March 16, 2026 • 26 mins
If marketing feels heavy, complicated or inauthentic, this conversation is for you.
In this episode, I’m joined by marketing strategist Osayi Lasisi to talk about what she calls "community-powered growth" and why it's the most sustainable method for generating consistent leads.
If you’re tired of chasing trends, forcing yourself onto platforms you hate, or wondering why your visibility isn’t converting, this conversation will feel like a deep exhale.
We talk about:
- What "community-powered growth" actually means (and why it works)
- Osayi's FOCUS Framework - from foundation to simple systems
- Choosing visibility strategies that match your energy
- How to start collaborating (even before you have a big audience)
- The long game of networking and how seeds planted today can pay off months or even years later
If marketing has started to feel overwhelming or exhausting, this episode will help you rethink what growth can look like when it’s rooted in relationships, clarity, and consistency.
Because visibility compounds through people.
Links and Resources:
- Come network with us! CLICK HERE to attend your first PWR Connection Network virtual speed networking event at no cost!
- Learn more about Osayi on her website and book a free strategy session: https://www.osayilasisi.com
- Connect with Osayi onInstagram or LinkedIn
Connect with Your Host!
Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist and the founder of Powerful Women Rising - a business growth ecosystem for female entreprenuers who want to create real momentum through real relationships.
Inside the PWR Connect Network and the PWR Business Growth Mastermind, Melissa helps women in business get build relationships, increase visibility and get more referrals without pressure, perfection or performative networking.
She's on a mission to change the way women grow their businesses - proving that you can be authentic, values-driven and profitable at the same time.
Melissa lives in Colorado with two dogs (Peyton and Ally), three cats (Giorgio, Karma and Betty) and any number of foster kittens. She hates winter, seafood and feet. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and buying books she'll never read.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Now I got it.
All right.
Hello, uh Osaii, right?
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
Hello, Osayi.
Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you, Melissa.
Thank you so much for having mehere.
I'm so excited.
Yes, I'm so excited to talk toyou.
So before we dive into our topictoday, tell everybody a little
bit about what you do.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
Oh my goodness.
Um, what don't I do?
But yeah, so I have been amarketer now for over 13 years.
And um, this is a second careerfor me.
So I really, really love it.
What I do is I support mostlywomen entrepreneurs with their
(00:44):
businesses, and I provide themwith growth strategies.
So I like to say I'm a growthstrategist and I help women just
come up with like differentcampaigns and different ideas
and help them to execute aswell.
And I like to call itcommunity-powered growth.
So it's not just about the paidcampaigns or you know, showing
(01:05):
up on social media, which areall good things to do.
But I found thatcommunity-powered growth really
helps people to move fasterexponentially.
SPEAKER_00 (01:15):
Yeah, I love that.
And that was one of the thingsthat stood out to me on your
podcast guest application wasyour focus on community and
connection and collaborationsand um, you know, generating
leads without cold reach outsand pitches in the DM and things
like that.
That's what we're all about hereat Powerful Women Rising.
(01:35):
Um, we have the Powerful WomenRising Connection Network, which
is a virtual networking groupfor female entrepreneurs that's
very much along those same linesof like, we're not pitching,
we're not pretending to beperfect, we're not pressuring
people, we're just showing up,creating authentic connections,
supporting each other, providingvalue to each other.
And, you know, for me, buildingthis is my third business, I
(01:58):
really have been able to createsustainable businesses with that
strategy.
And it's not always fast, it'snot always easy, it's not always
sexy, but I do think that it isone of the most sustainable
growth strategies that there is.
So when you talk aboutcommunity-powered growth, what
does that actually look like inpractice?
(02:18):
How is that different fromtraditional lead generation?
SPEAKER_01 (02:23):
Oh, such a good question.
Um, because there are differentways that community can show up
in your campaign.
It can be um creating acommunity, it can't be
connecting with an existingcommunity, it can be partnering
with people in different things.
And so the way that I work ishelping you to figure out the
best options for you.
(02:44):
Um, and for example, I know wewere speaking earlier about this
product that you know came intomy lap because my daughter was
uh fascinated with this world ofbrown plush dolls, and you can
see it in my background.
Um, and I didn't know too muchabout e-commerce, but I was able
to connect with people.
(03:06):
I was able to connect withpeople who were already doing
this or were advising people whowere in e-commerce.
And we've been able to grow,we've been able to make some
sales, we've been able to havesome partnerships and stuff.
So the way it shows up, Iusually start with a framework
where I like to call it thefocus framework.
And the first thing is justfiguring out what are you
(03:28):
comfortable with?
And what are you comfortabletalking about?
What are you comfortable doing?
And um, we start with thatfoundation because in the end,
um, even though we don't like tobe the face of our business to
some extent, um, we still haveto be, especially when we're
just starting, and then as wegrow, we can start to move on to
(03:51):
other things and have otherpeople as the face.
But in the beginning, we have tobe the face of the business.
And so, what is thatfoundational thing that you're
comfortable with?
Are you comfortable going onpodcasts and having
conversations?
Or is it something else?
And we figure that out, and thenwe create your calendar of
things that you can do for therest of the year or for a couple
(04:12):
of months that you can doconsistently under that
framework.
