Caroline (00:00.736)
Welcome, Christina.
christina (00:02.506)
Hey girl, I'm so excited to do this!
Caroline (00:05.842)
So tell me more about where you are now in your business and your coaching and how did you get there?
christina (00:12.138)
Yeah, you know, I start a lot of podcasts with this like.
funny little story and it's kind of like I get a chuckle out of it, but it's actually like not that funny. But when I was 18, there's two things that happened to me. One, I got really good at golf and two, I got somewhat good looking and people kind of laugh. They're like, why is that a bad thing? Well, at 18 years old, that was the first time I'd really got any external validation and I started getting a lot of external validation. Like you're so good. You're so pretty. Your life's going to be awesome. You're going to plan to or make millions of dollars and all the things. And at that moment,
I became truly an addict. I became addicted to that external validation. And for the next almost 10 years, I became obsessed with how do I get better looking? How do I get better at golf? How do I make more money? Because I loved that external validation.
And I was, you know, I lived an amazing life up until about 27 years old. I had all the things that people thought would make me happy. And at 27 years old, I had my basically rock bottom moment where I had a horrible eating disorder. I did not know if I wanted to live. I was in a really, really dark place. And in that moment, you know, at the time, I didn't know it would become my brand, but I decided, you know, my brand now is decided to return. But.
I decided in that moment that I was going to do something different because I knew that there was people who had a lot less than I did that were actually happy. And I became obsessed with figuring out how they did it. And in that moment, you know, however many years ago that is now, probably over 15 years ago, I became obsessed with.
christina (01:47.402)
personal development. I became obsessed with like your thoughts become your things. And I literally at the time podcasts really weren't even a thing, but I was like reading a book, watching a YouTube, taking notes all while on the StairMaster. Like it was crazy. Like, and I promise you, this is a true, true, true, true, because there was photos of me on the StairMaster, like reading a book with a clipboard. And so I became obsessed with the power of the mind and I became obsessed with figuring out how to be happy. And
you know, long story short is I really changed my life. I went from being probably one of the most unhappy blame the world type of people to literally today where I tell everyone I have the greatest life ever is because I decided. And so long story short, my business came about because people just wanted to know how I was actually happy and how I was so successful and how I was so confident. And so organically, my business grew from that. And so today I am a one on one coach. I help people step.
into their confidence. I help people decide it's their turn. I work with them both personally and professionally because I find it very difficult to separate the two. You know, I'm not a big life coach fan. I'm not a big business coach fan. I just help you do life and business together in a more way that really fits you and your life and it doesn't have to be shitty and it doesn't have to be hard and I just really want to be the poster child for that.
Caroline (03:14.784)
So if someone's listening to this podcast right now and is struggling either professionally or personally, and I agree with you, the two are intertwined and they have lost their confidence or at rock bottom, what is one thing that they can do to start building their confidence back?
christina (03:31.914)
Yeah, absolutely. So I always say that confidence is like a muscle. It gets stronger the more you use it. And it's unfortunate because I think a lot of people want a quick fix. A lot of people want, you know, read this one thing or do this one thing. And I always say that people have thought I've been confident my whole entire life. I remember in college, I was called the intimidator. I was playing college golf and I was called the intimidator. The funny thing is, is that
I may have looked confident on the outside, but I was not internally confident. I pretty much look the same now, obviously a lot more wrinkles, but you know, I look the same externally now as I did when I was in college. And the difference now is that internal confidence and that internal confidence is from keeping promises to yourself, doing hard things, pushing yourself when you don't think you can do something, you know.
do the things behind the scenes, you know, you and I both live a life that is very much on social media, people watch all the things, but.
the thing that really truly makes me me and makes me a really confident person. And I say this not in a cocky way. Like I trust myself. I have unwavering confidence in myself. Now, does that mean that I don't have bad days? Does that mean that like I don't have moments where I'm scared or don't feel worthy or don't feel like, you know, whatever, but I have those moments, but.
I do know to my core, my confidence comes from the fact that I very much walk the walk and talk the talk behind the scenes. And that has built my confidence. That has allowed me to really trust that no matter what, I got it. I also have a great relationship.
christina (05:12.298)
with my faith, you know, God and I are tight. I do say fuck and I do say God and I am still super, super tight with my faith. I always say it's decision, faith and action. And those are the things that really do help a person build their confidence. Like that internal, that unwavering that I've got this type of confidence. And I think sometimes a lot of people just confidence isn't, doesn't come from people telling you something. Confidence comes in. It's an internal game.
