We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joel Evan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joel, appreciate you joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

In October 2021, I lost my job of almost 15 years due to the pandemic. With a family of four, two young boys, and my wife, I was sole provider of the family. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I had been building a side business in the background for about two years as a life coach and holistic health coach. After losing a job that paid over $200k a year, I was scared. Either we must be the victor of our circumstances or else become its victims. Most people follow the path of least resistance. They long for a life of ease, free from struggle and pain, and if it were in their plans, nothing would interfere with their ease and comfort. I knew this would be a defining moment for me to go all into my coaching business, and leave behind a career of 15 years that I was forced out of. The quote that Tony Robbins made famous, “If you want the islands, you’ve got to burn the boats,” resonated in my heart.

So I went all into my coaching business and doubled down my alternative health podcast “The Hacked Life” that I had started two years ago. My business started from absolutely nothing, but I poured tons of money into multiple business coaches, spending over $30k when I absolutely had nothing. I knew that investing in myself would later pay off in the end. I learned how to run ads, got sharper in my sales and marketing, and worked on my delivery systems to my clients. There were so many days that I was in the hole and didn’t think I would make it, but I knew if I just showed up one more day, put out one more post, and touched one person’s life, my business would not only survive but thrive.

The more good energy I poured into the business, the more that came back to me in miraculous ways. I was lucky enough to be invited to appear on the Top Business/Entrepreneur Podcast in the world, Dave Meltzer’s The Playbook. I hired a book writing coach and in April 2023, my first book aimed toward holistic health is going to debut. My business has led me to speaking engagements and allowed me to live a life of freedom I could never have imagined.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Joel was a first responder for almost 15 years before losing his job and aligning with his true purpose, a human potential coach. Joel helps entrepreneurs and high-performers find more flow, ease, and presence, so they can engage in reality fully and consciously, and do what really matters. Joel is also the host of “The Hacked Life” podcast (which is being rebranded into “The Joel Evan Show”) where he’s had the chance to sit down with some of the leading health and wellness experts in the world, such as Dave Asprey, Robb Wolf, and Dave Meltzer. His motto: “Live Healthy, Live Happy.”

I got into life coaching and holistic health after watching my mother become diagnosed with cancer. I knew a lot about health and a success mindset, but I didn’t know how to help people like my mom get to the root cause of their problems, and that really bothered me. Over the years, I learned so much from my own mistakes and my own health issues (such as having an abnormal bone growth in my leg at age 10), that I wanted to give back in a major way and help others avoid all the unnecessary suffering and pain that I and others have had to endure.

What I’ve learned from coaching over the last two years is that most people are not attuned to reality. Especially the high performers in my niche. They are so caught up and busy in their day-to-day lives, that they are missing the true essence of life. This is why entrepreneurs are paying tons of money to do Ayuascha and look for ways to “tune out.” Now, there’s nothing wrong with Ayuascha, but I think there are ways we can tackle this lack of presence, lack of ease, lack of flow, and lack of engagement with what really matters by redirecting our focus and intention. This along with some tactical solutions as well as maybe dietary and lifestyle changes is what I focus on with all my high-performers so that they can live the truest and highest version of themselves. Nothing vibrates faster than the truth. If entrepreneurs and high performers want to be performing their best and at peak states, they need to understand this concept, and most of them are missing it unfortunately.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The key to building your audience on social is being very. clear on your offer and the audience you want to serve. Then, on a regular or daily basis, speak to that audience. Many of us try to speak to everybody, or we say things like “Hey guys…” and then get into our monologue. Instead, imagine you’re speaking to that one person in your niche. Then, over and over again, your posts should address the problems that you’re seeing with your clients. Then agitate those problems consistently, through myths, and mistakes, or give insight into areas they need to second guess. Lastly, every now and then, give your audience the solution to their problem, so they can see why you’re the go-to source for their answers. Over time, they will get to know, like, and trust you. Also remember, this doesn’t happen overnight. I recently heard it takes around 62 exposures before someone actually makes the decision to buy from you. Play the long game, and don’t get into the hype.

Secondly, getting on multiple podcasts has been extremely valuable for me in terms of building authority and leveraging that authority in the market. It’s a fast way to establish yourself as an authority, but it might cost some money to get on some of these big shows. In my opinion, investing in yourself is always worth it.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Having my own podcast allowed me to become an authority figure in the market fast, because once you’ve had some top guests on your podcast, you in essence become equal to them. The perception is “Oh, if Joel had this high-end guest on his show, then he must be of value to attract that type of person.” We then become equals in a sense, which creates a lot of leverage and authority in the market when people are looking at the millions of life coaches or health coaches they can hire.

Indirectly, my podcast has also helped me create a huge network. I’m able to now interview some of the top experts and get access to them easily because I’m actually delivering a ton of value to them. I’m creating free content for them, then cutting stuff up into reels and long-form clips for them on YouTube. After sitting down with someone for 60 minutes you develop a great understanding of them and it leads to usually a friendship if you do a good job.

Later, if I ever ask them for a favor, like promoting my new book this April, they will be happy to do so because (1) they like me as we’ve both built a friendship through our interview and (2) I’ve already delivered a ton of value for them.

Having the podcast has also helped me build up my audience organically on my platforms as people love consuming this short clip format which can easily be created through podcast clips.

Contact Info:

• Other: All my links and headshots are here including my bio, you can use any of the photos there for the next section I really don’t have a preference: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15K2jFfWFbw_ZTWBJK8RpOt9561nex4CfXTqa4Y0dVpU/edit?usp=sharing

Image Credits
Monique Huezo took most of the photos