Package Your Genius Personal Branding Podcast: Recent Episodes
packageyourgenius
Personal Branding Podcast for high achievers. Package Your Genius delves into personal branding, business, personal development, and career topics like overcoming imposter syndrome, pitching your brand to the media and speaking up at work to take credit for your accomplishments.
Join me for Resonance & Relevance - my brand new storytelling workshop. Learn more and register here.
Let me be honest for a second.
I have encouraged clients to make themselves visible for YEARS. But some time ago, I began to question the point of it all.
Yes. I had to sit with the truth of how tiresome visibility actually was - even for me.
With all of the other issues in the world competing for my mental space and emotional energy, constantly courting the spotlight became exhausting.
(You can see how problematic this could be for a visibility strategist’s business model…)
At a certain point I concluded that if incessantly sharing was the key to me having a profitable business, I would have to shut my business down.
I was going to have to learn how to make my brand discoverable and compelling without creating a ton of extra work.
I was going to have to learn how to connect with those who needed my work WITHOUT creating yet another ferris wheel on which to exhaust myself.
Or else, my business as I knew it was a wrap.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to shut things down.
But I did come up with some parameters around how I show up.
And it changed how I began to advise my busy, high-achieving, often introverted clients to show up when the world around them is so uncertain.
I'm calling these parameters my "New Rules of Visibility."
In short, they are:
- RULE #1: Honor your season and your current capacity. Don't contribute to your own burnout by making yourself a slave to a social media posting schedule. You are not a machine.
- RULE #2: Quality over quantity. Seek to share in order to connect and resonate with your audience instead of sharing for sharing's sake. Share your newsworthy news.
- RULE #3: Leave long-lasting breadcrumbs. A durable trail of high-quality content can help newcomers get up to speed quickly on who you are. Social media trends like reels are fun, but long-lasting stories placed strategically will get you sooooo much more mileage as a thought leader and won't wear you out in the long run.
As you may imagine, solid storytelling is a key component of the new rules.
Instead of sharing gratuitously, we are popping up to the surface to share memorable insights that actually help others make sense of our current world.
We’re stepping into the spotlight to share the moments that create connection instead of add to the noise.
And we’re able to do it without wearing ourselves out.
🚨 Last call to join me for tomorrow at noon for my latest workshop: Resonance & Relevance - I’m so excited for it!
Whatever has changed for you during the upheaval of the last two years, it’s probably time to reintroduce yourself.
And it's time to do that in a way that takes into account the way your life, responsibilities, and perspective on your purpose has changed.
Because nothing is the same.
Sometimes, you have to disappear for a while...
It can feel oddly vulnerable to disappear from public view - whether your version of public view is social media, a public speaking circuit, or the networking rooms for your industry.
But EVERYONE disappears at some point - whether they leave a job, lose a job, have a baby, bury a parent, shutter their business, lose their motivation, or like me, succumb to burnout.
In the past two years, so many of us have had to step out of the spotlight. We’ve had to leave and return and sometimes, turn around and leave again.
A client disappeared online because he left the job industry and professional identity he’d held for nearly a decade and started a new entrepreneurial venture. He didn’t know how to share that news.
I’ve disappeared personally and candidly due to burnout, depression, and being just plain exhausted. After having a baby and tending to my older kids and trying to evade COVID, it’s been a lot. I had to take care of myself and sadly that meant I had to deprioritize coming here and sharing with you.
While circumstances among us may vary, a lot of the mental chatter we experience when going through that revolving door is universal.
On the occasion of your return, you wonder: Will people still care or be curious about what I’m up to? Are they still there? Do they even remember who I am?
And...how will I let people know that I’m BACK?
I'm hosting a new workshop called Resonance & Relevance on June 03, 2022 at 12pm EST and I hope you can join me live. This workshop is for you if you’ve been struggling to reintroduce yourself to your network after stepping away from the spotlight for whatever reason, and you want to learn a simple way to put yourself back on people's minds.
Register for Resonance & Relevance at http://www.amandamillerlittlejohn.com/classes
or on Crowdcast here.
But whether you join me or not, remember this: It’s NEVER too late for you to make a comeback.
It's good to BE BACK. Thanks for listening.
Imposter syndrome is real, but there’s a fix: radical self-discovery.
Radical self-discovery isn’t just a nice to do, it’s a must-do. And it’s a must-do on a REGULAR basis if you want to step into the highest level of your purpose and live the most empowered version of your personal brand.
On today's episode, I take you behind the scenes of the morning routine that changed everything and helped me OUTGROW my goals.
This new morning routine changed EVERYTHING - the consistency mixed with intention helped me outgrow my prayers in 30 days.
Many thanks 🙏🏾 to Kailei Carr @kaileicarr Ash Johns @ashinspires Monique Ruffin @moniqueruffin and Jereshia Hawk @jereshiahawk
Welcome to December!
How are you feeling about 2020?
If you're like most of my clients, you may be thinking about what you set out to do this year, how the pandemic threw a wrench in your plans, what you managed to get done, and what you didn't accomplish.
But as I've said before - 2020 ain't over.
There's still time to squeeze some juice out of this year, and I for one have big plans to do just that.
High achievers like us don't take enough opportunities to pause, reflect, and put a plan in place for our own growth and development. It's one of the very first things we tend to deprioritize when life gets busy.
That's why taking the time to reflect, set intentions, and plan during the month of December is so essential.
Life comes at you fast, and once things pick back up in January, it will be almost impossible to find the time and mental space to make the BIG DECISIONS that will drive your progress for the year.
So if you've been on the fence, consider this your LAST CALL to 1) join the December PURPOSESCAPING Group Intensive that starts Sunday December 6, and 2) Apply for the 6-month visibility mastermind and get the December Intensive on me.
Over those fertile four weeks leading up to the new year, I’ll be coaching you using elements of the PURPOSESCAPING framework. I'll also help you to set your intentions for 2021 and strategize with you to map out a tactical/spiritual/malleable plan for your platform, visibility, and revenue for next year. And if you end up joining us for the visibility academy, you'll already have some serious momentum as we kick off sessions in January.
Click here to apply for the 6-Month Visibility Mastermind Click here to apply for the December Intensive Only
The end of the year is the perfect time to manifest money quickly. Many people are thinking about how they want to make changes in their lives, or may be reflecting on what they didn't accomplish this year that they need to bring back into focus.
This is where you come in.
How can you position your skillset as the solution to someone's end of year problem? How can you make yourself top of mind for those who may be ready to work with you at the top of the year?
In this episode, I share five specific ways you can monetize your personal brand fast.
Once you learn how to do this, you'll never be the same.
If you’ve been eyeing one of my programs, and supporting yourself feels like working closely with me, I invite you to explore the two ways we can engage.
I’m running the December PURPOSESCAPING Brand with Purpose Coaching Intensive starting December 6.
Over those fertile four weeks leading up to the new year, I’ll be sharing elements of my new PURPOSESCAPING framework as well as coaching you to set your intentions for 2021 and map out a tactical/spiritual/malleable plan for your platform, visibility, and revenue. Click here to apply for the December coaching intensive.
Here's the thing: getting clear on your intention works.
Writing your goals down works.
Sharing your goals in community with others who can hold space for you works.
Because the domino effect we set off at the end of 2019 during our last December intensive...🤯🤯🤯
Secondly, I’m wrapping up enrollment conversations for our Package Your Genius Academy Visibility Mastermind.
Behind the scenes this year, our students and clients have achieved some extraordinary wins:
• Ash unlocked her business potential, got unblocked and exceeded her 6-figure corporate advertising salary. And she did this by selling spiritual coaching services she was unsure she could sell at premium prices just one year ago. She now has a waitlist.
• Tiffany hosted her first sold-out virtual event and launched her first membership program.
• Allissa leveraged her journalism and storytelling skills to write a book on the history of mobile journalism. She landed a mainstream publishing deal and released her book to critical acclaim.
• Tamika sold over $100k in sponsorships for her first virtual event during the pandemic.
• Amber landed a mainstream book deal, 10xed her corporate client list, grew her team, and blew past her ambitious revenue goal for the year.
• Tisa buckled down and wrote the first book in a 3-book series on personal finance, and has since landed a grant that has allowed her to GIVE BACK and get the book in the hands of hundreds of first-generation college students.
While the mastermind kicks off in January, those who enroll now can join the December PURPOSESCAPING intention setting planning intensive at no additional cost. Click here to apply for the mastermind.
Another rewind episode finds us here. This one is a bit personal, I've noticed a pattern with myself lately. I've been getting these confirmations about the things I'm doing that correspond to practices and worlds I'm not well-versed in. I heard the same message from two different people in as many days so I thought - hmm - maybe that's a podcast!
The message was - we are often affected by forces we're not even aware of.
It all goes back to clarifying what you want and putting that out there while remaining unattached to how you'll get there. That's why I chose today's episode as a fitting rewind as we move into the end of year planning or visioning season.
So many curveballs this year. And next year will likely be interesting, too. But one thing is for certain, we still need to get clear on what we want if we expect it to find its way to us. And honestly how often do you allow yourself to really immerse yourself in your big dream?
I'd like to invite you to immerse yourself in your intention for next year. If you need to get focused on what you want for your personal brand and business - join me over 4 weeks in December for the Purposescaping Brand With Purpose Intensive. We'll be getting clear on what we want to see show up in our lives but divorcing ourselves from the GPS.
Remember - the vision and roadmap rarely pop up at the same time. But what I'm learning more and more - and I'm by no means an expert in intention-setting - is the more you can embody what it is that you want from the inside out, the more inevitable will be its return to you.
So that's what December is about - embodying what we want for our personal brands - what do we want to create, what do we want to promote, what do we want to earn in the next year. Seeing it is the first step to claiming it, and once we claim it, it's ours. Enjoy this rewind.
Apply for the Brand with Purpose Intensive - Apply Now
I’ve never done a rewind episode, before but I was reminded by how many episodes I’ve recorded (157 and counting, yay!) AND how everyone listening hasn’t necessarily been here since the beginning. And even for those of you who HAVE been here since the beginning, some episodes bear repeating, so here we are.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the intentions we set and how even when we make plans, our intentions tend to make the real difference because we never know exactly how we’ll reach our biggest goals.
If one of your intentions for the next season of your career and business is to become known in your industry so you can become sought after instead of always seeking, you need to listen to Becoming Known, a master class I taught last fall.
In it, I break down the 9 elements to becoming known in your industry so you can grow your audience, command higher fees, and reach your goals faster. Visibility is not the end goal, but it is definitely an accelerant if you want to reach your goals faster. Think about it - it’s really hard to become sought after if no one knows who you are and what you do.
If you’re seriously ready to become sought after in your next season, I invite you to apply for PYG Academy’s winter cohort. If you’re accepted and join before December, you’ll get to join our December intention setting and brand planning intensive at no additional cost!
If you're looking to go from seeking to sought after, I invite you to apply to Package Your Genius Academy. Apply Here >> Application
If you're ready to move from doing the work you CAN do to the work you were BORN to do without losing revenue or credibility, submit your application this week and we'll be in touch!
Apply to Package Your Genius Academy >> Apply Here
Apply to PURPOSESCAPING Brand with Purpose Intensive Only >> Apply Here
You can land a mainstream book deal during a pandemic without a huge following... 🤯🤯🤯
After working together in our PYGA Agency program this spring and summer, our longtime client and academy alum Amber Cabral, a diversity consultant and Fortune 500 trainer, landed a mainstream book deal with Wiley Press. It all happened really fast - Amber wrote the book over the summer and it will be released on November 17 in just a few weeks.
Since preorders are such a huge piece of helping books do well, we're excited to host an invitation-only master class for those who preorder the book this week. Amber will join Jeanenne Ray, acquisitions editor at Wiley Books in a conversation about mainstream publishing and what you can do to position yourself if landing a book deal as an expert is on your to-do list.
We’ll be discussing how Amber caught the attention of a major publisher this year, what publishers are looking for RIGHT NOW, and how YOU can potentially land a book deal WITHOUT a huge social media following.
If you are looking to explode your personal brand through a traditionally published book, this exclusive closed-door conversation is happening Thursday, November 5 at 2pm ET.
How can you join?
To register, you simply need to preorder Allies and Advocates, provide proof that you preordered the book in the last week, and fill in this form by Wednesday. On Thursday morning we'll send you details to access the private Zoom training.
If you’ve already preordered, please grab ANOTHER copy to gift to a friend or colleague. We want to drive as many preorders as possible before the book is released on Nov. 17!
If you’re looking to peek behind the curtains of how to land a book deal and learn how you can position YOURSELF for mainstream publishing, don’t miss this conversation!!!
On another note, if you're interested in learning some of the same strategies we've shared with Amber over the years - the ones that have helped her become a recurring expert on Fast Company, land a mainstream publishing deal, and grow her business to multiple six figures from zero figures just to name a few, understand that she started out in our 12-week visibility academy. Amber shows up and does the work - she outgrinds everyone AND she's obedient in that she implements what we tell her to do, so her results speak to that. If you're looking for that kind of transformation, I invite you to apply to Package Your Genius Academy. Apply Here >> Application
This cohort will work a little differently from previous groups.
First, I'll be infusing much of my new PURPOSESCAPING philosophy into the curriculum, so we're covering some brand new stuff!
Second, I'm committed to a six-month journey instead of three.
More time together means more opportunities to go deep with my team and I, more chances to implement, more chances to get feedback on your brand-building assignments, and more time for the lessons to crystallize.
I've noticed that when I bring dynamic groups together to embark on a journey like this, we're unstoppable.
If you're ready to move from doing the work you CAN do to the work you were BORN to do without losing revenue or credibility, submit your application this week and we'll be in touch!
That's all for now - I hope to see you in our session with the acquisitions editor at Wiley. If you're a subject matter expert, I believe there has never been a better time to put your ideas out there. It's our time. Let's go!
Links from this episode:
Apply to Package Your Genius Academy >> Apply Here
Preorder Allies and Advocates >> Preorder Here
Sign up for the Conversation with Wiley Press >> Register Here
A little update about where the Package Your Genius podcast is going...
I haven't sat down to record an episode of Package Your Genius in eight months and for that, I need to be straight up with you and offer my sincerest apologies.
When the year started, I was in a season of searching that took me a little longer than it usually takes at the beginning of a new year. I knew I was on the cusp of a season of personal and business change - I can't tell you how I knew it, but I did know it. And for that reason, I believe my spirit was stuck in quicksand.
I kept trying to put my own plan together for 2020, but every time I'd try, I'd get nowhere. It was like God was saying - "Girl, no need for a plan right now. Stay flexible. Things are about to get weird..."
Then the pandemic hit, and the year began to unravel quickly. I had just launched a high-end group program for established personal brands - AGENCY - and as we onboarded new members, news of the pandemic spread. Two weeks into the new program, my kids' school shut down and transitioned to virtual classes. My husband's corporate job also went virtual so everyone was working from home. Four weeks into the new program, several of my clients reported lost revenue due to pandemic-related cancellations.
I was devastated, terrified, unnerved - you name it. I immediately went into my default recession mental programming. If you know my story, you know that when the Great Recession of 2007-2008 hit, I was laid off from my newspaper staff writer position with a newborn baby and my husband would soon lose his job as well. While I hunkered down and started the first iteration of my PR business, I remember feeling stressed and scared the entire time. In those early months, there was a lot of hitting and a lot of missing - and with a newborn baby, there was so much pressure to succeed for survival's sake.
Fast forward to this past spring, and my default story around uncertain economic times started to play in my head. I mean, it was visceral. I could literally feel the panic of 2007-2008 just as if I were once again a first-time twenty-something mother who had just lost her job. Like many parents, I wondered if my kids would mentally be okay spending so much time indoors and if any of us would catch the virus and get sick. I grieved not getting to visit my grandmother on her 90th birthday which coincided with the kids' spring break. More in line with my conditioning though, as I watched news of rising unemployment numbers in the USA, I worried if I would be okay if my clients' businesses would be okay and if I should brace for a season of drought and struggle.
But this time, I was far removed from that 2007 2008 version of myself as a business owner who's weathered her fair share of storms and built something profitable and sustainable - something I am proud of. But that didn't keep me from feeling the physical manifestation of anxiety, and replaying my recession story both mentally and physically.
My fear froze me.
I held off on launching the programs I'd had on my calendar for 2020. I took my focus off of myself and dove into supporting my children as they navigated classes on RingCentral and Zoom. I gave all my energy to my new program clients which paid off handsomely when I witnessed them clawing back to rebuild their 2020 revenues, outline and publish their books, raise six-figure sponsorships, host sold-out virtual events, and land a traditional book deal. I plan to record either a special podcast episode or virtual training on the specific lessons I learned about building your profits via your personal brand even during a pandemic.
But anyway, a few of my new agency clients ended up leaving the program early due to their own situations regarding COVID - one, in particular, was a hospital executive who was essentially living at the hospital and putting herself at risk every day to go to work. But some of the clients we onboarded that spring stayed for the full duration of the 6-month program and can I tell you, it was our weekly calls that kept me focused and productive so much so that I need to call them by name - Thank you Tamika, Amber, Tiffany, Kimberly, Tisa, Tanya, and Susan for giving me a place to put my mental focus on the days I wanted to spiral back into my old story.
Working with these ladies through the first months of the pandemic was so eye-opening - their courage to keep showing up and continue offering their gifts to the world inspired me to keep showing up and keep offering my gifts to them. In hindsight, working with them really got me through the worst of it - at least what has been the worst of it so far.
But back to what happened with the podcast. I knew about a year ago that I needed to pivot my mission and the content for this podcast because I'd started to veer into a new direction with what I was being called to share. Even though it would literally take me 5 minutes to make a list of 20 personal branding topics that would neatly fit under the package your genius umbrella, I prefer to share what is being channeled through me and give you the downloads directly from my source.
And those how-to service pieces were not coming through, okay? You probably noticed how you started hearing a lot about nature and purpose and finding your path much more than you heard about how to write a better bio or grow your audience on LinkedIn. Which is why I believe I lost my podcast voice for eight months. Until I was ready to claim this other more "woo woo" part of myself and my voice, I thought it was better to say nothing at all.
But I'm excited to announce I have decided to step into the new season of my voice and I've launched PURPOSESCAPING, my new podcast and platform to help you go deeper with your personal brand and clear a pathway to your purpose.
PURPOSESCAPING has been in the works for a while, but I'm happy to finally have the opportunity to share it with you. So if you're interested in where I'm going with my new level of thinking, search for PURPOSESCAPING wherever you listen to your podcasts and subscribe. I've also set up an Instagram account just for that brand and it's @purposescaping so please follow along and engage with me there.
Now. What does that mean for Package Your Genius? To be honest, I am not 100% sure just yet. However, I did feel like the content I've produced here up to this point is relevant to many of you, and may be relevant to people who discover me for the first time in the future. That's why I didn't rebrand Package Your Genius to PURPOSESCAPING and essentially erase it from the internet. I wanted to let it stand here as a resource to people who still want to check out these 150+ episodes as they may be relevant to wherever you are on your journey. Because everyone won't want to come along - I'm clear that PURPOSESCAPING is not for everybody.
Will I continue to update the Package Your Genius podcast? As I see it now, I definitely won't be updating the podcast as regularly as I did before, however I still have tactical content from time to time that would probably make more sense to share here, so I may publish at least one episode or interview here per month. We'll see. I'm not putting a ton of pressure on it as PURPOSESCAPING is my major focus right now. But again, as I have tactical personal branding nuggets to share, I plan to share them with you here.
For example, next week I'm hosting one of my longtime students and clients, diversity consultant Amber Cabral in conversation with an acquisitions editor at Wiley Press. They're going to be discussing how to land a traditional book deal as an expert without a huge following, so I may come back on and share a few nuggets from that conversation. If you would like to participate in that live and hear from the book editor and about Amber's experience attracting the attention of a major publisher and landing a book deal in the middle of a pandemic, we are making that conversation a bonus to people who preorder a copy of her book Allies and Advocates, so watch our social media for those details. I'm @packageyourgenius and she's @bamcabral
Last announcement, I am excited to open the doors for another group of students of Package your Genius Academy in November. This group will be a little different - I plan to work with this group over 6 months instead of the traditional 3 so we'll get a chance to GO DEEPER into the concepts, and lean into the brand-building challenges. We'll be embedding much of the new PURPOSESCAPING framework into how I teach. If you've been looking to package your genius finally and feel that now is the time check it out. If you want to work with someone and be in community for at least six months, and you have the time to invest as well as the financial resources to invest, reach out. This is a program, not a course and will be priced as such.
We're looking for individuals who are
- committed to branding the most authentic version of who they are,
- ready to step into the NEXT LEVEL of their gift,
- high achievers who feel like they've reached a level of success that may impress other people but they know they are being called to do more - even if friends and family think they're crazy for wanting to do more
- tired of just doing what they CAN do - what they have the talent, expertise, and skills to do - or what others recruit them to do. We want to work with people who are on a journey to find their true purpose and the work they were BORN to do.
- We're looking for coachable clients who understand their PR/Marketing gaps and want to grow. We're looking for those who are willing to be brave and try new things even if they don't understand why you're being asked to do it.
Is that you? If so, apply to work with my team and I at packageyourgeniusacademy.com but make sure you do so in the next day or so as we're reviewing applications and getting qualified applicants onboarded soon so we can start next month.
We're not doing a long involved launch this time around - I really want to touch people who are already in my orbit and are familiar with what I'm about so no hard sell here. If you hear about it you hear about it, and if it speaks to you it speaks to you. Because I truly believe the people who are meant to join me over the next few months will hear about it and find their way to applying.
That's all for now - know that I've missed you terribly, and I'm grateful to each and every one of you who has given me a reason to turn on my microphone and record into the void. If you've listened this far, be sure to let me know by saying hi on social media, I'm @packageyourgenius on Instagram - and as always don't forget to rate the show and give us a review if you're so inclined.
