November 1, 2024 • 36 mins
Welcome to the launch episode of The Bravery Behind The Brand! (formerly Communicate with Confidence). In this episode, I’m thrilled to introduce Suzanne Young, a leadership coach who’s got some powerful insights and stories to share about building confidence, navigating workplace culture, and why being your authentic self is the absolute key to building your personal brand.
With nearly three decades of challenging the status quo, Suzanne opens up about her journey to self-confidence and resilience—and why being real isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s essential for true personal growth and professional impact. We have some amazing stories of our adventures on travelling and eating alone, so if you want some tips, this one’s for you to set yourself a new challenge!
Join us and get inspired by Suzanne’s unique insights and learn how authenticity can be a game-changer for your brand and your career.
NOTES
Find out more about Suzanne on LinkedIn or visit her website
Get your FREE copy of The Ultimate Personal Brand Story Planner For Perfectionists
Join the ‘Bravery Behind The Brand’ Community On Facebook
The ‘Bravery Behind The Brand’ Motivational Song playlist on Spotify
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to The Bravery BehindThe Brand podcast, the podcast
that dives deep into the heartof the stories behind the
brands we encounter on socialmedia every day. On the
surface they make it look soeasy but I guarantee there is
blood, sweat and tears behindall the reels, posts and
beautifully presentedproducts. I'm your host Amanda
Jayne, a personal branding andcommunication coach Originally
(00:24):
from the North of Ireland andnow calling beautiful
Cheshire, England my home. Iwork with business owners
building their confidence andcrafting compelling brand
stories so they feelcomfortable stepping into the
spotlight. Speaking withauthority and selling with
authenticity. I experiencefirst hand the courage that's
required to move beyond ourcomfort zone and these are the
inspirational stories that Iwant to share. I'll also be
(00:45):
doing some solo episodes andsharing useful tips that will
hopefully help you to getmotivated with your own
personal branding andcommunication. So let's get
started. Helloeveryone and welcome to the
first video podcast of TheBravery Behind The Brand and
(01:07):
today I have with me SuzanneYoung and I'm your host Amanda
Jane. Welcome Suzanne. Thanks,Amanda. Thank you for joining
me. This is very exciting. Sobefore we start, I'm going to
ask my first three questions,just so we can get to know you
a little bit better. So do youhave a favourite motivational
song? I do. And I was remindedof this today, which was
(01:31):
really timely. And it's got tobe This Is Me from The Great
Showman. Because the wholelike, I'm bruised, I'm
battered. And actually, if youdon't like me, sod off, this
is me and I'm not I love thatsong. I think it's such an
anthem. Have you seen thevideo where they were
rehearsing it on YouTube? Oh,that is so good. That was the
(01:54):
reminder that was gifted to metoday and I was like, it's
absolutely that song and it'sabsolutely that sentiment.
Yeah, yeah, I love it and Ilove her and I love the movie.
Yeah, fantastic choice. I'mnot sure that's on the
playlist, but it's going onanyway. So do you have a
motivational quote? Yes andthis one you know when you're
(02:16):
like 22 and you've got a paland you and you have lots of
drinks together and you go outtogether and those days oh
yeah back in the day I had alovely pal called Clark and um
this one was one that he cameup with and then we refined
over many nights like in inthe pub but actually it's
(02:36):
always stuck with me so youknow like I'm talking but
nearly 28 years later it'sstill a quote I live by And
it's confidence gives theability to challenge the
status quo. I like that. Andwe both kind of lived by this
for quite a long time. Are youbeing confident? Are you
challenging things? Yeah,that's such an unusual thing
(02:58):
to do at such a young age, butI absolutely love it. Let's
just say we were deep. I don'tthink we were half as deep as
we thought we were. But what athing to do. But yeah, it's
fantastic. And a nicebarometer to check yourself
before you're doing anythingand asking yourself, are you
being confident? No, that'sbrilliant. I love it. That's
fantastic. And this is me justbeing nosy now. Do you read?
(03:20):
And if you do, do you have afavourite book? I am an
absolute bookworm, although Idon't read half as much as I
would like to. And myfavourite book is Jurassic
Park. by Michael Crichton. AndI read it before the film,
before the original film cameout. I'd say to anyone who's
watched the film and reallylikes it to read the book. The
(03:42):
book is different as theyalways are. There's more
dinosaurs. There's much moreabout chaos theory. And one of
the reasons I like MichaelCrichton is because he has
quite a very, well, there's noquite, he has a very
scientific bent on the way hewrites. And my background is
kind of in engineering andscience. But the book is
(04:02):
really intriguing becausethere's so much more going on
than on the films. It's alwaysthe way, isn't it? Always the
way. The book is always betterthan the film. I never quite
got into Jurassic Park. Iwatched it with my family. My
husband adores them. But I'llmention the books to him
because he's on a bit of areading fest at the minute.
Interesting perspective. Booksjust never, they never quite
(04:25):
translate onto film, do they?Well, I remember watching a
film in the cinema and smilingbecause the first 10 minutes
is really like the beginningof the book. And I would say
to your husband, don't botherreading the second book
because the second book iswritten for the people who've
watched the film. It's notpeople who've read the first
book. But without doing toomuch of a spoiler, and I could
(04:45):
honestly talk to you for anhour about this book. The
Dinosaurs Are Escaping TheIsland is the big plot line
that isn't in the film. Right,and they must have heard the
cha-ching then, if that's whyit was written. Oh wow, that's
fantastic. Brilliant. Neverthought of that. You were
(05:06):
right, I am surprised. I didtell you, you'd be surprised.
So on to you and your brand.So tell us about your business
and what or who inspired youto start it. So my business is
Riverley Limited and RiverleyCoaching is really what I'm
going to talk about becauseRiverley Coaching is all about
(05:27):
building confident leaders.And the reason for this is I
left two reasonably high powerjobs through bullying and
burnout and really toxicworkplaces. And I thought,
wow, this isn't, is this me oris this something else? After
I'd left the second one andstepped back and looked and
(05:50):
analysed it, what I realisedwas actually I was surrounded
by people who weren'tconfident and that was
manifesting in some quitetoxic defence traits and
protection traits and got methinking about well actually
if we could help those peoplewho are only acting out
(06:12):
survival and aren't bad peopleIf we could help them be more
confident in the workplace,then everybody in the
workplace benefits. That wasmy inspiration. And I think I
talk about the receptionist inany business, the receptionist
gets the brunt of everybodywalking in, you know, morning
(06:33):
Suzanne, morning Suzanne, hi,you know, they get the feel of
everyone walking in. And Iactually want to make the
receptionist enjoy their job.And the way to do that is to
make sure everybody in theworkplace is happy and culture
starts at the top. Yeah, yeah,absolutely does. Interesting
then, so do you think theywere hiding the lack of
confidence and the toxictraits they were hiding
(06:56):
behind? Yeah, it's a fear ofbeing found out, isn't it?
Yeah, and I don't think any ofthem were intentionally toxic.
I don't think they evenrealised what they were doing.
And actually, because theywere being like that, Things
will come back at them, whichis making the situation worse.
And I think once it starts, itcan perpetuate really quickly.
