Shivani Gupta

Hello everybody and welcome to the AskShivani podcast. I am so excited to have Yassin Hall on our podcast today, I have been reading about this fabulous woman for quite a while I've been following her, and her CV is like about eight pages long. So, let me give you a very quick summary about her. She is the CEO of the B.O.S.S. Amazon Class and journey untold. She is an award-winning Best-Selling Author, she is a self-made multimillionaire, she is huge influencer in successfully selling on Amazon for now over 16 years coming up to 20 years. And now she educates others on how to build profitable Amazon online businesses creating freedom. That word is so important to me. Awesome. She's also a certified worldwide mental health advocate. She's a keynote speaker. She has talked a lot about some of the challenges she's had in a personal life, which we'll dive into. And she has encouraged and helped countless people. Welcome Yassin.

Yassin Hall

Hi, thank you for having me. Thank you. Thank you.

Shivani Gupta

Look, when I read your details when I look at some of the books that you've had, yes. And the first question I'm always interested in is, you know, your journey. And I believe that the best way to talk about your journey is your wonderful highs and your terrible lows, because those highs and lows often define who we are. So, would you tell us a little bit about that, you know, those highs and lows that have formed you into who you are today?

Yassin Hall

Well, I would say my biggest highs has been the success of my children. Despite the fact that I am a daughter of a permanent schizophrenic and have a depressed quarter father, I had a very good chance of becoming or inheriting mental health disorders. Fortunately, it surpassed me, and it went to my children. So, I have four and four. So four of my children are all living with special abilities. However, because of what I saw, my mother goes through in life, I was determined that I noticed anything, my children, I will immediately get them the help they need. And today I have a 36, 26 to 23 and a 21-year-old are all living successfully with the disability like to call it special abilities, not disabilities, and have overcome so many challenges. And have just taught me patience, a lot of patience, wisdom, and I'm grateful for the path that it took for me to get here and selling on Amazon. It took me being homeless and didn't have a choice. But to sell an online period because of the children's dynamics of corporate America was just not something that would fit for what I was doing with a single mom working with the kids. So, I'm grateful that a platform that helped me to get successful and get me ahead financially and in the business world in general. And have my own my own company has also been able to get my children to the same success and through teaching them I realized I can teach women just like myself how to do it. So that is the in between the highs and the lows of how we actually got here, you know, I'm really, really proud, proud of my students proud of my success proud of my children. I'm just overall just in a very joyful place of knowing that I never gave up and I didn't give up on them.

Shivani Gupta

Now, that's beautiful. Yes. And because often when we read the CV is it's also much about what we do in our businesses and the books we've written and the keynotes we've done and you are all of that but I love the fact that you said that's been my biggest success is the fact that you know, my children are here I had somebody that reached out to me on a on a direct message on a DM the other day asking if I knew of any psychologists for the child because they're having some acute mental health issues and they're just trying to keep their 16 year old alive at this point and I don't know this person very well but just the desperation that I felt when that message came through and trying to connect into a couple of people in my network was really yeah really grounding to go okay, you know, we have our challenges and this is what we do.

Yassin Hall

Absolutely. When challenges come, they come rapidly, unexpectedly, and you just have to be in a mentality of this is part of the business. This is part of what happens in business. For me, personally, I go hiking, I find that when I am in a place where there's this, there's no cell phone coverage, so nobody can call me or any distractions. And I'm walking, and it's just me out there. And I have time to actually think I can talk out loud to myself, and nobody could hear me just ponder ideas within myself, and come back refreshed after that hike and knowing that, you know, I solved the problem at bay, or found a solution around the problem because sometimes the problems are like, for instance, Amazon's platform, wherever third party platform, we cannot call the programmers and go you know, what, this is broken, fix it now. Or you implemented this new change and didn't some other video about what to do? And now I have to look, look at it and look at the program and see what was the changes? And how can I implement the changes to serve us better, you know, and that's a challenge because I didn't write the code. You know, we it was unexpected thing, I'll be used to the program being this way and all of a sudden, now they changed it. And to sit down and try to find a find a solution that benefits us as sellers, that is a huge thing. That's a huge task, because of course, Amazon's platform is geared to them success. And if you earn success, while they're earning success, well, good for you, you know, and you just got to be understanding that if you really, truly get to this level, and when you get to this level, you have to earn you view, life has taught you that challenges come at this level. And you've got to hit it with a positive attitude, and a way of finding solutions and that focus on the problem. And that's what I've done.

