Courage to Leap & Lead with Lowry Olafson, Episode 127
30 May 2023 · 45 min
In this episode of the Courage to Leap & Lead podcast, host CB Bowman interviews songwriter and brand strategist Lowry Olafson. The conversation explores Lowry’s concept of "song branding"—creating custom anthems for speakers and professionals that capture their message, personality, and desired audience impact. Lowry explains how music can instantly shift emotions, citing scientific insights about brain chemistry, oxytocin release, and the power of lyrics paired with melody. They discuss the collaborative process of writing CB’s personal anthem, emphasizing deep listening to the client’s voice and values. The dialogue moves into personal stories: Lowry’s musical upbringing, a varied career path, and the challenges of imposter syndrome. He shares how struggle fuels flow and creative breakthroughs, especially when working under tight deadlines with school groups, resulting in hundreds of songs and a successful kids’ album. Examples of client work—including a Medicare broker and numerous school projects—illustrate how tailored songs build trust, brand recall, and emotional connection. The episode also touches on micro‑courage, the importance of small brave actions, and how songs can serve as a personal mantra for confidence. Lowry announces the upcoming SongBrand website and hints at future songs, while CB reflects on using his own anthem to combat imposter syndrome. The interview closes with Lowry sharing a new song idea, "You Can Go Anywhere," and both hosts celebrate the power of music to inspire courage and leadership.
Chapters
You've got courage to leap, courage to lead. Be brave and be bold. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Let it roar. Welcome to the Courage to Leap and Lead podcast, where each of our guests share the stories of courage that helped them become powerful leaders. Before we start today's show, please remember to visit courageconsulting.com where you can find all of the episodes and lots of other excellent resources. That's courageconsulting.com. Now, here's your host, Leadership Courage Coach CB Bowman.
Hello everybody. It's CB. This week, we have a wonderful guest. You know the tune that you hear now when you log into, uh, hear one of my podcasts? You hear Beginning and you hear a great song. And today's guest is the person that wrote the song. So I know you're gonna be really— well, we wrote it together.
We did.
Um, really excited about this and to hear his journey of how he got to be such a famous person. in writing songs for people as they step on the stage that really represents the person and the heart of the person speaking. I'm so excited to introduce Lowery to you today. Audience, this is Lowery Olfson. Please meet my partner in crime. Lowery, hi, how are you today?
I'm great, CB. It's wonderful to be here.
Oh, thank you. You have such a wonderful smile, great energy coming through.
Oh, thanks. Yeah, well, you too. There we go.
So, Larry, before we start, tell me, why did you want to be on the show? Why did you want to share your gifts with such a wonderful audience?
Well, you know, courage is just, um, you know, where are we without it, right? It's just such a— it's such an important value and such an important thing to have. And it's been fun to listen to some of your different guests and the way that they talk about it. And, and, you know, I, I like your idea about microcourage and that these are sometimes small acts, you know, that we're not always running into burning buildings. Sometimes it just, you know, just stepping out of your comfort zone in some way, you know, sometimes just saying good morning to somebody.
Yes.
You know, it's a game changer for them and for you. And, you know, it just takes a little, not a lot, but some, you know. So yeah, so I just love the topic. I have a lot of songs about kind of not being held back by, you know, not believing and that kind of thing. So it's been kind of a theme that's run through my songwriting all my life too.
That's exciting because I've heard some of the songs that you've done for other people, and, uh, you know what, regardless of how serious the subject is, your songs bring in the power and the uplift. And so people say, okay, I'm ready to change. I'm ready to make a move now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, music can do that, right? Music is this thing that can really create transformation very instantly, and you don't even know why. You know, it's the music. But like, if you watch a movie and and you cry, it's because yeah, no, no, no, no, right? But if it's you know what? But if if you're inspired by it, or even if you feel anxious, it's because the music is going dum da dum dum. Right? So when you realize that, yeah, oh, big time. And people don't realize it. You know, they kind of blow music off as if, you know, because they don't understand the power of audio and the power of music to change how we feel. And I'm really interested in ways of kind of getting out of anxiety and fear and worry and all those kinds of things quickly and strategically. And music is a ba da ba da da da da da da. You know, you feel Right away, just that is like, wow, okay.
