Brave Biz Lab 2024 07 26

Hi, jason.

Hi.

How's it going?

Good.

How are you?

Good. Happy Friday.

You too.

All right. I wonder. People might just be taking a moment. So what are you celebrating today?

Yeah, so I feel really good about kind of where I've come so far in defining the niche and listening to my guts on how I was feeling about it, because I just didn't feel good. And I put up a LinkedIn post today that was around my niche that I think I'm gonna go after, and it's gotten a lot of traction.

Amazing.

And it was fun.

It made me feel good.

So I'm gonna celebrate that.

Yeah.

Awesome. Yeah, there's. There's a stage in the beginning of your business, and it happens in stages also, just in waves, where you. Yeah. You have to learn how to do the thing, but more so than learning how to do the thing, you have to learn how to trust yourself to make the decision to do the thing. Right. It's like, you have to, like, trust yourself, and even if you get it wrong, it's gonna be fine.

Yeah.

You know, so I love. I love that you tuned into yourself. You listened to yourself. You really figured out, like, what wasn't sticking correctly for you, and I love this for you. So.

Yeah, no, I'm. I'm. I'm happy about it. And, like, I was. I didn't want you to think I was just procrastinating.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, okay. Procrastination is definitely a thing that my clients do. I do it as well.

Right.

But, you know, there is a figure it out bit. Like, you can't just jump right into doing sometimes.

Yeah.

But don't worry about how I think of you. I'm here to support you.

Yeah.

So.

So I'm ready to go into the market research phase now.

Yeah.

Yeah. Awesome. So let's get to that. I want to make sure we give everyone a chance to sell.

Oh, sorry, I didn't. I didn't see any.

It's all good.

I didn't have you loaded up.

Oh, yeah, no, it's all good.

It's all good.

What else are we celebrating today? Happy Friday, everyone. Was. Was Zoom working slow for anyone else?

No.

Okay, never mind. What are we celebrating today?

I'm reading a new book, and it's called Focused. Well, Reading, Audio Listening, but. But I'm already halfway through good. It. It has never been so easy for me before, so celebrating that, definitely. And I also put together the workshop that I'm doing in Lithuania for that female forum. I Hope it's good.

I hope it too, but that's amazing. Congratulations.

Thank you.

What else are we celebrating today?

I'm celebrating that I have my first shot at a corporate proposal. Yeah. And. And that Katie is going to help me formulate this later.

Yeah, we'll have fun with that.

Yeah.

Awesome. Anything else to celebrate today?

I'm gonna.

I'm gonna celebrate the fact that I was able to reconnect with an old client who I haven't talked to in a long time since the company kind of splashed everything since COVID and. And then they bought him on. He was kind of a regular freelancer and then they bought him on full time, so he started doing all the video work as he was a video producer as well. And. And I got cut out of the pizza. Pizza. So. But it was good to reconnect with him. It was good to just touch base and. And talk about some what's going on. And also, you know, I just said, hey, keep me in mind if anything comes up. I'd love to work with you again if you think there's any opportunity to do so. And he's. He still. And I know Thomas for a long time. He stated that he would. So I'm going to celebrate that and believe that it'll open doors for other opportunities.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Awesome. Well done.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Anything else to celebrate before we go into Q and A?

No.

All right, what questions do we have today? Let's dive right in. Let's get to work.

Well, can I start off by asking, I don't know. In the first time, obviously I don't know anything about this group. Is that something where I can learn more about it?

So this is kind of a catch all call that I do every single Friday for clients that are in any of my programs. So we have one on one clients. We have clients who are in my BYOB build your own business group program. And also it's open to my members of my hyperfocus community, which I've been very lazy about promoting, if I'm honest. This call is like open Q and A. So anything you're struggling with in your business, you can ask questions here. And depending on where you are in the stage of your business and what you're struggling with. You know, I have the three different programs designed to help you with different things. Right. So hyper focused is really for those who have adhd. They have a business and they need to really figure out how they can work better with their ADHD and not get distracted as much and be held Account accountable and all that stuff. Build your own business is the beginner program. There are two stages of it, so there's beginner and advanced. And it's really for people who are in the first year or two of their business. Um, so year one is all about getting your first five high paying clients. And then year two is all about building the foundation of your business so that it can, it can run kind of in the background while you get to do the things that you enjoy. And then my one on one clients get to work with me on any of this and all of it. And if they want to scale and branch out into other businesses, then we're focusing on that as well.

Okay, this is great. I'm kind of in transition, so. So that's just fantastic.

Yeah.

Video business is just not what it used to be. Not, not at all. And so to coaching and digital marketing. So.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's a, you know, if you wanted to talk, we can absolutely book a time after this call to hop on to see if there's anything that would support you.

Great, thank you.

