The Gold Medal Mindset: Laura Armstrong on Business Success

Laura Armstrong’s journey from a three-time world champion martial artist to a wealth mastery expert is a testament to the power of discipline, community, and strategic thinking. With a diverse background spanning Filipino martial arts, holistic practices, and corporate trading, Laura brings a unique perspective to wealth-building. Her turning point came during a world championship in Manila, where she faced unexpected adversity—her coach abandoned the team right before the competition. Rather than giving up, Laura stepped up as a leader, rallying her teammates. The result? She finally captured the elusive gold medal, and eight of her twelve teammates did the same. This experience solidified her belief that real success rarely happens in isolation; it thrives in community and collective support.

This principle is now the cornerstone of Laura's Wealth Mastery Systems. She emphasizes that for most entrepreneurs, the missing link isn’t just strategy or tactics—it’s a support system that shatters self-imposed limits and redefines their relationship with money. Drawing parallels between martial arts and business, Laura teaches her clients the importance of breaking down complex components before rebuilding them stronger, much like perfecting forms in martial arts training. Her understanding of cultural nuances in money psychology adds another layer to her expertise, helping entrepreneurs navigate different markets effectively. For those starting their wealth-building journey, Laura recommends consistent income generation, meaningful spending, and values-driven business decisions. "Don't do stuff just to make money," she advises. "It’ll never last." Ready to take control of your financial future? Visit talkwithlaura.com to connect with her and discover how her unique approach can help you build wealth with purpose.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meeting Laura Armstrong
• 2:37 From Martial Arts to Holistic Practice
• 5:15 The Gold Medal Story
• 10:22 Support Systems for Success
• 15:09 Business Discipline from Martial Arts
• 17:52 Money Perspectives Across Cultures
• 21:56 Wealth-Building Advice and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

What's up everyone. I'm Ryan Van Orm, and this is another episode of Scaling Up Success Powered by Synergist. Today I have Laura Armstrong. How are you, my friend?

Speaker 2: 0:13

I am doing awesome. I'm picking up $100 bills. I think we know where I got that from right.

Speaker 1: 0:17

Oh, I love it. I love it. Oh, I'm so excited to have this conversation with you. Tell me about you know, first of all. I mean you have such an eclectic background. I love hearing your stories. You know we're going to get into wealth mastery systems here in a bit, but tell me a little bit. I mean you know you have this background in martial arts. You have this amazing story that you've told me in the past about how you've won medals in different disciplines and stuff like that, and I just love the story. So go into it a little bit if you could.

Speaker 2: 0:58

Yeah for sure. So I'll just tell you a little bit about myself and then I can tell you the story of winning my first gold medal, if you want. So I am a three-time world champion martial artist. I competed in full contact weapons fighting and I was, you know I always. I started in Aikido. I did Aikido for many years and then I moved to Filipino martial arts. I actually did both arts till I had a motorcycle accident and then I had to stop training in Aikido. It was just too painful. But I still teach and I'm one of six women in the world at my rank. I think that it's just been a driving force in my life, right? So once I won my championships, I coached the Canadian team to many championships. So the beauty of doing that is all of those skills like leadership and communication and all those things are transferable to business, which took me a little bit to realize.

Speaker 2: 1:52

Now the other piece that most people don't clue into or isn't really talked about much is the holistic piece. So I am a holistic practitioner. I have been for decades, but I really got into it because when you compete at that level and you know you're you, for us it was like a nine month ramp up to the world championships. So you'd have to hit weight, you'd have to have your diet right, your mindset, your, your emotions, like everything, and you train daily Like you had to. You had to really take care of yourself. It was a new meaning of self-care, right, and to hit those two days where you're going to compete, and so it's quite the journey every single time and it's slightly different, and so that became like a whole other thing. That became a part of my life being a holistic practitioner and I got certified in all these different modalities and things like that, and so at the time it was like the woo-woo thing. This was like decades ago where people just thought you lived on planet Xenoc or something like that, but actually you were getting practical results, people were having change right, and they were stepping into things right. Yeah, and I also worked in corporate for decades as a commodities trader, was the only woman on the training desk for a very long time, and you know that was just like a nightmare, that toxic environment, and they packaged me out. I was at the age of 42. I was now 58.

Speaker 2: 3:17

You know, you just have these moments in your life where you're like all right, I'm retired, right.

