E151: The Entrepreneur In All Of Us with Danna Olivo | CPTSD and Trauma Healing Podcast

Hey! What's up, Unbroken Nation! Hope that you're doing well, wherever you are in the world today. I'm super excited to be joined by my guest today, Danna Olivo, who is not only a professional business growth strategist, but a public speaker and best-selling author. She's published five books and the latest is the social or sociopathic, which came out earlier this year. Danna, I am super excited to have you on the show today, how are you, my friend? What is going on in your world?

Danna: Oh, I am doing great. My world is extremely busy right now but you know, that's good, that's good that I'm busy. We're just plugging along here, you know, it's a time of Transformation and we were working through our strategy for 2022 and that's what we're focused on.

Michael: Yeah, I love it. And I agree with you. It is definitely a time for transformation, in our lives, and our businesses and everything. And I don't know if you agree with this, but I think it kind of always is and so with that said, I'd love before we kind of dive in today, you can kind of tell us a little bit about your background, then how you got to where you are today?

Danna: Sure. Well, first of all, I am the oldest the 7, I have six sisters and one brother, the brother is the last one. I grew up in an environment of construction, my father was a block contractor. So I like to say that I have cement in my blood. I've been married 37 years to the same man, I have two kids and four grandkids, that's me on a personal basis. I love what you said as far as we're always in transformation. I agree with that. If we aren't, then we're stagnant, we have nothing going on. Let's see where I'm at right now.

I spent a good 35 years within the architectural engineering construction, market doing marketing and business development. What happened in 2009

I was laid off from one of the largest construction management firms in the world and with that layoff, everybody else was going through the same thing, the entire world was going through an economic recession and I decided, okay, it's time for me to take a step back and think about, you know, where am I going to go next? And that happened to be Brazil, I ended up going into Brazil to help create inroads for companies here that were having to shut their door within the architectural, engineering, and construction business to partner with companies in Brazil, in preparation for the upcoming FIFA games, and the Summer Olympic Games. So that was my career until 2012 and what happened there was the latest transformation for me personally and for my business, when I got hit by a bus crossing the street in Brazil, to my apartment going 45 miles an hour and that started the transformation into Market Academy.

Michael: That's pretty insane, right? So, you get hit by this bus and I think what's really interesting that comes to mind is there's a space in that where you could just be like, woe is me, I guess my life is done so on and so forth. And I'm not saying that perhaps, you didn't have some of that experience, but that also became a huge pivot in your life. What happened in that space?

Danna: Well, you know, in all honesty, when the accident happened, I don't remember anything about the accident, what happened was my brain just shut down. So I didn't actually start coming to realization until they were wheeling me into the the trauma unit there in Brazil. So when you talk about woe is me, yes, I was thrown, I was down there on business, I had several projects going on and I immediately started thinking, okay, oh my God, what am I going to do? You know, I've got all this work going on down here, I'm not going to be able to, I couldn't walk, I couldn't do anything and you know, they would come visit me in my apartment down while I was recuperating, I couldn't leave for sale for almost two months because I had a collapsed lung, you know, I ended up with seven broken ribs, collapsed lung, lacerated liver, my right arm was completely crushed by the bus, I had to blow on high sockets and a hematoma, so I was pretty much non functional, what I didn't realize until I got back from Brazil into the United States that I also had PTSD. So when you start talking about, you know, yes, the physical side, I always felt like okay, I've been able to manage getting through physical, you know, issues, no problem, but the mental – the mental is much harder, especially for somebody like me who as a strategist I relied on my ability to be able to see the big picture and to be able to, you know, but I was blocking myself off, I wasn't leaving the house, I wasn't Danna anymore and it wasn't until my sister told me, Sister Hannah, you need to go see somebody, you know, there's something wrong and that's when we found out that I had PTSD. So that took quite a while among those the different surgeries and everything to on, you'll get through that.

