She Rises Live with Leslie Kuster: Giving Women Visibility

Hey everybody, this is Leslie Kuster and we are live on She Rises. We're live to Facebook, to LinkedIn, to YouTube, and my guest who's going to come on right now will also be live to her platforms, which is why I love StreamYard so much and it's so much fun. I am the best-selling author of a new book, 7 Keys to 7 Figures: The Women Entrepreneur's Guide to Money and Freedom, and I'm giving away a free resource list that if you look at the ticker at the bottom, go and grab that. It, it's basically opened up, you know, my Rolodex and took out like the best podcasts and the best books that I've read and coaches that I've worked with and even talking about finances, investments, real estate and all that. So definitely check it out. Today I have like one of my favorite people. I mean, she is a rock star. Her name is Paula Rizzo, and Paula is an Emmy Award-winning television producer. She is an author also of the best-selling book, Listful Thinking, and also Listful Living. She's a media trainer, a speaker. She has a whole learning thing going on on LinkedIn. She's one of their top instructors and she hosts that live. And she also is the teacher and trainer of Media Ready Authors. She works with a lot of authors. So I'm really happy to have Paula on today. She's helped me personally as well in, you know, learning how to do media and how to actually do podcasts and how to do something like we're doing right now. So I'm really excited to have Paula here today. So I'm now going to bring her on. Hey, Paula!

Hello! What a nice intro. Thank you very much. Well, it has been so wonderful to see your journey from just an idea to an author. I mean, we met many, many years ago when it was just a little, a little bud of an idea.

I know, and that's the beautiful thing about life. You have little tiny inspirations, right? Like little things I like to call them like the what-ifs. Like, what if I started a business? Or what if I left that relationship? Or what if— right? And if you follow kind of these like what-ifs and these wonders, it takes you to all kinds of new places. So yes, you and I met at an Ali Brown workshop years ago. You really encouraged me to actually get help. I told you I had an idea, I want to write a book, and you encouraged me to get help with like a type of company that helps you write and edit and all that. And I did it, and I published this year, and you've been so helpful to it. So I, I really wanted you on today, Paula. You are, you are a star when it comes to getting in front of cameras. I mean, you've been on both sides of it. You've been a television producer, which is incredible, and you are always now behind the camera yourself teaching, and you're training other people to get behind the camera. So when I told you I wanted to do this show, She Rises, I, I wanted it to be called She Rises: Giving Women Visibility, because I suffered a lot with fear around visibility, and at the same time, like, wanting to be noticed and wanting to be visible and all that kind of stuff. So can you talk about you know, kind of how you started. You know, you went from television producer to your own thing now as an entrepreneur.

Yeah.

And why you even want to help authors, women, men on being more visible. Why is that something important, would you say?

Oh, it breaks my heart when people say no to media. Uh, you know, there's so many people who I've come across through the years, authors who have amazing wonderful books that could literally change someone's life, but they're too afraid to go on camera, or they're too afraid to do a video, or they're too afraid, you know, and they just say no. And then I always think, think about all the, you know, hundreds— even if it was not even hundreds, thousands, millions of people, or 5 people who could have benefited from that message and didn't get to hear it. And when I was a television producer, you know, I had a very limited amount of time to be able to work with somebody to get them, you know, ready for their 2-minute segment or whatever it was. And I had to say no to a lot of people who were not ready.