Speaker 2: 3:23

I only want to do things that make me happy, that help people which is so important and that make me boatloads of money, because I love money so much and you know I take a lot of.

Speaker 2: 3:35

I take a lot of crap for that sometimes, because because people's points of view about money aren't the healthiest and what we don't realize is is money is just a vehicle, an energy that we use in our lives to get us where we want to go, to move us along, to move our needle forward, and how that relationship is with us, with each person, is very different, and it's usually not a positive one. So it became really important to me to create something around where people could have or develop a more positive, powerful relationship with money so that they could elevate their revenue fast, so that they could earn what they deserve, make the impact they were looking for. So this is kind of where things led me. Now I still do teach martial arts, but I'm more teaching instructor programs in self-defense and empowerment, which actually is very needed in the world today. So that's like my 4-1-1 bubble, yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:30

I love it. I love it, man, it is. You have. You have had such this, this journey with you know, with the corporate side, and then utilizing martial arts for growth and not just, like you know, as as a physical but a mental aspects to things, like you know, with what you're building, with wealth mastery systems. What inspired you to get into that?

Speaker 2: 4:59

Well, it was just, you know, when I won my first gold medal. It was really interesting because, you know, I competed at an international level for like eight years and this world competition only happens every two years somewhere in the world, so I would always win silver, bronze, silver bronze, silver bronze. I couldn't get the gold. I don't know what was going on, and so like, and I'm like I did the whole Rocky thing. I was like, looking at my tapes, I, you know, I was jumping, I was doing the running, I, you know all, all of it, and I was like what is going on here? And so we, we come up to the. You know, this is like my fifth or sixth time going to the world, and it was over in Manila, philippines, and I know that a lot of the people you work with are there. Yeah, I've probably been to the Philippines 20 times, probably more than most Canadians have. And so we get there. There are 12 of us on the Canadian team.

Speaker 2: 5:50

This, this, I think, was in the early 2000s or the nineties, and I think it was in the nineties actually. And we're all there, there's 12 of us, and the bomb drops are. My coach, who had been my coach for 10 years, steals money from us. He stole our money and then he says, well, I'm not going to coach you, and he leaves. He doesn't literally leave, he just goes off on his own.

Speaker 2: 6:16

So here we are, all 12 of us, right, and so, being the chief cook and bottle washer and apparently the troublemaker of the team, I huddle everybody up. I'm like all right, so what are we going to do here? Are we going to DQ, which means disqualify, which means you don't get to compete, you're just out? Or are we all going to go home with gold? And they're like everybody lights up, we didn't work this hard to come this far to not compete, so we get our cheer on to come this far to not compete. So I'm like, so we like, get our cheer on, we get out there, we start fighting and when you get through to like the gold medal round, each fight is three rounds of one minute, longest minutes of your life. I'm telling you that because you're full out.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:56

And so I probably had about six fights, so around 18 rounds. And now I was in the gold medal round and I'm like this is it? So I look over and across the ring and there is the whole team cheering me on right, like totally like there for me and it was a special circumstance of like things happening the way they did. That I had never experienced before. And so we go into the fight. The first two rounds are good. The third round comes.

Speaker 2: 7:24

I'm tired, like I've been going out this since like 8am in the morning. It's now 435 o'clock. We've been fighting all day, and so their last round's there. And I'm like, okay, I just got to get through this. I look over at the group, like our team, and they're like come on, laura, you got this last round. And I don't know what happened.

Speaker 2: 7:40

But the whistle goes, the fight starts and I'm tired. I look over at my opponent I realize is tighter, is tireder than me, more tired than I am, and I'm like, oh right. And then so I pull on the energy of the team. I don't know how it happened. I get through the round, the whistle blows, like thank God, that was the longest minute of my life, and so you know, we're waiting for the scores, the refs holding our hands, and my hand goes up and he says world champion, winner. And like I just stood there stunned, and then I started crying and like I look across and they're all crying right, like because this has been like this eight year journey, like it's been 10 years, right, and so I mean I still get emotional thinking about it. And so I mean I still get emotional thinking about it. And so what I realized from this whole experience and, by the way, eight out of 12 of us went home with gold that day- that's phenomenal.

Speaker 2: 8:31

Wow, right what I realized the missing piece was the support.

Speaker 1: 8:35

Right.