SPEAKER_00 (04:16):
So it sounds like what you're talking about really
is finding the visibilitystrategies that you like, that
you enjoy, um, that aren't thethings that give you energy, not
the things that drain you.
If you're somebody who likehates your life every time
you're on Facebook, then maybewe're not gonna spend our life
on Facebook.
But finding the thing that youlike that helps you get in front
(04:37):
of new communities, get in frontof new audiences, or um share
audiences with other people.
Is that essentially what you'resaying?
That's correct.
SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
Because, like you mentioned, we're looking for
something sustainable, notsomething that is trending right
now, or not something thatworked for your coach or for
some other person.
If it's going to be sustainable,then it has to be something that
you're comfortable with.
And there is room for pushingyourself outside of your comfort
zone.
And that's like a separateconversation.
(05:09):
But what I found with businessand being able to grow is you
need to have, um, you need to beconsistent.
And for you to be consistent,you need to feel like I
understand what's happeningright now and I'm comfortable
doing what I need to do.
Now, not everything is going tobe fun, right?
And not everything is going tobe easy.
(05:31):
But if you feel comfortable withit, then you'll be able to
continue.
And so that's why it really hasto be catered to you and what
you're able to do.
I'm, I like to call myself anambivert.
I can go out and you know havefun and connect with people, but
I also need my alone time.
Now, if you were to if I were tocome up with a strategy, because
(05:53):
I know when I go to events, I'mable to connect with people.
If I come up with a strategythat says I must go to an event
every week, that's part of mycommunity, it won't work for me
because then I'll get drainedand then I'm not excited about
it, and then there's burnout.
But I can say, okay, myfoundation is I need to have at
least one event every month.
(06:13):
Now I can decide if it's avirtual event or if it's an
in-person event and then go fromthere.
And then once we have that, youknow, I decide, okay, this is
like my visibility baseline.
Then I can then move on intowhat my offer is going to be at
those events.
So if my offer is going to be,oh, I just want to have a, you
know, a coffee chat withsomebody, or um, I have a free
(06:37):
strategy session, or I have uhsomething that's useful that I
can offer to people, then that'ssomething that I can do, um,
knowing that I have a goal foreach of those strategies.
And then I can decide, okay, whoare the kinds of people that I
want to connect with?
What kinds of communities makesense for me to connect with
them?
(06:57):
And that's the see and focus.
And once I get clarity on that,and then I start to see the
signals, the user signals thatmake sense to me, the user
signals that show that what I'mdoing is actually working.
And then finally create thesystems and tools that I can use
to automate the parts of thingsthat I don't need to personally
be involved with, just so that Ican move more efficiently,
(07:20):
learn, and keep going.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
So is that what you do is help people set up each of
those different stages?
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
Correct.
So, yes, we start with thatfoundation and then we go all
the way to systems and tools.
What I found out about um a lotof women entrepreneurs is that
we get really nervous abouttools, about new software and
things like that.
And so I've always been able tosupport a lot of women and just
kind of explain to them thatlook, this is a tool.
(07:49):
Use what part of it you'recomfortable using, and then I
can support them with likecreating that framework or
creating templates or creatingwhatever structure they need so
that they feel um confident todo what they need to do, you
know, and um, so that it doesn'tstop them from creating the
change in the world that they'reexcited about.
SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
Yeah, I love that.
I think that's brilliant becauseevery step that you're
mentioning on this focus pathmakes sense in terms of how it
works together and how each stepdoesn't work without the other
step, but it also sounds like alot to try to figure out
yourself.
Um, one of the things that Italk about a lot with networking
is people will go to anetworking event and then
(08:30):
they'll be like, I hated it.
I'm never, I hate networking,I'm never going to another
networking event again, right?
But it's like there's so manydifferent ways to network.
You can do it virtually, you cando it in person, you could do
co-ed groups, you could dowomen-only groups, you could do
ones that are very structured,you could do ones where it's
just like come get a drink and asnack and mingle.
(08:50):
And something is going to workfor you, something is gonna feel
good for you.
Those events where you just geta drink and a snack and mingle,
that's like my worst nightmare.
Like I literally dream aboutthat and not in a good way.
Um, but that's how you figure itout, right?
Even with if we're talking aboutthese other growth strategies,
podcast guesting or speaking orbeing in a book or whatever it
(09:12):
is, um, collaborating with otherpeople on workshops or projects
or whatever.
Having someone to guide youthrough those different things
to give you the courage to trythem, to help you figure out how
to try them, and then to be ableto say, okay, I liked that, I
didn't like that, and turn itinto an actual, like repeatable
(09:33):
plan that doesn't drain you isbrilliant.
SPEAKER_01 (09:38):
Thank you.
Thank you.
And I'd say the main thing alsois helping people realize that
we're all learning, you know.
So I think sometimes when peoplefeel really um sad or they feel
upset about going to anetworking event and they feel
(09:59):
like it was a waste of time andit was stressful, was because
they probably thought successwas supposed to look
differently, right?
Or feel differently.
And so that's also where I comein and just kind of um help them
to just figure out what the goalis for each event.
And then if you've accomplishedthat goal, yeah, then that was a
successful event, right?
(10:20):
And then once you know whatsuccess looks like, also let you
know that not everything isgoing to be successful because
that's all part of the journey.
And some of the people thatyou're seeing out there, they're
gregarious and boisterous andeverything.
