28 From Third World Country to Million Dollar Business with Leyla Naghizada

Ever wonder what it feels like to be a lifestyle entrepreneur? To wake up with a purpose. Live with passion. Express gratitude for each moment. And love the business you work in, because it never feels like work. Well, in today's episode I sit down with a world class female lifestyle entrepreneur who shares her […] Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 28 with Leila Nagizada.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  What's up, all the greats out there? Thanks so much for tuning in today. Got a big episode with my good friend, Leila Nagizada, who is in LA in the studios representing, and I'm super pumped for this. But I want to start with the quote of the day. "A man who conquers himself is greater than one who conquers a thousand men in battle." And that was by Buddha. And I really loved that. I actually saw that on Leila's Facebook page today. And it made me think a little bit about what's been happening in my life a lot lately, which is conquering yourself.

• 1:15Lewis Howes?

  Not really conquering yourself, but really, I would say, understanding yourself. And I guess taking it to the next level, loving yourself could be another word there. So had a great conversation with Leila about this, and she is going to talk about really her experience. And what an amazing journey she has had, coming from the small country of Azerbaijan, going to Canada when she was 18, and now on her way to Los Angeles, and what she's been able to create. Now, here's a powerful young woman who's built with her and her sister and her brother-in-law, multimillion dollar business,

• 1:58Lewis Howes?

  and without having any experience on business, or what to do, or creating a product, or selling online. And they have built over 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube in just a couple of short years. And it's so amazing and empowering to see the possibilities for what you can do if you have a powerful idea and a passion, and you take lots of action. And again, it doesn't matter where you're from. She's from a third world country, in Azerbaijan. Doesn't matter where you're from. The experience you have, the school you went to, who your family is, how much money you have or don't have, it does not matter, people. This is what it's all about. Creating something

• 2:42Lewis Howes?

  from nothing, having an idea, an inspiration, a possibility, and making it happen. And this is what we're talking about in this week's episode with Leila. I'm super pumped to bring her on. I want to give a quick shout out though, before we get into it with the fan of the week, and that's with Zach Evan, who is at Zach Evanish on Instagram. We'll link that up on the show notes. And he says, "Kick ass podcast. If you're not learning, then you're not living." So thanks so much, Zach. You posted a picture of him listening to it in the car when he was driving to his gym. So I appreciate it, Zach. You the man. With

• 3:24Lewis Howes?

  that, guys, let's go ahead and jump right into this. Again, I'm bringing you an inspiring young woman, someone who has made millions in sales in her business with her sister and her brother-in-law. And they are so inspiring as a group. But Leila has done some amazing things and is doing some other amazing things on her own right now. I couldn't be more excited to share with you and introduce you to the beautiful and talented Leila Nagizada.

• 4:04Lewis Howes?

  What is up, everyone? We're back here with another episode of School of Greatness. And we've got a special friend in today in Los Angeles, it's Leila Nagizada, who is the beautiful woman from Azerbaijan. I always thought whenever I talked to her, we talked about Azerbaijan, because I never heard of it actually before I met her, which makes me sound very ignorant. But, and I just like saying Azerbaijan in the way she says it. So what's up, Leila?

• 4:31Speaker 01

  Hi.

• 4:32Lewis Howes?

  Glad to see you here and uh we've been talking about this for a while because you have built an amazing brand on YouTube and also just everywhere online, Instagram and everything else and started out with you and your sister with a site called Luxy Hair.

• 4:49Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 4:50Lewis Howes?

  And you guys literally just blew up in my two years. You have over one point two million YouTube subscribers and you built a multimillion dollar business, I believe, from hair extensions, which for me is like amazing to think about that you can build a business off of hair extensions like that. And I just wanna get a quick backstory. I think we're gonna be interviewing your sister, Mimi. Hopefully, we'll do part two of this to get her story, but I wanna hear your story about your whole journey from Azerbaijan and then coming to Canada and now you're gonna be moving to California soon. So tell me about kinda how it all got started.

• 5:30Speaker 01

  Alright, well, you have twenty nine years now, I'm kidding. Um, I'll try to summarize. So we, like you mentioned, we are from Azerbaijan and for everybody listening in, if you haven't heard of this country, it is located um by the Caspian Sea and it's by Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey. So it's kind of on the cusp of like being East Europe and West Asia, just kind of in the middle. Um, it's a beautiful country, you know, people are amazing, very warm, hospitable. And about eleven years ago, actually a couple of days ago was our anniversary. Twenty first of August, I think is when we moved.

• 6:08Lewis Howes?

  Eleven years ago, wow.

• 6:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, I know, I just moved yesterday and it's crazy to think that it's been eleven years. I mean, it's what a fun ride it's been, you know, and uh yeah, I mean, we've we've moved to Toronto with my immediate family, with my sister and my parents and. You know, as most immigrants would know, it's not easy. You know, you start over and you don't know anybody. We had, luckily, we had a family from Azerbaijan that moved two years prior. And they really helped us out. They have also two daughters, so we are all kind of.

• 6:40Lewis Howes?

  It was all family, yeah.

• 6:42Speaker 01

  I had definitely helped to feel at home. It would have been much different experience had they not been there. And um it was really hard for my parents, mostly because they're older. And to start over, leave your family, leave everything behind and just take that leap of faith. And they did it for us, especially my dad, because he, you know, he just sacrificed everything for our future. And I will be forever grateful because I've I've seen the struggles and.

