February 20, 2025 • 22 mins
Welcome to the Guy Who Knows a Guy Podcast, recorded live at Podapalooza 15 with your host, Michael Whitehouse. In this episode, Shauna Van Mourik shares her insights on authentic marketing and branding for women coaches and therapists. She explains that authenticity is about being transparent, true, and intentionally you—without the pressure to reveal every personal detail. Learn how to build a brand that resonates with your ideal audience, overcome the "shoulds" in marketing, and create strategies that feel both natural and impactful.
Key Discussion Points:
• The real meaning of authentic branding and why it matters
• How to merge your personal identity with your professional presence
• Overcoming marketing challenges with a genuine, relationship-driven approach
• Strategies to attract dream clients by being your true self
Connect with Shauna:
Visit shaunaleigh.com to get in touch and learn more about her services.
Host Contact Information:
• Connect with Michael Whitehouse: guywhoknowsaguy.com
• Discover Inspiring Summits: summits.fun
Tune in for an engaging conversation that will inspire you to embrace your authenticity in your brand and marketing strategies!
Mentioned in this episode:
JV Connect, December 12-13, 2023
Join us for JV Connect, the dedicated networking event December 12th and 13th, 2023 https://www.jv-connect.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the guy whoknows a guy podcast.
I am your host, Michael Whitehouse,the guy who knows a guy himself.
And we are recording live totape at Potapalooza number 15.
Over the last five years, I've hadthe privilege of meeting and learning
from thousands of entrepreneurs,experts, and awesome people.
And now I leverage that knowledgeto help my clients cut through the
junk and focus on what they need toachieve their goals at our next guest.
(00:26):
Fits along with this because ShaShana van work, did I say that right?
Shauna Van Mork.
You got it.
Shana Van Morwick.
Look at that.
Here's, um, Shauna empowers women coachesand therapists to create positive impact
through authentic branding and marketingstrategies that attract dream clients.
And I was just telling Shauna last week,I ran the Authentic Marketing Summit.
(00:50):
So that is a concept that is very muchnear and dear to my heart, and I'm
looking forward to a conversation about.
Authentic marketing and branding.
So let's start it off there.
What does authentic marketingand branding mean to you?
Well, I love it.
Well, I can start by sayingwhat it doesn't mean to me.
Okay.
Um, and this is a reallyimportant distinction because.
(01:12):
When we're doing our branding, we liketo look at words, brand tone, words,
personality, that sort of thing.
And people like to use these buzzwordslike authentic, but they mean
different things to different people.
I think it's a really importantconcept to understand that.
One word may not be meanthe same thing to everyone.
(01:32):
So for me, and this does not mean thatit's for everyone for me being authentic
does not mean recording myself uglycrying in a closet for some people.
That's the way they rock.
And I'm like, Hey, man, youdo you that's all right.
Uh, but it doesn't look like that for me.
For me, authenticity does not looklike airing out dirty laundry.
(01:57):
For many people who I work with,they choose not to show their
family life, their personal life.
And that's okay.
I do.
So for me, my authentic.
Expression of self includes, guess what?
I'm a mom to three kidsand we are hooligans.
Like I am a child at heart.
So you're going to see me playingLegos, digging in the snow, and
(02:19):
maybe even jumping on a trampoline.
That's just who I am.
And so for me, let's flip the script.
Authenticity is genuinely justbeing me and my favorite self.
I don't say best self purposefully becausethat can be really heavy for a lot of
people and you will never always be yourbest self, but I be my favorite self
(02:41):
and I show up in that way to all of you.
Transparent, honest, authentic,genuine, whatever the heck you,
weird, quirky, fun, making faces.
That's authenticity to me.
And that's what I bring into my marketing.
I like that.
And I think some of the ideas that,um, You don't share everything,
(03:02):
but everything you share is true.
Yes.
And intentional.
Right.
Consider, you know, when you're sittingand talking to a friend, and I think this
is a really important part of marketingand branding is understanding that
marketing isn't a sales tactic, right?
Marketing, if you use it that way,that's called BS rhetoric, right?
(03:24):
That's called bullshit rhetoric.
That's when you're trying to persuadeand coerce, and that feels icky.
We don't want that.
Yes.
Right.
Marketing is meant tobuild a relationship.
So if you're talking to your friend,are you going to tell them what you
did in bed last night with your spouse?
Maybe?
I don't know.
I don't know what your friendshipsare like, but not likely.
(03:46):
So we need to kind of understand Whowe're talking to, who we are, and
make sure that we're bridging thatgap in a way that feels aligned to us
and makes sense for the circumstance.
Yeah, that's, that's good.
And, and, and you're talkingabout, you know, being you and
(04:08):
being your, your favorite self.
I like that concept.
And I, I always say, I, I'm always mebecause I can't keep track of anyone else.
So like the idea of, I'm always,Impressed, not in a good way,
by the people who are like onepersona on stage and then off
stage they're a different person.
Like, how do you keep trackof who you're supposed to be?
