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Fiona Jones & Pauline Martin-BrooksForeword by John Gray, Ph.D. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

What if

Millionaire

making millions

MentorsMwas easier than you think?

Fiona Jones

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✶ ✶No.1

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”Jim Rohn

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MillionaireMentorsM

‘The gift of a Millionaire book is more than paper and words. It is the possibility of a whole new

beginning and a whole new life.’

Fiona Jones


What if


“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”Jim Rohn

What if

Millionaire

making millions

Mentors

was easier than you think?

M

DISCLAIMER

All the information, techniques, skills and concepts contained within this publication are of the nature of general comment only and are not in any way recommended as individual advice. The intent is to offer a variety of information to provide a wider range of choices now and in the future, recognising that we all have widely diverse circumstances and viewpoints.

Should any reader choose to make use of the information contained herein, this is their decision, and the contributors (and their companies), authors and publishers do not assume any responsibilities whatsoever under any condition or circumstances. It is recommended that the reader obtain their own independent advice.

First Edition 2011

Copyright © 2011 by The Global Millionaire Group Pty LtdAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Jones, Fiona 1970

Millionaire Mentors:What if making millions was easier than you think? / Fiona Jones and Pauline Martin-Brooks1st ed.ISBN: 978-0-9808340-4-8 (pbk.)

Jones, Fiona. The Millionaire Books series.

Success--Psychological aspects.Millionaires--Australia--Biography.Success in business--Australia.

Other Authors: Martin-Brooks, Pauline 1974

332.0922

Published by Source Publishing and Production GroupPO Box 119 Mt Macedon, Victoria 3441 AustraliaFor Further information: Email: [email protected]: +613 5426 3426

Printed in China

Universal education is the key to improving the well being of individuals and societies. Empowering people by igniting possibility thinking in them delivers undeniable returns – for everyone. As a leadership and communication coach and trainer I know that success leaves clues. I have travelled the world meeting and learning from some of the very best mentors and leaders on the planet. Millionaire Mentors gives you the combined wisdom of 16 leading Aussies in your hands without the hassle of airports, security checks and long queues! World change starts one person at a time. Will you be the next?

Heidi Alexandra Pollard – Chief Executive Leader and Founder, Leading Ladies International www.leadingladiesinternational.com.au

Millionaire Mentors gives readers a rare insight into what it takes to be a highly successful professional in any industry. Readers get the opportunity to learn highly successful techniques and habits from people who know what they are talking about - Millionaires. I highly recommend Millionaire Mentors to anyone looking to take their career to the next level.

Efren Chaux, Director Brown & Chase Talent Acquisition www.brown-chase.com

A mentor is essential for anyone in business or anyone wanting better results in life. As a small business owner I know the value of having someone external to your business to call upon for advice, and to keep you accountable and mentor you along your journey. To have the opportunity to read about the successful mentors in this book and the lessons they have learnt along the way is inspiring!

Gaylene M. Wright, Director, Team Integral. www.teamintegral.com.au

Testimonials

We dedicate this book to mentors everywhere.

To parents, teachers, friends and those who shine their light to inspire others.

To anyone who has lent a helping hand to someone in need this book is for you.

Fiona Jones and Pauline Martin-Brooks

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Although our names appear on the cover, this book has many authors. To the Millionaire Mentors contributors, you are truly inspiring. This book would not have been possible if you had not followed your dreams. Thank you for sharing your secrets, experience and personal journey. For this we are forever grateful. Your contribution is beyond words. We appreciate the trust you have given to us in sharing your unique success story so that together we can inspire others. Working with each of you has been an absolute privilege and so much fun!

To the brilliant team at Source Publishing and Production Group, thank you for your support of The Millionaire Book Series.

Fiona and Pauline

To my mentors past and present, some of you who will never know the impact you have had. I am grateful for the guiding lights that bring me to where I am today. In particular I would like to acknowledge Dale Beaumont whose books have mentored many on their path to great success.

To my parents, who like most parents want only the best life for their children, you have given me everything I needed to make my way in this world.

To my children Riley and Abbie who are the most important mentors a parent can ever have- I love you beyond words and am grateful for the lessons you gift to me daily.

To my husband and best friend, thank you for always believing in me.

To my sister and best friend Rebecca, I love and adore you. This series is possible because of you. You are the brightest star.

To my amazing business partners and mentors Michael and Susan who inspire me every day.

Acknowledgements

To Pauline I have enjoyed every bit of co-authoring this book with you. Thank you for sharing the author’s journey.

To my fabulous team at The Millionaire Group, you make all this happen, you are all incredible. Thanks a Million.

Fiona

My deepest thanks to Michael, Fiona and Susan for your support, enthusiasm, dedication and humour.

To the love of my life - Conrad Brooks, for those morning love notes that get every day off to a great start and for always being there with the right words of encouragement, a cup of tea and a hug.

To Karen Corban, for seeing something in me that I couldn’t see in myself at the time.

To Chris Howard and his trainers for all of the learnings over the past five years – what a journey.

To my friend Vicki Taylor for being the most incredibly loyal friend for over 30 years – the world needs more of you.

To Sunshine, Keri and Gillian for always being great sounding boards and encouraging my creativity – Thank you.

To my parents, you have taught me more than you know – thank you for instilling in me the love of hard work and self-reliance and especially thank you mum for teaching me to be nice to everyone.

To my three sisters - you are all angels, remember to be true to your passions and always pay yourself first.

Pauline

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 1 Roy McDonald Mentor of the Mentors

Chapter 2 17 Siimon Reynolds Marketing Millions

Chapter 3 29 Yvonne Allen Relationship Mentor

Chapter 4 47 Lachlan Elsworth Trading Coach

Chapter 5 63 Ralph Anania Producing Millions

Chapter 6 79 Naomi Beaumont Money Mentor

Chapter 7 91 Michael R. Dean Global Mentor

Chapter 8 111 Scott Harris Millionaire Mentor

Chapter 9 151 Michael Sherlock Millionaire Breadwinner

Chapter 10 169 Duncan Yelds Holistic Mindset Millionaire

Chapter 11 185 Aaron Parsons Millionaire Commando

Chapter 12 205 Katrina McGilchrist Living in the Moment

Chapter 13 223 Todd Hutchison The Corporate Mechanic

Chapter 14 241 Lindsay Tighe Ask Better Questions

Chapter 15 257 Tabitha Bright Positive Real Estate

Chapter 16 271 Geoff Kirkwood The Referral Master

Foreword

By John Gray, Ph.D.

It is hard to believe that not that long ago I was jobless and at a very low point in my life. I came to realise that to help make positive changes in the world I had to start with myself. So I worked hard and saved enough money to pursue my dream of teaching others through seminars. After a short time, I was making money doing what I loved to do. 30 years later, I am still teaching and love what I do.

I travel the world with Mars Venus Coaches and help thousands of individuals to improve their lives, build wealth, and create the lifestyle they truly desire. That’s exactly what the people in this book have done - turned their skills and passion into successful businesses while mentoring others to do the same. This book teaches you how to think like the most successful entrepreneurs in the world so you can make your dreams come true.

Success is the process of getting what we want and wanting what we have. True success is recognising that you are not only in the process of achieving new goals but also being grateful and appreciative for what you have now.

Living an extraordinary life is achieved by having support and standing on the shoulders of others. A Coach is designed to help you make changes to your life, to achieve your dream relationships, health and wealth and to bring you success and happiness. Coaching techniques are designed to help you identify, understand, and overcome the things that are holding you back in life. Coaching brings progress. Coaching brings success.

It is within your reach to take charge of your own personal destiny and, regardless of past mistakes or limitations, begin today creating lasting love, increasing success and vibrant health.

You have the potential to choose the extraordinary and to become the person you were meant to be. Dare to dream.

John Gray, Ph.D. - Founder, Mars Venus Coaching John Gray, Ph.D. is the leading relationship expert in the world and best-selling relationship author of all time. His groundbreaking book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, forever changed the way men and women view their relationships.

Foreword

‘All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything.

What we think, we become.’ Buddha

‘If you want to change, then you must change.’

Mentor of the Mentors

Chapter 1

Roy McDonald

Roy McDonald

www.MillionaireMentorsBook.com2

For the past 43 years Roy McDonald has been searching out, creating, and pioneering some of the best strategies for creating wealth and success in people’s lives. He is the founder of OneLife International.

As an educator, author, business coach and strategic planner, he is a hands-on wealth creator. The programs that he teaches at One Life International have enabled hundreds of satisfied clients to increase their belief in themselves and therefore their belief in their ability to create wealth.

