October 9, 2024 • 43 mins
Join us as we connect with David Trotter, a life transformational coach and publisher of Awakened Magazine about the remarkable journey that took him from a conservative Christian background to becoming a prominent figure in the realms of healing and spirituality. David opens up about his mission to amplify the voices of emerging healers and conscious leaders through Awakened Magazine, emphasizing how aesthetics can enhance the delivery of transformative messages about love and healing.
We dive into the ethical dilemmas and challenges that come with branding and marketing in the wellness industry. David shares his insights on maintaining authenticity and honesty in service delivery, and the importance of managing client expectations realistically.
Wrapping up, David offers wisdom on amplifying your voice and sharing your unique message with the world, reminding us all of the importance of our passions and services.
Check out Heallist.com for digital tools created just for holistic healers.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Yuli (00:04):
Welcome to the Healist Podcast, where we inspire and
guide healers through businessexpansion.
We give voice to incrediblyabundant healers to share their
stories.
We dive into the quantum fieldto unlock the energies of
conscious creation.
We also develop digital toolsto help you grow, which you can
(00:25):
find on HealLesscom.
I'm your host, Yuli, and I'mgrateful you chose to join this
space.
Now let's go deep.
Hello, my dear friends, welcometo another incredible episode of
the HealLess podcast, and todaywe have a really exciting
special guest.
David Trotter is a publisher ofAwaken Magazine and a life
(00:49):
transformational coach with 25years of experience helping
people in the areas of healing,spirituality and leadership.
At the age of 18, david senseda call into ministry and
completed his undergraduate andseminary work in preparation to
become a pastor.
After 10 years of starting andgrowing churches in Southern
California, he was burned outfrom trying to fill an internal
(01:14):
hole of not enoughness, whichresulted in burnout, implosion,
healing and a new chapter oflife.
He is the author of a dozenbooks, including Empowered to
Rise and SuperconsciousConversations, producer-director
of four feature films onimportant social issues and a
certified breath work and guidedmeditation facilitator.
(01:37):
Wow, that's quite a bio and I'mjust so excited to have David
here.
And our topic today is really,really important and it's about
amplifying your voice as aconscious leader, and I couldn't
imagine a better guest to do so.
And I like to set intention foreach episode, and for this one
it's pretty easy.
It's in the title.
(01:58):
It's how can we help, how canwe give tools, inspiration,
advice for our incrediblecommunity of healers, conscious
leaders and lightworkers toraise our voices, to show up, to
become more visible, more vocalin this crazy, chaotic world
(02:21):
that we're living in.
And, david, welcome to thepodcast.
David (02:26):
Julie, thank you so much for having me.
It's great to be with you.
Yuli (02:29):
All right.
So we're going to dive right in.
As I told you, we like to getthe practical advice at the very
beginning and then we canunfold from there.
So I'm just amazed atdiscovering the Awaken magazine.
I'm just amazed by thisopportunity for a lot of those
emerging healers and emergingsorry, the emerging leaders in
(02:51):
the space to become more visibleand tell their stories and be
presented in a way that is very,I would say, flattering, but
also empowering, right and verydeserving of their influence.
So tell us, how did you come upwith this format, this mission?
(03:13):
How did it all come about?
What was the story behind it?
David (03:18):
Yeah, you know, obviously it flows out of my own life
transformation of.
You know, as you mentioned, Ihave kind of stepped into this
world of spirituality, comingout of more of a conservative
Christian background.
But I began to meet over thelast five to seven years so many
incredible leaders, speakers,healers, lightworkers, and as I
meet them I go man, so many ofthem are kind of hiding behind
(03:42):
the modality, like reallypassionate about the modality,
really passionate about peoplecan be nervous about promoting
themselves, like oh, this isstepping into this like
three-dimensional world of kindof this game of marketing, and
it kind of can feel like a game.
They've got such an importantmessage, such important work
that if I could use mybackground the last 16 or so
(04:04):
years I've served clients in thearea of marketing if I could
help them amplify their voice bygiving them a boost of
credibility and a boost ofvisibility, they would be able
to impact people that Ipersonally would never be able
to impact or reach.
They would be able to bringmore healing, more love, more
transformation, more awakeningto our planet than I could.
(04:25):
And so, oh my gosh, if I couldfind a way to promote them in a
really beautiful, engaging way.
That's what I'd like to do, andso I started seeing some other
digital magazines on the market,and you know, everyone has a
different vision and a great youknow niche niche.
But I thought, okay, if I couldcreate something for the niche
(04:46):
of people that I believe in sostrongly and do it in a way that
was both very aestheticallypleasing, beautiful and engaging
, that would help people and alot of the magazines that I see
maybe aren't as aestheticallypleasing as I think this group
of people deserves in order toget their message out.
And so that's why we've workedhard to create something that is
(05:08):
both beautiful and engaging forhealers and leaders.
Yuli (05:13):
That's so, so incredible and such a brilliant idea.
And I have to touch on onepoint that you mentioned, that
about being aestheticallypleasing, because I feel like
sometimes for me it's also likeinternal conflict because,
coming you know us beingspiritual beings right and
working in those energy fields,we often feel like the glam
(05:34):
aesthetics right, something thata glossy magazine would have,
is not necessary in ourspiritual world and it's all
about the message and the energybehind it.
Why did you decide to kind ofstep into this aesthetically
pleasing form and kind of gowith it?
David (05:57):
Yeah, you know, for whatever reason, we live in a
world where certain things catchour eye and beauty is obviously
very subjective and when I sayaesthetically pleasing, I don't
mean the people that are on ourcover.
Everybody's beautiful, right Inour own way, everybody's
handsome in their own.
But it's more of the packagingthe way that the graphics are
put together, the way that thepage loads, the way that the
(06:19):
website is presented, all ofthose things.
We do live in a world wherethings catch our eye, and so,
well, if I've got an importantmessage, I want to package it in
a way that catches people'seyes.
Right, I can be sayingsomething about love or healing
or transformation, but if it'snot compelling, if it's not
packaged in a way that catchespeople's eye, they're never
(06:40):
going to hear it.
And so you know, I think Ilearned that even from my time
in being a pastor.
For over a decade, I startedchurches that were very visually
and compelling in terms of likewhat you heard.
I utilized the tools ofmarketing and branding in order
to help people hear a messagethat was ultimately
(07:02):
life-changing.
And so I'm bringing that sametool to the table, just with a
slightly different modalities,right?
Yuli (07:10):
No, it's so interesting and it's just amazing and
fascinating that you have thatcombination in you.
I think that's a very rarecombination in people.
You know have that deeplyspiritual side and religious
background in your case, butalso being so super aware of the
marketing and the creative artsSomeone who comes from a
(07:32):
creative background, like myself.
I always valued it.
But part of me also has alittle bit of a conflict, like I
mentioned before.
Or, you know, and a lot ofhealers, they have the point
when they say why do I have to,you know, invest in my
presentation?
Why do I have to package myself?
Why do I have to, you know,hire an expensive photographer?
(07:55):
Why can't just people see me asI am?
And this is by raw kind ofauthentic self, right?
And you providing this counterargument saying, well, you know,
if you want to reach the masseslike you just have to maybe
package a little bit right.
David (08:13):
Yeah, you don't have to, you don't have to do any of
those things.
But I do see that the peoplethat do choose to go that route
and do it in a way that'sauthentic to them, not something
that's not them, right?
It is weird when you see aphoto of somebody and then you
meet them in person and you'relike, oh, that's the same person
that would have guessed that,right?
No, no, no, we're not lookingfor that.
We're looking for authenticity.
(08:33):
You know, it's just utilizingthe tool of getting someone's
attention.
So if I give a talk, forinstance I've given hundreds and
hundreds of talks If the veryfirst thing that comes out of my
mouth is the most intense thingthat I'm trying to communicate,
you're probably not going to beable to hear it.
Right?
(08:54):
That's the core message.
But if I communicate from thevery beginning, something that
catches your attention, thatpulls you in, that feels
compelling in a certain way,you're more prone to listen.
It's the same thing that we'redoing with visuals, is?
It's just presenting the veryfirst thing as something that's
compelling, that causes youcuriosity to go.
(09:16):
I want to learn a little bitmore, I want to take that in, I
want to see what that's like,and that's the strategy right.
Like, and that's the strategyright.
You don't have to use thatstrategy, but we find that
people who do tend to get alittle bit more eyes on what
they're doing, and that'sultimately the goal.
The goal and this is so, soimportant I teach my coaching
(09:37):
clients this people that I workwith the goal is not performance
.
The goal is service, always,and so whenever we're thinking
about whether it's being on apodcast interview or presenting
an article or a talk or socialmedia post it's not to perform
in order to please other peopleor to get people's attention.
(09:59):
The ultimate goal is to serve.
How am I trying to bringtransformation, healing,
awakening love to the table?
And then, if there are toolsthat help me get people's
attention in order to do that,then I want to use those.
Some tools, though, I will sayI will say Uli, some tools are
out of alignment with, maybe,our values, and so that's a
(10:20):
constant question to go what aremy values and are these tools
out of alignment?
This might be controversial,but I'm going to share this.