Now on the positive side of that, mark it out of me happened and what I mean by that is while I was laid up, going through my surgeries and everything I had a lot of colleague’s people who I interacted with while I was working within the AEC industry for so many years. They had been laid off at the same time I was and they had started their own job, their own companies because they couldn't find work. Kind of what's going on right now with COVID, when you think about it, all right? And knowing me, they came to me and they said, damn well, what's going on? I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. You know, I've started this business, I've been operating it for 3 years, I'm not getting ahead, on bleeding money, etc.

Well in the process of trying to figure out what was going on, I realized that the bulk of these individuals had no idea how to build a successful infrastructure around their product or service offer. They had the best product or service but they didn't know how to bring those customers through the door and in an effort to teach them I came up with what we call the Market Academy concept which is I can compare their business to the human body. Now in the human body, you have the heart which is your WHY of your business. Now, the heart and the body is controlled by the brain, which sends the signals to the heart, to keep it pumping, right?

Well, this is the same thing in business, the heart of the business is your why? Why do you do? What you do for your customers? The brain of your business is your playbook. That's where your systems, your methodologies, your vision, your mission, everything is stored is to how of your business.

Now, in the human body can the heart operate without the brain? No. They need to work in tandem, same thing in business, they need to work in tandem to push your marketing message out through the veins of your company, which are the marketing channels, to the body, which is your market. Now, let's take it a step further, you as the business owner, you are the culture of the business, you are the passion behind the business, it's your morals that run that business. But in honesty, you have to have all of this in place in order to attract those customers and bring them through the door. So that's how I explained to these new business owners, what they needed to have in place in order to attract those customers.

Michael: What's so interesting about that to me is here you are in this position and you're faced with a choice, right? You're faced with the decision to make because I think in that moment and I don't think anyone would blame you for being like – I'm just going to like lay in this bed, I'm not going to do anything, I'm just going to like – I don't think anyone would blame you for that, I certainly wouldn't. Then, in that moment, however, you decided to be of service. What was it about that called you too even though you're in this place, because it's what I want people to touch into here? Because even though you're in this place of pain and suffering and recovery and healing, you're still being of service. Why was that important to you is?

Danna: That's where my heart is, you know, even though I'm doing that, okay, what brings me joy? Okay, is being able to help people and I failed at business twice before, all right? So I learned the hard way by going back to college. What, I didn't know, I didn't know about running a successful business and so out of that was born my heart wears, I don't want to see these micro business owners, these small business owners suffering, the same fate that I did twice before. You know, they need their help, we, as a nation, make it so easy to start a business but very difficult to survive in business because of the fact that, the programs that they have in place are meant for what we call second stage businesses, you have to be making, at least a half a million dollars or more. Well, what about these first stage businesses? They're the ones who are failing. We've got over an 82 percent failure rate within a two to three, peer period of them opening their doors.

This is hurting our psyche, or the psyche of the business owner. You know, me, having gone through it twice before, I know what it does, it's depression, it's feeling like you're a failure. When you fail and that actually reflects on the family as well. So me starting my business market out of me, which is committed to the micro business owner and helping them through education, through accountability, through Resource Management, you know, by doing this, what I'm doing I feel as though by reducing the number of failed businesses in the US that it's only going to positively impact our GDP as more money is put into the economy. It's only going to positively impact our labor force, as we're able to hire more people. And finally, that psyche of the business owner is only going to be boosted and that's going to be reflected in their children and their families, towards, we can raise up more in you know entrepreneurs.

Michael: That's beautiful. I love that. And as someone who's been an entrepreneur really since I was like – eight years old, I'll tell you this. I mean, we talked about this on the show constantly, like I fell all the time, everyone who I know is ever been successful, fells more than they are successful.

And I think that so much of failure is looking at that and extrapolating data and just simply saying yeah, I understand what to do differently and for full transparency, I've also failed two businesses, but I've had multiple successful businesses from taking that understanding and going, okay, cool, I know what not to do now, but I think that there's a really interesting conversation to be had here about this, I did that there is an entrepreneur inside of every one of us. To be frank and I've said this before, I think entrepreneurship is the greatest sense of freedom that you can have as a human being because we operate in that, so, as someone who's listening saying, maybe they have their side hustle and they dream of building this big thing, one day, but, you know, they're worried about 10 years from now, but instead of tomorrow, right? If you do have this entrepreneur inside of you like – how do you find that out? Like, how do you know that?

