From the corporate world to a life of freedom in Greece | Episode 217

Marissa: I think 100% we are engineered to be dynamic. I think that’s actually our natural state. And I think that we get. We meaning like the, you know, people tend to get bogged down with a sense of responsibility or obligation or a feeling of stability and security being something that they really want. When I believe that none of that really, truly exists. Like the only stability and security is the one that you provide for yourself. And it’s internal. Right? It’s not even an external thing.

Stacy: Welcome. Welcome. I’m really excited about this week’s topic because we have talked about building a life you love and a location independent business to support that. But we have never talked about E Commerce as a method to get there. We’ve talked a lot about service based businesses and things like that. But this week’s guest will be sharing more about how you can build an E Commerce to achieve a life you love, build location, independence. And she has done that for herself. So let me introduce you to this week’s guest. Corporate life was not enough for Marissa Rodriguez.

Stacy: After losing her job 10 years ago, Marissa chose freedom and a highly unorthodox path to success. That leap of faith took her from being a Chief Marketing officer and Chief Operating Officer for E Commerce brands to building a business that’s helped her clients generate over $100 million plus in e commerce revenue. In 2024, Marissa launched through Experience, an online platform where she shares the wisdom that helped shape her success. Welcome Marissa. I’m so excited to be here with you today.

Marissa: Thank you for having me. I’m very excited to be here too.

Stacy: You know, it’s interesting that your catalyst moment seems to be losing a job because a lot of the authors I Work with. They’re at a similar spot, maybe they’ve been laid off from a job. Usually they get some kind of a. A severance package that gives them a little bit of margin to be able to explain, explore, and consider their next step. But it’s interesting. It’s always interesting to me when people use that space or that catalyst moment to go, do I really want to just find another job, or do I want to build something really meaningful and do something different? Can you tell me a little bit about that experience for you and how you kind of, I think, let go of that corporate mindset to be able to build what you do today?

Marissa: Definitely. And I mean, I agree. I think oftentimes we’re in a state of autopilot in life. We have our routines, we know what we’re doing, and we’re just kind of on the treadmill, and we’re not questioning the direction. Right. Or whether or not we want to be on that treadmill. So in my case, I had been, you know, 10 years in New York City working corporate ladder, going up, you know, making more money, the next job, Everything quite plotted out. And it. It took my company shutting down. It wasn’t just that I lost my job. It was overnight. The business that I was working for, the billionaire owner and investor decided that he didn’t want to keep funding it, and it was shut down overnight.

Marissa: And it took that happening and me being unemployed for the first time in my adult life to actually have a moment to just ask some questions of myself, like, do I really want this? Is this really where I want to be? I’m 42 now. I was 32 at the time. Actually, I was 31 ahead of me. I turned 32. And, you know, it was one of those moments where I was like, I can see the path in front of me. If I continue doing what I’m doing, is that even really what I want? So for me, it ended up being a blessing. I think that most of those moments in life where, you know, the rug gets pulled underneath you and everything sort of feels like it’s just in chaos.

Marissa: When you look back in hindsight in 2020, you realize that those are incredibly formative moments and pivotal moments in your journey. And that’s what it was for me. It finally allowed me to have some time to think and start to question and start to recognize, like, this dread. I had this, like, physical dread when I was going and, you know, dealing with recruiters and interviewing for jobs that should have been exactly what I wanted, like, check, check, And I was just like, oh, is this really what I’m doing with my life? So for me, it was the best thing that happened. I can see that now. Obviously then it was incredibly scary. It was frightening to be like, on my own, without any other support or help. And it’s not something that, you know, I saw coming at all.

