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Own Your Impact equips experts and leaders to transform their expertise into meaningful influence. Host Macy Robison reveals how successful thought leaders use deliberate systems—not luck or volume—to amplify their authentic voice and create lasting impact. Through practical frameworks and strategic guidance, you'll discover how to build a self-reinforcing ecosystem of Core Resonance, structured Content, a Central Platform, strategic Connections, and intentional Commercialization. Whether you're just starting to share your expertise or scaling an existing platform, this podcast delivers the roadmap to turn your ideas into purpose-driven influence that resonates far beyond what you might imagine possible.
Dustin Riechmann (00:32)
I'm Dustin. I think I'm Macy's number one fan. at least that's that's my intent. And I I absolutely love this podcast and the thought leadership archetype and resonance things that you equip people with and you've had a huge impact on me, which I'm sure we'll get into. But to kind of give people a snapshot, I run a company called Seven Figure Leap, and sort of the tagline version is we help mission-driven experts build seven-figure brands by telling their story. sort of the
Dustin Riechmann (01:01)
underpinning flagship program and experience that we create is called the podcast profits accelerator. And so basically if I walked into a room and someone happened to know who I was, they'd be like, that's Dustin. He's the podcast guesting guy. so that's sort of like the thing I'm most known for in the marketplace at this point is helping coaches, consultants, and agency owners grow their impact and grow their business through telling their story on other people's podcasts, much like I guess I'm doing right now. So
Macy Robison (01:30)
Exactly.
Dustin Riechmann (01:30)
this is what I do and I'm doing it right now.
Macy Robison (01:33)
I love it. Very meta. I think the thing that I love most about your program, and I've said this to you before, it is about podcast guesting, but it really is a relationship based strategy. It's it's relationship based marketing disguised as podcast guesting. And you really walk your talk and practice what you preach and and that connection and relationship is really infused in everything you do. And I think that's what makes the strategy work. So I love that. That's wonderful. Well, I I guess
Macy Robison (02:00)
You know, I was in your world as a as a student, as a member of Pro Podcast Profits Accelerator, when I was with the previous company, kind of trying to figure this whole podcast guesting thing out and really loved what I was learning and stuck around and I'm now a member of the Seven Figure Leap Mastermind. So I've been developing some of this while I was inside some of your coaching containers. So I know I really appreciated the show of trust in what I was building by signing up for
Macy Robison (02:29)
the what's now called the Resonance Conservatory last summer at this time, the first, very first version of it. But I guess I'd love to know what were you trying to figure out when you decided to go ahead and invest. I know you're nice and you try to support all of us in the work that we're doing, but for me it felt deeper than that. So I'd love to hear what you were trying to figure out when you first started looking at all this archetype stuff I was doing.
Dustin Riechmann (02:42)
Yeah.
Dustin Riechmann (02:48)
Yeah. Yeah, it's a great question. I think to provide some context for the listeners and and as they're yeah, trying to like put themselves in my shoes, I guess, last summer when I made that decision, which was an amazing decision. I'll I'll kind of bury the lead there. And I got a ton out of it. you know, I had already built a seven-figure business. That had happened pretty quickly. you know, like this flagship program really took off. so last summer we were basically
Dustin Riechmann (03:17)
three years, you know, two and a half, three years into Seven Figure Leap and this accelerator program that we run. And it's solid, like it's working really well. some of the questions though, and these kind of things that were still lingering doubts, limiting beliefs, things I really felt called to explore, it's kind of like what's the bigger idea here, right? And and you started to describe it a little bit there, Macy, and even how you added on to my introduction, right?
Dustin Riechmann (03:47)
so I I had become, let's just say, you know, going into last summer, I had become like the pie cast guesting guy. I had a lot of proven success there and you know, a lot of happy clients. And we had built a community around that, which has been really important. And we built a mastermind from that. All of these individual sort of programs and containers that we created kind of felt like they were doing different jobs. And I loved all of them, but I didn't really see the through line between them.
Dustin Riechmann (04:15)
I was also toying with the idea, well, more than toying. I'd been procrastinating on the idea of writing a book for at least two years, right? So and there and you picked up pretty quickly. This is getting more into like what actually happened, so I'll I'll I'll leave it short. But one of the drivers of that decision was like, you know what? I keep kicking around this idea of a book. something about this feels incomplete or like it's not aligned.
Dustin Riechmann (04:43)
So I think I'm seeking more alignment. Like, what's the bigger idea behind the work that I'm doing, through lines between these different successful product lines or coaching containers that I'd created? And I think it was really that. It was like, I I need someone, a group, and I need Macy's insights and help me really leverage what makes me unique and tie together these sort of disparate feeling signals so that they felt cohesive and so I could like really run, you know, with them together.
Dustin Riechmann (05:11)
Or shed some, you know, as necessary. But I feel like I built some really good stuff. I'd done a lot of work to shed some old identities and let go of old businesses, but I still felt like there was more work to do to really refine and kind of amplify the bigger idea behind the work that I'm doing.
Macy Robison (05:28)
I love that you surface that because I I think sometimes when we're trying to build something new or we're we're at the beginning of building something new, we're trying to get a proven idea off the ground. And the thing I love about your story is it's proven model, working great, like no complaints. Everything is really firing in all cylinders. But I think for all of us, and one of the reasons I this podcast is named what it is, is we all I think have this deep human desire to contribute and
Macy Robison (05:57)
And make an impact on others and and you were like you were definitely making an impact, but I think we all also kind of get to the edge of our growth map and it feels like there's something else out there. The thing that I think is really cool, and we can get into this more is that everything that was bigger and more was already present in what you were doing. And it was just, I feel like connecting all of it, which is great. Well, I would love to talk about your primary archetype.