• 7:09Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 7:09Speaker 01

  You know, the whole journey, but it is definitely a happy ending, you know. After, I think about after five years, I don't know if anybody who's an immigrant listening in. I think five years is kind of a mark where you, things start to turn.

• 7:20Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 7:21Speaker 01

  You know, and, you know, he finally found a more stable job. And my mom has been more comfortable because she's a piano teacher. So she's always had that and she loves kids, so she taught herself English and everything. And um.

• 7:34Lewis Howes?

  So did you guys know English before you came?

• 7:36Speaker 01

  Uh, we did, my dad did, my mom didn't speak at all. She spoke French, so she pretty much started learning.

• 7:41Lewis Howes?

  You and your sister, me and me and your dad knew English.

• 7:43Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly.

• 7:44Lewis Howes?

  Like, pretty good, like this type of English?

• 7:46Speaker 01

  Um, well, grammar was amazing, probably better than most Americans. But spoken language was a little bit harder.

• 7:52Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 7:53Speaker 01

  Um, and that came, I love reading, so I was always reading. So my vocabulary was, you know, extensive, but I didn't know how to put it to use, you know. And then being in the country and speaking, of course, it gives you the practice.

• 8:04Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 8:05Speaker 01

  Um, I'm sure I still have an accent, so I don't think they'll ever go away, but you know, gives character, right?

• 8:11Lewis Howes?

  Exactly, no, it's good, it's cool.

• 8:13Speaker 01

  So, um, so, yeah, we've been in Toronto and it's, you know, been lots of ups and downs and. You know, schooling and stuff like that. And um when we started Luxe Hair three years ago, we were all, it's my sister Mimi and her husband Alex, um at that point was a fiance. Uh was he or were they just dating? I don't know. Um yeah, and we were all kind of doing our own thing. You know, I just graduated from interior design program and I was trying to get into home staging and start my own business and I was, I had a blog at the time and.

• 8:46Lewis Howes?

  An interior design blog?

• 8:47Speaker 01

  Uh it was kind of a lifestyle thing, you know, um had like four different sections and cooking and you know, stuff like that and um Mimi was doing fashion styling and Alex was kind of good at all kinds of things, you know, social media and graphic design. He was just, you know, just interested in all that technology, everything. And he came up with an idea, well, she was getting married and people can read on the website more about our story in more detail, but they were getting married and she was looking for hair extensions and she couldn't find, you know, a really good quality uh product for an affordable price. Like everything that was quote unquote, good was three hundred dollars and up, you know, upwards of thousands of dollars, you know.

• 9:29Lewis Howes?

  For hair extensions?

• 9:30Speaker 01

  For hair.

• 9:30Lewis Howes?

  This is real hair, right?

• 9:31Speaker 01

  Yes, real human hair.

• 9:33Lewis Howes?

  Horse hair.

• 9:33Speaker 01

  No, real human hair that you can brush, wash, style, do whatever you would do to your own natural hair. And um and so she started searching because she just wanted something for her wedding and she couldn't find anything and you know, eventually Alex was kind of the mastermind that came up with the idea that, okay, well, there's obviously a niche, you know, there's a need on the market for good quality product at an affordable price. And at that point, YouTube was kind of just starting out and we just started watching tutorials of these girls doing makeup and hair and we were just watching it one day with Mimi and he was kind of in the background. And I remember we're just like, you know, kind of making fun of the way girls talk, you know, hi, I'm here, I'm gonna do this and you know,

• 10:15Speaker 01

  and Alex like, he was just kind of like observing and he's like, well, you know what, like, we can, you guys can do this too. And we kind of looked at him and we're like, what do you mean? Like, what do you mean we can do it? Like, on YouTube? What are you talking about? He's like, yeah, we can start a business and I can be sort of, you know,

• 10:31Lewis Howes?

  Business guy?

• 10:31Speaker 01

  The business guy behind the scenes, you know, everything and you can be the face, you know? And that's the first time ever that I've heard anything. Then some time went by, I think a couple of weeks or whatever and. Um, Mimi called me, we're talking, she's like, okay, well, Alex and I were just talking and we we're gonna start this, we're gonna do this business and we want you to be part of it.

• 10:51Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 10:51Speaker 01

  And I was like, what? It just was so unexpected, you know, but.

• 10:56Lewis Howes?

  Cause you were doing your interior design thing, you were trying to get a job.

• 10:58Speaker 01

  Exactly. No, I wasn't gonna get a job. I was gonna, whatever it took.

• 11:02Lewis Howes?

  Have your own clients.

• 11:03Speaker 01

  That's right. Yes. I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I don't ever wanna work for anybody else.

• 11:06Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Um, and so at that point, I just said, you know, like, I wanna be a yes woman, you know, I wanna say yes to life. So it was, I, we didn't know what we were doing. We didn't know what we were starting really at that point, but just kind of started it. And we knew we wanted, we knew what we wanted to create. So that's something that is very important, like knowing what is your end goal, you know, and I think a part of it is a really important aspect is being passionate, you know, you gotta be passionate about whatever it is you're gonna do. So um, I always had, um, when I was going to interior design school, I always had in the back of my mind subconsciously that if that doesn't work, then I'm gonna have my own hair salon. I mean, it wasn't exactly a hair salon. It was more of an online hair salon, I guess, but

• 11:52Speaker 01

  it was in the same family, you know, of like an industry. And so, yeah, that's how it started. And then now three years later, we look back and it's been a crazy, fun, amazing, blessed journey. Like, we're so incredibly grateful for every single step.

