Ep. 93 The Stern Truth: The Only Way to Grow with Amariah Murdock

Amariah Murdock describes herself as your black bubbly partner in success. As a business owner of her company INFINTEXEC, entrepreneur, mom, wife, and podcaster, she has a busy life yet keeps her bubbly self going.

As a postpartum new mom, she was trying to navigate business and motherhood and, like most new mothers, found it hard. Her podcast “Mompreneurs Making Moves” allowed her to put out questions about motherhood and managing it all.

Speaking of managing it all, Amariah goes over a few things that allow her to manage everything. She also doles out golden nugget after golden nugget in this episode, like take off the labels and the narratives that people put on us, and there’s so much more to success than money.

I note the similarities between her and me and how passionate we both are about servant leadership. The value that it brings to both the giver and the receiver is insurmountable. We also both especially emphasize how positive connections, not relationship arrogance, should be one of the things we strive for in business.

Amariah also gets into one of her biggest struggles, which is imposter syndrome. The way she puts it is that most people with imposter syndrome have a fear of being found out—"What if they know I’m still learning?” As long as you’re learning, you’re not left behind, which is a compliment to something I always say: we need to fall in love with the process, not the goal.

One of the last golden nuggets Amariah gave was this: the way you show up changes the world. I couldn’t agree more. Believe me, you’ll need the whole pad of paper and a pen for this episode.

Connect with Amariah here:

Website: www.infinitexec.com
LI: @amariahmurdock
FB: @@INFINITEXEC
Podcast: mompreneursmakingmoves.com 

I would love to hear your feedback on this or any episode. Send any comments or questions to me at marshall@marshallstern.net. 

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarshallDStern
Email: marshall@marshallstern.net

Transcript

[00:00:00] Marshall Stern: One of the things that I hear out there a lot in, whether it's in Facebook groups or in one-on-one conversations with different business owners, is they tell me or they're saying they're overwhelmed, they're exhausted. They actually are probably on the verge of burnout, but they're just so busy being busy, as I call it, they have a busyness, not a business.

[00:00:25] Well, today, my friends, we bust some myths and we sit down with this amazing person, Amariah Murdock, and I want you to grab a pad of paper and pen because some of the golden nuggets that she shares and some of the tools and strategies that she uses with her clients and what she uses with her own business and her own life, it's pretty simple.

[00:00:46] I talk about it all the time, but I want you to hear from her how she implements and what she has done, all the things that she has going on. So, if you don't think you have time, think again, my friends. Check out this episode and enjoy.

[00:01:06] Hi, I'm Marshall Stern and I've spent over 35 years leading and growing multiple small businesses. I know firsthand the struggles of entrepreneurship, feeling isolated, lonely, overwhelmed, and feeling like you have to do it all by yourself. I've been through multiple recessions, and I have felt the highs and the lows. 

[00:01:25] I've been there, and I get it. This podcast is here to change that. Every week I will bring you straight talking advice, real world strategies, and honest conversations about what it takes to succeed in business without the fluff, the gimmicks, or the sugar-coated. If you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and start making real progress, then you are in the right place. 

[00:01:48] This is The Stern Truth. 

[00:01:53] Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Stern Truth Business Unfiltered. I want to introduce you to my very special guest this week, Amariah Murdock. How are you doing? 

[00:02:05] Amariah Murdock: I am doing well, thank you. Appreciate it. 

[00:02:08] Marshall Stern: Well, I'm so excited. I've been looking forward to this because, just a bit of a backstory for our listeners, and then I wanted you to just share how amazing you are.

[00:02:19] I’ll share it for them if you'd like. We met, it's a short time ago. Not in person, but virtually, and I was on your podcast- 

[00:02:28] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:02:29] Marshall Stern: …that's going to be coming out at some point in the near future, and Mompreneurs Making Moves. 

[00:02:35] Amariah Murdock: Correct? Yeah. Yeah, that's right 

[00:02:37] Marshall Stern: How long have you had that podcast? 

[00:02:39] Amariah Murdock: So, I started Mompreneurs Making Moves, I launched it in August.

[00:02:44] I think I randomly started it in July. And it was after being a few months postpartum new mom, first time baby, and trying to navigate business and motherhood, and it was really hard. And I, I remember thinking, "Well, there's plenty of people already doing it, so why don't I just ask them questions, and then record it and share it?"

[00:03:03] And so that's where that podcast was born. And so yeah, we really appreciated having you on there as well, talking about leadership from a different angle for moms, how to best support themselves as leaders and understand what that means coming into their own. So that was a real delight. Thanks for being on there.

[00:03:23] Marshall Stern: Oh, thank you. No, it was, it was, it was amazing. And, but that's not all you do, right? So, so before I'm going to put a little, a little caveat here. So, you know, I hear, and we might have talk – I, I think we've spoken about this before, and I hear this all the time, like, because I run a, some Facebook groups, I do a lot of webinars, I meet a lot of people.

[00:03:43] My, you know, I, I coach and mentor business owners. But I hear a lot of times from people, "I don't have time." 