Caroline (05:40.704)
So good. So what does confidence have to do with success?
christina (05:44.714)
I think a lot of things. Would you pick a person who has a degree on the wall or would you pick a person who has unwavering trust in themselves? A person who knows that they'll figure it out no matter what. A person who literally can get beat down, stand up, beat down, stand up. A person who has what I call PMA, positive mental attitude. You know, I used to play professional golf. I still play golf once a week with my buddies. And I can tell you with...
Unwavering fact, the person who has the PMA, the person who has that positive mental attitude, that person who is like just took a triple bogey but can like literally get out of it and birdie the next hole. I'm going to pick that person over a Harvard degree any fucking day. Like, and those are the people who have success in business.
Take a look around you. It's not always the smartest people. It's the person who has that confidence. It's that person who has that unwavering belief in themselves, that person who can find the good in a shitstorm.
Caroline (06:44.768)
you a million percent on that because I would much rather have someone who's done it or had the experience or is open about the highs and the lows. I don't just want to hear you see the highlight reel like I want to see the mess too.
christina (06:56.778)
Absolutely. I always say to you, like, you can really tell if someone is confident and like a trustworthy person if they say, you know what, I don't know, but let me find out. A person who always pretends to have all the answers, like I'm a coach. I work with like 30 people at one point in time, all different industries. Like I don't know everything about everything. And my job isn't supposed to know everything about everything, but I'll help you figure it out. I'll find the answer for you, but I'm not going to tell you I know everything because I don't. I'm a human being doing a human thing.
Caroline (07:27.84)
So that leads me to my next question is let's say you are pretty good at something or better than average at something and you're confident -ish in that. How do you level up your confidence to go from average or above average to great?
christina (07:46.794)
You know, I think that a lot of people think I would probably say something different, but I'm probably going to say the very unpopular answer, which is, I think, just like fucking hustle, work hard at it, be willing to do what most people aren't. You know, I remember when I first started golf, this kind of like a personal story, and I was never actually newsflash. I was never actually that good at golf. I just worked harder than most people. I started very, very late. So anyone who's listening to this, who's played athletics in any time,
like any level in their life. You know that most people start when they're really young, they build up, they go to college, maybe they turn professional, but chances are they played high school or college, right? I started playing golf when I was 18. Like I touched the first club when I was 18. I knew that I was behind the ball from everyone else that started when they were like five or seven, right? So by the time that I went through college and then I turned professional after that,
I was the person who was living in, I was living in Scottsdale at the time. I was like living in one of my sponsors, like casitas or whatever. And I remember when the tournament was over, all the girls used to go for like wine or frozen yogurt. Remember when frozen yogurt places were like the bomb? Like self -serve frozen yogurt? Like, gosh, I wish they'd bring those back. I was a huge fan. But anyway, everyone needs to go for frozen yogurt and do all the things. Well.
I used to like literally put a towel around my neck in 125 degree heat and putt for six hours because I knew if I wanted to be better than average, I was going to have to work harder than most people. I was going to have to do what most people weren't willing to do. And unfortunately that's like,
not the answer that most people want to hear nowadays, but I also think too, the one thing that I didn't have when I was playing professional golf, I've always worked hard. I've always been out willing to work, anyone.
christina (09:38.794)
But the one thing I didn't have when I was playing golf, God, it would have been a completely different story had I had my PMA, my positive mental attitude, how I can find a way to yes, no for everything, how I know that my thoughts control my actions, you know? So I think it's a combination of that unwavering belief and that knowing that you'll figure it out no matter what and the willingness to like freaking work hard. And I know that's like a very like.
I guess what most people say that we're not supposed to do nowadays, but like, I will tell you, I've seen a lot of very, very, like very successful people in my life and a lot of them work their fucking asses off.
