S E752: Burnout and Authenticity: Elizabeth Rosenberg's Intuitive PR Strategy

I really believe that the future is going to be the unhinged people. Like I, I just say what I wanna say on LinkedIn now. I work for myself, so as a PR person, I'm like, please do not go crazy on LinkedIn and get yourself fired. But you know, like I do think you need to have original thought. You can't just say what everybody else is saying.

Step into the world of success with Your Brand Amplified, the ultimate podcast designed to unravel the intricacies of thriving businesses. I'm your host, Anika Jackson, and I'm on a mission to uncover the stories, strategies, and secrets that have propelled entrepreneurs and business leaders to success. Welcome back to Your Brand Amplified. I'm Anika Jackson, and today we're exploring something that's become absolutely critical for leaders in 2026: how to lead authentically when everything around you is being automated. My guest is Elizabeth Rosenberg, founder of The Good Advice Company and Chief Spiritual Officer a platform that's helping executives cultivate something AI cannot replicate: intuitive intelligence. Elizabeth works with C-suite leaders on personal branding, thought leadership, and PR strategy, and she's been featured everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to CNBC to Glamour. Here's what I love about Elizabeth. She doesn't just teach you how to be visible. She teaches you how to be present, how to lead with clarity, authenticity, and presence in an era where authentic human connection is becoming a competitive advantage. We're gonna talk about building executive credibility in a fragmenting media landscape, why so many leaders are burning out, and what intuitive intelligence actually means as a business strategy. So this is a great conversation for how to stay human in an AI-driven world. Elizabeth, I'm so excited that we are here today. Thank you for being here.

Thank you for having me.

Well, let's go back to The Good Advice Company. What was the gap that you saw in the market?

It's funny, I don't know if there— I actually saw a gap when I launched the company. I think it was more about what was I really good at, what brought me a lot of joy, what was gonna make me money. And then knowing that just because other people are also doing the same thing that you are doesn't mean that you can't join, doesn't mean that you can't launch something, right? There is plenty of clients for all of us. Especially if you're good at what you do. So there were, at the time, there were a lot of people who were offering, I think, PR to creative agencies, which is what I was really good at. And then over the last few years, obviously that has, that has evolved and changed into some other things as well.

Yeah, absolutely. But so you're really talking about that ikigai, right? That sweet spot that I think a lot of us are talking about now in terms of we've found it for ourselves, but then how, especially we talked about USC, you're a guest lecturer there, I teach there. And there are so many students who come in, they think they know what they want to do and that evolves, or they're not quite getting the career they thought they were going to get. And so helping them find that as well, I think makes a big difference when they get to the corporate world. But you've been able to focus on people who maybe have already found it, but don't know how to then share their message.

Yeah. And, and I think I'm a great example because my career has evolved so many times. Throughout its different iterations. You know, I think when people start things especially, they think that they have to be very niche and very expert in one area. And I'm a storyteller, right? Like I, I do PR. I, I'm also an, you know, an intuitive medium. So I've just really tried to pull in all of my skills into one thing and then project that into what I'm actually good at. And I think we also need to be okay with the fact that like our careers are going to evolve and change. Because, you know, when I started my career, we were still, email was still very new. And there's people that are starting their career right now where AI is obviously still very new. And what the next 5, 10, 15 years is gonna look like is going to force their jobs and their careers to evolve. So it's easier to go with it than it is to fight it.

So talk about the interplay between the Good Advice Company and obviously Chief Spiritual Officer. What was it that made you say, ooh, these are things I'm both good at and there's a separateness to these, but they're both really important for me to pursue?

I was always very intuitive as a child. I think when teachers always, you know, would give feedback, it was like, oh, she's very intuitive. Then when I got older and I got into, you know, obviously my career, my feedback was always like, you know, your intuition is your greatest resource at this job and your, your superpower. I then started obviously training that tool in a different way. I kind of came outta the spiritual closet in, uh, 2022 and I did it on LinkedIn. And I think that because I have this kind of one foot in the corporate world and one foot in the spiritual world, my big thing was to destigmatize what that looks like and that there are other tools that we can use that can actually, I think, superpower what our corporate tools are on a regular basis. I did not know then, even as an intuitive, I did not know then that kind of intuitive intelligence in the land and the age of AI was gonna be such an important part of that process. And I keep reminding myself that I'm always like a few years ahead of where we should be. So I'm thinking now of like, what's next and what does that look like? And I really do think like it's those human traits, it's the emotional intelligence, it's critical thinking, it's intuition. Those are the tools that we're really gonna need. As I think AI evolves and as our careers continue to change with that. But Chief Spiritual Officer was just me really like kind of planting a flag in the sand and just saying like, I, this is not religious, this is not woo woo, this is just like how I show up as the best version of myself. And if I can do it and still, you know, make money and have credibility in the corporate world, then you can too. I think it's a title that everyone should own. It's not like, it's not just something that is mine. It's something that I feel like I really share with everyone. And that platform is, has a big iteration kind of coming up soon. So stay tuned. But I'm just excited about kind of where it's going. 'Cause with that, when I launched, it was very wet clay. I'm like, I know I need to get it out, but I don't necessarily know what it looks like yet. And over the last year it has evolved into what I now know what it looks like. So I also think everybody should be okay with launching something and it not being final, right? Like it, it's gonna change. Just be okay with that too.