No wonder why you hear on The Voice and American Idol and those shows, you hear, um, kids— well, all ages— no, not all ages get on and they tell a really sad story, and then they said music saved them. I can understand that, but now that you're explaining it so that I realize when I'm watching something, all of a sudden Depending upon the music, I'll feel uplifted.
Yeah. And if you're singing it, I mean, there's, there's, I mean, the studies show that it, you know, music changes, actually changes your brain chemistry. Singing takes it to a whole nother level. And it doesn't matter whether you sing in tune or not, you know?
Really?
Oh yeah. No, singing physiologically. And when people sing together, you know, there's a reason that, you know, anthems have gotten people through very difficult times, you know, like going into battle or, you know, working in the fields and, you know, people sing together, it creates oxytocin, that feel-good chemical, and it's a bonding chemical. So music is, and audio is only really kind of beginning to be appreciated and used, right?
I never thought about it before. You know, it's funny because when you watch sports games and you hear the national anthem, Yeah. There are some singers, not all, but they get you going.
Yeah.
And you're like, wait, where did that come from? You know, I was just sitting here watching a sports game. Yeah.
Yeah. It's wonderful. And of course I have a particular bias towards songs because I think that when you marry lyrics, the right lyrics with the right music, that it just becomes, you know, you think of a song like Somewhere Over Somewhere, just those 2 notes. Somewhere. Where it opens you up like this, right? And you go from being, you know, kind of negative and down, and you, and your world is, and your vision is very small. And those 2 notes go, ba ba, right? And so, or, you know, Beethoven, da ba ba bum, right?
Yeah. You, you're waiting for something to happen. Yeah. Yeah.
Just, but that's all it takes is a couple of notes, right? Mm-hmm.
Yeah. You know, it, it's, it's interesting. I, I'm thinking now, with my focus on courage, that people have to get out and sing the song that we wrote together. And then all of a sudden they're gonna feel more courageous. I like that idea.
Well, they do. And so will you, you know, when you— that's what I love about writing them with, especially with speakers and people that are using them as, you know, when they walk on stage and they— that song, a song like yours, which is very, you know, powerful and authentic and uplifting kind of a song, not only does it affect the audience when you walk on stage and you have all this kind of gravitas and like, who's this? But it also affects the way that you walk on because you can't walk on, you know, How Do You Like Me Now, right, to that kind of an anthem. It's like you step into, you step into this other presence that you have, right?
You know, a friend of mine just wrote a book, Sharon Melnick. I don't know if you I don't know if you've seen it, but it's called In Your Power.
Oh, I love it.
And it's, it's like stepping into your power, right?
Oh, nice. In your power. That's great.
She's an amazing writer. And the subline is, react less, regain control, and raise others. And just, she— excuse me, if you haven't seen my— no, you haven't seen it because— excuse me, allergies. It hasn't been released yet. Um, but when it's released, my interview of her, you're gonna run out and get this book. I'll tell you.
Cool. Well, you know, the other guest that you had on was, uh, Joel Garfinkel. And yes, I, I, his book Executive Presence is all about, you know, stepping into being bold and, and, you know, decisive and, and, you know, all of those kinds of things.
Yeah.
I mean, I just, Your interview with him I found really inspiring. I got his book right away after I heard that interview.
Well, I'm glad that my interviews work because, you know, my colleagues, my friends out there are writing some amazing stuff. And it's really, it's in support of courage, right?
Yeah.
So, Lowery, tell me, tell me about you as a young man. How did you grow up? What— how did you get so inspired and so creative?
Uh, well, I mean, music was a big part of my family, like, from day one. My mom was a piano teacher. Um, my dad played sax, uh, not professionally. He was an engineer. But we had a lot of sing-songs. We all had to take piano lessons, and, and, um, I switched to violin at 9, and then I took up the guitar when I was about 11. So I would have an instrument I didn't have to practice, you know, because I hated the practice and I hated the discipline of— I don't like the way they teach music with, you know, the focus on reading music and, and stuff, um, because I think it just puts a barrier between you and, you know, you can press the keys down and make music. You don't need to read it off a page, you know.
