December 11, 2025 • 34 mins
Welcome to Wickedly Branded: Marketing, Magic, and The Messy Middle, the podcast where real conversations meet real strategies. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother of brand clarity at Wickedly Branded. With over 25 years of experience, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs awaken their brand magic, attract the right people, and build businesses that light them up.
In Part 2 of this powerful conversation with TEDx coach and copywriter Cathlyn Melvin, we explore what it really takes to build a brand that supports your energy, clarifies your message, and amplifies your impact. From releasing old patterns of overworking to structuring a business that honors neurodivergent needs, Cathlyn shares the real-life systems, boundaries, and mindset shifts that create sustainable visibility.
Three Key Marketing Topics Discussed:
1. Building a Business That Works With Your Brain, Not Against It: This conversation highlights why clarity and energy-conscious systems are essential for long-term marketing consistency.
2. Creating a Power Idea That Simplifies All Your Marketing: We explore how a single core idea becomes the root of all messaging, from content pillars to blog posts to email sequences.
3. Visibility, Courage, and Showing Up When It Feels Scary: Cathlyn opens up about the emotional side of visibility, from creating a separate Facebook account early on to navigating the discomfort of sharing personally with people you actually know.
Follow Cathlyn:
Cathlyn | LinkedIn
RightCat Creative | Instagram
RightCat Creative | Website
Dare to be Wickedly Branded
P.S. Take the first step (will only take you 3 minutes) to awaken your brand magic with our personalized Brand Clarity Quiz
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:11):
Welcome back to the Wickedly Branded Marketing
podcast and to part two of thisvery powerful and inspiring
conversation.
In our last episode, we laid thegroundwork and shared insights
you won't want to miss, andtoday we're picking up right
where we left off and takingthat conversation deeper,
unpacking the strategies, thestories, and the inspiration
(00:32):
that will help you bring yourbrand boldly to life.
If you haven't listened to partone yet, I recommend starting
there.
The link is in the description.
Uh, so you can follow the fulljourney.
So without further ado, let'sjump back into the conversation.
Beverly (00:47):
So good though.
If you're listening right nowand you're thinking, oh my gosh,
I need this power idea.
I need to create a strongfoundation for my brand.
I would love for you to give usa review and let us know this is
resonating and connecting withyou because I think so many of
us do something we truly love.
We're brilliant.
I know my listeners arebrilliant and they're trying so
(01:08):
hard to make the world a betterplace, Cathlyn.
And they want to magnify theirimpact by having a strong brand
and marketing, also the toolslike a TEDx talk and how that
can magnify them, but they don'tknow how and they sometimes get
in their own way and there's allthese other external things that
are telling them, don't do itthat way, do this way.
If it's resonating that this hasto all start from a foundational
(01:29):
place so that you can growoutside of that, continue that
ripple effect from it that youtalked about with that
particular example you gave.
It has to be strong enough tohandle all of that.
And the power idea is huge.
We call ours the brand SparkBlueprint.
It's the spark.
It's this thing that starts itall.
We have different language forit, but it's incredibly
(01:50):
important and it servesdifferent purposes, but it's
incredibly important to get thatgolden thread to help you go to
the next step, whatever thatlooks like for you.
And that's why you need someonelike Cathlyn, or you need
somebody like me to help you seeyourself in a different way.
That's the thing is everyone'soh my gosh.
You see what's possible?
Yeah, I see what's possiblebecause I've been doing this for
(02:10):
a long time, but I feel like Ididn't think I deserved to know
what made me special.
I thought that I just did thework.
I just was a marketer and I justdid the work and the work to
speak for itself and all thosethings.
I did not think I had a story totell.
I didn't think that people wouldlisten to my story.
I didn't think that I hadanything unique to offer the
(02:31):
conversation.
But I have a lot to add to theconversation.
This is so important.
I think especially for women andI'm with you.
I mostly work with women, andwomen don't always feel like
they have a place at the table.
They don't always feel like theyhave a perspective that needs to
be shared, that it is new ordifferent.
And I just want you all tolisten, you all have something
really special to add to theconversation.
(02:52):
And it might just take some timewith Cathlyn to make it happen.
Don't live small, live big, Iwant you to live as big as
possible.
Has there been a belief orpattern for you, Cathlyn, that
you've had to release in orderto finally own your brand's
message and what you do?
Cathlyn (03:09):
I had to learn as I was creating this business.
My former business was aphysical in-person service.
We had a team sometimes of up toa co couple dozen educators
working under us, plus designersand all of these other artists
who were on our team.
And my business partnerespecially at the time, I think
(03:32):
she's also gotten better.
Since I left the company, butwas very go, always on work till
your fingers bleed kind ofperson.
And I grew up in a world where,when I was being useful was when
I felt most valuable.
So I have done a lot ofunlearning of the, always
(03:56):
working, always doing, alwaysneeding to be useful.
And in this business, my numberone value is cultivating calm.
I mentioned earlier, I'mautistic and I have a DHD, I
have depression and I havegeneral anxiety.
I have social anxiety.
(04:16):
I'm an introvert.
Like all of these things thatmean that life takes more energy
for me than it might from otherpeople.
And so in order to make thisbusiness work and make this
business sustainable, I neededto learn how to cultivate calm,
how to set that.
(04:36):
As the primary building block ofmy business structure and really
my life.
And that's taken a lot of work.
It's taken, therapy and booksand trial and error.
Fortunately my cat reminds methat it's very nice to just sit
with a purring soft creature.
Yeah.
So he's part of that too.
But yeah, that's probably thebiggest sort of mindset shift.
(05:00):
That I've had to create formyself.
Beverly (05:02):
It resonates strongly with me.
I am also AuDHD, I also havesome anxiety.
I also have some introvertedsituation.
Most people don't believe mewhen I say this, but I really
do.
It's just a challenge.
You wanna see me feel likeanxiety, put me in a networking
event with 200 people.
Like, how do I even insertmyself and I don't wanna just
(05:24):
walk in and be abrupt it's thelack of structure that's really
challenging.
And my husband's gone a coupletimes with me and I call him my
emotional support husbandbecause he's great at small talk
and I'm not.
So he can start the conversationand then I'm good.
Cathlyn (05:38):
That's great.
I need one of those.
Beverly (05:41):
And he always laughs 'cause he is like, Beverly, you
were like on stage in school.
First of all, I had lines and Ihad choreography and I had
practiced.
Cathlyn (05:48):
Told me where to go, what to say when and how to say
it.
Yes,
Beverly (05:54):
And my husband's military, so we do like military
balls and we do all thesedifferent things and I'm like,
you really are challenging myneurodivergency here.
Like, I have to go and do allthese things that I don't wanna
do.
And I have to dress up and itjust feels very performative.
In some ways it's exhausting.
Exhausting, yes.
So there's another question herethat's along the same lines.
What part of your visibilityjourney, like being on TEDx and
(06:16):
doing these things has requiredthe most courage from you?
Cathlyn (06:20):
This might seem silly to some people, but I think it
will resonate with others.
When I first started mybusiness, I created a whole
other Facebook account.
Because I was so afraid ofposting about my business.
And having my friends and familysee it.
It's so common, Cathlyn.
And just looking back, I'm like,come on, Cathlyn.
(06:43):
It would've been fine.
It might've been better.
Who knows?
But I think that at thebeginning, I was so much more
comfortable and I'm honestlystill more comfortable talking
to strangers about my businessor to people that I've met
through business.
Than I am to, Susie Q from myfreshman year of university.
Beverly (07:04):
Yeah.
That's interesting.
That is a common thing though.
People don't want to.
Somehow insert business intotheir personal lives in some
ways.