(07:16):
And once somebody starts beingaggressive, then other people
will be aggressive too. Likeon a very animal level,
they've got to show that theycan have the fight so that the
fight doesn't happen. But thatmeans that you get a
different, you get a cultureshift into this toxic
workplace. And as people feelLess confident and more,
(07:37):
they're making cuts, it couldbe me, I've got a mortgage,
I've got a family, they getanxious and we talk about
imposter syndrome and it's notimposter syndrome, it's about
anxiety and worry and stressand you know, we are animals,
we will protect our, you know,the prime objective is to stay
(07:58):
alive and stay safe and that'snot a conscious decision,
that's a subconscious decisionso it deploys all of the
Things that have kept it safepreviously in the past which
might include things thathappened in the schoolyard and
there you get the very kind oflike almost schoolyard culture
in the workplace with peoplewho earn big salaries being
(08:21):
I'm not speaking to thatperson or I'm not going to
ring them or I'm not helpingthem which isn't where we
should be. Interestingobservation and probably will
resonate with a lot of peoplelistening or watching That
trait, that type of behaviour,and we've probably all worked
in it, we've all seen it, butnever really stopped to think
(08:43):
what was behind it, what wascausing it. And there's a lot
to be said for corporateculture and where it
originates, how it infiltratesthe rest of the business. And
as you mentioned, thereceptionist, how it ripples
out to the whole of theorganisation. I could talk
about that for a long time aswell. Really, really
interesting. Absolutely. Andlike, let's put our hands up.
(09:04):
Who's really good at leaving,how your day went at work, at
work? Absolutely no one.Absolutely no one. And so it
comes, it comes home as well.And then you get conflicts at
home and now you've got nosafe space potentially. And,
you know, so it just ripples.So why not kind of find the
(09:25):
root cause, which is theconfidence and Or at least by
building their confidence yougive them a different set of
skills to be able to protectthemselves with and by doing
that you change the culture.And see things through a
different lens as well.Because not everything is as
you perceive it initially. Soit's so fascinating. I could,
(09:48):
you know, studying it andlearning about it has always
been an interest of mine aswell. So what's been the
biggest challenge that youfaced building your brand and
how did you overcome that? SoI imagine that corporate
culture was a massivechallenge. Well, there's two
things really. One is likeleaving corporate and setting
up my own business andthinking I'm like going to
(10:10):
just Do what I want to dowithout all of those safety
nets that come with corporate.So for example, right now I
need a shoulder operation, butI can't afford to be off sick
for six months. So, you know,not that I think I will be,
but you know, there's thingsto consider and that comes
with a feeling ofresponsibility. But my biggest
(10:34):
challenge was really kind offinding my own space in the
world of business and notgoing Well, actually there's a
coach just like me over thereand there's a hypnotherapist
just like me over there. Andjust recognizing that actually
go back to that song, I am meand I'm unique and I will
appeal to some people and bebrave. One of my biggest
(10:56):
challenges and it happened forquite a long time was I was
playing small. So I waslooking to work with other
business owners and smallbusinesses But actually all
the time I was getting thefeedback that I'm quite
(11:16):
corporate, quite professional,quite process driven. I speak
very easily and comfortably inthe corporate space. And then
someone said to me, so whyaren't you actually doing all
of this like in corporateprimarily rather than as a
secondary? And at that point Iwent, I'm kind of quite bold.
(11:37):
So I decided to invest In acorporate learning and
development forum, uh, where Ieffectively bought speed
dating slots with corporatebuyers. Um, so it was a big
investment. Each slot turnedout to be 350 pounds to have a
25 minute conversation withpeople. Wow. Huge. But the
(12:02):
leads I got from there wereequivalent to 250,000 pounds.
So I knew it was going to be abig investment. But it also
had potentially big returnsand I'm still nurturing those.
Like I would be lying if Isaid I've actually signed
anyone, but I'm nurturing themand I know two of them are
going to sign. And that'sbetween the two of them, I
(12:23):
think worth about 80,000.80,000. Wow. That is, that's
incredible. Big risk, but hugereward and the experience as
well. But it also forced myhand to really, really kind of
Be able to describe theproducts really well. So those
(12:46):
programs, so I've got aconfident leader program, that
program got really kind of, ithad been like a few bullets on
a page up until the pointwhere I signed up for that
event. And then it was like,right, I now need to really
understand the objectives,really understand how I'm
going to deliver it. Trial it,make sure it works so that I
can go confidently and talkabout it. Because under that
(13:09):
umbrella, you've got to bequick. They want results, they
want the outcomes and youcan't afford to waste a
precious second by ditheringover what your deliverables
are going to be. Absolutely. Ihad the four key products,
some that we could design withthe client, some that are, you
(13:30):
just buy this as it is andthis is what I deliver. But I
knew every one of them insideout and then my little cheat
was I had them all in A5 likeclear plastic stands and at
one point someone sat in frontof me and went How are you
remembering all of this? And Iwent, I'm not. And I turned
(13:50):
them around and I had likeliterally bullets written on
the back of every one of them.Is it face to face or did you
do it over Zoom? No, no, thisis face to face. And we went
boring with laughter. And Isaid, that's what you get with
me, right? You get honesty.I'm not going to pretend that
I know all of this stuff. ButI had like bullets, which
were, it was the price. It washow long it would take us to
(14:10):
mobilise that particularprogramme. It was how many
people they could put on theprogramme. And that was it,
there were three bullets. Fairenough, yeah, yeah. But it was
like, I don't want to getthese confused, so I'm just
going to look like I've got itall prepared properly. So that
was your lesson, you decidedto play big and it's paid off?
Play big, yeah. And it ispaying off. I would lie if I
(14:33):
was saying it has. It ispaying off. But it brought me
so many benefits. I got reallycomfortable really quick in
talking about my products. Igot really comfortable really
quick in just being in thatenvironment. I scrubbed my
(14:55):
branding, so I pulled togetherfour new roller banners. And
then I matched my brandingwith my outfits, with my
handouts, all of the thingsthat were just slightly not in
line. You develop somethingand then six months later you
develop a goodie bag or sixmonths after that you do a
(15:16):
banner. I pulled them all backin and made them all
consistent and that was reallygood. Feedback a lot from that
was amazing. That's sointeresting because that
exercise forced you tore-evaluate all your assets
quickly and see through adifferent set of eyes and
think right that needs toalign, that needs to align and
that needs to align. Toughlearning conditions, but
(15:40):
absolutely worth it. And whenyou do, when you are forced to
look through that differentlens, you see the clarity,
don't you? You think, right,that's got to shift, that's
got to shift. So, oh, well,you'll have to keep me posted
when that one goes on. Oh,wow, that's amazing. So my
next question is, if you couldgive yourself a piece of
advice, your younger self,what would that advice be? Oh,
(16:02):
sort your confidence problemout quicker, right? Just get
really comfortable withyourself as soon as you
possibly can. It came reallylate in life for me to get
comfortable in life in myself.And I really wish I'd done it
like 30 years ago. Andif I could learn one lesson,
(16:25):
it's what people think of youis none of your business.
Don't waste any effort intrying to persuade them
differently. They're justgoing to dig their heels in,
just accept who you are and becomfortable with who you are
and then do what's right foryou. Isn't it interesting that
(16:48):
getting that right is the key,I agree with you completely,
is the key to happiness. Oneof the things I try to teach
my children very, very youngis Be comfortable being on
your own. Enjoy your owncompany because if you can
enjoy your own company andfind joy in that, you'll never
feel lonely but neverdestitute lonely because
(17:11):
you'll be happy to occupyyourself, really do whatever.
