Brand Domination Masterclass : 6 Million Followers, 3000 Person Live Events & More w/Margarita Pasos
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How have you built your personal brand to 6 million followers and becoming so well known? To build a tribe, to really have a community, people have to know you, they have to trust you, and you really have to care about them. So I love using the word "edutainment." I'm going to follow you if you educate me or if you entertain me. Yep. You know, so you're adding value to my life. If I'm just on social media asking you to buy something from me, you're probably not going to grow. And the social capital today is so important because once you have that capital, call it $100,000,

thousand one million it could be fifty thousand of the right people twenty thousand of the right people on social media can be a game changer for your business so i always tell people this i cannot go to the bank and withdraw a thousand dollars if i haven't deposited any money there yeah it's the same thing my name is rudy moore host of living the red life podcast and i'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week if you're ready to start living the red life ditch the blue pill take the red pill join me in wonderland and change your life

What's up guys, welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Today we are going to dive into a lot. How to build a tribe and community, a loyal following of over 6 million followers and much more today. Margarita, welcome to the show. Hey Rudy, so good to be here. It's good to have you. So if everyone, if you're listening and you don't know who Margarita is,

Absolutely killer entrepreneur. We've known each other for a few years. We met at, I think, a Grant Cardone event. Has over 6 million followers, voted one of the top 25 most powerful women by People Magazine last year. And you've built an amazing community, just similar to me, especially in the Spanish-speaking market.

educating entrepreneurs, empowering entrepreneurs from sales, marketing, social media, mindset. And yeah, let's talk about how you built such a big empire. And I could also be your mom. Do the math. Okay. Yes. When I came here from Colombia in the 90s, I don't know if you were, what year were you born? 91. Okay. I came here in 1993-ish. Okay.

And I met my husband. He had a small business of washing cars and I started working with him. And we worked so hard, Rudy, so hard. But we were always having like too much month at the end of the check. You know, we had no money. So we started, you know, reading the books and getting into personal development. And we started growing little by little until we finally figured it out. We didn't have Internet. We couldn't Google stuff, you know.

So once we started doing well and growing, we decided that our mission was to help other Hispanics in the world to do the same, to save them, you know, all the troubles that we had and the stress. Yep. Yep. And fast forward to today, right? I talked about the six million followers. Like we've done events together, over 50,000 people on them. You speak around the world. If someone's listening, like give them a summary of the business model right now.

For any business model or my business? For yours, yeah, yeah, yours. Our business model is on personal development. Mostly our avatar, our ideal client, our entrepreneurs, SMB, small and medium businesses. And we hold them with us. We have a scaling operating system, you know? So it's a methodology we created that goes from the mindset to the marketing to the sales and processes and people, you know, so...

So basically, you might be a good dentist, a good doctor or whatever, but most of those people don't know how to market themselves, how to sell, how to do a process. So we make it really simple for them so they can do what they do best. Great. I love that. And a few things that, you know, since we've been working together and I've known you for a few years now is

You've built an amazing community, sell out events around pretty much all of America, right? And then you've kind of built that tribe, right? 'Cause it's like community is one thing, but they're obviously all super loyal tribe members. And I obviously got the pleasure of speaking at your event in Columbia.

So talk about that. Like, how did you build this, you know, six million followers, this big loyal tribe? You know, what are some tips for that? That's very important, Rudy, because people, they probably come to you too. And they say, oh, I want to be an influence. Sure. I want followers. And it's always I, I, I.

You know, so to build a tribe, to really have a community, people have to know you. They have to trust you and you really have to care about them. So I love using the word edutainment. I'm going to follow you if you educate me or if you entertain me. You know, so you're adding value to my life. If I'm just...

on social media asking all day long, asking you to buy something from me, you're probably not going to grow. And the social capital today is so important because once you have that capital, call it $100,000, $1 million, it could be $50,000 of the right people, $20,000 of the right people on social media can be a game changer for your business. So it's, I mean, the name of, I always tell people this, I cannot go to the bank and withdraw $1,000.

If I haven't deposited any money there, it's the same thing. Yeah, it's funny because I teach social media, right, a lot too. And I sell a lot on ads, right? But if you look at my social media and so the last hundred posts, right, probably three of them are sales posts, 97 are content, education, inspiration, motivation, entertainment, all those things, right?

And I think what's funny is the people like in my communities or entrepreneurs I know or even some of my team that are trying to build their own businesses, they have 2000 followers, but every post is about their product. So I think that's a big thing if you guys are listening right away out the gate.