It can often change more times than you think it's going to change. I've just, I've even seen that recently. And I think that's a beautiful thing. But I also think, you know, there are of course people in the business world who have gone on a spiritual journey and have always incorporated that into who they are at work, but there are far more people probably who do hide it and who haven't come out on LinkedIn as spiritual because of other people's perceptions. So can you talk about what that was like for you, that moment when you did do that, um, when you planted your flag, when you started molding that clay, and then how does that relate to your work with, I mean, do you work with a lot of the same people in both companies? Are they very separate?

No, it's totally integrated now. So, I mean, some of my clients are, are very high-level PR marketing communications, but most of them know, I mean, obviously all of them know, I'm very out and open about it, that I am an intuitive and that I can harness that when I need to, right? In the best way possible. A lot of my clients I do personal branding with, and I know now it's like, oh, I can just put a prompt into, you know, Claude and they can pop out my personal brand. And I'm like, no, and not in the way that I can, right? So years ago I launched kind of a proprietary process called Soul and Story. And really what it is, is I do an Akashic Record reading, which is an intuitive reading like anything else. If you were to go and get like a tarot reading, it's, well, it's a little bit different. It's the Akashic Records are like a library of your soul's journey, past, present, and future. But I don't even do a phone, I don't do a Zoom with any of my clients before I meet them. Um, I do a quick phone call. I. We see if we're a fit, then I will do an Akashic reading over the phone, or sorry, via Zoom. And then I will do behavioral analytics. So I've got intuitive data, I've got behavioral data, and then I do like a really deep story mining session. So I tie those three things together to get the most authentic version of yourself and to really dive into your origin story, any blocks that you have, where you wanna go. And it's funny cuz the story that people think that everybody wants them to talk about is never the story that's interesting. I'm like, no, no, no, let's talk about that other story. The one that you don't think is interesting, that's actually the one that everybody wants to talk about. That's the one that's gonna get you on stages and/or that's the one that's gonna give you kind of a flow of content to be able to even comment on LinkedIn if that's what you wanna do. I don't think everybody's meant to be on stage, but I do think that everybody is meant to have a brand and your brand can just be how you show up in the world. It doesn't have to be this grandiose thing. That is, you know, all the shiny lights and, and banners on LinkedIn, right? It, or your TED Talk. It doesn't have to be that. It can be that, but it could also just be how your circle of friends and how your colleagues see you.

I think the more information we have about ourselves, the easier it is to be our true authentic selves. And it can be really easy just to not follow your gut, to go with your head instead of your heart. Right? And I, I know for myself when I do those things and think about, oh, but that client's gonna pay me and that's something I need to do right now. Those are the opportunities that don't really pan out, that don't really work because I'm not staying true to who I am and what I should be doing. So can you talk about that intuitive intelligence and, you know, using these tools? I'd love to hear about somebody who had that awakening of like, oh, I'm selling the wrong story.

I mean, I think so much of the time we are so reactive instead of, we're, we're not pausing to actually think about how we should, we should respond. So it is like, oh yes, that's gonna give me money. Yes, I will say yes. And then you're right, it tends to be like the wrong opportunity. And that's, that's a lesson learned for all of us, right? I think the best example is I actually partnered with a tarot reader who is also in corporate America. She does sports kind of branded partnerships. And she and I are so similar in so many amazing ways. And last year we did a workshop at Fast Company's Innovation Festival about intuition, intuitive intelligence, using energy through pendulums and, uh, storytelling through tarot. And it was hilarious because they messaged us and they were like, your session sold out. Like we were one of the very first ones to sell out. And I think it was because it was an interactive, fun, like, I don't know what this is experience versus just someone talking to you. But we were standing room. I mean, we had 90 people in the room, 80, 90 people in the room. And there was this one man that came up to us afterwards and he was like, I was here specifically because I wanted to go home and prove my wife wrong. And he's like, and I'm gonna have to go home and apologize. He was like, that was amazing. And I think when you use tools like a pendulum or like a tarot, you know, a tarot or you're focusing on your own self-care through Reiki or acupuncture, even meditation. I'm not a meditator, so I just wanna— meditation is not for everyone. I wanna, I wanna make that very clear. But when you're utilizing these tools, it gets you out of that headspace of what does everybody think that I should be doing right now? And I think as we become more dependent, just subconsciously probably, on AI, We're taking their answer and the answer that we're getting back from ChatGPT and Claude as fact, right? Right. It's like, oh, okay, well they said this, so this is right. When intuitively you're like, I, I don't know, like that doesn't feel right to me. And/or that feels like something that everybody else is saying and I wanna be the one that feels different. So I just think as we explore and try new things, That's what obviously makes us more human, but it also, I think it sparks our creativity. It makes us think outside the box. So, I mean, there's nothing more I love than people who have tarot cards on their desk and I'm like, what's, what's happening today? Like, we shouldn't be making all of our life decisions according to this, right? I tell everybody who does a reading with me, if you need to make a major life choice, I am not your person. You need to do that yourself. But if you want a picture. Of, of, of what's going on in your life and you want to, you know, a, a better idea of who you are innately, that is the best time to see me.

Amazing. And the story that you told about the man who was trying to prove his wife wrong, I, that was one of my things. I was like, it was mostly women in the audience. I feel like women are more in tune with this side of themselves.

