Episode 029 - A Conversation with Haylee Kalani

This week's guest had a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut until she realized that there was a lot of math involved. And then she moved into her love for curiosity and creativity in a different direction with making music and learning then how to record. But now she helps mission-driven entrepreneurs who are feeling frantic, unfocused, and stuck find their creative outlets and build great content to grow their business. Let's get started with today's episode. Let's welcome Haley Kalani. All right, on this episode I am joined with Haley Kalani. We're gonna be talking about quite a bit of stuff today, but we're also going to be focusing on why you should never say Settle for Less and Learn How to Live Life Like There Is No Tomorrow. Haley, thank you for joining me today.

Thank you so much, Shaun. I'm stoked to be on the show and just have a fun conversation with you.

Yeah, absolutely. And when you booked the show, I checked out your website, a lot of the photos on there, you seem very fun. And then your bio talks about how, you know, when not become, or when, you know, when you found out that becoming an astronaut involved a lot of math, and that first opening line was like, I gotta ask that question initially about, you know, were you seriously considering becoming an astronaut?

Uh, yeah, I was seriously considering becoming an astronaut. That was like my childhood dream, just going out in space. Um, it was so fascinating to me, and then that was pretty short-lived. I've always been interested in, you know, not astrology, astronomy, and space and all that stuff. But as soon as I found out that it's going to require years and years and years of school and lots of knowledge about science and math, I was like, you know what, I don't know if that's exactly the right career path for me. Maybe let's, let's see where else I can dive into different worlds, but maybe in my own head.

Yeah, for sure. And I mean, where are you now? What are you working on? You know, where did this life take you?

Oh my gosh, it took me lots of different directions. So as I was a kid, like I said, I was always really creative. I was very introspective. I liked to think a lot, and that left me a lot of time to come up with crazy ideas. And so I loved a lot of art projects and stuff like that. And as I got older, that channeled into music. I was obsessed with music. I uh, for a period of my life I was in this, um, it was like an organization called the School of Rock. Not the movie, but there's like an actual School of Rock and it teaches kids how to play like cover songs and stuff, and you actually go on stage and perform for people. And so I did that for a period of years, and then throughout high school I was like, you know what, I don't know if I really want to be on stage. I think I want to be behind the scenes. And so I got really into the audio engineering portion of it, the, the creation behind everything before it goes on stage. And so once I fell into that rabbit hole, it kind of clicked. I was like, you know what? I think this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And so I told my parents and I was working towards it. And, you know, junior, senior year is when everybody's saying, hey, where are you going to go to college? What are you going to do? Where are you going to go after you graduate? And I had no idea. But all I knew is I wanted to be in music. So I found this recording studio called Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, Washington. And they had an audio engineering program, like certification program outside their studio. And so my parents made it happen for me. I was super grateful for that. Graduated that program, you know, learned everything I needed to know about audio recording and everything. And eventually after I graduated, they hired me on as sort of an intern audio engineer. And I met so many incredible people. That were so talented but couldn't make a dime off of their music. And that was myself included. I wasn't really making any money, at least not enough to really sustain a fulfilling life. And I was like, that frustrated me and it frustrated me to see other people in that same position. And I just kept thinking, God, if you could just craft either a message or something and put it in front of the right eyes and ears, they would fall in love with your music. They would become fans for life. And that led me into a snowball of this whole social media realm of content creation, all that. And so I actually started out by doing a course online, and I, I was— I fell into social media management. I knew I didn't want to work for anybody else, so I was like, you know what, I'm going to start my own business, I'm going to do freelancing, and I'm going to help people with their socials. And it was cool. I, I, you know, learned a lot in that process. It was a lot of trial and error, but it felt like something was missing. Um, there was something out of alignment and I didn't know what. And I figured out that it was the idea, like the creation portion of the actual content, like everything that goes on inside of the head before it comes to life. And that's when I shifted and put it into more of how do I help somebody become the most creative version of themselves so that when they do create content, it automatically oozes their personality, it clearly explains their brand, and attracts the right people who want to essentially get, get into what they're offering or their music. Or, you know, now I help service-based entrepreneurs, and so giving them their feet wet into this world of helping other people. So, it wound up going full circle and me wanting to help people help more people.

That's very interesting. And you know, a lot of times people have, you know, they know their industry, they know their service field. And when it comes down to, you know, take that knowledge and turn it into content to help grow their business and their personal selves, they they kind of hit that roadblock and I don't know if it's just a mental block that they have or they just don't have the confidence. And so, how do you help people become that highest version of themselves so they can take that and grow not only just professionally but personally?

