so many different things, how they would describe themselves and their job because I think that, you know, and I've

 

Joel Goldberg: I've heard you on different podcasts and telling your story and I guess it would be simple to say, hey, someone that that was almost down and out and no money and they find something

 

Joel Goldberg: And not only do they make it, but they then help others make it. I mean, you go from no money in the bank account to suddenly you know six figures and and coaching others to do that. I'm guessing that's about the simplest way to put it. But how do you describe yourself in what you do, Rachel.

 

Rachel Ngom: Yeah. So I work with purpose driven entrepreneurs to help them get more leads and sales into their business through Pinterest blogging lead generation smart stuff.

 

Rachel Ngom: And specifically I work with a lot of moms but busy people that want to work less and make a greater impact. And so for me, I just had a baby. So I have a five month old.

 

Rachel Ngom: And a seven year old that's doing Virtual School and so Mom number one priority. How can I be the greatest mom, I could be, but also have a frickin amazing business that is able to impact.

 

Rachel Ngom: Thousands of people's lives and then use the money we generate to make a greater impact around the world.

 

Joel Goldberg: So,

 

Joel Goldberg: Let's go back to, to being down and out, so to speak, and I don't even know if that's the right way to put it. But I think that

 

Joel Goldberg: Most not all but most people can relate to that 1.4 points in their life, or even a point right now where where things might have seemed hopeless, or how am I going to make it through and I don't know. You tell me whether it was hopeless or not, but how bleak. Did it get for you.

 

Rachel Ngom: It was rough. I'm not gonna lie.

 

Rachel Ngom: We had negative $400 in her checking account and had to sell the car sold furniture I we had a writing, baby. I was 80 pounds overweight and I was just pushing the baby in the stroller going from pawnshop to pawn shop trying to sell anything I could in our house.

 

Rachel Ngom: Not gonna lie. It was definitely a struggle. It was, it was not the easiest time in my life.

 

Joel Goldberg: But, but you made it, which I know can give so many people hoping you did it with the resilience of and I don't know. We'll get into maybe a little bit later, your athletic background, but I do always think that there's something with sports.

 

Joel Goldberg: Oh yeah, we're just activities in general. I mean, like I say this all the time to my daughter has zero interest in sports as the daughter of a

 

Joel Goldberg: GUY THAT'S ON TV talking about baseball, every single night. But she has that structure from theater and from voice and all that of

 

Joel Goldberg: That I hope one day that that she can leverage and rely upon and so I know that that having that sports background. Look, you do not get a college scholarship and play Division one sport without

 

Joel Goldberg: Something deep inside you to to go through all those tough times. So how did you find yourself during these tough times at negative $400 to eventually six figures and working less. I mean, time management and all that to what was that first step of action. How were you able to do it.

 

Rachel Ngom: First step of action was taking massive action and figuring out how I could invest in myself to learn the skills that I needed to grow that first business that I had

 

Rachel Ngom: And so I'm a believer that there's always a way. And a lot of times people will just get stuck in their story of

 

Rachel Ngom: There's no way out of this, or it's never going to happen for me or whatever. And I just had this like idea. There's always a way like I could figure this out. And so there was a program that came out when

 

Rachel Ngom: I was pregnant with my son. So he seven I was pregnant with him.

 

Rachel Ngom: It was $450 a month for six months, which was like a million dollars a month and the time like there was so much money.

 

Rachel Ngom: I just remember having this feeling like in my gut. I was meant to do that program. And I remember going to my husband and I was like in tears. I'm like,

 

Rachel Ngom: I just think I'm supposed to do this thing. I know it's really expensive. And he just he believed in me. He's like, go for it.

 

Rachel Ngom: So again, was selling anything I could in the household or TV or x x like anything to come up with the money to pay for it.

 

Rachel Ngom: Went from $20,000 that year to the next year $80,000 to that $100,000 because of what I learned through that program built my Facebook fan page to 50,000 followers back with that was actually important and mattered.

 

Rachel Ngom: Instagram to 20,000 and just learned so much and developed a belief in myself to that, hey, you just need the right strategy and you can make it happen.

 

Joel Goldberg: Didn't you have this

 

Joel Goldberg: I mean, I know that that you have really leveraged Pinterest and and you know email lists. And really, really built a massive following but I'm guessing I might be wrong here that that you didn't like on day one, have this whole thing about God. Did you

 

Rachel Ngom: Know it's literally been just like figure it out as you go.

 

Rachel Ngom: I like to say take messy action. And so it's like you try something. See if it works. If it doesn't work, then you try something else. So you just kind of figure it out.

 

Rachel Ngom: I didn't know Pinterest was going to be like the thing that really catapulted my business. I had no clue.

 

Rachel Ngom: It wasn't until Facebook and Instagram changed the longer the back in 2013 2014 that I knew I had to figure something else out. If I wanted to generate leads into my business.

 

Rachel Ngom: So that's when I landed on Pinterest and blogging and I didn't have a strategy or anything has tried stuff out to see what worked, what didn't, and keep trying.

 

Joel Goldberg: So I, I was about to ask you about that phrase taking messy action and up.