I am not such a free I'm more sothe last couple of years I have
shared more about what I do withpeople.
But it is, it's a little bit ofa difficult thing to navigate
for sure.
(07:24):
Because you don't wanna be likethat.
We all know the person, thatSwarmy sales person is always
Hey, I do this thing and youshould hire me.
And you're like, whoa.
Cathlyn (07:34):
Like you're coming on real strong.
Beverly (07:36):
I don't wanna ever be that person, so it's like, how
do I do this enough?
Cathlyn (07:39):
I like to be invisible.
I lived my childhood beinginvisible.
I was very fortunate.
Like I wasn't really bullied.
I wasn't because nobody knew whoI was.
Beverly (07:48):
You were doing the speaking and all those things.
That's so interesting.
I
Cathlyn (07:51):
was, and in that world, everyone knew who I was on the
on the debate circuit.
Cause I was going up and gettingtrophies every weekend.
I was a person that you didn'twant in your rounds.
I was competition.
And so in that world.
Everyone knew me and that wasfine because we were all the
same kind of weird.
Yeah.
I wasn't worried about beingjudged.
Beverly (08:11):
Yeah.
That's the nice thing abouttheater and drama is like
everyone's a little odd.
Yeah.
Cathlyn (08:15):
And I'm learning in my years now in online business, I
find my odd people
Beverly (08:21):
I find my people for sure.
Cathlyn (08:23):
Yeah.
And I love that I have been ableto make these connections with
people like you and I are bothin North Carolina.
But there are connections that Ihave with people across the
world who I never would've metYeah.
If I weren't doing this work andwho I super vibe with.
It's really lovely.
Beverly (08:41):
It is lovely internet also allows us to have this kind
of connection no matter whereyou are.
And yes, there is this thing.
One of the things you said inthe application if I remember
this correctly, is that youspoke about needing both
synchronous and asynchronouswork as a neurodivergent
entrepreneur.
Cathlyn (08:58):
Yeah.
Beverly (08:58):
What systems or boundaries have helped you
create a business that actuallyworks with your brain, not
against it?
Cathlyn (09:05):
So I don't take calls on Mondays or Fridays.
Me neither.
I only take calls Tuesdaythrough Thursday.
I don't take calls before 10:30AM because I need transition.
If you're not neurodivergent orif you're not in this sort of
awareness of this worldsomething that neurodivergent
people often struggle with istransitions.
(09:28):
Getting into the shower is atransition because you're going
from dry to wet.
Stuff like that doesn't feel formost people.
What do you mean you're justgetting in the shower?
So waking up in the morning,going from sleeping to waking is
a transition that I need to takeslowly.
Otherwise my anxiety spikes.
(09:48):
So I don't take calls before 1030 Eastern time.
Mostly every once in a whileI'll take like a 10 o'clock
call.
And it's little stuff like that.
I don't know that I would labelthem systems.
But like tactics.
Okay.
That help me.
Make the sustainable for me.
Beverly (10:07):
So one thing that I talk a lot about with my clients
is this idea of chunking andstacking things.
So it feels like it's verysimilar to what you're saying,
but we have some differentterminology and I'm not sure
where I heard the chunking andstacking, I don't know if it was
Atomic Habits or Mel Robbins orsomebody that I heard it from.
And so if you do know, forgiveme, I'm not giving them
(10:27):
attribution for this particularidea, but this idea of chunking
and stacking.
So Mondays is more of anoperational day for me.
I work on my business that day.
So I do have a coaching callthat day, but that's the only
call I have is just coaching.
That's it.
And I might talk to myaccountant that day.
That is all, Tuesdays andThursdays are heavy work days.
(10:48):
If we have a client, we'reworking on stuff, we are working
on those two days.
And that is so I might do someprep on Mondays, but for the
most part it's hard work days.
Wednesday's my recording andmarketing day.
So this is my visibility day, soI know I have to put on makeup.
I have to maybe do my hair alittle bit.
I have to wear one of my colors.
That's my day.
I will show up fully and I'mprepared to show up fully.
(11:11):
And all that.
And then Friday is my just, Iwork.
Maybe my ideation day, or I'mreading a new business book, or
I'm working in a differentcapacity, ideas, creativity,
exploring some of that so that Ican have ideas for clients or
whatever.
Like I need to like, stayattuned to my creativity.
The problem I have with thechunking and stacking, and most
(11:33):
neuro divergent people will tellyou this, is I get in my flow
and I do not wanna stop I amwriting something and it's
brilliant.
And I am like, I have so manyideas and if you jerk me out of
that, I'm gonna be mad.
And I'm lucky.
And it probably works for youtoo with writing.
Creative spaces are really goodspaces for people who are
neurodivergent.
It allows us to like just gowith our thoughts and and have
(11:56):
these abilities to like switchto things and really dive into
things that interest us.
So I'm so lucky, whether it wasme intentionally getting,
finding this or not, that I havefound a place where I excel
because I'm neurodivergent.
Cathlyn (12:11):
Yeah.
And that's really hard becausethe systems aren't.
Set up to guide us toward whatare your skills?
The systems are set up to say,oh, you're a square peg.
Let's shave off your side sothat you fit into the round
hole.
Beverly (12:27):
Yeah.
You're really good at English,so you should do this thing.
Cathlyn (12:30):
Yeah.
My minor in university waswriting, and I remember going up
I spoke to two differentprofessors who I loved and was
like, look, I'm gonna go be anactor, but I know that actors
need survival jobs.
I really wanna do something withwriting.
And this was in the early twothousands the online boom hadn't
(12:51):
really happened yet, but theirresponse was most of our
students either go intojournalism or novels.
That's what they offered.
I had never heard the wordcopywriting until I had been
writing copy for years.
Beverly (13:06):
Interesting.
I didn't think I was a writer.
I wrote a lot.
I write a lot for my work UntilGrammarly said, you wrote
700,000 words last week.
And I was like.
Huh?
Oh I guess I'm a writer.
Oh, this is so good.
Cathlyn (13:20):
I know that we had talked about how those of you in
the audience might be feelingoverwhelmed in your business or
over it.
Beverly (13:27):
Overworked, overwhelmed, and over it.
Yes.
Cathlyn (13:29):
Overworked, overwhelmed, and over it.
Yes.
And I just wanted to share thatwhen I'm creating a power idea
for my clients, one of thethings that ends up being really
powerful, it was for me, it hasbeen for my clients, is that it
makes content creation andconversation so much easier
(13:51):
because.
You can go back to yourmanifesto and you can say, oh,
this phrase, let's make acarousel about this phrase.
Everything is leading back tothat foundation.
And so it simplifies absolutely.
And reduces that overwhelm.
And I just need you to know thatis possible.
Beverly (14:08):
It is totally possible We call it the content map
because you're mapping do thatand we say always, and this is
on my blog and you'll see it ina lot of videos that I talk
about, that you write your blogpost, but your blog post comes
from your six content pillars.
So for me, we always talk abouthow to awaken your brand magic.
We always talk about confidence.
(14:29):
We always talk about activatingyour brand magic, amplifying
your brand magic.
These are all core concepts thatwe talk about.
And in there is some confidenceissues, there's some mindset
issues, that drip into, we startwith our six content pillar,
four to six key ideas you wannabe known for.
And then from there you write ablog post in there.
(14:49):
And I'm gonna get a littlefancy, but then I'm not gonna be
fancy anymore.
Okay.
In there you can do I want thisto be in the awareness side of
the funnel or the conversionside of the funnel.
Or, okay, so you can be a littlemore specific of your sales
funnel and what the contentdirection you wanna go in is.
Then you have that blog post.
Now I'm gonna say this.
We do use AI for some of ourstuff, and this is where I think
it's powerful.
