#004 – The Key To Booking Coaching Clients, Getting 56,000 Instagram Followers and more with Mel Wells
When was the last time you spoke to yourself? Sounds like something only crazy people do. Or maybe we truly are the mad ones for not even trying. But it’s not just random conversations with your mirror we’re trying to work into your routine. It goes a little deeper. It’s about being connected with your mental and physical wellness. Knowing how to treat your most valuable vessel and the real effects it can have on your life.
So when a voice like Mel Wells extols the importance of food, self love and body imagery, it’s pretty hard not to listen.
Mel Wells, best-selling author, international speaker and eating psychology coach has devoted her life to the pursuit of good health, both inside and out.
Get lost in her story—from her love affair with acting to finding true love within herself, learn how Mel transformed her life, business and mindset into a healthy, hearty and wholesome lifestyle that gets better with each passing day.
“If you are not taking care of yourself, you can’t take care of your business—I never prioritize my work over my health.”
In this episode we talk about:
- how Mel got her first clients as a health coach
- how she transitioned from doing one-on-one coaching to selling online courses and in-person retreats
- how she grew her Instagram to more than 56,000 followers
- AND Mel readily shares then number one thing in her business that she believes is *more* important than her Instagram account
Get well with Wells:
IG: @iammelwells
Facebook: @IAmMelWells
Twitter: @IAmMelWells
https://melwells.com
Check out her new book, Hungry for More, that came out last week!
Loved this and want more? Check out our other episodes here.
Spark a conversation! Say hello @alexbeadon on Instagram.
Transcript Available Below
Alex Beadon 0:00
In this episode, I’m talking to someone I love. Following on Instagram, Mel wells, we talked about how she got her first clients as a health coach, how she transitioned from doing one on one coaching to selling online courses and in person retreats. We talked about how she grew her Instagram to more than 56,000 followers. And Mel readily shares the number one thing in her business that she believes is more important than her Instagram account. Welcome to on purpose. Do you ever feel like you’re trying to balance it all, nourishing your health while growing your business and living a life well lived? And no matter how hard you try, sometimes you slip from purpose driven into autopilot. Take a deep breath, relax, and let’s get you back to where you belong. On purpose.
Wow, guys, episode number four of the podcast this isn’t. So before we dive into the podcast, I just want to share a few housekeeping items. So just be a little patient. The first one is, as promised one of my favorite reviews that you guys have left on the podcast. Remember, I’m trying to get 100 in the first week. So if you haven’t left your review yet, we’re running out of time, make sure to go and leave it as soon as you possibly can. It literally only takes two minutes. Okay, this one is from Jay T con JT comm says Alex’s new podcast is like having a conversation with a close friend. She hits on topics that I struggle with and helps provide clarity and real solutions. While being completely honest about her own path. She doesn’t just repeat catchphrases and content that’s already out there. She provides her own knowledge and experiences and that is solid gold to me. I’m excited about upcoming guests because I know Alex will only choose guests that can help us up level our lives and businesses. Thank you so much, JT Khan, I really appreciate it. Next, I want to give you guys a quick intro of who Mel is and why you should care about her. So Mel Wells is a health coach. But I look at her as more of an advocate for self love. She’s someone who I first stumbled upon on Instagram and the photos she shared of her freedom lifestyle on the beach, while running her business full time from Bali. That’s initially what captured my attention. But after I followed her, I started to see that there was so much more depth to her account than just pretty pictures. Mel is a woman who lives life totally on purpose. She’s a health coach, best selling author, and is now pursuing her career as an actress. So take a listen to this episode. I apologize in advance for the sound quality guys. When I recorded this, I knew nothing about audio. But the more we go into the podcast, the better the audio is going to become. When you’re done listening to this episode, definitely send me a message on Instagram and let me know what was your biggest takeaway? What was your biggest lesson? What was your favorite part? I really want to hear from you guys. And I want this to be a community right? So when you message me or posted to your story or whatever, just make sure that you’re tagging me sharing your biggest lesson from Episode Four. I’m then going to repost my favorite comments, and make sure to tag you as well. So this is win win for everyone. I really want us to build a strong community here with on purpose. Let’s dive into today’s episode. Mel, thank you so much for being on the podcast with me today. I’m so excited to have you.
Mel Wells 3:31
Yay. Thank you so, so much. It’s so good to be here.
Alex Beadon 3:36
So Okay, the first question that I asked everyone is, what do you find most nourishing about having your own business?
Mel Wells 3:45
What do I find most nourishing about my having my own business is being completely in charge of my calendar and being able to live live completely on my terms. I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission to do whatever the hell I want with my life, which is great.
Alex Beadon 4:05
It’s a big plus. So I would love for you to just share with us your journey of like how you got to being fully self employed. And you know, did you start off with a nine to five job like, how did you end up here?
