Adam Rother: Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome back to Brainwash of Rogue City. ⁓ Today's guest is a really, really interesting person. I just met her recently, actually, and I'm really pumped to have her here. It's going to be really interesting conversation. And yeah, just welcome Sarah Thompson.
Sarah Thompson: Thanks Adam, I'm really excited to be here. I'm excited to chat with you today.
Adam Rother: Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. All right. So ⁓ we had a little conversation before we jump into this interview. So I would love to continue the conversation with your story and your journey. How did you get into entrepreneurship? It's really interesting that you just literally jump into entrepreneurship completely from... ⁓ It wasn't even... like meant to work or something like that work out for you, right? So it's really interesting that you just like literally get into it by kind of like accident. ⁓ tell us a little bit of like, what was the first thing that you actually started? And like, what was those limiting beliefs if you even had any that work like they've been ⁓ going through your head and you had to deal with them ⁓ from the past programming from our school and the system and all of that. ⁓ And I don't know how you said that it started in COVID, but during that time you probably had your family already, right? So how is this whole thing with your, even with your family and everything's working for you and how you, what are you planning even for your? for your future and so on.
Sarah Thompson: Right, I, yeah, like I told you, I discovered online marketing because of COVID, because my hours were, I worked in healthcare and my hours were cut. And so I downloaded TikTok, I discovered making money online. That's when I discovered passive income. And I was 35 years old and I just remember discovering passive income and I... I felt like I had been lied to my whole life because the only way I had ever been taught to make money was to work more hours, you know, or get a better degree or work harder. And I had worked my whole life. I mean, my parents were loving and hardworking. I had excellent work ethic. You know, I showed up 15 minutes early to work. I gave it my best. I had excellent performance reviews at work.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yup.
Sarah Thompson: I got like a 15 cent raise in a pizza party. You know, that did not change my life. And so when I discovered, I mean it did, I'm not trying to sound awful. And I do think that there is value in hard work. I'm not diminishing that at all. But when I discovered passive income, I really, there was a little bit of like, not anger because I didn't know who to be mad at, but I was like, why didn't I know about this? this, because at first,
Adam Rother: Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: Even when I first discovered affiliate marketing, I was like, okay, I need to be like, I need to really take a lot of training and time to discover how to make passive income. But then I found out that like, no, you really don't. Like you can really be uneducated about it and start making passive income. It should not be hidden at all. And it's really not hidden.
Adam Rother: really you know yeah sorry to stop you but that's really interesting literally like because everything what we are taught in a school is you have to have a degree you have to have a something diploma or whatever to actually be able to do something but in on business side probably not in every area I would say because still like when you're coming to different areas of the business you has to get you know not even like education like educate being educated but more like having a practice real world practice, right? But that's what is not handed to us, ⁓ especially in a school, right? We have to like literally do it ourselves because like when we finish our schools, like we are completely like, this is the world, just go and figure it out. And nobody prepare anything for you basically.
Sarah Thompson: yeah, when I was in high school, which I was a good student, I was smart and I, I mean, I made good grades. I'm proud of that. But it was pretty much when I was in high school, if you didn't go to college, you were gonna fail. Like you might as well go get a job at a gas station. I mean, you were not gonna succeed unless you had a degree, you know, and even like standardized testing, you know, the ACT, you had to have this score. And now looking back, I'm like, that doesn't mean anything to me now. ⁓
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: literally that has no value. It just, and I think again, like I have a 16 year old daughter and she's very smart and she's very motivated. I'm so happy for her. And while I tell her like college is a good option and there is a time and a place for college, know, obviously, but there's also no rush. Like you can learn a lot from just going out into the real world and discovering what you're passionate about.
Adam Rother: Yeah. Mm night.
Sarah Thompson: Who do you want to be? You know, what do you want to help people with? I just, think it's very limiting. And I also think, I mean, I'm just going to say it. feel like college is largely a scam. I feel like it is, I feel like it's a huge moneymaker and, they sell us, they do, they sell us. They sell you a filling. They sell you a community when really it's just overpriced, outdated education.
Adam Rother: Yeah. Yeah, they do. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I listen. Listen, recently, I think Joe Rogan podcast with I'm not sure who was there with but anyway, there was a, it was a conversation that basically they didn't know how to screw up the older generation anymore. So they, they basically created the, ⁓ you know, college student loans and so on. And now, how massive is the student loan right now? I don't even know. ⁓ But yeah, is really... ⁓ How many times or have you ever felt like that some of the subjects that you learn in school is completely like... Doesn't even make sense to learn? For your life? Completely nonsense.
Sarah Thompson: Mmm.
Adam Rother: But yeah, this is like, you know what I mean.
Sarah Thompson: Definitely. Definitely. well, even so I was in, I went into physical therapy, right? I went into physical therapy. That's the form of healthcare I went into. And to be a physical therapist now, you have to have a doctorate degree. completely useless classes. mean, they're wanting you to take pharmaceutical classes. As a physical therapist, you need to have awareness of what medicines are. You need to maybe know some specific ones, but not, don't need two extra years of classes for that. You learn more, you learn more about on the job training, or if you want to get specialized in something, you should go to that specialization. But yeah, a lot of it is completely useless. And,
Adam Rother: Yeah. Mm-hmm. I'm
Sarah Thompson: And I'll even say, I don't, I feel like the whole, I feel like it's the whole system because I don't think teachers are bad. I think teachers are, do things right. But I mean, I do, feel like.
Adam Rother: No, They are bad teachers. But yeah.
Sarah Thompson: We all need to update how we learn. I actually shared something on Facebook yesterday from a university who was offering a ⁓ master's certification in digital marketing and it had like, they're a 10 week curriculum. And I was like, this could take you five days. You could do this in five days. I'm not saying you could master it, but you're not gonna master it in 10 weeks either because mastering it takes application and then you learn. It's just so I could, yeah.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. This is, yeah, you're completely right. And you know, it's really interesting also like that. Most people think that they need money to start a business, right? And.
Sarah Thompson: useless.
Adam Rother: I've been reading about that most like the best way to start a business is literally start a affiliate marketing because most of the affiliate ⁓ or multi-level marketing basically companies they provide free courses and education and everything about how to actually do and sell and everything basically what you need. to be successful selling their products or selling their courses or whatever, like literally coaching. So... Let's talk about like, you have in your programming, how I would say it, that money are actually important to have to become successful in a business or so?
Sarah Thompson: Well, so when I got started, like I said, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never even made a video online before. So, and I also didn't have a lot of money, obviously. So I do think that there is value in investing in yourself. And when I say that, investing in someone who has the same success you're after, right? So, but it still doesn't take a lot of money.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: What I wanted to say in answer to your question somebody one time I heard say you can either pay in time or you can pay in dollars So I have friends who have made I have a friend who made their first six figures online and they never invested in a mentor but they invested their time investment was very very very high and so
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: To say you don't have to have any money to get started, that's true, but the caveat to that is if you're willing to sacrifice six months of two to three hours a day learning and trying and failing. But affiliate marketing is definitely in my opinion, the easiest way for people to start because you don't have to have any kind of authority. You don't have to create anything.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: Really, you have to set up a basic system. A lot of that can be free to set up. And yes, like for me, I have affiliates who promote my program, my training courses, and I want to help them promote those courses. And so you're gonna get help from successful creators because they want you to be better. I will argue it with anybody.
Adam Rother: Yep.
Sarah Thompson: Like I see people all the time being like, you need to create your own digital product. That's the easiest way for beginners to make money. And I'm just like, no, it's not. It's not. It's a great way, but it's not the easiest and the best for beginners. You can quickly transition to other things, but affiliate marketing is the best and easiest way to start, definitely.
Adam Rother: you Yeah, yeah. And this is just because like they are that you don't have to have like courses or like because like what I know or what I can see or like other products that also like people who are providing affiliate programs, they are also giving you resources to actually use for that. So you pretty much like. just as to publish pretty much. You just take care of the traffic, right? So is it like doing a TikTok or doing an Instagram post, right? Or Facebook posts or YouTube or really focusing mainly on the traffic and all of the rest is pretty much take care of, right?
Sarah Thompson: Yeah, after you set up your system, yes, very much so. mean, once you, you know, there's always a tech part, you know, that limits a lot of people. But once that part is set up, really the only thing you have to do is focus on traffic, focus on helping people. I tell people all the time, affiliate marketers are problem solvers. They are not solution makers, they are problem solvers. So,
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Sarah Thompson: You know, Adam, like if you and I were talking and you're like, Sarah, I really liked the camera that you just used for your podcast, which I don't even have my camera hooked up. But you know, I'm like, ⁓ yeah, it's great. You know, here's all the features. Let me just send you a link to it because I think you'd love it. That's an affiliate marketer. That is all you're doing. You're not creating the solution to the problem. You're just sharing it. You're sharing what worked. That's why it's so simple.
Adam Rother: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So for those, for example, who would be ⁓ planning to do something similar to what you do? ⁓ What would be the best way or easiest way to actually get started?
Sarah Thompson: with affiliate marketing, the best way to get started. Always, well, I mean, with a basic understanding of what it is, definitely, I think that goes without saying. I think a lot of people want to skip the step of figuring out who they actually want to help and how they want to help them. Because I think a lot of people go after the money before they go after helping people. And so, to start with affiliate marketing, the very first thing that you want to do is choose, how do I wanna help people? And to choose that, you take a good look at yourself and you think about like, what obstacles have I overcome or what obstacles do I need to overcome? So you can either share with people how you changed or, I think what's really fun, you can take people on a journey with you because, Especially I mean people are just naturally nosy, know So on social media if you post a video and you're like, hey, I am giving up sugar for 60 days So follow me right now. I'm gonna be posting at least two times a day telling you what I'm doing how I feel You know all these things Follow me. I'm going on a journey
Adam Rother: Yeah. Yep.
Sarah Thompson: I mean, ⁓ people can't wait to see you fail. They can't wait to see how you feel. They can't wait to see what you're doing. They can't wait to see how much weight you lose. So take them on that journey with you and then along the way, you're just gonna get to share every single resource. And I also feel like that's the best way because some people, I think a lot of people, feel like it's, if they hear the word marketing, they think of sales and salespeople are kind of sleazy sometimes. Right? So it makes them feel icky about selling. But as the affiliate, it's okay to change your mind. You know, you can totally promote a product. You're like, hey, I'm starting with this product. I don't know anything about it, guys. I'm just doing it. If you're interested in it, check it out. Right? Like you're not saying I 100 % believe in this product. You're saying I'm gonna start here. Two weeks later, if you change your mind, you can just be like, well, didn't work. But this, now I'm trying this, because you're just being honest. You're not being a salesperson. You have no commitment to that company that you're being an affiliate for. You're just using it and telling other people about it.
