EP364: Making the most of all the options with Surbhi Dedhia (SX Enneagram 7)

Once you know your Enneagram type, you got to know what to do with it. And today's episode is all about taking that information and integrating it and leveraging who you are to be the ultimate leader in your life. And today's conversation is a beautiful one I had with my new friend Serbi Didia and she is an enneagram7. You know, the enthusiastic visionary and is multi passionate. Serbi is a woman wearing multiple hats just like the Enneagram Sevens do. She's an earnest entrepreneur, a mom, a fellow podcaster. Through her rich experience in digital marketing and communication, she brings a specialized approach to digital marketing to enable businesses unlock their marketing roi. She is the founder of Digital Genie, a boutique marketing consulting company. Digital Genie supports businesses with solutions that help them strategically to boost their digital marketing efforts. During COVID and the Pandemic, she also founded jotmybio.com, which we talk about in this episode. A Done for you Personal Bio Writing service. It's incredible. Jot My Bio assists entrepreneurs and executives to position themselves smartly in the digital landscape through a well written bio. She also hosts the Making of a Thought Leader podcast with an aim to encourage entrepreneurs to step up and build their thought leadership in their niche systematically. Her past work experience with global consulting companies has helped her build belly to belly to marketing efforts with a strong content foundation. This experience influences her even today to build solid brand narratives that engage client audiences, clients, audiences, sustainability. She is remarkable. She is remarkable and you guys love when I bring people on and you can hear how somebody uses the gifts of their Enneagram type and also understanding, you know, the blind spots between or behind who they are to accelerate the transformation and make impact out in the world. So dive right in with me with Serbi Dea.

Okay, I know you may have heard about the Enneagram or someone told you you need to know all about it. So here you are. But what the hell do you do with it?

Great news.

You are in the right place. Lead with the Enneagram is the show where you will actually learn how to use this incredible growth tool and apply it in all areas of your life, personally and professionally. Hi, I'm Tracy and to be honest with you, I was a skeptic of the Enneagram before I started to actually integrate it into my life. In fact, in true enneagram 8 style, I told my therapist to f off when she wanted me to dive into it well over a decade ago. Now that I have more than a decade of experience using the Enneagram and working on myself in my family, with those closest to me, building my own bulletproof leadership. Sales teams with one on one clients, couples, leading workshops for top Fortune 100 executives, and speaking to large audiences all across the globe about this powerful tool. I've got the proof and deep understanding of how to help you implement this into your life instead of it just being some fun thing you heard about. The Enneagram can be a complex model, but with me as your guide, I will show you how to first lead yourself in a powerful, effective, and compassionate way, and then help you lead others that way in your life as well. This podcast will have powerful conversations with guests, live typing sessions, as well as solo episodes of Breaking down dynamics of the Enneagram and how they impact your life, career, and relationships. So now let's dive in.

You guys are in for a treat today because your favorite episodes that I do are interviews with people. And today I'm bringing you Serbi Dadia.

Hello.

Enjoy.

Yay.

I'm so glad you're here.

Thank you, Tracy, for having me on your show. Absolutely exciting time for me.

So we have another enneagram 7 in the house, you guys. And when I first chatted with her, did we think you were a nine?

Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. Yes, nine came up. Because I said, I mean, I just assumed that I taken this test, Enneagram test years ago, and I kept on thinking that I know I'm after five, somewhere after five. So I. I decided it should be nine. And I just told, I'm nine.

So nines have this beautiful calming energy, which you absolutely do have. Like, I can feel like this, this wisdom and this non judgmental and inclusive kind of energy about you, but the more I got to talk to you, I was like, I don't know if you're a nine, you know, because for, for entrepreneurs, it can be challenging if you're a nine, because that, that need for harmony. So, so as we dove a little deeper and we got you typed properly, it turns out you, my dear, are an enneagram7. So when you got that and you were faced with, okay, I'm an enneagram7, the enthusiastic visionary, what was your first thoughts and your first, like, yay, I am a seven, or oh, no, I'm a seven.

It was clearly, yay, I'm a seven.

I mean, undoubtedly. Yeah, undoubtedly. The word enthusiastic kind of completely resonated with me. And as, as, as I was reading the characteristics and all of that, I'm like, yes, this is me. Yes, this is me. So every other sentence I'M like, exactly. I agree. Absolutely. So I was in complete resonation with, like, what was written in the. In. In the feedback and the characteristics of seven. Absolutely. So it was yay, yay, yay all the way. And then until I went to the cons, and I'm like, that's. Isn't that true? Yeah, that's also very true.