They feel you feel like theyhave it all figured out.
They might not.
Some might, but some might not.
And it's okay because um you'reon a different path.
(10:42):
And so I found that being ableto support the women that I work
with, which is giving themclarity around what they're
doing and how they canstrategize, but also letting
them know that it's okay for itnot to look perfect, um, has
been quite useful.
SPEAKER_00 (10:58):
Yeah.
And sometimes those metrics thatwe think are the definition of
success, we don't see untillater, right?
We go to a networking event andthen we're like, that was a
wasn't a success.
Nobody bought my thing.
I didn't get any referrals fromthat.
But sometimes it's because youhave to keep showing up in the
same space consistently tocreate those relationships.
(11:18):
Sometimes it's just because youare, you know, it's it's I do a
lot of podcast guesting and Ilove it.
But sometimes people ask me,like, do you get a lot of
clients from that?
I'm like, I have no idea.
Even with my own podcast, Idon't know if I get a lot of
clients from it.
Because sometimes it's just youlike planting a seed that you
don't know if it's gonna grow ornot.
(11:39):
And sometimes it grows a weeklater, sometimes it grows years
later.
I mean, I've had people say, youknow, I've been on your email
list for three years because Iheard after I heard you on such
and such summit, and I justjoined your community.
And I'm like, three years later.
But so a lot of that, I likewhat you're saying about like
having specific goals apart fromthose like money, clients,
(12:04):
referrals, metrics, becausesometimes you don't see those
pay off until later.
SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
Um, I heard someone say, like, look at your business
like you're on a five-year plan.
Um, so every year it's a new setof five-year plans.
But I think it helped me.
It helped me because I'm one ofthose people that wants to get
the sales quickly and get the,you know, make all of those
things.
But if it's like, oh, this is afive-year journey.
So I might go out and I mightnot get a client right away, but
(12:33):
something else might work out.
I've been to events where Ididn't make a sale, but then
when I shared it on socialmedia, people realized like I
was a real person that went toan actual event and then made a
sale from that.
Um, I was talking to a lady theother day who um supports moms
with newborns.
And she was saying, oh, itdoesn't make sense to have a
(12:56):
newsletter because I there'sthis window of opportunity for
them.
And I told her, you know what?
You just never know.
I've been on, you know, anewsletter for years and years,
and then I will patronize themlike 10 years later.
And literally, um, the the agegap between my first and my
(13:16):
second, it's nine years.
So I patronized someone um whenI was having my first, and then
nothing until I was having mysecond, you know, and she could
have given up and been like, oh,you guys don't, you know, it's
you're you're past the window,and I'm not going to reach out
to you.
But if we look at business aspart of that journey, um, it's
(13:38):
that journey and would just keepgoing, you just never know what
will work because people arestill trying to figure out if
they can trust you.
And so um, it might take sometime.
And then there are some peoplewho make decisions quickly, and
it's awesome.
We love those people as well,uh, but they also make decisions
to leave quickly sometimes.
So, you know, take it all with agrain of salt.
SPEAKER_00 (14:00):
Yeah.
Why do you think that marketingin the traditional sense, a lot
of the ways that we think aboutmarketing is so exhausting for
women, or why do you think theyfeel so like disconnected or not
aligned with it?
SPEAKER_01 (14:16):
That's such a good question.
Um I think it's because we'vebeen taught to do things a
certain way, like always Bclosing, A, B, C, you know, and
then you do this one step one,step two, step three, and then
all the riches come to you.
But there are things that workedin the past, um, and there are
(14:41):
things that work for certainpeople.
But I'm finding now that peoplevalue relationships and people
want to make sure that they cantrust you with your hard-earned
money.
And so I find that for us aswomen, when we're told you do
this and this and this, it mightnot be something we're
comfortable doing, but we goahead and do it just because we
(15:02):
were told that's how to win.
And so it drains us becausewe're not really doing things in
alignment with the way we haveour day-to-day lives.
Like we don't go out to people,you know, in the play group and
like, you, you're gonna be myfriend, you know, because your
child likes my child orsomething like that.
We don't do that typically, butsomehow we've been told that
(15:26):
when it comes to business, wehave to be completely different.
And so it's like oftentimeswe're going against the way we
usually act, expecting things tolook different.
And um, it doesn't work out thatway.
And that's how I always comeback to that foundation of what
you're comfortable with.
Now, if you are the kind ofperson who does go out there and
(15:46):
make you make friends that way,and you're just like, I really
like you, let's be friends, andit works for you, then that
might be the strategy for yourbusiness if it's in alignment
with you.
But what I found is that a lotof us women are just more
relational.
Um, and so we value thoserelationships.
And then some of us have beentold that we're not good at
(16:07):
certain things.
So we're not good at math, we'renot good at data analysis, we're
not good at all of those things.
So when it comes to trying tofigure out um marketing strategy
or looking at the data behindyour Facebook campaigns and
stuff like that, we're like, oh,that's too much technology.
(16:27):
I already know I'm not good atthat, or the data is I'm just
overwhelmed.
I'm not good.
But it's like some of that isalso programming.
So I think it's just acombination of quite a few
things where we we kind of needto go back to what feels
comfortable for us and what'smore in alignment with the
people that we are.
SPEAKER_00 (16:47):
Yeah, yeah.