(15:09):
I write and I spend my majorityof my mental energy on that blog
post.
I make it so mine, my ideas, myconcepts, my phrases, my
everything, my stories.
And then once the blog is good,then I throw it into chat and I
say, Hey, I need three emailsfrom this blog.
(15:31):
Give me 10 subject lines foreach one.
Two should be nurturing and oneshould be sales.
And then I let it do some of theheavy lifting and pull all the
stuff out.
And then I do some light editingand it's good to go because the
blog is so strong
Cathlyn (15:43):
and so you,
Beverly (15:44):
And all AI is doing now is taking bits, the best bits
usually.
And giving me a little bit of atwist on it for the nurture
versus sales or whatever.
Cathlyn (15:53):
And then you put your human eyes on it.
AI does not create final drafts.
Absolutely.
Never ever,
Beverly (15:59):
it helps you flesh some things out and then you can go
from there.
Then I take the blog post, dothe same thing, and I say, Hey,
create 10 social media posts.
I want them to cross allelements of the funnel.
I want them to be a variety offormats.
I have very specific prompts.
One should be thought leader,one should be authority
(16:20):
building, one should beinfotainment, make sure it has a
strong CTA I like do that andlet it spit out the 10 and from
the 10, usually five are thebest.
Yeah.
And I tweak those.
And now I build a content vault.
Now I have.
The pillar that goes to theblog, and I'll eventually have
probably, I don't know, ahundred blogs on that content
(16:40):
pillar, right?
Cathlyn (16:41):
Which is so good for SEO by the way, if you're
writing blogs, link them to eachother.
Beverly (16:47):
Yes.
And outside sources, like yougot this statistic from
wherever.
And now I have the major ideas.
I have three blog posts foreach.
So now I have 300 emails.
And then from there I have 500social posts.
Cathlyn (17:01):
Yeah.
Beverly (17:02):
And it's all from just 100 pieces of content.
So in two years you can create avault that you can repurpose
again and again.
You may have to tweak itslightly for some trends and
whatever, but you are nowsimplifying this to the, its
most basic elements.
And you can do that for everypiece now.
Like it's liberating.
That's why I say simplicity isliberating when you do it right?
(17:23):
Because instead of waking up at3:00 AM I'm stressed.
I'm waking up with all theseideas of how to develop it out
and take it further.
And
Cathlyn (17:30):
I'd rather you sleep though honestly, I'd rather you
not wake up at 3:00 AM at all.
Beverly (17:35):
I have a child who's never slept, so it doesn't
really matter.
If you saw as I was talkingabout it, I got like more and
more excited, right?
Now you can do this with it, andyou can do this with it, and you
can do this with it.
Cathlyn (17:44):
And that's what you're gonna feel when you start doing
that work, when you create thatfoundational idea, and then you
can see where those pillars aregonna grow up from it.
And then the branches out fromeach of the pillars and then you
Exactly.
Trees.
Yes.
Beverly (17:59):
And that creates the really deep roots in your brand.
You become known for thosethings.
You have a reputation for thosethings.
You get more referrals for thosethings because people know very
clearly because you've showed upconsistently and persistently
with your brand promise aroundthis main idea that they know,
oh, if TEDx talk, you have totalk to Cathlyn.
Cathlyn (18:20):
Yep.
Beverly (18:21):
Oh, Branding, you need Beverly.
Cathlyn (18:23):
Thought leaders do not become thought leaders by having
a lot to say.
Nope.
They become thought leaders byhaving one incredibly powerful
thing to say.
And saying it over and over andover again.
That's what you need to be knownfor.
The thing that you want to.
Be known for doing Yes.
Beverly (18:40):
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
Are we good?
Cathlyn (18:42):
Okay.
Yes.
The hat, magic hat.
I'm ready.
Beverly (18:45):
In the hat, there are several questions in the hat.
I just let the universe decidewhat we're gonna talk about, but
this is more rapid fire.
So the first question that theuniverse has asked is, what has
been the hardest part aboutbeing an entrepreneur?
Cathlyn (18:58):
The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is the
uncertainty.
I thrive on stability.
I thrive on knowing what's next.
I thrive on routine andentrepreneurship is inherently
changing.
Beverly (19:12):
Chaotic.
I would agree.
What is the worst advice you'veever received?
Cathlyn (19:17):
Oh this is a cop out, but anytime anyone tells me that
this is the capital R right wayto do something.
There's no one right way to doanything.
We all have different brains, weall have different learning
styles, we all have differentcommunication styles, and I just
like.
Roll my eyes automatically ifsomeone is no, this is what you
need to do.
I'm like, no.
(19:37):
Where's my menu of ways to dothis?
I want to pick,
Beverly (19:41):
I want a rainbow of ways.
Cathlyn (19:44):
Yeah.
Beverly (19:44):
If you could wave a magic wand and solve one current
challenge for your business,what would it be?
Cathlyn (19:51):
It would be reaching more of the right people.
My TEDx talk isn't about mybusiness.
It's totally unrelated.
And even though it's totallyunrelated, it very much helped
me gain more of an audience.
But, if I gave a TEDx talk todayand I gave it on the power idea,
that would be so much morepowerful because people would
then know me for that.
(20:11):
Why aren't you doing that?
Several reasons that are toodeep to go into on the podcast
Beverly (20:17):
Okay.
Fair.
What's a decision thatcompletely changed the
trajectory of your business?
Cathlyn (20:22):
Creating my TEDx offer, like when people started asking
me about that, I knew I could doit, but actually creating the
offer and putting it out thereand working with my first TEDx
client, just like we zoomed offin a direction that I was very
happy to follow.
Beverly (20:38):
What's a book, a podcast, or an entrepreneur that
has made a lasting impact onyour entrepreneurial journey?
Cathlyn (20:43):
Book The Slight Edge, the author's name I think is
Jeff Olson.
It's about creating new habits,but he talks about it in a way
that works for my brain asopposed like a lot of habit
building experts, it doesn'twork for my brain, but this one
does.
a podcast that sadly isn'tproducing anymore, but that I
(21:04):
loved and I listened toreligiously, is Go-to Gal Jaclyn
Mellone was the host.
And it was just all differentbusiness expert girls who were
doing cool things.
And I learned something newevery time I listened to it.
Beverly (22:27):
We have a lot of really cool women on our podcast.
You might learn something from.
Cathlyn (22:30):
Yeah.
Beverly (22:30):
What about an entrepreneur?
Has there been somebody who'sdone business that you've
admired or learned somethingfrom?
Cathlyn (22:36):
My business mentor Laura Bel Gray, who she has a
mastermind that I was part of in2023.
I had followed her been on heremail list for a couple of years
before I joined her mastermind,and I learned a lot about being
your own person.
(22:57):
Her whole thing is like gettingpaid to be you.
And I really learned how to stepinto who I am and use that in a
way that propels my businessforward and makes me happy doing
it.
'cause who isn't happy?
Just like existing,
Beverly (23:15):
for sure.
Yeah.
What is one thing you believedabout branding or marketing that
turned out to be complete togwash?
Cathlyn (23:22):
Related to my last answer.
When I was running my previousbusiness, my arts education
business, my business partner,and I believe that we had to be
like, buttoned up and quoteunquote professional.
We started the business when Ithink I was 23 and she was 24.
(23:43):
And we both look a lot youngerthan we are, or people think we
do.
So we would go to theseconferences and people would ask
us if we were interning for thesemester, they would ask us if
our boss was gonna be at thebooth later.
So I think we had a little bitof an inferiority, complex.
Beverly (24:05):
Imposter syndrome.
Cathlyn (24:07):
Yeah.
We're like, we knew we werereally good at what we were
doing.
