This week, I'm sitting down with PR expert and local Wilmington community builder, Alli Rodriguez. She is the founder and CEO of ARPR and she is here to talk about the power of collaboration & community over competition in business!!
From her journey into public relations to her commitment to creating spaces where women can thrive together, Alli shares candid insights into building authentic relationships, showing up as your full self, and why choosing community is always a winning strategy.
Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this conversation will remind you that you don’t have to do business alone!!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
EmLed (00:24):
All right everyone.
Welcome back to theWrestling with Life podcast.
My name is EM led.
I'm your host and I'm sittinghere with my friend Ali Rodriguez.
Thank you so much for being here, Ali.
Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited today.
Appreciate it.
I'm so excited as well.
So you are the founder and theCEO of A RPR, which not a A RP?
No.
A RPR.
(00:45):
No.
A RPR.
We're missing an A there.
It's a shirt.
And this is your baby, you'rethe founder of the CEO O. Yeah.
You founded it in 2011.
Yeah.
I'm so excited to have youon my podcast to talk because
you're in the space that I'm in.
You know, marketing and PRare a little bit different.
Yeah.
That we're both kind of, I guess.
Creating our businessesin the same format.
Yeah.
And helping people get their messageout is really what we're doing.
(01:08):
Um, as you were leading up to creatingyour PR agency, like talk me through
the thought process and what got youto the point of starting that business.
Alli Rodriguez (01:18):
Sure.
So I feel like I don't have atraditional, like beginning in
pr most people go to college.
They set out to work in anagency and then, you know,
work up the ranks, whatever.
Yeah.
I started out in a completelydifferent field and it wasn't,
I. Like resonating with my soul.
(01:39):
Mm-hmm.
You know, when you start somethingand you like it, but you're
not really in love with it.
Yeah.
When you're 18 and you're in college,like, how are you supposed to know what
you wanna do with the rest of your life?
It's crazy actually.
Yeah.
It's very crazy.
So, uh, I'm gonna age myself a little bit.
It's okay.
Please.
Your skin looks amazing.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We just talked about the list.
Yes.
Um, but I, um, there was a show.
(02:03):
I'm gonna plug someone a littlebit in this, but there was a show
on MTV called Power Girls andLizzie Grubman was the star of it.
Lizzie Grubman is huge in the PRindustry and the show was basically her
whole agency kind of working throughwith different women who were kind of
like, I guess competing potentiallyto like be in the agency Yeah.
(02:23):
As working for her as a publicist.
And it was a lot of glitzand glamor and a lot of fun.
They were out with Paris Hilton andlike, you know, all these celebrities
and I was like, Ooh, what is this field?
I love this.
Yeah.
Like, I wanna learn more.
Yeah.
And um, when I was incollege, I had a paper.
That I had to write for anassignment about my field.
I had to interview someone in the field,and I was like, in the medical field, I
(02:46):
was like, this is gonna be boring to me.
Like, who wants to interviewsomeone in the medical field?
No, no.
Like judgment to anybody.
Like it's very important field.
Sure, sure, sure.
But I wanted something more of mypassion, so I called Lizzie Grumman's
office and I'm like, I want an interview,you know, with Lizzie for my paper.
Like I was just so gung hothat this was gonna happen.
It didn't happen because she was busy.
I love her though.
(03:07):
But, um, Kelly Brady was her VP at thetime, and I got an interview with her.
Oh, there.
And so I'm 18 years old.
I go to New York City and Iinterview this amazing publicist.
She had just like, I'll never forget it.
We were in this really cool likecafe and, um, she, she brought with
her, uh, a cover of a magazine.
Pamela Anderson was on the cover,and she got Pamela in that magazine.
(03:30):
Oh, wow.
And Kelly became my mentor.
I was so floored that just fromlike interviewing her, like.
I'm just gonna drop it now.
So I was 18 then I'm gonna be 38.
So in that whole time I've known Kelly.
Wow.
And, um, she's just always been somebodyto like ping things off of and just
(03:53):
really pushed me to go into this field.
Yeah.
She, she saw that passion in me andI've written many papers about her
in my college career since then.
And I even got the incredibleopportunity to interview with her Yeah.
And work for her Yeah.
Agency after she left Liz Gruman.
Oh, that's amazing.
She opened Bway Creative and Iventured out to New York City and
(04:13):
I interned with her for a summer.
Oh.
And it was an incredible experience.
I really learned a lot.
I still actually keep in touch withsome of the employees that were
there at the time, and I've seenKelly shift a lot through her career.
And back when the pandemic happened, Ialso supported some of the work for them.
Sure.
So it was pretty cool thatlike we still kind of.
Circled back together.
(04:34):
Right, right.
But after that experience, when Iinterned, so I'll back up a bit.
Um, I had a really tough experiencethat happened during that time
and actually fun fact, todayis the date of that experience.
Okay.
Um, my very good, best friend, bestfriend of the world, um, he passed
(04:55):
away unexpectedly in a horrific way.
And I was like in New York, goingafter my dreams and this happened
and it just like, shell shocked me.
Oh, how long ago from today?
14 years.
Wow.
14 years today.
So.
Before I came up here, I wasactually sitting in the car and like
remembered and I was like, oh my gosh.
Right.
Like today's the day.
(05:15):
Yeah.
And I think it's kind of cool fullcircle that we're talking about this
though, because I remember gettingthe call that this happened and being
devastated and having to like make thedecision like I need to go back home.
Right?
Yeah.
'cause it is important.
I need to be there for the peoplethat I need to be there for.
I need to kind of grieve this situation.
And I went home and I satwith it for a little bit.
(05:38):
I was like, you know what, likethis trajectory of how you're
supposed to make your career inpr, it's such a competitive field.
Like I need to be going out thereand interning doing all this
stuff and applying for jobs.
Yeah.
And you know, I would say maybe a yearor two after I came back home, I was
working in some sort of like internship.
'cause I was, I was kind oflike in the medical field too.
(06:00):
Yeah.
And then also had my footin the PR as the passion.
So I did some internships at a hospital.
I was working at doing like PR four.
Hospital and that was fun.
Yeah.
Because I did a little bit of eventstuff with them too, but it still
wasn't really what I wanted to do.
Right.
Like I wanted to do the celebrity stuff.
That was fun to me.
I wanted to do the events.
I wanted to get the big namepress and cosmopolitan and
(06:22):
like, you know, of course.
Yeah.
All that stuff.
That's the good stuff.
Yeah.
So I sat with myself for a really longtime and I was like, you know what?
I'm like applying for all these jobs.
I'm interning in these spaces thatI don't really love, like I'm just
gonna go out and do this on my own.
Yeah.
So I took a crazy leap of faith, likelooking back, it's kind of embarrassing
because I'm like, and I shared this withyou a little bit in the behind the scenes.
(06:44):
You did.
I was on a website, likeit was like the website.
It was my maiden name backthen, but like ally pr.com.
Right.
Uhhuh Uhhuh.
And it's like, who is gonna trust awebsite that has like a godaddy.ally?
Like, it's ridiculous nowwhen I think about it.
But I started out on LinkedIn actually.
Yeah.
And I was just plugging things andsharing my story, and I started
(07:07):
slowly getting clients in at a very,very low, embarrassing retainer fee.
But it's okay.
You have to start somewhere.
You do.
You know what what I mean do.
Yeah.
And, um, I started just pitchingand then I would get like radio
interviews for these people andthen I would be getting like some
press writeups in digital outlets.
Yeah.
Um, they weren't as popular backthen, I don't think, but like, they
(07:28):
were starting to become popularand I was like, I can do this.
I feel confident that Ican make this something.
Right.
So 2011, I started.
It's been a whirlwind.
It really has.
I've evolved so much since then.
I've done some really incrediblethings and some really not so
incredible things, but that's likethe beauty and the journey of it.
(07:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I even recently reinventedmyself a little bit this past.
Year or so too.
I just saw your new website.
It looks bomb.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah, it looks amazing.
Yes.
Yes.
I am so fortunate.
Shout out to Marian.
She was incredible.
I'll plug her too, because she, um,really understood my vision and I
was a little bit nervous at firstbecause I was like, this is so scary.
(08:11):
Like this is like giving all myinformation to somebody to try to
like trust them to get that creativelike hook that I'm looking for.
And she really, she blew me away.
She nailed it.
Yeah.
And one of my clients, Courtney,will actually plug her too.
She actually gave me her information.
I'm so thankful for her becauselike her website looks great,
so I knew I was in good hands.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well,
EmLed (08:30):
she did an amazing job.
Thank Julia.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing your story.
Yeah.
Um, the biggest thing that stuck outto me when I met you, so we met at a
Babes and Business Wilmington event.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
You're, I didn't mention this, butyou're a Wilmington local as well.
Yes.
Um, you were speaking at this event and.
What was so cool about you and what Ithink captivated me and everyone else in
(08:50):
the room right away was your authenticity.
Speaker (08:52):
Thank you, and your
EmLed (08:53):
vulnerability.
And one of the first things thatyou said in that room was, we are
all here to support each other.
We are a community of women likeeveryone at this event, female
entrepreneurs who are starting theirown business or thinking about it,
or have been doing it for 10 years.
And you just set an incredibletone where you said, we are here
for community, not competition.
Yes.
(09:13):
And to be in a room with someonewho exudes powerful energy,
who's been doing this for along time, you don't understand.
What that did for every woman in the room.
Yeah.
And I think that's such an importantthing that I wanna pick your brain
on, because in business, I'm sure youhave experienced this over the years.
Yes.
There is so much competition.
There is so much ego involved in business.
(09:35):
Yeah.
And I actually talk a lot on my podcastabout how pride gets in the way Yeah.
Of us truly clapping forand loving other people.
Yeah.
So I wanna pick your brain.
How did you arrive at that mindset?
Like, did you go through times whereyou caught yourself in competition and
ego and you're like, I don't like that.
That doesn't feel good.
Like what led you toleading with that message?
(09:55):
Yeah.
So
Alli Rodriguez (09:56):
fun fact, that was my first ever speaking opportunity.
Where I met you.
Where you met me.
You're lying.
I am not.
You were so natural.
That's so crazy.
You know, and I was a little bit likeunsure because I am a big personality.
You are.
And I am nervous sometimes when Igo into rooms that I might come off
across, like too eccentric, you know?
(10:17):
'cause like the vibesalways have to be Right.
We talked about that earlier too.
Yeah, we did.
Yeah.
The vibes always have to be right.
Absolutely.
And I went in there justsaying like, I'm gonna be me.
Like, you know?
And I have to say, I was so humbled bythat experience and it really just made
me incredibly happy to see everybody,like in that room, just the like support
(10:38):
that everybody was giving one another.
And the support they gave in me,like I had like 30 dms after that.
Like I really resonatedwith what you said.
Yeah.
And I really honestly felteverything that I said, you know, um.
I don't think that I've everhad a competitive streak.
I will be honest with you.
I like to win.
We all do.
Right?
Absolutely.
But I don't feel like I'm acompetitive person in a sense.
(10:59):
Like I need to get thereahead of someone else.
Sure.
In a sense, you know?
Sure.
But I've experienced it just because,and I mean, when I say this, I don't
wanna come off the across the wrongway, but like, I feel like when you are
confident in yourself, a lot of peoplearen't unfortunately, and they see that
in you and they're like, I want that.
(11:21):
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it might not come across thatthey want to be jealous or rude or
competitive, but it just, it's the vibe.
Yeah.
So they never lie.
Your energy is alwaysgonna give off Absolutely.
How you're truly feeling.
Yeah.
Whether you want it to or not.
Yeah.
(12:56):
And everything always reveals itself.
Right.
So I just have experienced spaceswhere either other women thought
I shouldn't be in that room.
Mm. Or I would be in spaceswhere women would be like.
You know, kind of like, wow.
Like how did she get there?
And like, sure.
I'm not gonna talk to her becauseshe just like, maybe she's like, not
(13:18):
truthful because honestly, a lot ofthe times you, I see it all the time
on the internet, like, you reallycan't trust everything that you see.
Right?
You cannot.
Nope.
You can't.
And you're gonna, you're gonna seepeople post things or say things online.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Where you want to believe them, but you'regonna kind of like, when you really pay
attention, people reveal themselves.
Right.
So like, you can read between the lines.
And I feel like a lot of peoplehave just an issue trusting.
(13:42):
Yeah.
Because I've struggled, I've gone throughthings and I'm not always gonna show that.
And most people don't show that.
Right.
But.
I think I came to a place after being inspaces where I didn't feel comfortable.
Yeah.
That I didn't want otherpeople to feel that way.
Right.
Yeah.
And I wanted to have a mentorbecause the PR and marketing
(14:02):
fields are extremely competitive.
They are.
And corporate Americais super competitive.
Amen.
So if you've been there and youstarted there, you kind of know.
Yeah.
And it's like.
Corporate America, people likemen are competing against women.
Yeah.
Women are like, you're, it's justa dog eat dog world there, right?
Yeah, exactly.
So I never want anyone to feel thatway because I, and I think I can, I
(14:24):
can say that about my mentor Kelly.
I feel like I still consider her amentor, even though like sometimes
we don't talk as much as we used to.
Right.
But she welcomed me and thatwas a great example, especially
in such a competitive field.
Yeah.
To show how you should show up for others.
Yeah, exactly.
You know?
Absolutely.
And there's still situations where youcan run into people in your field or
(14:45):
your industry or even just networkingand you're like, wow, you can just
like tell those people wanna keep allthe gems and the goods to themselves.
Yes.
They're so.
Many opportunities for everybody.
This is a huge world.
Like, and now we've gotten the internet,which has opened up globally for us.
Right?
So why would we want to just take it all
EmLed (15:07):
for ourselves?
Gatekeeper?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That mentality is so refreshing.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And I think, um, this kind of leads intolike a scarcity versus abundance mindset.
Mm-hmm.
Which I know we've talkedabout as well, and.
Absolutely agree witheverything that you said.
Like the world truly is so big.
Yeah.
And I think if we have thisposture of like, okay, well if
I support another person who istechnically my competitor, yeah.
(15:30):
That means less opportunity for me.
We have the wrong mindset.
Yeah.