Adam Rother: Okay. Yeah. Like in my opinion, if you, well, it's probably going to be a differentiate based on like, you know, what type of business you're running, but yeah, I think like when it, when it comes to, you know, affiliate stuff, you, don't really need a lots of experience when it comes to like sales and you know, product creation and so on. But if you do something else than affiliate, I wouldn't, if you, if you are not willing to learn how to sell, you, you shouldn't even jump off your job. I'm telling you that right now because sales are so important to understand, like to actually like be good at sales. ⁓ that without basically without selling, you cannot make any money. You can't write any money. So this is like, this is the number one skillset that you have to really, really develop. Either way, I think when it comes to affiliate marketing, if you want to really scale it, you still have to start jumping into like things like webinars, master classes, or something like that, which is kind of sales, right? This is pretty much so. Yeah, so just, I wanted to put.
Sarah Thompson: Yes, ⁓ definitely. Yeah.
Adam Rother: you know, bring this point here because I think this is like, if you want to go to like, you know, even a million, I think you would have to start doing like this type of webinars and so on. ⁓ Yeah. But so tell me, so what was your first project actually? What you've been selling?
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ my first affiliate product or my first product.
Adam Rother: Yeah, your first affiliate stuff. What did you decide to go for?
Sarah Thompson: Well, it's funny that you asked that because my first affiliate, I mean, I was desperate to make money. Desperate, I had to, right? Like I invested in a training program. I would invest in that training program over and over and over again, by the way, like that small investment, the return on that investment was massive. Still changes my life to this day. But I did not know what I wanted to promote at all. But I also knew I couldn't stay stuck there. And so I started promoting like,
Adam Rother: ⁓ huh. Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: a brain training offer for dogs. And I like dogs, okay, I don't want anybody to get mad. But after a couple weeks of promoting it, you know, and I learned, I learned about doing that, I learned how to do lots of things. But I realized it was not at all something that I wanted to continue to do in the long term. And so I started thinking about what I did enjoy learning about. And it took me back to... how I felt when I discovered passive income. And so was like, you know what? I'm gonna start talking about that. That's what I wanna talk about. That's what I wanna help people with. And so I signed up to be an affiliate for, it was called the Business Builder Challenge. And it was a great affiliate company because it had a front end offer and then up sales. And you know, the company does that work for you. All I had to do was tell people about a $7 training.
Adam Rother: Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: then the company did the sales. That's why it's great to start as an affiliate. ⁓ And I believed in that product. And I also want to say here for anybody who wants, is interested in affiliate marketing, ⁓ if you want to be a super affiliate, which is where, like whenever you said what you said about sales, I became a super affiliate whenever I figured this part out. Give people bonuses that will help them have success.
Adam Rother: Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: faster and easier. ⁓ That was a huge thing for me. So I created it. Huh? Yeah.
Adam Rother: Combining it, yeah, yeah. Can you make it more clear? Like combining it with the product that you promote from other people?
Sarah Thompson: Yes, so it was the same product, 15-Day Business Builder Challenge. I was promoting it, I really liked it. Well, I told people that I'd went through the course and I made a checklist of things that the course taught that I needed to do to be successful. And so I created this checklist, I think inside of Canva. it was my notes I took while I was going through the course. I just put them in a Canva doc. little checklist, I did like a quick reference sheet to like what you need to do and I told people that they could go to, you know, they could purchase it for $10 or if they just purchased the $7 training, I'm happy to send them that resource for free to help them have success faster and easier. I think I started that. I think I did that on like a Thursday. Yes. And I did like a weekend. I was like, I'll do it this weekend. Never thinking it would matter. Adam, I'm here to tell you. was a no brainer because ⁓ put $10 on it. I totally made that number up. I didn't know. I mean, it probably was worth that at least because they were good notes and I knew what I was doing. But that perceived value was massive. And it was something here again, I'm going back to passive income. I created that checklist one time. It was a digital product ⁓ it made me money ⁓ and over and over again. because the value helped many people and all I had to do was share it. So, and that is a sales tactic because bonuses and worksheets and perceived value, and I learned all that as I got started. Anytime you can help people more, they're gonna love that, they're gonna want it.
Adam Rother: Yep. Yep. Yeah, yeah. know, and that way you're going to differentiate yourself basically. And, you know, I know that some people are basically going to buy even the product from you because of those bonuses again, basically, because they want what you might have to offer. So yeah, this is really, really, really great point to bring. This is, yeah, that was super powerful. So when you...
Sarah Thompson: Thanks.
Adam Rother: When did you start it? What was like your first, let's say, like a roadblock that you had to overcome in your, inside of you? Like, what was the, because we, all of us know that basically business is 90 % about mindset and 10 % tactics, pretty much. So let's, let's dive into those like limiting beliefs and help people to actually like, you know, get them through them and help them to start actually making money with other people's
Sarah Thompson: Sure, yes. I think I told you earlier, I really did not believe I would have success doing this. I was very middle class, very, you know, thought I was just gonna suffer through life, working for paycheck to paycheck. And so, whenever I considered investing in a training program, I overthought it, I overcomplicated it. Of course I told my husband about it and he, luckily I'm married to a great man who was like, yeah, Sarah, do it. Like you can do it, I know you can.
Adam Rother: No,
Sarah Thompson: My coach, my business advisor, he asked me, Sarah, how much money do you think, like how much money would you like to make? And I said $500 a month. And he told me, was the first time I'd ever heard the term limiting belief. He said, well, I want you to crush that limiting belief. And I was like, what do you mean? And he said, Sarah, I'm telling you right now, you can make $1,000 a day. And I...
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: literally laughed out loud at him. And he said, okay, I'm gonna challenge you. He said, because I believe in you, I want you for three months to not tell anybody what you're doing. Don't even, you're not even open for opinion on it. Don't talk about it. Just put blinders on and do this for three months because I believe this can be true. And Adam, wish I could go back in time and remember
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: what feeling he gave me to make me want to do that because I had such a big limiting belief. I worked two weeks full time and after taxes and health insurance made barely over a thousand dollars every two weeks. And my first thousand dollars that I made in a day was on a Saturday night when I was working, watching fireworks with my family. I had not worked at all that day. And I can tell you right now,
Adam Rother: ⁓ So crazy.
Sarah Thompson: that nothing will crush a limiting belief more than somebody having belief in you and that person at the same time challenging you to see that belief in yourself. don't, can't, you know, of course I only have one story to tell. I only have one journey, but that limiting belief was huge. Now, the thing about limiting beliefs is that they don't stop after you crush one, right? And,
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: It's very odd for me to say this and I don't know what kind of people are going to be listening to this right now, whether they're beginners or advanced. But right now I'm at a block in my business where I have some guilt associated with money and I've identified that I have limiting beliefs because of guilt. Because of my wonderful family who loved me and raised me and gave me this work ethic and I've made in one month. what they don't make in a year. And I feel guilty about that. You know what I mean? But that's a limiting belief. And so I'm working through that.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. It starts basically sabotaging your success. ⁓
Sarah Thompson: Absolutely, absolutely. And these limiting beliefs in that, it's even hard to talk about it with friends I have that don't do business because I think they almost kind of scoff at it, but it's real. It's very real that I have an income cap because of me, not because of anything else. And so I'm actively working on that. It's a mindset thing, it's a comfort thing, it's a nervous system thing. Five years ago, if somebody had said, you know, it's 10 % effort, 90 % mindset, I would have rolled my eyes. Now I will tell you 100 % that is correct. Because if your mind is working against you, your efforts won't really, they won't be near as good as they could be. I completely agree.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, it's always the battle between those two things, right? You basically have to become the person to be able to put the effort effortlessly basically to pursue what you actually ⁓ pursue the goal basically. ⁓ I know that too we are playing like, you know, everybody has this type of moments I think or... This is a journey, know, like there is not a destination because journey is a destination, right? ⁓ And you basically upgrowing yourself every day and... It's not always easy, but you'll see you'll figure it out. Eventually you're gonna get through it and you... I don't know you extremely personally, so I don't know how... I would love to help you with that, to give you some advice or something, but... Because I'm not attached to money as much. I don't care about money. Like I'm telling you that I don't care. I'm here to serve, literally. And the money is more like a benefit, like something that like is allowing me to become the person and serve more people. Right? So maybe that is the shift that you have to do also, like totally like, you know, get like the divorce from the income and all of that. And sometimes it's really hard because like we are from the beginning, you know, we're struggling. I know exactly how you probably been going, what you've been going through at the beginning. Like my story at the beginning, like when I was growing up with my grandparents instead of my parents, because my parents have been working like freaking free jobs to just get by. I couldn't even see them. So I have better relationship with my grandparents than with my parents actually. And it's like... This is, I don't want to have that in my life. So that was the moment that I was like, I don't want to, I'm not going to stay in my country. I'm going to leave the country. I don't want to be around those people and I'm going to do something completely different. Right. And that was the moment for me. Like when did everything clay? I had to start figuring out on my own, like because I went here by myself, nobody, like I literally on my own, was how old was 21 or something. 21, I think. It's like seven years ago. Yeah, so I was yeah seven. Yeah, so and and it was it was So difficult I couldn't speak English still struggling with it about getting better and better each day And that's the process like ⁓ you know, my goal is to get to us. I want to live in USA This is like the best country ever Yeah, so ⁓ and you know, I'm this this whole
Sarah Thompson: You Come on over!
Adam Rother: entrepreneurship journey is just so, so powerful and so amazing to be on. And, you know, we talking to amazing people as you and other people that I have here on the show, basically. And, and, and it's just so much fun because like we just, the way that we talk, we helping other people also because they can listen to us, they can break those false beliefs, they can, you know, figure out the things that actually stops them and like, Encouraging them to actually do the things and make it making work for them change their lives. This is this is amazing. Are you Christian actually?
Sarah Thompson: Yes, okay, okay. You said you're a Christian, right?
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, I've been asking you, are you Christian?
Sarah Thompson: Yes, and that's what I was wanting to share with you. So can I share something? Can I share a story? Okay. So this is, know that y'all don't know a lot about my story, right? Other than that, I was broke and didn't want to be broke anymore. So 2023, that's when I quit my job because I'd had so much success with affiliate marketing. I was making more money. I mean like, and I will also want to say this. My affiliate product was hot at that time. I just started that checklist. It was selling like crazy.