• 12:07Lewis Howes?

  You guys almost have three hundred videos and what you do basically, so people know, is you basically have tutorials about how to style your hair, how to get ready for weddings or special events or like school or whatever it may be.

• 12:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, all kinds of occasions.

• 12:23Lewis Howes?

  Dates, parties.

• 12:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:24Lewis Howes?

  And how to style your hair, then also how to use the extensions if you wanna style it a certain way.

• 12:29Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 12:30Lewis Howes?

  And so you're just giving away free content on YouTube.

• 12:33Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 12:33Lewis Howes?

  Tutorials, a resource, you're being a valuable resource for people. You're doing it in a fun, fresh, young, hip way.

• 12:39Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 12:39Lewis Howes?

  And then if people wanna buy the product, they buy it. If not, then they get the free resource.

• 12:44Speaker 01

  Exactly. And that's always been our model is we don't ever, ever use any traditional media or marketing, uh, advertising at all, you know. Our main source was YouTube.

• 12:55Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 12:55Speaker 01

  And not to sell, but to create, like you said, to create a valuable. Um, information products or not even products, I guess, just.

• 13:03Lewis Howes?

  Just a resource.

• 13:04Speaker 01

  A resource, exactly. And like you said, you know, if you, if you feel like you need this kind of thing in your life, the link is in the bottom bar and you can just check it out for yourself. Never ever just sell, sell, sell. I think that's what really um was inspiring to see as a business owner that you really don't need to sell. You just need to fill a niche with a quality product, amazing customer service. Treat every single person, every customer as a friend and that's been our mantra from day one, you know, every, we're all in it together, you know? And we love and appreciate every single one of our viewers and customers. So that's how we treat everyone and it's, it really is something that changes the whole, the whole business model. You know, it's a very new age way to approach business, so.

• 13:49Lewis Howes?

  And you get a lot of comments or questions from people like, how do I do this style or how do I do that style?

• 13:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, lots of requests.

• 13:54Lewis Howes?

  Grade it this way.

• 13:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, lots of celebrity requests, lots, yeah, exactly. We're always listening, you know, what are people looking for? And mostly, like you mentioned, it's, it's special occasions, it's everyday styles, it's back to school and all kinds of stuff.

• 14:07Lewis Howes?

  How do I look like Kim Kardashian to Jennifer Aniston or whatever, right?

• 14:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly, so.

• 14:12Lewis Howes?

  Interesting, so what's the, now you got one point two million now and it's growing like crazy. It's like a hundred thousand every month, it seems like it grows. So what was like the key to getting like your first hundred thousand or like an end of million? Like what in three years, how do you get a million subscribers and what was like the strategy?

• 14:30Speaker 01

  You know, the craziest thing is the first thousand is always the hardest. And I remember we had, I think, a giveaway at the first thousand or five thousand, I can't remember exactly, but. It's always the most exciting when you're watching that number grow, you know, and, and you're seeing it grow and. You, every single person that you see like, oh, it's like, I don't know, seven hundred ninety five, then you come back tomorrow and it's nine hundred, whatever. And you just think to yourself like this is really happening, like people are watching and this is real, you know, you have an audience. And with that comes actually a huge responsibility to.

• 15:07Speaker 01

  You know, it's a platform and people are listening. So are you gonna be an inspiration? Are you really gonna do something to make a difference in the world? And to inspire change, you know? And it's, it might sound weird that how can you inspire change through hair tutorials? But you'd be surprised that with, with all of the comments that we receive in the feedback, so many people just write in and say that we make their day, you know? We somehow inspire their day, make their day. And, you know, when Mimi starts her videos saying, hi, my beautiful friends, you know? Maybe for some people, they never hear that they're beautiful, you know? And watching that video makes them feel beautiful. So it's a really special, magical thing to be able to provide that for people.

• 15:49Speaker 01

  And, uh, um, to go back to your question on how do you, you know, how do you grow it? Um, I think the key is not to focus on growing. And the key is to focus on bringing value and connecting with people. And that's why YouTube is such an amazing platform. Like it connects everybody. It doesn't matter if you're in New Zealand, in Africa, in South America. We're all, and the distance is really not that far, you know? It's only a plane ride away. That's true. And, you know, um, and having social networking platforms really allows us all to really connect, you know? And, um, and we all, you know, through getting feedback and getting messages constantly and reading that, it makes me cry every day.

• 16:31Speaker 01

  And with the stories that people share with us and how we impacted their life, it's amazing. I mean, I can write a book on just the feedback that we've gotten in the past three years. And, uh, so yeah, bring value through whatever you do. It's just without wanting things back, you know? But unconditionally just provide value because it makes you happy, you know? It brings you joy and people can feel that. You know, you'd be surprised how. Powerful it is to just be on camera and connect with people and they can sense whether or not you're being genuine, whether or not. If you like for some videos, you know, I'm a person, some days I'm not really in it and you know, you still do it because.

• 17:11Speaker 01

  You have a responsibility to yourself, a commitment and the days when you're when I just I'm a little bit off and I. Know I'm a little bit off, it's the weirdest thing how people feel it like they will come at. You're seem off today or something like I'm still smiling, you know, I'm still saying the same things, but somehow. We have this exactly intuitive thing and all of us have it, you know, that people just feel it. So it's very important to be. Authentic. I think that is the key. In everything that you do, in every relationship, business, personal, it doesn't matter, career, if you're being yourself and you just. Be vulnerable and just be you, you know, being yourself and. But at the same time with doing things online, you have to do something that you're.