Stacy: I really can resonate with that. And it’s interesting because a lot of my own pivot in my life was during, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a season of unemployment because I left a job that I’d been at, I’d been working in Vietnam, and I had this period of time that I set for myself to really give my business a good, strong go. It was about six months. And I had a financial cushion on the other side because I was going to grad school, it was funded. I knew that waited for me on the other, that was waiting for me on the other side. And there was something about that period of going, I have this opportunity in front of me to really go for it.
Stacy: This is like my moment and I’m going to lean in and I’m going to do everything to set myself up for success, you know, in this next stage of my life. And it’s interesting because that doesn’t have to be when you’re in your 20s, right? For me, that was in my 20s, but I talk with so many people who are in similar situations where they’re maybe in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond, 60s, I mean, really kind of any age where they really realize that they have an opportunity right now to lean in and do something that’s really meaningful for them and also build a life they really love. Because I think that’s one thing that’s especially interesting about your story. You’re in Greece, you’re running this business from Greece. You’re working largely with US Based businesses. Same for me.
Stacy: Most of my clients are in the U.S. some in Europe, but mostly us. And you know, if sometimes when people hear that, they’re probably like, that’s wild. You can live in Greece, you can run this business. How did you really, when you made that transition, how did you kind of build forward into this life that you have today? I’d love for you to walk us forward a bit in that and how that came to be and the work that you’re doing today now helping other people do the same.

Marissa: Yeah, well, first of all, I just want to address something you said. I think 100% we are engineered to be dynamic. I think that’s actually our natural state. And I think that we get. We meaning like the, you know, people tend to get bogged down with a sense of responsibility or obligation or a feeling of stability and security being something that they really want, when I believe that none of that really, truly exists. Like, the only stability and security is the one that you provide for yourself is. And it’s internal. Right? It’s not even an external thing. So for me, you know, when I decided, like, I didn’t want to just go and continue down. I was working in fashion at the time, in wholesale and retail in New York City. I didn’t want to continue down the same path.

Marissa: I already knew E Commerce was where I wanted to be. I, you know, I had sort of identified E Commerce as like the Future in 2009. And, you know, for a whole host of reasons, because it was such a young industry, no one was really talking about it, nobody really cared about. I was sort of like crawling my way closer to it and, and looking for jobs that allowed me to expand a little bit more in that arena. And when I lost my job in January 2015, I was like, this is it. This is the moment. Like, if I’m going to go all in with E Commerce, now’s the time. And I knew that I wanted to do it as an independent contractor. I wanted to be a fractional. In 2015, that term of freelancer, fractional independent contractor, that did not exist.

Marissa: That was not. There were no role models around me for me to be like, oh, so and so is doing it. So I know that it’s possible. The only consultants that I knew worked for companies like Bain and Accenture, which is not what I wanted to do. But I just had a belief that I could serve people and that I could help founders and business owners launch and scale their businesses. And it was a little delusional because again, nothing around me said, you can do this. But I just had a feeling that, like, I wanted to be on my own. I wanted to be able to work with a lot of different businesses because I wanted to stay stimulated and engaged.

Marissa: I wanted young life cycle businesses where I wouldn’t be bogged down with like, the bureaucracy of like corporate, right, where you literally need 20 people in a room to agree and align on a decision. I wanted to see the impact of my efforts really quickly. And so, you know, if I’m honest, I would say that a lot of that work that I did in that early, you know, one or two years. So much of it was internal, so much of it was mindset. So much was coming up against my fears. My family and friends who were like, what are you doing? This isn’t a real job. Like, you know, my mother cried when I told her, like, I’m opening up my own llc. She literally burst in tears and had visions of her daughter like, I don’t know what.

Marissa: So, you know, it took a minute to grab my, to find my footing. But what I kept coming back to was this idea that if I can create value for somebody else, and, you know, what does that look like in business? If I can help them have more clarity, if I can help them see growth in their business, if I can bring the skill sets that I have, right? And if I’m willing to also roll up my sleeves and learn all of the things that they don’t know, then I’m going to create a lot of value and I will become indispensable to these businesses and to these owners. And so that was my strategy. I was okay earning less money at the beginning. I was okay taking pay cuts. I. I wasn’t trying to make.

Marissa: I knew I couldn’t make a lateral move right, in terms of. Of earnings, but I kind of felt it was like the metaphor of, like the archer, right? Like, you have to pull back sometimes in order to leap forward. And so I was like, I’m going to pull back financially right now, but what I’m going to gain in terms of experience and exposure and confidence will pay itself back dividends. Like, I wasn’t worried. I knew that I would. I would soon surpass any corporate salary that I had. And so that was the path that I, That I was on for. For the last 10 years. I just give you a lot. I hope that makes sense.