And I—

it was unfortunate because, you know, they had great stories, they had great books, but they weren't ready for what I needed them to do. And so they were a no. And so when I decided to start my own business about 6 and a half years ago now, um, I thought, you know, if I could help anybody, authors specifically, but anyone to get out there and to feel less intimidated because the world needs to hear what you have to say. It's a public service. You know, you've written this amazing book and you have all of these great ideas. How will people know about it unless you're its biggest fan? And so, you know, I realize that it, it does take a lot. Not everybody is, you know, geared— especially authors, writers, they're not always geared to be in front of the camera, right? It's not always their first most favorite thing to do, uh, but it really is necessary to able to help people to get out there. And I know from myself, you know, I, I'm an author as well. My, my first book, Listful Thinking, as you mentioned, um, is now 9 years old. It's been around for, for a while. And I know, and it, you know, it's funny because I still, you know, talk to a lot of the people who came to that first book event and who was there from the beginning. And I was still a television producer at the time, so it was sort of the side hustle. And so I know from being an author what it's like to have to go out there and promote your book and to show up to book events where people may or may not show up. And what are you going to say and how are you going to present it? And that's, the world has changed so much now that things are digital and virtual. You can have a virtual book launch like you did. And I did a virtual book launch for my second book, Listful Living. It was in 2019 before people were doing that. And so I sort of have always been the guinea pig for myself. And now I try to do that, give my clients ideas and tips and tricks in that way.

I love that. You know, you said before that it breaks your heart and that often people are just not even ready. They want to do media, but they're not ready. Can you like give examples? Like, what are you talking about? Why does someone have to be ready?

Oh my gosh. Well, if you want to be on TV and you don't look great on camera and you don't have a great setup, it's not going to be a yes. You know, the world has changed so much. It used to be when I was a TV producer, people come into the studio, you know. Um, very rarely do we do remotes like this, you know, something where it was you weren't in the studio. Now it's the norm. So now, you know, producers, especially in television, want to know, are you ready to go as soon as, you know, we say, we say go? Do you have a great setup? Do you have a good microphone? Is your lighting good? Do you have a nice background? Uh, you know, all of those things matter. Can you string together a sentence? You know, uh, that's, that's the most important thing. You don't want someone who's going to get on and go on and on and on when you have a 2-minute segment and they have to get to it quickly. Those are things that you can't teach when you're a producer. You need someone who's ready.

Yeah, I mean, what you just said, you know, with looking right and setting up your camera and lighting and all that stuff, um, sounds really easy, but like my own personal experience of it, it has taken me, I think, a few years to sort of get it. And, and when we, you know, when we were backstage together, Paula, you were like, oh, it looks really good. And I'm like, well, this was not by accident. It actually is because of what you what you taught me. So actually, I think this is a good example to do, looking at my setup right now and the things you teach. Yeah, can you give some feedback or, or point out aspects of it that work or doesn't work?

Yeah, I mean, you always want to have light in front of your face, not behind you, and you obviously are very well lit. I also have a light right in front of me. You want to have some depth between you and the background, which you definitely do. You have a nice background. Your books are there, which is very important for an author, you know, uh, to be able to showcase what what you have there. And, you know, to wear a bright color— obviously the two of us are in bright colors, this is no accident, uh, but this is part of the look, you know. It's— you are part of your, your setup, right? And so you want to definitely stand out and, and have colors that, um, that you look good in and that you feel confident in. If you wear black or you wear white, you know, it doesn't always look so great. And I've had a lot of clients who fight me on it because they like to wear black. I get it. But it sort of drowns out the excitement and it makes it a little bit less exciting to look at. So you definitely want to pick a color. Same for me with my background. I just moved into this apartment and I designed this specifically for these types of calls because I knew, you know, I do media a lot myself as well. But also if I'm teaching people, I need to practice what I preach. I need to be able to show that this is important and it makes a big difference. You know, people see your setup and you look professional right from the get-go. It makes a difference.

Yeah. And what do you think about like fake screens behind you? A lot— I see a lot of people with, um, not the green thing, but like, but like a book background. And it— I can often tell it is fake. What do you think of that?

