[00:00:00] Josh, I, if you're going to, it comes with the territory of having a podcast. It, when you start your podcast, it requires you to buy a good mic. Um, well, a lot of times my guests. Are people who like are actively on podcasts too. So they, um, they invest into it. Um, quick note, this software that I'm using, um, uh, I'm just fixing my thing here, this software that I'm using.
[00:00:40] Um, it's been known to sometimes lag. Uh, I found a way to. Uh, prevent that from happening. Um, but if in any case it like lags while one of us is talking or [00:01:00] whatever. Um, and maybe you didn't catch the end of what I said or something like that. You can just pause and say like, I didn't catch that at lag or whatever.
[00:01:08] And we'll just do the takeover again, essentially. And I'll, I'll fix it in, uh, in post. Um, but we should be good. I don't think it should be lagging this time. Cool. All right. Well, being that this is a personal branding podcast, what I love to do is start with my guests backstory, what their personal brand and story is.
[00:01:32] So. Cause you're, you're, you're in the realm of authenticity, which is so apropos to, to everything personal branding. Um, so I'm really going to enjoy this conversation today, but I want to understand how did you become kind of this, if you will, authenticity expert? Um, cause it's kind of a unique field. So what's, what's your story and how'd you get into authenticity?[00:02:00][00:03:00]
[00:03:52] Yeah.[00:04:00][00:05:00]
[00:05:03] Yeah.
[00:05:45] And that's what I, the part I love there is you brought up about kind of reconnecting with your like child, like wonder and honesty, if you will, where [00:06:00] early on, yeah, we a hundred percent kind of come into the world and everything's new and we don't understand these, like, There's like these social rules and norms that get put on us over the years where we feel as though we can't fully be honest, or like there's, in some cases we can be honest, but other cases we maybe have gotten, you know, a slap on the wrist for being too honest.
[00:06:21] And so we start to put the pressure on ourselves to like fit into societal norms. And so then that starts molding. These masks that you were talking about, um, can you kind of speak to that a little bit more in terms of like figuring out, reconnecting with that child and kind of becoming more of that honest person again, is that something that like you, you help people find or like how, how, how can we do that?
[00:06:47] Essentially?[00:07:00]
[00:07:12] Sure. Yeah, I actually had a entire podcast episode a couple of weeks ago, a couple of months ago where I really dove into this. Concept. So, um, for those who want to re listen to that, the full extent to it, but how I, how I'm defining authenticity is more from a scientific approach again, being this is brand science, but there's like three layers to it.
[00:07:33] One is your story. And this is a little bit of like nature and nurture. Um, but some things that are just going to be. Um, you know, when you're born, this is just who you are and how you're going to be regardless of environment. Um, but then there's things that obviously play a factor into what your story is, and that's environment.
[00:07:53] That's how you're raised, just things that are your life experiences that happen to you. Um, and so that helps [00:08:00] shape who you are. And then your story then, uh, is, uh, shapes things like your values, your beliefs, your opinions, um, you know, things that basically are kind of like the, the core firmware of. Your, your soul, if you will.
[00:08:18] And then those things shape your image and your images, your appearance, behavior, and communication. And those are the outward things that we see. And so when all three of those things are aligned, that's where I believe authenticity is. Is working at a hundred percent, but is the long winded answer. But, uh, there are kind of safe zones where we can adjust some things and still be authentic.
[00:08:44] Um, you know, opinions can change. Beliefs can change over time based on like our story. Um, so again, I give more of like an analytical, like scientific. Definition, but I really believe it's kind of like when your outward appearance, [00:09:00] behavior, and communication is aligning with kind of the deeper seated elements to your life.
[00:09:06] Um, so yeah,
[00:09:10] I know I can, I'll cut this, I'll cut this part. Uh, let me fix this real quick. One sec.
[00:09:48] All right. Well, hope this, if that happens again, I'll switch to my other, uh, my other camera, but that's happened before. Um, but yeah, I'll just kind of like [00:10:00] take it at the end there and then roll after that. Uh, but yeah, so my long winded response to it is basically when you're, um, you know, your core values, beliefs, opinions align with your outward appearance, behavior, and communication.
