Breaking Boundaries & Building a Brand That Sets Your Soul on Fire with Juliet Wright
Juliet Wright spent 20 years as a photographer before building Tally Creative, a full-service branding agency. She and host Keira Brinton used a six-day retreat in Sun Valley to write Juliet's book, discovering a process called the Red Thread that produced breakthroughs in 10-15 minute calls. Tally Creative helps authors and entrepreneurs align their branding with identity to build trust.
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All right, my friends, welcome back to the. I was born to do this podcast. I am in a totally new podcast room in Nebraska with one of my dearest friends, Juliet Wright. Juliet, thank you for being on my podcast in your podcast studio.
It's weird to be on this side of the camera, but thank you for.
Yeah. Oh, I'm so excited. I'm so excited to, first of all, just share you with my listeners, because I just. My heart is so big for you, and I'm so really just honored to be here in Nebraska in your beautiful, like, what do we even call this? Like, it's, like, it's more than a studio. It's more than a workspace. Like, what would you call what you've created?
I don't know. We started calling it a signature space just because we couldn't come up with a word. Like, we kept trying to, because it is so versatile. And, I mean, we are moving furniture every day to make this space, like, adaptable. And so the. The closest thing we could come up with was just a signature space, right?
Because you. You guys have a podcast room. You guys have a room to take photos in. You have, like, name all the spaces that you have here.
So we have a room dedicated to headshot portraits. We have a product photography room, a podcast room. We create videos here, and then we do a lot of, like, team building and meeting facilitation and brainstorming. And we have whiteboard desks and whiteboard tables. And so really, if you're coming in just to, like, brainstorm an idea for the first time, we're like, okay, let's map it out. Or if it's like, okay, now we have the plan, we're ready to produce it. And so the thing I love about it is this space works for, like, any part of that journey, from just initial concepts to, like, and then we have all of our editors, every. Our team in house. And so it's like, we shoot the video up here, and then our editor downstairs puts it together. So it's all in one space.
And you guys are redoing my website right now, my logo, my branding colors, which has been so rad to have your team here while we are, like, in person creating it. So what is the name of this? Because we just. What is the name of your business? And, you know, maybe tell us a little bit about who you are.
Yeah. So this business is called Tally Creative, and Tally really came from an extension of my initial business right out of high school, two weeks out of high school, I got my first Tax ID number to create a photography business. I knew in my heart from time I was about 15, that college was not for me, that a traditional job was not for me. And when I graduated high school in 2003, that was a big thing to go to my guidance counselors when the big push was college, college, college. I mean, it was spoken back then that if you don't go to college, you're going to work fast food your whole life, you're not going to amount to anything. And I really had to be firm and say, like, it's not for me, and you have to trust me. And I'm glad that I did. I had a handful of people in my corner that believed I could do it. And so now we're. This is my 20th year, and my photography company has now evolved to this branding agency with a full team. But I'm blessed. I've never had a real job because I've always been able to grow and evolve one company to another.
And Juliet's the real deal. So her name is Juliet Wright. I don't know if I said this Juliet Wright, she's the real deal. There's a lot of people in the world that will showcase that they're successful or something like that. But the more I get to know you, you not only run this agency, you have four kids, you own a ice cream store that you bought, that you bought the building down from your building, have an ice cream store, and you have a lunch business coming up soon. You are putting in apartments. So you're like, you are really the pinnacle of an entrepreneur and you are now going to be a Joan of Arc author. Coming up.
Coming up.
So I want to talk about, first of all, that you and I have a lot of similarities of the way that we think. And also just like, we're fearless and we don't actually spend a lot of time thinking, I don't know, is that a good idea? She's like, yeah, that's a Hell, yeah. So I remember you came and you had a call with me. We met in Genius, Genius Network. You had a call, we wanted to talk about a book. And you were like, I don't have time to write a book.
I actually said, what did you say? I said, I could do it. I could wake up a couple hours earlier. I could stay up a couple hours later. I could. I think I could do this. I think my team. I think it would stress my team out because my days are full and they are. They're full of really good things. But I think If I said, like, oh, by the way, guys, I'm gonna, like, add one more thing. And maybe it's my optimism that thinks I could do it. I probably eventually would need some sleep and, like, run myself, you know, but part of me was like, you know, I thought I could do it. I would pull it off if I had to. But I was also concerned of everyone else in my life. My husband, my team, even friends that already think I have so much going on, which I do. And I didn't want this book to seem like a burden. I didn't want it to be like one more thing. I didn't want people to be concerned that I didn't sleep enough or I didn't eat enough or I didn't. And so I think as an entrepreneur, it's like, we can run a million miles an hour, but we also, people in our lives, like, their concern is real too. And I wanted to be respectful of that.
Yeah. And I loved that about you. And I remember you said, could you just, like, take me somewhere for five days and we just write the book? And I was like, yeah, for sure.
Done. Done.
And it was like, of course, of course. And so then began it, literally birthed this new offer that I have, which is called the Immersive Author Adventure, where we went away for six days to a Airbnb in Sun Valley, Idaho. And we wrote your book.
Yeah.
We didn't just write your book. Like, what did we figure out? We figured out what the amount of hours we spent per day would have equivalented to three years of 30 minute Zoom calls.
Yeah. If we met once a week for 30 minutes, it'd be over three years.
Which is like my favorite thing ever. Collapsing time is my favorite thing to do. And we literally collapse time. But I would say what made that adventure so successful is one we just started out so damn vulnerable.
Yeah.
We were in the line. Well, first of all, we couldn't stop talking. Yeah. So we took our luggage up to the. What is that called? Security line.
Yeah.
We get in the security line, and then Juliet's like, wait, we didn't check our luggage? I'm like, oh, my gosh.
No. But before that, we stood outside an elevator talking for about five minutes holding our luggage, and we forgot to push the button.
Forgot to push the button.