I love what you're saying aboutreally tuning into what feels
good to you.
And just because it feels goodand works for someone else
doesn't mean it feels good andworks for you.
I kept thinking when you weretalking about this is a weird
comparison, but uh the way thatwe typically birth children in
the United States, um, we areone of the very few countries
(17:11):
where we tell our woman you haveto give birth horizontally,
right?
In many other countries, theyare not giving birth
horizontally.
And the first time I heard that,I was like, God, that makes so
much sense.
Like, why in the world, knowingwhat we know about gravity,
would we try to give birthhorizontally?
And it makes me think about thatin the same way of like, we're
(17:33):
trying to market on all theseways that people are saying,
like, this is how you do it,this is what works, this is it.
And some of those people aremen, some of those people are
women who are different than us,some of those people have
different personalities orbackground or experience from
us.
And so, why do we keep trying toforce ourselves to do it the way
that they're doing it whenthere's a way that makes so much
(17:57):
more sense for us?
And I love that you are kind ofgiving people permission to find
that way that works for them andto go with that.
SPEAKER_01 (18:07):
And I really like your example with um uh
birthing.
Um, I'm in Canada, but I livedin the US for a while and I had
my first horizontally, but mysecond, I was so focused on
having the experience that Iwanted that I had a water birth.
(18:28):
And with that, I was able tolike kneel down and move around,
and it was amazing.
And within like minutes, I wasin my bed because it was a home
birth and everything, and it wasjust so amazing.
Was it hard?
It was still hard for me.
Some people, it wasn't hard forthem, but for me, it was still
hard, but it was such adifferent experience, it was
(18:50):
such a redemptive experience forme because I felt more in
control, I felt like more intune with my body.
And that's what I like marketingto feel like for people, where
it's like, I'm not going to tellyou.
All I can do is help you tooptimize what works for you
based on all these other skillsthat we can add on to what
(19:11):
you're comfortable doing.
So if you're like, oh, I lovewriting emails and I'm really
good at writing emails, then wecan say, okay, let us automate
it so that you can write anemail every week if that's what
you want to do, or every monthif that's what you're
comfortable doing.
Or if you're like, oh, I lovegoing online and talking with
people live, great.
This is the way we cansystematize it for you and
(19:33):
create systems for you where youcan um have your LinkedIn Live
or your um Instagram lives orwhatever, your IG lives or your
Facebook live um sessions andhow you can record it and all of
those things.
But if you say you don't likethat, then I can't tell you that
oh, millions of people makemillions of dollars doing this,
(19:56):
because in the end, it needs tobe about you and your comfort.
And and I keep saying that it'snot about not going outside of
the box, like you still need topush yourself, just like with
the example with birthing.
There's still some hard hardnesswith it, right?
There's still some challengeswith it.
There, there's still some stuffthat you need to figure out and
(20:18):
work through, and there'll stillbe some bits that are boring or
like, you know, waiting becausethe kid is also involved in the
birthing process.
So not everything is going to belike, oh yeah, I'm doing this in
my zone.
It's fun, it's easy, da-da-da.
But it's such a betterexperience that you're able to
have unique ideas that areunique to you that will make you
(20:39):
stand out and will attract theright people to you.
SPEAKER_00 (20:42):
Yeah, yeah.
And sometimes all we need issomeone to just give us that
permission to say it's okay todo it a different way if you
want to.
Exactly.
So if people are listening tothis and they want to take the
first step in starting togenerate leads through
collaborations, throughcommunity, through the things
that we've been talking about,what is a good first step for
(21:05):
them, even if they don't have abig audience right now?
SPEAKER_01 (21:10):
So, my first thing I would say is figure out that
foundation.
What is something you'd like todo or you're already doing and
you like it?
So if it's emails or podcasting,whatever it is, what is that one
thing?
And then the next thing would bewhere can you do, where can you
go or who can you partner with?
(21:30):
Because it's always aboutcommunity.
Yes, you can start your ownpodcast and that's great.
Um, but is there a podcast youcan go on?
Is there someone you can partnerwith to do whatever it is that
you're doing?
Is there a newsletter that youcan be a guest on or something
like that?
So that would be the thing.
Once you just know uh that thisis something that I enjoy, then
(21:52):
figure out how you can make itconsistent and who you can
partner with to keep going.
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
Yeah, brilliant.
I love it.
If people want to connect.
With you if they want to knowmore about what you do and who
you are, what's the best way forthem to do that?
SPEAKER_01 (22:06):
Yeah, so my name is Osai Lasisi.
For all I know, I'm probably theonly Osai Lasisi in the world
for now.
Um, so you can either just go toosai lasisi.com um and you can
go to osai lasisi.com slashfocus and you can schedule a
call with me.
It's a free call.
We can just have a strategysession where I can let you know
(22:28):
that whatever it is you'rethinking, you can do it.
Like um in in in Nigeria whereI'm from, uh, I'm from Edo
State, which is the BeninKingdom.
And one of the things that we'reknown for, we have a lot of
amazing adages.
And one of my favorite, favoriteones is um whenever somebody is
(22:48):
doing something that we areinterested in doing, parents
would always say something like,he does have two heads, he's
doing it.
If he can do it, you can do ittoo.
So whatever you're seeing outthere, they don't have two
heads, right?