I have seen some healers thatwill utilize their physical
bodies in order to get attentionright, and even the initial
image that's presented on a reelright.
That's an attention-gettingimage that you may have seen,
(10:43):
and then all of a sudden it goesto to the actual message.
That's transformation andhealing or something like that.
For me personally, that wouldbe out of alignment with what I
would want to present to peopleright.
For other people it may not.
That's an attention-gettingtool, but we always have to ask
is this an attention-gettingtool that is in alignment with
who I am and the values that I'mbringing to the table?
(11:05):
So it's a question I'm alwaysasking.
Yuli (11:08):
It's so interesting and so deep.
I feel like there's no rightand wrong.
I agree with you, but it issomething that I find that like
one of the most interesting,like challenges, and that's why
I built the business of Healistto help healers to be presented
properly.
But it's always the question ofyou know marketing right.
(11:33):
The area of marketing is knownfor its manipulative nature and
it's built on using psychologyto grab attention to sell things
right.
So in a way, we have to playthis game Like there's no other
way, especially if you're tryingto sell services online to
(11:54):
clients that potentially youknow might come recommended, but
maybe new people that just metyou and they need to learn about
you and they or you need tocatch their attention.
Are there any other ways to doso that are not necessarily
manipulating as some of thosemarketing tactics are?
(12:15):
And it's been like a big quest.
I don't think there's an answer, but it's been a big quest of
mine.
With someone who's also donemarketing for the past two
decades mind, with someone who'salso done marketing for the
past two decades you know whatare the most authentic ways to,
yes, play the games and maybeuse some of those tools to our
advantage, but also to stayauthentic and make sure that you
(12:38):
know people are not manipulatedin some of those spiritual
practices that healers areoffering.
David (12:45):
It's tough, I think.
For me it's a constant question, like, even there's only one
spot left.
You know, I will work withbecause, locally, my partner,
she owns a meditation andbreathwork studio here in
Southern California calledBehind the Lids, and so we do
certifications, breathworkcertifications, a guided
meditation, a sound and allthese things and there will be
(13:06):
some people that we work with,facilitators, to go, okay, I'm
going to put on my Instagramthere's one spot left Right, and
I go is there only one spotleft?
I mean, like, if there were twopeople that signed up, would
you take the second one?
Well, of course I would.
Okay, well then, why are wesaying there's one spot left?
Like that's out of alignmentwith our values?
You're lying to people likethat, doesn't you know what I
mean?
(13:26):
Like, so that's a question thatI'm always bringing to the
table is like, well, wait, isthis really true?
Like, is it really what wewould do?
You know and I think that's agood exercise because it keeps
me honest with how I'm, you know, presenting things People will
even ask me that with themagazine, they'll go okay, do
you have statistics on thepeople that participate as
(13:48):
executive contributors in yourmagazine?
Do you have statistics on thenumber of leads that they've
gotten by doing that and I go no, I don't and I never will,
because I'm not going to utilizethat to overpromise something.
I can't promise you anything.
What I can promise you is I'mgoing to present you in a
beautiful way and here's theaudience that I'm going to
present you to and in large part, the results that you get are
(14:14):
dependent on how much youleverage the branded content
that we create together.
Right?
But I don't want to be in aposition where I'm over
promising and under delivering.
I will always want to underpromise and over deliver.
Yuli (14:22):
Yeah, and it's always.
I mean, it's a great point thatyou mentioned that.
The conversion rates, right,all those marketing terms, or
the lead generation, it's alwaysa question or the ROI, another
favorite one, sorry, turn oninvestment, right.
Well, if I do this, what is itgoing to guarantee me how many
spots, how many new clients Iget?
(14:44):
And it's always been achallenge, and my area of
expertise for years wasinfluencer marketing, which is
very similar to that, and I lovethe parallels, by the way,
because I think and I talk aboutit a lot, that healers are the
new influencers of this day andage.
But it was always a challengebecause the influence, and
(15:04):
especially if you apply theenergetic level to it as well,
how do you measure that?
How do you measure thatenergetic impact, the cognitive
impact, the potential long-termimpact that this, maybe piece of
content had on a person thatsometimes even subconscious,
right?
So suddenly the ROI becomesreally impossible to measure.
David (15:29):
Yeah, very difficult, very difficult.
And you know, overstating oh, Ijust get so nervous, personally
, about overstating thepotential result, you know,
because I just I want people toknow I'm here to serve, right,
our organization is here toserve, and so here's what I can
promise.
Here's the unknown, here's thedesire, here's the vision.
(15:51):
I can cast the vision and go.
This is what we're going for,but I can't promise, you know
this thing.
Here's what I can promise Ithink that that's true even with
healers and facilitators ofdifferent experiences to go.
Here's what I've seen in thepast.
Yuli (16:06):
I can't promise that that's going to be for you, but
that's my desire, that's whatwe're going for, yeah absolutely
, and it resonates so muchbecause this is exactly the
question that we have to addressat Healist as well.
You know, our mission as aplatform is to present their
profiles in the way that are.
You know, make it easy forclients to book their services.
(16:27):
That's really, that's theservice.
David (16:29):
Yes.
Yuli (16:30):
We make it so easy for someone who sees this page to
say, yes, I want this serviceand book it in two seconds.
Right, but in terms of theguarantee, will someone book it
or will we drive clients towardsthis page?
There's no guarantee.
We just provide this beautifultool, this presentation, to the
(16:50):
client.
So in a way, we're in a similarbusiness.
David (16:53):
I thought I would get hundreds of leads by putting
this profile up on Healist.
What happened, yuli?
Right, it's like, ah, and youknow we can't control what other
people's perception is.
We can present, you know,communication, but it's like
people are bringing their ownhopes and dreams to the table.
(17:14):
Yeah, it's a fascinating worldof marketing and how do we
utilize the tools, once again,to grab attention?
But then the point is not tojust perform, and I guess the
reason why I focus onperformance versus service is a
lot of the clients that I workwith are so concerned about,
they're anxious about howthey're coming off, how they're
(17:37):
being presented to the world,Like I've got to be perfect in
this way and it's like, well,okay, yeah, we're playing this
game of marketing and branding,but ultimately the goal is
service.
So if you're there to serve,then a lot of that anxiety then
just kind of evaporates becauseI go well, I'm here to just help
.
That's my goal.
Yuli (17:57):
Right.
So talk more about the rightpresentation and some of the
concerns that people bring tothe table when they come and
they say, okay, I'm ready forthis big next step of being on
the cover of a digital magazine,which I'm sure comes with a lot
of anxieties for this audience.
What does that process looklike?
David (18:17):
The process in terms of like actually working with
someone.
Yuli (18:22):
Well, I think there's two parts complicated question, one
psychological part, and, youknow, making sure that they're
comfortable with the way they'reportrayed, and how do you
present them and how do youchoose the right branding, the
right message, or do they cometo you already with that, with
all those things figured out?
My guess would be no, but I'mcurious to hear from you.
(18:46):
And then the second part endson a more practical level and
production level.
How does it actually look likeand how does it work?
David (18:55):
Yeah.
So some individuals do come tothe table with a very clear
message and here's what I do andhow I do it, why I do it, the
benefits of working with me.
One of the challenges for a lotof healers is they start with
one thing, they start with onemodality.
So let's just say, somebody hadsome sort of issue, they
received some Reiki treatmentsor sessions and they're like, oh
(19:17):
my gosh, I've got to be a Reikihealer.
So they go through Reikiprocess.
They've got Reiki 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, reiki, platinum, right, all of
them.
And then they go okay, now Ilike sound healing.
I'm going to add that becausethat would be really helpful.
And then you know I should getbreath work, and then I should
probably get.
And so they come with like 10modalities and they've got all
these amazing tools.
But then the challenge is howdo you communicate what you do
(19:41):
Right?
And so helping them go allright, is there a certain niche
that you primarily focus on?
Let's focus on that niche, andthen let's focus on what is it
the primary result that you'retrying to help them with?
And so we try to help them kindof narrow that down and hone in
on one particular thing.
So one of the things that Ialways ask them during our
(20:01):
consultation calls is if youcould use publicity in order to
grow one aspect of your work,what would it be?
Well, I really wanna focus moreon one-on-one clients that are
women, that are, you know, kindof dealing with this Okay, great
.
Or I really want to grow thisgroup program.
That's a one-year program, sowe try to hone them in on what
that thing is that they arewanting to see results on, and
(20:24):
then, of course, if they'refeatured on the podcast, hone in
on that as the specific part ofthe conversation.
Psychologically.
You know, I'll have people thatyou know that join us as
executive contributors.
You go.
Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous onthe podcast, I've never done one
before I go.
Well, I've done hundreds.
I literally have interviewedhundreds of people.
I'm great at helping you shareyour story because I'm genuinely
(20:45):
interested in your story, athelping you share your story
because I'm genuinely interestedin your story.
So I'm just.
You know, I give them six tonine questions ahead of time to
go.
Here are the questions that I'mgoing to ask you.
Would you like to add anyquestions?
Would you like to subtract anyquestions?
Let's make sure that thequestions are going down the
road.
That's going to really set youup to win in terms of
communicating your message, andthen you know you can hear them
(21:05):
take a sigh of breath of relief.