Speaker 2: 8:37

It was the group of people that were driving me to the next level, and this is where I want to have the conversation that we were talking about. It's too hard to do it by yourself, right? It's just, you can do a lot. We're really resourceful, like. I mean, I'm the energizer bunny. I mean you and I have talked about this, right, like, but at some point you need to lean. You need to lean in and and and get those people who are going to drive you to the next level, and so that's why it was so important for me to work in the wealth mastery system and create those systems for people, so that they weren't stuck and that they did have the support to move to the next level, where they were owning the money that they deserve, that the income that they could make, that getting past the limiting beliefs that they had, that they weren't going to.

Speaker 2: 9:24

You know, oh, you know, money doesn't grow on trees. Or you know I'm not good enough, or I start making money and I sabotage, like all these things, sabotage myself, right, Like. So, you know, having experienced so much trauma as a young child and a teenager and a young woman, I was able to heal myself as a holistic practitioner and go through this journey, which I realized we all have trauma on some level. How are you going to use it to fuel? Use it as fuel to help others move past what's holding them back, and and this is kind of where everything kind of came from and it's manifested into this big thing that's bigger than me now. That's in alignment with everything that I do with people, so like, yeah, that's my story.

Speaker 1: 10:05

I love that. I love that and, like you know, your journey with, with, uh, with the martial arts side of stuff and, um, the discipline that you've had to have how has that helped you sculpt uh, sculpt your business and your mindset in business?

Speaker 2: 10:28

Well, it's really interesting because when you're high, achieving at that level, it's really hard to stay at that level. So you have to really have next level strategies. So discipline is one of them, tenacity is the other. I'm relentless and I know that to the point where sometimes I'm too relentless. But you have to have that drive, and if you're not aligned with the thing you should be doing, it won't be there. You'll never succeed to that level, and so finding what that is is super key and where that vision of that is taking you, because that's really where things start.

Speaker 2: 11:04

And so for me, with the martial arts, it was showing up when I was so tired and going and training for three, four hours, and then training on my own, which was even harder because I knew that I needed to reach a level. I remember going into sessions where I break down my traditional forms for hours into minuscule. So my foot was just in the right spot, right, so my balance was perfect, right. And so it's the same thing in business. How are you breaking things down to bring them together and make them more powerful, and you need the support to do that. So having the tenacity and the discipline to know that you're aligned is really like things that I've transferred over to business. You must have those things, and your dedication is the other thing. Right, like why do you get up in the morning? Your why is made up of two things your purpose and your drive. And if you're not clear on those things, then that's the first place to start.

Speaker 1: 11:56

I love that. I love that and, like so many people, think that their why has to be like like set in stone you know, it can change. It can change, yes, yes, and talk about that a little bit more. Has your why changed?

Speaker 2: 12:17

a little bit throughout the years in your business journey. Yeah, I mean for sure, I mean I'm not really proud of like sometimes when I was a younger competitor I was so competitive I'd be like, well, second is the first place loser. Like I had that mindset right, like, and I live with that because that's what drove me for so many years. But what I didn't realize is it wasn't driving me to the gold. The gold was actually the opposite of using the support right.

Speaker 2: 12:43

And so we can work really, really hard and tire ourselves out, but are we getting the results we want? That's what we need to look at right, absolutely. And that's really it, yeah.

Speaker 1: 12:55

Did you find that you were dealing with burnout more because of like not having that? Why? You know, like in a, in a good position, like if it was, like you know, if you're not first, your last Bobby, bobby, uh uh uh, talladega nights. You know you're not first to last.

Speaker 2: 13:14

Yeah, Uh, I watched that movie. I was like oh my.

Speaker 1: 13:16

God, that's me 20 years ago. But then you get a lot of people that burn out because of that, because they're like, if I didn't accomplish something at a certain level, they felt like they weren't reaching their their full potential, when in actuality that they're just setting unobtainable goals.

Speaker 2: 13:32

Yeah, and that's really interesting because when I used to teach martial arts, I'd have my school. I had my schools for many years, and this is the thing people come in to move. They don't realize it. They're coming in, they think, to learn a skill, which they are, but they move on other levels and you as the instructor have to be prepared to see when that's starting to happen, and a lot of the time they're not willing to move through it, so they'll leave. They'll get what they need and they leave. But there are some who will. And again, the same thing happens in business with my clients. They'll call me up. They're like, yeah, I'm going to take a break for this, we're done for a few months. I'm like, okay, I said, well, call me in a couple of months, you'll be in the same spot and then we'll work through the same stuff.