[00:03:50] Amariah Murdock: Yeah.

[00:03:51] Marshall Stern: “I don't have time." You have a few things going on.

[00:03:55] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay. So basically, if you hear nothing else about me, I'm your black bubbly partner in success. And the way that that works is, I obviously have my main business, which would be INFINITEXEC.

[00:04:12] We're an elite executive assistant agency, so we service seven to 10 bigger CEOs across America. But what makes us different is we focus on the values and energy of the person, and that's where strategy meets execution. You know, usually you have people who are really forward-thinking and proactive, but they don't execute, right?

[00:04:31] Or you just have someone who knows how to execute, but they don't know how to do it at a high level. So, we try to bridge that gap, and we, we are both. We're proactive. We come recommendation forward. We think ahead. We've worked with these companies before, like eBay and Google, and people who have worked with those companies.

[00:04:47] We support those people. And so, we know how to bring those high-level strategies and then execute on, from the lowest to the highest things, and that's what makes us different. We're all North American based, all that fun stuff. But, you know, when it comes back to the idea of like, "I don't have time, and I need to get my time back," there are a couple thoughts that really come to mind actually, which opens a different conversation.

[00:05:08] One is you probably do have time, because technically we all do. I mean, we have time right now. Just listening to this podcast, there's time. So, we all have time. But the question that I've been coming to most recently is: What is the best use of me, really? What is the best use of you? What are we supposed to be doing that we love to do, that we do well, and directly results back into cashflow into our business, or brings the most value to our lives where we can help other people be fulfilled?

[00:05:38] Because at the end of the day, if we're not where we're supposed to be, then we're either divided doing too many things, and that's why we feel like we don't have time, but we're really just spreading ourselves thin. We have the time, we just need to change what we're doing, how we're doing it, or we do have the time, we're trying to do it all, but it's just not the best use of us.

[00:06:01] It's not the best use of me to be looking at emails all day when I'm best in strategy, right? It's not the best use of you to be working at a grocery store when you're coaching leaders across America, right? So, when we find that sweet spot, what we're supposed to be doing, what's the best use of us, that really does change the game.

[00:06:21] But I also will say Some of us really don't have time because we do need to actually let some things go when we say yes to too many things. And that does have to change if we really want to tap into our best selves. So, I think those are the two thoughts that come to mind with that, but that's definitely something I hear a lot of.

[00:06:40] Marshall Stern: No, I, I love that. Thanks for sharing because you're 100% right and you're, you're preaching to the choir here. You know, we all have the same 24 hours in a day- 

[00:06:49] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:06:50] Marshall Stern: …but it's what we do with them. So, the one thing, so you have the podcast, you have your business. 

[00:06:56] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:06:57] Marshall Stern: You also have another little business going on- 

[00:07:00] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:07:00] Marshall Stern: …that started about nine months ago. Well, actually it started probably a year and a half ago, but tell us about that, how that is.

[00:07:06] Amariah Murdock: Yeah, so I started a baby gear rental company here in southern Utah, which is where I'm from. We're, like, an hour and a half from Vegas in sunny St. George. And I started that because the vacation industry, the vacation rental industry here is heavy, and it's year-round and it's consistent. 

[00:07:24] And a lot of the people that come are families that have kids, but they can't take the strollers and the high chairs and the car seats on the plane. So being able to rent it out to them while they're here is one other service that, you know, I have through my other business called Joyride Rentals Southern Utah.

[00:07:41] So yeah, if you're, you guys are ever visiting St. George, southern Utah in general, and you guys have kids, let us know. Reach out to us, joyride.rentals. We will take care of you. But, but it's hard. There's a lot that goes into having family and business. I also have done business coaching. I've also done business mentoring for female entrepreneurs, especially the minority, who are trying to, you know, change the game in their own industries and understand how best to have a foundation for their business to build upon, to grow and to scale it.

[00:08:12] There are just certain things that you need as a business owner to be able to do that and do it well, and do it without having to go through, you know, all the mistakes that a lot of us go through. And so, I have business coaching experience as well. I have my Master of Arts in Administrative Leadership.

[00:08:26] Super passionate about leadership. Servant leadership to be exact. And then yeah, couple businesses, but I will say the most important role that I have currently right now is being a wife and a mom, absolutely. Yeah. 

[00:08:41] Marshall Stern: Nine-month-old? 

[00:08:42] Amariah Murdock: Yes, yes. I have a nine-month-old- 

[00:08:44] Marshall Stern: Baby. 

[00:08:45] Amariah Murdock: …at this time. 

[00:08:45] Marshall Stern: But yeah. But not spouse.

[00:08:47] Not, not... Well  I love that. So, I- we've, we've, we've chatted a few times now, and just I didn't know, I had no idea you had business coaching experience, and I had no idea about the leadership experience. 

[00:08:59] Amariah Murdock: Oh, God. 

[00:09:00] Marshall Stern: And right? And, and the servant leadership, which I'm all about. And that's where, that's a lot of my training came from John Maxwell years ago, and it's all about servant leadership.