As a personal branding coach to high achievers, I have a special insight into the inner lives of many of my clients. And one unfortunate thing many of them have in common?
They don't see themselves clearly.
Their possibility and their potential for GREATNESS is often obscured by a lack of self-awareness.
So they downplay their gifts, sell themselves short, and end up overlooked for the very opportunities they seek.
Since the company we keep is important, and we base so much of our self-knowledge on what the world is mirroring back, it must have something to do with the people around us, right?
After talking to so many high achievers who don't know one another, I've spotted four sources of this blurred vision.
Here are four types of people who tend to obscure our ability to see our full potential:
1.) the opportunist
2.) the micromanager or toxic leader
3.) the person who sees us as who we used be despite our evolution
4.) the person who's unfamiliar with the territory we were born to roam
Which one resonates with you? Drop me a note online - I'd love to hear from you!
It's that time again. We're putting together the spring cohort of Package Your Genius Academy! If you know you don't see yourself clearly, but you're finally ready to see and step into your full potential, apply to join us. We're accepting applications for the cohort that starts March 10.
This past fall, I had the pleasure of working with conscious business and brand strategist Ash Johns in Package Your Genius Academy.
Ash has quite the bio; trained in corporate advertising, she's also highly spiritual and intuitive. Her spiritual talents and passion for social equity inform her current business where she works as a psycho-spiritual coach.
Before entering PYG Academy, Ash was rightfully hesitant about money. She'd just returned to the U.S. from Bali, and her business wasn't earning enough to sustain her life back in the States.
She craved a business where she could lean into her 'woo' and package premium services with her ancestral healing work front and center.
But she feared it wasn't realistic to expect to make the same kind of money as a healer as she'd made in her six-figure corporate gig.
Ash uncovered during the three months of the academy that she could show up 100% authentically, lead with her spiritual "woo" side, and still make a lot of money.
As a matter of fact, once she shifted her message, reconfigured her packages, and began to lead with her whole truth, she experienced a record revenue month.
I'm so proud of her.
Whether you consider yourself "woo" or just the opposite, let Ash's story inspire you.
Whatever you do and whoever you are, there is an audience for the most authentic expression of your gifts.
But first, you must get clear on your focus and stop denying what's really there.
***
Can you relate to Ash's story? I'd love to hear from you!
And if you're ready to lean more into YOU, but need support? Our spring cohort of Package Your Genius Academy kicks off March 10. Want to join us? Visit packageyourgeniusacademy.com to submit your application.
A common idea keeps many high achievers stuck in analysis paralysis.
It's the inability to decide on a focus area because they are admittedly 'multi-passionate.'
Every day, talented professionals fail to move their brands forward because they can't pick a direction. I've talked to many people who feel they need a separate website, distinct social media pages and brand identities for each of their passions. Let's face it - that's a lot to keep up.
In my opinion, characterizing yourself as multi-passionate is a bad idea.
For one, it dilutes your credibility, at least in the beginning. Since your audience can only digest one thing at a time, if they're coming to you for your support, your message needs to be crystal clear.
You can hear my four reframes for the multi-passionates in this episode.
It's that time again. We're putting together the spring cohort of Package Your Genius Academy! If working on your umbrella message or the umbrella program that can contain the multitude of your passions so you can market more effectively and start earning $10k/month minimum, apply to join us. We're accepting applications for the cohort that starts March 10.
Trying to figure out the next level of your brand?
As much as you may think you need to start from zero and do something completely brand new, the key may be to go back to the beginning so you can see how you've always been able to summon success.
Go back.
Back to the early days.
Back to those foundational experiences that defined you early on.
How have you been always doing what you do?
Too many of us are reinventing the wheel, thinking that "building a brand" means forging ahead into the future with no regard for the past. So we're "starting from scratch" when it comes to our audience, our offer, and even our message about who we are.
But there's information to be found when we go back to the beginning.
Reflect:
1.) Who usually reaches out to you? Who has always reached out to you? What audiences do you have traction with?
2.) Why did those people reach out? Why did they need your help?
3.) What core skills have you been using to help that audience all along?
4.) What feedback did you receive on the way you use those skills? Note: typically adjectives and adverbs will be your answer, i.e. "compassionate, diplomatic, or fast"
What parts of your story remain unchanged through the seasons?
This is the magic we're looking for during the personal branding process.
Want more clarifying questions? DOWNLOAD THE GUIDED JOURNAL: 150 Questions to help you find, focus and promote your unique, unmistakable genius - http://www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com/clarity
It's an exciting time at Package Your Genius Academy because we have 2 personal branding programs starting soon!
First up, we're running our signature VISIBILITY MASTERMIND. This is 3 months of training, coaching, and community. Our framework was designed to get you clear on who you are/what your brand is about, package your message and content around that newfound clarity, and successfully pitch yourself for speaking, media, and paid client opportunities. This is a great program for you if you're still nailing down your brand and have yet to earn a steady $10k/month from your expertise.
Past clients have launched six and multi six-figure expertise-driven businesses on the heels of the academy.
Second, we're incubating a few established brands for the next year with brand coaching, media/content strategy, and IMPLEMENTATION support. This service is perfect for those who have their brand nailed down and revenue coming in. If you can't quite manage all the thinking, writing, design, and pitching that comes with staying CONSISTENTLY VISIBLE while serving a growing roster of clients at the same time, my team and I want to support you.
If you've been looking for a community of fellow high achievers to work alongside to reach your ultimate purpose, we've been waiting for you. Apply here!
Activating a project requires a different type of energy than maintaining a project.
You won't always have to work as hard to maintain something as you had to work to get it off the ground.
If like me, you're a high achiever who's grown accustomed to striving, that may feel unfamiliar to you. But at some point, after you've put in the work, understand that the work will become easy.
The trick here is to remember you've earned the ease.
You don't have to tear down what you've built to "make it hard again."
Instead, now you can reinvest your time, energy and effort into something else that means a lot to you. Now you can reinvest the energy you previously used to get this dream off the ground and put it into something even bigger.
I looked at Dave Ramsey's Debt Snowball Method and applied it to goals, our personal brands, and business projects. But you could take the concept and apply it to almost anything like your relationships, your parenting, or even your health.
If you've been looking for a community of fellow high achievers to work alongside to reach your ultimate purpose, applications to Package Your Genius Academy are now open. Apply here.
This past weekend, I decided to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by doing a write-a-thon with my kids.
We each have a dormant writing project that could use a little intentional time and focus - Connor has a new fiction project, Logan has a fiction/comic book project, and I have another non-fiction project in the works.
So we dedicated our weekend to writing.
All said we wrote for 6 hours 🤯 over 2 days - broken up in two 90 minute writing sprints each day. In between sprints we snacked, read our work aloud, gave each other ideas/feedback, and cheered for each other.
I always tell my clients how important community is when you’re doing something difficult or brand new.
With writing, it can be hard to stay motivated when I’m all alone, but it was surprisingly easy with a crew. When one person got stuck, we were able to feed off of whoever was flowing.
Over the two days, we wrote a combined 7,000 words. Stay tuned for updates on our writing projects. We should have some newly finished works to share soon!
It was a really fun experiment and I plan to do it again. They both said it was fun and inspiring to write together.
Watching three very different people approach productivity and writing got me to thinking about how we had to all access different parts of ourselves in order to make the writing weekend successful. This weekend taught me about how to put yourself in a position to win.
Three Ways to Position Yourself to Win:
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Sometimes you may need to piggyback off of someone else's energy when you aren't feeling it. Who can you get around? Who can you tap into? Who is already going in the direction you want to go in? How can you tag along?
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Sometimes the simple act of showing up can produce unexpected results. How can you put yourself into the environment where you can meet your goals. You'll be more likely to get into action if you're in the space where said action takes place. The body knows. The mind knows. Muscle memory.
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Make sure you keep your pantry stocked with your favorite ingredients for success. What have you learned about yourself? What makes you tick? What do you need to get into your zone? How can you incorporate that every time you set out to do something big or new? Some of us know what works for us. So if you know what works, why don't you do it every time? Who can support your genius?
Get to know you!
Get to know your unique ingredients for success with the Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook -150 Questions to help you find, focus and promote your unique, unmistakable genius.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned from nature is this: the leaves and flowers of any growing plant are not visible all the time.
And the same is true for us as ambitious high achievers.
Even though we may want to be perpetually "in bloom", that's not realistic.
This time of year, it's easy to get swept away in the energy of a new year.
Fresh starts. New beginnings.
But what happens when your grand ambitions for the year have yet to surface? When your actual life doesn't match the hashtags of your favorite inspirational Instagram influencer?
You may be looking for that spring energy - evidenced by sprouting green stems and unfurling baby leaves. But in reality, that may not necessarily be where you are.
If you're currently in a growing phase where your progress isn't visible to the outside world, don't worry.
Trees may lose their leaves, but they don't die in winter. There's still a lot going on underground.
Some very big and very important things may be taking root. But that's the type of growth that you can't necessarily see.
Don't label yourself as "behind" if your vision for the year hasn't come into focus just yet.
Just because your progress isn't obvious and visible doesn't mean your growth is stalled.
Things are still shifting.
Seeds are cracking open.
Dreams are taking root - even if you can't see it yet.
January is one of the BEST months of the year to find and land a new job, and if you’re like many high achievers, you may be looking to make a career move, right now.
But how do you make sure you don't end up in another ill-fitting job one year from now?
The answer? GET CLEAR.
Get clear on what you WANT so you can go after work that is aligned with WHO you authentically are. I share over 100 clarifying questions in the Package Your Genius personal branding book and companion personal branding workbook to help you get clear on what you want and what you bring to the table.
Once you’re clear, it’s so much easier to find work that was tailor-made for you.
Get the book >> http://bit.ly/pygbook
Get the workbook >> http://bit.ly/pygworkbook
For high achievers, it's common for us to become immune to our accomplishments. Before the triumph of a win has settled in, we're on to the next.
After jumping a major hurdle, we've already mentally raised the bar again before our feet even touch the ground.
The danger is that doing this creates a diminished and completely false self-image. We're BOSSES in the world, yet when we diminish our accomplishments we begin to mentally see ourselves as ordinary people who have yet to do big things. But in actuality, we've done a lot more than we give ourselves credit for.
What would happen if you gave yourself more credit?
How would things be different?
How might you see yourself?
What might you have the courage to do?
Who might you have the confidence to approach?
What rooms would you be willing to walk into?
What clients would you have the gall to pitch?
It's taken me years to learn this life-changing lesson: Just because an accomplishment has become your norm, doesn't make it normal.
Just because you've crossed a hurdle multiple times doesn't make it less of a hurdle to cross. It still counts.
So stop to acknowledge what it took for you to get here. You have my permission to brag. And let's leave downplaying our accomplishments in 2019.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
I'm hosting a free virtual brand planning party on Sunday, December 29 at 7 pm ET. To join me, register now on Crowdcast.
The Brand with Purpose 12-Month Personal Branding Planner is now available as a print book or a digital download! Use this full-color planner as your thought partner to help you think through your speaking engagements, media outreach, podcast episodes, social media content and revenue generation on a monthly and quarterly basis. Order your planner
I'm hosting another session of the Brand with Purpose Planning Intensive over a few evenings in January. If you're interested in working with me and a small group of high achievers to make some decisions, i.e. what you'll create, what topics you'll pitch, and what you'll promote to sell and at which price point next year, e-mail us at hello (at) packageyourgeniusacademy (dot) com to learn more and request the invitation.
I don't know about you, but I've never gotten really good at something without a ton of practice.
And yet, when we get caught up in our perfectionism, we rob ourselves of the valuable practice that would make whatever we're contemplating, well, perfect.
When we don't put ourselves out there, we miss out on the practice of
- sharing our ideas clearly
- having sales conversations
- powerfully articulating our value
- improving our timing and presence
- understanding what our audience wants
- getting comfortable doing uncomfortable things.
Best-selling books don't magically appear. They take weeks, months, and sometimes even years of writing, refining and marketing before they reach that status.
World-class speakers all typically have a speaking horror story or two in their back pocket.
Even when you look at the best podcasters and Youtubers who garner millions of downloads and views, most started with bad lighting, unprofessional audio. But they were up to the task of practicing to become the best version of themselves.
Don't let your perfectionism rob you of the gift of practice.
When you show up, and keep showing up, you give yourself the opportunity to refine what you have.
And if you're truly a perfectionist, you already know - practice makes perfect.
You don't need a perfect blueprint to lay the first stone.
And yet, as high achievers, many of us would rather wait until we have the most failproof plans before taking the smallest action.
But action, no matter how imperfect, will refine even our best plans.
I learned this (again) recently when I decided to make a pivot. I went from hosting a one-day virtual event to hosting a one-month evening intensive after thinking through the needs of my academy alumni.
But in this mindful pivot, I uncovered how I could feed two birds with one seed and my new book - The Brand with Purpose Planner - was born!
So in this case, taking imperfect action not only led me to a BETTER course of action, but it also created the residual effect of giving me the impetus to produce a book product that has been on my brand vision board list for years!
Talk about a serious ROI on taking imperfect action.
What have you been smothering with the expectations of perfection?
What ideas have you let simmer and go cold on the back burner for too long because you're waiting for the most perfect conditions?
Here's a thought - doing the thing, even imperfectly, may create a pathway for a result that you're not even conscious of.
Acting always creates momentum. And you can always pivot, edit, or update your first draft.
But you need a first draft.
So start.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Brand with Purpose 12-Month Personal Branding Planner is now available on Amazon! Use this full-color planner as your thought partner to help you think through your speaking engagements, media outreach, podcast episodes, social media content and revenue generation on a monthly and quarterly basis. Order your planner
I'm hosting another session of the Brand with Purpose Planning Intensive over a few evenings in January. If you're interested in working with me and a small group of high achievers to make some decisions, i.e. what you'll create, what topics you'll pitch, and what you'll promote to sell and at which price point next year, e-mail us at info (at) amandamillerlittlejohn (dot) com to learn more and request the invitation.
If you're anything like me, you've probably had a zillion ideas that somehow 'magically' dropped into your spirit - things you somehow knew you were supposed to be doing, or chances you new you were supposed to be taking, but you couldn't explain how you knew exactly what you knew.
You may call it intuition, your inner knowing, God or the Holy Spirit. Whatever you call it, you know when you've gotten a direct download.
But acting on those downloads is another thing all together.
I've received clear downloads for years, but I haven't always been obedient about taking them and acting on them.
But last year when I decided to be obedient to one specific download, I realized that all along, my obedience had been the key to unlock a level I didn't even know was there! My obedience produced the missing puzzle piece to a specific goal that had eluded me for years.
To experiment with this concept, ask yourself:
Have you ever acted on a big goal even though you were terrified, and been surprised by the results?
What are you currently procrastinating on doing?
What is a goal you've wanted to reach for years but just can't seem to unlock?
Could the object of your procrastination potentially unlock the goal you've been able to reach? Could the two possibly be related?
If you missed Brand with Purpose - my free 5 day challenge to help you plan a brand with intention for the coming year, you can listen to all 5 episodes of the challenge and download the challenge workbook here. The whole series clocks in at right under 60 minutes, and I assure you, it will be the best hour you'll spend all week! Listen to the challenge episodes >> Brand with Purpose
It's The Fifth and Final Day of the Brand with Purpose Challenge!
You can find Day One of the challenge, here and Day Two of the challenge here, and Day Three of the challenge here and Day Four of the challenge here.
Today, we're going to take everything we brainstormed and wrote down in the challenge workbook and use it to map out the month by month calendar for next year.
I've asked you what you will make it a priority to create next year. If you've decided to write your book or launch your conference, now ask yourself when. When is your launch date? When will the event be?
I've asked you what type of visibility you'll go after - from media and podcast interviews to speaking. When will you go after it?
I've asked you what program or service it's time for you to launch. When will you launch that new program or double down on the old?
The key word of today is WHEN.
It's one thing to brainstorm something new to create or launch, but when we don't take the time to decide when exactly it will happen, it's hard to see the things we brainstorm take shape.
But when we start with target dates in mind, we can work backwards from our publication date or event date or launch date, and have a better chance of success.
So when you look at the three main categories we covered during this five-day challenge, what months of the year will you make time for each of those activities?
Put each on the calendar.
Important: If you haven't already, download the challenge workbook and follow the prompts for this day of the challenge. Download Your Challenge Workbook HERE.
If you follow the challenge online, tag me on social media using #BWPChallenge
Don’t keep it all to yourself, share this challenge with someone who needs some intentional personal branding - it’s more fun with friends!
It's Day Four of the Brand with Purpose Challenge!
You can find Day One of the challenge, here and Day Two of the challenge here, and Day Three of the challenge here.
Today we're going to think through what we need to launch in the coming year to increase our revenue.
What program or service is it time for you to launch?
What is your existing audience begging you to bring forth?
What have people asked for your help with this year? Does it make sense to create a course or strategy session around it so you can offer it to your wider audience?
If you know you want to make an income leap next year, you can definitely wing it and still earn more, but you probably won't hit your goal revenue or income number if you don't plan.
What $$$ number do you want to reach? What's your plan to reach it?
Whether you're full-time in your business or still report to a 9-5, there are ways to create a revenue stream based on your expertise. You just have to find one that fits your style and schedule.
But when you think about your goal revenue or income number, does your upcoming program/course/product support that?
For example, if you have a goal to make $10k extra each month next year, and you work full-time, whatever you're selling should probably be in the $2k-$10K range so you can sell and deliver a couple each month while you stay focused on your full-time obligations.
But if you already have an incredible marketing backend set up, or have a product that responds to seasonal promotions and you know you can move hundreds of units each month with little effort, you could offer something cheaper, granted you have the backend marketing system to support it.
It's all about understanding your available time, skills and what your audience needs that you can deliver right now. What makes the most sense for your brand?
When will you launch your next revenue generator?
Important: If you haven't already, download the challenge workbook and follow the prompts for this day of the challenge. Download Your Challenge Workbook HERE. If you follow the challenge online, tag me on social media using #BWPChallenge Don’t keep it all to yourself, share this challenge with someone who needs some intentional personal branding - it’s more fun with friends!
It's Day Three of the Brand with Purpose Challenge!
You can find Day One of the challenge, here and Day Two of the challenge here.
Today we're going to focus on what we need to promote in the coming year to increase our visibility.
What vehicles are you using to promote yourself next year?
What times of the year will you be reaching out to media?
What conferences and events will you apply to speak?
As you've heard me say before, your expertise is likely more relevant at some parts of the year than others. For people in the coaching and transformation space, the New Year is one of the very best times of year to make a splash in the media, or to get people excited about our content.
But for those in the financial space, April around tax time in the U.S. is a strong time to have one's expertise considered for potential speaking engagements and media segments.
It's all about understanding your audience and when they'll be most interested hearing from you. When will they most need the ideas and strategies you have to share? That's when you should plan your visibility outreach.
When will you go after massive visibility?
Important: If you haven't already, download the challenge workbook and follow the prompts for this day of the challenge. Download Your Challenge Workbook HERE. If you follow the challenge online, tag me on social media using #BWPChallenge Don’t keep it all to yourself, share this challenge with someone who needs some intentional personal branding - it’s more fun with friends!
It's Day Two of the Brand with Purpose challenge!
If you missed Day One of the challenge, listen to that episode here.
Today we're going to focus on what we need to create in the coming year to optimize our personal brand platforms.
What you are going to add to your platform?
What can you evolve?
To give you some examples from my own brand platform, in 2016 I launched the first iteration of Package Your Genius Academy group program, and it has become an anchor program in my business.
But in 2014, I launched an information product called The Branding Box that paved the way for Package Your Genius Academy and formed the basis of the curriculum I would eventually teach.
More recently, in 2018 I published the book Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand. The book has also become a pivotal piece of my brand platform as it has helped me reach new students for the academy, and attracted new paid speaking invitations.
The point is, you don't want to create for creation's sake: you want to create the brand asset that will make the most sense for your brand right now.
What asset will help you compound the revenue of another program/service, or unlock even more opportunities?
Important: Download the challenge workbook so you think through this on paper. Download Your Challenge Workbook HERE.
If you follow the challenge online, tag me on social media using #BWPChallenge
Don’t keep it all to yourself, share this challenge with someone who needs some intentional personal branding - it’s more fun with friends!
I’ve done some fun daily challenges on my podcast this year - in June and October I podcasted every day of the month.
As we approach a new year and decade, I wanted to do another daily challenge, but I wanted to do it with you.
For this podcast challenge, I’ve carved out time for us to work together over 5 days to accomplish one big goal: map out our plan for 2020.
Welcome to the 5 day Brand With Purpose Challenge!
Eek!
I’m so excited!
The mission of Brand with Purpose is simple: it’s a chance to be intentional about how we approach our platform, visibility and revenue in 2020.
No more winging it and hoping for the best.
Here’s a little preview of what’s in store over the next five days:
Day One: We're kicking off the challenge by looking back. Where have you been winning in 2019? Where can you build on that momentum in the coming year?
Day Two: Next, we’ll put a heightened focus on what you are going to do to add to or evolve your brand platform. Is it time to launch a program or write your book? We’ll explore!
Day Three: Then we’ll do some intentional visibility brainstorming to figure out how you are going to be spreading the word about your platform
Day Four: We’ll follow that up with some tactical planning around growing your revenue
Day Five: Last, we’ll take all we’ve uncovered and I will show you how to put together your basic plan for 2020.
Important: Download the challenge workbook so you can fill out the sheet that corresponds to each day of the challenge. Let’s put this into action, together. Download Your Challenge Workbook HERE. If you follow the challenge online, tag me on social media using #BWPChallenge Don’t keep it all to yourself, share this challenge with a friend who needs some intentional personal branding - it’s more fun with friends!
There is a simple mistake I see often with my personal branding clients, and those who are setting out to package their genius. I've even made this mistake myself.
When it's time to finally get paid from our genius, we often start with the question "what can I sell?" instead of thinking in terms of what our potential customers need from us.