Yeah, of course.

All right, what other questions do we have?

I don't want to start with the piece.

Go ahead, go ahead.

Okay.

Jason, simple one. Getting ready for market research. In the template that you sent out, it's for email. My email list is not very good. My LinkedIn list is much better. Is there any reason why I shouldn't use the LinkedIn DMs as a method for market research as opposed to email? I just wanted to check that with you.

No, there's no reason why you shouldn't. I wouldn't send the full, like, message that's an email because it will be super long and people get really overwhelmed by it.

Okay.

I would send them like a quick feeler message first, like, hey, I'm about to do some market research for my new business. I'm curious, like, do you mind if I, like, do you mind if I give you the details and if you're willing, I can send you more information? Because that way people can kind of opt in, opt out and it's a smaller ask, like, hey, can I tell you more about the market research I'm about to do? And like, if you can help, just let me know.

Okay, great.

Because people get like getting bombarded with like a huge long message. Like, I wouldn't read it. Be honest. Right. Also, it's not necessarily your email list that we're going after. It's people who, you know, whose emails you have. Right. It's like, it's friends, it's family, it's former colleagues, it's former classmates, Anyone who, you know, like, you can send that email to.

It's.

It's not designed so that you have to have, like, a proper email list for your business yet, because most people don't.

Okay.

Yeah. So I find it's. It has more response when you go through and send them individually as well, you know, so if you make a.

List, like, as opposed to a group.

Yeah. As opposed to, like a bcc. Yeah, yeah. But if you go through and make a list of like, 50 people with their email list. Hi, Michelle. Hi, Ella. Then go through and just like, you know, email 10 of them a day, you know, or if you're like, me and my adhd, like, plot out five hours, put on some Hamilton music, take your mom's Ritalin, and then just go for it. That's how I get through any. Any boring task anyway. Does that help? Awesome. What other questions do we have? Rockman, do you want to.

Yeah, I. I don't like talking conversations, so sometimes I'll stay silent. You'll find that about me. But anyway. Yeah. So I think the questions that revolve around my head the most is transitioning from being a video producer, which a lot of people know me as. I've been in business since 80. Well, 84, but.

Yeah.

Yeah. So it's been a while. I was. I was with a partner for almost 11 years, but in. Then I went on my own in. In November of 94. So it's been a while.

And.

So now that I'm transitioning to kind of life coaching, which I enjoyed a lot. I have one free client right now, but I did that because I was asked to help this guy out. And also I thought it would be a good opportunity for. Get the experience.

Yeah.

Someone while I'm learning. So. So. So what keeps revolving around my head is. Is trend transitioning from the people that someone that they know as a video guy to someone that's a coach.

Yeah.

Like, okay.

Yeah, yeah. You know, it's. You have to go on a campaign, a reinvention campaign. You know, it's, you know, I don't know how much, you know about, like, Miley Cyrus, like, she had to go on a campaign to break out of the child star, you know, saying you have to wear a skimpy outfit and dance on stage. But I am saying you have to, like, make sure people know, like, who you are and what you're about now.

Yeah. Yeah. Because my certification, you Know, I'm probably like 40% of the way through, so, you know, I still got a lot of way to go, but I don't want to wait till I'm done, which was my original thought. And someone said, no, no, no.

Yeah.

So, I mean, here, here's three content ideas that you can do to train everyone. What you're up to every time you sit down to study for your certification or to sit down and read a book about coaching. You know, take your cup of coffee, put it next to the book with a little notepad and a pen, take a picture and write a little post about how like, you're working on this certification to become a coach. And like, here's the book you're reading right now. And like, look at the sunshine in the background. It's a beautiful day. Like, you know, I'm so excited for this next chapter.

Oh, I like that.

I like, you know, you know, and it's just, it's easy content. You're embedding a lot of information about this next chapter for yourself. But you're not like being like, I'm going to be a coach, everyone. It's just like, here's, here's a day in the life. Right.

Make it more casual about what I'm doing.

Yeah, yeah.

Facebook, you know, we're, we're in Cape Cod and we're enjoying the day on the beach today.

Exactly. Another one can be about how you're choosing to wind down your videography business and what you're doing next and why you're so excited for it.

Oh, okay.

You know, another one can be about, you know, like, who you want to help on the other end of this, who's your like and, and you know, you don't have to have your ideal client figured out. You don't have to do figure out your niche yet. This can be a time where you just kind of like try things on.

Yeah, we, I was speaking with a coach and we were coming up with the fact that, you know, what's your niche? I don't know exactly yet, but I feel inclined to help those with addictive behaviors, so. And, and probably more on the faith based side, but we'll see. I think that's kind of where I'm headed though, so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But like what you said, I don't have to figure that Nichot immediately or right now.

