LEGIT Mindset and Subconscious Breakthroughs for Entrepreneurs with Curtis McCullom

Tim Melanson: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to today’s episode of the Work at Home Rockstar podcast. I’m excited for today’s episode. We’re talking to the CEO and a clinical hypnotherapist for Bespoke Human Potential Coaching. Very excited to hear about this. This is gonna be really cool. What Curtis does is he helps high-achieving CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs identify and release subconscious blind spots that quietly limit performance, income, and clarity.

Super excited to be rocking out today with Curtis McCullom. Hey, Curtis, are you ready to rock?

Curtis McCullom: Hey, Tim, let’s go for it, man. I’m really excited about the fact that, you know, um, you invited me to your show and allowed me to share some things with your audience to make sure that they, on this journey that they’re on, you know. This is a journey, a lifelong journey, and being an entrepreneur, as you well know, it is a journey.

So yeah, I’m, I’m ready to rock with it, man

Tim Melanson: Right on. Well, let’s inspire some people then today, right?

Curtis McCullom: Yeah, let’s go for it. I love it.

Tim Melanson: So we always start off here on a good note, so tell me a story that can inspire us

Curtis McCullom: Well, o- one thing that, that really, what I’ve learned over the years is, Tim, is that, is [00:01:00] that this life is a journey, and if we can ever just harness the power of knowing that that’s what it is. And I think that’s why I created what this framework I call the LEGIT mindset, which is learning, growing, expanding, and transforming.

And so when I, I was asking the universe and like, "Wow, God, what is it that this thing is all about?" Because this is a journey. And the thing that really popped up to me after I read this book called Many Lives, Many Masters by, I think, Dr. Bruce Weiss, i- it was like, it’s all about learning. And if we can ever harness the fact that whatever we’re going through, whatever we’ve been through, it’s just an opportunity for us to learn and to grow and expand and transform

Tim Melanson: Hmm. Yeah, isn’t that interesting that I, I think I heard someone say that the, the, the, the most dangerous words you can say is, "I know."

Curtis McCullom: Became– I like that. I, I might use that. So I, I might s- I, I might, Tim, I might give you, uh, you know, I might say, "Hey, I got this from Tim on, [00:02:00] on, on, on the Rockstar podcast," but then I forget. After a while, I’m gonna forget your name, you know?

Tim Melanson: That’s fine. That’s fine.

Curtis McCullom: And just use it.

Tim Melanson: Yeah, but it is a journey of learning, right? And, uh, yeah, I think you’re right. I think as soon as you get yourself into that perspective instead of, like, just reacting to things that are going on, yeah, I think you can be just be a little bit more proactive in the life that you’re trying to build, right?

Curtis McCullom: Oh, absolutely. That’s the whole idea is that we have to understand if we know that going into it, right? It’s like, so I think Zig Ziglar, we can either react or we can respond. Reaction is more negative. Responding is, look at this, this is it. You have the power to respond. You have the responsibility to actually control your own thoughts and your emotions.

So if we can ever just harness that, says, "Okay, what am I going through?" Get- but this is the thing that people have to understand. It doesn’t mean it’s gonna feel good,

Tim Melanson: Mm-hmm.

Curtis McCullom: it doesn’t mean that it’s not gonna be difficult, but it means that, but I can go through it. That’s the [00:03:00] key

Tim Melanson: Yeah, I agree. And, and you know what, though? Like, we always look back on those situations, right, that were very difficult, and y- y- you look back at them differently than when you were going through them. Sometimes you’re laughing at them. Sometimes, sometimes you’re just, you’re proud of what you were able to accomplish, right?

But a- at the time, it just feels terrible. But, but you know

Curtis McCullom: I mean, and you know, I, um, you know, I tell… One of the things, one of the things I tell my clients all the time is that back in the day when I first got started, uh, motivational speakers used to say, "Hey, um, uh, if it’s, if it’s raining outside, just think sunshine, sunshine." I’m like, "Come on, forget that.

No. If it’s raining outside, it’s raining. Acknowledge the fact that it is raining, and it’s okay." And this is one of my thing. It’s okay not to be okay, but it’s not okay to pretend that you’re okay and you’re not. So if it’s raining, it’s raining. Acknowledge it and says, "Okay, now what do I wanna do about the fact that it is raining?

Do I wanna be whimsical and go out and just have fun in the [00:04:00] rain and just kind of dance with the rain? Or do I need to put on my rain gear, my, my galoshes, my rain cap, and my umbrella ’cause I need to go in the rain? Or do I decide to just stay home and be productive even though it’s raining outside?"

Guess what? I have the power to respond. I don’t have to get all upset about it in the moment. You know, I can just really walk through it with ease.

