Use this framework to step into your star power

Get ready, because everything is about to change. There's a new way of living life and doing business that will blow your mind. This is a podcast all about the timing of life and the timing of success. It's what we call the Right on Time Life. And you are listening to the Right on Time podcast with Amber McHugh. Hey, hey, Amber McHugh here on another episode of the Write on Time podcast. I'm pumped you're here. The other thing I get pumped about is when I have the opportunity to witness, to hear speak, to watch, to observe someone doing something they love. For example, my sister and her husband, our big west coast swing dancers. My sister learned, I'd say, within the last seven or so years. She started, and she is good, and her husband is good. I think he's been dancing just a little tiny bit longer than her. And at her wedding, there were a bunch of other west coast swing dancers, instructors, professionals. It was a small wedding, so it was very, very close. Clear who could dance, who could dance, and then who was dancing? I was dancing, indeed. But these professionals were like. To watch them doing what they were so incredible at, each in their own unique way, was such a gift. After that, my daughter Harper, who actually danced at the wedding with some of these professionals.

I gotta.

I gotta dance. I gotta learn how to west coast swing dance. And since the wedding that happened in March, she's been doing about two west coast swing lessons a week. And we went to our first dance social last week, and I thought, oh, I'm just gonna sit behind and watch. But one of those people from the wedding reached out and invited us to this. Hey, I'm in town. There's a social. Does Harper wanna come? Y', all, Harper stayed on the dance floor the entire night. We only got her off because I said to someone else, I'm getting a migraine. I can't see out of my left eye. All peripheral vision on my left is gone. And there are flashing lights. I can't read my phone.

I gotta go.

And they said, oh, my gosh, Harper, we gotta go. Let's go outside right now. These lights are not helping. We would not have got her off the dance floor until the very end. She would stay there looking around with her hands in front of her a little plotting like a little hands in front of her. Tap, tap, tap. And she would look, who will dance with me next? And she had the courage and the confidence to walk up to people and ask, hey, you want to dance? Hey, you want to dance? And Harper is an introvert. I wouldn't say she's shy, but she is an introvert. And it was so cool to not just see those professionals in their space doing what they did so well, but also on the flip side to see someone who was at the beginning of their west coast journey assessing. Here's what I know, here's what I don't know. Assessing and playing and putting themselves in the game right in the middle of the game, say, I'm going to show up, I'm going to keep doing it, I'm going to keep going after it. Now I want to invite you, whether you are the pro on the dance floor right now or you are showing up on the dance floor in the game at the beginning of your journey, stay in in it because it gets better and better and better. That same night I learned my first west coast dance swing steps. West coast swing dance steps. And why didn't I start earlier? Right on time. Right on time. We are going to keep learning together. We are going to keep growing together. We are going to keep elevating in our businesses, in our lives on this journey to grow and develop and step more into who we are meant to be. You see it, you have a vision for yourself, what you are creating right now and it is right for on time. And this story, this journey led me, came up for me because our guest today on the Right on Time podcast is someone who is so in the zone. She researches, she studies, she embodies and she practices everything that we are speaking about today to step into your star power to have impact, income and the freedom to enjoy it. Lisa Robin Young is our guest today. Coming up in just a minute here. And originally she didn't wait to get discovered. She is an award winning speaker, bestselling author, accomplished musician with many credits. She has been featured on Disney and is the host of Creative Freedom, a show that's evolved into a book, podcast and live event series. Lisa helps creative entrepreneurs define and achieve success on their own terms. And she believes the best way to truly become successful in life and business is be yourself so you can own your dreams without self selling your soul. And today Lisa is going to share with us a framework that she has built in her work with creative entrepreneurs and in studying those that are playing the top of your game. Let's introduce Lisa and get to know the Star Power framework so we can go from wherever we are on our journey, whether it is beginner or otherwise, up to that pro status and feel it and embody it. Let's do it. Introducing Lisa Robin Young. Lisa, thanks for hopping on the Right on Time podcast.

I am super excited to be here. Thank you. Thank you, Amber.

Oh my gosh, I am so pumped. I am so pumped that we are going to dive right in to something you have created that we want to share with the listener. The Star Power Framework. Tell me more.

