Christina Winters: The Revolution of Achievement Starts in Your Mind

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. It is my pleasure to introduce you to my guest today, Christina Winters, CEO and founder of Revolution of Achievement. Christina is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant who works with businesses focused on consistent and rapid growth. She founded and built her own company to more than 250 million in assets before successfully selling it, and her work has been featured in Forbes and on William Shatner’s Moving America Forward. She’s also the creator of The Revolution of Achievement, focused on leading without Rageous vision, building sales superstars and discovering purpose driven success. Her forthcoming book and podcast will carry that work forward. Christina, welcome to the show.

Christina Winters: Thank you so much, Trisha. It’s my pleasure to be here.

Trisha Stetzel: It’s been a long time coming. I feel like we spoke so long ago, and I’m so excited that you’re here with us. If it’s okay with you. Um, I’d like to go back to the beginning. So when we first talked, you shared a story about where you started and what what you originally believed your life was supposed to look like. So take us back there. Who was Christina before all of these accomplishments? And before you ever imagined building a career in the business you ultimately built?

Christina Winters: Right. Well, first of all, at that time, it was Tina Sporangia. I was born into a first generation European family. Hungarian and Czechoslovakian. Um. I had 32 cousins and all the women were to get married, have children, support their husbands, and they were all factory workers. My dad worked in a factory for 34 years. My mother never worked. She just tended the house. And that is what I was focused on until I got married at 19. And then I went, oh, my. Uh. Till death do us part. I don’t think so. Uh, so I actually was successfully divorced in a year. So, um, then I, I really didn’t know what to do. I was working, I was a very good secretary. I took 120 minutes and, Shorthand and type 90 words a minute. So, uh, I got a really good secretarial jobs, but, um, and then I went into modeling, kept my secretarial job because modeling is like acting. You know, I did that for about five years. Uh, it did, it was very interesting and opened my eyes to a lot of things. I also, uh, was, uh, that vision of what was possible was supported by my Aunt Lil when she took me to Mills cafeteria, uh, because all food coming into the house was rationed. You know, we got two pieces of bacon and everything was very controlled. Um, we were clean and we were fed, but that was it. Uh, there was no other extra money for anything.

Christina Winters: So she took me down into this Mills cafeteria downtown Cleveland, Ohio. And I was, like, amazed at all the food and the desserts. And then she said that everyone in these buildings down here are very successful, and they make a lot of money. And then that was when I was eight. So, you know, fast forward, um, I got married and, uh, then, uh, went into modeling and saw how a lot of the world really was. And very many stories later, at the age of 30, I left Cleveland and moved to LA. Um, and, uh, did a course at UCLA on how to control your health with your mind. Uh, and that was so interesting to me that your mind actually affects your body and it affects your experiences. And they said they’re doing courses on metaphysics. On Wednesday night, I started taking those and learned that the mind is a projector and our consciousness is only 5% of our actions, and that 95% of what we do, the decisions we make on a daily basis is generated from our subconscious. And that percentage, I mean, just thinking about just saying that I’m getting the chills because think about the vast difference. 95% is driven by decisions that I have made that were really crafted by other people. Mhm. Wow. Parents. Siblings, uh, all the, all TV. Of course, there wasn’t much TV then, but, you know, now they’ve got social media.

Christina Winters: So just think about all the programing that everybody’s getting and what I’m here, what I’m about is teaching people that you’ve got to reprogram your subconscious. And the only way to do that is to write down what you’re thinking. So you have an endeavor. You want to write down the five first negative thoughts that come to your mind. And then, uh, you know, uh, in the essence of time, there are certain ways that they need to be crafted because you can’t say, I will be successful. Well, when is that right? So anyways, so I bought into that Trisha 100% because I was feeling very lost with all the things that I was told when I was growing up, you know, that I talked too much and I, I need to know my place. And that was never taught goals. And it was just such a challenge, uh, that my, I couldn’t even think, how am I ever going to be successful and afford the life that I see other people have. So, but and then when I took that course, I knew this is it. This is how it’s going to happen. So I started doing that. I wrote down, I make $100,000 a year. And in 1979, that was a lot of money so outrageous. They taught us think outrageous. Don’t say I just need enough to pay the bills and save a little bit of money, right? So I make $100,000 a year.