Like they have the same one headthat you have.
Yes, everyone has differentaccess and different capacities
(23:09):
and stuff.
Yes.
But for the most part, with someguidance, you can also figure
out how to execute in the waythat works for you.
SPEAKER_00 (23:16):
Yeah, I love that.
Okay, I will put your website inthe show notes in case people
don't know how to spell Osai LaC C.
Uh, and I will put the link alsofor your Instagram and your
LinkedIn if people want toconnect with you on social
media.
And thank you so much for beinga guest on the podcast.
I love this topic.
I could talk about it all day.
And uh I love your take on itand how you're really using it
(23:40):
to help people personalize theirmarketing strategies and help
them find ways that work forthem without having to
completely reinvent the wheel.
So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (23:50):
Thank you so, so much.
This has been such a joy.
Like the time flew by because Ilove talking about this, and
you're such an amazing host.
So thank you for having me.
Now I got it.
All right.
Hello, uh Osaii, right?
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
Hello, Osayi.
Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you, Melissa.
Thank you so much for having mehere.
I'm so excited.
Yes, I'm so excited to talk toyou.
So before we dive into our topictoday, tell everybody a little
bit about what you do.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
Oh my goodness.
Um, what don't I do?
But yeah, so I have been amarketer now for over 13 years.
And um, this is a second careerfor me.
So I really, really love it.
What I do is I support mostlywomen entrepreneurs with their
(00:44):
businesses, and I provide themwith growth strategies.
So I like to say I'm a growthstrategist and I help women just
come up with like differentcampaigns and different ideas
and help them to execute aswell.
And I like to call itcommunity-powered growth.
So it's not just about the paidcampaigns or you know, showing
(01:05):
up on social media, which areall good things to do.
But I found thatcommunity-powered growth really
helps people to move fasterexponentially.
SPEAKER_00 (01:15):
Yeah, I love that.
And that was one of the thingsthat stood out to me on your
podcast guest application wasyour focus on community and
connection and collaborationsand um, you know, generating
leads without cold reach outsand pitches in the DM and things
like that.
That's what we're all about hereat Powerful Women Rising.
(01:35):
Um, we have the Powerful WomenRising Connection Network, which
is a virtual networking groupfor female entrepreneurs that's
very much along those same linesof like, we're not pitching,
we're not pretending to beperfect, we're not pressuring
people, we're just showing up,creating authentic connections,
supporting each other, providingvalue to each other.
And, you know, for me, buildingthis is my third business, I
(01:58):
really have been able to createsustainable businesses with that
strategy.
And it's not always fast, it'snot always easy, it's not always
sexy, but I do think that it isone of the most sustainable
growth strategies that there is.
So when you talk aboutcommunity-powered growth, what
does that actually look like inpractice?
(02:18):
How is that different fromtraditional lead generation?
SPEAKER_01 (02:23):
Oh, such a good question.
Um, because there are differentways that community can show up
in your campaign.
It can be um creating acommunity, it can't be
connecting with an existingcommunity, it can be partnering
with people in different things.
And so the way that I work ishelping you to figure out the
best options for you.
(02:44):
Um, and for example, I know wewere speaking earlier about this
product that you know came intomy lap because my daughter was
uh fascinated with this world ofbrown plush dolls, and you can
see it in my background.
Um, and I didn't know too muchabout e-commerce, but I was able
to connect with people.
(03:06):
I was able to connect withpeople who were already doing
this or were advising people whowere in e-commerce.
And we've been able to grow,we've been able to make some
sales, we've been able to havesome partnerships and stuff.
So the way it shows up, Iusually start with a framework
where I like to call it thefocus framework.
And the first thing is justfiguring out what are you
(03:28):
comfortable with?
And what are you comfortabletalking about?
What are you comfortable doing?
And um, we start with thatfoundation because in the end,
um, even though we don't like tobe the face of our business to
some extent, um, we still haveto be, especially when we're
just starting, and then as wegrow, we can start to move on to
(03:51):
other things and have otherpeople as the face.
But in the beginning, we have tobe the face of the business.
And so, what is thatfoundational thing that you're
comfortable with?
Are you comfortable going onpodcasts and having
conversations?
Or is it something else?
And we figure that out, and thenwe create your calendar of
things that you can do for therest of the year or for a couple
(04:12):
of months that you can doconsistently under that
framework.
SPEAKER_00 (04:16):
So it sounds like what you're talking about really
is finding the visibilitystrategies that you like, that
you enjoy, um, that aren't thethings that give you energy, not
the things that drain you.
If you're somebody who likehates your life every time
you're on Facebook, then maybewe're not gonna spend our life
on Facebook.
But finding the thing that youlike that helps you get in front
(04:37):
of new communities, get in frontof new audiences, or um share
audiences with other people.
Is that essentially what you'resaying?
That's correct.
SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
Because, like you mentioned, we're looking for
something sustainable, notsomething that is trending right
now, or not something thatworked for your coach or for
some other person.
If it's going to be sustainable,then it has to be something that
you're comfortable with.
And there is room for pushingyourself outside of your comfort
zone.
And that's like a separateconversation.
(05:09):
But what I found with businessand being able to grow is you
need to have, um, you need to beconsistent.
And for you to be consistent,you need to feel like I
understand what's happeningright now and I'm comfortable
doing what I need to do.