Roy is a self-made millionaire and director of 49 different structures and interests in more than 24 companies that turn over more than $30 million a year (i.e., $700,000-plus a week!); they include an accounting firm, a financial planning company, a real estate business, a development and construction company, a training organisation and other business including investment companies, trading companies, a travel company, farming and cattle breeding.

He has been educating people in wealth creation strategies for more than 23 years and now, with OneLife, Roy gives the participants of his programs a holistic and balanced approach to creating the life of their dreams.

Roy had made his first million dollars in 1973 at the age of 28 – estimated to be the same as $10 million in today’s money, so he actually does what he teaches.

At age 19 Roy was like most other Australians: he grew up the son of the typical ‘Aussie battler’ in Sydney’s south-west and remembers on more than one occasion the power being cut off at home because they couldn’t pay the bill. By age 28, life was very different; the ‘boy from Bankstown’ had beaten the odds and risen to the ranks of an elite few in Australia by amassing his first million dollars; his story is inspirational and an example to us all of how even those who struggle to make ‘ends meet’ today can be rich tomorrow.

Now 65, Roy has achieved something most of us dream of – he actually makes money while he sleeps; by strategically investing in property, shares and businesses, he has established streams of income that enable him to choose when he ‘works’, although now he actually only ever does what he loves to do.

Today, he is driven to help others experience the kind of success that has become a way of life for him; the information he imparts today focuses on lifestyle, relationships, health and wellness as well as financial freedom.

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Chapter 1: Mentor of the Mentors

What were your beliefs about money when you were growing up?

I grew up in an interesting environment as a young boy in the working class suburb of Bankstown in Sydney’s western suburbs.

My father had become an alcoholic and would come home and beat up my Mum and us from time to time.

Money was very short and most of his stress, strain and anger was over money; in fact every argument I ever heard my mother and father have was over money.

The power to our house was disconnected regularly because we couldn’t afford to pay the bill, so my growing-up was one of a feeling of embarrassment and humiliation; a combination of poor clothes and my lack of reading and spelling skills, which went through every subject other than maths and technical drawing, meant my life was not looking very sharp.

I remember at eight years old being called to the headmaster’s office and my mother came with me; he explained to my mother, ‘Roy is not going to make it’, and walking home I asked my mum, ‘What does “not going make it” mean – does that mean I’m going to die Mum?’. She said, ‘You are just not going to make it, because you are not good enough at spelling and no one will employ you and you will never get a job’.

This was at least better than dying, but certainly disheartening.

In saying all this and – not to get anyone’s sympathy – when you are little and you don’t have many clues on what to do, what was needed then was a good mentor.

My mother and father loved me, and we did have good times, but it was very interesting; my father was more of a warning than an example for me.

Growing up I discovered that if I had some money people would like me and I thought that was the answer; I became focused on building my wealth, which I was very clever at doing, given the adaptation and strategies I needed to put in place for lack of my academic skills.

What I discovered as time went on was that money gave you emptiness, a false promise if you will, that as the shine wore off, it was hard to

Roy McDonald


determine who were your true friends; so my life had been a bit of a roller-coaster.

Who were your mentors during this time?

I came across three mentors: one was a partner in a business in one of two jobs that I ever worked in; he was really a father figure to me, the father that I didn’t have; he was such a wonderful inspiration and probably taught me the very first few values that were important – about intention and integrity.

The second mentor was a real estate agent from Canada. I was looking to buy a home unit and after showing me many units over the course of a number of weekends, he offered me a job; in my suspicious mind I thought that he just wanted to offer me a job so that I would buy the unit; he was quite clear that this wasn’t his intention. I worked for him for a number of years and he taught me skills that were extraordinary on how finance worked, how to position a building to sell it, how to price a building and what the market was about. So his mentoring was very much about tools and once again a real, deep, wise man in life; he had great balance with his family; he had four children who he travelled the world with and followed the market wherever it took him.

I think all of us have a blinding flash and it was at that time that I experienced mine. My third mentor explained that whatever you do, property would be the end result.

In other words if you were a great restaurateur, or a great businessman, or a great whatever, you’d put your money into property, as that was where it ended; therefore I decided if that’s where I am going to end up, why not go there? So I went into property, to begin with the end in mind and I started my first real estate company.

As I didn’t have a licence, I got a retired licensee to be my licensee; I told him he could sign the trust account and that way he was in charge; he worked one afternoon a week – there was just him and me. I had rented an office for 13 pounds a week, one room with two doors running off, one door going to the garbage bin area and the other door going next door, but it was sealed; on the door to the garbage bin I wrote, ‘Finance Department’ and on the other door I wrote ‘Administration’ to make it look like I was a large organisation. I called my company Hamden Developments Pty Ltd, which I still have today, and on all my signs I

5


put ‘Another Hamden Project’, which looked like I was the builder and developer.

I made a massive amount of sales in the first three or four months, such that my older licensee almost had a heart attack; so I had to go and get another licensee. I built a large organisation over the next few years with some 15 people on my sales team and 20 part-time people, turning over millions of dollars in property. We moved from my single-room office to a larger building and then the next move was into the first commercial building I bought.

My first million dollars got me a front-page story in the Sun Newspaper; I bought 30 copies because I couldn’t believe I was on the front page; I was only 28 at the time, so I was two years ahead of my goal of being a millionaire by age 30, and a million dollars in those days would be worth about $10 million today.

When did you start personal development?

Back when I was 17 I couldn’t get a job; my brother was a pool attendant at Bankstown baths; he was paid almost nothing and my major project was to be his assistant, so prospects weren’t good.

I was inspired to be a success and thought that money was the answer, and that fast cars and fast women – a lot of silly, empty things – would fulfil my life. By the time I had made my first million and started consolidating and feeling the emptiness of this, numerous other mentors came into my life, mentors who were gurus around what truly makes a person a person, and finding oneself.

At the same time I started to notice how I was helping people to make money, but they would then lose it; so I discovered that making money was simple and keeping it was another issue.

I was led to personal growth or personal development and there were ‘New Age Thinking’ programs called Forum, Landmark and Insight, which had come out of California.

I moved from selling property to investing in property and from selling and investing to developing, and it wasn’t long before I was involved in a lot of developments, so the majority of the properties that I was selling were mine.

Roy McDonald


I also moved into commercial properties, bought a property for $184k and sold it for $7.2m over 12 years – in those days, pre capital gains taxed asset and tax free, probably worth the equivalent to $80m today.

Many transactions of millions of dollars passed through my hands and, although it was great on paper and felt good financially, there was something missing.

After years of this deeper search for an authentic life and wisdom, balance and harmony, I found it inside of me, the one place that I hadn’t looked.

Looking back on that moment, what was clear was that one needed a vision of what one wanted, which was really a desire, and a passion, and I was very passionate about being successful.

I also realised that you need discipline, and I think the single most important thing that a mentor can ever give someone who has vision and passion, is discipline. In fact, what is really required is a disciplined plan and the tip that I would give everyone being mentored is that your mentor is to help you facilitate a disciplined plan that involves time management, your focus and strategies that keeps you on course and directed towards your true north.

More than just time management, as Jim Leohr and Tony Schwartz says in their book The Power of Full Engagement it’s not just time management, the key to high performance, financially, health-wise and happiness, is energy management.

The four principles that they talk about in this are:

1. Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy i.e. physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

2. The second principle is that because energy capacity diminishes with both over use and under use, we must balance the energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal. What that is about is that rest and recovery is as important as being focused and pushing forward.

3. The third principle, to build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do and they refer to becoming a corporate athlete.

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4. Lastly, the fourth principle is positive energy rituals, high specific routines for managing energy, are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.

We have rituals like cleaning our teeth, which we don’t have to think about, we have rituals of spending money sometimes and we don’t think about that, which are negative rituals and we also have positive ones like building a wealth account and strategic spending system.

So a mentor must work with a client to really embrace those four principles and see to it that the focus on the energy will keep their vision, passion and disciplined plan in balance and harmony.

If you put together vision, a disciplined plan and passion, what you get is action – all wealth ultimately is precise action.

The role of a mentor is to keep a person focused on what they do best to become the greatest person they can possibly be, delivering consistent, precise action towards their intentions.

‘A burning desire is the greatest motivator of every human action. The desire for success implants

‘success consciousness’ which, in turn, creates a vigorous and ever-increasing ‘habit of success.’

Paul J. Meyer.

What drove you to be successful in those early years?

Looking back at my childhood, the disappointments and challenges that I experienced and, probably more importantly, the humiliation I experienced around my poor spelling and feeling accepted, made me stronger and made me really step up and be successful.