Okay, all right, I'm for you,I'm for you.
That's the whole reason whywe're doing this is I'm for you.
So I'm going to set you up towin.
Then really asking themquestions that help them hone
their message.
Oftentimes, when you've beendoing something for so long, you
don't know what you know, right, you don't realize I'm assuming
(21:26):
all of these things.
You don't realize, I'm assumingall of these things.
So I will oftentimes ask themquestions that might seem very
rudimentary, very simple, butit's because I don't want to
assume that the audience that'slistening understands anything.
So what is Reiki?
Oh, how does energy work?
How does that impact?
(21:47):
If I was dealing with achallenge, how might Reiki help
me?
I don't want to assume thatpeople know that right.
Or we had someone that I justinterviewed yesterday that is
bringing consciousness to themilitary.
Believe it or not, thisindividual is working in the US
Army.
They've worked for the CoastGuard, now they work for the
State Department and they bringconsciousness into the
(22:11):
conversation in order to bringequity into this environment.
Oh, okay.
Well, how would you defineconsciousness?
What does that mean in yourenvironment?
What is equity?
How is that helpful to have inthe workplace, or what does it
look like when it's not in theworkplace?
So, all of those questionsalong the way, I find that not
(22:32):
only do they help in terms ofthe content that we're
presenting, but I'm kind of likeconsulting the individual along
the way, making them think oh,you know, I've never thought
about that before.
Yeah, okay, I should probablythink about that you know, that
before?
Yeah, okay, I should probablythink about that, you know, and
(22:52):
that's fun because I'm for them,right, I'm helping them, I'm
just I'm wanting them to expand,because it goes back to the
core vision of if I can helppeople promote what they're
doing and increase incredibility and increase in
visibility and get more clients,that means they're going to
bring more hope, healing,transformation and awakening to
the world, and that lights me up.
Yuli (23:16):
That's an incredible service.
Well you, thank you for yourservice to this community and um
.
I don't want to assume that ourlisteners know how they can
work with you and what servicesthe um, the magazine, provides,
so if you can touch on that in amore practical ways, that would
be great.
David (23:28):
Yeah, so Awaken Magazine is a platform to amplify the
voices of conscious healers,leaders, teachers, coaches,
authors, facilitators, and wehone in on that niche and
essentially we say, okay, howcan we take what you do, your
work, their wisdom?
We just package it in abeautiful and engaging way.
And so the way that we workwith individuals is actually
(23:57):
through two different membershipoptions.
They're 12-month membershipsbecause we want to work with
people over a protracted periodof time and see that impact and
growth in their business.
And those memberships one ismore entry level, where they
have the opportunity to presentan interview about themselves
and publish it through themagazine and also be able to
publish monthly articles throughthe magazine, anything that's
(24:18):
focused on spirituality,personal development, health and
wellness relationships.
And then also there's more of apremium publicity opportunity
where they are featured on thecover and the podcast and
presented it through video andaudio and the written word.
And yeah, and so all of that isjust a way to present them to
the world.
(24:38):
We have an audience, of course,that we present them to via
email and social media, but thenour goal is that they're taking
this branded content that we'vecreated together that's
beautifully engaging, andthey're presenting it to their
audience through email andsocial media, and I see it every
week.
We have a different executivecontributor on the cover every
single week and I see them postit and tag us, and it's comment
(25:01):
after comment Yuli, you lookamazing.
Oh my gosh, you deserve this.
I love the interview.
The article that you presentedwas so great, and these are
people that already believe inthem, already have eyes of
credibility.
Credibility goes up even withtheir own audience, which means,
ultimately, they'll be willingto be more, willing to work with
(25:22):
them or share their content.
So, yeah, that's how we'resupporting healers, teachers,
leaders by just presenting theircontent in a beautiful way, and
the ultimate goal increasedcredibility, so that they would
be more trusted by theiraudience and ours, and then
increased visibility, so thatthey would be able to reach more
(25:42):
people who would want to workwith them.
Yuli (25:45):
Incredible.
Yeah, it's a really amazingopportunity for anyone that is a
holistic healer or a leader inthe space.
And I wanted to ask, as someoneagain comes from a creative
background, how do you make themlook so amazing and every cover
is just outstanding and socaptivating and all the content
(26:08):
on your website or in themagazine.
So what does that process looklike?
Because I can see a lot ofleaders kind of look into it and
say, oh, I would love to maybesee myself on the cover, but I
don't know if I'm a covermaterial or I have the right
content to appear.
So talk about that more of acreative production process
(26:30):
perhaps.
David (26:32):
Yeah, so all of the images that we present are
images that are submitted by ourexecutive contributors, and so
we do encourage them to get thebest possible photo that they
have available to them.
Some people are able to presentprofessional images.
That would be our first choice.
The cover is a headshot.
We do have a great team thatphotoshops things to, you know,
(26:57):
make it look amazing.
Oftentimes the background of aphoto is not conducive to a
magazine cover, so we'll changeout the background and then,
depending on the person's desire, you know, we'll make some
Botox adjustments to the face,but that's based on what the
person desires, of course.
And then, you know, I'll evenwork with the individual because
(27:19):
I'll have some people go.
You know, I just I don't know.
Even I've never had a photoshoot.
Where do I get a photographer?
I live in this small town and Igo no, there are photographers
in your small town.
I literally will go on, sharemy screen and jump on Google or
even Craigslist and just Googlephotographers.
They're like, oh my gosh,there's all these photographers.
And I go, yeah, and you knowwhat They'll probably do a
(27:41):
headshot for you.
You could probably get aheadshot for even 75 to $150
just for a headshot Like if you,if that's what you needed and
you can use that image in lotsof different places, if that's
what you needed and you can usethat image in lots of different
places.
So it's just coaching peoplethrough that process that maybe
aren't as savvy, and that's okay.
Ultimately, that gets me mygoal, which is to present them
(28:02):
in a beautiful, engaging way sothat they ultimately will have
more visibility, morecredibility and, ultimately,
impact more people.
Yuli (28:09):
Yeah, no, that's incredible that you're able to
turn the headshots into such abeautiful cover.
It's really a skill and Iabsolutely agree with you
encouraging more and more peoplein this profession to seek
professional headshots ingeneral, even if they just put
it on their social mediaprofiles or their Healist
profile.
It's such a huge difference.
(28:29):
And, to add to your greatrecommendations, I find a lot of
the local Facebook groups oftenwill be a great source to find
local photographers.
That's why I find a lot ofphotographers for just personal
affairs especially.
So I'm sure all of you havesome local groups that you can
reach out and ask and a lot oftimes you will find people that
(28:51):
are even either offer it for avery small fee or even for an
exchange, because if it'ssomething that goes into a
magazine and there's a way forthe professional to credit them
in some way, it's someone who'sstarting out, let's say, in the
area that to be, or you canexchange it for a session.
Maybe they need maybe thatphotographer needs a breath work
(29:12):
session.
David (29:14):
Yeah, absolutely yeah.
You know, for people who havenot been in the world of
marketing or PR or that kind ofthing, all of those things can
feel daunting.
Oh my goodness, how am I goingto look, you know, and is the
person going to charge a lot?
And I don't even know where toask or what to start.
You know you got to go for it.
I just ask, you know, ask thequestions.
(29:35):
It's okay, be a be a learner.
What does this look like?
How much does it charge?
What do I get in return?
What should I wear?
How should I look?
You know all those questions.
It's okay.
Like you got to start and youdo it once, then you're you're a
pro.
You do it again, right?
Yuli (29:50):
right, and a lot of photographers can actually help
with even a wardrobe selectionor even if you do wish to have
like more professionally styled,like hair, let's say.
They will refer you to the rightpeople and they will give you
some advice, because they wanttheir photos to be as good
looking as possible as well.
They have the same mission asyou do.
(30:11):
That's right, so it could be acreative collaboration.
But, yeah, I think it'ssomething you know having a
great headshot.
I can't speak enough for that,and thanks for your great
suggestions and for emphasizingbut also to creating an easy way
to take those headshots and putit on something on the cover of
(30:32):
a magazine.
I think it's something thatmakes for people maybe a little
easier to envision themselves onit.
Okay, just all it takes, it's aheadshot and it's a great
interview.
That all the thoughts andwisdom I already have that's all
it takes to put it out there.
But I think a lot of peoplejust don't realize how that a
(30:53):
lot of what you do and the wayyou present they already have
that right.
David (30:58):
Yeah, and the key thing that I tell them is our world is
desperate for what you have tooffer.
It's absolutely desperate, likeour world needs what you have.
You wouldn't be doing this ifyou didn't think that our world
needs it, and I'm just comingalong confirming it, saying, yes
, our world needs your energy,healing, your breath work, your
(31:18):
meditation, your yoga, yourcoaching, your whatever it might
be.
Our world needs it, and so, inorder for people to find out
about what you offer, we want topresent that, whether you work
with Awaken Magazine or Healistor whatever, there are lots of
different tools, and so we justgot to get you out there,
because your message deserves tobe heard.
Yuli (31:40):
Absolutely.
If I can amplify it right now10x or 100x, I will do, and all
we do here in this podcast isamplify voices of healers,
basically, and it's just amazingto have this magazine that is
able to do that also in a visualway and a visually compelling
(32:02):
way.