Now, not everything is going tobe fun, right?
And not everything is going tobe easy.
(05:31):
But if you feel comfortable withit, then you'll be able to
continue.
And so that's why it really hasto be catered to you and what
you're able to do.
I'm, I like to call myself anambivert.
I can go out and you know havefun and connect with people, but
I also need my alone time.
Now, if you were to if I were tocome up with a strategy, because
(05:53):
I know when I go to events, I'mable to connect with people.
If I come up with a strategythat says I must go to an event
every week, that's part of mycommunity, it won't work for me
because then I'll get drainedand then I'm not excited about
it, and then there's burnout.
But I can say, okay, myfoundation is I need to have at
least one event every month.
(06:13):
Now I can decide if it's avirtual event or if it's an
in-person event and then go fromthere.
And then once we have that, youknow, I decide, okay, this is
like my visibility baseline.
Then I can then move on intowhat my offer is going to be at
those events.
So if my offer is going to be,oh, I just want to have a, you
know, a coffee chat withsomebody, or um, I have a free
(06:37):
strategy session, or I have uhsomething that's useful that I
can offer to people, then that'ssomething that I can do, um,
knowing that I have a goal foreach of those strategies.
And then I can decide, okay, whoare the kinds of people that I
want to connect with?
What kinds of communities makesense for me to connect with
them?
(06:57):
And that's the see and focus.
And once I get clarity on that,and then I start to see the
signals, the user signals thatmake sense to me, the user
signals that show that what I'mdoing is actually working.
And then finally create thesystems and tools that I can use
to automate the parts of thingsthat I don't need to personally
be involved with, just so that Ican move more efficiently,
(07:20):
learn, and keep going.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
So is that what you do is help people set up each of
those different stages?
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
Correct.
So, yes, we start with thatfoundation and then we go all
the way to systems and tools.
What I found out about um a lotof women entrepreneurs is that
we get really nervous abouttools, about new software and
things like that.
And so I've always been able tosupport a lot of women and just
kind of explain to them thatlook, this is a tool.
(07:49):
Use what part of it you'recomfortable using, and then I
can support them with likecreating that framework or
creating templates or creatingwhatever structure they need so
that they feel um confident todo what they need to do, you
know, and um, so that it doesn'tstop them from creating the
change in the world that they'reexcited about.
SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
Yeah, I love that.
I think that's brilliant becauseevery step that you're
mentioning on this focus pathmakes sense in terms of how it
works together and how each stepdoesn't work without the other
step, but it also sounds like alot to try to figure out
yourself.
Um, one of the things that Italk about a lot with networking
is people will go to anetworking event and then
(08:30):
they'll be like, I hated it.
I'm never, I hate networking,I'm never going to another
networking event again, right?
But it's like there's so manydifferent ways to network.
You can do it virtually, you cando it in person, you could do
co-ed groups, you could dowomen-only groups, you could do
ones that are very structured,you could do ones where it's
just like come get a drink and asnack and mingle.
(08:50):
And something is going to workfor you, something is gonna feel
good for you.
Those events where you just geta drink and a snack and mingle,
that's like my worst nightmare.
Like I literally dream aboutthat and not in a good way.
Um, but that's how you figure itout, right?
Even with if we're talking aboutthese other growth strategies,
podcast guesting or speaking orbeing in a book or whatever it
(09:12):
is, um, collaborating with otherpeople on workshops or projects
or whatever.
Having someone to guide youthrough those different things
to give you the courage to trythem, to help you figure out how
to try them, and then to be ableto say, okay, I liked that, I
didn't like that, and turn itinto an actual, like repeatable
(09:33):
plan that doesn't drain you isbrilliant.
SPEAKER_01 (09:38):
Thank you.
Thank you.
And I'd say the main thing alsois helping people realize that
we're all learning, you know.
So I think sometimes when peoplefeel really um sad or they feel
upset about going to anetworking event and they feel
(09:59):
like it was a waste of time andit was stressful, was because
they probably thought successwas supposed to look
differently, right?
Or feel differently.
And so that's also where I comein and just kind of um help them
to just figure out what the goalis for each event.
And then if you've accomplishedthat goal, yeah, then that was a
successful event, right?
(10:20):
And then once you know whatsuccess looks like, also let you
know that not everything isgoing to be successful because
that's all part of the journey.
And some of the people thatyou're seeing out there, they're
gregarious and boisterous andeverything.
They feel you feel like theyhave it all figured out.
They might not.
Some might, but some might not.
And it's okay because um you'reon a different path.
(10:42):
And so I found that being ableto support the women that I work
with, which is giving themclarity around what they're
doing and how they canstrategize, but also letting
them know that it's okay for itnot to look perfect, um, has
been quite useful.
SPEAKER_00 (10:58):
Yeah.
And sometimes those metrics thatwe think are the definition of
success, we don't see untillater, right?
We go to a networking event andthen we're like, that was a
wasn't a success.
Nobody bought my thing.
I didn't get any referrals fromthat.
But sometimes it's because youhave to keep showing up in the
same space consistently tocreate those relationships.
(11:18):
Sometimes it's just because youare, you know, it's it's I do a
lot of podcast guesting and Ilove it.
But sometimes people ask me,like, do you get a lot of
clients from that?
I'm like, I have no idea.