(04:28):
Why don't you speak tothe person all the time?
You know what, on that note, somethingthat I used to talk about this all
the time, and this is actually thefirst time in quite a while that
it's been brought up, is I talkedabout this concept of a suitcase.
And people who and specifically inrelation to masking, which is what
I believe you're talking about.
Um, these personas, these masks thatyou wear and people will drag around
(04:52):
this heavy suitcase laden with masks.
You can't go far with that.
It's freaking heavy, right?
You're dragging it around.
You're exhausted.
When you take off that mask, whoyou actually are is not who it
isn't your favorite self typically.
So if you can just friggin ditch thatbriefcase and just come to it as you
(05:15):
are your favorite self It's a lot easierto number one Meet the right people who
jive with what you're doing and numbertwo go far with those people Absolutely.
Yeah People used to ask me who mytarget audience my email list was and
I said I guess it's people who likeme Because at the time I didn't really
have great clarity on what my targetaudience was Business solution was,
(05:39):
but I was running summits and events.
I was building a list and people wouldcome in and some would stay and some
would leave and I was like, well, Iguess the ones who stay, they like what
I write and the ones who leave, theydon't like what I write and I was doing
a super great job converting them.
But I found it worked wellbecause I'd bring them in.
They would like me.
(05:59):
They trust me.
I'd refer affiliate partners.
They would buy fromthose affiliate partners.
Sometimes they buy from me.
Uh, but that was my targetaudience, people who liked me.
And if they didn't like whatI said, well, they can go.
That's why there's threeunsubscribed links on every email.
They can leave any time they want.
And that's a great place to start.
It's a great place to start becausethen you start tapping into who am I?
(06:22):
What do I believe in?
And then starting to ask more, um,business driven questions like, what
am I, what is, what am I trying to do?
Right?
What is the objective here from abusiness strategy point of view?
Right?
What am I trying to sell?
What problem am I trying to solve?
And then for whom and how, right?
(06:44):
All of those questions just kind of, um,are birthed, are blossomed out of it.
But starting from thatplace of who the hell am I?
And do you even like me?
And if you like me, do Icare one way or the other?
And then it starts with themindset work and all that jazz.
But that's about discovering your personalbrand and how you want that personal brand
to seep into your professional brand.
(07:04):
I love it.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's, that's good.
And you know, I like to say thatyour personal brand, they're saying
a lot of people, if all they knowof business is big companies, And so
they have this idea of what a brandshould be in a professional brand.
And, you know, and that's a mix ofhow they should present themselves
for corporate, which is removeanything that could offend anyone.
Cause if you offend yourboss, you lose your job.
(07:25):
Um, plus corporate ends up being alittle bit impersonal cause they have
to cause they're a corporation and theyend up giving away the greatest asset
they have as a sole entrepreneur, whichis they're already a person, you know.
Progressive spends millionsof dollars to create flow.
Geico spends millions ofdollars to create the gecko.
(07:47):
Because they don't have a person,so they have to invent a person.
And all of us solopreneurs,we've already got a person!
That's exactly it, and Ilove the way you put that.
That is so perfect, because truthfully, I,and first of all, I'm going to steal that.
And second of all, I, I, I think that,When you're able to just come, come as
(08:09):
you are, so to speak, it makes every otherdecision in your business a lot easier.
And that's kind of why we do it, right?
We didn't want to be caged in thecorporate life to be shackled to
someone else's sense of what is success.
We wanted to create our own.
(08:30):
We wanted to really develop a lifestylethat made sense for us and our
values and the way we want to live.
You know, I've got sourdough starterssitting on my stove right now.
I'm going to be making some muffins.
Would I be doing that if I wasstuck to a nine to five until,
you know, six o'clock at night?
Probably not.
But I get to because I havebreaks when I want breaks.
(08:52):
It makes a difference.
So tapping into your authentic self,who you are, how you express yourself
is a really great way to create thelife that is perfect for that self.
It's very true.
Yeah.
So you work primarily withwomen coaches and therapists?
Yeah.
I do.
Yes.
And so what are some of theunique challenges they have around
(09:13):
this authentic marketing andhow are you able to help them?
Well, we already addressed one ofthem, and that is this idea of, of,
you know, the corporate mentalitybleeding into their business.
But the other aspect of that is reallythe fact that they are Predominantly
the helpers and being the helper.
And I know this from experiencebeing the helper, you just,
(09:36):
you want to be in service.
You want to do the job.
You want to help the person, butbeing a business owner, right?
Working for yourself, you need toprovide yourself with the people to help.
And that's a wholenother ball game, right?
So while they have immense skill andknowledge in their helper expertise.
(09:59):
They may not have that same skill andknowledge as a business professional.
And so what I find happens is they startwearing all the hats because they need to.
I get it.
You're put into this positionwhere, oh, my goodness, I'm a
solopreneur, a micro business owner.
I need to.