Adam Rother: ⁓ totally,
Sarah Thompson: Those hot offers are not a constant, okay? But I was making, you know, as an affiliate, I was still only an affiliate, $5,000 $8,000 a day. It was insane for a couple months, okay? Made more money ever in 2023 than I'd ever even imagined. 2023 is also when my family was involved in a really terrible ziplining accident in Jamaica. It was awful. My husband... who had been sober for 10 years, went into remission, he had to go to rehab for five weeks. ⁓ To tell you it was the most terrible time of my life is an understatement, okay? And so I figured out, because I know, the people I help, money they think is their goal. But I always tell them, I'm like, you're gonna have to find something that's not money. It's really not money that you want. It's really something else. You know, it's really something deeper. Money is a resource, but money cannot be your God. And so I always, do this activity. I'm like, what's the four whys? You know, why do you want to make more money? And then you ask why, why, why, why? And so at one point in my business, I told one of my friends, my goal I think was to make a million in a year. And they were like, is that how you really feel? And I was like, I don't know. I don't really even know what I would do with that much money because
Adam Rother: Yep. Totally.
Sarah Thompson: that the year I made that much money was terrible for me. And so what I was gonna tell you is my husband and I are like actually actively right now, like setting up plans for ⁓ sober living homes for men and women who have been through rehab. And then also for like our community, I'm from Kentucky, I'm from a small town in Kentucky. And it's kind of the Bible belt, right? There's churches on every corner, but there's still hungry people and I can't. Adam, that's just my heart. can't stand the thought of me having more than enough and somebody who lives two blocks over not like starving. That hurts my heart. And so I'm figuring out how to help people in those ways because as a Christian, I know that if I ask for selfish reasons, I don't think God's gonna bless that. I think God wants to bless my prosperity so I can use it for his kingdom. That's why I want to create more. And also I want to help other people discover the freedom
Adam Rother: beautiful yeah yeah
Sarah Thompson: that passive income can give them because I think the devil attacks the American family. I think that busyness is a disease. think that I think the devil wants moms and dads is distracted and as away from their kids as possible. And so if I can tell other women how they can make money. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk.
Adam Rother: Okay, so let's talk about that. Let's talk about that, right? Because, you know, we are taught basically that if you are not busy, you are not doing enough, for example, right? So let's talk about that, your perspective on it and why it's not true.
Sarah Thompson: Mm-hmm. Whew, I mean, that's, we could unload a lot here too. I say that all the time. Busyness is just a distraction and your distractions are what really is your downfall, truthfully. Because American women, I know you're a man, so like you will never have this perspective, but I was a working mom. I was blessed to have family that babysat my children for me. I never had to put them in daycare. So I never had that struggle. But even women, we are so wired to worry more about what they're doing, what other people are doing instead of what we're doing. And so for me, I was smart, I enjoyed my work, I really loved my patients, but it was very unhealthy. It felt out of place for me to give the best of my time and energy and priorities. to this schedule, to this boss, instead of my kids. And I was even one of the fortunate ones who wasn't answering to a daycare. Like I had, if my baby had the sniffles, I knew my mama was gonna hold her all day and love her. And it's because we've been sold this lie that you have to work, that if you're able to work, you should work. And it's just not true. And I've had plenty, I've had barely enough. and you just make it and it's because you've got to trust that God will provide for that and I know that sounds really lame, but it's true. But you do not have to, women do not have to leave their children to earn income for them or to even be valuable for them, even without earning income. They can still have value. But like I told you in high school, I was pretty much told if I didn't go to college and get a degree, I was useless. I might as well just, and it's not true. You know, I don't know how the education system is there, but in America, know, we're told you want to all, everything is toward this system, right? Nobody tells you, tells girls in high school, if you want to, you know, start a family and be a stay at home mom, that's awesome. There's a lot of value in that. It's always, it's looked down upon, looked down upon almost, which I do think that's changing. I think social media is changing that, but. We're addicted to busyness, we're addicted to stress, we're addicted to feeling guilty if we do sit down. And that's not how we're designed at all. We're not designed for torture. I don't serve a God who wants us to suffer. I serve a God who wants really great things for us, not the other way around.
Adam Rother: Yeah, I don't think that he is even like when you're reading the Bible there, ⁓ like I'm still in a process of actually studying it and so on. So I'm not like completely, you know, I'm not really like highly educated in that topic, but I love to be, because that's why I'm like just pointing it out. But he's saying in one of ⁓ one of these sections that, you know, he doesn't want us to hustle all the time. Right.
Sarah Thompson: We all are. We all should be.
Adam Rother: That's the reason why it's even saying that, you know, ⁓ there is the Sunday basically where we rest, basically the seventh day, right? ⁓ So this is completely like set it up from the wrong perspective, basically, and it's all set it up against like us pretty much. It's basically who's benefiting from this, right?
Sarah Thompson: Exactly.
Adam Rother: Who's benefiting? We don't. And if you like, there are so many people who are basically just stuck in the rat race and hustling all the time, thinking that the hustle actually going to bring more money, which is insane, right? Why you do and put more effort into something that do not work? Is it literally proof? It's proved that it doesn't work. How many people are hustling they don't have any more time for? their kids, for their families, for anything they want in their life. But they're still doing it, which is crazy.
Sarah Thompson: Yeah. It's crazy and I was just telling, like, you have to be really careful who you take advice from, you know? When I look back now, my high school teachers who I respect, I enjoyed them, I liked them, they were telling me to go to college and get an education, but their education had them trapped in a job that didn't pay them well. And like they didn't, like they weren't living financially stable. So why did I take financial advice from them? You know what I mean? Like you've got to kind of look at the source or if you feel like going out and starting an online business is, yeah.
Adam Rother: Do you know? Yeah, this is insane. for example, that example that you just made, like how many people are taking advices from financial advisors? Like, I mean, okay, bankers.
Sarah Thompson: Mm-hmm.
Adam Rother: This is so painful for me to even think about. Those people are both broke than you are. And they are literally giving you advices on how to operate with your money. This is insane.
Sarah Thompson: Yes. Yes, if the system wanted us to know how to succeed with money, then Rich Dad Poor Dad would be a mandatory read for every high school student. don't want us. Absolutely. I need to read it again. It changed my life. I remember I bought that book when I bought that $7 course and I remember reading it and like, like at night, like tapping my husband, like Jay, you're not going believe what this is. Like I will, why anybody tell me this? That's how I felt.
Adam Rother: ⁓ totally, totally. Have you read it? Have you? For sure you read it, right? Totally. Yeah Exactly.
Sarah Thompson: But it's because I was seeking advice and I was mirroring my life after other broke people. And I'm like, would I, why was I taking advice from them? Like, it would be like getting diet advice from, you know, somebody who weighs 600 pounds. I'm not taking away their value or their credibility, but if I wanted to learn how to have a healthy diet, I wouldn't listen to someone who is morbidly obese. If you wanna learn how to build your wealth, you're not gonna listen to somebody.
Adam Rother: Exactly. Like, duh.
Sarah Thompson: who can't pay their bills and who has no freedom. Like.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that is just insane. Insane. ⁓ my gosh. know, when it's, it's, there was a, you know, like when the most important, like the most important thing that they don't teach us is literally the financial statement, right? Like just to go a little bit on, on, on that side, like money vice and so on.
Sarah Thompson: Makes no sense.
Adam Rother: ⁓ But the thing that you have to like, this is the first thing that I would study, like complete, like to be educated enough about money, because you're going to make money and what are you going to do with those money? Like you have to be financially literate to actually to be able to acquire wealth, not just like ⁓ some type of higher income that's going to end up or puts you into into a worse position that you even been before. Because like that's what is happening, right? You can see from different perspective, people are winning lotteries or whatever and where are they ending up? Basically in a worse place that they've been before, right? Because they just don't understand. They just give money to somebody from their family, they buy more and more liabilities and they ending up bankrupt completely and even worse. Right? ⁓ so that's one of those things. But the second thing that I wanted to share also here is everybody in the world, everybody, everyone, like every person in the world has a financial statement. Everyone. If you do not like the financial statement will work only if there are two or more. Right? Does that make sense? Because basically your liabilities is for somebody else asset and that's how it works. Right? So you have to be really, you have to really understand what is going on. but read the book because like read the rich ⁓ rich that poor that book or even like the cash whole quadrants. That's really like, it's, it's really, really important to, understand this topic. ⁓ But yeah, so what was like, let's, let's, let's stay a little bit on that money topic and so on. So tell me what was your, what was your beliefs about money at like, at the beginning? What parents told you what teachers told you like, what have you been going to church or you've been, have you been like since the beginning or you just like figured it out when you get older?
Sarah Thompson: Well, and like I told you, like I am actively, like I'm actively every day working on changing how I feel about money. Because like I told you, there's guilt associated with me having it now, but that comes from when I was a kid, my parents, know, their love story's great. My dad was a coal miner, okay? We mine coal over here in Kentucky. And my mom, they got married the June after she graduated high school and she went to work at a local bank, okay?
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: and my parents always worked hard, but they never had a financial education. And so... And I have a hard time with this because I don't ever want anybody to think I'm talking negatively about my parents, but we struggled financially. And my brother and I felt that financial struggle as children. And that's where my blocks come from. I had a lot of, I had a scarcity mindset about money. And then once that scarcity...
Adam Rother: Yeah Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Why is that? What is... Why do you have... Like, how you can develop scarcity mindset? What happened that you have something like that, actually? Have you figured it out already? Yeah, sorry. Go ahead.
Sarah Thompson: When I think about, yeah, I think about like, I'm afraid that there's not enough money to go around. Right, so it was very hard for me to learn that if I have more money, that doesn't take money away from Adam. And I know that might sound silly, but I felt like if I get wealth, somebody else loses wealth. Or I was very afraid that
Adam Rother: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: money can come, but it'll disappear. Like it'll just go. Like, I don't know how to say that the right way, but like, felt like, okay, I made this amount of money, but it could just go away tomorrow. It's too good to be true, right? Because I never learned about money and how money works and how money flows and how you make money, right? So for me, money was something that I had to work really hard for and it had to be earned.
Adam Rother: that. Mm-hmm. Yep, yep, yep. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: And whenever I was making a lot more money without working hard for it, I think I didn't feel like I truly earned it maybe. Anyways, I didn't feel like there was enough money for everyone. So that was my scarcity mindset of, that was my belief there about that. I also felt like people who had money were bad. That's the best way for me to summarize that.
Adam Rother: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: because I'd always, I went to church my whole life and I had to do a lot of work on rich people aren't bad people. You can't, I'll just say this, you can't serve anyone. You can't meet people's needs out of poverty. If I don't have money, I can't buy food for people who don't have food. If I don't have the ability to buy a warm coat, then I can't buy a coat for my own children, much less kids who need coats.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. the Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: Money is not my god, but money is a resource. And so it is not bad to know how to create wealth. If you use your wealth for bad, that's bad. as a Christian and as a kid who was raised this way, I had to do a lot of relearning and studying for myself, myself, what that meant. I know now, I know now, but I think a lot of people don't realize that
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Sarah Thompson: even though they think they want to get rich. they think that maybe that's a sin deep down and it's really not. It's really not. And so, yeah, I don't even know if I answered your question correctly.