So what would you say to someone whomight have that mindset where they
see everyone else as their competitor,they're gripping really tightly to
what they have, they don't wanna share.
Yeah.
Whether it be like knowledge or areference or a helpful tip or whatever.
What would you say to someonewho's in that scarcity mindset?
(15:51):
Like how did you arrive atthat place of abundance?
Alli Rodriguez (15:54):
I feel like it's a lot of experiences, like I said, sitting
in rooms or situations where I wasn'tfeel feeling like I was welcomed.
Right.
I feel like you have to have that.
Mentality because that'swhat abundance is.
Abundance is exuding that.
Like, you know that flow.
Yeah.
So when you're stopping that flowin a, in a mindset that's negative.
Yeah.
Because I feel like thatmindset of scarcity is negative.
(16:16):
Right?
Yeah.
You are never going to truly be abundant.
No.
You might feel like you are Right.
You know, but something inyour life is always gonna stop.
at some points.
Things are not going to moveas freely as they should.
Exactly.
When you're, when you're doing that, andI feel like a lot of people, you know.
I feel like a lot of people think that ifthey share their knowledge, because let's
(16:38):
be for real, and in marketing and pr itis like, I can speak to that industry.
It is rough.
It is.
You will meet, I meet people all thetime, other publicists, um, you know,
other professionals in the marketingfield where we're like trying to
collaborate on things and then theydo shady stuff behind your back.
Like, try to steal your contactsor try to like, you know, get
(17:00):
around you or things like that sothat they can get and be taken.
You know, that recognition from.
It's, it's not cool to me.
Like I don't wanna be in spaces like that.
There's unfortunately notgonna be a stop to that.
People are just like that.
And you have to kind of findwho your tribe is Exactly.
Or who the people you wanna vibe with are,you know, because even like, you know,
sitting in that room and talking with allof those people, I resonated probably with
(17:23):
the whole room, but there's certain peoplein there that maybe not agreeing with me.
Sure.
Or might not work with meas well as someone else.
Right.
And that's okay.
I'm not for everyone.
Exactly.
And I'm all right with that.
Exactly.
I've had to always have that mentality.
And I think it's also just fromgrowing up, like unfortunately I
feel like I had like situationswhere girls were like always kind
of like, you know, high school.
(17:43):
Yeah.
It's high school can be challengingfor many people, but like high in high
school, I feel like I was friends witha lot of people, but then there were
a lot of people that didn't like me.
Right.
And I was okay with that.
Right.
I don't wanna be for everyone.
Right.
And as you evolve in your business,you learn even more that you don't need
certain clients or you don't wanna bein certain situations or industries.
Um.
It's just, it's part ofthe process, I think.
(18:05):
Yeah.
You know, and
EmLed (18:06):
if you were for everybody, I think you would be a people pleaser.
Yeah.
Because you're a chameleon.
Yeah.
And you're becoming like shape shiftinginto whatever someone needs you to be.
Yeah.
That can't possibly betrue to who you are.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Alli Rodriguez (18:17):
You have to stay authentic.
Yeah.
I mean, I always operate in thatspace because I mean, who you, we've
all been in situations where peoplehaven't been and it's just like, why?
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like why do you need to perceiveyourself to be something that you're not?
Yes.
Like what is the purpose in that?
What are, what is anyone gainingfrom getting this like version of
(18:39):
you that isn't even truly your you?
Right.
So I feel like, you know, you have to.
And, and I do that all the time.
Like, you know, I think a lot of thetimes too when you've been in business
for a while, you feel like, oh, Ican't do certain things for free.
Right.
Like my time is money.
Right.
Like to me, yes, but there's gonnabe certain situations where you
still need to lean on others.
Mm-hmm.
Because when you know, everybodydoesn't have everything right away.
(19:02):
And I want to encourage,I wanna motivate people.
Yeah.
'cause I think that, you know, there'sbeen a, there women empowerment events and
situations where women were, networkinghas been a big thing for quite a while.
Back in 2014 to, I would say about 2018,it was really popular that I was finding
that they were all popping up, up north.
(19:23):
'cause that's where I'm from originally.
Right, right.
So like New York City, New Jersey, theywould have all these events and I can't
tell you how many times, like we would bein these rooms and there would be these
women there that are not really for women.
Why are you coming to a women empowermentevent if you're not from women?
Like, what are you doing?
Yeah.
You know, I feel like.
You can't look at someoneelse as competition ever.
(19:44):
No inspiration.
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
But competition never.
Oh yeah.
Because at the end of theday, they're doing them.
You're doing you, if I'm lookingat what you're doing, I'm not
looking at what I'm doing and I'mlosing track of what I'm doing.
Yes.
So I've always had that mentalitybecause like I said, there are
some really prominent people,especially in the PR industry, that
I would love to be like, right.
I would love to be like that.
(20:05):
Absolutely.
I'd love to be on TV and I'd loveto be, you know, going to France or
traveling with these celebrity clients.
I'd love that, but that's their path.
This is mine, you know?
Yeah.
And I'm gonna kind ofstay grained into that.
Yeah, absolutely.
'cause you know, what is that saying thatlike if you don't, like you're watering
someone else's grass or something.
Right.
I'm gonna get that so wrong.
But it's like the grass isalways green type of thing.
(20:26):
The grass.
Yeah.
It isn't always greener on the other side.
Exactly.
And that's what I've also learnedis a really big struggle with social
media because people are only showingyou what they want you to see.
Amen.
Amen.
And they might like scoot out there like,oh, I've struggled because it's a hook.
Right?
Uhhuh.
But they're not givingyou the full picture.
Yeah.
They're not showing youthe blood, sweat and tears.
(20:46):
No.
No one wants to kind of see that eitherthough, because it's not empowering.
Right.
It's not.
But at the same time, sharing littleglimpses in situations like this, or
when you're networking can be reallyinspirational for someone else.
If I can have one personchange their mindset on that.
Like there's so many people sittingon great business ideas and they're
not doing it because they're scared.
Exactly.
And I can say, even for myself, mylife is changed because I'm a mom now.
(21:09):
Right?
Yeah.
Like when I first startedmy business, I was single.
I think, I don't remember, butwas probably dating someone.
I don't know.
I've been with my husband for almostas long as I've been with my business,
so, you know, but, um, I was goingthrough so many transitional periods
then, and so many things in my lifewere not going right at that time.
Yeah.
Because I lost a friend I wasstruggling with, you know, just.
(21:31):
Kind of figuring out who I was,'cause I was in my early twenties
and what I wanted my life to be,and then I created this business.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm like, you know what?
I wanna pour all of my time into this.
This is what I wanna do.
And it's so rewardingwhen you see it grow.
You know?
It's so rewarding when you can look backand say, wow, I was at this horrible place
with this zero clients, and then here Iam with a full agency with 20 clients.
(21:53):
You know, like it's great to see that.
Yeah.
But then it's also, youknow, an evolution too.
And that's where you need to have that.
Collaboration because you know, when we'rein rooms with people that have also been
through similar experiences, you don't
EmLed (22:06):
feel so alone.
Amen.
You know, I remember coming to theevent that you hosted and just feeling
ready to run through a brick wallafter, because that's the energy that
that creates When you're with peoplewho are kind of walking the same path
as you and having the same doubts andthe same fears and the same roadblocks.
You just feel like, okay,I'm not in this alone.
Other people are doing this too.
(22:27):
Yeah.
Which means I'm not crazy forpursuing this dream, even though
it might feel wildly out of reach.
Yeah.
At this point in time it'snot because there are other
people working towards it too.
So Yeah.
I absolutely agree with everythingyou said, and I love the passion
and the energy that you have.
Speaker (22:42):
Yeah.
And I
EmLed (22:42):
think that that goes really far because we were talking
about this earlier, that energybleeds off into other people.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And empowers them.
Yeah.
And if you can have great women,especially in your corner, who
truly believe in what they're doing.
Yeah.
And they.
Then take that energy and wannareinvest it back into other people.
Yeah.
To empower them.
That is just such apowerful energy that Yeah.
(23:04):
That really moves the needle for a lot of
Alli Rodriguez (23:05):
people.
Yeah.
And doing that authentically is the key.
Yeah.
Because I feel like there'sbandwagons that we all jump on, right?
Oh yeah.
Oh, like don't jump on thebandwagon just 'cause you wanna
be a woman supporting a woman.
Really lean into that.
Really help someone.
And you like, I really feel likethat also brings back abundance.
You know?
It's the circle of how you put out.
Good.
It comes back to you.
Yeah.
And don't just do it becauseyou want good things to happen.
(23:27):
Do it from a genuine place.
There's not an genuineexperiences anymore.
Yeah.
You know, it's been likereally it, there's a lot of
facade because of social media.
Yeah.
You know, so it gets blurred.
And I also think, um.
You had said something justa minute ago about the event.
I've seen you like when I firstmet you, and it, it hasn't even
(23:47):
been that long since we first met.
To see you evolve in sucha short period of time.
Yeah.
It's been really gratifying, you know,and just to be able to support you and
say, Hey, you know, like, let me shareyour interview you just did with someone,
or, I love that you have a podcast.
Right.
I was, um, talking to you about thisbefore we sat down that I've never been
on a live podcast or I've been videoed.
Yeah.
I just remembered that.
(24:08):
Um, I did go on a podcast like acouple years ago when I first started
with a friend of mine from New Yorkwho has a really great podcast.
It's called Dreams and Drive.
Her name is Raina Campbelland she's incredible.
She was like, top podcast inApple and like it wasn't even
a big thing really back then.
Right.
Wow.
Yeah, and I said something onthere that I always come back to.
(24:28):
The two things actually.
So I said, whatever is meantfor me will never pass me by.
I love that quote because it's true.
Like there's a purpose for what I'm doing.
Mm-hmm.
I don't always know what it is.
Sometimes, sometimes I'm sitting therelike, what the heck is happening?
Right.
Like, who's controlling this stuff, dad?
What is going on?
Yes.
But there's so many little glimmersin my experiences that I have that
(24:53):
I'm like, alright, I got this.
Yeah.
I understand what's happening here.
Yep.
You know, and it's so.
Powerful because then itdoesn't make you feel crazy.
And it's like, okay,I've got my direction.
I know what I'm doing.
Yeah.
Um, and then the other thing thatI said is that if you don't believe
in your brand, your business, yourservices, and you don't exude that
when you're speaking to people oryou're, you know, interacting, no
(25:16):
one else is gonna believe in that.
Right.
So you have to come fullforce, passion and driven.
Right.
Because again, people will feedoff of that energy and they'll be
like, wow, I wanna learn more aboutwhat this person has going on.
Absolutely.
Because they're so excitedabout it, you know?
Absolutely.
And that's really where I, I justfeel like you have to be excited.
Life is hard.
Mm-hmm.
They're struggles.
Mm-hmm.
For a lot of people.
(25:36):
And you know, even in journeys ofbusiness and career, you have your ups
and downs and you know, why not justhave fun and have excitement in like.
The midst of it.
'cause bad things aregonna happen all the time.
It's just how you move through them.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
EmLed (25:52):
Yeah.
That's so good, Ali.
Yeah.
The other thing I wanted to askyou about too is yeah, integrity.
Okay.
And what role that plays in your business.
So I'm sure you see this all the time.
Yeah.
I see deception everywhere in marketing.
Yeah.
Whether it's like people fudging theirnumbers or promising the world to Yeah.
A client that they don't even knowif they can deliver that or not.
But that's how they'regetting the foot in the door.
(26:13):
Yeah.
I see it everywhere.
Yeah.
And for me, like there are timeswhen I really regret getting
into this field for that purpose.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And I have to remind myselflike, okay, well you have the
opportunity to be different.
You have the opportunity to bringintegrity, to bring honesty and, and
realness and actual love and supportto every client that you work with.
(26:33):
And to me, actually, what I'venoticed is that has weeded out a lot
of potential clients because I havemet people who don't have that same
energy of like, we're gonna keep itreal, we're gonna keep it honest.
And for me, like.
Cool.
That that reveals our valuesand that shows that we're
not meant to work together.
Yeah.
Um, but it's difficult becauseespecially when you're looking around
(26:54):
at the fields that we're in, thereare a lot of people doing that.
So my question for you is, have youbeen in a position where you had an
opportunity, whether it was to work witha client or to collaborate with someone
or whatever it was that would havecaused you to compromise your integrity?
And did you turn it away?
Did you find yourself in themiddle of it and had to back out?
(27:15):
Like, if none of that's resonating withyou, have you experienced deception and
how have you stayed true to what youbelieve in, in your values through it?
Yeah.
I
Alli Rodriguez (27:23):
mean, I think, and I, I like, I hate to say it
because I love PR and marketing.
It's such a passion for me, but it isa very deceptive industry, isn't it?
Yeah.
Because it's all howyou do your messaging.
Yep.
You project your messaging.
Yep.
What people are seeing and it's rosecolored glasses most of the time.
Yep.
Um, and so for me, I. Anytime thatI am having a consult with a client
(27:49):
or I'm like researching them and I'mseeing if they're gonna be a fit for
our agency, because that's somethingI learned in the past three years.
I have another mentor in California.
Her name is Jen Berson.
And um, she has an agency, generationpr, and she said that in the mentor
program that I like went into with her.
Sure.
That you are not just having a clienthave a consultation with you and
(28:12):
seeing if you're a good fit for them.
Yes.
You're also interviewing them.
Amen.
To be a good fit for you.
Amen.
And not everyone is a good fit.
Yep.
So I will say that.
A lot of the experiences I've had withclients, consultation clients is they've
had deception because again, anybodycould be anything on the internet.
Yep.
And there's a large wave ofpeople becoming social media
consultants, uhhuh and publicists.
(28:33):
Yep.
And marketing professionals.
Yep.
Yep.
And then you'll notice like, this issuch a pet peeve of mine and like, I'm
not knocking anyone because you may havethis good skill that you're turning into
a business and I want you to do that.
I'm all for that.
But like, how are you like one thing oneday and then another day or another thing?
Like what?
That to me feels off like, you know,like, and again, you can transform
(28:56):
and be anything you wanna be.
I encourage that, but it's like,it's very hard to see who's real
and who's not sure it really is.
