Enjoy the replay of a Facebook Live that Jessica hosted with Jacqueline Nagle about why you need to use podcast guesting to grow your speaking business now!  To learn more about Jacqueline and her programs for speakers, visit http://interviewconnections.com/anygiventuesday (affiliate link)     

Dr. Joli Hamilton is the relationship coach for couples who color outside the lines. She is a research psychologist, TEDx speaker, best-selling author, and AASECT (pronounced ay-sect) certified sex educator. Joli also co-hosts the Project Relationship podcast with her anchor partner, Ken. Joli’s been featured in The New York Times, Vogue, NPR, and The Atlantic. She’s spent the past two decades studying and reimagining what love can be if we open our imaginations to possibility.Joli helps people create non-monogamous partnerships that are custom-built for their authentic selves, no more shrinking, pretending, or hiding required.   In this episode, she shares the biggest visibility breakthroughs she’s had thanks to podcast guesting and coaching with Jess, Margy and the Interview Connections team!    Take Joli’s quiz at https://joliquiz.com/

In this episode, Jess shares about a pivotal moment recently when she realized that her workaholism was actually masking her people-pleasing tendencies.   Audio Transcript:    Jessica Rhodes: On this episode, I want to share a really, really great breakthrough, I had.   2 00:00:10.559 --> 00:00:21.870 Jessica Rhodes: spoiler alert we're sharing all of our breakthroughs on this podcast now, but I want to share a really important breakthrough about like workaholism and people pleasing and the connection because.   3 00:00:22.470 --> 00:00:35.640 Jessica Rhodes: I had this pivotal moment recently when I was you know talking with my husband Jamie he was like hey you know we do our two week vacation every summer with our like extended family.   4 00:00:36.390 --> 00:00:51.660 Jessica Rhodes: And then he was like I really think this summer, we should also do a week vacation like just the four of us, and I was like yeah and when he suggested that I was starting to get a little nervous about taking another week off and.   5 00:00:52.740 --> 00:01:06.270 Jessica Rhodes: Normally one would be excited for a vacation, but it was like kind of stressing me out like scheduling it in, and you know we found this week where it's fine like there's no launching happening and.   6 00:01:07.530 --> 00:01:10.410 Jessica Rhodes: It was like we were looking at this Wednesday to a Wednesday.   7 00:01:11.490 --> 00:01:19.350 Jessica Rhodes: And I saw that on the calendar was like a group mastermind call and content day like where we record all our podcast and I was like.   8 00:01:20.100 --> 00:01:26.430 Jessica Rhodes: Okay Jamie maybe like let's leave like Wednesday afternoon because, like, I have some stuff in the morning and he was like.   9 00:01:27.240 --> 00:01:41.250 Jessica Rhodes: it's we're talking about August, like you, can't move it and I was like getting really nervous and like uncomfortable and I was like um no I can get it, and he, like what he gave me the look right he was like seriously like you can't move this like.   10 00:01:42.360 --> 00:01:50.850 Jessica Rhodes: And I really like it was just in that moment, where I was like oh my God like I don't i'm not like addicted to work i'm not a workaholic I am.   11 00:01:51.240 --> 00:01:56.970 Jessica Rhodes: deeply afraid of inconveniencing other people, because I knew that if I.   12 00:01:57.390 --> 00:02:05.610 Jessica Rhodes: said i'm going to be off that day I would have to ask Maggie can we record our podcast on a different day and I would have to say to MARQuIS can you lead the call that day.   13 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:16.320 Jessica Rhodes: And I was so afraid to make that request, and I was like I have always identified as a hard worker I love work i'm a career woman like.   14 00:02:16.770 --> 00:02:28.830 Jessica Rhodes: That has been my identity and through all of this work that's happening right now, this personal work I realized, it is like people-pleasing manifesting as workaholism and an addiction to work.   15 00:02:29.130 --> 00:02:40.080 Jessica Rhodes: it's not an addiction to work, I actually quite enjoy taking time off, but I was so afraid of inconveniencing somebody that I just was like I love working.   16 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:48.150 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and, like the stuff that justice talking about is like very easy to reschedule to.   17 00:02:48.600 --> 00:02:49.950 Jessica Rhodes: Like it just exactly.   18 00:02:50.040 --> 00:03:02.100 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Like we reschedule like our content block when we record the podcast we reschedule it like all the time, in fact, the August, one is a reschedule of the original one because I booked a weekend with my basti and all the colleges move this.   19 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:05.880 Jessica Rhodes: knocking I have different trauma tendencies.   20 00:03:07.770 --> 00:03:11.190 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah, but I think this is really good, because this is something.   21 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:17.220 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): When we did the leadership and the nervous system panel hold on.   22 00:03:19.470 --> 00:03:30.540 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): When we did the leadership in the nervous system panel which we also put out as a podcast episode So hopefully you listen to it and talks about psychological safety we talked a little bit about.   23 00:03:32.880 --> 00:03:46.920 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): trauma informed leadership, which I think is really, really interesting and i'm excited to go down more of a rabbit hole on that, but one of the things we talked about because, having worked with Elizabeth Elizabeth Christoph who, I guess, we talked about in every.   24 00:03:46.920 --> 00:03:50.040 Jessica Rhodes: episode is basically our co host now we're.   25 00:03:50.820 --> 00:03:57.390 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): only slightly obsessed with her and the work that she's doing but um she was talking about herself how.   26 00:03:58.380 --> 00:04:08.850 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You know nervous system dysregulation and trauma and stuff manifested as perfectionism and high achieving and how true that is for a lot of business owners, a lot of high performers.   27 00:04:09.810 --> 00:04:17.190 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): there's like this aspect of like yes, you love what you do, but then there's this aspect of the way that you're doing it that can be dysfunctional.   28 00:04:17.580 --> 00:04:22.020 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it was really interesting because we're talking about leadership and the nervous system and talking about our teams.   29 00:04:22.440 --> 00:04:36.120 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And there's this sort of myth in mastermind groups and just groups of entrepreneurs talking it's like if somebody has a team Member who's like all into like first two o'clock in first o'clock out like all this stuff that like your.   30 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:36.960 Jessica Rhodes: Last too long ago.   31 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:37.950 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Oh yeah.   32 00:04:40.650 --> 00:04:41.520 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): See I can't even say.   33 00:04:43.050 --> 00:04:51.690 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah So if you have someone who's like the first in in the morning, the first out at night, like just working super hard I can't.   34 00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:53.460 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): See it's not me.   35 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:08.820 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): there's this myth that if you have this employee who is so all in there working longer hours and everybody they're trying harder their work is perfect like they're just like this quintessential a player.   36 00:05:09.330 --> 00:05:15.330 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): everybody's like oh my God you're so lucky like where did you get them, how can we clone them.   37 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:23.760 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And there's nothing wrong with having someone who's a super high performer i'm a high performer just as a high performer like it's good but there's also.   38 00:05:24.270 --> 00:05:31.470 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): With trauma informed leadership, there is this aspects of is that person.   39 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:42.240 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Working that way because of dysregulation and a lot of the times, I think the answer is yes, we can still perform at a high level, we can still work hard.   40 00:05:42.510 --> 00:05:49.710 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): and go hard on the things that we love that we're in flow and alignment on that feel really easy but that generate results in revenue.   41 00:05:50.130 --> 00:05:56.100 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But I do think it's really powerful to look at this idea of especially.   42 00:05:56.550 --> 00:06:04.500 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You know within capitalism it's being a hard worker being a duo or being a grinder being the hardest worker in the room, like.   43 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:16.470 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): All there's so many sayings are so many quotes there are so many motivational posters like it's so glorified and I think it's really important to bring in this aspect of the dialogue that.   44 00:06:17.370 --> 00:06:34.230 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's kind of dysfunctional and while the label of being a workaholic or super hard worker feels really validating to the ego that ego boost might be covering up some less you know, maybe attractive or less.   45 00:06:34.770 --> 00:06:45.060 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): gratifying to the ego traits that have more to do with proving self worth getting affirmation not letting people down people pleasing all that stuff.   46 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:51.690 Jessica Rhodes: yeah and when you understand and have these breakthroughs of understanding, your tendencies and what they're coming from.   47 00:06:52.380 --> 00:06:59.460 Jessica Rhodes: A lot of your actions can be similar, but it is totally perceived in a new way and you feel so much more different.   48 00:07:00.330 --> 00:07:02.010 Jessica Rhodes: You know so for me like I.   49 00:07:02.250 --> 00:07:16.020 Jessica Rhodes: I do, I love this business and I love, what I do and before I realized that I had these people pleasing tendencies, like, I mean i've heard for forever people like i'm a people pleaser and i'm like that's not me that's not me and i'm like so Okay, maybe it is so i've had.   50 00:07:16.530 --> 00:07:26.520 Jessica Rhodes: Since i've had this realization around like how I do, I have had these people pleasing tendencies now i'm realizing oh my gosh like I can see how many times, I was.   51 00:07:27.210 --> 00:07:36.690 Jessica Rhodes: working more hours working harder doing more things because I wanted to please people and I didn't want to inconvenience anyone, and I wanted to like show my worth.   52 00:07:37.200 --> 00:07:47.850 Jessica Rhodes: And now that I realized the difference like you know i'm working on our social media at seven in the morning because I want to because it's fun, not because i'm trying to please somebody and then.   53 00:07:48.210 --> 00:07:56.850 Jessica Rhodes: I may stop working at 430 or four o'clock because I know i've provided the value that I can provide that day and I don't feel bad or guilty about it and it's just.   54 00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:05.970 Jessica Rhodes: it's so interesting to have this realization and this breakthrough because i'm now seeing it and other people, which is like i'm like okay now I gotta.   55 00:08:07.050 --> 00:08:15.450 Jessica Rhodes: I can't not coach this person or this or you know, and I think it's I love what you're saying about the dysfunctional.   56 00:08:16.470 --> 00:08:26.970 Jessica Rhodes: You know traits because it's It makes me sad right when people are like they want to check their email on vacation because they don't want to inconvenience, you and I think that's something.   57 00:08:27.330 --> 00:08:38.010 Jessica Rhodes: I mean you talk about this, all the time, like really healing the workplace healing the team, so people can feel free to to take that time off without feeling stressed about it.   58 00:08:38.970 --> 00:08:51.000 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and the healing of a team starts with the leaders right like it's you it's not enough to just work on an individual level, you also have to work with the organization and, as a group, but it starts with the leader.   59 00:08:51.330 --> 00:09:02.730 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And you can send a message with your words that it's okay to unplug and take a vacation if you're not actually modeling that energetically and with your actions.   60 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:10.080 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): They people are smart social mammals pick up on cues and it's not just what you say.   61 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:24.510 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And if you say something's Okay, but every other piece of you is indicating it's not okay your team will get the message they're like all right wink wink got it it's okay to do this, like I know it's not and they won't do it so.   62 00:09:25.380 --> 00:09:38.430 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): This healing that we do as leaders has such an impact to create this next level team to create group healing and we knew think about how people spend and we i'll probably do a whole.   63 00:09:38.910 --> 00:09:44.040 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): episode on this, but when you think about how people spend the majority of their time at work.   64 00:09:44.400 --> 00:09:56.280 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): The space that you create within your Organization has such a huge impact on people's lives which then has this ripple effect on all the people that they live with and come in contact with.   65 00:09:56.610 --> 00:10:11.970 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): So I think leaders have this incredible opportunity to create the shift in consciousness and to heal generational trauma and all of this stuff by creating these safe spaces, with our teams, but it really does start with you as the leader.   66 00:10:12.780 --> 00:10:26.610 Jessica Rhodes: yeah So if you do feel like you're a workaholic and you're addicted to your work just know that there may be some trauma to process there may be some tendencies playing out that are in your blind spot and.   67 00:10:27.150 --> 00:10:40.560 Jessica Rhodes: As somebody who has felt like a workaholic there is this, there is a possibility for you to enjoy taking time off and to do it in a way that feels really good and free and not like it's constricting you know.   68 00:10:41.130 --> 00:10:46.470 Jessica Rhodes: So we hope that this was helpful and maybe shed a light on something that you weren't looking at before.

Margy recently attended Kathleen Cameron’s Rise Retreat in May and she shares all about it in this episode!    Links mentioned:  https://www.instagram.com/asoulcalledjoel/ Audio Transcript:    Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): In this episode, I am going to share some of the breakthroughs I had going on a manifestation retreat with Kathleen camera and I went on her rise retreat last week in the Bahamas and it was a really.   2 00:00:19.740 --> 00:00:39.270 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Profound amazing experience it wasn't what I thought it would be, but it definitely ended up being what I needed and so i've been sharing this on my personal instagram at hey MARQuIS on live, but we wanted to bring some of those lessons here to the podcast.   3 00:00:39.930 --> 00:00:50.310 Jessica Rhodes: yeah, and so this came about, we were in Florida for a mastermind that we're in Kelly Roach his legacy leaders, and you know Margie had this.   4 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:52.230 Jessica Rhodes: Really, this like.   5 00:00:52.710 --> 00:01:02.280 Jessica Rhodes: Calling she's like I need someone to pour into me do I need like an executive coach like I need something right so she's now out seeking and I remember we're walking through the airport.   6 00:01:02.370 --> 00:01:14.910 Jessica Rhodes: Well, she had previously heard from Anna rains like you should go to kathleen's retreat and so we're walking she tells me about it in the hotel room and I was like okay like cool like an expensive retreat in the Bahamas sounds like a.   7 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:17.250 Jessica Rhodes: Perfect business and.   8 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:21.780 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was like.   9 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:31.350 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): A true into MARQuIS style of like being like I think I want to invest in a you know, an executive coach should work with me a CEO.   10 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:40.830 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And, but I had been afraid to ask because it felt really selfish to ask the business to invest in coaching that was just for me, but, but I was like you know.   11 00:01:41.250 --> 00:01:49.830 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): As CEO and showing up and coaching and pouring into everybody else I was like I really feel like I need somebody who's like pouring into me.   12 00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:57.930 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): So I was like i'll hire an executive coach and then as just said, I, so I reached out to Anna rains and i'm just kind of like researching different coaches.   13 00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:07.170 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Kathleen Cameron is amazing she's somebody i've like had my eye on who does incredible work with manifestation and she's a really powerful very authentic person.   14 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:09.360 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so I reached out to Anna and i'm like.   15 00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:20.790 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): All right, like what a what a kathleen's programs look like you know she's got like some six months programs and there's like a group they're like group programs with a call once a week, which I really was looking for something one on one, but I figured i'd ask like.   16 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:24.750 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): What does it look like and Anna was like you know I actually think.   17 00:02:25.770 --> 00:02:37.140 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I don't know that her programs would be as good a fit for you as this retreat this like three day retreat in the Bahamas it's going to be amazing Kathleen is going to be there again her energy you'll have these breakthroughs.   18 00:02:38.100 --> 00:02:47.730 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so, like when, for me, hiring an executive coach to me like telling jess and my wife like I think i'm going to go to the Bahamas and then being like what.   19 00:02:47.760 --> 00:02:54.360 Jessica Rhodes: Are you talking about so we're like walking through the palm beach airport and.   20 00:02:54.870 --> 00:03:00.990 Jessica Rhodes: she's like she has her phone out and she's like I really feel like I need to be there and i'm like all right.   21 00:03:04.230 --> 00:03:17.340 Jessica Rhodes: And like if you know mark it as as argues wife and I know very well when she says she really feels like she needs to be there, like we know it's going to happen and like there's not you know.   22 00:03:17.700 --> 00:03:22.710 Jessica Rhodes: it's like get on board or not, but like business happening, and so we sit down.   23 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:28.530 Jessica Rhodes: And she's like really sharing like I really feel like I need to be there.   24 00:03:28.890 --> 00:03:37.320 Jessica Rhodes: And she was sort of like and I was like Okay, what does that mean because, like whenever we work with a coach like we always work with a coach like together like we do a mastermind together we're 50 partners and all that.   25 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:48.420 Jessica Rhodes: And she was sort of like like do you want to check it out like what do you think, and I looked at it and I was like I mean I it's hard to do it's hard to look at a luxury retreat in the Bahamas and be like this ain't for me.   26 00:03:48.930 --> 00:04:01.830 Jessica Rhodes: But I looked at it and I was like this ain't for me like i'm like this Okay, you have my blessing, you can go on this retreat and i'm like I know it'll pay off, but it was like.   27 00:04:02.820 --> 00:04:09.060 Jessica Rhodes: Okay, this, this is what it's like to partner with marky she is like i'm going to do this and you're like I trust you.   28 00:04:10.380 --> 00:04:13.110 Jessica Rhodes: and go ahead.   29 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:16.860 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah I get some intuitive hits that.   30 00:04:18.420 --> 00:04:26.820 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): seem really off topic, sometimes, but so far 100% of the time they have like paid off.   31 00:04:27.630 --> 00:04:34.590 Jessica Rhodes: it's just so funny because, like it went from like when I think executive coach and I know this like isn't probably super.   32 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:51.090 Jessica Rhodes: You know, politically correct, but I just think of like an old man in a suit i'm like okay she's gonna go get some like CEO you know, and then it turns out she's like two weeks later in the Bahamas like in clear blue water and this like $33 million mansion and i'm like okay.   33 00:04:52.080 --> 00:05:05.730 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and it was like and the thing is like yeah I mean a luxury retreat is cool but that wasn't what I set out for I really set out because I knew that I needed to up level as a leader.   34 00:05:06.090 --> 00:05:18.990 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I wanted someone that was coaching me and I wanted some coaching that was like just for me because, like just said, we are coaching together all the time, but increasingly we have very, very different roles and.   35 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:29.100 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Like i'm the only one in the CEO see and like it's just a different vibe it's a different like I don't feel like i'm alone, sometimes.   36 00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:43.500 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so having a coach who's just working with me directly to help me be the best CEO possible and to help me coach and mentor everybody else in the business, who I met her directly and like to help them up level even more.   37 00:05:44.880 --> 00:05:47.250 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I was also picturing an old white man.   38 00:05:48.390 --> 00:05:53.550 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Which is why I was so funny because it was like the feeling was so strong and it was like also funny because.   39 00:05:53.970 --> 00:06:04.890 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I am a little bit like easing into travel, so the idea like i'm looking at this thing we're in the airport and I had just been like I think I want to travel less.   40 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:10.830 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And this retreat is like less than a month away an international trip it, which is just like.   41 00:06:11.700 --> 00:06:23.550 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): On the surface, I was like this is, and of course it was like every annual doctor's appointment, I had fell during that one week it was like there was, like all these inconveniences that I was just like.   42 00:06:23.970 --> 00:06:31.020 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Oh, but I felt so strong and I was like I have to be there, and so I just I was, like all right i'm rescheduling everything and like.   43 00:06:31.650 --> 00:06:48.900 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You know, deep appreciation to just for supporting me and for believing that there would be an Roi to the business and to my wife, for supporting me when she was like really not happy that I had just gotten home and was like i'm going to the Bahamas like by.   44 00:06:51.120 --> 00:07:06.450 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): She was not happy, but I knew that I had to go and I thought it was because I needed to go and get into kathleen's presence, because she has this incredible vibe and Energy I had heard about it.   45 00:07:06.930 --> 00:07:26.670 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I ended up going and we actually didn't spend a lot of time with Kathleen because she had some health issues, which was really interesting because, at first, the first day she wasn't there and I was like there was a part of my mind that was like oh wait a minute.   46 00:07:26.880 --> 00:07:38.340 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Like Why did I have this intuitive hit that I needed to be at this thing when the person who whose presence, I wanted to be in to get this next level guidance to bring back to the business.   47 00:07:38.790 --> 00:07:47.220 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): isn't here and I don't say that with any rudeness, but like those are the sort of limiting thoughts that come up sometimes but then there was this other part of me that was like.   48 00:07:47.550 --> 00:07:55.830 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): i'm here this investment is made, I am going to have a breakthrough and like when I decide i'm going to have a breakthrough.   49 00:07:56.250 --> 00:08:03.570 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): As I told a few people I could have a breakthrough staring at a telephone pole like breakthroughs on demand baby if.   50 00:08:04.020 --> 00:08:12.450 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): i'm going to have a breakthrough i'm going to have a breakthrough and I did end up having these huge breakthroughs, but they weren't and This is so true like when we did landmark it was like this, like.   51 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:25.110 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I the breakthrough is never Look how I think they're going to look but it's always the breakthrough that I need and showing up without my wife without jess and justin I always go to business things together.   52 00:08:26.340 --> 00:08:35.310 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was so weird I like I couldn't believe it, so I show up in the super expensive Villa expecting to feel.   53 00:08:35.940 --> 00:08:43.590 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): This like amazing manifesting abundance right and I showed up and I actually felt kind of weird.   54 00:08:44.070 --> 00:08:57.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I was like shit like i'm not i'm not manifesting right, you know, like i'm supposed to i'm supposed to be in this expensive Villa and feel the feelings of abundance and, like all of this stuff and.   55 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:04.710 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But I like showed up, and it was sort of awkward because I came a little bit earlier than everyone else, so there was only a few people in the House and, like.   56 00:09:04.950 --> 00:09:09.210 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And again, that i'm not knocking the retreat amazing retreat Kathleen is amazing.   57 00:09:09.540 --> 00:09:14.550 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): This is how I experienced it because of my level of consciousness, which then evolved we're going to take you through it.   58 00:09:14.850 --> 00:09:19.920 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But, so I first arrived and i'm feeling awkward and there's like a few people and i'm kind of like high.   59 00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:26.970 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And they all seem to know each other, because they had participated in Bob proctor and Kathleen programs for a long time.   60 00:09:27.270 --> 00:09:33.720 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): They are part of that world which I have never done any of those things, so people are like, why are you here, and I was like.   61 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:42.960 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): i've gotten that question a few times you know, like just an Alex would would ask the same thing i'm not sure I just knew I had to be here and.   62 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:51.780 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was sort of awkward and then everybody arrived, and we had this dinner but Kathleen was supposed to be there, but she wasn't there and it was.   63 00:09:52.110 --> 00:10:05.820 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was a little weird and I didn't really know anyone I knew one person I knew Annabel like she had other friends there who she's been friends with for a long time, so I didn't want to like intrude on her time with her bfs so I was just sort of like awkwardly floating around.   64 00:10:07.650 --> 00:10:22.740 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And being like Why do I feel so weird like i'm like Marty what the hell is wrong with you like you're literally in a mansion on the beach, why are you feeling uncomfortable you should just be feeling like amazing and manifest it.   65 00:10:24.180 --> 00:10:35.250 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so we go through the first full day of the retreat Kathleen still not there it's very unclear when she's going to get there if she's going to get there and i'm kind of like what is happening.   66 00:10:35.520 --> 00:10:45.150 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And i'm still like in this battle against myself of like Come on, you asshole like manifest like look at the ocean and feel the feelings of abundance margate.   67 00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:47.340 Jessica Rhodes: swing on those swings in the water.   68 00:10:48.330 --> 00:10:50.220 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But well we didn't get to the swings yet that was like.   69 00:10:50.220 --> 00:11:10.230 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Okay, but but i'm like come on girl like talking to myself, like and but still feeling so weird so we get through day one, and it's like nice um I think it was the I think it was all day one, because we get to dinner and or like dinner time and people are sharing.   70 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:17.730 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I was like I need to share this because i've experienced this so many times.   71 00:11:18.150 --> 00:11:28.320 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Where there's just something like not it up and you and you're like fighting against yourself and only when you say it out loud to other human beings are you free of it.   72 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:40.650 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it's always awkward but it's like I knew I needed to do that so everyone's doing their shares and they're like talking about abundance and, like all like the stuff we're supposed to be talking about.   73 00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:49.560 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I, so I get the MIC and we're at this big giant live live edge wood table with this insane ocean view.   74 00:11:50.520 --> 00:12:06.090 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I get the MIC and, of course, my voice starts cracking immediately so i'm like into the MIC like I just feel like it's like so embarrassing voices like that, through this entire speech.   75 00:12:08.130 --> 00:12:09.090 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I just like.   76 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:24.510 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): open to other them about like feeling so insecure and like showing up alone and feeling like those old feelings from like middle school of like.   77 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:35.160 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You know, it does my body look right like Am I wearing the right clothes, am I saying the right things like everybody knows each other they're already friends and i'm like I you know i'm like.   78 00:12:35.670 --> 00:12:46.170 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I don't know anyone so i'm kind of floating around and i'm like trying not to look like a weird outcast but i'm also trying not to intrude on other people's conversations like like just like being an absolute nutcase.   79 00:12:46.290 --> 00:12:47.790 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): In this like gorgeous.   80 00:12:48.390 --> 00:12:50.130 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): With this gorgeous backdrop.   81 00:12:50.610 --> 00:12:56.190 Jessica Rhodes: If you have not seen the instagram stories like imagine selling sunset It is like one of those mansions.   82 00:12:56.340 --> 00:13:08.460 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and it's like and one of the lessons I think, is that, like, no matter how gorgeous scenery it's like what what is happening inside of you that's what matters like you could have a view of a dumpster and if you're in alignment.   83 00:13:08.880 --> 00:13:22.440 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's gonna be amazing and you can be in a gorgeous $35 million Villa and like battling old insecurities that you thought you were like 20 years away from experiencing.   84 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:32.040 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): So I share all this in my like cracked voice, and it was so beautiful and by like being honest with people about how I was feeling.   85 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:40.470 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I was able to actually connect with them people new group are tearing up people told me they felt the same way and I was like, and it was like.   86 00:13:40.890 --> 00:13:49.590 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I was like really because you look amazing and they were like you look amazing and I was like maybe we're all crazy and it was just so amazing.   87 00:13:50.250 --> 00:13:59.970 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so after I did that share Oh, you know what this was after the boat experience, so we did have that really cool but experience, which was really nice, but I still felt kind of weird and then.   88 00:14:01.230 --> 00:14:12.840 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): After I said that we you know we finished our food everybody's like milling around and rosie this really nice woman who was there comes up to me and she was like you know.   89 00:14:13.830 --> 00:14:22.800 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Today, when we were on the boat excursion I told you, I love your bathing suit it's like your style is so gorgeous and so unique.   90 00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:33.660 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And she had said this compliment at a normal volume of voice to me people around heard because they were they could hear that conversation they're like yeah I heard that.   91 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:40.530 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I didn't answer her like it must have looked like I snapped her because I literally didn't hear it.   92 00:14:41.160 --> 00:14:56.040 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And that blew my mind, I was like I because I wasn't feeling confident in myself I literally physically could not hear the nice things that people were saying to me.   93 00:14:56.850 --> 00:15:01.140 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And that blew my fucking mind because it's like how much love.   94 00:15:01.410 --> 00:15:16.290 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): and support is around you that you're not even hearing how much money are people trying to give you, and you are not even hearing them you're not even seeing it because you're out of alignment with that and so.   95 00:15:17.010 --> 00:15:32.790 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): That was, like the first that was like part one of the lesson that was really, really profound for me and then the next day there was like a deeper version of that same lesson, do you want me to pause just.   96 00:15:35.520 --> 00:15:40.650 Jessica Rhodes: um no I don't think I have anything to add, so why don't you keep going.   97 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:53.730 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Okay, so the next day, and I also want to say it wasn't like it wasn't like I said this and then everything was great like right, I was still in the space of discomfort.   98 00:15:54.060 --> 00:15:59.730 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But it wasn't like it was before I felt connected to the people around me I just felt a little uncomfortable.   99 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:06.420 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And one of the things i've realized is that being connected with people makes me uncomfortable, and so I have to work with my nervous system.   100 00:16:07.020 --> 00:16:14.550 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Like true connection so that really broke the ice when I was able to share that people started coming up to me.   101 00:16:14.880 --> 00:16:18.210 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And like you know there were like you seem really confident like.   102 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:28.110 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I was there were like one person was like I was really surprised to hear you say that because you seemed really confident you seemed really happy and friendly and confident and I never would have guessed you're feeling that way.   103 00:16:28.530 --> 00:16:37.350 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And that was cool because I was like how many other people are feeling that way that we just think are so much more confident than we are, but they are actually feeling a totally different way, so.   104 00:16:37.920 --> 00:16:47.880 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I connected with people Peggy shout out to Peggy my bfs who we know who's done like a bunch of our master classes, I got to know her.   105 00:16:49.530 --> 00:16:58.920 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it was just really special so i'm still feeling a little uncomfortable because i've just been super vulnerable with all these basically strangers, but I felt this relief and people were like you look lighter.   106 00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:07.950 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so the next day thing was the next day, or maybe it was two days later, then the our last morning there we did a.   107 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:21.240 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Guided meditation with this amazing musician named Joel his handle is a soul called Joel will link to it in the show notes he's on Tik Tok and on Instagram as a soul called Joel.   108 00:17:22.800 --> 00:17:27.900 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): he's the best he's like the most calming person in the entire world, he also has all these amazing.   109 00:17:28.530 --> 00:17:35.550 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): manifestation and affirmation and just instrumental stuff on spotify he's an incredible guitar player and singer he.   110 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:47.760 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Is the guitar player for India irie they've been working together for like seven eight years he manifested that that's a whole sidebar but he told me the story of how we manifest that she found him online crazy so.   111 00:17:48.900 --> 00:17:49.560 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): he's like.   112 00:17:49.710 --> 00:18:03.030 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Alright, so i'm going to walk you through this meditation called I am the love of my life and I had seen it on the agenda and i'm like cute like whatever like that's Nice.   113 00:18:03.330 --> 00:18:14.250 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then I met Joe I sat with him at dinner The night before and I was like oh this guy's great like he's like so calm and like he just has one of those people who just love immediately he's so open.   114 00:18:14.550 --> 00:18:31.110 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): he's so calm he makes you feel calm he he can like regulate other people he has a superpower so having talked to Joel and gotten to know his very calm energy i'm like cool this is going to be a chill time this like morning meditation.   115 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.080 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was not in fact a chill time.   116 00:18:35.820 --> 00:18:48.900 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But it was the time I needed so he's playing guitar he's having us like breathe in and breathe out and then he starts playing this song which is on spotify.   117 00:18:49.950 --> 00:18:58.110 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): called I am the love of my life which, like i'm like okay like that's super cute but I wasn't like I didn't like here that title is like oh my gosh.   118 00:18:59.580 --> 00:19:03.060 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): i'm like that's that's nice i'm sure other people will get a lot of that I think is.   119 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:06.930 Jessica Rhodes: So classic MARQuIS.   120 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:09.540 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I I don't learn sometimes.   121 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:17.580 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): So he's like playing the guitar and he's like an amazing guitarist and also he's so present and in flow when he plays that it just has a different quality.   122 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:27.600 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so, he starts he's like close your eyes i'm like all right Joel and then and then he's like I want you to watch a movie of your life.   123 00:19:28.110 --> 00:19:37.470 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): For two minutes, starting at your birth and coming to this moment for two minutes I want you to just close your eyes.   124 00:19:37.950 --> 00:19:47.910 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): and watch the video and so he's playing the song the love of my life he's like coming in and talking to us a little bit and everybody's eyes are closed and.   125 00:19:48.840 --> 00:19:58.290 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I just start to hear like loud cry coming from all around me, you know, like and and like and i'm crying too so.   126 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:14.070 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): i've done a lot of trauma work i've done i've done i've like gone back there i've process stuff so i'm like I kind of felt like I knew what to expect like this, I am about to embark on watching a very sad movie.   127 00:20:14.460 --> 00:20:29.370 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And like fine so but I started, and the reason I started crying was not because it was sad, it was because of the opposite, so I start watching I like watch my birth and, like my dad's there and it's like so cute.   128 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:34.560 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And and i'm like this little baby and then I watched like my life.   129 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:44.550 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it was so weird because I felt like I could see things differently, even though it was just an imagination like it's a projection.   130 00:20:44.850 --> 00:20:57.330 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But it really felt like I was there and suddenly I could see all these things watching it from the outside, that I hadn't been able to see when I was actually experiencing it as my younger self.   131 00:20:57.900 --> 00:21:12.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And the thing that I saw that blew my mind was that I have this very subconscious narrative that like I am alone right like that, like i've just always been so.   132 00:21:13.020 --> 00:21:22.470 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): lonely like i've always like even I feel the most lonely when I have the most people around me, even if it's like people I love.   133 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:37.230 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): i've always just felt like disconnected and out of place, and like sometimes being around other people was worse than just being alone because it made me feel even more alone, so I know this is kind of kind of.   134 00:21:37.620 --> 00:21:40.320 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): dark right, but I want to be really.   135 00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:42.570 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): honest about it, because if i'm not.   136 00:21:42.630 --> 00:21:44.880 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You won't be able to get anything out of it so.   137 00:21:47.040 --> 00:21:58.320 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it was like it's subconscious like I wouldn't have described it as that what I thought was that, like people just didn't love me as much as they loved other people that's what I thought, because I couldn't feel the love.   138 00:21:58.650 --> 00:22:05.580 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): So I thought that people don't love me enough like I feel alone when i'm with my loved ones, because they don't love me enough.   139 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:11.160 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): they're not giving me enough love they're not you know, giving me enough words of affirmation support and all that stuff.   140 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:27.000 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then I watched the movie of my life and what blew me away was the amount of love the number of people who have been rooting for me, since day one cheering me on supporting me.   141 00:22:27.390 --> 00:22:40.020 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): loving me, and it was so crazy and then those people who are really memorable like those negative experiences of people who like said mean things to me are called me uglier said I was fat like that stuff that.   142 00:22:40.620 --> 00:22:47.100 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): in so many ways, has like shaped me kind of and made me more closed off and made me distrustful.   143 00:22:47.490 --> 00:22:59.940 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was such a minority of people who are mean and the majority of people like loved me and supported me so much, I was like crying because i'm like seeing all of this love and support.   144 00:23:00.780 --> 00:23:13.260 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): That I hadn't seen and I hadn't felt it and the analogy that came to me was like it was sort of like you've got like this jug of water right and the waters, the love.   145 00:23:13.710 --> 00:23:22.950 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then i'm this jar and the tops on the JAR and so you're pouring the jug of of water over the JAR trying to get it in the JAR.   146 00:23:23.250 --> 00:23:28.470 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it's all just hitting the top and going out there's nothing going in the JAR.   147 00:23:28.890 --> 00:23:45.330 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then, instead of me being like the tops on the JAR I kept thinking there's not enough in the jug there's not enough love i'm not getting enough love and it was crazy to realize how much love and support I was getting and that I wasn't receiving it.   148 00:23:46.830 --> 00:23:56.250 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And that, just like changed everything for me, I feel like and I realized, and I I voice message my wife Alex I voice messages because.   149 00:23:57.300 --> 00:24:07.110 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): The two of them, particularly they see me a lot they know me well, that you know, and one of the things I do is like.   150 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:13.770 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I just don't like to show weakness I because of my narrative that i'm alone it's me verse everybody.   151 00:24:14.190 --> 00:24:26.550 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's like I always have my game face on like almost no matter what i'm like no worries I know what to do, we're good i'm fine i'm good like let me help you i'm fine.   152 00:24:27.210 --> 00:24:32.700 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I realized that I had noticed, I had picked up on.   153 00:24:33.030 --> 00:24:40.080 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Those moments where to me, I was showing weakness, where I don't think this is actually weakness I don't think they would say this, but my interpretation was.   154 00:24:40.320 --> 00:24:47.700 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Weak moments moments, where I didn't know what to do, moments, where I got emotional and I didn't mean to moments, where I was vulnerable.   155 00:24:48.450 --> 00:24:56.220 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I could tell that both jess and Alex in those moments were happy right they would like lean in there, like yes.   156 00:24:56.700 --> 00:25:09.240 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And my interpretation for my previous understanding of me verse everyone was like these assholes like they want to see me week, while they're not fucking gun like you know it was like.   157 00:25:09.810 --> 00:25:20.040 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it was so funny to have this realization and be like they're not happy because they want me to suffer they're happy because they love me.   158 00:25:20.370 --> 00:25:30.480 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And they want to actually be able to see me and contribute to me and connect with me and when i'm acting like everything's perfect and i'm on top of it, and I have my game face on.   159 00:25:30.810 --> 00:25:48.240 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): They can't connect with me when i'm like let me help you and i'm supporting them but i'm not allowing them to see me or support me i'm like robbing them of this gift of contribution of real contribution and connection with me, and that was like so crazy.   160 00:25:48.810 --> 00:25:55.140 Jessica Rhodes: yeah yeah because when you're it feels it feels like a one way relationship, you know.   161 00:25:55.770 --> 00:26:01.200 Jessica Rhodes: When when you know one person is not ever opening up or showing their vulnerabilities are showing their weakness like.   162 00:26:01.710 --> 00:26:09.810 Jessica Rhodes: I know, for me it was like after i'm like well MARQuIS always has it together, she is always right, she is never having a down moment and.   163 00:26:10.650 --> 00:26:17.340 Jessica Rhodes: Meanwhile i'm like crying and like broad dlp, and so I think you know for so long i've always felt.   164 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:29.490 Jessica Rhodes: You know I would feel less than you because i'm like well she never has breakdown she's not you know, then so it was just I really acknowledge you for like having that breakthrough and sharing that because it does feel.   165 00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:35.160 Jessica Rhodes: So good to be able to support somebody when they're feeling down because everyone has those down moments.   166 00:26:36.930 --> 00:26:40.890 Jessica Rhodes: And it's nice to be able to support each other.   167 00:26:41.550 --> 00:26:46.020 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and it feels good to receive support it's uncomfortable.   168 00:26:46.080 --> 00:26:52.050 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Like for me and if you're like me after work with your nervous system, because it feels like you just want a snapshot.   169 00:26:53.040 --> 00:26:54.150 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Then you gotta like.   170 00:26:54.300 --> 00:27:01.620 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): stay open and like ease into it, but it feels good to receive that and it also feels good to like.   171 00:27:02.280 --> 00:27:10.950 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): be a real person like it's and it's like I do, I do have it together a lot like I, but there are moments where.   172 00:27:11.490 --> 00:27:20.370 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I don't share what's going on, or one thing I do is like when it's happening like when i'm in something when i'm really in it.   173 00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:27.600 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): my mind to keep me safe is like don't tell anyone don't tell anyone because it feels like an open nerve that I have to protect.   174 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:36.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then it's only once i've like figured it out by myself and i'm, on the other side of it that all then tell this really sanitized version of it.   175 00:27:36.540 --> 00:27:46.650 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): which looks like authenticity and is a kind of authenticity, but it's not the same as opening up when you're in it, because that's what feels really threatening but that's also.   176 00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:54.240 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): What allows your people to see you and to support you, and it was also like to hear you say that justin Alex said something similar to me.   177 00:27:54.960 --> 00:28:03.660 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was crazy to realize that because of my fear of people hurting me and my belief that, I mean I am so sensitive.   178 00:28:04.110 --> 00:28:15.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I always looked at extreme sensitivity as a handicap and something that I had to hide and like protect and to realize that.   179 00:28:15.990 --> 00:28:26.490 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): In my fear of like vulnerability in my fear of being hurt in my effort to protect my sensitivity and what felt like an opener for me.   180 00:28:26.820 --> 00:28:34.530 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I had made the people that I love most feel bad about themselves because i'm showing up protecting myself acting like everything's fine.   181 00:28:34.860 --> 00:28:44.490 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And not realizing that i'm making them feel less than or like they can't contribute to me, and that was crazy, because that is not at all what I intended.   182 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:53.640 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And it was just it was very cool and of course it's like an ongoing thing i'm gonna have to keep reminding myself like reminding my body doing the neuro drills.   183 00:28:53.940 --> 00:29:03.780 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's safe it's safe to let people in it's safe to let people see me what I don't have it together but it's so powerful and it's just.   184 00:29:04.620 --> 00:29:19.350 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I feel less alone, like, I really feel differently, after a lifetime of unconsciously feeling alone, I feel, and receive the love and support around me now for the first time.   185 00:29:21.120 --> 00:29:22.110 Jessica Rhodes: so beautiful.   186 00:29:24.930 --> 00:29:29.880 Jessica Rhodes: We are really taking y'all on some deep journey so welcome to our life.   187 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:33.090 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah June is a deep.   188 00:29:33.810 --> 00:29:37.770 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Deep month on the podcast, so I hope I hope that you like it.   189 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:40.320 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): follow us on social.   190 00:29:40.320 --> 00:29:40.740 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): media.   191 00:29:41.460 --> 00:29:46.410 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): shoot us an email, I really am interested in people's takeaways like.   192 00:29:46.710 --> 00:29:56.430 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): If you heard something here and you're like oh my gosh this is me feel free to like send us a DM or you can email me at marquee at interview connections COM if you're just like oh my gosh.   193 00:29:57.060 --> 00:30:07.110 Jessica Rhodes: Like honestly were the type of friends, you can like dms and tell us your deepest traumas on the first DM and like we're not going to judge you for that So if you are hearing this and you're just like wow I can relate to this like.   194 00:30:07.560 --> 00:30:10.410 Jessica Rhodes: You can find us on social you can send us a message.   195 00:30:11.190 --> 00:30:12.300 Jessica Rhodes: Like we're happy to.   196 00:30:12.690 --> 00:30:24.210 Jessica Rhodes: to connect with you, if you're you know, an entrepreneur that's like really serious about up leveling and you want to coach with us, you want to get out on podcasts like reach out to us, you know interview connections COM marquee at interview connections COM.   197 00:30:24.780 --> 00:30:27.450 Jessica Rhodes: Multiple calls to action breaking my own rules, but.   198 00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:30.330 Jessica Rhodes: yeah alright thanks all.