[00:09:11] Where do you think... Okay, so you work with primarily work, like inside... What size company do you work with? 

[00:09:18] Amariah Murdock: Yeah…

[00:09:18] Marshall Stern: Let's say on average. 

[00:09:19] Amariah Murdock: I would say I typically work with solopreneurs who are either still doing everything by themselves and they need a strong right hand. So maybe they're like, "Hey, I don't want a whole team.

[00:09:30] But if I had an amazing assistant or a right hand who could help partner with me in the business," that's what we do. We also though work with CEOs who have a team of one to 10 typically, but they don't have a dedicated right hand. So they have a really great operations or a really great salesperson or a really great, you know, graphic designer, but they don't have someone right beside them who's ready to get into the grind and essentially help them in the day-to-day, be them in the day-to-day so they can stay at the high level visionary impact place.

[00:10:02] So those are the types of people and companies we typically, typically work with. 

[00:10:06] Marshall Stern: I, I, I love that. And there's a lot of similarities between what you do and what I do. It's sort of, I would say complementary. It's different. Complementary because my objective with my clients is to help them be the, what I call the ONtrepreneur with a big O.

[00:10:2] Not E-N, but O-N. So, working on the business and release, let go of some of those activities and tasks and to-dos, right? That they don't need to be doing, and they should be getting someone else to do, someone like yourself and your team. And outs- whether it's someone on their team, like employee or, you know, hiring and outsourcing because that gives them the opportunity to do what they do best and which is building their business.

[00:10:50] Connecting, right? Business development. Maybe delivering the service, like if you are a coach, a consultant, if you're a bookkeeper, an accountant, whatever, you're delivering the service, but you shouldn't be stuck... Well, again, I'm preaching to the choir. You shouldn't be stuck doing it all the back end and where you can find someone else who will do it for you probably better than you will, right?

[00:11:11] And that's, that's called leadership. 

[00:11:15] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:11:15] Marshall Stern: If you're the smart – if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. 

[00:11:19] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:11:20] Marshall Stern: So, bring – that's, so that's what I do. Bring people on your team that will help support you and guide you and allow you to have a chance of getting what you want to achieve.

[00:11:29] Because it's... Listen, we started this podcast back last year, almost a year ago now, because business is hard. You know, there's no sugarcoating on this podcast. There are some ups and downs. And so, I want to know from you, as I mention that, what would you, what would you say would be your, one of your biggest challenges you faced in your entrepreneurial journey?

[00:11:50] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Man, I would say, honestly… I would say it's still an ongoing struggle, but somewhat of the imposter syndrome, it really is real. You know? And it, and it shows up in different ways. Sometimes it's not so obvious, but that feeling of like, "Oh man, am I going to be fi- found out? Are they going to find out that I, I don't know as much as I think I know or, or there's some things I'm still learning?"

[00:12:14] And, and it's like, well hopefully you are still learning and growing, right? Because if you're not, that is actually one of the biggest red flags ever when you're trying to work with someone, right? Someone that thinks they know it all and their way is the best way and the only way. We learn and we grow because we keep learning.

[00:12:34] It's absolutely essential. And, and with all the AI and the different things that are happening today, if you're not learning, you're already behind. So, learning has to be, has to be a normal piece of the growth and development and, you know, being able to stay ahead of the trends and things like that because you have the data, you're, you're looking, you're seeing what matters to people.

[00:12:57] But yeah, I think that the imposter syndrome is one of the hardest pieces and just celebrating yourself and really taking the time to be thankful and grateful for the wins, small or big. A lot of people are just, you know, so focused on getting to a certain place at a certain time that they don't say, "Wow, you know what?

[00:13:17] We made it another month. That's great," right? We met some more people. We expanded our network. That's a good win. But we don't take the time to, to really take it all in. So just celebrate the wins. That's something that has been hard but is really important. 

[00:13:33] Marshall Stern: Well, I just said that because it's one thing that I, I mean, when I, when I work with my clients, that's one of the first things...

[00:13:38] Well, it is every session, like, what's a win, a celebration? Because most of the time we're not thinking that way, right? We're just... We – we're in love with the outcome. We're in love with the goal. 

[00:13:48] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:13:48] Marshall Stern: Right? And what we have to do, we have to, it's not a suggestion here, we have to start to fall in love with the process.

[00:13:57] We have to start to fall in love with the everyday getting up, the action steps we take, right? Because it is, it's... There's a, the term the entrepreneurial rollercoaster ride, okay? It is up and down, right? Especially when you have a young family or aging parents or multiple businesses or staff or, or… like, it just is for everybody.

[00:14:22] Okay, so imposter syndrome, celebrating the wins. Do you find being an entrepreneur... Because you, okay, on the surface level, like, listening to you, watch, people watching, "Imposter syndrome? What's she talking about? This, this, this woman's rocking it." Like, she's got it together. She's like, seriously, like you are a go-getter.

[00:14:45] Credibility, professionalism. Like wow, right? Seriously. 

[00:14:50] Amariah Murdock: Mm. 

[00:14:50] Marshall Stern: That's what, that's the feeling I get from speaking with you. Do you ever get lonely? 

