Ella Cook takes us on her personal-growth and business journey starting with her childhood growing up in Zambia and, then, her adult life in the UK and Australia, before becoming location-independent and moving to Bali, Indonesia. She opens up about her struggles with substance abuse, self-image, chronic anxiety, suicidal thoughts, abusive relationships, and drifting through life on other peoples’ terms. She shares the moment when she called off her wedding, broke up with her fiancé, moved to Bali and completely changed her life path. She also acknowledges that the dramatic life-transition alone did not resolve her internal struggles. She explains how she continued to spiral downward in Bali until she hit rock bottom and finally decided to start doing the real personal-development work and taking control of her life. She shares some of the most transformative retreats she attended that helped her connect with her feminine energy, realize her special skills and passions, harness her power, and establish her life-direction. She explains how those experiences led to her hosting women’s circles and ultimately founding “The Alchemy of She”. Ella also talks about her journey founding, niching, and scaling “Made of Magic”, her digital marketing agency that focuses on high-ticket retreat marketing. She explains why it is so important for women to build and own real businesses, and why the ‘life coaching’ space in Bali is so fraught with problems. She then shares some of her key business-building and marketing tips for growing a successful company. She also shares the evolution of her productivity habits, morning routines, and day structure. FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE AT www.TheMaverickShow.com
Episode #60: Discovering Your Magic, Taking Control of Your Life, and Building a High-Ticket Retreat Marketing Business with Ella Cook
Episode Summary
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About the Guest
Ella Cook
Ella Cook is a location-independent entrepreneur, born and raised in Zambia and currently based in Bali, Indonesia. She is the founder, owner and ‘Chief Witch’ at “Made Of Magic”, a digital marketing agency that specializes in lead generation and sales for transformational retreats. Ella’s mission is to help business owners who run unique, impactful retreats to amplify their reach and fill their events through creative, human-centered marketing. Ella has bootstrapped her business and in less than 3 years has grown revenue to over $20,000/month. She can run her business completely remotely and has traveled to over 40 countries. She is also the founder and facilitator of “The Alchemy of She” where Ella guides women towards a more powerful version of themselves, rooted in self-worth and the confidence to demand and create a life on their terms. This includes tapping into their feminine energy and power, discovering their magic and embracing their unique gifts through weekly women’s circles, retreats and online programs. Inspired by her own personal growth journey, Ella is passionate about bringing people together to provide healing spaces for personal transformation.
What You'll Learn
- Tips for discovering your magic, tapping into your power, and taking control of your life.
- The #1 marketing technique that landed Ella her first batch of ideal clients.
- How to think about niching your business, and why it’s so lucrative to do so.
Links From the Episode
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THE TOP 2 BOOKS ELLA RECOMMENDS
- Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller
- This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See by Seth Godin
OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED
- DotCom Secrets by Russell Brunson
- Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson
- The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris
THE TOP 3 PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS ELLA RECOMMENDS
- TRACKTION Planner (Use This Link and Get a $10 Discount)
- Zero
- Blocker
THE PERSON WITH WHOM ELLA WOULD MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER
IMPACTFUL EVENT THAT ELLA ATTENDED
LOCATION WHERE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE
ELLA’S TOP 3 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
ELLA’S TOP 3 BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS
PLACE WHERE ELLA WAS BORN AND RAISED
OTHER PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
CHECK FLIGHT PRICES TO ANY OF THESE LOCATIONS
CONTACT ELLA
Time Stamped Show Notes
[2:45] Matt and Ella Talk about Canggu, Bali
- Why Ella chooses to be based in Canggu
[4:48] What Surfing Means to Ella
- Ella’s surfing journey
- What Ella loves most about surfing today
[8:15] Ella’s Experience in Lombok
- What Ella loves about Lombok
- Her Reflections on Lombok’s pace of life
[12:15] Growing up in Zambia
- Ella’s childhood in Zambia
- Zambia vs. Botswana
- Her gratitude for education
- Developing her passion for the environment
- Moving to the UK at age 16
[16:28] Ella’s Teenage and University Years in the UK
- Struggling to fit in as a teenager in the UK
- Falling in with a bad crowd and getting into an abusive relationship
- Leaving the UK for Australia
[19:19] Ella’s Life in Australia
- Ella’s dreams of being a surfer
- Moving in with a guy after 4 days
- The disjuncture between what she wanted and the life choices she was making
- Reflections on low self-worth and reckless decision-making
- Being engaged and re-thinking the ‘white-picket-fence’ path
[25:13] Cancelling her Wedding and Re-starting Everything at Age 29
- Ella’s vision and realizing she only has one shot at life
- Choosing to pro-actively live for herself and not others
- Choosing to cancel her wedding, leave her fiancé and re-start everything
[30:41] Moving to Bali and Spiraling Downward
- Distracting herself from her pain with drugs and alcohol
- Realizing that travel alone will not resolve internal struggles
- Hitting rock bottom, breaking down and re-assessing her entire life
[36:20] Ella’s Emergence from Rock Bottom
- Feeling like her entire life was a lie
- Re-assessing everything from scratch
- Taking one step at a time to climb up from the bottom
- Attending a transformative retreat
- Getting in touch with her feminine energy
- Discovering her power and her magic
- Building up her confidence and making other people happy
[47:56] Creating “The Alchemy of She”
- Organizing “Goddess Circles” with other women
- Transformation and healing through connection with women
- Deciding not to pursue the coaching/healing space as a business
[56:22] Building “Made of Magic” as a Real, Sustainable Business
- Wanting to empower women to build real businesses that matter to them
- Leading by example
- Building “Made of Magic” and establishing a meaningful brand identity
- Studying the most effective marketing strategies
- Being confident she could re-build a business system if she lost it all
- Losing her father and signing her largest contract in the same week
- Surrounding herself with the right people
[1:10:32] Niching down to focus on “high-ticket retreat marketing”
- The crucial importance of defining a niche
- Leveraging the power of storytelling
- Focusing on the high-ticket events only
- Building a replicable system based on quantitative marketing KPIs
[1:19:26] Productivity Habits and Routines
- Cultivating discipline, focus, and structure
- Coordinating her productivity routines with her menstrual cycle
- Using the TRACKTION planner
- Ella’s morning routine in detail
- The importance of gratitude meditation and breathwork
- Dancing naked and getting into a feminine flow
- Re-structuring her workday
[1:29:57] The Lightning Round
- The Top 3 Books Ella recommends
- The Top 2 Productivity tools that Ella uses
- The #1 person with whom Ella would like to have dinner
- The #1 piece of advice Ella would give to her 18-year old self
- Ella’s Top 3 Favorite Travel Destinations
- Ella’s Top 3 Bucket List Destinations
[1:35:07] Contact Ella
- Visit Ella’s Website
- Connect with Ella on Social Media
