Michelle Fuller Of One Bold MF On The Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t give up. Keep going, no matter what. This is always easier said than done. No dream was ever created by a quitter. You will never achieve the success you desire if you turn around.

As a part of our series called “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Fuller.

Michelle is a transformation coach and speaker. She is a lifestyle engineer for women who want to recreate their life after heartbreak or reach a new goal. She is a speaker who shares her own story of transformation on stage.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about the events that have drawn you to this specific career path?

I am passionate about helping women recreate their life after heartbreak. It’s a unique mission because I know how significant personal growth and self-development are in that mission. Five years ago, I hired a coach who completely transformed my life. At the time, I was in a desperate place, and he helped me uncover the real roots of my despair. Because the change I was able to create was so incredible, I wanted to pass on the new mindset I found to other women so they could transform their own lives.

Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

Courage is necessary for pursuing anything in life that comes with no guarantees. Taking a path you have never taken will bring all of your limiting beliefs to the surface. Not only do you have to overcome them, but you will also need the strength to keep going, even on the most challenging days. When I stepped out on the ledge, I came face to face with my biggest fear. I realized early on that I was giving others too much power. I would often shrink in fear at the thought of others’ opinions of me and my potential. Because I had spent most of my life as a people pleaser, I was terrified of what others would say as I started to coach. The fear of not being liked paralyzed me in the beginning. As I overcame one belief, another one would make itself known. To pursue my goals and dreams, I had to dig in every day and do the hard things I didn’t want to do. I worked on my mindset continuously. I continued to pick the things I needed to master and worked on those as well. I created the time I needed to focus on my business, message, and social media content. Finally, I found coaches on the next step of my journey to help me. Hiring the right mentors has been pivotal to my success and helped me stay determined.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

I have always pursued excellence, and I am a natural creator. I am highly organized and detail-oriented, all of which helped me climb the corporate ladder before I discovered my mission. In addition, I believe in doing incredible work. While some of my skills are natural, I learned the most about grit and determination in my childhood.

I learned everything I needed to know about grit before I turned fourteen. I grew up in the eighties before cell phones, the internet, and instant gratification. My Mom and Dad both worked full-time jobs while my Mom fought a breast cancer diagnosis at the age of thirty-two.

Despite being viciously sick nearly every day, my Mom continued to work her full-time job. She got up every morning, styled her wig, put on her make-up, and left to work at a job she did not love. She held on to her last drop of freedom until she could no longer do it.

As my Mom’s health continued to fail, my Dad had to keep working to support our family. He would leave for work as the sun came up. Then, he came home and made dinner. My Mom would often have violent reactions to her chemotherapy treatments. My Dad would wake up with her in the middle of the night and rush her off to the ER, vomiting blood. He was often tired, exhausted, and emotionally broken, but he always took excellent care of my sister and me. He continued to do this for four years, splitting his time between work, home, and the hospital.

I watched my Mom and Dad face insurmountable challenges daily as they struggled to navigate her cancer battle. Despite being mentally and physically exhausted, they continued to do the hard things. They taught me how to be self-sufficient and independent. They exemplified determination and strength in their actions. They embodied grit.

My Mom lost her battle with cancer when she was thirty-six. I lost her one month after I turned fourteen. As I reflect on my life, it’s obvious my ability to persevere in the darkest times was born while observing my parents do the same.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

Grit has been one of the cornerstones of my success. It allowed me to climb the corporate ladder despite lacking a college education. It helped me find the courage to create my own business and speak. I never gave up on my dreams. I kept on going, no matter what. I had to learn to embrace failure. As each new challenge presented itself, I dealt with it. I worked on myself endlessly and continue to do that today. Grit has allowed me the opportunity to realize the success I have, and I am only getting started. Grit lives in courage and the willingness to do the hard things. If you desire to bring your dreams to fruition, you will be required to take the road less traveled. You must dig in and never give up.

Based on your experience, can you share your “5 Things You Need To Know To Develop More Grit”?

Know your why. To pursue something you deeply desire, you must have a strong why to keep you focused on the challenging days. Write down your why on an index card, and always keep it with you.

Don’t give up. Keep going, no matter what. This is always easier said than done. No dream was ever created by a quitter. You will never achieve the success you desire if you turn around.

Love the journey. Who you become on the way to any goal is worth far more than the goal itself. The journey will force you to up level in every way. You will become a completely different person so learn to love the process.

Embrace the suck. Be willing to do the hard things. Learn everything you can on the way to where you want to be. Failure is inevitable so use failure as a lesson. Don’t avoid the things you need to do.

Find a mentor. A new goal or dream will require you to reinvent yourself. Find someone who will help you along the way and hold you accountable. The right mentors will challenge you, support you, and hold the vision for you.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?

As I set out to become an entrepreneur and share my message with women who needed it, I found myself overwhelmed, lost, and confused. By the time I hired Bryan Hawley to be my business coach, my level of frustration was high, and I thought about giving up. Instead, he supported me and my vision from day one. Not only did he give me concrete steps to follow, but he also connected me with others who were liked minded. Because he believed in me and my vision, I kept going. Like all things, your limiting beliefs will always rear their ugly head when you create a new goal or dream. Having a mentor who can help you navigate the murky waters is essential.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Because I was willing to do the work to change my life, I now share those same skills with other women. As a result, I help women create a new vision for their life on the other side of heartbreak. This allows them to navigate their unique journey in an empowering way, not only for themselves but also for their children. To get better, we must be better. To be better, we must work on ourselves. We must believe it’s all possible because it is. No one has to suffer alone. Therefore, I am here to ignite a new passion for life in all my clients. This is my mission. Not only have I changed my life, but I can now share my Mom’s story as well. This is the power of transformation.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I continue to upgrade my offerings for new and existing clients. There are many things in the works, but I am working on creating a retreat for women and an ongoing mastermind right now. Both of these will allow women to do the deep work needed to heal their lives. These will be intimate settings where women can work on themselves alongside other women doing the same.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

This is my best advice to founders. For your employees to thrive, they must be vested in you and your vision. Know what you stand for. Create business values that are distributed to your employees. Please share your story with them. Tell them how important they are to the company. Pour into your employees the tools they need to be successful with you and in life. Finally, get to know your people; this is priority number one. Get to know them as humans, not just employees. Bring in mentors, coaches, and speakers who will ignite something inside them.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

The movement I care most about is making sure children of cancer patients have the resources they need to be successful. This includes tutoring, coaching, and emotional wellbeing support. A family is turned upside down when a cancer diagnosis is handed down. It’s so important to me that the children have what they need while their parent fights for their life.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?” Marianne Williamson

This quote changed me profoundly. This quote is the invitation for each woman to step into the bold, authentic, fabulous human she is. Because I am so deeply moved by this quote, I continue to show up in life as I want to be, not as others would have me be. It has made all the difference.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.facebook.com/oneboldmf

https://www.instagram.com/onebold_mf/

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.