That's fake. Yeah. I, I always say no. You know, during the pandemic, I think people were very, uh, excited to play around with the features on their, on their computer and on Zoom and all of that. And it was sort of like a fun thing to look like you were in outer space or whatever it was. But it's just, you know, for subject matter experts, it, it's not authentic. We know you're at home, you know, we know you're in a hotel room, like, we get it, right? That it's, it's better to not blur the background and to have a great setup. And you can't always have a great setup, you know, there are times when maybe you're traveling and you're doing the best you possibly can, and that's fine too, as long as you have light in front of you and maybe you have some, you know, something a little bit interesting behind you, um, you know, a plant or something that you can, you can kind of, you know, steal from the lobby or whatever it is, uh, you could work on that. But I would say try to keep your background as authentic as you possibly can, because that's part of this. You know, you want people to, to know, like, and trust you, right? And, and that's part of it. If I don't know what's going on behind you with that blurred background, it just makes me, makes me a little, a little curious.

That's true. That's true. You don't kind of trust it exactly. I was, I was on Zoom with somebody the other day, and he had like this tropical background, and he's going in and out of the pictures. You could really tell that it's completely fake. So It actually made me wonder, like, is his house so bad? Like, is he like a hoarder?

Or like, it's so distracting. It really is. It's like we're not now having a conversation. Now I'm just like wondering what the deal is here.

Yeah, I'm like wondering exactly, like, maybe he's really a slob, right? Or, you know, whatever. So I think that's like a really good point. You know, the first time I ever went on video, I mean, I think I did that. I recorded it. Wasn't even live. Yeah, live. I mean, that's a whole other thing, right? Which is kind of I wanted to do this live, because we're talking about visibility and fear of visibility. But the first time I did a recorded video, I think I recorded it like 10 times, and then maybe took me, I don't know, 2 or 3 days to even post it, right, to a private group of about 10 people. So we're not even talking about to the world. There was like so much fear I had. So let me ask you about fear. Because, you know, I think for most people, even if they're experienced going behind a camera, I think there's always fear involved in it. So you train. How do you— I'm sure that comes up with your clients. So how do you help in that area?

Yeah, it's fear of judgment, fear of, oh, what will people think of me? Oh, you know, imposter syndrome. Am I really the person who should be talking about this? Aren't other people talking about this? You know, Look, I didn't invent lists. I just talk about them more than everybody else. It's fine. Paula Rizzo: I love that. So when you have to take a step back and not take yourself so seriously, right? I mean, there is a reason you decided to put this book together and put it out into the world, and it's to be of service. And so I think when we come back to that idea that you're here to teach somebody something, And if they don't get to see you, they don't get to learn it. And so how dare you keep it from them? It's not about you, it's about them. It's about the people who could be benefiting from this. Wouldn't you have loved something like this? You know, a lot of times people, um, you know, write books because they would have loved the message. They would— they needed it when they were going through whatever it was. And so I always say, you know, wouldn't you have loved to have a guide like this done for you But how would you have known about it if someone didn't tell you? That's your role now. You are the one. It's up to you. And the spotlight is sort of taken off you in a way and put onto the audience. And say, how can I serve them? How can I be helpful to them? Is there one person that I can reach? And a lot of times people will also get intimidated because maybe no one shows up to their live event or no one shows up to their thing. And it almost doesn't matter because that piece of media will live on. Hopefully for a long time, and you'll be able to, you know, repurpose it and to share it with other people and to have your message continue to go on, even if people weren't there right in the very, very beginning. So people get discouraged by that, and I never do. You know, I do a livestream show myself too. Um, sometimes I do it live, sometimes I pre-record it, and I almost never care if anyone shows up live because for me, I'm like, well, I'm gonna share this a million different ways. Somebody will see it.

Yeah, I love that. I actually was at a networking event this morning, and the one of, um, people who are women followers there, she was like, oh, I, I saw that your, your She Rises, and, you know, I was able to see it when you weren't live. And so, yeah, I love that point that, you know, you never know when somebody's going to see it and, and, and that it helps them. And when I was starting on my book, Christine Carlson from Don't Sweat the Small Stuff was one of my editors, and she just said, listen, maybe someone's going to find your book one day in a garage sale, you know, and it's gonna like change their life or give them hope or whatever it's going to be.