Stacy: Yeah, it was perfect. And I, I love the way that you explained that process of, like, confronting all of the. The loving naysaying around you. It made me think about your mother’s tears. Made me think about when we first moved abroad. I had, I think, two or three full funding offers for graduate school that I turned down to leave and move to the Caribbean. And my dad was so upset. I mean, I don’t even know how to put into words how he wasn’t mean about it, but he was just so disappointed in me, you know, that I had not gone to grad school. I did eventually go, and eventually, you know, I did get funded again. But, you know, when you tell people that you’re doing something that’s very unconventional, unproven.

Stacy: Their instincts, people that care about you is to want to keep you safe so that you’re not going to fail. They want you to follow a proven path that makes it more likely that you’ll be successful. But then I think you have to measure that against the fact that most people are unhappy in their work at large. So then what measure of success are we actually looking to and what does safety mean? And I loved your point there, because to your point, you had a job, technically, that was the right path. That was the safe thing that you should have been doing, but then it was gone the next day. Whereas now you have something that you have built, something you have control over in the sense that you can lean in to drive revenue, you can shift, you know, strategies to. Stacy: When you see indicators that the business might not be healthy in the next quarter, you have a lot more control, which I think a lot of people don’t really understand. When you think about a entrepreneurial life versus a corporate life, there’s this illusion of control, actually in that corporate path and in that, like, well, trod, well.

Marissa: Trodden path a thousand percent. And by the way, I mean, I did it again, right? I. I had, like, my very steady gig as a fractional CMO and COO for direct to consumer brands and E commerce. I’ve been doing that now for the last 10 years. And last year I was like, okay, I’m ready for more. I want to do something different. I want to now reach more people. I want to give more people the tools and guide more people through experience to succeed. And so, you know, a pivot once again, from being like, I am a solopreneur on my own that works on other people’s businesses and grows other people’s businesses to someone that’s like, I want to create community and resources and mentorship so that I can help, you know, from.

Marissa: From few to many have the same success that my clients have had. And so I think every single time that you have a reiteration of yourself or you challenge where you’ve been, or you go like, okay, well, this is great, but now I’m running for more. It’s like the same fears come up, right? In some ways, the last 12 months of my life, I’ve experienced similar things to what I experienced in 2015. Except now you’re 10 years older. And, you know, it was just as scary then at 31 as it was at 41. But, you know, all of the voices in your head and the people around you. You know, we’re tribal. We’ve survived millennia because we stay together in our little tribes of people, and everybody is like us, and everybody has similar beliefs and similar ideas and similar views.

Marissa: And whenever you step out of that line, you know, sometimes it’s lovely because you look around and you’re like, I love my friends and family, but none of them are doing this. None of them understand this path and this road. And so, you know, I think that for people that are like you and like me, I don’t know that it ever fully goes away. I think there’s always, like, a project or always an idea or always a vision of. Of something more. And also what I’ve realized for myself is that over time, my desires or what I’ve been inspired to have gone shifting.

Marissa: You know, at the beginning, when I was living in New York City in 2015 and I wanted to go on my own, freedom for me was like being able to go to the supermarket in the middle of the day and not have to do it over the weekend, or, you know, being able to go do an exercise class in the middle of the day. Like, my life was so regimented, and I wanted time. I wanted time to live and experience life outside of an office where I found myself, you know, spending 10, 11, 12 hours a day. My definition of freedom right now is different than it was then, but not less important. Like, it’s not like then was less important, and now what I’m looking for is more important. It’s just it evolves and it shifts. Does that make any sense?

Marissa: I think you get what I’m trying to say.

Stacy: I love. I love it, and it really resonates. And to your point, there’s so many different drivers to what make you motivated to create that margin in your life, to have that flexibility. For me, I’ve talked about this a lot in the podcast. I have a child who has a lot of health needs. So building my business for me as a solopreneur. I’ve been in business for 16 years now, into a team, which is what I’ve done over the last five years, that was motivated by wanting to have time to be present for my family. And that can be a great motivator when you really see that, like, in my current state, I cannot have the life that I need and want. That can be very motivating.