Tim Melanson: Yeah, right. And, and I mean, I think that the thing is, is that, you know, problems are gonna happen, and the sooner you acknowledge those problems and deal with those problems, the better, because eventually don’t they always just come back and bite us later on anyway? But-

Curtis McCullom: Oh, oh, oh. This is one thing about unlearning is this, is that one thing about how the subconscious mind works is that it loves to learn. That means that if you don’t get the learning from whatever you’re going through, you have a greater propensity to go through it again, and again, and again until you get the learning.

Like, okay, uh, uh, like it’s, you know, that’s, [00:05:00] that’s kind of the, what the thing of insanity. You keep doing the same thing over, thinking you’re gonna get something different. But the subconscious mind is the same way. It wants to give y- i- if, if you’re not … If you’re feeling sad, it’s just kind of communicating with you, "I’m feeling sad right now," which is okay.

So you can ask yourself, "What is it that, what I need right now in order for me to move forward?" And it’ll give you something, and you can let it go. It’s like a feeling is an emotion that wants to communicate with us and leave, but if we suppress it and not get the learning from it, wow, it, it’s gonna come back.

And it c- my head, my stomach, my back, it’s like it’s gonna get your attention some way, form, or fashion

Tim Melanson: Uh, I love the angle that you’re coming at this with, like, the subconscious mind because I, you know, I’ve, I’ve heard this so many times on a spiritual level. Like, people will talk about you keep getting the lessons over and over again, and it’s the universe trying to teach you something. But, but now you’re coming at it from a different perspective of this is just how our brains work, right?

Our brains are trying to learn a lesson, and so we’re just gonna keep on [00:06:00] subconsciously putting us into situations that repeat the lesson over and over again until we get it, right?

Curtis McCullom: Do we get it? And that’s the whole idea. This is the thing, is like people don’t understand how this thing works. Like, okay, 5% of our being is conscious. That’s our, our willpower analysis, you know, s- I wanna set this goal. That’s the, that’s the part that we know, right? We see that. The 95% is our subconscious.

That’s controls all our behavior, and it on- this is the c- crazy thing about it, Tim, is that it’s controlled by the things that we’ve learned in the past. And every time we have a new experience, it goes out to search down in the past of what it, what, what it knows. So it needs a lesson in order for you to let that new lesson kinda take hold.

It needs to, it needs something to replace it. And so mo- most people do, they try to suppress it, they try to push it down, they try to push it out, and the subconscious mind says, "I need a lesson." And, uh, you know, uh, [00:07:00] third, we’re gonna talk about the next one, is like, uh, is like if you don’t get the learning, the subconscious mind will still get your attention one way form or fashion.

Headaches, stomach aches, whatever other type of ache, anxiety. You’re like, "What the heck is going on?" It’s because you, you have not learned yet. You just need to stop and ask yourself the question: what is it I need to learn from this? How can I now grow from this? This is the thing I wanna share with your audience what not to do.

Do not ask yourself why. Because of the fact that your subconscious mind will give you every reason in the book on why you are failing, why you are feeling, why you’re doing what you’re doing, and you don’t need any whys. You need whats, and you need to know how. You need to know, "What do I need to do?" So ask yourself what questions and how questions, and then what it does is searches your subconscious.

It searches the universe to [00:08:00] now give you the things that you need to kinda continue to move forward.

Tim Melanson: I love that. That’s really cool. Yeah, ’cause the why questions are more or less, uh, what, what are they? They’re sort of finding blame, right?

Curtis McCullom: Oh, uh, and it will find it. It’ll find it. It’s, it’s the, "Tim, you remember when you were a little

Tim Melanson: said this. Yeah.

Curtis McCullom: you were on the playground and that kid said you were not … you can’t play a g- you can’t play an instrument. You remember that, right?" And then they’ll keep bringing up those failures. You don’t need any failures.

You just need to know the le- the lessons from it. So basically, no why questions, what questions, and how questions to kind of keep you moving forward, and it’ll come with some great stuff, what I call inspired, inspired actions. It’ll, it’ll, it’ll give you some ins- something inspirational that can kind of move you forward

Tim Melanson: Mm-hmm. Now, so for, uh, some people, I mean, I think a lot of entrepreneurs, uh, especially who already have that sort of mindset, I mean, we’re okay with failure. We’re okay with, with falling. I mean,

Curtis McCullom: Right

Tim Melanson: w- m- maybe it’s because we’ve had lots of them in the past, and we’ve, we’ve made it through, and [00:09:00] now we know that, hey, I’m gonna fall.