While so many people start the brainstorming process here, there's a far more customer-centric way to begin brainstorming products and services that will sell easily.
This simple shift is an easy fix, let me know if you're asking this question when you begin to brainstorm your next program.
During a series of enrollment calls with potential students for my most recent cohort of Package Your Genius Academy, I heard a refrain I hear so often when speaking with people who are considering making the investment of time and financial resources.
"Maybe this can wait..."
For reasons that differ for everyone, putting ourselves first is often the last thing we think to do. Putting our own needs and pursuit of our own personal fulfillment comes in dead last after immediate work obligations, the needs of our family members, and for some, the demands of church and community.
But time waits for no man.
And while I think most of us grasp the fact that no one has "all the time in the world..." we often forget that our prime won't last forever. We won't always have the energy, the network, the health, the free time, the money....the list goes on and on, to do what we want to do now.
So how are you taking advantage of your current season?
If there's something you've been meaning to do, and you have the time, money, health, and relative youth to do it, DO IT. You never know when your situation may change.
We're settling into the fall season here in the United States. Leaves are finally changing, and I'm personally preparing for winter which is typically a time for even deeper introspection, creative productivity and movement on long-standing projects.
It's also a great time for PLANNING.
I'm excited to host a brand planning event the weekend of December 14, to plan your personal brand activity for 2020 and beyond. If that sounds like something you'd like to join me for, mark your calendars and watch this space and for those details.
This is a replay of my personal branding MasterClass Becoming KNOWN - The 5 Essential Shifts to Unlock Your Personal Brand Authority.
When it comes to building your personal brand, at a certain point it becomes less about your skills and talents, and more about your comfort with putting them out there.
If you've worked in your industry for a decade or more, you're likely skilled beyond question.
You need a new set of skills to shift how others perceive you. You need a new strategy to step into your worth, and communicate that confidently to others.
You need to step into your BRAND AUTHORITY.
And this doesn't come naturally to everyone.
If you...
- have been perpetually on the fence about starting a side hustle or otherwise earning extra income from your skills
- know you aren't earning all you could at your current level of experience and expertise
- have spent your career in the background and struggle stepping into the spotlight
- have had several brilliant ideas for businesses, books, non-profits or creative projects in the past but haven't brought yourself to pull the trigger
- would like to step into your power and to rise to the status your hard work and results have earned
It's time to hone in your brand authority.
Submit your application for Package Your Genius Academy here >> Submit your application
Book a Call to discuss the academy here >> get on my schedule
When it comes to building your personal brand, at a certain point it becomes less about your skills and talents, and more about your comfort with putting them out there.
If you've worked in your industry for a decade or more, you're likely skilled beyond question.
You need a new set of skills to shift how others perceive you. You need a new strategy to step into your worth, and communicate that confidently to others.
You need to step into your BRAND AUTHORITY.
And this doesn't come naturally to everyone.
If you...
- have been perpetually on the fence about starting a side hustle or otherwise earning extra income from your skills
- know you aren't earning all you could at your current level of experience and expertise
- have spent your career in the background and struggle stepping into the spotlight
- have had several brilliant ideas for businesses, books, non-profits or creative projects in the past but haven't brought yourself to pull the trigger
- would like to step into your power and to rise to the status your hard work and results have earned
It's time to hone in your brand authority.
If this resonates with you, join me on Sunday October 7, 2019 at 7pm EST for this FREE MASTER CLASS - The Five Shifts Required to Unleash Your Brand Authority.
Register at https://www.crowdcast.io/e/PYGABrandAuthority/register
Today marks the official end of my September podcast every day during the month challenge.
And can I tell you a secret?
I failed...spectacularly!
I missed six full days of the challenge, and since this is my second daily challenge for the year, I technically failed in comparison to the challenge I completed in June.
But even though I missed six days of the challenge, I still came out ahead in terms of listener engagement, downloads and growth as a podcast host.
Score!
Which made me think about the way we sometimes label our efforts a failure if we aren't able to meet a very specific goal. But if we set a big goal that we plan to reach over time, if we move toward that goal but don't reach the goal we set, we still likely made significant process, and there's no reason to give up the goal all together.
Progress is winning.
If you have big goals for this year, the final quarter of the year is upon us! It's the final week to submit your application for the fall cohort of Package Your Genius Academy. Our sessions start October 8, and it's already shaping up to be a great group!
I would love to extend a huge thank you to our PYG Academy alum Rebecca Thompson, founder of the Live in Your Light Bootcamp and Live in Your Light Summit. Rebecca pivoted from politics and is now doing remarkable things just one year out of the academy, and I'm proud to feature her on this episode of the podcast.
If you ever find yourself feeling too busy, too overwhelmed, or too burdened with to dos and it's standing in the way of you packaging your genius and making the impact you're meant to make on this world, you need to generate a surplus.
And while it seems counterintuitive, much of that surplus can be connected to making more time (I know, I know - you're already stretched thin) for yourself.
But this is a personal experiment I've been conducting in my life, and the results have been priceless.
Since implementing a more intentional and daily self balancing routine I have experienced:
- more clarity on my business challenges
- clarity on what is standing in my way personally
- motivation to push through on hard things
- patience and grace with myself
- perspective - understanding when I'm assigning too much or too little significance to something
- a higher tolerance for stress
- resilience
If you're too busy to package your genius, putting yourself back on the calendar is a practice I encourage you to try.
Get yourself back on the agenda so you can generate the surplus from which you can serve.
Because you can only give from your overflow.
If you've been thinking about joining us for the fall cohort of Package Your Genius Academy, this is the last week to apply. Sessions start Tuesday, October 8.
While I'm clear on how I want to serve (as one who helps others find and get back on their true path) I thought about a few of the people who have benefited most from going through the program and my teachings.
Do any of these people sound like you?
Are you at a crossroads professionally and personally - perhaps you've hit a milestone birthday and you're pondering the bigger questions of your life like "Is this what I want to be doing with my gifts and talents? Is there another professional path for me? Am I showing up the way I truly want to, or am I showing up as others have always expected me to?"
Do you know in your gut that the current stage of your professional journey is over, but you haven't figured out how to activate your next chapter?
Do you feel like something is just...off? You're a success on paper, but you've yet to knock it out of the park doing what you really want to do? You feel like something is missing - the right message, the right market, the right formula to serve - but you're just too close to see the missing piece...
Did you recently leave your job or find yourself on leave wondering what's next? You're a little nervous about making a financial commitment because the future of money is uncertain, but there's something telling you it's time to take a leap?
Are you at a plateau having done all you know to do to make yourself stand out? You know you've got the goods but the world doesn't see you or your accomplishments clearly? (You know this because your compensation and industry acknowledgement don't match the time and work you've put in up to this point...)
Do you live with the daily regret of not betting on yourself sooner? Are you secretly worried that perhaps you missed your moment and it's too late for you to leap?
If any of those scenarios resonated with you, I'm here.
Here to help you cut through the overgrowth and get back on the path again.
And trust me, the path may look overgrown and indistinguishable right now, but I promise you, it's there.
And I can help you find it.
It's the LAST WEEK to apply for Package Your Genius Academy. We are enrolling students for the fall cohort that begins Tuesday, October 8. Doors won't open again until sometime in 2020. If you're interested in joining us, learn more and apply now.
We hear a lot about self care - how to get it, why we need more of it, and what does or doesn't constitute it. But lately I've been made aware of the residual effects and payoff of self care - how it benefits me long after I'm in the practice of doing or getting what I need.
And it makes everything related to my ideas, my planning, my long-term thinking crystal clear.
If you struggle with overwhelm, anxiety, irritability and lack of focus, I highly recommend you thinking through the self care practice that makes the most sense for you.
And check out Dr. Thema Bryant- Davis's episode on the Homecoming Podcast about self care. Very powerful stuff.
As our enrollment season comes to a close, I welcome you to apply for the opportunity to work together in Package Your Genius Academy this fall! Enrollment is closing soon for the personal brand visibility academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
I recently discovered a truth about myself I had been unable to see for years. I realized that I had been telling myself a story that simply wasn't true. While the story was rooted in my personal experience. I fail to take into account the fact that my situation has changed.I was holding on to a truth that matched a past version of me.
Can you say the same?
How many times have you decided who you are and what you can do based on who you've always been and what you've always done?
You can change.
You can change your vehicle.
You can choose a new, true, story.
Even when we fail the first time, our dreams are worth fighting for.
Package Your Genius Academy was a dream of mine that almost didn't happen. I failed launching the program the first time, but have since gone on to work with 7 cohorts - now enrolling my eighth.
One of the things I often reflect on is what might have been lost if I hadn't gotten back up and tried again. When I think of the lives that have been impacted directly by the academy, and even more importantly, the people I'll never know but who have been impacted by the students who've gone to the academy. It's a humbling thing to see the ripple effect your work can start!
LaShonda Walker is one of our PYGA ripples. She joined in May of 2019 on a quest to find deeper meaning for her work. She used her time in the academy to gain clarity on her purpose, and essentially remember who she'd always been and what she's always loved. It's an honor to see LaShonda ignited and on a new path all her own.
I welcome you to apply for the opportunity to work together in Package Your Genius Academy this fall as our enrollment season comes to a close. Enrollment is open now for the visibility academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
Believe it or not, I'm a hardcore introvert.
Networking events are my least favorite thing right after small talk. But I realized at some point that if I wanted my business to grow, I'd have to get in front of new people. I needed a way to show strangers what I knew and what problems I solve if I ever wanted new clients to hire me.
Enter the media.
What other way can you get in front of thousands while only interacting with a handful of people to make the interview happen?
But most introverts see media as a big overwhelming proposition when in reality, there are a number of ways you can approach it.
I came up with a few media exposure personality types. Which one are you?
- The Thinker - The thinker has ideas to share and recommendations to make. They would rather share those ideas in a long form way by writing. Their dream media placement would be a New York Times op ed or an essay in the Atlantic
- The Talker - The talker loves to engage. And short snippets just won't do, they prefer to get into it and go deep which is perfect for radio or podcasts. A dream media placement would be Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR or a Top 10 podcast.
- The Talking Head - Unlike the talker, the talker head has her sights set on television and loves the idea of being seen. Dream media placement? A spot on a CNN panel or segment on the TODAY show.
- The Hybrid - The hybrid isn't concerned with the type of media so much as what the media will allow him/her to do. So they're fine with radio or tv so long as it allows them to reach more people and make a bigger impact. A mix of all media types will do.
Which one are you?
And better yet, do you see how different personality types may deal with media exposure differently? There is no one size fits all when it comes to it.
If you know you need exposure to get in front of new faces, it doesn't have to be overwhelming. You can tailor your approach to fit your business and your personal style, which we can help you uncover in our program - learn more.
From The Spruce.com:
Not all plant seeds are ready to sprout as soon as you put them in the soil. Some hard-shelled seeds need a bit more coaxing and some need a temperature change to trigger the end of dormancy. Scarification (cracking the hard outer shell) and stratification (fooling seeds into thinking they've been through winter) are two simple techniques that will save you a lot of frustration when starting seeds.
Stratification and scarification occur naturally when seeds stay outdoors through the cold winter.
Some seeds have outer shells that are extremely hard and don’t allow water through. This is one way a seed stays dormant in the fall and winter until growing conditions improve.
You may be upset when you look for your efforts to bear fruit and you can't see the evidence above ground. Sometimes the action is not visible, you may be in a dormant phase in preparation for your growing season.
Not all seeds are ready to sprout as soon as you put them into the soil. You may look at what other people are doing and try to mimic their path not knowing that you're a different kind of plant that requires a different set of conditions and will develop on a different timeline.
Don't judge the progress of the apple tree with the same criteria you use to measure an oak tree.
All seeds are not the same.
You're maturing and preparing to sprout, blossom and bear fruit in your own time.
I welcome you to apply for the opportunity to work together in Package Your Genius Academy this fall as our enrollment season comes to a close.
If you've been doing great work and getting results in your industry, but you want to expand your exposure, learn more about our PR mastermind and apply.
Enrollment is open now for the visibility academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
When it comes to working the land - especially in the Southern region of the United States, this time of year is an exciting time because it marks the season of harvest.
But it can be a potentially dangerous time for the farmers who aren't quick enough to get their year's work out of the ground.
It's essentially a race against time to harvest before the winter rains when anything you've left out in the field will be rendered useless.
Unpicked fruit will be left to rot.
A fortuitous conversation with my grandmother revealed this wisdom that's native to Southerners, and I had to share it with you. The similarity between our gifts and a farmer's crops were too stark to miss.
So many people have allowed their gifts - their expertise, skills, and wisdom - to ripen for years, but have yet pick their own fruit.
Let this comparison to nature be your own cautionary tale: there comes a point when you're not growing anymore. But it may not be because you've simply reached a plateau, instead you're fully ripe and it's time for you to get off the vine. And if you stay on the vine too long, the very gifts you've spent years cultivating may be in danger.
Thank you to Nikki Rogers of the Wednesday Morning Bulletin for mentioning Package Your Genius on your latest edition. For those who want to check out her newsletter, you can check it out here.
It's harvest season - and that goes for you, too! If you know your gifts have ripened and you're ready for your harvest, I welcome you to apply for the opportunity to work together in Package Your Genius Academy this fall.
If you've been doing great work and getting results in your industry, but you want to expand your exposure, learn more about our PR mastermind and apply.
Enrollment is open now for the visibility academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
High achievers typically do such great work that they're often recruited for opportunities, courted by associates, even pursued by friends.
Instead of being the aggressor, it's not uncommon for them - despite all of their success - to find themselves in the passive role of waiting to be chosen.
It's what they're used to after all.
If this resonates with you, and you're not in the field you want to be in, on the career track you want to be in, or in a relationship that serves you because you were chosen but did not choose, let me be the first to tell you things can be different.
You can choose to choose.
Don't settle for what falls into your lap. Decide what you want in every area of your life, and go after it.
Every living thing has its own set of base level requirements for survival.
Every living thing also has its own set of factors that would make it hard to grow.
Last but not least, every living thing has certain factors that would take it to the next level and cause it to thrive, regenerate, multiply.
The same is true for us.
Each of us has our own set of must-haves, deal breakers and multipliers. A part of radical self discovery is paying attention to all three in order to get the clearest picture of ourselves and our personal recipe for success.
Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand has officially been in the world for a full year!
Thank you to all of you who purchased the book (or the companion workbook), left a thoughtful review, bought the book for a friend and shared this life-changing content.
I am so grateful!
I was reflecting back on a few of my incredible clients and the reflection reminded me what it is I do that matters, and more importantly, WHY I do this work. As I was thinking about the simplest way to describe what I do, I realized that at the core of my work I help people remember who they are -- even if you've never truly been able to articulate your understanding of yourself, or if you knew it very clearly at another point in your life but somehow drifted away from yourself and forgot, I help you put a framework around yourself so you understand who you are, what makes you tick, what energizes you and what drains you. In some ways there is nothing more important than this. Once you get a clear understanding of who you are, you can not only make better decisions, but you can make the BEST decisions for you because you will immediately understand why something doesn't feel right. Once you get a clear understanding of who you are, you will know immediately what you have to do in order to get yourself back on course once you've fallen off track. But if you don't know yourself, you'll keep finding yourself in relationships, on career paths and in situations that don't serve you, but you won't know why. If you don't get to know yourself you'll never quite feel at home in yourself, but you won't know why. If you can understand yourself, showing up clearly to others becomes easy. When you know yourself and are clear on who you are, it's easy to communicate that message to other people. It's easy to know when something's a fit or it's not. It becomes easy to say yes instead of no, or no instead of yes because you know yourself. You know your landmines, you know your triggers, you know your deal breakers, you know your must-haves. But how many of us seek to get to know ourselves on such a level? How many of us set out to become a student of our own personal tastes, our likes and dislikes, our motivations? I recommend that if you say you're ready to package your genius, follow a big dream, build a personal brand in a way that puts you further out in the world, first make it your mission to understand yourself. If you can understand yourself, you can set up each day in a way that serves you. Then week after week, month after month, and year after year will be a delight. When you know yourself everything you want - fulfillment, self actualization - all of it - will be within your grasp. You'll become the architect and the builder of your own happiness.
Radical self discovery is the first stage in our successful personal branding process, and we spend the first month in Package Your Genius Academy on that topic alone. If we can get that part right, the packaging and promotion naturally follows. So we don't rush to package you - we seek first to help you understand yourself, and understand how to take personal inventory in the future because some things about yourself will change. If you've ever * landed a great job only to find later on that it's just not a great fit, and you wonder how you missed the red flags * built up a successful business only to realize the clients you serve don't light you up, * had to wake up everyday to a sense of dread instead of joy,
it's time you get to know yourself on a deeper level.
Package Your Genius Academy is a powerful opportunity to do that before you package a personal brand that is built on your own recipe for success and fulfillment. Visit packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
As you are on the road to package your genius, and you're a high achiever who is used to always being the best, I want you to remember:
No matter where you place
sometimes just finishing the race
is a form of winning
when you're doing something new.
If you know you have valuable gifts inside you, but you are unclear which race you're running and where's the lane for your gifts and talents, I welcome you to apply for the opportunity to get that clarity during our visibility academy where we can work on it together. If you've been doing great work and getting results in your industry, but you want to expand your exposure, learn more about our PR mastermind and apply. Enrollment is open now for the academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
Sometimes limits are in our heads, telling us we can't go any further when we have just a little bit of gas left in the take.
Other times limits are deeper, and our exhaustion is our body/mind/spirit's way of telling us we need to rest.
But the beautiful thing about life is, for most things, we get another day to try again. If you had to put down a work project, take a day off from cooking dinner for the family, or skipped a workout - you can get back on track.
Don't beat yourself up if you drop the ball.
Just pick it back up tomorrow.
Here are all the ways you can work with me:
Join our free Facebook community where you can meet other podcast listeners and engage directly with me. Join here.
Check out the book Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand if you haven't read it yet. Pick up the companion workbook - a tool I made to help you think through the questions that can help you get closer.
If you need help remembering how to answer the call, I'd be honored to support you this fall in Package Your Genius Academy. Visit the site to learn more and apply.
If you're ready for Maximum Exposure, learn more about our PR Mastermind.
My mom retired a few years ago, and in the time since, she's been living her best life. She had a goal to see all the states in the lower 48 of USA and as of today, she's officially done it.
She left for a road trip for her birthday early last week, headed with her bestie from Tennessee to New England.
When she initially told me about the trip, I remember catching myself getting wistful. "I sure wish I could take off for ten days at my own pace to see the sights," I thought to myself. "And I sure wish I could spend that kind of quality time with my mom..."
I can't do that because of the kids, I immediately told myself. For the last decade plus, that has been my default reason whenever I get too excited about doing something or going somewhere that will take me away from the DC area. Because the kids have to get to and from school, my husband travels a lot for work so I need to make sure my calendar is clear.
But is that true, really?
At this point, my kids know how to catch public transportation, manage their chores, bathing themselves, and even preparing some of their own meals themselves with light oversight. Now they are still kids and therefore need emotional support, lots of refereeing, and general coaching and guidance. But for the most part, I must tell you, I have hit my stride as a mom. And with their new school the support from the school and other parents really takes the whole "I can't be away from the kids" excuse off the table.
But when my mom told me about her trip, it was my immediate default. Looking over the last ten days though, I totally could have joined her!
This made me think about defaults. Even when our situations change - often times because we've been grinding to bring on the change - our minds can lag behind.
It's kind of like muscle memory which I talked about on episode 99. If we have leaned on a reason for long enough, it becomes our default without us even realizing it.
So we end up making broad assumptions based on default decisions of our past that used to serve us. It's easier for your brain to go on autopilot - that uses up much less energy - but sometimes that autopilot needs reprogramming.
For example, say you have a seafood allergy as a child, so even though love lobster and crab, you avoid seafood restaurants because you know the food will make you sick. But then you go for an annual checkup as an adult only to find you've outgrown the allergy and you can now eat all the seafood you want. Now you love seafood, but even after learning that you are no longer allergic, when it comes time to plan dinner or choose a restaurant, your brain automatically removes any seafood options by default. Even though that's no longer your reality.
And we do it all the time. Even if you haven't outgrown an old reason like I have with my kids being why I can't travel, you may be coming up with reasons that match a mindset you held in the past that you don't hold anymore.
For example, I'm going to a conference in a few weeks to Richmond, Virginia. I knew what hotel I wanted to stay at so I went to their website to book a room. When I went to book my room, they didn't have my dates, so I started doing research on other hotels that fit my preferences. I started going down the rabbit hole until it dawned on me that I don't have to do this. I have an admin. Let me let her do this so I can go do something else. She's way better at that stuff anyway.
Now the thing with my admin is I'm pretty good about having her do things for my business - but I always forget that she can help me with some of the more personal administrative things too. Having spent my entire life doing personal administrative things myself - and having to do so much personal admin for my family - it's easy to forget that I have help. So my default in that situation was "I have to find a hotel myself..." I reframed that to "I have support."
For me it requires practice to reframe. What about you? What are some of your default decisions that you see yourself making?
Here are a few more of my defaults plus my reframe.
1) Default: I don't have time to write. Reframe: I've set my business and life up in a way that I have ample time to write.
2) Default: I have to put off large purchases for the future. Reframe: I am not just starting out. I have considerably more financial resources. I can buy it now.
3) Default: I can't drive to NYC on a whim. Reframe: I feel confident driving long distances on my own now. When are we leaving?
4) Default: I have to know all of the answers and do all the thinking work when it comes to my clients. Reframe: I have 2 other brilliant communications coaches working in my program. They have amazing ideas and strategies to share. They are here to empower my clients.
5) Default: I only have a few more weeks before I start my new job. Even though I had planned to do some self care, travel somewhere restorative, and rest, I will have to spend the rest of my time off moving and getting settled. Reframe: I can get help packing up my things, get this move done in a weekend, and use the rest of my time off for me.