• 17:56Speaker 01

  Passionate about. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it really is because. What is it? What is it that you're going to be doing that's going to make you want to get up in the morning and like jump out of bed, you know? Find that thing. We all have it. We every single one of us have it. And I think the way to find it is to go back to when you're young, you know, when you were. A little girl or a little boy, what was it that made you? Like come alive, you know, for some kids, it's, you know, playing in the mud and like playing with, I don't know. Insects and like exploring the world and for girls, it's playing with Barbie and like styling the hair, you know, so it could be so many. Different things. We're all unique in our passions. So find that thing that made you wanna. Wake up in the morning as a kid and not go back to sleep, you know?

• 18:40Speaker 01

  And if you can do that and be authentic and create value, I think that is the formula for success in anywhere, not just. On YouTube, but in anywhere in life. So. I think that's the way to do it, you know, and not focus on numbers, just continue putting out great quality content, video quality is so important, you know. When we started YouTube, people were just using their laptops and we started with that as well, just the camera on our MacBook. And I mean, those videos are still out there. When I look back at the quality and you know, it's it's such crazy night and day difference, but that's what it was. And we were kind of the first ones to pioneer the DSLR, you know, start to introduce that and

• 19:20Lewis Howes?

  Make nice quality with nice lighting.

• 19:22Speaker 01

  Exactly. And lighting in video is everything. If anybody listening right now wants to make videos, one tip, if I have for you, any one tip, even if you don't use an amazing DSLR camera, if you have natural light, you can create amazing content.

• 19:34Lewis Howes?

  Natural light is where it's at.

• 19:35Speaker 01

  Natural light is where it's at. We've we've tried to experiment with studio lights and you know, and you can make it work, but you have to be really, really good at it and it takes a lot of trial and error.

• 19:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 19:46Speaker 01

  The easiest thing is just find natural light, not direct light, but you know, how we're sitting in right now with the balcony, just, you know. Um, so yeah, just great quality videos, you know, amazing content and just do something you're passionate about and don't focus on numbers.

• 20:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, and they say not to focus on the numbers, but when was the first time you hit a thousand?

• 20:08Speaker 01

  Uh.

• 20:08Lewis Howes?

  Since we're gonna focus on the numbers right now.

• 20:10Speaker 01

  I guess it was maybe a couple of months.

• 20:12Lewis Howes?

  Within a couple of months?

• 20:12Speaker 01

  I think so, yeah. I mean, we can go back and look at the the stats on YouTube, but I think it was a couple of months and then.

• 20:19Lewis Howes?

  When was the first hundred thousand? Do you remember?

• 20:22Speaker 01

  Probably. Uh, we did a giveaway. I'm trying to remember where it was. I think it was maybe eight months. I could be wrong on on dates, but um, yeah, it it the first, like I said, the first thousand or five thousand is the hardest. Then you reach a hundred thousand and then it just kind of starts to grow from there.

• 20:38Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 20:39Speaker 01

  You know, so, um, and then, yeah, next thing you know, it's half a million. And then we just celebrated a million, you know, a couple of months ago and.

• 20:45Lewis Howes?

  That's one point two.

• 20:46Speaker 01

  It's unbelievable. It's really hard to grasp that number. It's just unreal to think that there is one million people out there watching you and

• 20:55Lewis Howes?

  Geez.

• 20:55Speaker 01

  It's crazy. It's really crazy.

• 20:58Lewis Howes?

  Now, when did you start, first start making money? And were you, did you have side jobs while you were doing this? Weren't you like, I think you said you were a waitress before?

• 21:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, I did all kinds of work. But when we started Luxe Hair, actually, we were all unemployed on paper and we're all trying to do our own things. So we didn't have side jobs and this became full-time commitment.

• 21:15Lewis Howes?

  Right away.

• 21:16Speaker 01

  Right away and, you know, there was a lot of work, you know. You as an entrepreneur, you know how much work it takes to create a business from scratch. It's your baby, it's your, it's what you breathe, eat, live, like it's everything, you know? So, you know, building a website, building all the, um, you know, the, the beginning uh videos for how to use the product, you know? And it was all self-taught, I have no experience with hair. So when we started this, I just knew I loved doing it. But that's not enough, you actually have to educate yourself, right? So lots of research and lots of, you know, building your education for yourself and studying things. So you can then provide that value for people.

• 21:53Lewis Howes?

  So you didn't have a degree, you didn't have, didn't go to beauty school, hair salon school or nothing, you just taught yourself?

• 22:00Speaker 01

  All self-taught. And that's another thing, you know, I think anybody can learn anything if you're really passionate about it, if it, if you enjoy doing it, you know? The amazing thing is with internet these days, everything you possibly want is out there for free.

• 22:14Lewis Howes?

  A lot of the biggest challenges people say is I don't have the experience or I don't have the time, or I don't have the credentials or I didn't go to the school or whatever. So they don't take action.

• 22:22Speaker 01

  Right.

• 22:23Lewis Howes?

  You're a great example of someone who didn't go to school for this, didn't have any experience and never had clients. And you were able to build this amazing business with your, you know, sister and your, and Alex.

• 22:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:34Lewis Howes?

  And create something amazing because you guys really cared about the people that you were sharing the information with.

• 22:40Speaker 01

  Right.

• 22:41Lewis Howes?

