I Cold Pitched Target and This Is What Happened - Episode 126
In today's episode, I talk with the amazing Marty McDonald about how she went from working a regular job to building her own company and getting her brand into Target stores. Marty shares how she didn’t have all the answers but took bold steps, believed in herself, and kept going even when things got hard. We talk about what financial freedom really means, how to take smart risks, and why betting on yourself is always worth it.
About our guest:
Marty McDonald, founder of the verified platform Boss Women Media and creator of the Elle Olivia brand, successfully featured in Target stores.
Marty is a pitch expert, business strategist, and trailblazing entrepreneur on a mission to help women and ambitious professionals build communities, bet on themselves, and achieve the extraordinary. Her brand, Boss Women Media, has cultivated a thriving network of women ready to level up in life and business, and she’s gearing up for the release of her highly anticipated book.
With a proven track record of securing game-changing opportunities, including getting her own brand inside Target, Marty teaches people how to craft compelling narratives, articulate their value, and confidently land deals that transform their futures. She’s been featured on Side Hustle Pro and CBS Morning News and is renowned for creating platforms and communities that inspire and empower.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema: [00:00:00] over. Marty McDonald, founder of the Verified Platform, blossom Women Media and creator of the Ellie Olivia brand, successfully featured in target stories.
Marty is a pitch expert, business strategist and trailblazing entrepreneur on a mission to help women and ambitious professionals. Build communities bet on themselves and achieve the extraordinary. Her brand, Voss Women Media has cultivated a thriving network of women ready to level up in life and business, and she's gearing up for the release of her highly anticipated book with a proven track record of securing game changing opportunities, including getting her own brand inside a target. Marty's teaches people how to craft compelling narratives.
Articulate their values and confidently land deals that transform their futures. She's been featured on Side Hustle Pro and CBS Morning News, and is renowned for creating platforms and [00:01:00] communities that inspire and empower.
What's up? My financially intentional people? I'm super honored to be joined by Marty McDonald. She is an amazing mom, entrepreneur, all things super fabulous. What's up Marty?
Marty McDonald: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate you.
Naseema: Of course, of course. And today we're just gonna talk about living in your power, being audacious and all of those things. So let's talk about your origin story, Marty. How did this all start? Did you know you want to be an entrepreneur, you know, you want to rock with your baby and do all those fabulous things?
Where'd all start?
Marty McDonald: you know, it's so interesting because I think I saw the tale of two worlds. I saw the tale of. A parent in a household that struggled [00:02:00] financially her entire life could never make ends meet. And I just had to dig deep to figure out how not to have that.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: on the flip side, I saw another parent. hustled hard and had a stable first job, and then had a side hustle. Wasn't defined that way and wasn't afraid to do the hard work. So I saw both for a very long period of time. what the outcome of both could look like and for me. was much more around, how do I just make it out of here? How do I get out of here?
So when I graduated college, the North Star was just go get you a corporate job, right?
Naseema: [00:03:00] Yeah. Yeah.
Marty McDonald: figure it out. had never seen anyone sitting in corporate America, though. I had never seen what the blueprint of success looked like anyone who came from where I came from. And so when I was in that space I was an imposter. I know a lot of folks be like, you know, I don't really believe in being an imposter. I'm actually gonna have to double down on saying that. That probably is a myth.
Naseema: Mm.
Marty McDonald: think we can all relate to being an imposter. I don't care what color you are, what your background is. If you go into an environment, if you wealthy and you go to the hood, you feel out place. If in the same way, vice versa, right? And so. That for me was what I thought could give me the pathway to financial freedom. 'cause that's what I was exploring.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: That's what I wanted to obtain, financial freedom, and it wasn't fulfilling. And I do [00:04:00] believe that there's an intersection to financial freedom and fulfillment that can happen. And so that didn't exist there. So I said, I. I want to align myself with purpose and I wanna align myself in my values. So let me make an exit from corporate America. Let me go bet on myself and build out this media company. I was focused on creating experiences for women to connect and programming that didn't feel stuffy and. Really being able to allow people to exist where they were and didn't have to posture and they could see what's possible for themselves up ahead through the stories of women who may be like them that have accomplished it. And so I had no idea how to do it. Again, I [00:05:00] had no blueprint. I literally. Took step by step day by day.