So whenever you get that sense of wistfulness I described when you think I wish I could do A but i can't because of B, I want you to ask yourself...do you really?
Is there not another way you can accomplish what you want to accomplish? How can we remove this as a barrier to your real goal and where you really want to be putting your energy. Let's get creative.
If you know you have valuable gifts inside you, but you are unclear on all of the how - how do I figure out what to focus on, how do I describe it to people, what do I charge - you NEED to get yourself into our visibility academy where we can work on it together.
If you've been doing great work and getting results in your industry, but you want to expand your exposure, learn more about our PR mastermind and apply.
Enrollment is open now for the academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
We've been talking a lot about purpose, but I want to change the conversation and switch gears back to visibility because it's one of the reasons you're here.
In this two-part episode on op-ed writing, I share 5 questions to ask yourself to get closer to the op-ed you want to write.
In part two, we'll talk to a journalist who will share how we can reach millions of people with our words.
Do you remember your favorite teacher from when you were in school? Or a teacher who could make a subject you usually didn't like come alive? Or better yet, a teacher who could break down a subject in a way that could make you understand even when others couldn't? And they may have been saying the exact same thing or reading from the exact same textbook as all the other teachers who taught that subject, but for whatever reason you could just hear it better from them? Well someone out there is thinking the exact same thing about you. Someone out there needs to hear your area of expertise, but they need to hear it from you. Even though there are already people who are saying some version of what you're saying, or doing some version of what you're doing, there are still people out there who still need to get the goods from you. Why is that? I can't explain it. Just like you can't explain how two cooks can follow the same recipe but turn out completely different dishes. Even though both taste good, one is crispier and you like it that way. But then if you ask someone else, they prefer it less crispy. It's all a matter of preference. But my point is, you are someone's preference. Someone prefers YOU. That's a part of why you have to package your genius - aside from the fact that it will call you until you answer it as I've said before. But if you're one of those people who gets so caught up in what other people are doing, or the fact that the market is saturated, or there are so many coaches in this space, or there's already five other books out on my topic there's no point in me even getting in the game - you're hurting yourself because you're not expressing what you need to express, and you're hurting the people who need to hear it from you. Now. There may be thousands of people who claim to do what you do, serve how you serve, support others how you support others. But they aren't you. They don't have your spirit. They don't have your story. They don't have your energy. They don't have your humor. They don't have your journey. They aren't from your hometown. They don't have whatever it is that gives you the power to connect with someone who may find themself on a similar path. They aren't going to say it the way you'd say it. They won't write it the way you'd write it. They won't use the same analogies and metaphors. And because they aren't you, your people may SEE the others in your field, but they won't be able to HEAR them. It's about connection. It's about bringing your you-ness to the table so others can connect with what they need in you, and you can connect with what you need in them. When you can truly understand this, you can stop wasting your time getting frustrated with why you can't land corporate clients but he seems to attract all the corporate clients. Or why the same people who read her book aren't flocking to read yours. And another thing, I'll leave you with: you have to understand that some people have "mass appeal". Others are for a more discerning palate. Both are great, both are necessary. Neither is better than the other. They're just different. Remember - it's a matter of preference. So whether you find yourself in the category of being for the masses or being for the more discerning - it doesn't matter. Either way, you're for who you're for. Don't discount a smaller audience that may have a deeper connection to your work if you like to go deep. Don't get discouraged when the masses seem to respond to someone who is saying a version of what you said six months ago, but they didn't want to hear it from you. You have to understand, they couldn't hear it from you. Who needed to hear it from you heard it, but those that couldn't hear it aren't your people. Your people caught it, digested it, and are waiting on your next insight, your next big idea, your next aha moment. We have to learn to trust - and release comparison which I know is difficult to do in the age of social media - but we have to learn to trust that what we have to share is of value and can set someone else free if we give ourselves permission to give ourselves away. Will you give yourself permission to give yourself away? I sure hope so. It's so much more fun when you do, trust me. If you're new to the podcast, I welcome you for coming on this journey with me. Don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen so we can reach more people like us. I'm super excited to be hosting an opinion page editor for the New York Times for our Maximum Exposure PR mastermind this week. In addition to meeting with the mastermind students in our closed session, she's also agreed to answer a few questions for the podcast. I'm so excited. If you have ever wanted to know what it takes to get your ideas published by a major outlet like the New York Times, email me your questions so I can ask her on the podcast. You can email your questions about op ed publishing to support (at) packageyourgeniusacademy (dot) com and I'll be sure to cover those when we do our interview.
Enrollment is open for the second cohort and we're getting excited. For our first cohort, we've landed media mentions in the Washington Post, WJLA, ABC, NBC, Fast Company, Washington Post Express, Fox, News Channel 8 in Washington, DC and more. If you want to learn more about the ME program and how we help our students brainstorm story ideas, craft timely pitches and contact the media each month, visit the website and learn more and apply. In closing, I hope what you've heard here today will set you free. I hope I've inspired you to stop over thinking it and finally package your genius. Because someone needs to hear it from you.
I recently attended an organizational effectiveness training retreat for an organization I'm a member of. One of the most powerful things I learned was how easily an organization's culture can get off track, and how possible it is to get things BACK on track.
So think about an organization you're a part of, or even a relationship you have with someone to make it easier to imagine. If you have one bad interaction with someone, you may say "Oh we had a tiff," or "we didn't see eye to eye..." and you chalk it up to a misunderstanding, but the relationship isn't over.
If you have two or three bad encounters, internally you go on alert. You may start to rethink the relationship and even say "We're not in a good place..." But once you get into the four-five range with negative encounters, you're in the red zone. In the training, our facilitator said that 5x is a DECISION that this is how we will deal with each other. This is our culture.
But what I find fascinating is the same way you can make a decision to not check an organization's culture, and just let it be toxic, you can also make a decision to be positive.
You can make a decision to fix things.
You can make a decision to change.
And if you can make five steps in a positive direction, you can start the process of reversing the negativity. You can decide the culture will be good.
Your relationship with yourself is the same way. You can make a decide with your actions to change your personal culture.
So if you haven't been prioritizing your calling, or making time to package your genius, let's change your personal culture.
To make this practical, I want to know what's on your calendar this week? If you're ready to prioritize your goals, where are you fitting that on your upcoming agenda? Where are you making space?
What step can you make this week to change your personal culture?
For me, I'm really to bring some intention to my new morning drop-off routine. My kids' new school is near some of my favorite hiking trails, so I'm excited to build some hiking, thinking and writing time into my weekday agenda.
As I've mentioned before, daily thinking and writing time really helps me feel centered and pays off in every area of my life from my business, to my creative writing, to my marriage, to my parenting. So it's silly to not do what I know works for me.
I'm changing my personal culture. I'm making what I know works for me a priority. This way I'm being intentional. I'm not letting my life happen to me by default. I'm not wondering why I'm no closer to my goals than I was last time I checked.
If you know you have valuable gifts inside you, but you are unclear on all of the how - how do I figure out what to focus on, how do I describe it to people, what do I charge - you NEED to get yourself into our visibility academy where we can work on it together.
If you've been doing great work and getting results in your industry, but you want to expand your exposure, learn more about our PR mastermind and apply.
Enrollment is open now for the academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
Harlem
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
How do you show up when you come to win? For some reason, we all know how to prioritize our work assignments, our money, our kids, even our health - but when we think of our gifts we go blank. We get ourselves out of bed and out of the house every day, but suddenly can't figure out how to motivate ourselves to get started. We multitask, manage multiple calendars and juggle conflicting schedules for our teams and families, but we can't figure out how to find the time to make our dreams happen. We put together scrum boards and complex project flowcharts, but when it comes to our gifts, we can't figure out the first step to take. But we need to attack our gifts with the same energy we bring to the places we already excel. Look at what you're doing well, where you're winning, what you're getting right. What are your typical patterns? How do you show up when you're ready to win? For example, one of the things I feel like I am getting right is cultivating my children. So when I look at how I move and the energy I bring to cultivating my kids, I notice I do a few things every single year. I do a few things: 1. Challenge the kids and raise the bar and keep standards high. So often we limit ourselves so I try to push them further than they think they can go so they can understand their own capabilities and learn not to limit themselves. 2. I cultivate them regularly. I try to find seasonal activities - classes, camps, lessons for them to take and try. I want them to get used to doing and trying new things. I want them to get accustomed to being engaged individuals who are connected to their personal talents and their larger society. 3. I personally keep learning - I seek out books, articles, podcasts and other ways to learn how to be a better parent and guide. 4. I find partners who can help me take them to the next level. I know I don't know everything, so I look for teachers and instructors who can inspire them and mentor them generally or around a specific focus area. This is how I show up when I come to win. And because these are my kids and I only get one shot at raising them, showing up to win is non-negotiable. And as such, it's become second nature to me. And because it's second nature to me, I see it as proof that I can build a success strategy for any domain of my life. As can you. If you are successful in any area of your life, which I know you are as a high achiever who listens to this podcast, you have the power to dissect your own personal recipe for success. When you show up to win, how do you move? When you show up to win, what is your formula to get results? When you show up to win, how do you motivate yourself to get things done? When you show up to win, how do you organize your time? When you show up to win, how do you find the money to invest when you need more resources? So with that solutions-oriented, strategic mind, I want you to think through how you can approach your gifts, your calling. Don't just use your organizational skills, your strategic mind, your resourcefulness and creativity to accomplish your tasks at work - use those skills to get your own stuff done, too! You've got to figure out how to show up FOR YOU the same way you show up for your job or your clients. When it comes to you, you've got to figure out how to show up to win.
Why does it even matter whether or not you package your genius? Who cares if you explore what you're meant to do? What difference does it make if you don't share your genius with others? Those are the questions I want to explore with you today. Because before I can make the case that you should package your genius, you should first understand what's at stake if you don't. I believe the mandate of being human - what's written in our genetic code or whatever makes us homo sapiens vs some other species - is to find what we were put on this Earth to do. Your mandate as a human is to fulfill the assignment and complete the mission for your specific journey, your specific life. That is what I whole-heartedly believe. But if we're honest with ourselves, our life missions have likely been evident since childhood or adolescence. We've heard the call. But how many of us answered and chose to walk down the path our calling was leading us to? I can remember being a student in middle school and then again in high school. I loved my English classes. My classmates and teachers were all convinced that one day I'd be a famous, important writer whose words would touch millions of people. Somewhere along the way, I bought into the idea of "the starving artist" and decided I couldn't be a successful writer without starving first. So while I always knew that I was sent here to write, for years I didn't do it. Can I tell you, that despite my successes as a PR person and a coach, until I finally sat down and wrote Package Your Genius I didn't feel at home in my success? There was always this lingering static - I can't quite describe it - but it was like a cloud hanging over me. And it was as if the cloud was saying "I mean, this is nice and everything...but when are you going to write your book????" As if nothing else I'd done mattered for real. And then once I got that book out there, just like that, the dissonance cleared. The cloud passed. Now, I will be honest. The dissonance is definitely back. But this time I'm crystal clear on why. I know I have more books to write. I know I have more messages to leave this planet while I still have an Earthly vessel that can help me accomplish what I'm here to do in this realm. Callings call. So expect it to feel a little uncomfortable when you're not picking up the phone. It's like that feeling that you forgot to do something important, but you can't quite put your finger on what that something is. Or when you make out your list for the store, and you go and you shop, but you know there's something you forgot - even though you got every single thing on the list - something is still missing? It's like that. And answering the call is the opposite. Instead, it's the feeling of a stocked pantry, or of all the bills being paid, or all the doctor's appointments scheduled - the feeling that nothing is falling through the cracks. But when you willingly deny yourself the opportunity to answer the call or, to use my term, "package your genius" you create an internal sense of restlessness that will haunt you. And that restlessness will continue to haunt you until you honor - in some way - what you were put here to do. Restless. Unsettled. Uneasy. Until you pick up, you may not be able to put your finger on it, but you'll always get the sense that SOMETHING is missing.
Got dissonance? I would love to help you clear it. Check out Package Your Genius if you haven't read it yet. Pick up the companion workbook - a tool I made to help you think through the questions that can help you get closer. If you need help remembering how to answer the call, I'd be honored to support you this fall in Package Your Genius Academy. Visit the site to learn more and apply.
If I handed you the deed to the land that contained a diamond mine, how would you feel? Maybe you'd feel excited thinking about your good fortune and your riches, but after you thought about it, would you know what to do with it? Would not knowing overwhelm you? Would it make you walk away? No way. You'd do some research, call an expert, and figure out what one does with a valuable diamond mine. You'd figure out who has the equipment to extract the diamond, which people had the expertise to get it out, what the process is to get it up to commercial standards, and who the best buyers are for your specific type of diamond. You wouldn't throw up your hands and walk away just because you don't have the technical know-how to get these diamonds out of the ground, when you know they're valuable and people want them. But that's exactly what most of us are doing with our gifts. We've all got raw materials, but the problem is we don't know how to refine what we have, we don't have the equipment to extract it, and we're unfamiliar with the process of bringing our raw materials to market. So we make excuses for not taking the first step. We proclaim to be too busy, but when we find ourselves with extra time, we don't do it. We say we don't know how to get started, as if that's a good excuse. We console ourselves with stories - we're not business-minded, we're not great with computers, we're terrible salespeople, we're bad with software. But no one who is business minded, great with computers, great at sales or software was as good as they are today on the first day they tried it. And most people figure out what they need to know - just enough of what they need to know - in order to get the train moving. Which is what you need to do. It's what I need to do, because I'm guilty too. The days keep passing. The weeks, months, and years are all adding up, and it's not getting any easier to be a beginner. So today's as good a day as any to start. Think of a small way to get started - a small way to tackle what mentally feels like a bigger task than it likely is. For me, it's the book about how parents and teachers can use my work to support the talents of kids. I've had this book concept on my mind and heart for over a year, so practically, how can I make it happen? First, I can make a top level outline of my chapters, which I've done. Next, I can outline my subtopics for each chapter which I've yet to do. Then I can write a subtopic each week until they're all done. Easy. Notice that I didn't get into the weeds of how I'll manage structuring the book, getting it edited, published and marketed yet because all of that is irrelevant right now. I need to create some momentum first so I can feel what it's like to be moving in this direction. I need to get some small personal wins first and prove to myself that I can finish it before I even need to clutter my mind with more to dos. But this is what most of us do. We get so overwhelmed thinking about the book marketing that we don't even take the time to get still and write. Or we think about where we'll find office space before we have a stable block of customers. We're worrying about things too far in the distance instead of doing what we can do now. So do what you can do. If you've been saying you're writing a book, make an outline and write a few chapters. If you've been saying you want to start a business, land yourself a handful of clients and get into a rhythm to see how you like it. Business may not even be for you. But you'll never know until you have a taste of it. If you've been talking about starting a podcast, record three episodes then figure out the rest. Trust me, all of it is a mere google search away. Don't be afraid of being a beginner. But don't you dare walk away from a diamond mine because you don't know how to extract the gems out of the ground. Don't be afraid to do a little on how to make your dream happen. Think of the payoff.
Mining and refining raw materials is what I do. It's my passion to help you extract the gleaming gems that I know are inside of you and help get them ready for the marketplace. If you know you have valuable gifts inside you, but you are unclear on all of the how - how do I figure out what to focus on, how do I describe it to people, what do I charge - you NEED to get yourself into our visibility academy where we can work on it together. Enrollment is open now for the academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
Sometimes you have to take a different route to get where you're trying to go.
And while you may not like the idea of alternate routes - especially if you're a recovering perfectionist like me - you must admit, the route doesn't matter all that much.
Because if you end up still reaching your destination, who cares how you got there?
I had to learn (still learning!) to give myself grace when the journey doesn't look picture perfect.
At the end of the day, all that should matter is that I end up where I originally wanted to go - or someplace even better.
No season lasts forever, but in every ending there's a chance for some new beginning - if you keep your eye out for it.
Whether you're watching something come to an end, or you're ready to start a new chapter, what is it your season to do?
Meico Whitlock who I interviewed on Episode 41 - (How to harness your focus and set priorities) and Episode 63 - (How to Create a Vision for Your Life) taught me about the importance of being intentional with your time and setting finite priorities for each season.
As Meico teaches in his Mindful Techie courses and programs, once you identify your life vision and mission and set your specific goals, it's important to set no more than two priorities for any given season.
I'm excited about the intentional energy I'm putting behind my writing in this season, and I can't wait to see where that will lead. But I'm clear that it's truly time to prioritize writing after seeing a significant opening in my calendar related to my kids' school.
Again, as one season ends, another begins.
I hope that was whatever season is ending for you, in the clearing you'll see the opportunity to finally pursue the purpose that's been pursuing you.
Keep me posted...
Speaking of seasons, it's ENROLLMENT SEASON for Package Your Genius Academy!!! We're enrolling for both of our group programs - the Personal Brand Visibility Academy that focuses on building a purposeful personal brand, and the Maximum Exposure PR Mastermind.
If you're interested in putting some intentional energy behind your personal brand, apply for the visibility academy.
If it's your season to build momentum and land media exposure apply for the PR mastermind.
Sometimes your genius needs a break.
And you shouldn't feel bad about it.
In fact, you'll likely move further ahead, instead of falling behind as you may imagine. Rest helps you work smarter not harder - and I'm with that!
I learned this summer not to beat myself up for needing and taking rest - but to celebrate what happens to my mind, body and relationships when I take a step back and nurture myself in the way that I need.
How often do you take the break that you need to rejuvenate yourself? What's your favorite way to rest?
Change is hard, especially if you like tradition, routine, or growing accustomed to the way things are.
Change can also be hard when it's public-facing. You have all those prying eyes to consider. What will people think? How will this change their perception of me?
But what I've learned from experience is this: when you make a big change - say your hair color, or even your job - it may register briefly to outside world, but after that, humans do what humans do.
Adapt.
While you're fretting on and on about that big change you're afraid of making, once you make it, most people will barely notice. And if they do notice, the decision you lost sleep over will likely only register for an instant.
The new you will become the current you.
And the past you will be all but forgotten.
So if the changes we're stressing ourselves out over only register for a brief moment in time, why are we putting our lives on hold, failing to make the changes that could add more fulfillment and happiness to our days?
Is there something big you're ready to change? A relationship? A job? A service?
Your life is not set in stone. You can change all of it, with one swift decision.
The world will go on.
What's keeping you from moving forward?
I've seen a few posts recently about saturation - one post about there being too many courses. Another post about there being too many coaches. Both posts discouraging people who'd never coached or created courses to even try.
Because saturation.
But saturation doesn't matter when it comes to having a better solution. A more convenient solution. A more you solution.
When you think about coaches and courses simply as education, it makes me wonder why no one ever asks why there are so many schools?
We have public neighborhood schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, Montessori schools, private independent schools. Co-ed schools, single sex schools. PK-12 schools. Middle school only schools. High school only schools. And let's not even get started on college options - from community, to state university to small liberal college to prestigious Ivy League.
No one blinks at education options when we think of children. It's considered an unspoken truth and fact of life that children must be educated, so an overwhelming list of options is what we've come to accept.
And when it's time to choose an educational model for our kids, we buckle down and look at what makes the most sense for our children and our family situation.
Can we afford private or is public more our speed? What type of programs do they have for STEM? What's the art instruction like, my kid's super creative. We appreciate options when we look at them from the vantage point of giving our kids the best because we understand each child and each family is unique and has different needs.
Children grow up to be adults, and their education needs evolve but don't disappear.
And if you're a lifelong learner you already know that.
That's why new books come out every day: there are constantly new ways to explain old problems, more modern methods, more up to date approaches.
Which is why there are so many courses and coaches on the market. Since the economy is dynamic and changing, we need more people lighting the way not less. More styles of instruction, not fewer. More diverse voices and content, not the same old same old.
In Todd Rose's book Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment, he talks about among other things what he calls the Standardization Convenant. He shares that after the Industrial Revolution, we reached peak standardization - everything had to be uniform. But now we're entering a new era - the age of personalization.
One of the premises in the book is that in the era of personalization, education and work will be personalized - which we are already seeing with the advent of different types of schools and for adults, courses and coaches.
The proliferation of coaches and courses then, is a natural response to this new Wild Wild West of personalization: people who have been educated in the standardized way have to relearn how to listen to themselves and uncover what they're good at.
People are more and more interested in investigating what unique difference they can make with their lives - not how they can fit into a role that was designed for just anyone with a certain set of skills to fill.
So the next time someone sows seeds of doubt around your new course or coaching venture - and even if you're the one doing the sowing, remember that as our economy and society shifts from standardization to personalization, the need will likely grow for good coaches and course creators and guides - if you don't like the term expert - who can light the way.
If that is you and you have a message to share, don't miss the wave.
I break down a 5 step process for personal branding in Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand that starts with brand clarity. If you haven't ordered your copy, grab the book and companion workbook to get clarity on your personalized career path.
If you're ready for PR results, and want a PR team that won't be happy until your face is splashed all over tv screens and newspaper pages, apply to join us in the Maximum Exposure Mastermind.
Today is the first day of July, the first day of Q3, and the official halfway point of the year.
Since we only have six months left in 2019, if you've had time to reflect on the six months that have passed, you may be lamenting on how far you are from the goals you set in January.
(Or you may have crushed your goals completely, to which I say, yay you!)
But if you are nowhere near where you thought you'd be, consider this your pep talk - it's time to get back in the game.
I'm here to let you know, all is not lost.
Even if you were asleep from January - June, you can make up the difference with the months we have left. You simply need to revisit your goals, tweak your strategy, and decide what you're going to do differently.
But first, realize you're not alone. According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year's resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February.
I for one am guilty of hopping off the consistency train. At the end of May, I looked at my annual goals and felt a little demoralized; I simply was not on track with many of the goals I'd set.
But in true Amanda fashion, I had some surprise "sleeper" wins that helped me close out the month, the quarter, and the first half of the year in spectacular fashion.