Yeah. That's what I love about the Enneagram is, like, we see what our superpowers are, but those same superpowers can be the very thing that trips us up or frustrates us sometimes. And. And I want to talk about, like, being a seven as a mom and an entrepreneur and a wife. Like, for a seven, you don't ever want to, like, have options not available to you. And all three of those things. Although amazing, right? I love being a mom. I love being a partner. I love, you know, being an entrepreneur. But as a seven, you want to do everything and you want to know that all options are available to you. So where have you had to reframe, like, not over yes. Ing yourself, where you either burn out or you get really angry when you feel like you're being boxed in?

Yeah. So the first episode, I mean, I think during my corporate experience as well, when I was working in. In a company and, you know, I was an employee those days also, I would have felt that. But I think the more clear, clear episode of it came through when, you know, I'm now running a business, I'm in a new country, I'm a mom to very young kids, and my partner, my husband, is traveling extensively, so he. I can't count on him for help or for support. So. And just like you said, like, I wanted all my options open. So that was a time when I was, like, getting a lot of projects on hand. And also at the same time, we were in a new country without a car. So it was like there was just so many doors that kind of kept closing on me, meaning I had to be there so as to take my kids to the school. I had to be there. So I am back in time for their bedtime. I had to be there to cook meals. So everything was on me. And it just suddenly felt so overwhelming because, you know, I felt like I was not achieving. I mean, I would have done, like, even more work, like, in terms of efficiency and productivity. I would be really at the extreme of it, but I would internally feel that I didn't achieve anything today, and that would, like, just take me down this place of very dark attitude and frustration. And that I would feel like I'm just not doing anything good.

So when an enneagram7 feels like the walls are kind of coming in on them and they're not doing and they're not like moving really like sevens love to move at a really fast pace. Sometimes this happy go lucky. Anything's possible. All of a sudden you start to become like a perfectionist. Do you have that come up? Especially when you feel like, like there's all this pressure and you're. You're boxed in. Do you feel like that perfectionist comes out in you?

Oh, yeah. Oh y much so that, you know, I become very snappy. I feel like the homework has to be done on time. If you're invited to an party, we need to get there on the time. We can't be late. We can't afford to not show up on time. I mean, you know, in the place that I am in right now, the culture is like, if you show up even an hour late, people will be fine, you know. But it's just that who I was becoming was like so different than what my natural style. And I felt like I was stepping on everyone's shoes. Like I would be even when my partner came, showed up after the week long travel, I would be like, okay, now it's okay if you're jet lagged or whatever, but we have just ton of things to do. We have to still get the sofa set and we have to still get this. And I would be just so inconsiderate at that time. And I would also step back and think, oh my God, I'm not this, but why am I behaving like this? Like, it was just so baffling.

Right? I know that like for yourself, it's almost like you're outside of yourself saying, like, this is not who I am. And it's really frustrating. And that being said, the enthusiastic visionary, the enneagram7. We all love. People love being around you because your energy is infectious. You make fun and exciting things. Like you make everything exciting, even the boring stuff. You bring this enthusiasm to it that when you're having an off day, a lot of times the people that we love, the people that we lead are like, we don't like when you're like this. And then it almost frustrates you even more because it's like, don't I get it. Get to have a frustrating day too. Do you ever have that happen that people are so used to you being so positive that when you are having an off moment or you're Human and frustrated. That does it set you off even more?

Yeah, it sets me off. That's absolutely true. And I think the people around me at that time and that episode of walls closing in on me and I was boxed. They just didn't know what to do with me. They would be like, they themselves were so baffled as much as I was. Right. Like, why am I becoming this person? And then, you know, you try to find reasons because.

You know, you don't.

Want to be there.

Exactly. So you are like, oh, I think it's just the weather. Oh, I'm coming down with something odd in the classic example would be like, I had just so much work that it's. It's just mind numbing. And actually it was not so much work. It was just that my doors, the options that you said were not available to me to do much more.

