August 14, 2025 • 26 mins
Do you ever cringe at the thought of self-promotion… but know deep down your business can’t grow without it?
In this episode, I sit down with Carol Searle, a brilliant community and launch strategist with eight years of experience helping business owners build loyal, engaged audiences. Together, we talk about the reality of visibility, especially if you’re introverted or worried about what others (yes, even family!) might think.
We talk honestly about:
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Why visibility isn’t optional if you want personal and business growth and how to make it feel authentic, not awkward
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The quiet fears no one talks about (like judgement from friends, family, or the online crowd)
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How to grow AND keep your community engaged without being “on” all the time
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Smart ways to use online networking that actually feel good with no cold DMs or spammy tactics
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How to approach your next launch with less overwhelm and more clarity.
If you’ve been hiding behind your logo, overthinking every post, or quietly hoping people will just “find” you, this conversation will give you practical, feel-good strategies to get seen, grow your audience, and connect with the right people… without losing yourself in the process.
Hit play now and discover how visibility can feel natural, even if you’d rather blend into the background!
NOTES:
Follow Carole on Instagram
Visit Carole’s website
Get your free guide - Five Ways to Showcase Your Media Wins
Visit Amanda’s website and join Amanda on Instagram
Join the Grow Your Brand With Amanda Facebook Community
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to the Grow Your Brandwith Amanda podcast, helping
you become a powerhouse brandwith bullseye messaging,
targeted visibility and scrollstopping content. I'm Amanda
Jane, and I want to helpbusinesses like yours showcase
more of you so you're nothiding behind your logo and
your audience gets to see thereal authentic personality
(00:21):
behind your brand. Myphilosophy is the only way to
be comfortable in thespotlight is to truly believe
you belong there. And thattakes a little bit of work for
most business owners becausewe're not all naturals in
front of the camera ormicrophone. On this podcast,
I'm going to share lots ofactionable tips and advice to
enable you to grow your brandin a way that's comfortable
(00:42):
for you. I'll also befeaturing special guests who
will share their amazingjourneys with us. It's time to
grow your brand with Amanda,so let's get started.
Hello, everyone and welcome tothis podcast, Grow Your Brand
with Amanda. And today I havewith me the lovely Carol
(01:04):
Searle. Hello, Carol. Hi,Amanda. How are you? I'm
brilliant. I'm hot. And thankyou for joining me on the
hottest day of the year sofar, which is going to be very
strange if someone's listeningin the middle of winter. We're
sat here boiling. You are acommunity and launch
strategist and we'll find outa little bit more about that
(01:27):
as we go through the podcast.But before we start, I want to
ask you some questions so Ican get to know you a little
bit better. So do you have afavorite motivational song? I
do. It's got to be theall-time favorite for me is
Black Eyed Peas. I've got afeeling. Oh, I love that song.
Yeah. So bouncy. It's so loud.Well, it's loud when I play
(01:49):
it. But yeah, it's so bouncy.How can you not want to just
get up and do something? Yeah,I don't think that's actually
on the playlist. I thinkyou're the first to mention
that because there's aplaylist that the company says
podcast. So yeah, that isgoing on. I have that is a
really good one. That's a goodone to play when you're
getting ready to go out aswell. And do you have a
motivational quote? I do. It'swhat if I fall, but oh, my
(02:14):
darling, what if you fly? AndI just, it's just so, it's so
relevant, isn't it, havingthat doubt when you're
doubting yourself, oh, Ibetter not do this because I
might fail it, but what if youdon't fail? What if you
actually do amazing at it?just do it and find out. I
love that because most peoplewill lean towards, but what do
(02:37):
I feel about when you throw itback at them and say, oh,
well, actually, what if youfly? Yeah, that is so
beautiful. I love that one.Yeah, I absolutely love that.
And do you read? And if youdo, do you have a favorite
book? I must admit, I don't, Idon't read as much as I used
to. Um, but I am currentlyreading the 10 times rule, um,
(02:59):
by Grant Cardone. Yeah, it'sjust all about what it says in
the title, basically 10 timesinto anything you want to be
doing in your business, 10times it and really, really
push yourself to do even more.And yeah, there's quite a lot
resonating. Yeah, it's a goodbook. I always like to have a
(03:20):
personal development book onthe go and a fiction book on
the go. I like psychologicalthrillers, but I like to have
something you know, personaldevelopment that makes me
think and I read that one, Ithink last year, I really
quite like that. It's it doeskind of gives you a different
angle to step outside yourbusiness and apply some other
principles, which is reallyinteresting. So thank you for
(03:43):
that. So on to you and yourbusiness. So tell me what
inspired you to start it andhow did your personal story
shape your brand? Hey, soyeah, the, the reason why I
started it was I was employed,um, I've had this business for
about eight years now, um, butwhen I was on maternity leave
with my second child, I, toreverse a bit, I was a single
(04:06):
mum with my first child, um,and I struggled so much to be
able to get time off for whenhe's sick or school events or
school holidays. Um, and sowhen it came to having my
second child, I was onmaternity and I just thought,
do you know what, I'm notgoing to go back to begging to
spend time with my family, um,because they're, they're the
(04:26):
reason why I get up and dothings in the first place. So
yeah, so I, I just decidedduring my maternity leave, I'm
not going back. Um, I want towant to do something for
myself, set my own rules, myown boundaries, what, what I
love doing. I googled adminjobs at home and found a
virtual assistant. Ah,excellent. That's good.