Here's what's been going on: One of my goals for the year? More international travel. But for whatever reason when I set the goal in January, I failed to book any tickets or plan any trips. Fast forward to May: a friend asked if I could join her in Italy on the heels of a big conference she was attending for work. I said yes, spent an epic week in Italy in June, and just like that, my travel and adventure goals are back on track for the year.
Another goal? Double my podcast downloads in 2019. As June approached, I could see I wasn't on track to meet that goal. I had exceeded last year's numbers up to this point, but doubled them?
Not quite.
Then by chance I went looking for parenting podcasts to help me navigate a few issues with my kids as puberty is setting in, we're switching schools in the fall, and I need a more effective way to communicate with my soon to be teenaged son. I randomly met a parenting podcaster at a media event in mid-May. She's doing a challenge to record an episode every day this year, which inspired me to challenge myself to publish an ambitious 30 episodes in 30 days.
While I set out to do the challenge because I was inspired by the parenting podcast, I inadvertently boosted my podcast downloads due to the sheer volume of new episodes. And just like that, we're back on track and back on schedule to reach the 2x goal for the year.
Sidebar: I learned a lot about epic productivity, motivation, and building habits during that challenge and will share the lessons in a future missive, but for now, here are a few of my favorite episodes:
PYG 108 - You have to sell it PYG 100 - What are you willing to create? PYG 99 - Muscle Memory
PYG 97 - Making yourself at home on a new level
PYG 92 - Build a brand library so people can find your ideas
Another big goal? Land media exposure.
June was an exceptional month for our PR clients in Maximum Exposure. After two months of crafting ideas and pitching, I was honestly getting a little worried that we hadn't had more media wins. So at the beginning of June, I decided to further examine our process to figure out what might have been missing.
We focused more on breaking news, increased our time spent on research, and changed the order of the weekly program touch points. The result? Our changes worked like magic.
In the month of June alone, our students were interviewed or featured by Fast Company, the Washington Post, the Washington Post Express, ABC Milwaukee, V100.7 FM in Milwaukee, ABC 7 DC and Let's Talk Live.
While media exposure wasn't tied to a specific goal I set at the beginning of the year, it was tied to a goal I set when we opened our doors to the program in April.
And it was a great example of how sometimes you may plan for a trickle of sustained success over time, but end up with a flood of it all at once - if you can hone in on the right new strategy.
At the end of the day - by trickle or by flood - you can still reach your 2019 goals.
It may not happen out of the gate, but when you're honest about what isn't working and you decide to win, success can come at you fast.
If you're looking at July 1 with a side-eye because you are nowhere near where you thought you'd be by now, remember, you can change your results if you change your strategy.
You can make big things happen fast.
You can make up the difference in the months we have left.
You simply need to revisit your goals, tweak your strategy, and decide what you're going to do differently.
If your incremental strategy hasn't worked so far, maybe it's time to do something absurdly different so you can get absurdly different results.
Even if you're not blown away by what you've accomplished in the months behind us, get excited.
You can turn this year around!
We have one more spot to join us next month in Maximum Exposure. This is a high touch group PR program designed to get you media exposure - interviews, segments and features to pontificate about what you know best.
If you're ready for PR results, and want a PR team that won't be happy until your face is splashed all over tv screens and newspaper pages, apply here.
Making yourself visible means nothing if you're not willing to close the deal.
And yet, I see so often high achievers who are willing to teach others what they know, but unwilling to let people know how to take the next step and pay them.
But if you want to grow your brand, increase your salary and add commas to your business revenue, you have to sell yourself.
You have to sell yourself in meetings and mid-year reviews.
You have to sell yourself to your network and potential customers.
You have to sell yourself to the viewing audience of the tv segment you're on.
You have to sell yourself from the stage.
Here are 6 things to keep in mind as you set out to sell yourself:
Decide on what you want, quantify it, write it down.
I've said before, there's power in writing your goals down. I don't know what the science is, but I can tell you that it works.
Go after what you want.
If you want 4 new clients, make a list of 10 people who may be interested in what you're doing and call them up. Speak up and let people in your network know what you're looking for.
See the opportunity.
So many people look at company conference calls and meetings as a chore. But you should see them as an opportunity to get in front of new people with what you can do. Don't shrink from the opportunity to be seen and heard at work and at networking events.
Activate your network.
Talk to the people who already now you and ant you to win. Let them know hat you're doing now and how they can be helpful. Talk to your former clients and ask them who they know.
Take advantage of the spotlight.
If you have speaking engagements built around your coaching or book, don't forget to tell the audience how they can engage you more.
Be bold.
On my recent trip to Italy, I encountered an extremely confident waiter who proclaimed his cafe's coffee was not the best in Rome, but instead it was the best in all of Italy. That's the kind of bold confidence I want you to bring to your brand. That confidence helps others believe in you and what you have to offer. But it starts with you.
Get the book - I just shared step 5 - Sell Yourself - in the 5 step process I detail in Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand. If you haven't ordered your copy, you've got to get it - it's amazing!
Get Maximum Exposure - We have one teeny tiny spot left in my group mastermind Maximum Exposure for July. Do you want to land media exposure for your personal brand in a small group setting with other high achievers? If so, submit your application so we can find out if you're a good fit for what we're doing.
Visibility is important, but I don't believe in visibility for visibility's sake.
Media interviews, speaking engagements and social media content have been my method of creating inbound opportunities - opportunities that come to me.
In the last few months, visibility has yielded the following:
- a bulk book order from a Fortune 100 company's subsidiary
- a semi-conductor company invited me to develop a personal branding talk, and ordered a bulk order of the book
- a devoted listener of the PYG podcast referred her mentor who joined the PYG Academy
- countless coaching clients have said "I saw you in Forbes..." or "I heard you on Sirius XM...."
- A client who saw me speak at a conference in 2015 has been a client everyday since
It's worth it. Visibility helps you avoid feast or famine so your client pipeline never dries up.
To get started with your visibility efforts, follow these three steps:
- Think about the audience that buys what you're selling. What do they watch? What do they read? What events do they attend?
- Make a shortlist of opportunities you want to go after - which events would you like to speak at? Which media would you like to appear on? Remember - these should be where your audience is going.
- Craft a compelling pitch with a timely message, a seasonal hook, and the takeaways the audience will get from your segment or talk. Why does this particular audience need this information right now? Include that in your pitch.
I just shared step 4 - Make Yourself Visible - in the 5 step process I detail in Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand. If you haven't ordered your copy, um...what are you doing? Get your life and get this book - it's amazing!
We all know we should say something to be seen and heard, but...what?
How to find your thought leadership ideas is a topic I'm extremely passionate about, as most people are so close to their brilliance that it's hard for them to see how they can package it for other people.
Here are a few ways to know what you have to say if you're "too close" to your genius"
AGGRAVATION. Look at what irritates you or aggravates you - this could be the basis for a powerful Op ed.
SOLUTIONS. Look at the problems you solve. How can you create tactical content to help others?
CONTENT. Look at your existing content: if you speak, can you turn your deck into the basis for a book? If you write articles, can you turn them into a talk?
YOUR INSPIRATION. Look at when you first started doing what you do - what inspired you? What stories do you remember from that time?
YOUR AUDIENCE. What audience do you serve? Who was the first person representative of that audience that you remember helping?
When you're clear on a starting point for a big idea you want to explore, you can:
- Make a list of your frequently asked questions
- Make a list of the best and most timeless advice you typically give
- Make a list of people you'd love to interview - how can they serve as protagonists that illustrate the points you want to make?
- Make a list of your best results - let the case studies form your chapters or episodes
Define Your Big Ideas is the third step in the five step process of Package Your Genius. If you're interested in learning more about defining your big ideas, as well as the other four steps to building your most powerful personal brand, check out the book Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand, available on Amazon.
I've said it before - and I stand by the statement. You have to make the case for what you've done in order to get what you want now. Simply having the epiphany that you want to use your skills differently is not enough - you need receipts to back up your claims if you want people to pay you. But where I see most people getting stuck is they fail to look at the evidence and results they're closest to. The unpaid work, the help you lended a friend, that time you totally helped a family member regroup, save money, or plan the vacation of a lifetime. Most people think that if their results aren't tied to paid work, they don't count.Or if they're not tied to formal training, they don't count. But all you need to have evidence that you can do what you're telling people you can do is a repeated pattern of success. Whether you trained for it or came by it naturally, if people keep showing up to get a solution from you and you keep delivering, this is work you're capable of being compensated for. When you look over the evidence, what is your life telling you? What is your work telling you? What are your results telling you? Now look closely at the support you give people who may not compensate you. Notice I didn't say the work you do for people who don't compensate you, because often times the genius we share in those moments almost feels accidental; it's not difficult, it requires such little effort from us that if it weren't for the praise others give us, we wouldn't even realize the impact we've made. And it can be a tough thing to think about building a business around something that feels effortless, because work is supposed to require effort, right? Work is supposed to be hard! If I were to go out on a limb, I'd bet you that day after day, month after month, the people with immediate access to you are benefitting from your most purposeful work - the work that doesn't require you to be anything other than who you are naturally at your core. And you are probably leaving some impact on the table if you're not open to widening the circle of people who have the opportunity to experience your most natural gifts. Whatever form those gifts take. Even if you already have a successful business or career, more often than not, there's some gem you're leaving on the table if you can find your effortless evidence. Even if you're happy with what you're doing now, that thing you do so easily could be the key to the next service you offer, the next level of growth, or your next professional pivot. Here's an exercise - let's underthink our results. Let's under think our evidence. Let's look for the evidence that it doesn't even feel right to claim because the work didn't feel like work, and the task was so easy. It is there in that effortless evidence our true purpose can be found.
In my book Package Your Genius, I break a successful personal branding process down into 5 steps - get clear on your genius, make the case for what you bring to the table, define your big ideas, make yourself visible, and last sell yourself.
Today I want to dive a little more into that first step - getting clear.
In terms of getting clear on your genius, I've talked a lot about following your energy and assessing what information your energy is giving you. Typically, the work we find energizing is linked to our most purposeful work - this is the internal way we can assess which path to take. The other way is looking at external factors, or what the world is mirroring back to you in the questions you hear most often or the requests for help you regularly receive.
But lately I've been thinking about two other questions you can use to zero in on what you're meant to do, or at least what you can package and make money from right now.
The first thing is to think about what you've been able to successfully do that most people haven't. And this is not to say that no one has ever done it before, but at least the majority of people you interact with can't claim to have done the same thing.
I don't know if you do this, but I pay close attention to any marketing that speaks to me and encourages me to pull out my credit card. I'm on a lot of different email lists, so whenever someone is able to break through the noise, I try to dissect what made their offer so appealing to me. I got an email today that made me think twice about signing up on the spot, and I've also recently participated in a workshop series that I wouldn't have expected me to buy, if I were on the other side marketing to me, so what gives.
This morning, I got an email from Dorie Clark about landing your book deal. I was intrigued because I'm obsessed with the publishing industry right now, and Dorie is a well-respected author and thinker in the personal branding space. She's published a number of books through Portfolio Penguin, and she's putting together a workshop to talk through the book proposal process as well as how to land an agent. She's even invited her editor at Penguin to attend and is hosting a VIP dinner with a book agent.
For anyone who has aspirations of playing in that world - or even to understand the process from the vantage point of someone who has successfully navigated it - this event is very attractive. I didn't pull my credit card out immediately, but I thought it over because Portfolio Penguin has published a number of my favorite authors including Shane Snow, Ryan Holiday and Jenny Blake. Their authors seem to have this fraternity - they regularly invite one another on each other's platforms, interview one another for podcasts, mention each other in their newsletters, etc. It's definitely a circle worthy of tapping into if you like the type of books they write.
But I'm also interested in the pull back the curtain aspect of the book proposals. Dorie mentioned she'd share her failed proposals as well as the ones that won her the deal, introduce participants to her editor at Penguin and set up a VIP dinner with a literary agent. If ever there were a fact-finding mission for the publishing process, this is it!
So for you, the first follow up question to help you get even more clear on the genius you have access to right now is - What process have you successfully navigated? Can you pull back the curtain on your steps?
A second event I went to recently was hosted by Farnoosh Torabi and Susie Moore. They did a PR workshop where they invited about 12 or so NYC journalists to speak to attendees and break down what they're looking for in their pitches.
Even though I sell PR and do it successfully, I was interested in this event for two reasons: first, I struggle brainstorming my own PR ideas and ways to package what I do for the media. It's like the dentist who can't clean his own teeth or the cobbler with no shoes - sometimes it's hard to do what you do for others for yourself. So the chance to have other people brainstorm angles for me was exciting.
Secondly, I wasn't familiar with any of the journalists who were scheduled to attend. And while I'm in DC, New York is the center of media and you never can make too many media contacts. With the format of the event as it was, I knew we'd get a chance to rub shoulders and get to know them in an informal setting, which we did.
Most people including me would not have pegged me - a PR person - for a potential attendee for this workshop. But the way the event was packaged spoke to me - the idea of working on my pitches, hearing feedback and adding 10-12 new contacts to my list was exciting. The opportunity to meet these new journalists though was the closer.
Which brings me to my second focusing question - What hard to get to people do you have access to? Who might want to know them, and how can you create an opportunity for them to connect?
An interesting thing about both of these potential events - they found something the've already successfully done, and the promised to walk you through a process. Then they brought in hard to access people - national media journalists, book agents, book editors - so you can hear straight from the horse's mouth and possibly make a connection.
A lot of people get hung up on what track record they need to have in order to be credible to others. But the results are all the credibility you need.
The book workshop isn't about writing a New York Times Bestseller. It's simply about writing a book proposal and landing a book deal with a mainstream publisher.
The PR event isn't promising you a spot on the Today Show, but it does lay out the steps someone took to do that, and gives you the access to potentially make that happen.
What process are you looking over in your day to day work? What major feat have you accomplished the others may want to learn?
It could be as simple as losing a certain amount of weight in 90 days, or getting a baby to sleep through the night by the time they're 8 weeks old.
We're all sitting on genius processes that others would pay handsomely for. So think through your past results and your current network and let me know what you come up with.
Yesterday I talked about the power of speaking your dreams into existence, and how IF you've verbalized your desires, your mind subconsciously sets you on a path to achieve the things you want to do, even if you've lost your nerve or don't feel confident. Well looking over my written goals for 2019 has given me a window into how powerful writing your goals down can be even if you don't set out with an intentional plan. I didn't realize it before reviewing the goals, but I'm on track to reach them. I won't go through them all, but a few of the goals I wrote down at the beginning of the year were 1. To double my revenue 2. Take 4 vacations - 2 domestic, 2 international 3. Double my podcast downloads from last year 4. Quadruple my book sales from last year At the halfway mark, I just happened to look at my full list of annual goals and realized that I've already accomplished a few of them in some way. The most interesting thing though was that I didn't reach the goals in the way I'd originally planned to reach them. So for example, my husband took another job that increased our household income and that wasn't how I thought our household earnings would grow when I made out that list. I am on track to double my annual revenue, but I thought it was mainly going to be through my group programs. Instead, I've had a number of unexpected corporate invitations come up that have helped close that gap. In terms of the vacations, I wanted to take two domestic and two international trips some solo and some with my family. For some of my goals I see them through the lens of my household, so at this point I've already taken two international trips, my husband went on a delegation to Mexico, and we traveled domestically with the boys for spring break. We're planning one more summer trip with them before school starts back. But two of the international trips came out of the blue. He was invited to be a part of the delegation 10 days before the trip. The Italy trip as I've mentioned before happened because a friend was coming here for a conference and asked me on a whim if I just happened to be available. Another goal was to double my podcast downloads from last year. Originally I divided that annual number by 12 to get an idea of how many downloads I needed to get each month, then I divided that number by 4 to see how many downloads I'd need to reach with each weekly episode. Around March, I realized I was consistently falling short by a few thousand downloads each month. My initial strategy was to show up consistently every week, switch podcast hosts and get the podcast up on Spotify and Google Play. Those definitely helped, but I hadn't quite hit the number I wanted, so I was thinking about stepping up the marketing, maybe doing ads. Then I met Heather Chauvin and heard about her daily podcast challenge and thought it would be a fun thing to try for a month. I had no thoughts on how doing the challenge would effect my downloads - I honestly didn't even consider what would happen, but to my surprise, doing this daily challenge has essentially caught me up so to speak in terms of where I should be at the halfway point of the year. So I've already hit last year's numbers 6 months in - but it's only because of the podcast challenge, that only occurred to me at the end of May. For my goal of increasing book sales, I assumed I would initiate social media ads to begin driving traffic to the book. But I didn't anticipate bulk book orders from companies I had no prior relationship with getting me to that goal. So I'm on track with the book sales too, but again not in the way I originally expected to be. I thought that was interesting to note how all of these goals are in play even though I couldn't see it happening. So since it looks like what I'm doing is working, I have four tips for you to use as you set out to reach your goals. 1. Write down your goals. I don't know what the science is, but it works. Even if you don't think through your plan to reach your goals write them down. Put them out there. They're now in your brain even when you're not thinking about them intentionally. 2. Don't get discouraged if you haven't reached your goal on an incremental timeline. Especially if your goal involves a quantity like my doubled revenue, doubled podcast downloads and 4 trips. You may need only one client to double your revenue. You could have one influencer share your podcast and allow you to meet that goal in one week. You could take a month off and get your four trips in. Being rigid in your thinking can make you blind to what's actually happening. 3. Be open to meeting your goal in a way you didn't expect. It won't always look like how you imagine it. There are many streets that lead to the same place. Just because I am not going to double my revenue through my group programs doesn't mean I'm not going to double my revenue at all. There are corporate sources that have shown up unexpectedly that are helping me close that goal gap. I had no idea any of those would pan out 6 months ago. Don't limit yourself with what you know - we don't know everything. 4. Review the goals periodically. Stay acquainted with them. Bring your intentional brain to the goals. My next level is going to be envisioning myself reaching my goals each day so I can get them out of that subconscious part of my brain and in the forefront so I can use them. What about you? How are you doing with your goals for the year? Are you on track to reach them? Do you need to play around with a new strategy if you're not on track? Did you have any goals for the year? I'd be curious to know how the year is shaping up for you.
If you've been listening to the podcast, you know I've been in Italy for the past week or so, and it's been an amazing trip, I've had a great time. But I was reflecting on the fact that I almost didn't come. About six weeks ago,a friend asked me to join her in Italy since she'd be traveling here for a conference. I did something I normally don't do - I didn't hesitate. I said yes. I've been thinking about ways to get more adventure into my routine, because I've been head down grinding on behalf of my family, and my academy programs for the past two years. Taking a vacation or traveling anywhere internationally used to be on my mind all the time, but in this new season, it has been completely off the radar for me. And funny enough, I've written the words adventure and travel in my journal and on my vision board, but haven't made the time to create any intentional plans. So when my friend asked me if I'd like to meet her in Italy I just said yes. I had to make sure my husband would be in town to cover the kids, that I wouldn't be out of town speaking, and that I wouldn't miss anything major. But I remember saying "count me in" as I hung up the phone with her, checked my calendar, checked in with my husband, and looked into the price of flights. I said yes because the opportunity resonated so deeply with me, and spoke directly to what I'd already verbalized. When the opportunity to have an adventure and get some travel in presented itself it spoke to me on a soul level. Now reflecting back on the week that just passed, I'm in awe of the opportunity to step away from my routine and get refocused and re-energized on the opportunity that is my life. While seeing some of the places I've always wanted to see, and experiencing Europe as a person of means (not a broke college student) has been powerful, it has also made me reflect on why I don't say yes more often. I love the process of travel because it allows you to get some distance from your day to day. When you're not in the thick of things, you can get the perspective that you're too close to observe when you're in the weeds of your life and business. My friend and I were reflecting on the year that has passed, and while I'm so proud of the things I've been able to make happen in the last 12 months, I had to call myself out on not tackling one big specific goal. About a year and a half ago, I helped my son publish his first book, and he's gone on to publish two other titles. The process of helping him allowed me to see very clearly where I was falling short on my own goal to write and publish a book, so in packaging his genius I got a clear confirmation that it was time for me to finally write Package Your Genius and get it out into the world. I poured my heart and soul into the project and spent the first half of the year writing and editing the book and published it in early fall. I promoted it on social media and did a moderate amount of press, but nothing crazy. I put it out there, got a good response and felt good about checking that book off the list. Because if you know anything about me, you know I have about 3 other books currently in the queue. So this was just the first. But something started tugging at my heart shortly after I published the book. And that was this bigger vision of publishing other people's books - not ghost writing the books and assisting them with the process. But being a full on publisher focused on amplifying marginalized voices, especially women of color who want to write non-fiction books tied to their professional expertise. So I had this big insight, then I did nothing. I did what we do when we're staring our big dream in the face. I talked myself out of it. I told myself that to do what I really want to do - launch a boutique publishing imprint - would be impossible. Who would I publish? How would the process work? How would the marketing and distribution work? Where would I find authors? What about all of the parts of the process that aren't my expertise - the legal, creative, artwork? How would royalties work? What about author advances? Would people pay for this process, like a coaching program? Or would I take on their projects for a slice of the future revenue potential? So many questions hit me and I got bogged down in the details. Paralysis settled in. I didn't move. Instead I mentally pushed this dream to the back of my dream drawer, and locked it tight. But the funny thing about an opportunity when it is YOUR opportunity? It will come back and find you - haunt you even - when you're least expecting it. It will find its way out of that locked drawer and back to the forefront of your mind, because once you think it, verbalize, and let's not even think about what happens when you write it down - it's in the ether. Like me writing the words adventure and travel down on my vision board, but taking no intentional steps to book a trip, and then a friend proposing the perfect remedy to my rut, the same thing happened with my kernel of an idea around publishing. No less than a month after I verbalized wanting to publish others, a friend mentioned how she'd love to write a book, but had no idea where to start. Then a client mentioned how having a book would be a great way to build more leverage at her speaking engagements, but she needed to sit down and think through how to make it work. Then while in Florida speaking at a conference, I randomly ran into an alum of PYGA. She mentioned that ever since her cohort wrapped up she's been thinking about how she can make her book happen, but she knows she can't do it alone. Three separate confirmations from three separate people showing me a pathway to do what I already said I wanted to do. And would you believe I still wasn't convinced? That's what I've been exploring this week in Italy. Why am I fighting against what I already claimed? It It just about fear? Not believing it can work? It could totally not work. But it totally COULD work. When you think about traditional publishers - Random House and Penguin all started somewhere, likely with one person or a small team of people that had a vision. They had to start somewhere. Maybe where I am right now is where it starts. If this trip has taught me nothing else, it is that I can't lose when I say yes to the opportunity I already put out there. Why can't my publishing imprint be my next thing? But whether it is my next thing or not, I'm not willing to waste any more time languishing in indecision. What about you? How much more time will you spend overthinking? How many more times will you pass on the opportunity to do what we truly want? When confirmation presents itself, just say yes. And see what happens. You never know, it just might work.