So the gift of an enneagram 7 is the ability to reframe and pivot right into something positive. Right? That is your gift for sure. And it's what makes you a very successful entrepreneur. And when Covid hit and all the things. But that seven same ability to reframe is also, if you're not careful, an avoidance strategy. Do you ever have those moments where you're like, am I reframing because I want to avoid a hard feeling or frustrating thing, or am I reframing because that's my gift? Do you ever have that like fork in the road moment where you're like, okay, which is this right now. And are you able to be completely, radically honest with yourself when that's happening?

Well, a lot of times this has happened, but I think I'm aware more after I have started talking to you and we've gone through this whole, you know, enneagram understanding. I think I was mentioning earlier the ability to let go, right? Like just, it's okay. Don't hold on to it also kind of comes plays a part its part when I'm at. At that fork. And a lot of times in the past I would beat myself up for overly binging TV when I had to. Actually, I could use the time to read a book. I love painting and I, as an annual goal, I would say that I would do like three or four paintings, right? Like I would just as. As a. As a goal for myself to achieve in a year. And I don't do that. And it's frustrating. But at the same time I would be like beating myself up saying that, oh, I. I unnecessarily took that afternoon nap. I could have at least begun that painting or done something. So now that letting go has helped me to kind of say it's okay, I'm not going to be able to achieve like all that I set out for. But if I do at least 50%, I'm able to, I think recover myself from not beating myself up. Something like that. Yeah.

When I am talking to sevens that I love, I love so many. They're. Sevens are my greatest teachers for sure. You know, knowing and letting them know you're going to do all the things, I have no doubt if anybody's going to do all the things, it's you. And like, let's pick a few right now that we can like just crush and, and give you the choices and freedom that you desire by having some hyper focus right now. I want to talk about six years ago, you know, because I think, you know, six years ago the, the world wasn't as weird as it is right now. But a lot of people are faced with this decision like they're at the fork in the road. Do I become an entrepreneur? Do I stay here? Do I do this? Can I be a mom and an entrepreneur and a partner? And six years ago, I love this story about you leaving corporate. You were a global marketing director. Right. And they wanted to switch your position.

That's right.

To operations.

Right.

Like worst case scenario for an enneagram 7. Like seriously, like the marketing is the creative and like outside the box thinking and then systems and framework. Even though I know you can do that, like the thought of being operations and all of that, you were faced with a decision, do I do that and go into that box or do I bet on myself and pivot, tell that story of how that came. Because I know there's a lot of people listening right now that they're in that position. Do they go for the security of a job that is a sure thing, at least for now, or do they bet on themselves?

So I didn't look at it as a bet on myself really. It was more about.

You know, let's just give myself a little bit of break. I had just had the second child and you know, I, I felt like, oh, we are moving to a new country and we are going to settle in this space where my first child is also under 5 and the second one. So let's just kind of, you know, have the time availability to kind of find our feet in this new place. The culture is different, the systems are different. The we had, we barely had any family or friends who, you know, we are not going into an existing support system where they would say that, okay, yeah, you welcome in, keep your kids with us and figure, go figure the world out. No, that was not possible for us. So. So it was more of a team decision, if you will, like, you know, between me and my husband. And he said, okay, look, he had a great opportunity. You go, go and achieve all that you are set out to do. And while I will take a step back and I will figure the other part of the story. But very quickly, what happened was we also, we found a support system in terms of a nanny and all of that was figureoutable rather. And then I was at an individual level, at the fork of saying that, okay, what do I do now? Because I thought I'm going to rest, but now I have a lot more options available. The rest is not something that I'm excited about anymore. So what I did then was I got in touch with my contacts from the past and then they were very excited to have me support them with whatever little projects as they used to call, like, okay, do this project for me, do that project for me. But while doing all this, I'm not still thinking that I'm going to be an entrepreneur. I'm not approaching this whole accessing the projects, accessing the corporate, with the mentality that I'm actually an outside vendor and a consultant. And I can actually think of it as in, you know, my business. Right. I'm not, I'm not really still investing in like a website and all of that until things changed again for me and I was at a fork where I had a great offer on my desk in terms of a job offer. And then also at the same time I had this company who I was working with as.