[00:10:20] Yeah, sure. And[00:11:00]
[00:11:25] I think there's a, an element of courage in that too. I always say like to take off the mask, because as you mentioned, part of that is. Showing up with the parts that maybe in our mind, we believe other people don't like, and sometimes maybe that's more so us thinking that than, than truth. But to then take off the mask requires the courage to say, as you're saying, like, I'm going to show up regardless of whether people like it or not.[00:12:00]
[00:12:37] Yeah.[00:13:00]
[00:13:23] Empathy. Um, you mentioned an idea of not being courageous in the beginning, but then over time, having that trust that you can still show up authentically, um, and you don't necessarily, you can kind of shed that courageousness at that point. What needs to take place in order for someone to get to that point, right?
[00:13:52] Because initially it's. I'm going to show up authentically putting myself out there. Um, you know, [00:14:00] like it or not. And then, you know, trolls can start coming into the comments and giving their two cents or, you know, not funny or whatever. Right. Um, and so to then you usually at that point, people are like, okay, I mean, we're specifically talking about personal branding and content creation.
[00:14:17] You know, that's going to happen. So usually at that point, people are like, Oh, all right, crap. One sec. Let me, I'm going to switch my camera.
[00:14:27] Do it. All right, I'll just do it from this end. Um, yeah, I don't know why that happens. Is it still recording?
[00:14:40] Um, yeah, this is a webcam. So I just, uh, um, if anything, I feel like this almost has like a better view anyway, but let me, this will be like a nice little edit or whatever, you know, I'll do, um, And the spirit of authenticity, what I'll [00:15:00] say is the only problem with this is I have to look, I have to look at my screen instead of the webcam, but, um, okay.
[00:15:09] Yeah. And the spirit of authenticity, the reason that we now have this camera angle is because my camera just melted on me. So, uh, that's why we always have a backup camera. Um, but yeah, as I was saying, so. Yeah, in the world of trolls and people kind of trying to shoot you down for being authentic, which is crazy.
[00:15:30] Um, usually people at that point might stop and go, okay, maybe this isn't for me. I can't take someone, you know, bashing me like that. And, and so it would take like another element of courage to then show up again, even if you are getting those comments at what point You know, what can they do or at what point do we, are we able just to show up regardless of, you know, those, those trolls in the world?
[00:15:58][00:16:00] Yeah,[00:17:00][00:18:00]
[00:18:26] you got to fix your algorithm. Yeah,[00:19:00][00:20:00][00:21:00]
[00:21:05] sure.
[00:21:08] Yeah,
[00:21:25] sure.
[00:21:37] Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think the largely the first area that I know of my own kind of journey as a, as it continues to happen is a largely just self reflection. To understand what authenticity means specifically for me, not like defining the concept of it, but more so defining, you know, who [00:22:00] David Poliakoff is, um, as a person.
[00:22:02] And so a lot of times that's difficult to do on your own is what I'm finding is like, there's certain things I can look in the mirror and try to have like an honest conversation about, um, and try to like journal about and understand who I am, but it's so easy to then. Go into real life and try to apply it as a practice, but slip into some of those old masks or, or do things that we don't know that we're, we're doing like subconsciously.
[00:22:32] So I found that largely having someone who's close to you, or you're able to interact with, who's able to kind of like be a third party spectator and analyzer to things to kind of show you, okay, you might feel as though you're showing up in this manner to the world. Cause that's like how you. You maybe feel in, in here and in here.
[00:22:55] And for those who aren't, uh, um, watching, I've just pointed to my brain and my heart. [00:23:00] Um, but you to others, you might be coming off completely different. I mean, that's, that's kind of, that that's the definition of branding too, is branding is trying to correlate two concepts together, like your offer and what you want to be known for.
[00:23:17] And. For us, when we show up, we think we might be coming off in a certain way because that's just like maybe internally how we feel, but others are perceiving us a different way. So I always find that, um, kind of having some third party, um, inclusion in the journey is, is helpful as well to be like, here's, here's how we see you.
[00:23:42] Here's kind of the quirks that you do without realizing it. Here's. Here's the things we love about you. Here's the things we wish, you know, you would optimize in your life. Um, and some, so that's why I feel sometimes it's difficult to do alone. Um, but that's, yeah, that's one area that I usually start.[00:24:00]
[00:24:03] Yeah. And then needing to be honest and comfortable and confident with being able to provide that feedback, um, is yeah, definitely necessary because, you know, some people just don't want to hurt your feelings or whatever, but it's easy for other people to say like, here's the things we love about you, but then Like, you know, here's some things that, uh, maybe you could work on.