Dustin Riechmann (06:24)
Yeah, let's do it.
Macy Robison (06:24)
you you're an experienced facilitator, which is one of the ex one of the experience led archetypes, really focused on transformation. but I would love to hear what your reaction was when you first saw that, when you first got that result on the assessment.
Dustin Riechmann (06:41)
It felt totally right and also I need a little clarity around it, I think. so experienced facilitator, probably the easiest way to express this is maybe to t tell a story here about like the beginnings of this business and I'll do that. But I'd say the reservation part of it is I've always kind of identified as sort of an introvert and sort of this I'm an engineer by trade, sort of the you know, smart, silent sort of guy.
Macy Robison (06:55)
Perfect.
Dustin Riechmann (07:08)
who can figure things out, very analytical. And so this idea of a experience facilitator to me almost felt like, is that really who I am? Like, am I that outward? Am I gonna be the guy in the center of the room that's like, you know, really drawing attention to myself? And that's what I at first thought like experienced facilitator, almost sounds like a performer in a sense, right? Like an creating an experience for others.
Dustin Riechmann (07:34)
But as we unpacked it and I started to really understand what it meant, and especially as it was sort of paired up with some of my other archetype signals, it totally made sense. And it also it just felt like it gave me a lot of freedom to be like, like my version of what an experienced facilitator is actually super powerful. And I I'm I'm s I remember kind of feeling this, I don't know if it was an epiphany or what you would call it, sort of a lightning bolt, almost like flashing back through my.
Dustin Riechmann (08:03)
All the way to my childhood, but you know, all the way through sort of my professional career, not to make it overly dramatic, and thinking about, wait, like all the breakthroughs I had, all the times that I was given a lot of affirmation, the times I got promoted, it all happened because I was leading groups, right? I was leading small communities. I was quote unquote performing in difficult circumstances and many times in the middle of contentious situations.
Dustin Riechmann (08:31)
So I can add some color to that. I know if it's helpful. I can give like an example sort of from the early days of my engineering and and maybe when I started Seven Figure Leap and some of the early breakthroughs I had that actually defined what the accelerator has become. Is that would that be helpful? Okay. so the underlying story here, I think to give people good context. So I'm an engineer by trade. so I had a 17-year engineering career, I have a master's degree in traffic engineering.
Macy Robison (08:43)
I would love that. That would be perfect.
Dustin Riechmann (09:01)
so you know, again, that was a big part obviously of my professional career. I didn't really feel like I became an entrepreneur or sort of earned the right to call myself an entrepreneur until I was like 40 years old. I'm now 46. So fairly recent, you know, in the in the sc scope of my work. And so when I think about this experience facilitator idea, a lot of people are surprised because
Dustin Riechmann (09:25)
Basically, my story is I was an engineer. I started a side business through marriage ministry work that my wife and I were doing. I fell in love with digital marketing, got online and wrote a book in that space and was like, what I really love is the marketing. And like I really love like sharing these ideas and having an impact with people and messaging and all that went with that. And then I left engineering, became a marketing consultant for a couple of years, basically a small agency. And so I had this like marketing specific.
Dustin Riechmann (09:55)
period. And then one of those clients and I ended up becoming partners in a meat stick company, which, you know, is a whole different ball game. and then COVID happened, and then it forced me to get creative about how we were sharing really the experience behind this brand in a different way. And so I got on a podcast in 2020 and I told that story, and there was a lot of resonance with that, and I was like, there's something here. So I kind of ran with that. Eventually that became
Dustin Riechmann (10:24)
Podcast Profits Accelerator and Seven Figure Leap. So sort of like the full arc, just so people can kind of be like, what is he talking about? So yeah, engineering, marriage, marketing, meat sticks, and masterminds. I guess you know, it's like the all these, all these, all these are parts of my journey. And so you can kind of see why someone like me, and I I bet there's a lot of people listening that relate to that in different ways, you know, multi-passionate, sort of multi-dimensional. a lot of different parts of my life are.
Dustin Riechmann (10:51)
Areas I see opportunities to help others and make money from it. Like, you know, I had that entrepreneurial spirit. But there's like a lot of murkiness in how these things tie together. so when I heard this experience facilitator, one of the things that took me back to immediately was standing in this auditorium when I was like 22, probably 23 years old. I was just, you know, a young engineer, supposed to have my the the president of our company come to the super contentious public hearing.
Dustin Riechmann (11:21)
So they literally had an auditorium because there wasn't enough room in the local, you know, city hall for all these angry residents to come to fight this development project that we were the traffic engineers for, right? And so very, very kind of scary situation. It was an affluent neighborhood, but I literally had a police escort inside in and out of this building. And my boss got deathly sick like the day before. And so it ended up being me by myself in the middle of this crazy situation.
Macy Robison (11:40)
wow.
Dustin Riechmann (11:49)
And you know, it turned out relatively well. but to try to like give people an idea what that's like. So I am s kind of literally sitting in the middle of a room with surrounded by angry people, and there's people getting up giving their two to three minute spiels around why development's evil and how this is gonna ruin their life and all that, which is fine. I respect that. But then you have a mayor, you've got a city council, you've got technical experts from opposition groups, you've got the public works director. So it's just this mix of like
Dustin Riechmann (12:17)
Technical, non technical, angry, supportive. There's a developer there who's, you know, paying us and the Department of Transportation who's sort of overseeing. There's a lot. and I found in that moment, we we joked in the company that I was part of that it was like my baptism by fire. It was like this like, you're gonna sink or swim, kid. Like, you know, go for it. cause we we ain't got no one else to come. And so, you know, I I swam, I guess, you know, and and then that kind of became my
Macy Robison (12:35)
Yep. Good luck.