(04:49):
Sounded amazing. And yeah,I've just not looked back. So
yeah, started out as a virtualassistant. Um, but the, the
clients that I was workingwith, it, it just kind of
naturally. progressed intolaunching communities because
they were like, can you helpwith this community side of
things? Or I have this summit.Can you help with the launch
(05:09):
of a summit or a mastermind?So, and I just found
absolutely loved that side. Soyes, for the last six years or
so now, I've kind of movedover to the community and the
launching strategist.Fantastic. And I speak to so
many women who have come fromthat place of, I don't wanna
(05:29):
beg for time off, And, youknow, a lot of us are kind of,
not everyone, but with theprimary care for our young
children and we've got to taketime off when they're sick
and, you know, we don't wantto miss assemblies and stuff.
And it's so frustratingbecause you can't be in two
places at once and I hadexactly the same struggles as
you and eventually I did finda fantastic employer that that
(05:53):
let me work flexibly and Ididn't miss a school thing and
I was able to take workflexibly, which was an
absolute game changer for me.But I realised I was so lucky
and not everyone is thatlucky, but I did have
employers that were just like,no, you know, and, and, and,
and I walked subsequently, butI can completely understand
your struggle. But howinteresting that you decided,
(06:15):
well, I'm not going to makethat choice anymore. I'm going
to make my own choice andcreate my own life. And and I
absolutely love that becauseyou can do both. You can work
around your young children.You can create a business.
that suits your family life.And, you know, I say that in
my world. Like sometimes Ihave, well, I have people on
my podcast all the time. Butif there's children in the
(06:36):
background or there's pets,I'm like, no, bring them in.
You do not have to hide thefact that you were a parent in
my world because why should wedo that? You know, we're
parents and children are thereason why we're sat here in
this moment. So I think that'samazing that you did that. And
I love that legacy that yourchildren are watching you
doing what you do. And whenthey're a little bit older and
(06:58):
they understand, you can tellthem, my girls are grown now
and I can ask them, what didyou think when I did this?
What did you think when I didthat? And it all went by in a
blink of an eye, but I don'tregret any of the choices that
I made. But I was one of thelucky ones to find
flexibility. and but youcreated your own, which is
incredible. So was there aturning point in your own
(07:20):
visibility where you realizedthat you had to grow and how
do you feel about beingvisible online or even in real
life? I am actually a very,very shy and introverted
person. I'm very loud, whichkind of gives off this false
impression that I'm reallyconfident, but I'm really not.
(07:41):
So in personal circumstances,I will be, if I'm with
friends, I will be the personstanding at the back as we
walk into a building. I willbe the quiet one in the group.
Other people will be a lotlouder and more talkative than
me. If I'm in, Like familiarsurroundings with with people
that I know, then I come outof my shell and you can't shut
(08:04):
me up. But yeah, with withpeople I don't know, I'm very,
very quiet and very withdrawnand just stay in the
background. And that that'skind of it's kind of been the
same with business as well.And so with all the like the
communities and the thelaunches, Again, I'm behind
the scenes. I'm supporting theclients who are out the front.
(08:25):
But I'm behind the scenes,advising them on what to do
and supporting them behindeverything. But I have
realized you still need thatvisibility. Otherwise, you're
not going to grow. And like Itell my clients, if you don't
have an audience, if peopledon't see you, then who are
you speaking to? And how onearth do you actually expect
(08:49):
to get work? in this onlineworld. So yeah, it's something
I've embraced. It's somethingI'm leaning into. I've become
a lot more visible in theonline world. I do, I do a few
videos, I do a few lives. I'mposting constantly. I'm in
lots of groups, getting myselfout there, newsletters. I've
(09:10):
just done two summits thismonth, online summits this
month, so speaking. Fantastic.Yeah, thank you. Yeah, first
one this year doing summitsand that. But yeah, so it's
not something I love doing,being visible, but it's
something I appreciate if Iwant people to know who I am
and to want to work with me, Ineed to make myself visible.
(09:30):
So the more I push myself, theeasier it is getting. And if
you approach it gradually, andyou get comfortable with one
thing and you push yourselffor the next thing, it does
get easier. And I mean, asummit is no mean feat to do,
so well done you for doingthat. And when people hear
(09:51):
about visibility, they think,oh, I have to stand on a stage
and I have to talk live. Andvisibility has so many layers.
You can do it gradually, likeyou said, you know, showing
off in Facebook groups orshowing up on social media, or
you can do pre-recorded videosthat you can record at your
leisure in the comfort of yourown home and post when you
(10:14):
want to, or you can go liveand make the gradual steps
towards that. And one thingthat I know for sure, the
people that stand on stagestoday, you know, the people
that have mastered visibility,they weren't born knowing
those skills. And they werethey were all insecure one
time or another. And when youdescribed about not being the
(10:35):
loud one, I'm not naturallythe loud one either. And
considering what I do for aliving, you know, people might
think, you know, oh, she'sreally confident or whatever.
But it's a gradual thing. Butmost of the time it's been my
job. So I've had to do it,even though I didn't like it
or maybe I wasn't thatcomfortable. But I've had to
be the person that's had to doit. But visibility can be
(10:57):
having a blog and there's alot of talk at the moment
around showing up facelessbecause there's so many
reasons why women particularlywant to be faceless. and you
can have a faceless visibilityand I think that's really
interesting as well so for mevisibility is showing up how
you feel comfortable and thenmoving on to what that looks
(11:20):
like and strangely for me Ifind live much easier
And chatting like this, I findthis much easier than
recording on my own by myselfto camera and I'm more
comfortable, you can turn iton live, I don't care how many
thousands of people there are,if I'm chatting to someone
(11:40):
else, I'm fine and I kind ofpop up like whack-a-mole and
other people's groups on otherpeople's Instagram, because if
I'm chatting, I'm fine, butdon't. I'm not comfortable
just sat by myself sellingsomething or doing something,
but I'm very, I'm best withother people. But that's what
I've discovered works for me,but doesn't work for everyone.