Stacy: I think where people often have the disconnect is the how, like, how do I actually get there? This might be a great segue to talk about e Commerce, which is not something we’ve ever talked about on this podcast, at least not in great detail. Can we start at like 101? What is E commerce? How do you define it? I know that’s very basic and most people probably know this, but I think it’s good to just level set on how you define it, how you think about it, and how your kind of positioning on it and why this is such a great opportunity from your perspective.

Marissa: Yeah. So to me, it’s wild that you haven’t had anybody on the show talking about E commerce because I think E commerce is like the greatest unfair advantage of our era. Like, I think that, you know, history will look back at this moment in time and realize the amount of access that to me, e commerce has democratized commerce. But we’ll get there. E commerce, you know, the official definition of it is just the transaction of goods online. Now for me, E commerce, I tend to be even more specific and look at E commerce as, you know, the selling of physical products online. I know right now so many people are selling things like, you know, coaching and courses and digital products and stuff like that. They function fundamentally differently than what I think of when I think of E commerce.

Marissa: Like the way that people buy a physical product is not the same way that people buy information or knowledge or training. Right. They’re just, they. There’s different ecosystems, there’s different paths to the consumer purchasing. So E commerce is technically any physical product that’s being sold online. Now the type of E commerce that I focus on specifically is direct to consumer and direct to consumer. It really came from this idea of like cutting out the middleman, the middle re the retailer. So brands had direct access to sell to clients directly, which before the Internet didn’t exist.

Marissa: Before the Internet, if you had a physical product, you needed somebody with a brick and mortar store, you needed somebody with, you know, supermarket, you needed a, you needed somebody that already had a point of distribution, which was a physical store, or you needed to have enough funding to open up your own physical store. So, you know, direct to consumer is businesses that sell really nowhere else but their own website and their own e commerce store. And now you have businesses that have a lot of different business models. So you’ll have a business that maybe has a retail presence, maybe they sell to a wholesale partner, maybe they’re on Amazon and they have their direct to consumer. So I think of their direct to consumer as their website specifically.

Stacy: And so can you talk a little bit about this opportunity for, you know, we’ve been talking a lot about people that are in that kind of transition phase where they want to build something that really unlocks a new life for them, that can give them that freedom of time, freedom of schedule. How would you help listeners think about this? And it’s interesting because as I usually do, I did a, I took a walk today just to kind of clear my head before our conversation. And like many people, I’ve had all these products on my mind of things that I would love to create in my niche. Nerdy writer, bookish stuff, all these things that I’ve been like, dreaming up. And Rita, our producer and I have actually talked about this.

Stacy: But the idea of actually creating and launching something just is such a disconnect for me as a productized service and service based business that it’s just like, yeah, I just have no frame of reference for it. So I’d love for you to just break down very simply if somebody today is listening and they’re like, I’m in this transition period. I know I’ve heard you talk in the past about needing that financial margin to be able to launch and execute something. Well, I have some funds and this is something I’d like to try and be successful at. What would be their first, like few steps that they would take to set them up for success in this sort of endeavor.

Marissa: Okay, I love this question. I love this question. I’m gonna tell you why I love this question. I think e commerce is one of the only industries where if you master E commerce and you know, I the game of E commerce, because it’s got very specific rules, it requires discipline and consistency and mastery over the rules. And if you do that, the sky’s really the limit. That being said, it’s one of the only industries where the skill set that you need in order to be successful in E commerce can be deployed in a lot of different ways. So you can start your own business and create a product and launch it.

Marissa: You could buy somebody else’s business and grow it exponentially and not necessarily have to deal with supply chain product development, but you could find a product that you’re like, I could do this better. Like, I know this is a great product. They’re just missing the boat on everything. And I could buy this and I can incrementally grow it. Or you can become a service provider like I’ve been for the last 10 years and have an incredible life and not have to deal with payroll or inventory or any of those other things. So the first thing that I try to, you know, the first thing that I try to ask people is like, what do you really want to do?
Marissa: Because if you want to make 5, 10, even 30 or $50,000 a month income, you don’t need to launch your own e commerce business or buy an e commerce business. You can become an expert in an area of E commerce and you can become a solopreneur. So like the desire is 5 or 10 x 5,000, you know, more a month, 10,000 more a month. Then I don’t know that I would tell you to go through the hassle of launching an e commerce business and, or buying an e commerce business. So I think the most important thing is to figure out like what does success look like if you’re trying to build something bigger? If you’re like now’s my time, I want to leave something for my family.