Caroline (10:18.368)
I love that you said that and that was your answer and thank you for sharing your story because you're right. It's the hard work, it's the grit, it's the unsexy things that you're doing that people don't see. They're not on Instagram, they're not the highlight reel of the six hours of putting that you put in, but I guarantee you that six hours of putting you put in seriously upped your game the next tournament that you had.
christina (10:40.81)
Yeah, and I do want to caveat that with I am a big believer in the woo woo. I am believer in, you know, the combination of the two. I don't think it's just one or the other. I think if you're miserable and working hard, the person who is working hard with...
the PMA with the belief with the, like everything is working out for me. Like one slogan I have all the time is like, everything works out for me. And I know that that sounds so crazy, but I can like literally look at an exact situation. Sometimes I use an example of like missing a flight. If I miss a flight, I'm like, yep, everything works out for me. I must have missed that flight for a purpose and a reason. But if I make the flight, I'm like, told you everything works out for me. I would never miss a flight. So like I can find.
how everything is working in my favor every single time coupled with hard work. I mean, my gosh, that is very unique characteristics. I've also heard, I think, you know, I'm a big sports person, any type of sport. I'm a huge fan. I'm a big fan of NFL and golf, obviously I used to play or whatever. But I remember hearing that like the person who is the most deadly is the person with.
that unbelievable God -given talent with that unbelievable work ethic. And that's really where you get like a goat. You get a Jordan, a Kobe, a tiger. I definitely don't have natural talent by any means. So I'm not even comparing myself in the vicinity of that, but like that unwavering belief, that hard work, that natural talent, that's when you've got something special.
Caroline (12:16.801)
So how did you transition that hard work ethic and that putting in the additional time and your professional golfing days to now you're a huge confidence coach. I mean, you've got this big online brand following podcast. How have you been able to translate those skillsets?
christina (12:35.882)
think, you know, it's so interesting, people can't see the correlation between golf and what I do now. And it's, you know, if I told you what I really did in golf, like, so I tried to play professionally for like three years, I was not near good enough. The money was like, really piss poor. I mean, the lifestyle was not what I wanted. So I transitioned to hosting corporate and charity golf events. So basically what that meant was companies and corporations hired me to play golf with executives.
What that really means is that for six hours a day, I was basically quote unquote entertaining. I called it the trifecta and you can kind of laugh at this, but I was like average Lee good at golf, average Lee good looking and average Lee good at the gap. So you put all three of those things together. I had a pretty good, you know, pretty good career.
entertaining clients on the golf course. Like I was able to make business connections on the golf course. I was allowed, I was able to play some good golf and I was able to like connect the people on the golf course to make really good business connections where they're making million dollar contracts in a day. They were paying me like $10 ,000. It was a hell of an upgrade for them, but.
I was around successful people for over 10 years. Like I'm talking, I had clients who are billionaires. I had a client who was in the fortune 500, like very, very, very, very successful people. Well, I was constantly around successful people. I saw how they acted. I saw how they thought. I saw what they did. I saw the connections that they made. And I really do believe that God has just put me in those positions where I was like,
Thank God I've been here to witness this and these are the connections that I had and
christina (14:14.634)
when I started really kind of talking to my clients on the golf course about the mindset and the PMA and like how I basically changed my life and saved my life and all the things. They were very interested in that as well because that's something that they, you know, either they weren't familiar with or they were familiar with and they loved it as much as I did. And then I transitioned to like people just wanted to know how I was getting paid $10 ,000 a day to play golf with executives, how I was so confident, how I was willing,
to put myself out there. Newsflash, I was not a good golfer. I never had LPGA status, but there was girls who were getting paid like $500 in a Southwest ticket to go do these events, but I was getting paid $10 ,000 of flow on corporate jets a lot. How did that actually happen? It was because I was willing to figure it out. I was willing to put myself out there. I was willing to pitch myself. I was willing to put those price tags on it. And then fast forward to my...
Now coaching practice, I always tell the story that I spent more money starting my career for the first two years than I ever brought in in revenue because I was just willing to figure it out. And then the third year is really where it kind of catapulted to where it made more.
money than I was actually spending, but I was willing to like pay for coaches, pay for people to tell me how to do things. I mean, I wasted so much money those first few years just trying to figure it out, but I've had enough confidence and belief in myself that like, and so much passion that I knew I could help people. So I just kept going.
Caroline (15:51.296)
that you just shared that too that you had to make the investment in the beginning because I feel like a lot of times people are like ooh they see the price tag and the time investment and they think of whatever excuse they want to in their minds but you have to do that to move the needle.
christina (16:06.666)
Time and money are the two easiest excuses that people have, and yet neither one of them truly should be an excuse.
If I look at your credit card statement or your bank statement, I can see what you value most in life by looking at where you spend your money. I can see what you value the most where you're spending your time. You know, most successful people, you can see where they're willing to invest in themselves. And that also comes with confidence. You know, in the beginning was I absolutely scared to death. I always tell the story that my very first one -on -one coach master before I even joined masterminds, it was $18 ,000 for 90 days. Of course I was scared.