[00:14:56] Amariah Murdock: Mm. I'm there. 

[00:14:57] Marshall Stern: Do you- 

[00:14:58] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:14:59] Marshall Stern: Do, do, do you have time to get lonely? If there, there's a... Anyway, well, yeah. Do you ever get, like, lonely, like, as a business owner? Like…

[00:15:07] Amariah Murdock: Mm.

[00:15:08] Yeah, I think it's interesting because at least the stage that I'm in, in my business, where I'm scaling still, there's this, like, weird, awkward transitional phase. There's a lot of transitional phases when you grow your business, but, like, when you convince yourself that you're the only one who's not quite where you want to be yet, but you're still better off than when you first started.

[00:15:30] And then there are days when you feel like you took a whole dip back to where you first started, and you're like, "Ah, but what if it starts back over and I got to build it back up again?" Because, you know, there's just, again, different moments, the ebbs and flows of entrepreneurship. And so, I think that I think it's hard when...

[00:15:48] It's, it's easy... Let me rephrase that. It's easy to feel alone when you think that you're the only person exactly where you are in your business and in your journey. And so, you're looking around and you see the people who are wildly successful, and then you see the people who are, you know, not where you are, but they're just starting, they're building, they're trying their best.

[00:16:06] But you're, you know you're a little bit more advanced than that, and so you kind of feel like you're in this awkward transitional phase. And it, it, it is easy to feel alone at that time and in that moment, and I also think that a lot of business owners, unless they think that you can do something for them, they really aren't trying to connect.

[00:16:26] There's something called relationship arrogance. 

[00:16:30] Marshall Stern: Mm. 

[00:16:30] Amariah Murdock: You know? And it's that idea that you don't treat someone important unless you think that they can do something for you. And so, when you're meeting other people, if you don't see an immediate value to you, you're probably going to disregard them, and it's something that I always try to tell people, "Be very careful about," because you don't know who you're talking to.

[00:16:48] Yeah, you don't know who you're talking to. I told you a little bit about this before we started this podcast, but I recently met a multimillionaire at the gas station. He didn't look like a multimillionaire, and when we first started talking randomly, I just thought, you know, he was a random person kind of getting his gas and getting his coffee and going on his way, and I...

[00:17:10] But I, I always make it a point to be respectful, be kind. You don't know who you're talking to. Just be kind, right? It doesn't cost to be kind. And because I was, I was able to meet another business owner who owns multiple businesses in my state, and potentially, you know, we have a working relationship or some type of partnership that might benefit my business, which is great.

[00:17:32] But I didn't know that when I first started talking to him, and if I would've easily disregarded, there wouldn't be any conversation, you know? 

[00:17:40] Marshall Stern: Yeah. 

[00:17:40] Amariah Murdock: So yeah, relationship arrogance, be careful. Be careful when you're talking to people. And you automatically size them up and decide in your mind if they're going to be valuable to you or not.

[00:17:51] And then based off of your own understanding, you make some decision. It's really shallow and it's... Yeah, we’ve lost our way in how to connect, genuinely want to connect with each other as business owners, which also, just going back to that idea, it, it leads to us feeling lonely very easily. Yeah. 

[00:18:09] Marshall Stern: Yeah.

[00:18:09] No, I, I, I 100% agree, and that's why I've, I've mentioned it to you. That's why I'm starting... Well, I've had multiple groups before that I run, but that's why I'm starting this ONtrepreneur Inner Circle, to bring people together so they're not alone. They have the support environment where they can come to weekly, air out their...

[00:18:26] Not, not a complaining or a bitch session, but just an air, a, a safe space where they can talk about it, talk about their imposter syndrome, talk about their ideas, get feedback, that sort of thing. But it's interesting, like, about the... because we always think about, like, on LinkedIn, right? I have a love-dislike relationship with LinkedIn.

[00:18:46] So… because on LinkedIn can be very spammy, very salesy. 

[00:18:49] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:18:50] Marshall Stern: And a lot of people are out there, and it's just what's in it for me? Right? So, kind of what you're saying, but you're talking about, like, similar but the opposite approach. Like, you're not going to connect with someone necessarily unless you think there's an opportunity.

[00:19:02] Like, this is what you're talking about, unless you think there's an op- what not to do. You, unless you think there's an opportunity to get something, right, for you. 

[00:19:09] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:19:13] Marshall Stern: Okay. And that's what a lot of people are doing on LinkedIn. 

[00:19:13] Amariah Murdock: Yeah.

[00:19:13] Marshall Stern: They're not just connecting for the sole purpose of service, servant leadership.

[00:19:19] Amariah Murdock: Right. 

[00:19:20] Marshall Stern: Right? First of all, servant –  like, it feels damn good. It feels really, really good just to reach out to someone and say, "Hey- 

[00:19:28] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:19:30] Marshall Stern: …if you ever need to talk," right? So, two quick examples on this. So, just about a month ago, there's... I'm in a, in another group, a networking group, and someone had mentioned she'd made a post.