On episode 100, I briefly shared the concept of being an activator or a maintainer. Understanding whether you’re an activator or maintainer can help you figure out the best way you’re called to serve others if you’ve decided to package your genius by working with people. Do you know which one you are? As a start, activators tend to feel very energized up front; they’re excited and often have the ability to transfer their energy to others. Activators get people unstuck and projects off the ground. Activators can focus intensely for a pre-determined set of time, from an hour to three months to a year - as long as there's an end in sight. They appreciate knowing the starting point and ending point up front. Some are commitment-phobic. Activators like brainstorming, getting projects off the ground, being a part of the creation process, and tend to lose patience if projects or problems linger without ever reaching a sense of completion or resolution. Maintainers, on the other hand, don’t find the day to day mundane. They keep projects going. They enjoy long relationships sustained and developed over time. Maintainers get excited by open ended arrangements; they prefer a commitment as short term projects scare them. Maintainers’ best work often comes out over time once they have had a chance to ‘warm up’. Maintainers also don’t mind keeping up what someone else created or first put in place. They often work through relationship - the longer you know and work with them, the deeper and richer the experience gets. Which type do you resonate with?
Drumroll please...
I've just reached a major milestone. I've recorded my 100th podcast! I'm so excited!
This podcast has evolved over the 2.5 years I've been doing it, and there have been some bumps and bruises along the way. But for the most part, I'm very happy with the journey and where I am now as a podcaster.
Thank you for being here!
On this special episode, I come to you live from the streets (literally) of Rome, Italy. I set up a podcast studio on the sidewalk, ordered cappuccinos and hit record.
I was joined by my frequent collaborator Dr. Reisha Moxley, who you may know from earlier episodes (in the 30s) when we recorded a few conversations on high achievement and psychology.
Reisha joined me again today for this retrospective - we discussed the past, present and future of my podcasting journey. She played Oprah and interviewed me about the experience of podcasting to this point.
We discussed why you should create a podcast or write a book if people keep asking you the same questions, or you get the same requests for advice from different sources.
We talked about how capsule projects can help you establish your brand and allow you to offer a "level one" body of knowledge to people who are new to your ideas.
We dove into the difference of being an activator vs a maintainer, and which type we each identify with personally.
Finally, we discussed how your path to purpose may be waiting for you to create something of your own.
Thank you for being a part of Package Your Genius!
Eternally grateful,
-aml
Muscle memory is defined as "the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement."
From Wikipedia: "When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems. Examples of muscle memory are found in many everyday activities that become automatic and improve with practice, such as riding a bicycle, typing on a keyboard, entering a PIN, playing a musical instrument,[1] poker,[2] martial arts or even dancing."
But beyond riding a bicycle (you never forget, right) or playing a musical instrument, there is a degree of muscle memory involved in doing the activities required to build your personal brand in a public way.
I was reminded of a time I spoke on a stage during a period of intense personal grief, in the wake of my father's death. Although I can't recall anything I said that day, whatever I said was enough to catch the attention of new clients, and win the respect of corporate sponsors.
If you're nervous about putting yourself out there, may I remind you, you've already done the work.
Lean on your muscle memory - your hard-won expertise - and don't put pressure on yourself to know everything and be brilliant in the moment. You can access the lessons you've learned along the way whenever you need them. They're there for you.
An old story - everybody has one.
Typically old stories are framed by absolutes - "I never..." or "I always..." or "I'm not someone who..."
But we have the power to change our actions, and in doing so change our stories.
I want to change the story about myself that I'm not adventurous; I don't travel. I'm broadcasting this episode from Italy where I am in the midst of an adventure - an impromptu trip sparked by a friend who was traveling here for a conference.
By booking the flight (and showing up for it) I changed my mind about myself. I am a woman who travels and has adventures - I'm not just work, work, work.
But you can change any behavior, and the associated identity that goes with it. So what do you want to change?
Pick one negative thing you say about yourself - i.e. "I'm not a person who works out..." and then book something - a training session or pilates class - that refutes that idea. )I've found that if I spend money, I'm less likely to flake out).
I'm going to spend some time on this trip making a list of traits I wish I embodied. Then I'm going to sign up for one thing in each category so I can be on the road to being who I really want to be.
Feel free to hold me to it.
If you're a high achiever who's anything like the people I work with most often, you're always thinking about the next step, and pondering how you'll get to your next level.
You may be making gains in your career, or putting in the work to build your credibility and your personal brand in the process.
But what happens when all your hard work takes you exactly where you wanted it to, but you don't feel quite ready yet on the new level you've rightly earned?
Do you shrink or decide you can't cut it here? Or do you challenge yourself, stretch your legs out, and set out to get more comfortable?
If you've recently found yourself with a new level of client, speaking on a bigger stage, or recently promoted, things may not immediately click at first.
But give yourself some time, give yourself grace.
You're only on this new level because of all the work you put in before.
Lean on the steps you took to get to this point, and be confident in my personal mantra that "You've already done the work..."
If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us in July.
It's not always easy to hear other people's opinions about how you can improve - let's face it, we all have egos.
But in my journey, rarely has my next level of success been on the other side of praise and flowery feedback. It typically only surfaces after I've heard something that I didn't want to hear.
Ouch.
I talk to professionals of all stripes who find themselves in one of two positions: on the one hand they may be the recipients of feedback that doesn't feel good. The delivery may have been rough. They get defensive or feel hurt.
Or on the other hand they're getting zero feedback - but clearly need it, because their career is at a standstill.
Who would you rather be?
While it's not always great to hear the ways we can improve, if we have people in our lives who are willing to level with us, that's a true gift.
It's not always easy to welcome it with open arms, but if it can help you fill in your gaps and level up, consider feedback a gift.
If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us for our next cycle.
Work hard, play hard.
Nice mantra, but I rarely live it.
In fact, I find it hard to to play hard - but working hard comes easy.
Maybe you can relate? As a high achiever especially, you may be able to get into your work groove easily, but relaxing your self to play? Not always so easy.
I'm working on being more intentional when it comes to playing hard. What's all the work for after all if I'm not able to enjoy the fruits of my labor?
If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us.
So much work we do goes unnoticed and uncelebrated. It's easy to keep our heads down doing what needs to be done.
Sometimes it can feel demoralizing when others don't seem to take notice of all you do at work or at home.
I recently realized how much of my hard work is getting noticed - even when I don't feel think it is. It made me think of how much of what we do is likely more noticed than we realize...
If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us in July.
While it's nice to think it's never too late to follow your dream, in reality, some dreams have a shelf life.
Whether they depend on you being youthful, a relevant technology, or your own level of personal freedom, there are periods in all of our lives when it's easier to do certain things than others.
That's why you should strike while the iron is hot. Don't wait to feel ready, don't wait to leap; if you wait too long, you may miss your moment.
As a good friend and PR expert shared with me when discussing one of my brand ideas, "the window for this opportunity will close soon...so if you want to make a mark on this issue, do it soon..."
I share the same idea with you. None of us are getting any younger. Technology changes at rapid speed. The pace of business is dizzying.
If you have an idea that is marketable now, launch it.
If you have always dreamed of living abroad and a job opportunity opens up overseas, take it.
If you have a book idea and the topic is hot right now, write it.
Strike while the iron is hot. Nothing stays hot forever.
If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us in July.
I'm a collector - and have always been. You could call me a digital packrat, and I couldn't argue with you.
By that I mean, I don't let content go to waste - as much as possible, I create shareable nuggets from whatever I have to say.
No one does this better than Gary V - his entire life is content, and he approaches it as such.
But for you or me, how can we start building a brand library, and how can it help us?
For me, making sure to create content that creates a hyperlink has been key to growing my searchability over the years. If you google my name, there's a lot to find, and that's by design.
I may not have one million followers, but I have million dollar SEO.
Being searchable online helps clients find me, and has helped corporations begin the process to bring me into speak.
But it's because I don't "throw away" my best ideas on Instagram stories or Snapchat. I create a record and a library by putting them here, on the podcast or on the blog. Whenever I can, I'm looking for ways to create a hyperlink so my best ideas are instantly sharable.
What about you?
Are you giving your best content away on platforms that don't serve your searchability?
Brand food for thought.
If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us in July.
My childhood friend Koya has a new book and it's now available wherever books are sold. Let Your Fears Make You Fierce by Koya Webb
While attending a women's leadership conference in California, I heard one of the presenters drop a nugget that I don't think I'll soon forget.
When addressing a room full of junior leaders, many of whom were concerned about "work-life balance" (or more fashionably, "work-life integration") she mentioned that she didn't think she or any of her fellow panelists believed they 'had it all'.
"I don't think any of us up here believes that we have it all," she said before pausing. "But then again, maybe we do..."
Have you ever considered that you already 'have it all' in this very moment - or at least all that you dreamed of one year ago, or ten years ago? Are you present to the absolute miracles that are unfolding in your personal life, at work, in your business, in your relationships?
We tend to tune out the everyday evolutions, the incremental signs of growth -while making sure not to miss that important email, or phone call or text. And in doing so, we're blind to the many miracles we're ironically setting ourselves up to miss,
I pondered this leading up to a trip to California and shared my musings from the beach.
I was recently quoted as a personal branding expert in the Washington Post article - How defining and honing a personal brand can help you stand out. Thank you to Beth Luberecki and the Washington Post for the opportunity to share.
Your brand needs a process - that is if you want to monetize.
But are you aware of what your process is? Most people aren't aware of it, but we typically have a way we go about getting results for others.
If you can outline step-by-step how you make the magic so to speak, your genius will be much easier to communicate and to sell.
If you're planning to monetize your personal brand - and by that I mean, you're ready to cash in on the expertise you've been unwittingly accumulating over the years, one of the very first things you'll need is a process.
And by that I don't just mean a process to sign people up for your service, or a process to accept payments while those are also important processes to have.
What I mean by a process is the actual process you take yourself through whenever you're doing what you do best.
It's easy to not even notice your personal process for results when you work within a larger organization - you may confuse your personal process with the organization's process, and the two may be very similar.
But more often than not, you bring a degree of personalization and specialization to everything you tackle, due to the fact that you are you.
Some of the benefits of having a process for your genius?
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Your current and future clients will know what to expect
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Having a process makes you feel more confident in what you have to offer - you know there are specific steps to take, so you'll be able to see when things are "off".
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A process is easier to sell, both for you and to your potential customers. It's easier for you to sell because you can create additional systems - to market, deliver, process payments - and then outsource parts of those systems to other people/technology. It's easier to sell to customers because having a process is just plain sexy. It screams "I've done this before."
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A process positions you as an expert. When you're able to communicate that you have a specific way of doing things, you step into trusted advisor status - and trusted advisors are more revered, more respected, and better paid. When you can show you have a process to deliver results, you put your clients at ease; they can rest easy knowing you know what you're doing and you aren't just 'winging it'.
What process do you have for your genius? In the next episode I'll share how to identify your process. And trust me, if you're getting consistent results for people, you have one. So let's nail it down.
Package Your Genius - 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon. Check out the new personal branding book today.
Too many of us err on the side of humility when it comes to crafting our personal brand messages.
But humility won't sell you.
Think about the opportunities you're up for - you're likely competing with others. And while you shouldn't view your life as a competition, to a degree it is. When you have to make the case for why you over someone else, your humility can be a liability.
Many people fear that they come off as "obnoxious" when they describe why they're the best fit. But if you're telling the truth, there's nothing obnoxious about your truth.
It is what it is.
Check out the June 10, 2019 issue of Washington Post Express for a quote by yours truly!
The past 48 hours have been far from ideal.
But in retrospect, they could have been far worse.
I'm holding onto that nugget as I process the past and attempt to move forward, but quite honestly, earlier today I hit an emotional wall. It is taking some serious self-coaching to get myself back into a good headspace, and I'm not even completely there yet.
Thankfully, life has a funny way of giving you perspective when you're too wrapped up in yourself to see how inconsequential the small things really are.
What do you do when you hit an emotional or mental wall?
How do you bring yourself back?
How do you refocus yourself?
I'd love to hear how you process.
If you’ve been building your brand for any length of time, you likely have a body of work.
But are you leveraging all the work you’ve done and ideas you’ve shared up to this point?
I was reviewing one of my websites and realized I have accumulated 6 years of regular content.
Yet when people encounter me TODAY, they may only be aware of a small snapshot of what I’ve done.
I will be the first to say I could do a better job of sharing stuff from my archives to those who may have missed it the first time.
What about you?
Remember - good ideas are worth repeating.
When it comes to personal branding, most people will remember the message not the photos or logo.
When you eat, breathe ,and live what you care about the most, people take notice. They'll think of your topic and then think of you.
When you stay on message, you stay top of mind.
You don’t have to be featured in a major publication for people to understand what you’re passionate about. Your passion for what you do should ooze through you at home and at work whether you're delivering a talk on stage or making small talk with colleagues.
3 Ways to stay on message when it comes to what you care about?
- Rant about what bothers you in the industry
- Tell personal stories about what has happened to you in relation to your topic of expertise
- Let your wider network know whenever you get the chance to speak or do formal media on your topic
If people don’t understand what you do, that’s a messaging problem you can fix. My program and others are designed to tackle that.
But if people don’t know what you’re passionate about, that’s on you.
Stay on message and they'll know what you're about - and they'll think of you when that topic comes up.
How many times have you formed an opinion based on one person's comment?
How many times have you made up your mind about a restaurant, a company, or a city after only having experienced it one time, or reading one bad review?
Do you tell yourself a story based on only 1-2 pieces of evidence?
And when it comes to going after clients, pitching yourself for media opportunities, or leveling up in your career - have you ever decided to give up after hearing one no?
We're all guilty of having done this at least once or twice.
But my message for you today?
Cast a wider net before you call it quits.
This is a wide and vast planet, with over 7 billion people at my last check. While you may not have been able to sell the last person you pitched on your idea, your business or yourself - you have likely not exhausted all of your options.
It's impossible to exhaust the option in most things, especially when there are new ones popping up that you may not even be aware of.
Here's your reminder of that - before you go making up stories about why you can't do or have what you want, ask yourself if you've cast your net as wide as possible.
If the answer is no, think outside of the box you've put yourself in.
I'm not sure if it's a high achiever thing or what, but overthinking has cost me so much as a professional. And it's directly tied to feelings of imposter syndrome.
In the past, when feelings of imposter syndrome made me anxious, I would find myself waking up in the middle of the night. If it hit me during waking hours, my stomach would turn somersaults whenever my stress point was triggered.
In recent years, I've learned a powerful reframe that I use whenever I start to veer toward anxiety. And that simple mantra?
"I've already done the work."
Shout out to my friend Dr. Reisha Moxley who gave me that excellent mantra. It's come in handy more times than I can count.
If you struggle with imposter syndrome - face it, we all feel like imposters at one point or another - try that mantra on and see how it helps you.
Then think if you're letting one failure cripple you indefinitely as I discussed in episode 80.
If you find that you are, make a list of every single reason you're ready for this opportunity. And keep referring back to it. When you find yourself overthinking your next move, or succumbing to anxiety, picture yourself doing everything on that list.
As I mentioned in the episode:
Congratulations to PYG Academy Maximum Exposure's Amber Cabral who was featured in Fast Company today! Check out the article - and please share:
Fast Company - I've Trained 5,000 Leaders. Here's how 1-Day Diversity Trainings Are Not Enough
My gift to you - save $$$ on my signature personal branding toolkit the Branding Box with the secret code you heard on the podcast. Enter the code after clicking checkout at www.thebrandingbox.com
When I was a little girl, I remember thinking I was always doing too much. In fact, the message was reinforced by the well-meaning adults in my life who I felt wanted to put me in a box.
But they probably wanted me to fit in more than anything else. And as a parent now who is in charge of shaping young people, I can relate to the instinct to want your child to fit in at all costs.
But some of us were just born to be different.
Some of us were born to stand out.
Some of us have to do the most - it's just our natural speed.
Leaning into this daily podcast challenge has helped me see that doing a little extra is my normal. And while I may not keep the daily episodes going forever, it's certainly easier to pull off than I thought it would be.
In part because, I thrive when I'm given a big challenge. I like to be stretched a little more than usual. I'm in my bag when I've got something absurd to achieve.
"Regular" doesn't keep my attention.
Reflection questions for you - what were you doing as a young person when you were told you were doing the most? Or maybe your experiences are more recent, and others think you go overboard at work, in your marriage, or in your parenting.
Whatever gets you side-eyes from the world may be a clue to your brand magic. Instead of dialing that part of yourself down, try turning it up.
Let me know what happens.
As Mentioned in the Episode
Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Personal Brand is available on Amazon. Get it.
The Package Your Genius Companion Personal Branding Workbook - a book full of introspective prompts - is there too. Grab yours now.
I've noticed a funny thing on calls with friends, clients and prospects over the last few days. And that is the idea that because you're giving your skills away to friends and family, they're not worth anything in the marketplace.
And it's an easy assumption to make.
Think about it - if you routinely offer up your life-changing, career-catapulting, business-building skills to friends and family for free, you'll subconsciously get the message that your skills aren't worth anything.
So be mindful when you offer up freebies to those you love.
Help friends and family out with your gifts. But don't make the mistake of assuming that just because people don't pay they're not getting massive value from what you're serving up.
You're not fulfilling a passion or hobby - you're operating a pro bono business that is already generating value for the world.
You just haven't figured out how to extract compensation for the value you provide yet.
More on that in a future episode :)
Traumatic events of the past have a way of shaping how we approach our present, and how we plan for the future.
I was reminded of that on a coaching call earlier when a client recalled a painful memory about a business venture she abandoned years ago after receiving a single negative review.
And the negative review ended up being fake news! The client recanted shortly thereafter, but the damage had been done.
The sting of "you're not good enough" forced my client to shut down any dreams she had of pursuing the business, even after hearing that the client was actually happy with her work!
It's the subconscious mind that grabs an idea and holds on to it for dear life. It's why so many people allow a failure - real or perceived - to cripple them indefinitely.
But these are stories you're unknowingly telling yourself about why you can't do what has been put on your heart to do.
And stories are just that - stories. They're not always true.
What stories are you telling yourself about why you can't do, go, or be what you desire most?
I'm challenging myself to publish a podcast each day this month. Here goes the first episode - what to do when the opportunity seems to big, and you don't feel ready yet.
I recently had what felt like life ministering to me when I bought a new bicycle for my son.
He had aged out of his kiddie big box store bike, and I wanted to get him a new set of wheels from the bike shop.
When I ended up purchasing said new wheels, I immediately had buyer's remorse.
Because of his long legs, the salesperson had advised me to go with an adult-sized bike instead of the older youth bikes.
But when the new bike came in and we went to pick it up, I immediately felt it was too big. Knowing my child - and his reckless, careless tendencies - it felt like a recipe for disaster.
But disaster wasn't exactly what was on the menu for him. His ability to grow quickly taught me a lesson about how poised for growth we all are.