(12:02):
And it's just so interestingto explore the things that are
useful for you. But well doneyou on doing the summits. So
what did you do? Did you haveto do live or did you do a
pre-record or how did thatlike? Yeah, I did do
pre-recorded for both of thefirst ones. I mean, as you
were just saying there, youkind of build up to things,
(12:23):
don't you? So, yeah, soinitially I just started just
doing posts. Yeah, And thenthen like progressed onto
other things. So yeah, so thistime round, they were both
recorded, pre-recorded. Onewas around growing engaged
communities. And the other waslaunching like a pro. Yeah.
So, but I have set myself thetarget of next time that there
(12:45):
will be a next time. I'm nowgoing to be proactively
looking to speak in othersummits and I'll do those
live. Fantastic. Yeah, buthonestly, it does get easier
and you're on this podcast andit's not scripted and it's not
edited. Thank you, Nick. Andhonestly, the more you do, you
(13:08):
just kind of forget. But itjust fascinates me that, you
know, everyone's individualjourney. So what advice would
you give to someone having hadthat experience on the
summits? What advice would yougive to someone who says, I
hate promoting myself? Theblunt advice I would give is
(13:29):
you need to get over yourself.The nice advice I would give
is that I hear you, I get you,I do understand that, but
unfortunately, if you want theworld to know who you are, if
you want to be growing yourbusiness and have people out
there hearing what you offerand going, yes, that's exactly
(13:49):
what I need, thenunfortunately, you have no
choice but to get there andpromote. But like you say,
Amanda, there's so manydifferent ways of doing that.
So yeah, if you're not comfy,going out there and doing the
whole fanfare of lives andeverything, that's fine. Just
start small and build up to itas I've done. Definitely. And
(14:10):
I think if you're, if you're,if you're not comfortable,
your audience will see it andyou'll make them
uncomfortable. And there'snothing worse, I think, than
seeing someone that'sterrified. and they're doing
it. And if you see someonethat's comfortable and that's
so enthusiastic, you just getswept off in it, don't you?
But also people forget whenyou run your own business, you
(14:32):
have to be your own salesdirector. You have to put
yourself, I mean, you've gotto wear all the hats, but
sales is your number onepriority. And it just, it
amuses me sometimes thatpeople think that, you know,
that there's a choice, butlike you said, kind of got to
get over yourself and, andshow up, you know, doesn't
have to do all bells andwhistles, but you've at least
(14:52):
got to have some sort of apresence. So what's been the
most surprising benefit then?So, so you, you. You showed
up, you were dead brave. Didyou find any benefits? So was
the summit as, did you makeconnections that you wanted to
or was it surprising? Did itwork? Yeah, yeah. So the first
(15:13):
thing I realized when I firststarted showing up before I
was doing the summits as wellwas I didn't die. The world
didn't explode around me likeit He was struck by lightning.
that's exactly. Yeah, I was soterrified of some huge,
horrific things going tohappen by me going live and
being a bit more visible. Butit didn't happen. It's
(15:35):
absolutely fine. Everyone keptdoing what they were doing.
But yeah, the thing I havefound, I do a lot of online
networking as well. Yeah. Sonot face-to-face. I've got too
many family ties to do that.But I do a lot of online
networking. and then thesummits this month as well.
(15:56):
And yeah, absolutely, you getleads. I've had lots of leads
and the leads have led in towork as well with some of the
people. So yeah, absolutely,it's 100% worth doing. If you
can just take that step, it's100% worth doing. And the
interesting thing is thataudience at the time doesn't
know that you don't do thisevery day. They don't know
(16:19):
that you don't show up andgive the talk. And each little
bit gets easier. But I thinkthe minute you get that
validation of inquiries andinquiries. Then you think, ha
ha, this works. And then Ithink that's what fuels it.
But it is just so, sointeresting just to see
everyone else's journey. So doyou have any confidence tricks
(16:41):
or is there anything that youwould use to kind of get
yourself psyched up? No, notreally. I think it is more, I
just had to have a word withmyself, like how badly do you
want this business to work? Doyou want it to work or do you
want to go back to employment?So I think, I think it was
just a, that's brutal, but Ilove it. That's me, I'm
(17:06):
afraid. Anyway, but yeah, Idid. I just had to basically
have that word of myself. It'slike, do you want to do this?
Do you want this to work? Ordo you want it to fail, go
back into employment, not seeyour kids at school and all
that kind of thing? So yeah,that's my confidence.
motivational speech to myself,really, just get over it and
(17:31):
do it. So you're on thispodcast now and you've done
the summits. Do you feel, isthere anything you're leaning
towards mostly? Do you feellike you might do lives on
social media? Do you feel likeyou might do more podcasts?
What do you think you might bemost comfortable doing? Yeah,
I do like these podcasts. Ithink I think I'm probably the
(17:51):
same as you with the live,unless I have somebody that
I'm speaking to on the live. Imean, I see other people, my
business coach, she she doeslots of lives by herself as
well, just talking to heraudience and people like that
I'm like hats off to becausemy brain just. totally empties
and i haven't got a clue iwould say so yeah doing a live
(18:14):
with somebody or doing morepodcasts like this as well is
yes absolutely something i'mi'm really enjoying doing it
and say yeah i would like toget into more of It's it's
brilliant fun because you cantalk about the things that
you're passionate about withsomeone that's genuinely
interested and because it'syour business you could talk
(18:36):
endlessly about it and thatthat's what I love and just
having a genuine chat withsomeone that that's interested
and for me any that I've beenon it's it's just a nice
opportunity to get to knowother people and podcast, I
just think, wow, peopleactually really do listen. And
they don't just listen in theUK. They listen all over the
(18:59):
world. Absolutely. Yeah, I goon my walks every day. And
I've got my ear pods in andI've got like somebody's
podcast that I'm listening toas I go on the walk. Because
yeah, fascinating. And you'rewith like-minded people as
well, aren't you when you'redoing the podcast recording
them, you're with like-mindedpeople. I mean, I sit at home,
I'll talk to my husband or myoldest child or someone else
(19:22):
in my family and they'relistening, but they don't get.