[00:24:24] It's sometimes also difficult for other people to, to talk to you about.[00:25:00]
[00:25:31] Yeah.
[00:25:39] Yeah. And I mean, largely going back to the idea of having the confidence to initially come authentically, the best result you can have is. Not everyone needs to resonate with it, but having at least your niche [00:26:00] resonate with it to the point where someone comes to you and says, I want to work with you, you know, because all other skill set and value being equal, I just thoroughly enjoy.
[00:26:12] You as you, and I want you to be my consultant. I want you to be my coach because I'm going to spend time with you and I don't just want to trust that you can deliver, but I also want to like you because I'm going to be spending time with you. So for you to show up like warts and all, and then have people then kind of reward that by saying.
[00:26:36] I want to work with you because of how, how you are. Um, and, and that's what makes you unique from the competitor that I was thinking about using. Like, that's just so relieving to people too. It's just this idea that that's your ultimate reward is like your unique selling proposition as a personal brand is the thing that no other competitor.
[00:26:59] Can [00:27:00] compete with you on, which is like the authentic you, how you approach things, how you, how your mindset works, how you communicate. Um, so it's really like at the end of the day, that's the personal side of personal branding. So, um, yeah, that, that's like, it's the ultimate reward for, um, being authentic.[00:28:00][00:29:00]
[00:29:34] You're not a mint chocolate chip fan.
[00:29:56] Yeah.[00:30:00]
[00:30:06] Yeah, no, I love that. And sadly it's kind of a through line there too, in terms of like comfortability, because it sounds like, you know, your first point being that I feel comfortable showing up as myself because you're showing up as yourself. So there's like. That's the comfortability. And then if you continuously are doing that, then there's a consistency there and consistency also grows trust and comfortability, because like you're saying, if you show up every single time and you get the same person, then you know what you're going to, you know what to expect.
[00:30:43] It's like going to your favorite restaurant and always ordering the same meal because it's always consistently good or whatever. So you just love that restaurant just for that one meal, essentially. Um, So yeah, the comfortability and then, you know, like you're saying, if you can have a, if you can create a [00:31:00] comfortable workspace, then what I've learned over the years too, is like that relationship you establish with your client, if there is that trust and comfort level, there's sometimes more lenient too, in terms of.
[00:31:17] The actual out, the actual deliverable as well. Obviously you always want to show up and give 150 percent for your client. And you want to try to maximize like the value they get from it. But you know, life happens, things happen that are out of your control where sometimes the, maybe the service doesn't go as planned or a hundred percent, but if you've established that kind of comfortability with your client, they can sometimes be a little bit more lenient.
[00:31:46] And like being a bit more forgiving with those types of things. Like you have rapport with that person. And I feel like the, the rapport, that type of relationship isn't established as easily if you put up a wall between you and the [00:32:00] client and you have like work you versus like authentic you. Um, and it just feels more like this is like account manager.
[00:32:09] Jane or Jim, who's just there to like, you know, make a paycheck or whatnot.[00:33:00]
[00:33:37] Yeah. And that kind of likens to this idea of, you know, online reviews. If someone, if a company has like 30 five star reviews and another company has, you know, 30. Uh, 30 reviews with an average star rating of like 4. 7. You almost trust the 4. [00:34:00] 7 business more because there are a varying degree of reviews in there.
[00:34:06] You almost feel it's dishonest to have like 35 star reviews. That feels almost like there's something behind that. Um, versus like a. Yeah. Occasionally you trip occasionally you didn't have the best experience. It's, but like, um, you know, that feels more natural, uh, to have a varying degree of something. So yeah, when you come off a little bit too polished online and, you know, everything's hyper edited and, you know, um, you know, formatted perfectly.
[00:34:39] People might resonate with it early on because it's like, Oh, wow, look how great this person is, but you still want to see your favorite celebrity like trip up now and then, like, there's a reason that, uh, movies have like blooper reels and blooper reels are usually like some of the most watched things because you like to see.[00:35:00]
[00:35:00] The fails as well, but it doesn't, we don't look at that actor and go, Oh, that's a, that's a terrible actor. Cause they like forgot their line or they're like, they missed their step. You just know it was like a one time little goof and it humanizes them and we feel more connected to them because, Oh, I too mess up, like they're not.
[00:35:17] This, you know, perfect person.