I am always grateful to that headmaster for telling me I wasn’t going to make it and to my teachers who made fun of me, because it made me want to prove something; in one sense that was probably ego-driven, but it probably made me who I am and gave me the strength to be successful.

Roy McDonald


It took some years to temper that drive for success, to get balance and harmony and to make me a better man, and I see this still as a work in progress.

I went to as many different places as I could, from seminars to churches, to learn from experiences and figure out what was going on – my mind was very active.

It was at an Anthony Robbins program that I had completed; there was a room of people in the space of openness and acceptance, and I remember hugging people and it was like a lightning bolt hit; it was my first experience of unconditional love; I had never experienced that before, not even in my family did I feel accepted for who I was; in fact I thought love was having sex.

When you experience something like this, you know what it looks like for the first time, and you know what you want to get, so I was looking for more of that; I remember going home and sitting quietly and feeling the enormous joy in my heart knowing that I could be a wealthy person and have this – that they weren’t separate.

A lot of the feedback I received was that you were wealthy and not nice or you were spiritual but poor; at that moment, I realised that money amplifies you and, if you are a good person, you will be even better and more of a giver, but if you are a nasty piece of work and you have more money, you will be probably be nastier.

I also experienced poor people who are nasty and poor people who are nice, as well as wealthy people who are nasty and wealthy people who are nice; so it wasn’t about whether they had money or not, it was who were they being in this.

I believe that a mentor’s role is all about the beingness and bringing out the very best in someone on their own journey.

‘Unless we think of others and do something for them, we miss one of the greatest sources of happiness.’

Ray Lyman Wilbur.

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What is OneLife International?

We are a university of life delivering primary and advanced educational programs teaching people property, real estate, share trading, internet and business strategies. Our core values are connection, being on purpose, passion, abundance and empowerment.

Sixty per cent of the people doing our programs choose property as their number-one vehicle, while 20 per cent choose share trading and 20 per cent choose business. While OneLife offers educational programs on all of these strategies, I always recommend that each of our clients starts with the education that they feel most comfortable with.

It is interesting that a lot of seminar programs that are focused, say, on property talk down share trading and those doing share-trading talk down property. My view is that first you pick the one that resonates for you, and then add value to that and leverage yourself – keep conscious control over what you are doing; have your mentor guide you where your heart will sing and where you will be inspired.

For me personally real estate has been such a huge leveraged business and has helped me make millions of dollars, but it is the businesses that have created the income flow that have developed my ability to build wealth.

An epiphany for me was that banks are not asset-lenders: 95 per cent of the population think they are, but they are actually income lenders, or lend on cash flow and take certain assets as security; unfortunately, most ‘95 per-centers’ think in terms of buying a house as an asset when really it is a liability, and they get confused into thinking the bank is lending on the asset, where really they are lending on the person’s job and income, using the asset as security.

Given that the transaction doesn’t technically work by itself, in other words, the rental income is lower than the mortgage payments, banks do a lot of enquiry on how stable someone is in income.

What I discovered was that businesses can create massive cash flow and, properly mentored, anyone can have a business that can work for them, as long as they don’t make the mistake of working in the business, which often creates just another job.

Roy McDonald


Back the business with some property, particularly commercial where the business can run from, and all of a sudden you have a magic formula of success that the banks love – a business income that is consistent and an asset supported by a business that is growing, because the rental return on that commercial property is seven per cent, eight per cent, nine per cent or 10 per cent. This becomes quite a simple, magical formula: firstly, by turning income from the business into a tax deduction; secondly, the rent becomes an expense for the business; and thirdly, the building grows in value delivering an end result of capital gain.

What is your greatest success story as a mentor?

There have been a lot of successes at different levels; it is interesting to notice the success stories that are in the Millionaire books; I have mentored a number of those in property, real estate and business.

I have had Geoff Bignell go from working as an installer of cables in offices with his two friends, form a company and go public with it and some five years later sell it for $30 million, so obviously that is an enormous success story.

I had a lady come along to my program whose only assets were in her car and, as she said, you can’t fit much furniture in your car; she was starting a new life after the death of her husband and within three years was producing some $600k income from real estate transactions, in which she was joint venturing with money partners, as she had no money to start with.

Then there is Sue, a lady who hadn’t worked for six years because she had children and couldn’t get the time off, and lacked confidence; her number-one goal was to earn $20k in her first year and she did that, then went on to $200k the following year, $400k the year after that and $1million the following year.

Given that her commitment was to only work three days a week and not to work in the holidays because of the children – in other words a maximum of 100 days – it is an extraordinary income.

Last year Sue earned $1.6 million working not three, but two days a week, which is enormous leverage of her time and life.

Having said all that, I would think though that the person I respect most and, in fact, has the greatest and longest consistent result would

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be Harry Charalambous – my hope is that he will be in some of these books in the future.

Harry was a young electrician working 76 hours a week and, once the children were put to bed, Harry and his wife would work on the books; he was considered a successful business operator with a $300k turnover and two young men on the road; but after 14 years as an electrician, he looked at his tax return and came to realise that he only earned $40k, this was after expenses and to be divided between himself and his wife. Within 12 months, Harry had taken his business from $300k to $970k, tripled his income and cut down to working 35 hours a week; at the end of that year he sold his business and also produced another $1 million in income in real estate transactions.

He did a transaction every month and, over the last seven years, continued to make in excess of $7 million and has also given away a similar sum to his joint venture partners. Harry now runs his own real estate advisory group and has more than $30 million in real estate under his control within half an hour walk of his home.

From where he started with a modest home and a reasonable sized mortgage, Harry has increased his wealth and now lives a very balanced life with his young family, takes regular holidays and has developed a portfolio of commercial property, a residential trading real estate development company and construction arm, as well as advising a number of our clients on joint venture matters, as well as mentoring his own direct clients and ours at One Life.

Harry is now leading our $10 million Club, which is OneLife’s elite 12-month property program under the leadership of Harry and guidance of Roy McDonald exclusively for property investors building a $10million property portfolio.

What inspirational words come to mind when you think of mentors, and what would you advise someone who is thinking of being mentored and wanting to become a mentor?

That is a really important question and I think the single biggest thing anyone can do is get out of their ego and surrender; that’s a big call I know and, when someone chooses a mentor, they really have to choose someone they respect and that they truly feel they can learn from and trust.

Roy McDonald


Trust is always based on two areas: the person’s character and their competence. The person’s character is broken down to two things, their intention and their integrity; so you are looking for a mentor that has great character and is competent in the role you are requesting them to be involved in; if they have great character, but are incompetent, it won’t work; if they are competent, but don’t have good character, in other words don’t have good intention or integrity, they are not going to be right for you.

The second thing to consider beyond the respect and their competency and character would be that their work resonates with you.

In other words there is a feeling about the surrender that happens in this advice for them to coach you, because there will be some times when push comes to shove that you will need to give up your position to go to the next level.

This is when arrogance can come in from someone who thinks they know what to do but looking to be coached.

There is a rule around this that says if you want to change, then you must change, otherwise you have to send everyone else to a psychiatrist, so that you can become better.

The final point I would make on this and I’m sure there could be many more, is that wherever the mentor is coming from, that they understand where you are at.

In Roger Hamilton’s work with his profiling, it is not advisable to try and move a Deal-Maker into an Accumulator and it’s not advisable to move an Accumulator into a Trader – so we all have different ways of doing things, and what’s important is to understand how teams work and how we can leverage one’s life, and particularly to add value to that leveraged position.

So, in summary, what I am saying is that it’s not one size fits all and it’s very important that while the mentor is advising the client on their pathway to success, they bear in mind that each client has different needs, interests and abilities.

What is a mentor and what is the difference between a coach, mentor and teacher?

A mentor is a very special person, really someone I would regard as a

13


facilitator, and it involves both coaching and teaching; but there is an aspect of leadership, which is driven from wisdom.

What is wisdom? Most people would say is experience and knowledge.

However, if that was all it was, then you wouldn’t have the other two words, so there is another aspect and that aspect I believe is reflection; wisdom comes from experience, knowledge and reflection on the past to alter, change and become different in respect to that which you wish to become; it is the true depth of the leadership driven by wisdom that makes a mentor be extraordinary.

‘A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought

they could.’ Unknown.

How should one start their day for the journey to success?

This is probably the most important question and I will share my process: the first thing I do is meditate and get aligned with the planet, and create my intention for the day.

The second thing I do is my 1-31 Card, which is a goal-setting card.