Dustin Riechmann (12:45)
Like I kind of became the guy who would go in and could just find consensus, find the through line, not not ever make everyone happy, but find a way forward that would like satisfy everyone's needs. And that's to me an experienced facilitator. You know, I was I was c finding a way to lead a group forward, get them, have them feel heard and appreciated.
Dustin Riechmann (13:12)
and pull different ideas together to create something greater for the the the group. And so that was my big sort of inflection point in my engineering career. It happened really early and it led to a lot of cool stuff. I got to be a partner in two different engineering firms and expert witness work. And you know, that was that was fulfilling, but it didn't like scratch the entrepreneurial itch, which is how I got into the other parts of you know the journey that followed with with marketing and eventually what we do now. So
Macy Robison (13:41)
Yeah.
Dustin Riechmann (13:41)
That that that was like literally a flashback to like, there's that time and this towning country hearing. That was I think that was it. I think that was like one of the times I realized like I am a facilitator, you know, like I would have never I've never been trained in that. Like I never would have identified as that. But I'm like, that is a big part of why. that that is consistent with why and how I like to do the work I do now. So like it is a in innate skill set, I think. So
Macy Robison (14:07)
I think so too. And what I hear in that story is exactly what I talk about with this idea of these archetypes. It really is the the component of your resonance that has to do with how you express yourself, the signal that you send out and the way you come up with ideas, the way you express ideas, and the way you guide transformation in others. And this particular archetype is literally about transformation. And just hearing you at twenty-two going in that room, understanding the container you were put in.
Macy Robison (14:34)
Knowing where people are, knowing where you need them to be with all these competing interests and doing the things you need to do, improvising in the way you need to improvise to get them from point A to point B. And now you do that same thing, I feel like, but you are actually creating the conditions for the container instead of getting shoved into a an auditorium of angry people. So what does that look like in terms of the work you do now?
Dustin Riechmann (14:50)
Yes.
Dustin Riechmann (14:56)
Yeah. Yeah. So now I it's a little different temperature. people are wanting, they're choosing to to be there, right? so the conditions are different in the sense that I create the room, I curate who's in the room, you know, the virtual room in this case, and we have a curriculum that we're following in the pro in the program. So I'm talking specifically about this podcast profits accelerator. So that's a ninety day cohort based group coaching program.
Macy Robison (15:02)
Thank goodness. Right.
Dustin Riechmann (15:26)
And so in the fall of 2022, I had this idea that like, hey, group coaching, this there seems to be something here. Like it was appealing to my engineer brain and like this idea of leverage. And it's like, cause what had happened was I did the did the podcast guesting thing for the meat stick company, and it was really working well. And we had some really cool stories come from that. And the people started saying, like, can you help me with that? And so the natural thing to do is I started doing one on one coaching.
Dustin Riechmann (15:55)
It was like the first time I'd ever been paid to quote unquote coach anyone. I didn't really know what that meant. but it was okay. It was like I never really felt like I wouldn't do this for the rest of my life, but this is pretty cool for like six months while I'm still building the other business. So I took it on as a temp sort of a temporary way to share my knowledge with people. But then something shifted and I saw this.
Dustin Riechmann (16:19)
possibility of like, what if I did this in a group? Because after doing like a dozen one-on-one engagements, which I never really felt super jazzed about. Like when I showed up, I was like, this could go really bad. Like I was always like way more nervous in a one-on-one setting. But I was like, if I did this in a group, I really feel like they're these people could help each other as much as I can help them. I can provide some a framework and some constancy to sort of like what the process will be like. It won't feel so like,
Dustin Riechmann (16:46)
pressured in my in my case to like have every single conversation be just me and this one person. So for that reason and the reason of like, plus if 10 people are paying me for the same hour, like that's good leverage, right? Like this is a probably a better business model. And at that point I was like, I really want to get out of the meat stick company. This is not lighting me up anymore. And I was shedding, you know, some other some other consulting work and stuff. So it's kind of my all in moment between summer twenty twenty two and fall.
Macy Robison (16:59)
That's right.
Dustin Riechmann (17:14)
It's a very tumultuous time. It was a very difficult transition. because when I started having these ideas, I'm like, well, I think I could do a group, but I don't what that really means. I don't know how to do that. So I actually paid someone who will remain unnamed $25,000. I joined this quote-unquote mastermind for 10 weeks. And the whole idea was like, I'm gonna show you how to create your own mastermind. And you're gonna make so much money and all this stuff, right? Turned out he was kind of a shyster and very guru-ish.
Dustin Riechmann (17:42)
But I was in this container of a group program and I was immediately like, this is horrible. Like I would never do this to anyone. This is like a horrible experience in general. But there was a few good things. Like I met a couple of really key people. I started to really internalize what I didn't want people to feel like if I was leading one of these groups, right? So it was actually a really good investment, ironically. and I came out of that and I was like, okay, I have way more clarity on how this can work, how what I like, what I don't like.
Macy Robison (18:00)
Right.
Macy Robison (18:04)
Mm-hmm.