And I think from that, beingcomfortable in your own skin,
being comfortable being onyour own, comes the
confidence. And I've alwayssaid, for example, I will not
hesitate to go on holiday bymyself. But I remember when I
was in corporate, when I wasin my 20s, I used to travel up
and down the UK. And obviouslythat involved staying in
(17:34):
hotels and overnight stays.And I really did not want to
sit in the restaurant bymyself and eat. It's always
the restaurant, isn't it?Yeah. And I thought, I'm going
to starve or I am going to dieif I live off Kit Kat, Coke
and crisps. So I thought, so Isat and I analysed it and I
thought, right, what's theproblem? So didn't want to sit
in the restaurant eating bymyself. Why? Because
(17:56):
everyone's looking at me. Why?Because you're on your own.
Why? Because you're a female.So then I thought, get a book,
go to the restaurant, have anice meal. And then I thought,
Let them look. Let them wonderwhat I'm doing. What's this
lone woman doing? And then Iturned it on its head and I
thought, I could be anybody,you know, let them wonder what
I was. So that little changein my attitude to myself, then
(18:21):
I got comfortable. I cantravel anywhere. I can go
anywhere. I can eat anywhere.And all of that stemmed from
being comfortable, beingalone, traveling alone, eating
alone. And being comfortablebeing alone. But all of that,
I had to go through thosethings to ask myself the
questions because there wereno prompts. But I think now,
(18:42):
hopefully young people arereceiving the prompts. They're
seeing them on social media,listening to podcasts like
this and asking themselvesthat question. Am I afraid to
eat alone in a restaurant? DoI have the confidence to do as
you say? You know, am Iconfident enough to do XYZ?
And hopefully they will, butyou can save yourself 30 years
of heartache. Yeah,absolutely. And I've done what
(19:05):
you've done. I've been thecorporate traveller and sat on
my own. But what's interestingis for the last two and a half
years, I've been travellingtrans-atlanticly to see a
client and I'm typically inToronto over a weekend. And on
the Saturday night, I thought,I love the fact I do this, I
(19:26):
walk into the theatre and I'llsay, if you've got any tickets
for tonight? And they'll say,oh, we've only got odd ones.
Brilliant, I'm on my own. AndI go to the theatre, but even
better than that, before, so Ido that about half five, six
o'clock, I go back to myapartment. I get dressed up to
go to the theatre and then Iturn up like I'm on a hot
(19:46):
date. And I think, who onearth am I to be doing this?
Who am I to not? Yeah, I lovethat. Why not? In Toronto with
a fantastic opportunity. Andwhy do you need someone else's
permission to go? Why do youneed someone else's permission
(20:07):
to dress up, make an event ofit? You know, and for the
person selling you the ticket.How dare they look at you
strangely? You know, I justthink, wow, good for you. You
know, back to that song. Thisis me. I turn up on my own and
I do these things. But yeah,I'd be the same as you. I
wouldn't hesitate if I reallywanted to go. I would go by
myself. Absolutely. That'samazing. But it's really
(20:29):
interesting because I've goneskiing on my own over there
and I've literally been at thetop of the piece going, how on
earth did I end up with thisperson? This is amazing. But I
think all the things I heldmyself back from because I
wasn't confident, because Iwasn't prepared to just go,
(20:51):
ah, let's see what happens.And that is the process, isn't
it? That unfortunately is thejourney of life and wisdom and
knockbacks and all of that.And, you know, to take that
away itself is a learningjourney, isn't it? But that's
what happens when you age. AndI've done a lot of work on my
(21:13):
confidence. You know, Iwouldn't be doing what I do if
I hadn't have gone through asimilar journey. But I think,
like, having confidence,having grown my confidence, It
has impacted so much of mylife, not just the things that
are obvious like standing upand talking to people and
having a business but like myability to ski after a big
(21:35):
accident. Previously I wouldhave said I'm never skiing
again after the accident I hadbut actually I was like well
do you know what let's justsee what happens. Worst case
scenario is I have a nicewinter holiday and I read a
lot of books. There was nodownside and I think that's
the thing with confidence,right? You stop seeing the
downside, you just see it'seither this opportunity or
(21:58):
that opportunity. Withoutbeing toxic positivity, it's
just like your mind shifts,that lens is different. Yeah,
it's fascinating, isn't it?And I think I will challenge
myself more to do more thingson my own. Make a list. Maybe
we should do that. Add that tothe podcast. What things are
you going to do by yourselffor 2025? 2025? Oh, I like
(22:20):
that. Yeah, I do. Start alist. So on to your audience
then for your business. Howcomfortable are you showing up
online, in person? I think Iknow the answer. I'm fine. I'm
less confident with my writtencopy because, and I think this
(22:46):
is right, I'm quite factualand therefore I put a lot of
like statistics in and it kindof can read a bit like a
thesis when I'm not doingsocial media prompts. But I'm
really comfortable doinglives, which I'm really
surprised at because I just Ijust didn't really think about
(23:06):
them. I just went, oh, I'lljust see what happens very
much. Have you heard me saythat a lot through this
podcast? I'll just see whathappens. I'll just see what
happens. And I found that I'mactually really comfortable
just seeing what happens. Soif you see my social media,
particularly on LinkedIn,which you'll see me most, I
have an OBM who I just recordvideos for and she cuts them
(23:32):
up. When I recorded the firstvideo, I thought I was just
briefing her so I didn't thinkto record them in a way that
that was going to be shared. Ididn't realise that was the
way she was going to do it.She literally was going to
take my video where I wastalking to her about the
different products and whatI've been up to and everything
else. I didn't appreciate whatwas going to go out on social
(23:53):
media and I really don't mind.You know, it's fine. I spent a
long time worrying that havingan accent was going to be a
problem. And then I realised Idon't care because it's all
part of me and if we talkabout my accent you'll realise
it's really blended andconfused and that's fine as
long as people can understandme. Probably your superpower.
(24:14):
I talk to a lot of people thatare bothered about their
accent and I see it as asuperpower. If that's
something that is unique toyou, that is you and your
accent is part of you and it'sdefinitely your superpower.
The reality is this is the wayI speak. I'm not going to turn
up at a corporate trainingevent where I'm doing a
(24:37):
confident leader programme. Sohello. I'm not going to turn
up like that. I'm going toturn up like really like using
my hands and talking the way Inormally talk. Yeah, I'm the
same. I can't quite tone itdown. You know, I'm very,
Chari and that style justdoesn't really go away but I
(24:57):
try to use it to my advantagebut I do find it easy to
engage an audience and getthem to answer my questions
when there's plenty of peoplein the room. But you have to
work to those strengths andthe minute you try to copy
someone else, for me it's gameover. You might see someone in
the industry and you think, ohwow, they're doing really
(25:19):
well, they're brilliant, butthat's because they're them.
But the minute you try to copysomeone's style, their words,
whatever it is they do, thatmisalignment, people can see
it a mile off and you're notcomfortable. And it interested
me then when you said aboutyour OPM, recorded, used stuff
that you were telling her todo, you were probably most
(25:40):
comfortable saying that stuff.And that's probably, you know,
because you weren't aware thatthat was going to be the stuff
that was recorded. So you'redoing the, oh, this is this,
and then you're doing thecorporate thing because it's
being recorded. But that's thekey, you know, that is the
key. Just be yourself. Andit's such a, it's a message
(26:01):
that probably all the coachesin the world drive home to the
clients, be yourself. Wheredid we learn that that wasn't
good enough? Well, absolutely.And who are we to decide it's
not good enough? You know, soI don't put out loads of pity
posts out there, but I willsay, you know, like yesterday
(26:23):
I was really grumpy and Ireally was grumpy because I
found out that I had a problemin my shoulder that needed an
operation and therefore Iwasn't going to ski this
season. And I was propergrumpy. You're allowed to be.