  And they saw the value and they bought the product.

• 22:43Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 22:44Lewis Howes?

  And when was it then, so for, how long were you guys going until you started making money? And how did you survive? Like food and like brand deals?

• 22:54Speaker 01

  The amazing thing is with, with the whole numbers in terms of, you know, the sales coming in. Um, I don't remember the exact number, but I remember when we were first starting out and we're just kind of sitting and brainstorming how we're going to build the business and what the website's going to look like. And what the product's going to look like and, you know, it just all that. We were just thinking, you know, if we can just sell, because I'm not a numbers guy. Alex does all the numbers.

• 23:16Lewis Howes?

  Numbers gal.

• 23:17Speaker 01

  Numbers girl, I guess, yeah. Um, you know, he was just kind of, you know, adding things up and he's like, I think he said like, if we can do like twenty sales a week or a month or whatever, then we can get this many, this much money each one of us, because it was all split, you know, three ways. So, you know, we were just kind of crunching the numbers. And he's like, yeah, if we can just do this many sales, then we can have that much money and, you know, we can survive and then, you know, it will grow. Because he was very optimistic about, you know, building the business. And for me personally, I really didn't, I mean, of course, you want to make money. You want to live comfortably. We all do, you know. But in the most exciting thing was just seeing this thing from nothing become something.

• 23:57Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 23:57Speaker 01

  And then from our heads, like we had an idea and then we sketched it out and then we sent it out to a manufacturers and then the product came in and you're like, oh my God, like we created this, you know, there is this thing in front of me and it wasn't there. And through an idea, it became something that people can buy and use and get a benefit from because, you know, for us as girls, I don't know if girls listening in can relate to this, but something about having long hair makes you feel just beautiful and sexy and confident. And it's like a mermaid effect. That's what it felt like, you know, when the first time I started using them. And my hair was about shoulder length. And I always, always since being young, dreamt of having long hair. I could just never grow it out that long. I don't know, people,

• 24:42Speaker 01

  hairdressers just chop it off and then you try to grow it. And so when I put the extension out for the first time, it was like a mermaid effect. I was like, oh my God. Wow. And you start playing with the hair and all of a sudden you feel like this like goddess, you know. And so it's being able to give that same gift to other women. And, you know, if you feel a certain way, you're not alone. There's someone out there that can relate to that. And what we learned the most is that we all can relate.

• 25:09Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 25:10Speaker 01

  You know, and so when we put this thing out there, it just kind of blew up, you know. And so going back to the numbers. Every single time we would said, okay, like we just made, I don't know, twenty sales in a week or whatever. We we were amazed, of course, at first and then we're like, oh, my God. Alex would come with numbers because he would take care of all the numbers and he would be like, guys, we just hit, I don't know, hundred or something, you know.

• 25:35Lewis Howes?

  Sales.

• 25:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, sales. Yes, exactly. And we're like, oh, my God, this is crazy. And and we started, you know, using the law of attraction, like, can we like aim higher? Can we say like hundred fifty a month or I don't know, whatever? And we started doing that with every month until we kind of lose track. When it just, you know, flows and we're so grateful, of course, for um just having that opportunity.

• 25:56Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 25:57Speaker 01

  Um, and yeah, so, you know, you start counting at first and then, again, we never focused on money and getting money, but it was just amazing to see it grow. When you don't focus on money and you don't focus on what can I get out of it versus what can I give unconditionally? And it's just karma. It's how life works, you know, when you give, you get. It's just the, you know, the world's a mirror, you know, so. Uh, we're a prime example, like the business model is a prime example that it works, you know, we put it into practice. Kind of intuitively, we didn't go into it thinking that we're going to do it that way, but it was just very organic, because it was a very organic process for us, just kind of feeling it out.

• 26:34Lewis Howes?

  What was the biggest challenge you guys had? The whole process?

• 26:38Speaker 01

  Uh, well, the biggest challenge was that we didn't really know what we're doing, you know? None of us knew, you know, Alex has never started or built a business from his point because today all the operations, exactly. Um, and for Mimi and I, we, like you said, we don't have any experience with hair, so it's just really constantly being able to.

• 26:56Lewis Howes?

  You've never done videos, right?

• 26:57Speaker 01

  Never, never. And, you know, exactly, that's another thing, you know, how do you just sit in a room and you pretend you're talking to somebody?

• 27:06Speaker 01

  You know, looking at this camera and if someone's looking, you know, someone's in the background, they'd be like, what is wrong with you? You're just sitting there talking to a camera, but um. You have to remember that there is a person, even if it's just one person on the other side watching you. You connect to that person. So that's what I try to do when I look in the camera. I don't think, okay, I'm crazy. I'm sitting in a room just talking to a camera. I'm thinking that I'm connecting to a friend, you know, how would you feel when you're sitting talking to your friend or mom or dad, you know, you you feel a sense of warmth and you feel a sense of comfort and intimacy. So that's what I try to do when I speak to a camera is I can't think that there's a million people watching, then you're gonna freak yourself out. You think that you're connecting to that one person and you know, I truly believe that we're all one and we're all connected. So when you connect to one, you can connect to all, you know?