In this episode, we nerd out on all things nervous system! We share more about nervous system co-regulation and how actually dysregulating each other’s nervous systems was the key to experiencing a quantum leap of personal growth.   Links mentioned:    Elisabeth’s previous podcast appearances on our show:    Applied Neurology: https://interviewconnections.com/elisabeth/ Leadership and the Nervous System: https://interviewconnections.com/leadership-the-nervous-system/   Audio Transcript:    Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): On this episode, we are going to be nurturing out on the nervous system and on some really deep work that dustin I have been doing together.   2 00:00:14.219 --> 00:00:25.410 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then, with the help of Elizabeth Christoph who is our nervous system angel and the incredible breakthroughs that that work has really made available.   3 00:00:26.790 --> 00:00:37.170 Jessica Rhodes: yeah I have learned, I mean i'm embarrassed to say I really didn't know what the nervous system was until like a year or year and a half ago, I mean, I guess, I had heard the phrase, but I really didn't understand it.   4 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:52.980 Jessica Rhodes: and Elizabeth has been on this podcast I think three times I interviewed her a couple of years ago, so definitely will link to these episodes in the show notes, so you can can listen she's been on marquees panels leadership and the nervous system panels.   5 00:00:54.030 --> 00:01:02.940 Jessica Rhodes: And i've just learned so much about the nervous system and it's helps me like experience the biggest breakthroughs i've ever had.   6 00:01:04.080 --> 00:01:12.330 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah, and the reason that elizabeth's work and she's legit she has been featured in forbes she's like we're clearly obsessed with her.   7 00:01:13.110 --> 00:01:24.480 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): We feature her every possible opportunity we both personally work with her, we have coaching clients work with her when they have something they need to process through their nervous system, like the level of.   8 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:32.460 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Our trust in her and our love of her is like very, very high, because we don't take that lightly, who we work with and also who we send our clients to.   9 00:01:33.030 --> 00:01:46.110 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): So what I love about elizabeth's work is I think there's such a huge focus in the personal development space on these mindset emotional energetic up levels.   10 00:01:46.590 --> 00:01:59.250 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I love them they're amazing like I love them i've had so many like mindset and your feelings and your emotional guidance system, all that stuff is so real and so important.   11 00:01:59.970 --> 00:02:11.730 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And also, I felt that I personally and i've observed other people kind of hit a ceiling on how far I could go with just mindset and emotion and energy.   12 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:19.680 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I really wasn't sure why until I learned more about the nervous system and the work that Elizabeth doing.   13 00:02:20.040 --> 00:02:35.760 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And realizing that my mind my energy my spirit was like leveling up like crazy, but no one had talked to my body about what we were doing and that resulted in.   14 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:46.230 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Yes, migraines exhaustion fatigue, but also in me sort of like getting up to the ledge of doing this thing that I knew I should do in this leap of faith.   15 00:02:46.710 --> 00:02:52.020 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And backing off because the discomfort in my body was so intense.   16 00:02:52.470 --> 00:03:01.560 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I felt like I couldn't handle it, whether that was like you know super tight in the chest like shaking hands shaking voice like it was just like.   17 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:15.630 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was like my body was like hell no and so i'm ready to show up powerfully and make this big move, and meanwhile i'm like shaking i'm like I have this week voice i'm like so tense, I can barely get the word out like.   18 00:03:15.990 --> 00:03:27.660 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And i'm like this in it like this any would make me back off because i'd be kind of honestly embarrassed because my body is not cooperating and I feel so powerful, I want to show up powerfully.   19 00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:36.120 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then i'm showing up with so much fear in my body and people can feel that and I can feel that and it started messing with my mindset.   20 00:03:36.420 --> 00:03:50.220 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Because I would like go for these up levels, then I would have these reactions his old fear and stuff in my body, and I would back off because I would be like oh God it's too much Oh, it was like there was a fear.   21 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:59.610 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Of the fear like feeling the discomfort in my body from the fear was so uncomfortable that I would back off and i'd be like okay I won't do it then.   22 00:03:59.940 --> 00:04:03.120 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And then I would be getting mad at myself for playing small.   23 00:04:03.510 --> 00:04:15.900 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But the threat response that my body was going through, it was like you're gonna die you're going to die is like you're not gonna die from going on Facebook live, but if your body is sure that you will.   24 00:04:16.290 --> 00:04:23.850 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It will feel really, really scary and your brains job as Elizabeth says, all the time, is to keep you safe so.   25 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:27.510 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): This has been such a profound thing for me because.   26 00:04:27.930 --> 00:04:40.950 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's really allowed me to quantum leap because i've already done all this work i've like I mean i've processed, a lot of trauma i've done a lot of energetic work i've done so much mindset so much emotional guidance system stuff.   27 00:04:41.430 --> 00:04:50.970 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It was the body was really the last piece, for me, and by now learning how to work with my nervous system and get the nervous system on board and take that time.   28 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:57.630 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): To be like hey here's what we're doing it's going to be safe and like doing the neuro drills and the tapping.   29 00:04:58.260 --> 00:05:07.920 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It the power and the grounding that I now have is absolutely incredible and I say that as someone who has a tendency to dissociate.   30 00:05:08.520 --> 00:05:15.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And when you dissociate you're not in your body and so getting in my body is a focus for me.   31 00:05:15.900 --> 00:05:24.480 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's it's always something that I have to be really mindful of and i'm like up in the head i'm like flying like let's do this.   32 00:05:24.990 --> 00:05:39.030 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Typical air sign if you're into astrology and my my Achilles heel is always grounding a lack of grounding and feeling safe in my body feeling safe grounding into my body.   33 00:05:39.450 --> 00:05:50.130 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): has made me so much more powerful as a leader as a mammal You know, as you know, we are, we are like.   34 00:05:50.910 --> 00:06:06.210 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): alpha apex predators as humans like and there's something when you bring that full power, not in an aggressive way in your body to all the other work you've done mentally it's fucking crazy are we allowed to swear on the spot.   35 00:06:06.780 --> 00:06:16.890 Jessica Rhodes: Now well well we'll have the explicit sign, but I feel like that's very fitting for a show with you, because we always put the little explicit emoji react in slack so.   36 00:06:17.250 --> 00:06:18.150 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah i'm a big.   37 00:06:18.450 --> 00:06:24.030 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): fan of being explicit I always say I want to tell you explicitly what I want.   38 00:06:24.450 --> 00:06:26.040 there's no miscommunication.   39 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:30.660 Jessica Rhodes: yeah I love, all of this, and you know.   40 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:43.080 Jessica Rhodes: MARQuIS came to me recently and I alluded to this and I didn't lead to it, I said it in the last episode, but I want to dive more into this, I mean, are you why don't you share that side of story because yeah I want you to share.   41 00:06:43.350 --> 00:06:50.700 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Okay, so something was happening, where I was getting dis regulated, when I was talking to us.   42 00:06:51.090 --> 00:06:58.770 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And there, there are something we talked about last episode we'll talk about it this episode like mirroring and funding and stuff like that which is a trauma response.   43 00:06:59.070 --> 00:07:08.790 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): where you want someone to like you, or you want to connect with someone, but to do that, you try to be what you think they want or to mirror what they're doing.   44 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:19.290 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): which can backfire right, because if people feel like you're being in authentic and you're kind of stepping on their toes and you're doing what they're doing but it doesn't feel like it's really authentic.   45 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:28.530 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It can dis regulate them right and they start to get like they don't know why but they're just getting this feeling around you have like I don't know like I don't know if I like this.   46 00:07:29.010 --> 00:07:42.840 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I was starting to get that feeling and especially stepping into the personal brand I was getting it more, because just was getting more regulated, understandably, I was also kind of just regulated, because it was scary to step out into this content.   47 00:07:43.950 --> 00:07:58.860 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I really wasn't working with my nervous system, yet at that point so i'm already I would say delicate nervous system, wise in this new situation and then justice dysregulation was like we were just.   48 00:07:58.890 --> 00:08:00.750 Jessica Rhodes: It was a thing out of 10.   49 00:08:01.380 --> 00:08:06.870 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And yeah and I, like the reason people, people are like, why do you have such a successful partnership and like.   50 00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:11.640 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): We are able to talk to each other about stuff that like.   51 00:08:12.090 --> 00:08:23.790 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You you would never talk to someone about like because I started and I started to think about susie so susie if you've heard past episodes i'll let just do the whole story, but she was like a friend in middle school and there was this.   52 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:29.880 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Experience with her were in typical middle school girl on evolved fashion.   53 00:08:30.750 --> 00:08:31.230 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Like.   54 00:08:31.410 --> 00:08:38.400 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You know pulled this kind of power move, where she stopped talking to just she brought the friend group with her to super traumatizing.   55 00:08:39.210 --> 00:08:45.330 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And, in some ways and justin I have talked about this, there are some parallels between me and susie.   56 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:59.100 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Just like energy wise and like so it was really interesting because, as this, I was already a little wonky with my regulation because i'm stepping into this new level.   57 00:08:59.790 --> 00:09:07.260 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Just seems just regulated, I can tell that there's more like finding and mirroring which is making me feel smothered which is making me feel this regulated.   58 00:09:07.800 --> 00:09:21.720 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I started thinking about susie and we had done coaching we've worked with great coaches and you know both jess and I are quite familiar with each other, like middle school drama and we talked about it all the time with our coaches.   59 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:26.490 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I was like you know what I wonder if this happened with susie.   60 00:09:26.850 --> 00:09:34.230 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I wonder if susie was getting this regulated and, of course, a middle school girl is not going to be evolved enough to say.   61 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:46.080 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You know what I think you're just regulating my nervous system, can we talk through the trauma that we might be playing out together so that we can have a more aligned dynamic now middle school girls are bitches she was like by.   62 00:09:47.250 --> 00:09:57.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And like and she used her influence to create you know, the new situation that she wanted, which is what people do, especially in middle school.   63 00:09:57.690 --> 00:10:04.620 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): So it was really interesting though, because I realized, we had talked a lot with coaches about.   64 00:10:05.130 --> 00:10:13.080 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): The susie situation, but it was always the aftermath right, it was always like okay you've been abandoned and now there's this abandonment wound.   65 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:22.860 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): How do we, you know build your self worth up, which is like fine but, honestly it's kind of superficial right, because if you don't get to the root of something.   66 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:33.090 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You can layer affirmations all day long it's not gonna work it's not going to work at the level of your nervous system, and you can say I feel so much better, but people can tell that you don't so.   67 00:10:33.630 --> 00:10:51.990 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And that's not just just like i've done that too we've all done that, and then like i'm doing great and it's like maybe, so I realized we've never gone before the susie incident right before it right so we've always just said yeah like susie's a jerk middle school girls are.   68 00:10:51.990 --> 00:10:55.860 Jessica Rhodes: traumatized and if susie if you happen to be listening I forgive you and I love you very much.   69 00:10:56.910 --> 00:11:01.350 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): We understand what happened with your nervous system, we get it we're on the level with you.   70 00:11:03.030 --> 00:11:06.900 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): and honestly, as far as middle school girls got like truly no judgment.   71 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:15.720 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's a savage time so yeah, but it was really I was like we've never gone we've never asked the question why did susie leave.   72 00:11:16.020 --> 00:11:22.140 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Because it's always been I think people are afraid to ask questions like that, personally, and one of the things I like to do coaching people.   73 00:11:22.530 --> 00:11:29.280 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Is ask those questions that other people are afraid to ask because it's it's hard to tell someone who's like Oh, I had this.   74 00:11:29.670 --> 00:11:39.570 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): You know, someone abandoned me it was so traumatizing it's pretty in your face to say like, why do you think they left you right like because it's not just there a terrible person.   75 00:11:40.050 --> 00:11:48.210 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Everybody as Elizabeth would say is acting on the level of their nervous system, everybody is doing the best that they can.   76 00:11:48.510 --> 00:11:58.380 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And so, are there, people without empathy yes, there are, but the majority of people, they don't do things for no reason right, it might be their own reasons, it might be their own trauma and have nothing to do with you.   77 00:11:58.890 --> 00:12:09.270 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But, as I was getting this feeling I was like I wonder if there's something here that we should dig into about what drove susie away.   78 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:18.240 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): and not in a blame way, and this is what I said to just it's very easy to go from a victim of like this person abandoned me because they're an asshole.   79 00:12:18.630 --> 00:12:23.250 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): To self blaming have they abandoned me because i'm unlovable and i'm terrible.   80 00:12:23.580 --> 00:12:32.160 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Those are basically the same thing those feel like two different things that are two sides of the same coin So how do we take responsibility in a way that's like.   81 00:12:32.430 --> 00:12:43.140 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): What caused this result is there a way that I contributed to this and what did that look like, because we know it's not the answer is never going to be your own lovable like spoiler alert.   82 00:12:43.590 --> 00:12:45.690 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): If that's what you're getting you're very lovable.   83 00:12:46.350 --> 00:12:53.940 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's never that you're a bad person it's never that you're fundamentally unlovable you'll never be enough, I know you have those thoughts I know they feel real.   84 00:12:54.210 --> 00:13:02.940 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's never going to be that, so if we can rule that out, and we can rule out that that person is just a monster, then we can come into this middle space of.   85 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:14.130 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): What might have happened here what energy did I bring into this situation that somebody else didn't want to be around, and I think it's so incredible.   86 00:13:14.850 --> 00:13:22.950 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): The way we manifest the people in our lives, that we need to learn these lessons and to get to the next level and, like.   87 00:13:23.250 --> 00:13:36.930 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I was joking, with just but it's kind of true she's manifested me who is like this evolved susie right like I was probably more of a Suzy maybe even meaner and middle school because I had a lot of problems.   88 00:13:37.260 --> 00:13:50.190 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But i've done the therapy, I have processed my trauma I have done the personal growth work so whereas susie as a middle school girl, the level of her you know evolution all she could do was be like by like.   89 00:13:50.280 --> 00:14:05.580 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): An abandoned you, I am an adult who's done a lot of work, so it was so incredible that it's like you've manifested this version of susie who's evolved enough to not just be like by i'm going to abandon you but to really be like.   90 00:14:06.180 --> 00:14:15.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): what's going on here because I am feeling dis regulated by like the funding and the mirroring and I want to like dive into it.   91 00:14:16.410 --> 00:14:19.590 Jessica Rhodes: I love it you're like all that just told us, the story, and then you know so.   92 00:14:21.060 --> 00:14:22.230 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I OK.   93 00:14:22.350 --> 00:14:23.160 Jessica Rhodes: I know I like.   94 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:26.820 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I was like i'll just defer to just but then I was like.   95 00:14:26.850 --> 00:14:28.680 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): I kind of want to keep my narrative on track.   96 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:29.070 Jessica Rhodes: Now I.   97 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:34.170 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): would love to go to your version of this susie story, though, because they think.   98 00:14:35.310 --> 00:14:35.700 Jessica Rhodes: And i'm.   99 00:14:36.060 --> 00:14:44.370 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): sorry that I did that, and I would love to be able to honestly tell our listeners that I don't usually do stuff like that, but I can't lie to you guys.   100 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:54.840 Jessica Rhodes: No, no, no, it was it was absolutely perfect okay so let's talk a little bit about manifesting people into your life because.   101 00:14:54.900 --> 00:15:01.530 Jessica Rhodes: Again, people ask me all the time, how did you know Marty was the right partner, and I said I don't know I just know.   102 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:14.550 Jessica Rhodes: And God the universe was like girl, you need to get complete with your past trauma of feeling abandoned feeling disconnected feeling like the female leader of the pack doesn't want you around like that's all of my ship.   103 00:15:15.330 --> 00:15:22.080 Jessica Rhodes: And so, really, for the past I mean we've been in each other's lives for like five six years now, as as business partners.   104 00:15:22.800 --> 00:15:32.190 Jessica Rhodes: And, and there are there was like these moments of feeling just regulated and feeling disconnected or abandoned and i'm just like.   105 00:15:33.030 --> 00:15:43.830 Jessica Rhodes: Ah, you know it was like Why do I feel less than Why do I feel just regulated and when MARQuIS came to me and was like it was a Monday morning at 930.   106 00:15:44.820 --> 00:16:00.960 Jessica Rhodes: On Monday morning at 930 guys MARQuIS does not do zoom calls before 10 like if she can help it and she was like hey girl, can you hop on zoom and I was like sure like whatever and she gets on and she's like get ready for a break thrill and I was like.   107 00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:11.910 Jessica Rhodes: And I was like sick i'm always down for breakthrough morgan's always serving one up on a platter like, here we go and she then tells me how.   108 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:16.650 Jessica Rhodes: This regularly that she feels around me and I was like.   109 00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:31.080 Jessica Rhodes: Okay feeling very humbled and up moment um and so she starts talking to me about the susie thing because, like really the recent break there was like Oh, I have an abandonment pop up I like i've shared it on this podcast before.   110 00:16:31.710 --> 00:16:41.970 Jessica Rhodes: And, and she was like I want you to go deeper and so literally it was like 48 plus hours of me going to the depths of my deepest insecurities and like.   111 00:16:42.690 --> 00:16:49.830 Jessica Rhodes: dramas, and I was really fucking pissed that Murray, he was putting me on this journey, because I was like really that Monday morning was.   112 00:16:50.400 --> 00:17:03.300 Jessica Rhodes: Perfect until you sold me on zoom and was like i'm gonna send you on there's like she buckled me into a roller coaster and then I went like straight down to the bottom, and I was there for a couple.   113 00:17:05.010 --> 00:17:11.490 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah yeah I do that, like there will be aggressive breakthroughs during times.   114 00:17:11.490 --> 00:17:14.820 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Where it's like everything's going great and i'm like okay.   115 00:17:14.940 --> 00:17:18.150 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): let's face this this thing you've been avoiding for so long.   116 00:17:18.360 --> 00:17:18.780 Jessica Rhodes: yeah.   117 00:17:18.810 --> 00:17:20.640 Jessica Rhodes: But it was so great, because.   118 00:17:21.630 --> 00:17:27.330 Jessica Rhodes: The feeling dis regulated around each other, like really had never been spoken um.   119 00:17:28.140 --> 00:17:39.720 Jessica Rhodes: And so, getting like really facing that head on, was so helpful and there's been like so many like breakthroughs, and like getting into alignment like if you're clicking a puzzle together and just be like every few days we've just like click click click click click click.   120 00:17:40.830 --> 00:17:43.530 Jessica Rhodes: So it's been it's been really, really great and.   121 00:17:43.740 --> 00:17:50.610 Jessica Rhodes: So you know, had this big breakthrough like i'd be like okay well, maybe this happened she's like before susie, it has to be before sixth grade what happened before, and I was like.   122 00:17:50.730 --> 00:17:58.230 Jessica Rhodes: revealing to her like some really embarrassing things that she's like it's not that and i'm like my God, are you serious like I have to keep.   123 00:18:00.030 --> 00:18:04.020 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): i'm like the least judgmental person ever like you can't.   124 00:18:04.080 --> 00:18:09.060 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): No one can shock me you could tell me anything and i'd be like okay like.   125 00:18:09.510 --> 00:18:12.750 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah you know it, I know it's embarrassing to you and honestly wasn't that.   126 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:21.270 Jessica Rhodes: Bad yeah I know I can tell you anything like I like if I make an off color joke like I know she's never gonna like get upset or judge before it so um.   127 00:18:21.600 --> 00:18:22.590 Jessica Rhodes: yeah so anyway.   128 00:18:22.830 --> 00:18:37.410 Jessica Rhodes: Like we got to the breakthrough we got to the the deepest darkest root of this problem here, and then she sent me to work with Elizabeth she's like now, you need to like here because, like trauma lives in the body and Elizabeth says this all the time.   129 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:45.540 Jessica Rhodes: trauma really is not in the cognitive mind like I never really could have like completely healed that without doing.   130 00:18:46.260 --> 00:18:50.760 Jessica Rhodes: This nervous system work so Elizabeth worked with me on you know eft tapping and.   131 00:18:51.330 --> 00:19:00.420 Jessica Rhodes: gave me these really important exercises he's applied neurology exercises to call my nervous system, so now several times a day if i'm feeling like in a heightened state of threat.   132 00:19:00.690 --> 00:19:04.890 Jessica Rhodes: I have like an exercise that I can do that immediately comes my nervous system.   133 00:19:05.340 --> 00:19:15.540 Jessica Rhodes: And I also have these really great affirmations that I do when i'm doing those neuro drills which are really great and one of them is myself express myself wait.   134 00:19:16.410 --> 00:19:26.280 Jessica Rhodes: By self expression protects me, which is amazing because being self expressed and like being fully myself.   135 00:19:26.850 --> 00:19:31.500 Jessica Rhodes: I previously would feel really scared that that would be the reason somebody would leave me.   136 00:19:31.800 --> 00:19:43.740 Jessica Rhodes: So when I am self expressed by nervous system is like this is a little scary, so I do these applied neuro drills, and I say like i'm safe Being myself my self expression protects me so when i'm putting myself out there.   137 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.540 Jessica Rhodes: I can remind my nervous system like this is safe, and this is actually like a good thing.   138 00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:57.480 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and I think for anyone listening, even if you can't relate to this exactly like we all have this.   139 00:19:57.990 --> 00:20:06.840 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): We all have situations where we get dis regulated or dynamics, where we get dis regulated and if we're willing to really face that and look at what's going on.   140 00:20:07.260 --> 00:20:18.720 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): there's so much of your power available to you that you can take back and like when we went jess and I look back, we found a few situations of these, and it was always with these.   141 00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:27.420 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): super dominant alpha females, and it was so it's not with everybody it's like this certain type of person the certain type of energy.   142 00:20:27.690 --> 00:20:36.870 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): will bring something out of you, that is unprocessed trauma that's either a farming or maybe you're fighting and its aggressive very like.   143 00:20:37.140 --> 00:20:41.910 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): is so and we all have those things, and when you can look back on those patterns of like.   144 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:54.450 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): This certain type of person who I always end up friends with or I always end up dating and it plays out the same way if you're willing to look at that and look at why.   145 00:20:54.750 --> 00:21:05.460 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): like what happened before this what am I trying to get out of these situations, what is the energy this old energy that i'm bringing to these situations, and I think a lot of the time.   146 00:21:06.090 --> 00:21:13.890 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): It has to do with wanting something from people like wanting something that's old like old validation old connections something like that.   147 00:21:14.250 --> 00:21:25.290 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And I think that's what dis regulates people, because if they can feel that you're either being an authentic or that you want or need something from them, it can it can dis regulate them.   148 00:21:25.710 --> 00:21:37.410 Jessica Rhodes: And I barely just recording this episode at all like clicked into place in in your episode with alicia on we get it your dad died you guys went down this whole personal responsibility rabbit hole and that's that's it like.   149 00:21:37.800 --> 00:21:40.350 Jessica Rhodes: me taking personal responsibility.   150 00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:46.680 Jessica Rhodes: For the abandonment of like strong female friendships that i've had because, like susie wasn't the only one i've had other.   151 00:21:47.370 --> 00:22:00.270 Jessica Rhodes: best friends that are women that totally left me and i'm like what happened there and it was always they abandoned me until the breakthrough came and taking personal responsibility, not being a victim, up until now, I had always been a victim.   152 00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:09.360 Jessica Rhodes: In those relationships so go listen to marty's episode with alicia on we got it your dad died argue with a hard g.com slash alicia is where you can find it.   153 00:22:10.800 --> 00:22:17.430 Jessica Rhodes: But that, like all just clicked into place for me, because it was really like confronting at first you're like what did you do and I was like bitch I didn't do anything.   154 00:22:18.330 --> 00:22:29.010 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and it is tough and I love that episode with alicia because personal responsibility had been like my secret weapon and I never told anybody because it's very awkward.   155 00:22:29.250 --> 00:22:37.470 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): To like you don't want to seem like a victim blame or you don't want to you don't want someone to say oh my gosh this person mistreated me or abandoned me and you don't want to be like.   156 00:22:37.800 --> 00:22:45.570 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Well, what did you do like what energy, did you bring to that situation, especially if it's something that's happened multiple times to you like.   157 00:22:46.230 --> 00:23:05.100 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): what's up you know, like what what part of you is co creating that with them and yeah I love it, it is personal responsibility and as a coach and as a mentor, the best thing that we can do for the people that we're working with is be brave about.   158 00:23:06.120 --> 00:23:15.570 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): shining a light on areas for personal responsibility, even though it might dis regulate our nervous system right because people might get really mad at us, but it is.   159 00:23:16.470 --> 00:23:23.580 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): The only way to access your power and the only way that therapy nervous system work personal growth affirmations.   160 00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:35.010 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): None of that stuff works until you first take the radical personal responsibility step and once you take radical personal responsibility over your results over the things that have happened.   161 00:23:35.280 --> 00:23:44.910 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Again, not self blame it's not i'm a bad person it's not I deserve this it's not i'm unlovable that's never going to be right that's always going to be a distraction.   162 00:23:45.270 --> 00:23:52.140 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But once you take true personal responsibility of Why am I, continuing to see this pattern show up in my life.   163 00:23:52.800 --> 00:24:03.090 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Then you actually are able to heal the therapy works, the nervous system stuff works personal growth will actually work and hit deeper if you don't take that step.   164 00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:15.720 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And you can see all around you and on the Internet, people who are doing the work quote unquote they're doing the personal development they're doing the therapy and it's not working right like you're just like.   165 00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:30.720 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): that's not it like I don't think they've got it, they have not taken that step and it's palpable the changes that they're making are superficial their patches but, once you take personal responsibility that's when there's a true transformation.   166 00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:39.270 Jessica Rhodes: yeah so we hope that you, like us, pulling back the curtain and revealing so much to you.   167 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:47.190 Jessica Rhodes: If you want to connect with us online, of course, interview connections COM going to get booked up podcast that's where you can find us.   168 00:24:47.520 --> 00:25:01.830 Jessica Rhodes: follow us on tick tock to I am taken over the tech talks and getting us out there, so interview connections at hey Maggie go follow at hey MARQuIS for amazing brilliant life changing 62nd videos.   169 00:25:02.310 --> 00:25:05.700 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): yeah and and since we've gotten really deep into this coaching.   170 00:25:06.120 --> 00:25:14.940 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And, as I mentioned in the coaching when we work with people I also bring in all the best to work with them to process through their body what we work on with their mind and energy.   171 00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:24.540 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Since this is very focused on coaching if this type of coaching and mentorship that we're talking about in these types of breakthroughs are something that you know.   172 00:25:24.990 --> 00:25:42.120 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): you're ready for if there's a part of you that's ready to stop avoiding it and knows it's time and it's time to get this stuff complete and have this breakthrough to get to your next level reach out to me marya interview connections COM, you can email me directly.   173 00:25:43.590 --> 00:25:45.420 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): And we can talk about working together.   174 00:25:46.560 --> 00:25:47.490 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): it's not cheap.   175 00:25:48.690 --> 00:25:54.300 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): But if you're ready to invest and you really want these breakthroughs I would be happy to talk to you.   176 00:25:56.040 --> 00:25:56.970 Jessica Rhodes: Alright, thanks all.   177 00:25:57.300 --> 00:25:58.020 Margy Feldhuhn (she/her): Thank you.