Mm-hmm.
And so, um, but I loved music and, and I was in musicals and, you know, performing in things when I was a kid. We, we just did all that stuff and I, and I was kind of Show off, and I just I loved that stuff. And then once I started playing guitar and and writing my own songs when I was around eleven, then it was just like eleven. Yeah, kind of around there. Yeah, and I mean they weren't great songs. Would you like to hear my first song?
Yes, yes.
Bondaville. It was about a Russian guy who fell in love with an American. It's stupid. It's, uh, and so he had an accent. Vanda, will you walk with me? Vanda, will you walk? Vanda, will you walk with me? Or maybe stop and talk. Like, not great, right? But plenty of encouragement and courage. Give courage, right? Applause, all that kind of stuff, you know. And I remember I went in— oh, and even before that, I remember winning my first, uh, talent contest. I didn't I didn't win, I came third, but it was like a talent thing at some camp. And I got— they passed— they had passed around the hat, and so I got like $4.10 for singing one song, you know. And it's like, I'm liking this, this works for me.
You're off and running.
Yeah, yeah. So all through high school I kept on— I had a really great music teacher in grade school.
Wait, I want to tell the audience, Larry does not charge $4.50 these days, just to let you know.
No. Well, you know, you got it, you got inflation.
Yes.
Yeah. But, but all through high school, I, you know, I, I would put on coffee houses so my friends and I would have someplace to play, and I would always feature myself, you know, as one of the, one of the performers. And, um, I just had so much encouragement from my friends and people that were just you know, loved that, that I was so into music and lots of support. And I, you know, wrote songs all the time when I was— as I got older and stuff. And I think then, you know, kind of after I got out of high school though, I tried to like play in bars and stuff like that and there wasn't— I just didn't cut it. I was writing the wrong— my songs were way too kind of introverted and self-absorbed and not, you know, they weren't kind of songs that got people drinking and stuff like that. And so I kind of—
You mean like 31 Bottles of Beer on the Wall?
Totally. Totally. Yeah, yeah. And so even though my friends, you know, kind of liked that, it was just a different world. And I think I sort of, it kind of hit me kind of hard because I, you know, I had kind of probably delusions of grandeur and thought that this was what I was going to do, you know. But then even when I was 15, I said to my dad, I want to be a songwriter and a performer. Dad said, well, it's great that you like music, Lowry, but it's not much of a way to make a living. I'm not one of those, I wasn't one of those people that just said, I'll show him. It was like, oh, okay, maybe not.
Yeah.
It was in my blood and I did so many different jobs over the course of my lifetime and had all kinds of different things. And I don't regret any of them, but, you know, everything from being a professional ski patroller to doing carpentry to cooking, waiting tables. I mean, I, I owned a clothing store for a while, restaurant. I mean, everything, right? But I kept on always writing songs and, and trying to— I never really gave up on, on music because it's the thing I love. It's, you know.
So, so now you're really a great success. Um, everybody that I talk to about you, and, and I played the song that you wrote for me— that we wrote.
Um, we wrote it. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, so I just want to say something about that. So your song, the reason we wrote it together, CB, is that, um, I know, you know, I know a lot about kind of technical stuff and structure and, and how to, you know, find kind of the right language and stuff like that. But what I don't understand, the reason I have to collaborate with you to write that song, because only you know the nuances of what, you know, how do you want to be seen? Is it this word or that word? Is it, you know, what do you want people to know about you? How do you want them to feel? You know, how are you— how do you want this song to represent you, right? So those are the kinds of things that I actually love, because, because what it gives me a chance to do is really just deep listening, because I'm not offended. I have, I have nothing to prove here. My, my goal as, as You know, in creating a song brand for you is to create a song brand for you, not, not something for me. I've got my own songs. I, you know, I don't— I, I want to— I want you to own that song and feel like this song, this is me, right? And I would fight for every word in this song because I've thought about it, right?