Sure.
And um, I've never gone into somethingwith anything half, half-assed, honestly.
Like I will tell my clients up front like.
This is how I operate.
I'm honest, I'm transparent.
You know, I will present everyopportunity to you that I receive.
(29:18):
If that isn't a good vibe for me, I'mgonna let you know how I feel about it.
Sure.
But at the end of theday, it's your brand.
It's your business.
So you need to also lean intothat intuition because if it's
not sitting right for you mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
We can't do it.
And so I think I've turned awayopportunities for clients before
that didn't really sit well.
Yep.
Um, I've also, um, I've alsonever like exaggerated anything.
(29:43):
Um, I try to stand as firmly andhonestly as possible because yes,
numbers can certainly be fudged, butif you do that, like what's the point?
Right?
Yeah.
That's, yeah.
'cause I just, I justdon't get that mindset.
I don't think I ever will becauseI wanna get there authentically.
Yes.
And that's something else.
I have a long-term client ofmine that we talk about that
(30:05):
often because we could, we could.
Push it a little bit, rush it, right?
Like she was struggling withfollowers on Instagram, right?
And she was like, well, we can dothis the easy way and just go to
a company and purchase followers,but then what is that gonna do?
We built authentically, organically,and we did it on our own, and it
feels so much better that way.
Absolutely.
It might take you alittle bit longer, but.
(30:25):
It's gonna get you there the real way.
Yes.
You know,
EmLed (30:28):
that's the key.
Yeah.
Is being okay with moving slowly.
Mm-hmm.
There's a lot of pressure, especiallywith the instant gratification culture
that we're living in right now.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
That you need to be an overnight success.
Exactly.
If there's any worth, you know,if it's worth your time Yeah.
To invest in whatever you're investing in.
And I think that's why a lot ofpeople don't start their own business.
Yeah.
Or, or they don't.
(30:48):
Pursue whatever dream they have.
Mm-hmm.
Because a lot of times for youto get to the end goal of where
you wanna be, it takes years.
Decades.
Yeah.
Like, it can take areally, really long time.
Mm-hmm.
And something that I, I'm really thankfulthat I knew that going into starting
my own business because for the firsttwo months I, I had two clients Yeah.
And I wasn't at the, the pricepoint that I wanted to be, but I sat
(31:11):
with gratitude and I was thankfulfor the opportunities that I had.
Yeah.
And I trusted that Godwas gonna bring the rest.
And in the meantime, he allowed me tohave great conversations with people like
you who helped me get my pricing Right.
Who helped me get my marketing right.
Who helped me really figure outthe behind the scenes stuff.
Yeah.
So then when there was opportunity,I attracted the right client
(31:32):
at the right price point.
Yeah.
And I didn't force it.
And I didn't rush it.
Yeah.
And that's gonna lead to such long-termsuccess because I got the foundation.
Right.
Yeah.
Rather than building on shaky groundExactly like what you're talking about.
Exactly.
Alli Rodriguez (31:42):
Like there's no purpose in that to me I just also
think that like, when you operate ina place of gratitude as well, right?
Yeah.
Like people are going toreally, like, I can tell you're
passionate about what you do.
Thank you.
Just from like you talking aboutit or you even just explaining it.
When I watch your reels on socialmedia, like you have fun with it and
(32:03):
like you really wanna help people.
And I think that's really what it is.
I'm a helper, I'm a healer.
I wanna, I wanna help.
And I think that's why this fieldis so great for me because I can
really look in and kind of navigatethrough all the little things and
details that people don't see.
Yeah.
And really build a great storyfrom it to get the press to want
the attention from it, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
(32:24):
Um, but I also think that you need tounderstand that, um, those people that
rush in line, like, you know, whenyou're at the grocery store and someone.
Put like jumps in front of you.
Mm-hmm.
That, that's just like stink energy.
Like it whatcha doing.
It's wait, your turnit, your turn is coming.
Relax, buddy.
Relax.
Uhhuh.
Slow, slow your rollUhhuh, pump those breaks.
You know, because the wholeprocess, anything in life, if you
(32:46):
rush it, it doesn't, it never wentmy way when I tried to rush it.
Absolutely.
I'm like hearing my grandmotherin my head, um, because she always
just tell me that she was like,you're always rushing your life.
Like, just relax.
Yeah.
And I think about that so much.
Mm-hmm.
How, how much we want that end goal.
Yeah.
But like the, the beauty really is inthe trenches when you're building it.
(33:07):
Yeah.
You know, when you look back and you'vegot what you, when you accomplish your
goal and you look back, that's kind ofmore the gratifying piece, isn't it,
to see how it grew and like all that.
Yeah.
So you need to nurture that and you needto really, um, really trust yourself
you can kind of, you know, I feel likefake it till you make it is a great.
Phrase and I feel likethat's not meaning be fake.
(33:28):
That's meaning, youknow, pump yourself up.
Give yourself that confidenceand show that to other people.
Maybe you're not really confident,but show that to other people.
Like sit in that energy.
But I feel like you alsoneed to understand that.
Um, I. Uh, you're alwaysgonna be revealed.
Absolutely.
So if you're trying to do something that'snot right, someone's gonna see that.
(33:48):
Yep.
Yep.
Someone's gonna see that it'sgonna come back around and Exactly.
And I think that that's why like, youknow, faith, intuition, all of those
things, like you have to lean into that.
And like, if you're not faith-basedor if you're not spiritual based
or whatever have you, like, youdon't even have to look at it in
that aspect because we all as humanbeings have intuition for a reason.
Yeah.
You have a gut feeling whensomething doesn't go right.
(34:09):
Right.
Yeah.
Yep.
So you have to lean into that becausethat's something a huge lesson.
And I've learned in that.
Like, whenever I don't listento that, it always goes wrong.
Yes.
EmLed (34:17):
And it's so funny how we can quiet that voice because maybe like in the
back of your mind you're like, oh, well Ireally need this client, or I really need
this money, or, oh, this opportunity Yeah.
Seems so good that Idon't wanna pass it up.
But I have had that voice in methat's like, oh, I don't like this.
Yeah.
Like something isn't right.
And every time I ignore that, yeah.
I end up regretting it.
Oh,
Alli Rodriguez (34:35):
it's the worst feeling ever.
Yeah.
I get so mad at myself, not evenlike at the situation, I'm like.
Why didn't I listen to myself?
Yeah.
You know?
But I think that you, it's reallyimportant that it's okay if you don't.
Yeah.
Because you learn, right?
Yeah.
And like, I've been doing this so longand this has happened to me so many times.
I should know my lesson by now.
Right?
Like, we get like that.
But it, it's.
All about trial and error becauseI'm an overthinker sometimes.
(34:57):
So I think that's why I try to quiet that.
'cause I'm like, I need a discern between,is this me overthinking or is this
really me leaning into what's happening?
And I feel like I've learned thedifference a little bit because you'll
get this like really daunting feelingin your stomach or in your energy.
And once I started paying attentionto that too, I'm like, wow, like
(35:17):
your whole body could just go outof whack from not having good vibes.
Uh, that's so true.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
Uhhuh And even like working witha client, I. Fired clients before.
And I am not afraid to say that becausethere's just been some funky energy,
or like they've been disrespectful.
Like you're bringing me onto your teamto help and amplify your messaging.
Like, why are we arguingover something so ridiculous?
(35:38):
Because you're stuck in a, a mindsetthat you can't break through.
Yeah.
Like that's the other thing too.
When you come into these spaces whereyou're working with people, make
sure you're really ready to investand understand that you trust them.
Mm. And if you don't, don't work with'em because you're wasting everyone's
time in the process, you know?
Yes.
So many clients that I look back onand I'm like, wow, if they really
just like listen to me, they'dbe so much farther than they are,
(36:00):
and I'm not Right All the time.
Like, it's a collaborative effort.
We need to be a team and talkthis through, or whatever.
Exactly.
Like there's so many people that arejust like, they've had bad experiences.
Yeah.
Or they wanna be like in charge, youknow, 'cause this is my businesses.
Sure.
Like, that's not the point.
If you're building a team, you gotta relyon that team, trust that team, right?
Mm-hmm.
EmLed (36:17):
Mm.
Alli Rodriguez (36:17):
But I think that also, you know, these, these
people in these spaces that.
You know, aren't really being authentic.
You really, you just have to trustthat those things are gonna, like,
you need to trust that those, thoseright clients are gonna come to you.
Those right situations are gonna come toyou and you have to just like, I kind of
just like prey on them in a sense like.
(36:40):
It's kind of silly, but Ialways like say I do the cross.
Right?
Like I'm like, you know what?
God bless you.
I don't wish you any bad luck, butI want you to be out of my space.
Absolutely.
Because I don't want this energy.
This is not how I, because it's abig thing too, when you're a business
owner and you associate yourselfwith people that are like that.
People will associate you that way.
Exactly.
EmLed (36:59):
They're a representation of you.
So Yes.
It's
Alli Rodriguez (37:01):
your reputation on the line.
Yep.
It's your credibility on the line.
Not only
EmLed (37:05):
that, but it can literally affect how you move through life.
I follow this great creator.
I think it's m on the brain is her name.
Okay.
But she, she has studied in depth brainchemistry and brainwaves, and she had
this great reel the other day that wasexplaining how when you actually hang
out and spend time with people, yourbrainwaves literally sync up with them.
Wow.
And you start to mirror them andmimic their energies, their thought
(37:27):
patterns, their body language.
Yeah.
Like literally you becomemore like each other.
Yeah.
So when you're surrounded bynegative energy people who are
critical and judgmental and want toargue, they're not healed, you're
going to become more like that.
Like energy transference is just so real.
I love that.
Yeah.
And that's on, and that's in friendship.
That's in who you date.
(37:47):
Yeah, that's in business.
It's literally whoever you surroundyourself with in any capacity.
Alli Rodriguez (37:52):
That's why I said it doesn't even have to be like, based
off of faith or religion to people.
It's just.
Literally as human beings,we have this ability.
Yeah.
Like, you know, if you're in a funkysituation, you kind of shut down.
Like it's crazy how well, like our bodiesknow what's right for us and what's not.
Yeah.
But you need to lean into that Uhhuh,because there's so many situations that
(38:12):
I've gotten myself into and I'm like,why didn't I just listen to myself?
Right, right, right.
But that's all aboutexperience and growth.
Like I feel like sometimes we needto go through those situations.
Yeah.
To learn.
Absolutely.
Because in the beginning, you're so eageras a business owner, oh yeah, I want to
get this client, you know, and you devalueyourself sometimes because you're eager.
Right.
But.
Then you get to a point whereyou're like, you know what?
(38:32):
And I think it reallycomes in your thirties.
Like they really say like, whatwas that 30 Flirty and thriving.
Remember that movie with,uh, Jennifer Garner?
I don't think I've seen that.
Oh my gosh.
I feel like I'm like old.
'cause it's probably like, you're not old.
You're not old.
It's probably like a really old movie.
I don't even remem I'm likemy brain too sometimes.
I just like forget things.
No, you're fine.
You I'm fine.
I'm busy all the time.
So it's always going.
(38:52):
Right.
But there was a movie where shesaid that 30 flirty and thriving.
Um, and, uh, I, I think about inyour thirties you really gain wisdom.
Mm. Because in your twenties, likeyou're still learning yourself.
Oh yeah.
I, I absolutely.
Speaking about brain, like I heard,we don't develop really until we're
like 28 or something like that.
Yeah.
So it's like, okay, I gavemyself an excuse for a while.
Right.
Like, it's okay.
You know, that was the excuse.
(39:13):
But like now when you're in yourthirties, you're like more comfortable.
Mm. Making decisions and saying no,because in the beginning it's like,
and you need to, you really need tostay in firm and like boundaries.
Yep.
Yep.
'cause that's the biggestthing I used to have like.
My cell phone was my like it's when you'rein PR and marketing, it's your everything.
It is, yeah.
It's on you 24 7.
(39:33):
So I have a personal cell phone.
And I got a business cell phonebecause I don't want people
messaging me at 1:00 AM and I wouldhave clients that would do that.
Oh my goodness.
Like boundaries, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
We're helping you and we're aservice for you, but we're not 24 7.
Absolutely not.
And the PR industry, I feellike sometimes I'm a. Therapist.
Like, honestly, I do.
Yeah.
Because I hear the craziest stories frompeople that I, I bet don't necessarily
(39:56):
wanna hear, but like, you get tolearn these people and their stories
so much because you're sharing it.
Sometimes it's impactful to knowit and important, but, uh, it's
funny because you just, you learnlittle things along the way.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm grateful too, for everyopportunity, even though it was
bad, because I look back and therewas parts of me that was a people
pleaser for a very long time.
Oh, absolutely.
We all have that.
Yeah.
(40:16):
I think as women, we allhave that a little bit.
Yeah.
But it's also that competition too,because you need to like, you know,
some, some women in that spacewhere you're feeling like, you
know, you need to show power or youneed to be accommodating to people.
Yep.
You know, because if you're not, and youcan come off a cross as like a bitch.
Exactly.
See, and like it, it's okay.
(40:37):
I've, I've learned that inthe last five, six years.
Like it's okay.
And I think once becoming a mom too.
Yeah.
I've learned that even more.
Like the word and no isn't negative.
The word I can't do this is not negative.
Mm. It is really empoweringfor you to say, listen, this
is not comfortable for me.
Yes.
And they we're all trainedlike that in so many things.
And that's in life and, and business.
(40:58):
Yes.
Like so many people stay inrelationships because they don't
wanna hurt someone's feelings.
Like, no, you, you know.
What's
EmLed (41:05):
right for you?
Do you just have to do it?
You do.
You do.
Mm-hmm.
And the longer that you deny yourself whatyou know deep down that you really need.
Yeah.
The more you lose yourself.
Exactly.
And I, I have lived that personally.
Yeah.
And I love what you said aboutlike, you know, being afraid
of coming off as a bitch.
Yeah.
Or people not liking you.
That's so real.
I have noticed.
You know how it is being a powerful woman.
(41:25):
Yeah.
There are some people out therewho are intimidated by that.
Mm-hmm.