In this episode, we share more about the journey of stepping into the roles that are right for us in our company and how stepping into the role that is right for you brings so much alignment and self-expression into your life.  Resources mentioned: https://interviewconnections.com/is-it-time-to-demote-yourself/    

In this episode, we’re sharing with you the recording of Margy’s panel discussion about how to create psychological safety within your organization. If you like this topic be sure to read Margy’s blog post about it here! Connect with Brandi Olson on LinkedIn here and connect with Elisabeth Kristof on Instagram.  

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy share more about their journey of transforming Interview Connections into a fully agile company using the Scrum methodology! 1. Working As A Team Makes It Easier for Individuals to Take Time Off with Less Stress 2. Interdepartmental Games of Telephone Waste Valuable Resources 3. Removing Individual Performance Metrics Lowers Stress and Allows Team Members to Focus on What’s Actually Important 4. Adjusting How Teams Approach Work Frees You From the Expensive and Ineffective Trap of Solving Problems With Addition 5. Working in Sprints Creates Rapid Improvement and Makes Big Changes Less Risky 6. Eliminating Top Down Decision Making is Good for Everyone 7. More Role Fluidity Helps Teams Thrive and Individuals Stay Engaged 8. Happiness Matters   Want to learn more about leading an agile company? Read Margy's blog where she writes frequently about the journey!

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy and Jess discuss why entrepreneurs with decent schedules and pretty normal workloads are so tired. Things that appear small on the surface but really need to be talked about, toxic positivity, people pleasing, avoiding tough conversations and obstacles are all energy sucks that you should explore to see if they're draining you. When you're authentic and self expressed, you'll find that you feel way less drained.

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy and Jess are talking about how to know when it’s the right time to demote yourself (even if you’re a business owner or founder). When Jess founded the business, she called herself CEO, as most business owners and founders do. However, CEO is a very specific role and a lot of people who call themselves the CEO are not actually doing the work of a CEO, nor do they have the skills to. With Margy being the visionary and strategist in the business, it made much more sense for her to take on the title as she was already in the role and had the skills. In your business, it’s more important to have the right people in the right seats than to just look like you’re in a glamorous role. Margy also talks about how easy and trendy it is to be a business owner in general right now and how if you’re starting a business, you should ask yourself why you’re doing it and if you’re doing it for the right reasons.

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy shares the season 3 premiere episode of her podcast We Get It, Your Dad Died. The episode features an interview with entrepreneur Suzy Ashworth about how losing her parents impacted her life and career. Season 3 of We Get It, Your Dad Died goes live today, May 2, 2022! To listen to the rest of the season, find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon.  

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is joined by Interview Connections’ client Anne Hill. Anne has noticed there is a correlation between the health of a person and the health of their business and has founded Hilltop Virtual Solutions to help busy entrepreneurs automate and improve their systems so they can spend more time in their zone of genius. Anne discusses how she works with business owners to create new systems to improve their business’ health and function. She also goes into onboarding new team members, delegating tasks, and how she became an expert in operations and systems. To work with Anne, visit hilltopoperations.com

  On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is joined by Interview Connections’ client and founder of AMA Publishing, Adriana Monique Alvarez. Adriana talks about creating impactful relationships in order to maximize your collaboration opportunities. Adriana gives tips for getting a broader perspective when it comes to getting to know potential clients, having patience and discipline to grow as a business owner, and implementing the value of relationships into everything you do. To learn more about Adriana’s work, go to her website adrianamoniquealvarez.com

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, we are featuring a special replay of a Facebook live panel that Margy recently hosted on Leadership and the Nervous System. Joining Margy on the panel are Elisabeth Kristof and Brandi Olson. Elisabeth is the founder of Brain-Based Wellness, who helps entrepreneurs heal their past trauma by working with the nervous system, and Brandi, CEO of the Olson Group, who helps companies integrate agile strategy and organizational design into their organizations so they can thrive in times of change. This discussion is centered around the relationship between leadership, the nervous system, and how people can better understand their nervous system and its responses in order to become more effective, happier leaders.   Check out Elisabeth’s work at brainbased-wellness.com and Brandi’s at helloolson.com

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is giving you some prompts to help you simplify your call to action. These prompts include listing out 5 of your best clients, how they found you, what their journey was like signing up with you, what the next intentional step is for a host or listener to take to ultimately sign up with you, and whether or not you are utilizing your email list. Listing out the answers to these questions will lead you to create your perfect call to action!  

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is talking about how to write your interview topics and questions for your one sheet. A one sheet is a tool that is used to help you get booked for a podcast interview and gives hosts a sense of what value you can provide to their audience and also can act as a guide while interviewing you. In this episode, Jess gives you some prompts to help you identify what your most valuable interview topics are.

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy are sharing what they’ve learned after one year of running their group coaching program. Whether or not you have an agency or one on one business, you can add a group coaching program into what you’re already doing. It took a long time for Jess and Margy to pull the trigger on starting this program out of fear that nobody would sign up for it, even though they already had an accomplished and established business offering another service. Margy and Jess list out some questions you should ask yourself before you decide to create a new offering in your business in order to set yourself and potential new program up for success. 

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy are talking about the paradox of more. The paradox of more has been coming up in the business over and over again and Margy realized that some problems don’t need to be solved with addition, but instead by leveraging the resources the business already has. Instead of buying more leads to get more sales, Margy realized they already had so many leads and the sales team was already sitting on gold. The team started to ask different questions in order to tap into the potential of the leads they already accumulated, rather than just buying more. Jess also discusses how this can apply to podcast guesting and shares an example of how she helped a client do more with the interviews she already had. Multiplying instead of adding can do amazing things for your business and can definitely help you get the most out of your team.

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is joined by Melissa Guller, who helps business owners turn their skills into online courses. If you find yourself answering the same question time after time, it might make sense for you to create an online course. Melissa goes over the differences between creating an online course on a website such as Skillshare versus Teachable, what content to include in your course, how to figure out your pricing, and how to think of TikTok as a raffle ticket. Get in touch with Melissa at witandwire.com or on social media @witandwire

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is talking with Mickie Kennedy about using press releases to gain visibility. Mickie is an Interview Connections client and helps small business owners, authors, and startups increase their visibility and credibility with press releases. If you commit to doing a press release strategy, a business owner can see all kinds of returns ranging from new leads, getting articles in major publications, to millions of dollars in revenue (and Mickie can attest to that). In this interview, Mickie goes over the most effective way to use press releases in order to make the most out of the strategy.  To work with Mickie, head over to ereleases.com

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy are talking with Co-Founder of Benefit Capital, Bessi Graham. Recently, Bessi helped Margy realize that there are many ways that businesses can give back that don’t include just giving to charity. There are so many options for business owners to use their resources in order to make an impact within their own company. You can make a big change in your business by basing your thinking, behavior, and decision making on your values (how you pay your employees and what kind of conditions and culture they work in, etc). If you are clear on your own values (really strong reflections on who we are), then it is much easier to be decisive as a leader. And at the end of the day, you are a business owner and not the leader of a nonprofit so you ultimately need to make decisions as a business owner so you can still be financially sustainable. There are more ways to be a generous, decent human that don't include giving everything away for free. Connect with Bessi on social media at https://www.instagram.com/bessigraham/ and https://www.facebook.com/bessi.graham

In today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy and Jess talk about how they got Interview Connections to its first $500k revenue month. In 2019, Margy set a goal for the company to have a $500k month and thought it would take maybe six months to achieve it…but it took two years. Finally, in December 2021, Interview Connections not only hit $500k, but finished the month at almost $600k. Throughout this episode, Margy and Jess share all of the invaluable lessons they’ve learned during the time that it took to hit this revenue goal. These lessons include hitting big goals by multiplication (not addition), leading by example, restructuring what you’re already doing, and persistence.

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is talking with Vasavi Kumar, a self-expression and confidence coach. Vasavi used to hate herself: she had to confront the ugliest parts of herself when she decided to conquer her addiction to cocaine, and how she has an amazing life and business helping others do better. Vasavi wants people to learn how to soothe themselves because when people feel soothed and safe, they have much more confidence and make better decisions. She also tells the story of recently performing her first standup comedy set, what happened to her nervous system during her set, and the importance of being exposed and vulnerable in front of people she was afraid of. So, what are you so afraid of? Connect with Vasavi at her Camera Confident Accelerator beginning in March! To sign up, go to www.VasaviKumar.com/Mastermind

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is joined by Isaac and Natasha Ho. Isaac and Natasha are clients of Interview Connections and your classic business power couple. In this interview, they share why they decided to get booked on podcasts and also discuss the results they have seen from podcast guesting. They both have a curious approach when it comes to having conversations with people in business and the hosts who interview them and know the right questions to ask. These questions end up prompting discussions that often lead to people deciding they want to work with Isaac and Natasha. Isaac and Natasha both have a commitment to serve and they make it abundantly clear before, during, and after their podcast interviews. Connect with Isaac and Natasha at www.isaachocoaching.com

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess is talking with Interview Connections client Steve Wiideman of Wiideman Consulting Group. Steve has achieved some incredible results with podcast guesting including improved SEO, great relationships, and earning a huge amount of revenue. Additionally, Steve is currently in communication with 60 leads that he has gained from his interviews and has gotten about $250,000 in value from podcast guesting on relatively small shows.  Connect with Steve on social at @SEOSteve or send him an email at steve [at] wiideman.com (he reads every single email!).

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy is sharing an episode from the most recent season of her podcast We Get It, Your Dad Died. This episode features an interview with Elisabeth Kristof of Brain Based Wellness. She is an expert in the nervous system and the information she shares in this episode can be relevant to business owners who are ready to take the next step, but are being held back by limiting beliefs.   “What if the things you feel most shame about have nothing to do with who you are as a person? This episode offers the most powerful gift of all; freedom from shame and self loathing.   In this finale episode of Season 2, we break from the norm. This conversation doesn’t feature a death, but is one of the most profound and valuable conversations I’ve ever had.   We went deep into topics like codependency, binge eating, self harm and boundaries. Elisabeth Kristof shares incredible wisdom that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about trauma, grief and those negative habits that seem to keep playing out in your life, no matter how much you try to change. When you look at your “toxic traits” through the lens of a dysregulated nervous system, you are suddenly free to drop the self judgment and shame and create a new possibility. Elisabeth also offers actionable tips to get regulated and start healing right away.   No matter who you are or what you’ve done, this episode will bring you peace. Learn more about Elisabeth's work at brainbased-wellness.com and check out her video drills to help you regulate your central nervous system when you're experiencing stress.”

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess interviews Interview Connections client Ryann Dowdy about how to nurture your podcast leads using the power of social media.  Ryann has recently combined her sales methodology with Kelly Roach’s in order to create the Social Sellers Academy.   Ryann explains how people need to see more of you in order to pay attention to you. Business owners need to create more content and post more and more in order to create familiarity because people buy from those they know, like, and trust. When you guest on podcasts, you create the trust factor, but how do you create the know and like? One way is to make it part of your workflow every couple of weeks to connect with podcast hosts who have interviewed you by sending a DM, replying to their stories, etc. Don’t just reply with an emoji either, make it a genuine, personal connection!   Two things to consider when creating these connections: people love to hear their names and people love talking about themselves. Rather than saying “Hey girl” at the beginning of a DM, address someone by their name (or preferred nickname if applicable). And the first thing you should say in the DM? Something about them! Think of something they’ve recently shared on social or on their website and acknowledge it. Connect with Ryann at dailysalesondemandforceos.com , on Instagram @SocialSellersAcademy , or on LinkedIn or Facebook (Ryann Dowdy).

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy and Jess discuss why your business isn’t sustainable and why that’s not entirely a bad thing. After a coaching client came to the realization that her business wasn’t sustainable, she began to panic. But your business not being sustainable is just a part of the growth journey. There are always parts of your business that aren’t sustainable, but entrepreneurs should constantly be evolving their businesses and consider those areas places to grow rather than a death sentence for their companies.

On today’s episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy is sharing her top five CEO lessons from 2021. Margy and Jess talk about the importance of asking questions to advocate for your own clarity, being a stand for your own excellence (even when it’s annoying), giving yourself a bird’s eye view (even when you’re in it), getting really honest with yourself about where and how you’re showing up as a leader, and not crumbling. Learning all of these lessons over the past year have not only made Margy a better leader, but have also improved the results and performance of the entire team. Email us at support[at]interviewconnections.com to let us know what you’ve learned as a CEO this year. Follow us on Instagram @interviewconnections

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy and Jess are talking about the power of just taking the leap and implementing something, even if it's not perfect right now. "Do it, even if it's sloppy" is not universally good advice for every situation, but for some systems and strategies, you can implement now and clean up later without any major repercussions. You do need to be mindful and able to distinguish what advice is right for you in your business. Margy also shares some common dangerous truisms that you should be mindful of.

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Margy and Jess are talking about why you shouldn't make a vision board...because you should make a presence board instead. For some people, vision boards are helpful to guide you towards your future, but it's also helpful to be grateful for all the things you have now and everything you've accomplished thus far. If you're more future-focused, making a presence board can be the grounding you need.  Email us your presence board to support[at]interviewconnections.com

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy talk about how to improve your call to action. The call to action is how you convert the audience of the show into clients, so you want to be intentional when creating their journey from listener to client. Mia Hewett - Business coach has closed over $52k in high ticket sales from listeners who heard her on podcasts. Again, these are leads who come NOT needing a ton of nurture. They come ready to buy. -Hosts will give you an opportunity to share with the listeners how they can connect with you online after the interview -This is your opportunity to share your call to action  -Your CTA MUST:  Be Free (or extremely low priced, like a book)  Be ONE THING (not a menu of options or a list of all your social media handles)  Be valuable to the listeners  Be the next intentional stop on the journey a client makes from when they first hear about you, to when they become your client  BE DIRECTIVE IN YOUR DELIVERY    Simple CTAs that work  -Consult Call Mark Willis has closed 32 new clients from podcasts! After his podcast interview, his CTA is inviting listeners to schedule a free consultation. From those consults, he’s converted dozens of high end long term clients resulting.   -Free Book or Chapter Client Chris Prefontaine offers his book for free on podcast interviews, and 50% of those who receive the book convert to Chris's program!   -Facebook Group Here at Interview Connections, we send people to our Facebook group, Guest Expert Profit Lab. We offer free valuable information to group members, and are able to nurture and educate leads about our services! A Quiz Client Stacey Brown Randall sends leads to her Referral Ninja quiz! She says that quizzes are easy and engaging because the quiz taker is taking action while answering the questions. You are able to customize their results which allows the quiz taker to know where they are starting from which connects them to learning more from you!   Audit your current call to action? Is it free or very low dollar? Is it easy to spell and remember? Is it clear and concise? Are you delivering it with confidence?  Are you sending the listener somewhere where you are moving them through your funnel?

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy discuss how you can close high ticket sales outside of a launch by guesting on podcasts. Your interviews will help you develop high trust with podcast audiences and you will be able to leverage your relationship with the hosts who interview you and chances are, they'll sign up to be your client. You'll need a lot fewer touch points to close someone who hears you on a podcast and when you focus on your energy and mindset, you will naturally be in a state of providing value and abundance and this will translate into sales.

On today’s episode, of Monetize the Mic, we’re answering the frequently asked question: What does success look like with podcast guesting? After establishing who this strategy is and isn't for, Margy and Jess go over the measures of success in the podcast guesting strategy including listeners getting value from what you shared, creating relationships with the hosts that interview you, and more!

On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy are talking about how to deliver a brand strengthening podcast interview so you can skyrocket your visibility (because you don't have a brand if nobody knows who you are). There is a difference between building a business and building a brand and you should establish both. And building a brand isn't just about colors and logos, it's about the storytelling behind it. And that storytelling starts on your podcast interviews. Margy gives some great tips and strategies for how to be brave, get out there, and get stronger as you go.

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy!  On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess shares 17 tips for maximum success as a podcast guest: Respond to the host and express your gratitude! Connect with the host on social media Listen to their podcast and leave an honest review  Share about getting booked on social media  Research who the host is, who their audience is Be camera-ready  Use a microphone and a ring light  Restart your computer  Get water  Schedule in buffer time  Ask the host green room questions  Over-deliver value Share stories  Give a great CTA  Chat with the host in the green room after the show  Show about your interview after it goes live  Repurpose the interview into social media content

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy!  On today's episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy are talking with Interview Connections client, Melissa Houston. Melissa Houston is a CPA, a Financial Strategist for CEOs, a columnist at Forbes.com, and the host of The Business Society podcast. Melissa helps successful business owners increase their profit margins without having to increase revenue so that they keep more money in their pocket while increasing their personal wealth.   In this episode, Melissa talks about profit vs revenue, personal vs business finance separation, why your business needs a reserve of cash, coming out of debt, and gives her top money management tips for scaling a business.   Connect with Melissa at melissahoustoncpa.com and check out her show, The Business Society Podcast.

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy!  On this episode of Monetize the Mic, we replay a session of our Virtual Conference featuring a conversation with Mark Willis. Mark discusses how he didn't want to be away from his family and pour thousands of dollars into speaking events that didn't convert, so he began podcast guesting and it has definitely helped him with his number one goal for sanity. He also talks about his call to action and relationship building with podcast hosts, joint venture opportunities, and how to add more value to a show's community. Connect with Mark at lakegrowth.com

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Interview Connections' own Riley Baez-Bradway interviews the head of the IC Show Research department, Gabby McCauley, about show research, one sheets, and how to create show research criteria that hits a client's goals perfectly.     Interested in working with us? Head over to interviewconnections.com or drop Riley a line: riley at interviewconnections.com

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy!  On this episode of Monetize the Mic, we replay a session of our Virtual Conference featuring a conversation with Ana Raynes. Ana discusses how her background in the fashion industry led to her becoming a part of the agency world and how establishing yourself as an authority in your industry (with SEO and podcast guesting) can lead to you building an online community. Check out Ana's website: simplifiedimpact.com and connect with Ana on Instagram @_anamariaraynes

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, we replay a session of our Virtual Conference featuring a conversation with Dan Mangena. Dan and Jess discuss visibility, quality, content, mindset, and how to engineer your celebrity and create an unstoppable brand! Learn more about working with Dan at dreamwithdan.com

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, we are doing a special feature of the first episode of season one of Margy's podcast, "We Get It, Your Dad Died." Season two of Margy's show will be airing Fall 2021! You can listen to the entire first season of "We Get It, Your Dad Died" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Libsyn, and Amazon.

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Interview Connections’ booking agent Riley Baez-Bradway is in conversation with client Louise Bedford, co-founder of the Trading Game. Louise talks about her experiences as a guest expert and how some of the shows that Riley has booked her on don’t have anything to do with trading, but she still saw the benefits in going on those shows and has gotten an ROI and has grown relationships with the hosts, so she still encourages podcast guests to stay open minded with the type of shows they’re willing to go on. She also wants people to not be so buttoned up on interviews and really be themselves and connect with people on a personal level in order to really make an impact. Louise also discusses some health issues she has had in the past and present and how that influenced her becoming a trader in the first place and how it impacts her work as a guest expert now (and how to “speak from your scars, not from your wounds”).      Resources mentioned in the episode: Trading Game website: https://www.tradinggame.com.au Talking Trading website: https://talkingtrading.com.au September Masterclass (Riley's affiliate link): https://bit.ly/septembermc Riley's email: riley[at]interviewconnections[dot]com

In this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy are talking about Margy’s podcast We Get It, Your Dad Died. Since the last Monetize the Mic episode about WGIYDD aired in April, Margy has released her podcast and it has also won an award for Best Podcast at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. Margy gives some insight on how she schedules and batches her interviews for the show, why she does pre-calls with her guests, and what questions you should ask yourself when you decide to start your own show. Jess shares that she believes Margy’s podcast is so good because she approaches it as a piece of art rather than just marketing material. You can listen to We Get It, Your Dad Died on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon.

In this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy talk about reading. Margy recently joined fellow entrepreneur Lisa Larter’s group Thought Readers, which is a Facebook group for business books. Margy is a very avid reader/audiobook listener and proud owner of a Kindle Paperwhite (not sponsored) and highly recommends it for anyone who reads consistently. She also recommends listeners of Monetize the Mic read the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, Profit First by Mike Michalowicz (and implement it!), and Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza. If you have a book that inspires you, purchase a few copies of it and leave them around at Little Free Libraries or donate them to a regular library to pay it forward!   Lisa Larter’s group Thought Readers: https://lisalartergroup.isrefer.com/go/TRFeldhuhn/MargyFeldhuhn (This is an affiliate link so we will get a commission if you sign up through our link)   John Briggs (Profit First accountant): https://profitfirstformicrogyms.com/

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy talk all about your success equation! For Margy, two important aspects of her success equation are a positive mindset and playfulness. Margy discusses how important it is to cultivate a positive mindset and the right types of thoughts. This is something she’s always done for herself but she didn’t really ever think about it. Now as a coach, Margy is learning how to vocalize it and help others on the same journey. And for Margy, it truly has been a journey!  Margy came from a place of being really miserable for a really long time. When she was younger, she found the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. This book helped Margy realize that maybe the story she had been telling herself about her life wasn’t the whole story. At first, she really didn’t want to read this book. Margy didn't want to change, and she was afraid of the truth. Sometimes when you create this world that is so small and so negative, there is a big part of you that just wants to defend it.  Margy’s transformation was not like flipping a switch. It wasn’t as if Margy read this book and then stopped being depressed. She wasn’t transformed in that moment of reading that book, but that was what started it. After reading, Margy became much more open-minded and more open to personal development. It has been and remains a lifelong journey.  Learning how to be present is transformational and it doesn’t happen overnight. Jess asks Margy, “How do you relate to the thoughts in your head?” 24 hours a day, Margy is watching her thoughts. She never stops. This practice took a lot of time to get into. She started noticing both her thoughts and her feelings. It’s really hard to watch every thought, so a really good indicator is to watch your feelings. For Margy, your feelings are much more important to your positive mindset than your thoughts. Margy recommends that we get acquainted with who we are. Ask yourself, “What stories do I tell about myself? Are they 100% true?” Find those, dig those out.  Jess asks Margy how she incorporates fun and playfulness into her positive mindset. Margy feels like her most true self when she is having fun and being playful. It is so important to her to be able to still work and have fun. When she is working on projects alone, she can feel very isolated. Margy really likes the energy of collaboration and playfulness while working with other people.  On the note of playfulness, Margy recently experienced her first Disney trip. She was always a Disney skeptic. But when she went and experienced it with an open mind, Margy absolutely loved it. She loved that you got to play as an adult. Three or four days of play as an adult just doesn't usually happen. She was able to fully immerse herself in play and really enjoyed it Margy reminds us that you can look back 10 years and see that you’re a different person. But we can’t look 10 years ahead and know what we’ll be like. We think we’re done. We know we’ve been growing, but we always think we’re in our final state. We don’t know what’s possible for us because we can’t imagine it.  If you’re in a failure right now, it feels like that’s the end of your story. But it isn’t! Don’t get discouraged. You can always come back. There’s nothing you can’t come back from!

On this special episode of Monetize the Mic, Booking Agent and Team Lead Riley gets the chance to sit down with Scott Schober to talk all about podcast interview strategy! Scott is the President and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems, a 48-year-old, New Jersey-based provider of advanced, world-class wireless test and security solutions. He is the author of three best-selling security books: Hacked Again, Cybersecurity is Everybody’s Business, and Senior Cyber. Scott is a highly sought-after author and expert for live security events, media appearances, and commentary on the topics of ransomware, wireless threats, drone surveillance and hacking, cybersecurity for consumers, and small business. He is often seen on ABC News, Bloomberg TV, Al Jazeera America, CBS This Morning News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more networks. Scott also serves as the CSO and Chief Media Commentator for Cybersecurity Ventures and sits on several cyber advisory boards for various companies. Riley asks Scott about the preparation process for all of his media appearances and podcast interviews. How does Scott create a structure around such a busy process? Scott’s first piece of advice is, it’s never good to be too comfortable. Once you feel like you’re in your comfort zone, you should try to get out of it. It’s great to be confident but you still want to have some butterflies. If you’re too confident, sometimes you won’t know what to say.  He also highly recommends spending the time to educate yourself and prepare. Before any media appearance or podcast interview, Scott always reads a few articles about the topic he wants to discuss. He then digests it and meditates on it. When he goes on a podcast, he always likes to make it a goal to have three stats that he can remember off the top of his head. Scott will weave in a statistic to bring home the point in his interviews! Most importantly, Scott explains that you have to be true to yourself and be authentic. While doing this, you can apply practical tips that are not too complex. By doing that, people will walk away and have learned something that they can apply in their own lives. It’s so important to always share something, impart some knowledge, and teach something. That will make your interviews more effective and it will help grow your brand! Scott has an incredibly busy schedule and busy life. Riley helped Scott right away by recommending that he start tracking all his interviews. Scott has over 50 interviews in his Interview Connections package, so organization is key. Scott encourages everyone listening to track their podcast interviews!  He also recommends preparing for an interview 24 hours in advance and keeping it topical. For Scott, education is key to being the best expert he can be. Before going on a podcast, Scott always listens to who is going to be interviewing him. He listens to the show and gets a sense of their style. The more natural the interview, the better it is. It may seem obvious, but Scott always thanks the person who interviewed him! He likes to write a little thank you note, and point out something specific and positive about the experience.  Hosting a podcast isn’t easy work, and a host will appreciate it! Scott also always shares and promotes the podcast episodes he’s been on. It’s not just about you, sharing your interviews is also about thanking the host and building a foundation with them. Scott also reminds listeners to make sure that they have decent quality equipment before their podcast interview. Don’t show up unprepared. About half of the podcasts Scott does are video, he’s always ready to potentially be on video. He reminds us that if you fumble on the technical side, you lose your focus. You want to focus on the interview! Scott also keeps a physical checklist of everything he needs for the interview. This helps to frame things, and makes him a better guest.  Riley asks if Scott can speak to the importance of improvisation and staying on your feet as a podcast guest.  This skill is fundamental, explains Scott. He stresses the importance of being able to read the audience. To be a great podcast guest, you have to know your audience and have the flexibility to pivot if necessary. Put yourself in their shoes!  Scott reminds us that a podcast host is giving you an opportunity to speak and share your expertise. They’re giving you the power of the mic, and you should be gracious. Thank them for the privilege that you’re there! He also recommends that if you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t try to fake it. That breaks down your credibility and hurts the podcast. Stay true to yourself and do the research!   A fascinating effect that Scott has noticed is the more podcasts you do, the more opportunities you have. As he’s been doing dozens of podcast interviews, Scott has now received opportunities for radio, speaking, conferences, TV, and more. Scott really believes in the service mindset of a podcast guest. For Scott, the more you do for other people, the more it comes back indirectly. Whatever you give away will come back to you twofold. Put yourself out there, you don’t know what’s going to happen! You can find Scott at his website, scottschober.com, and on his podcast, What Keeps You Up at Night!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess got the chance to speak with Dr. Joli Hamilton about trust and non-monogamy! Joli is a research psychologist, an AASECT certified sex educator, TEDx speaker, and a sex + relationship coach. She holds a doctorate in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has spent many years working directly with clients helping them improve their relationship skills and is also a professor of human sexuality.  Over the past two decades, she has started a dozen business ventures ranging from clothing design to personal training to providing birth and lactation doula services, all while managing her own relationships, pursuing her graduate degrees, and raising and homeschooling seven kids.  Joli has felt those wild highs and terrible lows that come with business ownership, marriage, divorce, and reinventing love from the bottom up. She is committed to helping people create sustainable, soul-nourishing relationships without sacrificing their business dreams. Joli shared how she wasn’t raised to trust herself and that it took serious, conscious work to change that. It wasn’t until she recognized a pattern of starting a successful business, and then bailing four years in when business was booming. Once she noticed the pattern started to affect other aspects of her life, she made some changes. “I was able to commit myself to a Ph.D. program. I was able to commit to my marriage. It really has been a process of learning to trust me in love and say yeah, I can show up for myself.” Listen to this episode to hear Dr. Joli Hamilton tell us all about: What Tall Poppy Syndrome is, and how to avoid it. Why you need to trust yourself and commit What re-parenting is and why it’s so important