Mel Wells 4:19
Yeah, so my first passion was acting and the performing arts. So I was an actress on a soap opera for a few years when I was 18. And when I left the soap opera, acting work wasn’t really that kind of available to me. So I kind of fell into doing commercials and bits of modeling and when you are working as a model you well I mean, at least for me, I was working with lots of different agencies at one time. So that kind of got me into feeling really good of being in charge of like calendar because I could decide the jobs that I wanted to take on the days that I wanted to work and when to say no, like that was kind of, in my hands. You know, the industry I didn’t love. I didn’t love what I was doing, though. But the one thing that I did love about it was the fact that I was the one, you know, basically in charge of my schedule, which I really liked. And when I decided to start my business, it was because I, basically, my dad fell, Ill really suddenly, he had pancreatic cancer, and it spreads to the liver really fast. And so he was given four months to live. Wow, that obviously completely changed everything for me. And I suddenly started becoming really, really interested in health and nutrition. And, you know, essentially disease prevention. But I mean, this was really personal for me, because my whole teens and early 20s, I been living with an eating disorder, like throughout the acting world that I was in the modeling, like, I had bulimia, and it was like, it was pretty severe. But I was I was quite in denial of it. And I think when my dad got earlier obviously made me really think shit, I really need to look at a really need to turn this obsession with food into a healthy one. And so I decided to train as a health coach and and set up a coaching business. And yeah, it obviously started out very part time because it was just like, in my mind, I still wanted to be an actress, that was my thing. And it was just a way for me to spread a message that I was really passionate about, really because of my dad. And because of my own journey with with my relationship with food and my eating disorder, I wanted to heal that and share the journey. So it was never about me, I was making a lot of money modeling it was so it was never about me earning more money, it was just like, I’m really passionate about this, I really think more people need to need to know about looking after themselves. This was back in 2012. So like healthy living wasn’t really as as cool as it is now. So that was how it started. And it was just like, basically, I set up a little Facebook page, and it had like, you know, 2020 likes, and it was basically just me sharing like recipes and like nutrition information. And as I progressed and as my personal journey with food progressed, I realized that to heal, disordered eating, it’s not about nutrition at all. It’s actually about psychology and self love and self development work and mindset work. And so that has become now years later, what I’m really invested in and what I now would say that I am an expert in is psychology around food, body image, self love. So I’ve moved away from nutrition. And now I’m more focused on on that, on the psychology science side of things as that is what really helped me.
Alex Beadon 8:12
I love how you said that. When you first started becoming a health coach, you were already making so much money from being a model that like it really didn’t matter. It’s just like something that you were kind of doing because you felt called to do it. Do you think that that really helped kind of propel you because something that I see often is, you know, people are struggling with money, they put so much emphasis on this thing having to work that it creates resistance. So I would love to hear your take on that. Like, what do you think the effect of that was for you? And also, how long did it take for you to make the transition where you were like, Okay, I’m done with modeling?
Mel Wells 8:48
Yeah, yeah, I mean, with with the modeling stuff, it is like, it was quite, it’s quite full on. So you could be like, there’s a lot of traveling. So I would be in the car for like four hours a day to get like to get like two hours to get somewhere, you know, a four hour job and then like two hours to get home. And so like I spend a lot of the time driving so I would listen to you know, I’ve listened to I would do like courses and audio stuff. Like while I was on the road basically. I did like my did like B school and that kind of thing when I was you know very much still just doing modeling stuff. And so yeah, I mean, I would say I would say that the drive it was just about the message like it wasn’t it wasn’t obviously like you want to make money from it but like I guess I didn’t even realize when I started that this could you know this could lead to me being financially more secure or more free. hadn’t even really occurred to me it was just like a Just want to get this message out there. So that I mean, I didn’t have, I didn’t have like a savings or anything like that. So I did kind of pretty much start with nothing. So even though I was earning, I was earning pretty well for modeling, it was still like, I was still spending it or like, I didn’t have like, savings or anything, I didn’t have like, Oh, I’m going to start a business and put all this money into it. So I was doing everything by myself, really. I couldn’t afford anyone to guide me a website. So I built my own website to start with, and it was terrible. But I started taking on clients. And yeah, I was doing, I was taking on clients one to one, and did that part time. Three years before I went full time. And when I went full time, it was 2015. So maybe it was, maybe it was me, I was doing like clients part time for two years. And I went full time in 2015. And it was like January, the first like a New Year’s resolution was like, what I’m doing is on January, the first I’m going to email all of my agencies and say, right, stop putting me forward for anything, I quit the end. I just knew that if I did that, I had to go full, fully in play full out. Because when you’ve got one foot in and one foot out of your business, it’s like you can only grow so fast. And I was experiencing that I knew that I wanted to create an online course I wanted to write a book, I knew that I was getting amazing results with the women that I was working with. And I was like, I’m so passionate about this. I hate modeling. Like I’m literally just doing it now because it pays. So I’m just gonna say, you know, that’s it no more. So I made the transition. When I already I was already taking on clients, I was probably making about 1500 pounds a month. So it wasn’t a lot. But I knew that I could live off it. And I knew that that push would really help propel me because you’ve got nothing else to lean on. You should just fully in and that’s a different level of commitment, then you really step up for yourself, don’t you?