Yeah. And then we went to the wrong place. And so finally it got to the point where you're like, no more talking.
We are not allowed to talk.
We have to get to our gate.
Right. So it was like, zero talking. Let's Just get this luggage checked on. So we get our luggage checked in and then we get into the security.
Line and then you're like, okay, we can talk.
And then it was like our deepest, darkest secrets for everybody in the line to hear. And it was so beautiful because what happened was the trip began in the rawest space of vulnerability, which collapsed time.
Yeah. Yeah. And just that idea of, like, we didn't have to wait to get checked into the Airbnb.
Yeah.
To, like, wake up in the morning, like, we didn't have an agenda. So it's just like, as soon as we knew we were in the right terminal and like, then it's like, okay, it starts now. And I think taking advantage of, like, every minute, like, every drive, every grocery shopping, every, like, taking advantage of that.
Yeah.
Made that time again so valuable. CLAPS AT TIME because if we would have said, like, okay, we're not going to start until this time, we would have had so much wasted time.
And you really bring up the right point. And. And I. I gotta be honest, we don't have deep, dark secrets when I say that. That's such a joke. But, like, what I meant by that was that we just started off in such a cracked heart. Open space.
Yeah.
Right. Like, it really was like, I just.
Don'T think that we had a friend taught.
We didn't have a friend taught.
We didn't walk in like, oh, this is how I travel. Or I only. It was like, you know, do you want to eat granola bars? Yeah.
Like, it was just like, human to human.
Yeah.
Right. There wasn't like, oh, I'm your book coach and I'm stuffy and I know the right way. Like, the magic for me is, like, I meet people in their humanness, and I believe that's what you do. That's what you do here is you see people in their humanity. And so it's like that part connected us together. And then the fact is that. And I love that this is what happened, is that every time we were in the car, we were in channeling, so we would be talking about something about life. And then I'd always be like, why are we talking about this? And then it would be the thing that we needed for the book. And so I trusted that every conversation we had was always a lead in for the book. It was a piece that we were needing, it was a piece that was missing. And then when we added adventure.
Yeah.
So we wrote your book poolside. We wrote your book in the fancy spa. We wrote your book in a Sauna.
On the side of a river.
On the side of a river. We wrote your book on Redfish Lake. On the beach.
On a paddle boat.
On a paddle boat with your laptop. And the magic of this was that when we tried to write your book in the Airbnb, like, what happened for you?
It just. And we opened up all the windows, we turned on the lights. Like, we tried to make this. And it was a cute Airbnb.
It was so cute.
And we had a stream outside, and we had a deck. And so it wasn't that the space wasn't great, because it was. But it's just like, we just. I kept getting stuck. Like, all of a sudden, stuff would be flowing, and then, like, it just. We were, like, trying and trying, and I was doing more deleting than I was writing. And it was just like that. Probably what people call writer's block. Yeah, right. It was just like, 45 minutes in, and I haven't made any progress. And that's when it's just, like, the doubts start coming in, and you're just like, okay, if I can't even write. I remember one time I had to write a poem for the beginning of a chapter, and I was like, I can't write this poem. Like, how am I supposed to write a whole book? Like, the doubts start coming in really fast.
Yep. And so that's when we moved. Then it was like, all right, let's get outside. We did yoga outside. We went and walked around. It's so beautiful in Sun Valley.
We went for walks, went on hikes.
We went on hikes. And the whole. So it's like the whole day wasn't spent on the computer writing, but the whole day was receiving the book.
Yeah. One of my favorite parts is we kept talking about a tree. We kept talking about this.
It kept coming in.
It kept coming in, and we kept noticing trees and trees and trees and trees, and we didn't know where this was at. And then I just remember he kept saying, like, this tree is a part somewhere. I don't know where a tree goes. But, like, there's no reason. We keep talking about a silly tree if it wasn't a part of it.
And then, like, the very last day.
The very last day, we were so stuck, and we needed a bridge between one section and the other section. And I walked to the car to get on the paddle, to get something to get on the paddle boat. And all of a sudden, I'm like, the tree. That tree that we've been talking about for four or Five days. That's the exact connection point that we needed. And so in the book, talking about that tree was what blended those two sections together. And so it's amazing how, like, that came through days earlier.
Yeah. And I want to acknowledge that when we got stuck, we didn't get stuck for long, because the second we noticed that we were stuck, it was like, all right, we gotta go outside.
All right.
We were riding on that beach for, like, five hours straight. And as soon as we were. Oh, my gosh, we were like. Because we both have mom energy. These kids are like, will you play with us? We're, like, looking at their moms like, wait. We're, like, writing a book. You know? We're writing a book.
Do you want to watch me jump in the water? Do you want to?
We're like, no, sure, sure. I'd love to, but we're kind of writing a book right now. And your moms are over here. Let's go, ladies. No, it was. It was like that energy got us stuck. And so immediately, you put down the laptop and you're like, we gotta move. And I was like, done. We're gonna go get a paddle boat. And so we never stayed stuck.
And it was even interesting on the paddle boat, because at first the thought was like, oh, we'll just go paddleboat boat, and just think. And then I was like, I think I want to bring the laptop. Which you don't usually bring a laptop. Yeah, A little dicey, but it's a lake, you know? And then, like, we ended up writing.
Yeah. So much.
So much. Whereas, like, if we wouldn't have had the laptop, we would have been out there with all these ideas. And so it was like, anytime we moved, we had to be able to capture that, because they almost came faster than we could remember them.
Yeah, it was. And it was so. It was just like we were swimming in the river of the book every second of every day. You know, we started every day out drifting.
We were drifting.
Yeah, tell them about that.
We took this paddleboat. We stopped in about middle of the lake. This is a big redfish lake. And we're just riding away and talking. And to me, it looks like Montana mixed with Alaska. And there's mountains and there's trees, and.
The water is like the Caribbean color. So crazy.