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess got the chance to speak with one of our favorite clients at Interview Connections, Jyotsna Ramachandran about purpose-driven authors! Jyotsna is a bestselling author, book publisher, TEDx speaker, and an international Author Success Coach who helps coaches, trainers, speakers, and experts to build a super-profitable author funnel with the help of their book. She founded Author Success Academy to help aspiring authors finally finish their book, get it professionally published, market it into a bestseller, and use that position to grow their business. So far, Jyotsna has helped over 400 authors from 35 different countries through her global publishing agency, Happy Self Publishing.  Jyotsna is both an agency client and a coaching client of Interview Connections. Jess and Margy truly love, admire, and respect how much of an implementer Jyotsna is. She is always ready to take action that she needs to take to scale her business. Jyotsna is the first to admit that she doesn’t take advice from just anyone, but after seeing Jess and Margy grow Interview Connections to where it is now, she knew that she could trust their advice. One of the things that Jess and Margy helped Jyotsna with was her company’s vision statement. Like many other entrepreneurs, Jyotsna didn’t have a vision statement initially. However, now her vision statement for Happy Self Publishing is: To elevate the consciousness of humanity one book at a time and be the leading book publishing agency for purpose-driven authors. At Interview Connections, Jess also aims to help purpose-driven entrepreneurs. Our clients are driven to have an impact on the world and achieve their purpose. Both what Jess and Margy do and what Jyotsna does are very similar. Interview Connections gets people on podcasts and amplifies their message. Jyotsna helps people get their books published so she can amplify their message as well. A common objection that happens to service providers like Interview Connections and Jyotsna is, “That sounds amazing, but I have all these other things to focus on.” So then all the books, the podcasts, etc never get high enough on the priority list. “I'll let you know how things are going next month, I'll circle back to this next quarter.” Jess wants to know, what is going on there? Why does message amplifying services so frequently get low priority? In the past, Jyotsna used to work with all kinds of writers, and a lot of them were passionate about writing. They would just write every day because they were truly writers. That is a totally different category than who she works with now. Now, Jyotsna and her team primarily work with service-based entrepreneurs.  These are busy people, and writing is not at the top of their priority list. They are busy with the day-to-day activities of their business. The book that they have been wanting to write is always getting pushed to the back burner. Jyotsna recommends that entrepreneurs differentiate between the important things and the urgent things. We need to take out time for the important things. These are investments that may not give results in the next 30 days but they will give results in the next year, two years, ten years, etc.  A book is an evergreen marketing tool.  If you invest in Facebook ads, you might get some leads right away but then it’s gone. A book is a marketing tool that you can keep using for the rest of your life! Once you’re an author, you will always be looked upon as an author.  Why do so many entrepreneurs focus on short-term investments instead of looking ahead at the long-term benefits of something like a book? Jyotsna explains that many people aren’t able to focus on important tasks. What she tells entrepreneurs is, “If you're naturally good at writing and you want to do it, you will create time to do it. If you’re not able to do that, it doesn't mean that you can never become an author, you can just ask for help!” Even if you’re not struggling but you just want to get better, it’s always good to hire a coach, Jyotsna tells us. Her team is built with author success coaches. These coaches will hold you accountable, hop on calls with you every week, and give entrepreneurs clarity on what their book topic should be that week. They help with things like identifying your target client and your target reader. They go over how to pick an angle so your book will stick out, how to make a book outline, remove roadblocks, review your work, and help you stick to your writing plan so you can finish your manuscript in 3 months! Still, some entrepreneurs do not have the time. They have the intention, but they still have so many other things to manage. In that case, Jyotsna would recommend going with an angel writer. An angel writer will interview you on your subject and do the writing for you. They ask you questions based on your book’s outline, and you, as the expert in your subject, can speak at length about your topic. The angel writer would then take what you’ve said and write it. These are the two options that Jyotsna would give to an entrepreneur who wants to leverage their expertise as a published author! Jess wants to know how angel writing is different from ghostwriting? Jyotsna asks us to imagine it this way: you have a fantastic story, and a Hollywood producer wants to turn your story into a movie. Would you take the risk of writing, directing, casting, acting? You would not do all of that right? Your job is to provide the story which is the crux of the movie. All the other things are handled by other professionals. It’s still your story, but other professionals are doing what they’re good at.  Jyotsna also reminds us that if an entrepreneur happens to be a great writer, they should absolutely try writing the book themselves. However, if you’re not able to get the results you’re looking for, you should hire an angel writer. Typically, a ghostwriter client gives a topic and vanishes. A ghostwriter is expected to do all the research and put together a draft without any collaboration. An angel writer does not put their thoughts and ideas into the book. They ask you the right questions to extract information from your head into writing. They ensure that your voice and tonality is maintained. An angel writer is excellent at asking questions and excellent at writing without losing the voice of the author. They pay close attention to the way the author speaks and will ask for writing references, so they know what kind of voice the author uses. Jess points out that people might not know how many successful authors work with a team!  So many top-level, very well-known experts, use a team to write their content. Jyotsna has an incredible team. She mentors and trains her team to deliver an excellent quality of service to her clients. She admits that she made all the mistakes of working with freelancers. Jyotsna soon realized that her team is the biggest strength in her company. She invests a lot of time in picking the right team members and training them.  Jyotsna does not look at her business as a publishing agency. They specialize in business and self-help books because these are the genres that entrepreneurs are interested in writing. She helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses and amplify their message as authors! Not only does Jyotsna’s team offer these services, but they coach their clients on how to use that book to grow their business. Jess wants to know, how does Jyotsna help her clients become bestsellers? Jyotsna predominantly works with first-time authors. She explains that if you’re a first-time author and you’re using a book to grow your business, the Amazon best-selling chart is where you should be focusing. Becoming an Amazon bestseller will help you gain credibility with your audience. Her team understands the Amazon algorithm very well, and getting you on that chart will help you create visibility, traction, and momentum.  Her team is able to monitor what category your book is in, and make sure it’s in the right category. Jyotsna makes sure that her client’s books reach the #1 position. Even if it’s only #1 for a few days, you can always call yourself a bestselling author. This has a huge impact on the minds of someone visiting your website. If you’re on a stage as a speaker and you are introduced as a bestselling author, it gives a completely different impact.  You can connect with Jyotsna at her website happyselfpublishing.com/apply or you can join her free bootcamp at happyselfpublishing.com/tribe!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess was thrilled to speak with Interview Connections client Alexandra Stockwell about uncompromising intimacy. Alexandra Stockwell, MD is a Luxury Love and Intimacy Mentor, known as “The Intimacy Doctor.” She specializes in showing couples how to build beautiful, long-lasting, passionate relationships. She is the bestselling author of Uncompromising Intimacy and host of the highly acclaimed The Marriage Podcast.  A wife of 25 years and mother of 4, Alexandra believes the key to passion and fulfillment, intimacy, and success, isn’t compromise--it’s being unwilling to compromise--because when both people feel free to be themselves, and know-how to love and be loved for exactly who they are, the relationship is juicy, nourishing, and deeply satisfying. Jess first asks, “How did you go from being a medical doctor to a relationship coach?” Alexandra explains that whenever we make important transitions or evolutions, we can tell different stories about it and they’re all true. Alexandra has a few different perspectives on her own story. When she was in her mid-30s she owned a small holistic medical practice. Alexandra worked really hard to get where she was in life. All her ambitions that had propelled her forward had all come true. She was married, she had three kids, she had paid off medical school loans, and yet she didn’t have the feeling of having arrived. Alexandra wasn’t satisfied; she didn’t feel enthusiastic to live that same way for another three or four decades. People ask her, “Were you burnt out?” Alexandra feels that she wasn't experiencing burnout, but she just knew that she would end up burnt out. She was able to take a sabbatical and gave herself room to do things for no good reason. Alexandra did things because they felt good, not to achieve a particular goal. This experience was radical for her.  Alexandra was still running her household with 3 children, so it wasn’t as if she was sitting around doing nothing. But she was still able to do things like taking a dance class and just sitting by the creek. She didn’t need a reason to do things! This made space for other aspects of her soul to emerge which eventually led her down the path of becoming a relationship and intimacy expert. That’s one story about Alexandra’s journey. Another story about her journey is that her daughter had just turned nine. She saw that her daughter was so vibrant, so full of joy, and so happy. On the one hand, Alexandra had felt so grateful to have mothered her in a way where she could just feel so wonderful. On the other hand, on the inside, Alexandra was freaking out. When she was that age, Alexandra’s parents were getting divorced. Looking at her nine-year-old, Alexandra saw that she had disconnected from her own joy.  She had disconnected from an aspect of herself that she really wanted to reconnect with. She also felt a motivation to change because if Alexandra didn't figure this out for herself, her daughter would also dial down her own vibrancy to match Alexandra’s. She had a personal wake-up call and a professional wake-up call that she needed more. This took her down a path to where she is now! Jess sees a lot of service providers and coaches come to their businesses after having a personal breakthrough. Jess asks Alexandra, “How did you start finding your clients?” Alexandra knows that in the entrepreneurial world and in the world of coaching, mindset is really important. She explains that her unconscious mindset really helped her get clients. Alexandra ended up in a training on sensuality and sexuality, and she enrolled because she wanted to have more gratifying sex and intimacy in her marriage. She was motivated by her own growth. However, this training also doubled as a coach training.  Alexandra didn’t know what the coaching aspect was all about but she had a student’s mindset. She thought, “Well let me just go to the teaching lab and see what they’re covering. And what is a coach anyway?”  She went to this lab and absolutely loved it. Alexandra felt like she had come home. So much of what she loved about medicine would be possible for her as a sex, intimacy, and relationship coach. She started to meet classmates and people just organically started asking her to coach them. These people didn’t know any of the details of her life; they didn’t know her expertise. People responded to who she was without having tangible information about her. There wasn’t any push or any effort at all. People asked her, and she coached them. There was so much ease in the whole process. When Alexandra started coaching, it felt fun and engaging. She didn’t have any specific financial goals at the time. Her joy was in expanding her skills, finding out what people needed, and doing her best to be able to give it to them. Alexandra built her coaching to low multiple 6 figures before she even had a website! By illustrating her care and skill, she built her business solely on word-of-mouth referrals. If her expertise were in website design and you met her at a party, and you connected, you wouldn't have any idea what her website design skills are. But in Alexandra’s niche and area of expertise, it’s about connecting and building trust. Her expertise is relevant in that initial conversation she has with people. If people like that initial conversation they have a lot more information about what Alexandra does. She has a skill that is so apparent during conversation, which makes Alexandra an amazing person to utilize the podcast guesting strategy! Jess asks, “How does your medical training come up when you’re doing intimacy coaching?” Alexandra answers that her medical experience is both a benefit and a hindrance. The benefit is that she is used to having intimate conversations with people. No client of Alexandra’s will ever say something that shocks her to a level of discomfort where she can’t be there with them. As a doctor, she has such a wide spectrum of experience and an authority that comes from years of clinical practice. On the other hand, as a physician, when she listens to someone speaking, Alexandra is, in a way, discarding everything that doesn’t feel relevant. She is focusing on what she needs to, in order to make a diagnosis and have a plan for treatment. When she started relationship coaching and focusing on intimacy she felt a real limitation and restriction at first. Her sessions with clients were focused on an incredibly emotional area. Initially, Alexandra would be too directive and too mentally engaged. She really needed to learn to be present and a lot less controlling in the conversation. For Alexandra, this was both very challenging and also very healing. You can connect with Alexandra at her website, alexandrastockwell.com, and download a free chapter from Uncompromising Intimacy!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sat down with Interview Connections client Jean Atman to talk about clearing limiting beliefs! Jean is a Soul Evolution Coach and Energy Medicine Specialist and is a leading expert on how to break free of negative life experiences - for good. She is well known in her industry as the go-to girl for helping people heal from toxic relationships and past traumas so that they can live a life filled with potential and ease.  She has assisted over 20,000 people up-level their lives in her 21-year professional career and remains fiercely dedicated to that cause. Jean believes everyone can live a life of their dreams, and she thoroughly enjoys helping them tap into that potential!  Jess is often asked, what sets people apart? What makes certain people so successful? Jess and Jean know that it all comes down to their beliefs. Jess asks Jean if she could talk a little bit about clearing limiting beliefs! Limiting beliefs are a huge part of Jean’s work. Jean knows that we subscribe to these beliefs long before we know that we subscribe to them. A lot of our beliefs are tucked away and hidden in our subconscious mind. People that are having challenges and struggles in life can always find some limiting beliefs that are preventing them from living a life full of ease.  Jean explains that limiting beliefs create an obstacle that says “You don’t deserve this, this won’t work for you.” There’s some underlying cause of that. But what is so cool about it is that when we can see those things, we can choose something different for ourselves. Once we unearth those limiting beliefs we can easily unpack it and create an improved way of living! Jean recommends that we take control of our beliefs and thoughts. When you think about your beliefs or thoughts, it evokes an emotion. How you feel creates your energy body. Jean’s work is all about energy, and she has seen how limiting beliefs show up as energetic congestion. People have trouble moving through their old belief systems because it’s part of their energy.  Once people clear that energy body they don’t have as much struggle with changing. Thoughts create emotions, emotions create energy. Once you clear that, you have a path to choose more easily for yourself! Jess remarks that energy and beliefs can seem so abstract. Jess asks Jean, “Do you have any actionable tips that people can use?” First, Jean recommends that you recognize that you’re not in a place that you want to be. If you are in a state of suffering, worrying, etc you’re working through a limiting belief. Awareness that this is going on and the wisdom that it doesn’t have to be is extremely important. When you know it, you can see it, and you can start to unpack it. Awareness is key. Jean then explains that intention is a powerful assistant for us. We’re suffering and we don’t want to anymore, so we choose not to. You need to start to feel into what you would prefer to feel instead. As humans, we tend to find all the evidence of why things can’t work. We get caught up in the hows, the whys, and the what-ifs. That stops forward movement.  If we can stunt our over-excessive thinking, we can feel into what feels right and true to us. Jean asks that we tune into our authentic source. We have ease, and we have abundance. We have everything we need already within us.  The only thing that keeps us from those things is the belief that we don’t have them. Jean tells her clients to silence the lies and limitations and feel into what they want to be feeling. This will change your energy and change your vibration. If you’re vibrating at a place of fear and worry, then you’re cultivating and creating more of that in your life experience. So if you can stunt that, and think “I’m going to choose to not feel that way” you will see the results you want to see. Jean teaches that we can change our thoughts and our feelings instantaneously. The outcome of that might take a little time but if we have patience knowing that we changed our thoughts and emotions, the rest is coming. We just need to be patient and wait to see the results of that. Jess knows that changing thoughts is easier said than done. There’s always an old version of us that tries to pull us back into the fear and lack mentality. Jess asks Jean if she has tools that can help us quiet that fear side of the brain and focus more on the future? Jean responds that it’s tapping into what we want. Too many people focus on what we don’t want. It’s so important to take a step further and think about what we want. Until we know what we want, we have a harder time moving in that direction.  So Jean asks that we get clear on where we want to go. What happens with fear is, it ignites the nervous system and we stay in a contracted state. Jean reads emotional energy, so she can see exactly what is happening in someone’s energy field. Jean and her clients start to move through what’s going on in their energy field, and it gives the clients the experience to feel things differently.  Jean thinks that meditation is an effective tool. She teaches people how to get into their own inner worlds. If you can understand what’s happening inside yourself, you can make changes. People try to make changes externally but Jean emphasizes that change will not happen there. Change has to happen within. The more you understand yourself and what’s going on inside, the easier you can make change.  The other important part of this change is consistency. Jean recommends that we take one thing and work on that one thing. Dedication and consistency to moving in that direction will pay off very quickly. Jean was feeling overwhelmed when her daughters were very young, and she felt that she didn’t have enough time. She said to herself, “I am creating this. I have plenty of time.”  She felt into that and very soon after, she was getting everything done that she needed to get done with time leftover! If she had only sprinkled that in, it would have taken longer. She had to consistently give that one thought and feeling a lot of time and energy to make it happen quickly. Jean teaches to focus on one thing that is very important to you and dedicate some effort in that direction.  You will be surprised at how quickly things can shift for you.  Jess asks, “What changes can people expect when they are diving into this inner work?” Jean explains that the old ways of deep transformational work used to be a purge. We now don’t have to walk through the trauma to heal it. She is a huge advocate of energy clearing. When we clear our energy, all the emotions that were attached to our past trauma flow out as well. We don’t need to do talk therapy and get into all the trauma, the hurt, and the pain. We can remove the energy. The emotions around it become neutralized. What used to take months or years to heal, we can do much more efficiently.  The awareness of something can radically shift the energy around it. Jean notes that it’s so important to set intentions and recognize what you want. It starts offsetting all the old energy and trauma. Energy clearing accelerates the process. It doesn’t have to be all the old trauma purging, it can be much happier. Jean laughs with her clients all the time! Laughter can be just as powerful as a cathartic cry.  You can connect with Jean at jeanatman.com and check out her free training about how to stop sabotaging beliefs from sabotaging your future!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess got to speak with Interview Connections Client Hilary DeCesare about relaunching yourself! Hilary DeCesare is an award-winning entrepreneur, host of The Silver Lined ReLaunch, and is featured on many major networks including ABC's The Secret Millionaire. Hilary just launched the much-awaited 6-month business program The Fired Up Entrepreneur from The ReLaunch Co. This business program helps female entrepreneurs looking to launch or relaunch their business in 2021 take the right steps, in the right order, towards lasting business success. The program stands out because it not only takes away the confusion and overwhelm on where to start, and how to start but outlines what actually works or is not working for female entrepreneurs in the changing business landscape. It's ideal for those that have a well-formed business idea or are tired of the one-win here and there approach or handful of fast fails that's keeping their already existing business small.  Hilary specializes in launching or relaunching businesses by giving the proven foundational elements and steps needed when navigating the start to finish of building a business according to her Make, Grow, Keep Method. Hilary firmly believes "Now is your time", and partners with women that are ready to go all in and hit the reset button. This starts with covering the 6 main pillars in her program: Clarity, mindset, time management, marketing, sales, and leadership.  She saw a need to quiet the white noise in the business space that seemed to only cater to those that wanted to tell how, and created the program to show how to give any female entrepreneur the fast-pass to launching and relaunching a business saving them time, energy, and wasted money. The ReLaunch Co. takes away the overwhelm and gives the simple A-Z steps to women entrepreneurs bridging the heart to the head to one's higher self, so that not only can they have success in their business, but also have a lifestyle filled with possibilities inside the acclaimed new program The Fired Up Entrepreneur. Hilary is incredibly passionate about helping people in midlife. Jess asks, “Where does that passion come from? What was the moment where you said my purpose is to help people relaunch midlife?” Hilary explains that midlife has become a massive area. It can be anywhere from age 35 to 55. She hasn’t talked to anyone who isn’t going through some kind of relaunch right now. People ranging from college graduates to 60-70-year-olds are realizing they aren’t where they want to be. A lot of people feel as if they need to love their lives, love their jobs, and the reality is that they’re not even at the like stage. They keep it to themselves and they don’t share that with others because there are a lot of feelings of guilt and shame associated with not completely loving your life. This kind of midlife identity crisis can happen at any age. What Hilary realized is, we all are looking on the outside asking ourselves, “How can I get happier? What's wrong with me? What can I do?” We all are searching for the silver bullet. “If I find the right guy or, if I get the right job” etc, then we think that we will be happy. That feeling is only fleeting - that man or that job is not going to give you what you need for long-term happiness. Hilary’s ReLaunch program works because it takes you through a process. Her program is not a “take a pill and everything is better” type of program. It is built on transitions that lead to transformations. Hilary reminds us that we can’t look back on the things that have happened to us and ignore the silver linings that got us to where we are. After 100+ interviews on Hilary’s podcast, there hasn’t been one person who she’s interviewed that would change some of the most horrific relaunches and transitions they’ve been through because it was those transitions that got them to where they are now. They are where they are because of what they’ve been through, not in spite of it. If you’re going through a transition right now, it’s so important to hear Hilary’s messages. She is so passionate about helping people to understand how they can relaunch themselves and find the silver lining of their obstacles.  Hilary has seen incredible success, but it’s the hardships she’s endured that really help inspire people. Her failures have brought her to be a better coach, better business leader, and have helped her to share more and teach more. At one time, Hilary was working with an online security company focused on children's safety online, and this company’s mission was very close to her heart. Hilary was fundraising for this company and was pitching the product on a very large stage in front of a crowd. She had a 103 fever and felt like it was a total bust. After she got off stage, her phone rang and a man said he could help her raise two million dollars for that company. Hilary was amazed. The man wanted her to fly to New York to meet up with his business partner. Immediately upon meeting him, Hilary had the intuition that this man was not good. She ignored her intuition, sat, and listened. Hilary decided she couldn’t work with him.  Eventually, after going back and forth, she did end up having to work with that man. Her gut told her that it was not a good idea, but she continued to ignore it. Five years later, the entire company just combusted. The day it was all done, it was found out that the man was being investigated for a Ponzi scheme, and went to federal prison for 3 years.  Hilary asked herself, “How do I relaunch out of this? I’ve been coaching people running other businesses. How do I become the entrepreneur of me?” Hilary began to still do what she knew to be true about business but she allowed for that higher self to come in. She allowed for that emotional connection of the heart. Hilary uses a 3H model: the heart to the head to the higher self.  Hilary knows that if you’re not leaning into all three of those areas,  you’re never gonna scale the way you want because you are not where you should be. You’re not in that place that you know you’re supposed to be. Would Hilary go back and change anything? No, she would do it all over again.  Until you start knowing what you don’t know, that’s when things really start to happen. You reach a point like, “Why am I not happy? Why am I not able to create more wealth or freedom for myself?” For people going through a relaunch and they’re coming up against fear and breakdowns. Jess asks Hilary if she can speak to the importance of feeling those emotions? Our world is starting to value emotional intelligence in a way that it never has before. Emotions are no longer being viewed as weaknesses. Hilary used to work in corporate where it wasn't okay to be emotional. You had to show up very masculine every day. There’s so much going on in that resistance to feeling, feeling like you have to be happy, or you have to be fearless. You have to feel the fear to get on the other side of it. Hilary recommends that we ask ourselves, “Is it showing up in my body?” Our bodies give us every indication - and yet we often ignore it. When you realize that your body is really telling you something and you ignore it, that’s when things start to build up.  Hilary asks us to think about instead of pushing it off, ignoring it, and putting walls up, you instead think about why am I having that feeling in my chest? Why is it that I'm uncomfortable right now? Take a pause, because your higher-self intuition is literally trying to get to your head, and trying to give you some really important information. Try and listen to it.  She explains that so often we are being given a signal, and our bodies are telling us something. If we can acknowledge that something is going on, we’ll build this muscle. That’s when we become powerful and we really can move forward!  People tend to ignore these signals because they just don’t really want to deal with them. But Hilary explains that they’ll just keep showing up somehow. Hilary calls them BUGS: Beliefs Under Ground Surfacing. At night you see that one ant on your kitchen counter, and you kill it. Then when you wake up the next morning you see hundreds of ants because you didn’t really deal with it! We keep pushing down our BUGS and then all of a sudden these limiting beliefs end up just saying, “I’m tired of knocking, you’re not opening the door. I’m gonna blow your door off!” That’s when you’re in that state of crisis. But you don’t have to be there! You can instead be in a state of relaunch which is going to take you out of crisis mode and get you on that path to get you to your next chapter. You can connect with Hilary at www.therelaunchco.com!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sat down with Gabrielle Dolan to talk about the importance of storytelling on podcasts. Gabrielle can tell you a story or two. In fact, it was while working in senior leadership roles in corporate Australia she realized the power of storytelling in effective business communication. She is now a highly sought-after international keynote speaker and educator.  Her impressive client list includes VISA, EY, Amazon, Vodafone, and the Obama Foundation, to name drop a few ...and she got to meet Barack Obama while undertaking that work. Gabrielle holds a master’s degree in Management and Leadership and has studied at Harvard. She is the best-selling author of several books including Real Communication: How To Be You and Lead True, a finalist in the Australian Business Leadership Book Awards for 2019.  Plus, Stories for Work: The Essential Guide to Business Storytelling (2017), which reached number one in Australia’s best-selling business books. Her latest book Magnetic Stories: Connect with Customers and Engage Employees with Brand Storytelling is due to be published in March 2021. She is the founder of Jargon Free Fridays. (Don’t ever say the word ‘pivot’ to her unless you are talking about basketball.) In 2020, her dedication to the industry was recognized when she was awarded Communicator of the Year by IABC Asia Pacific. She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband, Steve, and two daughters, Alex and Jess. Jess and Gabrielle are big believers that storytelling is an incredibly important skill to have as a podcast guest. Jess asks Gabrielle, “What are the components of an effective story?” It may seem obvious, but Gabrielle emphasizes that stories really need a beginning, a middle, and an end. In business, it’s gotta be succinct. You really don’t want to be sharing a 5 or 10-minute story. Your story should be 1 or 2 minutes and be very specific. Being specific helps people visualize something, and helps the listeners feel something. And ultimately that’s what a story does, it taps into emotion.  Jess knows that facts tell but stories sell. Jess was recently coaching someone in the Interview Connections community and asked them to practice telling a story. Jess realized that their story wasn’t dropping people into the moment.  How do you start a story in a way that has people really engaged? Gabrielle teaches that the worst way to start a story is to tell people, “Let me tell you a story.” People are hardwired to listen to stories, but in a business setting when someone says “Let me tell you a story” the reaction is going to be something along the lines of, “Oh no, this is going to take forever.”  The most effective way to start a story is with time and place. There are an infinite amount of variations of time and place so you can really make it your own every time. If you start with the time and place, people are now set up to listen to you differently.  In a business setting, where things can often be all about data and facts and figures, and someone says “You know that reminds me of the time I went camping with my friends and...” There’s a pattern interruption that’s going to make people want to pay attention. Jess asks, “How do you end the story?” Gabrielle knows that the ending is the hardest part. You don’t want to be ending your story with “The moral of the story is.” In a business setting, you want to be linking it back to the business message without it being directive. You could say something like, “The reason I’m sharing this with you is that it reminds me of what we’re going through right now, and imagine what we could achieve if we all…” There you can link your story back to the business.  Gabrielle reminds us that you don’t want to be going on and on and on. That’s the biggest mistake people make! Gabrielle notices that people sometimes keep reiterating the point over and over.  Once you’ve finished a story, it’s so important to always pause. Remember to stop talking for one or two seconds because that’s the real power of the story. That’s the moment where the listeners are really taking it in. But as humans, we generally don't like pauses so we tend to just keep talking. Why do you think it’s hard for people to pause? Gabrielle thinks that we just get really uncomfortable with the pause. Sometimes at the end of the story when people pause, the speaker might think “Why is everyone quiet? Maybe they didn’t get it.” But Gabrielle reminds us that people are just processing, and that pause is incredibly important. Jess wants to know, how do you start building up this arsenal of stories that you share? Gabrielle recommends that you don’t start with the stories at all. Instead, start with the messaging that you want to communicate. Ask yourself, what is it that you want to communicate? What are you trying to communicate on the podcast or interview or speech? You need to be really, really clear on what messages you want to communicate.  Once you are clear on the messages, then you can ask yourself, “What are the stories that I can share?” Gabrielle recommends that you should think of two different types of stories. The first is your own personal stories. Ask yourself, why are you passionate about what you’re doing? In most cases, that’s starting from a personal value that you have.  The second kind of story you can tell would be work or business-related story. Either way, you need to be clear on the message you want to get across. When thinking of your messaging, constantly ask yourself what story could I share to illustrate this? People sometimes think that their stories aren't interesting and that people won’t care, but Gabrielle wants you to know that your stories are interesting! Telling stories creates a human connection.  Someone doing a podcast interview is clearly passionate about what they’re doing, and they know what they’re talking about. That passion started from somewhere, so ask yourself, where did that start? Then you can tap into that. Be prepared to share those stories because they show your passion and credibility! Gabrielle has worked with some huge names, like Amazon and VISA. Jess asks what she’s learned from her experiences working with such large companies? What Gabrielle has found is that the vast majority of corporate leaders really want to do a good job. Those leaders really want to lead well and they want to communicate well. They’re human just like everyone else and they need to learn those skills. What Gabrielle has been surprised about is that very senior leaders still experience impostor syndrome and have said things like, “I don’t have the courage to do this, I have self-doubt.”  Jess asks Gabrielle why she has decided to start podcast guesting? What drew her to be a speaker on podcasts? Gabrielle released a book right at the start of lockdown, and she had done a few podcast interviews before. Since she couldn’t travel to promote her book, she decided to start speaking on podcasts as a different way to build momentum around the book.  Gabrielle loves working in crowds! She runs a half-day virtual workshop, she works with major companies, she runs storytelling workshops and presenting with impact workshops. Gabrielle has also written six books! Ultimately, Gabrielle helps people hone their storytelling skills.  You can read Gabrielle’s newest book is Magnetic Stories: Connect with Customers and Engage Employees with Brand Storytelling! You can connect with Gabrielle at Gabrielledolan.com and get a free 7 Day Storytelling Starter Kit right here!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess gets the chance to talk with Interview Connections client Spencer Snakard about confronting visibility blocks! Spencer Snakard is an executive transformation coach, trainer, and speaker. She works with visionary entrepreneurs and transformational leaders who are on a mission to make a major impact, helping them to break through barriers to their next level of success while loving life every step of the way, and without giving up what matters most to them. She has trained and coached in personal and professional development for nearly 25 years. Her transformative programs cause profound and lasting shifts in participants' lives by getting to the heart of what drives us, what holds us back, and what it takes to be truly fulfilled as spiritual beings having a human experience.  Jess asks Spencer, “What are people confronted with when they get visible consistently?” “Sheer terror, my friend.” Spencer explains that a lot of fear is at play when you become visible. We’ve all witnessed people getting torn down when they put themselves out there. Spencer knows that it’s a practice. You have to start getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Every time we put ourselves out there we’re stepping into this bigger audience, a bigger platform, and a bigger way of being seen. You will be facing and confronting fear when you grow and that’s just part of the process. Jess wants to know, what is the fear that people are confronting? That fear is unique for everyone. Spencer talks about the fears of looking bad, saying something wrong, and the feeling of being out of control. When we become visible, we’re giving up a perceived sense of control. Once we put ourselves outside of our bubble, we’re exposing ourselves to a lack of control.  As you get visible you start to think, “What do people think of me?" A difficult block that people run into when they’re becoming visible is comparison. “Comparisonitis” is an extremely human thing that we all fall victim to from time to time. Asking ourselves, do we measure up? And having that feeling of not being enough.  Spencer recommends being vigilant about your mental state and what kind of energy is coming into your space. If someone is disempowering you, let it go. Stop filling your mind, heart, and soul with it. It’s so important to pull away from comparisonitis and feeling like a fraud. When you’re visible, you can feel someone’s energy if they’re standing in their power, or if they’re not. Jess asks Spencer for some tips on how to show up powerfully for your podcast interviews? Spencer recommends first having some clarity around how you want to be showing up. You don’t want to be showing up in a fake way, by putting on a show and wearing a mask. Ask yourself, “Do I want to be showing up real, vulnerable, and authentically? What is my message and how am I bringing it?” Spencer loves being able to interview on podcasts because they are long-form and she can really have that space to go deep. Interviewing on podcasts can help you find some clarity around the question: what is the gist of what I want to say here? Both Spencer and Jess remind listeners that you know so much more than the people you’re sharing with and you really should own that. Spencer argues that you are everything you need to be. You are perfect for all that you are and for all that you are not. You are everything you need to be right now. Stand in that and own that. All those fears and doubts wither away when you own that. It’s a very different way of looking at being visible. Everything you need you already have, so own that! Spencer helps her clients to get to the root and the heart of their identity and who they think they are. Then, Spencer, has her clients ask, “Is it true?” Your thoughts are not facts. People tend to fall into these doom spirals of everything that could go wrong. Spencer asks, “What if we start going up spirals and think about what could go right?” Start looking at all the great things that could happen, the potential and possibilities.  We are so quick to look at negatives, what if we start celebrating successes and wins and what we’ve done great? Jess then asks Spencer about some breakthroughs she’s had in her business since becoming visible. Spencer realized that she needed to start tapping into her strengths. She was able to recognize that the execution of tasks is not one of her strengths. Spencer is all about vision and potential and possibility and relationship building, not about the carry-through of the nitty-gritty.  That’s part of why Spencer hired the team at Interview Connections to book her on podcasts. She knew that she needed to get on podcasts but she also knew that her strength is not in the carry through of that task. Spencer wanted to let someone else who is masterful at that task do it for her and she’ll just show up powerfully on podcasts. If you want to learn more about Spencer and how she helps entrepreneurs and leaders overcome mental blocks, you can head to transformingmillions.com for a free one-hour Masterclass!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy! On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sits down with Lee Caraher to discuss women’s visibility!   Lee Caraher is the CEO of Double Forte, a national independent PR/Communications agency. An acclaimed communication strategist, Lee is known for her practical solutions to big problems.    Lee has a reputation for building cohesive, high producing teams who have fun together at the same time and has authored two top-selling books about positive and profitable work culture. She is a straight talker who doesn't hold too many punches, although she does her best to be pleasant about it. Her big laugh and sense of humor have gotten her out of a lot of trouble.    Her company works with some of the top consumer lifestyle, digital life, technology and wine brands in the country. Double Forte’s “Get on The Map” service is a foundation-building program that helps small businesses and individuals build authority and visibility to drive business success. Working with Lee and her senior team, small businesses and entrepreneurs learn how to “Show Up” and “Level Up” their footprints and influence to compete and grow their businesses.    Jess wants to see more women investing in their visibility.    In Jess’s experience, she finds that a lot of women feel like they’re not ready to increase their visibility. However, a lot of men have confidence at the start. Jess is passionate about seeing more women invest in their visibility, become featured in the media, and really become leaders of their industry.    Jess asks, what is Lee’s perspective of women being featured in the media?   Lee explains that 70% of people quoted in the media as experts are men. 90% of people quoted in the first page or first 15 minutes of the media are men. Those statistics are even worse for BIPOC women. These numbers don’t reflect the number of actual business experts either. There are much more women running businesses than you’d think based on the number of women business experts quoted in the media.   Lee argues that you have to put yourself out there as an expert, and you have to be found. You have to make it so easy to find you, so that a reporter who has 2 seconds to find an expert can find you really fast. In Lee's experience, companies tend to invest more in men. Business owners who are men invest more time, money, and effort in putting themselves forward as experts. Because of this, the media can find men much easier than they can find women. Reporters need to find people fast, and so if you're not able to be found quickly online you will not be found. This tends to diminish women in general, women’s authority in their categories, and women’s ability to implement their agenda.    Lee introduces us to a concept called the Say Gap. The Say Gap is the difference between how many times men are quoted versus the amount of times women are quoted in the media. 70% of quotes are from men, and only 30% of quotes are from women. That is a gap of 40%!   There are things you can do to be known as an expert. There is time you can invest. But the most important thing is to change your mindset over who is an expert!   Lee was deciding whether she wanted to continue writing her second book. One night she was on the couch thinking about it, and watching the 2016 presidential debate. This debate was the one when the former president called the former secretary of state a “nasty woman.” After that moment, Lee immediately knew she was finishing this book.    Lee knows that one thing she can do is make sure there is another book written by a woman CEO on an important topic. At that moment in time, Lee thought “I have something I can do to change this, to at least be another option in the world.”    In Lee’s experience, she finds that women owned businesses typically underinvest in themselves. Her company helps put small businesses, with a particular focus on women owned businesses, on the map. She helps businesses achieve their goals through communication, messaging, and confidence.   Jess asks Lee, why is it so important that more women are leading and being visible?   Lee reminds us of the assumption that you can’t be a wife, mom, and run a successful business. That assumption is completely false. We should be declaring ourselves as women business owners!    By declaring you’re a woman owned business, you’re not making the assumption that people don’t know it, you’re declaring the value of it. That declaration helps you in terms of authority and quotability. The more normal we make it to be women experts, the more normal we make it to be heard, the more normal we make it to be featured and visible in the media. It is not the norm to take our authority and declare our expertise. And that is doing ourselves and our industries a disservice! As women, we need to make sure the value that we have created is attributed to us.   Lee also discusses how podcasting can help anyone increase their visibility. By being a guest on podcasts, you’ll start appearing all over the internet. This increased findability drives authority through the roof. Lee recommends that you guest on as many podcasts as possible with several but specific topics. If you search Lee’s name, you will find hundreds of podcasts that she’s been on! These podcasts are easy to find and easy to reference. By increasing your visibility online, you’ll start being known as an expert in your industry!   You can find Lee at double-forte.com!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy discuss the power of masterminds. As a listener of Monetize the Mic, you probably know that Interview Connections helps their clients increase their visibility as a guest on podcasts. Every time a business experiences growth, there are new challenges to overcome. Clients of Interview Connections grow their business rapidly with their new visibility and find that they need more support in other aspects of business, like sales, marketing, pricing, etc.   That’s where Monetize the Mic Mastermind comes in!  This program is a group coaching and mastermind exclusively for Interview Connections clients. Jess and Margy have grown a successful, multi 7 figure business and they have a lot of experience with overcoming challenges in growing your business. They also have a great arsenal of coaches and mentors in their network that they’ve been bringing in as guest speakers for this mastermind! Jess and Margy realized that they wanted to offer up-leveled support for their clients long-term on their journey of growing and scaling their business. They know from experience that a mentor and a mastermind can help you avoid so many mistakes that Jess and Margy themselves made.  Having those mastermind mentors saves you so much time in the long run. A mastermind can also offer you a sense of community with people who are going through exactly what you are going through. You can connect and network with people who have goals that are as big as your goals! The masterminds that Jess and Margy have been a part of completely transformed their businesses and their lives. An important thing that both Jess and Margy have realized is that you have to change yourself to reach goals. Business is a vehicle to transformation. They find that it’s so invigorating to help their entrepreneur clients whose businesses they really believe in. Interview Connections clients embody authenticity, integrity, leadership, and kindness. Jess and Margy put their voices and their stories on podcasts to give them a stage, a spotlight, and visibility. Now, Jess and Margy are offering their clients support with their infrastructure so their business can scale and grow from all that visibility! How does this mastermind work with the consistent visibility and networking that clients get from podcast guesting? People tend to not realize just how important visibility is. Jess was recently talking to an entrepreneur who said that she had spent thousands of dollars on coaches and systems but she wasn’t getting any sales calls. Jess knew immediately it was because she wasn’t visible. Without actually getting on the court and putting the spotlight on you, you’re just not going to grow. If you don’t have the visibility, all of the marketing strategies and the coaching are pointless. Jess and Margy realized that when growing from 6 to 7 figures, the name of the game was lead generation. Where does lead gen come from? Visibility.  Visibility is the first and most important thing, but joining a mastermind can help amplify your visibility as well. After Jess joined a mastermind, she had a network. The people in that mastermind would offer support, they would share Jess’s podcast episodes, increasing Jess’s visibility.  The biggest gap that Jess has seen with entrepreneurs is between their true gift and vision for what they’re doing and why they’ve started this business, and then what they’re talking about on podcasts. When entrepreneurs have space on mastermind calls to go deep, they tend to find that the tactical topics that they talk about on podcasts are a lot different than what their vision is. Their vision is more about why they’re running this business and what their gift really is. Masterminds allow people space to infuse this vision into their podcast interviews. Once that vision becomes part of your podcast interview, that’s when there’s magic created. Listeners are so attracted to you and that energy. Why is it so hard for people to go deep and tap into their inner vision?  When you go deep, that’s where you see the good, the bad, and the ugly. The surface level is all about looking good: “I’m an expert and I have a successful business.” When you go deep, that’s when you see the insecurities come out. Often there will be some doubts about worthiness, and that’s uncomfortable to face. We don’t want to admit that. You have to go through that muck and clean it up for you to be authentic. When there is inauthenticity, that will come through in your energy and people will not be attracted to that. It will come through in your messaging, in your body language, and even in your pricing. What is the structure of the mastermind? Every Wednesday, there is a group coaching call. Jess and Margy alternate between trainings and implementation. They strongly believe in focusing on both vision and implementation. Some masterminds are all about the vision but there’s no space for implementation.  Every other Wednesday, you’re held accountable to implementing what you’ve learned the week before. Every other Thursday, they host a mastermind call where you can have a hot seat coaching session and share what’s going on in your business. Plus, there’s a private Facebook community for you to connect and network with other amazing entrepreneurs who are reaching for big goals. If you’re interested in joining the Monetize the Mic Mastermind, send Jessica an email at [email protected] and she’ll hop on a call and talk to you about the mastermind! This Mastermind is for Interview Connections clients only. If you’re not a client, apply for a consult call at interviewconnections.com/apply so you can get in!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy talk about the why behind setting high goals. At Interview Connections, Jess and Margy love to set crazy high goals and go for them. Something they like to acknowledge is that their goals a few years ago seemed incredibly high, and now those same goals seem so small! Compare your goals now to your goals two years ago and you’ll see how much your business has grown. When talking about setting high goals, Jess remembers a specific moment after attending a Landmark course. She was walking back from the hotel to the seminar and had an amazing lightbulb moment. Jess started opening herself up to new possibilities and increased her goal of what was possible.  Margy has always been the one to set the really, really high goals. Jess tends to set lower goals, and they usually end in the middle of those two goalposts. Sometimes when business owners and entrepreneurs set high goals for their team, they’ll see that their team feels triggered by these expectations. It’s important to remember that your team is a mirror of you. Look at what exactly gets triggered with your team when you set high goals. Triggers are necessary. They are what you come up against with high goals. The day after Interview Connections launched, Jess was working on closing spillover sales. Margy asked Jess “How many sales are you closing?” Jess responded that she was going to close three sales. Margy said, “How about six?” That moment was so triggering for Jess. Margy was telling Jess that she can do more than that. But, what Jess heard was, “You didn't do enough.” Jess sees this trigger in her team as well as in herself.  Jess and Margy have experienced a drive to hold people accountable but also a fear of triggering them. What it takes to get your business to 2.5 million, versus what it takes to get to 10 million is huge. Margy’s unwillingness to be direct with people and holding them accountable was holding her back. Jess and Margy couldn’t get to 10 million if either of them were holding back on their gifts and who they really are. Margy felt like she was holding back on her aggressive vision casting for high goals. Those high goals seemed like they were a lot to ask, but they would never happen if they didn’t set those goals. Jess feels like she wants someone to be accountable to as she reaches for these big goals. Margy helps Jess stay accountable to those goals!  For Jess and Margy, it’s been interesting to see when they’re being their most powerful selves, and being their possibility versus reverting back to their small selves with triggers. The reason Margy loves giant goals is that they require so much transformation. As their goals got bigger, they required new teams and new systems. Every new level you hit, you have these new opportunities.  When someone holds us accountable to the person they know we can be, it can feel like they’re being mean, or like they’re withholding love and connection. That’s when triggers happen - tantrums, shutting down - you feel that child start to kick up. Whatever those sirens are that your inner child sets off when you feel like you need that love and connection, that’s what comes up when you go for these high goals. It’s not all being badass when you level up in business. There’s triggers, there’s crying. You’re going to confront things that are dormant that you haven’t dealt with before that could go really far back. If you are going for a high goal and it’s a shitshow, that’s good news! That means you’re on track. Going super deep is where the breakthroughs are. When you work through your own triggers, you can help others work through them as well!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess had the chance to talk with Interview Connections client Jennifer Chapman about work-life balance as a leader! Jennifer used to be a workaholic, known as the go-to person for getting things done and managing the most difficult customers or clients at a Fortune 500 consulting firm. She thrived on challenging situations and proving to others that she was invincible. But when her mental and physical health began to take a hit, she began a journey to create a work and personal life that aligned with what she most valued and wanted most.  Now she has created and has the job she wants, an independent confidence from within, and the ability to bring her authentic self into everything she does at work. She’s more successful—in terms of happiness, financial security, and her ability to help others—than she’s ever been.  Jennifer is an expert leadership coach who works with clients who want to be more confident, more authentic, and more successful. She especially enjoys helping leaders who have been promoted through functional expertise embrace their roles as people managers. Jess asks, with everything Jennifer has going on, how does she find time to relax? What’s her secret?  Jennifer admits that it’s a struggle - it’s a practice. Sometimes she starts to feel like she is invincible and she can do it all and then her body reminds her that she’s not. Mother’s Day is a great example. Despite the well wishes of Mother’s Day, that day can often be more stressful than relaxing for mothers. This year, Jennifer wanted to make it the day she wanted it to be.  So she planned a Mother’s Day party. She invited 6 friends, they all had a great dinner, and Jennifer hired two massage therapists and everyone got massages. Afterward, they had a gift exchange and topped off the night with Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Jennifer and her friends had such a great time, they’re already planning one for the weekend after school starts, which is another crazy time for parents.  Jennifer has to plan things in order to achieve work-life balance. She has a super supportive husband but Jennifer realized that she just needs to ask sometimes even though it can be hard to ask. Jennifer realized that you can really take ownership by knowing that you can have what you want by making the time and planning for it. Jessica agrees that as mothers, it’s not that our spouses aren’t okay with us taking time for ourselves - it’s that we ourselves have a hard time. Jennifer recommends to flip it around and ask yourself, “What advice would I give to my friend?” People ask Jennifer all the time, “Do you coach yourself since you’re a coach?” Yes, all the time, Jennifer says! She asks herself, “If I were my client, what would I be saying to myself right now? How would I be comforting my friend?” Like many women, Jennifer is a lot kinder to her friends than she is to herself.  Jessica wants to know, why is STEM in the industry that Jennifer specializes in? Why does she feel called to support them in their leadership? Jennifer always felt like she got along with people in the STEM field. Those people tend to be very task-focused and very logical. She feels different from a lot of coaches, who are more interested in the people-side and gravitate toward people in those industries. Jennifer discovered she has a gift working with task-oriented and focused people. She thought, why not specialize in it.  Jennifer has found it incredibly rewarding. She works with type A personalities who want to get stuff done, and the people-side of things is an afterthought. Her clients typically reach a point where they realize that they are getting stagnant, and they won’t move up unless they figure out how to do the people-side of their business. A recent study showed that 78% of HR leaders said that they had become focused on finding technology employees with soft skills. The thing that is gonna differentiate you is “Can you work with people? Can you have difficult conversations? Do you know what to do when there’s conflict? Can you mentor effectively?” People Jennifer works with say, “I want to get better with this but I don't even know where to start.” Jess asks for some examples of soft skills that Jennifer helps her clients improve. One of the biggest skills Jennifer helps her clients with is how to get influence or how to get buy-in. She shares a story about how her husband noticed at his new job that a software that they were using was archaic. They had used it for a long time and loved it. Her husband noticed that it was inefficient, and they were doing double the work. At a meeting, her husband raised a hand and said “We need to do something about this system because it’s completely inefficient.” He met with stunned silence.  The people in the room were the ones who advocated for that software program in the first place. He said to Jennifer, “I don't know why they didn’t see that my way was better.” Jennifer helped him see that he just stood up in a room and basically called everyone there an idiot. He responded, “I am who I am, and I am direct.” Jennifer asks, “And how is that working out for you?” People say feelings shouldn’t matter but Jennifer insists that they do. The key is figuring out what issues are getting in the way of you getting what you want. Then you need to figure out how you can authentically develop those relationships with people, and build that trust so they will get on board and get excited about what you have in mind.  Jess asks, “What’s your process when you coach? How do you help them see the difference between their intent and their impact?” Jennifer has observed that a lot of task-focused people don’t have a lot of empathy. She explains that empathy isn’t letting someone cry on your shoulder. Empathy is the ability to step out of your own shoes and try on someone else’s shoes and see it from a different perspective. When you think about the best leaders, they’re the ones who can step into so many different shoes. They ask, “How is this going to impact everyone?” Empathy is a key attribute to success in any industry. Stop and think, “What is my objective? What am I trying to accomplish?” And then flip to being in their perspective. What are they trying to accomplish?  Sometimes when you think about it that way, you find out you’re aligned on the same thing. That’s when you can have a real conversation about how you can collaborate and work together so you both achieve what you both want.  Another piece of advice Jennifer has for our listeners is that your example speaks volumes. She would tell her team members that she wanted them to have work-life balance. Yet she was sending emails at 11:00pm, or working on a Saturday.  Actions speak louder than words. After Jennifer started modeling a better work-life balance and being more clear in her expectations, she noticed that her team did a much better job of maintaining their work schedules. When she made the well-being of her team a top priority, she saw that when she needed them, her team was there and came through for her.  You can connect with Jennifer at ambitionleadership.com! 