 

Joel Goldberg: To it, but I was going to go there. And here's why. And I'm going to give you a little bit of

 

Joel Goldberg: Of how it's changed my life a little bit too because

 

Joel Goldberg: When in March when the pandemic truly hit right when it truly shut down so much of what we were doing in the United States. I as a baseball announcer

 

Joel Goldberg: Who gets paid by the game.

 

Joel Goldberg: And was ready for that first check to come, the first week of April and the last one, having come in early October. And people don't know that. I mean, I think people think

 

Joel Goldberg: All the other on TV, they're famous and they make tons and tons of money and it's all relative. First of all, but

 

Joel Goldberg: I don't think a lot of people know that many of us work and are paid by the game and there's no complaint to that.

 

Joel Goldberg: And I've told a lot of people that when I speak to corporations even not as a way of feel sorry for me. But understand that we're we're kind of all in the same boat together right now. And so I was freaking out in late March and

 

 

Joel Goldberg: You know one of your clients. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this or not but I'm going to anyway. One of your clients is my it's good promotion for her so it's okay.

 

Joel Goldberg: Is my marketing manager has been for two years, little over two years now. Danielle Welch and, you know, suddenly it was I'm

 

Joel Goldberg: Speaking is drying up. There's no baseball and there's no income coming in, when it was supposed to. And I'm freaking out and she said to me, you just need to take messy action and then as I started building up my virtual speeches that became one of my bullet points and I would tell people

 

Joel Goldberg: Messy action over perfection. And at one point I said to Danielle I you know I got to credit you for this. And she said, No, no, no, no, no.

 

Joel Goldberg: This wasn't me. This was my business coach Rachel and go home. And so what I want to thank you for advice that you gave me without even knowing that you gave it to me, but to, I have to tell you this, and I know people can't see. It's an odd. This is an audio podcast but the the

 

Joel Goldberg: I don't know the best way to describe the look in your face. There's, there's, there's a lot of joy in your face and almost some

 

Joel Goldberg: Humility.

 

Joel Goldberg: Right. And I'm not trying to, yeah.

 

Joel Goldberg: I already recently made a broadcast, cry, cry on the air.

 

Joel Goldberg: Over some like beautiful emotional

 

Joel Goldberg: Birthday stuff but but but

 

Joel Goldberg: I, where am I going with this. First off, I like to credit people one who teach me things and to

 

Joel Goldberg: You know, we live in a world where it's okay to steal ideas, but I just I truly believe it's the journalists to me. I guess an incredibly people. And so I just, I have to tell you that

 

Joel Goldberg: Of all the lines that I might deliver in a virtual speech right now about navigating the tough times and pivoting, the number one line that I have had the most feedback on is take messy action and it's so powerful, and I think

 

Joel Goldberg: You know, for me, I've always been a perfectionist.

 

Joel Goldberg: And I think most people try to be and it was very freeing to say, wait a minute. Yeah, of course I want to be perfect but but let's not wait for perfect and let's go

 

Joel Goldberg: How much was that that mindset from day one for you as a long way of me thanking you, and then and then turning it back to you. But how much was that messy action a key for you when you were digging out of the hole and how much is it still a part of your life.

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh my gosh, I just want to say thank you like that touched me so much. You have no idea.

 

Rachel Ngom: Man, that's been everything I have never known like the answers.

 

Rachel Ngom: Anything that I'm doing. It's so funny. Like when I was building that first business. I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I'm just teachable and so like the coach would be like, All right, do this. I'm like, Sure. I didn't know what I was doing.

 

Rachel Ngom: With this business I hired a business coach to start this one, three years ago and whatever. She said, I was like, go, just go fast. Like it doesn't have to be perfect. Just go and it's so funny because I was we had our team call yesterday or Tuesday and

 

Rachel Ngom: We're doing something at the end of the month we're doing a

 

Rachel Ngom: It's called get more traffic boot camp and it's like a live boot camp. We're going to be running ads to it and training and all this stuff.

 

Rachel Ngom: And our project managers asking me all these questions like, do you have the email setup. Do you have this, you have this and I just kind of laughed, and I'm like, being an entrepreneur is just like

 

Rachel Ngom: jumping out of an airplane and then you put the parachute and then you figure it out on the way down. So today, it was like, Alright, today I need to write the emails and take the action and get that done.

 

Rachel Ngom: But it's like you come up with the idea and you just run with it and then you figure out everything that like all the details like the details don't really matter. You just need the idea, you have the vision and you just go and then you figure it out on the way.

 

Joel Goldberg: It's it just, it's so resonates with me. I mean, when that

 

Joel Goldberg: When everything shut me down in March and I was completely freaking out. I'm not a freakout type of guy, either.

 

Joel Goldberg: I think that when you're on live television every single night. You know, thousands and thousands of times you learn in baseball terms how to hit the curveball. Nothing ever goes as planned. Go back to your sport. I mean, like,

 

Joel Goldberg: You can be in a volleyball match and nothing ever goes away, it's drawn up every now and then you get up, you know it does. But it but it doesn't. It's a great lesson for life.