Listen in and chime in. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
May is Mental Health Month and I've been meaning to do an episode on mental health for some time. I mainly wanted to talk about what I've experienced personally, and what I've witnessed with other high achievers. As you know, my personal branding and coaching practice is geared towards high achievers and with that comes a unique brand of personality - typically I work with hard-driving, ambitious, super smart people who have been working hard to achieve since childhood. While many of us are simply wired this way, I've increasingly been pondering how achievement can sometimes be more harmful than helpful, and how easily we can straddle the line between performing at the highest levels and burning ourselves out. I have personally struggled for decades with anxiety, depression, and perfectionism; on the one hand, I believe that the unique way my brain is wired makes me a more sensitive thinker, a more eloquent writer and a more connected coach. I am able to relate with a range of emotional and life experiences by the very virtue of my own experiences. But when things are bad, they're real bad, and for many years I paid a high price of my brain chemistry. I struggled with the shame of trying to hide my depression from new friends and colleagues. It cost me relationships and new experiences I may have otherwise had, had I not been so guarded. Fortunately, in recent years and with the help of gifted therapists I've learned how to take better care of myself and my gift so I don't struggle so much. I've zeroed in on my triggers as well as some of my non-negotiables so I can cultivate personal peace and live in a space of joy. I've shared how my physical health has come into focus in recent months as I better understand how important it is for me to safeguard my physical vessel if I want to effectively access my gift. Taking care of my mental health is just as important. So for today's episode, I wanted to have a conversation with a young woman who reminds me a lot of myself 10 years ago - ambitious, coming into her own and making a name for herself in the media world while also managing her anxiety and depression. I wanted to bring her on the podcast to shed light on the inner workings of high achievement and to share the lessons she has to teach us because she is wise beyond her years. Our guest today is Dominique B. Fluker. About Dominique: Dedication, passion, curiosity. Dominique B. Fluker is a content strategist, writer, and Senior Account Executive at Max Borges Agency specializing in influencer relations and launching effective and impactful social programming for Cricket Wireless and AT&T. Her deep ability to understand analytics and metrics has allowed her to be successful in leveraging audience insights to drive impactful content to specific audiences across digital platforms. Through her work in public relations, social media strategy and content development, Dominique has successfully amplified the online presence of the following brands: TIDAL, Air New Zealand, Microsoft Pulse, Israel Ministry of Tourism, Taylor Morrison, Senseo, WeWork, and more. In addition to her work as a content and social strategist, Dominique has a budding writing career. In 2018 she embarked on her writing journey with ForbesWomen and ESSENCE Magazine. Within an 11-month time span, Dominique strategized to bring 30 stories to life that are centered in millennial based entrepreneurship, specifically highlighting women of color. In August of 2018, she was elevated to Senior Contributor at Forbes and invited to speak on the “Standing Out From The Pack” panel at Forbes HQ which highlighted her articles and decision to profile millennial women of color entrepreneurs in business and the arts. Dominique is passionate about telling stories of other dynamic millennial women and helping brands explore the interconnectivity of culture and communication through social media to garner awareness and to create an impact. Dominique received a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts, from Sarah Lawrence College in 2014 and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Find Dominique Online You can find Dominique online at werquedominique.com and @werque_dominique on Instagram. You can check out her Forbes stories and profiles of amazing women at Dominique Fluker x Forbes. MY HAND-PICKED MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION, TOOLKITS, AND RESOURCES NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness - Learn More MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE THERAPIST Dr. Reisha Moxley is a therapist based in Atlanta, Georgia and a personal friend. Conversations with Dr. Moxley have been life-changing for me. She helped me in so many ways from seeing the depth of my own imposter syndrome to helping me develop a new approach to anxiety by giving me a mantra - "you've already done the work" among other powerful tools. She is an integral part of our Package Your Genius Academy where she hosts sessions for our students as a performance coach. And she also works with patients privately - you can find her on LinkedIn. Listen to our podcast interviews PYG 37 - How to Push Past Imposter Syndrome and Claim the Full Power of Your Gift PYG 35 - The Gift and the Curse of the High Achieving Mindset PYG 26 - How to Move Past Fear and Step into Your Big Dream MENTAL HEALTH GENIUSES TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER Dr. Thema (@DrThema) - I first heard her on Redefining Wealth with Patrice Washington on episode titled Stop Suffering in Silence. Definitely listen to that episode and check out her daily Twitter ministry, which is incredible. Dr. Steven Brownlow (@sgbrownlow) - He's the founder of Adept Psychology also offers bite-sized nuggets of therapy every single day. I found him on episode 18 of Therapy Chat - Can Therapists Really Change the World? Follow him own Twitter to open your mind up to new perspectives. MENTAL HEALTH PODCASTS I LOVE Therapy for Black Girls Podcast with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford who also has a directory of therapists if you're looking for an African-American therapist. This priceless directory has over 1,000 therapists listed. Therapy Chat Podcast with Laura Reagan, LCSW-C is one of my favorites as Laura brings on experts from a variety of mental health specialties to share their expertise. A few of my very favorite episodes: 148 - Effects of Childhood Traumatic Stress on Physical & Mental Health 111 - Relationships and Childhood Emotional Neglect 092 - The Emotionally Absent Mother & The Effects of Childhood Emotional Neglect Mom is in Control Podcast with Heather Chauvin This is not a mental health podcast per se, but Heather talks about many of the issues that parenting brings up - like anxiety, sense of control, loss of self and how your children can trigger the unhealed parts of yourself. A few of my favorite episodes: 453 - How to Overcome Emotional Triggers 445 - Sustainable Motherhood 443 - How Your Child Triggers You is a Deeper Healing Opportunity
Today I'm here to shake you up, to wake you up, and remind you of how POWERFUL you inherently are. And I'm only sharing with you because I've had to get myself together a time or two in recent days, so I wanted to share a practice that has been helpful to me. Most people understand the power of gratitude - how simply making a list of ten things you're thankful for can take you from "in a funk" to "on cloud nine" in less than the time it takes you to make out the list. Ask me how I know. But another side effect of gratitude for me is getting a clear picture of my own power. I was making out a gratitude list recently and was expressing my gratitude for two concurrent group programs through Package Your Genius Academy, as well as a team to support my students. Just one year ago, I checked out because I was BURNT OUT - I had run two live cohorts each year in 2016 and 2017 while still managing my one on one client work. I was getting my kids prepped to apply for new schools and fundraising for my 10 year old's trip to China. So on the side of running my business, I was doing the most with all the extra-curricular stuff for the kids. Once spring 2018 rolled around, I was spent. I didn't have enough to give to another group. I wanted to, but I couldn't. And I realized that the way I was running my program could be improved so that it took less out of me. Long story short, I spent the next 12 months making changes. I wrote and published the book that became a feeder for my programs, finally got a membership site set up to house the content for my programs, hired a business coach to help me re-structure my business model, started outlining the Maximum Exposure program, and started identifying coaches who could support me there. Now a year later, life is no less busy, but I have a book out in the world and two group programs that are running pretty seamlessly. In my gratitude for this big shift, I also gained insight into my own power to change things in my life - my power to make things different if I don't like how they are. The same is true for you. You and I? We are not broken people destined to stay broken. We are powerful. You have the power to do something to shift your energy and move toward the life you see for yourself, toward the person you most want to be. So much of your life is scheduled and dictated by your responsibilities, we often forget the degree of agency we have as people living in a modern society. We have the choice to change our diets, change our relationships, change the information we consume at any given time. We have the power to change who we surround ourselves with, what we listen to or discard, what we do moving forward. We have the power to change our habits. Because we all have agency which is defined as the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power. Newton said it all in his first law of motion which states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an external force. What outside force will you introduce to your life? What small or big thing will you change? So again - you have agency which is defined as the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power. And when you exert your power, you create momentum, which is defined as strength or force gained by motion or by a series of events. I recently wrapped up one cohort of Package Your Genius Academy and we were reflecting on the lessons learned during the academy, what changed for us, what surprised us. One of my students mentioned that she joined the academy because she felt stuck in her career. But what later surfaced was that she was stuck in other areas of her life, too. But she dug in. She started doing assignments, pushing herself out of her comfort zone. Because she did the work - even though she wasn't always sure what the work was adding up to - she began to unlock her own personal power. While she wasn't sure the exact steps she wanted to take in her career, she liked the feelings she derived from being in motion instead of being STUCK. She submitted herself to speak at a conference, which she'd never done before. (She killed it by the way). She launched a podcast and started sharing her ideas on her industry. She reported back to our group that the act of moving in one area of her life made the rest of her life seem too static. It was like she could see the rest of her life clearly. Where she'd felt stuck in her relationships and even on household projects, she had renewed energy to tackle them. That's what happens when you realize your own agency - the power to act - and your agency unlocks momentum. You don't know where it's going. You may start speaking up in your personal life and unexpectedly see it spill over into your career. You may launch a new podcast and suddenly find that you have more to talk about with your kids. You might put yourself out there to pitch new clients, and find going out on first dates isn't so intimidating anymore. It's all connected. So I urge you - first be grateful. If you're in a funk, try making a list of the things for which you're grateful. It's powerful. Then make a list of things you've made happen. Now, if you've been in a funk and don't feel like you've made anything happen in a while, reflect back on when you were your most powerful self. What did you make happen then? Sometimes we just need a good reminder of who we are. It's easy to forget.
Are you managing your own PR efforts? One of the hardest things about doing your own PR is coming up with new pitch ideas, fresh story angles AND knowing how to craft that message to the press. It’s time-consuming and easy to put off if you’re not intentional about it.
That's why we created Maximum Exposure - a one of a kind program designed to help industry experts land the media exposure their BIG IDEAS deserve. Apply to join - bit.ly/MEMastermind
Do the joyful thing and don't take your gift for granted.
I've been reflecting a lot on joy, life, our time on earth and the like - for a number of deeply personal reasons.
For one, it's been exactly one year since the sudden passing of my dear friend who was like a big sister. And as I've shared on the podcast before, hers was one of those rare friendships that comes along once in a very long while.
I pride myself on pouring into others and encouraging them to see themselves - well she poured into me, and encouraged me to see myself. She was a huge cheerleader for my writing and the work I'm doing here, so it was an unfathomable personal loss for me, and so unexpected.
I've been spending the last week or so reflecting on our friendship, thinking about her, and the gift she was to this world. Which always serves as a pressing reminder that none of us knows how long we have here on Earth.
Secondly, I've been in and out of sickness for the better part of the last two months. It started out as a respiratory infection I got from one of my kids, and a persistent cough which cleared up right at the start of one of the most severe allergy seasons I've ever experienced. So just as I was recovering from the respiratory stuff, the pollen begins to spread and fill the air, which triggered my spring allergies and brought the cough and everything back. So I got on a regimen of asthma meds, which seems to be doing the trick.
But in the midst of being sick, I have had to face off with my own limitations, and the limitations that have a way of getting our attention when we're taking our bodies and our gifts for granted.
Being sick brought to light how much I do, how much I rely on breathing to do what I do, and how much I take all of that for granted. At one point I sat down to record a podcast, and I couldn't because I didn't have enough air to speak! I hosted a small retreat for my academy students, and I found myself wanting to speak passionately, but had to pace myself.
Limitations. How humbling they can be.
I realized that if I can't do the things that energize me, life is lame! Not to say that it's not worth living, but it certainly loses a lot of its luster.
What is life if I can't speak and share, if I can't write and express myself?
By not tending to my health, by not showing up to use my gifts when I can, I realized that I've been taking my gift - which I can't access without my health - for granted.
I've been taking the simple ability to breathe deeply and share passionately for granted.
I've been taking the ability to write and share from my heart for granted.
And to some degree I know it's because both of those things come so naturally to me, they take minimal effort. That's WHY I take them for granted, but that's also why I have to STOP taking it for granted. Because that which both ENERGIZES me and that thing that is EFFORTLESS is my gift.
What ENERGIZES you and is EFFORTLESS to you?
The other thing I've been obsessed with has been the idea that everything we do has to be a runaway smash hit to be worth doing.
I spoke to my brilliant friend who launched a podcast that he absolutely LOVES - and it's brilliant. But because it hasn't completely taken off yet, he starts, stops, and questions - Why am I doing this, again?
I hadn't seen any new episodes in a while so I asked him about it. He informed me that he'd asked around to a few colleagues to get feedback on it, and because they didn't really understand what he was trying to do, they made less than helpful suggestions (I'm paraphrasing, I wasn't there) that basically led to him NOT pursuing the project anymore, EVEN THOUGH it brought him tremendous joy and satisfaction.
He was still figuring out the messaging, the audience, the promotion - but he was figuring it out. And because it hadn't become a runaway success yet by podcasting standards, he abandoned this project despite the joy it brought him to produce.
So my question to him was - after I told him to stop looking for permission and validation that this is a bad idea, because that's a pretty standard move when you're standing in the vulnerability of launching something new - in response to his sentiment "Why am I even doing this?"
When did 'because I like to, because I enjoy it, because it makes me happy' become not enough of a justification to do something?
Why can't joy be enough to sustain us as we build, grow, and get there - wherever 'there' is?
And this speaks to a larger point about building your brand and monetizing your passion which assumes some level of commercial success - enough people like what you're doing to listen, read, buy, use - and that audience creates a pathway to create success by the world's standards.
But everything we do doesn't have to fit neatly into the monetization formula.
And trust me, I teach people to package their genius and monetize what they already know everyday - if that's what they want to do. But if that's NOT what you want to do - if you just want to do what you love for the joy of it, that is perfectly okay.
If you just want to do what you love for the joy of it, that is perfectly okay.
I watched Brene Brown's Netflix special and one of the things she said that struck me was this:
"Just do the joyful thing for the hell of it, just choose joy. Sometimes just choose the thing that seems frivolous and fun and has no ROI or payoff or upside. Just do the joyful thing."
YES!
Now, you may have to keep your day job to support the practicalities of living on planet Earth, but if you find something you enjoy, don't put so much pressure on it to win.
Having something that brings you joy IS winning.
It doesn't necessarily have to bring you joy AND support you financially, too.
So remember: 1) Don't take your gifts or your health (which you need to access your gifts) for granted
2) What both ENERGIZES you and feels EFFORTLESS to you? That may just be your gift...
3) There are many levels of success between zero and smash hit, just because something doesn't perform at the top of the charts, become a NYTimes Bestseller, an iTunes Top 10 Podcast, earn $1M in the first 6 months - doesn't mean it's not worth doing.
4) Just do the joyful thing.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
If you want a tangible toolkit full of fun worksheets and exercises to help you get clear on your personal brand, check out The Branding Box.
You may be great at what you do - you have a phenomenal message, you do life-changing work, you're seriously a game-changer.
But the reason you have yet to blow up and your business has yet to take off?
No one has heard of you.
You may be thinking, 'Duh, Amanda. Tell me something I don't know...'
I get it. If you're here because you're interested in building your personal brand, you probably already know that you want more people to know about you.
But what you may not know is this: you have more power over the fact that no one knows about you than you think.
And that's because the main reason no one has heard of you is YOU WON'T TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU DO.
And if you do tell them, YOU REFUSE TO REPEAT YOURSELF.
You don't have more opportunities on the table because you're not telling people you're open to working with them.
You're not telling people how they can take advantage of what you have to offer. Or once you've told them one time, you're not following up by reminding them.
You can't say it just once, as my husband says, you have to be a broken record. You have to tell them, then tell them again.
So how do you make it so that people have heard of you?
First, you have to own that you have something to share, something that is valuable to others, something the more people need. This is actually the mindset work that many people have to do first especially when they work in corporate america because corporate will have you thinking you're nowhere near as good as you actually are. But that's another story. So that's the first step. You have to own the fact that you're good, your skills are solid, and your work adds enough value to others that more people should know about it.
Second, you have to publicly declare you're available because you can't sell a secret. So that could mean making a post about your new venture on social media. That could mean making an announcement at an industry meeting or speaking engagement. That could even mean making a list of targets and then reaching out to them one by one. But if you do reach out to people individually, you still need to have something public-facing that declares what you do like an updated LinkedIn profile or website you can link to.
Last you have to keep telling people. Over and over again. Repeatedly.
And here's where resistance typically shows up for most people even if they managed to get past steps one and two: You may start telling yourself you're 'bothering people' or 'getting on people's nerves' or people are 'tired of hearing about' whatever you have to share.
And if you manage to share it and no one responds, or no one reaches out, you might mistake your audience's silence for indifference. You may even mistake their silence for disinterest.
Listen, I know as well as anyone how nerve-racking it can be to put things out and hear nothing. It can really mess with your mind after you've mustered up the courage to announce that you do this thing and then hear nothing.
It's tempting to think people aren't interested, but the reality is, they likely didn't hear about it, or if they did hear about it, they need time to process.
But the silence can be deafening, and that part become a mental game. So you have to push yourself to keep putting it out there, you have to give it a chance to actually work.
So this doesn't mean you mention your service once, and if it doesn't yield a slew of new clients, you stop, beat yourself up for having the nerve to put yourself out there, and vow to never mention it again.
This means saying it again a few more times that way, switching your medium to social, to phone, to handwritten notes until you find the way that works for you.
And then keep doing it.
Tell people about what you do at least twice a week, because if you don't tell them, how you can expect them to find out? And if you don't remind them, how can you expect them to remember?
Whatever your medium of choice is - however you most successfully connect with your tribe - put that on your calendar so you get a reminder. Did I connect this week? My husband always talks about my long posts on LinkedIn or my email newsletters 'missives' - he says 'I haven't seen one of your missives in a while!" so that means I know I need to send one out.
Whatever your version of a missive is, maybe it's an Instagram story, maybe it's a thank you note, maybe it's a Twitter rant - be intentional about doing it. Don't leave it to chance.
Put yourself in your audience's shoes - we are all so incredibly busy. Think about the last time someone had the solution to your big problem but you needed time to mull it over, to think it through, to make up your mind. Then your life got in the way - you got busy, you meant to sign up but you have a deadline to meet, or had to go do something for your kids, or got tired and needed a nap! You're busy, and the people who need you are busy too.
So give them some grace. Don't be too good to repeat yourself.
No one gets upset when you remind them about something good.
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy that starts in early May. To learn more about the program and submit your preliminary application, please visit Package Your Genius Academy.
I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
- have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
- don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
- have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy that starts in early May. To learn more about the program and submit your preliminary application, please visit Package Your Genius Academy.
The idea of going slow, taking baby step and waiting for permission to start is a syndrome that holds so many of us back. When you know your stuff and are a genius in your own right, your gift is likely more ready for the world than you think. It's up to you to stop overthinking it.
I'm excited to share this conversation with a powerful woman who did just that. I met this tremendous being when she was on the cusp of a major life change and she enrolled in the Package Your Genius Academy fall 2018 cohort.
Rebecca Thompson is a Clarity + Career Coach for bold, politically minded women. After losing her election for State Representative by just 6 votes on Election Day, she has made it her personal mission to help other women of color run for office and to create the life and career of their dreams.
She is the Founder of the Live In Your Light Bootcamp, a personal development intensive that is inspiring a new generation of high achieving women to live authentically, purposefully, and in their light.
Rebecca says she was burned out after the 2016 election and knew that she was being called to more. While she loved the training and leadership development components of her work, she wanted to phase out of the nastiness of politics.
That's how the bootcamp was born.
According to Rebecca, the timing for high achieving women of color to live in their light is year round. No matter what you see women achieving on the outside, inside they still struggle with limiting beliefs, negative self talk, and self doubt. This is what's keeping so many amazing women from walking in their purpose.
Rebecca now helps her clients overcome imposter syndrome, create morning routines that start with powerful affirmations, get crystal clear about what they want their future to look and feel like, and surround themselves with people who light them up.
On this episode we discuss:
- How Rebecca turned a losing political race into the fuel to start a new career path
- Her struggle with depression and anxiety and how she nurtured herself back to wholeness
- How she shifted how she works
- How naming what you do aloud can give you permission to claim your new path
- The tell-tale signs that you need to do inner work
- How to re-ignite your hobbies and passions
You can learn more about Rebecca, her Live in Your Light Bootcamp and her free 30 day affirmation challenge at RebeccaMThompson.com
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy that starts in early May. To learn more about the program and submit your preliminary application, please visit Package Your Genius Academy.
What's your secret sauce?
What makes you unique?
How is your approach different from that of everyone else?
What makes you, you?
When it comes time to package a message around one's personal brand, clarity on those distinguishing factors seems to be where most people struggle.
But I've found that our pivotal life moments - the moments that are forever etched in our memories - tell the story of who we really are.
Because more often than not, who we are is who we've always been.
The life moments, our first or earliest memories of feeing disappointed, torn, devastated...
Our first recollections of feeling powerful, exhilarated, energized...
Those first memories of feeling confused, furious, or that life was unfair...
What do you remember?
What sticks out to you, even now?
How did those life events change you?
I have a vivid memory of playing on the playground in elementary school. My elementary school was pretty racially diverse, but socially segregated. Yet somehow I always found myself straddling the line.
Back then your 'cool quotient' was calculated by how fast you could run on the playground at recess. The 3-4 other Black girls in my grade were fast; and as the only Black girl lacking speed, I felt cursed. But I was cool enough, just not as cool as the girls who came in first and second place in every foot race.
I remember one day another speed-less girl - a little White girl - was accused of having the dreaded 'cooties' during recess. The playground suddenly cleared out after this accusation, and the little girl was left dangling on her swing, all alone.
I can remember as the crowd sped away, one reluctant classmate turned back and asked me "Aren't you coming? She has cooties, you can't stay with her..." and there I was, torn between going with the crowd, and doing what I felt was right.
I knew then that I couldn't leave her, that the rest of the students would be alright, that I may have to pay a price for being in such close proximity to her cooties. But it was a price I was willing to pay.
At the end of the day, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her there all alone with no one to play with. It just wasn't in me to do it.
And it still isn't.
Years later, I don't like leaving people behind. It's who I've always been. I have attended expensive conferences only to go home and blog about everything I learned so others could learn, too. When I was a journalist, I dedicated my beat to giving voice to those who didn't have a microphone. And as a PR woman and a coach I've used my skills to amplify the voices of others. I've built a business around unlocking the gifts of people who may not have felt they fit anywhere else.
And every time I do that, every time I make a choice that may not necessarily be the most popular or profitable, it speaks volumes for my brand on my behalf.
And better yet, it attracts people who are also on that same frequency.
What are some of the pivotal life moments that you remember?
What memories are etched in your brain and heart, years later, even now?
And what story are those memories - the ones you've held on for decades - telling about you today?
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy
I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
- have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
- don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
- have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
Popular advice from the coaching and co-working world these days is "Do What You Love..."
It's a powerful mantra - one that I believe - but it throws so many people for a loop.
How can you do what you love if you've never really done it before?
How can you bring your life's purpose to the forefront if you're not sure what it is?
And how can you figure out what you're supposed to be doing when you're feeling stuck, drained, or uninspired?
I have a clue for you.
If you're searching for work that you love, start paying attention to what LIGHTS YOU UP.
Are you aware of what energizes you?
What about what drains you?
What people are always a joy?
What people are always a pain?
If you're ready to find your life's work and bring purpose front and center, first you need to assess your ENERGY.
And I have a free tool to help.
Get the process of inquiry my clients use to understand their energy and plan a pivot towards more fulfilling work.
Download the Package Your Genius Brand Energy Assessment here
Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy
I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
- have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
- don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
- have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
Experts: stop overthinking it!
Visibility does not have to be as hard as we're making it.
After countless conversations with students, clients and friends, I wanted to establish once and for all how easy it is take what you're already doing and repurpose it for visibility and even revenue, if you're so inclined.
Regardless of where you are in the personal branding process, you can repurpose your advice - the thoughts you have and expertise you share - into more tangible ways to support infinitely scalable more people.
Want to reach more people?