And then we had the paddle bolt for an hour. So about 50 minutes in, we're like, oh, we better head back. And it was almost starting to storm, and then we look, and we can barely see the beach.
We had drifted, like, miles Miles, Yards.
Hundreds of yards. But we had a paddle back and we had drifted so far, but we just didn't even notice because we were so in the flow.
We were. We were just so deep in. And the sun beating down and the water and the mountains, like, all of it cultivates creation. And so, first of all, thank you for coming up with this brilliant idea. Like, really, you were the seed that birthed this idea. And then it was like, oh, wait, remember, I was a professional photographer for a decade. I'm gonna bring my camera and these amazing, amazing shots of you to help market the book. We got reels of you so that we can do more marketing. And it was kind of like all the things that we struggle with, with authors of, like. Okay, have you gotten your headshot? Okay, have you done any marketing reels? We just got it all done in one week.
Yeah.
And the book was written.
And you were even coaching me, as we do reels, on how to slow down and how to enunciate and those things that, you know. But it's like, you know, even you being that little bit of a tough coach of like, okay, we're gonna do this again.
Yeah.
And this time, because I think that part of the coach is like, it's not all just, you're great, you're great, you're great.
No.
Because sometimes you need that. But it was also like, okay, we're gonna redo this. And, like, pushing me to be better.
Yeah. And it worked. It was, like, instant.
Yeah.
Like, the few things I gave you, every word you said landed. Everything that you said was, like. Was like a sword and those. Like, it's the tiny little tweaks that make the difference. And if you're gonna be an author, you're gonna be a speaker. And we know you are a speaker. You're an extraordinary speaker. And this book is just really coming in to support that. So I wanna dive into the book, the book that you didn't even know you were gonna write. So tell. We're only hinting this because once the book comes out, we're gonna have a full episode only on the book. But if you can give me a little flavor of who needs this book.
Yeah. So this book is really just to unleash a power, Awaken the power that's within you. And so I really feel like this book is. It is for anyone, but it's really for someone who just feels like maybe envious of other people. Maybe it's someone who just maybe they've hit a rough patch in their life. Maybe they're going through a transition. Maybe it's just someone who's like, they know that there's more. They know that there's potential. They have a desire for it. They don't want to settle, but they just. They're just stuck somehow. They're just stuck. And so this book is really like, how do we get you unstuck? And to realize that the power that you need to get to that next level is within you, which is a message that works for anyone. But I really feel like, man, if you're going through a transition, if you feel like your life is kind of at a stagnant place or a stale place, like, this book is going to be that jumpstart to get you to that next place.
I love it. And I'm going to also say that this book is actually. So if you are a human, yes, this book is for you. Because even if you're not stuck and you are wildly successful, what would happen if we could untie the binds to your old, limiting beliefs? Then there's just no ceiling.
Yeah.
So it's like, yes, it will massively help those who are stuck right now. And truth is, like, everyone has an area that they're stuck.
And you might not be stuck forever, but maybe you just even have a month that just, like, this month, I'm just, like, doubting, and everything seems to be hard. And so it might not even be that you're stuck in your life. Maybe you're stuck in a decision. Maybe you're stuck in a relationship. Or maybe it's just like, man, I don't know why, but, like, you've lost some of that momentum that you've had. And hopefully this book is that catalyst to, like, jumpstart you back to the track that you really, you know, you are on.
And here's the coolest part, is one, we had no idea what your book was gonna be about, which I really feel like helped us because that dropped us into full surrender, like, to the divine, to God. Like, hey, what do you want Juliet to write? And in that really soft space, like, soft heart space, you received a healing practice that I've never heard of, never seen. And we did beta calls. What, 15, 10 or 15 beta calls? Just. We put the call out on Instagram. We said, hey, Juliet's here writing this book. If you want to be a beta tester of this healing program or tool. Healing tool, I guess we'll call it. I don't even know if you want to call it a healing tool. It's like an unwinding tool. It's an unbinding tool. We got to come up with a name. Other than that, we're still there. But we had so many people messaging us. We got on the call with 10 to 15, and every call, 10 out of 10, what happened?
They cried. I mean, it was just amazing because these. These beta calls, some of them, a couple of them are life coaches. Some of them have done some deep work themselves. Professionals, like, retired, like a variety of people.
Yeah.
And this process that we took them through impacted them all almost the exact same way. And so it was just this incredible breakthrough within 15 minutes. And it was fun from our side because the first time we were like, oh, my gosh, what just happened? And the second time we're like, it happened again. And then by like the 10th one, it was almost down to like, a science of like, okay, here comes a tear. Like, okay, here comes a, like, exhale. And it was just almost like you could see how, like, there is a. As unique as each story is. Yeah. And as unique as each person is. And as unique. But, like, a lot of what we deal with is the same. And so it was incredible to see that every story was different. Every person was different. You know, we had men. We purposely had men and women. We had different ages, we had different demographics.
We went all the way down. We even had my 18 year old son try this with us. So we had 18 up to. I think our oldest was maybe 65 men and women. And every single person, there was a moment in time where it was like, shink. And they had a massive breakthrough. I had people messaging like, okay, this is like, crazy. I work with people all the time. I do coaching calls. I do sales calls. I do all the things. Sales calls are just coaching calls for free, you know, P.S. you come on and do a sales call, it's a free coaching call. I have never in my life had responses like we had with our beta calls. Every person, without exception, messaged me within 15 minutes after their call. Like, what just happened?
Remember the gal that messaged you a couple days later again? Yeah.
She was like, I still can't get over the amount of healing that just happened in 15 minutes versus the years I've had in therapy.
She said, can we just go back to that for a second? What.
What just actually happened? Right. And that's why if you had come in to this adventure week, like, I'm gonna write a book on this topic. Cool. Awesome. We would have done it. But it was in your absolute surrender of like, what am I supposed to write? God.