Yeah, so I have been working on and researching this for several years. After my last book came out, which was really about how to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you love, there were plenty of people who came to me and went, okay, so once the business is profitable and sustainable, then what? And then more specifically, I had clients who were coming to me going, I'm reaching profitability, I'm reaching sustainability. And I'm very clear that I'm here for more. Right. Like I have this vision that I am supposed to be on big stages, serving in a big way, making a big impact. And you know, the money and the accolades that come with that for future generations, right through the body of work that they're creating, but also through the money that they're making that they can then leave to philanthropic organizations, their children, et cetera, et cetera. And so I was like, okay, well what does it really take? And so I started looking at not only my clients journeys, but also the journeys of people that we could see, see out in the wild, right? Celebrities like Beyonce and Bradley Cooper and Oprah. And what were the things that they all had in common? What was it that separated the Beyonce's from the also rants? People who might have been just as talented, maybe even more talented, but didn't make that breakthrough, didn't break out and become that celebrity in their space. And so I looked at Hollywood celebrities, of course, but I also looked at people who are at the top of their game in their specific industries. So the book that I'm working on now really goes in depth on this framework, which is these nine things that I've discovered or uncovered because they've always been there and we all have them, right? These aren't things that you can't do. These are all things that you already have, are already doing to some degree. But the thing that separates these breakout personalities from everybody else is that they're doing more of it or they're turning up the volume on it. And it really comes down to three things. Clarity, confidence and courage. You have to have the clarity, you have to know what's going on to be able to make confident decisions that then enable you to take courageous actions. These are the three areas. And then there are These three action steps in each of these areas that really help drive the bus forward. And so that's what the framework is. It really breaks down these three different pieces and then the three elements inside each piece. So do you want me to just kind of jump into them and talk about them?

Yes, let's do it.

Cool. Okay. So if you've got the framework in front of you, you can see, like, across the top, you're going to see what looks like these targets. And those are the three things that help you get clarity. You need to know yourself. And one of the ways that I help my clients know themselves is with our creative entrepreneur type spectrum. Right? So you take the quiz and you find out what kind of a creative entrepreneur you are. Knowing yourself, and there are lots of different ways to do that helps you recognize what your strengths are, what you do really well, and what you can learn to let go of or pass out to a team member or just say, hey, that's not going to be part of what I do. That's not my zone of genius. So that you can then move into some of these other areas. So the other pieces of clarity are owning your dreams. And by owning your dreams, I mean you have to take ownership of what really matters to you. You can't just say, oh, I want to be a superstar singer. You have to take ownership of and nurture the dreams that are in your heart. Right. It's about caring for that, providing an environment of empowerment for that to be able to nurture and flourish. Right. We want it to grow. You can't just have that dream and let it sit out there. You've actually got to take ownership of it. And then playing to your strengths, when you're real clear on who you are and what matters to you, then you can see, okay, these are the things that I'm really good at. These are the things that are my strengths. Your zone of genius, if you will. But if you're constantly playing outside of that arena, and I've done it, I know lots of people who have done it. Those are the things that SAP our energy, SAP our emotional bandwidth, SAP our resources, time, energy, money, effort, attention, and then we don't have it to give to those dreams that we're trying to nurture. So you want to be playing to your strengths whenever possible, because those are the things that are going to help you, which is this next step. And this is the center part of the framework. These are all the things that help you with confidence. And I used to think courage came before confidence. And I was wrong. We often think, well, you got to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. You've got to be courageous and take a. But courage doesn't look like courage to the person who is taking the action. Courage comes out of a decision that we make of, well, I can at least do this much. Well, this was the right thing to do, so I did it. Well. I didn't feel like I had any other choice, so I stepped into this place. That is where confidence comes in. We were confident enough to make the decision, and then the action happened. So we have to have confidence before we can have courage. And so that looks like evaluating what's working. And, you know, Amber, this is something that you do every year with Planethon, right? It's like, we gotta look at, what did we do back here? What do we still want to keep doing? What are we gonna change? And then we start to map out what's gonna happen as we go forward. And that can be in your business, but it can also be in your relationships. You know, when I was researching Beyonce, you know, the decision to break away from Destiny's Child was a very. It was based on clarity. Like, I'm only going to get so far with this group, and if I really want to break out, I'm going to have to do some things differently. These things are working and these things aren't. Now, sometimes that means making really tough calls, and we'll talk about the courage stuff in a minute, but first, we got to figure out what's working and what's not. And then you've got to plan for your future. What is that dream or that goal or that desire, and how are you going to get there? And sometimes you don't always know the steps. Sometimes you can't see what is beyond the veil. You just know that that's the direction that you're going. And that's when we start to call in our supports and our team members and our colleagues and our friends and our collaborators and say, this is the dream that I'm holding. This is the direction I want to go. What do you see that I don't see to help me move in that direction? And then the whole idea of building your empire and I talk about the noble empire versus, you know, the Star wars evil empire concept. Right? Like, this is where a rising tide lifts all boats kind of a thing. Right? So we want an empire that's supported by and built by the hands of many. Yes. We lead the charge. We're the head of the movement. We're the face of the business, we're the face of the brand. But ultimately, it's not just us. It's all of us moving in a direction together that's making the world, your world, a better place. Right. And I use those terms because for some people, it really is about changing the whole world. But for some people, it's like, it's just my world, you know, it's my family, my neighborhood, my community, my organization, my, you know, neighborhood or family, extended family. Right. Like, that's where we start, especially if you're a creative entrepreneur. And I, you know, typically work mostly with creative entrepreneurs. It's hard to see how you're going to impact the whole world, but you can be that ripple in a pond that makes an impact that then moves out from there. And so we talk about, how do you want to change your world, what's going on in your world, so that you can build your empire to fit in that world? And one of the things that helps our clients do that is a concept that I call Strong Castle Safe Harbor. Strong Castle is your body of work. This is the thing that people come to you for. Whether it's your insights or your creativity or your intellectual property or the vision that you're carrying for a better future, this is what they come to you for. But the safe harbor is the way that they're treated when they're in your space. If they feel safe, like they are in a safe harbor, they're much more likely to speak up for you if you have a gaffe, stand by you no matter what's going on, cheer you on, share you with their friends, and become evangelists for not just customers of the work that you're putting out into the world. The example that I love to use is Lady Gaga and her little monsters, right? Like, she's got this term of endearment for her fans, and her fans are rabid and support her no matter what she's doing. And she's done some pretty wild things, and her fans just adore her.