You know, that's a wonderful description because in working with you, I just thought, first of all, I didn't really understand what you did. And then when I talked to you and I said, because I come from a marketing background, I said, oh, you write a person's brand in a song. And I said, so you're doing song branding. So that's, that works. That, that's a great title. So, so we sort of came to that together.
R. Right? Because I've been writing, you know, I was writing individual power songs, but this is different. This is a brand.
It is.
And I thank you for that.
Thank you. And so I thought, well, this, this is going to be an interesting journey. It was hard work. Don't let me fool you. But it was so rewarding because somehow in writing the song together with a songwriter, and I didn't understand about putting it to music and how powerful it became. And I thought it helps you think through— this is going to sound weird, but it helps you think through who you are.
Totally.
It's— I don't know how to describe what happens, but it's an interesting thing because when you say to people, what do you want to say? And who are you? And who do you admire? And you put all those things together, it's almost like doing a pinup board of your life. And I had really not experienced that before. And it was challenging because I thought, you know, throughout the years there's various people I admire and things like that. But who did, who did I want to sound like was a different question. And, and so I thought, I don't know any song that's really coming to my mind that really represents me and who I wanted to sound like? And all of a sudden, Tina Turner and Pink came to my mind.
Mm-hmm.
And I thought, well, I don't know if I could do Pink, right? I mean, she's got such an unusual range. And so does Tina Turner. But somehow I felt that Tina Turner I don't know this woman personally, but somehow in her music she represented strength.
Oh yeah, big time.
And so did Pink, but in a different way, a slightly different shift. So did Adele, and I know darn well I couldn't do Adele, right?
Well, I don't see Adele as being as representative Of, of you, right? I mean, when we do the process, I always ask people to send me, you know, samples of songs that you like and you think these songs make you feel the way that you want your people to feel when they hear your song, right?
Yes.
You know, um, so, you know, we're not— but so I like having that kind of sense because Because I need to know what, what we're going for.
Yeah.
You know, but I felt like you nailed it with, with Tina Turner.
Yeah. I, I think I just got it. It's like Pink and Adele are talking about relationships.
Right.
But Tina Turner, when she talks about simply the best, I mean, she's talking about a relationship, but just that simply the best can apply to so much in life. That nailed it for me.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So that was nice to have that as kind of inspiration for us. And, and, you know, that's a good way to write a song quickly is to say, well, what am I going for? You know, just to have that kind of clarity, right? Yeah.
Yeah. And then we went and we looked at the book that I did that's coming out in May, everybody, called Courage to Leap and Lead. And I said I wanted something that could be an anthem for the book. And so we went through some of the keywords in the book, and that's how we came up with the song. It's such an exciting process. I mean, I encourage every speaker out there to have their own song brand.
Well, you know, to me it's, You know, of course I love doing that work and I'm, you know, I want to do that, but it just makes sense to me because people are just so missing out, you know. So why would you walk on stage to, you know, to a Katy Perry song, you know, when you can— that does nothing for your brand. It doesn't, you know, it— yes, it pumps up the audience and there might be some nostalgia. but it doesn't make you memorable. It doesn't put your message, uh, make it stick in people's heads. It doesn't have the nuances of what exactly do you want to say. I mean, we thought a great deal about, um, you know, everything that went into your song. But, and your song is for sure, it's, you know, it's an anthem for you. But I like it if that song can become an anthem for other people.
Oh yes.
So that this, this becomes their cheerleading song and they listen. So yeah, you can listen to you know, one of those other songs. But why not listen to CB's song? Why not listen to Let It Roar?
Yeah. Yeah.
And let that be the, the song. And then, you know, if people go away from your performance or your, your presentation, your, your keynote or whatever, and they've got your song, CB's song stuck in their head, and then they go and phone her and they listen to her voicemail and the first thing they hear is her song again, and then they watch her videos or listen to her podcast and they hear her song again, you know, this is all airplay that used to only be reserved for the big companies that could afford TV and radio airplay. But people are using— people are using music everywhere, but they're inconsistent, and, and it isn't their brand, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
So to me, it's kind of like—
Well, I'll tell you, it's funny because I, since we wrote that, I've had some moments, you know, of the imposter syndrome. And I sit and listen to my song, and I go, okay, let's let it rock.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, what is imposter syndrome? It's just this kind of— it's cerebral, right? It's kind of— I always think of being disembodied worry and fear and all these things. They call it the red zone, and it's all thinking, right?