I’m gonna get back up, and everything’s gonna be good. But there’s a lot of people that, that don’t, that, that sort of are very, you know, risk-averse we’ll say, right? And they, they don’t wanna get into business because they’re, they’re, they’re afraid of failing. And I, I like to talk about the failures, the big ones that, that, uh, we do because I’m hoping that what’ll happen is that someone will listen to this and go, "You know what? What, what’s, what’s the worst that can happen? If this if this guy can get, can make it, then I can too, so can you tell me something that didn’t work out for you?"

Curtis McCullom: Yes, yes, yes, yes. When I first got started in sales, I was working as a retail manager. I was getting a salary, and I decided to go into sales. I read every book. I listened to every tape. I thought I was ready for this, right? I’m ready to do this. I’m like, you know, Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins went and got all these certifications in sales and stuff.

In my first sales job, I remember so clearly, I failed miserably. I mean, [00:10:00] all the money that I had saved, I lost in like three to four, five months. And like, "What the heck is going on?" Until, until I found a mentor that, that, that kinda helped me and like he, he said, he go- he says, "Hey, Curtis, if you do X, Y, and Z, you’ll make this."

I’m like, "What? You mean to tell me if I can just do this type of activity consistently, I’ma make this?" Story changed, meaning like it went from this utter failure. I remember my mom told me when I first quit my job, she’s like, "What in the world are you doing? Are you crazy?" You know, like, and then after I quit and I lost, I’m like, "Well, maybe I was."

But no, that was the beginning of the journey. I needed to understand that lesson that regardless of what I’m going through, I can make it through. And I, I met my mentor. He taught me how to sell. He, he called me in his office every day. And so I made a goal. When I was going through training and [00:11:00] for this company, I stood up in front of my company, in front of the cohort that I was, that I was, uh, going with and told them I was gonna be the number one person in the, in the company.

I gave them my number one speech, and 18 months later, I was the number one, m- number one person in the company. I broke records. I was the youngest person to ever do it. So things can happen when we go through these setbacks. Utter failures that feel like utter failures, but sometimes my wife call it, sometimes we need setbacks to get set up.

Tim Melanson: Yeah

Curtis McCullom: So that’s, that’s kinda what my, my biggest, I would m- my biggest failure when I first got started in this business

Tim Melanson: Yeah, and I mean, it was fortunate that you were able to not only find a mentor, but also be willing to ask for help, ’cause isn’t that a problem? Don’t… A lot of us don’t ask for help, right?

Curtis McCullom: Ah, ah, yeah, and that’s one of the biggest challenges with entrepreneurs or, or CEOs, and we don’t wanna feel weak.

Tim Melanson: Mm-hmm.

Curtis McCullom: We don’t wanna feel like we’re vulnerable. And even as a professional, I’ve [00:12:00] been doing this now for 40 years, and I still ask for help. When I need help, I ask for help because of the fact that I think we talked about I don’t know it all.

I will never know it all. I will never be– I never operate at 100% because that’s unpossible. So, you know, I tell people, "If we can get you to operating at 80% or more in your business consistently, you’re gonna be a rockstar." You know, think about a baseball player is a rockstar when he’s batting 300 plus.

That means out of 10 times he get at bat, he’s gonna hit the ball only three times. He get paid millions, millions of dollars. So as entrepreneurs, if we could start thinking like that, meaning like, "Yeah, I don’t need to hit 100%. I need to get up consistently hit 80%," and now we’ll b- then we’ll become rockstars

Tim Melanson: Well, and, and I mean, that’s, that’s the issue, right? Because I [00:13:00] mean, if th- that means that 7 out of those 10 times that you’re, that you’re up there, you’re, you’re, you’re failing. And, you know, similarly in business, right? People, people have a hard time with failing 70% of the time. But isn’t that what’s necessary for all of us, really?

Curtis McCullom: Well, basically, one, one of the things I teach people when, especially in sales, is understand your numbers Meaning, like I understand, I understand the numbers. The numbers part of it is … A- and I used to play this game with myself when I was in sales, just purely sales. I was a, I was a certified, certified financial planner and, um, and a, and a chartered financial consultant, and I sold insurance and financial services products.

But w- the thing about in that, you have to understand the game. I th- I call it a game. It’s a game for me. I look at it as a game. And I knew that espe- back in the day, we used to do cold calling, and I knew that if I dialed 25 people, that I was gonna talk to four and I was gonna close two. That’s [00:14:00] my numbers.

I knew that. I, and, and when you know the numbers going in, the beauty part about it, you know what to expect. You know it’s not failure. It’s part of the game. So when I got a no, instead of saying, "Oh, shoot, I got a no," I’m like, "Yes, that’s one out of the way. Give me the next one. Give me the next one. Give me the next one."