Oh, what you're doing. Theydon't understand it. So yes,
there is chatting, chattinglike this. It's like coming
home. You're just chatting tosomeone who knows it. Somebody
once said to me, and I'm gladthey did, because it may help
me to understand, the reasonyour family don't get it is
(19:45):
because they're not your idealclient. And I thought, oh,
that's so interesting. So Ican go and talk to my family
and say, oh, this hashappened. And I'm doing this.
And while they're going, yeah,that's great. I'm like, you
know, they're totallyunderwhelmed. And I'm like,
but this is amazing. Whereas Ican speak to someone like you
or I can go into my groups andeveryone's like, oh, yeah,
(20:06):
that's great. But as much asthe family want to support
you, they just, they justdon't get it. But it's lovely
that they do. But that wasexplained to me. And I
thought, yeah. i'm so gratefulfor that insight because now i
don't feel so um what's theword let down maybe that's not
(20:27):
the right word um yeah yeahwounded a little bit because
you want them to be to be sortof oh yeah but they're never
ever going to get it becauseThey don't want me to be in
your shoes, but it's onlypeople like us that absolutely
get it. And a lot of peoplefor visibility as well,
they're afraid of beingjudged. And funnily enough, a
lot of people are afraid ofbeing judged by their family
(20:48):
and colleagues and maybestrangers. And I got over that
a long time ago, because Ijust said to myself, you know,
you can scroll on or you don'thave to listen. But the final
thing, you don't pay my bills.So that's it. That's how it
is. So yeah, with friends andfamily, I like you say, like
(21:11):
worried about being judged.Like who does she think she is
doing this, that and theother? And it's like, I'm I'm
here. I think I'm somebody whois earning a living. So as you
say, pay my bills, put food onthe table, look after my
children, um, I don't get yourbusiness. You don't get my
business. Yeah. So, and you'redoing it on your own terms in
(21:32):
your own way and being able tobe with your family exactly
how you wanted to do it. And,and I think it's, it's
brilliant. And I, and I thinknew businesses need to hear
that message. time and timeagain, because I know I was in
that position and I don't eventhink podcast, that makes me
sound really old. I was justabout to say, I don't think
(21:55):
that podcast was around then.And honestly, I don't think it
was. Um, and I would haveloved to have heard more
stories like yours and to makeme think, actually, I don't
that this isn't the only path,you know, you don't have to
find a flexible employer oryou don't have to work part
(22:15):
time or you don't have to giveup your job and to hear
stories like yours. Well,actually, I can create my own
world. I can create my ownflexibility. I would have
hoped to have heard your storyat, you know, certain points
in my life. And it's amazingnow. And I'm so pleased that
other parents can hear it. Andyou know, in our world, we see
lots and lots of those people,but I think it's great that
(22:36):
they can tap into sharedexperiences and lived
experiences and this is whathappens, but it's not easy. It
is hard work. You do have tohave a word with yourself on a
daily basis and do all thethings, but it's very
rewarding and when you put thework hard work in it is
rewarded and it doesn't comeas quickly as you think, but
(22:58):
does come and I think thatthat's what I like most about
it. The growth does come. butyou can't just sort of do two
weeks and think, oh, it's notworking. It's got to come a
little bit more. So tell me alittle bit about your
community and launch strategy.So you do that for clients.
What does that look like?Yeah, okay. So the community
(23:20):
side of it is basicallyhelping them grow, not just
grow the communities, but alsomaking them engaged as well,
because it's kind of twofold.It's one thing getting people
into your online community Butonce they're there and they're
kind of like, okay, what now?You also have to keep them
engaged and give them a reasonto want to stay in the
(23:42):
community as well. So, yeah,so it's supporting, it's one,
helping clients do that in thefirst place, get people in and
also helping them plan whatthey can do within the
community to keep people in.And then I also support them
with the back end of it, notthe tech side, but like the
(24:02):
running, the managing thecommunity as well. So keeping
that engagement going, helpingthem with their lives and any
guest experts that they havecome in, Q&A's and what have
you. And then the launch side.Again, it's, it's helping
clients. So it can beanything. So it can be, it can
be you with your podcast. Itcan be somebody who's got a
(24:23):
new membership or a program ora course, um, a book,
literally anything new thatsomebody wants to offer to the
world. I come in, um, I canhelp you with the, the
planning of the launch or Ican do like the, the launch
management side. So it's, it'sbasically like a project
manager, um, I'll, overseeyour your plans oversee them
(24:46):
all so from the the start ofthe launch all the way through
the launch to the end of itand we'll kind of like analyze
together what went well whatdidn't go well what we could
maybe build on and tweak fornext time round so Yeah, just
the whole shebang. Soundsincredible. Sounds really
useful. And I know how hardengagement is and I know how
(25:08):
hard launching is. So it's apretty amazing skill to have.
So I'm sure you'll be verymuch in demand. So where can
we find more about you online?OK, so yeah, so I'm I'm
everywhere. I have my website,which is
csbusinesssupport.co.uk. Um,you can find me on Instagram
(25:31):
under CS business support. Youcan find me on LinkedIn, just,
just as my name, Carol Searle.Um, and then you can also find
me with my business page onFacebook, which is Carol
Searle community and launchstrategist. So amazing. I will
put all those links in theshow notes. Uh, but thank you
so much for joining me, Carol.I've loved our chat. It's been
(25:54):
amazing and I've just lovedyour story and I'm so pleased.
that you've managed to createthis environment for yourself
on your terms. I think it'sabsolutely amazing. And it's
been an absolute pleasure totalk to you. Thank you so much
for having me, Amanda. I'vereally enjoyed it. Really
enjoyed Thank you so much forspending time with me today.