Christina Winters: And then those five statements. And then the universe draws into you the opportunities that you need. So the revolution of achievement is all about you don’t have to learn anything. If you have the thought that you want to accomplish X, Y, Z, it’s already in you on how to get it done. You gotta get out of its way. Uh, a coach once told me 40 years ago, a creature cannot conceive of an idea it can’t achieve. So you already know how to do it. It’s been imprinted in you. You. Because nobody has the same ideas. Nobody has the same ideas. So if people are telling you no, no, no, no, no, and there’s this feeling inside you that I want to accomplish this. You can you have to learn how to craft your subconscious. To reprogram yourself because like I said before, everybody else reprogramed you and anybody out there that’s listening to that is that, you know, what’s your 95% of your decision making was made by other people. So you must take control. So I did that. Uh, I got into the financial planning business again. Things started coming my way. Uh, I went into life insurance. I hated that, got into the financial planning business, knew nothing was working with people that were clinically educated. For four years in finance, I had nothing. In fact, four years into my career, I found out what a basis point was. Okay. But four years into my career, uh, the first 12 months I was top salesperson in the country.

Christina Winters: The second year, top salesperson, third year, top salesperson got wanted to be promoted to management. Management. Oh, no. You can’t be a manager. Just because you’re a great salesperson doesn’t mean you can transfer your skills. I said I can transfer my skills. How do you know that? Because I say so. And then I just wrote down affirmations on how I’m transferring skills, you know, and those that are hearing this, um, whatever you’re thinking, okay, that’s somebody else’s programing in your brain. Because what you want to think is, wow, I can do this. She did it. I’m a factory workers daughter. Then I did it. Top manager three years in a row. After six years, I got promoted to VP. Wow. Now I pitched to be a VP three times in 1987. I was turned down all three times. There were only 12 vice president slots. And, uh, there was no way that they were going to promote me because I didn’t have a college education. So after the third upset. No, no, we’re not going to promote you on the way out the door. I said, well, gentlemen, you’re going to have to ask yourself, do you want a degree or do you want results? And you know, I can produce results. That was June. In September, I got a call. You still want to be a vice president?

Trisha Stetzel: Yes.

Christina Winters: He says it’s Dallas. I said, I don’t care if it’s Siberia. Because in my mind, I needed to make all the mistakes on their dime. Okay. And learn how? Because that’s another thing I learned. You make as many mistakes as fast as you can. Okay. And that I learned in a ropes course. Um, anyways, that’s another story, but. So I got to be a vice president. I had five states, the top of Texas, uh, which is like a whole state in itself. Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas. And there were managers and salespeople in there, and they had been languishing for years and years and years under the mismanagement of the person that was handling the South Texas. So after three months, I called them up and said, I got a fire, everybody. What? I said, it’s going to take me too long to get these people on track. It’s possible with some of them. Some of them, it’s never going to happen. I you gotta trust me on this, because I already had learned how to assess a person and their ability to accept change. Um, because that’s what you have to ask yourself. How much change am I willing to accept? Uh, because in this process, you’re going to have to probably get rid of most of your friends because they were attracted to the old you and they’re going to want to support that.

Christina Winters: And, uh, you know, that old crabs in a barrel thing? You can put a whole bunch of crabs in a barrel and don’t even have to put a lid on it, because there’s one crab goes up, the other ones pull them down. So that’s what happens. And unfortunately, it’s, it’s sometimes it’s family friends, uh, coworkers. So you need to change all that. You only want people around you that are going to support you and that are of like mind. And so they said, okay, they, they did that. And I quadrupled hiring all new five new managers. And I said, I’ll hire the managers, I’ll train them, and the managers will hire people to their energy because you attract people to who you’re being in that moment, in that space and time. You draw people in based on what you’re thinking again. Your brain is a projector and it draws. It attracts. It’s like a magnet. Um, it’s kind of like when you buy a red car or you go on because you think you’re the only one that’s got a red car, and you go on the street and you see red cars everywhere. Okay, that’s a very simple example of what the mind does. It puts in front of you what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for failure, you’re looking for obstacles. You’re going to get them.