‘Cause I knew, I knew my numbers. I understood that it’s just a game. And so when we’re starting as an entrepreneur, when we go into it, when you first start, you won’t know your numbers. You won’t know what it takes. You won’t know all that data. But the more you consistently do it, you’ll find yourself saying, "Okay, now, so it, now I know that if I talking to 10 people, I’m gonna close three."

Two things has to happen in order for you to increase your income. You have to either talk to more people or get better at what you do, and that’s the key to it

Tim Melanson: Yeah, and the, and the, the easiest thing to do is talk to more people, right? Getting better at what you do is gonna take a lot longer, right?

Curtis McCullom: Right. Uh, well, well, you, right, and then over time you get better what you do, [00:15:00] right? Because the more you do it, you say, "Oh, okay, if I said it like this instead of that, I noticed that most people, more people respond to it." Right? And so it’s like, it’s, it, it’s like this balancing act, but understanding when you’re going into this new venture that, you know, I’m gonna have some setbacks, but those setbacks are sometimes the setup.

I understand the fact that everybody’s not gonna like what I’m doing. Everybody’s not gonna like my product or service or what am I doing, and that’s okay. One of my, one of my things is that I’m looking for individuals that are looking for me. That’s one of my affirmations I almost say every day. I’m looking for individuals that are looking for me, and being Curtis, being authentically myself, is more than enough

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Um, now, uh, I mean, that, that’s another comment really because, I mean, if, if you look at it from music, I mean, if you’re a country band and, you know, you’re talking to people that love metal, you’re probably not gonna have a whole lot of success. [00:16:00] So f- so finding the people that are looking for you, h- how do you do that then?

Curtis McCullom: But basically, and that’s where it is- that’s where the magic actually has started to happen. Because when I first started this coaching business that I’m in now, I started about six years ago, didn’t know what the heck I was getting into. I was getting out of financial services. I retired from financial services, now I’m going on a totally different visual.

Now I understand sales, I understand all of this, but this is something totally new. And so I had to start to find my voice, right? And this is the challenge sometimes with finding your voice, is that everybody be, what they call, shitting on you. You should do this, you should do that, you should do this, you should do this, right?

And so you have to figure out what you need to do, what makes it right for you. And what I found for me was it takes a little trial and error. So basically, you try something, oh, that didn’t work, that didn’t feel right, and try something new. But don’t, don’t… Get the baseline first down, right? And, you know, I think in [00:17:00] music you have to get the, the melody down, and then you can always start to riff and start to do other things.

But if you start changing the whole thing all at one time, you’re gonna mess up the song, right? So the thing about it is like, get the baseline down. Um, um, um, um. You got the baseline down, right? Now, you said, "Oh, this is not working. Let me change it just a little." Don’t change everything, just change one part and see will that make a difference.

So the baseline first and then build on it. And then, you know, once you get it, then you can start to riff. You know, you can start to do what you wanna do with it

Tim Melanson: Yeah, well, I mean, that, that, that’s the thing too is if you’re trying to figure out what made the difference, how would you know if you changed everything at once? You have to change one thing and see what makes the difference, right?

Curtis McCullom: Right. Change the one thing. So first of all, get a baseline. Okay, this is what I’m gonna do. This is what feels right for me, for me. Uh, uh, ’cause everybody else gonna have… This is the thing, too, and that’s why my company’s called Bespoke Human Potential [00:18:00] Coaching, because I understand that everyone is different.

Now, I have a framework in which I work from, however, my approach with you might be totally different than my approach with someone else. Why? Because you’re more auditory. You are more musically inclined. So when I’m talking to you, I’m gonna talk with language that’s based on what you already know and understand.

Your world. Your world is music. Why will I talk about, why will I talk about farming with you? You have no idea. Maybe you do, but, but farming is not your thing, but music is. So I can communicate with you because I can talk about music, the rhythm, the baseline, and you be like, "Oh, yeah, this dude got me," because that’s what it’s all about.

So it’s, it’s really those little fine things like that

Tim Melanson: Yeah. And, I mean, that’s really good advice for, for anybody ’cause, I mean, whatever business you’re in, um, finding people that have side hobbies that are similar to yours is a really good place to start because, I mean, if you’re, you know, providing [00:19:00] insurance to people who like farming and you like farming, you know, that, that’s a, that’s a niche, right?

I- it’s, it’s something that you can focus on, right?