Also be marketer and sales and this andthat and the other and you're overwhelmed
(10:20):
and you're riding the hamster wheeland now you're only serving two people
and you don't even have the time toonboard another person, let alone the
other person standing in line becauseyou weren't marketing effectively in the
first place because you didn't know how.
And that is frustrating.
It's exhausting.
So this is where I see a lot of thesecoaches, therapists, women entrepreneurs
(10:41):
in general, um, who, you know, they have,they have to juggle all these balls.
Right?
Um, the important part of this, andthis is actually something that Nora
Roberts, an author, um, mentionedis, you know, while you're juggling
all these balls, you need to be ableto realize that some of those balls
(11:01):
are glass and some are plastic.
All you need to worry about isnot dropping the glass balls.
Mm hmm.
Right.
It's okay.
Let the plastic balls go.
Eventually, when you're focusing onthose glass ones, the things that
really matter to you, you'll get intoa space where you can maybe have a
part time helper with your marketing,with your branding, with your VA work,
(11:25):
somebody to handle your, your emails,whatever it looks like, whatever would
really create that impact, right?
That plastic ball that'sstarting to turn glass.
That's the one you outsource.
So I would say that to answer yourquestions, those, those coaches and
therapists, they're really jugglingeverything Because they are the
helper trying to be the businessperson and they need to ask for help.
(11:48):
And it can be hard for thehelper to ask for help.
I know that was a convolutedway to answer that question.
But here I am all of memakes a lot of sense.
Makes a lot of sense.
Yeah.
And they're, they're so focusedon and that's challenging.
The helper is they want to help everyoneand so they put themselves last burn
themselves out, try and do everythingand then helping no one because.
(12:12):
They burn themselves out.
Um, now I'm also, I just noticed thebook behind you that says F, yeah, for
a moment I was like, I was trying tofigure out what letter was missing.
I'm like, oh, no, that saysF, there's no letter missing.
Yeah, that says F theshoulds and do the wants.
Yep.
This was actually a gift that my husbandgave me for, uh, for Christmas this year.
(12:33):
I haven't finished it allyet, but it's a great read.
Um, it is by Tricia Huffman, the,and she's a geologist PS geologist.
Freaking love that.
Um, but the, my, my husband knows Ilike these types of books, but the
main reason that he got this for me,I just wanted to his horn for a moment
because it was very well thought out.
Um, this book.
It was not available, like, anywherefor a long time, and this book in
(12:56):
particular, because there were only a fewof them, where the foreword, give me a
moment, where the foreword was actuallysigned, not by the author, by the person
who wrote the foreword, Jason Mraz.
Jason Mraz has a song wherehe says, F in the shoulds.
(13:17):
And so he's gotten the, he'swritten the forward for this.
Now, I don't know how Trisha gothim to write the forward, but I
need to get him to write forwardfor my book when it comes out.
Anyways, this is, it's brilliant.
Uh, Jason's a brilliant musician whoreally taps into that, that feeling of
authenticity and lifestyle and advocatingfor the things that matter most in your
(13:38):
life and really just tapping into the joy.
And of course, Trisha beinga also does the same thing.
Um, So yeah, F the shoulds andjust do whatever the hell you want.
Yeah, yeah, one of the, one of the thingsthat we, we often say in our, in our, uh,
events in my community is don't shouldall, don't should all over yourself.
(13:58):
Yes, I have a friend who saysthe same thing and you're right.
Because all clients will be like,yeah, I know I should have a podcast
or I, but most often it's social media.
I know I should be on Facebook.
I'm like, who said youshould be on Facebook.
And they're like, well,you're on Facebook.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm not you.
Who said you should be on Facebook?
Yeah, I know I should be on Facebook.
(14:18):
I really hate it.
Well, then you probablyshouldn't be on Facebook.
Why would you do something you hate?
What did your boss tell you?
Exactly.
I love that.
And actually that taps into somethingthat I frequently preach almost anywhere
I can go is, uh, people often askme, well, What should I be creating?
And I said, Well, listen, I'm not goingto tell you what you should be creating,
(14:39):
but I'm going to tell you a way to thinkabout what you could create, right?
And this is the way I do it.
Um, I speak in regards to a Venn diagram.
I use my hands as the circles.
I'm a very visual person.
So I tell people to think about what youlove to create, how you love to create it
in the format that you love to create it.
(15:01):
The content, right?
Do you love to write?
Do you love videos?
Do you like talking about what pillars,you know, for lack of a better word,
you know, the content pillars, um,what do you love to talk about and
how do you love to talk about it?
Are you conversational?
Are you professional?
All of that goes into this first bin.
The 2nd, 1 is.
Know your ideal audience.
What do they love to consume?
(15:21):
How do they love to consume it?
In what medium?
In what format?
In what dialogue?
In what tone?
Overlap those.
And that's where you createthat little overlap right there.
If you can find out what exists in thatoverlap, that's where you're going to
find the most joy and the best yieldon whatever you're producing when it
(15:43):
comes to ROI and clients coming in.