The third area is doing the Five Tibetan Rites exercises including push-ups, sit-ups and squats; wherever I am on the planet I do them because they require no equipment.

The next thing is a wholesome breakfast and then I begin my planned day.

I use a time management system called One Life Time, which is a program you can buy online at www.onelife.com.au then go to our retail shop to complete the purchase.

This begins with a 12-month, quarterly, then monthly and down to weekly and daily planning process; on a daily basis it starts the intention to create the week and the month accordingly.

Roy McDonald


The intention for the day is broken up in 15-minute sections and includes my meetings, my clients and personal situation in working on the business; it also has my personal goals and input and tasks that I intend to complete.

To download my latest advice go to www.onelife.com.au where there are multiple downloads in the library to choose from.

I would like to leave you with two thoughts: firstly, all success is based on decisions and precise action; you would not be reading this book if you weren’t a person of action and what we just need to do is put those actions into precise outcome by making decisions – as in your decisions is your destiny.

Secondly, OneLife is built on a foundation of generation ‘G’, which stands for generosity; we are now entering the next phase of ‘G’, which is all about free love and random acts of kindness; ask yourself how you can be part of this generation.

Can you share your ‘Power Questions’ with us?

Every morning and evening I ask myself a set of questions after affirming to myself that I am the master of my mental, emotional, physical and financial destiny; the questions are based around showing up, stepping up, giving back and, in the morning, they might include: ‘What am I grateful for? Why am I so happy? What am I responsible for? Why am I here? And, Who am I?’ The evening questions might include: ‘What did I express gratitude for today? What was the coolest and most-fun adventure today? How has today added to the quality of my life? And, ‘Who did I demonstrate love for today?’

Roy, you mentioned a goal card, what is that?

About 30 years ago I developed the S.M.A.R.T.I.E.S system of Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Tangible, Inspirational, Emotional, leading to Success; it’s a system we call a 1-31 Card, where every day you read the card and just tick the box to keep check of your own personal progress in the areas of health, family, business/career, finances, social, spiritual and intellectual.

We do a new card every month with our number-one goal as the most important and we have short, medium and long-term.

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It’s one of our 12 major success formulas that we use along with the Wealth Account, Strategic Spending, and Seven Year Plan, etc. If you would like details on that and how our goal system works, go to www.onelife.com.au and visit the library to download your 1-31 Goal Card.

‘Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.’ Tony Robbins.

What would be your parting thought?

I love what I do and I enjoy every moment; my vocation is my vacation.

The driver for me is the children; that’s the legacy that we leave.

My whole life is around making a difference to people’s lives for the purpose of passing that on to the children, the grandchildren and those children that aren’t born: not only are they the legacy, they are the new mentors.

The last thought I would leave you with would be that my own personal journey gained from the inspiration and experiences of others has really helped me get clarity about who I am in this.

I think we are all mentors and we are all teachers and coaches of each other – the question I always ask myself is what is my purpose in this and how can I best contribute.

In John Booth’s sensational book, A Passion to Excellence, he has the B3, which is being grateful, being outstanding and being generous, and I think the B3 is the summary of how I live my life.

If you feel inspired by my chapter I offer you an invitation to make contact with me at [email protected]. I would love to connect with you and assist you to become part of our vision to leave an abundant legacy for all people who choose this pathway, especially our children who are tomorrow’s leaders.

Roy McDonald


Roy McDonald is generously offering readers of Millionaire Mentors a FREE copy of his book How to turn $1 into $1million in 7 years or less.

For details about how to get your free book please visit www.MillionaireMentorsBook.com/moneymakers

Books authored by Roy McDonald

• How to turn $1 into $1million in 7 years or less.

• Property Secrets.

‘Self-belief and confidence is absolutely pivotal to succeeding in business.’

Marketing MillionsSiimon Reynolds

Chapter 2


Siimon Reynolds

Siimon Reynolds is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur.

He is co- founder of the one of the biggest advertising and marketing groups in the world, Photon Group.

In just eight years Photon Group grew from two people to more than 5000 full-time and part-time staff, with 50 companies in 14 countries, and a stock market valuation of several hundred million dollars.

Siimon now personally coaches entrepreneurs on how to maximise their profits, grow their business to extraordinary heights and live the life they have dreamed of.

He is also a best-selling author, published in 10 countries. In 2010 his book Why People Fail reached number one on both the business and self-improvement best-seller lists.

Siimon also recently opened The Fortune Institute, a leading-edge online training system for entrepreneurs.

Siimon has won numerous international advertising awards including the Gold Lion at Cannes, The Gold Pencil at The US One Show awards and the Grand Prize at The London International Advertising Awards.

His Australian awards include Television Commercial of The Year, Newspaper Ad of The Year and Magazine Ad of The Year.

In addition, Siimon has won ‘NSW Young Achiever of The Year’, Career Category.

Siimon speaks around the world on business achievement, marketing, branding, high performance and entrepreneurship. He is frequently ranked the number one speaker in post-conference surveys, based on his combination of inspiration and practicality.

Born in 1964, Siimon lives in Sydney and Los Angeles.

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Chapter 2: Marketing Millions

What beliefs about money did you grow up with?

I was brought up in a comfortable middle class family in Edgecliff, Sydney. When I was in my mid-teens I became aware of a desire that I wanted to make a lot of money. I wasn’t doing well at school and was just waiting for school to finish so I could get on with life and start making it in the world.

I was incredibly uninterested in most subjects at school and I couldn’t see the relevance of them to my life. I remember in my last year at school I had to memorise the rainfalls in the west coast of West Malaysia, and strangely enough I couldn’t quite see how that was going to help me to get ahead in life. The other part of it was a lack of discipline; I hadn’t developed my discipline muscles to do stuff like homework when I didn’t feel like doing it. I did finish Year 12 but I didn’t want to; I pleaded with my mother to let me finish school in Year 11 — I had already arranged a job in advertising — but she wouldn’t let me. So in my final year of school when everyone else was studying after school, I was getting on a bus and travelling to a job at a sales promotion company. Finishing school was just ticking the box and two weeks later I was working full-time in advertising.

So I think I was propelled to do well in life because I didn’t do well at school. I had a chip on my shoulder about not being an academic star, and had a real desire to prove people wrong and show them that I would be a success.

Who was your mentor growing up?

When I was 17 I read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and I guess that book became a mentor in a way, because it showed me the possibilities; it gave me hope that I could become somebody and get somewhere; it changed my life.

Do you have a coach or mentor today?

My last coach was Jim Fannin who coaches some of the world’s most successful sportspeople. He coached Alex Rodriguez, the highest paid baseball player in the world.

I am considering studying with Sam Chouhan, who is a mindset coach to some of the world’s greatest professional poker players. Both sport and poker are very intense mind-situations and being in premium mental condition can certainly affect your performance.


Siimon Reynolds

None of us are functioning at anywhere near our potential; in fact we’d be lucky to be at 50 percent of our potential. How do we fix that? We educate ourselves to become true experts in our field and function as effectively as possibly mentally. You have to work on both knowledge and mindset to be sure you’re performing at your optimum.

How did you get into mentoring?

My last company, Photon Group was listed on the Stock Exchange in 2004 and is the 14th largest marketing company in the world now; so for the past two and a half years I haven’t worked full-time and I wanted something satisfying to do: I get a real kick out of helping business-owners make more money and create a better life for themselves. Before I started my coaching business, business people were always asking me for help; so it is really my love of teaching and learning that make me want to do this.

‘Anything the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.’ Napoleon Hill

What’s the most common question you get asked?

How to make more money: the reality is that I am yet to come across a business that, within 15 minutes, I cannot show how to make vastly more money than they currently are. There are just so many ways to make more money in any business that business owners haven’t realised or maximized; the untouched treasure that’s inside most companies never ceases to amaze me.

The great blessing I have is that I’ve owned businesses since I was 23 and in the end my company owned 54 businesses in 14 countries, so I have a lot of experience owning businesses rather than working in them. I have also been in marketing and the truth is that if you’re good at marketing you can increase just about anybody’s business. I have to emphasise that I am a student of marketing; I’m not pretending that I know it all. I spent thousands and thousands of dollars studying

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marketing. There is a wonderful Zen saying, “In the beginner’s mind there are many options, in the experts only a few”; that has really stuck in my mind because as you become so called ‘successful’ in business, the greatest danger is to stop learning. You have to remain like a beginner to remain at the top and continue to excel.

Is there is a significant quote that you live by?

‘The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavour.’ - Vince Lombardi.

How important is goal setting and visualisation in your daily routine?