Yes.
So it's all, it's all like these— how do you— and how do you quickly get out of that? Because that is missing the whole point. You know, it's easy to get into fear and worry and think, oh, I don't know how I'm going to pay. Meanwhile, it's like, I've got food in the fridge, there are no wars going on, I'm still breathing. You know, like 99% of things are going great. And, you know, why am I thinking I can't do this? I look how much I've done, look how far I've come, look what I've survived. Of course I'm— everything's good, you know. Of course I'm capable, right? So it's like in music, you shift out fast, right?
Yes, exactly, exactly. You let it raw.
Yeah, well, and you get back to the real world. This is not the real world. Fear and worry and all that, that is not the real world.
You know, that's a great— I love that. I love that thinking. It's not the real world. Yeah. All right, tell us about a time or two when you got caught in the doldrums and you felt like you failed, and how did you have the strength to get to where you are now? I mean, that's just— you're, you're it.
Okay, well, you know, I think the whole— this whole songwriting thing has really kind of laid the foundation for me to challenge you know, to be thrown in. Like, at one point, uh, I mean, yeah, you take a lot of rejection as a songwriter and, you know, as a performer and stuff. And, and I've done, you know, I have 9 albums of my own and I've toured and I've done, done lots of that. But the thing was, what I found the most challenging was when I started— I was invited to go into the schools and work with kids, and I thought, okay, well, instead of just talking about songwriting, I'm just going to write a song with the kids. It was really fun. The first one I wrote was high school kids and it was called I Slept In. They loved it, they loved the process. I kind of went in and I was out of my comfort zone but it's like, okay, well let's just go. Then it sort of turned into, I started getting more requests to come in and do this. All of a sudden I did a showcase and I got 85 schools booked me to come in and write a song every day and then, you know, with 35 kids in the morning, write it, record it, and make sure the kids like it, the principals like it, the parents like it, you know, all that. And then perform the song for the entire school after lunch, do a show, and, you know, teach it to the whole school at the end of the day. It was like, this is impossible. And I had no choice. It was just kind of like I've got 2 and a half hours to write to— we— to do this, to get this song and do it. And it brought up imposter syndrome like you can't believe, CB.
Really?
Oh, I was just like so out of my, you know, out of my comfort zone. I mean, it was just like, how— this is impossible. Like, how can you possibly do this? I take months to write my own songs and I go agonize. It's like— but what I found was that, you know, writing with the kids and being the guy that was kind of egging them on, but, you know, taking their ideas and And we were writing like good songs that held together in, in 2 hours. I did a kids' album, went to number 5 on the, on the Galaxy Kids channel with 18 of these songs.
Wow.
And I did like 450 of these things all over, all over the place. So, and you know what? The imposter syndrome never went away.
Now that's interesting to hear right then and there, because I remember, this is sort of a diversion, But I remember, what was her name? Um, Katharine Hepburn.
Yeah.
So she wanted to stop smoking. This is gonna be a weird story in relationship to what you're saying. She wanted to stop smoking. And so she realized that the only time she smoked was when she was about ready to go on stage. So she decided that she would smoke after she went on stage.
Oh.
So it's like that, that imposter syndrome, you allow to step aside, not step in front. And you just kept going. And, you know, we talk about having to get rid of this, and you're asking me, what does the cigarette story have to do with the imposter syndrome? I don't know. It just can't— it flaps through. But the point is that many of us think we have to get rid of the imposter syndrome totally, when in fact you almost use it as an energizer to keep going. You just put it aside.