(26:14):
If you have enjoyed thisepisode, please leave a review
and share it with a businessbestie who might also find it
useful. You have beenlistening to the Grow Your
Brand with Amanda podcast. Ifyou want to know more about
how it can help you grow yourbrand, then visit my website,
AmandaGian.co.uk or come andsay hi on Instagram at Coach
AmandaGian. Bye for now.
Welcome to the Grow Your Brandwith Amanda podcast, helping
you become a powerhouse brandwith bullseye messaging,
targeted visibility and scrollstopping content. I'm Amanda
Jane, and I want to helpbusinesses like yours showcase
more of you so you're nothiding behind your logo and
your audience gets to see thereal authentic personality
(00:21):
behind your brand. Myphilosophy is the only way to
be comfortable in thespotlight is to truly believe
you belong there. And thattakes a little bit of work for
most business owners becausewe're not all naturals in
front of the camera ormicrophone. On this podcast,
I'm going to share lots ofactionable tips and advice to
enable you to grow your brandin a way that's comfortable
(00:42):
for you. I'll also befeaturing special guests who
will share their amazingjourneys with us. It's time to
grow your brand with Amanda,so let's get started.
Hello, everyone and welcome tothis podcast, Grow Your Brand
with Amanda. And today I havewith me the lovely Carol
(01:04):
Searle. Hello, Carol. Hi,Amanda. How are you? I'm
brilliant. I'm hot. And thankyou for joining me on the
hottest day of the year sofar, which is going to be very
strange if someone's listeningin the middle of winter. We're
sat here boiling. You are acommunity and launch
strategist and we'll find outa little bit more about that
(01:27):
as we go through the podcast.But before we start, I want to
ask you some questions so Ican get to know you a little
bit better. So do you have afavorite motivational song? I
do. It's got to be theall-time favorite for me is
Black Eyed Peas. I've got afeeling. Oh, I love that song.
Yeah. So bouncy. It's so loud.Well, it's loud when I play
(01:49):
it. But yeah, it's so bouncy.How can you not want to just
get up and do something? Yeah,I don't think that's actually
on the playlist. I thinkyou're the first to mention
that because there's aplaylist that the company says
podcast. So yeah, that isgoing on. I have that is a
really good one. That's a goodone to play when you're
getting ready to go out aswell. And do you have a
motivational quote? I do. It'swhat if I fall, but oh, my
(02:14):
darling, what if you fly? AndI just, it's just so, it's so
relevant, isn't it, havingthat doubt when you're
doubting yourself, oh, Ibetter not do this because I
might fail it, but what if youdon't fail? What if you
actually do amazing at it?just do it and find out. I
love that because most peoplewill lean towards, but what do
(02:37):
I feel about when you throw itback at them and say, oh,
well, actually, what if youfly? Yeah, that is so
beautiful. I love that one.Yeah, I absolutely love that.
And do you read? And if youdo, do you have a favorite
book? I must admit, I don't, Idon't read as much as I used
to. Um, but I am currentlyreading the 10 times rule, um,
(02:59):
by Grant Cardone. Yeah, it'sjust all about what it says in
the title, basically 10 timesinto anything you want to be
doing in your business, 10times it and really, really
push yourself to do even more.And yeah, there's quite a lot
resonating. Yeah, it's a goodbook. I always like to have a
(03:20):
personal development book onthe go and a fiction book on
the go. I like psychologicalthrillers, but I like to have
something you know, personaldevelopment that makes me
think and I read that one, Ithink last year, I really
quite like that. It's it doeskind of gives you a different
angle to step outside yourbusiness and apply some other
principles, which is reallyinteresting. So thank you for
(03:43):
that. So on to you and yourbusiness. So tell me what
inspired you to start it andhow did your personal story
shape your brand? Hey, soyeah, the, the reason why I
started it was I was employed,um, I've had this business for
about eight years now, um, butwhen I was on maternity leave
with my second child, I, toreverse a bit, I was a single
(04:06):
mum with my first child, um,and I struggled so much to be
able to get time off for whenhe's sick or school events or
school holidays. Um, and sowhen it came to having my
second child, I was onmaternity and I just thought,
do you know what, I'm notgoing to go back to begging to
spend time with my family, um,because they're, they're the
(04:26):
reason why I get up and dothings in the first place. So
yeah, so I, I just decidedduring my maternity leave, I'm
not going back. Um, I want towant to do something for
myself, set my own rules, myown boundaries, what, what I
love doing. I googled adminjobs at home and found a
virtual assistant. Ah,excellent. That's good.
(04:49):
Sounded amazing. And yeah,I've just not looked back. So
yeah, started out as a virtualassistant. Um, but the, the
clients that I was workingwith, it, it just kind of
naturally. progressed intolaunching communities because
they were like, can you helpwith this community side of
things? Or I have this summit.Can you help with the launch
(05:09):
of a summit or a mastermind?So, and I just found
absolutely loved that side. Soyes, for the last six years or
so now, I've kind of movedover to the community and the
launching strategist.Fantastic. And I speak to so
many women who have come fromthat place of, I don't wanna
(05:29):
beg for time off, And, youknow, a lot of us are kind of,
not everyone, but with theprimary care for our young
children and we've got to taketime off when they're sick
and, you know, we don't wantto miss assemblies and stuff.
