We recently connected with Marissa Mazziotti and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Marissa, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

When I first started in this business, it was just me. I was selling insurance and hiring agents. The more agents I hired, the more work there was to be done. I continued to pile on my workload and quickly found out that if I wanted to keep growing my business, I needed to hire staff. Hiring my sister was probably one of the first key moves I made to really scale this business. One person can only do so much, so if the goal really is to grow then the team that runs the business needs to grow too.

I came from being a W-2 employee and my biggest struggle along the way was finding the discipline to make myself work. I’ve always had a boss, coach, teacher, etc. to push me and tell me what I need to do and when I need to do it. Although I knew it can be really hard for new business owners, or people that work for themselves, to be able to hold themselves accountable and be disciplined, I struggled to overcome my indulgences and understand that freedom is really free, but if I utilize it incorrectly then I’m not really reaching my full potential.

Another thing I struggled with was blocking out negativity and making sacrifices whether that be sacrificing my time or cutting out negativity. Meaning cutting out people who were just negative and didn’t believe in me or didn’t believe in what I was doing and understanding that cutting those people out is for the benefit even if they are the closest people to you.

The biggest lesson I have learned is that I do deserve MORE and so do you – the person reading this. I grew up in a family where a lack of financial security controlled us. Nobody talked about making six figures because we didn’t think it was possible. I looked at opportunities as “out of my reach” or “I could never do that.” Not anymore. I have learned that if you put your head down and grind every day and actually care about doing right by people, you can create whatever you want. Take a risk on yourself.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Growing up, I was always a hard worker and knew I wanted more out of life than what I witnessed around me. So I was always challenging myself to grow and excel in the things I set my mind to.

I grew up watching my mom work. She was a single mom and was always working 2-3 jobs just to take care of my sister and me. I watched most of my aunts and uncles do the same for their families. No one in my family really went to college, which lead me to believe the only way to make “real” money was by getting a degree and getting a “real” job.

I went to college and majored in criminal justice and psychology thinking “this is my next big thing”… Only to be right back to get a degree in business administration the fall after graduating with my bachelor’s. It was a few months into this I realized, working for myself (in sales), would be able to provide me with financial freedom before any job that had to do with my degree was going to be able to.

I saw this opportunity on social media and I thought it was too good to be true. I just didn’t think that people could work for themselves and make this much money and have this much of an impact on people. I decided to give it a try and haven’t looked back since.

You don’t need experience, talent, or any special background to do this. There are so many different people who found success here. It literally doesn’t matter how old you are or at what point you are in life. You just have to work hard and keep yourself motivated/disciplined.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Honestly, I think people really appreciate when you’re authentic online. Don’t try and make yourself seem like you have it all together. Just be yourself and post about your life and the things you like. I mainly post about work and what the day-to-day looks like. I also post about traveling and food for sure. People want to be able to relate to you.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Building your business is one thing and building a team is another. My team is what keeps my business running so I want to make sure they’re happy and have exactly what they need. This business is all about serving others and helping people and I truly believe that if you’re focused on serving and work hard, you’ll succeed. You hear so many people complain about how their boss treats them, isn’t considerate or won’t let them take time off to spend with their families and so many other things like that. I’ve always thought that was so weird because wouldn’t you want your staff to be happy so they can continue to help you build your business? If your team hates their job, they’re not gonna stay and you’re going to have to keep hiring people and wonder why no one wants to work for you. Just be kind, considerate and genuinely care about people.

Contact Info:

• Website: joinffldomination.com
• Instagram: @ffldomination / @marissahiza
• Facebook: Marissa Hiza / FFL Domination
• Linkedin: Family First Life Domination / Marissa Mazziotti
• Twitter: @ffl_domination @marissahiza
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/FamilyFirstLifeDomination
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ffldomination?lang=en