Yeah. You could also say, you know, back in the day when I was struggling with this, I wish I'd known about coaching. Now that I'm getting trained as a Coach, I wish I had someone with these skills who could have held my hand, you know, called me out when I was being an asshole and also and cheerleaded me on this, this and this because I would have gotten to my goals this much faster. I wouldn't have wasted as much time on this, this and this because I would have figured out they weren't right for me faster. You know, you're really framing up what coaching helps people with while also giving people some information about your own story and like what you've been through.

Just one last thing. I. Our cousin, my wife's cousin came in from California last night. So I was what time he came in, I was out. My wife is the late bird, I'm the early bird. I like to go to bed at 10, 7, as opposed to going to bed at 3 or like she does. But anyway, so I got to talk to him this morning and he said that he, his coach helped him a lot. And I like, you would never know unless you're talking to somebody about what you're doing or what you like to do. Which kind of applies to all of us really because, you know, a lot of times we're in business and we may not share exactly what we're doing. So I told him I was doing coaching certification and so on. He goes, oh, coaching changed my life. And I'm like, I would have never thought. I've talked to John I don't know how many times. And then he gave me an idea. He says, you know, you should mix it with something. What are you talking about? He says, well, he said, I went to a three day one where there was Tai Chi and every Tai chi move got related to things in your life.

That's cool.

And I thought that was really, really cool. And then, and he gave me some examples. And then he told me about another one he went to for actors and you know, and, and how that, you know, I helped them to be like in business and with communication with other folks and social settings. And it was really, really good. And I was like, oh my, my idea, you know, my idea had started spinning.

Yeah, I mean you could also mix it with videography that's you know, like be about a legacy thing. Like you can, you can help them create a video that is all about their legacy. You could also want to have the confidence to really step into thought leadership.

Cool.

We're going to create a video that's all about what you have to share with the world, you know, depending on what your life should be. But just an Idea.

Not only that, it could take people out of their comfort zone if they want to move forward. Like I was thinking about once time I worked with a client and ended up doing singing lessons.

Yeah.

And you know what she made me do? The whole group of people that I never met before, I had to go up within two feet of them and sing. I was like, oh my gosh. Well, talk about breakdown of the, you know, the, the, the being scared be in front of people. It was, it was a amazing, absolute.

Yeah, yeah. No, you get to have so much fun with it. Honestly, I like that. Yeah. And like, you know, I do this, like I, I mix teaching stuff, people stuff with coaching, and I honestly do more teaching people stuff now than I do coaching, but it becomes really powerful. Yeah.

That's awesome.

Thank you. Roberto.

Yeah.

Hey, Rockman. I nice to meet you.

Rocky, by the way, just in case you're wondering.

Rocky. Okay, perfect. Rocky.

I don't care if you call me Rockman. Everyone does. But, but just so you know, I like the name. Thank you.

So I work with people who are trying to figure out what else to do with their career. Right. That's my, that's my thing, my, my niche. I used to be a, an innovation strategist and like, you know, hotshot consultant, you know, working on big projects and all that. And two years ago, I decided to like, you know, throw it out, you know, and become a coach. Right. It is very, you know, I hear you, like, kind of like when you're kind of like have that apprehension about like, you know, how do I put position myself and what do I say? There is a lot that is not spoken about in these transitions, which is how deeply emotional that transition can be because you have all your identity tied to the past. Right. So you have like this feeling of inadequacy of going like, wow, people are going to start laughing or some people are going to go and say, it's like, what is this fool doing now? You know, what are you doing with your life? You know, and it's, and it's all in your head. People are actually rooting for you. And the most important thing here to, to keep in mind is that, you know, what people care about and what they want to hear is your story, you know, and kind of like how this, how your past connected to today. You know, I tell people like, you know, I've always been that guy who people pulled aside to confide their issues and so forth. I always been that sounding board guy.

Right.

And it's, and even that just Ties everything together. Right. So for you, it might be like, you know, all your videography career might have put you in very intimate connection with your clients who started, like, sharing things and certainly using you as a sounding board. And you realize this is, you know, how good you were at this. Right. And now you're taking it to this next level. So, so that's sort of how you look at all your past, prepared you to meet this moment now.

Like that.

Thank you.

That's my 2 cents. Maybe like more like 10 cents that I.

Thank you for it. Absolutely.

Yeah.

Awesome. Thank you. Roberto, what other questions do we have today?

I would like to ask about once again, the same question that I have, how to describe what I do. So I've spoken to Chris Lamas and he said that I help. I. Well, I. He said, you know that expression that you don't see the wood, you don't see the trees for the wood or the wood for the trees.

The forest. For the trees.

The forest. Okay. So he said that I'm doing exactly that, that I'm doing the opposite. And I helped him to get rid of the, all the nonsense and the noise and, you know, have like a reality check and see the, the map in front of him and the context for the ngo. I know, I know.