I think we've, as a society, it's like, well, women are witches, so we've just like a, it's, it's okay for you, right? You're fine. You can do this. And no, I mean, at Fast Company, I would say it was like 50/50. And I noticed in the last, probably like 2 years, my clients who were 90% women, last year it was 60/40. And I'm like, this is amazing. Yes, all the men, please. This is, this is fantastic. And I just love that, that we are embracing different tools to use to really hone in on who we are, what we actually enjoy doing, and what's gonna like help us get to the best version of ourself.

Oh, I just, I, I want to put you on a panel with a woman that I had who uses your birth chart and a couple of other things for an app to show when your energy is best or lowest during your work days with a couple of men who are in the Navy who I had on the podcast who are workplace allies and talking about gender equality and how that also means that fathers get to have more parent leave and things like that. I just, I wanna like create this whole—

Oh, live, yes, let's do it. That'd be so fun.

It would be amazing because I think it's all really connected.

It is. And I tell everybody that I truly don't— this is, I don't believe that this is a gift. I believe it's a skill. And I, I believe that it's a skill that I've really like honed in on and connected with my PR strategy storytelling skill to kind of like amplify everything in a, in the best way. But I also think that there's no right or wrong way to do it. So when you're online and you're seeing kind of when your algorithm is giving you all like the, you know, the TikTok witches and all of the kind of, I think astrologers who are pulling their information from Claude, please don't do that. That's not right. Like it's chat, chat. And their AI's not great on astrology. I'm not gonna lie. But they're also selling a course, right? And they're selling a, a way of working. And I just wanna stress like, listen to your own self and like what feels best for you and do that first. There's no, there's literally no right or wrong way to do this. We're all making it up as we go. So, and I mean, my practice is so different than what I learned from others, but without that training, I think that was like the foundation of what I use now today. So yeah. Amazing.

And you help people, you do readings, but then you also help people really figure out how to tune into their intuition. So is that a series of one-on-ones? Are you doing group work? I mean, I know you teased out that you're about to launch some things, so I don't know how much you wanna give away right now.

Well, it's really interesting cuz I feel like a lot of people are already tuned into their intuition. They're just not trusting it. And that's the thing that AI I think has kind of really hindered, right? Is the trust. It's kind of like if you write something creatively that you really love and then you throw it into AI. For like a grammar check, it will then be like, well, this doesn't make— like, it will question your storytelling, or it will, it will be like, this could be better if you did this. And you're like, I didn't ask you for that. I just, I actually just wanted to know if I spelled everything right, right? Or if my em dash was in the right place. So I think we do have to question that, but I do do one-on-one work. There's a lot of people who are like, I think I'm intuitive. I wanna learn how to do that. When I do that, I, it's as much as you wanna put into it. I normally start, I always start with a reading. And then however many coaching sessions you feel like you need to kind of get you where you're going. But so much of it is helping you figure out whatever your practice looks like. Some people can channel while they're writing. Some people hear things, some people see things, some people just don't know how to like calm their minds at all. So sometimes that's all it is, you know? Again, I believe that we all have access to this and I think it's important to start listening to it, not just in the land of and the world of AI. But kids are very tuned in. And when we were growing up, society kind of told us all to turn it off. So we did. And then some kind of situation, whether it's the pandemic or an illness or a divorce or a death, something happened that is turning us all back on in a way that is, you know, really connecting with who we are on our soul level, right? Kids are not really having that. I'm seeing that like kids are just like, they're just, I mean, they're just in tuned all the time. And as parents and aunts and caretakers and the adults in the room, we also need to help them work with their energy and how they're feeling. Cuz I think a lot of kids, while we were younger, we were all like, oh, you're very, you're highly sensitive person. And now they would say, oh, you're an empath. And even, even more, it's like, well, now you're connected. Like, let's see what that looks like for you. So let's give kids the right tools to actually be able to function in a world where you still have to show up at school as a good human, eventually be in corporate America and what that looks like. Like I very much pride myself on having a foot in both worlds. And as people will say, like I'm the, the most woo woo yet least woo woo person you will ever meet in that scenario. Like I don't, when I'm doing a reading, it's exactly like this. Like I don't sound, I don't look like I'm like checking out. So yeah.

Then you're not, you're not like putting all the, yeah.

Don't have the crystals. I don't.

Yeah.

It's like, but I mean, I'm, I just love what I do and I just, I think that the more that I talk about it, the more it will give people permission for them to talk about it and not think it's weird. So I feel like that's my lot in life.

Well, I, I really appreciate a lot of, um, there's so many things to unpack there. One thing is, of course, being Gen X, there's so many things on social media now of like, if you were this, if you're gifted and talented, if you're this, if you're that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? You may be a whatever it is, autistic, ADHD, empath, witch, so many words. And the fact that now we don't feel like, I think back then we were still being trained to have these jobs that are very linear careers. And this is what you're gonna do and you're gonna be happy about it. And you're gonna be at the same job like our parents were for, you know, until they retire. And that's not what life is like now. And for our children, I love being able to honor who they are, or the younger generations, even my college students, right? Trying to make sure that they see how they fit into the picture and that they don't have to be the mold of everybody else. And that I think does speak in different language perhaps too trusting your intuition for what's going to be the best for you in your future career. How are you going to best present yourself for whether you want to be an intrapreneur or an entrepreneur to whatever audience you're trying to go after? So how do you use these skills for your PR clients, your media clients who maybe already, you know, they're up in the upper echelons, maybe they're already known, but you can still tweak them, it sounds like.