Yeah, that's a very powerfulway to think about it.
And, and yeah, the, and of course thething with the shoulds is like the
reason you start your own business.
It's not so you could turnyourself into your own boss.
That's right.
So you can be your own boss,but not that kind of boss.
(16:08):
You gotta just relax into it, beauthentic in how you're showing up in
your brand, but also in your marketingand that includes your strategy.
This is something that I often, get alot of, Um, I don't want to say it's
pushback, but, uh, the objectionswe talk about objections a lot.
Of course, the objections that I get aboutmarketing strategy is this idea that,
oh, no, a strategy is going to cage me.
(16:30):
Um, and I want to kind ofdismiss that as a myth.
Um, and this is why outdated marketingstrategies may feel like a cage, but
if you are progressive thinking, and ifyou understand the way you can optimize
digital marketing, Authentically, andin a way that feels aligned, then you're
(16:50):
going to be able to create a strategythat allows for emotive, intuitive posting
and creation and connection, right?
You're going to create a strategythat keeps yourself aligned with
your foundation and your goal.
Make sure that you're actuallybeing attentive to the details,
your client journey, et cetera, allthose tactical, practical things.
(17:11):
Keeps you posting regularly, consistently.
We know consistency is key.
We hear that all the time,but it also leaves room for
playfulness, creativity, advocacy.
And if you're able to create astrategy like that, now it's freeing.
Now it's intentional.
It allows you to achieve goals that farsurpass monetary gains in your business.
(17:35):
But it also allows you to stepinto your life in a way that's
meaningful and impactful.
And that's where I come from when it comesto creating a marketing strategy that
not only converts, but feels good, too.
Yeah, and I think what's great about thatkind of strategy, you know, systems create
freedom, um, as opposed to limitations,and people don't realize that.
(17:57):
And one thing, you know, I find I havedifferent energy levels, different
days, but I like writing, and I usuallyhave something I want to rant about.
So, because I have a system,I have an email list.
And I've built an audiencewho likes reading my stuff.
So when I'm like, uh, I don'tfeel like working today.
I'm just going to rant about something.
I'm not working.
(18:17):
I'm just ranting and then sending it tomy email list and putting it on LinkedIn.
Um, but that's not work.
That's just writing about stuff.
And then the stress goes away becauselike, well, what if I offend someone?
Cause they're probably not my people.
Now I do always, you know, Iwant to make sure I'm not going
to offend someone by accident.
(18:38):
Cause you know, I said something thewrong way, or I explained it the wrong
way, or I misquoted somebody or whatever.
I don't want to offend someone notbeing me, but if I offend you because
I'm me, and because I have an opinion,that's a you problem, not a me problem.
Especially if you lead with kindness.
This is an integral ruleof my life and business.
(18:59):
Um, I too have a podcast, MarketingRebels, Breaking Business Barriers,
and in my rebellious state, Istill, Maintain this cardinal
rule that you lead with kindness.
So while I say, uh, while I,while I vehemently agree, who
cares if you offend somebody?
I don't mean that from the bigoted sense.
I mean that from the sense that you haveintentionally led with kindness and you
(19:23):
are creating an inclusive and loving spacefor all, but still voicing an opinion
and, and you're not outthere to cause harm.
So like all of those thingsto say, if someone disagrees,
okay, show yourself to the door.
That's okay.
Bye.
Mhm.
Still be okay with it.
Yeah.
Causing that sort of cognitive dissonancewithin people is actually a really great
(19:46):
tool to leverage within your marketing.
But I feel like that would takeus down another whole pathway.
If we don't there, we'vegot like 2 minutes left.
So I'm definitely have to bring you back.
You're on a summit or 6.
Because I do run quite a few of themand I would love to have you there.
Um, but we are out of running out oftime and they're telling us they're
about to shut down the podatorium.
So we got to finish upbefore that is over.
(20:06):
Uh, and you are wrappingup my day of podcasts and.
A great interview to wrap up my day with.
So, Shanna, what is your final thoughtand how can people get in touch with you?
Most gracious.
Uh, my thoughts never end, first of all.
Final thought for now.
For now.
For the, in the moment, livein the moment, be present.
(20:28):
Maybe that is my final thought.
Maybe that is my final thought.
And that's what I'm, the gift I'mgoing to give to you and all of
the viewers here is Be present.
Touch base with yourself and whoyou are and who you want to be, the
goals that you want to accomplish.
And the only way to do that is to reallypause, take a minute, and touch base with
(20:49):
yourself to be present in the moment.
Uh, there's a Jason Mraz song aboutthat too, Be Where Your Feet Are.
Shameless promotion.
It's fabulous.
It's hilarious to watch the music video.
Um, and finally, if you want to reachout to me to say boo, uh, absolutely.
Go to my website.
Go to shaunaleigh.
com.
That's S H A U N A L E I G H dot com.
(21:09):
On there, you're going tofind all of my socials.
Reach out to me.
DM me.
I'm pretty well everywhere.