 

Joel Goldberg: And so, you know, all I had was my weekly podcast this podcast that you're on right now. And suddenly it was like

 

 

Joel Goldberg: I got nothing else. I'm going to start a daily video podcast and I don't know how to do that. But I know how to how to do TV and for months I was doing five days a week just interviewing people live streaming on video out of a walk in closet like

 

Rachel Ngom: Let me show you where I am.

 

Joel Goldberg: Right, and so the closet. So

 

Joel Goldberg: Okay, so we really do have something in common here with. But, and this the version that we're doing right now.

 

Joel Goldberg: Is my weekly audio podcast but you know in this day and age we're living in. It's easy to zoom in and it really helps for me to be able to see Rachel and vice versa. And so I love that. And now you know I've stepped up into the world. Now I'm in the spare bedroom, but

 

Joel Goldberg: The message that I give everyone and Rachel, I'm telling you, like,

 

Joel Goldberg: You know over 100 episodes in on that, on that video podcast and suddenly and Danielle always says to be content. Content content. Content.

 

Joel Goldberg: And so at a time where I was out of work. Suddenly the content went from once a week to add in the other five to six times a week, and suddenly people were saying, Oh my gosh, you're everywhere. You're the busiest guy in the world.

 

Joel Goldberg: I love what you're doing this and that and, you know, and it was like

 

Joel Goldberg: I didn't know that was going to happen. It was just like, let's go. And so I think that this message of massive action, whether you're down and out or whether you're crushing it applies every day, doesn't it.

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh, for sure. Like it's it's never gonna be perfect. A lot. I have a baby, she's taking a nap right now. Hallelujah.

 

Rachel Ngom: But a lot of times I might show up to do an interview and I'll have a baby like on the boob. And I'll just move the camera up like this. So I don't flash people

 

Rachel Ngom: Have you know it's just like, it's never, ever, ever going to be perfect, but if you wait for the perfect timing, you're going to miss out on so many opportunities.

 

Joel Goldberg: I couldn't agree more. And by the way, there's never been a better time to either have the baby on the boob or whatever it is, the dog walking in, or the kid running in your seven year old and it's like, Okay, that's just the way it goes, right.

 

Joel Goldberg: Yeah.

 

Joel Goldberg: You know, hey, that's the world that we're living in right now. Maybe we should have been before to we are so

 

Joel Goldberg: I think we were so in search of perfection. Before that, we wouldn't accept just some of the normal seas of life. And so I think this in many ways is has grounded us. But let's talk a little bit about how you built it then and

 

Joel Goldberg: To go from from just starting this to what 34,000 people from other I'll even know what the numbers are. At this point in the email list and Pinterest and online courses, what what enabled you to get from there to here.

 

Rachel Ngom: Yeah, so first business was in the fitness space. So I was building that business for years.

 

Rachel Ngom: Still generate passive income from it, which was amazing. I'm so grateful for that.

 

Rachel Ngom: It was three years ago, it was probably actually four years ago that the company. I was with. It was a network marketing company restructured and my income was cut in half.

 

 

Rachel Ngom: And to go from making six figures being like the soul earner and the family to have a half of that all of a sudden it was

 

Rachel Ngom: Another scary time and that's the thing about entrepreneurship. People need to understand. It's not just like you're gonna go shoot all up. It's like it's messy.

 

Rachel Ngom: So after a year of just being frustrated and do we working harder and harder and harder. I'm not seeing any results. I'm like, I need to figure something else out. Go on my own and start my own business.

 

Rachel Ngom: And kind of like fly on my own. So I hired a business coach and that was a crazy scary investment. It was $2,000 a month to work with her when I was making $4,000 a month.

 

Rachel Ngom: And I just went all in and that first year we did $430,000 because of that investment and her coaching and I was just a good student. And I'm like, all right, let's go.

 

Rachel Ngom: And that's when you know everything started yo started this podcast. The she's making an impact podcast.

 

Rachel Ngom: We created our Pinterest course pen with purpose, our group coaching program activate and things just took off and I think a lot of it came from.

 

Rachel Ngom: The experience that I had in the first business of building that plus all the personal development that I've been doing since I was 23 plus having the business coach. It was like just prime time for me to go

 

Joel Goldberg: And you're, you're just your, your fingerprints are everywhere you know it started looking online and between the courses and between the podcast and that coach. I mean that you you're so

 

Joel Goldberg: Involved in so many people's lives whether you know them, or they know you, which is one of the beautiful things of social media. Among the many downfalls of

 

Joel Goldberg: We can get into a whole thing about what what social media has done the society, but I lived in that same space and

 

Joel Goldberg: You know, it's amazing the way you can impact people's lives. Sometimes without even knowing them. But what's really really interesting to me.

 

Joel Goldberg: And I have not figured this out yet, is how you have figured out how to maximize your talents leverage your connections IMPACT PEOPLE'S LIVES, BUT THE MORE YOU ADD, you're not adding necessarily hours to working

 

Joel Goldberg: And you're able to still be a mom.

 

Joel Goldberg: And by the way, you don't have to want to be a mom or a dad or whatever it is. And we all need our time I struggle with that.

 

Joel Goldberg: Yeah. How have you been able to maximize make the money you're making impact so many lives and still have your own freedom.