Well, if you've read any of Steven Kotler's stuff, he founded the Flow Research Collective, or Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, or whatever his name is. The whole flow thing about flow is, and I only learned this a couple years ago, that the first stage of flow is struggle. So, you know, you always are getting to that point of like being overwhelmed and frustrated. What do I do with all this? But, you know, there was the same thing for Einstein. And then, then he would walk away and he'd go sailing or he'd go rowing. And I would do this with the kids. It's like, okay, all right, you guys, let's go outside and we're going to run around the field and come back in. And we'd have the idea when we came because the next stage is, is, is that you kind of let the subconscious do it for a bit and then come back and then you have the breakthroughs, right?
Yeah.
And, and so I stopped, uh, and now— excuse me— now I recognize that this is— I'm always If we're not struggling, you know, we haven't loaded enough data into there. But the brain, the next stage is pattern recognition. And so at that point, it's kind of like you got all this stuff and then it all comes together. So now I'm learning to trust and value that process. So I think that, you know, for me, a lot of my bandwidth was going to like hiding the fact that I was incompetent. Meanwhile, you know, I've done over 400 of them and they've turned out well. So, you know, I mean, some may be better than others. Hope Is Like a Chicken was not one of our better songs, but the kids still—
Hope Is Like a Chicken.
Hope Is Like a Chicken. But the kids still ask for that one, you know, like they still like it, right? So, you know what I mean? It's like some of our work is better than others, but But yeah, it's just getting to the next stage with that stuff. It's kind of like you go in as an imposter and then, uh, you have breakthroughs.
Mm-hmm. I love it.
Yeah.
I love the idea that, you know, that imposter syndrome can actually support you in breakthroughs, that it's, you know, you're collecting all the data.
Yeah.
And then you can massage the data into breakthrough. steps in your life. Yeah.
Yeah. And it's really nice if you can just recognize that and then not spend a lot of your precious energy on freaking out about it and just saying, this is just part of the process. I'm going to be frustrated and, and stuck by the time, you know, this is just part of the process, right?
I like that.
Yeah.
You know, that helps me an awful lot. We'll talk about that offline. But in the meantime, I want to let the audience experience the song that you wrote and—
We wrote.
We wrote together. Thank you. It's— I'm so excited about it. As you can see, I'm grinning. Can you play it?
Okay, I'm going to share my screen. I hope this all works.
If not, we'll try it again.
It's looking promising here, and I've just got it. Can you see it?
Yes.
Okay, and let's go back to the beginning of the song. Here we go.
You've got courage to lead.
You're fierce and you're fearless.
You've got the courage to be more.
Stand up and stand tall. Know you're invincible.
Be brave and be bold.
I'm a champion.
Fantastic. Fantastic. I am so energized when I hear that.
Yeah, how can you not be, right?
Thank you so much. It was just It's such a wonderful experience, and I really encourage all speakers to have their own song.
Yeah. And I'm gonna feature— I'm, I'm building a new, uh, website for SongBrand, songbrand.ca. It should be up in, in a couple of weeks, and your video will be on there with the song. So if people wanna hear it again and they wanna hear other songs, they can.
Well, it will definitely encourage them, and, and I thank you so much. Hey, tell me, when you, when you meet a new client, what goes on in your head?
Um, what do you mean?
How do you evaluate whether or not you want to work with a person?
Um, well, I, you know, I'm really— I like working with people that are having an impact and are making a difference and are really have something, you know, really have a gift to give people, you know, a generous spirit and stuff. You know, it's really interesting because I started off thinking that I would write a lot of these for speakers. But, you know, I've had— last week, I wrote one with a woman who is a Medicare broker. She's, you know, she, she, she just sells Medicare to people. And, and, and what, you know, it's like Medicare is a big deal, right, in the US. I'm Canadian, we don't have to deal with this. There's a 7-month window when you turn 65. If you don't get your Medicare thing right, you're penalized 10% for the rest of your life. Like, it's expensive for you to get it wrong, right?
I did not know that.