[00:19:41] It was actually New Year's Eve, and she had made, made a post that she's... And I, I had met her a couple times. Never spoken to her one-on-one. She's made a post saying, you know, "I'm just sitting alone this tonight. That sort of thing. I'm okay with that, and I have this goal this year of phoning people, just even for a three-minute chat if I feel like the need to connect with someone.

[00:20:00] So if you want to be one of those people, send me your number." 

[00:20:03] Amariah Murdock: Hmm. 

[00:20:04] Marshall Stern: I sent her my number.

[00:20:06] Amariah Murdock: Hmm. 

[00:20:06] Marshall Stern: We had a three-minute chat that night or that, that day, right? And she, it was just to connect, right? To just give back. And just today, I had in, on Facebook, someone who I had a complimentary session with about a year ago.

[00:20:23] She's never, she's never paid me one dime. 

[00:20:26] Amariah Murdock: Wow. 

[00:20:27] Marshall Stern: Right? Not one dime or one dollar. And she, in one of the groups that I run, she gave me this huge, huge shout-out about how I made a huge difference for her and her business, and that she's like... That I believed in her and she can believe in herself, and now she just wanted to thank me.

[00:20:44] This huge shout-out. And she didn't have to do that. And I, when I had the conversation with her a year ago, I knew she wasn't, like it was not to enroll her as a client. She was just starting. It was just to give back, to help. 

[00:20:59] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:20:59] Marshall Stern: Because it feels good. 

[00:21:01] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:21:01] Marshall Stern: Right? Is there something in it for me?

[00:21:03] Sure. It feels good, if I'm being selfish, right? And that's what, like, that's what leadership, serving leadership, like, it just, it really feels good to just help people. 

[00:21:11] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah 

[00:21:15] Marshall Stern: So, I'm curious with what you do with your business and how you help your clients, okay? For our listeners who are, and trust me, there's a lot of them...

[00:21:25] Well, hope there's a lot of listeners, but there's a lot of people who are stuck in it, right? And I see it all the time, and I help them through it. What would you suggest? What would be, like one, gold... We talk about gold nuggets on this podcast.  One tip, one strategy, one gold nugget you could give our listeners when they're looking at their own schedule and all their to-dos of… maybe what they should consider bringing on someone else to do for them. 

[00:21:49] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I would actually back it up before you even get to that piece because- 

[00:21:53] Marshall Stern: Okay. 

[00:21:54] Amariah Murdock: …what happens as business owners is we clear our schedules, if by some miracle we clear it, and we just fill it up with more stuff, different, you know, different day, same mess is what I like to say.

[00:22:06] So when I'm approaching helping someone strategically with their time and their business, and then giving them customized support, it's based on their energy and values for a reason. Okay, and getting them back to what lights them up inside. Dan Martell, Buy Back Your Time, you know, he talks about we should be doing what only we can do, what we do well, and what directly results in the cashflow back to our business.

[00:22:34] Everything else should be delegated. And it's easy to say. I said it in like three seconds, but it's really hard to, to pan out, but it's totally possible, and that's the difference between the person who has multiple businesses and they don't do anything in their business, and the person who's stuck head down every day barely making a buck, but they work all the time, you know, and they're trying to figure out, "Well, how do I get from here to here?"

[00:22:56] Well, you know, part of it is understanding that you need to see the way things get done is not all dependent on you. You need to look at it differently, right? What's the best use of you, right? because ultimately when you have the right people in the right positions, everything works really well, and it will work itself out anyways.

[00:23:17] Can you imagine, for example, if emails are draining you, having someone who loves to organize emails, like loves, genuinely excites them, energizes them to get in to organize to, you know, extract your to-dos, to schedule your meetings, and it... they, they feel accomplished, and they love it. They enjoy it. Can you imagine how much more smooth your day would run having someone who loves what they do versus you having to just look at everything and check it out and try to decipher what needs to be done, and who needed what, and who said what, and why do you have to meet here, and who was that again that you talked with?

[00:23:51] It's, you know – it's interesting when you put the right people in the right places and yourself, the best use of you, how quickly things change. But yeah, going back to your question, I would back it up. It's not about... At the beginning, it's not about all the things that you think need to get done, like a laundry list.

[00:24:08] It's not like that. It's actually I'll just focus on one piece of it, energy. Like, how does your energy flow throughout the day? When is your peak energy time? When does it start to dip? Do you get a second wind? What are the tasks that drain you the most, and why? Is it because it's mentally, you know, taxing or because your personality is an introvert, you have a hard time having meetings all day, and so you need to pace yourself, you need to think about it differently?

[00:24:35] Is it because sales is not where you should be spending your energy because you don't do it as well because it drains you, and you need to go back to vision? Or do you need to just be in the sales boat and everything else from the time that that person signs on to the time they're onboarding to into the sunset your team handles because you're just...

[00:24:54] You're really great at closing, you're really great at feeding, you know, the excitement for your new clients and pushing the mission and getting the partnerships and vision? Like, energy is the thing I would focus on before I even think about, well, what can I delegate? It's what's the best use of me and where and how does my energy play into that?