It's not like most people are like, have, I have this big pile of money. I wonder what I should do with it. No, it wasn't like that. I was scared to death. But I think the people that I love to work with and oftentimes, unfortunately, I wish if I could change one thing, it would be that people didn't have to be in a position where staying where they're at is more uncomfortable than trying. But most people have to get to a point where staying where they're at is more uncomfortable.
than the trying something different. And I hope you hear that. Please, if for any reason you can be the person who's like, well, where I'm at is not like horrific, but like I'm willing to try this.
You'll be a fucking unicorn. Do that because it gets you to where you wanna be faster, I promise you. But you have to invest in yourself. You have to be around people who want what you have. You have to be willing to do things that most people aren't willing to do. Caroline and I probably do things that most people would think is crazy, but also too, I have a life that most people would love and it didn't come from not doing things that most people wouldn't do.
Caroline (17:54.464)
So is there such thing as being too confident?
christina (17:57.994)
think so. I mean, confidence and cockiness. I think I got a message from a person a while back who said, you're getting too big for your britches. You're too cocky. And I and I went back and forth with her. I wasn't gonna like, you know, and I actually think she kind of meant it to be like helpful. It was probably not the kindest way of doing things. But maybe I did need a kick in the pants. I don't really know.
I do know I am not for everyone. I say God, I say fuck, I am passionate, veins pop out of my neck. I am not for everyone. But I care so deeply about what I do. I would like literally jump in front of a truck for what I get to do and for my clients. Like I am so...
passionate about people living their lives to the fullest, to not be overwhelmed and stressed out, to always like take those risks in life because that is the thing that like actually life is all about. I hate to hear that people doubt themselves and I hate all of the stories of why people say they can't do certain things. Like I am passionate about that and I will stand on a mountain for what I believe in but...
I do think that people can be, I think you can tell. Perhaps maybe that's the best answer. It's like, you can tell. If I tell you that I have all the answers, that I know best, that da da da, I think that that is actually a sign of not being really confident and being like overly cocky. I don't have all the answers. I don't know everything, but I'm willing to figure it out.
Caroline (19:31.552)
So what is lighting you up with some of the clients you're working with right now? Any trends or?
christina (19:35.306)
I'm so, I'm so blessed. I just love my clients so much. I only work with like 30 clients at a time. And I have people from all different industries, which is, and not everyone, everyone always thinks that I only work with entrepreneurs and business owners. And that's not true. I definitely love my people who come to me for more of the mindset that are not necessarily business people. But I feel like, and I know that this kind of sounds crazy, but.
In my personal opinion, business is business and my job isn't to know your business. Like I don't know Caroline's industry of LinkedIn growth strategy. I don't know that, but I do know that the same type of strategies and the same type of mindset blocks or not having the clarity that LinkedIn professionals can suffer with. Same with insurance professionals. I have a client who's a speech pathologist. I have...
clients who are in agriculture. I have clients who own brick and mortar stores. Like it's the same type of things that hold most people up. And that's why I always say that like, I'm not just business and I'm not just personal. Find me a person who like 100 % can differentiate their personal lives from their professional life. It's very, very hard and it's so intertwined. And that's the reason why I am very, very
very passionate about not differentiating the two because I don't think you can.
Caroline (21:03.264)
So as we wrap up, how can our listeners find you?
christina (21:05.866)
Yeah. So my podcast, which Caroline has been on is the decide it's your turn podcast. It's for anyone who's ready to decide it's their turn in life. And you know, that decision might be to start the business. That decision may be to take better care of yourself. That decision may be to change your family's habits. That decision may be to get divorced or to get married or whatever it is. It's for anyone who's ready to really make a decision, decide it's their turn. That's the thing I am most passionate about is unfortunately,
The thing we all have in common is we are going to die. And it's so sad to say, but like from a woman at 27 years old who...
really didn't know if she wanted to live to a person who's now 40, almost 42 years old, who literally cannot wait for every day. Even on days, and I say this on the podcast, which is so funny, but even on days that shit hit the fan, you know, I'm sitting right now, you can't probably see it, but I have a TENS machine on my back because I hurt my back. Like I have problems in my business. I have family problems. I have all of those things, but yet I still believe I have the greatest life ever.
And I think I really want to be that person who can help you see that you too can have the greatest life ever. It's not an easy journey, but gosh, is it worth it?
Caroline (22:26.144)
Thanks, Christina.
christina (22:27.53)
Thanks for having me.