I mean here we are seven years later I've really been able to create something sustainable with Boss Women Media, something that I'm really proud of, and it really was, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I, I was sitting in corporate America, didn't really know what I was doing. So I'm gonna go ahead and take the road less traveled do it for me, do it for my family, and build something sustainable that, that the ecosystem of the communities that I'm intersecting with can utilize and benefit from.
And that's how. My first business started. It was from the place of what I didn't see exists and creating something that could be sustainable, that could stand the test of time, and that people could lean [00:06:00] from. company, l Olivia, which is a children's lifestyle brand toddlers to see themselves in everyday moments from me being. Curious and seeking more from that curiosity and not being afraid to try uncharted territory. And me walking into target one day as a mom who was looking for something cute to put on her daughter, and I wanted something that showcased. Representation and it didn't exist on the floor there. And I left Target that day saying, man, there are some gaps here. And then really being intentional by believing that I could solve those gaps. And going out and creating a children's brand with no manufacturing experience [00:07:00] no connections in an apparel space, and then sending a cool pitch email to Target saying, Hey, there's some gaps on y'all's floor. L.
Olivia is the solver for those gaps for moms who are seeking to shop with intentionality that you guys should consider, and them awarding us over 400 targets to launch our brand into.
Naseema: Wow. Okay. So you had said a whole mouthful and that is extraordinary, and I love the betting on yourself, and I agree with the doubling down on the imposter syndrome because they say there's no imposter syndrome, but then. They say fake it till you make it. So which one is it? So I get that, but I'm curious to know what did financial freedom mean to you when you were in that corporate space, and did that definition change as you grew into your entrepreneurial self.
Marty McDonald: You know, for me, financial freedom wasn't just a finish [00:08:00] line, right? It was a lifestyle that would be rooted in discipline, belief, and boldness. Right? I think that sometimes we believe that when I get financial freedom, it all ends. In actuality, you've missed the mark
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: because you've missed the journey and the experience to financial freedom.
It's not a destination. It doesn't have a finish line to it, right? It's the way that you show up intentionally and live life. I think that I. Numbers matter so much, and numbers can either create a scarcity mindset or numbers can create a mindset for abundance, right? so me walking away from something that in a lot of ways was security, right? Like it was [00:09:00] security, but was it really Right? It was stability, but was it really right, because someone could come in and say, Hey, I don't want you here anymore, and then it all goes away, and then I'm starting
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: off of a rented title that someone gave me. So it was more so, all right, what if you go create and establish your own? mean, Google, Marty, right? Like Forbes gonna come up, ain't gonna come up. Wall Street gonna come up, right? My receipts are there. The impact that I've made is there, right? And it's never been about me. But if I've stayed in corporate, I probably wouldn't even be able to say, Google me. The companies I
Naseema: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: and so for me it was if I walk away from the comfort. It will allow me to risk the [00:10:00] reward. And risking the reward was a mindset shift that I had to make. And knowing that financial freedom isn't the finish line, it's just the beginning of me experiencing life
Naseema: Hmm.
Marty McDonald: that it can bring me and my family.
Naseema: I love that. And I don't think that people understand that you're taking risk in everything that you do. You're taking a risk and going to that job. But what, like all too often I. Especially now we hear just quit your job, be an entrepreneur, and all of those kind of things. I wanna get real about what it means to be an entrepreneur and how much effort and work it actually takes.
Like you didn't just like all of a sudden blow up and be able to pitch Target and do all of these things like you were putting in work. What did that look like?
Marty McDonald: Man, you know, [00:11:00] when they say you are overnight success of 10 years. That is real.
Naseema: Yes.
Marty McDonald: It's
Naseema: Yes.
Marty McDonald: because I, I think that in so many ways, if I could even break it down, I. takes 10 years to make the connections. It takes 10 years to walk into the room without having to introduce yourself.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: There are folks who've still been grinding and people still don't know their story and they are successful, right?
Like it takes time. That was the part that was the resistance for me. I didn't want it to take the time. I think so many of us, we don't want it to take the time. We just wanna win. But nobody really cares about the story that just won. actually want to know the story of the woman or the man dug deep, fought hard, built with lack.