Yeah.

So we have to be thinking about that as we're creating these platforms that we're standing on. And I'm going to take a side trip from this model for a second because I think it's important to point this out, because people are like, well, why be a celebrity in the first place? Right? Like, the world's got plenty of them. Why? Why? Why should we want to be the celebrity in our space? And I've come to realize that, like it or not, we pay attention to influencers. We pay attention to listen to celebrities even. Even if they're not really on the right track, to put it mildly. So I wanna see a world where we have this rainbow coalition of influencers who are on a mission to make the world, our world, a better place. And they're not gonna get heard if they're not in a space where they are seen as the celebrity in their market. There are so many coaches out there that you have never heard of because they don't have that platform. And they're smart and they're gifted and they're damn good at what they do, but they get passed over time and time again because they don't already have 100,000 followers. And I can't tell you how many times someone has asked me or one of my clients to be a part of some summit or some event or some something. And then they're like, and you need 20,000 people on your email list. And it's like, and we don't qualify because we practice good list hygiene or because we just haven't achieved that level of notoriety yet because we're brand new or whatever. And so those vanity metric qualifiers preclude a lot of people who would otherwise be a great asset from being able to participate. And so that was one of the other things that kind of spawned this, was like, we need more great people as celebrities in their space. So once you have the clarity and once you've got some confidence around, okay, these are the decisions that I'm making now. We got to take action. And this is the place, hands down, where I see more entrepreneurs falling off the celebrity bandwagon because it's hard to take courageous action. And courageous action doesn't necessarily mean massive action. We hear a lot of people talk, you got to take massive action. You got to be on your hustle and grind. You got to keep. And I'm like, no, there's a time and a place for hustle. I call it compassionate hustle. There's a time and a place for that. When you're coming up on a deadline or you're juggling three or four things and you're trying to honor commitments, you know, you don't want to leave anything on the date. You've got to leave it all on the dance floor, so to speak, right? Like, give it all you've got. Those are times for compassionate hustle. But you can't live on the hamster wheel of hustle. It's not sustainable. And especially because many of my clients, I'd say about 40, 50% of my clients are coming to me with neurodiversities, chronic illnesses, disabilities. They are not, they are physically not able to work a 40 hour, 50 hour, 60 hour work week. So are those people just screwed? Well, no, not if we're playing to our strengths. Not for focusing on what really matters and evaluating what's working and doing all these things. But we still have to take courageous action. And that's the bottom part of the framework that's correcting your course, facing your fears and refining your model. So correcting your course, it goes right along with evaluating what's working. Once you've seen what's not working, you can't unsee it. You've got to make a decision. Are you going to keep going down that path that's not working, or are you going to choose to do something differently? And, and what is it that you're going to do and how are you going to do it? Don't just say that thing needs to change. What specific action step can you take to make that change happen? That's important. You actually have to correct facing your fears. And this is about not only what will other people think or how will my project be received in the world, but it's the inner critic that we have going on all the time telling us it's not ready yet. It needs one more tweak. There's somebody else out there who's already doing that. They're better at it than you are. We have to look at fear coming at us from all angles. And the pesky thing about fear is that it's built on this teeny tiny grain of truth. There's one little thing that is true, right? I don't have 10,000 people in my audience. That is true. And then we build this web of lies around it that says, therefore I am not worthy, I don't deserve, I can't have, no one's going to listen to. And then we don't ship, we don't put the things out into the world that the world needs because we're stuck in the fear cycle. So not only do we have to address our external critics, we have to deal with what's going on inside ourselves. And the only way we can do that is, is to have an environment of empowerment and a space of safety where we can practice. For some of us that social media, for some of us, it's our best friend. For some of us who don't have that, it's up to us then to go out and seek those communities and environments where we can Be safe to be who we really are and to speak from that space of truth that only we can speak from. And then that last piece is refining your model. Now, you and I have both been in business for years and years and years. We are not doing the exact same thing that we were doing when we started on day one. Because we change, the world changes. Pandemic, anybody. Like, things get different. And because things get different, we have to make decisions about how are we going to change the model that we're building things on. Whether that's your business model, your family model, your relationship models, all of those things we look at and go, okay, this is how things generally work for us. This is a little different than correcting your course, but it's similar. Correcting your course is the individual things. What are you going to do differently? Whereas refine youe model is what are the pieces on the whole that need to shift and who do I need to get to help me with that? What piece of resource do I need to get get to that and solve for X and be willing to make those changes. Be willing to, as Marilyn Monroe said, let some good things fall apart so that better things can fall together. Right? Let go of that product that you've been selling for 20 years. That's been doing okay. But you know, it's time to do this other thing that you're a little bit scared about and you're a little nerv sighted about. But like, this has the potential to really move you in the direction of your dreams. You know, Beyonce didn't just say, okay, I'm not going to sing anymore. She said, well, I'm going to do it differently. I'm going to do a different model and Beyonce is Beyonce. So that's the framework and that's. Those are all the moving parts and pieces of it. And obviously I could talk about it forever, but that's kind of the gist and that's where the book is headed.

