Unleash Your Unstoppable—Ashley Winston, CEO, Unstoppable, Inc.

May 8, 2024

When is the last time you paused to take a look at your present situation introspectively? Or, when is the last time you helped people on your staff and team reflect on their current life and situation? If you don’t recall or you noticed you needed some improvement, today’s episode is for you.

In today’s episode, we interview Ashley Winston, who shares with us some tips and ideas on how to unleash your unstoppable.

TODAY’S WIN-WIN:

Replace yourself with team members to help your people grow and to help you unleash your unstoppable. 

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Ashley Winston helps people win and provides them with the necessary keys to unlock their peak performance. From classrooms to churches to corporations, Ashley has worked with over 20,000 women and youth, 50 Chicago Public Schools, and over 70 organizations, including Tacom, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, and McDonald’s Corporation. Her dynamic background, authenticity, and business expertise allow her to equip, empower, and extraordinarily relate to leaders from all walks of life. She delivers the necessary truth and tough love, helping the world navigate the wild adventures of faith, business, and life. Ashley is the creator and host of The Break Free Podcast and the author of three books, Break Free: Unlock Your God-Given Potential & Unleash Your Unstoppable, You Are Enough, and 7 Secrets to Living Your Best Life, a guide to help you overcome your obstacles and create a life you love.

ABOUT BIG SKY FRANCHISE TEAM:

This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team. If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/ or by calling Big Sky Franchise Team at: 855-824-4759.

If you are interested in being a guest on our podcast, please complete this request form or email podcast@bigskyfranchise.com and a team member will be in touch.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:01):

Welcome to the Multiply Your Success podcast, where each week we help growth-minded entrepreneurs and franchise leaders take the next step in their expansion journey. I’m your host, Tom DuFore, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. And as we open today, I’m wondering when is the last time you paused to take a look at your current situation introspectively and think about it, or when’s the last time you helped someone on your team or your staff to reflect on their current life and situation? And if you don’t recall or maybe you’ve noticed when you’ve done that, you could use a little working on, because you’ve been working on business or other things, then today’s episode is for you.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:43):

In today’s episode, we interview Ashley Winston, who I’m so excited to have on. She’s a longtime friend that I’ve known for many, many years. And she shares with us some tips and ideas on how to unleash your unstoppable. I love that phrase, unleash your unstoppable. Ashley helps people win and provides them with the necessary keys to unlock their peak performance. From classrooms to churches, to corporations, Ashley has worked with over 20,000 women and youth, 50 public schools and over 70 organizations, including TACOM, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and McDonald’s Corporation. Her dynamic background, authenticity and business expertise allow her to equip, empower and extraordinarily relate to leaders from all walks of life.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:29):

She delivers the necessary truth and tough love, helping the world navigate the wild adventures of faith, business and life. Ashley is the creator and host of the Break Free podcast and the author of three books, Break Free: Unlock Your God Given Potential & Unleash Your Unstoppable, You Are Enough, and 7 Secrets to Living Your Best Life, a guide to helping you overcome your obstacles and create a life you love. You’re going to really enjoy this episode and my interview with Ashley Winston, so let’s go ahead and jump right into it.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (02:00):

My name is Ashley Winston. My company is Unstoppable Inc. And I’m the president and CEO.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (02:05):

Wonderful. Well, Ashley, I’ve been blessed and fortunate to call you a friend for many years, and it’s crazy to think decades at this point we can say. I’m just excited to have you on the show here and just talk a little bit about some of the work that you’ve been doing over the last several years. And one in particular is in reference to your book and talking about that. And so, one of the things that stood out to me in reading and going through that is a story that you shared. Just opening with this. And the story was when you happened to be out at a first date with someone, and having a meal and having a great time, and then you took a phone call and something happened on that phone call. And so, I’d just love for you to share what happened and what you were able to gain or gather out of that experience.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (02:57):

