Marie Forleo’s Book Tour: Everything is Figureoutable

In today’s post, I’ll be sharing a bit about my experience going to Marie Forleo’s Book Tour for her new, New York Times best-selling book, Everything is Figureoutable. This post will be helpful for both those planning to go to a stop on her tour who want to know what to expect, and those of you that may not be able to attend and want to know what it was like. If you’d prefer to hear me talk about (and see some behind the scenes clips!), click “play” on the video below. Or, if you’d rather read about the experience, keep scrolling for the written version.

Who is Marie Forleo?

If you haven’t heard of Marie before, I highly recommend that you spend some time scouring her website and bingeing her videos, because she has some really amazing content that will definitely help you grow your business. Over the years, she’s been one of my biggest personal and professional inspirations while on my own entrepreneurial journey. 

My History with Marie

During my drive to the book tour event, I caught myself reflecting on how long I’ve known about and benefited from Marie’s work, and I came to the realization that I’ve been following her work for over TEN YEARS! I was able to place the timeline because I kept having this picture pop in my mind - the image I kept thinking of was of a tiny little desk with a tiny little chair that had a big, beautiful iMac on it. The people I nannied for over ten years ago had set up this child-sized desk for the kids to play games on. But, when the kids where napping or playing upstairs, I would sit on the itty bitty chair and watch Marie’s videos. Since the chair was so small, my knees were bent up toward my chest (if you could imagine how goofy it all looked!). 

As I watched her videos, I felt this BIGNESS inside - and it wasn’t just because I was sitting on a teeny tiny chair - watching Marie do her thing lit me up inside and gave me this feeling of excited anticipation that someday I would also be helping people online like she was. I don’t think I could’ve given those exact words to how I felt back then; it mostly felt like this warm excitement in my chest, but when I look back now, I can see and feel that emotion clearly. All that is to say, for me, knowing about and benefiting from Marie goes waaaay back.

The Event Recap

So onto the actual book tour stop. I attended the event in Naperville Illinois at Wentz Concert Hall. My husband and I got there about an hour early because we wanted to get good seats and seating was first come, first serve. For the stop we went to, an hour was PLENTY of time to get a really great seat. They were still setting up when first arrived, so we waited in line until a little before the start time. Since we got there so early we were 4th in line, which meant we got AMAZING seats, in the middle of the front row.

I’m not sure if all the events are set up this way, but for the event I went to, there were two people on stage. Marie was there, and there was also a moderator present to ask Marie questions and guide the flow of the conversation. For this event, that person was a speaker, podcaster, and author named Luvvie. Luvvie was a really great addition to the night, and the conversation between her and Marie felt very chill, real, and ultra present.

My first reaction when I saw Marie for the first time was “Oh my gosh she’s so tiny!!”

Obviously she’s a fit person (if you know her, you’re definitely aware of that). But, what I mean is that she is shorter than I expected and just has these teeny little wrists, you know, just a small person. I think it’s so funny how that happens when you only see someone in videos and pictures and they have a powerful presence. It’s as if your brain just assumes they’re going be tall or something!

My second impression was that she’s the EXACT same in person as she is in her videos and I LOVE that. I just really respect and appreciate when people have that much integrity to be able to show up true to themselves no matter the setting.

The event lasted for probably an hour and a half or so. Luvvie asked Marie questions for a portion of the event - it felt like for maybe half of the event or a little more. She asked really interesting questions about the book, the writing process, and some questions about Marie in general. Then after that, Marie did a Q and A where people lined up at microphones on either side of the auditorium to ask their questions to Marie. I wish I had something I wanted to ask, because it would’ve been so cool to interact with Marie 1 on 1, but I just didn’t have anything I felt like added to the conversation, so I decided to instead just take it all in. The cool thing about sitting so close was that both Luvvie and Marie looked me straight in the eyes several times each, which was so great. I loved that and really made me feel like a part of the event.

So, in summary, I’m glad I went. Marie was super present and real. Although she was on stage, her energy felt really approachable. I really liked watching her answer questions quickly, patiently, thoroughly, and deeply on the spot. It was really impressive. It feels like she’s almost channeling some special kind of wisdom, the way that she just has the answers inside of her.

advice from marie

I did want to share 2 pieces of advice she gave people who got up and asked questions, and although I don’t remember what questions were asked, I do remember how she responded. The first piece of advice she gave was: you can’t rush clarity. She obviously gave more of a thorough answer to the question that was asked, but when she said that piece, I thought to myself “I’m gonna hang on to that”. You can’t rush clarity. I know I’ve tried to rush it before and really, it doesn’t work.

The second piece of advice she gave (that again, I’m paraphrasing), is that if you’re in a phase where you have somewhere you want to be, but you’re not there yet, you have to internally identify as your future self to get there. So, if you’re working a 9-5 and have a side hustle, begin to internally identify as the owner of your side hustle and let go of the identity of “I am that person who does this thing 9 to 5”. This could definitely apply to more things than just transitioning your work role. You could apply it to anything you want to be, emotionally, physically, spiritually, or any other area, which is why I loved that advice so much.

I also want to say that I feel like Marie set some great expectations for the event. When I purchased the tickets it clearly stated to not expect to get a photo with the author. Even though I read that I was kinda hoping it might happen, this was the closest I got….😆 (also, pardon the quality!)

So, if you haven’t gotten Marie’s book yet, check it out (again, it’s called “Everything is Figureoutable”).  I’m a few chapters in and I’m really enjoying it. And if you haven’t heard of Marie before, definitely take a look at her website for some great info. I really hope you get the opportunity to see her person, and if not, hopefully my event recap has allowed you to experience a little bit about how great the night was!

If you’re interested in learning more about how to improve your brand and grow your business, subscribe to my YouTube channel for helpful videos, or find me on Instagram @sarahdeshaw.