I am finding that the people that find me find me for a reason, right? They like happen to, to come across a post I posted on LinkedIn, or they were introduced to me by somebody else. And it's normally someone who is quite successful in their career, wherever they might be, and just doesn't feel seen, doesn't feel heard. And it's because they have been on that trajectory of their career of this is how I'm supposed to be. And I lived that forever. I mean, I, I, I kind of talk about that all the time is like, I was that version that I thought everybody wanted me to be. And if you then have to be your real self, like, is everybody gonna accept that? Because you can't go back then, then you're just that. It doesn't mean that you have to completely change everything you're doing. Like, I'm not that different of a person than I was in 2019, right? But everybody gets to see a, a more authentic version of me. And it's hard as a PR person because so much of my 20, 20 plus 5 years of my career have been being a spokesperson for other people. Like PR people are not necessarily supposed to be the person talking, right? So it's such a weird, it like when I started writing and I started talking and I started actually like voicing an opinion of things that mattered to me, it was very weird to get attention for something that I had always helped other people get. And I think when I'm working with clients, again, it's not necessarily about how do we completely change everything that you've done. That's not it. But it's how do we bring a little bit more of you into the world that you've created and stuff. It, it's always stuff that you're proud of, right? And you're just like, I didn't know that I could talk about that. Or I didn't know that people wanna hear about that. I think it's the failures and it's the, the things that are like really human relatable. Are the things that make people want to work for you, want to work with you. And we have a fear that like, if I talk about these things, I'm going to be seen as weak when really it's, it's a sign of strength and vulnerability that like bring people together. And again, I, I don't do, I, I feel like I do it with, I probably do more than I think I do, but it's so much of it is permission.

Like you gotta feed that person. Yeah.

Yeah. Or me giving somebody permission. I mean, I needed that permission from my coach. I was like, is this like, I mean, I got to the point where I was like, just give me permission to do this because I just, I am too scared to do this by myself and I need to know that it's going to be okay. And he was like, it's going to be fine. Go. Sometimes that's all you need. Like even as, you know, an adult, that's crazy how it helps people. Yeah.

Was that, that was scary for you? I'm sure when you first stepped out.

Terrifying. The crazy thing is that my burnout story, so like everybody else, I burned out, but I burned out like crash and burn. I ended up in the hospital with a migraine where I lost all my motor skills and they thought that I was having a stroke and then they thought that I had had a drug overdose and it was just, it was, it was a lot. And I, it happened at a job that I loved. So I think it's like we have this misnomer that like you only burn out if you're somewhere that that you hate. I actually love this job. It was great. I was just working too hard and I was ignoring all of the signs that was like, we're gonna shut you down in a second. It was like if your computer's glitching and you're like, oh no, no, we're not gonna do anything about that. And then it dies. You're like, oh well, it did give me, it did give me a little warning, right? That was scary to put that story out cuz I was like, everyone is gonna think I'm weak. When I then put out my story about like, hey guys, I'm also an intuitive medium. I thought that would be scary. And everybody was like, oh, that makes sense. Like there was no, it was so weird. It was like no one was shocked. I was shocked that no one was shocked. I'm like, that's okay.

That's really amazing. That's crazy.

I know, right? Weird. But also kind of lovely.

Yeah. Well, and, and those burnout stories, it is true, right? You can love what you're doing. And have a story like that. I had one of those earlier this year where I—

so sorry.

Oh, thank you. But I, where I finally had to say, why am I so weak? Why am I not able to work? And I didn't share a lot of my story and my journey. I kind of just went silent for a long time. And then I finally put a post up, I think for my MBA graduation recently and said, I've been really sick. I had surgery and this journey. And people were like, I had no idea. I'm like, yeah. 'cause I haven't talked about it and I should have probably talked about it a little more and shared what was going on because that is that connection point. That is that realness and that rawness that other people connect to. Um, that we, that we, especially by the way, especially women. Yes. Well, yeah. Yeah. So, and then, you know, it's that realization of like, I can still love what I'm doing, like you were, but, and if we don't listen to the signals or we don't know the right signals, we don't have the right people. Sharing with us or looking into, you know, the right doctors or whatever the case may be, we may think we are on one path and it's something completely different. And that sounds like exactly what happened to you. And when you came out the other side, how long did that take? And was that when you said, okay, I need to shift to something else?

