Meet Melissa Lin, a businesswoman, sales and content expert. As the founder of Fierce Business Babe, Melissa leads others toward the key of fierce content that sells. I had the pleasure to chat with Melissa about her journey as a business coach, what leadership has taught her, and the truth about fear.
What inspired you to become a business coach?
ML: “From a very young age, I was taught that in order to be successful, I needed to check these items off my bucket list: go to college, study engineering, graduate, find a successful job, and marry somebody that can also support me financially. This was all that I knew so naturally, so I did as my parents and teachers advised me to do. I graduated college with my B.S. in Chemical Engineering, found a nice job with great benefits, and started to build my success story.
The trend I found in my life: as I was getting promoted, my work days grew longer, my income was barely growing, and my happiness level was shrinking. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish but didn’t see how it could happen in my lifetime. I was the girl wanting to travel 6 months out of the year, fund charities, start my own charities, and more. My dream bubble was growing bigger each minute of the day, but my 9-5 wasn’t. I knew I had to make a change if I wanted to create a different life for myself.
AND I DID THE DARN THING! I started my first business as a side-hustle while in my 9-5. I quickly grew my business to six figures and left my 9-5 to run my business full time – and yes, I was so terrified to leave a job that for 20+ years I was taught was the only way to be “safe and secure” in life. But today I run my own multi-6 figure business as an Online Business Coach for women ready to start, build, and scale their online businesses. I get to serve my clients while working from home, on the couch in my pajamas, or while traveling abroad to Bali and Italy (like I was a few months ago, sipping on some Prosecco in the Amalfi Coast).”
What do you think it takes to be a great leader or a person in your position?
ML: “We all have our own definitions of what leadership can look like and I truly believe that it’s a way of being. Great leaders:
- Give without expectation and are constantly focusing outward.
- Create more leaders and inspire others to live into their greater visions, inspiring them to be more and do more.
- Take radical responsibility for their actions.
- Lead with honesty and integrity.
- Work from a place of love, not from a place of fear .
What’s the best piece of advice you received when you were starting out as a leader?
ML: “When I started out in this industry and stepped into a leadership role, the biggest piece of advice I ever received was: “Leaders are the source of transformation”. We are here to lead, inspire, give, and we are the source of it. We get to take action and cause and create change every single day. This really shifted for me because I realized in that moment, I had only been acting as a leader in one part of my life: my business or work. But being a leader is a way of being in all areas of your life, not just your business/work.”
What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being an entrepreneur?
ML: “My favorite thing about being an entrepreneur is endless opportunity. Endless opportunities to create more impact each day, endless opportunities to create freedom in my life, endless opportunities to give back to the world. As an entrepreneur, we are our own boss. We get to make the rules (which is so cool!). My least favorite thing about being an entrepreneur is that it can be lonely at times, especially with my business being online. Most days, I work from home by myself (my cat definitely keeps me company), however some days I am lacking human interaction and connection so I’ve been forcing myself out of the house to connect. I’ve been going to co-working spaces and coffee shops to fill that gap.”
Tell us more about hosting Fierce Business Babe. .
ML: “I absolutely love running my business and watching it grow and being the source of that growth has been magical. My brand is the Fierce Business Babe which I created two years ago as I wanted to help women step into their power, start their businesses, and provide them the tools to create freedom in their lives. These words meant a lot to me when I started this business because it was something that took me time to create for myself and then I wanted to help other women create this for themselves as well. Many products/services inside my business revolve around this brand. We have my Podcast: the Fierce Business Babe Podcast, my main signature courses: the Fierce Business Academy, and now a brand new mastermind I’ve launched. I love what I do so much, leading these fierce business babes each day, that it doesn’t even feel like work!”
In moments of adversity, how do you build yourself back up?
“Having moments of adversity is bound to happen for everybody and I’ve definitely experienced many over the years. In the moment, it may feel like the world is crumbling but I build myself back up by remembering that everything that is happening in that moment is happening for a reason and it is happening for me. It’s not happening “to” me, it’s happening for me. There is always a learned lesson, a golden nugget in all of these moments.”
What advice do you have for someone who hasn’t figured out their purpose yet?
ML: “Take a moment to step back and ask yourself, what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Fear holds everybody back from going after what we truly desire, so take time to consider if you couldn’t fail, what would that be? Be curious and ask questions. What is something that you’d want to do to help others with? We’ve been taught from a young age that our “purpose” is our job and I want you to detach yourself from that and ask, what is it that you truly want to do? What’s the vision that you want to create, if anything were possible (spoiler alert: anything is possible).”
What’s the hardest part about being a boss that isn’t obvious to the public eye?
ML: “Creating the balance between boss and friend. I’ve always been one to truly care about my clients and employees and most times, when we are on team calls, we’re chatting like the best of friends would. However, at the same time, I do need to create a balance between being an authority figure and ensure that tasks are being completed effectively.”
What traits are you most proud of?
ML: “I’m proud to be ambitious, caring, loyal, giving, curious, joyful, and passionate. All of these traits have helped shape the woman that I have become today and will continue to push me forward to evolve into the next level version of myself.”
What’s your personal affirmation or a quote that keeps you going?
ML: “Each morning, the personal affirmation that I tell myself is this: I am a loving, worthy, vulnerable leader. Anytime things are going south, I say this out loud to myself as a reminder that I am capable of anything. If you don’t have a personal affirmation, create one today. Write down a few words that you would want to use to describe yourself and say it out loud. Post it on post it notes on your mirrors, they have the power to truly change your life. One of my favorite quotes that I would love to leave you with is, “Fear is not a good enough reason not to try”. As mentioned in a previous question, we either are coming from a place of love or a place of fear; never let that fear hold you back.”
About Melissa Lin
My name is Melissa Lin and I am a previously successful chemical engineer turned multiple six figure business coach and business owner. I am a business, sales, and content expert in the online space. I went from stuck in my 9-5 to making multiple five figure months and working for myself. Now I help other women do the same with their online businesses!
Instagram: @themelissalin
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