Visualisation is a hugely important part of my daily routine. The more we look into neuroscience the more we see that we can maximise our performance through sculpting our vision in our minds. There are countless pieces of research on athletes and the evidence is virtually undisputed now that you get better when you see yourself becoming better.

I’m a huge believer in setting daily goals before starting work and of those goals I set the top three that I have to get done. I also set a goal for the week, which is the one thing that will move my business if I am to get it done. I also set yearly and three-yearly goals. I have an exercise book with my goals written in and I look at that often.

‘If you want to reach a goal, you must “see the reaching” in your own mind before you actually

arrive at your goal.’ Zig Ziglar.

What is your advice for people who are finding it hard to keep motivated, or to work out what it is they want to do?

You become what you think about most of the time, so with sheer will and discipline you need to force yourself to think only of what you want.


Siimon Reynolds

Jim Fannin said to me that champions think less than other people; other people think of a million subjects, but champions think only of a few and only think of them in a supportive way.

You also have to be acting urgently: I find the people who get things done are absolutely action oriented. One of the things I try and do is give myself only 10 minutes to do things; now, I know that’s not always possible, but it’s a method I use to force myself to be action-oriented. I got this method from Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea and one of the richest men in the world.

What’s been one of the biggest challenges in businesses that you have overcome?

Understanding finance: I was not naturally good at it and I had to force myself to really learn about it, how to raise money and how to understand balance sheets. I was really excited about developing the growth of the company and often wasn’t watching the numbers enough and this just led to mistakes and a lot of ineffectiveness.

Can you share a success story about one of your mentoring clients?

One of my clients runs a massage college and wanted me to help develop ways to maximise income. We realised that while students were graduating as massage therapists, they were finding it hard to make a living from it because they didn’t have the knowledge of business, so we created a business course for massage therapy graduates, and this increased the college’s annual income by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I have also shown almost every client I have how to increase their revenue from their website by 500 percent simply by redesigning the site.

What mentoring does your business offer?

I do a small amount of one-on-one coaching, and then a couple of business partners and I started an online business education company called The Fortune Institute. I have produced 45-minute videos on everything from how to raise capital to how to increase your profits. More and more we are developing The Fortune Institute to be super practical and provide street-smart business education that doesn’t take a lot of time and is about a third of the price of a university business course; and our course is taught by people who have made tens of millions of dollars in business, versus academics in university.

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Einstein said that people love to chop wood because they see instant results. Mentoring is a bit like that to me because sometimes in a session people’s eyes light up when they can suddenly see how they can improve their business instantly; so that is very gratifying for me.

What do you believe holds people back from achieving the financial success they desire?

I think it is self-belief: there is almost nobody who has the self-belief they should have. Because we live in such a dynamic, ever-changing world the data that we have to deal with is always in flux. If you’re not highly confident it can be intimidating to be constantly moving into new arenas and new situations in business; so I really believe self-belief and confidence is absolutely pivotal to succeeding in business.

Time management is also vital: one of the greatest complaints of business-owners today is that they work long hours. Time and again when you shine a light on what they are doing they are not being effective; I find it absolutely fascinating how some people can do 10 times more than others in the same time. Warren Buffett has a top executive named David Sokol, and Buffett says that Sokol can do in one day what he can do in one week. Here are two highly intelligent people – what does Sokol know about getting things done that Warren Buffett doesn’t?

Finally, industry expertise: there is no excuse for not being in the top 10 percent of your field in knowledge; so often people have two years experience and repeat it for the next 18 years; they don’t remain alive to learning. If all you did was study books about your industry for 20 minutes a day, in five years time you’d know more than just about everyone in your field. I still do this today – I read endlessly. I have a number of books on the go at any one time.

‘Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.’Vince Lombardi.


Siimon Reynolds

Apart from material possessions money brings significant opportunity. Can you share with us an opportunity you are most proud of?

I paid for a stranger to study Indian architecture: he told me what a difference it would make in his life and I could see it would be great for him. This is one of the great things about money; you can give something to someone else that will make a big difference in their life.

What are your favourite ways to relax and enjoy the wealth you have created?

I love great restaurants and I live between Sydney and Los Angles, two of the best culinary cities in the world. I also love to travel; I’ve been on four international trips in the past year and about to go on a fifth. I love travelling and not worrying too much about the price of a good hotel.

I don’t have expensive hobbies though. I don’t have more than one car or home; when I was about 33 I reached a point where I didn’t want anymore; I had a nice car, a nice home and a nice lifestyle; I deliberately made the decision that I would stop looking for material things to acquire. And that’s been really satisfying; it takes a lot of the angst out of material life; I don’t want much and I’m much more comfortable not wanting much.

How do you get yourself to do something you don’t want to do?

I do three things, and the first is I try to just start on it; number two, I always think of how good the result will be, rather than thinking about the action; third, I believe in rushing the unimportant. So often something I don’t want to do is not that important so I really push myself to do it quickly. Warren Buffett said, “What’s not worth doing is not worth doing well.” I think so many people are under pressure in their lives and work because they spend the same amount of time on unimportant things as they do on important things; so you need to be crystal clear about what is a priority and what is unimportant. If you asked the average person what the top three most important things for their job are, most people can’t immediately tell you; as a result of that they don’t work effectively. The beginning of success is clarity, so if all you achieve is clarity about what you want and then take urgent action you would be ahead of 95 percent of people in the world.

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What is it about successful people, like yourself, that is different to people who don’t have success?

Well I certainly don’t think I am smarter than everyone else; in fact, I’m sure lots of people would say that I am not as smart as many people. I think the answer is that I aim high. So when it comes to business, I don’t aim to increase my income by 20 percent, I aim to make 10 times my income. I don’t aim to have a company that performs well, I aim to have the number one company in the sector. Just aiming high gives you a different set of answers and a different vision to others; it’s inevitable that if you’re persistent you get different results. You might not get what you aimed for but you’ll get more than the people who didn’t aim high.

‘A soul without a high aim is like a ship without a rudder.’ Eileen Caddy.

Where does this drive in you come from?

I had a big fear of failure when I was young; when I left school I was very worried I would be a failure in life. At first I was propelled by the fear of failure and then after about 10 years I was propelled by the excitement of what humans can be. I certainly don’t put myself up as a poster child for human greatness, because I look at what I have done and I see that I could have done so much more; but the subject of how amazing a human being can be is very exciting, and now I try and push myself in a few areas.

What’s your morning routine that sets the frame for your day?

I get up around 6.30am and do about 20 minutes of reading in the bath. Then I go through my goals and do my daily ‘to do’ list followed by a few minutes of visualisation. Then I get into the day. I trade foreign currencies in the morning following the New York Market for a few hours. Then I work on The Fortune Institute, either lessons or writing a blog. In the afternoons I do some coaching for some of my


Siimon Reynolds

private students. It’s a pretty simple day working from home – I don’t work more than 10 hours a day and I work in a very relaxed fashion.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

I would like to have done two things: 1. Be a world-class currency trader; I find it very interesting how the markets work and it’s a new challenge. 2. I would like to create a business with The Fortune Institute and with my personal coaching that is helping tens of thousands of people world-wide; if we could create a system whereby anyone who works with us makes more money and has a better life, then that would be incredibly satisfying.

Have you ever said, “One day I am going to look back on this and laugh?” If so, what was it about?

I got dragged into a friend’s legal problems and I ended up being cross-examined in court. It was very stressful to be involved and even connected to it; I remember thinking that when I get out of this I will laugh, but I sure as hell didn’t think it was funny at the time.

Everyone has something major happen at some point in their life, and this is completely usual and customary. We won’t necessarily laugh at it in every case, but when you look back over your life I would suspect most people would be at peace with what happened.

How do you get through stressful times?

Exercise: no matter what is going on it is very hard not to feel good after you have worked out. I’m also a huge believer in reading inspiring and motivating books; it gets me focused and optimistic again. I also take a lot of fish oil; it’s great for your mood and optimism and for keeping your brain in great condition.

What was the one thing that happened that everything else fell into place afterwards?

For me it was to understand that your mind could create your reality. This is one of the greatest breakthroughs a human being can make, so that you’re not just a victim of effects, you can be the cause. I believe that one of the defining characteristics of a human being is that they are co-creators with God of the world. So when I understood the impact that we had been given the ability to co-create and the power to make it happen that was absolutely life changing for me.

27


‘It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or

unhappy. It is what you think about.’ Dale Carnegie

Do you still practice personal development?

Absolutely, you have to weed the garden everyday. I really believe that success is not about perfection, it’s about correction; when you get off-course, you just correct and get back on course. Often this is where a coach comes in; I’m yet to meet a person who is not better when they are accountable to someone else.