• 27:52Speaker 01

  And so, um, yeah, the challenge was, the challenge still is, because I I'm still making videos is someday you just don't feel like being on camera, you know? And that is a reality that you face as a YouTuber, you know, you're you're human beings, so you have off days, but you have to remember that, well, what I do is I remember that my videos inspire people, you know, and and I don't take that lightly. It's a huge responsibility. So when I think of it that way, I think this is bigger than me. This is bigger than my own little issues. You know, the little conversations in my head that I don't feel beautiful today, or my hair is, you know, it's not looking pretty or whatever, you know, so I just kind of get over that and you know, you put yourself out there and you just do your best and you connect and create value and

• 28:37Speaker 01

  and then when you when you do it from that way and you get the feedback, that inspires you to do more, you know, because people appreciate, um, for the most part, there's haters, of course, in every avenue online, but, um, yeah, so.

• 28:52Lewis Howes?

  So what was it, uh? You guys went from a small country, Azerbaijan.

• 28:59Speaker 01

  Unknown to most people.

• 29:00Lewis Howes?

  But I didn't know that, which makes me sound ignorant, but.

• 29:02Speaker 01

  No, no, don't feel bad. Ninety nine point nine.

• 29:04Lewis Howes?

  How many million people live there in Azerbaijan?

• 29:06Speaker 01

  Um, I think around eight, nine million. I could be off a little, but it's around there. Yeah.

• 29:11Lewis Howes?

  So you go from there and you move when you're eighteen to to Canada, Toronto. And from there you get, you know, side jobs, you're trying to figure out what it's like in a new country.

• 29:22Speaker 01

  Two, three jobs at a time, school.

• 29:24Lewis Howes?

  At a time, school. And then you go from that to starting this business, not knowing anything you're gonna, you know, not knowing what to do, how to do. A lot of fears, a lot of like doubts probably.

• 29:35Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 29:36Lewis Howes?

  Like, is this gonna work? Are we gonna make money? What am I gonna do? If we don't make money, how long can we go without? Making money till I have to get something else?

• 29:44Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 29:44Lewis Howes?

  So what do you say to people who maybe are afraid to get started in something that they love? They really have like a passion, but they're working some crappy job or, you know, whatever. What do you say to people about chasing their dreams or about? Cause you, again, you're an amazing example of someone who didn't have a lot of opportunity as a kid in Azerbaijan compared to people in Canada or United States. And you created your own destiny, really. Under extreme circumstances that didn't allow you to create this.

• 30:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:20Lewis Howes?

  Or that no one would have thought that you could have done it, probably.

• 30:22Speaker 01

  Right.

• 30:23Lewis Howes?

  And you.

• 30:24Speaker 01

  The odds were against us, you know.

• 30:25Lewis Howes?

  The odds were really against you. And you guys made something unbelievable in a few short years without experience, without knowledge, without anything.

• 30:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:35Lewis Howes?

  And it was just three of you.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  Right.

• 30:37Lewis Howes?

  So what do you say to someone who's maybe like doubting themselves or just not taking the action or just have no clue what to do?

• 30:42Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 30:43Lewis Howes?

  They're afraid.

• 30:43Speaker 01

  You know, the, the best thing, and it's such a simple thing, and it's probably gonna sound like, oh, really? That's all there is to it, but honestly, it's dare to dream.

• 30:53Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 30:53Speaker 01

  Dare to freaking dream because, you know, being in Azerbaijan, we, without even knowing, did the law of attraction. Mimi, Mimi and I always wanted to, for some reason, just be in North America because I think intuitively we knew that anything is possible here.

• 31:08Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 31:08Speaker 01

  And so, you know, we constantly dreamt of being here and we did lots of visualizing without realizing we're doing it. We're kids, you know, what do we know? But just dreaming and constantly imagining things and picturing and the power of vis- visualization is beyond, you know, and so when you just, you know, we, every single one of us has dreams, right? And the reason why we. Stop dreaming is because we think it's impossible.

• 31:36Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 31:37Speaker 01

  And when you just shift your mindset and shift that paradigm that even if you don't believe it, there are days when I don't believe my dreams, but I still deep down believe them, you know? Even if I, I might not achieve them, but I cannot allow myself to say it won't happen. Because when I do that, I block everything. So you have to continue to just dream and not be afraid of that dream. Because I think it's scary to like, you know, this fear of failure is very powerful in all of us. But I think what we're all afraid of more is fear of success. What happens if you actually achieve that? What then, you know? Where do you go from there? So, okay, so you got the dream.

• 32:20Speaker 01

  You know, for us, it was, for me personally, it was this lifestyle of freedom, you know? Cause I just cannot work for someone else. I needed to have the flexibility and the freedom and, you know? And so when that happens, you're like, okay, so I got this and that's amazing and I'm grateful. But now what? You know, cause you just can't stop dreaming. You gotta constantly push yourself. Okay, so I got this. What next? So, but for someone getting started, I guess, is there to dream, you know? Just dare to dream. What is your dream? Every single one of us have a dream. So, ask yourself, what is my dream? What is my vision? Where do I wanna be, you know? And you're gonna have conversations, every single one of us has with limiting beliefs, you know? Maybe with our parents telling us that it's impossible.

• 33:03Speaker 01

  From our schools or the environment, you know, maybe you're from a third world country like me. And you just think, you know, what can I do? I'm sitting here, I don't know, in whatever country. I don't have this or I don't have that. But if you just shift your mindset and you go into possibility mode, anything truly is possible. It sounds like a cliche, but it really is. And when you start to shift your mindset and you go from, you know, oh, I can't do this because of this, this, this, my circumstances, and you go into. How can I start at least? First start with a dream and then how can I start? We can all start somewhere.