No, unfortunately. Um, it took the world to close down to really like make some big changes. I, went back to work the second I got home from the hospital. And then I went down the rabbit hole of like, well, really, like, I must, you know, there must be something very, very wrong with me if this happened. And then you go to all the doctors and you do all the things and they're like, no, no, you are the problem. And you're like, and then you go through shame of, I did this to myself, which is a total other mental an emotional situation, right? And then I went on like a very kind of like deep kind of like health and wellness journey of like, how can I not do this again? And I think the thing about burnout that's always really interesting is everybody does talks about how to prevent burnout. I really don't think that you can prevent burnout until you've experienced it because your burnout's gonna look different than everybody else's. And then everybody else says to you, well, this is what you, what you do if you burn out. There is no silver bullet. Like everyone's recovery is also gonna look different according to what their burnout looked like. So burnout's one of those things that is unbelievably tricky because there is no one size fits all. Not even, there's, it's not even close. So for me, I mean, it was, I, I did switch jobs where I had more support, I had more creative freedom, which was I think really important to me. But then there would be moments where I would burn out there too. And at least then I could see the signs a little bit earlier. And I had a very supportive boss in that situation as well. And I think that me being able to voice that I was going through something and like have the bravery to be like, I think I'm burning out again and this is what it looked like last time and I'm gonna need a little time to like recover or else it's gonna, I'm gonna need a lot more time to recover. Wasn't. It was very hard to do, but it was necessary. And without that support, I think I would've completely burned out again. And then I just got to the point, I think there's something also about like a new decade. I think when you turn 30, there's something like very enlightening in your life. And I think when you turn 40, you're like, oh, there's something totally different. And I, I turned 40 and I was like, I don't know, I'm kind of bored. I don't know if I wanna do this job forever. You know, like I think I need something new. And I quit my job like a week before the world closed down.

Great timing.

And then it was like, you know, for me it actually was, it was like I did over 100 readings for people who were all, all via Zoom. I learned how to do it via Zoom. They were all like very high-level executives cuz they were all people that I had worked with and everybody was available and I was like, sure, go ahead. You know, like it was great practice. I really figured out what I loved to do and what I didn't like to do. I was able to physically and mentally get in a place that was really healthy for me. So I look, I mean, I look back on the, especially like 20, the end of 2020 and early 2021, I was like, I was, I was in such good, I was in really physically, mentally, spiritually, everything. I was like really aligned, which hasn't really happened since, but oh no, I'll get back, you know?

No. And it's, it's a constant battle.

Yeah.

Right. It's a constant struggle to figure out, okay, what's, what do I get rid of now to make sure that I'm taking care? And I, and I do think we just also have to think, okay, just have to get through this period. Just this one thing, this carrot dangling.

Sometimes mine is, but then let's talk about, I mean, but we talked about earlier, like of presence, right? And how important that is because we all are. Constantly thinking about like, can I get through this?

Yeah.

Like, I only have a few more years of this and then I'm gonna be fine and then I'm gonna do this. So it is funny because I do try to help people be as present as possible, but I think it's a totally selfish act because it's constantly reminding me that I also have to be present in what I'm doing. So I really try to practice that every day.

That's a very good point. I'm thinking of a situation where I'm like, I'm gonna get my PhD in this. And my partner's like, can you just wait? Because you're, you're still finishing up like your last class and you have to remember your daughter's going away to university and your mom is visiting Thailand for 10 months and you need a break and I need your time and attention. I'm like, oh yeah, there's another human who really wants my love that I need to pour into. And so I talked before we jumped on about I'm starting a podcast that's actually the thesis for the PhD I want to get. So I'm like, that's a way to fulfill part of the creativity, part of the research. But not start the school process again. And the, that part of the, you know, the expense and all the other things that have to go down and actually be able to hopefully be a little more present in these relationships. I love that.

I mean, I, I think it's in the world that we're living in, it's the hardest thing to do.

It really is. And the other thing that you talked about in a few different ways was the fact that we think we have to be really polished, right? And it's really not about polish. It's about, it's not about perfection. Right? It's about the truth and reality. I mean, when we started this episode, I stumbled over my intro. We had to, like, I had to record a little bit more of it. I had to redo a little bit section, and that doesn't happen every time we have an episode, but there are guests who will sometimes, a loud noise happens, they stumble over something, and that's okay. We're here in this moment together. We're getting to enjoy this time, and we may have some stumbles, but what the listener hears about if I don't share the secret sauce and the behind the scenes stuff is a great polished product. But we're also able to still talk about the hardships that we went through or the, the times that got us to be here and to really realize the space we should be living in.

Yeah. I did a, a LinkedIn Live for like a while. It was earlier this year and I had to do it from home cuz it was really early in the morning and I still like don't know what happened, but there happened to be construction. I, I don't— there was no like heads up or anything. And it was a jackhammer, literally the only— from the second it started until the second it ended. And I was like, this is a good lesson for me right now. Cuz I'm like, I actually don't know what to do. I can't knock it. I can't get off of this. Like, and everybody else was like, can you mute it? So loud. And the entire time I'm like, oh my God. As a PR person, I'm like, this is a disaster. But It was a great lesson for me that not, you know, like we gotta roll with the punches and deal with it and it's gonna be fine. And I'm just like everybody else. I, there is construction outside the house sometimes. Like, what are we gonna do? Yeah, it is what it is, you know?

Well, I wanna ask, going back to the executives that you work with.

Yeah.

We know the media landscape is fragmented. We know that there is a lot of pay-to-play coming in. It's something that we may not have considered in the past as purist publicists, but now have to look at. When there are less journalists we could actually go to and pitch our clients to. So I, I just wanted to get your take on that. How do you help these executives still build visibility, credibility, find the right places to share their messages when this landscape is shifting all the time?