So, david, I mean we talked alot about your service, but I'm
also really fascinated by yourstory and especially you know
all of your journey, but thisreally unique combination of all
of your marketing wisdom withthe spiritual path and your own
teachings as well, can you takeus on this journey please?
David (32:25):
Yeah, yeah.
You know one of the reasons whyI love images and marketing so
much.
I started out in photographywhen I was 14.
I got my very first camera.
I grew up in Kentucky and thiswas back with film, yuli, you
may remember film.
Yuli (32:39):
I do, I do.
David (32:42):
So I started out when I was, I think, a freshman in high
school, developing black andwhite film in the darkroom for
the school yearbook andnewspaper, and I did that for
eight years, all through highschool, all through college.
I actually thought I was.
My goal was to be a sportsillustrated photographer.
I just loved, I won awards inphotographing sports.
I actually worked for anewspaper in Northern California
(33:03):
doing sports photography.
But when I was a senior in highschool, I sensed this calling
into Christian ministry and so Iended up, instead of going back
to Western Kentucky Universityand studying photojournalism, I
came down to Southern Californiato what is now Vanguard
University and got my degree inpastoral ministries and a
master's in church leadership.
(33:24):
Then I went on to FullerTheological Seminary where I got
a degree in cross-culturalstudies with an emphasis in
church growth, and I became apastor.
I was a pastor for over 10 yearsand I utilized a lot of these
tools that we're talking aboutmarketing and branding and
communication in order to justcapture people's attention, in
(33:44):
order to communicate alife-changing message.
I did some crazy stuff, haley,when I was a pastor.
I mean I had a full size citybus wrapped with our church's
logo.
I mean, the whole bus was likewrapped.
And then I had a car, a ScionXB right when it came out, fully
wrapped, matching the bus, wewould go to community events and
(34:05):
pass out bottles of brandedwater with, like, the logo it's
just serving, right, justserving.
Getting people and the otherchurches in the city were just
like shaking their head like, ohmy gosh, what is this guy?
This is so inappropriate to getpeople's attention in this way.
We should just be talking aboutJesus in our normal boring way,
right.
And I'm like no, you got tolike have fun, like connect with
(34:27):
people, right.
So the challenge for me, though,in 10 years of ministry, was
that, as you read earlier, I wastrying to fill a hole of not
enoughness inside of me that Ithought if I could help enough
people grow the church bigenough, then I'd finally be
somebody like, I'd finally feelenough.
And so, about 16 years ago, Ijust hit a wall of burnout and
(34:51):
made a transition where Istarted utilizing those skills
of marketing to help for-profitand nonprofit clients.
But it also gave me the freedomto have some time, because I
worked for myself as asolopreneur with contractors,
where I started asking questionskind of outside the box of what
I had been teaching and what Ihad been taught, and so I
(35:11):
started asking questions aroundpersonal development coaching,
started doing some coachingmyself, because that's all about
helping people right.
And then I fell into filmmakingbecause I wanted to tell some
life-changing stories.
So I did a documentary onorphans in India that was on
Netflix for a couple of years,called Mother India Life Through
the Eyes of the Orphan.
It's still on Amazon.
(35:36):
I did a documentary on sextrafficking in the United States
because I saw the issue oftrafficking not only in other
places, I physically saw it.
And then I began to learn aboutit in the United States and so
I featured six femaleabolitionists who had become
aware of the issue oftrafficking in their cities and
then opened up aftercare homes.
So we featured a woman inBaltimore, nashville, little
Rock, houston, dallas,sacramento, and that film just
(35:57):
was so amazing.
I did a couple more films andthen I started because I love
telling people stories.
I started a podcast calledInspiration Rising focused on
female entrepreneurs, because Ifound that a lot of women 30 to
60, were interested in all thestuff that I was doing ministry
or marketing movies and I didseveral hundred interviews and
in the course of thoseinterviews, yuli, I started
(36:20):
interviewing a lot of peoplethat were spiritual type
entrepreneurs.
These women were coming ontalking about energy and psychic
stuff and medium and Reiki andI'm like these people are weird.
I mean, these are just someweird people and you know I'd
laugh with them and I go youknow, in my old life you'd be
satanic, you need an exorcism orsomething you know and I get
(36:42):
them laughing and then the moretimes I talk to them I go this
is my tribe, these are thepeople that I've been looking
for, because this is all aboutconnecting to the divine, a
higher consciousness, andexperiencing transformation,
healing, awakening, and so itreally gave me the freedom to
open up my mind and heart to amore inclusive spirituality.
(37:04):
And then I started you know,the gateway drug of sound baths
here in Southern California.
I'm like, well, okay, this isawesome.
Then I got into breath work andguided meditation and got
certified in those things.
And actually my partner, as Imentioned, mandy she owns a
studio, so we teach theseclasses there every night of the
week and have lots offacilitators to do that.
So, yeah, just obviously afascinating journey.
(37:25):
I have a deep reverence for myheritage and through my own
experiences with mediumship andchanneling in the last couple of
years, I actually have well, Ifeel emotional even talking
about this.
I have a deeper connection toJesus than I ever did when I was
a pastor, like in my own timesof meditation, slash, channeling
(37:48):
.
Jesus is there with me andthere's a connection there that
feels so life-giving andpermission-giving, rather than
restricting and likeconstraining about right, wrong,
good or bad.
Like it feels so healing andtransformative.
And you know, there you go.
(38:09):
I'm on the journey, I'mlearning, I'm growing.
Yuli (38:13):
Wow.
Well, I'm grateful for youropenness and vulnerability here
and just sharing this incrediblestory and I think I've heard
anything like that before Anyonewho kind of come from this
pretty, I would say leadershipposition in the religious world
and stepped into the journeyyou're now and it's just really
(38:34):
fascinating to me and I'mcurious if the Awakened magazine
was one of the channeledmessages that you got.
How did that come about?
David (38:47):
Yeah, no-transcript is doing this in India through the
(39:19):
work of orphans.
So it's all about I loveamplifying voices, but also
there's a little bit of acompetitive side of me.
I will tell you.
Yuli (39:28):
I don't know.
Oh, tell me more, I love that.
I will tell you.
I don't know.
Tell me more, I love that.
David (39:33):
Have you ever taken the Gallup Strength Finders
assessment?
Have you ever done thatparticular one?
Okay, so the Galluporganization came up with these
I don't remember how many.
There are 32, 36 strengths, andthe whole point was that in
Western culture, we tend tofocus on our weaknesses in order
to grow in our own lives.
(39:55):
So if you ask the averageperson, hey, in order to grow in
your life, should you focusmore on your weakness?
And like changing that or focuson your strength?
In our culture we say weaknesslike just statistically, and
they're going no, no, no, youcan only grow your weakness like
this much, like 10%, let's justsay arbitrary number versus if
(40:15):
you focus on your strength, it'sgoing to escalate, you know,
really big.
So they do an assessment withyour top five strengths and
minor command.
Anytime there's a need forleadership, like, hey, I'm going
to jump in and try to help.
There's input.
I'm always looking for inputand learning from others.
Futuristic, I can see things inthe future that maybe other
people can't see.
(40:36):
But one of those the other onewas activator.
If something needs to be done,like okay, I'm on it activation.
The fifth one, though, iscompetition, and coming from my
Christian background, I alwayssaw competition as bad or evil,
like, okay, you shouldn't, like,that's not, like it's not
against other people, we shouldbe for right.
So I was like I don't understandhow competition could be one of
(40:59):
my strengths and they go no, no, no, competition's not against
other people, it's about alwaysgrowing, learning and elevating
whatever you're doing.
So part of that, you know, Isaw some other digital magazines
on the marketplace.
Part of that, you know, I sawsome other digital magazines on
the marketplace, in themarketplace, that I didn't find
to be very aestheticallypleasing, you know.
I felt like they were maybe alittle bit like the mission was
(41:24):
strong, but that aestheticquality I felt like was maybe
lacking a little bit.
And so part of the, you know,goal of Waken Magazine is I go,
I want to have the mostbeautiful magazine that I can
without.
You know, hey, you can never beVogue because you're hiring
photographers to do those coversand create everything right.
So I'm working in the confinesof utilizing user submitted
(41:46):
content.
If I can work with usersubmitted content, then create
the most beautiful thingpossible, let's do it and let's
see if we can, you know, reallygrow this thing to amplify
voices.
Yuli (41:56):
Love that.
Well, thank you again for yourservice and for sharing your
stories.
I can't believe that our timehas come to an end and I feel
like I have still a millionquestions for you.
So maybe there will be part twoone day, but just and thank you
for amplifying those stories.
Really, it seems like thethread and everything you've
(42:17):
done is to help amplify people'sstories, which is incredible
service.
Any last words of wisdom forour incredible audience?
David (42:26):
I would just remind you the world needs what you have to
offer.
It's desperate in need ofwhatever that service is, that
thing that's pulsing in yourheart that you know you want to
bring to the table.
Our world needs it.
And then, number two I wouldjust encourage you to find ways
to get the word out, to getpeople's attention about that,
in ways that align with yourvalues.