What mindset do you believe you need to create success in your life?

You have to be super-focused on creating that success; you have to know what success is to you, what specifically you’re going for and what methods you’re using to get there: what do you have to do, what do you have to learn, who do you have to know and how do you have to be. These are the four areas that I think make up the success matrix.

It’s pretty hard to beat taking one small action everyday towards your goal, and the vast majority of people don’t do this, even with goals they say they really want. Then reward yourself along the way – I think that’s really important when you reach a milestone. Humans function well with the carrot and stick system, but you can’t forget the carrot. We’re too busy giving ourselves the stick when we don’t succeed.

If you could start over would you do anything differently?

Yes I would: one of my biggest errors has been wanting to be somewhere other than where I was in my career. If I could start over I would choose one thing and commit to doing it brilliantly for 40 years; I would have gotten ahead a lot faster had I not been thinking of doing other things while I was at work. For example, often I was in advertising and not wanting to be there. When you’re in a job you have to give it 100 percent, even if you want to leave a job; first, it’s your reputation, second, you don’t feel happy with yourself if you don’t


Siimon Reynolds

give something 100 percent, and third, even if it’s not your plan you might still be there in 30 years and you’ve been working at half-speed. There’s a lot to be said for appreciating your job – we’re all too busy looking for the flaws in our occupation, but if we discipline ourselves to think about the good things about our work, life immediately becomes more enjoyable.

As Spinoza said, “No matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.”

Books authored by Siimon Reynolds

• Better than Chocolate: 50 proven ways to feel happier.

• Why people fail: The 16 obstacles to success and how you can overcome them.

• Become happy in eight minutes.

• 100 ways to live to 100.

• When they zig, you zag.

Siimon Reynolds has offered readers of Millionaire Mentors a free e-book version of his book When they zig, you zag.

To download this amazing gift visit www.MillionaireMentorsBook.com/moneymakers

‘Life is a journey and when we recognise this it becomes so much easier.’

Relationship MentorYvonne Allen

Chapter 3


Yvonne Allen

Yvonne Allen is a pioneer of Australia’s matchmaking industry. A registered psychologist, she established Yvonne Allen & Associates in 1976 to provide consulting, introduction and search services for discerning single men and women seeking partners.

Yvonne Allen & Associates has won an unrivalled reputation as Australia’s most respected and successful boutique introduction and search consultancy for business and professional singles; it has assisted thousands of discerning men and women in their search for love.

Yvonne has been recognised Australia-wide and abroad for the approach taken by her consultancy in the sensitive area of human relationships. In 2000 she was profiled by BRW (Business Review Weekly) as one of Australia’s leading innovators.

Author of Successfully Single, Successfully Yourself and a contributor to several publications on social issues, Yvonne is also a public speaker and sought-after media commentator. In May 2009 Yvonne featured as the guest profiled on the popular ABC television program, Talking Heads.

In 2010 Yvonne was licensed as a Mars Venus coach and in her work and as a mentor and facilitator she includes the insights of Dr John Gray, author of many books including Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

Yvonne is excited by the implications of recent research into gender differences in terms of our respective brain structure and hormones. She is now using this information to help build bridges of understanding between men and women in order to reduce much of the unnecessary misunderstanding and stress we experience living, loving and working together.

Yvonne lives in Melbourne with partner Stephen Hopley, and daughter Tara. When she’s not working, Yvonne enjoys spending time with her family and friends and her pastimes include reading, travel, skiing, dining, wine, movies, the arts and she loves to dance.

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Chapter 3: Relationship Mentor

What beliefs around earning money did you grow up with as a child? How has that changed today?

Recently a member of my team described me as ‘an accidental millionaire’. Her comment reflects the fact that my reasons for starting Yvonne Allen & Associates were not motivated by a desire to be ‘rich and famous’. Like many of the successful singles I have mentored in their quest for a partner, I was motivated more by a desire to achieve in a challenging area of endeavour than for material rewards as such. On reflection I see that my childhood had a strong impact on my beliefs and experiences as I started in business... and still colour some of my personal values today.

As a child and adolescent I had question marks about the role money played in life, especially as the definition of ‘success’, when I could see that chasing it often seemed to cause distress and disappointment. As the eldest of five children I grew up in the 1950s in a household where our mother, a pharmacist, was the main breadwinner of the family. My father was not as educated or skilled as mum and often gambled as a way to raise money. From the outset it seemed normal to me for a woman to hold a professional position and earn a good income to support her family, even though this was unusual at the time. However, I also saw how a woman replacing a man’s traditional role as the major provider could cause tension in a marriage.

My questioning that the measure of a person’s worth should be defined in terms of the dollar was one of the reasons for my going to Papua New Guinea as an Australian Volunteer Abroad aged 19, after graduating from university with a degree in distinction psychology. My posting was as the English teacher at a mission high school near Port Moresby. My weekly pay of $10 prompted some to say that I was wasting a very good education and my talent. Yet, if I had not been at that school, the students may not have had a teacher – and I would have missed one of the most meaningful years of my life, one that has had an important impact on my life and values.

These days, while I appreciate and enjoy the advantages that money can bring, my work and my own personal experiences have made me aware that focusing on a career and creating wealth can come at great cost – especially for a woman. It is wonderful that women of today succeed in business and professions that were only decades


Yvonne Allen

ago the domain of men. However, for a large and growing number of successful women, their focus on work and financial success has had a negative impact on their personal lives. Not only can it be difficult for them to find and keep a partner, but also many have missed out on having children they’d assumed would be theirs one day.

While I applaud women achieving financial success be it their goal or an outcome of pursuing their career path, I believe that it is vital for men and women alike to take time out to reflect on what really matters to us in our lives and relationships. We are then in a position to take steps to help ensure we achieve the fulfilment we seek. Working with a mentor or relationship coach can be invaluable as we make such significant, life changing decisions.

Who was your mentor growing up?

My first mentor, Ms Mary Byron, was our housekeeper during my childhood years. ‘By’ had never married and was in her 50s at the time she came to live with us. Although a highly qualified music teacher, she came to assist in our household because she wanted to experience being with a family. Independent and confident, ‘By’ provided a model for me of a woman alone in life being able to cope very effectively; she encouraged me to hold my own views, even if they differed from those of family and friends. Maybe having ‘By’ as a model of an independent woman – and my mother combining the roles of parent, pharmacist and provider – helps explain why I did not succumb to the pressures around me at that time to get married at an early age and have children. Instead, I envisaged living a life that would make a positive difference in this world.

The most significant mentor in my adolescence was Keith Murray, the father of one of my girlfriends; Keith was creative, a deep thinker who supported me in my daring to be different; he was aware that my values and expectations of life differed from those of my family and my peer group. During our many long conversations Keith encouraged my independent thinking, helped me to realise that ‘we all bleed the same’, and fuelled my desire to travel and experience the world, even if along a road less travelled.

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What made you get into the field of coaching and educating others around relationships?

My university studies included courses in counselling which prepared me for a number of demanding roles I had in my early to mid-20s with the Public Service in Sydney and at Broken Hill. My work as a District Officer and then as Aboriginal Services Liaison Officer involved providing counsel and support for teenage delinquents, families in distress and Indigenous people in need of a breadth of assistance. I also worked with couples coming out of relationships that they should never have entered in the first place.

On the basis of my psychology background, I was offered a position at a matrimonial agency, but resigned after 10 days; I was unimpressed by the heavy sales approach adopted with little concern for providing service. However, my brief time at the agency made me realise that there was a real need for a professionally monitored way of meeting for men and women seeking partners. While some people had limited opportunities to meet a potential mate, it was apparent that for others, issues associated with their relationship background and experience had made it difficult for them to partner. These were people who could respond to coaching, as were those who had expectations of a partner and a relationship that were limiting them from finding the happiness they sought.

On leaving the agency I wrote a paper, which the then sitting Royal Commission into Human Relationships took as a submission, saying there was a need for a professionally monitored introduction service which would provide support and facilitation to assist people to achieve their relationship goals. I couldn’t get anybody to start it so I said I would – and I did!

From the outset I envisaged Yvonne Allen & Associates as a human relationship consultancy offering clients a journey towards their meeting that special someone. I saw the process as a valuable opportunity for them to stop and take stock with a consultant, to become clearer about their relationship needs and expectations. Then, when meeting potentially suitable people, I believed they could obtain valuable insights that would help them to recognise their special someone and develop a relationship – whether they met the person through the consultancy or through the world at large.