Marissa: I want to have generational wealth, I want to, you know, have an exit like whatever that is, then that’s a different story. But I find that a lot of people are rushing into the e commerce industry and they’re really just trying to make some extra money from home. And there’s an entire marketing ecosystem right now that’s trying to convince people that it’s so easy. You could have a Shopify store.

Stacy: Oh yeah, you can have a.

Marissa: Shopify Shopify store tomorrow. You could become a dropshipper. Print on demand. You don’t even have to worry about inventory. And they’re really not telling people the reality of this, of the ecosystem and of the game. And so you have a lot of people that have rushed into the industry. The failure rate is super high because either they weren’t clear on what their version of success looked like and why they wanted to do this and or they completely misunderstood. You know, a business that has a very low barrier to entry is going to be harder to succeed at because the barrier to entry is that low. You need to be really good at what you’re doing. And you know, the beauty is that like all of these skill sets are learnable. It’s all something that you can develop. And it’s quite simple.

Marissa: When you understand how to play the game and you really are able to to realize what matters versus what doesn’t matter. So point one, figure out why you want to do this. If you want discretionary income, I recommend that you think about becoming a solopreneur and selling services to E commerce businesses if you know that you want to build something big. But maybe the Product is something that you’re stumbling on. There’s a ton of businesses out there that have great products that don’t know what they’re doing and are failing at the game of E commerce that you could buy and grow. Or if you genuinely have a pain point, if you genuinely have like a product that’s in your heart that you’re like, my life would better, other people’s lives would better if this existed, then go for it.

Stacy: I love that I and I think that check in on the why behind it is so important. It’s so interesting listening to you talk because in my industry there is a lot of that hype and false marketing for people like write and publish a book in 60 days and become a bestseller and all your wildest dreams will come true. And it’s just absolutely not true. And really what they’re doing at the end of it is just scamming people of their time, their money, but their dreams too. Which is what makes me the most upset when I see those. And I think having a real sense of what is my why behind this and if it is that big vision that you have and you want to create something that can be a really incredible pathway.

Stacy: Could you give us an example of that of somebody who, you know, had the right intention going in a clear why behind it was able to launch and build a E commerce business that has unlocked that freedom, that lifestyle for them and also given them profitable business? Because that’s the other thing is a lot of people don’t talk about profit. They focus so heavily on top line revenue. But you have to have a profitable business as well for it to support all of your other goals and dreams in your life.

Marissa: Well, and I think you’re hitting upon something that’s like really, I think you’re hitting upon. I’m going to kind of divert us for a minute, but you’re hitting upon two really important topics. So when I first got into E commerce, I was thinking of Time Freedom as an independent contractor, as a fractional service provider to businesses. I believed that I had to be in New York City or in a mod like one of the big markets, Right. New York, Louisiana. In order to be successful in E commerce. It took Covid for me to realize that was a narrative that was so not true. Right. Like it wasn’t true.

Marissa: And when I think about the E commerce direct to consumer boom that happened, you know, 2015 to 2018 with these E commerce businesses, so much of success was Raising capital, raising investment, having, you know, a big seed round, a big series A, and the press that came with that. And those people also really believed that they had to be in New York, in la, in the, you know, London and like a big place for that to happen. And fundamentally now I know, right, that’s not true. When I moved to Greece in 2021, I had no idea what would happen with my clients, but I was just like, I’m in an, I’m in a location agnostic industry. Really. My physical location has nothing to do with whether these businesses succeed or not.