Adam Rother: Yeah. No, yeah, totally. You know, when it comes to money, it's you cannot, you know, it's it's not who it determines who you are. It doesn't determine who you are. Right. Money is more like an amplifier because like, let's say that Are there people who are poor and jerks? And they are jerks? Are they? For sure, right? So, and are there people who are rich and they are jerks? Right? So that's, there is the, like, and there are people who are, ⁓ also, you know, they have like, literally are poor and they're really good people. And then there are also rich people who are really good people. So this is not-
Sarah Thompson: Yep. Still jerks.
Adam Rother: actually like the money is not the factor, right? The person who you are is the determining factor, right? The money is more like an amplifier, right? It brings the fuel to the fire, right? So that's my belief towards money and so on, right? And...
Sarah Thompson: I agree with that.
Adam Rother: You know, when it comes to also like when it comes to that there is not enough. Have you like, have you already figured out how to like deal with that also? Like there is not enough.
Sarah Thompson: Yes. Yeah, I had to figure, actually went to a conference called Faith Over Fear a couple of years ago and it really helped me with a lot of that. But I didn't know that. I didn't know that until I learned about money. I mean, because I think because I was smart. Yeah.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, like money is a real topic. Like literally, I'm glad that you brought it because like this is this is really important. And like we are told that to not talk about money, right? Like since the since the young age, do not talk about money. This is too confidential or whatever. And that's not true. Like we need to be educated about wealth, not not just letting it to just determine like how we're going to live. No, no way. Right.
Sarah Thompson: Very much. Yes. Right, well, and even if you don't make a lot of money, you can still build wealth because you have to, and that's what I mean, I was about to say that because I was a smart kid and I made good grades, I thought I should understand what to do with money. But if you're not taught, you might think you know what to do with money, but if you're not taught how money works, then you don't. mean, and it goes as basic as I had a savings account at my local bank.
Adam Rother: ⁓ yeah. Hmm.
Sarah Thompson: I didn't know about a high yield savings account. I thought the savings account at the bank was great. Nope. I didn't know about, you know, IULs, like index universal life funds. didn't know about, you know, compound. I knew about compound interest and how it worked against me, not how it could work for me. I mean, so many things, you're not taught those things. And like you said, we're trained, ⁓ don't talk about money. That's uncomfortable. When really,
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: I would have been really thrilled if somebody sat down with 17 year old Sarah and was like, hey Sarah, you've got a little job right now and I know that like you want to keep that money for yourself, but let me show you what would happen if you put $30 a week into this investment account and don't touch it and just get used to not living. Like start small because I think it becomes so intimidating because it's not talked about that at a certain age people are like, well, I just can't do it.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: Anyways, sorry. But yeah, I think education is important.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, no, totally, Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. ⁓ I see we have like maybe another like nine minutes or you good to go now?
Sarah Thompson: Yeah. I'm good. I can be on for about 15 more. I'm good for about 15.
Adam Rother: Okay, awesome. All right, so let's talk about... ⁓ Parenthood. Right? How you been dealing with like the way, you know, with those limiting beliefs and or the programming basically that, for example, you shouldn't be the provider for your family because that's a role of your husband, right? Which is like the interesting topic also, like let's go that way and how you because I don't know, like, for example, what your husband's doing or so, but basically, like, ⁓ are you the provider for your family? or do you like do you have you know, has been helping you also with what you do and so on. like, yeah, share something with us on that area for sure.
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ yeah, that's a really good topic too. And I wish I had like Bible verses like ready on the go for that. So ⁓ there were, my husband does work. My husband is really very, he's very skilled. He's a carpenter and he, I shared very briefly about his addiction, his recovery for that reason, even though Jay does not have to work financially for our family, it benefits him to work. He's a busy body. He's very able bodied.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ This is very interesting. Just last night at church, he's gonna start like, this is so, it's a God thing. He's gonna start like a mission thing about not only teaching young kids a skill, but also how to improve your community with that skill. And so Jay works, Jay does provide. you with a, you're an entrepreneur with digital income, it's not getting a paycheck every month. So.
Adam Rother: yeah love it
Sarah Thompson: What he brings to our family financially does matter as well. As far as like the provider, like on a scale of who makes more money, you know, it's me, I make more money. But you know, the Bible says, you know, we're a team, we're a pair. And so I don't, and I'm sure I fail at this sometimes, but I don't consider myself better than Jay because financially I make more than him. Like Jay is still... The leader of our home, we still, I have respect for my husband, even when I'm gonna buy something for my business, if it's like an investment, that's a large amount, I talk to him about it because I respect him and because he respects me too. Whenever we talk about providing, this goes way back to like our caveman ancestors, like he is my protector. He's the one who shows my daughter. how a man, how a husband needs to treat her. And he's the one who shows my son how he is to provide for his family. So I think that's just something that could be different. on each relationship. I'm not a relationship expert. I would never say that, but there's a respect there. I've, I have met people in our same situation and I've seen them be like publicly disrespectful to their husband because of their financial gains. And it, it's uncomfortable for me because I'm Jason, I'm not better or less than because of how much money I make.
Adam Rother: course yeah and that's how it's supposed to be that's that's that's amazing and you know that shows your character and you are a good person and you know and this is like you know this is the thing like
Sarah Thompson: And also, yeah, well, we're.
Adam Rother: I don't think you should be scared of how much money you have or how much money you make or if there's... Because, know, how many people you actually help already and how many people that investment towards their final dream helped actually to bring even more money to their lives, you know? So this is like... I just wanted to bring it up because like you should really be... proud of yourself based on what you've done for your family, for other people. you know, this is like, yeah, just, yeah, just, I think you're doing such a good things for sure. Totally.
Sarah Thompson: Thank you, Adam. That's really very nice of you. It's nice. I love what I do. If I could just make other people do the work, that would be great.
Adam Rother: Awesome. ⁓ yeah. That's, that's, this is the mind, you know, this is the mindset thing. And sometimes people pay more attention and more, they do more when they pay more because you know, it's, it is what it is, but that's what, what I'm to bring up to you because this is like, you cannot be, ⁓
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ yeah.
Adam Rother: You cannot sabotage yourself just because how much money you make because when you start charging more you're make even also more money. But how much more impact is gonna have on those people because they actually gonna do the freaking thing. So yeah, bad.
Sarah Thompson: Yes, I'm actually, I'm about, everything's about to get a little higher because, you know, I think as an entrepreneur, you always play around with things. Everything's a test, right? Everything's a test. And I have my coaching program at a certain price and people aren't taking action. And that's the problem is it didn't hurt. Yeah. I don't think it hurt them enough financially. think, and also like it no.
Adam Rother: That's a typical, yeah, yeah. It doesn't hurt enough.
Sarah Thompson: Because that's, I'm telling you right now, I took money out of my savings account to buy that mentorship that I got started with and I had to make that money back. Like if my husband at the time he was self-employed, working for himself doing construction, I mean, if he had hurt himself and like been, you know, not been able to work for a month, we would have been, I would have taken money away from my family. That would have made me feel terrible. So I'm not saying I want to hurt people, but if their desire isn't big enough, And if they're not hungry enough, it's not gonna change their lives. So it's gotta be a little bit higher because I'm so invested in the people I wanna help and it's hurtful for me when they give up on themselves right before they're about to have a breakthrough. But.
Adam Rother: top. Yup, yup, yup. There are people who are charging even $25,000 per, you know, to just a starting program.
Sarah Thompson: And there's, mean, what, is Tony Robbins an hour? 60,000?
Adam Rother: What is my room golden?
Sarah Thompson: Oh, I Myron Golden. I got to have a picture with Myron Golden. He is one of my favorite entrepreneurs and he, yes, he's an amazing, his talk at Funnel Hacking Live inspired me. He said, if you want to stop, yeah, I was at Funnel Hacking Live last year.
Adam Rother: Hahahaha Have you been at Funnel Hacking Live actually? No, me too. I don't know why we didn't, but it's so funny. But yeah, we have even a sign there. Can you see? Yeah. Yeah. We've been talking to him for a while there. It was, it was really interesting experience for sure. Yeah. ClickFunnel is, is really nice. Well, the software is not as good as it could be.
Sarah Thompson: Yes. Yeah. Ugh. So cool. So cool that.
Adam Rother: I'm not just saying.
Sarah Thompson: I love ClickFunnels for what I use it for, but yeah, I've always used ClickFunnels though, so.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I started with ClickFunnels actually, but with the capabilities of the software is the go high level is pretty, it's just so much more, especially like complex stuff anyway. But yeah, thank you so much for being here. It was so, so, so amazing to have you here and talking to you, where people can find you, ⁓ to support you, you know, join your program or help.
Sarah Thompson: I'm so glad you asked me to.
Adam Rother: get help with affiliate marketing.
Sarah Thompson: I would love, they're welcome to join my community on school. That's where I do, I mean, you'll find the classroom full of trainings there and then I'm active in that community. I'm always sharing like what I'm finding, you know, like OfferLab is new right now. That's great for beginners with affiliate marketing. I can share that with you so that they're welcome to join my community there. Social media wise, I got started on TikTok. I'm still on TikTok, but Facebook is where I spend a lot of time. So feel free out.
Adam Rother: What is your biggest platform actually? Facebook. Yeah, yeah. I'm actually getting some really good fractions there too recently. But it's not my main thing that I do, it's just like my partners actually.
Sarah Thompson: So. Facebook. What do you do? YouTube?
Adam Rother: I do a high ticket sales for coaches and consultants, a combination with AI most of the time is like AI driven all of that. So this is one of the things that I But also like I'm tapping into the affiliate stuff because like I love marketing, I love AI. combining those two things together. So bringing traffic is like one of my hobby kind of thing. So I like to study marketing and so on. So I'm just like always around there. Yeah. It's amazing. starting something like this, like literally having this type of conversation with people also, this is another interesting way to start a business without even have to have a, know, like investing. to, you know, or like I would say even like it's not even as time consuming as social media when it comes to like Facebook and so on, because you have to really ⁓ publish quite bit of the content there. But when you are running this like this type of shows, you would be you would be surprised how ⁓ many interesting I'm able to talk to and like how many great opportunities you can ⁓ you can ⁓ get. Yeah, but anyway, thank you so much. Thank you for being here. And yeah, we'll talk for sure again or, know. Totally.