And it's so frustratingbecause you can't be in two
places at once and I hadexactly the same struggles as
you and eventually I did finda fantastic employer that that
(05:53):
let me work flexibly and Ididn't miss a school thing and
I was able to take workflexibly, which was an
absolute game changer for me.But I realised I was so lucky
and not everyone is thatlucky, but I did have
employers that were just like,no, you know, and, and, and,
and I walked subsequently, butI can completely understand
your struggle. But howinteresting that you decided,
(06:15):
well, I'm not going to makethat choice anymore. I'm going
to make my own choice andcreate my own life. And and I
absolutely love that becauseyou can do both. You can work
around your young children.You can create a business.
that suits your family life.And, you know, I say that in
my world. Like sometimes Ihave, well, I have people on
my podcast all the time. Butif there's children in the
(06:36):
background or there's pets,I'm like, no, bring them in.
You do not have to hide thefact that you were a parent in
my world because why should wedo that? You know, we're
parents and children are thereason why we're sat here in
this moment. So I think that'samazing that you did that. And
I love that legacy that yourchildren are watching you
doing what you do. And whenthey're a little bit older and
(06:58):
they understand, you can tellthem, my girls are grown now
and I can ask them, what didyou think when I did this?
What did you think when I didthat? And it all went by in a
blink of an eye, but I don'tregret any of the choices that
I made. But I was one of thelucky ones to find
flexibility. and but youcreated your own, which is
incredible. So was there aturning point in your own
(07:20):
visibility where you realizedthat you had to grow and how
do you feel about beingvisible online or even in real
life? I am actually a very,very shy and introverted
person. I'm very loud, whichkind of gives off this false
impression that I'm reallyconfident, but I'm really not.
(07:41):
So in personal circumstances,I will be, if I'm with
friends, I will be the personstanding at the back as we
walk into a building. I willbe the quiet one in the group.
Other people will be a lotlouder and more talkative than
me. If I'm in, Like familiarsurroundings with with people
that I know, then I come outof my shell and you can't shut
(08:04):
me up. But yeah, with withpeople I don't know, I'm very,
very quiet and very withdrawnand just stay in the
background. And that that'skind of it's kind of been the
same with business as well.And so with all the like the
communities and the thelaunches, Again, I'm behind
the scenes. I'm supporting theclients who are out the front.
(08:25):
But I'm behind the scenes,advising them on what to do
and supporting them behindeverything. But I have
realized you still need thatvisibility. Otherwise, you're
not going to grow. And like Itell my clients, if you don't
have an audience, if peopledon't see you, then who are
you speaking to? And how onearth do you actually expect
(08:49):
to get work? in this onlineworld. So yeah, it's something
I've embraced. It's somethingI'm leaning into. I've become
a lot more visible in theonline world. I do, I do a few
videos, I do a few lives. I'mposting constantly. I'm in
lots of groups, getting myselfout there, newsletters. I've
(09:10):
just done two summits thismonth, online summits this
month, so speaking. Fantastic.Yeah, thank you. Yeah, first
one this year doing summitsand that. But yeah, so it's
not something I love doing,being visible, but it's
something I appreciate if Iwant people to know who I am
and to want to work with me, Ineed to make myself visible.
(09:30):
So the more I push myself, theeasier it is getting. And if
you approach it gradually, andyou get comfortable with one
thing and you push yourselffor the next thing, it does
get easier. And I mean, asummit is no mean feat to do,
so well done you for doingthat. And when people hear
(09:51):
about visibility, they think,oh, I have to stand on a stage
and I have to talk live. Andvisibility has so many layers.
You can do it gradually, likeyou said, you know, showing
off in Facebook groups orshowing up on social media, or
you can do pre-recorded videosthat you can record at your
leisure in the comfort of yourown home and post when you
(10:14):
want to, or you can go liveand make the gradual steps
towards that. And one thingthat I know for sure, the
people that stand on stagestoday, you know, the people
that have mastered visibility,they weren't born knowing
those skills. And they werethey were all insecure one
time or another. And when youdescribed about not being the
(10:35):
loud one, I'm not naturallythe loud one either. And
considering what I do for aliving, you know, people might
think, you know, oh, she'sreally confident or whatever.
But it's a gradual thing. Butmost of the time it's been my
job. So I've had to do it,even though I didn't like it
or maybe I wasn't thatcomfortable. But I've had to
be the person that's had to doit. But visibility can be
(10:57):
having a blog and there's alot of talk at the moment
around showing up facelessbecause there's so many
reasons why women particularlywant to be faceless. and you
can have a faceless visibilityand I think that's really
interesting as well so for mevisibility is showing up how
you feel comfortable and thenmoving on to what that looks
(11:20):
like and strangely for me Ifind live much easier
And chatting like this, I findthis much easier than
recording on my own by myselfto camera and I'm more
comfortable, you can turn iton live, I don't care how many
thousands of people there are,if I'm chatting to someone
(11:40):
else, I'm fine and I kind ofpop up like whack-a-mole and
other people's groups on otherpeople's Instagram, because if
I'm chatting, I'm fine, butdon't. I'm not comfortable
just sat by myself sellingsomething or doing something,
but I'm very, I'm best withother people. But that's what
I've discovered works for me,but doesn't work for everyone.
(12:02):
And it's just so interestingto explore the things that are
useful for you. But well doneyou on doing the summits. So
what did you do? Did you haveto do live or did you do a
pre-record or how did thatlike? Yeah, I did do
pre-recorded for both of thefirst ones. I mean, as you
were just saying there, youkind of build up to things,
(12:23):
don't you? So, yeah, soinitially I just started just
doing posts. Yeah, And thenthen like progressed onto
other things. So yeah, so thistime round, they were both
recorded, pre-recorded. Onewas around growing engaged
communities. And the other waslaunching like a pro. Yeah.