Danna: Well, you know, I have a book that the very first book that I ever wrote, is called Market Atomy, what to expect when expecting a business and because I do believe that there is an entrepreneur it every single one of us, the problem is we don't know where that entrepreneur lies. And so this book is more of a motivational introductory book that kind of gets you to thinking about, what is it that you specialize in whether you're a housewife, whether you are a receptionist or whatever, there's something that you do well, that possibly somebody else may want to know about. I mean, me personally, one of the stories that I tell in the book is the fact that I grew up in the architectural engineering and construction market for many years.

And I work myself to every logistical cycle from product development through spec development into design construction and aftermarket. Well, one of the stories I talk about is the fact that when I went from the design industry with an architectural firm, into this construction management firm that I was laid off of, okay, this construction management from was a huge company but what I didn't realize when I accepted the position and went over there, is they had no systems in place. And so, what I realized is in order for me to be able to effectively do my job in this construction management company, I had to implement systems that we're going to make it easy for me to streamline my production process. Luckily, the design company I was with taught me how to do that. So I was able to bring this to the construction management company, this is where I'm going. You know, I've learned systems, you've learned systems that you can bring to benefit other companies.

Now there are hurdles, you're going to have to go through, you know, yes, entrepreneurship is definitely the most freeing feeling in the world but that quickly disappears when you keep your eye on the long-term goal because it becomes overwhelming. What happens is you become so overwhelmed that you tend to get paralyzed to become paralyzed and then avoid the situation thinking, okay, it's going to resolve itself or I'll worry about it later, it's what I like to call your suffering from OPA. The key is being able to focus on these shorter goals break up that long big vision into shorter goals and by focusing on those shorter goals, you can work through the hurdles that are going to make it difficult to continue growing your business.

Michael: And I think that also applies to life, right? You think about your day to day and what it is that you want to accomplish. You really do have to, I think about like this, I make a Northstar, I put this big giant thing out there in the world and for me, it's end generational trauma in my lifetime, empower people with the tools and understandings and knowledge to create massive transformation in their life. Great. Do you think I can do that if I tried to do it all today? That's not gonna work, right? But, one of the things and I want to dive into this because I know it's something that's near and dear for you that I think that happens is, people do have these goals, they do have these North Stars, but they have this lack of belief and you talk about this idea of believing and receiving. How do you stop sabotaging your goals?

Danna: Oh, I haven't figured that one out yet, I’m still figuring it out. You know, that's been one of my biggest hurdles that I struggle with on a daily basis. I've always had the belief that I could do anything, I've always had this belief what I run into an issue and it didn't come to me until I started going through my counseling after my accident, okay. What I realized was the fact that as I get closer and closer to my goal, I would start sabotaging myself.

One reason or another I would make up excuses, why things didn't work or why I couldn't continue. And it wasn't until, you know, sitting down in my counseling sessions, that I realized that the reason I was not receiving the rewards for what I believed in and what I had done was because I would have to perform, okay? By receiving it, it meant, okay now you have to work at it. You've been saying you can do this all the way and then all of a sudden you're going to have to perform and what if I do it wrong or what if I'm of fake. I think what really did start opening my eyes to this, I was on a shared panel with other strategist and we had a one-hour panel, in front of a group of people and asking answering questions and everything and after the panel one of these strategists that I was really very, as a mentor to me looked at me and said, Danna, we need to have coffee, we need to go sit down, I need to talk to you and I thought, oh, crap! What did I do wrong? There comes that you know that self-doubt, okay, we went we had coffee and he looked at me and he says, you know, your poop and I said, huh and says, you know what you're talking about and I looked at him and I said Harry, that means a lot coming from you. I says, you know, I really looked up to you as a strategist and he says no, he says, you know, as much as me or any of those other strategists up there, you just deliver it in a different way.