So you never know. I mean, almost, you know, my book is almost out 10 years. I still get emails from people.

Wow.

I still— yeah, people still say, oh, I use that book all the time, or I just found it. You know, it's been translated into a lot of different languages. I get emails from people all over the world saying, we just picked it up, we just read it, now I'm doing this. You know, a lot of students, I can, I can, you know, make my list better at school, or I just got into college, or whatever it is. It really, it's a lasting legacy as an author. I mean, it's, it's a privilege to be able to get your work out into the world like that and touch people and, and help them. And you just never know. I mean, there are people who will never tell you that, that they read your book, and you'll never hear about it. But there's a lot out there, um, you know, that, that you're doing. And, and if you're not giving it its best shot, a lot of people will miss it.

Yeah. When, when you say media, like, what does that mean exactly? Is that I mean, television, or what does media mean these days?

It's changed so much. It used to be traditional, you know, it used to be TV, radio, magazines, newspaper. That was it, right? Now, podcasts, uh, you know, uh, you could do your own live stream show. This is media, you know, uh, blogs, anything like that, social media, the things that you do. And it's really important for people, especially authors, to sort of take on the role, I always say, of producer. So think about, how can I be the best producer possible of my own content? How can I take my book or whatever it is that I've done and repurpose that in a different way for a different audience? Because some people will much more likely listen to an interview like this than read the whole book, let's just say. But then they'll like you and they'll say, "Oh, I like that Leslie. She's smart. She's got a lot of good things. I'll buy the book. I like her." That's how it happens. And so you don't know where you'll catch people or how you— how they'll find you, but it's good to be out there and to create and produce your own media. And then you can use that to pitch traditional media, right? So a lot of times I've had where I write an article or I write something, and then I use that to pitch TV and say, hey, look, I could talk about this topic. I wrote a whole article about it. What do you think? And they'll say, okay, cool, you know, that sounds good. So you're really mining a lot of those ideas and those pitches from things that you're already doing. Don't hold it back and say, oh, you know, this is a really good idea. I'll hold this in case I ever get on TV. Don't do that. Just share, share, share. Somebody will see it. Someone will miss it. It'll be at a different time. And you know, it just, as much as you can possibly put out there, do it. And media begets media. As soon as you start to do one thing, then someone hears you on this podcast and they want you on that podcast. It just keeps going from there.

It just keeps going. I love that. And that's, that's the pumping the water kind of thing, that sometimes you just have to pump that water and you don't see anything coming out. Yeah, you know, you know, and then all of a sudden, after many, many, many pumps or days, weeks, or even, even years, for sure, it starts coming out there.

Definitely the abundance, the abundance mindset.

Paula, you made a big pivot. Okay, so you had a job, right? You were a TV producer, you got a paycheck, all that kind of stuff, and you decided to leave, right, and start your own thing and be an entrepreneur, uh, something that takes some guts to do, right, and courage to do. Can you talk a bit about that? What— why did you do that, and how has the journey been for you?

Well, when you and I met, I was just thinking about it, and so it was really— it was a wonderful time to see a woman entrepreneur who was very successful, who had done this herself. You know, we were in a room with a lot of women who had done This. And so, you know, to see those examples and to see what was possible was really important for me. And so that's always stuck with me. You've given me some really great business advice through the years, you know, uh, so I do very much appreciate that. But it's, it's a lot of seeing what's possible, knowing that other people have done this before you, that makes it a little less scary. It's still terrifying, you know, when you first go out on your own, um, but I knew I was ready because I had been building, the book had come out, I was still working in television, and I had been building and building little side hustles on the side and doing speaking engagements and all this other sort of fun stuff. And I always loved my job. I always loved being a producer, but I realized that the thing that sustained me for so long was now holding me back. And so I knew I had to let it go. I didn't want my boss's job. I didn't want the next person's job. I was happy where I was. I enjoyed what I was doing. I was ready for something else. Else. And so when I gave my notice, everyone was like, oh, we wondered when you would go. Like, they all knew, you know.