On Demand cmo. Right. Like every, every quarter or so, I would go into the company and, you know, we would discuss the strategy and what they could do next. So it was such a nice thing to kind of go in, go be out, but yet go in and kind of, you know, able to do all that I was doing as a global marketing director and things here. Like I was in Singapore before, so it's very advanced in terms of marketing. Think tech adoption, automation and all of that. Here it was not as much. So the offer that I had was like really bringing me down five years, six years back and then, you know, be able to all of that. So there was a lot of decision making there at that time. It was very attractive offer, obviously secured salary checks and everything. But at the same time, I was in On Demand. So again, I didn't have the foresight that, oh, Covid is going to come and everything's going to fall flat again. But yeah, it was, it was nice to kind of bet on myself at that moment and say, let me just take this chance. It's not that I'm, you know, right now we are struggling with like, you know, other, other areas like food basics were taken care of really, so I didn't have to think about, okay, who's going to pay the school fees or where we are going to get the funds to do these, these things. So it was really easy for me to think that, say that, okay, look, I'm just going to bet on myself. I'm going to become an on demand cmo. I'm going to put this initial capital to get all these processes started, you know, the, the whole setup of a business and then we'll see what happens next. And if at all I don't succeed in a month, in a year or so, I always have the corporates to go back to. Little did I realize that not only in one year, two years, time is going to suck me into this whole entrepreneurial world so much, it is also going to push me out immediately because Covid happened and all the retainer engagements and all that built up towards the referrals that I had to do other projects kind of fell flat. So it was, that was a fork which kind of completely took me by surprise. And I'm a seven. I wanted options. I didn't have any options. I don't have the job of. No, nobody was hiring at that time. Everybody in fact was being furloughed and all of that. And then came in, you know, different requests. Like I had this friend's daughter who was applying into a university and she says, hey, I want to write my personal statement. Will you help me? And you know, that one thing became another. Some friends in Singapore and in Asia, they were furloughed and then I had to actually, they realized they were not on LinkedIn. And that's how I told them, go build your personal brand in this downtime. Put things on LinkedIn. All the projects, all the things that you've done, maybe that will help you kind of, you know, build up your own thought leadership, thought power. And then they were like, oh, that's a great idea. What Will you help me? And I said, no, do put up your LinkedIn and all of that. And I, they're like, you know what? It's so difficult to write about myself. Will you help me with that as well? And I'm like, okay, I have done this, I have done with so many people, entrepreneurs here, as well as a part of my engagements with them that I would start with, you know, okay, let's put up your profile, let's do put yourself on digital landscape. And that's where Jot my bio came about. And it kind of led to more options for me. Jot my bio was like such a, it was like the shortest business that I have ever set up. Like it was an idea that just popped up and in next 24 hours I had a website running, I had like the payment gateway set up everything. And I, I was just amazed at how digitally efficient this was. Right. Like I didn't have to go to a bank to open an account or set up the license and.

Right.

You know, things are very physical here. I mean just for the perspective of people who don't know it, like in UAE still there are a lot of things which are physical. Like you got to show up and go from one office to another to another to kind of get things done. And this one was like, it's a, it's a productized service firstly. So it's just I, I was expecting people to go online and pay me money before I could do deliver a service. So that was the basic need for that website side and the gateway. So it was like really that fast. But coming from a marketing communications background.

Sometimes you know, you have those innate skills built up in you. Like you've done this so many times for other people that if somebody says okay, can you just write a copy for website, like just put on homepage, couple of other page describing. And it was just that it was like in 24 hours I had entire setup done and then the next things I had to just really do was to talk to give this to the people that were requesting me for the service. So that part was like a given already. But I think then also people started knowing that oh, there is something like this available.

You know, did you ever have the moment? Because as a seven, you, you want to make sure that you always have options available to you. So when you're deciding what the structure, the framework, your personal brand is going to look like, do you ever have the moment where like I don't want to be locked into something that I can't pivot out of or change up at any moment without blowing up my business. Do you ever have those moments decide.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, all the time. I mean I think it's also a process of who you are around. So now When I took all these projects, I had to become an entrepreneur. So before COVID as, as I was doing all these retainer engagements, like an on demand CMO and all of these projects, they kind of put me in a circle of entrepreneurs. And I saw how they were charged. I saw what put them down. I saw what were their basic challenges. They really were lonely at the top and they were only chasing. Most of these business owners would think that I just need to make the revenue for the next month or the next quarter. They were just so much in the sales cycle that they had not taken the time to tell their story. And when I would speak to them, and most of the times they would say that, okay, please can you automate my campaigns? I want to start a newsletter. Can you help me? I want to do like, you know, website, rebrand. Would you help me? So these are the kind of projects that I was doing. And it kind of occurred to me that being an entrepreneur is obviously going to allow me to do a lot more because I wanted to be at home at certain time. I wanted to be there for my kids. I wanted to do my personal projects like painting and all of that. But at the same time I realized that, yeah, do I commit to. Am I committing too much? Then I won't be able to get out of it. So. So, yeah, those thoughts did come. But I kind of have seen other people. So those experiences also guide you that, okay, it's not all that bad. It's. If anything, in corporate, possibly you are more boxed than as an entrepreneur.