Absolutely, Tom. Thanks for reminding me. That book is so full of stories. And it’s so funny when you think about your journey, how long ago that was. So, when you get up there in age, sometimes you forget a little bit. But I do remember that. I think it was one of those moments, Tom, where I realized that I was being who life had made me, I’ll say that. I was acting in a way based off what life had done. And at that time I had been through a lot of painful things that I hadn’t healed from, that I didn’t even know you were supposed to heal from. I didn’t even know where to begin.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (03:35):

And so, in that moment, it was an opportunity for me to see myself, who I’m being versus who I want to be. And I thank God for that. And I thank God for every moment like that, because it slows you down. And you’re like, “Oh, am I acting in a way that’s congruent with my belief system of who I want to be? Or am I doing something subconsciously because I’m triggered by an external, something that happened or even something internal that I’m thinking about or that I’m doing?” And so, that moment, it was external stimuli and responding out of whatever brokenness, whatever pain, whatever narratives that I was dealing with at the time. And so, it was an opportunity for me to reflect and change. I think a lot of times we’re acting out of our subconscious mind versus being conscious and deciding who we want to be in moments. So, that’s what that moment was about.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (04:44):

I should have begun our conversation here by having you talk about the book I’m referring to, Break Free, and have you just give an overview for the audience. If they haven’t read it yet, give us an overview about the book and general synopsis to give us an understanding here.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (04:59):

There was a season in my life, I was… Actually, this goes way back, because I’ve known you so long, so you’ve actually seen me walk through a lot of these. But I was engaged to marry somebody and it wasn’t the person that God had for me. And out of that breakup came the book Break Free, because once I decided to call off my wedding, I was engaged to be married and the Holy Spirit was just dealing with me. God was dealing with me like, “This is not who I have for you. This is not my best for you.” Nothing against the individual, but just I wasn’t on the plan. I wasn’t on the path that God had. And He was dealing with me and I did not want to obey. And eventually, I did. And I started to pursue the authentic plan that God had for my life versus entertaining and feeding the counterfeit version which I was much more comfortable in.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (05:48):

And in that pursuit of faith, in that pursuit of identity, in that pursuit of purpose and that path, that divine path came Break Free, because that’s what I was doing. I was breaking free from myself, breaking free from what I had in mind, because I feel like oftentimes the biggest threat to your destiny is what you have in mind. Because what I’m doing now is not what I had in mind, none of it. And I thank God that He had a plan for me that was much better than mine. And so, Break Free was born out of that. And so, it’s a book full of stories and testimonies about moments where I was challenged to break free in the process of becoming who God called me to be and following the divine plan that He had for my life.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (06:39):

Thank you for that overview. And we’ll make sure we include links in the show notes. But if someone’s interested in getting a copy of it or downloading that, how can they do that?

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (06:48):

Sure. You can go to my website, theashleywinston.com, or you can go to Amazon and just type in Break Free, Ashley Winston. It’ll pop up. The full title is Break Free: Unlock Your God Given Potential & Unleash Your Unstoppable.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (07:04):

I love it. Well, we’ll make sure we include that in the show notes as well for you. And one thing that you mentioned in the book, it was a line I actually highlighted and it really stood out. I have lots of highlights, actually having gone through the book. In one section you said, “You cannot be a victim and be victorious at the same time.” And so, I thought that was a really powerful line. So, I’d just love for you to talk through that whole idea for us and what that means to you.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (07:31):

It goes back to what you asked me when we first started the interview. And I was being who life had made me into, subconsciously. And I feel like that happens to all of us. We all have challenges, we all have hardships, we all have pain, but we have a decision that we can make about how we respond to it. So, we might not be able to control everything that’s happened to us. In fact, we can’t. We can’t, because there’s a lot of things I’m sure that happened to you, Tom, or happened to the people listening that wasn’t in their control. But we can control how we respond to it and who we become as a result of what we went through. We don’t have to be what we went through. And so, that’s what I mean when I say you can’t be a victim and be victorious at the same time.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (08:21):