Alex Beadon 12:15
Yeah, so for someone who’s in their first three years of running their business, but they’re not yet full time, I would love for you to share, like what do you think was like the big light bulb moment? Or like the thing that was missing for you that really allowed you to get to that full time space?
Mel Wells 12:32
Hmm. In terms of what I was earning, or in terms of like,
Alex Beadon 12:38
entire, like what you were doing, like, what what did you start doing that you weren’t necessarily doing before that helped you get full time that you would that? Or maybe it was like a mindset shift? Or I don’t know what it was for you that was like, Oh, this is what I’ve been missing? That hasn’t allowed me to get to full time yet? Or do you think it was just like you were just progressing in that direction, and that there was really no big.
Mel Wells 13:02
I mean, I mean, it was all I could think about every day, for a start off. So like I knew that it was my, I knew that it was my calling, I knew that it was what I needed to do. And the more I the more I felt that the better that I better that I felt. And the more I started to just really like, like the old job that just dropped away. Really organically. Like I just didn’t want to do it at all. And as soon as I started feeling like, you know, actually, I am earning enough to transition. Then I felt like I’ve just got to take the leap. And I think it was having that confidence of like, even if I fail at this, I know that I’ve really listened to my gut and listen to my soul. Even if I fail at this, like I have, I know that it’s what I need to at least give it 100%. And I think if you don’t give it 100% You’ll never know. So if you’re still holding on to like bits of old work, it’s like, you can do that for so long. But if you really want to propel your business, you’ve got to go full, fully in in terms of something practical that I did. I had a bit of a block around giving people free sessions. I was like, why would I do that people got to pay me and
Alex Beadon 14:24
the other way around. Normally people are like, I don’t want people to pay me I’ll just give it to them for free.
Mel Wells 14:31
I was like pay me like I thought what a waste of time getting for free. And I worked with a coach and you know it was I didn’t have much money. So it was like you know, I only spent like about 560 pounds, which was a lot of money to work with a coach back then I’m not invested in any coaching or anything at that stage. And she basically said to me send out an email. And you know, you had a small list, obviously send out an email and say you’re going to give away, you know, 15, free coaching sessions. I was like, What the hell? Why would I do that? I’ve got time for that. You know? And obviously, it’s such a thing when you’ve been running your business for a while, you know, that, obviously, you have to do that in order to, you know, it’s a great way to get clients. And yeah, you know, when I did that, I think I had like, 13 people sign up. And suddenly I was like, I don’t have time. I don’t have time for modeling. Like, I’ve got to do this, these clients. And so
Alex Beadon 15:39
was it that like, you got them onto a free call. And then at the end, you sold them? So there was like, a sales conversation at the end?
Mel Wells 15:46
Yeah, but it was it was essentially like it wasn’t I. I’m not a sales person. I’m not like, I wouldn’t say that. It was a sales call. It was a free coaching call where value
Alex Beadon 16:01
call you were giving? Yeah, exactly. And then at the end, having like a call to action. It was basically
Mel Wells 16:09
like, yeah, an hour of my time, we can do whatever you want in an hour, we can work through some stuff. And then at the end, like, literally in the last 10 minutes, it was like, if you want to continue this, we can work together for the next three months. This is the price. And most of them said yes.
Alex Beadon 16:27
Wow. That’s awesome.
Mel Wells 16:29
Yeah. And so then I was like, wow, this is this is a little secret. So I’m gonna do this more often. And so before I knew it, my whole calendar was booked up. And that kind of gave me the confidence to quit the modeling, because I was like, I can make this money from sitting at home doing what I love, like, Yeah, it’s awesome. Yeah.
Alex Beadon 16:48
Oh, tell us about, you know, you got started doing the one on one coaching, how have your offerings evolved to where they’re at today? Like, what do you offer today?