Marissa: And over the last four years I’ve been able to generate 80 million in revenue for clients in North America from Greece. And I’m seven to 10 hours ahead of them. I’m in a different continent than them. And guess what? The ecosystem works exactly the same sitting in Greece as it does sitting in New York as it does sitting in Thailand as it does sitting anywhere else in the world. So I think that a lot of people don’t necessarily get into E Commerce. Not everybody wants to be a digital nomad or not everybody wants to live out of the United States. What some people want is the freedom to work from home. What some people want is the freedom to be able to work from wherever they want. You know, locally, from a cafe, from home, whatever.

Marissa: And I think that’s the beauty of the industry is that you can make those decisions for yourself and they might not look the same as somebody else’s. So I’m not sitting here being like, oh, you should be like me and move to Greece. I’m sitting here being like, you should be like me, learn E Commerce, kill it in E commerce and then decide what feels good for you and for your family and for your life and design it for you, right? So I think that’s the big thing. I think the other thing is that. Back to like my original comment to you at the very beginning about how E commerce has democratized commerce. In the last 10 years I’ve worked with regular people, not corporations, not entities.

Marissa: I mean like regular people, you know, a 50 year old mom of three kids who had an idea and had, you know, the gumption to go after it like everyday people that have bet on themselves, that have, you know, been smart enough to align with somebody like me to learn from people that know what they’re doing. And I’ve watched people go from zero, like, you know, sitting around the kitchen table, no business, me and the founder. And today they have businesses that are doing 10, 20, 30 40, 50 million in annual revenue and they’re still regular people, right? And so when I say that E commerce is democratized commerce, it’s because the game is exactly the same whether you are a huge corporation and entity or whether you are a little small person sitting in your kitchen table. You have the same exact challenges.

Marissa: You have to figure out how to drive traffic to your website, how to get people to click over, how to get them to join your email list and how to get them to purchase. And the exact same tools are available to everyone. And sometimes being big is not a benefit. When you’re working in such a fast paced environment like e commerce, it’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Sometimes being small and nimble and creating, you know, structures that are small and nimble around you serve you better. And so I think it’s really a lot, you know, everyday people to compete in a way that they never could before. And if you think about like your old school merchant or that person that had a store, they were stuck in that store physically, they had to show up in order to make sales.

Marissa: Like they had to be there every single day or hire a salesperson to be there every single day, right? And they were limited by the people that lived in their village or the people that lived in their town, the people that were walking by every single day. All of a sudden with E Commerce you get to unlock 276 million Americans shopping online every single day nationwide, right? You are selling 24 hours a day. Your site, if done properly and if you know what you’re doing, can convert for you automatically, right? There’s, there’s, it’s just a different reality. You’re able to then start selling in the uk, in Canada, in Australia, in all of these international markets that like could never have been possible, right?

Marissa: So the chances that you have of reaching people, of creating value for other people, of getting your products and people hand are massive. It just requires the discipline and the consistency and the commitment, right, of saying, okay, I am going to learn what it takes and I’m going to show it every day and I’m going to understand the processes and the systems that I need in my business, whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly that are going to be able to allow me to tap into millions of people around the world, right? And so that’s the part about E commerce that for me is just like unreal. Like I have a, a network of experts, right, Solopreneurs and fractionals that do all different tasks in E Commerce. Like, you need someone in E Commerce. I have them for you. And these people are located everywhere.

Marissa: They’re in the Philippines, they’re in Brazil, they’re in Portugal, they’re in North Macedonia, they’re in the UK they’re sitting in Canada. Like, they’re, you know, all of a sudden, you also can tap into a global network of people that are really good at what they do that can work for you and your business in a way that, like, couldn’t exist 15 years ago or 20 years ago. Right. So that’s why I say it’s the most unfair advantage ever. And I really want to stress that, like, it’s changing the lives of regular people. But it’s not fast. It requires work, and it does require you to say, I’m going to master this and this is going to be what I do.

Stacy: Yeah, I mean, I love the real talk there because the truth is that no pathway to freedom and flexibility is easy. There is always work involved to get you there. So I love that message. One thing that’s on my mind whenever I have, you know, as I’ve told you, I have all kinds of things that I would love to create and sell. Where I get a roadblock is the ethics of making sure that entire. Every single point of that, you know, creation to consumer is done ethically and humanely and honoring humans, animals, every kind of touch point. How do you think about that when you’re working with clients?