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh, I love this question. Um, big thing is having a team that's there to support you. And so, figure out what your zone of genius is

 

Rachel Ngom: And then see how you can find people to do all the other stuff. And so I'll give an example.

 

Rachel Ngom: In September, and probably the rest of the year, we made a commitment to do a daily Facebook live every day.

 

Rachel Ngom: And we'll be repurposing that to go on our podcast. We're creating a blog post out of it, put it on Pinterest, Instagram tv youtube Instagram stories all the things

 

Rachel Ngom: I have someone that's researching topics, creating making sure it's search engine optimized creating the titles.

 

Rachel Ngom: sending that to me. I go live. I have someone else on our team that creates the event for it creates the graphics for it. She takes that live video. She then transcribes it

 

Rachel Ngom: She's creating YouTube video editing it uploading it to the podcast, creating a blog post out of it. Like all all these things.

 

Rachel Ngom: The only thing that I needed to do was basically do maybe a little bit of prep a few minutes beforehand and know I knew what I was talking about, and then show up.

 

Rachel Ngom: So it's basically 20 minutes of my time to be in all these different platforms. So stay in your zone of genius and do the things that only you can do and then

 

Rachel Ngom: When you think about the things only you can do, ask yourself, how could I do it more effectively.

 

Rachel Ngom: So I today, for example, I'm using something called the daily productivity. She and I basically write down like my schedule for the day, what I intend to do that hour and then

 

Rachel Ngom: Did I actually complete it. And so an example between, I think it was nine and 10 or 10 and 11 one of those hours. My goal is to write emails for our bootcamp that's coming up at the end of the bug.

 

Rachel Ngom: And so what I did was I left my phone downstairs.

 

Rachel Ngom: I closed out all the browsers. And I had one singular focus

 

Rachel Ngom: during this hour. I'm going to be in completion. I'm going to write these emails that need to happen. So within the hour while my baby was napping. I was able to write seven emails. So we have our entire nurture sequence done we have

 

Rachel Ngom: Invites to our list done and that just happens when your laser focused is if when you hear like they need on your phone and your

 

Rachel Ngom: Facebook and email up and at the same time, you know, like, that's just going to take your distraction and it's going to take forever to get anything done. So be intentional.

 

 

Joel Goldberg: I mean I it's just amazing. This conversation where I can, I can hear and see so much of you and your messaging in what I do with my marketing manager Danielle who sometimes

 

Joel Goldberg: Has to put her life coach hat on, for me, which is a little bit humbling because I'm quite a bit older, too. But, you know,

 

Joel Goldberg: As a guy is a guy that was that's been in TV for 26 years and kind of

 

Joel Goldberg: Went into the business world in my own business.

 

Joel Goldberg: With the speaking and the podcasting three and a half years ago, I never I had zero experience like I just lived in that one lane, and it was a great place. I'm learning every single day. So, you know, I'm writing some of this down.

 

Joel Goldberg: For my own notes right now. I mean, it's interesting that what happens to me and I want to play devil's advocate here in a moment is that

 

Joel Goldberg: And I'm guilty. Like, I mean, you could see me right now. I grabbed my phone. I look at this, I'm using it as a prop right now. I'm not actually ignoring you.

 

Joel Goldberg: But I am guilty of that sometimes, right, I mean in a podcast. Okay, I'm on the air right now I can focus on this, but even this morning, I said.

 

Joel Goldberg: Okay. Look at all this free time. I actually have on my calendar today, which, by the way, I shouldn't have stumbled upon it should have already been set up that way, but I didn't.

 

Joel Goldberg: And I know I have to go to the stadium later but I've got this window. So for this hour. I just put it on my calendar. I'm going to work on my book for this hour.

 

Joel Goldberg: For this hour. I'm going to go talk, take a walk, because guess what I haven't done that since the baseball season started in late July, because everything has gotten away from me.

 

Joel Goldberg: And from this time I'm going to answer emails and from this time I'm going to work on some speaking contracts, but you just gave me that other idea go put the phone away. And so my devil's advocate to you, though, is this, this is back to that hitting the curveball, or taking messy action.

 

 

Joel Goldberg: If the baby wakes up right now or the baby wakes up while you're working on those emails.

 

Joel Goldberg: Do you push everything aside, how do you

 

Rachel Ngom: How do you wear the baby. I take care of the baby, of course.

 

Joel Goldberg: It was a bad example, of course, baby.

 

Rachel Ngom: Family always

 

Rachel Ngom: And I give myself Grace. Grace as one of the

 

Rachel Ngom: Biggest things. Yep. Grace. And so I might. Let's say she woke up, and I had to take care of her, and I wasn't able to finish those emails in those tasks for the hour, I might look at the rest of the day and say, Could I squeeze it in here.

 

Rachel Ngom: Can I squeeze it in here. What about tomorrow, what is tomorrow look like because I'm not

 

Rachel Ngom: I have the intention of having this done, but because of being a mom. There's going to be things that come up when it was just my son, and he was in school all day. I could get so much done. It was awesome.

 

Rachel Ngom: But things are different. Right. And so I'll do my best. And that might have to be good enough for today if she wakes up or whatever. Yeah.