• 33:37Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 33:37Speaker 01

  You know, start planning it maybe, just putting it out on paper, you know, just start with that. Put it out into the universe, you know, because it's all in your head, it's all in you, but start by just, what is it? What do I want? Start planning it out. And you will see magical things happen when you do the work. The universe is truly waiting for us to get started and it will do half the work, you know? And this is from personal experience every single day. When I commit to something and I start, not just dreaming about it, because that's important, but putting it to work, putting in the work, whether it is research, you know, if you want to become, I don't know, a lawyer or doctor, whatever. And you think, I don't have the money or, you know, whatever, whatever. At least start researching, you know, that is already work.

• 34:19Speaker 01

  You know, you don't have to right away go into school or whatever it is to get you to your dream. You can put in the work with other, in other ways. Just do something that will get you closer to your dream. And when you do that, you will see amazing things happen and you will think it's magic. But that's the formula, that's how life works.

• 34:36Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 34:36Speaker 01

  You will meet people, you will attract circumstances, you will attract money if that's what you need, you know?

• 34:41Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 34:42Speaker 01

  So just dare to dream.

• 34:44Lewis Howes?

  There you go. And luxyhair.com is that business. If you guys want to check that out and read about their story about Leila and Mimi. You check it out luxyhair, L U X Y hair dot com. But now you've ventured off and you're doing some other things. You're doing a couple of other YouTube channels of your own, which is youtube.com slash get fit with Leila. And again, it's L E Y L A. And then you also have youtube slash real Leila. And one's about fitness and kind of lifestyle and also eating healthy. And the other one's about beauty tips, fashion and kind of whatever goes, your own vlogs and everything. And you also have some amazing images and inspiring pictures that you post on Instagram with a huge following there,

• 35:29Lewis Howes?

  real Leila on Instagram. So what, what's your plan now? What's your vision? What's, what's the next thing for you with all of this that's got going on?

• 35:38Speaker 01

  I am so excited right now. This year, twenty thirteen has been incredible. And just going back to dreaming, you know, my personal dream has always been, for whatever reason, to live in L A. I don't know what it is, you know, before, when I've never even been here up until last summer. I would tell people that and they'd be like laugh in my face like, you know, oh, L A this, whatever and be like, oh, have you been there? I would say no, because I haven't at that point and they'd laugh even more saying, well, first go there, you know, because you might not even like it. But I'm very intuitive, so I just, something in my heart told me that I was gonna love it here and it was just gonna be a home. So when we got here, uh, with Mimi and Alex and our friend Isel last summer, it was exactly what I thought it was gonna be.

• 36:20Speaker 01

  Like, I felt exactly how I knew I was gonna feel, just something in the energy in the water, I don't know what it is. Um, and so that's been my personal, personal dream of mine. And starting this year, um, in twenty thirteen, I decided to completely like get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself and just move out here. I didn't know anybody, I mean, for a month, just to try it out. And it was the best decision I've made in my life ever, you know? Just getting over that fear and the thing is though, I think I'm gonna paraphrase myself, it's not about getting over it, it's about feeling the fear and doing it anyways. Cause if you're gonna do anything in life that's new, you're gonna be scared, because you don't know what you're doing, you know, it's something new.

• 37:03Speaker 01

  So I think fear is actually a great motivator. You know, what we tend to do is think, oh, I'm scared, so I'll just stop. But if you just think of fear as, oh, my god, it's an opportunity for growth and, okay, if I'm scared, that's a good thing. That means I can learn something new, I can stretch myself, I can get out of my own way to create magic. And that's what I did and it was scary as hell, I didn't know anybody, you know, I started by research, I didn't know L A at all, I didn't know areas, I just researched and intuitively felt like, you know, West Hollywood is the area for some reason. You know, got here and this beautiful bachelor, um, studio apartment and had the best time of my life, just getting out there, connecting with people, just exploring the new city,

• 37:47Speaker 01

  going hiking, whatever it is, you know, I'm not a runner and I started running here because everybody is so inspiring, you know? You know, I'm not gonna say everybody, most people are a lot more health conscious, so I just felt like fish in the water, so happy, so at peace. Wow. So I went back home and I couldn't. Get over the thing that I left a piece of my heart here, you know? I need to find a way to get myself here. So um it's been a journey, you know, in the past couple of months, six, seven, whatever months that it's been and um I'm finally making that decision. I'm making that commitment to figure it out. I'm not sure how I'm gonna do it exactly, but I know that I'm committing. No matter what, I'm gonna make it happen. And going back to the business side, though, um

• 38:29Speaker 01

  Laxie here has been incredible and such a blessing and I'm forever grateful and it's always gonna be a baby of mine, but I have so many passions and there's only one life and there's only twenty four hours in a day and as much as I wish I could do all of it.

• 38:41Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 38:41Speaker 01

  You need a focus, you know, so I kind of did a little soul soul searching when I was here in L A by myself. I had a lot of time. Clearly, I was alone. Um and so I was like, okay, what is it really that makes me like wake up in the morning? What is it that makes me wanna wake up in the morning? And I realized that it's inspiring positive change. Now, that can come in so many different ways. So right now, my challenge is actually figuring out what is that one focus? Cause I wanna do so many things.