Marissa: Yeah, and that’s a really good point because I think that, you know, I, I have clients that, for example, I have a client, a business that I launched, and we launched her business in 2019. And she said to me at the time her manufacturing was in China, the Netherlands and Italy. And she was like, I really want to bring manufacturing to the US I really want to be able to do that. And I really want to be able to have, you know, 100% recyclable products. And we couldn’t start there. It’s been a path, you know. Now in 2025, she has her first two product lines that are made in the US and one of them is 100% recyclable. So, you know, I think there’s something to be said with. Sometimes these things happen over time, and they happen with scale.

Marissa: The more volume you have, the more you’re able to create other vehicles and resources for yourself. And sometimes you need money in order to upend supply chains or in order to be able to, you know, work with people that are willing to create solutions. Think about other ways to do things. So, you know, I think that the most important thing is to understand that where you start is not where you finish. And, you know, we have a ton of businesses that we can look at that have been able to integrate, whether it’s, you know, social entrepreneurship or give back components. Like, there’s always a way to start even from the very beginning. And there’s always a way to create a roadmap and prioritize the things that matter to you over time.

Marissa: And I do know that as you get bigger, you have more power to be able to do more in this world. Right. Like, sometimes it takes money to be able to create new machinery. It takes money to be able to, you know, bring things into a new environment. So, so that’s how I think about it. I think that as long as there’s like that integrity and you’re really committed to that, then you’ll make it happen. I think the worst part is when businesses try to greenwash things or when they try to stay like, we’re going to give 1% of this, but it’s vague and it never actually ends up happening.

Marissa: I’d rather work with a business that’s like, yeah, this isn’t where we want to be in the end, but this is what we’re going to start and we’re going to make a conscious effort every year to get closer to the reality that we envision and bring it to life.

Stacy: Yeah, it’s interesting you’re reminding me. We had a conversation on the podcast with my friend Vanita, who owns Vegan Accessories company and we talked through that. How do you create a truly sustainable, respectful business, especially in her space, in the vegan handbags sh. Shoes space. Talk about greenwashing all up and down the board there to really thrive as a brand that is truly committed to its values. And she is just hugely committed to the values of her business. It does require some. I mean, I just feel like she’s had to work harder at certain things than other brands that were willing to say one thing and do another. We’ll be sure to link to that in the show notes as well. For anybody that’s interested in this conversation around responsible business. Last question I’ll ask you.

Stacy: Before I ask you our final question, I would love to just hear a story from you of an everyday person. I know you mentioned that woman that started with her kitchen table. So maybe that story or another one, just so our listeners, our viewers can really picture what this journey can look like. Oh my God.

Marissa: Well, yeah, I mean the vision I was referring to actually it’s called Porton hall and the founder, Stafford Meyer literally is, was an interior designer for 25 years, mother of three, 50. When she just got fed up, she couldn’t find a great doormat for her clients. She couldn’t find something that was both functional and design driven. And after many years of like talking about it and talking about it, she was like, you know what, I’m going to do it. And she did it. When I met her, she had her product. She did not know how to go to market. She wasn’t sure the vehicle, nor should she be. Right.

Marissa: She was a first time founder and entrepreneur and we literally spent a year working together on everything from operations to financial planning to all of the data and the tech stack and the website and the marketing ecosystem and she’s got a huge beautiful business today. And you know, not only am I still involved in her business, a lot of the people that are working on that we know, we brought in 2019 are still with the business today. So yeah, I mean I, I could tell you tons of stories. Like every single business I’ve worked with since 2015 has been an independent, has been, you know, a real human. Because I wasn’t independent. I’m not the kind of person that would have been hired by a corporation or hired by like a big entity.

Marissa: So I was really hired by people that had, you know, either nothing but a product and a vision or you know, were very, very early in their journey and had been like, okay, I can’t do this on my own. I need to bring in somebody that can help me because I don’t know what I don’t know. Right. Yeah, 100% of them has been real people. And also I’ve had the privilege of working with a lot of women founders, which is interesting because there’s not a lot of women in E commerce in general. It tends to be especially direct to consumer. Tends to be, you know, a little bit of a boys club. But I’ve found a lot of women that are incredible in all areas.