Oh, incredible. Lisa, it's so clear and so evident that this is built on a deep body of knowledge on your end, but also deep experience in navigating these things. You know, as you think about your journey, what are. And just to sort of pull it through and think like, okay, what are the things we need to watch for as we're navigating and building a Star Power framework where you have impact? And actually, you know, as I think about it, the other question that comes up is what are the benefits of this? Like, I'm running through benefits in my head and you Mentioned the gaffes, right? Like, okay, we're going to do it. We are humans. I am going to make mistakes, right? It's going to happen. And when you've got community built up, right, people have your back. Like Lady Gaga's Little monsters. That's one of my favorites. But what are some of the benefits for people in thinking about building this star power through the framework?

Well, I think the obvious one is influence. And I know a lot of heart centered entrepreneurs who rail against influence in the world. They look at the billionaire rocket makers and go, ugh, like, the world would be so much better if people didn't think like that. And it's like, okay. And you have an opportunity to step forward into a space where you can create something different and speak to that in your own way. I, I believe firmly that the only way we change a system that's broken, a system that is disempowering and disabling people, is to be inside that system. People from outside the system can be the squeaky wheel, but they can't enact the change. It's got to be the people in the system who are making the change. So in one respect, you have the benefit of influence, the benefit of power. And it's dangerous for me to say the benefit of power because a lot of people go, oh, power, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Right? And when we have power in community, it's completely different. It's a different dynamic because we're not looking out for ourselves and solely our goals at the expense of everybody else. It's our goals in community with the people that we're here to serve and the world that we're trying to create for one another, which maybe it sounds a little Pollyanna, but I think that there's value in that and, you know, dozens of B corps who are on that path who are making good money. I mean, that's another side effect, if you will, of, of being the celebrity is your marketing is infinitely easier because people already see you as the expert. People already see you as the person that they want to work with or hire or have in their world because you come with that level of influence and power and, and persuasion and you get to have that platform and speak on the things that matter to you and share the voices of marginalized people that matter to you and, and lift up other people who are on that rise who may not have the resources you have. You get to put your money where your mouth is, right? You get to walk the talk. You've been saying all along, yeah, oh, so good.

And then tying back to, you know, the journey that you've been on. As we look at the framework, what are some of the things that you'd say, okay, watch out for this? Like, where do you see people as they're building their network, their community, their celebrity, their star power? Where do you see people getting tripped up?