• 39:07Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 39:07Speaker 01

  And I think what really gives me purpose is knowing that I can, you know, make people eat healthier and be active. Because for me, you know, if I'm eating well and I'm acting, uh actually like being active and working out, I feel at my best. I feel like anything is possible and I truly believe that you are what you eat. So it's so important to educate people, cause the problem is that people just don't know any better, you know? Because we've been brainwashed and it's easy. Fast food is easy, you know? It's meant that way because pharmaceutical companies wanting to make their billions of dollars. It's it's really sad, but that is the reality we're living. So I wanna create, I wanna be that beacon of change, but live it as an example first, you know? So I wanna master the within myself and then spread the message and educate people on that.

• 39:52Lewis Howes?

  You're basically a vegetarian or vegetarian that eats fish, right?

• 39:55Speaker 01

  I still eat seafood, so I'm I guess a pescatarian. I don't like labels, so I prefer to say I'm I eat mostly a plant-based diet, you know? Probably about ninety percent, ninety five percent plant-based diet. Um and it never felt better.

• 40:08Lewis Howes?

  So you're going through a journey for yourself. You're educating yourself, just like you did, self-teaching yourself.

• 40:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:14Lewis Howes?

  Youtube, the, the hair extension stuff for business. And you're now going through this journey to like figure out how to live their best life.

• 40:22Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 40:23Lewis Howes?

  How to feel your best through foods, through fitness, through everything.

• 40:26Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 40:27Lewis Howes?

  And.

• 40:28Speaker 01

  And spread it out.

• 40:29Lewis Howes?

  And spreading it out. It's kind of what uh another guest on here, Rich Roll, talked about.

• 40:33Speaker 01

  That was very inspiring. I love that.

• 40:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, he's vegan, plant-based, and he went through like, you know, he wanted to learn how to become healthier. And so he started sharing and wrote a book about it and teaching people what he was learning as well along the way. So it's really inspiring.

• 40:48Speaker 01

  Very.

• 40:48Lewis Howes?

  And so you got these different YouTube channels and you're using Instagram to share the message.

• 40:52Speaker 01

  Right.

• 40:52Lewis Howes?

  And you're excited about that.

• 40:54Speaker 01

  Super excited, you know?

• 40:56Lewis Howes?

  What's the one thing you're most excited about besides LA?

• 41:00Speaker 01

  Um, seeing what's possible for me, you know? This year I've got, I, I removed my ego out of the way. I mean, the ego is always there, but I, I don't listen to it anymore. I've listened to it for my whole life, you know, twenty-nine. And so being able to be in charge is so powerful. And knowing that anything I set my mind to and I commit to is possible. And the reason it's possible is because I get to create it.

• 41:28Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 41:28Speaker 01

  No one's giving me anything. No one is providing, I mean, no one's there waiting to give it to me. I gotta get out there and I gotta make it happen. And when you find that power inside and every single one of us have it, I don't care what your circumstances are right now. You know, if you're abused, if you're whatever, sitting in, you know, if you're isolated somewhere, it doesn't matter. Every single one of us has that power. We're all made equal in that way. So. Get out of your own way and start dreaming and anything is possible when you commit to it. I'm not saying that it's gonna be an overnight thing. I'm not saying that it's gonna be easy. It's not. It's a challenge. It's, it's a commitment, you know? It's hard work, but it's so goddamn worth it.

• 42:10Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 42:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, so.

• 42:12Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so final question, and it's what is your definition of greatness?

• 42:18Speaker 01

  Wow, whenever I listen to all the podcasts, I would ask myself that. I'm like, I don't know what that is, you know? Cause there's so many ways you can answer that, so many ways you can take it. Uh, I think. What's my definition of greatness? I think it's not allowing fear or circumstances to stand in the way and just continue plowing through, you know, because there are going to be challenges. And that's part of learning and growing, that's part of being a human being. So being able to be inspired by an end goal and knowing that there's something out there bigger than you, that you're meant to do. And every single one of us is here for a purpose, you know?

• 43:00Speaker 01

  And knowing what that, figuring out what that purpose is and then going after it despite the circumstance, despite the challenges and not allowing anything to stand in the way because you're in charge, you're in control. No one else is, you get to create your reality. I think that's greatness, you know? You don't allow anything to define you, you define you.

• 43:21Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm.

• 43:22Speaker 01

  So that would be that.

• 43:24Lewis Howes?

  I love it. Well, make sure everyone to go check out the beautiful Leila at leilaslifestyle.com. And you have all your links on there for social media, right? For Instagram and Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. Subscribe to her everywhere because she's extremely talented, gifted and a warm soul.

• 43:42Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 43:43Lewis Howes?

  And you guys are gonna love her. So leilaslifestyle.com. Leila, thanks so much for coming on.

• 43:50Speaker 01

  My pleasure.

• 43:50Lewis Howes?

  Appreciate you and we'll see you soon.

• 44:00Lewis Howes?

  And there you have it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this inspiring episode with Leila. She is definitely a gift to the universe and I'm so happy that she was in here today and shared her amazing story. If you have any questions at all, feel free to hit her up on Twitter, on Instagram, on Facebook, or subscribe to her on YouTube, to all those different channels. Head over to schoolofgreatness.com to check out all the show notes and more about Leila if you are interested. And as well, guys, if you enjoyed this episode, please go over to iTunes, leave us a review and give us your feedback, give us your honest feedback of what you're getting out of this show.

• 44:42Lewis Howes?

  There's been some amazing reviews so far and I appreciate all of them, but leave us a review if you've listened to an episode and you'd like to give me some feedback. With that guys, you know what time of day it is. It's time to make sure you go out there and do something great.

• 45:25Lewis Howes?

  Subtitles by the Amara.org community