Because in order for me to step into who I was called to be and move on the path of success, I had to let go of what I became because of what happened to me. I had to make a decision, because the truth is those two versions of myself, they’re at war with one another. They don’t like the same things, they don’t have the same friends, they don’t make the same decisions, they don’t read the same books, they don’t even wear the same clothes. Because one person, version of me is seeing myself through what happened to me, which is a lesser version, a more diminished version, a broken version. And the other person is empowered. The other person sees the future. The other person is moving forward.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (09:06):

And so, when you’re being both of those people, you become double-minded. And one of the scriptures I like is, “A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways and that man receives nothing.” The revelation there is when you’re being two people, you end up going nowhere. Where do you go? Nowhere. Maybe it feels like it because you made a few steps forward, but then you go back. So, where do you end up? Exactly where you started. So, I think it’s important once you’re aware that you’re in that victim space, well, what now? And that’s where the victory comes in.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (09:48):

I’d imagine you run into this in your coaching and some of the support that you do. So, without sharing all the gory details, but I’m just curious of situations maybe you’ve encountered, just as an example or two.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (10:01):

Okay. The first thing that comes to mind, I’m smiling because I have a mentorship community within my company. So, I have the Unstoppable Inc, Unstoppable Network, which is moving towards more entertainment side of things, moving towards that part of what I do. But within that, I have a mentorship community of women that I serve. And when they come to me a lot of times, where we meet each other, they’re always complaining about their husbands. “My husband doesn’t do this. My husband is that, Ashley. My husband is this. My husband, my husband.” Victim. I always make this joke in the community and I hope no one takes offense, but I always say the ladies make their husbands into Darth Vader. It’s like he’s just all bad. It’s like I always do this voice with them and stuff.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (10:49):

And it’s amazing, Tom, what ended up happening in my career was I was coaching them one-on-one. I don’t have the capacity to meet with everybody one-on-one now, which is why I started a community. And I’m raising up other leaders in that community. But I still occasionally am led and the Lord positions people in front of me that He wants me to work with one-on-one. And what happens is I start with the wife typically, and the husband is upset that she’s paying for this mentorship that he doesn’t understand, usually like, “What’s this unstoppable coaching? What is this?” And the wife typically does not express or explain well what’s happening, because again, she’s communicating with Darth Vader. So, he’s the bad guy. So, she can’t tell him anything that’s going on. She’s withholding. There’s a lack of honesty and trust.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (11:40):

But what I’ve discovered over the years of coaching and developing people, what started to happen is the husband ends up in front of me as well, and now they’re both… So, I went from coaching just women, Tom. I was always coaching entrepreneurs, that was always going on and coaching business exec. It was always there. But then this thing with women, God is sneaky, He brought the women. The women come, they make their husbands Darth Vader, the husband gets mad, he hates me and Unstoppable mentorship, because he doesn’t understand where the money is going. The wife gets the courage to tell Darth Vader, the husband, what’s happening. The husband gets curious. Next thing you know, the husband through the wife’s influence is in front of me. Now I’m coaching married couples. That’s something I never expected, because again, Break Free came from coming out of a relationship.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (12:33):

I was done with relationships. I’m like, I’m out of this now, of course, to pursue business. So, now, God’s sneaky plan, I’m meeting with husbands and wives. Well, who’s running the company typically in the marriage? The husbands is, right? So, I’m able to advise the husband, all right? And what happens is we find out the wife is Darth Vader. That’s what happens. I know that was long. But we coach for about, I don’t know, two hours, maybe two weeks, Tom. And when we get to the root of it, the person that was doing all the complaining a lot of times, I find out it’s the wife causing a lot of the drama in the marriage.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (13:15):