And that kind of opened my eyes and set the trajectory for how I manage and the messaging that I put out in marketatomy, is the fact that, yeah, my audience is micro business owners. They are not geared, they're not prepared for these big-time strategists that are using these huge words and and terminologies and things like that to guide these small micro businesses. I bring them down to bring the strategic process down to a level that they can understand.

Michael: So, when you're in this place now and you're starting to transition in your helping people understand right? Which I do think is incredibly important like – I remember the first time I heard the word P&L, I was like, what are you talking about? Right? And looking, I recognize not everybody was sending me this is a business owner or entrepreneur nor do they want to be, but we all have dreams, we all have goals and like this still applies. Like I think about this, a lot of my life, the parallel between life and entrepreneurship is so insane, right? And look at and go, man, there is something about this, if you dissect it, the economy is right there, it’s unexplainable. What do you think is that stops people from really tapping into this though? Right? Because, I do think there’s a level of – you know, you do have to believe it, you do have to received it but you kinda’ like I’m the prescient of it, for a lack of a better analogy, you're at the edge of the diving board and right below you are all of your dreams, but you're not jumping. How do you get people to jump?

Danna: Well, it's civil. First, you have to figure out, okay, where is that fear coming from? Is it fear that you've got a family and you're not going to be able to support them? Okay, is it a fear that someone's going, to put yourself out there and you're going to be consider the fraud, you know, is that your fear? Is the fear that you're just not going to be able to succeed, the way I see it is, there's so many different reasons that we don't take that jump, you know, I will be unfortunately, or fortunately, you could look at it both ways.

I've never been afraid to take the junk per sell, all right? As I tell my clients, first of all, when you're first starting out, okay, don't quit your day OB, unless you have someone there to support you because it's going to take a good 18 to 24 months before you even break, even with your company and the expenses are going to add up their expenses that you don't realize or coming. I also tell them that the thing that's going to drag you down faster than anything else even the money issue is too many hats you wear. If you try and do everything yourself, you're going to find that you are going to be so overwhelmed that you're just going to shut down. You know, it's just going to be too hard. It takes a special individual to be an entrepreneur, it takes somebody who believes in themselves, who has a strong, nurturing personality and I say nurturing, because of the fact that when you're talking to your customers, when you're integrating with your customers, you need to have empathy, you need to be able to read their reactions and be able to understand what it is that they're suffering from and whether you're going to be able to provide a solution for them. When I am with my customers, I don't jump right into the selling process, I am what you call a relationship seller. Okay, I build that relationship, I make them feel comfortable before anything because through that comfort is where I start identifying where their real problems are without them, even realizing they're really letting me know about them. And eventually what happens is you can connect and you can empathize with what they're going through and then you can start building that relationship in order to work with them.

So in answer to your question, that is how I convince my clients, you know, that not convinced but but talk to my clients about the work, they're going to have to put in but I'm right there with them, I am there to guide you along the way. You know, Marketatomy Academy has been designed around the micro business owner, you know, even though it's a do-it-yourself, be learning environment, it's designed to guide you through the process of growing your business.

Michael: Yeah, I love that. And I will say this, I look at the same thing and my side where I'm coaching or mentoring or I'm writing a program. I tell people all the time like I'm here to be a guide like you have to have help in this, you have to have help in anything that you create in life, and I don't know anyone who's ever done, anything great on their own, like, they just don't exist because it's almost impossible, right? And you said some really important things and I'll share a quick excerpt story here of my own journey.

My first business that I created, I had left a corporate job where I was making six figures and I started this business, I was like, oh, I think I know how to do this. I'm successful in corporate America, man, you talk about just having this moment of like, okay, I was wrong, that was one of those and it took me three years to build that business into anything and the whole time I was bleeding money in a way like, effectively lost my entire life savings.

And so, the thing that you have to think about when you're in this building mode, you're going to have to assess risk, and I think people often lack that understanding and that applies to our dreams and our goals to, anything that you want to accomplish in your life there's a trade-off, you're going to have to give something up, you're going to have to recognize that in the process of building what it is that you want, that you're going to take some elves, we're going to have some losses, there's going to be failures, there's going to be hard days and sleepless nights, but that applies to everything, it's not in this business.