Mel Wells 17:00
It evolved really quickly, because I realized that, you know, from doing the free coaching session upfront, I could easily book up very fast. And so my calendar was packed. And to the point where I was doing like, you know, obviously different time zones, and everything I was spending at one point, like seven hours a day on Skype. Because I just wanted to just I didn’t want to say no to a new client. I didn’t want to say like, I didn’t want to say I’m full. So I was just like, Yeah, of course, like, let’s do it. And I didn’t want to lose them as such. So I just booked everyone. And to the point where I was just completely over. Yeah, it was just too much. There’s another lesson that I learned. But I, obviously the more people that you work with, you really understand your client’s struggles and how like how they get through them. And I started to, obviously, the trainings that I was doing at the same time in business, I was doing courses and all this kind of stuff, I started, you know, obviously, becoming someone that was used to doing online courses, and I was like, I can do, I could do an online course hang on a minute, I could make an online course for what I’m teaching these women because it’s the same stuff that is coming up all the time. And, you know, I’m not seeing many people doing online courses in what I’m teaching, but why wouldn’t I do that. But I think I can do this. And so I started getting to work on writing and creating an online, essentially, like an online transformation program that was digital where I could do live calls, but with groups. So that became like, my, my mission in between those two things. I did a few group coaching programs as well. So worked with like, six or seven people at a time. And that was great. But when I like when I created the course, which is the Academy, which has now had over 100 people come through it. That was like my aim was that was to get to create a course that felt like people were working with me one to one covered all bases, but you know, lots of homework, very in depth. And, and yeah, that launched for the first time in 2015. And that obviously created a lot of freedom for me. And it meant that I could work with a lot of people at once for a much smaller price than what the one to one was. So yeah, and then on top of that, I do retreats, which I really love. I definitely will keep doing retreats and live events because for me working with people actually in person for like a real immersion is like the best I like to work with people like, I take women out to Bali and we do like a week retreat there. I’m doing one in the Maldives this September. And to me that is my favorite favorite way to work with people, I think you get such incredible results when you are fully immersed in something so much better than that, you know, obviously people i Obviously I do still do one to one clients, and I love working with people one to one. But I mean, I know personally for me, I learned the best when I’m fully immersed in something like under there physically there for a long period of time, like seminars, like I just went to a Tony Robbins seminar, for example. And then for four days, 12 hours a day, I’m like fully in there. And that to me is like, I just will never stop doing that, because it’s my favorite way to learn. Yeah,
Alex Beadon 20:47
that’s incredible. I feel so good about everything that you just shared with us. So what’s interesting to me as well about the retreats is that if you look at the amount of time, effort and energy that’s going into your retreats versus the online course, you would say that the online course is definitely like you’re getting more of a return on your investment, right. But regardless, like you’re still doing these retreats, because you just they they nourish you so much. So I just love that you
Mel Wells 21:16
shot them lately. I’m obsessed with them. I’m obsessed with them, like spending time with these women in person is so incredible. And everyone transforms. It’s like there’s any you know, technology’s incredible, but like, real, you know, real life being there and, and really being there. And yeah, there’s nothing like, so I’m no, I’m not planning on giving that up anytime soon.
Alex Beadon 21:45
That’s awesome. Okay, so I would love for you to share with us a boundary that you have recently added to your business or to your life that you think has made a really big difference, because I was hearing you speak before about how you were doing like seven hours on Skype every day. And I was like, That was at a time in your business when you didn’t have those boundaries in place. So I’m curious, like, what is a recent boundary that you’ve discovered that’s been super helpful for you?
Mel Wells 22:11
A recent boundary? Let’s say I don’t work with any more than five people one to one. Okay, cool. My retreats, I don’t have any more than 13 guests at anytime. Because any more than that, and I can’t get to know everyone, I find it difficult to really form intimate relationships with more than that. And I guess my phone, you know, I don’t look at my phone in the mornings until I have left the house. I used to be someone that just turned turn, like rolled over in bed, turn my alarm off. And straightaway, I’m like replying to Instagram, DMS. And I’ve made a new boundary for myself that I, you know, I meditate or I do my yoga in the morning, and I don’t actually start looking at my phone and clouds left the house and I’m walking down the streets. And that’s yeah, that’s been really good for me.
Alex Beadon 23:06
So marketing wise, what would you say is like the one. It could be a social media platform or like an activity that you do that you feel gives you the biggest return on your investment of time? What would you say that one marketing activity 100% Instagram
Mel Wells 23:22
story, and I know that you love it too, because you are like the coffee.
Alex Beadon 23:29
I’m so glad that you said that in a selfish way. But also because it’s just true. And like, it’s just true, like, part of the reason is because no one knows about it. No one’s really using it. So anyway,
Mel Wells 23:40
I’m like, we’re gonna we’re gonna, like really milk this at the moment. At the moment, not, not many people are using it properly. So, you know, let’s let if we know the secrets, if we know how to use it, let’s use it. But yeah, like everything that I’m ever doing any, any free content, I have any events that I’m selling tickets for retreats, videos, anything goes straight on Instagram story. I mean, as I said, I’ve just been at this seminar for four days. So I’ve not actually been story the last four days, but I usually will have like a strategy for story. And, you know, our aim to be putting free content up there. And then like, you know, a couple of times a week be selling something on there as well. But obviously, it doesn’t cost anything and you know those for I mean, that’s the channel that I hang out the most on myself. That’s the channel that I that I focus on building more than the others. And it’s just where my pizza, so I know that they’re watching my story and so I mix it up and I will share stuff that’s going on throughout my day but I will also share like what’s going on in my business free content they can get for redownload if they can get and then what events they can come and buy tickets for?