Um, very intentionally so.
And um, if you say hi, I will say hi back.
I'm not that person who holdsmyself up on a pedestal somewhere.
I'm here.
I'm the people's people and Iwill be like, How's it going?
Let's let's I don't knowtalk about your dog.
(21:29):
I'm here for it.
So absolutely connects awesomeThat's shauna s h a u n a
l e i g h at least half.
Those letters are silent.
That's why I read themall out Um shauna lee.
com.
So great to have you on here andum And thank you and don't go
away because I want to talk toyou about getting you on a summit.
(21:51):
Absolutely.
Sounds fabulous.
Welcome to the guy whoknows a guy podcast.
I am your host, Michael Whitehouse,the guy who knows a guy himself.
And we are recording live totape at Potapalooza number 15.
Over the last five years, I've hadthe privilege of meeting and learning
from thousands of entrepreneurs,experts, and awesome people.
And now I leverage that knowledgeto help my clients cut through the
junk and focus on what they need toachieve their goals at our next guest.
(00:26):
Fits along with this because ShaShana van work, did I say that right?
Shauna Van Mork.
You got it.
Shana Van Morwick.
Look at that.
Here's, um, Shauna empowers women coachesand therapists to create positive impact
through authentic branding and marketingstrategies that attract dream clients.
And I was just telling Shauna last week,I ran the Authentic Marketing Summit.
(00:50):
So that is a concept that is very muchnear and dear to my heart, and I'm
looking forward to a conversation about.
Authentic marketing and branding.
So let's start it off there.
What does authentic marketingand branding mean to you?
Well, I love it.
Well, I can start by sayingwhat it doesn't mean to me.
Okay.
Um, and this is a reallyimportant distinction because.
(01:12):
When we're doing our branding, we liketo look at words, brand tone, words,
personality, that sort of thing.
And people like to use these buzzwordslike authentic, but they mean
different things to different people.
I think it's a really importantconcept to understand that.
One word may not be meanthe same thing to everyone.
(01:32):
So for me, and this does not mean thatit's for everyone for me being authentic
does not mean recording myself uglycrying in a closet for some people.
That's the way they rock.
And I'm like, Hey, man, youdo you that's all right.
Uh, but it doesn't look like that for me.
For me, authenticity does not looklike airing out dirty laundry.
(01:57):
For many people who I work with,they choose not to show their
family life, their personal life.
And that's okay.
I do.
So for me, my authentic.
Expression of self includes, guess what?
I'm a mom to three kidsand we are hooligans.
Like I am a child at heart.
So you're going to see me playingLegos, digging in the snow, and
(02:19):
maybe even jumping on a trampoline.
That's just who I am.
And so for me, let's flip the script.
Authenticity is genuinely justbeing me and my favorite self.
I don't say best self purposefully becausethat can be really heavy for a lot of
people and you will never always be yourbest self, but I be my favorite self
(02:41):
and I show up in that way to all of you.
Transparent, honest, authentic,genuine, whatever the heck you,
weird, quirky, fun, making faces.
That's authenticity to me.
And that's what I bring into my marketing.
I like that.
And I think some of the ideas that,um, You don't share everything,
(03:02):
but everything you share is true.
Yes.
And intentional.
Right.
Consider, you know, when you're sittingand talking to a friend, and I think this
is a really important part of marketingand branding is understanding that
marketing isn't a sales tactic, right?
Marketing, if you use it that way,that's called BS rhetoric, right?
(03:24):
That's called bullshit rhetoric.
That's when you're trying to persuadeand coerce, and that feels icky.
We don't want that.
Yes.
Right.
Marketing is meant tobuild a relationship.
So if you're talking to your friend,are you going to tell them what you
did in bed last night with your spouse?
Maybe?
I don't know.
I don't know what your friendshipsare like, but not likely.
(03:46):
So we need to kind of understand Whowe're talking to, who we are, and
make sure that we're bridging thatgap in a way that feels aligned to us
and makes sense for the circumstance.
Yeah, that's, that's good.
And, and, and you're talkingabout, you know, being you and
(04:08):
being your, your favorite self.
I like that concept.
And I, I always say, I, I'm always mebecause I can't keep track of anyone else.
So like the idea of, I'm always,Impressed, not in a good way,
by the people who are like onepersona on stage and then off
stage they're a different person.
Like, how do you keep trackof who you're supposed to be?
(04:28):
Why don't you speak tothe person all the time?
You know what, on that note, somethingthat I used to talk about this all
the time, and this is actually thefirst time in quite a while that
it's been brought up, is I talkedabout this concept of a suitcase.
And people who and specifically inrelation to masking, which is what
I believe you're talking about.
Um, these personas, these masks thatyou wear and people will drag around
(04:52):
this heavy suitcase laden with masks.
You can't go far with that.
It's freaking heavy, right?
You're dragging it around.
You're exhausted.
When you take off that mask, whoyou actually are is not who it
isn't your favorite self typically.
