Mess to Millions
What if your rock bottom was actually the foundation for your empire?
Welcome to Mess to Millions, the unfiltered podcast where trauma becomes triumph, breakdowns turn into breakthroughs, and pain fuels serious profit. Hosted by Erica Carrico, cancer survivor, single mom, recovering perfectionist, and proof that sometimes you have to fall apart to finally fall into place.
Eight years ago, cancer gave Erica an ultimatum: change or die. What followed was her “life explosion era”: divorce, job loss, and starting over from scratch. The twist? Losing everything became the catalyst for building a multimillion-dollar purpose-driven business and helping over a million people discover that their hardest chapters can unlock their greatest comebacks.
This show is for women who have survived what should have broken them, who are done with toxic positivity, and who are ready to believe their mess can become their million-dollar message.
Each week, Erica goes deep into the stories we usually whisper about: childhood trauma, burnout, divorce, toxic relationships, business failures, and how to alchemize all of it into abundance. Expect raw conversations, healing strategies, business wisdom, and yes, a few tears (the good kind). Because transformation isn’t always pretty… but it is powerful.
Your biggest disasters might be your most valuable education. Your deepest wounds might hold your greatest wisdom. And your story? It’s not just your superpower, it could be someone else’s survival guide.
Subscribe now to Mess to Millions and join us in rewriting what success really looks like.
Because your breakdown might just be your breakthrough.
Mess to Millions
EP 04 - 50 Countries, Zero Answers
What if you traveled to 50 countries, had a massive awakening about your purpose, came back KNOWING what you were meant to do... and then completely ignored it because everyone told you it wasn't realistic?
At 29, I quit my six-figure corporate job, backpacked through India, Southeast Asia, China, and spent 6 months camping through 18 countries in Africa. On that journey, I discovered life coaching and knew – KNEW – that's what I was meant to do.
But everyone said: "That's not a real job." "You'll never make money." "Be realistic."
So I listened. I took the "safe" route. I got a $60,000 master's degree in nonprofit management. I became an Executive Director earning... $29,000 a year.
Five years. Drowning in debt. Earning poverty wages. More trapped than ever. Until cancer at 36 forced me to ask: what was actually safe about betraying myself?
You'll hear about:
- The life coaching session that changed everything (and why I ignored it)
- How 50 countries confirmed my purpose but I still didn't trust it
- Why the "safe" route almost killed me
- The real math on what betraying yourself costs
- How other people's fear becomes your prison
- Why knowing your purpose and having courage to pursue it are two different things
This episode is for anyone who knows what they're meant to do but is too scared to do it. For anyone listening to everyone else's fear instead of their own truth. For anyone who thinks the "realistic" choice is safer than betting on yourself.
Spoiler: it's not.
The safest choice is always the one where you honor yourself.
Awaken Your Purpose: 28 days to discover your life purpose, identify your dream business, and take your first steps to a prosperous life: ericacarrico.com/books
To learn more, visit:
http://www.ericacarrico.com/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
http://missionmatters.com/author/Erica-Carrico/