And we don’t hear that side a lot in society, but my goodness, is it true. And so, I end up shocked, because I’m expecting Darth Vader, and then I get in the session and it’s not the case. And so, the husband ends up excelling with the coaching, and he ends up bringing the wife along and the wife ends up… This is not always the case, but I’m just saying you asked for an example, I see this as a trend and a pattern for sure in my business. And the wife ends up going through deliverance, healing from pride, honestly, humility, because she has to learn to be able to receive from her husband. And I deal with whatever the guy issues are, but typically what I’m dealing with men is very simple to navigate, to advise. Because in my experience, just talking from my experience, men deal with more facts and women are more emotional.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (14:14):

So, I can just give the husband the information he’s missing. He doesn’t understand something, I break it down. 30 seconds he’s like, “Ashley, I get it,” and he’s gone on. The wife though is going through emotions, and trying to accept it and are we going to be honest about how we really feel. And so, that’s what I’ve seen a lot in my business, Tom. The roles reverse, and the wife goes from victim, and eventually if she’s open and honest and transparent, a different version of her emerges. And we see the woman who was complaining. And the Bible talks about the Proverbs, there’s a scripture that says, “Wise woman builds up her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.”

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (14:58):

And so, we end up seeing this metamorphosis take place, where they go from instead of tearing it down, they continue to build, and evolve, and then they work together and there’s a victory. And that affects the business going to a whole mother level, because now there’s more unity in the home. There’s more open communication in the home. There’s a different level of patience in the home. There’s a different level of just God at the center. And you’d be surprised at how much that affects business and business excelling. So, the outcome ends up being increase, financial increase, because that’s the order biblically, which is a different… If I was doing more ministry stuff on this podcast, I go into it, but it’s the divine order of God. So, because we can’t be out of order in the household and then increase in business, because God is a God of order. So, the family is first.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (15:53):

And when we do those things out of order, we’re going to have trouble. And also, sometimes the wife is called to business, entrepreneurship, but it’s in the way. She’s distracted by the marriage, so she’s not building. But in fact, God has given her the blueprint to increase the family, but the husband needs to also be involved in some way. That’s how God designed it. How can two walk together unless they agree. So, that’s another part of just to give the landscape of how this connects back to business, since we’re talking today, it does. It affects business in every way.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (16:27):

If things are out of sorts on the home front, it’s going to make everywhere else out of sorts as well. For sure. Another quote you wrote, “A large amount of people end up being commentators and spectators, instead of being participators in the world and their own life.” And I think there’s some connection to the previous one that just really stood out to me. And so, I’m just wondering if you’ve seen in your coaching and other things you’ve done, how do people end up there? How do they end up as just these commentaries or on the sidelines, even in their own life?

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (17:02):

Sure. I like to talk about my own experience first, because I think sometimes people see you on one side of it and they think you were never on the other side. And I think it goes back to pain. People want to avoid pain. They want to avoid rejection, which is going back to avoiding pain. And so, instead of taking ownership, it’s much easier to stand back, and just watch and participate as you feel like you want to, without any accountability to change or develop. It’s a lot easier to just throw your 2 cents in when you feel like it without anybody asking you, “Sid you have $5 you could have given? Did you have 10?” Nope, they don’t want the questioning, they don’t want the accountability. They’re afraid of it.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (17:56):

Most people are afraid of accountability, because accountability, in order to operate in that way, you have to be vulnerable, which means you have to show error, you have to show weakness. And it’s much easier to show strength than it is to show weakness, because if I show weakness, I have to admit I’m not perfect. I have to admit I need help. I have to admit that I can’t do everything on my own. And we think that that’s weakness saying that we can’t, but there’s nothing stronger than surrendering and saying you need help. It actually takes more strength to say you need help than to say you have it all together.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (18:37):

Our audience is primarily entrepreneurs, leaders of organizations that very often probably find themselves in that situation, like you just described, making sure they’re showing strength and confidence as the leader of the organization. And speaking of that leader and hearing you describe what you were talking through, it makes me wonder as a leader of a company, there’s a strong chance you’re leading, and managing, and supporting a staff and people who are probably spectators in parts of their life, maybe even at work. And so, I’m just curious in some of your coaching or some of what you do, as a leader, what advice or tips might you give to help pull people into this world to embrace it and getting that in the middle of the mess sometimes of what might be there?