But also I recognise that allthat was happening was I was
having a temper tantrum aboutsomeone telling me I couldn't
ski. Right. So I, I said, youknow, this is, this is, I
(26:46):
recognize this isn't a bigdeal. This is where I am. Um,
but you know, I'm sharing thatbecause this is what's going
on. Um, today I'm fine. It'slike, oh, to my convenience
today. But, but yeah,yesterday I was grumpy. Um,
but I think like going back tobusiness messages. We can
(27:10):
pinball around business going,well, somebody who's got a six
figure business is saying thisis the way to go and doing
reels where you're lip syncingis the way to go or doing
jazzy dances is the way to goor like doing impressions of
Jack Lemmon is the way to go,whatever they say. And you see
(27:31):
people kind of going onto thenext big thing and onto the
next big thing. But actually,that's hard work. It really is
hard work. And the easiestthing to do is actually just
be yourself because you knowwhat feels right, you know
what works for you. I couldhave built my business up a
(27:52):
lot faster if I'd flockedmyself, but I chose not to do
that. And I've seen people whoare, I'm gonna sound awful
now, I don't mean to, butpotentially not as good as I
am, They're doing better thanme because they've been
prepared to be algorithmfriendly. And I say fair play
(28:15):
to them, that was what wascomfortable for them. I'll do
me. Thanks very much. Exactly.You always have to do you. And
I agree with you. I'm not, Idon't quite fit into that
mould. I'm not going to do thewhole flawless look and do the
dances and what have you. AndI have joked before that when
(28:36):
I dance, it will be when I'vemade my first million and I'm
going to hold myself to thatpurpose. There's so many
people that are going to joinme on it. But if that's your
personality and you want toexpress yourself, that's
brilliant. I prefer to usehumour because I'll scroll and
if something stops me then Ilaugh. I will laugh all night.
(28:58):
I will tell everyone aboutthis thing that made me laugh.
And that's a trigger for me.I'll hone in on the brand in
that case. And if I can usethat, if it's something that I
can share or edit for mine, Iwill do that. And I can kind
of go over my own post andthink, oh, yeah, that was
something that made me laugh.But the dancing thing, I don't
(29:18):
get it. I genuinely don't getit. It's just not me. Someone
said to me, oh, it's becauseyou're too corporate. And I'm
like, no, actually, it's justnot me. It feels false. Yeah,
yeah. I need a couple of ginsmaybe on the dance floor and
that's where I will continueto dance. But not in my
lounge. In your pyjamas. In mypyjamas. But I will show
(29:45):
pictures of my dogs runningaround and I will kind of like
show, do walks around the parkand I will kind of do the gym,
post gym selfies where I go,that was really hard work, but
sometimes you've got to pushyourself, you know, I'll do
all of that. Yeah, don't getme doing that nonsense. And
that's behind the scenes,that's behind your scenes and
that's your personality andthe people that want to work
(30:06):
with you will resonate withthose traits and that's for
me, that's connections, that'swhat people are happy to see.
But anything that's forced,definitely don't buy into it,
it just would never work forme. So what's next then for
your brand and where do yousee yourself in a few years
time? You travelling even moreinternational? Yeah, so I am,
(30:29):
I'm going to do a bit morework internationally, I think.
That's on the horizon in thenext 12 months. I'm, I'm
looking to deliver some ofthese. The Confident Leader
programme, I've got two ofthose planned in for next
year. EXEP, Vision Mastery,I've got one of those for next
(30:52):
year, because my time is quitelimited in the next 12 months.
I have an internationalcorporate client who I want to
do work with a lot. So earlierthis month, because it's still
October, I actually spent abit of time planning out my
(31:12):
time and working out what Iwanted to do and then what I
really wanted to do. Becauseif I only want to work three
days a week, I need to berealistic about what I can
deliver. Yeah. So whilst itmight look like I'm not
offering a lot, I'm actuallyoffering quite a lot in terms
of my time because I'm verymuch about hand quality. So
I'd rather not say it again,vlog myself. I want to get
(31:36):
really good quality stuff. Sothat's probably the next 12
months. I am in partnershipwith somebody else to bring in
a business mentoring packageproduct that will launch in
the middle of next year. Andthen Ultimately, I'm moving,
so I've got protected some ofmy coaching products and my
(32:00):
longer term strategy probablyfive years plus is to
franchise them and really makea big impact in the corporate
space. So one of the things Iwant to do in the corporate
space is eradicate the toxicworkplaces. And I can't do
that on my own because there'stoo many of them sadly. But
what I can do It's reallyrefined the two products that
(32:22):
tackle it and then trainpeople up to deliver them.
That sounds like an incredibleplan. A really, really
worthwhile and doable plan andI love that line just to get
rid of the toxic workplacesand Imagine you've got these
(32:43):
standards for businesses wherethey're accredited with
different awards. What alovely accreditation to be
non-toxic or whatever theequivalent would be. Kennedy
would be nice. Yeah that wouldbe something fantastic and I
saw something today which Iwish we'd thought of more.
There's a lady on socialmedia, I think she's really
(33:06):
famous, she has a stammer,stutter and she wants a
similar thing and I thoughtyeah why not, why don't we
have you know that kind ofthing to make life so much
easier for her at school andthings like that and just
listening to you now I'mthinking that would be
non-toxic work. Please,something's up. Yeah, yeah.
(33:28):
You can have your ISO 9001.9001. Yes, it's not non-toxic.
It's Y2001, that's S. Yeah,and the other one, is it
Crystal Clear English? That'sanother one, things like that.
So, I had to start offsomewhere as well, so yeah.
And when you find yourself inNew York and you're going to
see a Broadway show byyourself, expect to see a
(33:51):
selfie. So far I'veseen Hamilton and Harry Potter
The Cursed Child. I'm notholding back on what I see
either. Oh, do you know, mydaughter's dying to see that
and I'm dying to take her. Wejust can't fit it in.
Brilliant. Yeah. Oh, wow. Butinternet, yeah, the world is
(34:13):
literally your oyster. Thereisn't going to be any corner
that is not being visited byyou. So where can we find out
more about you online and yourincredible plans? So the best
place to find me is LinkedIn.Um, I'm Suzanne Young, a
high-performance coach inLinkedIn. Um, I think I'm down
as Suzanne Young and I buildconfident leaders actually.
(34:34):
Um, or sign up to my mailinglist and have a look at what
I'm up to on my website, whichis Riverley, R I V E R L E Y
dot com dot UK. Um, and you'llsee all of the different
things I'm doing becausethere's three different
springs to my, to my businessreally. And that's where the
best place is to find me.Thank you. I will put all the
(34:57):
links to those in the shownotes. Some people will have
them there. Thank you so muchSuzanne. It's been so
fascinating and I'm again justleaning in wanting to hear
more about your incredibleadventures. I also think you
should write a book.Travelling solo, working solo,
(35:18):
whatever you want to call it,because I just think, you
know, so many adventures thatcan be had if you're ready to
go and do it. But thank you somuch for coming on this first
video broadcast for TheBravery Behind The Brand. And
it's been an absolutepleasure. Thanks, Amanda. It's
been lovely talking to you andthanks for the opportunity.