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sits down with Interview Connections client Shawna Schuh to discuss leadership blindspots! Shawna Schuh is an eccentric thought leader, a skilled executive leadership coach, a two-time TEDx speaker, and a lifetime adventurer. In addition to her hard-earned Master’s Certificate in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Shawna has three decades’ experience working closely with top organizations such as Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Fashion Group International, and the National Speakers Association.  She knows leaders thrive with an advocate who questions their thought process, and her unconventional perspective gives her some unexpected questions to ask. Shawna shares a unique perspective so that the information and ideas she promotes stick and work.  Jess asks, what are some of the blindspots that exist in leadership? Shawna begins by discussing one of the biggest blindspots that challenge leaders, which is relying on your team to tell you what’s wrong. Your team isn’t going to tell you what your leadership blindspots are because their job is on the line! A big mistake a leader can make is assuming that their team is 100% on board with every initiative in the company.  Another blindspot that she’s uncovered is that most leaders are just telling. Leaders will say to her, “Well, I told them this. I told them why.” But it’s not actually communication. Some leaders also sell ideas and initiatives, instead of really having a two-way conversation about it. Shawna also discusses that some leaders have a blindspot in allowing certain things. If a leader allows frequent bad behavior from an individual, it affects the entire team. She is thrilled to see that many leaders are educating themselves, talking to other leaders, and strategizing. Shawna emphasizes that leaders need to ask questions to become better leaders. She also notes that sometimes leaders know their values, but they don’t actually feel them. They’re not committed to them. Leaders need to absolutely commit to and feel their core values. Most leaders do not know what’s wrong with their business. They don’t have any idea of what’s being said or being done under them, even though they think they know. Jess asks Shawna, “When should leaders ask questions, what kind of questions, and with what context?” First, Shawna recommends that leaders figure out their intent. Shawna believes that a check-in is just an interruption. Leaders should ask themselves, “What am I trying to accomplish here?” She has had leaders come to her and say, “I do check-ins with all my people.” Shawna asks, “What if you stopped and said - ‘I’m calling you to find out what one good thing happened today already?’” You’re going to be asking them something they’re not used to giving. Another example might be, “Rate the meeting you just had with that client on a scale of 1 to 10. What could you have done to make it a 10?” Most leaders are checking in to make themselves feel better, but they might be triggering the team, or just interrupting them.  Jess asks Shawna to dig deeper about check-ins.  For Shawna, check-ins are about leaders feeling anxious that work isn't being done, or not being done well enough. Instead, she recommends having a pre-scheduled time to meet with a purpose. Instead of a check-in, maybe do a progress report: “What’s your progress? What’s preventing that progress? Tell me the process and share with me the steps you are taking.” The best leaders are the best questioners. Don’t ask, “What were you thinking? Why would you do it that way?”  “Why” questions are usually the poorest questions. That question doesn’t give you the answer that you want. Shawna asks, “What if you just shifted it to, how could I do that differently in the future?” You can connect with Shawna at Shawnaschuh.com and take a free quiz to uncover your leadership blindspots! 

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess speaks with Interview Connections client Dr. L. Carol Scott about the bridge between personal and professional success! Women on the rise seek out Dr. L. Carol Scott and her “Seven Self-Aware Success Strategies” to help them remove invisible barriers, ignite self-confidence, and implement immediate action for their personal and professional evolution.  As a trauma-informed developmental psychologist, she shares how the first 2,500 days of our lives determine our skills for relationships—ALL our relationships…for the rest of our lives. She achieves her life's mission to improve the way we treat each  other, by teaching us what we have always wanted to know about  “what makes people tick.”  A TEDx speaker and author, Dr. Scott is also a nationally respected thought leader in early care and education. As a  keynoter, trainer, and coach, she supports teams and individuals,  anywhere that relationships are at the heart of success.  Her first book, Just Be Your S.E.L.F.--Your Guide to Improving  Any Relationship, provides the framework and the tools for  Development Do-Overs on your earliest years of life, for better relationships now, at home, and at work. She holds an MA degree in Early Childhood Education and a Ph.D. in Developmental and  Child Psychology, both from the University of Kansas. Jess wants to know, why are the first seven years so crucial to relationships? What is happening in those first seven years that is impacting us today? Dr. Scott explains that in those first seven years, we are being wired for life. We are born with a whole lot of loose neurons. There are billions of neurons floating around that are not connected. Our job over the first three years is to wire those together. The way those neurons get connected is how we process the world.  We are wiring our brains by experiencing the world at the rate of one million neurons per second, and 85% of the brain gets connected in the first three years of life! Jess then asks, what does self-awareness have to do with success?  Dr. Scott knows that success is all about relationships. If you’re going to do well with those important relationships, you have to be able to trust people. We, as humans, learned how to trust when we were 6 months old, and that affects us forever. When Dr. Scott works with adults, she has them look around at the trust in their lives. How is trust working for them or not working for them in the relationships that they have? She then uses that as her backward assessment to guess how things probably went for them. Dr. Scott helps them rewire that part of their brains.  Naturally, Jess wants to know - how do we rewire our brains? Dr. Scott explains that as infants, we know that trusting is about needing things. Infants learn to trust because they need fundamental caretaking. At that very basic level, if the infant learns that if they need something and nothing happens, that’s going to affect them. She wants people to unpack trust relative to needing things. They can work on looking at their needs. Generally speaking, we are often told that we have too many needs. Pretty early in life, we learn that needing something from someone else is to malfunction.  Dr. Scott knows that we need to rethink that. Adults can learn that needing things is a normal thing. After facing that, people can really look around and be honest about what needs are being met, and what needs aren’t.  We can identify our needs and we can identify people who can meet those needs who are in our lives. We can also identify people that we know who won’t meet that need. If someone doesn’t have the skill set to meet those needs, that doesn’t mean they cannot be in your life. You can teach them! People in your life want to help you but they might not know how - but they can learn. Something that Dr. Scott does not want you to forget is: we need to put more time and energy into fostering and building relationships. They’re living things and that need to be fed! Some people might be wondering, what does any of this have to do with success as an entrepreneur or business owner? Dr. Scott believes that it’s not possible to separate the personal from the professional. We cannot hope for professional success without personal success, they are completely intertwined.  Jess completely agrees. Vulnerability is the greatest gift you can give someone. Podcasting is an especially great medium because it’s a long-form platform where you can be vulnerable, share your story, and create those deep connections.  Jess also asks Dr. Scott, who typically works with you? Often Dr. Scott works with women around the age of 35. She works with people who thought they were ready to launch into the world, and manifest all their possibilities. She works with people who had recently made a big change that feels like freedom, and yet freedom isn't there. Something isn’t right. They want to rise to the mountaintop but it feels like they have chains on their ankles. Dr. Scott is the person who says, “I know where those chains come from, they come from the first seven years. Let me show you how to unlock them so you can rise.” Although Dr. Scott’s work resonates with a lot of women, she works with all gender identities. She helps you find success in the way you define your success. You can get to know Dr. L Carol Scott and start a relationship with her on Facebook!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sits down with Interview Connections client and certified relationship coach, Roy Biancalana! Roy Biancalana is a nationally recognized expert in the field of attraction and conscious relationships. He is the author of three #1 best-selling books, the latest of which is Relationship Bootcamp: Hard-Core Training for Life, Love & the Pursuit of Intimacy. For the past 15 years, Roy has been supporting single people in the art of attracting healthy, sustainable, intimate relationships. His experience has taught him that getting in “relationship shape” is the key to attracting lasting love.  Jess first asks Roy, “What goes into being fit in a relationship?” Roy is the first to admit that he has made every mistake you can make. One of the biggest mistakes is to focus on strategy. People always ask Roy about the strategy of dating. Questions include, “Where do I go to meet someone? How do I find someone online? How do I approach someone? How do I flirt?” If you were going to run a marathon, you could ask questions about how to be successful in a marathon. You could focus on questions like “What should I eat that morning? When should I drink during the race?” You could ask all kinds of questions about what to do on the day of the race, the strategy. But no matter how great your strategy is, if you’re not in shape you’re never going to go the distance.  The biggest mistake people make is focusing on the dating strategy. What Roy has found is if you are not in great relationship shape, even if you have a great strategy, it’s not going to go the distance. The success of the relationship is more about your internal relationship health. You can never be in a relationship that’s healthier than you are. Roy likes to turn questions about “them” into questions about you. Instead of “Where can I find someone?” ask, “Am I ready to create something real? Do I have something blocking me? Do I have limiting beliefs? What might be going on inside of me that is either going to inhibit the evolution of this relationship?” Roy wants to reorient people toward looking at themselves, rather than looking for a person. Jess remarks that trust is one of the things that can hinder someone in a relationship. What does Roy tell people who have been hurt and betrayed and are having a difficult time trusting? Roy reminds us of the fitness metaphor he uses for relationships. He has identified seven important relationship “muscles.” These muscles need to be strong so we can have healthy relationships. Something that Roy recommends we ask ourselves, is “What muscles do I need to get stronger with?” One of the muscles that Roy talks about is your relationship to the past. Trust is really your relationship to the past. It’s important to ask, are you holding on to it or are you letting go of your past? Everyone to one degree or another has some baggage. What that does is, if it remains alive in us, makes it difficult to trust. It makes it difficult to meet the next person with an open and available heart. It makes it difficult to meet someone to get to know them.  Roy coaches his clients to understand the past, and then let go of it. It’s not about forgetting it, it’s about framing it, and making peace with it. It’s something that happened, not something that is happening! Walls will keep you safe, but they will keep you single.  Roy has identified three levels of trust. The first level is: I trust you. Your ability to trust is based on the other’s person’s character and behavior. You never can really feel secure if your trust is based on their behavior and character. Roy recommends reframing this trust to be, “My heart may get broken, but it will never break me. People are unpredictable. I don’t know what they’re going to do. I don't know what they are going to do, but no matter what, I’m okay. I’m going to learn from the experience.”  Now, your trust is based on something that you know that you can control. Then you can be normal, you don’t have to protect yourself. You can be free, relaxed, and authentic. That’s when you’re the most attractive! Roy wants listeners to make sure they do not get discouraged if they find out your muscles need some work! It is not only possible, but life-changing, when you start to train and strengthen your relationship muscles! You can connect with Roy and take his free relationship fitness quiz at Coachingwithroy.com!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess and Margy talk about the importance of content marketing. Jess and Margy agree that content marketing should be resources, information, and other content that provides value. Margy finds that she doesn’t identify with marketing. For her, it feels cold and it feels out of alignment. Margy comes from a place of always wanting to give valuable information and having important conversations.  If you feel like Margy does, her number one tip is to find what makes you different. Don’t just parrot what other people are saying in a crowded online space. It’s so powerful to hear someone saying something different in a sea of online noise.  When Jess and Margy coach their client, they really dig in on their client’s messaging. They focus on the client’s company vision, and how they can infuse that in their interviews. When that happens, their marketing and their content messaging is something that makes people listen.  People always ask Jess if content marketing should be paid or free. Jess feels that if it’s paid, it’s no longer content marketing. It becomes a product. The reason content marketing works so well is because it’s free and anyone can access it.  A lot of people will respond with something like, “I put a lot of work into my content, I want people to pay for it.” Jess reminds us of the power of reciprocity. If you put a lot of work into your content, your podcast, your launch, your videos, etc, people feel that gift that you’re giving to them. This will make people feel more likely to want to work with you! Nobody will want to pay for you until they’ve seen what you can do. And the best way for them to see what you can do is content marketing! You should also keep in mind that it’s strategic to create content marketing in multiple different ways because people learn in different ways. The number one content marketing strategy Jess and Margy recommend is, of course, podcasting. Podcasting is a great way to reuse content, increase visibility, and get in front of a trusting audience. Podcast guesting is easier to start with, rather than creating your own podcast and hosting. Guesting will get you out there. It gets you familiar with the space. It’s a really easy way to create a content machine with podcasting as the center of the wheel. From one podcast interview, you can create written blog posts, videos, audiograms, emails, etc. You can also accomplish this by hosting your own podcast, which is an amazing thing to do, but it can be overwhelming especially at first. Jess and Margy definitely recommend starting with guesting so you can get your feet wet in the podcasting community! The next content marketing tactic Jess and Margy discuss is videos! People love consuming content visually. There are so many ways you can utilize videos, whether it’s pre-recorded videos, Instagram reels, or Facebook lives. There is definitely a different energy with live videos when you have people interacting with you in real-time. In any video content marketing, hearing someone’s voice is a great way to connect with someone! Videos allow you to do that. A viewer will really get to see you, your body language, your voice inflections, and everything that makes you, you. Video can leave a lead feeling much more connected with you than other content marketing strategies. The final content marketing piece is written content. Jess could devote a whole episode about writing a book, and if that is something you’re interested in doing, a book can be a fantastic way to get your content out into the hands of your leads. Some people will gravitate toward books, especially if they feel like they need to take a break from screens. Other great written content includes LinkedIn articles, episode descriptions, and blog posts! Margy’s recommendation is don’t do nothing if you can’t do all of it. The most important thing is consistency. If you’re overwhelmed by all of these different strategies, just start with one! Entrepreneurs who are really good at content marketing know they are playing a long game. They do not expect to do one video and reap all the rewards of content marketing. When you really want to give value and when you understand that this is a long game, that is when you will see success.  Another recommendation from Jess and Margy is to block out time for content. Jess and Margy pick one day and plan their entire month’s content. Just start showing up and keep going. You’ll get better with consistency. You may feel like you’re screaming into the void but people are watching. A lot of people are lurkers. They just look, they don’t interact. Once they’re ready to buy, they’ll reach out. Margy herself is a lurker, so she can attest to that! Immature entrepreneurs give up if they don’t see success right away. Mature entrepreneurs are consistent. This is a long game, you have to keep going and be consistent. Jess reminds us that you can’t stop just because you don’t have “fans” yet!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy! On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess puts Margy in the guest spotlight to talk about Margy’s new podcast We Get It, Your Dad Died. Jess first asks Margy, why did you decide to start this podcast?In 2015, while Margy was living in Taiwan, she learned that her dad had died by suicide. As an only child, Margy was incredibly close with her parents and this was a life-shattering moment. Now, six years later, it still remains a horrible loss. However, Margy realizes that a lot of the things she has in her life she would not have if she hadn't been through such a challenging struggle. Margy started doing some research into high-achieving grievers and the relationship between loss and success. She wanted to start a show where she interviews high-achieving entrepreneurs who have suffered a serious loss. Margy wants to talk to them about what that experience was like, how it shaped them, and also what became possible in their life because of that loss. Margy wants to prove that there are ways to turn the setbacks into positives in our lives. A seed of her idea for this podcast came from Iconic, an Ali Brown event, in Miami on the beach, just days before lockdown in 2020. Margy started talking to a friend and fellow entrepreneur, Brandi Bernoskie, about the death of Brandi’s mom. She was really moved by Brandi’s story and felt like these conversations could be incredibly powerful on a podcast. Margy decided that her podcast would focus on interviewing 7-figure + entrepreneurs who have a story of loss that they are willing to share. Jess also wants to know, what was the process like of producing this podcast? Margy came up with the concept and she started posting in mastermind groups and the Interview Connections client network group to find people who would be interested in sharing their stories. She knew that she had entrepreneurial friends who were at this level who had incredible stories to share. The interviews gave the show the momentum that it needed. Margy just started recording the conversations and took it from there.  The next question Jess has for Margy is, who is your audience? Margy didn’t make this trying to please anyone in particular. Her goal was to share important and powerful conversations and to make a show that she herself loves. She feels like this podcast has a wide demographic. Margy’s hope is that this podcast will resonate with anyone who has experienced grief or loss. Secondly, Margy is interested in reaching entrepreneurs who are interested in how high-achievers approach setbacks. After giving interview after interview, Margy realized that her podcast gave a kind of blueprint for how to thrive through the most negative events. Finally, Jess asks, how do you monetize a show that is seemingly not related to your business? Margy explains that when you're a guest on podcasts, you're sharing your story and that is what is going to resonate with people. It’s not really an infomercial for your service or your product, you’re trying to get the listeners to resonate with you personally. All of the content that we create, when we genuinely want to be of service and do great work magnetizes clients to us no matter what industry we’re in! Search "We Get It Your Dad Died" wherever you listen to podcasts on April 29th to listen to the first season!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess sat down with Interview Connections client Heather Steinker to talk about leveraging Instagram! Following the crumbs in the chaos is a full-time job. As a busy mom of three, a wife to a traveling hubby, and keeping it weird in Austin, Texas, it’s safe to say that Heather’s life is far from boring. Running a household with three young kids takes strategy and a system to keep things moving, like a well-oiled machine.  After many moms came to her asking “How do you do it? I swear you have more time in the day than anyone else,” Heather wanted to show them the way! She created Chaos n’ Cookies to help busy mompreneurs stress less and save time through helpful tools and systems to increase productivity in their lives. Heather teaches her clients to be more efficient in their homes or running their businesses, working smarter and not harder. In addition to running her coaching business as CNC’s CEO, Heather is a certified coach for a premier virtual fitness and nutrition program helping others feel better while sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Heather gained 10+ years of experience as a Director of Marketing, building multiple court reporting companies.   Oh, and if she wasn’t busy enough, she maintains her own column called “How-to with Heather'' for a local neighborhood magazine, where she teaches her community fun hacks to be more self-sufficient with common household tasks. You can catch her weekly on her Chaos n’ Cookies Podcast, which ranked #80 in Parenting on the USA charts. Heather is helping mompreneurs chip away, one problem at a time. Social media and Instagram became a tool that Heather started to use when she became a wellness coach. Heather had a sales and marketing background, but when she went into the online space, she knew she had to start using Instagram. At first, Heather didn’t know anything about it! She sat down and decided to learn all the ins and outs of Instagram so she could use it well. Eventually, people started asking Heather for help with their own social media, so now Heather teaches mompreneurs and entrepreneurs how to best leverage social media, especially Instagram! Jess first asks Heather about Instagram reels. Reels are funny, entertaining, and can be of such great value to a business. How can entrepreneurs be using them? Instagram reels are king right now. When these platforms roll out something new, it’s like their new baby, and the algorithm really favors it. Heather explains that if you’re not using reels, you need to be. Heather knows that a lot of entrepreneurs feel intimidated by reels. She sees a lot of pushback because it can look goofy. Entrepreneurs will say, “That’s not me, I’m not going to do that.” But Heather explains that Instagram reels are getting pigeonholed. You don’t have to do goofy dances to leverage Instagram reels. As an entrepreneur, you could use reels to show a demo or tutorial that demonstrates your value! Heather goes on to explain the differences between stories, reels, and IGTV. Stories are 15-second clips that stay on Instagram for 24 hours. Stories are for your nurture sequences. They help nurture people who are already following you. Reels are between 15 and 30 seconds. Reels are more of a viral strategy to get new followers. Reels tend to convert people to become your followers. If your video is between 30 seconds - 1 minute, it goes on your grid. If it’s over 1 min, it will become an IGTV video. Reels are a strategy for video content between your stories and your grid. Jess then asks Heather what she can tell us about the algorithm. How do you get more of your followers to see your story? Heather emphasizes the importance of hashtags! You can use hashtags on both your grid posts as well as your stories. Hashtags will extend reach with your stories because hashtags are basically neon signs saying, “Look at me, check me out over here!” Hashtags don’t create engagement, but it gets people to your content. Content is what will get your followers to engage. Jess asks Heather, how do you choose what hashtags to use? Heather recommends searching a hashtag to see who is using it and get inspiration that way. Use ones that are specific to your brand. Then you’ll want to use ones that are specific to your niche. In addition, you’ll want to do a series of relevant hashtags just to the post itself.  You can add hashtags in the comments or in the post. If you have a really long post, you’ll need all that character space. If you don’t have space, add the hashtags to the comments. Other people put it in the comments to make it look cleaner. The other strategy of putting hashtags in the comments is that FB or IG doesn’t know it’s you, but it knows that you’re getting a comment. They see it as engagement. It gives it a little bit of a one-up! Heather reminds us that we have between 10 to 30 minutes to get some kind of impression or the algorithm is going to see it as boring and not continue to push it. It’s really important to get on and engage right away. Get the algorithm to notice! Finally, Jess wants to know the dos and don’ts for your Instagram profile! Heather’s first tip is, if your Instagram handle is your name, don’t put your name as the bolded type underneath the photo. We know it’s you by your handle! Put something else, like what you do, or what you’re known for.  You should answer some important questions in your bio, such as What’s your business? Who are you? What do you do? Who do you help? How do you help them? Heather’s last tip is to make sure that your bio has a great CTA! If you use a linktree or a website in your bio, make sure people know what they’ll get when they click that link! You can connect with Heather at her website chaosncookies.com or follow her on Instagram @chaosncookies! You can click the link in Heather’s bio for a free Lead & Social Tracker Sheet, among other amazing resources!