Dustin Riechmann (18:11)
And so I did this first group. And to get to the point, I scraped and clawed and reached into every nook and cranny of contacts I had. And I got these founding members, these 10 members, to come be in what we now call the PPA, in the fall of 2022. I was nervous as heck, and I hosted a Zoom call and they all were on there. And by the end of the first Zoom call, I was like, I hit in, and I remember like literally telling my wife, I'm like,
Dustin Riechmann (18:38)
This is it. Like I like this was like so good. I had so much energy. I was like bouncing off the walls. I'm like, I don't know if they learned anything, but man, that was fun. Like they all like like each other and they liked me and they were being complimentary. And like, you know, and I was starting to get these these texts. And at that time we were on Slack, so I was getting Slack messages. Like, that was amazing. That was like magical. And I'm just like, really? Like this is the first time I've ever done this. so that I I became pretty much addicted to that model of like this group coaching thing really.
Macy Robison (18:45)
Yeah.
Dustin Riechmann (19:07)
Is powerful. And and then the last thing I'll say on that is like two cohorts later, a kickoff call similar, but this point I got a little more refined. There was a guy named Eric on that call, Eric Farewell, which I think maybe you may know him. So he had joined my program. I knew him from another community, and he's on the kickoff call and
Macy Robison (19:22)
I do.
Dustin Riechmann (19:28)
Eric's sort of, you know, a smirky kind of guy. And I he's like smirking the whole call and I'm not paying attention to anything else. I'm just like really locked into the call. And when I get off the call, I get like I had like six text messages from Eric. And he's saying, When did you get certified in exchange? And I'm like, I have no idea what you're talking about. Like, I literally I've never heard of that in my life. He's like, you know, John Burgoff. And I'm like, I've heard of John because he was in the same community in front row dads. I'm like, but I've literally never heard of exchange. He's like, no, like you're
Dustin Riechmann (19:56)
running an exchange facilitation, like you're doing the exchange method. Like I just watched you do it. It was you're really good at it. Like he's like, you must be a master facilitator with exchange. I'm like, I promise, I'm not joking. I had no idea what you're talking about. And so I think that was the moment I really started to feel like this isn't natural gifting in some way. and so it was like that was kind of the evolution of like I went to group because it was like the market it made the most sense for my model and for money and for like impact. And and then I was like
Macy Robison (20:00)
wow.
Dustin Riechmann (20:26)
wait, like this is actually pretty joyful. And as I did it a few times, I started to get this really strong feedback that, like, no, you're actually good at this. Like, okay. so anyway, I I know it was long, but hopefully that paints a a good photo or a good image for people of like my evolution into and this was before I had this label that you gave me and this this better understanding of it. But like I I kind of found out naturally through this evolution of experiences that, like, this is actually.
Macy Robison (20:39)
Yeah.
Dustin Riechmann (20:56)
why I'm good at it and then with your help we start to understand why that is and how to expand upon it and all those things. But those are foundational inflection points I'd say in how I've done this professionally. So
Macy Robison (21:07)
The thing I love about that is, you know, there's the taking the assessment and get the initial results back, which has been helpful for folks. But one of the things I do with clients or people who come to one of my workshops is we go into an expanded report and we look at the raw scores behind the scenes. And I think the thing I was reflecting on as I was listening to you tell that story is I contrast helps us see, right? So the one-on-one coaching is part of your top five archetypes, which we can talk about in a second as far as that blend of the top five.
Macy Robison (21:37)
But it definitely isn't the highest. It's right in the middle. It's less than 30%, which is kind of where I try to pay attention to. Like, this is a big part of the strength of the signal. The thing that's unique about I think your archetype results, you know, if someone else is listening and they're an experienced facilitator and they're wondering, like, man, I don't feel that quite as strongly as Dustin just described. Dustin's raw score on the assessment for our for experienced facilitator is 63%.
Macy Robison (22:05)
Which is double where that signal is where I start to pay attention as a diagnostician of this. And I just I mean, it's so cool to to hear you express that and see like I think one of the things that's fun, or it's been fun for me even as I take the assessment. It's like you can look at some of the the things that you've tried, the things that you've tested. I think marketing and putting yourself out in the world sort of feels like throwing spaghetti at the wall half the time. And you can look and see, that spaghetti stuck because it's more in
Dustin Riechmann (22:29)
Yeah.
Macy Robison (22:34)
this expression lane of experience facilitator. And maybe this didn't or it didn't feel as fun because it wasn't aligned with the the way I'm already wired to show up and communicate and come up with ideas. So that to me, I think that that raw score makes a big difference in terms of the felt experience of what you do, which is really cool.
Dustin Riechmann (22:56)
Yeah, well thank you. Yeah. And I, yeah, as I'm sure we'll get into a bit more. We've like doubled down on that. Now that I have an awareness of it, you know, it's like in some ways I feel like I stumbled into it. I'm sure that's not entirely true because there was this sort of inner calling toward, you know, this this model. But yeah, it's like one of those things that the best way I can describe it for me is like I knew it when I saw it. You know, it was like that kind of moment, and I'm like, this feels
Dustin Riechmann (23:24)
very different than like all those one-on-one calls I was doing to your point, or even when I was doing like sort of agency agency type work. I was delivering results and I was felt like I was getting paid well and all that stuff. But it was like it was lacking an edge. It was lacking something that made me feel uniquely qualified for it. Like it didn't feel like my unique ability. And even the very first time I led one of these groups, I'm like, that was different. Like and I and I didn't have the words for it, but I was like, I like that. I wanna I wanna I wanna like commit to this. I want to really try to see if I
Dustin Riechmann (23:53)
can make a whole business out of this. at this point we just started our twenty-second sold-out cohort of that program. And so it's resonating with other people too, which is really great. So
Macy Robison (24:01)
So awesome.