Alex Beadon 25:05
That’s awesome. So talk to me about your history with Instagram as a platform, like on the whole, because you have I don’t know how many followers you have, but it’s a lot like 10s of 1000s. Yeah, you have right now,
Mel Wells 25:19
I think 50 3000s.
Alex Beadon 25:20
That’s so much. So talk to you about like, your growth on Instagram. Like, what you were focusing on how it’s changed your feelings on Instagram. I’d love to know more about that.
Mel Wells 25:31
Yeah, I’m good. I love it. I mean, for me, I need to wean myself off. Because you can just lose yourself Kenyan on that channel. So what is the question? Like?
Alex Beadon 25:47
When do you start, we’ll go step by step. When did you start taking Instagram? Seriously, like, when were you like, oh, I should be, you know, taking really good pictures and making sure that my captions are on point, like, when did you start taking it seriously.
Mel Wells 26:01
Um, probably a couple of years ago, I started to notice that it was growing much faster than my Facebook was. And I think I’d always been, you know, focusing on growing my Facebook likes, and then as soon as I realized that Instagram was growing faster, and I noticed that the women that are in my program, Instagram on it, I was like, Well, I’m just gonna focus it plus I love you know, obviously, I had a history and modeling. So like, I’m, I’m a fan of good photography, like, I appreciate good photos. And so
Alex Beadon 26:34
that’s so true. So it came easily to that’s so true. So yeah, give the people listening, like three main tips of what you think helped your account to grow quite quickly, what would those three tips be?
Mel Wells 26:47
Store storytelling, I think is the most important tool that I have. used, I think, when I approach when I think if I approach a poem, like writing a post, and I kind of don’t put much thought into it, or I mean, obviously, there’s a balance, like, I never spend hours writing a capsule or anything like that, if I’m doing that, then I’m just like, I’m just forcing it, I’m not, I’m not gonna do this. Usually, it comes through very easily, and I can write a caption in about 10 minutes. And then it’s, it’s done. But storytelling, I think, like, when I bring my own personal stories into things, they just connect through the phone a lot, a lot more than, than me trying to educate people, I think. I don’t know if that’s like a if that’s like an age thing. But I personally feel that I mean, I’m sharing, I am sharing lessons from my, from my teachings from my books and everything like that. But I but I tend to connect with people more when I just share my my personal stories and my vulnerabilities, I guess I’m things that I have overcome in my life that has what is probably connected with people the most just being just being real, I guess. Yeah, I think, you know, we all we all just want the real stuff. That’s, that’s the truth. So as much as the I think it’s important that your photos are beautifully, you know, done and everything like that, I think it’s the truth in the writing is really important.
Alex Beadon 28:33
So me I like to tell people is like always ask them, like, how easy would it be for someone else to have created the same picture or created the same caption and if it’s easily replicable, then you should probably go with something else. So I like that. I’m curious as well about, because I think a lot of people who are getting started in business, they really get obsessed with their social platforms. So I’m curious, I want to ask you, what has How important has your email list been for your business?
Mel Wells 29:05
But there’s nothing more important than your email list is? Like, definitely, you know, if you’re gonna really focus on using social media, use it to get people on your email list. Yeah,
Alex Beadon 29:20
that has that always been a part of like your social media strategies, like get people on your Instagram and then convert them onto your email list?
Mel Wells 29:29
Yeah, of course, because like email is where you know, your more personal conversations are happening and where you can actually run sequences and launches and things like that. Yeah, I think since I started my business, I’ve always known that your email list has to come first. That was kind of drilled into me and baseball but it’s so tempting. Very tempting to just sell on social media and think that, you know, but I’ve seen, I’ve seen people run their businesses through social media and now they’ve got loads of followers, but they’re not ever getting any email addresses. And I just I think, Oh, what are you doing? followers don’t that don’t actually matter, you know,
Alex Beadon 30:13
and it can be taken away from you at any moment, just like my YouTube channel. So I was growing my YouTube channel for like seven years. And then I woke up one day and it was gone.
Mel Wells 30:22
How did that happen? How does things like that happen? That’s crazy.
Alex Beadon 30:26
I know, it was a technical fault on Google Apps end, I think that it was such an old account that the way it was initially set up was just not done properly. Anyway. Yeah, it’s it’s gone. But it’s a great lesson, because it’s just such a good example of why you should always be bringing people over to your email list. So yeah,
Mel Wells 30:46
completely, and like there’s gonna be a new social app around soon, and you’re not in control of that for Yeah. Yeah.