We knew we were doing it welland we were changing our
industry.
Like we changed the landscape oftheater education.
But we were so often mistakenfor students that I think we
overcompensated.
(24:27):
In our professionalism, in someways where we could have been
more ourselves.
Beverly (24:33):
It makes sense for sure.
Okay.
So I also have a magic wand.
The magic wand helps us gobackward into time and forward
into time.
So when I wave my wand, we'regonna meet 18-year-old Cathlyn.
And I would love for you to giveher a piece of advice that you
so wish you had then that hasserved you well.
Now
Cathlyn (24:53):
I want 18-year-old Cathlyn to know that it's okay
to change that.
It's okay to make a new choice.
Beverly (25:01):
The brave What was the name of your,
Cathlyn (25:04):
the bravely sideways.
Beverly (25:05):
Bravely.
Sideways.
Cathlyn (25:06):
When I was 19, there was a brave leap sideways that I
should have taken.
And I didn't, and it was a lotharder to deal with a few years
later,
Beverly (25:15):
and it might be more than one brave leap.
It might be many brave leapsideways, right?
Cathlyn (25:19):
Oh yeah.
But one from my collegerelationship certainly sticks
with me.
Beverly (25:23):
So if Cathlyn was to see you now that 18-year-old
Cathlyn see where you are rightnow, what would she say about
you?
What would she say?
Cathlyn (25:32):
I think she would be surprised and delighted to know
that I am safe and that I findjoy in so many things so easily.
Beverly (25:45):
It's interesting.
It's like one of my favoritequestions, Cathlyn, because
literally, your body, you werelike, like this deep sense of.
I don't know if it'saccomplishment or awareness or
what it is in every singleperson I ask the question Yeah.
Of how far you've come.
So it's interesting to me when Iwatch people answer that
(26:05):
question, even my editor alwaysloves the question.
She's I cannot wait for them toanswer that question.
This Deep knowing of how faryou've come and trusting of the
things that you've accomplishedand all the things.
So super powerful.
So I get to wave the wand again,and we're gonna go forward.
We're flying forward in decadesand decades.
Cathlyn (26:25):
Ooh.
Beverly (26:26):
Decades and decades.
Decades and decades.
Are we still alive?
That's the whole thing.
We're at your eulogy.
Cathlyn (26:33):
Oh, okay.
Beverly (26:34):
And they're talking about the impact you made in the
world as Cathlyn, but also as abusiness owner.
What are they saying about you?
Cathlyn (26:44):
One thing that they're saying is how many people felt
heard.
How many people felt affirmedand supported and guided.
And then from a larger businessstandpoint, all of the points of
impact that have been createdthrough my clients over the
years, because I really I seemyself as a conduit for impact.
(27:06):
My clients are ideas people, myclients are visionaries.
My clients see the way that theworld should be better and how
we can go after that.
So by working with them on theirpower idea and on their power
talk, whether they give that onthe TEDx stage or a different
high impact stage, it createsthese ripples of impact.
(27:26):
And I imagine, like a map ofthis thing happened and it
traces back To this firstmeeting that Cathlyn had with
this client and this thinghappened and it traces back.
Beverly (27:38):
So I'm gonna bring us back into present day and I'm
gonna ask you like a magicaltip.
I would love for you to definewhat you think it means to be
wickedly branded and how do youshow up as wickedly branded?
Cathlyn (27:52):
When I think about wickedly branded, I think of
Boston, wicked, like where it'san amplifier where you can be
wicked, anything.
And so it's like the most you,the most powerful, the most
clear depending on who you are,maybe it's the most fun or the
most inspiring.
So I think wickedly branded tome means like the amplified
(28:15):
version of you leader of yourbrand.
Beverly (28:18):
I love that.
So how do you show up aswickedly branded in your work,
Cathlyn?
Cathlyn (28:21):
One thing, if you're not watching this video, if
you're just listening to us, youdon't know that I have paintings
of my cats behind me.
So obviously my business isright Cat Creative and I have
four different paintings andthen one that's not, it only has
a background right now, but itwill be a giant painting of my
Cat Tucker.
(28:42):
So one of them is bringingTucker into a lot of my
marketing, like if you end up ata 4 0 4 page on my website,
there's a picture of Tuckerplaying hide and seek.
When you make a request to, geta lead magnet or something,
you're taken to a confirmationpage, it's enjoy this picture of
my cat giving himself a bath.
He just shows up.
(29:02):
And so that's one way that thatI'm wickedly branded,
Beverly (29:06):
My son Zeke is on my 4 0 4 page and he's a baby and I
don't know if you've seen babieshave funny faces and he's going.
It's really cute.
So I love that little clever adedition of like uniqueness and
personalization for somethingthat you are so passionate
about, even on your 4 0 4 page.
I love details like that.
That is, wow, I love that somuch.
Cathlyn (29:25):
Something that people often comment on.
That's part of my branding iswhen you come to join a Zoom
with me and you're in thewaiting room message reminds you
to take a breath.
It's Hey, I'm here.
I'll be right with you.
And I don't remember exactlywhat the wording is, but people
are off and come on and arelike, thank you so much for the,
(29:45):
thank you for that.
That changed the tone of how Iwas feeling coming into a call.
Beverly (29:50):
Powerful.
Cathlyn (29:51):
That links back to the cultivate calm part of my
business.
Beverly (29:55):
Yeah.
So what piece of advice wouldyou give to someone to be more
wickedly branded, do you think?
Cathlyn (30:01):
I think pay attention to the glimmers in your life.
Pay attention to.
What makes you feel yourself?
What makes you light up and leaninto that.
If you are a personal brand, andmost of us as small team leaders
or solopreneurs, we're personalbrands.
(30:23):
People wanna see who you are.
People wanna feel like they knowyou.
We live in a social media worldthere, we have parasocial
relationships with all sorts ofpeople.
And as a business leader, Ithink that's important to lean
into so that people feel likethey know you.
Beverly (30:40):
So good Cathlyn.
So where can our listenersconnect with you and your work
and learn more about you?
Where can they find you?
Cathlyn (30:48):
So one place is at rightcatcreative.com slash
links.
That's where you can find somefreebies and for example,
there's one I mentioned earlier,which is my TEDx Demystified
live info session.
And we're assuming that thisepisode is going to end up in
December.
We'll be just a few weeks outfrom the next one.
(31:09):
So go register for that.
If you have any questions aboutTEDx, that's a great place to
get them answered.
And then if you wanna find me onsocial media, I am active on
Instagram and LinkedIn, and I'malso on Facebook.
You can find me there.
I'm not as regularly active, butI'm there in all three of those
places.
(31:30):
So come join me.
Beverly (31:32):
Cathlyn.
This has been really fun.
Thank you so much for joining metoday and coming on and just
spending time with me and beingvulnerable and sharing.
The thing is with.
Things that are just as soscary, like TEDx and different
things, having guides like youto help them is so incredibly
important.
And the fact that you've done itand you've been through it and
you've survived.
Cathlyn (31:52):
Yeah, I'm here to tell the tale,
Beverly (31:54):
tell the tale.
I think it's super powerful.
I have personally, I told you atthe beginning of the
conversation, I was a littlegreedy about this conversation.
I've, personally learned a lotand maybe assuaged a few fears
in the process.
So thank you so much for sharingyour information, your journey
with us today.
Cathlyn (32:12):
I'm so happy to, thanks for having me.
Beverly (32:15):
To my listeners, this has been an incredible
conversation.
I really hope that today'sepisode helped you think more
about your power idea and howthat can drive so much of what
you do as far as your brand,your messaging, and even the
possibility of a talk one day.
