313: From Welfare to Millions, The Magic of Mindset and Action with Maat Petrova

Dave Lukas, The Misfit Entrepreneur_Breakthrough Entrepreneurship

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Maat Petrova. Maat has an incredible story. She went from having nothing and being on welfare to creating a multi-million-dollar business in just a few years. The business is called FemMagic and is a luxury feminine hygiene company. As she has grown the company, she has expanded to teaching and empowering women to accomplish their true potential.

Now, I am not someone who can sit back and discuss feminine hygiene products. That’s definitely not my area, but I can spot a unique entrepreneur that’s harnessed their misfit side and made the most of it. And that’s why I’ve asked Maat to come on today – to tell her story and share the lessons she learned going from essentially poverty to millions in a short few years.

www.Femmagic.com​

Maat started off in New York as a single mom with 3 daughters who could barely pay her rent. She moved to Georgia after completing her graduate degree. What she thought would work in Georgia as services for holistic health, did not. So, she pivoted and went online in 2015. She started with online course she had worked on I grad school for self-care. A year later, she launched her first feminine hygiene product. In the span of just a few years, she went from making nothing to millions selling and making products from her kitchen table.

What was the catalyst that turned things for you and put you on the path to success?

• It was the moment when she moved to Atlanta thinking she would have support and didn’t have any.
• She had to put things on credit card to make things works.
• She had to make it work. She went back to NYC and hammered out a marketing campaign for her first program with the help of a few friends.
• She was charging $500/mo and just wanted 5 people.
• 10 people ended up signing up, so in one month she went from not being able to pay her rent to being able to pay rent and take care of her kids.

Talk to us about mindset. How did you learn to think differently and not give up?

• It started with her first acknowledging her negative mindset, her darkness and traits that were counter to her desire.
• Most people find it hard to accept or look at their dark mindset and negative character traits. Their counter-productive mindset.
• When Maat was in grad school and working 2 jobs, she chose to use the last bit of her time to take a self-improvement course.
• The first question she was asked was “Are you happy?” She broke down in tears. She was not happy. She had not had a moment to stop and think in her life with everything she was doing and responsible for.
• Maat was angry. As the weeks went on, she learned about being proactive instead of reactive. How to harness her mind to stop emotional reactions.

At the 13 min mark, she shares a story of how this came to use one day when she was running late with her kids, etc.

At the 14 min mark, we have a discussion on changing mindset.

You went through a big change in your teens that really changed you. Can you tell us about it?

• She grew up in an abusive household.
• This continued into her teen years.
• She created a identity for herself in her teens that was negative.
• She was 235 lbs., overweight, dressed baggy name-brand clothes which really couldn’t afford, and was in the party scene.
• She had a step father who started having her watch positive videos and messages.
• It didn’t have an immediate effect as she would watch a video and then go run the streets drinking and doing drugs with friends.
• She had no self-worth. The videos and audios seeped into her mind to a point where she started seeking those types of things our on her own.
• This led her to changing her life in high school to eating healthy, exercising, dressing who she was and being her true self.
• This helped to prepare her for the success she had years later.

You’ve built your brand organically to multi-millions in just a few years. How did you do it?

• The way she started her business stemmed from her change in high school.
• The first product was an all-natural PH balancer for feminine hygiene to help women get in balance. She had the problem when she was pregnant with her first child and the same solution worked for her. So, she thought others could benefit.
• She shared it online without even having a website. Women started asking if they could buy it – so she started taking orders manually through PayPal. She had created a presence online with her showing herself being healthy and focusing on her well-being and that initial following was who began buying from her.
• She started the business at home. They still are to this day and are hand-made. She does use a fulfillment center where she sends the products for distribution.
• She has multiple employees, and her children are involved.

Talk about how you market and drive traffic….

• Maat started off with Facebook.
• She then created a business page. She wasn’t sure it would work.
• She grew the business page to over 40k in just a few months.
• She then moved to Instagram, and this became the hub for her business, both for her personal and the brand.
• She kept the business page private and promoted it on her personal page. People had to ask her to be a follower.
• She was truly authentic and herself online.

Best tips to sell online?

• Testimonials and reviews are critical to success online.
• Having honest 3rd party proof that your offerings are good is a huge different maker.
• The honest opinion and feedback also helps you to improve your offerings.
• As far as social media, make sure pics are clear and crisp. Imagery is cheap, do it well.
• Make sure to have your brand colors as part of your imagery. Color in general is good.

Best Quote: Most people find it hard to accept or look at their dark mindset and negative character traits. Their counter-productive mindset.

Maat's Misfit 3:

1. Testimonials are key to success and validation of your business making you and your products more trustworthy. Make sure you have a strategy to collect them.
2. Have a great product that meets a real need that is consistently needed. Find something that people need no matter what.
3. Create an easy streamline process for customers. Give them an easy straightforward way to purchase from you.
4. Bonus: Build an audience with the 80/20 rule. Maat gave a free service for an hour for 5 months and then charged for it. She had a waiting client base and instantly had a large business.

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