So, hey, if that's signing upwith Heat List or working with
(42:49):
AwakendMagazine or the plethoraof other opportunities and
platforms, or just usingInstagram, facebook, twitter,
linkedin, tiktok, get the wordout, because our world needs
what you have to offer.
Yuli (42:59):
Absolutely.
Thank you, David.
Pleasure having you on ourpodcast.
David (43:05):
Great to be with you, Yuli.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Welcome to the Healist Podcast, where we inspire and
guide healers through businessexpansion.
We give voice to incrediblyabundant healers to share their
stories.
We dive into the quantum fieldto unlock the energies of
conscious creation.
We also develop digital toolsto help you grow, which you can
(00:25):
find on HealLesscom.
I'm your host, Yuli, and I'mgrateful you chose to join this
space.
Now let's go deep.
Hello, my dear friends, welcometo another incredible episode of
the HealLess podcast, and todaywe have a really exciting
special guest.
David Trotter is a publisher ofAwaken Magazine and a life
(00:49):
transformational coach with 25years of experience helping
people in the areas of healing,spirituality and leadership.
At the age of 18, david senseda call into ministry and
completed his undergraduate andseminary work in preparation to
become a pastor.
After 10 years of starting andgrowing churches in Southern
California, he was burned outfrom trying to fill an internal
(01:14):
hole of not enoughness, whichresulted in burnout, implosion,
healing and a new chapter oflife.
He is the author of a dozenbooks, including Empowered to
Rise and SuperconsciousConversations, producer-director
of four feature films onimportant social issues and a
certified breath work and guidedmeditation facilitator.
(01:37):
Wow, that's quite a bio and I'mjust so excited to have David
here.
And our topic today is really,really important and it's about
amplifying your voice as aconscious leader, and I couldn't
imagine a better guest to do so.
And I like to set intention foreach episode, and for this one
it's pretty easy.
It's in the title.
(01:58):
It's how can we help, how canwe give tools, inspiration,
advice for our incrediblecommunity of healers, conscious
leaders and lightworkers toraise our voices, to show up, to
become more visible, more vocalin this crazy, chaotic world
(02:21):
that we're living in.
And, david, welcome to thepodcast.
David (02:26):
Julie, thank you so much for having me.
It's great to be with you.
Yuli (02:29):
All right.
So we're going to dive right in.
As I told you, we like to getthe practical advice at the very
beginning and then we canunfold from there.
So I'm just amazed atdiscovering the Awaken magazine.
I'm just amazed by thisopportunity for a lot of those
emerging healers and emergingsorry, the emerging leaders in
(02:51):
the space to become more visibleand tell their stories and be
presented in a way that is very,I would say, flattering, but
also empowering, right and verydeserving of their influence.
So tell us, how did you come upwith this format, this mission?
(03:13):
How did it all come about?
What was the story behind it?
David (03:18):
Yeah, you know, obviously it flows out of my own life
transformation of.
You know, as you mentioned, Ihave kind of stepped into this
world of spirituality, comingout of more of a conservative
Christian background.
But I began to meet over thelast five to seven years so many
incredible leaders, speakers,healers, lightworkers, and as I
meet them I go man, so many ofthem are kind of hiding behind
(03:42):
the modality, like reallypassionate about the modality,
really passionate about peoplecan be nervous about promoting
themselves, like oh, this isstepping into this like
three-dimensional world of kindof this game of marketing, and
it kind of can feel like a game.
They've got such an importantmessage, such important work
that if I could use mybackground the last 16 or so
(04:04):
years I've served clients in thearea of marketing if I could
help them amplify their voice bygiving them a boost of
credibility and a boost ofvisibility, they would be able
to impact people that Ipersonally would never be able
to impact or reach.
They would be able to bringmore healing, more love, more
transformation, more awakeningto our planet than I could.
(04:25):
And so, oh my gosh, if I couldfind a way to promote them in a
really beautiful, engaging way.
That's what I'd like to do, andso I started seeing some other
digital magazines on the market,and you know, everyone has a
different vision and a great youknow niche niche.
But I thought, okay, if I couldcreate something for the niche
(04:46):
of people that I believe in sostrongly and do it in a way that
was both very aestheticallypleasing, beautiful and engaging
, that would help people and alot of the magazines that I see
maybe aren't as aestheticallypleasing as I think this group
of people deserves in order toget their message out.
And so that's why we've workedhard to create something that is
(05:08):
both beautiful and engaging forhealers and leaders.
Yuli (05:13):
That's so, so incredible and such a brilliant idea.
And I have to touch on onepoint that you mentioned, that
about being aestheticallypleasing, because I feel like
sometimes for me it's also likeinternal conflict because,
coming you know us beingspiritual beings right and
working in those energy fields,we often feel like the glam
(05:34):
aesthetics right, something thata glossy magazine would have,
is not necessary in ourspiritual world and it's all
about the message and the energybehind it.
Why did you decide to kind ofstep into this aesthetically
pleasing form and kind of gowith it?
David (05:57):
Yeah, you know, for whatever reason, we live in a
world where certain things catchour eye and beauty is obviously
very subjective and when I sayaesthetically pleasing, I don't
mean the people that are on ourcover.
Everybody's beautiful, right Inour own way, everybody's
handsome in their own.
But it's more of the packagingthe way that the graphics are
put together, the way that thepage loads, the way that the
(06:19):
website is presented, all ofthose things.
We do live in a world wherethings catch our eye, and so,
well, if I've got an importantmessage, I want to package it in
a way that catches people'seyes.
Right, I can be sayingsomething about love or healing
or transformation, but if it'snot compelling, if it's not
packaged in a way that catchespeople's eye, they're never
(06:40):
going to hear it.
And so you know, I think Ilearned that even from my time
in being a pastor.
For over a decade, I startedchurches that were very visually
and compelling in terms of likewhat you heard.
I utilized the tools ofmarketing and branding in order
to help people hear a messagethat was ultimately
(07:02):
life-changing.
And so I'm bringing that sametool to the table, just with a
slightly different modalities,right?
Yuli (07:10):
No, it's so interesting and it's just amazing and
fascinating that you have thatcombination in you.
I think that's a very rarecombination in people.
You know have that deeplyspiritual side and religious
background in your case, butalso being so super aware of the
marketing and the creative artsSomeone who comes from a
(07:32):
creative background, like myself.
I always valued it.
But part of me also has alittle bit of a conflict, like I
mentioned before.
Or, you know, and a lot ofhealers, they have the point
when they say why do I have to,you know, invest in my
presentation?
Why do I have to package myself?
Why do I have to, you know,hire an expensive photographer?
(07:55):
Why can't just people see me asI am?
And this is by raw kind ofauthentic self, right?
And you providing this counterargument saying, well, you know,
if you want to reach the masseslike you just have to maybe
package a little bit right.
David (08:13):
Yeah, you don't have to, you don't have to do any of
those things.
But I do see that the peoplethat do choose to go that route
and do it in a way that'sauthentic to them, not something
that's not them, right?
It is weird when you see aphoto of somebody and then you
meet them in person and you'relike, oh, that's the same person
that would have guessed that,right?
No, no, no, we're not lookingfor that.
We're looking for authenticity.
(08:33):
You know, it's just utilizingthe tool of getting someone's
attention.
So if I give a talk, forinstance I've given hundreds and
hundreds of talks If the veryfirst thing that comes out of my
mouth is the most intense thingthat I'm trying to communicate,
you're probably not going to beable to hear it.
Right?
(08:54):
That's the core message.
But if I communicate from thevery beginning, something that
catches your attention, thatpulls you in, that feels
compelling in a certain way,you're more prone to listen.
It's the same thing that we'redoing with visuals, is?
It's just presenting the veryfirst thing as something that's
compelling, that causes youcuriosity to go.
(09:16):
I want to learn a little bitmore, I want to take that in, I
want to see what that's like,and that's the strategy right.
Like, and that's the strategyright.
You don't have to use thatstrategy, but we find that
people who do tend to get alittle bit more eyes on what
they're doing, and that'sultimately the goal.
The goal and this is so, soimportant I teach my coaching
(09:37):
clients this people that I workwith the goal is not performance
.
The goal is service, always,and so whenever we're thinking
about whether it's being on apodcast interview or presenting
an article or a talk or socialmedia post it's not to perform
in order to please other peopleor to get people's attention.
(09:59):
The ultimate goal is to serve.
How am I trying to bringtransformation, healing,
awakening love to the table?
And then, if there are toolsthat help me get people's
attention in order to do that,then I want to use those.
Some tools, though, I will sayI will say Uli, some tools are
out of alignment with, maybe,our values, and so that's a
(10:20):
constant question to go what aremy values and are these tools
out of alignment?
This might be controversial,but I'm going to share this.
I have seen some healers thatwill utilize their physical
bodies in order to get attentionright, and even the initial
image that's presented on a reelright.
That's an attention-gettingimage that you may have seen,
(10:43):
and then all of a sudden it goesto to the actual message.
That's transformation andhealing or something like that.
For me personally, that wouldbe out of alignment with what I
would want to present to peopleright.
For other people it may not.
That's an attention-gettingtool, but we always have to ask
is this an attention-gettingtool that is in alignment with
who I am and the values that I'mbringing to the table?