Even with my own podcast, Idon't know if I get a lot of
clients from it.
Because sometimes it's just youlike planting a seed that you
don't know if it's gonna grow ornot.
(11:39):
And sometimes it grows a weeklater, sometimes it grows years
later.
I mean, I've had people say, youknow, I've been on your email
list for three years because Iheard after I heard you on such
and such summit, and I justjoined your community.
And I'm like, three years later.
But so a lot of that, I likewhat you're saying about like
having specific goals apart fromthose like money, clients,
(12:04):
referrals, metrics, becausesometimes you don't see those
pay off until later.
SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
Um, I heard someone say, like, look at your business
like you're on a five-year plan.
Um, so every year it's a new setof five-year plans.
But I think it helped me.
It helped me because I'm one ofthose people that wants to get
the sales quickly and get the,you know, make all of those
things.
But if it's like, oh, this is afive-year journey.
So I might go out and I mightnot get a client right away, but
(12:33):
something else might work out.
I've been to events where Ididn't make a sale, but then
when I shared it on socialmedia, people realized like I
was a real person that went toan actual event and then made a
sale from that.
Um, I was talking to a lady theother day who um supports moms
with newborns.
And she was saying, oh, itdoesn't make sense to have a
(12:56):
newsletter because I there'sthis window of opportunity for
them.
And I told her, you know what?
You just never know.
I've been on, you know, anewsletter for years and years,
and then I will patronize themlike 10 years later.
And literally, um, the the agegap between my first and my
(13:16):
second, it's nine years.
So I patronized someone um whenI was having my first, and then
nothing until I was having mysecond, you know, and she could
have given up and been like, oh,you guys don't, you know, it's
you're you're past the window,and I'm not going to reach out
to you.
But if we look at business aspart of that journey, um, it's
(13:38):
that journey and would just keepgoing, you just never know what
will work because people arestill trying to figure out if
they can trust you.
And so um, it might take sometime.
And then there are some peoplewho make decisions quickly, and
it's awesome.
We love those people as well,uh, but they also make decisions
to leave quickly sometimes.
So, you know, take it all with agrain of salt.
SPEAKER_00 (14:00):
Yeah.
Why do you think that marketingin the traditional sense, a lot
of the ways that we think aboutmarketing is so exhausting for
women, or why do you think theyfeel so like disconnected or not
aligned with it?
SPEAKER_01 (14:16):
That's such a good question.
Um I think it's because we'vebeen taught to do things a
certain way, like always Bclosing, A, B, C, you know, and
then you do this one step one,step two, step three, and then
all the riches come to you.
But there are things that workedin the past, um, and there are
(14:41):
things that work for certainpeople.
But I'm finding now that peoplevalue relationships and people
want to make sure that they cantrust you with your hard-earned
money.
And so I find that for us aswomen, when we're told you do
this and this and this, it mightnot be something we're
comfortable doing, but we goahead and do it just because we
(15:02):
were told that's how to win.
And so it drains us becausewe're not really doing things in
alignment with the way we haveour day-to-day lives.
Like we don't go out to people,you know, in the play group and
like, you, you're gonna be myfriend, you know, because your
child likes my child orsomething like that.
We don't do that typically, butsomehow we've been told that
(15:26):
when it comes to business, wehave to be completely different.
And so it's like oftentimeswe're going against the way we
usually act, expecting things tolook different.
And um, it doesn't work out thatway.
And that's how I always comeback to that foundation of what
you're comfortable with.
Now, if you are the kind ofperson who does go out there and
(15:46):
make you make friends that way,and you're just like, I really
like you, let's be friends, andit works for you, then that
might be the strategy for yourbusiness if it's in alignment
with you.
But what I found is that a lotof us women are just more
relational.
Um, and so we value thoserelationships.
And then some of us have beentold that we're not good at
(16:07):
certain things.
So we're not good at math, we'renot good at data analysis, we're
not good at all of those things.
So when it comes to trying tofigure out um marketing strategy
or looking at the data behindyour Facebook campaigns and
stuff like that, we're like, oh,that's too much technology.
(16:27):
I already know I'm not good atthat, or the data is I'm just
overwhelmed.
I'm not good.
But it's like some of that isalso programming.
So I think it's just acombination of quite a few
things where we we kind of needto go back to what feels
comfortable for us and what'smore in alignment with the
people that we are.
SPEAKER_00 (16:47):
Yeah, yeah.
I love what you're saying aboutreally tuning into what feels
good to you.
And just because it feels goodand works for someone else
doesn't mean it feels good andworks for you.
I kept thinking when you weretalking about this is a weird
comparison, but uh the way thatwe typically birth children in
the United States, um, we areone of the very few countries
(17:11):
where we tell our woman you haveto give birth horizontally,
right?
In many other countries, theyare not giving birth
horizontally.
And the first time I heard that,I was like, God, that makes so
much sense.
Like, why in the world, knowingwhat we know about gravity,
would we try to give birthhorizontally?
And it makes me think about thatin the same way of like, we're
(17:33):
trying to market on all theseways that people are saying,
like, this is how you do it,this is what works, this is it.
And some of those people aremen, some of those people are
women who are different than us,some of those people have
different personalities orbackground or experience from
us.