Sarah Thompson: Thank you for having me. Yeah, I'd love to. That sounds great.
Sarah Thompson: Thanks Adam, I'm really excited to be here. I'm excited to chat with you today.
Adam Rother: Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. All right. So ⁓ we had a little conversation before we jump into this interview. So I would love to continue the conversation with your story and your journey. How did you get into entrepreneurship? It's really interesting that you just literally jump into entrepreneurship completely from... ⁓ It wasn't even... like meant to work or something like that work out for you, right? So it's really interesting that you just like literally get into it by kind of like accident. ⁓ tell us a little bit of like, what was the first thing that you actually started? And like, what was those limiting beliefs if you even had any that work like they've been ⁓ going through your head and you had to deal with them ⁓ from the past programming from our school and the system and all of that. ⁓ And I don't know how you said that it started in COVID, but during that time you probably had your family already, right? So how is this whole thing with your, even with your family and everything's working for you and how you, what are you planning even for your? for your future and so on.
Sarah Thompson: Right, I, yeah, like I told you, I discovered online marketing because of COVID, because my hours were, I worked in healthcare and my hours were cut. And so I downloaded TikTok, I discovered making money online. That's when I discovered passive income. And I was 35 years old and I just remember discovering passive income and I... I felt like I had been lied to my whole life because the only way I had ever been taught to make money was to work more hours, you know, or get a better degree or work harder. And I had worked my whole life. I mean, my parents were loving and hardworking. I had excellent work ethic. You know, I showed up 15 minutes early to work. I gave it my best. I had excellent performance reviews at work.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yup.
Sarah Thompson: I got like a 15 cent raise in a pizza party. You know, that did not change my life. And so when I discovered, I mean it did, I'm not trying to sound awful. And I do think that there is value in hard work. I'm not diminishing that at all. But when I discovered passive income, I really, there was a little bit of like, not anger because I didn't know who to be mad at, but I was like, why didn't I know about this? this, because at first,
Adam Rother: Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: Even when I first discovered affiliate marketing, I was like, okay, I need to be like, I need to really take a lot of training and time to discover how to make passive income. But then I found out that like, no, you really don't. Like you can really be uneducated about it and start making passive income. It should not be hidden at all. And it's really not hidden.
Adam Rother: really you know yeah sorry to stop you but that's really interesting literally like because everything what we are taught in a school is you have to have a degree you have to have a something diploma or whatever to actually be able to do something but in on business side probably not in every area I would say because still like when you're coming to different areas of the business you has to get you know not even like education like educate being educated but more like having a practice real world practice, right? But that's what is not handed to us, ⁓ especially in a school, right? We have to like literally do it ourselves because like when we finish our schools, like we are completely like, this is the world, just go and figure it out. And nobody prepare anything for you basically.
Sarah Thompson: yeah, when I was in high school, which I was a good student, I was smart and I, I mean, I made good grades. I'm proud of that. But it was pretty much when I was in high school, if you didn't go to college, you were gonna fail. Like you might as well go get a job at a gas station. I mean, you were not gonna succeed unless you had a degree, you know, and even like standardized testing, you know, the ACT, you had to have this score. And now looking back, I'm like, that doesn't mean anything to me now. ⁓
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: literally that has no value. It just, and I think again, like I have a 16 year old daughter and she's very smart and she's very motivated. I'm so happy for her. And while I tell her like college is a good option and there is a time and a place for college, know, obviously, but there's also no rush. Like you can learn a lot from just going out into the real world and discovering what you're passionate about.
Adam Rother: Yeah. Mm night.
Sarah Thompson: Who do you want to be? You know, what do you want to help people with? I just, think it's very limiting. And I also think, I mean, I'm just going to say it. feel like college is largely a scam. I feel like it is, I feel like it's a huge moneymaker and, they sell us, they do, they sell us. They sell you a filling. They sell you a community when really it's just overpriced, outdated education.
Adam Rother: Yeah. Yeah, they do. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I listen. Listen, recently, I think Joe Rogan podcast with I'm not sure who was there with but anyway, there was a, it was a conversation that basically they didn't know how to screw up the older generation anymore. So they, they basically created the, ⁓ you know, college student loans and so on. And now, how massive is the student loan right now? I don't even know. ⁓ But yeah, is really... ⁓ How many times or have you ever felt like that some of the subjects that you learn in school is completely like... Doesn't even make sense to learn? For your life? Completely nonsense.
Sarah Thompson: Mmm.
Adam Rother: But yeah, this is like, you know what I mean.
Sarah Thompson: Definitely. Definitely. well, even so I was in, I went into physical therapy, right? I went into physical therapy. That's the form of healthcare I went into. And to be a physical therapist now, you have to have a doctorate degree. completely useless classes. mean, they're wanting you to take pharmaceutical classes. As a physical therapist, you need to have awareness of what medicines are. You need to maybe know some specific ones, but not, don't need two extra years of classes for that. You learn more, you learn more about on the job training, or if you want to get specialized in something, you should go to that specialization. But yeah, a lot of it is completely useless. And,
Adam Rother: Yeah. Mm-hmm. I'm
Sarah Thompson: And I'll even say, I don't, I feel like the whole, I feel like it's the whole system because I don't think teachers are bad. I think teachers are, do things right. But I mean, I do, feel like.
Adam Rother: No, They are bad teachers. But yeah.
Sarah Thompson: We all need to update how we learn. I actually shared something on Facebook yesterday from a university who was offering a ⁓ master's certification in digital marketing and it had like, they're a 10 week curriculum. And I was like, this could take you five days. You could do this in five days. I'm not saying you could master it, but you're not gonna master it in 10 weeks either because mastering it takes application and then you learn. It's just so I could, yeah.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. This is, yeah, you're completely right. And you know, it's really interesting also like that. Most people think that they need money to start a business, right? And.
Sarah Thompson: useless.
Adam Rother: I've been reading about that most like the best way to start a business is literally start a affiliate marketing because most of the affiliate ⁓ or multi-level marketing basically companies they provide free courses and education and everything about how to actually do and sell and everything basically what you need. to be successful selling their products or selling their courses or whatever, like literally coaching. So... Let's talk about like, you have in your programming, how I would say it, that money are actually important to have to become successful in a business or so?
Sarah Thompson: Well, so when I got started, like I said, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never even made a video online before. So, and I also didn't have a lot of money, obviously. So I do think that there is value in investing in yourself. And when I say that, investing in someone who has the same success you're after, right? So, but it still doesn't take a lot of money.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: What I wanted to say in answer to your question somebody one time I heard say you can either pay in time or you can pay in dollars So I have friends who have made I have a friend who made their first six figures online and they never invested in a mentor but they invested their time investment was very very very high and so
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: To say you don't have to have any money to get started, that's true, but the caveat to that is if you're willing to sacrifice six months of two to three hours a day learning and trying and failing. But affiliate marketing is definitely in my opinion, the easiest way for people to start because you don't have to have any kind of authority. You don't have to create anything.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: Really, you have to set up a basic system. A lot of that can be free to set up. And yes, like for me, I have affiliates who promote my program, my training courses, and I want to help them promote those courses. And so you're gonna get help from successful creators because they want you to be better. I will argue it with anybody.
Adam Rother: Yep.
Sarah Thompson: Like I see people all the time being like, you need to create your own digital product. That's the easiest way for beginners to make money. And I'm just like, no, it's not. It's not. It's a great way, but it's not the easiest and the best for beginners. You can quickly transition to other things, but affiliate marketing is the best and easiest way to start, definitely.
Adam Rother: you Yeah, yeah. And this is just because like they are that you don't have to have like courses or like because like what I know or what I can see or like other products that also like people who are providing affiliate programs, they are also giving you resources to actually use for that. So you pretty much like. just as to publish pretty much. You just take care of the traffic, right? So is it like doing a TikTok or doing an Instagram post, right? Or Facebook posts or YouTube or really focusing mainly on the traffic and all of the rest is pretty much take care of, right?
Sarah Thompson: Yeah, after you set up your system, yes, very much so. mean, once you, you know, there's always a tech part, you know, that limits a lot of people. But once that part is set up, really the only thing you have to do is focus on traffic, focus on helping people. I tell people all the time, affiliate marketers are problem solvers. They are not solution makers, they are problem solvers. So,
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Sarah Thompson: You know, Adam, like if you and I were talking and you're like, Sarah, I really liked the camera that you just used for your podcast, which I don't even have my camera hooked up. But you know, I'm like, ⁓ yeah, it's great. You know, here's all the features. Let me just send you a link to it because I think you'd love it. That's an affiliate marketer. That is all you're doing. You're not creating the solution to the problem. You're just sharing it. You're sharing what worked. That's why it's so simple.
Adam Rother: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So for those, for example, who would be ⁓ planning to do something similar to what you do? ⁓ What would be the best way or easiest way to actually get started?
Sarah Thompson: with affiliate marketing, the best way to get started. Always, well, I mean, with a basic understanding of what it is, definitely, I think that goes without saying. I think a lot of people want to skip the step of figuring out who they actually want to help and how they want to help them. Because I think a lot of people go after the money before they go after helping people. And so, to start with affiliate marketing, the very first thing that you want to do is choose, how do I wanna help people? And to choose that, you take a good look at yourself and you think about like, what obstacles have I overcome or what obstacles do I need to overcome? So you can either share with people how you changed or, I think what's really fun, you can take people on a journey with you because, Especially I mean people are just naturally nosy, know So on social media if you post a video and you're like, hey, I am giving up sugar for 60 days So follow me right now. I'm gonna be posting at least two times a day telling you what I'm doing how I feel You know all these things Follow me. I'm going on a journey
Adam Rother: Yeah. Yep.
Sarah Thompson: I mean, ⁓ people can't wait to see you fail. They can't wait to see how you feel. They can't wait to see what you're doing. They can't wait to see how much weight you lose. So take them on that journey with you and then along the way, you're just gonna get to share every single resource. And I also feel like that's the best way because some people, I think a lot of people, feel like it's, if they hear the word marketing, they think of sales and salespeople are kind of sleazy sometimes. Right? So it makes them feel icky about selling. But as the affiliate, it's okay to change your mind. You know, you can totally promote a product. You're like, hey, I'm starting with this product. I don't know anything about it, guys. I'm just doing it. If you're interested in it, check it out. Right? Like you're not saying I 100 % believe in this product. You're saying I'm gonna start here. Two weeks later, if you change your mind, you can just be like, well, didn't work. But this, now I'm trying this, because you're just being honest. You're not being a salesperson. You have no commitment to that company that you're being an affiliate for. You're just using it and telling other people about it.