Yeah. Well, and maybe a lot of people don't. And, and so this woman, she, she said, and people are just so overwhelmed because it's so complicated. There's Plan A and Plan B and all this stuff. And, and so, you know, I said, well, what do you, you know, so we just kind of had this conversation about, well, what, what do you do for people? What do they need? And she just said, well, I, I just kind of make it simple, right? I, I take care of stuff. I explain things to them. I do all this. And so. You know, we talked about it. And, and so for me, it's just like, uh, I said, it sounds to me like you, uh, that your tagline should be, you know, of all the things that people are dealing with, the comp— it being so complicated and overwhelming is like the worst aspect of it. So I said, let— how about if your tagline is Make Medicare Simple, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And, and it's like, yes, this is, this is it. And so So we wrote a really cool song for her that just, you know, it goes, the magnetic air, simple. And even just that melody, right? I spent a lot of time, I was up like 4 hours in the night, I kept on getting ideas for the melody and for different things. But it's like you want to build this stuff into the melodies, right?
Yeah.
And so I could have gone You know, make medic— make Medicare simple. Make Medicare simple. You know, there's a lot of things you can do, but, but to me it, it really— make Medicare simple, right? There's something, right? There's a gravitas and there's a simplicity about that.
Yeah, yeah.
So I like that. So it goes, and her name is, is Newton Patel. And but if you look at the spelling, it looks like Newton. She's from India. So it's, you know, it's not a typical Anglophone name.
Mm-hmm.
And so the song also gave us an opportunity to teach people how to pronounce her name. So it goes, make Medicare simple. Make sure you got the facts. Make sure you got Newton, because Newton's got your back. She'll help you. She'll make sure that you're covered. She'll help you get what you need. Make Medicare simple. Now put your mind at ease. You know, that's what people want is to put their mind at ease, right?
Yes.
And do all this stuff. So that song emotionally, like music melodically takes you on a journey that that works that way. Da da da da da da da. And we did it over like a Margaritaville kind of vibe.
Yes, yes.
Right. So it's like in the last picture of Put Your Mind at Ease has like a, you know, an Airstream trailer and lawn chairs and all that stuff, and then a picture of her. And so, you know, what happens when you have this? People feel like they know you. They feel like they can trust you.
Yes.
Um, it's like the McDonald's, ba-da-ba-ba-da, right? It's— it creates a connection. There's a light feeling that comes from that. And, and this only happens Like, people blow jingles off like they have no value, but, but they are really great for getting to the heart of a message and creating a feeling and building trust quickly. One woman I know, she uses hers in her Zoom waiting room all the time. Her— she plays her video and her song, and she says, even before people meet me, and even before we've spoken, they feel like they know me. They have a sense of me. And her song is, is again an uplifting kind of, uh, a song that she— and she does multi-level marketing, and so she's trying to, you know.
Yeah.
So, you know, there's a lot of ways in which places where building trust is really an important, um, thing. And, and to have a song that brings you together and ties, you know, when people, people, you know, at your conference and people that listen to your podcast, when they listen to your song, they, they feel connected to you.
Yes. Yeah.
We're on the same page, you know, where this is— I, you know, I relate so much to CB because, you know, because of the song, right? That's who she is. It's like letting people have a window deep into your soul and into your heart and into your, your message, right?
So my question to you as we end this wonderful meeting, uh, interview: when are you writing a song for yourself?
Uh, well, I've written a couple. Um, I mean, my kind of the original power song that I wrote was, um, when I was coming out of, you know, a marriage that was ending. And, and that was a pretty big deal for me. It was a, you know, a pretty courageous thing to, to have the clarity and the courage and stuff to realize that, that was, you know, this needed to end and I needed to kind of save myself and, and, and move on. And at that point, it was kind of like, people were saying, well, you know, if you leave this marriage, you know, you're going to lose everything, and you're going to be living up on the side of the mountain, you know, in a, in a trailer. And, and I just said, well, I don't care. You know, I'm, I'm prepared to, to do that, you know.
What's interesting is, You just got back from a great trip to Bali, didn't you?