Here are 5 types of advice you can repurpose:
1) 1:1 Client Sessions - Do you have coaching, consulting or strategy sessions with your clients? Do you frequently brainstorm with work colleagues one on one?
If you're frequently giving the same advice over and over again, maybe it's time for you to repurpose that into something bigger. You can repurpose the advice you've given during your 1:1 client conversations into:
- media interviews - sessions provide great fodder for talking points and soundbites
- podcast episodes - you can tell a great story using what you worked on in your sessions
- newsletter articles and blog posts - mine client sessions for "stories" that can bring what you do to life in your newsletter or blog posts
- guest post submissions to larger sites - share the results your clients received in a teachable moment for others
2) Session Notes - Do you take detailed session notes for your individual or group clients? Do you keep seeing the same themes pop up over and over again? Why not repurpose them into:
- Blank worksheets - you can give these away to build your email list or use them with new clients
- Workbooks - if you notice multiple themes towards one big goal, i.e. how to get media interviews, how to get speaking engagements, and how to grow your social media following - maybe all of those can be packaged together into a workbook
- Workshop or Conference Curriculum - I frequently reflect on my client session notes to pull out what makes most sense to share during events and retreats
- A book - depending on how many themes you can find, your book may be inside of these notes
- A course - similarly, if courses are more your speed, there's likely a bank of videos you can create simply from the roadmap of your client session notes. Don't reinvent the wheel if you don't have to!
3) Your Speaking Opportunities - Do you do a ton of paid talks? Do you create several slide decks each year to correspond with your workshops? Why not repurpose those into more content like:
- Media Segments/Interview Pitches - if you've prepared a good deck, those talking points are done.
- Book outlines and books - My book Package Your Genius 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand started from my notes and speaking decks. I used my signature presentation content as the outline for the book and filled in the blanks from there.
- Course Modules - the deck is the hardest part. If you have a few SOLID presentation decks on a similar theme, all they need is your voiceover to turn them into video course modules. You can record them using a tool like Screenflow or Camtasia, OR you can teach live masterclass and turn the video recordings into your course.
4) Content series - I recently discovered the power of creating video content during an event. You can use your own telesummit or virtual conference to help you develop a massive amount of content for
- a podcast launch - this is an easy way to create a bank of interviews you can use to launch your new show.
- Course videos - Once the virtual event is done, repurpose those videos into the modules for your online course.
- Membership site content - another smart way to develop a bank of content for a new membership site
5) Frequently asked questions and general advice - We all give it. Why not repurpose it? Furthermore, why not monetize it?
- a blog post - the most basic format to repurpose your FAQs; you can even write the most epic blog post and submit it to a larger site like Business Insider if you want to use it to grow your email list
- a media pitch - This is where I typically start with PR for experts. I have them take their most frequently asked questions and position that advice as the basis for a media interview. You're already giving out this advice - why not capture your gems on tv or radio?
- a keynote presentation or book - Again, if you're always giving out the same gems, perhaps they're the basis for your signature talk or keynote presentation, your book - or both.
- a paid signature consulting session - If people are getting get results from your free advice, why not package what you're telling people into a paid consulting session? That was one of the first ways I monetized my ideas and it's been amazing.
Applications are open for the next round of
Package Your Genius Academy
I'm ready to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
- have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
- don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
- have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
Spring is almost here, and in my opinion, this is the perfect time to be thinking like a planter.
If you owned a farm and were preparing for the spring planting season, what would you be doing?
Likely assessing last year's harvest to determine what worked and what didn't.
You may talk to your customers to find out which crops were most in demand, and which ones you could plant less of.
You'd be spending time making the decisions that would impact your season of growth.
The same can be true for your brand. At this point in the year, you likely know about the major speaking engagements that are on the calendar. You know about most of your major travel. If you're an entrepreneur, you have an idea of the major service or program launches happening soon or later in the fall.
How are you preparing?
Better yet, how are you planning to make a record of the success you're going to create in the upcoming growth months of the year?
I spoke with a current Package Your Genius Academy student who has a number of big speaking engagements on her calendar this spring. Some of these talks occur at major annual conferences for her industry. I asked her to consider preparing for the opportunities coming her way - not simply by preparing her remarks and shaping her deck; I challenged her to think about how could she be intentional about snagging other visibility opportunities to coincide with her talks.
For example, could she write an op ed and pitch it to either a major national newspaper or an industry publication all her peers read? Could she look at the cities where she'll be speaking and research local news outlets where she could potentially book a segment while she's in town? How can she leverage the hard work she's already doing to deliver an amazing talk and create a way for others in her industry to learn from her?
How could she plan to make sure there's a record of her being there, saying what she said and delivering her genius?
That's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about media. Say what you will about it, media coverage creates a record of what happened. It reminds the world of what you did, what you said, and that you were there.
In an era of disappearing media as Dr. Richardson discussed on episode 69, it's all the more important in today's digital age to make sure your story is being recorded permanently.
What's coming up on your agenda? What do you want to add to the historical record? What op ed can you write? What coverage can you go after to make a record that you said what you said, did what you did and made the contribution you made?
As Mentioned During the Episode
During the recent Virtual PR Conference I announced a new PR program we're launching specifically for experts who are building their personal brands. Maximum Exposure is an opportunity for you to work with my team of experts to meet with journalists, brainstorm story ideas, fine tune your message and pitch the media every single month. We're accepting applications, so if PR is on your agenda for this year, submit your application and plan to join us. Submit your application
Allissa Richardson, PhD is the assistant professor of Journalism at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. A 2016 graduate of Package Your Genius Academy, Dr. Richardson is also a pioneer in mobile journalism, and was one of the first professional journalists to teach storytelling and reporting using smartphones and mobile cameras.
Allissa trains youth to use only smartphones, MP3 players and tablets to report news. She calls her students mobile journalists, or MOJOs. At age 25, she joined the faculty of Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. She served as coordinator of its journalism program, and launched and directed the Morgan MOJO Lab in 2010. Under her leadership, Morgan State became the first and only historically black college in the country to offer mobile journalism courses.
The National Association of Black Journalists said Richardson empowered her students around the globe “to speak truth to power using new media.” In spring 2012, NABJ recognized her as its Journalism Educator of the Year for her international work. In 2013, Apple, Inc. inducted Richardson into its elite Distinguished Educator program for her innovative uses of its products.
Richardson is the founder of MOJO MediaWorks. Her firm designs mobile journalism workshops for youth, educators and working journalists. Her clients include The Washington Post, PBS, Black Girls Code, GlobalGirl Media, Journalism Educators Association, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Black Enterprise has called Richardson’s fast-growing company a “feel-good tech firm on the rise.”
Richardson’s writing has appeared in Oprah Magazine, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, JET Magazine, Baltimore Sun.com, the Miami Herald and the Chicago Tribune. She earned the Weinstein-Luby Outstanding Young Journalist Award in 2002, and the Freedom Forum’s Chips Quinn Scholars award that same year. And Harvard University selected her for its prestigious Nieman Foundation Journalism Fellowship to work on a project that advances the industry.
Richardson holds a Ph.D. in Journalism Studies from the University of Maryland College Park, a Master's Degree in Magazine Publishing from Northwestern University's Medill School, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Xavier University of Louisiana.
Our conversation touched on
- Personal branding in academia and how Dr. Richardson used her brand to get on the tenure track.
- How positioning herself as an expert helped her snag a Harvard fellowship and international teaching opportunities
- Why she loves the freedom and schedule of academia
- Her forthcoming book Bearing Witness While Black and how she landed a book deal at the top academic press
- Why writing and authorship are important to her
- How visibility combats erasure and why it's important for people of color to tell their stories
As mentioned on the episode
On Wednesday March 6, I'm excited to my first ever all day virtual conference. Maximum Exposure is a daylong online event where I'll be speaking with host journalists and experts about how you can gain valuable media exposure for your personal brand.
Join us for the conference by registering on Crowdcast: http://www.crowdcast.io/e/PYGAMaximumExposure/register
I'm passionate about visibility, and not because I'm an attention-whore.
I'm passionate about visibility because I know how POWERFUL it can be, and what it can do for your life.
Sharing and becoming visible POSITIONS YOU AS THE EXPERT in other peoples' minds. It makes you visible to your industry and your network. You're already doing the work. Visibility enhances the perception of how valuable you are.
Sharing and becoming visible STRETCHES YOU AND DEMOLISHES YOUR OWN MENTAL WALLS. It disputes the false stories you're telling yourself about yourself. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "The mind once stretched by a new idea will never regain its original dimensions." Once you see yourself and are seen for who you truly are by others, you can never go back.
Sharing your message and becoming visible BRINGS YOU CLOSER TO YOURSELF because you're staying true to yourself. You're being "more loyal to your dreams than to your fears" as author Tara Mohr puts it. It seems counterintuitive to think that you grow closer to yourself by connecting with many others, but it's true.
I am dogged about visibility because it helps combat erasure. We have to tell our stories, lest history be revised.
I'm dogged about visibility because I know how painful it is to never be seen for who you really are, and what you have to offer.
I am dogged about visibility because traditionally only certain people have been allowed to be seen. Visibility is about justice, equality and parity.
I was given a gift of storytelling, promotion, packaging and translating people's messages so they can be understood. One of the most powerful ways I know of to turn the volume up on your message and help you be seen, heard, and understood more widely is MEDIA.
That's why I'm hosting a free one day virtual conference on Wednesday, March 6, 2019.
Maximum Exposure - Land Media for Your Personal Brand
It’s a virtual (read: online) conference – and it’s all about how to land valuable media for your personal brand.
I’ve invited friends of the academy – working journalists, a top podcaster, and a communications exec – to be your thought partners for the day.
Together, we’ll be pulling back the curtain on what it takes to get the MAXIMUM EXPOSURE your mission and message deserve.
Check out the schedule, review the speaker lineup, and REGISTER here >> Maximum Exposure: A Virtual Conference
And do me a huge favor – please invite your friends who are doing big, world-changing things, too!
This event is free, but space is limited.
So if getting your mission out there in a bigger way – even if it’s a little scary – is something you know you need to work on, I invite you to join us.
Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/PYGAMaximumExposure/register
I wouldn't call myself a 'workaholic', but I admit, I love my work.
I love the actual process of what I do - not just outcome. It makes me happy.
So even when results aren't immediately evident, (you mean I didn't make the NYTimes Bestseller list on the first day??? flips over a table) it's okay, because I honestly love the work.
The work energizes me, gives me a sense of purpose, and fills my days with meaning in a way that few other things do.
It's easy to plant seeds day after day, week after week, and month after month because - to extend the planting metaphor - I love the feeling of the earth between my fingers.
I love the process of showing up every day to nurture an idea and help it grow.
I love waking up with the sun, running to the window and surveying the land to see what small changes may have taken place overnight, while the rest of the world was sleeping.
But the downside of loving the work this way is this: it can become easy to get so used to planting, that you forget the harvest is coming eventually.
And reaping that harvest feels almost...unfamiliar.
You get so in the weeds of doing the work, making tiny tweaks, and fighting off threats that you tend to forget what all your maneuvering is adding up to.
But I got a clear reminder last week. Last week was all about harvesting:
- I found out that after two arduous years of pep talks, practice tests, applications, wait lists, and interviews, my children were accepted into our family's dream educational institution - an independent school that will allow them to continue studying Mandarin and even possibly study abroad at sister campuses as middle and high school students.
- A subsidiary company of Johnson & Johnson placed a bulk order of my book for an upcoming event.
- Two other corporations invited me to deliver paid talks based on the content of Package Your Genius - a book I wrote and self-published only a few short months ago.
- After pouring into my Package Your Genius Academy students since 2016, last week I invited one of my former students to deliver a guest lecture on the topic of his expertise to our academy's newly enrolled cohort. He nailed it! I was so proud.
- I spoke with three separate PYGA alum who are all doing inspiring things - from doubling their salaries, to landing prestigious book deals, to signing their first 12 paid coaching clients in 30 days - all because of the work we did together.
At first, I was almost in disbelief at the abundance that kept showing up in my inbox. It was overwhelming.
Because quite honestly, I had gotten used to the grind. The pep talks and practice tests and applications had become my fall routine (whoever thought they'd actually get in, lol).
I'd told myself that sitting down and writing the book had been the real work (you mean people want to buy why what I wrote???)
And I'd so fully poured myself into teaching my students that I hadn't given much thought to how those lessons would continue to pay dividends for them.
But it finally dawned on me that this is the glorious morning I'd been dreaming about.
This is the ample harvest I had tilled and watered and worked my fingers to the bone for.
So while I may find joy in doing the work, I need to also learn to find joy in the harvest - to expect it, to rejoice in it, to be present to the magic of it.
Firstly because with all the seeds I've planted, it's inevitable, right?
But also because what else, if not this, have I been working towards?
If you've put years into becoming great at what you do, you may have also adopted the identity of 'diligent workhorse' and given little thought to where all of your hard work is taking you.
You may have shown up consistently every day and done your best.
You engrossed yourself in the work.
You hit a major milestone, and then moved on to the next big project.
You told yourself that you weren't doing it for the applause, but still..the applause may be in order.
And when the applause comes, if you're uncomfortable or even caught off guard like I was, ask yourself why.
Standing ovations shouldn't freak you out - you should expect them at this point.
A bountiful harvest shouldn't be a shock when you've been planting, watering and nurturing the seeds day in and day out.
Success shouldn't catch you by surprise when you've put in the work.
I'm still learning that lesson, with each new level.
Elsewhere in PYG-Land...
I'm excited about bring A NEW PR SERVICE to experts who want to get more visibility through getting featured consistently in the media. If you have an established expertise and want to see your ideas featured in media outlets like Forbes, The NYTimes and Sirius Radiothis year, book a consult call to discuss our new program.
Thank you JAI L. for your rave review of Package Your Genius:
5.0 out of 5 stars THIS is gold. Only for those who are ready.
From Amazon:
"This book, and the workbook, are life-changing for those who are ready for more. Amanda Miller Littlejohn does not hold back. Read it, study it, believe in what you discover about yourself and go with it, without apology. I was happy to meet her a few years ago at a conference. I had no idea then she would change my life. This is gold."
Get the Books
Order your copy of Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand and/or the Companion Personal Branding Workbook
Kimi Walker is a School Psychologist who teaches how we can use tools of behavior change to make our goals stick. She is the host of the Early Accountability Podcast, and a 2017 graduate of Package Your Genius Academy.
An expert on early accountability, an educator, and a psychologist who personally changed her life by losing over 100 pounds, Kimi has learned what it takes to take new, scary actions and create an environment that encourages our new habits to stick.
With a background in school psychology Kimi regularly conducts psychological evaluations, and is the go-to person when dealing with cases that require behavior change.
The parallels between working in schools and working with adults who are trying to spark a new behavior are many. As Kimi shares during our interview, everyone responds differently to stimuli, so she works hard to assess each client and figure out what each person needs to succeed. She customizes solutions for students and coaching clients alike using her philosophy of "Results, Not Resolutions."
Kimi’s Steps for Sticking to New Goals
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Know what you're working toward. Set a big goal. Remind yourself of your goal often.
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Know your achievement style and what works best for you to achieve. What do you need in order to be able to execute?
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Find something fun you like to do, or a milestone you can work towards that supports that new goal (i.e. Goal - weight loss, Milestone - train for a marathon).
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Be intentional about getting support and accountability. Find a coach or other expert who can cut your learning curve.
As mentioned in the episode
Get Kimi’s Level Up and Launch Checklist by texting HELPMELAUNCH to 44222
As always, grab Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
If you’ve done amazing work in your field and you’ve successfully ‘climbed the ladder” so to speak, eventually you may get near the top or at the top of the ladder, look around and realize that A) there’s nowhere else to climb or B) you’re not interested in limbing any further. At this point, you may decide to pivot and use your talents to do something else.
I work with a lot of burned-out corporate high achievers who have been successful in that space for years, but have finally decided to do something new - sometimes personal development centered, since we often want to heal our own wounds by helping others who were in the place we used to be.
But a common theme I’m noticing is a tendency for high achievers to adopt a mindset from the bottom of the ladder. They decide that since they’re essentially starting over and are new to coaching or running their own business or online marketing or being independent - they mentally put themselves at the bottom of this new ladder.
Sound familiar? If so, stay with me.
I want you to imagine two ladders side by side. How will you get from ladder one (your old path) to ladder two (your new path)?
Your first thought, especially if you're a high achiever, may be to step your way back down all the steps, retracing your steps on all the previous rungs of ladder one, to get to the ground so that you can then climb up the second ladder.
But instead of stepping your way down, I want you to imagine yourself at the top of ladder one, reaching your hand out to grab ahold and step over to the top of ladder two. From the top of one ladder, the top of another ladder.
Because you’re not starting from zero.
Your credibility transfers.
We are all a constellation of our career and life experiences, our relationships, our networks, our access and our opportunities.
Instead of thinking of yourself as a newbie, as a beginner, or as an ingenue, I want you to ask yourself how can you put all that you’ve done in the past - all of the past work, all of your relationships, all of your political capital - how can you put all of that to work in service of your new dream?
As Mentioned in the Episode
Thank you to LaQuentin Cathey for Your Rave Review of Package Your Genius:
From Amazon:
LaQuintin Cathey | 5.0 out of 5 stars | "Great book, definitely recommend."
February 3, 2019
"I am so glad I read Package Your Genius! This book not only gave me the skills to take control of my brand but also the confidence to leave my comfort zone and put myself out there for others to see! Implementing the strategies outlined in Package Your Genius have proven successful in a very short period of time. So much so that I gifted the book to my family members who are all entrepreneurs. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read such a powerful tool to improve my brand!"
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon - Order Your Personal Branding Bible Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is also available for order - Order Your Personal Branding Workbook
Amber Cabral founded Cabral Co where she helps organizations identify the ways they can shift their behaviors, tactics and mindsets to diversify the culture of the organization. As Amber says, culture is not just about counting heads, it’s about how it feels to work there. Her work helps move the needle on actually having an inclusive, as well as diverse company culture.
It was only when Amber was asked to sit on a diversity council at her job that she uncovered her passion for diversity and inclusion work. Later, when she switched jobs and the diversity council was no longer present, Amber had an aha moment that the diversity work was what actually lit her up about her job.
How does someone end up working in diversity and inclusion? Timing is everything. Before D & I became the career field du jour, Amber knew she wanted to do something, but the opportunities weren’t readily available. Moving to the Fortune 1 Company - Walmart Stores - she took on a major mentoring initiative for the company, which taught her many professional lessons before she exited the company and ultimately, the corporate world completely from an employee standpoint.
In the interview Amber shares how a “voluntold” opportunity put her on the path to a full-fledged consulting company, and how being open to new assignments can open up your career path.
Hear:
- how she built relationships while working remotely
- how she landed a role at the Fortune 1 and how she came to the ultimate decision to pivot from corporate to start her consulting business
- how we’re all constellations of our personal networks, how we’re not alone, how there’s a net that many of us aren’t accessing to get our side hustles or consulting gigs going
- how she turned the trait she was criticized for during her corporate tenure into the superpower that powers her training business
“Always be evolving and be willing to do the work of change.” - Amber Cabral
Amber’s Lessons Learned:
-
You do not have to live the life you've been told to. You get to decide the kind of life and career you want.
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Always be evolving. Doing something is better than thinking about everything, be open and eager for change.
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Bring authenticity to every part of your life: relationships, work, family and everything in between. When someone connects to the authenticity in you, it opens up doors you would otherwise have never known existed.
Find Amber online:
Amber’s Website Cabral Co - Cabral Co
Amber on Instagram @BamCabral
Amber on Twitter @BamCabral
Amber on LinkedIn - Amber Cabral
What I’m reading and listening to this week
Golf Home Owners Find Themselves in a Hole on the WSJ
Three Brothers Launch Eco-Friendly Candle Company - on BlackNews.com
As mentioned in the episode
Last call for Package Your Genius Academy
It’s the last week to apply for this round of Package Your Genius Academy. I’m so excited about the amazing group that’s already coming together for our February 5 start date! Such brilliant minds. Among the current roster, we have a scientific research funding consultant, a therapist in private practice, and a life coach who is pioneering a new coaching style based on her stage time as an actor.
I still have some room for a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.
If you:
- have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,
- don’t know how to clearly describe what you do, package who you are, or sell yourself to others, or
- have had on the job successes and are often praised for your work but now want to translate that into more consulting opportunities, apply here.
As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon
What is your life mission? What is your life vision? Why is mission and vision so important? As our guest says, it’s the key to why we should be showing up.
Meico Whitlock specializes in helping purpose driven high achieving professionals find work life balance and carve out a life of meaning. He works with clients on finding balance, eliminating technology distraction and developing personal mission and vision. In his experience, so many professionals are clear on the mission of the organization or clients they’re serving, but they are unclear on their own life personal missions.
Why is that?
For one, Meico says, most of us are suffering from a case of IDD - Intention Deficit Disorder: we’re on autopilot going through life without clear intention of why we’re showing up in the world.
When you lack intention, it’s easy to accept whatever “falls into your lap” - both personally and professionally. So the price is high.
Meico shares a list powerful questions that help get closer to our personal mission and purpose. I found his questions to be thought-provoking and powerful.
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How can I be of service
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If you knew that you couldn’t fail, what would you be doing with your life?
Take Advantage of Meico’s Resources:
Meico’s website - Mindful Techie
Download the Free Life Planning Guide
Life Visioning Program Reboot Your Life Course
Meico's Planner - The Intention Planner
What I’m reading and listening to this week
Employers Need to Address Caregiving Crisis Study Finds - WSJ
19 Books to Help You Live Your Best Life - Kailei Carr
Clean up your social media profile and use it to your advantage - WUSA
4 Smart Strategies to Survive a Market Cool-Off - Inc
If Your Friends Don’t Talk About Money , You Need New Friends - Business Insider
As mentioned in the episode
Learn more and apply for Package Your Genius Academy - Apply Here
Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon - My Personal Branding Book
Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon - My Personal Branding Workbook