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (19:27):

I love this question, Tom. It’s such a good one. And the first thing that popped up in my mind was, years ago, I was on a contract that led me to work for McDonald’s for a moment as a professional development consultant of sorts. And without telling too much information, essentially we were helping to design some of the procedures and some of the aesthetics for the McDonald’s of the future, what it would look like. And in order to do that, they had executives in the room from McDonald’s, from France, from different places, workers from actual locations and stores. They also had some of the individuals that work and maintain the facilities. And we were all in there together, different levels, different background, talking about how to make things work. And I remember after doing the workshop there, for a couple of days, I was working in their innovation center.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (20:22):

And I remember one of the executives I think from France came to me and said, “Ashley, this has been fantastic.” And he said, “But how do we get our employees to show up like you every day?” And I thought, “Weren’t you paying attention in the workshop? Isn’t that what I taught?” And I realized, no, I was doing more training on systems, and structures and what the customer experience would be like if they waited in line versus if they had more of a Chipotle style layout with McDonald’s, all those types of things. And I thought the whole time he was observing how I was showing up to lead and showing up to the workshop, so to speak. And I thought, “That’s a good question. Give me some time to get back to you.” I was really young, I didn’t know what value I was bringing. I didn’t know, but that’s what I thought of.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (21:08):

So, looking back, what I would’ve told that executive now moving into coaching, moving into building companies and working with people, is that a big part of that has to do with investing in people. People run companies. We think we spend a lot of time on technology. We spend a lot of time and a lot of money on product development. We spend a lot of time and energy on marketing. I can keep going on. We spend a lot of time on a lot of things and those things are very important. But at the end of the day, who’s running your company? People. If people don’t come to work, there is no business. And the wellness of those people matters astronomically, because when people are well, they work well. When they’re not well, they don’t work well. Sometimes they don’t even come to work.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (21:56):

So, what would I say? You have to work on the atmosphere of your company. You have to create a culture where, one, people want to be there. How do you do that? Well, go to theashleywinston.com, and sign up and meet with me for a little bit so I help. I’m being funny, but honestly, it’s more than I can do on this episode. But you have to create a culture, a company culture where people want to be there, all right? The other thing too is you have to invest in a lot of professional development. A lot of organizations that I’ve worked for in the past, whether it be nonprofit or corporations or whatever, it’s like professional development needs to be ongoing and it needs to be good. The people need to like the people who are coming to work with them. It’s something that they need to look forward to.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (22:45):

A lot of times in businesses when they have personal development days, the employees can be over it before it ever starts, because it’s the culture, that we haven’t shifted the culture for them to get excited about it. So, ongoing professional development, I’ll try to be brief. You have to change the company culture and make sure it’s one that people want to show up to. And you need to provide incentives, incentives for development. It has to be more exciting to develop than not to. It has to be more exciting to come to work than not to. It has to be more exciting to hit your goal or whatever your market is, than not to. When that becomes your company culture, the business excels because that’s more popular. That becomes more of the norm than the opposite.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (23:24):

Great advice and great suggestions. Well, Ashley, this is a great time in the show where we make a transition. We ask every guest the same four questions before they go. And the first question we ask is, have you had a miss or two on your journey and something you learned from it?