I hope this episode today, maybea little bit of a fire
(32:36):
underneath you and gave you somenew ideas, but most of all,
inspired you to take some actiontoward something new.
Because here's the thing, yourmessage matters.
Your work matters, and the worldneeds to hear what you have to
say.
Marketing is not just aboutvisibility, it's also about
impact.
Cathlyn talked a lot about theimpact and the ripple effects
(32:58):
that we have.
It's about connecting with theright people in a way that feels
completely aligned, completelyhonest and true to you.
So please keep showing up.
Keep sharing your brilliance andkeep making magic in the world.
And hey, if you ever feel stuck,know that you don't have to do
this alone.
Cathlyn can help you.
I can help you.
We are here to help turn yourspark into a wildfire.
(33:19):
But until next time, I want youto dare to be wickedly branded.
Welcome back to the Wickedly Branded Marketing
podcast and to part two of thisvery powerful and inspiring
conversation.
In our last episode, we laid thegroundwork and shared insights
you won't want to miss, andtoday we're picking up right
where we left off and takingthat conversation deeper,
unpacking the strategies, thestories, and the inspiration
(00:32):
that will help you bring yourbrand boldly to life.
If you haven't listened to partone yet, I recommend starting
there.
The link is in the description.
Uh, so you can follow the fulljourney.
So without further ado, let'sjump back into the conversation.
Beverly (00:47):
So good though.
If you're listening right nowand you're thinking, oh my gosh,
I need this power idea.
I need to create a strongfoundation for my brand.
I would love for you to give usa review and let us know this is
resonating and connecting withyou because I think so many of
us do something we truly love.
We're brilliant.
I know my listeners arebrilliant and they're trying so
(01:08):
hard to make the world a betterplace, Cathlyn.
And they want to magnify theirimpact by having a strong brand
and marketing, also the toolslike a TEDx talk and how that
can magnify them, but they don'tknow how and they sometimes get
in their own way and there's allthese other external things that
are telling them, don't do itthat way, do this way.
If it's resonating that this hasto all start from a foundational
(01:29):
place so that you can growoutside of that, continue that
ripple effect from it that youtalked about with that
particular example you gave.
It has to be strong enough tohandle all of that.
And the power idea is huge.
We call ours the brand SparkBlueprint.
It's the spark.
It's this thing that starts itall.
We have different language forit, but it's incredibly
(01:50):
important and it servesdifferent purposes, but it's
incredibly important to get thatgolden thread to help you go to
the next step, whatever thatlooks like for you.
And that's why you need someonelike Cathlyn, or you need
somebody like me to help you seeyourself in a different way.
That's the thing is everyone'soh my gosh.
You see what's possible?
Yeah, I see what's possiblebecause I've been doing this for
(02:10):
a long time, but I feel like Ididn't think I deserved to know
what made me special.
I thought that I just did thework.
I just was a marketer and I justdid the work and the work to
speak for itself and all thosethings.
I did not think I had a story totell.
I didn't think that people wouldlisten to my story.
I didn't think that I hadanything unique to offer the
(02:31):
conversation.
But I have a lot to add to theconversation.
This is so important.
I think especially for women andI'm with you.
I mostly work with women, andwomen don't always feel like
they have a place at the table.
They don't always feel like theyhave a perspective that needs to
be shared, that it is new ordifferent.
And I just want you all tolisten, you all have something
really special to add to theconversation.
(02:52):
And it might just take some timewith Cathlyn to make it happen.
Don't live small, live big, Iwant you to live as big as
possible.
Has there been a belief orpattern for you, Cathlyn, that
you've had to release in orderto finally own your brand's
message and what you do?
Cathlyn (03:09):
I had to learn as I was creating this business.
My former business was aphysical in-person service.
We had a team sometimes of up toa co couple dozen educators
working under us, plus designersand all of these other artists
who were on our team.
And my business partnerespecially at the time, I think
(03:32):
she's also gotten better.
Since I left the company, butwas very go, always on work till
your fingers bleed kind ofperson.
And I grew up in a world where,when I was being useful was when
I felt most valuable.
So I have done a lot ofunlearning of the, always
(03:56):
working, always doing, alwaysneeding to be useful.
And in this business, my numberone value is cultivating calm.
I mentioned earlier, I'mautistic and I have a DHD, I
have depression and I havegeneral anxiety.
I have social anxiety.
(04:16):
I'm an introvert.
Like all of these things thatmean that life takes more energy
for me than it might from otherpeople.
And so in order to make thisbusiness work and make this
business sustainable, I neededto learn how to cultivate calm,
how to set that.
(04:36):
As the primary building block ofmy business structure and really
my life.
And that's taken a lot of work.
It's taken, therapy and booksand trial and error.
Fortunately my cat reminds methat it's very nice to just sit
with a purring soft creature.
Yeah.
So he's part of that too.
But yeah, that's probably thebiggest sort of mindset shift.
(05:00):
That I've had to create formyself.
Beverly (05:02):
It resonates strongly with me.
I am also AuDHD, I also havesome anxiety.
I also have some introvertedsituation.
Most people don't believe mewhen I say this, but I really
do.
It's just a challenge.
You wanna see me feel likeanxiety, put me in a networking
event with 200 people.
Like, how do I even insertmyself and I don't wanna just
(05:24):
walk in and be abrupt it's thelack of structure that's really
challenging.
And my husband's gone a coupletimes with me and I call him my
emotional support husbandbecause he's great at small talk
and I'm not.
So he can start the conversationand then I'm good.
Cathlyn (05:38):
That's great.
I need one of those.
Beverly (05:41):
And he always laughs 'cause he is like, Beverly, you
were like on stage in school.
First of all, I had lines and Ihad choreography and I had
practiced.
Cathlyn (05:48):
Told me where to go, what to say when and how to say
it.
Yes,
Beverly (05:54):
And my husband's military, so we do like military
balls and we do all thesedifferent things and I'm like,
you really are challenging myneurodivergency here.
Like, I have to go and do allthese things that I don't wanna
do.
And I have to dress up and itjust feels very performative.
In some ways it's exhausting.
Exhausting, yes.
So there's another question herethat's along the same lines.
What part of your visibilityjourney, like being on TEDx and
(06:16):
doing these things has requiredthe most courage from you?
Cathlyn (06:20):
This might seem silly to some people, but I think it
will resonate with others.
When I first started mybusiness, I created a whole
other Facebook account.
Because I was so afraid ofposting about my business.
And having my friends and familysee it.
It's so common, Cathlyn.
And just looking back, I'm like,come on, Cathlyn.
(06:43):
It would've been fine.
It might've been better.
Who knows?
But I think that at thebeginning, I was so much more
comfortable and I'm honestlystill more comfortable talking
to strangers about my businessor to people that I've met
through business.
Than I am to, Susie Q from myfreshman year of university.
Beverly (07:04):
Yeah.
That's interesting.
That is a common thing though.
People don't want to.
Somehow insert business intotheir personal lives in some
ways.
I am not such a free I'm more sothe last couple of years I have
shared more about what I do withpeople.
But it is, it's a little bit ofa difficult thing to navigate
for sure.
(07:24):
Because you don't wanna be likethat.
We all know the person, thatSwarmy sales person is always
Hey, I do this thing and youshould hire me.
And you're like, whoa.
Cathlyn (07:34):
Like you're coming on real strong.
Beverly (07:36):
I don't wanna ever be that person, so it's like, how
do I do this enough?
Cathlyn (07:39):
I like to be invisible.
I lived my childhood beinginvisible.
I was very fortunate.
Like I wasn't really bullied.
I wasn't because nobody knew whoI was.
Beverly (07:48):
You were doing the speaking and all those things.
That's so interesting.