Alex Beadon 31:00
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So I want to kind of shift now I feel like we’ve talked about strategy and marketing and social media and all that jazz. I want to talk to you about like, just life as an entrepreneur, I think you’re really interesting because you lived in Bali for a little bit, and then you picked up and you were like, Okay, actually, my true purpose or like, what I want to focus on right now is acting, so then you move to London to pursue your acting career. So I would love for you to talk to us about like, that must have been a really hard decision for you to make. And, yeah, that’s about that for a little bit, like having the actual freedom to be like, Okay, I’m gonna kind of shift gears a little bit. And what does that mean for your future in this direction?
Mel Wells 32:33
So, I mean, I guess, since my dad passed away, I’ve kind of been, I think, when when you lose power, and they change something in you, obviously. And I think I became a lot more like, I stopped caring what other people thought of me as much when he passed away, and I started being a lot more. If I want something, I’m just gonna go and get it and a lot more fearless. I guess, obviously, you’re never completely fearless. But I became a lot more fearless. And so when things get a little too comfortable, I need a new challenge. And my I mean, my business is doing well. I’m very, you know, blessed to say that, I decided to move to Bali, because I was doing the retreats out there. And I loved the place so much. And I saw so many, you know, digital nomads making it work. And I just thought, What a great lifestyle, I can do that, too. And I was out there for 18 months. And it was amazing. Like, I met the love of my life, like had such an incredible time in my life. But I had this breakthrough around Christmas that, you know, my original calling was acting and there was still a part of me that wanted to do that. And as much as you know, as part of my business, I get to make YouTube videos I get to be onstage and that is the stuff that I love. And I love that more than the business stuff. I love being the one that is speaking and because it is it feels like me in a way performing and reaching people with a message. And yeah, I kind of had this realization that if I hadn’t, you know, if I hadn’t, hadn’t eaten sort of hadn’t lost my dad, then I, then that was my original thing. That’s what I wanted to do originally. And it was really emotional for me because my life in Bali was so comfortable. And I could see a very clear path with my business and see where it was headed. And I thought you know what I’m, I’m really, I’m teaching personal development and I’m teaching people how to change their mindset around things and go after their dreams. And instead of telling people I’m going to actually just show them and I’m going to do it myself. And it was terrifying. Because like I said like life was so good in Bali and it’s it’s harder in London, it’s a lot more expensive. Um, you know, we’re living in a much smaller place, it’s called, you know, I’m going back into an industry that I’ve not been in for eight years. I feel like I’m starting from the beginning. But it scares me. And that’s why I’m doing it so hard to describe, but because it scares me, I’m doing it. And I’m also share, I decided to share that with my audience in a big way. Because I think we are living in a world where you don’t have to pick one thing, if you want to, you can do both. And I see like, a lot of great actresses that also have businesses, and I just decided that I wanted to, I wanted to somehow merge the two worlds. And it’s something that I’m also really passionate about is, I have worked with a lot of actresses as well, that struggle with eating disorders and body image, because obviously, it’s so much pressure. So that is something else that I’m really passionate about. So I want to kind of merge my two passions now. So yeah, it’s still quite fresh. But um, I think it’s important to kind of show the journey because it’s something that I feel like I’m starting again, almost, and almost really revisiting the place where I had quite a lot of trauma, I guess. But it’s kind of like, prove to myself how far I’ve come and how much I feel that I can just, I can go back into that world and do it for myself do it for my, my, the little inner child in me.
Alex Beadon 36:32
Yeah, I love as well that like you’re doing it again, as almost as a whole different person, you know, with new tools and like a new way of being so I just love I remember, I watched your live when you announced and I was like, Oh my gosh, I love it, because it’s so easy to get caught into like what you’re doing and like everything’s working, why change it. So
Mel Wells 36:56
it’s like the sort of the thought of going back into the acting world was so terrifying, that it brought up so much emotion in my body that I thought, well, that means that I’ve got to do it. Like, I can’t ignore that for the rest of my life. Obviously bring I wasn’t just like Matt No, it was like, I was in floods of tears. And that was when I knew that. Okay, if it makes if it brings up that much emotion in my body, I’ve obviously got some unresolved stuff there. So I’m gonna, I’m just gonna do it.
Alex Beadon 37:28
That’s interesting. Okay, I’d love to talk to you now about the hustle versus the flow. So like feminine energy versus masculine energy, and how that affects you how you prioritize each one in your business in your life. You seem like me quite like a masculine energy, like, get it done kind of girl. So I’m curious what your relationship with that has been?