[00:25:15] Because that will very quickly bring up some things, as far as delegation, but also how it should be handled for you and for the type of support that you need. 

[00:25:26] Marshall Stern: Okay. So, I hear you. Okay. So, I'm all about the energy as well, and I do... I think we might have spoken about it. I do something called, like, an Energy Audit with my clients.

[00:25:34] Amariah Murdock: Yes. 

[00:25:35] Marshall Stern: And it's all about the energizing and drains, right? 

[00:25:37] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:25:38] Marshall Stern: And really we should be focusing more, the ideal world, what's energizing us and the business development or, or the revenue-generating activities we should be focusing more on and outsourcing more to people like yourself and other companies depending on what you really specialize, which I want to ask you about in a second, more the administrative tasks that really is not our, in our sweet spot, unless it is.

[00:25:59] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:25:59] Marshall Stern: Right? Right. For some people it is, right? But the, it's the stuff that drains us we need to do our best to either automate or delegate. 

[00:26:08] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. 

[00:26:10] Marshall Stern: What about people who are listening to this say, "Okay, I could take Marshall's energy on it, I could get in touch with Amariah," which I'll put all your information below so people can get in touch with you.

[00:26:20] I can know, like this, I need to outsource this, and delegate, delegate, delegate, or to my existing team. But let's say outsourcing, but it's expensive. 

[00:26:30] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:26:32] Marshall Stern: What do you say to those people who say, "I would love to, but..." 

[00:26:35] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah. So there's, if you don't mind, I'll run through the top three objections I get from business owners okay, who are considering a service like mine.

[00:26:44] One is I don't... How do you build trust in such a short amount of time to have someone come in? It's my baby, it's my business, like this is me, it's my brand. I don't want it diluted or misrepresented. So, trust is one of the, like, first things that comes up.

[00:26:58] And to that I would say, you know, trust does take time to build, so just make sure you fully vet whoever it is that you want to work with and decide what is most important to you. And if it needs to be handled a specific way, then you need to have that documented or communicated to where someone can take that and then execute it, you know?

[00:27:17] A lot of the time it comes down to communication. There's no one who's going to be able to do it exactly like you do it, and there's no one who's going to be able to read your mind. So, with that being said, again, just coming back to communication, it's going to be very important that you choose things that you can clearly communicate with plenty of information, and that you've vetted.

[00:27:41] You've vetted that person so when they're coming in to work with you, you know that you have a good chance of succeeding because the measurements are clear, the success, measurements of success are clear, the deliverables are clear, the scope of work is clear. Doesn't have to be perfect. Some of it you're going to change anyways as you go.

[00:27:59] But the more clarity you have around the support that you need, and also just what you're looking for, for your personality and the specific outcomes that bring you the most value that is going to set you up for success when it comes to trust as well. 

[00:28:12] Marshall Stern: Mm-hmm. 

[00:28:13] Amariah Murdock: It's going to be very clear whether or not they're able to measure up to that.

[00:28:16] So trust is one of the biggest objections. Another one, so cost is something you mentioned, and I always say, "Look, if you are going to work with someone who's going to help you in your business, they will always save you money and sometimes even double or triple your, your investment." I remember one of the current clients we work with, I remember we were on a call with him and we were like, "Okay, we're going to get back to work.

[00:28:39] We're going to be working on these specific areas, and you're good to go." Everything was taken off his plate, and I remember him saying, "Okay, I'm going to go close $10 million now. Thanks. Bye." Hung up. That was it. So, we just helped him make $10 million because we took everything off his plate, and he knows that it's going to get done, and everything is trusted, and it's calculated, and it's tracked.

[00:29:00] And so he's just going off making literally millions. And so, if you want to be stuck in your business, keep doing everything. You'll be the bottleneck of your business. You'll feel it. You'll burn out. You'll, you'll figure it out. If you're ready to scale, if you're ready to grow, the only way that you can absolutely do that is with a team.

[00:29:17] And the way that I like to think of it is when you see a baseball team and everyone's on a base, and you, you're trying to get that home run, right? Most of the time it takes a team to get there. It's not one person just hitting all the bases very easily. It takes more time, I should say, for one person to do it by themselves than for the whole team to work together to get more quickly.

[00:29:39] And it's true, you can do more together. So, you might need to invest upfront to be able to have the help that you need, but at the end of the day, it... Assuming that it's the help that you actually need and it's bringing you value, because that's not everybody. But assuming that you've, again, vetted and you've found the right fit and it does bring you value, you will always be actually saving money, and then you're saving an even more important piece, which is time, because time you can't get back.

[00:30:07] And so, yeah, it's worth the investment. You'll get your return on your investment if you're focused on the high value areas in your business to have support. And then the last objection I would say is a lot of people ask me, "Well, what happens if I give it a chance or I've given it a chance, and it fails?

[00:30:24] Because I don't feel like training someone and holding their hand, and I don't feel like, you know, I have the time or the bandwidth to do this all over again." And I always tell them, "You, you don't..." Okay, well, that's a double negative. But you don't not- 

[00:30:38] Marshall Stern: Don't what? 