Thank you for listening todayand special thanks to my
(35:39):
fantastic guest, SuzanneYoung, for sharing her
incredible brand story withus. If you want to increase
sales with your brandstrategy, don't miss out on my
free resources. You can findthe links to the podcast notes
as well as the links thatSuzanne mentioned in the
podcast. And if you liked theepisode, please leave a review
and share it with yourfriends. Join me on the next
episode for more incrediblebravery behind the brand
(36:00):
stories. You can follow me onInstagram at CoachAmandaJane
or visit my websitewww.amanagian.co.uk. Bye for
now!
Welcome to The Bravery BehindThe Brand podcast, the podcast
that dives deep into the heartof the stories behind the
brands we encounter on socialmedia every day. On the
surface they make it look soeasy but I guarantee there is
blood, sweat and tears behindall the reels, posts and
beautifully presentedproducts. I'm your host Amanda
Jayne, a personal branding andcommunication coach Originally
(00:24):
from the North of Ireland andnow calling beautiful
Cheshire, England my home. Iwork with business owners
building their confidence andcrafting compelling brand
stories so they feelcomfortable stepping into the
spotlight. Speaking withauthority and selling with
authenticity. I experiencefirst hand the courage that's
required to move beyond ourcomfort zone and these are the
inspirational stories that Iwant to share. I'll also be
(00:45):
doing some solo episodes andsharing useful tips that will
hopefully help you to getmotivated with your own
personal branding andcommunication. So let's get
started. Helloeveryone and welcome to the
first video podcast of TheBravery Behind The Brand and
(01:07):
today I have with me SuzanneYoung and I'm your host Amanda
Jane. Welcome Suzanne. Thanks,Amanda. Thank you for joining
me. This is very exciting. Sobefore we start, I'm going to
ask my first three questions,just so we can get to know you
a little bit better. So do youhave a favourite motivational
song? I do. And I was remindedof this today, which was
(01:31):
really timely. And it's got tobe This Is Me from The Great
Showman. Because the wholelike, I'm bruised, I'm
battered. And actually, if youdon't like me, sod off, this
is me and I'm not I love thatsong. I think it's such an
anthem. Have you seen thevideo where they were
rehearsing it on YouTube? Oh,that is so good. That was the
(01:54):
reminder that was gifted to metoday and I was like, it's
absolutely that song and it'sabsolutely that sentiment.
Yeah, yeah, I love it and Ilove her and I love the movie.
Yeah, fantastic choice. I'mnot sure that's on the
playlist, but it's going onanyway. So do you have a
motivational quote? Yes andthis one you know when you're
(02:16):
like 22 and you've got a paland you and you have lots of
drinks together and you go outtogether and those days oh
yeah back in the day I had alovely pal called Clark and um
this one was one that he cameup with and then we refined
over many nights like in inthe pub but actually it's
(02:36):
always stuck with me so youknow like I'm talking but
nearly 28 years later it'sstill a quote I live by And
it's confidence gives theability to challenge the
status quo. I like that. Andwe both kind of lived by this
for quite a long time. Are youbeing confident? Are you
challenging things? Yeah,that's such an unusual thing
(02:58):
to do at such a young age, butI absolutely love it. Let's
just say we were deep. I don'tthink we were half as deep as
we thought we were. But what athing to do. But yeah, it's
fantastic. And a nicebarometer to check yourself
before you're doing anythingand asking yourself, are you
being confident? No, that'sbrilliant. I love it. That's
fantastic. And this is me justbeing nosy now. Do you read?
(03:20):
And if you do, do you have afavourite book? I am an
absolute bookworm, although Idon't read half as much as I
would like to. And myfavourite book is Jurassic
Park. by Michael Crichton. AndI read it before the film,
before the original film cameout. I'd say to anyone who's
watched the film and reallylikes it to read the book. The
(03:42):
book is different as theyalways are. There's more
dinosaurs. There's much moreabout chaos theory. And one of
the reasons I like MichaelCrichton is because he has
quite a very, well, there's noquite, he has a very
scientific bent on the way hewrites. And my background is
kind of in engineering andscience. But the book is
(04:02):
really intriguing becausethere's so much more going on
than on the films. It's alwaysthe way, isn't it? Always the
way. The book is always betterthan the film. I never quite
got into Jurassic Park. Iwatched it with my family. My
husband adores them. But I'llmention the books to him
because he's on a bit of areading fest at the minute.
Interesting perspective. Booksjust never, they never quite
(04:25):
translate onto film, do they?Well, I remember watching a
film in the cinema and smilingbecause the first 10 minutes
is really like the beginningof the book. And I would say
to your husband, don't botherreading the second book
because the second book iswritten for the people who've
watched the film. It's notpeople who've read the first
book. But without doing toomuch of a spoiler, and I could
(04:45):
honestly talk to you for anhour about this book. The
Dinosaurs Are Escaping TheIsland is the big plot line
that isn't in the film. Right,and they must have heard the
cha-ching then, if that's whyit was written. Oh wow, that's
fantastic. Brilliant. Neverthought of that. You were
(05:06):
right, I am surprised. I didtell you, you'd be surprised.
So on to you and your brand.So tell us about your business
and what or who inspired youto start it. So my business is
Riverley Limited and RiverleyCoaching is really what I'm
going to talk about becauseRiverley Coaching is all about
(05:27):
building confident leaders.And the reason for this is I
left two reasonably high powerjobs through bullying and
burnout and really toxicworkplaces. And I thought,
wow, this isn't, is this me oris this something else? After
I'd left the second one andstepped back and looked and
(05:50):
analysed it, what I realisedwas actually I was surrounded
by people who weren'tconfident and that was
manifesting in some quitetoxic defence traits and
protection traits and got methinking about well actually
if we could help those peoplewho are only acting out
(06:12):
survival and aren't bad peopleIf we could help them be more
confident in the workplace,then everybody in the
workplace benefits. That wasmy inspiration. And I think I
talk about the receptionist inany business, the receptionist
gets the brunt of everybodywalking in, you know, morning
(06:33):
Suzanne, morning Suzanne, hi,you know, they get the feel of
everyone walking in. And Iactually want to make the
receptionist enjoy their job.And the way to do that is to
make sure everybody in theworkplace is happy and culture
starts at the top. Yeah, yeah,absolutely does. Interesting
then, so do you think theywere hiding the lack of
confidence and the toxictraits they were hiding
(06:56):
behind? Yeah, it's a fear ofbeing found out, isn't it?
Yeah, and I don't think any ofthem were intentionally toxic.
I don't think they evenrealised what they were doing.
And actually, because theywere being like that, Things
will come back at them, whichis making the situation worse.
And I think once it starts, itcan perpetuate really quickly.
(07:16):
And once somebody starts beingaggressive, then other people
will be aggressive too. Likeon a very animal level,
they've got to show that theycan have the fight so that the
fight doesn't happen. But thatmeans that you get a
different, you get a cultureshift into this toxic
workplace. And as people feelLess confident and more,
(07:37):
they're making cuts, it couldbe me, I've got a mortgage,
I've got a family, they getanxious and we talk about
imposter syndrome and it's notimposter syndrome, it's about
anxiety and worry and stressand you know, we are animals,
we will protect our, you know,the prime objective is to stay
(07:58):
alive and stay safe and that'snot a conscious decision,
that's a subconscious decisionso it deploys all of the
Things that have kept it safepreviously in the past which
might include things thathappened in the schoolyard and
there you get the very kind oflike almost schoolyard culture
in the workplace with peoplewho earn big salaries being
(08:21):
I'm not speaking to thatperson or I'm not going to
ring them or I'm not helpingthem which isn't where we
should be. Interestingobservation and probably will
resonate with a lot of peoplelistening or watching That
trait, that type of behaviour,and we've probably all worked
in it, we've all seen it, butnever really stopped to think
(08:43):
what was behind it, what wascausing it. And there's a lot
to be said for corporateculture and where it
originates, how it infiltratesthe rest of the business. And
as you mentioned, thereceptionist, how it ripples
out to the whole of theorganisation. I could talk
about that for a long time aswell. Really, really
interesting. Absolutely. Andlike, let's put our hands up.