(11:05):
So it's a question I'm alwaysasking.
Yuli (11:08):
It's so interesting and so deep.
I feel like there's no rightand wrong.
I agree with you, but it issomething that I find that like
one of the most interesting,like challenges, and that's why
I built the business of Healistto help healers to be presented
properly.
But it's always the question ofyou know marketing right.
(11:33):
The area of marketing is knownfor its manipulative nature and
it's built on using psychologyto grab attention to sell things
right.
So in a way, we have to playthis game Like there's no other
way, especially if you're tryingto sell services online to
(11:54):
clients that potentially youknow might come recommended, but
maybe new people that just metyou and they need to learn about
you and they or you need tocatch their attention.
Are there any other ways to doso that are not necessarily
manipulating as some of thosemarketing tactics are?
(12:15):
And it's been like a big quest.
I don't think there's an answer, but it's been a big quest of
mine.
With someone who's also donemarketing for the past two
decades mind, with someone who'salso done marketing for the
past two decades you know whatare the most authentic ways to,
yes, play the games and maybeuse some of those tools to our
advantage, but also to stayauthentic and make sure that you
(12:38):
know people are not manipulatedin some of those spiritual
practices that healers areoffering.
David (12:45):
It's tough, I think.
For me it's a constant question, like, even there's only one
spot left.
You know, I will work withbecause, locally, my partner,
she owns a meditation andbreathwork studio here in
Southern California calledBehind the Lids, and so we do
certifications, breathworkcertifications, a guided
meditation, a sound and allthese things and there will be
(13:06):
some people that we work with,facilitators, to go, okay, I'm
going to put on my Instagramthere's one spot left Right, and
I go is there only one spotleft?
I mean, like, if there were twopeople that signed up, would
you take the second one?
Well, of course I would.
Okay, well then, why are wesaying there's one spot left?
Like that's out of alignmentwith our values?
You're lying to people likethat, doesn't you know what I
mean?
(13:26):
Like, so that's a question thatI'm always bringing to the
table is like, well, wait, isthis really true?
Like, is it really what wewould do?
You know and I think that's agood exercise because it keeps
me honest with how I'm, you know, presenting things People will
even ask me that with themagazine, they'll go okay, do
you have statistics on thepeople that participate as
(13:48):
executive contributors in yourmagazine?
Do you have statistics on thenumber of leads that they've
gotten by doing that and I go no, I don't and I never will,
because I'm not going to utilizethat to overpromise something.
I can't promise you anything.
What I can promise you is I'mgoing to present you in a
beautiful way and here's theaudience that I'm going to
present you to and in large part, the results that you get are
(14:14):
dependent on how much youleverage the branded content
that we create together.
Right?
But I don't want to be in aposition where I'm over
promising and under delivering.
I will always want to underpromise and over deliver.
Yuli (14:22):
Yeah, and it's always.
I mean, it's a great point thatyou mentioned that.
The conversion rates, right,all those marketing terms, or
the lead generation, it's alwaysa question or the ROI, another
favorite one, sorry, turn oninvestment, right.
Well, if I do this, what is itgoing to guarantee me how many
spots, how many new clients Iget?
(14:44):
And it's always been achallenge, and my area of
expertise for years wasinfluencer marketing, which is
very similar to that, and I lovethe parallels, by the way,
because I think and I talk aboutit a lot, that healers are the
new influencers of this day andage.
But it was always a challengebecause the influence, and
(15:04):
especially if you apply theenergetic level to it as well,
how do you measure that?
How do you measure thatenergetic impact, the cognitive
impact, the potential long-termimpact that this, maybe piece of
content had on a person thatsometimes even subconscious,
right?
So suddenly the ROI becomesreally impossible to measure.
David (15:29):
Yeah, very difficult, very difficult.
And you know, overstating oh, Ijust get so nervous, personally
, about overstating thepotential result, you know,
because I just I want people toknow I'm here to serve, right,
our organization is here toserve, and so here's what I can
promise.
Here's the unknown, here's thedesire, here's the vision.
(15:51):
I can cast the vision and go.
This is what we're going for,but I can't promise, you know
this thing.
Here's what I can promise Ithink that that's true even with
healers and facilitators ofdifferent experiences to go.
Here's what I've seen in thepast.
Yuli (16:06):
I can't promise that that's going to be for you, but
that's my desire, that's whatwe're going for, yeah absolutely
, and it resonates so muchbecause this is exactly the
question that we have to addressat Healist as well.
You know, our mission as aplatform is to present their
profiles in the way that are.
You know, make it easy forclients to book their services.
(16:27):
That's really, that's theservice.
David (16:29):
Yes.
Yuli (16:30):
We make it so easy for someone who sees this page to
say, yes, I want this serviceand book it in two seconds.
Right, but in terms of theguarantee, will someone book it
or will we drive clients towardsthis page?
There's no guarantee.
We just provide this beautifultool, this presentation, to the
(16:50):
client.
So in a way, we're in a similarbusiness.
David (16:53):
I thought I would get hundreds of leads by putting
this profile up on Healist.
What happened, yuli?
Right, it's like, ah, and youknow we can't control what other
people's perception is.
We can present, you know,communication, but it's like
people are bringing their ownhopes and dreams to the table.
(17:14):
Yeah, it's a fascinating worldof marketing and how do we
utilize the tools, once again,to grab attention?
But then the point is not tojust perform, and I guess the
reason why I focus onperformance versus service is a
lot of the clients that I workwith are so concerned about,
they're anxious about howthey're coming off, how they're
(17:37):
being presented to the world,Like I've got to be perfect in
this way and it's like, well,okay, yeah, we're playing this
game of marketing and branding,but ultimately the goal is
service.
So if you're there to serve,then a lot of that anxiety then
just kind of evaporates becauseI go well, I'm here to just help
.
That's my goal.
Yuli (17:57):
Right.
So talk more about the rightpresentation and some of the
concerns that people bring tothe table when they come and
they say, okay, I'm ready forthis big next step of being on
the cover of a digital magazine,which I'm sure comes with a lot
of anxieties for this audience.
What does that process looklike?
David (18:17):
The process in terms of like actually working with
someone.
Yuli (18:22):
Well, I think there's two parts complicated question, one
psychological part, and, youknow, making sure that they're
comfortable with the way they'reportrayed, and how do you
present them and how do youchoose the right branding, the
right message, or do they cometo you already with that, with
all those things figured out?
My guess would be no, but I'mcurious to hear from you.
(18:46):
And then the second part endson a more practical level and
production level.
How does it actually look likeand how does it work?
David (18:55):
Yeah.
So some individuals do come tothe table with a very clear
message and here's what I do andhow I do it, why I do it, the
benefits of working with me.
One of the challenges for a lotof healers is they start with
one thing, they start with onemodality.
So let's just say, somebody hadsome sort of issue, they
received some Reiki treatmentsor sessions and they're like, oh
(19:17):
my gosh, I've got to be a Reikihealer.
So they go through Reikiprocess.
They've got Reiki 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, reiki, platinum, right, all of
them.
And then they go okay, now Ilike sound healing.
I'm going to add that becausethat would be really helpful.
And then you know I should getbreath work, and then I should
probably get.
And so they come with like 10modalities and they've got all
these amazing tools.
But then the challenge is howdo you communicate what you do
(19:41):
Right?
And so helping them go allright, is there a certain niche
that you primarily focus on?
Let's focus on that niche, andthen let's focus on what is it
the primary result that you'retrying to help them with?
And so we try to help them kindof narrow that down and hone in
on one particular thing.
So one of the things that Ialways ask them during our
(20:01):
consultation calls is if youcould use publicity in order to
grow one aspect of your work,what would it be?
Well, I really wanna focus moreon one-on-one clients that are
women, that are, you know, kindof dealing with this Okay, great
.
Or I really want to grow thisgroup program.
That's a one-year program, sowe try to hone them in on what
that thing is that they arewanting to see results on, and
(20:24):
then, of course, if they'refeatured on the podcast, hone in
on that as the specific part ofthe conversation.
Psychologically.
You know, I'll have people thatyou know that join us as
executive contributors.
You go.
Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous onthe podcast, I've never done one
before I go.
Well, I've done hundreds.
I literally have interviewedhundreds of people.
I'm great at helping you shareyour story because I'm genuinely
(20:45):
interested in your story, athelping you share your story
because I'm genuinely interestedin your story.
So I'm just.
You know, I give them six tonine questions ahead of time to
go.
Here are the questions that I'mgoing to ask you.
Would you like to add anyquestions?
Would you like to subtract anyquestions?
Let's make sure that thequestions are going down the
road.
That's going to really set youup to win in terms of
communicating your message, andthen you know you can hear them
(21:05):
take a sigh of breath of relief.
Okay, all right, I'm for you,I'm for you.
That's the whole reason whywe're doing this is I'm for you.
So I'm going to set you up towin.
Then really asking themquestions that help them hone
their message.
Oftentimes, when you've beendoing something for so long, you
don't know what you know, right, you don't realize I'm assuming
(21:26):
all of these things.
You don't realize, I'm assumingall of these things.