Christina Winters: If you’re going to look for proof that you can do it, you’re going to get it. So three years in, I was top. I was one little bit away from being top vice president after three years. And, um, they sold the firm to MetLife. Okay. And I wasn’t going to work for from that life. I said, no, I’m not going to do that. That’s a behemoth. They don’t care about people. I started my own firm. So in the essence of time, I went through all of what you learned. When you are doing a business, 70% of businesses fail in the first five years. Actually, in the first three years, most of it happens. And the reason it is, is businesses problem, problem, problem, crisis. That’s all it is. And my book is coming out in September, not September. Uh, we’re redoing a lot of it. It was September. Now it’s, uh, February of next year. And, uh, I talk about the eye of the storm. You know, you have problems. You have problems in our life, especially here in Texas. We see pictures of them and the eye of the storm. What happens there is everything goes calm. The rain stops, the wind goes down. And now in a hurricane, people know that’s the eye. So this gives you a time to batten down the hatches a little bit more because the rest of it’s coming.

Christina Winters: People don’t realize that that’s business. Just because you accomplished and you succeeded over some problems, you got to batten down the hatches, enjoy the calm. But it’s coming. Problem problem problem. Crisis. Once you embody that, you can actually just relax in it and realize that no matter what it says on your business card or what you want to tell people, you’re a problem solver. And I told my employees in my firm, by the way, I ran my firm for 35 years. I sold it and had $250 million in assets. So factory workers. Daughter vice president. In six years after starting a business, she knew nothing about going into a business. She knew nothing about 250 million. After going through many, many problems and a lot of crises in a relaxed fashion, in a joyful fashion, because that’s just the way it is. And you want to find joy in getting around those problems and discover and surrounding yourself. In my firm, I surrounded myself with women. I had all women. I had seven women in my firm, and I was the only financial planner, but they were three of them were fully licensed, and the other ones did all the other things. We gave excellent service. That’s purpose driven success. And that purpose driven success is what helps you to joyfully go through all the problems, because it’s not about you and how much money you’re going to make money.

Christina Winters: You can’t miss that, but you’re helping other people. You’re helping other people become successful. I was helping middle income people because that’s where I came from, and there’s a whole bunch of stories on how I created a way to talk about financial planning to the average person. Uh, and obviously didn’t mention basis points because I didn’t even know what they were. Right. But I knew financial planning, okay. And people need pictures and they need simple language. I don’t care what you’re teaching them. I don’t care what your business is. Make it very simple, even for wealthy people. Uh, I hired a young man that came from Morgan Stanley. I also had an office in Tulsa, and, um, uh, he said, oh, this is too simple. My, my clients are very high end, okay. Because I needed somebody to pick up the man that was in there actually passed away at a very young age. And I really needed somebody with already skills. And I said, well, do me a favor, present it to them this way, and then let me know. I said, promise me that you’ll do that. He goes, I will, uh, and he did. And they loved it. And he even prefaced it with, I promise my manager that I would tell it to you this way, but when I’m done, I’ll give you the higher level explanation.

Christina Winters: And they said, oh, we’re good. Okay. So then it was put on my heart. Why did you sell your business? You were so successful. You loved what I loved what I did because it was put on my heart that I need to spread this word. Mhm. Uh, I helped clients, my staff, my friends, my community. Speaking in community events. I need to, to get to thousands, millions. Now with the internet to get this out because, you know, this idea has been presented and will be presented by other people, but not everybody is going to resonate to me. Okay. And the way that I’m explaining it, and then they’ll hear it from somebody else and maybe then they’ll understand Standard. So each one of us that is on the march to get people to see this, that what you’re thinking is what’s happening in your life. Now, it’s not going to happen overnight. After three years of me focusing and saying I was going to make 100,000, I make $100,000 a year consistently. Uh, in the third year, 1982, I made $92,000. Okay, close enough for me. And then after that, it was 152, 75. And then I went into management, kept going up, kept going up. My last year management was 500,000 in commission. Okay. Focus on the client.

Christina Winters: Focus on your employees. The employees will make you. Hire good, talented people that can do the things that you don’t want to do because you need to focus on what you do best. And what I do best is explaining complicated situations to people. And that’s why I decided to create revolution of achievement because it is a revolution. It’s not the normal way. People are taught that they have to be a success. It’s stretch and learn. It’s hard work no matter how you’re going to approach it. But this is so much easier because things will. Now it’s again problem, problem, problem, crisis. The problems and the crises are things you need to learn. Don’t think somebody’s got it in for you because they don’t. Other people have other things that they’re worried about, not about you. Now, there will be people that will try to derail you in your career. I had that happen in the corporation. And when I had my own business, um, sales people, uh, wanted to take my company. They wanted more commission. I said, well, you know, I’ve got nine people in here that are handling your service work. So, uh, you just have to know that all the things that are presented to you, to you that don’t feel well, are lessons the universe will teach you all you need to know. Believe me.