And the thing is, I remember I ran into someone in the airport and someone that I had known, just kind of an acquaintance. And we were walk our gates together and I said, oh, I'm, you know, going to go to Idaho to write this book. And he said, oh, what's your book called? What's its title? And to say, like, I don't know.
Right.
Seemed very unprofessional in some ways. And. And the crazy thing is, is I'm not a counselor. I've never been to college a day in my life.
Yeah.
I'm not a, you know, I'm not a big philosophy person or anything like that. And so for this book to come through for me, but to see. But I am about reaching your potential. And I think that's what this book is. So it's like, if this book helps people reach their potential, then that's what my whole mission is. If it can inspire you to do better or to do more or to build your self esteem, like that's what I'm about. And so it's interesting that it took this kind of healing route because.
Because it's like not who you are.
No.
Like, that's why I feel like I'm going to use this in a very bold way.
Yeah.
But I feel like that's why like you were chosen to write this book.
Yeah.
Because if you had extensive background in therapy and counseling and guess what happens? Your brain takes over because you have all this education. You're like, oh, well, I know this works. I know this works. This is like we literally, like, should we google and see if this actually exists?
We were like, we even said at one point, we said, you know, we said if this process exists, then at least we can authentically say like we did not know, like we invented this from scratch. And if it exists out in the world. Yeah. Obviously by different names or whatever. Like that's just pure.
It's just pure inspiration.
Inspiration.
So we came up with a name for it, the name of it. What do you.
Of the.
Of the process?
Process. It's gonna be called the Red Thread process, which.
Can we just talk about Divine inspiration. So I bought you a beautiful necklace as a gift because gifts are my love languages. So when you come to an adventure with me, like you get a gift every day, this is how it goes, you know, Disneyland. Here you go, here's a gift. And one of them was this beautiful, beautiful golden Mantra necklace. And when I went to go buy it, there was an upsell and it said, here are two red thread bracelets. And I remembered you at one of our calls before the adventure saying, like, I just keep hearing this thing called red thread. Red thread. I don't know what this is. And so all of a sudden, here's this bracelet company saying, here's buy these two bracelets. And I was like, I felt deeply inspired. I'm supposed to have those bracelets. So I bought them for you. I gave you the necklace. I didn't give you the red thread bracelets yet. And we were sitting on the couch, I think after like a four hour cry fest, because we did the red thread process together first.
Over and over and over for four hours.
Like, I'm not kidding. When it's like piles of tissues.
Yeah.
And we would throw all my shit through the process. Like, ball your shit through.
Holy crap, this thing is working.
It's working. And then you're like, I don't know what to call it. I just. I don't know what this. Why I keep hearing red thread. And I was like, hold on. And I go in the room and I come back with the bracelets. And it was like, we both just started crying because it was like God, like, gave the bracelets to me to solidify this moment. I mean, every moment of this adventure was so divinely guided. Tell me what the red thread means to you.
Yeah. So for me, red is always just my power color. I wear red on Mondays if I have an important day, red is my color. If I put on red, it shows myself. But even my team, like, okay. Like, it's almost like putting on your.
Juliet's here.
Yeah. It's almost like putting on your armor. Like, if I come down in a red dress.
Yep.
Like, it's. It's a big day.
Yeah.
And so for me, it's just always been my. I feel more confident. I feel like I can conquer the world in red.
Yeah.
So for me, and I mean, the color itself is power, you know, so that's been part of it. But then the idea of a circle, the idea of safety, the idea of the intertwinedness of just that idea that, like, again, as unique as we are, what our experiences in life are so intertwined with each other. And so this idea of connection. And so really what red thread means to me is just a community, a vulnerable community that's. That is interconnected. And yes, it is. We're connected by hurts, we're connected by pains, we're connected by insecurity. But we're also connected by power and by Strength. And by accomplishing. So I didn't want this to be something where it's victim mentality or it's anything about woe is me. Because to me, red thread is like. Like, yes, we're interwoven by some things out of our control, but, like, we're also, like, we are tough. And if we put on our red, like, even on a bad day. And so that's what red means to me. It's kind of an overcoming and not being stuck or stagnant where you are, but, like, making the choice to, like, step above that.
I love it. And I haven't taken mine off.
Yeah, right.
Like, it's a part of me. It's a reminder. I'll say what this is a reminder for me of, which is one thing that I really got when we did all these beta calls is there's a part of the process that's the stickiest part.
Yeah. We called it the quicksand.
It's a quicksand. It's the thing that if you stay too long, you're gonna. You're gonna get sucked into it. Because it's this. It's the place where you face shame face on, like, head on. We are facing shame. And like, you wanna run through hell through that stuff. But what I saw was that when people are in that place, they argue for their limitations. And my favorite. Well, one of my favorite authors is Richard Bach, and he has this phrase that says, argue for your limitations and they're yours. And so often we would never say that we argue for our limitations. When we move to the final piece of the red thread process, where it totally releases someone from all their limiting beliefs, it releases them from all their old behaviors. You are then free. And this is a reminder to me that anytime my old beliefs come back, the old beliefs that want to tell me it's just plain bullshit, right? Like, oh, no one will choose me. No one will love me.
What is this?
Bologna and cheese? And I had a whole lifetime to prove these beliefs. Every time I look at my bracelet, I remember how false they are and that I remember that I am absolutely free from them. Because when you can see what is the thing, you can't unsee truth. And that's what the red thread process does, is it, like, takes truth and it brings it all the way to the surface. And then it's like, you can't unsee truth.
I remember when we were talking about the idea of shame, and we kept. You know, I kept kind of saying, like, oh, shame. Such a hard word. Maybe we should call it Inner Voice. Or maybe we should call it, like, Thought or the Heckler. Or maybe we should call it something else. And I love the chapter in the book that's called. Its name is Shame. And just the idea of, like, that's its name. And also in the book, it's identified as a shame lie. And so that idea of, like, once you just call her for what it is and you don't try to make an excuse for it or minimize it.