[00:30:38] Amariah Murdock: … have the time. Yeah. Right? You, you can't afford it.

[00:30:42] Because at the end of the day, it's going to take some type of foundation, whether it's a team member, an employee, or outsource or whatever. Even if you had your best friend who's like, "Hey, look, I'll help you." You'd still have to take some time, some type of energy and time investment on your part to get it going and make sure that you're, you're having exactly what you need.

[00:31:03] So that's a normal part of growing. It's growing pains. It's part of growing pains in your business. And if you're ready to scale and you're ready to work on your business, then you can't afford not to have that help and support. But if you want to be, you know, in the day-to-day grind and you're addicted to the rush and you're ready to burn out, you know, keep being the bottleneck of your business.

[00:31:25] I always like to give people two options. 

[00:31:27] Marshall Stern: Yeah. Well, I have to, I have to stop you there because I have to say this. My friends, I hope you've been able to listen to what Amariah has just said the last few minutes, in fact the entire hour, because that is the Stern Truth. What she is saying is the Stern Truth. I know this from experience, from myself, from my clients, you keep doing everything yourself, you are the bottleneck, period, end of story, podcast over, move on.

[00:31:53] Next. I don't know what I... I'm going to ask you one more question, totally shifting gears because that was magic. 

[00:32:00] Amariah Murdock: Aww. 

[00:32:01] Marshall Stern: You have a nine-month-old. You have a spouse. You have two businesses. You have a podcast. How? 

[00:32:08] Amariah Murdock: Hmm. 

[00:32:08] Marshall Stern: How do you do it all? And you're sitting here with a boatload of energy. And you do that...

[00:32:16] I've... We've spoken many times. You've always had it. I'm sure it's the way you show up with your clients. But seriously, like, how? Because other people out there, they get overwhelmed, and I'm sure that you have your moments, 100%, but how, how do you manage it all? What's your special sauce? Do you have a special sauce?

[00:32:35] Amariah Murdock: You know, honestly, I would say it's three things. First, I always do really like to give glory to God, because my faith is what anchors me. And I believe that, you know, that at least for me, He helps give me the strength that I need to do what I do and helps to ground me, so I know why I'm doing it and my values and all that.

[00:33:00] So, that's part of it. The second thing I would say, though, is I do have a team, and I literally have a team through my executive assistant agency. I have a team. They help me set up my baby gear rental company CRM. Like, I paid. I outsourced myself. Like, I practice what I preach, right? Having that is the only reason I've been able to do what I've been doing.

[00:33:22] But also, I think that the last thing I'll say is how do you do it all? You decide what is most important to you in the legacy that you want to leave and in the time freedom that you need today. I'm kind of looking in the future and at the current every day. I'm deciding what's important today. Who do I need to connect with today?

[00:33:46] What do I need to do for my family today? But then what do I want to leave when I'm not here? And that keeps me going because I want to do as much good as much as possible. I want to bring as much value as possible. Because candidly, when you're in the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and you're in the ebb and flow, you decide what's most important to you.

[00:34:08] And if money is the most important thing, if money equals success, you're extremely limited. There's so much more to success than just money. Our client's satisfaction should be somewhere in there. The way that you're making the world a better place overall should be somewhere in there. The relationships that you're building, the people that you're helping.

[00:34:27] Again, going back to that servant leadership, what value am I bringing? How am I helping other people? And at the end of the day, it comes back to you. And that, that for me at least, at this point in my life, is the most important thing I can ever do is, oh, I helped other people, not because they helped me, not because I saw an immediate gain or value, but because I know it's important to help.

[00:34:50] I'm kind, I'm respectful because I know what it's like to be acknowledged as a human being. We all need that acknowledgement. We all need that sense of belonging. So when I show up the way I show up, it's because I'm putting out what I want to get back, and I believe in that principle, and I believe that when you do that, amazing things can happen, like meeting a multimillionaire at a gas station.

[00:35:14] And so yeah, I would say those are the things that help to keep me going, and I really appreciate the compliments. And you are also an amazing human, and I'm not surprised to see all the great things that are about to unfold in 2026. 

[00:35:29] Marshall Stern: Oh, well, stop, well, stop. Well, you can start again. No, thank you.

[00:35:33] Thank you. But everything you said, I love it, and everything you said about, like, just being grounded and with your faith and, knowing what's important today, but keeping an eye on the vision of what you want to be, what you want to accomplish. It's really what I talk about with my clients, and it's really getting clear on your why and your what.

[00:35:52] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:35:52] Marshall Stern: Why are you, why you are here, your purpose, and your what. Being – I like to use, like, three, three, four years down the road, right? And then you kind of, with both of those on your phone, on a Post-It on your computer, in your heart, in your head, always at the forefront, ev – it allows you to stay on that path.

[00:36:12] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. 

[00:36:13] Marshall Stern: It's so easy to veer off the path. Now, whether you have a coach or a mentor, you're working with someone else to guide you, someone like yourself and your, your agency, it's, you know, it helps us stay on the path. If we try to do it ourselves, it's so easy... You don't know, right? There's always forks in the road.