Shivani Gupta

I love that that's so great that I go hiking, it's amazing how many people then go back to connect to nature, or they always have to rather than work at a meet that space away from it to kind of almost work on work on the solution there.

And Yassin, and when I'm looking at read your CV, as I've just done to some of our audience, and again, I know your CV is literally about eight pages long, and all the amazing accomplishments you've done, when you look to the future. And I know for some people with COVID, so many of their values are shifting in terms of who they are and how they want to spend their life. So, when you look at the future, and you think, you know, whether it's a five year span or a lifetime span, or 10 year span, what are some of the other future aspirations that you have? Like, what are some of the other things not only what you want to achieve? What do you want to do? What they might be personal goals? They might be business goals, how many goals? What are some of the things for the future, when you think about the words, future aspirations? What comes to your mind for the future?

Yassin Hall

That is such a great question and a loaded question, honestly, and I couldn't be as transparent as I possibly can unapologetic. What? What would you say? I do not plan for the future. I can't do it because it started with my children. You cannot predict what your child is going to be or do. Especially living with, for example, my oldest son is bipolar. We don't know what's going to happen to his faith, is it going to escalate to paranoid schizophrenia? Later on, in life? These are the things that was more of my concern about the future of what can I do to prevent these methods from happening versus looking towards the future? Nobody saw COVID. In the future, we kind of just had to get ready for it. Had I had some sort of five-year plan, COVID would have definitely put a monkey wrench, and it would have put me in a spiral of oh my god, I didn't plan for this. This is where I was going. This is what I had on my futuristic list. It doesn't look like that and then freak out. So, for me, I just walk in faith. That's all I can do. Because I don't know what the future is done already paved my path for me. I'm just going to walk out when I reached that level of the fork in the road. I'm just going to pray on it and keep walking and I hope that I made the right decision that I'm on the right path. And even if I'm not on the right path, I know how to turn around and come back around and regroup you know. So, when it comes to five years plans and, and futuristic plans I honestly can tell you I don't live by that, though it sounds weird as a businessperson that we should have some sort of plan. But COVID is one perfect example that shows us, you cannot plan for the unexpected.

Shivani Gupta

Yeah, that's really interesting. I, I'm a meditator, and I know that every time I listen to somebody else leading and guiding me through meditation or do my own, I think I can control all these things, right? And then it's just an illusion, I actually can't, and everybody does whatever they need. And the universe works on its own ways. And so, it's really challenging sometimes to go out. I think I'm doing all this planning. But I'm not really sure it's getting anywhere. So that's really beautiful. The way that you said that saying, well, I could have tried it that way. But it doesn't seem to do kind of seem to work. Every everybody seems to be on this different trajectory in terms of what I'm trying to do.

Yassin Hall

Yes, yeah. I can be alive from next 10 years. And hope that goes well. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's how we have to look at it now since COVID.

Shivani Gupta

yeah, that's so true, isn't it? And yeah, more and more people around me that are very, very healthy are getting unwell, either in small doses or big doses. So yeah, I think being grateful for what we've got, and being able to inhale and exhale as we're having these conversations.

And perfect. You know, segue into the next question is that wellness, you know, there's a lot of things that you will, when I listened to you, what I hear is, you have spent a lot of your life, taking care of people that need you, whether they're your parents, your children, even constructing a whole business around it, so that you have the flexibility to be able to take care of your family and your children. And also in your work, like, you know, everybody's looking up to you. And they're saying, hey, yes, and this is what's happened with the algorithm, this is what's happened, and I can't do this, and you're constantly solving themes to help people be well, you know, whether that's mental health, financial health, whatever different aspects of health. What about for you? What are some of the things that you do for you? What are your rituals, whether they be daily, weekly, annually? What are some of the things that you do to manage some of your own wellness?

Yassin Hall

Well, that's a really, really great question. When it comes to my wellness, I do my best to make sure that I'm not only just physically well, but mentally and emotionally well, as well. Yes, I have a ton of people that really demand me from my staff, though, to my children, not to my family, I have a 95-year-old grandmother that depends on me. So, I have to make sure that I am well, in all aspects of my life. And to do that, I've learned that I move at the beat of my own drum, meaning I have no choice. But to get up when I can, when my body tells me to wake up, I've earned the right as a business owner. And this is part of the perks that I had to have to learn this, that part of the perks of working for yourself is making sure that you are capable of working for yourself. And the real reason why you're doing it is so that you can move and work on your own terms. Well, I had to come to a point in my life when I go what is important to me rest. When I'm down and down when I'm sleeping, I need to rest. What did I didn't like getting up to an alarm clock when I worked in corporate America years before the children.