So as a mom, how do you find harmony? I don't love the word balance because, like, seriously, one little thing can throw everything off balance. But how do you find the harmony and your internal joy boy? Being able to do and be and excel as an entrepreneur, but also being a present, tactical, active, nurturing mom at the same time, how do you find that harmony as a seven, especially when you want to do all of it?

Yeah, it is.

I think that's one area that you are like constantly working on. Especially in my case because as you said, I do a lot of things. So not only do I have a podcast, I have these two other businesses that I work on. Plus I have kids in different grades now and in different systems, different genders even. So I have to balance that plus.

Plus different Enneagram types, I'm sure.

I'm sure. Oh, yes, yes. I'm very curious to find out now that what Enneagram types they are really. And also then, you know, as a super achiever, you want to like have like a personal blog or you are, you know, running like community service event. I, I, I kind of host a lot of these things, you know, like community picnics and getting people together and all because those things give me so much joy. It kind of. What about your personal health? Right. Like you are and you know, as, as we grow, you know, need to really, really take care of your bodies and all of that. So there's just so many balls to really juggle. But I think sometimes it's just, and, and harmony is something that I, I'm so glad that you're using this word actually. It's such a nice word. So it is like a rhythm, you know, sometimes you just kind of have to put things in a routine and things go in a rhythm, sometimes things don't. And you know, survey of like 10 years back or 6 years back would be like really flustered when they don't get in rhythm. But now I have learned to let it go because all these life experiences teach you that where you need to let go, where you need to control, where you need to reframe, you know, those kind of things. And some bit of self work has helped me kind of figure, I mean, not figure things. I, I don't say I've completely figured it out, but it's like always like a try and an error and try and an error. You learn and you, you know, kind of learn and unlearn also sometimes because things that work like two, three years ago don't work anymore because business is different or kids have grown up, their needs are different. So yeah, it's, it's quite evolved.

Right.

Sorry, what?

And we've evolved?

Oh yeah, we've evolved. Yes, yes. So it's, it's kind of work in progress all the time. But I think if, yeah, my personal thinking is that if you achieve at least 50 of it, don't beat up yourselves because as women, as mothers, we are always so we hold ourselves to such high standards. But the rest of them are not literally looking up to that. Like, for example, like my son will expect me to sleep, put him to bed every day and be there with him to see him, say good night or read a book with him before I put him to bed and all of that. That's like a lot. It's a very high maintenance challenge. But at the same time, if, if I have spent like a good one hour or if I even eat dinner with him or you know, kind of do one activity, then I, I have like this check and balance And I would say that, look, I will tell him also, I'll communicate him also that, look, mama has helped you with all this, or Mama was here when we did this and today we have achieved so many things. So now I think, you bet you go help yourself, put yourself to sleep on your own. Because, see, for example, today I'm on a call with you, it's late evening. And today we, in the, in the previous hours, we have found time to do some things together. And he's happy, I'm happy. So sometimes it all ticks. Right? But sometimes on a very busy day, I wouldn't be able to spend time and I don't want to beat myself up for that. I said, okay. Even if 50% of the time I'm doing this, it's okay.

Yeah, Yeah. I think when, like, this is something that sevens can do really well. When you do anything, you're like all in and very excited and compartmentalizing that and, and knowing, like, listen, I'm. If I'm trying to spin all the plates and juggle all the balls, I'm not going to do anything. Great. And then I won't be happy. Right. So being very focused when you're in doing those things and when you're very focused doing entrepreneurial things, when you're very focused being a wife and things like that, I think sevens, when they can really figure that out and not do all of it all at once, that's where they do find that, that flow and that joy and that excitement for the surrender and for the letting go part.

That's right. And it has come in a hard way for me. It's not, I was not always this person who's calm.