So if you can just friggin ditch thatbriefcase and just come to it as you
(05:15):
are your favorite self It's a lot easierto number one Meet the right people who
jive with what you're doing and numbertwo go far with those people Absolutely.
Yeah People used to ask me who mytarget audience my email list was and
I said I guess it's people who likeme Because at the time I didn't really
have great clarity on what my targetaudience was Business solution was,
(05:39):
but I was running summits and events.
I was building a list and people wouldcome in and some would stay and some
would leave and I was like, well, Iguess the ones who stay, they like what
I write and the ones who leave, theydon't like what I write and I was doing
a super great job converting them.
But I found it worked wellbecause I'd bring them in.
They would like me.
(05:59):
They trust me.
I'd refer affiliate partners.
They would buy fromthose affiliate partners.
Sometimes they buy from me.
Uh, but that was my targetaudience, people who liked me.
And if they didn't like whatI said, well, they can go.
That's why there's threeunsubscribed links on every email.
They can leave any time they want.
And that's a great place to start.
It's a great place to start becausethen you start tapping into who am I?
(06:22):
What do I believe in?
And then starting to ask more, um,business driven questions like, what
am I, what is, what am I trying to do?
Right?
What is the objective here from abusiness strategy point of view?
Right?
What am I trying to sell?
What problem am I trying to solve?
And then for whom and how, right?
(06:44):
All of those questions just kind of, um,are birthed, are blossomed out of it.
But starting from thatplace of who the hell am I?
And do you even like me?
And if you like me, do Icare one way or the other?
And then it starts with themindset work and all that jazz.
But that's about discovering your personalbrand and how you want that personal brand
to seep into your professional brand.
(07:04):
I love it.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's, that's good.
And you know, I like to say thatyour personal brand, they're saying
a lot of people, if all they knowof business is big companies, And so
they have this idea of what a brandshould be in a professional brand.
And, you know, and that's a mix ofhow they should present themselves
for corporate, which is removeanything that could offend anyone.
Cause if you offend yourboss, you lose your job.
(07:25):
Um, plus corporate ends up being alittle bit impersonal cause they have
to cause they're a corporation and theyend up giving away the greatest asset
they have as a sole entrepreneur, whichis they're already a person, you know.
Progressive spends millionsof dollars to create flow.
Geico spends millions ofdollars to create the gecko.
(07:47):
Because they don't have a person,so they have to invent a person.
And all of us solopreneurs,we've already got a person!
That's exactly it, and Ilove the way you put that.
That is so perfect, because truthfully, I,and first of all, I'm going to steal that.
And second of all, I, I, I think that,When you're able to just come, come as
(08:09):
you are, so to speak, it makes every otherdecision in your business a lot easier.
And that's kind of why we do it, right?
We didn't want to be caged in thecorporate life to be shackled to
someone else's sense of what is success.
We wanted to create our own.
(08:30):
We wanted to really develop a lifestylethat made sense for us and our
values and the way we want to live.
You know, I've got sourdough starterssitting on my stove right now.
I'm going to be making some muffins.
Would I be doing that if I wasstuck to a nine to five until,
you know, six o'clock at night?
Probably not.
But I get to because I havebreaks when I want breaks.
(08:52):
It makes a difference.
So tapping into your authentic self,who you are, how you express yourself
is a really great way to create thelife that is perfect for that self.
It's very true.
Yeah.
So you work primarily withwomen coaches and therapists?
Yeah.
I do.
Yes.
And so what are some of theunique challenges they have around
(09:13):
this authentic marketing andhow are you able to help them?
Well, we already addressed one ofthem, and that is this idea of, of,
you know, the corporate mentalitybleeding into their business.
But the other aspect of that is reallythe fact that they are Predominantly
the helpers and being the helper.
And I know this from experiencebeing the helper, you just,
(09:36):
you want to be in service.
You want to do the job.
You want to help the person, butbeing a business owner, right?
Working for yourself, you need toprovide yourself with the people to help.
And that's a wholenother ball game, right?
So while they have immense skill andknowledge in their helper expertise.
(09:59):
They may not have that same skill andknowledge as a business professional.
And so what I find happens is they startwearing all the hats because they need to.
I get it.
You're put into this positionwhere, oh, my goodness, I'm a
solopreneur, a micro business owner.
I need to.
Also be marketer and sales and this andthat and the other and you're overwhelmed
(10:20):
and you're riding the hamster wheeland now you're only serving two people
and you don't even have the time toonboard another person, let alone the
other person standing in line becauseyou weren't marketing effectively in the
first place because you didn't know how.
And that is frustrating.
It's exhausting.
So this is where I see a lot of thesecoaches, therapists, women entrepreneurs
(10:41):
in general, um, who, you know, they have,they have to juggle all these balls.
Right?
Um, the important part of this, andthis is actually something that Nora
Roberts, an author, um, mentionedis, you know, while you're juggling
all these balls, you need to be ableto realize that some of those balls
(11:01):
are glass and some are plastic.