Curtis McCullom: Right, that’s something that already… So like, like f- with you doing what you do, like you told me w- before the show is like, "Hey, I’ve been doing this like jam session thing like for years." That’s your thing, right? You know, so, so it’s like why would you do something different? You’re already doing something that you love to do, and now you’re attracting to people…

Now you are attracting people who already love what you do. It’s like, that’s, that’s the thing. That’s the sweet spot, and that’s one of the challenges that most of us have is that we try to sometimes go outside of what we know. If we can just, if we can just figure out what we know, that we’re passionate about.

Now take that and utilize it in our business and market to individuals that, that have the same interest, that have the same mindset, that have the same… So that it’s not very, it’s not as hard. It’s not as difficult[00:20:00]

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Well, well yeah, ’cause, uh, I mean, i- if, if, uh, I, I think a lot of people sort of have this, especially when they’re first getting started, they need clients. So it’s like, "I’m just gonna say yes to everybody," right? But then you realize real quick that, you know, some clients are just a lot easier to work with than other clients because you just get along with them, right?

And

Curtis McCullom: absolutely.

Tim Melanson: why not? Why not focus on them?

Curtis McCullom: yeah, right. Absolutely. Yeah, trust me. I kn- I’ve, as we used to call it in, in insurance, we kissed a lot of frogs, you know? And, and when you first starting, I mean, I’m not saying that that’s not a bad thing, because you don’t even know, sometimes you don’t even know what you don’t know, right?

So sometimes in order to figure out what you know or what you don’t like, you know, you gotta, you got, "Oh, I tasted that. Nah, that doesn’t, nah, that’s not the one. That is not the one." Or, or, or like coming to music and says, okay, somebody’s playing this, this rhythm and you’re like, "Ah, no, that’s not it. That’s, I don’t feel that," right?

[00:21:00] And so sometimes we have to test out things to figure out what it is right for us. And once we figure that out, then we can really run with it. But some- it’s a little trial and error. You have to kind of s- be willing to go through that process, and that’s the key to it, understanding that it is a process.

It’s not, it’s not gonna be instant. And if it is, if it is instant, watch out, because that could be a big set, setback because of the fact that you didn’t go through a process yet. You don’t know what it feels like to have some failures. ‘Cause you said like, "Man, I started this business and I instantly started to make da, da, da, da," and all of a sudden you hit a brick wall, you don’t know what the heck to do.

So sometimes in the beginning it’s really nice to go through some, some little heartbreaks and some setbacks because that builds that, that muscle, that builds that strength

Tim Melanson: Yeah, I don’t think everybody would agree with us on that, but, uh, but yeah, having those initial difficulties growing is better than coming out of the gate [00:22:00] real strong,

Curtis McCullom: uh, man, I’ve I’ve had both. I had both. And, and what I’ve learned is that, is that… ‘Cause I’m still gotta get the le- lessons,

Tim Melanson: Yeah.

Curtis McCullom: and sometimes it’s more difficult because I’ve had so many wins. I don’t know what… I don’t even know how to, how to, how to go back to kind of reprogram it. I don’t know what…

I don’t know how to troubleshoot that. But trust me, either one, just be prepared, right? Just be prepared. It’s a, this is, this is a journey. It’s a lifelong journey, and it’s all about learning, it’s all about growing, expanding, and transforming. So yeah, just understand that, and that’s all

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Now, I’ve been working from home for a long time, and, and I mean, a lot of f- a lot of people learned how to do it in the last five years, right? Uh, b- you know, because of what, what ended up happening. But I’m wondering, like, uh, setting up a good home office and, and having a good space to work, it’s pretty important stuff.

I’m wondering, what’s your approach to it? Like, how does your, how does your office work for you?

Curtis McCullom: Ah, man, my office is everything. I mean, you know, I talk to people all over the [00:23:00] world right from this space right? Most of my coaching, 99% of all of my coaching, one-on-one coaching comes from here. And having a home office that’s right for you is so important. That’s your environment. Basically, think about your environment is this conducive area where now I can flourish.

And so even if it’s just a corner in your house, make it feel like it is an office. Make it feel like you are going somewhere to do something. Because now you’re separate… Because you’re accustomed to doing that, especially if you had a, a job job, you’re accustomed to getting up and going somewhere. Now, and this is one thing that I would suggest that people do, is that don’t put it in an area, a living space.

What I mean, like, if it’s in your bedroom, make one corner of your bedroom your office and not your whole bedroom, because you need some separation. You need a place that you now, "I’m in this area, this is for sleeping. I’m going to this corner, that’s [00:24:00] for working." So now, because one of the things that people fail to do is look at it, at it like it is a job.

And it is, and it is a job, so you have to still have a conducive environment to, to do the work that you need to do. So I always say create this space. This is your space. Knowing when you go into that space, "I’m going to get something done. I’m going to work."