[00:35:55] Yeah.[00:36:00]
[00:36:43] It's like when you work out and you, you tear a muscle and it rebuilds itself. Yeah.[00:37:00]
[00:37:01] Yeah.
[00:37:10] Well, the interesting point you mentioned there, the, the, the key word I think there is genuine because we can portray authenticity. And it's almost still a mask, um, in a way, but like, I don't think you can fake genuineness because that's kind of the definition of the word. Um, and you can spot when someone's being genuine, because I always like to say like authenticity and being genuine comes from a place we don't control.
[00:37:39] I think it's like something happens. It's our immediate reaction to it. Or impulse reaction to it. And like that, how we react to things. I think when we talk about being authentic, like that's, that's kind of the true definition of authenticity is just like how we would react to something without giving any additional thought to it.
[00:37:58] Um, [00:38:00] and. Yeah, when, when I kind of are some celebrities or top influencers mess up and then they come back and they give this like Ungenuine scripted apology their PR firm handed them you can tell and then there's times when people are like genuinely like I Get that I did something wrong and I can't believe I did that.
[00:38:20] What are the sad third? I think part of that or largely what drives that then is like we were talking about was like, okay, well, where does genuineness come from? And I think it comes from having the like solid foundation of what those like morals and values are and then living through them because we can again, again, we can have those morals and values.
[00:38:43] But if we're not living through them, then we're not being authentic. We're putting on a different show. So if you genuinely believe what you did was wrong, it's because it's tied to a strong opinion, a belief, a moral. And so you're just kind of vesseling [00:39:00] your communication through something you truly do believe.
[00:39:03] But if you're giving this fake apology, it's because. Whatever you did, isn't tied to an actual belief. Like you don't actually believe what you did was wrong. And it's not part of part of my moral code or compass. So you have to like pretend you're someone that does have that morality and then play that character.
[00:39:22] So it's again, going back to the idea of like authenticity and self reflection, you have to like, understand what those things are so that you can live through them first, because otherwise. I think we're always just kind of like, you know, trying to say that person seems like they have their shit together.
[00:39:42] I'm just going to like be that person, like whatever that person cares about, I'll care about too, so that I can just be a version of that. Um, but. I think we find like we have to do the work on ourselves first before we can show up.[00:40:00]
[00:40:50] Well, I was going to ask you, so how we can try to show up authentically. And I want to get back to your three points, [00:41:00] um, to talk about how you help people do that. But I also want to know how can we spot. What is it about other people that we can say they're being inauthentic? Like, how do we, what is that feeling?
[00:41:15] You talk about feelings, like what is that feeling? Or is it like a visual cue? Or like, cause I mean, again, we want to show up authentically, um, to get, you know, all the positive things that we talked about, but also we want to make sure that people are perceiving us as authentic as well. And when, when do we know that other people are just, aren't being authentic?[00:42:00]
[00:42:41] Right.[00:43:00]
[00:43:27] It's
[00:43:46] like,[00:44:00]
[00:44:17] now I have to kind of follow up, um, cause I think what you said there is great in terms of, you know, uh, something that you, you can only observe. Um, I guess what kind of maybe where you can package it too is like you might observe someone for one, one time, and that gives you that immediate gut feeling.
[00:44:41] Like when you meet someone new, you know, you kind of get that initial gut feeling of who this person is. And I think maybe a large part of that is how, you know, their, their outward image, so it's how they dress, how are they speaking, how are they holding themselves and. We make [00:45:00] assumptions about what their values are and their story and all that kind of stuff.
[00:45:05] I mean, different pockets of the U S have different ways of talking and dressing and such. And so if you were to come in an attire that is more Southern, you know, in a cowboy outfit, I'm going to associate you with that pocket of the U S and then I'm going to associate you with that, um, color of state that you probably are politically and like all those things, right?
[00:45:25] So we can kind of make some. Prejudices, if you will, of maybe what your story and your beliefs are. Um, but we don't truly know if that's correct until we've been with you on a more frequent basis and we've, you've shown me who you are through your consistent actions and beliefs and such. And so we can't fully get an idea of who someone is just by like, you know, don't judge a book by its cover and all that.
[00:45:52] Um, so I think your point about like, yeah, observate, observing, And you can make maybe that initial hunch gut [00:46:00] feeling, but to really know who someone is, it requires consistency, um, in your observation, but also consistency in like what they say and what they do aligning. And that's where, you know, just tying that quickly back to, you know, to personal branding, which is why we advocate so much with showing up consistently is because.