And who will project theirown insecurities onto you.
Yeah.
'cause of the way that you show up.
And so I've, I've noticed in the past,especially when, you know, I wanted
friends or I, I didn't want people to feellike I thought I was better than them.
I never wanna come across asI think I'm better than you.
But you can end up watering yourself down.
(41:46):
Yeah.
To not make people feel that way.
Yeah.
But the more that you do that, themore you lose yourself and you're
not being true to who you really are.
Yeah.
And then you block youropportunities mm-hmm.
And you block attracting the things toyou that you normally would attract.
Yeah.
Because you're not being yourself.
Exactly.
And so you get to a pointwhere you're like, oh no.
Like I don't want to dim my lightfor the comfort of other people.
(42:06):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Because that actually doesn't help anyonebecause I'm not really being fully myself.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And I've realized
Alli Rodriguez (42:11):
that other people's opinions are not my problem.
They're not of me.
They're like, their opinion of me is not.
A reflection of me.
Yeah.
Or my problem.
Yeah.
And I can confidently say that.
I mean, growing up, talkingabout like growing up and stuff.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker (42:24):
It's
Alli Rodriguez (42:24):
interesting you said that the better than me because I
have heard people say that about me.
Yeah.
Same.
Oh, you think you're better than me,or, you know, you think you're better
than everybody else and you know what myresponse was, and it's nasty, but I am,
I am better than you and I'm better thanyou because I'm not gonna engage in this.
I don't put myself in situationswhere I feel uncomfortable.
(42:45):
Mm. So I'm better becauseyou don't get that yet.
Mm-hmm.
And you'll get there.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't mean that I hateyou or I'm like, whatever,
but it's, you're not my vibe.
Yeah.
And that's okay.
EmLed (42:56):
At least my experience,
I was raised in the church.
Mm-hmm.
And I think women, especially who arein faith, like the underlying message
or what should be the underlyingmessage of faith and religion is love.
Yeah.
And in service andcaring for other people.
Yeah.
But I think the message that weget, especially as women that
can become twisted, is that youneed to be nice to everyone.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
And I think love is sodifferent than being nice.
(43:19):
Yeah.
Because I think love sometimes canlook like giving really tough love.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Or giving a cold shoulder.
Yeah.
Or.
Creating a boundary thatcuts someone off from you.
Yeah.
I think all of thosethings can be loving acts.
Yeah.
And the issue is that religionkind of teaches you in many
ways that that's not the case.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And that you have to maybegive from an empty cup.
And I don't think that that'sthe correct translation Yeah.
(43:41):
Of Bible teaching or faithor anything like that.
Yeah.
But I, I do think it getstwisted and, and warped.
And I've had to work quitea lot to be okay with Okay.
Like, I wanna love everyone.
I want to in every way,in every way that I can.
I wanna serve.
Yeah.
I wanna love, but sometimes that looksreally, really different than mm-hmm.
Being what looks like nice quote unquote.
Alli Rodriguez (44:02):
Yeah.
I, I agree with that.
And I think that, um, being assertivecan come across the wrong way too.
I've been called that before as well.
Yeah.
And I think, like, again, um, I justlike, this is really deep in this ha in
this conversation for me and you sayingthis, because I just reflect when we're
talking through this, like how many timesI've said yes, when I want to say no.
(44:23):
Yep.
And how.
It came, it comes across the wrong way.
And that's why sometimes I'm notcomfortable saying no, or I'm not
comfortable with a boundary because itcomes across the wrong way to people.
Right.
That I'm being like nasty.
Right.
You know?
Right.
And I think that, again, it goes backto I don't need to worry about what
(44:44):
other people's opinions of me are.
Yeah.
I need to worry aboutwhat's important for myself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think, again, like, you know, ifyou are younger than me and you figured
that out earlier, I am so proud of you.
Because it took me a longtime to figure that out.
And I still am.
Yeah.
There's certain spaces where I'mjust like, oh, you know, and even,
you know, working in corporateAmerica when I was there I was like
always like, yes, I'll do this.
(45:05):
Yes, I'll do that.
And then feeling overwhelmed andnot having support and it's like,
you know what, I don't care anymore.
Yeah.
If it's not fitting rightfor me, I'm not gonna do it.
Exactly.
And I, you know, when you, we were talkingabout earlier about how you were sitting
with like two clients for a long time.
I think that I went to a place where I wasworking with like 40 people, 40 clients
at once, and I had a team, a small team.
(45:26):
It's like three of us.
And it was a lot to manage.
Yeah.
And something else I've learnedthroughout my business career
and how I've shaped, shifted isthat I wanna be more intentional.
So I think that's also importantin learning boundaries and being
assertive in how you operate yourbusiness, is that you need to.
Be intentional and have strategy.
Right?
Because you could take on allthese clients for the money, but
(45:48):
is that money really serving you?
Exactly.
Because for me it's not about that.
Uh, exactly.
I will sit on $0 income for monthsand months and months and wait
until that one client that'sgonna give me what I deserve.
Yes.
And that I'm feeling theenergy and synergy with that
EmLed (46:03):
Ali preach.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Mm-hmm.
Everything that you just said is,I feel that God kind of speaks to
me through other people and likereoccurring messages in my life.
Yeah.
And you just said exactly themessage that God has been showing
me for the last couple months.
Yeah.
Which is be grateful forwhat I have given you.
Yeah.
Our society teaches us to chase money.
Mm-hmm.
(46:23):
To chase money and to make money.
Our God.
Yeah.
And God has put me in a season ofmy life where I have intentionally
not had, like I used, I was ina corporate job for five years.
Mm-hmm.
I'm used to a steady paycheck,benefits, like knowing when the
money's coming in and God showed mehow much I was making money my God.
And money what I put allof my hope and trust in.
Yeah.
And that scarcity mindset.
(46:44):
Yeah.
It's, and, and he's been teachingme abundance I will provide for you.
And the moment that I really gotgrateful and got really comfortable with
God, thank you for these two clients.
Thank you for the opportunityto wake up this morning.
Yeah.
And, and live and breathe.
Mm-hmm.
And have my needs met like I ate today.
Yeah.
I had a roof over my head.
You know, I'm, I'm not without, I'm alive.
(47:04):
When I got into that mindset, Iswear to God from, I went from two
clients overnight to the next day.
Within 24 hours, I had eight potentials.
Yeah.
Out of nowhere.
Mm-hmm.
And I was like, God, what?
Yeah.
It was like the momentI entered that mindset.
Yeah.
And it just really goes toshow like we, as soon as we're
in this chasing energy Yeah.
Where we're like, yes, yes, yes, yes.
(47:25):
Like going after everyopportunity, like we actually put
ourselves in a position of lack.
Alli Rodriguez (47:30):
Yeah.
And I think that that's important too,because I told you like, now I'm a mom.
Yeah.
And the one thing that I've learned is,you know, being a successful and a busy.
Business owner.
I can't do that anymore.
No.
My son comes first in everything.
(47:51):
And that's why sometimes it'svery overwhelming for me being a
hundred percent real because I amtrying to operate at that level.
I used to be and I can't.
Right.
And those clients that don'tunderstand don't need to stay
with me because he comes first.
Yeah.
And if he wants to sit on my lapin a Zoom meeting, he's sitting
on my lap in a zoom meeting.
I, I love that.
Like, that's my ace.
Boom.
Bam.
That's everything to me.
(48:11):
Right.
So I am not going to put myself in abox for what people think is Right.
Like I said, you know, when you're leadingwith purpose and faith and passion Yeah.
It's just gonna kind of findyou Does you figure it out.
Right?
It does.
And the right people gravitate to you.
And, um, I was thinking about somethingelse that a good friend of mine said to
me, and it's not the exact quote, but theysaid something to me along the lines of
(48:32):
like, you know, don't let life harden you.
Mm. Like you're gonna have allof these experiences in your
life that are going to cons.
It can seem like a setback.
So like I didn't have a website for acouple of months and I was really kind of
like having this weird period where a lotof clients were shifting off of my plate.
(48:52):
And I was like, oh my gosh.
Like I went from making all of thismoney a month and now I'm sitting on
like less than half of that and billsare due and I just got this bill in and
I had a, a medical emergency and nowthis is in, and it's so overwhelming.
Yeah.
And my friend was like, maybe thesethings that are like happening
(49:13):
right now, like it's for a reason.
Mm-hmm.
Like maybe there's a reason whythis isn't happening so soon.
Exactly.
Yep.
And it was suchencouraging advice because.
They're right.
Yeah.
Like, yeah.
It will transform itself.
And I feel like something I'vealways told people I've rebranded
twice since I started my business.
And when I've sat in those moments whereI've had to take a step back, we also
(49:37):
get in this mindset that rest is bad.
It's not, yeah, not at all.
You have to, yeah.
You have to rest becausehow good are you to people?
Like I'm in a hustle mindset.
I'm from up north, like living downsouth and transitioning to that.
People down south area lot more laid back.
I talk a mile a minute, I'm caffeinated.
Like beyond belief.
Right.
And like people are like, slow down.
And I'm like, no, I've gotta,like, I'm working till 10.
(49:59):
I don't care.
I pulled so many all-nightersand it really didn't accomplish
as much as it should have.
Right.
Right.
So I've really learnedto prioritize peace.
Yeah.
And amen.
Intention.
Speaker (50:09):
Mm.
Alli Rodriguez (50:09):
And that's the big thing.
You gotta remember what you're doingthis for at the end of the day.
Yeah.
And it's not always for a paycheck.
EmLed (50:15):
No.
Alli Rodriguez (50:15):
It's for the purpose and the passion.
Exactly.
Exactly.
To be able to say, Hey, I'm not in thattoxic environment in corporate where
people are pushing me to work over timeand do all these unreasonable things and
you're building someone else's dream.
Now you get to build your own.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I love that.
So well said.
I love that dude.
I could sit here and talkto you all day about this.
I know.
Literally this stuff.
We could be, be here all day about this.
Yeah.
We, we need to do a part two.
(50:36):
I think I just invited myself back.
EmLed (50:37):
Yeah.
We could keep going.
But the one thing that I really wannaclose out on is, is if you had to sum up.
Everything that we talked about today,or maybe even something we didn't cover,
and just give one piece of advice tosomeone who is in their early twenties,
they're just starting their career.
Okay.
And maybe they're already feeling burnout,and they're like, oh my God, I have 40
more years of this, 50 more years of this.
(50:58):
Like, I don't know whatI'm passionate about.
I don't know what I wanna do.
I don't wanna work for someone else.
They're just feeling stuck.
Yeah.
What would you say to that person?
Don't
Alli Rodriguez (51:07):
rush it like you have 24 hours in a day.
Have a plan.
Be strategic about where you'reputting your time, because a lot
of the time, we're not puttingour time in the right space.
Mm-hmm.
I think that that's something I've learnedin talking to so many entrepreneurs, like
they're coming from corporate America,and then now they're building their own
business, and they're like, well, howdo I, I'm so used to having this meeting
(51:28):
at this time and this and schedule.
Yep, yep.
So you have to kind of.
I, you have to kind of train yourselfand I think it's really important that
you've had the corporate structurebefore you go into being an entrepreneur.
I agree.
Because you kind of build that, um,credibility and that consistency that
you've had being in corporate America.
Yep.
Yep.
People who are just thrown intoentrepreneurship, I think they can
(51:48):
be incredible too, but it could bereally hard to navigate both ways.
Sure.
But I think having that structureand stability before can be helpful.
So use that in your business.
Absolutely.
Don't rush pushing through to the finishline because you're gonna evolve and what
starts is not gonna be how it finishes.
Yeah.
Give yourself grace.
Yeah.
Mm. Because there's gonnabe really low moments.
Mm-hmm.
(52:08):
And remember, business isn't supposed tobe like, it's great if it's consistent.
Right.
But major corporationshave ebbs and flows.
Right.
So.
Don't think that just because you'rea small business, you are being shoved
under the rug, or you have to be incompetition with these bigger ones.
Yes.
Stay in your lane.
Mm. Focus on your goals and achieve them.
And I'm telling you, you willliterally, it's the craziest journey,
(52:32):
but you will get there and it's okayif you take a break, rest rebrand.
You know, I, I've alsoimplemented something that I
think is beneficial to everyone.
Quarterly reviews, look andsee, you know, plan out what is
this quarter gonna look like?
What is that quarter gonna look like?
What do I need to do on social media?
Just like create a systemfor yourself there.
It's very overwhelming too, becausethere's all these platforms, like
people think they need to havenotion or they need to have, you
(52:54):
know, um, cap cut for videos.
And those are all important.
I don't know anything about thatside of the stuff, but like, you
know, like there's apps that arereally like generous with being free.
Like you don't have to pay forall these things right upfront.
Right.
Just grow, get your firstclient, get comfortable.
Just start.
Yeah.
And just have faith and.
Purpose behind what you do.
(53:16):
Mm-hmm.
So
EmLed (53:16):
good.
I love that.
Right.
So good.
So well said.
You were so amazing today.
Thank you.
You're so authentic.
I appreciate that.
You're so yourself.
You really do talk a mile aminute, but I'm, I'm eating up.
I'm sorry.
No, I'm, I'm just trying to keep up.
Yeah.
I'm like, because you're pouringout great wisdom and I'm, I'm just
gonna have to re-listen to thisand put it on repeat and Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for coming on today.
Oh my gosh, of course.
Thank you for having me.
(53:37):
Yeah.
I really enjoyed our convo.
Alli Rodriguez (53:38):
Yeah, it was, it's really like humbling, like I
said, for you to invite me here.
And also just like I said,I'm so proud of you to see.
Thank you.
Your journey.
Thank you.
And I'm excited to see what else youhave to go on, hopefully collaborate
EmLed (53:49):
with
Alli Rodriguez (53:49):
you.
Absolutely.
Me too.
EmLed (53:51):
Do you wanna plug yourself so people can get in touch with
Alli Rodriguez (53:53):
you?
Sure.
Yes.
So you can find me on allplatforms at Ali Rodriguez pr.
And it's just A-L-L-I-R-O-D.
R-I-G-U-E-Z pr, and then ali rodriguez
EmLed (54:04):
pr.com is my website.