So I will oftentimes ask themquestions that might seem very
rudimentary, very simple, butit's because I don't want to
assume that the audience that'slistening understands anything.
So what is Reiki?
Oh, how does energy work?
How does that impact?
(21:47):
If I was dealing with achallenge, how might Reiki help
me?
I don't want to assume thatpeople know that right.
Or we had someone that I justinterviewed yesterday that is
bringing consciousness to themilitary.
Believe it or not, thisindividual is working in the US
Army.
They've worked for the CoastGuard, now they work for the
State Department and they bringconsciousness into the
(22:11):
conversation in order to bringequity into this environment.
Oh, okay.
Well, how would you defineconsciousness?
What does that mean in yourenvironment?
What is equity?
How is that helpful to have inthe workplace, or what does it
look like when it's not in theworkplace?
So, all of those questionsalong the way, I find that not
(22:32):
only do they help in terms ofthe content that we're
presenting, but I'm kind of likeconsulting the individual along
the way, making them think oh,you know, I've never thought
about that before.
Yeah, okay, I should probablythink about that you know, that
before?
Yeah, okay, I should probablythink about that, you know, and
(22:52):
that's fun because I'm for them,right, I'm helping them, I'm
just I'm wanting them to expand,because it goes back to the
core vision of if I can helppeople promote what they're
doing and increase incredibility and increase in
visibility and get more clients,that means they're going to
bring more hope, healing,transformation and awakening to
the world, and that lights me up.
Yuli (23:16):
That's an incredible service.
Well you, thank you for yourservice to this community and um
.
I don't want to assume that ourlisteners know how they can
work with you and what servicesthe um, the magazine, provides,
so if you can touch on that in amore practical ways, that would
be great.
David (23:28):
Yeah, so Awaken Magazine is a platform to amplify the
voices of conscious healers,leaders, teachers, coaches,
authors, facilitators, and wehone in on that niche and
essentially we say, okay, howcan we take what you do, your
work, their wisdom?
We just package it in abeautiful and engaging way.
And so the way that we workwith individuals is actually
(23:57):
through two different membershipoptions.
They're 12-month membershipsbecause we want to work with
people over a protracted periodof time and see that impact and
growth in their business.
And those memberships one ismore entry level, where they
have the opportunity to presentan interview about themselves
and publish it through themagazine and also be able to
publish monthly articles throughthe magazine, anything that's
(24:18):
focused on spirituality,personal development, health and
wellness relationships.
And then also there's more of apremium publicity opportunity
where they are featured on thecover and the podcast and
presented it through video andaudio and the written word.
And yeah, and so all of that isjust a way to present them to
the world.
(24:38):
We have an audience, of course,that we present them to via
email and social media, but thenour goal is that they're taking
this branded content that we'vecreated together that's
beautifully engaging, andthey're presenting it to their
audience through email andsocial media, and I see it every
week.
We have a different executivecontributor on the cover every
single week and I see them postit and tag us, and it's comment
(25:01):
after comment Yuli, you lookamazing.
Oh my gosh, you deserve this.
I love the interview.
The article that you presentedwas so great, and these are
people that already believe inthem, already have eyes of
credibility.
Credibility goes up even withtheir own audience, which means,
ultimately, they'll be willingto be more, willing to work with
(25:22):
them or share their content.
So, yeah, that's how we'resupporting healers, teachers,
leaders by just presenting theircontent in a beautiful way, and
the ultimate goal increasedcredibility, so that they would
be more trusted by theiraudience and ours, and then
increased visibility, so thatthey would be able to reach more
(25:42):
people who would want to workwith them.
Yuli (25:45):
Incredible.
Yeah, it's a really amazingopportunity for anyone that is a
holistic healer or a leader inthe space.
And I wanted to ask, as someoneagain comes from a creative
background, how do you make themlook so amazing and every cover
is just outstanding and socaptivating and all the content
(26:08):
on your website or in themagazine.
So what does that process looklike?
Because I can see a lot ofleaders kind of look into it and
say, oh, I would love to maybesee myself on the cover, but I
don't know if I'm a covermaterial or I have the right
content to appear.
So talk about that more of acreative production process
(26:30):
perhaps.
David (26:32):
Yeah, so all of the images that we present are
images that are submitted by ourexecutive contributors, and so
we do encourage them to get thebest possible photo that they
have available to them.
Some people are able to presentprofessional images.
That would be our first choice.
The cover is a headshot.
We do have a great team thatphotoshops things to, you know,
(26:57):
make it look amazing.
Oftentimes the background of aphoto is not conducive to a
magazine cover, so we'll changeout the background and then,
depending on the person's desire, you know, we'll make some
Botox adjustments to the face,but that's based on what the
person desires, of course.
And then, you know, I'll evenwork with the individual because
(27:19):
I'll have some people go.
You know, I just I don't know.
Even I've never had a photoshoot.
Where do I get a photographer?
I live in this small town and Igo no, there are photographers
in your small town.
I literally will go on, sharemy screen and jump on Google or
even Craigslist and just Googlephotographers.
They're like, oh my gosh,there's all these photographers.
And I go, yeah, and you knowwhat They'll probably do a
(27:41):
headshot for you.
You could probably get aheadshot for even 75 to $150
just for a headshot Like if you,if that's what you needed and
you can use that image in lotsof different places, if that's
what you needed and you can usethat image in lots of different
places.
So it's just coaching peoplethrough that process that maybe
aren't as savvy, and that's okay.
Ultimately, that gets me mygoal, which is to present them
(28:02):
in a beautiful, engaging way sothat they ultimately will have
more visibility, morecredibility and, ultimately,
impact more people.
Yuli (28:09):
Yeah, no, that's incredible that you're able to
turn the headshots into such abeautiful cover.
It's really a skill and Iabsolutely agree with you
encouraging more and more peoplein this profession to seek
professional headshots ingeneral, even if they just put
it on their social mediaprofiles or their Healist
profile.
It's such a huge difference.
(28:29):
And, to add to your greatrecommendations, I find a lot of
the local Facebook groups oftenwill be a great source to find
local photographers.
That's why I find a lot ofphotographers for just personal
affairs especially.
So I'm sure all of you havesome local groups that you can
reach out and ask and a lot oftimes you will find people that
(28:51):
are even either offer it for avery small fee or even for an
exchange, because if it'ssomething that goes into a
magazine and there's a way forthe professional to credit them
in some way, it's someone who'sstarting out, let's say, in the
area that to be, or you canexchange it for a session.
Maybe they need maybe thatphotographer needs a breath work
(29:12):
session.
David (29:14):
Yeah, absolutely yeah.
You know, for people who havenot been in the world of
marketing or PR or that kind ofthing, all of those things can
feel daunting.
Oh my goodness, how am I goingto look, you know, and is the
person going to charge a lot?
And I don't even know where toask or what to start.
You know you got to go for it.
I just ask, you know, ask thequestions.
(29:35):
It's okay, be a be a learner.
What does this look like?
How much does it charge?
What do I get in return?
What should I wear?
How should I look?
You know all those questions.
It's okay.
Like you got to start and youdo it once, then you're you're a
pro.
You do it again, right?
Yuli (29:50):
right, and a lot of photographers can actually help
with even a wardrobe selectionor even if you do wish to have
like more professionally styled,like hair, let's say.
They will refer you to the rightpeople and they will give you
some advice, because they wanttheir photos to be as good
looking as possible as well.
They have the same mission asyou do.
(30:11):
That's right, so it could be acreative collaboration.
But, yeah, I think it'ssomething you know having a
great headshot.
I can't speak enough for that,and thanks for your great
suggestions and for emphasizingbut also to creating an easy way
to take those headshots and putit on something on the cover of
(30:32):
a magazine.
I think it's something thatmakes for people maybe a little
easier to envision themselves onit.
Okay, just all it takes, it's aheadshot and it's a great
interview.
That all the thoughts andwisdom I already have that's all
it takes to put it out there.
But I think a lot of peoplejust don't realize how that a
(30:53):
lot of what you do and the wayyou present they already have
that right.
David (30:58):
Yeah, and the key thing that I tell them is our world is
desperate for what you have tooffer.
It's absolutely desperate, likeour world needs what you have.
You wouldn't be doing this ifyou didn't think that our world
needs it, and I'm just comingalong confirming it, saying, yes
, our world needs your energy,healing, your breath work, your
(31:18):
meditation, your yoga, yourcoaching, your whatever it might
be.
Our world needs it, and so, inorder for people to find out
about what you offer, we want topresent that, whether you work
with Awaken Magazine or Healistor whatever, there are lots of
different tools, and so we justgot to get you out there,
because your message deserves tobe heard.
Yuli (31:40):
Absolutely.
If I can amplify it right now10x or 100x, I will do, and all
we do here in this podcast isamplify voices of healers,
basically, and it's just amazingto have this magazine that is
able to do that also in a visualway and a visually compelling
(32:02):
way.
So, david, I mean we talked alot about your service, but I'm
also really fascinated by yourstory and especially you know
all of your journey, but thisreally unique combination of all
of your marketing wisdom withthe spiritual path and your own
teachings as well, can you takeus on this journey please?
David (32:25):
Yeah, yeah.
You know one of the reasons whyI love images and marketing so
much.