And so, why do we keep trying toforce ourselves to do it the way
that they're doing it whenthere's a way that makes so much
(17:57):
more sense for us?
And I love that you are kind ofgiving people permission to find
that way that works for them andto go with that.
SPEAKER_01 (18:07):
And I really like your example with um uh
birthing.
Um, I'm in Canada, but I livedin the US for a while and I had
my first horizontally, but mysecond, I was so focused on
having the experience that Iwanted that I had a water birth.
(18:28):
And with that, I was able tolike kneel down and move around,
and it was amazing.
And within like minutes, I wasin my bed because it was a home
birth and everything, and it wasjust so amazing.
Was it hard?
It was still hard for me.
Some people, it wasn't hard forthem, but for me, it was still
hard, but it was such adifferent experience, it was
(18:50):
such a redemptive experience forme because I felt more in
control, I felt like more intune with my body.
And that's what I like marketingto feel like for people, where
it's like, I'm not going to tellyou.
All I can do is help you tooptimize what works for you
based on all these other skillsthat we can add on to what
(19:11):
you're comfortable doing.
So if you're like, oh, I lovewriting emails and I'm really
good at writing emails, then wecan say, okay, let us automate
it so that you can write anemail every week if that's what
you want to do, or every monthif that's what you're
comfortable doing.
Or if you're like, oh, I lovegoing online and talking with
people live, great.
This is the way we cansystematize it for you and
(19:33):
create systems for you where youcan um have your LinkedIn Live
or your um Instagram lives orwhatever, your IG lives or your
Facebook live um sessions andhow you can record it and all of
those things.
But if you say you don't likethat, then I can't tell you that
oh, millions of people makemillions of dollars doing this,
(19:56):
because in the end, it needs tobe about you and your comfort.
And and I keep saying that it'snot about not going outside of
the box, like you still need topush yourself, just like with
the example with birthing.
There's still some hard hardnesswith it, right?
There's still some challengeswith it.
There, there's still some stuffthat you need to figure out and
(20:18):
work through, and there'll stillbe some bits that are boring or
like, you know, waiting becausethe kid is also involved in the
birthing process.
So not everything is going to belike, oh yeah, I'm doing this in
my zone.
It's fun, it's easy, da-da-da.
But it's such a betterexperience that you're able to
have unique ideas that areunique to you that will make you
(20:39):
stand out and will attract theright people to you.
SPEAKER_00 (20:42):
Yeah, yeah.
And sometimes all we need issomeone to just give us that
permission to say it's okay todo it a different way if you
want to.
Exactly.
So if people are listening tothis and they want to take the
first step in starting togenerate leads through
collaborations, throughcommunity, through the things
that we've been talking about,what is a good first step for
(21:05):
them, even if they don't have abig audience right now?
SPEAKER_01 (21:10):
So, my first thing I would say is figure out that
foundation.
What is something you'd like todo or you're already doing and
you like it?
So if it's emails or podcasting,whatever it is, what is that one
thing?
And then the next thing would bewhere can you do, where can you
go or who can you partner with?
(21:30):
Because it's always aboutcommunity.
Yes, you can start your ownpodcast and that's great.
Um, but is there a podcast youcan go on?
Is there someone you can partnerwith to do whatever it is that
you're doing?
Is there a newsletter that youcan be a guest on or something
like that?
So that would be the thing.
Once you just know uh that thisis something that I enjoy, then
(21:52):
figure out how you can make itconsistent and who you can
partner with to keep going.
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
Yeah, brilliant.
I love it.
If people want to connect.
With you if they want to knowmore about what you do and who
you are, what's the best way forthem to do that?
SPEAKER_01 (22:06):
Yeah, so my name is Osai Lasisi.
For all I know, I'm probably theonly Osai Lasisi in the world
for now.
Um, so you can either just go toosai lasisi.com um and you can
go to osai lasisi.com slashfocus and you can schedule a
call with me.
It's a free call.
We can just have a strategysession where I can let you know
(22:28):
that whatever it is you'rethinking, you can do it.
Like um in in in Nigeria whereI'm from, uh, I'm from Edo
State, which is the BeninKingdom.
And one of the things that we'reknown for, we have a lot of
amazing adages.
And one of my favorite, favoriteones is um whenever somebody is
(22:48):
doing something that we areinterested in doing, parents
would always say something like,he does have two heads, he's
doing it.
If he can do it, you can do ittoo.
So whatever you're seeing outthere, they don't have two
heads, right?
Like they have the same one headthat you have.
Yes, everyone has differentaccess and different capacities
(23:09):
and stuff.
Yes.
But for the most part, with someguidance, you can also figure
out how to execute in the waythat works for you.
SPEAKER_00 (23:16):
Yeah, I love that.
Okay, I will put your website inthe show notes in case people
don't know how to spell Osai LaC C.
Uh, and I will put the link alsofor your Instagram and your
LinkedIn if people want toconnect with you on social
media.
And thank you so much for beinga guest on the podcast.
I love this topic.
I could talk about it all day.
And uh I love your take on itand how you're really using it
(23:40):
to help people personalize theirmarketing strategies and help
them find ways that work forthem without having to
completely reinvent the wheel.
So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (23:50):
Thank you so, so much.
This has been such a joy.
Like the time flew by because Ilove talking about this, and
you're such an amazing host.
So thank you for having me.
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
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.