Perfect.
We'll go get in touch with Ali.
You guys, you've been an amazing guest.
Thank you so much for sharingyour wisdom and tune in next week.
for another episode ofWrestling with Life.
Bye, y'all.
Thank you.
All right everyone.
Welcome back to theWrestling with Life podcast.
My name is EM led.
I'm your host and I'm sittinghere with my friend Ali Rodriguez.
Thank you so much for being here, Ali.
Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited today.
Appreciate it.
I'm so excited as well.
So you are the founder and theCEO of A RPR, which not a A RP?
No.
A RPR.
(00:45):
No.
A RPR.
We're missing an A there.
It's a shirt.
And this is your baby, you'rethe founder of the CEO O. Yeah.
You founded it in 2011.
Yeah.
I'm so excited to have youon my podcast to talk because
you're in the space that I'm in.
You know, marketing and PRare a little bit different.
Yeah.
That we're both kind of, I guess.
Creating our businessesin the same format.
Yeah.
And helping people get their messageout is really what we're doing.
(01:08):
Um, as you were leading up to creatingyour PR agency, like talk me through
the thought process and what got youto the point of starting that business.
Alli Rodriguez (01:18):
Sure.
So I feel like I don't have atraditional, like beginning in
pr most people go to college.
They set out to work in anagency and then, you know,
work up the ranks, whatever.
Yeah.
I started out in a completelydifferent field and it wasn't,
I. Like resonating with my soul.
(01:39):
Mm-hmm.
You know, when you start somethingand you like it, but you're
not really in love with it.
Yeah.
When you're 18 and you're in college,like, how are you supposed to know what
you wanna do with the rest of your life?
It's crazy actually.
Yeah.
It's very crazy.
So, uh, I'm gonna age myself a little bit.
It's okay.
Please.
Your skin looks amazing.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We just talked about the list.
Yes.
Um, but I, um, there was a show.
(02:03):
I'm gonna plug someone a littlebit in this, but there was a show
on MTV called Power Girls andLizzie Grubman was the star of it.
Lizzie Grubman is huge in the PRindustry and the show was basically her
whole agency kind of working throughwith different women who were kind of
like, I guess competing potentiallyto like be in the agency Yeah.
(02:23):
As working for her as a publicist.
And it was a lot of glitzand glamor and a lot of fun.
They were out with Paris Hilton andlike, you know, all these celebrities
and I was like, Ooh, what is this field?
I love this.
Yeah.
Like, I wanna learn more.
Yeah.
And um, when I was incollege, I had a paper.
That I had to write for anassignment about my field.
I had to interview someone in the field,and I was like, in the medical field, I
(02:46):
was like, this is gonna be boring to me.
Like, who wants to interviewsomeone in the medical field?
No, no.
Like judgment to anybody.
Like it's very important field.
Sure, sure, sure.
But I wanted something more of mypassion, so I called Lizzie Grumman's
office and I'm like, I want an interview,you know, with Lizzie for my paper.
Like I was just so gung hothat this was gonna happen.
It didn't happen because she was busy.
I love her though.
(03:07):
But, um, Kelly Brady was her VP at thetime, and I got an interview with her.
Oh, there.
And so I'm 18 years old.
I go to New York City and Iinterview this amazing publicist.
She had just like, I'll never forget it.
We were in this really cool likecafe and, um, she, she brought with
her, uh, a cover of a magazine.
Pamela Anderson was on the cover,and she got Pamela in that magazine.
(03:30):
Oh, wow.
And Kelly became my mentor.
I was so floored that just fromlike interviewing her, like.
I'm just gonna drop it now.
So I was 18 then I'm gonna be 38.
So in that whole time I've known Kelly.
Wow.
And, um, she's just always been somebodyto like ping things off of and just
(03:53):
really pushed me to go into this field.
Yeah.
She, she saw that passion in me andI've written many papers about her
in my college career since then.
And I even got the incredibleopportunity to interview with her Yeah.
And work for her Yeah.
Agency after she left Liz Gruman.
Oh, that's amazing.
She opened Bway Creative and Iventured out to New York City and
(04:13):
I interned with her for a summer.
Oh.
And it was an incredible experience.
I really learned a lot.
I still actually keep in touch withsome of the employees that were
there at the time, and I've seenKelly shift a lot through her career.
And back when the pandemic happened, Ialso supported some of the work for them.
Sure.
So it was pretty cool thatlike we still kind of.
Circled back together.
(04:34):
Right, right.
But after that experience, when Iinterned, so I'll back up a bit.
Um, I had a really tough experiencethat happened during that time
and actually fun fact, todayis the date of that experience.
Okay.
Um, my very good, best friend, bestfriend of the world, um, he passed
(04:55):
away unexpectedly in a horrific way.
And I was like in New York, goingafter my dreams and this happened
and it just like, shell shocked me.
Oh, how long ago from today?
14 years.
Wow.
14 years today.
So.
Before I came up here, I wasactually sitting in the car and like
remembered and I was like, oh my gosh.
Right.
Like today's the day.
(05:15):
Yeah.
And I think it's kind of cool fullcircle that we're talking about this
though, because I remember gettingthe call that this happened and being
devastated and having to like make thedecision like I need to go back home.
Right?
Yeah.
'cause it is important.
I need to be there for the peoplethat I need to be there for.
I need to kind of grieve this situation.
And I went home and I satwith it for a little bit.
(05:38):
I was like, you know what, likethis trajectory of how you're
supposed to make your career inpr, it's such a competitive field.
Like I need to be going out thereand interning doing all this
stuff and applying for jobs.
Yeah.
And you know, I would say maybe a yearor two after I came back home, I was
working in some sort of like internship.
'cause I was, I was kind oflike in the medical field too.
(06:00):
Yeah.
And then also had my footin the PR as the passion.
So I did some internships at a hospital.
I was working at doing like PR four.
Hospital and that was fun.
Yeah.
Because I did a little bit of eventstuff with them too, but it still
wasn't really what I wanted to do.
Right.
Like I wanted to do the celebrity stuff.
That was fun to me.
I wanted to do the events.
I wanted to get the big namepress and cosmopolitan and
(06:22):
like, you know, of course.
Yeah.
All that stuff.
That's the good stuff.
Yeah.
So I sat with myself for a really longtime and I was like, you know what?
I'm like applying for all these jobs.
I'm interning in these spaces thatI don't really love, like I'm just
gonna go out and do this on my own.
Yeah.
So I took a crazy leap of faith, likelooking back, it's kind of embarrassing
because I'm like, and I shared this withyou a little bit in the behind the scenes.
(06:44):
You did.
I was on a website, likeit was like the website.
It was my maiden name backthen, but like ally pr.com.
Right.
Uhhuh Uhhuh.
And it's like, who is gonna trust awebsite that has like a godaddy.ally?
Like, it's ridiculous nowwhen I think about it.
But I started out on LinkedIn actually.
Yeah.
And I was just plugging things andsharing my story, and I started
(07:07):
slowly getting clients in at a very,very low, embarrassing retainer fee.
But it's okay.
You have to start somewhere.
You do.
You know what what I mean do.
Yeah.
And, um, I started just pitchingand then I would get like radio
interviews for these people andthen I would be getting like some
press writeups in digital outlets.
Yeah.
Um, they weren't as popular backthen, I don't think, but like, they
(07:28):
were starting to become popularand I was like, I can do this.
I feel confident that Ican make this something.
Right.
So 2011, I started.
It's been a whirlwind.
It really has.
I've evolved so much since then.
I've done some really incrediblethings and some really not so
incredible things, but that's likethe beauty and the journey of it.
(07:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I even recently reinventedmyself a little bit this past.
Year or so too.
I just saw your new website.
It looks bomb.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah, it looks amazing.
Yes.
Yes.
I am so fortunate.
Shout out to Marian.
She was incredible.
I'll plug her too, because she, um,really understood my vision and I
was a little bit nervous at firstbecause I was like, this is so scary.
(08:11):
Like this is like giving all myinformation to somebody to try to
like trust them to get that creativelike hook that I'm looking for.
And she really, she blew me away.
She nailed it.
Yeah.
And one of my clients, Courtney,will actually plug her too.
She actually gave me her information.
I'm so thankful for her becauselike her website looks great,
so I knew I was in good hands.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well,
EmLed (08:30):
she did an amazing job.
Thank Julia.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing your story.
Yeah.
Um, the biggest thing that stuck outto me when I met you, so we met at a
Babes and Business Wilmington event.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
You're, I didn't mention this, butyou're a Wilmington local as well.
Yes.
Um, you were speaking at this event and.
What was so cool about you and what Ithink captivated me and everyone else in
(08:50):
the room right away was your authenticity.
Speaker (08:52):
Thank you, and your
EmLed (08:53):
vulnerability.
And one of the first things thatyou said in that room was, we are
all here to support each other.
We are a community of women likeeveryone at this event, female
entrepreneurs who are starting theirown business or thinking about it,
or have been doing it for 10 years.
And you just set an incredibletone where you said, we are here
for community, not competition.
Yes.
(09:13):
And to be in a room with someonewho exudes powerful energy,
who's been doing this for along time, you don't understand.
What that did for every woman in the room.
Yeah.
And I think that's such an importantthing that I wanna pick your brain
on, because in business, I'm sure youhave experienced this over the years.
Yes.
There is so much competition.
There is so much ego involved in business.
(09:35):
Yeah.
And I actually talk a lot on my podcastabout how pride gets in the way Yeah.
Of us truly clapping forand loving other people.
Yeah.
So I wanna pick your brain.
How did you arrive at that mindset?
Like, did you go through times whereyou caught yourself in competition and
ego and you're like, I don't like that.
That doesn't feel good.
Like what led you toleading with that message?
(09:55):
Yeah.
So
Alli Rodriguez (09:56):
fun fact, that was my first ever speaking opportunity.
Where I met you.
Where you met me.
You're lying.
I am not.
You were so natural.
That's so crazy.
You know, and I was a little bit likeunsure because I am a big personality.
You are.
And I am nervous sometimes when Igo into rooms that I might come off
across, like too eccentric, you know?
(10:17):
'cause like the vibesalways have to be Right.
We talked about that earlier too.
Yeah, we did.
Yeah.
The vibes always have to be right.
Absolutely.
And I went in there justsaying like, I'm gonna be me.
Like, you know?
And I have to say, I was so humbled bythat experience and it really just made
me incredibly happy to see everybody,like in that room, just the like support
(10:38):
that everybody was giving one another.
And the support they gave in me,like I had like 30 dms after that.
Like I really resonatedwith what you said.
Yeah.
And I really honestly felteverything that I said, you know, um.
I don't think that I've everhad a competitive streak.
I will be honest with you.
I like to win.
We all do.
Right?
Absolutely.
But I don't feel like I'm acompetitive person in a sense.
(10:59):
Like I need to get thereahead of someone else.
Sure.
In a sense, you know?
Sure.
But I've experienced it just because,and I mean, when I say this, I don't
wanna come off the across the wrongway, but like, I feel like when you are
confident in yourself, a lot of peoplearen't unfortunately, and they see that
in you and they're like, I want that.
(11:21):
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it might not come across thatthey want to be jealous or rude or
competitive, but it just, it's the vibe.
Yeah.
So they never lie.
Your energy is alwaysgonna give off Absolutely.
How you're truly feeling.
Yeah.
Whether you want it to or not.
Yeah.
(12:56):
And everything always reveals itself.
Right.
So I just have experienced spaceswhere either other women thought
I shouldn't be in that room.
Mm. Or I would be in spaceswhere women would be like.
You know, kind of like, wow.
Like how did she get there?
And like, sure.
I'm not gonna talk to her becauseshe just like, maybe she's like, not
(13:18):
truthful because honestly, a lot ofthe times you, I see it all the time
on the internet, like, you reallycan't trust everything that you see.
Right?
You cannot.
Nope.
You can't.
And you're gonna, you're gonna seepeople post things or say things online.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Where you want to believe them, but you'regonna kind of like, when you really pay
attention, people reveal themselves.
Right.
So like, you can read between the lines.
And I feel like a lot of peoplehave just an issue trusting.
(13:42):
Yeah.
Because I've struggled, I've gone throughthings and I'm not always gonna show that.
And most people don't show that.
Right.
But.
I think I came to a place after being inspaces where I didn't feel comfortable.
Yeah.
That I didn't want otherpeople to feel that way.
Right.
Yeah.
And I wanted to have a mentorbecause the PR and marketing
(14:02):
fields are extremely competitive.
They are.
And corporate Americais super competitive.
Amen.
So if you've been there and youstarted there, you kind of know.
Yeah.
And it's like.
Corporate America, people likemen are competing against women.
Yeah.
Women are like, you're, it's justa dog eat dog world there, right?
Yeah, exactly.
So I never want anyone to feel thatway because I, and I think I can, I
(14:24):
can say that about my mentor Kelly.
I feel like I still consider her amentor, even though like sometimes
we don't talk as much as we used to.
Right.
But she welcomed me and thatwas a great example, especially
in such a competitive field.
Yeah.
To show how you should show up for others.
Yeah, exactly.
You know?
Absolutely.
And there's still situations where youcan run into people in your field or
(14:45):
your industry or even just networkingand you're like, wow, you can just
like tell those people wanna keep allthe gems and the goods to themselves.
Yes.
They're so.
Many opportunities for everybody.
This is a huge world.
Like, and now we've gotten the internet,which has opened up globally for us.
Right?
So why would we want to just take it all
EmLed (15:07):
for ourselves?
Gatekeeper?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That mentality is so refreshing.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And I think, um, this kind of leads intolike a scarcity versus abundance mindset.
Mm-hmm.
Which I know we've talkedabout as well, and.
Absolutely agree witheverything that you said.
Like the world truly is so big.
Yeah.
And I think if we have thisposture of like, okay, well if
I support another person who istechnically my competitor, yeah.
(15:30):
That means less opportunity for me.
We have the wrong mindset.
Yeah.
So what would you say to someone whomight have that mindset where they
see everyone else as their competitor,they're gripping really tightly to
what they have, they don't wanna share.
Yeah.
Whether it be like knowledge or areference or a helpful tip or whatever.