And then I get to see myself through that story. [00:12:00] 'cause I get to see if they did. I can also, so I think that. your job going straight. As an entrepreneur, there are so many myths that exist in success happening. First of all, do you have a full vision of what that looks like? Do you have a vision for what you want out of life, in the life that you wanna create for you and your family? Number two. What's at stake if you do do that? Right. I don't think entrepreneurship is for everyone from the perspective of everyone can't carry and cast the vision so well. Some people are foot soldiers next to the person that can, they have just as much impact that way. Right? So don't believe the Instagram hype of. Everybody who quit [00:13:00] is winning it takes a long time to win. The difference between the person that's winning today and the person who wants to win is the amount of time that they stuck through to fight to get to the whim. I think that we don't talk about like the realness of what that really means, the sacrifices that you have to make. I first started Boss, there was no social life. I. There was, there were very few friends, 'cause a lot of friends didn't understand what I wanted to create, so I had to push folks aside. I had to put my goggles on, I had to turn the noise off and I had to put my head down and do the work. I had to make all of the audacious ass whether I look crazy, stupid, whatever. I had to let the world know that [00:14:00] it was me against me, and that's what I was fighting for. Right. I had to put myself outside of the places and spaces that felt comfortable for me. Right. And I think that you have to be in a season of life that prepares you for that. When I started my journey, I, me and my husband had been married for five years and we did not have any children, right? We had very little. Financial risk at the time. We could be really nimble. We could, you know, put it all on the line. We could sacrifice seeing each other and spending the time with each other to just figure it out. And I think a lot of folks are afraid to do that type of work, to get to the other side. To be able to position [00:15:00] themselves for what it is that they really want and for the person who is willing to do that work. The biggest thing is knowing that. You have to dig deep. Even when you hear the nose, you have to keep going even when it's not lining up. You have to keep asking even when you hear no responses, right?
Like that is, I wanna say the blueprint. The blueprint is continuing to push forward. That's it. Nobody can tell you the steps to take for you to win. To win is deciding every single day that I'm gonna get up no matter what, and I'm gonna start over and I'm gonna have the mindset to say, I believe big for this.
Naseema: I love that, but financially, when you walked away from your job, did you [00:16:00] have a lot of assets saved?
Marty McDonald: No, I had a 401k. My 401k say it might have had 40, 50,000 bucks in it. And I'm gonna say bucks because that stuff go by fast, right? And I took it out. I took it out for my first conference. My first conference I had Kane, Kayla Walker, Marsha Barnes,
Naseema: Okay.
Marty McDonald: All come, I have rented the basement of an apartment complex. I filled the space with 250 people. I literally, put all of my investment in what it looked like and the speakers. I hired local pr. That was my first big event and I spent my 401k money on that.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: And I said, I'm [00:17:00] gonna put it on the line. And it wasn't. Here's the other thing that's so interesting about the process of building. It didn't. Blow up right afterwards.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: Sometimes we believe the myth that once we do this thing, this gonna be the thing, it's gonna blow us up. And sometimes it does work that way, but oftentimes it does not. Oftentimes it's you taking that first step then building on that first step to the next step, then to the next step, then to the next step that you then begin to see the fruits of your labor. And I think that that also is something that we have to talk about more because it's like you look at someone and they might've went viral or, but you don't know all the steps that they took prior to that. They might be 20 steps in
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: in their moment happened where it looked like [00:18:00] boom. It just all came together. That first event and that first investment I made was, that was January, 2018. I didn't get my first six figure deal until January, 2020, so that first investment that I made took two years to earn its fullest potential. That then got me visibility into bigger and better audiences and opportunities, and I think that. That's the part where, you know, it's like you just gotta keep going, right? Like it ain't it, it's, it's not going to do this one thing. but it will magnify itself over time.
Naseema: And I wanted to know what was that initial vision that you have? Because I know that oftentimes I have a vision of what I [00:19:00] want, something to look like. But other opportunities and things come up that I couldn't have even imagined that happened and I'm exposed to. So I wanna know what was that initial vision?
Did that eventually play out? Or did it expe exceed your expectations?
Marty McDonald: In some ways it exceeded my expectations. other ways it's played out and in some ways I haven't even hit the vision yet.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: And so. The vision that I saw and I felt and I could taste, was to create a space where women didn't have to posture. They didn't have to wear black, blue, gray to come and network.
And I had just come from this such structured corporate space where that was what success looked like. I wanted people to feel. Confident and comfortable. I wanted them to be expressive in themselves and I wanted them to connect in a way that [00:20:00] showcases humanity, right? That showcase opportunity and possibility to one another. And in a lot of ways that happens. Through every program that I do, right? In some ways I still see this vision of a stadium field, and I haven't hit that mark just yet. I can see this stadium filled with women and I'm standing in the middle and thousands of women, and then in other ways it's exceeded. Remember when we did our. Black girl Magic second year summit, and we ended up having to pivot and do it digitally. I thought if I could just have 5,000 women registered, this will be a success and we ended up having 22,000
Naseema: Wow.