Don't look at social media. Social media is like you kind of talk about top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel. You know, social media, in my opinion, is even above the top of funnel. It's like before the funnel. It's like before the funnel, it's building the tribe, the community, adding value and, you know, really...

kind of fostering the community, I think is the next point. Like it's one thing to grow a following. Yeah. But then how do you foster the community and make them all like tribe members and loyal members in your, you know, they show up, they fly around the world to your events. Talk about that. Yes. So we're a very customer-centric company. So at the middle of everything, at the center of everything we do is the customer. And the sales team,

process starts when the customer pays. Most people think that's where it ends. And that's where you really want to make them fall in love with your company, with the experience. So we're very good at that. And we prioritize the customer service and the customer experience. So they really feel that we're folding their hands. You know, it's not just like, okay, you bought this, take it, swallow it, and good luck.

So I think that's what has built the trust that they have on us. And when we make mistakes, because every company makes mistakes, even Disney, you know. Sure. You have to, you know, say, hey, I'm sorry. I messed up. What can I do? You know, so we're always working on that. Every week we're talking about how can we make it better?

for our students, our community, and how can we help them, you know, meet each other and help each other. So create like networking spaces for them. So they see the value, not only on the information we give them, but by being part of the community. Sure. Right. And then let's talk about, so, you know, you, you grow the following, you grow the community, you sell the products. And then for you and for many people in this industry that then leads to hosting events, right? Yeah.

So, you know, you've thrown some amazing events. I've got to be part of them. I think the biggest one that I came to was about 3000 people in person. Right. I don't know if you've done even bigger than that. And I know virtually tens of thousands. Right. So talk if someone's watching and they're they're 10 years behind us. Right. They want to do what we do. They want to build a community, impact the world, motivate people, help change lives.

I think a lot of people want to do events, but they don't realize what it takes. How do you feel a 3000 person event? That's like a whole business. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, first of all, it's the mindset, Rudy. So by studying and investing in mentors, you were my mentor first, then my friend, and now our business partner. We have invested in a lot of mentors.

When I had like a scarcity mindset and I was renting an apartment, I was thinking, oh, how can I buy my own apartment? Today, I think, how can I be the landlord? Right. So it's a very. So when I started going to do speeches and keynotes at other people's events, that was my first goal. You know, how do I get invited?

And then when my mindset started expanding, I said, "How can I own the door to the event?" Right? So it's not the same as being like an MMA fighter than to be Dana White in the UFC. So we always wanted to have this big platform where we can bring to the Latinos the best mentors because today we have access to many of the best, but they don't necessarily have them. So, I mean, it is a big monster. You have to know how to do ads, how to, you know, do production, how to do upsells.

But what I tell people is, you know, if you want to do that, first have the goal and then you'll figure out how if you have a big enough why. If you really want to do that for impacting people's lives, not just because of the money. The money is important, but you have to have a big why. And we have really, really, Alejandro, my husband and I have like a big heart for the Latino community, for the Hispanics, because many of them come here to do, you know, the work.

The jobs that nobody else wants to do, but they're hardworking people. And if you give them the tools, they can create amazing businesses. So the why is what help us not give up because there's going to be tough days. There's going to be times where you lose money. There's going to be times where not everything goes the right way. But if you have a big why,

You'll do it. I mean, you'll figure out the how if you have a big why. And, you know, we fast forwarded to the 3,000 person events you host, right? What was your first event like? Oh, well, our first event when we come back to Miami. Let's talk Miami. Sure. So I did an event for...

time management and I think we sold like 25 tickets and we highlight 80 people but most of them were friends family and people we were we invited but really only like 25 people paid and how many how long goes that

That was about five years ago, 2018. So listen, guys, five years, right? Twenty, twenty five tickets sold. And then I went to an event last year or a year before that. Two years. Right. And, you know, three thousand or so people and a half thousand people. So what did you mean when you had the twenty five tickets sold?

This is the thing. I don't care if I have one person or 20,000 people. I always give it my best. Yeah. And whatever you're doing, if you want to scale it, you have to do your best first.

when it's little and then you're going to grow. A lot of people are like, oh, you know what? I'll do my best when I have 20,000 people that you're never going to reach that. Yeah. That place. Yeah, I love that. And then same for virtual, right? So we host an event, I think 80,000 people is the biggest. I think what's the biggest virtual event you've ever run? Run by us? Probably over 40,000. Okay. Yeah. And what about the first time you tried a virtual event? How long have you been doing those for?