Trisha Stetzel: Yes, absolutely. Oh my gosh. Christina. So if someone’s listening today and I know that they are to your story, you appear to have just grown up a very strong woman. And you’ve figured out through mindset and some courses that you took that you can control the outcome when you set your mind to it. So if what happens when, um, or how do we know that our personal narrative is still created by others? How do we recognize when we’re still living according to someone else’s narrative?

Christina Winters: Well, you won’t recognize it. You got to go by science. Okay, look it up on the internet. The internet will tell you that science has done the research because we lie to ourselves. Because the idea that only 5% of what you do is your idea, your conscious choice, is really hard to swallow. It really is. Uh, especially if you really are bent on thinking you know what to do. So even if you’re successful, there is so much more that you can do. You can be more successful happily and joyfully and support other people in being successful. You know, one of the things that I do is I always, when I meet somebody, I, how can I help you? You know, uh, I work to share my ideas and my thoughts and my, uh, my people that I know that might be able to help somebody with their issue. Um, uh, when I’ve needed a coach for revolution of achievement. Um, I, I met a woman who had four books and, um, uh, was speaking and, uh, consulting and I met with her and I said, uh, after we met and talked, I said, so I want to make $1 million a year. Tell me how to do that. No, I’m. It’s not about the money. Okay. The money is the thermometer of how effective you’re being. So that’s why you want to choose an outrageous amount of money.

Christina Winters: Okay, so that’s my first endeavor. I want to make $1 million a year consulting and speaking and spreading the word. Because if I’m getting that, I’m getting to a lot of people. So she said, uh, well, you’re not going to do that. And I said, well, can you refer me? I went to five other women. They all said the same thing. The fifth woman said, well, you need to meet Sarah Victory. Okay. Well, okay, I will. Well, I met with Sarah and she sounded like the legit. And she never flinched when I said, I want to make $1 million in the speaking business. So I said, now I need I need more of you before I make a decision to commit to a contract with you. What do you suggest? She said two two hour sessions, one a month. I’m going to charge you $5,000. I said so because it was worth the $5,000 to find out if she was really robust enough to help me do what I want to do. And she was. And I signed a contract. I still have her and her firm under contract. They’re handling my website. She’s helping me, uh, re craft and craft and recraft my speech. And they do my social media. And by the way, I’m on LinkedIn. Uh, Facebook and Instagram under either name Revolution of Achievement or Christina Winters.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you so much, Christina. And it’s spelled we’re going to spell Christina’s name, it’s CHRISTINA winters WINTERS, if you’re looking for her. Christina, as we wrap up today, when people hear or see revolution of achievement, what do you want people to think?

Christina Winters: Or do they need to take action because nothing is accomplished? So what you want to do is if you don’t want to contract with me, contract with somebody that’s going to teach you how to recraft your subconscious. So it’s going to lead you to do what you need to do to get done what you need to accomplish.

Trisha Stetzel: Yes. I love that. So we can take back some of that 95% that someone else is controlling.

Christina Winters: Correct. You got to take back control. You don’t have to recraft the whole 95%. Uh, I’m still working on it.

Trisha Stetzel: We’re all still working on it.

Christina Winters: You you can make a lot of progress. Let me tell you. Absolutely. Uh, don’t ask me what percentage I’ve done. Uh, all I know is my accomplishments that I’ve done.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. Christina, thank you so much for coming on the show, sharing your story and sharing your revolution of achievement. I can’t wait to hear about people reaching out to you just because they heard your story today. It is so compelling, and I really appreciate you taking the time with me today.

Christina Winters: Thank you so much, Trisha. I appreciate the time you’ve given me.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. All right, you guys, that’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in this conversation that Christina and I had, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, a veteran, a Houston leader, ready to grow or someone who needs a mindset shift. And be sure to follow, rate and review the show. It helps us reach more bold business minds just like yours and your business. Your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.