[00:46:20] One piece of content isn't going to define you and it shouldn't. Um, so you might have a viral video that takes off, but like, that's not the entire Nancy brand, just that one video that you have so much more to you, so much more to your story and so much more for you to add. It may initially attract certain people to your page or whatnot, but one piece of content isn't going to define your entire thing.
[00:46:46] And in fact, there's many instances where people have a video that goes viral, that actually is like it's somewhat in misalignment with who they actually are, but now people just perceive them as that. And so, you know, [00:47:00] sometimes that messes with their brand. Sometimes they now have to lean into that more and be that person because that's what attracted people to them in the first place, which is like misaligned with who they are.
[00:47:11] Um, but yeah, that's why we, we advocate for like consistency is because you need to show who you are at a, as a well rounded person over a series of time. And that's, what's going to earn the, the new, like trust over time.[00:48:00]
[00:48:17] Right.
[00:48:56] Right.[00:49:00][00:50:00]
[00:50:09] Yeah, I think that the key here, I kind of want to explore a little bit here is it sounds like there's kind of this Venn diagram of something you personally like hedonistically find passion in and just thoroughly enjoy doing you would show up and do it regardless, but some people just decide to record it and press publish when they're doing it.
[00:50:36] Um, and that's. Like almost the smallest version of personal branding that you can, you can define there. It's just like, do the things you love, but record it and also press publish. And then the other side of the Venn diagram is like the value someone can receive from that and you empathizing with their gap between.[00:51:00]
[00:51:00] Not having the thing and being able to have it, whatever it is, like whatever your service or product provides. Um, and you kind of vessel your burst personal brand, like in the two areas of where those things intersect is like, I'm already doing this and I do it. Well, ideally, um, if not follow my journey of like figuring out how to do it, I'll be a couple of chapters ahead of you at all times.
[00:51:23] And then also for those who are interested in also being able to do that, you know, follow along and I'll, I'll guide you on how to do this thing. Um, generally that's what personal branding is essentially. Um, so there's like this Venn diagram of like passion and audience empathy for wanting them to also succeed.
[00:51:44] Um, that needs to happen there. And then I think to your point, you're saying that like, when it's strictly the passion thing without the empathy, you start to [00:52:00] make decisions with your content and your expectations. Of your content start to be in misalignment because you're just trying to like feed your own ego again.
[00:52:10] You know, like I'm passionate about this thing and I want other people to see how great I am at it. So I want people to follow me so that that's my, like, you know, um, my indication that I'm good at it, but you're obviously not there for your audience, you're there just to like, continue to feed your own ego on the idea, because if you had that empathy, you wouldn't be looking at other people.
[00:52:34] Those metrics you'd be looking at. Okay. How many people are commenting and saying like, this helped me out so much. Thank you so much. In fact, I got a, a text from my buddy this morning who just like out of the blue text me and was like, I just want to say, like, I've been following your videos and you, uh, you mentioned in a video about how to do this certain strategy and I just started incorporating it and it's been so, so great, whatever.
[00:52:54] Like that's your. Those are your KPIs, your key performance indicators is like, are you getting [00:53:00] those types of text messages? Are you getting those types of comments? And you know, the virality side of things I think is more so just for like the ego boosters.
[00:53:20] You still got it. Yeah. You still got to pay for dinner. Yeah.[00:54:00][00:55:00]
[00:55:33] Yeah.
[00:55:44] Well, well, speaking of that, I want to get back to three step process here. Um, and remind me, the first step was. Focus on what works. Okay. So can you walk us through what that means?[00:56:00]
[00:56:48] Is there, is there an element, so it's, you're saying you may have tasted it before and now you're, now you're craving it now, could it also be that maybe you've never received it? And [00:57:00] I mean, we're getting a little bit kind of a psychiatrist armchair here, but, um,[00:58:00]
[00:58:01] Oh yeah, my cat definitely. Tells me when he wants to eat and have play time all the time.
[00:58:32] Yeah. So I want to kind of go into a little bit more. So the idea here is we want to find an area area or areas of our life, our life that I guess act as somewhat of like a. How would we define it? North star, a muse, uh, like, uh, uh, something that's driving a passion for us or like a magnet for us that's driving us more in a direction [00:59:00] then.