So, but I have set myself thetarget of next time that there
(12:45):
will be a next time. I'm nowgoing to be proactively
looking to speak in othersummits and I'll do those
live. Fantastic. Yeah, buthonestly, it does get easier
and you're on this podcast andit's not scripted and it's not
edited. Thank you, Nick. Andhonestly, the more you do, you
(13:08):
just kind of forget. But itjust fascinates me that, you
know, everyone's individualjourney. So what advice would
you give to someone having hadthat experience on the
summits? What advice would yougive to someone who says, I
hate promoting myself? Theblunt advice I would give is
(13:29):
you need to get over yourself.The nice advice I would give
is that I hear you, I get you,I do understand that, but
unfortunately, if you want theworld to know who you are, if
you want to be growing yourbusiness and have people out
there hearing what you offerand going, yes, that's exactly
(13:49):
what I need, thenunfortunately, you have no
choice but to get there andpromote. But like you say,
Amanda, there's so manydifferent ways of doing that.
So yeah, if you're not comfy,going out there and doing the
whole fanfare of lives andeverything, that's fine. Just
start small and build up to itas I've done. Definitely. And
(14:10):
I think if you're, if you're,if you're not comfortable,
your audience will see it andyou'll make them
uncomfortable. And there'snothing worse, I think, than
seeing someone that'sterrified. and they're doing
it. And if you see someonethat's comfortable and that's
so enthusiastic, you just getswept off in it, don't you?
But also people forget whenyou run your own business, you
(14:32):
have to be your own salesdirector. You have to put
yourself, I mean, you've gotto wear all the hats, but
sales is your number onepriority. And it just, it
amuses me sometimes thatpeople think that, you know,
that there's a choice, butlike you said, kind of got to
get over yourself and, andshow up, you know, doesn't
have to do all bells andwhistles, but you've at least
(14:52):
got to have some sort of apresence. So what's been the
most surprising benefit then?So, so you, you. You showed
up, you were dead brave. Didyou find any benefits? So was
the summit as, did you makeconnections that you wanted to
or was it surprising? Did itwork? Yeah, yeah. So the first
(15:13):
thing I realized when I firststarted showing up before I
was doing the summits as wellwas I didn't die. The world
didn't explode around me likeit He was struck by lightning.
that's exactly. Yeah, I was soterrified of some huge,
horrific things going tohappen by me going live and
being a bit more visible. Butit didn't happen. It's
(15:35):
absolutely fine. Everyone keptdoing what they were doing.
But yeah, the thing I havefound, I do a lot of online
networking as well. Yeah. Sonot face-to-face. I've got too
many family ties to do that.But I do a lot of online
networking. and then thesummits this month as well.
(15:56):
And yeah, absolutely, you getleads. I've had lots of leads
and the leads have led in towork as well with some of the
people. So yeah, absolutely,it's 100% worth doing. If you
can just take that step, it's100% worth doing. And the
interesting thing is thataudience at the time doesn't
know that you don't do thisevery day. They don't know
(16:19):
that you don't show up andgive the talk. And each little
bit gets easier. But I thinkthe minute you get that
validation of inquiries andinquiries. Then you think, ha
ha, this works. And then Ithink that's what fuels it.
But it is just so, sointeresting just to see
everyone else's journey. So doyou have any confidence tricks
(16:41):
or is there anything that youwould use to kind of get
yourself psyched up? No, notreally. I think it is more, I
just had to have a word withmyself, like how badly do you
want this business to work? Doyou want it to work or do you
want to go back to employment?So I think, I think it was
just a, that's brutal, but Ilove it. That's me, I'm
(17:06):
afraid. Anyway, but yeah, Idid. I just had to basically
have that word of myself. It'slike, do you want to do this?
Do you want this to work? Ordo you want it to fail, go
back into employment, not seeyour kids at school and all
that kind of thing? So yeah,that's my confidence.
motivational speech to myself,really, just get over it and
(17:31):
do it. So you're on thispodcast now and you've done
the summits. Do you feel, isthere anything you're leaning
towards mostly? Do you feellike you might do lives on
social media? Do you feel likeyou might do more podcasts?
What do you think you might bemost comfortable doing? Yeah,
I do like these podcasts. Ithink I think I'm probably the
(17:51):
same as you with the live,unless I have somebody that
I'm speaking to on the live. Imean, I see other people, my
business coach, she she doeslots of lives by herself as
well, just talking to heraudience and people like that
I'm like hats off to becausemy brain just. totally empties
and i haven't got a clue iwould say so yeah doing a live
(18:14):
with somebody or doing morepodcasts like this as well is
yes absolutely something i'mi'm really enjoying doing it
and say yeah i would like toget into more of It's it's
brilliant fun because you cantalk about the things that
you're passionate about withsomeone that's genuinely
interested and because it'syour business you could talk
(18:36):
endlessly about it and thatthat's what I love and just
having a genuine chat withsomeone that that's interested
and for me any that I've beenon it's it's just a nice
opportunity to get to knowother people and podcast, I
just think, wow, peopleactually really do listen. And
they don't just listen in theUK. They listen all over the
(18:59):
world. Absolutely. Yeah, I goon my walks every day. And
I've got my ear pods in andI've got like somebody's
podcast that I'm listening toas I go on the walk. Because
yeah, fascinating. And you'rewith like-minded people as
well, aren't you when you'redoing the podcast recording
them, you're with like-mindedpeople. I mean, I sit at home,
I'll talk to my husband or myoldest child or someone else
(19:22):
in my family and they'relistening, but they don't get.
Oh, what you're doing. Theydon't understand it. So yes,
there is chatting, chattinglike this. It's like coming
home. You're just chatting tosomeone who knows it. Somebody
once said to me, and I'm gladthey did, because it may help
me to understand, the reasonyour family don't get it is
(19:45):
because they're not your idealclient. And I thought, oh,
that's so interesting. So Ican go and talk to my family
and say, oh, this hashappened. And I'm doing this.