Macy Robison (24:03)
It is. Yeah. And I think the thing that, you know, I've heard you say this before, you are really great at trusting the ability that you have to double click on things and recognize things that matter when they come up. And I think that's important. I think sometimes when you are wired in some of these like experienced facilitator or strategic advisor or something that requires even transformational guide that you get in the room with people to respond to what's happening.
Macy Robison (24:31)
That can feel scary. And we like want to plan in advance and pre-solve problems and and the opportunity there is to let the transformation happen first and then document what happened. And that's kind of what you've been able to do. I wanted to talk for just a second too about the blend of your top five because your second archetype is resonant orator, which is the speaking from stage. It's a little bit more performative. It's giving a presentation, caring about what the words
Macy Robison (24:58)
sound like verbal processing, which there's some verbal processing to obviously experienced facilitators well, because we have to talk to people in order to communicate with them in that environment. But I would love to hear kind of how that shapes things as well. Because I to give you credit, one of the reasons I do these Raw scores now and walk through them in the way that I do is you asking, well, I assume that this is because, you know, I'm a resident orator and that's my second and it's like working genius where there's still some effect on it. And I remember thinking,
Dustin Riechmann (25:07)
Yes.
Macy Robison (25:27)
I'm gonna think about that because I think he's exactly right. So, you know, led me to understand my own work better, which is awesome. But would love to just hear about that piece of it too, because it's not just experienced facilitator, it's all of these other pieces that make up the uniqueness of who you are.
Dustin Riechmann (25:28)
Ha ha ha.
Dustin Riechmann (25:41)
Yeah, it's interesting because very similar to how I described my reaction to the experienced facilitator, the resident orator is kind of the same thing as like, I don't really like speaking in front of groups. You know, like I I feel shy, you know, I feel kind of introverted. I grew up very sort of isolated and didn't really have a lot of social interaction with peers. And so I'm very intimidated by the idea of being in the spotlight and being like the speaker. And to give myself some credit, I am good at it.
Dustin Riechmann (26:11)
You know, so like I've been forced into it many times or I've chosen to do it despite not necessarily being comfortable with it. So, you know, that that moment I talked about in my engineering career is an example of that. but there's, you know, I've been able to speak from some pretty cool stages at this point. I I do feel like often I get up there, I kind of black out and I walk off the stage and people are like, That was great. And I'm like, I hope so. Like I I'm like I'm just completely zoned out. but I do, I do feel like it is a natural
Dustin Riechmann (26:41)
gifting in that I am I'm pretty good at conveying things through conversation and through words. And I think I'm also maybe this is tied to that same strength. I feel like I'm good at discerning like when other people talk especially like hearing what's really going on and like intonation and that emotional I have a probably good EI, you know like emotional intelligence and and so as people as I have that verbal conversation two way or or you know one way
Macy Robison (26:56)
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Macy Robison (27:03)
Mm.
Dustin Riechmann (27:11)
Or in a group setting where it's sort of multi-way, I do feel like I'm pretty good at discerning what's really going on with someone, you know? and I so that there's something about that that verbal expression that is I'm in pretty pretty well in tune to that, I guess you could say. yeah, and I guess the other way this shows up a lot is you know, like in my ACT scores, you know, coming out of high school, like my highest score was actually.
Dustin Riechmann (27:39)
writing. I was actually reading and then writing. And then of course I became an engineer as like math and science for my lowest. But but the reason I bring that up is like I've always sort of been like reinforced that like, you're a good writer. But in as I've been in this sort of thought leadership space and I'm not writing like a a book review or an essay on someone else's work, but it's my original thoughts, I struggle a lot to sit down and just like
Dustin Riechmann (28:07)
write it out. Like I know for some people, like wisdom writers, like that that works. Does not work for me. And I felt weird, guilty, ashamed almost about that. I'm like, I thought I was a good writer, but like I can't get this book out of me. I like I can I cannot make this a priority. And I I think part of this like the combo especially, but resident orator, like I'm writing this book right now through like Whisper Flow, you know, and I and I've also
Dustin Riechmann (28:34)
Come to realize, and you've told me this for probably a year at least, but it's like, you know what? I've actually spoken every word that needs to be into this book. I just need to go like gather them up and organize them because I've done so many of these group coaching experiences and spoken from stages and have lots of voice notes everywhere, and that's how I communicate with clients primarily. So anyway, I I I say all that again for someone listening who's like, man, I I wish I could be a better writer or I wish I could be a better one-on-one coach. Well.
Dustin Riechmann (29:03)
Me too. And but what I found is when I'm instead give myself permission to like just do the modality that feels much more in flow and natural, just works a lot better. And so I saw that as a major relief, I guess. So especially when I saw that top two combo and I asked you, I'm like, this orator thing seems like it's gotta be relevant to the facilitator part of it. and wisdom rider's not even in the top five. And I'm like, no wonder I don't want to sit down and like
Dustin Riechmann (29:30)
journal and write my ideas out, you know, by hand, that like some people do and I admire that, but that's not how my brain processes information well. So
Macy Robison (29:39)
I love that. I I've I think I I've I know I've talked about that on the podcast, but I have that conversation at least a couple of times a week of the way that you create, the modality you create and like you just said, is is the thing that matters most. The end result. It there's there's a million different paths to the end result. If the end result's a book, if the end result's a course, if the end result is, you know, showing up in videos on YouTube, there's there's a million ways to get there. And a lot of people have been really
Macy Robison (30:06)
helpful and loud about sharing their particular way that they do it. And we can learn from that. But man, it just works so much better if you can start with how how you're wired. I wanted to circle back to something else you said a few minutes ago. You said now that you understand this, you've really doubled down on what you're doing. So I'd love to hear more about how this has shifted the decisions you've made in the last year in terms of giving you some more data and to make decisions about how you're wired and what that makes possible.