Marty McDonald: register and I, I was blown [00:21:00] away. have done that on my own. I don't even know. I don't even know where those 22,000 women came from. Right. So
Naseema: Yeah.
Marty McDonald: alone, the journey, but you're just continuing to go and I think that that's also kind of key ingredient is surrendering to it. Right? Because you can't envision. All that it can be if you don't surrender to something that's higher than you, so that the miraculous works can be performed.
Naseema: I love that. What is one unexpected thing that came out of that first event that some people might have been like, oh, it wasn't successful. Oh, I'm gonna give up. But you kept on going and years later, things came to fruition. But what's one expected thing that came out of that that you could have never imagined?
Marty McDonald: I think the one thing that came out of it [00:22:00] the accomplishment in myself that I actually pulled it off. I was so incredibly proud of, of me for not giving up. 'cause I on my shoulder, I had my boss telling me, what are you gonna go do? We're gonna leave to go do what? Okay. Good luck. could hear doubt
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: that they were delivering of what I could deliver. And so it was for me, man, it was like I booked my first local news for it.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: Stacked a room full of 250 people in a city that I'm not from, right? That last names mean a lot in this city, right? I showed up and I delivered something special to these women. I saw the [00:23:00] connections being made. I saw, the spark of curiosity from them. and I did it. I was so proud of me in that moment, and that was probably the icing on the cake for me. It was proven to myself, you can do hard things you don't have to know everybody, that you resources can still be limited, that you just have to keep swimming right, and the alignment will happen.
Naseema: I love that. I love that it's that belief that drives you and keeps you going. And I think a lot of people like. Think it's all the skills, it's the people, it's all of those things. But if you don't have any belief in yourself, your foundation is rocked. So I love that. But what gave you the audacity to think that you can go into a target and cold pitch them on this mommy daughter [00:24:00] brand?
Who does that?
Marty McDonald: You know, it was like, why not? Right? Like, like my perspective is I add value where I go
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: my value me clearly is never about me. I. It's always in which I can help shift what organizations, what companies, what people care about, and that is moving the bottom line.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: so I could deliver something to their core, a core audience that they needed to show up for them in a way that would make them react and help their revenue be built out.
Naseema: Mm.
Marty McDonald: And I had a vision for it, so why not me? Why if I clearly had a vision, I had a product that moms would react [00:25:00] from in the marketplace. needed to lean into what I could deliver to them. I think that was the perspective. And that's always the perspective, right? I am showing up and adding significant value to my partners.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: not me?
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: that's the question you ask yourself in every moment when you're thinking about sending the pitch, asking for the connect, right? Whatever it is, it's am I adding value to them? And if the answer is ever no, then you pull back. But if you can list more than three ways of why you lean in.
Naseema: I love that. And I think the way that you approach life is a way that I strive to teach my kids to approach life, look at problems to solve, and you'll never run outta [00:26:00] ways to make money. But not only that, it wasn't that you were just solving a problem. It was that you were saying. Not only am I solving a problem that these people are having in the marketplace, but then I'm helping you because I know this is gonna fly off the shelf.
I know it's going to increase your bottom line. So it's a win-win. Yeah.
Marty McDonald: And I think you're, you're spot on. It's the same thing in our house. If I teach my children two things to set them up in this world, it's how to be incredible decision makers,
Naseema: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: If they go out here in this world and they not indecisive and they're clear about who they are and they can make decisions that propel them forward and they're kind, they're going to be okay.
Naseema: Yep. Yep. I love that. I love that. And I also love that you're modeling these successes for your kids. They see the work, they see all these things, but they also get to see. [00:27:00] A mom that's confident, successful in doing amazing things. So I'm always an advocate of more is caught than taught. And that modeling is everything for me.
Now let's shift gears and talk about this amazing book that you wrote. Where did it come from and who was the target audience?
Marty McDonald: Listen. First of all, let me just show you the cover. I'm
Naseema: Oh, that's
Marty McDonald: incredibly proud of
Naseema: so cute.
Marty McDonald: It's audacious, but audacious is like upside down. The artwork is just like so beautiful to me because it feels like this is my journey up.
Naseema: Yes.
Marty McDonald: I mean, the journey is like, I don't know where I'm going next. Okay. I am going up, down, all around. but the book really is a framework help understand what's possible for their life. Whether you're sitting in corporate America or you're an [00:28:00] entrepreneur, the book is a guide on how do I have a vision for myself? What is the mindset shifts that I need to make to help me see what's possible?