I
Cathlyn (07:51):
was, and in that world, everyone knew who I was on the
on the debate circuit.
Cause I was going up and gettingtrophies every weekend.
I was a person that you didn'twant in your rounds.
I was competition.
And so in that world.
Everyone knew me and that wasfine because we were all the
same kind of weird.
Yeah.
I wasn't worried about beingjudged.
Beverly (08:11):
Yeah.
That's the nice thing abouttheater and drama is like
everyone's a little odd.
Yeah.
Cathlyn (08:15):
And I'm learning in my years now in online business, I
find my odd people
Beverly (08:21):
I find my people for sure.
Cathlyn (08:23):
Yeah.
And I love that I have been ableto make these connections with
people like you and I are bothin North Carolina.
But there are connections that Ihave with people across the
world who I never would've metYeah.
If I weren't doing this work andwho I super vibe with.
It's really lovely.
Beverly (08:41):
It is lovely internet also allows us to have this kind
of connection no matter whereyou are.
And yes, there is this thing.
One of the things you said inthe application if I remember
this correctly, is that youspoke about needing both
synchronous and asynchronouswork as a neurodivergent
entrepreneur.
Cathlyn (08:58):
Yeah.
Beverly (08:58):
What systems or boundaries have helped you
create a business that actuallyworks with your brain, not
against it?
Cathlyn (09:05):
So I don't take calls on Mondays or Fridays.
Me neither.
I only take calls Tuesdaythrough Thursday.
I don't take calls before 10:30AM because I need transition.
If you're not neurodivergent orif you're not in this sort of
awareness of this worldsomething that neurodivergent
people often struggle with istransitions.
(09:28):
Getting into the shower is atransition because you're going
from dry to wet.
Stuff like that doesn't feel formost people.
What do you mean you're justgetting in the shower?
So waking up in the morning,going from sleeping to waking is
a transition that I need to takeslowly.
Otherwise my anxiety spikes.
(09:48):
So I don't take calls before 1030 Eastern time.
Mostly every once in a whileI'll take like a 10 o'clock
call.
And it's little stuff like that.
I don't know that I would labelthem systems.
But like tactics.
Okay.
That help me.
Make the sustainable for me.
Beverly (10:07):
So one thing that I talk a lot about with my clients
is this idea of chunking andstacking things.
So it feels like it's verysimilar to what you're saying,
but we have some differentterminology and I'm not sure
where I heard the chunking andstacking, I don't know if it was
Atomic Habits or Mel Robbins orsomebody that I heard it from.
And so if you do know, forgiveme, I'm not giving them
(10:27):
attribution for this particularidea, but this idea of chunking
and stacking.
So Mondays is more of anoperational day for me.
I work on my business that day.
So I do have a coaching callthat day, but that's the only
call I have is just coaching.
That's it.
And I might talk to myaccountant that day.
That is all, Tuesdays andThursdays are heavy work days.
(10:48):
If we have a client, we'reworking on stuff, we are working
on those two days.
And that is so I might do someprep on Mondays, but for the
most part it's hard work days.
Wednesday's my recording andmarketing day.
So this is my visibility day, soI know I have to put on makeup.
I have to maybe do my hair alittle bit.
I have to wear one of my colors.
That's my day.
I will show up fully and I'mprepared to show up fully.
(11:11):
And all that.
And then Friday is my just, Iwork.
Maybe my ideation day, or I'mreading a new business book, or
I'm working in a differentcapacity, ideas, creativity,
exploring some of that so that Ican have ideas for clients or
whatever.
Like I need to like, stayattuned to my creativity.
The problem I have with thechunking and stacking, and most
(11:33):
neuro divergent people will tellyou this, is I get in my flow
and I do not wanna stop I amwriting something and it's
brilliant.
And I am like, I have so manyideas and if you jerk me out of
that, I'm gonna be mad.
And I'm lucky.
And it probably works for youtoo with writing.
Creative spaces are really goodspaces for people who are
neurodivergent.
It allows us to like just gowith our thoughts and and have
(11:56):
these abilities to like switchto things and really dive into
things that interest us.
So I'm so lucky, whether it wasme intentionally getting,
finding this or not, that I havefound a place where I excel
because I'm neurodivergent.
Cathlyn (12:11):
Yeah.
And that's really hard becausethe systems aren't.
Set up to guide us toward whatare your skills?
The systems are set up to say,oh, you're a square peg.
Let's shave off your side sothat you fit into the round
hole.
Beverly (12:27):
Yeah.
You're really good at English,so you should do this thing.
Cathlyn (12:30):
Yeah.
My minor in university waswriting, and I remember going up
I spoke to two differentprofessors who I loved and was
like, look, I'm gonna go be anactor, but I know that actors
need survival jobs.
I really wanna do something withwriting.
And this was in the early twothousands the online boom hadn't
(12:51):
really happened yet, but theirresponse was most of our
students either go intojournalism or novels.
That's what they offered.
I had never heard the wordcopywriting until I had been
writing copy for years.
Beverly (13:06):
Interesting.
I didn't think I was a writer.
I wrote a lot.
I write a lot for my work UntilGrammarly said, you wrote
700,000 words last week.
And I was like.
Huh?
Oh I guess I'm a writer.
Oh, this is so good.
Cathlyn (13:20):
I know that we had talked about how those of you in
the audience might be feelingoverwhelmed in your business or
over it.
Beverly (13:27):
Overworked, overwhelmed, and over it.
Yes.
Cathlyn (13:29):
Overworked, overwhelmed, and over it.
Yes.
And I just wanted to share thatwhen I'm creating a power idea
for my clients, one of thethings that ends up being really
powerful, it was for me, it hasbeen for my clients, is that it
makes content creation andconversation so much easier
(13:51):
because.
You can go back to yourmanifesto and you can say, oh,
this phrase, let's make acarousel about this phrase.
Everything is leading back tothat foundation.
And so it simplifies absolutely.
And reduces that overwhelm.
And I just need you to know thatis possible.
Beverly (14:08):
It is totally possible We call it the content map
because you're mapping do thatand we say always, and this is
on my blog and you'll see it ina lot of videos that I talk
about, that you write your blogpost, but your blog post comes
from your six content pillars.
So for me, we always talk abouthow to awaken your brand magic.
We always talk about confidence.
(14:29):
We always talk about activatingyour brand magic, amplifying
your brand magic.
These are all core concepts thatwe talk about.
And in there is some confidenceissues, there's some mindset
issues, that drip into, we startwith our six content pillar,
four to six key ideas you wannabe known for.
And then from there you write ablog post in there.
(14:49):
And I'm gonna get a littlefancy, but then I'm not gonna be
fancy anymore.
Okay.
In there you can do I want thisto be in the awareness side of
the funnel or the conversionside of the funnel.
Or, okay, so you can be a littlemore specific of your sales
funnel and what the contentdirection you wanna go in is.
Then you have that blog post.
Now I'm gonna say this.
We do use AI for some of ourstuff, and this is where I think
it's powerful.
(15:09):
I write and I spend my majorityof my mental energy on that blog
post.
I make it so mine, my ideas, myconcepts, my phrases, my
everything, my stories.
And then once the blog is good,then I throw it into chat and I
say, Hey, I need three emailsfrom this blog.
(15:31):
Give me 10 subject lines foreach one.
Two should be nurturing and oneshould be sales.
And then I let it do some of theheavy lifting and pull all the
stuff out.
And then I do some light editingand it's good to go because the
blog is so strong
Cathlyn (15:43):
and so you,
Beverly (15:44):
And all AI is doing now is taking bits, the best bits
usually.
And giving me a little bit of atwist on it for the nurture
versus sales or whatever.
Cathlyn (15:53):
And then you put your human eyes on it.