I started out in photographywhen I was 14.
I got my very first camera.
I grew up in Kentucky and thiswas back with film, yuli, you
may remember film.
Yuli (32:39):
I do, I do.
David (32:42):
So I started out when I was, I think, a freshman in high
school, developing black andwhite film in the darkroom for
the school yearbook andnewspaper, and I did that for
eight years, all through highschool, all through college.
I actually thought I was.
My goal was to be a sportsillustrated photographer.
I just loved, I won awards inphotographing sports.
I actually worked for anewspaper in Northern California
(33:03):
doing sports photography.
But when I was a senior in highschool, I sensed this calling
into Christian ministry and so Iended up, instead of going back
to Western Kentucky Universityand studying photojournalism, I
came down to Southern Californiato what is now Vanguard
University and got my degree inpastoral ministries and a
master's in church leadership.
(33:24):
Then I went on to FullerTheological Seminary where I got
a degree in cross-culturalstudies with an emphasis in
church growth, and I became apastor.
I was a pastor for over 10 yearsand I utilized a lot of these
tools that we're talking aboutmarketing and branding and
communication in order to justcapture people's attention, in
(33:44):
order to communicate alife-changing message.
I did some crazy stuff, haley,when I was a pastor.
I mean I had a full size citybus wrapped with our church's
logo.
I mean, the whole bus was likewrapped.
And then I had a car, a ScionXB right when it came out, fully
wrapped, matching the bus, wewould go to community events and
(34:05):
pass out bottles of brandedwater with, like, the logo it's
just serving, right, justserving.
Getting people and the otherchurches in the city were just
like shaking their head like, ohmy gosh, what is this guy?
This is so inappropriate to getpeople's attention in this way.
We should just be talking aboutJesus in our normal boring way,
right.
And I'm like no, you got tolike have fun, like connect with
(34:27):
people, right.
So the challenge for me, though,in 10 years of ministry, was
that, as you read earlier, I wastrying to fill a hole of not
enoughness inside of me that Ithought if I could help enough
people grow the church bigenough, then I'd finally be
somebody like, I'd finally feelenough.
And so, about 16 years ago, Ijust hit a wall of burnout and
(34:51):
made a transition where Istarted utilizing those skills
of marketing to help for-profitand nonprofit clients.
But it also gave me the freedomto have some time, because I
worked for myself as asolopreneur with contractors,
where I started asking questionskind of outside the box of what
I had been teaching and what Ihad been taught, and so I
(35:11):
started asking questions aroundpersonal development coaching,
started doing some coachingmyself, because that's all about
helping people right.
And then I fell into filmmakingbecause I wanted to tell some
life-changing stories.
So I did a documentary onorphans in India that was on
Netflix for a couple of years,called Mother India Life Through
the Eyes of the Orphan.
It's still on Amazon.
(35:36):
I did a documentary on sextrafficking in the United States
because I saw the issue oftrafficking not only in other
places, I physically saw it.
And then I began to learn aboutit in the United States and so
I featured six femaleabolitionists who had become
aware of the issue oftrafficking in their cities and
then opened up aftercare homes.
So we featured a woman inBaltimore, nashville, little
Rock, houston, dallas,sacramento, and that film just
(35:57):
was so amazing.
I did a couple more films andthen I started because I love
telling people stories.
I started a podcast calledInspiration Rising focused on
female entrepreneurs, because Ifound that a lot of women 30 to
60, were interested in all thestuff that I was doing ministry
or marketing movies and I didseveral hundred interviews and
in the course of thoseinterviews, yuli, I started
(36:20):
interviewing a lot of peoplethat were spiritual type
entrepreneurs.
These women were coming ontalking about energy and psychic
stuff and medium and Reiki andI'm like these people are weird.
I mean, these are just someweird people and you know I'd
laugh with them and I go youknow, in my old life you'd be
satanic, you need an exorcism orsomething you know and I get
(36:42):
them laughing and then the moretimes I talk to them I go this
is my tribe, these are thepeople that I've been looking
for, because this is all aboutconnecting to the divine, a
higher consciousness, andexperiencing transformation,
healing, awakening, and so itreally gave me the freedom to
open up my mind and heart to amore inclusive spirituality.
(37:04):
And then I started you know,the gateway drug of sound baths
here in Southern California.
I'm like, well, okay, this isawesome.
Then I got into breath work andguided meditation and got
certified in those things.
And actually my partner, as Imentioned, mandy she owns a
studio, so we teach theseclasses there every night of the
week and have lots offacilitators to do that.
So, yeah, just obviously afascinating journey.
(37:25):
I have a deep reverence for myheritage and through my own
experiences with mediumship andchanneling in the last couple of
years, I actually have well, Ifeel emotional even talking
about this.
I have a deeper connection toJesus than I ever did when I was
a pastor, like in my own timesof meditation, slash, channeling
(37:48):
.
Jesus is there with me andthere's a connection there that
feels so life-giving andpermission-giving, rather than
restricting and likeconstraining about right, wrong,
good or bad.
Like it feels so healing andtransformative.
And you know, there you go.
(38:09):
I'm on the journey, I'mlearning, I'm growing.
Yuli (38:13):
Wow.
Well, I'm grateful for youropenness and vulnerability here
and just sharing this incrediblestory and I think I've heard
anything like that before Anyonewho kind of come from this
pretty, I would say leadershipposition in the religious world
and stepped into the journeyyou're now and it's just really
(38:34):
fascinating to me and I'mcurious if the Awakened magazine
was one of the channeledmessages that you got.
How did that come about?
David (38:47):
Yeah, no-transcript is doing this in India through the
(39:19):
work of orphans.
So it's all about I loveamplifying voices, but also
there's a little bit of acompetitive side of me.
I will tell you.
Yuli (39:28):
I don't know.
Oh, tell me more, I love that.
I will tell you.
I don't know.
Tell me more, I love that.
David (39:33):
Have you ever taken the Gallup Strength Finders
assessment?
Have you ever done thatparticular one?
Okay, so the Galluporganization came up with these
I don't remember how many.
There are 32, 36 strengths, andthe whole point was that in
Western culture, we tend tofocus on our weaknesses in order
to grow in our own lives.
(39:55):
So if you ask the averageperson, hey, in order to grow in
your life, should you focusmore on your weakness?
And like changing that or focuson your strength?
In our culture we say weaknesslike just statistically, and
they're going no, no, no, youcan only grow your weakness like
this much, like 10%, let's justsay arbitrary number versus if
(40:15):
you focus on your strength, it'sgoing to escalate, you know,
really big.
So they do an assessment withyour top five strengths and
minor command.
Anytime there's a need forleadership, like, hey, I'm going
to jump in and try to help.
There's input.
I'm always looking for inputand learning from others.
Futuristic, I can see things inthe future that maybe other
people can't see.
(40:36):
But one of those the other onewas activator.
If something needs to be done,like okay, I'm on it activation.
The fifth one, though, iscompetition, and coming from my
Christian background, I alwayssaw competition as bad or evil,
like, okay, you shouldn't, like,that's not, like it's not
against other people, we shouldbe for right.
So I was like I don't understandhow competition could be one of
(40:59):
my strengths and they go no, no, no, competition's not against
other people, it's about alwaysgrowing, learning and elevating
whatever you're doing.
So part of that, you know, Isaw some other digital magazines
on the marketplace.
Part of that, you know, I sawsome other digital magazines on
the marketplace, in themarketplace, that I didn't find
to be very aestheticallypleasing, you know.
I felt like they were maybe alittle bit like the mission was
(41:24):
strong, but that aestheticquality I felt like was maybe
lacking a little bit.
And so part of the, you know,goal of Waken Magazine is I go,
I want to have the mostbeautiful magazine that I can
without.
You know, hey, you can never beVogue because you're hiring
photographers to do those coversand create everything right.
So I'm working in the confinesof utilizing user submitted
(41:46):
content.
If I can work with usersubmitted content, then create
the most beautiful thingpossible, let's do it and let's
see if we can, you know, reallygrow this thing to amplify
voices.
Yuli (41:56):
Love that.
Well, thank you again for yourservice and for sharing your
stories.
I can't believe that our timehas come to an end and I feel
like I have still a millionquestions for you.
So maybe there will be part twoone day, but just and thank you
for amplifying those stories.
Really, it seems like thethread and everything you've
(42:17):
done is to help amplify people'sstories, which is incredible
service.
Any last words of wisdom forour incredible audience?
David (42:26):
I would just remind you the world needs what you have to
offer.
It's desperate in need ofwhatever that service is, that
thing that's pulsing in yourheart that you know you want to
bring to the table.
Our world needs it.
And then, number two I wouldjust encourage you to find ways
to get the word out, to getpeople's attention about that,
in ways that align with yourvalues.
So, hey, if that's signing upwith Heat List or working with
(42:49):
AwakendMagazine or the plethoraof other opportunities and
platforms, or just usingInstagram, facebook, twitter,
linkedin, tiktok, get the wordout, because our world needs
what you have to offer.
Yuli (42:59):
Absolutely.
Thank you, David.
Pleasure having you on ourpodcast.
David (43:05):
Great to be with you, Yuli.
Thank you for the opportunity.
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
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.