Certain things, you know, kind of hit you at certain times in life and then you kind of. Yeah, I think my, my key lesson for myself is like, you know, there is always a lesson in some things. So kind of be vigilant, like, be aware of this is a lesson. So I would like, want to emulate all these other moms who kind of seem to have everything in control. Like, they have great Instagram profile, they have great value, very well dressed kids, and they are themselves very well dressed. When we, I would like be thinking, how are they able to do all of this? Like, how, how on earth? Like, do they have more. Yeah, but you know, if you look at yourself and your realities, then you want to just pick and choose. And as I said, my benchmark is really the bare minimum 50. If you're doing it great. Like, if. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to just go on the hamster wheel beating myself on doing thousands of things. And frankly, you know, we forget to live because we are always in the rut of doing things. And one of the things that I feel like I've realized, I think probably in the mid-40s, you know, that midlife crisis hits you, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I want to live now. I just don't want to go, what's all this for?

Right? What's all this for? I want to talk about your podcast, because it's a great podcast. It's called the Making of a Thought Leader.

Why did you start that and who's that for? Why should they listen? I know why they should listen, but I want to hear why.

All right. They should listen. Thank you. So Making of a Thought leader again. It started as, as a, it was not that I was running out of options at that point. Actually, I had before starting my own podcast, I've helped like, few podcasts in UAE startup, right? They start, like, I assisted them to think through because most of my work is with entrepreneurs and business owners. And, and a lot of times, as I was saying that they would put in, they would be on such a cycle to say, what is the sales and what are we doing next month? And the strategies and all of that. And I realized that only if they share what they know about their line of work, it will open so many doors for the sales teams. Because when the sales people are going out in the field to, to interact with the customers, they, they are not. They're of course, looking at your company, brand and website. And there is always this marketing works in the background. But if a CEO or the owner actually says something about the industry or starts sharing on a regular basis, it suddenly kind of builds that distrust and this interest that gets very engaging. And finally it kind of enhances itself into.

This, this cycle of like, okay, the salesman, the salesperson is talking to them. They have already that trust and all of that. So, you know, it, it opens the doors basically for sales people. So I realized that this was happening. And one of my biggest, when I, as a marketeer, I would talk to these business owners, I, I, one of my message to them would be, talk about yourselves, put yourself on the digital map, do more of this, less of that. Because finally, influence is the currency today. And I mean, this was like in 2017 onwards, right? So the podcast that I have helped people set up is from that time. And I used to do a lot of webinars when I was in corporate world. And remember I was in Asia and now in the Middle East. So in Asia and Middle east, podcast phenomena came in much later than in the US So that frame of reference is that webinars were big in corporate world. And then I realized when I worked with CEOs, they didn't have, sorry business owners, they didn't have the pocket deep pockets to keep running these webinars on expensive platform. And so once I set it up and I saw the beauty of it, the kind of excitement they had just talking into the microphone or inviting guests and all of that, I felt that these conversations kind of brought in so much value to the marketing team in the companies and of course to the sales people then, because then it gave them ready made content. When Covid hit these podcasts came as like a boon to these businesses because A, they had so much content to talk about from the CEO's perspective. B, the CEO now was digitally available, means that people could see who the company is and who the person behind the companies and all of that. And then it kind of opened many more doors for so one conversation as a feedback. Like, I had worked with the CEO for 25 episodes. That was our engagement. And on the after the 25th episodes, the meeting was to discuss the next 25 episodes. Like the content and the strategy and how to market it and all of that. And he's like, hang on a minute before we start this meeting, where is your podcast? And I'm like, so.

Yeah. And I'm like, no, I don't have a podcast.

Like, then how.

Why are you telling us to do all these things? And I'm like, what is your rationale? And I'm like, no, I, I understand this business. And he's like, you're running your business. Why don't you start your podcast? And you know, it just, I needed that. I just needed that kick really to. Yeah, then you know that fork of the road. And I'm like, yeah, I have so many options. I can do this. I'm a seven. I can go after this. I just.

You guys, it's a great podcast. It's a really great podcast. The Making of a Thought Leader. It's in the show notes. You guys definitely go check it out. Finally, I want to talk about jot my bio because it is one of the most important things we need. It's, you know, before our voice kind of takes over. A lot of people, I'm somebody that I, I investigate somebody before I even want to talk to them. And that bio, like enters the room kind of before you do.

Absolutely.