AI does not create final drafts.
Absolutely.
Never ever,
Beverly (15:59):
it helps you flesh some things out and then you can go
from there.
Then I take the blog post, dothe same thing, and I say, Hey,
create 10 social media posts.
I want them to cross allelements of the funnel.
I want them to be a variety offormats.
I have very specific prompts.
One should be thought leader,one should be authority
(16:20):
building, one should beinfotainment, make sure it has a
strong CTA I like do that andlet it spit out the 10 and from
the 10, usually five are thebest.
Yeah.
And I tweak those.
And now I build a content vault.
Now I have.
The pillar that goes to theblog, and I'll eventually have
probably, I don't know, ahundred blogs on that content
(16:40):
pillar, right?
Cathlyn (16:41):
Which is so good for SEO by the way, if you're
writing blogs, link them to eachother.
Beverly (16:47):
Yes.
And outside sources, like yougot this statistic from
wherever.
And now I have the major ideas.
I have three blog posts foreach.
So now I have 300 emails.
And then from there I have 500social posts.
Cathlyn (17:01):
Yeah.
Beverly (17:02):
And it's all from just 100 pieces of content.
So in two years you can create avault that you can repurpose
again and again.
You may have to tweak itslightly for some trends and
whatever, but you are nowsimplifying this to the, its
most basic elements.
And you can do that for everypiece now.
Like it's liberating.
That's why I say simplicity isliberating when you do it right?
(17:23):
Because instead of waking up at3:00 AM I'm stressed.
I'm waking up with all theseideas of how to develop it out
and take it further.
And
Cathlyn (17:30):
I'd rather you sleep though honestly, I'd rather you
not wake up at 3:00 AM at all.
Beverly (17:35):
I have a child who's never slept, so it doesn't
really matter.
If you saw as I was talkingabout it, I got like more and
more excited, right?
Now you can do this with it, andyou can do this with it, and you
can do this with it.
Cathlyn (17:44):
And that's what you're gonna feel when you start doing
that work, when you create thatfoundational idea, and then you
can see where those pillars aregonna grow up from it.
And then the branches out fromeach of the pillars and then you
Exactly.
Trees.
Yes.
Beverly (17:59):
And that creates the really deep roots in your brand.
You become known for thosethings.
You have a reputation for thosethings.
You get more referrals for thosethings because people know very
clearly because you've showed upconsistently and persistently
with your brand promise aroundthis main idea that they know,
oh, if TEDx talk, you have totalk to Cathlyn.
Cathlyn (18:20):
Yep.
Beverly (18:21):
Oh, Branding, you need Beverly.
Cathlyn (18:23):
Thought leaders do not become thought leaders by having
a lot to say.
Nope.
They become thought leaders byhaving one incredibly powerful
thing to say.
And saying it over and over andover again.
That's what you need to be knownfor.
The thing that you want to.
Be known for doing Yes.
Beverly (18:40):
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
Are we good?
Cathlyn (18:42):
Okay.
Yes.
The hat, magic hat.
I'm ready.
Beverly (18:45):
In the hat, there are several questions in the hat.
I just let the universe decidewhat we're gonna talk about, but
this is more rapid fire.
So the first question that theuniverse has asked is, what has
been the hardest part aboutbeing an entrepreneur?
Cathlyn (18:58):
The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is the
uncertainty.
I thrive on stability.
I thrive on knowing what's next.
I thrive on routine andentrepreneurship is inherently
changing.
Beverly (19:12):
Chaotic.
I would agree.
What is the worst advice you'veever received?
Cathlyn (19:17):
Oh this is a cop out, but anytime anyone tells me that
this is the capital R right wayto do something.
There's no one right way to doanything.
We all have different brains, weall have different learning
styles, we all have differentcommunication styles, and I just
like.
Roll my eyes automatically ifsomeone is no, this is what you
need to do.
I'm like, no.
(19:37):
Where's my menu of ways to dothis?
I want to pick,
Beverly (19:41):
I want a rainbow of ways.
Cathlyn (19:44):
Yeah.
Beverly (19:44):
If you could wave a magic wand and solve one current
challenge for your business,what would it be?
Cathlyn (19:51):
It would be reaching more of the right people.
My TEDx talk isn't about mybusiness.
It's totally unrelated.
And even though it's totallyunrelated, it very much helped
me gain more of an audience.
But, if I gave a TEDx talk todayand I gave it on the power idea,
that would be so much morepowerful because people would
then know me for that.
(20:11):
Why aren't you doing that?
Several reasons that are toodeep to go into on the podcast
Beverly (20:17):
Okay.
Fair.
What's a decision thatcompletely changed the
trajectory of your business?
Cathlyn (20:22):
Creating my TEDx offer, like when people started asking
me about that, I knew I could doit, but actually creating the
offer and putting it out thereand working with my first TEDx
client, just like we zoomed offin a direction that I was very
happy to follow.
Beverly (20:38):
What's a book, a podcast, or an entrepreneur that
has made a lasting impact onyour entrepreneurial journey?
Cathlyn (20:43):
Book The Slight Edge, the author's name I think is
Jeff Olson.
It's about creating new habits,but he talks about it in a way
that works for my brain asopposed like a lot of habit
building experts, it doesn'twork for my brain, but this one
does.
a podcast that sadly isn'tproducing anymore, but that I
(21:04):
loved and I listened toreligiously, is Go-to Gal Jaclyn
Mellone was the host.
And it was just all differentbusiness expert girls who were
doing cool things.
And I learned something newevery time I listened to it.
Beverly (22:27):
We have a lot of really cool women on our podcast.
You might learn something from.
Cathlyn (22:30):
Yeah.
Beverly (22:30):
What about an entrepreneur?
Has there been somebody who'sdone business that you've
admired or learned somethingfrom?
Cathlyn (22:36):
My business mentor Laura Bel Gray, who she has a
mastermind that I was part of in2023.
I had followed her been on heremail list for a couple of years
before I joined her mastermind,and I learned a lot about being
your own person.
(22:57):
Her whole thing is like gettingpaid to be you.
And I really learned how to stepinto who I am and use that in a
way that propels my businessforward and makes me happy doing
it.
'cause who isn't happy?
Just like existing,
Beverly (23:15):
for sure.
Yeah.
What is one thing you believedabout branding or marketing that
turned out to be complete togwash?
Cathlyn (23:22):
Related to my last answer.
When I was running my previousbusiness, my arts education
business, my business partner,and I believe that we had to be
like, buttoned up and quoteunquote professional.
We started the business when Ithink I was 23 and she was 24.
(23:43):
And we both look a lot youngerthan we are, or people think we
do.
So we would go to theseconferences and people would ask
us if we were interning for thesemester, they would ask us if
our boss was gonna be at thebooth later.
So I think we had a little bitof an inferiority, complex.
Beverly (24:05):
Imposter syndrome.
Cathlyn (24:07):
Yeah.
We're like, we knew we werereally good at what we were
doing.
We knew we were doing it welland we were changing our
industry.
Like we changed the landscape oftheater education.
But we were so often mistakenfor students that I think we
overcompensated.
(24:27):
In our professionalism, in someways where we could have been
more ourselves.
Beverly (24:33):
It makes sense for sure.
Okay.
So I also have a magic wand.
The magic wand helps us gobackward into time and forward
into time.
So when I wave my wand, we'regonna meet 18-year-old Cathlyn.
And I would love for you to giveher a piece of advice that you
so wish you had then that hasserved you well.
Now
Cathlyn (24:53):
I want 18-year-old Cathlyn to know that it's okay
to change that.
It's okay to make a new choice.
Beverly (25:01):
The brave What was the name of your,
Cathlyn (25:04):
the bravely sideways.