Danna: You know; you're going to buy a house if you're good. If you're planning on buying a house, you know, there are things that you're going to have to cut out to save that save up that down payment, you know, things like that. There is sacrifices for everything you want in life, you just need to identify, which sacrifices are you willing to do? Is it family, or is it the nails is a pair, is it enough? What are you willing to sacrifice? Okay, what's not as important to you? My husband's always telling me, it's a trade-off, you know, when I say, okay, we need to put this kind of money into this, and he'll say me, tell me he says, okay, so what are we willing to give up here? And that's what it is, it's the trade-off. We have to go in and with the understanding that if you really believe in what you're doing, you're going to have to sacrifice something. I highly recommend don't status set sacrifice your family, you can set up a contract with your family and help them understand. Okay, we are starting our own business now and it's a we situation, it's not just I, it's a we situation and if you agree that, I'm going to be able to spend this time in my office, whether it's at home or whatever, I promise I'm going to spend this time with you. You know, there are contractual relationships that you can put, within the family, so they don't feel as though you're just neglecting them. And as you said you can't operate in a vacuum, you cannot operate in a vacuum, you know, and in COVID it has really tested that thought process, okay, because with us being a man did to our homes or staying inside and outside of the office environment and everything, and going virtually that has really tested our resolve with being able to work alone and some of us can't do that, some of us are not made to work by ourselves. And so we need that group environment, we need that feedback, but every entrepreneur should have a individual that they can vent with. Even if it's just a coach that you can just vent your frustrations with, you know, there doesn't have to be a solution, you just talk, you get it off your chest, and I can guarantee you, you do that and you're going to come back with a fresh perspective.

Michael: Yeah. Now, and I mean, that's a great parallel again with life. Like –I'll harp on this till the day I die, like – I really believe that the parallels are just there. One of the things though that, I think that happens and I'd love to know your insight on, is this idea that people are so afraid, they have this fear of dreaming big because they let other people dictate the size of their dreams as I see it all the time and that's not even just entrepreneurship, that's everything in life.

Danna: There were different types of people, and there are those that we call ideologists, these audiologists are those that see a big picture, they see a big problem, I'm one of those, all right? What I see out there as far as the small business environment and what's happening within our economic system right now. I see that 34 years down the road, we're going to be in a tough spot because there is going to be so many entrepreneurs out there that are just struggling and losing money, because of the fact that they were forced into an environment or situation starting their own businesses, and not having the resources that they need to really build a successful business.

That's why I'm hoping that marketatomy Academy will be able to help in that situation but I've always been a big dreamer. And I'm telling you the naysayers out there when I went into Brazil, all I heard from everybody before I even made my first trip down, there is oh! you don't want to do that, they don't respect women down there and especially women entrepreneurs, and things like that. Well, I went with the US Commercial Services and I'm telling you, it was the complete opposite of what I was hearing here in the US. The other thing is the news, you know, all we heard on the news as far as Brazil and the favelas, and the prime and all of this other stuff, you know, and being down there and I told them, I said, look, it's no different than in the United States, it's just a matter of where you hang out. Yeah, there are bad spots in the United States, there's bad spots in the in Brazil, you just learn to avoid those areas. So to take exactly what we're going through with covid to just take everything at its word rather than going in and inspecting it yourself and doing your own research. Yes. That is a fear you're going to take and you're going to let these naysayers hold you back. As I said, I've always been a big dreamer, my big vision right now with Market Atomy is, I want to get in front of Congress and ultimately get a bill passed, so that first stage micro-entrepreneurs that can show that they have gone through the education process and been certified in entrepreneurship when they go and get their business licenses that they can qualify for incentives, tax incentives, financial help with labor, things like that. That they can qualify for incentives that will help them grow their business, now, that's a big dream.