[00:59:15] Um, so yeah, if we were to say like, yeah, I, actually, one thing I wanted to go back to is, um, you mentioned like autonomy and, you know, we've spoken before and I think you, you touched on this idea and I, it really stuck with me. Where it's the idea of autonomy of like thought, if you will, um, being able to not feel as though there's, you have to kind of bend and change yourself based on like maybe societal pressures or, you know, other people's opinions or whatever.
[00:59:54] And I feel like that's almost in a way, I feel like kind of one of the most. [01:00:00] Best ways to almost to define authenticity too, is just to have like autonomy in expression or something. Right. So, um, in a way, you know, how you are expressing yourself through your image and what you want to say and all that kind of stuff, you're just acting strictly autonomous.
[01:00:20] Now, again, it still needs to be like from a place of truth or whatever, but, um, you know, so you, you, but you mentioned the, the, the word like autonomy there. How does, what does that mean for you in terms of what you, How you work with your clients.
[01:00:38] I would love that. Well, let's, let's ask our audience.
[01:00:44] Sure. No, absolutely. Well, how about this? We'll, we'll use me as the guinea pig here, but audience, uh, follow along. And, and, you know, if you're in the car, pull over and let's, let's do this together.[01:01:00]
[01:01:00] So anyway,
[01:01:40] should I answer?
[01:01:44] Sure. Um, I would need to see them all again, but I think when you initially said it, I think freedom jumped out at me the most.[01:02:00]
[01:02:18] It's a nice visual.[01:03:00][01:04:00]
[01:04:39] Slightly. Yes.[01:05:00]
[01:05:04] Uh, uh, roughly seven. Yeah. Five, like five, five to seven years old. Probably.
[01:05:17] He's playing sports, uh, baseball when I was younger. Yeah. Green. I remember this uniform. Yeah. Yeah.
[01:05:38] Cleats.
[01:05:52] Nothing in his hands.[01:06:00]
[01:06:39] Yeah. I want to say he's usually more understanding. It depends what it is. I remember there's times I wanted an iPhone when I was young and I was told no and didn't love that. But, um, yeah, I think when I was younger, I was a pretty emotionally [01:07:00] intelligent person. So I figured there's always a reason for that now.
[01:07:47] Well, excitement. Anticipation
[01:07:57] who doesn't like to hear the word? Yes.[01:08:00][01:09:00]
[01:09:52] Yeah, I think, um, I'd probably go with like, if, if we're having that [01:10:00] conversation with, uh, with the younger us, I feel like, uh, spontaneity. Like my, the younger me advise myself to have more spontaneity
[01:10:17] yet. Why largely, I mean, at the beginning of all this, largely the feelings I was having was around the idea of structure. Like I, you know, running an agency, running my own personal brand. There's a lot of structure that needs to be put in place in order to meet deadlines, create, you know, produce this podcast.
[01:10:39] Um, and so my days, you know, I work weekends, you know, I use the word work as. That's a loose concept, but like I show up and create on weekends. And so my schedule usually is like, okay, here are the things I need to get done. And that's how like my mind works a lot is I, you know, I'm always looking [01:11:00] forward at the next task I need to get done and I make sure I get it, I get it done.
[01:11:04] And I try to express creativity through it, but it's still always. Vesseled within like a, a scheduled agenda or whatever, um, versus being able to just kind of like remove myself from that and express myself out of work and outside of my calendar. Um, that can be difficult for me sometimes because I just like always want to make sure I'm, I'm progressing in my career and things like that and, and, you know, space, space to, uh, to be spontaneet.
[01:11:34] Spontaneous is a bit more difficult.[01:12:00]
[01:12:00] Yeah,
[01:12:13] sure. No, I love that. Um, so, okay, let's, let's, let's say, so I, I've kind of discovered spontaneity is a huge element for me. Um, what, what are the, what's the next step then once I'm able to identify that?[01:13:00]
[01:13:12] Yeah, well, I mean, my birthday's on Friday, so yeah. And I don't have anything planned. So, uh, it's probably where I'm going to express my spontaneity.
[01:13:29] Yeah. Friday.
[01:13:37] Yeah. I mean, birthday plans, cause I don't really have anything solid, but just kind of, um, yeah, getting some friends together and doing something.[01:14:00]
[01:14:21] Yeah.