Speaker 2: 14:14

So, we can waste time now, or you can waste time later making money.

Speaker 2: 14:19

Right so right, and so it's the same thing. When I was teaching, I would have this conversation with the students. I said I don't know if you realize this, but you're pushing through something that you're going to have the ability to get through if you stick with this and I'll be right there beside you. And a lot of it would happen when we would do like testing or black belt testing or whatever, right, because that's a big test, right? There's a lot of stress there. It's the same when people are scaling their business. It's the same. Black belt test, right, that's really the level that you're at. I mean, I did all my black belt tests, like in front of three, four hundred people. Could I be more stressed? Right, but you got to perform Right and so. But the beauty in business is it's easier to give yourself a pass for failing because you're going to. I mean, I learned far more from failing and losing at fights than I ever did winning.

Speaker 1: 15:11

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 15:13

Far more, and it's the same in business. It's not even failure, right? No, it's not. It's you're learning, you know it's like I get to learn, the opportunity.

Speaker 1: 15:24

How do you measure success in business? You know, like I always you know, yeah, you can have your like KPIs and different success goals in terms of that. But, like you know, if you're looking at overall structure, is it a different way of looking at things in what you deal with with your clients.

Speaker 2: 15:44

Sure, yeah. So there's two, two or three things. The first is the difference between them in their business and in their life. So those things are they overlap, but they're also different, right? I'll give you a good example I had. Let's call her Sherry. Sherry is one of my current clients. Sherry had low self-confidence, low self-esteem, and she didn't think all the guys that she went out with she was on a dating app and they would ghost her and she'd think there was something wrong with her because of this. And she had a business. It was a martial arts business too, and it was doing okay. She wanted to triple her numbers. So we started to work through where all this came from and the story was it was the stories that she was told when she was younger Interesting.

Speaker 1: 16:35

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:36

So once we started and this just happened to be her case Once we started working together and clearing all that stuff out, she has reached. Last year she doubled her income. This year she's already doubled her income halfway through the year in the first quarter.

Speaker 1: 16:51

Wow.

Speaker 2: 16:52

And she's now in a relationship that she's not sure is good for her. So you see the difference Absolutely and so that's like the first measure, like, so that that's how I measure, right, there is the shift and you're right with them the whole time, right? The second is my bank account. Let's just be honest If I don't have my bank, my bank account isn't healthy. Then I'm not doing something right. Absolutely A hundred percent, and we don't talk about that because it's like a taboo subject. I talk about it.

Speaker 1: 17:24

Let me. Let me ask you a question because, like you know, there's going to be people from around the globe, you know, on the on watching these podcasts. Is, you know, like one of the things in America? Do you find that money is different, looked at differently in America as opposed to other countries, specifically like where you're in in Canada, or is it? Is it similar?

Speaker 2: 17:49

I love Americans. They're consumers, so let's just say that first. They say yes, quicker they understand the value of things. Um, and they are more driven. Canadians are just as driven, but they're more cautious with their money. It takes me three times as long to close a canadian okay but they need it just as badly so.

Speaker 2: 18:12

But when you're working in Europe or overseas, it's different. They're not driven by business. They don't live to work, they work to live. And so if you understand that and approach it from that mindset, how much better their lives are going to be if their business is in alignment, that's really going to push their buttons. It's a different mindset. Interesting it's like working with high achievers. It's a different mindset. No one is going to admit who's a high achiever. They need help. It's a different conversation.

Speaker 1: 18:47

I love that. I love that I find different generations handle money differently too, whether it's, you know, here in America and you know from people in. You know, boomers definitely you know they came from, uh, their, their parents were from the depression, you know. So like they squirreled away everything I'm, I'm Gen X, right on the Gen X millennial, you know level and Gen X, I mean we were the latchkey kids, you know. Millennials, you know Gen X was the last analog to digital type of generation, you know. And then millennials, definitely, you know, have for the most part been, you know, mostly digital type of type of people. So it's interesting to see how the relationship with wealth and money is, you know, depending on the age bracket. And you know the geographic locations as well.