(09:04):
Who's really good at leaving,how your day went at work, at
work? Absolutely no one.Absolutely no one. And so it
comes, it comes home as well.And then you get conflicts at
home and now you've got nosafe space potentially. And,
you know, so it just ripples.So why not kind of find the
(09:25):
root cause, which is theconfidence and Or at least by
building their confidence yougive them a different set of
skills to be able to protectthemselves with and by doing
that you change the culture.And see things through a
different lens as well.Because not everything is as
you perceive it initially. Soit's so fascinating. I could,
(09:48):
you know, studying it andlearning about it has always
been an interest of mine aswell. So what's been the
biggest challenge that youfaced building your brand and
how did you overcome that? SoI imagine that corporate
culture was a massivechallenge. Well, there's two
things really. One is likeleaving corporate and setting
up my own business andthinking I'm like going to
(10:10):
just Do what I want to dowithout all of those safety
nets that come with corporate.So for example, right now I
need a shoulder operation, butI can't afford to be off sick
for six months. So, you know,not that I think I will be,
but you know, there's thingsto consider and that comes
with a feeling ofresponsibility. But my biggest
(10:34):
challenge was really kind offinding my own space in the
world of business and notgoing Well, actually there's a
coach just like me over thereand there's a hypnotherapist
just like me over there. Andjust recognizing that actually
go back to that song, I am meand I'm unique and I will
appeal to some people and bebrave. One of my biggest
(10:56):
challenges and it happened forquite a long time was I was
playing small. So I waslooking to work with other
business owners and smallbusinesses But actually all
the time I was getting thefeedback that I'm quite
(11:16):
corporate, quite professional,quite process driven. I speak
very easily and comfortably inthe corporate space. And then
someone said to me, so whyaren't you actually doing all
of this like in corporateprimarily rather than as a
secondary? And at that point Iwent, I'm kind of quite bold.
(11:37):
So I decided to invest In acorporate learning and
development forum, uh, where Ieffectively bought speed
dating slots with corporatebuyers. Um, so it was a big
investment. Each slot turnedout to be 350 pounds to have a
25 minute conversation withpeople. Wow. Huge. But the
(12:02):
leads I got from there wereequivalent to 250,000 pounds.
So I knew it was going to be abig investment. But it also
had potentially big returnsand I'm still nurturing those.
Like I would be lying if Isaid I've actually signed
anyone, but I'm nurturing themand I know two of them are
going to sign. And that'sbetween the two of them, I
(12:23):
think worth about 80,000.80,000. Wow. That is, that's
incredible. Big risk, but hugereward and the experience as
well. But it also forced myhand to really, really kind of
Be able to describe theproducts really well. So those
(12:46):
programs, so I've got aconfident leader program, that
program got really kind of, ithad been like a few bullets on
a page up until the pointwhere I signed up for that
event. And then it was like,right, I now need to really
understand the objectives,really understand how I'm
going to deliver it. Trial it,make sure it works so that I
can go confidently and talkabout it. Because under that
(13:09):
umbrella, you've got to bequick. They want results, they
want the outcomes and youcan't afford to waste a
precious second by ditheringover what your deliverables
are going to be. Absolutely. Ihad the four key products,
some that we could design withthe client, some that are, you
(13:30):
just buy this as it is andthis is what I deliver. But I
knew every one of them insideout and then my little cheat
was I had them all in A5 likeclear plastic stands and at
one point someone sat in frontof me and went How are you
remembering all of this? And Iwent, I'm not. And I turned
(13:50):
them around and I had likeliterally bullets written on
the back of every one of them.Is it face to face or did you
do it over Zoom? No, no, thisis face to face. And we went
boring with laughter. And Isaid, that's what you get with
me, right? You get honesty.I'm not going to pretend that
I know all of this stuff. ButI had like bullets, which
were, it was the price. It washow long it would take us to
(14:10):
mobilise that particularprogramme. It was how many
people they could put on theprogramme. And that was it,
there were three bullets. Fairenough, yeah, yeah. But it was
like, I don't want to getthese confused, so I'm just
going to look like I've got itall prepared properly. So that
was your lesson, you decidedto play big and it's paid off?
Play big, yeah. And it ispaying off. I would lie if I
(14:33):
was saying it has. It ispaying off. But it brought me
so many benefits. I got reallycomfortable really quick in
talking about my products. Igot really comfortable really
quick in just being in thatenvironment. I scrubbed my
(14:55):
branding, so I pulled togetherfour new roller banners. And
then I matched my brandingwith my outfits, with my
handouts, all of the thingsthat were just slightly not in
line. You develop somethingand then six months later you
develop a goodie bag or sixmonths after that you do a
(15:16):
banner. I pulled them all backin and made them all
consistent and that was reallygood. Feedback a lot from that
was amazing. That's sointeresting because that
exercise forced you tore-evaluate all your assets
quickly and see through adifferent set of eyes and
think right that needs toalign, that needs to align and
that needs to align. Toughlearning conditions, but
(15:40):
absolutely worth it. And whenyou do, when you are forced to
look through that differentlens, you see the clarity,
don't you? You think, right,that's got to shift, that's
got to shift. So, oh, well,you'll have to keep me posted
when that one goes on. Oh,wow, that's amazing. So my
next question is, if you couldgive yourself a piece of
advice, your younger self,what would that advice be? Oh,
(16:02):
sort your confidence problemout quicker, right? Just get
really comfortable withyourself as soon as you
possibly can. It came reallylate in life for me to get
comfortable in life in myself.And I really wish I'd done it
like 30 years ago. Andif I could learn one lesson,
(16:25):
it's what people think of youis none of your business.
Don't waste any effort intrying to persuade them
differently. They're justgoing to dig their heels in,
just accept who you are and becomfortable with who you are
and then do what's right foryou. Isn't it interesting that
(16:48):
getting that right is the key,I agree with you completely,
is the key to happiness. Oneof the things I try to teach
my children very, very youngis Be comfortable being on
your own. Enjoy your owncompany because if you can
enjoy your own company andfind joy in that, you'll never
feel lonely but neverdestitute lonely because
(17:11):
you'll be happy to occupyyourself, really do whatever.
And I think from that, beingcomfortable in your own skin,
being comfortable being onyour own, comes the
confidence. And I've alwayssaid, for example, I will not
hesitate to go on holiday bymyself. But I remember when I
was in corporate, when I wasin my 20s, I used to travel up
and down the UK. And obviouslythat involved staying in
(17:34):
hotels and overnight stays.And I really did not want to
sit in the restaurant bymyself and eat. It's always
the restaurant, isn't it?Yeah. And I thought, I'm going
to starve or I am going to dieif I live off Kit Kat, Coke
and crisps. So I thought, so Isat and I analysed it and I
thought, right, what's theproblem? So didn't want to sit
in the restaurant eating bymyself. Why? Because
(17:56):
everyone's looking at me. Why?Because you're on your own.