We asked, I, I told you to ask a few questions, like how would they describe what you do, but also how would they describe where they started and what they're getting out of working with you? What was his answer to those questions?

So this is how he described. And we're still in the middle. This is a long process.

Right.

And so we're, we're just finished our audit in the, you know, audit in the redesign phase that you helped me to put together. And thank you so much once again for that. So, so now we're doing the redesign bit, but we're also looking at the competitive analysis because the context is super important, as you know.

Yeah.

And so it will be another few months before we will approach the donors to fundraise.

But.

I mean, he, he said, I know, thank God that you told me to not launch my website because it will be completely different to where we have started.

Yeah.

Now really redefining and fine tuning what hope for stands for. Started with so many big words like combat poverty and. Or with helping orphanage and human against human trafficking. And now it's completely different. It's very pure, it's very focused. But again, we're just putting now the model and it will be really exciting, but I have chills. As I speak about it, because it will be truly life changing and we'll create a case study that will be replicated in other post disaster refugee areas or any other.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, okay, so let's, let's talk through this. So he, it sounds like he was starting off being spread way too thin, trying to do too many things. The way they described their work was confusing people because it was about so many different things. Through the work with you, they've been able to focus in on what their main impact is going to be. They've been able to get rid of that confusion and that overwhelm and trying to do all the things at once and really understanding what they can do that's going to have the greatest impact in all those areas. And because they're so focused in, they're going to be able to go to donors and feel that much more confident that the donors are going to understand exactly what they're supporting and stealing.

What you just said is me. Like we're not focusing on the root. You know, like a tree grows to two direction, opposite directions to the. Yeah, round them to the app. So we're, we were now focusing on the roots and then it will give its fruits in a way. So the donors. That's the outcome. Yes, it is the outcome. But we're doing a much more in depth work to the core, to the soul of an organization, to its seeds.

Yeah, yeah. So here's why I was. I also added those two questions about where they're starting, what the outcome is is because like this is someone who's already decided to work with you and like they see why the process is special. That's not good.

Okay, Right.

Because it's like that's something that people get when they start working with you and they understand the impact it has on the outcome.

Yes.

Right. So we need to bring it back to where did they start from? What were the problems they had that you. That you were like the absolute right person to work with and what's the outcome they hope to get out of it?

Okay, so the only thing that I came up with because there can be so many problems like lack of vision, lack of. They don't know how to put a KPI. That's just one symptom.

Those aren't symptoms. So. Yes. So like the problems are. I'm using the wrong terms. So those are the root of the problems. What are the symptoms that they were experiencing before that those problems were causing?

Chris felt that he needs to break through the glass ceiling that he needs to step up. That he was very small and now he needs to step up. He didn't explain it, in other words, so. And he just had that gut feeling that there is something missing, but he wasn't able to point it, you know, with his finger and say that, this.

Is what I'm missing.

He wasn't saying to me that. I didn't realize. Yes.

It. Tina, like right there. Like, you're leading an organization and you know there's something missing, but you can't put your finger on it. And you're working so many hours a week, and you're doing this and this and this and this. And you see, you're making impact. But you, you know, you could do more, but, like, you don't have any more time, you don't have any more energy, you don't have any more people to throw at this.

And.

And you just. You don't know what. You don't know about this. You need. You need that person to come in who's going to help you make sense of everything that you've created and also help you strategize how to do more, how to bring this to a greater scale.

Okay, so if I. Because I feel like I'm walking in circles, you know, I've said so many versions. Right. And how can I describe it? Like, in the. If I can. You can help me to summarize it in a few sentences or just one. Whatever. Yeah. I work. I work with CEOs who are building or growing the companies. They feel that something is missing, and. Yeah, now I'm stuck.

Yeah. So ambitious CEOs who want to have a really huge impact bring you in when they get stalled out and. But they don't understand what's causing the stall.

What does it mean, stall out?

Stall out is something that happens to a car. It's when the car stops working for a second. So if you're driving makeshift and you don't. And you don't, like, use the clutch correctly, like, it just dies.

Yeah.

It's really embarrassing when it happens, especially if people are watching each other drive anyway, right? Yeah. And they, like, doesn't matter how much harder they work, doesn't matter how many more people they bring in or how many more donors they try to bring in. Like, they just can't figure out what's keeping them from growing. And that's why they bring me in, so I can help them not only figure out what's keeping them where they are, but also help them strategize to what's the next level they want to grow to.

I will watch back the recording.

30 minutes into the recording. Just remember that.

Can you just repeat it once again? So, I mean, so I work with ambitious CEOs.

No, no, no, no, no. So ambitious CEOs work with you because they are of the story, remember?