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (23:38):

I like to go back to the beginning of my career a lot and talk about that, because I think a lot of people are trying to figure out how to get started or in that place where they’re trying to get to that next level. And so, when you tell stories where you’ve already broken certain levels, it’s not as relatable. So, I’m going to go back to the beginning, if that makes sense. So, one of the things I think about as a miss is I had a friend who was more advanced in business than I was when I was first starting, but I didn’t know that. I thought we were kind of on the same level, Tom. And I remember, this is again, personal and professional story learning experience. And I thought that hanging out, and going here, and doing this, and doing that was more important than what she had in mind, meaning like canceling our plans because she had to work or we’re supposed to go here on a girl’s trip, but she’s going to do something else instead related to her business or whatever.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (24:38):

At the time I thought, “Wow, we’re friends. How selfish.” I thought, “Clearly you don’t understand how friendship works, because you keep canceling the plans to do work. Oh, my gosh.” And looking back, what ended up happening was, because of those sacrifices, Tom, that she made, she had some very specific goals and I saw her accomplish them. And I was still trying to figure it out. And I’m so thankful for that time in our relationship, because when I saw her hit… There was one specific goal I knew she had in mind. There was a placement in a magazine that she desired, and I saw it happen. And I remember when I saw that article, I thought, “Oh, I get it now. I get it now.” These were the sacrifices that were necessary for her to get where she wanted to be as it related to not only her own personal goals and success, but what she wanted to do for her family or for her daughter.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (25:42):

She was a single mother at the time. And I was too immature to see that, because as my career started to grow, I started to say no to a lot of things. I was like, not as much canceling, but just I can’t come, I wish I could. There were baby showers I missed. There were weddings that I missed, things because I was on assignment with what God was telling me to do. And sometimes He was telling me no. And so, I think that was a miss, because I didn’t understand how important sacrifice was. And I had a one-sided perspective of sacrifice that I now see much differently.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (26:21):

So, that was a miss in a relationship, because it drew a wedge between me and the friend. But it was a great lesson personally that I always think about that I remember, and it was a great lesson professionally. Sometimes it is hard, because I look back, because I have to do that now. And it’s hard to tell people no. You might want to be there, but you can’t. You might want to go out to eat, but you can’t.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (26:47):

Let’s talk about a make or two or a highlight, something you can share.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (26:51):

The beginning of my career where I was working for someone else, initially, I was underpaid and totally overworked. And the company was benefiting from my work ethic. And clearly, what I understand about company culture. And I was tired of it. I was working in a school system that needed a lot of work. School systems are a beast, if you’re unfamiliar with them. They can be. I was sick of it. And I remember it was a hardship first. I should’ve left the company sooner, but I waited for things to explode. So, that’s another miss right at the beginning, I waited for them to be like, “Ashley, and this isn’t working,” type of thing, because I had outgrown the environment. But let me tell you why it’s a make for me, even though it was tumultuous in the beginning.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (27:39):

It ended up being a make, well, one, anytime you take a bad situation and make something good come out of it, I feel like that’s a make every time. But another reason it’s a make is because for two weeks I was out of work and I didn’t know what I was going to do, Tom. But in those two weeks, I came to myself, and I got an idea and I was like, “What am I going to do?” And I started a small group for women across the street from my house. I rented a space in a coffee shop, and I started using those same skills that I was doing in the school system for educators and young people, and I started doing them for women across the street at the coffee shop. And I remember being so scared and I wrote a list, Tom, of all the women I could think of that I knew that would possibly join my small group or my program.

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (28:34):

And in one day I closed enough sales to replace my entire income that I was making at that job for the full year in one day. Going on the phone, talking to women, closing sales, signing them up for my program that I had never done, but I knew I could do because I was doing it in the school system. And the children were turning around, the leaders were turning around the school itself, they were turning around. So, I was like, I’m going to just turn around women like me. I’m going to just turn them around. You don’t know what you’re doing, you know you’re called to business, I’m going to use these same skills and I’m going to turn it around. And that’s what I did. And that was a win for me, because after that day, Tom, I knew I never had to work for anybody else, because I knew I had the skill set to close sales and to bring in money anytime I needed it. And that’s when my entrepreneurial journey began.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (29:26):

Wonderful. Well, let’s talk about a multiplier. The name of this shows Multiply Your Success. So, have you used anything to multiply your career, personally, professionally, anything in that realm?