Well, in 2008 through, I don't know, 2000, probably like '15, like everybody thought PR was going away and that it was all gonna be pay for play. It was, everything became very advertorial. Like it was like a BuzzFeed listicle for everything. And you're like, okay, this is, this is terrible. And then news came up again. And it's, it is interesting 'cause I actually teach a, I do a workshop on PR 101 and what the landscape looks like now. And people don't understand that it includes AEO, that it includes your social, that it includes speaking, that it includes your personal brand, your LinkedIn, that like literally like a blog. Blogs are back. Like who knew? And you know, like the second you feel like you have figured out your algorithm on one thing, something else now needs your attention or something gets canceled and then you're like, oh my God, I've gotta go somewhere else now. And like my entire, you know, following, like all of my followers were there, but it needs to go here. And the other thing that's weird about the algorithm when it comes to PR is that you used to be able to be in an outlet and you would then get all of the readers that were in that outlet, right? Now your algorithm is still only gonna show you what you want to see, and it's only gonna go to the people who normally see that anyway. So even if you're getting a story in a huge, uh, media, if you're getting it on a national morning show or you're getting something in the New York Times, it's still, according to like how we're looking at things via clips, it's still only really gonna be seen by the people who already either know your brand, know you, or are in that kind of industry.

Right?

You're not getting new people on a regular basis. So I really believe that the future is going to be the unhinged people. Like, I, I just say what I wanna say on LinkedIn now. I work for myself, so as a PR person, I'm like, please do not go crazy on LinkedIn and get yourself fired. But you know, like, I do think you need to have original thought. You can't just say what everybody else is saying. And I think it is gonna be a lot of in-person stuff. I think it's gonna be like, how do I show up as a person? Am I giving as much as I'm getting? We're not in a time right now either where like really politics and capitalism and brands are separated anymore. Like everybody has to have a point of view and I don't know if we need everybody's point of view on everything that they're, they're not fully educated on. And it's very hard to be fully educated when we're only getting the information that is in our algorithm. So. I think just being the most authentic version of you and having your own kind of, you know, mission statement, your own values and how you show up and the people that you're surrounding yourself with when it comes to work is going to be the future of how we find each other. Because I, I'm very nervous when it comes to like the future of like the influencer market. The future is going to, to lend to trust. Right. And the influ— that is not where the influencer market lives. So, and people are gonna wanna see things with their own eyes and experience them in an authentic way. Right. So I think smaller communities are gonna be really important. I think networking's gonna be really important. I think being in office and actually like around your colleagues in your industry is gonna be really important. So yeah, cuz that's where you can also, you know, I think practice those emotional intelligence skills and those critical thinking skills in real time and prove your value. What a time to be alive, right?

What a time to be alive. It's crazy. Yeah. And that's, I mean, those are all such great points. I think especially when we're talking about digital media or digital social media, the classes that I teach, we are talking a lot about that in person. So you have a digital platform, but do you have an in-person component? Do you have a way for people to actually really connect. So it's not just you shouting to the void or to your people, but they're actually able to be in community together. And this trust factor. So maybe seeing the micro and macro, or like the smaller influencers who have more meaningful conversations and seem to be more authentic than some of the big names that we're used to. So there are all these little things, and I think you're touching on such great stuff. And it can be exhausting though to try to show up in all of those places. And work on all of those different components of what we could now consider the PR umbrella, right? The social, the blogs, the, the LinkedIn posts.

And a lot of futurists have said that the Alpha generation is gonna be the generation that gets us off of social media because they just won't trust anything anymore, right? Of like, who's right, who's wrong? They're gonna want more connection because they grew up in a time where they didn't have, where, you know, they started their lives really in a pandemic. What does that feel like? What does that look like? It's gonna be really interesting to see the evolution of all of this because even now, I mean, trying to get people over the age of 70 off of their phones is hard.

I have two people in my house right now. My mom and my aunt are visiting. One is in her seventies, one just turned 81 yesterday, and they are constantly on their technology.

Yeah.

But they're also not able to, to figure out what's a virus or what's—

there are other issues with that, but That's such a whole other, I mean, I, and I think about that a lot because I mean, there's even nonprofits that are starting and, and movements that are starting for senior loneliness, right? Of like what that looks like and, and how can we actually use technology for an advantage to make people not feel so lonely. But I do think that our phones are, are really making us lonely. I mean, I, I am like a spokesperson for Brick, even though I, they're not paying me to talk about them, but I have a Brick. And I have to, it's one of the best investments that I've ever gotten. It's, it's, you can use your like HSA on it too, and you can brick your phone. So every night it's like, it, it is, I can't get to my social media even if I wanted to. And it also makes it so it's not the first thing that I grab in the morning.

Mm-hmm.

Right. Yeah. It's a great tool. So I can't recommend it enough. The number one piece of advice that I give everyone is to not sleep with your phone in your room. After burnout, that was the, the first thing that I like really was like, I cannot have this in my room. And I was the communications director of, of 7 offices of a global company. So it was like, it was out in the living room with, with the ringer all the way up in case somebody needed me. Like, you know, in case one of the Australian needed me or one of the European offices needed me so they could get ahold of me if they really needed me. Like they had like the bat phone if they, they needed to call. But for the most part, like your phone cannot be in your room. You'll be fine. Get a clock.