Yes, ambitious. Okay.

Ambitious CEOs work with you and I honestly forgot the rest. So they hire you. Ambitious CEOs hire me because they want to grow their organization to the next level. But for whatever reason, they're stalled out right where they are and they can't work harder, they can't work any more hours. They're limited by either budget or their, the amount of people on their staff. And you come in and you help them identify like, what's causing them to stall out where they are. And also help them like, develop a strategy that'll help them grow to however big they want to grow so that they can have a bigger impact on the world. Because it sounds like most of your clients actually want to save the world in a way. Even the for profit ones.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay.

Yeah, yeah. Minute 30 in the recording.

Perfect. Thank you so much.

No, well, here's the thing. People get so worried about things being short.

Yes, yes.

No one understands it like, what the fuck good is that? I would rather it be several sentences where you're explaining who you're useful to and what you're helping them with so people actually understand than it be like a short, clever, three word thing that. Like a short, clever, three word thing that no one understands is. It doesn't do anyone good. There's, there was this really shitty advice for a long time that like, the best way to tell people what you do is to say something that doesn't actually make sense, that they have to ask, what does that mean? Right. Which is, is just asinine because here you are, you're in a social situation where no one wants to look dumb. Right. Who's gonna be like, okay, but what does that mean? What do you do? Like, very few people actually have the confidence to admit that they don't understand. Right, Right. And, and also there's like, there's so much opportunity for misinterpretation, you know, and this happens in the coaching world a lot. I was, I taught a workshop for an organization that, you know is related to the coactive training Institute, and I'll never forget it. And I, I say this not wanting to make fun of this woman, but I want to just use this as an example of like, how it just doesn't work and how, like, following the advice. That's not good marketing advice. Can kind of shoot you in the foot. I, you know, kind of gave everyone an opportunity to introduce what they do, and she would not let up that her way of introducing herself is, hi, I'm so and so. And I am delightning. What the does that mean? I'm sorry, do you electrocute people? Like, do you just go, do you. Do you. Are you an electrician? Like, what do you mean, you're the lightning? And she's like, well, I'm an executive coach and I want to work in corporate. I'm like, cool. So if I'm at a barbecue with a bunch of my. My co workers and you're there and my boss is here, if I'm talking to you and you're saying I'm the lightning, do you think I'm dragging you over to introduce you to my boss? No, I'm like, this kitty's nuts, you know, for the people that she wanted to work with. If she wants to work with a bunch of hippie, dippy people who are super into that kind of stuff, perfect. Go for it. You know, be symbolic. But if you want to go after corporate clients, like, they need. No, like, what do you mean you're the lightning? Are you on drugs? Like, that is going to be their question. It's just human nature, because it's not how humans really communicate. We sort for, what's your name? And how are you useful to me? And I've already forgotten your name, but I'm going to remember how you're useful to me. Right? So I would rather you say, you know, I actually step in and I work with teams of directors who are really struggling with training up the new managers underneath that, right? Because they're new to managing managers, right. And they've climbed up throughout this organization. But this organization really has a struggle with creating legacy leadership. Right? It's not. It's not clever. It's not. There's no alliteration there, but you know exactly how it can be useful to you. Yeah, Clear over clever every time. Roberto.

Sorry, Dina. I think I heard something kind of like in your. In your story of the things that you do with your clients, take it or leave it. This is something I just kind of like, heard and occurred to me. I'm. I'm just going to share it with you.

It.

I'm hearing as well that your clients struggle with, you know, because they have. They're spreading themselves too thin, pursuing too many really awesome priorities. Right. And you're helping them figure out which one of those to really focus on, you know, which ones to cut out and which ones to keep. So you're helping, which is essentially the definition of strategy. Right. So, but explained. Explained more illustratively. So, you know, something to add to the equation.

Definitely. And that is one of the tools. And because there is so much misconception and mystery around the word strategy and it's often misused and there are costly mistakes that are done with strategy in business. So they come with accumulated experience and all the bullshit from out other places and the bullshit that they tell themselves. And then all we do, first of all is remove all of it. We clean the bullshit, we clean the self bullshit and look in the core and then we build from within. Because a leader has a huge impact on a company that they're building. I mean, there's so many researchers and investors. This is how they invest in a company, by looking at the leader in front of them. So. And I'm tying that leader to a company, to the impact that they're creating. But a leader that doesn't is not connected to themselves. And I know that it's a very trendy word to be connected to ourselves, but truly, when they're disconnected from their core, it's impacting the company. Because when you're trying to create an aspiration for a company, which is you think not what you like, but what's like, for example, all the big movie producers, they come into a board meeting and they sit and ask, what do you think somebody will like? And then they create a mediocre movie. But if they ask themselves, what is it that I like? Then they create an impactful movie that is actually moving.