Adam Rother: Okay. Yeah. Like in my opinion, if you, well, it's probably going to be a differentiate based on like, you know, what type of business you're running, but yeah, I think like when it, when it comes to, you know, affiliate stuff, you, don't really need a lots of experience when it comes to like sales and you know, product creation and so on. But if you do something else than affiliate, I wouldn't, if you, if you are not willing to learn how to sell, you, you shouldn't even jump off your job. I'm telling you that right now because sales are so important to understand, like to actually like be good at sales. ⁓ that without basically without selling, you cannot make any money. You can't write any money. So this is like, this is the number one skillset that you have to really, really develop. Either way, I think when it comes to affiliate marketing, if you want to really scale it, you still have to start jumping into like things like webinars, master classes, or something like that, which is kind of sales, right? This is pretty much so. Yeah, so just, I wanted to put.
Sarah Thompson: Yes, ⁓ definitely. Yeah.
Adam Rother: you know, bring this point here because I think this is like, if you want to go to like, you know, even a million, I think you would have to start doing like this type of webinars and so on. ⁓ Yeah. But so tell me, so what was your first project actually? What you've been selling?
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ my first affiliate product or my first product.
Adam Rother: Yeah, your first affiliate stuff. What did you decide to go for?
Sarah Thompson: Well, it's funny that you asked that because my first affiliate, I mean, I was desperate to make money. Desperate, I had to, right? Like I invested in a training program. I would invest in that training program over and over and over again, by the way, like that small investment, the return on that investment was massive. Still changes my life to this day. But I did not know what I wanted to promote at all. But I also knew I couldn't stay stuck there. And so I started promoting like,
Adam Rother: ⁓ huh. Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: a brain training offer for dogs. And I like dogs, okay, I don't want anybody to get mad. But after a couple weeks of promoting it, you know, and I learned, I learned about doing that, I learned how to do lots of things. But I realized it was not at all something that I wanted to continue to do in the long term. And so I started thinking about what I did enjoy learning about. And it took me back to... how I felt when I discovered passive income. And so was like, you know what? I'm gonna start talking about that. That's what I wanna talk about. That's what I wanna help people with. And so I signed up to be an affiliate for, it was called the Business Builder Challenge. And it was a great affiliate company because it had a front end offer and then up sales. And you know, the company does that work for you. All I had to do was tell people about a $7 training.
Adam Rother: Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: then the company did the sales. That's why it's great to start as an affiliate. ⁓ And I believed in that product. And I also want to say here for anybody who wants, is interested in affiliate marketing, ⁓ if you want to be a super affiliate, which is where, like whenever you said what you said about sales, I became a super affiliate whenever I figured this part out. Give people bonuses that will help them have success.
Adam Rother: Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: faster and easier. ⁓ That was a huge thing for me. So I created it. Huh? Yeah.
Adam Rother: Combining it, yeah, yeah. Can you make it more clear? Like combining it with the product that you promote from other people?
Sarah Thompson: Yes, so it was the same product, 15-Day Business Builder Challenge. I was promoting it, I really liked it. Well, I told people that I'd went through the course and I made a checklist of things that the course taught that I needed to do to be successful. And so I created this checklist, I think inside of Canva. it was my notes I took while I was going through the course. I just put them in a Canva doc. little checklist, I did like a quick reference sheet to like what you need to do and I told people that they could go to, you know, they could purchase it for $10 or if they just purchased the $7 training, I'm happy to send them that resource for free to help them have success faster and easier. I think I started that. I think I did that on like a Thursday. Yes. And I did like a weekend. I was like, I'll do it this weekend. Never thinking it would matter. Adam, I'm here to tell you. was a no brainer because ⁓ put $10 on it. I totally made that number up. I didn't know. I mean, it probably was worth that at least because they were good notes and I knew what I was doing. But that perceived value was massive. And it was something here again, I'm going back to passive income. I created that checklist one time. It was a digital product ⁓ it made me money ⁓ and over and over again. because the value helped many people and all I had to do was share it. So, and that is a sales tactic because bonuses and worksheets and perceived value, and I learned all that as I got started. Anytime you can help people more, they're gonna love that, they're gonna want it.
Adam Rother: Yep. Yep. Yeah, yeah. know, and that way you're going to differentiate yourself basically. And, you know, I know that some people are basically going to buy even the product from you because of those bonuses again, basically, because they want what you might have to offer. So yeah, this is really, really, really great point to bring. This is, yeah, that was super powerful. So when you...
Sarah Thompson: Thanks.
Adam Rother: When did you start it? What was like your first, let's say, like a roadblock that you had to overcome in your, inside of you? Like, what was the, because we, all of us know that basically business is 90 % about mindset and 10 % tactics, pretty much. So let's, let's dive into those like limiting beliefs and help people to actually like, you know, get them through them and help them to start actually making money with other people's
Sarah Thompson: Sure, yes. I think I told you earlier, I really did not believe I would have success doing this. I was very middle class, very, you know, thought I was just gonna suffer through life, working for paycheck to paycheck. And so, whenever I considered investing in a training program, I overthought it, I overcomplicated it. Of course I told my husband about it and he, luckily I'm married to a great man who was like, yeah, Sarah, do it. Like you can do it, I know you can.
Adam Rother: No,
Sarah Thompson: My coach, my business advisor, he asked me, Sarah, how much money do you think, like how much money would you like to make? And I said $500 a month. And he told me, was the first time I'd ever heard the term limiting belief. He said, well, I want you to crush that limiting belief. And I was like, what do you mean? And he said, Sarah, I'm telling you right now, you can make $1,000 a day. And I...
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: literally laughed out loud at him. And he said, okay, I'm gonna challenge you. He said, because I believe in you, I want you for three months to not tell anybody what you're doing. Don't even, you're not even open for opinion on it. Don't talk about it. Just put blinders on and do this for three months because I believe this can be true. And Adam, wish I could go back in time and remember
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: what feeling he gave me to make me want to do that because I had such a big limiting belief. I worked two weeks full time and after taxes and health insurance made barely over a thousand dollars every two weeks. And my first thousand dollars that I made in a day was on a Saturday night when I was working, watching fireworks with my family. I had not worked at all that day. And I can tell you right now,
Adam Rother: ⁓ So crazy.
Sarah Thompson: that nothing will crush a limiting belief more than somebody having belief in you and that person at the same time challenging you to see that belief in yourself. don't, can't, you know, of course I only have one story to tell. I only have one journey, but that limiting belief was huge. Now, the thing about limiting beliefs is that they don't stop after you crush one, right? And,
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: It's very odd for me to say this and I don't know what kind of people are going to be listening to this right now, whether they're beginners or advanced. But right now I'm at a block in my business where I have some guilt associated with money and I've identified that I have limiting beliefs because of guilt. Because of my wonderful family who loved me and raised me and gave me this work ethic and I've made in one month. what they don't make in a year. And I feel guilty about that. You know what I mean? But that's a limiting belief. And so I'm working through that.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. It starts basically sabotaging your success. ⁓
Sarah Thompson: Absolutely, absolutely. And these limiting beliefs in that, it's even hard to talk about it with friends I have that don't do business because I think they almost kind of scoff at it, but it's real. It's very real that I have an income cap because of me, not because of anything else. And so I'm actively working on that. It's a mindset thing, it's a comfort thing, it's a nervous system thing. Five years ago, if somebody had said, you know, it's 10 % effort, 90 % mindset, I would have rolled my eyes. Now I will tell you 100 % that is correct. Because if your mind is working against you, your efforts won't really, they won't be near as good as they could be. I completely agree.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, it's always the battle between those two things, right? You basically have to become the person to be able to put the effort effortlessly basically to pursue what you actually ⁓ pursue the goal basically. ⁓ I know that too we are playing like, you know, everybody has this type of moments I think or... This is a journey, know, like there is not a destination because journey is a destination, right? ⁓ And you basically upgrowing yourself every day and... It's not always easy, but you'll see you'll figure it out. Eventually you're gonna get through it and you... I don't know you extremely personally, so I don't know how... I would love to help you with that, to give you some advice or something, but... Because I'm not attached to money as much. I don't care about money. Like I'm telling you that I don't care. I'm here to serve, literally. And the money is more like a benefit, like something that like is allowing me to become the person and serve more people. Right? So maybe that is the shift that you have to do also, like totally like, you know, get like the divorce from the income and all of that. And sometimes it's really hard because like we are from the beginning, you know, we're struggling. I know exactly how you probably been going, what you've been going through at the beginning. Like my story at the beginning, like when I was growing up with my grandparents instead of my parents, because my parents have been working like freaking free jobs to just get by. I couldn't even see them. So I have better relationship with my grandparents than with my parents actually. And it's like... This is, I don't want to have that in my life. So that was the moment that I was like, I don't want to, I'm not going to stay in my country. I'm going to leave the country. I don't want to be around those people and I'm going to do something completely different. Right. And that was the moment for me. Like when did everything clay? I had to start figuring out on my own, like because I went here by myself, nobody, like I literally on my own, was how old was 21 or something. 21, I think. It's like seven years ago. Yeah, so I was yeah seven. Yeah, so and and it was it was So difficult I couldn't speak English still struggling with it about getting better and better each day And that's the process like ⁓ you know, my goal is to get to us. I want to live in USA This is like the best country ever Yeah, so ⁓ and you know, I'm this this whole
Sarah Thompson: You Come on over!
Adam Rother: entrepreneurship journey is just so, so powerful and so amazing to be on. And, you know, we talking to amazing people as you and other people that I have here on the show, basically. And, and, and it's just so much fun because like we just, the way that we talk, we helping other people also because they can listen to us, they can break those false beliefs, they can, you know, figure out the things that actually stops them and like, Encouraging them to actually do the things and make it making work for them change their lives. This is this is amazing. Are you Christian actually?
Sarah Thompson: Yes, okay, okay. You said you're a Christian, right?
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, I've been asking you, are you Christian?
Sarah Thompson: Yes, and that's what I was wanting to share with you. So can I share something? Can I share a story? Okay. So this is, know that y'all don't know a lot about my story, right? Other than that, I was broke and didn't want to be broke anymore. So 2023, that's when I quit my job because I'd had so much success with affiliate marketing. I was making more money. I mean like, and I will also want to say this. My affiliate product was hot at that time. I just started that checklist. It was selling like crazy.
