Michelle Poler: 100 Days Without Fear

The Bold Life Movement with Kimberly Rich

I first heard today’s guest, Michelle Poler, speak at the World Domination Summit about her 100 Days Without Fear Challenge and I found it SO inspiring. She faced 100 fears, documenting the entire thing on YouTube. After going viral, she quit her job and now travels around speaking about the life changing benefits of facing our fears, and recording YouTube videos every Wednesday to answer one question: WTF Are We So Afraid Of?!

She has an awesome story, and I’m excited to share it with all of you.

100 Days Without Fear was a project in which Michelle faced 100 fears in 100 days – all while attending graduate school and holding down an advertising job. She used her mornings, lunch breaks and late nights to complete the challenge between classes, work and homework. On top of all that, Michelle also created regular videos to share her journey.

Michelle challenged her fears by doing things like:

• Speaking at a TedxHouston
• Watching the sunrise, by herself, from the Brooklyn Bridge
• Riding a roller coaster for the first time
• Dancing like nobody's watching, in Times Square
• Walking a trapeze
• Skydiving

Michelle’s challenge was a huge success, in large part because she had the foresight to create a defined brand that resonated with people before launching the project. The tone, visuals and audio all added up to an empowering and exciting experience for the audience to follow.

Since finishing the project, she has been approached with a number of amazing opportunities. She’s focusing on speaking and expanding the YouTube channel – because she loves it.

“I feel I have a strong message I want to communicate to younger girls, and they are on YouTube.”

Moving forward, Michelle is trying to direct her message at a younger generation of women. She is creating a new YouTube series, in which she will be speaking to her younger self: a really scared kid who was too comfortable. The new series is expected to launch in January.

“I’m never going to be that relevant to anyone if I keep trying to appeal to absolutely everyone.”

Michelle leveraged her mastery of branding to monetize what she loves – speaking to inspire people, especially younger women. If you haven’t seen it, check out Michelle’s journey facing 100 Days Without Fear and subscribe to her YouTube channel, Hello Fear, to see what she does next. If you have one of your own experiences that you would like to share to inspire people, send it to Michelle at HelloFear.com, where she is sharing other people's’ stories about facing their fears.

SOME QUESTIONS I ASK:

• Michelle was doing the 100 Days Without Fear challenge while in graduate school and working a job. How did she do it?
• How did Michelle fund her challenge?
• Was it a particular video or fear that helped the channel go viral?
• Did Michelle face any fears that she does not want to face again?
• Did Michelle have to get used to approaching people about the project while she was recording?
• What are other amazing opportunist that have come up because Michelle underwent The 100 Days Without Fear challenge?
• What new fears have come up since the challenge wrapped up?
• How is Michelle monetizing the project since it wrapped up?
• Did Michelle have speaking experience before she started the challenge?

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

• Why Michelle started the 100 Days Without Fear challenge
• Why you should define your brand before you launch a project to make a more powerful impact
• How Michelle funded and monetized her journey
• How Michelle is leveraging the success of her project to take advantage of even more opportunities
• Plus much more…

DON’T STOP HERE…

• Guest Links & Resources: Website | YouTube | Medium

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• 100 Days Without Fear playlist

Production & Development for The Bold Life Movement Podcast by Podcast Masters