Right? How do I use my network to work for me? Who are the assigned people in my life and in my sphere today? Right? And how do I story tell in a manner in which people see themselves and not me? Right? And I believe my superpower is pitching 1000%. So I share a ton of. on how you story tell and how do you position and how do you use. And data for like your life, right? And then the, the book ends itself in such a unique and unexpected [00:29:00] way. I talk about, you know, we can have a vision, we can have our morning routines, we can, you know, and have best pitch in the world. But if you don't know how to surrender to it all,
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: you don't know how to understand that. Once you've done all that, you can do that there is something bigger and more powerful than you that's gonna take you along your journey. Then you've missed out on this whole thing. And I believe that the last 18 months of my life have been about surrendering. have no control about the government. I have no control about these companies.
I have no control about. The, the kid in the classroom that might be biting? I have no, I have no control. What happens when you've built everything and you have no control over it? Then you stand still and you believe [00:30:00] there's something higher than you that's gonna take you on the pathway in which you are destined to be on. And I cannot wait for folks to experience this book is a whole bunch of stories about how I pitched a target, how I was on the bathroom floor crying after I pitched to Target and I had to deliver 130. Thousand pieces and where I was gonna get this money from, and assign people who saw me before I saw myself and how I still always knew the vision was so big and how I never let it dilute it self down, even when I didn't have the funding and I didn't have the resources.
And I didn't have the connections. This book. for anyone who wants more out of life. And I showcase that because I'm a girl from Tennessee who did not have much, but I kept believing in the more that was out there [00:31:00] and that more eventually showed itself to me. Be.
Naseema: In this moment of being still and believing and surrendering, what do you feel is next for you?
Marty McDonald: Woo. I believe that I am still on this pathway of financial freedom. I have finally understood what that means from the perspective of it is not a finish line. And for me, I want a full life.
Naseema: Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: And what that means is being present in the car with my kids giggling in the background, and me being able to encounter that giggle, that means that my kids, watching me bet on myself. And they get to see what's possible through me, and that my pathway of what's possible gives resources for [00:32:00] them on their pathway. It means that I am the lender and not the borrower. It means that I can live and stand in. Exceedingly abundantly above all right. That's what this next phase is. It's not a pathway to checking in the box to any specific theme because whatever it is that go and do and set out to do. It's encompassed in my, the full breadth of my everyday life existence. And I'm not chasing anything anymore to prove to anybody that look at me, right. That I am so content with just, and I think experience teaches you that. And I [00:33:00] think. The best thing that anybody can do is be present to understand what that really even means. And I just wanna be so present in my existence today, and I don't want to be worried about tomorrow, and I don't want to be filled with the past and I just wanna be settled in. This is today. This is today. Today I get to make an impact for one person, and that's enough.
Naseema: I love that. And that being present is true wealth to me. Like the ability to just sit there and listen to my daughter back there jamming and watch her jam into her little playlist in the car and just being present in that moment means everything. And I love that. You understand that financial freedom is a marathon and there's levels.
Right now you're at that level where you don't have to do the things, just Google you, [00:34:00] you have done the things, and then you can sit in those accomplishments. And it's, lovely and I love that for you. I love that for everybody else that's learning that they can do this too. Let everyone know where they can get your book and where they can learn more about you.
Marty McDonald: Yeah. So the book is for pre-order right now. Pre-orders are so
Naseema: Important. Mm-hmm.
Marty McDonald: tells us, okay, Hey retailer, you need to buy this amount of book because this book is about to be popping and so you can buy it at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Walmart. Target for pre-order right now. The book comes out officially October the 14th, and you can follow me on Instagram, Marty t McDonald.
Or you can head over to my website to pre-order the book, swimming.org/audacious, or you just type in Audacious on Amazon. Target, [00:35:00] Walmart, Barnes and Noble, audacious by Marty McDonald, and it'll come right up.
Naseema: Well, Marty has been a pure pleasure. I'm definitely heading over to pre-order that book and I encourage everybody else to do the same. Thank you so much for spending time with me. I feel privileged to be present in this moment with you and in this stage of life, and looking forward to reading your book.
Marty McDonald: Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
Naseema: Of course.
Hey there I’m Naseema
My dream is for everyone to know that financial independence is attainable with a little intentionality. Learn how I can help you finally break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.
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