Adam Rother: ⁓ totally,
Sarah Thompson: Those hot offers are not a constant, okay? But I was making, you know, as an affiliate, I was still only an affiliate, $5,000 $8,000 a day. It was insane for a couple months, okay? Made more money ever in 2023 than I'd ever even imagined. 2023 is also when my family was involved in a really terrible ziplining accident in Jamaica. It was awful. My husband... who had been sober for 10 years, went into remission, he had to go to rehab for five weeks. ⁓ To tell you it was the most terrible time of my life is an understatement, okay? And so I figured out, because I know, the people I help, money they think is their goal. But I always tell them, I'm like, you're gonna have to find something that's not money. It's really not money that you want. It's really something else. You know, it's really something deeper. Money is a resource, but money cannot be your God. And so I always, do this activity. I'm like, what's the four whys? You know, why do you want to make more money? And then you ask why, why, why, why? And so at one point in my business, I told one of my friends, my goal I think was to make a million in a year. And they were like, is that how you really feel? And I was like, I don't know. I don't really even know what I would do with that much money because
Adam Rother: Yep. Totally.
Sarah Thompson: that the year I made that much money was terrible for me. And so what I was gonna tell you is my husband and I are like actually actively right now, like setting up plans for ⁓ sober living homes for men and women who have been through rehab. And then also for like our community, I'm from Kentucky, I'm from a small town in Kentucky. And it's kind of the Bible belt, right? There's churches on every corner, but there's still hungry people and I can't. Adam, that's just my heart. can't stand the thought of me having more than enough and somebody who lives two blocks over not like starving. That hurts my heart. And so I'm figuring out how to help people in those ways because as a Christian, I know that if I ask for selfish reasons, I don't think God's gonna bless that. I think God wants to bless my prosperity so I can use it for his kingdom. That's why I want to create more. And also I want to help other people discover the freedom
Adam Rother: beautiful yeah yeah
Sarah Thompson: that passive income can give them because I think the devil attacks the American family. I think that busyness is a disease. think that I think the devil wants moms and dads is distracted and as away from their kids as possible. And so if I can tell other women how they can make money. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk.
Adam Rother: Okay, so let's talk about that. Let's talk about that, right? Because, you know, we are taught basically that if you are not busy, you are not doing enough, for example, right? So let's talk about that, your perspective on it and why it's not true.
Sarah Thompson: Mm-hmm. Whew, I mean, that's, we could unload a lot here too. I say that all the time. Busyness is just a distraction and your distractions are what really is your downfall, truthfully. Because American women, I know you're a man, so like you will never have this perspective, but I was a working mom. I was blessed to have family that babysat my children for me. I never had to put them in daycare. So I never had that struggle. But even women, we are so wired to worry more about what they're doing, what other people are doing instead of what we're doing. And so for me, I was smart, I enjoyed my work, I really loved my patients, but it was very unhealthy. It felt out of place for me to give the best of my time and energy and priorities. to this schedule, to this boss, instead of my kids. And I was even one of the fortunate ones who wasn't answering to a daycare. Like I had, if my baby had the sniffles, I knew my mama was gonna hold her all day and love her. And it's because we've been sold this lie that you have to work, that if you're able to work, you should work. And it's just not true. And I've had plenty, I've had barely enough. and you just make it and it's because you've got to trust that God will provide for that and I know that sounds really lame, but it's true. But you do not have to, women do not have to leave their children to earn income for them or to even be valuable for them, even without earning income. They can still have value. But like I told you in high school, I was pretty much told if I didn't go to college and get a degree, I was useless. I might as well just, and it's not true. You know, I don't know how the education system is there, but in America, know, we're told you want to all, everything is toward this system, right? Nobody tells you, tells girls in high school, if you want to, you know, start a family and be a stay at home mom, that's awesome. There's a lot of value in that. It's always, it's looked down upon, looked down upon almost, which I do think that's changing. I think social media is changing that, but. We're addicted to busyness, we're addicted to stress, we're addicted to feeling guilty if we do sit down. And that's not how we're designed at all. We're not designed for torture. I don't serve a God who wants us to suffer. I serve a God who wants really great things for us, not the other way around.
Adam Rother: Yeah, I don't think that he is even like when you're reading the Bible there, ⁓ like I'm still in a process of actually studying it and so on. So I'm not like completely, you know, I'm not really like highly educated in that topic, but I love to be, because that's why I'm like just pointing it out. But he's saying in one of ⁓ one of these sections that, you know, he doesn't want us to hustle all the time. Right.
Sarah Thompson: We all are. We all should be.
Adam Rother: That's the reason why it's even saying that, you know, ⁓ there is the Sunday basically where we rest, basically the seventh day, right? ⁓ So this is completely like set it up from the wrong perspective, basically, and it's all set it up against like us pretty much. It's basically who's benefiting from this, right?
Sarah Thompson: Exactly.
Adam Rother: Who's benefiting? We don't. And if you like, there are so many people who are basically just stuck in the rat race and hustling all the time, thinking that the hustle actually going to bring more money, which is insane, right? Why you do and put more effort into something that do not work? Is it literally proof? It's proved that it doesn't work. How many people are hustling they don't have any more time for? their kids, for their families, for anything they want in their life. But they're still doing it, which is crazy.
Sarah Thompson: Yeah. It's crazy and I was just telling, like, you have to be really careful who you take advice from, you know? When I look back now, my high school teachers who I respect, I enjoyed them, I liked them, they were telling me to go to college and get an education, but their education had them trapped in a job that didn't pay them well. And like they didn't, like they weren't living financially stable. So why did I take financial advice from them? You know what I mean? Like you've got to kind of look at the source or if you feel like going out and starting an online business is, yeah.
Adam Rother: Do you know? Yeah, this is insane. for example, that example that you just made, like how many people are taking advices from financial advisors? Like, I mean, okay, bankers.
Sarah Thompson: Mm-hmm.
Adam Rother: This is so painful for me to even think about. Those people are both broke than you are. And they are literally giving you advices on how to operate with your money. This is insane.
Sarah Thompson: Yes. Yes, if the system wanted us to know how to succeed with money, then Rich Dad Poor Dad would be a mandatory read for every high school student. don't want us. Absolutely. I need to read it again. It changed my life. I remember I bought that book when I bought that $7 course and I remember reading it and like, like at night, like tapping my husband, like Jay, you're not going believe what this is. Like I will, why anybody tell me this? That's how I felt.
Adam Rother: ⁓ totally, totally. Have you read it? Have you? For sure you read it, right? Totally. Yeah Exactly.
Sarah Thompson: But it's because I was seeking advice and I was mirroring my life after other broke people. And I'm like, would I, why was I taking advice from them? Like, it would be like getting diet advice from, you know, somebody who weighs 600 pounds. I'm not taking away their value or their credibility, but if I wanted to learn how to have a healthy diet, I wouldn't listen to someone who is morbidly obese. If you wanna learn how to build your wealth, you're not gonna listen to somebody.
Adam Rother: Exactly. Like, duh.
Sarah Thompson: who can't pay their bills and who has no freedom. Like.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that is just insane. Insane. ⁓ my gosh. know, when it's, it's, there was a, you know, like when the most important, like the most important thing that they don't teach us is literally the financial statement, right? Like just to go a little bit on, on, on that side, like money vice and so on.
Sarah Thompson: Makes no sense.
Adam Rother: ⁓ But the thing that you have to like, this is the first thing that I would study, like complete, like to be educated enough about money, because you're going to make money and what are you going to do with those money? Like you have to be financially literate to actually to be able to acquire wealth, not just like ⁓ some type of higher income that's going to end up or puts you into into a worse position that you even been before. Because like that's what is happening, right? You can see from different perspective, people are winning lotteries or whatever and where are they ending up? Basically in a worse place that they've been before, right? Because they just don't understand. They just give money to somebody from their family, they buy more and more liabilities and they ending up bankrupt completely and even worse. Right? ⁓ so that's one of those things. But the second thing that I wanted to share also here is everybody in the world, everybody, everyone, like every person in the world has a financial statement. Everyone. If you do not like the financial statement will work only if there are two or more. Right? Does that make sense? Because basically your liabilities is for somebody else asset and that's how it works. Right? So you have to be really, you have to really understand what is going on. but read the book because like read the rich ⁓ rich that poor that book or even like the cash whole quadrants. That's really like, it's, it's really, really important to, understand this topic. ⁓ But yeah, so what was like, let's, let's, let's stay a little bit on that money topic and so on. So tell me what was your, what was your beliefs about money at like, at the beginning? What parents told you what teachers told you like, what have you been going to church or you've been, have you been like since the beginning or you just like figured it out when you get older?
Sarah Thompson: Well, and like I told you, like I am actively, like I'm actively every day working on changing how I feel about money. Because like I told you, there's guilt associated with me having it now, but that comes from when I was a kid, my parents, know, their love story's great. My dad was a coal miner, okay? We mine coal over here in Kentucky. And my mom, they got married the June after she graduated high school and she went to work at a local bank, okay?
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: and my parents always worked hard, but they never had a financial education. And so... And I have a hard time with this because I don't ever want anybody to think I'm talking negatively about my parents, but we struggled financially. And my brother and I felt that financial struggle as children. And that's where my blocks come from. I had a lot of, I had a scarcity mindset about money. And then once that scarcity...
Adam Rother: Yeah Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Why is that? What is... Why do you have... Like, how you can develop scarcity mindset? What happened that you have something like that, actually? Have you figured it out already? Yeah, sorry. Go ahead.
Sarah Thompson: When I think about, yeah, I think about like, I'm afraid that there's not enough money to go around. Right, so it was very hard for me to learn that if I have more money, that doesn't take money away from Adam. And I know that might sound silly, but I felt like if I get wealth, somebody else loses wealth. Or I was very afraid that
Adam Rother: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: money can come, but it'll disappear. Like it'll just go. Like, I don't know how to say that the right way, but like, felt like, okay, I made this amount of money, but it could just go away tomorrow. It's too good to be true, right? Because I never learned about money and how money works and how money flows and how you make money, right? So for me, money was something that I had to work really hard for and it had to be earned.
Adam Rother: that. Mm-hmm. Yep, yep, yep. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: And whenever I was making a lot more money without working hard for it, I think I didn't feel like I truly earned it maybe. Anyways, I didn't feel like there was enough money for everyone. So that was my scarcity mindset of, that was my belief there about that. I also felt like people who had money were bad. That's the best way for me to summarize that.
Adam Rother: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: because I'd always, I went to church my whole life and I had to do a lot of work on rich people aren't bad people. You can't, I'll just say this, you can't serve anyone. You can't meet people's needs out of poverty. If I don't have money, I can't buy food for people who don't have food. If I don't have the ability to buy a warm coat, then I can't buy a coat for my own children, much less kids who need coats.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. the Yeah.
Sarah Thompson: Money is not my god, but money is a resource. And so it is not bad to know how to create wealth. If you use your wealth for bad, that's bad. as a Christian and as a kid who was raised this way, I had to do a lot of relearning and studying for myself, myself, what that meant. I know now, I know now, but I think a lot of people don't realize that
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Sarah Thompson: even though they think they want to get rich. they think that maybe that's a sin deep down and it's really not. It's really not. And so, yeah, I don't even know if I answered your question correctly.