[01:14:43] No, yeah,
[01:14:50] yeah,[01:15:00]
[01:15:03] yeah. Well, I mean, to that, uh, to that point, I feel like we are
[01:15:11] two things. One as humans, we are so habit driven that habits are necessary for us. Otherwise we'd be completely just thinking about everything all the time about how to do something versus our brain, just putting it into a habit. But since we are so habit driven, we need to kind of like pull ourselves out of that.
[01:15:32] Occasionally to mix things up, but two is also for the business owners, entrepreneurs who are listening, we get, so I think, I'm sure many of you can relate to kind of what I said a little earlier in terms of like mapping out your week and having. And try to accomplish something. And that can sometimes be the only things you think about during the week is like getting from Monday to Friday [01:16:00] and accomplishing a, B, and C.
[01:16:02] Um, that we leave kind of limited time for that spontaneity. And actually this kind of correlates very well. If I want to tie this back into personal branding as well, is the idea that a lot of times I think. So much in terms of a calendar that I'm like, okay, I'll research a topic or I'll ideate topics on Monday.
[01:16:23] I research it Tuesday. I record it Wednesday. And all of that is very, you know, defined, if you will. Like this is structured, like here's what I'm going to talk about, or if I have a guest interview or whatnot, these are all just like calendar events. But in terms of like personal branding. You need to allow for kind of like the spontaneous content.
[01:16:48] You need to like remove yourself from the office and, you know, go on walks or like, you know, go, go to events and things outside of the calendar. [01:17:00] Um, and you can still create content around that stuff, but if like all of your content is so, Consistently templated to like the same style, the same location and such.
[01:17:12] Um, then it doesn't feel like we're getting the full picture of who you are. So like that's how I would also tie it in terms of like correlating it to, um, you know, personal branding overall, but also like me specifically is if I'm too regimented, um, and. Too focused on keeping things in a box throughout my week, then it doesn't feel as though like you get the full picture of who I am, because I need that kind of like the, the, the time to be something else essentially.[01:18:00]
[01:18:13] Yeah.
[01:18:46] Yeah.[01:19:00]
[01:19:23] Yeah. I'll schedule in spontaneity into my calendar
[01:19:50] and the result of this. Kind of correlating this back to the authenticity side of things. Like the result of this, is it that we feel as though if we can kind [01:20:00] of fill the, the hole, the gap of what we've been yearning for, is it that since that there was that hole, there's been friction in our lives that we've been trying to like, you know, Mask or cover with things that are inauthentic.
[01:20:17] So now that we are filling it with the need, we're filling that need. It feels like we're a bit more whole so that the friction goes away and we can then be fully ourselves.[01:21:00]
[01:21:40] Love that let's I think we should we should end it on that because I think that defines everything so perfectly in the sense of again, kind of correlating that with you know what gathering the wood and all that would be is like you show up just to get likes [01:22:00] or You know hear yourself talk or whatever, but you you know It's it's actually the North star, the sea, your purpose, the empathy you have for your audience, which is why you're showing up.
[01:22:11] And that's kind of your, your guiding light. So, uh, this Nancy, this was awesome. I knew we were going to have a good conversation because this is just our, our favorite, yeah, let's do it.
[01:22:43] No, absolutely. Um, yeah, that's kind of just how my mind works. I'm like, uh, I'm like a chat GPT summarization tool sometimes where I I really listen, interpret, and then spit back out. My summary of what you just said. And that's how it helps me understand it. Cause I need someone to [01:23:00] confirm my iteration of it.
[01:23:01] Um,
[01:23:16] right. And it helps then with, you know, like you said, people like to be heard. So, um, and seen, so if you can say correctly, then you're just, Establishing that rapport again. So, um, but before we officially wrap things up, if people wanted to learn more about you, uh, taking up steps with, um, using some of your authenticity services and go through some of the practices we even did today.
[01:23:41] Um, how can they find you and how can they get in touch with you? Yeah,[01:24:00][01:25:00]
[01:25:03] there you go. That's that's content creation for your peeps. That's a, you know, you got to deliver content in different formats so that people, you know, if they prefer to read, they'll go on LinkedIn if they prefer to listen and go to YouTube. So there's a, there's the content strategy at work. Nancy, I appreciate your time today.
[01:25:20] I know we, we chatted for a while and it was all good things. And, um, you know, I know my audience is gonna, gonna love it. So thank you for your time
[01:25:34] for sure. For
[01:25:45] sure. Absolutely. Cool. All right. I'll, uh, and the actual recording here.