Mel Wells 37:53
Ah, what a great question. Not having anyone’s ever asked me that before. Um, I mean, I, I am I do have quite a lot of masculine energy in my work. And it has got me a lot of it’s got its, you know, it’s helped me achieve a lot of success. But it’s I guess there’s a, there’s a balance, isn’t there? I mean, I, I love like, like I just said, with the acting like, I am motivated when things are hard. So I mean, it would, I know that it’s, you know, can say, oh, it can be easy. It can be easy, but sometimes easy. It’s not what you want, like, my life and by was so easy. And I was like, I’m too young for it to be easy. I’m not ready for it for an eat like I want the challenges. So I’m really, I’m motivated by it being a little bit more hard. Otherwise, where’s the growth? I think there’s elements in your business where you can be like, Wow, this is so easy. It’s just flowing through me. And it’s great. And I do think when things are really in alignment, you do you access that that flow state and you are in just complete flow, and it’s effortless, and it’s easy. But like that, for me, it’s like that is I don’t see the hustle energy as as negative. It doesn’t.
Alex Beadon 39:21
Yeah, so I think that like to just dive into that a little bit more. When you’re in that flow state, I don’t think it necessarily means that like it’s not challenging, or that you know, and I totally agree with you like the hustle. I think it’s gotten a really bad rap. But it’s it is a balance because it’s like you want to hustle but you don’t want to hustle yourself into the ground.
Mel Wells 39:44
Yeah, exactly. And I think when it starts to feel like you are doing that yourself, no, like not good. Take a step back and reevaluate. And I think what’s what is really important to me and As someone that obviously helps people with their health and their food is like, if you’re not taking care of yourself, you can’t take care of your business. So I never prioritize my work over my health, you know, so that, like, it always comes first for me to sleep a lot, meditate, do my yoga, you know, eat well, that if I don’t do those things, I am not showing up properly for my business anyway. So, for me, it’s like, I can’t even begin to think about hustling until I’m, until I’m taking care of myself. And giving myself a lot of, you know, a lot of sleep and you know, the things that I just the things that I just said. I guess it’s hard to it’s hard to describe, but I feel like when you are in that flow state, it’s almost like a, it’s like a blend of flow and hustle like a muscle. If you will, yes, that’s right. I just might. Like, you can have the relationship with hustle way, like, oh, I don’t, it’s not supposed to be hard. I don’t like hard work. And it’s supposed to be so easy, but it’s like, if it’s too easy, then you just feel like you just weren’t entitled, and there’s no challenge. There’s no growth. So I think you, you know, when people hear that, oh, you know, find the ease, find the flow. It’s like, I think it’s like, essentially, that could be training people to think that it’s never hard, or it shouldn’t ever feel hard. Which is just not true.
Alex Beadon 41:40
Yeah. So how do you keep yourself motivated when you have something really hard to work on? And maybe you’re feeling a little bit of resistance, and you’re like, oh, this thing is not going to be fun to do? How do you motivate yourself? Are you a naturally self motivated person? Talk to me about that.
Mel Wells 41:56
Um, I am quite naturally self motivated. But I always like, I’m always looking into the future. So I’m always, like, visualizing future. Like I like every day. Whether that is like, you know, next week, next month, like the end of the quarter, or the end of the year. If there’s something that I really don’t want to do, obviously, I do procrastinate and sit on the Instagram for a bit, pretending that it’s not there. But um, but essentially, what really motivates me to do tasks I don’t want to do is how it will impact my future and like how grateful I will be for it. When I look back,
Alex Beadon 42:38
so how clear would you say you are out of 1010? being super clear, and zero being not clear at all? How clear Are you on the vision of what it is that you’re moving towards and what it is that you want to create in your life?
Mel Wells 42:53
After this last four days, I would say 10
Alex Beadon 42:58
Robbins, Tony Robbins.
Mel Wells 43:01
I was gonna say I was struggling because I had such a clear vision for my business. And then this whole acting thing was completely thrown me off. And it’s made me feel like what the hell am I doing? Can I even do both? Is it possible to do both? Surely, you just got to go all in with one. So it’s, it’s been quite a confusing time for me. Like, am I allowed to do this? Should it just be something that I do is like, a couple of classes a week is like a hobby and not even try and pursue it again. But I just can’t really, I guess I can’t do that. Because I’m just not that kind of a person, I guess. So. But yeah, now I feel super clear in the I can blend the both worlds.
Alex Beadon 43:44
What do you think helped you through the 20 Robbins weekend or four day experience? What do you think was like the one thing or like a tip that you can give people listening to go home and do that’s going to actually help them get clear on their vision? Because that’s something I hear all the time from people is like, I just don’t know what I want. And I’m like, if you don’t have a vision, you don’t know what you’re working towards. Like you’re you’re running really fast going nowhere.