[00:36:29] Which way to go? Where should I go? But I, I, I love everything you've said here, and I guess, yeah, I'm just looking at the notes because I, I've taken so many notes. I'm going to have to watch this over and over again because I, I'm learning so much just from you. So, I thank you for that. Oh. Before we go, any last, any...

[00:36:47] Can you give us, like, one more juicy gold nugget, one more tip, something to help inspire and empower, which is my why? So, I'm allowing you to share my why for a second because you're all about it, too. 

[00:36:58] Amariah Murdock: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I would say, ah… I'm trying to remember exactly where I saw this. Oh, no, no, it was someone I talked with.

[00:37:06] Yeah, multimillionaire out of California. I was on the phone with him. We'd just met for the first time, and I remember I asked him a question like, "Do you want to talk tomorrow or next week?" And he was like, "Let's do tomorrow and next week. Why limit ourselves?" And I remember thinking, "That's a really interesting perspective."

[00:37:10] Why limit ourselves? Because, at some point we want to do everything, and then we realize we… can't do everything, and then we're like, "Well, I can't do anything," right? Then we go from one side to the other side of the pendulum and it's like, wait a minute. Look we can do, we can do all things 

[00:37:45] Marshall Stern: Yep ... 

[00:37:45] Amariah Murdock: Spiritually through Christ or God, who strengthens us. But, but here's the thing. Again, what’s the best use of you through the lens of, yes, what's the best use of you, but also let's take the limits off of the narratives, the labels that people have put on us, the, the times that we failed in the past that try to mock us and be like, "See, you couldn't even do that before.

[00:38:08] Why do you think you can do that now? You've never been able to, X, Y, Z, so why do you think you can turn around and, you know, start a movement?" You know? Let's not limit ourselves. Like, why limit ourselves? Right? Because you and I have been talking, never met in person, but I can already tell it's one of my greatest connections ever that I'll ever have in my life.

[00:38:30] And it's like, but how would we even meet? Because we didn't limit ourselves. We were open to the possibilities, we were open, and we're still open to the great things that we're going to be doing to help others and to change, literally change the world. 

[00:38:43] Marshall Stern: Yeah. 

[00:38:43] Amariah Murdock: And changing the world, for those of us who think it's some grand, like, you know, if you're not on TV you're not changing the world or something like that, we're changing the world every day with how you treat each other, what you do for each other, how you treat people, and the services that you provide and the way you show up.

[00:39:00] All that is changing the world. It is changing the world.

[00:39:02] Marshall Stern: Yeah. 

[00:39:03] Amariah Murdock: So yeah. I'll stop there. 

[00:39:07] Marshall Stern: I, I, I don't want you to stop, but I – we're, we're going to have you back. We're going to have you back.

[00:39:12] Amariah Murdock: Oh, I'd love that. I would love that. 

[00:39:13] Marshall Stern: So, and I do want people to check out your amazing podcast, Mompreneurs Making Moves, because it's, it is truly awesome and you have some great guests on as well.

[00:39:22] Amariah Murdock: Wow. 

[00:39:23] Marshall Stern: So, check, check out Amariah's podcast. Okay, we'll have you back. Thank you so much. 

[00:39:28] Amariah Murdock: Yeah, of course. For sure.

[00:39:28] Marshall Stern: Thank you so much. So, gang, if you're watching this, listening to this, I want you, whatever it is, on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, YouTube, whatever, if you can rate it, if you can give it a five-star review.

[00:39:42] It's not for me, it's not for Amariah, it is for everyone else because the more reviews, the more five-star reviews we get, the more people will see this podcast. And this specific episode... You know, I've done... This is... You know, I've done, like, 60 episodes, right? Or so. And I'm telling you, this is one of those episodes that I think so many people need to hear.

[00:40:02] They all have something, but there's something special. Like, what you've said here, I really want people to hear. And the more people give five-star reviews and comment and like and all that kind of stuff, subscribe, do all that stuff, but just... And share it. Share it with your people because she's got so many gold nuggets here.

[00:40:18] Like, I just... I'm, I'm amazed. I'm not amazed, I'm in awe. 

[00:40:23] Amariah Murdock: Aw. 

[00:40:23] Marshall Stern: So, so thank you. 

[00:40:24] Amariah Murdock: Thank you. It's been a pleasure. 

[00:40:27] Marshall Stern: Pleasure's been all ours, but it's been well-received. So, thank you, and thank you for listening, everyone, and we'll see you again next week on another episode of The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered.

[00:40:36] Bye for now, everyone. 

[00:40:39] Thank you so much for tuning in to the Stern Truth. If you found today's episode helpful, we would love to hear from you. Please like, share, and leave us a review. Also, if you'd like to be a guest in an upcoming episode or join us in one of our Momentum accountability group sessions, simply email me to marshall@marshallstern.net. 

[00:41:01] That's marshall@marshallstern.net. And don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Until next time, keep pushing forward and leading with confidence.