 

Joel Goldberg: And that was a bad example because the baby is always going to take party the baby should always take priority.

 

Rachel Ngom: But I mean like some

 

Joel Goldberg: Huge call some huge call comes in that absolutely needs your attention right now. And so, but I think that's ultimately the answer right. Give yourself some grace and then

 

Joel Goldberg: I know for me if I miss out on working on one of those tasks, sometimes it just gets pushed days down the road and and so I think the lesson. Probably is. Hey,

 

Joel Goldberg: If this was important today, then find a spot for it and allocate so you know of the many things that you do. Is there one, it's probably isn't a fair question. But is there one that brings you the most joy or the most excitement

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh,

 

Joel Goldberg: Working beyond, beyond family and kids, of course.

 

Rachel Ngom: Yeah, yeah, like in my business working within activate brings me the most joy and especially when we get to host our live event that's coming in November, because we're going to be able to host it

 

Rachel Ngom: Nothing's going to get in the way. It's happening. And that brings me the most joy and seeing them transform and seeing where they started where they are now.

 

Rachel Ngom: And just having them look at me and say, like, thank you for this and what you said, like the things I taught Danielle that she's like passing on and teaching other people that brings me unbelievable amounts of joy.

 

Rachel Ngom: But just seeing working with them closely and getting to see them have success and seeing them transform. That's the best feeling

 

Joel Goldberg: When, when you were growing up, and then going to school, University of Illinois and volleyball career and all that. What, what were your, your hopes at that point.

 

Rachel Ngom: At the University of Illinois. Gosh, I had, I actually wrote down a list of goals that I was like goals in life and it's so funny. I, when I look at it now.

 

Rachel Ngom: But some of my goals were to get my masters to get married and have babies to learn how to salsa dance to live abroad and study abroad, um,

 

Rachel Ngom: Gosh, I didn't have like monetary goals or anything like that. That wasn't even on my radar. It was mostly like the things that would bring me joy. Get me out of my comfort zone.

 

Rachel Ngom: Those are some of the big goals and I ended up learning how to salsa dance and the shot to entertain gay and ended up teaching that in college, to which was so much fun ended up living abroad.

 

Rachel Ngom: working abroad, doing all those things. And I had like listed baby names on there too. And we named her daughter Gabrielle

 

 

Rachel Ngom: Those names that was out there.

 

Joel Goldberg: Your husband didn't know what he was getting into that there was already a name.

 

Rachel Ngom: No. Well, he got to choose. Well, his family got to choose our son's name because when we were in Senegal and I got to meet my husband's grandfather. He was blinded mostly deaf and the first thing he said to me was

 

Rachel Ngom: You have to promise me to name your firstborn son after me and not just like his first name, his whole name. So it's Joseph jewels on PR and go. And I was like, alright, so I didn't get a say in that one. But I'm like baby. Number two, I get to choose.

 

Joel Goldberg: That I mean he is going to have the coolest name of anyone in whatever classes in right

 

Rachel Ngom: First sure it doesn't fit, I'm like the social security.

 

Rachel Ngom: Like sorry dude.

 

Rachel Ngom: I'm

 

Joel Goldberg: Like, but at least on the back of a jersey, it could

 

Joel Goldberg: Just say and GLM right

 

Rachel Ngom: There you go.

 

Joel Goldberg: Otherwise, you gotta get the small writing to get all the different names on there so

 

Joel Goldberg: Yes, that's

 

Joel Goldberg: So cool. So

 

Joel Goldberg: Last thing about your business. Then I want to ask you the the baseball field questions but

 

Joel Goldberg: For everyone that is on social media. And I tell people all the time to, like, it's like, look.

 

Joel Goldberg: Do you want to use social media to go have fun and do all that stuff. Great. They're obviously a lot of do's and don'ts, but there's so much strategy involved and so many tricks of building that business. What's. Is there a common thread or a theme to how you been able to grow.

 

Joel Goldberg: A list of people, whether it be social media, email lists that that puts so much faith in you.

 

Rachel Ngom: Connection and authenticity.

 

Rachel Ngom: Don't pretend to be perfect. Don't be someone that you're not be a real human. Don't be a marketer.

 

Rachel Ngom: Show up be raw vulnerable honest.

 

Rachel Ngom: There's been days I show up. No makeup hot mess baby on a boob. I just let them know, like, all right, an email, I'll be like, I've been up since 2AM. I have a baby on the boob as I'm typing this I use that example a lot

 

Rachel Ngom: Mostly female audience. So they're like, Oh, I get it. I'm

 

 

Joel Goldberg: Not I'm not a burst.

 

Rachel Ngom: Yeah. Um, and I just I connect with them, you know, like connection is currency and being authentic. I think that's my superpower of just showing up and being myself being vulnerable. I'm not trying to be perfect because I'm definitely

 

Joel Goldberg: I mean, who is right, but

 

Joel Goldberg: When you, when you were at that negative 400

 

Joel Goldberg: Was it just was the goal survival or could you envision not this. I mean, obviously, this, this all happened and one step led to the next. But when their grand visions of I want to be a or was it just, I gotta pay the bills.