Mel Wells 44:08
Completely completely. And you end up going around in circles as well. Yes, you’re you’re I guess, like, the biggest thing is like you’re like why? Like why do you want to like, why do you want to go where you’re going like getting really clear where you’re going and and focusing on? Why it is that you that you want that. And an exercise that we did, which I find really incredible is it’s called closing the gap. I think he’s been doing it for many years. But essentially, you create a picture for where you want your life to be. Like the next level doesn’t matter if it’s like don’t put a timeframe on it, just call it the next level. Like where would what would my life look like if I was operating at the next level in every area of my life? And then create the picture for like where you are right now. Unless obviously in between, you’ve got like this gap. And he talks about closing the gap. So what do I need to do to close that gap? And basically bring those two completely together into the present moment? So obviously, electrically download, okay, what am I doing to close that close that close the gap, and then you end up with an action plan. And I think, you know, I’m always writing out my goals, like all the time, life goals, business goals, one month, three months and a year, and oftentimes, the things that I write out for a year, I get them done in a few months, because I’m just writing them out so much that I start making steps forward towards them. It’s almost like I do it unconsciously, because it’s just in my in my body, and, and I start accomplishing those faster than I, I thought that I was going to say, like, writing down your goals is so important. And the more you do it, the clearer you will declare, you look at, oh, something else I need to talk about, this is something that I’ve been kind of going through recently, and is doing less, but more. Sorry, doing, that doesn’t make sense. doing less, but better. Okay. So like, since I came back to London, I’ve got like a lot of my customer bases here. And then a lot of my followers and clients are here in London. And so since I came back, there’s been so many opportunities for me to speak at things or, you know, loads of podcasts things and but it’s like in person things like interviews. And I realized that I was saying yes to so much. And it meant that my big goals and dreams that I was writing down for my vision, were getting pushed back and pushed back, or I wasn’t having time for them, because I was filling my day full of, you know, writing articles and doing interviews and like so much stuff that actually wasn’t moving me forward. It was just filling up a lot of time. And so I kind of resolved to do less, but better. So okay, what are the things that I’m really passionate about doing? What are the things that I’m just doing? Because I think I should or that someone in my audience wants me to? Or, you know, I had an email, so I really shouldn’t say yes to it. Because I just started saying, you know, what, if I’m not yes about it, then I’m not going to do it. Because it’s just, it’s just distraction. And it’s not actually, you know,
Alex Beadon 47:39
really bring you forward. I
Mel Wells 47:40
want I think I can’t remember who said it. I don’t know, if it’s Warren Buffett, I think it might be him, but basically said like, the most successful people are saying no to 99% of things that they that they get come through. And I think, you know, when you start to get traction in your business, and you know, you will get loads of people email you saying, Can I interview you for my blog? Can I interview you, if my podcast is only just started? I don’t really, you know, have that much traction? And it’s like, you feel obliged to say yes to everything. Because you think, Oh, well, you know, it’s good to you know, and you’d be surprised how much doing all of that stuff takes you away from your mission.
Alex Beadon 48:23
Amen. Love it. Okay, so to wrap up this amazing interview, I have a few questions that I’m going to be asking you that I asked everyone. So the first one is, what is the one thing that you do that has been a non negotiable in the success of your business?
Mel Wells 48:45
One thing that I do that has been non negotiable in the success of my business, hiring good people.
Alex Beadon 48:53
Share a mindset shift that made the biggest difference in your life as an entrepreneur.
Mel Wells 49:10
I would say yeah, kind of in a similar vein, like work, work on what your strengths are. And then the stuff that is your weakness, outsource it.
Alex Beadon 49:22
Fill in the blank, the world would be a better place if more people knew
Mel Wells 49:27
how to love themselves.
Alex Beadon 49:30
That changed my life was oh, the
Mel Wells 49:34
book that changed my life was well, conversations with God.
Alex Beadon 49:39
That is such a good book. That’s one of my and lastly, I want you to challenge our audience to do something this week. So to take one action or to focus their energy in one direction. What is what is it that you would like to challenge our audience to do for this week?
Mel Wells 49:57
I would like to challenge you guys to You write out your goals. So, a lot of time, write out what what you want to have accomplished.
Alex Beadon 50:11
Thank you so much. You’re amazing. And I loved hearing everything that you have to say you’re so awesome. Before I let you go, I would love for you to let everyone know where they can find you online.
Mel Wells 50:25
Yes, of course. My website is malwarebytes.com and I’m hanging out on Instagram of course at I am Malwarebytes thank you so much Mal. Thanks, Dave. That was lovely.
Alex Beadon 50:43
Thank you so much for tuning into the on purpose podcast and I really hope that you had as much of a blast as we did. If you liked what you heard and want even more, make sure you leave a review because it really helps support what I do here on the podcast. All you have to do is search the podcast app for the on purpose podcast, select it then scroll down until you see write a review and then type away at the beginning of the next episode. I will be picking one review one special review My favorite review of the week and I will be reading it out for all of you guys so you definitely don’t want to miss out on that. I hope you really enjoy your week and I will see you guys again next time stay on purpose.