Michael: There's a big dream. It's a beautiful dream to and I in hearing you say that; I just think to myself all my gosh, where was this 15 years ago, and I think that until that moment, you have to be willing to persevere, right?

You have to be willing to face the difficulties in the tasks that lie ahead of you because as, you know, it's the same as, recovering, from PTSD to whatever extent that means to your healing your body to grow like requires a tremendous amount of resiliency. What is if I ask you that, like, what is resiliency mean to you? Can you talk about that?

Danna: Resiliency. I've got a tattoo on my arm, my left shoulder here of the Phoenix because there have been so many times that I have been knocked down to the ground and risen up and start it over. I'm now 65 years old, you know, my times between starting over and everything are pretty much limited now, but I'm having so much fun with what I'm doing right now and the payoff is so good, but resiliency to me means that I don't care if I have naysayers, I don't care if somebody says I can't do something. I'm going to find out for myself and there's another part to that, you know, not taking someone's word for it, is just one aspect, but being able to do your own research and make your own mind up as to whether or not this is a bad idea, a bad business idea or not, you know, in Market Atomy  Academy, what we do is we carry our entrepreneurs, our business owners through a 5 phased approach to business. And the first phase is the see it faced, that's where you have your idea for a business, then you move on to the prove it stage phase, this is where you go out to the market, you talk to people, you ask people. Hey, I'm thinking about doing this, is this something you would be interested in buying if it was on the market, you know, would you be willing to pay this kind of price? Is the market big enough for me to survive in business? Do I need to expand my market? Do I need to increase my price? What's my profit margin, you know, all of that. You need to get that research, who's my competition out there? Do all of that before you move into the building phase. The building phases, where your business model comes to life after you've proven product or service viability. You want to move into a phase where you start building that business, that infrastructure around what you're offering is. And this is where you put in your systems, your processes, your customer journey, your marketing, everything is done here. You get to a point where as okay, I'm ready to take this business to the next level, by that time, you've proven the business model and everything you move into the fourth phase which is the funding phase. Now the funding phase is where you're going to be looking at, what's it going to cost me to take my business to the next level? And how am I going to get that money? Is it going to be through Angel investing? Venture capital? Is it going to be Bank financing? How am I going to get the money to take my business to the next level? Which is the next level? The fifth face is the growth phase. This is where you 10x your company, this is where you actually have the money you have the business proven business model now you can turn around and start growing that company. This is where you start putting in your succession plans and everything else. So that you can create that legacy that you want to carry on.

Michael: It's really beautiful. And I think that so much of life's journey is looking at practical things and looking at what people in front of you have done and taking that information actually, using it applying it to your life, and then seeing what happens. And, one of my mentors, Tom Bilyeu says something, I think about every single day, says; the success is not guaranteed, but the struggle certainly is and I think that's such a part of life, but you're not going to find out what you're capable of if you're willing to step into the arena.

Danna: My husband told me when we went into Brazil, you know, he says even if we don't make a penny in Brazil, the experience alone was worth it.

Michael: I love that. And I think about this too, on my deathbed. I just don't want to wonder, what if, even if I fell again, which I will, I don't want to wonder what would happen if I didn't try? Danna, before I ask you my last question, can you tell everyone where they can find you?

Danna: Everybody can find me on LinkedIn, okay? All of my information is on LinkedIn, it’s Danna Olivo, you can also reach out to me at danna.olivo@marketatomy.com. Also go into the academy, marketatomy.academy, go ahead and register and take a look at the courses that are offered, you know, and things like that.

Michael: Amazing. Thank you so much for being here, my friend. My last question for you is, what does it mean to you to be unbroken?

Danna: Oh gosh, what it means is to be free. It means to be free, happy, able to love my grandkids, love my husband, being able to travel, do my art again, that's all of it, you know.

Michael: Brilliant, love it, and I'm so glad that you get to have that experience.

Unbroken Nation, thank you so much for listening.

And please be sure to check out all of Danna’s work, will put all the links in the show notes.

Please review, like, subscribe, tell a friend.

And Until Next Time.

My friends, Be Unbroken.

-I'll see you.