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I, I’ve even heard people say that they’ll put on a shirt and tie even though they’re working from home, right? Why not?

Curtis McCullom: Um, r- right now. A- and that’s one thing about it. Now, what- do that work for everybody? Maybe not, you know? B- but you have to test it out and find out what works for you that’s gonna put you into that mindset of, "Now I’m at work." Because if not, you’ll get… It’ll, it’ll, it’ll get to the point where, you know, sometimes I do work inside in my house.

I have a big kitchen counter. But most of the time, I, I come out to my office, because here’s why: it’s quiet, it’s more conducive for [00:25:00] me, I can just really focus on what I’m doing, and it’s a much better environment to get things done

Tim Melanson: Okay. Are there other people in your house? Like, is it difficult to get them to understand that you’re working and, and, uh, to give you that time?

Curtis McCullom: One, that’s one of the things, you know, I, um, um, m- it’s just me and my wife. Uh, all of my kids are grown, and so it’s just me and my wife here. And so the way my house is designed, I’m fortunate, and the way my house is designed is that I have to go, literally go outside my front door and walk another 10 to 15, 20 feet to this space, right?

This space that you everybody see. So, so basically it’s private. Nobody’s here but me, and that makes it very easy for me to do. Now, back when I was first starting many, many years ago, I just had a corner. I just had one space. But being an- b- being an s- entrepreneur or this, this home business type thing practically all my life, my wife know and understand what it takes for [00:26:00] me to actually succeed, and she’s always giving me that space.

So when other people are in your space, you need to have that conversation with them to let them know when you are working so that they, they understand that, so that they’re not actually impeding your progress. If not, uh, ju- just same thing, though. Think about it. When you go into a office office, people will come to your desk.

People… When I was in the office, I didn’t get much work done because everybody keeps coming into my office, you know, bugging me and, and same thing can happen at home. You gotta set boundaries. That’s the, that’s the word I’m looking for. Have to set really clear boundaries where if you do have kids, if you do have a dog, if you do have a, a wife or a spouse or whatever it is that you have, just make sure you have clear boundaries to let them know, right this time I’m at work

Tim Melanson: Yeah.

Yeah, I agree. And, uh, sometimes it can be difficult to get kids to understand, but, but they learn quickly though. C- i- you know, especially if they’re very young, they, they, they get it, [00:27:00] right? They probably learn better than some adults do, ’cause adults just don’t understand what you’re talking about. What do you mean you’re working from home?

Can’t you help me? Like, know? Right on. So, like, let’s talk a little bit about the tools that you’re using to get success in your business. I mean, hey, there’s tons of them nowadays. Like, how do you, how do you, you know, keep the shiny objects away and just use the things that you need?

Curtis McCullom: And that’s one of the thi- that’s, but that’s one of my weaknesses, uh, Jim, is like I, I, Tim, I, I love, I, I love shiny stuff. You know? So like I was telling you before, you know, like you don’t need, you don’t need… I mean, I was telling you about the camera setup I have right now, right? You know, I have two lights.

I have a light here coming down. As you can see, the background lights. What you see behind me, that is actually my office. That’s not a filtered background. That’s my office. That was a TV. So basically, do you need… For my business, part of it is being an authority, right? And so I want to make people feel when they come into my office like, hey, Curtis [00:28:00] has a feeling, or he has, uh, that his office feels like he knows what he’s talking about, ’cause I do.

But I want them to feel that. So I think whatever, if, if you’re doing something like this, you need something that’s conducive that you don’t want it… I, I’ve seen it where I’m, I’m going into other people’s rooms, and they’re in their bedroom, and the bed is not made up, and there’s clothes all over. That’s not cool.

You wanna make sure that you’re in a conducive area. So for me, I like equipment. I like toys. So y- you talking about me, like I said, I got a, what, a $3,000 camera body, a 2,000, $3,000 lens there, and all this kind of… I love that kind of stuff. I love sound. I love… So, you know, I have Adam Studio. What is that? Yeah, yeah, the, the Adam Auto, uh, audio monitors and a- all this stuff.

So y- do you need that? No. But you need something that it is that’s gonna give you what you want to make sure that you are successful

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And then you can, yeah, I mean, [00:29:00] you can upgrade that stuff as time goes on,

Curtis McCullom: Yes. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Oh, man, if– I didn’t start here now. Trust me, I didn’t start here . I didn’t start here. That’s where I am now. When I started, you know, whatever I could do. I could use the, the, the camera on the computer. That’s all I had. But wherever you are, don’t let that prevent you from starting.