What would you say to someonewho's in that scarcity mindset?
(15:51):
Like how did you arrive atthat place of abundance?
Alli Rodriguez (15:54):
I feel like it's a lot of experiences, like I said, sitting
in rooms or situations where I wasn'tfeel feeling like I was welcomed.
Right.
I feel like you have to have that.
Mentality because that'swhat abundance is.
Abundance is exuding that.
Like, you know that flow.
Yeah.
So when you're stopping that flowin a, in a mindset that's negative.
Yeah.
Because I feel like thatmindset of scarcity is negative.
(16:16):
Right?
Yeah.
You are never going to truly be abundant.
No.
You might feel like you are Right.
You know, but something inyour life is always gonna stop.
at some points.
Things are not going to moveas freely as they should.
Exactly.
When you're, when you're doing that, andI feel like a lot of people, you know.
I feel like a lot of people think that ifthey share their knowledge, because let's
(16:38):
be for real, and in marketing and pr itis like, I can speak to that industry.
It is rough.
It is.
You will meet, I meet people all thetime, other publicists, um, you know,
other professionals in the marketingfield where we're like trying to
collaborate on things and then theydo shady stuff behind your back.
Like, try to steal your contactsor try to like, you know, get
(17:00):
around you or things like that sothat they can get and be taken.
You know, that recognition from.
It's, it's not cool to me.
Like I don't wanna be in spaces like that.
There's unfortunately notgonna be a stop to that.
People are just like that.
And you have to kind of findwho your tribe is Exactly.
Or who the people you wanna vibe with are,you know, because even like, you know,
sitting in that room and talking with allof those people, I resonated probably with
(17:23):
the whole room, but there's certain peoplein there that maybe not agreeing with me.
Sure.
Or might not work with meas well as someone else.
Right.
And that's okay.
I'm not for everyone.
Exactly.
And I'm all right with that.
Exactly.
I've had to always have that mentality.
And I think it's also just fromgrowing up, like unfortunately I
feel like I had like situationswhere girls were like always kind
of like, you know, high school.
(17:43):
Yeah.
It's high school can be challengingfor many people, but like high in high
school, I feel like I was friends witha lot of people, but then there were
a lot of people that didn't like me.
Right.
And I was okay with that.
Right.
I don't wanna be for everyone.
Right.
And as you evolve in your business,you learn even more that you don't need
certain clients or you don't wanna bein certain situations or industries.
Um.
It's just, it's part ofthe process, I think.
(18:05):
Yeah.
You know, and
EmLed (18:06):
if you were for everybody, I think you would be a people pleaser.
Yeah.
Because you're a chameleon.
Yeah.
And you're becoming like shape shiftinginto whatever someone needs you to be.
Yeah.
That can't possibly betrue to who you are.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Alli Rodriguez (18:17):
You have to stay authentic.
Yeah.
I mean, I always operate in thatspace because I mean, who you, we've
all been in situations where peoplehaven't been and it's just like, why?
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like why do you need to perceiveyourself to be something that you're not?
Yes.
Like what is the purpose in that?
What are, what is anyone gainingfrom getting this like version of
(18:39):
you that isn't even truly your you?
Right.
So I feel like, you know, you have to.
And, and I do that all the time.
Like, you know, I think a lot of thetimes too when you've been in business
for a while, you feel like, oh, Ican't do certain things for free.
Right.
Like my time is money.
Right.
Like to me, yes, but there's gonnabe certain situations where you
still need to lean on others.
Mm-hmm.
Because when you know, everybodydoesn't have everything right away.
(19:02):
And I want to encourage,I wanna motivate people.
Yeah.
'cause I think that, you know, there'sbeen a, there women empowerment events and
situations where women were, networkinghas been a big thing for quite a while.
Back in 2014 to, I would say about 2018,it was really popular that I was finding
that they were all popping up, up north.
(19:23):
'cause that's where I'm from originally.
Right, right.
So like New York City, New Jersey, theywould have all these events and I can't
tell you how many times, like we would bein these rooms and there would be these
women there that are not really for women.
Why are you coming to a women empowermentevent if you're not from women?
Like, what are you doing?
Yeah.
You know, I feel like.
You can't look at someoneelse as competition ever.
(19:44):
No inspiration.
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
But competition never.
Oh yeah.
Because at the end of theday, they're doing them.
You're doing you, if I'm lookingat what you're doing, I'm not
looking at what I'm doing and I'mlosing track of what I'm doing.
Yes.
So I've always had that mentalitybecause like I said, there are
some really prominent people,especially in the PR industry, that
I would love to be like, right.
I would love to be like that.
(20:05):
Absolutely.
I'd love to be on TV and I'd loveto be, you know, going to France or
traveling with these celebrity clients.
I'd love that, but that's their path.
This is mine, you know?
Yeah.
And I'm gonna kind ofstay grained into that.
Yeah, absolutely.
'cause you know, what is that saying thatlike if you don't, like you're watering
someone else's grass or something.
Right.
I'm gonna get that so wrong.
But it's like the grass isalways green type of thing.
(20:26):
The grass.
Yeah.
It isn't always greener on the other side.
Exactly.
And that's what I've also learnedis a really big struggle with social
media because people are only showingyou what they want you to see.
Amen.
Amen.
And they might like scoot out there like,oh, I've struggled because it's a hook.
Right?
Uhhuh.
But they're not givingyou the full picture.
Yeah.
They're not showing youthe blood, sweat and tears.
(20:46):
No.
No one wants to kind of see that eitherthough, because it's not empowering.
Right.
It's not.
But at the same time, sharing littleglimpses in situations like this, or
when you're networking can be reallyinspirational for someone else.
If I can have one personchange their mindset on that.
Like there's so many people sittingon great business ideas and they're
not doing it because they're scared.
Exactly.
And I can say, even for myself, mylife is changed because I'm a mom now.
(21:09):
Right?
Yeah.
Like when I first startedmy business, I was single.
I think, I don't remember, butwas probably dating someone.
I don't know.
I've been with my husband for almostas long as I've been with my business,
so, you know, but, um, I was goingthrough so many transitional periods
then, and so many things in my lifewere not going right at that time.
Yeah.
Because I lost a friend I wasstruggling with, you know, just.
(21:31):
Kind of figuring out who I was,'cause I was in my early twenties
and what I wanted my life to be,and then I created this business.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm like, you know what?
I wanna pour all of my time into this.
This is what I wanna do.
And it's so rewardingwhen you see it grow.
You know?
It's so rewarding when you can look backand say, wow, I was at this horrible place
with this zero clients, and then here Iam with a full agency with 20 clients.
(21:53):
You know, like it's great to see that.
Yeah.
But then it's also, youknow, an evolution too.
And that's where you need to have that.
Collaboration because you know, when we'rein rooms with people that have also been
through similar experiences, you don't
EmLed (22:06):
feel so alone.
Amen.
You know, I remember coming to theevent that you hosted and just feeling
ready to run through a brick wallafter, because that's the energy that
that creates When you're with peoplewho are kind of walking the same path
as you and having the same doubts andthe same fears and the same roadblocks.
You just feel like, okay,I'm not in this alone.
Other people are doing this too.
(22:27):
Yeah.
Which means I'm not crazy forpursuing this dream, even though
it might feel wildly out of reach.
Yeah.
At this point in time it'snot because there are other
people working towards it too.
So Yeah.
I absolutely agree with everythingyou said, and I love the passion
and the energy that you have.
Speaker (22:42):
Yeah.
And I
EmLed (22:42):
think that that goes really far because we were talking
about this earlier, that energybleeds off into other people.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And empowers them.
Yeah.
And if you can have great women,especially in your corner, who
truly believe in what they're doing.
Yeah.
And they.
Then take that energy and wannareinvest it back into other people.
Yeah.
To empower them.
That is just such apowerful energy that Yeah.
(23:04):
That really moves the needle for a lot of
Alli Rodriguez (23:05):
people.
Yeah.
And doing that authentically is the key.
Yeah.
Because I feel like there'sbandwagons that we all jump on, right?
Oh yeah.
Oh, like don't jump on thebandwagon just 'cause you wanna
be a woman supporting a woman.
Really lean into that.
Really help someone.
And you like, I really feel likethat also brings back abundance.
You know?
It's the circle of how you put out.
Good.
It comes back to you.
Yeah.
And don't just do it becauseyou want good things to happen.
(23:27):
Do it from a genuine place.
There's not an genuineexperiences anymore.
Yeah.
You know, it's been likereally it, there's a lot of
facade because of social media.
Yeah.
You know, so it gets blurred.
And I also think, um.
You had said something justa minute ago about the event.
I've seen you like when I firstmet you, and it, it hasn't even
(23:47):
been that long since we first met.
To see you evolve in sucha short period of time.
Yeah.
It's been really gratifying, you know,and just to be able to support you and
say, Hey, you know, like, let me shareyour interview you just did with someone,
or, I love that you have a podcast.
Right.
I was, um, talking to you about thisbefore we sat down that I've never been
on a live podcast or I've been videoed.
Yeah.
I just remembered that.
(24:08):
Um, I did go on a podcast like acouple years ago when I first started
with a friend of mine from New Yorkwho has a really great podcast.
It's called Dreams and Drive.
Her name is Raina Campbelland she's incredible.
She was like, top podcast inApple and like it wasn't even
a big thing really back then.
Right.
Wow.
Yeah, and I said something onthere that I always come back to.
(24:28):
The two things actually.
So I said, whatever is meantfor me will never pass me by.
I love that quote because it's true.
Like there's a purpose for what I'm doing.
Mm-hmm.
I don't always know what it is.
Sometimes, sometimes I'm sitting therelike, what the heck is happening?
Right.
Like, who's controlling this stuff, dad?
What is going on?
Yes.
But there's so many little glimmersin my experiences that I have that
(24:53):
I'm like, alright, I got this.
Yeah.
I understand what's happening here.
Yep.
You know, and it's so.
Powerful because then itdoesn't make you feel crazy.
And it's like, okay,I've got my direction.
I know what I'm doing.
Yeah.
Um, and then the other thing thatI said is that if you don't believe
in your brand, your business, yourservices, and you don't exude that
when you're speaking to people oryou're, you know, interacting, no
(25:16):
one else is gonna believe in that.
Right.
So you have to come fullforce, passion and driven.
Right.
Because again, people will feedoff of that energy and they'll be
like, wow, I wanna learn more aboutwhat this person has going on.
Absolutely.
Because they're so excitedabout it, you know?
Absolutely.
And that's really where I, I justfeel like you have to be excited.
Life is hard.
Mm-hmm.
They're struggles.
Mm-hmm.
For a lot of people.
(25:36):
And you know, even in journeys ofbusiness and career, you have your ups
and downs and you know, why not justhave fun and have excitement in like.
The midst of it.
'cause bad things aregonna happen all the time.
It's just how you move through them.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
EmLed (25:52):
Yeah.
That's so good, Ali.
Yeah.
The other thing I wanted to askyou about too is yeah, integrity.
Okay.
And what role that plays in your business.
So I'm sure you see this all the time.
Yeah.
I see deception everywhere in marketing.
Yeah.
Whether it's like people fudging theirnumbers or promising the world to Yeah.
A client that they don't even knowif they can deliver that or not.
But that's how they'regetting the foot in the door.
(26:13):
Yeah.
I see it everywhere.
Yeah.
And for me, like there are timeswhen I really regret getting
into this field for that purpose.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And I have to remind myselflike, okay, well you have the
opportunity to be different.
You have the opportunity to bringintegrity, to bring honesty and, and
realness and actual love and supportto every client that you work with.
(26:33):
And to me, actually, what I'venoticed is that has weeded out a lot
of potential clients because I havemet people who don't have that same
energy of like, we're gonna keep itreal, we're gonna keep it honest.
And for me, like.
Cool.
That that reveals our valuesand that shows that we're
not meant to work together.
Yeah.
Um, but it's difficult becauseespecially when you're looking around
(26:54):
at the fields that we're in, thereare a lot of people doing that.
So my question for you is, have youbeen in a position where you had an
opportunity, whether it was to work witha client or to collaborate with someone
or whatever it was that would havecaused you to compromise your integrity?
And did you turn it away?
Did you find yourself in themiddle of it and had to back out?
(27:15):
Like, if none of that's resonating withyou, have you experienced deception and
how have you stayed true to what youbelieve in, in your values through it?
Yeah.
I
Alli Rodriguez (27:23):
mean, I think, and I, I like, I hate to say it
because I love PR and marketing.
It's such a passion for me, but it isa very deceptive industry, isn't it?
Yeah.
Because it's all howyou do your messaging.
Yep.
You project your messaging.
Yep.
What people are seeing and it's rosecolored glasses most of the time.
Yep.
Um, and so for me, I. Anytime thatI am having a consult with a client
(27:49):
or I'm like researching them and I'mseeing if they're gonna be a fit for
our agency, because that's somethingI learned in the past three years.
I have another mentor in California.
Her name is Jen Berson.
And um, she has an agency, generationpr, and she said that in the mentor
program that I like went into with her.
Sure.
That you are not just having a clienthave a consultation with you and
(28:12):
seeing if you're a good fit for them.
Yes.
You're also interviewing them.
Amen.
To be a good fit for you.
Amen.
And not everyone is a good fit.
Yep.
So I will say that.
A lot of the experiences I've had withclients, consultation clients is they've
had deception because again, anybodycould be anything on the internet.
Yep.
And there's a large wave ofpeople becoming social media
consultants, uhhuh and publicists.
(28:33):
Yep.
And marketing professionals.
Yep.
Yep.
And then you'll notice like, this issuch a pet peeve of mine and like, I'm
not knocking anyone because you may havethis good skill that you're turning into
a business and I want you to do that.
I'm all for that.
But like, how are you like one thing oneday and then another day or another thing?
Like what?
That to me feels off like, you know,like, and again, you can transform
(28:56):
and be anything you wanna be.
I encourage that, but it's like,it's very hard to see who's real
and who's not sure it really is.
Sure.
And um, I've never gone into somethingwith anything half, half-assed, honestly.
Like I will tell my clients up front like.
This is how I operate.
I'm honest, I'm transparent.