Beverly (25:05):
Bravely.
Sideways.
Cathlyn (25:06):
When I was 19, there was a brave leap sideways that I
should have taken.
And I didn't, and it was a lotharder to deal with a few years
later,
Beverly (25:15):
and it might be more than one brave leap.
It might be many brave leapsideways, right?
Cathlyn (25:19):
Oh yeah.
But one from my collegerelationship certainly sticks
with me.
Beverly (25:23):
So if Cathlyn was to see you now that 18-year-old
Cathlyn see where you are rightnow, what would she say about
you?
What would she say?
Cathlyn (25:32):
I think she would be surprised and delighted to know
that I am safe and that I findjoy in so many things so easily.
Beverly (25:45):
It's interesting.
It's like one of my favoritequestions, Cathlyn, because
literally, your body, you werelike, like this deep sense of.
I don't know if it'saccomplishment or awareness or
what it is in every singleperson I ask the question Yeah.
Of how far you've come.
So it's interesting to me when Iwatch people answer that
(26:05):
question, even my editor alwaysloves the question.
She's I cannot wait for them toanswer that question.
This Deep knowing of how faryou've come and trusting of the
things that you've accomplishedand all the things.
So super powerful.
So I get to wave the wand again,and we're gonna go forward.
We're flying forward in decadesand decades.
Cathlyn (26:25):
Ooh.
Beverly (26:26):
Decades and decades.
Decades and decades.
Are we still alive?
That's the whole thing.
We're at your eulogy.
Cathlyn (26:33):
Oh, okay.
Beverly (26:34):
And they're talking about the impact you made in the
world as Cathlyn, but also as abusiness owner.
What are they saying about you?
Cathlyn (26:44):
One thing that they're saying is how many people felt
heard.
How many people felt affirmedand supported and guided.
And then from a larger businessstandpoint, all of the points of
impact that have been createdthrough my clients over the
years, because I really I seemyself as a conduit for impact.
(27:06):
My clients are ideas people, myclients are visionaries.
My clients see the way that theworld should be better and how
we can go after that.
So by working with them on theirpower idea and on their power
talk, whether they give that onthe TEDx stage or a different
high impact stage, it createsthese ripples of impact.
(27:26):
And I imagine, like a map ofthis thing happened and it
traces back To this firstmeeting that Cathlyn had with
this client and this thinghappened and it traces back.
Beverly (27:38):
So I'm gonna bring us back into present day and I'm
gonna ask you like a magicaltip.
I would love for you to definewhat you think it means to be
wickedly branded and how do youshow up as wickedly branded?
Cathlyn (27:52):
When I think about wickedly branded, I think of
Boston, wicked, like where it'san amplifier where you can be
wicked, anything.
And so it's like the most you,the most powerful, the most
clear depending on who you are,maybe it's the most fun or the
most inspiring.
So I think wickedly branded tome means like the amplified
(28:15):
version of you leader of yourbrand.
Beverly (28:18):
I love that.
So how do you show up aswickedly branded in your work,
Cathlyn?
Cathlyn (28:21):
One thing, if you're not watching this video, if
you're just listening to us, youdon't know that I have paintings
of my cats behind me.
So obviously my business isright Cat Creative and I have
four different paintings andthen one that's not, it only has
a background right now, but itwill be a giant painting of my
Cat Tucker.
(28:42):
So one of them is bringingTucker into a lot of my
marketing, like if you end up ata 4 0 4 page on my website,
there's a picture of Tuckerplaying hide and seek.
When you make a request to, geta lead magnet or something,
you're taken to a confirmationpage, it's enjoy this picture of
my cat giving himself a bath.
He just shows up.
(29:02):
And so that's one way that thatI'm wickedly branded,
Beverly (29:06):
My son Zeke is on my 4 0 4 page and he's a baby and I
don't know if you've seen babieshave funny faces and he's going.
It's really cute.
So I love that little clever adedition of like uniqueness and
personalization for somethingthat you are so passionate
about, even on your 4 0 4 page.
I love details like that.
That is, wow, I love that somuch.
Cathlyn (29:25):
Something that people often comment on.
That's part of my branding iswhen you come to join a Zoom
with me and you're in thewaiting room message reminds you
to take a breath.
It's Hey, I'm here.
I'll be right with you.
And I don't remember exactlywhat the wording is, but people
are off and come on and arelike, thank you so much for the,
(29:45):
thank you for that.
That changed the tone of how Iwas feeling coming into a call.
Beverly (29:50):
Powerful.
Cathlyn (29:51):
That links back to the cultivate calm part of my
business.
Beverly (29:55):
Yeah.
So what piece of advice wouldyou give to someone to be more
wickedly branded, do you think?
Cathlyn (30:01):
I think pay attention to the glimmers in your life.
Pay attention to.
What makes you feel yourself?
What makes you light up and leaninto that.
If you are a personal brand, andmost of us as small team leaders
or solopreneurs, we're personalbrands.
(30:23):
People wanna see who you are.
People wanna feel like they knowyou.
We live in a social media worldthere, we have parasocial
relationships with all sorts ofpeople.
And as a business leader, Ithink that's important to lean
into so that people feel likethey know you.
Beverly (30:40):
So good Cathlyn.
So where can our listenersconnect with you and your work
and learn more about you?
Where can they find you?
Cathlyn (30:48):
So one place is at rightcatcreative.com slash
links.
That's where you can find somefreebies and for example,
there's one I mentioned earlier,which is my TEDx Demystified
live info session.
And we're assuming that thisepisode is going to end up in
December.
We'll be just a few weeks outfrom the next one.
(31:09):
So go register for that.
If you have any questions aboutTEDx, that's a great place to
get them answered.
And then if you wanna find me onsocial media, I am active on
Instagram and LinkedIn, and I'malso on Facebook.
You can find me there.
I'm not as regularly active, butI'm there in all three of those
places.
(31:30):
So come join me.
Beverly (31:32):
Cathlyn.
This has been really fun.
Thank you so much for joining metoday and coming on and just
spending time with me and beingvulnerable and sharing.
The thing is with.
Things that are just as soscary, like TEDx and different
things, having guides like youto help them is so incredibly
important.
And the fact that you've done itand you've been through it and
you've survived.
Cathlyn (31:52):
Yeah, I'm here to tell the tale,
Beverly (31:54):
tell the tale.
I think it's super powerful.
I have personally, I told you atthe beginning of the
conversation, I was a littlegreedy about this conversation.
I've, personally learned a lotand maybe assuaged a few fears
in the process.
So thank you so much for sharingyour information, your journey
with us today.
Cathlyn (32:12):
I'm so happy to, thanks for having me.
Beverly (32:15):
To my listeners, this has been an incredible
conversation.
I really hope that today'sepisode helped you think more
about your power idea and howthat can drive so much of what
you do as far as your brand,your messaging, and even the
possibility of a talk one day.
I hope this episode today, maybea little bit of a fire
(32:36):
underneath you and gave you somenew ideas, but most of all,
inspired you to take some actiontoward something new.
Because here's the thing, yourmessage matters.
Your work matters, and the worldneeds to hear what you have to
say.
Marketing is not just aboutvisibility, it's also about
impact.
Cathlyn talked a lot about theimpact and the ripple effects
(32:58):
that we have.
It's about connecting with theright people in a way that feels
completely aligned, completelyhonest and true to you.
So please keep showing up.
Keep sharing your brilliance andkeep making magic in the world.
And hey, if you ever feel stuck,know that you don't have to do
this alone.
Cathlyn can help you.
I can help you.
We are here to help turn yourspark into a wildfire.
(33:19):
But until next time, I want youto dare to be wickedly branded.
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