Then it's like, okay, let's go, like, name it.
It is Shame.
We're not gonna give it any other name. Because then we are literally almost like we're pretending it. We're minimizing it. And it's like, no, just name it. It's Shame. And let's move through it.
Yep.
So I can't wait. We're gonna go even deeper into this when your book goes live, which will be soon. Because when you do this, I mean, your book, I just gotta. You know, I just. I have to acknowledge you because you really showed up, right? And, like, that's the thing, is that as a book medium, as I am, I can help someone get into wild flow. Like, that's my magic. Like, I can get people in the wild flow. I can get you into creation. I can show you pieces that are gonna make a big difference in your book, but I cannot write for you. And you showed up. You got up at 4am in the morning. You wrote for hours in the morning. Not only did you leave this adventure with, like, almost 20,000 words, since our adventure, you've added 15,000 words. So that adventure really gave us all the bones of the book. It gave us the most important things that need to be written about. And then what I said was, go home and make it honey.
Yep. Go add your honey.
Go add your honey. And holy shit, you guys, Juliet's an actual author. I mean, she would write things where I'm like, who are you? This is so damn good. And for you to have come in saying, I don't know how to spell. I don't like to read. And that we just went. What is that called? An archeological dig? I feel like we went in and this beautiful treasure came out of, like, you're actually an extraordinary author.
Thank you. And I could tell that it was so channeling because this one part I remember, I was trying to write these examples and, like. Like, I could see, like, little. Like, I was trying to compare it, and it's like little trinkets and little things, like, appeared and I was just like, you know, where's this coming from? And it is. It's the magic that you bring and the creation and the channeling and just opening your heart to. Not using your head, but just really using your heart. And, like, what is going to get this message to land with someone? And, like, for me, it was like, I love stories and parables and talking examples. So for me, I'm like, you know, really just asking, like, to make this point, what would land with someone? And then all of a sudden, I'd see, like, for this one thing, I saw this. This house of playing cards and then falling down. And I was like, that's not something I think of often. But I was like, oh, my gosh, that's it. Because people can relate to what it's like to try to stack playing cards and the delicacy of that. And so it was just beautiful that when you could. I just learned when I could get out of my head and grounded and really get in there like, it did. It was just flow. There's no other way to describe it.
And you actually are really gifted. Like, I remember this one day we were sitting at the kitchen in the Airbnb, and I'm like, on the computer, working through your Google Doc, doing my magic, and I'm like, julia, I need a poem on this. And you're like, all right. And you, like, go out to the porch with this beautiful stream, and like, literally 10 minutes later, you're like, legit. That just came through. And I read it. I'm like, that is so damn good. And it's like, I couldn't get over it. It was like, the best surprise every day. Like, Juliet, you're an amazing author.
I know what. And I think it is that funny thing that, like, I've always loved writing. I love listening to books. I love. So it's like. So it was. It was. And you kept reminding me how proud of myself I should be, which was important because it's like, it was fun to read things back. And even myself realized, like, that came.
From within, that came from my own hands. And one of the things that I know about creation is that it actually burns people out. It does something to the nervous system. So it's, like, so delicious when we're in creation mode and then we get. Our nervous system burns out. So top priority for me was that when you came, you were gonna leave more nourished than when you showed up so that we would write your whole book, but you wouldn't go home being like, I need A vacation like you would leave with more energy, more light. So we started every day in breathwork with Jason Campbell in his breath mastery, which is a phenomenal thing I just do every day of my life. So we did that every day. Started the day out with breath. Totally centers the nervous system. We did hikes. We were out in nature. I hired this amazing breathwork facilitator, Jeremy Mudich, to come in and, well, that. I mean, we could talk a whole hour on that.
So we had that.
Then I could feel by the end of Tuesday, your nervous system was shot. And so I called the spa and I said, I need a treatment. I need something that's gonna pamper my client. We got you in that. Next morning, you got an amazing facial. Then we wrote in the spa in our robes, which was delicious.
We would go in the sauna and brainstorm.
The sauna was, like, where all the ideas would come. So we go in, sauna it up, get all these ideas, go back out, write. And then we ended up writing next to the pool in a cabana. And so all these pieces were designed to hold you and really, like, strengthen your nervous system while we were writing.
Yeah. And I did. It was amazing how even little sleep, like, you know, you made sure. Like, even in the Airbnb, I had a big tub, a soaked tub in my room. And even just at the end of the night, you got me salt to, like, just take a salt bath and just to reset. And so it was like I did. I felt fully recharged. And the things that happen when I get stressed, you know, the. The pimples or the. The. You know, it's like I didn't have any of that because it was just. I felt so. We'd even walk around in the grass barefoot. I mean, I just felt so. Every time the tank started getting empty, it just filled right back up.
Filled it up. And we ate really clean.
Yeah.
So that's a big part of this is, like, the food that I'm have. Even though it wasn't that fancy, sometimes we just ate Trader Joe's salads.
No, we ate really clean for the first four or five days. We ate salads and fruits and vegetables and hummus and guacamole. And then we had this full day of writing that was just so good. And guess what we were both craving? Ham burgers, A cheeseburger.
We both were like, but those are clean.
They're clean.
They're clean.
But it was just amazing how it's like our body needed, like, a cheeseburger. So we went into town, we did.
We found left cheese.
We found a cheeseburger place. And it was like, that's what we needed that day. Which again, not having an agenda, we didn't have a menu scheduled out. It was just like when we felt like eating, we ate. When we felt like walking, we walked. When we needed a cheeseburger, like, we.
Found one, we listened to the body.
Yeah.
Over and over. And we did eat a lot of those delicious Swedish fish from Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's. Can you please sponsor us? Because I would have those every day of my life. Yeah.