All you need to worry about isnot dropping the glass balls.
Mm hmm.
Right.
It's okay.
Let the plastic balls go.
Eventually, when you're focusing onthose glass ones, the things that
really matter to you, you'll get intoa space where you can maybe have a
part time helper with your marketing,with your branding, with your VA work,
(11:25):
somebody to handle your, your emails,whatever it looks like, whatever would
really create that impact, right?
That plastic ball that'sstarting to turn glass.
That's the one you outsource.
So I would say that to answer yourquestions, those, those coaches and
therapists, they're really jugglingeverything Because they are the
helper trying to be the businessperson and they need to ask for help.
(11:48):
And it can be hard for thehelper to ask for help.
I know that was a convolutedway to answer that question.
But here I am all of memakes a lot of sense.
Makes a lot of sense.
Yeah.
And they're, they're so focusedon and that's challenging.
The helper is they want to help everyoneand so they put themselves last burn
themselves out, try and do everythingand then helping no one because.
(12:12):
They burn themselves out.
Um, now I'm also, I just noticed thebook behind you that says F, yeah, for
a moment I was like, I was trying tofigure out what letter was missing.
I'm like, oh, no, that saysF, there's no letter missing.
Yeah, that says F theshoulds and do the wants.
Yep.
This was actually a gift that my husbandgave me for, uh, for Christmas this year.
(12:33):
I haven't finished it allyet, but it's a great read.
Um, it is by Tricia Huffman, the,and she's a geologist PS geologist.
Freaking love that.
Um, but the, my, my husband knows Ilike these types of books, but the
main reason that he got this for me,I just wanted to his horn for a moment
because it was very well thought out.
Um, this book.
It was not available, like, anywherefor a long time, and this book in
(12:56):
particular, because there were only a fewof them, where the foreword, give me a
moment, where the foreword was actuallysigned, not by the author, by the person
who wrote the foreword, Jason Mraz.
Jason Mraz has a song wherehe says, F in the shoulds.
(13:17):
And so he's gotten the, he'swritten the forward for this.
Now, I don't know how Trisha gothim to write the forward, but I
need to get him to write forwardfor my book when it comes out.
Anyways, this is, it's brilliant.
Uh, Jason's a brilliant musician whoreally taps into that, that feeling of
authenticity and lifestyle and advocatingfor the things that matter most in your
(13:38):
life and really just tapping into the joy.
And of course, Trisha beinga also does the same thing.
Um, So yeah, F the shoulds andjust do whatever the hell you want.
Yeah, yeah, one of the, one of the thingsthat we, we often say in our, in our, uh,
events in my community is don't shouldall, don't should all over yourself.
(13:58):
Yes, I have a friend who saysthe same thing and you're right.
Because all clients will be like,yeah, I know I should have a podcast
or I, but most often it's social media.
I know I should be on Facebook.
I'm like, who said youshould be on Facebook.
And they're like, well,you're on Facebook.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm not you.
Who said you should be on Facebook?
Yeah, I know I should be on Facebook.
(14:18):
I really hate it.
Well, then you probablyshouldn't be on Facebook.
Why would you do something you hate?
What did your boss tell you?
Exactly.
I love that.
And actually that taps into somethingthat I frequently preach almost anywhere
I can go is, uh, people often askme, well, What should I be creating?
And I said, Well, listen, I'm not goingto tell you what you should be creating,
(14:39):
but I'm going to tell you a way to thinkabout what you could create, right?
And this is the way I do it.
Um, I speak in regards to a Venn diagram.
I use my hands as the circles.
I'm a very visual person.
So I tell people to think about what youlove to create, how you love to create it
in the format that you love to create it.
(15:01):
The content, right?
Do you love to write?
Do you love videos?
Do you like talking about what pillars,you know, for lack of a better word,
you know, the content pillars, um,what do you love to talk about and
how do you love to talk about it?
Are you conversational?
Are you professional?
All of that goes into this first bin.
The 2nd, 1 is.
Know your ideal audience.
What do they love to consume?
(15:21):
How do they love to consume it?
In what medium?
In what format?
In what dialogue?
In what tone?
Overlap those.
And that's where you createthat little overlap right there.
If you can find out what exists in thatoverlap, that's where you're going to
find the most joy and the best yieldon whatever you're producing when it
(15:43):
comes to ROI and clients coming in.
Yeah, that's a very powerfulway to think about it.
And, and yeah, the, and of course thething with the shoulds is like the
reason you start your own business.
It's not so you could turnyourself into your own boss.
That's right.
So you can be your own boss,but not that kind of boss.
(16:08):
You gotta just relax into it, beauthentic in how you're showing up in
your brand, but also in your marketingand that includes your strategy.
This is something that I often, get alot of, Um, I don't want to say it's
pushback, but, uh, the objectionswe talk about objections a lot.
Of course, the objections that I get aboutmarketing strategy is this idea that,
oh, no, a strategy is going to cage me.