Why? Because you're a female.So then I thought, get a book,
go to the restaurant, have anice meal. And then I thought,
Let them look. Let them wonderwhat I'm doing. What's this
lone woman doing? And then Iturned it on its head and I
thought, I could be anybody,you know, let them wonder what
I was. So that little changein my attitude to myself, then
(18:21):
I got comfortable. I cantravel anywhere. I can go
anywhere. I can eat anywhere.And all of that stemmed from
being comfortable, beingalone, traveling alone, eating
alone. And being comfortablebeing alone. But all of that,
I had to go through thosethings to ask myself the
questions because there wereno prompts. But I think now,
(18:42):
hopefully young people arereceiving the prompts. They're
seeing them on social media,listening to podcasts like
this and asking themselvesthat question. Am I afraid to
eat alone in a restaurant? DoI have the confidence to do as
you say? You know, am Iconfident enough to do XYZ?
And hopefully they will, butyou can save yourself 30 years
of heartache. Yeah,absolutely. And I've done what
(19:05):
you've done. I've been thecorporate traveller and sat on
my own. But what's interestingis for the last two and a half
years, I've been travellingtrans-atlanticly to see a
client and I'm typically inToronto over a weekend. And on
the Saturday night, I thought,I love the fact I do this, I
(19:26):
walk into the theatre and I'llsay, if you've got any tickets
for tonight? And they'll say,oh, we've only got odd ones.
Brilliant, I'm on my own. AndI go to the theatre, but even
better than that, before, so Ido that about half five, six
o'clock, I go back to myapartment. I get dressed up to
go to the theatre and then Iturn up like I'm on a hot
(19:46):
date. And I think, who onearth am I to be doing this?
Who am I to not? Yeah, I lovethat. Why not? In Toronto with
a fantastic opportunity. Andwhy do you need someone else's
permission to go? Why do youneed someone else's permission
(20:07):
to dress up, make an event ofit? You know, and for the
person selling you the ticket.How dare they look at you
strangely? You know, I justthink, wow, good for you. You
know, back to that song. Thisis me. I turn up on my own and
I do these things. But yeah,I'd be the same as you. I
wouldn't hesitate if I reallywanted to go. I would go by
myself. Absolutely. That'samazing. But it's really
(20:29):
interesting because I've goneskiing on my own over there
and I've literally been at thetop of the piece going, how on
earth did I end up with thisperson? This is amazing. But I
think all the things I heldmyself back from because I
wasn't confident, because Iwasn't prepared to just go,
(20:51):
ah, let's see what happens.And that is the process, isn't
it? That unfortunately is thejourney of life and wisdom and
knockbacks and all of that.And, you know, to take that
away itself is a learningjourney, isn't it? But that's
what happens when you age. AndI've done a lot of work on my
(21:13):
confidence. You know, Iwouldn't be doing what I do if
I hadn't have gone through asimilar journey. But I think,
like, having confidence,having grown my confidence, It
has impacted so much of mylife, not just the things that
are obvious like standing upand talking to people and
having a business but like myability to ski after a big
(21:35):
accident. Previously I wouldhave said I'm never skiing
again after the accident I hadbut actually I was like well
do you know what let's justsee what happens. Worst case
scenario is I have a nicewinter holiday and I read a
lot of books. There was nodownside and I think that's
the thing with confidence,right? You stop seeing the
downside, you just see it'seither this opportunity or
(21:58):
that opportunity. Withoutbeing toxic positivity, it's
just like your mind shifts,that lens is different. Yeah,
it's fascinating, isn't it?And I think I will challenge
myself more to do more thingson my own. Make a list. Maybe
we should do that. Add that tothe podcast. What things are
you going to do by yourselffor 2025? 2025? Oh, I like
(22:20):
that. Yeah, I do. Start alist. So on to your audience
then for your business. Howcomfortable are you showing up
online, in person? I think Iknow the answer. I'm fine. I'm
less confident with my writtencopy because, and I think this
(22:46):
is right, I'm quite factualand therefore I put a lot of
like statistics in and it kindof can read a bit like a
thesis when I'm not doingsocial media prompts. But I'm
really comfortable doinglives, which I'm really
surprised at because I just Ijust didn't really think about
(23:06):
them. I just went, oh, I'lljust see what happens very
much. Have you heard me saythat a lot through this
podcast? I'll just see whathappens. I'll just see what
happens. And I found that I'mactually really comfortable
just seeing what happens. Soif you see my social media,
particularly on LinkedIn,which you'll see me most, I
have an OBM who I just recordvideos for and she cuts them
(23:32):
up. When I recorded the firstvideo, I thought I was just
briefing her so I didn't thinkto record them in a way that
that was going to be shared. Ididn't realise that was the
way she was going to do it.She literally was going to
take my video where I wastalking to her about the
different products and whatI've been up to and everything
else. I didn't appreciate whatwas going to go out on social
(23:53):
media and I really don't mind.You know, it's fine. I spent a
long time worrying that havingan accent was going to be a
problem. And then I realised Idon't care because it's all
part of me and if we talkabout my accent you'll realise
it's really blended andconfused and that's fine as
long as people can understandme. Probably your superpower.
(24:14):
I talk to a lot of people thatare bothered about their
accent and I see it as asuperpower. If that's
something that is unique toyou, that is you and your
accent is part of you and it'sdefinitely your superpower.
The reality is this is the wayI speak. I'm not going to turn
up at a corporate trainingevent where I'm doing a
(24:37):
confident leader programme. Sohello. I'm not going to turn
up like that. I'm going toturn up like really like using
my hands and talking the way Inormally talk. Yeah, I'm the
same. I can't quite tone itdown. You know, I'm very,
Chari and that style justdoesn't really go away but I
(24:57):
try to use it to my advantagebut I do find it easy to
engage an audience and getthem to answer my questions
when there's plenty of peoplein the room. But you have to
work to those strengths andthe minute you try to copy
someone else, for me it's gameover. You might see someone in
the industry and you think, ohwow, they're doing really
(25:19):
well, they're brilliant, butthat's because they're them.
But the minute you try to copysomeone's style, their words,
whatever it is they do, thatmisalignment, people can see
it a mile off and you're notcomfortable. And it interested
me then when you said aboutyour OPM, recorded, used stuff
that you were telling her todo, you were probably most
(25:40):
comfortable saying that stuff.And that's probably, you know,
because you weren't aware thatthat was going to be the stuff
that was recorded. So you'redoing the, oh, this is this,
and then you're doing thecorporate thing because it's
being recorded. But that's thekey, you know, that is the
key. Just be yourself. Andit's such a, it's a message
(26:01):
that probably all the coachesin the world drive home to the
clients, be yourself. Wheredid we learn that that wasn't
good enough? Well, absolutely.And who are we to decide it's
not good enough? You know, soI don't put out loads of pity
posts out there, but I willsay, you know, like yesterday
(26:23):
I was really grumpy and Ireally was grumpy because I
found out that I had a problemin my shoulder that needed an
operation and therefore Iwasn't going to ski this
season. And I was propergrumpy. You're allowed to be.