You know, I will present everyopportunity to you that I receive.
(29:18):
If that isn't a good vibe for me, I'mgonna let you know how I feel about it.
Sure.
But at the end of theday, it's your brand.
It's your business.
So you need to also lean intothat intuition because if it's
not sitting right for you mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
We can't do it.
And so I think I've turned awayopportunities for clients before
that didn't really sit well.
Yep.
Um, I've also, um, I've alsonever like exaggerated anything.
(29:43):
Um, I try to stand as firmly andhonestly as possible because yes,
numbers can certainly be fudged, butif you do that, like what's the point?
Right?
Yeah.
That's, yeah.
'cause I just, I justdon't get that mindset.
I don't think I ever will becauseI wanna get there authentically.
Yes.
And that's something else.
I have a long-term client ofmine that we talk about that
(30:05):
often because we could, we could.
Push it a little bit, rush it, right?
Like she was struggling withfollowers on Instagram, right?
And she was like, well, we can dothis the easy way and just go to
a company and purchase followers,but then what is that gonna do?
We built authentically, organically,and we did it on our own, and it
feels so much better that way.
Absolutely.
It might take you alittle bit longer, but.
(30:25):
It's gonna get you there the real way.
Yes.
You know,
EmLed (30:28):
that's the key.
Yeah.
Is being okay with moving slowly.
Mm-hmm.
There's a lot of pressure, especiallywith the instant gratification culture
that we're living in right now.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
That you need to be an overnight success.
Exactly.
If there's any worth, you know,if it's worth your time Yeah.
To invest in whatever you're investing in.
And I think that's why a lot ofpeople don't start their own business.
Yeah.
Or, or they don't.
(30:48):
Pursue whatever dream they have.
Mm-hmm.
Because a lot of times for youto get to the end goal of where
you wanna be, it takes years.
Decades.
Yeah.
Like, it can take areally, really long time.
Mm-hmm.
And something that I, I'm really thankfulthat I knew that going into starting
my own business because for the firsttwo months I, I had two clients Yeah.
And I wasn't at the, the pricepoint that I wanted to be, but I sat
(31:11):
with gratitude and I was thankfulfor the opportunities that I had.
Yeah.
And I trusted that Godwas gonna bring the rest.
And in the meantime, he allowed me tohave great conversations with people like
you who helped me get my pricing Right.
Who helped me get my marketing right.
Who helped me really figure outthe behind the scenes stuff.
Yeah.
So then when there was opportunity,I attracted the right client
(31:32):
at the right price point.
Yeah.
And I didn't force it.
And I didn't rush it.
Yeah.
And that's gonna lead to such long-termsuccess because I got the foundation.
Right.
Yeah.
Rather than building on shaky groundExactly like what you're talking about.
Exactly.
Alli Rodriguez (31:42):
Like there's no purpose in that to me I just also
think that like, when you operate ina place of gratitude as well, right?
Yeah.
Like people are going toreally, like, I can tell you're
passionate about what you do.
Thank you.
Just from like you talking aboutit or you even just explaining it.
When I watch your reels on socialmedia, like you have fun with it and
(32:03):
like you really wanna help people.
And I think that's really what it is.
I'm a helper, I'm a healer.
I wanna, I wanna help.
And I think that's why this fieldis so great for me because I can
really look in and kind of navigatethrough all the little things and
details that people don't see.
Yeah.
And really build a great storyfrom it to get the press to want
the attention from it, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
(32:24):
Um, but I also think that you need tounderstand that, um, those people that
rush in line, like, you know, whenyou're at the grocery store and someone.
Put like jumps in front of you.
Mm-hmm.
That, that's just like stink energy.
Like it whatcha doing.
It's wait, your turnit, your turn is coming.
Relax, buddy.
Relax.
Uhhuh.
Slow, slow your rollUhhuh, pump those breaks.
You know, because the wholeprocess, anything in life, if you
(32:46):
rush it, it doesn't, it never wentmy way when I tried to rush it.
Absolutely.
I'm like hearing my grandmotherin my head, um, because she always
just tell me that she was like,you're always rushing your life.
Like, just relax.
Yeah.
And I think about that so much.
Mm-hmm.
How, how much we want that end goal.
Yeah.
But like the, the beauty really is inthe trenches when you're building it.
(33:07):
Yeah.
You know, when you look back and you'vegot what you, when you accomplish your
goal and you look back, that's kind ofmore the gratifying piece, isn't it,
to see how it grew and like all that.
Yeah.
So you need to nurture that and you needto really, um, really trust yourself
you can kind of, you know, I feel likefake it till you make it is a great.
Phrase and I feel likethat's not meaning be fake.
(33:28):
That's meaning, youknow, pump yourself up.
Give yourself that confidenceand show that to other people.
Maybe you're not really confident,but show that to other people.
Like sit in that energy.
But I feel like you alsoneed to understand that.
Um, I. Uh, you're alwaysgonna be revealed.
Absolutely.
So if you're trying to do something that'snot right, someone's gonna see that.
(33:48):
Yep.
Yep.
Someone's gonna see that it'sgonna come back around and Exactly.
And I think that that's why like, youknow, faith, intuition, all of those
things, like you have to lean into that.
And like, if you're not faith-basedor if you're not spiritual based
or whatever have you, like, youdon't even have to look at it in
that aspect because we all as humanbeings have intuition for a reason.
Yeah.
You have a gut feeling whensomething doesn't go right.
(34:09):
Right.
Yeah.
Yep.
So you have to lean into that becausethat's something a huge lesson.
And I've learned in that.
Like, whenever I don't listento that, it always goes wrong.
Yes.
EmLed (34:17):
And it's so funny how we can quiet that voice because maybe like in the
back of your mind you're like, oh, well Ireally need this client, or I really need
this money, or, oh, this opportunity Yeah.
Seems so good that Idon't wanna pass it up.
But I have had that voice in methat's like, oh, I don't like this.
Yeah.
Like something isn't right.
And every time I ignore that, yeah.
I end up regretting it.
Oh,
Alli Rodriguez (34:35):
it's the worst feeling ever.
Yeah.
I get so mad at myself, not evenlike at the situation, I'm like.
Why didn't I listen to myself?
Yeah.
You know?
But I think that you, it's reallyimportant that it's okay if you don't.
Yeah.
Because you learn, right?
Yeah.
And like, I've been doing this so longand this has happened to me so many times.
I should know my lesson by now.
Right?
Like, we get like that.
But it, it's.
All about trial and error becauseI'm an overthinker sometimes.
(34:57):
So I think that's why I try to quiet that.
'cause I'm like, I need a discern between,is this me overthinking or is this
really me leaning into what's happening?
And I feel like I've learned thedifference a little bit because you'll
get this like really daunting feelingin your stomach or in your energy.
And once I started paying attentionto that too, I'm like, wow, like
(35:17):
your whole body could just go outof whack from not having good vibes.
Uh, that's so true.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
Uhhuh And even like working witha client, I. Fired clients before.
And I am not afraid to say that becausethere's just been some funky energy,
or like they've been disrespectful.
Like you're bringing me onto your teamto help and amplify your messaging.
Like, why are we arguingover something so ridiculous?
(35:38):
Because you're stuck in a, a mindsetthat you can't break through.
Yeah.
Like that's the other thing too.
When you come into these spaces whereyou're working with people, make
sure you're really ready to investand understand that you trust them.
Mm. And if you don't, don't work with'em because you're wasting everyone's
time in the process, you know?
Yes.
So many clients that I look back onand I'm like, wow, if they really
just like listen to me, they'dbe so much farther than they are,
(36:00):
and I'm not Right All the time.
Like, it's a collaborative effort.
We need to be a team and talkthis through, or whatever.
Exactly.
Like there's so many people that arejust like, they've had bad experiences.
Yeah.
Or they wanna be like in charge, youknow, 'cause this is my businesses.
Sure.
Like, that's not the point.
If you're building a team, you gotta relyon that team, trust that team, right?
Mm-hmm.
EmLed (36:17):
Mm.
Alli Rodriguez (36:17):
But I think that also, you know, these, these
people in these spaces that.
You know, aren't really being authentic.
You really, you just have to trustthat those things are gonna, like,
you need to trust that those, thoseright clients are gonna come to you.
Those right situations are gonna come toyou and you have to just like, I kind of
just like prey on them in a sense like.
(36:40):
It's kind of silly, but Ialways like say I do the cross.
Right?
Like I'm like, you know what?
God bless you.
I don't wish you any bad luck, butI want you to be out of my space.
Absolutely.
Because I don't want this energy.
This is not how I, because it's abig thing too, when you're a business
owner and you associate yourselfwith people that are like that.
People will associate you that way.
Exactly.
EmLed (36:59):
They're a representation of you.
So Yes.
It's
Alli Rodriguez (37:01):
your reputation on the line.
Yep.
It's your credibility on the line.
Not only
EmLed (37:05):
that, but it can literally affect how you move through life.
I follow this great creator.
I think it's m on the brain is her name.
Okay.
But she, she has studied in depth brainchemistry and brainwaves, and she had
this great reel the other day that wasexplaining how when you actually hang
out and spend time with people, yourbrainwaves literally sync up with them.
Wow.
And you start to mirror them andmimic their energies, their thought
(37:27):
patterns, their body language.
Yeah.
Like literally you becomemore like each other.
Yeah.
So when you're surrounded bynegative energy people who are
critical and judgmental and want toargue, they're not healed, you're
going to become more like that.
Like energy transference is just so real.
I love that.
Yeah.
And that's on, and that's in friendship.
That's in who you date.
(37:47):
Yeah, that's in business.
It's literally whoever you surroundyourself with in any capacity.
Alli Rodriguez (37:52):
That's why I said it doesn't even have to be like, based
off of faith or religion to people.
It's just.
Literally as human beings,we have this ability.
Yeah.
Like, you know, if you're in a funkysituation, you kind of shut down.
Like it's crazy how well, like our bodiesknow what's right for us and what's not.
Yeah.
But you need to lean into that Uhhuh,because there's so many situations that
(38:12):
I've gotten myself into and I'm like,why didn't I just listen to myself?
Right, right, right.
But that's all aboutexperience and growth.
Like I feel like sometimes we needto go through those situations.
Yeah.
To learn.
Absolutely.
Because in the beginning, you're so eageras a business owner, oh yeah, I want to
get this client, you know, and you devalueyourself sometimes because you're eager.
Right.
But.
Then you get to a point whereyou're like, you know what?
(38:32):
And I think it reallycomes in your thirties.
Like they really say like, whatwas that 30 Flirty and thriving.
Remember that movie with,uh, Jennifer Garner?
I don't think I've seen that.
Oh my gosh.
I feel like I'm like old.
'cause it's probably like, you're not old.
You're not old.
It's probably like a really old movie.
I don't even remem I'm likemy brain too sometimes.
I just like forget things.
No, you're fine.
You I'm fine.
I'm busy all the time.
So it's always going.
(38:52):
Right.
But there was a movie where shesaid that 30 flirty and thriving.
Um, and, uh, I, I think about inyour thirties you really gain wisdom.
Mm. Because in your twenties, likeyou're still learning yourself.
Oh yeah.
I, I absolutely.
Speaking about brain, like I heard,we don't develop really until we're
like 28 or something like that.
Yeah.
So it's like, okay, I gavemyself an excuse for a while.
Right.
Like, it's okay.
You know, that was the excuse.
(39:13):
But like now when you're in yourthirties, you're like more comfortable.
Mm. Making decisions and saying no,because in the beginning it's like,
and you need to, you really need tostay in firm and like boundaries.
Yep.
Yep.
'cause that's the biggestthing I used to have like.
My cell phone was my like it's when you'rein PR and marketing, it's your everything.
It is, yeah.
It's on you 24 7.
(39:33):
So I have a personal cell phone.
And I got a business cell phonebecause I don't want people
messaging me at 1:00 AM and I wouldhave clients that would do that.
Oh my goodness.
Like boundaries, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
We're helping you and we're aservice for you, but we're not 24 7.
Absolutely not.
And the PR industry, I feellike sometimes I'm a. Therapist.
Like, honestly, I do.
Yeah.
Because I hear the craziest stories frompeople that I, I bet don't necessarily
(39:56):
wanna hear, but like, you get tolearn these people and their stories
so much because you're sharing it.
Sometimes it's impactful to knowit and important, but, uh, it's
funny because you just, you learnlittle things along the way.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm grateful too, for everyopportunity, even though it was
bad, because I look back and therewas parts of me that was a people
pleaser for a very long time.
Oh, absolutely.
We all have that.
Yeah.
(40:16):
I think as women, we allhave that a little bit.
Yeah.
But it's also that competition too,because you need to like, you know,
some, some women in that spacewhere you're feeling like, you
know, you need to show power or youneed to be accommodating to people.
Yep.
You know, because if you're not, and youcan come off a cross as like a bitch.
Exactly.
See, and like it, it's okay.
(40:37):
I've, I've learned that inthe last five, six years.
Like it's okay.
And I think once becoming a mom too.
Yeah.
I've learned that even more.
Like the word and no isn't negative.
The word I can't do this is not negative.
Mm. It is really empoweringfor you to say, listen, this
is not comfortable for me.
Yes.
And they we're all trainedlike that in so many things.
And that's in life and, and business.
(40:58):
Yes.
Like so many people stay inrelationships because they don't
wanna hurt someone's feelings.
Like, no, you, you know.
What's
EmLed (41:05):
right for you?
Do you just have to do it?
You do.
You do.
Mm-hmm.
And the longer that you deny yourself whatyou know deep down that you really need.
Yeah.
The more you lose yourself.
Exactly.
And I, I have lived that personally.
Yeah.
And I love what you said aboutlike, you know, being afraid
of coming off as a bitch.
Yeah.
Or people not liking you.
That's so real.
I have noticed.
You know how it is being a powerful woman.
(41:25):
Yeah.
There are some people out therewho are intimidated by that.
Mm-hmm.
And who will project theirown insecurities onto you.
Yeah.
'cause of the way that you show up.
And so I've, I've noticed in the past,especially when, you know, I wanted
friends or I, I didn't want people to feellike I thought I was better than them.
I never wanna come across asI think I'm better than you.