I'm trying to remember probably five or six. It was like right before COVID 2018. I remember the first time I did an app sale on a live in Instagram, and I sold like $80,000. And I was like, I couldn't believe it. But that's after years of giving value to people. So there's ads

What I tell people is if you want fast conversion, do the ads. They're very important. We invest a lot of money in ads. But then the slower part, you know, but I think the most valuable and the one that's going to give you like a longer lifetime value of your customers is the one where you have a community and you have...

your social media. But I remember that day very well. I was in Panama doing that live and I couldn't believe it. I used to make that in a year, you know, and I did it in one live through Instagram. That was a game changer for us. Yeah. So again, if you're listening, right, like in person is great, but a stepping stone might be virtual. You know, it's much easier to do. It's much easier to get people. You get your reps in and you don't have all the AV nightmare and stage nightmare and venue nightmare that you do with in person.

But yeah, in person is great in many different ways too, right? So what about building the brand yourself now? We talked about the tribe, the community, the events, but part of it that I teach all the time and I think you've done well is building a personal brand, right? You got nominated top 25 most powerful women, right, in America by People Magazine. Yeah.

Latina, Latina in America. You've done books, you've done all these things, right? So how have you built your personal brand to 6 million followers and becoming so well known? So when I started, I wasn't clear that I was building a personal brand. The thing is that I am very myself, you know, I'm very authentic. So what you see is what you get. If I just got out of the ocean and my hair is like,

I don't know, all over the place. I don't care. If I have to say something, I'll turn on the camera and I'll say it. So I think that right now, I know that's my personal brand that I use like simple language. I always go, I mean, cut to the chase.

And like you, I can see you, I can spot you from a hundred yards because I know that's Rudy, you know? So, and the thing is, and you're probably going to agree with me, not you or me are going to resonate with everybody, but just be true to yourself, you know? Some people ask me, why don't you put more makeup on? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, you know, whatever. I use sneakers on stage. You wear red, but just be comfortable with yourself.

and do what you want to do and some people are going to resonate with you and forget about the haters you know they're just people that need a little bit of love and they're hurt yeah I mean it's funny because I just approved an Instagram post for my socials this weekend that talks about that and I

I came up as a scientist, like I did a master's degree. And as a scientist, you're taught the opposite of what works on social media to be unbiased, neutral and say, you don't really know it could be, you know, it could be this could be that who knows we're still researching. And then I learned through social media that if you stay neutral and just try and make everyone happy, you,

you don't make anyone not going anywhere. Yeah. No one knows you. Right. And all the most successful people, they're very polarizing and strong in their opinions. So one thing I encourage people to do is like, you know, to empower them is like, be strong in your belief system and opinions. Right. And it doesn't mean you dislike other people with other opinions. That's okay. That's the world we live in. Right. But you should be strong and not be scared of saying, this is what I believe in. And you will get people that, uh,

You know, you grow a tribe around you because they share those values too. Yes. So my daughter just started on the social media thing. She's 27. And I remember like six months ago, she got her first hater. And I was like, you should celebrate that. That means, you know, you're shaking things and everything.

And because if nobody's saying anything about you, that's a lot worse. Yeah, for sure. That's great that she gets that mentorship from her mom, right? She calls me like, oh my God, this person. And I was like, yeah, you know, and now she celebrates them. She's like, mom, I got another one. It's important, you know, because a lot of people get discouraged to going on to YouTube and social media because, and sometimes it's your friends, your circle.

I had a student that I was training her to do videos and she did her first YouTube videos and her friends started making fun of her. Oh, look at her, the YouTuber. And she came to me very stressed out and I said, should I find something else to do? And I said, well, you need to find this new friend, my friend.

That's a good tip. So we've talked a lot about the successes, growing all these great things, and we did allude to it earlier. What are some of the failures and hard times you've had to deal with during this journey? Many. So this successful company that we have right now, Pasos al Éxito, is like our seventh company. So we had six that failed before that one. We've been broke. We had debt, bad debt, a lot of bad debt. Those days, you know, when you really...

you just want to give up. But I know everybody says this, Rudy, and it's tough when you're like in that dark place where nothing is working, but do not give up. You know, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. But use mentors. If you don't have mentors, it's going to take forever. So we really started speeding up.

Yeah. When we started asking people like you, people like Les Brown, like Ryan Tracy, like Cardone, like, how do you do this? How do you do that? Why do you want to reinvent the wheel? There's people there knowing how to do things. So if right now you cannot pay them, at least pick up their book, follow them on social media. Today, there's no excuse. Yeah. I mean, I when I first moved to America, you know, I had some money because I had small businesses. Right. But not much.

But I just read all the books and you get so much, you know, you get 80% just from the books, right? It's base ground knowledge. And then, of course, when you get to meet these people, many of which I'm now friends with and work with, like you, you get to go to that stage higher, right? And you get more one-on-one and it's tailored to you. But yeah, if you're starting out, the books give you so much and, you know, it's $10 or whatever. It's crazy, right? Yeah.

And I want to take the advantage that I have you next to me because a lot of people think that a mentor is some guy with a white beard that's 40 years older than you. Rudy's 31.