But also I recognise that allthat was happening was I was
having a temper tantrum aboutsomeone telling me I couldn't
ski. Right. So I, I said, youknow, this is, this is, I
(26:46):
recognize this isn't a bigdeal. This is where I am. Um,
but you know, I'm sharing thatbecause this is what's going
on. Um, today I'm fine. It'slike, oh, to my convenience
today. But, but yeah,yesterday I was grumpy. Um,
but I think like going back tobusiness messages. We can
(27:10):
pinball around business going,well, somebody who's got a six
figure business is saying thisis the way to go and doing
reels where you're lip syncingis the way to go or doing
jazzy dances is the way to goor like doing impressions of
Jack Lemmon is the way to go,whatever they say. And you see
(27:31):
people kind of going onto thenext big thing and onto the
next big thing. But actually,that's hard work. It really is
hard work. And the easiestthing to do is actually just
be yourself because you knowwhat feels right, you know
what works for you. I couldhave built my business up a
(27:52):
lot faster if I'd flockedmyself, but I chose not to do
that. And I've seen people whoare, I'm gonna sound awful
now, I don't mean to, butpotentially not as good as I
am, They're doing better thanme because they've been
prepared to be algorithmfriendly. And I say fair play
(28:15):
to them, that was what wascomfortable for them. I'll do
me. Thanks very much. Exactly.You always have to do you. And
I agree with you. I'm not, Idon't quite fit into that
mould. I'm not going to do thewhole flawless look and do the
dances and what have you. AndI have joked before that when
(28:36):
I dance, it will be when I'vemade my first million and I'm
going to hold myself to thatpurpose. There's so many
people that are going to joinme on it. But if that's your
personality and you want toexpress yourself, that's
brilliant. I prefer to usehumour because I'll scroll and
if something stops me then Ilaugh. I will laugh all night.
(28:58):
I will tell everyone aboutthis thing that made me laugh.
And that's a trigger for me.I'll hone in on the brand in
that case. And if I can usethat, if it's something that I
can share or edit for mine, Iwill do that. And I can kind
of go over my own post andthink, oh, yeah, that was
something that made me laugh.But the dancing thing, I don't
(29:18):
get it. I genuinely don't getit. It's just not me. Someone
said to me, oh, it's becauseyou're too corporate. And I'm
like, no, actually, it's justnot me. It feels false. Yeah,
yeah. I need a couple of ginsmaybe on the dance floor and
that's where I will continueto dance. But not in my
lounge. In your pyjamas. In mypyjamas. But I will show
(29:45):
pictures of my dogs runningaround and I will kind of like
show, do walks around the parkand I will kind of do the gym,
post gym selfies where I go,that was really hard work, but
sometimes you've got to pushyourself, you know, I'll do
all of that. Yeah, don't getme doing that nonsense. And
that's behind the scenes,that's behind your scenes and
that's your personality andthe people that want to work
(30:06):
with you will resonate withthose traits and that's for
me, that's connections, that'swhat people are happy to see.
But anything that's forced,definitely don't buy into it,
it just would never work forme. So what's next then for
your brand and where do yousee yourself in a few years
time? You travelling even moreinternational? Yeah, so I am,
(30:29):
I'm going to do a bit morework internationally, I think.
That's on the horizon in thenext 12 months. I'm, I'm
looking to deliver some ofthese. The Confident Leader
programme, I've got two ofthose planned in for next
year. EXEP, Vision Mastery,I've got one of those for next
(30:52):
year, because my time is quitelimited in the next 12 months.
I have an internationalcorporate client who I want to
do work with a lot. So earlierthis month, because it's still
October, I actually spent abit of time planning out my
(31:12):
time and working out what Iwanted to do and then what I
really wanted to do. Becauseif I only want to work three
days a week, I need to berealistic about what I can
deliver. Yeah. So whilst itmight look like I'm not
offering a lot, I'm actuallyoffering quite a lot in terms
of my time because I'm verymuch about hand quality. So
I'd rather not say it again,vlog myself. I want to get
(31:36):
really good quality stuff. Sothat's probably the next 12
months. I am in partnershipwith somebody else to bring in
a business mentoring packageproduct that will launch in
the middle of next year. Andthen Ultimately, I'm moving,
so I've got protected some ofmy coaching products and my
(32:00):
longer term strategy probablyfive years plus is to
franchise them and really makea big impact in the corporate
space. So one of the things Iwant to do in the corporate
space is eradicate the toxicworkplaces. And I can't do
that on my own because there'stoo many of them sadly. But
what I can do It's reallyrefined the two products that
(32:22):
tackle it and then trainpeople up to deliver them.
That sounds like an incredibleplan. A really, really
worthwhile and doable plan andI love that line just to get
rid of the toxic workplacesand Imagine you've got these
(32:43):
standards for businesses wherethey're accredited with
different awards. What alovely accreditation to be
non-toxic or whatever theequivalent would be. Kennedy
would be nice. Yeah that wouldbe something fantastic and I
saw something today which Iwish we'd thought of more.
There's a lady on socialmedia, I think she's really
(33:06):
famous, she has a stammer,stutter and she wants a
similar thing and I thoughtyeah why not, why don't we
have you know that kind ofthing to make life so much
easier for her at school andthings like that and just
listening to you now I'mthinking that would be
non-toxic work. Please,something's up. Yeah, yeah.
(33:28):
You can have your ISO 9001.9001. Yes, it's not non-toxic.
It's Y2001, that's S. Yeah,and the other one, is it
Crystal Clear English? That'sanother one, things like that.
So, I had to start offsomewhere as well, so yeah.
And when you find yourself inNew York and you're going to
see a Broadway show byyourself, expect to see a
(33:51):
selfie. So far I'veseen Hamilton and Harry Potter
The Cursed Child. I'm notholding back on what I see
either. Oh, do you know, mydaughter's dying to see that
and I'm dying to take her. Wejust can't fit it in.
Brilliant. Yeah. Oh, wow. Butinternet, yeah, the world is
(34:13):
literally your oyster. Thereisn't going to be any corner
that is not being visited byyou. So where can we find out
more about you online and yourincredible plans? So the best
place to find me is LinkedIn.Um, I'm Suzanne Young, a
high-performance coach inLinkedIn. Um, I think I'm down
as Suzanne Young and I buildconfident leaders actually.
(34:34):
Um, or sign up to my mailinglist and have a look at what
I'm up to on my website, whichis Riverley, R I V E R L E Y
dot com dot UK. Um, and you'llsee all of the different
things I'm doing becausethere's three different
springs to my, to my businessreally. And that's where the
best place is to find me.Thank you. I will put all the
(34:57):
links to those in the shownotes. Some people will have
them there. Thank you so muchSuzanne. It's been so
fascinating and I'm again justleaning in wanting to hear
more about your incredibleadventures. I also think you
should write a book.Travelling solo, working solo,
(35:18):
whatever you want to call it,because I just think, you
know, so many adventures thatcan be had if you're ready to
go and do it. But thank you somuch for coming on this first
video broadcast for TheBravery Behind The Brand. And
it's been an absolutepleasure. Thanks, Amanda. It's
been lovely talking to you andthanks for the opportunity.
Thank you for listening todayand special thanks to my
(35:39):
fantastic guest, SuzanneYoung, for sharing her
incredible brand story withus. If you want to increase
sales with your brandstrategy, don't miss out on my
free resources. You can findthe links to the podcast notes
as well as the links thatSuzanne mentioned in the
podcast. And if you liked theepisode, please leave a review
and share it with yourfriends. Join me on the next
episode for more incrediblebravery behind the brand
(36:00):
stories. You can follow me onInstagram at CoachAmandaJane
or visit my websitewww.amanagian.co.uk. Bye for
now!
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