Interesting.

Wow.

Why is that? Were you bored?

They saw you were bored, or that they saw that I was doing some of the other things? Yeah. I mean, I was already building my brand. I had my— my book had been out at that point by the time I left, maybe 4 years, you know. I had been doing a lot of media, a lot of other stuff besides Yes, I would come to work and do my job, but then they saw after work I was doing all these events and I was hosting things and I was doing a lot of additional things. It just became too much to do all of it really well. And I felt like if I'm going to try this, if I'm going to do it, I need to go. And I knew because I'm good at productivity and list-making, I was like, I will be very organized about how I get things done. I think I'd be really good at working from home. I think I'd be really good at working for myself. And I was right. I really designed it that way. That way.

Yeah, I, I love that. I, I think you and I both really like Excel, which is a little unusual. Not, not detailed-oriented people, right?

I'm always making a spreadsheet for something.

Yes, I love, I love that. Well, you know, it takes, it takes courage, and it isn't always easy, is it, um, being your own boss and creating your own programs and everything else that you're doing?

Yeah.

So what would you say for helping more people become visible in, in terms of You know that when you have your own business, certainly if you're a coach, right, that is something because then you're selling yourself. But even my— me who is selling a product-based business, even I have had to be visible with the product. And certainly now that I have a book out, I've had to be really visible with it. So how can people just kind of start? Like, you have a book coming out, or you're starting to be a coach, or you see all these people on social media doing videos or reels or, or whatever, and you just don't know what to do or, or how to begin, what would you do?

I would make a list.

Of course, of course you would make a list.

I can't help myself, but it's true. I would, I would make a list, um, of all of the questions that I'm most frequently asked. So you're a subject matter expert and people ask you questions. You're a coach, you're whatever, you know, what are the questions that you keep answering again and again? What are those questions? Write those questions down. Now, how do you want to answer those questions? Do you want to write a blog post? Do you want to do a video? Do you want to start a little podcast and do audio? Like, what speaks to you? What would make you do it, right? Not everybody likes to write, and so maybe writing a blog is not the most exciting thing, but some people, you know, maybe they just want to dictate it and say, okay, this is how I'd answer that question, and then that becomes the blog. And so thinking about, could you think of 10 And then just start putting those things out there and see if you get a reaction. You may not, because sometimes the most exciting thing that you're like, this is gonna do it, it's gonna break the internet, people are gonna love it, and you hear nothing. And then the things that you're like, this is like, this was a thing I didn't even want to do, I didn't even, I almost didn't post it, that's the thing that ends up being the thing that people love. So sometimes you can't have a formula for these things, but I think people get stuck on the, what would I talk about? What would I do? How could I contribute? And so that's why I always say, what do people always ask you? What are the questions that you answer the most? Because that you've probably answered a million times, uh, and, and it— other people will have that same question. So it'll be interesting to see how that content can continue on. Um, you know, you had mentioned before that you did a few videos and, uh, you know, did 7, 8, 9 takes takes. That's not unusual. It's what most people do. You know, I worked with a professional TV, you know, anchors and, and reporters. Unless they're live, they're doing things over and over and over again to make sure it's perfect. And these are people who are on camera all the time. So it's not unusual to, to not get it in one take. That's, that's, you know, it's not the way that it usually works. So to do that, to, to practice and to know maybe no one needs to see this video, maybe this is just something I'm doing just to train myself. I mean, I make all my clients do this and they send me the videos and it's just for us. And so nobody else sees them until they're ready.

Yes, yes, I love that. So do you— is there certain— is there a platform these days that you think are really good? Like, you know, you should definitely do this platform, or you should don't bother with this platform, or do all the platforms? Like, do you have any thoughts on that?