Yeah, I'm so glad you said that because you're so right. It is this mental block. And even with confidence, it's again, sort of the same thing if it's more so We're blocking our own success, essentially. And what I find is that even though I myself have been always very creative as a kid, I think everybody has a very strong creative side to them. It's just that creativity is a muscle, in my opinion, and it's going to atrophy if you don't use it very often. And so through school, through work, through life, that, that ability to be creative and just almost outlandish sort of gets suppressed. We're like, no, just do what you're told, stay within the lines and, and do all that. And so it's really hard for people to break back out of that and start using their creative muscle again. So the, the main thing that we usually try and figure out is, well, what's within your zone of genius that you're going to feel a little bit more comfortable experimenting with or even playing with. So what I find is that people who are, let's say they are a personal trainer, let's just say, um, so they've got so much knowledge on the physical body and working out and maybe nutrition and all that, and approaching content from a creative standpoint, really creativity isn't necessarily the creation portion, but it's about thinking differently. And so if we can come at it from a perspective of, okay, which platforms first of all are your audience on? You know, get all the ducks in a row that way. And then look at it from a perspective of, okay, how can we take what's already here and just look at it a little bit differently? So if it's a personal trainer and they are— they're specializing in, um, let's say muscle gain and Everybody talks about weight loss, but we'll, we'll flip the script. We'll go muscle gain. And they are talking to people on LinkedIn because they want to help business owners or something. A lot of times we stick to the basics or we stick to, um, what we're really comfortable in. But if we can brainstorm, and the way that I like to teach people how to brainstorm is to actually get bored. And by getting bored, it actually allows our mind to come up with wild, random things. And not always are we going to follow those, those threads, but there are some that usually pop up and we go, oh, that's kind of a good idea. So maybe if we're talking about muscle gain, we can use some props to, to engage the person watching if it's a video. Um, or if it's about muscle gain, maybe we'll talk about it from like the perspective of, I don't know, a grandma wanting to gain more muscle so that she can run around with her grandkids. So something like that. So we can make it relatable to the person watching, but also within the zone of genius of the coach or the service provider or entrepreneur.

So it sounds like you've taken a lot of the experience of where you went from music to then doing the social content creation and then wrapped it into what you're doing now with, with your business, Kalani Consulting. And you've got some programs that you run people through for coaching. Talk us through, you know, that decision of going that route and how you developed or decided that programs, whether it be a half-day or a 90-day program, was the approach you wanted to take.

Yeah, it was a lot of experimentation. I had when I first started and I decided that, okay, instead of managing people, I'm going to coach them and help them transform internally so that they can perform better externally. Um, it started off by just saying, okay, what do people need? Like, what's going to get them the most out of a certain amount of time that we have together? And it started off with a my 90-day program, like a large program that was going to be one-on-one every week. We would meet for an hour. I would give you, for lack of a better word, homework. I know I don't really like that word. Other people might not either. But, you know, some, some stuff to do in between the weeks that way everything is flowing seamlessly. Um, and that's where it started. And then I realized, well, you know, not everybody needs a full 90 days, and I would be limiting the help that I can give to people if I only provided that 90-day program. Um, because it, you know, somebody who's maybe an executive or an entrepreneur who's been doing this for a long time and just needs that extra creative boost. But for somebody who's maybe a freelancer or an actual creator, like an artist of some kind, they might not need that full 90 days. Maybe they need just some clarity, So that brought me down to a half-day training, and I really love these half-day trainings. They're 4 hours and they are jam-packed with what I call my 3 virtues, which are creativity, productivity, and connectivity. And it's really all about how can we harness as much creativity within you as possible and give you the tools that you need to continue practicing these, as well as become super efficient, super productive, so that you're not like scatterbrained each day. I know that for creators and freelancers, sometimes, um, we go with the flow a lot. But when we actually create more structure, more discipline, it allows for more freedom in the long run. And then that connectivity is not only connecting with other people, like through content, through networking, but connection with ourselves. A lot of, you know, what you said earlier with that creative block comes from possibly some limiting beliefs that we have, or the way that we talk about ourselves, or the worth that we feel, about our art. So that's the approach that we take with the half-day training. And then I was like, you know what, there's still one person missing that's getting left out, is just the person that needs the pick-me-up, the person who's like, I just need that next step. I, I'm, I'm stuck and I don't know where to go. I don't know whether to put my right foot in front of the other or the left. And that's when I came up, um, with the 1-hour breakthrough session, um, which is Essentially, what's going on with your life? What's your number one accomplishment that you're trying to take? And let's take a holistic view of the resources that you have currently and how can we leverage those resources to get you to that next step. And then a few practices to repeat that process over and over again until you reach those desires.