Yvonne Allen

I told my first client that all he could do was meet me, but if he didn’t pay I wouldn’t be able to open the doors the next week; however, I gave him several hours of psychological profiling as a way to ‘meet himself’; this principle has under-pinned the practices of the consultancy until the present time.

Over the many years I have often been referred to as ‘Australia’s leading matchmaker’, which is a title I resiled from originally because it connotes that we tell people with whom they should be; that’s not what the process is meant to be; instead it is intended as a way of empowering our client while also teasing realities from fantasies. Through their program with us, many people learn that what they thought they were looking for has nothing to do with their real needs.

What challenges did you face as a young businesswoman in the 1970s starting an introductory agency?

Too many challenges to mention: in retrospect, I realise it was amazing that the business survived during the first few years as I had no reserves of money to keep it afloat, little support and no business background. Family and friends thought that I was likely to ruin a potentially promising career in psychology by going into business in an area that was considered nefarious. Many were concerned that I would be giving my name to the business; I believed that the business would stand or fall on my name.

The only money I had in the world was invested in a cottage I’d bought in Broken Hill for $3000. However, despite my lack of business training and experience, I went into the bank with my big picture drawn out on a piece of A4 paper. I walked out an hour or two later having obtained a loan for $2000 – despite the bank manager telling me that he thought the business was unlikely to survive.

I now know that I was probably really lucky to get that initial loan, especially given the era and that I was a woman. I spent most of the funds on renting and furnishing a terrace in Woolloomooloo in Sydney as my home and office, and invested the balance in having a logo created and lodging some classified advertising. When advised that the consultancy would be located in the midst of a red light district, I replied that if anyone entering its door thought it to be a brothel they would soon know otherwise. No one ever did!

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Three months after the business started I was interviewed on ABC radio and by the time the phones were opened to talkback, the calls flooded in. For some reason the sense of credibility of what I was talking about must have been apparent. It was a wonderful sense of having achieved against the odds.

’People too weak to follow their own dreams will always find a way to discourage yours’.

Author unknown.

Given you faced such opposition and a lack of support when starting your business, what drove you to continue and open the doors?

Maybe I am ‘ornery’ but the more things were difficult, the more determined I became for the business to survive; having had a number of intelligent, attractive men and women with much to give in a relationship respond to my advertising, I was committed to continuing, especially as I had guaranteed each of them a minimum number of introductions. I also wanted to prove that the need for the services I envisaged was real and that the business could be conducted professionally.

Some of the opposition I faced at the time was related to my charging fees for my services. In fact a number of people I knew in secure jobs actually asked me what right I had to charge lonely people. So, perhaps it is not surprising that when asked how successful the business was I would think of ‘so and so meeting so and so’ rather than how much money was going into the bank to keep things afloat.

Who is your typical client?

From day one our clients have tended to be well-educated business and professional men and women. Over the years many millionaires have numbered amongst those seeking to find fulfilment in their personal life.


Yvonne Allen

Since I first opened our doors there have been huge societal changes, especially those associated with women entering business and professional roles and achieving a great deal in the workplace. This has had an impact on the profile of our clientele – and of our society.

While in 1976 it was unusual to have not been married by 30, these days quite a large number of our clients who have never married are in the 40s and 50s. The majority of these have had significant relationships but not made a public commitment. Back then it was not common for a woman to have her first child in her mid to later 30s; it is not unusual today for us to have single women in their mid to later 40s wanting to have a baby.

Commitment to career success has created significant wealth for increasing numbers of women. However when it comes to achieving satisfaction in their personal lives, many women in quest of a partner can find it a liability. Men have been ‘wired’ over millennia to be the ‘provider’ and this is core to their definition of their manhood...conscious or otherwise. Working with some of our clients I know how difficult it can be for men and women alike to develop and sustain a relationship. This is especially so when the woman is the one with the assets and is the major source of income and lifestyle. As a mentor I assist them to recognise ways by which they can help ensure that needs associated with their gender differences are appreciated and met.

How would you describe success and your personal opinion of what success is?

In general terms, ‘success’ means having achieved a goal or attained something valued by society at large be this through one’s own efforts or good fortune – or even misadventure. In the world of today, having millions of dollars is regarded as the measure of real success.

For me success is having done something well and /or having achieved something that matters to you. It does not mean that it came easily; in fact often the more difficult achievements are, the more satisfying they can be.

I often use the word ‘journey’ when I am talking to clients – so often we focus on the end point when, in fact it is the getting there that holds the richness: a wealth of successes we can all too readily overlook.

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I recall a woman once saying to me, ‘I had a wonderful marriage for 30 years, but he then left me for his secretary, what a waste of my life’. Instead of appreciating the journey she erased 30 years of perceived success with one sentence. Similarly, an extremely successful businessman came for an initial interview after his marriage of 35 years had ended in divorce; when I congratulated him for his business achievements he said he had not succeeded in what mattered most: his marriage. He, too, overlooked the many very happy years he and his wife and family had shared during most of their time together and that they remained good friends.

What we have to appreciate in life is that it’s the journey that matters – our experiences, the ups and the downs, and what we learn as we travel – and not the destination. I often use a skiing analogy to explain: although not a great skier, at times I will choose to go down a black run; my descent may not be stylish and I am likely to have a number of spills, but I know that when I get to the bottom I will look back up and feel a great sense of achievement. Whereas if I ‘schuss’ down a beginners’ run and ski very prettily it may look good, but it does not give the same satisfaction.

We have to understand that life’s journey is full of challenges that at times demand energy, effort, and determination. Feelings of success are all too often fleeting – and then forgotten – as we focus on difficulties and disappointments.

I have been known to say, ‘Flowers grow out of shit’; it is true; often what we perceive as failures are in reality great gifts that force us to take new beginnings and new directions in our lives.

It is also important for us to reflect on what makes our heart sing and be prepared to push our boundaries to attain it. Alas, it’s too easy to lead a life that is grey, safe and secure and never the fulfilment that is beckoning us to be experienced.

How does one achieve success?

Before seeking to achieve success, it is important to do some soul-searching to determine what ‘success’ means to you. Whatever your definition of success may be, it is worthwhile taking into consideration other needs you have so you do not overlook what really matters as you strive to achieve.


Yvonne Allen

If success for you is about serious wealth creation, that’s great as long as it is not at the expense of the rest of your life. As you plan for your financial goals, I think it’s really important to work out how you can live a life that also meets your core needs; and to consider what ‘sacrifices’ you are willing to make along the way; this is particularly relevant to ambitious women who want to have children ‘one day’; many successful women who are 40-plus have spoken sadly about missing out on having the child they wanted because of the demands of their career. Sadly for some, they now view their career success as a hollow victory.

What have been some of your highlights in this business?

A highlight for me has been the public recognition of the importance of the work of Yvonne Allen & Associates and the respect and reputation the name holds in an area that is still often misperceived as negative. A huge compliment for me personally was my being invited to feature as a guest to be profiled on the ABC’s Talking Heads program in 2009. After weeks of reflecting on my life spanning more than 60 years, I spent two days with the TV crew visiting places in Sydney and in Melbourne that mattered in my past. I then went to Adelaide to be interviewed about the ups and downs of my own life’s journey, especially those to do with ‘my brilliant career’. It was a very moving experience for me because I had chosen a path that was thought a disaster to my name and reputation but had actually led to respect and such recognition.

A highlight of the business my team and I look forward to is hearing good news stories from our clients. Our work is challenging and we cannot wave wands so I am always delighted to receive positive feedback – especially when a client shares with us the magic of having met their special someone.

What challenges have you experienced in life or business and how did you overcome them?

Again too many to mention! However, I suspect if there weren’t challenges in life or business then I would create them. To use the skiing analogy, I’m the kind of person who would choose the run with the hills and mounds rather than to take the easy slope.

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The work of the consultancy has always been challenging – and is especially so today, given the changing expectations of a partner and a relationship that have accompanied the gains women have achieved over the past decades. Anyone who is seeking a partner needs to be prepared to consider what it is that they have to offer to another person and a relationship, rather than just coming up with a wish list for us to fill.

Because a client pays a fee doesn’t mean we can just pull someone off the shelf and they will be happy ever after. Those who gain the most as a client are open to learning more about themselves, are willing to make changes through the process, have a positive attitude and enjoy the opportunities that meeting the ‘Yvonne Allen way’ provides.

An unexpected, but very welcome challenge was my giving birth to my daughter Tara as a single mother a few months before my turning 43. Given I could take her to work with me or not go to the office if I so chose, having my own business was a real plus during those early years of childrearing. Fortunately I was blessed with a very well behaved and healthy daughter and the joy she gave me was well worth any extra pressure that being her mother placed on my shoulders.