(16:30):
Um, and I want to kind ofdismiss that as a myth.
Um, and this is why outdated marketingstrategies may feel like a cage, but
if you are progressive thinking, and ifyou understand the way you can optimize
digital marketing, Authentically, andin a way that feels aligned, then you're
(16:50):
going to be able to create a strategythat allows for emotive, intuitive posting
and creation and connection, right?
You're going to create a strategythat keeps yourself aligned with
your foundation and your goal.
Make sure that you're actuallybeing attentive to the details,
your client journey, et cetera, allthose tactical, practical things.
(17:11):
Keeps you posting regularly, consistently.
We know consistency is key.
We hear that all the time,but it also leaves room for
playfulness, creativity, advocacy.
And if you're able to create astrategy like that, now it's freeing.
Now it's intentional.
It allows you to achieve goals that farsurpass monetary gains in your business.
(17:35):
But it also allows you to stepinto your life in a way that's
meaningful and impactful.
And that's where I come from when it comesto creating a marketing strategy that
not only converts, but feels good, too.
Yeah, and I think what's great about thatkind of strategy, you know, systems create
freedom, um, as opposed to limitations,and people don't realize that.
(17:57):
And one thing, you know, I find I havedifferent energy levels, different
days, but I like writing, and I usuallyhave something I want to rant about.
So, because I have a system,I have an email list.
And I've built an audiencewho likes reading my stuff.
So when I'm like, uh, I don'tfeel like working today.
I'm just going to rant about something.
I'm not working.
(18:17):
I'm just ranting and then sending it tomy email list and putting it on LinkedIn.
Um, but that's not work.
That's just writing about stuff.
And then the stress goes away becauselike, well, what if I offend someone?
Cause they're probably not my people.
Now I do always, you know, Iwant to make sure I'm not going
to offend someone by accident.
(18:38):
Cause you know, I said something thewrong way, or I explained it the wrong
way, or I misquoted somebody or whatever.
I don't want to offend someone notbeing me, but if I offend you because
I'm me, and because I have an opinion,that's a you problem, not a me problem.
Especially if you lead with kindness.
This is an integral ruleof my life and business.
(18:59):
Um, I too have a podcast, MarketingRebels, Breaking Business Barriers,
and in my rebellious state, Istill, Maintain this cardinal
rule that you lead with kindness.
So while I say, uh, while I,while I vehemently agree, who
cares if you offend somebody?
I don't mean that from the bigoted sense.
I mean that from the sense that you haveintentionally led with kindness and you
(19:23):
are creating an inclusive and loving spacefor all, but still voicing an opinion
and, and you're not outthere to cause harm.
So like all of those thingsto say, if someone disagrees,
okay, show yourself to the door.
That's okay.
Bye.
Mhm.
Still be okay with it.
Yeah.
Causing that sort of cognitive dissonancewithin people is actually a really great
(19:46):
tool to leverage within your marketing.
But I feel like that would takeus down another whole pathway.
If we don't there, we'vegot like 2 minutes left.
So I'm definitely have to bring you back.
You're on a summit or 6.
Because I do run quite a few of themand I would love to have you there.
Um, but we are out of running out oftime and they're telling us they're
about to shut down the podatorium.
So we got to finish upbefore that is over.
(20:06):
Uh, and you are wrappingup my day of podcasts and.
A great interview to wrap up my day with.
So, Shanna, what is your final thoughtand how can people get in touch with you?
Most gracious.
Uh, my thoughts never end, first of all.
Final thought for now.
For now.
For the, in the moment, livein the moment, be present.
(20:28):
Maybe that is my final thought.
Maybe that is my final thought.
And that's what I'm, the gift I'mgoing to give to you and all of
the viewers here is Be present.
Touch base with yourself and whoyou are and who you want to be, the
goals that you want to accomplish.
And the only way to do that is to reallypause, take a minute, and touch base with
(20:49):
yourself to be present in the moment.
Uh, there's a Jason Mraz song aboutthat too, Be Where Your Feet Are.
Shameless promotion.
It's fabulous.
It's hilarious to watch the music video.
Um, and finally, if you want to reachout to me to say boo, uh, absolutely.
Go to my website.
Go to shaunaleigh.
com.
That's S H A U N A L E I G H dot com.
(21:09):
On there, you're going tofind all of my socials.
Reach out to me.
DM me.
I'm pretty well everywhere.
Um, very intentionally so.
And um, if you say hi, I will say hi back.
I'm not that person who holdsmyself up on a pedestal somewhere.
I'm here.
I'm the people's people and Iwill be like, How's it going?
Let's let's I don't knowtalk about your dog.
(21:29):
I'm here for it.
So absolutely connects awesomeThat's shauna s h a u n a
l e i g h at least half.
Those letters are silent.
That's why I read themall out Um shauna lee.
com.
So great to have you on here andum And thank you and don't go
away because I want to talk toyou about getting you on a summit.
(21:51):
Absolutely.
Sounds fabulous.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.