Because at the end of the day, people don’t buy that stuff. They don’t. They don’t care. They don’t ca- They want– Th- they don’t care what type of camera I’m using. Only thing they care about, can I solve a problem? And that’s what people really want. They want somebody that’s authentic. So work on you being the authentic being that you can be.

Work on yourself becoming the best version of yourself, and all the other stuff will come. So you’re talking about what’s really important. What’s really important is your mindset and who you are, being authentic, a being, being an authentic being. That’s what’s the most important thing

Tim Melanson: So this is probably a per- [00:30:00] perfect time to give you the solo then. So tell me what’s exciting in your business

Curtis McCullom: Basically, look guys, this is the deal. You know, I can help you, and the best way to get in touch with me is come and visit my website. It’s at, at Bespoke Human Potential Coaching. That’s one, the long way to get there, or you can come there from curtismccullum.com. Either one. And when you get there, you’re gonna have an opportunity to either do a free 15-minute, uh, uh, clarity call with me, and then I also have a couple of things on that site that kind of…

some tools that you can utilize to see where, where you are on your journey so I can actually help you best. Maybe I can or not. It– This is the thing about it, though. If I can’t help you, I’m gonna let you know, and I’m gonna point you into the right direction. And this is the thing. I don’t work with people who are not ready to work.

You know? So it’s like one of the things I, I tell people all the time, "On a scale from one to 10, how bad you wanna change this?" And you tell me a four, [00:31:00] I’m like, say, "You know what? You’re in a great place right now. I don’t work with fours." The reason I don’t work with fours is because of the fact that I don’t wanna mess my track record up.

When I come– when you come to me, you gotta come ready to get results. And if you’re ready to get results, come and visit me, get the free consultation, and let’s get– let’s do some work together

Tim Melanson: That’s great. Well, and, and that’s it, right? It’s the win-win. If you’re both winning, then

Curtis McCullom: Oh, yeah. I mean, a- and that’s the whole idea is that because it, it’s like change and wanting to have, wanting to become the best, wanting to increase your income, wanting to figure out what is it that’s stopping me, because we have a lot of talented people out there, but then there’s this fear, this something that’s driving their behavior that’s preventing them from actually breaking through.

What I do, I help you figure that out so that you don’t have that problem anymore. And this is the c- crazy thing about it, Tim, is that most of the time it’s not something that you think it is. You know, uh, sometimes people think, "Oh [00:32:00] yeah, I had a bad breakup six months ago, and I’m still suffering from the bad breakup."

Usually that’s– the subconscious mind stores information based on what we call a gestalt, feelings that are similar. So that’s not the root cause. And most coaches and most therapists, they basically go with that one incident. I don’t do that. Basically, I go back to figure out what is the root cause of this feeling or emotion, and let’s pull up the root so that we can get rid of the thing for, for good.

Tim Melanson: Wow. I, I don’t know if, if this is something you would answer, but what, what is the most common issue that you, that you come across?

Curtis McCullom: I’m not good enough. I’m not good enough, I’m not worthy.

Tim Melanson: Yeah

Curtis McCullom: That’s the biggest lies that, that, that, that people have to overcome. I mean, because that’s a big one because of the fact that… A- a- and this is the thing, because subtle things that we experienced when we were, when we were small [00:33:00] children, and, uh, it could have been an offhanded remark that a parent, a sibling, or, you know, y- your brother, sister, nephew, somebody said to you, but you took it as being true,

Tim Melanson: Mm-hmm.

Curtis McCullom: and you continue to replay that.

So when, when, when you, when you come up against things, that’s still feeling I’m not good enough, I’m not worthy, and that kinda drives fear. ‘Cause I’m… The reason I’m fear because I’m feel like I’m not good enough. The reason I’m fearful because I feel like I’m not worthy. So basically those are, to me, that’s the overarching thing of most of the challenges that we have, is that, that, that feeling of, of I’m not good enough

Tim Melanson: Wow. That’s crazy. Uh, you know what’s funny is that, uh, when I was first starting to play music, I learned late. I was 22 when I first started playing guitar. Yep. And, uh, about 24, so two years later, was my first gig. And, uh, if, if you can imagine that, [00:34:00] how good could I have been two years later than that? Not super good.

But I was having fun, and someone asked me to play, and so I went out and played. And then people just kept on hiring me. And I remember thinking, "I’m definitely not good enough." But, but I also remember thinking, "People keep hiring me, so I’m just gonna keep on doing it,"

Curtis McCullom: There you go. I love that. I love

Tim Melanson: you just keep on doing it.