Excellent. So, I mean, how long have you been doing this structure?

This specific structure I've been doing for just under— it was like right after quarantine. So, gosh, how long have we been in quarantine? Like 10 months?

Some would argue like 10 years.

Feels like— yeah, it feels like 10 years for sure.

For sure. So, I mean, growing your business and doing this, obviously that was a pivot or, you know, a conscious decision to change that way. Let's talk about how you promote your business. A lot of our listeners, you know, may be in that coaching realm where this is either what they've been doing or this is where they want to go, how do you personally get your name out there and promote yourself?

My go-to is content creation and, and social media marketing is my go-to. I love creating content, which is probably not a surprise now that people know what I do, um, but videos and putting together Okay, how, how, what are the common— everybody calls them pain points, I call them situations. I think that there are situations that give us a little bit of pain, and that's why we call them pain points. But to me, if something's in pain, it in my mind feels like something's wrong. And I don't think anything is ever wrong. I think that we're just looking at it from a perspective where maybe there's a veil in front of us and it's kind of hard to see the other side.. And so for me, it's about talking about those situations and providing either examples, demonstrations, or tips and advice of how to remove yourself from those situations or make those situations work in your favor. Um, so I'll give an example. Like I said, creativity, productivity, and connectivity are my 3 virtues that I go through. Um, and so if I'm talking about creativity, maybe I'll put a post out there that says, hey, if you're struggling with a creative block, get bored. What do I mean by that? I mean XYZ. And then I'll go through how to actually get bored, why that's important, and really just providing a lot of value. So I, I, the strategy that I use for my content marketing is educational, uh, if you will, um, informational and value-based from a perspective of, hey, you can actually take what I taught in this video or in this post and use it. You can tangibly implement it into your life and see if it works for you.

That's great advice. Now, I mean, being obviously in that, that, that world of creating content, doing it for years, what are some tips you can give people on, you know, who haven't created content before and they're trying to get into promoting themselves online? I know the pandemic has, has forced people to to promote themselves online a lot more, move their business more electronically to that space. What would be really some tips you can give somebody that's kind of making that leap?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. First, acknowledging that getting into something that you've never done before is a big scary thing. And for a lot of people, it's, it's like I said, it's scary. There's a lot of fear behind that and there's a lot of questions. Like, well, where do I even start? What am I going to talk about? What equipment do I need? And where I first like to bring attention to is if you've got an iPhone, you can create content, um, or, or any smartphone for that matter. Like, you've got a good enough camera and a good enough microphone right there. And then I lead them to the idea of, well, what do you want to talk about? And I'll usually have them write out a, a huge list, like a brainstorming list of all the things that they enjoy that are in their zone of genius, all of that. And then we pare it down and say, okay, well, within this bubble of stuff, what is actually going to apply to your ideal client or ideal community or ideal customer? And then from that bubble, it. Becomes, okay, cool, now that we've got the ideas set in place, what do we feel most comfortable testing out? For some people, they have no problem getting on a video for the first time and just trying it, talking to the camera. But I know for a lot of other people, getting on camera is not comfortable and they've never done it before, and so they might feel a little awkward and then it'll show in that video. So I usually say, okay, well, if If you're not super comfortable with video, start with a medium of content creation that you are comfortable with. Maybe it's written, maybe it's audio, maybe it's pictures, uh, anything really. And then starting there and crafting those ideas. Uh, a lot of the time, if it is video or if it is audio, translating the idea to the actual verbiage can be a difficult task. So a tip that I would say is frame it as a question, as if somebody was asking you a question, and then you're able to sort of riff off and answer it, so to speak.

Absolutely. Now, one of the things that stood out to me in the way that you present yourself, mostly on your website, because that's really what I've been checking, is it feels like your personality comes across in your messaging really well, from the images to the just the way that you word things on your website. And one specific thing that I'm gonna point out here, and obviously it's a podcast and nobody can see this yet unless they go to the website, is the way that you get initial people to communicate with you was booking this pitch-free conversation. And a lot of times anybody that's in the consulting world and they're building websites, they have, you know, book a consult or a free consult. And I mean, I'm guilty of that as well. But the fact that you have pitch-free in there breaking down that barrier You know what, what was it about choosing that wording or taking that approach that made you do it that way?