And I was never afraid to come to him and say, hey, I want you to be my mentor. So especially in this digital era, a lot of people that are my age, you're going to have to start reaching to younger people. And that's really cool because like I'm 52 almost and I feel like I'm 30 because everybody in my office is younger. Yeah. So so mentors come like, you know, in every size, color, age, age.

And don't be afraid to ask. A lot of the people that are successful love to add value. That's why they're successful. - I mean, I've hired 20 year olds on TikTok, you know? So it's like, it goes both ways, right? And then I've also hired a lot of people 20 years older than me that have built big finance, real models and systems and attorneys and M&As. Yeah, to me, obviously experience is important, but apart from that age is irrelevant, right? Experience is important, but once they have the experience,

They could be 24 with six years experience and no more than someone with 20 years experience that isn't that good at it. So it's about finding the, you know, the different, I kind of call it like building a basketball team. You need people in different positions and different roles and those people are going to look very different. Yeah. But it's important to have that diversity. So very important. So.

So as we get towards the end of today, what are some words of wisdom? Because I know you've obviously been successful. You've coached thousands of other people. And a big part of what you do, too, is the mindset. Yeah. So some words of wisdom for people maybe listening that aren't making millions of dollars and then maybe in the earlier in that journey.

Yeah, so I had depression and anxiety back in 2001 that had me bedridden. I couldn't swallow. I lost 17 pounds in three weeks. Now I can't lose one. Anyways, my husband started reading a book to me by Chad Helmstetter, What to Say When You Talk to Yourself.

And to me, it was very revealing because as obvious as it sounds, I didn't know that the person that I talked to the most was myself. And I was awful to myself. I was always beating myself up, even on the mirror, like, oh, you're so fat. Oh, I'm

I wish I could, you understood Spanish because it's really funny the things that I used to say to myself. But now when I see myself in the mirror, I'm like saying, hey, you're a champ. Let's go. Let's do this, you know? And I am my best friend. I know I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. Don't expect to be perfect, right? Expect to be better, you know, but be your best friend.

So I used to like play radio mystery here from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m., right? So I was depressed, angry. I was always thinking that something bad was going to happen. Today I wake up, I'm always saying, you know, you've got this, you're awesome, we can do it. And the mind, it's a meaning-making machine. So nothing is good or nothing is bad, but thinking makes it so. That's William Shakespeare. So you can always keep thinking.

the meaning that you want. You can change your past right now in a second if you change the meaning that you give to your past. So the real discipline is in your mind. You have to start thinking about your dreams and not your fears more and how to make it happen and not about your excuses. Yeah, it's funny because I never read that book, but I grew up as an only child. And one of my greatest gifts I got in my DNA and my upbringing is

I was always very confident and like almost believed in myself too much many times as a kid and stuff. Were you an entitled kid? Yeah. Well, no, I just, I grew out a very different upbringing because my parents were athletes. I know. I've traveled around the world and I always just did whatever I wanted to do and I didn't, wasn't afraid to go all in and,

It's only now that I realize how key that was for my entrepreneurial journey because I meet other people and you speak to them and they don't believe they can be a millionaire. They don't believe they should do this. They don't believe it will work. I've never had that. I've always believed it's going to work. I believe I should. And sometimes that does backfire on itself because you do too many things and you believe too much and then it blows up in your face. But

I would still sooner have that. So yeah, I do. You know, obviously I didn't, you know, have to go through that transition before. But I can say it's definitely one of my greatest assets too is having that. Yeah. What I'm hearing from you, and this is awesome, is that the best gift we can give our children...

It's teach them, you know, how to talk to themselves, how to think, how to believe in themselves. Yeah, my parents didn't come from money, but they equipped me with that that helped make me a lot of money, right? And it's arguably, they could have been worth $20 million, but if I wasn't motivated, I'd be one of those spoiled rich kids that just lived off the parents. So I would definitely take this every day. Yeah.

And just final question, if people love what they heard, they want to learn more about you, where do they find you? How do they access some of the stuff you're doing? Yeah, I'm all over social media, but in Spanish. Now with AI, maybe you can translate my videos, but it's margarita, like the drink.

I don't drink, but it's Margarita Pasos, P-S-I-N-P-E-T-E-R-A-S-O-S. Or if you have any Latino friends that want to grow, you know, their mindset or their business, you can send them our way. We'll take care of them. The place to go. Well, I appreciate you coming on today. And it's been awesome to, you know, hear the journey and the struggles and the wins and everything it took. Thank you, my friends. Yeah, I'm excited for more that we're doing together. It's shining your light. You're awesome. Thank you. Guys, that's a wrap. Living the red life. I'll see you guys soon. Margarita, thank you.