So it was just this mixture though. Laughing and crying and fun and silliness and not knowing how to parallel park and just like silly adventures and laughing. And when we were on the photo shoot, we were like, remember I was all dressed up in the nines and you were like in sweatpants and a hoodie.
I looked like a 14 year old who like never looked in the mirror. That's like my socks were actually tucked into my sweatpants were sucked into my socks.
But like, people around were just like watching just because it was like, it was just soul filling for us. But we also said, like, I think it was soul filling for those watching us because we were just living life fully. And then it was like the bonus of that was in. Oh, by the way, you have this book, right?
Oh, P.S. we wrote a book. Oh, and PS, now you have photos, right. It was like so much, it was so much more than writing the book. The book was the result, but the experience is now. Well, one, I hope that you take all the breath work and that becomes a part of your life. Breath work for me is an essential daily piece of how I take care of my nervous system. And a reminder, like, sometimes you need to go put your heart on the grass. Sometimes you need to go get a massage. Let this adventure be the way you live life. So, one, we wrote your book, we healed your nervous system, had the best damn time ever, and you became my best friend.
That's right.
That's fine.
Win, win, win, win.
And I remember one night I was, you know, we were kind of like, whatever, it's all after hours with us, right?
Like it's.
We're writing books all day long, 16 hours a day. And I said, I'm really sad about the fourth of July because this is, this is. I didn't realize how much I love the fourth of July. And I do. I love fireworks and I love just the traditions and I was going to have no children for the first Time because of my divorce. This was my year to not have kids on Fourth of July. And you, without even a breath, you said, well, I know what you're doing. You're coming to Nebraska, and I'm taking you to Fourth of July City. And I was like, hell, yes. Let's do this.
Yeah. I'm from a town of 5,000. I was raised on a farm outside of a town of 5,000, which happens to be Fourth of July City. So for me, it's like, there's no question that's where we go. It's about an hour from where I live now. And it's just like, yeah, you were meant to be there. And just that idea of, like, you had given so much to me, and, like, this is. You had taken such good care of me the whole week, and it was just like, oh, I can take care of you on Fourth of July. Yes.
And then this is what happened when. And like, here's what's crazy is that this week, I was in Washington, Sunday, Monday, helping one of our authors, Jody Moore, channel her book. And then I had a trip planned to Georgia this week, Friday through Monday, to help another one of our J. OA Authors at his farm. And so I had these, like, four days in between, and I was just gonna go home and work, and then I was like, well, I don't have any kids this week. I'm literally gonna sit at home and cry on 4th of July, so I'm coming. And then as we started to talk, I started to share with you. Like, I hate branding. I don't know what colors to choose. Hell, I don't even know what to wear. If anyone were to look at my Instagram videos. I wear white, cream, and black. I don't even. Like, it's the last thing I want to do. I don't want to think about style. I don't want to think about colors. I for sure don't want to think about logos. And if anybody has been to our JOA Publishing website, you must know that I built that, and it shows. And I have been trying to find someone to build me a website and a logo. It has not landed as the right place. The right place. And then as I got to know you and I got to understand what you and your team did, I was like, of course. You're my people. Of course. So then I actually hired Tally Creative to redo my branding, my logo, my website. So we decided that while I was here for 4th of July, we were just going to blitz this in your words. I Love that you call it a blitz. And I just have to say, it has been the greatest relief to me, like, to walk in this morning. Well, last night when we got here, and you're showing me this beautiful building that you have restored, and you're walking me in the hallway and there's a door, and it has my Joan of Arc logo on it, and I just started to cry, like, Because as an entrepreneur, like, and really just my personality in life is like, I have to do everything on my own. Like, I just, you know, I wear so many hats and to just feel like, oh, my gosh, like, they're taking care of the piece that I suck at. But that's, like, really important if I'm going to have the best damn publishing house in the world, it can have a shitty website. And, like, it can't be a logo that I made on Canva in 15 minutes, which, P.S. that's what the logo was. I made it on Canva in 15 minutes. Right. And so just walking in last night and seeing my logo there and you being like, everything is taken care of was like. Like, I don't even know what this feels like to be taken care of. And so that's really what I feel like you are so good at and your team. And then today to walk down in your beautiful conference room and sit down with your team and have them put my website up on this huge screen and just really looking at what you guys created, and it was almost like you guys had gone into my soul and put things together. And I didn't even have to tell you that I loved. It was just a marvelous experience this morning.
And it's funny with branding because you know how we all have our unique gifts, our unique geniuses, and it's like when you live that you don't realize how unique it is. And so I'm someone from the time I was a little girl, like, noticed, like, a texture on someone's sweater or I noticed, like, the way that an different S's curved in different ways. I mean, I remember, like, I would look at a menu and I would. I would. I wouldn't like that there wasn't enough breathing room on the left side. I mean, things I couldn't even put into words as a little kid, but those things were important to me. And then as an adult, you know, then you do. I. I would find words for him about contrast and saturation and all these different, you know, spacing and everything like that, kerning and. And then you get the language for it. But again, it's still hard for me to realize that not everyone sees the world that way.
Right.
And so when you were like, I don't even know the first thing about colors or anything. And to me, I'm like, I see the world in shades and hues. Like, I don't see just blue and red and green. I see, like, a blue with a hint of purple or a blue with a tint or is this matte or metallic or. And so just, like, it's a blessing when people give me the trust and my team the trust, because I do have an amazing team. I mean, sometimes we think of artists as starving artists and we call our team Thriving Artists. Like, we are a team of artists that are actually doing big things with their art and helping companies make millions of dollars with their art. I mean, really. And. And so that idea that you can use this gift to elevate your business, and I think it's often a lie that it's like, it's good enough. My website's good enough. My business cards are good enough. Like, I know this is bad, but, like. And really, when you say that, when someone says, like, it's good enough, what they're really saying is, like, I don't deserve better.
