The Empowered Entrepreneur — by Zach Marañon
December 14, 2023

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Hey bud,

This week’s issue of the Empowered Entrepreneur is arriving late in your inbox.

I just got back from my honeymoon week with my wife and I was quite inspired to get some work done.

So much so that yesterday was a 12 hour workday for me. 5am to 5pm. Whew.

I’ll preface today’s letter with this:

With that I wanted to write you a different kind of letter from the Empowered Entrepreneur series.

I wanted to share a little bit more about what led me down this one-person business route.

Why?

I believe that entrepreneurs ought to have a good introduction and origin story.

It helps people understand where they’re coming from and it can add a layer of depth behind the work that they do.

I recently hired the services of one of my friends in the coaching community, Gold Ambas, who is very good at storytelling and sharing his story.

Whether it’s in workshops, seminars, or just speaking engagements, he never fails to capture the audience with his story.

And with the type of business I’m building — a coaching business where I’m building a personal brand, working with clients one-on-one, and facilitating workshops with different organizations — I realized the next skill I needed to develop is creating a well crafted introduction story.

I already shared an “About Me” newsletter as one of my first letters (you can read it here).

But, if you’re curious to get to know me a little bit more, I’ll be re-sharing my story using what I learned from Gold.

Let’s get into it.

Who is Zach?

I am a very loving husband to my wife, Bea. This is something I’m truly proud of myself for.

In fact, a big reason why I started this entrepreneurial journey is because I want to provide a good life for her.

I’m also a committed individual, from making sure I’m in a healthy physical state, to making sure that I’m doing something each day to move the growth of my business forward.

I was born and raised in Makati, Philippines.

An ordinary kid living in the city who didn’t have to worry about much.

Growing up, life was comfortable.

Both my parents were working. Mama worked night shifts at a BPO, while Pops was running a manufacturing company that my grandfather had entrusted to him.

They worked hard and made a lot of sacrifices so that my sister and I could have a good life — and I’m so grateful for that.

But despite all of that, growing up I saw myself as someone who wasn’t good enough.

The way I saw myself before was that I wouldn’t really amount to much.

I had a low concept of self.

I had pretty bad grades (to the point that I would hide my report cards from mama), I would do nothing but play video games all day, and I was just very lazy and irresponsible.

And I felt like I was trapped in comfort.

Aside from that, I don’t really remember experiencing anything traumatic, nor do I remember experiencing anything remarkable.

I consider it a very average experience.

Today, when my wife would ask me what I remember from childhood, very few memories come to mind.

In fact, it was so ordinary for me that I barely have any memories from those times.

One thing I do remember in my childhood though is one particular Sunday where my parents took my younger sister and I to a grassy open space beside in BGC.

This was back when there weren’t many buildings in the area yet and it was mostly open fields.

I remember my parents got me and my sister kites to play with, and it was the first time we ever played with one.

After many failed attempts, I had one attempt where I ran my heart out while holding the string of my kite.

I finally got it to fly high up in the sky.

I felt accomplished.

Fulfilled.

That day I felt free.

A stark contrast to what I felt for majority of my childhood.

Working Years

Entering adulthood was challenging.

I was so used to being in comfort and taking the easy route especially during my college years.

Right before graduation, I started growing tired of the mundane.

The way I saw it I had two choices:

1. Keep taking the easy and familiar route and live a life in comfort (while dreaming of what could have been).

2. Do something completely different and challenging while pursuing a life of freedom.

Just like that time in my childhood when I felt free flying my kite, I wanted to chase after the second option.

Up to this point, I was reliant financially on my parents.

So I knew that the first thing I needed to do was to become independent financially.

I saw this as a stepping stone to financial freedom.

This way, if I wanted to spend for something, I wouldn’t feel guilty having to ask money for it.

At the age of 22, I started a sales position at a life insurance company.

Something completely outside my comfort zone as I never had any experience in sales

And I was so unsure of myself.

At this point I hadn’t accomplished anything significant, so I had nothing to hold on to as evidence that I can thrive in a new environment.

But, I made up my mind that I was willing to expose myself to uncomfortable and unfamiliar experiences so that I can live a life of freedom and abundance.

To make that vision happen, I realized that I needed to be courageous and responsible in my life.

I was guided by great mentors whom I spent a lot of time with:

1. My Unit Manager, Nina Añover, who taught me to set clear goals, take consistent action, and care for other people.

2. My Mentor-Coach in life coaching and personal mastery, Russ Juson, who taught me extreme self-care, how to create my massive transformative purpose, and be of service to the world

You can read how coaching changed my life here.

As I invested my time, money, and energy to growing myself through mentorship and coaching. I also pursued personal mastery and leadership courses through I Am + Coaching and Training Systems.

I became one of their reserve coaches and realized that what truly lights up my soul is this:

Helping people reach their next level in life and business through coaching conversations.

After years of working on myself, this is now my Personal Mission in Life:

Empowering people to awaken their inner greatness and pursue the abundant life they deserve.

My hope is for everyone to embrace who they truly are: Worthy, capable, and resourceful individuals. For all of us to wake up every single day inspired to pursue the meaningful goals that light up our soul.

Above all, I want everyone to love, accept, and honor their whole selves no matter what.

In Conclusion

Looking back, I realize that I had to experience the trap of the comfort zone and an ordinary life for so long so that I can break out of it and pursue a life that will make me proud of myself.

And as I pursue that life, my hope is that I can help others pursue a life that they can be proud of as well.

Which is why I will never stop sharing the beauty of personal mastery and self-improvement.

I’ve seen the transformation that it can bring to people’s lives.

This is why I do what I do. Every single day I remind myself of my purpose, which is to serve with commitment and excellence.

As a result of this purpose, I’m able to live my days without having to worry about money. I’m currently supporting the growth and development of 3 multi-million organizations as a peak performance coach and facilitator while working on this one-person business I’m building for myself.

And even if you were to disregard all of this, what I’m most grateful for is this:

At the end of the day, I get to go home to a loving household with a loving wife that I know has my back no matter what.

If today is my last day here on earth, my greatest legacy would be the love and care I was able to give people around me.

I think people would always remember my positive frame of mind, my commitment to growth, and my belief in what others are capable of.

My message to the world is that we should believe in ourselves and the vision that we have for our lives.

Pursue meaningful goals and know that you deserve to dream BIG, and that the challenges you face are there to help you transform into your next level.

Keep showing up because you deserve your dreams.

That’s it for this issue of the Empowered Entrepreneur.

Would love to get your thoughts on this introduction story of mine.

This is just the first draft of it so I’ll be refining it still in the coming weeks.

Have a great week, friends!

All the love,
All the power,

— Zach Marañon

P.S. Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways that I can be of help to you:

1. Follow me on Instagram here if you want a source of bite-sized ideas and content that can help you reach your next level in life.

2. Book a free kick-off conversation for one-on-one coaching here if you are an entrepreneur or sales professional currently looking to create solutions to a problem or challenge in your life but you seem to be stuck.

3. Download my goal setting guide here if you are wanting to create clarity on your desired outcomes (Free until 100 downloads — and then I convert it to a paid resource).

P.P.S. If you are from the Philippines and are looking for a personal mastery workshop to help you experience growth and transformation, check out Discovery by I Am Plus Coaching and Training Systems. It’s where my journey of self evolution personally got fast-tracked.