Well, exactly. And so, and not only that, I, you know, I don't live on this, on the side of the mountain. No, no, there, you know, um, what my— I, you know, I live on the ocean. I have a beautiful house on the ocean, and I didn't then, you know. I was coming out of that, and, and, um, somebody said, well, why don't you, why don't you do affirmations, you know? And I said, well, I, I don't find them very effective, you know. They're they create— if you say, I'm a millionaire, I'm a millionaire, a millionaire, and you're working at McDonald's, you know, the brain just says, well, that, you know, there's a disconnect here. And so, you know, it doesn't— it's not effective. But she said, well, why don't you write a song then? And I thought, okay, I'll write a song. So I wrote this song. I just thought, what, what, what do I want? What would I like my life to look like ideally, right? And put aside whether that's likely to happen. So the song I wrote Went, um, I got a house on the water and someone to love. I laugh and sing and work and play. I'm living in the flow, helping people grow. Joy and adventure every day. And that was it. And I just thought, you know, I don't have a house on the water, but, you know, um, that's what I want. I just kept singing, and then it got me. Every time I would sing it, I would be in that, you know, you talk about that imposter and the anxiety and the fear and the, and the kind of thinking small, playing small, cerebral.
Mm-hmm.
you know, mission statement kind of stuff, right?
Right.
And, and this thing would put me into song stuff, which was full body, whole body part. And what it did was, when you're down here, you don't— you and you're depressed, you know, you're looking down and you don't really see much. But as soon as you get into gratitude, or you— it's like, oh, you look around. And I started to think, well, actually, you know, there is a way I could get a house on the ocean. You know, what if I did this? And what, what about that? And it's like, oh, if I was willing to, you know, do this. And, and so, you know, I ended up building a house with my sister and my brother-in-law. They had this property that they'd had for years, and they weren't doing anything with it. And, and it's like, what if I came in and, you know, I can oversee the project, I can help design the house, I can work with the builder and the architects and do all this, you know, I could do all those things. And I had you know, what I had from it. So the two of us were able to do that. And so, you know, now I walk out the door and I'm paddling on my paddleboard, or I'm rowing in my beautiful rowboat, or I'm, you know, like, this is— it seemed impossible to me. I mean, it literally— I'm not allowed to say that that's impossible, but as far as I'm concerned, it's impossible. And here it is, a reality. And it, you know, it started with the song. It started with me saying, I got a house on the water and someone to love, and, you know, and, and I've, you know, attracted a beautiful relationship and, and, and this kind of work that is, you know, my— brings me so much joy to be able to, you know, be— creativity brings so much joy, and to be able to share that with other people and to let other people shine, help other people shine, and, and Um, to really listen deeply and capture their essence and to, you know, turn that into music is, you know, it's a pretty nice life.
I'd say. I'd say. But, but, Lowry, what is your next song then?
Oh, you know, I've got so many songs on the go all the time right now.
For you. For you.
Oh, for me? Um, well, you know, I just wrote one. I'm writing one right now called You can go anywhere, which is again, where's the lyric? Hang on one sec. Let me see if it's here. I don't know if I can get my hands on it quick. It has. Anything is possible, you know, you're unstoppable when you set your eyes on the blue horizon, and anything is doable, it all comes down to you, you know, just spread your wings and something or other. And then, and you know what, this came to me in a dream. This chorus came to me in a dream. I'm getting so many songs in dreams these days, it's ridiculous.
Yeah.
And the The chorus goes, um, see, the chorus goes like this. Uh, I'm going to turn this on for a better sound. Okay. You can go anywhere, whatever you imagine. Oh, whatever. Here it is. You can go anywhere, whatever you imagine. If you don't try, you never know. Hey, you can go anywhere, anywhere you dream of. You can go. So that's, that's the song I'm on right now.
Yeah. I love it. I love it. What a perfect way to end this interview. We're going anywhere. Yeah. Yeah. Laurie, thank you so much for being on the show today. I just didn't even imagine how much fun it would be.
Hey, my pleasure, CB. It was so fun. I'm so glad I got to know you. Big thanks to Anna Malikian for introducing us.
Absolutely. She is a wonderful, wonderful person. Talk about mindset zone. That's our animal again.
Yeah.
We'll talk soon. Okay, everybody. Uh, I don't— listen, this has just been so much fun, and I am looking forward to seeing you next week. Bye now. Thank you, Larry.
Thanks, CB.