I will say I have my phone in my room, but I always have my, you know, I have it set to do not disturb except for like very important people from 9 or 10 o'clock until whatever time in the morning. I try not to schedule meetings too early so that I have that time to regain my spiritual health and just my mental health without getting on technology and without doing all the different things. So I love, and this is go, it kind of goes back to like, you You said you don't meditate. There are other things you do for your spiritual health. And I, and I do think we all have to find what works for us, but it also drives people crazy because I never have my ringer on even during the day. Nobody can get ahold of me.

I, that sounds like a them problem.

Yeah, it is a them problem. I'm like, I'm busy podcasting or getting ready to teach and I will look at it when I have time, but I'm not gonna make my phone the priority. Yeah.

So, so, okay. So I just wanna clarify. I'll clarify too, when I say that I, I don't meditate, I don't traditionally meditate. I actually think meditation needs a rebrand. Like, I have a lot of meditative practices. Like, I will walk listening to very loud music. That is like a very meditative thing for me. I will journal with like ocean or wind or rain on. That is a meditative state for me. I just, I don't have like traditional, like, oming, sitting down and like calming the mind meditation, just because that doesn't work for me. So I, for some people it's washing dishes, right? A lot of people, especially where we live, surfing is very meditative.

Mm-hmm.

So it just is like whatever that thing is for you that gets you into that meditative state, do that. But traditional meditation just has never really worked for me.

Yeah. And, and we need these tools, so. Regain our spiritual health so that we can be better and more productive and more present. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah.

So, you know, thinking about burnout with other people, do you see signs of burnout in your clients where, for the PR side, where you have to kind of nudge them a little bit about their spiritual health?

I mean, I honestly think everyone that I've ever worked with is burned out. And now I think where people are like, oh, I think I'm burned out.

I'm like, I think you are.

So what are, what are we gonna do about that? Burnout is one of those things that you can't, you can tell somebody, I think you might be experiencing burnout. Like, what does a recovery plan look like for you? But it's not something that, again, like I feel like I can dictate to people. I can, you know, I can always give tips and tricks and like tools of like just little things that I think help. But in the world that we're in and the stress that so many of us are under right now, I think everyone is low-key burning out. Like, I don't know how, how as a society to get us outta that. It's scary.

I, it is.

But I also think it's, that's the reality of, of the world that we're living in.

Yeah.

I don't know. Be around more 3-year-olds who aren't burned out.

Yeah.

You know?

Uh, yeah, maybe, maybe. I don't know.

I don't know. Yeah. I don't know the, I, and I really don't know the answer. I think it's. Everyone really needs to dig deep and figure out what works best for them. And we all have to find some kind of joy in what we're doing. And if you can't find that at work, and I think a lot of people are at their wit's end of like, I'm just gonna quit my job and figure it out. I'm gonna be that person that's like, please don't do that. Like you have a paycheck, you have a little bit of, you know, security. Now's not the time. Like find that thing that you love and do it on the side right now, or find time to do that thing that you love. And then hopefully that will drive you towards another opportunity that will then also lead to financial security. In 2020, I would've been like, quit your job, like do something. But people are hiring everywhere. There's gotta be something. Now is just not the time that I would recommend to do that. Yeah. Yeah.

So we, we're talking about a lot of different things and, but it's all connected. It's so connected. And one of the things is. Going back to thinking about our personal brands, our professional brands, and being vulnerable, sharing, sharing the things that we don't think people will want to hear, but they actually do want to hear. Do you think there's a time though when we can overshare? We can be too honest. Is that an issue you've ever seen?

I mean, as a PR person, yes. Right. I think the biggest mistake that we can all make is not reading the room.

Yeah.

So it's hard to say that somebody is going to say something that's either too honest or too much or without really knowing their, the context around the situation that they're in. Right? Like it's a little bit different for entrepreneurs cuz you have your own business and you report to you. It is very different when you are part of either a startup or even like a holding company or a Fortune 500 company and you have a much you have people that you're reporting to and/or are reporting to you, right? So the biggest thing is to read the room. I also tell people, like, if you have something that you feel like, you're like, I don't know if this is gonna land, then don't write it.

Don't do it.

Yeah. If you're already questioning, that's your intuition being like, text your friends, don't put that on LinkedIn. So I just, it's that kind of stuff that I just think That's where we really need to like kind of dig deep and, and figure out what feels like an inside voice and what feels like an outside voice. I know that sounds crazy, but that's the PR advice that I give everybody is, you know, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, like you can be a thought leader, but we don't need your thoughts on everything. Like really like talk about the things that you're knowledgeable about, that you know about, that within the constructs of your, your own context are not gonna get you in trouble. Make friends with PR people that can help you decide if that's right or wrong. I mean, I have, I have friends that are like, I'm thinking about posting this, should I post this? And I'm like, oh no, definitely don't do that. That's a great piece. Maybe there's like a Substack thing or something, you know what I mean? Like maybe there's like something else that like feels like more of a creative writing opportunity for you.

Yeah. So you don't have to take all of your personal self that you feel is important and valid away. You just have to know when to prioritize certain things on certain platforms.

Yeah. And I think a lot of HR people will tell you, I think people wanna bring their whole selves to work. I just don't, I, I know a lot of HR people that would tell you, please don't do that. You're, this is still work. Do you know what I mean? Like, we want you to bring the best version of yourself, but we don't, we can't have everyone bring their full selves. It just is not necessarily gonna work. I know that that's a whole podcast conversation to have.