On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess has the opportunity to speak with Interview Connections client Tracy Litt about believing your worth. If Brene Brown and Tony Robbins had a baby, it would be Tracy Litt. Tracy Litt is a proven powerhouse of transformation. As a leadership expert, mindset coach, and spiritual advisor, she helps people across the globe to break the patterns that bind them so they can become the highest versions of themselves to create the businesses, relationships, and lives of their dreams. She does this through her powerful and practical process, The Choice Method, which elevates prosperity, fulfillment, and happiness to new and incredible heights.  Tracy is the celebrated author of Worthy Human, a book featured as a best-seller on Amazon and in major media outlets such as Thrive Global, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Fast Company. She has been praised for her outstanding TEDx talk and was recently awarded the Social Good Entrepreneur Women in Business Award in 2020. Her impact is undeniable, and her power is highly sought after for keynote presentations to leaders and entrepreneurs.  Tracy is leading a major movement in self-worth, empowerment, and wild success for visionary leaders. One by one, they are stepping into the reality of their highest selves. They are becoming extraordinary leaders in their vision. Jess asks Tracy about her concept of being a worthy human, and how we are our own problems and our own solutions. Ultimately, Tracy explains, you are the only block you will ever have. The reason that we struggle taking ownership and responsibility is that we aren’t willing to say “I am the problem and I am also the solution.” We are suffering from the lie of unworthiness. That lie is that you are only worth what you do. The fundamental truth is, your birthright is your enoughness! If you woke up today, you’re worthy. Tracy believes that when you decide that you’re worthy, what you desire is available to you because you can take the responsibility necessary to get out of your own way. Jess agrees and says that you have to believe in your heart and your gut that you are enough. Jess asks, what are some tips for people to really embrace the power of themselves? Tracy explains that it is your responsibility to know your worth. You are not broken, you don’t need to be fixed -- but you have wounds. it is your responsibility to heal those wounds so you can grow into your greatest potential. For Tracy’s clients, that is the first step in their worth work. To illustrate this in another way, Tracy says, “If I only love myself an inch worth, but my partner loves me four feet worth, it doesn’t matter how much love they give me, I can actually only absorb, believe, and let in that inch’s worth.” The next step on your worth work journey is to go back in time. Ask yourself, “When was the first time in your left that you felt worthless, unsafe, unseen, unheard?” Identify that, and go back into those moments. Tell yourself that truth. Then, construct a new belief system that begins with: I am enough. I am worthy. I always have been, I always will be. My worth is my birthright. It is not negotiable, it can never be influenced. For you to have a different result, you must change. For you to actualize every ounce of a vision that you desire, it lies in your ability to heal and transform and to become the version of yourself who lives in that vision! Tracy reminds us, you are not your mind, you are the director of your mind. Tracy and Jess then talk about forgiveness. Tracy explains that there is no forgiveness without rage. There is no forgiveness without letting out the suppressed emotion. But ultimately, forgiveness is a gift to yourself. When you don’t heal, your power is still with that other person at that age where you were wounded. It depletes you! You’re still giving your power away to that person. Finally, Tracy talks about the joy of knowing nothing. Let yourself absorb that, and then you can start doing the work. She recommends the shift to “I love not knowing what is going to happen next!” Then you’re open to seeing everything. That will clear away biases and assumptions that you’re constantly functioning in. If you want to connect with Tracy, head to whatwouldshedo.net for her free audio training!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast to teach you how to transform your business and life with the power of visibility and strategy! On this episode of Monetize the Mic, Jess talks with Interview Connections Client Aimee LaLiberte about being future-focused! As the owner of My Virtual CFO, Aimee is a trusted profitability advisor to six and seven‐figure business owners who are tired of being behind in their books and are ready to uncover blind spots, course correct, and ultimately get more profitable. Aimee also is a certified life and money coach and works with business owners who seek greater confidence and unwavering drive to attract and build wealth in their businesses and lives. After working in non-profit and finance for over 16 years and helping more than 75 business owners since starting her own business, Aimee knows how important it is to have steadfast trust in the person looking after your books. Jess was immediately interested in Aimee’s ideas about the importance of separating your self-worth from your bottom line. In your business, when you create really incredible results, it’s easy to attach that to your self-worth. “I’m worthy because I’ve made such mind-blowing results in my business!” But Aimee warns that the opposite can happen too. When those amazing results aren’t achieved, it can turn into “I’m not worthy.” Aimee reminds us that we are inherently worthy! Regardless of our money or our results, we’re all worthy.  Aimee asks, “Why would you put your worth, that is just foundational as a human being anywhere other than at the foundation?” This completely resonates with Jess.  Jess recently had to do a lot of work disconnecting financial results in a launch from her own self-worth. Aimee explains that we want those good results to mean that we’re enough, but in fact, we’re always enough. Jess then asks, how does Aimee’s business as a virtual CFO work? Aimee realized she really enjoyed the organizing and bookkeeping aspects of running a business. While speaking on a panel, Aimee began to understand that because she is so future-focused, she is much more like a CFO than a bookkeeper. Once Aimee made that shift, things really started to change. The clients that Aimee was attracting really started to change as well. Her advice for business owners is, they should be spending money on outsourcing or hiring someone who is future-focused!  The money should be spent on someone who can show you how to get to that place you need to get to. That’s the skill that’s not as readily available in terms of what you can buy on the market. Jess wants to know, what are some of the biggest money mindset pitfalls that Aimee has seen? Aimee has seen a lot of mindset issues about debt and shame around spending money. The biggest mistake she has seen is that people think there’s a one size fits all approach to money. Aimee believes that this is not true at all! However, Aimee insists that you need a relationship with money. People tend to avoid their money and their relationship with money because they think it’s about their self-worth. Aimee wants us to ask ourselves, “How is my psychology around money affecting these decisions?” Jess asks Aimee about her experience working with Profit First. Aimee explains that Profit First is a cash flow management tool that sits on top of your bookkeeping system. It’s essentially the creation of bank accounts that are intended for certain places so you can allocate money to specific purposes. These include income, operating expenses, owner’s pay, tax, and profit.  Those accounts create smaller plates of money, it allows and embraces the notion of restraint, which is what business owners need. If business owners see all this money, they think they have all this money available to them. But then they are confronted with a tax bill that they didn’t save for, or they want to hire someone but they don’t have the funds available to them. Profit First drives scalability as well as profitability in businesses. This method is ideal for being future-focused in your business when it comes to your finances! You can connect with Aimee in her Facebook Community, Confident Money Matters, where you’ll be supported in achieving your money goals! 

We wanted to let all of our amazing listeners and subscribers know that we are going to be changing the name of this podcast. Starting in April, we will be called Monetize the Mic! Our focus truly is on the strategies behind monetizing your visibility on podcasts. We’ve had this show since 2014. We have been called Rhodes to Success, Interview Connections, and Rock the Podcast. We make those shifts because our business has evolved. Right now, we are focusing so much on monetizing your visibility, not just getting booked and being a great guest. We can’t wait for all the episodes ahead under our brand new name Monetize the Mic and we are so thankful for all of our loyal listeners and supporters!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Margy talked with Interview Connections client, Stacy Bahrenfuss! Stacy is the owner of a 7-figure real estate company, Founder of The Truth Teachers™ and Ultimate Break-through Accelerator™. Her customized results-oriented approach to personal development is reflective in her unmatched intuitive 1:1 consulting, intimate group coaching, and exclusive certification program.  She began her entrepreneurial journey in the real estate industry at the early age of 19, sustained through the housing crisis of 2007-2010, and continued to build the business to be a 7-figure operation and one of the top real estate teams in the state of Idaho. In 2018 she personally funded and sold a development project consisting of 11 upper-tier luxury homes while still operating her real estate team. Her husband runs the operations of the real estate team today, while Stacy resides in an Advisory role.  Now, along with her certified consultants known as The Truth Teachers™ Stacy is on a mission to smash the shackles of suffering by shining a light on the truth so that her clients can achieve everything they want. Her programs serve as a catalyst for deep inner transformation to create lasting whole life success, and how to do it all from a limitless, beautiful inner state. One day while Margy and Stacy were chatting, Margy helped Stacy realize that she went from helping people find their homes, to helping women find their internal homes. Stacy is also kind of a  utility company, helping them turn on all their powers! She is driven to help people on her team connect to their power. Stacy likens this to identifying leaks in the boat and then sealing those leaks. All of the power that is being drained in the boat can be redirected to build 8+ figure businesses! Since June, that is where Stacy has really been refocusing her work. While Margy was looking to buy a house, Stacy was able to offer Margy an incredible mindset shift that changed everything. In her house-shopping experience, Margy found it to be incredibly emotionally draining. Margy had made an offer on a house that she felt very confident about, and the offer was rejected. It was really a crushing blow for Margy, who had already been imagining the house as her own. Soon after, Margy found another house and put in another offer. She was talking to Stacy about it and said, “I hope this offer is good enough to win.” Stacy then said to Margy, “What about focusing on the highest and best good for everyone?” Stacy’s piece of wisdom was, what if you shifted that perspective of winning to “My offer is good enough.” What if you consider that it be for the best for everyone involved. Focus on that win for you, win for the seller, and win for the collective. Margy was having these constrictive and isolating feelings associated with a winning and losing mentality. Her mindset went from “I don’t want to make my offer too high” to “I want the sellers to be psyched about this offer too. I want the realtors to be psyched about this commission. I want to be so happy.” That shift to considering everyone involved not only made Margy feel a lot better, but her offer was also accepted. Once you operate in the space of the highest and best good of everyone involved, you start to play on a different level completely. A ripple effect is created. That constricting piece, that separation can hold us back subconsciously. Once you move away from constriction and fear, you’ll move to possibility, abundance, and expansion. Margy also brings up that mindset plays a huge role in the success that a guest has on a podcast in terms of their ROI. Stacy agrees: you’re either in contribution, or you’re in fear and in lack. She explains that you have a choice and you can make it in the moment. The choice is tied into two internal states that we all have access to, fear and love. A beautiful state or a suffering state. For podcast guests, Stacy recommends making that shift and setting that intention for who you want to be. Set the intention for how you want to show up and the internal energy that you want to bring to the table. That mindset shift can be transforming for both the host and the audience! You can connect with Stacy at thetruthteachers.com!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy talk about top-line revenue and profit! When Margy came on as co-owner in 2018, her number one goal was to grow the top line revenue of Interview Connections to 7 figures. Even though Margy didn’t quite understand profit margins yet, she knew that she wanted the revenue to reach that 7 figure goal. And it worked! In 2019, Interview Connections hit 7 figures, and the company is currently scaling to 8 figures.  It wasn’t until recently that Jess and Margy shifted their focus to healthy profit, as well as top-line revenue growth. The first step that they took was to address their pricing structure. When Jess started Interview Connections in 2013, there was no other podcast booking agency on the planet! This meant that Jess had nowhere to look when she created the pricing structure. Way back then, Jess had implemented a month-to-month pricing package for clients and raised prices every few years. In 2017, Jess and Margy had a coaching day with Ali Brown, and Ali helped them completely restructure their pricing packages. Not only did Jess and Margy restructure so that the team and the business were being compensated fairly, but they also ensured that the clients were getting everything they needed from the package! Interview Connections prices their services based on the value they are providing. The entire package, which includes so much more than guaranteed podcast bookings, offers clients an opportunity for a massive ROI. When we price our services, we do not compare to what other podcast bookers are charging, because we are offering so much more than just podcast bookings! As an entrepreneur, it’s so important to ask yourself, “What is the value I’m providing?” It’s crucial to make sure that you are charging what you’re worth. As buyers, we often assume the more expensive service is the better one! When you charge what you’re worth, and when you have a high ticket offer, you are perceived to be of higher value. But of course, you need to back that up with your value and your service delivery! Don’t inflate your price to where it would not be a good investment for a business owner. But we find that most people price their services too low. First, you need to look at your service and look at how you can increase your client’s ROI. Once you can improve their experience with your service, you can justify higher prices! The next part of growing your top-line revenue is growing your sales infrastructure. If there is only one person in your organization who can close sales, especially if you’re selling high ticket services, you’re hitting a huge ceiling to your top-line revenue growth. Growing a sales team is critical because allows you to multiply your sales results. At Interview Connections, we have a strong sales team engine that is propelling us forward. As an entrepreneur, you should be out there on podcasts working on your visibility to obtain leads, and then having a team come in and work on actually closing those leads! Margy goes on 4-6 interviews a month, creating content, developing her thought leadership, and building up brand and company! From this, qualified leads come in and meet with our sales team. You need to build your visibility for the leads to find you. We needed more salespeople to handle the leads we were getting from podcast guesting!  The next important step in growing top-line revenue is tracking your progress.  It’s imperative to set goals and to look at what you’ve accomplished so far! Margy has a spreadsheet that is incredibly near and dear to her heart. That spreadsheet tracks revenue, expenses, and profit for each month. Jess and Margy find this tracking to be so helpful for planning, setting goals, and celebrating successes. When Jess and Margy have felt disappointed that they didn’t hit a goal, they can look back to their May 2017 sales of 30k and compare that to May 2020 with 300k sales! It really hits you in the face with everything that you’ve already accomplished. The work you did 6 months ago is why you are here today! What you’re doing right now is going to determine where you are 6 months from now.  If you are not getting interviewed on podcasts right now, you cannot expect growth in your visibility 6 months from now! Start now because this long-term strategy really does take time to grow.  What you do right now is going to determine what your spreadsheets look like a few months down the road. Jess and Margy find that they themselves, along with many entrepreneurs, are generally impatient. This can be a difficult concept to master, when you allow yourself to be patient and track your results, you’ll be able to see the fruits of your labor. Turning the focus to profit, Jess and Margy started tracking profit in 2017. In Margy’s spreadsheet, they could see every year lined up with income expenses and profit. You should be focusing on profit from Day 1, but it becomes even more important as you grow. Jess and Margy didn’t really focus on profit for a while but then their expenses started to catch up with them. As they started tracking expenses and revenue, they found they could drive growth and profit in a way that is strategic and sustainable! Another one of Margy’s obsessions is org charts. Org charts are incredibly important for your revenue and profit growth because they help you plan as you grow for the team that you will need! You can look at what that structure needs to be and what the different teams and departments will look like.  Jess and Margy created an org chart so they could look at what payroll expenses would be at 10 million top-line revenue. This helped them create the growth trajectory of various roles, teams, and departments in the company.  The clarity that org charts bring can help you lead your team and be intentional with your profitability.  The bottom line is to be mindful of what you’re investing in for your business. You should separate the “nice to haves” and the critical drivers. Things that really drive profitability like visibility, coaching are smart investments. Avoid things that aren’t actually going to move you forward and they’re going to cost you more!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess had the opportunity to speak with Interview Connections client Nancy Murphy! Nancy is the founder and president of CSR Communications and creator of Intrapreneurs Influence Lab. Her passion is helping leaders of change within established organizations (intrapreneurs) influence and persuade others so that they can realize their vision for change faster, with less frustration and resistance.  From challenging stereotypes of girls in her Catholic school more than 40 years ago, to her first job after college convincing nonprofits to engage youth volunteers or her role as board chair of a global nonprofit transforming the way we do international development, Nancy has experienced the challenges of leading big change within established organizations. And she’s willing to share all the mistakes she made – and all the solutions she discovered – so that you don’t have to learn them the hard way! First, Jess asks Nancy what led her to a business where she helps companies with intrapreneurs? Very early in Nancy’s life, she realized she was a status quo challenger by always challenging perceptions. She found herself often being hired to lead change, or once she was hired she would always find a way to start leading change.  Once Nancy started working in consulting, she found that her clients were often also people who were leading change in organizations. Nancy realized that she had lessons and techniques to share, so she then started CSR Communications!  Jess then wants to know, what is at the root of people’s fear of change? Why do people resist change? Nancy’s mantra is “Leaders don’t respond to lizard brain with lizard brain.” Well, what does “lizard brain” mean!? Our brains are very good at pattern recognition and this helps protect us. Lizard brain is the ancient part of our brain that is designed to protect us. It’s the part that triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response. Particularly in times of change, that part of our brain goes into overdrive, and our brain is trying to protect us from that change. As leaders, we can’t get into letting our lizard brains take over in response to other people’s lizard brains!  She does, however, urge leaders to not always view resistance as a bad thing. Resistance can make us stronger, it can illuminate our blind spots, and it can make us better. We don’t always want to see resistance as a negative. We want to get curious about it and see what’s going on underneath it. We want to find out what we can do to use that resistance in a way that improves and advances the change! Nancy tells her clients that they need to become credible leaders. The first step in doing this is looking in the mirror. Jess loves this because the mirror concept is something that she and Margy talk about all the time. Your team is a direct reflection of your leadership!  Nancy agrees and explains that the only thing we can control is ourselves. We can, however, influence others. Everything really starts with what can we do to become credible! She also recommends being open and being curious as a leader. It’s crucial to have empathy and to appreciate when someone is freaking out or feeling anxious about change. Once we know something we can’t un-know it. Nancy knows that it’s really hard to explain something you already know to someone who is hearing it for the first time. She recommends that leaders ask themselves, “what curse of knowledge do we have for our vision of change? What are those gaps we forget to fill in that really make all the difference?” Jess and Nancy both stress the importance of patience. Nancy discusses the power of pause. As a leader, if you’re about to train someone on something new, ask yourself, “How can I pause before I go into this training or teaching scenario? How can I actually put myself in a scenario when I was learning something new? What did that feel like and how can I imagine what other person can be feeling on the opposite side of my teaching or training?” Nancy also asks her clients to think of themselves as campaigners. People on the campaign trail give the same speech over and over, but they still have to make it dynamic and interesting every day. When people ask questions, the campaigners have to act as if that is the first time they’ve heard that question.  When people challenge them, the campaigner has to act as if this is the first time they’ve heard an opposite point of view. Nancy asks her clients, “How can we adopt the campaigner mindset?: Jess then asks Nancy if she has any tips for small business owners and entrepreneurs. She brings up a key point that she uses in her consulting frequently, and that is the concept of artifacts. If an organization has been around for a long time, what are all those little things left behind that show people what that organization really values? What really matters in terms of how things get done in that organization? When we go through change, look across all aspects of the organization and ask, “What do those artifacts convey? Are they aligned with the change that we’re leading?” If they don’t, you’ll have to address those head-on and challenge what they mean for your organization. That will be imperative to being an effective leader of change wherever you are! You can connect with Nancy at csrcommunications.com and be sure to head over to the freebies tab for loads of free resources, including a Meeting Makeover Kit, a Quarterly Momentum Maker Worksheet and more! 

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy dispel the myth of the visionary entrepreneur. There is a really prevalent idea that all founders of companies and all entrepreneurs are huge visionaries. Not only is this a stereotype, but it’s also a glamorization of being a visionary entrepreneur. Not every entrepreneur is a true visionary, nor do they need to be in order to become a successful entrepreneur! When Jess started Interview Connections, it wasn’t really her idea. She had started working as a VA for her dad, Jim Palmer, a business coach. As his VA, her dad had started asking Jess to book him on podcasts. Soon after, Jess decided that she wanted to be a business owner. Her dad coached her and helped Jess see that she could create a podcast booking company. Even though it wasn’t her idea, it was Jess’s implementation that made Interview Connections possible. To be successful as an entrepreneur, there is no one thing that you need to have. You can bring on team members or partners that help balance what you’re missing. A lot of founders really embody incredible implementation. Even though Jess didn’t have a grand vision, she took massive action and that is what made everything happen! So many people out there are not taking action because they’re overthinking and they’re not getting on the court. These entrepreneurs are paralyzing themselves in their minds. It’s important to understand that when you are starting your business, it’s 10% visioning, and 90% implementing. It’s crucial to build momentum in the beginning. Once you are a little more established, then you can move on to evolving and developing strategy. That’s where Jess sees a lot of people get stopped. They’re so focused on being the visionary that they don’t implement. Jess and Margy came to decide where their strengths really wore only a few months ago. Margy has brilliant ideas and visions, and Jess rolls up her sleeves and implements. Jess is a “doer” or an implementer, and Margy is a visionary. Both of these are equally important in a successful business. Everyone can have a great idea, but the real success lies in implementing it. Jess and Margy see this a lot in entrepreneurs that have a gorgeous website but no clients. You can have amazingly curated social media, you can have a great high-tech website, and you can have a great idea but if you’re not picking up that phone and dialing for dollars, that stuff is useless! Jess and Margy don’t recommend that you invest a bunch of money in your website and other shiny objects like that, because that is not the driver in the beginning stages of your business. You need to get clients! And you do have to make mistakes. You won’t know what makes a good sales call until you pick up the phone! Jess and Margy hope that they can inspire you to be brave. If you truly want to build something you have to have the faith and the courage to start sprinting and going for it.  It wasn’t until recently that Jess and Margy had a conversation about their titles and what they should mean. After discussing what each of them really does in the business and where their strengths lie, Jess took the title of President because she is really the implementer. Margy took the title of CEO because she has the bigger vision. It’s so imperative to know what your strength is, know where you belong, and know what your lane is. Once you know this, you can really thrive and grow in your strengths as opposed to getting better at something that you’re not really great at. Margy observes that it really does take true leadership to put your ego aside and stay true to what your strengths are! At Interview Connections, it’s so important to stay in the lane that lights you up. While Jess is focused on the process in the business, Margy is focused on ahead of the process and that is where they both thrive! Jess and Margy both recommend that if you’re an entrepreneur, you should ask yourself: Am I an implementer or am I a visionary? Where do I really thrive? Where do I need help? Who can help balance out what I lack? Plant the seed by asking these questions to find out if you are a visionary or implementer! If you don’t have 100% clarity on what you should be doing, don’t worry yet. You’ll figure it out on the journey! As we mentioned before, Jess and Margy only got full clarity on their visionary and implementer roles this year.  We are running a Podcast Guesting Masterclass from March 15th - 19th (with bonus sessions until March 23rd)! If you need to take action on your visibility and build your authority with podcast guesting, you need to attend our free Masterclass! Head to interviewconnections.com/livemasterclass to register!

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy talk about their partnership origin story! Jess started Interview Connections in 2013, but it wasn’t until Margy came into the picture that the current iteration of the company was created. Margy came on board as co-owner in 2018, but she had a bumpy road to get there! Margy loves telling her story because she wants listeners to reassured that even if it doesn’t seem like things are going the right way - keep going!  Margy graduated college with dual degrees in art and Latin, but she felt like she didn’t know where to go with her degrees. She ended up finding a job on Craigslist, in a door-to-door fundraising company. Jess was the canvas director for that company, and interviewed and hired Margy herself! An opportunity arose for Margy to travel to Austin to help open a new office for the company. When it was time for Margy to return, she called Jess and said “Sorry, but I’m staying here in Austin!” Margy was at a place where she didn’t know what she wanted to do and was following her impulses.  After living in Austin for a little while, Margy traveled to Taiwan and lived there for two years working as an English teacher. She loved traveling, but she never felt like she could find her calling. While living in Taiwan, Margy received the life-changing news that her father had died by suicide.  Among the many other things that come up during a close family member’s death, Margy had to frantically find a new home for her dad’s cat, Kitten. She had posted on Facebook to see if anyone could foster the cat, and even though Jess and Margy had mostly lost touch over the years, Jess commented on the post and volunteered to foster Kitten.  Kitten was the catalyst to bring Jess and Margy back together again. About a year later, Jess started working from home as a VA. Soon after that, she created her first business, Interview Connections. After a few years, Jess began hiring 1099 contractors for Interview Connections, and Margy was at the top of her mind for people to hire. Margy started working at Interview Connections as a booking agent contractor. She started to become obsessed with entrepreneurship and business, even though she had absolutely no background in that whatsoever. The more podcast episodes she listened to, and the more she got to know and understand her clients, the more Margy felt drawn to the world of entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, Margy began to deal with some more trauma in her personal life. She had a bad breakup that forced her to pack up all of her stuff and move from Colorado back to her mom’s house in Rhode Island. She really felt like she had hit rock bottom. What Margy didn’t know yet, was that moving back to Rhode Island was the first step in her journey to becoming CEO of Interview Connections. Jess had decided to switch from 1099 contractors to W-2 employees, and she asked Margy to be her first-ever employee. At the time, Margy did not want to relinquish the freedom she had as a 1099 contractor. She was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, and Margy felt like becoming an employee was a step backward. However, she accepted the offer anyway. There were so many moments in Margy’s journey that seemed like nothing was going to plan. Even though she felt like everything was going wrong, she was actually on the right path. Jess was Margy’s boss, but it truly started to feel like a partnership. They cried together, they celebrated together, and they rose to the challenges of a new business together. By the end of 2017, Jess and Margy felt like they were starting to get the hang of things. In 2018, Jess was starting to feel really burnt out. The weight of running the business alone was beginning to weigh on her. She knew that Margy should be her business partner. They began to discuss the options available for Margy to become an owner in the business. Margy knew that she wanted to have 50% equity in the business. She wanted to feel like she had just as much of a stake in the success and failure as Jess did. Jess initially offered less than 50% equity, and Margy was fully authentic in her decision to graciously not accept that. Margy was firm that she wanted equal risk and equal reward. Jess trusted her intuition and her gut. She offered Margy 50% equity in the company and they became equal co-owners. It has been such an incredible journey for Margy to start as a 1099 contractor and end up as the CEO. There is so much possibility when it comes to collaboration, and the partnership of Jess and Margy is one of the reasons they were able to grow the company to multiple seven figures!    

Jess and Margy are the co-owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess (virtually!) sits down with Precious L. Williams, also affectionately known as the #KillerPitchMaster! Precious can help you slay all competition with her “killer” elevator pitches, media pitches, and investor pitches! Precious is a world-class master communicator who works with successful entrepreneurs and speakers and helps them take their professional pitching and speaking skills to the next level.  With over 25 years of experience in creating unique speaking and public speaking techniques, Williams is also known for her innovative training programs and services to her clients and sales teams at Fortune 100 companies. These companies include Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and eBay! As a 13-time national business elevator pitch champion, Williams has been on top television shows and publications for her pitching, branding, and professional speaking skills. She was featured on Season 8 of ABC’s Shark Tank, Forbes Magazine, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, the movie, LEAP, as well as several others around the world.   In 2019, Precious became a best-selling author of the #1 business book, Bad Bitches with Power Pitches: For Women Entrepreneurs and Speakers Only, and has been featured on time square billboards, top podcasts, and stages around the world! The philosophy of her “killer” pitch is evident in the strategic and personalized creative communications and presentation solutions Williams puts forth. As a serial entrepreneur, international professional speaker, and corporate trainer, Williams is equipped to bring life, authenticity, strategy, and boldness to all your oral and written communication needs! Jess wants to know, why does Precious love pitching so much? Even though pitching scares most people, Precious, who has been a professional speaker since age 16, doesn’t feel any nerves during her killer pitches. For Precious, pitches present endless possibilities of where they can take you. When you think about it, you’re pitching every day. Every time you attempt to get someone to be interested in you, or your ideas, you’re pitching yourself! Precious has had so many different opportunities because of pitches! She has been on Shark Tank, she has worked in corporate, she has been offered numerous speaking engagements, she has been in movies, and has been featured in massive publications like CNN, Forbes, and Wall Street Journal! Not only has Precious been able to seize these opportunities for herself, but she is also now working to help her clients achieve these results as well!  Jess then asks Precious, what are the elements of a successful pitch? First, Precious recommends that you get clear on the basics. Ask yourself, “Who am I? Who do I serve? What is my secret sauce? What do I do better than anyone else?” Once you know the basics, continue asking yourself questions like “Why should someone hire me? Why should they consider me? What stands out about me from everyone else?” Precious also explains that in order to have a killer pitch, you must have a killer call to action.    Precious then emphasizes just how crucial storytelling is to your killer pitch. She explains that you have to tell a compelling story. You absolutely have to be a master storyteller. For your pitch to be killer, you have to wrap everything up in a great story that is emotionally compelling to others.   As a Black woman, Precious has had to face incredible obstacles in the entrepreneurial world. Precious asks, how do you win a no-win situation? You have to re-write the rules. She explains, once you change your language, you change the game. The question is: how do you do it in a bold and unexpected way?   An example of one of Precious’s most exciting opening pitches is: “Ladies, raise your hands if you want to be a bad bitch with a power pitch!”   That pitch not only grabs your attention, but it is 100% authentic to Precious as a person. You don’t have to have Precious’s personality to create a killer pitch. The key is to embody your authentic self in your pitch and have it come across in a bold and attention-grabbing way!   Since telling a story is so imperative to pitching success, Jess then asks Precious, what are her top tips for storytelling?   Precious explains that you have to set a scene in the audience’s mind of where you really want them to go. As an example, Precious discusses her killer pitch for Curvy Girl Lingerie on Shark Tank! She sets up the story to take place on Valentine’s Day. Even if you don’t have a boo, you have an emotional connection to Valentine’s Day in some way, so you are immediately drawn in.   Precious asks, “What is Valentine’s Day to a woman who is not seen or heard? You’re a big girl in the city, trying to find lingerie for Valentine’s Day, and no retailer has what you want in your size.” Precious explains that there are 14 million women size 14 and up, and they all want cute underwear!   In this killer pitch, she is illustrating that there is an ignored population. Precious is demanding that this population of women matter and they want to buy! It is both a sizeable and underserved population of buyers. She explains that your niches can make you riches.   When you’re putting together your killer pitch, you have to show why the population that you’re serving needs you - even if they don’t know it yet. Did we know we needed the iPhone before we got it? Of course not! Another tip Precious offers is to start off your killer pitch with a question, statistic, or quote that is bold and unexpected! We highly recommend that you consider Precious’s advice, because after the first 6 months of Curvy Girl Lingerie, Precious had already crossed the 6 figure mark!   You can take Precious’s free killer pitch quiz at pitchingforprofit.com!   You can connect with Precious on her website, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess speaks with Interview Connections client Tim James! Tim is one of those guys that will leave you feeling younger and more energetic just by hearing him speak.  After suffering from multiple health issues, including chronic acid indigestion and surgery to remove one of his organs due to serious digestive issues, Tim knew something had to change. But it was only after watching his closest ones die of cancer and the untimely death of his younger brother that he finally decided to take action. Tim’s journey led him to a shocking discovery that helped his friend beat cancer and transform every area of his life.  Feeling charged with a duty to help others he started sharing his knowledge with anyone that would listen. This led him to produce his own chemical-free food products. Chemical Free Body was born. Tim’s inbox is constantly flooded with people singing and dancing about how his products have given them a life they couldn’t believe was possible. His story will have you laughing, crying, and gasping but most importantly he will give you the recipe to a longer, happier, and healthier life! Since Tim owns a product-based business, Jessica asked him why he chose podcasting to promote his business and increase his visibility. With products, many other entrepreneurs will choose more direct advertising. “Why are you passionate about going on interviews to tell your story and educate the market?” Tim had been selling mostly over the phone. He built his business over the phone, but then the Covid pandemic shut everything down. Tim didn’t really have any tech skills and had previously invested money with the wrong people. But, Tim had been invited on some podcasts. Every time he went on a podcast, he saw that some sales would trickle in, however, Tim never really put a lot of thought into podcasts.  Tim decided to call up a friend to get on some podcasts. He guested on three shows and did an enormous amount of sales. Tim thought, “This could save me.”  Within a few months of podcast guesting, Tim tripled his sales. Once Tim began working with us here at Interview Connections, he created half a million dollars in sales. Tim loves podcast guesting because he gets to do what he does best: tell his unfiltered story and educate people. Podcast guesting is simplifying the business for Tim, so he feels like he is getting his life back while still expanding his business!  For Tim, podcast guesting is a no brainer. As a guest, you just get to show up on someone else’s podcast, who has put in all this work to establish trust and build an audience. Tim explains that it’s like getting in front of a stadium of people and having their attention for an hour It’s a fantastic organic marketing strategy --no ads necessary-- and it’s just your unfiltered story doing the selling for you. Tim also points out that these podcast hosts need good content! They need good guests or they don’t have a show. If you’ve got a story (and really, don’t we all?) Tim recommends that you get really good at telling your story. When Tim really started focusing on podcast guesting, he doubled his business. Jessica asks Tim to expand on what kind of shows are giving him those amazing results.  Podcast guesting was uncharted water for Tim. He just tried to get on as many different types of shows as he could. Tim would also track sales from podcast interviews by giving out a unique discount code on episodes, and tracking if that code was used. This would allow Tim to see exactly what podcasts were creating momentum for him. Tim was interested in reaching audiences that he could relate to, and offer solutions to. These audiences excised in a variety of shows, so Tim went on a large number of different shows! Tim tracked his results and had a clear understanding of his client avatar, which was incredibly valuable for his podcast guesting strategy. Tim understands who wants and needs his product, and understands his ideal client’s mindset. If you’re thinking about doing a show, you have a great message but you are scared about how you are going to share it, Tim explains that you’re really getting in your own way. A friend of Tim’s paid $25,000 for a coaching program, and the first piece of advice the coach gave was to go live every single day.  A lot of people would respond, “I don’t have my message yet, it’s not perfect!” Tim explains that the first 45-75 lives are not for the audience, they are for you to find your message and to refine your message! You will find your message and you will start getting comfortable sharing it. The best way to hone your message is to start going live, hire a booking agency to get you on podcasts, and just go on the shows. You don’t have to be an ad expert, you don’t have to know how to build a website. You just have to have a message and a way to connect with those people who resonate with your message. You just have to be really good at telling your story! If you’re saying, “I really want to do this, but I’m not ready. I don’t have my message right.” Tim argues that you just have to start! You can connect with Tim at Chemicalfreebody.com and listeners can also use discount code “IC” at checkout!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Margy (virtually) sits down with Lisa Larter! Lisa helps businesses navigate modern entrepreneurship so that they can increase sales and profits. She works with her clients on everything from business strategy, understanding their numbers and measuring what matters, to online marketing, social media and the best way to turn connections into paying customers! Lisa believes that business is all about the numbers and that you need to take lots of action in order to make things happen. She is known for her no-nonsense approach to helping business owners get results. You won’t get fluff from Lisa, only the facts and an expectation that if you really want your business to grow, you will dig in and do the work! Margy and Lisa bonded over their love of numbers! They both agree that if you don’t have a grasp on your numbers, you will not be able to pay yourself and you will not be able to have the lifestyle that you want as an entrepreneur. Everything that you want as a business owner-- the freedom, the impact -- if your numbers are a mess your business will ultimately fail. Margy and Lisa both loved the book The Ultimate Blueprint for an Insanely Successful Business by Keith Cunningham. That book emphasizes the importance of really understanding the numbers in your business and looking at numbers in a way that can benefit you and can benefit the people that work with you.  Every new coaching client of Lisa’s receives this book. Lisa has held mastermind retreats  and spent entire days looking at and discussing concepts in The Ultimate Blueprint. A concept that Lisa loves to implement is comparing historical data year over year in your business to look for trends and exceptions. Lisa also ensures her clients are getting clear on their expenses. Lisa explains that we have a tendency to throw money at problems. If you have enough money to solve the problem, then you don’t have a problem. The issue is that sometimes the money you’re throwing at a problem isn’t actually fixing the root of the problem. This is when you have to look at numbers and be able to understand what they mean in your business. Lisa asks that her bookkeepers and accountants send her the numbers every month, so Lisa can unpack. Lisa knows that she needs to look at them and know exactly what is going on before she gets to the end of year, so she can make smart decisions based on that data.  Margy asks Lisa what advice she has for entrepreneurs who tell themselves the story of “I’m not a numbers person.” People hire Lisa for marketing strategy, and she almost always ends up working on their numbers! Her clients don’t have a marketing problem, they have a numbers problem. Lisa will work with them to get to the root of their issue: Are they having a pricing problem, an expense problem, or perhaps a billable hours problem? Lisa notes that her clients always think numbers are going to be very complicated, but really it’s just basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. If you can calculate percentages and you can look for outliers, that’s all you need to be able to do.  Lisa also observes that business owners often make a lot of emotional decisions to spend money. Business owners and entrepreneurs rationalize when they need to spend the money, but the logical side of the brain wants to avoid that, and that creates a lot of shame surrounding your numbers. Instead, Lisa argues to look at your numbers up front. She tells her clients that they can reverse engineer what they want in your business, and together, Lisa and her clients can create budgets and forecasts to make that happen. That way, as an entrepreneur, you can spend the money the way you want because you’ve planned for it! You can still pay yourself and have a profit. Margy has seen first hand how much emotional decision making comes with your finances. Margy really loves being analytical and looking at her numbers, but she also believes in intuition. When something feels right or wrong in your business, you shouldn’t ignore that feeling. But you should look at your numbers to either validate or disprove your assumptions and feelings. It’s not “Never trust your gut.” It’s more “Marry numbers and intuition together.” Lisa explains that many business coaches are doing their clients a disservice by not looking at the numbers. Business owners need to be able to interpret data to have successful businesses. The Ultimate Blueprint is all about tracking your numbers, what numbers to track, and tracking them over a long period of time. This allows you to see a comparison of month to month and year to year.  Margy asks Lisa, for somebody who wants to implement tracking their numbers better but is overwhelmed by all the spreadsheets, what do you think are the key things that they should be tracking every month in their business? The first action Lisa recommends is to track your revenue weekly and monthly. It’s imperative to track sales MTD on a weekly basis, so you can find patterns and trends. She also recommends looking at your profit and loss statements, looking at your cashflow situation, and if you have receivables to look at those. She explains, you want to pay as late as you can, and you want to get paid as early as you can. The longer the receivable sits, the harder it is to collect it. Lisa is also a huge fan of per unit measuring, she loves slicing and dicing numbers in as many ways as she can to support a hypothesis that you have about how to make the business perform better. Lisa also points out that if you have a team and you are able to gauge revenue per person,  then you can create a factor capacity model.  Another idea to consider as a business owner is per uniting the cost of acquisition of a new client. If you decide to spend $7,000 in facebook ads, how much are you generating in revenue as a result of that spend? How much did it cost you per lead? What did you get for every dollar spent? When you can drill the numbers down that way, you can actually replicate what you’ve done that has produced results. You will also have a baseline measurement that will tell you if something is no longer working.  If you only measure it one time, and you don’t look at what the trends are, you won’t be seeing legitimate results in your business. Lisa breaks business growth into 5 steps: Attract Convert Retain Expand Refer After you are able to both attract business and convert to clients, you need to then keep your client or customer, and expand the amount of business you do with them. This will have a huge impact on the lifetime value of your business. If they refer people to you, your cost of acquisition goes down; buyers are selling for you. You can’t maintain a strong business with luck, you need to know your back-end numbers. Lisa and Margy agree that even during the good times, entrepreneurs need to be prepared and get everything in order in case they have a tough month ahead. Lisa asks all her clients, “How much money do you have in the bank? What is your burn rate? How long will that last?” Thought Readers is Lisa’s newest venture, the online Business & Book Club community. Lisa came up with the idea when someone had reached out to her explaining that they were always trying to keep up with what Lisa was reading. They asked if Lisa would start a business book club. They said, “Send me the book you're reading every month, tell me what you’re learning and I will write you a check.” She thought, nobody is gonna pay me to read books with me! However, after the first year, 75 people signed up. Lisa chooses a book, reads it a month before, and picks out all the important “ahas!” She then shares them with the group, records videos about her own takeaways, and she does a “Books and Business Q&A.” People can come to the call and ask Lisa any question they want about the book or just business in general! Lisa is now entering her fifth year reading books together with this community! You can join the community and she will ship you the book, or join and be a digital member and buy the book yourself. Either way, you still get wisdom from the discussion that happens inside the community. It’s a great shortcut to reading the entire book. A recommendation from Lisa is to pick books that are aligned with where your business problems are - read something that resonates with you, read something that will help you. Margy’s big focus is on implementation, so she is drawn to books like Profit First and The Ultimate Blueprint. It’s incredibly helpful to have someone to talk it out with and get some bullet points on what you’re struggling with or want to learn more about. Thought Readers helps community members translate these books into their lives and their business to take action. A final recommendation from Lisa is when you’re looking at business books, pick the lever that is going to lift you the highest with the least amount of effort. Don’t get stuck in the weeds of tactical implementation, instead stick with the one thing that is going to give you the biggest ROI on your time. You can connect with Lisa at thoughtreaders.com!