Adam Rother: Yeah. No, yeah, totally. You know, when it comes to money, it's you cannot, you know, it's it's not who it determines who you are. It doesn't determine who you are. Right. Money is more like an amplifier because like, let's say that Are there people who are poor and jerks? And they are jerks? Are they? For sure, right? So, and are there people who are rich and they are jerks? Right? So that's, there is the, like, and there are people who are, ⁓ also, you know, they have like, literally are poor and they're really good people. And then there are also rich people who are really good people. So this is not-
Sarah Thompson: Yep. Still jerks.
Adam Rother: actually like the money is not the factor, right? The person who you are is the determining factor, right? The money is more like an amplifier, right? It brings the fuel to the fire, right? So that's my belief towards money and so on, right? And...
Sarah Thompson: I agree with that.
Adam Rother: You know, when it comes to also like when it comes to that there is not enough. Have you like, have you already figured out how to like deal with that also? Like there is not enough.
Sarah Thompson: Yes. Yeah, I had to figure, actually went to a conference called Faith Over Fear a couple of years ago and it really helped me with a lot of that. But I didn't know that. I didn't know that until I learned about money. I mean, because I think because I was smart. Yeah.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, like money is a real topic. Like literally, I'm glad that you brought it because like this is this is really important. And like we are told that to not talk about money, right? Like since the since the young age, do not talk about money. This is too confidential or whatever. And that's not true. Like we need to be educated about wealth, not not just letting it to just determine like how we're going to live. No, no way. Right.
Sarah Thompson: Very much. Yes. Right, well, and even if you don't make a lot of money, you can still build wealth because you have to, and that's what I mean, I was about to say that because I was a smart kid and I made good grades, I thought I should understand what to do with money. But if you're not taught, you might think you know what to do with money, but if you're not taught how money works, then you don't. mean, and it goes as basic as I had a savings account at my local bank.
Adam Rother: ⁓ yeah. Hmm.
Sarah Thompson: I didn't know about a high yield savings account. I thought the savings account at the bank was great. Nope. I didn't know about, you know, IULs, like index universal life funds. didn't know about, you know, compound. I knew about compound interest and how it worked against me, not how it could work for me. I mean, so many things, you're not taught those things. And like you said, we're trained, ⁓ don't talk about money. That's uncomfortable. When really,
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: I would have been really thrilled if somebody sat down with 17 year old Sarah and was like, hey Sarah, you've got a little job right now and I know that like you want to keep that money for yourself, but let me show you what would happen if you put $30 a week into this investment account and don't touch it and just get used to not living. Like start small because I think it becomes so intimidating because it's not talked about that at a certain age people are like, well, I just can't do it.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: Anyways, sorry. But yeah, I think education is important.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah, no, totally, Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. ⁓ I see we have like maybe another like nine minutes or you good to go now?
Sarah Thompson: Yeah. I'm good. I can be on for about 15 more. I'm good for about 15.
Adam Rother: Okay, awesome. All right, so let's talk about... ⁓ Parenthood. Right? How you been dealing with like the way, you know, with those limiting beliefs and or the programming basically that, for example, you shouldn't be the provider for your family because that's a role of your husband, right? Which is like the interesting topic also, like let's go that way and how you because I don't know, like, for example, what your husband's doing or so, but basically, like, ⁓ are you the provider for your family? or do you like do you have you know, has been helping you also with what you do and so on. like, yeah, share something with us on that area for sure.
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ yeah, that's a really good topic too. And I wish I had like Bible verses like ready on the go for that. So ⁓ there were, my husband does work. My husband is really very, he's very skilled. He's a carpenter and he, I shared very briefly about his addiction, his recovery for that reason, even though Jay does not have to work financially for our family, it benefits him to work. He's a busy body. He's very able bodied.
Adam Rother: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ This is very interesting. Just last night at church, he's gonna start like, this is so, it's a God thing. He's gonna start like a mission thing about not only teaching young kids a skill, but also how to improve your community with that skill. And so Jay works, Jay does provide. you with a, you're an entrepreneur with digital income, it's not getting a paycheck every month. So.
Adam Rother: yeah love it
Sarah Thompson: What he brings to our family financially does matter as well. As far as like the provider, like on a scale of who makes more money, you know, it's me, I make more money. But you know, the Bible says, you know, we're a team, we're a pair. And so I don't, and I'm sure I fail at this sometimes, but I don't consider myself better than Jay because financially I make more than him. Like Jay is still... The leader of our home, we still, I have respect for my husband, even when I'm gonna buy something for my business, if it's like an investment, that's a large amount, I talk to him about it because I respect him and because he respects me too. Whenever we talk about providing, this goes way back to like our caveman ancestors, like he is my protector. He's the one who shows my daughter. how a man, how a husband needs to treat her. And he's the one who shows my son how he is to provide for his family. So I think that's just something that could be different. on each relationship. I'm not a relationship expert. I would never say that, but there's a respect there. I've, I have met people in our same situation and I've seen them be like publicly disrespectful to their husband because of their financial gains. And it, it's uncomfortable for me because I'm Jason, I'm not better or less than because of how much money I make.
Adam Rother: course yeah and that's how it's supposed to be that's that's that's amazing and you know that shows your character and you are a good person and you know and this is like you know this is the thing like
Sarah Thompson: And also, yeah, well, we're.
Adam Rother: I don't think you should be scared of how much money you have or how much money you make or if there's... Because, know, how many people you actually help already and how many people that investment towards their final dream helped actually to bring even more money to their lives, you know? So this is like... I just wanted to bring it up because like you should really be... proud of yourself based on what you've done for your family, for other people. you know, this is like, yeah, just, yeah, just, I think you're doing such a good things for sure. Totally.
Sarah Thompson: Thank you, Adam. That's really very nice of you. It's nice. I love what I do. If I could just make other people do the work, that would be great.
Adam Rother: Awesome. ⁓ yeah. That's, that's, this is the mind, you know, this is the mindset thing. And sometimes people pay more attention and more, they do more when they pay more because you know, it's, it is what it is, but that's what, what I'm to bring up to you because this is like, you cannot be, ⁓
Sarah Thompson: ⁓ yeah.
Adam Rother: You cannot sabotage yourself just because how much money you make because when you start charging more you're make even also more money. But how much more impact is gonna have on those people because they actually gonna do the freaking thing. So yeah, bad.
Sarah Thompson: Yes, I'm actually, I'm about, everything's about to get a little higher because, you know, I think as an entrepreneur, you always play around with things. Everything's a test, right? Everything's a test. And I have my coaching program at a certain price and people aren't taking action. And that's the problem is it didn't hurt. Yeah. I don't think it hurt them enough financially. think, and also like it no.
Adam Rother: That's a typical, yeah, yeah. It doesn't hurt enough.
Sarah Thompson: Because that's, I'm telling you right now, I took money out of my savings account to buy that mentorship that I got started with and I had to make that money back. Like if my husband at the time he was self-employed, working for himself doing construction, I mean, if he had hurt himself and like been, you know, not been able to work for a month, we would have been, I would have taken money away from my family. That would have made me feel terrible. So I'm not saying I want to hurt people, but if their desire isn't big enough, And if they're not hungry enough, it's not gonna change their lives. So it's gotta be a little bit higher because I'm so invested in the people I wanna help and it's hurtful for me when they give up on themselves right before they're about to have a breakthrough. But.
Adam Rother: top. Yup, yup, yup. There are people who are charging even $25,000 per, you know, to just a starting program.
Sarah Thompson: And there's, mean, what, is Tony Robbins an hour? 60,000?
Adam Rother: What is my room golden?
Sarah Thompson: Oh, I Myron Golden. I got to have a picture with Myron Golden. He is one of my favorite entrepreneurs and he, yes, he's an amazing, his talk at Funnel Hacking Live inspired me. He said, if you want to stop, yeah, I was at Funnel Hacking Live last year.
Adam Rother: Hahahaha Have you been at Funnel Hacking Live actually? No, me too. I don't know why we didn't, but it's so funny. But yeah, we have even a sign there. Can you see? Yeah. Yeah. We've been talking to him for a while there. It was, it was really interesting experience for sure. Yeah. ClickFunnel is, is really nice. Well, the software is not as good as it could be.
Sarah Thompson: Yes. Yeah. Ugh. So cool. So cool that.
Adam Rother: I'm not just saying.
Sarah Thompson: I love ClickFunnels for what I use it for, but yeah, I've always used ClickFunnels though, so.
Adam Rother: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I started with ClickFunnels actually, but with the capabilities of the software is the go high level is pretty, it's just so much more, especially like complex stuff anyway. But yeah, thank you so much for being here. It was so, so, so amazing to have you here and talking to you, where people can find you, ⁓ to support you, you know, join your program or help.
Sarah Thompson: I'm so glad you asked me to.
Adam Rother: get help with affiliate marketing.
Sarah Thompson: I would love, they're welcome to join my community on school. That's where I do, I mean, you'll find the classroom full of trainings there and then I'm active in that community. I'm always sharing like what I'm finding, you know, like OfferLab is new right now. That's great for beginners with affiliate marketing. I can share that with you so that they're welcome to join my community there. Social media wise, I got started on TikTok. I'm still on TikTok, but Facebook is where I spend a lot of time. So feel free out.
Adam Rother: What is your biggest platform actually? Facebook. Yeah, yeah. I'm actually getting some really good fractions there too recently. But it's not my main thing that I do, it's just like my partners actually.
Sarah Thompson: So. Facebook. What do you do? YouTube?
Adam Rother: I do a high ticket sales for coaches and consultants, a combination with AI most of the time is like AI driven all of that. So this is one of the things that I But also like I'm tapping into the affiliate stuff because like I love marketing, I love AI. combining those two things together. So bringing traffic is like one of my hobby kind of thing. So I like to study marketing and so on. So I'm just like always around there. Yeah. It's amazing. starting something like this, like literally having this type of conversation with people also, this is another interesting way to start a business without even have to have a, know, like investing. to, you know, or like I would say even like it's not even as time consuming as social media when it comes to like Facebook and so on, because you have to really ⁓ publish quite bit of the content there. But when you are running this like this type of shows, you would be you would be surprised how ⁓ many interesting I'm able to talk to and like how many great opportunities you can ⁓ you can ⁓ get. Yeah, but anyway, thank you so much. Thank you for being here. And yeah, we'll talk for sure again or, know. Totally.
Sarah Thompson: Thank you for having me. Yeah, I'd love to. That sounds great.