So here's what's interesting. Okay? So I talk a lot about cold plunges, and they're actually my portal. Like, if I go into cold plunge, all of my angels and all of my guides show up with, like, to do lists. So anytime I go on the cold plunge, I receive messages. In May, when kind of my world was once again falling apart, all these different things have been shifting. Partnerships were ending. Like, all this stuff is happening. So I went into the cold plunge, and I went in to receive a message. And when I went in, the message came in, stop having everything be good enough. It was like, stop living like that. This is good enough. That this part is good enough. In my business, this love, it's good enough. No, no more of that shit. Everything gets to be more than enough. So in May, I went to Optimize, which is one of my favorite cold plunge places, and I went into the cold plunge with a broken heart. I had a lot of transitions in business in May. I was feeling really, really stuck. And when I went into the cold plunge, I got a very clear message that said, kira, you're done with good enough. You're done with good enough. Because for so long, I had lived like, this love is good enough. This amount of money is good enough. This partnership is good enough. So when you say Good enough. I think that this is actually a thing that most entrepreneurs live in, which is like, my website's good enough. My business cards are good enough. My Instagram's good enough. But if we're gonna actually go out and be our highest self.
Yeah.
Having the website that matches the energy of who you are, this is what I'm feeling. Like watching the website that you guys created, it was like, that's who I am. Like, this website matches who I am. Whatever I built before was just crappy, but good job, Kira. But also, it was really crappy, and it was like.
And it got to where you are now. Yeah.
But it no longer matches who I am.
Right.
So just, like, honoring you and your team for, like, the extraordinary work, but then also, like, being here, which has been so great, because here we are podcasting in your podcast room. You're gonna be taking some images of me in your photo room. And. And one of my favorite things is that we real time it right now. So it's like, okay, this piece needs to be added to the website. Awesome. So tonight I'm gonna write that, and then your team's gonna put it up tomorrow. So we're just, like, real timing, collapsing time. And one thing I also love that you guys did today, which was you had about 15 different versions of a logo all along your conference table. And I walked around in this circle, and I was able to go, oh, I love that. I don't love that. I love that. I don't love that. And then you were able to take the five that I loved. You're like, okay, we're gonna create it for you. I didn't have to think at all about a logo. You gave me so much content that I was able to go, love it, love it, love it, love it. And then your team's like, great, we're gonna go make the best recipe ever. Oh. Like, I just feel like if more entrepreneurs could have this experience, they would feel so taken care of, but then their brand would match the level of success that they have.
Yeah. And this idea that, you know, a brand is a living, breathing. It needs to evolve right along with you. Everything else does, you know, could you imagine if you bought clothes and then said, For 20 years, I'm never gonna buy another. Another pair of shoes. Like, well, how would that pair of shoes look after 20 years? And so there is stability and all of that, but also, if your brand doesn't fit you anymore, it's okay to build a new brand. It's okay. I know there was money Spent on it. And there is time spent on it. It's amazing. We talked to companies, and everyone in the company individually didn't like the brand, but no one wanted to say it out loud. And then we'll facilitate a meeting, and we'll say, what ties do you have to this brand? And no one likes it, but no one would speak up. And then we'll say, who created this brand? Because everyone assumed that whoever created it is in the room. And then once we realize that no one's even in the room, no one even knows where this came from. As soon as there's no, like, hurt feelings attached, as soon as we're like, so no one knows even where this came from? And we'll say no, Then it's like the bashing begins. But it's like this healing process. And so. So we have to first say, it's okay if it's not serving us anymore to thank it for what it did. Thank your website for what it did. And then it's okay to say, I'm moving on to the next thing, just like you would with a vehicle or shoes or anything else. You don't have to have it forever. And sometimes there's a transitional phase, and we help companies with that, too. But if you don't have a brand that you're radically proud of, you know, it's not serving you.
And if you're an entrepreneur like me, where people would say, what's your website? I say, don't go to my website. Just book a call with me. Which is fine, but it's like, oh, to now be so proud to, like, go to these events and be like, here's my. Like, I don't even have a business card.
Why?
Because I don't want anyone to go to my website. So it's like, wait, what am I even doing?
Right? By the end of the day tomorrow, you have a business card.
Oh, my God, how great is this? And to, like, proudly pass that card out, like, please go look at this website.
Go share it. Send it out. Send the link.
And what I love that you guys did. I mean so much. Everything you've done, I love. But what I love is that you embodied my energy on that website so that anyone who goes to that website is gonna feel different. Like, just going to it is like, oh, I feel different now. Like, what you literally took. The thing that I want more than anything is, like, people's lives to shift just by being in contact with a book or an Instagram post. And now it's like, oh, the website.
Matches and that brand, it's that literally hundred pieces that are all tied together to make your company, to make you who they are. And so we need that. We need. If someone spends an hour on your website and then they meet you, we need them to say like, oh, that matches. That matches. Yes. You know, because you don't want someone to fall in love with a website that isn't you, or vice versa, because that's how trust is broken. You need them to read through the website and then to meet you and say, that's exactly who I thought she would be. Yes.
And really the other end is like, people would meet me and they would fall in love with me and they'd see the website and be like, like, huh, this doesn't really match.
Yeah.
And I love that you bring up the topic of trust. There's a piece that you shared with me and I'm going to have you share with me right now of like, you know, a client, a potential client is going to fall in love with your work, but then they're going to show their website to their partners, their husbands, wives.