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Margy talks to Interview Connections client and great friend, Nikki Nash! Nikki is a marketing expert, Hay House author, and the creator of the Market Your Genius Brand. After a decade-long career marketing Fortune 100 brands and tech start ups, Nikki set out to help women build profitable online businesses. Margy and Nikki discuss the buzzword “thought leadership” and what it really means. Nikki talks about how she decided to leave behind her career of working for other people, to start her own business. Nikki’s genius is building a personal brand, and helping people turn their experiences and expertise into a business where they are making money and feeling fulfilled. Through Nikki’s business, podcast, and book, she helps people share what they know so they can make an impact in the world. One thing Margy sees frequently, is entrepreneurs and business owners using reused ideas with no substance. However, Nikki is a true thought leader. She has great, original content, and she is consistently committed to her content. Margy asked Nikki, “What really makes someone a thought leader?” Nikki feels that thought leadership gets collapsed with influencers, or someone with a large following. But thought leadership is really about how can someone take people to a new level? A thought leader has to have a new way of thinking to bring their clients or followers into a new idea. According to Nikki, thought leadership is living in the inquiry of “What could this be like? Let’s explore. Let’s learn and become experts.” A thought leader is also someone who is a leader, and to be a great leader you have to do some self work and personal development. Understanding yourself allows you to understand others and be present with others. What makes someone a thought leader? Nikki recommends that you start with the questions: “Who am I? What are my gifts and talents? Why am I here? What do I believe that I can contribute?” How can you challenge a way of being or a way of thinking? You also have to be okay standing out into the spotlight and doing it in such a way that people will follow, listen, grow and develop for the better because of what you’re putting out there. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, and it’s not about discovering something that no one has ever heard of. It’s going deeper within yourself that actually gets you to thought leadership. If you’re always looking externally, asking “what are other people doing?” -- that’s when content gets stale. Margy and Nikki recommend that you go deeper within yourself by telling your story. Ask yourself, “What makes me unique? What have I learned on the journey that I've been on that no one else has been on? How do I apply that to help others?” Nikki’s experiences and journeys led her to the realization that all the stages of her dating life can be applied to marketing! In marketing, you need to build relationships with people. To do that, it’s just like dating. You meet the person, capture their attention, get their phone number, and spark a conversation.  By going out into the world and “dating” their potential clients or customers, changes the way Nikki’s clients think about marketing. By asking your potential clients if you can date them, you’re asking how you can show up for them. You may not be teaching a drastically new concept, but you’re teaching it in a way that changes the way people take action or move forward. To anyone who wants to build their thought leadership, Margy explains that you have to get out on the court and you have to make content. She warns against giving into impostor syndrome. It’s crucial to get out there, make the content, and to have a goal to serve and put out quality content. The best thought leaders are the ones who aren’t trying to be thought leaders because they’re not focused on being one -- they’re focused on other people and what can be of value to them. The road to thought leadership starts with creating content and by asking “What do people need, what does my audience need, what do my listeners need?” Being present and listening to what is a great way to spark a conversation and to teach something. You don’t need to feel like you’re a thought leader or tell people that you’re a thought leader, it’s about how you can show up consistently and lead. When you genuinely are curious and enjoying that process, you become a thought leader without trying to become one.  People’s perceptions of your brand and company are going to shape your brand and company. If you have someone who is really mean answering the phone, people aren’t going to think that you’re a nice and friendly brand. So, how can you become the person who deserves that title of thought leader? Margy, of course, recommends podcast guesting. One of the reasons Margy loves podcast guesting is the ideas and conversions that come out from sharing your story long-form on this platform is powerful content, especially compared to what you get from a social media post.  An unexpected benefit that Margy has experienced with her own podcast guesting was the way that Margy’s content has evolved. By going all-in on connection, curiosity, conversations with all these different hosts who have their own different perspectives, Margy’s own content was shifting and evolving with every new perspective she heard. Podcast guesting is one of the easiest ways to get started building your thought leadership because you don’t have to create infrastructure yourself. You don’t have to create a podcast, a blog post, or a youtube channel - it already exists.  You are showing up on someone else’s platform where they have already built a relationship with their audience. By default, people are trusting you more because the host is putting you in the spotlight. The audience then feels that you must be worth listening to. When you have these conversations with people, you start discovering and refining your own thoughts and ideas and values. When you want to be a guest on a show, it really broadens your ability to have conversations on related topics that then give you a holistic perspective and viewpoint because you’re curious. You’re having conversations with different people with different points of view, changing and shaping the way you think. You will then start to see fans and a following, just by being out there and being visible. Nikki herself, is going all in on podcasting in 2021. Podcasting gives you someone’s undivided attention and places you right in their ear. Not only that, but podcasting allows you to have a long-form channel to share your story in a meaningful way to your potential leads. You can connect with Nikki by listening to her podcast, Market Your Genius, or heading to freemarketingbootcamp.com to check out her (no surprises here) free marketing bootcamp!

Today's episode is a special solo-Margy episode to talk about a concept that she coined, called “The King of Mediocrity.” What Margy means by that is, you can be a king of a mediocre life, or you can be a student of a great life.  In other words, you can be right or you can be successful. The most successful people Margy knows care more about learning and being a student, than they do about being right. They don’t care as much about saying “This is what I know, I’m not open to other perspectives, I’m the expert on this.” Those are not the people Margy sees living lives that Margy wants to live! Margy came to this statement while she was thinking about leadership. The leadership at Interview Connections always views their team as a mirror of the leadership. If we’re seeing results we don’t like in our team, instead of complaining about it, we look at ourselves and ask, “What does this say about us? About our leadership?” Looking at results you don’t want and seeing it as a reflection of your own leadership requires humility. But this is the only way to develop as a business owner and as a leader! Practice looking at those results and saying “What is this telling me? What can I work on as a leader?” When Jess and Margy wanted to grow to 7+ figures, they knew they needed to get in rooms and masterminds with entrepreneurs who are at 7, 8, and 9 figures. A common theme in successful entrepreneurs that Jess and Margy witnessed was kindness and humility. What are the chances that all these highly successful entrepreneurs just happen to be this nice and this humble? There is a strong correlation between success and humility. Before Jess & Margy hit 7 figures, they went to Ali Brown’s Mastermind and met the incredibly successful entrepreneur, Michelle Bosch. At the Mastermind, while Michelle was talking about her multiple businesses, Margy felt like small fish. Michelle was so high-level, and that felt so beyond where Interview Connections was at that point. Jess and Margy started chatting with Miichelle, and they were stunned by how Michelle was so humble and kind, even though Margy knew she was so successful and intelligent. Michelle said “It’s so great to meet you, I have so much to learn from you.” This absolutely blew Margy away. Margy said, “You are so high-level, what could you learn from us?” Michelle said “But you are experts in podcasting, and I don’t know anything about podcasting so I am so excited to learn from you!” What Margy realized in that moment was that there was something else in that humility, it’s curiosity. The most successful entrepreneurs are students and are hungry to learn more. If you are a genuine student and you want to learn, by default there is humility in that. You are admitting that you don’t know everything, and that curiosity is what leads to humility, and that is what leads to these incredible levels of success.  There has been a myriad of studies that show the correlation between success and curiosity. These studies show that curiosity prepares the brain for better learning. Why does curiosity matter? Curiosity makes it so that you will be less likely to fall prey to confirmation bias, and you’ll be less likely to see what you’ve always seen.  We need to stay curious, so we can be innovative and reach new growth while creating better results! When we’re curious, we view tough situations more creatively. In business, things are constantly going wrong. Breakdowns happen and it’s important to not fall apart. But when we’re curious, studies show we are able to view difficult situations in a more creative way and that allows us to innovate and to overcome the issues and breakdowns. It also helps you see other people’s perspectives and have more empathy. Curiosity makes you more focused on other people’s perspectives and less focused on your own, and this leads to connecting with other people better. And we all know that relationship and connection are the root of a healthy business! You can be the king of a mediocre life or the student of a great one. Margy invites you to look at your life, look at your business, ask yourself - are you being a king or are you being a student? If you’re being a king, Margy implores you to make that shift to being a student and staying curious!

Today is a special client feature episode of Rock the Podcast with Melanie Weller! Melanie is the world’s leading expert in opening the door to health, performance and innovation through the vagus nerve, the bridge between our narratives and our physical experience. A storyteller for the human body, Melanie has an extensive background in stress management, chronic conditions, and people with who haven’t yet found success.  She now focuses on strengthening the leading edge in businesses, speakers, entertainers, athletes, artists, and medical professionals. Melanie is a Physical Therapist, Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, Certified Athletic Trainer, and Certified Exercise Expert for Aging Adults.  Jess had her own personal experience with Melanie’s healing that was incredible! Back in November, Jess was positive for Covid-19 (luckily, a very minor case). However, she was suffering from horrible headaches. Melanie, often referred to as a magician or a body whisperer, offered to do a healing session with Jess! Melanie tapped into Jess’s energy and found that her head energy was in her foot. Melanie was able to take Jess’s energy and move it back from her foot, into her head. Melanie was able to create a biofield form of Jess to understand what Jess’s body was trying to say, and help address the issue. Coming from a medical background, Melanie is able to balance her clinical expertise with her intuitive healing skills.  Melanie’s work focuses on the vagus nerve, and treating that nerve as if it were a pinched nerve. The vagus nerve is incredibly important in our body. It is connected to stress, pleasure, your heart, and your digestive system. It is the reason you can absorb Vitamin B12, and it is involved with digestive enzyme secretion. The vagus nerve mediates sweating, and gives lots of sensory information from your body to your brain! Melanie came into this field when she herself was having something of a midlife crisis. Her blood pressure was very high, she was having a lot of foot pain, and having emotional stress in her personal and professional life. One of the things she started to learn is to see patterns in the world and in our body. Story is really just a different way of writing about science, for Melanie. Traditional medicine and even alternative medicine didn’t work for many of the people that Melanie works with! The vagus nerve, Melanie teaches, is the bridge between our bodies and our stories. When the vagus nerve gets compressed in physical structures, it becomes compressed in energetic structure too.  Melanie works with her clients by helping them solve their problems, and opening up the space so they have the big “Aha moments!” with their own expertise. Her goal is to open up her client’s own creativity and genius!  People have the knowledge inside themselves, and they have the answers. The genius of Melanie’s work is untangling the things that are keeping them from seeing the answers. Melanie explains that when our heroics and our desires are at odds with each other, it impairs our vision. When we’re the hero in someone else’s story at the expense of our own story, or we’re satisfying someone else’s desires at the expense of our own - those manifest themselves physically in our bodies, often as head and neck issues. Melanie asks her clients, “Where are your heroics and desires at odds with each other?” Are you too busy being a mom hero or a business hero? If we’re busy being the hero in someone else’s story, we’re not working towards what we want. If you’re an employee and you’re making money for someone else and not for yourself, or you’re in a field that’s not really lighting you. You feel like you’re putting in a lot of work, but you’re not feeling the compensation and the return. Your passion and your profit are not in alignment! If you’re taking care of everyone else, ask yourself “Who is taking care of you?” Women in particular, very often don’t have a clear answer for what they desire. They’ve been so busy satisfying everyone else’s desires, they haven’t slowed down enough to think about what they really want.  Melanie helps people get to the central story. She explains that we all have a physical expression of our internal narrative and we have an internal expression of our physical narrative. What we are experiencing inside of ourselves and outside of ourselves is really the root of all compression points in your body.  The body is our conscious mind and it’s always talking to us. We’re just not fluent in its language most of the time!  Melanie works with entrepreneurs and business owners who are trying to up-level and uncover their genius. She helped a business owner have breakthrough with hip tightness. In terms of vagus nerve compression points, that’s where your inspiration and structure are at odds with each other. Her client had an inspired idea she wanted to do, but she didn’t think the structure of her life would allow that. She had some limiting beliefs on whether her inspiring ideas would be possible. Melanie and her client were able to dismantle that and as her hip got better, she had a huge “Aha moment!” for her business and less physical discomfort as well! Bodies are expressions of our businesses and our lives. Melanie contends that we don’t talk about what stress really is, and that’s what Melanie is bringing to the table. As humans we connect more with story than we do with process. Chronic pain gets locked into our limbic system which is where our emotions are, and you cannot logic yourself out of your limbic system. You have to have an emotional key to get it out of there. You can connect with Melanie by heading to Embodyyourstar.com, where you can find a free vagus nerve decompression course! Check out Melanie’s podcast, Weller or head to her website melanieweller.com!

Today’s episode of Rock the Podcast is all about getting your financial house in order with founder of Incite Tax & Accounting and Profit First professional, John Briggs! John has learned that achieving a highly profitable business can be overwhelming, particularly with all the barriers and unknowns that new owners are forced to deal with.   Entrepreneurs can quickly become stressed and burnt out, and often sadly give up on the mission that they set out for.  In much the same way that the body needs blood to survive, a business needs cash, the lifeblood of the business, to stay healthy and to grow more resilient.   John is a man on a mission to give entrepreneurs an actual work-life balance so they don’t get burned out. He helps them increase their cash immediately so they can have confidence in their choices and become financially resilient.  He talks the walk by battling against the traditional CPA culture of “overwork, underpaid, pay your dues and suffer while you’re at it” mentality by providing his team a healthy work life balance even during busy tax seasons. John is a Profit First professional, and many entrepreneurs and business owners may have heard of the method without ever really implementing it. Jess read Profit First when she started Interview Connections in 2013, and shelved it for later because it can seem very overwhelming and scary to new business owners.  Margy’s one piece of advice to new entrepreneurs is: Trust it, and set up Profit First. Interview Connections hit 1 million in revenue in 2019, and more than doubled that in 2020. Even though the business was doing better than ever, Jess and Margy were taking home less and less every year. They were working harder than ever before, but could feel themselves inching closer and closer to full-on burnout. Once Jess and Margy worked with John to implement Profit First, they realized that they could simply fix this problem with better cashflow management. John worked as an accountant for a door-to-door sales company. This company had made over 30 million dollars in revenue, but their commission checks for their sales people were still bouncing. How did this happen? John did an analysis to figure out why this company was having huge sales, but wasn’t able to pay their salespeople. For every sale the company made, they kept about 1% (which was $8 in this case). As their revenue increased, their expenses increased alongside.  John told the company that they were spending too much, and the company replied that they would just sell more to make up for it. But John knew that this just fell into Parkinson’s Law: the demand for something will match its supply. The more money they made, the more money this company would spend. This would increase to a point where the company was no longer profitable.  If you have one bank account as a business and all your money gets deposited into it, and all your expenses get paid out of it, what you have sitting there is a gigantic pile of supply. The demand for it --the expenses, the cash outflow-- is going to continue to increase to match the cash available to spend.  Spending will get out of control if you’re not putting any boundaries on what you’re doing with your cash. Profit First requires that you set up additional bank accounts for different cash obligations that you have, including money for the IRS, money for your team and employees, paying for yourself, and money for profit.  Margy always felt like budgets were restrictive, but with Budget First she feels like the money in Interview Connections is abundant and flowing.  With Profit First you’re setting aside money for your tax obligations a couple of times a month. Compare that to a scenario where as a business owner, you do your taxes and you owe thousands of dollars! You’ll ask, “Where am I going to find that money?” It was spent because the demand for that cash expanded to match the cash that you had. Business owners, do not undervalue enjoying what you’re doing and having a little extra for yourself! You have to see the reward for your work so you are able to stay excited about it. There’s such an energetic block when you’re working more. You’re getting run down, you don’t see the expansion that you feel like you’ve been working for and earning.  For Jess and Margy, working with John has been transformational - not just about having more money, but the way they feel about their cashflow management. Service-based business owners often feel fulfillment in the service that they are providing to their clients. However, these business owners need to feel fulfillment in other ways, such as in their income and freedom, otherwise they will become burnt out. Profit doesn’t have to be about getting rich. You have to have profit to continue to be passionate about who you’re serving. You have to have profit to keep your doors open! Service and sacrifice are different things - you cannot serve from an empty cup! You are in the service industry, not the sacrifice industry. Some entrepreneurs that Jess and Margy meet don’t know what their numbers are, or what their revenue is, nevermind goals for how to manage their revenue. Profit First gives you very clear direction: “You can spend this, or you can’t spend this!” It gives you clarity on what you can invest in and where the money is. Profit First also allows Jess and Margy to be creative with their money and find creative ways to keep the business going.  John brings up the point that when you use Profit First, whatever dollar amount you see in your account now, that’s the money you have because everything else went into different accounts for different obligations. This gives you freedom and allows you energy from being financially organized. This makes you become innovative with your money, which will put you ahead of your competition! That will keep you always doing something new, which in turn, is making your business better and stronger.  You can connect with John at incitetax.com! 

Today is a special client feature episode of Rock the Podcast with Wanda Toro Turini! Wanda, also known as Dr. Wanda or The Nerdy Girl Entrepreneur, is a seasoned entrepreneur and a natural inventor.  She has spent the last 15 years creating first-in-market solutions for multi-billion dollar companies but decided to use her brains to change the lives and businesses of fellow entrepreneurs. Wanda has a Doctorate in Pharmacy and served patients in the critical care and emergency medicine setting before venturing into the business world as a marketer for oncology treatments.  In 2005, she left a high paying executive opportunity in the pharmaceutical industry and leapt into the world of entrepreneurship. As a Rock Star in marketing and audience engagement, Wanda invented Ketchwords.com, which is destined to be THE Gold Standard Lead Gen Tool for all experts who love to share their knowledge with audiences.  Ketchwords was first developed to solve her problem of collecting those Anonymous Fans in her audience. After creating a texting platform to deliver robust content to her audiences, she used her skills to master the tool and boost the ROI of every appearance.  She grew her consulting business to $4.2 Million and was able to jump into entrepreneurship to help others do the same! She loves to share the solutions she creates and the stories of her challenges with the desire to inspire people to NEVER say never. Wanda’s mission is to help other service minded entrepreneurs finally connect with anonymous fans in their audience. When Wanda was running her consulting firm, she was speaking very frequently and learned that in order to be seen as an expert, you have to show up and speak up. She knew that she needed to figure out how to guarantee a ROI on all the time, energy, and money she was spending on speaking. Wanda created a texting platform, eco-files, that she first started using to share her presentation slides with her audience. Right away, she had 25% of her audience texting and engaging with her! After working on the technology and further developing, Wanda averaged 76% of her audience texting her! While running her consulting firm, Wanda spoke at two conferences and was able to reel in over 200 hot leads. These leads easily led her to grow her business to 4.2 million in revenue! After growing her consulting business, Wanda knew that she wanted to share her knowledge with other entrepreneurs and experts, with a quality, concierge experience. She then launched Ketchwords, specifically for speakers who spoke at conferences. Then, the pandemic hit. The Covid-19 pandemic ended up becoming a mixed blessing for Wanda, because she realized that she was missing out on a huge spectrum of folks who were sharing their knowledge on other platforms. Ketchwords helps these entrepreneurs connect and engage with their anonymous fans. Ketchwords combines both technology and strategy to help entrepreneurs, business owners, speakers, and experts capture leads and ensure an amazing ROI! Wanda helps her clients with strategy: how to optimize the technology, and gives the technology to deliver the message in a unique and effective way. Anyone with a sales background will know that follow-up is key to closing sales. If you don’t keep in touch with your leads, they’ll forget all about you. Ketchwords helps entrepreneurs maintain engagement with their hot leads.  Wanda understands the importance of staying in your zone of genius. Ketchwords allows you to stay in your zone of genius, while letting Wanda and her team use their genius on your behalf. Wielding the power of technology is transformative for experts and business owners, and the team at Ketchwords will lead you along the way, while focusing on your results and your impact. If you’d like to learn more about Wanda and Ketch, text “leads” to 411321! Global listeners can text “leads” to 19097411321 You can also head to ketchwords.com and as a listener of this podcast, you’ll receive 20% off of Wanda’s services with promo code: “Podcast 20”

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy ask the question - “Who knows you?” We all know the saying, “it’s who you know.” But Jess and Margy disagree! Instead of asking who you know, ask yourself “Who knows me?” In this episode, Jess and Margy dive deep into what it means to be known and seen by your target audience. Before Jess started Interview Connections, she was a virtual assistant. Being a VA, Jess started to meet some people and get into a small circle of entrepreneurs, but she still wasn’t really known.  When she first launched Interview Connections, it was pretty much crickets for a while! Jess really needed to make a conscious effort of being visible and putting herself in the rooms, on the stages, and virtual stages in front of her target audience. When Jess first started speaking at podcasting conferences, and getting interviewed on podcasts, she struggled with imposter syndrome, but ultimately she didn’t let it hold her back.  Jess knew that the organizers of the conference, or the host interviewing her, invited her for a reason. They saw specific value that Jess could give to their audience! You might not see your value, don’t let that hold you back because other people see your value!   Podcasts are a particularly great medium to gain visibility, because when we listen to a podcast we feel like we know the people talking! Often we feel like the host is already our friend. When your ideal clients hear you on a podcast, they’re going to feel like they already know you - making your visibility all that much more valuable.    It’s imperative to allow yourself to be seen by those who you need what you can do! And that visibility needs to be consistent. What does it mean for someone to know you? Even if someone sees your facebook posts, gets your emails, or follows you on instagram - do they really know you? When they hear you share your story on a podcast, that connection is so much deeper.   When you’re brave enough to share your story in your own voice on podcasts, you’ll create a much more dynamic image of yourself to your target audience. Because podcasts are conversational, people will know your story, your background, your why, tough things that you’ve been through, and then they really know you.   Take a look at your marketing and ask yourself, “Am I spending time and money on mediums that truly allow me to be known?” Once you start getting interviewed consistently every week and creating those deep connections, you’ll see a huge increase in the quality of your leads. When your leads hear you and know you, when they reach out it will feel like you’re talking to a friend.   Visibility will allow your leads to really know you as a person and know your company for what your company is and stands for in the world. Sharing your stories on podcasts not only creates a better connection for your leads but also with the host. When Margy goes on podcasts and shares her story, she has stayed in touch with and connected with many hosts. These relationships lead to becoming referral partners, creating joint ventures, and many hosts have become clients!   One of the best ways to monetize your podcast interviews is through high-end networking with the podcast host. Sharing your story with the host is a great way to create a special bond and network more effectively.    If you aren’t allowing yourself to truly be seen, but you want to start prioritizing your visibility and unlocking possibilities in your business - then you need to register for our next Podcast Guesting Masterclass!   This 5-Day Masterclass is completely free, and will teach you the A-Z of monetizing the microphone on podcast interviews! Head to interviewconnections.com/masterclass to register, and get in the facebook group - Guest Expert Profit Lab - where this Masterclass will be held!

Today is a special client feature episode of Rock the Podcast with Intermittent Fasting Coach and author, Laurie Lewis! For Laurie, menopause dealt a crushing blow -- brain fog, lack of balance, memory loss, and the sudden gain of 50 pounds of stubborn hormonal fat. She tried everything she knew to feel better, and the methods that worked in the past made no difference.   After four years of struggle, Laurie stumbled upon Intermittent Fasting and started fasting that very same day. The menopausal fog lifted in less than one week, she had more energy and felt more “like herself.” She lost 51 pounds in 15 months and has kept it off for years!  Now, at 57-years old, Laurie has turned her personal success into the premier thriving Intermittent Fasting coaching business. As a certified health coach (Institute for Integrative Nutrition) she combines her knowledge of nutrition with deep research and practice of Time Restricted Eating. Laurie guides her clients with a dream come true -- eat the foods you love and enjoy the rest of your life feeling vibrantly well.   Laurie knows that for entrepreneurs and business owners, focusing on growing your business and your brand also means a need to focus on your body and your health! While Intermittent Fasting may seem overwhelming, Laurie assures you that anyone trying this method can overcome hunger waves.  Thinking about fasting may also appear to be another stressor in your life, but ultimately it becomes one less thing to worry about. As Intermittent Fasting frees up space mentally, Laurie feels that it will relieve your stress and anxiety. Laurie explains that as we burn fat, we become more alert, more focused, and more vibrant. Laurie also explains that weight loss is often a hormonal issue. By burning body fat, we are also warding off insulin issues, and possibly even Alzheimer’s. Fasting puts our body into a condition of repair, both metabolic and hormonal repair.  As a coach, Laurie helps her clients in a two-fold way. A Zoom pioneer, Laurie has been holding group coaching sessions for years over online video conferencing. Laurie leads a group class on how to be a successful Intermittent Faster, and how to avoid weight gain during the holidays.  Laurie also offers one-on-one coaching sessions for those who want a more customized coaching experience. We as humans have immediate access to an abundance of food that has never been experienced by human beings before. This can be very challenging for many of her clients, and Laurie helps them overcome that stress. She also helps her clients maintain compliance and create a sustainable Intermittent Fasting practice in their lives. Many of Laurie’s clients focus on the bad - their mistakes. Laurie chooses to focus on the gold, and help her clients piece together the good news instead of honing in on all the bad news. Laurie’s program also stair-steps her clients into an Intermittent Fasting Practice. Over three months, she will help her clients learn to eat in a pattern of time, settle into their fasting sweet spot, and troubleshoot and tweak their practice based on their goals. After settling into a fasting practice, your body will inform you what foods it wants and doesn’t want, and when it has had enough food. Fasting repairs your appetite system and will allow it to better communicate with you.  Laurie works with a variety of clients of all ages, both men and women. In particular, Laurie loves awakening women who are going through the massive hormonal shift that is menopause. She wants those women to know that Laurie is right there with them - they’re in this together! You can find Laurie’s book Celebrating Your Vibrant Future: Intermittent Fasting for Women 44 to Forever on Amazon, and you can connect with Laurie at her website!