So, one of the best benefits of working for myself is I don't have to set an alarm clock to wake up in the morning, which means everything that I do, and I schedule will have to be in the afternoon on my Zoom meetings, my board meetings, they will all have to be in the afternoon. So, I need to get as much rest as possible. So, I start off my day around 10-11 o'clock. Movement really officially starts at noon. And from there and make sure that I eat. I eat well enough that if I am on a board meeting too long, because now my day is starting later than the average. So, I have to really consume breakfast, lunch and dinner well breakfast and lunch. In this 12 o'clock eating space. I make sure that I'm eating healthy and eating food that will give me the nutrients and energy needed for me to last for the next six hours because now my clock is off, you know, after each meeting, I make sure that there's a 15-minute gap in between each one so that I can breathe. A lot of people don't realize that when you do lines and zooms it's exhausting. It's just as exhausting as if you're on a stage talking to 10,000 people it's mental work, you know So I need that time to calm down and just whoosh Sometimes a prayer, sometimes I do one reason, affirmations, and then begin again, when I'm going down for the evening, I make sure that I reach out to the people that I know love me, and that I love in return, and make sure that they know that, you know, this day did not go by, without because again, my skin, I'm up and they're about to go to sleep. So, I make sure that they know that I appreciate them. And make sure that my night is filled with love and affection. You know, they know that drawn that time, if there's any bad news, or they're having a rough day, they will more than likely hold on to it for the next day until they know you know, I'm free or whatever to discuss it because they know that I need this time. This is my uninterrupted work time to plan, you know, plan my day ahead or do all the things that I needed, I need to do in this day, after hours and just focus and kind of just boxed myself into my work. 

When I'm working, I tend to put on music that is soothing. If I need to really truly rapidly work on like a 10-page project or something like that. Then I put on faster music so that my brain is like, I call it my head music. And then I wind down for the night by watching a movie or a series and call it a night. So that is basically like my routine. Unless I'm on the weekends, on the weekends I have to get out I have to get out of the house. Not necessarily around people. But doing something I've always wanted to do. I have a list of things that is local, some are local, some are out of the country. If I'm locally bound, like I'm local this weekend, there are some summer concerts, some of them are free. There are some, one time like when you come into town, and there's a festival, but it's only a onetime thing. So, I try to go to those and just separate myself at work so I can be refreshed and start all over again the following week.

Shivani Gupta

Wow, that is an extensive, beautifully curated day, like you know, from what you eat to how you structure your meetings. There's so much wisdom and just that answer there. Yes, and thank you, thank you for sharing so generously about how you structure your day. Because that's often the question for a lot of people, you know, how does this person get so much done? And I'm not getting enough done. It's because they've got rituals and structures and they've designed their day and design their life in a way that gives them the outcomes that they want. So that's, you know, that's fabulous. couple of last questions.

Yassin, one is, do you have leadership philosophies that you live by, are there things that are really important to you, they might be quotes they might be they might not necessarily be leadership, but they might just be philosophies things in terms of how you live or the things or guidelines or philosophies that you have that you love or quotes that you love that you're really trying to live by.

Yassin Hall

Yes, I live by what is for you is for you and nobody can take that away from you. And block out the noise another. Another one that I incorporated maybe three years ago, if it doesn't praise you, if it doesn't uplift you and if it doesn't give you if it doesn't make you feel good, it's okay to hit the button on the top those three buttons a hit bloc, block is your best friend focus on the joy that your work brings you not the money. The money will never bring you happiness, but if you focus on your passion and your why you're doing this and make sure that as a businessperson your why is serving the community and finding a void in the community that that they need and put your needs aside for the better good of the community. Because that is where the most fulfilling works come from.

Shivani Gupta

Wow, block could be your best friend. Yeah, and the why serving the community. So much. So much amazing wisdom there.

And Yassin, if people want to know more about you about the work that you do or somebody's listening, they go wow, I so want to do some of that. What is the best way to follow you to look at what you do? Where are the best platforms to find you?

Yassin Hall

Instagram and Facebook. Both follow my name which is Yassin Hall and if you're interested in changing your life and gaining financial freedom, you can visit https://www.yassinhall.com/bossclassllc.html#/

Shivani Gupta

Thank you so much. You were well, well, more than worth the wait, Yassin. To be able to get into your diary. Thank you. That was amazing. I've written down half a page of notes for me, and really appreciate you and being on this podcast.

Yassin Hall

I appreciate you too. Thank you for all you're doing. Thank you for the listeners for listening and just keep on doing what you're doing. You're really and truly serving the community.