Dustin Riechmann (30:32)
Yeah, there's a lot there's a lot of applications. maybe to keep it you can we can expand from here. Maybe to keep it simple, we can just talk about like seven figure leap. How do we what do we offer from an offer stack and how do we market? I think those are two areas that have been like super influenced with this recognition in the past year that I should not resist this idea, I should l go full head on into it. Like so a asking a question like
Macy Robison (30:48)
Right.
Dustin Riechmann (31:02)
How can my marketing for this? How can the marketing for this company be a reflection of my strengths as an experienced facilitator and a resident orator? So I changed the format of my own podcast. we have already been doing a bunch of events, live events, as you might imagine, within our community, both for the accelerator program, but then alumni of that program are part of a larger community. We always have workshops and networking events and
Dustin Riechmann (31:30)
You know, experiences within the community and their their their group experiences. I was like, man, we're doing all this stuff. I think part of what's gonna make people really get what we do is just to like let them come experience it. And so we started offering guest passes. So like our clients could bring a friend to one of our workshops, for example, or people that we've had conversations with that weren't quite ready to jump in.
Macy Robison (31:32)
Yeah.
Dustin Riechmann (31:53)
So once you come and experience this next workshop, and then you'll have a better idea of what it's really like inside our community. That's been a really effective marketing strategy for us because it's leaning on these strengths. the the other thing I think it's really helped with is avoiding tr adding complexity, like just having the comfort to keep things simple. when I it was about this time last year, you know, going through your program.
Dustin Riechmann (32:23)
I was really toying with this idea of, hey, we've got this accelerator, the PPA, as we've been calling it, it works, you know, and we're selling like 60 seats a year. we could sell more, but I only have so much bandwidth because I'm doing all the things, right? And taking all the calls. I was like, I wonder what what would this business look like if we just went fully focused on the accelerator as like the thing, and we had this mastermind that had already occurred, like it had already been like organically created.
Dustin Riechmann (32:51)
but it kind of sat next to the PPA in a sense, right? It was like a lot of the same, it was within our community. It was a lot of mostly graduates of the PPA were in the mastermind, but like the mastermind and PPA were kind of serving two different jobs within the company. And I was leading both, but I was like the only common thread really between them. So I really started to think more about what would it look like if all of the offers that we have were in alignment with the way that we've done the PPA, because that's a proven model. And so we
Dustin Riechmann (33:20)
The results of that, just and then I'll I'll stop here. The results of that is the mastermind changed, right? It became the structure changed, how we do calls. It became there was kind of a demand from the members of like, we want to more know more about like what you're doing. Like, like Dustin, you're the leader of this. We love the peer-to-peer interaction, but so we added a what's working now call where I'm actually opening up and talking about a strategy that I'm doing now. we started to make sure that the mastermind members were mentors to the larger community.
Dustin Riechmann (33:50)
So that they were leading experiences for the community, so that to be in the mastermind meant that you were going to use your archetype in its, you know, to its fullest extent. And so we have different kinds of modalities of workshops that are led by mastermind members. So, in other words, the mastermind quit feeling like an add-on to the core thing that we're doing. And it became sort of the leading edge of the thing that we were doing. It's like we put the mastermind out front and the people in the mastermind and the way that we
Dustin Riechmann (34:20)
Did the mastermind started to inform what was happening in the PPA and the community at large. And it was all like in alignment with like, it's good that the way that we do things is through experience. And I'm probably never going to have a clean 12-month calendar of how exactly every mastermind meeting is going to look because part of what I like is the impromptu expression of like, what's working now means like.
Dustin Riechmann (34:46)
Like we just did one today, as Macy knows that as we're recording this, we had a what's working now session. I decided to find and crystallize sort of like what we were working on today, yesterday, and then about 15 minutes before we went live today. And that's a gift. Like I that I like that. Like if I tried to do it six months ago, it wouldn't have had the same effect because it wouldn't have been as experiential and as real and raw, which is what I want the mastermind to feel like. And
Dustin Riechmann (35:14)
So I don't know. There there's a lot in there, but hopefully that just gives people a sense for it's really about alignment. It's like I'm like, okay, these are the giftings. How can the marketing, the offers, we didn't even talk about the team, but like how is the team like how can we align everything to the strengths instead of trying to like be what we're not and copy and paste what other companies do to round out their product portfolio? So we have a very unique product portfolio because it kind of has my soul in it and is in consistent with my strengths. So
Macy Robison (35:41)
Yeah.
Macy Robison (35:44)
I love that. And I I mean, honestly think that's the way it should be, if possible. I was having a conversation with someone earlier this week and I tend to pull in a lot of music analogies as people who listen to the podcast know. And and if you look at someone in music who's a generational artist, they've made the decision at some point not to s not to blend in, not to like change what they're doing to fit whatever's happening. They certainly want to be marketable and
Macy Robison (36:11)
they are and they're thinking about that, but they're really showing up as the full expression of who they are, even as they move to bigger stages and have bigger amplification systems that are supporting their work to get it in front of more people. All of that is just a decision to be made if you can stay in alignment with who you are. And the thing I also wanted to just double click on that decision to align everything with the way you're wired, you know, that's not what the
Macy Robison (36:37)
archetype test necessarily measured, but it is part of the work that we do inside that resonance conservatory around are you walking your talk? Are you showing up as an example of your work? And you've really nailed that for like lack of a more elegant way to say it. It's been really cool to watch that happen and to be a benefit to have that benefit me as well as someone who is in the mastermind and experiencing that. And it's unlocked a lot of
Dustin Riechmann (36:45)
Yeah, yeah.