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy what to do when you feel like you just don’t have time to commit to your visibility. We are asking the question - where is your time going? We know that there are entrepreneurs out there who know that consistent visibility is incredibly important, but they feel like they simply don’t have time. We at Interview Connections recommend getting on podcasts at least once a week, every single week. Many entrepreneurs that we talk to think that it sounds like a great idea, but they can’t see how to fit it into their schedules.   The first thing Jess and Margy recommend is using a calendar system. Unless you start putting tasks down into a calendar, how will you keep track of your commitments? The second step Jess and Margy discuss is then auditing that calendar. As an entrepreneur, you need to ask yourself, “Is my calendar reflecting my vision and my highest priorities in the business?”   Are you spending time where you should be spending time? Visibility is being seen and heard by more people, so you can get more leads, more clients, and more speaking opportunities. Visibility is a major domino in changing the game for your business and getting to the next level of where you want to be. You don’t have time not to do things that raise your visibility consistently!   Look at your calendar and ask yourself, “Am I spending time on tasks that are not important? Am I doing tasks that someone else besides me could do and should do?”    Jess and Margy also stress the importance of putting those important tasks on your calendar, because if they’re not on your calendar, they likely won’t get done (or at least get done in an acceptable timeline).    Margy is an expert in protecting her time. Both Jess and Margy love using scheduling blocks, and batching tasks in specific blocks of time. Margy has a specific block set aside for podcast interviews, so she never feels overwhelmed with other tasks interfering with her interviews. Podcast interviews don’t have to take over your schedule! Try and create blocks specifically for them, even just one hour a week for interviews.   If you don’t have time to work on your visibility, it points to a bigger issue of how you’re spending or organizing your time. It’s something that we’ve all been through - how many entrepreneurs and business owners have complained about not having enough time?   The key to solving this is being really proactive and not reactive. Set time aside for your highest priorities.  Showing up the way you need to be and building the momentum that you need, should be at the very top of your priority list as an entrepreneur.    If you feel like you don’t have the time to do the legwork, you’re right. That’s why you can hire an agency, like us here at Interview Connections, to book you! While we recommend that you outsource the heavy lifting, you need to make the time to show up and connect, give value, share your story, and make those listeners want to take the next step with you.   By objectively looking at your calendar, you can compare your story of what you’re doing and what you have time for, with what is actually happening. You can see if your actions are in alignment with your goals!    Another important tip is to stay  in your zone of genius! Do not waste time on tasks that drain you if there is someone on your team who can do that task - and oftentimes those team members are much better suited to do that task than you are.   Be specific about your zone of genius: it’s the things that you are both good at and that you like doing. Do more of those tasks and less time doing tasks out of obligation, or “I should just do it because it’s easy.” Spending your time on those tasks could really be draining you of the energy you need for the tasks in your zone of genius.   If you're an entrepreneur you probably want freedom. Does calendaring make you feel constricted?   Before Jess started really using her calendar, she would come in to work every day wondering, “What’s today going to be?” Margy suggested putting tasks in Jess’s calendar, which Jess initially resisted. But Jess ended up feeling that she was much more productive and effective when she laid out her tasks for the day and committed specific time slots to them.   Jess also brings up the idea of having integrity with yourself. If you look at your calendar and you have dedicated 30 minutes to a task, you need to do it to maintain that integrity with yourself. And most importantly, when you look at your calendar you need to ask, “What am I going to be doing that is moving the needle for my business?”   When you actually calendar out all your tasks, you can actually work much less. If you just do whatever needs to get done, you will never run out of tasks. Instead, if you dedicate your day to specific tasks and time slots, you can work fewer hours because you’re focused on high-value tasks. Things expand and shrink to the amount of time you give them.   What is in your calendar is what is prioritized in the business!   If you’re saying, “I need more visibility, I need more people to know who I am, I need to get on podcasts” but you look at your calendar and there’s nothing on there that’s helping you get more visible - there’s a misalignment, and there’s a lack of workability. You have to change something in your calendar.    When Jess transitioned from closing sales herself to managing a sales team, she struggled with “I don’t have time to train the sales team.” In reality, she didn’t have time not to. If visibility is the thing that your business needs, nothing else on your calendar is more important than that.    You are planting seeds with your calendar. If you’re focusing on visibility, it’s going to be a few months before you start to reap the rewards, it’s not overnight. Is your calendar reflecting where you want to be? The direction you want to be steering the ship with? If not, it’s time to reevaluate and recalendar!   It’s crucial to ensure that your calendar reflects the priorities of your business!

Today is a special client feature episode of Rock the Podcast with finance expert Tracey Bissett! Tracey is on a mission to redefine the world's economic future by increasing the financial literacy of entrepreneurs, also known as financial fitness.  With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Tracey can help entrepreneurs in all industries, both on and offline. As the founder, President, and Chief Financial Fitness Trainer at Bissett Financial Fitness, Inc., Tracey helps her clients understand and improve their level of financial fitness with a goal of increased confidence using their financial skills so they can be successful in their financial life. In addition, Tracey is a professor at Centennial College’s School of Business program and regularly leads speaking engagements to increase financial fitness awareness. Tracey starts the episode by talking to us about entrepreneurship and cashflow. Most early entrepreneurs are looking at their profit and loss, and their sales and expenses. Tracey notes that depending on your business, just because you make a sale does not mean that you necessarily have the cash in the bank. There can be a disconnect for business owners between sales and cashflow. Cashflow is money coming in, money going out, and the timing in which that happens. If you’re in a coaching or service business, you’ll often have payment plans for your clients. As the owner, you might track the sale as it comes in, but you’ll get the money monthly. That’s where this disconnect between what the sales says and what you have in the bank occurs. Cashflow is the lifeblood of any business. Cashflow dictates whether you keep going or you don’t. Tracey has seen companies go under in as quick as 90 days when they don’t have cashflow coming in!  Another issue Tracey addresses with her clients is billing and collection. Tracey worked with a client who had over $300,000 in sales, but lost $100,000 because she billed them too late and was unable to actually collect the money. Collection is critically important to understand in your business. Entrepreneurs need to understand what is normal for their industry, make sure they have good billing and collection practices, and that they’re actually keeping track that the money is coming in. Jess had a similar experience starting out as an entrepreneur. After Jess’ first sales call, she told her brand new client that she would bill him at the end of the month. He gave her a great tip, which is “collect the money up front.” Tracey encourages entrepreneurs to talk to other people in their industry to find out the best practices in billing and collection, because it varies in different industries. It’s important to find out where the boundaries are and to be transparent with your clients about your billing practices. Many business owners will offer a discount if their client pays up front as opposed to in monthly packages, which can be very helpful for entrepreneurs who no longer have to reach out every month for payment. Tracey also notes that mindset plays a huge role in payments. The main driver if someone is going to pay you is not if they have the money, it’s their character. If they have the willingness to pay you, they will.  On the topic of mindset, Tracey and Jess also discuss the problems entrepreneurs face when they are pricing their services. According to Tracey, service providers are typically bad with their pricing-- they often don’t charge enough! When deciding on your prices, Tracey suggests factoring in expenses and profit margin as well as doing some research into your target market. You’ll want to ensure that your target market wants to pay for what you’re selling. Tracey also recommends that entrepreneurs and business owners take a regular salary from their business, and factor that into their pricing. If you want to apply for a line of credit, you’ll have to prove that you have the money to pay it back! That steady income will also be imperative for you to meet your goals. Increasing your prices will also give you more freedom to hire a team to take on more clients and invest in marketing and visibility to help you grow even more. Jess and Tracey agree that oftentimes entrepreneurs face mindset blocks when it comes to their pricing. Tracey believes that we get our mindset about money when we are very young, about 5-7 years old. This mindset comes from our family and our emotions toward money. People need to be observant with how they react when things pertain to money, and if you don’t like your reaction, you can change it. The bulk of the population comes from a place of scarcity, and therefore has a scarcity mindset with money. It’s okay if you feel that way, but you don’t have to feel that way! Observe your reactions, then make some changes. It’s not going to happen overnight but one thing you can do is practice gratitude to change your money mindset. Most of us have heard that we are a function of the people we spend time with. Tracey recommends that we spend time with people who are grateful and people who are looking at money in a different way in order to improve our money mindset. Look at what you’re offering, validate it in the market by looking around at your competitors. If  yours is better and has more value, charge more! Tracey is a firm believer that you need to spend time on your finances monthly in order to grow your business! You can head over to Cashcoach.biz for a free money meaning agenda from Tracey!

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy discuss the importance of defining your company vision, and their experience of creating the company vision for Interview Connections. Jess and Margy always had goals that they set for themselves, and for the business. It wasn’t until recently that they decided they needed a larger vision statement for the company. Many entrepreneurs have personal goals that they set when they begin their business, but when you start to build a team and bring your company to new heights, it’s important to cast a vision separately from what you want in your own life. Jess and Margy admit that they often collapsed “goals” with “vision,” but they knew they needed to create a vision that their team could rally around. The Interview Connections Vision Statement is in three parts:  Our vision is to continue to lead the industry as the highest quality and most innovative podcast booking agency in the world  Our vision is to transform entrepreneurs lives by transforming their business with visibility and strategy Our vision is to amplify the voices of entrepreneurs who embody integrity, authenticity and leadership   Part I: Our vision is to continue to lead the industry as the highest quality and most innovative podcast booking agency in the world.   Their first draft of the Interview Connections vision statement was that the company would be the best booking agency in the world. Jess and Margy decided to get a bit more specific, and indicate their ambition to being the highest quality agency. Interview Connections goes above and beyond with a specific podcast show research department, an in-depth discovery process, weekly check-ins, and a dedicated client success strategist.   Interview Connections also aims to be the most innovative booking agency. We’re constantly asking, “Where is the industry going? What is the role that podcast guesting plays in an entrepreneur’s life, and how can we optimize that in their business?”   Part II: Our vision is to transform entrepreneurs lives by transforming their business with visibility and strategy What you get with Interview Connections is more than just bookings. What lights us up is when our clients have incredible experiences that change their lives on podcast interviews. It’s really about the transformation that happens to business owners as they increase their visibility as they share their story. Podcast guesting transforms how they do their business and it transforms them as people. They are having these incredible conversations, allowing themselves to be seen, and really developing themselves as both people and entrepreneurs.   We want to be taking people through a journey. Asking them, “What is possible when you make this leap in your business? After a year of being interviewed every single week, increasing your visibility, and having a strategy in place to convert leads from this visibility, what does your life look like?”   More than creating profit, a visible entrepreneur can actually step into work knowing that people see them as the expert that they always knew they were. There’s a huge transformation in confidence when you can show up to work knowing where your leads are going to come from.   2020 was the first year that Margy truly committed to being on 4-8 shows a month. She had never been this consistent, and it has totally changed Margy. Not just as an entrepreneur, but that visibility has transformed Margy as a person as well. It’s changed how she’s showing up every day in her life. Margy has been transformed from having these consistent conversations with fellow entrepreneurs on their podcasts.    Part III: Our vision is to amplify the voices of entrepreneurs who embody integrity, authenticity and leadership   Several months ago, Jess and Margy put out an episode on how to be exclusive with your client base. At Interview Connections, we are booking our clients on podcasts, we are helping get their message out in the world. We cannot work with people, when we do not believe in their message! For us at Interview Connections to continue to grow, we have to feel connected and aligned with entrepreneurs that we’re working with.    We have three important values that our clients must embody: integrity, authenticity, and leadership. When you first start out in business, you’re not putting as much thought about who you are working with. Because you’ve just got this service you’re providing, it’s easy to say great let’s work with anyone!    Ask yourself, “What is my legacy? What is the impact I’m having on the world? What is the impact that my company is having on the world, with or without me? Who is this business in the world? Who am I serving?” And when you’re serving people who you believe in, and who you’re aligned, you will grow so easily.   For 2021, Jess and Margy set a goal for Interview Connections to grow from 2 million in revenue to 10 million, and growing to that height while maintaining our vision and our core values of who we are as a company!   What is your vision statement for your company?   Join our Facebook Community, the Guest Expert Profit Lab, to share your company’s vision and goals!

In our final installment of our December client feature series on Rock the Podcast, we’re rebroadcasting a live testimonial interview with Mark Willis! Mark Willis is a man on a mission to help you think differently about your money, your economy and your future. After graduating with six figures of student loan debt and discovering a way to turn his debt into real wealth as he watched everybody lose their retirement savings and home equity in 2008, he knew that he needed to find a more predictable way to meet his financial objectives and those of his clients. Mark is a Certified Financial Planner™, a two-time #1 Best Selling Author and the Owner of Lake Growth Financial Services, a financial firm in Chicago, Illinois. Over the years, he has helped hundreds of his clients take back control of their financial future and build their businesses with proven, tax-efficient financial solutions. He specializes in building custom-tailored financial strategies that are unknown to typical stock-jockeys, attorneys, or other financial gurus.  As co-host of the Not Your Average Financial Podcast™, he shares some of his strategies for investing in real estate, paying for college without going broke, and creating an income in retirement you won’t outlive. Mark works with people who want to grow their wealth in ways that are safe and predictable, to become their own source of financing, and create tax-free income in retirement. Mark says that Interview Connections has been like rocket-fuel for his business! He likens the team here to the person at a party who always introduces you to the best people at the party. Mark’s business has been having “good problems.” He’s having problems getting people on his calendar - he’s booked out over 6 weeks! Mark has had to hire additional associates to take care of all the new leads and clients he’s been getting from podcast guesting. Mark worked one-on-one with us at Interview Connections to construct a great call to action for Mark to use on podcasts. After simplifying his CTA, Mark has seen hundreds of leads come to his business from podcast interviews. He also worked with the team here on perfecting his green-room chat. Mark knows just how important those minutes before and after the actual interview are! One of the best results Mark has seen from podcast guesting, is the opportunity to work on joint ventures with the podcast hosts he’s connected with. During the green room chats, Mark likes to have “storm starters” with the hosts, where he will brainstorm ways that they can work together. Examples of these opportunities include a live Facebook Q&A, a collaborative workshop, and even co-authoring a book together!  Podcast guesting is an incredible lead generation tool, and Mark knows that your relationship with the host is a major factor. Mark always lets the host shine on their own show, and is incredibly respectful of the host and their audience. He explains that the host has already built trust with their audience, so your guest appearance on the show is already being presented in a favorable light. Mark feels that getting yourself booked on podcasts is not all that difficult. However, what Interview Connections has done for Mark is get him on the right shows! From the last 13 shows that we have booked Mark on, he has met 68 potential clients. That averages five potential clients per show! Out of those last 13 shows, Mark has worked with 8 of the hosts in a joint venture! As a financial advisor, Mark always recommends long-term steady investments, and podcast guesting is no different. Podcast guesting is a steady investment in your capacity to tell a story, and partnering up with people who can introduce you to the right people in the room is absolutely a proven path to success. The people who stick with it are the ones with the most success!  If you’re an entrepreneur, the most important asset in your portfolio is your business! It’s imperative to make smart investments for that business. As entrepreneurs, our opportunities for in-person networking events are very limited, and there is no better time to start leveraging virtual networking!  Mark ends the interview discussing the importance of a growth mindset, and ensuring that you surround yourself with other entrepreneurs that embrace a growth mindset!

For the rest of December, we’re going to be showing you exactly how our clients achieved real results and incredible ROIs using actionable strategies. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, we’re rebroadcasting a live testimonial interview with one of our clients, Mia Hewett!  Mia Hewett has co-owned and operated a seven-figure business, is an international speaker, and a world-class business coach. Mia is the founder of Aligned Intelligence™, a methodology that removes all blind spots, fear, anxiety, and self-doubt leaving you feeling "free to be Me.”  This allows her clients to stop secretly struggling and live in alignment with their dreams so that they can scale to 6 and 7-figures the fast way. Mia has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs who've always known they were meant for more. She unravels what is making entrepreneurs struggle. Mia helps 6 & 7 figure entrepreneurs get to the next level, once she helps them get out of their own way. She wants entrepreneurs to step into the spotlight and be seen. Mia herself struggled with feeling healthy once she achieved a certain level of wealth. She dug deep and discovered childhood trauma that was still holding her back. When people experience this kind of childhood trauma, they make three really quick decisions: They make the trauma mean something about them.  “There’s something wrong with me.” They make it mean their voice doesn’t matter. “What I have to say isn’t important.” They make  it mean that the world is not a safe place. Before Mia’s traumatic event, she was adventurous, always expressed herself and liked to be seen. After that experience, she became withdrawn and stopped speaking up. When we go to be seen, it goes against a decision we made when we were really young: “Don’t you dare to be seen again.” Mia advises that the fastest way to move forward is through acceptance of this. Another important action for moving forward is forgiveness. Mia explains that you have to forgive yourself for how you reacted to the trauma - you as a young child was doing the best that you could.  Mia explains that acceptance and forgiveness is always going to be the bridge to your alignment. For you to be in your power, you want to get your mind, your emotions, and your actions all working in the same direction. Once you achieve that, you’re unstoppable.  Working with Interview Connections, Mia has made over $52,000 from podcast interviews! Mia utilized the resources with us here to brainstorm and pivot her message to see the most ROI. Mia landed two hosts as clients, and has generated even more sales from listeners of podcasts. Mia has also leveraged many sales through referrals. When she appears on a podcast, the hosts and the listeners will begin to recommend her to their own circle of entrepreneurs. Mia still has several interviews that have not yet recorded or aired, including an interview with Ali Brown. Once her entire package with Interview Connections has been completed, Mia is confident that they will have well over $100,000 in sales that they can contribute to podcast guesting! Mia agrees that this strategy will pay you dividends if you give it the time and effort that it requires.  You can connect with Mia directly via email - [email protected]

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. For the rest of December, we’re going to be showing you exactly how our clients achieved real results and incredible ROIs using actionable strategies. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, we’re rebroadcasting a live testimonial interview with one of our clients, Chris Kenney!  Chris is a sought-after business leverage expert who teaches coaches and consultants the Chris Kenney Sales Mastery Formula. This tried and true method goes far beyond traditional sales training! Chris knows the key to building a successful business is to focus on one thing – SALES. He specializes in teaching his clients how to sell in an authentic, non-pushy, genuine way with no gimmicks or schmoozy techniques. He believes we all have within us exactly what we need to courageously pursue our deepest desires, tap our own potential, and show up with power and resilience.   As a global speaker, he challenges others to re-imagine selling and is a passionate champion of authentic leadership as a path to empowerment and success. Chris brings wit, humor, and a fresh approach to what in many times is a dry and worn out subject.   He illustrates how sales is never about the money (which comes to a surprise to many). More than a cookie-cutter strategy, he focuses on the root of urgency and teaches you how to do the same for revolutionary results.   Being bold takes courage. Chris is the master at showing people that business doesn’t have to be hard. And more-over shares his secrets that provide consistent income and impact for himself and his students. When Chris signed up with us at Interview Connections, he didn’t even have a computer. He built his business to almost 7 figures, just using a cell phone. Chris has since pivoted from an offline strategy, to an online strategy. Podcast guesting has increased Chris’s reach and exposure dramatically - allowing him to take on clients all around the world. Now, hosts come to Chris and request him to be on their show because of the brand awareness he has created by using the podcast guesting strategy. He says that his job of selling becomes much easier after podcast guesting has done the heavy lifting in creating incredible brand awareness. Chris was also able to land a $13,000 sale from one podcast, by enrolling the host in his program! On her podcast, his call to action was to join his Facebook group. The host joined the group, attended a live launch and enrolled in his program. While onboarding her, she told Chris “I was sold by the end of your podcast interview with me.” Chris contends that anyone can get on podcasts, but the challenge comes when you want to get on the right podcasts. Interview Connections helps entrepreneurs get on podcasts that not only reach their target audience, but are often hosted by ideal clients.  “The bridge between the physical and the spiritual is faith,” says Chris. The physical is what you have now, the spiritual is what you want, and the bridge that takes you there is faith. In order for someone to get where they want to be, they are going to have to take leaps of faith. And if they’re not willing to take leaps of faith, they’re likely to stay where they’re at. Chris knows that people make their own money rules. Your current set of money rules is what is creating your current result, and if you want different results, you have to break your money rules. When people say, “Woah that’s a big investment and that makes me uncomfortable,” Chris says that’s what is so great about it! This is an opportunity for you to step in, an opportunity for you to invest in yourself and break a rule around money that is holding you back.    If you’re trying to get to a million dollars in sales, you have to behave like a million dollar business owner. A middle class mindset is scarce, and a 7-figure mindset focuses on investing to earn more. Chris argues that you have to make money decisions based on where you want to be, not based on where you are.    Chris believes that the universe is always trying to bring you what you need, and sometimes people resist it. Most people are not willing to take the leap of faith, and they stay stuck. The opportunity shows up at the door, but you have to be willing to open the door. The reason you manifested this opportunity is because this is something that you actually need.   You can’t have a problem without a solution; if a problem is present then the solution is present. The reason people get stuck in a problem is because they resist the solution.   You can connect with Chris on Facebook!

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, we’re rebroadcasting a panel on podcast guesting, hosted by Nikki Nash! Nikki is a marketing expert, Hay House author, and the creator of the Market Your Genius brand. Nikki brought on Michelle Bosch, Co-Founder of Orbit Investments and the Land Profit Generator Program, Myoshia Boykin-Anderson, founder and CEO of one of the leading IT Consulting companies in the country, Naketa Thigpen, balance and relationship Advisor and CEO of ThigPro, and our very own Margy Feldhuhn! The first question that Nikki brought to the panel was: What had you say, “I’m interested in using podcast guesting for my brand and my business?” One of the reasons that Michelle loves leveraging the podcast guesting strategy is because of the time that podcast interviews allow her to explain exactly what she does, and who can benefit from her services. Michelle notes that having a mindset of service is key for podcast guesting, and that she always comes to interviews thinking about how she can help the audience. Michelle adds that while podcast guesting used to be a “nice to have” marketing strategy, it’s become an absolute necessity in 2020. Myoshia discussed how podcast guesting allowed her a visibility that she would have never achieved otherwise. Not only did podcast guesting increase Myoshia’s reach in an incredible way, she also pointed out that her podcast interviews bring her a continuous ROI because they are evergreen. She could guest on a podcast that might reach an ideal client a year later!  Margy brought up the idea of how podcasts offer a smaller, but much more engaged, audience. An Interview Connections client had been making regular TV and radio appearances, but wasn’t seeing a lot of leads come through. Once he began podcast guesting, he saw a 400% ROI. Margy also shared about how important it is to leverage high-end networking opportunities and build relationships with podcast hosts. Naketa, who hosts her own podcast, talked about how she wanted to create a safe space for high-level individuals to talk about their journey. Naketa wanted to leverage these interviews as a gift to her community, and her specifically curated audience. Nikki then asked about everyone’s nurturing period. How long does it take for someone to say “I heard you on a podcast, and now I’m ready to buy.” Michelle uses a two-pronged approach in her call to action. She invites listeners to join her free Facebook group, but Michelle also offers a consultation call for any listener who might be ready to take the next step. She also has a special landing page link that she’ll only use on podcasts, so they can track exactly which leads are coming from podcast interviews. (Because of this link, Michelle knows that she has made over $150,00 in sales just from podcast interviews!) Michelle said that it’s important to be available, whenever your lead is ready to buy - which could be right away or in a few months from when they first hear you. Margy considers podcast guesting a mid-term to long-term strategy. While some clients see a really fast ROI from one or two interviews, it’s more likely that you’ll see success from consistently getting out there on podcasts. Margy’s CTA is also to join a free Facebook community, featuring loads of content and trainings. Generally once someone is in the Facebook group, if they’re going to convert, they will during a live launch which Margy hosts once a month! Myoshia has a free Facebook group that she will promote in her CTA as well! Myoshia typically sees leads convert after 6-8 weeks, but sometimes it will take longer. The time in between someone joining the group and converting is certainly not time wasted. Myoshia pointed out that the free Facebook community shows your integrity. It shows that you care about more than the sale, you really want to help your leads and see them succeed. Nikki then asked, “What’s one thing people need to know before they jump into using podcasting for business growth?” Myoshia believes that one of the most important things is to have 100% clarity around your message. Her biggest piece of advice is to show up as your true self. If you can focus on that, your results will be phenomenal. If you can shine as your authentic self, someone listening will be inspired to take action. Naketa recommended that you look at your “why.” Why do you want to start podcast guesting? If it’s just because other people are doing it, you might not be in the right place to start. Naketa says to look at why you want to connect, and what gifts you can bring to the community that are within your bandwidth. Michelle’s number one thing people need to know before podcast guesting is to have a service mindset. Michelle gets out on podcasts to spread her message and be of service. She wants to stay in her zone of genius, and not waste time on researching and pitching the right shows. Michelle, who works with us here at Interview Connections, highly recommends working with an established agency! Margy’s best piece of advice is to be all-in. She sees many people dabble in podcast guesting, with one foot in and one foot out, and they don’t really see results. Margy believes that if you can’t commit a full year to the podcast guesting strategy, you shouldn’t even start. For this strategy to really work for people, they need to make it a regular part of their marketing budget. Connect with Michelle on facebook or at her website! Connect with Myoshia on facebook or at her website! Connect with Nikki at her website and listen to her podcast! Connect with Naketa on facebook and listen to her podcast!

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews Nike Anani, author and consultant to NextGens that seek to lead their family businesses! Nike helps NextGens rise above operations into a non-executive board role with credibility, so that they are able to lead and formulate a plan to future-proof the business, becoming more effective change agents.  A part of a family business herself, Nike grew up in Nigeria and the UK, and fell in love with entrepreneurship. In Nigeria, over 90% of businesses are family businesses but only 2% survive beyond the first generation. Nike’s goal is to help close that gap and help more family businesses thrive.  She discusses what a survival mindset means for businesses, and how it can actually be detrimental to long-term growth. Nike proposes refocusing on a sustainability mindset, and what that looks like. She also reveals her theories for why so many family businesses don’t survive past the first generation, and what founders need to do in order to propel their businesses into the second generation!  You can connect with Nike at her website! https://nikeanani.com/

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews client and wisdom teacher, Sophie McLean! Sophie McLean's mission is to contribute to the creation of a new culture for humankind; or the shift from Homo Sapiens to Homo Spiritus. As a wisdom teacher, Sophie has spent decades leading transformational seminars to over 80,000 people around the world, of all ethnicities, ages, religions and social backgrounds – all engaged with the universal existential questions of “Who and what am I?” and “What is my life about?” In this episode, Sophie discusses her lifelong fascination with humanity, and trying to answer the question “What does it mean to be a human being?” Sophie talks about the ego, and how the ego is everything that you identify with that is not actually who you are. To illustrate, Sophie says that many of us might be a lioness, but trying to fit into a lamb’s costume. Identifying with the ego-mind means identifying with emotions, anxieties, regret, worry and a whole host of other problems. Working with Sophie helps her clients stop and look, work on themselves in a deep way, and eliminate victimization and suffering from their lives. Sophie stresses the importance of shifting from identifying to the ego to, identifying to the soul. You can connect with Sophie at her website: https://www.sophiemclean.com/

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews client Sim Sibanda! Sim is the founder of Glow Coaching and the leading expert in helping high achievers break free from toxic relationships. Sim helps her clients break through the obstacles that seem to be holding them back in life. She firmly believes that life is too short to be unhappy, unsure, or unfulfilled. She’s here to help her clients achieve a more positive outlook on life, and provide them with all the tools necessary to get them there. In this episode, Jess and Sim discuss how an argument in English class helped lead Sim to relationship coaching, Sim’s speciality working with millennials, and the benefits of writing down your entire life story. Sim talks about working with “dogs who can see the rainbow,” meaning people who know things are in the world that they cannot see. Sim believes that unless you hope that you have the capability to believe in yourself, you will not be able to grow. Listen to the full episode to learn more about relationship coaching in a globalized world, working through generational gaps, and Sim’s tip for partners living together during quarantine! You can connect with Sim by sliding in her DMs on instagram @glowcoachingbysim

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews client and spiritual life coach, Tiffany Nguyen! Tiffany helps busy professionals and sensitive, high-achievers reconnect with their truths and live authentically. She combines practicality and spiritual wisdom to guide people towards clarity and confidence in who they are, leading them to inner peace and happiness. With her analytical brain and her intuitive Tarot reading skill, Tiffany brings a unique approach to one’s self-transformation journey.  After moving to the United States at 16 years old, Tiffany soon had to face her own biggest fear: loneliness. As the years went by, she grew tired of chasing the next thing and feeling lost, and decided to look within. Tiffany created the Happiness Blueprint to illustrate how people can build a fulfilling life for themselves. Listen to this episode to learn about why faking happiness is most harmful to ourselves, what someone needs to do before working with a spiritual teacher, and what it actually looks like to work with someone like Tiffany! You can connect with Tiffany at https://spunkyspiritualist.com/

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy talk about going on a competitor’s podcast. While it may seem like a bad idea, going on your competitor’s shows can be a very strategic move. Interview Connections client Jon MacDonald was hesitant to appear on a competitor’s podcast, but after his interview went live, he was invited to speak at YouTube HQ because of that exact interview! When a host from the same space as you accepts you as a guest on their show, they have found value in your unique experience. This shows that they have a mindset of collaboration not competition. The podcast industry is very collaborative, and many hosts will take competitors on their show to give value in a complementary way. You’re the only one who has your story. There may be other people who provide a similar service, but no one is the same as you. No one has your background, no one does it exactly the way that you do. There is space for everyone. There are people who are going to resonate with you, and there are people who are going to resonate with someone else.  You can focus on: What makes you unique? Why are you different from the host? Look at your mindset, what is that lack mentality? What is driving that fear of going on a competitor’s show?   If you need help answering any of these questions, listen to the full episode to learn more about the benefits of going on a competitor’s podcast!

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews client and expert in applied neurology, Elisabeth Kristof! Elisabeth is the founder of Brain-Based Wellness, a revolutionary online platform that trains the nervous system and body to resolve old patterns, improve performance, and increase well-being. In this episode, Elisabeth discusses why change threatens your brain at a physiological level, and how we can improve the overall health of our nervous system. Elisabeth and Jess discuss what exactly applied neurology is, the difference between survival mode and performance mode, and how these affect entrepreneurs in particular. She explains how to listen to and understand signals from your nervous system, and what they might be telling you about your body. Listen to the end of the episode to learn an amazing neurohack that will allow you to think more clearly and connect more presently when speaking on podcasts! You can learn more about applied neurology and connect with Elisabeth at https://brainbased-wellness.com/

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy talk about the importance of visibility in your business. While many new business owners and entrepreneurs see the value of investing in back-end operations and systems, Jess and Margy urge you to consider how your business would change completely if your visibility was a main focus.  What holds people back from gaining visibility? Oftentimes, it’s fear of success. Getting to the next level of revenue requires you to leave your comfort zone, and start entering circles where you’re the new kid in town. Another reason people are held back from becoming visible is lack of confidence. Jess and Margy discuss why it’s important to figure out what is holding you back and to take imperfect action as your first step. What can you expect when you have a breakthrough in visibility? Firstly, you’ll see a steady and consistent stream of leads that are finding you. You’ll see increased confidence in your abilities and expertise. You’ll see new opportunities in the form of interview requests, speaking engagements, new business ideas and new revenue streams.    Podcast guesting is the best way to increase your visibility and speak to a highly-curated audience of your ideal clients. If you need help with your visibility, head over to interviewconnections.com/call to schedule a free consultation with our New Media Strategist, and take the first step to increasing your visibility today!

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews clients and certified financial planners Radon Stancil and Murs Tariq. Jess, Radon, and Murs discuss their business partnership at  Peace of Mind Wealth Management, and how each of them became interested in financial and retirement planning.  Radon and Murs talk about the best time to start working with a financial planner, and what you need to do before you work with a CFP. They discuss the differences between active and passive investing, and what pitfalls you can avoid in your own retirement planning.  Head over to https://pomwealth.net/podcast/ for a free educational video series on how to secure your retirement!

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess and Margy discuss the value of gaining clarity with your numbers. Jess and Margy stress the importance of having focus in the direction that you’re going in your business strategy, and having clarity in your data is incredibly important to that focus. Laying your numbers out in a way that works for you (spreadsheets work great for Margy!) can reveal blindspots and create lightbulb moments for your business.  Data doesn’t lie. You can tell yourself a story about what happened during a launch or during a quarter or a year, but looking objectively at your numbers takes the interpretation of that story out of the equation. Over here at Interview Connections, laying out our numbers was so helpful in not only telling us where to spend our budget, but where we shouldn’t be spending time and money. Getting clarity in your numbers is a game changer. Not only should you be looking at your data laid out in a spreadsheet, but you should be showing your numbers to a trusted mentor so that another set of eyes can point out potential blindspots from an objective set of data. 

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness. On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews client Triptta Neb Butkovich, an abuse recovery coach. It is Triptta's mission to provide a safe and open environment for 1 million victims of narcissistic and emotional abuse, help them learn to value themselves for who they are, and finally begin to enjoy healthy relationships. Jess and Triptta discuss what exactly narcissistic abuse is, when narcissism becomes a disorder, and Triptta’s personal journey of surviving a narcissistic abuser. After Triptta’s experience with narcissistic abuse, she had to begin figuring out her identity and her values all over again. That’s when Triptta understood that she wanted to help the millions of other victims of abuse. She helps her clients define their values, set boundaries, and discover their identity post-abuse. For anyone listening who has someone in their life that may be suffering from emotional abuse, Triptta tells us to believe them. Triptta’s final piece of advice: “Love yourself, it’s not selfish.” You can connect with Triptta at https://designyou.ca/

Jess and Margy reveal how they grew Interview Connections from 0 to 7 figures by leveraging the power of podcast guesting. In the first year, Jess was able to take the company from 0-6 figures, but it wasn’t until she joined forces with co-owner Margy, that they were able to level up to 7 figures.  In the early days, Jess cast a wide net, and connected with everyone that she possibly could. As a new mom, she wasn’t able to go to networking events all over the country. Instead, Jess used podcasts as a way to connect with hundreds of people across the world. Another important aspect of podcast guesting that Jess learned in the early days is that your story matters, no matter how successful you are. Margy became co-owner of Interview Connections in 2018, and helped grow the company to 7 figures. Margy found that podcast guesting helped her practice her story and become a known figure in the podcasting community. Podcast guesting is great for SEO and social proof, and Margy invites thought leaders to ask themselves, “Does Google know that I am a thought leader?” By consistently appearing on podcast interviews, you will flood Google with why exactly you are so amazing and unique.  If you want to create better, quality, leads for your business, you need to register for our FREE Virtual Speaking Bootcamp, premiering tomorrow! This Bootcamp will teach you the three pillars to successfully monetizing podcast interviews! Head to interviewconnections.com/bootcamp to register! Join our free Facebook group, Guest Expert Profit Lab now by going to InterviewConnections.com/Group or searching Facebook for Guest Expert Profit Lab.