You know, it's funny that you mentioned that. I, 'cause that was something when I was doing my website and other socials where I really, the goal of the conversation was never to pitch them. And it is just that, a conversation so that we can figure out if this is the right direction for you. And if it's not, that's okay. Let's point you in another direction or somebody else. And so I really wanted to make that clear. And I was scrolling through LinkedIn one day, um, and I saw— I'm trying to think of his name. I'll have to send it to you so you can put it in the show notes. But he actually said, um, a note— it was a creator that said a no-pitch conversation, book a no-pitch conversation. And I thought, huh, interesting. Like, that's great because it sets up automatically Oh cool, I'm not going to have to be sold to on this call. It's just a purely value-based call. And I loved that. And so I essentially borrowed it or stole it and remixed it a little bit to Pitch Free. Um, because so often, like on all socials and emails, maybe even you get calls, we're just constantly like bombarded with people trying to pitch us stuff when they don't even know if it's going to work. They don't even know like our whole story. And so, that's where that came from as far as making sure that it was clear that it was a pitch-free conversation.

I love that idea. And you know, for years, you know, I'd follow Frank Kern as one of the content creators. And he's just, he always said a line that stood out to me is, you know, the best way to prove to somebody that you can help them is by actually helping them. And I mean, to get in a conversation where they know, you know, there's not like a program that you're going to push on them at the end or, you know, have to buy a product or even just hold back, you know, information until they become a client. Really, it's just, it's like two people just sitting down for coffee and just talking about life and that, that if you provide them the value, you know, they're probably going to say, hey, you know, what's the next step? Like, could we work together?, right?

Let them sell themselves to you, right? Yeah, exactly, exactly. And, and most often that's what happens, right? And, and sometimes it'll be a conversation and we'll get to chatting and we'll find out, oh, you know what, I don't think this is actually the best fit for you. And I think that it's so common with people who have to, you know, sell over the phone, like sell themselves essentially, where the coaches or service providers, where we get tripped up Um, maybe it's a money mindset thing and we're like, oh, I got, I got to get them on as a client. And maybe from the outside, as you look at their socials or they come in as a lead and you're like, oh yeah, they would be a perfect client. But then throughout the conversation, maybe you find yourself being like, ugh, trying to, trying to fit them into your program rather than it naturally being a fit. And when that happens, I, I've learned the hard way of like, no, no, no, no, no. If, if they're not a fit and they do wind up in your program, either they're going to regret it or you're going to regret it, or both, because maybe they aren't as inclined to actually do the things that you're teaching them, or maybe they just don't have all the certain tools in place or ducks in a row that they would need in order to really maximize the results that you're trying to provide.

Absolutely. And one of the things that I've found when talking to, to the people that I work with consistently year over year is you really get to know them as a person. And that's where when I look back on what makes a great client, it's those people that you can relate to and you can connect with. And when you're going into a consultation that is focused on selling at the end, that's what you're focused— you're not focused on getting to know them. But this approach, if it's about getting to know them, you can feel whether there's a connection there or not. And you can go on your intuition. One of our guests in I think 2 episodes back, we were talking just about that is about intuition. And just following that what we would call our gut instinct that maybe this isn't a right fit. And no is probably one of the most powerful words in sales, right? To know that they're not a fit. It's not a— I don't think it's an insult on them. It's not an insult on you. It's just that, you know, it's not either the right time and maybe you can always direct them somewhere else. And that's one of the things that I've put in my business is I don't ever want to leave somebody go without giving them something of value in there. So either it's like, here's some things you should work on until you're ready, or here's somebody I can recommend to you that way.

Yeah, exactly. And you'll know when it's the right fit too. Like you said, it's that gut feeling. Or your intuition, and it just feels right. And usually I would say 9.5 times out of 10, if it feels right, it is right, and they do wind up becoming a client.

Absolutely. So your website is hkalaniconsulting.com. We'll put it in the website. And obviously people can book that, that pitch-free conversation. And there's also on there, if I can find it, I was scrolling by it there.

This get a complimentary lifestyle look just before we go explain what that is just a bit. Yeah, it's very similar to that, that pitch-free conversation where we just kind of talk about what your life looks like currently, business and just your personal life and how we can make it a little bit more efficient for you, have it flow a bit easier. So if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed, maybe through work, and it's taking a toll on your personal life. Maybe you feel more drained at the end of the day. Maybe you just don't have as much energy to, to give to other people, whether it's your partner or your kids or whatever. We just look at that and say, okay, what are a couple of things that we can tweak? Or what's something that you haven't tried before that might actually aid in you feeling more energized, more aligned, more productive? And so that's what that lifestyle look is like.

Excellent. Well, Haley, thank you so much for talking with us today and sharing your journey with our listeners. And I know I've got a lot of value out of the way that you have formulated your, your business and taking those learnings along with it.

So again, thank you so much. Yeah, thank you, Shaun. I really appreciate it. Had a good time.