You know, that's a whole generational podcast episode too, where I do think there are times when, I mean, I'm just thinking about students or former employee, employees when they feel very comfortable with me because of the way I approach my business. And then they maybe think that they can take a step further than they really should. So I think sometimes, yeah, we have to figure out that line. Of what's appropriate and what's not, or how can things we do or say be misconstrued by other people. So be thoughtful in the process.

And I think social media has made that line very gray.

Yeah.

Right. It's, it's hard. Yeah.

Especially when a lot of people who are getting the attention are the ones who are, you know, doing the worst or doing the most, I should say, not necessarily the worst.

Yeah. That's, it's tough.

Yeah. So thinking about leaders and leadership in business, are there some trends that you're looking at closely right now?

There's a lot of CEOs who aren't saying anything, if that makes sense. They're not commenting on anything that's going on in the world. As a PR person, I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of okay with that. Like, I understand why, right? Like, they answer to the shareholders. And their opinion on everything affects our economy. So I, I'm understanding that and I'm understanding the, the, the comms part behind that. And that's, again, that's like decades of experience as to why I understand that. But then I'm also watching again, like different thought leaders on LinkedIn and kind of, I, I, I like LinkedIn as a platform for people where they can kind of be themselves, but also be work. I think it's, it's changing drastically as well, but I'm liking to see kind of the brands that people are, are building and the new companies that people are building. I'm very excited 'cause I do think at a time where we have economic dips is when new innovations come, is when new leaders start new businesses. I think there's gonna be a lot of really interesting new industries even that are gonna be happening. I mean, if I, I look back at 15, 20 years ago, we have so many jobs now that we wouldn't even would've thought was a job back then. Right. So, I mean, I, I would just attended this talk. I hosted this talk about space bio, which was wild, like pharmaceuticals that were being built in space, made in space.

My gosh.

And my jaw was on the ground the entire time. And we were talking about like, you know, the moon being a hub. And I'm like, there's, there's people who are going to be living on the moon.

That's insane. Yeah.

And I'm like, there's all these jobs that the next generation is gonna have that we're like, that was, those were in fairy tales, right? Those were in, in storybooks that we couldn't even imagine. So, I am so excited about that. At the same time, I'm gonna keep like harping, like this is a hill I'm gonna die on. Like we have got to figure out how to manage people and how to learn how to manage people because everyone's gonna be a manager. Even if you're managing AI agents, you're still managing. Like, that's a full-time— I mean, that's gonna be a lot of jobs for a lot of people, is figuring out how to manage all of this stuff. And I don't know if we've— we have set up this generation, or even, you know, Gen Z and young millennials to do that properly. And that's kind of wild to me. Like, not everybody is taught how to be a manager. Sometimes you're just thrown into that job. It's hard.

Yeah, I mean, that's one of the big issues. We could have 5 podcasts just in our conversation.

I know, I know.

I'm looking, I'm like, oh, I don't want, I know I don't wanna keep you too long, but those soft skills that people need from those entry-level jobs, those are disappearing. So we have to figure out how to incorporate them. And perhaps some of the things you're talking about, doing more in-person events, building more small communities, is that place where people will be able to build those. So I, we are definitely gonna have many more conversations on this show and on other shows and maybe do some LinkedIn Live panels and things. I can see a lot in our future.

When you have time for it. I would love to do it all. Yeah, this was a fun convo.

This has been really fun. So when will we learn more about the new thing that you're teasing out for your brand?

For Chief Spiritual Officer?

Yes.

Um, it should be probably launching in the fall. Early September is the plan. I will keep everyone posted. And yeah, in the meantime, yeah, you can see my unhinged kind of, I say all the things I wanna say on LinkedIn and you can find me at thegoodadvicecompany.com.

Awesome. And Elizabeth, do you have a favorite quote, mantra, verse, poem, family motto?

Oh my gosh, that is the best question.

I mean, you— I can see part of—

Yes, one of my favorite— yes, I have so many. I know, I got books, I got all the things. I know. My favorite quote is from Maya Angelou, and it was—

it's, "You're the funniest person you've ever met." Nobody's ever said that one in about 800 episodes.

I saw her speak in my freshman year of college, and I That, that has stuck with me ever since. Yeah, you are the funniest person you've ever met. And if you think about it, I mean, we all think we're hilarious. Yeah. Yeah, it's true.

This has been such a grounding and fun conversation. I have really loved talking about, yes, we love AI tools, but we're talking about teaching leaders that authenticity is not just, it's not soft, it's strategic. It is really grounded in intuitive intelligence, bringing your whole self to conversations, not necessarily your full, all the, you know, warts and all self to your job, but we do need to make sure that we are being real and that we are not just looking at perfection and using AI to make us look perfect for everybody else. We'll have everything in the show notes for how you can get in touch with Elizabeth for PR, for spiritual advising, how to book a call. I know that I'm going to be doing that. So I'm really excited to learn more about myself as well. And just thank you so much, Elizabeth. I've just really, really had a lot of fun.

Yeah, thank you. I know this was a blast.

Yeah. Thank you to everybody who's watching or listening to this episode. Be back again with another amazing guest to share their story, their journey, and some things for you to think about on yours. Thanks for listening or watching to this episode of Your Brand Amplified. Don't forget to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcast listening platform. And if you want to learn more, check us out at yourbrandamplified.com.