Yeah. So often we say like, oh, I'm a great salesperson, or I could sell ISO and Eskimo, or I could I connect with anyone, which is great. That's really important. But you're selling more than just the person you're talking to. Yes. You have to get them to fall in love with you. You have to get them to trust you. You have to get them. But rarely is one person the sole decision maker. So they may have a business partner they're going back to. They may even have an assistant that they're going back to. Even if their assistant's not the decision maker, that assistant has a lot of pull on that person. If all of a sudden they say, are you sure you want to work with this person? Doubt seeks in. They may have a spouse that obviously that's an important person. And so every person. So no matter how much you connect with the person, you have to think about who is in their circle. That could either spark enthusiasm and say, this is a great. I'm glad you found this, or could start saying, like, actually, I know someone else and try to steer them away. So for every person that you're selling, there's probably a circle of five or six people that are secondary. Right. And so the person that meets you is face to face. That's that first one. But you have five more people that the only way they're going to get to know you through your Videos through your photos, through your website, through your business card. And so the magic you have, the power you have, has to go through everything.
It goes back to. I think I had this in one of my recent podcasts where I was praying for a miracle and I was, like, on my bed, like, swearing at the heavens, like, give me the miracle, God. And God was like, you are not the match. Your energy, Kira's not the match for this miracle. So I can't even give it to you because you don't match it. And it's like the same thing is, like, our websites, our brand must match the miracles that we want. And, like, I didn't see that until I met you. And now I am. Like, every author, every author that publishes with us has to work with you. Like, literally. Like, it's like there are gonna be packages that I'm just creating where they. They get to meet with you. You ran our mastermind today, which was amazing because I watched the clarity that came when every author got clear on just some simple questions you asked them. Every one of their videos is gonna be different. Everything they promote is different. Simply. Yeah.
So in the world of branding, sometimes I don't even like to use it, because marketing, branding, advertising, it's all one big, huge mess of everything. And, you know, it's such a broad term. And so I feel like whenever I even talk to people that I'm in branding, people automatically, like, close up and are like. They feel like they're not doing enough. They feel like they don't know everything, which no one knows everything. And even if you knew everything tomorrow, it's different, you know, but just I feel like, you know, the. What I love is seeing that light bulb, seeing this big, enormous tournament of branding simplified in such a way that it's like, okay, if I can change this one thing, like, that's enough. And reminding people, you don't have to do it all. You don't have to be on every social media platform. You don't have to be on. You know, you don't have to do it all. But just whatever you're doing, if you're not proud of it, yeah. It's not serving you.
Oh, I love this. So everybody who's listening, if you are a JOA author, from now on, any new JOA authors who are building their books, you will get a session just to meet with Tally. But then, like, book covers are going to be done here, where. I mean, right now they're working with an author, they already read half his book before they even Started working on his branding for his cover. I mean, it's just the level of intimate connection here and care is, like, unmatched anywhere else. And I'm, like, already ready. Like, how do I fly my authors here to do a full blitz? Because to come here and be able to get everything that's done, I just feel so grateful that our paths have crossed simply. I mean, in business, watching the magic that we're going to create together, but also, like, your heart, your soul, and like, best friends forever. So it's fine. It's so good.
Who knew, you know? But I think that idea of collaboration, and I agree, the idea that you have to do it on your own, that it has to be hard, that it's an uphill battle, you know, that there's a mountain. One of my favorite quotes is, you know, once you realize the mountain you're climbing. There is no mountain. You know, just this idea of, like, it doesn't have to be hard. Like, if it's not in your genius, like, stop. Stop fighting for it. Like, just let it go. And I think when I released this idea of, like, this overwhelming thought of writing a book, and I just gave that to you, and it just happened with such ease. And then when you could release the. The idea of this overwhelming idea of branding, and you can release it to me, and we can both work in our power and just broke together. Like, if we would have tried to do either of these things on our own, like, we would not be where we're at.
No. No.
And so it's this idea of, like, collaboration, but not just collaboration, but, like, fun and joy and laughing. It's not all business. It's not all high heels.
No.
It can be laying in the grass laughing. Like, it's both. What did you say?
It's both and both. And it's silly and successful.
Yeah.
It's powerful and vulnerable.
Yeah.
And that's the thing that I think we both bring to the. Which I really love to highlight, is be all, like, I can be silly as hell, and I can also be bold as hell. Right. Like, I am both. And I feel like we both got to experience that at the adventure. And now that's just how we run business together is, you know, we just went out and talked business, laying out in the sun for 20 minutes. Like, that's how we roll. And, you know, maybe I got fully dressed while you're driving in the car yesterday from the airport.
This is fine.
This is fine. Because this is the thing I want to really share is, like, we have this idea of what it means to be an entrepreneur. And we have this idea of what it means to be an author and what it means to be, whatever it is, a leader in the world that you got to have your shit together and you got to look perfect and you got to do all these things. And it's like. No, actually, the magic is like, you have four kids, I have five kids. We're both running businesses. You think we have everything together. No. But we do have our zone of genius. And when we land in the zone of genius, well, miracles happen. And then when you can connect my genius and then your genius, then we move mountains.
Yeah.
So we're going to end on that magical note. I love to ask my guests before we end, if you want to drop into your heart there's a message for you to share. What would that message be?
I think the message is, there's nothing more you need to do. There's nothing more you need to learn. There's nothing more you need to gain what you. Everything you need is within you. And once we can just open that up and accept that and start living our full life, the sky's the limit. But stop delaying what's there for you because you feel like you're not enough or you feel like you're too much, or you feel like one more seminar or one more book or one more friendship, like you're enough as you are. And if we can make a world where people feel seen and they feel heard for exactly who they are, then there's nothing we won't be able to accomplish because the power is within already.
Ah, there we go. Beautiful way. And I'm going to close out. Let me see, what's the message? All right. The message that I want to end with today is to follow the things that light your soul up. Just follow em. Follow it, create it. Say yes to whatever feels like a holy hell. Yes. Find connections to whatever feels like a holy hell. Yes. And stay in that zone of, like, real divine pleasure, creation and joy. And if people can be there, I mean, the sky's the limit. So that's my message. I want to send everyone off with just, like, my deepest love. Thank you for being on my show and thank you for letting us have it here. And I will see you all on the next episode of. You were born to do this.