Marissa: Whether it’s, you know, business owners and founders that I’m so inspired by or other people that work like me as, and had been working like me as fractional talent. Yeah, I mean one of my other clients, she was working in a university. She was, she was literally working in a university and had, you know, the best stories come from people. To be honest with you, at Least on the founder side, where there has been, like, a real issue that they’ve been trying to solve for themselves, right? Like, something in their everyday life that they were, like, so fed up with, and they were like, someone has to be able to do this better. And then I think at some point they were like, well, why not me, right?

Marissa: And I’ve worked with founders and business owners, some of which have bootstrapped their business from 0 to 3 million in annual revenue, no outside investment, others that have gone the investment route and raised capital from, you know, private equity and all that kind of stuff, but started with, like, a little friends and family, raised, and little by little, and getting bigger. So I’ve kind of seen the. The gamut of it. Does that answer the question?

Stacy: Yeah. That’s great. I love hearing the variety of stories and different experiences. So let me ask you our. Our final question, which is if you could recommend one book to listeners, it’s one book that has profoundly impacted your life. What would it be?

Marissa: Ooh, yes, without a doubt, the Almanac of Naval Rockavant. I read that book in the summer of 2021. I came to Greece on vacation by myself for the first time. I was like, I’m gonna go travel alone and face this fear of being by myself in a foreign country where I know nobody. And I stayed 101 days in Greece, so I, like, thought I would be there like seven days. I stayed 101 days. And I read that book three times cover to cover, and it is such a great book. It just completely changed everything in my life in terms of how I was thinking of myself and my work. It is what led to through experience and that catalyst change. And I highly recommend it for anyone at any stage in their journey. I think there’s so much wisdom in.

Marissa: In Naval’s philosophy and teachings.

Stacy: Wow. Well, I’m looking forward to checking that out and reading that myself. Thank you for that recommendation, Marissa. This has been such a wonderful conversation. Can you tell our listeners where to find out more about you and what you’re most excited about right now?

Marissa: Ooh, yes. So you can find me through experience.com and then if you’re interested in e commerce, I have a ton of resources, free resources that you should check out, especially if you’re thinking about it at throughexperience.com/resources. You can reach out to me personally on LinkedIn. You can reach out to me personally on Instagram. Marissa, underscore through experience. I am. I’m really excited about what’s coming Next, I’m at a point in my life where I’m thinking about like, what am I gilding in the next five, 10, 15, 20 years? Like, what do I want my legacy to be? How do I want to create even more impact for other people?

Marissa: And so those are the big things that are circling in my mind is thinking about it a little more strategically, like, what are the, what am I building in the next 10 and 20 years? I’m like, what I really want is to unlock the power of E commerce for as many people out there in the world as possible. Because again, I do think, like, we are living in this incredible era where it has made things. I mean, who would ever thought because live in Greece and earn income in the US because of E commerce.

Stacy: Like, how amazing.

Marissa: It wasn’t even a dream of mine to live abroad. I wasn’t like you. I was always in Puerto Rico and New York City. That was not in my like, periphery of things. So yeah, that’s what I’m excited about. I’m excited about what’s next and what’s coming.

Stacy: Well, Marissa, thank you so much. I’ve loved our conversation and I really appreciate all that you shared. Me too.

Marissa: Thank you so much for having me here. I really enjoyed it and thank you.

Stacy: To our listeners for joining us today. I’ll be sure to link to everything Marissa mentioned, including the book in the show notes, so you can grab links to everything. I really appreciate you being with us today. I know this was a really impactful conversation for me and I hope that it was for you as well. Since you’re still listening, that means you must have enjoyed the episode or enjoyed it either listening or on YouTube. So please take a moment to leave a review if you’re listening on a podcast. So rate the show and subscribe in either platform. It makes a huge difference in helping me reach more listeners, more viewers and also make sure you don’t miss out on great conversations like this. Thank you as always to Rita Domingues for her production of this podcast. You would not be listening to this if it were not for her because she does after the conversation. She does literally everything to get out into the world and I am grateful and I will be back with you before you know it.