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (29:39):

For me, it goes back to people. I think what helps me multiply my business is, as soon as I figure something out and I create something and it works, I replace myself immediately. So, as soon as I know this works, coaching works, this mentorship program works, I’m already looking for who can replace me. I’m thinking that in every opportunity. Even if a company calls me in, I’m like, okay, who can replace me? Who’s here so I can go do what’s next? And then that structure can be built in place. So, for me, it goes back to investing in people, and helping people win and see themselves as the best version of themselves, whatever that is for them. Not my version of success projected onto them, which is what I think we do a lot of times as leaders, but who they want to be and who they see themselves as, and then cultivating a plan to get them there.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (30:36):

Well, the final question we ask every guest is, what does success mean to you?

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (30:40):

Living a life of purpose, being fulfilled daily in what you do, having joy in what you do. I think there’s nothing more important than that, because you can’t do this life over. Once it’s done, it’s done. So, being successful to me is living a life of purpose that’s full of joy.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (31:02):

Wonderful. Well, Ashley, as we bring this to a close, is there anything you were hoping to share or get across that you haven’t had a chance to yet?

Ashley Winston, Unstoppable, Inc. (31:09):

I have a podcast, if you enjoyed this interview and you’d like to learn more or just hear more stories about coaching and how to elevate your faith, business in life. And the podcast is called Break Free with Ashley Winston. Again, my book, Break Free: Unlock Your God Given Potential & Unleash Your Unstoppable, you can find on theashleywinston.com, also on Amazon. I have two other books as well. 7 Secrets to Living Your Best Life, which is now also a course that is available in my mentorship community. And You Are Enough, which is a 15-day miniature devotional to help women with their confidence. And you can find all of this information at theashleywinston.com.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (31:55):

Ashley, thank you so much for a fantastic interview, and let’s go ahead and jump into today’s three key takeaways. So, takeaway number one is when Ashley said you cannot be victorious and a victim at the same time. And I loved how she said, “We all have hardships, and tough decisions and we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond.” So, I just thought that was a great takeaway. Takeaway number two is when Ashley described and talked about observing life versus participating in life. And I thought when she said, “It’s easier to just observe. People want to avoid pain, it’s easier just to stand back and stand away from getting into the mix of what might be going on.” And she said, “A lot of people, and really most people, they’re afraid of accountability.” And so, I thought that was a great reflection point. Are you observing or participating in your life?

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (32:52):

Takeaway number three is a great phrase that Ashley said that I really liked, where she said, “If things are out of sorts on the home front, well, then the rest of your life is going to be as well, or it’s likely to be as well.” And I thought that was a great quote. And it’s just a reminder that while you’re taking care of your business, your professional life, you need to also be thinking about that personal side. What’s going on at home with your family and those close friends that are part of your life? And now it’s time for today’s win-win. So, today’s win-win comes from when Ashley talked about her multiplier, where she said her multiplier is really replacing herself. So, she builds and develops roles, or positions, or things that occur at her company or other organizations she’s been hired to go support and help.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (33:49):

And then she finds a way to replace herself, who is someone that can replace her on that role, which people are you investing into to help them take over that role? And when you do that, when you’re replacing yourself, you’re helping yourself move on to the next thing. And you’re helping that new person coming in, you’re helping them win as well. So, it’s a win for you, win for them, win for the organization. It’s a win all over the place. And it made me think a lot about franchising and when we help clients franchise their business. Ultimately, you’re replacing yourself as that operator, that owner-operator, and helping someone else live the dream and life that they want to live, as being an operator and owner of your franchise.

Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (34:34):

And that’s the episode today, folks. Please make sure you subscribe to the podcast and give us a review. And remember, if you or anyone you know might be ready to franchise their business or take their franchise company to the next level, please connect with us at bigskyfranchiseteam.com. Thanks for tuning in, and we look forward to having you back next week.

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