And while they're going, yeah,that's great. I'm like, you
know, they're totallyunderwhelmed. And I'm like,
but this is amazing. Whereas Ican speak to someone like you
or I can go into my groups andeveryone's like, oh, yeah,
(20:06):
that's great. But as much asthe family want to support
you, they just, they justdon't get it. But it's lovely
that they do. But that wasexplained to me. And I
thought, yeah. i'm so gratefulfor that insight because now i
don't feel so um what's theword let down maybe that's not
(20:27):
the right word um yeah yeahwounded a little bit because
you want them to be to be sortof oh yeah but they're never
ever going to get it becauseThey don't want me to be in
your shoes, but it's onlypeople like us that absolutely
get it. And a lot of peoplefor visibility as well,
they're afraid of beingjudged. And funnily enough, a
lot of people are afraid ofbeing judged by their family
(20:48):
and colleagues and maybestrangers. And I got over that
a long time ago, because Ijust said to myself, you know,
you can scroll on or you don'thave to listen. But the final
thing, you don't pay my bills.So that's it. That's how it
is. So yeah, with friends andfamily, I like you say, like
(21:11):
worried about being judged.Like who does she think she is
doing this, that and theother? And it's like, I'm I'm
here. I think I'm somebody whois earning a living. So as you
say, pay my bills, put food onthe table, look after my
children, um, I don't get yourbusiness. You don't get my
business. Yeah. So, and you'redoing it on your own terms in
(21:32):
your own way and being able tobe with your family exactly
how you wanted to do it. And,and I think it's, it's
brilliant. And I, and I thinknew businesses need to hear
that message. time and timeagain, because I know I was in
that position and I don't eventhink podcast, that makes me
sound really old. I was justabout to say, I don't think
(21:55):
that podcast was around then.And honestly, I don't think it
was. Um, and I would haveloved to have heard more
stories like yours and to makeme think, actually, I don't
that this isn't the only path,you know, you don't have to
find a flexible employer oryou don't have to work part
(22:15):
time or you don't have to giveup your job and to hear
stories like yours. Well,actually, I can create my own
world. I can create my ownflexibility. I would have
hoped to have heard your storyat, you know, certain points
in my life. And it's amazingnow. And I'm so pleased that
other parents can hear it. Andyou know, in our world, we see
lots and lots of those people,but I think it's great that
(22:36):
they can tap into sharedexperiences and lived
experiences and this is whathappens, but it's not easy. It
is hard work. You do have tohave a word with yourself on a
daily basis and do all thethings, but it's very
rewarding and when you put thework hard work in it is
rewarded and it doesn't comeas quickly as you think, but
(22:58):
does come and I think thatthat's what I like most about
it. The growth does come. butyou can't just sort of do two
weeks and think, oh, it's notworking. It's got to come a
little bit more. So tell me alittle bit about your
community and launch strategy.So you do that for clients.
What does that look like?Yeah, okay. So the community
(23:20):
side of it is basicallyhelping them grow, not just
grow the communities, but alsomaking them engaged as well,
because it's kind of twofold.It's one thing getting people
into your online community Butonce they're there and they're
kind of like, okay, what now?You also have to keep them
engaged and give them a reasonto want to stay in the
(23:42):
community as well. So, yeah,so it's supporting, it's one,
helping clients do that in thefirst place, get people in and
also helping them plan whatthey can do within the
community to keep people in.And then I also support them
with the back end of it, notthe tech side, but like the
(24:02):
running, the managing thecommunity as well. So keeping
that engagement going, helpingthem with their lives and any
guest experts that they havecome in, Q&A's and what have
you. And then the launch side.Again, it's, it's helping
clients. So it can beanything. So it can be, it can
be you with your podcast. Itcan be somebody who's got a
(24:23):
new membership or a program ora course, um, a book,
literally anything new thatsomebody wants to offer to the
world. I come in, um, I canhelp you with the, the
planning of the launch or Ican do like the, the launch
management side. So it's, it'sbasically like a project
manager, um, I'll, overseeyour your plans oversee them
(24:46):
all so from the the start ofthe launch all the way through
the launch to the end of itand we'll kind of like analyze
together what went well whatdidn't go well what we could
maybe build on and tweak fornext time round so Yeah, just
the whole shebang. Soundsincredible. Sounds really
useful. And I know how hardengagement is and I know how
(25:08):
hard launching is. So it's apretty amazing skill to have.
So I'm sure you'll be verymuch in demand. So where can
we find more about you online?OK, so yeah, so I'm I'm
everywhere. I have my website,which is
csbusinesssupport.co.uk. Um,you can find me on Instagram
(25:31):
under CS business support. Youcan find me on LinkedIn, just,
just as my name, Carol Searle.Um, and then you can also find
me with my business page onFacebook, which is Carol
Searle community and launchstrategist. So amazing. I will
put all those links in theshow notes. Uh, but thank you
so much for joining me, Carol.I've loved our chat. It's been
(25:54):
amazing and I've just lovedyour story and I'm so pleased.
that you've managed to createthis environment for yourself
on your terms. I think it'sabsolutely amazing. And it's
been an absolute pleasure totalk to you. Thank you so much
for having me, Amanda. I'vereally enjoyed it. Really
enjoyed Thank you so much forspending time with me today.
(26:14):
If you have enjoyed thisepisode, please leave a review
and share it with a businessbestie who might also find it
useful. You have beenlistening to the Grow Your
Brand with Amanda podcast. Ifyou want to know more about
how it can help you grow yourbrand, then visit my website,
AmandaGian.co.uk or come andsay hi on Instagram at Coach
AmandaGian. Bye for now.
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