I want to, I want to pause you right there. That that explanation is better than everything you said before. No one's sitting here wondering what strategy means. No one's. It's not mysterious to anyone. You're the one that sees like the mis definition of it. No one else is thinking that. So we need to move you away from that way of speaking. When you're talking about what you do and say, hey, listen, like, let's talk about, for instance, a movie producer. A movie producer who goes into the boardroom and into the writers room is like, cool, let's write a movie that everyone's going to love. It's, you know, it's not going to be impressive. It might be straight to vhs if that were still a thing. Straight to Netflix. Yeah. But if, If a storyteller If a, if a movie producer comes in here, like, here's the story I'm passionate about, and then gets everyone on board, like, that's a blockbuster hit. That's something that's going to win an Academy Award. That's something that's going to get the best talent on that project, the best actors, the best videographers, the best. This, that, the other thing. And you can say, that's what I do with you and your organization.

And I can do the same with the overview effect when astronaut go to space. And again, this is what you helped me, Katie, that this is to some extent what I do with my clients. I help them to go to space, have an overview effect on their company from a completely different perspective, and then they change.

I don't like that as much. I don't like. No, because it's like having a greater view. What does that get them? I like the movie producer one so much more because it's about, like, where they're stuck. Like, they want to have a successful movie, but how they're going is wrong. And they're. But they're too close to it to see.

Yes, yes, yes.

And it does tie in that, you know, get in line with who you are in line that. With the organization without getting too fluffy about it.

Yes, yes. Right.

You know.

Yeah, I will experiment with that.

Yeah, yeah. You know, when we're talking about metaphor, like, yeah, seeing the forest for the trees, great metaphor. But your, your ideal client out there who's reading your content isn't going to see that. They're not staying awake at night thinking, oh, I can't see the forest or the trees. They're saying, thinking, I didn't get this done or this done or this done or this done. And that person's bugging me about this deadline and, and like, how am I ever going to make this happen? That's what they're staying awake with, and that's what I want. Everyone, as you're thinking through your ideal clients and you're going through your interviews, really understand what is that thing they're actually thinking about when they can't sleep at night. It's not, it's not like the thing that they're going to get while they're working with you because they don't know that that exists yet. They haven't had that experience yet.

So they all, I mean, the CEOs are thinking about the revenues, thinking about growth, turnaround, the performance. Yep.

So talk about that.

So it's the really. The bottom line and the Cash that they spend to all this. Okay. Yeah, yeah, okay. And now I'm again overwhelmed by. But I'll go back. Ambitious CEOs are hiring me when they're striving. Hiring me. That's the language when they're struggling.

Hire.

It's.

You want to say ambitious CEOs hire me.

Ah, okay.

It's a continuous thing.

Yes.

Yeah.

Hire me. When they want to grow their company, but they feel stuck and they cannot put a finger on what it is. And this is where I step in and help develop a strategy that removes all the bullshit and takes the company to the next level.

Yeah, removes all the bullshit or helps them focus on the 20% of tasks that will actually help them get 80% of the results. Like, everyone's pretty familiar with the 80, 20 rule, you know?

Yeah.

Play with that. And you know, like, your brain, I think, is saying over overwhelmed. Your brain's not overwhelmed. You're smart. That is a fear tactic that your brain has come up with to get you the best off of something.

That's a self. Bullshit. I totally agree. I, I'm, I'm talking about emotionally overwhelmed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's fear.

So.

Yeah, yeah. So it's, it's a saboteur thing that's happening for you. You know what? And you get to choose to let the, that emotion kind of overtake you and continue backing off of this. Or you can recognize. Oh, that's actually just fear that I might actually make this happen.

Yeah.

Good enough.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah. All right, what other questions do we have today?

Okay, I have one. I hated my LinkedIn profile for a long time and I creeped Michelle's profile and stole a whole bunch of stuff off of it.

So.

I'm, I'm, I'm wondering, like.

I.

Played around with it for the first time and started adding, like, stuff in to make it pop and show up differently on a mobile phone screen.

And.

But, but like, how much is too much?

Does it.

When does it get weird? You know, because this is not my area of expertise or goodness. I, I could use some just help making sure that what I'm putting out into the universe is like, okay or not okay.

This is actually. So I'm sure whatever you did was perfect, but also, like, I'm not going to be able to give you a useful answer here until we get your market research interviews done. Yeah, right. Because, like, however you do your, your Instagram. I'm sorry, Your Instagram, your LinkedIn right now, you don't have the, the research that you need to have done to be able to really hone in on who your ideal client is in your niche.

Sure.

Right. And also you haven't tested the niche yet so you could absolutely play the guessing game and like come up with a whole profile and a whole messaging thing and have you go out and market it and not have it work. But we're not going to know what's not working. Is there not a market for it? Is our messaging off? Let's blah blah, blah. So okay, sure.