But you can end up watering yourself down.
(41:46):
Yeah.
To not make people feel that way.
Yeah.
But the more that you do that, themore you lose yourself and you're
not being true to who you really are.
Yeah.
And then you block youropportunities mm-hmm.
And you block attracting the things toyou that you normally would attract.
Yeah.
Because you're not being yourself.
Exactly.
And so you get to a pointwhere you're like, oh no.
Like I don't want to dim my lightfor the comfort of other people.
(42:06):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Because that actually doesn't help anyonebecause I'm not really being fully myself.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And I've realized
Alli Rodriguez (42:11):
that other people's opinions are not my problem.
They're not of me.
They're like, their opinion of me is not.
A reflection of me.
Yeah.
Or my problem.
Yeah.
And I can confidently say that.
I mean, growing up, talkingabout like growing up and stuff.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker (42:24):
It's
Alli Rodriguez (42:24):
interesting you said that the better than me because I
have heard people say that about me.
Yeah.
Same.
Oh, you think you're better than me,or, you know, you think you're better
than everybody else and you know what myresponse was, and it's nasty, but I am,
I am better than you and I'm better thanyou because I'm not gonna engage in this.
I don't put myself in situationswhere I feel uncomfortable.
(42:45):
Mm. So I'm better becauseyou don't get that yet.
Mm-hmm.
And you'll get there.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't mean that I hateyou or I'm like, whatever,
but it's, you're not my vibe.
Yeah.
And that's okay.
EmLed (42:56):
At least my experience,
I was raised in the church.
Mm-hmm.
And I think women, especially who arein faith, like the underlying message
or what should be the underlyingmessage of faith and religion is love.
Yeah.
And in service andcaring for other people.
Yeah.
But I think the message that weget, especially as women that
can become twisted, is that youneed to be nice to everyone.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
And I think love is sodifferent than being nice.
(43:19):
Yeah.
Because I think love sometimes canlook like giving really tough love.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Or giving a cold shoulder.
Yeah.
Or.
Creating a boundary thatcuts someone off from you.
Yeah.
I think all of thosethings can be loving acts.
Yeah.
And the issue is that religionkind of teaches you in many
ways that that's not the case.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And that you have to maybegive from an empty cup.
And I don't think that that'sthe correct translation Yeah.
(43:41):
Of Bible teaching or faithor anything like that.
Yeah.
But I, I do think it getstwisted and, and warped.
And I've had to work quitea lot to be okay with Okay.
Like, I wanna love everyone.
I want to in every way,in every way that I can.
I wanna serve.
Yeah.
I wanna love, but sometimes that looksreally, really different than mm-hmm.
Being what looks like nice quote unquote.
Alli Rodriguez (44:02):
Yeah.
I, I agree with that.
And I think that, um, being assertivecan come across the wrong way too.
I've been called that before as well.
Yeah.
And I think, like, again, um, I justlike, this is really deep in this ha in
this conversation for me and you sayingthis, because I just reflect when we're
talking through this, like how many timesI've said yes, when I want to say no.
(44:23):
Yep.
And how.
It came, it comes across the wrong way.
And that's why sometimes I'm notcomfortable saying no, or I'm not
comfortable with a boundary because itcomes across the wrong way to people.
Right.
That I'm being like nasty.
Right.
You know?
Right.
And I think that, again, it goes backto I don't need to worry about what
(44:44):
other people's opinions of me are.
Yeah.
I need to worry aboutwhat's important for myself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think, again, like, you know, ifyou are younger than me and you figured
that out earlier, I am so proud of you.
Because it took me a longtime to figure that out.
And I still am.
Yeah.
There's certain spaces where I'mjust like, oh, you know, and even,
you know, working in corporateAmerica when I was there I was like
always like, yes, I'll do this.
(45:05):
Yes, I'll do that.
And then feeling overwhelmed andnot having support and it's like,
you know what, I don't care anymore.
Yeah.
If it's not fitting rightfor me, I'm not gonna do it.
Exactly.
And I, you know, when you, we were talkingabout earlier about how you were sitting
with like two clients for a long time.
I think that I went to a place where I wasworking with like 40 people, 40 clients
at once, and I had a team, a small team.
(45:26):
It's like three of us.
And it was a lot to manage.
Yeah.
And something else I've learnedthroughout my business career
and how I've shaped, shifted isthat I wanna be more intentional.
So I think that's also importantin learning boundaries and being
assertive in how you operate yourbusiness, is that you need to.
Be intentional and have strategy.
Right?
Because you could take on allthese clients for the money, but
(45:48):
is that money really serving you?
Exactly.
Because for me it's not about that.
Uh, exactly.
I will sit on $0 income for monthsand months and months and wait
until that one client that'sgonna give me what I deserve.
Yes.
And that I'm feeling theenergy and synergy with that
EmLed (46:03):
Ali preach.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Mm-hmm.
Everything that you just said is,I feel that God kind of speaks to
me through other people and likereoccurring messages in my life.
Yeah.
And you just said exactly themessage that God has been showing
me for the last couple months.
Yeah.
Which is be grateful forwhat I have given you.
Yeah.
Our society teaches us to chase money.
Mm-hmm.
(46:23):
To chase money and to make money.
Our God.
Yeah.
And God has put me in a season ofmy life where I have intentionally
not had, like I used, I was ina corporate job for five years.
Mm-hmm.
I'm used to a steady paycheck,benefits, like knowing when the
money's coming in and God showed mehow much I was making money my God.
And money what I put allof my hope and trust in.
Yeah.
And that scarcity mindset.
(46:44):
Yeah.
It's, and, and he's been teachingme abundance I will provide for you.
And the moment that I really gotgrateful and got really comfortable with
God, thank you for these two clients.
Thank you for the opportunityto wake up this morning.
Yeah.
And, and live and breathe.
Mm-hmm.
And have my needs met like I ate today.
Yeah.
I had a roof over my head.
You know, I'm, I'm not without, I'm alive.
(47:04):
When I got into that mindset, Iswear to God from, I went from two
clients overnight to the next day.
Within 24 hours, I had eight potentials.
Yeah.
Out of nowhere.
Mm-hmm.
And I was like, God, what?
Yeah.
It was like the momentI entered that mindset.
Yeah.
And it just really goes toshow like we, as soon as we're
in this chasing energy Yeah.
Where we're like, yes, yes, yes, yes.
(47:25):
Like going after everyopportunity, like we actually put
ourselves in a position of lack.
Alli Rodriguez (47:30):
Yeah.
And I think that that's important too,because I told you like, now I'm a mom.
Yeah.
And the one thing that I've learned is,you know, being a successful and a busy.
Business owner.
I can't do that anymore.
No.
My son comes first in everything.
(47:51):
And that's why sometimes it'svery overwhelming for me being a
hundred percent real because I amtrying to operate at that level.
I used to be and I can't.
Right.
And those clients that don'tunderstand don't need to stay
with me because he comes first.
Yeah.
And if he wants to sit on my lapin a Zoom meeting, he's sitting
on my lap in a zoom meeting.
I, I love that.
Like, that's my ace.
Boom.
Bam.
That's everything to me.
(48:11):
Right.
So I am not going to put myself in abox for what people think is Right.
Like I said, you know, when you're leadingwith purpose and faith and passion Yeah.
It's just gonna kind of findyou Does you figure it out.
Right?
It does.
And the right people gravitate to you.
And, um, I was thinking about somethingelse that a good friend of mine said to
me, and it's not the exact quote, but theysaid something to me along the lines of
(48:32):
like, you know, don't let life harden you.
Mm. Like you're gonna have allof these experiences in your
life that are going to cons.
It can seem like a setback.
So like I didn't have a website for acouple of months and I was really kind of
like having this weird period where a lotof clients were shifting off of my plate.
(48:52):
And I was like, oh my gosh.
Like I went from making all of thismoney a month and now I'm sitting on
like less than half of that and billsare due and I just got this bill in and
I had a, a medical emergency and nowthis is in, and it's so overwhelming.
Yeah.
And my friend was like, maybe thesethings that are like happening
(49:13):
right now, like it's for a reason.
Mm-hmm.
Like maybe there's a reason whythis isn't happening so soon.
Exactly.
Yep.
And it was suchencouraging advice because.
They're right.
Yeah.
Like, yeah.
It will transform itself.
And I feel like something I'vealways told people I've rebranded
twice since I started my business.
And when I've sat in those moments whereI've had to take a step back, we also
(49:37):
get in this mindset that rest is bad.
It's not, yeah, not at all.
You have to, yeah.
You have to rest becausehow good are you to people?
Like I'm in a hustle mindset.
I'm from up north, like living downsouth and transitioning to that.
People down south area lot more laid back.
I talk a mile a minute, I'm caffeinated.
Like beyond belief.
Right.
And like people are like, slow down.
And I'm like, no, I've gotta,like, I'm working till 10.
(49:59):
I don't care.
I pulled so many all-nightersand it really didn't accomplish
as much as it should have.
Right.
Right.
So I've really learnedto prioritize peace.
Yeah.
And amen.
Intention.
Speaker (50:09):
Mm.
Alli Rodriguez (50:09):
And that's the big thing.
You gotta remember what you're doingthis for at the end of the day.
Yeah.
And it's not always for a paycheck.
EmLed (50:15):
No.
Alli Rodriguez (50:15):
It's for the purpose and the passion.
Exactly.
Exactly.
To be able to say, Hey, I'm not in thattoxic environment in corporate where
people are pushing me to work over timeand do all these unreasonable things and
you're building someone else's dream.
Now you get to build your own.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I love that.
So well said.
I love that dude.
I could sit here and talkto you all day about this.
I know.
Literally this stuff.
We could be, be here all day about this.
Yeah.
We, we need to do a part two.
(50:36):
I think I just invited myself back.
EmLed (50:37):
Yeah.
We could keep going.
But the one thing that I really wannaclose out on is, is if you had to sum up.
Everything that we talked about today,or maybe even something we didn't cover,
and just give one piece of advice tosomeone who is in their early twenties,
they're just starting their career.
Okay.
And maybe they're already feeling burnout,and they're like, oh my God, I have 40
more years of this, 50 more years of this.
(50:58):
Like, I don't know whatI'm passionate about.
I don't know what I wanna do.
I don't wanna work for someone else.
They're just feeling stuck.
Yeah.
What would you say to that person?
Don't
Alli Rodriguez (51:07):
rush it like you have 24 hours in a day.
Have a plan.
Be strategic about where you'reputting your time, because a lot
of the time, we're not puttingour time in the right space.
Mm-hmm.
I think that that's something I've learnedin talking to so many entrepreneurs, like
they're coming from corporate America,and then now they're building their own
business, and they're like, well, howdo I, I'm so used to having this meeting
(51:28):
at this time and this and schedule.
Yep, yep.
So you have to kind of.
I, you have to kind of train yourselfand I think it's really important that
you've had the corporate structurebefore you go into being an entrepreneur.
I agree.
Because you kind of build that, um,credibility and that consistency that
you've had being in corporate America.
Yep.
Yep.
People who are just thrown intoentrepreneurship, I think they can
(51:48):
be incredible too, but it could bereally hard to navigate both ways.
Sure.
But I think having that structureand stability before can be helpful.
So use that in your business.
Absolutely.
Don't rush pushing through to the finishline because you're gonna evolve and what
starts is not gonna be how it finishes.
Yeah.
Give yourself grace.
Yeah.
Mm. Because there's gonnabe really low moments.
Mm-hmm.
(52:08):
And remember, business isn't supposed tobe like, it's great if it's consistent.
Right.
But major corporationshave ebbs and flows.
Right.
So.
Don't think that just because you'rea small business, you are being shoved
under the rug, or you have to be incompetition with these bigger ones.
Yes.
Stay in your lane.
Mm. Focus on your goals and achieve them.
And I'm telling you, you willliterally, it's the craziest journey,
(52:32):
but you will get there and it's okayif you take a break, rest rebrand.
You know, I, I've alsoimplemented something that I
think is beneficial to everyone.
Quarterly reviews, look andsee, you know, plan out what is
this quarter gonna look like?
What is that quarter gonna look like?
What do I need to do on social media?
Just like create a systemfor yourself there.
It's very overwhelming too, becausethere's all these platforms, like
people think they need to havenotion or they need to have, you
(52:54):
know, um, cap cut for videos.
And those are all important.
I don't know anything about thatside of the stuff, but like, you
know, like there's apps that arereally like generous with being free.
Like you don't have to pay forall these things right upfront.
Right.
Just grow, get your firstclient, get comfortable.
Just start.
Yeah.
And just have faith and.
Purpose behind what you do.
(53:16):
Mm-hmm.
So
EmLed (53:16):
good.
I love that.
Right.
So good.
So well said.
You were so amazing today.
Thank you.
You're so authentic.
I appreciate that.
You're so yourself.
You really do talk a mile aminute, but I'm, I'm eating up.
I'm sorry.
No, I'm, I'm just trying to keep up.
Yeah.
I'm like, because you're pouringout great wisdom and I'm, I'm just
gonna have to re-listen to thisand put it on repeat and Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for coming on today.
Oh my gosh, of course.
Thank you for having me.
(53:37):
Yeah.
I really enjoyed our convo.
Alli Rodriguez (53:38):
Yeah, it was, it's really like humbling, like I
said, for you to invite me here.
And also just like I said,I'm so proud of you to see.
Thank you.
Your journey.
Thank you.
And I'm excited to see what else youhave to go on, hopefully collaborate
EmLed (53:49):
with
Alli Rodriguez (53:49):
you.
Absolutely.
Me too.
EmLed (53:51):
Do you wanna plug yourself so people can get in touch with
Alli Rodriguez (53:53):
you?
Sure.
Yes.
So you can find me on allplatforms at Ali Rodriguez pr.
And it's just A-L-L-I-R-O-D.
R-I-G-U-E-Z pr, and then ali rodriguez
EmLed (54:04):
pr.com is my website.
Perfect.
We'll go get in touch with Ali.
You guys, you've been an amazing guest.
Thank you so much for sharingyour wisdom and tune in next week.
for another episode ofWrestling with Life.
Bye, y'all.
Thank you.
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