It depends. Like, I feel like people are so, um, hard on themselves about not being on everywhere and not doing TikTok and not doing Instagram and not doing, you know— and I'm very much like, what do you like to do? Like, where do you like to hang out? Like, I like to hang out on LinkedIn, you know, and I like Instagram. Am I on the other platforms? Yes, because I've always been, and I just kind of keep doing it. But those are my two favorites. I enjoy it, so I feel like then, then I want to show up there. Um, but it's also important to see who are your, your core listeners, or who are your, you know, your core audience. Where are they? You want to be where they are, right? And so if they're not on Facebook, then, you know, why bother? So really thinking about that. But to take a step back and say What do you actually enjoy? What would you like to engage? And then just do that.

Yeah. And that's how this show happened, because when I was promoting and marketing the book, I was on a lot of podcasts, and I realized that was my— I loved it. I absolutely loved to— it's like being with a girlfriend because I did all women's stuff, just like you and I. And we do this anyway, just get on a call with a friend, get on a Zoom with with a friend and you just talk about business, which is so fun anyway. Yes, being an entrepreneur. And then I thought, well, let me just do that because this is what I really love, and this is how this show actually evolved. Um, and so, yeah, exactly, you have to do something that actually is sort of fun for you as well, then you'll keep doing it, you know.

I mean, look, you, you've done episode after episode, week after week, because you enjoy it, because you like it. If you hated this, it it wouldn't, it wouldn't happen. You know, for someone else, they may like to write. So maybe they would have done an interview and sent me a bunch of questions and said, okay, could you answer these questions and I'll turn it into an article or a blog? And that's fine too. That's— you have to get to know yourself.

Yeah, exactly. I love that. So we're just gonna wrap up now. Um, are you working on anything or anything you want to share with anybody that you're doing and invite them to have a look at what Paula Rizzo's doing these days?

Sure, yes. Well, I do have a freebie. Uh, if you go to paularizzo.com/10q, there is, uh, the 10 questions every author needs to answer in the media so that you'll be able to be prepared. Because the truth is, like, they ask the same kinds of questions all the time, you know. I know this. Um, and so you need to be able to have thought of it. Everyone thinks, oh, I'll be great, I'll be able to talk about my book. You know, I'm working on fiction right now, uh, and the book is with a line editor. So we're in a, you know, I'm pretty far along, uh, and people ask me all the time, what's the book about? And I'm like, you know, I do this for a living and I help other people, and I, I can't do it. I can't tell you what it's about yet. Like, I'm not— I have not formed it in my mind. I understand it's difficult to talk about your book and what you do and all of that. So if you go to paularizzo.com/10q, you can check that out. Yes, at least think it through.

Yeah, and if you didn't catch that, email me at Leslie@lesliekooster.com and I'll, I'll introduce you and give you a link to Paula's, uh, 10 questions that you should ask yourself when you're going to talk to media, basically.

There, yeah, get all set up for it. And of course, you know, check me out on LinkedIn. I have a bunch of productivity courses on LinkedIn Learning. Um, and yeah, that's, that's where I'm gonna be.

Thank you so much, Paula. Yeah, Paula is, uh, an amazing trainer. She really knows this business like backwards and forwards from both sides, from the sides of being a producer, from the side of presenting herself, and from the side of training people to speak with media. So follow her, get on her newsletter. She, she has a fantastic newsletter that I read myself. She's also a reader, like most authors I think are readers. I'm a big reader. She's always talking about about the book she's read and novels she's read and traveling she's done. So it's a really interesting newsletter, so definitely follow her and get on her email list as well. So thank you, Paula. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you everybody for being here at She Rises. If you're interested in being a guest on the show, you can email me at Leslie@lesliekooster.com, and that's where you can go and get the free resource list as well. And I will see you on the She Rises. Bye-bye, everybody.