Macy Robison (37:05)
a lot of things that I've been stuck on and trying to figure out as I've been immersed in the experiences that you've created. So it's just been this really cool virtuous cycle that I'm grateful to to be in with you.
Dustin Riechmann (37:16)
Yeah. Well, I'd love to emphasize that actually, because that I'm glad you brought that up. That that's probably one of the biggest levers I think that you pulled for me was seeing that. Like I was one of these things, like, you know, I'm doing it, but I can't see it. And and the way I would kind of re the way I would restate from my perspective what you just said is when I have felt stuck or plateaued or sort of stale or like
Dustin Riechmann (37:45)
I really want to be the podcast guesting guy. You know, like it when I start to resent a little bit that like this is this is not feeling as creatively stimulating, maybe as it has in the past because it's starting to feel a little more repetitious. What Macy just said, I found to be so true in working with all the people we work with and and being part of Macy's cohort as well. It was true to a person when this came up. It's like if you're lacking, you feel like you're lacking your edge, growth,
Dustin Riechmann (38:15)
You you're just feeling like a little complacent, whatever that is, look real hard to see if you're kind of taking your own medicine, practicing what you preach, doing the thing that you teach. But I think we can easily get out of the rhythm of doing the thing we teach. Because again, it kind of like, yeah, I I teach this all day. I don't really want to like do it. But when you recommit to doing the thing, every time for me and everyone in our mastermind and elsewhere that's taking this advice.
Dustin Riechmann (38:42)
It's like that is the breakthrough, and that is like the new inflection point. And so for me, real specifically, you know, the first half of last year, I wasn't really doing a lot of podcast guesting. You know, I was like, I teach it and I've done it and I have a track record in it, but it's kind of like, you know, yeah, it other things were a priority. And then Macy said that, and I was like, I'm gonna like go on a sprint and I'm gonna like do some podcast guesting. And you know, I had the most success I've ever had as a podcast guest last year. I had some amazing opportunities.
Dustin Riechmann (39:12)
Which you know, in the whole bigger picture here with the relationships that come, it unlocked like a whole new level of self-confidence and growth and impact. And I really stepped into this whole new like leadership role. I it really changed a lot. And I and I'm glad you said that because I I wasn't really reflecting that well on that part of the experience and working with you. Like the definition of the archetypes and going deeper and having alignment, like that's all everything I've already talked about is true. But I think probably the
Dustin Riechmann (39:41)
bigger thing was really the simple as it sounds. It's like, why don't you like practice what you preach and and see what happens. And I did that and recommitted to that. And I think that was probably the biggest inflection point in all the all everything that's happened since and the it's basically been a year, you know, since then. And we've had an amazing year. I've had a personally amazing year. And a lot of it has to do with kind of recommitting to my own craft in a way.
Macy Robison (40:07)
I appreciate you saying that. That's really awesome. It's been fun to just watch it happen and and cheer you on. And I think that that commitment to to walk your talk and be an example of what's possible, the thing that I see it do is it strengthens that signal that you're already sending out and that's part of the archetype and what we measure, which is awesome. Well, I have a couple more questions. One is, you know, I know you've been working on a book. I know you've been doing a lot with thought leadership as you've been
Dustin Riechmann (40:25)
Yes.
Macy Robison (40:36)
dialing in all the different pieces of of how seven figure leap works. But what is it you're working on now? in terms of where things go from here for the next year. So this next year is just as awesome.
Dustin Riechmann (40:47)
Yeah, I'd say two things. one is more on the team side. And we didn't get into all this and we don't need to, but you know, I I was a solopreneur and then I hired my first executive assistant about two years ago. And then I started hiring some contractors and I've found went through some fits and starts with that. I've got a really good team right now. the thing I'm missing is a salesperson, and what I've really done in in in you know, alignment with all the things we've talked about today, Macy, and all the
Dustin Riechmann (41:17)
not only archetype, but like working genius and some of the other assessments that you walked me through, I started to really look at this as an opportunity. So I had a salesperson in place for six months. He was great. he went on to a corporate job that had supported him and helped him get like it was all on good terms. But I was like, you know what? That was good. That's like a seven, you know, but like what would this look like if it was a 10? And when I really looked at this role, I'm like, I feel like I have a lot
Dustin Riechmann (41:42)
That I can give to develop this person into not just like a closer, not just like I take sales calls and people enroll in your program. That's sort of table stakes. But what if this was like a really unique role? Kind of like all the things we've talked about with our offers. What if this is a very relational role? You know, what if this is a steward role? And they took sales calls, but they also were able to have some discernment and like really see people and and sort of have develop relationship capital with people. So anyway, like.
Dustin Riechmann (42:11)
I'm re I'm redefining what a salesperson could mean within a company like ours. And I'm now actively, you know, getting ready to actually post that job like this week. So that that's a really exciting chapter sort of this summer is rounding out the team in this current form with a really unique take on what a salesperson is supposed to be. And I and it feels like a total extension of everything we've talked about. and then the second is the book. It's been a very long time coming. but yeah, the
Dustin Riechmann (42:40)
Hundred thousand dollar podcast guessing is the is the working title of the book. It is, as you might have guessed, all about how to how to do a how to be a profitable podcast guest. It is a very much a strong reflection of the work that we do in our accelerator program. but I what what I've seen it as now is it's obviously more than that. You know, it's really painting the opportunity of what it means to build trust.