 

Rachel Ngom: Both so it was like Crap, I need to pay the bills, but I was in Network Marketing at the time, and they have like the million dollar earners on stage and that kind of thing. So I would see them. And I'd be like,

 

Rachel Ngom: There's nothing special about them, so they could do it. I could do it too. So it was like, I need to figure out how to get our bank account, out of the negative but also I think I could do that thing that they're doing.

 

Joel Goldberg: All right, my baseball themed questions.

 

 

Joel Goldberg: Yes, home run that you pick professionally.

 

Rachel Ngom: I would say earning over a million dollars in less than two years in a new business.

 

 

Joel Goldberg: It's not bad, not bad from negative 400

 

Joel Goldberg: Don't, don't you, do you have to pinch yourself at some point, and I don't even mean in a way of the money. I mean, obviously that's, you know, life changes and you have more opportunity.

 

Joel Goldberg: If you have that money that doesn't speak to happiness. I think most of us know that, but you're not making that kind of money without impacting people's lives and being good at what you're doing. So do you have to pinch yourself sometimes to look at what's happened

 

Rachel Ngom: I don't think I slow down enough to take the time to look back and celebrate as often as I should.

 

Rachel Ngom: So I need to do that more often, because I'm always so like vision driven of we're working towards this. So that's actually a good reminder for me to be like, hey, just

 

Rachel Ngom: Maybe today. You just like celebrate a little bit. I always think there's so much already to do

 

Joel Goldberg: Well, that's the athlete in you that it's like, you know, push, push, push, push, push. I'm sure about that. And it might be more than that but but athletes, you know, the good athletes are never satisfied, it's the next

 

Joel Goldberg: Game, it's the next match, it's the next offseason it's the next workout. And so you know i i know that from my career, I was not a good athlete.

 

Joel Goldberg: I just talked about them. But I've spent enough time around I would challenge you. This is not the Joel gives Rachel advice. I see a lot of pictures on your website of you with a with a glass of wine or looking like you're

 

You know, yeah, those things.

 

Joel Goldberg: So, you know, you should be celebrated.

 

Rachel Ngom: I will maybe smile.

 

Joel Goldberg: Not art for

 

Rachel Ngom: School network name.

 

Joel Goldberg: Fair enough.

 

Joel Goldberg: Second baseball themed question biggest swing and miss you have taken and what did you learn from it.

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh, when I saw this question. I was like, it really made me think, yeah, we've obviously had Mrs but nothing that I was like, it's so big, which made me think we're playing too small.

 

Rachel Ngom: That was kind of like a realization. So yeah, like we've made so many mistakes.

 

Rachel Ngom: The one that came to my head was we had an evergreen webinar that was converting really really well and decided to live launch it.

 

Rachel Ngom: And it tanked the sales of that evergreen webinar. So that was a big mess spending 15 grand to do a webinar that did not convert and we spent way too much on ads and not having proper communication with the ads manager of proper expectations of what that was going to look like.

 

Rachel Ngom: Those would be Mrs. But they're like, they're not giant gigantic in my opinion. So that really made me think. Damn, you need to take more risks and play bigger

 

 

Joel Goldberg: That's so interesting that that's the first time I've heard that answer in terms of what the question did for a guest. And so it

 

Joel Goldberg: Makes me think a little bit about one, I believe that every swing and Mrs productive if you learn from it.

 

Joel Goldberg: And if you don't make that same mistake over and over again. But the other side to that and, you know, we think about this and say it all the time in baseball. Is that what you're going to strike out sometimes. But when you strike out looking at that strike and not swinging the bat.

 

Joel Goldberg: You never gave yourself a chance

 

Joel Goldberg: So sometimes you gotta swing for the fences.

 

Rachel Ngom: Yep, for sure.

 

Joel Goldberg: And then the last one is a little bit different than swinging for the fences, because you can always hit the home run.

 

Joel Goldberg: But it's those series of little victories. It's those singles those bonds. So small ball. My favorite question. What are the little things that add up to the big things in your world.

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh, two things that would say, having a consistent mindset practice and morning your team would be one and then consistent content creation. So I shared like our daily Facebook lives that go to the podcast.

 

Rachel Ngom: They're small like it's literally 20 minutes of my time and it'd be really easy to say, I'm not going to show up today, or I'm not going to do that but I made a commitment. So it's happening every day during the week.

 

Rachel Ngom: And those are the small things are easy. It's like the compound effect. If you've ever read that book by Darren Hardy, it's the little things that are easy to do. They're easy not to do. But those are the things that make the biggest difference

 

Joel Goldberg: What is the morning routine, by the way.

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh, and I'm so excited because the baby slept like all the way through the night for the first time last night. So I'm like, super consistent with this. No. Wake up, drink coffee and now it's pump, but that won't be forever and then read the Bible, pray, meditate journal

 

Rachel Ngom: And if I have time to actually get a workout in which I did this morning she slept 10 hours. Oh, it's just

 

Joel Goldberg: You and I don't know what you're like on the other days, I think, and I sense that you have an amazing energy, whether you are wide awake or not, but you have the you have the look of a mom that had a baby sleep last night.