Yeah. So I think it's different for each of the creative types, so I'm just going to kind of hit on each one. For Fusion creatives like me, who are kind of like the Jack of all trades, we really struggle with asking for help and receiving help. So we put our heads down and we just work and we check off the boxes, and then when we get stuck, we come up for air. And we haven't done the work to build the connections and the relationships with people that would be really helpful now that we're stuck. So one of the things that I encourage Fusion creatives to do, myself included, is to continually reach out and say, hello, hi, how's it going? I'd love to connect for coffee. Taylor Swift's first manager said to her, if you want to sell a million copies of your record, you need to meet a million people. And you don't meet a million people going, hey. And walking away, you're like, hey, how's it going? Tell me about you. Let me learn a little bit about you. And it doesn't have to take 50 years, but you do have to do it. Chaotic creatives, who are the people that we tend to ascribe to being classically creative? Right. They are very. Go with the flow, trust your instincts, honor the impulse kinds of folks. The challenge that they have is this need for perfectionism. Their demand for excellence is so high that they get caught up in perfectionism. And so when you're trying to evaluate what's working and correcting your course, you get hung up on. But it's not perfect. So I can't put it out there because it's crap. And then again, nothing shifts. So for Chaotix, it's really about remembering that it's a collaborative event. If you don't want to be stuck holding all of the things and having the Vulcan death grip of control around all the things all the time. You have to build a community of people that you trust, whether those are advisors or team members or whatever, so that you have those trusted people as you're on the rise. Who. I think it was Will Smith who said, or maybe it was Oprah who said something to the effect of, if they won't ride with you when you're on the bus, don't let them ride with you when you're in the limo. Something like that. Yeah, that. That whole idea, it's like those people who come up with you on the rise and they've had your back, you know, it's about recognizing who are those people and keeping that inner circle close and nourished. Right. And building that inner circle, that whole dig your well before you're thirsty concept. And then for linears who often find financial success relatively quickly because they understand numbers and systems and processes and they can bang that stuff out, they tend to get caught up on what do we do when things aren't working well, this has always worked. So we're just going to keep doing the same thing. And then when the world changes and things aren't working and we've got to refine our model, sometimes there are best practices that we can look to, and sometimes we have to completely pull it out of thin air and innovate and pivot and do something completely different, which isn't their strength. And so for them, it's about allowing themselves to remember that there are other people in the mix. It's not always about a deadline, it's not always about hitting a number. It's about taking a breath, stepping back, getting a bigger perspective, inviting those other voices, particularly folks on the other end of the spectrum, to chime in and give you some new ideas to help the innovation and things moving forward. So, I mean, as you look along the spectrum, those are kind of the big ones, but for all of them, it's all that courage stuff. Courage. Correcting your course, facing your fears, refining your model. If you're not doing that regularly, if you're not killing your darlings and allowing yourself to have new blood coming in, fresh air coming in, you're gonna get stuck in a rut at some point and that's gonna thwart your progress.

So good. I am sure there is someone listening who heard something in the oh, yeah, yeah, that happens to me. I do need to watch out for these. And you've spoken to those four different creative types. Where do people learn more about those from you?

Well, they can go to my website. That's lisarobinyoung.com Robin has two B's and they can click the link right on the homepage to take the quiz. There's no opt in required. They can get their result, they can know exactly what they need, or they can opt in and go even deeper. With me down my rabbit hole of what does it mean to really be the celebrity in your niche?

Oh, my gosh, Lisa, this is incredible. I'm assuming that down that rabbit hole, people will also be able to uncover the Star Power framework. Is that true?

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And for folks who want to go even deeper and, like, have their own audit done, like, that's something we do. I'll sit down with someone and be like, all right, let's look at all these nine areas. Where are your gaps? Where do you need to shore up? And then here are some strategic recommendations based on where you're at that you can start to implement right now to start to change that and shift in. In the direction that you want to be heading.

So incredible. Lisa, thank you for sharing this framework with us. I cannot wait to see people elevate and embrace their Star Power. You are incredible. Be sure to let us know when the book's ready. I can't wait.

Bye.

Thank you so much for being here with us on the Right On Time podcast. If there was something in this episode that was for you, I want to hear about it. If you would be so kind just to take a moment of your day to give us a review, give us some feedback, and tag me in @ Amber McHugh on Instagram or Facebook, wherever you are hanging out, I would love to hear from you in some way, shape, or form, because this is not just about me sitting in my office, which is soon to disappear as I go on this move, journey and sharing, but it is about connecting with you and. And I would love to hear from you. Remember, Right On Time. We are so flipping right on Time. The stories of Right On Time just keep on coming, and I'd love to hear yours as your journey unfolds.