Dustin Riechmann (43:05)
In today's environment, economy, noisy AI-driven, you know, algorithm algorithmic world. what does it mean to build trust at scale? And that the combination of those two things comes together in a really cool channel opportunity called podcast guesting. And then, of course, walking people through exactly how to do that. And then it kind of like leads to the bigger picture, which will be the next book. and I know Macy's grinning because
Dustin Riechmann (43:32)
When I entered the her environment last year, I'm like, I got a book, you know, but I don't have the book. And I one of the things I think you really helped me with was like, that's cool. Like just write the first book, right? Like you already have that. You've already said every word. so I'm I'm actually finally doing that. but it feels a lot better because it's in alignment with the bigger picture. And I know there's a more like, you know, I don't know what when I say the book, if there's more that.
Dustin Riechmann (43:59)
legacy book that New York Times sort of worthy. There's a bigger idea book behind it, but this is sort of the handbook that I think needs to precede that. And so that's that's what's on my mind right now is getting that thing wrapped up and out in the world this fall. So
Macy Robison (44:13)
I can't wait. And I the thing that I love is I think one of my biggest aha's about experienced facilitators in general, and if you've listened to me talk about them at all on the podcast, I usually mention Michael Bungay Stanier at some point. 'cause I feel like he is also very much like that same wiring where it's not just standing up and regurgitating the contents of his book when you hear him speak. It is very much
Dustin Riechmann (44:25)
Mm. Yeah.
Macy Robison (44:36)
of facilitation. And you and I have both been in the room and watched him do that. And the thing that was interesting was getting home and reflecting on that and looking at his book, his like runaway bestseller, the coaching habit. And if you look at that book, it is, it is a container for transformation. It gives you these questions that help you transform from being a manager who doesn't have time to coach to being a manager who can show up with a more coach like point of view. And those questions are the structure to get
Dustin Riechmann (44:50)
No.
Macy Robison (45:01)
them there. So I'm excited to see what your version of that experienced facilitator book is because you have said everything and and we're just we're putting it in a different container, which is exciting. Well, I I really appreciate your time today. I wanted to ask you just one last question as we wrap up. What would you tell someone who maybe hasn't taken the assessment yet or just got their results and isn't sure what to do with them.
Dustin Riechmann (45:11)
We are.
Dustin Riechmann (45:23)
We haven't taken the assessment, just take it. I I I've I've been sort of around as this has been developed. And I I'm I'm proud to say that this I was there for this moment in a mastermind room early last year where Macy was actually not there. She had to leave to go speak somewhere. And by the third day of this retreat, she had not once asked anyone to take the assessment, but by the third day, without her in the room, every single person as they were
Dustin Riechmann (45:50)
Talking about their takeaways for the retreat that I was hosting. They're all saying, Well, as an experienced facilitator or as a wisdom writer, like everyone had adopted this language because everyone had sort of organically like whispered to the next person, like, you gotta take this, right? It is so powerful and it's unlocked so much, not just for me, but the people in our community and our mastermind. So if you haven't taken it, I don't know why in the world not. So like take it. and then when you get those results, I've told you about sort of my wrestling match with that, you know, in a sense that.
Dustin Riechmann (46:19)
In in one hand, it felt like it's obviously true. Like it was very affirm affirming and confirming. At the same time, I felt some reservations about being able to go all in with it because I'm like, what does that actually mean? Does that mean I have to like change my personality? Does that mean I now have to be extroverted? And I have and it doesn't, of course, because it's based on me and it's based on my, you know, my what the information that that I shared. And so
Dustin Riechmann (46:46)
I guess step one, take the assessment. And step two, if you have the opportunity and you can, you know, get some guidance from Macy on how to really apply it. If you're at a point where, you know, that makes sense for your business. I just can't r I don't know. I'd not to sound too you know, fanboyish here, but I I couldn't recommend enough. if you get any opportunity to do that, and that could be like get it and then listen to the appropriate episodes of this podcast to unpack it for yourself. But you know, ultimately I think investing some
Macy Robison (47:10)
Yeah.
Dustin Riechmann (47:15)
time and energy and money with Macy and and some of her programs will pay major dividends. I mean, I know it definitely has for me.
Macy Robison (47:23)
Well, thank you. I was going with sit with it and listen to the podcast, but I'll take it. I appreciate the I appreciate the endorsement. Well, I would love for folks if they're interested in looking at the work you do and potentially, you know, going out and becoming a podcast guest, especially if it aligns with, you know, you getting out there and using your speaking voice. where can they find more information about you and connect with you?
Dustin Riechmann (47:26)
Yeah.
Dustin Riechmann (47:43)
Yeah, so our company is Seven Figure Leap. if you're watching a video, you can see it right over my shoulder. So it's the number seven. if you're interested in podcasting, podcast guesting specifically, we do have really cool playbook that we put together for everyone. It's seven figureleap.com slash playbook. so that's gonna take you into a little five-day experience. It's very much like an experiential course is the wrong word, but it's an experiential sort of
Dustin Riechmann (48:12)
guide guidance through the framework that we teach. And it's gonna give you a lot of great insights into your positioning, your messaging, who your ideal client really is, and then how to reach them through this really cool channel called Podcast Guesting. So yeah, so sevenfree leap dot com slash playbook. but otherwise you can get a hold of me on that website as well if you want to follow up and you know compare notes maybe as an experienced facilitator or a resident orator. That's what's cool. It's like we're in a we're in a
Dustin Riechmann (48:40)
Cool club once we're able to have these very useful labels assigned to our our you know, our own resonance and thought leadership.
Macy Robison (48:49)
Well thank you. Appreciate your time.
Dustin Riechmann (48:51)
Yes. Thank you, Macy. Appreciate you.