Right. And the service that you have, it's one of your businesses called jotmybio.com, right?

That's right, that's right. Jot my bio.com and on that tell.

Them why they need this. I'm going today.

Thank you.

Right there.

Yes, thank you. So you're just as you said that when you, before you enter, you enter a business conversation or a meeting, people have checked you out, they have perceived, made a perception about you based on what Google is telling them. So it could be your LinkedIn, it could be your any of these media mentions or if you have appeared somewhere, it just all shows up, isn't it? And it's no escaping from there because going forward it's all digital, it's all online. So people know what you've done online much before you kind of physically meet them. So my rationale.

To offer the service and make it so simple is justice that I wanted to remove all the barriers from people to talk about themselves. So the first thing I faced is I hear most of the times is that I don't know what to talk about myself. It's so hard to write about myself. So that was the number one barrier. The second barrier I felt was that I just remember that I've done this and this and this and this chronologically. People would just wrote off like even if you look at some of the LinkedIn bios today, it's just I've done this then I've done this and have this. Nobody is interested in what have you done. Everybody's interested in what can you do for me. So when you go on to or when you, when people are looking you up, you want to convey that message first up that look, I am this and I can do this for you. So it was, it's just, just the shift in perspective there where you can convince people what all experience you bring in like that what can you do for me? You know, that, that, that feel everybody's.

In this, what's in it for me kind of. And there's nothing wrong with that. This human experience.

Right, right, exactly. So that's why jot my bio is a productized service where people just love it online. Go online, fill in the form and it's actually an interview form where you know, there are things like who is this bio for? Where are you going to put it? Does it need to be translated? You know, like things like that, very simple basic questions which kind of automates itself into a basic draft. And then I want to meet you.

To, to kind of get the nuance right. Like, you know, some people are very gregarious, some people are very soft. Some accountants or people who are from the background require certain lingo in that bio to, to say that they are from the industry and show their authority. So all these things are captured and then you, what you get is like a great bio which you can put it on LinkedIn, it can go on your website, it can go on the presentations and number of places that you can think of.

Yeah, I love that, that aspect of it where you have different bios for different kind of mediums. Whether it's, you know, your speaking engagements or corporate pitching or a LinkedIn bio or all sorts of of things. You guys go to jotmybio.com I'm going immediately because I'm terrible at that. I'm like, ah, just talk about me, I don't care.

Right. And actually, I mean I would just add that you pointed out, to try pointed it out, right, that look, if you're putting on LinkedIn, your bio needs to be in first person because it's your personal profile.

Mine isn't currently if it is on.

The website, again, it depends on where it is. Is it your own personal website? Is it a corporate website, Is it a branded website? So there was just so much thought that can go into that recently for a startup. I did their founders, there are seven founders and all of their profiles and they have nothing to talk about themselves. And you imagine they said, we had this big call where they said, just put in bullet points, the name, what my qualification is and what I have done so far, like just three bullet points. And I'm like, no, I'm not going to do that, absolutely not. And then we went through like this whole process of where your bios are going because they're going to ask investors to invest in their company. So then it has to be read because at that, you know, at the rounds, investment rounds, the series A and B and you know, the rounds that they go through, somebody is reading their bio. So it is not going to be in first person person, it has to be in third person. So there has to be a thought given to where you're going to and if you're ever going to write your bio or get jot. My bio to write your bio, I would say consider writing at least two, three versions so that it is available and ready for you to use anytime. Also, it is a living document because every year on year you add so many things to your profile and to your experience so that can help you enhance from there on. Once the base is set.

So great you guys go to jotmybio.com immediately. Get a couple different bios under your belt for all the things Serbia I always love chatting with you. You inspire me so much and your energy and what you bring just to every conversation just lights me up and gets me excited to go out and do all the things.

So.

Thank you. It's always two ways. It's your energy that I feed off from. So thank you. Thank you.

You guys go listen to the Making of a Thought leader, go to jotmybio.com, go check out survey and we'll see you guys in a few days. Thanks.

I'm so happy you enjoyed the Leadership Formula Podcast. Please help us spread the word about the this show by sharing it with a friend and leaving a written Apple Podcast review. If you have any follow up questions to this episode, you can DM me directly on Instagram at traceeomalley. You can also find additional resources on my website@tracyomalley.com I'm excited to lead you into the next level.

Sam.