Speaker 2: 19:59

Yeah, it's pretty fascinating, and those are also different conversations, because I've seen, you know, people who are in their twenties and they're millionaires, but I've also seen people in their twenties who are in so much debt. Yeah, but I've also seen people in their 20s who are in so much debt they're never going to get out of it, and what it came down to is education, education and understanding by the parents. So if there was none, because it's not taught in school, it's not, it's getting better. Yeah, it's getting better, but there's still a lot missing there, right? So I mean, when I grew up, my mom's like okay, you're 18, go get a credit card, build your credit. She didn't tell me anything. I went into like $10,000 worth of debt because I went and bought a whole bunch of stuff. I didn't need Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 20:43

I'm like oh, I got to pay a bill now right, like there was no. Education I don't want. And you know people, this generation. They take a lot of flack being entitled, but what they don't realize is this is us as human beings. This is society. Society is moving so much faster than us that we're in a constant state of overwhelm, and this generation is born into that. I can't even imagine how they're dealing with that every single day.

Speaker 2: 21:18

They're like a car crash of anxiety and emotions, right and so what people don't understand is they're just managing things right, and so the people who are excelling are the ones who've been able to put it in perspective, got the support they need. But there's people like and that's why I see so much judgment and I'm like no, it's not about that, let's see how we can change that dynamic right. And so it's so true, it's generational and it's also cultural. There's very big differences.

Speaker 1: 21:46

Yeah, absolutely. What is one piece of advice that you would give to people that would be starting on their journey in building their wealth?

Speaker 2: 21:56

For sure. Make sure that you bring money in but you also put money out but also save some. Make sure you're moving your money, but also make sure that you're taking a portion of that and putting it into a place where you've got it saved. I'm not saying save diligently, invest in bonds, do whatever you want, have your wants and needs money Like. Be clear about what those things are. So make sure that you spend, but also make sure that you earn. Okay. The other thing, too is whatever you do in your business, make sure it means something to you. Don't do stuff to make money. It'll never last. It may be a good quick fix at the time, but in the end you're going to get bored and you'll get resentful and then you're going to be trapped.

Speaker 1: 22:45

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:46

Right, and then you got to fix stuff. So do what feels, come from here and go down into here and it's not a woo-woo thing. Think about how things make you feel and move from there, because if it feels good, it's going to be good.

Speaker 1: 23:02

What's your thoughts on the? I guess the analogy that I've always had is like numbers make people think, but emotions make people act.

Speaker 2: 23:14

Yeah, and I mean you know me, I'm big on intuition and all that stuff, but I mean I really feel like the human race is evolving, like this is a little bit out there, but we really are, and we see it every day, right, and so we all have the opportunity to tap into that on some level. So whatever feels good for you is what feels good for you. If it doesn't feel good, don't do it. Don't think, oh, I'm going to fix this later because it's never going to happen. It's going to be like can I swear on your podcast?

Speaker 1: 23:44

Go ahead.

Speaker 2: 23:45

Okay, it's going to be a shit storm, right? Like, so, do yourself a favor, like, listen to that inner voice. And you know that inner voice has talked to you your whole life, so you know, when you decide what you want to do, how does it make you feel? Get into your head, analyze it, have all the blueprint, have the plan, have the business plan, the marketing, everything. But how does it make you feel? If it makes you feel good, do it. If it doesn't, don't, do it. Right, like, don't make it complicated.

Speaker 1: 24:14

Man, I could talk to you for hours and we have in the past. So like you're just an amazing person to be around. I love your thoughts on how to manage, not just like your money, but your emotional value of who you are, your cognitive outlook on perspective, on life as itself. You're just an amazing person to have in my circle and I couldn't be happier to have you as a part of our Scaling Up Success podcast today. Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2: 24:50

My pleasure. I think you're awesome too and I just yeah, we've had some really good conversations. I'm looking forward to the next one. Thanks for having me. I hope today people got value out of things. Do you want me to tell them how they can reach me if they have questions?

Speaker 1: 25:02

Yes, please.

Speaker 2: 25:03

Okay, yeah, just go to talkwithlauracom. Book a half hour with me. I'd love to hear more, and then we can talk about things.

Speaker 1: 25:10

Fantastic. All the links are going to be down below as well, guys. Laura, thank you so much. Always appreciate your time. You are an amazing person and glad to have you in our circle.

Speaker 2: 25:19

All right, we'll see you all soon.

Speaker 1: 25:21

All right, take care.