 

Rachel Ngom: I did. But here's the thing, too. You can create your own energy. So I just attended a leadership conference that was

 

Rachel Ngom: 13 hour days 14 hour days and it went to 1am and then one day went to 1:45am then the baby wakes up at 233 and then she's up for the day at six. And I did that for

 

Rachel Ngom: Three days and then four days, and every day I showed up focused with energy was able to bring it and give it my all. Because you can create your own energy

 

Joel Goldberg: I love that. All right, for final questions as we round the basis. I have not discussed these with you. I didn't discuss the book myself.

 

Joel Goldberg: It would be

 

Joel Goldberg: Okay, or surprise to me. And as we go along. I start to think about that. Actually, I had one of mine. I like to ask this to any former athletes, even though this really isn't a sports show

 

Joel Goldberg: I just think there's so many lessons to learn from high level athletes and you were your division one volleyball player at the University of Illinois.

 

Joel Goldberg: So it's sort of a two parter one. What was the scouting report on on you as a volleyball player and and what did you take away from from high level sports.

 

Rachel Ngom: SCOUTING REPORT. What do you mean by that of like

 

Joel Goldberg: How they have about your volleyball skills.

 

Rachel Ngom: A one of the best middle blockers and hitters in the country.

 

Rachel Ngom: I was an All American we won the Junior Olympics. My senior year played in China played in Italy.

 

Rachel Ngom: My superpower was definitely just being able to get the ball to hit the court and finding the kill.

 

Rachel Ngom: In really creative ways I missed it was really fun.

 

Joel Goldberg: You get you can't you can't ever totally recapture that because that's at a level that like I always tell athletes. I'm not the only one at the professional level or whatever it is, like, you know what, once you're done.

 

Joel Goldberg: You're done, doesn't mean you can't play again but not at that level.

 

Rachel Ngom: I got injured and so I got injured my junior year so I literally am done like haven't played pretty much sense.

 

Joel Goldberg: What did you take from from high level sports into today.

 

 

Rachel Ngom: So much commitment dedication, having a vision.

 

Rachel Ngom: I remember my coach. When I was 16 had us 1516 he had us take quiet time before each match to actually visualize our success. And he was like, all right, visualize yourself making the kill.

 

Rachel Ngom: visualize yourself getting the block. And I remember I was, I'd be doing cardio and I'd be on the bike and I would be exhausted. It would be so hard, the stuff that I have is do

 

Rachel Ngom: And I just have that vision of us, winning the Junior Olympics and then standing up on the podium and then putting the gold medal around my neck.

 

Rachel Ngom: And when it happened. It was like the most surreal experience. So just having a vision and being so driven to

 

Rachel Ngom: Be committed to making it happen and do whatever it takes to make it happen. We were the most committed disciplined hardest working team in the country. So, I mean, that's, that's why we want we showed up when everyone was too tired or didn't want to

 

Joel Goldberg: Amazing and that you know that's the lesson in business to every single day. Second question.

 

Joel Goldberg: Asked you about your soon to be home again Senegal.

 

Joel Goldberg: Yes. What is it I love asking this question of people that have traveled or better around the world. What is it that you love beyond your husband's roots. What is it that you love about Senegal that maybe the average American who's never been over to Africa.

 

 

Joel Goldberg: Would know

 

Rachel Ngom: When I'm there. I feel closer to God, I'm way more out of my comfort zone. I experienced so much joy and gratitude, just in daily life, things are slower. I always feel welcomed.

 

Rachel Ngom: Have been welcomed people have invited me into their home to feed me have you spend the night when they can't feed their children put like shoes on their kids feet.

 

Rachel Ngom: It's beautiful. Every day's a new adventure, the people that I meet there are just incredible. I'm consistently out of my comfort zone and experience a ton of variety speaking multiple languages, it just tests every part of who I am as a person.

 

Rachel Ngom: Through going through like no electricity, some days or water outages, or being stuck in different traffic jams for hours, it just like some of it's hard but it really helps you grow as a human being.

 

Joel Goldberg: I'm thinking about a memory of over 20 years ago almost 25. My brother was in the Peace Corps in western Africa West

 

Joel Goldberg: Visa Togo.

 

Joel Goldberg: So in between Dineen and Ghana and I visited him for a couple weeks, the journalists to me. I was like 25 years old and and I

 

Joel Goldberg: Brought a we didn't have cell phones with cameras on them at that point. I think I brought a, like a video camera and I actually did like a whole story that I ended up putting on our news just

 

Joel Goldberg: Just because that's just the way I'm wired, but one of my greatest memories Rachel is my last night there. My brother said to me that a family in the neighborhood.

 

 

Joel Goldberg: Who brewed some kind of

 

Joel Goldberg: Cider type of thing. I don't know. I don't remember what it was called. But, I mean, it was, it was totally you know it was

 

Joel Goldberg: You felt pretty good on it quickly. And I wasn't drinking, anything like that because I was trying to avoid any of the you know the water and

 

Joel Goldberg: And getting sick and all that and he says to me, you, you have to have this he said they put aside what they were selling for the week just for you for free to honor being here.