I manage challenges by recognising that at any moment in time I am at a point along the way, and the answer is to keep progressing and not get stuck in the mud. There are challenges every day in my life and – most days – I embrace them.

‘We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning

the answer itself’. Lloyd Alexander.

If you had to start over what would you do differently?

I started without any business acumen or business advice, which I would not do today; but if I had taken advice I probably wouldn’t have started the business in the first place. I also had no financial backing; in fact the business has never had any external financial backing, which


Yvonne Allen

has meant the breadth and size of what I would like to have achieved in terms of offering Yvonne Allen services Australia-wide has not been realised.

I understand that my own profile, my own drummer, can and does make things happen that most people would never conceive let alone do. However, if from the outset I’d had the support of peers bringing different talents and financial backing to the table, I would have been better equipped to realise the full potential of my vision. So, if I were starting today I would go out and find partners with skills that are not my forte to free me up to do what I do best. I am a businesswoman by default but that’s probably also what helped us keep going through difficult times.

How does one keep motivated and inspired on a daily basis?

For me, it’s about regarding each day as one that is likely to hold new experiences, challenges or surprises. Over the years, to keep my mind active, I have also needed to be creative and be involved in other areas of interest and endeavour. If you’re travelling the world you look forward to getting out of bed and seeing the sights of another country; we should treat every day the same way: get up and get going. We’re all entitled to our days off though, and if we do stay in bed with the sheet over our head we shouldn’t berate ourselves – we are human.

Do you believe it is important for your conscious mind to communicate with your unconscious mind? How can someone achieve this?

I do think it is important for the conscious mind to communicate with the unconscious – and I think there are differences between the sexes in terms of how this is usually achieved; alas, these different modalities can cause unnecessary stress and misunderstandings in our relationships with the opposite sex.

It would seem that for women, access to the unconscious mind often comes through talking: a woman will talk about something in a seemingly convoluted way to get a conscious understanding of her thoughts or to help her resolve problems; as she does so she needs to have a sense of being heard, which is often difficult for the man in her life to provide. A man on the other hand is more likely to need to withdraw into his own space, allowing his mind to focus on something

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while things that are not conscious come to the fore; his retreating into himself can be difficult for the woman in his life who wants to connect.

We can also prompt the assistance of the sub-conscious by putting a thought into our minds and then letting it be; for many of us, answers can come in our sleep. I also believe that intuition is very important and should be heeded.

What are your tips for getting through a difficult time in your life or business?

When I have a difficult period I usually manage to put it into perspective by realising it is part of my journey: if we get the concept that life is a journey it becomes so much easier. I remember as a child facing an exam I would tell myself that it would be behind me in, but an hour or two and life would go on.

I also make a conscious effort to look for the positives in any situation; often the most trying times can yield change and outcomes that move things forward. It’s so easy to focus on the grey in life: often we can miss out on so much that is wonderful in our lives and the gifts we have because we lock onto the negatives. I see this a lot in my work: we’re much more likely to hear about the negatives than the positives; it is not uncommon for us to only learn of a client marrying through someone who comes in for an initial interview.

Our experience of life is so dependent on how we choose to view things. There are simple ways to shift our minds from the negative that can totally change our experience. Using the dating situation as an example, you can look for what is missing when reading a profile or meeting a person (i.e. be negative), or you can look at appreciating what is there and what is possible.

Life is different if you look at others in the way you would like to be looked at yourself. We live in a society in which we are encouraged to feel inadequate instead of delighting in what is special about us. It is a valuable exercise to reflect on your strengths, to appreciate the qualities that are special about you.

Spending time-out and with friends helps lighten the load; as does knowing that ‘friends are like stars, we may not see them but they are always there’.


Yvonne Allen

‘Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.’

Emily Kimbrough.

What mindset do you believe you need to create success in your life?

To create significant success, you have to have resilience, a vision and a goal and be prepared to give it your best shot; you also need to be prepared to change course to adapt to the environment - and allow for the possibility that it might not always work in ways you’d envisaged. Don’t be afraid to ask for counsel, but also to listen to yourself first and foremost: you have to be able to live with yourself and your integrity.

It’s important to regularly stop and take stock: it is too easy to keep being run by what you are doing instead of running what you are doing, and then you suddenly reach a stage where you think, ‘what’s it all been about?’

A powerful exercise to help live a successful life is to write what you would like to be remembered for in your eulogy. This can help distil the essence of what success really means to you and help you to make it happen.

What do you believe holds most people back from achieving their potential for financial success?

Getting started: many people have great ideas and the potential to achieve – but do not dare to do.

Being unwilling to seek advice and support.

Fear of failure: a major obstacle to achieving our potential for financial success is our doubting our ability to succeed. Be willing to have a look at what the fear is with a mentor or coach who can assist you to acknowledge it and develop appropriate strategies to move forward.

Giving up when something does not work instead of learning from the experience and doing things more effectively next time.

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Giving up because it seems too hard. While it can be wonderful to have big pictures in terms of what we want to achieve, it can all seem too daunting. We need to create goals that are more readily achievable and have stages of success along the way so we don’t find ourselves in an all or nothing situation.

‘I quit being afraid when my first venture failed and the sky didn’t fall down.’

Allen H. Neuharth.

What are the biggest lessons you have learnt around money?

Money is a means to an end rather than an end in itself; what we do to achieve it matters – as does how we use it; money can be spent to facilitate war or peace, feast or famine, joy or despair.

Money is a means of exchange and when you give money it comes back to you, often in other ways.

Money does not define a person’s worth, nor does it of itself make a person happy.

Some of the wealthiest people I have met have been mean and unhappy. Some of the poorest people I have encountered would give you the shirt off their back and have a ready smile.

Our financial fortune may come and go; who we are and what we have to give of ourselves is constant.

Quality is more important than quantity.

Being valued for what you have is not nearly as meaningful as being valued for who you are.

You talk about the importance of really getting to know yourself. How can one do that?

In addition to the value of reflecting about yourself, your goals, what matters to you and what success means to you on a regular basis,


Yvonne Allen

engaging the support of a coach or mentor can be an extremely valuable step for you to take. Not only are they there through the ups and downs, they can also help guide you as you determine goals and then take appropriate steps to achieve them.

Find an accredited mentor or coach, someone experienced with whom you can share your ideas and business goals; this is a great way to help ensure you achieve them. From my point of view, it is especially helpful when they can assist you to understand how gender differences impact on our needs and ways of communicating... and suggest ways you can use these insights effectively in business, whether through managing stress, goal setting, making sales or everyday people management.

Look for a mentor or coach who uses personality and skills profiling, as these can provide valuable insights into yourself and help to make best use of your talents. When combined with something as powerful as the Mars Venus insights based on gender differences, you can then plan for stellar outcomes.

What do you say to yourself to stop procrastination?

‘Get started!’ By taking even the smallest first step I am acting rather than procrastinating; when I am ‘doing it’ I don’t have a problem.

Do you have aspirations to become a billionaire and why?

I have never aspired to be a billionaire as such as I do not have a personal need for great wealth; but if I were very wealthy I would be in the business of philanthropy, using money to facilitate wonderful things for this world and its people in need.

For those who aim to create huge wealth it is worth their asking themselves what their fortune will give them; there are only so many houses and cars you can have in a lifetime!

What do you want to teach others from your experience and your business?

Dare to dream and dare to do. At the same time be prepared to reach out for the appropriate support and counsel.

Really appreciate the wins no matter how small; the disappointments can loom far too large and often have a disproportionate effect on how you see the world and yourself; there is a tendency in our society to look for shortcomings.

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It’s very important to have some real friends, and to have balance in your life.

Let go of anger and resentment – this allows us to open up and love again.

Keep your stress levels under control; otherwise you are unlikely to appreciate the highs – or manage the lows effectively.

For women who are succeeding in what was a man’s domain as if a man, it is really vital that you honour and care for the feminine in you – especially if you want to attract and keep a man. So many women today are functioning on high levels of testosterone in the workplace, which is great for fuelling achievement, but not, in a woman, for releasing stress – or nourishing the woman within.

Don’t forget it’s important to be real, to be able to laugh – and cry – when things don’t work out; then stride forward along your path through life that contains the ups and downs of success again.

Yvonne Allen is offering readers of Millionaire Mentors the valuable gift of an audio file containing insights into how understanding gender differences can impact on success.

Download the audio by visiting www.MillionaireMentorsBook.com/moneymakers

Books authored by Yvonne Allen

Successfully Single, Successfully Yourself.

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