It's before the horse.

Okay.

Actually. Okay, yeah. But yeah, do your this, I mean do your market research interviews from that. We're literally going to take language that your ideal clients say and we'll plug it into messaging. Okay, Right. I love the, the full admission of piracy though. That's. I'm all for it. My ancestors were related to Sir Francis Drake apparently. So there's piracy in my blood so I'm all for it. Anyway, what other questions do we have.

It. Since.

Go for it.

If you remember, for my workshop for that female leaders organization I am I called it awaken your strategy and the power toolbox. Any leader should have something like that, something down the slide. So I am put an agenda divided to three. We will talk about the theory of strategy and what is not and the costly mistakes to avoid and not to fall into the trap of planning. And we'll share a few case studies from my personal career track record and I would like to do like an actual workshop with them and create that playbook. So in that playbook I want, I don't want to come with questions that because there is no such thing as one solution fits all. So would it be okay to create like blank spaces and for them to.

Sorry question how much time do you have for this?

It's an hour and a half and.

You don't have enough time to cover all this. So you really don't. So here's what you're going to get through. You're going to get through the strategy bit. You're going to get through like here are the danger zones and how you're going to end up costing yourself money. And then you're going to take them through a mock or like an example strategy book and you're going to invite them. If anyone wants to go through something similar for your organization then I invite you to book a 30 minute call and we can talk through what this might look like for you. There we go. And you're not going have time to like because if there's that Much customization needed for the playbook. Like that's you going through. The customization is going to be an hour on its own because everyone's going to have a what about me? Well, what if this, what if this, what if this, like you're, you're opening it, you're going to lose control of the time and then you're not going to be able to have an elegant end because it's going to be like, oh shit, we're just out of time now.

Yes, I'm with you. And what does a mock look? What do you mean by mock? That bit.

So I would give them like here, here's a playbook for like a make pretend organization, you know, or you know, here's what a playbook kind of work she can look like. Of course, for each and every one of your organizations, the questions might be different and not, not might. They definitely will be different. You know, the areas that we have to look at are going to be different. We're going to have to focus on different things. But you want to give them almost like here's, here's like a seven page document that goes through like here are the areas that we have to look at and some of the questions that we have to ask to build out this playbook.

Oh my God. I cannot even like the reason why I react like that because it always comes to me after I onboard them, after I ask them questions.

So here, take an example of what you've done with other clients and just anonymize the information.

Okay.

Right. So you can say, you know, this is a, this is an organization that does humanitarian work, you know, and here's kind of what they were struggling with. And here's what, and here are the questions we asked. And here's like what it's gotten them so far, you know, and of course, like this playbook, I customize these to each and every one of my clients. If you're curious about what it looks like to, to do this, then book a call with me. Let's book 30 minutes and talk through what's going on in your organization. And if having a playbook like this would even help you.

Okay, that's, that's completely different to what I was thinking to do. Okay.

Yeah, because you're not going to be able to teach them how to do a playbook in what, 30 minutes.

Sorry, I didn't mean that I, I meant the, like just the 2, 3 pages of blank spaces for each four should write a question that she wants to ask about her organization. So I wanted to. To like, because.

Yeah, so, I mean, that's. And you're going to answer them in that time.

So I will give for each and one to ask a question, write it down. The question that she wants to ask herself. She would write that question and then she would start with the brainstorming and answering that question.

Okay, but you're. So this activity makes so much sense to you because you understand it. I want you to remember how many people are in this group?

25. Well, I don't know. We'll see.

Even with four people like you, you're discounting how much time it takes to explain how they come up with a question and explain this part and explain this part. And then they have to go and do it, and then they're going to have questions. Well, is this, is this what you mean?

So I wanted to start that activity actually by asking what are the pain or the challenges that they're currently facing in their organization? So ask them. Them about symptoms and then write it down on a board. And then, and then to move from the, from the symptom to what is the actual problem. But I don't know what was the actual problem, because for each and one, it will be personal type of.

Here's. Here's what you can do. You can do the version I just said I wouldn't do it with everyone. I would invite one person to come up and use them as. Yeah, just one person. You're not having. You're not guiding everyone through this. You're saying, I need a volunteer. One person who's brave enough to come in and share some stuff about their organization, what they're struggling with.

Okay.

Yeah. And then, and then you can say, you know, as you're going through it, like, of course, this is just like the tiny, tiny little tip of the iceberg of what I do with my clients. If anyone's curious about going through this whole process, then, you know, here's a link that you can call with me and we can talk about if this, if going through this process would even help your organization.

Okay, got it. And they are a bit reserved. I mean, Lithuanian business culture, they wouldn't want to come. Let's say nobody volunteers. What do I do then?