 

Joel Goldberg: And of course, I got extremely sick for like two weeks and the whole works.

 

Joel Goldberg: But I don't regret it because it was like the most beautiful selfless thing.

 

Joel Goldberg: Of this family that made no money. And this was it. And it was more important for them to welcome me and I think about that in terms of Africa, and I, I know I'm generalizing

 

Joel Goldberg: But, but anyone that I ever talked to, I often will ask a cab driver on the road or Uber driver where they're from, if I hear an accent. And there's that common bond of just taking care of people. And I know that's a generalization, but it's such a beautiful thing.

 

Rachel Ngom: I've been okay African countries. I've been to Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda Ethiopia Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa.

 

Rachel Ngom: Zanzibar. It's probably more every single country. I've been to the people are all like that. They're very welcoming, very friendly, very generous.

 

Rachel Ngom: Yeah, like nothing I've experienced really

 

Joel Goldberg: That the you know hundred three degree temperature that I have when I got back to, you know, Madison, Wisconsin and all this stuff was was not fun.

 

Joel Goldberg: But I do it again in a heartbeat, just because of the pure goodness in in those people's hearts so I when you talk about

 

Joel Goldberg: Going back to Senegal and the feeling you're describing, it's one that I experienced in the briefest of times

 

Joel Goldberg: So I do understand it. My third question is we were on the basis is a little bit of what you just said. And I know we can add in other places like France there outside of Senegal since that'll be your home favorite place you've visited

 

Rachel Ngom: Oh,

 

Rachel Ngom: Can it be a tie between

 

Rachel Ngom: Kenya Egypt and Israel.

 

Joel Goldberg: Yes.

 

Rachel Ngom: I just, I loved Kenya, I visited almost every city there when I was there. There's so much to experience.

 

Rachel Ngom: It was just incredible Israel I was only there for two days. But it was incredible. We got baptized in the Jordan River, and it was just beautiful and such an amazing experience and Egypt is

 

Rachel Ngom: just stunning. And there's so much fun to do in adventures. I got to climb Mount Sinai at sunrise and go karting and the Sahara Desert and go horseback riding around the pyramids, like it was so cool.

 

 

Joel Goldberg: You've experienced at all. And I know that's not true. There's so much more to experience and I

 

Joel Goldberg: You know someone like you that has done everything you've done will always be looking for more. I know that one. And so that's amazing because the journey.

 

Joel Goldberg: Really is always just beginning right there's so much more in the past. So my final question, the walk off to you. And then this one will go right to the heart. I know.

 

Joel Goldberg: The little bit I know about your the time that we spent here in this podcast. How big of a heart you have and how much you like helping other people and influencing other people. And so I just want to end with these words of wisdom. I mean, this is a tough time right now for so many

 

Rachel Ngom: People

 

Joel Goldberg: And it's scary and pandemic and world is changing. And I know that that your target audience. Not everybody is is women and a lot of them were in your shoes or are in your shoes, where you were before.

 

Joel Goldberg: What's that piece of picked me up advice for anyone right now that saying I you know I I need to start fresh here.

 

Rachel Ngom: I truly believe that there's a purpose for your life and that even when things are hard just always look ahead of what's possible and that if other people have had success in something that you can do it too.

 

Rachel Ngom: I truly believe everything is figure out audible. If you're committed you're determined you're consistent persistent, you can make big things happen.

 

Joel Goldberg: I love it. What an inspiration. If anyone wants to get ahold of Rachel. The website is Rachel and gm.com the Rachel spelled the way you think are a CH E L and it's NGO em.

 

Joel Goldberg: Are a CH E L and G. O. And you don't have to be able to pronounce it right. I just think it's probably my responsibility to do that, but check out Rachel and go home calm and the beauty is even when she goes off to Senegal to her other home.

 

Joel Goldberg: Should be accessible and you can see all the newsletters, the lists the courses you name it, it's out there is that the best way, Rachel.

 

Rachel Ngom: Yeah. And then if you want to listen to our podcast. It's just the she's making an impact podcast seen come check us out there to

 

Joel Goldberg: Will get that in the notes. So Rachel and go home calm. She's making an impact podcast. There's a lot of content. A lot of material.

 

Joel Goldberg: I love the conversation. I can't thank you enough for doing this. And congratulations on all the success on all the success to come. More importantly, on the family and having a baby that slept last night break open that bottle of wine tomorrow.

 

Rachel Ngom: Definitely. Thank you so much.

 

Joel Goldberg: That is Rachel Ngom. My name is Joel Goldberg. You can reach me at Joel Goldberg media.com or on all the social media spots and hope you'll share this episode with your friends and your network and see you next time on rounding the Bases Presented by Enterprise Bank and Trust Hashtag No Stopping You.

 

Rounding the Bases with Joel Goldberg Podcast was created to share the stories of men and women in business and entrepreneurship that are both well knowing and or hidden gems. Joel believes that everyone has a story and their story matters which is why Joel is eager to connect with individuals that are bringing value to their community through innovation, leadership, entrepreneurial journeys, and developing company culture. If you would like to be a guest on Joel's podcast please email us at joel@joelgoldbergmedia.com.