But, but I mean, imagine if, like, uh, I, I imagine there’s a lot of people that have that thought, but they don’t get that, that opportunity of someone saying, "Well, I’m gonna pay you for that," right? And, and if they don’t, well then you’ll never know. Like it’s just luck of the draw for me for that one

Curtis McCullom: Well, it’s not, basically you still had a positive mindset. I mean, you still had something in you. That’s, that’s rare that regardless of what’s coming up. Because think about it like this. W- you, as you well know this being in the business, the best singers are not the m- [00:35:00] s- are not sometime the most successful people in the business.

Tim Melanson: I agree with that.

Curtis McCullom: I’m, I’m right. I mean, the, the best players are not the most successful. But they have a mindset of regardless of what, I’m gonna do this, hell or high water. I’m gonna invest all of my time, energy, and effort, and I see myself as being successful. And the most talented sometimes can’t see themself being successful.

They have that mindset of, "I’m not good enough. I’m not worthy." And it’s, you know, I, I’m looking, I’m like, what? You hear those people on, on, on recordings and stuff like, what the heck? Who’s paying them? How do they get a following? Because

Tim Melanson: I

Curtis McCullom: gonna like you. You just got to put yourself out there, man

Tim Melanson: Yeah, I agree. That’s, uh, that’s amazing. All right, well, so how do we, uh, w- how do we find out more? You s- you mentioned your website earlier. C- tell me again what that was

Curtis McCullom: Basically, it’s at Bespoke Human Potential Coaching,

Tim Melanson: Mm-hmm.

Curtis McCullom: or you can go, uh, [00:36:00] .com and- or you can go to curtismccullum.com. You can also reach me on, on, I’m on all the m- um, major platforms. I’m on LinkedIn, I’m on, um, I have a podcast on Spotify, I have YouTube channel, Curtis McCullom, I have Instagram. So you can reach me on any of those platforms.

I got a lot of content out there that people can kinda listen to, to kinda get to know me a little bit. And, um, yeah, so they can find me out there for sure

Tim Melanson: Right on. Okay, before we go, let’s talk a little bit about music. So tell me, who’s your favorite rock star or band?

Curtis McCullom: Uh, I, I’m a old school boy, and m- my favorite probably, Earth, Wind & Fire would be p- one of my favorite kind of bands, right? I mean, because of the sound and the, the instruments and the… Oh my God, it’s just like, I like musicality, right? I like to hear every sound. And so when I, when I buy, uh, a headsets or something, I wanna hear, [00:37:00] I w- I, I wanna hear the distance between the music.

I wanna hear the symbols make the sounds and all this kind of stuff. So Earth, Wind & Fire was big with music, meaning like they had a band. They had a true band with instruments and stuff, and most of these bands these days don’t do that. Um, as far as the greatest, the best singer, um, I love ballads, and so Luther Vandross was probably one of my favorite, you know, of all time.

I went to, every time he came to Southern California, I went to his concerts. And man, man, you’re talking about, uh, music too because he had, I mean, the, the instruments and the things that he had. Live music was something powerful and the separation of the sounds and stuff. So that would be my, my two

Tim Melanson: Yeah, isn’t that amazing? So w- what do you like better, live or on, on your headphones?

Curtis McCullom: Hmm, that’s a good one. If it’s, if, if it’s, if it’s a good live show, because I did go to a live, I think, um, I went to a live show and I was in a, the, the, the, the [00:38:00] vibe wasn’t there because the crowd wasn’t there. So you know, it’s like even on, he was, it was, uh, John, John Legend. I went to a John Legend concert when he came to Ca- when he came to California, and he sang great and everything was good, but the people around me was like, "Ah."

They were just there. They were not true fans, and so you really couldn’t really get into it. So it’s a cardi, man. I mean, I like to crank up, crank up the music and just like listen to it with the headset or live, either one. I mean, I, I like both, but if it’s, like I said, when I went to Luther Vandross concert it was great.

Uh, and so yeah, I like both though

Tim Melanson: Amazing. Thank you so much, Curtis. This has been a lot of fun

Curtis McCullom: Yeah. Yeah, man, I, I, I appreciate the opportunity to come to speak to your audience. And if they need some help and support, hey, I’m here for them. Uh, and if I, if I don’t have the answer, I’ll definitely point you into the right direction. Um, that’s what it’s all about, ’cause I’m looking for… Like I told you before, I’m looking for people who are [00:39:00] looking for me.

Tim Melanson: We’re all looking

Curtis McCullom: and being authentic, right, being authentically me is more than enough. And if I’m not your guy, that’s okay. I want you to help- I wanna help you find your guy or your gal, whoever, who you ever need to actually help you move forward

Tim Melanson: Awesome. Well, thank you again. This has been a lot of fun. And to the listeners, make sure you go to workathomerockstar.com for more information. And we’ll see you next time on the Work at Home Rockstar podcast