Well, so if that's the case, then again, you don't want to do that. You want to do. Here's an example. I mean, if they're reserved already and you're asking them all to do this, then that's.

Then.

No, I mean, each one of them will write it Down. It will be very personal for them. They will not share it. It's just each and one gets this blank few pages with my, like, structure framework. And.

Yeah, I'm just. I'm concerned about time. And so here's. Here's what we're balancing right now. We're balancing you teaching something that they're going to have an idea of what you're talking about, and then giving them, you know, instructions. You're going to have to give the instructions again because some people aren't going to be paying attention. They're going to be on their phone. Let's just be real.

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

You know, we're going to have to answer questions, and then how much time are you going to have left?

Yeah, that's much.

Yeah, so. So I. I mean, yes, have them do that introspective thing for, like, 10 minutes and then take them through. Like, here's an example of some pain points that some of my clients go through. You know, here are the symptoms that they're struggling with. And like, let's take this one symptom, and it's. You pick a symptom that most people have, you know.

Unmotivated employees. Many people.

Yeah, yeah. And then just say, you know, like, here is the. After doing some digging and asking, like, these questions, you know, we realized that this was the root of the problem. This is what was causing their. Their employees to show up as unmotivated, you know, and so once we understood this, we were able to figure out, okay, well, if this problem is happening, how do we solve this problem in a way that won't cause more problems, it won't cost the organization more money, that won't do this, that won't do that, blah, blah, blah. And how do we understand, like, what the employees actually need and what other impacts can this have? And almost have like a flow chart to say, okay, well, once we fix.

This.

The employees actually started attracting donors and this started happening, and this started happening.

Right.

You want to.

You want to really say, okay, so, like, the list of symptoms that you all have, and know that each and every one of them can be solved in this manner, you know, with the right questions. And if you're not sure about the right questions, then here's what I want you to do. Book a call with me.

Can you pray for me?

I don't need to pray for you. You're fine. I'm not worried.

In one month from today, it will be in the workshop. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, you have plenty of time. You have Plenty of time. Yeah, okay.

Of course.

All right, why don't we do move into main takeaway because we only have about four minutes left. Who would like to start us off? And we're going to popcorn it. So whoever goes first will pick the second person and the third and so on. I have a very random takeaway.

You were talking to Rocky earlier about the picture that he can use to. To, you know, talk about how he's shifting paces and whatnot. I actually wrote up a very similar post that I was going to schedule or that I did schedule next week with just a picture that didn't even make any sense. Then I was like, oh, reminded. Put in a personal picture. So I know that's a very random one, but anytime you can use a personal picture, use a personal picture. And not one taken from the Internet.

Yep, A hundred percent. Yep.

And I'll pick Rocky next.

So I'm next. My takeaway. Well, good to discover this group. I like the format and I think it would be very useful in terms of me working through some things here, especially during a transition. I think probably the biggest takeaway were some of the points that even though I picked off things from each of those I spoke, but from Katie and from Roberto. In terms of how tying my experiences of a video producer to coaching can really be looked at from the standpoint of I always created. I always say things like create your idea and bring it to the screen. So in terms of coaching is create your ideal and bring it to life. Right. Bring it into your life. So. So, so that was my takeaway.

And Rocky, I'm just gonna put the link. If you do want to book a call with me to talk about any of that stuff, the link in the chat.

Okay, great.

And let's see. I picked Jason next.

Yes.

Market research.

Yes. Yeah, right, Perfect. And who are you picking next?

Jason.

Michelle.

My key takeaway is that I don't trust Jason anymore.

I'm joking. I'm joking.

No, it is actually that we, we're all just robbing. Being inspired by. I mean, I take a lot of my stuff from Katie. I mean, Katie, no offense, but you're probably being inspired by other people. So we're all just. It's just a knock on effect. So I think, I think it's important for all of us to remember that, especially when we come up against creative blocks that we don't need to reinvent the wheel and just. Yeah, just do a creep and take some inspiration.

Yeah.

Who has, who hasn't won that?

Thank you. Lovely to see your daughter. So it's usually a lot of takeaways. And this time is to. To you to say, ambitious CEO, hire me. And so thank you for correcting my language, because words means a lot, you know, and. And yes. And to. To allow myself the space to answer that question, what it is that I do. So thank you for that.

Of course.

Yeah.

I'm. I'm currently in a French challenge, so I'm getting grilled on verb conjugations every morning at 7am so the verb conjugations in English, I'm realizing just how important they are.

So.

Anyway, everyone, thank you so much for being here. I hope you took a to beyond what you listed as your main takeaway. And I can't wait to see you all soon.

Okay.

Have a good weekend. Bye.

Bye.

Bye. Thank you.